Okay, given the economy, my shakey employment status, and a slew of other issues, this is relevant stuff, people.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a person to dissolve the monetary bonds which have connected them with a business, and to assume among their powers a new station to which the laws of bill pay and of supply and demand supposedly entitle them, a decent respect to their opinions requires that s/he should declare the causes which impel him/her to a new position. But then again, a prospective new employer should be up front about who they are and what they do.

These problems are seen mostly in newer games, namely the GTA series, its clones, and all their officially unemployed protagonists. However, when searching for a job, this gentle riff off of the Declaration of Independence also holds true.

See, last month I enquired about a magazine writing job recently, and at first everything seemed on the up and up. But upon further inspection (now roughly a month after applying), the business has gotten back in touch with me. In the meantime, though, its address has all but disappeared; a new website has gone up, more or less eliminating the magazine’s connection with a legitimate advertising company; and it would seem the only contact information is a cell phone number. I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen this kind of weirdness happen.

I really feel like this economic fuster-cluck is upping entrepreneurship in a very negative way. Yes, people are coming up with new and exciting products, but they’re scams, hoaxes, and other forms of complete lies. I don’t see the point. I mean, why scam people who are already broke? Okay, yes, there’s identity theft, but with the way things are, I have my doubts that very many people have enough credit left for such efforts to be worth the time.

Anyways, it’s odd that someone would go through the trouble of creating a scam that makes them seem like an industry-specific magazine, headed by a media company from Oklahoma. There’s no glamour. There’s no potential for fame. So who are they targeting? Whatever the case, given the unprofessional form letters, the mySpace site, and the lack of information, I’m uneasy. I’ll still interview, but I’ll be on the lookout for giveaways.

But I’m beginning to understand circumstantial anti-heroes like Niko Bellic.

Organizes Characters By The Dungeons & Dragons Organization System

This chart shows the moral alignments of nine pop culture chararacters using the Dungeons & Dragons alignment system. Rorschach as Chaotic Good? I think that Chaotic Neutral is more likely. And Neutral Good for John Locke at best.

Top row, left to right: John Locke of Lost, Dwight from Sin City, Rorschach of Watchmen.
Middle row: Indiana Jones, Niko Bellic of Grand Theft Auto 4, Tyler Durden of Fight Club.
Bottom row: Darth Vader, Anton Chigurh of No Country for Old Men, and the Joker.

via John Farrier >> Neatorama

Extra Sources:

Popped Culture

Explanation of Alignment System

When talking about the role of story in a video game, I think it just depends on the type of person you are. For example, many people just play Halo for the shooting and killing. While this is the primary and most fun part of the game, there is a lot more to the game than that. I actually do sometimes stop and look at the “beautifully-rendered trees” and the wide variety of expansive environments. The story is also a lot more complex and interesting than most other games, but it is up to the gamer how much they want to know about it. For example, in Halo 3 there are numerous hidden “terminals” that the gamer can find. These terminals reveal a lot about what happened before the games, especially about the war between the ancient Forerunners and the Flood parasite thousands of years ago. There are also dozens of Halo books that further explicate the history and legend of Halo. It is not necessary to find these terminals, and many people just skip the terminals and cutscenes to just concentrate on the combat. If a player chooses to ignore the story, the game is just an action-packed alien-killing shooting rampage.

Someone in class also said that “no one plays Grand Theft Auto for the missions”, which I completely disagree with. When I first got Grand Theft Auto IV, the first thing I did was go through the missions, because I was interested in what the protagonist, Niko Bellic, would be like. The evolution of Niko’s character really interested me, along with all the shooting, stealing, and car chases the missions involve. I was emotionally invested in his story, and towards the end of the game, I really wanted him to get revenge on Dmitri. After I had completed all of the missions, killing people just wasn’t as fun anymore. Niko was just killing people because he was bored, not because an Italian mob boss was paying him to do it (as in the missions). Sure, it can be fun to drive expensive cars at over 100 mph while running over the pedestrians, but there aren’t really any repercussions to it, and gets boring after while if it doesn’t advance the story. Although gameplay is important, the story is what sets a game apart from others.

- Kashyap Saxena

Scenario GTA IV

RECENSIONE NOMAD

Dopo il grande successo di Grand Theft  Auto  San Andreas e l’uscita dei capitoli successivi riguardanti la terza serie della grande e acclamata serie video ludica Grand Theft Auto le aspettative che sono cresciute in noi in questi anni nell’attesa di un nuovo capitolo sono state più che appagate e questo grazie all’immersione e al divertimento che questo nuovo episodio della saga ci propone. Grand Theft Auto IV ha impiegato anni per vedere la luce e ne è valsa sicuramente la pena. Approdando nella next-generation il gioco si presenta con una grafica molto pulita che raggiunge l’apice nella versione PC. Le texture sono molto dettagliate e anche la modellazione poligonale è ottima, solo qualche incertezza vi è quando girovagando la notte si può notare che le ombre presentano contorni seghettati. La grande varietà che i quattro quartieri offrono da un senso di vicinanza alla realtà. La città di Liberty City è ispirata fortemente a New York, ed uguale per circa l’80%, anche se vi sono alcune particolarità e differenze.

• La Statua della Libertà, a differenza di quella reale, ha in mano un bicchiere da caffè da cui esce una piccola fumata bianca, al posto della classica fiaccola; inoltre il volto ha un’espressione sorridente, mentre nella realtà è seria.

• La Statua della Libertà viene chiamata “La Statua della Spensieratezza”; lo stesso per Liberty Island, che viene denominata “L’Isola della Felicità”.

• È possibile salire all’interno del museo che vi è sotto la Statua della Libertà; è inoltre possibile entrare dentro il monumento stesso. Una particolare curiosità ed allo stesso tempo strana è che all’interno si trova un cuore umano meccanico che emette battiti cardiaci.

• Le macchine della Polizia di Liberty City sono identiche a quelle reali del distretto di New York, con la differenza che quelle reali sulle portiere hanno la scritta NYPD, mentre nel gioco LCPD.

• Mettendo in pausa si può notare che la mappa di Liberty City rispecchia perfettamente le tre isole di New York.

• Alcuni quartieri presenti nel videogioco non esistono nel mondo reale oppure sono notevolmente espansi poiché in molti si concentrano le avventure del protagonista.

• La maggior parte dei quartieri che vi sono in tutte le tre isole sono quasi tutti praticamente uguali a quelli reali, però molti hanno nomi simili o diversi.

• Tra i tanti soprannomi che ha New York, uno di questi è City of Liberty.

• I programmatori rockstar hanno deciso di modificare il volto della Statua della Libertà in quello di Hillary Clinton la quale creò non pochi ostacoli alla produzione di un altro titolo della serie.

La versione PC di GTA IV ha portato notevoli miglioramenti ad un gioco ritenuto perfetto che ora vi elenco:

• Risoluzione massima portata a 2560×1600 (oltre il quadruplo di 720p) (risoluzione max. console: 720p Xbox 360 – 630p PlayStation 3).
• Distanza di rendering notevolmente ampliata.
• Triplicato il numero di vetture visualizzabili contemporaneamente.
• Aumentato il numero di pedoni.
• Miglioramento notevole delle texture, degli effetti di luce(HDR), fumo e acqua.
• Possibilità di utilizzare contemporaneamente Joypad e Mouse.
• È presente l’opzione replay, ovvero la possibilità di rivedere e montare in un video alcuni spezzoni del nostro gameplay, per poi pubblicarli su internet tramite Rockstar Social Club.
• Migliorati i filtri per le partite online.
• Il numero massimo di giocatori in multiplayer della versione PC è di 32 giocatori (16 per console).
• La versione PC nonostante evidenti miglioramenti rispetto alla versione per console, era affetta da molti bug. Al lancio del gioco per la versione PC molti utenti si lamentarono di tali problemi e in seguito furono rilasciate ben 4 patch dagli sviluppatori per correggere ogni problema.

