Ask GamerDad 5/30/08
Posted on May 31st, 2008 by
Got some really interesting questions this week. First, a simple one: Why do games based on movies suck? Then we wade into the deeper waters of “World of Warcraft Addiction” – and then you know what happens? Yep, another question from a smart teen about the Grand Theft Auto IV everybody is still (rightfully) talking about. All this and more at Ask GamerDad.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 am
The only thing that bothers me about the wall-to-wall coverage on GTA IV, which is the same criticism I leveled against Bioshock last August, is that while it is a great game that deserves coverage, it doesn’t deserve *all* the coverage. It is getting media time way out of proportion, and as a result other quality games are getting buried. One of the best games yet for the DS came out recently – The World Ends With You … but you wouldn’t know it by reading the gaming news.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I have heard of it but don’t know much about it (The World Ends with You). But I don’t game on the DS because my sis claimed it as hers, sold it, and bought a pink one. I barely used it but yeah…. I try to look around for more obscure games in gaming news. Have you guys seen the Mirror’s Edge trailer? Looks like it could be a really good game.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:09 am
I guess my point is that the gaming & entertainment media *loves* big blockbuster games for the PS3 and XBOX360. They cover the Wii completely differently (as is appropriate) and largely ignore the DS & PSP in terms of individual games. And they do so because, like summer blockbusters, the ‘big boom’ mentality works so well fitting into their existing template. So they jump onto these high quality, nice graphic big budget thrill-rides. And everything else gets buried. That doesn’t mean they deserve all of the attention any more than the big budget summer movies deserve the attention – they just get it because they are big, bold , loud .. and most importantly they attract attention which then self-perpetuates into high sales, cycling into more attention, and so on …