61 Frames Per Second : 1up

The Unkindest April Fools' Day of Them All

Bob Mackey — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:00:00 GMT

As Nadia pointed out in her post yesterday, April Fools' Day can be rough on gamers. And, having lived through over a decade with regular Internet access, I can attest to the fact that today is a very irritating day. No one can be trusted, nothing is as it seems, and may god help you if you actually have sincere or important news to deliver. Unfortunately, tragedy does not regard calendar dates; and when something bad happens on April 1st, it can be doubly depressing when you realize it's not part of this holiday's whimsy overload.

This was doubly true seven years ago today, when The Gaming Intelligence Agency breathed its last breath.

If you weren't familiar with The Gaming Intelligence agency, it was a fantastic, fan-run operation with a level of content comparable to the mega-sites of today. But back when The GIA launched in 1998, the world was a different place: no podcasts, no blogs, no social networking, and most importantly, no easy way for a gamer to stay informed. Big sites like IGN and Gamespot existed, but if you were a fan of obscure, quirky games, your only real options were random, hard-to-find websites full of dubious information that could go down at a moment's notice. The GIA served as the answer to this problem by being a one-stop-shop for gamers of a particular persuasion. It had all of the features of your modern mega-sites, but focused on a Japanese-centered brand of "intelligent" gaming written about by journalists who were as snarky as they were thoughtful. Like 1UP, The GIA was a site based around the personalities of its writers, and fostered a fantastic community because of this--but like a whole lot of websites that managed to survive the Internet bubble burst, The GIA couldn't survive for long.

I can thank The GIA for taking my interest in games journalism, and showing me that it could be a reality. I never worked for the site (something I seriously regret), but some of my first contacts in the world of games journalism came from The Gaming Intelligence Agency. If the site had been born and lived a little later, it could have probably survived--the nature of Web 2.0 shows that smaller, but comprehensive, sites like Giant Bomb can exist. But really, The GIA belongs in a very specific time period; one where gaming was still for geeks, where we had to huddle together for warmth and Contra codes.

Gaming Intelligence Agency, we miss you.

Related Links:

People Who Get It: Alex Kierkegaard
Kudos: Play Magazine’s Scoreless Reviews
1UP and the State of Games Journalism

Former EGMers Launch Mysterious New Website

Bob Mackey — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:05:00 GMT

In the months since EGM folded and 1UP was downsized, we've seen quite a number of great projects emerge from the ashes; in fact, the amount of podcasts I've listened to has only increased since the whole UGO deal. But a few former Ziff-Davis employees have remained relatively quiet since the fiasco; namely, old-school EGMers Crispin Boyer and Dan Hsu, who both left the magazine mid-2008 to pursue other interests. So far, all we've seen from the two is a blog and an iPhone-centered Internet show; and while each of these projects have their own appeal, they've been a little underwhelming considering Hsu and Boyer's status as veterans of the industry.

But sometimes, patience is rewarded; based on a recent post from their Sore Thumbs blog, it looks like the public inactivity from Hsu and Boyer is about to pay off with the announcement of BitMob, a mysterious new web site that may indeed have something to do with video games. It's all pretty hush-hush right now, though Shoe has leaked a tiny bit of information about his work-in-progress.

Assuming tech, design, God, and karma all cooperate with us, our scaled-down prototype alpha site should be live in less than two weeks. Meanwhile, please sign up for all the things above (it’ll help us pitch this thing to investors) and wish us luck! We broke open our own piggy banks to self-fund this thing and work for negative pay for the first few months, so we’ll need all the support we can get (and thanks again for all the donations you’ve given us so far via the button here on Sore Thumbs Blog — those will definitely help us pay a few Bitmob.com bills).

Given the reputation of Hsu and Boyer, this is definitely something worth looking forward to. And who knows, maybe they'll have full-time positions available for certain bloggers who shall remain nameless at this point? Don't worry, 61FPSers; I'm not quitting my day job. I don't even have one.

Related Links:

On the End of EGM: A Personal Story
You Should Be Reading Sore Thumbs
The 1UP Show is Dead, Long Live CO-OP

The Return of GFW Radio?

Bob Mackey — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:00:00 GMT

I miss GFW Radio. In the six months that it's been gone, there's been a legitimate absence in the podcast world; fantastic shows like Idle Thumbs have appeared in the meantime with the same incisive commentary and great sense of humor, but there was something about the interplay between all of the GFW guys that's impossible to replicate. Sure, I was happy to hear about the proposed GFW Radio reunion that might happen at this year's Penny Arcade Expo, but that's a whole six months from now.

But we might not have to wait that long; GFW Radio veterans Shawn Elliott, Jeff Green, and Robert Ashley--along gaming podcast celebs Luke Smith and N'Gai Croal--have recently gathered for a new podcast called Out of the Game. And, believe it or not, it may be just as good as the GFW Radio of yore.

Of course, you don't exactly have to be a fan of GFW Radio to enjoy Out of the Game. If you're not a regular listener to gaming podcasts, then you should probably know that this new show has essentially assembled the best of the best--even Luke Smith, who seems much more tolerable without mortal 1UP Yours enemy Shane Bettenhausen around. This first episode isn't even entirely about games, but you shouldn't let that stop you from listening; the OotG crew has a lot to say about Internet culture, which is undoubtedly inspired by Shawn Elliott's fascination with the worst parts of the web. Go ahead and give Out of the Game a listen--and don't be surprised if you find yourself downloading old episodes of GFW Radio immediately afterwards.

Related Links:

Watcha Listening to? A Life Well Wasted
Whatcha Listening To?: 1-Up's Retronauts Podcast Covers the History of Earthbound
Watcha Listening To: The Final GFW Radio

Drugs Will Make You Less Effective in Online Gaming

Cole Stryker — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Remember when anti-drug organizations would persuade young people to stay away from pot because it would make them video game-playing losers? Well, times have changed and Above the Influence is now targeting those losers, claiming that they'll be losers among losers if they smoke pot.

