Warning: Spoiler

The internet accelerates human communication drastically. You can find out news as it's happening, be updated on your best friends life via social networking, or see the latest pop culture phenomenon. I actually use the internet for most of my information resources. I don't own a TV and never read the newspaper, the internet is what keeps me in the loop.

But this speed of communication can also hinder the internet, especially regarding video games. In the past couple of days, the developer build of Gears of War 3 was leaked onto a torrent site. Now this leaked game holds immense spoilers, since it isn't really supposed to come out for another 2 months. It's made me wonder, what is the protocol with spoilers and video games?

Spend more than 10 minutes looking up a game online and you're bound to run into some spoilers. I was actually looking up something for Bioshock, when I went through it last year, and had the unfortunate spoiling of the end of the game. It really ruined a lot of the Bioshock charm for me once I kept playing, having already known the big plot twist. After that incident, I rarely look anything up on a game I'm currently playing. It's so difficult to not see spoilers, especially when you don't know what they are.

It's a tricky situation, especially in video games. You've got some people who have already beaten the game and want to discuss the ending, and there's always people who are just picking it up. It's hard to make both parties happy in a place as accessible as the internet. You can't control what people post, but you can monitor where they post it.

Once you've gotten past all of the internet spoilers, occasionally the game itself spoils something for you. I am currently about 3/4 through Final Fantasy XIII. It's my first Final Fantasy game and I love it so far. After they announced FFXIII-2, I immediately downloaded the trailer only to find that gave away a lot of the ending of the first one! I was not expecting spoilers in a trailer, so I didn't even know to skip it.

What I'm really getting at is to live spoiler free in our world, you basically have to live in a rock. And that doesn't really sit right with me. I think that the video game community has so much respect for games (and their plot), that there should be an alternate system in place regarding spoilers. I don't really have any answers, but I can see the problem. I guess the only thing I can do is make Assassionista as spoiler free as possible.

As always,
LadySnip3r

PS. Have any of you had any BIG game moments spoiled before you could play them? Please remember just to say the game's name, not the actual spoiler (we wouldn't want history to repeat itself). What do you do to avoid spoilers?

Literature & Gaming

I absolutely love video games. But what I love even more than video games is books. I saw this article on Kotaku earlier today and it got me thinking; what would happen to video games if they begin to incorporate literature?

Now, this may seem like the worst idea in the world (ex: reading = school, school = bad). But you, my friend, are wrong. Do you remember the classic 2007 video game Bioshock? Did you enjoy it? I'm gonna take a stab that your favorite parts of the game were the unique world of Rapture, the dynamic characters, and thick plot. Well, Bioshock was based off of a book. Atlas Shrugged to be exact. Maybe you can recall a few other great video games such as Metro 2033, Dante's Inferno, Alice: Madness Returns, Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, Tom Clancy Rainbow 6 to name a few. All based off books.

By now, I'm hoping that you're rethinking you're first reaction to books being adapted to video games. There are so many amazing books in the world, both old and new, that are just begging to be turned into video games. I've compiled a list of a few that I would love to play...

 1984 by George Orwell
This is my favorite book of all time, so obviously I would love to play it. I'm not quite sure how this would translate to video games, but the whole dystopian world of the novel would be a really interesting setting for a game. War is Peace.

Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I think a really cool sherlock holmes game would be awesome. Think LA Noire in that time period. I would love hunting for clues, consulting with Watson, and fighting bad guys. They'd also have to through in a pipe for Holmes.

The Road by Cormack McCarthey
Or another equally emotional post-apocolyptic novel. I am not too interested in post-apocolyptic settings (like Fallout), but the emotional quality of this book really drew me in. I would love to see more games focus on an emotional connection, that was genuine rather than cheesy and forced. I know it sounds impossible, but I think this could be really cool. Imagine your character taking an incredibly long and frustrating journey south in a post-apocolyptic world, filled with cannabals, nuclear waste, and dangerous animals. Than add in the element of protecting your son. Beautiful.

Those are just a few of the great books that could be converted/adapted to the video game medium. I'm a little biased with my choices because I'm a huge sci-fi (especially dystopian worlds) fan. I don't think that video games could be a direct port of a book, but I do feel that the worlds and characters of novels could easily be incorporated into an interactive medium. I'm super interested in the similarities and differences between literature and video games, and actually plan on writing my undergraduate dissertation on that topic. If you ever wanna talk books, send me a line.


