Retro/Grade is Bass Aackwards

This is why I dig PSN. This game looks equal parts fucking awesome and "God, I really don't want to play this because it's going to make me pull my hair." Still, love the thinking of 24 Caret Games. Something diffenet is always welcome in the face of seemingly every game this holiday season having a fucking number behind it.

Modern Warefare 2: Night Jiggle Edition

Holy hell man! Just what every friggin COD:MW2 needs, a pair of functioning night vision goggles! Seriously tho, what the fuck is going to happen when every jackass with a spare $100-150 goes and gets a pair of goggles with their new game? sure, it comes with some other shit like a metal colletors tin, the original COD, three quarters of a head, an art book, and somewhere in there a copy of Modern Warfare 2. What I foresee happening is a bunch of nighttime peeping tom arrests going on starting 11/10/09! Either that, or people start to commence ta night jiggling.

Last MAG Monday video: Command and control

Video Games | MAG | Exclusive Command & Control Dev Diary HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

MAG still is looking like a really fun time. Could it have long legs like COD4, that STILL have insane amounts of players? Very possible if you check out the video. Still can't get behind that name, though.....

J.

Will MAG have the last laugh?

What was the the biggest joke in Sony's E3 press conference last year? MAG. An FPS with 256 players and a terrible name. Game journalists scoffed at it as "another Sony fail." I'll admit that I thought that Zipper would have changed the name by now to SOCOM something. But at this point, if the game turns out the be a success, they can rub it in everyone's face. But I'm getting off track......

Jump ahead to this year's Sony press con and MAG isn't looking like a joke. It's looking and sounding really cool. It's like some of the best parts of COD4 and (of all games) Warhawk, competitive/Co-Op gameplay with a huge amount of players. Now, I'll admit that the player count does worry me. While in some cases, (like the smaller Headquarters maps on COD4) chaos can be really fun. But a whole game based around possibly hundreds of people shooting at each other could run very thin quickly. But, in an interview with IGN via Podcast Beyond, (interview starts at 28:00) lead designer Andy Bodwin talked about how the action would ramp up. Starting you out in a smaller group of 4 to 8 to let you get the feel of the tactical side of the game and working as a team, battles and objectives soon escalate to larger and larger scale until you end up in a 128 vs. 128, 300-style showdown. If pulled off correctly, the tension and feel of being in a full scale war should be as real as you could get on a console.

The real test is going to be that feeling that at anytime, a group from the other team could show up and the fight would be on. Maybe your support will be able to help you and maybe you'll have to go it alone and hope for the best. It's a difficult feeling to convey in a game. The most resent attempt would be the final battle in Killzone 2. (link contains spollers)

In an interview with Gamespot @ E3, Andy and CJ from Zipper talk about the "Dangling the Carrot" gameplay that is going to play into your progression in the game and how the world will continue whether or not you are playing. Sounds like the near perfect COD4 Perk system will be used here as well. Also sounds very MMO inspired. DLC and expanded locations and scenarios are very interesting if done correctly.

After watching the latest MAG Monday video via Gametrailers.com, I'm thinking that this is game is going to be a bigger deal than people might be giving it credit for. Granted that it's still early, but I trying to keep an open mind about things. It's a flaw. Check the all the MAG Monday vids below.

Video Games | MAG | Exclusive Shadow War Dev Diary

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Video Games | MAG | Exclusive 256 Dev Diary

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Video Games | MAG | Exclusive PMCS Dev Diary

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

J.

The Smackdown: The return of the Product

It's been a while since the last SD I posted. Figured that it's a little quiet on the home front, so here you go. Note that this why I'm not looking forward to cross game chat on PS3 any time soon. It could lead to a stroke or at the very least, blown out speakers.


E3 thoughts coming soon, I promise.

J.

Project Natal Puts the Pedal to the Metal on Jimmy Fallon Show

WOAH! This video kinda squelched some of my doubts about Projecy Natal being a rigged demo at E3. The shit where they hot swap with Burnout Paradise kinda "drove the point home" so to speak.

Mike Tyson’s Brunch-Out!

Although school is running me ragged, I’ve still found time to play the new Wii Punch-Out!! in my spare time and actually made it to the end of the first round of career mode. I have lots of thoughts and impressions I’d like to share, but unfortunately I don’t have the time at this point to do so. Plus, I want to try out playing the game with the Wii Remote used as a NES style controller and the motion boxing while using the balance board before I post. I also need to play a bit more of Head-To-Head too (because from my limited experience from it, it plays differently than the main game somehow; either that or I suck!).

In the meantime, I thought I’d post a little video featuring “Iron” Mike Tyson. Yes, he’s not in the new game; moreover, he’s completely unaware of the latest Punch-Out!!even existing. Still, I couldn’t resist posting a little ditty called “Mike Tyson’s Brunch Out.” It’s episode 5 of the series “Meth Minute” by animator Dan Meth. Enjoy!

Max

That’s Right: Two Final Fantasies in 2010

It’s old news by now (it's even our new header), but I had to comment on it. Last week I caught about fifteen minutes of Sony’s press conference before a rainstorm knocked my satellite’s signal out of commission. Lucky for me, I tuned in just in time to see them show a preview of Final Fantasy XIII, and then follow that up by saying “but Square Enix isn’t done yet, they’ve got another thing to follow it up,” and proceeded to show a trailer for Final Fantasy XIV, which was followed up with the statement “that one didn’t leak out, huh?” and a promise that it would be out by 2010, exclusively for PS3. Pretty shocking, considering that FF games are usually spread out with huge gaps because of massive development time.

But doing some digging, it starts to make sense. FFXIV will be a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), setting it apart from FFXIII’s story based play. Square already has ventured into MMORPG territory with Final Fantasy XI, and probably want to get a new online game out to compete with WoW. It’s great news for console gamers, and especially PS3 owners. And maybe with all the other Final Fantasy stuff coming out now and in the near future (FF games on Wii’s Virtual Console including the recent release of FFIV The After Years, FFXIII, FFXIII Versus and the FF Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers) two FF games for one console in a year isn’t that surprising. But is Square Enix giving the fans what they want or flogging a dead horse?

Max

Max Gives Brief E3 Thoughs, Excuses Why He's Not Posting...

E3 nearly passed me by. Almost. I only found out it was E3 last week when I saw a news story about Nintendo’s press conference on Newsarama (which goes to show how I’m way more into comics than games these days). Since then, I’ve been playing catch up. I caught a little bit of Sony’s press conference, and thanks to the Nintendo Channel, have been able to get a dose of Nintendo’s videos. This week, they’ve even put the press conference up this week, so I’ll be digging into that soon. And I gotta say, I was pretty (pleasantly) surprised that Nintendo is actually utilizing the Nintendo Channel for this stuff. I'm just used to them not doing anything like this, while Sony & Microsoft have done it for awhile!

