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DC Universe Online Beta Preview – Journal Part 1

December 20, 2010

DC Universe Online
Developer(s) Sony Online Entertainment – Austin
Publisher(s) Sony Online Entertainment
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, PC
Release date(s) February 15, 2011
Genre(s) MMO
Mode(s) Multi-player Online only
Rating(s) ESRB: T
Difficulty: Medium Rare

Levels 1-10

I finally got my BETA keys just before the weekend and spent quite a few hours on the DCUO PC servers questing, PvPing and hilarious ganking ofcourse. Running around and ruining the general gaming experience of others in latex has never been so much fun. After quite a large download (13 gigs) overnight I was ready to create some sort of anti-villain. Initially I was going to test the BETA on the PS3 (check details below to win a PS3 Beta key), but after a quick twitter search I found people complaining about frequent crashes, so I’ll pass for now otherwise I’d be ranting about my broken PS3 control from throwing it etc etc. However I will be downloading the PS3 version tonight so we can get some comparisons going later on, it’d be nice if they ran off the same servers, but people are already trying to get that happening through a petition directed at Sony. By the way I’m writing this by level and experience as I go on. I rolled a villain, the jokers my mentor; I chose the sorcery powerset (healing) and two-handed weapons! It’s basically a big F off hammer… I look like a Sleazy Paladin!

Once you’ve started up the game a rather impressive war-torn cinematic is shown to explain the story, whilst this is appreciated and rather well done, I couldn’t help but feel that the time travel concept was a little vague. I’m assuming it’s because I’m not well read in comics, other than that the plot has a nice way of inserting new heroes from the planet into the mix. It’s biological baby, and once Lex Luther has finished explaining the prelude, the character creation fades in.

Obviously this has to be no less than awesome, initially I wasn’t too impressed by the some of the offerings, but it’s the changes you can make in game later that are the real winner. Not once did I see anyone looking similar, and that’s what people are looking for. The creation process is pretty slick, and it took me about 20mins to make my villain, but I imagine people will spend more time with the amount of customization here. You can choose to create your character from other iconic heroes, which act as templates, or customize it yourself. Some of the presets to choose from in custom are pretty lame, and I don’t know why anyone would choose these, but I doubt anyone will keep their initial masterpiece. Mostly because having the option to change your appearance based on any new item is too much fun, it’s irresistable and collecting styles is a neat idea for the players future. It’s quite a versatile way of customizing and provides alot of control over your appearance, all the way through the game. And assuming the “market” which is currently unreleased in game will add to these styles even more, the wealth of options here is impressive.

I haven’t had the chance to play every single class yet, so I won’t pretend to know their differences and game-breaking abilities, but impressions so far seem promising. PvP combat is available in the first 10 levels, it works by letting you play iconic characters such as batman, robin, huntress and superman etc based on your level, you unlock different characters as the game goes on. They come with preset moves and it’s matter of learning their strength’s and vulnerabilities, my first experience was frantic to say the least. This is a fast paced game and it seems alot of it works around stuns, which can be broken out of by holding down shift. Who is the best at stunning the crap out of each other? As I said I haven’t had the chance to play all different characters (only level 10!), but these are the impressions I get, and the pace of combat definitely enjoyable. How this works in terms of strategy is beyond my level of play experience so far, but I wasn’t the only one as everyone seemed to have no idea.

PVE combat was quite addictive, that has to be a good thing right? The first quest to escape Brianiac’s ship was a good introduction and explained the ropes quickly. Based on my experience with previous games in the genre, the combat feels like a mix between Diablo, WoW and PSO. You spend quite abit of your time clicking to timed combinations and other abilities are set to the hotbar below. It might not sound like anything particularly new, but it’s definitely fun because the fast pace and variety of abilities/stuns keeps things interesting. Not to mention the travelling, which gives you three options at the creation screen, flying, acrobatics or super-speed. Thanks to this, moving around cities and questing never feels like a drag, and later on the option to level up movement speed and other combat related benefits is much appreciated.

You could quite easily level solo to the cap, which is probably a good thing, because right now the social implementation isn’t too great. There’s too many presumptions the player has to make to interact with people around them, such as knowing to type /shout to chat to everyone around or /group for the group. It doesn’t help that the text is all the same colour; the lack of differentiation between the channels can be off-putting and requires too much focus. Most people playing the Beta probably know this sort of thing, but a novice MMO player would have no idea (your hot girlfriend for example).

"I'll catch that targeting circle if it's the last thing I do!"

