What a year for game releases and the industry. Another year of mass layoffs but also some of the best games released in a while. Perhaps the biggest move of the year and after a crazy merger with Activision last year, Microsoft made moves to publish more of their games on PlayStation this year. It's a bold move but given Microsoft's position in the games market, I could see why they would move...
Definitely one of my favorite city builders of all time, Sim City 3000 expanded up Sim City 2000 in all the right ways. The graphics were better, different levels of detail based on your zoom, a livelier world and expanded gameplay. To top it off the top tier soundtrack is still one I find myself listening to from time to time.
2023 was perhaps one of the best years in a long time with both major and minor releases dotting the calendar. From quality remakes to sequels to existing franchises the results of post pandemic expanded development finally show through. There were so many quality games released this year that it was impossible to make time to play them all. Baldur's Gate 3, Spider Man 2, Jedi Survivor, Street...
2022 was a weird year for gaming. It started very slow but with a few very big releases like Elden Ring but then was relatively calm until late in the year for the holiday season. Also development during the pandemic continued to be a problem as a lot of developers have delayed games into early 2023. The new consoles continued to have somewhat slower sales due to shipping and supply issues, alt...
A thorough look at the creation of Super Mario Kart. Love all the background info.
Happy 30th North American release anniversary to one of the best Zelda games and best SNES games!
Lego games have definitely come a long way.
2021 was a strange year. The first part of the year shows most of the big budget games that had mostly finished development during the pandemic and released in a good fashion. The second part of the year had multiple releases that showed big budget games developed during the pandemic but needed more development time. While the bigger developers had issues, this gave a lot more room for the indi...
Everything you ever wanted to know about how a game of the year list is constructed. Should be making my own list soon.
I remember reading about Grand Theft Auto 3 in Electronic Gaming Monthly and renting it when it released for the PlayStation 2. It seemingly came out of nowhere (in the same year as the release of Metal Gear Solid 2 no less) and absolutely blew me away. It changed the perception of what an open world game was and what you could do in it. While the series has been stuck with GTA V seemingly fore...
A series that truly stood the test of time.
Koei had some very humble roots in simulation and strategy games. Some of my all time favorite games of the SNES era were by Koei: Aerobiz Supersonic, Pacific Theater of Operations 2 and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire. After not playing their games for a while, they blasted their way back into my life when Dynasty Warriors 2 was released on the PlayStation 2. Their somewhat surp...
While the family's first console was the NES, I think it was the Super Nintendo that really solidified my love of video games. Everything was so much more colorful and detailed, the lineup I played was much more diverse and exposed me to a lot of genres I never would have played. The sound chip was also significantly upgraded and allowed some truly impressive soundtracks (something that I found...
One of the greats!
A year unlike any other, 2020 was one of the strangest years on record. With a global pandemic raging, new consoles seemed like the thing furthest from what we needed but launch they did. While video games were not spared the impact of the pandemic the fact that there were so many good games released this year helped to pass the time. Both Microsoft and Sony released their new consoles: Xbox Se...
Happy birthday Windows 95! Start me up!
They say sometimes less is more. In the time when personal computers were too expensive (and new) for most people, Mario Paint was probably the first introduction to a graphical art application for many of the Super Nintendo generation. I remember the first time we had Mario Paint we had difficulty getting the mouse working but once we did it was probably the most creative game I've seen until...
I wasn't a huge street fighter fan but even I recognize the importance of the hadouken.
That jump in technology over the years. Ace Combat sure has come a long way.
2019 was a strange year, it started off very strong with the January releases of Resident Evil 2 (Capcom was smart to skip the Christmas rush) and Ace Combat 7. As the year went along though, a few big games did come out (mostly expected sequels). Nothing really stood out from the pack. Respawn and EA managed to surprise with a good Star Wars games release, Nintendo released a nice steady strea...
Super Mario Bros. 3 was probably the greatest sequel of its age. Topping the legacy set by the original Super Mario Bros. Gaming Historian has a great look at Super Mario Bros. 3, it's creation, impact and legacy for those involved. https://youtu.be/MxT6IwUtLSU
There's something about Modern Warfare that helped re-invent the first person shooter genre. Yet, at the same time it's still my favorite Call of Duty game, with it's pacing, systems and sound design. Showing the labor of love of a studio that finally was able to move away from World War 2 games and make the product they always dreamed. Of Raycevick looks at Modern Warfare from its early develo...
I've always enjoyed wargaming for the aspects of planning and then executing (hopefully to success). Wargames can be very simple (like Risk) to complex day long affairs like Axis and Allies Global or even longer campaigns. They also span many different levels of theatres of war, from the individual soldiers to globe spanning adventures, where losses in one theatre can set you back turns to reco...
What haven't I said about Final Fantasy VI (III)? Probably one of the greatest jrpgs of the 16 bit generation, Final Fantasy VI was peak Square firing on all cylinders. On this 25th anniversary of the Japanese launch, the editors of Game Informer held an interview with some of the original development team which provides some incites into some things I never realized about the game. Originally...
One of the best things about Civilization VI's soundtrack is how the soundtrack evolves as the user progresses through the eras of time. Starting from simplistic and evolving to orchestral it's one of the best things in an already great game.
