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GameX!
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Welcome back after a long summer! I attended the GameX Games and Media Expo this past Saturday, and it was pretty great. A quick look of what was going on:
In one area there were games from all eras on display, all the way back to Colecovision, Commodore 64 and Pong. And yes, there was also a fair bit of cosplay and light-saber training.
On top of that there were four old-school pinball machines that were free to play. So old, in fact, that they have five rolley-numbers to keep track of the score (giving you that extra sense of accomplishment when you make them tick over to 00,000).
In the main hall there were plenty of people selling their wares, and I got me a copy of Megaman 3 for $10. These events are pretty much the only physical place to get games like this anymore, what with the mom/pop stores getting absorbed or obliterated. Anyway, I even got to test my new game when I bought it. Eat it eBay.
Here is my copy of Megaman 3, signed by Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw of Zero Punctuation. A lot of The Escapist's crew was there, including Graham Stark and Paul Saunders of Unskippable. Escapist had a couple panels too, which were awesome.
This blurry shot is of the Music And Gaming Festival people, who win the Brilliant Booth prize. They had three laptops set up with NES emulators and a list of infuriating challenges. You beat a challenge, you win a prize. For completing two levels of Marble Madness and the Rat-Race level in BattleToads I got a sticker, a button, a t-shirt, and an orchestral metal album. The 'fest' part of MAGfest is going on at the beginning of next year. You should go.
Dante's Inferno had a large booth right as you walk in. The game is a unapologetic rip-off of God of War with identical gameplay elements, weak puzzles and jaw-dropping awful shit. Do not want, I'd seriously buy a PS3 and God of War III first. Saw a kid who couldn't be over 10 next to me play the demo which features giant demon-tits spewing blade-armed babies from their black-tongued nipples. His father watched from over his shoulder with a face of sheer joy.
There was also a demo for Bayonetta. Bayonetta is gratuitous too, but does it with style, skill, and originality. Go Sega (er...Platinum)
Overall it was a great show. There was all sorts of other things going on in the periphery too, like a game jam, a career fair and a summit. Definitely worth the trip to Philly.
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Parry by MAtt Dujnic
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I second the revulsion on Dante's Inferno. You put simply the point I was struggling to make on our recent podcast attempt. The core of it all really is, as you say, 'do-not-want.' The problem does not originate from the shopworn 'game violence' vector. It's more... repugnance. This game is repugnant. Sure, you might be able to get away with all of this crap under an 'M' rating, but... the fuck why?
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Riposte by Daniel Dujnic
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Upon further reflection, these types of things have been in games for a while. I recently pulled up Shatterhand for the NES, and it has a level where you are attacked by what appear to be flying fetuses. Is it just the higher-resolution graphics that make Dante's Infero so repugnant? It reminds me of listening to Rammstein, appreciating the music, then when looking at translations of the lyrics, thinking 'What The Fuck?'
For me, what makes this type of thing stand out so much in Dante's Inferno is the fact that the gameplay is a blow-by-blow remake of God of War. You have a bad-ass weapon for beating the shit out of mythological creatures, you have 'chests' that give different color orbs that replenish magic or health, even the levers (both lateral and rotational) for opening doors are the same. The puzzles are weak, and are only challenging because of bad camera angles.
If Dante's Inferno were original, I think I might be able to appreciate it more and see the appall-factor as more of an interesting artistic choice. But the fact is that its repugnance is the only thing that makes this game unique, and the marketing department knows it, hence the 'shocking revelation' of an achievement for killing evil babies. I don't doubt Dante's Inferno will make some sales on shock/awe, but based on the demo I wonder if it's anything more than a GoW knock-off with a seventh-grader's notebook margins rendered in high-definition.
Incidentally, Rammstein still rocks.
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'GameX!'
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#&rendershop#
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