Twists are tricky. They can be the signature moment in a story that will leave an impact for years to come, or they can be predictable, unnecessary and not all that interesting. They’re best used sparingly; utilize too many and you’ll lose the audience’s interest. Go watch the movie Heist and you’ll know what I mean: by the end, a real twist would have been no twist at all. You couldn’t believe anything you saw, because you started to predict that (surprise!) what happened wasn’t actually what happened. READ MORE
I tend to stay away from topical discussions. I prefer writing pieces about games that are at least a few years old. It gives me adequate time to think about them, and reflect on how the game left an impact on the industry (if at all). Any high emotions experienced can subside, and let me look at the game with more sober eyes.
Recently on the podcast, we’ve been discussing future consoles and digital downloads. It’s a fun topic; many of the Snackbar staff have bought at least one (or 50) games from XBLA, PSN, the Wii Shop, Steam, Origin, you name it. It’s all very futuristic; we all knew that physical copies of games would eventually go away, but that reality was always down the block and out of sight. Now that it has come into view of our front door, we’re not sure what to think. READ MORE
It’s very difficult to grab our attention these days. Gone are the days where gamers are thrilled by a simple screenshot. Our expectations are as high as ever, with emerging technology bringing us lightning-fast internet speed, HD graphics and constant social media bombardment. We have all the information in the world at our fingertips. Games play a huge part of the modern entertainment juggernaut, and the sheer capacity of information surrounding them is staggering. There are so many games, stories and characters out there for our potential enjoyment that it borders on unnecessary. I mean really, how many games do we need? READ MORE
There are more than a few reasons why you won’t find me reviewing games for Snackbar anytime soon. Besides the fact that we already have an excellent review staff, I simply can’t be objective enough to calmly rationalize why a game is good and why it’s bad based purely on design. I’m too emotional.
I’ll overstate how awesome I thought one cutscene was, and give the game an incredible score that doesn’t reflect the quality of the entire product. If you saw my list of games that I’ve beat and ranked, you’d say I was crazy. I have Final Fantasy XIII ranked higher than Fallout 3. I have BioShock 2 ahead of the original. I have Mirror’s Edge ahead of The Wind Waker, Enslaved ahead of Metal Gear Solid 3 and Blue Dragon ahead of Tales of Symphonia. I’m susceptible entirely to how I felt about a game, rather than the core criteria a reviewer should look at and the rational thinking a critic should possess. READ MORE
People sometimes ask me why, at my age, I still play video games frequently. When they ask this, they’re genuinely interested; we’re approaching a point now where it’s sort of silly to completely scoff at a hobby played by hundreds of millions of people around the world everyday. So without a hint of malice, they are keen to know why somebody would spend not a small amount of time invested in something that “isn’t real” or “just a game.” It’s a legitimate question. READ MORE
