What make a video game a game? That’s a question that is being asked with increasing frequency. It’s also a question that one could ask about Papo & Yo. It’s a game with a story and a message hidden behind a metaphor but the actual “gameplay” is fairly thin. So does that mean it’s a game or a metaphor?
Month: April 2013
Wednesday Link-Off: The Investigation
It’s the middle of the week but more importantly, it’s the middle of Canadian Gaming Week here on the blog. Hope you guys have enjoyed yourselves so far. There are still reviews, columns, news and more coming your way this week. However, the plug got pulled on our review of Star Trek: The Video Game but I’m hoping to have a different Canadian game that came out this week reviewed this week.
For now, it’s time for our traditional set of Wednesday links. Let’s kick this off with Australian model Elyse Taylor.
Catching the Boston Marathon bombing suspects wasn’t just a case of police detective work but a combination of police work, citizen tips and modern technology. (The Washington Post)
The NRA’s domain over gun lobbying impacted the Boston bombing investigation because they’ve impeded technology that can trace gunpowder which would have helped the investigation. (The National Memo)
You’re just as likely to be killed by your furniture as you are by a terrorist attack in America. So why does America make a big deal about terrorism when an average of 18 people are killed each day by guns? (The Guardian)
Help Vancouver’s Gaming Industry with The Indie Gala
Do you love video games and supporting small developers? The latest Indie Gala sale allows you to do both. While that’s not unusual for Indie Gala sales, what is unusual is the different way that you can support indie developer and the Vancouver gaming scene in particular.
This week’s Indie Gala is The Mass Effect Bundle. While Mass Effect isn’t exactly an indie production, the proceeds allocated to charity will help the indies. The Mass Effect Bundle supports the Launch Academy and the BC Member of Legislative Assembly campaign of Matt Toner.
Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves Review (or Cold Blooded Action)
For Canadian Gaming week, we’re looking at reviewing three games. Two will be indie efforts and one will be published by a major studio. We start our Canadian Gaming Week reviews, with the indies. It’s a recently released game from new Quebec-based developer that touches on early Canadian culture and throws it into a game that hits three different genres.
I’ve never been interested in tower defence games but I’m willing to give one a try if it’s from a Canadian developer so rookie dev Artiface Studio was able to take my $15 based on my Canadian pride. By the end, I’d say that Artiface’s Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves certainly earned it.
IndyCar – Long Beach GP: Break On Through
It’s been almost twelve years since Takuma Sato last won a race. That was the legendary Macau Grand Prix in November 2011. AJ Foyt Racing hasn’t run a race since an oval race in Kansas in July 2002. All it took for the two to break their losing streaks was to find each other as Takuma Sato picked up his first IndyCar win by taking the chequered flag at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Is There Anything Jennifer Hale Can’t Do?
If you’ve play a video game anytime over the last 15 years or watched an animated TV show or movie over the last 20, you’re more than likely to have heard Jennifer Hale’s voice. The Canadian voice actress is one of the preeminent voice-over talents in the business today. She was even named “the most prolific videogame voice actor (female)” by Guinness World Records. I think that award might have to do with the 140+ games she’s been in during her career. In the last month alone, you could have heard her in Gods of War: Ascension, BioShock Infinite and Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Not only is Hale a video game voice actress, her voice has also appeared in over 60 TV series and over 25 movies.
Since this week is Canadian Gaming Week, I felt it was only appropriate to pay tribute to one of Canada’s greatest contributors to gaming and the queen of video game voices, Jennifer Hale.
2013 Canadian Videogame Awards Winners
This past Saturday was the fourth annual Canadian Videogame Awards which celebrated the best of the Canadian video game industry for 2012. Having previewed and predicted this year’s awards, we kick off Canadian Gaming Week on The Lowdown Blog by bringing you the winners of the 2013 CVAs.
F1 Bahrain GP: Yes, They’re Still Running This Race
Since the Arab Spring protests that started in 2011, Formula One’s stop in a country with protests has been very controversial. Many think that the race should be cancelled because a Grand Prix is just a way to legitimize the Bahrain government because of the economic impact of the race. Other’s think that making a decision based on political reasoning isn’t something F1 should do because it’s a sport.
Still, the race took place again amid the protests. For the second year running we had an all Renault engine podium and it was actually the exact same podium in the exact same order as last year as Sebastian Vettel picked up his second straight Bahrain Grand Prix win.
Sunday Link-Off: Be Right, Not First
Tomorrow is the start of Canadian Gaming Week on The Lowdown Blog. We’ve got some reviews, columns and other features on Canadian games and the people who make them. I’m hoping that it’ll be a lot of fun and that we can do something like this again.
Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for the end of the week links. For the third straight week, the Sunday links feature a star of Mad Men. This week, it’s Alison Brie.
For people trying to keep up with the news story of the Boston bombing, there was a massive problem. Some media organizations consistently kept screwing up the story by trying to be first rather than trying to be right. CNN might have been the worst. (BuzzFeed)
On the print side, the New York Post was consistently wrong. If there was a fact in this case, the Post got it wrong. (Capital New York)
And then the Post slandered a couple of high-school runners by claiming they were the bombers. Just a bit wrong there. (Gawker)
Entertainment Link-Off: Never Gets Old
Nothing too noteworthy out this weekend, so I’m not too sure what to lead off with. Well, the folks here in Aussieland finally get a look at Sly’s latest Bullet to the Head, so let’s start off with Sarah Shahi, who plays his daughter in the flick.
After the jump, Michael Bay and Guillermo del Toro not getting along, Transformers is looking for more Chinese actors, some Pitch Perfect stuff, Patton Oswalt shares his vision of Star Wars, the cast of This is the End celebrates 4/20 with you, Harrison Ford still won’t answer your Star Wars questions and a taste of K-pop that has nothing to do with Psy. Continue reading
The Lowdown 