Anthony has written a total of 170,227 words on this site.

Age: 34 PSN ID: Starkiller81. I've played games since before I can remember, starting with my dad's Atari and I haven't stopped yet. Keep them coming and I will keep playing them.

El Shaddai’s Breathtaking Visuals Are Heavenly

El Shaddai, a 3rd person action game from the creator of Devil May Cry and Okami, was announced at this year’s E3, but it has been largely overlooked. That may not be the case after you see this trailer, which was shown at TGS last and showcases the game’s fluid combat and unique art style.

Personally, I’m a sucker for anything that looks like something I’ve never seen before and this fits that bill perfectly. The game’s story is based on The Book of Enoch and the game follows Enoch on a quest to find seven fallen angels in order to prevent a flood which will wipe out mankind. So I hope you dig that Hallelujah-choir because I get the feeling you will be hearing a lot of it. It’s being published and developed by Ignition, who most recently gave us the watercolor world of Muramasa for the Wii. No release date has been announced yet.

So what do you think? Is this something you would be interested in? We always complain about drab games showing brown in HD, but this game steers far clear of that. Would you be willing to give it a shot?

Chrono Cross Game Blog Part VII: 20th Time Is The Charm

Chrono Cross Viper ManorHaving just obtained the key to Viper Manor from Dipshit, the Dragon Keeper and World’s Worst Rent-A-Cop, Serge, Kid and Nikki are ready to explore the grounds and maybe, just maybe advance the plot an iota or two. Now, an iota is a unit of measurement rarely used in reference to story advancement, but it’s late and I would rather be playing Halo: Reach, so things might get a little trippy in this post. Continue reading Chrono Cross Game Blog Part VII: 20th Time Is The Charm

Fable III Achievements Encourage Friend List Love

Fable 3Fable III, the next entry in Peter Molyneux’s epic Trilogy of Great Expectations, is due out on October 26th, but if you want to start planning your playthrough with regards to achievements, 1UP has the newly released list.

The most interesting are two that expect you to marry and have a child with someone on your friends list, which should either bring you and your pals closer or end the friendships all together. Lionhead is encouraging cooperative play of a type heretofore unseen and I am all for trying new things. That being said, I am not having Eddy’s baby. Mitch’s, maybe. Eddy, no.

Check out the full list here! Are there any appeal to you? Would you enter matrimonial bliss with an Xbox Live Friend?

Source – 1UP

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor Coming To Kinect

One of the most legendary games of all time was Steel Battalion for the Xbox, mainly due to it’s incredibly complex controller, pictured here. 40 buttons and 2 control sticks were needed to play this game and few did, though likely because of the $200.00 price tag. Well, as we have seen, one of the main themes of this new generation of consoles has been streamlining and Capcom just set the bar as the newly announced Steel Battalion will have no buttons.

That’s right, as revealed at the Tokyo Game Show and reported by 1UP.com’s Frank Cifaldi, the sequel to the giant mech game will be a Kinect exclusive. How such a thing is even possible is beyond me, but color me intrigued. Other than Child of Eden, this is the first “hardcore” game revealed for Kinect, so perhaps they aren’t leaving their core demographic behind with their shiny new peripheral.

Did anyone out there play Steel Battalion? Would you be interested in buying a Kinect for this? Or will it just be another rail-shooter? Your keyboard has more than 40 buttons…use them now!

Source: 1UP

PlayStation Celebrates 15th Anniversary and Dreamcast Its 11th

On this day, 15 years ago, the gaming world was forever changed when a company best known for their stereos stepped into the wild fray that is the video game console business. On 9/9/95. Sony released the PlayStation, or PS1, as we all know it now. Many people, myself included, didn’t give it much of a chance, but eventually, with a ton of stellar titles, namely Final Fantasy VII, they managed to overtake Nintendo and change the course of gaming history. They also killed Sega, but that was going to happen anyway.

Personally, the Final Fantasy games, namely Tactics and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night were my highlights. I missed out on a lot of other big games, but I have since corrected that oversight.

Also, speaking of Sega, today is the 11th anniversary of the Dreamcast, Sega’s swan song. This console was pretty much the harbinger of things to come, but it harbinged (New word, tell your friends) far too early and gamers weren’t ready for its particular brand of goodness until Microsoft refined it with the Xbox 360.