Unfortunately, this is final’s week at my University, and I have a ton of stuff to do to wrap up the quarter this week. No tests, but lots of papers to write and short stories to revise. Therefore, I can’t delve into blogging just yet. After Thursday though, expect a ton of reactions from me, which will (of course) be a Nintendo-centric response. I will say now (without trying to be a fanboy) that it seems pretty funny both Sony & Microsoft are trying to cash in on the motion control introduced by Wii. Granted, each do it their own way, but too bad Microsoft’s super-de-duper motion/voice controlled “controller” NATAL costs about $200. I don’t see legions of non-gamers signing on for that.

I’ll post a couple quick things though before delving study time!

Max

Holy Shit...........someone is going to be pissed.

God of War, as a series, has always been pretty brutally violent. But this is almost too far. Someone is going to be really, really pissed off. Pulling the eye out of the gorgan looking thing was the icing on the cake. Oh, and I'm totally preordering this business as so as I get the chance.

J.

Mario Protests Commence Amidst E3 Happenings

Angry Italians are pissed off at being purveyed as a bunch of plumbing, turtle stomping, mushroom eating buffoons that aren't responsible enough to drive around giant ? blocks in the middle of the road. Hear what these guys had to say about it.

Wii Bowling Ball + Punch-Out = Perfect Combination!

Don't believe me though, just watch the video!

The best E3 trailers: Uncharted 2

Holy shit again!!! I don't think anyone thinks this game is going to be anything but awesome. This demo had me ducking and dodging like a really good action movie. Which is what they were going for. The collapsing building was the capper for me. I'm going to get this one day one. And the online stuff could be cool as well. More about this later today. (maybe)


J.

The best E3 trailers: Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Well, 360 owners finally have MGS on their console. But it's not MGS4 like people thought. It's the next MGS game starring our favorite cyber-ninja, Raiden. It didn't show alot, but come on. It's MGS. It'll be great. And in case you were wondering, yes, it IS coming out on PS3 as well. Don't get your hopes up on stealing any Sony's exclusives this year.

J.

The best E3 trailers: The Old Republic

Holy shit! A Star Wars MMO that doesn't look like it sucks. This game makes me want to try and upgrade my computer. I might have to break my self imposed ban on MMOs on myself. Hope it turns out ok. Check it out.


J.

The best E3 trailers: Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead is doing pretty good for 360/PC zombie killers. So Valve is dropping another one this Fall. It's odd that Valve would make a whole new L4D rather then make more DLC for the game they have out already. Guess we're going to have to wait longer Half-Life 2:Ep 3.......

J.

I'm in the Uncharted 2 beta.....

With me taking the State Medical board test, I missed Nintendo's press conference and almost missed Sony's, but I got done early and caught the whole thing. It was awesome! I'll follow up on the cons later. One of the highlights was Uncharted 2. The demo was really cool and made me hyped to get the game. One of the things that Jack Trentton mentioned was that the Uncharted 2 online beta was starting tonight at midnight. Sweet deal. And guess who's in?

More on the beta when I get home.


J.

PSP GO! seems to be....go.

The rumors of a new PSP has been out there for a while now, but now it seems like the new PSP is actually real. Gaming Console Network's Sean Foster somehow got next months Qore and it revels the new headheld and all it's features. The highlight are that it does have 16gig of flash drive space, you can use it to play your games from PSN and, something that caught my ear at the end of the video, seems that Gran Turismo actually does exist and will play some part on the system. Likely a launch game.

As someone that has the oldest PSP, the 1000, I'm thinking this fall it's time to trade up.

Source: Youtube via Gaming Console Network's Sean Foster


J.

Whats worse than the RROD?

Why that would be not having a 360 at all. Imagine if you will, you are getting home from a shitty day at work and you just want to play a couple of games, or listen to some music through the entertainment center when you realize that your now exgirlfriend has stopped by to pick up a few things... including the 360! It sucks pretty bad to come home and find the most used console in your arsenal of systems is just an empty shelf. Just barren cables with little tummbleweeds mosying on by in the stale, humid air. Whatever...

The next GTA4 DLC is.......

Wow. I'm not sure, but Mircosoft might be thinking "Maybe we paid to much for these." Knowing literally nothing about this, it sounds terrible.


Thanks Geoff Keighley via Twitter

PS3 finally gets Fallout 3 DLC (That rhymed)

Way back in the day, PS3 owners were treated to the news that Mircosoft had paid Bethesda to release the DLC for Fallout 3 "Only of Xbox 360." We groaned alittle, or alot depending. The first two seemed to underwhelm but Broken Steel won people over with the level cap lift and tons of new weapons. Ps3 owners of the game were left with just the ending of the game. It's hard owning a PS3 sometimes....

Well today, in a move that really seems to growing for game developers, Bethesda dropped the news that, yes, all the DLC that was "Only for Xbox 360" is coming to Sony's console starting in June.

"Operation: Anchorage will be released for PS3 in late June, followed by the release of The Pitt and Broken Steel 4-6 weeks apart. Release dates will be forthcoming."


On top of that, they announced that there will be TWO new DLC packs this summer:

"There are also two new DLCs planned for all three platforms:

* Point Lookout – Explore a massive new swampland area filled with new quests and content.

* Mothership Zeta – The aliens have returned, and they're pissed. Experience an alien abduction first hand and find out if you're tough enough to survive."

Sounds cool to me. As someone that really liked Fallout 3, it's cool to see that developers are FINALLY opening their eyes to see that (gasp) people are actually are buying PS3s and people that are buying them are not just watching Blu-Ray on them. If you put content on the system, people will buy it. The new stuff sounds fun as well. Fighting aliens? Oh yeah. I'm in. E3 is going to be very interesting........


Source: Bethesda Softworks


J.

Bioshock 2 (still) looks fucking awesome!

More Bioshock 2 Info

The info on Bioshock 2 is slowly seeping out. This time, IGN.com has a 9 minute preview of the new gameplay elements, like adopting Little Sisters and walking around in the sea. The exploring the sea part of the game better be more then just transitioning from one building to another and more of a "Hey, something cool is out here" type deal. Either way, I'm really looking forward to this one. And I won't have to wait a fucking year to play it this time around.

Thanks to IGN.com

J.

