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Worth thinking about EXPAND STORY TEXTSSubscribe to this tag Heavy Rain's David Cage wants game industry to grow up 72 With its complex narrative and serial killer storyline, there's no denying that PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain will be a thoroughly adult affair. Developer Quantic Dream has no intention of marketing t... Ex-Dtoid editor has the touch, makes me want Epic Mickey 22 David Houghton is one of my favorite videomgame journalists; he's got an great analytical eye, and he knows how to express his excitement without coming off as insincere. It figures that he would... Visceral Games bummed about Dead Space Extraction sales 61 According to a NeoGAF post from a Visceral Games employee- "It is a shame that no one bought this (Dead Space Extraction). As much as everyone made fun of Frank Gibeau's 'experiment', it wil... Buddhist monk recommends games for treating aggression 42 Videogames often get criticized by out-of-touch old cranks for causing violence and encouraging aggressive behavior, so it's very interesting indeed to see that one man, who could rightly be rega... Gay publication asks if games are getting gayer 64 Following on from the Shadow Complex debate, the question is being raised as to whether or not games are becoming more accepting of homosexuality and gay issues. Gay publication The Advocate asks... Rhianna Pratchett: Cutscenes are still important 41 It's become very en vogue to rail against cutscenes, claiming they break the flow of gameplay and do the interactive medium a disservice, but at least one writer believes otherwise. Rhianna Pratc... Valve's learning sign language for Half-Life 2: Episode 3 48 Valve's Gabe Newell has been moving his hands around in very fast, repetitive motions in a room full of people. By that, I of course mean that he's been practicing sign language, and is looking a... Ex-Midway Newcastle artist spills on studio's last weeks 6 In an attempt to stave off impending closure, Midway Newcastle spent its last month working on and, more importantly, pitching Necessary Force to potential buyers. Unfortunately, they were unsucc... Obsidian: Not having sex in RPGs does genre 'an injustice' 44 We've been speaking with Chris Avellone, lead creative designer on the intriguing spy-themed RPG, Alpha Protocol. We've all heard by now that Alpha Protocol will be following in BioWare's footste... Obsidian: Story is important, but not that important 25 The subject of story in videogames is becoming more and more of an interest to me, so when I had a chance to speak with Chris Avellone, lead creative designer of Obsidian's upcoming spy RPG Alpha... Valve: Games don't have 'moral choices' 51 "Moral choice" is one of the hottest buzzterms used by game developers these days, with titles such as BioShock and inFAMOUS proudly boasting that their storylines feature complex narra... Obama in brief videogame reference SHOCKER! 87 You know, I'm all for criticizing those who attack videogames. Anti-game lobbyists are one of the core subjects I write about here at Destructoid. However, that doesn't mean that every single per... Halpin: Gamers need to stick up for themselves 28 Entertainment Consumers Association president and all-round nice chap Hal Halpin has penned his monthly column for Industry Gamers, talking about the importance of perception and how the general ... PSPgo needs non-games, claims maker of non-games 16 With the PSPgo, it's very clear that Sony is planning to seriously compete when it comes to digital entertainment. In order to do this, iPhone App creator Russel Black has strongly advised that S... Flower dev: Games need real 'mature content' 35 Flower and Fl0w developer Jenova Chen has been discussing mature content at the Develop conference in Britain, claiming that videogames need much more of it. Of course, he's not referring to what... A difficult subject 65 [I had no idea that a Cblog on the subject of difficulty was written, or that it would get promoted. Now you get to read two articles on the same subject.] Difficulty in videogames is a subject t... GDC 09: Could games get too politically correct? 20 Videogames have been accused of unnecessary violence, racism, sexism and homophobia in the past, but this is the first time I can remember someone warning that games could become too politically ... Sony's Maguire: Let's change how the industry is viewed 8 Sony's UK managing director Ray Maguire has written a very interesting column over at MCV, discussing the recent Change4Life controversy, and how the games industry itself has perpetuated a negat... Are gamers helping to over-standardize the industry? 