Archive for August, 2009

Review: Second Skin

Monday, August 31st, 2009

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(originally published on DVD Verdict)

The Charge

Reality is only skin deep.

Opening Statement

The independent documentary Second Skin is an eye-opening look at the worldwide Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) phenomenon. What drives more than 50 million people to spend a large part of their lives in a virtual world? For some, it’s the game itself—building a character and going on quests to fell mythical beasts and collect gold. For others, it’s a social environment—a place to meet like-minded people. For many, the appeal is in the anonymity. No matter how awkward, overweight, or isolated in “real” life, a player can be as powerful and attractive as they want to be online. Second Skin follows seven gamers as they find love, deal with life changes, and even fight addiction.

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God of War Collection inbound for PS3!

Monday, August 31st, 2009

A press release from Sony just hit my inbox with some awesome news for God of War fans: The multi-million selling PS2 franchise is hitting the PS3 this Holiday season. Included on a blu-ray disc are God of War and God of War II, both completely remastered and presented in 720p and running at 60frames per second with full on Anti-aliasing and all the next gen trimmings. As the games were pretty damn stunning looking outings to begin with, this is one announcment that is full of win.

Click on through to read the press-release in all it’s legalese glory: (more…)

Star Wars Cheapness

Monday, August 31st, 2009

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Just a quick dealio.  Amazon is selling Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for a measly $10.  We’re not a deal site or nothing, but wanted to give a shout to what I thought was a very enjoyable action game, supported by a killer Star Wars story.

If you can get past some uninspired level desgin and stiff animation, you’ll have a grand old time tossing Jawas 500 feet in the air.

Captain Enzo in “Take a Byte Out of my Heart”

Friday, August 28th, 2009

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Xbox 360 Joins the Price-Drop Party, Worthless A/V Cables Now Packaged In

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

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It’s great to hear about the price drops on the 360, but what’s with the downgrade in cables?  A regular old A/V connection?  Really?  Granted HDMI cables are ludicrously cheap these days, but at least make an effort Microsoft.

And ‘Soft spokesdude Chris Lewis coughs up this lame excuse for the disappearance of high-def cables:

Removing the HMDI cable gives the flexibility to consumers who can then decide which type of cable they want for their specific gaming and TV screen set-up.

Blecch.

BLAST PROCESSING! Episode 27: Rock Bat

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

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Erich, Steve, and Jon exact their own brand of vigilante podcast justice with a lengthy discussion about Batman: Arkham Asylum. In other news, Erich gets Rock Band 2, and the Newfoundlanders react to the PS3 price drop with rants about fickle internet fanboys and Microsoft’s possible future. This week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum is “Most Ridiculously Proportioned Female Characters.” How bad does it get? Tune in to find out.

Let us know what you think in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing us at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

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Symposium ad Nauseum: Most Ridiculoulsy Proportioned Female Video Game Characters

Monday, August 24th, 2009

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Give game designers credit–they know their target audience. Following in the proud footsteps of comic books, Saturday morning cartoons and my eighth grade physical science notebook, video games have embraced the wildly disproportionate female body type.

The topic–most infamous examples of sacrificing anatomical realism and a well-adjusted perception of women for cheap thrills.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm announced

Monday, August 24th, 2009

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Announced at BlizzCon 2009, the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack is revealed to be World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, confirming numerous rumors swirling around the internet, revealed now as entirely true. In terms of in-game shake-ups, this is as big as things get in the world of MMORPG, with the return of an ancient and long-buried evil literally tearing the world a new hole, literally. The whole Cataclysm thing is an accurate title, as Blizzard will use this opportunity to go back and re-design the entire shape of Azeroth, modifying, removing and sundering entire continents and zones.

A breakdown of the new additions after the jump.

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