The friend’s list is also something to be desired, once again lacking in simplicity and explanation. None of it feels very user-friendly, however this is the BETA, so hopefully grouping and interacting with other players is streamlined as time goes on. The UI does work well enough, but it can be quite sluggish at times and needs improving, especially if your connections lagging. I know SOE are trying their best to have something that works on both PC and PS3, so here’s hoping it can be pulled off. But right now, I don’t even know how or if I can inspect another player. I could Google it, but that’s cheating.

Performance wise the game hasn’t been running too bad, my PC is decent enough (awesome 3 years ago) and occasionally when things are crazy the game chugs. Considering how good the game looks running on the unreal engine, with solid art direction and detailed environments, it’s not too bad. For instance twice when I’ve been going nuts on mini-bosses I’ve ended up swinging myself upwards and into the air. Either this is a targeting issue or the games having trouble keeping up. I’ve chosen the two-handed weapon option so it could be an issue with that set, or it’s just me. But it was a little frustrating when I’m about to kill a boss, then all of a sudden I’m in the air off target (cue keyboard hulk smash). However later on I was forgiving this bad glitch, as I found a new entertaining one, which all worked in my favour. After playing some PvP as batman I was left with all he’s moves on my hotbar, this resulted in being able to one-shot players/mobs. I was also left with the same amount of HP, what do you think I did? I went straight to the heroes spawn point in Gotham and unleashed hell. I’m pretty sure I started all out war, but it was worth it while it lasted, obviously I’ve neglected to report this bug to SOE yet. Hopefully it happens again, it was very satisfying.

"Much like your first GF, it looks pretty, but looks can be deceiving"

The first 10 levels have definitely been enjoyable, and DCUO has a vibrant charm to the world, a certain something that sucks you in. You’ll notice I didn’t go into too much depth about trees or the way you level skills, that’s because it opens up at level 10 when class powers come into play. It’s being saved for next time, along with PS3 testing, PS3 control plugged into PC testing and much more! Do yourself a favour if you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber, download the BETA and play this fun filled game. I just hope they’ve fixed the crashing. If you’re already playing it on the PC, let us know down the bottom.

Don’t have Playstation Plus? No worries, we’ve got you covered. For your chance to win a PS3 Beta Key for Christmas, post a comment below with your heroes/villains name and why you’d choose that particular name. I’ll pick the weiner… ahh winner before Christmas.

Razer Announce the new Razer Scarab…

Dustin Spencer

December 20, 2010

Razer is known for making high end PC-gaming products without a doubt, but the company is destined to take their highly popular Razer Destructor, a high quality mouse mat to the next level with the newly announced Razer Scarab. What makes this interesting is that Razer are actually promoting this product as more of a sequel to the original Destructor mat to better compliment present and future products from the company.

Here is an official statement from Razer on the release of the Scarab:

“With this sequel, we focused on enhancing the Fractal surface coating so that gamers will improve their game even further. It’s all you need to win in life,” said Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff, president of Razer USA, “And in PC games of course. The Razer Scarab is for gamers who prefer hard surfaces, high performance areas, effortless swipes and absolute tracking.”

Alexey “Cypher” Yanusheuski of Team Serious Gaming, world champion in Quake Live said of the Scarab, “A mat like this makes keeping up with the high intensity of Quake easy. I look forward to further improving my rocket jump technique and upping my frag count.”

Olga “Pachella” Pak, Counter-strike 1.6 world champion with Team Mousesports said, “Razer paid special attention to the needs of FPS gamers when developing this; improving accuracy and now the Scarab is an indispensable accessory to complement my high-dpi gaming mouse.”

What makes the Scarab the awesome mat it is comes down to Razer’s Fractal 2.0 surface coating. It establishes a highly responsive and uniform tracking system perfect for optical and laser mice sensors. It’s been finely-tuned to balance between speed and control to help acquire targets more accurately.

Razer even included a lightweight carrying case that not only protects the Scarab, but is a sweet folio to store documents for your job as a tax accountant by day, l33t gamer by night. It even looks great, guaranteed to turn heads at the next LAN party you destroy.

Features Include:

Fractal 2.0 surface coating for high performance

Optimal performance for both laser and optical

Hard mouse mat providing precise tracking

Improved rubber base for greater stability

Large size suited for most gaming environments: 350(L) x 250(W) x 3(H)mm

Reinforced carrying case for optimal stowing

A feeling of awesomeness during usage

Nothing like another top of the line product from Razer to end the year and for those looking for the perfect (quite literally) mouse mat for their gaming needs, it seems that you can look no further than the Scarab. The Scarab releases on Jan. 1st of 2011 at a AU price of $59.99. For more information about the Razer Scarab, please visit www.razerzone.com/scarab.