Smoking pot affects alertness, concentration, perception, coordination and reaction time -- many of the skills required for winning a battleground, defeating an opponent, beating games in addition to safe driving and other tasks.

There are also videos of cute avatars demonstrating what it's like when you game on drugs. I feel like this is a real turning point in our culture. You want to be like those cool h4x0rz playing WoW. This is now what adults think that teens aspire to. What a wonderful world.

(via Penny Arcade)

Boy Addicted to Call of Duty 4 Found Dead

WTFriday: Sega's Turd Polish

Worth Reading: Joe Rybicki's Ziff-trospective

Bob Mackey — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:00:00 GMT

I know, I know; the whole Ziff-Davis/EGM/1UP thing is old news. By this point in time, you've probably heard quite a number of behind-the-scenes accounts of the antics behind Electronic Gaming Monthly, so much so that you may actually feel like you once worked for Ziff-Davis yourself. Rest assured that these feelings are natural and will pass with time. Until then, I must admit my intentions for revisiting the UGO-Gate well are pure, and actually inspired by the recent release of Retro Game Challenge. If you weren't aware (and you really should be), RGC features several issues of a fictional, in-game magazine very much inspired by the unprofessional (in the kindest sense of the word) enthusiast mags that made up the gaming press from roughly the late 80s til the late 90s. And, with the end of EGM just a month ago, RGC couldn't have come at a better time; it's a great reminder of the childlike wonder video games used to be about before we'd seen everything and become so jaded. So what better time than now to read an account of a ragtag bunch of professional enthusiasts with a penchant for property damage during the heyday of the gaming press?

Joe Rybicki's Zifftrospective (Part Two here) is just that: a tale of olden times, where all it took to earn a living wage in the gaming press was a smile and a willingness to be exploited. Rybicki's account of his time at Z-D covers the years 1996 to 1999, back when EGM's HQ was located in the suburbs of Chicago. To some of you who've heard multiple EGM oral histories, the tales of frathouse pranks and violence towards inanimate objects may have gotten old--but it's always nice to hear a fresh perspective. And besides, you know all of this stuff is going on behind-the-scenes in Retro Game Challenge's GameFan Magazine. Why else do you think that publication gets a new EIC every year?

Related Links:

On the End of EGM: A Personal Story
1UP and the State of Games Journalism
Dear 1UP: This Girl Loves You

Watcha Listening to? A Life Well Wasted

Bob Mackey — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:30:00 GMT

If it seems that I’ll I’ve been doing lately is pimping out podcasts, I have no choice but to plead guilty. It’s just that after the 1UP/EGM/UGO hullaballoo, there’s been a lot of podcast-related news to talk about—which is perfect for people like me who can’t spend a waking moment of the day without their headholes plugged with earbuds. But I must point out that today’s bepimped podcast is notable for not featuring a bunch of dudes gathered around a microphone for 90 minutes—not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Former Ziff-Davis (and, presumably, current UGO) freelancer Robert Ashley’s new podcast, A Life Well Wasted, has already been compared multiple times to NPR’s This American life, but the comparison is so apt that I feel no shame in making it again. Rather than sticking with the traditional “guys in a room” model of video game podcast, A Life Well Wasted consists of a series of tightly-edited interviews interconnected with musical interludes and Ashley’s own sleepy narration. The first episode is about the closing of EGM, and if you’re thinking “I’ve heard so much about the death of that magazine that at times I feel I, myself, have been fired,” then you’re wrong. A Life Well Wasted’s presentation alone makes some of the retold stories all the more interesting—and most of the content was completely new to this podcast-addicted dude.

So go and check it out. I’m definitely looking forward to future episodes, and hoping that some other podcasts get inspired to change up their format a little.

Related Links:

The 1UP Show is Dead, Long Live CO-OP
Dear 1UP: This Girl Loves You
1UP and the State of Games Journalism

Watcha Listening To: The Final 1UP Yours

Bob Mackey — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT

If you're a podcast-savvy gamer, then you probably know that Friday is very special; for on this day, over the past one-hundred-and-sixty-some weeks (give or take a week), we saw the release of a new episode of 1UP Yours, 1UP.com's flagship podcast before the UGO buyout. Now that 1UP is under new management, things have changed a little; the site's once-robust collection of weekly podcasts has now been whittled down to just one. The fine folks at other 1UP productions like 1UPFM, Lan Party, and The 1UP Show might not have gotten a chance to say goodbye, but, with this Friday's final episode of 1UP Yours, host Garnett Lee and company provide what feels like the final chapter of 1UP's Ziff-Davis era.

You might want to have a Kleenex handy.

I'll admit that I never got into 1UP Yours back when fans claim it was at its best; by the time I started listening (Summer 2007) Luke Smith was long-gone and his famous feuds with Shane Bettenhausen were a thing of the past. But still, I never felt like I'd missed out on much after I became a regular listener; after a long week, there was never a better way for me to unwind than to listen to a bunch of boozed-up games journalists argue over what they love best. And even though some of the show's figures could come off as somewhat polarizing (especially Shane), once you figured out they were playing up a semi-drunken persona for the entertainment their humble listeners, most of the fanboyism was easy to swallow.

Truly, we have reached the end of an era. So have a big, sweaty glass of scotch in tribute and give the final 1UP Yours a listen--even if you're like me and were going to drink that scotch anyway.

Related Links:

Watcha Listening to: Myself (Technically)
Watcha Listening To: Rebel FM
Watcha Listening To: The Final GFW Radio

Whatcha Listening To?: 1-Up's Retronauts Podcast Covers the History of Earthbound

Cole Stryker — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:00:00 GMT

It's a double dose of Earthbound today and a double dose of video game podcasts. Deal with it.

Think you can handle some superdorks yukking it up about Earthbound for over an hour? Well have I got a podcast for you! 1Up's Retronauts, now broadcasting from UGO offices, has remained intact after the merge.

