THE HOLE// A SEA OF SHIT

Since the drama leading up to Polytron creative, Phil Fish, leaving the gaming industry after many years of tangling himself up in internet abuse I have wanted to make a post here on my thoughts. As a creative myself, aiming to get into game development upon graduation I am spending these says I get, safely tucked away in my college learning how to make game, steeling myself for what may come after the release of my first game. Or what may happen when I begin publishing video to YouTube. It even makes me a little nervous to post this blog.

The world is a sick, broken place. What has the human race distilled to when a person can have their very safety threatened for putting their creative work out there into the public? Granted, people have their opinions of Phil Fish being a jerk, but this isn't an isolated incident. It happens in Hollywood, to celebrities and practically all developers in the game industry at one point. What has the gaming community come to when changing the fire time on a gun within a video game by 0.02 seconds leads to comments like "David Vonderhaar watch your back, the moment I see you at a CoD convention your dead. Fuck treyarch." or "I will skin your wife alive and have sex with her fleshless body. I will then wear her flesh and make you pay."

This is not okay! When did the gaming community be less about community and more about abuse? This kind of behavior is sick, regardless if these 'trolls' are 'just joking'. This kind of shit is not funny. It's abominable. It's disturbed. Just because your saying this in virtual space does not mean your not hurting someone REAL. It doesn't make it any less illegal to threaten and harass people like this. Why does this seem justified to the people who spew these threats? Is the human race than mentally ill?

I'd like to bring your attention to an amazing article written by Penny Arcade which articulates the whole situation well. 

PENNY ARCADE REPORT

I hate to bring something so irksome onto the blog, but this is a serious problem in our community. As gamers and as people. I implore you all take a little time to really think about how your words effect people before you send them out there and find a little empathy.

NOVUS// Tiny Tina DLC

If she doesn't make a 'D6/G6' joke I don't even.....

Available// Steam, XBLA, PSN // June 25 2013

Price// $9.99 // 800 msp // Free with Season Pass

Related articles// Game of the Year 2012 Borderlands 2 Review

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I may not have expected them to go there... but they are. For the good of us all. As a fan of tabletop gaming, this is the BL2 dlc I've been most excited about. I collect dice & am currently working on my Elf Ninja in Pathfinder like, right now! In an homage to the progenitor of the rpg genre, Borderlands 2's newest dlc proves that Gearbox can't pretend they don't somehow owe Dungeons & Dragons' late, great Gary Gygax. Many expect this to be the final content addition to 2012's Borderlands 2, but knowing the kind of eccentric team Gearbox is, we may yet be surprised.

Take part in an adventure narrated by Bunker Master Tiny Tina herself as she leads you through the post-apocalyptic Dark Ages of Pandora.

PLUGGED// Pixel Press

I'm not sure how many people have seen this project on Kickstarter, but I am completely on board with it. Being a Games Design student that is broke most of the time makes it hard to contribute considerably to kickstarters I think are genius, but I've decided to make rice a staple of my diet this week to help these guys out. I'm also spreading the word to you, dear nerdlings, to help out if you can!

PLAY// Fez Haiku

Haiku are simple. Fez is simple. Right? WRONG. Fez is MUCH more than pixels, chip music & platforming... it's a mind-bending, frustratingly cryptic, riddle-laden adventure into the depths of Phil Fish's psychosis. Can you deduce your experience to three lines? Do it & I'll send you stuff!

NERDPOLL// Charizard pt2

Last week I asked the viewers of the Glitch Facebook Page to BRING FORTH the most Awesome picture of Charizard, ever. 

I've decided to extend the poll entries by an extra week to include PRIZES. These will generally be reserved for Contests but since you guys sifted through the internet so diligently I've decided to give you something for your hard work! The winner will receive their choice of a Charizard plush or figure!

Like the Glitchcraft Facebook Page to participate!

Here are the results so far. YOU CAN VOTE NOW by commenting. GET YOUR FRIENDS TO VOTE TO WIN!!!

