Hot Takes 2016

Hey all,

It's July so that means the year is more than half over. What has 2016 brought to the table for video games? In this post I'm going to shotgun a bunch of hot takes on two of the supposedly hottest games of this year.

Get Psyched!

Talkin' about Assassin's Creed.

Hey everyone long time no see!

I don't know if I'll get back to my regular weekly schedule just yet but I did have some words written about the Assassin's Creed series which has a new entry out and is about to enter it's ninth year with no sign of stopping. So let's talk about it! By which I mean you sit there and watch as I ramble on for thousands of words.

There's a lot to be said for the relative strengths and weaknesses of Ubisoft Montreal's flagship series so I'll try to give everything a fair shake as I come to it. That being said... Full Disclosure: I really like Assassin's Creed. I've liked it since the first one, warts and all. So I tend to give these games the benefit of the doubt when it comes to criticizing them but I do recognize there are areas of these games and how they're designed that are very deserving of it.

Uncharted 2: Among Murderers

Hey everyone!

It's been a month since I last updated, I know. It was a busy month and I needed a bit of a break. I'm going to try to get back to my weekly schedule or at the very least get back to updating regularly.

While there's a lot that's been going on the past month I'm just going to take a minute to talk about the nature of the Triple A game, otherwise known as the Immaculately Conceived Murder Sim. The jumping off point: A little game from 2009 by Naughty Dog called Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Gamification, or: The Thing That Ate Video Games

Hey everybody!

It's been a week so you know what the deal is. Was kind of busy this week so the post is shorter than usual but hopefully no less thought-provoking. It has to do with a trend in game design that has become quite prominent lately.

Check it out.

The Holo-World: Coming Soon to a Society Near You

Hello again dear readers,

While I spent last week's post dwelling a bit in the past and its effects on the present day I would like to take this week's post to look ahead a bit into the future.

Specifically, I want to take a closer look at the whole Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality trend that has been gaining traction in the past few years. Due to advances in the technology and a lot of hard work in development the science fiction vision of the future where everyone is interacting with holograms and stuff will soon be upon us.

So what does it all mean? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Virtual Economies in Digital Gaming; or, The Future I Did Not See Coming

Good lord has it been a week already?!

It looks like it has! I better write something!

Okay, uh, so you know how sometimes when you're doing something like, say, playing a video game or reading a good book time just seems to slip away from you? Well, psych!, my week hasn't really been like that at all. I've just had the flu since I last posted.

Still have the flu, technically, but I don't feel as bad as I did. I'm not quite back at 100% but I'll get there don't you worry.

Now, I heard you liked video games?

The Way Things Were: MS-DOS Gaming

Hey everyone!

A little late again as usual but this time it's a special post. That wonderful site the Internet Archive has a new section for software and among their selections they have over 2000 (!) MS-DOS games and, get this, they're all PLAYABLE right from your browser!

So if you're at all curious what PC gaming in the late '80s and early '90s was like then click through and take a quick tour with me.

Indies Comin' At Ya In 2015!

HAPPY NEW YEAR MURDER HEADS!

While you were out getting wasted at the New Years office party trying to work up the courage to approach Janice from HR there were lots of people who had bravely left behind the world of steady employment to follow their passions and make their dream games reality.

Through sheer force of will along with whatever money they could scrape together from Kickstarter and People Like You! these creative souls prove that you don't need a multimillion dollar budget to produce the Next Great Thing in video gaming.

In this post I'm going to talk about a smattering of some Hot New Indie stuff I'm personally looking forward to this year. It's by no means comprehensive regarding what all is coming out this year because in case you haven't noticed indies are still exploding and show no signs of stopping any time soon.

Suffice it to say these games represent the cream of the crop because in addition to being an all around awesome dude I have also happen to have excellent taste in video games.

I swear you aren't ready for this action but it's comin' at ya anyway!

Gaming 2014: The Year In Review

Hey all, hope you had a good holiday season.

So 2014 is almost over! That year went by fast but then again once you hit your middle 20s the years just start zipping by like the pages in one of those animated flip books.

Since it's year-end I'm going to do one of those year-end review type pieces.

Check it:

Far Cry 3: Far Cry With A Vengeance

Hey Ladies and Jerks,

Been a few minutes since we last spoke and this time we're talking about Far Cry. Far Cry is a game from 2004 by Crytek (of Crysis fame) about a man with a gun shooting lots of other men with guns in order to rescue a girl.

