Tag Archives: Video Game Appreciation 101

Games I Finally Got Around To Completing #1: Red Dead Redemption

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Well, THAT took a while, but it’s finally done, Undead Nightmare expansion (which I actually completed before the main game’s story)and all. Hey, I did say I like to take my time with games, so here’s a good example of this procrastination. Part of this was due to having so many open world games to go through, me going through them in order of least impressive to most (RDD is still stellar visually and highly replayable) and the fact that yup, I’m pretty awful at poker and there’s a LOT of it to play throughout the game. RDD’s poker games were giving me trouble because I hated to do the save/reload thing and wanted to always try and win fair and square without any cheating. Fortunately, I wised up (hey, it’s a game about the Old West – who the heck was a 100% honest poker player back then? Even the oldest Western films have poker cheats!) and decided to seek a bit of help from a few helpful sources from a friend who’s a pretty decent player to a nice and helpful site that showed me a few tricks I was too stubborn to pull off…

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WB Games Brings Midway Arcade Origins To PS3 & 360 (On A DISC!)

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Well, alright! Folks like me who prefer physical product (hey, I hug my games every day!) can now add a really sweet mix of games to our collections without losing much shelf space. WB Games and Backbone Entertainment have released Midway Arcade Origins for the PS3 and Xbox 360 as noted above in the header, on an actual game DISC. Yeah, that’s right. You can boogie on down to your favorite game emporium, whip out that wallet (you know, the one embroidered with BAD MOTHERF*CKER on it), whip out some cash money and tip on out with that new set of oldies in an actual plastic bag. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!  Anyway, no matter which system you own (er, well, if it’s one of the two mentioned, that is, er hey, WHY isn’t this on the Wii U as a launch title OR on the Vita for the holidays?), get this collection, grab some friends and prepare to get schooled by some really awesome arcade hits, I say!

Lost Planet 3 NYCC Panel: Watch and Learn (Once Again!)

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Spark Unlimited is really pulling out the stops to make Lost Planet 3 the best game they’ve done to date. This prequel has been getting some way out of place hatred from some who aren’t yet hip to the fact that the game doesn’t replace the LP they know with something new and different at all – it just sets up the world and events the other games will jump off from. Anyway, take a gander at this presentation from New York Comic Con which covers a few fun development facts including the great motion capture work that’s going into the final product.  From the brief demo I played a few months back, it’s looking like the single player story will have memorable characters and plenty of exposition that could make this the most interesting game in the series for those who love a tale told well. The action’s not bad, either.

Transformers Prime – The Game: Today’s Lesson in Multi-Platform Visuals (Nintendo Version)…

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Ack! It’s a stupidly busy day for me (I’m buried in a few too many games this week), but here’s a quickie post about Transformers Prime – The Game, set to hit the Wii U (and Wii, 3DS and DS) on November 18th. I find it interesting that the visual style skews a bit younger than High Moon’s War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, and it seems a few internet idiots are mistaking this for Nintendo’s new console not having enough power to render a more” realistic” looking game. The Wii U can indeed handle higher texture and model detail just fine. Go peek at more screens and HD movies of the launch lineup to confirm this. I’d gather that as the game was probably started on the Wii, the Wii U version is more likely than not using the same assets and will run in HD where the Wii version won’t.  Thus endeth the lesson – now go play some games!

 

Stuff that Needs To Be Kickstarted (Part 1)

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Hmm. Sinnce I’m up way too early, I may as well post something now, as I’ll be a bit busy later doing the airport thing. Here’s a random list of games or game projects that NEED to be crowd-funded.  Of course, there are those who want everything for free and can or already have all the games they can play and then some. But for those gamers who aren’t fond of emulation or hell, just want to support a few cool projects, someone has to get on these just from a pure preservation perspective, I say:

Atari Lynx Collection (PC/Mac/Consoles/Handhelds): The Lynx was and is one of the most underrated gaming devices EVER. Despite being more powerful than the hugely popular GameBoy, less popular Game Gear and never as popular as it should have been TurboExpress, there were a number of great games made for the system from arcade ports to original titles worth playing for a few reasons. Granted, something like Gauntlet III would need to be reworked to play in a widescreen format, but then again, it’s perfect for tablets or phones. Slap in Achievements for those who want them and I think this would do well among those who’ve never played or heard of the Lynx previously.

