GamerNode: Mike Murphy's Columns

Heavy Rain Has Revolutionized Videogames

I remember my first experience with a QTE (Quick-Time Event). I was playing Resident Evil 4 and had finally reached a break in the action. I sat back and believed that I could relax and enjoy the playing cutscene when suddenly a button, for almost no reason, flashed in front of the screen and before I could react, I was killed and given a giant game over screen. I got ticked, stopped playing, and began to resent every game since that involved QTE in any way, shape, or form. That was until last Tuesday, when Heavy Rain was released for the PlayStation 3.

To say it has QTE is doing Heavy Rain a disservice in a way. The way that these real-time action prompts, what I prefer to call them, are displayed is far different and superior to anything any game has done before. And because of the way th...

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Most Shocking Plot Moments of 2009

I haven't provided a column to the lovely readers at GamerNode for quite some time now. I do admit that I have been upset with myself, unable to come up with a topic of discussion in so long. But with 2009 at its end and 2010 now upon us, I decided I would write my own column that would look back and count off my picks for the most shocking plot moments in video games for 2009. But before I do, I will give a fair spoiler warning.

**Spoiler Warning** - The scenes that I will write about below are all plot spoilers for some of the biggest titles in 2009. If you have not played these games, they can and will be spoiled. You have been warned.

4. Discovering how the Grey Wardens really get their powers in Dragon Age: Origins

If anyone was like me when they played this game, the Initiation scene...

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Fox News' Bias Against Gaming is an Insult to Jour...

As a journalist, nothing aggravates or infuriates me professionally more than seeing a news media outlet showing blatant bias towards a subject. It goes against everything I was taught in college, as the primary rule of being a journalist is to analyze a story and try to see both sides. To see this cardinal rule of journalism broken by so-called "fair and balanced" or "well respected" news outlets makes me want to punch holes in walls.

It should go without saying that the most recent example of Fox News' complete bias against the videogame industry, the industry that I love dearly and write about, has infuriated me to no end. So much so that I have dedicated this latest edition of my column to Fox News' completely ignorant coverage of games and the industry.

This most recent incident occurre...

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Story in MMORPGs: The Coming Revolution

An NPC is seen in a village with an exclamation mark over his head. You run to him and get a lengthy dialogue about a certain plight the character has that only you and the other millions of players in your world can help him with. You simply need to kill "X" amount of a certain creature or get "X" amount of a special item dropped from the certain creature and bring it back to the NPC in order to receive your gold, experience, and item rewards.

You are one of the millions in your world worthy of defeating the largest threat to come about. In order to defeat this great evil, you need to stand around asking for a group to join you, travel a distance to find him, and then wait in line with the tens of other hero groups waiting for him to respawn so you can get the gold, experience, and special...

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The PlayStation 3 has the Momentary Edge in the Co...

It has been a long and painful road for Sony these past few years in the game industry. But thanks to the release of the new "Slim" model and the recent drop in price, Sony's PlayStation 3 has finally gotten the edge in the current-gen console war.

Ever since its launch in 2006, the PS3 has been technologically superior to the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, but has suffered due its high price tag. The $599 price for the PS3 was considered far too steep for most gamers early in its life cycle, as they preferred to spend their money on the $399 Xbox 360 or $249 Wii. 

Sony has since dropped the price of the PS3 almost incrementally every year from $599 to $499 and eventually $399. However all of this did not have a huge significance considering the Wii and Xbox 360 were still at the same...

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Game Industry Finally Feeling the Effects of the R...

Over the past year, game journalists and everyday video game fans have argued whether or not the video game industry is recession-proof. Until just a few weeks ago, many people believed it was proving all the doubters wrong by staying afloat and not showing any major losses. Turns out it was really just a matter of time.

The evidence began to pile up approximately one month ago, when quarterly reports began to come out for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. And the news wasn't good for any of the three console makers.

The Xbox 360 sold just 1.2 million units, down eight percent from the prior year, and it's lowest quarter since 2007. It's revenue had dropped 17 percent and profits 29 percent. Microsoft's game revenue from the Xbox 360 and PC were down 12 percent.

Sony didn't make it out any bette...

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