Games Cheats and Reviews

"Having once made the statement above, I have declined all opportunities to enlarge upon it or defend it. That seemed to be a fool’s errand, especially given the volume of messages I receive urging me to play this game or that and recant the error of my ways. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that in principle, video games cannot be art. Perhaps it is foolish of me to say "never," because never, as Rick Wakeman informs us, is a long, long time. Let me just say that no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form." Roger Ebert

We’ve all been waiting a long…long…long time for Alan Wake, the first game from Remedy Entertainment since Max Payne 2 shipped back in 2003. Remedy president Matias Myllyrinne tried to shine some light on what took Alan Wake so long to come to fruition at DICE 2010. In short?

Destructoid writes: I really dislike the term "Girl Gamer" though mostly because I’m 47 and it’s been a long, long time since I was called a "girl". I’m a gamer and I happen to be female. That being said, since joining the world of gaming communities, I’ve come to detest many of the stereotypes of female gamers.

I hate that they create a stereotype that makes it more difficult for the average female gamer to game online or join gaming communities without getting sexually harassed because apparently all girls game naked and we use controllers for bras. I hate that so many "top 10 female gamers" or "gamer girl" contests are based entirely on the quality of those slutty pictures and have little to do with their gaming skills.

But I love that things have changed and are changing. I love that being a female who games is becoming more "normal" and not an oddity, an anomaly, or a potential opportunity for hot PSN cam sex. I like that both males and females are less often stereotyped and that the gaming industry is starting to see that playing the "hot girl" marketing card isn’t working as well any more. I like that the diversity that are real people and gamers is starting to show on gaming sites.

When was the last time you felt totally lost in a fantasy gameworld? When was the last time you played a game with such a well-crafted and enjoyable story that you knew you’d remember it for a long, long time? Dragon Age: Origins is that kind of game, so rich and involving that you are powerless to resist its wiles and whims, so touching and triumphant that your mind and heart will be moved. In the fictional land of Ferelden, you meet memorable characters and fight for a cause you believe in, and it’s this backdrop that makes developer BioWare’s newest role-playing game so extraordinary. Dragon Age is more than a well-crafted story, however: It’s a lengthy, intricate, and thoroughly entertaining adventure that’s easy to fall in love with.

I’ve disliked the way the Playstation 3 has been handled by Sony for a long, long time. It’s one of the main reasons why, unlike my fellow writers, I’ve been standing firm on not getting one (although God of War III will be my personal tipping point). One of my major gripes was that Europe got shafted as a whole when it came to the SKUs, as they went against the marking strategy that won the previous generation over: backward compatibility. Only a “limited selection” of PS2 games are playable on the current PS3s.

The Emotion Chip was what brought backwards compatibility of the entire PS2 library to the PS3, allowing us to play our old titles on the console. But alas, only Japan and America managed to get their hands on these; Europe was, as I said before, shafted. These backwards compatible consoles were soon phased out in the $100 price drop (also known as the Sony Switcheroo), leaving all the others with software, pot-shot-luck emulation that was often worse than the original. However, with Sony getting into it’s groove and picking up pace, the PS3 could have a solution to this problem.

Sony have patented a technology that will allow the Cell Processor to Emulate the Emotion Chip, therefore allowing it to play the PS2 games that we have without requiring the Emotion Engine being part of the hardware. For those just getting into gaming this generation, this isn’t a big deal. In these money-conscious times where the second-hand console market is thriving, people want to sell their consoles (as well as parents buying them for less-than-careful children.) This technology will allow everyone who buys a PS3 with the Emulation code loaded onto it, to play their entire library of PS2 games.

Whether this will be a firmware update, or whether it will be embedded in the inevitable PS3 slim, is anyone’s guess. If Sony is smart, they will do both. And the way things are looking, they are wising up.

If you wish to look at the technical specifications and schematics, take a look at Siliconera.

Gamer Limit writes: "A long long time ago, on a console far, far away, Microsoft promised a new interface (the NXE), and interactive contests to go along with it. The flagship contest game is 1v100, which was touted as a game where you could interact with thousands of other contestants, and win real prizes. Well, after a long wait according to Xbox.com, 1 vs 100 is listed as:

* Free game: 1 vs 100 Live is included with your Gold Membership.

Sounds to good to be true, doesn’t it? Microsoft has been very strict when it comes to giving away free content. From Aegis Wing to Dash of Destruction, there hasn’t been much pro-bono work going on at the Microsoft offices: hopefully, 1 vs 100 will be a new beginning for Gold members."