From ice rinks to mounties Canada's appearance in Civilzation is great. The national soundtrack is great too, the main medieval theme sounds like a fiddle jam!
While the world had its share of difficulties in 2018, the video game releases this year on the other hand were mostly excellent. The first part of the year started slowly enough with only a few titles taking the spotlight but the 2nd half of the year was absolutely packed with great releases. Several series finally got proper sequels including Red Dead, Hitman, Valkyria Chronicles and Super Sm...
Think back, way back to the early 90s. A new storage medium was on the horizon the Compact Disk. The future of technology! The CD would allow the storage of much larger amounts of data (which back then was a premium considering 2.5 inch floppy disks were the standard. Everyone, including videogame companies, were trying to figure out how to use this new technology. Famously, Nintendo would part...
Kung Fu was one of the first NES games we ever got. A rather simplistic side scrolling action game now, at the time I remember its bright colors, difficult gameplay and pretty cool soundtrack. Being an NES game (and a kid) I'll never forget the likes of the families nicknames for 'stick guy' 'bomerang man' and of course the sinister Mr. X. I'm not surprised the creator of Kung Fu went on to cre...
As Vinny so often says on the Beastcast: "It's the best time to be playing videogames" and 2017 had one of the strongest games lineups in recent memory. Japanese developers made a strong showing in the first part of the year, while American and European releases held down the the second part. The Nintendo Switch launched, the PS4 hit it's stride and Xbox One X finally got Microsoft back on trac...
I've always heard of Terranigma being the peak of Quintet games. Shame they never made it past the Super Nintendo era.
Really interesting article on Metropal about the history of cheap board games of the Famicom era. Based on being cheap, easy to store and easy to travel, these games have some history with the growth of the NES/Famicom with licensed counterparts. While we've only gotten Mario Monopoly pretty recently these early era NES board game counterparts, while simple, are a fascinating part of videogame...
Personal Favorite Final Fantasy games by console generation: Nintendo - Final Fantasy Super Nintendo - Final Fantasy VI PlayStation - Final Fantasy IX PlayStation 2 - Final Fantasy X PlayStation 3 - Final Fantasy XIII PlayStation 4 - Final Fantasy XV (by default I guess for now) Happy anniversary Final Fantasy, and here's to many more anniversaries in the future.
Every once in a while I look at my backlog of game and wonder if it's even possible to complete them all. However, this week Kotaku reported that over the last 3 years someone has spent the last 3 years trying to beat every NES game ever released. Already an accomplishment on it's own, it's the fact that he even includes Mario Teaches Typing and other obscure games shows a level of dedication t...
2016 was an interesting year. World events aside, 2016 was a pretty great year for videogame releases. It actually saw the release of several long delayed games (Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian), the excellent sequels in several franchises and several great original IPs (Stardew Valley, Overcooked). 3 years into the new console cycle finally shows as releases are fully designed to take f...
If anyone would have an incredible storage of the history of video games it would be Nintendo. And sure enough, we got a glimpse into the storage area of the Famicom disc system as part of the Legend of Zelda's 30th anniversary. The fact that everything is stored well and in working condition (they even have a CRT tv) is an amazing sight considering how some other Japanese game companies lost t...
http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/snes-25-year-anniversary/ The march of time continues with the 25th Anniversary of the North American launch of the Super Nintendo. Probably my favorite console of all time, the Super Nintendo was peak Nintendo (and their third party support) at their best. From heavy hitters like Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, StarFox, Super Metroid and Final Fantasy III t...
Today, August 3rd, 2016, the first case of the first Ace Attorney game takes place in a West Coast courtroom. The first game I ever purchased for the Nintendo DS was Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. A courtroom/visual novel/adventure game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney floored me with an excellent localization, funny characters and some pretty good music. After completing the first game I had to im...
The surge in popularity of Pokemon Go is really interesting. Cashing in on years of brand loyalty, a recognizable IP and releasing at the right time game has captured the hearts and minds of many (even though it is in a limited launch). While closely associated with Nintendo, Pokemon (and Pokemon Go) actually has very little to do with that company. While Nintendo does stand to profit from the...
Kyle Bosman recently summarized the release of Star Fox Zero, Shigeru Miyamoto's involvement and the Wii U. Star Fox Zero is an interesting game because it exists as a proof of concept that the Wii U gamepad is not a gimmick. Star Fox Zero's implementation of a precision cockpit view and forced character audio through the gamepad is biggest point of contention with the game. While the aiming do...
This past September as part of the Super Mario series reaching its 30th anniversary Nintendo held an orchestral concert in Japan. Featuring music from all the mainline console Mario games it was something that was a real treat for Mario fans. Well... if you lived in Japan. But thanks to the magic of the internet the concert is available to listen on youtube. Probably my favorite remix is the Su...
2015 was the year of sequels and the PS4 and Xbox One finally hitting their stride. A tide of strong releases spread throughout the year helped make up for last year's rather slow release schedule. This year games (mostly) worked and there were more than enough different experiences this year to highlight that videogames can be more than mindless experiences. Strong storytelling helped some gam...
