Gamer Limit Review: Trials HD
By: Nick Simberg | August 17th, 2009
If Excitebike made sweet, sweet love to N+, you would have Trials HD. There are motorcycles, and physics, and you will die, a lot. But is it fun?
In a word: eventually.
Mini Ninjas demo drops this week
By: Grahame | August 17th, 2009
Those interested in IO Interactive’s super cute Mini Ninjas will be pleased to hear that a demo of the title will be hitting Xbox Live, Playstation Network and PC this week.
Read on to find out just when you can take the little assassins for a test drive and what freebie publisher Eidos has up their sleeve for those attending Gamescom .
StarCrafters want LAN
By: Simon Jones | August 17th, 2009
Internet petitions may not have helped curb incoming censorship laws in several countries, but they apparently still serve a purpose in the gaming world. Since Blizzard’s Rob Pardo announced in June that StarCraft II will not be supporting LAN, fans have been trying in vain to change the developer’s mind.
The LAN in StarCraft II Please petition has surpassed 100,000 signatures. Hit the jump to find out more.
The Modern Warfare 2 arsenal so far…
By: Steven Kelso | August 17th, 2009
Patrons of the Call of Duty franchise consider the choice of weaponry provided by the developer incredibly important to the gameplay experience. Those of us eagerly waiting for Modern Warfare 2 have heard little about the guns that are to be available in the game.
A fansite, Modern Warfare 2 Blog, has just posted a list of all of the weapons seen in the various demos, teasers, trailers, and gameplay videos. It’s quite an extensive list, and these fans have done an excellent job compiling it.
If you’re a Modern Warfare 2 junkie, hop over to their fansite for a moment. They’ve compiled every little piece of information there is to know about the game.
Hit the jump for the complete list!
Vick’s Madden rating takes a hit
By: Jeff Effendi | August 16th, 2009
Though not the most prestigeous of indicators, Madden 10‘s prediction of how Michael Vick will play this season has been reflected on his recent overall ratings quoted by ESPN. Understandably, Vick’s been away for a while doing some time, so it’s no surprise that everyone seems to be doubting his football-throwing accuracy.
Hit the jump to see where the stats have slumped for the QB. Read more… »
PSPGO.co.uk displays Nintendo
By: Colin Robinson | August 16th, 2009
Whoops, looks like Sony was a bit slow getting their UK PSPGO website up. PSPGO.co.uk has now been snagged by what looks to be a Nintendo fanboy, and it is being used to show the PSPGOs arch-rival… The DSi.
The Week in News: R.I.P. Edition
By: Martin Bigg | August 16th, 2009
[Hello and welcome to The Week in News, your weekly roundup of gaming news from Gamer Limit.]
This edition is slightly different however – you may have noticed that I am not the loveable Daniel Clancy, the usual anchor of this series. You see, Clancy has taken a temporary leave of absence, but I’m sure he will be back in time before I make a complete hash of things.
So gather round everyone – you can find the highs and lows of the past week condensed into one easy to read article after the break.
[Closed] Magic: The Gathering XBLA Contest
By: | August 16th, 2009
We’re hosting a contest for Magic: The Gathering Duels of the Planwalkers. We are giving away two [2] codes for the XBLA, all you have to do is comment on this post explaining why you deserve to win, but it needs to be Magic related, and convincing.
Remember to sign up with a valid email address before commenting so we can contact you. The contest starts August 16th and ends August 23rd. So why are you sitting there doing nothing? Start typing… and maybe you could be dueling soon.
Thanks to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro!
Congrats Sean J McLoughlin & yet to be named second winner.
Sega fans unite! And pick the next Genesis re-release
By: Nick Simberg | August 16th, 2009
In honor of the twenty-year anniversary of the Sega Genesis, Sega is giving the power back to its players. That is, it’s holding a poll to determine which classic Genesis title will be re-released on Xbox Live Arcade next.
See the choices and learn where to vote after the jump!
Alternative Opinions: Negative Gamer Interview
By: Colin Robinson | August 15th, 2009
Sometimes writers rebel against the norm, throw caution to the wind, break the mold, and make their own unique gaming blogs. Over the next year we will be interviewing, and featuring, people who have done just that.
First up: Ever felt like bitching about a game? Ever wanted to read, listen or watch other gamers call out the industry’s shit? Then meet the target of the first ‘Alternative Opinions’ series, the head honcho of Negative Gamer, John “wardrox” Kershaw.
Editorial: Why LukeMorse1′s problem is also our problem
By: James Pinnell | August 15th, 2009
Most of us in our mid to late twenties have been gaming since we were very young. The more hardcore of us (hint: if you are reading this, then you are one of them) still continue to purchase every console on release, purchase every triple-A title on release, and pretty much spend almost all of our free time on the hobby.
Recently, one of my favourite YouTubers, LukeMorse1, a collector with one of the largest gaming stocks in history, ended his video posts indefinitely with a dreadfully sad vlog within which he detailed how he lost his wife and child due to a “selfish” obsession with his hobby. What made it all the more difficult to watch, was that it is an example of what could happen to any of us.
