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Pier Solar HD Review
posted by TeleportPass Dec 30 2014 06:03 GMT
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Pier Solar and the Great Architects is a 90's style RPG by WaterMelon. It was released in 2010 on a SEGA MegaDrive/Genesis cartridge. This was the last Genesis game ever made, and it pushed the hardware to its limits, from what I've read. An NPC in the game even makes a joke on SNES games having loading times. Recently, though, the game was given a brand-new set of graphics in HD, and released for modern home game platforms, OUYA, Android, and even the old Dreamcast. I Read about it on Wii U Daily. Until then, I had never heard of this game, but it looked cool, and I Had to have it. It's the only Wii U game of its kind not in the category of Virtual Console. The Wii U version is basically the same as the other versions, but people claim that it's best played on Wii U, for a reason I'll explain below. But if your Wii U is not your main game console, then you may rather want to get it for your PC or 8th gen console for the convenience.

The game starts it's story with Hoston and his dad, Rudy, who is dying of an illness that a certain doctor hasn't shown up to heal yet. Hoston wants get the legendary Meinshu herbs to heal him, so he treks into the forest with his friends to find them. But this triggers a chain of events leading up to the uncovering of The Society, and their desire to obtain a device that can rewrite time and space.

Each character has HP and MP, and various spells he/she can use. The Battle command system has commands like "attack" and "spell" that cycle in a wheel when a directional input is used, similar to Paper Mario 2. An Auto Fight feature is there, but how and if you use it is up to you. Each party member can "gather" on a turn, accumulating a point of gather each turn. Each member can hold up to five of these at a time, and can even "send" his gather to another party member when needed. Gather is important because it increases attack power and Magic potency, so ice blasts get colder and healing feels better. Some attacks and spells require a certain quota of gather, too, to be used at all. And if a character falls in battle, he gets 1 HP when it's over, so HP recovery can be done as normal without needing to cure unconsciousness (that's one thing I really appreciate as an EarthBound fan).

apart from fighting, the towns and dungeons are layed out in an elaborately designed mix of sprites and modern graphics. The cutscenes combine both sprites moving around and the usual RPG-style dialogue boxes, with some events being depicted with drawings of certain events, like a manga. Even on old CRT TVs and monitors (my TV), Nintendo fans like those on Digibutter must agree that the game looks gorgeous. Even if you don't like the HD graphics, or are a longtime fan of the original, the game has all the original 16-bit MegaDrive graphics included just an option away. The Story has pretty good/sassy humor, on par with EarthBound's, but has some very serious, and unusually disturbing moments for games of the genre, it had me hooked especially near the end. The Soundtrack? That's in HQ too! The music of Pier Solar HD was beautiful, went well with the story, and makes for a good YouTube listening playlist. As with the graphics, the original 16-bit soundtrack can also be chosen if you would like. On the Wii I Gamepad screen, you can put a Status screen showing your HP and MP, and a radar .

While Pier Solar is a great game, there are still several flaws and quirks. The Battle system is especially tedious and repetitive. The Animations do take some time, and I, being a somewhat attached EarthBound fan, became fidgety when I got impatient with these. (There's a spell that gives temporary amnesty from encounters, but it's MP cost isn't feasible for repeated use)Areas have like 4 enemies in them, and the random-encounter rate gets annoying when you are trying to solve a puzzle. Halfway through the game, I started running away from like a third of these fights! An sabes que? Later into the game, enemies get recolored an reused. In fact, late in the game the same sprites from earlier in the game aren't recolored at all, and though they look like oldr enemies, their stats are updated to keep up with yours. Also, you may find yourself wandering aimlessly a lot: this game is anything but linear. I consulted a walk through sundry times because there were moments that it just wasn't obvious or findable what to do next. The Save system is...weird. If auto-save is enabled, the game will automatically save at the entrance of certain buildings or caves. This makes the game lag sometimes. (Even if Auto is not enabled, you can still use manual save points. Don't fret) for these reasons people call Pier Solar mediocre, and say that its genre did not age well (it's a 90's game in 2010's)

In my own opinion, I think that this game is great. It is commendable for the developer's first game, and if you like games like Breath of Fire and Chrono Trigger, this game is perfect for you!

