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About "Critical Kate" Willaert

Born on the same day as the Famicom, "Critical Kate" has been playing videogames since the NES days. She enjoys a good story, prefers arcade-style to simulators, and doesn't understand the appeal of recreational frustration. You don't want to run into her in the Facility with Remote Mines.
Latest Posts | By "Critical Kate" Willaert

Ms. Splosion Man

I don’t envy Twisted Pixel. Putting so much work into developing what was sure to be 2011’s Sexist Game of The Year, only to watch Duke Nukem Forever swoop right …
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Trailer Analysis: Dead Island
13 years ago

Trailer Analysis: Dead Island

Axis Animation’s trailer for Deep Silver’s Dead Island accomplished a surprising feat: it introduced a brand new property (and one saddled with a fairly generic title, at that), without …
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By Its Cover: Mass Effect – A Trilogy Of Bland Covers
14 years ago

By Its Cover: Mass Effect – A Trilogy Of Bland Covers

It’s said you should never judge a book by its cover. But the simple fact is that we all do it. We can’t help ourselves.

The job of a cover …
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Wii U & Nintendo’s Brand Confusion

When the Wii came out in 2006, the style guide for the brand made the declaration that it should be called “simply Wii, not Nintendo Wii,” making it the first Nintendo console to not include “Nintendo” in the name.

Most companies would kill for the sort of name recognition, and yet for reasons unknown they wanted to slightly distance their name from the Wii. Today the Wii is a successful brand in its own right, but one that everyone assumed Nintendo would move on from with their next console, as they’ve done with every previous one. Instead, it appears that perhaps they’re following Sony and Microsoft’s lead, and creating a “sequel” console rather than a new “Nintendo.”

Unfortunately, this is already leading to brand confusion, with many people understandably believing the Wii U to be just another Wii peripheral. Even a usually knowledgeable source like CNET initially reported today: “At E3 2011, Nintendo unveils its new iPad-like game controller called the Wii U, due out in 2012.” Read More

Story Analysis: ilomilo

A cutesy puzzle game starring two lovable little creatures navigating a folksy arts-and-crafts style world is probably the last place you’d expect to find a sentimental story about star-crossed relationships and mortality.

And that’s what makes ilomilo (pronounced “ee-lo-me-lo”) more unforgettable than the average puzzle game. It charms your socks off, before blindsiding you with a brief moment of melancholy, only to continue on as if nothing happened. The result is a game I can only describe as wonderful yet bittersweet.

Warning: The following article contains major spoilers. If you have yet to play ilomilo, I would highly recommend doing so before reading any further. If you figure it’s unlikely you’ll ever get around to playing it, yet found the opening paragraph intriguing, you are of course welcome to continue. But if you change your mind and decide you want to play it after all, you’ll have only yourself to blame… Read More

102,247,681,536,000,000 Unique Character Variations, And Not One Woman
14 years ago

102,247,681,536,000,000 Unique Character Variations, And Not One Woman

Yesterday, Bethesda Blog posted some impressive numbers to let people know just how deep the character customization will be when Brink comes out this Tuesday. 102,247,681,536,000,000 unique character variations, or …
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Portal 2 (Part 1): Single Player

The following is part one of a two part spoiler-free review. This part focuses exclusively on the single player mode; co-op will be covered in part two.

In an age …
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Ghostbusters Avatar Items Now Available On Xbox360!

Ghostbusters items for your Xbox360 avatar are now available on the Xbox Marketplace, as a tie-in to Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime. There’s a jumpsuit/proton pack combo, a hat, and …
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Beyond Good & Evil HD

Every console generation, it seems that there are always a few fantastic games that fly under the radar of the majority of gamers upon initial release, only to become well …
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Full House Poker

Full House Poker is the spiritual successor to the popular XBLA game 1 Vs. 100. Microsoft Game Studios had said they were going to apply what they learned from 1 …
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