SPACE LORDS (ditto): One game that to date hasn’t been successfully emulated is Atari’s quite spectacular multiplayer space combat arcade game. Yeah, yeah, you’ve never heard of it and it’s never been ported to anything as far as I know since it had its brief run in arcades almost 20 years ago. But it’s exactly the sort of game that once it’s played, will be one you’ll keep going back to just because you’ve had so much fun blasting aliens into space dust (with a little help from your online or offline friends).

I was going to post a bit more, but I’ve a bit of laundry to tackle – back in a bit with a few more ideas (yeah, I’ll try and make a case for a Jaguar collection, although it’s the total longshot of all my bad ideas)…

Random New Additions, Random Edition (Some Games and Movies)…

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OK, I’m lousy at updating my library pics unlike some of my fellow collectors on WP, but here’s a random sampling of stuff I’ve picked up through budget buys or a few trades. I’ve played all of the PS3 games in the photo previously on the 360, but as I have the worst luck with that console in terms of keeping them working after a few months (shakes fist at non-working 360’s sitting nearby collecting dust), I’ve had to pick the games shown up again. All are great in their own ways with El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron and Shadows of the Damned near polar opposites in weirdness, tone and impact (bot are good, but supremely strange). Warhammer 40K: Space Marine is a big, beefy kill-fest extravaganza that’s quite well done but fairly linear. It’s one of the more visceral action games I’ve played in that you’re going to be wading into packs of Orks and chunking up enemies by assorted means, all of them satisfying. It’s too bad THQ has been having assorted financial issues, as this one NEEDS a sequel or new installment (perhaps on other platforms).

As for the DS stuff, I really liked Blue Dragon on the 360 (with the exception of searching, no, SCOURING maps for items found much easier in other RPGs), so getting Blue Dragon Plus was something I wanted to do for a while. Fortunately, Canada’s best kept secret, online entertainment retailer, iNetVideo.com had it dirt cheap new, albeit with a HUGE sticker on the outer cardboard slipcase (argh). THe DS game is actually a RTS with RPG elements and takes a bit of getting used to. While searching for this, I found out there’s a second DS Blue Dragon game (Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow) that got released in the US. It’s a bit more expensive from what I’ve seen so far, so on the wait/want list it goes. I think I ran a pic of Magical Starsign a while back, but in case i didn’t – here you go. Developer Brownie Brown also worked on Blue Dragon Plus, but the games are so different that you can’t tell at all.

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Holiday Gift Guide 2012: Street Fighter Anniversary Collection & Street Fighter Monopoly

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Looking for something nice and gifty for that Street Fighter fanatic on your list or maybe something cool for your own collection? Well, Capcom has two more rather ridiculously awesome items you can drop some of that disposable income on. Check out what’s in store for you in each of these two box sets of joy. You can snap up the super-limited edition Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collection at Capcom’s online shop, while that Street Fighter Monopoly can get grabbed through Amazon. If I had the room, I’d definitely want both here to fall out of Santa’s sleigh, that’s for sure. Should YOU nab both of these if you’re able to pony up the price? Sure, you can (ha ha)!

 

 

Yeah, yeah, it may seem too early to be talking about holiday gift shopping, but  hey, in this economy and too many people thinking the world will end because of some Mayans who ran out of room on a big stone slab, you’ll want to grab the good stuff early and sock it away to celebrate with once things blow over on the whole doomsday front.

