Unforeseen Consequences

The first name for me in online gaming is Steam. Steam being the game deployment system introduced by Valve created in order to help get games into the hands of gamers quickly and combat piracy. I hated it at first, however now, I really like it. It's smooth, it is good, not my point however. My point is there is lots of fun and free a stuff on Steam. If you have Half Life 2, you ought consider some of the current game mods as well as what is coming to the future.

Current important title of the moment right now is, Left 4 Dead the zombie shooter. I haven't played it yet, this seems to be Valves' most hyped game to date. With Valves' high quality and production the FPS genre as a whole tends to change with almost every release.

Counter-Strike was a mod too before it was a purchase product. This game was hugely successful with a rabid online following. Many say that Counter-Strike 1.6 is the finest version of Counter Strike. Some online players still play 1.6 considering this version to be the games' finest form.

Counter-Strike however was based on something too. The game mechanics were a mod Team Fortress, which was a mod included with the original Half-Life. However that game was spawned from an early mod of Quake, known as Quake Team Fortress. This game first presented players 2 player team combat with what are considered standard character choices in online FPS.

So where does Left 4 Dead come from? Based on free mod Zombie Panic, this multiplayer challenge introduces survivor vs zombie game play which means new multiplayer game rules and tactics. The mod was originally made for Half-Life 1, and has now been made for the Half-Life 2 engine called Zombie Panic: Source.

Zombie Panic: Source won several players choice awards for mod of the year and was featured in the March 2007 issue of PC Gamer. Frantic game play The following is a 7 min short on how the game is played. Watch out for Whitey!



What else is there? What else is interesting? What was ten years ago last month, besides a younger more spry and full of hope Charles Francis Nasty? Believe it or not Half-Life was first released to PC, way back in November of 1998. A lot has happened in 10 years. To show the change, go back and play Half-Life: Source. The physics is there, but the graphics quite dated in comparison to todays' standards.

So what are we getting hopefully early next year? Blackmesa: Source, which is a total reskinning of Half-Life: Source.
Making it look nicer. Honestly, the game is brilliant and I think what they have done looks amazing.

So this is pretty much how last week went down for me.

Pretty spot on.

Looking back at NYCC 08.

The righteous always know what is right, right?

Me being annoying at the Comic Con of '08.

Waxing the nostalgic with Johnny X.


A Short Interview with Johnny X from liabungalo on Vimeo.

Podcast with Life In a Bungalo

I annoyed the crap out of George Bungalo for about an hour the other day when we made a new podcast. It was edited heavily thankfully cause I was hopped up on coffee.

Check it out here!

http://lifeinabungalo.com/2008/10/26/radio-bungalo-38-new-gnr-metallica-rocks-shackshakers-at-mercury-lounge-and-sasha-grey/

Danger Dudes take on Matt Hazzard!

Duke Nukem
Commander Keen
B.J. Blazkowicz

These names strike a tender chord with gamers of another time. A time of shareware and buying game really cheap at Radio Shack. A coming of age of video games, of these characters some when onto great things and some faded into obscurity. Some of these characters are forgotten and some will live forever.

Matt Hazard is not to be forgotten or taken lightly.

With a return to current consoles Matt Hazard is really to blow you to 8 bits with fire power, gusto and voice talent from Neil Patrick Harris. NPH, most recently seen on Intenets' Dr. Horrible, as the main protagonist.















Will Arnett is also lending his talents to the classic game series as well. Arnett, most recently seen in the hospital with his recently born son and that lady who is not Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live.

Be sure to check out the Matt Hazzard websites!

www.matthazardofficialunofficial.com

www.doyouremembermatthazard.com

What do you know about the Wastlend?

Well a long time ago when disks were actually floppy, there was a game called Wasteland. This game started it all.

Wasteland was a post apocalyptic adventure set in the deserts of Las Vegas. It was awesome, it had really bad graphics and a a really awesome story.


EA knew how to make a game back then. I mean they do now, but more in that zombie cancerous borg kind of way of just absorbing things that are of your interest. But whatever we all have an EA games somewhere in our collection.

After the awesomeness of Wasteland came a "sequel" of sorts. This game was called Fountain of Dreams. This game took place in the sticky heat of Florida. Mutation and crocodiles, good times.



Two dimensions, little icons, dark humor, and explosively graphic dialogue were how these games were played. All of this was carried over to the Fallout series, which is for argument sake the sequels to these games. So get ready to play Fallout 3, but first learn about Fallout 1 and 2.

Big Girl in the House

Chung Li, not a dainty girl. Ok she has legs like a piano. Here is a new Street Fighter VI poster, showing off Chung Li's crushing thighs.



We also how the official movie poster of the the new movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chung Li. Big blue mama will be played by the Canadian born half Chinese, half something white Kristin Kreuk. She is hot, and I think is wearing blue contacts.




