Gaming in the Media Blog

Girl in the Machine - The Flower Girl

While FFVII doesn’t have a job system per se, Aeris is clearly the party’s standard white mage, complete with staff and restorative Limit Break. While the conventional female character locked into the healer role tends to annoy me, this works in context. Aeris is balanced out by not one but two other women, neither of whom are magic users (Tifa as a monk and Yuffie as a thief). This is rarely seen in other Final Fantasy games wherein white mages like Rosa, Garnet, and Yuna also have magic-using female compatriots. More importantly, her “job” as a white mage works in tune with the plot. To rescue the Planet from Meteor, she uses the White Materia to cast Holy, a well-known high level spell in white magic.

A character’s appearance plays an important role, as always, and it’s great to see Aeris is not afflicted by a cheesecakey design (something that’s admittedly relegated to black mage women like Lulu or Fran). I’ve always liked her Dress And Hiking Boots combo, showing a measure of function over form.

Heroine Sheik - On Male Videogame Character Body Types

 This recent (somewhat shoddy) list of the Top 25 Hottest Men in Gaming got me thinking about male bodies. The bodies of female video game characters have undergone a lot of male gaze scrutiny. They appear on the covers of magazines wearing skimpy outfits and become the subject of endless fanboy drool-fests. Male characters, while their bodies may be just as sexualized by design, hardly ever attract as many hungry eyes–or angry voices when they don’t meet standards of beauty. So I say let’s turn our gaze on those occasionally sumptuous male bodies and see what we find.

VideoGamesBlogger - Wii Fit Release Date is May 19th…

The exercise videogame Wii Fit was announced to have a release date in America on May 19th, 2008. The tentative European release date is a little earlier on April 25th, 2008. It will be priced under $100. There are also over 10 games in development that take advantage of the Balance Board that’s included with Wii Fit.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Nintendo of America has also announced the launch of the Wii Channel for original downloadable Wii content called WiiWare on May 12th, 2008.

Video Game Media Watch - Sunni Leader Xbox Fan

Ali Hatem al-Suleiman is a 37 year-old Dulaym tribe chief in Iraq, hailing from a traditional tribal culture that is pushing for a larger, more powerful role in Iraqi politics - and succeeding. Al-Suleiman was the founder of the “Awakening” movement, which pulled together and united a collection of Sunni tribes that thereafter forced elements of al-Qaeda out of the Anbar province.

Oh, and he just happens to be an Xbox aficionado in his spare time…. just in case the above qualifications didn’t impress you. Al-Suleiman is a big fan of Black Hawk Down.

Gamasutra - A Japanese RPG Primer: The Essential 20

As of 2008, the Japanese RPG has become a subject of scorn for many Western critics, deriding it for its conventions — slow, menu based combat, random battles, overreliance on narrative — and for its failure to evolve. In spite of this, there are still many fans of the genre, who continue to enjoy them for their interesting plots, characters, and battle systems.

This is a list of twenty of the best JRPGs of all time — well, an attempt, anyway. Each of these has been selected for excelling in some significant way, whether it’s through compelling narrative devices or intriguing gameplay mechanics.

To avoid redundancies, only the best installment of a franchise will be chosen as a representative. The exception to this rule includes the Final Fantasy games, many of which are so vastly different from each other that they can barely be recognized as part of the same series, outside of the name.

PlayGirlz Gaming Blog - 21 Hardest Nintendo Titles

Descending the circles of nostalgic gaming hell isn’t always pleasant, so be forewarned that reading the article could bring back unpleasant memories of tears, fits of anger, and cursing. It seemed like the article wanted to start on Metal Gear Solid, but got confused and talked about Metal Slug 3 instead. I would whole-heartedly support a nod for MGS though, as it required a totally different approach to tasks than most of the games on the market at that time and I remember pulling my hair out in frustration when run and gun tactics left me bleeding on the floor more times than I care to remember.

Kotaku - UK: People Do More Gaming Than Sex Having in Bed

We already knew Brits like buying video games more than music. Now it seems like like playing video games more than doing each other. A survey from “bedroom specialist Sharps” polled 2,000 people in the UK about the most common activities in bed. What did the bedroom retailer find?

Kotaku - Nintendo Will Not Release Holocaust DS Game

Earlier, we brought word of Imagination Is The Only Escape, a Holocaust DS game from British game dev Luc Bernard. The game follows a young Jewish boy living in France during the Nazi occupation during World War II. In order to escape the horrors around him, he imagines a fantasy land that becomes the basis of the game’s world. The adventure platformer will attempt to educate players on the atrocities experienced by many children during the time of the Holocaust.

