http://editor.playwhat.com Cutting through the clutter, helping to find games worth playing. Tue, 19 May 2009 20:14:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm sure there are some of you out there who use a file-sharing program such as LimeWire or BitTorrent for nefarious, illicit file-swapping purposes. Come on, fess up. As you may know, these applications employ peer-to-peer, or P2P, technology to enable quick and easy data transfer between you and other users. But ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2009/05/18/attention-hr1319-p2p-aint-just-for-file-sharing/ I know I was just talking about a study that proved playing video games does not result in violent behavior. But perhaps I spoke too soon. As reported by the Daily Mail, the Good Childhood report for the Children's Society in Great Britain has now concluded that gaming causes not only ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2009/02/03/gaming-does-cause-violence-wait-what/ Ever peruse the Gaming section of Digg.com? It's a melange of opinions, rumors and news about video games. Fun to read. Have you noticed how many "Top 10" articles submitted, and Digged in ridiculous numbers? Dozens. And it's usually some schlep spouting off about the superiority of old-school games, inconsequential stuff. ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2009/01/29/the-top-10-top-10s-of-gaming/ Do gamers buy games because they crave violence and gore, or do game publishers churn out violent and gory games because they think that's what gamers want? It's an interesting question. My take is that the enjoyment had with violent games comes from the sense of competition and achievement that arises ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2009/01/28/does-violence-sell-video-games/ I should preface the coming diatribe by saying that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of my favorite games of all time. I've played nearly the whole canon: Arena, Daggerfall, Battlespire, Redguard (Voodoo graphics only!) and Morrowind (+expansions). As good as those games are (well, Battlespire not so much) there ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2008/11/14/the-elder-scrolls-v-fallout/ Really, it was only a matter of time. In fact, I'm surprised it's taken so long for one of these to surface. I've been joking about the possibility for a while now, and now that it's here I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. What I'm talking about is ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2008/11/06/kaboom-the-suicide-bombing-game/ WoW. Wow? Not so much. I realize that I'm in the minority, the tiny minority of gamers who are not impressed with World of Warcraft. I'll admit I have a low threshold for repetition; as any devoted WoW-er knows, in order to get to the point where you can team up ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2008/11/04/uo-to-eq-to-wow-to-lotro-me-and-mmorpg-pt-2/ If you truly want to scare the crap out of yourself on Halloween, what do you do? We're all so jaded nowadays that nothing scares us anymore. You could go to a "haunted house" at your local community center and shriek like a pansy when rubber-masked dorks pop out in front ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2008/10/31/the-top-9-creepiest-pc-games-ever/ The first multiplayer online role-playing game I ever played was Ultima Online - meaning, paid for a subscription and invested innumerable hours in developing a character. It was a natural move for me; Ultima VI was my introduction into the world of single-player RPGs, and the game fascinated me to ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2008/10/29/from-uo-to-eq-to-wow-to-lotro-mmorpg-mine-pt-1/ Okay, so there's this free, fantasy Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) called MapleStory. Its a 2-dimensional, side-scrolling affair that's cute as cute can be: Blue sky, puffy clouds, mushroom-topped house ... how could anything go awry in such a world? Three words: Marriage. Divorce. Death. As in many fantasy MMOs, you can ... http://editor.playwhat.com/index.php/2008/10/24/if-you-die-in-a-mmorpg-do-you-die-in-real-life/