Extra GuyContra Rebirth isn't a game looking to provide an epic, mind-altering journey. Its mission instead is to hearken back to a simpler time, when games were about mowing down unlimited waves of enemies with a constant stream of machine-gun fire, or somersaulting through the vacuum of space and into battle without a second thought to the realism involved.
Stoked does still provides the most realistic representation of snowboarding you'll find in a video game, so if you haven't played the original you should definitely give Big Air Edition a go
Now that Tales of Monkey Island season one has wrapped up, I can say: damn. That was fun. Telltale's maturing and becoming masters of what they do, and this is by far the best series of theirs I've played so far.
While it's comforting to see EA try to expand upon the mythos of a new property in a creative direction, Dead Space Extraction sadly crumbles under the weight of its ambition. The makings of a great shooter are there, but they're stifled and hidden by the constricting and pushy narrative that refuses to just let the player play.
While the Atari 2600 may be dead and gone, its influence lives on in the design of Gaijin's Bit.Trip series. Mixing simple elements of early gaming with modern audiovisual techniques the way they have creates a rhythm-based experience unlike any other; Bit.Trip CORE is the second success wrought by this formula and one worth checking out.
It looks like Square Enix is interested in accepting applications to be a part of the FFXIV beta launching sometime next year. FFXIV is the second MMO set in the Final Fantasy universe and if you’re interested in checking it out you can hit the official site for all the details. Players will be randomly selected, and this is only for the Windows Beta with more information about the PS3 beta to come in the future.
Genre : Shooter
Developer: M2
Publisher: Konami
Players: 1 – 2
Retail Price: 1000 Wii Points ($10)
Availability: WiiWare
If you’ve ever played a Contra game, you’ve had your ass handed to you. It’s a fact of life. The series remembered for a handful of reasons but its difficulty is the jewel set atop the crown. Contra Rebirth is the second installment of Konami’s line of WiiWare reimaginings and it certainly looks and feels like a member of the family, but only if you dive right into the highest available difficulty setting. Rebirth is otherwise a cakewalk; a would-be hoping to rub elbows with the elite by simply wearing their clothes… ironic in a game where the main characters are shirtless.
Rebirth’s story continues the saga of series stalwart Bill Rizer, who is awakened from stasis in the year 2633 and given a new mission. Tasked with chasing down and defeating Colonel Salamander, Rizer pursues Earth’s current ruler through time and back to the year 1973 to prevent the destruction of the then-infantile Contra program, thus saving mankind from their current enslavement. All in a day’s work, right?
Expect to see this guy's bullet patterns in your sleep
The mission begins as only Contra can: a hole is blown into the side of an invading starcraft as you leap from your helicopter and into the fray. This tongue-in-cheek silliness pervades the entire title. Enemies explode in a fiery blast when defeated; Bill growls “Let’s Party!” when deployed. It’s 80s action-kitsch applied with a wink and a smile, and it’s done quite well. The attitude is only half the battle, however. Contra is about more than bandannas flapping in the wind and tough-guy catchphrases. It’s about shootin’ some damn aliens.
And shoot some damn aliens you will. You’ll also shoot enemy soldiers, bionic owls, a cybernetic samurai and robotic ostriches. The bad news for you is they won’t go down without a fight. Enemies have apparent access to unlimited amounts of ammunition and aren’t afraid to discharge it in your direction. Also, it’s one hit kills all the way folks. The initial shock of seeing the chaos can be overwhelming — there are bullets everywhere. But this does well to hide the clever, and ultimately manageable level design. Like its old-school brethren, Rebirth is slightly more about pattern memorization and patience than it is about twitch-reflex.