As Always,
LadySnip3r

PS. What books would you love to play?

Belated Pax Post

I'm aware PAX East happened approximately a month ago, but I really want to share some pictures, memories and experiences. I met a ton of very cool people and got to play some very cool games. My highlight of the weekend was the costuming panel by Crabcat Industries. Holly and Jessica were super nice and fun to hangout with, and it was great to meet some more really cool girls who were into video games. I learned a bunch about armor making and how to start creating a costume. I also gained so much inspiration from all of the cosplayers that attended. We also attended a few live podcasts -  Joystiq's and Major Nelson's.

It was my first time cosplaying, and I had so much fun feeling like a celebrity. I didn't mind taking pictures whenever someone would ask me, but I got tired of mostly guys saying "thanks for the pic, what are you dressed up as?". I just thought to myself, "sweet, I'm glad your only taking my picture because I'm a girl and this is the only place where that is acceptable". I also got a lot of "Your such a cute Pikachu". I wasn't. I was Umbreon, a completely different Pokemon from a different region and a different generation. Apart from those sleezebags, there were a ton of people that actually respected my costume and gave me some great compliments on my work.


Before I forget, here are some picture highlights with captions:

Saw a few Carmine cosplays at the Gears of War booth

Jessica Chobot from IGN Inside Gaming

Hawke (Dragon Age 2) and Sheppard (Mass Effect 2) fighting Pikachu. These two run Crabcat Industries and had an amazing panel.

Misty (LadySnip3r) and Pikachu

Joystiq Podcast: Bob Ball made a surprise appearance and read some fan emails.

Great Splicer cosplay from Bioshock

LadySnip3r as Umbreon (NOT Pikachu)

Amazing Arkham City cosplayers

PIKACHU

My friend Nick won a Nintendo DSi Pokemon edition from the Joystiq Breakfast, which I missed :(

Spectacular Mass Effect cosplayers

Here they are again with Tyler (He's Gary Oak, by the way)

Bob Ball and Me :)

Alan Wake and Barry cosplay

Tyler won a very rare PAX East medal for singing the Pokemon theme song in the line waiting for Major Nelson, maybe you've seen it on YouTube?

Major Nelson podcast (He's on the far right) and Cliff Bleszinski (Far left)

Speaking of Cliffy B, here are some GREAT Cogs. They were super nice too.

Group of Cosplayers who hungout after the Crabcat panel

Ash vs. Rocket Grunt

I'm gonn kill you, foo.

Charlie's Angels

As you can tell, I had the time of my life. PAX really got me thinking about my love for gaming. I would say that it was the inspiration for this blog actually. I cannot wait to go next year (bummed I can't go to PAX West). If you are in the Boston area next April, please please please stop by PAX - it's so cheap and so much fun. And if you don't have anyone to go with, just meet me there :)

As always,
LadySnip3r

First Post!

First posts are awkward. That being said, I will attempt to make it less awkward.

Last night, as I set up this whole thing, my boyfriend was busy playing some Crysis 2 multiplayer on Xbox Live. I haven't played the multiplayer aspect of the game yet, but boy is it beautiful. I'm about a third of the way through the campaign, probably because I continually get sidetracked exploring the expanses of New York city. I love being able to stealth your way through the maps, and the energy concept adds a dose of strategy to the typical shooter. This has been my first first person shooter ever and I've actually adapted pretty quickly. The controls are pretty user friendly, except for grenades. I don't know any game that makes you double tap a button to use anything. I also don't know how I feel about the multiplayer reusing maps from the campaign. I feel like the concept of fighting in New York could've been really highlighted through multiplayer by adding some more interesting maps. Either way, I think I have to play Crysis 2 a little bit more before I can really judge it.

In gaming news, today is pretty slow. Irrational Games are holding a contest where the winner will get their name somewhere in Bioshock Infinite (as a character, building, etc.). This contest runs till April 12, so enter now! I think that's a great idea to build hype for your game, and really gets fans into the experience. I hope more games do things like this in the future. I would love to be in the next Pokemon game as a trainer.

Lady Snip3r wants to battle! I choose you!

I hope this first post wasn't too awkward and I promise to finish some games, do some reviews, and update you on my sick future cosplay (hint: COG). Have a great weekend.

As always,
LadySnip3r