FarmVille for Dummies available for preorder

J. Bradshaw

December 20, 2010

So you are getting all these requests to play FarmVille on Facebook and people keep talking about it. “How do I get a piece of that action?” you may ask. Well, Angela Morales and Gamasutra writer Kyle Orland have your answer. FarmVille for Dummies can help you:

Find neighbors and interact with them
Purchase Farm Cash and Farm Coins
Shop at the FarmVille Market
Earn ribbons and construct buildings
Choose a profession
Be a co-op farmer
Deal with technical issues

No, we won’t make fun of you if you buy it, but just make sure to tell ’em we sent you and that it is for your ailing grandfather.

Buy it here.

Quake Arena Arcade Review

J. Bradshaw

December 20, 2010

Game: Quake Arena Arcade
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points
Publisher/Developer: Bethesda Softworks/ id Software
Console: Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
Genre: Shooter

Although I was too young to ever play the original Quake series, it is hard to be a part of the video game industry without eventually hearing how it was a start in the right direction for the first person shooter genre. And now, after much outcry from the fan base, Quake has been recreated on the Xbox Live Marketplace. How does it fare in today’s market? Does it live up to the standards it set back in the day?

Story

Evil overlords like to watch fighting matches. And you just happen to be a gladiator. And what is this? Those terrible rulers also have resurrection powers so that I can die as much as I want? Sweet! Sign me up!

Yup, that is about it. Go in an arena and fight different characters. Repeat. As far as story goes, this is not an emotional, character driven story. The back stories of each character are interesting, but not very deep. Even the motivations of the overlords could be greatly expanded. Really, though, all I am saying is that it might have been nice to learn more about the people I was playing with, but hey, this is a shooter. What is more, this is Quake. Do I really need a gripping reason to shoot exotic gladiators with a variety of powerful weapons? No.

Gameplay

The biggest complaint to be had with the gameplay is the controls. The analog sticks are simply not accurate enough to keep up. Having never experienced this game, I was shocked at how fast everything moved. I was able to get used to it, but wow was it mind blowing. After doing some research, I found that a free, ad supported verison of Quake is available to play online, and I have a feeling that the more accurate mouse/keypad controls make the game much better. But if you only have an Xbox or you enjoy your Xbox Live multiplayer experience more, then you will probably want to buy some Microsoft Points, as this game is very fun once you get over the controls.

If you are a history junkie, then you will love to see how much Quake inspired the shooters of today. As soon as I started it up, I was reminded of Halo. However, it is also very different. Some people may get angry over the antiquated design. For example, there is no regenerating health and and there is no kind of sticky reticule. It all depends on luck and reflexes. And of course, many people will absolutely love that. For old school activists and reflex purists, this game is pure heaven. For newer players though, the constant deaths, super fast action and emphasis on luck of the draw will soon get frustrating and tedious. Not to mention the fact that many of the arenas start to look similar and boring.

For most, the multiplayer modes in the game will be their bread and butter. Something about playing with actual people and predicting their random moves is just great. The single player in the game is much more like a training game for the multiplayer part. If you are looking for a first person multiplayer thrill on the cheap, then this is the way to go. That is, if you can find any people playing online. Other than finding it difficult to find players, the worst part of the online is that it got old for me really fast. There is none of that super addictive feeling that I have with games such as Halo Reach. It feels as though it was much more exciting 10 years ago, which it probably was. But most people will probably really enjoy it and keep playing it anyway. Just beware that you should not expect a game with all the bells and whistles of today’s FPS market.

Graphics and Audio

Graphics have been rendered in high definition and overall, this is a great looking game. I was especially impressed by the texture work done in the game. The bad part about the graphics is that explosions are a little boring and I hate having the view so close to the floor. Those are pretty minor complaints though.

Audio, in a nutshell, is just there. If you could create a mixture of unoriginal sound effects and terrifically overused audio, then you would get the general idea.

Overview

As I mentioned, a variation of this game is available online for free. So, a fifteen dollar price tag is a little steep, especially considering that the multi-player is the main reason to get it. However, considering that you are getting an arcade game with multi-player and single-player for a 1/4 of the price of most first person shooters, then this is a good game. Just be sure you have people on your friend list that also have the game and that you don’t mind super twitchy gameplay.

I give Quake Arena Arcade:

What I Want For Christmas : An iPad Satire

Steven Good

December 20, 2010

What I Want For Christmas : An iPad Satire

I want to revolutionize my day to day life. I want to surf the web and listen to music; all at the same time. I want to be able to play amazing games such as God of War and Halo while I’m waiting in line at Jamba Juice. I want to read my favorite Dr. Seuss book on a plane, on a train, or even sitting in the rain; without the fear of my book getting wet. This Christmas, I want an iPad.

