Demon's Souls has been hailed as a modern hardcore classic. A game so hard that awaiting it's arrival is akin to sitting on death row. Demon's Souls has already killed thousands of players, possibly millions if you consider the asian release. So besides that, why should you, the gamer who has yet to try Demon Souls, be afraid? Read on as I answer that very question. (minor gameplay spoilers)

1. There is no pause function.

If you need to get up to pee and you're not in the Nexus, you'd better hope that the "safe" spot you think you've found is actually safe. Because if there is a wandering enemy just ahead that you don't know about, you're going to come back from the bathroom and find yourself at the beginning of the level.

Phone ringing in the middle of battle? Pick it up and you're probably dead. Just saying.

2. There are enemies in the very beginning of the game that you cannot beat.

The red knight in 1-1 is already infamous but I see very few people talking about the end of the tutorial, where a giant demon takes you out in one, maybe two hits. I've heard he is as mortal as any demon but I don't think it's possible without new game+, either way, good fucking luck.

3. It has Dragons in it.

And they're big, and in the first level, and they breathe fire. Don't fuck with them unless you have a bow or long range spell of some sort. Unless of course you're trying to trick them into frying up a bunch of enemy soldiers. That's always fun.



So why should you muster up your courage and buy this terrifying piece of software?

Well, besides the amazing art direction and production values, the game is simply fun to play. Yes it's hardcore, yes you're going to die a lot. It took me two hours to beat 1-1. I probably died ten or more times. The going was tough and the going was slow. But I enjoyed every second of it. Learning from your mistakes and developing strategies, not to mention trying new character classes to find the one that suits you best is all very rewarding. Once you find your niche, you'll blow through sections that initially seemed tough to you. In other words, the game is tough, but beatable, go buy it.

Get it?

Today I’m writing this blog post to ask Destructoid what I think is an interesting question. I’ve been pondering lately, mostly because of my Psychological and Social Effects of Games class, what, if any, moral standards do video games impose on their players? Is it even possible for video games to influence a player’s moral compass? Or do players bring their own moral backgrounds with them through the game?

Honestly, if you were to ask me, I’d say it’s a little bit of both. It is impossible and a bit silly to claim that games like Grand Theft Auto and God of War don’t require a certain moral code (or lack thereof) to see them through to completion. However, just because a lack of morality is on display doesn’t mean that the player is automatically picking up on that and is changing as a person as a result. It isn’t necessarily Grand Theft Auto teaching us that if you kill a hooker after sex you get your money back.

For example, I had my mother play Grand Theft Auto once, if only to show her that the game isn’t full of sex, blood and chaos unless you wanted it to be. Her GTA experience was rather short, she drove around for awhile, obeying all the traffic laws and quickly got bored and quit. So you see, my mother didn’t pick up the game and suddenly lose all of her god fearing, Christian values, in fact, she brought those values into the game!

This is why it is my opinion that the moral code that gamers develop for video games is made up of two parts. The first part is their morality in real life and the second part is the moral code that the video game requires for you to complete it. If at any point, the game’s required moral code conflicts too deeply with the gamer’s real life moral code, he or she will likely decide that the game is not for them.

So what are your thoughts on the issue? Can games affect your real life moral compass? Can you think of a specific game where this has happened to you? I’m interested to find out.

Woo hoo! Sribblenauts came out today! Long months of avoiding any Scribblenauts related media has finally payed off! I literally couldn't wait to get out of class today so I could pick up my pre-order copy and get home. Which is probably why I got a speeding ticket on the way home from Gamestop. Wait, no, I was freaking profiled!


Meet Crystal, my 1999 BMW 318ti. More info and pictures here.

So I know this is a video game blog and what not but let me vent here. I drive a fairly nice, if old, car. It's a '99 BMW 318ti and I love it almost more than life itself. And yes, I do drive it fast on occasion, but for the most part I'm a very careful and courteous driver. Which is why it was such a surprise to me that I was pulled over today and told I was doing 65 in a 55. First of all, the cop told me he got me doing that speed in the left lane of the exit ramp I was on, which is weird because I was behind people doing the same speed, in the right lane. I firmly believe that I was pulled over because of my young age and my car. I was going 65, but that was the speed that traffic was moving at, I wasn't passing anyone. I think the cop knew this too, because when he came back to my car with the ticket, it wasn't a speeding ticket at all, rather he had written me out a ticket for failure to obey a traffic control device. This guy was just trying to meet his quota and he knows I won't fight a ticket that doesn't come with any points on my license. Meaning I'm just gonna pay this and he's gonna get credit for stopping someone and issuing a ticket. It's bullshit, but that's life.


God Damnit!

So yeah, on the brightside, Gamestop got their shipment of Rooster Hats literally right as I got there. Meaning if I had arrived any earlier, I would have only gotten my game and had to come back for my hat. And as you can tell by my header image, I look damn good in it. As does my Stewie plushy, which is where the hat will remain when I'm not wearing it. So yeah, I've had a bitter-sweet day, time to play Scribblenauts!

This is how I remember Math Blaster.

This semester I’m enrolled in a class called the Psychological and Social Effects of Games and one of the things we’ve been talking about recently is education in video games. Now before you start groaning, let me explain something, this blog will be posted in the class Google group and together we will be taking a look at your responses, so if you hate Edutainment video games, stick around, you might have a shot at changing them.