Punch-Out!! Commercials

Hey-o! I’ve been crazy busy of late and recovering from a hard drive wipe, but hopefully I can get back into the swing of things soon. It was my birthday yesterday, and one of the gifts my beloved Maureen got for me is a Punch-Out!! pre-order. I’m super stoked, and now thanks to Dustin pointing them out, here is two of the new commercials associated with the game, one more of a tutorial of sorts, showing that the game is not completely motion controlled (as in Wii Boxing in Wii Sports) where you can use the joystick on the nunchuck to block, dodge and punch upwards. Check out the commercials for a laugh, then head over to the official Punch-Out!! Nintendo site, where they’re continuing to reveal characters every week that will appear in the game. Lucky for us older players, it looks like quite a few familiar faces will be coming back for another round, including Bronze Tiger, Piston Honda (now Piston Hondo to avoid confusion with the car company), and Bear Hugger.

We can start punching it up next week!

I should have some other stuff for the blog soon, including a look at Wii Fit and some other good stuff. Like J, “soon” is a relative term for me too with school nearing the end of the quarter and getting crazier all the time.

Max

Break time is almost over.

Hello,

No doubt you've noticed that it's been more than alittle quiet here on the blog. We've got things going on behind the scenes. I just got back from my one year anniversary trip to Hawaii with my wife and starting to start my new business venture. (And trying to beat jetlag) Max is nursing a dead computer hard drive, I hear and Dustin is likely working an insane schedule, as per usual. It's tough all over. But the games don't stop coming out, and with E3 around the corner, I hope to have some new stuff coming and posted before the big day. I'm trying to hook up a crude (if need be) podcast, talking about what we expect from everyone at the big show. As well as maybe liveblogs of the big 3's presentations. I'm not sure. Talking has to commence. But look for these posts from me soon: ("Soon" is a relative term for me.)

- The resurgence of fighting games on the market

- Demo-litions on Age of Booty, Marvel vs Capcom 2, and Savage Moon

- In deck; live from Hawaii

- Snakes on a Plane: Great games for a long plane ride



I hope to get these on the site soon. The fighting game story is shaping up to be a fun read. I hope you dig it.



J.

Capcom has two more games coming at E3

Capcom is becoming my heroes as of late. Street Fighter 4, Bionic Commando, Rearmed, Dead Rising 2 and (finally) Marvel vs Capcom 2. But Capcom isn't done.

On the Capcom Unity twitter page, this was posted:

"You think we have great titles now? Wait 'til we announce two more at E3!"

Oh shit! I'm calling Rival Schools. Wait. Power Stone. Yeah. And Strider.

Any guesses out there?


J.

FINALLY CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!! MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2 HD COMING THIS SUMMER!!!!!!!

There is a god......evidence here at Capcom's website


And by the way, PS3 owners get exclusive demo Thursday. Suck it with your Fallout 3 and GTA4 DLC, 360 owners. This is something I'm glad PS3 owner get to dig before everyone else. Demo-lition will be coming soon after I get back into the lower 48.



J.

Fat Princes beta: first hour impressions

Note: I hit this up a few days ago. I tightened some parts up and I'm posting it up from here in Seattle, en route to Hawaii. Check it out and I'll be back next week with more fun.


As I dropped earlier, I was able to get into the Fat Princess beta test. I'm good like that, I guess, seeing that this is my fifth beta I've participated in. But you don't want to hear about that.

But first, a description of the game. From Wikipedia:

"Fat Princess puts the player on a team consisting of up to 32 male and female cartoon characters, with the main goal in the game to rescue their team's princess held captive by an opposing team, although team-deathmatch and other online modes are also available. The player can choose from ten dessert-themed levels such as Coco Cliffs and Black Forest.

At the beginning of the game, each of the teams will already have their opponent's princess held captive. In order to make their opponent's task in rescuing her more difficult, the player can give more and more food to the princess they have captured, so that she will become fatter and heavier, and the opponent's team will need larger number of players to carry her.

The game's mechanics have the player control a standard 3D, cel-shaded, character at the fort, castle, or stronghold. There are five machines at the player's fort, each producing hats. Depending on which hat gets picked up and put on, the player gets different abilities. The game consists of five classes: the mage, priest, warrior, worker and archer. Each has its own set of unique weapons and play style."

That's the facts. Now I will say that ever since Sony showed this game last year, we haven't heard much about it. Something I think Sony should take to heart. Much like Killzone 2, keeping the game under wraps gives the developers more room to move and make the game, rather than constantly answering questions about why ths game will 'save' the PS3. The game looks really good. It runs very well with all the chaos running rampant on the battlefield. The menus, like everything in the game, are full of humor and tongue in cheek moments. There is a custom character menu, and as you play the game, more and more custom parts become available for you little avatar. Some are really funny and cool. I'll say that a Mr.T-like mohawk should show up at some point. The backgrounds give you an idea what the game is going to play like and again, everything so far was very well laid out. There is an option to play online and to play LAN style offline. I jumped online and dove head first into the fray.

The general combat is very open ended and seems to cater to alot of different play styles. The two gametypes, Deathmatch and CTP are standard fare for the multiplayer online games, but it's the class system that makes everything come together. The hack and slash, all in your face, on the front line type players will dig the warrior class. More background/support players will dig the priest and the archers. The key to the game is upgrading your hats, which makes the worker the backbone of the game. The fast paced nature of the game and the non-binding style of play (you are able to change classes on he fly by picking up different hats on the battlefield as well as in you castle) make for a quick and crazy game and alot of fun. If you play with flattening out anyone in your path or using strategy to break down the enemies castle doors, you'll have a good time playing.

The blood and gore can be turned off for people sensitive about such things, but the game gets BLOODY quick. It's a trip to see head popping off an enemy as you chuck a bomb from you upgraded worker. It starts looking like Braveheart after two or three minutes. Choke points, like a bridge in the middle of the map (only one mag in the beta so far) make the players start thinking quick about teamwork.The team that has a priest and some archers are going to fair better than the team that has nothing but warriors. I found myself, like in most online games, backing up a fellow player (that later friended me so we could play the beta more at a later date) going over said bridge in the middle of the map. Just over the bridge is a mini castle that your team can take over for points. Both teams seem to meet here to rumble. We went into it two on their four and did ok. He was a priest and I was a worker and we smacked them down, took over the mini and head over the next bridge to the enemy main castle where we were met by about eight players that completely destroyed us. Not a game to 'go it alone' for sure.

You get points for almost every action in the game. From getting resources for your hat machines to shooting and killing enemies to picking up the princess, it adds up and unlocks items and other goodies we're told. It looks ripe for DLC like maps and possible new classes. It really fits into the perception that PSN has different game experiences then your arcade rehashes. It seems like this is going to be beating up the bandwidth on the Playstation Network soon.

For someone that enjoys team based online games rather all out war fragfests, Fat Princess is going to take alot of time from me. Hopefully, the trophies and challenges will be interesting provide some more ways to play the game outside people's comfort zone. I really dig the game after an hour and I do plan on buying this one day one. Hopefully, girls don't take this too personally. It's campy fun. Bloody, campy fun.