TeleportPass
K
You gotta be shitting me
posted by Fallen Shade Oct 31 2014 06:28 GMT
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Gold Prognosticus
I had heard of this but had yet to see it. I wish it had remained that way. Think I'm gonna have to take a step back before I get into another long wall-o-text on the subject.
(Apparently there were large portions of the interview that were noticeably less pro-Anita that were cut out entirely, would be interesting to see what the uncut version looks like)
Amazon buys Twitch
blog.twitch.tv posted by Francis Aug 25 2014 20:25 GMT
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Probably to compliment a soon-to-be-announced Amazon cloud-gaming service (only playable on Fire devices, of course)

Ignorant
BUT THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS ALSO THE OLDEST?!??
Giant Bomb Is Moving Servers Thursday Morning
wikihow.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 17 2014 01:10 GMT
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It's moving day for this little guy.

Giant Bomb and Comic Vine will be in read-only mode from 7 AM until approximately 9 AM Pacific Time on Thursday while we move our servers to a new colocation facility. During this time, posts to the forums, wiki edits, personal messages, and other site changes may not be copied to our new servers, so you may not wish to make any major changes during this time, and you may see some weirdness such as disappearing forum posts if you do attempt to write anything to the site. However, you can still read all available posts and content. After 9 AM, you should be pointed at the new location, but if you continue to see a red bar across the top of the site, you may need to refresh your DNS. You can find some instructions on how to do that here, although the specific techniques will vary based on your operating system.

Apologies for the disruption. In the long run we hope that this move will improve site stability and reduce downtime.

​Which Gaming System Do You Use Most?
kotaku.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 22:30 GMT
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Here at Kotaku, cover games for just about every major gaming system out there. PC, gaming consoles, handhelds, smartphones, web browsers… we've got it all.Read more...
Video The Gamer
I'd use the Wii U. Heck, I'm a scientifically advanced Wii Us GamePad from the freaking future!
Boy's Dying Wish Was For A Star Wars Funeral
i.kinja-img.com posted by Kotaku Apr 17 2014 00:00 GMT
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Jack Robinson was just four years old when he died earlier this month of an inoperable brain tumour. It's the most tragic of passings, but if there's one bright spot to be had from such tragedy, it's that Jack's dying wish (well, wishes) were granted and then some.Read more...
​If You Like Thief And Dishonored, Read This Book
i.kinja-img.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 23:30 GMT
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Picture it: A beautiful, 18th-century city with a dark underbelly. The labyrinthine streets are faintly lit by alchemical light, and gangs of thieves and cutthroats roam the lower quarters and canalways. High above, Dukes and Dons attend gala society parties, isolated from the plague-ridden quarters below. Somewhere, in the shadows, a master thief prepares to strike.Read more...
Top News Headlines for April 16, 2014
ign.com posted by IGN Apr 16 2014 23:31 GMT
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The Last of Us Grounded Bundle and Snoop Dogg infiltrates mulitplayer matches, all in today's Fix!
The Ultimate Cosplay Hero
i.kinja-img.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 23:00 GMT
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Cosplayers work hard to bring your favorite characters to life—but that doesn't prevent things from going wrong come convention time. In fact, it's not uncommon to experience small disasters when wearing a costume out in the wild. And that's exactly where Captain Patch-It comes in.Read more...
Bethesda under fire from barbed wire industry, reports The Onion
theonion.com posted by Joystiq Apr 17 2014 00:00 GMT
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The Evil Within publisher Bethesda Softworks is under fire from the barbed wire lobby for its portrayal of the industry's spiked resource, The Onion has learned in the above exclusive, totally not satirical, wholly realistic advertisement/report. [Image: Bethesda]
Gawker Here Are the States Where Blowjobs Are Illegal But Necrophilia's Cool | Gizmodo A Brief Chat
io9.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 22:00 GMT
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Gawker Here Are the States Where Blowjobs Are Illegal But Necrophilia's Cool | Gizmodo A Brief Chat With the Mad Scientist Who Made Viagra Ice Cream | Jezebel Smothering Your Partner While You Sleep Will Save Your Relationship | Lifehacker Why It's Better to Fail as Quickly as Possible | Kinja Popular Posts Read more...
People Are Playing Frogger On A Skyscraper
kotaku.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 22:05 GMT
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The comparison has been many many, many times by people trying to run and dodge through traffic: it feels just like playing Frogger. Except it's terrifying, because you're the frog. This is particularly troubling in developing countries still in need of a robust public infrastructure to regulate traffic. Read more...
​Solid Dating Advice For The Modern Geek
i.kinja-img.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 21:30 GMT
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Online dating, romance at cons, asking out the girl at the GameStop—it's a wild world out there for the geek who seeks love. Our resident dating columnist Harris "Dr. Nerdlove" O'Malley is here to help.Read more...
Watch A DayZ Player's Failed Attempt At Becoming A Bandit
kotaku.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 20:15 GMT
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YouTuber ThingsWePlay decided to check out DayZ, and for some reason decided to try and rob the first person who was nice to him. Karma caught up to him real quick.Read more...
Hearthstone, Blizzard's addictive online card game, is now available on iPad worldwide.
posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 20:30 GMT
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Hearthstone, Blizzard's addictive online card game, is now available on iPad worldwide. New players get a free pack of cards.Read more...
Hearthstone for iPad Out Now Worldwide
ign.com posted by IGN Apr 16 2014 20:22 GMT
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Hearthstone players can now battle anywhere there's an internet connection.
Music Powered By Samus Aran
giantbomb.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 16 2014 20:17 GMT
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Writer, designer, and musician Maddy Myers recently published a three-track EP of Metroid-inspired tracks called "Peace in Space." We talk about her love of Metroid, and why Samus Aran has remained so popular.
Her Music Is Powered By Samus Aran
giantbomb.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 16 2014 20:17 GMT
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Writer, designer, and musician Maddy Meyers recently published a three-track EP of Metroid-inspired tracks called "Peace in Space." We talk about her love of Metroid, and why Samus Aran has remained so popular.
​What It Looks Like to Play a Four-Dimensionial Game
kotaku.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 20:00 GMT
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Some games ask you to shoot, jump or strategize in ways that are similar to what you've done. Sure, there may be unique tweaks designed to pique your interest but you mostly go in knowing what to expect. Other games are different deep down in their DNA, challenging the way you do even the simplest things. Miegakure's got four dimensions instead of three so, yeah, it's one of the deep-down-different ones. Read more...
Previously On: The Wolf Among Us - "A Crooked Mile"
auth.giantbomb.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 16 2014 19:55 GMT
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Editor's Note: As a reminder, this is a spoiler-heavy discussion of the latest episode of The Wolf Among Us. Those who have not played the episode but intend to probably shouldn't read this.

