Game Fund 2009: Stimulating The Games Industry

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, A.K.A. the “Stimulus Package”, has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate and should be on President Obama’s desk on Monday. The goal is to create some jobs and give the public some extra money to spend, so we effectively give the economy a big red mushroom. Plenty of people will be eligible for some government cheddar: there are tax cuts and incentives for students, the unemployed, retired, home buyers, car-buyers, parents, low-income, and middle-income Americans, so check out the details.

If you manage to pad your wallet with a few extra bucks how are you going to spend it? Remember, try and keep those purchases local and feed some cash into our awesome American development houses. The gaming industry is feeling the hurt during this recession type thing, so lets show our support as best we can
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Flower Impressions: Pwning Cupid

I hope everybody has done their Valentine’s Day shopping already, but if you haven’t there is still hope. Flower shops around the country are counting their money already and laughing at the people knocking at their doors. Thankfully, you were blessed this past Thursday with a lovely video game substitute when thatgamecompany (the creators of “flOw”), released “Flower” on the PSN.

“Flower” has you controlling flower petals with gentle/moderate breezes around rocks, across open fields, and through gaping valleys with the Sixaxis Motion Controls.  You start each scene with one petal and you pick up more and more with each flowers path that you cross. I have only played through the first few levels so I don’t really know what the overall objective is just yet, but I can guarantee that you will feel like you have a purpose through each level. I was bit fascinated by the level design, which seems like the place where thatgamecompany put plenty of thought. The game looks and sounds so wonderfully pleasant, I would say it is more soothing and seductive than their earlier release. I can’t say much more since the games attractiveness is much more subconscious than I expected. [Continue Reading]

Gamer Grub: To Eat or Not To Eat?

I only have one question: when will I be able to sink my teeth into some Gamer Grub? It surfaced a while ago as the official snack supplier for the 2008 World Cyber Games. Their official site says,  ”Gamer Grub will be sold online and at retail locations near you, beginning in 2009.” So…Ok. 2009 is here and I am getting a little bit antsy. I haven’t heard or seen any info about it in a long time, and there is no release date update. Damn this miserable economy, it better not sink this one. [Continue Reading]

Joining The Vintage Game Club!

I’m a fairly young guy, so it’s a sad fact that I missed out on plenty of good old games simply because of my age. But many thanks to the internet gods for Amazon, Game Tap, and GoG, because I have access to a bunch of these oldies but goodies for cheap (and occasionally FREE). The only problem I ran into was the awkwardness of playing these games by myself. I didn’t play these games because I loved them; I just wanted to experience them and get some knowledge on the evolution of games. However nice it was to see for myself that the industry is aging gracefully, I often felt something was missing like being on a beach with a tropical drink that doesn’t have an umbrella. Eventually, I figured out that missing piece was other gamers. Only a few old games have cult-like followings that still converse about them on a daily basis, so the possibility of finding that missing piece was slim. Then, I found out about the Vintage Game Club…

The Vintage Game Club is the brain child of three amazing video game writers: Micheal Abbott, also known as The Brainy Gamer; Dan Bruno, writer of an extremely interesting game music blog entitled Cruise Elroy; and David Carlton, who reveals his love for games in malvasia bianca. They created a little place where they facilitate organized vintage game playing, through both popular and obscure titles,  and participate in deep discussions about them. This generally happens in cycles, one game at a time, which is chosen by taking suggestions from the community and then by vote. So far, three games have been completed: “Grim Fandango”, “Dues Ex”, and “Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee” and they are moving on the their 4th game which starts on Sunday, January 25th. For this cycle the VGC community picked “Beyond Good and Evil”. If you are looking for a taste of what the Vintage Game Club is all bout, there are plenty of good preliminary thought posts to check out in the VGC forums already. 

Achieving the Unachievable

All different kinds of arguments have been made both for and against global in-game merit systems (i.e. Xbox’s Achievements or PS3’s Trophies). I don’t think they will go away anytime soon and, personally, I sorta like them, but, their continued success all boils down to their design quality. Some of them are both fun and interesting and others are just plain stupid. A few enthusiast have taken it upon themselves to write-up a few guidelines for designing better achievements (a link evades me), but that discussion is for another post. This post is about earning them. And I’m not talking about the whorish form. I’m talking about earning the achievements that truly fit their name. [Continue Reading]

Midnight Club: Los Angeles Review: Expect More Than Traffic

Needless to say, this review of “Midnight Club: Los Angeles” is long overdue; I have been writing it for a while, but a few issues had my opinion flip-flopping like politicians with pending indictments. So, finally, here are my complete and final thoughts on the game:

