Posted by Justin on September 9th, 2010 | 0 comments
Like most human beings in the world, I’m not a fan of bumper stickers. Even more annoying are the parents that rock the ones letting everyone know their kids are honor students.
But who knows, recently becoming a dad and all, maybe I’ll resort to boasting about my kid in bumper sticker form.
If I ever do, I have to imagine it’ll have less to do with grades, and more to do with videogame achievements. Check out these awesome accolades.
Posted by Justin on September 7th, 2010 | 0 comments
I’m not particularly interested in Hothead’s upcoming “sequel” to DeathSpank, but the developer showed off an upcoming downloadable game called Swarm that looks really cool.
It has been described as a Pikmin-Lemmings mash-up which isn’t terribly off the mark. Unlike Lemmings, you don’t control the environment, you control the Swarmites. And unlike Pikmin, you have direct control over the Swarmites, so there is no leader (Olimar) guiding the swarm’s path.
The video up top is about six minutes worth of demo footage that gives an early look at what the game is about. Swarm puts you in charge of guiding 50 Swarmites across death-filled terrain and the goal is to stay alive.
But, you won’t – at least not all 50.
There’s plenty of death that will come to your rowdy bunch of travelers, but thankfully there are items in the world that spawn more of the little blue dudes upping your count right back to 50.
The game is played in side-scrolling fashion though there is depth to the playing field.
As far as I know, platforms haven’t been announced but based on the in-game buttons, it looks like the demo version is running on a PS3.
I didn’t have much time to update today so, uh, read my Sin & Punishment: Star Successor review. Better yet, go buy it since NPD numbers suggest noneof you did.
A new Oddworld is coming it seems, so that’s cool. A couple of tweets a few days back suggested Oddworld’s funky inhabitants would make a return and now it’s official.
Just Add Water is the developer behind it, GamerBytes reports.
I’m not sure what the studio has done outside of Gravity Crash, a PSN game I’ve never played. I don’t think it’d be too crazy to assume this upcoming Oddworld game is coming to PSN and XBLA, but there’s no word on platforms yet.
In other news, blogs are reporting that Cyanide Studio is working on a videogame adaption of the (amazing )book A Game of Thrones as if it wasn’t announced back in May. It’s old news folks, the art is just new.
While the artwork is nice, my confidence in Cyanide is extremely low so I’ve got a bad feeling about this project.
Since I brought Remedy up yesterday, I might as well keep you up to date with what’s going on at the studio. Remedy is working on an “AAA console project,” which as you may have guessed, that’s way more A’s than any normal game.
This news was discovered thanks to the team looking for a senior producer for the project. No word on what the game is, but I suppose it could be a second Alan Wake.
Just to go off on a little tangent here, am I the only one who gets tired of developers using “AAA title” as a way to say “hey, we’re spending a fuck ton of money on this so give it lots of attention.” I’ve seen many supposed AAA titles play like an F-.
This isn’t a knock on Remedy, I like those guys. It’s the term that I hate.
Professor Layton developer Level-5 announced a new project called Time Travelers today with no word of which platform it’ll go to. The people over at Level-5 spread the wealth so I wouldn’t get too fixed on any one console or handheld just yet.
The announcement comes courtesy Famitsu and while Level-5 is still being quiet on the project, there are a couple noteworthy quotes.
“It has the theme of the calamity that has become a trauma within me,” director Jiro Ishii said.
As its name implies, time travel will play a role in the game. Ishii says with expectations high, he’s looking to deliver something more than just memorable.
“Something like Back to the Future and Toki wo Kakeru Shojo, that’s loved forever,” he said.
Again, no platforms have been announced but producer Akihiro Hino did give us a hint that might be coming to some new hardware or another.
“Centered on hardware that’s not yet in this world, it will expand to other hardware,” Hino said.
So what is it, 3DS, Natal, Move maybe? Hopefully we’ll find out soon.
There are tons of people who adore the Scott Pilgrimgraphic novels; gamers in particular are taken by it as the novels often make videogame references.
Sadly, I’m not one of those guys. It’s not that I have anything against Scott Pilgrim, I just don’t know anything about it.
However, I do know that there’s a game and a movie coming out.
I feel like an outsider wanting in because based on everything I’m hearing, this Scott Pilgrim game is going to be perfect for me. It’s a side-scrolling, truly 2D game with sprite work by Paul Robertson, a guy known for his mastery of all things pixel.
First images have come in courtesy Attract Mode. I’ve posted one up top, but check out the rest at their site.
Initial hesitations came up when Ubisoft was discovered to be developing it, but most fears seem to be laid to rest.
With creator Bryan Lee O’Malley’s involvement along with the already mentioned Robertson, and chiptune artist Anamanaguchi, the Scott Pilgrim game looks to have all the proper backing it needs.
It’s looking to be a wild hybrid of the beat ‘em up variety based on the video clip playing at this PAX performance of the game’s theme. No official word on platforms, but a PSN and XBLA release look likely.
Posted by Justin on February 8th, 2010 | 0 comments
If I didn’t buy so many damn games I could probably use the money I’d save to buy new clothes … with gaming related objects on it. Not the lame all black kind with a huge, unclear picture and a tacky logo, but the totally awesome kind.
Mario, Chief, a dude who may or may not be Scorpion, Pac Man, Link and a few others – it’s pretty badical. I’d swap out Lara Croft for a female lead more relevant, you know, like Samus Aran, but aside from that it’s great.
Posted by Justin on February 3rd, 2010 | 0 comments
I don’t often come to the side of EB Games, but in this case I fully endorse their cause. We’ve reported numerous instances of Australia’s bullshit videogame rating system that tops out at a 15+ demographic, leaving many games (like Left 4 Dead 2) banned from release unless a censored version is created.
After a few recent outcries from Australian gamers, EB Games has jumped on board and is now posting a request for an 18+ rating in each of their 350 stores in Australia. There’s also a petition started by EB which you can sign here.
I’ll be rooting hard for Australian gamers on this one.
Posted by Justin on December 31st, 2009 | 0 comments
We out. Again. And by “we,” I mean me. Sorry for the slow news day; busy at work, rough day at the office, “blah, blah, blah.” There wasn’t really anything important going on today anyways, was there?
This should be the last holiday for a while. Once New Years Eve rolls around the nonstop festivities finally come to a close. Updates will resume on Monday, naturally.
Brace yourself peeps, 2010 cometh and it’s going to be a fucking huge year in gaming. Best clear out that backlog while you still have a chance, time’s ticking.
For those curious, I will indeed be doing a Game of the Year of sorts but I’m debating on how to handle it. There are still a number of high quality games I haven’t even touched, and I’d hate to neglect them for that reason. At the same time, I don’t want to take too long to run the GOTY awards either.
We shall see. Maybe they begin to rollout next week? Maybe.
Posted by Justin on December 29th, 2009 | 2 comments
Hey dude, did you see that new Nintendo game, you know, Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril? It looks rad. That’s probably what some kid would’ve said back in the late 80s after seeing the back of the Battle Kid box at Toys R Us.
But guess what, this is a 2010NES (yes, NES) release by Sivak Games. This game is obviously unlicensed, but Battle Kid will work on your NES when it hits, and it comes in a lovely grey cartridge. It’s a brand new title that completely rips-off Mega Man, although it is a nice looking game (save for the lame lead character).
It’s pretty neat and looks fun enough minus the floaty jumping, but I imagine Battle Kid being NES compatible and in a cartridge will come out a premium not many will be willing to dish out. The game will be sold at RetroZone in January.