Also in the printed media this month is Olivia Munn from that show on that channel that used have other shows besides crap almost all the time. She too is half AZN and half something else to make a hot hybrid. This is her from a recent photoshoot from Complex magazine.




Street Fighter VI is coming to consoles soon and is in high end arcades now. New Street Fighter movie will be out some time next year. Complex is on newsstands now!

Holy Crap! So Many Games! So Little Time!

This fall has been an explosion of games.

Six of the shortest no bullshit reviews ever..

Mercenaries 2. Part of me wants to love this game, most of me hates this game. A blowemup with not enough polish to make this game worth while. Uninspired maps, and terrain. Not at all worth the 60 dollar price tag, if you bought this new you don't know how to buy games. Used only, and only if you are desperate for something.

Star Wars Force Unleashed. I liked this game, it was fun and easy if you played it on easy. This game was meant for everyone. It was a casual action game, for the casual gamer, casually.
If you are not going to buy it now for price, definitely get once the at 60 dollars it is a bit steep, borrow this game, or buy used, you won't feel cheated if you pay full price.

Lego Batman. The best game of the recent Lego games. It is better than Star Wars simply because it is more realized in the puzzle solving and the it actually has some challenging elements which add to what was becoming stale game play. Really Indiana Jones was super cute, but got a little boring after awhile. With Lego Batman feel confident at a full price purchase.

Silent Hill 5. It finally got the bad taste of Silent Hill 3 out of my mouth. A good compliment to the series, and what should have been the sequel to the flawless Silent Hill 2. It is a horror game, so get it during the Halloween it is going to cost you. I think 60 bucks is a bit of a stretch for this game, but I certainly think it is worth he first used price you find for it.

Saints Row 2. A fun blowemup game. Yes there is some kind of comparison to GTA, but this game does not take it self nearly as seriously as Rockstars Flagship franchise. Cartoon levels of violence and character customization makes this game very entertaining. With cheat codes that can make you 20 feet tall, it is bound to be fun. Oh and it has a chain gun, demo packs and airplanes, three things that do not appear in GTA 4. If you have finished GTA 4 and really like sandbox games with the driving and the killing, be sure to check this out. New or used you should be satisfied.

Fallout 3. This was something I thought was never going to happen. Fallout 3. Fallout 3 is awesome. The combat system is something that will change the FPS RPG, forever. There is nothing like it on the market today. A great story and interface makes for a truly immersible gaming experience.

Baby get my fingers out of your mouth.

A very attractive, well put together eastern European woman has a baby.

That baby wants to eat me.

I'm sure he'd start with my fingers. Tearing away at my callused epidermis; gnawing the bones and sucking them dry.

Don't let ears of his little brown bear hoodie pull at your heart strings.

This baby is a monster, and is trying to eat me.

NHL 09, excitement from Dave!

Our friend Dave likes 3 things in this world. He like boobs, sandwiches, and hockey. Sports games aren't just for jocks.

NHL 09 Review

If you were a fan of last year’s game, then there is no doubt that this years game will blow your balls off. NHL 09 is bigger and it’s hard to think that after NHL 08 EA could step it up for 2009, but wait for it….they did. Wow. Excited? Yes. Maybe? Yes. Read on.

First off the home screen is a great addition to the blue abyss that whored it self all over 08’, not to say it bothered me but the flawless animations that transition you from screen to screen in 09’ accompanied by photos and graphics are well received on my end. The menu system is unchanged since last year so navigation is very easy.

The features that they introduced this year surpassed anything I could have wanted or anything I would have thought of. “Be A Pro” mode, which allows you to create yourself (or play as a established NHL star if you’re a pussy), or someone who looks slightly like you, pick your gear and your subsidiary AHL team to play on. They drop you in as a 3rd line player and your goal is to ascend the ranks and ultimately join your NHL brethren and repeat until you are considered a hockey legend.

The be a pro mode is challenging only allowing you to control you, therefore if you are out of position and a goal is scored against you, you’re gonna hear about it from the coach. After each shift/game, you are graded and essentially given experience points to use to level up anything from aggressiveness to awareness. But don’t get to sure of yourself, for what ever position you choose to play be it a wing, center, defender or even the goalie, you are given expectations to meet in order to succeed. So with intense AI learning, and getting comfortable skating by yourself, gaining experience points can be slow. The bars are raised by increments so small that at first I didn’t know I actually increased anything.

With the be a pro mode, prepare for the long haul of becoming a legend, its going to take a while. Look for this feature to spring up in all of next year’s EA sport games such as Madden and NBA Live. Other features include a revamped media HUB that allows you to customize your team’s goal music as well as the game music. So if you really want to create an authentic game, load up your team’s goal music into the USB port, upload and assign to the team. Now each time you score you can play whatever you want! Nothing says goal like “I Cum Blood” by Cannibal Corpse, great goal guys!!

Another great addition that's been added is allowing you to create highlight reels of your favorite goals and plays to be saved for later viewing. Thus allowing every douche bag with a YouTube account to upload their “amazing goal of the year” to be played in Super. Slow. Mode.

