You are currently browsing the Games category

Psychotherapist/Sex Game Designer Nicolau Chaud Talks About Next Game

  • Posted on May 18, 2012 at 6:00 am

Nicolau Chaud is a Brazilian psychotherapist and indie computer game developer responsible for such hits as Marvel Brothel, which is actually more of a business simulator than a sex game, and Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer. Here’s Joel Goodwin’s description of the latter:

“The Dungeoneers” is a clandestine society of sociopaths who believe “pain to be the most intimate form of relationship one person can have with another”. They carry their mental disease with pride. They inflict it on their victims with impunity. A dungeoneer’s finest hour is when he or she tortures a victim to a sweet spot on the verge of madness and death called a “beautiful escape”. They also upload videos of these torture sessions for others to review, in an intentional nod to the experience of releasing games online for peers to high-five or tear down.

You are Verge, a dungeoneer of poor reputation with honed self-loathing skills. This is a game without heroes. Verge is not a likeable character.

Chaud is now using his RPG Maker skills to create a new game called Polymorphous Perversity. Not much has been revealed, but he’s given a few interviews on the game. Here’s an excerpt from Goodwin’s:

In May, Chaud’s mood was ebullient: “I had a very weird insight today: I treat my game like a girlfriend… Yeah, I know, weird. But the good thing is: it loves me back.”

But his posts were infrequent and in June he made a quick remark that this special relationship was fast becoming dysfunctional: “Making this game has been a very interesting and weird experience. Researching sexual preferences, googling for pictures, spriting 24×32 sex, reading and writing porn, getting e-mails with naked pictures from players… it’s all very weird. Fun, at first, but gets somewhat unpleasant after a while, and the feeling of numbness I’m getting towards the theme is disturbing.”

Electron Dance: Not Safe for Work

Nightmare Mode: Interview with Nicolau Chaud, Mind Behind Polymorphous Perversity

Kotaku: The Sex Game That Crossed Lines and Unnerved Its Creator

All three sites have screenshots that contain adult material (NSFW).

(links via Metafilter)

Polymorphous Perversity is currently open to its final round of testers. You can apply here.

From http://technoccult.net/archives/2012/05/18/psychotherapistsex-game-designer-nicolau-chaud-talks-about-next-game/

Care to leave a comment?

Game Mechanic of the Day: The Super Mushroom in Super Mario Brothers

  • Posted on March 7, 2012 at 5:02 pm

Mario Super Mushroom

Why is the Super Mushroom an awesome game mechanic? My friend Jesse Combs tells you why on his new blog Game Mechanic of the Day:

1. When the game originally came out, video games were hard, very hard. If a bad guy hit your platform-jumping character, that was it. Start the level over until you ran out of lives. If you’re just learning the game, that really doesn’t encourage you if you’re still trying to get better at it. Being able to get hit without starting over is big, since you can still realize you screwed up without being wholly penalized. It’s kind of like having a save game point, except there are still consequences to getting hit. (Two hits and you really are dead.)

2. It’s a simple way for a character to have health without getting meta and having a “health bar” or “meter”. It keeps the game within it’s own strange fiction and makes the mechanical rewards part of the universe that Mario lives in. Yep, immersion.

Game Mechanic of the Day: Mario grows bigger and stronger when he gets a Super Mushroom. If he’s hit by an enemy, he’ll shrink back to standard Mario

From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/ayljHAwjWak/

The Neuroscience of Video Games, a Review of the Literature

  • Posted on November 23, 2011 at 8:49 pm

gamer 01 The Neuroscience of Video Games, a Review of the Literature

John Walker takes a look at the journal Nature‘s recent Brains On Video Games collection, which includes both possible negative and possible positive outcomes of video game play.

The bad news: much of the positive cognitive gains from video gaming are non-transferable, and gaming may increase both aggression and the symptoms of ADHD. The good news: it doesn’t sound like that should be a problem for people without existing aggressive tendencies or ADHD.

My take-away: if you like playing games, keep playing them. If you don’t, there’s probably not much benefit in starting.

Rock, Paper Shotgun: Nature’s Neuroscientific Review Of Games

See also:

Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills

Video Games and Spatial Cognition (PDF)

Video Gamers Are Better Lucid Dreamers?

