Nippon Ichi’s Japan Aid Program Offers Up Prinnies Galore!

Posted on April 8, 2011 by geelw

I’m liking all the excellent 1:1 donation projects whipped up by game companies (I bid on a few of Sega’s awesome items and didn’t win any, but I’m sure happy to have participated) and Nippon Ichi Software America has come up with a great way to support Japan relief a dollar (or more) at a time. Just click on over to the NISA online store HERE (or on that Prinny above) and donate a dollar (or more if you wish), which not only goes to the Red Cross, it nets you a huge honkin’ file of amazing Prinny art that includes banners, wallpapers and plenty of avatar icons you can use to spread the good word. Jump on board if you haven’t done so, spend a buck to help out and enjoy the Prinny goodness direct from NISA!

Gallery: Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon Bestiary

Posted on April 7, 2011 by geelw

Want to know what sort of over-sized opposition you'll be facing off against this July 5th? Well, here you go – a look at some of the enemy types from D3Publisher of America's upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 bug-blasting action game. Hmmm… Fireworks on the 4th and more fireworks on the 5th? Sounds like a plan…Read more »

Earloomz Introduces Star Wars Bluetooth Headsets

Posted on April 5, 2011 by geelw

As a long recovered former hardcore Star Wars geek, I tend to unsee most licensed products within about a minute (which has had the side effect of keeping my cluttered work space a bit less busy). However, the folks at Earloomz and Lucasfilm Ltd. have finally managed to use their Jedi mind tricks on me (and rather successfully at that). So here you go: a peek at their first four Star Wars themed Bluetooth headsets. Created with form and function in mind, these officially licensed headsets feature iconic images of Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and The Empire Strikes Back’s climactic ’Dark Duel.’Read more »

To Patch, Or Not To Patch (Or Maybe Get It Right So It Doesn’t Require a Patch)…

Posted on April 5, 2011 by geelw

Bleh. I think I’ve mini-ranted about console games requiring one or more patches to run properly previously (and a few times at that) but it’s gotten to the point where some otherwise decent games are hard to review properly because they’re a patch or two away from being more enjoyable experiences. Some of these games (which have issues right out of the package that should have been caught by QA instead of too many gamers and jaded critics) won’t even get to that point thanks to reviews that grind them to a pulp for issues other (and more popular) titles get an automatic pass on, which is unfortunate.

Granted, not much could have saved Mindjack (unless that patch had a new script in addition to the bug fixes) and a few other games I’ve played parts of that have baffled me. On the other hand, a few quirky recent games with not bad at all stories or other unique elements NEED some elements tweaked just so some areas of those games aren’t so blasted annoying to replay time and time again (you’ll see the results of that wish not being granted in a review or two coming soon)…

Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon Hands-On

Posted on April 4, 2011 by geelw

D3Publisher of America brought along bullet hell, beast hell and bug hell to their recent NYC press event and fans of insanely deep dungeon crawlers, trippy arcade shooters and giant bug blasting will all be well-served soon enough with a few key releases. I'm working on a separate hands-on for Dream Trigger, Bangai-o and Gods Eater Burst – from this point onward… this article is all about Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon and how much it simply rocks.

I've been waiting patiently for D3Publisher of America to drop into NYC with a build of Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon and after playing a bit of the very solid, very fun three-player online co-op and a bit of the intense Survival Mode, I can very safely say that the game's going to be a keeper for EDF fans old and new. The missions are lengthy and challenging even on the easiest setting with bugs appearing in differently sized packs that come from multiple directions, often mixing in different types of pests that end up being more than enough to keep you on your toes. I'm getting ahead of myself here, so I'll break it down from the beginning. Read more »

Update: Xseed Still Loves You, Wizardry Fans – You Just Need To Get With The Program…

Posted on April 3, 2011 by geelw

Well, it looks as if Wizardry fans in the US hoping to see the upcoming Labyrinth of Lost Souls as a retail release will have to go all in on the digital version instead. I poked a note Xseed's way a few days ago and got back this reply:

Hi Greg,

Good to hear from you, and please excuse the late reply as things have been pretty busy with the launch of TiTS.*

Didn't see this article of yours before our Wizardry announcement, how funny. Unfortunately, we have no plans to release it on disc right now so no use holding a survey just yet, but perhaps we can consider something similar to Japan where the first one did so well as a digital game that they released it and its sequel together on one retail package later (of course that means sales here will have to be above expectations too for us to consider this).

Thanks for posting the news, glad you liked our announcement.

*Er, for the record… TiTS refers to The Legend of Heroes: Trails in The Sky, the new PSP role-playing epic just launched a few days ago. That acronym is banned on GameFaqs, as i amusingly found out while updating a post there with this news. My evolving thoughts over this (which may be helpful to the resolute die-hards grumbling away about a download-only release) can be distilled HERE. Read more »

Evil Controllers Reveals Million Dollar Controller (It’s A One Day Sale, Hint, Hint)…

Posted on April 1, 2011 by geelw

Yikes. They call it the Evil Bling… I call it the Ultimate Evil (now where’s my check for those naming rights?)… Yes, it’s April 1st, folks, so take this news as you will. Although I hear The Donald has ordered a dozen already just to show he’s not just spending all that money he supposedly has on a hair stylist (and failed chances at a presidential nomination)…

SOE Cuts 200+ Jobs, Kills The Agency -THQ Drops Staff At Kaos, Volition Studios

Posted on April 1, 2011 by geelw

It's been a capital “L” Lousy week for the industry in a pretty rocky few years that have seen quite a few layoffs, studio closures and newer, smaller studios formed after such shakeups. But the cost is certainly getting higher. Sony Online Entertainment has let go 205 employees and shot down the PS3/PC massively multiplayer online shooter/action game, The Agency, which had been in development for a few years. This news in particular irks me because I remember seeing and playing a very early demo build about two or three years back and thinking the team was onto something really unique. I recall asking if the team planned to do the game as single player with straight co-op modes and no MMO functionality in case things went south during the rest of long dev cycle, but everyone seemed to believe the game would find an audience based on the spy theme and solid Unreal 3-powered visuals… Now we'll never know.Read more »