J.

Morgan Webb Plays Punch-Out with Jimmy Fallon

Call me crazy, but to see Morgan Webb come out and demo the new Punch-Out!! on Jimmy Fallon's new late night gig with Ice-T and Elmo in the audience just seems a little over the top to me. But, it happened last week, so now that I've found a clip of it, I have to share it with you.

Ouch! Jimmy! Either the motion controls for this are going to be a monster, or Jimmy hasn't played much of the Wii yet. Either/or, it's a fun new early look at Punch-Out!! in action!

Max

I'm in the Fat Princess beta

Keeping in the tradition of me getting into Sony beta tests, (Warhawk, Home, Littlebigplanet) I just got an invite code to Titan Games much hyped multiplayer PSN exclusive. The game is downloading as we speak. I'll try to get a few impressions up on the site before I take off for a few weeks to enjoy some R and R in Hawaii. It's hard out there for a pimp I hear........


J.

Killzone 2 DLC: might as well jump.

Is it just me, or was gametrailers TV actually good last night? On the show that brought us some gameplay videos of Bioshock 2, comes the big reveal of the first Killzone 2 DLC maps. Titled Steel and Titanium, the two maps are as different from the current multiplayer maps as you can get. Set inside the ISA's home spaceship, The New Sun map looks like a snipers paradise. Bad news for me as I seem to get shot from millions of miles away when I play the game now. But, that's what I get for going back and playing Warhawk and Call of Duty 4 again this week. Multi-level maps are cool just to get the drop on people by jumping down and wasting enemies in mid air. Possibly alot of forcing people off the deck while they run from hordes shooting at them as well. Hooray for cheap kills!

The Wasteland Bullet map is the one that I'm going to either hate or love. It takes place on two trains speeding down the rails. Shooting is going to be fun, provided that no gravity physics pull bullets from intended targets. The real love/hate thing will be the jumping from train to train. I can tell you now, I WILL die numerous times by getting smashed like a bug trying to outrun someone plugging me in the back with bullets.

Both look like very cool updates to a great game and will be out at the end of the month. No price was given, but I figure it won't be so hard on your wallet. Sony has been doing a really great job with marketing Killzone 2. Sure, there aren't any branded Mt. Dew bottles or trailers before Star Trek, but the word is out and people are buying. Let's hope they keep up the streak.

J.

Bioshock 2 looks fucking awesome! (for lack of a better word)

I liked Bioshock. Alot. So when word came out about a sequel, I was all about it. And then, when they dropped that it would be coming to PS3 day and date, I was subsequently more happy. But, as the internet does, worry started to set in. Did Bioshock really need a sequel? Why does Bioshock 2 have mulitplayer? (and a question I want answered as well.) What is it going to look like? Well, thanks to Gametrailers.com, we now know the answer to that question. Fucking awesome!

The atmosphere is still there from the 2 minute clip shown on the tv show. (and on the website as well) Following the Big Sister down blood stained hallways until you get to a huge room with a glass window. The next thing you know, she's cutting the glass and you're being crushed under a ton on rushing water. That's all I needed to see. I'm sold. Let's hope that we see more of this game soon and that it doesn't take a wrong turn somewhere. That would be a shame.

Check out the video for yourself.

J.

Plants VS Zombies? WTF???

The title says it all...
Leave it to the bastards that fathered Peggle, Bejeweled 1-396, Zuma and ton's of other mindless, addictive timewasters to mash up Plants killing Zombies in what s sure to get you fired from your next job do to how addictive it will probably be!

Joystiq Interview with NOA's Denise Kaigler

Ever since Nintendo of America moved out of Seattle, there's been several new faces to get to know. One of these is Denise Kaigler, NOA's VP of Corporate Affairs. During GDC, Joystiq sat down with Denise for an enlightening interview.

Some of the interesting points she discusses is that although core gamers are upset that there may not be enough core games coming out of Nintendo, that it's actually the core that helps causual games such as Wii Fit become a success:

"Would you call Wii Fit a core game? Wii Fit would never have reached the type of mass penetration had the core not been part of that audience. Never would have. But, when we first announced that game at E3, the core from what I understand was kind of not really sure, but the core is buying that game."

Then Denise asks the interviewer if he owns Wii Fit and he admits he does.

There's also talk about how the DSi will be marketed alongside the DS Lite, Nintendo bringing back classic franchises, and overall it's just a good look into how Nintendo views its core audience. Check it out!

Max

NSFW: Mega Man 2 Rap

Mega Man in da house! Check out this ridiculously long, incredibly funny Mega Man rap, which has the Blue Bomber rapping battling against Dr. Wily and each of the eight robot bosses. It's not safe for work, but definitely worth a watch. Check it out!

Max

PS2 drops to $99; Backward Compatibility at it's cheapest

Sony dropped the news that the PS2 would be selling at $99 tomorrow. April 1st. hmmm.....In any event, if you always wanted a PS2 and didn't get on the trolley the first 9 years or if you don't have a launch PS3, (like me) you too can have a PS2. I'm thinking about getting another now for the kid's bedroom so I can have mine back and watch King of the Hill in my bedroom when I'm trying to go to sleep.

Not the price drop people were hoping for, but it should make Sony some money in the meantime. Now, go buy Shadow of the Colossus.

J.

“Yes, we want to kill you, DieHard Jim!”

In pondering all the “muthafuckas” in his piece about House of the Dead Overkill and mature gaming on Nintendo Wii, J mentioned that the Driver I.D. gang got together last week. True enough, and along with displaying and discussing the distasteful stereotypes of Detective Washington and tossing out Street Fighter IV beatings to each other, Dustin and J played a little Halo 3, using my headsets and J using Dustin's & Maureen’s LIVE accounts.

Now we’ve done this before, except last time Dustin thought ahead and brought his own headsets and controller, so we could all play and chime in; this time they were stuck with my janky headsets and I was left out of playing. Still, I was content to watch. The last time we did this was shortly after Halo 3 came out, and never before has so much smack talk and absolute lunacy reigned over at my house. However, back then, everyone on LIVE was chatting. This time, no one was. Therefore, no one could talk back to the endless jive J was spouting off at. From insults to pure randomness, the man is hilarious to watch go off on Xbox LIVE.

Some other people must have thought so too, as they tagged along and stayed in Dustin and J’s party throughout several games—even though J was being downright mean. He wasn’t really being a jerk; more like he was parodying things he’s heard on LIVE or people complain about on LIVE. Very tongue in cheek, indeed. Still, no one was talking to us. Until we met “DieHard Jim.”