74 Ask any hardcore gamer what they think about the games industry's tendency to rehash and follow the latest trends with no thought to striking out, and you'll likely find that most of them will be... Square says videogame storytelling can be better than film 36 Square Enix, the once-proud home of many classic videogame tales, believes that videogames can surpass film and theater as the most effective means of storytelling. The opinion comes courtesy of ... Violent media = good for children? One writer thinks so 17 While the moral scaremongers would have you believe that isolating children from any and all violent media is the only way to adjust them to our perfect and violence-free society, one writer has ... Videogames have no heart, claims Andy Serkis 36 Andy Serkis -- who became a household name after bringing The Lord of the Rings' Gollum to life -- has criticized games for having no heart. Serkis feels that with games becoming such a huge medi... Videogames are stressful things, claims new study 24 According to a new British-backed Taiwanese study, videogames can be a contributing factor in rising stress levels and anxiety in young people. So, not only are they solely responsible for school... Sub or dom? The sexual sway of videogame characters 88 I am sure that everybody, at some point in their lives, has been playing a videogame and suddenly found themselves questioning the sexual preferences of the characters involved. Ultimately, one f... HMV to enter the second-hand games market 12 British entertainment retailer HMV is going to enter the pre-owned market by accepting trade-in deals for its products. The scheme, known as Re/Play launches this Friday across 160 stores. It wil... UK's first videogame archive launches: Games are kind of a big deal 21 The UK is launching its first ever National Videogame Archive in a bid to preserve the history of interactive entertainment. Nottingham Trent University spearheaded the move, working together wit... Gearbox: Feelings more important than Length ... or so I told my girlfriend 22 Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software, believes that the length of a videogame is irrelevant without the "feelings and experience." He shared his notion that we shouldn't put s... Zelda Marathon in progress, do your part to help a good cause 14 It looks like those big-hearted guys and girls who helped raise close to $12,000 dollars for the Child's Play charity last month with the Mario Marathon are at it again.This time, they've teamed ... AIAS President says game reviewers are lazy 15 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences president Joseph Olin has recently stated his belief that game reviewers are lazy, relying as they do on numerical scores, game comparisons and rushed p... UK games developers want tax breaks, form Games Up campaign 13 Fifteen game studios, in association with Tiga and ELSPA, have united under the Games Up campaign banner to put pressure on the British government to give tax breaks to the games industry.The ind... Grand Theft Angel: How Liberty City plays nice 97 Turn on the TV and you have every chance of seeing some pundit attacking Grand Theft Auto IV. With the game being released a week ago, the usual moral crusaders are up in arms about the bad value... The Guardian wants you to play GTA IV 23 When I spoke to Jack Thompson, he was pretty confident that his "side" of the violent games debate had already won. He spoke with the belief that common consensus was on his side and th... Jeremy Clarkson on GTA IV: 'Game's not to blame' 53 The Sun is not a newspaper in which one could expect to find a sensible opinion, especially when it comes to videogames. I must confess, however, that I was quite pleasantly surprised when I open... UK newspaper actually defends videogames: Did we wake up in topsy turvy land? 33 Well this puts a smile on my face. After suffering endless crap from the likes of The Times and The Daily Mail in their war on videogames, one UK newspaper has actually made good and stood up for... Interplay details the revival of Earthworm Jim, MDK, and more of its classics 53 Remember when Interplay Entertainment teased us with the possibility of expanding upon some of its greatest franchises? Jim Sterling said he'd essentially lick the floor if a new Earthworm Jim ev... G4's President tells us what we already knew: Money talks, BS walks 71 Life is a funny thing. Sometimes, what may seem like a brilliant