Xbox 360 Features

Cool Story Bro – The Importance of The Narrative In Game

So how do you like your story; well done, raw or somewhere in the middle? There’s no denying that during this current generation of gaming we have seen an increase in narrative based games. I have always been a “gameplay first, story second” person and always will be. However, that’s not to say I don’t love a good story in my game, it can definitely add a lot to the experience, it does amazing things for Metal Gear Solid and God of War for instance. However, is story becoming too important in an area where the entire point behind the medium is interaction?

When gaming was beginning to take off, with games like Pac-Man, Tetris or Space Invaders, they had virtually no story. What was on screen was just a visual representation of the programming. As technology advanced, the opportunity for telling stories in gaming greatly expanded, an early example being the Metal Gear series, you spend more time watching the story unfold than you do actually playing the game. But does that make it a bad game? Of course it doesn’t, but does it take too much interaction away from the medium; you could easily argue that it does. I imagine you’ve spent far more time playing your favourite game than you have watching your favourite film, the gameplay part of a game is different every time you play, whereas the story will remain the same.

The State of Women in Video Games

We’re at a crossroads in the gaming community, and it’s a crossroads we’ve been at for a while now. Gaming is at a point where the status of women is uncertain. While some developers make clear efforts to create deep, interesting female characters, others seem perfectly content to create buxom, shallow stereotypes. The problem is with the industry and the lack of women in creative positions, and while some developers claim up to 50% female staff that number can be misleading. Game developers are just like every other business, there are Public Relations people, Community Managers, as well as other non-creative positions. Most of the women who do get a job at a developer have these jobs, and are left out of the creative discussion when they could help establish an authentic female personality for a game.

Achievements: Are You Really Doing Anything?

Can you remember what your first achievement was? Mine was the active reloads in the first Gears of War, now, here’s a better question; can you remember the last achievement you unlocked where you actually feel like you accomplished something?

What I’m getting at here is the achievement system in both the 360 and PS3 has become somewhat, run of the mill. The average game has anywhere between forty and fifty achievements to start with and around seventy to eighty percent of them are unlocked on the initial playthrough. There’s very few real achievements in most games, some of them have a certain “badge of honour” attached to them, which is a step in the right direction but there are just so many token achievements it makes unlocking them feel very hollow.

Top 5 Maps in Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

First off, how much of a treat is this game for anyone who loves Pac-Man (and generally anything awesome). Why did nobody think of doing a Pac-Man game in this fashion before, taking obvious notes from recent arcade hits this is easily the definitive version of Pac-Man. Unlike the old classic that we know and love, this one comes with significantly more levels, which granted; wouldn’t be hard. However, which ones are the best and why? Fortunately, a Pac-Maniac (see what I did there?), me, has compiled a list of the top 5 maps that are guaranteed to get your waka waka waka on!

Is Multiplayer Damaging Our Single-player Experiences?

Multiplayer is rapidly becoming the fastest way to get me to say “what, in that game? really…?”. Over the past few years a multiplayer component has found its way into several franchises that began as single player experiences (Dead Rising, Assassins Creed, Condemned, Dead Space). Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the inclusion of multiplayer in any game, however there are certainly examples where a lacking single player experience seems to coincide with the addition of multiplayer.

5 Movie Games That Don’t Suck

Movie-based video games are the game industry’s equivalent of garbage. More often than not, they are hastily cobbled together lines of code that only vaguely resemble the movie, much less any playable representation of said movie. It is even said by some that the E.T. game for the Atari 2600 was a big factor in the video game crash of 1983; even if that is untrue, it is confirmed that somewhere in the New Mexico desert there are more E.T. cartridges than should ever be in one place, lest it summons some terrible force from beyond our dimension. However, amid these abominations there are a few gems, diamonds in the rough if you will; these are 5 movie games that don’t suck.

Video Game Inventions That Should Be Made (1/2/2011)

Video games have shown us many things in the relatively short time they have existed. They have shown us brilliant and fantastic worlds that have yet to be imagined, and introduced us to characters that appeal to every sense. While these avatars and environments are confined to the virtual space, there is no reason that we should not be able to use them as inspiration to invent real world products. This is the second installment in a series where we challenge the notion of what reality really is.

5 Anticipated Xbox 360 Games for 2011

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Developer: Eidos Studios Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix

The original Deus Ex was way ahead of its time when it was released on the PC in the year 2000. Instead of dictating the path the player took through the game, Deus Ex was all about offering choices – do you mow down your cyber terrorist foes Rambo-style, or take a more stealthy approach by hacking into their security feeds? Maybe you want to pick them off from afar with sniper rifles. Maybe you combine all three tactics. You were free to specialize your character in any number of skills, and the game presented viable routes through the game for all of them.

Penniless Gamer – Games for the Frugal 360 Owner

It’s the end of the year and all of your shopping is done. Chances are you are probably broke, and maybe you did not pull in the haul of games that you thought you were going to get. Now you have expended most of your funds and your game shelf is looking a little bare. Here are a few good Xbox 360 games that will not break the bank.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West – Released in October of this year, Enslaved received mostly positive reviews from critics, including a score of 9.0 from Player Affinity’s own Jay Malone.Enslaved is a contemporary spin on the classic Chinese folk tale Journey to the West and can be yours right now for only $20 on Amazon.

Xbox 360 Games to Expect in January

ilomilo is a cutesy puzzle game involving two protagonists that have forged a new friendship. They’re only problem is, each day they try to meet at the park to hang, they have tons of obstacles in their way. You play as both Ilo and Milo (switching between the two as you play) solving the treacherous puzzles along the way. ilomilo will be released January 5^th on Xbox Live Arcade game. Expect Player Affinity’s review on January 4^th.