Pressing Buttons

A Christmas time feature

Linus: "But Charlie, I asked for Brain Age 2 and I got Brain Boost: Beta Wave! Why are you so indifferent? My parents messed up. Royally."

Charlie: "Maybe you weren't clear."

Linus: "Maybe we weren't clear when we told you to not get an awful tree."

Do you have any memories of a Christmas past that netted you something that vaguely resembles what you asked for? Or maybe, the end result shares not traits with what you asked for.

If you've felt that pain, you can run over here and here to read parts one and two of a feature called "Christmas wants, and what you'll end up with".

In part one, the requested gift is the Sony Eye. And in the second, BioShock is the item asked for. The resulting gift? Well, you'll have to read them to find out.

Yes, I am that rude.

School's done...for now. So read these two editorials.

So I managed to escape the clutches of school. "Come backkkkk," it shrieked. "Why not work on January's newspaper now! You'll thank me in the enddddd..."

School's advice is right most of the time. But it will take a lot more convincing then that! Because, while my home was miles kilometers away, I could hear the faint cry of my neglected video game systems.

"Come-a play with-a me," my copy of Super Mario Galaxy whispered, nearly dead from the lack of TLC. "I have some-a goodies left just yet-a for you!" It was then that the disc spread open its...layers. I don't want to talk about it.

(Ready for the segue to end all segues? Well, as Ray Arnold would say: hold onto your butt!)

Did I just make mention of Super Mario Galaxy? Funny I should mention it, because this link here will shove you off to an editorial hosted by Platformer's that our forum's own mcc submitted!

It's a good read. I'm no physics nerd, but I still liked confronting issues like how Mario can even manage to breathe out there in space. My own questions may have ended there, but mcc revealed many new questions, the likes of which I would have never dreamed to ask! Mostly because I thought floating in space all willy nilly was plausible. Turns out, it's not.

(Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to transition to this next topic as easily...but I'll try)

But taking games seriously doesn't end there! Oh certainly not. Over here is an editorial I wrote based off an interview I had with Tim Carter, a professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology's Game Development program and a contracted designer and writer for Kaos Studios's Frontlines: Fuel of War (360, PS3, and PC). We talked about the up and coming genre of serious games,  the role of story in video games, and the ladies. Of course ladies meaning the direction video games are heading.

PEACE!

Halooooo Dolly!

I made sure to cover the Halo 3 midnight launch early last week. I also made sure to keep my true feelings of Halo inside.

But now, with a 360 on the way, can Halo the Third melt my cold, frigid, non-understanding heart?

Online multiplayer probably can. But singleplayer? Halo's not really compelling enough when stacked up against Call of Duty 4. You know, the game I went to the future and played just so I can arrive at that conclusion.

You can read my launch day exploits here.