The last upgrade I want to talk about is the revamped checking engine. In NHL 08’ nothing was more frustrating then squaring off they opponent for a huge hit only to bounce off them as they skate by worry free. So for 09’ the hitting engine is more realistic and REALLY responsive. Players react different according to how and where you hit them on their bodies. There is spinning, flipping, diving and sometimes it almost looks like you have killed them as their bodies go limp and crumble to the ice. Its one of the most rewarding aspects to 09’ that I believe really makes the games that much more fun.

My hats off to you EA, So in conclusion NHL 09’ kicks ass.
Grade: A Verdict: Buy it/ Trade in 08’

This movie might actually be good.

Max Payne, despite sounding like N.W.O. era bad guy, Max Payne will bring plenty of noir to this Samhaim season. I really like the Danzigesque black winged angels.

Here the company has decided to rather than just release another trailer we would get a little back story on things to be expected in the movie.

Nevermind God of War 3.

My reason to get PS3 is here now.

More bad than bad ass. Mercenaries 2!

A 3rd rate 3rd person action blowemup game released on the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PS2. Here is our friend Dave with a review on Mercenaries 2.

I played the Mercs 2 and was pretty disappointed. Don’t get me wrong the game is fun, but it didn’t suck me in at all. The details were sub-par, the animations were decent, and the graphics in my opinion were un-acceptable, especially on this generation of console. Enemy AI is so far the worst I have seen; in a shoot out I was able to run right up to a group of bad dudes, run around them, take what ammo and guns I needed, then blow them all up with an RPG before they fired a shot. The game lacks a polish, that I feel if I am paying 60$ for, I deserve, so gripe on. The cars look toy-ish, the “pedestrians” are walking zombies with no interaction nor reaction to anything going on around them, the maps are uninspired, and the one thing that kills me is the trees that make me feel like I am in Donkey Kong Country. The controls are sub par at best, aiming is decent once you get the hang of it, and animations are repetitive and “cool”. When you hi-jack a tank the “driver”, the fight he puts up is laughable. And we see that animation, every. Single. Time.

But I digress, the explosion animations are beautiful and the destructible environment is a huge plus. Nothing beats laying waste to baddies to where before the fight a lush forest or wall enclosed base surrounded you at the beginning and once over nothing but rubble and tree stumps lay at your feet. Bad. Ass. The developers wanted a player to be able to use their imaginations and do what ever they want. Want to fly a helicopter, while your buddy is dangling from your winch in a tank firing rounds into a enemy base, hell yea you do! It’s those ideas that I latched onto when the game was getting previewed. But the gamer I am, I have a hard time looking past all the gripes I have to enjoy a game of this nature. I have standards, and for a game like this I had premonitions that needed to be met. GTA4 and Assassins Creed, those are the games in which this game will be measured by. The textures, animations, involvement, layout, graphics, and my biggest peeve…attention to detail. Which is my biggest nit pick. Attention to detail for me in games supersedes a lot of what is listed above. I feel it can make or break a game, little things really do make a difference, and when they go missing and you know there are not there, man does it stand out. Take running over a street light in GTA4, it breaks and sparks spray out. I love it! Or in AC someone sees a fight or dead body, screams ring out and everyone runs for cover. It makes for a more realistic experience. Mercs 2 does not have that, it has “The enemy is here!!” 1,000 times. Their physics engine is great and objects reflect and react to their surroundings perfectly. But you level a 10 story building in front of a sidewalk, or layout 10 dudes with a RPG and bodies go flying, pedestrians just keep strolling along…like nothing has happened. Maybe people in Venezuela really are like that, I don’t know, but not in my mind. Attention to detail people! It’s one of the cornerstones to any great game! Sorry. I’m an ass like that. Deal.

So in closing, rent the game, see what you think. If you can see past many of the glitches and lack of polish, and just want to blow shit up, then I’m sure you will love it. If not, wait till after you have downloaded the November content for GTA4 and played through it, then go to a game store and buy it used, if possible use a trade in game! Discount!
-Dave “The enemy is here!”

Score: C
Verdict: Rent/Buy Used

Holy Shit Batman!

With all the finesse of drawing a giant dick on the cover of the Little Mermaid VHS cassette, someone at DC let a whole bunch of All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder issue #10 comics get released with some bad words in them.

Never forget issue #2 of all Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.



By the way, in my opinion nothing like this happens by accident, it happened to happen and to sell books. Here are the panels and the omitted text is below. Nothing like this happens by accident.





Hey-- you little CUNT--

FUCK me that little CUNT stole my board!

FUCK you twice, DICKWAD, you let a FUCKing little piece of jailbait

ASS steal your wheels...

...little jailbait CUNT's making us look bad... we cut her come on...

...sweet piece in sweet slices... tasty sliced booty the little CUNT...

And these ASSHOLES make a devil's fortune of it

Text every friend you've got, SHITheads--

Sell your poison somewhere else. This arcade belongs to the

FUCKing Batgirl.

