Every once in a while, a game comes along that challenges our expectations. Games like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft are obvious examples with the same basic premise of user-created content. Even classics like Pac-Man are being re-thought in Pac-Man Championship Edition: DX. The PC indie scene is booming, spawning its own variety of unique games. The vast majority of games use familiar game designs with attached bells and whistles and polish to various degrees, but as we move forward, new ideas continuously emerge.

The industry is changing. Increased focus on the mobile market has forced developers to find creative ways to bring their designs to touch screen only devices and utilize features like gyroscopes and the ability to be constantly connected to the internet.

With 3D getting bigger each week (whether we believe it can work or not), designs that include the technology in a more integral way are bound to emerge. Nintendo's 3DS will release in America in a few months, and Nintendo is counting on developers to make 3D a necessary element to games rather than just another gimmick.

There will always be a place for more "traditional" game designs, but with the mobile market, the indie scene, platforms like XBLA, PSN and WiiWare, and technology like 3D TVs and systems, it seems that developers are being challenged to take risks to advance the limits of design. Who knows what the landscape will look like in ten years?

I decided to pick up Darksiders recently, and after reading reviews that said it was too similar to other games or lacked originality, I was expecting a game that I'd beat quickly and sell. To my surprise, Darksiders is a genuinely fun game that feels like nothing I've played this generation.

The game may share common elements with God of War and Zelda, but it definitely feels unique. The combat and character movement is fast and fluid and the puzzles found in dungeons are clever. I can see the combat getting repetitive, but so far, this game has exceeded my expectations. The art direction is another high point. The graphics and dialog remind me of a graphic novel and the world feels well-realized. There are a ton of different enemies and all the creature designs are awesome.

I'm playing on Apocalyptic difficulty, and it's challenging but not in a frustrating way. I am truly enjoying this game and I like its focus on fast and fun gameplay rather than some revolutionary mechanic that falls flat. I definitely recommend this game, especially since it can be found for around $15.

So far, I've played Puzzle Quest on PSP, DS and iPod touch. I only played it briefly on DS and iPod touch, but the game just doesn't get old. I only have the PSP version now, and I had to start a new save, but even two years or so after I first played it, I find myself playing it when I have a few minutes to game.

There's something about Bejewelled in the first place that makes it endlessly fun. The mechanics are simple, but seeing the effects of each move in the falling pieces is satisfying. Add in RPG elements, and Puzzle Quest is a winner. The story is an excuse for the game to march you around the map and hurl enemies at you, but it's well written and it adds some atmosphere to the game. The art is solid, if a little generic.

There are very few games that have as much replay value as Puzzle Quest. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't over-saturated myself with the sequels and spin-offs, but this formula works for me. It's not a game that I'll consciously choose when I have a few hours to game, but it gets its fair share of time for sure.

When I think about all the games I loved, I can't name a single title that survived on one strength. Graphics, sound, story, gameplay, etc. cannot push a game into greatness in isolation. They must all work together. Sure, one element can be stronger or weaker than another but generally, a weakness in one area is not outweighed by a strength in another.

The games that I hold as my favorites are complete experiences. Games like Dead Space, Uncharted, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Metal Gear Solid, etc. are all great experiences because I can get lost in them when I play. The individual parts of these games are consistently great, which allows me to be fully immersed without interruption.

Recently, I played the demo of Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom. The game looked cool in previews and I was excited to try it out. I wasn't particularly wowed by the game, but I didn't have any reason to hate it either. That is, until I heard the Majin's voice. The creature sounds like a deranged baby. My concentration was instantly broken. I expected something subtle; in fact, the game reminded me of ico or SoTC when I first saw it, but my hopes were shattered.

This is one example of how a single aspect of a game can affect the whole experience. Whether it be poor voice acting, grating sound or technical issues, a seemingly insignificant piece of a game can ruin immersion. If a game is consistently good, any part that is lower in quality is glaring in comparison. If a game is fun enough, minor annoyances can be overlooked, but a consistently good game is far more memorable to me than one with inconsistent quality. Sometimes, a games strengths do outweigh its weaknesses, but these tend to be the games that age poorly. As designs are iterated upon and improved, older games that stumbled in certain areas seem archaic. For example, I love Fallout 3. I despise the animations which are stiff and repetitive and the first person shooting wouldn't be acceptable in a more fast-paced shooter without VATS, but I love exploring the world and experiencing the stories of the wasteland. In the future, when bethesda or other developers spend more time on the animation and shooting gameplay, I imagine it will be difficult to go back to Fallout 3.

