Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 14, 2010 in Videogames
BDA Gamer recently teamed up with Lego to produce a line of customizable Wiimotes for the ever-so popular Nintendo Wii. It’s a shame that these controllers are being released now as I imagine they probably would have sold far more during the launch craze a few years back. If it weren’t for the fact that my Wii collects more dust than a swiffer, I might have even considered picking up a pair of them myself. Of course, I’m sure there are still plenty of gamers out there who will want one, even if the only thing they’ll ever be playing on that console are titles developed by Nintendo themselves. If you’re in the market for one, you can order them through Toys’R’Us and you’ll receive a free Lego Halloween bucket as well.
I had written that I wasn’t entirely sure how they’d go about creating a sequel to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but after viewing the trailer, I had a basic grasp of the premise. You play a clone of the previous hero who scrafices himself to save the rebellion. Subsequently, this extended production dairy delves a little deeper, giving us a better understanding of exactly what they have in mind for this upcoming sequel, from introducing narrative to characters we’ve seen before, such as Yoda and Boba Fett. If this piques your interest, the demo is now available for download on both Xbox Live! and Playstation Network.
At first, I found myself wondering how they managed to create a sequel seeing as the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed had such a definitive pair of endings. Not to spoil anything — Episode IV pretty much does that for you, seeing as it takes place between episodes III and IV — but it’s either you or Vader at the end, and we all know how that turns out. So, naturally you’d think the game would be a sequel in name only — guess again. The game apparently takes place after the first, and as this trailer reveals, you play a clone of the previous hero. Again, you can probably guess the ending, but on the bright side, you’ll get more of that over-the-top gameplay we experienced the first time around. Of course, I don’t think anything is as over the top as using the force to crash a Star Destroyer, but who am I to judge.
Ever get that sinking feeling like you’re about to be devoured by a giant yellow ball but weren’t quite sure how to express it to others? Well, this shirt is the solution to that problem. ThinkGeek recently introduced this killer retro Pac-Man glow-in-the-dark ghost t-shirt. Obviously the ghost in question is about to become a snack, but that doesn’t make it any less cool. What’s more is that they’re giving the shirt away for free! What’s the catch you ask? ell, you have to add it to your cart, and spend $31 on other goods before they’ll toss it in free of charge. I guess that doesn’t really make it free, but $31 isn’t too much to ask, especially considering how many awesome products they carry. Besides, if you don’t want to drop the cash on other stuff, you can buy the shirt itself starting at $15.99, with XL and XXL costing a mere dollar or two extra. If you’re shooting for a free one though, I highly recommend a box of Stay Puft caffeinated gourmet marshmallows.
I’m not entirely sure it was Keita Takahashi’s intent to revolutionize the game industry when he created Katamari Damacy, but somehow a concept as simple as rolling a ball managed to do just that. In fact, many often label his work as art — contrary to what Roger Ebert would have us believe — so it doesn’t surprise me that others would take notice. Having parted with his former employer, Namco Bandai, Takahashi has been forced move on to bigger and better things. Whether or not we see another title on par with Katamari’s success remains to be seen, but until then, Takahashi will be hard at work creating something a little bit different. Read more…
If you had asked me a month or two ago, I probably would have told you that I couldn’t imagine a place like this existing. However, after my recent trip to Tokyo, I could believe anything — of course, that doesn’t change the fact that I totally regret missing this. Apparently, there’s a Dragon Quest-themed bar in Roppongi — Luida’s Bar. For those of you who aren’t big on Japanese RPGs, Dragon Quest , or Dragon Warrior, as it was once known in the states, is almost as popular as Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy here in the States, and even more so in Japan.
Wait, wait, don’t go! I’m not talking about the story continuity (though I gather it did pick up more or less where the last one left off)! I’m talking about the continuity of Ali Larter/Claire’s grey tanktop dropping lower and lower throughout the film, showing of just a little more black bra at a time. Witness! Read more…
I can’t even count the ways I love this game. For those of you who may not have played the series, Dynasty WarriorsGundam combines the legendary anime with Koei’s Dynasty Warriors game mechanics. The end result? You control one of the enormous mechs as you fight through hordes of giant robots until you face off against other new-types in a bid to control the battlefield. Sure, the gameplay can seem a bit repetitive at times, but unlike the original Dynasty Warrior games, the Gundam series has always presented me with more of a challenge.
