In what is easily the most inspired news story of the year, MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John dishes up something truly savory.
You might not be aware of it, and that would be to your credit, but there is a "fan outcry" over Diablo III's use of colors other than gray and red. Tracey gets the game's designer on the "horn," and has him explain what he likes and doesn't like about the many fan altered shots of the game that are floating around. What you get as a reader is a surprisingly constructive assessment of why things don't work, or why they have done things differently, or why they have done that - only in an area we haven't seen yet. It's fascinating, wall to wall.
I would like to draw your attention to the last shot they offer, though: a shot which contrasts "Necromancers Choice" with "wow gayness." It was never clear to me if the shot was offered up by a necromancer, or someone who goes by Necromancer, or if this aesthetic is the preference of nine out of ten necromancers, or what. Shit be ambiguous. "wow gayness" is, as a phrase, almost too stupid to contemplate. We tried to imagine the sort of person who takes world-class design, changes the contrast, and then calls themselves the artist. It wasn't especially difficult.
When I buy the next Diablo, I'll be playing it exclusively for the art. I watched the entire direct-feed presentation, and the only things that kept me going were the wild palette shifts and chunky, hewn environs. I could hear the clicking of mice throughout, click click, like insects. The whole thing made me itch.
I've been reserving a portion of my consciousness for Fatal Frame on the Wii, with the thought that its core gameplay (killing ghosts with cameras) would be vastly improved by a pointing device. I always forget when I buy these Goddamned games how horrifying they are, and watching a few videos of the new one has convinced me not to buy it, so maybe this isn't good marketing. The menacing spectres often have something about them that is... wrong, on some level, which is how Japanese horror in general does its business. The sympathy the game evokes for these things is inexplicably potent. But it was the audio in those clips, just as it was in previous games, that made playing the game impossible. I pulled the second Fatal Frame out of the disc tray and threw it across the room, once. I had to make absolutely sure that it wouldn't get back in.
(CW)TB out.
Here is the schedule for the 2008 Omegathon!
Round 1: Peggle
PC Area - Friday, 3:30 PM
Round 2: Boom Blox
Serpent Theatre - Friday, 8:00 PM
Round 3: Pictionary
Serpent Theatre - Saturday, 11:30 AM
Round 4: Rock Band
Main Theatre - Saturday, 8:30 PM
Round 5: Jenga
Serpent Theatre - Sunday, 1:00 PM
Final Round: ???
Main Theatre - 4:30 PM
And our 20 Omeganauts!
Kent Byers
Noah Callaway
Chrissa Casono
Thomas Chan
Gregory Clarkson
Jordan Comar
Tim Corver
Jennifer Dittrich
Andy Drake
Steve Edwardo
Michael Friedman
Benjamin Gray (2007 Runner Up!)
Rae Hughes
Brian Jo
Blaine Kahle
Ryan Knight
Christopher Trevino
Jo Urbansky
Erica Waters
Jason Young
Once again the prize for this year's Omegathon is a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show, all expenses paid, plus $5,000 in "walking around money." This was by far the coolest prize we've come up with and so we're going to go ahead and use it again. Good luck to all our brave Omeganauts.
-Gabe out
In response to this.
Penny Arcade Expo 2008
Press Release
World’s Top Gamer “Fatal1ty” will not be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)
PAX is proud to announce that they will not be welcoming E-sportsman Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel to the event.
“There is no one else in the video game industry quite like Fatal1ty and we’re thrilled that he won't be attending our show” said Gabe, Chief Executive Officer of the Penny Arcade Expo, the greatest video game festival in the universe. “Seriously, if he even tries to come we'll kick him out.”
Penny Arcade Expo
: Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is a three-day celebration of games and gamer culture. The festival includes an exhibition floor filled with playable builds of upcoming tabletop, console, and computer games; a conference program of game industry speakers; music concerts; freeplay areas; industry parties; an independent games showcase; game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004 the show has doubled in size year-over-year, growing from 4,500 attendees to 37,000 in 2007, making it the largest gaming festival in North America. For more information visit www.pennyarcadeexpo.com.Penny Arcade
Equal parts online comic and commentary, Penny Arcade ( www.penny-arcade.com) keeps its finger on the pulse of the gaming industry, prompting conversation and controversy alike from community members and industry experts. What started as a hobby in 1998 for Jerry "Tycho" Holkins and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik has grown into an online phenomenon serving 70 million page views a month to millions of readers worldwide. In addition to the comic strip and PAX gaming festival ( www.pennyarcadeexpo.com), Penny Arcade has expanded its reach to include a growing line of merchandise, a video game and management of Child's Play ( www.childsplaycharity.org), a gamer-driven charity for children that spans the globe.
