Just before Halloween 2011, Activision unleashed their toy/game hybrid Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure onto the marketplace. This Frankenstein experiment probably slipped under the holiday radar of most Gamers, a group so hardcore they get a capitalized category. It most likely drove parents batty as they competed with scalpers for limited product. And it definitely turned out to be a gold mine. Now Skylanders is back and “boomier” than ever as Skylanders Giants.
Was the lightning rod struck again to bring life to these plastic creatures? How does Giants work for Gamers, parents, and gaming parents? Let’s cast the bat signal towards the sky over Forced Metaphore Castle and assemble the elite Skylanders team of Kiddo, Mommy and Rob to find out why a seven-year-old is roaring around the house while making slow motion stomping noises, why it’s a great time to be a Gaming Dad, and why Mommy fears going to birthday parties (hint: it’s not keriophobia).
After the jump, abandon all fiscal hope, ye who enter here Continue reading →
While recording an interview with an actual non-gaming broadcasting network about XCOM, the host introduced me as the guy who didn’t like Deus Ex. I confessed that was baggage I carry around, at which point he asked me how long it had been. I noted that was back in 2001 and then, while casting about for something to say — I thought we were going to talk about XCOM — I said something to the effect of, “well, a lot of bad stuff happened back in 2001”.
As the words were leaving my mouth, it was like that moment when you’re swinging the car door shut just as you realize the keys are still in the ignition. “A lot of bad stuff happened back in 2001”? What the…?
I later asked him to edit that out. In case he didn’t, I would like to preemptively apologize for being the sort of dillhole who compares a game he didn’t like to 9/11.
2K has announced the first DLC for XCOM.
In this new set of linked Council missions, gamers will meet an enigmatic Triad operative, divert an alien ship’s course, and do battle with the aliens in the skies over China. The Slingshot Content Pack includes three new maps tied to the Council missions, a new playable squad character with a unique story and voice and new character customization options. The release date and pricing of the Slingshot Content Pack will be announced soon.
Linked Council missions? Like a mini story arc on pre-set maps? Do you play it on its own, or does it just drop into your ongoing game? A new character for your squad? A character they’re making instead of me? It sounds to me like someone at 2K doesn’t get XCOM.
On a related note, you can now buy the option to customize your soldiers’ armor for $5. This was previously only available to folks who pre-ordered XCOM.
Overheard from a level 26 player in the multiplayer lobby of Forza Horizon, a game in which you spin a roulette wheel every time you level up, earning a random car or sum of money:
After level 25 it’s pointless to level up, other than to get free shit, because you don’t get an achievement for it.
I can’t really speak to that, as I haven’t even gotten the achievement for hitting level 10 yet. However, I’m shocked — shocked, I tell you! — that Forza Horizon won’t let me drive a Honda Fit or a Dodge Viper. I shall ragequit forthwith–
Wait, what’s this? A classic black and gold 1977 Trans Am Firebird, one of mankind’s greatest kitsch accomplishments? Forza Horizon may very well be the awesomest driving game ever conceived.
Mechanically, Eufloria is one of those quasi RTSs in which you scoot numbers around a bunch of nodes until you win. Except they’re not numbers. They’re weird bird things. When you look closely at Eufloria, it reveals the delicate sensibility of frail new life, whether its sperm fertilizing a veined translucent egg, a sapling pushing its way out of the soil, or new leaves budding from fractally generated branches. For its aesthetics and visual metaphors, Eufloria is unique and lovely. Even the music sounds like you’re getting a massage or contemplating the mysteries of the universe on peyote.
After the jump, like, wow, man, totally, but what about the game? Continue reading →
