Hardware Review: Turtle Beach Earforce PX51 Headset – Is Turtle Beach Still Top Tier?

May 212013

Our very first gaming headset review was the Turtle Beach DX11, and even at 2 years ago, it is still one of my favorite headsets. While we were at PAX East this year, we happened to see the new and improved lineup of Turtle Beach headsets, it was insanely loud but it was also easy to see that the headset quality persisted from the older generations. We were offered to have a unit sent for a a more intimate review, which leads us to the Turtle Beach Earforce PX51 headset.

PX51 is my third run-in with a true wireless headset and was easily able to go toe to toe with their primary competition, but we will talk about that later. I had to say that the overall design of the entire unit itself is very badass. The system has built-in bluetooth tech hooks up to my consoles very easily. I was also able to have it connect to my tablet with no issue at all. While I am no stranger to the Turtle Beach line, this headset reminded me why I enjoyed their products from the very beginning.

Of all the headsets I have ever used, the PX51 is the most comfortable model I have ever used. As a person with a large noggin, many headsets fit snug on my head and can actually feel fight over a period of time. The PX51 was pillow-soft on my head and ears, yet there wasn’t a sacrifice of audio quality as some may expect. I used them in a few marathon sessions and didn’t have any issues with the weight or heat after extended use. The mic disconnects from the headset and is completely flexible, so it was very easy to find a sweet spot for voice communication.

A word to the wise, while using it, I had some horrible issues with feedback and noise while trying to play on Xbox Live. After taking some time to figure out where the issue lies, I began to give up hope and thought that there may be some sort of issue with the connection to the Xbox itself. As I was about to hang it up, I rechecked the actual mic connection again. The mic connects via a standard pin but actually clicks into the jack twice, which is a little surprising. I pushed it all the way in again and was informed that the noice had quit and actually sounded amazing after the fix. So heads up, users really need to make sure everything is completely plugged in or issues will show up.

I spent a majority of my time playing Dead Island: Riptide and also Metro: Last Light. These games feature very immersive audio experiences and my time with the PX51 made them all much more intense. The depth of audio was very impressive, and I was easily able to pinpoint the direction of enemies and audio signals. Even when the audio was in standard stereo, the Dolby Digital system worked as intended, making wearing the headset completely worthwhile. I had a few instances where there was a little static, which I have noticed before in a few other models of headsets but besides that I was completely satisfied with all levels of audio.

The PX51 offered an impressive charge as well, I played for about a complete day without having to plug the headset in to charge. Even when I was forced to, the USB cable that charges the headset is long enough that I could comfortable sit down without having to sit next to my tv is I wanted to use the headset while charging. When I was using bluetooth, it seemed that the unit offered a little less life on the charge but it wasn’t anything that actually ended up handicapping the device.

Overall, I really dug the the blue on black look of the headset and I also liked the fact that the receiver actually holds the headset, so I didn’t have to look for it every time I put it down. Turtle Beach easily showed me that they not only still make amazing quality gaming peripherals, but they also are one of the premiere gaming audio companies still. It’s good to know that they easily can go toe-to-toe with ASTRO and Mad Catz for the king of audio. With a price point of $269.99, the PX51 won’t be a solution for everyone. If you are looking for a high-end audio solution though, check there babies out!

We give the Turtle Beach PX51 Wireless Headset 4.5/5 Stars

Turtle Beach provided review content to us to us so we could review them for you cool folks!

Top 10 Tuesday: Best Console Start-up Sequences

Posted by Matt Beaudette No Responses »

Mar 192013

There is nothing more exciting than coming home from the store with your brand new video game console. That anticipation as you set it up, just waiting to see what kinds of experiences this new system can provide. For many systems, the first thing you see when finally boot it up is the start-up animation. Not all consoles have had them, but the ones that do become firmly engrained in our minds. This week’s list will be the ten console start-up sequences that I like the most. I don’t have any specific criteria for the list, some will be placed because of personal nostalgia while others will make the list simply because I think they look or sound cool. Because this list is more about the sound and visuals, I am not going to do write ups for each entry, just enjoy the videos.

10. Xbox 360

9. Gameboy Advance

8. Sega Dreamcast

7. Gameboy

6. Sega Saturn

Coming Soon: Console Games to Expect in March

Posted by Jay Malone 1 Response »

Mar 012013

Tomb Raider
Developer: Crystal Dynamics Inc.
Release Date: March 5^th

After the four hundredth Tomb Raider release, Crystal Dynamics has finally decided to reboot the series and start anew. I’ve always had a love for Tomb Raider in my heart, like most people I’m sure, but the recent games never hit the spot for me. Sure, that the Guardian of Light was quite good, but it just didn’t seem to fit in the Tomb Raider universe. The reboot of Tomb Raider seems similar in that it isn’t a direct copy of the PS1 installments that we all fell in love with.

This go around, Crystal Dynamics seems to have went in the more traditional third person style, similar to Uncharted. Which is still rather close to the original Tomb Raider as many called Uncharted “Tomb Raider with a male protagonist.” One of the more intriguing aspects regarding Tomb Raider is that this is the first in the series to receive an M rating by the ESRB. One of the scenes described has Lara healing herself by popping her bones back in to place, Far Cry 3 style. Hopefully with the new rating comes a more mature, fully developed experience.

God of War: Ascension
Developer: Sony Santa Monica
Release Date: March 12^th

Hey guys, there’s another God of War game. I know, I know, I’m as shocked as you, I just didn’t think they’d do it again. But here we are, and here it is, but this time is going to be a bit different. Whether that difference is for the better or not has yet to be determined. For starts, this go around you will be playing as a not so angry Kratos. That is because you will be playing a prequel to the previous God of War’s, where you find the root of Kratos’ pulsing anger that he just cannot seem to shake.

Next up, there’s a multiplayer. I know. In this newfangled multiplayer, you’ll be doing normal online duties like killing friends, being killed by friends, and gaining/losing points while doing so. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been a God of War fan, but even I know adding multiplayer to this franchise is going to be a terrible idea. But I suppose I won’t judge it until I play it, which will be never.

Gears of War Judgment
Developer: Epic/People Can Fly
Release Date: March 19^th

Speaking of yet another game in a dying franchise, Gears of War Judgment is sneaking its head out the door come mid-March. Unlike God of War, I’ve always enjoyed the Gears of War franchise and I don’t necessarily expect that to change with the new installment. That doesn’t change the fact that this series is getting old and because of that, my 360 is a bit tired of running Gears of War games.

New to the series is the fact that Marcus is no longer the main protagonist. In Judgment, you’re taking control of Baird (I call him “The Asshole”) just one month after the original E-Day. Similar to God of War, you get to hear Baird and Cole’s backstories leading up to their eventual meet with Marcus and Dom. A backstory that includes being charged with desertion, cowardice, theft of experimental COG technology, and treason.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
Developer: Terminal Reality
Release Date: March 19^th

If you read my top ten list from last year, you know I have a strong admiration for The Walking Dead adventure game. That being said, I was not expecting that quality from the impending Survival Instinct that was announced by Activision. Here lately, I’ve managed to somehow garner a bit of excitement, but I’m not so sure that excitement will pay off. On one hand, Terminal made Def Jam Rapstar, and I love me some Def Jam Rapstar. But on the other hand, they made Kinect Star Wars. Need I say more?

Another source of my excitement is the focus on TV characters Meryl and Daryl, the two stars of the game. Obviously, Survival Instinct is set in the TV show’s world as opposed to the graphic novels. You’ll be playing as Daryl as you traverse the wild lands of Georgia in your pursuit of reaching Atlanta, which is said to be safe. Gameplay will feature stealth mechanics and encourage players to scrounge for the scarce ammo spread across the mostly open-ended environment. Man, I just want this game to be good.

Bioshock Infinite
Developer: Irrational Games
Release Date: March 26^th

Bioshock Infinite has been my most anticipated game of 2013 ever since it was pushed back last year. My love and admiration for the Bioshock series knows no bounds and has been waiting to be fed ever since I completed Bioshock 2’s campaign. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Bioshock Infinite will be different from previous Bioshock’s in that the game will not take place underwater. Instead, the setting will be in a cloud based city named Columbia. Columbia was built by the Americans as a sign of their growing power and technological ingenuity.

There are a few worries that I’ve had on my mind, however, such as the constant AI character that follows you around throughout the game. Irrational has promised over and over that the character, named Elizabeth, would not be a hindrance of any kind. Time will tell on that aspect but one thing that seems to be shaping up nicely is the plot and integration of the new setting. The mystery surrounding the previous game’s location, Rapture, was arguably one of the most compelling things to be found within Bioshock. That mystery isn’t all there this go around due to us knowing the origin of the city, but I’m sure there will be multiple tidbits of information appearing throughout the game that will suggest that there is a little more than meets the eye to be found within Columbia.

Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel
Developer: Visceral/EA Montreal
Release Date: March 26^th

I may be one of the only people in the country that feels this way, but I legitimately enjoyed the first two Army of Two games. Sure, the “broness” of the first game was corny as hell but the combat and customization both made up for that flaw. With the second one, the broness was relished by the writers as it turned from corny to just plain funny at spots. Main characters Salem and Rios even got into a heated discussion on who the best Wu-Tang member was… All while a combat sequence was happening. You just can’t beat that.

My excitement for this installment has been admittedly very limited due to the fact that not only has the developer changed, now made by Visceral, but so has the main characters. In The Devil’s Cartel, Visceral decided it would be best to kick Salem and Rios to the curb in favor of two new guys named Alpha and Bravo. I’ll withhold judgment until I see them in game but if they don’t fist bump or discuss 90’s rap, I’m out. As I’m sure many know, EA/Visceral Montreal was immediately shut down once the game was green lit for release. Hopefully this product will show off their hard work and lead them into bigger and better products in the future.

Also Releasing:

MLB The Show 2013
MLB 2K13
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition (Wii U)
Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (I remain unconvinced that this game will ever release)
LEGO City Undercover
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2014
Naughty Bear: Double Trouble! (Pretty sure this isn’t coming out either)

Get Ready: New Witcher Announced, Releasing on “High-End Platforms”

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Feb 052013

CD Projekt RED is at it again, now announcing the third and final installment in their beloved Witcher franchise. The franchise has been running since October 26^th, 2007 and according to Projekt, will be ending in 2014 when the newest installment, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, launches on “all high-end platforms.” Adam Bedowski, head of CD Projekt Red had a lot to say in the press release announcing the new game: “People may ask if this is really going to be the last Witcher game. Yes, it is. Why? Because we believe that we should end the series on a high note.”

“Imagine playing a dark fantasy game with the same great nonlinear story as in the previous Witcher titles, but now told in a world you can explore freely with no artificial boundaries. The war-ravaged world is so huge that to reach further places you will need to ride a horse or sail a boat to get there. A world where your choices have truly epic consequences. From the development side, this goal is extremely demanding. Our team had to make significant design changes and our tech had to be rebuilt. But we believe that this will lead to a completely new level of nonlinearity and a whole new, richer gaming experience. As a gamer, I would love to play this kind of RPG and I think this is what many players are waiting for. This is our dream come true at CD Projekt RED, and we hope it will be the same for you!” Bedowski continued.

After deciphering through the salesman talk, it’s still clear that Bedowski and Projekt RED are very excited about the upcoming release, and who could blame them? They’ve put out some of the best Action RPG’s of the past decade with their creations of The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. One thing is for sure, if you want to dip your toes into the Gerald of Rivia story, you better hop on now because time is running out.

Indies Gone Wild: Storage Units, Zombies, and Pure Gold

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jan 182013

It’s been a while since I wrote one of these features but with no releases except Devil May Cry hitting for the next two weeks, and with the issue many are experiencing (including myself) of not having much money due to manic Christmas shopping, I figured it’s time for a cheap game bonanza. This time around I have a shockingly good game, a horrific zombie shooter, and a nice little Storage Wars clone. I was rather surprised this go around by the amount of games that managed to catch my eye. Hopefully that trend keeps up as the year goes on because actually having a decent selection makes this feature a tad more enjoyable. Then again, I have an odd affection for awful games so I’m happy either way.

Zombie Splatter
Developer: Matt Mitman
Price: 240 MS Points

Zombie Splatter is an aptly named first person shooter that revolves around you awkwardly sliding your way around a graveyard while killing all the spawning zombies that come into your line of sight. In between the waves of zombies you can buy ammo, purchase new weapons, or refill your health. Visually, Zombie Splatter is on par with what I imagine grabbing a handful of manure and slinging it onto a wall looks like. The controls however work just fine; it’s a first person shooter so messing up controls is more of an achievement than a worry.

Apart from that, there’s a King of the Hill mode that takes place in the same graveyard and forces you to move around into different circles and you guessed it, kill the attacking flesh eaters. One of the things that originally caught my eye about Splatter was the addition of a 3D mode, something I don’t remember ever seeing in an Indie game. The 3D seems to work but within the first ten minutes of using it, I felt like I was about to regurgitate my dinner. For a one dollar price tag, I would actually recommend Zombie Splatter just to experience the insanity that is the actual game but with a three dollar tag, there are multiple games out there that are much more deserving of your hard earned currency. Such as…

The Runner
Developer: Coda Panda
Price: 80 MS Points

I have struck gold, folks. This is my third Indies Gone Wild and about the thirtieth Indie game I’ve ever

played and finally I’ve hit a game that I would happily recommend to any breathing soul out there. The Runner is an incredibly simple concept that takes some cues from The Impossible Game, mainly in the fact that it is nut smashingly hard. You control two hedgehogs (?) as they constantly move forward and attempt to avoid pesky spikes. The hedgehogs (again, ?) are placed with one on top of the screen, one on bottom. To help avoid spikes you must press LB or RB, RB assigned to one animal and LB assigned to the other, just before they hit the spike. The combinations of moving them at the same time and keeping an eye on their landing and upcoming spikes is a difficult one that takes hours upon hours to get the grip of, while mastering it is a seemingly impossible task.

