Hands-on: FIFA 11
Posted by James Dilks in Console, Hands-on impressions, PS3, Previews, Xbox 360 on 24. Jul, 2010 | 0 Comments
Having reinvented FIFA in its 2009 edition, and refined it well last year, the fact that David Rutter’s first utterance on FIFA 11 included that second R-word wasn’t surprising. It’s understandable that refinement is a key word, after all we’re constantly reminded of FIFA 10’s Metacritic score. It also shouldn’t surprise that EA present their [...]
Interview: David Rutter (FIFA 11)
Posted by James Dilks in Console, Gaming, Interviews, PS3, Xbox 360 on 24. Jul, 2010 | 0 Comments
I had the chance to speak to David, a producer at EA Sports Canada, at a recent presentation of new features for FIFA 11. Here’s what I managed to get out of him.
Would it be fair to say that because FIFA is a yearly product, the number of features you can add are limited somewhat?
Yes [...]
Review: Skate 3 good at skateboarding, bad at economics
Posted by James Dilks in Console, Gaming, PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360 on 12. Jul, 2010 | 1 Comment
The important information is minimal. The Skate series has two completely brilliant aspects; its control system and the sense of satisfaction it conveys. I’ll try to get across how these two work together to create an enjoyable experience. The game manages to be a more appropriate mapping of various aspects of skateboarding than any ridiculous [...]
APB features voice chat adverts, The Onion predicts the future again
Posted by James Dilks in Editor's Blog, Gaming, PC on 29. Jun, 2010 | 2 Comments
Eurogamer reports that Realtime Worlds’ forthcoming online cops and robbers game APB will feature audio adverts delivered via voice chat. It strikes me as remarkably similar to this faux news report from The Onion, reporting on a fictional development in Google’s phone technology. The video is titled “New Google Phone Service Whispers Targeted Ads Directly [...]
Preview: Ubisoft hit the creative jackpot with Scott Pilgrim adaptation
Posted by James Dilks in Console, E3 2010, PS3, Xbox 360 on 22. Jun, 2010 | 2 Comments
Of course, it had to be like this. Even in its original form, this comic-turned-film-turned-game was already bedecked with a multitude of nostalgic videogame intertextuality. It was Mega Drive logic grafted onto a local Canadian indie music scene and the hopefully not yet overplayed seven evil exes of Ramona Flowers. And now it arrives full [...]
Review: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
Posted by James Dilks in Console, PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360 on 18. May, 2010 | 1 Comment
FIFA Ten-and-a-half, then? A re-skinned FIFA 10 with a few hints of what’s to come in five months time? To put it bluntly: yes.
Indisputably, EA’s four-yearly World Cup games are like a corporate birthday party; this time populated by Vuvuzela that spew out cash rather than South Africa’s most annoying noise. Already, the game sits [...]
100-Word Review: Super Street Fighter IV
Posted by James Dilks in 100-Word Reviews, Console, PS3, Reviews, Xbox 360 on 17. May, 2010 | 0 Comments
Taking us straight back to the arcade, this is an impeccable fighting game. Every character’s absurd muscularity is tempered by their comic-book expression; eyes bulge and mouths gape with enjoyable elasticity while ink splatters to spread the impressionism. Combos require perfect timing, tying the hands of those who button-mash. Blocking and reversals allow reactions to [...]
Opinion: Bad Company 2 is about as non-partisan as I Married A Communist
Posted by James Dilks in Console, Gaming, Opinion, PS3, Xbox 360 on 11. May, 2010 | 13 Comments
Much has been written about the problem games seem to have connecting their stories and their content. It can be a mismatch of ideology, complexity or tone. DICE’s Bad Company 2, if anything, has the latter. The question is, in a game like this, does it really matter?
First the plot; it’s ridiculous. Metal Gear Solid [...]
Review: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360)
Posted by James Dilks in Console, Reviews, Xbox 360 on 25. Apr, 2010 | 3 Comments
“Do you think we’ll ever come to a place like this and not kill the natives?” So says one of your culturally sensitive comrades partway through the campaign mode in Bad Company 2. It’s indicative of the game’s attitude towards war; a blend of irony and ruthlessness. While the characters are happy to one-line their [...]
Opinion: Videogames, addiction, and the media
Posted by James Dilks in Opinion on 25. Mar, 2010 | 0 Comments
On Sunday the Observer published a feature in its magazine supplement entitled ‘Videogame: the addiction’, by the writer Tom Bissell. At first the article seems content to recount the feelings of compulsion and self-loathing that extended use of many games bring about. It’s only later that it gets really interesting, as drug use and day [...]