2015 was a crazy time, lots of great sequels and disappointments. The death of an industry icon and the dissolution of the games division for one of the industry's (former) biggest players. All in all, with the current consoles a few years old some really great games for them finally came out. This year's E3 was crazy in terms of announcements (Final Fantasy 7 remake, Shenmue 3) and this year's...
Hard to believe but the Nintendo Entertainment System turns 30 years old today (Octoboer 18th, 2015). I don't remember that much about when the family got our NES but I do remember it was the Gyromite/Duck Hunt combo unit with the grey light zapper and ROB. We never got ROB to work but the light zapper was certainly something else (even though I was terrible at it). Every week a trip to the vid...
Happy 30th Anniversary Super Mario Bros!
Gamespot's The Point made a nice and condensed tribute to Satoru Iwata in the wake of his untimely passing. A good look back at the man, his impact on videogames and legacy at Nintendo.
35 years years ago Pac Man was unleashed in Japanese arcades. One of the timeless classics, Pac Man's impact on the videogame industry cannot be understated. While he's fallen on hard times recently, PacMan's appearance in Super Smash Brothers shows that Namco at least cares enough to have him appear from time to time. Happy birthday PacMan! Plus he also had that can of noodles, that was someth...
The 90s were such a rad and hip time that the ads for videogames had to show how badass they were. Luckily someone on the internet has collected and scanned a large amount of magazine ads from the 90s so we can relive Sega does what Nintedon't to the multitude of characters during the mascot wars. http://kotaku.com/90s-video-game-ads-were-all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips-1697739376
Electronic Arts has closed the original Maxis studio (although the brand lives on). Maker of some of my favorite game franchises Sim City and The Sims, the studio's long history of making excellent simulation games is one that cannot be denied. An excellent brief look at the history of Maxis. http://kotaku.com/a-history-of-maxis-thanks-for-simcity-1689490370 An excellent video about Maxis video...
The Point takes a look at the interesting true story behind the existence of loading screens and why there aren't more interesting distractions.
So I finally got around to beating Dragon Age: Inquisiton this week and here are some of my thoughts about the game. Positives: Setting up your world state in Dragon Age Keep is totally worth it. For a series that wasn't originally designed for tracking the world state, Inquisition finally lets you see the effect your actions in the previous games have had on the game world. I'm glad Inquisitio...
2014 was a strange year for videogames. Even with the promise of new consoles, games struggled to find their place among them. Many series faltered in either not living up to their initial promises or just not working correctly. Despite the setbacks some real gems arrived this year including a banner year from Nintendo, the best licensed property game since Batman: Arkham Asylum and several seq...
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since one of the greatest jrpgs ever was released in North America. Final Fantasy III (although it's proper number is VI) was Squaresoft's final SNES Final Fantasy game but it cemented Squaresoft's place as one of the best jrpg companies in the market. I remember waiting almost half a day at the video rental store for someone to return the game so th...
It was always one of those things I did as a kid to get my NES carts working. Science explains why we thought it worked. Although in my household we also had a NES cleaning kit.
I can't believe it's been 10 years since the first Katamari Damacy game was released. From its quirky visuals, jamming music and weirdly satisfying gameplay; Katamari Damacy is one of the weirdest games I ever enjoyed. Part puzzle game and part action game the idea of rolling up everyday objects to recreate the solar system is just as wacky as the characters and their parallel storylines. Also...
2013 saw some great games. A lot of great sequels with 2 series returning to form and a lot of fun indie games. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also launched this year and while I only got the PS4, the swan song games of the Xbox 360 and PS3 showed how much developers have mastered this extended console cycle. Best of 2013 1. Grand Theft Auto V GTA is back with a vengeance. After a more serious...
With 2013 over its time to reflect on what a great year it was for games and soundtracks. Soundtracks have the difficult task of complimenting what we're seeing onscreen, to get the adrenaline going or make us feel a certain mood when the time is right. From happy and energetic to high tempo intense action, original to licensed, 2013 certainly had its fair list of soundtracks that I'll remember...
Compared to Sony's baby crying, head scratching PS3 advertisements the new ones are a work of art. The mix of nostalgia and hidden elements make this advertisement a lot more fun than it should be. With PS4 only a month out I hope that Sony continues to do great ads like this one.
While I was in highschool I had a Nintendo 64 and never got to play the original Metal Gear Solid until I owned a PlayStation 2. However from the moment I put that disk into my console I was hooked. The story, presentation and gameplay were all top notch for the time. The voice acting was also leagues ahead of anything else heard at the time, I remember my friend and I were in awe with the voic...
I can hardly believe it's already been 20 years since the release of Secret of Mana. One of the first coop action-rpg games I played with friends and family. I remember the first winter we spent grinding spells and weapons all for the additional points of power. While I never had a multitap, the idea of playing 3 players was something I always wanted to do. Featuring 3 distinct characters (alth...
All the secrets revealed!
I'll admit after the brilliant Giantbomb quick look of Euro Truck Driving Simulator 2 I downloaded the rather lengthy demo from the official webpage and played it for quite a while. They don't sound like a very entertaining game yet, somehow when I'm playing everything just clicks together for a rather calm experience (well except those extra heavy loads that can really unbalance your truck whe...