I want something that will help me live my life. When I wake up in the morning, my alarm app on my iPad will wake me promptly at 6:00 A.M., and require me to solve puzzles to turn it off. After going to the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I will check my iPad for the weather forecast to decide what clothes to wear for that day. I will then read the New York Times or watch television on my iPad while I eat breakfast, while also checking my e-mail and ensuring that I have the required assignments for that day to turn in. I will then get in my car and drive off to school.

When I am driving, I want my iPad to function as a steering wheel, using its accelerometer to turn with ease. When I drive in my car with my iPad, I want to use my iPad to take calls with its 3G. While I am steering with my iPad, I want a second iPad on the divider next to me so I am able to switch gears and turn on and off the AC, headlights, windshield wipers, and engine. When I exit the car and head to school, I shall take my first iPad with me, lock the car by connecting my iPad wirelessly to my other iPad, which will then connect with the car.
My first class of the day being P.E., I want my iPad to be completely theft-proof. I will put my iPad in my locker, with my Fingerprint Identification application on. Although the Fingerprint app does not actually scan fingerprints, it emits a loud, beeping noise when someone tries to put their fingers on it. I also want my iPad to be made out of unbreakable steel and bulletproof glass, so when the potential thief drops my iPad in fright, my iPad will be perfectly fine.

My iPad will completely replace any materials I might need to succeed in school. When I need to turn in an assignment for school I can either show the teacher the assignment in class or e-mail it to them wirelessly so they can read in depth. When reading an in-class packet, instead of wasting paper to print it on, my teacher can send me the packet and I can read, highlight and annotate it on my iPad. When we need to check out a book to read as a class, I can buy the book from the Apple E-Book Store and have it on my iPad forever. In Math class, I can use my iPad as a graphing calculator, and also get tips on how to solve the problems on hotmath.com with the built-in internet browser. In Piano class, due to the large size of my iPad, I can play the piano app on my iPad with the music on the floor in front of me. Plus, unlike the pianos at our school, my iPad supports mostly all headphone plugs, allowing me to practice my songs without annoying anyone else.
I want my iPad to function in my extracurricular life also. When I work out, I will not need weights to lift weights, I can just change the weight of my iPad through an app, and use that as a weight. To see how fit I am after my workout, I can use my iPad as a scale to measure both my weight and my body mass index. When I get home, after finishing typing up my homework on my iPad, I can play games online with my friends. We can play thirteen, speed, spades, hearts, slapjack; any card game that we can think of, we can play. Of course, when my friends aren’t over, I can read a book, play some solitaire, chat online, and play one of the hundreds of thousands of games available for my iPad. And when I am ready to go to sleep, I set my Sleep Cycle Alarm app to wake me during my lightest sleep cycle so I can feel refreshed in the morning and start my day all over again. I want an iPad because, no matter what life requires, there is an app for that.

N.O.V.A 2 – iPhone Review

Philip Federico

December 19, 2010

N.O.V.A 2
Genre: Action / FPS
Publisher: Gameloft
Developer: Gameloft
Released: 15 December
Price: (AU)$8.99 (US) $6.99
BUY NOW

Having had the opportunity to get my hands on the preview build of NOVA 2, I was eager to get my hands on the finish product. I am very positive in saying that this could possibly be Gameloft’s finest game of 2010. Watching the jaw dropping high definition intro movie totally grabbed my attention and had me pumped up to get stuck into the action once again and save the universe this time from the clutches of an alien race called the Volterites. To give you a brief rundown of the story NOVA 2 takes place 6 years after the events depicted in NOVA. Humanity has been thrown into a civil war fought on one side by the central government of the Terran Orbitals and the Human Alien Alliance. Our hero Kal Wardin has once again retired and is now loving life living on the desert planet of Scorpius, amongst the villagers of that colony. As you know war never spares even the most peaceful of places and poor old Kal is called back to fight once again.

I have to say that straight off the bat NOVA 2 has to be one of the most visually stunning FPS I have seen on the Apple iPhone. The amount of detail that has gone into the level designs, character models and environments is outstanding. Gameloft has really hit the nail right on the head taking full advantage of the iPhones retina display.

After a dramatic video intro, the first level has you crash landing on an unknown beach. Here you’re taken through a quick tutorial and can select the type of control system that best suits your play style. Even though I’m still not used to it – I would totally recommend using the Gyrometric control system. This makes gameplay much easier as you can keep one thumb on the control pad and one on the fire button without having to take one thumb off either to aim and then return it back to shoot or move. Once you get the hang of aiming with it, taking down those pesky aliens will be walk in the park. Well not necessarily, aiming is one thing but ultimately you’re going to have to use wit and skill to outsmart what looks like much improved AI enemies.

