Stephane Petit-Clerc
The oft-released Dragon's Lair seems such a staple of video game history that it may well seem that anything negative said about it is a knock against the entire industry, but unfortunately it must be said; while the game may have pioneered new technology and a new way to mesh interactivity into gaming, it simply doesn't transcend to the lofty plateau of being called a classic. Read More.
As a person who enjoys movies immensely, there's nothing more I hate than seeing a trailer that gives away everything; the premise, the plot twists, the characterization, the set-pieces and the conclusion. But it happens. In fact, Hollywood will show you anything to get you into theaters even if the end product is not as good as its own trailer. Read More.
Eidos and Conspiracy Games have really tapped into something clever here. Well sorta! While I'm not really a fan of pool, I do certainly enjoy playing games with lots of bonus unlockable content especially when it involves sexy pictures and videos of scantily clad hotties. Read More.
I suppose if I'm to be completely honest about things; I've never really been a fan of the Rayman series. My first exposure to Rayman was on a Dreamcast demo disk (remember those?) and like all platformers, it's all hit or miss with me. Mario, Spyro, Banjo? Oh yes! Read More.
I am not a fan of party games or compilation games. Actually, strike that: I am not a fan of bad party games or bad compilation games. The problem is that there are more bad ones than good ones. And if you're creating a title with 30, 40 or even 70 mini-games, how good, deep or polished can each game really be? Read More.
There was a dark period in my life when I was addicted to MMO's; WoW, Lineage 2, FFXI, City of Heroes/Villains, I played them all. And then I discovered "free" MMO's, the kind that you can play for free and only pay real-world money to buy in-game items that could "assist" you in your quest. Read More.
As a standard racing game, Excite Truck would fail. It would simply be a showcase for the new Wii Remote controller and a nice game engine that looks half-decent but pales in comparison to the "other" off-road game on the horizon (MotorStorm). But Excite Truck is more than just controls, visuals and racing; it's a game that firmly has a grasp on the Excite series and shows us that win or lose, it's really about how many stars you can accumulate along the way. Read More.
One thing is becoming more and more apparent as of late; while the two Big Boys of gaming are fighting tooth and nail to wage a console war based on power and graphics, Nintendo has spent its time releasing consoles that are simply fun to play. The DS, while no power house, has the touch-screen, the dual-screen and the microphone going for it. Read More.
While it may look like a GTA clone and will inevitably get compared to Rockstar's revered series, if we get right down to it, Crackdown is in no way, shape or form a GTA-type game. This will both please, alienate and disappoint many depending on your expectations. Read More.
When EA Sports bought the exclusive rights to the NFL license, many gamers felt they had lost a home. While both the Madden and NFL 2K franchises were great for various reasons, they were also different enough to warrant separate purchases. A month into the 2005 football season, I needed my 2K fix and bad. Read More.
Like many other football fans, I love my stats. Sure when friends are over it's nice to take the action onto the actual playing field, but when I'm alone with most football games, I like to spend more time with the numbers. It might sound odd, but the numbers are generally the most compelling point of football to me and anyone who's seen a Monday Night game knows that if it wasn't for statistics, there sometimes wouldn't be a point to watching certain games: "Well football fans, it's well documented that Tom Brady has never lost a Monday night's game against the Colts following a Sunday night's sirloin steak diner, eaten at a restaurant beginning with a vowel preceded by a game of dominoes in which he won 5 out of 9 times facing an opponent who's age was divisible by 3 and who's mother's sister's maiden name began with a consonant. Read More.
When EA bought the exclusive rights to the NFL license, it spelled disaster for a few football game makers. While Sega seems to have taken heart in trumping EA in every other major videogame sports game, Midway has simply decided that a license shouldn't spell fun for everyone. Read More.
The first Destroy All Humans! game was a blessed in many ways. While probably intended as a niche title, the fact that it was an open-ended sandbox game released before the market became completely saturated with them was a definite bonus. That it also featured a clever title that made everyone take notice and that it was in essence a funny, clever game that received great reviews were all reasons for its success and its inevitable sequel. Read More.
Some of my fondest memories of playing videogames involve the Sega Dreamcast. Oddly enough, like its name implies, my memories of it seem short, hazy and dreamlike. I remember Resident Evil, I remember Soul Caliber, I remember Crazy Taxi and above all else, I remember Phantasy Star Online. Read More.
While advertising is one thing, the gaming community is more in tune with hype. You know, that little voice that gets everyone telling you that you need to buy a certain game because it's the next big thing. That wave of unjustified awe that gets newsgroups buzzing and fan boys coming out of the woodwork proclaiming the second coming. Read More.
