http://www.inlander.com/spokane/articles.sec-41-1-the-player.html There are two ways to make a giant scale-model of the Death Star using only lumber that you�euro;�ve personally harvested by hand. The first method involves chopping down a lot of trees, converting them to lumber and then building, board by board, a giant scale-model of the Death Star.]]> �euro;�m walking around my house holding my PSP in front of me while it clicks like a Geiger counter. The PSP has a small camera �euro;” about the size of an AA battery �euro;” attached to the top of it, and the slow ratchet of clicks continues as I wander around, aiming the camera at books, pieces of furniture and articles of clothing.]]> But it can also make learning the dozens of individual attacks seem pointless. Based on the preview, Tekken Tag Tournament 2.]]> What does �euro;�ultimate�euro;� mean? For starters, it means that players can select from all 48 of the game�euro;�s characters from the beginning �euro;” no need to unlock them.]]> The only solution is for the player to display a pioneer-grade green thumb or to prove that they can run a ranch with the best of wranglers. The two towns cannot know tranquility until someone comes along who knows how to both farm and ranch. You see, cooking contests seem to be the only things that the two villages have in common.]]> The new galaxy is clearly much cheaper. The graphics in said galaxy are terrible. Giant monsters look like twisted balloon animals in a windstorm �euro;” overinflated and over-animated.]]> I�euro;�ve lost weight, made money, gotten smarter and improved my aim by playing videogames. Games have made me happier and games have taught me about the human condition..]]> is the seventh time that Mario has jumped into the go-kart circuit. At first, cartoonish races in zippy little vehicles were perfect for the not-too-complex Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. Then Nintendo started developing gimmicks to make the formula feel fresh.]]> the distance, as still as an enormous gargoyle carved by some deity. Catching my breath, I turned and began a rapid descent down the mountain�euro;�s steep slopes, sliding part of the way and running the rest.]]> But now that I can perceive distance in the background, Mario�euro;�s threats can also attack him from the side as he runs left to right. The pointed ends of giant spiked battering rams rush forward, their momentum made clear by their growing approach in 3D.]]> This looks fake. We are advancing down a road alongside a river. The air is chocolate-milky with dust from gunfire and from the bombing of bridges further downstream. The riverbanks and roads look ]]> And the system has gotten much better at detecting the speed at which I�euro;�m moving. If I throw a dart with a direct, rapid flick, it flies with a solid thunk towards the target. But if I�euro;�m lazier, and don�euro;�t throw with as much direction and force, the dart might sail onto the screen in a sloppy arc.]]> The bar looks and sounds wonderful. Every footstep, shuffle and fall to the floor is given its own unique sound. The rooms echo distinctly �euro;” the warm muffle of the wood floor contrasts with the echo of the bathroom�euro;�s hard tile.]]> Across this grim and jagged cityscape, I can dash through the gnarled streets, zip up to the top of a building and then glide silently on crenelated wings from rooftop to rooftop.]]> Actually seeing and hearing these things brings them to life. It makes it possible to experience the thrill of medieval battle. It’s like using an Apple after computing in DOS for years � you can finally see what you’re doing. You don’t have to imagine it.]]> But as games have become more detailed and lifelike, they have also started to show their seams. Every fake-looking eyeball and each unnatural movement spoils the game’s illusion. Whenever I see the landscape ripple and tear as the graphics engine attempts to draw it into existence, I’m thrown out of the world that I’ve been pulled into.]]> As I’m writing this, there is a very real chance that there won’t be an NBA season in 2012. The dispute between the players and the team owners has already postponed the pre-season. Unless someone capitulates, there might not be an official season at all.]]> And character development doesn’t happen in a pre-rendered cut-scene. While Marcus might go through an emotional journey, it’s something that I watch, not something that I do. My choices are between splitting a glowing alien in half with a chainsaw or peppering him with rifle fire.]]> I kept thinking, “The game is about to come together.” I was sure that the next alien I shot would be the one that would transform Resistance 3 into the eye-popping, controller-clutching game that started the franchise. In Resistance, I was thrust into a human-alien war that displayed all of the PlayStation 3’s strengths.]]> The Kinect has been hampered by the fact that, so far, nobody has figured out how to give players full control of their character’s movement through the game’s virtual world. Without at least one joystick to offer commands of “forward,” “left” and “right,” players must surrender the navigation to the computer.]]>