The most epicest movie ever (Even though we might be sourly disappointed) has received the video game treatment. Well, it’s only a Facebook game that carries a strong resemblance to another game that I just can’t seem to put my finger on. It’s the one where you shoot things and jump around.
CONTRA! that’s it… and it is free! Did I mention that? Well, you have to Like the page, but at least it doesn’t cost anything. Also, if you like it a lot you can buy Contra on the XBLA but that costs money.
Guess what you get for pre-ordering Sonic Colors! This awesome hat, which looks oddly familiar. Aah! That is it! The Scribblenauts “Rooster Hat” pre-order bonus. This Sonic hat is GameStop’s pre-order bonusfor purchasing either the Wii or DS version of the game.
I say the hat is pretty cool, totally worth the $30 you spend on the DS version… Right?!
Here is some good news for MasterAbbott (I realized why I keep using his Alias when I refer to him. It is because Whenever I use his real name I shorten it and Misspell it terribly).
There are sixteen character costumes for your avatar to choose from. Every Costume is located above. If you can’t recognize them the entire character costume list is: Crimson Viper, Ryu, Guile, Rufus, Akuma, Juri, Dudley, Makoto, Ibuki, Cody, Abel, Dee Jay, El Fuerte, Chun-Li, T. Hawk and Guy. There is also a male or female SSFIV T-shirt based on your gender. I wonder if the other costumes are gender specific? There aren’t any dresses, so you technically won’t be cross dressing.
Each costume will cost you back 320 Microsoft Points and the T-shirts are set at 80 MS Points. They’ll be available on July 15th.
This all reminds me of a really funny Street Fighter joke that my friend told me while we were both playing “Transformers: War For Cybertron”. I can’t tell you though… HAHAHAHA! I’m evil, I know.
Dominion
Rating: 4+ Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch Release Date: Out Now Developer: Dot Matrix
Publisher: Chillingo
Price: (US)$1.99 BUY NOW
Have you ever played Risk? If so, did you enjoy playing it? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you are in for a real treat with Dominion, a revamped version of the classic board game, Risk. As a platform, the iPhone lends itself really well to the world of board games: the easy-to-use touch screen interface, the size of it and the ability to put it in your pocket and take it wherever you please. It’s like those travel board games, minature versions of the real thing designed to be portable, except you don’t have to worry about losing the pieces down the side of the seat, and with the iPhone you can neatly store loads of games in one place to take with you. In fact it’s nothing like travel board games. It’s a whole lot better.
Dominion is no exception, and cleanly stores one of my all-time favorite board games in virtual form. It is a very nice rendition of the classic board game, which makes the transfer very well, without losing too much of the the board game’s character. The strategy game has been simplified, with no actual troops, which have instead been replaced by numbers representational of the size of your forces. Similarly to the board game Risk, there are still the standard reinforcement phases before, and the movement phases after the bulk of you turn in which you attack. However, in contrast to the similarly natured game which this is undoubtedly based on, because Dominion is a video game, the board and the assignment of countries is all generated automatically, removing the time-consuming start-up time of the board game which many found off-putting.
The touch screen controls are simple, almost instinctive too, and certainly well-mapped on the iPhone’s screen. For example, you drag across the screen to shift along the map, pinch to zoom, and touch the attacking region then the defending region to initiate an attack. All these functions should come as second nature to most, especially those with experience with Risk and the iPhone. There is also a tutorial upon your first boot-up of the game, which the game suggests you play, which while the controls are easy to pick-up, is still beneficial to play, as with any new game.
The game does take up a good deal of time, which varies depending on the level of difficulty you are playing on. On the easiest setting, you should have no trouble at all sweeping through the enemy once you start to get the hang of things, whereas on the higher settings, which are quite a significant step up in difficulty, you should find it more challenging and as a result you could get sucked into battles of epic proportions. Dominion is not a game which you can jump into for a short while here and there. Much like the board game Risk, despite vast reductions in playtime in comparison due to an automatic board setup, you will generally have to set aside a decent-sized period of time to play. There are a few of options to spice things up for single player, including changing the winning conditions of the game via the option to create a custom game. Additionally, online compatibility means you can play multiplayer with people all over the world, as well as locally with your friends. It is usually more fun being pitted in tactical battle with another human being rather than AI, so multiplayer is a welcome inclusion.