 

Video Game Appreciation 101: System Shock! Into The Bins And Crates of Doom (Part 1)…

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After a bit of survey-taking earlier Saturday, I decided on a whim to do a bit of cleaning as well as move some stuff around mostly to see just how many systems and such I have packed into the home office. All I’ll say is it’s definitely not a small amount. Anyway, below the jump are a few items from the collection. Nothing super-rare or anything like that, but a random selection of consoles, controllers and other gaming-related ephemera I’ve stocked up over the ages.

To the left, by the way, is my current “Systems Precarious” setup (code name: “Jenga!”): an Xbox (which plays imports and debug code), A Sanyo TRY-1 3DO (well, OK, it’s a bit rare in the US), A boring US PS2 with a HDD that’s faulty), a now non-working Xbox 360 (it died not too long after my Dragon’s Dogma review and I need to get another one) and a Japanese PS2. OK, usually it’s four consoles and not five, but I was playing The Earth Defense Forces 2 the other day just to get prepared for the copy of EDF 3 Portable I have coming in about two weeks. The PS3 and games for it in the living room, by the way (and thanks for asking). You can’t stack anything on top of it, as it’s an “ancient” launch model that’s still kicking. I think I need one of those “extreme” makeovers, gaming edition, as it’s a pretty dopey way to set stuff up.

OK, enough stalling from me – onto the downloading of blurry images and light descriptions…

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Pro Pinball Kickstarter: Bringing Back The Digital Silver Ball Classics Once More

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While the goal of $400,000 may seem high to non-pinball fans out there, here’s another case where a healthy combo of nostalgia and pure common sense can win big for fans of classic video gaming across the globe. Granted, the Pro Pinball series is originally a 90’s creation, but the excellently designed tables whipped up back then were pretty solid and quite memorable, recalling the days of amazingly creative tables popping up in arcades on a regular basis.

Anyway, check out the pledge page here, as there’s a VERY nice freebie on the page in the form of a download of Big Race USA just for visiting the page. Even better, a mere two dollar pledge will net you two more free tables should the project make its target. Drop a few more quarters into that coins slot and score some really awesome bonuses such as boxed copies of the games for PC and the opportunity to have lunch in Chicago with some of the folks behind the project. Nice! OK, you know what to do – make this thing a reality!

Videogame Appreciation 101: The Sega Letters (Found!)

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Back around 1990 or 1991, I recall my younger brother and I getting hopelessly stuck in Phantasy Star and in dire need of assistance. Nope, we weren’t mapping the dungeons at all, so some areas of the game were total nightmares. Still, we slogged through the game , managing to make it all the way to the infamous Baya Malay dungeons where we finally threw in the towel. Almost. Out of sheer frustration, I said, “Eh, go write Sega!” and a few days later, we’d worked out a letter asking for help and sent it off hoping for a response. About two weeks later, an envelope arrived with that familiar logo and we were both thrilled to open it up and find a photocopied walk-through of the game that helped out quite a lot.

Amusingly enough, in the interim, we’d managed to level everyone up so they were all pretty much invincible. When it came time for Myau to “flap(s) his wings ploudly” (heh) and take off for that Sky Castle, that big ol’ mandatory bird boss battle was over in something like three hits. On the first turn, yet.  The final boss was a breeze as well, but were were even more impressed by the end credits of the game, which showed off the pseudo 3D scaling in a really cool way.  To date, the game is still a truly great example of a few things including full screen “corridor” style movement that even developers making games for more powerful 16-bit systems from Sega and Nintendo failed to get running as smoothly or as fast (or even full screen, for that matter).

Anyway, during the wait time between when we mailed the letter and when it arrived, a few other games ended up stumping us for a bit. However, once that PS walk-through arrived, another note went out asking about Lord of the Sword, Spellcaster and Golvellius: Valley of Doom. I think we got two of those in one envelope and a third in a separate mailing, but by then, we were on a roll with the letter writing. I even wrote Nintendo about a NES I’d found that needed service and got a really speedy reply with a few local spots that happened to be authorized Nintendo service centers. I ended up not having to spend a dime on repairs, as a friend managed to get that system up and running with about five or so minutes of tinkering.  More money for games is always a good thing, I say…
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