When The Splatters first came out, I was fortunate enough to get to play it right off of the bat. I enjoy a good puzzle game, and this physics-based title is one of the best I have played to date.
Dust 514 - PSN Review
There are some definite hooks and some tangibly exciting good ideas to be found in Dust 514, a free offering on the PlayStation Network that ties into the longstanding EVE Online MMO. The problem is a flawed framework that can be forgiven to some extent, depending on what it is that drew you to the experience in the first place. Now that the game has been out in full for a bit, and both my son and I have played it quite a bit, I wanted to take a closer look at it.
Big Bass Arcade: No Limits - 3DS Review
The timing on this title was pretty much perfect, at least on a superficial level. I just retreated up north with my wife for a largely electronics free weekend to celebrate our anniversary (how she has put up with me for fifteen years as of the 26th is a mystery I can probably never solve). Still, I played a few games on my handhelds late at night/early in the morning when sleep was being evasive, and one of the titles I got to try out was Big Bass Arcade: No Limits for the 3DS.
No shortage of things going live over the next week - Gaming Thoughts...
Last weekend was obviously a pretty busy one for me with my vacation up north, but this is turning out to be one of my busier weeks coming up as well - at least in terms of gaming. With Magic 2014, Super Splatters and Project X Zone all landing, I plan to get reviews up for each very soon.
Shot Online and Real Soccer - sports fixes to keep an eye on
There are a pair of gaming announcements for fans of both Golf and Soccer that caught my eye earlier from OnNet
And... back to reality
Back from being up north with my wife for the better part of a week. Tomorrow's our actual anniversary (15 years), but we celebrated by spending our time up in Mackinaw - in the city, on the island, at the Soo. Lots of pictures, lots of fun, lots more walking than I'm sure to, as well.
Magic 2014 - Duels of the Planeswalkers releasing next week
Alright - my last post before I disappear for the weekend, but Magic fans (and this includes me completely) - here are your upcoming release dates for the Magic 2014 - Duels of the Planeswalkers game.
The unexepected but smart Microsoft turnaround - Gaming Thoughts...
So, Microsoft pulls a 180 (not to be confused with the 360 - sorry, I had to...), and while it was unexpected, I think it was something they simply had to do.
Gaming Thoughts - there is definitely a place for casual games
Casual games are usually defined as a video game geared toward a broad audience of gamers. These can really be on any system, of any genre - but the general understanding is they tend to have very low learning curves so they can appeal to people who do not generally play a lot of video games.
#NoDRM Summer Sale by Good Old Games
Here is a good one for people who like their PC gaming cheap and have an affinity for older titles.
Plants vs Zombies - Vita Review
I hope everyone had a really great weekend. I got spoiled a bit for Father's Day - with a few new games (Lego Lord of the Rings for Vita, Theatrhthm Final Fantasy & Luigi's Mansion 2 for the 3DS and several movies. Also? I paid off a reservation of a PS4 & extra controller). Now, for this week's initial review...
By now, Plants vs Zombies needs very little introduction. PopCap games excels at making video games that appeal to broad audiences, are easy to pick up and learn, but offer plenty of content that helps to keep you invested for hours at a time.
By now, Plants vs Zombies needs very little introduction. PopCap games excels at making video games that appeal to broad audiences, are easy to pick up and learn, but offer plenty of content that helps to keep you invested for hours at a time.
inFAMOUS Second Son - E3 Trailer
This is probably the AAA title I am most interested in out of the entire conference. I really enjoyed the first game, and have recently started playing the second and am enjoying that as well.
Metal Gear Solid V - E3 Trailer
Microsoft kicked their Xbox One conference off by showing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and with good rason.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - E3 Trailer
Here is a nice long six-minute trailer for the follow-up to the first Lords of Shadow, which I liked quite a bit when I reviewed it.
Shin Megami Tensei IV - E3 Trailer
Some people are really down on the prospects of Nintendo's E3 showings, especially for the Wii U. Personally, it looks like there are a lot of cool 3DS titles coming, and one of those is Shin Megami Tensei IV.
Outlast - E3 trailer
Outlast looks pretty creepy. The first person perspective - in particular through the camera (reminding me a bit of the Fatal Frame series - my favorite horror titles of all-time), really looks like it will be effective.