So what are your fondest memories of the PS1 or Dreamcast? Any games you still want to play or wish you had played?

PlayStation Move Showcases Unique Features

Qore, the show brought to you by Sony on the PSN, had a pretty neat little demonstration of some of Move’s potential and capabilities. Now, being that I am easily impressed, I wanted to see what you guys thought about this because maybe I am just being a fanboy without realizing it. In addition to the adorable Veronica Belmont, you’ll catch a glimpse of some neat item modeling and a few other snazzy features. So check it out and let us know if this…moves you in any substantial way. (Sorry, please forgive that pun.)

Metroid: Other M Impressions

Metroid: Other M

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post, loyal readers. As a huge fan of the Metroid series, beginning with the very first game back during the NES days and continuing through all the sequels, even the Game Boy version, I was looking forward to Other M with no wariness whatsoever. After all, even though I didn’t care for Metroid Prime 2 and 3 all that much, I thought the return to a non-FPS point of view would give Samus the jolt she needed in order to revitalize the franchise. And with Team Ninja adding their power to Nintendo’s, what could go wrong? Continue reading Metroid: Other M Impressions

Chrono Cross Game Blog Part VI: The Stupidest Man Ever

Welcome back! When we last left off, I had just made the pivotal decision to go with Miki as my guide into Viper Manor, in order to figure out just what in the hell is going on around here. So, I thought it would be best if I actually tell Miki about my decision. She thanks me and tells me to head to the very originally named Shadow Forest to look for Nikki, the wayward rock star. I thought she was going to guide me! I feel betrayed and hurt. Is this what pain feels like? Continue reading Chrono Cross Game Blog Part VI: The Stupidest Man Ever

GamerSushi Poll: Favorite Halo Game

Well, we’ve finally reached (get it?) September, the month where Bungie will bid adieu to the Halo franchise with the highly anticipated, even by me, Halo: Reach. In honor of this momentous and bittersweet occasion, I thought I would ask you guys which game in the Halo series stands out to you as the best.

I never played Halo: Combat Evolved until 2007, when I finally bought a used Xbox for fifty bucks from a friend. Even years after its release, it was still a blast to play and all the whining about the Library level was way overblown. The backtracking did suck, though. Honestly, I think that one is still my favorite to this day, although I haven’t played ODST yet, but a certain Canadian speaks very highly of it. And the less said about Halo 2’s ending, or lack thereof, the better.

So what do you guys think? What game is your favorite and why? Is there a particular one that you don’t think stands up the high quality of the others? Let your opinions Flood (ha ha) over this post…now!

What's Your Favorite Halo Game?

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Great Moments In Video Game Music: Final Fantasy IV – Within The Giant

For this week, I wanted to go back to the single song format, simply because I am tinkering with how I want to do this going forward. Plus, some songs are good enough to warrant their own post and I think this is one of them.

Within The Giant plays pretty late in Final Fantasy IV and the song is good enough that I always stop so as to prevent any random encounters and let the music play. It fits the mood so well and it is this odd mixture of somber and epic that I can’t help but get immersed in the fact that my characters are driving forward in a desperate fight to save the world. Truly one of my all time favorites.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq3Xo84PxsA[/youtube]

Resident Evil 6 Coming ASAP, Says Capcom

Resident Evil 5

BOOM. That sound you just heard was the minds of your 5 favorite gaming nerds here at GamerSushi exploding. 1UP is reporting that Keiji Inafune, the head of global production at Capcom, has stated that they intend to get Resident Evil 6 released “as soon as possible”.

This is no surprise given the commercial and critical success of the previous entry, Resident Evil 5, AKA GamerSushi Game of the Century. The report also states that they will have some news regarding this soon…perhaps at Tokyo Game Show later this month?

Are you excited for a new Resident Evil? What direction do you think they should go? Keep the co-op? Add more players? Get rid of it altogether? Speak now!

Source: 1UP

Vanquish Features SDTV Mode To Enlarge Text

For once it appears that a Japanese developer is ahead of the curve with regards to visual options in a game. Platinum Games’ new release — Vanquish, the sci-fi shooter starring a guy in a killer battle suit — will feature an SDTV mode that makes the text slightly crisper and more readable on those ancient SDTVs. You know, the ones that about half of all people in the U.S. still have.

