Spare Parts Hands-On

Posted on October 11, 2010 by geelw

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

One of the cooler surprises at EA's Naughty or Nice event was Spare Parts, the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade and PSN release developed by the company's Guildford-based bright light Studios (Create, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and set for launch later this year. The download-only single or two-player co-op action/platformer stars a pair of super likable robots (Chip and Mar-T) that crash land on a faraway planet and need to locate 100 ship parts scattered around the planet in order to escape. They both can find and use a number of nifty gadgets throughout the adventure to defeat alien enemies, locate hidden items and a pull off number of other special abilities. I spent a nice long time with a build of the game and came away really impressed at how much fun the game is and how well the co-op feature is coming together.

Bonk: Brink of Extinction Hands-On

Posted on October 10, 2010 by geelw

Hudson Soft's booth was pretty packed at this year's New York Comic Con thanks to a solid lineup of titles such as Lost In Shadow, Deca Sports Freedom and Bomberman Live Battlefest. But it was the return of Bonk that really sent me back to the future. Bonk: Brink of Extinction was on the floor and playable from start to finish and between the massive levels, awesomely funny classic game mechanics and nifty co-op gameplay, Hudson has a real winner here. Unlike many “retro” remakes, don't expect to see movement in the 3D plane or flashy CG movies between stages. What's here is pure side-scrolling bliss that's going to put an ear-to-ear grin on your face that won't leave for weeks.

MySims SkyHeroes Dead Space Parody Trailer Is A Hoot

Posted on September 25, 2010 by geelw

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

I'd never thought I'd ever say this, but EA has actually found a way to make the Dead Space universe look… cute. As in too darn cute beyond belief. Check it out and afterward, go try out the ridiculously fun demo for MySims SkyHeroes on Xbox Live Arcade while you're still smiling. MySims SkyHeroes launches (pun intended) on September 28 for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC and Nintendo DS. Demo info and more MSSH coolness below the jump.

TGS 2010: Microsoft Announces Five Japanese-Developed Kinect Titles, XBLA FirePro, Radiant Silvergun, More!

Posted on September 16, 2010 by geelw

Well, TGS is turning out to be full of interesting surprises, isn't it? Among other big news, it looks as if Microsoft's Kinect peripheral is getting some love from developers in Japan and all of a sudden, I'm actually thrilled that I can do a lot more than dance or exercise in front of my TV (yes!). I knew the “core” games were coming anyway, but it's nice to see the return of Steel Battalion, NanaOnSha back in action, a nice Sega surprise and (finally) another game from the director of Phantom Dust. Of course, I'm most thrilled about grasshopper manufacture and SUDA 51's new Kinect project, so I'm doing the happy dance in my chair as I type this post.

A bit from the press release below (clickety click!)…

Random Release News (Or If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be DLC Day…)

Posted on August 31, 2010 by geelw

Yikes – plenty of new games and games news hit the inbox today, so instead of individual postings, a rapid-fire approach is in order. In general, August is flying out with a big ol' bang and September is rolling in with an even bigger set of booms. Here we go with part one:

Konami Gamers Night 2010 (With Hudson, Too!)

Posted on August 28, 2010 by geelw

Konami Gamers' Night NYC – 2010 Edition

Konami rolled into NYC with a varied lineup of excellent games, this time with the remainder of their 2010 lineup and special guests Hudson Soft for a great gathering of games guaranteed to get you moving in one manner or another. While there wasn't a Snake to be found anywhere in sight, there were more than enough great games to keep everyone who dropped by glued to a monitor, hip-hopping as loudly as possible or flailing away working up a good sweat as a singer, dancer, mini-gamer extraordinaire or sports star.

About 20 titles were on display from both new Castlevanias, two console classics remade for today's consoles, a surprisingly fun wrestling game and plenty of guaranteed musical and mini-game hits headed for the Wii as well as the upcoming Move and Kinect peripherals. I'll be covering a few of these titles in depth over the next week or so with galleries and/or hands-on impressions (denoted by *), but for now, here's a quick rundown of what was on the floor:

Gallery: Dungeon Defenders

Posted on August 28, 2010 by geelw

To quote Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in Godfather III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again…”.

Case in point, Trendy Games' spectacular-looking Dungeon Defenders, which promises to bring a blend of Tower Defense-style strategy and hack 'n slash Action/RPG combat bliss to PSN and XBLA this fall. I thought I was all done with Tower Defense games after the last dozen or so I played and here comes DD, winking and looking all sassy in that Unreal 3 engine-powered skirt. Damn…

Gallery: Bonk: Brink of Extinction

Posted on August 21, 2010 by geelw

Hudson's ancient (but forever young) cave dude just won't drop off the planet, but that's actually a good thing for TG-16 fans who remember spending countless hours head-bumping and jumping through some classic adventures. Here's a fistful of screens from the upcoming platformer currently in development at Pi Studios and set for release over PSN, WiiWare and XBLA later this year. Single player and two player co-op modes will be on board and yes, side-scrolling action is in full effect along with a few new abilities.

It's too bad this new Bonk game isn't shipping on a disc along with all the rest of the classic Bonk games with a fancy schmancy name like “Bonk's Collection” or something like that… I'd pay good money for that (plus a full-color artbook) any day of the week.

Military Madness – Nectaris Coming to XBLA (Thanks, Hudson!)

Posted on September 1, 2009 by geelw

Hudson is definitely hopping all over the gaming scene these last few weeks (as they should be) and that’s a good thing. The company has announced that its classic turn-based strategy game, Military Madness (Nectaris) is coming to Xbox Live Arcade on September 30, 2009 for 800 Microsoft Points. In case you never owned the original TurboGrafx-16 or the later PlayStation remake, the game is an addictive single or multiplayer strategy game that takes place on the Moon (in the future, of course).

Backbone Entertainment is handling the development for this new version of the game, and as a fan of their work on the amazing N-Gage game Rifts: Promise of Power (one of the best portable SRPGs I’ve played to date) and other projects, I’m thrilled by the possibilities for this update. Given the pile of stuff in my inbox, I’ll let the press release take over for a bit…

Continue reading →

Megan Fox Will Kindly Beat Your Ass Over Xbox LIVE This Saturday…

Posted on August 26, 2009 by geelw

No doubt some of you have already had that dream many times before: You’re setting up a match over Xbox LIVE when you see a really familiar name pop up as a gamertag… “Could it really be HER?” you think and yes, it turns out is IS. Now’s your chance, man – make your move! After the usual awkward introductions, the fun really starts.

You get your game face on (grrrrrr!) and after taunting each other for a few minutes, you’re both finally ready for some real action. Megan makes a mean comment about your lack of skills with possible pointed references to your family pet, a jar of Nutella and an electric kitchen device. “Oh yeah… well, bring it!” you yell into your headset. And Megan, sitting in the air-cooled comfort of wherever she is will no doubt be shaking her fist at the screen before she yells back into her headset: “It’s BROUGHT !! POW!!!”

Then, you wake up and realize you’ll never, ever, EVER get to game with Megan Fox. Your life pretty much sucks… until today, that is…

Continue reading →