Devotion
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Taiwanese horror game ‘Devotion’ returns after China controversy
After it was pulled from Steam and GOG, the Taiwanese horror game 'Devotion' is back on sale.
Taiwanese horror game 'Devotion' won't be getting a re-release after all
Earlier today, Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games announced that its first-person horror title would be coming to GOG.com on December 18th. The game was immediately review bombed on Steam.
Chinese video-game censorship doesn't end with 'Devotion'
By all accounts, Devotion was a great game. That sentence has to be in past tense, and the opinion has to be second-hand, because Devotion was only available to play for one week earlier this year. But apparently, it was a twisted and masterful psychological horror title inspired by games like PT, but steeped in Taiwanese superstition. Devotion landed on Steam in February and it quickly earned thousands of positive reviews. And then China got involved.
Chinese publisher loses license over game that mocked President Xi Jinping
Comparing Chinese President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh may be amusing to some, but the Chinese government isn't laughing. Officials have now stripped video game publisher Indievent of its business license for its involvement in the Taiwanese horror game Devotion, which referenced the controversial meme. The news came from Another Indie co-founder Iain Garner, who tweeted the text of the order earlier this week. While Red Candle Games, the Taiwanese developer of the offending game, is out of reach of Chinese government sanctions, the China-based Indievent isn't so lucky.
The Daily Grind: Are you in for the long haul or just for the fun times?
Some people are MMO dilettantes. They arrive when something new has been released for the game, play for a while, and then scamper off once they get bored. By their argument, they're getting maximum enjoyment out of the game at no real loss, and all they're losing are interminable endgame events they'd rather avoid to begin with. Why should they stick around if the game isn't satisfying them at that moment? Other players are dedicated. Sure, there's a slump every so often -- stretches with no new content or content that is new but horrendously boring. But the important thing is to power through and remain stable, so that when the awesome stuff comes out you can enjoy it to the fullest. Unlike the dabblers, they get to see what they consider the best of the game, and they get the full range of accomplishments coming from having been there all the while. So where do you find yourself? Do you flit from game to game as something new strikes your fancy, with no real commitments beyond what you find fun at the time? Or do you pick a game and stick it out through thick and thin? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
All the World's a Stage: Sacrificing spells for the story
All the World's a Stage returns today to shine a brutal but loving eye on the intricacies of roleplay. We do this by looking at the craft of roleplay itself, and the people who love it. We might not be ready for Jerry Springer, but we're pretty sure this week's column is going to have a little debate behind it. Michael Gray fills in this week for David Bowers, and talks about letting roleplay exclude some other forms of play in the World of Warcraft.We're not a big Guild. All told, we probably have about twenty to twenty five people who come online at various times to talk, chat, and play together. We have some structure, but we're mostly a motley of friends who hang out. Our raiding effort takes place because our raid leaders woke up one day and said "By Wrath of the Lich King, we're going to be able to progress in ten man content."We're also a roleplay-ish kind of Guild. I say "ish" because we're not full immersion players. We have some light story notions. For example, I have the vague idea that our raid's main healer is the son of our raid's main tank -- that's mostly because they're the same human model, but one has light blonde hair, and the other has old, graying hair.So, when we come across folks into the roleplay and immersion a little more than we are, we're sometimes not quite sure what to make of it.
Need a cure for the Karazhan blues? Try 10 Paladins
Don't get me wrong here, Karazhan's generally a pretty fun dungeon, aside from the odd incredibly annoying trash mob, but when you've run it time and time again, it's always nice to find a twist or a new way of doing stuff to spice things up again. The Senatus Redux guild of the Kul Tiras EU run have done just that, clearing most of Karazhan with a group 10 paladins, most of them in no better than T4 gear or lower, on a run done on March 1st. They managed to get down all the bosses but Prince Malchezaar and Nightbane - and they have pretty good reason to believe that they could have had the Prince, having him to 15% on their last attempt of the night.
"I Hate You, E3," declares Escapist writer
Okay, so maybe not hate completely.The eye-catching title of an essay from the latest installment of The Escapist puts the emphasis on the negative aspect of the love-hate relationship many industry vets have with E3, but there's surprisingly a lot of love for the trade show here, even if you don't subscribe to the hardened "I hate E3 because I love it" theory of convention devotion.While the Joystiq staff hasn't been to quite as many E3s as the founder of the International Game Journalists Association (IGJA), we can certainly empathize with the world-weariness that might accumulate after years of weeklong death- press-marches and working in overcrowded, sensory-overloaded spaces. We just hope our love of the game(s) will stay with us as it has for Mr. Thomas, whether we're watching from home or working the show floor in person in post-apocalyptic L.A. The parties will be sure to be awesome.See also: Joystiq at E3 2006 mega-site The Escapist's big E3 issue this week, with references within to Joystiq's Paris Hilton story and some E3 party pics orig. from Joystiq The Game of Journalism -- the IGJA's official web site