Ma tutte queste migliorie hanno un peso non indifferente infatti questi sono i requisiti di sistema per giocare:

Requisiti di sistema minimi:
Sistema operativo: Windows Vista – Service Pack 1 / XP – Service Pack 3
Processore: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
Memoria: 1.5GB RAM, 16GB di spazio libero su disco
Scheda video: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Requisiti di sistema consigliati:
istema operativo: Windows Vista – Service Pack 1 / XP – Service Pack 3
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
Memoria: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista) RAM, 18 GB di spazio libero su disco
Scheda video: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

Il plot è un altro elemento fondamentale per il successo del gioco la trama parla di Niko Bellic, un immigrato dell’Est Europa, sbarca clandestinamente a Liberty City , la città che suo cugino Roman, arrivato lì da tempo, aveva descritto nelle sue email come “la terra delle opportunità”. Niko cerca di lasciarsi alle spalle la vita che faceva in Europa, dove era costretto ad essere un malavitoso per tirare avanti. Tenta così di ricominciare tutto da capo negli Stati Uniti, incoraggiato da Roman il quale gli aveva scritto di vivere appieno il Sogno Americano e possedere ville, auto sportive, e di passare il tempo divertendosi sulle spiagge, circondato da donne stupende. Ma la realtà è molto diversa: Roman abita in un misero appartamento, possiede una piccola società di taxi ma è sommerso dai debiti derivati dalla sua passione per il gioco d’azzardo. Niko è così costretto ad arrangiarsi, e a cominciare di nuovo la sua “vecchia vita”.

Niko Bellic

La campagna single player è duratura è mai monotona grazie all’amplia varietà di missioni. Ma un ruolo fondamentale è giocato dalla modalità Multiplayer. L’accesso al mondo on-line è semplice e veloce, in quanto Niko potrà collegarsi ad una qualsiasi partita con il semplice utilizzo del proprio telefono cellulare. A questo punto è possibile personalizzare il proprio alter-ego digitale in ogni minimo dettaglio, partendo dall’etnia di appartenenza ai vestiti da indossare sbloccabili con l’avanzare dei livelli online. Fatto questo, si avranno finalmente a disposizione le svariate modalità. Nella modalità on-line del gioco, sono presenti i classici Deathmatch, a squadre ed il “solo”, una Race Mode, per disputare corse all’interno della città, una co-op fino a quattro giocatori per scontrarsi con la polizia ed una “classica” modalità molto simile a guardie e ladri, dove gli utenti potranno vestire i panni di uno dei due schieramenti.

Questo gioco quindi ci offre un esperienza di gioco degna della fama della serie, i ragazzi di Rockstar Games ci hanno offerto un gioco completo che ci divertirà oltre la fine della campagna single player. L’acquisto è obbligato ai fan della serie e per chi ha voglia di godersi uno dei giochi migliori usciti nel 2008.

Da segnalare inoltre Hangman’s Noose, dove fino a quattro giocatori sono impegnati nel difendere e scortare un obiettivo fino ad una zona prestabilita, e Mafia, dove gli utenti hanno specifici obiettivi da portare a termine entro un tempo limite. Le modalità sono le seguenti:

• Noose Scappa
• Via con l’Auto
• Mina La Base II
• Mafia
• Mafya a Squadre
• Deathmatch
• Deathmatch a Squadre
• Guerra per il territorio
• Guardie e Ladroni
• Corsa
• Corsa GTA
• Il guastafeste
• Modalità libera

Ricordando che per la versione PC il massimo dei giocatori è 32 il divertimento è assicurato per gli estimatori di questa macchina di gioco.

La versione per Xbox360 gode anche di due Espansion Pack:

1)     Il 17 febbraio 2009, la Rockstar Games ha rilasciato un’espansion pack del gioco, intitolata Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned. Questa espansione è stata rilasciata, tramite download. Il gioco presenta una storia tutta nuova con protagonisti differenti rispetto al gioco originale, nuove armi e una nuova colonna sonora, definita da molti “di tutto rispetto”

2)     Rockstar Games ha dichiarato che il nome della prossima espansione sarà Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony e che il suo protagonista sarà Luis Fernando Lopez, già apparso nei precedenti episodi. Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony sarà disponibile il 29 ottobre 2009 tramite il download per la console Xbox 360 e per essere eseguito richiederà la copia originale di Grand Theft Auto IV. Inoltre all’uscita dell’espansione verrà rilasciato anche Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, un disco che conterrà anche la prima espansione: in questo caso non sarà necessario, per giocarci, possedere la copia originale di Grand Theft Auto IV.

[Wikipedia]

Questo gioco quindi ci offre un esperienza di gioco degna della fama della serie, i ragazzi di Rockstar Games ci hanno offerto un gioco completo che ci divertirà oltre la fine della campagna single player. L’acquisto è obbligato ai fan della serie e per chi ha voglia di godersi uno dei giochi migliori usciti nel 2008.

-

GRAFICA: 9

LONGEVITA’: 9,5

GIOCABILITA’:9

STORYLINE: 8.5

SONORO: 9

-

GIUDIZIO FINALE: 9

-

Disponibile per PS3, X360 e PC!

]]> http://marianok.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/gta-la-gran-manzana/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:58:06 +0000 marianok http://marianok.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/gta-la-gran-manzana/ http://losvideosgratis.com/2009/09/03/trailer-grand-theft-auto-iv-the-ballad-of-gay-tony/ Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:35:38 +0000 takezo82 http://losvideosgratis.com/2009/09/03/trailer-grand-theft-auto-iv-the-ballad-of-gay-tony/

El segundo episodio exclusivo para 360 llevará el sobrenombre de “The Ballad of Gay Tony” (La balada de Gay Tony), como novedade podremos usar el paracaidas. De momento es exclusivo para 360 y se espera que se salga a la venta el 29 de Octubre. Como curiosidad la canción es de Pjanoo de Eric Prydz.

Pronto... muy pronto!

El capitulo descargable más exitoso del Xbox 360, podría llegar muy pronto a “la negrita”.

El éxito sin precedentes de esa primera historia, que transformaba la aventura de Niko Bellic en una totalmente distinta pero igual de profunda y extensa, supuso una recuperación aproximada del 40% del dinero invertido por Microsoft en dicha exclusividad.

Y pues ahora Sony le quiere entrar al quite para hacerse de un “poquito” de esa ganancia y llevarlo al PS3 (un poco tarde en mi opinión).

La cuestión aquí, es que al parecer, ya está apareciendo en el listado de una cadena de tiendas americanas, pero no sólo eso… sino que la propia Sony afirma haber mostrado en un evento privado las primeras imágenes de ‘The Lost and Damned’ corriendo en PS3.

Rockstar en cambio afirma que “‘The Lost and Damned” y ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ son ambos exclusivos de Xbox 360. Pero hoy, por hoy, sabemos muy bien lo que “exclusivo” significa, qué no?   Hoy en día, exclusivo se relaciona más con la palabra “temporal“.

Esperemos que no llegue demasiado tarde dicho DLC a la negrita de Sony. En mi caso ya ni de chiste jugaba el GTA 4 (antes de que se achicharrara) y creo que además de tarde, llegaría muy caro el DLC.

NOTE: This piece contains potential spoilers regarding the following TV Shows and Games: 

• Ghost Whisperer
• Firefly/Serenity
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer
• Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
• GTA IV
• Dead Space

If you plan to watch/play these DON’T READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!

So now that’s out of the way let me explain.

A few weeks ago a main character died on a TV show that I watch and I found myself a little choked up. That in itself is not really a surprise as I’m not the most difficult person to get an emotional response from – though we’re talking lump in the throat as opposed to actual tears.

It got me thinking about the reasons I would feel these emotions about fictional characters – was there some sort of checklist the programme-makers tick off to evoke these feelings? Or is it just that the makers/actors create the illusion differently each time?

Likewise with games, although it seems harder to trigger that same response (for me personally) – I haven’t really choked up over a game but I have often found myself shaken, or perhaps stunned is more accurate, by characters deaths.

I discovered that research into this sort of thing has been going on for decades.

Back in 1956 an article entitled “Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction” was written by Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl. They discussed how the general public (or audience) felt connected to the TV presenters at the time because they were addressing the screen (and therefore the viewers) directly.

Research continued in the 70’s and 80’s and the term ‘Para-Social Interaction/Relationship’ came to mean the affection that viewers feel with the characters or personalities they see on screen.

So why was I upset when Jim died in Ghost Whisperer? Or knocked for six when Kate got shot at the end of GTA IV? I am a rational person – I have no delusions that these are real people, so what’s going on?

The answer it seems lies in further research…

Viewers attach themselves to characters – that is an obvious statement. If no one cared about the characters no one would watch the show. However it’s the depth of the attachment and the reasons for it that seem to cause these Para-Social Relationships.

Some people identify with characters, or at the very least facets of them, and invest emotionally because they feel a sense of familiarity when watching.