From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/LULnM8aom7Q/

The Neuroscience of Video Games, a Review of the Literature

  • Posted on November 23, 2011 at 8:49 pm

gamer 01 The Neuroscience of Video Games, a Review of the Literature

John Walker takes a look at the journal Nature‘s recent Brains On Video Games collection, which includes both possible negative and possible positive outcomes of video game play.

The bad news: much of the positive cognitive gains from video gaming are non-transferable, and gaming may increase both aggression and the symptoms of ADHD. The good news: it doesn’t sound like that should be a problem for people without existing aggressive tendencies or ADHD.

My take-away: if you like playing games, keep playing them. If you don’t, there’s probably not much benefit in starting.

Rock, Paper Shotgun: Nature’s Neuroscientific Review Of Games

See also:

Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills

Video Games and Spatial Cognition (PDF)

Video Gamers Are Better Lucid Dreamers?

From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/LULnM8aom7Q/

What’s Next for Cognitive Training Games?

  • Posted on June 25, 2011 at 6:37 pm

brain Whats Next for Cognitive Training Games?

Most of the cognitive training games of 2011 resemble the simple games you can play online for free or apps designed for smartphones. However, in ten years, we can expect many of the big developers, following Nintendo’s lead, to introduce critical gaming elements. Envision games featuring improved graphics, compelling gameplay, and engaging storylines that compel players to train their brains often and in a variety of ways. Imagine a role-playing game (RPG) in which your character’s level and progress are determined in part by your performance on a variety of cognitive training tasks, and the selection of tasks are dependent on the class chosen by the player, and thus tailored made for each individual user. Much in the same way that RPG style games will foster unique training experiences, cognitive training games in general will become tailored to individual interests, focusing on training specific cognitive mechanisms, rather than providing a general training regimen that the user may not be looking for. [...]

Non-Conscious Defenses- Starting all the way back in the 1950’s, firms have sought to understand human psychology in order to capitalize on our biases and tendencies through influencing us on the sub-conscious level. In the past couple decades however, research into non-conscious processing and subliminal priming have begun to unravel the fascinating ways that people develop preferences for products and how they estimate value. Companies have been following this research closely and already implement their findings into many forms of media: magazines, movies and even presidential election commercials (5). Expect that training games will begin to offer cognitive defenses against advertising seeking to influence us on the sub conscious level.

The Future of Brain Workouts

See also: N-Back Training Exercise Still Holding Up in Tests

From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/700QNMBpqI8/

N-Back Training Exercise Still Holding Up in Tests

  • Posted on June 1, 2011 at 10:52 am

soakyourhead screenshot 0511 N Back Training Exercise Still Holding Up in Tests
Above: the Soak Your Head Dual N-Back Application

I’ve covered research on how most brain training exercises don’t actually hold-up in tests. The good news is that dual n-back training, also covered here previously, is continuing to hold up in tests:

Jonides, who is the Daniel J. Weintraub Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, collaborated with colleagues at U-M, the University of Bern and the University of Tapei on a series of studies with more than 200 young adults and children, demonstrating the effects of various kinds of n-back mental training exercises. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and by the Office of Naval Research.

According to Jonides, the n-back task taps into a crucial brain function known as working memory—the ability to maintain information in an active, easily retrieved state, especially under conditions of distraction or interference. Working memory goes beyond mere storage to include processing information.

Medical Express: A Brain Training Exercise That Really Does Work

(Thanks Bill!)

Soak Your Head offers a free Web-based n-back training program, but it requires Microsoft Silverlight. You can find a list of other applications here.

Another way to boost your mental capabilities? Play first person shooters. This NPR story provides an overview of the research. You can also find a research paper that looks at multiple studies here (PDF).

The best way to stave off cognitive decline, however, may be to spend time socializing with friends.

From http://technoccult.net/archives/2011/06/01/n-back-training-exercise-still-holding-up-in-tests/

Alan Moore Hints That He May Be Making a Video Game

  • Posted on May 6, 2011 at 2:11 pm

alan moore Alan Moore Hints That He May Be Making a Video Game

The revelation came during a Q&A at an event celebrating his fine magazine Dodgem Logic last night in London, where Moore was asked if he had considered making video games. [...]

