Tag Archives: Video Games

Half-Minute Hero Demo ( #1) Arrives On PSN

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The first of two demos for Xseed’s upcoming lighting-paced retro PSP Action/RPG is now available for download over the PlayStation Network, which leads me to ask why you’re still reading this when you should be playing this rather hilarious bit of gaming goodness. So, go download away onto your PSP (you DO own a PSP, right?) and play it to death in half-minute chunks, laughing crazily as you skip out the door a few minutes later to go preorder from wherever you normally get your games.

Or pre-order HMH online, if that’s your thing. Heck, it’s not like you’re getting much exercise these days, anyway. A little sunlight won’t kill you, y’know… Well, that’s what I’ve heard… *Ahem,* anyway, let’s see what the official press release says:.. Continue reading →

Dragon Age Origins: Meet Leliana

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In this week’s Dragon Age: Origins update, we’ll take a look at one of the game’s female characters, Leliana, a bard from the land of Orlais who also happens to be a selectable party member and from what I can tell a “romance” option in the game. As I can see some of you less lucky guys getting royally slugged by your real-life significant others over choosing this lovely virtual redhead as your potential partner, you may want to keep the fawning to a minimum…

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Release Calendar: 8/31 – 9/13 (Because I’ve NO Time to List ‘Em All One By One!)

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I actually had this wickedly cool idea a few years back for a fancy, funky interactive release calendar with all sorts of cool widgets and clickable doodoads and such, but I’ve yet to actually bribe, blackmail or beat someone into submission to work on the darn thing. Soooo, here’s a dull analog list of both last and this week’s game releases:

(*denotes games I’ll be reviewing or already have reviewed)

8/31/09
Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream (Wii)

9/1/09
Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures (Ps2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
Champions Online (PC)
Cruise Ship Vacation Games (Wii)
Gears of War 2: Game Of The Year Edition (Xbox 360)
Guitar Hero 5 (PS3, Ps2, Wii, Xbox 360)
Section 8 (PC, Xbox 360)
SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny (PSP)*

9/2/2009
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/3/2009
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)*

9/7/2009
War Leaders: Clash of Nations (PC)

9/8/2009
Ant Nation (DS)
Capcom Platinum Hits Triple Pack (Xbox 360)
Darkest of Days (PC, Xbox 360)*
Dirt 2 (DS/DSi, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360)*
Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days (PSP)
Fallen Earth: Welcome to Apocalypse (PC)
Go Play City Sports (Wii)
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey (DS/DSi, PSP)
Imagine: Detective (DS/DSi)
LittleBigPlanet: Game Of The Year Edition (PS3)
Mini Ninjas (DS/DSi, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
Qubed – Lumines Live! (Xbox 360)
Time of Shadows (PC)
Trine (PC)

9/9/2009 (Happy Birthday, Sega Dreamcast!)
The Beatles: Rock Band (Standard & Limited Editions PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)

9/11/2009
My Virtual Tutor Reading: Pre K – K (DS/DSi)
My Virtual Tutor Reading: K – 1st Grade (DS/DSi)
My Virtual Tutor Reading: 1st – 2nd Grade (DS/DSi)

Are you asleep yet? No? Good!

Next week, there’s a lot more stuff coming out!

Demon’s Souls Arrives, Goes Ahead And Makes My Day…

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THANK YOU ATLUS! Early impressions: Well, I lasted a whole five or so hours before my avatar finally died, falling (well, rolling) off a ledge trying to get the heck away from something BIG and quite nasty chasing my character. This game is brilliant, beautiful and BRUTAL, all at the same time with a side of fries. Scary as hell in spots, too. As a longtime King’s Field fan, I knew it was going to be great, but From Software has really knocked it out of the park. Hardcore? Oh hellllllllllll yeah. This game will kick your butt all over the living room and into the kitchen, whereupon it shall cook and eat your corpse.

Twice.

Back with a full review in a bit… Did I mention it’s also scarier than a big box of dead, flaming monkeys?

Interview: Creating Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

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One of the more impressive Nintendo DS games created to date is Fighting Fantasy: the Warlock of Firetop Mountain, created by London, Ontario-based Big Blue Bubble, Inc., published by Aspyr Media and set to hit stores on October 26, 2009.

What makes the game so amazing is how close it comes to replicating the experience of many great PC RPGs from years ago wile feeling completely fresh thanks to the DS touch screen and a dedicated team of artists and programmers looking to bring the book to life and beyond in portable form. FF looks to be a classic, deep first-person role-playing experience set in an huge game world running at a blazing 60 frames per second with full, intuitive touch screen controls and the ability to map locations as you like in order to uncover every nook and cranny of the world you’ll explore.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask Damir Slogar, Big Blue Bubble’s CEO and Goran Marinic, the game’s Lead Designer a few questions about the game, most of them submitted by fans over on the game’s Gamefaqs page. In addition, I’m more than pleased to show off the excellent concept art and weapon renders I just received, which hasn’t been published anywhere else online. Continue reading →

Review: Darkest of Days

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Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: 8monkey Labs

Publisher: Valcon Games

# of Players: 1

Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: B

If you can overlook its technical issues, there’s a lot of fun to be had in Phantom EFX’s shooter, Darkest of Days. For their first major console and PC release, developer 8monkey Labs has cooked up a supremely cool entry in the extremely crowded FPS genre that focuses on a solid single player story-driven experience rather than hanging its reputation on the usual multiplayer shenanigans many gamers come to expect. The shooting action using a combination of historical and tricked out futuristic guns is indeed thrilling during the massive battles you’re dropped into during the game. Granted, some hardcore FPS fans will pick the game apart for its flaws and fail to enjoy the experience for its good points. For the rest of us, following the compelling story as it plays out turns out to be the really surprising thing, even outstripping the action at some points.

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Dead Ring O’ Death Temprarily Killls DoD Review!

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Did you hear a really loud scream this morning around, say, 5:07 or so? Amusingly enough, my 360 rolled over and RRODied this morning, which meant I had to snag another (grrrr). Anyway, my Darkest of Days review is going up later this evening. Stay tuned.

*UPDATE* ding! Your review is now ready!

Darkest of Days Blasts Into Stores… Well, SOME Stores

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As you can see from my review, I liked this one, warts and all. Go give it a try once you go read why. For those of you who can’t find the game at a major game retail chain – Phantom EFX is selling it directly on their website, a few online non-game retailers (such as Amazon.com) as well as offline retailers carry it as well. If you’re curious about DoD and haven’t played the PC demo yet (there isn’t a 360 demo available yet) or have other reservations, there’s always Gamefly, or some other rental outlet, right?

Prima Announces Scribblenauts Official Guide Book

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In case you’re one of those folks that REALLY gets stuck when Scribblenauts launches on 9/15, here’s what to look for at your favorite game shop:

Gallery: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Co-Op Screens

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With its October 6, 2009 release date rapidly approaching, Codemasters has unveiled a new set of screenshots as well as a game trailer for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising’s Co-op mode. Lifelike visuals and animation? Check. Impressive audio effects? Check. Die-hard military simulation fans waiting with bated breath for the game’s launch? Check. Unlike other first-person shooters that rely more on the ‘one-man army’ approach to combat, Dragon Rising is (like the original game), a highly detailed simulation where trying to play Rambo will leave you and/or your team members dead in no time flat. The unforgiving nature of the game should weed out lazier players more used to regenerating health (not happening here), bulletproof AI allies (nope) and dumb enemies (don’t count on it). Scope out the press release below the box art for a bit more detail.

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