Also In this tight little package is a mode that lets you go through some of the crazier parts of the game the developer thought up in his menacing little mind. The situations you run through are only heightened by the insane level design that involves your two little monsters switching sides of the screen multiple times in the span of five seconds. I would also be insane to not mention the pulsing music that increasing in tension as the level goes on, something that also helps in the timing you need to achieve your movements perfectly. The Runner is expertly designed and one of the best Indie games on the marketplace. If you enjoy having fun while simultaneously wanting to chuck your controller at the television, I have a game for you

Storage Warfare
Developer: 24KT Studios
Price: 80 MS Points

I’ll start this out with the obvious; this is a game that is a straight up copy of the hit A&E television series Storage Wars, minus the unbelievably made up drama. I’ll also sadly admit that at one time I was, in fact, a Storage Wars addict; I watched the entire first season within the span of about a week. Here lately, I’ve fallen off of that addiction but have still always thought a Storage Wars game would be intriguing, and I refuse to play the Facebook game based on the show. Once I spotted Storage Warfare in the cluttered Indies marketplace, I knew it was made just for me.

Once you press start you’re greeted by one of the most annoying characters in the game, the man’s voice is as painful as nails on a chalkboard and his god awful, unrecognizable accent doesn’t help matters as he shrieks “Ah yeaaaa, Storage Warfare, yeahhh.” That is only the beginning as the annoying tidbits of dialogue come fast and heavy while at an auction. You start the game with $1500 and from there you choose what auction to attend and ultimately what units you want to go after. The items you collect turn into cash and are then transferred immediately into your bank account. The auction houses are split up into three separate places, one being the “expensive” auction house, one being the regular and one being the cheap house. The biggest issue arises when you find yourself with only $100 and purchasing a unit becomes rather impossible. Ultimately, Storage Warfare is an inoffensive piece of content that recreates the storage unit experience well enough to warrant the dollar it desires.

Pick ‘em up: Storage Warfare (80 Points) and The Runner (80 Points)

Rumor: Both Next Generation Consoles to Only be $350-$400?

Posted by Jay Malone 1 Response »

Jan 142013

It’s becoming that time yet again, folks. It’s time for the next gen hardware rumors to start swirling about like a Disney Channel character’s hair. This time around the rumor is being surfaced by a group that seems to know their business, Baird Equity Research. Colin Sebastian, a Baird representative, took his time to gather up all the rumors that have been floating around for the past year and has concluded (somehow) that both Sony and Microsoft will reveal their consoles just prior to E3 in June. Here are some direct quotes from Sebastian:

“Our checks suggest that next-generation console hardware will be largely built from ‘off the shelf’ high-end PC components, along with hybrid physical/digital distribution models, enhanced voice controls and motion sensing (Kinect integration with every Xbox), and broad multi-media capabilities,” he stated.

He also said: “Moreover, a PC-based architecture (Intel chips in the case of Xbox) should have a number of advantages over custom-developed silicon: for one, the learning curve for software developers will be shorter than completely new technology. Second, the cost of production and retail price points should be lower than prior console launches.”

Also predicted was that Sony would release their console in October while Mirosoft would release the new Xbox in November. Perhaps one of the best tidbits was that both consoles are expected to be $350-$400, a price point that is significantly lower than the PS3’s original $600 price tag.

As of right now this is all one groups prediction, with no real facts to back it up, but it does seem likely in the grand scheme of things. We shall see if Mr. Sebastian is correct in just a few more months as E3 begins to slowly creep upon us.

Source

Personal Top 10: Jay Malone Style

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Dec 312012

This year was a year dominated by the rise of the Arcade. Half of the games in my top 10 were 15 dollars or less and that’s a huge testament to how big the Xbox Live Arcade has gotten in the past year. Apart from the ones on my list, other games like Fez, Journey (PS3 download but you get the message), and Trials Evolution are getting major consideration for awards on multiple other websites. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a fair share of retail releases that impressed on multiple levels. Tell that to Sleeping Dogs, Mass Effect 3, Far Cry 3, Assassins Creed 3, and Dishonored and they will prove you wrong. It wasn’t the best year, that’s for sure, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t impress in many ways.

10. Hybrid

Hybrid is far from what it appears to be, it’s more than just another multiplayer focused shooter. It gets its “more” from not only the stunning visuals but also the intuitive design around the movement and in game combat mechanics that it executes so seamlessly. It, along with games such as Monday Night Combat, have really proven how great of a service Xbox Live Arcade is for small teams who have a new way to freshen up the increasingly dry multiplayer based experience. That combined with the intelligent overworld that presents constant power struggles between the two games factions in the form of ongoing battles within a certain part of the world are some of the biggest reasons that Hybrid stands tall within a dying genre.

9. Mark of the Ninja

Let’s all be honest here, stealth games are usually pieces of trash. Sure, a lot of them have a good heart behind them but actually executing on the ideas needed to make a decent stealth game seem near impossible for most developers. That, combined with the fact that I didn’t like Klei’s previous franchise, Shank, led to some pretty low expectations as I came into Mark of the Ninja. What I got was a fresh and sneaky experience that hasn’t been matched in years. Klei brought their admittedly beautiful art style from the Shank series and combined it with their now brilliant game design aspects that turn Mark of the Ninja into a pleasantly tense experience throughout its five hour lifespan.

8. Max Payne 3

I know what you’re thinking; I forgot Max Payne came out this year too. But believe it or not, it did release and again, believe it or not, it was pretty good. It told the depressing alcohol ridden story of Mr. Payne as he traipsed through foreign land trying to save soul after soul, and failing rather miserably each time. The story however was not this Max Payne’s forte as the most enjoyable aspects came from the franchises stapled combat mechanics. The combat revolves around using slow motion and Max Payne’s acrobatic nature (despite his age) to the player’s advantage as cinematic and beautiful moments seem to pop up in every combat section. There’s no doubt that Rockstar did well with the Max Payne series this go around, but it’s clear that it’s time to move on. Bully 2, perhaps?

7. Dust: An Elysian Tail

Dust is the definition of coming out of left field to be a major success this year. Sure, many had decent expectations approaching the games release but I don’t think anyone expected the experience they got when they starting tearing through that beautiful word. A product made by one sole human in Dean Dodrill, Dust took a cartoony art style and turned it into a key aspect of a rather serious story that hits major emotional undertones near the end. In my original review I stated that Dust may have the best visuals I’ve ever seen and I still stand by that statement. Every inch of every slaved over texture is just as beautiful as the next and never ceases to be the best eye candy you’ll see all year. The story is far from the only thing that shined though as so did the well-executed combo system that let you blast enemies into midair and rack up combo chains that would easily reach 2000+. Dust is just one more reason why I think this year may have been one of the best years Xbox Live Arcade has ever experienced.

6. Assassin’s Creed III

Apart from the year Revelations has released, an Assassins Creed installment has taken my Game of the Year for every year one is released. Since Ubisoft had made the horrible decision to annualize the franchise, we all knew it would be a matter of time before the fatigue began to set in and that was unfortunately the case with Assassin’s Creed III. But thankfully, the fatigue only begins to hit near the end as most of the game is a fantastic Assassin’s Creed experience that takes previous mechanics and only heightens their simplicity and effectiveness. The main reason it’s in my top 10 though is due all to Connor’s story and how nicely the Revolutionary War is integrated into the story. Sure, it has its hiccups, like all Assassin’s Creeds do, but experiencing that time period is something I’ve always dreamed of and seeing it realized in front of my face was an unforgettable experience.

5. Forza Horizon

Though I own the third, I’ll admit that I’ve never played a Forza game before. I’ve never been a racing game kind of guy and the complex nature of the car customization was really daunting whenever I did have that itch to jump into the Forza Community. I finally took the leap with Forza Horizon and was, simply put, blown away. The visuals are expected to be absolutely fantastic, and they are, but the simple feel of handling each car within the multitude of races was such an immersive quality that I eventually felt like I just couldn’t put the game down. The simplified nature and fantastic design choices that have been so prevalent in previous Forza’s all come to a head and make one of the best racing experiences I’ve had on this generation of consoles.

4. Spelunky

People are going to call me crazy, I know, but I never got into Dark Souls nor did I fall in love with Super Meat Boy. Trust me, I tried oh so hard but I couldn’t find the masochistic pleasure that everyone else seemed to bathe in. That masochistic pleasure finally hit me when I played Spelunky, though. Spelunky, originally a flash game, is a well realized and even better executed platformer that sends you throughout multiple levels, only allowing a checkpoint at the end of the current world you’re in. That is, if you have the required loot that the tunnel man desires. It’s hard to explain the degree of difficulty that comes with the task of getting through these worlds but to put it simply, I felt as if I could smash my controller between my hands whenever I would die and have to restart. But I felt like the world heavyweight champion when I would unlock a checkpoint. I wanted to sprint out of my house yelling of my success to any human or animal that would listen. Either way, no game matched the sheer happiness I felt once I reached the final world and at the same time, no game can match the pure horror I felt when I witnessed what the final world was comprised of.

3. XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Oh man, XCOM. If there was an award for uncontrollable addiction that you could not shake, you would be my choice. Apart from the obviously exciting turn based gameplay, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is one of the most well designed games I’ve ever laid hands on. It literally feels as if Firaxis never wants you to put the controller down, so they lay a small carrot (that expands into a huge carrot) down right in front of your face. They then make it seem so easy to reach, but it’s challenging. Just challenging enough to have you keep practicing so you can finally gnaw down on the carrot. With that, so goes ten hours of your life. That describes my experience with XCOM, hard as hell but damn is that carrot rewarding.

2. Sleeping Dogs

Leading up to the release of Sleeping Dogs, I couldn’t shake this feeling. The feeling was one of unexplainable confidence. Despite Sleeping Dog’s horrendous development life, I still felt like United Front and Square Enix were both about to churn out a decent product. Once I got my hands on it, I began to realize that a “decent” product did not describe Sleeping Dogs; instead it was a damn fine product. It all starts with the gorgeous visuals that helped bring the streets of Hong Kong to life, though that’s only a small inch of the shocker that is Sleeping Dogs.

Once you get past that positive, you see some of the best things within the package such as the Arkham Asylum-esque combat system that relies heavily on counters. The world itself was littered with side missions that either add to the depth that each character features or instead, are just plain fun. With the exception of those damn racing mission. Sleeping Dogs story is not a particularly new one; it’s a gang story relying on your main character who is an undercover cop. The thing that really elevates the narrative however is the fantastic characters that fill the world of Sleeping Dogs. Not only was Sleeping Dogs by far the most surprising game of the year, it was also one of the best games not only this year, but in the past few years. It’s one of those rare games that could go head to head with any Grand Theft Auto game and in the end, come out a victor.

1. The Walking Dead

Speaking of surprises, I think it’s safe to say that before the first episode’s release, no one expected Tell Tale’s latest episodic adventure to blow up like The Walking Dead has. I’ll admit, it was nowhere near on my radar when the year began but once the first episode, A New Day, was in my virtual hands, I knew I had found a piece of gold. Sure, I’ll admit that The Walking Dead is far from perfect; it has some serious visual issues and some occasional shooting sequences that feel like they had been worked on for ten minutes before being installed in the game. But that being said, I’ve never been more emotionally invested into a video game or any form of media like I was when playing through The Walking Dead.

The way it forces you into Lee’s shoes and then makes you feel like you belong there is truly amazing and something I’m sure all games wish they could achieve. But it doesn’t stop there as Tell Tale and their writers introduce character after character that all play an equally important role in your struggle to live. Then came the dialogue choices that were just as good at putting a smile on your face as they were at absolutely ripping your heart out and stomping on it. The terrible decisions that are forced upon you later on in the game only add to the pure horror you experience through your time with The Walking Dead.

Simply put, The Walking Dead is an absolute masterpiece and the best video game storytelling experience I’ve ever laid hands on.

Jason’s Top 10 Villains of All Time

Posted by Jason Bayliss No Responses »

Dec 182012

As the year is coming to an end, I’ve been thinking back to many questions I’ve been asked throughout the year. Many of which have been irrelevant, I was asked one question that had started the gears in my head slowly grinding. This question was; “Who would you be, if you were a Villain and why?”

Now this intrigued me as the normal topic would be about which hero I would prefer to be and the reason that is, but I’ve never really thought about the chaotic nature of the ‘super villain’. Well, I think it’s time we analyse some of the best god-damned villains out there in the world of gaming. Here’s my top 10 villains of all time.

#10 – Bowser – Super Mario Bros.

Keep trying, brah!

Bowser of all the villains in the world, is not the scariest, but I have put him on the list as he’s the most determined. Determined I hear you ask? Of course! During the majority of Super Mario games, he is the main antagonist in the majority of Super Mario games. When you think of the original games, who was it bringing the fireballs at you? Bowser. If it’s not him then it is baby Bowser, the younger counter-part of this old villain. When did Bowser even have chance to conceive if he was too busy kidnapping Princess Peach? Or would we rather just not ask ourselves that question… Either way, I’ve put Mr Bowser in my list for trying so hard! 10 out of 10 for effort!

#9 – Creeper – Minecraft

“Here’s – SSSsss!”

For those of you who have ever played Minecraft, be it the PC edition or the Xbox edition, you have all encountered the vile creatures known as Creepers. For those who haven’t, Creepers as they are known creep around the lands of Minecraft, at night. Now that isn’t so bad if you have somewhere secluded in the sky. But for those who haven’t, you and your structures will be in a world of hurt. There are many predicaments you will somehow end up in, one way or the other and this could be; outside in the when a Creeper is about, building when a creeper is about and being in a dark enough room where Creepers can spawn. So what you say? Well, these creatures have a habit of seeing you and then silently coming up behind you and once they are behind you, exploding destroying a part of your structure or even killing you. The only way you will ever know when the Creeper is behind you is when they’re one block behind you and start to hiss. This generally ends up with the loss of items and an angry gamer throwing his controller/keyboard across the room. Thank you for your inconvenience, Creepers.