So what games do you think overcome their weaknesses? What games fail to do this? What are some things you dislike about the games you enjoy and do you think these things will make them less fun in the future?

So I loved Fallout 3. Really loved it. I played through the game roughly 4 times, did all the quests, made all the special items... It was awesome. But I didn't like it the first time I played through it. I did a few side quests but it didn't hold my interest. It was only on the second playthrough that I slowed myself down and focused on the story of the wasteland. This is when it got its hooks into me and didn't let go.

Now I'm coming at New Vegas with this mindset from the beginning. I'm not worrying about the main quest. I'm focusing on the world through my characters eyes. I'm walking toward a landmark in the distance just because I can (even if I get destroyed by deathclaws and giant radscorpions...).

So far, I'm loving the game just as much as I loved my later playthroughs of Fallout 3. Not much has changed, but the little things that have - the music, iron sights, the western theme - separate this game from its predecessor.

It's hard to take a breath and move slowly through a game in this age of shooters and flash-in-the-pan action games, but it's the way RPGs are meant to be played. And Fallout shines when you take your time. Maybe I'll revisit Dragon Age Origins with this attitude...

It's been a while since I picked up a new game and I was itching for a fresh experience, so a few days ago I grabbed Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for PSP. I loved the first two games for the PS2 and I forced myself to play all the way through the DS's 358/2 days before I bought Birth by Sleep.

I'm only 7 or 8 hours into Terrra's campaign, but so far, I'm loving it. It's the full KH experience. The attention to detail when it comes to modeling and animation is awesome. Anything that moves in these games, from the heartless to Mickey Mouse, has been given a distinct character. It reminds me of Disney movies. It's a layer of artistic polish that few developers bother (or have time) to implement, but it goes a long way in making the game stand out. When thinking of comparable animation, Insomniac's Ratchet and Clank games spring to mind.

The combat system is enjoyable, the graphics are great and the music is awesome as always. The one thing that takes me out of the experience is the dialog. Every time "unversed" (basically heartless from what I understand) appear, Terra stops what he's doing, looks directly at them and announces "unversed!" It may be believable the first time but when the player is expecting to fight enemies around every corner and the main character acts like it's the first time he's encountered them, it creates an obvious disconnect. The other dialog has been someone boring and cliche so far as well. It's a small issue, but it's the only thing that has taken me out of the otherwise incredible experience so far.

I look forward to seeing how the story develops and I hope Terra can get it through his head that fighting unversed has become a part of his life now...

I wanted to relax by playing some games last night so I looked through my collection. A few PS3 games sit unfinished on my shelf, namely Valkyria Chronicles and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I planned to play Valkyria Chronicles, but instead, I ended up popping in Bioshock, a game that I beat on the 360 when it came out (and before I got rid of my 360).

I began playing and was surprised how quickly I was pulled into the world of Rapture again, despite noticing some annoying technical blemishes (logos and and cutscenes that look compressed on my 1080p monitor). I loved Bioshock when I played it and it seems nothing has changed. Sure, I'm moving through it at a much faster pace and it seems easy on the medium difficulty, but the characters and ambiance stand out to me more than ever.

Creeping around a corner as you hear a splicer reciting a disturbing love poem to a corpse still gives me the chills and sucks me into the game. And even though I knew what was going to happen when I stepped into the circle of light neatly illuminating the shotgun lying on the floor, it was no less exciting.

Bioshock is a master of atmosphere. Now that I am more into level design and have built some of my own levels, I notice the little things that make Rapture tick. The layout of the game is expertly done and the sense of scale is perfect. Look out a window and you'll see the Rapture skyline shimmering into the distance. Every room is a collection of possibilities. Use Telekinesis to hurl that exploding tank at your enemies or wait until the follow you into the water to electrocute them.

