|
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 16, 2013 in Fandom, Videogames 
Evan Daugherty is slowly crawling his way up in Hollywood, writing films like Snow White and the Huntsman and the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His most recent project was directing and writing 4 shorts that were a gritty reinterpretation of Super Mario Bros. Yes, I know. Roll your eyes, as this has been done many times already by many other people. Daugherty definitely comes away with some differences though, especially in Toad’s video which feels heavily inspired by Guillermo del Toro’s monsters for Toad’s design. Mario and Luigi’s videos are equally interesting and silly, but Peach’s definitely feels like it’s all over the place. Still, it’s a fascinating attempt, and I did really like Toad’s film. Check out all four below! Read more…
Tags: Mario Brothers, Short Films
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 14, 2013 in Videogames 
Bravely Default finally has a confirmed North American release: February 7, 2014. It’s not as soon as the release date in Europe, but considering how likely it was that this game would stay Japan-only as recently as early 2013, I’ll take it. The Square Enix JRPG is dropping its subtitle “Flying Fairy” and also not using the upcoming Japanese rerelease’s subtitle “For the Sequel”; however, the Western release still includes the enhancements and extras found in “For the Sequel.” Bravely Default is also getting a collector’s edition, which features 34 augmented reality cards, an art book, and a soundtrack CD; looks like the figurine will only be part of the European collector’s edition. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Bravely Default, RPG, square enix
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 13, 2013 in Videogames 
For many gamers, the rest of the month won’t be about picking up the PS4 or Xbox One to play shiny next-gen games. No, they’ll be sticking with a top-down game with cartoony 3D models. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, a “direct” sequel to the seminal The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES), is out on November 22 in North America. Because blowing a 3DS game’s graphics on a big screen doesn’t look that great, Nintendo made a mostly-live-action TV ad to promote the game. It looks cool and reminds me of a time in the 90s when ads were mostly live-action skits that were sometimes tangentially related to the game itself. Now if only the game itself looked more like this or its concept art; I’ve heard buzz that the 3D effects are great, but that art style looks primitive and almost completely charmless. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Legend of Zelda, Nintendo
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 12, 2013 in Videogames 
So this is what it’s come to, huh? Unboxing videos are so popular that companies are not just putting out official unboxing videos, but they’re infusing them with high production values. After years of rumors and a longer previous console generation, the PS4 is launching this Friday, November 15, in North America. Sony wants to show you what you’ll be getting when you open your own box, and they’re showing you in style, reusing the set from the unboxing of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories earlier this year. (I guess they have to cut costs somewhere.) It’s everything you’d expect to be in the box, including a mono headset, something the PS3 didn’t include by default. (That doomed the PS3 to a life without much audio chat compared to the Xbox 360, which generally included a headset.) Read more…
Tags: PS4, Sony
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 11, 2013 in Cinema, Videogames 
There was a lot of news to come out of Blizzcon, but one I found most interesting was director Duncan Jones talking about the Warcraft movie. The director of Moon and Source Code will be tackling the film, and he spoke about how the movie will focus on the origin story of orcs and humans, and the first meeting between Lothar and Durotan. It sounds like Blizzard is heavily involved in the making of the movie as well as offering input on the story and script. They did show off some concept art (below the jump) and mentioned that ILM would be creating the CG orcs. It’s currently scheduled to open December 18th 2015, which with Disney’s announcement a few days ago, now means it opens the same day as Star Wars Episode VII. Good luck! Read more…
Tags: Warcraft, World of Warcraft
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 9, 2013 in Videogames 
At first I wasn’t very interested in Super Mario 3D World — it looked pretty similar to 3D Land and didn’t really seem to do much differently aside from the 4-player co-op. But these recent trailers and screenshots tell a completely different tale! Bright colors, vivid landscapes, and interesting world design! All the power ups look like a lot of fun too, and the lighting really works well with the models. Everything pops! And I really love the design and neon lighting of Bowser’s theme park world. Check out some more images below and a compilation of recent Japanese commercials. The game arrives on November 23rd along with every other video game ever. Read more…