Another year down, a time to reflect on the games I've played this year and come up with some of my favorites for the last year. 2012 was marked by the launch of the Vita and Wii U, the decline of the military first person shooter genre and perhaps one of the weirdest console transition periods in recent memory. The 3DS finally came to life with a great lineup, while the Vita launched strong bu...
The game that divided the Zelda community celebrates its 10th birthday today. While it took a while before I played it, it was still classic Zelda at its heart. Well, except the Triforce hunt in the second half. That was just bad. The trailer that started it all: Cleaner debut trailer: Happy 10th birthday. The wind... it is blowing.
As part of the 10 year anniversary of Vice City, Edge has an interview with Sam Houser about the making of Vice City. http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-making-of-grand-theft-auto-vice-city/ Vice City currently remains my favorite Grand Theft Auto game. So far nothing has matches the mix of open world, scenario, characters, music and gameplay. To see so many tweaks just 1 year after GTA 3...
In our continuing series on why Lego is awesome, an impressive remake of the first Grand Theft Auto trailer done entirely with Legos.
With the WiiU around the corner it's time to remember the creation of one of the industry's greatest game changers: the Nintendo Wii. I remember back to the Nintendo E3 2006 Press Conference and was blown away but what a incredible chance they were taking. And yet, while it seemed so crazy, it showed so much potential for shaking up how we would play games. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/...
You're just patrolling and minding your own business when someone just has to go and mess up your day. The Awful Implications of First-Person Shooter Games -- powered by Cracked.com
After years in the making Retro City Rampage is finally coming out. A tribute to the games of the NES (and a mix of GTA thrown in) Retro City Rampage shows the right mix of old school callbacks and nostalgia mixed with crazy gameplay and scenarios. I can't wait to get my hands on this tomorrow.
In honor of the Summer Olympics ending here's an 8-bit tribute to the summer games. I'd play it!
A great HD remake to one of my favorite Super Nintendo Games.
An awesome mix of retro and new videogame tunes mixed together into one awesome medley.
Really cool musical History of Nintendo from the folks over in Brawl in the Family. Definitely worth checking out for all the references to past franchises and consoles.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/167392/Sad_But_True_We_Cant_Prove_When_Super_Mario_Bros_Came_Out.php Crazy, they can't prove the launch date of Super Mario Brothers for NES in North America! Some nice investigative journalism from the folks over at Gamasutra.
Really awesome video from the 2012 Interactive Achievement Awards recreating many video games in Lego form.
Just added my list of games that I loved from 2011. Best of 2011 Here are some of my favorite games from 2011. I'm still playing Saint's Row 3, Skyrim and Zelda: Skyward Sword so their positions might change on the list. As a full legal disclaimer I need to mention that I work at Electronic Arts. 1. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception While not as good as Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3 still delivered a c...
Caught this while surfing the internet today. Lyrically its a nice tribute.
It's a shame that reactions to modern video game reviews have devolved into this. I don't agree with every score that's posted from every website but if I read a few and they all say the same thing I have to decide for myself if the game is worth my time or not. Get More: GameTrailers.com , Mega64 - Modern Game Journalism: The Movie: The Trailer HD , PC Games , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 Props to...
In honor of Modern Warfare 3's launch this week the folks at Gamerspawn have made a 45 minute retrospective look at the Call of Duty series. An interesting look at the games its a must watch to see how far the series has come. Can't wait to see how the series fairs now.
Haha, the hero of legend has returned! Wait, what was his name?
Oh how many times I've gotten stuck in this cycle... As seen on Dueling Analogs.
A must listen for Mario fans. Remixing the themes of a ton of Mario games into an awesome Medley. Seen on Kotaku.
I was always wondering how Tails is able to take so much abuse and keep coming back. Alas, even the greatest power has its own curse.
The Metroid series celebrates its 25th birthday this year and while not the most high profile series in Nintendo's repertoire it does feature some of the most genre defining gameplay elements and plot twists (Super Metroid is one of my favorite games of all time) in gaming history. The good folks over at All Your History have compiled a very comprehensive history of the series. Covering all the...
For fans of Oblivion who visited the Shivering Isles, one adventurer comes back changed forever. This combination machinima and crazy use of Mods is crazy funny for fans of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.
I always wondered if Rooster Teeth should have done a short featuring the ODST characters but this is close enough. Its been a long time since Red versus Blue made reference to the campaign of a Halo game (outside of the special previews) and the results are pretty funny.
Making its way around the internet is Brentalfloss's (of what happened if game X's song had lyrics) newest video for Star Fox. Featuring a combination of hand puppets, Star Fox 64 memes and the stylings of Space Oddity, its an interesting look at the inner workings at the Star Fox team... or just a fun video :P
Oh man if I had the space I'd totally get this! It comes out September 1st and at 3,152 pieces it's 50" long (124.5 cm) and weighs nearly 8 pounds (3.5 kg). It also comes with Darth Vader, Admiral Piett, Dengar, Bossk and IG-88 figures. Better start clearing room now :)
Lego fans continue to be awesome, in today's installment someone recreated parts of Rapture from Bioshock in Lego form. More here .
An ordinary life ruined by an extraordinary group of Power Rangers. The life of a villain is a hard one.
It's the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War and it reminded me of an excellent NES era game I played with my friends called North and South. A decent enough single player experience, the game shines with two players. My friends and I would rent this game multiple times from our local rental store. Set during the American Civil War, the user plays as either the North or Sou...
