The fear of difficulty

As I’ve been talking about earlier the difficulty level in games have gradually decreased over the last 10-15 years (for another article on this, read “Stop holding my hand, games!“). In most ways this has been a natural change, due to the “spreading” of games to a wider audience. When more and more people get into gaming they also bring different expectations and demand different things of the games. Better accessibility is one of these things, and I think difficulty belongs to the scope of accessibility.

 

The big impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2012

So how did the big games fare at the expo? Was it all the same over and over again or were there any gems to be found? Read on and see if the wait for Tomb Raider, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and the other big ones are worth it.

 

Indie impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2012

The Indie Games Arcade in the Eurogamer Expo is usually the place to see games from designers who dare to go outside the typical template that virtually all big companies use. Here I go to see different adventures, cool uses of graphics, and new ways of presenting games. Here are some of the games that made the biggest impressions on me. Some of these were not presented in the Arcade, but they are considered Indie (at least by me) and fit in this section.

 

Nintendo impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2012

A lot of games, some looking very good, some very hard, some very funny, few surprises, and a small number of very good ones. That is the early conclusion of Eurogamer Expo 2012. Here are my impressions of what Nintendo had to offer!

 

Watch Dogs – part 3: Gameplay

In the earlier articles about Watch Dogs a lot have been said about the culture and philosophy behind the game and also the new tech that will supposedly power the incredibly lively game world. In this final article on Watch Dogs I will cover more of the gameplay elements that are in Aiden Pearce’s hands.

 

Watch Dogs – part 2: Future technology

In this second part of my dissection of Watch Dogs and its potential I turn to the more graspable features of the game. When the previous article dug into the cultural references found in the game and some philosophical comparisons to literature and movies, this one will focus on the presumably next-generation hypes, rumors and facts that this game stands for.

 

Watch Dogs – part 1: Philosophy and culture of information misuse

Watch Dogs was the game that made the biggest WOW-impact on me and many others at this year’s E3. It is a complex game with features, story and a game world that reaches from philosophy, meta references, information exploitation, to superb graphics and traffic jams caused by you! In this first part of my in-depth analysis of Watch Dogs and its game world I focus on the soft side of the game; philosophy, cultural references and meta exposures.

 

The curse and blessing of sequels

Sequels are a very common phenomena among all media, especially in movies and games. Sure, books and music albums can also be “sequelized” but not to the extent as the earlier mentioned art forms. The new iterations can either plunge the experience to awfulness if the producers are just looking to squeeze extra money out of a good concept; but a sequel can also move an idea closer to perfection. When talking about games, sequels can be a very sharp double edged sword.

 

Best games of E3 2012

So which games managed to surface above all the “game noise” that E3 represents? Here are some new revelations and updated old coming games that caught my attention during the show, and some that could have done better… Mind you, the best one is at the bottom!

 

E3 2012 – The elephants’ press conferences

How did the big “elephants”, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA and Ubisoft, do on their respective press conferences? How many exciting games or futuristic hardware did they present? Here are my thoughts, insight and highlights of the big press conferences of this year’s E3.