Class of Heroes 2 - PSP Review
Class of Heroes 2 is a tough, traditional dungeon crawling JRPG experience. This is the type of game that does not appeal to everyone, but I for one am glad that MonkeyPaw Games and Gaijinworks brought this title over to the Sony PlayStation Store (it is a PSP title, but plays beautifully on my Vita as well), because I am its target audience.
Daylight - E3 announcement
I can safely say I am a big fan of suspense and horror games. Atlus announced a new title called Daylight at E3 that looks to fit that bill.
The Order: 1886 - E3 Trailer
One of the first titles Sony showed off during their PlayStation 4 part of the conference was The Order: 1886. There are a lot of different elements shown off here, such as supernatural creatures, advanced weaponry and a distinctive time period.
Project X Zone - E3 trailer
This one's had my eye since it was first announced for release over in Japan, so when I heard it was coming stateside to the 3DS - I was pretty excited.
The Night of the Rabbit - PC Review
The point-and-click adventure game is not extinct, but it has been largely in hiding over the last several years. It is not a surprise, video games have evolved a great deal over the years, with a lot of AAA titles sporting amazing, fully animated visuals and high-priced voice and musical talent. Still, I have a soft spot for the genre. They are not generally the first games I go out to play when I see one released, but every now and then a storyline, or some gorgeous artwork will catch my eye and I settle in for a good old fashioned bit of video game nostalgia.
Rain - E3 trailer of what looks like a unique game
This was one of those short teases during Sony's conference, but the music, visuals - just something about it immediately caught my eye.
Super Smash Bros. - E3
Super Smash Bros. is one of those titles Nintendo can generally count on to be a hit. It sells systems. This is probably something Nintendo needs a bit more of. The GameCube and Wii versions of this game still get played in our household, and as soon as my son saw this trailer for the 3DS, he told me that this was the next game he was saving up for.
Madden 25 - E3 trailer and footage
It is pretty well established that I like the NFL and also the Madden games. I know every year there are a handful of tweaks, updated rosters and a larger percentage of people feel like EA is ripping them off. However, I am the target market for NFL football games, and I do get excited about the various details that come out each year.
Rush Bros - PC Review
Platforming games are really not my strongest genre, at least not anymore. I have been playing games for a long time now, and the NES and Genesis consoles thrived on platformers, and they require patience, quick reflexes and good memorization of level design through trial and error. Rush Bros pushes for all of these things, and tries to throw a couple of new wrinkles into the usual formula at the same time.
E3 - Nintendo Gaming Thoughts...
I guess I just was not feeling this year's showing by Nintendo. Truth be told, I have been a little down on their last few, so I suppose this was seen as a safer, cheaper way of presenting what is to come - but it felt a little like bowing out to me as well.
Dragon Age: Inquisition - Sign me up, please!
I am a huuuuge fan of Dragon Age. I just want to establish that right now - but Dragon Age and Mass Effect were both Bioware series that sit among my favorite titles of this console generation. So it was with a good deal of excitement when I viewed the Dragon Age: Inquisition trailer yesterday.
Battlefront teaser provides A New Hope
I enjoy the Battlefield games for brief periods of time, but I sunk loads of time into the Star Wars: Battlefront titles in years past. Among my favorite shooters of all time (I am a huge Star Wars fan), I was beginning to think I would never see another Battlefront title again.
A couple more feathers IN Sony's E3 cap
Shuhei Yoshida made a couple of twitter announcements that likely made fans of the upcoming PlayStation 4 just a little bit happier.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII & FF XV- Gaming Thoughts
Square Enix has a tough task on their hands any time they announce a new Final Fantasy title. This is a series that has been around for a lot of years and rightfully earned a good number of fans. However, they are stuck dealing with those who feel they do not innovate enough, and others who would like to see them stick to the tried and true ATB or turn-based roots of the past.
Gaming Thoughts - Full circle with Lara Croft and Nathan Drake
First off - wow, the E3 coverage has been entertaining and busy. I will continue to get articles out this week, even if it is just small bits on trailers, games or nuggets of news that caught my interest. I already have a few things queued up to auto-post throughout the day. Also? The traffic through here has been awesome - some of my all-time highs, so thank you for dropping by. This morning's article more or less puts the finishing touches on my Uncharted reviews and thoughts, leaving me with a handful of other reviews coming up including some new releases - two for the PC and one for the PSP (not everything has to be about cutting edge consoles this week, does it?).