An excellent animation from the folks at Collegehumor, The Fantastic Mr. Starfox blends the world of The Fantastic Mr. Fox with the award winning dialog of the Starfox series. Asking what if Fox McCloud had a mid-life crisis, this video is a must for fans of the Star Fox series. See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor . The Fantastic Mr. Fox trailer for those who want to compar...
Has it already been 25 years since the first appearance of The Legend of Zelda? One of the premier action-adventure series that made a few missteps but nevertheless had a consistent layer of quality and fun. Introducing me to the world of Hyrule, great dungeons, the Triforce and Link, The Legend of Zelda is perhaps my favorite series from Nintendo. Have a happy birhtday Link! A little oudated,...
Dynasty Warriors is a series well known for its bad voice acting. While its improved in later installments Dynasty Warriors 2 and 3 have some of the best and worst scenes in the series as a result of their localization. Giving it an almost good/bad kung-fu movie feel the first few Dynasty Warriors games were truly something that shocked and amazed me with their awesome action and terrible terri...
I've been messing around with the EA Gun Club stuff recently. Until the release of Dead Space 2 they've been releasing weekly challenges and the such which was interesting but now it appears they've stopped. The theory of the program is great (creating challenges, comparing statistics etc) and I hope EA supports it further in the future. With the upcoming release of Battlefield 3 and other shoo...
The Show About Games Show on the Escapist perhaps did the coolest LittleBigPlanet tribute in a long time with this live action recreation of the mechanics and feel of the PlayStation 3 game. The attention to detail and coordination is amazing. I loved every second of this.
The good folks at CollegeHumor return with another videogame themed video. Princess Peach and Zelda finally get the time for a well deserved coffee together and discuss the recent events in their lives... See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .
So 2010 just ended so it's time to take a look back and talk about some of my favorite (and not so much) games of 2010. Top 360 Games A banner year for the Xbox 360, its a shame that mine Red Ringed shortly after Fable 3 came out. While Kinect didn't appeal to me, the core games that were released were very fun and entertaining. 5. Fable 3 A refined and streamlined sequel when compared to Fable...
What if Tetris was made an animated series in the early 90s? It might have looked something like this: As seen on G4 .
This Dorkly bit reminds me of the older days of gaming when everyone played on the same screen and in the same room. Now my friends and I had a rule that usually a rule that the person with the lowest health got the health refill regardless of lives remaining, etc. Although, if the health levels were almost the same, then the fun begins in getting to the health first...
I knew that Kinect games correct gameplay for you to keep the experience fun (much like how all motion control games do) but this seems too unreal... Still its a fascintating piece of technology, if it does well I look forward to see what sort of games they can come up with to interest me. As mentioned on Destructoid .
Haha, it only took 1 year for the PSN video store to finally get up to speed in Canada but at least they're finally advertising it. Strange since it launched in July and they're only advertising it now. Ironically we also finally got Netflix in Canada although the choices there aren't as good. Mind you, all that doesn't matter since the CRTC is allowing Bell to implement usage based billing for...
The folks over a CollegeHumor sure love doing these sprite videos. Somehow I doubt Mother Brain could have pulled it off... See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .
Released on Sept. 13th, 1985, Super Mario Brothers would mark the humble beginnings of the powerhouse franchise. I never owned Super Mario Brothers but I never gave up a chance to play it at my friends house. A truly remarkable game for the time, it set the standard for all side scrolling action/adventure games to follow. As the years passed and the technology changed, Nintendo always found a w...
While not playing the lead, Nolan North manages to find his way into the NPC cast of Mafia 2. Sometimes NPCs sprout random conversations, sometimes you end up with gems like this:
Honestly I've seen a TV series that follow this exact pattern. Well that and The Simpsons... 21 seasons and counting. As seen on Cracked.com :
Sometimes I wonder if its games are getting easier for casuals or I'm getting too good at them... See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .
Red vs. Blue explains the Video Games industry. Learn everything you need to know about Review scrores, Ratings, Pre-Ordering (a.k.a. extortion) and DLC.
Relive the moment, in Lego form. See more funny videos and Sports Videos at Today's Big Thing .
You can work years on a game, only for the internet to mock it in a few hours.
A Lego Printer you saw? How many PPM does it do? See more funny videos and Technology Videos at Today's Big Thing .
Goldeneye was one of the essential console shooters back in the day. Besides being a fun shooting game, it showed that licensed games (probably still the best use of the Bond license in my opinion) could work. Released on the Nintendo 64 , it helped define what a shooting experience for a console game would be. Generous autoaim, hidden secrets, tons of characters and 11 stages were larger and m...
I love Sim City! This guy loves it too an extent I couldn't even imagine. Ah the power of science and mathematics!
PS3 Games - E3 2010 - Guitar Hero 5 At DICE 2010, professor Jesse Schell presented the idea of "Beyone Facebook" and our achievement and gratification based society. Its a very intersesting watch and shows how very simple ideas can lead to huge money making operations. He brings up the concept that achievements, points or reward systems aren't necessarily evil but can be used for 'good' as well...
