The Game Developer’s Conference may have been just about a month ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to talk about some of the conference’s biggest stories while sipping mimosas. Join myself, David Edison, and special gue...
Nintendo’s Tomodachi Collection is a life simulation series only available in Japan. It can be best described as a mix between The Sims and Animal Crossing. Players control their Miis (which they can transfer over from their Wii consoles) as th...
Gay gaming documentary Gaming In Color has officially reached its Kickstarter goal, meaning that the project is fully funded and can begin production! It was a close race to the finish line, but this past Friday the film managed to reach its $50,000 ...
Dear Diary,
Well, I made the big move to Geneva this week. It was hard saying good-bye to my friends in Narnia (especially since I didn’t really have the ability to bid anyone farewell), but I’m ready to turn over a New Leaf (get it?) and...
Full disclosure: I never really ‘got’ drag queens. I found my way to RuPaul’s Drag Race only recently. I know, I know I’m a bad gay and believe me, I’ve heard it before. There was some part of me deep down that wanted t...
There seem to be a select number of titles that many straight gamers must keep in their back pocket as something to recommend to their gay counter-parts as being “of their ilk.” This isn’t necessarily a malevolent act, throwing the gay kid a bone and...
The Silent Hill series draws upon a vast range of artists and media for the inspiration behind its macabre setting, its disturbing and suggestive monsters, and its unsettling stories; the work of David Lynch (especially Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr...
Sims enthusiasts are a diverse breed. Some enjoy its feel-good charm; some find themselves powerless against its addictive nature. Then there are those who prefer trapping these hapless pixel-folk until they succumb to starvation – a kind of grisly homage to “The Cask of Amontillado” – or shouting lines from the Book of Revelation while the houses of digital sinners erupt in flames.
Regardless, the series has been enormously successful, selling tens of million of units during its lifetime. 2014 holds great promise for Sims fans, with the announcement that The Sims 4 will be coming to both PC and Mac. Sadly, Maxis has divulged few details beyond the existence of the game, though to allay fears that the company (a subsidiary of EA) might follow in the drunken stumbling footsteps of Sim City, a press release sent to The Sims Hub describes the game as a “single-player offline experience.” The full press release can be found after the jump.
What do you think, gamers? Are you excited for the Sims 4? Should EA adopt yours truly’s idea for a “Beast from the Air/Sea/Land FunTime Armageddon (featuring music from Carl Orff) DLC Combo Pack?” Sound off in the comments section below!
Nintendo just released this snazzy trailer for the upcoming Splinter Cell Blacklist featuring the Spies Vs. Mercs multiplayer. It’s a Wii U trailer, but you wouldn’t know it until the very end when the logos come up. There’s no mention of any GamePad-specific features, which I almost think is a good idea. It makes it seem less gimmicky so it won’t scare people off. It’s also nice that they’re promoting the multiplayer, something that Nintendo has never been particularly known for, what with all the Friend Codes and such.
Splinter Cell Blacklist is due out on August 20, and the trailer also features some nifty goodies you can get for pre-ordering the game. The Upper Echelon Pack includes the Upper Echelon Suit (better protection against gunfire and blends into the shadows), Gold Sonar Goggles (tactical imaging leaves enemies nowhere to hide) and a bonus misson, “Dead Coast Co-Op.”
A few hours into Cart Life I realized my character, a Ukrainian immigrant named Andrus, would not be able to make rent. We were going through the mundanities of selling newspapers and drinks from the plain little cart we’d leased next to a bar. Chat up customers. Adjust your prices if too many think they’re out of line. Cough; smoke a cigarette. Eat a granola bar because you don’t have time to step out for lunch. Worry about all the extra supplies that you bought earlier in the week that you just won’t be able to turn a profit on by the time rent is due.
Rent.
How much is rent? How much am I making? I press the space bar and check, and my stomach sinks. There is no way we’ll make rent. I wonder if the landlord will give me some extra time to pay – but he’s the guy who goes out of his way to tell me that he wouldn’t buy one of my 99 cent newspapers because he gets the news for free on TV.
And it hits me: Why would I play a game about things I can worry about in real life when I could be blasting zombies in the face? I could just turn this thing off.
But I can’t. Andrus and I are in it together. I confuse “I” and “we” when I talk about the game with others, thinking of the tired, lonely, hopeful, brave man who found a place in my heart.
Well, I was planning on talking about LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins, since I finished the 3DS game this past week, but then everything changed! If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you know that I was chosen by Nintendo to participate in the Animal Crossing: New Leaf Mayor Program. It’s pretty awesome, and as a massive Animal Crossing fan, obviously I’m over the moon. I’ll explain everything in my new vidcast after the jump!
It’s been over a decade since Silicon Knights and Nintendo published Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, a clever and relentlessly bleak Lovecraftian survival horror for the GameCube. There have been rumours of a sequel ever since, but after faltering on some ambitious titles, Silicon Knights fell on hard times -with lawsuits, layoffs, and bad press to follow.
However, the little-known Canadian studio Precursor Games (whose website was dead or down at the time of writing this article) has just announcedShadow of the Eternals, a “spiritual successor” to Eternal Darkness, complete with a teaser video that shows some pretty advanced assets (including glimpses of the chapel in Amiens and a room housing the Tome of Eternal Darkness) considering that a crowdfunding campaign is set to be launched for the title in two days. Silicon Knights head Denis Dyack will be involved with the game, which will be released in installments à la The Walking Dead and recalling the episodic design of Eternal Darkness. Precursor Games confirmed that the following plot synopsis, which may have been leaked ahead of schedule, is of Shadow of the Eternals:
When Detective Paul Becker is called to one of the bloodiest gang massacres in Louisiana state history, only two survivors remain from a brutal conflict between two rival cults. As Becker begins his interrogations of the suspects, their combined recollections will uncover the truth about the ‘Eternals’.
Featuring an ensemble cast of heroes and villains, Shadow of the Eternals will span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States. Players will question the perception of reality as they try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events to progress through the adventure.
Shadow of the Eternals will take players on a memorable journey throughout time; weaving historical fact with disturbing fiction to create an experience unlike any other.
Crowdfunding for Shadow of the Eternals begins on May 6th, and the title is set for release in 2014. Here’s hoping Precursor can shake off Silicon Knights’ recent history and recapture Eternal Darkness‘ magic.
The Silent Hill series draws upon a vast range of artists and media for the inspiration behind its macabre setting, its disturbing and suggestive monsters, and its unsettling stories; the work of David Lynch (especially Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive), Adrian Lyne’s Jacob’s Ladder, Stephen King’s “The Mist”, and many more. Of particular importance is Francis Bacon (1909 – 1992), a gay Irish/English figurative painter whose artwork frequently explores themes of dread, violence, sexuality and the human condition – there are strong parallels between Francis Bacon’s work and the monsters, environments and themes of Silent Hill – violence, punishment, redemption, sexuality, death and humanity.
This was a really hard week for me. I mean, it started off perfectly normal, but then at the end it took an unexpected turn. Well, unexpected in the sense that I knew it was coming, I just didn’t think it would be this soon!
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