Be sure to check out the link to the original story.

How about a Jedi trick?

Mark Hamill, the other awesome Joker, will be vocie acting the clown prince of crime in the new Batman: Arkham Aslyum game. Paul Dini is writing it and this certainly won't be the first time Mark Hamill and Dini will be working together.

But hey! This isn't the first time Luke Starkiller has graced the a gaming screen. Wing Commander 3, 4 and 5. Mark Hamill played the hero protagonist, Colonel Christopher Blair. Everyone was in this game, Malcolm McDowell and Jonathan Rhys Davis. Apparently George Lucas must have also been a fan of this game with the way most interiors were shot, all CGI. But hey it is a video game, so it suppose to look like a video game. Oh George. Batman: Arkham Asylum will be out when its done.

I love transvestites and Lego

Probably the funniest transvestite, Eddy Izzard discusses lunch on the Death Star.

Minifigs how I just want to eat you up and turn a deep shade of blue like the child of an irresopsible parent.

Did the Scifi Channel make Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3?

With a cast mighty enough to bring basic cable to its knees! The only person missing is William "man-tit Rambo" Forsythe. At least the effects look similar to the old games, and I know that the cut scenes are not the game. I'm not being a cynic, I'm just enjoying the B-movie feel.

Ultra violence to the Wii!

Sex violence and gore is coming to the family casual game player console console.

Madworld is a Wii exclusive. A stylized black, white and red all over game chock full of fun ways to kill people. Filling the blood lust void that Manhunt 2 was meant to.



House of the Dead: Overkill

Shoot and kill monsters. A formula that has been working for years and years with the HoD series, even as Typing of the Dead (the best learn to type game ever) and the Japanese only English of the Dead.



It makes me smile because both of these titles are being published by Sega, and well nothing is funnier than seeing Sega making violent things for Nintendo. Segavore > Nintedarian.


Some interesting Xbox 360 ports coming this way as well

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop which is a port from the 360 game, with some Wii like features. However there is no videos for this game, just some screen shots. Which is all well and good, I mean the game is a few years old now. If you don't know what the game is by now, you have been living under a rock. Dead Rising hopefully this game won't be as brilliantly flawed as the one for the 360.


Onechanbara, which is a port form the Japanese only Xbox 360 game. Zombie killing cowboy bikini girls with swords.

Who watches the SuperFriends?

When the Watchmen originally came out 400 years ago, "Who watches the Watchmen?" was a phrase emblazoned many DC titles, be it in the corner or on a back page ad. Before viral internet marketing, getting a buzz out was done this way.It was clever and cool. Even later on you might see the phrase in other titles as an homage to the classic book. What does this have to do with the following video? Not very much.

Jonathan Blow makes art and calls it a game!

Jonathan Blow is someone to like. A handsome man smart man that doesn't appreciate crap. With the success of Braid his first foray into XBL, Johnathan Blow was none too psyched about the constraints that were put on him.

“I put in a tremendous amount of work meeting all these requirements, when I could have put that work into the actual game, and made it even a little more polished, little bit better."

Whatcha gonna do? You made a fun game.

I like this guy for his what seems to be a mantra, "There's not enough innovation in games!"

Check out the GamerChip article and his own website

Braid official site

Iggy Pop! Real life Shenmue!

Friday I went to Terminal 5 to see Iggy and the Stooges. Prior to this I visited a friend of who lives on Mulberry Street in Chinatown.

Should I be shot for being an Ugly American and combining the experience of going to Chinatown with a friend, who not only lives in Chinatown but is actually Chinese, and the Sega game Shenmue that has a little more than a cult following? Shenmue doesn't even take place in China, it takes place in Japan, and that's not China! However with the inclusion of train rides, purchasing of random items, several bathroom trips, trade and commerce, and ending the night with rock and roll. Friday was the beginning of a point and click adventure brought to life just not as many Quick Time Events. Also there were no sailors to be found anywhere.

So my friend Greyson lives in the truest sense of the word neighborhood of New York City's Chinatown. Being a fan of film noir in Chinatown always servers up images of Triads, awesome hair, hot girls, and yelling. I saw some aspect of most these things. We ate some food at a little place that served us beers and lots of food at a tender price. Fast and easy. My friend Greyson is a generous host and an excellent tour guide. I saw some interesting sites in our 2 block walk.

We saw central booking and the restaurants that are located underneath it. People in Chinatown like to eat. I also bought a belt from a man on Canal Street, this belt cost me three dollars.

The highlight of our 2 block tour was Doyers Street. Doyers Street has sharp 90 degree turn in the road. The nickname, "The Bloody Angle," is not only due to the the lay of the road but to the amount of gang related street violence between 1870 and 1930. I love nick names for places!