In conclusion, Dominion is a well polished version of a classic board game. It benefits from a simple and clear setup, and well-intergrated touch screen controls. Different objectives in game, and customisation options make for a weighty one player experience, and the board game style means you’ll be happy to play it over and over again. Multiplayer is just the icing on the cake, and helps to create the social aspect of playing a board game in this virtual version. All this for a bargain price. The game offers great value for money. However, it has to be said that the strategic and slightly long-winded style of the game isn’t for everyone, and if you didn’t like Risk or any of the spin-offs in board game form, chances are you won’t enjoy this either.
Pros
Instinctive controls
Good transfer of a classic board game
Online multiplayer
Great value for money
Cons
Not for everyone
Time-consuming- can’t be played for short periods of time
The Signal, Alan Wake’s achievement list has been updated to 1250 points. It is now ready for “The Signal” DLC.
There isn’t much info on the DLC but you can speculate on the words of Oskari Häkkinen who stated, “The game add-ons aren’t telling more of the story, so to speak. It’ll give you a different perspective on the things you’ve done on season one and then trying to set you up for the possible things you’re going to do in season two.”
The Signal is available on July 27th for 560 Microsoft Points or free if you bought the game new.
Below are the achievements in the DLC. There are 8 achievements worth 250g. Remedy sure does like collection achievements. I just wish their was a better system that tells you how many there are left in each level rather then just how many total.
A Friend in Need – 25 – Special 1: Find someone to help you.
A Friend Indeed – 50 – Special 1: Follow the signal to its conclusion.
Fast and Furious – 25 – Special 1: Make it through the final battle in less than 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Words Will Never Harm You – 25 – Special 1: Trigger all of the furnaces in the basement.
Run-On Sentence – 50 – Special 1: Complete the episode without reloading the game or restarting a checkpoint.
License Revoked – 20 – Special 1: Complete the episode without using a single vehicle.
The first nine seem like possible sequel titles, while the last are most likely referenced in game, and Warner Bros. has to buy them in order to make sure no one else has them. Maybe we will even be treated to some online easter eggs.
What do you guys think is the best possible sequel title? Have any better idea?
ESRB “accidentally” replied to about 1000 people who complained about the REAL ID problem on WoW. These are the people that were so upset about their their names appearing on the Blizzard Forums that they went and Emailed ESRB to complain about it. Now their Emails have been given out to about 1000 random strangers. Even better, the ESRB email is “[email protected]”. Anybody want to complain about this new breach of privacy? I didn’t think so.
Check out the reply below.
“Thank you for contacting the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) regarding the policy recently announced by Blizzard Entertainment which would have required participants in its official forums to post comments using their real first and last names, and for expressing your concerns regarding potential privacy implications.
It is our understanding that Blizzard has provided an update announcing that it will not be implementing the above-referenced policy with respect to its forums, and users will not be required to post using their real names. You can read Blizzard’s announcement regarding this most recent development at http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1&pageNo=1.
Separately, if you have questions regarding Blizzard’s implementation of its Real ID option — which by our understanding is unrelated to Blizzard’s plans for its forums — and/or the new capabilities this option offers, they will likely be answered by reviewing the information posted at http://www.battle.net/realid/.
ESRB, through its Privacy Online program, helps companies develop practices to safeguard users’ personal information online while still providing a safe and enjoyable video game experience for all. We appreciate your taking the time to contact us with your concerns, and please feel free to direct any future inquiries you may have regarding online privacy to our attention.
Developer: Fusionsphere Systems/Animation Arts
Released: June 30th, 2010
Genre: Adventure/Puzzle
Platform : NDS
“Secret Files: Tunguska” has done what I have hoped a game would do for a long time; it has renewed my faith in the industry’s ability to make a halfway decent point-and-click adventure game.
As a Sierra paycheck is what fed me for the first six or so years of my life, I feel I have a rather intimate connection to the old-school adventure game. Some of my first attempts at gaming were designed by Roberta Williams, so playing Secret Files was like a walk down memory lane. This is good in some ways, but bad in several others.