A few of these guys are my age, but at least one of them admits to be at least sixteen upon the North American release of Earthbound. I was only ten, so I imagine the game's presentation affected me in a different way than a dude capable of growing a mustache. It's also nice to see mainstream journalists discussing the innovations of this lost classic.

For nothing else, it's worth listening to for the awesome chip-tuney music.

Visit 1Up to download the new podcast.

The 1UP Show is Dead, Long Live CO-OP

Derrick Sanskrit — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

With the tragic news of the massive layoffs at 1UP and shutdown of EGM came not concern for game coverage but concern for the people and the original content that they produced. 1UP had the humor and the hubris to put their own writers and editors behind the mic and in front of the camera to become the stars of their own game commentary programs and the strangest thing happened: the audience started to connect with the crew of 1UP. Seeing them at play, being privy to their (somewhat) casual conversation, the staff of 1UP/EGM transformed from bylines to personalities. Fans of the 1UP Yours podcast have already rebounded with Rebel FM, and now the 1UP Show has also been reborn with this, the premiere episode of CO-OP.

It is, fittingly, their Best Of 2008 episode (part 1). Holy crap, are there a lot of people in that one apartment! Also worthy of note, their new production company is Area 5, so named after the legendarily awesome final stage of REZ. Enjoy the first episode below, and welcome back, kids:

The cool kids at Area 5 are working out how this whole show will work financially. A PayPal account for donations is up on their site now. As much as they'd love to have the show available for free, there may wind up being a subscription fee at some point, just to cover costs. This is one web show I wouldn't mind tossing some spare change towards, as the 1UP Show was regularly my favorite part of the old site. It's good to see so many familiar faces again. I wish you all the best, Area 5, and I'll be here with you through this exciting new prospect. Well, I'll be watching, at least.

Related articles:
Watcha Listening To: Rebel FM
On The End of EGM: A Personal Story
1UP and the State of Games Journalism
Dear 1UP, This Girl Still Loves You

Watcha Listening to: Myself (Technically)

Bob Mackey — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Even though I've been at this Internet writing game for close to eight years now, I'm about as minor of a net celebrity as you can get. This means that if you somehow recognize my name, you're either extremely cool or hard at work on a Bob voodoo doll with movable parts--and I'm desperately hoping you 61FPS readers fall into the former category. Since my Internet popularity is roughly the equivalent of my high school popularity, I'm always completely flattered and taken aback when anyone recognizes me for the work that I do. So it goes without saying that I nearly plotzed (yes, plotzed) when podcaster Kole Ross recently invited me onto his Stand Under the Don't Tree and Riddle Me This program as a special celebrity guest. And now that I've been identified as a celebrity, I plan on immediately starting a vicious heroin addiction that will leave me dead before I reach the age of 30. God, the things I do for podcasting.

Of course, I'm kidding about the whole substance abuse thing--like I could afford heroin. And anyway, by listening to my 15-minute interview you'll find that I don't need any needle drugs to sound incoherent. If you're interesting in knowing just what I babbled about in the brief time someone gave me access to public airwaves, please refer to the list below:

- My meager accomplishments

- Personal reactions to the 1UP buyout

- Treasured EGM memories

- What I've been playing

- My super secret 1993 games journalism origin

Go ahead and give it a listen; you can also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes. My section starts at 29:10, but you should definitely listen to the whole thing. I approve and am now available for all podcasting functions.

Related Links:

Watcha Listening To: Rebel FM
Watcha Listening To: Into the Score
Watcha Listening To: Retronauts Episode 55: Snatcher Edition

Watcha Listening To: Rebel FM

Bob Mackey — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

We've all been pretty broken up over the whole 1UP/EGM debacle that happened just a handful of days ago. And the fact that there's absolutely nothing happening in the gaming world this time of the year only makes the fallout worse; without any distractions, all that's left to do is ruminate about the state of the economy and desperately try to stay away from any loaded firearms.

Thankfully, some of the recently let-go 1UP staff has a much more hopeful opinion about the future than me--so much so, in fact, that they've already hit the ground running with a brand new podcast just a few days after UGOgate. RebelFM, the newest project to emerge from the buyout rubble, features former 1UP staffers Anthony Gallegos, Nick Suttner, Philip Kollar, Matt Chandronait, Ryan O’Donnell, Jade Kraus, along with Gallegos' roommate, Arthur Gies. If you're expecting more tears than the ending of Titanic, or a vicious and bitter lashing out at a certain former employer, you'll definitely want to adjust your presumptions; the first episode's discussion of the whole 1UP deal is an even-handed and even-tempered look at the economics of games journalism. And after that, it's back to business as usual; Rebel FM doesn't differ much from the recently canceled 1UPFM, aside from the sound quality--and the crew promises that the minor audio issues of RebelFM will be fixed in the future.

So go and give it a listen already. Whatever these guys (and gals) do next is worth your attention.

Related Links:

Watcha Listening To: Retronauts Episode 55: Snatcher Edition
Watcha Listening To: The Final GFW Radio
Watcha Listening To: Into the Score

1UP and the State of Games Journalism

Bob Mackey — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:00:00 GMT

The news of 1UP's buyout and the end of EGM hit me pretty hard yesterday; thankfully, I had the appropriate amount of whiskey left, and the chance to sleep in this morning. It wasn't just the fact that I do a lot of freelancing for them that got me down in the booze-soaked dumps--as far as I know, the duties of rogue writers like me have been left untouched. The reason this little turd of an event ripped my heart out--along with a whole helluva lot of other readers-- is that 1UP is a site that basically grew out of the idea of fostering relationships between readers and writers. So when an assload of 1UPpers got thrown out onto the street yesterday, it was sort of like watching a drive-by shooting take down most of your family at a Christmas party.

