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Damn, From Dust and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet look really interesting too.

I can't see how From Dust can become successful. It seems pretty hard to sell. Even I don't understand it. Is it like Populous?

I still don't understand Populous.

Once again, Jim Sterling was impressed by the beauty of From Dust, but just didn't find it fun.


On an unrelated note, despite how many times I've said I was disappointed in the PS3 and PSN games, I just upgraded my hard drive. I guess I'm in it for the long haul.

The 500MB drive was cheap. The software to fill it up with probably won't be.

@Guillaume

Well, at least Sterling is predictable in his distaste for all things gaming.

He honestly strikes me as "that guy" who is just too cool for everything.

Lots of people think that, but I don't think that's fair. He just knows what he likes and isn't swayed by hype. I think we're too used to reviewers giving automatic 9s to hyped AAA games with high production values. I'm fine with reviewers who value different things.

It's just more evidence that people get too hung up on scores. If you read his reviews he makes valid points and observations constantly.

Yeah, as long as the opinion is genuine and you don't care about MetaCritic, why not?

I'd be curious to see some kind of pooled list of reviews he's done to get some metric data.

Now I haven't read them all, but by and large he seems to pan 90% of the games that cross his desk...games that are generally well received by the rest of the gaming community. To me, that seems hipster-contrarian.

We're not talking about middling games that could go either way on the review scale. We're talking games that by and large are considered the finest products of our current cycle. It's like he goes out of his way to "tell it like it is" and let us all know why the games we love are "bad", no scratch that,..."disappointing"...and why we're all just "doing it wrong".

Then he'll throw in a random perfect 10 score for an obscure and/or critically panned game like Deadly Premonition (which I ironically agree with). Again, it smells of trying to get street cred by being hipster-contrarian.

He's a fascinating cat, that's for sure. I keep reading his stuff though I feel like I have to hold my nose while doing so.

@New Forms

Ugh. I hate gamerankings and metacritic. Deviating too much from the norm isn't allowed. Seriously, I don't see why not agreeing with the rest of the critics should be interpreted as posturing. Some people just don't value what "the rest of the gaming community" values as much. I'm one of them, and I happen to believe that several of "this gen's best games" are various degrees of shit.

But I have no problem with the people who love them. And neither does Jim Sterling for that matter. The accusation that "he's telling us we're doing it wrong" comes out of nowhere. I've only ever seen him criticize the games, not the gamers. At most he'll respond to the people who failed to understand the points he's making.

@Guillaume

To each their own.

Just for clarification though, it's not about the low scores or stepping in line with popular opinion.

I'm not opposed to varying opinions at all. The problem is that Sterling strikes me as incredibly one-note. As in, he dislikes everything. It makes me wonder why he's even in the industry. He's not dynamic in the least, he just comes off as snobbish, much like the Simpson's Comic Book guy.

It's like Yahtzee's Zero Punctuation. That guy hates on everything, but it's his shtick. People see it as entertainment and don't take it seriously. Kind of like going to a celebrity roast or something.

Much like Yahtzee gets the chuckles for looking for and pointing out flaws, Sterling seems to do the same. The difference is that Yahtzee is doing it for satire and Sterling is trying to be come off as serious and intellectual.

I've got no problem with a variety of opinions both good and bad, I just hate when it becomes so predictable one way or the other, that you know what you're going to get before you even read the first word. I'd feel the exact same way if a high-profile reviewer only gave out reviews in the 9-10 range. It's boring, predictable, and strikes me as attention-whoring.

But the statement that he hates every high profile game isn't remotely close to being true.

The most recent high-profile games he reviewed:

OoT 3D, 9.5
Portal 2, 10
LA Noire, 9

Actually I can just stop here.

Well damn, man. You got me there.

Still think dude is Comic Book guy in disguise, though.

IGN says that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is great but short. Normally that wouldn't bother me, but for a Metroid-style game where you're delving into the depths of an evil planet, I'd like it to be a little bit longer so that there's a greater sense of exploration.

Xboxlive.IGN?

This year's Summer of Arcade seems more single-player-focused. But still expensive.

What's this deal with PLAY on PSN? Pre-ordering immaterial downloads, really? Ha!

Anyway, has no one checked out Galaga DX? I've been enjoying it, though it's hard to get the hang of certain levels. I'm a bit confused about the scoring in general, if it's better to not kill any of the small enemies if you can avoid it, or what.

But I'm enjoying it.

If you buy all of the games in the Play promotion, then you get access to some game for free. Kind of annoying when a person isn't interested in the other games at all and/or they're total shit

That's the thing: this is the first time I've heard of any of those games save Bloodrayne, and they all look kinda generic. I know way more about XBLA's Summer of Arcade titles, and I don't even own a 360! Plus MS chose some really intriguing, beautiful and original titles. Also, Fruit Ninja. Sony's selection, though? Bleh.

@Guillaume
I haven't tried Galaga DX simply because the reviews indicate that the game is only so-so. I really should try the demo, though, since I'm a huge fan of Pac-Man DX.

I tried out the demo and it didn't strike me as anything as good as Pac-Man... but that's probably for the best as I don't need to keep buying new games.

I think its time I buy another Xbox 360 so I can play some games. Apparantly Nintendo doesn't give a shit if there is any new games for their hardcore fans to play.

F U Nintendo.

I'm basking in the gloriousness of Steam, so I'm good to go on that front!

Buying another Xbox for XBLA games would be a terrifyingly depressing thought.