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.

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 →

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.

WIN FREE STUFF! Fusion: Genesis Code Giveaway – ACT FAST!

Posted on November 8, 2011 by geelw

Hey, you DO like free stuff, don’t you? Well, listen up: I have TWO codes here for Starfire Studios’ upcoming XBLA exclusive (the game launches tomorrow) and yes, you can grab one for your very own. All you need to do is follow DAF here on WordPress, reply to this post, THEN (and this is the important part), send me an email at geelw2@gmail.com so I can reply back with your code.

Don’t post your email in the reply here or I’ll give it to the troll in the basement who will ship you a box of smelly socks instead of a game code. Um, having an Xbox Live account as well as a working Xbox 360 in your home would be a good idea as well. Anyway, get moving, as I know these won’t last an hour… Read the rules below the jump BEFORE you enter. Continue reading →

Fusion: Genesis – Half of Twenty Questions With Starfire Studios

Posted on November 8, 2011 by geelw

(Or: Conquering Space in a Packed Online Universe, One Player at a Time)

Thanks to my one-man army status and rather ridiculous tower of stuff to tackle, It’s been a little while since I’ve interviewed someone for a DAF feature. Fortunately, I’m ending that quiet streak in a nice way. Every so often, I play a really cool game that demands a bit more attention and a little Q & A time, so here you go. Starfire Studios’ upcoming Xbox Live Arcade exclusive Fusion: Genesis is set to launch November 9, and it’s looking like one of those games that’s bound to gain a dedicated following as more gamers discover its stunning visuals and easy to pick up but highly challenging gameplay. With their first release done and ready to roll, I shot a few basic Q’s over to the fab four at Starfire and got a speedy response from two of the team, Phil Dunne and Chris Tilston (plus a musical guest star)… Continue reading →

Review: GoldenEye 007 Reloaded

Posted on November 7, 2011 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3 (also on Xbox 360)

Developer: Eurocom

Publisher: Activision

# of Players 1 – 4 (Online 1 – 16)

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A

Eurocom’s high quality reworking of Rare’s Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007 was truly amazing on the Wii last year, but on the PS3, it’s the definitive version of the game and an absolute must-buy. GoldenEye: Reloaded adds HD resolution (1080p!), a new MI-6 Ops mode, tight controls with the PlayStation Move and gameplay that rockets along at a solid 60 frames per second. A solid single player campaign and fun multiplayer modes that feature a ridiculous amount of customization options makes this the perfect package for novice to expert shooter fans alike. Don’t let the timing of the release (sliding neatly between BF3 and MW3) fool you one bit. No matter which mode you hop into first, what’s here can easily stand on the same ground as other modern shooters. Continue reading →

Please Stand By…

Status

Ah, Mondays… I’m kicking some mild computer issues around at the moment, which is why no posts yesterday and today (so far). I’ll be back with a few updates as in reviews of GoldenEye: Reloaded (buy it), Sonic Generations (buy it), Dragon ball Z: UT (if you’re a not too picky DBZ fan, buy it) and some other updates. Meanwhile, back to fiddling around with some files and stuff…

What’s Old Is New…

Posted on November 5, 2011 by geelw

So, my copy of Star Odyssey arrived today, interestingly enough on a nice and quiet (but busy) Saturday. I spent a few hours playing it and yup, it’s definitely old-school goodness. Not the best RPG on the Mega Drive/Genesis, but a great deal of care went into the game and it’s one of those “lost” games that was well worth the long wait to finally play. For the heck of it, here are pics of the game one of my Mega Drives consoles and the original Japanese release, Blue Almanac. Enjoy!

Review: Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Impact

Posted on November 5, 2011 by geelw

Platform: PSP

Developer: CyberConnect2

Publisher: Namco Bandai

# of Players: 1 (Ad-Hoc 1-2)

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B

Ever-busy developer CyberConnect2 went for a different, but “classic” beat ’em up approach for their latest Naruto Shippuden game and the results are mostly quite fun. Ultimate Ninja Impact takes many of the familiar characters and important parts of the story arc, puts a Dynasty Warriors-like spin to the gameplay, shakes well and despite some AI issues and PlayStation One-era background redraw, there’s a lot of game here that’s easy to pick up and play. A lengthy quest mode, unlockables galore, collectible cards that enhance skills and more are packed onto the UMD, making this an excellent value provided you’re willing to overlook some flaws.

Continue reading →