PLUGGED// Among the Sleep

Available Now in Alpha: PC/Mac/Linux

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Among the Sleep by Krillbite Studio--the first person horror adventure, in which you play as a two year old child--has reached it's Kickstarter goal today! Hurray!

NERDPOLL// Charizard

The other day I asked the viewers of the Glitch Facebook Page to BRING FORTH the most Awesome picture of Charizard, ever. Here are the amazing results! WHO IS THE WINNER?!

This week's Nerd Poll: Which 6th gen starter will you choose? Like the Glitchcraft Facebook Page to participate!

NOVUS// Pokemon X Y

Available// 3DS October 2013

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With only five more months to go, the Pokemon X Y news is ramping up. The sixth generation of hand-held Pokemon games will introduce full 3D effects, similar to the N64-to-Wii franchise of Pokemon Stadium, Colosseum, etc. I am definitely getting a 3DS for this, even though I love my pink DSi that got signed by AVGN! Here's a collection of stuff I know about PKMN X/Y, including the most recent news.

RE// FC3: Blood Dragon

Review Score //  ★★★★★

By // Olivia

System // 2013 PC/Steam/Uplay (also available on: XBLA, PSN)

A Game By // Ubisoft Montreal
Related Articles // FT// FC3 Blood Dragon

PROLOGUE

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Blood Dragon is in a very precarious place... on the one hand, it's easy to see where a game that bets everything on 80's nostalgia could go horribly wrong; on the other, it could be everything you dreamed it would be. Let me start off by saying that if you love 80's action/sci-fi movies, there's little Blood Dragon could do to screw up your enjoyment of this standalone expansion for the 2012 FPS, even if you didn't like Far Cry 3.

MACHINE DREAMS concept art

full-res image on my deviantart bit.ly/18tf3GC

Severyn Hours is a SHMUP/vertical shooter/bullet hell game by Machine Dreams. I've always wanted to be good at SHMUPs but the simple fact is that I just SUCK at them, so I decided that I would make one that I could actually play. Severyn Hours was born. The goal of the game's visual aesthetic is to give you the best possible peak into my brain. The goal of the mechanics is to make it so fun that you can't stop playing. Ever. & you will definitely own the soundtrack.

It's a story about the evolution of consciousness. With giant space lasers.

OMNIBUS// Penumbra

By // Nicole
System // Mac/Steam
A Game By // Frictional Games

Obviously, playing Frictional Games’ first series, Penumbra, is exactly what has to happen after you finish playing their hit horror game, Amnesia: the Dark Descent. So that’s exactly what did happen towards the end of this past summer. The Steam Summer Sale… The Penumbra Collectors Pack… $4.99

RE// Fable 3

This guy knows what's up.

Review Score // ★★☆ (& that's being nice)

By // Olivia

System // Xbox 360 (also available on: PC)

A Game By // Lionhead Studios

Recently one of our readers asked me what my negative reviews look like. To date, I've only written this one; it was originally published June 6 2011 on the Giantbomb forum. Fable 3 takes me to the dark place. TLDR

PROLOGUE

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If you’ve played the game, you’ll only have angry flashbacks reading my review so you probably should not… if you haven’t played it, take this as a warning. This game.. hurt my feelings. I have been emotionally abused. PREPARE FOR A THOROUGH RAGE-FEST.

Fable III; I played through it twice, & I previously played Fable II. The last game is something I remember fondly like a distant tryst with a pleasant conclusion… I wasn't expecting much to be different in the third installment, I was just expecting more; more of the things that I liked. It’s difficult to think of the things that I liked about Fable III, even though my final play-through concluded this morning.

When did I notice something was wrong… I don’t know. It was like a creeping illness, the sense of something not being quite right, followed by a few stages of denial. I better know when the bad things started to drive me insane… which was less than halfway through the game. Enough prefacing, I’ll try to go through this systematically…

FT// Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Available now for// XBLA, PSN, Steam
Price// $14.99
Related Articles// FC3 Blood Dragon Review

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It started out widely-believed to be an April Fool's joke. Quite possibly the coolest AFJ of all time. Where most internet AFJs are generally designed to troll a userbase, it turned out that the true downside would, in fact, be that it was truly a prank. For the glory of video games & the good of mankind, the truth was revealed that Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was, indeed, a reality. On April 1st, with only a website & a single video, Ubisoft teased the release of DLC for their latest Far Cry - the website & video went viral in the nerdy gaming world, in which you currently find yourself.

