Alan Wake Left Me Cold

I know, the title promises of a pun and doesn't really deliver. It's just a statement.

I really like survival horror.  I had bought Alan Wake on a whim during one of my game shopping sprees but hadn't managed to bust it open yet. Then Time Magazine named it Game of the Year, and I had a day off, and the DLC was all on sale, and my intrigue at the title was suddenly renewed.

Be aware that this article will have spoilers, if you are interested in experiencing this for yourself.

Looking Back at 2010, Forward to 2011

This year saw some interesting stuff in gaming and new territory where it comes to both myself and this blog. I'd like to thank all the people who have started following me over this past year! I'd also like to give my appreciation for all the people who have snuck by and commented on my various reviews and essays this year.  I hope to continue to write interesting stuff about games in the years to come. I'm not a professional blogger, in the sense that I don't make any money doing this, but I like to write and appreciate having a space to share my thoughts.  So I am glad that there is an audience out there too!

In 2010 I had some changes in my workplace. I experimented with some different projects. One of them is a cooking blog which now won't be updating as regularly, but if you have any interest in baking you can view the archives at PieAWeek.  I also now have a Twitter feed, which I just got before Christmas. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use it, but anyone who wants to follow can find me at @second_truth.  (I tried variations on my name, but they were all basically taken.  Obey the underline, as without it, that is not me.)

2010 was in many ways a year of learning for me. I tried a lot of new and different things.  For next year I have the basic and broad resolution to finish many of the unfinished projects I started in this year.  Of course I will also be playing and commenting on more games. Happy New Year!

What Matters Is What's Next

I watched the Spike VG Awards, because they were there, and because as a video game blogger I should probably do such things.  But mostly because they were there.  And I knew they were going to be embarrassing and juvenile because they just are, despite the class imbued by Neil Patrick Harris.

But I guess what bugs me about the whole thing is (well, it's a lot of things, but I'll start with this one) is that the show isn't so much a celebration of the stuff we've done this year in the game industry as it is about the previews.  Like, okay, you guys at Bioware -- we love you,  have an award as a token of our love -- you made Mass Effect 2 and it was pretty great but what we really wanted to know is what does Mass Effect 3 look like?  I mean who really cares who wins Best Voice Actress -- I'm sorry, best Performance by a Female Human?  Don't even show that award; nobody here on Spike cares about women doing things especially if they are getting lauded rather than just talking about boners.  It would take up the time for more previews where there are teasers that don't show any actual gameplay and then when those games actually come out we can ignore them like we're sort of ignoring this year's games now.

I used to subtitle this blog "Game Design Thoughts from a Late Adopter" and truncated it a bit because it just felt like a mouthful, but here's me being a late adopter right now.  I haven't even gotten around to most of the award-winners on this year's show.  Red Dead, for example, I've just been slow in getting to when faced with the wonders of many other things that are more like me, and CoD Blops doesn't interest me so much at all.  But it's not even about that now, that's dead tech, just laud them a little so we can move on to the next greatest thing.  It feels like the game industry is always in a rush to see what's next, so much so that there's no room for a breath of air anywhere to enjoy what we have made.

Comments on a Game About Serial Killing

I officially have Gamer ADD.

After finishing Kirby's Epic Yarn and putting a big cut in Fallout: New Vegas during my Thanksgiving break I was ready for something quick, offbeat and unusual. I stumbled on Kieron Gillen's post about a game called Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer the other night and immediately played it all through in one sitting when I got home from work.  It kind of stuck with me.

Maybe a youth of playing Mortal Kombat and Doom really did leave me a little twisted in the head. After all, why would anyone find a game about playing a serial killer appealing? I don't even like Tower Defense games, but this had a twist on the idea - instead of wave after wave of limitless opponents, it's just one person, and you get to know them a little bit, then create a maze that will kill them, sap their will, or leave them a broken and empty shell with just barely enough will to survive.

The remainder of this article will contain spoilers for the game, not so much for its story as for its mechanics.  If you are interested in playing the game without "hints" do that before reading below the jump.  I may also want to warn you for implied violence and adult content and other unpleasant things.

And no, the irony that I went from writing about Kirby's Epic Yarn, paragon of sweetness and joy, to this, is not lost on me.