L.A. Noire Developer Exposed -- Brendon McNamara

Nice work on the neck-fat there John. 

[image courtesy of Hardcoregaming 101]

[I was originally going to post this on 1up.com, but their editor won't save my work. Also, I'm at my day job and I don't want to make it a habit of writing up stuff, while I'm supposed to be doing other work. So, this is just between you and me internet.]

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Red Dead Redemption -- Why Open World Narratives Fail

A game rich with architecture, dialog and distraction. Red Dead Redemption makes huge steps for open world games with narrative, but plays it safe with a bevy of sidequests and mulitplayer options that distracts more than it immerses.
Red Dead Redemption -- a very fortunate game with some unfortunate pieces. I feel like I’m destined to never complete an RPG or an open world game. I’m not sure if this should be seen as a review, because [by my standards] a true review comes from thoroughly exploring every aspect of a game. But times have changed. Red Dead Redemption and games of its massive budget-ilk are a fantastic example of how different games are in this generation in comparison to any preceding. A game rife with imagery and characters that bleed imagination and heavy influence from a time and genre the common gamer will not completely identify with. With as many inspiring answers as to what gaming is capable of today, I’m left asking more questions to the contrary. Why isn’t this an MMO? Do open-world games break a game’s narrative outline [no matter the quality]? And more importantly, why couldn’t I finish this incredible game?

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Video: Red Dead Redemption Weapons

A couple things of note:

• I couldn't help but notice that the star of Rockstar's most recent epic doesn't have a perfect set of teeth. I have no idea why my eyes became affixed on something so small and minute, but I guess I never noticed [out loud] that most games have 'ideal' modeled faces. Down to the pearly whites.

• Can I hold my gun 'gangsta style' a la 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand, because this could be a deal breaker. I need my enemies to know they are going to die with style.

• How sexy is this guys 'tech demo' -style voice over work. Its great to live in the age of games getting the National Geographic treatment; really, its a serious tone of respect I thought I'd never see. But honestly, we couldn't shell out the extra bucks to get Morgan Freeman to voice over the main guns in RDR? These truly are troubling times.

Video Provided By Joystiq