Moore revealed that he is now looking at a project created with a number of different mediums in mind. While it’s evidently not settled yet, he said there may be “possibly some surprising stuff happening in the next 12 months”

Shack News: Alan Moore hints at making video game

One shouldn’t read too much into this, he could just be referring to Jimmy’s End, which is supposed to be both a film and a television series.

(via Matt Stags)

From http://technoccult.net/archives/2011/05/06/alan-moore-video-game/

What’s The Difference Between Game Mechanics in the Enterprise and Good Management?

  • Posted on January 24, 2011 at 5:01 pm

puzzle Whats The Difference Between Game Mechanics in the Enterprise and Good Management?

A follow-up to my last article on the gamification of work:

And to some extent, “pointsification” is just quantification – something enterprises should be doing anyway. In fact, most the principals of a good game should apply in the workplace.:

  • Quantification: Tracking sales, average customer support response time, server uptime and other metrics that identify success.
    Recognition and Reward: Raises, bonuses, promotions.
    Autonomy: Robertson notes that for a game to be truly engaging players must be able to make decisions that “meaningfully impact on the world of the game.” Autonomy has been identified by Daniel Pink and others as a requirement for motivation and job satisfaction.
    Challenge: I think this should be self-explanatory.

    • Looked at this way, is there any difference between “gamification” and “good management”?

    From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/cn778HqiCjc/

    The Gamification of Work

    • Posted on November 16, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    puzzle The Gamification of Work

    I wrote a follow-up of sorts to my post here The Problem with Gamification:

    With all this in mind, is it possible to effectively apply game mechanics to work-related applications? The jury’s still out on Rypple and Moxie’s implementation of badges, but I’m hopeful about both. Meanwhile, Pietro Polsinelli has written an essay on game mechanics and how he applied game design to his social bookmarking/task management web app Licorize. Polsinelli considered how certain common game activities correlate to activities in the application and added points and scoring to those activities. The essay is well worth reading for anyone interested in game mechanics in work related applications.

    ReadWriteWeb: Buzzword Watch: The Gamification of Work

    From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/y10nrRQ-_SY/

    The Problem with Gamification

    • Posted on November 12, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    margaret scoreboard 300x190 The Problem with Gamification

    Margaret Robertson gets to the core of the problem I’ve had with my thinking on how to apply game mechanics effectively to non-game situations:

    That problem being that gamification isn’t gamification at all. What we’re currently terming gamification is in fact the process of taking the thing that is least essential to games and representing it as the core of the experience. Points and badges have no closer a relationship to games than they do to websites and fitness apps and loyalty cards. They’re great tools for communicating progress and acknowledging effort, but neither points nor badges in any way constitute a game. Games just use them – as primary school teachers, military hierarchies and coffee shops have for centuries – to help people visualise things they might otherwise lose track of. They are the least important bit of a game, the bit that has the least to do with all of the rich cognitive, emotional and social drivers which gamifiers are intending to connect with.

    She’s not completely pessimistic about it, and neither am I:

    Gamification is the wrong word for the right idea. The word for what’s happening at the moment is pointsification. There are things that should be pointsified. There are things that should be gamified. There are things that should be both. There are many, many things that should be neither.

    It’s important that we make the distinction between the two undertakings because, amidst all this confusion, we’re losing sight of the question of what would happen if we really did apply the deeper powers of game design to more everyday things – if we really did gamify them – and that question is a fascinating, exciting and troubling one. I really hope we get a chance to explore it properly.

    Hide & Seek: Can’t play, won’t play

    From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/WF3VYCfTJSE/

    Grinding Interviews Cyborg Anthropologist Amber Case

    • Posted on September 24, 2010 at 9:08 am

    Amber Case

    Grinding interviews cyborg anthropologist, and one of the most influential women in tech, Amber Case:

    Reality is boring. Waiting in line at the DMV suck. Real life takes time. Digital life is more instantaneous. In real life, the time and space between goals and accomplishments is often large. For some, it is physically impossible to achieve certain things, like purchasing a Ferrari or rising above middle management in their career path. Online gaming, especially sites like Farmville step in to take care of that void. Whereas one doesn’t have the money, time or room for a real garden, Farmville provides one without the back aching labor. All reality is replaced by small icons, and time is compressed so that goals and accomplishments are right next to one another. Everything has a point value and a reward. When real life takes so long to reward someone, online gaming is often a better and more enjoyable alternative.

