Something went wrong. Try again later

Giant Bomb News

83 Comments

Worth Reading: 10/12/12

An updated Shocktober 2012 list with impressions, alongside your regular dosage of games you should play, stories you should read, and much more.

No Caption Provided

If you tuned into the first episode of Spookin’ With Scoops last night, where I played some Penumbra: Black Plague in the dark of night, you realized why we have Vinny and Drew around. Getting a proper livestream up and running is, no surprise, a rather herculean task.

Besides taking in more horror flicks (scroll to the bottom for an update on Shocktober 2012), the weekend will be spent understanding XCOM. I’ve made it through most of the tutorial, and even losing someone in a scenario without consequences stressed me the hell out. Seeing how Ryan has been losing his mind over the last mission hasn’t helped matters, and it’s all strung together by my disdain for strategy games because I’m terrible at them.

The last one I really gave a shot was...Final Fantasy Tactics? Advance Wars? The latter actually hooked me for a little while, but I could never hang in multiplayer, so eventually the well ran dry. The promise of XCOM is being able to introduce a deeply complex strategy game in a deceptively simple manner, a promise the tutorial has so far made good on. Yeah, I’m stressed out, but at least it’s stress with an understanding of all my options.

I’ll still keep a vomit bucket nearby, though.

Hey, You Should Play This

No Caption Provided

The big winner at IndieCade this year was Paolo Pedercini’s Unmanned. You might remember Pedercini for his work on Phone Story, a commentary about the realities of manufacturing the world’s most popular smartphone that was quickly booted out of Apple’s App Store. He’s followed Phone Story up with an equally weighty piece, one that bears playing and considering, given it’s an election year. Unmanned follows the daily routine of our anonymous drone operators, men and women who are quickly becoming the front line of a newer, safer, ethically questionable form of warfare. As a companion piece, I’d recommend reading a recent New York Times’ feature on drone operators.

No Caption Provided

Guitar Hero and Rock Band resonated with me because it provided a window into a world that I’ll never know. I don’t have the time, patience or talent to go beyond a few chord strums, but games can provide an opportunity to have have a taste of what it’s like to truly understand the music you know and love. January, from Fez composer Rich Vreeland, abstracts this idea out, and plays with procedurally generated music represented by snowflakes. Everything you’re making sounds beautiful, even if you’re not doing anything more than simply moving left to right.

And You Should Read This, Too

No Caption Provided

Windows 8 drops in a few weeks, and I haven’t heard people saying many good things about it. I’ve dismissed criticism about Microsoft’s upcoming internal marketplace, figuring it’ll end up an option for some people that wouldn’t otherwise have bought those games anyway, and everyone wins. Steam still exists, Good Old Games still exists. That said, let’s entertain the argument that it proves incredibly popular, and most users start purchasing through Microsoft’s storefront. That’s where software engineer Casey Muratori’s scathing critique comes into play, especially when pointing out how the ratings come into play. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is PEGI-18 in Europe, but Windows 8 won't accept a game above PEGI-16. It's rated Mature by the ESRB here, however, which is accepted. This type of confusion could prove even more frustrating if Microsoft's approach catches on with consumers.

If You Click It, It Will Play

I Don’t Know About This Kickstarter Thing, But These Projects Seem Pretty Cool

  • Mindblown Life supposes we don't have separate education from entertainment, even in our mobile games.
  • Some people need a little extra help. This programming book for ADD students should be applauded.
  • iBeg seems to make some light of the serious problem that is homelessness, but awareness is important.

Valve Just Launched Greenlight, So Here’s Some Games That Don’t Look Terrible

  • Cloudbuilt seems to bring the joy of fast, rapid 2D movement into a big 3D space.
  • Modeling software GroBoto is probably one of many non-game pitches we're going to see.
  • If today's fancy graphics are too much for you, maybe consider Enter Thy Name.

Oh, And This Other Stuff

Here's Your Official Lineup for Shocktober 2012

Every year, my wife and I try to cram in roughly 31 movies throughout October. We usually only end up making it through 20 or so, but the goal is 30, and it's fun to aspire in celebration of The Greatest Holiday. I've seen everything, which is why some stuff on here is pretty obscure. I try to strike a balance between oldies that I've either forgotten (The Shining) or somehow missed out on (The Lady in White), while also exploring the best of what other countries have to offer. I've noticed that the UK and Spain have been churning out the best horror the past few years, including Them and [rec]. If you want, here's last year's list, complete with trailers. I'll do something similar for this list soon.

Also, as with most years, other new stuff came up, resulting in an audible some nights. Those are at the bottom.

