Apr 29, 2011
Apr 28, 2011
Apr 27, 2011
Apr 26, 2011
Sony: A Jekyll & Hyde Conundrum
Sony seems to be having a few issues lately. Partly from the hacking community, which Sony can’t seem to bury any who oppose them enough in litigation, and partly from the gaming community that it professes to serve. Yet, for all the marvelous technical achievements Sony has accomplished, this year so far has seen an almost malevolent amount of comeuppance for the video game powerhouse. For those who fail to recall E3 last year, it seemed Sony finally had gotten themselves back on their feet and had become viably capable of appealing to not just their niche fans, but a majority of the gaming community. The Move was set to annihilate both Microsoft’s Kinect and Nintendo Wii’s motion controls, a line of exclusive games would see Playstation 3 consoles rolling off the shelves in droves and Sony would be back on top before their competitors had even the slightest clue as to what had hit them. That being almost a year ago, things haven’t really changed. Sony is still facing relative obscurity, languishing. The rest of the article can be found here.
Hitchhiker May Be Escaping Convict
I promise.
Apr 25, 2011
When Remixes Get Awesome
Fresh off the audiophilic orgy that was the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, Daft Punk has allowed several compatriots in their particular genre of music a crack at remixing their works in the form of Tron: Legacy Reconfigured. Most of the songs definitely will have similar appeal to the niche audience that Daft Punk caters so well too, yet I have a feeling others might be a definitive miss. Regardless, Glitch Mobs remix of Derezzed, title Rerezzed takes the original and vastly improves on it in my opinion.
Battlefield 3: 12 minutes of Gameplay Complete with Commentary
While the commentary adds a little, I need to stress that saying a little almost feels a bit too generous.
The Coolest Portal 2 Drawing You'll See All Day
Amidst Death & Destruction, The PSN is Still Down
It's like a keynote from a Nobel Prize laureate being upstaged by a circus sideshow involving chickens getting their heads bitten off.
Chell & Alyx Vance Emulate Iconic Photo
Afterthoughts: Bulletstorm: Epic Edition [Xbox 360]
Lowbrow humor about dicks and latent homosexuality interwoven with wacky, off-the-wall violence are usually closer to what many would expect to find in Kevin Smith or Quentin Tarantino films let alone a video game, but somehow Bulletstorm pulls it off in a surprisingly intriguing way.
After all, there’s little argument that FPS titles have caught a severe case of stagnation in the last couple of years. Namely with the almost assembly line-style creation currently being applied to the Call of Duty series, but additionally the fact that almost every major shooter coming out this year is leaning closer to sequel than original. Crysis 2, Gears of War 3, F.E.A.R 3, Battlefield 3, and whatever Call of Duty titles we can expect from Activision’s grindhouse are more than enough to justify rolling one’s eyes at the announcement trailers. But, breaking from much of the established paradigm, Bulletstorm seeks to add some lime to the proverbial coconut before mixing it all up.
Not necessarily contravening from tradition is the narrative, which centers on Grayson Hunt and his liquor-fueled, raging lust for revenge against General Sarrano, it is an interesting prospect that, at least a small part of me, kept pushing to the next chapter in the name of conclusion. Sarrano, who apparently used Hunt and his team to murder innocent civilians under the supposition that they were eliminating drug dealers, mass murderers and other generally bad people via various black ops, it isn’t too difficult to empathize with Gray and his boner for vengeance after going awol from Sarrano and the Confederate Forces. Nevertheless, as the game goes on, the narrative acts more as an interesting end point on a wild set of rails.
Continue reading: Afterthoughts: Bulletstorm: Epic Edition [Xbox 360] - Chicago Video Game ExaminerApr 21, 2011
All of Tron: Legacy Currently on Youtube
While I don't personal support piracy in any capacity whatsoever. I do sincerely think that this would do nothing but good things for people who are still on the fence about buying the movie. Yes, I admit I'm a sucker for this franchise. Either way, it's on youtube right now in full and until someone goes crazy about the whole copyright thing, you should do yourself a favor and check it out.
Happy Easter from Dead Island
Yes, I'm saying he was a zombie.
Apr 20, 2011
Jaw-dropping SMB Skills
I bet you thought I was talking about Super Marios Bros. initially, right? Well, I hate to disappoint you, but since it came out Super Meat Boy has set the bar for both skill and endurance in gameplay. Not just because it has the potential to be a bit more difficult than other games, but because of it's addictive elements that will keep you playing long after your bedtime has come and gone. And while I'll admit that I wish I was in the same ballpark as this skill level, I'm more than happy to say that I've seen at least sunrise trying to get there.