If you hurry, for the next 22 hours or so, TeeFury has these amazing Super Mario Bros/Star Wars cross-over tees. It’s been quite some time since anything they’ve decided to print has caught my eye, but this little gem is hard to pass up. In case, for whatever reason, you’re clueless about classic Nintendo games, the shirt depicts an 8-bit Bobba Fett in a parody of the original cover/cart art for Super Mario Brothers here in the US. Aside from being kind of awesome, owning this shirt definitely earns you some instant nerd cred. Besides, I can’t even think of a better way to determine who you’d want to socialize with or not, because either they’ll get it, or they won’t — and why would you want to socialize with anyone who doesn’t? As always, TeeFury keeps it reasonable at $9 per tee — and before that price scares you, don’t worry, they’re sturdy.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Sep 28, 2010 in Videogames
I had heard about this awhile back, and I can’t believe I had forgotten about it until recently, but one of our favorite starship captains will be lending his voice to the upcoming Castlevania title, Lords of Shadow, that should be hitting stores next week. It’s not Shatner — though that’d probably be just as awesome — but rather, Patrick Stewart will be joined by Robert Carlyle and Jason Issacs and a host of other well-known stars. In recent years, Stewart has provided voice work for a variety of media, often causing me to pause and wonder just how awesome his life must be. Needless to say, I doubt he’ll ever be unemployed. Read more…
Much like Eddie LeBron with his recent MegaMan film, a fan has taken it upon himself to create his own live-action adaption of one of their favorite video games having been failed repeatedly by Hollywood. This time, it’s none other than Nintendo’s kid-friendly Pokémon, entitled Pokémon Apokélypse. Natrually, you’d expect the film to share much of that same aesthetic, however this time, that’s not the case. Instead, we’re given a gritty — almost humorously so — realistic depiction of the original story complete with over-the-top villains, torture, violence, and more. Of course, I can only speculate on just how gritty the film is based on the trailer above, but I’m sure you’ll probably agree when I say that it was probably the last thing I would expect from a Pokémon film — fan-made or otherwise. For more information, including an interview with the film’s creators, click here.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Sep 21, 2010 in Videogames
Sega’s Yakuza series — known in Japan as Ryu Ga Gotoku — has had a rather interesting history in terms of localization. While the first game was given the full treatment, complete with English voice acting and uncut content, its sequels were released with mere subtitles and lacking much of the content the game had become infamous for — Japanese host clubs, mahjong parlors, and the like. That said, I absolutely loved every minute of the series. The characters were easy to relate with, while the story was entertaining, and provided a interesting look at the every day life of Yakuza, from their hardships to their more recreational ventures. So why would Sega finally decide to end the series as we know it?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 21, 2010 in Videogames
This wonderfully creepy Mario sculpture was done by Jason Freeny who studied industrial design at Pratt Institute once upon a time. His website features a nice selection of shocking pop culture themed illustrations many of which deal with the inner workings of cute cartoon characters. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Sep 13, 2010 in Videogames
It looks like even the folks behind the Iron Curtain couldn’t resist the appeal of an arcade. Dangerous Business highlights their visit to the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games with shots of the amazing arcade machines therein, from the undoubtedly thrilling “Torpedo Attack” (above) to the slightly more mundane “Traffic Sign Quiz” to the incomprehensible “Turnip Strength Tester” (below). What’s notable is that none of these machines seem particularly jovial — all hard edges and dull colors, the hardware equivalent of “programmer art.” Connal Hughes of Dangerous Business noticed it too, commenting that they “looked like they were designed with the same sense of fun that an engineer would use to construct a hospital waiting room.” Who would’ve known that Brutalist design could even producethese kinds of machines? I guess when things in your country are as bad as they were for the Soviets, you have to take what you can get. Read more…