Others idolize the characters or see them as role models. Someone they look up to perhaps, or aspire to be like.

Either way you’re drawn to these works of fiction and invest a great deal of emotion and time (especially in TV shows and games which can both last for hour upon hour) in them.

That is certainly a reasonable explanation – especially looking at something like GTA IV where you have crafted out a relationship with Kate for Niko (the character you control) by actually spending time with her and going on ‘dates’ etc. 

Several deaths in Buffy The Vampire Slayer shocked and moved me but for very different reasons.

The death of Buffy’s mother Joyce was possibly more to do with the way it was handled – with Buffy finding her stricken on the sofa, eyes wide open but unresponsive following a brain tumour. It was powerful stuff anyway but the bleakness and honesty of the scene was both upsetting and slightly disturbing. The fact that they showed the scene repeatedly during the episode also made it hit home harder.

Whereas the death of Anya, right at the end of the last season was upsetting in that a) she was a main character and b) in the chaos of the fight she was struck down almost without a death scene as the action continued.

Having said that Joss Whedon has a history of killing off main characters unexpectedly – in Serenity the ships pilot Wash is killed during a crash landing but at least with that death we got to see his wife’s reaction and emotion.

In Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Derek Reese is killed quickly and while the shock did hit home it wasn’t as emotional as the other deaths I mentioned, say Jim in Ghost Whisperer, which had a longer build up.

So is there a reason some deaths effect us more than others? Is it solely down to our relationship with the characters and how we feel about them? Or do the makers of these programmes have some tricks up their sleeves?

I suspect it’s a mixture of both. Of course the director can use certain shots/angles or a powerful piece of music under the scene to help things along but if the actors don’t put the performances in the response won’t be as strong.

Maybe the groundwork has already been laid by the director in revealing the character to you in a certain light to motivate you to like and identify with them?

Going back to the former point about actors, perhaps that is why the emotions I feel during games are weaker than TV/Film? As great as the graphics are in games these days they are not entirely lifelike and often the person voicing the character is doing so months before the character is even properly created.

I expect you would get more of an emotional tie to a character you’d created, say in something like World Of Warcraft. If a character you’d built up from scratch and moulded however you wanted was killed it would hit you harder I would guess. I don’t play those types of games so I couldn’t answer that question directly.

The closest I’ve ever come to that is when I tried the Sims in 2 player with my wife. We created ourselves but unfortunately I died in a house fire I certainly wouldn’t play that again

Either way I’m glad to feel those emotions watching. It restores a little of my faith in TV/Film that these shows can evoke feelings of emotional shock or choke me up – especially when so called ‘reality’ television seems to be taking over the TV schedules more and more all the time. Certainly a worrying trend if ever there was one.

As for games I look forward to increasingly improving stories – more of stuff like Fahrenheit, Bioshock, Infamous, GTA IV and Dead Space. Games that made me feel something.

As the world of gaming evolves even further I think we have plenty of great stories to look forward to playing through.

Note: I found the website below really helpful in researching this article and I’m not one to take unwarranted credit so please check it out if you’re interested or want more information:

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6428/Attachment-to-Media-Characters.html

Después de que Los Cazafantasmas sacaran nuevo videojuego de nueva generación, ahora unos usuarios han creado un mod para disfrutar del coche de Los cazafantasmas en el GTA para Pc.

Vía RSS‏ de Coolshowcase reencuentro los increíbles trabajos de Jax Pixeloo; han rulado mucho por la web así que es probable que ya los conozcais. Jax Pixeloo es otro de esos maestros del Photoshop que nos dejan boquiabiertos con su habilidades e ideas. Homer Simpson, Jessica Rabbit, Mario Bros, Stewie Griffin o más recientemente Niko Bellic; más humanos que nunca a base de fotomontaje y texturizado con fotografías.

En este video podeis ver el proceso con la pelirroja de ¿Quién engañó a Roger Rabbit?:

Blog + DeviantArt

God Bless Rockstar, if they weren’t happy with players having to stare at a certain mayors meat and two berries, we can all be sure their intentions are clear with new downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto 4 named Ballad of Gay Tony. Adding a much needed sense of glitz and glamour to Liberty city the player character is Luis Lopez, lackey hoodlum turned personal assistant to the infamous nightclub celebrity and  entrepreneur, Tony Prince aka Gay Tony (who is pictured left). Having only appeared in two missions previously, one in the original campaign and a further appearance in The Lost and Damned, it seems as though the vast majority of the missions will be entirely new and based on a lengthy new single player story line, just like previous DLC.

Mr Prince, sans glitz.

Not many details are out in the ether at the moment, but we can be sure that this new episode in the GTA universe will feature prominently at this years E3 and maybe even a trailer appearance much like the Lost and Damned at this year’ s Video Game Awards. To me video games have always lacked homosexual characters in anything other than offensive camp stereotypes, it will be interesting to see how the team at Rockstar North approach this contentious subject. Not always the most sensitive bunch admittedly but recently GTA games have represented an emotional gravitas in story telling which lean more towards authenticity than rampant wish fulfilment. Characters that become memorable in their actions and words, not through their sensationalist behaviour but through subtlety and social observation which makes them that much easier to identify with.

To many gamers Lost and Damned surpassed any expectations they ever had regarding downloadable content and for some it even was better than the story of Niko in the story of the original game. Perhaps most importantly Rockstar and publisher Take Two have recognised that some players were apprehensive to spend so much money on a downloadable asset, so this expansion will be released simultaneously on both Xbox live and in retail on a disc. One could argue that this is a backward step for the on-line distribution scene, but as an individual who worked in retail during the Lost and Damned marketing blitz on release many gamers couldn’t get their head around the distribution model. Grand Theft Auto has always straddled the line between the most hardcore of players and the casual, the most numerous of which are in the latter. Whether Lost and Damned will be seen in a store near you in the near future is still to be decided, or at least confirmed. But for the time being it will be interesting to see how this like-able chap named Tony will perform at all good retailers.

Update: Just recieved an email from Rockstar PR, both Lost and Damned and Ballad of Gay Tony will hit UK stores this autumn. They each will be priced as 1600 points on xbox live or £16.99 respectively.

May remind you of Vice City, that makes us happy.

Secondo il sito psxextreme.com, sembra proprio che la rockstar stia per sfornare un altro titolo di GTA.

Che dire aspettiamo l’ E3 di giugno!

Anybody with a grain of intelligence knows that Rockstar is hard at work on an all new Grand Theft Auto game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. And we have no doubt that there’s already something up and running, and now an Game Informer’s editor, Andrew Reiner, has basically confirmed as much with the following tweet popping up on his Twitter:

“Rockstar was just in the Game Informer office. I can’t tell you what they showed me, but it might have been Grand Theft Auto V.”

Commence full scale interweb explosion, folks. The not so subtle message basically confirms that Rockstar is getting close to revealing an all new GTA game for us, and we have a feeling that E3 2009 is going to be the place where it all goes down. No word on what Rockstar showed off, because they may very well have just showed GI an untitled trailer, and Reiner assumes what he saw was GTAV, all of that is up in the air. But seeing as how distinct Grand Theft Auto is, it’d be fairly hard to mistake it for anything else when you see it. Here’s hoping! 

Now the next question on my mind is…are the rumors of a timed PS3 exclusive for GTAV going to come true? Oh, the suspense.

Through unintentional irony, L.B Jeffries has helped me prove my assertion that:  ”Abstract concept can be powerful but are difficult to appreciate without specific examples.” I’d like to claim that I had intended for my previous post to be a overly abstract so as to prove a point but unfortunately it was merely the result of some poor editing at two in the morning. Therefore I’m going to continue my with some specific examples of embedded and emergent boundaries and their affects on the experience of play. As I have a number of examples that I feel are relevant and worthy of study.

The overarching context of Far Cry 2 is that of being a mercenary in a war torn African nation. The embedded boundaries of the game present this fictional setting, imposing limits on both logical and physical exploration; where the player is free to go and the actions they are free to take. An part of these embedded boundaries are the mechanics handling the implementation of the buddy system. This includes not only the logical rules explaining buddy behaviour and interaction but also the textures, models, animations and audio lines related to each buddy. All of these are elements embedded in the game, crafted by the designers and artists and immutable. Though different players can meet and interact with different buddy characters the rules governing those interactions and the assets used to present them, are selected from a predefined range of possibilities.

The road less traveled...