#8 – Ghetsis – Pokémon Black/White

The most evilest of all Pokémon Executives.

In every Pokémon game there is some kind of evil organisation that wants to take over the world in some way or other, be it the genius that is Team Rocket, with their herds of Rattatas and Zubats or be it any other team. My particular villain hails from the depths of Generation 5’s group, Team Plasma. Now, not many villains from the Pokémon have had any deep impact on the game per se but Ghetsis is another story! Ghetsis is one of the executives of Team Plasma and also the adopted father of N, Team Plasmas leader. His plan is to manipulate his adoptive son and leader to force Pokémon trainers to release their Pokémon in order to save them from enduring fights against one another as a sport, all well and good (minus the force). However Ghetsis is using this for his ulterior motive of ridding people of the world of all their Pokémon before conquering it with his own Pokémon and having no one to stop him, pretty evil if you ask me. This is not the only reason for Ghetsis to be on my list, but the villain has a ‘father-son moment’ with N, telling him that he is a pathetic leader and his life so far has been nothing but a manipulation of his own will. That is what makes the Pokémon storyline the darkest written so far, that and he has the intentions to kill the player in the final battle.

#7- Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear Solid

“You like to play Super Mario Sunshine, don’t you?”

Ah, Psycho Mantis. What a villain eh? Having played the original Metal Gear Solid (1998) and the remake Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (2003), Psycho Mantis is and always will be, my favourite boss battle. With the ability to break the fourth wall and quite frankly, scare the bejeebers out of me by vibrating my control and reading my ‘mind’, this Mantis is pure evil. Unfortunately I can’t put him at the top of my list as, with the mind fuck, came a sense of humour. Even though I found it amazing how he read my memory card, I found it funny as he mentioned the caption above. An evil character with an almost hissing voice talking about Super Mario Sunshine kind of crosses a line between the boundaries of a villain being evil or coming across cheesy. Which in this case he did. Nevertheless it was an amazing fight to his demise and a very clever way of using the two player port to prevent him from reading your ‘mind’.

#6 – Wander – Shadow of the Colossus

Manipulated all along…

Now, as those who may have read my review of Dragon’s Dogma and The Art of Gaming piece, then you know that I am in love with the game, it’s a beautifully rendered masterpiece in my opinion. Anyway, Wander is on the list as, though he is the protagonist, he is going against all heroic convention though he doesn’t realise it. Now, to explain what I mean by that. Wanda is basically trying to save a young girl named Mono by bringing her back to life. In order to do so he has to save an evil spirit (though he doesn’t realise that it is evil yet) named Dormin by destroying 16 huge colossi and piecing him back together again. Unwittingly Wander proceeds to release Dormin, in turn saving Mono but turning himself into a demon of sorts before being used as a host by Dormin to punish those who sealed him away in the first place. Now, even though he saves Mono, if you look at it from the eyes of the town where they had originally come from you could see why he has made my list. Wander had trespassed on forbidden land where he proceeded to cut down 16 guardians of the land, before letting himself be possessed by the demonic spirit to crush the town’s guardsmen. All for what seemed to be love, he had endangered people and dabbled in a bit of necromancy. That’s pretty selfish but I’d do the same therefore this young anti-hero has made my list.

#5 Malak – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

One vicious villain!

Some sort of Star Wars character was bound to appear on this list, normally Darth Vader would be the one to come to mind but I’m afraid not. Malak was once a Jedi who had fallen to the dark side along with his Master, Darth Revan during the Mandalorian wars. If you’ve played the game you will know that he and Revan was intent on following a series of star maps to find an old machine capable of building fleets of cruisers in next to no time at all. However on the journey he and Revan had fallen to the dark side and the once heroes became something much more sinister. The reason I chose Malak instead of his master is because whilst fighting the Jedi, Malak decided to turn on his master and destroy the ship he was on, thus killing him and becoming the Sith master. Which we find out later on isn’t so, but still he takes on the title of master. Because betrayal between friends on a scale that you want to murder them is pretty damned evil and not forgetting the destruction of Taris which was ordered by him, well done Malak you’ve made the list!

#4- Master Hand – Super Smash Bros.

“I brought you into this world, I think its rather fitting that I should be the one to take you out of it.”

Well with all the villains we have, none have been the creators. This right hand is essentially the hand of God. The apparent creator of the Super Smash Bros Cast’s trophy forms he is also their destroyer and to me this is pretty evil. What kind of sadistic nature must someone have to destroy what is their creation, their baby, if you will? If anything, the hand reminds me of a child. I mean, I’ve built cities out of Lego and tore them down for sheer fun, there was no right or wrong in the eyes of a child. But when they fight back, there is frustration and that is what seems to be happening here. So in a way, we’re all the Master Hand at some point or another. It’s so metaphorical, it beautiful! As the Master Hand is something that we are in one way or another, it deserves a place on the list of villains!

#3 – Lieutenant General Shepherd – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

“Oorah?”

Now this guy, he’s a nasty piece of work. Commander of both Task Force 141, Shadow Company and the U.S Army Rangers, he serves as support for the characters you play as throughout the majority of the game but turns out to be one of the major antagonists near the end of the game. Spurred on by his hatred for the world, its politics and the loss of 30,000 men he was glad to watch the world turn to shit. Now, I understand the hatred, or at least I try to comprehend the feeling of losing all those soldiers but what has made me put him on this list is the fact that he kills Roach and Ghost. Now, what’s the big deal? Well my personal vendetta is because you play as Roach. You more or less become him and work with the team, there’s a bond. Then Shepherd comes out of the blue, pops a cap in his ass and then sets him and Ghost on fire. The most disturbing and yet brilliant thing about this is that you start to see it through Roach’s eyes. Not many games have done this to me but this particular event brought forth an emotion and a general ‘gutted’ feeling that genuinely moved me. Well done Shepherd, you’re a real bastard!

#2- Alduin – Skyrim

“Zu’u unslaad, zu’u nis oblaan!” – “I am immortal, I cannot die!”

I’m a fan of Skyrim, just like many of you out there, I know that this dragon should be on there because he is one major badass. Let’s start with his other names; World Eater and also the God of Destruction. The name Alduin itself means; Destroyer-Devour-Master in dragon form as well, if that doesn’t shout out evil then I don’t know what does! A God and a dragon that can eat worlds? Bah! I wouldn’t want to meet him down a dark alley. Speaking of eating worlds, this beast can go to Sovngarde and devour the souls of all the mortals that make it there to regain his strength. It kills what is dead, how does that even work out?! That’s pretty damn evil! This villain just wants to kill every last mortal in the Nirn and then kills them again! This is a beast among beasts! And one evil son of a gun that is pretty much indestructible. So Alduin my dragon friend, welcome to number 2 on this list, you deserve it!

#1 – The Moon – Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

“Come at me bro!”

Those of you who have ever played this game must really know the terror of the moon. This piece of rock in the space that is being pulled into the atmosphere due to the Skull kid using Majora’s mask. Now I know what you’re thinking, how is this a villain? Those who have played it would know the panic of having to complete the specific tasks within the three days. Three days is not a long time, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re desperately trying to get that damned ocarina! Now, knowing all that and the moon is coming into the atmosphere and the world you’re in is coming to an end, that’s already scary enough but there’s more! This god damned moon has the dirtiest of smiles, looking down at the earth like it wants to molest it with its face. And it will if you don’t remember the Song of Time! Well done for all those nightmares you’ve given me over the years, how I love to hate you. Even though you’re no Alduin, you are the destroyer of the world, crushing everyone in your wake!

Now with everything being said and done, those are my top ten villains that if I had the choice to be I would be. Now, take the time to comment below on which evil-doer you’d be and why? Thanks for reading and I hope to have reminded you of some good villains that you can go back to and take on! Who knows, maybe by going back to them, you may be reminded of some classic games? God speed, heroes and heroines!

Top 10 Tuesday: Innovations Halo Gave to Gaming

Posted by Matt Beaudette 2 Responses »

Nov 052012

Halo 4 comes out today, and is unsurprising one of the biggest releases of the year. The general consensus seems to be that the game is pretty damn great, even if it doesn’t do a lot to push the series forward. While Halo 4 may not be the most innovative game, the Halo series is one of the most influential series in the history of video games. Halo has contributed several key innovations to the industry, as well as some more subtle contributions. I think it’s safe to say that without the Halo series, first person shooters, especially on consoles, would simply not be what they today, whether that is a good thing or not is up to the individual. I am not here to judge the positives or negatives of Halo’s influence on the industry, I simply want to illustrate just how influential it has been.

10. Downloadable Content

While not the first example of downloadable content, the several map packs released for Halo 2 were one of the first examples of being able to add on to a console game. Sure, mods and updates had existed on PC games for years at that point, but being able to buy new content for a game, especially on a console, without having to go buy a boxed expansion pack was certainly a fairly new concept at the time, and it certainly paved the way for the DLC scene of today that started becoming popular when the 360 launched a year later.

9. Two Weapon Limit

Before Halo came out in 2001, the concept of a weapon limit was a pretty foreign one. It had been done before, but like many of the features on this list, it was popularized by Halo. The two weapon limit added a layer strategy to your weapon selection that wasn’t present in games like Doom and Quake where you could carry as many weapons as you wanted.

8. Theater Mode

Once again, demo recording had existed for years on the PC by the time Halo 3 implemented Theater Mode, but it was still an influential addition. This was one of the first times that demo recording was a feature built into the game with an in-game way to edit and share your videos. Without Theater Mode in Halo 3, you wouldn’t have seen similar features being implemented into Uncharted and Call of Duty.

7. Online Community

For as long as video games have been playable with others over the internet, there have been online communities. However, instead of the game and the community being two separate entities, Halo combined them. Halo 2 was one of the first games to provide players with a means of connecting within the frame work of the game itself. The game had the most in-depth friends list at the time, with fully integrated clan support and interesting connectivity between the game and the website. Players could connect with their in-game friends on the game’s website and easily manage clans and view their friends status. This may all sound basic by today’s standards, but at the time it was an amazing step forward.

6. Stat Tracking

Connecting nicely to the last topic, Halo 2′s website was also revolutionary in terms of stat tracking. Players could view their entire game history, complete with detailed statistics. If you were beaten badly by another player, you could go onto the website, look up the game, and then view that players game history and skill level. With subsequent releases in the series, they added crazy amounts of stat tracking like heat maps, detailed weapons stats ( accuracy, kills, headshots), and detailed accounts of your medals and game averages. Like most of the entries on this list, this type of stat tracking is pretty much expected today, but at the time it was truly amazing.

Review – Serious Sam 3: BFE (Xbox 360)

Posted by Sean Judge No Responses »

Oct 272012

Within seconds of starting Serious Sam 3: BFE’s Single Player campaign, you’ll have a face to face encounter with your first extraterrestrial enemy. You’re unarmed. The beast in question is a charging, snarling, muscluar cyclops with shoulders as wide as a truck. Within the next few seconds, you are plunging fists into the abomination’s face and tearing out it’s singular eye with your bare hands, the corpse collapsing to the floor in a bloody mess. This approach to getting the job done pretty much reflects Croteam’s approach to the whole game.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Serious Sam series, it has roots in PC gaming history as being chaotic, over-the-top FPS action. The gimmick has always been expansive and open level design which Croteam fills with incredible numbers of enemies who set about simultaneously charging and attacking you. Unlike any other FPS I’ve experienced, the Serious Sam games really do pit you as the centre of the action. There are no misconceptions, no stealth – everything is out to kill you as quicky and brutally as possible. Handily, Sam is a bit of a badass.

Just a normal day at the Office. Who says men can’t multi-task?

Flying in the face of pretty much the last decade of action games, the only cover Sam has is his T-Shirt. This is all about taking on insurmountable odds with a satisfying and powerful arsenal whilst keeping moving at all times. There’s no time to hide, no where to camp and no where to stop running to catch your breath – unlike some modern military shooters.

This third installment in the series, originally released on the PC at the end of last year and recently launched on the Xbox Live Arcade sees players once more take control of Sam and his T-Shirt to do battle and hopefully protect the Earth from complete alien domination. Sam seems to have stepped up to fill in some of the gaping chasms left in gaming by the polygonal abortion that calls itself ‘Duke Nukem Forever.’ Sam is the epitome of a steroid ridden, wisecracking, fearless headcase, always happy to punch evil straight in the balls.

For when you have to give them both barrels. Twice.

The opening levels prove frustrating, especially if you are aware of what you can expect from the weaponry later in the game. After the aformentioned eyeball ripping, you quickly find your starting kit of a sledgehammer, a pistol and a woeful shotgun (don’t worry, there’s a better one later) and you are stuck with these for a touch too long. They feel ineffective and lightweight which goes against the grain when the game’s core mechanic centres on going into action all-guns blazing.

The pace picks up eventually, as the enemy headcount rises dramatically and the weaponry improves to counter this. The weapons on offer are FPS stalwarts, shotguns, assault rifles, rocket launchers, with only the mystical leash offering anything fresh in terms of mechanics. Even the leash will feel familiar if you’ve played Bulletstorm but it’s implementation is slightly different, given the numbers of adversaries facing Sam.

So far, so Serious Sam. It’s more of the same essentially, but with a good level of graphical shine. The engine has to be capable of coping with the high number of attackers and long draw distances, which it does so admirably. This is presumeably possible as the AI is about as basic as it gets and although textures and enviroments look good, the level of effects is pretty average. To be fair to the AI, it doesn’t really need to be much more than ‘Head for Sam > Attack Sam’ to tick the right boxes.

Audio is nothing revolutionary either, but it is worth noting that the bestiary is very distinguishable through clear audio clues. The approaching suicide bombers’ incessant “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH” will haunt you, as will the boney, clattering gallop of the Kleer. These subconciously help you to switch to an appropriate weapon and aim in the right direction, all helping to tighten the experience

This may look like a tough situation, but what you can’t see here is the other 60 aliens.

