The Fallout 3 Ending Controversy
December 8, 2008 | 1 Comment
I had been looking forward to Fallout 3
Did the gameplay in Fallout 3 justify the ending?
I try to keep away from video game reviews for the same reason I try to keep away of movie and TV reviews: they spoil things. However, with Twitter, message boards, and friends comments sometimes it’s hard to avoid some sort of knowledge of what’s to come. A few weeks after Fallout 3 was released I started to see gripes about the ending to the game. I chose not to pry further into it, but I knew a lot of people were upset with the outcome of the game. I chose to leave it at that and continue to enjoy the game I was playing.
Earlier today I finished Fallout 3 and I can see where the gripes come from. Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that considering the extremely expansive and fairly open-ended gameplay, Fallout 3’s ending is very abrupt and fairly straightforward. This, however, isn’t what I believe people were so upset with. I believe the gripes come with the result of the ending. Being a role playing type of game, the ending carries a choice between two options, neither of which are exactly beneficial to the player.
I actually don’t have a problem with the ending. While it’s not a happy ending, the ending is justified by the rest of the game. The game presents plenty of choices for the player throughout the course of the game and all throughout there is never a perfect option. So why should we expect that with the ending? THe game justifies the ending — there isn’t anything to complain about.
After all, it isn’t anywhere near the level of horribleness the ending to the original Devil May Cry had. Devil May Cry, while extremely difficult, was a very fun game where you play as a character killing all sorts of evil creatures with a combination of guns and swords. The ending put the player in control of a biplane — yes a biplane — and flying out of a collapsing cave.
This Devil May Cry ending was unfortunately repeated with the otherwise flawless Resident Evil 4. After finding and protecting the presidents daughter from parasite infected zombie-like Spaniards, you’re tasked with riding a jet ski — yes a jet ski — through a cave out into the sunset.
These endings where horrible and completely unjustified by the game they belong to. While Fallout 3’s ending might be displeasing to the player, it’s fitting to the game and, in comparison, not to bad.
I Love Bacon… But this is Weird
October 8, 2008 | 1 Comment
I get a nice bit of spam here on the site. As I said the other day, most of it is absolute garbage. I know that a mere week or so ago I said I got the spam comment to end them all, but I’ve got to tell you, what you’re about to see absolutely takes the cake. Intrigued? Keep reading.
On the 2nd of October my inbox rang in a new email from someone named Rebecca. The spam(?) that was contained is basically an attempt at viral marketing with absolutely no apparent purpose. The email, in its entirety, now follows:
Hey Justin,
Thought you might be interested in checking out the latest in bacon mania making the rounds…
BaconMan!
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZC_CYJcnEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FAw5k96LJw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twpIu_tQlnE&feature=relatedYou can check him out on Twitter too if you’re on there… #baconman
Giving you any Halloween costume ideas? I was thinking this or Tina Fey as Sarah Palin
Rebecca
I can’t tell what the purpose of this is at all. I can’t tell if it’s a product or someone just trying to get internet famous. While I was at PAX, there was a guy in a bacon suit that looked a lot like this one hocking Bacon Salt, but I’m not sure if this is related.
I’ll let you be the judge. If you’ve got any idea what this is all about, let me know in the comments. And if you’re Rebecca, please tell me what is up. Thanks.
PAX 08: The Remembering
September 3, 2008 | 1 Comment
This past holiday weekend I traveled to Seattle with my good friend Mike to attend the annual Penny Arcade Expo. Penny Arcade is a trice-weekly web comic about video games and their surrounding universe. Started out of a passion for games, Penny Arcade has risen to a point where it runs a multi-million dollar charity, publishing empire, and the largest publicly accessible gaming convention in the United States. Now that the back story is out of the way, onto my remembering.
Warning: The content that follows will contain significant name dropping, product linking, and plenty of nerds. You have been warned.
Keynote
This year’s keynote speaker was Ken Levine, the guy who created and wrote BioShock. I was throughly looking forward to this because, having played BioShock, I thought it’d be pretty cool to hear about how this incredible game came be. Perhaps even how some of his high-philosophy story-line came about. When it came to it, Levine actually never mentioned BioShock by name and talked about his life to this point. He talked about finding his first group of real friends thanks to Dungeons and Dragons, a brief career in Hollywood, and finally coming to the realization that someone actually creates the video games he plays. The speech was sort of a rally cry for nerds everywhere. It was a good way to start the show.