    In the future, hybrid reality, or life which is both a game and real, might blot out the mild dystopia that we all live in. Or it will make us more intolerable of the space between reality. And for those who spend a lot of time in reality, Foursquare is a good add-on for making the mundane exciting. To be crass, one might say that Foursquare is kind of like dogs pissing on fire hydrants and having other dogs come along and sniff them to see who’s been there. The dog with the most potent urine is mayor of the fire hydrant.

    Grinding: Talking with Amber Case

    See also:

    Here’s my interview with Amber

    Here’s our conversation on hypersigils

    John Robb’s response to Jane McGonigal’s TED talk

    New Hearing Aid Uses Your Tooth To Transmit Sound

    From http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Technoccult/~3/bzKI0zqUISg/

    Indie Game Designers Luke Crane and Jared Sorensen on Transhumanist RPG FreeMarket – Technoccult Interview

    • Posted on August 4, 2010 at 7:20 am

    FreeMarket

    New York based game designers Luke Crane (of Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard fame) and Jared Sorensen (known for octaNe and the various games released through his Memento Mori imprint) are sometimes referred to as godfathers of the indie game scene. Tomorrow they’re releasing their new game FreeMarket at GenCon – you can find them at booth #1732. I talked to them a couple weeks ago about what FreeMarket’s all about.

    Could you briefly go over what FreeMarket is and why it’s different from other role playing games?

    Luke Crane: FreeMarket is a transhumanist RPG in which players take on the roles of telepathic, immortal infovores living on a space station orbiting Saturn.

    Jared: That’s also what makes it different from other RPGs.

    Luke : In order to get ahead on the station, players must make friends, cooperate and give gifts to one another. Doing so enhances a player’s reputation. Players can then spend this reputation to accomplish personal goals. It uses a unique card-based mechanic, comes in a box and is really pretty.

    Jared Sorensen and Luke Crane
    Left: Jared Right: Luke

    It also sounds like it’s a more intellectual game than most – you’ve said you can, for instance, play the role of a philosopher and have that be meaningful within the game.

    Luke: Yeah, but don’t think you can’t play Soulshitter Killfuck and have fun, too. But, unlike many other games that I’ve played, you can play an artist and have serious conflict about what you do. It’s impossible to just make a piece of art in this game and have it sit there, inert. Art is controversial.

    Jared: And conflicts (especially philosophical, critical and artistic) are both internal and external and can have wide-reaching and unplanned repercussions.

    Right. So you could do a more typical hack and slash scenario, or you could do something where you’re dealing with post-scarcity speculation. Or maybe both.

    Luke: Yes. But the “typical” scenario is also turned on its ear.

    Jared: Definitely. “Death artists” is a common FreeMarket trope we see in our games.

    Luke: You can kill the living shit out of something in the game. In fact, when you get into a fight, someone is going to die, period. But that is very costly, so you better be ready to have another side to your character. You better be ready to cooperate and give gifts. Otherwise, you’re not going to survive.

    Jared: Some of the nicest people on FreeMarket Station are killers… because they have to be nice in order to remain viable members of society.

    FreeMarket 1

    So you can kill or be killed in the game?

    Jared: Yes, but not permanently

    What do you mean?

    Luke: Yeah, the station just resuscitates you or reloads your back up into a new body if you’ve “perfect deathed.”

    Jared: There are different levels of death… from induced death to brain death to total bodily destruction. If you just go around murdering people left and right, people are going to shun you and you’re going to burn your social capital to ashes.

    Luke: Right, killing costs a lot of your reputation.

    Jared: Especially if you’re killing people who are valuable members of the society. Assholes who kill each other off can get away with that for a while

    Luke: *Laughs* True!

    Jared: But kill a baker? Or a garbage man? You are FUCKED.

    FreeMarket 2

    I haven’t role played in years, and it’s been even longer since I’ve been at all serious about playing. But Free Market sounds like something I’d like to play. Do you think this is the sort of game that people who have lost interest in role-playing or maybe never even role played before would get into?

    Luke: YES

    Jared: We had a woman play — she was the CFO of a game company — who had never played an RPG before. She got it in five minutes. It was awesome.