It’s roughly 10:30 P.M., and I’m driving around Los Angeles bumping The Game and feeling mighty nice. I need to make a right on Wilshire Blvd, so I get over in the far right lane. The moon is full and bright and I pass a few women who I assume are night club rejects; I prepare to brake and reach down for the turn signal and… After a couple of swipes at pure air, I get the hilariously shocking realization that I’m still just a North Carolina apartment dweller with a need for loud music, fast cars, and video games. Since my Suzuki isn’t getting me anywhere too swiftly and most of the other games in my collection don’t mesh too well with Hip-Hop, I’ve been spending a lot of time with “Midnight Club: Los Angeles.”

Needless to say, I am a big fan of driving games; I feel like I have a connection with them that I don’t have with many other games. It’s probably because I spend much more time driving in real life than I do sword fighting, casting flame spells, and popping off AK-47s. Even with that in mind, I still feel like this is a game for almost everyone over 13 years of age (Midnight Club: Los Angeles is rated Teen by the ESRB). [Continue Reading]

Anticipating Star Wars: The Old Republic By Finding Out What It Means To Be a True Fan

In the spirit of this anticipation praising post, I want to facilitate the anticipation practices of anyone out there who is impatiently waiting for “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” the upcoming (but very far off) MMO from LucasArts and Bioware. The demise of Free Radical has a few Star Wars fans depressed as some ex-Free Radical employees have been releasing concept art and footage from the canceled version of “Star Wars Battlefront III.” The game looked interesting and it is quite sad to see it fade away so quickly and easily. It’s possible that someone with some funds and a few extra devs might see this distorted message and embark on a quest to fulfill our hope. Until then, I will be drooling over “Star Wars: The Old Republic.”

While I’m not sure I feel comfortable calling myself a real Star Wars fan, I am solidly attached to the Star Wars Universe. Just out of curiosity, I dropped in the Official “SW:TOR” forums and asked what it meant to be a “true” Star Wars fan and I got a bunch of interesting answers: [Continue Reading]

Top 10 Games of 2008 That I Didn’t Play

As each year goes by, it feels like the number of good games released over those 12 months just keeps rising. This year was no different. I would argue that it saw a bigger increase than previous years largely because of the influx of quality casual and indie games. I think nearly every gamer missed out on a game they planned to get because they didn’t have the time, or saw yet another awesome game and just didn’t have the resources to cop it. I was definitely a victim. I’m closing out the year with empty pockets, plenty of great games, and a stupid-long list of games I really wanted to play and didn’t.

This is the top 10 games from that list:

10. Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy

Why I wanted it: It was a movie-licensed game that didn’t suck. Bonus: I actually liked the movies.

Why I didn’t play it: It just barely missed the must-buy list. It got some decent reviews, but something about buying a game where the title includes a full name that isn’t Tom Clancy or Sid Meier made my stomach turn.

9. de Blob

Why I wanted it: Who can resist a fun platformer where the plot centers on putting a smack-down on conformity? Not to mention, their marketing blitz blind-sided me a couple of times in the backfield.

Why I didn’t play it: I must confess–I have been neglecting my Wii. I won’t let myself buy another Wii game until I finish “Zelda: Twilight Princess” and “Metriod Prime 3: Corruption.”

8. Soulcalibur IV

Why I wanted it: “Soulcalibur” has made a healthy impression on me with every game since the original was released for Dreamcast. Ivy’s Snake Sword and Maxi’s Nunchucks (I am a huge Michelangelo of TMNT fan) sealed the deal pretty much every time. A little hint of Star Wars doesn’t hurt either.

Why I didn’t play it: Lately I just haven’t had the urge to play fighting games. Seems like those Street-Fighter-II-Turbo-at-birthday-parties-and-sleepovers glory days have faded. Plus, fighting games just aren’t the same when your opponent isn’t in the room with you.

7. Dead Space

Why I wanted it: I always wanted to be trapped on a dark space station with limited ammo and vicious creatures, who would love to rip my body into nice happy meat chunks…

Why I didn’t play it: WHAT!?!?! I am not scared to play this game…

6. Ninja Gaiden II

Why I wanted it: Ninja + Speed + Buckets of Blood = Fun

Why I didn’t play it: This is the first (but not last) game on this list that I am truly puzzled about. I think I just didn’t have 60 bucks to shell out when it was released. [Continue Reading]