Now, as I see it, there are several types of educational games. There are the aforementioned Edutainment games, such as the Math Blaster series (which I just learned is still alive and well on the DS), the more modern Brain Age series and my favorite, the Carmen Sandiego series. There are also the games that try to teach you something with their narrative or gameplay, but don’t quite fall under the edutainment games category. I’m talking about games like History Channel: The Civil War and Sea Life Safari. And last but not least we have the games that at best, spark an interest in learning, but don’t do much teaching themselves. I am mainly referring to the Medal of Honor games, which have been known to turn its players into budding WWII scholars.


And this is how today's children will remember Math Blaster. I kind of feel sorry for them.

So if we look at the three types of games, we can see that the more educational value they have the less fun they tend to be and the worse they sell. What I want to know is, why? What makes Medal of Honor so much fun to play versus Math Blaster? Personally, I think a lot of the problem is just in our heads. As children (when we are most likely to play edutainment games) we think of learning and video games as two entirely different things, so when someone attempts to combine them, we immediately reject it and go back to playing Mario. However, it does seem like the people making Edutainment software have the same mindset. A lot of games labeled as Edutainment seem like they were created with very little care for the fun factor. Even the Mario series of Edutainment games wasn’t very successful at being fun.

So is there anything we can do to make learning while playing fun? What do you think? Also, what were your favorite Edutainment games growing up and what do you think made them fun?

And I must say, I loved it. Batman will be a strong contender for my Game of the Year 2009. During my play through of the game I avoided any and all blogs discussing the game’s story while bookmarking a few of them. I did get the general idea that people were enjoying the game but were disappointed by the ending. Maybe it was the fact that I was expecting to be letdown but I was actually quite satisfied by the ending. I won’t get into the spoiler talk just yet though, so if you haven’t beaten the game don’t worry, I’ll be very clear when the spoilers start.

First I would like to address a couple of things I have not seen other people complain about. I was going to do a full review on this game but I think most everyone knows what makes the game great and I only have one or two things I dislike about the game so I felt the full review treatment wasn’t necessary. Needless to say, if you even have a passing interest in Batman or action/stealth games, you should check this out.

The number one complaint I have about the game seems small, but it kept cropping up on me and it really annoyed me. I am of course referring to the ground takedowns in combat. You see, once you’ve knocked an enemy down you can hit R2 and Triangle (or the right trigger and the Y button on the 360) to do an instant takedown. The thing is, if you’re standing right over the enemy, Batman takes his sweet ass time in delivering that fatal blow. Sometimes when you’re far enough away, he’ll do this crazy flip attack that is ten times quicker but most of the time you’ll be locked into this super long animation which you are usually knocked out of by the next enemy. I guess the designer wanted us to only use the ground takedown when we had enough time and space but sometimes I really felt like I needed to reduce the number of guys attacking me and the ground takedown was my best option. It was terribly frustrating watching Batman take his time dispatching his enemy when other enemies are running in with lead pipes and knives. I wanted to scream at my TV “DON’T YOU SEE THEM BATMAN? THEY WANT TO BEAT YOUR ASS. USE YOUR SPIDER SENSE OR SOMETHING, GOD DAMNIT!” I really think the attack would have benefited from a speedier animation.

The other complaint I have is about the input. The controls felt good in this game but they were a little sluggish, especially during combat. It felt a lot like playing street fighter at times because I would be pressing the counter button while my previous attack animation was still finishing. It definitely requires you to think 3 or 4 steps ahead. I was certainly use to it by the end of the game, but I’m still not sure it’s a good thing. I will say this, by the end of the last fight, I was getting pretty tired of the combat in this game.

Ok so here is where the spoilers start so don’t read past here if you haven’t beaten the game. I’ve read a number of opinions from people who disliked the game’s ending and the main complaint is outlined very well by Ace of Knaves here. To sum it up, people feel that it was extraordinarily out of character for The Joker to shoot himself full of Titan. On top of that, people like Rev Anthony feel that Joker’s plan to poison Gotham’s water supply was a letdown.

Maybe it’s because I’m a mark but I was satisfied with Joker’s plot and the final boss fight. I was actually surprised I didn’t see it coming. It was a perfect twist to have Joker shoot himself with the Titan formula. Like SephirothX said, the ending that was given was the most logical one available. On top of that, I really thought Joker looked like a badass when he mutated.

In short, I honestly feel that there was very little wrong with Batman: Arkham Asylum. It told a satisfying story, it had satisfying gameplay and it didn’t run too long. There were no game breaking glitches (that I experienced), the graphics were good and the music set the mood appropriately. Hell, they even nailed the voice acting which was really impressive to me. It’s perfectly acceptable to me if you feel otherwise; in fact, feel free to argue with me in the comments. But personally, I just had one of the most memorable video game experiences I’m likely to have for a very long time. Or at least until Bioshock 2 drops.

My GOG.com collection is really starting to fill out.

The title pretty much says it all. In honor of their one year anniversary, GOG.com is having a buy one get one sale on all interplay titles. This is quite a deal. There are some really good Interplay games on GOG.com, including The Freespace series, The Earthworm Jim games, The original Fallout games, The Decent Series, the list goes on and on.

Go here for more details and here for a full list of interplay games on GOG.com. Personally, I picked up Decent 1+2, Decent 3 and it's expanison, Redneck Rampage, Stonekeep, Messiah and Giants: Citizens of Kabuto (all for less than $20!), what's looking good to you guys?