    Luke: It’s different. It’s not about roll-to-hit and not a number style play. People who are diehard RPG players have the most trouble with it, actually.

    Was that your intention? To create a game for non-gamers?

    Luke: No, we just wanted to create a game that we liked (and that Peter Adkison would like).

    Jared: We wanted to create a game for people interested in science fiction.

    Luke: That, too!

    Jared: Not SF gaming, but actual SF.

    Luke: Yeah, this isn’t space pirate romance.

    Jared: No travel, no aliens. Which are two mainstays of the game genre.

    You’ve said before this is the first actual science fiction game.

    Jared: We say a lot of things.

    Luke: *Laughs* True. Paranoia is the first science fiction roleplaying game. Our friend Joshua made a really neat science fiction game called Shock, but it’s not really an RPG.

    What makes it a science fiction game and other sci-fi themed games NOT science fiction games?

    Luke: They’re about fighting and romance. FreeMarket is about time, space and identity.

    And economics?

    Luke: Not really!

    Jared: D&D is as much about economics as FreeMarket. The title of the game is ironic commentary — the space station was renamed “FreeMarket Station” by its residents and it’s probably ironic commentary by us as well.

    So it’s not Milton Friedman: The Game?

    Jared: Hah, no.

    Luke: Unfortunately, no. Milton Friedman would probably hate the economy in this game.

    Jared: More Malcom Gladwell.

    Luke: There’s no money. No market.

    Jared: That’s the joke. The market is one of ideas.

    FreeMarket 3

    More “free” than “market.”

    Jared: And it’s a truly free society. For the first time ever, people have real freedom. And it’s terrifying.

    Luke: Utterly.

    And you’re going to be giving the game, sans artwork, away for free online at some point, correct?

    Luke: We already did that.

    Jared: With artwork even.

    Luke: We gave away a PDF from November to April. We took it offline while we launch.

    Jared: It was limited to 1,000 people. And we used that for our “colony program.”

    Luke: I’m sure it’s out on torrent sites.

    Jared: It totally is.

    Luke: We’re discussing the future fate of the electronic life of FreeMarket. We need to see how well the printed version does. You can definitely get a sense of the game from the PDF. But to play it, it’s best to have the materials—the cards and chips.
    FreeMarket hazard

    How did you get interested in transhumanism and why did you decide to write a game based around it?

    Luke: I’ve been a fan of cyberpunk since I had a brain…since about 1991. Transhumanism seems like the next natural step. It’s like cyberpunk, but without the 1980s and with some more thoughtful science fiction.

    Jared: The game has gone through a lot of development and research but even from the first step we knew “transhuman science fiction” was going to be its thrust. And it was kinda unexplored as a game subject at the time (2007).

    Luke: Yeah, somebody said to us, “What would you do with X” and we both said, “Transhumanist SF RPG. Space stations and weird technology.” I think I was reading Bruce Sterling at the time.

    I suppose it would be hard to create a normal hack and slash transhumanist game. Unless you count Rifts or something.

    Jared: You can play out brutal combat sequences in FreeMarket and it’s very satisfying. It’s just the consequences are all backward and upside down.

    Luke: Rifts is totally transhumanist. But Eclipse Phase, our cousin, is a TH game about fighting. Did I just say that out loud?

    Jared: *Laughs* Except that DEE-BEES are not human (so really, it’s transdimensional).

    Luke: Fuck.

    Jared: Rifts also has space whales I think.

    Were virtual worlds like MOOs and MUSHes and newer things like Second Life an influence?

    Jared: Definitely.

    Luke: Absolutely. Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter too.

    Jared: Everything from MUDs and Second Life to Facebook, dating sites and Slashdot.

    Luke: Good science fiction expresses the present through the fiction of the technology. We wanted FM to feel like an outgrowth of today.

    FreeMarket 4

    How were social networking sites an influence?

    Luke: Well, in the game, you friend each other. Friending each other increases your overall reputation and provides “social insurance.” The more friends you have, the harder it is for you to be kicked out of the community. So the influence is rather naked. It was more “What if that shit was about people and real life rather than your profile?”

    Why wouldn’t everyone just friend everyone then?

    Luke: Hah, well, do you go around friending everyone on Facebook? Do you love the people who do nothing but friend you?

    No, but it doesn’t really keep me from getting kicked off my space station.

