There are plenty of good reasons from a developer's perspective why a game's review embargo would be set for the release day. Early reviews, even positive ones, aren't always beneficial for lower profile games. Someone is likely to see the review, look to buy it, see it isn't available yet, and then forget to return to find it when the game actually does release. If you're making a non-AAA game and can only rely on getting one shot at making an impression on your potential audience, it helps a lot if your game is actually available when you make that impression.
Now, that's the developer's perspective. From a writer's perspective, the only time I'm happy to hear about a release day embargo is when review copies don't arrive until 3 or 4 days before that embargo. In that situation, any extra time to work on a review is welcomed time.
From a consumer perspective, I guess it ties into the developer's perspective since you'll be less likely to forget about a game that you sought out to buy after reading the review. Then again, if you do forget about a game and miss it on release day then in all likelihood the next time you'll be reminded of the game is when it goes on sale, in which case that's a good thing for consumers because you get it cheaper.
I never really got into the Rock Band games, so I doubt I'll even play Rock Band 4. That said, "David Bowie and the Shining Force" has a nice ring to it.
Koopas in the 2D Mario games, but goombas are more satisfying in the 3D games because koopa shells are harder to aim and goombas have a great squashing animation. I also actually felt kind of bad for koopas in Mario 3D World on Wii U, since they get so scared and sad when you knock their shell off :(
Mako Kart?
I mean, it's Bioware so I'd be shocked if it's not an RPG. Honestly, I'd love to see them make a high school RPG. Persona minus the dungeon crawling, or a non-Rockstar-ized version of Bully, would be the elevator pitch. I feel like there's still a lot of untapped potential there. Social cliques could take the place of more traditional character classes, while players have to manage between coursework, clubs, sports, friendships, and home life. Lots of room for interesting interactions based on player choices, and it could even lead to a point where your character has to navigate coming out of the closet to their parents. Plus, high school maturity seems about right for Bioware's animators when it comes to romance plots and sex scenes.
Of his mind? Yeah, but that's nothing new.
Ok? Sounds like you answered your own question there, so, uh, congrats?
Not yet. I'm actually kind of glad I'm not reviewing Bloodborne so I don't have to worry about rushing through it. I've been seeing it pop up on my PSN friends list a bunch lately though, and I'm eager to hear what they think about it when reviews go up.
Hi
Well if it's a super secret project then it wouldn't do me any good to tell you about it now, would it?
There is one collaborative project I've actually talked to another critic about doing, but we're both so busy that it never really gets further than idle talk. But if there's a lot of demand for a book analyzing El Shaddai from two critics with Christian and Jewish backgrounds respectively, then maybe some day that collaboration will happen.
A good start would probably be to look up the proper way to contact whichever service your account is with and send them an email. Good luck with that!
I'm at a point where I can't really turn off the "critical approach" when playing a game, whether it's for a review or on my own. I'm actually ok with this, since I get just as much enjoyment, sometimes more, from thinking about and dissecting games in my head as I do from actually playing them.
That said, I do go a step further if I'm playing a game for a review, since I'll also take notes on a pad of paper while I play to make sure I don't forget details that might become interesting or relevant for the review itself. I also tend to play for longer stretches of time when playing for a review. So while I might play a game in two-hour bursts when playing on my own time, I'll play a review game in 5-6 hour sessions or longer (or shorter if it's a horror game that's constantly building tension).
Yeah, sorry, not too exciting. Other than the rate at which I play the game and having paper handy for notes, there isn't really that much difference from how I approach games for review compared to for my own personal time.
View more
