Month: November 2010

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite DS Game?

Dawn of Sorrow

Up until about 2008, one of the many outrageous things that could be heard flying out of my ever-flapping lips was the statement that I thought the Nintendo DS was the best system out, bar none. Yes, that included the consoles. Now, since then, I have revised my opinion, but I can say, without blushing, that I think the DS is the best handheld system of all-time. Why? The games, man!

It always comes down to games and if you aren’t aware of the robust (cliche alert!) library the DS has to offer, fear not. Our friends over at GamePro put together a list (!) compiling the 31 Best DS Games. Although I think they missed the mark by putting Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars at the top spot, the rest of the list is pretty spot on. Personally, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is my all-time favorite, so it’s nice to see that near the top.

What DS games are your favorites? Who here has a DS? Are you happy with the games that have come out for it? Go!

Source: GamePro

Dead Rising 2: Case: West Trailer Knows Its Way Around a Zombie or Two

I love me some Dead Rising 2, so I’m looking forward to the game’s upcoming downloadable epilogue Case: West starring the man, the myth, the legend, Frank West of the original Dead Rising. While Dead Rising 2 focused on Chuck Greene’s prodigious skills with duct tape, Case: West will see the return of the photography element that was so important in the first game. The DLC will be co-op enabled, so you and a buddy can pile-drive zombies to your heart’s content. Capcom just released the gameplay trailer for this bad boy, so have a watch:

This Xbox 360 exclusive will hit sometime in December, so keep that wallet ready. Who here is going back into Dead Rising 2 for some zombie slaying action?

Crytek: Consoles Hold Back PC Gaming

Crytek Crysis

Fire in the hole!

For a company that hasn’t exactly made the best-shooter-ever-in-history, it seems that Crytek sure has a lot to say about the game industry these days. Earlier this year, they were waxing philosophical about Uncharted 2 and a few others. Now, the CEO, Cervat Yerli, is taking a few shots at consoles in general, essentially saying that the console market is keeping PC gaming from being all that it can be.

Here’s Yerli’s stance on the matter:

As long as the current console generation exists and as long as we keep pushing the PC as well, the more difficult it will be to really get the benefit of both… PC is easily a generation ahead right now. With 360 and PS3, we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is. You won’t be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks…

Until the PC market creates comparable revenues, companies are not going to spend enough on the PC SKU of a game.

Honestly, it seems strange to me to blame consoles for being wildly successful compared to PC endeavors. To me, that puts the onus back on PC developers to up the game in a major way. So what do you guys think? Agree/disagree? Is the console generation holding back PC gaming? And if it is, does it even matter until the PC market can show competitive sales?

Source – PCGamer

Rumor: Halo: Combat Evolved Remake in 2011?

halo combat evolved remakeDespite the fact that Microsoft has said that they’re not looking at HD remakes, it’s hard to deny the fact that a Halo: Combat Evolved re-release with updated graphics would move a crazy amount of copies.

According to CVG, who pulled the information from UK magazine Games Master, 343 Industries is hard at work on a revival of Halo: Combat Evolved using the Halo: Reach engine. According to “industry chatter” cited by the magazine, the game would hit on Halo: CE’s tenth anniversary in November of 2011 with a true sequel to Halo 3 following up in 2012.

While this is all speculation, CVG points out that this release schedule would fit with 343’s plan to release a new Halo game every year a la Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed.

Tag this as the most vaguest of rumors for now, faithful readers, because the only actual Microsoft big-wig quoted is UK Xbox manager Stephen McGill who thinks a current-generation Combat Evolved would be a “good idea”.

What do you guys think of this possibility? Will it happen, or is a Halo: CE remake just a pipe dream?

Source – CVG

Mythbusting Call of Duty: Black Ops

In the past, we’ve seen a series of Mythbusters videos for popular online shooters Modern Warfare 2 and even Halo 3. Thus, it was only natural that Defend The House continued their popular series of multiplayer Mythbusters with a brand-spanking-new entry for Call of Duty: Black Ops.

This edition of the informative yet hilarious videos tackles a few key questions, such as whether or not care package helicopters can be shot down, or how to shoot down Valkyrie missiles. The most important issue it tackles, though, is this: can a man dive over a rocket? Really, it’s a question that needs answering, not just in Black Ops, but every day life. Lord knows it’s kept me up at night.

Have you run into any of these issues in your own online escapades? In general, how do you guys feel about Black Ops multiplayer so far?

