Two weeks ago I find myself deep in thought pondering over a question that was posted on our forums – “What is your personal greatest achievement in gaming?” After serious consideration and headaches, I could only come up with a single answer. I have absolutely no idea.

The successive migranes, however, did make me realise a dark little secret of my past as a gamer, specifically a gamer who prides himself on his knowledge of classic gaming and the wealth of experience under his belt.

 I had never beaten a Megaman game.

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Mass Effect 2 is big. Oh, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but etc., etc., more thinly veiled references to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

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As Capcom has at least semi-officially closed the door on future collaboration with future developers, it’s now very clear how little margin for error exists in this generation of gaming development. After pledging to work with western devs in order to expand their sales in the western markets, Capcom’s failure to revive the Bionic Commando series seems to have caused the Japanese game maker to reverse course entirely.

It’s evident developers walk a tight rope in this generation. We complain of “sequelitis”, but once a winning formula is found it’s dangerous or even reckless to deviate from that success. A single failure can topple a small developer, and can cause even a powerhouse like Capcom to feel very uncomfortable.

Our pastime of choice has become big money, but that means developers are less and less likely to take the chances to truly innovate. Hopefully the burgeoning scene of indie and download-only games will keep us awash with fresh ideas to help propel the industry forward!

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Despite the fact that we mentioned it in a podcast a while back, I still don’t think enough people have been introduced to the wonderful world of Spelunky. I have become completely addicted to the game as of late, and I think more of you out there in internetland should do the same.

Spelunky is a fantastic little indie game developed by Derek Yu, a fairly well known independent developer who’s other titles include Eternal Daughter and Aquaria. Obviously heavily influenced by classic games like Spelunker, the game revolves around exploring an expansive underground cave complex whilst collecting mass quantities of buries treasure, fighting snakes and giant spiders, and rescuing Hysterical Dames. The main selling point of Spelunky for me however, is the completely random nature of the game. Every time you start, the entire game is randomly generated so no two playthroughs will ever be the same. There are some small factors that remain constant, such as the amount of starting items you have and the ‘theme’ of the current level you are on (1-4 are simple brown caves, 5-9 are an underground jungle, etc). You also only have a single life in the game which can make the game a little difficult, although a large amount of the fun in the experience is seeing just how the game will play out the next time.

The game is completely free to download, although Derek does have an Xbox Live Arcade version planned for release in the near future. So what are you waiting for, head over to Spelunky World and download it now!

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It took me officially Way Too Damn Long, but a hole in my budget opened up long enough to let a copy of Borderlands slip through, and I’m really wondering why I didn’t get this sooner.

Right now I’m about 75%-ish through my first playthrough. I’m playing the Soldier class; since he is a planet-hopping mercenary with a hip urban attitude, I have named him Deltron. I’m currently at Level 32 with a Support Gunner class mod, closing in quickly on 33, and for the moment I’m mostly focusing skills on physical endurance, dealing good damage with all weapon types, and getting the most use out of the deployable turret. My only complaint is the lack of any ‘alternate’ character models, since while I do love my Soldier’s skillset, I still feel awkward not playing a girl, and I’ve found I’m pretty terrible with the Siren(stealth is decidedly NOT my forte). Read more »

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So those of you who regularly keep track of TeamFortress.com, Valve’s development blog for the wonderful class-based multiplayer title will have seen the webcomic teaser posted yesterday linked form the following phrase;

Friendship ends in one day.

So what could this mean? The most likely answer is a Soldier vs. Demoman update, just like the Spy vs. Sniper update from earlier this year. Some other theories are floating around out there at the possibility of only one of the two classes getting the update, dependent on class popularity from how much they are played since the announcement, or through a poll. There has always been one outlandish theory of the engineer getting an update… yeah.

It’s also awesome to finally see The Administrator in person, although I almost feel like I’ve seen her before…

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All of us here behind the scenes at Fall Damage believe that all great developers get their start with nothing more than an idea, a dream, and a passion to see it through..  To celebrate and honor this ideal, we will be bringing you new games that we’ve found through our adventures.  Hopefully, this will mean that we will do our small part to see up and coming developers reach the rank and prestige of companies such as Level 5, Valve and Naughty Dog.

This week I would like to introduce you to a marvelous little game called Tipoli.  It’s a one button iPhone game with huge potential and unlimited fun brought to our eager hands by Proper Walrus and published by Divide By Zero Games.  If you are craving something indubitably addictive and you just happen to have an iPhone at your disposal than there is truly no reason not to go and get yourself a copy of Tipoli.

The good news gets even better once you hear that for the first week Tipoli is only 99 cents in the apps store!  Yes, you read that right.  Only 99 Cents, People.  So go out there, support those big time dreamers with even bigger ideas, and who knows what wonderous things we might see from them in the future!

Oh, and for those who want the game but just can’t be bothered searching for it?  [I know, the internet is a scary place. o_o]  Here is a direct link for download!  Or, if you want to read more about the developers themselves, and the process that Tipoli has gone through to become what it is now; here is a link for your reading enjoyment! 

And because writing a whole article with piles of information would mean that I’d have to pretend to be an actual journalist, keep your ears open for a future podcast [fingerscrossed] hopefully interviewing one of the Proper Walrus team!

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Randomly lurking on the Gearbox forums today, I noticed a juicy piece of news. It seems that Gearbox has filed a new trademark document for something entitled ‘Borderworlds’. Pretty much seals the deal for a sequel, or maybe even a massive expansion/DLC pack for the original game that moves the focus to multiple different worlds (okay, I’m dreaming here, but it could happen!).

Borderworlds Trademark Status

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After finally playing through Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, I find it only fitting to write my own single word review.

“Masterpiece.”

In response to the review we commented on previously, I only recall two quick time events used in the entire game, and those are only when fighting a certain type of enemy, and only if they manage to grab you. Plus, these two events require pressing the two standard melee attack buttons at times that make perfect sense, so instead of really being QTE, the button icons on the screen are more just informing you that you can start your regular attack inputs – these two enemies just have a different attack animation so you may not have understood it was time to mash buttons.

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For some reason, I am being incredibly nostalgic today. Remember when…

* …there was no such thing as automapping, and if you wanted a map of the dungeon you had to DRAW AN ACTUAL MAP?

* …copy-protection came in quiz-format, rather than DRM fuckery?

* …you didn’t realize that Nintendo Power was NOTHING but advertisements?

* …the manual would have all the story crammed into it to save space on the game cartridge?

* …the manual would lie to you on purpose?

* …the GAME would lie to you on purpose? (‘Get a silk bag from the graveyard duck to live longer!’)

* …big-head cheats were the grand summit of easter eggs?

* …there actually WASN’T a Cow Level?

* …Samus being a girl was shocking?

* …no matter what game you were playing, the ‘water’ level or dungeon was always the hardest?

* …you actually thought Sheng Long might be real?

I can’t be the only who remembers this stuff. What stuff do you guys miss about old games?

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