The videogame Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (also known as Within the Expanse of a Distant Time) was so popular that it inspired music CDs, a manga series, an anime series and even a live action film and now — a set of Hello Kitty collectables! This is being done to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the franchise which first started off in 2000 as a PlayStation game. Shown above are special stickers and below are cel phone straps: Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Aug 31, 2010 in Videogames
Many fans seem to be in a slight panic ever since it was recently announced that Index Holdings would be merging their Atlus and Index subsidiaries in the coming months in an effort to restructure their resource management and system of business. However, it’s highly unlikely that Atlus, as a brand, will be affected by the decision. This move came weeks after the official announcement of their upcoming title Catherine, which is being head up by the team responsible for the popular Persona series. So far the game seems to be garnering quite a bit of attention in the press for its erotic, adult-oriented themes and visceral, cell-shaded graphics. Personally, I can’t wait to see how the game shapes up — you can see the translated trailer above.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Aug 25, 2010 in Videogames
When I first heard the title Gundam Royale, I immediately thought of Daniel Craig doing an impression of Char Aznable. Needless to say, that’ll never happen. Instead the game is being toted as the first “social” game for the series. So what does that mean exactly? Well, that’s a really good question. First of all, the game will be released for mobile phones. As you can probably imagine, that likely means it’ll be an iPhone App here in the US. Only a few details about the actual gameplay have been revealed, so just how social is it? Read more…
Bethesda has always impressed me by their attention to detail. Like much like their latest entries in the popular Elder Scrolls series, the company managed to capture an audience with Fallout 3‘s breathtaking visuals. In addition to re-imagining Washington D.C., their team of graphic designers created a number of weapons to go along with it. Two of which happen to be the AER-9 laser rifle, and even deadlier A3-21 plasma rifle. Flickr user Ryan Palser recently took it upon himself to locate some blueprints and painstakingly recreate them — needless to say, they look amazing. Check out his flickr account for more photos. Read more…
The minute I looked at this illustration it caught my eye right away as the lead protagonist in the image is surrounded by a sea of screen shots of roll playing videogames and an assortment of brightly colored baubles and baked goods. This artwork is a promotional illustration for a new manga series that’s running in the latest issue of Margaret magazine and from my crude translation the name of the series is Controller Prince. From what I can see the manga focuses of the romantic adventures of a young lady online who plays “a good game of love”. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Aug 18, 2010 in Videogames
I have to admit that I’ve never taken the time to sit down and play Metroid. It’s not that I haven’t had opportunities over the years, but I’ve always wanted to start from the beginning in order to better understand the on-going plot. Fortunately, Nintendo has gone through the trouble of explaining history of the series for us with this interesting trailer for their upcoming title Metroid: Other M. While Samus Aran’s voice over might seem a bit stiff, she does a decent job of catching us up on the series. So far, I’m pretty excited about it. This latest game will feature a mixture of third and first person gameplay, and is currently set for release on August 31st. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Aug 12, 2010 in Videogames
Or more specifically, I should say Peter Molyneux won’t. Known for his penchant for over-promising and under-delivering, Molyneux has gone on record to state that the next title in the popular Fable franchise will focus more on story, and balance, than introducing new features, and gameplay mechanics — a move clearly designed with casual gamers in mind. While I hardly consider myself a casual gamer, I actually welcome this news, as I’ve quickly grown tired of Molyneux’s incessant need to clutter his games with features that distract me from the point of the game itself.
If you’re reading this, you probably own an iPhone, and if you pride yourself on being an otaku, there’s a good chance that you love Touhou Project too. If you’re not really sure what that is, don’t worry, I can explain. The Touhou Project is series of indie games developed in Japan that has immensely grown in popularity over the last decade. The series later evolved into a franchise with everything from light novels, to doujinshi. It’s primarily popular amongst Japanese otaku, making this iPhone case a must have accessory for those of you who want to show off to your otaku friends — that is, assuming your still own an iPhone 3G ,or 3GS.