Speaking of AI the first real threat in the game appears pretty much as soon as take a few steps onto the beach. Known as a Volterite Psycher, this monstrosity uses an invisibility cloak and has the ability to pick up and throw large objects your way using its psychic telekinetic abilities. But don’t worry Captain Kal Wardin has a few tricks up his sleeve to combat this deadly foe and any other enemy that comes his way. Returning is his electromagnetic freeze pulse that will allow you to freeze enemies in their tracks, temporarily allowing you to plow into them with a barrage of bullets. Kal also has 2 new special powers obtained during the game, one is neat new melee attack you can select by switching between the electromagnetic pulse attack that allows you to use some sort of disc style blade. On regular enemies like the Red Fury Troopers one slice of this deadly looking weapon will end their pitiful existence. The second is a Slow time power – when activated the whole world around you is slowed down and you can get stuck into whoever’s been caught in the time freeze.

There are some ultra-cool weapons at your disposal in the game to pick up and use throughout the game. Some of the Alien style weaponry were a complete BLAST to use, and handled very well especially the Plasma Gun, Lightening Gun and the Rail Gun (sorry not going to tell you what they do – no spoilers) The standard weapons are back like the assault rifle, you now have dual pistols as your lower end weapon, the snipers looks and feels the same as it did in the first one, an awesome automatic shotgun, a grenade launcher, a gun that looks very similar to the “Hammer Of Dawn” but drops sentry guns and a heat seeking rocket launcher that was very useful when taking down huge robotic mechas hell bent on blowing you into smithereens. There are a few more weapons but I’ll let you discover them out for yourselves once you buy the game.

The action is always full on, there is never a dull moment to be had. Take for example on just the second level you get jump in and control a huge robotic mech as you try and make your escape. The mech looks, sounds, feels and controls beautifully and is also great fun to use with its high powered Gatling gun and missile launcher making light work of enemies trying to take you down. Also making a return is the hacking mini game used to unlock doors or special weapon containers through the game. The object of the mini game is to manoeuvre a moving orb (key) from its starting position to a unlock port. Once it reaches that port you successfully have hacked the door or weapons container. Along the way there are blocks and rotating blocks you can use to make sure the orb bounces of each one correctly so it can make its way safely to its docking port. Fail to keep the orb in play will result in damage to your suit and you will need to re-hack the system all over again.

Also scattered in hidden locations throughout the game are special CR credit orbs. Collecting these orbs will allow you to upgrade your weapons, health and a variety of other cool stuff at the end of each level. This new feature within the game will make players do a little bit of searching around the levels to find these orbs as purchasing the upgrades will not be cheap but will be well worth it if you can afford it.

The campaign has a total twelve levels taking you to several orbitals = planets with various settings, each level will take you on average approx. 30 to 45 mins to complete depending on the difficulty level. A neat little feature thrown into the menu system is the ability to check out and read back the log communication conversations that have occurred during the level. You’ll also be able to see all the achievements that can be obtained in that level. This is great for all you achievement junkies out there as you’ll be able to quickly and easily see what you have to do unlock them without going into Gameloft Live to read them.

NOVA 2 also has multiplayer, the game supports up to 10 players online compared to only 4 with the original NOVA. Along with a new ranking and PERK system, there are five different modes: Capture the flag, deathmatch and team deathmatch, Freeze Tag and Instagib. There is also an Exclusive multiplayer reward that automatically unlocks for veteran players who have played the first N.O.V.A. This is called: The BAGS ( Bass Ass Gold Suit), veteran players will also start with an advanced ranking that will automatically unlock advanced weapons and a special achievement. So if you want these cool rewards go out and download N.O.V.A right now from the iTunes store.

Included with this review is a video gameplay review taking you through the basics and also how multiplayer works. Please take the time check it out below :

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLTl6oXR0d8[/pro-player]

NOVA 2 looks and feels like nothing I have ever seen before on the Apple iPhone. With upgraded controls, graphically enhanced visuals, intelligent AI, an amazing array of new weapons.. PLUS you get to drive vehicles and control HUGE Mechs plus much more !! Kal will also be able ride motorbikes, and shoot from a running jeep. If you craving a new FPS to take with you everywhere you go then NOVA 2 will be the game for you.

Deployment into Orbital is now available via the iTunes store !! Grab this now for Christmas and don’t look back.

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X-Men Arcade – XBLA Review

Dylan Radcliffe

December 19, 2010

Game Name: X-Men Arcade
Platforms: Xbox 360
Publisher(s): Konami Digital Entertainment
Developer(s): Backbone Entertainment
Genre(s): Action & Adventure
Release Date: 12/15/2010
ESRB Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+)
Price: 800MSP ($10 USD)
Demo: Add the demo to your download queue here.

