http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/index/ en theharlot@gameharlot.com Copyright 2009 2009-07-12T21:51:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/project_shiny_new_gimmick_part_2/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/project_shiny_new_gimmick_part_2/#When:22:51:00Z So, Natal. I don’t think the general public is quite ready for a controller-less system.  First off, I find one of the most charming aspects of gaming to be that I can do it while relaxing on the couch with a beer.  While things like Wii Fit have their place (in the closet, covered with dust, apparently), I prefer to keep my workout in the gym and my gaming nice and sedentary. Secondly, while controller-less systems are touted as completely intuitive and natural, I think the casual market finds them the opposite.  I had the pleasure of getting together with the HarlotFamily over Easter break to re-enact a Wii commercial: three generations all cozying up to the soulless glow of the big screen to do some virtual bowling.  (And, you know, drinking heavily.) I’ve seen a lot of inexperienced gamers interact with regular controllers, and the way my family dealt with the Wiimotes was very similar: apprehensive, clumsy, and kind of confused.  Maybe my family is just a little slow, but I think hardware companies might be overestimating the user-friendliness of motion sensing controllers.  Multiply that by having to learn voice commands and gestures and interacting with a game system in a completely new way, and I think it could be quite a challenge for casual gamers. Finally, unless Microsoft is planning on pulling a Nintendo-esque “What’s that, core player fanbase?  You want games that don’t involve pretending to be a wedding planner or playing a musical instrument?  SHUN!” reversal, I wouldn’t consider the 360 to be the most family-friendly platform.  While I adore playing on Live, it is a hive of scum, villainy, and squeaky voiced 13 year old boys calling everyone some witty variation of “homosexual.” Somehow, I can’t see them calling up their friends via Natal and discussing what they’re going to wear to the party tonight.  I realize that this whole thing is a push to get casual gamers and all, but I would caution Microsoft to be wary of pushing their former players out. Despite all my snarkiness, I think it’s going to be a really neat toy.  But whether game developers will be able to turn it into something lasting and innovative remains to be seen. The Industry 2009-07-12T22:51:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/project_shiny_new_gimmick/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/project_shiny_new_gimmick/#When:04:02:00Z In case you have been living under a rock for the last two months, Microsoft did indeed announce their speculated motion-sensing peripheral for the 360, codenamed Project Natal, at E3.  (For your geeky cocktail party needs, it’s pronounced na-TAHL, and it looks kind of like an evil robot head.) And, in case you had any doubts who M’s target market is, check out their simulated use trailer, just bursting at the seams with good clean family fun: Aww, how utterly wholesome.  Little Timmy can pretend to be a monster, Big Sis Sarah can get fashion advice, and Mom and Dad can snuggle on the couch watching Netflix movies in between all that family bonding! (Oops, sorry.  Did I get a little bit of cynic on you?  Here, have a tissue.) Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic that motion-cap/facial recognition tech that sensitive will soon available for personal use.  (The live demo from E3 is particularly impressive; bonus points for the blatantly bitchy shot at the Wii.) It’s definitely a revolutionary piece of equipment.  But is revolutionary what their target market (read: casual gamers) really wants? Let me know what y’all think… my answer will be forthcoming as well. [Much gratitude to Brian for the inspiration.] News, The Industry 2009-06-16T04:02:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/a_few_changes/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/a_few_changes/#When:21:32:00Z Hello, darlings.  You may have noticed things have been a bit quiet around here lately, and that’s because I’ve been busy with a few other creative endeavors.  But worry not, GH is not dead… I’m just going to start emphasizing quality over quantity.  I expect there will be at least a post a week, and perhaps more, though not necessarily on regular days.  If you’d like to be informed of updates, you have a couple options: 1.  Follow me on Twitter.  (I promise I tweet other things besides spamming posts.) 2.  Hit the cute little RSS text located at the bottom of the right frame, or just type in gameharlot.com in your friendly google reader. 3.  If you really want the star treatment, e-mail me (the harlot at game harlot dot com) and I will hand deliver update info to your mailbox.  Who loves you, baby? Play me off, Mr. Bowie: News, Personal 2009-05-26T21:32:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/the_e3_rumor_mill/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/the_e3_rumor_mill/#When:07:00:00Z One of the most hyped events in a gamer’s year is coming up soon: yes, I speak of E3, claiming to be with 90% less suck this year.  Regardless of whether it lives up to its claims of awesomeness, there’s already a lot of juicy gossip going around.  Here are some of the more intriguing stories, ribbed for her pleasure: - Rich Taylor, VP of communications and research for the ESA, says the public might be allowed in someday… but not this year, suckers. - Atari says “thx but j/k” to showing up to the expo. - Microsoft says via Twitter: “June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers. New product launch, that’s all I’m allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre.” Unveiling a new portable gaming device, perhaps?  (PS - Do any Zune lovers exist?) Also: they keep talking about something revolutionary, perhaps a camera motion capture system?  Ooh, mysterious. - Like many 3 year relationships, Sony might be trading in that old PS3 for a younger, slimmer model.  Shallow, perhaps, but you gotta keep things interesting. - Finally: a frequently updated giganticus list of confirmed new games, courtesy of IGN. I’m really interested to see how E3 plays out this year.  It’s kind of like our celebrity culture: we shrug when they do well, but it’s only when they fuck up that we pay attention. Geek Culture, News, The Industry 2009-05-15T07:00:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/zero_suit/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/zero_suit/#When:07:00:00Z I love burlesque, and I love video games, so this article in the LA times about troupe Devil’s Playground doing a show featuring game characters brought a smile to my face. I really wish there was video; you know it would have been entertaining to watch the girl doing Seamus to try and wiggle out of that suit in a sexy manner. [via Destructoid] Geek Culture, Harlotry, Pixels 2009-05-14T07:00:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/mainstream_social_acceptance_indeed/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/mainstream_social_acceptance_indeed/#When:07:00:00Z So, geek is officially cool now, as evidenced by this video from the “Society for Geek Advancement” entitled simply “I am a Geek”: But, lest we forget, we must all be socially approved geeks.  