What the…?
It’s that time of year
I’ve conquered the moun….oh crap
Old Man Winter is upon us again and you know what that means. Time to blow the dust off your unfinished games and take them to completion. Devil’s Advocate was the clear winner in last year’s competition, but I have a feeling that this year will be different. If you don’t know the rules, it’s like this: Send in a list of 5 titles to be completed and your name will be added to the roster. Please do not submit MMO’s this time around. Should you finish those 5, send another batch of 5. Whoever finishes the most titles (with screenshots as proof please) by the first day of spring is the winner. The prize for finishing first is still TBD, but I assure you it will be breathtaking.
Now let’s go, send your list of 5 games to be completed and let’s get this party started.
What’s missing from this picture?
That’s right, I have the Wii Component cables, an extra Wii remote, and Zelda, but no Wii console. Santa apparently made multiple trips to Target and Toys R Us, but wasn’t able to get one. I guess I’ll have to wait until the birthday fairy can find one.
Xmas 2006 Outtakes Episode
I’m ready to LOL. Whaddya got?
You’ve asked for it. Now here it is. Our collection (a very small sample) of outtakes from recording the Gamers Hell podcast in 2006. Hope you enjoy it!
Merry X-mas
Sometime around Midnight last night the Devil decided to cash in on the longstanding offer of my soul for a next-gen gaming console. While I do not recall receiving confirmation of the transaction, I did have a terrible nightmare about a randy Bea Arthur chasing me in a clown suit (…but that could have been caused by my preholiday hangover). Nonetheless, I consider it a done deal.
Whatever the circumstances, either by demonic influence or plain-old temporary insanity, my wife saw fit to leave this under the tree….
*
*Singing of Angels not included
Wonderous visions of me getting pummeled by Brixtone and Daedalus in Fight Night 3 instantly filled my head. Following close on the heels of that thought was a thought of even greater anticipation: pummeling my wife (or at least her hapless & untrained avatar). (Read on …)
Gamers Hell Podcast Episode 31
Chavez, look out!! There’s an old-timey hammer-wielding Tango coming up on your six!
Happy Holidays from the Gamers Hell Podcast! We have reviews of Rainbow Six: Vegas and The Ship as well as our 2006 holiday gift guide. The demo roundup and gaming headlines make this podcast the perfect gift for the gamer in your life. Well the podcast and a PS3.
One Gamer’s Wish List
We’re gamers, you and I. We use our imaginations. Right now, for instance, I imagine you’re wondering when I’m going to get to the point. Ok, here it is: as we’ve played through our many games this past year, we’ve all imagined ways in which the games could have been better. We’ve all developed extensive wish lists of concepts, features and ideas that we can’t believe have never been implemented. So, in the spirit of the holidays and their unblemished record of disappointment (that box under the tree is NOT a PS3, I guarantee it), family bickering, and inevitable tears, I offer a couple of items from my “Gamer’s Wish List,” and I invite readers to do the same. I wish…
- …that there was a decent MMO not set in a “medieval high fantasy universe” (do you goddamn hear that, Blizzard?!) and with NPCs that exhibited something on the order of believable behavior, and existed as something other than target practice for my character.
- …that the dialogue and characterization in action games would evolve to the point where I actually cared about my character enough that there would be moral, ethical and emotional consequences to decisions and actions. Good films and books are dramatic, but good drama involves conflict that is more ambiguous than simply brawling.
- …that Microsoft would create a keyboard/mouse for the Xbox 360.
Corporate Plants
The ficus is an excellent corporate plant. It’s very robust, requires little water and sunlight, and makes an excellent cubicle companion for today’s modern worker.
The forums over at GamersHell, on the other hand, are full of terrible corporate plants. Sony’s recent faux pas is the perfect illustration of a company getting caught with its hand the viral marketing cookie jar and it’s a growing trend of insulting marketing techniques. I’m pretty confident that there’s no shortage of hired marketers - clumsy hired marketers - posting over at GH trying to pimp out their games.
Take this thread for example. I’m pretty sure that the primary thread drivers are also producers of the game in question. I’ll be honest, I lose respect for any game and any company that goes for this sort of crap. I’m perfectly willing to listen to a corporate pitch about why their game is the next coming, but I feel insulted when companies aren’t up-front about their marketing and pretend like we’re too stupid to recognize a paid endorsement.
My dream would be to have a forum where these types get e-booed every time they raise their shill heads and cry out the wonders of a game they get paid to promote. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe these are just highly organized, PR savvy, eager to please fans with an array of promotional links at their excited, trembling hands, but honestly? It walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck.