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Why the Wii is revolutionary

Yeah. I get it. The Wii is great but generally bemoaned as a console just for kiddy/casual gamers to screw around with. I've heard many people say how Nintendo is just snubbing more avid gamers in order to get money from a more general audience. In part I agree, there aren't many games on the Wii that I can really think of as serious games.

That being said I have recently realized just how important, and yes, revolutionary, the Wii is.

Gaming is generally the vice of 13-30 year old guys... so when I was at my grandmothers birthday party and overheard my 45-60 year old relatives of both genders discussing how amazing and fun the Wii was, how they loved bowling and how they wanted to go and buy their own systems and use Wii fit, I was astounded. These are people that don't understand computers and are to frightened to even try to learn new technology, but the Wii has gotten their attention and presented gaming and technology to them in a way that is friendly, fun, and most of all accessible. What other piece of technology can do this? As wonderful as the Xbox 360 and PS3 are, they are not friendly to casual users. The Wii is.

If we (we, the "serious" gamers) are honest, gaming is a bit of an exclusive hobby. There are jokes, special lingo, social rules, and years worth of lore and knowledge that are ingrained in our collective psyche. But I think it is very important and worthwhile to encourage our parents, grand-parents, aunts and uncles to get in on a bit of our world. The Wii can be a great stepping stone for tech use: people that don't understand games or computers at all feel comfortable with the Wii and from that point their confidence grows and they can learn more and stay current.

So is the Wii the best console for a die-hard gamer? Maybe not, but it has it's own place of importance and relevance within gaming that should absolutely be respected.

PortConMaine 2009: PC game themed cosplayers spotted!

For those cool kids who had no idea, PortConMaine 2009 happened this past weekend at the Wyndham Hotel in the South Portland Maine Mall area. I was only able to attend for one day, but it's basically a total nerdout fest for Anime and gaming fans alike. Since I'm a huge PC gamer, I was happy to see some PC game-themed cosplayers at the con. Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

"Oh no! Watch out! It's a Big Daddy!" said frightened attendees of PortCon.

The Red Medic will not uber you.

Click "Continue" for more photos!

The King of All Cosmos is not from a PC game, but it's friggin' awesome anyway.

And the Blu Team is camping in the Intel Room. Bastards.

VLC Media Player

I've had my most recent laptop for a little over a year now, and formatted once. After formatting I found I couldn't run DVD's... at all. I knew I needed to get a DVD decoder, but whenever I tried to look it turned into a big headache of programs that cost too much money or just didn't work at all.

I was tipped off by a friend about VLC Media Player, an open source player that does everything I need and honestly a whole lot of things that I don't even understand.

The download was quick, even for me on DSL. You can check it out and download here, it's available for Windows, Macs, and Linux and is licensed under the GNU public license. Enjoy!

Valve unveils Left 4 Dead 2, says 'stay tuned' for HL2: Episode 3

To the dismay of many Half-Life fans, Half-Life 2: Episode 3 did not make an appearance at this year's E3. In its place was the surprising announcement for Left 4 Dead 2, a sequel to the original that came out less than a year ago. Many Valve supporters were upset by this announcement, arguing that Left 4 Dead 2 should have been the downloadable content Valve promised for the first game. However, Doug Lombardi and Chet Faliszek of Valve clarified L4D2's status as a full-blown sequel in an interview with ShackNews:

Yeah. At the end of the day, this is going to be a bigger game than Left 4 Dead. It's five campaigns versus four, all five are playable in Versus mode, Survival mode out of the box, the new multiplayer game mode. Plus over 20 new weapons and items. It's a full sequel."

When I first saw the trailer, I wasn't feeling as pessimistic as the other Valve fans. The idea of a Left 4 Dead game chronicling the story of four new survivors in New Orleans is a pretty cool premise to me. For me, it gives a greater universal feel to the Left 4 Dead games. It's also important to mention that there are melee weapons in the sequel: axes, chanisaws, frying pans and more. Check out the trailer for yourself and see what you think.

One of the most exciting components for this sequel is the AI Director 2.0 that will have full control over weather effects. So while you may have noticed the sunny atmosphere in the trailer, all that will change to the AI director's will when you're in-game. I'm also excited about the prospect of a lot of new weapons and new special infected.

While I am disappointed that HL2: Episode 3 did not get shown at this year's E3, I'm confident we'll be hearing about the game sometime this summer. And we have to trust Valve on this, because while Valve's development process is usually long and delay-ridden, their games always turn out to be the best in the market.

Here's a Left 4 Dead 2 gameplay video to hold you for now:

Microsoft blows Nintendo out of the water with Project Natal

It has been expected for Microsoft to reveal some kind of motion-sensing controller at this E3, but nothing could have prepared us for Project Natal. Project Natal was revealed yesterday, and it appears to be a full-fledged motion-detecting camera that--wait for it--turns your entire body into a controller. Having been a longtime Nintendo fan, I am sad to say that Nintendo has officially just lost this console war. Watch this demonstration video and you'll understand why the Wiimote is pretty much a joke now.