When I play Far Cry 2 I am bringing, often unintentionally, a set of subjective emergent boundaries with me. My interactions with the character of Nasreen Davar might have relied on the predefined rules and assets that are embedded elements of the game, however my reaction to her was influenced heavily by my own perceptions and beliefs. My personal play experience was still within the confines of that defined by the embedded boundaries (As is the experience of everybody who plays the game), but the specifics of that experienced were further shaped by the emergent boundaries I had erected. The motivations I assigned to Nasreen and other characters was not something hardwired into the mechanics of the game, it was an emergent conceit born of my interpretation of the provided fictional context.

Nowhere in the game rules is there anything that explicitly defines a scene of implied rape, however during my time that particular portion of the game it was something I was very conscious of. Nasreen had been contextualised as a female mercenary and through interactions with me had been deemed by the game, and myself, to be my buddy. When she was taken away the embedded boundaries restricted the actions that were available to rescuing her or escaping on my own, but my  own emergent boundaries restricted those two options even further to the singular activity of ensuring she was safe.

The emergent boundaries served to reinforce the embedded boundaries.

A further example of this form of reinforcement can be seen in the way that Far Cry 2 handled physical movement. Though a lot of the country is reachable by road there are various checkpoints on these roads that when approached will cause you to get be fired upon by the mercenaries and militia manning them. In the abstract: “certain locations on the map have clusters of respawning objects based around them.” As with my previous examples this abstract concept could apply to many situations, however in this case the locations are contextualised as checkpoints and objects as enemy characters.

Far Cry 2’s world is one at war, knowing this I came to the game with certain assumptions, certain emergent boundaries, one of which was that roads as the primary means of travel, would be guarded and therefore dangerous. Entering the world I naturally tested this assumption, and finding it to be accurate I made it a point to avoid roads as much as possible. Doing so I found I was not attacked as frequently and I would often find diamonds, tapes, and alternate routes to important locations that I would have missed had I not gone off the beaten track.

The context of the game caused me to make certain assumptions, which were reinforced by the mechanics of the game, leading to a change in my play experience.

Emergent behaviours are ones influenced more by players own emergent boundaries than the embedded boundaries provided by the game.

That'll be expensive... Or not...

This process of reinforcement is not always the case however, consider Grand Theft Auto IV. The context of the game is that of a Serbian immigrant, Niko Bellic, arriving in America ostensibly to meet his successful cousin Roman. As is hinted from the first time you meet him Roman is not exactly living the “American Dream” and money is a problem. Throughout the game the need for money is brought up as a motivation on numerous occasions often being the driving reason for Niko’s willing participation in criminal activities. For each of these activities Niko is rewarded with a resource which is contextualised as money, specifically American dollars. These are all embedded elements of the game.

Understanding the concept of money, and having a fair idea of how much the dollar is worth on average I was willing to accept being paid certain amounts for certain tasks. However within what felt like an unnaturally short period of time I had earned enough to buy a much better apartment than my current safe house, and live a significantly more affluent lifestyle. Despite this the game still made a point of encouraging me to take on missions to earn money.  The embedded boundaries of the game were in conflict with the emergent boundaries formed from my understanding of the concept of money and the relative worth of the dollar.

My emergent boundaries were undermining the embedded boundaries, there was a conflict, a dissonance between what the game was explicitly telling me was important and what it was implying was important.

I stopped caring about money as a motivation, and subsequently stopped caring about Niko Bellic as a character because his stated motivations were transparent falsehoods, he clearly didn’t need the money.

There are a great deal of amazing online games you can play with your mates *coughs* Killzone 2 *coughs* on your PS3.

While these are often really rewarding experiences it’s true that sometimes you just fancy going solo, staying ’signed out’ and hitting some single-player action. Or you haven’t got the internet (Andrew (@shandation) I’m looking at you).

So for those of you looking for something a bit more story based that you can enjoy on your own here is my list of the top 10 best single player games:

10) MIRROR’S EDGE

Mirror’s Edge wowed everyone with its crisp, clean graphics and it’s unique first person perspective.

Obviously a lot of games have a first person viewpoint but most of these are ’shooters’ whereas Mirror’s Edge is more of a parkour style run and jump adventure.

The game takes place in a slightly futuristic setting, in a city that is totally controlled by the government. They keep tabs on the general population by using surveillance cameras and tracking all forms of electronic communication.

You take on the role on Faith, a “Runner”, who uses rooftops and other means to help deliver physical messages between revolutionary groups within the city. Following on from a set of dramatic events Faith finds herself being hunted by the authorities and has to try to stop the government silencing her.

The perspective takes a while to get used to and it had a few really annoying parts where it was difficult to time jumps etc because of the view but Mirror’s Edge is certainly worth playing through as it offers a style of gameplay that is totally unique in the current games market.

9) RAINBOW SIX VEGAS

If you like your first person shooters with a bit of brain behind the brawn then Rainbow Six Vegas may be the game for you.

You play as Logan Keller a member of the elite Rainbow Six team. Initially sent into a small Mexican border town to flush out a terrorist ringleader. Soon after your escapades south of the border you’re deployed to Las Vegas where a new terrorist threat is imminent.

This game is a lot more tactical than your average fps, for the majority of the game you’ll have two AI teammates with you who you can order to move into position and even get them to ’stack up’ (ie get ready to enter) at unopened doors.

And you’ll need all the help you can get. This isn’t an easy game and Ubisoft have gone for a more realistic tone. You’re probably looking at two shots before death and it’s possible for enemies to catch you with a headshot and kill you with one bullet.

Luckily your team mates are pretty intelligent and commanding them isn’t a problem.

With a good old fashioned SAS vs Terrorists style plot and lots of fun set pieces Rainbow Six Vegas is definitely worth a shot.

8 ) KANE AND LYNCH

The first of two, in my opinion, vastly underrated PS3 games that make this list.

While not setting the world on fire and suffering from some control/camera issues Kane and Lynch was a brilliant gaming experience.

You take control of Adam ‘Kane’ Marcus, a criminal on his way to death row for crimes committed in Venezuela. Kane is busted out of his prison van by a mysterious group called The7 who he worked with previously. They think Kane stole the money from their last job and stashed it somewhere.

If he doesn’t get them the money back in three weeks his wife and daughter will be killed. Kane claims he doesn’t know where it is but he does know who took the cash and will hunt them down. And so begins a thoroughly enjoyable ride into the desperate life of Kane…

My full review is available here: http://greghorrorshow.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/lynch-do-this-lynch-do-that-lynch-stop-murdering-the-hostages/

While this game is fairly linear some of the set pieces are really impressive, the bank job and the jailbreak spring to mind immediately as stand out levels.

You can pick this up for as little as £14.99 pre-owned and it’s certainly worth a play through.

7) HEAVENLY SWORD

Another game that didn’t garner the respect it deserves, primarily because it didn’t live up to the pre-release hype.

I played this a while after it came out and wasn’t really effected by the previous hype so I really enjoyed it.

If you like God Of War you will like this game as it’s similar in style but it looks gorgeous in HD and I believe did a few bits (combos/blocking etc) better than the first two God Of War games.

Heavenly Sword tells the story of Nariko, a brutal female warrior whose clan protects the “Heavenly Sword”, a sword from the god’s that actually drains the life from whoever uses it. King Bohan, ruler of the land, wants to get the sword and use it for his own means.

The battles are frantic, often with hundreds of soldiers onscreen at once and the cut scenes have some of the best production values I’ve ever seen.

Heavenly Sword has a great story but is fairly short by game standards – you’re probably looking at around 5-6 hours to finish it however they will be a fun filled few hours!

6) ASSASSIN’S CREED

Assassin’s Creed is the story of bartender Desmond Miles who is kidnapped by a nameless company and awakens to find himself strapped into a machine (The Animus) that unlocks deeply buried memories from Desmond’s ancestors that are intertwined within Desmond’s DNA.

The memory they are interested in is of a man called Altair, an assassin around the year 1191 in the Holy Land.

Effectively you play through Desmond’s memories as Altair (with brief interludes as Desmond struggling to find out what is going on in the present day). You will need to research targets and carry out assassinations using a variety of options – sword, hidden blade, knife etc.

The only problem I had with this game was the initial scouting – you cannot progress into certain areas (your memory is blocked ) until you have scaled a huge building and surveyed the surrounding area. I found this a bit boring and repetitive however you must stick with the game past this part to get the best of it.

This game is great fun and I’m looking forward to the sequel which is on it’s way.

