9
May
Features Games and Gaming
2
This is Part 3 in an ongoing series about my 53-year-old mother’s attempts to play video games. Part 1 can be found here, and all other entries can be found by clicking the “Your Mom” tag, to the left.
I chose Super Smash Bros Brawl as one of the games for her to play, because we hadn’t done a fighting game yet, and Smash Brothers is pretty straightforward and easy to pick up. I also knew that it would have lots of characters in it that she’d recognize from seeing me play Nintendo as a kid.
11
Apr
Features Games and Gaming
Comments Off
The Devil Tesla’s post about Duke Nukem Forever started me thinking about how people have been reacting to the various announcements about the game. I started wondering what exactly the reaction would be if the game let you choose between having men, women, or both as the objectified characters. I realize that this is very much an “apples and oranges” kinds of comparison, but I do think that it’s interesting to consider.
7
Apr
Features Games and Gaming
1
This is part 2 in an ongoing series about my 53-year-old mother’s attempts to play video games. Part 1 can be found here.
After Portal, I decided to have my mom play Final Fantasy X. I chose this particular Final Fantasy game because it is entirely turn-based. Unlike many other games in the series, almost nothing in the game requires a fast reaction time — you have as long as you want to make menu selections. I figured that this would be make the game easier for her to pick up. Mom was excited about this, because she knew how much I liked the series. “I’ve never played Final Fantasy! Can you just start in the middle at 10?”
14
Mar
Features Games and Gaming
3
My 53-year-old mother was recently in town visiting me, and while she was here, I decided to have her play lots and lots of video games. Even though she’s not really a gamer, she played Pong and Ms. Pac Man from time to time when she was younger, and when I was growing up, she would play the occasional game of Tetris on my NES. Currently, she enjoys playing Peggle, Wii Fit, and Katamari Damacy (or as she calls it: “The rolly-up game,”) but that’s pretty much the extent of her gaming experience. Because I am not above exploiting my own family for entertainment purposes, I decided to take notes while she played and write about the experience.
16
Feb
Features Games and Gaming
6
Sure, everyone knows about the LGBT characters who get all of the attention, like Tony Prince from The Ballad of Gay Tony, Zevran from Dragon Age, and a large percentage of the female Commanders Shepard from Mass Effect. But what about the lesser known gay characters in gaming? These characters’ moment in the spotlight is long overdue, and it’s time for them to get a moment of recognition.
5
Feb
Features Games and Gaming
5
LAN parties — those wonderful gatherings where gamers haul their computers to one location, network them together, and play multiplayer games. Pizza, caffeine, and alcohol are often involved as well. Back when broadband Internet connections were less common, and some games didn’t even directly support Internet play, LAN parties were one of the more practical ways to play multiplayer computer games with low lag against your friends. But now, when most people have broadband Internet connections, and every new multiplayer game has Internet connectivity built in, why would anyone want to go to all the trouble of hauling their computer to someone else’s house to play computer games, when they could just as easily play each other online? Are LAN parties no longer relevant? Simply put, playing games in person with your friends is a completely different experience than playing them online. Sure, it may be a little more work to haul your computer to your friend’s house, but it’s worth it in the end.
27
Jan
Features Games and Gaming
4
Square-Enix recently announced that they were working on a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, titled Final Fantasy XIII-2. As a card-carrying Final Fantasy fanboy, I am already excited about this, based on nothing more than a 2 minute trailer. However, there is still that nagging voice in the back of my head that keeps reminding me about the fact that Final Fantasy XIII was my least favorite game in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but certain aspects of the game were a bit off-putting, and I hope that Square-Enix takes the time to address these issues in the sequel.
