By Nadia Oxford on Dec 12, 2011 in Game Design, Storytelling, Video Games
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When we put together our list of the Most Offensive Video Games Ever, our kind readers helped underscore one of the fundamental problems we faced when trying to compile an abbreviated sample: there are more than a few depraved games out there that have amassed over the last several decades.
So, in the interest of doing justice to the bloodiest and most controversial pages in the Great Big Book of Gaming History, here are five more of the most offensive games to hit...
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By Nadia Oxford on Dec 9, 2011 in board games, Storytelling
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Video games are great and all, but sometimes you just gotta unplug yourself. That’s when you load up on beer and chips, lasso a bunch of friends, and sit down to enjoy a board game.
It’s easy to think of video games as a digital “replacement” for toys and board games, which, in turn, are sometimes regarded as lumbering relics from the past. Truthfully, board games are still a popular way to pass the time amongst a family or a group of...
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By Nadia Oxford on Dec 7, 2011 in Business, Publishing, Retail
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Open communication via the Internet has brought gamers and developers quite close, and for the most part, we’re all good buddies. However, one issue still divides us like a katana through a cake: the used games debate.
Game developers generally do not harbor warm feelings about the used game trade. They believe it takes money directly out of their pockets, and, by extension, food out of their children’s mouths. Gamers, by contrast, think the pre-owned...
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By Nadia Oxford on Dec 5, 2011 in Game Development, Marketing, Retail
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Christmas is coming, and you know what that means: peace, love, goodwill, and shopping malls that look like a gladiator arena during a lion feed.
For most of us, the holiday rush is a time of great expenditure, and frantic social network deal swapping via Facebook and Twitter. We spend money, time, and cash to buy gifts for our loved ones, but the exhaustion pays off when we settle into the peaceful, festive part of the celebration. But for the men and women who...
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By Nadia Oxford on Nov 25, 2011 in Game Design, Game Development, Marketing
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The “Fire and Forget” formula of game development, which involves engineering a game for two years, putting it on the shelf, and then walking away from it, is rapidly becoming outdated. It makes better financial sense to build a game with the intent of returning to it, adding more, and extending its life for as long as possible. In that vein, here are three good tips for getting the most out of your game.
1. Tie a License to Your Game — By teaming...
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By Nadia Oxford on Nov 23, 2011 in Digital Distribution, Disruptive Tech, Microsoft
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Good news for Nintendo 3DS owners (who are always in need of good news): Starting in November, Nintendo will be releasing firmware updates that will bring the 3DS’s eShop out of the Stone Age. Soon, the eShop will be accessible from the web, game purchases will be possible through Web browsers, and the 3DS will be able to download eShop games while in sleep mode.
It’s nice to see that Nintendo is putting effort into making shopping in its digital stores...
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By Nadia Oxford on Nov 21, 2011 in Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3
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Face it: For the video games industry, 2012 is fast approaching. Let us link hands and pray for peace, unity, and harmony amongst the peoples of the world.
Then again, we’ve tried that year after year, and it never seems to yield any sweet fruit. Instead, let’s think very seriously about the best video games that will be coming to our homes through 2012.
Between the launch of the Wii U, the (North American/European) debut of the PlayStation Vita, and...
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By Nadia Oxford on Nov 18, 2011 in Business, Game Development, Nintendo 3DS
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Given the rising popularity of the 99-cent app and the free-to-play game genre, it seems logical that publishers of triple-A games would do everything in their power to keep prices as low as possible. Obviously, nobody should expect to walk away with Super Mario 3D Land for $10 on launch day, but it’s in the best interests of games sold at retail to stay at a low price point.
As it happens, the era of the high-priced retail game is not over and done with...
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By Nadia Oxford on Nov 16, 2011 in Business, Nintendo, Publishing
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Nintendo is currently nursing a big “ouch,” courtesy of a projected loss for its fiscal year ending in March 2012. The loss, forecast at 20 billion yen (or about $264 million USD) would be its first annual net loss since 1981, when the company started reporting its numbers.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata encouraged investors not to panic and freak out by reminding them that Nintendo’s sales strength has always been the holiday season–and...
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By Nadia Oxford on Nov 15, 2011 in Business, Free Games, Game Design
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Sony Online’s massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) DC Universe Online switched to the free-to-play model at the end of October. Not surprisingly, the game’s business and player base has since exploded.
“We are over 1000% of our pre-F2P concurrent numbers,” Tweeted John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), on the social blogging service early in November. Smedley also acknowledged that the surge of players has brought on...
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Scott Steinberg is the CEO of 