Shirtless travel through the atmosphere? Ahh, the power of testosterone
Enemies are deliberately placed to provide maximum discomfort for you. Success comes at the price of failure, a price paid multiple times over without the presence of absolute luck. There are several set-piece moments where an enemy will unexpectedly leap out and nail you but not enough to degrade the integrity of the level design. Each of the five levels is capped with a boss battle, most of which are challenging but fall short of remarkable by a fair margin. Like the levels, pattern memorization is the key to achieving victory. You can continue after losing all your lives, but expect to replay the entire level, minibosses and all should you meet your demise. As stated before, victory comes at a price to be paid in full, and multiple times.
Completionists and masochists will be glad to know there are two characters and a “Nightmare” level of difficulty to unlock. The game is relatively short — the five levels won’t take more than three hours to play through on normal difficulty, especially if you’re attentive to the patterns — but Rebirth isn’t a game looking to provide an epic, mind-altering journey. Its mission instead is to hearken back to a simpler time, when games were about mowing down unlimited waves of enemies with a constant stream of machine-gun fire, or somersaulting through the vacuum of space and into battle without a second thought to the realism involved.
We had mentioned Turbo earlier this year when the first trailer was released and since then the full movie has made it’s online debut. It’s only about twenty minutes long and the movie does look pretty good. You shouldn’t expect to be blown away, but for an original film about a video game it could definitely be worse. The movie is available to stream from Vimeo or if you are interested in picking up a copy, they also have the DVD available for sale.
TURBO from Jarrett Lee Conaway on Vimeo.
The Hero Of Time, a fan made Legend of Zelda, has finally been released after being in production for the last few years. This isn’t just a short five to ten minute video, we’re talking about a near two hour production. I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet myself, but not being a huge Zelda fan I’m not that sure how much I’ll get out of it. If you have the time and want to watch an independent fan made movie about Zelda, check it out and let us know what you think.
A new Dark Void trailer was recently released by Capcom that shows off some of the aerial combat you can look forward to when the game comes out next month. Take a look at some of the action for yourself.
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Valve announced today that new content would be available this coming Spring in the form of an all new campaign called “The Passing”. The campaign takes place right after the Dead Center campaign and stars not only the four main Left 4 Dead 2 survivors, but the original Left 4 Dead survivors as well, and is described as being “the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story”. In addition to the new single or multiplayer campaign, this pack will also add new arenas for Survival, Versus and Scavenge mode, as well as introducing a brand new co-operative challenge mode. There will also be a new uncommon zombie class, firearm and melee weapon added into the mix as well. Sounds like a pretty full content pack that will be making a huge impact on the game when it comes out this Spring. No details have been announced yet on a specific date or pricing, but we’ll provide information as it becomes available.
Genre: Sports
Developer: Bongfish
Publisher: Destineer
Players: 1-8
Retail Price: $40
Availability: Xbox 360
Stoked: Big Air Edition is the follow up to the original Stoked released earlier this year. The new title is not so much a sequel, but rather the first game with a fresh coat of paint. All of the original content is still intact with the addition of two new mountains, a new race mode, and some additional gameplay improvements. The new title feels like it cuts out a lot of the problems with the first release, but the big question has to be: is it worth your while to pick up this title if you already grabbed the original earlier this year?
There isn’t really a quick and easy answer to that one, but Stoked does still provides the most realistic representation of snowboarding you’ll find in a video game, so if you haven’t played the original you should definitely give Big Air Edition a go. The realistic representation the game provides tends to becomes one of the best and worst aspects of the game. On one hand you’ll have a ton of fun carving down the mountain at breakneck speeds, but on the other it’s going to take a while before you get to some of the more fun content. Although the learning curve is steep, it is completely worth the effort if you are looking for a great snowboarding sim. The sense of speed you feel from riding down the mountain creates an awesome tension that will keep you on your toes as you barrel down the mountain, and pulling off those perfect tricks on the way down makes the experience all the more rewarding.
