(thanks, Kabam RPG!)
Hey, Kabam! You just made me want to play a Star Wars game. Reading up on Uncle George trying to rewrite movie history has of late almost put me off wanting to go near anything new owner Disney intends to do with the franchise. Any SW fan worth his salt knows Han shot first, grrrr! That said, I’m still not a 100 percent tablet, mobile or broswer-based MMO convert just yet…
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(thanks, tinyBuildGAMES!)
If they taught math this way back when I was in grade school I’d bet a heck of a lot of kids would probably be a lot smarter. And probably vegetarian or vegan not to mention not afraid of death at all. Anyway, great and prolific indie developer tinyBuildGAMES does it again with another hilarious slice of pure fun with a twist. Divide By Sheep is a math puzzle game that combines Death, loneliness, sacrifice and too cute to chop up sheep in a game where every move counts. Okay, it’s nowhere as grim as that last sentence sounds at all although a sense of humor is going to be needed in order to get full enjoyment from this one.
If you feel like counting sheep now and getting Death some new wooly pals to play chess with, the game is available on Steam and iOS NOW. Even better (well, if you’re an iOS user), you can get tinyBuild’s Spoiler Alert for FREE and Fearless Fantasy for a mere 99 cents. Those are both hard to pass up deals, I’d say.
Nothing much to say here other than Bethesda Softworks’ E3 lineup is small but spectacular even though I’m not completely sold on the mobile and free to play titles (because I’m old school stubborn like that but still respect them in the morning). Pull up a seat and something to eat as this is a nice lonng look at what’s coming this year and a bit beyond. I’ll run individual game trailers later this week. Okay, back to grinding my teeth and making pissed off faces at no one in particular. There’s still some work being done on the roof (which was supposed to end on the 5th of this month) and an inspector is coming to look at a wall that’s become a bit of a mess in the home office, grrrrr.
Out with the old…
…in with the new!
1. The new Guitar Hero Live logo looks a wee bit like the original Star Trek TV show logo. That made me laugh a bit because it’s not intentional at all. I’m just really old.
2. Plastic guitars are back after a five year hiatus.It’s hard to say how those who bought the rock games that required real guitars will feel about this. However, it’s entirely possible that both camps will find something to like or not about GHL.
3. There are no colored buttons this time and instead of five colored buttons, you get three buttons set into two rows. This is because testing showed most people play GH using three fingers and never got past the harder modes. The game’s easier modes use only three buttons while the harder modes use all six.
4. There’s an autoplay button on the controller for people who just want to practice the songs or look good cheating. Longtime GH players seem to hate the new controller already, but EVERYONE will need to get used to the new controller should they pick up the game. It shouldn’t take long, though.
Yes, this is ALL actual gameplay.
5. Or: If you owned a PC, Sega CD, 3DO, PlayStation or Saturn back in the 90’s, you’ll be pleased to know FMV games are back (but much better looking). Yeah, that’s right. Gone are the cartoon-like players and now it’s you onstage playing that plastic guitar in front of an actual audience in first person mode. But this time, it’s for PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U and mobile devices. Yes, the crystal-clear FMV can run on any current console out there, so you’ll see all looking exactly the same (like it or not).
6. There’s a music video channel-like online play mode. You can choose from hundreds of videos to battle someone against, there will be a MASSIVE library of songs from classics to indies and overall, this mode may be the bigger deal for some players who love their social sharing stuff.
Guitar Hero Live is coming this fall for those systems noted above. So many changes after five years off, right? Will it be a house band in millions of homes, or is the new look and focus on both simplifying and complicating things be too bumpy a ride for the loyal fan base? As usual, we shall see.
If you do this writing about games stuff long enough, you tend to go into media events with low to no expectations. Not because you’re jaded, mind you. It’s more because going in blind works better at getting one’s surprise meter better tuned when something actually does blow one’s mind. That said, I knew as soon as I heard the names Big Huge Games and Tim Train, I knew I had to prepare to be surprised and thrilled at what they were going to show. DomiNations (published by Nexon) is the name of the company’s new game and it’s a free to play mobile game that just so happens to be a real-time strategy game with a light world history theme. Sure, there are plenty of mobile RTS titles out there from Clash of Clans to Game of War and so forth and so on with fantasy themes. DomiNations adds some familiar bits of PC classics Train and Brian Reynolds have worked on such as Civilization II and Rise of Nations while making sure to be entertaining enough that anyone can hop in and play within a few seconds. Continue reading
Excelsior, True Believers! here comes DeNA with yet another addictive F2P game guaranteed to kill your free time deader than Deadpool with a sack full of grenades and too much coffee in his system. Marvel Mighty Heroes is a fun-looking isometric co-op brawler for iOS and Android devices that’s a step up for action fans who want more action than some of the hugely popular card battle games on the mobile market. The kid-friendly art style and fast-paced play are sure to draw in the younger crowd. But expect this to also be a big hit among Marvel fans of any age who try it out and get drawn in by the fast-paced gameplay.