How Magicka Vietnam Mixes it Up
Even with Magicka being on sale via Steam recently, it's one of those little reminders that makes me almost somewhat bashful to admit that it's difficult to justify buying games - no matter how badly I'd like to review them - or just outright play them, you know, to enjoy. Expanding on the concept that was so much fun, at least from what I've seen, of Magicka this is where I wish more fantasy-styled games would go. Instead of taking themselves so damn seriously, they'd mix it up a bit and do something genuinely different.
Just a thought: Find Makarov
While my feelings about Call of Duty, Activision and how the underlying franchise have been handled since the incident with Infinity Ward leaves me wondering what exactly to expect from Modern Warfare 3, if anything, I find it difficult to argue that this movie is just plain cool. More or less, a live-action sequence of events leading up to, what we can only suspect, to be MW3, the video has been online for sometime but I felt it needed a bit of addressing. For all the things that have been done right and wrong in the series, this is probably leaning slightly over the line towards right.
More Prey 2 to See
While there has to be an arguably distinct following, anticipating the release of Prey 2, I have to be honest when I say that I’m interested, but only so much so. After all, the original was something to behold as it served to be an early technical benchmark of what next-gen gaming systems could do when placed side-by-side to comparable PC titles, but still failed to really gain a significant amount of steam as a notable first-person shooter title. All the same, I suppose it will be sometime coming before we have a firm grasp whether or not Prey 2 can stand on it’s own or will disappear next to XCOM as just another alien game. Either way, feast your eyes on these screenshots and share a thought below.
New Rage Screenshots to Feast Your Eyes On
Despite the fact that yesterday’s news had been relentlessly crowded by everything that could be plausibly discussed regarding Portal 2, there have been slews of other stories to report on. For instance, Rage got a few new screenshots released in the face of Valve releasing their highly anticipated title. While one could argue that these screens could easily be swept aside in the face of ‘thinking with portals’, the fact of the matter is that the screens, albeit it being just that, are still very easy on the eyes. If nothing else, it reminds us all that this year has been a hell of a great one for gamers so far and there is little sign in the near future of that letting up.
More inside, complete with a new trailer.
Forge World unveils Eldar Wraithseer
I have to admit, as an Imperial Guard and old school Grey Knights player; I’ve always wondered what it was to dabble into the forbidden ‘xeno’ armies. I’ve given the Tau a shot, but their 4th edition rules, even after faq and errata updates still fail to hold up against more recent 5th edition armies. It’s true, everything from Blood Angels to Spacewolves along with Tyranids and Dark Eldar have annihilated the army every single time. So, I’ve long since consigned my Tau army to a fateful resale on eBay, but still catch myself eyeing an Eldar army.
But probably for the least competitive reason possible.
You see, I have a wicked love for the Wraith-style of troops found in Eldar armies. Everything from Wraithguard on to Wraithlords simply because the prospect of an ‘undead’ army, for the lack of a better term, appeals to me like nothing else. Certainly, I love my mechanized guard and Knights, but there’s something about an army of Wraiths marching across a table that makes me want to shell out the money for it without hesitation. Yes, I could certainly and have avoided taking the plunge as there has been little encouragement to do so.
Well, that is until now.
The new Wraithseer, which was recently introduced via Forge World, has a real potential of my bringing a Wraith army to fruition sometime in the near future. Yet, for all the time and trouble that constructing roughly 50 metal models would give me almost makes me pale in terror after the pains I went through getting my old Grey Knights assembled to suit my preference. But glancing at the rules proffers a jaw-dropping view at the new, experimental HQ choice and what it can do.
More or less, for an HQ choice, the Wraithseer comes out to a ridiculous amount of power at Strength 10 and 4 wounds, effectively making it a scary-as-hell monstrous creature on the higher rungs of the food chain. But the real power comes from what it can grant fellow Wraith units within 12”. Abilities like giving a Wraithlord fleet (Why you’d ever give it to a Wraithguard unit is beyond me) along with powers of the Greater Spiritseer, which make those cover saves a lot of units have come to rely on as useless as a raincoat in a shower of brimstone.
Nevertheless, coming in at 185 points might be enough to scare many gamers away who are looking to add a competitive edge to their army. But, if you’re putting a second HQ choice into your army, I doubt points are too huge of a concern. And for all the fluffiness or cheesiness that this unit might bring to any army it’s apart of, it seems to me that this is pure and simply fan service on the part of Forge World.