Good ol’ “DieHard” (AKA “Earthworm Jim”) was a lad no older than 12, and probably much younger than that. He was talking up a storm! Like any grumpy adults, J & Dustin asked him if it was past his bedtime, and shouldn’t he be drinking his chocolate milk? Yes, we’re all bastards. Through all the shit talk, Jim’s falsetto voice piped up: “Are you guys really trying to kill me?!?”

“YES! OF COURSE WE ARE! IT IS A HALO 3 DEATHMATCH THAT WE ARE PLAYING!” came the reply from our end. DieHard didn’t seem too fazed though, and rode around in a Warthog as much as possible, yelling “WAHOOOOO!” …or at least until J or Dustin caught said Warthog with a rocket—something that happened many times.

So what’s the point? I guess that we’re people who just try to have too much fun in unconventional ways? We’re guys who pick on the little guy, then post his gamertag on our blog? That Xbox LIVE needs an enema? That maybe WE’RE part of the problem? (Probably.) Maybe the point is, folks online should watch the hell out when the Driver I.D. crew gets together and plays online for a few laughs. Maybe it's a good thing we haven't been able to mobilize our podcast yet! (But we will...)

Max

The SD Storage Solution on Wii: Impressions

So I’m sure many Wii owners have already tried the new SD storage solution for the Wii, as it’s been available since last Wednesday. Still, in my last post, I said I’d post impressions of the new feature, so here they are.

Overall, it’s pretty simple. Since the Wii Menu update to 4.0 last week, there is now a small SD Card icon in the bottom left of the Wii Menu. Click on it, and it takes you to the SD Card, where you can store various channels (like games). I immediately went to the Wii Shop Channel and downloaded all the games that I have had to delete due to space limitations (and there were quite a few), which I thought would be a daunting task. Then I finally saw the “Titles You’ve Downloaded” icon on the Main Wii Shop Menu (blame my ADD) and I had them all again in a flash. I also of course downloaded Super Punch-Out!!, which came out today, and had to fit that on my card because of space limitations.

There’s one hitch. You need to have available Wii system memory to boot up games off of the SD Card. It’s like the games don’t load off the SD Cards themselves, but get transferred to the Wii. So if your Wii system memory is already jam packed, you can’t load any games off the SD Card. A simple solution is available however; just move more games to the SD Card to free up some system memory. You can have the Wii do this automatically for you. Easy peasy!

I loaded up a few games off the card, and even the biggest games (N64) loaded within 10-13 seconds. Piece of cake! This storage solution addresses the long running problem of not having enough room for all your channels/games on your Wii. On other systems, you can opt to buy a bigger hard drive or something, but up until now, Wii has had nothing like this. It’s great now that it does, and moreover, it’s free (provided you already have an SD Card). One word of warning: I’ve read reports that clicking the SD Card icon without an SD Card inserted can create problems, like system lock up. Hats off to Nintendo for finally addressing the problem and making it easier and better than I at least imagined it would be.

Max

Nintendo's hardcore problem (Muthafucka)

Last week, I hung out with the guys (and girls) from our little collective here for some post-school gaming fun. After a quick drumming in Street fighter 4, (on me by Dustin) and before another Halo 3 torture session (as I like to call them) we moved to House of the Dead: Overkill. After reading the write up about the game Dustin did a while ago and with many comments to the effects of "J., you've got to play this game." I said "sure."


And wow.......

While the settings of the game, a nod to corny B-Movie-type backdrops and laughable dialog, I have to say that I'm almost offended by the portrayal of one Detective Isaac Washington. Not to say that the game is racist, but very racially insensitive and stereotypical. I held my head in shame as Mr. Washington dropped the phrase "muthafucka" like it was 1989 and NWA's 'Straight out of Compton' just came out. While comical in it's attempt to recreate Sam Jackson's Muthafucka delivery, I speculated whether Nintendo could be turning a corner. And 'turning a corner' meaning making a U-turn in the middle of a highway. Here's what I thought out loud.......

"This is Nintendo's new deal. Fanboys bitch about there being no games geared towards the hardcore player on the system, here's the answer."

With this and Madworld, also a very violent, very not 'typical' Wii centered game, Nintendo is saying "Look! We are making hardcore games. Now get off our backs! We're counting money." But, with this possible answer the mounting fanbase that feels left out of the fun with more.....adult themed games, could Nintendo shoot themselves in the foot? The Wii appeal is that it's NOT like "video games." You can pick up and play without getting into a deep story. It's something that your mom can play. It's something that your kids can play with little objectionable content. Could the big N go too far in the other direction? I don't know. Moms and dads could pick this one up (And they will. After working in retail, I can tell you that parents do not read ratings on games), figuring that 'it has to be ok, it's for the Wii' and get a big surprise at the dinner table when little Johnny drops more F-bombs than 50 Cent.

I'll leave it at this: I feel like this could be a bad trend in gaming. With now two kind of high profile games playing with stereotypes to various degrees,if left unquestioned, this could get ugly. I'm not sure if I'm still offended by the game. It's themes and dialog are more eye rollingly bad then we really need to get Jessie Jackson involved. Jessie isn't working. He could use the work.

To end this, if you have no idea what I'm talking about, is House of the Dead: Overkill summed up in 4 minutes. I feel that this kind of says it all. NSFW for f'ing sure......


another random quote from me after playing: "Wow. We really need to do better. We've got a black president now......."


J.

Nintendo at GDC – Max’s Take

As the resident Nintendo goon here at The Driver I.D., J rightly assumed I’d have stuff to say about the recent developments and announcements coming out of the GDC keynote from Nintendo. Here’s a rundown of the various topics and my thoughts on them.

Miyamoto: It’s not surprising that Iwata took time to praise Miyamoto and his techniques of game development. Apparently he said Miyamoto is on a 24/7 Non-Disclosure Agreement because even his hobbies become games (gardening = Pikmin, getting a puppy = Nintendogs, exercising = Wii Fit). I really like the idea that Miyamoto kidnaps junior employees to get them to playtest games and try to get them to figure them out on their own. Also the picture of “bandit Miyamoto” is priceless.

Wii and DS Success: The Wii has apparently sold over 50 million units worldwide, making it the fastest selling video game console ever, as it has already beaten the Sony PlayStation 2, which took longer to sell 50 million. Big news to be sure, but it’s hardly surprising. Then again, Iwata reported that 20% of people buying a Wii had no other video game system in their homes and 27% of Wii owners were female. That’s pretty impressive; Nintendo is really delivering on its promise to expand the market. Iwata also claimed that third party software is doing well on Wii, but why is he the only guy saying that?

