Greg's illustrious gaming career started out at the age of three, when he managed to get a bean from 'Don't Spill the Beans' wedged up his nose. While he has never been quite that intimate with a game since, he loves all manner of games, and will play anything that is put in front of him. He even goes to a week-long convention every year devoted entirely to board games.
Keeping the website up and running can be hard work, and Greg likes to relax with a nice puzzle game, but also likes to play LotRO with some of his GiN colleagues. Adventure games and shooters have also been known to hold his interest.
And he still maintains a sad devotion to that ancient religion: Civilization II.
For CycleFX, combining exercise with gaming is like coasting down a hill. Last year at E3, I had the distinct pleasure of finding a booth run by a company called CycleFX and meeting its president Neil Nusbaum. He showed me an excercise bike interface that was designed to feed data into a PC where some analysis software would take it and tell you how you did. I said right then and there, "Neil, you have to adapt this interface to racing games." This year at E3, I was very pleased to see that he had taken my words to heart, … Continue reading Fitness for Gamers?!!→
When I first played Myst so many years ago, I enjoyed myself so thoroughly I thought that one could not improve upon this greatness. When Riven came out years later, I was certain of it. Now, after much hype (which even included a film trailer at last year’s E3, no less), Myst III: Exile is here. Would this new chapter in the Myst saga be as great a puzzle experience is its initial predecessor, or would this be another cheap attempt to cash in on the Myst legacy? Only some serious playing time would reveal the truth. First off, I … Continue reading Myst III: Exile is Puzzle Vengeance→
Trying something new at Disney "That's just how things are." Conventional thought dictates that you release a game with a movie tie-in after the movie has already been out. Yep, that's what conventional wisdom says. Of course, conventional wisdom used to say that the world was flat. The Walt Disney Company has been entertaining us through film for over half a century, and its subsidiary, Disney Interactive has been doing the same on our computers for several years. But even they, with all of their experience have not tried to go against this conventional thought. That is, until now. On … Continue reading The Cart Before The Horse?→
Merchant Prince II is a way to take the reigns behind one of the true powers in Renaissance Europe. No, not a King or Queen. Not even the Pope, but one of the rich merchant families of Venice. People tend to forget that while the Charlemagnes and Richards roamed around ruling the world, it was the Fuggers and Medicis who actually moved it. This is now your job. The basic premise of the game is simple enough to grasp – buy low, sell high. You look at what Venice has a lot of, buy some of those, and go off … Continue reading Merchant Prince II is One for the Books→
A leader in other markets goes after the game industry Contributions to the computer game industry generally come from one of three places: a long-standing powerhouse company, an up-and-coming pioneer and, more rarely, a company that has an established history in other industries that decides to move into ours. It's the last category that is my topic today. How does a company that has a history of great success in other fields spot a need in the game industry? Why then, would they desire to take a risk to fill that need? The best way to get answers would be … Continue reading Focused on Olympus→
The Ward is a puzzle/adventure game that takes you to the Moon, to Mars and beyond. It has a background story that is as old as the universe itself. However, I will try to be a bit briefer than that. This story actually starts in the far future, during the inevitable collapse of the universe. A highly advanced race called the Makers decide that the only way to escape their fate was to travel backwards through time billions of years, bringing their culture and technology with them. Unfortunately, due to the collapsing of Space, the time traveling did not go … Continue reading The Ward is a Sci-Fi Puzzle Experience→
Creating a new genre in the Age of the Internet. Sometimes I think television should adhere to some kind of truth in advertising law. I started to watch a show called "BattleBots," and much to my disappointment, they didn't show robots at all. I turned the channel, and saw another show, this one called "Robot Wars." This even had ‘robot' in the title, and there wasn't a robot in sight. I know what a robot is; Asimov taught me. The thermostat on my wall is more of a robot than the ‘bots' on these shows. When will we see a … Continue reading Forging Ahead→
Yes, friends, your old pal Guybrush Threepwood is back for his fourth appearance, but this time he’s in 3-D! Guybrush, now married to the beautiful but dangerous Governor Marley, returns to his old stomping grounds on Melee Island(TM) (all of the islands in the game series are trademarked for some reason) to find most of the pirates gone, and his wife declared dead. You must help save her mansion from being destroyed, and sail forth to try to find lawyers to help your plight. Of course, nothing is that easy, as you must figure out how to accomplish necessary tasks … Continue reading Escape from Monkey Island Has Appeal→
Out of the hype, but still in the money is a way of life Not everything needs huge amounts of hype to be successful. It sure helps, but it’s not absolutely crucial in order to make a living in this industry. That’s what Bethesda Softworks has been proving time and time again over most of its fifteen-year history. After producing a string of award-winning titles, Bethesda didn’t release any games for a few years, and is now coming out with a whole new line of games that look quite promising. Obviously, if the titles they had put out before were … Continue reading Still Out There…→
Trying to make professional gaming a reality. Rare is the game that is released nowadays without some sort of online mode of play. More and more producers are providing means to play over the Internet, even to the point where some games are released without any standalone component at all. The day may indeed come when online is the only way to play. And with this new way of gaming, in came the venues and matching services trying to get players together. This was a very good idea, providing a social atmosphere where people could play friendly games. This was … Continue reading An Exercise in Innovation→
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