RE// Bioshock Infinite

Review Score //  ★★★★★

By // Olivia

System // 2013 PC/Steam (also available on: Mac, Xbox 360, PS3)

A Game By // Irrational Games

PROLOGUE

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Although Bioshock Infinite's launch night ended plausibly for me with Steam's servers being unable to handle the weight of what is colloquially referred to as 'a shit-load' of rabid pc-believers hoping to play as well, I only wanted to see it more. I had Infinite in media black-out, I knew I was going to play it, so I had only consumed little bits & pieces of released information during its marketing process, usually by accident. I'd been present for both of the previous Bioshock games in the series (BS2 not completed), so I had high hopes for Irrational's next foray into the crazy reality inside Ken Levine's head. Mr. Levine is the creative director & co-founder of Irrational Games, & one of my major inspirations as a writer. He has been called "Storyteller of the Decade" which I'm not sure I agree with since I haven't thought about it for like a week yet, but he's definitely a contender. (Game Informer Staff, "Best Storytellers of the Decade." Game Informer, #212, December 2010)

RE// The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf

Review Score// 4★
By// Nicole
System// Mac/Steam
Game by// 

So The Witcher isn't a new game by any means—the game was release in 2007 and the Enhanced Edition was released in 2008—but it was definitely new to me when I purchased it on Steam as part of their Winter Sale. It was bundled with Witcher 2 for $9.98—A STEAL. Fast-forward a few months and I wouldn't actually be able to play the Witcher 2 on my Mac, but that's a story for another article. What I can say is that the enjoyment I got out playing The Witcher on it's own was worth way more than $9.98 so it was still an amazing deal.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Mary

MARY

Occupation// Modern Muse at Glitchcraft

Digital Dungeons// UNKNOWN

Specialization// PS3 games, shooters, story, specs/mods/stats, music composition, weapons

System Alignment// PS3

Favorite Genres// FPS, action/adventure, fighting

Top 3 Favorite Games// COD, Soul Calibur, Borderlands 2

Heroes// Harry Gregson-Williams, Handsome Jack

Highest Stats// INT, DEX, PER

Highest Skills// Run (with a knife... everyone knows you run faster with a knife), ADS, BOOM! headshot

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A perpetual student: that pretty much sums up my life. With a Criminal Justice degree and a Psychology degree almost under my belt, it's hard to find time to do much else. When I'm not at school I'm either at work or playing video games. While I may not plan to have a future in the gaming world, I am still an avid gamer with an opinion to share.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Lisa

LISA SEIKO

Occupation// Dandere Demon at Glitchcraft

Digital Dungeons// UNKNOWN

Specialization// Survival Horror

System Alignment// Dreamcast, Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox 360

Favorite Genres// survival/horror, side-scroller, fighting, RPG

Top 3 Favorite Games// Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 2

Heroes// Batman, Jill Valentine, Tingle, Suzumiya Haruhi, Carl Sagan

Highest Stats// WIS, INT, DEX

Highest Skills// Sniper, Barter, Sneak

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I'm an old-school gamer in favor of playing games multiple times. I love the survival horror genre (thanks, Konami), but I have been known to kick ass in fighting and RPG games. Comics and anime take up a big chunk of my life, but I'm willing to play and review games for the Glitchcraft team!