This list is not in any viewing order. Enjoy as you see fit!

  1. The Children (2008) - Doesn't reinvent the wheel of kids slaughtering adults, but it's better than the endless series of Children of the Corn movies that keep coming out, and the kills are pretty brutal. In short, don't trust kids.
  2. Pontypool - I don't want to spoil the movie's narrative underpinning, but what if a disease could intelligently adapt? Pontypool doesn't budge far from the room it starts in, which works to its advantage. Movies that choose to hole characters up in a single location and exploit that are pretty interesting. In Pontypool, it's a radio studio.
  3. Kill List
  4. The Loved Ones
  5. Angel Heart
  6. Videodrome
  7. Quarantine 2 - There's no reason Quarantine 2 should be any good, especially since Quarantine was boring and uninspired remake of the remarkable [rec], but it has a better acting and more suspense than you'd expect.
  8. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Lesile Vernon
  9. The Monster Squad
  10. The Shining
  11. Event Horizon
  12. Cabin in the Woods
  13. The Squad
  14. Tokyo Gore Police
  15. Cemetery Man
  16. The Killer Condom
  17. Human Centipede 2
  18. Pet Sematary
  19. Woman
  20. The Lady in White
  21. Mother's Day
  22. Who Can Kill a Child?
  23. Father's Day
  24. Beyond the Black Rainbow
  25. Grave Encounters - If you don't care for found footage movies, Grave Encounters won't change your mind, but if you're bothered by how found footage never shows anything, Grave Encounters is the opposite. I dug it.
  26. Lake Placid
  27. Frontiers
  28. Dead Heat
  29. Pandorum - This one came on Vinny's recommendation. Yes, the trailer looks awful, but Pandorum takes a reliable premise of saving Earth by looking for a new planet to colonize, and has a series of really fun twists. The creatures are boring, the camera hits fast forward too often, but Pandorum is the definition of dumb fun.
  30. Paranormal Activity 4
  31. Sinister
  32. The Tall Man - I didn't know Pascal Laugier's latest movie had secretly come out on demand, and now I know why I hadn't heard anything: it's terrible. Martyrs is a masterful work of mindfucking. The Tall Man is boring.
  33. [rec] 3 - The first two [rec] movies are some of the scariest flicks to come out of Europe the past few years, but [rec] 3 ditches the found footage conceit and reveals what is seemingly an amateur filmmaker at best.
Patrick Klepek on Google+

83 Comments

Avatar image for fentonalpha
fentonalpha

932

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By fentonalpha

Pretty good Jeff Gerstmann cosplay right at the end of the video when they were all walking out.

Avatar image for d_w
D_W

1973

Forum Posts

2440

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 21

Edited By D_W

Tokyo Gore Police is one of the most fun I've had watching a movie. It's not really a horror movie so much as a hyper gore fest of an action flick. BUT fuck it. That guy chops off his own legs to fly around from the blood that is gushing out. There's a legitimate usage of rocket jumping! It's brilliant in it's stupidity. It's like a less boring version of Versus.  I may have to rewatch that one this year.

Avatar image for sammo21
sammo21

6040

Forum Posts

2237

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 18

User Lists: 45

Edited By sammo21

So, does cosplaying as the girl from Lollipop Chainsaw make you slutty or does being slutty make you want to cosplay as the girl from Lollipop Chainsaw?

Avatar image for jayjonesjunior
jayjonesjunior

1148

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By jayjonesjunior

@MarkWahlberg said:

Cosplay always manages to sit firmly on the line between being goofy fun and weirdly depressing.

you are weirdly goofy and depressingly fun.

Avatar image for asko25
AsKo25

234

Forum Posts

10

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By AsKo25

not gonna watch Martyrs?

Avatar image for ghostnpc
ghostNPC

803

Forum Posts

23

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By ghostNPC

Unmanned is something strange.

Avatar image for albedo12
albedo12

90

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By albedo12

Pontypool was also released as an audio drama, listenable here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/2009/06/090617_pontypool_audio.shtml. NB: This uses the audio from the movie edited and remixed to produce a shorter version of the story with a different ending.

Another thing about Pontypool - if you watch it and like it you should listen to the director's commentary. At one point they discuss the plot of the (as yet unmade) sequel, and it's fascinating to hear the direction they were panning to go in.

Avatar image for itbestefyo
ItBeStefYo

1096

Forum Posts

1638

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By ItBeStefYo

@AsKo25: Baaaaaad idea

Avatar image for mudman
MudMan

1423

Forum Posts

300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 11

Edited By MudMan

I wanted to watch Pandorum because that seemed like a weirdly backhanded recommendation, but it wasn't on demand anywhere I could find, so I guess I got over it?

