Escapism – Redux
Back in April I wrote about escapism, specifically that gleaned from playing games, as the perfect cure to mounting stress levels. At the time, I was dealing with the fast approaching FYP deadline and associated baggage, but what I’m facing at the moment is a different breed. And while gaming is the perfect form of escapism to deal with stress, it doesn’t work as well for matters of the heart.
I Am Waiting For Something To Go Wrong
So, after near enough walking into a 20k job last week (it was my first interview, and they offered me the position later that day), today I found a near perfect flat; 2 bedrooms, open plan living room/kitchen, on the ground floor, lets me have a cat, the works. This was the…. 3rd property I went to visit, and it clicked the moment I saw it. As someone else had already expressed an interest in it, I decided to forgo my other viewings for the day and sign there and then. I move in some time next week.
Now, if the last few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that nothing in life is that easy, and there is no such thing as a dream come true. So, what’s going to go wrong? Answers on a postcard, please.
Everything’s Gonna Get Lighter
I realise it’s been a while since I wrote anything, but anyone who knows me probably knows why. My life these past few weeks has been in utter turmoil, and my only salvation has been countless hours of good TV (polished off Heroes in a weekend, up to season 5 of Scrubs, and still have Dexter, House and Battlestar Gallatcia to watch). As such, I haven’t really been doing anything that actually warranted writing something here. However, I’m getting better, and should be back on form in due course.
WWI – StarCraft 2: Evolving Design
The goal of the design of StarCraft 2, explained Rob Pardo, was to reimagine StarCraft for a modern audience. They wanted to produce a game with the same pace and feel, but with a whole host of new units and, by extension, new tactical options. Follow the cut for details about how they went about this.
WWI – Diablo 3: Design Philosophy
In this developer panel, Jay Wilson went over the key design concepts of the early Diablo games, and detailed how they would be included and built upon in Diablo 3.
WWI – Diablo 3: Gameplay Demo
Once the Diablo 3 trailer had finished, Jay Wilson (Lead Designer for Diablo 3) took the stage, asking the audience “who wants to crush some demons?” before proceeding to demonstrate about 20 minutes worth of very impressive looking gameplay, which is detailed after the cut.
WWI – Arrival & Opening Ceremony
The World Wide Invitational began at 9am on the Saturday, and I (rather naively) turned up at 8:30. The queue was rather… infinite. I must’ve walked for about 10 minutes before reaching the end. Waiting in line, I saw all sorts pass me by. People of all shapes and sizes, most wearing some piece of Blizzard clothing. Naturally, most of the conversation I could understand revolved around WoW. However, it quickly moved once the gates opened, and I was soon inside the building (after a slight delay getting my pass, due to an iffy printout of my email.). I made my way to main stage, and got a reasonable seat.
Details of the opening ceremony and the surprise announcement after the cut.
Cool to Hate
July 6, 2008 at 10:31 am (Comments, Gaming) (angry internet men)
With the announcement of Diablo III, the various comment pages posting stories were filled with Angry Internet Men proclaiming that it was too similar to World of Warcraft. Reading their posts, something struck me. Why are popular games (both in sales and reviews) seeing more and more bile and vitriol directed at them? We’ve seen it with The Sims (I’ll admit, I’m prone to this), Oblivion, Halo, BioShock ( which saw Kieron Gillen writing a rather long anti-anti-BioShock essay) and now World of Warcraft. One comment I saw (on Kotaku, I believe) was:
I’m sorry, what? WoW is many things (not all of them good), but it is certainly not killing PC gaming. Nothing is killing PC gaming (which is an argument for another time).
Another comment I once saw (actually directed at me), on RPS (and I must admit, it rather offended me):
It is certainly an interesting phenomenon, like some kind of inverse-fanboyism (something Chris touched on recently), mixed with a healthy bit of elitism and the ever reliable John Gabriel’s Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. Though I do wonder if there is an element of peer pressure in there. Has it truly become cool to hate?
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