PSPeace and Goodwill December 25, 2009
Posted by shoinan in A Little Bit Silly.Tags: playstation portable, video games
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Podcasts: BRPs 29-32, Co-op Mode Nov 30, The Gamer Scene Assassin’s Creed 2 Review & Digital Cowboys 136 December 24, 2009
Posted by shoinan in Podcasts.Tags: digital cowboys, video games
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Episode 29: The Ballad of Grand Theft Auto: [mp3] [website]
Episode 30: Call of Duty to Whom: [mp3] [website]
Co-op Mode (Nov 30): [mp3] [website]
The Gamer Scene Assassin’s Creed 2 Review: [website]
Episode 31: Bigger, Redder, More Potion-y: [mp3] [website]
Episode 32: Sexuality and Self: [mp3] [website]
Digital Cowboys Episode 136: [mp3] [website]
Culture Clash: Osu! Tatakei! Ouendan vs. Elite Beat Agents December 22, 2009
Posted by shoinan in Design, Theory & Play Habits, Game Criticism.Tags: elite beat agents, video game
3 comments

Ouendan was a victim of being released in 2005, when the DS wasn’t the worldwide phenomenon it now is. Whist the Japanese rhythm game achieved modest sales, its tap-based rhythm gameplay was distinctive and fun enough to garner it a cult following. Then Nintendo surprised Ouendan’s developer, iNiS, by asking for a Western localization. And thus Elite Beat Agents was born.
However, although Elite Beat Agents is superficially a simple localization of a Japanese rhythm game because it exchanges the original’s songs for ones a Western audience would recognize, the reality is that it’s more than just a new soundtrack. The gameplay mechanics may be almost exactly the same, but Elite Beat Agents is rife with cultural differences – of an unusual sort, that is.
Reflecting On The Path December 18, 2009
Posted by shoinan in Character Discussion, Game Criticism.Tags: the path, video games
2 comments

We’re nearly hitting 2010 and I’ve only just played through this year’s most atypical game, The Path by Telltale Games. This experimental indie game was released earlier this year, but despite much urging from friends I left it residing in my backlog up until yesterday. I’m so glad I did eventually play it, not just because it’s so unusual and interesting, but because playing it some months later allows me to reflect on how people have reacted to it. And people very much reacted to it.
Oh Yeah, Mario Time! December 17, 2009
Posted by shoinan in Game Criticism.Tags: new super mario bros. wii, video games
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Disclaimer: This post is part of the VoucherCodes.co.uk Christmas Blog Challenge, in which bloggers write about the game they are most excited for this Xmas. I chose New Super Mario Bros. Wii. VoucherCodes.co.uk supplied a copy of the game for me so I could talk honestly about it in this post.
It’s difficult to judge a game like New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I’ve previously mulled on how nostalgia affects our judgement of long-running Nintendo franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Super Smash Bros. But NSMB Wii strays from the typical Nintendo course of reinvention and into the less trodden steps of true continuation.
Some would say Super Mario Galaxy is a sequel to the game it follows on from, the GameCube’s Super Mario Sunshine. I see it as a reinvention of core Super Mario gameplay for a new Nintendo console, just as Sunshine was, and just as Super Mario 64 was before that. Galaxy dropped Sunshine’s horrible water gun, delivered new gravitational physics, and took Mario into space. It may be the next core Super Mario game, but that doesn’t make it a sequel. It’s a reinvention, one of many to be found in Nintendo’s long history of adapting to new consoles and new times.
Behold The Turtle December 16, 2009
Posted by shoinan in Self-Analysis.Tags: game abyss, video games
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“Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”
James Bryant Conant
MegaTen & Female Link December 10, 2009
Posted by shoinan in Game Criticism, Pimpage.Tags: megaten, video games
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Another repost of something that’s gone missing over at MMO Hub. This impressions piece on MegaTen went up in June 2009 and presented here is a minimally edited version for portfolio purposes and your amusement.
I Am De Blob’s Edge December 4, 2009
Posted by shoinan in A Little Bit Silly.Tags: de blob, video games
9 comments

I’ve been dreaming about video games recently. That’s weird because outside of the mid-November rush I haven’t been playing video games – too goddamn busy. I think the dreams have more to do with my recent spree of (successful) dieting, them being the product of mid-slumber cravings. Or maybe I need to get more sleep, or less sleep, or even just a different bed. Or maybe, as my latest dream seems to prove, I’m certifiably off my trolley.

You Have Lost! is a blog about video games written by me, Sinan 'shoinan' Kubba. I'm the editorial and features director at TheGameReviews and I also host the Big Red Potion podcast. As you can see, I'm also a pirate but not of games (ha). E-mail: shoinan AT gmail DOT com. Screename: shoinan [PSN, XBLA, Steam & Twitter]. Your comments and feedback are always welcome. Please subscribe to my satiating feed by clicking