Before rhythm games were “dead,” and before they were “cool,” they could just be games, and focus on fun over all else. In the West, anyway. The industry of Japan never lost that fun spirit, and no series is more representative of that than Taiko no Tatsujin. READ MORE
Being too far ahead of its time is a common way for a product to fail, especially in the technology business. This is often the most tragic kind of failure, because it is not the result of apathy or cynicism, but just a great idea that the rest of the tech world couldn’t quite support yet. This was the undoing of Nokia’s N-Gage phone. It is a concept that we take as commonplace and even expected in today’s mobile space, but nevertheless garners a great deal of ridicule in retrospect: that a cell phone can run games as well as its handheld competitors. While much of that ridicule was valid due to some baffling hardware design decisions, the N-Gage was a capable handheld that deserves a second look. READ MORE
There was once a time when people considered the adventure genre to be dead and buried. We still saw various releases, but only a few were noteworthy enough to merit more than a casual glance. This was also around the time I first started getting into adventure games, thanks to a little title known as Grim Fandango. From there, I went back and explored the various LucasArts and Sierra titles I was never able to play when they initially released. I was hooked, even though I fell in love with a genre during its seemingly-inevitable decline.
In Hunter’s Notes, Chris Ingersoll aims to provide the insight and advice needed to understand the ins and outs of Monster Hunter and become immersed in its world. For more, check out the archive.
Hopefully by now you’ve developed the skills you need to more efficiently take down the large monsters, like learning tells and knowing when to get in hits and when to run away. It’s all down to observation and practice, but there are other skills you can pick up to give you an edge. Have you talked to the Wyverian Blacksmith lately? This diminutive man is an invaluable resource, and really probably the most important member of Moga Village as far as you’re concerned. His ability to turn various monster carves, ores and whatnot into different weapons, armor, and decorations is crucial. Without a decent weapon, you won’t do enough damage, and of course without decent armor you’ll be taking far more damage than you probably want to. But armor has more uses than just being a barrier between you and sudden death. READ MORE
My fondness for Ascension‘s brand of deckbuilding is very well-documented, with various editions receiving a place in my year-end favorites list for the last four years running. One of the co-producers of Ascension, Rob Dougherty, has teamed up with fellow Magic Hall-of-Famer Darwin Kastle to create White Wizard Games and its first product, Star Realms. This game brings a new twist to the genre, taking aspects of Ascension and tying it in a bit with its creators’ Magic roots. READ MORE
