Review: Sonic Generations

Posted on November 14, 2011 by geelw

Platform: Xbox 360 (also on PS3, Wii)

Developer: Sonic Team

Publisher: Sega

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Score: A

The Sonic Team (and Sonic) renaissance continues with another solid and hugely fun to play Sonic the Hedgehog game. While not flawless, Sonic Generations does a mostly stellar job of recapturing the nostalgia of the blue hedgehog’s early days while also giving gamers a Shake ‘n Bake of pretty much every major Sonic game (and a few minor ones) that’s come along since. Those well-versed in Sonic lore will be grinning ear to ear at the presentation, looking for references all over the place as they play through the game. Like the classic games it cobbles its levels and characters from, the overall experience is somewhat brief. However, just like the old days, this is one game you’ll blow through once and go back to over and over until you’ve aced every challenge and scored “S” ranks across every single map. Continue reading →

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Hands-On: There Will Be Blood. And Running. And Gunning. All At The Same Time.

Posted on November 13, 2011 by geelw

As much as I love all sorts of games I’ll admit to being a tiny bit skeptical every so often about Capcom announcing yet another Resident Evil title. Sure, the franchise is hugely popular with a whopping 45 million units sold across multiple platforms… but it’s far from perfect. There are certain gameplay elements that have been with the series from day one that, while fresh and fun a few years back, are a bit decayed when compared to some of today’s titles. Granted, keeping things set in stone doesn’t just plague Capcom’s zombie-packed games alone. I could go on for a few paragraphs about other storied franchises setting into too familiar territory, but let’s talk about the game that’s going to save Resident Evil from itself while surprising the hell out of the most skeptical die-hard fans in the process. Thanks to developer Slant Six Games, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is coming and in my opinion, as both an offline and online experience, it’s absolutely the best thing to happen to the franchise in years. Continue reading →

Gallery: Of Orcs & Men: One Unique RPG To Keep An Eye On…

Posted on November 12, 2011 by geelw

Sure, Skyrim is ruling them all as one of the best (if not THE best) game of 2011, but the RPG genre is definitely surging forward into 2012 with a number of cool new titles. One of the many games I’m highly interested in seeing and playing is Of Orcs & Men, Focus Home Interactive’s upcoming PC/PS3 and Xbox 360 title co-developed by Cyanide Studio and Spiders. What’s intriguing about the game for me is the idea of playing through a lengthy quest as a pair of characters usually found in your average RPG at the end of some heroic square-jawed human’s blade. The leads here are an orc warrior and a goblin assassin who team up in order to kill the human ruler who’s responsible for man’s ongoing war with their races. This change of pace from the usual RPG formula looks to make for an interesting blend of gameplay styles as players will be able to use both characters and their different skills throughout the adventure. The E3 teaser shows off some nicely stylized characters, beautiful lighting and what’s looking to be a pretty huge, detailed game world so far…

The game is set to be released in Spring 2012, and yes, I’m keeping this one on my radar (and you should as well). Screens and other fun stuff below the jump… Continue reading →

Nintendo Gives Gamers A ‘Real’ Super Mario 3D Land In NYC (Along With A Bit Of Gametime, Too)

Posted on November 12, 2011 by geelw

Nintendo of America, as always, REALLY knows how to throw a party. Turn a tiny bit of Times Square into a virtual Mario Land set, invite a ton of kids and see what happens? Good times for all, no problem! All this super fun stuff was for a pre-launch Super Mario 3D Land party where gamers got to play the upcoming 3DS exclusive before its 11/13/11 street date. The weather was definitely perfect for the event and it looks as if everyone had a total blast. It looks as if there’s yet another great reason to be a 3DS owner this year and with the holiday season rolling up fast, you’ll want to absolutely add this latest Mario game to your gift list.

Jeff Spega’s Tron and Robotron Now Available. You Should Buy It Based On The Table Of Contents Alone.