The episodic structure of Telltale's The Walking Dead franchise is arguably one of the best things about it. As a series that deals regular moments of sheer soul-draining sadness, there is a feeling of emotional reprieve that comes with the end of each episode. Maybe you're still itching to see what's going to happen in the next chapter of the story, as I often am, but more times than not, I'm also grateful that I get a break after two hours or so of constant character deaths, tough decisions, and abject misery pouring in from every corner of the game's world.

The Wolf Among Us is a game that certainly deals in moments of dread and unexpected death, and comes with a generalized feeling of depression that permeates every personality you come into contact with. But it's nowhere near as pervasive as in The Walking Dead. After all, this is a noir-flavored detective procedural, and not an apocalyptic survival tale. Yet the two series offer similar gameplay designs and an identical release structure, and only one of them directly benefits from either of the above. Unfortunately, it's not The Wolf Among Us.

Overall, I've been enjoying The Wolf Among Us so far. Visually, it manages to bring together the neon-tinted grime of 1980s New York with the fantastical world of Fables in a stunning way, and the story has plotted out some nifty twists that I never saw coming. But its third episode, "A Crooked Mile," finds this first season suffering a bit from its own structure and game design. Lacking that sense of relief one gets from finishing an episode of The Walking Dead, every episode feel like it blows past, like you're just getting to something good before the rug is pulled out and you've got another month-long (or longer) wait until the next story piece. That's especially true of "A Crooked Mile," and episode that laser-focuses on Bigby's hunt for the vile presumed murderer, Ichabod Crane. While it makes sense from a storytelling perspective, that intense focus on investigation puts the onus on the game's investigative mechanics to pick up the slack left by the lack of surprises in the episode's plot, and that's just not something this series' gameplay is well-suited for.