As seen on College Humor: See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor . Well to be fair, if they told me I was a jerk maybe I wouldn't smash up their homes so much. Doesn't the hero's armor kinda look like the guy from the Demon's Souls cover?
Resonance of Fate is a JRPG from the good folks of Tri-Ace (best known for the Star Ocean series) and Published by Sega. Nolan North plays Vashyron (one of the main characters) a retired soldier who now runs a private military company and has a thing for the ladies. It may only be March but I give you a strong contender for best voice work by Nolan North this year. Resonance of Fate is availabl...
You go through all the trouble to create a plan to conquer the world, get some of the best technology and an army of minions. But somehow your minions always let 1 guy (sometimes 2) breach your defenses and ruin your plans. But hey, at least sometimes they let you escape for the sequel. As seen on College Humor: See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .
Honestly both games are great on so many levels. Heavy Rain is a deep-ish story driven experience based on creating a serious drama. Deadly Premonition is a stylish horror/adventure game based on something that I'd expect out of Suda 51. As seen on Destructoid:
The Switcher sums up my feelings on this (unneeded) port. Really Capcom? I'm all for fighting games on portable consoles but this one takes the cake.
Sometime when you're bored you think of creative things to do... this should not be one of them.
The folks at EA Germany cobbled this together and I thought it was pretty funny:
Atlus is having a vote off for Demon's Souls for which kind of event will be coming up for this Valentine's Day weekend. Do you want an easier White Tendency weekend? Or do you want the phat loot of the Black World Tendency? Does Atlus love you or love you not?
10 years ago this week Will Wright and Maxis unleashed The Sims upon the world. Spawning 7 expansion packs and selling millions of copies (seriously look at the PC sales charts after its release until 2004 when The Sims 2 was released) it was a huge moment in PC gaming and showed the importance of word of mouth and the casual market. A virtual life simulator or more appropriately a crazy doll h...
As seen on Penny-Arcade : Penny Arcade: Here's Your Reality Program Sony has just started up a new reality series called: The Tester with the ultimate prize being a job as an official PlayStation game tester (although the $5000 signing bonus is a plus). But behind all the glitz and glamor of the reality series lies the hard truth. Being a game tester is anything but a fabulous job that instantl...
As seen on Once Upon a Pixel: Video Games | Once Upon a Pixel | Mega Man XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii
There were so many great videos and features on Giantbomb in 2009. From the Endurance Run, Quick Looks, This Ain't No Game, Features, Mailbags and Special Events there were so many great video and article moments available to read and watch. This was the time when Giant Bomb became one of my favorite videogame websites. As 2010 approaches some of my favorite moments were: 10. Hot Dog Toaster Ma...
The Decade in 7 minutes. Man time sure flies...
I dunno if this is just awesome or sad...
Sometimes he can be quite vengeful! See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .
As seen on College Humor: See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor .
Happy 40th Sesame Street! Muppets forever!
As seen in Brawl in the Family and transcribed to YouTube : Poor minions they never stood a chance.
Finally the adhoc party is coming to to North America. The PSP to PS3 tunneling service released in Japan over 1 year ago is finally coming out. I for cannot be happier. While very late, the lack of proper online play on the PSP was something that was always a gripe for me (especially since the PSP supports online play). Hopefully it'll be easier to use than the Japanese counterpart which used...
The Switcher strikes again with Tekken Stupidity a look at that Tekken... whatever that was supposed to be...
The Lego Pop Up Book!
Happy Moe Day everyone! Definition of moe according to wikipedia. So what type of Moe are you into?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper everyone!
The evilest door on the planet!
Contains the entire Persona list (and a few surprises) Persona 4 spoilers! It's like the Pokerap with persona callouts! Honestly they're pretty well made, just a bit of the shame the beat of the song isn't a bit better. I prefer the Japanese version a bit more but they're both competently made. English Version Original Japanese Version.
A really great fan tribute to Persona appeared using the new "Dream of Butterfly" featured in the upcoming Persona PSP release. Check it out:
Hmm Nod sure knows how to pick themselves up again and again. As told by PC Gamer:
Image found on Official PlayStation forums. Well PS3 Firmware 3.0 has come and gone with some good changes and some not as much. Love the legendary battery overlapping fix and the animated themes (the Afrika theme on the Japanese PSN is pretty neat idea where this can go). But also brought a series of unwanted or surprise changes. The most disturbing change for me was the Friends list is now co...
As seen on Virtual Shackles .
As seen on http://xkcd.com/621/
A little strange and late in the game but Famtisu just confirmed that Persona 3 is getting a PSP port. Huzzah.
Sometimes I forget that Lego can be turned into awesome things like this. Read about the real Battleship Yamato here. See more pics of the Lego version here . Video Games | Insanely impressive Lego battleship XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii
Perhaps a slightly underrated game Kessen II was one of my sleeper favorites. But perhaps the greatest cutscene of all time comes from the battle of Chi Bi on Cao Cao side. If only for the fact that it Kessen was always presented as a semi-historical epic battle game we get this:
Combining 2 of my favorite things: anime and Starship Troopers!
The Layton series has always been a curiosity of what I like to call: What if Brain Age had a storyline? The animation and style fit the series perfectly though.