Posted on November 12, 2011 by geelw

Jeff is a cool guy (creatively cranky like me), a fellow gamer, writer, editor and knows a hell of a lot more than I do about video games. Even better, he was smart enough to write all he knows down in a handy new book called Tron and Robotron: Thirty Years of Electronic Gaming (and Counting), which just so happens to be available for purchase by clicking on that link above. I need to buy a copy just so I can read more than the excellent teasers and excerpts he’s got as a quickie download on his page. Oh, and that table of contents is pretty spectacular. Seriously. Jeff also likes a lot of 3DO games I like, so he’s definitely someone to have around when you happen to have a copy of Burning Soldier and an extra controller lying around and need someone to blast Kaisertians with.

Game of Thrones Headed to Consoles, PC from Cyanide Studio & Atlus

Posted on November 11, 2011 by geelw

Should I feel bad about not only NOT having read any of the books, but also for totally ignoring the HBO show until I hear news of Atlus publishing a new PS3, 360 and PC game based on the hugely popular fantasy series? Well, nope. Sometimes, I’m just a little slow. That, and too busy to add so much new stuff to my plate sometimes. Actually, I tried to watch one episode of the show, but it was a messy bit of walking into the middle of a conversation with and feeling really left out. All I know is NOT to get too attached to any characters (something I learned from the King’s Field days) and sometimes, the little guy is the one to really keep an eye on (lest he get stabby with his sword). “Early 2012” means this one has been in the pot for a little while at least. Given the sour reception Cyanide’s last Atlus-published game (The Cursed Crusade) received, Let’s hope GOT arrives at retail as a fully cooked bird and a tasty one at that…

Babycastles. Brooklyn. Sunday. NEW Atari 2600 Games (!) Be There.

Posted on November 10, 2011 by geelw

I won’t be there, thanks to too much work to do, but maybe YOU can go and tell me what a blast you had.

Sunday, November 13th

Innovative Leisure: New Atari Games, curated by Ian Bogost.

Celebrating a new art games arcade at Death By Audio
6:30 – 9pm ||| @ DEATH BY AUDIO (South 2nd & Kent Avenue)
FREE ||| ALL AGES ||| TALKS BY IAN BOGOST, SONNY RAE TEMPEST

More info after the jump! Continue reading →

Not Quite A Slow Week, Just A Busy One…

Status

Hey! I don’t review every game as soon as it comes out (I don’t always get pre-release review copies) and I’m a bit backlogged, so some of those already known to be huge sellers that don’t need my thumbs up, down or sideways are on the back burner. Currently, I’m working on some recent stuff: Dark Souls, Sonic Generations, some indie PC stuff, a Wii game or two and few other things in the inbox. A PS3 copy of Skyrim will be here on Monday and I believe I have Uncharted 3 on the horizon as well.Too many previews are also in the works once I can get in a few hours to edit and add images. I think there’s sleep planned in my schedule as well, but with too many games coming out and no time machine, don’t bet on it…

Fusion: Genesis Contest CLOSED, But More Free Stuff To Come…

Posted on November 9, 2011 by geelw

I hope you two lucky winners are enjoying the game! I’ll finally be able to play it tomorrow at some point, so feel free to chime in with your own impressions if you like what Starfire Studios has done with their first game. Thanks for entering Jason & Cary!

As for what’s next, well if you’re a Gran Turismo 5 fan, I may have something REALLY cool to give aw in a few days or so… stay tuned…

For MMO’s, A Little Forward Thinking By Looking Back…

Posted on November 9, 2011 by geelw

Just a quick note on this, as the long version will be part of an article I’m in the process of working on. Any new big-budget MMO that ships without a single player (and/or co-op offline modes) is missing out on making more money, period. Ignoring millions of folks who may NOT want to be social ALL the time (horrors!) but would absolutely buy and play certain games if they simply had an offline mode is pretty dumb, I say.. Just because a player isn’t joined at the hip to a server doesn’t mean he or she shouldn’t be playing a game at home where they COULD at some point (if they wanted to), take that character they’ve been using online to finally join or make a few friends. Micro-transactions aren’t the only way to make a profit, folks – getting a loyal user base that wants to buy into a version of your games they can enjoy (offline or on at their leisure) IS.