Multiplayer has been well catered for, with the entire Single Player campaign being playable co-operatively, including local split-screen, with the number of enemies being increased exponentially. The highlight (with the right players) is the excellent Survival mode, which pits players against wave after wave of nasties, serving to really highlight the strengths of the game mechanics.

The core gameplay will fulfill but not exceed the expecations of the series’ fans. The increase in graphical finesse is welcome, but is also not going to set the world alight. Ultimately, for 1200 MS Points, Serious Sam 3: BFE represents solid value and a predictable, but very enjoyable, pure arcade FPS experience. Fans of the series are well catered for and will be pleased to see Sam has not gone the way of a certain Mr. Nukem. Newcomers to the series, well, you’re in for some sweaty palms and swearing, but also a grin.

Graphics 75		Audio 70		Gameplay 85
Creativity 70		Execution 85		Offset 75

7.7

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

Next Generation Console Speculation – Wii U / Xbox 720 / PS4

Posted by ImmortalPhoenix 1 Response »

Oct 052012

(A new Xbox is possibly on the horizon. Are you ready to shell out another 300 bucks though?)

A new article released by Gamespot seems to suggest a new Xbox is coming out in Late 2013 or early 2014. Being that we’ve heard the rumors for the past 4 years and there are still articles out there claiming the new consoles would come out in 2011[ :D ], we should take this bit of news with a grain of salt. For my younger readers that haven’t heard that saying before, it simply means we should be more critical, and more skeptical, rather than believing this news wholeheartedly.

The announcement of new consoles brings up a Pandora’s box of more question though. Assuming the news is true, are Gamers excited to see the new consoles hitting store shelves soon or are they weary over the last round of Console Wars? On another side question, who won the last console wars? Do Gamers even have enough cash to secure these new consoles if they come out? Will these consoles be more expensive; as we’ve seen happened with console prices jumping each generation? Do we even need new consoles? Has the PS3 really been pushed to its limits?

There are a thousand questions and I, like always, will try and answer them all thoroughly; just like all my other obnoxiously long articles :D. This is going to be a long read, so I hope you’re comfortable and have some awesome cookies on hand.

Price

Let’s be honest here for a second, this really is all about price. Assuming the new consoles were going to be sold for $1, no one would keep their old Xbox, Ps3, and Wii. We wouldn’t even be having this discussion. It’s the price that’s the big 1,000 pound elephant in the room, and it’s our wallets that are running scared. That initial anxiety we feel when we hear about new consoles is always due to the insanely large amounts of money we pay, just to give us the opportunity to play the games we know we’ll want to.

Now if you’re a major PC gamer like I am, you slightly snicker and laugh like an evil Joker when you think of the console gamers having to buy a new console. But I can’t join in this time as I feel their pain after many generations of console wars and I’m one of those suckers that ends up buying consoles as well.

From the news article mentioned above, it seems the price point for the new Xbox will be $300 dollars. That’s good news, even if it causes a slight cringe. The original bare bones Xbox 360 was also $300 dollars and now years later as Technology has gotten even more affordable, we can reap those rewards and keep the same price for much higher technical specifications.

The PS3 on the other hand on launch was loosing money! It really was the Juggernaut of the console wars and you definitely got your moneys worth even if you paid $499 for the base version or $599 for the upgraded one. Both cost Sony nearly 800 dollars to make, and Sony saw it as an investment and was willing to take the nearly $2 billion dollars in losses to give its Gamers the most powerful console on the planet at the time.

No one really knows what the new Xbox or PS3 will cost, but I’m wagering that because Technology is becoming cheaper and because Gamers don’t have the largest wallets, all companies will make a strong effort to keep prices down. My prediction will be that 500 dollars will be deemed unacceptable for a new console. This may not be the case, but with technology being how affordable it is, and Gamers being very picky in what they buy, manufacturers can simply not afford to alienate their consumers and charge exorbitant amounts for hardware. The PS4 may go for 400 but it would be a huge mistake to charge 500

Backwards Compatibility

Both consoles should make their consoles backwards compatible. Sony is notoriously known for not doing this for some versions of its console and it has lead to quite a few gamers being disillusioned and upset. When asked why some newer models of the PS3 could not play PS2 games, Sony simply told people to buy a PS2 and that it was still on sale. To be honest, it’s cheaper to buy a PS2 and PS3 than to buy the expensive backwards compatible PS3′s which I believe aren’t even on sale anymore.

XBox 360 is also not backwards compatible with the vast majority of its games. When gamers buy a game they expect it to play on newer consoles as well, especially when the medium is the same. Both consoles used DVD interfaces. It’s not like we went to a different type of cartridge.

The winner in all of these discussions is definitely Nintendo with their Wii. The Wii plays Gamecube games flawlessly and really shows how a next generation console should treat it’s past generation sibling.

The DS also is a shining example of how to incorporate Gameboy games into a new handhelds lineup of entertainment.

Nintendo shows that developers can meet these issues if they truly want to. It’s all about will and if willing Sony and Microsoft can make their consoles backwards compatible. Gamers across the world should protest if these demands aren’t met especially because the gaming lineup on the Xbox360 and PS3 are tremendous and most people have hundreds of dollars invested in those games.

The PS2 btw was my favorite console and the feeling I got when I found out I couldn’t play those games on my PS3 console was heart wrenching. It was extraordinarily brutal and as a result I ended up getting a PS2 to enjoy playing my favorite childhood games. But it’s a feeling I never want to experience again. Gamers should not allow another console to be released without Full, and I emphasize the word FULL, backwards compatibility.

Who won the 7th Generation Console Wars

If you just look at Worldwide sales numbers these are your figures:

Wii(PDF link) – 96.56 million as of 30 June 2012

Xbox 360 – 67.2 million as of 31 March 2012

PlayStation 3 – 63.9 million as of 31 March 2012

So you can see that Playstation and Xbox didn’t get too much of a lead ahead of each other. It was really the Wii that destroyed the competition. I remember Wii fever when it struck. My family actually purchased the Wii first mainly because of my siblings. Plus the gaming lineup at the time was enough to satisfy the regular gamer. Sadly the gaming lineup of the Wii really dropped off a cliff only after a couple years and people really got discouraged by the Wii. A lot of people simply don’t play their Wii anymore because there are no good games on them. All the best games sit comfortably with Sony and Microsoft.

Given that in depth analysis, you could say the Wii won early on but Sony and Microsoft have gotten the upper hand in the end even if they haven’t sold enough consoles. Remember the Wii was sold to a demographic outside of just Gamers and that demographic doesn’t need dedicated gaming consoles like the PS3 and Xbox. That’s why there is such a disparity in sales numbers.

Has Nintendo alienated the common Gamer though for a more mainstream position? We’ll know with the Wii U which is a much more powerful console and is already getting exclusives like ZimbiU that match the common Gamers taste.

Sales numbers though are only one metric for measuring success. Some say you can’t even properly gauge who won the console wars; that there is no way to measure it. Given that all 3 consoles sell millions of games and make billions of dollars, I have to agree that it’s very difficult to pick a winner when all 3 are living on cloud 9.

Do we need new Consoles?

There is a misconception I want to get out of the way when discussing if we need new consoles. The issue lies between data storage and processing power. Data storage is simply the ability of something to hold lots of information. Processing power though is the ability to sift through large amounts of information to get at some end goal. For your video card that means showing off those awesome graphics. For your CPU that means making sure you don’t lag or stutter while playing the game.

Some people argue that because the PS3 has plenty of storage space at nearly 50 gigs on a two sided blu ray disc, we don’t need to go to a new console. Storage space isn’t the main reason why we buy consoles though. We want an amazing gameplay experience. As a result, people are willing to put in multiple discs if it means playing a game at a very high graphical setting.

So the real question is, how are the Xbox360 and PS3′s video card and processor doing? Are they maxing out? Are they on their last leg?

Video card

The video card is probably the first thing that a new console will benefit from. Back in the mid 2000′s video cards were VERY expensive. Even if you paid an exorbitant amount, you still got a subpar video card by today’s standards. The GPU inside the video cards was also very old and dated.

Video cards nowadays are amazingly powerful and very cheap. Even getting an average one at 150 dollars will get you a super powerful 1 gigabyte stick of dedicated ram with a large GPU on the side.

So even if Sony and Microsoft get average video cards for their next consoles, that will still be a huge step up in graphical processing.

Processor

Processors have gotten even cheaper than video cards thanks to the smartphone revolution which forced manufacturers to go to extremes to satisfy our cell phoned creatures.

The Google Nexus, which is the leader in Tablet technology, just as an example, has a quad core processor that runs at lightning speeds and has a 12 core GPU strapped in a tiny flat space.

All of this for only $199. That would have been unheard of in the early 2000′s. Technology has really come light years from where we were and the main change has been Price. Price is important when it comes to consoles and it’s the price of the new hardware that’s so surprising.

This is huge for the next consoles because while their processors may not have been on their last legs, their video cards definitely were, and an upgrade in both would be a HUGE step up for gaming.

Ram

A 1 gig stick of ram used to cost more than 200 dollars. Then it become 100. Now, about a year ago, I bought 6 gigs of triple channel high quality ram for 100 bucks. Ram was a rare commodity and console makers had to decide on exactly what they could afford to put in there.

That’s no longer an issue for new consoles. Lets take the Wii as an example. The original Wii had 88mb of RAM. The new WII U has 768MBs of ram which is nearly a full gig. That’s almost a 10 fold increase!!

They could have put more but their GPU will do a lot of work without needing excess amounts of RAM.

The Xbox360 in comparison has 512 MBs of RAM and the PS3 has the same 512 MB. Both companies would have benefited from putting more but every bit you add increased costs dramatically. Nowadays since RAM is dirt cheap you don’t have to make those sacrifices anymore.

Gaming Medium

Again we have to be honest here and mention that the gaming medium we’ve been playing on is finished. Its days are numbered because the DVD 9 which holds 9 gigs is simply not beefy enough. It needs to hold more and it can’t. Some games have even been shipped on 3 discs.

Rage for instance is 3 discs on Xbox360 and 1 disc on PS3. The game was released last year. A lot of us love our Xbox consoles and like playing on Xbox Live as well but this gets all the more frustrating to do when you’re juggling discs in the console. It also really breaks your immersion in a game when it asks you to switch discs.

Sony has the edge here because in 2008 it destroyed Toshiba’s HD-DVD format competitor. Blu Ray won the format wars and as a result left Xbox and Microsoft with no competitors from which to buy from.

If Microsoft wants to have a larger disc from which to play games from it either needs to make a new format from scratch which would costs millions in Research and Development or it would need to license and pay Sony for the ability to use Blu Ray Discs.

Since Blu Ray discs are a long ways away from being maxed, Sony has no issues on the Gaming Medium front. But Xbox is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Predictably they will probably make their own format. It’s hard to imagine them paying Sony for Blu Ray.

Gamer’s Quandary

Comics courtesy of BeUndertaker

The truth when it comes to the console wars is that Gamers don’t want to choose. They’re really in a quandary and their pockets get stabbed every time they delve into the issue of consoles.

Imagine for a second if you didn’t have to choose. Imagine if all the console makers could come together and make one console that all games would be compatible with.

That’s what Gamers want and that’s why open source consoles like the Ouya are gaining popularity. It’s probably never going to happen and profit margins as well as stock holders insist that making different consoles continues, but imagine a future where it was possible.

Even if we had to pay an extra 200 dollars the cost would be worth it because now you had one console for all your needs. Industry insiders agree that having one console is better for gaming in general as the linked Gamespot article explains.

Having many competing consoles has always been the Gamer’s Quandary and as a result most gamers have to sacrifice one console for the other. For Gamers it was easy to sacrifice the Wii because of the gaming lineups of the Xbox and the PS3, but now that the Wii U has amazing console exclusives, this decision will simply get harder.

Most Gamers today do not own all 3 consoles. Myself and others are in the minority that own all 3. Which console will gamers sacrifice for the next generation? Might Gamers sacrifice two consoles, if triple A console exclusives dry up?

Final thoughts

What we’ve learned from this long discussion is that gamers really are split on enthusiasm for new consoles. On the one hand we have an issue with backwards compatibility and possibly having to say goodbye to our old generation games and on the other we have a very powerful system with great specs awaiting us.

Then we have the issue of worrying about prices, but then we think about all the new games we will get a chance to experience. For every positive there seems to be a negative and this has lead the gaming community to really fracture over the announcing of a new console.

Some of us are happy, others are slightly discontented, and others are simply numb. We buy consoles for the games so it’s always one step removed from what we really love. No one really cares deeply about a processor or video card. They care about the memories they had with that amazing game which was silently rendered in the background by your console.

Gamers also would love to have a world where one one console reigned supreme and where all the console makers could work together to achieve some better end goal. But sadly such a world is just a mirage for now.

The final thought for Gamers is that they want the new consoles to come out well priced, with backwards compatibility, and with gaming in mind [Wii U controller and Motion controls are very much a fad].

If console makers keep these tenets to heart then maybe whenever the new consoles are finally officially announced, we’ll be more excited and less apprehensive. The truth is our consoles are getting older and a replacement is due sometime soon in the next couple years.

My final advice to console gamers is to open up to PC gaming. Starcraft, Diablo, and more than a decade worth of amazingly fun games are there. Hopefully that can give solace to your wounds when deciding which console is right for you. Most gamers will not be buying 2 next gen consoles on launch day; let alone 3 being available in the future.

www.ImmortalPhoenix.net

Hands-On Impressions: Resident Evil 6

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Sep 282012

I recently downloaded the now public demo for Resident Evil 6 and quickly realized it was split into three different parts, all dealing with a separate character. After deciding I wanted to do a hands-on impression of the demo, I figured the best way to do so would be to separate the three characters and talk about them all individually before diving into my overall impressions of the demo. Below is the outcome of my thought process.