After episode two left him standing in a blood-soaked hotel room, glaring angrily at a photo of Crane molesting a prostitute "glamoured" to look like Snow, it's no surprise that Bigby becomes hellbent on finding his former employer. But even with that reveal at the end of the last episode, it becomes clear early on that Crane as the murderer of Fabletown's working girls still doesn't make a ton of sense. Crane's twisted way of sating his unrequited desire for Snow certainly deserves some justice (as does the reveal that he's been embezzling money from Fabletown for years), but nothing about the guy strikes as a cold-blooded killer. Still, with Crane being the only available suspect, it's no wonder that "A Crooked Mile" becomes all about finding him before he skips town.

I've been playing Bigby as a character always on the verge of unchecked rage, allowing him to express his frustration with the constant stonewalling by the other Fables he encounters, while only resorting to actual violence in the most dire circumstances. At the beginning of "A Crooked Mile," as Bigby storms off to find Snow so he can tell her what's been going on, I was initially worried that room for that kind of nuance might be lost in favor of an anger-fueled revenge bender. Thankfully, as you show up at Lily's funeral looking for Snow, the game continues to offer you nicely varied choices for how to proceed. No matter how mad Bigby might have been, I wouldn't have felt right barging into the funeral service, so I chose instead to let Snow continue her speech and inspect the tributes people had brought to honor their fallen friend. This is the first of the "big" choices the game offers you, though it also seemed like the least consequential. Regardless as to how I chose to proceed, the thuggish pair of Dee and Dum would inevitably arrive to cause a commotion, apparently on the hunt for the same man that I was. I tried to play the sequence as coolly as I could, allowing Lily's sister Holly and her friends to intimidate the pair. Yet I still ended up with a gunshot wound for my trouble. Of course Bigby survives, thanks in no small part to the help of a kindly doctor, but it wouldn't be the last wound I'd suffer over the course of the episode.

Once Bigby is patched up in the main Fabletown office, the game branches in a way that calls back to one of the choices in the series' first episode. Here you're confronted by an enraged Bluebeard, a magical mirror that can't be repaired (due to Crane stealing a piece of its shattered glass before skipping out), and multiple locations that must be investigated prior to 2 A.M., when Crane is apparently going to be meeting the witch that's been supplying him glamours. The three locations--Crane's penthouse apartment, the offices of Dee and Dum, and the bar managed by Lily's sister--would each take a considerable amount of time to poke around. For my part, I opted to go to Crane's apartment first, which led me to find Jack Horner robbing the place blind. Jack pleads with you not to arrest him, and despite being given multiple opportunities to ruin the guy--especially after Snow shows up asking what's going on--I decided to not reveal that Jack was burglarizing the apartment. For all I know, that may have zero impact on the story going forward, but I preferred the idea of him owing me a favor. Jack does give some useful info about the witch, who is named Auntie Greenleaf, but not enough to indicate where she might be.

For the second location, I chose to go to Holly's bar. There I found Grendel and the Woodsman, drowning their sorrows following the funeral. To me, the relationship between the trolls and the few Fables who frequent the bar has been the most interesting. They're the hardest luck cases among the Fables, it seems, and their contentious relationship with Bigby (and any authority figure, for that matter) has resulted in some of the most interesting dialogue in the series thus far. You don't get quite as much out of the conversation that follows here, due mostly to the time constraints and your singular desire to look through Lily's belongings before Holly burns them, but there are a few good moments here with both Grendel and the Woodsman, who seems far more defeated than in previous episodes. This is another opportunity for the player to be a dick, or extend an olive branch to a group of people who seem utterly wary of him. I chose the latter, as I often have, and once again, it's debatable whether I made any inroads with them at all. The mistrust these Fables feel toward you seems to run incredibly deep, and I'm beginning to wonder if this series has any designs on allowing the player to ever repair those relationships.

After talking to them for a while, and a bit of conversation with a barely-awake Holly, I was allowed to go through Lily's things. Among some other trinkets, I find an address book that points you directly to Auntie Greenleaf's location. By the time I got there, it was past the 2am deadline, and a little girl opened the door, playing confused in a way that had me immediately suspicious. Like, who leaves a little girl all by herself in a seedy apartment in the middle of the night? Plus, this is a witch who supplies glamours, the cloaks that Fables wear to keep themselves hidden from the real world. The game seemed like it really wanted to surprise the player by revealing that, yes, this girl was Greenleaf in disguise, but I had that feeling from the moment she opened the door, so it fell a little flat for me. Still, Greenleaf is an interesting new character that, unfortunately, you don't get very much out of here. Snow makes a lot of threats, demanding that Bigby put her under arrest and burn the sacred tree she uses for all her magical spells. That's certainly a change of pace for Snow, but makes sense considering how violated she must feel knowing what Crane was up to. Still, being a dirty hippy at heart, I couldn't bring myself to burn the tree. Instead, I made Greenleaf an offer: report to the officially licensed witches of Fabletown and work for the good guys, or lose her tree. Begrudgingly, she accepted, and told us that Crane was on his way to the Pudding and Pie, AKA the Fable-owned strip club we uncovered in the last episode.