Personally, this issue is moot for me ever since I upgraded to an HDTV earlier this year, but I am glad to see a company go out of their way to think of the little guy who perhaps can’t afford one yet. Times are tough and whenever I hear about a game that is almost unplayable due to tiny text (Dead Rising, I’m looking at you), I get pretty irritated. But only in an abstract kind of way.

Do you think more games should do something like this or should everyone just upgrade to an HDTV and leave the past behind? How many of you have an HDTV versus an SDTV?

Source – 1UP

Game Music Face Off: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Vs. Donkey Kong Country

I don’t think I could have picked two more completely opposite games for this week’s music post, but hey, random can be good, right?

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, hailed by many as the greatest Star Wars game of all time, had a rousing score that didn’t merely insert old John Williams tracks, but tried to re-create the feel of the original movies soundtracks. I think it succeeded admirably and I chose the main theme to demonstrate.

Donkey Kong Country was the revival of the original Nintendo platformer, but updated to reflect the (at the time) modern aesthetics of the 16-bit generation. It’s not as pretty to look at these days, but the music was always memorable and just hearing the theme song got my nostalgia working into overdrive.

Which theme song do you like better?

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Main Theme

Donkey Kong Country – Theme Song

Which song do you prefer?

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PSP Go Owners Have (Kingdom) Hearts Broken

The much criticized PSP Go has just given the naysayers another piece of ammunition against it with the news from Square Enix that the surprisingly normal sounding Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep will only be released on UMD and not the Playstation Network’s PSP Store. This means, of course, that owners of the PSP Go won’t be able to play this blockbuster game at all.

The PSP Go was Sony’s reaction to the rampant piracy that plagued and still plagues the original PSP, thanks to relative ease of ripping information off UMDs. Now, Square Enix is the one who “currently has no plans” to launch a digital release of the game, but it stands to reason that Sony would want to work with them to ensure all of their customers get a chance to play this game.

What do you think about this? Should Sony step in? Do you own a PSP Go and will this affect you at all?

Source: 1Up

Chrono Cross Game Blog Part V: A Magician, A Dancer and A Frenchman Walk Into A Bar…

Welcome back! To refresh you, we are in Termina, searching for a way to break into nearby Viper Manor. We already met Guile, a Magus-reject in a bar and are now looking for other possible allies in our effort to penetrate (Insert Beavis and Butthead laugh here) the fortress-like mansion.

Heading left, we come to the Termina docks. We meet a human overseer…overseeing the work of demi-humans. Ah, slave labor exists in Another World. How quaint. Seems this is a prerequisite for most fantasy/sci-fi. There are signs everywhere for a festival coming up and I climb aboard a wooden ship docked nearby. Apparently, Miki and Nikki, two popular musicians, are going to give a concert on the ship. But Nikki is, you guessed it, missing! Miki has been searching for him, but to no avail as he disappeared into the Shadow Forest. How foreboding! Continue reading Chrono Cross Game Blog Part V: A Magician, A Dancer and A Frenchman Walk Into A Bar…

Fallout: New Vegas Will Not Allow Post-Ending Play

In what some may consider to be a surprise, especially considering the bad taste this same feature left in gamer’s mouths when Fallout 3 was released, Fallout: New Vegas will end when you beat the game. That’s right, you don’t get to keep playing and complete all those side-quests you left unfinished.

Game director Josh Sawyer of Obsidian explained to 1UP the situation, confirming earlier reports:

“We put a lot of effort into the ending slides — we know those slides are really popular with people so we want to make sure there’s a huge amount of variety and reactivity with that stuff. We weren’t really focused on new features so much as to add a really rich sense of reactivity to the players and the choices they make.”

It does seem that you will get a warning before you pass the point of no return and you can always do what we did in the old days, which was reload your final save and keep playing that way. Some might speculate that this will be changed during the inevitable DLC onslaught, but from the article, it doesn’t sound like there are any plans to add such a feature.

On an unrelated note, I had no idea the ending slides were “really popular” with anyone. They were okay, but didn’t exactly rock my world.