Still, there are many talented people left at 1UP, and I think it's a little insulting to these folks if we suddenly declare the death of the site; I think a good approach is to sit back and see how well the staff can recover and function under the new guard. Sam Kennedy basically stated that 1UP couldn't continue without being bought out, and I think a reduced 1UP is better than no 1UP at all--especially for the people who were able to hang onto their jobs. But the cynical side of me (which makes up the majority of my body) can't help but feel how much this whole debacle speaks about the importance of integrity in games journalism. From the very beginning, 1UP (and EGM, under Dan Hsu's rule) made a very big deal about not being sellouts to the point where they would fill their audience in on industry dirt; the group's belief in honesty even caused them to get blacklisted Ubisoft, a major publisher in the industry. It's soul-wrenching to see just where this loyalty to their readers landed them.

Of course, yesterday's bad news wasn't completely related to the death of honesty in games journalism; our right dickhead of an economy had a lot to do with it. Publishers have less to spend on advertising, which means less money for web sites and magazines; and obviously, this means the amount of games journalists the economy can sustain is shrinking. While following multiple threads on the 1UP brouhaha yesterday, I couldn't help but have my spirit crushed like a tiny kitten when I saw many fans devastated because their dream was to one day write for EGM and 1UP. It's been no secret that I, too, shared this dream; after getting my foot in the door at 1UP in 2007, I've been trying in vain to land a full time gig with my favorite writers, and actually came close enough to have an interview roughly a year ago. What I've slowly learned since then is that the full-time games journalist who makes a living wage is seemingly a thing of the past. And for those looking to break in, it's going to be mighty difficult with all of the more qualified (and before you think this post is about self-pity, more deserving) people out there that are currently sans employment.

Ugh. It's probably a good thing that I'm all out of whiskey.

Related Links:

Dear 1UP: This Girl Loves You
Kenji Eno Is a Mule of Epic Proportions
Serious Business: Dennis Dyack Blames the Internet

Dear 1UP: This Girl Loves You

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:21:00 GMT

By now, if you:

a) enjoy video games, and

b) are able to read, you know about the bad juju currently haunting Ziff Davis Media. 1UP was sold off to UGO (Yu-Gi-Oh?) Entertainment, and the long-running EGM Magazine is headed to the Big Recycling Bin in the sky.

The layoffs were quick and murderous. GameVideos.com, the 1UP Show and 1UP Yours are effectively dead. Dogs are marrying cats.

The person I envy least in the world right now is Sam Kennedy, the unfortunate messenger who must keep a brave face for his remaining staff while 1UP's “community” pumps him full of arrows and wrongfully accuses him of selling out his employees for thirty pieces of silver.

Even as game journalists Internet-wide strip naked and run through the streets in a panic, I am reminded that Britain once advised her citizens to “Keep Calm and Carry On." It's good advice, and I think that applies here, too. When you kick over an anthill, you get a hell of a mess; but when you visit that hill a couple of weeks later, you see it's been rebuilt. No doubt the ants whose lives you upset still curse the tread on the bottom of your shoe, but in the end, the little beasties turned out all right.

I'm going to be honest: I'm a weak little girl and 1UP's massive layoffs make me feel like I swallowed live worms. I've worked with the site on a freelance basis since 2004, marking the first real bonds I ever formed with co-workers instead of just being “that weird girl” who spent her lunch hour reading Dragonlance and game magazines. I'm well aware of UGO's previous output, and (once again) I find myself wondering about my place in an industry where articles about hot chicks gaming in their underwear garner the mass quantities of hits conglomerates like UGO suck down for sustenance.

But I have a lot of faith in the people who were let go, and I have even more faith in the people who remain. Homer Simpson invented the word “Crisitunity” to describe the opportunity that rises from a crisis (actually, he cribbed it from the Chinese). James “Milkman” Mielke's layoff, for instance, still feels unreal to me, but I know he'll be taming dragons or battling Reaverbots a few months from now.

1UP's faithful readers are threatening to leave the site and take their blogs elsewhere. Maybe they will; most likely they won't. Either way, there's no denying things will change. Somehow, I think we'll all survive. If we travel back to the reconstructed ant hill for a moment (we'll take the Magic School Bus), you'll notice that the hill wasn't rebuilt in exactly the same manner. Maybe it's been reinforced with dozens of little hills. Maybe it's a trapezoid, or an unsettling likeness of Lucifer's face. Either way, it exists whether or not you approve of the new aesthetic. The corridors have shifted and new critters have moved in, but life goes on inside, regardless.

Some of 1UP's old guard still remains, no doubt disheartened by recent events and maybe by readers' insistence that 1UP is dead/worthless. How easily we forget that 1UP's roster of writers didn't get their reputation for quality and dedication by sticking their fingers up their nose and saying "Durrr". They are great ladies and gentlemen with great ideas.

For now, the decent and sensible thing is to let the dust settle and experience whatever is offered in the next few weeks.

(Current Mood: Hopeful)

(Current Music: The Arcade Fire -- Neighbourhood #4)

Related Links:

1UP's Top Ten Videogame Politicians
Facepalm: Kotaku Makes News Out Of a Dude's Bisexuality
Print Isn't Dead, It's Just Resting

Facepalm: Kotaku Makes News out of Dude's Bisexuality

Cole Stryker — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:04:00 GMT

While we were on break, Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft reblogged a 1Up interview with former Capcom employee Yoshiki Okamoto. Weirdly, he focused on this rather saucy detail from the interview;

Mr. Nishiyama used to work at Capcom as well, so we bonded over the hard work we shared there, and we've been good friends ever since. Both of us had long stretches where we weren't in a relationship, but he would always be sharing a room with some guy. Not me, I mean we were friends. Just friends. I'm pretty sure Mr. Nishiyama is bisexual. But I'm straight. I only like girls, but he likes both. Mr. Nishiyama taught me how to turn my ideas into game design documents, but he didn't teach me about men.

And then Brian "Not that there's anything wrong with that" Ashcraft provides the following commentary:

Oh. Okay. If this is true and not just Okamoto making crap up, hey, more power to president Nishiyama. If this is not true and is just Okamoto making crap up, he should be more careful with things he says publicly.