Leon

Leon’s section revolves around him meeting up with a lady while simultaneously having to deal with our president who is bitten and coming closer and closer to the new girl. Leon is having none of that and takes the president out. It is then revealed that Leon doesn’t know who the girl is but they are tied together somehow. That how is left to be discovered later on in the game.

Leon’s gameplay revolved more around some older games in the franchise. Apart from the redesigned UI and ability to move when you aim, Leon’s section is very reminiscent of Resident Evil 4. The problem here is that the new UI and movement detract away from one of the main, if not controversial, staples of the Resident Evil franchise. It doesn’t completely tarnish the experience by any means but it detracts from it greatly, making you feel like you’re playing a whole separate game instead of the new Resident Evil.

Apart from that little complaint, everything within Leon and Helana’s (unknown lady) little section is perfectly competent and feels like more Resident Evil. The visuals get very choppy at times and the cheese within the story can be smelled from a mile away. Like I said, it’s Resident Evil.

Chris

This is where things begin to differ a tad. Chris’ section introduces a whole new style of gameplay, a style very similar to Gears of War. You are Chris Redfield and you are in the military, you’re dropped off at a location, and you must then shoot a bunch of guys with your machine gun. This whole part is the complete opposite of what Resident Evil is about; instead it diverges deeply into the action genre. Diving into the action genre more than horror is a big complaint many had about Resident Evil 5 so why that would return in an even stronger way with Resident Evil 6 is beyond me.

The combat itself is borderline awful. Resident Evil’s mechanics just do not lend themselves well to only combat. Not only is it frustrating to aim, the guns themselves lack any kind of force or feel that would make you want to continue using them. Every single thing about this section felt flat and lifeless which is an issue that could very well carry over to the retail product. On one positive note, this portion of the game looked much better than Leon’s did. Maybe it was because it was daytime and had no rain, either way, it looked sharp.

Jake

Jake Muller is the newest addition to the Resident Evil franchise. Introduced as Wesker’s son, you can see why he’s an integral part of the story. But the story goes deeper in his eyes as Wesker abandoned him while he was just a boy and eventually Jake realized he must take jobs as a mercenary in order to support his aging and ailing mother. He eventually meets up with a lady named Sherry who needs his blood as he could be the key to “saving the world.”

From there, Resident Evil happens. You shoot guys with a pistol, sniper, machine gun, shotgun, etc. as you traverse across a torn apart land leading Sherry beside you the whole way. Jake’s section seems to blend the Chris and Leon sections into one as it shows hints of both horror and pure action sequences. Even if his combat isn’t going to blow anyone away, I definitely find Jake’s story to be very interesting and interest is something the Resident Evil series is beginning to lack.

Overall Impressions

Resident Evil 6 has been garnering a lot of negative press as its release inches closer and closer, some of it warranted and some of it not warranted. I’m beginning to see myself falling in between the positive and negative side as I’m not ready to call Resident Evil 6 an abject failure just yet as it shows promise with an interesting character in Jake and some absolutely gorgeous visuals. Well, when it isn’t dark and raining, of course.

That being said, I just don’t know if the combat can continue to hold up through yet another eight hour experience. I understand puzzles will be thrown in there at random intervals but even those have decreased in quality as the franchise has continued on. Resident Evil 6 still has a lot to prove and we’ll find out if Capcom can pull together one more quality Resident Evil game come October 2^nd.

P.C v.s Consoles and The Future of these Industries

Posted by ImmortalPhoenix 1 Response »

Sep 222012

(The oldest war known to mankind, or at least to our generation anyways :D , is the old P.C versus Console dispute.)

The two sides have their rightful points. P.C’s do whip any console’s butt when it comes to advanced graphics and load times. Not to mention the fact that P.C communities are usually much more powerful and are much more helpful in creating custom patches to P.C games that have gone astray. Console users have no ability to patch their games since they’re on static unchanging hard discs and have to wait for the developers to issue updates; sometimes waiting forever for updates that will never come out.

If you mention that to the opposite console fanboy they’ll simply laugh and ask about the price associated with buying a gaming P.C. He’ll mention that even when the PS3, the most expensive console, came out, it was still only $500 and less than half the price of a modern day Gaming Rig. They’ll also consider the fact that console gaming and Xbox live has gotten much more popular and outsold the P.C market, a market they say is dying.

Both are slightly extreme positions, possibly because they’re both said by fanboys, and especially because Skyrim completely removed the myth of the dying P.C genre. But the question remains if there can ever be peace between these two warring factions and what lies ahead for both industries.

The Futures of the P.C and Console Industries

I’d like to ask a very specific question that will steer our discussion about the future of these industries. That question is very simple:

Can a future Xbox Console ever run Microsoft Windows and would you want it to?

That singular question will have sent shock waves through most gamers minds, as it did mine when i thought of it. Imagine though, just for a second, hooking your console to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, then… boom, there you go, you now have a gaming rig AND a console.

Don’t forget that modern PS3′s have 9 Processors and extremely expensive and fast Graphic cards, easily able to undertake the constraints of the Windows Platform.

Xbox may not be there yet with their 360 but the successor to the Xbox360 is said to be a huge step up and will definitely have to be better than modern day PS3s or else no one will buy them instead of just buying a PS3 alternative.

Also don’t forget, Microsoft owns Xbox. Why wouldn’t they want people to game and use Windows? That way they’d be killing three birds with one stone by selling us a console, a p.c, and a software license of Windows!!

That would get Microsoft in a BRAND new industry it’s not even in yet which is P.C manufacturing!! It makes perfect business sense and it would cost them NOTHING except to sell the consoles they were selling anyways. Once PS3 saw this they’d have to make an equal or GREATER product!

There was already a report released in July of 2011 about future plans for Windows 8 to let users play Xbox360 games natively!

Do you see what is inevitably happening? Since Consoles are just smaller sized P.C’s anyways, and hardware is becoming cheaper and faster, eventually a gaming rig will be cheap enough to be a console. Some argue, if you hack the PS3, we’re already there.

The future of the P.C and Console wars is a surprising harmony and truce that will blend the best elements of both into one singular hardware device. A console, beautifully constructed, with monitor outputs, and gaming inputs, that does everything you could ever dream of, all for $500 dollars or less.

Current gaming rigs are between $700-1,200, depending on whether you make it yourself or buy one pre-built. Regardless, we aren’t far away from a gaming rig that functions as a console too.

New Trend in P.C Market

I bought my Core-I7 in February of 2009 for $1,350 and 3 years later it’s still on top of the market because Hardware has surpassed software. Software makers are having a harder and harder time maxing hardware because it’s becoming faster and cheaper. A MUCH better rig today is selling for $900, that has twice as much HD space as mine did and nearly 3 times the ram. All this again for $450 dollars less.

Picture Source By phil_g

I mention my computer because I also bought gaming rig in 2006 and 2 in the early 2000′s, each time, top of the line, highly expensive, more than a thousand dollars. Each time they became obsolete in 2 years. That’s not the case anymore though. As you’ve seen, my current rig is pushing 3 years and it’s still reigning high.

This trend is why consoles will be able to afford gaming rigs and harmonize them together as one product. They will buy CPUs that are super fast and cost a fraction of what they used to, when consoles first came out.

A brand new future is looming where the P.C versus Console debate is about to be ended. A longstanding peace awaiting with glorious rewards for the gamers that waited patiently til that last victorious day. A day when the dispute will finally come to an end.

www.ImmortalPhoenix.net

Review – Mark of the Ninja (Xbox 360)

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Sep 122012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

Klei Entertainment’s past has been both a success and a tidal wave of mediocrity, depending on who you ask. I tend to fall on the mediocrity side but will happily admit to my love for N+, though I was very disappointed in the Shank series. That being said, I was afraid to heighten my hopes for their new release, Mark of the Ninja. On top of their spotty past, stealth games are hard to craft into an enjoyable product as the gameplay constantly devolves into trial and error situations that only make you want to lay down the controller and walk away. Klei Entertainment recognized that and promised to address the issue during development, stating their title would be different than any other stealth experience. They have succeeded.

Mark of the Ninja is a seemingly simple sidescrolling adventure that consists of a lot of two things: stabbing and sneaking. Klei Entertainment pulls off these two things very well, with sneaking around levels relying solely on the light mechanics to inform you of your enemy’s knowledge on your whereabouts. The lights also show a circular noise range for actions you perform throughout the game, allowing you to know if busting out a certain light will inform an enemy of your presence. If they do hear whatever action you take, they won’t know where you are immediately, but they’ll know you are in the area and become alert and possibly frightened.

The amount of ways you can torture your enemy’s psyche seems limitless at times as you do things such as stringing dead bodies up to a vantage point, throwing dead bodies at people, or even force one of them to witness their friend be devoured by flesh eating insects. You unlock this barrage of things by earing badges through completing a level and achieving goals set out before the level’s beginning. You don’t have to achieve the goals but the extra badges really pay off as the game progresses because the more upgrades you have, the simpler navigating your way through a level becomes.

The way Klei managed to avoid the trial and error issue is near impossible to explain but one of the main reasons is just how accessible the game is from beginning to end. Nothing ever feels out of the realm of possibility as you pick up more and more abilities along the way. There’s never a deep difficulty curve nor is there an incredibly easy scenario to blow through. It also helps that upon dying, the respawn time for your character is pretty much nonexistent. You can be impaled by spikes one second and then be hopping over said spikes the next.

Mark of the Ninja doesn’t have a hidden depth beyond that upgrade system however and that leads to one of its biggest issues which is that the final few levels in Mark of the Ninja tend to drag on a bit longer than suspected. I found myself feeling like the game was about to end multiple times only to find out that there was still around an hour left. It’s a small complaint but it could have really hurt the game had it not been for the engrossing story within the final chapters.

One nice little tidbit thrown into this experience are some really fun challenge rooms that taunt you with dastardly puzzles. The challenge rooms don’t do much for your overall upgrade system or experience but that doesn’t mean they aren’t well designed and quite a blast to blow through. The puzzles in them are incredibly well designed and truly mind boggling at times, which of course led me to consistently hunting around for that next challenge room. Mostly because I enjoy them but occasionally because I just need to yell at something.

Though Mark of the Ninja does plenty of things remarkably well, the art style may be the best thing within this fifteen dollar package. Klei pulls over a similar art style featured in Shank and pretty’s it all up for the shadowy design Mark of the Ninja needs. The visual flourishes and noise cue’s all fit perfectly in Mark of the Ninja and add a nice bit of eye candy to help you get through the more difficult sections. That isn’t all that impresses as so do the character models and the perfect animations. The aforementioned lighting mechanics only add to this incredibly beautiful and immaculately polished experience.

Speaking of beauty, in between gameplay sections you get some wonderfully animated cutscenes that feature your main character on his journey to help out his clan. At first, the narrative seems a bit irrelevant as the stealth is the forefront of the experience, but as time goes on you become more and more attached to your silent main character. Though it isn’t the deepest of stories, it tells a nice tale that has an exciting but also nerve wrecking last chapter.

Mark of the Ninja is one pleasant surprise; it’s beautiful and builds upon a stealth genre that is mostly filled with poor attempts at excitement. On top of that, Mark of the Ninja’s lifespan is longer than most arcade games. All this combined together shows off the hard work Klei put into their game and there’s no doubt that dedication is admirable. Thankfully, that dedication is paying off as Klei has made their best game yet, and one the best games on XBLA this year.

Graphics 95		Audio 90		Gameplay 90
Creativity 95		Execution 95		Offset 90

9.3

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

Mario’s Backlog Challenge: Still Alive

Posted by Mario Jara No Responses »

Sep 062012

Yes, I know. You are probably reading this article shaking your head from side to side. The answer is yes; I do dare resurrect this feature. For those of you reading this and are unfamiliar with the backlog challenge, I’ll summarize it briefly:

I will not buy any new games in 2012 and I will try and finish games from my backlog.

The challenge was started back in January of this year. I started with a few set of rules and some exceptions. Some of these have been upheld and others have been broken. I kept posting about this challenge roughly in a monthly basis; then the summer came. Summer put a big dent on my available time, since I decided to go to summer school while working full time.

This was a blessing and a curse. Because I had limited free time, I never had a chance to pay attention at what was being released during the summer. However, this also meant that I had less time to sink my teeth into my backlog. This was rather unfortunate because since the beginning of the year, I had been finishing games at a rather sluggish pace. I had planned to finish at least one game per week for the entire duration of the summer. This, of course, did not happen. I ended up finishing two games over the summer: Bioshock and Portal 2. Both games are amazing experiences from beginning to end.

I wish I had invested the little time available I had into comparable experiences. Unfortunately, I was playing 3 MMO’s at the time. First up was my return to Final Fantasy XIV, which reminded me why the game is getting a reboot. The original build of FFXIV was so atrocious, it will be remembered as one the worst MMO’s releases in videogame history. Then was the death of Star Wars: The Old Republic. This MMO falls into the category of “gaming wounds.” It is one of those games that you want to be successful, but ultimately they fail. I knew it was over when I decided to take the game for a spin and my game character “woke up” to find a deserted capital city. Every player was gone. I was completely alone. Last but not least is the original Guild Wars. When Arenanet announced that they would be releasing Guild Wars 2 in August of this year, I was flabbergasted. I simply had to get more points into my Hall of Monuments; and with that the grind for Hall of Monument completion began.

It is now early September and I do not play FFXIV or SWTOR. Even Guild Wars has been cut from my gaming list. Now I only play either Super Monday Night Combat or Guild Wars 2. Currently SMNC is only used as a palate cleanser for those rare of occasions when I get temporarily tired of Guild Wars 2. The challenge now is not to avoid buying new games because, quite honestly, I have enough games to keep me entertained. The challenge now lies in leaving the wonderful world of Tyria to play any other game. The Gauntlet has been thrown!

So here are my updated objectives: A) Play more games B) Play less Guild Wars 2 C) Try not to use giftcards until I have finished a few games. D) Post an update every two weeks, even if I’ve slacked off. That is all for this entry! See ya soon!

