E3 2008

Thought I’d be condiderate and post who’s going to show live feeds and when.

• 1UP
• G4TV.com
• GameSpot
• IGN (Insiders get better quality)
• Airing live, commercial-free on G4

And here’s the schedule. (or shedule for Looshkin)

EDIT (by Mythos): Discuss it here.

An Analysis of Gaming Journalism

I like many of the rest of you am a knowledge minion, constantly seeking little tidbits and  facts.  I’d like to bring your attention to a little sub category called game previews, Today’s gaming journalism consists of a lot of previews specifically during these summer months.  I feel a need to address some of the faults in these articles.

These previews should always contain a dash of mercy since the game is still being developed, but I believe it has all gone to far.  When a preview today is read the writer points how a game has bad controls or a repetitive and overused fighting system, saying the developer can fix this before launch.  About five months later the game is reviewed and it has the same bugs as oh so long ago.  An example would be game Advent Rising.  In a preview by GameSpot they state

“The game uses the latest Unreal technology on both the PC and Xbox to power its visuals, and the environments and character models have a solid and cohesive look that’s characteristic of that engine. The environments we saw–which [was] situated aboard a space station and on some lush alien world had a detailed look, and there were some pretty impressive lighting effects on offer as well.”

In the review of the game it’s stated that, “Advent Rising doesn’t have much going on from an aesthetical perspective, either. The art design is boring and terribly derivative,” and that “The human characters are bizarrely designed, with legs that take up two-thirds of their bodies, and they feature altogether bland costume designs.”  Now that sounds like the exact opposite of the preview. (yes I did single out opposing quotes but still)

I’m saying not all journalists should become super jaded and cry out “crap game” at every booth in E3.  But it’s the “they’re trying their best” behavior that’s journalists take upon themselves with previews.  If I may find my inner Yahtzee with a description, “it’s like saying the kid who still uses diapers in kindergarten is a ‘little slow’.”  Furthering my usage of examples I’ll bring up the über Japanese game Blue Dragon.  In a preview by 1up.com they state that “The story follows Shu, Jiro, and Kluke, three kids from the village of Talta… Marumaro, a squat little creature from the Devee tribe, and Zola, an older female mercenary.”  That’s the kind of Japanese crap that reminds why I never want to go there.  The review makes a statement similar to my criticism:

“You’ve got Shu, who looks like an emaciated Saiyan who somehow escaped from Dragon Ball Z, Kluke, a little girl who seems about 10 years old but sports a disturbingly considerable bustline, Jiro, a boy (seriously, this guy’s so nondescript that that’s his defining feature), and Marumaro, a perpetually squinting, constantly screeching cat/bat creature who’s made of annoying and harbors a disturbing cross-species fetish for your final companion: Zola, an icy female mercenary. She’s definitely the coolest of the bunch — not coincidentally, she’s also the only one who appears to be over the age of 12.”

Harsh words, harsh words for a strange game.

So, yeah that sums it up.  Journalists are making statements about games that are later retracted or are given a Mercy point for earliness of development.

Next week I chastise games based off TV shows!

The Sieve of The Combine

Starting a new series

YEAH DORMANCY

“The Earth Shall Burn”

Pyro update on Thursday and Meet The Sniper on Tuesday.

May we all find the joy that was lost from TF2. Or just achievement farm and PWN N00Bs.

SOURCE

My Skin!

Yes I finished the POB Skin Pack.  Roughly 20 MBs of awesome!

Special thanks to Junior Barnes for hexing my skin.

Freshly Skinned POB

Okay, we need to compile all the personal skins everyone has made and get them in one file. We need those updated skins for comics and tasteless sex poses.

If you disagree your a moron and “tant pis.”

That’s my part taken care of.

That’s Metal

To Quote Delirium “kickass”

no real explanation other than this is the best thing to do as a pyro jump down on someone flamethrower blazing.

EDIT (By Mike): Rescaled and linked to so full image can be seen, not cut off.

Left 4 Dead Strategy Guide

Alright guys, I’m proposing a project. A totally free for all do when you feel like project, but let me explain first. Last Saturday delirium and I were on chat and were talking about L4D and started saying all these strategies. So basically I came up with the idea to make a strategy guide. I know the game isn’t out yet but just about everything is known about it so it could work. I started out with with this and it’s open game to whoever (well people within the group of POB) wishes contribute to it.

L4D official website (no real useful info)

Wikipedia Article for L4D (weapons, baddies etc.)

Left 4 Dead 411 (has every aspect of the game explained)

Don’t worry I’m not trying to make POB a producer of Strategy Guides but most of us will probably buy this game, nice to know what to do.

Nemi’s Back

Yes today Nemi arose from the ashes to make this and this. This contradicts assumptions by leading scientist, Delirium and I, that Nemi was kidnapped by Chinese pirates and forced to sleep with the fishes, by which I mean a Finding Nemo bedspread. So I’d like to be the third one to say.

Welcome back commander I MEAN NEMI.

Mythos’ Girlfriend

Okay, I don’t even know what demonic entity is making me write this (Daemon I’m looking at you) but those of us (three people?) who aren’t enjoying life or making comics should make a Gmod model of Mythos’ girlfriend as a present (his birthday was last week) also that’s probably all I can do seeing as Gmod has gone asshole on me and I’m really bored.

If anyone finds this idea as stupid as further evaluation makes it seem, no harsh comments.

Blackout62

Hey guys, I’m the newest member of POB and Delirium said I should introduce myself.

This would be the short version.
But the long version would be that,

I was born in the wondrous part of California, thats right the north, I’ve grown up there so I may make jokes concerning the area. (San Francisco gays, Fresno, Napa wine, Tech industry, etc.)  I’m still a student so that gives me a lot of comic time but expect something every two weeks generally.  I’ve had a lot of practice comics in Garry’s Mod (got it around Christmas of last year and have been making comics since) that were never posted.  I’m a gamer, snowboarder, struggling writer, and apparently now a decent comic book maker.

So see you around… dude.