Tags: Mario Brothers, Wii U
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 7, 2013 in Videogames 
After several years of not playing many board games, I got back into them in college. Since then, I’ve been trying out some new ones, but certain board games are classics, like Risk. There’s a new variant edition coming out soon: Risk: Mass Effect Galaxy at War Edition. This Mass Effect-flavored game has you taking control of one of three factions with their own win conditions to fight the Reapers, the main bad guys of the series. The game is available for pre-order for $50 and might be worth picking up if you want a new version of Risk or if you’re a fan of the game. Read more…
Tags: BioWare, Board Games, Mass Effect 3
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 7, 2013 in Videogames 
“Flying Fairy” might as well be say “Final Fantasy,” because Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is the most traditional Final Fantasy-esque game Square Enix has made in a while. After a lengthy period of no announcements, Square Enix confirmed that the game would be localized for North America and Europe. But as was the case with many other JRPGs as of late, the game is coming out in Europe first before America, with their December 6 launch right around the corner. The game is looking good, and the English dub sounds pretty good too. Take a listen and see if you agree! Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Bravely Default, square enix
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 5, 2013 in Videogames 
At this point, it’s hard to tell whether Konami has been poorly communicating information about Metal Gear Solid V on purpose (a la Metal Gear Solid 2) or if it’s just due to their usual bad management. We had heard that there would be two parts to the upcoming sequel: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a prologue (similar to MGS2‘s Tanker scenario), and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the main, longer game (similar to MGS2‘s Big Shell scenario). After the rather inelegant reveal that The Phantom Pain, a game advertised as an independent game made by a fake studio, was unsurprisingly MGSV, conflicting information suggested that both parts of the game would be sold together. Konami has just announced that this isn’t true: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released by itself in Spring 2014. Read more…
Tags: Metal Gear Solid, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 4, 2013 in Videogames 
It’s rainy. But you’ve got to fix this mess and complete these puzzles. But it’s ok, you’re a robot! A very very sad robot. Reset is a sci-fi noir puzzle game, mixed with a little bit of mystery and atmosphere. While it’s still very early, and the game looks like it needs a little polish yet, I find the concept very intriguing. Portal has shown that you can tell a great story within a puzzle game, so I’m hoping the creators can pull off the mysterious story in Reset. Is humanity long gone? Are these robots just cleaning up the mess? Or is there something deeper going on? Check out the first gameplay trailer below. There’s a Kickstarter coming soon! Read more…
Tags: Indie Games
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 3, 2013 in Hobbies and Collections, Videogames 
Yup, the Minecraft hype train can’t be stopped! LEGO has had an incredible amount of success with their miniature Minecraft CUUSOO sets, and it now wants to replicate that on a larger scale! They’re going to be making minifigure-scale models that will expand to a whole line of sets. While they’re still in the very early phases, they’re asking for community input on what fans would like to see in the sets on their Facebook page. Currently they’re asking which Creeper design you like the most, so head on over and help decide! Then check out the video below which features more looks at the prototype sets! Read more…
Tags: Lego, Minecraft
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 2, 2013 in Videogames 
Well, I have good news and bad news, South Park fans. The good news is that Ubisoft has release a brand new 7-minute long gameplay trailer of South Park: The Stick of Truth. The bad news? They’ve delayed the game until March 4th, 2014. Yup, South Park has joined the list of games like Watch Dogs that couldn’t quite make their holiday deadline. While this is sad for many people, I’m sure, I always go by Miyamoto’s words of advice: releasing a game too soon ensures that it is bad forever, but in development, a bad game can eventually become good. So leave it in the over a little longer if that’s what you need! For now, just watch this gameplay trailer below! Read more…