The game conveys an excellent sense of speed
Big Air Edition does make some unique changes that alter the experience enough from the original entry to help it stand on its own. One of those changes is the overall speed of the game while you are snowboarding down the mountain. If you are attempting to board down the trail as fast as you can, you’ll really feel the sense of speed they are trying to convey. This is a huge deal when playing in the new races that have been added into the game. Now in addition to all of the other trick spots that exist on each of the trails, there are also races available in which you can either take on the computer’s best time, or the best time of whoever is at the top of the leaderboard. You don’t race against an actual person, but rather the ghost of their time on the course. I found this to be the most interesting and exciting new addition, and it’s where I spent most of my time with the new entry.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the relatively steep learning curve associated with the game. It’s going to be more than a few minutes before you are racing down the mountain at breakneck speeds, pulling off crazy tricks. You’ll get the same basic tutorial as you did in the first iteration, and progression through the game happens through the same process. As you ride down each of the mountains there is an overall set of goals to accomplish, like gaining a certain number of points for performing tricks or not falling as you make your way down. There are also numerous points on each of the trails that offer you the opportunity to beat a certain high score or hit a specific sequence of tricks. Upon completion of these goals you are provided with influence points, which are your ticket to opening up sponsor and media challenges.
That's a really long way down
One of the only unfortunate aspects of Stoked, besides the difficultly being a hurdle, is that at times the game doesn’t really feel like it moves forward. You’ll end up playing a ton of challenges before some of the more exciting venues open, and be prepared to drop more than a couple hours before you even get a chance at Big Air Edition’s two new mountains. The gameplay is incredibly fun, but at times it doesn’t feel like you are making any significant progress. Unlike Stoked, though, the new title does do a good job in speeding up the slower parts of the game by giving you access to the trail specific challenges from the main menu so you don’t have to go through the trouble of finding them all, and the new races are great for helping you build up your influence points.
The weather system is still a huge factor in the new game and provides one of the one of the major pieces that really helps set Stoked apart from the crowd. Weather changes as you snowboard down each of the mountains, and some challenges are only made possible by enough snow falling in a certain area. In addition to weather changes, the day and night cycle also has a huge impact on the game. One of my most satisfying experiences came from finishing off one of the overall score challenges while snowboarding down the mountain at night in a snowstorm, which is also a tense situation as it’s almost impossible to see what’s happening.
So all in all, is it worth the purchase the second time around… possibly. If you were really into the original Stoked, you’ll find enough new content to keep you entertained for a while, but at the same time, you’ve probably experienced most of what the game has to offer. If this is your first time jumping into the series, you shouldn’t be disappointed since this is one of the best snowboarding sims to come along. Once you really get going in the game, you’ll find an enormous assortment of trails to check out, as well as great set of controls that you can use to pull off some amazing tricks.
Nintendo keeps the good times rolling on the Wii and DSi by adding eleven titles to their download roster this week. One of the first Metroid-vania styled games, Sunsoft’s Blaster Master, has been released, and fans will be more than pleased to see the sequel to Earthworm Jim on the Virtual Console this week as well. As per usual, here’s Nintendo’s presser, complete with pictures.
The first of this week’s new Virtual Console™ releases gives new meaning to the term “underground legend,” sending players down a mysterious manhole for a classic subterranean adventure. Another fine addition to the Virtual Console section of the Wii Shop Channel features the iconic hero Earthworm Jim in a fun-packed sequel from the SEGA Genesis era. For the Nintendo DSiWare™ service, a slate of five new games includes everything from the pets of LITTLEST PET SHOP™ to animated puzzles, cooking and magic tricks. For fans of the WiiWare™ service, fast-paced stunt driving and Moki-herding mayhem are among the latest arrivals. Whether you’re downloading for yourself or seeking cool, convenient gifts for everyone on your holiday list, look no further than the Wii™ Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi™ Shop for instant gratification.
Stunt Cars™
Publisher: Icon Games Entertainment
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Stunt Cars takes place on elevated racetracks with very little to stop players from accidentally driving off the side. Turbo can be used to make a car go faster, but it can only be used for a limited amount of time in each race. As you progress through the game’s four championship cups, you’ll unlock special features such as driver achievement awards.