Wait, what? First of all, shouldn't Okamoto just keep this knowledge to himself? Shame on 1-Up for even including it in the interview, but even more shame on Kotaku for amplifying this guy's sexuality into an issue deserving an individual post on the world's biggest gaming blog. If you read the actual interview, you'll find that the sexuality of this guy's coworker to be a very minor point, stated in an offhand way. It's certainly not the focus of the interview, so why did Ashcraft zero in on this insignificant detail, other than because New Year's Eve is generally a slow news day? I know I pick on Kotaku a lot, but really this is pretty awful.

How-To: The Ultimate Final Fantasy Marriage Proposal

Joe Keiser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Congratulations are in order for one Mr. James Mielke, aka the editor-in-chief of 1Up.com. He proposed to his girlfriend recently, and…hey, don’t leave! Okay, maybe it’s not such a big deal to you that she said yes, but it’s how he got that agreement that is absolutely mind-blowing.

What Mielke concocted is basically the ultimate Final Fantasy proposal. I’ve heard that there are a lot of girls out there who spent their youth pining for the strong arms of Sephiroth. This proposal would shatter a girl like that. She would leave the moment changed, irrevocably, memories of past RPGs played fading to shadow compared to the brilliance of this.

Mielke’s detailed blog chronicling how he put the whole thing together reads like a how-to of perhaps the greatest games-related proposal of all time (though the Chrono Trigger hack proposal was good too). Could you follow it to a life of wedded bliss with your own Squeenix fangirl?

…Well, no. Mielke is the head honcho of a big ol’ gaming website, and he pulled a lot of strings to put together this. Unless you are rich or spend a lot of time interviewing developers in Japan, you will probably not get legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu to compose a theme song for your proposal. It’s also likely you will not get suggestions from one Kenji Eno, the eccentric developer of bizarre Sega cult titles and a man who disappears from the public eye for nearly decades at a time. You will certainly not get Yoshitaka Amano to design your freakin’ ring.

So yes, congrats are in order for the Milkman. Congrats and rage, as he’s just raised the bar on this sort of thing to unreachable levels.

I Would Go to War for Laguna Loire

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:11:00 GMT

I have always liked Final Fantasy VIII's secondary protagonist, Laguna Loire, because he carries a machine gun and he doesn't know what the Christ he's doing.

1UP.com did a good thing by putting Laguna in their list of Top Ten Video Game Politicians. True, Americans don't need another befuddled circus poodle as a President. They've already endured eight years of hind-leg jumping and yelping and it stopped being cute once they actually noticed that the poodle's eyes were rolling and saliva was trickling from the corners of its wide-open gob. Laguna doesn't make the best choices either, but at least he doesn't drool. Not when he's in good health.

Not only would I vote for the sheepish and shy Laguna Loire, I would put on my stylish anime soldier uniform follow him into battle, likewise confused about how to successfully fight one of these "war" things. What counts is that Laguna means well and has an ample supply of luck that seems to counter personal disaster. All he has to do is believe and try, and everything works out for him. He might step in poo, but it comes up as gold.

Except for breaking every bone in his body.

Except for being torn away from the love of his life.

Except for being miles away from his girlfriend while she dies giving birth to their son (JRPG females still need to evolve thicker birth canals that can handle spiked hair).

Okay, so maybe it sucks to be Laguna sometimes. Still, he remains so gosh-darn cheerful through every ordeal that you just want to take his hand and go rolling down a hill with him. I would prefer to be entangled with him, but that's just personal preference. You are welcome to keep your own Laguna romp innocent. You baby.

How did Square-Enix's most sullen hero germinate from such a happy seed? It is a great mystery. Maybe the psychotic orphanage had something to do with it. Big deal. People have bigger problems in this world, Squall.

Epilogue: I'm in a library and there's a guy nearby yelling things and pulling international magazines off the shelves.

Related Links:

1UP's Top Ten Video Game Politicians
Where I Draw the Line With Retro
Time Investment

1UP's Top Ten Videogame Politicians

Bob Mackey — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

In an idea I wish I would've thought up(seriously), 1UP scribe Scott Sharkey has picked out ten popular video game politicians and placed them in an order which may signify their importance. I thought the entry on Final Fight's Mike Haggar was especially telling:

The spitting image of future Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, Mike Haggar was the original trailblazer of former pro-wrestling politicians, beating "The Body" to the punch by nearly a decade. His "personally pound the crap out of everyone" platform has sadly failed to enter the realm of life imitating art.

As is the case with most political Internet articles that allow comments, some of the best material can be found in the venomous responses filled with inappropriate rage--no offense to Sharkey, of course. Take this comment from a fellow named IronTigerMonkey; I'm not sure if he's being satirical, but you shouldn't really count anything out in these scary days of Web 2.0:

... If I am to understand the structure of a top ten list, you guys are basicly saying that you would rather Saddam Hussien (albeit video game version) to be the next president then Abraham Lincoln. Either that or you shouldn't use a headline that makes it sound like top ten worst vid politicians. Way to screw up everything 1up you suck gecko dick diped in coconut sauce. It is people like you 1up that are be puting George Bush in power, quit promoting your hidden adgendas with misleading top ten lists!!!!!

To all of you faithful commenters on 61 FPS: I love you. Really.

Related Links:

Alternate Soundtrack: Mighty Final Fight vs. Radio 4
Kenji Eno Is a Mule of Epic Proportions
Election Day Gaming

Watcha Listening To: The Final GFW Radio

Bob Mackey — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:30:00 GMT

I'll admit that I'm a lapsed PC Gamer; there was once a brief period when I split my time equally between computer and console gaming, but my meager budget eventually made me cut the more-expensive option out of the equation. It wasn't until a little over a year ago that I was brought back into the PC gaming fold--budget be damned--by a little podcast called GFW (Games for Windows) Radio; and now that it's over, I am very, very sad.