The DSi meanwhile has sold over 2 million in Japan and Amazon reports it is the most pre-ordered system ever. I don’t know, I’ve said before I’m not too interested in it and I can’t see the overwhelming appeal. However, it is a great system for the (few) people who already don’t have a DS/DS Lite and are looking to get one. Plus, they are developing several apps for the handheld, so it might turn out to be a pretty big deal in the long run. Maybe the idea of using the DS like a pocket organizer/palm pilot is finally in the works as we speak. Let’s hope the DSi helps prevent the iPhone from becoming a major gaming force, as J was telling me the people making those games aren’t so big on quality control.

Final Fantasy games – Two new Final Fantasy WiiWare games is great news, especially Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, as my wife Maureen loves FFIV and looks forward to playing this. Getting all(?) the original Final Fantasy games on Virtual Console is great news too, though I’m sure they’ll be priced higher than usual, plus I’ve already shelled out for most of these on the GBA & DS. Still, it’s nice they’re doing it.

Rock N’ Roll Climbing – All I can say here is that it’s a complete missed opportunity to make a perfectly awesome Ice Climbers sequel. Dammit. Or would that be too predictable? Nonetheless, this looks kind of fun.

Zelda Spirit Tracks – Link on a train?!? I never would have imagined it, but I like the idea a lot. Link in a conductor’s outfit looks a little weird, but still kinda cute. The “Celda” graphics and tapping play mechanics from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass have returned. I still haven’t played Phantom Hourglass yet—it’s on the list of backlogged games I don’t yet own—but I may have to pick it up before Spirit Tracks hits. It looks like some new ideas are at play here, such as manipulating a statue and getting it to fight for you. Also it looks like you may be able to pick routes on the train tracks, I’m guessing with the stylus. Here’s the trailer for those of you who missed it:

Storage Solution: I haven’t messed around with it yet, but I plan to test it out in full later today and will post impressions after I do. I forgot about GDC going on until logging into the blog last night and seeing J post about Nintendo’s stuff, but I had logged onto my Wii and downloaded the new Wii Menu 4.0 with the ability to load WiiWare and VC games off of an SD Card. “At last!” I thought, but it was kinda surprising out of context. I have many Virtual Console games I’ve had to delete due to space limitations, and with Super Punch-Out!! coming to Virtual Console next week, I’ll definitely be taking advantage of the new storage system!

Virtual Console Arcade: It’s about time! I always wanted arcade games for Virtual Console, and though we’re starting out with a couple good games and a couple stinkers (I mean, c’mon! Mappy?!?), there’s potential for great games to be released. Games like Magic Sword and other classic Capcom games; 2D fighting games; light gun shooters; more of Sega’s back catalog (it’d be cool to see the Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game, which has never been on a console), and other great arcade games of yore. Maybe Nintendo will even get into the act and release the Punch-Out!! arcade game, F-Zero AX or the Mario Kart arcade game. Who says all the arcade releases have to be old ones?

WarioWare: Snapped: So Nintendo finally does something EyeToy like. I like the WarioWare series a lot, and this looks like another installment where you’ll be looking stupid playing the game. You gotta love how the WarioWare games keep evolving to suit Nintendo’s latest hardware.

Other things: Outside Nintendo’s keynote, it was announced that the second Professor Layton game, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, is being translated for North American and European release, hopefully within the next six months. Level 5 President and CEO, Akihiro Hino said that he’d like all six Professor Layton games translated for the U.S. and Europe eventually. Excellent news indeed!

Just a Smidgen More on Punch-Out!!

I showed my recent articles to a friend who told me it seems I’m a wee bit excited for Punch-Out!! for Wii. Yes, it’s true. Nintendo and Next Level Games are producing something really exciting here. Thanks to it being released at GDC, I can present to you the formerly Nintendo Channel-exclusive trailer mentioned Monday for your viewing pleasure.

In other exciting news, IGN has the scoop that my beloved Super Punch-Out!! will be available on Virtual Console next week, Monday, March 30th. Hell yes! It will be just the training I need to get in the mood for the new game.

Max

Left 4 Dead DLC Coming April 21st

This may be old news for some, but I was at a buddy's last night and some of the people there did not know that the DLC for Left 4 Dead is coming on April 21st. Called the "Survival Pack," the free update will include a patch to play maps "Dead Air" and "Death Toll" in Versus Mode and include a Survivor mode where players are pitted against wave after waves of zombies as long as they live.

Once again, keeping you all in the loop. Oh, and J's right; I do have some stuff to say about Nintendo's GDC keynote, natch. Stay tuned.

Killzone 2 Kountdown: Scout and Saboteur Badges

Not really a countdown anymore, but still cool and interesting stuff from Killzone 2. This time, it's the Saboteur Badge. Cloaking is one of those things that sucks ass if you're not using it. The Scout, as well, has a cloaking style device that works only while standing still. The Scout is the only one that uses the sniper rifle in multiplayer. I just saw one of these guys last night while I was playing online. He was doing a Terminator 2-like 'breaking down into another form' animation. He looked like one of my guys, but I figured that something was up so I shot his ass. Chalk one point up for me.

This game's multiplayer is really interesting and makes me want to keep playing more and more to use the different badges. More videos soon, since I think they are all out at this point.




Saboteur Badge



Scout Badge


J.

Nintendo's GDC Keynote so far: Rock and Roll Climber/storage for the Wii

A quick note from the Nintendo keynote at GDC. Well, I'm not there, but watching some liveblogs and Nintendo have lost their minds. A new SD card storage system that lets Wii owner have up to 32gig of space and launch games from the card is a great idea. Pirates all over are cheering that, and Final Fantasy games are being re-released later this year but you're big reveal is a balance board game that make you look like a bigger fool then most active Wii games?

more on the way later.


UPDATE: Virtual Console Arcade; Mappy and Space Harrier and others. Sounds good. DSi preorders are nuts. Not surprised. Warioware Snapped for the DSi will set the world on fire with ridiculous pictures and such. Oh, and a new DS Zelda game: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Trains are a great way to travel.

Iwata quote "while new original development may be difficult during the economic downturn," he notes "the jet engine, television and the chocolate chip cookie were created during The Great Depression. So, if you can make a DSiWare game that tastes like chocolate chip cookies, you're going to save the world."

Wow. Thanks to Kotaku.com and IGN.com for the liveblog. I'm sure Max will have more to say about this.

J.

UPDATE! More Punch-Out!! Wii Details

Following up on Monday’s Punch-Out!! story, GoNintendo has grabbed some more info from a press release that was briefly on Nintendo Europe’s site before being pulled. Here’s the quick nitty gritty:

• The game will not support the balance board. There will be motion controls however, with the Wii remote and Nunchuck.


• Another mode of control will be to hold the Wii Remote sideways and play NES style.