idea that just can't lose often turns out just the opposite when put into play. Ironically enough, those thoughts that were cast a... Why do videogame movies fail so much? 116 I was reading the latest issue of Edge magazine which had an article about Hollywood's recent preoccupation with turning videogames into films. It talked about the reasons that movie makers have ... Xbox 360 = a latter day PS2: More JRPG love in the form of Tales 107 The Xbox 360 is definitely the PlayStation 2 of this generation. Affordable, with the largest library, and rushed, shoddily put together hardware, Microsoft's curvaceous rectangle of red rings ha... Codemasters' CEO thinks the PS3 can set a new trend 86 Sony has said all along that the words "future proof" were etched into the PlayStation 3's master plan from the onset, and judging by the complexity of the hardware, that case can certa... Beyond the Hype, the Web site aimed to educating the public about videogames 44 The all around awesome girl we all know and love, Virtual Girl, has a new article up on The Girls Entertainment Network detailing her final project for her ethics class. We've all come to expect ... Shakespeare MMO cancelled; do literary games have any hope? 24 An MMO set in the world of William Shakespeare may sound like hell to you, but for bookworm-turned-nerds such as myself, it sounded like a completely fascinating concept. Unfortunately, Arden: Th... New Prototype video: Developers talk Blackwatch 30  Prototype is looking really exciting, and I have high hopes for it. It's encouraging then, that this new video shows how into it the developers are. They seem to have invested a lot of time... Modern game development: Nightmare behind the scenes? 33 When playing Mass Effect or BioShock, the experience is often so enthralling that one forgets everything but the game world they are immersed within. The last thing you may think of when playing ... Under the microscope: How developers play a game 17 For those of you who want to do more in the world of gaming than enjoy titles from a casual perspective, this article over at Game Career Guide will prove most handy. Even if you don't have a gam... The Difficulty Arc: How frustration ruins the gameplay experience 86 The scenario: You, controller in hands, sitting on the sofa, staring at your television with a mixed expression of frustration and anger. You've hit a point in a game where you can't get any furt... Captain Obvious: The majority of parents don't like videogames 32 I rarely whip out the ORLY owl, but sometimes a post just warrants it. Such was the case in this tidbit from Yahoo news about parents' commentary on their children's video game habits. Not shocki... Hands-on with Bladestorm: The 100 Years War 21 Welcome to my second post of hands-on impressions from Koei's London Expo booth. As those noble few of you will remember, my thoughts about Dynasty Warriors 6 were surprisingly less than stellar.... Wrath of the Lich King e-mail scam claims another victim: me 54 In a game with a population the size of many large cities, it's inevitable that you're going to get a healthy portion of the userbase who simply aren't that smart. Whether they happen to be illit... Welcome the TRUE GameCube: Levelhead is a game for squares 33 Of course, I could make all the shape puns in the world, but nothing will take away from the brilliance, however befuddling, that is Levelhead's promise. The above video is a concept for a "... The Endgame Syndrome: Why do we abandon games? 87 As most of my Destructoid compatriots know, I await RPGs with intriguing storylines more than any other type of game. I enjoy nothing more than to sink myself into a rich plot, get to know the ch... Microsoft plans slow, steady takeover? Xbox 360 declared 'stepping stone' 26 When the original Xbox first debuted in the previous generation, it accomplished two things -- it introduced a viable threat to Sony's dominance in the home console market and it paved the way fo... God himself may have laughed, but Neil Diamond and Sony are no fans of parody 28 If there's one thing that's a given in life, it has been to expect the unexpected. Live long enough, and you'll see pairings of people, places, and things that you'd never dream of being mentione... The London Games Festival: A week of gaming celebration sounds good to me 8 I'm sure many of my countrymen have heard by now about the London Games Festival, a week-long event that celebrates our favorite past-time in the capital of this rotten island. Running from the 2... Beowulf trailer begs the question: Good game, or another movie tie-in? 21 I was excited to hear that Beowulf would be made into a game way back in July when the screenies started to surface. Although the video above is every bit as epic as one would expect from a old p... Halo 3: Chiefly Underwhelming? 