When Should A Game Be Episodic?

Image courtesy of TelltaleGames.com

Time is getting shorter for everyone. As technology progresses and entertainment becomes easier to obtain, it becomes much more difficult to portion out time for everything. So it's a natural progression for television shows, which are broken down into episodic chunks, to become more popular since they are easier to digest over small, broken out periods of time. Even games are moving in this direction. The popularity of episodic is on the rise, with talented developers like Telltale Games making engrossing stories that players can pick up over time. However, the trend is starting to move towards games that don't necessarily need this type of broken out form. So when is it right for a game to be episodic?

Square Enix Wants Developers for Old Franchises, Including Gex and Fear Effect

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Square Enix has become quite a juggernaut over the years, picking up developers like Crystal Dynamics to increase the company's game library. Now, the publisher/developer is looking for help developing some of it's older franchises. 

Everquest Developer Laying Off Large Number of Staff

Image courtesy of Forbes.com

Earlier this month we learned that Sony is selling off Sony Entertainment Online, which includes developers behind H1Z1 and Everquest. Today, information has surfaced that developer Daybreak, formerly SOE, will be laying off a large portion of it's staff.

Halo 5: Guardians to Change With Beta Feedback

Image courtesy of 343 Industries blog.

Halo 5: Guardians beta has been over for a while, but today developer 343 Industries revealed some interesting stats, as well as explaining some of the changes coming from the beta and user feedback.

Sega Restructuring; Moving Focus to PC and Mobile Games

Image courtesy of SEGA.com

SEGA is downsizing it's American branch and moving the branch from it's current location in San Francisco to Southern California, according to the president and COO of SEGA of America John Cheng.

Ken Levine Talks About New Game on Twitter

Image courtesy of BleedingCool

With the new direction that Irrational Games (which will be getting a new name) is taking, founder Ken Levine has been very outspoken about trying to be as open as possible while the new game is being created. As such, Levine has taken to Twitter today to answer as many questions as possible about the new title. Here are some things I learned today:

eSport Games on the Rise as Developers Push to Make More of Them

Image courtesy of MetroUk.

This year's Game Developers Conference Survey has been released, and it has revealed a large leap in developers looking at creating games that can be considered for eSports.

Zombie Studios Closes It's Doors For Good Reason

Image courtesy of Polygon

Zombie Studios, known recently for free-to-play shooter Blacklight: Retribution and horror game Daylight, is closing it's doors.

FCC Takes on Net Neutrality Next Month

Image courtesy of Wired.com

Net Neutrality discussions saw a lot of air time in 2014, and next month the Federal Communications Commission will finally vote on a new set of rules next month.

PS3 Made Into Supercomputer to Study Black Holes

Image courtesy of The New  York Times

Consumers may have moved onto the newest PlayStation, but PS3 still has some life in it. So much life, in fact, that Dr. Gaurav Khanna has configured 200 of the older consoles to create a supercomputer to study black holes.

Telltale Games Announces Minecraft: Story Mode and Miyamoto Talks About What's Next - Gamer's Source

Image courtesy of Kotaku.

Hello and welcome to The Gamers Source, your destination for gaming information. It's Friday, and though there isn't a whole lot of news, there is some interesting gaming news! Telltale has announced it's newest game franchise and Miyamoto-san talks about Nintendo's next steps. SO, without further ado, the news: 

Smithsonian To Show Excavated E.T. Cartridge

Image courtesy of Polygon.

Months ago a team of excavators wondered out into an Arizona landfill in the hopes of finding the fabled Atari stockpile of thrown away games. After having been found, those cartridges are being sold across the internet and landing in the hands of many collectors, and it looks like the Smithsonian is the next to snag one.

A New Game Concept Will Actually Take Your Blood

You'll really pay for your lack of skills...

In video games, most people take for granted getting hit by the enemy, but a new Kickstarter is looking to change that by taking blood from the player every time he or she is hit.

Gaming Memories of This Generation

Gaming can offer so many experiences. The joy of reaching a high score on the leader board. The anger of getting shot in the back. The competition between you and your best friend as you race around the track. It’s amazing just how many different emotions and feelings you get from one game and how different those emotions are from others who play that same game. This is why games are art: they connect us, on an emotional level that is hard to tap into on any other medium. With the ending of the current generation in sight (though not quite here yet) there’s been a lot of reflection on the best moments of this past 8 years in gaming. Here are a few of mine. Spoiler Alert for those who have yet to play Journey, The Last of Us and infamous 2.

Advanced Games Quick Pics

Here's a few pictures from my game project.

UPDATE: Gaming New Year's Resolutions

IGN.com is pretty much my go to site for gaming, and they posted this interesting article about gaming New Year's resolutions. I have decided to complete this check list and adding a few rules of my own:

UPDATE: Resistance is Complete! Sorry 7 Little Words, You're Coming!

UPDATE: Monster Dash is Complete! Expect the review out soon. Next up, 7 Little Words!!!!

1. Play a Game Out of your Comfort Zone: 7 Little Words by Blue Ox Technologies Ltd.
2. Play a Game With a Cutesy Art Style:
3. Play a Game That's Critically Diverse: Resistance: Burning Skies by Nihlistic (review here)
4. Play a Game a Little Under the Radar:
5. Play a Casual Game: Monster Dash by Halfbrick

ORIGINAL:

1.The game must be played to completion (if completion is possible) or a minimum of 5 hours
2.Each resolution must be a unique game, so no one game can cover more than one of the resolutions
3.Each Game must be played on a separate consoles

I will keep my games posted and give my ideas, updating with each new game added and completed. SO here's the beginning:

Gaming New Year's Resolutions

IGN.com is pretty much my go to site for gaming, and they posted this interesting article about gaming New Year's resolutions. I have decided to complete this check list and adding a few rules of my own:

1.The game must be played to completion (if completion is possible) or a minimum of 5 hours
2.Each resolution must be a unique game, so no one game can cover more than one of the resolutions
3.Each Game must be played on a separate consoles

I will keep my games posted and give my ideas, updating with each new game added and completed. SO here's the beginning:

1. Play a Game Out of your Comfort Zone:
2. Play a Game With a Cutesy Art Style:
3. Play a Game That's Critically Diverse:
4. Play a Game a Little Under the Radar:
5. Play a Casual Game: Monster Dash by Halfbrick

I Love Graffiti

Video Game History

Today the common conception of what a video game is has grown much different than what it used to be, so here's a few links to help with the history lesson:

History of Controllers: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/09/07/game-controller-evolution-at-a-glance.aspx

The Second Video Game Ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2E9iSQfGdg

Tall Oaks Timeline of Game History: http://webpages.uncc.edu/~arlichte/atnevon_portfolio_timeline.html

Comic Book Hero Made For Games: inFamous Rocks!

Open world, sand box style games have never been much fun to me. I've played them all in bits and pieces, from Grand Theft Auto to Assassin's Creed, and though I enjoy them for their quality of freedom, I just never get into them. I recently acquired inFamous through the PlayStation Network Welcome Back program, and ever since acquiring it I delayed even touching it. I would turn on my system, and every time I stared at the game name and moved onto something else. This trend continued until my friend and fellow intern Kreston started raving about the game. So when he came over, I was forced into a corner and booted up the game. From start to finish, I could not put it down. inFamous is your typical sand box game on crack, a modern day Assassin's Creed with it's own slick style and power to make you the player feel like a total bad-ass, most of the time.