Mike and Jerry
Mike Holkins and Jerry Krahulik are the brains behind Penny Arcade. Their alter-egos, Jonathan Gabriel and Tycho Brahe, are the main subject matter for the webcomic. They are, if you will, big time. At least until they start talking. They held two question and answer sessions where they answered everything honestly and hilariously. What I really liked about the two of them, other then the fact that they are as funny as their personas are in the comic, is that they are just as awe struck by everything as we are. They love video games and the comic is a result of that. Their “fame” is secondary and to them, fleeting. It could end at any moment as far as they’re concerned. Jerry said it’s a lot like running from lions, trying to hold off the end of the run as long as possible. They really seem down to earth, genuinely humble people. They set up an impromptu autograph session on the second to last day of the expo that Mike and I stumbled into. Instead of ending at 5pm, like the handwritten sign said, they waited until everyone in line got a chance to approach the table, something they clearly did not have to do. Through seeing them on stage, it’s clear to see they enjoy what they do and are grateful (and a little surprised) at the result.
Me and Felicia Day
The Guild
It’s no coincidence that I’m now segueing into talking about The Guild. Prior to attending PAX I was really looking forward to the screening of The Guild on the first night of the show. So excited that Mike and I entered the line almost two hours early to be sure we got a seat, which we did, in the second row. The Guild, which I’ve talked about before, is a web tv show about a guild of WoW players who decide to meet. The show was created by and stars Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh, who were both at the expo. I got to meet both of them at The Guild booth and, like Mike and Jerry, are very approachable and humble. Felicia Day, who also stared in the very funny and hugely popular Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog, even embarrassed herself in the question and answer after the screening due to a slight slip of the tongue. It was pretty funny.
Wil Wheton
Admittedly I’m not geeky enough to know much about Wil Wheaton. I mean, I know that he was on StarTrek: TNG as a kid and he’s pretty funny on Twitter, but other than that I got nothing for you. He was the keynote speaker at PAX last year. This year, he was given his own panel. When asked how one man, even Wil Wheton, could have a “panel” he laughed and then said it’s because he’s awesome. Wil falls into the same category as all the rest I’ve talked about so far: humble, funny, and very happy with where they are in life. After Rickrolling us in dramatic fashion, Wil read some things he’s written and personally enjoys. He’s funny and pointed at the same time which is not an easy thing. I might have upped by nerd-cred by being there, but I am glad I sat in for the Wil Wheton Panel.
Line Up Room - Thousands of Geeks in One Place
People
It seemed that the kindness that seemingly emanated from Mike, Jerry, Felicia, Sandeep, and Wil was not limited to them. In fact, just about everyone was extremely friendly. A good deal of time at PAX is spent waiting in line surrounded by hundreds of other people (thousands in the Line Up Room). Despite being crammed in with other people, there is always someone willing to converse, play a game, or joke around. It definitely made waiting in all those lines much more pleasant.
Games
So PAX is a gaming conference, it’s fitting that I talk about games at some point. So I guess now will do. I’m a casual gammer. I play a few games a year. I read Destructoid and follow upcoming stuff, but I usually don’t go overboard with it. That said, there were a few titles that really excited me at PAX.
The first was Afro Samurai. This game, based on an anime on Adult Swim, features Samuel L Jackson as the Afro Samurai. It’s a cell-shadded game that looks really cool and plays like a typical button-mashing action game. Yes, I played this one. It was pretty fun. It’s clearly going to get a mature rating because, well, Samuel L Jackson is in it.
I attended the Ubisoft Demo that featured play throughs of both FarCry 2 and Prince of Persia. Both of these games look great. Prince of Persia has an art style that’s very unique and hard to describe. The game looks like a lot of fun, although I’ve not liked Prince of Persia games in the past, but we’ll see. FarCry 2 has a graphics and AI engine that is unrivaled. Fire spreads naturally, water ripples, you can see the heat of exhaust. It’s incredible. The game also looks hellishly difficult. The game developer, playing a production build of the game, kept dying. That game is going to be hard. What makes FarCry 2 stand out from other beautiful FPS games is it’s map editor. Usually a trivial feature, Ubisoft has raised the bar here. It’s really hard to describe. You just have to see it.
