romk.im blogs

Replay, a new arcade bar will be opening soon in Chicago. It...

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:30:30 -0700

Replay, a new arcade bar will be opening soon in Chicago. It will feature approximately 20 retro video games from the ’80s and ’90s, as well as several pinball machines.

Wait. No brown m&ms anymore? How is this not headline news...

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:08:17 -0700

Wait. No brown m&ms anymore? How is this not headline news everywhere?!

A map of every known piece of space debris orbiting our planet....

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:11:07 -0700

A map of every known piece of space debris orbiting our planet. Incredibly scary and beautiful at the same time. [reddit]

Daft Punk’s “Contact” Versus 2001: A Space Odyssey (by...

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:13:47 -0700

Daft Punk’s “Contact” Versus 2001: A Space Odyssey (by dj200423)

Gorgeous.

Star Trek® The Video Game is now 50% off. Context: the game is...

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:30:29 -0700

Star Trek® The Video Game is now 50% off.

Context: the game is 50% off on the day the movie premieres. I wonder why.

Taking a closer look at the new Wolfenstein game, I absolutely...

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:03:00 -0700

Taking a closer look at the new Wolfenstein game, I absolutely love what they did with the protagonist. How do you modernize a pixelated iron jaw blonde hero from 21 years ago? Like this. It’s really well done.

I don’t think I remember seeing this solved better in any other remake/reboot before it.

Pacific Rim Main Official Trailer. Please don’t suck,...

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:43:34 -0700

Pacific Rim Main Official Trailer.

Please don’t suck, please don’t suck, please don’t suck.

A space odyssey to infinity and beyond.

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:30:07 -0700

A space odyssey to infinity and beyond.

Sunset Speaks: Idra and EG: What We Should Have Talked About

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:20:14 -0700

Sunset Speaks: Idra and EG: What We Should Have Talked About:

sunsetspeaks:

I like Idra. I liked him in Brood War and I liked him in SC2. The events that have transpired around him and his current situation will be remembered as a cornerstone in the history being created not only around his personal story, but the history being created around this great game of ours as a…

Great piece. I wish we had more writers like this.

The ultimate trip.

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:42 -0700

The ultimate trip.

My life is not complete without this.

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:30:09 -0700

My life is not complete without this.

The Mass Effect Action Figures on thinkgeek are on sale. But why...

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:25:25 -0700

The Mass Effect Action Figures on thinkgeek are on sale. But why the hell is Garrus holding the M-98 Widow instead of Legion?! Seems like a pretty significant “exacting detail” to slip thru Bioware’s licensing department.

NERD~~OUT~~RAGE!

Just saw this on television.. I am not sure that spacecraft...

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:22:02 -0700

Just saw this on television..

I am not sure that spacecraft falling from the sky, things exploding, people dying and machinery submerged in water is the best way to sell a fragile looking Acer product.

Windows 8, to boldly go where no users has gone before.

tymethiefslongerthoughts: kawaiimon: theinturnet: Why...

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:34:53 -0700

tymethiefslongerthoughts:

kawaiimon:

theinturnet:

Why promote a company but not add a link?

http://www.childsown.com/

Now that’s just cool.

Holy cow, this might be the coolest thing in the world.

R2D2 Lego by monsterbrick.

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:30:19 -0700

R2D2 Lego by monsterbrick.

Period. The only line without a period.

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:27:00 -0700

Period.

The only line without a period.

And what are your thoughts on Dragon Age and it's sequel?

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:10:00 -0700

I loved the first game. ;-)

Metro: Last Light – FOV Locked, DX9 Workaround, Aim Assist...

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:09:25 -0700

Metro: Last Light – FOV Locked, DX9 Workaround, Aim Assist Enabled By Default

Last but not least, aim assist is enabled by default in the PC version. 4A Games has not provided any in-game option to disable it, therefore PC gamers will have to open %APPDATA%\Local\4A Games\Metro LL\user.cfg and set aim_assist 1 to 0.

Obligatory: THE RANGER MODE. Experience complete immersion. No HUD. Less Bullets. Brutal Combat. Hardcore. ~~Aim Assist.~~ The way it was meant to be played.

Aim assist is on by default? And it cannot be disabled in the menu? This is great news for CS:Source players, but what about those of us who want to play without training wheels?

Interesting reddit comment on Mass Effect: When playing ME1, I...

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:52:47 -0700

Interesting reddit comment on Mass Effect:

When playing ME1, I feel like I am watching an awesome sci-fi movie; the storytelling and cutscenes are just over the top enough. In ME2, they changed the narrative tone a bit, and it felt more like a high quality TV show, like BSG or something. The narrative tone in ME3, however, just felt like another video game. Everything is just MOAR EXPLOSIONS MOAR VIOLENCE!!!!11!!!1! Put another way, ME1 would be a Ridley Scott movie; interesting, intriguing, and beautiful. ME2 would be a Spielberg movie; over the top, fun, and exciting. ME3 felt like a Michael Bay movie; the plot is stupid and makes no sense, and everything is so over the top all the time that it leaves no room for anything to be exciting; it all fades into a bland, dull roar after a while.

That comment really made me think about Mass Effect.. And yes, the overall tone and feel of the games absolutely did change as the series progressed - but I don’t agree with the overall movie/director comparisons.

I absolutely agree that Mass Effect was a beautiful unique sci-fi and unique gaming experience, but I think the original game will be remembered because: 1) it set the standard for modern western roleplaying games 2) the scope of the universe was amazing, but Bioware was clearly still defining the universe 3) Bioware was still refining their story telling/character defining techniques, so nothing really felt all that natural. 1

In Mass Effect 2 all the slower paced elements (like the endless Mako driving and horrible inventory system) were completely removed or dramatically improved. And more importantly the universe felt a lot more complete and the game really found its core shooter mechanics and improved pacing between the dialogue/option driven story sequences. It felt more fluid, the characters felt a lot more human.

In Mass Effect 3 all the loose ends were tied up, in the most extravagant sci-fi story ever created in a game - which just also happened to contain the best shooter mechanics I remember ever playing. I feel like the series found itself: story telling, gameplay mechanics, character definitions, everything was just better. I don’t think it was perfect, for example many story elements became more linear and felt outside player control, but man it was big and breathtaking. I think it will be years until I feel that way about a game again.

I don’t feel the games got cheaper or stupider as the series progressed, if anything I feel the “run errand, find key, open door” sub-quests got somewhat less silly and the pacing helped with immersion.

Metacritic scores for the series (PC version):

89 of 100
94 of 100
89 of 100

Personally I would rank the series #3, #2, #1 (in that order), but that is because the latter two games surpassed the original in every way - remember that the original game instantly became the gold standard for the genre. Seen isolated for its time, the original score is spot on. But the genre progressed rapidly, thus the following two games were a lot better both on their own and in comparison.

I recently replayed all the games. I couldn’t stomach the Mako driving sequences in #1, so I didn’t play more than a few hours. In comparison I blew thru #2 and #3 and enjoyed every minute of it (I almost felt sad when it was over).

*see the Dragon Age games that hit in the same timeframe, you can see how Bioware continuously improved their story telling techniques.

MatrixUnloaded by Mirage/Censor Design - Hand drawn Commodore 64...

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:00:34 -0700

MatrixUnloaded by Mirage/Censor Design -

Hand drawn Commodore 64 graphics at its finest.