Is a Grief-Free Online Environment Really Possible?

Counter StrikeGrowing up surrounded by my brother and a mess of loud and sometimes obnoxious friends, I was no stranger when it came to gaming and trash talking. Whether we were swapping one-shot kills in Goldeneye, making fun of each others’ created characters in Wrestlemania 2000 or swapping insults during bouts of Bushido Blade, the smack we talked ran freely like milk and honey in the Promised Land. In my mind, this was just the way gaming was: friendly, fun and all in good sport. We dished out only what we could take, and only occasionally did the bad blood spill over into the real world, and usually it was the other way around.

My first extended stint into online gaming came with my late discovery of Counter-Strike my freshman year of college. What started as something just for pure fun soon grew into a relatively serious hobby. It was only when I dived in more deeply that I saw the gritty underbelly of the online world: griefing, racism, verbal threats and rage. Continue reading Is a Grief-Free Online Environment Really Possible?

Kinect Sales Total 2.5 Million

Kinect

Man, do I hate being right all the time. It seems Microsoft’s relentless media blitz paid off in huge dividends with an excitement from the mainstream not seen since the days of the Wii’s release. The Big M’s (Yeah, I said it) entry into motion-gaming, Kinect, has now surpassed over 2.5 million units sold since its release on November 4th.

I’m not surprised as Microsoft had previously stated they were treating Kinect like a console launch and they certainly put their money where their mouth was. Regardless, the reaction from people who I didn’t know were aware of video games was staggering and it seems that we’ve entered a new paradigm in gaming. Whether or not it will sustain itself remains to be seen. Did any of you buy a Kinect? What do you think of Microsoft’s rousing success?

Source: 1UP

A Wish List for Motion Controlled Gaming

DBZ Kame Hame Ha

As much as we dog pile on motion control gaming, I think all of us here at GamerSushi recognize that when utilized correctly, it has tremendous upside. Who didn’t get excited at the prospect of awesome sword play in a Legend of Zelda game way back when, before we realized that these hopes were totally misplaced? I think I like the idea of what motion control gaming could be, but I recognize that many developers are too lazy or have deadlines much too tight to really give it a thoughtful implementation that makes sense and enhances gameplay.

That being said, whenever people talk about the potential of big name titles getting some motion controls, I can’t help but let my mind wander to a magical place without all of that reality that normally bogs down tacked-on control schemes. I suppose RipTen feels the same way, as they put together a couple of lists of ten games that would be awesome with motion controls, including one for Kinect and one for Move. I would totally agree with their assessment on games like Fight Night Round 4, Starcraft 2, From Dust and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow for the different machines. But really, what I’d like is to be able to do Dragonball Z motions with my arms. Someone needs to get on that.

Joking aside, as much as those would be nice, I still think they would miss the mark somewhat. Continue reading A Wish List for Motion Controlled Gaming

StarCraft 2 UMS: Star Battle

As most of us know around here know, one of the biggest advantages of PC games is customization and modding, and StarCraft 2 is no exception. Right now the number one UMS (Use Map Settings) custom game on the EU Battle.net Server is an awesome space battle map called Star Battle. It’s almost like DotA meets Star Trek. Basically, you farm small fighters to gain income to upgrade the weapons/armor/shields/engines on your giant war ship so you can destroy the other players’ giant war ships. A note for our North American users: while the custom map is now live on the US Server, not many people know about it, so nobody is playing yet.

Here is a more in depth explanation by TotalBiscuit. The video is a little long, but you get the basic idea pretty quick.

[youtube width=”500″ height=”331″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBbVqR3Euf4[/youtube]

New Unreal Engine 3 Demo Is Just a Bit Gorgeous

Occasionally, I feel like I get so caught up in how today’s games look that I’m only really impressed by unique art styles, rather than raw graphical horsepower. We’re getting to a point where games just look a little better each year, but nothing truly jaw-dropping seems to hit. Sure, there are games that look great, but rarely do we have one that just floors us. So when they do, we notice.

Take the new Unreal Engine 3 trailer, for instance, which highlights some changes Epic have made to the already gorgeous graphics package. Considering how many games are utilizing the Unreal Engine nowadays (Mass Effect, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Bioshock, Gears of War 3), it makes me hungry to see some of this in the near future. The question is: can consoles support something that looks remotely like this? Or will this be PC exclusive until the next batch of consoles drop?