Red Johnson’s Chronicles, Joe Danger 2, and Others Score Release Dates

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Sep 052012

A few anticipated Xbox Live Arcade Games now have themselves their own respective release date. First up, Red Johnson’s Chronicles should be hitting virtual shelves next Wednesday. Lexis Numérique, developer of the very famous Imagine Fashion Designer New York, has been working on their point and click adventure game for a few years now and I have no doubt they’re happy to finally get it out the door.

All joking aside, when your previous titles are games like the Imagine series, I’m sure devlopers grow eager to develop their own promising original IP and that obviously leads to tremendous amounts of heart being inserted into a game. The only problem is the point and click adventure audience is a small one, which could hurt sells and word of mouth. It’s a bit surprising that Red Johnson’s Chronicles isn’t a PC game but I wouldn’t rule it out, especially if sales tank. Even if the developers history isn’t spotless, Red Johnson’s Chronicles seems to be a decent game to take a shot on if you’re wanting to pass time until Borderlands comes out.

On the other hand, Joe Danger 2: The Movie will be releasing September 14^th on XBLA and PSN. The first Joe Danger took a lot of inspiration from Trials and developed upon their concept of sidescrolling, dangerous motorbiking and added a comedic flair to it through main character Joe Danger. The look was different but overall Joe Danger managed to do two things that Trials also achieved: Being infuriating while simultaneously being a blast to fly through.

A few other XBLA titles releasing in the next few weeks include:

Kung Fu Strike (Out Now)
Walking Dead Episode 3 (Out Now)
Mark of the Ninja (Sept. 7^th)
Double Dragon Neon (Sept. 12^th)

XBLA, fever! Catch it!

Skyrim Hearthfire DLC Lets You Build Your Own House – Available Next Week

Posted by callum No Responses »

Aug 282012

^You

Yep you read that right. After the rumours began circulating based around titles found in the games code and a copyright application, Bethesda have just announced that the next DLC pack for Skyrim will be called Hearthfire and available for Xbox next week on September 4th priced at just 400 msp!

We love Skyrim because it is awesome and, well, goddamn dragons! But we all loved The Sims because it allowed us build our dream house and settle down. Now, the two collide because once you have built your Skyrim mansion, you can go onto add new sections, furnish it with display cases, an Arcane Enchanter, Apothecary Table, Kitchen as well as displaying a whole ton of trinkets and statues. Whether they be statues of beasts you have slayed in combat, or just the odd Mudcrab.

While you’re at it, how about settling down and having a few kids? Totally possible. Keep the place tidy though otherwise you could end up with a nasty Skeever infestation. Outside the building you’ll also be able to add to the grounds of your very own skyrim palace including beehives, fish hatcheries and cattle amongst others. Be wary of the odd giant, but to hell with that guy, just Fus Ro Dah him to let him now he’s not wanted and cut him up if he doesn’t take the hint.

Obviously, I’m just a tad excited, but if you aren’t too, then you are colder and more dead inside than a Dwarven Spider. So go watch the trailer below, calm down and start planning the totally awesome, Skyrim mansion you are going to be building come next week! Might be an idea to take the day off work too.

PC Folk: Your Sleeping Dogs Will Be Prettier Than Mine

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Aug 082012

If you’ve been following Gaming Irresponsibly for the past month, you know I have a strong anticipation for the upcoming United Front game Sleeping Dogs. The reasons why elude me but my faith is strong that the quality of the product will be up to snuff with my anticipations. But, sadly, since I shall be experiencing my Sleeping Dogs on a Xbox 360, I won’t be getting the “PC-specific features.”

“With an array of advanced graphical features on-board, the Windows PC release gives gamers with the hardware bandwidth a host of graphical enhancements, hardware optimisations and support for the latest AMD and Nvidia features.

The high-resolution texture pack updates the game to a new level, bringing eye-watering detail and crisp clear rendering to everything from city skyscrapers to crumbling ancient temples. Another layer of depth is added for gamers running at higher resolutions using increased small object detail to render smaller items of the world from a far greater distance to give an incredible sense of scale and detail. In-game shadows receive a significant upgrade with support for high-resolution shadow textures, high quality shadow filters and support for Screen Space Ambient Occlusion. Sleeping Dogs features performance enhancements for both dual and quad core PC setups, enhanced performance for Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire, support for keyboard and mouse setup (including key mapping) and optimisations for both 3D and multi monitors on both AMD and Nvidia hardware.” – Press release sent out by Square Enix

Thankfully, the PC-specific features are solely visual based and won’t affect the gameplay. Though that doesn’t mar the fact that more beauty in a game is never a bad thing to add, and I’m sure it’s much easier to accomplish on the PC than it is on PS3 or Xbox 360. I’ve always wanted a PC that could run anything and everything but have never been able to acquire one, whether it be due to money issues or just the realization that I’ve got all I want on my consoles. That could change soon though as that PC itch is really starting to get to me.

Either way, what system will you be picking Sleeping Dogs up on? Or are you not picking it up at all? Let us know!

A GameQ Unforgotten: Lollipop Chainsaw

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Aug 032012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

Hello, all. This is Jay Malone here and hopefully by now you’ve seen my work floating around Gaming Irresponsibly. I’ve done my fair share of questionable but enjoyable (at least for me) features around here and it’s time to add another one to the list! In A GameQ Not Forgotten, I will take whatever game is sent out of my current Gamefly Q, play it, and then report back to you guys with my opinion. This is by no means a review; it is me just spouting my random opinion about whatever game I’ve been playing. The catch here is this, you can request a game for me to play and I will play it. I don’t care what game it is, as long as it’s on Gamefly and is for either the PS3 or Xbox 360, I will play it whenever Gamefly can get it to me. You can request a game by emailing me at jaymalone@gamingirresponsibly.com or preferably by posting in the comments below. That would be much easier, correct? Now on with my assessment of Lollipop Chainsaw…

My expectations when diving into Lollipop Chainsaw were rightfully low. I enjoyed No More Heroes 2 and Shadows of the Damned to an extent, but never really fell in love with them like so many other people did. And from seeing all the gameplay videos for Lollipop Chainsaw, I wasn’t excited about the creepy schoolgirl main character, either as I knew it would inevitably lead to awful sexist jokes and her responding with an unknowing giggle.

Sadly, I was correct in that worry and that is nailed in your head from the beginning intro as Juliet introduces you to her life, parents, boyfriend, and most importantly, her chainsaw. Upon her waking up, it’s clear this day is going to go poorly as she is late to meet Nick (aforementioned boyfriend) and on her way there, zombies start eating brains. Have no fear, though because Juliet is a zombie hunter. One of the funniest things in the game takes place early on as Juliet spots Nick being eaten by zombies but refuses to let him die like that. So like every other great girlfriend, cuts his head off and latches it to her hip. Then through unknown rituals, he’s still alive, for better or worse.

The first few hours of Lollipop Chainsaw ended up being one of the most boring few hours of gaming I have ever fought through. The writing would occasionally spew out a funny line, usually from Nick, but most of the time it was just slight sex references or Juliet doing her best to be cute by saying curse words or by referencing Facebook. It just didn’t work and quickly the game felt like a thrown together mess that not even Suda51 would have laid his hands on.

As it slowly progresses, the ridiculous storytelling and characters somehow begin to come together and form a likable game. Not even I can explain why or how I eventually became attached to the Nick/Juliet relationship or how I actually cared if we left Nick’s head in a mailbox or not. It’s a stupid thing to care about but dammit I did.

The boss fights are typical video game bossfights. Usually three life bars, snarky antagonist being a dick, and ultimately a gruesome, murderous kill that more than likely features some kind of decapitation. While they were all mostly generic, the final boss fight in the game had some style and excitement that was not processed earlier on in the game. While all the bosses have a bit of character to them, whether it’s their personality or the arena they force you to fight in, none of them, apart from the final fight, become extremely entertaining and instead stay on the line of mediocrity.

Just like in every other action adventure game, the combo system is everything. That is definitely the case in Lollipop Chainsaw as there seems to be near one hundred separate combos for you to unlock and then purchase in the store. The only real issue was the fact that once you find that right combo (mine was the one where Juliet spins on the ground, taking out every zombie’s legs), the others don’t really matter. I found myself hammering on the light attack then busting out my one combo upon the beginning of almost every encounter. I did occasionally dabble into more combos, seeing how they worked and responded and they all seem fine. None of them are too difficult to achieve nor are any of them completely useless. The controls for activating the combos are swift and quick and can be done simply by pressing X and Y in a certain order.

Though it is small, that doesn’t change the fact that apart from the mostly likable characters, my favorite thing about Lollipop Chainsaw is the music. The reason it isn’t my favorite thing is due to one thing: Japanese Screamo that breaks out whenever the zombie chopping begins. But when a man isn’t yelling about wanting to sex the devil up, glorious songs such as Lollipop and You’re So Fine (Hey Mickey) are playing and nothing can beat the atmosphere they set up.

From a gameplay standpoint, the biggest issue with Lollipop Chainsaw is that there really isn’t much to it, apart from the combos. The game introduces new attacks to do with Nick’s head (such as shooting it out and stunning all zombies in its path) after every level but none of which change the gameplay enough to keep the combat encounters fresh. You find yourself running into almost all of what the game has to offer within the first hour. On top of that, Lollipop Chainsaw is just barely 5 hours long, making it feel like more of an Xbox Live Arcade game than a full retail release.

There’s no arguing that Lollipop Chainsaw is one decisive game. There are people that love it and just as many people that hate it. I found myself falling in the middle of those groups, admiring the intriguing storytelling and occasionally comedic writing, while still being offended and disgusted at every turn with how the game treats women. It’s hard to recommend Lollipop Chainsaw as it is offensive, short, and rather dull but on the other hand, it eventually all comes together and makes one cohesive and absurd experience that you have to see to believe.

So what did you think of the feature? Or of Lollipop Chainsaw? Also, what game should I play next? Let me know in the comments section!

Current Gamefly Q:

The Amazing Spider-Man
The London Olympic 2012

Review – Deadlight (Xbox 360)

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Aug 012012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

2D action adventure games have not had the largest market in the past few years. Plenty of them are made but only a select few actually stand out and the Summer of Arcade has produced arguably the five best 2D games of this generation in titles such as Splosion Man, Shadow Complex, Limbo, Castle Crashers, and Braid. Deadlight developer, Tequila Works, saw the success of those, mainly Limbo and Shadow Complex, and like any other person with half a brain, hopped at the idea. They knew as well as anybody that if they could produce a good 2D action game and get it into the Summer of Arcade, it would explode in popularity. They’ve already achieved one of those things, what about the other?

You begin Deadlight in a ravaged world, your name being Randall (His friends call him Randy/Wayne), and your goal is clear from the beginning, find your damn daughter and wife! Randall is slowly being torn apart from the inside in pure depression that he cannot hold his family close and the fact that zombies have taken over isn’t helping his issues. While the story starts with you in a small pact, that pact gets torn apart in the opening cutscene as Randall must let the others go on without him, though he promises to meet back up with them eventually.

Most of Deadlight is spent being played all by your lonesome. In Part 2 and Part 3 of the story, major characters are introduced and worked into the gameplay in some fashion but that ultimately becomes more a nuisance than any kind of positive. In Part 2, you spend around one fourth the entire part performing “trials” in a man called The Rat’s underground sewers. This kills any kind of momentum the first part had worked up, forcing you to perform monotonous tasks one right after another, while seemingly never progressing the interesting overarching story.

These trials may have been much more tolerable, however, if the controls weren’t cumbersome to handle. It seems like near every jump you make doesn’t land where you suspect it to, leaving you not knowing where to predict your landing, which obviously can become very frustrating in times where it forces you to land in a certain spot. For example, you have to jump on a floating block in the water, but look out because if you miss, its instant death as Randall can’t swim. You may think you’re going to hit the spot but no, Randall slid a bit, and then fell right into the fiery pit of doom that is deep water. Precision is definitely not Deadlight’s forte.

The platforming isn’t the only feature that experiences some poor controls as so does the combat. While it’s nowhere near as frustrating as the platforming, the combat just feels clunky in every way. Gunplay is simply done aiming with the right stick and firing with the trigger, while you use your melee weapon with B. It sounds simple enough but once zombies get in close, it feels like the melee just doesn’t want to work correctly, hitching up when you press the button and sometimes having the weapon fade through the enemies all together, not even hurting them.

This does bring about one of the more unique and fun things to do in Deadlight which is strategizing how you can avoid the zombies. You can taunt them by using Y and if you use that intelligently, you can manage to get them all wrapped up in one pile and avoid them completely. This adds to an already tense atmosphere that Deadlight establishes early on and doesn’t relinquish until the credits roll.

The atmosphere and overall creepy vibe you feel throughout Deadlight is by far the best thing to be found within this fifteen dollar package. Even when the controls are bugging out a bit or you’re just getting impatient with enemies, you still have a slight bit of fear looming in the back of your head. The anchor of the atmosphere is the moody and dark look Deadlight features. Shadows and dark colors are prevalent in everything you see and whether it’s from flickering lights or not fully revealed enemies, Deadlight will have you squirming back and forth in your seat.

Deadlight features one of the more odd stories I’ve seen in the past few years. There’s nothing obscenely weird about it, it’s the execution and lead up to a mostly dry and disappointing ending that perplexes me. Part 1 establishes a very interesting, ravaged 1980’s world. Zombies have all but taken over everything and there’s nothing you can do about it except for move forward and hope for some positive to emerge. But like I previously mentioned, Act 2 halts that momentum and instead introduces characters that are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Half of Part 2 feels like a sidequest that should have been in a more fully realized Deadlight. Part 3 attempts to regain that excitement but mostly fails all the way up until the cringe worthy ending that will leave you more disappointed than satisfied.

While every game has some unrealized potential in it somewhere, Deadlight had so much that it really saddens me to see it turn out like it has. It never falls off the deep end and becomes terrible by any means, but it never realizes its full potential. While the atmosphere is there, nothing else is quite up to the lofty standards that are placed upon Summer of Arcade releases. Deadlight tried so hard, but failed even harder.

