Linkswap: RockPaperShotgun
RockPaperShotgun, as our most respected gaming blog by far, deserves more than the occasional misappropriation of its work, sandwiched between a link and a quip. Accordingly, we're formalizing the creative incest and will regularly swap headlines on a wholesale basis.
Seriously, these guys rule. Even if you're not interested in games (who are you kidding?), they're smart, insouciant and dedicated to the craft. Read on for the links.
Why I Still Play Stalker
Stalker's eastern promise is hard to accept with open arms, at least when you read descriptions and scan screenshots. Wander around a bleak, irradiated Ukranian heath in search of your destiny? Sounds like a blast, doesn't it? To play it, however, is to feel it: an unforgiving landscape filled with dangerous mutants, industrial ruins and a shimmering, mystical gloom. Jim Rossignol gets it.
Duke Nukem Not Never
Alec Meer jogs around the block for that eternal never-ran, Duke Nukem Forever. Commenting on Shacknews' own sneak peak, he delivers optimism balanced by a snappy kick in the nuts: for this concept-character, slowly sinking into cultural irrelevance as gaming matures, what else can be done?
Final Crysis
Crysis didn't bomb — in fact, it was a huge suceess. The problem, according to the creators, is that almost no-one paid for it. They're leaving PC exclusivity behind as a result, cursing the pirates as they go. Meer muses on the recurring passing-of-the-baton from one cutting-edge PC developer to the next.
Mount & Blade: The Next Steppes
Kieron Gillen exhorts you to check in with the best RPG you've never played. A sandbox game with incredible combat and a lot of rough edges, it's hard to describe, so I'll leave it to Kieron: "It’s ... what the RPG would be like if the genre was created by people who’d only had a game of D&D described to them rather than ever playing it."
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"insouciant"?
What, do they game from some sidewalk bistro while wearing matching berets?
My man, that's exactly what they do.
Oh thank the Lords I can finally replace Kotaku. Thank you Rob, thank you for this gift.
I wouldn't give up Kotaku just yet. RPS is great, but they are strictly PC, so if you want any console coverage, you're out of luck.
But RPS is great. They ran a series about the Russian game Pathologic, that was one of the best things I've ever read.
I'm sorry, I'm totally off topic, but insouciant is one of my favorite words of all time. My favorite definition is "blithely indifferent". I have always aspired to insouciance, but alas, I fear I'll never really have it.
Oh, who cares...
Besides, their berets don't HAVE to match.
Margaret Atwood, called. She wants her vocabulary back.
Dunno about Rob, but we're a lot like Margaret Atwood if Margaret Atwood was drunk all the time.
KG
Well, ok, so I tried it. It was a beautiful, mild spring afternoon. I grabbed my old Sony Vaio laptop, borrowed a beret from my accross-the-hall neighbor (hat person), and sauntered down to the local sidewalk bistro to settle in for some gaming.
No sooner had I connected to an open WiFi and fired up my favorite MMORPG than a man came sauntering down the sidewalk. His exuded a personal quality expressive of lighthearted unconcern. In his hand, he had an Asus Eee PC, on his head, a beret.
He flopped into a seat at the next table, beret askew, legs akimbo, place-setting asunder -- the very image of blithe indifference.
With a nonchalant air I said "I don't like your more-insouciant-than-thou attitude."
He said "I don't care."
Damn!
Proto - In my mind that guy has a thin little mustache, has one raised eyebrow and speaks with a French accent.
And his name is Knox Harrington.