...Right Near the Top, It has

HIGH Realizing just how massive and detailed the game is.

LOW The choppy framerate battles inside the volcano.

WTF Gnomes packing one-hit-kill explosives.

Jim Sterling gave Deadly Premonition a score of 10 points out of a possible 10, easily the highest score the game received among major gaming review sites. In his review, he makes it plain that this game does not deserve that score in any "objective" sense. The graphics are dated, the gameplay is limited, and its systems pay too much attention to irrelevant details. This is to say nothing of its absurd plot and characters. In comparison to almost any other game, Deadly Premonition is awful, but within the bounds of a certain kind of sensibility, that does not preclude it from also being good. Sontag identifies that sensibility as Camp, and it's an idea worth thinking about in connection to games.

OutRunning Mario

HIGH Placing first in an online match.

LOW The rage-inducing mission 41, thankfully the only one of its kind.

WTF Apparently Sega history stops at the Dreamcast.

Dice and Air Hockey, Together at Last

High: The complex, yet easy-to-understand gameplay.

Low: The graphics aren't very pretty, although they're only dice on a table.

WTF: Holy cow, that's a lot of levels.

I've heard that this week's XBLA offering will be the Nintendo 64 classic, Perfect Dark. Believe it or not, I've actually never played the game. It's been on my list of "classics" to experience as part of my general critic education for several years, but my N64's been packed away in storage for a while, and I've definitely had my hands full with more current releases. However, now that it's going to be available in a souped-up version, I'm thinking that maybe the time is right.

The other day, the subject of BioShock 2's recent Downloadable Content (DLC) came up and spurred a lively debate between a few people and myself on Twitter. As any tweeter knows, it's difficult to carry on an in-depth conversation with a limit of 140 characters, and trying to jump back and forth between several people at the same time is an even greater challenge. As a way of continuing the chat without the technical barriers, this post.

8-bit is Still Back

HIGH: Sheep Man ftw!

LOW: The weapon I got from Sheep Man.

WTF: Can Wily come up with a final form that isn't a disappearing ship?

My Coffee Warned Me About It

HIGH Running desperately from the Raincoat Killer.

LOW Driving around town with my car constantly trying to take off to the left.

WTF "F K... In the coffee!"

The Best Possible Way to Spend a Buck.

HIGH Adds two new great ideas to a classic genre.

LOW It's over too soon.

WTF Where's the rest of that giant android lady?