Wrestlevania

Some people are mean, sad little shits. Also, some people are just disgustingly good at Guitar Hero. I can, hand on heart, say that I'd be spectacularly shit at that game so full credit to you, Tommy. And keep up the feverish games coverage, too.

South Park - 'Make Love, Not Warcraft' [Google Video]

I sense a Wikipedia entry discussing this concept's precise formula is imminent!

Yes, in a way. You can use candy to buy things for your garden from the local shop - tools, seeds, etc. However this particular circumstance is a very peripheral way of getting funds, which is interesting considering what piñata are famous for... To be honest, I think the whole game in general looks interesting. Plenty of gameplay facets and some absolutely stunning production to date.

I think the title that's going to put Rare back on the map - or finally break them - will be Viva Piñata. It's looking superb at this point, so fingers crossed.

That's right, folks. The IF Comp '06 finalists have been announced and our very own Jason 'loonyboi' Bergman is in the running with his title, "Game Producer!". I've played his game a bit already and can testify that it's very interactive-fictiony. It's also well written and has an interesting premise -- not to mention setup; I died from drinking too much coffee on my first go. So go download like the rabid lunatics you all should be and vote, vote, voooooooote!

Sorry, but has Halo Wars suddenly become an Interactive Fiction title or something..?

One-button Flash game ftw.

Best interview tip, bar none: ALWAYS wear a suit. Doesn't matter if it's "not appropriate" for the position or company -- details like that are entirely irrelevant and you should wear one anyway. It makes a significant difference and marks you out as taking this opportunity seriously, rather than having just wandered in off the street. Before now an interviewer has even said that I need not wear one for my second interview; ignore this and wear it again anyway. You set your own standards when approaching a new company; make sure you set them high because it'll get you noticed and keep you in people's minds. Sticking to these standards only reinforces the point -- you're serious about this job and you really want to work for this company!

I feel it should, but that doesn't excite me in the slightest.

PS3 burn and Internet bubble. Do you think there's some sick individual somewhere saying, "Quick, kick them again!"

Want some? It's the good shit.

Seen Eight Legged Freaks? Scarlett Johansson's the epitome of "girl next door" in that and not all that special to look at. Except for her very, erm... "free" chest.

I think this might really come down to how things wind up at the end of the interview. If the interviewer insists you have their business card, so that you can contact them if you have any further questions, then by all means... If you're job-hunting via an agency, then they'll want feedback about how things went. A good agency will put in a follow-up call on your behalf to the company to see what they thought of you -- your agent should feed your comments back the company at this point also.

Sony exec's are hilarious, aren't they?! They should be on the stage I say! Oh wait... Anyway, you cut the quote short:

Not to mention the ever-increasingly huge amounts of cash to boot. Has me wondering if some enterprising souls will build some sort of virtual world and then allow dev-co's to build their games within it*. It's like taking the 'licensed 3rd party engine' idea to the next level I reckon (pun not intended). TANGENT ALERT! * Second Life's a bit like that, but so much of the HCI aspect is broken - as is the whole software engine itself. With a decent (likely very expensive) rewrite, I think gaming in Second Life would rocket. But I'm not talking about the graphics here -- just the underlying character interaction processes and the physics model. If both of those got some serious, professional, game-like attention SL would be hugely more popular because it would draw in all your 'traditional' gamers. Imagine the possibility of meeting up with a group of others in-world, then having a spontaneous Counter-Strike session using the scenery of where ever you happened to be? The same could be done with racing (land, sea and air), or role-playing, or real-time strategy (from ground level right back to as far as you wanted, i.e. Defcon style). Going further, you could then build up a persistent solar system -- perhaps eventually leading to a small galaxy as things progress. The possibilities are simply massive, but there's nothing competant enough to take on any of these just yet. Not in a way that 'traditional' gamers would take seriously. So, my point: If what Crytek were building were to become persistent, and last longer than one title, I don't think people would be so alarmed at the minutiate detail Crytek are scrutinizing and them simulating. I think it's the simple fact that once Crysis has run its course, most of the assets, levels and characters they've built are likely to end up in the virtual bin. Just like FarCry and pretty much every other sequential game of this type.

Of course, I didn't mean to imply this was going to be a phenomenon exclusive to Blu-Ray. Good ol' Team Ninja, the shameless Tits 'n' Ass merchants that they are, have already done it in a next-gen stylee. Is this going to promote another platform shift for the Dead or Alive franchise? Who cares knows... Which reminds me: I still haven't checked if that arcade intro 'unlock' code for DoA2 works on Dreamcast, or not.

/me rues an opportunity missed: "Defcon? More like... dog cum!" "Sick bags are available in the seat back pockets in front of you. And please fold away all trays and return your seats to the upright position; we're in for some ' '..."Really need to download that demo.

Fill 'er up.

As in, the Warren Spector? If so, I'm surprised it's not his 'mug' photographed* on the opening page... Back on topic: Yes, I agree with the continued banality of Crytek's endless claims. But, to be fair, it's not like they can't back them up -- that game is visually stunning (in-development glitches aside). It still remains to be seen if they've spent any time addressing the head-slamming boredom of Far Cry's between-set-piece trudging, though. * Disclaimer: Is now a good time to mention that I appeared in Driver 2 as an ice cream seller?

What with all the talk lately about meeting up in-game for a good old fashioned scrap, I was wondering if anyone fancied a few rounds of True Combat: Elite? I've not tried the latest release yet, but I loved the original Quake III mod and this version looks even awesomer*. How about it - any takers? * You'll have to excuse the makers ripping off the BSG intro music. Cheeky monkeys.

v0.49 was just released last week, after quite some build up as I understand it.

I've watched a handful more than you and it's quite compelling. Seems quite complex too, primarily in how the many different relationships work out, so I think it needs giving some time to get into properly. Personally, as far as family dramas go, I thought Nip/Tuck knocked the spots off Six Feet Under.

Looks promising, Kolz - thanks for the pointer. As the DC can read 'burnt' CDs as standard, I'll see if I can't get that package I found on the ed2k network working first.

Thanks, Ben. I'll have a scout around the usual dens of digital iniquity and see if I can't find a copy. Update: Gotcha! [ed2k]