61 Frames Per Second

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• Bringing Sexy Back: Rebecca Mayes's Musical Game Reviews

  Game People is a blog that has been amusing me for a little while now, playing to the idea that there are many different types of gamers out there (there are) and that they deserve to have their opinions on games heard (they do) because they're interesting and insightful (they are!). They've got a sports gamer and a teen gamer and a family gamer and even a haiku gamer who reviews games with haikus and origami. It seems the contributor drawing the most attention, though, is Rebecca Mayes, Game People's "audio gamer". Like so many people we know and love, Rebecca is new to the world of video games. She does not have a pedigree in Metroid, Rebecca is just diving into a mysterious pool of beautifully uncertain water and hoping she'll float. She does this by doing what comes naturally to her, writing and recording quaint little pop songs about whatever she's playing. If ever a genre was formed of "twee gaming," I think Rebecca and I would be right there in the same boat of uneasy wonder, she plucking her guitar strings and me thumbing my kalimba. What? Sorry, I seem to have drifted off there for a moment... Read More... Posted Mar 06 2009, 04:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: derrick sanskrit, bringing sexy back, music, reviews, flower, hotel dusk, game people

• Bringing Sexy Back: The Nintendo DS Spa

  I have often had elaborate fantasies involving my Nintendo DS and professional massage therapy—who hasn’t right? And that’s okay, it’s fine, it’s not like that makes you some kind of weirdo or anything. But it’s not a dream that I expected to get the, shall we say, Nintendo Seal of Approval. Apparently, I was wrong.     Quarter to Three forum poster Bahimiron has provided photographic evidence of the Nintendo DS spa, a seemingly officially endorsed traveling mall version of all your dreams come true. And it gets better: check out the descriptions of the various, ahem, products on display. If you can read it not in a deep throaty voice and not to imaginary porn music, you have more willpower than I do. Read More... Posted Dec 02 2008, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments Filed under: nintendo ds, bringing sexy back, new super mario bros, joe keiser, lower back massages, spa

• Bringing Sexy Back: Toshihiro Nagoshi

  I mentioned it earlier today, but Sega’s been making me feel all tingly on the inside lately. It’s been a goodly while since Sega made my heart flutter, but they just keep making all the right moves. More than anything else from the publisher, Yakuza 2 has been the real inspiration behind all the tinglyness. No bones about it, I freaking love that game. It is awesome. But I got to thinking today, to whom do I owe my thanks for all the warmth inside? Well, certainly crime novelist Hase Seishu. His careful pen is responsible for Yakuza’s ongoing and thoroughly entertaining story. But producer Toshihiro Nagoshi certainly deserves a heaping spoonful of thanks as well. And you know what else? He is sexy as hell. Read More... Posted Nov 05 2008, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, bringing sexy back, sega, super monkey ball, yakuza, yakuza 2, Toshihiro nagoshi

• Bringing Sexy Back: Retro Controllers of the Future

  Take a gander at this metal USB game pad from Dream Cheeky. It features all the buttons of a SNES controller and none of the ergonomics, but honestly, who cares? Look at how shiny it is! Look at how smooth and sleek it is, like your 24th century android girlfriend, with the tiny L and R buttons as her perk nipples and a rubberized grip as her toned synthetic hips. She has a six foot USB cord so as to not smother you, and she even swings both ways with both PC and Mac support. Sure, she doesn't have as many features as the Logitech pad that's been loyal to me for years, but I'm willing to sacrifice function for form when its a form like this. There, now that your PC games have an extra dash of Björk's "All Is Full of Love," let's see what we can do about the sexiest home console around, Nintendo's Wii. Read More... Posted Aug 27 2008, 04:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: derrick sanskrit, wii, bringing sexy back, PC, mac, controllers

• Bringing Sexy Back: John Carmack

  You’d think I’d be sitting here talking about John Romero, American McGee, or one of the other lookers from the grand history of id software for a Brining Sexy Back feature, but John Carmack is the only one for me. Those penetrating, bespectacled eyes, the sandy blonde quaff that says, “I could have been one of the Duke boys if I hadn’t been an indoor child.” It’s all too much to resist! John Carmack isn’t exactly what you what call sexy in the traditional sense, though he seems significantly more personable these days. For anyone who has read David Kushner’s Masters of Doom (an excellent page turner. Seriously.), you know Carmack’s come a long way from the “computer with legs” he was described as in his youth. What’s sexy about Carmack is his devotion to a singular goal: making the best damn foundation for a game he can build. Carmack and id’s games have never been beautiful creations, aesthetically or mechanically. The company made a name for itself on the cartoonishly grotesque and through its blunt, aggressive play, a combination that has kept their games satisfying (if not revelatory) for fifteen years. But they have always been elegant creations thanks to Carmack’s engines, from the scrolling animation of Wolfenstein 3D all the way to the still-stunning light-and-shadow play of Doom 3. Read More... Posted Jul 17 2008, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, bringing sexy back, doom, rage, id, wolfenstein, john carmack, quake

• Bringing Sexy Back: Street Fighter Dress-Up Party!

  Yes, this slinky black number that can be unlocked for Chun Li in the imminent and fine looking Street Fighter 4 is an ample slice of cheesecake. It is not, in itself, bringing sexy back in any way, shape, or form. Cheesecake, as our good friend Patrick Alexander over at Eegra so deftly illustrated, is nothing new in fighting games. Nor are alternate costumes for the exaggerated characters that populate them. What is bringing sexy back is the thought that, ultimately, we’re going to be able to play dress-up with our Street Fighter characters as new content is released in both arcade iterations and home versions of the game. Here’s my thinking: that slinky black dress on Blanka. That will strike fear into all opponents! Read More... Posted Jul 01 2008, 05:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, street fighter, bringing sexy back, eegra

• Bringing Sexy Back: Susan O’Connor

  Back in the day, Hooksexup had a motto: Good writing is sexy. In the past ten years, as Hooksexup’s grown out of its spunky, firebrand early days and into its current incarnation as a mature, established purveyor of cultural commentary, the motto has disappeared from the magazine. But it lives on in everything we do. Good writing being sexy is a belief we cannot shake, a universal truth that colors all of our endeavors, and it’s at the heart of 61 Frames Per Second. Painful as it is to say, good writing is still rare in games. Dialogue, expository text, all writing really, takes a backseat to the creation of every other asset in a game. Hell, in some cases, I’ve seen promotional materials better written than the game they’re humping (I’m looking at you Metroid Prime 3. Suburban Commando called, it wants its dialogue back.) That’s why Susan O’Connor is sexy. Recently named one of the most important women in games, the fact of the matter is that O’Connor is one of the most important people working in games, period. Read More... Posted May 28 2008, 10:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, metroid, gamasutra, bioshock, bringing sexy back, susan o'connor, gears of war

• Bringing Sexy Back: Yoji Shinkawa

  When it comes to Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima’s always the first name that springs to mind. Yeah he’s the creator, the designer, the director, the writer of all that dialogue, not to mention that the entire team behind the games is named after the man. But another name springs to my mind as I quiver with anticipation of Metal Gear Solid 4’s release: Yoji Shinkawa. Shinkawa’s expressive illustrations have been the face of the MGS series from the beginning and are, if I do say so, sexy as hell. The vaguely defined faces of his figures, the broad-stroke heavy lines of his characters, the almost melancholic tone of his largely monochromatic illustrations. Shinkawa gets us hot and no mistake. What do you say, FPSers? Read More... Posted May 14 2008, 12:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, metal gear solid, hideo kojima, bringing sexy back, yoji shinkawa