Story
“Experience the classic 1992 X-Men arcade game right in the comfort of your own home! Choose from some of your favorite classic X-Men characters including: Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, or Dazzler. Fight your way through hundreds of Sentinels and battle classic super villains such as Pyro, The Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, Mystique and the Master of Magnetism himself, Magneto!” [Via Xbox.com]

Relive your fond childhood memories as you play the classic 1992 X-men game on your consoles. There is no need to worry if you have enough quarters, just nonstop classic beat ’em up goodness with 6 of the well known X-men characters facing off against many of the famous villains and a multitude of minions. This game is known as both “X-men Arcade” and just “X-men”; however, to alleviate any confusion I am going to continue calling it X-men Arcade.

Gameplay
The game is a very basic beat ’em up game where you use one of 6 characters to fight through Magneto’s minions and get to Magneto himself to kick his butt. Use Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, or Dazzler to progress through the 8 levels by beating everyone up. Since normally this game would require you to put in quarters every time you die, it has become infinitely easy to beat completely just by continuing (for free) constantly. The game is also incredibly short and only takes about 30 minutes to beat on your first try. There are added difficulties, but with infinite continues it isn’t that difficult.

As a fan service, you can select from two separate ROMs just as if you were selecting between two separate arcade machines. The first ROM is the English version, while the second is the Japanese version. These two ROMs are incredibly familiar and only have slight alterations within them. The most notable is the fact that the Japanese ROM has Japanese subtitles. The next difference has to do with your mutant powers. In the Japanese ROM while playing co-op, you are able to find energy pills dropped by slain enemies. These pills replenish some of your energy and in turn lets you use your mutant powers again. The ROMs don’t make a big difference, but they are there for the fans to pick between.

Multiplayer is where the fun begins within this game. This game supports up to 4 players playing simultaneously on one console and 6 players playing simultaneously over Xbox live. If you are playing singleplayer, I’d suggest to use the 6 player game just for the widescreen support. Multiplayer lets you play with a bunch of friends as each of you takes control of one of the 6 x-men. It is a lot of fun, though it does make the game much shorter as you charge through killing all the enemies with friends.

Audio & Graphics
The audio and the graphics in this game can be viewed from two different perspectives. For the people who actually remember playing this game when it first came out, the audio and graphics bring back a nostalgic feeling since Konami hasn’t changed it at all. Aside from an updated menu, the graphics and audio are exactly the same as they were in 1992 and this will help many people relive the memories they gained as a child playing the original.

On the other hand, for anyone who has never played the game before, these graphics are incredibly outdated. Even by 2D standards. The audio is also incredibly repetitive and shows its age through some of the voice acting, such as when Magneto taunts you with incredibly bad grammar and repetitive remarks. While these kinds of things may help with the nostalgic feel, they don’t help anyone who has no nostalgic memories to relive anyway.

Achievements
The achievements in X-Men arcade are incredibly easy and if you have a friend who has it as well, they can all be achieved within one sitting. A majority of them can actually be acquired in under an hour. Since the game only takes about 20 minutes to beat, you can run through it incredibly quickly and the achievement for beating the game in under 25 minutes isn’t difficult at all. Other achievements can be achieved simply by knowing about them before you reach the level. There are some achievements that may be confusing at first; for instance, the energy pill can only be acquired while playing co-op on the Japanese ROM (mentioned in the gameplay section). Another one that may give you trouble is the “Master of Magnet” achievement, in order to get it you have to beat the whole game with Cyclops (specifically him, because this character doesn’t save the defeat of magneto unless you beat the entire game with him). After beating the game with Cyclops you can simply load up level 8 with the other 5 characters and just beat magneto 5 more times real quick in order to snag the achievement. Lastly, the two online achievements can be acquired with only you and a friend and then a whole bunch of guests, so you don’t have to worry about forming a large group. However, in order to fall for mystique’s trap you must start from level 1 and get all the way to mystique while online with your friend (you can then drop in the guests right before you beat that boss).

Below is the achievement list:

Super Mutant – 10 – You took an energy pill.
Largest Party – 10 – You played in a 6-player match with five other people.
Grounded – 10 – You completed Level 4 without jumping.
Xavier Would Be Proud! – 10 – You used a mutant power 5 times in one game.
Turn Pyro to Toast – 10 – You defeated Pyro without using any mutant powers.
Kidnapped – 10 – You learned that Magneto has kidnapped Professor X.
Bamf – 25 – You completed the game in 25 minutes or less.
X-pertise – 25 – You completed the game on Expert difficulty.
Master of Magnet – 30 – You defeated Magneto with all 6 X-Men characters!
Welcome to Die! – 10 – You were welcomed to die by the White Queen.
You Fell to Our Trap! – 25 – Mystique tried to fool you and five other players in a 6-player game.
Score Inflation – 25 – You earned at least 250 points in one game.