Avatar image for blurienh
blurienh

141

Forum Posts

9

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By blurienh

Great again, thanks Patrick.

Avatar image for shockd
ShockD

2487

Forum Posts

16743

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By ShockD

The MK video is amazing.

Avatar image for lucien21
Lucien21

144

Forum Posts

78

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 7

User Lists: 14

Edited By Lucien21

Patrick, You should keep an eye out for Room 237 http://room237movie.com/

It's a documentary about Kubrick's The Shining, exploring all the theories about the hidden meanings in the film.

It's getting a UK release in a couple of weeks and is getting some good buzz about being great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOxukprEwjg

Avatar image for dropabombonit
dropabombonit

1543

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By dropabombonit

Great links this week, bought the Gordon Freeman Half Life t-shirt

Avatar image for bushlemon
bushlemon

357

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By bushlemon

@patrickklepek: If you haven't seen it I recommend Funny Games (the original not the american remake)

It is very polarising but it does a good job of messing with your expectations about the genre

Avatar image for frythefly
frythefly

270

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By frythefly

@patrickklepek
 
Have you seen Andrzej Żuławski's Possession? It has Sam Neill in it. Bad trailer:

Avatar image for superfriend
superfriend

1786

Forum Posts

10

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By superfriend

Things learned from that first video: Everybody in indie games development is a hipster. Or at least, dresses like one. Fuck. How depressing.

Other than that, I think the Microsoft Marketplace stuff is just unbelievable. Guess MS will never learn.

Avatar image for bunnymud
bunnymud

765

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By bunnymud

Beyond the Black Rainbow made me long for the 80's so hard. Except it falls flat in the 3rd act. Again...Tokyo Gore Police is about 40 minutes too long.

Avatar image for bladeofcreation
BladeOfCreation

2491

Forum Posts

27

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 3

Edited By BladeOfCreation

I do not understand the praise that Unmanned gets.

"He’s followed Phone Story up with an equally weighty piece, one that bears playing and considering, given it’s an election year. Unmanned follows the daily routine of our anonymous drone operators, men and women who are quickly becoming the front line of a newer, safer, ethically questionable form of warfare."

Drone strikes may be ethically questionable and safer for the people operating them, but they are not by any means the "front lines" of war. As far as it being an election year, why does this matter? It's not like the Republicans and Democrats have fundamentally different views on drone strikes.

Avatar image for rox360
rox360

1299

Forum Posts

154

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By rox360

Wow. I definitely didn't expect goofy little Tokyo Jungle to bear one of the most solid examples of good cover art I've seen recently. I'm glad to have seen that!
 
Unmanned was great, too. Played through it three times (earnest first shot, intentionally screwing everything up,  completionist run). Got just enough game in it to make the storytelling really matter, I think.

Avatar image for glots
glots

5169

Forum Posts

74

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By glots

I've had Pandorum on a dvd for nearly two years now, but still haven't watched it. Could fix that when my vacation starts...might also have to finally get Splinter. I've wanted to watch that one for ages! As for other some other horrors to watch...maybe Jacob's Ladder and Misery? Though what I'd really want from horror genre nowadays, is some proper bodyhorror and monster movies, just like back in the 80's.

Avatar image for singing_pigs
singing_pigs

159

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By singing_pigs

HOLY SHIT Badland looks INCREDIBLE! Where did that come from, jammed in the middle of that list there.

Avatar image for scottygrayskull
scottygrayskull

606

Forum Posts

26

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By scottygrayskull

Honestly, I think Casey (and others) don't have to worry about it. If it is indeed as nefarious as they claim, one of two things would happen. Either there would be a lawsuit ala Internet Explorer one (which Microsoft lost), or all these best selling games would cause people to stop using Microsoft's store entirely. I mean, in 2012 a platform that doesn't sell Mass Effect, Skyrim, and Call of Duty - and wouldn't even allow the sale of - isn't going to have the attention of consumers for very long.

Avatar image for tourgen
tourgen

4568

Forum Posts

645

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 11

Edited By tourgen
I’ve dismissed criticism about Microsoft’s upcoming internal marketplace, figuring it’ll end up an option for some people that wouldn’t otherwise have bought those games anyway, and everyone wins. Steam still exists, Good Old Games still exists.

I tried but I don't understand how this argument come form in a rational mind. Microsoft's marketplace has not launched yet. What does the existence of GOG and Steam TODAY have to do with the launch of another software channel in the future? A software channel that is integrated into the OS, requires software frameworks only available from Microsoft compilers and development environments, and whose content will be selected and censored according to the OS vendor's goals and whims.