Far Cry 3 is  game from 2012 by Ubisoft (of Assassin's Creed fame) about a man with a lot of guns shooting even more men with even more guns in order to rescue TWO girls and even a couple dudes.

Progressive, right?

Click through below to find out if there's really more to it than that.

Tomb Raider 2013: Tomb Raiding Optional

What's crackin' y'all?

I think I missed a week there but all is well! I'm not so busy anymore so now I'll take a moment and jot down some thoughts on some vidya.

I picked up that new Tomb Raider reboot from last year on PlayStation Network's holiday sale and have been playing it this past week. There's stuff I like about it and stuff I don't.

Take a gander why don'cha?

What's Playin': Mobile Edition: Part Deux

Hello everyone! Little late to the party again and it's another listicle for this week! Don't worry, someday I will get back to writing more long-form pieces again.

As it is though I'm going to spend the next week moving and most of my gaming will be of the mobile variety so what better topic for a post? This is a current sampling of some of the stuff I'm playing on my iPhone 5. It's a good eclectic mix of puzzle and action gaming, all of it perfectly suited for on-the-go gaming.

Let's dig in!

Rockin' the Vidya-Casbah: A Look At Some of Rockstar's Games

Ooooh-wee, y'all!

I skipped a post last week because I was just too busy to sit down and write something. Well no more of that, I promise! Between packing stuff and getting ready to move I've found the time to return to some old favorites of mine from a company that is quite well known, Rockstar Games.

The three games I'll be talking about in this post are all venerable classics in their own right, all released within a year of each other. They are: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), The Warriors (2005) and Bully (2006). Though each game was made by separate studios working under the Rockstar banner I show how they all share a common DNA.

What's Playin': Mobile Edition

Hey y'all,

Another week another image-heavy, content-lite post from ol' Mr. Mech. Just been kicking along and letting the thoughts simmer in that noggin' of mine so for the time being let me introduce you to a new series here on TDMJ: What's Playin': Mobile Edition.

In this series I talk about games I'm playing at the moment. As you might surmise the "Mobile Edition" part means these are basically the games I'm currently playin' on my mobile devices.

Let's get to it!

Talking About Talking About Video Games

Hello everyone!

I am a bit behind this week and don't have my crap together. I've got a post on the Zelda series I started but I don't know if I'm going to finish it. I might, I just don't know!

Much like last week I let this week slip by without thinking of anything interesting to write about. So I'm going to riff free hand with some random thoughts on talking about video games.

Memory Lane - Part 1

Hello again my dearest readers!

This is the first part in a new ongoing series I'm going to do about my formative gaming experiences. Welcome to Memory Lane. In this article I cover my earliest gaming memories up to the first major milestone, the game Doom.

Let's have at it!

Fever Dreams in Deepest Space, a Review of Alien: Isolation

Hello again Dear Readers,

This time around I'm going to talk about a really great game that came out recently. That game is Alien: Isolation by The Creative Assembly. It's set up as a sequel of sorts to the first Alien movie that was directed by Ridley Scott back in 1979.

I just finished the main campaign the other day and I loved the game to pieces despite a few flaws. This is a game made by fans of the original movie for fans of the original movie. As fan service for Alien fans it succeeds with flying colors. As a horror game it is merely very good. And as a video game in general it has some nits to pick at.

It's kind of a cross between System Shock 2 and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, with a bit of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay sprinkled in for good measure.

Here's the skinny:

BioShock: Infinite or, Infinite Worlds, Zero Choice

What's happening True Doomers!

This week I'm going to talk about another one of those BioShock games, this time BioShock: Infinite. What's the final word, you ask?

Well, let me put it this way. For a supposed "thinking man's shooter" this game is actually quite offensive to thinking people everywhere.

Let me tell you why.

Ten Week Anniversary!

Hey Murder Junkies and Junkettes!

This is the tenth post to this blog and as such represents ten straight weeks of commentary and criticism of all the digital shooting and looting, slicing and dicing, and general murder and mayhem we all enjoy from time to time.

So let me just take a moment to pat myself on the back for managing to take my creative impulses and tether them to a steady schedule for so long.

*pat*

Felt great, thanks for asking! Let's talk about some games!

An Introduction to Violence

Hello once again fellow Doomers,

Today I'm going to talk about violence in video gaming. I got some comments on last weeks article that suggested I should explore the topic of violence in popular games further and how these games use ethical window dressing to make that violence more palatable.

That seemed like a swell idea to me so here we are. Let's talk about violence.