5) KILLZONE 2

Don’t need to say much about this game really, my review can be found here: http://greghorrorshow.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/killzone-2-review-ps3/

The multi-player is what everyone has concentrated on and rightly so, however the solo mode is definitely worth playing.

The cinematics are brilliant and some of the set pieces really do feel like you’re there.

While it might not have the best storyline ever written if you have a PS3, whether you plan on getting online or not, this is an essential purchase.

4) GTA IV

One the biggest selling games of this generation GTA IV features the fortunes (and lack thereof) of Niko Bellic – an immigrant arriving in the US at Liberty City to find empty promises and broken dreams from his cousin Roman.

As you work your way up the criminal ladder you’ll encounter all sort of dodgy characters and befriend even more.

The amount of things you can do in GTA IV is mind boggling but never feels overwhelming.

Once you get the hang of the aim and cover systems you will be blasting your way round the city in no time.

This is one of those games you really have to play to believe. The way the world carries on around you, the overheard conversations of other pedestrians, the fact you could play this game for hours experiencing new things without even touching the missions.

Liberty City is a wonderful, if run down, place and Niko Bellic’s story is one you will enjoy playing through so make sure you pick this game up as soon as possible.

3) METAL GEAR SOLID 4

Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Magnum Opus of the PS3.

Hideo Kojima’s tale of Solid Snake’s final mission is a brilliant showcase of the Playstation 3’s power.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is set seven years after the events of the 2nd game (Metal Gear Solid 3 having been a prequel) and sees Snake back in action – but this time as an old man. Because of his accelerated aging process (play the other three games to find out why ) we find ourselves playing as a hero who is, I suspect, about 60.

Obviously this doesn’t really hamper him too much apart from the odd moan about his back giving him jip and where the previous games featured mainly stealth, Metal Gear 4 allows you to be a bit more gung ho.

This is a game that often gives you three or four different ways of approaching things – whether you realise it or not.

One thing about the story is that the cut scenes can be long – and I mean long. Some of them clocked in well over half an hour and obviously that’s a fair while to just sit watching.

But this is one game that rewards those patient enough to stick with it by giving them a great gaming experience, with some memorable boss battles, that they won’t forget.

2) DEAD SPACE

Coming on somewhere between Event Horizon and Aliens, Dead Space is a third person survival horror game.

You take on the role of Isaac Clarke, a ship engineer who finds himself trapped onboard a stricken spaceship infested with an alien outbreak which is threatening to take over the ship.

Full review of the game here: http://greghorrorshow.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/dead-space-review/

Needless to say this was one of the best games I played last year and it deserves to be above both GTA IV and Metal Gear 4 for its storytelling and atmospheric setting.

The use of sound is immense and the fear of the unexpected they create is awesome. I am not a big fan of horror movies or being made to jump all the time but Dead Space kept on the right side of all that by being unpredictable enough to be enjoyable as a ‘horror’ experience.

1) UNCHARTED: DRAKE’S FORTUNE

Nathan Drake, the character you control, is an explorer and treasure hunter.

Uncharted maps his journey as he tries to find the lost treasure of El Dorado encountering, among other things, rival treasure hunters and mercenaries.

Initial impressions article here: http://greghorrorshow.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/uncharted-drakes-fortune-quality/

I still maintain this is possibly the best PS3 game I have played as an overall experience.

The graphics are unbelievable and the gameplay is well paced and well thought out. The characters and story and really well conceived and Nolan North, who voices Drake, is absolutely spot on with his irreverent humour and wisecracks.

At its heart Uncharted is an action adventure game much in the vein of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider but, and I say this as a fan of both of these, it is better than either of them.

There is no reason for anyone not to buy this as it’s now in the platinum range (£19.99) and can actually be bought online for as little as £14.99. Get it.. now!

So there you have it.

This list is obviously based on stuff I have played and enjoyed so there are bound to be a few great games missing (Bioshock, which I must get at some stage, Call Of Duty (although again I’ve heard that is stronger in multi-player?) and Resi Evil 5 but I’ve only played a couple of levels of that so far).

I have to give an honourable mention as well to Fallout 3 – I am nowhere near finishing this as the game is absolutely huge with tons to do and lots of different ways for your character to affect the story. If you’re looking for a game to get lost in for ages, as opposed to the usual 8-12 hours, I would give this a thumbs up.

The list above was formed with shorter bursts of gaming in mind and with a view to gamers who’d rather finish a few 10 hour games than start four or five 30+ hour games and never get to the end of them!

Feel free to add any games you’ve enjoyed in the comments that might have been left off the list.

I decided to order Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS and it should be here on Friday. I can’t wait. I’ll keep you all updated with it so you know whether to go out out and get it. Here’s a video for you to watch of the game. Enjoy!

La problématique du jeu mature est un des thèmes les plus récurrents dans les débats entre joueurs qui fleurissent ici et là sur tel ou tel forum. Grande question, vaste problème. Que l’on lise un article, des commentaires après un test ou encore des échanges sur  topic de forum, on retrouve bien souvent cette question du jeu « adulte ». Certains se déchirent pour avoir le dernier mot permettant de poser le fameux sceau  sur le jeu qu’ils défendent, d’autres cherchent au contraire à décrédibiliser tel ou tel titre justement par rapport à ce critère. Tout cela est bien beau mais ne dit pas ce qu’est, par définition, un jeu mature. Je vais donc tenter d’y répondre.

Les neurones vont chauffer !

I)                   Des conceptions variées

Alors oui, moi-même je me pose la question. A quoi voit-ton qu’un jeu est mature ou non ? Honnêtement, je trouve la question bien plus difficile et casse-gueule qu’elle n’y paraît. Voyons dans un premier temps les réponses glanées sur les forums et tout un tas de sites. On peut lire, par exemple, qu’un jeu est mature s’il ne propose pas un cadre enfantin. On a là une définition par l’inverse, par son contraire. Autrement dit, dans l’esprit de beaucoup de gens, un univers se rapprochant du conte avec un bestiaire connu et des princesses, princes, petit chaperon rouge et compagnie. C’est une première erreur, on peut très bien découvrir un cadre naïf et mignon d’un premier abord mais qui au final amène des scènes atroces et des morales pas forcément consensuelles. Il suffit de relire les contes de Grimm ou Perrault (Les Disney n’en sont que des versions édulcorées) pour relever des morales parfois machistes, des morts douloureuses et violentes. Bref, autant d’éléments qui semblent classer ces productions dans un domaine plus mature que l’inverse. Par ces exceptions, qui fonctionnent également dans les jeux vidéo, il est clair que ce critère n’est pas suffisant pour discriminer les jeux par rapport à leur caractère mature ou non. Le cadre ne suffit pas et est parfois trompeur.

D’autres affirmeront qu’un  jeu est mature lorsqu’il nous offre le grand triptyque de la maturité : du cul, du sang et des morts. Je suis bien d’accord que des jeux comportant des scènes de fusillades avec giclées de sang à foison, des filles dénudées avec loches débordantes et cuisses fermes ne sont pas à mettre entre les mains de n’importe quel bambin. C’est un fait, mais est-ce pour autant suffisant pour mériter l’appellation « mature ». La question me semble un brin plus complexe.

"Je vais te montrer si je suis un conte pour gosses moi !"

II)                La loi comme point de départ

En fait, si l’on veut prendre un point de départ à cette réflexion, stable et non bancal comme les conceptions évoquées plus haut, il conviendrait de partir des classifications que connaît le jeu vidéo. Pour l’Europe, on parle des PEGI, un classement des jeux par âge (comme au cinéma). A partir de là, si je prends un jeu « + 18 » il est nécessairement mature puisqu’il décroche une classification haute et que selon notre pays, où la majorité est fixée à 18 ans, ce jeu demande donc à ce que le joueur soit un adulte (du point de vue de la loi, on me comprend).

C’est un préambule, certes, mais une fois de plus faut-il considérer ou non le sexe et la violence comme les deux mamelles du jeu mature, les deux routes à suivre pour atteindre le Graal ? Pour ma part, je pense que c’est aller un peu vite en besogne que de croire cela. Des qu’on aperçoit un jeu qui tranche et compagnie, on pourra lire des commentaires enthousiastes sur l’aspect mature, adulte (pas par rapport à la loi) du jeu.

De la bidoche oui ! Du mature, plus ou moins...

