ben is on the inter.net

When playing games and watching game commercials made me think this sort of thing were possible.

I know that, for instance, I used to think that someday I’d be given evidence that games were representations of a reality out there, and that it might be possible to bridge that gap. I should note that this was BEFORE I saw Captain N as a kid.

I miss those times! Now everything just feels like games for games’ sake. Actually, Ico never really felt like a game to me. Maybe that’s why it wins my Best Award For All Award.

When XNA 2.0 comes out, support will be added for the guitar controllers. There’s already support for racing wheels.

I want to see a multiplayer shooter where one guy drives some vehicle and the passenger uses their guitar to shoot wailing laserZ at opposing drivers. It would be the World’s First (and Filthiest) Multiplayer CaRPG Rhythm Shooter.

Great games keep on coming out! Last week was Persona 3, this week is Bioshock, Brain Age 2, and Space Giraffe, and next week is Stranglehold, and Blue Dragon.

I’m passing on Metroid Prime 3, the new Guild Wars expansion, Harvest Moon: Rune Factory, and Wild Arms 5, all of which I would probably have picked up if times were different. Blue Dragon is dangerously close to that line, too, since between Persona 3 and the upcoming Eternal Sonata, my RPG mindshare is limited!

I was out at Gamefest. It’s the third time Microsoft has held a gaming technology conference and the second one I’ve been to. I’m writing up a full review of what I learned and what I saw, but let me first say that some of the stuff that the dream-build-play finalists did was amazing. Really inspiring stuff! Also, XNA keeps getting better and better, and I keep doing nothing with it, but now the potential energy has spilled over and I’ve decided It Is Time. More on that as my 100 Tasks series continues.

Oh, and before I forget: Seattle has probably the best food in the entire universe. I had a pile of scallops and they were seriously this big [hand gesture]. I had a crepe that looked like this:

Check out my flickr for a couple pictures I took from my iPhone while I was there. I wish I could have explored more, but I was tethered to the conference pretty tightly all day.