If you’re a regular attendee at Blizzcon, I’ve got some awful news for you (and your guild). Word has it that Blizzard has cancelled the epic convention known as Blizzcon, putting a halt on six successful years of the event. You can put your cosplay costume back in its protective casing and play the waiting game until the next convention in 2013.
Here is the official statement from Blizzard:
“We’re excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We're also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.”
Gamers, internet advocates, tech companies, opponents of government overreach and many more rejoiced last month when their concerted efforts to protest the SOPA and PIPA bills resulted in a loss of support for the bills among legislators and bill proponents. The dissolution of support for the bills was a major victory for online freedom, and demonstrated the valuable lesson that utilizing the organizational power of the Internet can afford real decision-making ability to individuals and organizations usually shut out of the process. However, let’s not make the mistake of assuming that bills like SOPA will simply go away.
Capcom continues to prove why it’s become an international enterprise and one of the best publishers and developers in the business. It has taken an enormous, and quite gruesome, idea and generously stretched it across over four generations of consoles and games. If you don’t know about Resident Evil, it’s time to crawl out from under the rock you've deemed home and take this amazing franchise for a spin around the block.
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Last week, Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released in North America, prompting fans everywhere to renew the debate concerning the future of Japanese role-playing games and whether they are set to innovate or decline. It will be interesting to see how one of the genre’s most beloved series fares with its North American release. If we see weak sales when the dust settles, what would it take to reinvigorate the genre?
In the previous article we briefly discussed Roger Ebert’s argument that video games can never be art (or at least high art) and came to the conclusion that a concrete definition of art can be elusive. Given that, we decided that it is sort of silly to labor over whether video games can be art. Of course they are art. So let’s go further. Can video games reach the status of high art? Can an artist use the video game as a platform of expression to create a great work? Well, I would say inevitably yes, given the ubiquity of video games as a medium of expression in today’s culture. And how do we know we aren’t standing amidst great works as we sit here and think? After all…humanity’s greatest works age over time, passing through various stages of criticism until they settle over generations of sustained critical consensus. Time will tell of course. In the meantime, in order for us to better understand video games as an art form and their potential for greatness, let’s talk about what video games are, what they can be and what they can do for the human experience.
Yes everyone, one of the most anticipated MMO's in years, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is finally out, but is it any good? Long time Star Wars fan and GamerGaia editor Joshua Mobley breaks down why he feels that Old Republic is the best MMO of all time and how other studios can learn from it.
In 2005, Roger Ebert declared that video games were inferior to forms of art like film and cinema; he even went so far as to say that video games can never be art anyways. Since then the debate has run its own course, flaring up when advocates on either side of the divide posit new, compelling arguments and counter arguments in order to advance their own positions. Over this period of time, Ebert has softened his position here and there.