Why would Crane go there? Evidently he meant to brace the girls working at the club to try and find out the identity of the true killer. He'd taken a ring from Greenleaf, one designed to make anyone tell the truth--even those with spells cast upon them to keep them from saying anything. Unfortunately, the ring's magic has long since been drained, and when you arrive, you find Crane futilely trying to shake the truth out of one of the girls. With every utterance of "my lips are sealed," Crane becomes more frantic, but eventually he has no choice but to give up. He knows he's screwed, and when faced with the prospect of fighting a very angry man-wolf, he gives himself up.

Unfortunately, you never get the chance to properly question him, as you're immediately greeted outside by Dee and Dum, alongside a new character to the series: Bloody Mary.

Right away, it's apparent that Mary is a psychopath. She cracks a twisted smile at every utterance of potential violence, and she's here at the behest of a mysterious figure known as The Crooked Man. We don't know much about The Crooked Man yet, though it's strongly implied that he's something of an underworld boss in Fabletown, and likely Georgie's benefactor in his club management and prostitution schemes. Whatever his role, Mary makes it clear that he wants Crane. Ostensibly, he wants him because Crane owes him a goodly sum of money, but the implication also seems to be that he doesn't want Crane talking to the cops, which probably means that Crane's a dead man if he's taken by Mary. So naturally, Bigby and Snow resist giving Crane up. That goes very poorly right away, with gunshots ringing out and Bigby down on the pavement.

But then it happens. The moment the series has been building to for a while, where all of Bigby's defenses go down and the wolf truly comes out. Even with all the diplomacy and dialogue I've been making Bigby engage in, I knew eventually he'd lose it, and what better time than with a pair of ugly twins peppering you with shotgun blasts as you creep ever closer to them. This is maybe the most awkward moment of gameplay in the series yet, unfortunately, as you're required to keep mashing a button to shrug off the gunshots and make your way to Dee and Dum. It goes on for a weirdly long time, and it's not especially fun. It becomes more fun once you finally get there and extract a bit of revenge on the twins. Yet, even while going full bore on the two of them, I was able to stop myself from killing one of them outright. As (justifiably) angry as Bigby was here, I still can't see him as a reckless murderer, so I let Dum live. Not that Mary was looking to afford me any such mercy. The episode ends after Mary shoots Bigby with a silver bullet (one of those mythical methods of monster slaying that apparently proves true in this world), and Crane is sent off to The Crooked Man, possibly to never be seen again.

It's an appropriate enough note to close things out on, though I couldn't help but feel like "A Crooked Mile" was missing something. In the first episode, the writers spent a great deal of time just introducing you to, and explaining the basic mechanics of the Fables' world. In the second, all of the investigative work was bookended by two big twists that managed to shake up everything you thought you understood about what was going on. "A Crooked Mile" introduces new characters and throws a couple of curveballs in the player's direction, but nothing seems to land with much impact. As a result, the gameplay is forced to do more heavy lifting, and that's not something Telltale adventures ever excel at. The Wolf Among Us is at its best when the story is driving the player forward, and while the hunt for Crane had its moments, it never felt like it was terribly important in the grand scheme of things--why would you reveal the true identity of the murderer this early in the story?

As a result, much of what you do in "A Crooked Mile" feels like investigative busywork. It's connective tissue, meant to bridge the first act of the season to its eventual conclusion. Having those kinds of episodes in your seasonal structure isn't by itself a bad thing, but as I mentioned at the top, The Wolf Among Us already has this issue of feeling a little light as each episode comes to a close. At least in the first two episodes, I felt like I learned quite a bit about the world and characters I was interacting with. In "A Crooked Mile," the solitary focus on tracking down Crane ensured that I wouldn't be learning much of anything new, and the introduction of Bloody Mary and Auntie Greenleaf didn't do anything to counteract that. While I'm certainly very curious to see what happens to Crane, what The Crooked Man's true role is, and what will ultimately become of Bigby, "A Crooked Mile" is ultimately the least satisfying episode of The Wolf Among Us yet.

