feature
Feature: Top 10 movies of the past decade that should be made into video games
Just kidding...
As I write this list, I’m coming to the cockle-warming realization that games are finally crafting the sort of narrative identities that don’t have to play second fiddle (or any fiddles, really) to those in other mediums. Most people will tell you that Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies are some of the best of the past decade, but Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum and Arkham City offer equally compelling Batman experiences and are stories worth experiencing in their own right. Likewise for Rockstar’s stunning take on the wild west in Red Dead Redemption; there are few, if any, comparable Western narratives in the realm of film over the past ten years (though just for argument’s sake, The Proposition is pretty darn good).
Author: Cody
Feature: The game development dream team
Like this, but with less athletic ability.
What if by some dark, unspeakable magics contractual obligations ceased to exist and every game developer in the industry was suddenly free to work with whomever he or she pleased? What if the stars aligned and money wasn’t an issue and a development “dream team” descended from the heavens? What would it look like? What would its name be? Could we even play one of Valizzard’s (working title) games without our minds exploding from the awesomenesss?
Author: CodyFeature: A brief look at the games of 2012
I’d say GameSpot has got most of them covered here, although there are a few I’d add. And by a few I mean 14…
Author: CodyFeature: InsaneBear’s 2011 Game of the Year
Another year, another reflective diary entry on how many social opportunities I sacrificed for video games…wait, that’s not right! No: this is a celebration of what has probably been the best year of games since 2007. So let’s get down to business and start with the InsaneBear tradition of looking back on the previous year’s games and re-evaluating our opinions in hindsight.
Author: CodyFeature: Top 15 games to play over the holidays
First off: no Mario games. We all love Nintendo’s main man, but I could list off the good plumber’s titles ’til the cows come home, and I don’t have any cows…so that might go on for a while. Also, all entries come from this generation of consoles, because frankly, my entire list would consist of GoldenEye otherwise. So with that said, how can you get your gaming fix this holiday season with all manner of trash talking siblings, rambunctious cousins, and overly curious aunts and uncles scurrying around the house?
Author: CodyFeature: Pitching K.I.A.
Concept Art - Muted realsim that progressively gives way to colorful stylization as the action gets hotter.
Introduction: K.I.A. is a Tactical Modern Military First-Person Shooter that seeks to explore the human cost of war through a morally ambiguous narrative and gameplay mechanics that reflect your character’s emotional state in varying degrees of exaggeration. Stepping into the boots of Private Jose Hernandez, you’ll undertake an odyssey of war that spares no women, children, or refugees. Along the way you’ll bond ever closer with your squad-mates over conversations of home, risky favors, and nerve-rattling combat. The eleven soldiers who fight by your side hail from varying backgrounds, but every one of them will come to be considered family to Pvt. Hernandez over the course of a harrowing global conflict. But can the men of Charlie squad save you from yourself?
Author: CodyFeatures: What makes a good side quest?
Some side quests introduce us to party members' family members in the hardest fight of the game. Fun!
So with the recent releases of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City, I thought it’d be appropriate to have a discussion on side quests–specifically, what separates the good from the bad? I think we can all agree that when side quests are done well, they unquestionably contribute to a vastly better game experience. In fact, side quests often turn out to be more memorable than main quests for me personally. But why is that?
Author: CodyFeature: Pitching Slayer
Concept Art - That's about right.
Introduction: Slayer takes all the action, drama, and comedy of Joss Whedon’s beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer and puts it into a choice-driven Action-RPG set ten years after the destruction of Sunnydale. You play as one of the many potential Slayers who was awoken in the events of the series finale, and with none other than Giles as your personal Watcher, you must assemble your very own Scooby Gang to combat Buffy herself. An unidentified big bad has sired the most powerful Slayer the world has ever known and together they’re working to undo all the good that’s been done. You’ll encounter Angel, Spike, Willow and the rest along the way, but ultimately, only you can stop the vampire slayer turned vampire.
Author: CodyFeature: Top 10 mini-games
Shenmue - The game where the mini-games are the game, man.
Before venturing any further into what will surely be dubbed an inadequate list by the lot of you, I’d first like to try to define just what a mini-game is. For starters, despite what the internet seems to think, it’s not Call of Duty‘s Nazi Zombies mode; that’s a full-fledged feature. It’d be like calling Gears of War‘s Horde mode a mini game. No, mini-games need to differentiate themselves from the core gameplay in some way. But they also need to realistically exist within the context of and feel authentic to the game-world, which rules out randomly misplaced distractions like Project Gotham Racing 2‘s Geometry Wars. Lastly, a mini-game needs to be something that can be returned to again and again regardless of where you are in the game’s story. In other words, it has to exist outside of one or two quests. Oh, and I’m ruling out mini-games from mini-game compilations in this list; sorry WarioWare and Mario Party. Following this definition, I give you ten of the best mini-games in a vast landscape of mundane wood chopping and mediocre button-mashing.
Author: CodyFeature: Pitching Tag
Concept Art - The starkly clean world of Mirror's Edge tainted by a renaissance of graffiti.
After a bit of a hiatus, circumstances have allowed for the return of InsaneBear’s “Pitching” feature, in which I conjure up a basic game concept and present it for my faithful readers to critique and compare against the current gaming landscape. What’s good or bad about this game? Which of its elements would you like to see in other games? These questions and more are an important part of “Pitching” that will allow us to create a meaningful dialogue on conventions of game design. Of course, the feature’s return is subject to reader response; so let us know if you’d like to see more like this or if you’d rather stick with InsaneBear’s traditional features!
Author: Cody
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