That Cyberpunk 2077 Teaser…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 11, 2013

I was pretty amazed when I saw this teaser for the Cyberpunk 2077 game. But when I still think about it hours later, I figure it’s made an impression. Warning – if you haven’t seen it, it’s… dark. Disturbing. CD Projekt Red offers the commentary, “The teaser shows how the Psycho Squad might acquire a […]

Filed Under: Game Announcements, Mainstream Games - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

XCOM: Will it RPG?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 4, 2012

XCom: Enemy Unknown – Could it be classified as an RPG? Maybe as a hybrid? Why, or why not? Previously, I dismissed its predecessor on the (admittedly weak) criteria that the game didn’t encourage you to identify with your group of squaddies. That hasn’t changed much in the remake, but I also think that it […]

Filed Under: Mainstream Games - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Something Old, Something New… And Everything Else!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 24, 2012

I recently confessed that I really don’t know what “old-school RPG” really means, mainly because it’s something that represents different things to different people. In the latest issue of Knights of the Dinner Table, comic creator Jolly Blackburn confessed the same kind of quandary in an editorial about the “old-school” mentality of dice-and-paper gamers. He […]

Filed Under: Design, Mainstream Games, Retro - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

Rocksmith vs. Rock Band 3 Pro Guitar

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 18, 2012

I have waited a while for Rocksmith. Specifically,  for the PC version, which was finally released Tuesday, about a year after the console version. I was looking forward to it when it was first announced. I was waiting for it even longer than that – since I heard about the never-released Guitar Rising, which also allowed […]

Filed Under: Impressions, Mainstream Games - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

The Death of Single-Player Games?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 6, 2012

Sounds like EA is patting itself on the back for eliminating single-player games from their publishing plans. Not that solo players will be completely left in the cold – I’m sure most of those games will retain some single–player modes. In some cases, the solo mode will even be the focus of the game.  But […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, Mainstream Games - Comments: 12 Comments to Read

Greenlight is a Go.

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 31, 2012

I had this in an update yesterday, but I wanted to give it one more go: Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon  is on Steam Greenlight. Please vote for it, if you have a Steam account. Obviously, Greenlight is now up and running. And… I dunno. I’m apparently not the only one seeing it as […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, Mainstream Games - Comments: 17 Comments to Read

IP Rights – Why Are They Are Important to Indie Game Developers? Part 1

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 12, 2012

This is gonna be a multi-part article about a discussion we had last week (in comments) about Intellectual Property rights. Why are they such a big deal? Why should indies care (beyond the fact that, in the opinion of most, if you are working on someone else’s IP, you ain’t indie)? Let’s talk about a […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Mainstream Games - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

CYBERPUNK!!!!!!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 30, 2012

R. Talsorean Games’ Cyberpunk has been one of my favorite pen-and-paper RPGs for years. I was still a fan of the game long after the genre was no longer “hot.” As a child of the 80’s, I was attracted to the flavor of the genre, which naturally changed over the years, but to me always […]

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Irony (Or: Same Industry, Different Worlds)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 25, 2012

I feel a little morbid about this juxtaposition, but these happened on the same day: A major “mainstream” development house with a huge budget fails spectacularly, potentially dragging taxpayers (and, by reputation, the games industry) down with it. In spite of a recently launched game that’s reportedly exceeded publisher expectations and sold over a million […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Mainstream Games - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

What Endings Would YOU Change?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 23, 2012

Okay. So Bioware will be changing Mass Effect 3‘s endings (probably) by popular demand. I jokingly added a new ending to Frayed Knights in response (though I like the new ending better). Apparently some more indies are jumping in and doing the same, now. It’s a silly stunt, but it’s fun, and hey… isn’t that […]

Filed Under: Design, Mainstream Games, Retro - Comments: 20 Comments to Read

Didn’t Like Ending, Please Change.

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 20, 2012

There’s a lot of sound and fury around the ending of Mass Effect 3 right now. I haven’t played it yet, and I probably won’t be playing it for a while, so I’m simply commenting on secondhand information for part of this. And I’m not worrying so much about keeping myself spoiler-free (I’ll also warn […]

Filed Under: Biz, Geek Life, Mainstream Games - Comments: 19 Comments to Read

Five Things I Unequivocally Love About Modern Mainstream RPGs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 2, 2012

I tend to rip on modern RPGs a lot here. Yeah, it’s unfair, but it’s my blog. Part of it is my own reaction sycophantic game reviewers and wannabe-journalists who either believe video games weren’t invented until 2000, or who believe that they are doing publishers are a favor by attempting to invalidate anything from […]

Filed Under: Mainstream Games - Comments: 17 Comments to Read

Last Chance to Vote on Your Favorite RPGs of 2011

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 12, 2012

The RPG Watch poll for the PC RPG of the Year closes in a few hours. Go Vote! If you happen to be voting for Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon for the “indie RPG of the year,” category, I’d strongly encourage you to go vote right now! Don’t wait! If you don’t think you […]

Filed Under: Frayed Knights, Mainstream Games - Comments: Comments are off for this article

A Real X-Com?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 5, 2012

Okay. Here’s what would be incredibly funny (if unlikely). 2K Marin’s first-person shooter X-Com remake tanks, while Firaxis’s newly-announced X-Com: Enemy Unknown – which sounds to be a straight-up strategy game with turn-based tactical combat – sells near-Civilization quantities. Anyway, we old-school fans of the original may have reason to rejoice… Game Informer – X-Com: […]

Filed Under: Mainstream Games, Strategy Games - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Frayed Knights: The Independent RPG of the Year!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 3, 2012

This time, it’s not just wishful thinking…   GameBanshee’s “Game of the Year” awards are up!   And Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon took the “Independent RPG of the Year” award for 2011! I don’t know how narrowly we managed to win against Dungeons of Dredmor, the runner-up, but with the amount of respect […]

Filed Under: Frayed Knights, Mainstream Games - Comments: 18 Comments to Read

Diablo III: Lord of Bling?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 2, 2011

The Diablo III news at the beginning of this week caused quite a stir: 1. The game requires a constant Internet connection to play. Basically it is “online only,” no matter how you want to argue semantics. 2. Items in the auction house will be bought and sold for real-world money. With Blizzard taking a […]

Filed Under: Biz, Mainstream Games, News - Comments: 24 Comments to Read



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