The final game I’m looking forward to is Fallout 3, which should be out sometime next month. This game is a mix FPS and third-person (and top-view if you want) that follows a survivor in the post-apocalyptic United States. It’s quest based and open ended. Weapons can be created from virtually anything found in the environment, which will have some very interesting results. This game looks to share a lot of similarities with FarCry 2 and BioShock. That’s a good thing.
Closing
It’s hard to summarize my PAX experience. It seems to trite to say it was great, or a lot of fun, even though it was both of those things. PAX is something that is hard to describe to someone who doesn’t play games but at the same time very easily relatable — as discovered by the people who shared our airport shuttle bus. PAX is the following:
If the Penny Arcade Expo has a star, it’s not Gabe or Tycho. It’s not special guests like MC Frontalot or Wil Wheaton. It’s not even veritable champions of nerdery like PAX ‘08 Omegathon winner Joey Gecko. No, it’s geeky culture itself. And when we gather to celebrate our own, wackiness invariably ensues.
That was GeekDadZ via Wil Wheaton’s recent post attempting to summarize PAX. PAX is about geeks. It’s for geeks. It is geeks. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to summarize. One thing is for sure, Mike and I will be back.
While I wrap up this marathon post, I’m going to add a gallery of pictures that we took at PAX featuring some of the crazy cosplayers. Check it out.
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- Motorcycle Totem Poll
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- Line Up Room - Thousands of Geeks in One Place
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- Fruit "Friend"
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- Me and Umbrella Man
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- Black Mage
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- Harley Quinn
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- Two Dr. Horribles?
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- Box Man
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- Me and Felicia Day
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- Silent Hill Nurse
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- Darth Vader
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- Box Man 2: The Enemy
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- Viva Pinata
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- Pikachu
Seattle is a Strange Land
August 30, 2008 | 3 Comments
So I’m here, at PAX, and after spending about 24 hours in Seattle I’ve noticed a few things. Namely, this is a strange place.
The strangest thing, and the hardest to get over, is the fact that it’s three hours behind the East Coast. It feels like living in the past actually. When I turned on ESPN last night, at 630p, college football games were half over. I felt like I had missed something. It might have been the jet lag, but it just felt odd. Today I decided not to turn on the TV.
Another thing that I found rather strange are the drivers over here. Evidently no one that lives in Seattle can drive. Even stranger, there are stop lights that tell you when you can leave the on ramp and enter the highway. Odd yes, but their erratic pattern is even odder. I’ll add the YouTube video of this strange light system later on, when I’m not waiting in a 3000 person line to enter PAX.
Other then these two things, Seattle is your typical “big city.” The downtown area is pretty cool, especially the Pike Street Market — the place with the famous fish throwers and all the flower vendors. One thing that is pretty unique, especially after being in Florida for so long, is that the second language used (in the airport mainly) is not Spanish but rather Japanese. That’s pretty cool.
I’m sure my weekend here will result in many more observations, especially as it relates to geeks and nerd culture, but for now that’s all I got. Look for those fun realizations sometime next week.
Here’s the YouTube video of the retarded traffic light. Behold the stupidity that is Seattle’s highway system:
I mean, Seattle isn’t all bad. I guess. At least PAX is pretty much awesome.
PAX BABY!!!
August 28, 2008 | 0 Comments
Today is August 28th and that means that I’m somewhere between sunny Orlando and dreary Seattle. That’s right, I’m leaving on a jet plain for a long weekend in the brittle north west. No, I won’t be enjoying the local grunge scene or partaking in a fine cup of joe, I’ll be getting my geek on at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo!
PAX is a three day conference created by the one and only Penny Arcade, an awesome web comic. It’s going to feature bands, video games, speakers, video games, movies, video games, geeks, and video games. I’m excited.
It's Penny Arcade Expo or Bust!
The official schedule is available on the PAX website and it’s almost mind numbing to try and decipher it all. One session I’ve been looking forward to for awhile, however, is the screening of The Guld with creator and star Felicia Day. That should be pretty cool. Other things that caught my eye were sessions on the history of Harmonix, a screening of the movie The Wizard, and the keynote with the creator of BioShock. One thing’s for sure, the deal will be a lot of fun.
While I’m there I hope to explore a bit of Seattle as well. Considering I’ve never been west of Texas this should be an adventure. I’ll be making PAX updates on Twitter, so follow me if you haven’t already. There probably won’t be a PAX specific post here until sometime next week. We’ll see.
Are you going to PAX? Have you been to Seattle? Leave some “must see and do” things in the comments below.