While some criticize most free to play games for their monetizing shenanigans, there’s an EASY way to avoid paying money for most of these games if you spread out how often you play them. You don’t NEED to spend hours every day “grinding” for good stuff at all. Just play until you’re prompted for a payment option and quit for the day. Rinse and repeat for about two weeks or so and if the game has daily rewards for continued play, you end up raking in digital coins or whatever currency the game offers up frequent players and you’ll be shocked to find you haven’t spent a dime and have credits to buy stuff in the online shop.
Or you could just go half to full super-fan and pay up front for a bunch of goodies or whatever starter packs you like. The beauty of GOOD free to play is having that option in the games you play and knowing it’s up to YOU to be in charge of what you spend if anything. That and you can always go read a book or step out for fresh air when that payment option pops up. There’s much more to life than gaming, you know. But when you DO get some game time in, make sure you enjoy 100 percent of that time.
EDIT! The funny thing is, I just re-read (or more precisely, completed reading) an article on this and it seems that Nintendo IS in total creative control on the developement front with their mobile lineup. DeNA is helping out with the behind the scenes backend production stuff. This bodes well for anyone concerned that Nintendo is shifting their licenses to a company that will slap a pay wall around any fun and sap wallets on a regular basis. My mistake! Oops. Well, let’s see what’s coming when it arrives, right? Right.
Yikes, what a big fat news item to wake up to. Anyway, it was pretty much a given that this sort of thing would happen (particularly if you read a few industry sites over the last year or so and started putting pieces of news together), but what does it all mean at the end of the day for longtime fans? More games to play and on platforms they never expected to see them on, most likely. Now, I’m sure Nintendo didn’t “sell out” their franchises to DeNA (or GungHo Online for that matter, see previous post). And I’m sure they’ll have final say in what gets out there. I do know that DeNA’s games, while criticized for their pay walls, happen to do well at getting people to play them and some of the more popular ones emulate gameplay elements found in Nintendo’s Pokemon series (which was created for them by GameFreak). Anyway, I’m just not going to say a peep more about this deal until I see what games are coming and how they’ll get to the fans. I know the most die-hard loyalists don’t want to see the words “free to play” attached to anything Nintendo does. But the sad thing is, this seems to be the wave of the future (yuck) and an unavoidable means of reliable revenue. Ah well…
Here’s a BIG kick in the pants for a Monday, courtesy of the Merry Marvel Marching Society. Okay, not really. it’s actually a brand new mobile game on the way from the folks at DeNA and developer ngmoco. Their upcoming F2P game Marvel Mighty Heroes looks to bring fast-paced tactical co-op action to iOS and Android devices soon. That teaser video above should get you fans motivated enough to pre-register for the game, but I’ll drop the press release below the jump if you need a tiny bit more convincing. Continue reading
Platform: iOS/Android
Developer: Ossian Studios
Publisher: Ossian Studios
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: N/A
Official Site
Score: B+ (85%)
Four years in the making, Ossian Studios‘ first mobile RPG, The Shadow Sun, brings the look and feel of classic PC fantasy role playing games to iOS and Android devices along with a few quirks common to mobile games. It’s a solid enough adventure of a decent length (about 15-20 hours or so if you seek out everything) and for a mere $4.99, it’s a fantastic deal.
While the game is indeed engaging and quite challenging in terms of its combat, it’s also a patch away from being even better than it currently is. You’re certainly getting a heck of a lot more than five dollars worth of gaming here and while in-app purchases are available, none are needed to beat the game.
if your year-end plans involved spending as little money as possible on games so you can afford an extra few bottles of bubbly stuff, well… you’re in luck this week.
Like fast cars? Got a fast computer? Great. For a dollar (and ONLY for the next 24 hours!), Bundle Stars is offering up a stupendous deal in the form of the Born 2 Race Bundle. Seven racing games plus a bunch of expansion packs for such a low price that you’d be off your rocker if you passed this deal up. There’s a mix of realism here with a few more fanciful games to dink around with and more than enough content to make this one of the best deals of the year.
If driving around at high speeds isn’t your thing, how about some story-driven adventures on the cheap? Well, the IndieGala Every Monday Bundle has got you covered and then some with eight games for a mere $1.89, which is yes, nuts. Fantasy, fake historical, sci-fi and horror genres are represented here in this nice variety of brain-bending games. There’s even a dash of humor here if you like your games with a comical bent to them.
Whaddaya mean you ONLY play mobile games? Okay, okay… I got you covered. Well, the Humble Noodlecake Studios Mobile Bundle has you covered. Sure, you need to spend a little bit more to get these games. Nevertheless, like the other bundles here it’s worth it because you’re helping support charity. That and you get thirteen games for eight bucks and MORE content that unlocks as more people buy the bundle and break the different targets noted on the game page.
Finally, you may as well check out Indie Royale for more cool stuff for low prices. Or to be more precise, The Debut Bundle 23 gets you eight indie games for $2.58 with a ninth to be unlocked later. I think that should take care of your gaming needs for the end of this year, right? Well, I kind of hope it does. Don’t forget to get out and get some air every now and then, okay? We don’t want people to think you’ve gone and pushed up some daisies somewhere…
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 