Level Design in Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Let's take a look at Skyward Sword in my first ever game analysis video!  Someone cue the awesome music and confetti.

A comparison between two areas in Skyward Sword:  Faron Woods and Eldin Volcano.

Filmed somewhere in the grainy darkness.

In The News: Improve Your Eyesight by Shooting Foreigners

A recent article on The Escapist website offers some scientific evidence that video games may actually be good for your eyesight in certain situations.  Of course, this goes against much long-held wisdom that staring at a screen for hours on end is bad for your eyes. 

Let's Play Sunday: Yoshi's Island Part 1

Alright everyone, time to START A NEW TRADITION!

*cricket chirps*

Well anyway, every Sunday I'm going to put up a new video of me playing through a game of my choice, making commentary as I go.  For those of you who have been under a rock, this is called a "let's play."

We're gonna start off with one of the best games ever, Yoshi's Island.  Disagree?  Go lick a wall, since you obviously have no taste. 

Gather round and be mystified by my lack of humor!

Any input to help me improve these videos will be greatly appreciated. 

Will Yoshi be able to save baby Luigi?  Will I continue to be this horribly unfunny? Does movie trailer voice come through in text? Find out next week.

Examining The Darkness II Demo

Over the past couple of weeks I have been assaulted from all sides of the Internet by an ad for The Darkness II.  Under most circumstances, I wouldn’t have paid this game any attention since I normally doze off during those thirty second ads before videos, but this time was a bit different.  My roommate had noticed this game and said he thought it looked cool.  I asked him what kind of game it was and, of course, he couldn’t tell me.  The trailer forwarded in those brief ads contains no gameplay, so it’s hard to tell what you’re getting into.  Out of curiosity I downloaded the demo (yeah, just the demo.  I’m a poor college student) to see what all the fuss was about.

Story Time

Story in video games is quite the hot topic (no, not the store).  People stand on both sides of the debate.  Some think story is incredibly important aspect of a video game.  Meanwhile, others don’t want all of those complicated words getting in the way of their virtual genocide quest.  Who’s right, then?  Can games be good without a story?  Does a story actually detract from a game?