[GameRatty] tag: spore

Can A Small Game Be Game Of The Year?

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:30:43 +0000

Could you ever pick a Nintendo DS game as Game Of The Year?

Would you ever pick a web browser game? Should a critic consider a game you played on your iPhone? An XBLA game?

This question of whether a small game could be Game of the Year came up earlier this week in the Multiplayer comments section of my VGA post.

Reader “withaneight” wrote:

With games so many fantastic games available as direct download i am surprised to see none on the ballot. Was there no place for Castle Crashers or Braid on the list game of the year list? I think they were both better than Metal Gear and GTA4. I was just wondering if there is a reason for this; are you not allowed to nominate non-retail games, even if they are rated by the ESRB?

To which I replied:

I hear you. The choices on the ballot above are the product of lists of nominations submitted by many judges, myself included. I’ve found that with awards like these many reporters and critics are loathe to nominate anything smaller than a disc-based game for Game of the Year. I got some grief here last year for picking Desktop Tower Defense as my GOTY because many people thought I was nuts for choosing that over a full-sized games (others had other criticisms, of course.) The games I had submitted as my GOTY contenders to Spike were: Game of the Year LittleBigPlanet, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Spore, World of Goo and The World Ends With You. That was a few weeks ago. Since then, I’m not sure if TWEWY is even still my favorite RPG of the year. The mind keeps changing!

“Wario Ware: Twisted” is one of my favorite games ever. It came out in the U.S. in 2005. Would I have picked it that year over “Resident Evil 4“? In a heartbeat. Over “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas“? No way.

Would you ever name a “small” game — a non disc-based-console game — as your Game Of The Year? Do you think the critics ever should?

It’s not like the Oscars committee ever nominates a short film for Best Pitcure, but a game like “Braid” is worthy? Or no?

Big Storms!

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates - my home suburb, The Gap, has been ravaged by storms in the last week. In fact, we only just got our power back on yesterday.

Huge storms are something to expect in Australia, but these were pretty severe for the area where I live.

You can check out some photos of the storm here.

In game news, I've managed to play a lot of DS (only thing that works without electricity!). This includes Spore Creatures, Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir (which I finished) and My Japanese Coach.

If you're interested in learning Japanese then go out and buy My Japanese Coach right now. It's amazing what they've managed to pack into that tiny DS cartridge.

It teaches you how to write kana, has a built in dictionary and phrase book, has full voice so you can hear how to pronounce all of the words and a large number of lessons that range from basic to intermediate. I'm impressed!

www.passfieldgames.com

The Daily Hotness: You're the best around

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:39:00 +0000

[ Not streaming? Update your Flash player. New videos added daily! See the next 20 new videos ]

I love Capcom so much for using this music in their latest SF II HD Remix trailers. Now, who will win? Ryu or Bison?

Jim has dibs on Louis, DMV reviews Valkyria Chronicles, part three of the Destructoid Tournament is underway, Blizzard won't be making WoW expansions forever, and plenty more happened on 11/18/08.

Tuesday Regulars:
Podtoid 76: More like ten sh*tloads
RetRose Tinted: Total Carnage
Game Debate to the Death! Shadow of the Colossus VS God of War

Originals:
RetroforceGO! records episode 68 tonight: Sonic the Hedgehog with Jim Sterling
Attention, everyone who is buying Left 4 Dead: I have dibs on Louis
Not a review: Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2

Review:
Valkyria Chronicles

Contest:
Destructoid Tournament Game 3 begins! Get scribbling
EA Sports/Gillette contest, Day 2: NBA Live courtside! Win the game!

News:
Blizzard won't be making WoW expansions forever, also annual content
B**tch betta' have my money: Brash being sued by devs over unpaid dues
Call of Duty: World at War becomes third fastest selling game in the UK
Spore gets third patch, free limbs get you 24 parts closer to making your ex
Microsoft compares NXE to the birth of color television
Multiple Diablo III expansions expected, water is wet, and other obvious facts
Mobile game sales have 'flatlined'
Confirmed: Dead Rising Wii box art features fewer zombies than 360 box art
New study shows that Wii motions won't make you violent
Square Enix is hiring for action game at new Los Angeles office
Is Sony ripping off costume entries for LittleBigPlanet?
Vietnam gets its first haven for addicted gamers
Valkyria Chronicles' composer Hitoshi Sakimoto's private liner notes
Namco Bandai's games division profits fall 92 percent
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed gets new costume DLC. You are all excited
You already knew this, but The King of Fighters XII is coming to NA and EU '09
Street Fighter II HD comes to XBL Nov. 26, 'branded experience' tomorrow
If you heard The Agency was canceled, you heard wrong
Epic sorry for Gears 2 matchmaking problems, tries to help
Gears of War 2 multiplayer facts: Shotgun still powerful, quit yer bitchin'
Play Neopets Puzzle Adventure DS now and recognize
Halo Wars is the result of what not to do in a console RTS
Sony has 14 million 'active accounts' on PSN
Netflix streaming takes a serious hit, Columbia Pictures not watchable on 360
Good Old Games fist bumps Epic, adds Unreal series to its catalog
Weekly LBP DLC: Get your LocoRoco on my Sackboy, also T.V.

