Posted 10/15/09 at 11:30:31 AM by Nathan Grayson

Batman’s a bit of an odd case, even as far as videogame characters are concerned. I mean, aside from the tight-fitting latex suit and bat fixation (or should I say Bat-bat fixation), he doesn’t kill anyone. Ever. Oh, sure, occasionally he’ll twist people’s arms for info by breaking their legs, but when it’s all said and done, Batman’s enemies come away relatively unscathed.

Of course, when distilled into videogame form, this strict moral code results in a number of strange, oftentimes chuckle-worthy discontinuities. “So let me get this straight: I hit him with a barrage of pointy metal projectiles, stuck him with a grappling hook and reeled him in Scorpion-style, and then proceeded to jump up and down on his chest like it was a trampoline? And his heart rate sits at… something above zero?!” Doesn’t make much sense, does it? And here I was, all ready to talk about suspension of disbelief and how games still have a long way to go before they create truly believable experiences when I realized something:

At least Batman – a purported “good guy” – doesn’t wantonly murder thousands of people like, you know, every videogame character ever. The rest is after the break!

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Posted 12/04/08 at 12:26:16 AM by Nathan Grayson

Welcome to the latest installment of Disappointment Theater -- starring Your Life. Today's guest star: Grand Theft Auto IV! Wrecking one of the year's best games definitely seems like an impossible task, so read on and be astonished.

According to Steam's fuming masses, as well as gaming site Shacknews, GTA IV's creepy crawlies are all over the place. Topping players' lists of things not to be thankful for, however, are missing textures (apparently caused by corrupt graphics drivers) and the ever-popular crashing bug, which can potentially keep you from even loading the game at all.

Fortunately, one intrepid Steam user has tossed together a forum thread outlining all known issues and possible fixes, so as a (highly prestigious) reward we're putting his name on the site. Thanks, Ramzy!

Additionally, while it's not exactly a bug, the majority of wannabe-crime lords are being forced to run their game of choice at low graphical settings -- a complaint to which Rockstar has issued a response:

"Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available," claimed the developer.

Rockstar also released a statement promising that it'll unscrew this pooch as quickly as possible.

So, unless you want to pay $50 for a glorified beta test, wait a couple weeks before taking the plunge.

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