Having just spent a lot of time recently with the Uncharted series, I began to think back on not only those games, but what I would guess was the primary inspiration of that series - Tomb Raider. I played a handful of the Tomb Raider games in the past, back Lara was much more stiff and her world far less exciting to explore. All the same, her ability to explore and interact with her environment was exciting and largely new at the time.
However, the Tomb Raider games did not age very well, and the series suffered a series of missteps along the way. Tomb Raider did eventually start to regain its footing, but not long after the Uncharted series blasted onto the PlayStation 3 scene, and the parallels were glaring.
Having just spent a lot of time recently with the Uncharted series, I began to think back on not only those games, but what I would guess was the primary inspiration of that series - Tomb Raider. I played a handful of the Tomb Raider games in the past, back Lara was much more stiff and her world far less exciting to explore. All the same, her ability to explore and interact with her environment was exciting and largely new at the time.
However, the Tomb Raider games did not age very well, and the series suffered a series of missteps along the way. Tomb Raider did eventually start to regain its footing, but not long after the Uncharted series blasted onto the PlayStation 3 scene, and the parallels were glaring.
E3 - Sony Gaming Thoughts...
I already wrote up my thoughts on Microsoft's presentation earlier, which I thought was far better than the last several conferences, including their E3's and earlier Xbox One announcements. Now Sony has revealed their console, plenty of games, and touched on some of their non-gaming functionality.
E3 - Microsoft Gaming Thoughts...
Lots going on in this conference, and I will start right off by saying this one left me feeling much better about the direction of the Xbox One than Microsoft's initial conference did. When one of their opening comments is "It's all about the games" - well, I feel like they were back on the right track.
Unearthed: The Trail of Ibn Battuta Episode 1 - PSN Review
Having just come off of playing a bunch of Uncharted over the last few weeks, I have to admit I was curious to see what Unearthed would be all about. Just by the description you could tell this game was trying to emulate the Uncharted series, but in case there was any doubt - then you start playing it.
Free Fable 3, E3, lots of posts coming soon... - Updated!
Good morning - I hope everyone had a nice weekend? Mine was good - busy, but good. Equal parts yard work, playing Persona 4 Golden, playing Magic: The Gathering both with cards and on the PC with my son, playing Rush Bros with my son, watching the season finale of Game of Thrones and more. Oh, and writing lots of reviews.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss - PS Vita Review
So far, I have not had a chance to review too many PlayStation Vita games. I did an additional commentary on Guacamelee!, though I was focused more on the PlayStation Network game. I also got to do a review of Rocketbirds. While both of those games were good, neither one was a reason to buy a Vita. I reviewed the hardware here, and the Vita is a seriously impressive machine. However, one of the earliest titles mentioned for the Vita was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and it was one I have been wanting to play for some time now.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - PS3 Review
Almost every video game console has a handful of exclusive titles that help define what that console meant to its fans. Sometimes those games span several console releases (Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Halo, etc). The PlayStation 3 has seen a few series carried on from the PlayStation 2 (Killzone, God of War), but has also seen a couple of series that were born and carried out over the span of just this console generation. The Xbox 360 had that with Gears of War, while Sony gets series like Infamous and Uncharted to show off.
Gaming Thoughts... Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate trying to pull in new gamers
Just a quick hit article this morning, but I have seen this article pop up in a few places, and the premise interested me. I have really enjoyed the Dead or Alive series over the last few releases. I have reviewed Dead or Alive 4, Dead or Alive 5 and Dead or Alive Dimensions. The fluid combat and excellent visuals combine with a variety of modes to make this series one of the better members of the fighting genre out there.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS 3 Review
I hope you all had a nice weekend. I definitely got some gaming in here and there, and have a ton of reviews and articles coming up over the next month or two. Hopefully you enjoy them - and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Let me just start by saying Uncharted 2 was one very entertaining ride.
Okay, sticking with the rest of the review then at this point? Glad to have you along.
Let me just start by saying Uncharted 2 was one very entertaining ride.
Okay, sticking with the rest of the review then at this point? Glad to have you along.