Graphics 75		Audio 65		Gameplay 50
Creativity 65		Execution 50		Offset 60

6.1

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

Jeremy McGrath Donating Funds to Deserving Website

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jul 302012

If you remember correctly, a nice little arcade games was released about a month back enetitled Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad. We then followed that up with an After the Fact where we interviewed the game’s Creative Director, Robb Rinard. But this article is far from about anything we have done here at Gaming Irresponsibly, it’s all about bethematch.com.

As some may or may not know, Jeremy McGrtath’s wife, Kim, was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago. She then beat that, but in May of this year she was diagnosed Leukemia. Because of that diagnosis, she had to endure tons of chemotherapy and more hospital stays than any person should ever be forced to endure. All thanks to bethematch.com, Kim found a bone marrow donor. Because of this, Jeremy McGrath has decided to donate all of his profit from Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad directly towards bethematch.com. McGrath had this to say:

“First, thank you again to everyone who has helped, donated, gotten tested and sent well-wishes to our family. Your responses to my initial call to action have been incredible and the support and love just seems to continue to pour in,” said Jeremy McGrath. “The fact that Kim found a match is really great news for us, but it is our hope that people will still get tested and join the Be the Match Registry. I would also ask that companies that have charitable donation programs and those in the position to do something, please think about making a donation to Be The Match at any time throughout the year. This organization provides a service that literally saves lives every day of the year…it’s pretty amazing.”

You should buy Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad, whether if it’s because you have a good heart or because you just want a good offroad racing game.

Ubisoft Reveals Gamescom Lineup, Lookin’ Good

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jul 252012

While it feels like only days since E3 ended, it’s a fact that Gamescom, the gaming expo held every year in glorious Cologne, Germany, is fast approaching! By fast approaching I mean about three weeks away as the show will be held from August 13-August 15^th and while it isn’t as large as E3, there’s always some spicy business that pops out from that show.

Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft will be attending, along with a huge line of other major publishers, and today Ubisoft revealed their extensive lineup that will be showcased at their booth. They are below:

Assassins Creed 3
Assassins Creed: Liberation
Far Cry 3
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online
Shootmania: Storm
Rabbids Land
Rayman Legends
Sports Connection
Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2013
ZombiU

They will also show extended demos of Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Just Dance 4, The Hip-Hop Dance Experience (Probably great), and The Settlers Online.

I, for one, cannot wait to see more Assassins Creed. While I’m already sold on the game, I just get mushy anytime I see Connor leap off of something and stab someone in the back. Some people call that a problem, I call that advancement in society.

It’ll also be good to see some more Shootmania: Storm and Far Cry, both of which many people are not yet sold on. The most important of their show may be ZombiU, however. Many people need a good Wii U game to hang their hopes on (that isn’t a Mario game) and everyone wants this to be it. But up until this point, there has been nothing shown of ZombiU that could indicate future success, and this being one of the last gaming expos until its release, unless you count TGS, something needs to happen to put this game on everyone’s radar.

That or they’ll just show what they did at E3. Probably this.

Either way, Gamescom should be a fun show this year. Expect many a news story when the show rolls around.

Review – Wreckateer (Xbox 360)

Posted by Jay Malone 1 Response »

Jul 252012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

I’ll be the first to admit that once I saw Wreckateer at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, I dismissed it as a Kinect game that is simply attempting to milk some Angry Birds money. From afar, it seemed to be mostly the same concept, you launch a shot via a catapult, with that shot you must attempt to destroy things and you have multiple shots to achieve this destruction. I will now also admit to being completely wrong, Wreckateer is near nothing like Angry Birds. The only similarity between the two would be that Wreckateer took the idea Angry Birds established, then built onto it and ultimately made it 100 times more enjoyable than simply destroying pigs.

Wreckateer establishes its own little world early on as it introduces you to two good old fellows who work for a mediaeval destruction company, and you’re the newcomer so they are your teachers. And by teachers I mean comedy devices. Sure, they help you through the tutorial but they’re the heart of every interaction found within the game, occasionally popping little slights at each other and making witty comments about the stage you have to destroy. Why are you destroying all these buildings you ask? They’re infested with goblins, why else?

This premise establishes the heart of the whole Wreckateer experience, and that is the shots. The shots range from a simple bomb shot all the way to a split shot which you control by holding your arms out like a bird and navigating four bombs that are in between your left and right hand. Another shot is the Flying Shot, which you control by actually pretending to be a bird. Not necessarily flapping your wings (sadly), but holding your arms out and gliding like an airplane. These shots are activated simply by holding your arms up like you’re the Y in the YMCA. Also, if you muck up a shot real bad you can raise your left hand and call a mulligan, which allows you to redo the shot. Or if you completely messed everything up, raise your right hand to perform a quick restart of the whole level. All of this controls magnificently and is the refreshing and unique flavor that keeps the excitement in Wreckateer going from beginning to end.

One thing I was rather surprised to find was that the length of Wreckateer was quite long. There are ten locations, each holding five levels, which obviously adds up to fifty levels in all. The difficulty doesn’t make Wreckateer any cakewalk, either. You have to at least score bronze on each level and while it may sound simple, later stages force you to perform your shots in a certain way, leaving no room for error. On top of that, finding that certain way takes many failed turns to achieve.

One issue, though it should be fixed before long, was on level 9-5. When I would fail the level and attempt a quick restart or even try to attempt a mulligan during the level, it would not allow me to finish, even if I had lost. So, I had played the level attempting to find exactly what I needed to do for about 30 minutes, then found it. But once I got the bronze I needed, I could not continue on because the game locked up on the last screen, forcing me to restart back to the main menu entirely. I’m thinking this is just an odd bug that will be worked out soon, but if it spreads onto other levels, it could kill the momentum and excitement the game builds up along its lifespan.

The cartoony art style that Wreckateer goes for, and achieves, really highlights the whimsicalness of the whole game. Trolls hang on balloons, wear dresses, etc. and of course, things destroy pretty nicely. It’s not the most beautiful destruction in a game (take a breath, Red Faction Guerilla, you still hold that achievement), but it’s good enough. Also, taking the legs out of a building with a speed shot (shot that fires itself forwards, destroying almost everything in its path) then watching the whole thing topple over, taking out other buildings on its way down, is just as satisfying as you would hope. Once everything does start falling apart, the framerate does take a bit of a hit. This is understandable due to the amount of madness happening on screen but can still be a nuisance at times.

As previously mentioned, most of the Kinect controls work flawlessly in Wreckateer, which is not something you can say for most Kinect games. Launching shots, loading shots, and controlling shots, it all feels great and just how you’d expect. The one issue I found is that once a shot is in the air, you can wave it in different directions using your hands, which is a solid idea, but it’s hampered by the fact that occasionally the Kinect won’t recognize which way you’re swiping, leading it to swipe the wrong way which can completely mess up your shot. This issue isn’t a game breaker but the few times it does arise, it can have you spouting a curse word or two.

Multiplayer in Wreckateer is rather simple, you and a friend get together in one room and take turns destroying your own respective castle, acquiring points along the way in a head to head match. Though it is very simple, it works. Matches typically stay very close until the very end and can be determined by just one wrong move, leaving you to have to think about every shot you take very carefully. I truly wish Iron Galaxy would have developed further onto the multiplayer, though it is fun how it is, but adding more modes which could make for endless hours of goblin destroying.

While this isn’t the hardest thing to achieve, Wreckateer is one of the best Kinect games currently on the market. It’s accessible to all and just plain works, while also being a hell of a good time. It’s not the deepest game, nor is it the most technically proficient, but you’d be crazy to not enjoy the simple but exciting pleasures found within Wreckateer.

Graphics 80		Audio 90		Gameplay 90
Creativity 90		Execution 95		Offset 90

8.9

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

After the Fact: Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jul 242012

Welcome to After the Fact! This is a feature where we will interview a main designer for a game we have reviewed recently. We found this to be a good way for our readers to get in the head of the designer and find out what the overall development company had in mind when setting out to create whatever game the interview is for. It’s also a good way to get some questions the reviewer may have had about the game throughout the review process answered. Below is the first in this series, an interview with 2XL Game’s (developer of Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad’s) Creative Director, Robb Rinard.

1. What compelled you guys to make a downloadable racing game, instead of the typical sixty dollar retail release?

The future of software delivery is all digital. From XBLA and PSN to iTunes and Google Play, small publishers like 2XL Games have the same access to the marketplace and end users as the big publishers like Activision do. It’s great! We’ve been able to self-fund and produce our own games for the past 4 years and grow our company in the process. Smaller cheaper games are the way of the future.

2. How much work did Jeremy McGrath do with the game? Like, perfecting body types of cars, etc.

Jeremy had say in everything we did. We took the opportunity to let him speak to the sport in a way that he knows best so we could recapture what’s so enthralling about offroad racing. It was a pleasure working with him, and the game is better for it.

3. What inspired the excellent controls within Offroad? Did you guys have any hands-on time with actual rally cars?

Going back to our work on Baja: Edge of Control from 2005-2008, we spent years going on trips with some of the top trophy truck guys in the world. We didn’t just go to races, got to spend time both as passengers and behind the wheel of these great machines. That was a fantastic experience I’ll never forget, and definitely had a strong influence on the development of JMO.

4. What were some of the difficulties with making an Arcade game instead of a retail release?

We already had our engine up and running on both Xbox 360 and PS3 at the start of the project, so it was a breeze to develop the title. Don’t get me wrong, making quality is really hard work filled with lots of long days and weeks, but our team knows this space really well and it was a pleasure working with them creating the game. Having Jeremy around the office is always a treat so I can’t really say we had any issues come up that were out of the ordinary. Sometimes, you just have to be thankful things when things work well.

5. Are the tracks in Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad inspired by any real tracks?

No, they are designed by track designer Dave Dwire! Dave is an avid photographer and travels around looking for great scenery that inspires him.

6. What exactly goes into the pricing model? Specifically, does Microsoft and Sony have any decision in the overall price of a game?

We set our own price. First parties may have a recommendation, but it’s ultimately up to decide what’s best. Too high, and people won’t buy, where as too low, and you lose money that you could have been making. We’ll do whatever can get the most people playing, because ultimately, we’re always looking to fund the next exciting project.

7. Was further expanding on the upgrades portion of Offroad ever discussed? Such as earning new parts for cars, etc. IF so, why was it not implemented?

We wanted to keep the game as accessible as possible, yet still have a game that was fully realized. A lot of games these days push to be complicated, and it sometimes comes at the cost of being an inclusive title. Nothing is more fun that playing with friends, and we made sure your friends could jump in and get the hang of the game just fine while still being challenged.us

8. Any possible sequel or DLC in the works?

We’ll continue to expand on the game if it makes sense for our player base. We’re keeping our ears to the ground so that we can support the game as long as it’s being supported by its players.

9. Why were there only two race types within Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad? Was it due simply to budget and deadline issues?

We wanted the game to get straight to the point and be raw fun. Keeping it simple makes it the ultimate pick-up-and-play game.

10. Where does 2XL Games go from here?

We’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline that we’ll be able to speak to soon enough. Keep tuned!

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Update 1.7.3 Available NOW!!!

Posted by iMaccaPro 1 Response »

Jul 132012

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Update

Minecraft for Xbox 360 has been very popular on Xbox Live Arcade and today has had a huge revamp. Update 1.7.3 is the second update sine the game was release in May this year and has quite a few new additions that bring it even closer to the PC version. That said there is still a lot to be added before then.
One huge feature now is the ability to change your charachers skins, you can choose between the 8 default skins one Minecraft Xbox 360 like Steve, Tennis Steve and so on. But the best thing is you can now download Skin Packs from Xbox Live. There is only one pack out at the moment but it holds a massive 40+ skins, from Halo’s Master Chief to the Trials Evolusion Guy and even Banjo from Banjo Kazooie. Each Skin Pack will Contain the 40+ skins for only 160 Microsoft Points…..BARGAIN

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Skin Pack 1

These are the other new features added to 1.7.3:

Added pistons & sticky pistons
Added stackable fences.
Added shears – required to get wool from sheep, and to collect leaf blocks.
TNT needs flint and steel or redstone to detonate.
Redstone wire will now connect to a repeater.
New textures for cobblestone and brick.
Added lighting improvements (brought forward from 1.8.2 update) and snow & rain improvements.
Added a save file cache to improve the speed of displaying the saves list.
Added ban list functionality to allow players to self-ban from levels they feel contain offensive content.
Added a ban list section to the How To Play menus.
Added an option for the host to limit online games to only players in their friends list (no friends of friends).
Added a seed display to the level load screen (requires existing levels to be saved out again to add the display).
Changed the tooltip display setting to in-game tooltip display, so that tooltips always display in menus.
Added the crosshair to the list of things affected by the opacity slider.
On using the quickselect bar, the opacity of the quickselect, tooltips, splitscreen gamertag display, and crosshair will be set to 80, and will fade back down to the user opacity setting after 6 seconds of no quickselect bar use.
Added some more Tips & Trivia to the loading/saving screen display.
Added optional tutorial for pistons and redstone.
Added a self-building bridge to the castle using pistons.
Added some sugar cane, cactii and clay to the world.
Added a few other things for players to discover.

There has also been a few bug fixes but the duplication bug still lies in there somewhere

To download the new update just power up your console and play Minecraft and it’ll do all the hard work for you.

If you don’t own Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition you can purchase it from Xbox Live on your console by searching for Minecraft or you can go here

Review – NCAA Football 13 (Xbox 360)

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jul 112012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

The yearly franchise has returned once again in NCAA Football 13 and coming into this release, it was clear that this year’s installment was not going to be the best in the series. There was no real big feature, apart from the Heisman Challenge, and even that seemed to pretty much be Road to Glory mode but making you play as Barry Sanders or another Heisman favorite. Up to this point, NCAA Football has squeaked by with installments like this, with tiny differences from the previous game in the series, and ultimately made up for it with a hard-hitting, game-changing sequel coming after that. The squeaking by that EA Tiburon has become so skilled at achieving has finally stopped.