The death of GFW Radio comes at a surprising--yet somewhat expected--time; with keystone member and 17-year Ziff-Davis veteran Jeff Green leaving to work for EA last week, I immediately thought, "Co-host Shawn Elliott is going to leave for Valve next." I was half-right--he's leaving Ziff, but to work for Ken Levine at 2K Games in Boston. There's no doubt these guys are lucky bastards; but in exchange for their personal success, we're losing out on one of the best gaming podcasts in the universe (you heard me, outer space). We, the listeners, are merely victims of this job-leaving spree. I ask you, when will it all end?

The writing was sort of on the wall since the closing of GFW: The Official Magazine back in April; yet even without their magazine, the crew soldiered on with the podcast and were evnetually disseminated into the ranks of 1UP.com. But it was never going to last long; co-host Sean Molloy--another lucky bastard--moved on to work at Blizzard in June, and the crew had always expressed their disapproval with the politics and rhetoric of the games journalism biz. But that's why GFW Radio was such a great podcast; it was extremely candid, intelligent, and had a hilarious mix of highbrow and lowbrow humor. And while their game chatter was great, the best parts of the show came from the guys telling personal stories or just bullshitting about nothing in particular. If they somehow got together in the future and independently did a non-gaming podcast, I would listen. Hell, GFW Radio is one of the few podcasts I keep archived on my iPod; even the reruns are good.

So if you haven't had a chance to grab the final episode, DO THAT NOW. And if you've never heard an episode of GFW Radio before, I recommend you start with this one. It's unlike any of the others, but it's a fantastic episode, as well as a nice preview of where the show might have gone.

And here's a nice clip of one of the show's best moments:

I need to go lie down, you guys.

Related Links:

Watcha Listening To? Retronauts Episode 48
Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack
Serious Business: Dennis Dyack Blames the Internet

You Should Be Reading Sore Thumbs

Bob Mackey — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:30:00 GMT

When long-time EGM staffers Dan "Shoe" Hsu and Crispin Boyer both left the magazine just a handful of months ago, it was a pretty big shock. The two were basically the last of EGM's "old guard," meaning that Dan and Crispin's tenure began in the mid-90s, back when Electronic Gaming Monthly was based out of Illinois. Since EGM is the only magazine I've continually read for 18 years--I still remember an entire school bus in awe of their Super Mario World import coverage--it was more than a little disappointing to see such veterans of games journalism decide to call it a day.

Of course, if I cared about Dan and Crispin as much as I thought I did, I would've known about their new blog less than three months after its launch. Pardon the massive oversight on my part.

What's important about all of this is that Sore Thumbs (not to be confused with the political/gaming webmanga by the same name [Jesus Christ]) makes for some good reading. Anyone paying attention to games journalism for the past few years should know that Dan and Crispin have an extremely low tolerance for the hoops of flaming bullshit the press has to jump through to appease publishers, and they've been quite outspoken about this topic--especially Dan, who would often use his EGM editorial space to tell the reader the struggles of maintaining integrity.

And now that they're more free than ever to talk about the problems of games journalism, Dan and Crispin have started a multi-part series on Sore Thumbs, aptly named "Behind the Scenes: Gaming Journalism." So far, the articles have been very candid and actually quite frustrating when you think about the future of sites and magazines that resist the demands of publishers. As someone who's been a semi-semi-professional in the biz for less than a year, I'm now less inclined than ever to take bribes. That'll show all of those people who never offered.

Aliens and Games and TV, Oh My: The Jace Hall Show

John Constantine — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Videogames, they’re played on televisions. Well, they’re played on computer monitors too, but those have all but turned into televisions in recent years, right? Right. Of course, 61 Frames Per Second has been pondering and expounding on the relative merits of televised programming based on and about videogames of late. As our very own Amber Ahlborn made the point the other day, videogame television aimed at avid players is typically schlock ridden garbage, marred by a need to come off as both cool enough for the cool kids and geekily informed enough to appeal to the really cool kids. Amber’s spot-on in saying that the best game television is on the internet. When it comes to quality, the comedic characters created by Yahtzee and the Angry Video Game Nerd are joined by the first truly successful preview/review show, The 1up Show. Ryan O’Donnell and Jane Pinckard found the winning formula of scripted dialogue, personality and informed journalism lacking in every other attempt at the form, and O’Donnell has kept it strong for three years running.

The golden rule of entertainment is that when you make something that works, someone is going to imitate you on the quick. Until today, I had all but forgotten about the recently launched The Jace Hall Show, relegating to the section of my brain labeled “Mildly Interesting Things N’Gai Croal Wrote About and Failed to Hold My Attention Oh Look Metroid Fan Fiction”. For anyone unfamiliar with the name, Jace Hall is the founder of Monolith Productions (creators of F.E.A.R. and Condemned: Criminal Origins) and has been a significant player in the games industry for over a decade. I watched my first full episode of the show today because Hall was visiting Gearbox for a look at both Borderlands and Aliens: Colonial Marines. The show’s slick production works well and its premise of sneaking quick looks of games still early in development – the pilot had a-sneeze-and-you’ll-miss-it look at Duke Nukem Forever – is a novel hook. But it’s hard not to notice its attempt to mimic The 1up Show’s casual tone and the similarity is a little off-putting. The coverage is there, but it still needs a personality of its own to thrive.

You can catch the whole first season here on Crackle.com or on your Xbox 360 via Live Arcade.

Related links:

Video Game TV: Can It Ever Be Good?
Yahtzee Says, Support Your Local Independent Developer (He’s Right.)
Video Game Television the Canadian Way, Eh?
Horrors That Time Forgot: GamePro TV
Game Over, Man: Aliens – Colonial Marines Penned By Battlestar Galactica Writers

Watcha Listening To? Retronauts Episode 48

Bob Mackey — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:30:00 GMT

In lieu of actually playing video games this week, I've spent most of my time contacting local landlords to determine if it's actually possible to live in America on the salary of a teacher/freelance writer <SPOILER>It's not</SPOILER>. So outside of wondering which nearby dumpsters offer the most headroom, I've been filling my mindless travel time with god's gift to commuters: podcasts. And I'll be damned if the latest Retronauts isn't the best one I've heard in quite some time.