Once I beat Bioshock again, I'm going to order Bioshock 2 and see how the shooting mechanics and level design have evolved. Bioshock is one of my favorite games this generation, right up there with Dead Space, MGS4, Oblivion, Fallout 3 and both Uncharted games. If you haven't played it, go pick it up dirt cheap!

Now that school has started again, I'm barely going to have time or money for games. Between work, school, my girlfriend, friends and working on my level design portfolio, I'm going to have very little free time. If anything, I'll get to spend maybe 5-10 hours a week on gaming. I'm thinking this might actually be a good thing. For once in my life, I can look at all the great games coming out and resist the urge to buy them. There are some games I'll definitely be getting like Dead Space 2, The Last Guardian, Mass Effect 2 for PS3 and others, but I can't pass on a lot of games that I would normally buy. I'm also selling games that I have in my collection that I've never even touched or that don't interest me anymore. I think I'll have a better collection because of that. I'm the kind of person who likes to own games that I like, but I'm realizing that just experiencing some games once is enough and I can't really justify a 60 dollar game if I'm only going to play it once. This is why games like Uncharted 2, Infamous, Fallout 3, Cod MW2, etc are staying in my collection. I regularly think back to playing them and have the urge to play them again. I'm happy with being a little more selective, and I'm sure my wallet will be too. I just hope I have at least some time for games this semester!

I'm going in to my senior year at Pitt and I honestly can't wait to graduate. I was undecided when I came here, and I can say I'd change plenty of the decisions I made early in my career as a student. I'm an English major and an art minor and my passion lies in level design. As it stands, I have to learn level design on my own time. This is why it would have been nice to go to school for design, but I'm not gonna let that hold me back! I may have to learn the tools on my own, but I love doing it and I'm determined to get into the industry my own way.

As the "real" world looms less than a year away, my excitement grows. I know I'm going to have to start small, but I'm excited to get on the path to becoming a level designer. I've been looking for internships for a while, but there are only two companies around here that are even remotely related to game development, Silver Tree Media and Schell Games. I just got hired at the apple store, so I'm going to make the most of that job while I can and see where it takes me, but I've got my eye on the prize the whole time. I'm planning on moving to California after I graduate and applying to every company I can. Even if I start in a different department, I'll be happy to work at a game studio.

All the thought about what I want to do with my career has exposed things I could have done differently, but now, I'm not sure I'd change anything. Sure, having classes that taught me how to script in the Unreal Engine and design great levels would have been awesome, but I can learn that stuff in my free time, and I think that the fact that I enjoy doing it and I'm having so much fun learning says just as much as attending those classes. I think that going out on my own to make contacts and learn what I have to know is making me appreciate the work a lot more, and I'm proving to myself that I really want to do this. I've got to push myself to improve and I'm finding that to be a very rewarding experience. I just hope the future is kind to me :)

Since Nintendo announced the 3DS, I've been patiently waiting to see what the console can do. Now that E3 has come and gone, I can safely say that it has surpassed my expectations. While I personally didn't get to go to E3, everyone who got hands on time with the system seems to agree that it's pretty amazing.

Here's what I wanted: impressive 3d, a system roughly the same size as the DSi and, most importantly, some good game announcements. It seems everyone loves the 3d screen and it was a smart move on Nintendo's part to integrate a slider for the 3d effect. The system looks like it's still pocket friendly and portable with the added bonus of having great battery life like the DS lite/ DS i and the game announcements could not have excited me more. Mario Kart 3D? Hell yeah, I loved Mario Kart DS. Snake Eater remake, Ocarina of Time remake, Paper Mario, Starfox 64, Assassin's Creed... The list goes on and if there's one thing that will start this system off right, it's great launch titles like these (I know they're not all launch titles, but they'll hopefully all be out within a year of the system launch).

I'm so glad the 3DS looks to be stepping up the graphics too. Well, the horsepower more specifically. I think some DS games look great, but I want a handheld that can do open world games like Fallout, Assassin't Creed, Oblivion, Infamous... The PSP seems to have enough power, but devs don't care enough about it because of piracy and it's lacking in the great games department.

Hopefully, the 3DS will be able to push out some larger game worlds like we're used to on consoles.

I cannot wait to see this thing in person and if the early impressions are anything to go by, this will be just the handheld I'm looking for!