Then it became time to go to the show at Terminal 5. A very nice venue, clean, new, three floors and interesting bathrooms. A few days before the show The Stooges had their gear stolen. Part of me thought that maybe they would destroy some of the gear that I assume they rented. This did not happen, which is fine by me. They preformed nothing off the Raw Power album due to some sort of conflict between members of the band.

At Terminal 5 I met up with friends Ron and Joe. We had expensive drinks, not to be unexpected. As I was making my way around the building my phone beeped, and I met up with Lord Russen of Wallington and parts of Garfield. He didn't really like the venue, he prefers more traditional bathrooms. I however am generally more open minded about my bathroom habits. I saw a guy doing whipit hits with a balloon. He was really happy because, "the shit came in the mail today!" Awesome buddy!



Halfway through the set, right about where they did, "No Fun," Iggy invited everyone on stage. Everyone, like Gary Oldman in The Professional kind of everyone. Suddenly this this 60 year old dude that looks like a raisin, but not in a bad way more like one of those tough raisins from Kellogg's Raisin Bran, is dancing with everybody that made it to the stage. The security gave up. Let the people dance! I wish I could dance. Moving and grooving. SHaking and quaking. The music was awesome.

This has nothing to do with Shenmue, but I tried.

Here is the setlist, thanks to Joe.

Loose
1969
I Wanna Be Your Dog
TV Eye
Real Cool Time
No Fun
1970
Skull Ring
Search & Destroy
My Idea of Fun
I Got A Right

ENCORES:
Little Electric Chair
Little Doll
Now I Wanna Be Your Dog (reprise)
I'm Fried

Underpants! Lizardman! Star Wars stuff! Soul Caliber 4!

Right off the bat, Soul Caliber 4 is awesome. Really it is. Namco knows how to make a fighting game.

Game play is what you would expect, it is a 3D fighter so there is no need to be concerned with memorizing a large complex move lists like in Street Fighter. Button mashing can have devastating results on the computer opponent. The single player has normal and hard modes.

Namco is taking a page from the Dead or Alive series, giant bouncing boobs, and the ability to get most characters into their underpants. I tried to get Yoda into his underpants, you can't get Yoda into his Yoda underpants.

Yes Yoda is in this game, and like the Soul Calibers' before this, there are cameo guest fighters in the series. Apparently Darth Vader wants some sort of power that can only be achieved by going through some dimensional rift. He sends his apprentice who happens to be the main guy in the new Star Wars unleashed game to fight for him in the name of the Sith. Yoda on queue finds this troubling and needs to investigate this "disturbance in the Force." The stories might be paper thin, but the game play is solid as hell.

I got my ass handed to me in online play, maybe I was just having an off night. The single player unlockables with the character customization, really come into play with the online content. Create your own fighter, and bring him to the table. If you know me, I need nothing more than Lizardman

Virtual Fighter 5 sucked, a lot.
Dead or Alive 4 was great.
Soul Caliber 4 owns all, purchase at any price.

Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon announced at Comic Con!

Coming March 2009 on Cartoon Network!

God of War 3, a.k.a the reason to buy PS3

Here it is, the first trailer. Start saving your pennies!

Mike Patton talks about video games!

Much like my love for Sega, I also have a man crush on Mike Patton. Here Mike talks to AV club about Bionic Commando, The Darkness, his work on Portal and Left 4 Dead.

He also talks about music.

Click here for the interview!

This is why Alan Moore hates you!

Hey the Watchmen movie is coming out! I am excited, despite the venom people have for Zack Snyder with his long music montages and brown colour palate. I am still excited! Really I am!

However. Episodic content downloadable Watchmen video games as prequels to the movie? This sounds not only hack but probably awful. Rorschach and Nite Owl in what are more than likely to be a glorified brawler game.

Nothing is special anymore. The Watchmen were on the cover of Entertainment Weekly last week, that is the opposite of what the Watchmen stand for. More people have only heard the name The Watchmen than have actually read the book.

My point is rather than cash in and make a "tie in movie video game prequel" why not just make a good game. Why does it all have to a part of the plan? The big picture? Why can't it just stand on its own. Why choose the easy way out? If the game announced was Rorschach point and click type detective mystery adventure, I would very excited, but it is not. There is something to be said about not writing down to your audience and hacky beat 'em ups are the most common denominator.

Fuck Art! Let's Make Money!

Mega capitalist John Riccitiello, who kind of resembles Mikhail Baryshnikov, recently told Venture Beat that this is the "best line up" in EA history and EA is coming out a lot of games he "wants to buy."

In the same interview he also had this to say about the financial investors of this video game company.

"I don’t think the investors give a shit about our quality. They care about our earnings per share. They wait for it to happen. We had three years where we didn’t make our expectations. If I were an investor, I would wait and see. That’s fine with me."

Alright!

Judging from some more recent news it seems like EA is getting closer to the path of a AOL/Time Warner/EA.

According to a report on gameindusty.biz, Patrick O'Brien of EA Entertainment had this to say about a partnership between EA and United Talent Agency.