If you've never listened to Retronauts, then your woefully empty life is missing out on one of the most specialized and relistenable gaming podcasts to ever exist--and I'm not just saying this because 1UP occassionally sends me money.

When 1UP debuted, it had a great Classics section that went away far too soon; now, most of the articles and features from that branch of 1UP can only be found with Google and a lodestone. Premiering in the fall of 2006, Retronauts was the kinda-sorta revival of 1UP's classic section, albeit much smaller and in audio form. It's the perfect podcast for those who know way too much about video games or simply envy those who do.

Episodes of Retronauts usually come in one of two flavors: lighthearted, or serious business. This week's episode is strictly the latter, what with the topic being the world-changing giant known as the Famicom (Japan's version of the NES); it also helps that the entire cast this week are walking Wikipedias and furious Famicom fanatics who came of age when the NES was as common as the household toaster. In case you were wondering, all of this Famicom brouhaha is over the system's 25th birthday, which Retronauts hosts Jeremy Parish and Ray Barnholt have celebrated further with their series of 50 (yes, 50) articles on the subject. Since this content is currently stuck in editor blogs, as opposed to being on the front page, it'd be a shame if anyone missed it.

I've listed the relevant links below. Now you have something to do this weekend.

Retronauts Episode 48
50 Fabulous Famicom Articles

Interview Round Up: Suda 51, Shinji Mikami, and Mikami’s Replacements on Resident Evil

John Constantine — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:00:00 GMT

This is what happens when Shinji Mikami and Suda 51 work together.

The greatest interviews in the gaming world can’t all come from 61 Frames Per Second, dontcha know! While we’ve been chatting with the OCRemix crew about Street Fighter II HD Remix, Gamasutra’s Christian Nutt has been chatting with director Yasuhiro Anpo and producer Jun Takeuchi of Capcom about their controversial sequel, Resident Evil 5. Nutt gets into far more interesting territory than new weapons and enemies and broaches the geographical background of Capcom’s creativity as a Japanese developer:

Nutt: Is there something creative at Capcom, too, that's part of the equation? Ultimately, Resident Evil, all the way back to PS1, is the game coming out of Japan that best captures that Hollywood movie feel -- and I feel that if you look at Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Resident Evil, and other major Capcom games in this generation, they really bring up the polish and manage to retain that. It's become a Capcom style, in a certain sense. What drives that, at Capcom?

Takeuchi: Well, I think that there are two reasons, mainly, why that is. First of all, we at Capcom, when we set out to make a game, we make it on a world-wide basis.

We make a game that people all over the world are going to buy. And I think that that way of thinking is one of the reasons for our successes.

Maybe at other developers, they first of all look at the Japanese market, and then say, "Oh, we can also sell this in the west."

They develop it first for the internal market, for the Japanese market; but we at Capcom, we look at it first of all as selling something for the whole world.

The second reason, I think, is that we in Capcom are based in Osaka, unlike most of the other Japanese developers, who are based largely in Tokyo.

And I think that gives us -- we have a lot of creative people, and the atmosphere and feeling in the workplace is a little bit different, and I think that gives us a little bit of originality, and allows us also to make something that's technically very high level.

Meanwhile, 1up’s Thierry Nguyen got face time with the RE5 team’s forebear Shinji Mikami and his new partner in EA crime, Suda 51. While they don’t get into too many specifics about their new “action horror title”, Suda and Mikami do shed even more light on the difference between Eastern and Western game development.

Nguyen: You've worked with other publishers to get your games to the West. Are there restrictions with those other publishers, and is there a sort of blank check "do what you want" feel with EA? How is EA different from other companies you've worked with?

Shinji Mikami: Both of us are the creators. In terms of being a creator, having people understand what I want to do, that's the biggest thing. Also, EA has strong marketing power. If Suda just keeps on doing what he wants to do, players might not understand what they're playing. But with EA's strong marketing power, they know what people want from a game, and we combine both their knowledge and his creativity to help create a better game.

Suda 51: I actually presented two ideas at the same time, and EA really liked one idea. They instantly said "we like that exact idea; we don't want the other one." Too many publishers say that they will think about it and let you know later, but EA was the one that said exactly how they felt the first time. The idea they liked was the game I really wanted to create the most, and they understood what I wanted to do, which helps.

Both are ripping good reads, so head over to Gamasutra and 1up to check ‘em out.

Related links:

The Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack - An Inside Look
61FPS Q&A: David Lloyd and Larry Oji of OC ReMix on the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Soundtrack
Revenge of the Port: Dead Rising Shuffles, Moans on Wii

Kenji Eno Is a Mule of Epic Proportions

John Constantine — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Mule [myool] – noun – an individual, male or female, who exhibits qualities of sweetness, silliness, generosity, enthusiasm, exuberance, exaggerated sexuality and adventurousness simultaneously.

Some things just pass you by. Sometimes you turn on the radio and hear a song that makes you perk up and when you find out who it was, turns out it’s your all-time favorite band. You never heard that song before and it baffles you that something like that could escape your attention. I felt that way after checking out the unedited Kenji Eno interview put together by Shane Bettenhausen and James Mielke over at 1up. Not only have I never played a single game by the maverick designer, but up until today I didn’t even know who he was. Which, I have to admit, is frustrating the ever loving hell out of me. Eno is responsible for some of gaming’s most infamous cult creations (shooter/point-and-click adventures D, D2, and Enemy Zero) and other oddities that I have trouble believing are even real (off-the-wall minigame collection Short Warp came packed with a condom. It was for the 3DO. I shit you not.) The man is downright fascinating, his powerful creativity coming through in every one of his answers in the interview. I just wish I knew about him earlier, especially last week when I was writing Easy Access. As one of our esteemed commenters mentioned, Eno created a Saturn game called Real Sound that was actually a mystery game free of visuals. Even more interesting is that he actually made it specifically for blind players.

1UP: After D, you surprised Warp's fans by creating an offbeat Sega Saturn adventure game, Real Sound.