Random Notes:

  • Apologies for the lateness of this recap, as PAX preparations got in the way of me doing this in a more timely fashion.

  • So the one place I didn't go, Dee and Dum's office, apparently would have introduced me to another new character in Flycatcher, otherwise known as the Frog Prince. He's working as a janitor in their office, and will take you into a hidden room where they have a bunch of evidence pertaining to Crane stashed. Not having seen the bit, I still think I picked the two more interesting locations to investigate, as the part in Crane's office does a lot to flesh out Jack's character, and the part in the bar is probably the most vital scene in the whole episode. The office scene sounds like one of those bits in a Law & Order episode where they talk to someone for like five minutes and then you never see or hear from them again.

  • Of the choices I made, it looks like I was on the majority side of everything except with how I handled Jack. When you first encounter him, he tries to make a deal with you to avoid getting arrested, but I chose not to make it right away. I also had no intention of turning him over, but I thought it would be more fun to make him sweat a little. Interesting that only 29% of players (so far) opted not to make a deal with him right away.

  • Looks like it's a near 50/50 split on those who did/didn't kill Dum. I dunno, it really didn't seem like the right move. I've only had Bigby choose to even punch people twice (including a particularly satisfying clocking of Georgie in this episode), so to have him go full murder on a suspect didn't feel right. I'm sure I'll probably pay for that decision in the end.

  • Considering what a terrible thing it must be to learn that a creep like Crane is using your image as a sexual plaything, we get surprisingly little development from Snow in this episode. Apart from that bit in Greenleaf's apartment, Snow maintains pretty much the same exact demeanor and personality she has all season long. It's weird, but it seems like only the worst characters are getting much in the way of character progression in this series. I still feel like I barely know much of anything about Bigby, Snow, or any of the other "good guys," outside of their storybook histories.

  • Bluebeard's involvement in all this is the one piece I can't fit right now. All I recall of his involvement from earlier episodes--another problem with the multiweek delay between episodes is that my broken-ass brain can't always remember the major plot details--is that he's one of the wealthier Fables and is doing his own police work because...he just feels like it? There definitely appears to be an ulterior motive at work, but Bigby and Snow frequently just letting him do what he wants feels odd as hell. This might be one of those cases where the lack of a complete understanding of Fabletown's power dynamics might just be confusing me.

  • When is Colin coming back? I miss that little pig dude.

PAX East 2014: The Giant Bomb Panel
giantbomb.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 16 2014 18:08 GMT
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It's Boston time again, and you know what that means: Brad's inflating a donkey.
Games so bad they're good: Far Cry 2
joystiq.com posted by Joystiq Apr 16 2014 17:30 GMT
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I was invited to be on the "Games So Bad They're Good" panel at PAX East, but a scheduling conflict prevented me from taking part. Fortunately, my Editor in Chief, Ludwig Kietzmann, was ready and willing to take my place. His selection, Far Cry 2, took more than a few people by surprise - the reaction on Twitter went something like "Are you crazy? Far Cry 2 is awesommmmeeeeee!" His reasoning was ... unusual, to say the least, so we're reprinting his argument. These are the notes he used for his presentation, exactly as he used them, thus the atypical format.

For the record, my choice was going to be Phantasy Star Online. I think Luddy won this one. --Susan


I tried to be considerate about this, and cognizant of why bad qualities can lead to pleasure.

The thing about bad movies like Plan 9 is that you're looking at an event so awkward and terrible for the people involved that you want to instinctually stop them and protect them, but you can't because it's already committed to film.

It's too late to stop the tragedy, so now you are allowed to enjoy it.

In a game, if your actions don't align with your expectations or what the game is about, it's frustrating.

Most games are good despite their bad qualities, like story and controls, and not because of them.

At first I thought: Okay, what about games that give the player all the power and then back away?

Is that bad game design? Is God of War so bad, because they let you rip out a monster's medulla oblongata and then bash their head in with it and then you're like, "This violence is a bit mindless isn't it?"

Or, what about games that overcomplicate and abstract simple, physical actions, like QWOP, Surgeon Simulator and Octodad?

