…from a joke standpoint.
Is there really going to be ten frets or are you just going to have identical gameplay down the neck of the guitar? Methinks the latter since Harmonix has said that the original GH guitars would work with Rock Band. If they do it such that you have to switch between top and bottom at intervals, that would be a good compromise. I mostly care about the vocals though.
I’m saving this link in case I ever need to “borrow” some DS mechanics from a place no one would look.
Here’s a game article that uses q, x and z in the space of five words. The z was on a triple word score as well, so that’s mega points.
No one I’ve talked to has been impressed with what has been released about All Pro 2k8. I’m all for it if it is actually a fantastic product, but if their only revolutionary features are “We aren’t Madden!” and “Remember how good we were five years ago?” then I don’t think the strategy is going to pay off too well. It’s ultimately going to be a decent playing game, but everyone here has been holding their breath for their megaton feature that trumps having the NFL license. The more that comes out, the less the tension in the air becomes.
Also: I’ve been coding in ASP.NET all day. Anyone that willingly chooses ASP.NET or willingly chooses to foist that on someone is a Grade-A jerkwad.
Step 1: Find a bunch of nerds trapped at a studio.
Step 2: Ensure excessive income due to excessive overtime.
Step 3: Put a donut shaped conference table in the studio.
Step 4: Ball Pit
McSweeney’s is in dire straights and needs money. As much as I’d like to help them more, I already subscribe to the quarterly and Wholphin along with buying the occasional book now and then (Icelander was my last and was one of my favorite books of the year), but if you are out there reading this and you are looking for some good smart content, McSweeney’s is your place.
…
Who am I kidding? I went back and bought Issues #1-3 of the Quarterly. I am a packrat and compulsive spender. Issues before #10 are very hard to get without paying large sums on eBay, and they are only offering reprints of 1-3 on a limited basis. Now with these I will have issues #1-3, 9-16, 18-23.
While some issues are more uneven than others, I’ve never been disappointed with a single issue. In fact, McSweeney’s has some of the best content out there and is definitely the most unique publication. Issue #13 was in comic book form. Issue #15 was all about Iceland. Issue #16 had a comb. Issue #17 was cleverly disguised as junk mail. Issue #19 came in a cigar box. Issue #22 was magnetic. One issue was interspersed with letters received by Ray Charles’ estate. One had stories that were each written in twenty minutes. I could keep listing the great things the Quarterly has printed, but it would ruin the what-will-they-think-of-next anticipation.
It sounds gimmicky, but it also features some of the highest quality stories I have ever read. Highest recommendation.
Anyone see the EASports.com Madden NFL blog site? I’m really surprised this is allowed out in this era of licensor approvals / PR-filter everything. Awesome. If only more games had this level of down and dirty designer diaries (alliteration!), I’d be a happy designer.
Powerthirst - Kick Mother Nature in the face with your energy legs.
From: http://sports.ign.com/articles/785/785850p1.html
On what the NFL would like to see improved in Madden…: “A lot of it are simply tweaks. Feedback coming from our guys who review our rulebook day in and day out, something as benign as this official should be positioned a little closer to the sideline on these particular plays or just some obscure calls with respect to punts or field goals. They are pretty much that, they are tweaks because they do the game, EA does the game fantastically well for us and we’re just there, again, to make it as close to what’s happening on the field as possible.”
On the stuff that is said in real life compared to the content allowed in the game…: “Sometimes there are things said that a microphone picks up, and I’m not just talking about expletives, it’s just something a little too negative. It happens. We’re not going to say that never happens. We’re never going to say that everything that’s said on the field is squeaky clean. But when it comes to a licensed product where we have the ability to make sure everything is good, we have the time, we have the opportunity to make those decisions about what is going to stay, what’s not going to stay.”
Emphasis added by me. Just an observation.
Ernest Adams thinks you should hold on to your EA stock based on the strength of EA’s brands, like James Bond.
James Bond? (Note that the article is thirteen months old)
Moral: You wouldn’t ask stock analysts to design video games. Don’t take stock-picking advice from game designers.