April 24, 2006
The "rant page" at Fantasy Flight Games has a quick little overview of the design processes of plastic figurines in board games. The article follows an example piece from the upcoming Warrior Knights board game remake (which should be released shortly) from art stage to finished product. We're not talking about an in-depth Frontline piece here, but it's still pretty cool.
Enjoy!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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April 21, 2006
Here's some humourous weekend moviage for you before the weekend - "Average Homeboy". Picture a 2 minute demo tape of Marc Singer's younger brother as he attempts to break into the early '90's Eastcoast/Westcoast rap war. The problem is: he lives in rural Ohio (probably).
We assume the record executives never called.
On some levels we feel sorry for the poor guy. He was only trying to express himself through music and rhyme, and usually there's a certain level of beauty in that. But not here. Nope, everything from his doily curtains to his butt thrusting dance shots screams plain-awful. Oh, and the lyrics are fantastic, in that age-old Spinal Tap property of Humor=1 / Quality sort of way.
It really doesn't get any better than this ladies and gentlemen. Prepare to be blazed.
Enjoy the weekend!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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April 10, 2006
The Games Magazine website currently hosts a quiz to test your knowledge of board game history. The prize: a year's subscription of Games Magazine shipped straight to your door, for free.
Life ain't that easy, though. Unlike the normal Game Magazine brain teasers , this quiz sports 12 snapshots of classic board game hardware that must be identified by name. Some of the boards are very familiar, some.. not so much, and unfortunately it's not in your best interest to wildly guess -- incorrect answers 'award' you negative points.
The contest lasts until June, when Game's Magazine will award the top 5 entries with free 1-year subscriptions.
Pencils... down!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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April 3, 2006
March was quite the busy month at Critical Gamers. We received the first good details of the upcoming World of Warcraft CCG. Battlestar Galactica also became credible when their website launched and their feature articles started pouring out, and Fantasy Flight Games revealed a monster lineup of boardgames scheduled for a 2006 release. We're pumped.
But most important of all -- Critical Gamers (that's uh, this site) officially launched mid March. It's been a long time coming and we're damn glad to be here. *sniff*
Ok, hug-time is over. Let's get down and boogie:
Collectible Card Games
Board Games
Gaming Culture
Critical Gamers Staff at
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March 31, 2006
Here's some "sweet crap, the weekend is almost here!" video hilarity for you. It comes from HowItShouldHaveEnded.com, a site of we just discovered that has considerable animation talent.
There are other 'endings' besides LOTR's, too, including "Star Wars Episode IV", "The Matrix Revolutions", "Willy Wonka", and an original montage of sci-fi movies, "Surviving An Alien Attack". But the Lotr ending takes first prize.
All of the movies can be found here.
Enjoy!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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March 23, 2006
Sandwiched somewhere between Tintin on the left, and Bunnicula on the right, the line of Chose Your Own Adventure books were the missing links of children literature. Sure, you weren't really reading an entire book at once, but with CYOA's you explored 'literature', playing through a book like it was a game. There was something so very new and exciting about that.
Then just as suddenly as a suspended vat of acid spilled and killed you off on page 64, CYOA books disappeared from the face of the Earth. It was bizarre - they just upped and vanished like they were part of Steve Guttenburg's private library.
But now they're back. It's 2006 -- holy smokes and Happy days. Kids the world over can bask in the same young-adult lit freedom that broadened our minds some 20 years ago. We might pick up a few copies ourselves for old time's sake.
Barnes and Noble has exclusive rights to 18 titles available today from their online store, and the books will be available from other retailers near the end of May.
From an official press release by Shannon Gilligan, Executive Vice President of Chooseco "For over 25 years, CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE has captured our imagination and our spirit for adventure as we have read and collected the many treasured volumes of this series. These unique books empower and challenge 7-12 year olds with decision-making throughout each story. After initial publication in 1980, the series quickly became a cultural phenomenon. The interactive adventures feature multiple choices, multiple endings, and countless story variations with “you” – the reader – as the protagonist of the story. The Choose Your Own Adventure books have over 250 million copies in print worldwide, and each book of the first 15 titles is at least a one million copy bestseller. Featuring new illustrations and covers, all of the texts have been updated for a new generation to reflect technological advances, recent historical discoveries and current political realities."
Critical Gamers Staff at
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A Quick Look at the Design of Board Game Pieces
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Review: Politics - Unpretenious Package But Packs Plenty of Punch
