Unwinnable

EA revealed the new Battlefield game at GDC 2013. You can watch the same 17-minute trailer online that the press was shown in an AMC movie theater, but imagine the power of the new Frostbite 3 engine blown up huge on a movie screen. Seagulls weave in circles in the sky and the motion is smooth and organic. When we take cover behind a cement block, the gradations of light and shadow in the pockmarked surface are subtle. The God beams from the setting sun are soft and diffused. (more…)

When improvising with fellow musicians, the most beautiful moment of the jam occurs when there’s a miscommunication. Perhaps the drummer fails to telegraph a time signature change, the bassist attempts unsuccessfully to switch keys, or the guitarist commits to a histrionic solo while his bandmates try to slow the pace. The song very nearly unravels, breaks, but one instrument hangs on to a singular string of an idea, allowing the rest of the band to latch on and reconstitute the rhythm and melody from what was, briefly, total chaos.

That is videogame testing. (more…)

Today, in 1971, Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in what many call the Fight of the Century. So what do you have on tap for the next 48? (more…)

Console generations have historically been about moving the visual performance of the hardware forward. The gap between the current and previous generation was also about evolving connectivity. These are the two metrics I consider when I assess the need for another generation of console hardware, and then whether I need to get on board or not. (more…)

Uncanny X-Men #1

(Marvel – writer: Brian Michael Bendis; art: Chris Bachalo)

Marvel is building a case against Scott Summers, and Uncanny X-Men seems to be their smoking gun. With Brian Michael Bendis at the helm, and a surprise ally aiding the other side, Cyclops seems destined for a great fall in the very near future.

Bendis does some of his best work in this comic, scaling back on the action and instead going for fluid and engaging dialogue. Comic fans know that Bendis can be word heavy, but the man knows how to write a story that moves swiftly between scenes, keeping its main focus ever present. (more…)

Today, in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated by William D. Boyce. What are you doing this weekend?
(more…)

Every year, we struggle to compile the lists of the things we loved over the course of the year. There are so many of them, the movies, the games, the stories. We debate and vote and hem and haw for the entire month of December, trying to distill them perfectly.

The same can not be said of the things we hate. The worst of 2012 – that’s easy to see… (more…)