Diatomic
Publisher: Grendel Games
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Diatomic is a fast retro-arcade action game that takes place inside a set of petri dishes. The safe confines of your petri dish are about to be invaded by nine different diatomic creatures that seek to destroy you. Armed with your shield, tail, strategic intelligence and good reflexes, you stand a good chance of defeating the overwhelming odds. You must stay alive during 65 hectic stages spread over five chapters. The high score list shows what kind of player you are. Playing defensively and gaining an all-out defensive high score is harder to pull off than gaining an all-out offensive high score.
Moki Moki™
Publisher: Natsume Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: It’s a mind-bending, gravity-defying puzzler. The Moki are being devoured by the voracious Gromblins, and it’s up to you to guide the hapless little guys to safety. Bend, twist and rotate the environment to herd the Moki through a series of brain-teasing puzzles. Along the way, you’ll have to contend with deadly pitfalls, spinning blades and shifting gravity. Roll Moki down ramps, grab them with hooks and blast them with jets to guide them safely to the portals. Challenge your skills in 100 unique levels.
Rubik’s Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH
Publisher: Two Tribes
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: Rubik’s Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH is a 3-D puzzle game with more than 70 challenging levels. Players need to guide Cubes to color-coded exit points. Using the Wii Remote™ controller’s intuitive controls, players herd the colored cubes along by using Conveyer Belts, Warps, Stop Signs, Directional Signs and Splits. RUSH also includes the original Rubik’s Cube as a bonus. Players can attempt to solve one of the four different-sized Cubes alone, compete against a second player or learn how to solve the classic Rubik’s Cube.
LITTLEST PET SHOP
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Experience your favorite LITTLEST PET SHOP pets in a whole new way on your Nintendo DSi system. Play catch with your pets and their favorite toys, dress them up in adorable new accessories and keep them happy by brushing and feeding them. You can even throw a little dance party for your pets and help them rock out to cool songs.
Miami Nights
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Comic Mischief, Mild Suggestive Themes, Tobacco Reference, Use of Alcohol
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: You won’t find a more complete life simulation than Miami Nights: Life in the Spotlight. Begin by designing your avatar with an unbelievable level of customizable physical detail. But it’s not your physique that counts. Instead, your life choices and your everyday behavior will influence more than 40 attributes that will make you a unique, progressive individual. The city of Miami is presented to you with no fewer than 30 places to explore. Plus, you’ll be able to customize your entire home and interact with your environment in many ways. The most important part of the game play lies in how you interact with other characters. They will be the ones who’ll help you achieve your goals. You’ll be able to establish and break off different types of relationships with them. It’s up to you to act like a bad guy or sweet girl, make friends or enemies, and choose the best way – honest or otherwise – to make your dreams become a reality.
Bejeweled Twist™
Publisher: PopCap Games
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Spin, match, explode – it’s a brilliant new way to play. Spin and match explosive gems for shockwaves of fun in this quick-play version of the award-winning PopCap game. Rotate jewels to set up electrifying combos, outwit obstacles like Locks and Bombs, and create high-voltage Flame and Lightning gems. Play the intensely fun Classic mode or take on a friend in the exclusive Nintendo DS Battle mode. No matter how you play, you’ll find endless ways to win.
Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam
Publisher: Virtual Toys
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Have you ever asked yourself what it would feel like to be among the stoves of the best restaurants in the world? Do you want to become the best chef there is, preparing scrumptious dishes? Jump right in and enter the world of Yummy Yummy and its mixture of flavors and aromas. In Yummy Yummy, you’ll have to satisfy the hunger of the most diverse, colorful set of diners: vampires, extraterrestrials, mafia thugs, Vikings and more. Prepare hot dogs, hamburgers, pizzas and Mexican burritos as quickly as you can before your customers get tired of waiting and decide to leave the restaurant without giving you a good tip. Roll up your sleeves, don your chef’s hat and have a great time.
