I’ve been writing, on average, two and a half articles a day… for the past three weeks. I’m stockpiling words for the shortage that will result when I go on vacation, see. I have three new 1UP pieces online today, in fact. I kinda feel like I’m hogging the promo space.
There’s another Crisis Core thing. I’m not sure that we actually need to go into quite so much detail, but it is Final Fantasy VII, and the kids do love it. Sometimes you just have to prostitute your brain to pay the bills, you know? At least it’s a game I’ve enjoyed. I’m less optimistic about this Smash Bros./Mario Kart Wii face-off that asks, which game panders harder to Nintendo nerds? These are the crucial questions of our times.
However, I have no issues whatsoever with the final piece, Five Things Games Have Learned from Dungeons & Dragons. We wanted to publish a tribute to Gary Gygax, and honestly something like “top ten D&D video games” seemed inappropriately prosaic. So instead we put our heads together and dug a little deeper, looking at the influence of Gygax’s creation in larger, more abstract ways. My name’s on the piece because I put the words together, but it was a collaborative effort and, I think, really does the topic justice. And we didn’t even get into the less entertainment-specific social influences of the game, like the big D&D scare of the early ’80s.
I still remember my whole bible school class being trotted across the road to the nearby college so we could sit and listen to a lecture by a local cop who had launched a personal crusade against the fell satanic evil of a game that, ultimately, was about lonely kids getting together with their friends and exercising their imaginations (and algebra skills). I’m sure if he’s still around, he’s probably lecturing people about the grotesqueries of Mass Effect‘s explicit hardcore gay rape pornography simulations. Things never really change… they just become stupid in new and different ways.
(The D&D piece is also the first 1UP article to sport our new features layout and CSS and it’s gorgeous — so much cleaner-looking than the old format. Hooray for my eyeballs no longer feeling abused.)
Surely, spamming those of us who sycophantically reload your page can’t be considered a negative. Have fun on that vacation. I’m currently enjoying a wonderful sabbatical from my six-year stint in the Air Force. Great to catch up on older games and relish the laziness that my fellow man has snuggled up to while I slaved for you fine people.
Cheers.
bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-but Dungeons and Dragons really IS evil! I beg you to read:
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp
See? EEEEEEEEEEEVIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!11111 @_@
Hey, I LIKED the old format. This new one goes right past “clean” and into “spartan.”
Enjoyed the fan service piece, and am about to start on the D&D.
FYI the images are in the wrong place in the “warm/fuzzy” section.
Don’t feel too guilty about substance, sometimes a fun fluff piece is just what the doctor ordered; it’s some good wake-up reading.
The “winner” image for “Franchise factor” also shows Brawl, while the text seems to favor Kart.
I’m seconding your sentiments on the new layout. Looks soo much more elegant, not too mention just nice n’ purty.
love the new layout and feel. and great header too!
Thumbs up given!! I love the new design. Much, MUCH easier on the eyes. Hooray for changes! (now to get the personal blogs fixed… grr)