Overview
X-Men Arcade is purely for the fans who remember huddling around this game with friends at the local arcade. Konami has directly ported the game due to an agreement with marvel and only added online support and a new menu. Everything is exactly the same as it was 18 years ago and while that adds a nostalgic feeling, it creates a game that has difficulty floating in an ocean of other games. The main problem is the length, since there is no need to worry about putting in more quarters, the overall length becomes incredibly short. Unless you have friends to play with online, there isn’t really much offered by this game. X-men arcade is a fan service and it is evident while playing it.
I give X-Men Arcade

New DiRT 3 trailer goes Gymkhana

Jack Joly

December 19, 2010

This latest video from the sequel to Colin McRae DiRT 2 shows some virtual recreation of the Gymkhana – a new rally-racing turned street-racing stunt driving discipline, in which you display your amazing control of the car through the showcase of some impressive manoeuvres.

This has been recreated in DiRT 3 in this trailer, and shows not only a robust build of the game running very fluidly, but some accurately fine-tuned handling. The person putting on the show must have had a lot of practice, and I’m sure that instead of a one long, fluid run, they resorted to pieceing together clips of each section of the routine. Either way, it is a good display of control in this new game-mode of Gymkhana, and although it’s still going to be while for before DiRT 3 comes out, it shows Codemasters aren’t resting on their laurels and are actually building on its predecessor with new features.

Kinectimals Review

Travis Bruno

December 19, 2010

Kinectimals
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Frontier Developments
Console: Xbox 360 – Kinect (Reviewed)
Release Date: November 4 2010
Price: $49.99 US, £39.99 UK, $89.99 AUS

Overview:
Now little children are a hard market to design video games for. Sure they can have childrens’ games made specifically for their age group, but then what about anyone else who would be interested in playing them? What about a game that not only appeals to children, but to adults as well and anyone in between? There may have been a few times in the past that this had been attempted but it usually always ended up leaving the middle age group in disdain. But now that the Kinect has been released there is a completely new way to appeal to every age group; especially one with cute animals.

Kinectimals may have been designed for a younger audience but never before has any game that involves caring for an animal been so interactive. Of course your cat or dog may look at you with disdain when you start petting the virtual cubs. But in the end does Kinectimals really have enough going for it to make it not only a great game for the family, but also showcase the capabilities of the Kinect?

Graphics:
Something that will astound many players right off the bat is the fact that the graphics are beautiful to look at. As you first begin the game and see each of the different wild cubs playing around it is evident that a large amount of care has been given to the design of each cub. Seeing the realistic looking fur on each of the different cubs is an amazing sight including their real to life movements that makes it seem like you are taking care of a real tiger cub of your own.

Not only are the cubs amazing to look at but the areas are also very well designed. The jungle and island scenery that you play with your cub in are brightly colored and designed to be quite real to life. Simply taking a look at the ground that your cub treads shows how realistic the world can appear as the cub walks through the lush grass.

Audio:
The world of Kinectimals is filled with easy listening melodies that play in the background as you play with your pet and explore the island. The cubs themselves are very cute and the purring is amazing to hear. Too bad that there is an almost constant prattling on narrator talking in your ear. The narrator is Bumble, voiced by Richard Horvitz who had previously worked as Invader Zim on the show of the same name. He may not be a problem initially thanks to his believable delivery of the dialogue, if only he wasn’t always bothering the player. There are many instances inside of the game that the player will be wishing they could just ignore Bumble and play with their cub like they want to.

Gameplay:
As you arrive on the island of Lemuria you are immediately introduced to each of the different wild cubs that you will be able to take care of on the island. There is a small semblance of a storyline which revolves around finding the lost treasure of Captain Able Blackwood but that isn’t the focus here. What is the focus are the cute little balls of fur that you have to choose from. Right off the bat you can choose from any of the five starting felines; the Royal Bengal Tiger, Black Panther, Cheetah, African Lion and African Leopard. You are also introduced to your constantly talking buddy Bumble whom I spoke of before, which appears to be a flying fairy lemur. Thus begins your wild cub caring adventure that consists of not only taking care of your cub, but teaching it new tricks and playing different minigames with your furry friend.

Your cub never truly needs to have a specific amount of treatment, but that doesn’t mean you won’t want to take care of the poor little guy either. As you explore the island your cub can grow dirty and require a quick washing to clean that dirt right off of them. You can also feed and water your cub as well to keep them happy. Plus you are able to buy different items at a store inside of the game which allows you to buy brand new toys for your cub. All of these different activities are handled through a mildly confusing menu which may seem a bit much for children at first but can be figured out with a little teaching at the hand of Bumble.

