Posted on 18th October 2009 by Subby in General
Gaming, Kotaku, Reading, sex
The upcoming Heavy Rain features a sequence in which its female protagonist is forced to strip for a disgusting mob boss. It’s sex but it’s not sexy, and it moves the needle for games teaching us to differentiate the two.
.
.
This is a departure from other gameplay-based depictions of sex, Williams argues, where the object was either to reveal skin or engage in a mini-game that “reduces sex to the stabbing motions of button mashing.” He says the breakthrough lies not necessarily in a mature depiction of sex, but in delivering a new perspective on how it is understood, even if it means forcing someone in an opposite gender role to see its more degrading side.
via Forced to Strip: How Games Might Teach Us More About Sex – heavy rain – Kotaku
Posted on 5th October 2009 by Subby in General
Gaming, Kotaku, PlayStation Portable, PSP Go
[Why Everyone Should Be Watching the PSPgo - PspGo - Kotaku]
Video games stored on a disc of plastic and tucked away in a case are approaching extinction.
You can quibble about the when and the how of this happening, but the inevitability of games being sold online like music, free of their plastic prisons, is certain.
With the price drop of the PSP-3000, I’m looking into the possibility of getting one but I can’t see to find games I’d want to play on that system. That aside, I have to agree with the article pointing out that having physical game discs may soon be a thing of the past.In the past year, I’ve started buying games online via Steam and more recently Direct2Drive. Love the convenience and bye-bye to broken / cracked / defaced / microwaved game discs.
What I don’t get is why they gotta make the PSP Go so small… it’s about the size of an iPhone from what I understand.
Posted on 19th August 2009 by Subby in General
barbarian, Diablo III, Gaming, Kotaku
Image via Wikipedia
[Diablo III Impressions: Hands On With The Barbarian - Kotaku]
The Gamescom (and Blizzcon) demo of Diablo III featured at Blizzard’s booth features the three announced classes: Wizard, Barbarian and Witchdoctor, with male and female options for both. I opted for the Barbarian, what I assumed would be the easiest, most familiar introduction to Diablo III. That assumption was correct. Blizzard doesn’t seem to have mucked with the successful formula of click, kill and loot in the newest Diablo.
I’m sure more impression will follow with the rest of the classes which would give us a glimpse into the gameplay of Diablo III. Can’t wait for the real deal but I guess as they say, good things are worth waiting for. Besides knowing Blizzard, the game will be done when it’s done.
Posted on 7th July 2009 by Subby in General
Gamasutra, Gaming, Kotaku, Natal, Project Natal, technology
[Microsoft introduces controller free gaming, Project Natal]
I know I’m several months late but I’ve been partly busy and partly observing the fallout since the announcement of the supposedly next coolest way we’d be playing games.
When I first watch the Milo clip, a few things struck me. First was Wow, that’s pretty neat, then Wait, if all these are possible why are we still struggling with computer vision, voice recognition and processing and voice synthesizing? and finally Hm, this could be incredibly scripted.
From a developer’s standpoint, it occurred to me how much work needs to be done to achieve a truly dynamic system such as one which reacts to a players’ emotions since the possibilities are literally limitless. That or we have an actual learning system which means we might one day build Skynet and Terminators. 
From a gamer’s standpoint, I realise whatever could go wrong would almost always go wrong. There could be nothing more frustrating then trying to play a game by moving your body when the game doesn’t recognise your actions or interpret it wrongly.
Besides, instead of standing up and pretending to kick at enemies on screen, I’d rather go out and pick up a martial art. When I play a game, I want to sit comfortably in my couch and well, play a game. I know that Nintendo have shown that new interaction works and actually sells with the Wii and the DS but only with appropriate gameplay. To be perfectly honest, I usually prefer to use the keypad and buttons to play on my DS, unless it makes perfect gameplay sense like in Knights in the Nightmare.
The following link is an article, written by the news director of Gamasutra, reproduced on Kotaku:
[Kotaku - In Defense Of The Classic Controller - Project Natal]
“The more pressing issue is whether or not controller-less gaming will truly make the medium richer. Making something “more accessible” doesn’t necessarily make it better.
