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Whatcha Playing: Dungeon Maker II

These days my launch PSP is held together by masking tape, spit, and prayer. But it does work (for now), and I’m trying to get to know it a little bit better before it inevitably decomposes into its constituent parts. The game of the hour is Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War, a title from last Christmas that was roundly ignored by all humans.

To be fair, it’s a bit of a minor effort. It’s low budget, free of any and all flashiness, and doesn’t have a lick of polish. But it’s also curiously addictive, so it provides a nice contrast to the modern AAA titles that hide their mechanics deep under pixel shaders and mocap animation. Dungeon Maker II is a throwback: like the low-tech games of yore, its mechanics sit exposed and naked under the nose of the player, and so have to be compelling on their own.

Whatcha Playing: Holiday Blessings…and Curses

A few days before we each make the traditional pilgrimage to our ancestral homes, my gaming friends and I take an evening to party and exchange an assortment of strange and geeky presents. It’s always a good time, but even more so because we all leave with bags full of eclectic goodies we wouldn’t have sought out ourselves.

I left the event cradling many wonderful things in my arms, including a Penny Arcade print, an Aperture Science poster pack, and a quaffable bottle of golden rum. Of course, there were also some games in there. My friends know that I revel in the best and the worst of the medium, and so apparently colluded to give me a selection from each end of this vast spectrum.

From the side cast in beauty and light I received Valkyria Chronicles, the critically acclaimed retail failure from Sega’s talented Overworks team. I really feel for these guys; the last time they got to flex their creative muscles they made Skies of Arcadia, my favorite non-taxi oriented Dreamcast game. Then the Dreamcast died, so they got to remake that cult classic—exclusively for the third place GameCube. And now, with Valkyria Chronicles, they’ve gotten to make another gorgeous, innovative, and apparently beloved game—exclusively for the third place PS3. For the holidays, the Sega home office should gift these guys an Xbox 360 development kit and a blank check.

From the malignant, reprehensible side of the medium came Jumper: Griffin’s Story. Now, I was not given the current-gen version of the game, the one that trades your pain for achievement points. No, I got the Wii version, a completely different and even worse (at least, I think it’s even worse—the majority of the internet was too scared to find out for itself) game that takes your pound of flesh and gives you nothing in return. Keep in mind that this was the flagship product from Brash, the licensed game publisher that imploded when (among other reasons) it couldn’t even live up to the low bar of its chosen niche. This game should pair nicely with that bottle of rum.

Now thanks to the aforementioned pilgrimage I won’t be able to actually play these games over the holiday hiatus—though when I do get to them you will be the first to know. After the jump is the holiday travel pack that will sustain me in the last days of 2008.

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.