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NY Times gives Game of the Year honors to GTA IV
The New York Times gaming correspondent Seth Schiesel recently defied the mold for year-in-review video game wrap-ups -- rather than handing out commonplace awards such as "Best Action Game" or "Best Indie Game Fueled by Dew", his honorable mentions were awarded based on "Best Zombies" (Left 4 Dead, natch) and the fairly inflammatory "Best Explanation of Why Nintendo Hardly Needs Big Games Anymore" (the Wii).However, at the bottom of his list of odds-and-ends, Schiesel follows the example of Time Magazine and the VGAs, ultimately choosing Grand Theft Auto IV as his Game of the Year. Schiesel was swooned by Rockstar's crime drama due to its mature writing, which makes GTA IV "one of the few games that even [tries] to take on the real world in any adult way." Obviously, he's never heard of a little game called 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand.
The New York Times opines on Wrath of the Lich King
The New York Times has covered WoW before, and a couple days ago, they did again. Via sister site Massively, we find this article by writer Seth Schiesel. In it, he provides yet another paean for Blizzard's amazing work on the expansion, and touches a little bit on the casual versus hardcore dichotomy. In Burning Crusade, he was the hardcore, racing to level 70, eschewing sleep and sustenance to get those server firsts, eventually causing him to burn out and quit the game for a time. In Wrath of the Lich King, he's been a casual wanderer, enjoying leveling slowly, surrounded by the other hoi polloi and "journeyman adventurers" taking the game at a slower pace. In the end, though, what pleases him most is that the friendships.The article is a nice little testimonial of the way this game has shaped our lives and forged and strengthened friendships, and it's certainly a nice read on a cold Saturday afternoon like today, whether you're casual or hardcore. After all, we're all just players.
The Gaming Club sounds off on the year in video games
Hope you like words, because there are plenty of them to be found in Slate's first annual Gaming Club piece. The newly inaugurated feature focuses on a once-around discussion of the year in games with some of game journalism's powerhouse personalities: Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, MTV's Stephen Totilo, the New York Times' Seth Schiesel, and Slate's Chris Suellentrop.A light read this is not. Suellentrop, Totilo, Schiesel and Croal trudge deep into a spoiler-laden discussion of what 2007 will mean in the great big book of video game history. Triple-A titles like Bioshock, Halo 3, and Super Mario Galaxy are both praised and heavily critiqued, while smaller titles like Desktop Tower Defense and Everyday Shooter are discussed as having been more emblematic of 2007 than we realize.Overall, the piece is a poignant look at the year behind us, and much more than simply a "game of the year" discussion. Further updates to the feature are forthcoming, with a total of eight letters between the four journalists arriving by Wednesday. Definitely worth the read.
The New York Times finds EVE Online intriguing
The New York Times published an article on EVE Online this morning. NYT writer Seth Schiesel focused on EVE's growth and emphasis on player freedom.Hilmar Petursson (CCP's CEO) told Schiesel in a phone interview that there are "basically two schools of thought for operating an online community. There is the theme-park approach and the sandbox approach. Most games are like Disneyland, for instance, which is a carefully constructed experience where you stand in line to be entertained." He said that CCP takes the sandbox approach, creating a world where players are free to define their own experiences.The article also describes the current political climate in EVE Online's worth, including the Band of Brothers blueprints scandal and other things. If you're already an EVE player, you won't find anything new in the article, but if you're not, it's bound to be an eyebrow-raising read.
NYT presents South Korean gaming culture
The New York Times has a nice presentation on their website about gaming in South Korea narrated by the NYT's World of Warcraft-loving Seth Schiesel, who while reporting on what he saw manages to plug the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion by dropping in a picture of a Blood Elf. The piece does a fantastic job in giving a Cliff's Notes version of gaming culture in South Korea.An interesting statistic is that Korea has 25.4 broadband subscriptions per 100 residents, the only country with more is Iceland at 26.7. So, why doesn't Iceland have major video game championships? The NYT explains Korean parents actually encourage their children to game as an outlet for the society's emphasis on education. Park Youngmok, Blizzard's Korean communications director says, "In Korea it's all study, study, study, learn, learn, learn."