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It’s 1977. I’m 12 years old. It’s a gorgeous Northern BC summer day, one of those glorious fleeting perfect days that are all the sweeter in the frozen north, because the memories of mud and slush barely fade before the leaves have already begun to turn again. Utterly pure blue sky, sun warm on the skin, grass a deep impatient green, a light breeze off the lake that is so invigoratingly packed with oxygen and piney perfume it might as well be cocaine. I’m playing third base, it’s what we’d call little league if we called it that in Canada back then, I’m just beginning to feel the awkwardness of adolescence, but the sheer pleasure of being alive and standing on that dirt under that gigantic bowl of sky on that day is more than enough to let me ignore my self-consciousness. I’m a big, strong kid, and even if I’m more bookworm than jock, I enjoy sports.
We return after holidays, work, and the inevitable technical breakdowns, but we persevere to bring you another podcast! This week, we discuss the impossible: Minecraft goes 1.0, the unfortunate: GSC Game Studios and GamePro fold, and the stupid: EA continues their über-ban policy, parents name their kid after a character in Skyrim, Telltale gets caught [...]
Making video game characters with whom I can fall in love takes a cocktail of hard work, genius, luck and Jennifer Hale. It turns out that making video game characters I can hate takes practically no effort at all. In this short series of articles a small collection of pixels, logic and random events will [...]
To get myself back in the groove, I will make this short and (hopefully) sweet. I have 3 Steam copies of Worms Reloaded to give away. All you have to do is comment below, and I will randomly pick 3 winners. No stories needed! I will pick the winners Thursday night, and announce them sometime [...]
Well, hell, it’s been a long time. I’m sorry for the disruption in service. To make up for it, I’m giving away 2 copies of Portal 2. You might have heard of Portal, it helped launch the Orange box, made TF2 a household name (at least in my circle of friends) So, here is the [...]
Welcome back to the feature formerly known as Do You Like Free Stuff. This time around, I am offering up one pre-order Direct2Drive copy of Civilization V. The contest will run til 8:00 P.M. Eastern Thursday September 2nd. How do you enter? Just leave a comment below. I will randomly choose one winner this week [...]
This past August Paradox Interactive announced that 2012 would see the release of a Crusader Kings II, a sequel to the 2004 original that is part of the “Grand Sweep of History” series – a series which allows the clinically insane to start a game in 280 BC with Europa Universalis : Rome and finish [...]
Congrats to Absalom, his comment was the most randomly chosen out of all of them. May all your knucklebones come up sixes (unless you are playing against me)! Thanks to everyone who entered, look for a new contest coming soon.
I don’t know if you guys know this, but the LA Convention Center is big. Not only is it big, but it is remarkably short on places to sit down. However, now that I have been properly fed after today’s events, thanks to Philippe’s and their awesome beef dipped sandwiches, and can feel my right [...]
Sorry for the announcement delay, it was a long and busy weekend. The winners are: SpacePope NiceGuyMike Congratz to the winners! Sorry to all that did not win, but check back soon for more fun and exciting contests.
Oil Derrick Worker You never see them, because, well, they’re kinda isolated, but you hear reports about them, and they sound terrifying. Tai Chi Master If you ever swing that ax faster than an heavily sedated sea sponge, he goes down immediately. But should you go slower, HOO EEEEE!. Hipsters You only ever encounter their [...]
Well, hell, it’s been a long time. I’m sorry for the disruption in service. To make up for it, I’m giving away 2 copies of Portal 2. You might have heard of Portal, it helped launch the Orange box, made TF2 a household name (at least in my circle of friends) So, here is the [...]
Thanks to everyone who typed some letters and then hit the “Submit Comment” button! The 5 lucky winners are: Timothy beardlace Lawton27 gamegeneral Gemmy check your email, or steam popups. Enjoy your prizes! Stay tuned for our next event.
Hello, Full Glass Empty Clip readers! We’ve received a literal trickle of emails complaining about the lack of sensory stimulation that our humble blog provides. Here’s an example letter: “Dear Full Glass Empty Clip: Your website is wondrous to behold, a treat for the eyes, both in design and the uniformly high quality of the [...]
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