Then I had an epiphany, I yelled, "Eureka! "and someone said, "Shh, this is a library, keep your revelations to yourself."

I'm going with Far Cry 2, and here's why.
The Gaming Books You Must Read
amzn.to posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 16:15 GMT
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Earlier this month, I met Blake Harris, the author of the upcoming book Console Wars. Something he said struck me as a newly minted person who writes about video games for a living.Read more...
Marty O'Donnell No Longer With Bungie
auth.giantbomb.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 16 2014 16:04 GMT
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Well, this was unexpected. Bungie's in-house composer, Marty O'Donnell, is no longer part of the studio.

The news broke last night on Twitter, and O'Donnell characterized the departure as not exactly amicable.

I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014.

— Marty O'Donnell (@MartyTheElder) April 16, 2014

Bungie has not publicly commented on the nature of why O'Donnell has left, but the company did publish a brief blog post entitled "there are those who said this day would never come..." that wished him well.

Destiny will be released on nearly every platform under the sun later on this year.

"For more than a decade, Marty O’Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans," said the company in a statement. "Today, as friends, we say goodbye. We know that wherever his journey takes him, he will always have a bright and hopeful future. We wish him luck in all his future endeavors."

O'Donnell was responsible for composing the Halo games, a series with one of gaming's most memorable modern themes. He was also scoring the studio's upcoming Destiny, which included a collaboration with Paul McCartney. Destiny isn't scheduled to be released until September 9.

The Final Skylander Of The Season Arrives Next Week
i.kinja-img.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 15:41 GMT
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Did you hear that? That's the sounds of hundreds of thousands of parents and collectors breathing a sigh of relief, as they learn the final Skylanders: Swap Force character is being released next week. It's quickly followed by a pained groan, as they discover Doom Stone's debut is a 500-piece giveaway at the Toys'R'Us in New York City's Times Square. Read more...
Hyper Light Drifter Is Like A Surreal, Indie Zelda
kotaku.com posted by Kotaku Apr 16 2014 16:00 GMT
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Hyper Light Drifter, a game we've been psyched about since we first saw it on Kickstarter last year , continues to look great. Here's some new hands-on video, straight out of PAX East 2014.Read more...
More Tales from the Borderlands Details Revealed
ign.com posted by IGN Apr 16 2014 15:25 GMT
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Telltale has shed quite a bit of light on Tales from the Borderlands.
Cut Enemies to Lil' Pieces in Drinkbox Studios' Severed
giantbomb.com posted by Giant Bomb Apr 16 2014 15:14 GMT
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This concept video is for a real game that should be out in the spring, but no platforms have been announced.
Glorkian Warrior vs Dino Run 2: Crowdfunding before and after Double Fine
joystiq.com posted by Joystiq Apr 16 2014 16:00 GMT
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Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork is a different game than the one Pixeljam promised in its Kickstarter campaign. It's not unrecognizable - the Saturday-morning-cartoon artwork is still done by graphic novelist James Kochalka and it still stars a three-eyed alien blasting baddies from the sky, but the adventure aspect Pixeljam wanted in Glorkian Warrior didn't make it to the final game.

"We really wanted the Glorkian Warrior to have an epic journey, blasting aliens like Galaga, rolling around like Sonic, exploring like Metroid, making the player feel they were inside one of James' comics," Pixeljam co-founder Miles Tilmann tells Joystiq. "How we thought we could get this going with just $10K, I honestly have no idea. Somehow at the time we thought it was possible. It's interesting how the sheer excitement of starting a new project and raising money for it can make you blind to what's actually realistic."

Pixeljam's Kickstarter campaign concluded on March 22, 2010, after raising $11,200, and Glorkian Warrior launched on March 13, 2014. That timeframe is relevant for two reasons: Pixeljam took to crowdfunding before Double Fine Adventure broke down the barriers for gaming Kickstarters in 2012, and four years is a long time to keep backers waiting for a game.

"A couple of backers have told us that it was worth the wait, which is the best compliment we could possibly receive for the game," Tilmann says. "It reinforces the idea that the backers were simply excited to help us make something with James Kochalka, and were less picky about what the game would actually do. I think that's only the case with niche or small-budget projects, though. If something that raised $100K+ on Kickstarter took four years to deliver and didn't do everything that the original plan entailed, there would be much more of a backlash."