127 So have you got Teh Haloes? Yes, no? I haven't. Even though I've yet to hear a recommendation against it; even though it is, by all accounts a solid game, and by some accounts, a revolutionary ga... Prepare yourselves for a Zombie Massacre on the Wii 30 One thing I have always considered is the fact that there are surprisingly few solid zombie-based videogames on the market. Sure, we have Resident Evil and Dead Rising with Left 4 Dead coming, bu... Oblivion engine headed to the Wii. Gamebryo goes Nintendo 23 Now here's an interesting little slice of news. I'm sure many of you are familiar with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda's opus is still highly regarded for its ambition, scope and, of cou... Ian Bogost wants to trouble you: The Destructoid interview 22 Anytime someone says that games aren't art, we're up in arms burning straw effigies of Ebert. Any time someone says games are destructive, we want blood. Half of us want to pretend that games are... Leipzig GC 2007: The mysterious mystery of THEY 37 A game called THEY was teasing me for the entirety of the GC. It was one of the first games I made an appointment to see having recieved a press release weeks earlier about it, the last one I got... Ubisoft getting cozy with user-generated game content, busy making other things 9 If there's one thing that's typified this generation so far, it's a huggy, snuggly sense of bringing everyone together in warm, soft-focused harmony and togetherness. Whether it's Nintendo unitin... « NEXT « next - expanded blog view		Save cash!   See "Black Friday" video game deals New on Destructoid.TV play all videos Loading Destructoid Videos Win this! Dive in! meetup+play for a chance to win a PC Dtoid Twitter    Got news?   tips@destructoid.com Reviews & Previews Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles review Left 4 Dead 2 review Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex review Arkedo Series - 02 SWAP! review EyePet review more reviews Online Lessons 101 Monster Slaying in Monster Hunter Tri Hooking onto, under and above Just Cause 2 PS3's 256-player MAG Rooms The Main Building Skate 3 more previews - The Dtoid Army is 50638 strong - Showing Cblogs with 3+ faps   show all Call for entries: do the wrong thing New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide  Originals Chad Concelmo: The Memory Card .76: Brotherly love The Zen of Gaming: What games chill us out Do the wrong thing: Breaking Sasha's promise A spotter's guide to videogame bosses My sexy, nerdy, fertility boosting ReBirth wish list Revisited: the ending of Prince of Persia is broken The Memory Card .75: The blind fighting the blind Game SERIES Debate to the Death! The Legend of Zelda Attention, everyone buying L4D2: I have dibs on Ellis Does sexual orientation have a place in games? The art of Once Upon a Pixel: Katamari Damacy How to respond to a videogame review Ten 'classic' games that did not age well Attention, everyone buying L4D2: I have dibs on Coach The Memory Card .74: Crono's trial Attention, everyone buying L4D2: I have dibs on Nick Why the Left 4 Dead survivors may secretly be infected Why I will support Modern Warfare 2 Why I can't support Modern Warfare 2 Animal Crossing + Halloween = The best zombie game ever More Destructoid Originals  Popular now more Review: Left 4 Dead 2 The BioShock 2 cover art holds a secret (Update) Mass: We Pray brings the Church to your living room Rumortoid: Modern Warfare 2 has hidden multiplayer modes The Zen of Gaming: What games chill us out Modern Warfare 2 gets dedicated servers via hack The wrong thing: The player is played Rumor: Pandemic Studios to close soon [RUMOR] Official Modern Warfare 2 Dedicated Servers? Activision says Modern Warfare 2 not banned in Russia Borderlands soundtrack hitting in December Free (temporary) Xbox LIVE Gold for all! New Mass Effect 2 cover art is not the best we've seen PSA: Twitter, Facebook, etc. now on Xbox 360 Activision unaware of Modern Warfare 2 glitch (and jokes) Level 1-1 done in Reggie!, a New Super Mario Bros. editor Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Black Friday: Don't waste your time going to Toys R Us Left 4 Dead gets an NES de-make Atlus publishing 3D Dot Game Heroes on May 11, 2010! 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