III)             La surface et le fond

Je ne nie pas que les éléments cités ci-dessus ne soient pas des composantes du jeu mature mais pour moi elles ne suffisent tout simplement pas à faire d’un jeu un titre véritablement adulte. En fait, je crois qu’il est nécessaire de distinguer le jeu « adulte » de surface du jeu véritablement « adulte ». Je m’explique.

On peut citer un tas de jeux nous proposant de découper des zombis dans un supermarché ou encore des jeux de shoot où il faut descendre des militaires au Japon, j’en passe et des meilleures. La plupart de ces jeux, au fond, ne sont « matures » que par rapport à leur esthétique. Ils proposent des éléments qui du point de vue de la loi ne sont pas visibles par tous et se destinent donc à une certaine catégorie de personnes, mais tout s’arrête là.

Zombiii de meeerrrdddeee !

Un jeu mature ne doit pas, selon moi, se réduire à une simple esthétique, des actions dures comme tuer quelqu’un, le savater, etc. Disons que ça ne suffit pas, sauf si on décide de rester dans la première qualification que j’ai cité plus haut, tout en surface. Le problème donc est que beaucoup de jeux sur consoles se font passer pour des jeux « matures », ou sont vus comme tel par les joueurs, alors qu’ils n’offrent au final que des images choquantes et restent en surface comme un magasine tirant sur le sensationnel avec des photos parfois répugnantes mais accrocheuses.

IV)             Le vrai jeu mature

Un jeu est véritablement mature s’il accompagne ses prestations visuelles d’un propos, d’idées, de réflexions. Un jeu peut être mature en proposant de tuer des gens, en amenant du sexe etc…mais jamais gratuitement, jamais avec comme trame un scénario léger dont la richesse des lectures possibles montre vite ses limites, jamais avec des personnages qui ne dépassent pas le stade du stéréotype. Le jeu mature peut s’appuyer sur les mécaniques décrites plus haut, plus ou moins, mais là n’est pas sa finalité contrairement à la grande partie des jeux se considérant comme adultes.

Si l’on prend l’exemple des jeux point and click, on se rendra rapidement compte de ce qu’est un jeu mature. Tous ne le sont pas mais certains montrent clairement la voie à suivre. L’article que j’ai rédigé sur Dracula 3 : la voie du dragon en est un exemple mais même sur des jeux de moindre envergure comme un Martin Mystère (pas issu du dessin animé mais de la BD) on peut y trouver la thématique de la mort avec sa portée philosophique et son appréhension par l’homme selon l’âge, ses angoisses etc…Un traitement qui n’a rien de superficiel, qui est loin des clichés et autres limites des productions adolescentes.

J'hésite entre t'aplatir la gueule et ma foi de catholique...

Le jeu mature va nous toucher par son propos, sa narration, ses personnages, par n’importe quel moyen au fond. Seulement, il n’est pas là uniquement pour nous faire sursauter, peur, mettre la pression, mais pour nous bouleverser, nous amener à réfléchir sur certaines choses voire sur nous-mêmes, provoquer des émotions plus riches, plus profondes. On dépasse le cadre de l’émotion rapide, directe pour rentrer dans le cadre de la réflexion d’une certaine manière, au sens large. Le problème des jeux qu’on nous présente comme matures, c’est que la plupart du temps ils produiront sur nous de simples stimuli jouissifs et bien vus mais jamais de véritables impacts marquant notre conscience, notre personne. On ne nous touche qu’en surface. Le temps du jeu, un point c’est tout.

Pourtant tout cela est possible, sur consoles et sur PC. Un jeu comme Mass Effect a déclenché en moi un véritable sentiment de honte et de culpabilité lors de l’abandon d’un de mes coéquipiers. Je jouais normalement et quand le choix se posa à moi de sauver ou non cette personne je pris la chose un peu à la légère et abandonna la personne lui promettant de revenir (ce qui était un mensonge), seulement le soft eut l’intelligence de provoquer en moi un sentiment fort par l’utilisation de dialogues et d’une mise en scène maîtrisée.

V)                Le joueur comme élément essentiel

Il faut donc bien distinguer les jeux adultes de surface et ceux, véritablement matures, qui se lancent plus dans une approche de fond et un travail minutieux et intelligent dépassant le cadre de la réaction immédiate.

Un dernier élément se doit d’être évoqué, c’est tout simplement le joueur. Il y a bien une distinction à faire, une analyse pour reconnaître les jeux qui en sont de ceux qui n’en sont pas. Mais cela n’est pas suffisant dans l’absolu, si le joueur ne perçoit rien d’autre que ce que le jeu lui propose de manière purement explicite et basique, le premier plan en quelque sorte, toute la couleur du jeu (mature donc) tombe à l’eau.

Vous pouvez très bien proposer un jeu mature à un joueur un brin limité, il ne verra pas en quoi le jeu est riche et adulte. Il réduira le soft à des actions et des moments explicites, ne reflétant au fond que la phase “jeu” du titre. Certains titres sont clairement matures, d’autres ne semblent pas appartenir à cette catégorie et pourtant un regard aiguisé et initié surtout saura voir en ce soft cette qualité. Par exemple, avec un jeu comme GTA IV beaucoup le réduiront au simple défouloir et à l’histoire d’un petit gars gravitant dans la pyramide du crime et des boulots illégaux tandis que d’autres percevront en plus de cela un traitement du pardon, de la fatalité et de la vengeance assez intéressant et loin de se cantonner à une approche “adolescente”.

Le scoop !

C’est bien le joueur qui permet au titre d’exister, d’une certaine façon, comme un jeu adulte. Sinon c’est la réduction assurée, tout l’intérêt du titre, son sel nous échappe. C’est comme donner un livre de Balzac à un lecteur médiocre, montrer un Kitano dans sa période intimiste à un cinéphile médiocre lui aussi. Il ne verra rien ou plutôt il passera à côté de l’essentiel réduisant le livre, le livre à un résumé basique frôlant les pâquerettes. Au fond, ce que je cherche à dire, c’est que l’initiation même dans les jeux vidéo est un élément important. Elle permet d’affuter son regard et d’analyser à juste titre certains jeux (dans le cadre du raisonnable bien évidemment). Il est donc important d’effectuer cette démarche d’initiation sinon vous vous retrouverez dans la peau du lecteur médiocre lisant L‘Etranger de Camus et ne voyant rien d’autre qu’un type allant assister à l’enterrement de sa mère. Comme un cheval avec ses ornières, votre regard sera forcément bridé.

