god-of-war posts

We love going to QuakeCon every year. Not just for the tournaments or the John Carmack keynotes or the QuakeCon girls but the awesome custom PC case mods that folks make, display and even use to play PC games. But we have to admit none of the QuakeCon PC case mods, even the Fallout 3 one we saw a couple of years ago, compares to the one you see above.

This Kratos case mod comes from a LAN event in Brazil and, well, it's truly a work or art. We will ignore the fact that the God of War series is a Playstation exclusive. We say, "Bravo" to the creator of this case mod. QuakeCon 2010 attendees, the ball is in your court to top this. Good luck. You can check out a brief video of the case mod from other angles after the jump.

[Via Joystiq]

There are some gaming conventions that are so ingrained into our collective psyches that they frequently go without notice -- and I'm not talking about BlizzCon. I'm talking about game mechanic conceits that, once dissected and examined in the calm, rational light of the modern day, appear at the very least old-fashioned, and at the worst, nothing more than crutches for poor game design.

Let's start with the venerable double-jump. Appearing for the first time in the 1984 arcade release Dragon Buster, the double-jump is a completely ridiculous and arbitrary defiance of basic physics (not that games need to adhere to real-world physics, mind you, but let's move on). For those of you somehow unfamiliar with this by-now accepted staple of platforming games, the double-jump allows a character to jump once, and at the apex of the jump (most often) jump again, springing off some invisible surface to gain more altitude. Is there a reasonable defense for the inclusion of this mechanic?

Video Games Live has announced a partnership with record label EMI Classics to release a compilation of some of VGL's orchestrated video game tunes via digital distribution and compact disc. Entitled Video Games Live: Volume One, the assemblage will showcase "some of the more popular segments from Video Games Live performances. The album contains several unique arrangements that were created along with the original composers exclusively for the show, and have never previously been released," according to a press release issued by VGL.

Video Games Live: Volume One will be released in two stages: a digital release available in the United Kingdom starting today, July 7; and a CD / iTunes exclusive complete with bonus tracks that coincides with VGL events beginning in San Diego, CA, on July 24.

The full track list for Video Games Live: Volume One is available after the break.