If you’re at all familiar with the source material, it’s more than apparent that Scott Pilgrim was begging to be made into a game. In fact, it was so steeped in video game culture that Ubisoft did just that, creating a retro-inspired side scrolling brawler. While it’s certainly not the only developer to play on our nostalgia for a simpler time in gaming, it is the most recent. So how does Scott Pilgrim perform?
Zombies are becoming a bit cliche’ but that’s only because they’re awesome. Plus it’s Halloween. So if you’re a fan of zombies, shooting things, and the wild west you might wanna take a gander. Trailer below!
After the summer drought for gaming (mostly), we’re now reaching that time of year when all of the big games go careening toward store shelves with reckless abandon, all vying for your sweet, sweet wallet innards. I find myself in a dilemma today in particular on account of 3 big releases all coming out at once. Will I buy them all? No, no I won’t. Not yet anyways. What I will do though, is list out X of the most important titles that came out specifically today and then try to rationalize my decision and also justify my purchase.
But first, let’s look at our contenders (links to Amazon provided)-
Firstly, let me say I really appreciate that the sequel saw fit to put a damned ’2′ at the end of it rather than some other subtitle nonsense. I had a terrible notion that this follow-up would be called something liker Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: The Reckoning: The Colon. Yuck. Thankfully though, that wasn’t the case.
Why am I considering this? Sure there’s a purveying sense of duty to play it on account of having ‘Star Wars’ in the name, but in truth I hadn’t been a huge fan of the Star Wars games save for Episode 1: Podracer and the original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. But the first game really grabbed me. It had a super cool premise letting you step into the role of Vader’s apprentice and also allowed you to go ape shit with a whole range of Force powers. Combined with a range of new graphics technologies, I had a blast playing through the original even with its relatively short length.
The sequel looks to be a bit derivative and I’m not sure how the clone storyline is going to hold up, but the fact of the matter is that being a jedi/sith lord is badass and I can honestly say I had fun playing it.
Oh Microsoft, does your lust for our wallets know no bounds? Sony fanboys will likely be foaming at the mouth, ready to blast us for not having access to free online play, but I’ll tolerate it. Do you know why? Because it’s still the best online service available for gamers. Say what you will about our greedy, capitalistic overlords, but if the service weren’t worth the price of admission we wouldn’t already have a legion of 10 million gamers heartily enjoying it.
A lot of people are up in arms about the price hike and while I’m not a huge fan of shelling out more dough for the service, I suppose it’s less irritating than it would have been 5 years ago before Live offered the kind of services it does today.
It wasn’t too long ago that being on Xbox Live meant merely that you had the ability to play online with your friends. The cost served only as the means by which the pearly gates of online play would be opened. Now, however, a whole wealth of features dominate the Live landscape from Facebook and Twitter support to a complete online marketplace of multimedia content.
Do I like paying an extra $10? No, but I’m not about to abandon my love of the service either. On the contrary- I’ll be stocking up on as many of these as I can to counteract it.
-via lolBoom
Red Dead Redemption is an incredible game in its own right, but of course whenever you have a game this massive and of such high quality, there’s bound to be a few bugs. Take for example the below-an unholy amalgamation of cougar and man. It’s a deadly duo of cougar speed with man’s woeful disregard for his own safety. But don’t take my word for it- check it out below!
For those who have been living on a remote island without internet access for the last year, the much anticipated Alan Wake finally has a concrete release date: May 18, 2010. Because I’m a good salesperson and know what I’m talking about, I’m telling you you should absolutely invest in this one. Reminiscent of Silent Hill 2, Alan Wake follows the story of Alan, a writer, who takes a much needed vacation with his wife to Bright Falls after suffering a bad case of writer’s block. Hoping the getaway would clear and invigorate his mind, the opposite happens when his wife goes missing on this vacation. As he searches for her he discovers missing pages to a book he apparently wrote but doesn’t remember writing. Even scarier is the book seems to be able to predict upcoming events, making Alan think twice about his own sanity. So, scary town + man searching for wife = “psychological action thriller” = Silent Hill 2 qualities. We’re pumped here.
There will also be a limited edition available for pre-order that sounds pretty high class, too. When you pre-order with Gamestop you’ll get codes to download an avatar t-shirt and an Xbox Live Alan Wake theme. The actual game comes inside of a hardback, linen book, complete with an in-game commentary/hints from Remedy (the developers, who also brought you Max Payne), a book written by Mr. Wake himself and a compilation of the FBI files surrounding the investigation, the Alan Wake sountrack, and an “add-on token”, which you can redeem for the first Alan Wake DLC package. The entire collector’s edition will be $79.99.
Final Fantasy for iPhone Looks Fantastic – via Destructoid
360 Scores the Only Final Fantasy XIII Bundle Outside of Japan – via Kotaku
Uncharted 2 Gets New Multiplayer Maps, Skins & Trophies on Feb. 25 – via Kotaku
Microsoft X Convention Top 10 Reveals – via VideoGame Geek
Bioshock 2′s Widescreen Bug is Strangely Familiar – via Destructoid
Marvel Teases Us With New ‘Avenger’ Promos – via Geeks of Doom
Penny Arcade Book Tour – via Penny Arcade
Wil Wheaton to Give Keynote at PAX East – via Destructoid
Fav4.org is a Dead Simple but Very Attractive Start Page – via Lifehacker
Top 10 Google Settings You Should Know About – via Lifehacker
Google to Offer ‘Ultra High-Speed’ Broadband in US – via BBC News
Sexist Vintage Ads – via PBH3
The End of the World? (Infographic) – via Pixlmonster
Finally, Live Webcast Goes Wrong – via MakeUseOf
Nicole and I have run into a fundamental problem each week with our posting. Lately we’ve worked toward more original posts and less ‘newsy’ posts because we realized there is way too much happening in geek culture each week to aptly catalog with daily posts. So, starting today we’ll begin posting your geekend updates where you can at-a-glance see all the cool stuff we’ve come across each week. Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Set Up a Whole House Speaker System Using Existing Phone Lines – via Lifehacker
Store Your Boardgames by Displaying Them as Art – via Lifehacker
Procrastinate on This! The Force is Strong Within Adidas (Seriously, this is an awesome video!) – via Fierce and Nerdy
Xbox Live Support to be Pulled for Original Xbox Games on April 15th – via VideoGame Geek
30 Commercial Games Released for Free – via GamesRadar
Splinter Cell: Conviction Release Date Literally Set in Stone – via Kotaku
AVP Multiplayer Demo Now Available – via Destructoid
How To Cheat Your Way to the Heavy Rain Demo – via Kotaku
Get Mass Effect 2 Dr. Pepper DLC Without Buying Dr. Pepper – via Destructoid
The Bioshock 2 Launch Trailer – Enjoy!
Twitterfall – Really neat search utility for Twitter
Apple Paying Back Bonuses on Cost of Defective 27-inch iMacs – via TUAW
That’s all for this week! Have a great weekend and be sure to drive safe in all that snow out there, Columbus!
To the left of this text is Japan’s cover for the heavily anticipated Heavy Rain, due out February 23 for those of us stateside. I have no idea what an unidentifiable male face is supposed to signify, but I’m sure once I play it I will be green with envy over Japan’s cover art. The United States’ is probably the lamest so far: in my opinion the characters kind of take away from the artistic simplicity it could have been, like on the European cover (featuring a bloody origami creature). Which cover do you prefer?
via Kotaku