KE: Oh, that's a funky game.

1UP: Yeah, not only was it funky, it was also a game without any visuals. What inspired it, and how did you get Sega to publish it?

KE: After I released D, people were always expecting more CG graphics from me, and I got tired of that. I didn't want people to think that they could predict what Warp would do next. Also, I had a chance to visit people who are visually disabled, and I learned that there are blind people who play action games. Of course, they're not able to have the full experience, and they're kind of trying to force themselves to be able to play, but they're making the effort. So I thought that if you turn off the monitor, both of you are just hearing the game. So after you finish the game, you can have an equal conversation about it with a blind person. That's an inspiration behind this game as well.

The man is an absolute, total mule.

Head over to 1up and read the whole thing. If anyone out there is a Kenji Eno fan, please point me in the right direction for what to play.

Related links:

Easy Access
Raised on the Stuff
Far Out, Man

You're a Filthy Cheater! ...Right?

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:01:00 GMT

It's like yin and yang, light and darkness, vanilla and chocolate: wherever there are rules directing life, there is a means of going against those rules. Since video games' conception, enthusiasts have proved themselves champions of cheating and game-breaking.

But it's not as if cheating at video games is as simple as being cheap about tag-backs or peeking during hide-and-seek.

I wrote an article for 1UP that looks at the long, twisted history behind game breaking. I'm putting the link up here because I'm a pimp, but also because I find the subject matter pretty fascinating. It's very difficult to draw a line between "Cheating" and "Okey-Dokey" with video games because there are so many variables to consider. Is it "cheating" if you use an in-game trick like the exhalted Konami Code? Or is the term reserved for third-party peripherals like the Game Genie and Gameshark?

How about the exploitation of game mechanics? Put Mario Kart DS and "snaking" in the same sentence on any game-related message board to launch a war.

Gamers are often rewarded when they (to quote Miss Frizzle) take chances, make mistakes and get messy. Consider Adventure, the grandfather of console RPGs. By meeting certain requirements and going off the game's beaten path, players revealed the text "Warren Robinett", the name of Adventure's lead programmer. Not an impressive trick by today's standards, but it was an early indication that there was more to games than meets the eye...and that contrary to what Atari wanted people to believe back then, video games were programmed by human beings, not robots.

Players began to wonder: "What else do games have in store for those of us who think outside the box?" Thus began the sport of banging on buttons and keys to see what kinds of rewards would be yielded. Most of the time it was a trip to the return counter with a busted game, but as games became more complex, efforts became more fruitful.

My favourite Game Genie memory is finally taking down the wretched Thunderbird that lorded over the Great Palace in Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link. Zelda II not a forgiving game; the path to the Great Palace was hell, but it was a trek through Eden compared to the Palace itself. So what if I cheated a titch and employed the Genie? In the end, Hyrule was saved and I got a kiss from the original, somehow-not-mummified Princess Zelda. That's what counts, right?

...Right?

Psht, if Ganon had a Game Genie, you know he wouldn't hesitate to give himself eternal life and totally wreck Link.

Going Vertical: How Capcom’s Developers Are Changing the Landscape of 3D Games

John Constantine — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Development teams Airtight Games and GRIN are both working on titles for Capcom with unique hooks for three dimensional gaming. While both trade in that most common of play mechanics, shooting things, they’re both predominantly focused on providing the player with a unique way to move about their respective worlds. GRIN’s revitalization of the Bionic Commando franchise is built around a grappling hook and Airtight’s Dark Void is built around having a jetpack. Superficially it might seem that these sorts of tools are little more than a gimmick, shallow expansions on the sort of gravity play that has been essential to gaming since the first time Pitfall Harry jumped on a vine. But what they really offer is new solutions to the problem that’s plagued 3D games since Mario 64: precision control on the Z-axis. Nintendo’s Mario Galaxy itself had a novel answer to the problem in building the game around small, spherical play fields allowing microcosms of gravitational law reign in movement in 3D space. Airtight Games and GRIN have gone with vertical spaces instead and, instead of direct manipulation of gravity, have used tools to give the player more control and freedom. The grappling hook ties the player to the environment directly in Bionic Commando and the jetpack in Dark Void gives the player powered flight to scale the game’s levels (Mario himself has had flight in his 3D games but not thrust and so the mechanic has traditionally been used to “glide” over more horizontal spaces). They’re exciting ideas from the both teams and stand to make an impact on the way designers broadly think about 3D gaming not tied directly to the ground.

Head over to 1up.com to check out their exclusive preview coverage of Dark Void and you can get an in-depth look at Bionic Commando (61FPS early hopeful for 2008 Game of the Year) at the game's homepage.

Raised on the Stuff

John Constantine — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:00:00 GMT

As I listened to this past Friday’s 1up Yours podcast, lazily typing away and sipping coffee, I perked up when the crew got on the topic of how they planned to introduce their children to videogames. While What They Play’s John Davison is already raising two very young gamers of his own, the other three gents still aren’t fathers but they all mentioned that they definitely want to see their kids weaned on classics from a young age. This is interesting to me because I’ve given the subject quite a lot of thought. My plan? Bed time stories.

I will read stories to my child until they’re embarrassed by it but I also plan on playing classic games with them before bed. I’ll sit down with my son or daughter and fire up The Legend of Zelda or Mega Man 2, something with simple, impressionist visuals and rich with implied narrative. We’ll trade the controller back and forth and when they ask about the world, I might just make something up. Or ask them what they think. We’ll move through the technology quickly so they can acclimate to the vocabularies of different development eras. My hope is they’ll find what I found in these texts; potent fuel for the imagination.

How about you reader? How will/do you play with your young ‘uns?

On another note, I can’t encourage you enough to head over to 1up.com and start listening to the 1up Yours podcast. Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, and Shawn Elliot are three of the most important voices in the industry today and they’re damn entertaining drunks as well. Another shout out also to John Davison, whose What They Play is fast becoming as essential resource for parents in the western world.