The last 11,059 words of Dan Boutros’s Street Fighter IV review lie can be found after the break, including his score.Sorry. We planned doing this in three parts two weeks ago, but only did one. We failed because of GDC. We watched the finger. Not the moon.Dan was the first ever US SFIV champion. He is also a general life-hero.Hit the link to see why. There’s a score at the bottom.Part one of this review is here. Character guidesPicking a character you used to use in earlier Street Fighters might not work out well for you. For example, Guile’s move-set properties are said to work best for conservative play, which may bore former Guile users. The priorities on Gen’s pokes are toned down and Dhalsim is much more punishable when his varied yoga spears are blocked. How you feel will all depend on the styles and strategies you favoured. I’ve found I have to change how I used to play Dhalsim, but I love how he plays now, so it works for me, but I know a lot of … [Read more...] about The most detailed Street Fighter IV review in the world – the rest of it, verdict included
Most using english words
Paperback Review – A Novel Word Creation Game
With each additional player from the minimum of 2 the way players can plan ahead changes. Letters available from The Offer can drastically change with the full 5 players. Between turns if other players score high several decent cards could be taken. Some letters are also more commonly selected by players, especially in the case of the double letters or higher scoring letters. One example of this was ED, I have yet to see a game where the ED card hasn’t been instantly selected by a player whom has enough cents to pay for it. Not every double letter card is as easy to fit into a word though. Nevertheless, double letters are key to scoring well and to claiming the common letter cards so are a must at some point in the game.When selecting a new letter at the end of your turn there are a few strategies available. These aren’t strategies to follow for the entire game, as flicking back and forth seems to present the best results. Option 1 is to take the highest scoring fame card. … [Read more...] about Paperback Review – A Novel Word Creation Game
Unspeakable Words Review – Fart Noises
A few years ago, before I began writing reviews, I used to enjoy a show on Youtube about boardgames. On the show, a geeky celebrity gathers up some of his celebrity friends, and they play various tabletop games. One of the first episodes that I watched featured a word game called Unspeakable Words. The people on the show had so much fun with it that I decided that I needed to have a copy. The one problem with the game was that it was next to impossible to find a copy to purchase. A while later, a campaign for a reprint of the game showed up on Kickstarter, and I was thrilled. I quickly pledged for the game, excited for the day in the near future when I’d be able to play the game with my family and game group and laugh it up. Good times ahead!The Kickstarter campaign came and went, and, as the game took longer and longer to deliver, I actually forgot that I had pledged for it in the first place. In the interim I began to write reviews, first on the now-dead NerdyRaptor, and then … [Read more...] about Unspeakable Words Review – Fart Noises
Should kids be taught in schools using Minecraft?
“The 14-year-old me was weeping inside” says Tom Bennett, the UK government’s school behaviour tsar. He’s recalling the time that Ian Livingstone – the co-creator of both Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy, the series of role-playing books – called him a “luddite”. “It really upset me, I used to love the books and the games that came from them.”The reason Bennett became the target of Livingstone’s ire is because of his views on Minecraft in classrooms. Last November, Microsoft released Minecraft: Education Edition, an enhanced version of the game that has extra tools for teachers to plan and set up lessons, whether that’s recreating a Shakespeare play or building the Great Pyramids. They can build worlds faster than usual, monitor their students’ activity and help them build online portfolios of their work. In an interview with The Times shortly after, Bennett said that the game was a “gimmick” … [Read more...] about Should kids be taught in schools using Minecraft?
Word Play
[A version of this feature was originally printed in UK videogames bible Edge. It’s about the use of Text in videogames, both in the mainstream and over in the world of Interactive fiction. It features material from Chris Avellone (Planescape Torment), Sheldon Pacotti (Deus Ex), Adam Cadre (Photopia, Shrapnel) and Emily Short (Galatea, Floatpoint). I’ve expanded it to fit in in some of the quotes I couldn’t fit in Edge’s word-count. Which were many. If you’ve read my Planescape Retrospective, you’ll recognise some key riffs. This feature very much grew from that one. And enough waffle. Let’s do this thing.]In the beginning was the word. And the word begat a phrase. And the phrase was “Avoid Missing Ball For High Score”. Gaming’s public relationship with words started here, and continues to this day. It’s these first furtive fumblings which produced the most lasting signifiers which define games in the public eye, and … [Read more...] about Word Play