/home/anouk, Centro Social Inmenso, hanouk, wordpress.com, fotos, Señor Patata, Toy Story, Bo Peep, home, anouk, modificar, GRUB, Ubuntu, 8.10, HTTP, http://hanouk.wordpress.com, hello, JPG, Bon Pastor, 2009, 2.009, 2008, 2.008, fiesta, broadcom, ASCII, hola, TravelMate, 2490, desmontar, Daniel, inalambrico, ETA, inhalambrico, Josep Cuní, afonía, Rahola, Matins, TV3, Woody, amenazas, xoxopaui, ro quiet, Rex, niño malo, Habitación 27, psiquiatría, psicología, Kernel, Arpaviejas, Kostranostra, Marzo, Abril, Mayo, Junio, Julio, Agosto, Septiembre, Octubre, Noviembre, Diciembre, Enero, dinosaurio, reis, pares, lagartija, CGI, proxy, Wikipedia, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix’s Experience, Van Halen, Queen, Eagles, Metallica, U2, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Police, Doors, Genesis, Prince, Bee Gees, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Soundgarden, Who, James Brown, AC/DC, Nash Young, Blues Brothers, RHPS, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Pearl Jam, Boston, Dire Straits, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, Dixie, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Duran Duran, Duran i Lleida, Frank Zappa, Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, R.E.M., Springfield, Simpsons, Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge, Maggie, Burns, Barnie, Smithers, sordo untado de grasa, Peter, Griffin, Loise, Clinton, Hillary, Obama, Hussein, Jackson Five, Michael, pederastía, USA, Estados Unidos, EEUU, EU, European Union, Unió Europea, europedo, europeo, Alemania, frnacia, Italia, Luxemburgo, rio, montaña, Rusia, Eugeni, Gila, Janis Joplin, Big Brother, 1988, 1.988, Animals, Velvet Underground, Radiohead, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Coldplay, Slayer, Black Eyed Peas, Bush, Rocky Horror Show, picture, music, real, cibersex, myspace, crazy, lion, sleep, urban, panic, guitar, soccer, Mortal Kombat, Spiderman, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, Korea, Konami, Capcom, Scary Movie, Pulp Fiction, dance, Family Guy, Cartoon, internet, Disney, Xbox360, Microsoft, Xbox, Wii, Nintendo, PlayStation, PS2, PS3, PS4?, Gamecube, N64, Nintendo, Kitty, computer, Harry Potter, series, películas, yonkies, movie, leer, Colorado, laptot, Watermelon Slim and the Workers, funny, SHARP, skin head, ultraSSur, Counter Strike, Halo, manga, anime, duda, fuck, follar, zapatero, shit, boy, girl, women, man, kids, children, sweet, transvestite, apple, manzana, iBook, iMac, iPhone, iPod, iJam, food, ninja, ninjitsu, sensei, aikido, dojo, rap, hip hop, queer, film, Jack, guitarrista, sexy, Asia, asian, lesbian, hot, body, gay, pokemon, webcam, anal, bukkake, blowjob, mamada, maduritas, no, si, historia, rajoy, españa, catalunya, galiza, euskadi, castilla, Machado, Extremoduro, CD, SNES, virus, Windows, Windows7, Vista, XP, Debian, Slackware, SuSe, KDE, GNOME, tag, TV1, TV2, TV3, Canal33, Antena3, Cuatro, Telecinco, laSexta, web, world wide web, www, &, 2005, MSN, messenger, Bill Gates, Lorem Ipsum, Linus Torvals, Richard Stallman, Tux, Window, BSD, Berckerley, The Times, La Razón, El País, ABC, 20minutos, ADN, Metro, Santa Coloma, Badalona, Barcelona, Besós, CSO, la Mina, Sant Martí, UB, Raval, Grácia, Farners, bosque, tecnología, foto, pene perfecto, vagina, sangre, violencia, originalidad, copyright, copyleft, lefa, semen, esperma, embarazo, bebé, Argentina, Valladolid, Madrid, Madriz, Público, Ask.com, hack, hacker, 1337, h4×02, 31173, mama, papa, hermano, hermana, tete, teta, pezón, concierto, new, Mewtwo, Mew, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pikachu, Raichu, Misty, Ash, Publo Paleta, paleto, Muchachada Nui, Marcial Ruíz Escribano, Gañán, meseta, Rusia, URSS, Kazajistán Borat, negro, marrón, blanco, amarillo, restaurante, pesetas, euros, 1.000, dildo anal, folleteo, dogma, e-cristians, iglesia, Cheche, BP, Cristóbal Colón, obispo, Corleone, padrino, América, cura, Bernardo Boïl, parque, droga, joint, porro, hachís, costo, chocolate, maría, marihuana, peyote, coca, cocaína, jardín, heroína, jaco, caballo, farlopa, raya, chute, WebeloSS, punk, rock, salsa, samba, sarandounga, abismo, blues, Estopa, grifa, M-Clan, LODVG, Rebelde Way, homosexualidad, Polonia, amor, amore, circo, Ska-P, exhorcismo, mierda, caca, kk, IMC, Montornés del Vallés, Bages, OT, Operación Triunfo, català, Valencia, Generalitat, gencat, .cat, matrícula, SF, GTA, San Andreas, Vice City, GTAII, GTAIII, GTAIV, Niko Bellic, Roman Bellic, Tenpenny, Pennywise, Frank ‘n’ Furter, Magenta, Riff Raff, categoría, porno, culo, cul, Lucia Lapiedra, Camara Café, Escenas de Matrimonio, Salvados, Buenafuente, CQC, el Informal, Patricia Conde, SLQH, El  Intermedio, Terrat, Corbacho, Ministerio de Igualdad, Bibiana Aidó, Fuenlabrada, Villareal, Español, Barça, Etoo, Ronaldinho, pelele, Pelé, Maradona, palo, Resident Evil, ocupación, vía, manifestación, CSA, Can Vias, La Farga, Can Kadena, Napoli, Roma, Palermo, Torino, Gran Torino, bueno, feo, malo, Sid, inestable, millonario, 50×15, satanic, Cristina, tribal, tatuaje, Prim, Rodríguez, Rubalcaba, Sicilia, Vito, Alex Ubago, David Bisbal, Empordè, Sopa de Cabra, Sau, Willi Foc, Marta Sánchez, Ojos de Brujo, Nokia, Siemens, Imagenio, Telefónica, SGAE, alasbarricadas, Garzón, dinero, rizado, TRESemme, L’Oreal, París, Merche, perro, Boby, mariconchi, jordi, Marc, Baquero, queso, vampiros, licántropos, lobos, Jorge, tú, yo, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, todxs, cama, pareja, detergente, limpiar machas de semen, caracol, cajón, cojón, Alejandra, Mirco, hembra, ojete, naranja, intensidad, guarradas, oficina, tarde, niño desnudo, Peugeot, Chevrolet, Nissan, Renault, crisis, automóbil, Enric Durán, EMGB, Viquipèdia, ICS, Indymedia, Burger King, McDonald’s, boadillo, dentista, boca, lengua, famosos, humor, viajes, salud, música, televisión, tiempo, Mateo, eBay, Ramón García, Gran Prix, vaca, toro, toreo, Tomás, Alonso, justicia, Laura, Yahoo, París Hilton, Britney Spears, Hotmail, Pamela Anderson, Jessica, pussy, milf, free porn, libre, Vaquilla, Torete, Maldonado, Lourdes, tró, relámpago, nude, 40 principales, gozar, abogados, accidentes, adultos, afrodisiacos, alquiler, Alejandro Sanz, Sánchez, amateur, Altavista, Astalavista, bromas, buscadores, trabajo, camaras, cars, carta astral, casino, cerebro, chat, cosas raras, culos, Dalí, desnudas, Diario 16, diccionarios, fácil, dioses, Dios, experimento, família, FC, mundo, virtuales, fotos, Ibiza, OVNI, mp3, mp4, MPEG, AVI, WMA, penguin, Sandra Bullock, Matias Prats, sudoku, Shakira, Iran, Irak, Afganistan, posicionamiento, palabras clave, SPAM, antropología, ciéncia, informática, freak, filosofía, blogroll, China, Chekpoint, Matrix, guerra civil, war, Benidorm, yayo, muerte, herramientas, mejoras, usuarios, Forbes, agua, Tijeritas, Chichos, mesa, silla, estufa, carteros, periodista, bizcocho, UGT, CNT, CGT, USOC, coco, CCOO, Barrio Sesámo, Iñaki, pau, guerra, Tolstoi, ajuntament, Montilla, Hereu, Lidia, Heredia, matins.si, matins.no, gallego, Chile, Argentina, DragonJar, Venezuela, Pedro, 15 años, LOU, Bolonia, Bolonya, Joan Roig, Mercadona, Amancio Ortega, Equipo A, Inditex, Zara, Stradivarius, lendakhari, Lendhakaris Muertos, Platero y tú, gafas, pasta, dinero, Financial Times, pinzas, Dragon Ball Z, Son Goku, Son Goan, Piccolo, Satanás Cor Petit, Bola de Drac, Xeron, alargamiento, pene, team rocket, hd, disco duro, pentium III, pentium II, pentium, celeron, muñeca. semilla, planta, cultivo, interior, hidropónico, antena, wifi, WifiSlax, TMB, UPC, …

Swingset este o faza in GTA IV, intr-un parc sunt 2 bare, iar daca atingi una dintre ele… te catapulteaza. Pe mine m-a cam durut .

Por Carlinha Rodrigues

Eu sei que ele não é o cara certo para mim. Assassino, traficante, ladrão e mercenário. E o pior, ele mata pessoas inocentes. Às vezes porque elas estão no caminho de uma fuga em alta velocidade, às vezes porque é o que se tem que fazer para ganhar uma grande conquista, mas a questão é que ele não pensa duas vezes antes de derramar sangue para se salvar. Apesar disso tudo, eu estava morrendo de saudades.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned traz muito mais do que somente o nome do jogo no título. Hoje fiz uma missão com o meu querido Niko Bellic e mais um outro personagem, não vou contar quem foi pra não parecer spoiler. Agora a coisa é diferente, para início de conversa, o jogador controla os movimentos do motoqueiro judeu Johnny Klebitz. Ele é membro da gangue de motoqueiros The Lost, ou seja, ao invés de sair por aí em missões sozinho, você tem reforço do seu grupo na maioria das missões.