Crazy that this is real time graphics these days. Your thoughts?

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Since many of us in the good ol’ States have just had a weekend of revelry, merriment and turkey eating, that means we’ve all had several days for an abnormal amount of video game playing. Or at least, for me it’s been an abnormal amount.

If you listened to the most recent podcast, you heard us chatting about winter gaming and how for some reason, when it gets cold outside, some of just die to start playing more games. Because of that, I finally decided to grab Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood earlier this week so I would have something to play over the holidays. So far, I’m loving the game, and I’m really surprised by the amount of content in it. What’s more surprising to me, though, is just how much I love the multiplayer. What I viewed as some tacked on mode is actually quite a bit of fun, and a great change of pace from typical deathmatch fair.

In addition to that, I’ve been playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time on PSN, and I’m also looking forward to grabbing Gran Turismo 5 in the next couple of weeks. What about you guys? What are you playing this weekend? Go!

Review: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

assassins creed brotherhood review

There’s a special spot in gamer hell reserved for sequels with a quick turnaround. Left 4 Dead 2, Halo 3: ODST and in some cases, Call of Duty, have all received stick for coming out “too soon”, according to the Internet. So it is with Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, which was announced before the dust on Assassin’s Creed 2 had even settled.

Coming out such a short time after its predecessor, and tacking on a seemingly unnecessary multiplayer mode, Brotherhood fit the bill for the quick “cash-in” built to capitalize on the good will of AC2. Slowly, though, perception of the title began turning around as media came out revealing that the multiplayer wasn’t a shoddy tack-on and the single player campaign was going to add interesting new mechanics. Critical reception is very, very positive, but what’s the GamerSushi stance?
Continue reading Review: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

LittleBigPlanet 2 Puts You in Control

Sackboy is gearing up for his (alleged) release in 2011 and he’s showing off new features every chance he gets, such as this video, which showcases the debut of the Controlinator. Simply put, back in LBP, creating a vehicle, like a car or rocket ship, required some makeshift fiddling with various switches and the results were fairly limited.

As you will soon witness, that is no longer the case. Honestly, the more I see about this game, the more tempting it is to pre-order it. The appealing visual and sheer creativity are astounding. Check it out:

[youtube width=”500″ height=”310″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONA5_pzFG8U[/youtube]

Impressed? LBP has managed to overcome the terror being a penis-monster simulator and has become an outlet for genuine user creativity. I really want to see what the teeming masses are able to come up with using these enhanced tools. I certainly expect to see better than new and clever ways to create swastikas. What do you think? Is the Controlinator enough for you to fork over 60 bucks?

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Sales Talk Leads to Confirmation of a 2011 Title

assassins creed 2011 sequel

Here we go again, being all psychic with our podcasts. During The GamerSushi Show Episode 11, we got into a discussion regarding the one-year gap between Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood (which I can confirm is awesome) and the possibility that Ubisoft is looking at the historical murder-simulator as a potential Call of Duty emulator. Turns out that this is exactly what the France-based developer has planned.

In a chat with European news site MCV, Ubisoft’s EMEA markerting and sales chief Geoffroy Sardin confirmed that 2011 will bestow upon us another “big game” in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Book-ending this reveal is the little tidbit that Brotherhood was the fastest selling title in Europe for Ubisoft, and the series has cracked a total of 20 million titles moved, so very impressive for the franchise that most people weren’t too fond of at the outset.

While the sales figures are remarkable, what about that new game? Mr. Sardin dropped this little line near the end of the interview: Continue reading Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Sales Talk Leads to Confirmation of a 2011 Title

Dead Space 2 Trailer Shows the Evolution of Isaac Clarke

Dead Space is kind of a cult hit amongst gamers along with Mirror’s Edge, the two sort of forming the spearhead of the “new EA” movement. While the games didn’t do gangbusters either commercially or critically, there are legions of fans knocking down doors demanding sequels, so I guess EA did something right. I myself enjoyed a bit of Dead Space, even though it stopped being scary for me about twenty minutes in. My other gripe was Isaac Clarke, the mute handyman that I took control of. His design was bad-ass, but the lack of a voice bugged me, especially during the later hours when he was still busting his ass to fix a broken ship crawling with scythe-limbed zombies with nary a complaint. One of the major changes for Dead Space 2 is to give old Isaac a voice, and his evolution as a character is detailed in this trailer:

Dead Space 2 is hitting shelves and download services January 25, 2011. It’s one of the two games I didn’t have a chance to get a peek at during PAX 2010, so I’m definitely intrigued. Is Dead Space 2 on your list?