• Don Flamenco has been announced as one of the returning characters. There will be 13 opponents in all (it seems small to me, but then again, that’s a good number for a Punch-Out!! game, considering you fight 3-4 guys a circuit). I’m hoping for Bald Bull to make a comeback. J has told me repeatedly he’s praying for Super Macho Man to return.


• Nintendo will apparently be revealing the identities of these 13 opponents one at a time, every week until the game comes out.


• Best of all, there will be a two-player head to head mode where you and a friend can slug it out. Sweet!

Maybe I’m too excited for this game, but it’s currently the next big thing due from Nintendo and it’s one of my favorite franchises (more due to Super Punch-Out!! than the original). Just trying to keep you all in the loop—something that Captain Cragen from TV’s Law & Order: SVU is always asking his detectives to do. Seriously. Like once an episode.

Max

NEW Punch-Out Teaser/Info on Nintendo Channel!

Ho boy, last week was a disaster for me in terms of my online set-up. I switched internet providers for all of about 24 hours after all the problems it caused, and was only today able to get my Wii hooked back up with my wireless router. Anyway, once I did, I checked the Nintendo Channel and much to my excitement was a new, Nintendo Channel exclusive, teaser trailer for one of my most anticipated titles of 2009: Nintendo’s new Punch-Out! for Wii.

It seems everything old has been made new again, as the game clearly stars Little Mac and Doc is back training him too. There were even shots of Mac training: jumping rope, hitting the heavy bag, lifting weights. These are probably just cinemas, but it’d be neat if they were in-game mini-games or something; whatever they are they looked cool, and Doc was audibly encouraging Mac through each exercise. Best of all is that the classic scene of Doc riding his bike with Little Mac jogging behind is shown, recreated down to the pink sweats! Awesome!

Then Mac is seen battling a bevy of familiar faces: Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, King Hippo… but then, what’s this? A new face! Someone called “Disco Kid” makes an appearance. So this may not be just a remake, but a re-imagining as well. Then Little Mac fights King Hippo, knocks him out, and is hoisted to Doc’s shoulder.

Not too much else to report. I still don’t know if there will be optional balance board controls for this or not. I also don’t know how many new boxers there will be, though I’ve heard there is a female boxer. At any rate, May 18th can’t come soon enough! Just figured I’d share the news with those of you out there without the Nintendo Channel.

Max

Sega Gives Wii a Pair

We’ve all heard the story before: “Nintendo = TEH KIDDIE,” but Sega is stepping up and offering a couple of prospects for Wii that make this a much less viable claim by releasing House of the Dead Overkill last month and Madworld this month. It’s quite a one two punch, and gamers who check these offerings out are in for a treat.

House of the Dead Overkill

Sega has teamed up with Headstrong Games to give The House of the Dead series a much needed shot in the arm. Back in May, I was at a Dave & Buster’s with Maureen and my pal Mike, and we played House of the Dead 4 (or attempted to; it was a janky machine). There was some motion aspect of shaking the gun controller to the game, and I got excited that the game might come to Wii. What Wii owners gone is much better by a great margin: House of the Dead Overkill.

Overkill keeps the spirit of the HOTD series alive, but does it very differently; namely by framing the entire game in a “Grind House” style drive-in exploitation movie setting. There is lots of over-the-top violence and the most swearing in a video game ever--something Dustin has alluded to in his impressions of the game. But that doesn’t mean it’s a slouch in the gameplay. Far from it in fact; you’ve got to be quick on the draw to get several power ups and a careful shot to rack up massive combos, which in turn rack up points, which leads to cash to buy weapon power ups or new guns. Yes, it is the first HOTD with more than one weapon, and it’s a very welcome addition. The story is pretty engaging, albeit a bit silly, and there are even mini-games (how could it be a Wii game without them, amirite?) for 1-4 players.

If you were ever a fan of any of the HOTD games, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest and easily the greatest one, House of the Dead Overkill on Wii. It’s definitely not a kiddie game by any stretch of the imagination.

Mad world

Unbelievably, I have not picked up my copy of Mad World yet. Mainly because my tax refund check didn’t go quite as far as I hoped it would. However, I plan to pick the game up in the next couple weeks for sure. Therefore, I don’t know the ins and outs of the game, but I do know it’s an uber-violent brawler that is based on the evolution of reality TV shows becoming something called "Death Watch" where people tune in to watch people kill each other (a la the film Running Man). You take the role of a guy named Jack, a chain smoking, bike riding, doesn’t give a crap about anyone else, tough guy—and he will draw blood.

It seems that the main weapon of the game is a chain saw, though almost anything can be used for a weapon, from simple things like garbage cans to more ominous traps such as a giant aircraft engine conveniently parked near a battle area, to a passing subway, to a pit complete with a stomping spiked top to it.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is that it is entirely in Black & White, a very interesting choice by Platinum Games, but one they came up with from the get go. It’s causing many to liken the game to Frank Miller’s Sin City franchise. The other awesome fact is that it’s being done by Platinum Games, who along with doing the promising looking Bayonetta, are also the remains of Clover games, who have done many great games including my beloved brawler God Hand.

Since I can’t give impressions, here’s a little look at the gameplay:

Call the Wii kiddie all you want, developers, especially Sega, are reaching out to mature audiences who have a Wii. There are other games like the new Tenchu game or the upcoming Dead Space semi-sequel coming in the Fall, or even the much hyped Conduit game. Right now, mature gamers have some quality choices on the Wii, and Sega’s offerings are definitely worth checking out.

Max

Word on the Street: PS3 price drop next week

"Ps3 needs a price drop" has been the mantra of gamers for and against the system for a while now. Developers have been saying it. Analysts have been saying it. Everyone has been saying it. Well, the word on the street is that next week, people are going to get their wish.

Originally posted at 2old2play.com, an EB Games employee mentioned a PS3 price drop would be occurring Sunday March 22nd, just in advance of the Game Developer's Conference (GDC) this year. Internal memos and store paperwork are said to confirm this. If true, Sony's console will be in the thick of the current-gen pay scale with the 360 and the Wii. Which, in turn one would think, would start turning people on to picking up a PS3 and Sony can start making up some ground in North America.


Me? True or not, I don't think that a price drop will help with hardcore detractors of the system. Chances are that they will just find something else to bitch about the PS3 not doing or having. Valve isn't going to start making PS3 games due to a price drop. Home isn't going to start being good in the eyes of most due to $100 being knocked off. "Still no backwards compatibility" will become the new tagline of the PS3, replacing the now standard "PS3 needs a price drop."

But hey, I could be wrong. Those Killzone 2 commercials are still on.......alot.


J.

