video games

Bulletstorm and the Economics of the Single Player First-Person Shooter

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A few days ago, I picked up Bulletstorm. It’s clear that the developers behind it really wanted to push the bounds of what a first-person shooter could be. Everything from the weapons, to the level designs, and the enemies themselves, have been tuned for you to pull off fancy juggle combos, and kills that would make Devil May Cry jealous. However, it’s also clear that their single player innovations don’t work within the context of traditional multiplayer deathmatch. Instead, the game offers its own version of horde mode that feels like a throwaway mode meant to to meet check multiplayer off as a feature on the back of the box.

Though the game was a critical hit, the it didn’t live up to sales expectations, and its sequel was shelved. Did Bulletstorm fail as a commercial product because of it’s de-emphasis on multiplayer?

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The Long Road to Redemption for Street Fighter X Tekken

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I’ll never forget my first few hours at Toryuken, Toronto’s most recent major fighting game tournament. Scrambling for someone to partner with me for Street Fighter X Tekken, I was repeatedly rejected by dozens of players, all of whom claimed to not play the game. Inside the main room, not a single station was running the game. As the tournament was nearing its start time, one of the tournament organizers got on the mic and asked the community if it was alright if they set up a Street Fighter X Tekken station, and the crowd roared with boos. Though I’d seen a number of negative comments about the game by players in blogs, and message boards, seeing the hate manifest in that way made the sentiment really hit home for me.

Players have had no shortage of reasons to dislike this game, from its on-disc DLC, to the inclusion of the controversial gem system, to its garbled mess of gameplay systems, one game-breaking glitch, and then some. Starting now, however, Capcom is hoping to take steps to reinvigorate this under-performing title.

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Kudos to Atlus

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I’m currently in the process of enjoying Trine 2. It’s a neat puzzle platformer that I don’t think will ever gain any sort of mainstream traction, but I’m glad that it exists. After putting in a few hours into it, I realized that the game was published by Atlus.

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Initial Ninja Gaiden II Impressions

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Save for the most recent installment, the modern-day Ninja Gaiden series has been held in high regard among critics and the gaming populous. Despite the positive word-of-mouth, I hadn’t played a Ninja Gaiden game since the Ninja Gaiden II on the NES. I’ll never forget how brutally hard the NES games were, and I heard the new games were equally challenging. As someone who isn’t much of a masochist when it comes to video games, this just didn’t sound like something up my alley.

However, when I came across Ninja Gaiden II for dirt cheap at a Blockbuster closing down sale, I decided to outside of my comfort zone to give this one a shot.

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Taking a Break from Competitive Fighting Game Playing

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I’ve been on the competitive fighting game front for over 3 years now. In that span, I’ve poured in hundreds of hours into the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 series, and over 1,000 hours in the Street Fighter IV series. The fruits of that labour include me still being the #1 ranked Rose in Canada on the leaderboards, me being the #1 ranked Cammy in Canada at one point, and three good showings at major fighting game tournaments. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, and I don’t regret any of it

With that said, I think it’s time to chill out for a bit.

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Max Payne 3 Review

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After the events of the second game, Max has hit rock bottom. With nothing more than a substance addiction, and a commitment to do his job properly, he begins anew in Brazil as a bodyguard for a wealthy family. It doesn’t take long before things go south, and it’s up to Max to save the day the only way he knows how: by shooting dudes in slow motion.

Though the events of the third game take place almost immediately after the second, there’s been an almost decade-long gap between the releases. Since 2003, the franchise has changed hands from Remedy to Rockstar, and the genre has evolved quite a bit. Is Max Payne 3 a return to form? Or washed up like its protagonist at the beginning of the game?

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Has 2012 Been a Slow Year for Video Games, Or is it Just Me?

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The last few have been tremendous for gamers. It seemed like we were getting top-tier releases all year long. This year, I feel like I haven’t played much of anything. I went many months without buying any games, or seeing anything on release lists that piqued my interest. Sure, there have been a few marquee releases already, such as Mass Effect 3 and Diablo III, but the 2012 release line-up to date has seemed pretty underwhelming to me.

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Check Out My Kid Icarus: Uprising Review on Splitkick.com

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Apologies for the long delay, but my review for Kid Icarus: Uprising is finally live on Splitkick! It took me awhile to play through because of its surprisingly long length, and a really long time to write. I struggled with it for weeks, and wrote three completely different versions of the review before finally settling on one to submit for edit.

Thanks to the team at Splitkick for editing, and publishing the piece, as its a game I want to encourage others to try, even with its fundamental flaws. If you’re still on the fence about it, check out my review at Splitkick.


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Happy Canada Day From In Third Person

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Though the In Third Person audience is primarily American, it doesn’t hurt to give a nod to my home and native land on its special day. To all of In Third Person’s Canadian readers, happy Canada Day!

Dreams of Working in the Game-Making Industry

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Do you have dreams of making video games? If so, are you actively honing your skills? Or are your dreams simmering in the back of your mind till the time comes?

There was a brief moment in time as a kid when I listed “video game maker” as one of my dream jobs. Though I had no idea what the process of making a video game entailed, it seemed like a logical occupation to aim for because of my love for the medium. I sort of wish I could tell you that my story ends happily ever after with the dream game-making job (whatever that means), but my story may at least be blog post worthy.

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