If their marketplace was an optional component that could be fully uninstalled, or if it allowed third party software signing keys to allow full, alternate software channels within and fully integrated into the store (and the software was marked as such), and if it allowed execution of arbitrary unsigned code via a flag or setting, that would be acceptable.

Linux has been providing software "store fronts" via apt-get or Unbuntu's Software Installer for a while now. The key is that alternate software sources/channels can be easily added and fully unsigned code can be run alongside in the same GUI environment and are not required to make use of 1 vendor's software framework to be "certified" for the channel.

I can only conclude you have dismissed arguments against Microsoft's store front because you do not fully understand the implications and details of the situation. The writing is on the wall. Their plan is clear. Not allowing third party signing keys should have made it clear for you.

Avatar image for jasondesante
jasondesante

615

Forum Posts

2

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 6

User Lists: 0

Edited By jasondesante

you know what sucks about this week, Molyneux's Curiousity game isn't out yet despite being submitted to apple for a long fucking time....and Double Fine's Middle Manager of Justice game isn't out yet either!!! Fuck!

The second iOS gets games worth waiting for and anticipating is when you realize Apple give no shit at all about release days and building hype or anything. They only care about selling more of their own devices, if serving the customer was priority #1 they would have made a higher capacity ipod or ipad by now.

Avatar image for acl5d
acl5d

20

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By acl5d

I'm looking forward to Windows 8... and since my school has a deal that lets me get it for 10 bucks, I got nothing to lose!

Avatar image for korolev
korolev

1800

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 17

User Lists: 8

Edited By korolev

I don't know if "Drone warfare" could be called questionable - it's just a different form of "Killing-at-a-distance". Armies of all nations have used Artillery near cities for over a CENTURY. That too, can fall and kill civilians in fire zones. Just because the artillery officer doesn't "see" where the shell lands doesn't make it any better or worse than a drone operator. Arguably, drones are better than what people have done before - bombing from the air, using artillery cannons, using blind rockets - all those things kill in just the same way and pose just the same risks to the people they are targeting.

You might be able to make a claim that TARGETING enemies in civilian areas is unethical. You could argue that the war in the Waziristan region of Pakistan is immoral (I don't think it is, but you can make that argument logically). But the idea that drone warfare is somehow "worse" than bombing using jet fighters or ground attack craft or good ol' fashioned artillery bombardment, is absurd. Getting hit by an artillery shell and getting hit by a predator drone hellfire missile messes you up in the same way (i.e explosive trauma and burns).

If you don't like the war in Afghanistan and you think the civilian casualties are unacceptable, then fine, you can make that argument and I'll respect your argument even if I somewhat disagree with it. But to portray drone warfare as some sort of super-evil thing that is totally the worst thing ever is just stupid. It's another form of "Killing-at-a-distance" - which began with the Cannon, then the Musket, then the Rifle, then the long-ranged-rifle, then the artillery shell, then the tank shell, then the bomber, then the laser-guided bomber, and now to the Drone.

Is killing with drones really worse than killing with, say, an A-10 warthog or an F-18 jet fighter dropping a bomb on a house? I don't think so. They're equally bad, but drones aren't "worse".

Avatar image for supersoaker
Supersoaker

86

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Edited By Supersoaker

Yeah. Cosplay is still weird to me.

Avatar image for dmaggot
dmaggot

21

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By dmaggot

I think I'm gonna go check out some of the movies on your list. I watched Pontypool a while ago and loved it. Definitely worth it for people to check out.

Avatar image for ultrapeanut
ultrapeanut

425

Forum Posts

22

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By ultrapeanut

I watched Pontypool a few years ago and it instantly became one of my favorites. I showed it to someone else on a whim last month and it seriously only gets better the more I watch it.

Pandorum didn't grab me as much, but my friend recommended it to me after I told her to check out Pontypool and it's definitely unique enough to experience once.

Avatar image for haltiamreptar
HaltIamReptar

2038

Forum Posts

7

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By HaltIamReptar

@Korolev: Nice strawman.

Avatar image for on3moresoul
on3moresoul

40

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By on3moresoul

For the love will someone else please watch AM 1200?

Avatar image for vintage68
VintAge68

100

Forum Posts

5

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By VintAge68

Interesting read, though Windows 8 store's limitations regarding adult content is not the only worry one can have about the new OS from a gamer's point of view: with W8, the PC will also definitely stop being a rather system-"neutral" gaming platform with respect to Xbox and PlayStation....

Avatar image for jordan1900
jordan1900

11

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By jordan1900

I loved the music in Fez