fortytwo points

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Despite all the time spent reading CSS, Windows networking, and Eckhart Tolle books I've still managed to squeeze in some video gaming here and there. When the Battlefield Heroes servers came down for maintenance recently however, my routine was interrupted and I had to find something else to enjoy. Along came X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and I was relieved.

It's good to see Raven Software's kept their standards of quality consistent over the years, and Wolverine does not fail to deliver in the quality department. Thanks to the action-paced gameplay, you really get a feel for what being Wolverine could be like, and holy shit is it awesome (most of the time).

"5 Awesome Video Game Consoles That Never Made it to Market" by Gamal

"There's nothing I love more than not having to work to add content to my own site, so today is just as much a treat for me as I hope it is for you. Enlightening us about some of gaming history's most depressing hardware flops is Gamal, fortytwopoints newest contributor, so please welcome him to the party. Let us weep together about what may have been and hopefully we will be inspired to do it better ourselves in the future. -Unfather"

>O<>O<

Since the late 70’s, gamers all over the world have had their own specific wish lists of what they wanted in a console. From how their dream console should have looked and what features that console should have had. It’s natural to dream up the ideal piece of technology that could cover one’s own specific needs and very often, those needs show up when there is a particular disadvantage in one or all of the consoles that have already been released. Who the hell would want a PS2 when you could have had a PS3?

===

The Phantom, by Phantom Entertainment

Expected Cost:

Never officially announced but just to make ends meet, they'd have to charge $700 for the console

Why was it awesome?

Kotaku Discusses the Art of War; No One Becomes a Better Warrior For It

I think I've made it clear in the past that Kotaku is one of the few gaming sites I respect and today they've set out to solidify that opinion further. Owen Good's batted us another homer with his insightful piece about art direction in combat-oriented video games and claims "leaps in game presentation have typically corresponded to some kind of combat themed game". Considering the advances in photo-realism games like Call of Duty and Tom Clancy's Latest-Game-About-Special-Force-Guys-Doing-Special-Forcey-Things have helped usher in, it is an opinion-cum-fact that is difficult to argue against.

Good takes the time to interview members of Guerilla Games, Gearbox, and Infinity Ward to get their opinions on the subject and they all offer great insight into the process of designing worlds for these types of titles. Some lament the duty of creating realistically accurate environments while others embrace it, but it is great knowledge for those who think they may want to make a war game themselves. You can read the piece on Kotaku by clicking this link:

Kotaku Feature: "The Art of War" by Owen Good

They never fail to surprise me with a topic I am not sure I would have thought of myself. If you consider yourself a gamer and have not already, then I highly suggest you join their site.

Plus, Fleshbot is a part of the Gawker Media Network as well (parent company to Kotaku), and you're probably already a member there anyway, aren't you?

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

-Unfather

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. may be Rightful Heir to Ace Combat's Abandoned Throne

I don't know how it happened, but some where in my gaming career I became a massive fan of aerial combat games. The first Ace Combat is probably what won me over but it's still a surprise whenever I consider it. I mean, I loathed Top Gun the movie and the game before I ever even knew what that word meant, and frankly, my poor opinion of the license stands after having given it additional opportunities to prove itself. And have you played the theme song in Guitar Hero III yet? If repeating the same 5 goddamned irritating chords in an irritating pattern doesn't make you want to smash someone's expensive HDTV with a plastic instrument, I don't know what will.

 But discussing popular culture in the gay community is not what this site is about, so I apologize for digressing. Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. by Ubisoft's Romanian division is the newest flight combat title to grace our respective consoles and I have got to say that, by the demo, it's pretty damned good. Here's some gameplay footage I shot myself so that you may consider it without all the bullshit quick-cutting marketing departments like to use:

Vadrum Rocks Super Mario Bros.

There's no end to the number of videos showcasing someone playing a video game theme on some unwitting and likely unfitting instrument, but this has to be one of the best:

You can check out more of Vadrum's work here on his YouTube channel. This guy's like the John Bonham of nerd-drummers.

That is, if John Bonham had died a virgin.