EDITOR CHARSHEET Nicole

NICOLE

Occupation// Dungeon Dilettante at Glitchcraft

Digital Dungeons// missdilettante.tumblr
Specialization// Steam for Mac, RPGs
System Alignment// Mac/Steam, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, NES
Favorite Genre// RPG, new age survival horror
Top 3 Favorite Games// The Last Express, The Elder Scrolls, Legend of Zelda
Heroes// Jordan Mechner, Mike Krahulik & Jerry Holkins, Link, John Marston, Geralt of Rivia
Highest Stats// CHA, DEX, WIS
Highest Skills// Bluff, Stealth, Lockpicking

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I’ve been a gamer since my dad brought home our NES when I was a small child, and probably cut my teeth on some old Mac games even before that. My preference is for RPGs. I’m a sucker for any game with character customization, especially if I can be a female. If you’ll allow me to spend an hour on that shit, I will play your game. But if you’ve already got a great character with an amazing story, I love that too. Lately, I am also a sucker for these new psychological survival horror games like Amnesia. I want to be scared and I want my only option to be to run away and hide, because that’s what I’d do in real life.

INDIE RAVE// Bastion

Review Score // 5 ★
By // Jessica
System // PC (Steam)
A Game By // Supergiant Games

As a sucker for both post-apocalyptic settings and platform games in general, Bastion was quick to grab my attention. Like Polytron’s FEZ, I had to repress the urge run out and buy an Xbox just to experience playing this game (for fear of decimating my student budget for the next month). I not-so-patiently waited for the Steam release and picked up a copy via HumbleBundle. With my philanthropy out of the way, I cleared my schedule and settled in for an uninterrupted Bastion experience.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Emerie

EMERIE MARIE 

Occupation// Neptunian Princess at Glitchcraft; aspiring game writer
Digital Dungeons// Viva La Genesis -- personal blog
Specialization// female protagonists, story building, character development
System Alignment// XBox 360
Favorite Genre// RPG, action-adventure, fighting games
Top 3 Favorite Games// Tomb Raider franchise, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Dante's Inferno
Heroes// Lara Croft, Samus Aran
Highest Stats// CHR, INT, STR
Highest Skills// Perform, Sleight of Hand, Survival

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A writer, blogger, and actor from Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Currently in the midst of planning a cross country move to California to pursue a career in screenwriting and game development.  Has a penchant for pink, glitter, pirates, and badass female protagonists.  Life goal is to become a real life Lara Croft.  But sparklier.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Jessica

JESSICA KATE 

Occupation// DOSferatu at Glitchcraft;
Digital Dungeons// noxxynerd.tumblr - school work and inspiration; noxxynerd/deviantart
Specialization// PC games, story/writing, concept art
System Alignment// PC/Steam, Xbox 360
Favorite Genre// RPG, adventure-platformer, puzzle-platformer, action-adventure
Top 3 Favorite Games// Final Fantasy 7, Metroid, Mass Effect
Heroes// Phil Fish, Remko Troost, Edmund McMillun, Dean Dodrill, Derek Yu, John Carmack, Jon Blow, Levi Hopkins, Matt Rhodes, Greg Kasavin, William Gibson
Highest Stats// CHA,WIS, DEX
Highest Skills// Diplomacy, Bluff, Perception

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Snarky introvert and game design student from Melbourne, Australia. I have a massive nerd-on for amazing RPGs and quirky indie games. Anything that can successfully combine epic storytelling, a decent challenge and interesting gameplay always gets the thumbs-up from me. I've got plans to jump into indie game development myself in the near future, pray the gaming gods bless me in my quest!

POSTMORTEM// PAX East 2013

By // Nicole

PAX East is a very magical event. I attended my first PAX last year in Boston. I remember being in awe of how easy it was to talk to everyone—how comfortable everybody seemed with just being themselves and engaging with others. Being someone who, as a rule, avoids human contact as much as possible, I amaze myself at PAX. This year I again found myself engaging people based on overheard conversations, feeling confident that no one at PAX would take offense at my eavesdropping habits. As well, people engaged us effortlessly in the same fashion. The thing about PAX is that everyone at PAX is your friend—unless they are line cutters: I fucking hate line cutters.