More Gear Videos at IGN.com

I still have some faith in Nintendo though. The Red Steel 2 demo looks pretty sweet and we should be hearing about a new Zelda/Mario in the next few days. Lets cross our fingers!

Alan Wake

Watching the gameplay from Alan Wake felt like I was watching the trailer for the next blockbuster horror film – except this actually looks GOOD instead of the formulaic crap that Hollywood has been reusing again and again.

The idea of a novel coming to life is eerily similar to The Shining, and the setting seems to be inspired by it as well – the main character placed in an area that appears to be in the woods, disconnected from the general population. The lack of ready explanation of what was going on really enhanced my creeped-out factor rather than pissing me off – I’ve always enjoyed the movies and stories that make your stomach flip around in fear of the unknown lurking in the shadows.

I am also a sucker for epic landscapes in games, and from the looks of the town of Bright Falls I won’t be disappointed. The first pan in on a lighthouse immediately draws me in and, as a native Mainer, makes me feel even more immersed – if I were being attacked by zombie vampires and running for my life, chances are I would see a lighthouse along the way. The moonlight glittering off the water of the dam followed by the sun rising over a mountain scene only intrigues me more – I am particularly impressed with the graphics when the camera switches to a close-up of our main character, Alan.



Human faces have often been a bit jarring for me in video games because they are very hard to duplicate, but even then brief flashes of Alan’s face seem to be a bit more realistic – maybe it’s from the subtle wrinkle in his forehead, the small bags under his eyes or the hint of stubble.

I am a little wary of the “slow-down” effect that seems to occur when you are being attacked by enemies. A fast paced fight can be great, so forcing me to move in slow motion while a wrench flies into my head isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I do, however, enjoy the burning power of the flashlight against what appears to be zombie/vampire hybrids; it reminds me a lot of the mirror shield from Zelda, so the game gets cookies for that.

So far Alan Wake has my interest – it’s slated for release in spring of 2010, so while we won’t get any Christmas zombie goodness I’m still excited to see some mind bending, thriller goodness for my 21st birthday.

Alan Wake at IGN.com

from concept art to fan art

Although I drool over the concept art posted in the last entry, I really enjoy coming across artists who take their talents and use them to share their feelings and interpretations of a game. While we wait not-so-patiently for news from E³, let's take a brief stroll through the digital art gallery of fan art ranging from Half-Life to Portal, Team Fortress 2, Pokemon and more.

Half-Life


Half-Life Ich. by *Luthrai on deviantART



Infected- Head Crab by ~Iron-Fox on deviantART

Portal


There really was a cake by =TotenVeloren on deviantART



Chell from Portal by ~edde on deviantART


Pokemon


Pikachu and Raichu by `hibarry on deviantART



Rapidash by ~JESGRAD07 on deviantART


Team Fortress 2


Worm Fortress 2 by ~mmiasmostati on deviantART



Team Fortress 2 - Pyro by =agentscarlet on deviantART


Metroid


Species: Metroid by ~AIBryce on deviantART



Metroid - See you next mission by ~chalcara on deviantART



Mario


Princess Peach by ~AmuthAlexiel on deviantART



Super Mario Brothers Fanart by ~living-oxymoron on deviantART



Bioshock


Bioshock fanart by ~Fenner on deviantART



Bioshock Fan Art Ver.2 by ~Jaruzel on deviantART

Anxiously awaiting some big announcements from Valve on Tuesday

It’s been 19 months since Valve Software released the jam-packed Orange Box, featuring Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Now that we’ve seen the release of Left 4 Dead and countless TF2 updates, I think it’s time that Valve opens their collective piehole about the next Half-Life game. It’s not even funny anymore. It’s been 19 months!

Yes, Valve released two concept art pieces for Half-Life 2: Episode 3. They are both great and compelling. Lets look at ‘em:

Those look pretty cool, but what else do we know about the game? NOTHING! NOTHING! Nothing besides what the end of Episode 2 implies.

Many of us Valve fans have been patiently and impatiently waiting for some information about the new game, but nothing else has come out besides the fact that Episode 3 will end the Half-Life 2 story-arc. E3 starts this week and Valve is going to make some presentations on Tuesday, so let us hope that they will spill the beans about the continuing adventures of our beloved silent scientist.

-smash- from HalfLife2.net will be meeting with Valve Software at the E3 on Tuesday at 2pm PST (5pm EST), and he has created a Twitter account to update on his findings about Valve’s latest projects, so be sure to follow him right here. Who knows… maybe we’ll hear about Portal 2 also! All I really want is some info on Episode 3 and possibly a release date (yeah right) and I’ll be golden.