"UTA is an ideal partner for us to bring the richness and story telling nuance of our popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts," commented Patrick O'Brien, VP of EA Entertainment.

You know, if I have forgotten EA is supposed to make video games, hopefully the best ones they can. Remember how much you didn't care when EA and the NFL signed an exclusive deal. There is no turning back now. Video game properties are an idea and a name, they are not as much fun anymore.

Remember when Sonic was a game of running?

I am a Segavore. I like the Sega machines and the Sega style. I chuckle a little on the inside when Nintendo releases Sega titles, however sometimes, I cry a little too.

Coming soon to the Wii is Sonic and the Black Knight, where Sonic will have a sword and the Wiimote will be the vessel in which its damage is carried out. Call me crazy but why not make a game with these mechanics using another character, or perhaps a new character, one that is not an anamorph, or at least an animorph that used to be known for running and collecting rings.

I am not against change, I am against this horse corpse that is starting to smell like rot. The beginning of the end I suppose was a few years ago when Sega came out with Shadow the Hedgehog, a gun toting, more Hot Topic hedgehog.

All would be forgiven if Sega were releasing these games on there own system. Far be it for me to say what you do inside the your own home. But when you start to push this crap on the neighbors and expect me to care, please only ring my door bell when we have a little bit more of the running and jumping.

Dead Rising for the Wii!

The canrnoslaughter of Dead Rising is coming to the Wii. Dead Rising: Zombie Sacrfice.

If you played the first game it was awesomely flawed. Those flaws according to sources have been taken out.

New Controls! No Photos! Otis not calling you every few minutes! New weapons!

All in all, good times to be had at an undisclosed date.

Is this Dr Manhattan?

From the upcoming Watchmen movie. It has signature Zack Snyder browns in it.

Nothing quite like a good adaptation!

Who remembers the original Ghostbusters game? Enter your name as Owen and you could get a boatload of money.

Here is the new Ghostbusters game. The trailer at least and what looks like the few seconds of video surrounding the already released screen shots, oh and a lot of movie footage.

I don't think as many people have seen Ghostbusters as one might think. As much as I might think that everything related to 80's pop culture is known by the average bear, it certianly hasn't happened. I know a girl that has a geek blog that had never seen the Flash Gordon movie until recently, the one with the Queen soundtrack! So it is possible that there is a percentage of America has not seen Ghostbusters. It is possible I tell you. The movie came out in 1984, and well that is a long time ago. I hope there is still an audience for this movie. Don't embarrass me game developers, you made a Scarface game, and a Godfather game. In the grand scheme of things those games are a footnote. It's one thing to make games on current franchises, it's almost shameful to go back an tarnish a good name.

Running Heroin with the DS!

Curl up on your couch and sip some egg nog as you crack skulls of the yakuza in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars; coming this winter, announced yesterday at E3. This was probably Nintendos' biggest win of E3.

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 - Rockstar Games is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS™. "This is a game that will deliver a rich, fast-paced and intense 'Grand Theft Auto' experience that will be truly unique to Nintendo's handheld platform," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Rockstar Leeds, along with the team at Rockstar North, has built upon a decade of progressive design on Grand Theft Auto, and has created something fundamentally fresh and immersive."

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an entirely original entry into the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and brings a new level of interactivity to its sprawling open environments. With the use of the DS touch screen, players will navigate their way through the streets as they uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate, delivering the unprecedented amount of depth that has become a true trademark of the franchise.

Developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with series creators Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available on the Nintendo DS™ in North America and Europe this winter.

www.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars

Explode Like A Blood Sausage! New Fallout 3 Trailer and Gameplay!

Looking forward to this post apocalyptic adventure. Hopefully the black and dry humor will be enact, seems to be so far.

Game play footage and a new trailer!

If this is anything like Oblivion, get your divorce papers ready.

New Xbox Experience! New Dashboard! Xbox is Stealing Thoughts and Ideas!

Well honestly it's about time Microsoft got back into the idea stealing game, I mean look at MS-DOS, and Windows. This new dashboard shows me a bit of technological competition and general faith in the video game industry again. Some say competition breeds contempt I say it breeds excellence.

With an obvious nod to the Wii avatar Mii, the Xbox 360 will also have a cute version of yourself. I like cute things. There will also be a party mode feature that will allow one person to setup a chat room and the ability to speak to a group of friends. Apparently this feature will also work in the sharing of pictures and video to other people.

In a move that will really make the Xbox 360 the home multimedia computer of the ages is the addition of Netflix rental service to your Xbox account. The same way you were able to rent a movie from Netflix and have it stream to your computer, you will now be able to do that through your Xbox 360.

Wow! That is pretty rad. I might have to re-up my Netflix account.

A stylized dude movie! Guns, and girls.

Hell Ride, written and directed by Larry Bishop, son of Rat Packer Joey Bishop.

Guns,and girls. Trailer has some boobies in it, so NSFW.

The Spirit! It's all stylized!