    Jared: There are game equivalents of “like” and “mod down” buttons, social groups and trolling. There are people on the station who try and friend everyone. But friending carries serious social implications. Friending is like allowing someone access to your Google Calendar. And Ebay account. And email. Etc.

    So there’s a real trust relationship there.

    Luke: And if you’re worried about getting kicked off, then I don’t know if we should be friends. because you’re obviously up to something that’s going to get me in trouble. When your reputation tanks, your friends all take a hit, too.

    Jared: Klint’s friends are all switchers, breakers and wetworkers! Don’t friend him!

    What advice would you give people who want to be game designers?

    Jared: continue to want to be that.

    Luke: *Laughs* Play lots of games. Start breaking games. And then play your games. And break them. Also, recruit tolerant friends.

    Jared: And stay the hell off of game forums.

    Luke: That, too.

    Are there any books on game design you’d recommend?

    Luke: I like Rules of Play by Salen and Zimmerman. But Jared and I are both self-taught.

    Jared: Also Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.

    Luke: Oh, yes!

    Why Understanding Comics?

    Luke: Because it’s the single best deconstruction of a medium around there. It teaches you how to think structurally and critically. It shows you how to clearly break down complicated stuff.

    Jared: And if you get a chance to come to a convention seminar by Luke and me, I seriously recommend it.

    Anything else you’d like to say to readers?

    Jared: Replace your body as soon as possible! But don’t throw out the original packaging just in case.

    Luke: Always back up your memories. Unless you need to forget.

    Special thanks to Jesse for suggesting this interview!

    FreeMarket

    Share/Bookmark

    From http://technoccult.net/archives/2010/08/04/freemarket-interview/

    What have I been up to?

    • Posted on May 12, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    I haven’t been writing much lately as far as blogs, so to break the ice I’m just going to talk about some random things on my mind. 

     

    Regarding more “magickal” blog topics:  I’m helping pAmphAge write a small but comprehensive how-to manual on magick (with no “bullshit” allowed).  This has been sucking out my “magickal” writing efforts, but there should be a lot more going on magickally here towards the end of the year as the book nears completion.

    Regarding the new Eminem album Relapse:  This is a guilty pleasure.  I’m trying to get it out of my system now so I’m not still listening to it all year with everyone else.  Also, how many dumb celebrities are going to take the bait and get mad at Eminem for the things he says?  Eminem is the motley fool jester of mainstream media.  To get mad at him only makes one look even more foolish (and helps Eminem sell more albums of course!)

    Regarding EverQuest:  As some of you know I play fantasy MMOs when I have a chance.  I’ve been playing since I was a wee tot.  I’ve played Asheron’s Call 1&2, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest 2,  Warhammer Online, Lineage II (where I was a GM for a short while), and of course World of Warcraft.  I can say that after all these years, EverQuest is still my favorite!  If you like any of these games, I seductively suggest you check out the game without which there wouldn’t even be a World of Warcraft.  EverQuest is 10 years old and the world is huge now!  Plenty to see and do!  I love it.  If anyone wants to know my EverQuest character names and server, you can email me privately and I might let you know :)

    Regarding the new Star Trek movie:  Good casting! I rarely get to say this about a movie nowadays.  But finally…good casting!

     

    Guess that’s it for now!

     

    Kisses & bites,

    Izabael

    When hemispheres collide…

    • Posted on April 26, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    say_the_color copy

    The Hidden Dangers of Super Mario Galaxy

    • Posted on February 12, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    Never in my life have I been so thoroughly inspired to eat candy and take hallucinogens.

    Why? 

    I’ve been playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii.  I have discovered that Super Mario Galaxy is a highly informative game especially for children.

    super_mario_galaxy

     

    I, myself, have learned many new & interesting things!!  To name a few:

     

    1)  Eating green mushrooms prolongs my life.

    2)  Cute, little mushroom people are my friends.

    3)  I can “fly” from galaxy to galaxy (in my red, white, and blue uniform).

    4) Your mushroom friends travel the universe in a giant red mushroom called the STARSHROOM.  Yes, the “Starshroom.”  Can you say Jefferson Starshroom?   Er…Jefferson Starship…er Jefferson Airplane. 