-Unfather

Tripbase's Stunning Videogame Locales Full of Strong Picks

I've been lazy about posting but surprisingly the site is growing despite me. Let's just cut through the excuses and explanations as to why this is and get to the happy ending though, shall we? I just had to clean dog S off the thankfully-hardwood floors and my patience has thinned a bit.

To calm myself down I decided to spend a little time gawking at the scenic vistas in Tripbase's nostalgic gallery of video gaming's best environments, and it may very well have saved the dog's life. Anything that acknowledges American McGee's Alice at the start is a worthy distraction, and it's accompanied by other strong choices like Fallout 3's wastelands, Assassin Creed's Middle Eastern landscape, and Oblivion's bloom-bleached, sheep-stained hills.

The choice-picks for me though have to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Shadow of the Colossus, the latter which you may not have seen coming but will likely understand. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is one of the first games to make me feel as if I truly was where I was supposed to be (post-explosion Chernobyl), and Shadow of the Colossus benefits from enemies that act as the levels themselves, making for an experience that will be unique until God of War III hits shelves.

The descriptions are lacking unfortunately so if you have not played these games, the references may mean little to you. But if you have, it will spark many fond memories of better games past. You can check them out for yourself here:

Tripbase's Stunning Videogame Locales

Now we have an excellent list of ideas to reference/steal when we make our own games, right?

-Unfather

GTA: Chinatown Wars Brings the Franchise Back to its Roots

Rockstar will remind us where the Grand Theft Auto franchise came from next month with their brand new Nintendo DS exclusive GTA: Chinatown Wars, and the best part is, they're bringing some great new stuff to the series in the process.

Set in Liberty City once again you play the role of a young man who's father has just been murdered. As you set off to deliver some prized family heirlooms to your uncle, you are attacked and they are stolen by the same Triads who murdered your kin. Driven to take back what's yours and to avenge your father's fate in the process, you set off to make things right once again.

Many seem want to forget it sometimes, but the first two GTA games were exclusively top-down affairs (if no less controversial), and some may even remember the occasionally pinball-like nature of the scoring system. Though the later does not return, the former does, and you control young Huang Lee (the protagonist) from the sky once again, this time with the debatable benefit of cel-shaded graphics. Much of the action is still true to the nature of the series in that you'll be beating down defenseless prostitutes and skidding over crippled pedestrians to your heart's content, but there are some key changes meant to breathe new life into the series and that should be noted.

Obligations...

Escapist's Indie Developers Showcase Finale = Wacky Game Concepts

For the last ten days now The Escapist has been running a feature on independent developers called the Indie Developers Showcase. The creators of World of Goo and Samorost have both been interviewed and the insight they and others have provided into their games and the industry as a whole is enlightening and entertaining. You can catch up on what you've missed here:

 Indie Developer Showcase

To wrap the whole thing up the final question they asked of all their interviewees was to create a game concept based on a simple premise: "You are a passenger on an airplane." The answers range from the humorous to the mundane and even get into "I hope that was an attempt at humor" territory a bit (World of Goo creator suggests making a match-3 game out of it, to which I reacted by spitting). Here are a couple of my personal favorites:

"Devolving Innovation: Inspiration in the Industry" by TidalSpiral

"Today it is my great honor to introduce fortytwopoints.com's first contributor. He has written us a great piece about the current state of innovation in the game industry and I hope to share more of his work in the future. Without further ado, please welcome TidalSpiral, and enjoy the read. -Unfather"

>O<>O<

In a world consumed by commercial interests and failing economics, it's not hard to understand why certain games are primed for the spotlight and others are left to devise their own means for success. Gears of War will not ever have to fight for air time in the market - it's got an extensive company behind it, virtually unlimited funds, and to a lesser effect, a massive fan base that demands everything to do with it be revealed to them as soon as possible. This satisfies the latest generation of gamers who are more familiar with these relatively new franchises than the ones that paved the way for them.

To many veteran gamers however, the path we're on is leading to a worsening environment that jeopardizes the quality of all titles. Gameplay innovation has slowed drastically, cliches are ever present, and story writing has been left behind in favor of graphical enhancements. For all the exciting games that allow you to shoot hundreds of terrorists or watch the dramatic explosion of a space ship, there have been scant few titles to inspire deeper thought and push the envelope of artistic power in the gaming community.