Central to the story is the Tunguska Event; a mysterious explosion in the skies of Siberia in 1908. Now hypothesized to have been a small asteroid explosion, the game insinuates a somewhat more… sinister… explanation.You follow protagonist Nina Kalenkov in her search for her missing father, noted for conducting research into said event. Not the most inventive motivation, but I’ll forgive them that, for now. After he was kidnapped by mysterious black-robed beings in his museum in Berlin, his daughter has to follow his trail across the globe and back, accompanied by her father’s co-worker, Max Gruber. Along the way, she finds seemingly hundreds of random objects, picks all of them up (just in case, you see) and keeps them in her pockets. You never know when you might have to staple a cell phone to a cat, after all. This is one of those moments when a little bit of advancement in adventure gaming in the past ten years would have been much appreciated. It has the same “pick up everything that looks a little bit out of place and keep it in your pocket” mechanic as the Kings Quest games, and seems to have thought it was also a good idea to keep the ludicrous uses for those items intact. That thing about attaching a phone to a cat? I wasn’t kidding.
But what really got to me about the items and silliness was how absolutely contrived it all felt. While you can’t expect them to let you waltz obstacleless through the game, it seems like they latched on to every opportunity they could to make you solve a puzzle. I can just here Nina’s thoughts, “Oh look! There’s a key in daddy’s fishtank! I bet it opens this box! Now, let’s see… I could either pry the top off with any of the multitude of items at hand, or I could go through a convoluted set of events to fix a girls bike in order to obtain a magnet, and fish the key out.” And wouldn’t you know it, she chooses the latter option. And why in hell did a magnet seem like appropriate recompense for fixing a bike? Things like this happen all the time, and really get in the way of suspending disbelief.
On the plus side, the pretty graphics and passable voice acting put’s the old-fashioned gameplay in pretty new wrapping paper. But sometimes, that fairly decent voice acting is a bit ruined by what those voices are made to say. It’s like the campiest noir writer ever decided to branch out into video games. “Listen, girlie. I’ve been in the business for almost 40 years–I know when something stinks–and this thing really stinks!” says some random gumshoe, who of course refuses to help find Nina’s father. Gems like that litter the game, and are almost literally painful to hear.
To tack on to the cliched, campy feeling, the cut-scenes are awash in the stock-and-trade of cheesy horror directors. Camera pans reveal cars trailing the heroine, spooky villains appear behind her in mirrors, and so on.
But as I see it, the game may have its faults, but the atmosphere, visuals, and old point-and-click stand-bys make the game a worthy homage to the classics. Sure, it felt like playing something that was made over ten years ago, but there’s some merit in that, isn’t there?
For those of you with no urge to read the whole article, here’s a summery:
Pros:
Faithful throwback to the mid-90’s point-and-click adventure games
Decently voice acted
Eye-pleasing visuals (especially for the DS)
Creepy and occasionally beautiful atmospheric settings
Cons:
Painfully written
Characters with the depth of a roadside puddle
Increasingly nonsensical item combinations and solutions
If you have ever seen Spike TV’s “Deadliest Warrior”, you know about the battles of two different famed warriors put up against each other in a duel to the death.
Spike TV knows when a show is a hit, why not take advantage of the awesome concept of the show and turn it into a even better game.
That leads us to what is now “Deadliest Warrior The Game”. Developed by Pipeworks, now you will be able to test your own theories at home with this new action-packed fighting game. With online tournaments, leaderboards, and a vast array of weaponry, fans will feel right at home destroying some of the most brutal killers of all time. There is also one hit kills and the ability tosever your opponents limbs from their body, which will add to the realism of the way your match plays out.
You can play as these mighty warriors in a fight to the death:
Apache
Pirate
Viking
Knight
Ninja
Samurai
Spartan
Centurion
Deadliest Warrior The Game is set to release on the Xbox Live Arcade on July 14th for 800 points. Who knows, with all of the killing of your enemies, you might learn something new about them as well.
With Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver introducing us to the handy pedometer, the Poke-Walker in the last addition to the series, you would think technology would be at it’s peak for the Nintendo DS line of the series. It seems not be the case as a first in portable gaming history may be among all fans of the Pokemon series, Live Video Chats.
CoroCoro Comic’s newest issue (broke down via Serebii.net ) is flooded with a lot of new info and new Pokemon in the series, but the feature that has the most gravity is the new “Live Caster” mode which lets you and a friend have a video chat over Wi-Fi, or up to a 4 person local video chat.
This feature sounds awesome, though at first thought, you can imagine some controversy that may come if the feature does in fact transfer over from Japan. The DSi camera really has not had much of a purpose other than taking photos, and if this “Live Caster” mode is as great as it sounds and is not abused, this could be a sign of huge things to come with community interaction brought to you by Nintendo.
Pokemon Back and White are scheduled for release on September 18th in Japan and Spring 2011 for the U.S. and PAL Regions.