Suggested Mechanics: I Fought The War, But The War Won
By: James O'Connor | August 14th, 2009
War, it has been said time and time again, is Hell. On the virtual battlefields of recent war games, more of an effort is being made to portray the harsh realities of warfare. The best example is, of course, Call of Duty 4: a war story of broken men out for blood, dicey international relationships and the grim reality of the front line. It was a ballsy story for sure – without spoiling it, the event that occurs at the end of Act 1 is gut-wrenching in a way few war stories can achieve.
The first Modern Warfare game was hugely emotionally involving and draining. For the second game, I’d like to see them go even further. (Warning: Call of Duty 4/World at War spoilers after the jump).
Call of Duty 4 is, in this writer’s opinion, one of the most effective anti-war pieces, game or otherwise, of the last decade. This can be attributed in large part to the AC-130 gunship level, a set-piece made effectively terrifying by just how easy it is. It’s not a fight, it’s a slaughter, and it’s all too plausible a scenario. As you rain bullets and bombs down on the soldiers below, the dull, bored narration of the events occurring is enough to make your skin crawl. Beyond that, the men you’re fighting alongside have all been touched by the war in ways that have damaged their outlook and desensitized them to their own actions – not to mention that most of them die. There’s more detail that could be gone into here about the overarching causes of the war, the righteousness of either side or even the general portrayal of fictional outbreaks in games, but that’s not so important for now.
Treyarch’s World at War, similarly, lays it on thick towards the end of the Russian campaign. Just before you enter into the German subway station, you’re tasked with, essentially, cleaning up the mess you’ve just made. Injured German soldiers lay dying on the ground, and in a moment that parallels the opening of the campaign quite expertly, you must slaughter the already dying troops. The rest of the Russian campaign follows on in a similar fashion: Russian victory is all but assured, and your mission is now more about revenge and glory than protecting the motherland. World at War was nowhere near as elegant in how it crafted its narrative, but it still got the point across.
And yet for all these achievements across both games, the finale interactive moment of Call of Duty 4 (World at War isn’t quite worth mentioning at this point) is a little bit of an action cop-out, especially when you compare Soap’s fate to that of atomic bomb victim Paul Jackson earlier in the game. The gun slides into Soap’s hands, and with three shots you save your life and wipe out a major threat – killing Zakhaev certainly won’t win the war, but it’s a serious dent in the other side’s armour. Things haven’t ended well by any stretch, but still you’ll be returning a hero.
I’m not necessarily suggesting that Soap should have died. Simply that, the more I think about it, the more room I see to really get under the player’s skin in a game like this. I’d love to see Infinity Ward craft a war game where we don’t simply die, or get injured, or see our entire squad get mowed down – I want to actually experience losing a war. And not in the way the idea has been explored in, say, games set during the Vietnam War – I want it to be a fictional conflict, and I want to be convinced that I’m going to win.
I can’t even begin to imagine how it must feel to be truly defeated in a war situation. No country willingly steps into a conflict they don’t expect to somehow profit from. Nationalism – arguably the primary catalyst for both World Wars – involves a powerful belief in the nation you’re fighting for, and an absolute certainty that they will prevail. Losing under those circumstances, even in a simulated conflict, would have to be emotionally devastating. The idea that even our best efforts can’t always win the fight is one explored on a much, much smaller scale in the multiplayer modes in these games, so why not incorporate it into the main campaigns?
Some may argue that there needs to be some sort of reward at the end of a gaming experience, but haven’t game narratives evolved past that point? Already games have done a terrific job of showing us that there are real ‘winners’ in war, but surely by now that’s a tired point, no matter how well it’s told, and it’s a lesson that holds a different value for side that actually loses in the conventional sense. Whether this would mean taking on the role of a ‘foreign’ invasion force or simply portraying the loss of the ‘Allied’ forces, I’d love to see an interactive exploration of the devastation of losing out in a massive conflict, one that will affect everyone and everything your virtual avatar was fighting for.
Having said all this, I don’t think it’s likely we’ll see any such game plot emerging anytime soon. The idea of taking on the role of the ‘enemy’ troops isn’t going to appeal to the majority of Modern Warfare’s audience, and judging by the way a lot of players carry on at the end of multiplayer matches, they certainly don’t like losing. But the first Modern Warfare moved me. It really got under my skin and made me think about the events I had just taken place in. I want the ante upped. I want a game experience that educates me on an emotional level in a way that other games haven’t dared to try.
War, it has been said time and time again, is Hell. On the virtual battlefields of recent war games, more of an effort is being made to portray the harsh realities of warfare. The best example is, of course, Call of Duty 4; it is a war story of broken men out for blood, dicey international relationships and the grim reality of the front line. It was a ballsy story for sure – without spoiling it, the event that occurs at the end of Act 1 is gut-wrenching in a way few war stories can achieve.
The first Modern Warfare game was hugely emotionally involving and draining. For the second game, I’d like to see them go even further. (Warning: Call of Duty 4/World at War spoilers after the jump). Read more… »