Hopefully this trend will stop soon. I like style as much as the next guy. I know, "thats how Frank Miller draws, I'm a fan."

Shut your pie hole, you know this shit can get trite as quickly as watching the same porn twice.

I'm not into elves, and bare feet!

The real sort of it is, apparently there is to be an Elfquest movie . As stated above, I'm not really into elves or fantasy in general, however sometimes I get surprised.

The writer and director of the movie Dodgeball, will probably not surprise me.

Rawson Marshall Thurber looks like he takes himself very seriously. He's part of the Writers Guild of America, and would to make sure you know this by looking at the picture of himself holding a sign, on the front page of his website.

Anyway, elves.

Max Payne trailer!

It's out.



Yes, that is Ludacris.

Lots of babies crying.

Mirrors Edge! The Running Woman!

Swedish game developer, DICE, is making what looks like will be a first person runner. No this is not the long awaited sequel to 3D Battles of World Runner, it is a game called Mirrors Edge, and it looks really neat.

Having already had a slew of successful FPS military shooters, and making what could be the COD4 killer, Battlefield: Bad Company; now they are going out to make a game about big brother, big business, big problems. Ironically DICE is now owned out right by EA, and some say that EA is the devil. They are the ones that were the start of in-game advertising, and securing the rights to the NFL to be only used in Madden games.

From the Dice website:

"In a city where information is heavily monitored, agile couriers called runners carry sensitive information on foot via the rooftops and skyways. Usually the police leave them alone - they have bigger fish to fry - but now something has changed...

Play as Faith, the best and most agile of all runners, in an adrenaline-fueled race to save her sister’s life as she unveils a bigger plot involving the whole city and the runners. Mirror’s Edge is an action-adventure game that revolutionizes the genre by introducing a full body experience with dynamic 1st person movement and combat, in an immersive modern-day universe and with a socially charged storyline."

New back story trailer.



Original trailer



Dice Official Site

Great Game Makers in History! Eric Chahi!

In 1991, Eric Chahi, created one of the most impressive games ever made, this game was called Another World. Another World had a different title in the United States, it was called Out Of This World, it was released on several platforms including PC, Mac and Amiga. What some might call a puzzle platformer, the game play was simple, yet challenging. The story was told only through the actions on the screen, there was no reading and this was a time before voice acting.

The intro sets up the game completley, you are a scientist, something happens and you disappear to this other place. A classic idea, and a truly classic game. It can be downloaded for 8.99 dollars from the developer himself.




In what looks like it could be an early grind core band album cover was the cover to 1987's Profanation. This is an earlier game by Eric Chahi. The game play screen shots are not as awesome as this picture, but this picture is awesome. Like porn movie covers; the girls on the covers never look as the video on the inside. Needless to say this is an intense picture.

Another World official site translated into five languages!

Nikola Tesla! Structure Complete!

The magic of the internet learned me, that today is Nikola Teslas' birthday. Like many of you my first introduction to the word Tesla comes from, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, or a cheesy rock band. Assuming you know the game, rather than the band, best defensive weapon was easily the Soviet Tesla Coil. It would rain down gobs of electricity with beautiful chaos and finesse.



Here is someone that wanted to make his own Tesla coil in his back yard and reenact a scene from Command & Conquer.

So lets celebrate Niokla Telsa with this 9 minute interesting video.

Saboteur! France is awesome!

Pandemic studios will releasing a sexy game, full of sexiness, and noir. Saboteur looks damn cool. The site has nothing to offer than girls giggling, some French music, the sound of cobblestone streets, with a heady smell of wine passing through the streetlights.

Right so it has atmosphere, Nazis and girls in their underpants. A stealth game, where the stylized look is a game play tool; areas that are in Nazi control have limited color or are generally black and white, and resistance controlled sections are colorized. Coming out some time after Mercenaries 2 I'm sure.

Official site

1942 is coming! Bionic who?

Six or seven months ago Capcom showed us footage, of fun looking game play in a redux version of Bionic Commando called, Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Terrific, awesome, great. They even gave us a date for the release, sometime at the end of May.

Just a few months before Bionic Commando: Rearmed was to be released, Capcom announced that it was making another reskinned game, a new version of 1942. Alright! Our special weapon is flipping in the air! High-fives!

So now we have 1942: Joint Strike. The airplane flipping game. Which looks really cool and will be released in the near future. By announcing, 1942: Joint Strike, Capcom is able to give the consumer the impression that it is going create a line of reskinned games. "You gave me a release date for Bionic Commando: Reamed, you even are going to release a soundtrack.I love this stylized look you have for Bionic Commando! It's so cool! TF2 is an awesome game! How could I possibly not trust you? Are you ever going to make up for the mistake of Dead Rising?"

Bionic Commando is not coming out on time, and for all the hype the game had, you can barely find more than, "it will be out when it is ready, and let us never speak of this again." They already released the soundtrack to the game, back in May, when the game was supposed to come out.