Rumortoid:
A new OutRun game coming from Sega and THQ?

Offbeat:
Daily irrelevance: Game piracy lawyers protecting the rights of Army F*ckers
Stop kids getting stabbed by not playing videogames every third Sunday

Videos:
Even more Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe videos
Lips commercial will either crack you up or give you nightmares
You're still the best ... around: New Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix vid

Community:
C Blogs 11/18/08

The Daily Hotness: You're the best around

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:39:00 +0000

[ Not streaming? Update your Flash player. New videos added daily! See the next 20 new videos ]

I love Capcom so much for using this music in their latest SF II HD Remix trailers. Now, who will win? Ryu or Bison?

Tuesday Regulars:
Podtoid 76: More like ten sh*tloads
RetRose Tinted: Total Carnage
Game Debate to the Death! Shadow of the Colossus VS God of War

Review:
Valkyria Chronicles

Contest:
Destructoid Tournament Game 3 begins! Get scribbling
EA Sports/Gillette contest, Day 2: NBA Live courtside! Win the game!

Rumortoid:
A new OutRun game coming from Sega and THQ?

Offbeat:
Daily irrelevance: Game piracy lawyers protecting the rights of Army F*ckers
Stop kids getting stabbed by not playing videogames every third Sunday

Community:
C Blogs 11/18/08

Internet In New Games Blog Shocker!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:28:19 +0000

I was just about to add a “thanks” to the end of the post that will follow this one when I realised the thankee was worth a post on its own. The blog in question is Offworld, the new gaming expansion from internet-cornerstone BoingBoing. Not only does this promise to be a superb place for me to steal news from (as you’ll see in a moment) but it’s also run by friend-of-RPS and one-time contributor, Brandon Boyer. Esoterica-loving Boyer is one of the finest Americans of the 21st century, and he’s all the more delightful for having hired me to produce a regular column for Offworld. Man, gotta love that collapsed value of the British Pound!

Thanks, Offworld! Thoffworld.Related stories:

Spore: It’s Made Of People

Posted by rossignol. | 6 comments | Donate or subscribe to RPS | Post tags: brandon boyer, offworld
This article is from Rock, Paper, Shotgun. If you're reading it on any other website, they're stealing it from us without permission.

New Spore Patch Available

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:35:58 +0000

dailygamesnews.com - EA has announced a big thank you to Spore fans and to celebrate the release of Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, which ships to retailers today, gamers who download and install Patch 3 will be rewarded with 24 brand spanking-new and exclusive exoskeleton limbs for the Creature Creator.

New Spore patch removes bugs, adds appendages

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:15:00 +0000

Filed under: PC, Simulations

If you're still exploring the galaxy and seeding obscure planets with your peculiar race of tripedal penguins, you'll be pleased to note the arrival of Spore Patch 3, which not only strangles several known bugs but gives you a hand in creature creation. Well, 24 hands in fact, or 24 exoskeleton appendages to be more precise. We encourage you to welcome these latest members of the "Free DLC" club and promptly slap them onto your latest creations.

In order to download the patch (corrections are listed after the break), simply hop online with Spore or launch the EA Download Manager -- you'll be placed in arm's way automatically. Though the game is still locked up tight in DRM prison, it's nice to see it enjoying some free limb.

[Via Big Download]

Continue reading New Spore patch removes bugs, adds appendages

New Spore patch removes bugs, adds appendages originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spore v1.03 Patch Now Available on FileFront

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:42:02 +0000

Electronic Arts has released a patch for Spore bringing the game to v1.03.

Patch fixes :

Fix for Esc key not bringing up Options in Galaxy Game Entry
Fix for creator backgrounds appearing on small Sporepedia cards
Update to help keep achievements on the server in sync with achievements in the game
24 new and exclusive exoskeleton limbs for the Creature Creator

To get the patch, you can visit the Spore page on FileFront here, or hit the badge below.

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Related Articles at Gaming Today:

New Spore patch available now

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:19:43 +0000

To celebrate the release of the Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, EA’s put out a new patch containing 24 new limbs for the Creature Creator. You can get the update here. In additional, the patch adds the following: Fix for esc key not bringing up Options in Galaxy Game Entry Fix for creator backgrounds appearing on small sporepedia [...]

Will Mushroom Men be another reason to plug in your Wii?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:06:47 +0000

Those of you who have followed our site for any length of time, and even more so if you’ve ever listened to our fantastic podcast, will know that we are always searching for new and exciting reasons to turn on our Wiis. Now, that doesn’t mean we ever actually FIND a reason, but the point is that at least we’re looking. Developer Red Fly Studio hopes to make us eat our words with their upcoming Wii title Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars. Spore Wars looks like a traditional platformer with a special level of polish that isn’t normally seen on the Wii. The launch trailer (above) has a very unique, campy-movie-trailer style that we really hope is carried over into the game itself. We’ll let you know if this one is worth it as soon as we get our hands on it.