So for all of you out there preferring to keep this off the table and out of your army, go ahead and do it. In the meantime, this might have been the push I needed to get an Eldar Wraith army marching.
Apr 19, 2011
There's No Time to Explain
For an indie game that has a distinct attitudinal blend of elements from both Cyanide and Happiness and the FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU subreddit, it's difficult to really pin down where No Time to Explain is coming from as far as a high concept or a fit for a genre. Suffice to say, the game looks like it's, at the most very basic level, a helluva fun ride. I suppose the best way to explain the game is from the creators' Kickstarter page.
"No Time To Explain is a platformer game about Time Travel, Big Jetpack Guns, Giant Enemy Crabs and Ribs in People's Eyes.
Think Back to the Future meets The Butterfly Effect. Add a lot of blood and people getting dragged away by monsters, and you've got our game. You are taken on a wild adventure of time paradoxes, things that make no sense and more things that make less sense. Eventually it will wrap up in a way that does make a little sense though. "
So there you have it. If you haven't already pledged, I can only humbly suggest you do.
Apr 18, 2011
Capcom Rewrites Resident Evil with Operation Raccoon City [Video]
I'm all for different takes on a good story and Capcom may have just done something that mixes it up enough to warrant a bit of attention. Yet, I still have to say my excitement is a blend of caution and optimism that leaves me wondering if this is going to be Ghost Recon intermixed with Zombies or an all-out clusterfuck of the highest order. For the skinny on Operation Raccoon City, here's the current rundown:
The game takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and is set in Raccoon City, whose residents have been turned into zombies after an outbreak of the t-virus, a biological weapon illegally developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. The story is a reinterpretation of the events depicted in the original games, changing certain occurrences in the series. Players will take the role of either an officer of the Umbrella Security Service (USS), or a member of a United States Special Operations task-force. Both have vastly different objectives: Members of the USS are tasked with destroying evidence of Umbrella's illegal activities, including killing survivors of the outbreak, while the Special Operations team has to expose the actions of the company. Operation Raccoon City will allow the player to make decisions that could have major repercussions on the series' storyline, such as causing the death ofResident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 protagonist Leon S. Kennedy.
For all intents and purposes, anything that seems to share design elements with Lost Planet 2 leaves me feeling awkwardly upset in the way only someone who played that mess can truly understand. But, the inclusion of the original RE, which was pretty great for it's time leaves me wondering if Operation Raccoon City might actually stand up against other hit titles coming out this holiday season.
Gears of War 3 Beta Now Live -- For Most Bulletstorm Owners
That's right, if you were one of the people to take the plunge on the untested Bulletstorm franchise before the Epic Edition became rarer than a Pokemon player at a Madden tournament, then today is the day that you'll get the chance to crank out some carnage in the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta before everyone else will get their shot come next week. All you have to do is put the disc in, select the multiplayer beta and boom - you're done. Before you know it, you'll be nabbing unlockables left and right, which should keep you playing throughout the entire expanse of the beta, set to run from today until May 15th with more details inside.
Apr 15, 2011
Battlefield 3 "My Life" Trailer Shows Off New In-Game Footage
For all the awesome things I really enjoy about both the Battlefield franchise and Call of Duty series of games, this seems to be setting the bar higher solely by taking a significant amount of what gamers enjoyed about the original Modern Warfare and it's sequel up to 11 as hard as the dial will turn. Understandably, with games like Black Ops and World at War in the mix for the Call of Duty titles and Bad Company 2 be followed up by the likes of this, there is a certain telling that this might dethrone the almighty COD come the holiday season.
The full video can be unlocked here, once the Battlefield Facebook page has 1 million likes.
Apr 13, 2011
Sarif Industries: "Live the Life You've Always Imagined'
Enjoy a small slice of alternate reality advertising, which I personally have a distinct love for when it's done properly. If you have no idea for what game this is for, I'll give you a tiny little hint.
Apr 12, 2011
Portal 2: Make Those Checks Out to 'Cash'
With the release date of Portal 2 looming on the horizon, does it really surprise anyone or their mother that Valve has inherently turned up the marketing machine to 11? While I won't dispute that most of them have been pretty damn funny, it begs the question as to whether or not Valve or Portal 2 really needs such aggressive marketing. After all, one could argue that the original speaks for the sequel as a validly jaunty introduction. Nevertheless, I can't wait until next week, and if you've made it to this sentence, you probably can't either.
Keep thinking with portals.
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