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GameCritics.com and N'Gai talk art, criticism and censorship
We enjoy hearing the opinions of GameCritics.com and N'Gai Croal is well-respected around these parts, so when the two come together, such as in this new interview, we think it makes for a darn fine Saturday read. The topics are of the hot-button variety you'd expect (art, Ebert, etc.), but we thought that some of their takes on the issues were more than compelling enough to be worth your time. Consider, for example, this chin-stroker from N'Gai: "I thought to myself, hell, Lester Bangs couldn't even be the Lester Bangs of music today, let alone videogames. The critic is going the way of the dinosaur and the dodo bird; he or she is an anachronism in an age where anyone can publish an opinion." Feel that tingling? That's insight. We hope this story will be a jumping off point for some good discussions today, the debate club nerd in us still longs for a little intellectual interplay when Saturday rolls around. So, let's discuss.
LittleBigPlanet best original new game, say Game Critics
In a second story regarding the Game Critics Awards, LittleBigPlanet walked away as the winner of the best original title. As a follow-up to their win, technical director for Media Molecule Alex Evans answered a few questions about the win. Needless to say, Evans and the rest of the dev team were stoked to win the award, especially showing off such an early build of their vision. It paid off, they said.When compared to the reaction they got at the Game Developers Conference, Evans says the two are very different since they put the "create" tools in the hands of knowledgeable gamers this time around. Again, he says, the fact those people understood their vision was a great way to bolster confidence in their ideas. Their ideas are plentiful, it seems, as Evans repeats how what we've seen is pre-alpha code and there's a lot left up their sleeves. We're excited to get our hands on something, so we'll wait until they're ready to show off more of our favorite little big game, LittleBigPlanet.
Game Critics reward Killzone 2 for graphics, Guerrila devs blush
After winning the Special Commendation Award for Graphics, Guerrila Games' managing director Hermen Hulst answered some questions about their reaction to getting such a prize, especially after all the hype and expectation. Since playability of your title was a requirement for getting nominated, Hulst is particularly flattered.About all that hype and expectation, Hulst commented that while the 2005 E3 trailer was ambitious, it remained achievable. They fully intend to live up to the promise of the original trailer and will work on the game until they feel it's ready for the public. Since they got an award that only playable games should have been considered for, we also think they're moving on the right track. The final product will undoubtedly look far superior to even the demo we saw at E3 this year.
Rock Band slays 2007 Game Critics Awards
If you've already read the Joystiq E3 2007 Awards (you have read them, right?), you already know we picked Rock Band as Best in Show. Now, the winners of the 2007 Game Critics Awards have been announced and, whaddya know, Rock Band takes the title of winningest game with three awards, including Best in Show!Second place goes to Bioware's Mass Effect, winning Best Console Game and Best RPG. Some more fun stats: Xbox 360 is the winningest platform, with 11 wins, while Electronic Arts is the winningest publisher, with 6 wins (remember, three are for Rock Band!). Bringing up the rear, surprisingly: Nintendo.
