Review: Kinect Adventures

Kinect Adventures is the pack-in game with the Kinect. It’s probably going to be many people’s first experience with Microsoft’s no-controller sensor. So is it a success proving Microsoft’s gamble? Or is it a game that is destined to collect dust like so many other pack-in games?

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Console Suitcase For “Portable” Gaming

I’ll be the first to admit things can get missed in the massive showcase of E3. Take, for example, Project GAEMS (Gaming And Entertainment Mobile Systems) tucked away in cubical-sized booth number 2860. Behold! The world’s “first truly functional, all inclusive mobile gaming case for consoles”!

Unlike the N64 mods we’ve seen, this suitcase of power simply straps in your Xbox (the prototype at E3 is just for the larger Xbox 360, but GAEMS says it’ll have a universal model for all consoles) connecting it to a built-in screen and speakers. Could this be the console LAN gamer’s dream rig?

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Why The Next Mortal Kombat May Not Suck!

The Mortal Kombat franchise has seen it’s fair share of transitions over the years. From digitized sprites to hand drawn characters, from 2 dimensional gameplay to 3D, and from over the top blood and gore to boring fatalities. The changes have been gradual, but some say they have killed the franchise. Warner Bros is attempting to change that with a new entry into the franchise.

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Hands On: Brink

Brink promises not to be just another FPS. It’s a game that teaches gamers better multiplayer skills and manners. Yeah, manners in an online deathmatch.

Ed Stern, lead writer of Brink, says they want to teach people how to play PvP properly–especially those who enjoy single player but are afraid of getting their asses kicked online. For example, your onscreen gun reticule becomes larger the longer your pull the trigger meaning it’s less likely your bullets are hitting the target. It’s better to shoot short bursts so your reticule stays small.

See after the break for my impressions of the gameplay and also the RPG elements added to the game.

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Nintendo 3DS to Allow Game Installs?

Nintendo didn’t share a lot of information on it’s new handheld 3DS console at E3. In fact the company went out of it’s way to make sure broadcast media didn’t even shoot the screen.  But now that the event is over new information is starting to leak out.

Japanese business newspaper Nikkei is reporting the new console will allow gamers to install games from cartridges onto a internal memory. Imagine, not having to carry multiple cartridges with you on your next road trip. Sweet. How big the internal memory or how many games it will hold is still a mystery.

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In Defense Of Retro Games Returning

We’ve seen a handful of classic games made new again this year. In the past, and often still, a remake or late-breaking sequel significantly revises the graphics (eg: Kid Icarus) or even the gameplay (eg: XCOM). But in the past few days we’ve seen new games that have an uncanny similarity to the look and feel of the original.

Sonic 4, Donkey Kong Country Returns and GoldenEye 007 all have a striking resemblance to the older games on which they are based. Ten-plus years later after DK Country, Returns gives a first impression of having been made years ago and not so recently. Is this a massive fail? Or are developers and publishers banking that a successful game doesn’t need to reflect the 3D, high-res possibilities of today’s technology?

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Hands On: Dead Rising 2

Behold! The paddlesaw!

Tape it or die!

That’s the battle cry of the sequel to the third-person zombie survival adventure that had you killing tens of thousands of classic zombies with whatever you could find in an overrun mall. The second edition still  has you beating, slicing and shooting your way through waves of zombies but with one important new ingredient: tape.

Let’s just say that while a pitchfork is cool and a shotgun is sweet, a shotgun pitchfork is A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Check out our gameplay video after the break.

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Interview: Epic Mickey

Disney’s first mouse is back is his own video game using the power of ink and thinner to solve a crisis in the Wasteland–a place of forgotten and recognizable people, places and things in the Disney universe. It’s part of the rebranding of the Mickey character to make him more complex and “mouschievous” rather than the do-gooder we’ve come to know.

I got some hands on time and chatted with Raul Ramirez of Disney Interactive Studios for insight into this new game slated for later this year on the Nintendo Wii.

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Video: Hands On With Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1

What happened to you Sonic? You used to be such a fun guy. You used to be so quick on your feet…but your friends brought you down. You know, the alligator, the bat and all those other weird creatures you started hanging out with. You changed Sonic. You changed. But fortunately the franchise is about to undergo a transformation.

Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog 4: episode 1 is taking Sonic back to his roots. The gameplay has gone back is all 2D side scrolling goodness. All the bizarre characters are gone and Sonic is alone. No weird friends tagging along on this adventure. This is Sonic as you remember him.

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Interview And Hands On: Tron Evolution

In 1982, Disney changed the way people view the inside of those new-fangled computers. This year, Tron is back in glorious 3D action and, naturally, there is a tie-in game to broaden the story and the market share. But could Tron Evolution be more than just an adjunct to the film?

We chatted with Vancouver-based Propaganda Studios about the new game and got ourselves some play time.

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