Culture
Do you force video games onto your kids like other parents do sports, academics, etc?
Fact of life: When people find a passion, they almost always share it with loved ones and friends. Video games are no different, something columnist Jeff Cork noted in this month’s Game Informer. “We certainly don’t have a corner on the market when it comes to projecting our own interest on other people ’ just look at hardcore sports fans,” Cork writes. “But I think there’s some...
Best Nintendo gaming dungeon ever
This photo has been floating around the internet for several years now. I’m pretty sure we posted it on Infendo circa 2005. In any case, it is hands down the best Nintendo gaming dungeon ever. Whoever staged this deserves a gold star. Seriously.
Zelda: Accept no substitutions
With exception to Zelda II, I’ve played and adored every major Zelda game. Last summer, I had the brilliant idea of trying something new that plays like Zelda. You know, sorta like Amazon’s “You might also like this” recommendation. Well someone on the internet recommended Neutopia, an old TurboGrafx 16 game (now on Virtual Console) that shamelessly ripped off Zelda. “...
Video game visionary predicts console-less future
Hideo Kojima, one of the world’s most famous video game creators, thinks consoles will be extinct “in the near future,” thanks to server-based systems like On Live. “We’ll have games that don’t depend on any platform,” the former NES developer and long-time PlayStation man said at a news conference this week. “Gamers should be able to take the experi...
Reggie still as tough as Chuck Norris
This week I stumbled upon this old blog post I wrote, and I still chuckle while reading it. “Reggie Fils-Aime does not hunt because the word hunting infers the probability of failure. Reggie Fils-Aime goes killing.” “When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Reggie Fils-Aime.” “The chief export of Reggie Fils-Aime is pain.” “Whe...
Has the DS lost its luster?
While finishing up our quarterly TPS reports this month, rumor spread around Infendo headquarters that the DS just wasn’t being played that much anymore. Jack and Derek said they rarely touch theirs’even though touching is good. And I must admit I haven’t played DS as often as I used to. Is this because: Normalcy. The DS is almost six years old. Like all aging consoles, it’s natu...
Majority of readers own more than one console, but not majority of gamers
After nearly 1000 votes, 59 percent of Infendo readers say they own more than one current generation console, which include Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. Given that the majority of Infendo readers are gaming enthusiasts, that’s less than one might expect. It’s also soft proof that the majority of gamers only own a single console, because let’s face it: video games can be expensive, bot...
What if Nintendo had pulled a Microsoft on “red ringing” NES consoles?
Six months after the NES launched in Japan in 1983, Nintendo engineers learned that “certain games caused the system to freeze,” according to Game Over, the best biography of Nintendo you’ll ever read. As for the malfunction, think of it as the “red ring” of 1983, only it didn’t kill your system. Nevertheless, “the circuitry on the chip had to be corrected...
What was your first Nintendo system?
Excluding a couple of early Game & Watches I acquired through a toy trade with a friend, my moms bought my brother and I the NES PowerPad Bundle with orange Zapper included! Dateline: 1988. With exception to the N64, which spawned during my personal hiatus from games, I’ve owned and enjoyed every system since. What was your first Nintendo system? See also: What was your first Nintendo ex...
Talking point: Are “game over” screens bad design?
If you find usability boring, skip to next post Failure in video games, such as temporary death or restarts, is a good thing. Always has been. It keeps the player going, gives him another chance, and encourages him to finish the game. But the more I think about it, the more the designer in me dislikes “game over” screens, especially premature ones. The reason: they’re a lie.
8-bit Christmas Tree is decorated with power
Owner and location unknown, but still awesome. As seen on Digg.
Did you know? Nintendo once tried to ban video game rentals
Fewer things in video games are lamer than publishers whining about resold or rented games. You sold us the freakin’ thing. Like any other product we own, including cars, homes, and other electronics, we have a right to resell them. If you don’t like it, don’t sell us the game! But I digress. Last night while reading the wonderful Game Over by David Sheff, a history of Nintendo’n...