There were a few slight adjustments to the actual in-game experience this year, one of those being the ability to lead receivers with your throws. This does add a bit of realism and makes you feel much more in control than previous games did when you were at the QB position. The big problem is that you won’t be using it often, as most of the time it’ll go unnoticed and the time it is noticed is when you accidentally led your receiver into coverage and got a pass picked off because of that. While it’s a slight change, your defense now reads and reacts a bit better to the quarterback. This doesn’t lead to any huge changes, only smoother animations when a ball is picked off.

EA Sports also found it necessary to add an ESPN ticker that runs at the bottom of your screen as you play. During Dynasty mode, this can be helpful at times if you’re wondering how your rival school is doing, or if you just like to keep up with the goings on in the league. But they also added in a studio update that, like real life, sends you away from the game and to a box score of another game for a commentator to tell you how that other game is going. This can become a bit of annoyance, especially if you’re playing at a time when only one game is going on, which then leads to them constantly cutting back to that box score after every touchdown they score. No, I don’t care that Notre Dame is beating Michigan State by 37 points, Rece Davis!

Speaking of Dynasty mode, possibly the best change of the game is to be found there. No it’s not the studio updates nor the fact that EA has given the Purdue Boilermakers a new run-out animation, it’s the changes to recruiting. I’m a recruiting junkie both in real life and in video games so I may be a bit bias in that assessment. Either way, changes to recruiting have been something NCAA fans have been clamoring for years for and while these new additions aren’t all we wanted, they’re a good start. First off, most of the recruiting interface has changed. While it isn’t much nicer by any accounts, it’s a bit easier to navigate and in a game where menu navigation is always awful, any positive is welcome. Second, you can now recruit any player, at any time. While it sounds simple and like it should have been there since the beginning (it should have), this hasn’t happened up until now. This doesn’t mean you start out as the Mean Green North Texans and immediately recruit a five star, but you can at least gain his consideration if you try hard enough. Lastly, you can now fully scout players before offering them a scholarship. In previous games you could always see letter grades in player’s specific stats but not until now could you use an allotted amount of time to scout them and actually see what their overall rating would be going into the season. This also opens up chances to recruit a 3 or 2 star player, scout them, and find out they’re a hidden gem. It adds some real excitement to an otherwise dull recruiting process for some.

Let’s get down to the big thing, the Heisman Challenge mode. This has been the big feature EA Sports has been touting since NCAA Football 13’s announcement. In it, you take control of a former Heisman winner and go through a season, attempting to match their season totals and eventually win the Heisman trophy just like they did. Along the way you can see videos from the player as they give insight to key aspects of their college career. The fact of the matter is that this mode is just not as special as EA Sports wants it to be. Unless you’re a fan of the team one of the athletes played for, your interest in playing through multiple Heisman winners’ seasons is probably rather slim. Even if you are a fan of one of the teams, you’ll only have about one season to play through and even then, why not just create yourself and play Road to the Show? It’s a much more in-depth experience than the Heisman Challenge.

The obvious counter to that would be the fact that you can change any player’s team that he played on in his Heisman run before starting the season. But again, the fact of the matter is, that’s not that interesting. I’m really not that interested in seeing Doug Flutie in a Tennessee Vols uniform, because it probably looks the same as when he is in a USC uniform. EA Tiburon tries to make Heisman Challenge have some variety by adding this in, but instead they fall on their face, just like they did with the mode itself. It’s never an offensive piece of trash, it’s just not fun, and ultimately makes you wonder why it even exists.

Something that was implemented mainly for the Heisman Challenge but also made its way to the Road to Glory mode was “Reaction Time.” If you’re unfamiliar with Road to Glory, it’s where you create your own character, play through some High School ball, get some scholarships, and ultimately land yourself at a college of your choice. From there you practice, practice, practice until ultimately you take over the starting job. This mode has remained mostly unchanged for a few years now and Reaction Time seems to be the biggest change since Road to Glory’s integration. That’s not really a positive, however, as all Reaction Time does is slow down time during the game to allow you to get a better site of the field in front of you. It’s occasionally useful but most of the time it’s the last thing on your mind as you’re attempting to bust through a hole on the offensive line or get that pass down the middle of the field to your receiver that’s probably only going to be open for a few more seconds.

There were a few changes to NCAA Football 13 this year, yes, but how many of them were significant to the overall experience is the question everyone will be asking and that answer is very clear: not many. I, personally, love the recruiting changes, but apart from that, there’s nothing to write home about in this year’s installment. This is the time when EA Tiburon has to step back and realize they need to do something drastically different next year or this franchise is going to fall apart.

Graphics 70		Audio 65		Gameplay 70
Creativity 60		Execution 60		Offset 65

6.5

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

Review – Spec Ops: The Line (Xbox 360)

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jul 102012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

The life of Spec Ops: The Line, up to this point, has been a rather sad story. Many don’t know that Spec Ops was actually a series of games released in the 90’s, then another installment in that franchise was planned to be released in the early 2000’s by Rockstar but eventually Take-Two confirmed the game had been cancelled. The Line was unveiled at the Spike VGA’s a few years back (that’s pretty sad in and of itself), and since then it had garnered quite a bit of hype before getting a private multiplayer beta and quickly becoming MIA after the beta concluded. Many wondered if the game was cancelled, thankfully, it was not.

The overall idea since Spec Ops was re-announced in 2009 was to deliver you a hard-hitting third person action experience but with an intriguing storytelling twist. Achieving one of the two isn’t all that bad. The storytelling twist ultimately boils down to simple moral choices, minus the moral part. There never seems to be a right or wrong choice no matter what the situation. It always boils down to how bad do you want mess things up in the crumbling city of Dubai? The actual goal for Spec Ops: The Line seems to be to make you feel like complete shit by the time the credits roll. It succeeds.

Spec Ops forcefully inserts you into this terrifying world by introducing you through a rather lackluster controlled helicopter/turret sequence, from there the main character through this journey, Walker (voiced by the always excellent Nolan North), and his two squad mates set out on a journey into the heart of Dubai just to find out what is going on there. The 33^rd, a group of American soldiers, has been silent for a while now and it’s your job to find out the details behind it all. From there, Spec Ops breaks the early boredom from the turret sequence by beginning a rather intriguing story, filled with questions as to who is actually doing right here, who’s wrong, who’s alive, and really, what the hell is happening?

One of the things you quickly pick up on is the fact that Spec Ops looks rather bland. Nothing pops apart from the huge amount of sand, and sand isn’t necessarily the most beautiful piece of art on the planet. Every texture looks like it needed a bit more work and the animations for sprinting and getting in and out of cover are just way too slow. It deadens the attempt at some excitement during the combat. The slight bright spot is the attention to detail on the characters. Throughout the game, some pretty rough things happen to you and your squad, which is clearly reflected by the look on one another’s faces and your actual appearance. Your suit gets torn up, your face bleeds and the blood dries, and most importantly, as your sanity decreases, you can tell just by facial expressions.

The previously mentioned combat is similar to the looks of the game; it leaves quite a bit to be desired. While the actual mechanics aren’t too bad (apart from the aforementioned animation issues), the sound of the weapons and the lack of kick you experience when using them really dampens the whole experience. There is also some lazily introduced squad mechanics such as marking a target for your squad mates to take out. Apart from that, the squad mechanics are non-existent. While this is definitely not the case, it seems as if the guys at Yager (developers of Spec-Ops) forgot the squad mechanics were even implemented and never attempted fleshed them out further. The combat is not awful, nor is it bad. It’s mostly there with the sole purpose of continuing an expanding story.

Spec Ops, like it or not, has multiplayer in it. The mediocrity of the combat and overall ugly design (for some reason, the game looks even worse in multiplayer) makes for one mess of a multiplayer experience. The level design is disjointed and confusing, the modes are generic, and you have about as high of chances of finding someone online to play with as you do actually having fun when you do find a few people. It’s clear that multiplayer was far from Yager’s mind as they went through the development process. Plain and simple, multiplayer should have been cut from Spec-Ops all together.

The “not great but not bad” mantra is something that applies to almost (with the exception of the multiplayer) every inch of Spec Ops.. It’s the storytelling and the unique story itself that made me actually enjoy my time with Spec Ops. It makes you constantly feel a sense of regret and sadness that no other game, let a long a shooter, can make you feel. While you won’t be technically impressed with Spec Ops, it deserves to be played just to experience the emotional rollercoaster that is the campaign. In a world filled with boring, mindless shooters that simply rely on getting to the next combat encounter, Spec Ops is just what the doctor ordered to garner some more interest in the genre.

Graphics 70		Audio 65		Gameplay 70
Creativity 80		Execution 80		Offset 75

7.3

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

Xbox Live Down, Microsoft Investigating Cause

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jul 062012

If you’re trying to download the newest Xbox Live Arcade release Spelunky, I have some bad news for you. Xbox Live is down and has been for a few hours. The worst part of this story is that it isn’t a scheduled maintenance, Microsoft has said they’re “investigating” the Xbox Live outage. In a world pre the PS3’s two month long death, you’ll have to forgive the gaming community for getting a little freaked out at this point.

At this point, what I previously posted is about all Microsoft has said. They’re looking in to the problem and, of course, “”We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.”

If it stops people from buying Spelunky for too long, you will not be forgiven, Microsoft.

Review – Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad (Xbox 360)

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jun 282012

-Error reading from ESRB datastream-
Please visit ESRB.org for rating information.

Good arcade racing games are becoming tougher and tougher to find. Apart from the piece of art that was the Yaris sponsored racing game, there isn’t a whole lot of racing to find your way into if you’re not willing to pay full retail price for a game. Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad has arrived and is doing its best to fix that problem. The biggest possible issue with a downloadable racing game, especially one that is trying to be as realistic and detailed as Offroad is, is the fact that if the developer (2XL Games) spent most of their budget detailing the look of the cars and the environment, the actual gameplay may lack. Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad does its best to get around these issues, but does it succeed?

The main way Offroad attempts to navigate the problems in producing a deep ten dollar racing game is the explosion of beautiful terrain, cars, and maps. The terrain is the star of the show; however, as each environment you race in is as beautiful as anything you’d see in a DiRT or Forza game. No matter if you’re racing in the jungle, snow, or dessert, your eyes will be overflowing with beauty to digest. The only issue is clipping through bits of the terrain like arose plants and cacti. That being said, you can still destroy gates and fences placed strategically throughout the course and these obstacles can be a fun way to grief friends or other AI. They also don’t look too shabby being ran over by a truck going 140 MPH.

The cars in the game, however, leave a little to be desired. You have five separate classes to choose from, ranging from rally cars to pro lite trucks. From there you choose which real life sponsor you want to color out your car (Monster Energy Drink, etc.) There’s nothing excruciatingly bad about the vehicles, it just would have been nice to add a bit of customization that wasn’t just selecting your own sponsor. Maybe let us throw our own color or decals on it?

McGrath’s Offroad quickly introduces you to the three modes you’ll find your time being sank into, arcade, career, and online. Those choices are no surprise but only hammer down the lack of creativity and uniqueness found within Offroad that isn’t the look or controls. In career mode you have 23 races to go through, lasting about two hours in total. Though it’s only two hours of racing, the fact that you only have two race types to perform in (normal circuit and a point to point solo race against other peoples times) is very disheartening and while you can make it through the two hours without being sick of what the game has to offer, some variety would’ve definitely helped out in the long run.

One make or break thing within all racing games are the controls. The heart and soul of racing games is the controls and if you mess them up, your game immediately falls by the wayside. Thankfully, Offroad is far away from being pushed to the wayside. Its controls show a bit of uniqueness that other racing games don’t have, the tightness you experience when you turn and the looseness experienced when you’re going all out on a straight road. The creativity may be a bit disappointing but the well-crafted controls and the way they suck you deeper into a race is not.

One thing Offroad adds to the picture that some other racing games do not have is the ability to earn XP throughout a race and ultimately upgrade the speed, braking, etc. of your favorite sponsored car. The issue is they never go any further than that as this feature becomes less enticing as the game goes on and you become loaded with XP. If it would’ve been executed on further, the XP and upgrade system could’ve added a ton of depth to this game, but as it is, it’s just another bullet point for 2XL Games to say they have.

Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad is a ten dollar arcade game that seems so close to being a solid 40 maybe even 60 dollar full retail game .The art and controls are top notch and as good as you can find in any racing game out there currently. But the lacks of depth and replay value diminish the positives overtime. Diminished or not, the positives are more than enough for me to recommend this ten dollar experience to everyone, even if it won’t last you as long as some other racers will.

Graphics 85		Audio 80		Gameplay 80
Creativity 70		Execution 75		Offset 75

7.8

How do these ratings work? Click here for descriptions!

Amazon Deals Strike Down Price of Witcher 2 and Max Payne 3

Posted by Jay Malone No Responses »

Jun 262012

Amazon has decided to spit out some rather impressive video game deals today. Though two are already expired (Spider Man: Edge of Time for 10 bucks and a Turtle Beach Ear Force X32 headset for 65 bucks) one that is still going and will be going until 4 o’ clock eastern time is the deal to pick up The Witcher 2 for 47 dollars. For the ridiculous amount of hours you could spend with that game, 47 dollars is far from a bad deal.

Another deal that will continue on until the end of the day is Max Payne 3 being sold for the low, low price of $39.99. Some could argue that with the mediocre multiplayer Max Payne 3’s eight hour campaign may not warrant a 40 dollar purchase but you can make that decision yourself.

Also appearing in the deals today appear to be multiple Playstation Vita accessories, the special edition of the Game of Thrones game, and another headset for PS3. If you only pick up one thing out of all this, though it isn’t a huge markdown, it’s hard to argue with The Witcher 2.

Older Entries