Master of Illusion™ Express: Matchmaker
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Master of Illusion Express titles feature mind-boggling magic tricks that you can perform with your Nintendo DSi system. Learn the illusions, practice up and amaze your friends. Master of Illusion Express: Matchmaker includes two tricks that use your Nintendo DSi system to reveal information about others. Use the Photo Diagnosis trick and stun others by taking two simple photos to pinpoint their exact age. Or have the Matchmaker trick show that another person has favorite dates or favorite foods that are similar to yours. Who knows? You could even land a date or make a new friend.
Blaster Master™
Original platform: NES™
Publisher: Sunsoft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: The New York sewers were never like this. You’ve fallen down a hidden manhole into a world of creatures so terrifying they’d scare the rats away. You can panic and perish, or blast your way through an endless maze of tunnels in search of secret passages to your escape. Masters of the Caverns lay waiting – prehistoric creatures so powerful and gigantic they literally fill your screen. Load your arsenal and get ready for Blaster Master.
Earthworm Jim 2™
Original platform: SEGA Genesis
Publisher: Interplay
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Superhero annelid Jim and his new sidekick, Snott, are back for an off-the-wall sequel in Earthworm Jim 2. Containing more action than your standard platformer from the Genesis era, each stage has a different style and mission, drawing on game play from different genres, including mazes, trivia contests and arcade-style levels. The game also features music composed by Tommy Tallarico. Do you have what it takes to rescue the Princess?
Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo DSi Shop and the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Mondays. Users with broadband Internet access can redeem Wii Points or Nintendo DSi Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Nintendo DSi Shop or the Wii Shop Channel. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems. Remember that both Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit Wii.com or NintendoDSi.com.
Bioware recently revealed the cast that would be performing the voice work in Mass Effect 2, and it’s an all star assortment of science fiction actors. Tricia Helfer, Keith David and Michael Dorn are just a few of the names making an appearance in this title which already looks and sounds phenomenal. In fact you can take a look for yourself at a newly released video that shows off the actors and their impressions from working on the game.
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November has come, flexed its muscles, and left just as quickly. The Wii and the DS are unsurprisingly on top of the heap, but the 360 and PS3 weren’t too far behind. The PSP continues to hover around PS2 numbers… one has to wonder what Sony wouldn’t do to have the PSP match the PS2’s mid-lifecycle numbers instead.
November 2009
Nintendo DS – 1,700,000
Wii – 1,260,000
Xbox 360 – 819,500
PlayStation 3 – 710,400
PSP – 293,900
PlayStation 2 – 203,100
October 2009
Nintendo DS – 457,600
Wii – 506,900
PlayStation 3 – 320,600
Xbox 360 – 249,700
PlayStation Portable – 174,600
PlayStation 2 – 117,800
Modern Warfare 2 has sold quite a lot of copies in its first month, handily trouncing all comers. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is unsurprisingly high on the list as well, marking the first of what will likely be many months of talking about its sales… much like the other Nintendo NPD staples on the chart this month. The rest of the sales are heathy as well with Assassin’s Creed II and Left 4 Dead 2 making strong debuts.
November 2009
1. Modern Warfare 2 (360) 4,200,000
2. Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) 1,870,000
3. New Super Mario Bros. (Wii) 1,390,000
4. Assassin’s Creed II (360) 794,700
5. Left 4 Dead 2 (360) 744,000
6. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) 720,200
7. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) 679,000
8. Assassin’s Creed II (PS3) 448,400
9. Dragon Age: Origins (360) 362,100
10. Mario Kart (Wii) 315,000
October 2009
1. Uncharted 2 (PS3) 537,000
2. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) 441,000
3. Borderlands (360) 418,000
4. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) 314,000
5. NBA 2K10 (360) 311,000
6. Halo 3: ODST (360) 271,000
7. NBA 2K10 (PS3) 213,000
8. Forza MotorSport 3 (360) 175,000
9. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) 169,000
10. FIFA 10 (360) 156,000
