This week is a self-proclaimed awesome train wreck with fireworks… and ninjas.
Crit or Quit:
Aria of Sorrow, The World Ends with You, Eat Lead, Zombie Apocalypse, Touhou 6, Chaos Legion, Lost Planet 2
Level Builder
This week we break down “leveling up”! E.V.O., Demon’s Souls, Devil May Cry, and (of course) Fallout 3.
End Game:
We take a moment to focus on some of our favorite games from the developer Level-5!
I wish I knew who that hunter was. He was a true hero and a patriot.
You can watch Aevan and I fumble our way through the full Crash Course campaign on our Justin.tv page, or just hit play on the video in the right sidebar.
Urgent news from the word of Albion! Today Lionhead has released “Fable II: Game Episodes” which gives Gold Xbox LIVE account holders the ability to download and install Fable II one episode at a time. To tease the product to those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing it, they’ll let you have the first hit for free!
“As an incentive for those curious about the adventures that await them in “Fable II,” Microsoft Game Studios is making the first episode free to download. In this initial episode, players are introduced to the vibrant world of Albion where every choice has a consequence, and are able to experience childhood and the trials of being a young adult. Players can then choose to purchase additional episodes on Xbox LIVE at their own pace.”
Fable II: Games on Demand is available in LIVE enabled regions around the world excluding Japan and Korea
A sneak preview event is being held for Naughty Dog’s upcoming AAA release Uncharted 2 and Fall Damage will be there! The event will be taking place simultaneously at four theaters across the US on October 5th and 6th. If you’re not within driving distance of San Fransisco, Thousand Oaks CA, Rosemont IL, or Bellevue WA you’ll sadly be left out of this event, but we’ll bring you the scoop!
I (Mixmoff) will be attending the Rosemont event, as well as competing in the tournament. Win or lose I’ll bring back my take on the full release game (at least what they let me play!)
If you’re headed to the October 6th event, send us an email and I’ll make sure to look for you at the show!
Aevan returns to join Mixmoff and BossGoji for another week of Fall Damage!
Crit or Quit:
Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend, Earth Defense Force 2017, Tales of Monkey Island
Level Builder
This week we break down “achievements and trophies”!
End Game:
All three hosts hit the “Reset Button” to forget the worst games they’ve ever played!
Side note: Japan is insane. This is the promo video for a DS game by Sega that purports to be able to read your feelings.
Wicked bear guitar solo at 3:37.
Crit or Quit:
BlazBlue, Trine, Prototype, Kirby’s Adventure, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Darkest of Days
Level Builder
This week we break down “world maps” and discuss what games have done them well, which have done them poorly, and what developers can do to improve them in the future.
End Game:
Mixmoff and BossGoji hype up the two games they’re most looking forward to in the coming months: Borderlands and Dragon Age: Origins
Sell, Zombie, Sell!
James Brooksby, studio head at Doublesix was quoted recently as saying,
“We’re ecstatic at the 3.00 upgrade because not only have our sales gone up 40 per cent since the update but for me personally it’s what I’ve been calling for and looking forward to for a long time.”
Of course the gaming press has decided this means the new look XMB icons must be pushing this sales increase. Instead, what we really have is a developer who is either being a bit foolish, or mildly disingenuous for Sony’s benefit.
If you want to point a finger at what could have caused this sales boom for Doublesix’s Burn Zombie Burn, you need to remember what else has happened since September 1st. PSN game sales should, by all rights, fluctuate in sales numbers along with the fluctuation in sales of the PS3 itself. The new PS3 Slim and the $100 price cuts have resulted in a dramatic uptick in PS3 sales. Isn’t it more likely this is the primary reason Doublesix is seeing more purchasers?
It’s possible that having the new store icons nested in the XMB will increase the sales of games featured. However this particular bump is something that can be attributed to a price change for a complementary good…. the PS3 itself.
“License great music” is obviously highlighted and underlined on Page 1 of Harmonix’s Rock Band playbook. In The Beatles: Rock Band they went nuclear by grabbing the catalog of the most celebrated band in the history of music. With a coup like that, the competition probably would have been content to rest on their laurels, but that’s not how Harmonix does things.
From the redesign of the familiar note bars to the trippy interstellar performing environments this game has presentation perfected. The choice to allow up to 3 microphones so you can sing harmonies was the kind of inspired addition that has made this developer the kings of music games.
But for all that’s right with this game, there’s one glaring omission that simply makes this game LESS fun to play than its predecessors… and the blame can doubtless be laid at the feet of licensing. Read the rest of this entry »
ModNation Racers Online Beta has been dated for this December, with access vouchers already available in the LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year Edition.
The second game in Sony’s “Play. Create. Share.” arsenal impressed us at this year’s E3 with it’s impressive track-building system. ModNation Racers promises to usher in a new era of kart racing frenzy in 2010. And just in time, too… I’m looking at you M&M’s Kart Racing.
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