Gaming and multimedia reviews, features, columns, and news. 2008-07-23T14:39:16Z Copyright (c) 2008, PopMatters.com ExpressionEngine tag:popmatters.com-play,2008:07:23 tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.61112 2008-07-23T06:00:00Z 2008-07-23T06:00:00Z Jason Cook Opoona fails as a character because he's a weird little bulbous alien with a pom-pom on his head named Opoona. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.61274 2008-07-23T06:00:00Z 2008-07-23T06:00:00Z Mike Schiller Guitar Hero franchise who are also inclined to visit this here site have already seen Ryan Smith's review of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which as far as my experience... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.61235 2008-07-22T14:49:00Z 2008-07-22T14:49:00Z Michael Martinez tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.61226 2008-07-22T11:58:00Z 2008-07-22T11:58:00Z Victor Godinez MICROSOFT Microsoft scored some... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.61167 2008-07-22T11:00:00Z 2008-07-22T11:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.61202 2008-07-21T17:51:51Z 2008-07-21T17:51:51Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.61108 2008-07-21T06:00:00Z 2008-07-21T06:00:00Z Ryan Smith Despite a few interesting new things, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith really isn't much more than a Guitar Hero III expansion pack with a thin coat of Aerosmith paint splashed on. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.61077 2008-07-18T06:00:01Z 2008-07-18T06:00:01Z Ryan Smith If you're worried that video games are becoming a little too "arthouse" or highbrow, there are always titles like Ninja Gaiden II. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60929 2008-07-16T22:00:35Z 2008-07-16T22:00:35Z Arun Subramanian I didn't own an original iPhone. In fact, I've never had a data plan before, never purchased a piece of software for a phone, never played any phone games more complicated than the demos that came... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/feature/21.60166 2008-07-16T07:00:00Z 2008-07-16T07:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries "Whatever we're doing, it's all story telling -- and if the story's bad then the appeal can't last to the gamer crowd let alone anyone else." ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60744 2008-07-16T05:05:07Z 2008-07-16T05:05:07Z Michael Abbott There is something wonderful to be said for a World Series between the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1973 Oakland A's. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.60961 2008-07-15T16:10:00Z 2008-07-15T16:10:00Z Victor Godinez tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60852 2008-07-15T06:00:00Z 2008-07-15T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60899 2008-07-14T12:26:25Z 2008-07-14T12:26:25Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60696 2008-07-14T06:00:00Z 2008-07-14T06:00:00Z Mike Schiller There's a psychological advantage to a game that allows you to play as yourself, or at least as someone created by yourself, as opposed to one that simply offers someone who looks a little like you. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60770 2008-07-11T18:06:23Z 2008-07-11T18:06:23Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60558 2008-07-11T06:00:01Z 2008-07-11T06:00:01Z L.B. Jeffries Myst, after all these years, still has something to say to us. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60769 2008-07-10T20:46:56Z 2008-07-10T20:46:56Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60662 2008-07-09T06:00:00Z 2008-07-09T06:00:00Z Mike Schiller It's actually really refreshing to find this kind of difficulty in what is ostensibly a kids' game. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60566 2008-07-08T18:00:00Z 2008-07-08T18:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.60679 2008-07-08T15:56:00Z 2008-07-08T15:56:00Z Victor Godinez tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60636 2008-07-07T19:28:34Z 2008-07-07T19:28:34Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60612 2008-07-07T06:00:00Z 2008-07-07T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries Summon Night: Twin Age has just enough of that engaging "Gotta explore the whole map" appeal that playing never feels like a chore. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/feature/21.60198 2008-07-03T06:59:03Z 2008-07-03T06:59:03Z Ryan Smith "There's huge potential for the market to grow, and the only way we're going to get there is if there are games available that address an audience beyond the core gamer." ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60495 2008-07-02T21:29:30Z 2008-07-02T21:29:30Z Mike Schiller Chrono Trigger, I'm curious as to what makes it such a well-regarded and influential game. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60446 2008-07-02T06:00:00Z 2008-07-02T06:00:00Z Arun Subramanian Topics at the heart of Haze include the futility of war, torture, enhancement drugs, and the notion of private military corporations. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.60399 2008-07-01T13:04:01Z 2008-07-01T13:04:01Z Victor Godinez Why do movie studios continue to insist on making movies based on video games? Probably because there's more money in it than you might think. Last week came word that Len Wiseman ("Live Free or Die... ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60337 2008-07-01T08:00:01Z 2008-07-01T08:00:01Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60363 2008-06-30T17:38:49Z 2008-06-30T17:38:49Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60349 2008-06-30T06:00:00Z 2008-06-30T06:00:00Z Joe Bernstein Sitting solitary in a totally anonymous, ESPN-on-a-budget studio, Chuck D looks and sounds like a 48-year-old who knows much better. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60252 2008-06-27T06:00:00Z 2008-06-27T06:00:00Z Jamie Lynn Dunston Tilted Mill was so preoccupied with simplifying the game mechanics that they, in fact, made it too simple -- by disallowing failure, Societies is stripped of the joy of success. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/feature/21.59007 2008-06-26T07:00:01Z 2008-06-26T07:00:01Z Glenn McDonald Glenn McDonald talks to the creators of Alpha Omega about their new table top game, the challenge of game development, and that little Cloverfield mix-up. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60146 2008-06-25T06:00:00Z 2008-06-25T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries The player has complete control over what he shoots and kills, but the sounds manage to combine in such a way that you feel like you're contributing to a collective whole. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60093 2008-06-24T06:00:00Z 2008-06-24T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.60101 2008-06-23T23:33:58Z 2008-06-23T23:33:58Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.60084 2008-06-23T06:00:01Z 2008-06-23T06:00:01Z Azmol Meah It's quite bizarre to see a game which in the concept sounds incredible -- playing as the dead, awakening to feed -- when the ultimate experience is so the opposite. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59997 2008-06-20T06:00:01Z 2008-06-20T06:00:01Z Arun Subramanian The different weights of blocks and projectiles alike are so well realized, they are almost tactile. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59923 2008-06-18T06:50:00Z 2008-06-18T06:50:00Z L.B. Jeffries The most interesting element of the plot is the fact that humans have become subservient to insects. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59804 2008-06-17T06:00:00Z 2008-06-17T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59829 2008-06-16T06:00:01Z 2008-06-16T06:00:01Z Jamie Lynn Dunston Rife with potty humor, the dialogue sometimes seems to have been written by the funniest, most precocious fourth-grade boy in the universe. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59832 2008-06-16T05:52:00Z 2008-06-16T05:52:00Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.59739 2008-06-13T18:09:00Z 2008-06-13T18:09:00Z Justin Hoeger tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59627 2008-06-13T06:00:00Z 2008-06-13T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59717 2008-06-13T06:00:00Z 2008-06-13T06:00:00Z Arun Subramanian Not only does it not make sense for Okami to look any other way, but moreover, it makes no sense for any other game to look like Okami. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59677 2008-06-12T05:18:01Z 2008-06-12T05:18:01Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.58988 2008-06-11T06:00:00Z 2008-06-11T06:00:00Z Arun Subramanian The combat mechanics of Dark Sector are undeniably fun, due almost solely to the glaive, a bladed boomerang that can be used to eviscerate enemies, solve puzzles, and generally cause mayhem. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59528 2008-06-10T06:00:01Z 2008-06-10T06:00:01Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59559 2008-06-09T13:03:00Z 2008-06-09T13:03:00Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.58539 2008-06-09T06:00:00Z 2008-06-09T06:00:00Z Mike Schiller Seeing Sonic and Mario alongside each other in the same game is still a synapse fryer along the lines of seeing Mickey Mouse guest star as a cadaver on CSI. Something about it just...ain't...right. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59486 2008-06-06T06:00:00Z 2008-06-06T06:00:00Z Michael Abbott While it may be unfair to expect randomly generated dungeons to approach the kinds of visual variety found in Zelda games, it's a shame more of the Pokémon aesthetic couldn't be carried through inside the dungeons. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/news/23.59400 2008-06-04T12:01:01Z 2008-06-04T12:01:01Z Victor Godinez tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.58559 2008-06-04T06:00:00Z 2008-06-04T06:00:00Z G. Christopher Williams "Mama Said Knock You Out" becomes a whole different song when sung by a jug band. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59267 2008-06-03T06:00:00Z 2008-06-03T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59331 2008-06-02T14:53:00Z 2008-06-02T14:53:00Z Mike Schiller tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59234 2008-06-02T06:00:00Z 2008-06-02T06:00:00Z Mike Schiller While our blue-haired hero is essentially a blank slate, you actually feel something like sympathy for him, and, by proxy, for any high schooler with too much to do. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59070 2008-05-30T06:00:00Z 2008-05-30T06:00:00Z G. Christopher Williams Niko is very interested throughout the game in killing for the sake of revenge but, perhaps, even more so for the opportunity of wiping out his own past and eradicating his previous life. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/review/5.59071 2008-05-30T06:00:00Z 2008-05-30T06:00:00Z Arun Subramanian The insane brilliance on display is exemplified in the microcosm of the in-game television. ]]> tag:popmatters.com,2008:pm/blogs/moving-pixels/35.59135 2008-05-30T06:00:00Z 2008-05-30T06:00:00Z L.B. Jeffries