Posted on
08.28.05 by Widge @ 5:19 am  Somebody took the old Duck Hunt game and mashed it up with Doom. Now with this game you can have the satisfaction of blowing the duck to composite atoms with the Doom rocket launcher, leaving nothing for the dog to hold up. But as the MetaFilter post we got this from notes, you still can't shoot that goddamn dog. Siege is going to love this. Categorized as: Games and Stimuli
|
|
Posted on
08.23.05 by Doc @ 11:10 pm With the opening volley in the next generation console wars just over the horizon, the release schedule has been a little thin over the summer. Outside of some excellent niche games, it's been downright bare. This week is little exception, but it does bring with it one marquee title that is already being heralded as the killer app for the new Nintendo DS handheld: Nintendogs.  The basic concept is fairly similar to Neopets or Pokemon games -- train your pet, keep it happy, and then, if you want, let it compete for prizes in dog shows. The game is released in three different forms, each one containing six breeds of dog, and rumors are already circulating that additional carts will be released with more breeds further down the line. The game's lifelike graphics and open-ended gameplay make for an interesting new wrinkle on the "digital pet" idea. It's unclear to me if every copy of the game contains all eighteen breeds, or if you would need to sync up wirelessly with other players to unlock the additional breeds, but either way, the six breeds provided should allow for plenty of options. Nintendo's aiming squarely at the "non-gamer" market with this one, and if early signs are any indication, Nintendogs will push more handhelds than any other title going. The latest installment in the Advance Wars series, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, hits the DS this week, bringing a collective cheer from the tactical RPG set. Previous games in the series have provided serious game-play bang for the buck, so if handheld strategy is your thing, rejoice. For the GBA, there's a host of Milton Bradley board games and old school videogame classics (think Yar's Revenge and Pong) available this week, but for the price, I'd pick 'em up used. Had they condensed more titles onto each cartridge, it would have been an instant must-buy, but at three games each and a half-dozen cartridges, I just don't need digital board games or nostalgia Atari goodness that badly.  So what is there on the street this week if you like your gaming platforms in the full console size? Precious damned little, alas. 187 Ride or Die provides some racing combat action, but with Burnout Revenge and Full Auto not too far off, I've got a feeling this one won't be a classic for the ages. Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance just looks like a bad knockoff of the hugely popular Def Jam: Fight for New York. There's also a rehash rerelease of a couple of installments of King of Fighters *yawn*. The only shining gem for consoles this week is Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. With a wide-open destructible environment, it takes the best of last year's high-quality Spider-Man title, and then hands you a mean, green engine of property damage to play with. The early demo was hellacious fun, and I can't imagine the full version is any different. The only other title that might be worth looking into is the officially licensed World Series of Poker game, but with a handful of poker games out there already, most folks that want such a thing already have it. On the upside, the licensed version streets for $29.99. PC gamers? Suck it. Nothing whatsoever of note for you this time around. I think there's a sequel to Big Mutha Truckers or something. Buy a console next time the new hotness demands a videocard upgrade, and you won't have this problem any more. Buy Nintendogs: Chihuahua from Amazon. Categorized as: Games and Headsup
|
Posted on
08.13.05 by Widge @ 8:40 pm  This is getting out of hand. Which is just like we like it. Now "It Plays Doom" has gone from a certification to an entire website. I really want to see somebody running Doom on a goat's brain. Don't you? Found via Gizmodo. In related news, Quake 3's source code is going to be released. I tremble with fear at what madness this will unleash. That pointer from Gadgetopia. Also previously: Wolfenstein on a calculator. Categorized as: Games
|
Posted on
08.10.05 by Widge @ 12:54 am   And so today we've got two versions of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down from Novalogic, taking you and putting you in the middle of the 1993 conflict in Somalia. What both versions have going for them is sixteen single player missions developed with the aid of former spec ops soldiers, multiplayer battles out the yin yang, cooperative play using split screens for up to four people, AI teammates that can recognize your voice commands, craploads of weapons that you can change-up during play and sweet in-play graphics. The PlayStation 2 version plays across your broadband to let you involve up to 32 players. The Xbox version will allow up to 50 players. Egad. Badass military gameplay that involves you and everybody in your neighborhood too. Gotta like it. For more info, check out the game's official site. Buy the PS2 version from Amazon. Categorized as: Games and Headsup
|
Posted on
08.07.05 by Widge @ 9:20 pm  Okay, now that's just freaky and wrong somehow in a way I can't explain: they've ported Doom to the iPod. And it's apparently playable. Kinda. Found via Engadget. Update: Now Gizmodo has a certification graphic for such things. Nice. Previously: Wolfenstein on a calculator. Categorized as: Games and Stimuli
|
Posted on
08.02.05 by Widge @ 1:07 am  Okay, we're suckers for anything involving zombies. This is not news. And I actually ran across Urban Dead a while back and started a human character, but the MetaFilter post earlier reminded me. I've got a human and a zombie going on right now. And the zombie is delivering beatdowns already. I could get used to this. Although, guys, come on: if I'm a human and that bad a shot, I'm going to step closer and empty the gun into the thing's head at point blank range. Sorry, you just have no idea how much geekified planning we've discussed over here in case of a zombie invasion. We're sad people. (Pic taken from a photo album of the recent kickass zombie flash mob we've mentioned before. Hey, red-headed moldy axe-in-the-face chick! You ROCK!) Categorized as: Games
|
Posted on
08.01.05 by Widge @ 7:58 am  If you own a TI-83 or TI-84 calculator, now you too can waste time playing Castle Wolfenstein. Just think about how this story will be a hundred years from now, when some kid announces he's gotten Dig Dug ported to a opossum's brain stem. Found via The Raw Feed and Engadget. Categorized as: Games and Stimuli
|
Posted on
07.28.05 by Doc @ 11:51 am  At his always-excellent blog, Games * Design * Art * Culture, long-time game designer and rabble-rouser Greg Costikyan has just posted the PowerPoint presentation from his Free Play conference keynote, wherein he issues a manifesto for demolishing the current game industry paradigm by any means necessary. His system is elegant and simple: remove publishers and retailers from the game distribution chain. Direct from the developer to the player--the only two folks in the current model that give a damn about good games. It's a brilliant idea, particularly when he proposes a unified front of indie developers utilizing a single web portal/presence for marketing, distribution, and sales direct over the 'net to the player. I'd hit that bookmark every frickin' day if someone ever gets such a site up and running, and if they can then cut cost of the end product because of no packaging and no corporate wanks? I'd be buying a game a week. Greg C. has gamer cred like very few in the world, and his insight into the videogame industry is always top-notch. This presentation just crystallizes all of that into a handy, easy-to-read format complete with charts and graphs. Found via BoingBoing. Update: ScottC reminds us that some folks may not have PowerPoint, and thus points those types to this viewer. Categorized as: Games
|
Posted on
07.27.05 by Widge @ 11:36 pm  Just when I thought Bailey kicking my ass repeatedly in video games was humbling, along comes Brice Mellen. Dude could beat me (and probably anybody here on the staff) like a rented mule at these games...and he's blind. Here's the story. Found via Drudge. Categorized as: Games and Stimuli
|
Posted on
07.27.05 by Widge @ 4:12 pm  If you've been rolling your eyes at the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas kerfuffle, then we highly recommend checking out this piece, written by Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You. Here's a snippet:
We like this guy more and more all the time. Found via Boing Boing. Categorized as: Games and Stimuli
|
|
|