Tags: South Park
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 1, 2013 in Videogames 
Every year during Halloween, something special happens… something truly spooky! No, it’s not costumes and trick-or-treaters, it’s Team Fortress 2’s annual Scream Fortress event! Every year a map is transformed into a dark, spooky underworld where presents drop and candy reigns. This year they’ve adapted the Hightower map to become… Helltower. Also added are a new exclusive feature to this map: magic spells. Cast them at the opposite team to spook them out! Lastly, they added over 100 new community-made items, some of them even by people I know! All of those folks will be getting a cut of the money from those items sold, so if you decide to buy some items to dress up your character, know that you’re supporting real people! Now get out there and spook some folks! Read more…
Tags: Halloween, Team Fortress
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 31, 2013 in Videogames 
If you’re a retro games enthusiast, chances are you’ve bought certain games more than once. Sonic the Hedgehog has been rereleased at least ten times in the last decade, between Virtual Console releases, cellphones, compilation discs, and more. Now you can add yet another rerelease to it, but at least this release has something new to offer. Sega recently converted several Genesis games into 3D for Japanese release on the 3DS. Not every game released on the system needs to be in 3D, especially retro games, but Nintendo and other companies have done so occasionally to offer a new reason to repurchase old classics. It was strange that the games were Japan-only, but now Sega has announced that all eight of them will be coming West before the end of the year. You’ve got Sonic, Ecco the Dolphin, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, and more to pick from. Check out the list below! Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Sega, Sonic the Hedgehog
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 30, 2013 in Videogames 
Have you heard of this “walking dead” thing? If you’ve been living under a rock, The Walking Dead is a critically acclaimed comic series by Robert Kirkman that has been adapted into a very successful TV series on AMC. Last year, Telltale Games released a episodic adventure game called The Walking Dead: Season 1 that went on to win untold Game of the Year awards based on its strong design, writing, storytelling, and characters, despite competing with games with far bigger budgets. If you haven’t played it yet (or its short expansion 400 Days), go do that now before even thinking about watching what many fans have been waiting for: the reveal trailer for Season 2. Read more…
Tags: iOS, PS3, Telltale Games, The Walking Dead, Xbox 360, zombies
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 29, 2013 in Videogames 
Here’s a weird game that you probably won’t get to play. Akiba’s Trip 2 is set in Akihabara, one of the geekiest places in Tokyo. However, demons have invaded, so what do you do? That’s right, you punch and kick the clothes off of demons to expose them to sunlight. And if some of those demons are girls/are possessing girls (it’s hard to tell) and you see them in their underwear, so much the better, it seems. You can also visit over 130 real shops from the area. Akiba’s Trip 2 will be released in Japan on November 7, with no plans for an international release, which should come as no shock to anyone. Of course, it could still come to America, as stranger things have been released. Just don’t get your hopes up! Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, PS3
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 28, 2013 in Videogames 
Here’s a cool-looking indie game… and it’s not even on Kickstarter! Yet. Paradise Lost: First Contact is a sweet indie game that has a silly title. You play as the monster in a space base and you get to terrify and mutilate the various denizens however you wish as you try to escape. I really like the conceit of playing as the thing that goes bump in the night, and trying to find your way out while using your various alien abilities. The pixel art is also pretty neat. The game will be going up on Kickstarter soon and is on Greenlight now. Check out the trailer below! Read more…
Tags: Indie Games
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 28, 2013 in Videogames 
Star Citizen continues to look like one of the coolest games on the horizon, and it barely even has much of a game yet. They have, however, debuted a new ship called the Hornet F7C which is their premiere dogfighting ship. If you want you can pledge early and get this ship in-game when it arrives. This new commercial is a faux ad set in the future that shows you all the cool features of the Hornet — and how good it is at dodging asteroids. I’m enjoying these in-universe ads because they help set the tone for the game. Check out the video below. Read more…