The Kinect easily recognizes the different motions that you perform as you care for your pet. Petting and washing, though similar in appearance, are some of the most enjoyable aspects of the game as you see phantom hands mimicking yours and petting your cub as it purrs wonderfully in your ear. Menu navigation can also be a little troublesome with the Kinect controls, especially considering the previously mentioned fact that it may be confusing to some only made more troubling with occasionally dodgy Kinect navigation.

Through this same method players will be able to teach their cubs a variety of different tricks and have their cubs mimic your motions wonderfully. There is little to no latency or mis-communication between your actions and the Kinect’s recognition system. The most noticeable issue that may arise is some detection problems with throwing objects as the Kinect seems to have difficulty determining your accuracy. Yet this is excellent considering the fact that players must use not only their bodies and hands to interact with their cubs but also with voice commands to have your cub perform tricks on command.

Not only are the tricks essential to Kinectimals’ gameplay but so are the minigames. These minigames range from throwing a ball at a target, maneuvering through an obstacle course, batting a ball into the air and a variety of others are definitely some of the best moments in Kinectimals outside of taking care of and interacting with your cub. As I mentioned before the only game with minor detection issues are those involving tossing motions, while the obstacle course is quite adorable as you perform the actions displayed by Bumble to help your cub make its way through the course.

There is an underlying purpose to these different minigames and tricks however as you are able to complete a variety of different challenges that provide new toys, areas and even a handful of new cubs to play with as time goes on. The more challenges you complete the more variety can be found within Kinectimals. To top it off there is also a small money system involved with these challenges. Money can be used to buy different toys and collars that have been unlocked through the challenges and even furniture that you can decorate your cub’s home with. Yes you are able to customize the home of the cub you are playing with, though only by changing an item with a similarly typed item. This means that while there is customization it is somewhat limited by the pre-set model.

Overall:
While younger children and even pre-teens will find themselves easily drawn in by Kinectimals cute and beautiful visuals and the lifelike wild cubs, more discerning gamers will still find a wonderful experience inside of Kinectimals. Surprisingly enough Kinectimals does sport a lengthy amount of game time, but of course that is only if you are set on your goals instead of taking care of your furry cub. Whether it be the challenges, or connecting to your inner child it is nigh-impossible to avoid falling in love with taking care of your cub. The joyful reactions it has to your interactions is simply a sight to behold; making Kinectimals a must have for anyone who either has children or simply knows how to enjoy a cute game. Especially one who loves animals.

I give Kinectimals for the Xbox 360:

Blazblue: Continuum Shift DLC to be on sale soon

Travis Bruno

December 18, 2010

Been eager to fight as the squirrel girl Makoto in Blazblue: Continuum Shift but never wanted to pay the full price for her? Then you are in luck because not only is she on sale, but so is the new character Hellsing as well as a bunch of other different additional content for Continuum Shift. Now with this deal that means you can not only unlock a bunch of new colors for your fighters, but also voice packs for your game which can create an entirely new aesthetic experience.

Keep in mind however these deals have not quite started yet as the Xbox Live DLC will begin in a few days on December 20th and end January 7th of next year. But those who have Continuum Shift on the PS3 will have to wait a bit longer as their sale will not begin until January 4th and end on January 25th. You can find the different DLC that is on sale and what their prices are below. PSN prices in parenthesis.

Unlock Playable Character “Mu-12” from 160 Microsoft Points ($2) down to 80 Microsoft Points ($1)
Additional Characters Colors #1 from 320 Microsoft Points ($5) down to 160 Microsoft Points ($2.50)
Additional Characters Colors #2 from 320 Microsoft Points ($5) down to 160 Microsoft Points ($2.50)
Additional Characters Colors #3 from 320 Microsoft Points ($5) down to 160 Microsoft Points ($2.50)
Unlock All Unlimited Characters from 400 Microsoft Points ($6) down to 240 Microsoft Points ($3.50)
Additional System Voice Type-K from 400 Microsoft Points ($6) down to 240 Microsoft Points ($3.50)
Additional System Voice Type-C from 400 Microsoft Points ($6) down to 240 Microsoft Points ($3.50)
Additional System Voice Type-M from 400 Microsoft Points ($6) down to 240 Microsoft Points ($3.50)
Unlock Playable Character “Makoto Nanaya” from 560 Microsoft Points ($8) down to 320 Microsoft Points ($4.50)
Unlock Playable Character “Valkenhayn R. Hellsing” from 560 Microsoft Points ($8) down to 320 Microsoft Points ($4.50)

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