GamerSushi Asks: Your Favorite Achievements/Trophies

dead rising zombie genocider

It’s no big secret that both Eddy and I are kind of Achievement hounds (although I never rented TMNT for a quick 1000 Gamerscore. Just saying.). Throughout my long and illustrious hunt for those precious e-peen points, I’ve come across a few that have stuck in my mind as either being particularly rewarding or memorable.

The original Dead Rising has, for me, pound for pound some of the best Achievements of any Xbox 360 game. I know that some of you will argue the point, but Zombie Genocider took me a good four hours to do and gave me the sweet, sweet reward of the Mega Blaster for my troubles. For time invested versus payout, that one ranks pretty high. Other good ones were the Monument to All Your Sins from Halo: Reach and Mile High Club from Call of Duty 4. I mean, that one was a total pain in the ass, but I count myself amongst a small, elite group of total sadists for getting that.

What about you guys? Any Achievements or Trophies out there that you’re proud of? Any that you’re not too thrilled about obtaining? Go! Oh by the way, commenting is an Achievement!

Classic Video Game Characters Race

Here’s a little Thanksgiving gift from us to you (via some dude named Eyspire on YouTube). It’s not a “scientific” race of which set of pixels would win, but it is a stroll down memory lane with a surprise ending.

Enjoy, and Happy Turkey Day to our American users.

[youtube width=”500″ height=”310″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_3Hyb6IfU[/youtube]

Husky and KurtHugo Parody “Baby” With “Banelings”

As a group of people with brain functions higher than that of your average chimpanzee, I think we can all agree that Justin Bieber is a blight upon the Earth equal to Jersey Shore or some other MTV reality show garbage. Adding insult to injury is the fact that he hails from my fair country of Canada, making yet another terrible music sensation we have to apologize for (Nickleback, Cher, Avril Levine and a few more being the others). On the other hand, such musical abortions are ripe for parody. Enter Husky of StarCraft 2 fame and KurtHugo who have cooked up a little ditty about the worst unit for the Zerg, the detestable Banelings. It features a sweet car, hot babes, and yes, plenty of StarCraft jargon. Take a look!

GamerSushi Top Six: Things to Be Thankful for in 2010

Ah, Thanksgiving time. The time of the year where we show our thanks by way of a gluttonous feast, with food fit for a king. Also, there’s that whole Black Friday thing, where we shove our money in our ears and buy everything that’s marked down in price. But that’s almost a different holiday altogether then, isn’t it? Greed Day, or somesuch.

However! We, the kind and wise overlords of GamerSushi, wanted to stop and take a quick look at the gaming year so far. In the spirit of the holidays, we had a hand-to-hand combat battle to determine the things that we are most thankful for in 2010, so that we could benevolently share them with all of you, our loyal fellow gamers and all around awesome dudes.

So, without further ado, here’s our top six gaming things we’re thankful for in 2010. Continue reading GamerSushi Top Six: Things to Be Thankful for in 2010

The Generation’s Biggest Flops and Fails

Red Ring of Death

Every generation has its own ups and downs. Each console and PC era is like a little roller coaster ride full of great games and disappointing ones. Ideally, with each new generation we’d see the peaks get higher and higher, but it only makes sense, then, that the drops would be lower and perhaps more full of fail.

That’s why GamesRadar has put together a list of the Top 13 Failures of this Generation, and it is a sad but mostly true account of the more head-turning moments of the last few years. Obviously, it’s got to have the dreaded Red Ring of Death on it, as well as APB, the failed MMO. Of course, the list was also going to need to touch on the Wii’s horrid online play, and the lack of all the promised console MMOs, each one biting the dust in turn. I wouldn’t have included Alpha Protocol on the list, but then again, I didn’t realize it had been in development for 5 years.

What really surprised me actually is just how many of the fails on here come from the XBox 360 (faceplates, the hard drives with only half the space, Too Human, etc.), but really it shouldn’t have caught me off guard. Microsoft had a ridiculously rough start, and one only wonders if they’re repeating themselves with Kinect. One other addition I would make would be DRM attempts for PC games.

So what do you guys think? What would you consider to be the biggest failures of the last few years, on both console and PC? Do you agree/disagree with anything on the list in particular?

Source – GamesRadar