Evidence mounting on Marvel vs Capcom 2 HD remix

A while ago, I posted something about some rumors floating around about everyone's favorite developers, Capcom, re-releasing the fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on the download circuit. It's still one of my favorite fighting games and one of my biggest video game regrets, selling the game (twice!!) for extra money, only to find it going for ri-fucking-diculous change on Ebay.

Well, people selling MvC2 might want to cash in while they can. Videogamer.com posted an interview with Capcom's Christian Svensson, vice president, business development and strategic planning. In it, he was asked about any other games that might get the "HD remix treatment," and he was quoted as saying....


"while "not every game needs it", the company was "potentially" going to apply the HD Remix treatment to other fighting games in its back catalogue."

He also said about if MvC2 was one of the games that didn't need the HD treatment..........


"I won't say it doesn't need it. Marvel would be great to do. There's obviously a fan base for it. It's probably our most requested title. Unfortunately, I wish I had news to share on that front but I don't."


Hmmm. "Other Capcom fighting games?" With a list that includes Power Stone, X-men vs. Capcom, Final Fight, SNK vs. Capcom and Battle Arena Toshinden (and i'm sure I'm missing some) that's fucking HUGE list to choose from. However, given the choice between an updated Final Fight and one of the most sought after fighting games that come out in the last decade, I'd be willing to put money on MvC2 coming out soon. Maybe at E3 we'll hear more about this awesome thought.

And while I'm thinking about it, will someone at Capcom get off their hands and remake...........


Check out the article here.

J

In Deck: School's out forever.........

Well, it's been a long road, but I'm done with school as of yesterday. Thank you. Other then making up time I missed while enjoying myself in Hawaii, I've got nothing but time on my hands. Well, outside of getting plans together for my new business. But in the meantime, it's time to catch up on some games. And there has been ALOT of games I've been playing and that I've really wanted to play. It feels good to not have to have to get up early on the weekends at stare into an anatomy book. Anyway, on to the games......

Peggle




I don't doubt that casual games are here to stay. I like alot of them. It's the notion that all games are going, and should go, in this this direction is what bothers me. I don't mind the thought of the "casual" game and the "hardcore" existing together, though. My personal favorites are of the Pop Cap variety. Bejeweled 2 and Peggle being the ones getting the most play for me. Bejeweled 2 is my first foray into the world of casual. And it's awesome as you already know, but Peggle really got me. It's the simplest premise, erase all the orange pegs. It's likely the perfect casual game. One where it's simple to learn, but after you look up at the clock and realize that you've been playing for three hours. It's a good time. Sometimes I hope it's not too good.

Peggle is out on every platform you can think off (except PS3...for now) From $10 to free.


Magic Ball



This Breakout clone is still fun. Played more over the course of a few weeks of late night studying. And got 100% of the trophies in the game, a first for me. Seems like I'll be able to show you by this time tomorrow. Again, if you like your games on the casual side and you like Breakout/Arkanoid clones, check it out.

Magic Ball is out for $10 on PSN


Fallout 3



Jumped into Fallout 3 for a second. I'm two bobbleheads away from Vault-Tec CEO trophy. I'm very close to the end of the game, so bailed and am roaming around being a general badass, mowing down anyone in my way in the process. It's hard to get back into the game since I've really wanted to start Oblivion again. Playing both at the same time could destroy my life. Fallout 3 could be my first platinum trophy. More on this soon.

Fallout 3 is out on PS3, 360 and PC; 360 and PC have exclusive DLC for $60


On Deck..........

Killzone 2




Not much more can be said. Thanks to Amazon.com's retarded "one day shipping," I am getting KZ2.....today. Yeah. THREE DAYS after release. But, that's water under the bridge. I plan on getting into the possibly the most talked about game of all time. Reviews seem to say it lives up to the hype. Halo killer? People don't want Halo to die, so it won't. No matter what. So stop it with the "killer" tag. It's sounds like an awesome game with awesome multiplayer variants. I'll have my story about my first hour with the game up soon.


Hope you're doing ok and that your playing something cool.

J.

Suffer Like G Did? House Of The Dead: OVER-MOTHERFUCKIN-KILL!!!!

MOTHERFUCKER! This is a damned MOTHERFUCKIN fun ass game! I can't tell you the last time I had this much of a MOTHERFUCKIN blast killing zombies! "What did I tell you about using the 'Z' word?" Sorry, I meant MOTHERFUCKIN mutants! "What's with all the MOTHERFUCKER this and MOTHERFUCKIN that, Stein?" Oh, thats just a bad MOTHERFUCKIN habit I picked up from Detective Washington, the new guy in the HOD series with the wallet that says "BAD MOTHER FUCKER" on it. He's also the ironic MOTHERFUCKER that calls every MOTHERFUCKER he sees a MOTHERFUCKIN MOTHERFUCKER except for the MOTHERFUCKER who actually is a MOTHERFUCKER! Then we have Agent Gwendollynn who you may remember from every other HOD game out there as Agent G. Together, G-Wash and the Zombie Sauce go chasing around Papa Ceasar, with the ever so busty (you'll see what I mean when you get there) Varla Guns, to exact vengefull justice before they realize that Papa is not the MOTHERFUCKER that they need to be putting down in this grindflick inspired B-shooter.

Now I'll tell you this right now, if you are a fan of "quality" (and by quality, I mean cheesy) 70's era grindflicks and light gun shooters, then this is the game for you. The entire presentation of the game from the intro to the loading screens to the music and scratchy ass film grain filter make this campy game stand out in the crowd of light gun shooter on the Wii. And by the crowd of light gun shooters, I mean all 6 of them... and 3, technically speaking, is a crowd. At any rate, the game gives off the low budget drive in vibe the whole way through, missing reels, plot holes and all.

Despite the "by the hour" hotel vibe HOD:O gives off, the gameplay is top notch. There are plenty of options available to you once you've made your way through the 2 main modes, including one of the options that most gun games have skimped on up till now, Dual Wield mode. That's right, you finally don't have to play as 2 characters to mow MOTHERFUCKIN zombies down with both hands. Weild 2 of the same guns, or any other combo of guns you have unlocked through out your progression. Of course, obviously, since 2 guns are supported, 2 players can enjoy the fun. It's always better when someone on the same couch can play with you.

There are a few minor hiccups that you have to overlook, like an occasional smidge of slowdown here and there when the action gets too intense, but just remember that this is the Wii we're talking about here.

So I urge you people, if you've got a Wii, you like light gun shooters, and zombies, mutants, and MOTHERFUCKERs (as well as people that would fuck their mother) don't offend you too much, then get ready to eat yourself a tasty, tossed brain salad, MOTHERFUCKER!

Oh yeah, if you don't approve of the phrase "MOTHERFUCKER", you probably shouldn't have read this article... MOTHERFUCKER!