Feel free to share any thoughts and discuss. Following is a link to all Kotaku entries tagged with Project Natal:
[Kotaku - Project Natal]
Posted on 30th May 2009 by Subby in General
Gaming, Kotaku, Lego, Rock Band
[Kotaku]
This is what I was talking to Chris about when I said Lego is no longer played by kids today and they have to put Lego with all sorts of other stuff to let the new generation know Lego exists. Speaking of Lego video games, Jo and I played Lego Batman at Courts yesterday.
It’s always very strange to me how violence which results in blood and gibs is not okay but violence which reduces people to tiny lego bits is okay.
Posted on 8th January 2009 by Subby in General
Cool, Gaming, image editor, Kotaku, Lifehacker, photography, Picnik, Tetris
According to researchers at Oxford University, playing the popular, classic puzzle game Tetris after a traumatic experience could significantly reduce emotional scars.
Huh…. what? One of the comments sum it up pretty well..
So now video games promote violence AND erase the memory of it? I’m so confused.
[Kotaku » Health: Tetris Wipes Out Bad Memories, Say Scientists]
While surfing Lifehacker, I found a gem known as
Picnik! It’s a free online image editor. While it’s not as powerful as
Photoshop, it offers more effects and tools than
Picasa. Some of the stuff I did on Picnik.
Posted on 4th January 2009 by Subby in General
blue laser, Cool, Gun, Kotaku, laser gun
In the same essence of OMG-Rubber Band Gun, we have this:
[Kotaku » Mods: Make a Laser Out of Sort-of-Essential 360 Parts]
Edit: Break took down the original video. Here’s it again from Youtube! Huray!
Posted on 28th December 2008 by Subby in General
bugs, fallout 3, Gaming, Kotaku, MMO, neverwinter nights 2, Rant, system crashes
[Kotaku » Massively Multiplayer Employment: Singapore Recruiters Not Avoiding WoW Players]
A while back there was an article stating how some employers are staying away from MMO players. It might have been blown out of proportion but I’m sure some employers might have gotten some idea from this big hiccup. Apparently Singapore employers, well at least this one is fine with their employees living a virtual second life. Rejoice, WOW and WAR players!
In other news, everyone has heard, read or experienced how buggy Fallout 3 is. My experience with the latest reincarnation of the Fallout franchise has too been marred by CTDs and the very rare hard system crashes. I learnt to play it in windowed mode which made the crashes a lot more bearable. I think what’s happening now has taken it to another level. In my latest save, quicksaving crashes the game, quick traveling crashes the game. Now, everyone who plays Fallout 3 know quicksave is vital in preserving your sanity admist all the random crashes, I’m not sure if I can continue playing Fallout 3 anymore until the game gets patched (more).
Now I have the option of revisiting the Oblivion world of Tamriel or play Neverwinter Nights 2, both which I’ve never really gotten deep into. Then again, there’s Chrono Trigger and Zelda on the DS. Ah crap, I think I should just spend more time reading and preparing for the project.
Bethsoft, please sort out Fallout 3.
Posted on 24th December 2008 by Subby in General
beer bottle, christmas tree, Cool, DIY, eating, Funny, Gaming, healthy diet, Kotaku, Lifehacker, Raving Rabbids, Videos
I always knew there’s something I can do with all the beer bottles I used to collect. Such a shame I didn’t figure it out before I cleared them all out.
There are a lot of factors in losing and maintaining a healthy diet and weight, but the HealthAssist blog points out that eating slowly might play a larger role than you realize.
Along with the general knowledge of your body needing more time to figure out it’s full than most rush-rush meals allow for, “insulin resistance” and other factors suggest eating more slowly is something to strive for.
So basically, if I eat slowly, I’d lose weight? Perhaps the rising rate of obesity in Singapore is due to shorter and shorter lunch breaks. 
For the rabbids girl.
Subby
Dumdum