We will all use Twitter (soo subversive and counter-culture) and talk about it a lot, since that will make us edgy and tech savvy.  We will wear stylish glasses in an ironic fashion, and also ironically appreciate the nostalgic humor personified by the appearance of MC Hammer (an obvious pillar of geek culture) in this video.  Also, we shall throw around a few words about coding in order to really up our cred and make us seem cool and mysterious with our “new language,” but we swear never to do anything as lame as actually play D&D, because that would be… geeky. Uh huh. While this… project… thing seems to be benefiting a charity, it comes across as a trying-too-hard social media commercial.  (They use the term “social capital” in their About section, for fuck’s sake.) Even Wil Wheaton came out and said he regretted doing it! “I was under the impression that this video would feature actual geeks who are important to our culture, like Woz, Felicia Day, Leo Laporte, and Jonathan Coulton. Instead, I saw a lot of entrepreneurs who have good marketing instincts, joined by a bunch of celebrities who are attempting to co-opt our culture because it’s what their publicity team is telling them to do. When you’re speaking to people who read TMZ and People magazine, getting contributions from MC Hammer, Ashton Kutcher and Shaq is a logical choice. But when you’re speaking to geeks, it’s insulting to us to pretend that they are part of and speak for our culture. Those people are not geeks; they’re celebrities who happen to use Twitter.” He also comes out in huge nerdy support of D&D, which is utterly charming; the whole post is basically an excellently written “this was not what I signed up for” damage control piece. I really have no problem with social media, nor the people who can do amazing things with it to their advantage.  But let’s call it what it is and leave the pretending to the LARPers. Commentary, Geek Culture, WTF 2009-05-13T07:00:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/even_further_beyond_good_and_evil/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/even_further_beyond_good_and_evil/#When:07:00:00Z IGN has a video up of “rumored leaked footage” of the upcoming sequel to one of my favorite games, Beyond Good and Evil. If this is actual gameplay, it looks like the gorgeous bastard child of Mirror’s Edge and Assassin’s Creed.  And of course, the lovely Jade seems to be badass as usual. Sexy. News, Pixels 2009-05-12T07:00:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/band_nerds/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/band_nerds/#When:07:00:00Z Confession: I was indeed a band nerd in high school.  In fact, I was so nerdy I was Drumline Captain for two years, which is why I did a double-take upon seeing this video: So close to awesome.  But… having a guy pretend to be Mega Man by running back and forth for a majority of the show?  Really?  Let’s leave the interpretive dance to the cheerleaders, kids. Geek Culture, Pixels, WTF 2009-05-07T07:00:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/conservatively_geeky/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/conservatively_geeky/#When:07:00:00Z MMOs have become pretty ubiquitous these days; it’s a safe bet that your clueless coworkers will at least know what World of Warcraft is, even if they look at you blankly when you launch into the finer points of theorycraft and epic lootz. According to an article on MMORPG Examiner, however, there’s still a new market out there: the Middle East. “The absence of MMO Game publishers in the region have resulted in the state of unawareness about the concept of MMO Gaming. Many gamers in the region have no idea that there is a genre of games where you “live” at, play and interact with thousands of others, and improve your “game life” as you play your way through. Many starting players were confused at not being able to find the “Game Over” of the game, or at not being able to aim while shooting a monster.” Seems a new company named Game Power 7 aims to change that, with a unique challenge: making MMOs more understandable to a completely different culture.  GP7 took the free Asian MMO Rappelz and tailored it to their target audience. One of the more startling changes is the lack of chainmail bikinis, illustrated at the slideshow at the bottom of the article.  While the characters mostly retain their “fantasy” look, GP7 decided to make the outfits much less revealing to keep to the higher standards of female modesty in their target countries.  (Sorry, guys; no more making a female alt and dancing in your underwear in front of the AH.  Tragic, I know.) Also interesting was the process of removing any religious symbols; again, on the premise of making the game more understandable (and, obviously, less contraversial), according to Fadi Mujahid, GM at GP7: “the original story talks about three races and three gods, which is very odd to our culture. We had to modify that to make it about three nations and three kings.” I have to admit, I initially rolled my eyes at the whole process of “censoring” a MMO.  But reading more into the story, it seems like Game Power 7 genuinely wants to bring a new style of gaming to a new market on their terms.  While it may seem overly conservative to Western gamers, I think it makes sense to err on the side of caution and avoid inadvertently killing the emerging market. Video games are a great uniting force, and the more we have in common with people from different cultures, the more we’ll realize that we’re all just geeks at heart. [via MTV Multiplayer] Geek Culture, News, The Industry 2009-05-06T07:00:00-06:00 http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/super_hype/ http://www.gameharlot.com/index.php/site/super_hype/#When:07:00:01Z File this under “things other games journalists get invited to but the Harlot will get there someday, bitches” category:  Massively gets a press-exclusive first look at the beta of Champions Online.  Apparently public quests (a la Warhammer) make an appearance, and the graphics look as sexy in motion as they do in the screenshots. I’ve been ready for a good Supers MMO ever since I decided killing 10 billion snakemen wasn’t worth the character creation fun in City of Villians; here’s hoping Champions lives up to its hype. News, Pixels 2009-05-05T07:00:01-06:00