POSTMORTEM// PAX 2013

By // Olivia

I've actually lost track of how many times that I have attended the Penny Arcade Expo; approximately two in Seattle, & four in Boston. Although I loved PAX Prime, there's something inexplicable about the Boston expo that makes it my favorite of the two. I sojourn to PAX East yearly to learn from panels by industry professionals, meet game developers & network with people that have similar philosophies & goals as myself. Every year I always run out of business cards & bring home my holder filled with those of others. This isn't coverage of PAX East, per se - it's a very selective perspective of the event.

EDITOR CHARSHEET Olivia

OLIVIA MARIE
Est. 1985

Occupation// Secret Unicorn at Glitchcraft; Creative Director at Machine Dreams
Digital Dungeons// oliviamariehamilton.com - art portfolio; pixelSLAVE - game art blog; leviathen/deviantart
Specialization// PC games, UI, story/writing
System Alignment// PC/Steam, Gameboy
Favorite Genres// sidescroller, hacknslash/brawler, rpg, Metroidvania
Top 3 Favorite Games// Castlevania: SOTN, Final Fantasy Tactics, Pokemon
Heroes// Megaman, Strider Hiryu, Ryu Hayabusa, John Carmack, Cevat Yerli, Dean Dodrill, Jeff Gertsmann, Toru Nakayama, Team Meat, Phil Fish, Jon Blow, Hideo Kojima
Highest Stats// CHA, INT, DEX
Highest Skills// Run, Jump, Decapitate

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I'm a life-long gamer, wannabe-game-designer & shameless infoholic. I've never sold or traded any game/console I've ever owned. As a kid, I collected game magazines from Gamefan to PSM, & I always thought that I'd end up as an editor for one. I looked up to game journalists that I thought were honest & felt true to themselves, hoping I'd turn out that way myself someday. During high school, I got the idea to be a game designer instead. I gave it a shot academically, but I chose the wrong college & dropped out of their faulty program (AIT). Since then, I have been pursuing a career in UI design, & I am looking to get contract work for various art types, including ui/character/item design & concept art (contact me!).

I play a range of games for multiple systems (also MTG & tabletop), but my heart is definitely in indie retro-gaming. I game daily, or navigate for my video-game-slave boyfriend; I also have a habit of demanding my friends play for me. I can play games psychically! I watch anime, collect sparkly dice, Japanese art books & plastic figurines; my zen is arranging them obsessive-compulsively on a bookshelf amongst a massive disk library. I started this blog to give a voice to the new generation of awesome lady-gamers, while establishing some credibility in the game world. & so I can guiltlessly have as many game-centric pajama parties as I want & call them "research." Where's the margaritas?

Oh I also do all the graphics & coding for Glitchcraft, to name one of many sites. I'm the creator of  Machine Dreams & Black Sun Games. Machine Dreams devotedly combines visions of the past with glimpses into the future, to the singularity & back. Our games are both aspects of ourselves & reflections of the world around us. We are currently assembling a team for our first game (send resume).

GOTY 2012// Borderlands 2

Review Score //  ★★★★★
By // Olivia
System // 2013 PC/Steam (also available on Xbox 360, PS3)
A Game By // Gearbox

I’ve played a handful of cel-shaded games in my day, & adult themes coupled to abundant gratuitous violence easily made the first Borderlands my favorite... until now. Borderlands 2, the sequel to the 2009 Gearbox original, has seen great improvement in overall graphic quality & managed to preserve everything that gives the series its memorable visual aesthetic. The game’s art keeps from crossing the line into cartoon-y, & the many texture layers on the models & environments make for a unique, comic-book feel that continues to set BL apart from other similar games. It consistently manages to be gritty & colorful, & some of the vistas you get to see will make you forget you’re not looking at a realistic rendering of the planet. The designs for the world itself are befitting of a futuristic alien wasteland preyed upon by mining corporations, topped with the thematic overtone of a bizarre space-western. Since I played BL2 on a PC through Steam (with a Galaxy GTX660Ti) with nearly all settings at max & only lost frame-rate during intense combat that involved lots of explosions, I’m pretty sure I experienced the visuals in the best possible way.