    5)  When you feed the star-people, who look like star-shaped Ecstasy tablets, they will eventually get fatter and fatter until they explode and give birth to more galaxies.

    ecstasy_star

    6)  You need to collect as many “stars” as possible.

    7)  The “Sweet, Sweet Galaxy” is just that.  I gained 5 pounds playing through it.

    8)  If you lose too many lives, Princess Peach will send you more mushrooms through the mail.

     

    All I can say to parents: If your kids get fat and end up taking hallucinogenic drugs, you shouldn’t punish them.  After all you taught them at a very young age what is fun to do.  And don’t blame Super Mario, you can go back to Lewis Carroll (and later Disney) to complain about this one.

     

    “One pill makes you larger
    And one pill makes you small
    And the ones that mother gives you
    Don’t do anything at all
    Go ask Alice
    When she’s ten feet tall”

     super_mushroom

     

    I always wanted dozens of Gremlins at my beck and call: Overlord (PC) Game Review

    • Posted on August 15, 2007 at 11:37 am

    This is my first video game review as I don’t play tons of video games.  I like them but except for MMORPG binges where I become something of an addict, I just don’t have time.  I’ve played Everquest and World of Warcraft extensively (I more or less quit after getting my epic mount) and tried most of the other MMOs but didn’t like them as much (SWG, DAoC, AO, AC, Vanguard, LotR).

    At this point in my life I’m sick of the MMO grind.  It’s all the same really.  I just rattled off 8 games and they all have more or less the same gameplay.  You kill a lot of repetitive creatures, slowly gaining levels and powers, only to kill more repetitive creatures.  This continues until you are into endgame where in addition to killing repetitive monsters, you will also need a full guild and have to make a regular raiding schedule, which will most certainly interfere again and again with your real life (assuming you have one.)  The hours put into the game get longer and longer for rewards that make less and less of an impact on your character.  *snore*

    So that was my mental state when I bumped into Overlord on GameTap.  Truly this game is the antidote for MMO burnout, especially since the last one I was playing was LotR online where you can’t play an evil character (except for in a very limited way for PvP), but instead have to do goody-goody quests ad infinitum.  Blech.

    Overlord has  beautiful visuals to similar to LotR, but is fast-paced (you can start making a mess with your 10 "Gremlin"-looking demons immediately.)  But instead of starting out as hobbit, you can instead go crazy killing hobbits ("halfings" they are technically called.)  Let’s face it.  Who at this point has not fantasized about being Sauron and laying waste to all the fat, lazy hobbits and smelly humans?  Guess what, you ARE basically Sauron (as he looked at the beginning of the "Fellowship") and can raise as much hell and mayhem as you can handle!!  Talk about a relief from the MMO grind.  This is a blast, and yet it still has depth of play.  The NPCs opinion of you changes completely depending on your actions, and new goodies for my character came at a sprightly pace.  I love that you slowly build up your throne room from a broken-down hovel into something more respectable.

    The world and quests are about as equally open-ended as an MMO, but everything moves faster.  You don’t have to spend a week or more just getting to the better abilities of your class.  The best thing of all compared to an MMO is that there are no annoying noobs begging for extra gold.

    I don’t really have any negative points about this game except that it is perhaps it’s a little sexist.  (At one point you abduct 10 women to be your slaves…considering their flimsy little cloth garments, the insinuation is that they are also your sex slaves.)    But everything about the game is so tongue-in-cheek that I would have to be really anal retentive to get mad at something like that.

    Gremlins_2
       

    I give Overlord an 9/10, and a 10/10 if you’ve just come from playing LotR online–it will blow your mind just how much fun a game can be.  You’ll feel like you are in a similarly immersive world as far as graphics and sound (in fact at some points I thought I was still in the same game), but instead of having to take on endless boring quest chains, you’ll instead get to break, smash, kill, and loot everything in sight! After slaying about a 100 fat hobbits in a row like me, you’ll probably find yourself saying, "life is good again."

    *iZaBAeL

    World of Warcraft Epic Mount

    • Posted on February 22, 2007 at 11:51 am

    Yeah baby!  I got my EPIC FLYING MOUNT last night!!

    Satanica, level 70 Warlock:

    Screenshot 1, is the full sized screenshot of the cropped pic above
    Screenshot 2, is an older shot of Satanica looking pretty hot