They always come out every Battlefield game, the stunt runners, the gunners, the flyers and my favorites, the guys who just know how to have fun with explosives! Come on everyone, Coral Sea is only a few million kills away!
The future is here! Hologram, robot booth babe presenters. How long before we encounter these in our everyday lives? Neat technology that's for sure. B ut will they ever feel love? Of course not, since they're robots.
Well its been 5 years in the making but Gmail has finally removed the Beta tag from its title. Now vying for a spot of the Microsoft dominated email industry, Gmail has earned a place in my heart for its faster load times and better spam filters. So even after 5 long years in Beta form its always a work in progress. And as the official Google Gmail blog points out, you can always toggle the Bac...
Well this weekend is deck construction for our first face off (which should be in a week or two) and I'm going for a balanced air/ground deck. Now I'm not going to try blowing away the Death Star or anything like that. I'm thinking of going for a Yavin/Death Star split for ground locations and some balanced planets for space. The only thing that will partially suck is that I only have 2 Sense c...
Say what you want but I laughed.
Way back in the year 1995 Decipher inc released a Star Wars Collectable Card Game called Star Wars CCG. Years passed and it was a pretty big game. Not Pokemon or Magic the Gathering big but it was a relatively well thought out game and was a lot of fun to play. I used to play a lot with my friend back in the day. So what happened? Well In 1999 the first of the Prequel Trilogy movies came out an...
Oh Japan, ever so ahead of us in every way ! Image found on Japanator .
Rooster Teeth generally seems to be shifting more and more away from comedy and towards story during the main series but this trailer really funny for the new season.
A little late but let's all give a happy birthday to Tetris!
So silly, yet so awesome. Credit to Kotaku for creating the video and jarosh of Neogaf who whipped up the video.
Lego Rock Band stage demonstration (watch the second song, shame because they were finally building up to the good part) : Shadow Complex Live Stage Demo (what makes this one bad is it was broadcast on live TV): So remember, testing, testing, testing. You don't want to embarrass your company at E3!
Sometimes animals do the cutest things...
Well Red Alert 3: Uprising featured the Mortar Cycle a rediciulous Soviet unit that featured a motorcycle with cockpit that could fire mortars and molotov cocktails but did you know that it has some basis in real life? Car in front of you? Blow it away! Meet the Cannon Scooter an actual attempt to make a mobile miniature artillery piece. Ah those wacky Europeans... Well I guess truth is strange...
This hit the internets today and may be the first look at Team Ico's first PS3 project. If its real it looks like Team Ico still doesn't half ass their work.
Well the creator denied it but Noby Noby Boy is finally getting a multiplier reporting week (May 15th to May 22nd) . Maybe players can finally get across the galaxy in Keita Takashi's lifetime . If you haven't tried Noby Noby Boy, don't forget to check out Giantbomb's own Quick Look.
comic: http://xkcd.com/583/ From the billiant webcomic xkcd.
My good friend The Switcher (of Street Fighter the animated series fame) returns with a tribute to the hero Big Boss. Hilarity ensues. *Spoilers if you haven't beaten Metal Gear Solid 4... or any of the other Metal Gear Solid games for that matter.
Farewell sweet king... So word finally came yesterday that 3DRealms is finally closing down and with that finally marks the end of the twisted tale that is Duke Nukem Forever. I guess Duke Nukem finally reached an enemy he couldn't beat. It's really a shame I did enjoy Duke Nukem 3D back in the day... oh well maybe we will actually see a Duke Nukem 4 one of these days. But for now we mourn. For...
Apparently its quite suicidal.
One of the best arcade games from my childhood (besides the king of coop Konami 4 player games) is Tokyo Wars by Namco. Tokyo Wars was a 3D tank simulation game where your squad of 4 tanks would battle enemy tanks for control of downtown Tokyo. What made the game great that 8 machines could be linked together to make a 4 versus 4 team deathmatch of Red tanks against Blue tanks. Driving around i...
Well we've reached the end of the road. Next Monday I'll be working again. Well there's no better time to get ready and be... "Like a boss!"
Hang in there, baby! So the time of rest and relaxation is almost at an end... next week I'll be back to work. It's been a fun time these last few months but everyone needs to earn a living. My living is done mostly on doing quality assurance testing for video games. I'd say I'm pretty darn good at it too. Well here's to the future!
The Hudson River 2 years ago... For those of you forgot, Happy Metal Gear Solid 2 Day! Today (April 29th) marks the day that Raiden infiltrated the Big Shell and well... many a player's mind was blown! Oh Kojima you played us all... From Wikipedia: Raiden, supposedly operating under a reformed FOXHOUND two years after the Tanker Chapter on April 29 , 2009. His orders are to rescue the hostages,...
Grab your shotguns and clean up your Y2K shelters!
Capcom's on a roll this week! One of the more cleverly written series on DS, Miles Edgeworth finally gets to star in his own game. While I miss the fact that there are no trials (at least that's what all the previews say) I'm sure it'll still be a fun game. Plus there's always the sequel :P
Well time to feel old, the legendary hosting service GeoCities is finally closing . GeoCities was a hosting site for webpages when it was cool for everyone to have/work on a webpage (no matter how mundane). But with todays blogging, twittering and myspacing/facebooking has finally done the service in (well that and Yahoo is losing buckets of money today). Well along with the old modem booting s...