So in a few weeks what will we get? We will get the airplane flipping game of 1942: Joint Strike. It is being hyped like it is a gift from God himself. We don't get more chocolate, we get less chocolate. Let's just compare the past versions of 1942 and Bionic Commando. Bionic Commando is cooler, you have a robot arm, and that is better than your B button letting you flip in the circle.

I'm not saying that this isn't how they might have intended it all along, get us hooked on an idea, take it away and give us the dumber down version of the idea first, like you were going to do anyway. We don't get more chocolate, we get less.

Games on your phone are still lame!

This summers more than likely biggest movie, The Dark Knight, has its own awesome phone game, if you like that sort of thing. Using only your thumb, you will guide the Batman through this 2D action packed adventure.




Official site

Sex! Nazi! Europe!

Max Mosley, who is someone more important than I am, and not even from this country is trying to stop the beacon of journalistic integrity The News of the World from running an article on his awesome escapades with Nazi hookers. Well he lost and they are running the story.

Here's the full story

Something that Apple/Mac will never have.

A long time ago when only certain people were considered artists , writers and musicians, a time before the the internet, digital photography, digital music, and spell and grammar check. This time was a time of modems and track ball, and competition between companies. This was a time of Amiga.

Coming from the person that seems to have developed internet culture with the, "fame for 15 minutes," statement, Andy Warhol was one of the first electronic multi-media artists. July 23rd 1985 at the Lincoln Center in New York, Andy Warhol took to the stage using an early Amiga paint program to make a portrait of Debbie Harry. A computer for technologists and well as artists.

WGA awards PSP game with first time ever Video Game Writing award.

I have never heard of this game, Dead Head Fred, by Vicious Cycle Software. I just asked my roommate if he knows anything about the game, "picked it up with my hand, but then put it down again," he said. I don't think this game was on most peoples watch lists.

Video games getting awards for writing, which is great. Not all programmers are writers and certainly no writer is a programmer. The one thing I wish is a game I played won an award, or one that I had some knowledge of.

There are some serious games that came out in the last year with some incredible stories. I am going to have to add Dead Head Fred to that list of games I need to check out. So if you have a PSP dust it off and see if you can find this used.



More information here.

Everyones favorite arrogant European on MSG4.

"This game a suck. I think that Hideo whats his name, lost his mind. The game is ridiculous, I do not like." So says Spaniard and Metal Gear Solid expert, Jose Santos.

Movie about a robot, or thinnly veiled attempt to unmine society as we know it?

Wall-E was great fun. I knew I was going to like this movie from the moment I saw the first teaser. I like robots, I like science fiction, I like spaceships. Check, check, check.

However not everyone feels this way.

I can't figure out which I dislike more, overly conservative thinking that makes Wall-E out to be“leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind,” or smarmy liberals getting all, "Good luck with the war, the crumbling economy, and getting those pasties on strippers." I get it, you don't agree, that's fine.

I saw this movie as a nice movie and probably the best rated G movie ever made. I thought of it as a return to quality family movies that we haven't had recently. Are we going to make another Shrek movie, with fading pop culture references, or or some other talking animorph with an all star cast of, gimme a fuckin break?.

In my own opinion this movie had a bit of a nod to Robert Heilein's, Orphans in the Sky. A long time crew of a floating biosphere with a forgotten mission. That just might be my ego talking, showing that I have read a book that is old and from the golden age of science fiction paperbacks.

I suggest we all sit back and relax, watch the movie for what it is. Besides E.T. was the first movie to have me distrust the government.

American McGees' Grimm

Coming in 24 episodic games starting this summer is American McGee's Grimm. First to be released on Gametap and then hopefully to Xbox Live. It has a solid look and judging by his previous work American McGee's Alice, he certainly knows how to pull off the Fractured Fairy Tales mentality. This game will be rated M, and if Edward Gorey came out with a game, it would be too.



Official Site

What ever happened to that Alice movie?

Dr. Horrible! Neil Patrick Harris, the guy from Firefly, and some girl from Buffy!

During the writers strike Joss Whedon decided that being a writer is more important than being Hollywood.

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

See it at Drhorrible.com



ACT ONE: Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO: Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE: Saturday July 19th.


Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Game Run Down for the Month!

The month in review.

What did we learn this month?
I am as surprised as you, Ninja Gaiden 2 is game of the month, wow!

Ninja Gaiden 2 - Worth it new, game of the month.
Battlefield: Bad Company - If you like a new type of story with your Military FPS, buy this new. CoD4 with destructible environments, and vehicles.
The Incredible Hulk - Worth it new, however nothing much new since Ultimate Destruction.
Hellboy: Science of Evil - Worth it used if you are a fan, otherwise you aren't missing much. Beat and repeat.

Indiana Jones Lego DS - Worth it new, big fun, pocket sized.
Plushees DS - Not even as a goof.

Inspired by the bank robbery mission in GTA 4

The best scenes in Heat.