 MTV Multiplayer - My Fellow Single-Player Smash Bros. Gamers, Unite!

If you are playing “Super Smash Brothers: Brawl” alone — you are not alone.

I’m with you.

If you have ever bought a multiplayer game of any kind before without the intention of playing it against other people, I’ve been there too.

Are you like me? Are you playing “Smash” as a solo gamer? I’ve played the coin launcher, looked at the trophies, played a few brawls against the computer. I did a couple of the target levels, whacked the punching bag and am a whole 2% into the side-scrolling mode, the Subspace Emissary (which could be played by two people, but not when I’m involved). I’m playing this game solo, because, well, that’s how I play games.

It’s not that I hate playing games against other people (spot the telling denial!). And I know I edit a blog called Multiplayer. But I just don’t game against other people that much. Back in the old days I didn’t because I liked to settle in with adventure-driven games, games with a table that seated only one. These days, I also don’t, because my Internet connection is slow. “Halo 3“’s matchmaking service will only match my Level 4 skills to a Level 30-something, because it can’t find a closer match suited to my inferior Internet connection. So, solo-play it is.

Gamasutra - Microsoft Excel: Revolutionary 3-D Game Engine?

It is understood that Excel is an all-round office tool, but probably it is unknown that it has a bunch of features that makes Excel a high-class 3D graphics engine.

In this article I will demonstrate Excel’s arithmetical facilities, the embedded rendering subsystems (there are two of them!) and the revolutionary approach which might just cause a paradigm shift. I hope you will discover that Excel effectively and efficiently incorporates practicality, tons of features, the multi-platform portability and the high performance with the unique and futuristic 3D engine features.

GamePolitics - Comcast Packs Net Neutrality Hearings with Paid Ringers

For gamers, the stakes are indeed high. So high, apparently, that Comcast, which opposes Net Neutrality, hired people off the street to fill seats (see pic) at a recent FCC hearing on the issue. The tactic prevented some opposition voices from gaining access.

Gamasutra - Nine Paths to Indie Game Greatness

Independent developers usually operate with very limited initial resources. By operating without a loan of resources, they create a development environment for themselves free from outside influences or restrictions. The only obligations they hold are to themselves as developers and the people who play and purchase their games.

GamePolitics - Video Games Linked with Rape in Parliament Debate

Although we can’t think of a single commercial video game with an interactive rape scene, British MP - and frequent game critic - Keith Vaz (left) made sexual violence sound like a gaming staple in a debate on Friday. As reported by Spong, the issue under consideration was Conservative MP Julian Brazier’s bill to bring additional censorship to games in the U.K. Although Brazier’s attempt ultimately failed, Vaz, not surprisingly, was a supporter.

Kotaku - Life Size Haruhi Suzumiya has Movable Groin

Just ewww.

Ack! Freaky giant doll alert. March 1st (tomorrow!) pre-orders start for this huge, freaky-assed life-sized Haruhi Suzumiya figurine in Japan. According to the maker, the five-foot statue has a moveable head, shoulders, elbows, lower back, knees, ankles, fingertips and, ahem, “groin.” This Haruhi has an expected sticker price of ¥380,000 (US$ 3,628.72). But can you really put a price on something so creepy? Yes, apparently!

Gamasutra - The Art of Games

I’ve heard countless calls over the years, often with good and pure intentions, that “Games are games, and we should keep them that way.”

While I fully understand and support that games are a wonderful play pastime, and that gameplay and fun are the beating heart of our business, I find these assertions to keep everything the same as a set of false boundaries that foster cynical limitations by those in power to assure the status quo is comfortable and predictable.

The real truth is, games have always pushed the boundaries and evolved on their own, right from the beginning. First they were a simply a “Novelty.” Then Time Magazine proudly labeled them a passing “Fad.” Then they were a “Quaint Pastime.” Then a “Cultural Phenomenon.” And now a “Mainstream Entertainment” medium.

In truth, video games have always grown beyond the bounds we try to impose on them.

GamePolitics- Comcast Packs Net Neutrality Hearings with Paid Ringers

Is Net Neutrality an important issue for gamers?

You bet.

If you’re not sure why, check out Every Time You Vote Against Net Neutrality, Your ISP Kills a Night Elf, which explains how online gaming will suffer if the big telecommunications firms win and Net Neutrality loses.

That’s why the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) has joined with the SaveTheInternet coalition and is backing Net Neutrality legislation proposed by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA).

For gamers, the stakes are indeed high. So high, apparently, that Comcast, which opposes Net Neutrality, hired people off the street to fill seats (see pic) at a recent FCC hearing on the issue. The tactic prevented some opposition voices from gaining access.