November 13, 2009 12:44:58 PM
Thank you for the considered and well-written critique. It's the best one I've seen so far. It really clarifies the issues caught in the turgid flood of the ill-natured debate that is typical of the internet. Just as understanding an artist's intentions is important, so an artist ultimately must answer for how well those intentions were realized.
October 29, 2009 7:23:09 PM
It is true that getting the economy roaring was an easy path to victory even in the first Tropico. Often, however, I like to play the game almost like an RPG. I wouldn't necessarily do the best thing, but the thing that a paranoid egotist would do, or an iron-fisted man of the people who doesn't like it when people question whether he knows what's best for them. Anyway, it sounds like I will have fun with this update.
October 6, 2009 5:07:28 PM
A thought-provoking piece. I think I can understand a bit of how you feel. I reviewed music free-lance back in the early 90s. It was a constant struggle to get paid, and my main outlet went out of business still owing me. Some of the assignments I did required pulling rabbits out of hats. The low point came when I interviewed a good friend, got back to my apartment to transcribe the tape, and received a call from the friend's lawyer telling me not to publish because label had promised the scoop to a major magazine.I went back to using my college music degree to mow lawns until I finally got a regular job.
September 25, 2009 3:45:53 PM
I think the collar is pretty too. Don't listen to him, Chloe.
July 20, 2009 4:15:10 PM
@RyanKuo: He also posted a comment on that review 6 weeks ago, but apparently forgot about it.
July 2, 2009 5:30:13 PM
I agree wholeheartedly with the first one on your list. With 40 in the rearview mirror and 50 beginning to appear shining at the top of the hill like the space ship in Close Encounters, the big issues of adolescence just don't resonate with me the way they used to. A related thing for which I am now too old is the use of gore, sex, or some other form of envelope-pushing as a selling point of a game. I want something more meaningful than a shot of adrenaline. There is one upside to being as old as I am: I no longer worry that industries have stopped pandering to me and now actually enjoy being left alone. It would be nice to have more games I could relate to, in a non-pandering way of course.
June 30, 2009 3:25:10 PM
I like to read the kind of reviews that are typically posted here. And in a world where ratings are an expected evil, I think CG's three-tiered scheme is the best. What I most appreciate are reviews that give not only a good reason for the reviewer's opinion, but also give a good idea about the style and atmosphere of the game.I also enjoy the commentary here and the articles that evaluate things from gaming's past.I generally don't like article that are written solely for the purpose of being funny. Humor in an article is a good thing, but the article should have some other purpose.
June 25, 2009 10:00:15 PM
Sicart has an interesting angle on the idea of ethics in games here, but I'm not sure it is best demonstrated by games that practically force the player to do things, thereby making the player reflect on have performed them. I haven't read the book, so I may have the particular point wrong.It would seem better to me to cause the player to reflect on the ethics of a situation by presenting an ambiguous choice. Even better is if neither choice makes any real difference in the outcome. For example, the simulation in Fallout 3 (the part in black-&-white) give two ways to give the desired outcome, but neither way is a completely acceptable course of action. The only way to decide is to determine which is less objectionable. Or also in Fallout 3, someone in a fantastically poor situation asks you to kill him. You don't have to do so to get what you need, but it does cause reflection on whether and at what point a life can become so bad that you could kill someone to relieve him.I admit, I am one of those gamers who won't play evil; the only Dark points I got in KOTOR were for the match against Starkiller. But I do enjoy games that give me occasion to pause and consider the situation. I would hate to only be considering the situation from deciding whether to continue playing or not.
June 25, 2009 1:32:14 PM
Is Bioshock available with the executable on the disc yet?
June 16, 2009 12:13:46 AM
I think you're right, Mr. Thomas. I have just exited my Sims 3 game for the night. My sim's stepson, Miles, just became a young adult, and did well enough I got to choose his trait and fulfill his mother's wish that he grow up well. I switched to his mother after the transformation, and she had a potential wish, which I immediately granted to be fulfilled: "Become friends with Miles." It was so sweet. It really is a game with heart.
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