Johnny estava no comando da gangue enquanto o líder Billy Gray estava na reabilitação. Ele gosta de levar as coisas de um jeito mais calmo, com menos violência e matança desenfreada. Assim que Billy volta e retoma o comando, ele coloca seus motoqueiros pra tocar o terror na cidade novamente e entra em guerra com a gangue de motoqueiros rival, The Hell’s Angels.

A história do jogo é essa, ver até onde Johnny engole os sapos do violento Billy Gray e resolve fazer algo a respeito. Mas ele não é nenhum santo. Johnny tem missões laterais, encomendas e roubas para realizar, fora a trama da história principal, igual GTA: IV. O grande diferencial, é que você faz quase tudo com a sua moto. O sistema das motos foi melhorado brutalmente, elas estão mais precisas, derrapam menos e não empinam com tanta facilidade. Também é preciso de um impacto mais bruto para te derrubar dela, ao contrário do que acontecia em GTA: IV onde qualquer lombada fazia Niko voar da lambreta.

Quando você está indo para uma missão com a sua gangue, você ganha mais vida (ou colete a prova de balas) caso ande sobre o símbolo The Lost que aparece temporariamente no chão. Chegando ao local, seus companheiros rapidamente procuram cobertura e não morrem com facilidade, porém são muito ruins de mira e raramente conseguem matar algum dos inimigos. Essa não é a única coisa em que eles são ruins. Para um bando de motoqueiros durões, eles não sabem andar muito bem de moto. Sempre algum deles vem de encontro a você e a esbarradinha é inevitável.

Se algum deles morre, é substituído por outro membro da gangue. Se a sua moto é destruída, basta pegar o celular e ligar para o Clay que ele entrega uma novinha exatamente no lugar que você está. Se você precisar de armas também basta pegar o celular e ligar para o contato certo, em segundos uma van aparece onde você estiver para umas comprinhas de última hora.

 Fora as missões, existem as corridas chamadas Road Rash, onde você compete com outros motoqueiros utilizando bastões de baseball para derruba-los das motos. Essa corrida também está disponível no modo multiplayer online, junto com mais quatro modos novos. Em Witness Protection você precisa destruir um ônibus com o seu time enquanto outro time de jogadores tenta impedir. Em Lone Wolf Biker todos devem perseguir uma determinada pessoa marcada, quando ela é alcançada e morto, a pessoa que a matou se torna a nova pessoa marcada e tem 15 segundos para fugir dos perseguidores.

Em Own the City você precisa ocupar pedaços de Liberty City e em Choppper vs. Chopper um motoqueiro compete contra um piloto de helicóptero. Enquanto o motoqueiro tenta chegar aos checkpoints, o piloto do helicóptero precisa para-lo.

Para um DLC, Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned está de excelente tamanho. Tem mais de 12 horas jogáveis, armas novas, um sistema de jogabilidade melhorado, 5 novos modos multiplayer e toda uma história nova. É como se fosse um jogo novo, se não fosse por Liberty City, é claro. Por melhor que o jogo seja, é impossível ver certos pedaços da cidade e não lembrar dos tempos que eu passei com Niko por lá. Foi mal Johnny, mas quem manda em Lyberty City ainda é Niko Bellic.

Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Niko Bellic es un inmigrante ruso que llega a Liberty City (New York) en busca del “sueño americano”, cuando llega lo recibe su primo Roman que vive en su mansión del Bronx y maneja un taxi. De ahí en más es involucrarse en las distintas mafias de la ciudad en busca de dinero. Parece una película de ladrones y mafiosos. Es el GTA del 2008 que incorpora tecnología moderna a la saga.

Lo mejor:

Niko Bellic: El personaje principal tiene mucho carsma, es el ruso que vivió demasiado en Europa y lo único que quiere es ganar dinero en América. Tiene un pasado negiro, luchó en una guerra y estuvo en prisión. Eso lo hace más duro, pero a la vez está cansado de obedecer órdenes y él decide cómo actuar en cada misión (no va a matar porque sí). Así podemos escuchar las miles de líneas que grabó el actor norteamericano desconocido Michael Hollick , donde vemos a un ruso  áspero pero bueno en el fondo. Quiere salir de su vida de delincuencia, busca dar el gran golpe pero siempre cuidando a sus seres queridos (su primo y sus amigos).
Comparado con los demás GTA, éste se lleva el mejor personaje lejos. Llegamos a identificarnos con él, es muy cool. En el GTA San Andreas teníamos a CJ que era un amargo y cobarde. Vivía del crimen y mataba porque sí, pero se diferenciaba de sus amigos (que eran los mejores personajes del juego). CJ no tenía corazón, era un negro genérico más. También Tommy en el Vice City pecaba de demasiado serio.

Las decisiones: El juego te permite en determinadas misiones elegir el destino de Niko, a veces podés elegir matar a alguien o dejarlo vivir… lo cual va a influir en el futuro de la historia (si lo dejamos vivir seguramente lo veamos otra vez en el futuro). También en el final del juego podemos elegir cómo terminar (transar con el ruso traidor o vengarse por su traición). Claro que la mayoría guarda el juego e intenta las dos alternativas, pero estas decisiones permiten variar el juego y tomar parte dentro de la historia (decidir el destino).

La música: La variedad de radios es increíble, se destaca la radio de reggaeton “San Juan Sounds” porque tiene los temas que suenan en latinoamérica en éstos tiempos. El dj es Daddy Yankee y tiene grandes éxitos. También están las demás como Liberty Rock con Iggy Pop y la de reggae donde suena mucho el gran Bob Marley con canciones que no están en Legend.
También está buena la televisión, donde tiene programas hilarantes como los soldados Republicanos que invaden otros planetas para exterminar las amenazas del universo. Es una parodia al asesino Bush y su política de agresión preventiva. VEmos cómo esos 3 estúpidos soldados norteamericanos conocen seres pacíficos de otros planetas y los exterminan porque son extraterrestres, son una posible amenaza.

Multimedia: se incorpora internet, el celular (que es muy útil para pedirle favores a nuestros amigos y es la comunicación constante) y el GPS que te marca el recorrido (lo tomaron prestado del “homenaje” Saints Row”)

Lo peor:

La gran manzana: Estamos en Liberty City (New York), y si bien está muy bien detallada, es muy monótona y chica comparada con San Andreas (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas y el campo). En GTA San Andreas teníamos un mapa gigante tres ciudades bien distintas y el inmenso campo. Nos acostumbramos a una variedad de lugares impresionantes, y acá volvemos a New York con tres islas nomás, y muy bien hecha… pero la falta de alternativas te lleva a cansarte de la jungla de cemento.

Menos vehículos: Tenemos pocos vehiculos comparado con el genial San Andreas, si bien tenemos varios autos actualizados y un par de motos.. faltan las bicis y los aviones. Faltan los aviones para que la gente no emule a los secuestradores del 9/11, lo cual es muy estúpido porque la libertad del juego te deja hacer matanzas a gran escala sin problemas (es un juego, no es real lo que sucede… pensar que hay gente tarada que nunca jugó el juego y piensa que es una mala influencia).

Misiones monótonas: La falta de variedad también afecta a las misiones, si bien la dificultad está bien y hay muchas difíciles de pasar por la cantidad de enemigos, se recurre a ese estilo de misiones demasiado. Prácticamente no hay misiones que se hagan arriba de un vehículo, solo forman parte de ellas para escapar. Ni hablar de misiones locas y divertidas del anterior San Andreas, acá son todas parecidas.

Final:

Cuando lo terminás te dá la impresión de haber jugado un gran juego, estás en paz con Niko Bellic (un gran personaje que queda en el recuerdo). Elegís uno de los 2 finales que tienen algo de sentido. Y te vas de la jungla de cemento sin haber completado el 100% por supuesto, eso de matar 200 palomas es para fanáticos. A mi me quedaron 175 y ya estoy cansado de matar ratas voladoras.

Puntaje: 9.2

Rockstar announced that the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV DLC, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be released via download on October 29th. It will also be arriving on disc, along with The Lost and the Damned, on the same date. Once again the DLC is exclusive to Xbox 360 so PS3 owners won’t be able to play it. When it is released, The Ballad of Gay Tony will cost 1600 Microsoft Points.

Probablemente en cuanto a sus actividades estos dos verdaderos personajes no se parezcan en nada pero por su físico e incluso su atuendo el entrenador del Barça, Pep Guardiola y el personaje central de Grand Theft Auto IV, Niko Bellic son intrigantemente parecidos.