yeah_write

Well written Patrick. I was already leaning towards "will not play," but this piece sealed the deal. Ubisoft has had trouble with main characters lately. I have never hated any main character, in any medium, more than the guy in Far Cry 3. I just despised him. I blew through the story just to get back to doing non-story stuff.

And you're right about the cop out choice at the end too. I hate when games do that. In a purely creator-authored story, it makes no sense to hand over the reins at the last second. I get it, I'm a writer, endings are freaking hard, but don't pass it off to the player, have some courage and finish the story you set out to tell. Other games that do this include:

-Bastion
-Mark of the Ninja
-Far Cry 3

What else do those games have in common? A high degree of moment-to-moment choice. From movement, to strategy, to approach, those games (Watch_Dogs included) are filled with gameplay choices. I'm fine with the trade off of more gameplay choice for less narrative choice.

Polygon had an excellent video round table discussion about Bioshock Infinite not too long after the game was out. It was fun to watch them excitedly talk about the game without fear of spoilers. I heard a few things I missed, and it also prompted me to examine my own thoughts on the game. I don't know why there isn't a spoiler cast for every big AAA game (which are the games you can be reasonably sure a large part of your audience will play).

Then of course there are the Geoff Keighley "Final Hours" deep dives, like the one he did on Portal 2. Those are great. I get why there aren't a lot of these things--it's the stuff true enthusiasts want. Previews (and other pre-launch content) cast a much wider net.

I know...I'm quoting myself:

Forgot to add these links. I'd love to see huge behind-the-scenes guest posts like these ones from Joey Ellis:

http://www.joeyblog.com/2014/05/the-visual-development-of-bonsai-slice.html

http://www.joeyblog.com/2014/06/making-leaky-timbers.html

I'm all for seeing how the sausage is made.

Yeah, like maybe combine this with a developer interview. That would take "I liked the shotgun" and add in "You probably liked it because we did X to the physics and Y to the animation to make it feel like Z when you pulled the trigger."

Or even better, get devs to talk about things they would have preferred or changed. It's so rare to see game creators talk about the shortcomings in their creations. Writers, artists, musicians--they do it all the time. Game creators never do. Maybe that's because when they admit something fell short a zillion articles are written about how they dropped the ball, and because gamers are horrible creatures, they demand refunds for their 50+ hours of entertainment. Sigh...

Love the experimentation @patrickklepek. Keep it up! Three suggestions:

1. Can you get some corporate synergy up in here? I don't think this should become a Gawker media re-posting mill, but highlighting some things on Gamespot like Danny O'Dwyer's fantastic No Man's Sky feature would be cool.

I think Worth Reading covers the rest, because really, there's not that much worth reading each week.

2. Kotaku has these "Tips before you start playing X" articles that I really like. I bookmark them and return when I get around to playing a game. They're particularly useful in games that involve a lot of leveling or character customization choices. I'd be interested in something similar, but maybe a bit more introspective. Maybe something like, "How I played X." You could tell us--with or without spoilers--how you went through the game and how you felt about your decisions, maybe even get a round table of guests who played it too. Busy gaming dads like myself always appreciate seeing other paths through a game because we rarely have time to make second runs--as a game journo, I'm sure you don't either.

3. More articles on reflections from game creators AFTER a game comes out would be great (LOVED your Walking Dead series). This industry is so preview driven, it amazes me how little we see after a game comes out. This could take the form of spoiler casts, chats with game designers, or maybe even bits of reflection from specific team members/contractors--voice actors, musicians, the guy who had to draw all the backgrounds, etc. The article on Mark of the Ninja with the old concept videos was really cool. That behind-the-scenes stuff can be fascinating.

Thanks for all your hard work Patrick!

So this is basically Person of Interest the game? I'm in!

I was going to repost what I wrote on my website, but I embedded a gallery and didn't know how that would transfer over. So here's a quick synopsis:

• I'm going to doodle a picture every day of May
• Most or all of the pictures will come via requests from friends, people online, coworkers, family members, etc.
• If you have a request leave it here, tell me on twitter, or hit me up on my website.

For more info on the project, and to see a gallery from the last time I did this (August 2011), check out this post.

I love drawing geeky things, so the more suggestions from places like GB the better! Also, if you're into drawing, doing the doodle-a-day challenge is a great way to improve your art, so I encourage you to play along! Thanks!

THIS. People always ask (including those in these comments) why it seems like some want Nintendo to fail. This is why. This is the dream: To (legally) play a Nintendo game on a non-Nintendo system. Would I like to play the next round of Mario/Zelda/Smash Bros/Metroid/et al.? Of course! I'm a fan of great games. But what @kael said is true--many Nintendo consoles collect dust between those games, especially if you own other platforms. That's what happened with my Wii, Gamecube and my 3DS.

Going to a software-only model would probably be a last resort. I wonder if Nintendo's pride would even let it happen, no matter the circumstances. I would love it though. Imagine a Zelda game becoming an event again. With Bioshock Infinite levels of debate, criticism and tribute, all because MORE people got to play it. That's the dream anyway.

Fun fact: The lead character in Heavenly Sword was voiced by Fringe's Anna Torv.

That game had issues, but it was definitely worth playing, if nothing else than to see more of Ninja Theory's excellent emotive facial animation.

That Zombies soundtrack is so fresh. I want to kiss it on the mouth. http://bignic.bandcamp.com/album/zombies-soundtrack

Seriously, haven't enjoyed a game soundtrack this much since Bastion. Loving it.