I have a “Separated at Birth” videogame controversy that rocks the foundations of the videogame reporting world. So… in August’s issue of EGM magazine, they published a letter likening GTA4’s Niko Bellic to some Serbian baddie from Behind Enemy Lines. C’mon, seriously. Behind Enemy Lines? Let’s talk about a real eerie likeness. I’m talking about […]
Author Archives: Game Writer Guy
The videogame writing smackdown of the month
The videogame writing quandry Videogame writing often gets overlooked in the modern videogame development process. There’s no hiding from the raw facts. From EGM’s review of Alone in the Dark for Xbox 360: AITD wants to emulate the presentation of serial television, but neither the writing nor the “performances” compare to even TV’s least-essential shows. […]
“The Fall” is a movie you’ll regret not seeing
Screenwriting: See “The Fall” while you can I caught this gem recently on the strength of its trailer, and I definitely don’t regret it. Visually stunning and filled with subtle heart, it’s worth your time. Here’s the summary: a little girl and a young man are both in a hospital, recovering from injuries; his are […]
JJ Abrams’ Lost Thoughts on Creativity
JJ Abrams’ Lost Thoughts, get it? Ha ha… sorry. Anyhow, a friend recently turned me on to TED.com, a site where you can view talks from the cognoscenti from all sorts of incredible fields and backgrounds. On TED, I recently found this entertaining and thoughtful lecture by JJ Abrams, the creative guy behind Lost, Cloverfield, […]
A moment of Amy Winehouse levity from Photoshop Disasters
Photoshop Disasters is often good for a howl. And it fits nicely into my “geek skills” category on this blog. With great power comes great responsibility, yadda yadda yadda. As if Amy Winehouse doesn’t have enough problems… she now has Thing growing out of her left shoulder. (Click to visit Photoshop Disasters. They’ve got some […]
Gears of War 2 gets a new smoke grenade
Gears of War fans, rejoice. The gameplay for those previously useless smoke grenades is getting a facelift. In the first Gears of War, the smoke grenades were as useful as they would be in a Quake 3 deathmatch. There’s really nothing tactical about GoW; it’s a pure twitch game with zero stealth. And I’m not […]
ACL “Sound and the Jury” contest horrors
Game visuals in Gears of War 2, and RIP CGW
Two quick notes for you game-hungry readers… First if you’ve seen the screenshots for Gears of War 2, you might want to compare them with the screenshots for Gears of War 1. You’ll notice that: a) GoW 2 is gorgeous. Haze, smoke, particles. Details recede into the background. Textures are richer and more plentiful. AND… […]
Best videogame monster
Best videogame monster: now accepting your nominations The best videogame monster. Now that’s a competitive category. Like best movie villain, except a heck of a lot more likely to make your palms sweat. Even if you’re a novice videogamer, you’ve probably seen your share of incredible videogame monsters. Some examples that spring to my mind: […]
What happened to M. Night Shyamalan?
What the heck happened, M. Night Shyamalan? I just saw the ad for the new M. Night movie. It’s designed to look like some kind of andromeda strain movie. “There appears to be an event happening,” a man intones. This, according to our statistics, is the blandest, most uninformative, passive-voice piece of advertising ever recorded […]