So call me names for prizing Uncharted 2's “cinematic”

You may think I'm crazy to base my GOTY pick on a game's “trimmings”, as many people believe story and characters to be, but my most memorable moments from the game came not from things I did, but rather things I simply saw.Real, genuine, heart-warming humour. Intrigue. Betrayal. Fragility. The characters in Uncharted 2 weren't just avatars, they were characters.Take Chloe. Straddling Drake on a hotel room bed makes you realise replica Breitling E7336009-I503 Men's watch how few games are able to deal with uality in a sensible, mature manner. Sticking with the character of Chloe as an example, her departure at the end of the game (and Drake and Elena's closing banter) also proves Uncharted 2 could handle something even rarer than in a game: love.

So call me names for prizing Uncharted 2's “cinematic” aspects over anything else released this year, but I look at it this way: most games are just 1's and 0's. A twitch here, a test of reflexes there. It's the context a game is wrapped in that really gives it meaning, and no game of 2009 came wrapped in a better package than Uncharted 2.Fahey's replica Breitling E1737018/M509 Men's watch Reply Eloquently stated, Mr. Plunkett, but in explaining your reasoning behind naming Uncharted 2 your Game of the Year, you also identify the reason I feel the game falls short of that coveted title.

Can a game's story, voice acting, and characterizations take away from the game as a whole? Uncharted 2 is an amazing cinematic experience, with a story and characters that brought to my mind the childlike thrill and wonder I felt when my mother took me to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in theaters back in 1981. It's a story that replica Breitling D7136512/C518 Watch could easily stand toe-to-toe with any action movie, with a cast that displays more humanity than most live-action Hollywood blockbusters can rarely pull off.My problem lies in the fact that I found the story so compelling that I dreaded actually playing the game.

I think Uncharted 2 was the best game

"Actually they aren't too bad, provided you turn the sound down a little and keep your hand away from the pause button. Pause is not your friend here.It's hard to tell who at developer Rebellion is having more fun this game - the animation guys, figuring out creative new ways to mangle 3D models, or the sound people, working on the screams, hisses, and juicier bits involved with the kill moves in Aliens vs. Predator. I suppose replica Breitling A2736223/B823 Men's watch entirely possible that they're simply recycling old sounds, but I'd like to imagine that somewhere right now a man is taking out his frustration on a watermelon with the pointy-end of a claw hammer, surrounded by microphones."

"I think Uncharted 2 was the best game of 2009. By a country mile. Why? Because Uncharted 2 was also 2009's best action movie.See, for me, the main appeal of the first game was never, well, the “game”. Sure, the platforming's version of “auto-pilot” was fun, and enjoying a spot of Gears of War in a tropical setting was a replica Breitling A2736234/G615 Men's watch pleasant change, but what made me really love Uncharted were its lovable characters, its smart, funny dialogue and the fact it could put a Nazi submarine on the top of a watell and get away with it.

In other words, I loved it as an action movie, albeit one where you were controlling most of the actual action.Uncharted 2 took all of that and gave us more. And the more was better. Sure, again, the “game” part was fun (amazing, even), but what makes Uncharted 2 my game of the year, and not just a great game, is that it was a better “movie”. There replica Breitling E7336009/A552 Men's watch is not a single video game in history that has such professional voice acting, such chemistry between its stars and such confident, capable senses of both drama and humour running throughout.

The camera does not fade on characters addicted

The camera does not fade on characters addicted to the fictional drug Triptocaine, referred to as “dope” in the game: Players may see a character trembling next to open vials; lines of cut white powder on a table; and a man staggering from the drug's ill-effects, as the screen turns blurry. Consumers may also wish to know that the game contains strong profanity (e.g., “fk,”motherfker,”sht,” and “ashole”). Overall, the game's highly replica Breitling A2536313-B6-970A Men's watch evolved motion-capture graphics (advanced renderings by 2010 standards) sharpen the sense of realism, increasing the impact of some aspects of pertinent content (the nudity, blood, violence, etc.).

ESRB Rating INformation for Heavy Rain [ESRB via CVG]" "The New York Times reports that ESPN and Microsoft are in talks to bring a subscription-based service to Xbox Live that would stream live sporting events through the Xbox 360, no cable TV connection needed.The notes that none of this is official, sourcing anonymous “people replica Breitling A2736215/C712 Men's watch close to the talks”: Microsoft has held in-depth discussions with the Walt Disney Company about a programming deal with ESPN, according to people close to the talks, who requested anonymity because the talks were intended to be private.

For a per-subscriber fee, ESPN could provide live streams of sporting events, similar to the ones available through ESPN 360, a service that is available from some high-speed Internet providers. Microsoft could also create some interactive games in association with ESPN, the people said, although a deal has not yet been struck. replica Breitling A2736223/F532 Watch Microsoft declined to comment, characterizing the Times report as “rumor and speculation.” We've checked in with ESPN as well and will update the post if we hear anything back.Xbox Takes on Cable, Streaming TV Shows and Movies [The New York Times via Geoff Keighley's Twitter]"

Players may encounter victims at various crime scenes

Players may encounter victims at various crime scenes: a woman (fully clothed) in a bathtub tainted with blood; a child under forensic examination (though the scene is largely narrative and clinical, with no depiction of victim's face or signs of trauma). More direct depictions of violence include the following: a woman replica Breitling A1935012-B774-SS Men's watch squirming and screaming as she catches on fire; a man impaled in the chest with a power drill; a female attacked in her own home by masked male assailants (the scene is prolonged); and a man shot (shown in slow-motion) by police officers.

Blood sometimes accompanies the acts of violence-whether triggered or viewed passively.The most intense instance of violence occurs during a “lizard trial” sequence in which players' character, Ethan, is forced to cut off a segment of his own finger to save his son's life: Several instruments (saw, scissors, knife, etc.) can be used to replica Breitling A1935012/G592 Men's watch remove the finger; and though the camera pans away from the actual dismemberment-instead the blade, the blood, the scream-the scene's poring focus on Ethan's psychological tenor/terror (the dread deliberation before the cut) may be unnerving for some.

The game contains ual content and nudity. Shower cutscenes may depict a male character's bare butt; if players control the female character, her breasts and buttocks are also briefly visible. A more prolonged instance of nudity occurs during a female character's investigation of a seedy club owner: After getting him alone in a room, the player-character is asked to strip; at gunpoint, she dances topless in front of the man. The game also contains a prompt-based love scene (kissing and rubbing) in which replica Breitling A4137012-G6-444A Men's watch players match on-screen cues to angle characters' mouths, remove shirts and blouses, unhook bras, and lower to the floor; a woman briefly appears topless amidst the dark shadows and heavy breathing-actual is never depicted as the camera fades to black.