Archive for June 16th, 2011

Weekly Little Big Planet: wooda coulda shoulda

, | Features

His name is Cowboy Bob and he needs you to help him recover the Golden Apple from the Cave of the Alligator Mouth…or something. I couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to a word he said because he was utterly useless as a collaborator. That’s why he’s not pictured. He did nothing to help me. He’s part of the level, and we’re supposed to be working together, but he is total dead weight. Now I know how my friends feel when we play co-op. In fact, he got himself trapped in a cage from which I had to liberate him, so he gets extra minus points. Cowboy Bob, you suck at this game. My friend, we are simpatico!

Your level, however, does not suck. I liked it a lot. It’s called Wooden Perfection, and believe me, I wrestled quite a bit with what to do with the title of this entry. I’m not going to lie to you, the word ‘sporting’ was part of it for a good long while. But since this isn’t a political blog, I decided against using that headline.

This is about gaming, and in that vein…er…

After the jump, the planet core Continue reading →

Starcraft II: descending the ladder

, | Game diaries


The Starcarft II ladder is the perfect home for what I’m going to call the casual hardcore gamer. Those of us who have an obsessive competitive streak but are also saddled with bothersome responsibilities like work. And children. Let me tell you, children will wreak havoc on your gaming time. That precious “single sitting” indie game is going to take you two weeks to finish at best. That 40+ hour eastern european RPG is good for a season, if you even manage to finish it. And you can forget about MMOs unless you want a visit from child services.

But Starcraft II? In an hour or so you can play all the daily Starcraft II a normal man can manage.

After the jump, a normal man tries to manage. Continue reading →