If you do a Google image search for “Atari Breakout” you are in for a treat. Well, as long as you like playing Breakout.
See the result here: LINKY
I guess when you are a multi-billion (trillion?) dollar company you can afford to have a division dedicated to making nothing but Easter eggs. I have no idea why, but when I beat the first level the next level was entirely comprised of Macaroni and Cheese images. Probably some Easter egg within an Easter egg thing. Very meta, Google.
This week’s theme is hurry up and fund these projects. That goes for last week, too; most of them are in danger of missing their funding goals.
GTFO: A Film About Women in Gaming
Ends May 10 (Hurry Up!)
Believe it or not, people who play games online can sometimes be hostile towards others. Female gamers can take the brunt of this abuse. If this comes as a shock, you might be part of the problem. At last year’s PAX East, I attended the panel for Fat, Ugly, or Slutty and while the content wasn’t surprising, it was no less disgusting. GTFO aims to bring some of the repulsive online behavior to light in a documentary film. I’m sure the horrible comments and harassment that Anita Sarkeesian faced, but the filmmakers deserve our support. Read more…
I think we all know deep down in our collective heart of hearts that physical media is the next dinosaur on the technology chopping block. For me, it can’t come fast enough. Environmentalists want less plastic shit in the world, game makers want to better control distribution and eliminate used sales, but what’s in it for us? What’s in it for the average gamer?
The numero uno reason why physical media needs to disappear is simple: I am lazy. A lot of people are lazy. Gamers (especially us American-types), shockingly enough, are lazy. If I am currently engaged with a title and I’m confronted with the option of trying a new game but have to get out of my seat to change the disk, I will wait. I will wait until I am either done with the current game or I don’t care about the new title. Ever keep watching the same channel because you don’t know where the remote is, same shit. I am that lazy.
I have missed entire game series because of my unwillingness to change the disk. Resident evil 5 and 6? Skipped it cause I was playing something else. Syndicate? Yea I could go back to it but why bother, I would have to change the disk. Assassins Creed? They honestly look crappy, but I was busy with other games, so I don’t think I want to start now.
I don’t have this problem on my PC. Everything is a click away and I will bounce between Hawken, Magic Online and Facebook games at a moment’s notice.
AAA developers and platform makers should take note of this, because the window to sell titles at full price only seems to be about a month long. If I can’t be bothered to play Bioshock: Infinite on release day because I’m playing Gears of War: Judgement, and it’s just too hard for my lazy ass to switch disks, why wouldn’t I wait for a price break to buy my copy? I didn’t even finish Gears before it dropped to $40 on Amazon, and Bioshock is now down to $50.
So there you go. Laziness should be the driving force that propels gaming technology to the next level. I would write more, but the window is running out of space and I don’t feel like scrolling.
Please don’t be as lazy as I am, listen to our latest episode.
Weekly turned into monthly, but welcome back for another roundup of Kickstarter campaigns.
Among the Sleep
Ends May 18
Among the Sleep is a first-person horror adventure game. Where you play as a two-year-old baby. Holy crap, this could be terrifying. Listen back to our game club sessions of Amnesia, and you’ll see that I might not react well to horror experiences, but I’m really interested in this take on the genre. Half of good horror or suspense can be perspective, and children simply see the world differently. Color me intrigued.
Read more…
Welcome to the first installment of what will (hopefully) be a weekly roundup of notable Kickstarter projects. Some of these will be of admittedly dubious quality, but sometimes you have to roll the dice. Without further ado, my weekly picks:
Revive Retronauts
Ends April 21
Retronauts is a podcast about old games. That’s it. If you want to hear about warm childhood memories, or live vicariously through the rich kids who had Genesises AND SNESes, this is the show for you. The long-running show was cancelled due to the demise of 1Up, but they’re coming back and coming back big.
When I first wrote Facebook Advertisers Think We’re All Assholes in December, I was intending it to be a one-off. I did not realize that Facebook would be such a venerable wellspring for badly written and poorly conceived ad units.
In the time since writing that post, I have seen ads that are on the same level intellectually and with as much inherent honesty as a punch the monkey ad, or the classic “You are viewer #XXXXX, click for a prize” ad. If you don’t believe me, keep reading!
Editor’s note: In no way are we equating being called a nerd with being discriminated against for race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Nerd.
We have all said it at one point or another in our lives, probably in a combination like comic nerd, movie nerd, or gaming nerd. Perhaps we referred to someone we know, or even someone on the street as a nerd. “Oh, those people who go to / participate in / enjoy NOUN are nerds.” Hell, I’m guilty of it myself, both when being self-referential or referring to another person.
But here’s what we seem to be forgetting: it’s an insult. As a matter of fact it is nothing but an insult, and has never been removed from that usage. It isn’t derived from some longer Latin word that has a dual meaning; it’s just a way to put something down.
So why has it recently become a somewhat desirable label? Why do people suddenly want to identify as a nerd, like it’s a badge of honor? Why are television shows like Big Bang Theory and King of the Nerds all the rage, specifically among people who typically don’t self-identify nor fit the stereotype?
Marketing. But we will get to that point. First, to understand why I propose we stop using the word as a style and should recognize it as an insult, we need to know what the word actually means.
At 30 years old, all ages show stop being a good thing. The children are depressing to see. They all seem so pampered. Nyc lately is filled with loose women, idiotic men, and loose, idiotic, man-women. I cringe to think what LA is like right now.
Microsoft is dropping deets on the the new Xbox next week and this was the best Nintendo could do? Ruh-roh http://t.co/05B0y5tER1