Tags: Star Citizen
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 24, 2013 in Videogames 
For years now, people have been saying that Mario is old and predictable. While some of the New Super Mario Bros. sub-series games are well-made, it’s safe to say that they’re all unsurprising with what they do. But if you haven’t seen anything about it yet, watch the latest Japanese trailer for Super Mario 3D World, the Wii U sort-of sequel to the 3DS’s Super Mario 3D Land. It’s made by the same team that made Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel, two of the best Mario games in the last decade. The game marries the 3D Mario games with elements from the 2D games, and it looks fantastic. Plus, it has a ton of power-ups and items, offering many different gameplay mechanics. The whole thing just looks magical and fun in the way that only Nintendo can be. Hopefully it sells some Wii U units when it releases on November 22! Read more…
Tags: Mario Brothers, Nintendo, Wii U
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 23, 2013 in Videogames 
The latest trailer for Killzone: Shadow Fall on PS4 is out, and it’s all about the story. I admittedly haven’t ever played a Killzone game, but it’s usually not hard to understand these plots. After the events of Killzone 3 killed off a bunch of the Helghast (the guys that look like Space Nazis), there are a bunch of Helghast refugees sharing space with non-Helghast in a city divided by a giant wall. So basically, it’s the Cold War in space. What’s more important to me is that the game looks gorgeous. Watch this trailer and be amazed at how good things look. And this is just a PS4 launch title — just wait until this generation really gets going a few years from now! Read more…
Tags: Killzone, PS4
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 23, 2013 in Videogames 
Respawn Entertainment’s highly-anticipated next-gen shooter Titanfall has finally been dated. What seemed like a possible launch title for Xbox One slipped back and is now confirmed to be released on March 11, 2014 in North America, with a March 13, 2014 release date in Europe. The game is not only coming out on Xbox One, but also PC and Xbox 360, though I think the 360 version won’t be purchased as much. But are you somehow going to have some spare money after the new console launches this fall? Then Respawn is offering you an expensive Titanfall collector’s edition. Read more…
Tags: Titanfall, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 22, 2013 in Videogames 
Were you aware that the first PlayStation console launched in the West in 1995? Yep, besides the December 1994 Japanese release date, it’s been 18 years since Sony fully entered the console market after Nintendo’s tragic betrayal. Sony Europe made this great video that shows several people growing up with PlayStation products throughout the years. While it’s a little unusual that this guy has lived in the same room for 18 years, I guess it’s still plausible now that the economy has forced recent graduates to delay moving out of their parents’ home. Read more…
Tags: Playstation Vita, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Sony
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 21, 2013 in Videogames 
Since its release a few days ago, The Stanley Parable has quickly gained momentum. It’s a delightfully unique game that breaks a lot of conventions and preconceptions you might have about video games. You start out confused, wondering what in the world is going on, and why is this narrator constantly talking to you? But as you explore and discover more, things become more clear — and more interesting. This isn’t a game that you “win.” There’s no “perfect” ending. Instead, you play it multiple times, going different ways each time and figuring out how to make strange new things happen. Trust me, saying too much would spoil it: just buy this amazing game. If you’re not sold on it though, try the free demo, which is completely unique content from the main game and gives you a better idea of how things will work. Read more…
Tags: Steam, The Stanley Parable
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 21, 2013 in Videogames 
Oh no, it’s another video game Kickstarter! You’ve got to have some really creative to make people pay attention nowadays… it’s seems SCALE might have that spark. SCALE is an adventure and puzzle game in a first-person perspective — but the hook is that anything can be made larger or smaller with your device. You can shrink a house so you can pick it up and toss it, or make an animal so large you can escape via its digestive system. The in-game story seems equally crazy: you play as inventor Penny Prince who has been arrested for 9,322,591 counts of Depraved Heart Murder for accidentally destroying the east coast. And they’ve confiscated her cat. Now it’s time to escape and rescue her cat! Watch the pitch video below. Read more…
Tags: Kickstarter
|
|