Continuing our series on being awesome in the morning... Once again Japan has found a way to make things faster and more efficient!
So we're a good way into this generation and if there's one disturbing trend it's the lack of constructive simulation ( Sim City , Civilization , Aerobiz , etc.) games. Both on PS3 and Xbox 360 I don't see any upcoming releases for any full fledged simulation games. Heck, the best releases I found were on XBLA with Catan and Kingdom for Keflings . On PS3 there aren't any the closest thing to a...
Oh SCEA, what are you doing to me! So remember about 3 years ago when the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 were waging war over how backwards compatibility was so important to them this generation? Sony dissed Microsoft over their lack of 'complete' backwards compatibility since the original launch PS3s could play both PS2 and PS1 games. Well let's fast forward to the year 2009. Microsoft gave up...
Screw you economy and predictions of doom and gloom! I finally have a job again!* Time to break out the happy music! It really is the best day ever. *job starts in May so expect regular blog updates until then.
So I finally manged to get my Burnout license in Burnout Paradise. I'm not into racing/driving games too much but I gotta say that Burnout Paradise is a lot of fun with it's different modes and car types. I haven't played too much with the motorcycles but they seem an ok addition (why can't we see horrific crashes with them though?). My only complaint with the game was finding all the events in...
There isn't a lot of LittleBigPlanet Machinimia around but this one is pretty darn funny. I guess you should never mess with sackboy or sackgirl. Happy Friday everyone!
Sorry I was busy with some other stuff and didn't get a chance write a proper update today. I'll have something funny or silly up tomorrow.
More Final Fantasy Versus XIII News & Previews Wow I didn't know what to expect concerning Final Fantasy Versus XIII but the trailer (included with FFXIII demo for Japan) sure impressed the heck out of me. Been a long time coming too... I still remember a time when Final Fantasy games were released every 2 years or so (PS1 glory days). Now we're lucky to get 2 entries on the same console.
http://xkcd.com/565/ So are you the type of person who actually answers their security question honestly or do you make up an answer? I cannot wait until we're able to use fingerprint/eye IDs to get into everything instead of remembering a billion different passwords. *sigh* They say it's a paperless future yet I have a ton of papers with passwords lying around.
According to this post on Kotaku some crazy Japanese company has added the ability to use head tracking technology (remember this famous video ) for upskirt looks in their game... Yeah... so how long until a FPS game or racing game makes use of this technology?
The long weekend it here, so I'll probably kick back relax and play some games, see a movie and generally have some fun. Have a good one everyone.
I wish my morning commute was broken up by random moments of singing and dancing.
Well it looks like I beat Valkyria Chronicles at good time since the Valkyria Chronicles anime has just aired. Sega of America has already announced that the anime contains heavy spoilers for the game (duh) and recommend playing the game first (I'd recommend getting the game anyway). Thanks to the magic of the internet and subbing groups (sorry japanophiles) I took a look at this interpretation...
A short post but Happy Dark Hour Day! At midnight today the events of Persona 3 have officially begun (well at least using their timeline). To celebrate this momentous occassion I'll finally restart my run through of Persona 3 FES and finally see the end of "The Journey". So if you haven't played in a while or are feeling nostalgic maybe it's time to rediscover the Dark Hour.
So a few months ago my 60 gig PlayStation 3 (with the all coveted PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility) decided that its blu-ray eye would stop working. I sent the unit for repair, etc. etc. which was a relatively pain free process (the cost not as much). Luckily they were able to repair my unit and send the same one back. Now, the Sony representatives on the phone told me that all I had to do...
As reported in the Toronto Star the province of Quebec has banned sales of English video games should a French version exist as of April 2009. Now unfortunately, the article is very poorly worded and should have been investigated further. The law dates back to September 10th, 2007 ( French version , although English versions of the press release exist) when it was first announced. Now what's in...
Valkyria, Valkyria May the bloodline live forever Valkyria, Valkyria Bless and protect our fertile land ~Excerpt from the Anthem of the Dutchy of Gallia So I finally got around to beating Valkyria Chronicles today and what can I say? If you're into strategy games, anime or World War II games then this is the game for you. Primarily an action-strategy-RPG game, Valkyria Chronicles shows a surpri...
In the anime Gundam Seed Destiny the province of Quebec is destroyed by falling space colony debris. In the television show Heroes, the city of Montreal, Quebec was hinted at playing a great role in the storyline (way to drop the ball on that guys, really you couldn't even get decent stock footage of Montreal?). But what about video games? Well from whipping boy to boy giving the whipping, Cana...
Credit to Bootaay of Neogaf for compiling the images: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=15295800&postcount=145 Graphical Evolution of the 'Warriors' series of games Dynasty Warriors Dynasty Warriors 2 Dynasty Warriors 3 Dynasty Warriors 3 Xtreme Legends Dynasty Warriors 4 Dynasty Warriors 4 Xtreme Legends Samurai Warriors Dynasty Warriors 4 Empires Samurai Warriors Xtreme Legends Dynas...
Trophies are awesome like that. You get one, then you just have to get another and another. Kind of like Xbox achievements... [Update] Just to compare this is what SCEA gives us: