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Review: Kid Icarus Uprising
Posted by Mike Yawney on March 27th, 2012 View Comments
It’s clear Nintendo is proud of the Kid Icarus franchise. Sure, one could argue Nintendo dragged it’s feet taking more than 20 years to bring the angelic hero Pit back to life, but one look at his latest title and you’ll see just how much time and effort went into this latest production. Kid Icarus: Uprising shows just what the Nintendo 3DS is capable of while at the same time revealing the system’s Achilles heal.
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Disney Takes New Risks with Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Posted by Mike Yawney on March 25th, 2012 View Comments
For a man who has made a career out of crafting stories around terrorists, spilling blood and stealing, Warren Spector has a surprisingly soft side.
“There are pictures of me at nine months wearing mouse ears. My dad bought me a Pluto plush toy when I was born” Spector admits to me as we stand inside a museum in Austin, Texas, the home of Junction Point Studios.
It’s fitting that we’re in a museum. Not only are we surrounded by countless artifacts which tell the tale of Texas, but Spector has brought in dozens of his own Disney artifacts, many never seen by the public before. This is only a small part of his huge Disney collection which ranges from watches to figurines and portraits.
“Frankly we’re not going to talk about the Disney stuff I have in my collection because it would just humiliate me.” says Spector.
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Review: I Am Alive
Posted by Mike Yawney on March 12th, 2012 View CommentsYou’re in an alley facing three armed men looking for blood. In your hands is a knife, a gun and one bullet. What do you do? Do you slash the first thug, quickly shoot the second and then hope the third gets scared and begs for mercy? Do you shoot the first, make your way to the second thug with your gun still raised, stab him and then slash the third in the throat? Or do you simply put your hands up and tell them you’re not looking for trouble and hope they don’t attack? Those are the decisions you are forced to make in I Am Alive, a game where every split decision can affect your chances at survival.
A worldwide cataclysmic event has changed the landscape of Earth as we know it. Buildings lie in ruin, tremors still shake the ground and a thick layer of toxic dust and ash lingers in the air. You were away from home when the event struck, now one year later you’ve finally made it back to the city to search for your wife and daughter. Okay, its not the most original storyline, but that’s not what gamers will remember this game for.
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Larger XBLA Gamerscores Coming?
Posted by Mike Yawney on March 12th, 2012 View Comments
Downloading titles from XBLA is a great way to check out some truly unique titles, but it won’t do much for your gamer score. Microsoft currently caps the achievements for all XBLA games at 200 points. But is that about to change?Xbox360Achievements claims sources have revealed Microsoft is in the process of altering the policy. The site claims all games released after June 1st will have the option of having a maximum of 30 achievements maxing out at 400 points. Downloadable content for these games will now be able to offer an additional 100 GS and eight Achievements per release.
Microsoft hasn’t confirmed the change so file this one under rumours.
[G4TV]
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Review: Syndicate
Posted by Mike Yawney on February 27th, 2012 View Comments
It’s always a risky venture resurrecting a classic franchise. Sometimes it works and sometimes the risk simply doesn’t pay off. Syndicate falls somewhere in between.
Based on the 1993 strategy game of the same name, Starbreeze Studios’ Syndicate is an attempt to breath new life and features into a game which has built a fanbase over the years. I’m not sure I would call Syndicate a reboot to the classic franchise, rather a re-imagining.
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Review: PS Vita
Posted by Mike Yawney on February 26th, 2012 View Comments
While Sony has seen some success in the portable gaming market, it has always struggled to compete against Nintendo. With a solid fan base since the launch of the original Game Boy, Nintendo has always had a solid lead over Sony and their efforts in portable gaming. Could the introduction of the PS Vita be the turning point?
Sony is aiming to take portable gaming to the next level with its next-gen machine. With impressive specs and the addition of a second analog controller, Sony is clearly targeting hardcore gamers with the Vita. But are there enough features for gamers to buy another full-fledged gaming device?
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BioWare Tells Mass Effect 3 Fans “Please do not Kill Yourself”
Posted by Mike Yawney on February 24th, 2012 View Comments
Yesterday BioWare launched a publicity stunt which would help gamers get their grubby little hands on an early copy of the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3. Copies of the game were attached to weather balloons and then launched into the heavens. Of course, what goes up must come down so BioWare thought it would be fun to let gamers track down and keep the “space edition” copies of the game. It almost worked. Unfortunately the event ended with the company releasing a statement, pleading with gamers to not “kill themselves” looking for the precious cargo.
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NASA Teams up with Rovio for Next Angry Birds Game
Posted by Mike Yawney on February 23rd, 2012 View Comments
Yes, another Angry Birds game. Rovio has announced the next installment with a teaser trailer using actual NASA footage revealing that the next game will take place…in space.
Rovio isn’t saying much about the title other than to say it will launch on March 22nd on both iOS and Android devices. A says fans can expect another “big” announcement on March 8th.
You can check out the teaser trailer below.
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Review: Resident Evil Revelations
Posted by Mike Yawney on February 22nd, 2012 View Comments
At its very core Resident Evil has always been known as a survival horror franchise. The series became famous for its eerie environments and cheap scares, which can be hard to pull off in a video game. But lately the very features that made the franchise popular have become watered down. Residents Evil 5 was more of a fast-paced action title and one could say Resident Evil Revelations focuses more on survival rather than horror.
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Sony Looks to Patent Kinect-Like PS Eye
Posted by Mike Yawney on February 22nd, 2012 View Comments
Clearly Sony feels Microsoft was onto something when it introduced Kinect back in 2010 as it’s looking to patent a similar technology for Playstation.Playstation Eye creator Dr Richard Marks has filed a patent for a ‘User-Driven Three-Dimensional Interactive Gaming Environment’. While it doesn’t talk about a specific device the patent does go on to mention a “depth sensing device”; “a three-dimensional camera” that uses “controlled infrared lighting” to scan an area. Hmmm, sound familiar?