Does this affect your outlook on the game? Would anyone not buy this game now?

Source: 1UP

Game Music Face Off!!! Super Metroid vs. Earthworm Jim

16 Bit era music is still my favorite, so I thought two side-scrolling games pitted against each other might be a fun change. Also, Metroid: Other M is coming out this month on the 31st, so I wanted to do something to commemorate it.

Super Metroid’s Lower Norfair is a deeply atmospheric song, a slow burn, with a ticking noise in that plays throughout, heightening the tension as you descend deeper and deeper to the labyrinth of Norfair.

New Junk City, from Earthworm Jim is one of those tracks I love that slowly builds layer upon layer of new instruments, all the while getting catchier and catchier. The funky riff is perfect for a level called New Junk City and I love the bass solo that comes later.

So which one wins this week, kids?

Super Metroid – Lower Norfair
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98RdRDaOsNg[/youtube]

Earthworm Jim – New Junk City
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgh2nhx2pW0[/youtube]

Which song do you prefer?

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Man Sues Publisher, Claims Game Addiction Ruined His Life

lineage 2Wired.com is reporting that a Hawaii man (seriously? Hawaii? Go outside, dude!) is suing NCsoft of South Korea because their game, Lineage II, is too addictive and has left him unable to function independently. The plaintiff, Craig Smallwood alleges that the company:

acted negligently in failing to warn or instruct or adequately warn or instruct plaintiff and other players of Lineage II of its dangerous and defective characteristics, and of the safe and proper method of using the game.

He also claims, and this is my favorite part, that he would never have started playing the game if he knew that he would become addicted to it. The suit goes on to say that between 2004 and 2009, he played Lineage II for 20,000 hours. Makes your mom’s Farmville obsession seem tame in comparision, eh?

Now, you get to be the judge. How would you rule in this case? Personally, I am of the opinion that if a few million people play a game or see a movie and only one or two act crazy, the problem is clearly with those one or two people, not the product. What do you think?

Source: Wired

Take-Two Responds To Italian-Americans Offended By Mafia II

Mafia II, Take-Two’s newest entry in the open-world crime series comes out later this month, but it has already ruffled some feathers, according to 1UP. In what is literally straight out of a Sopranos episode, UNICO National, an Italian-American advocacy group sent the publisher a letter, stating the game is an:

“inappropriate and insulting perpetuation of the pervasive and denigrating stereotype of organized crime being the exclusive domain of Italians and Italian Americans.
“Why would [Take-Two] foist a game on their target audience of young people wherein they will indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian Americans with violent, murderous, organized crime, to the exclusion of all the other ‘mafias’ run by other ethnic and racial groups,”

The spokesman for UNICO, Andre DeMint, then called for the game’s release to be delayed until all references to Italians and Italian-Americans can be purged from the game.

Take-Two’s response was matter-of-fact, pointing out that no one at UNICO has to play the game and since the it is rated M for Mature, it is specifically NOT targeted at young people. And of course there was the obligatory reference to all the great crime movies, books and TV shows over the years and games have just as much right to express themselves as any other medium.

So where do you come down on this? Personally, I can’t stand when a group gets offended by this. Just having a game about the Mafia doesn’t imply that every single Italian acts this way in real life. Just like not every Italian acts like Snooki or The Situation from Jersey Shore. What say you?

Source: 1UP

Halo 2600 Homebrew Brings The Fight To Atari

This is kind of an awesome little story. Ed Fries, former VP of Microsoft Game Publishing division, designed an Atari 2600 version of Halo. The game made its debut at the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this past week, where cartridges were sold for $20.00 a pop. Apparently, Microsoft is okay with this and has decided not to send the Brutes (AKA: Legal Department) after Mr. Fries.

I know what you’re thinking: but, Anthony, I didn’t go to the Classic Gaming Expo and I don’t have an Atari 2600. In fact, some of you are probably wondering what that even is. Well, fret not, because Code Mystics was nice enough to host a flash version of the game that you can play for free! It reminds me of E.T. without the suckiness. Hearing the Halo title screen theme in those old-school bleeps and bloops is more than surreal.

So hit this link to start blasting away at the Covenant in a way you never thought possible:

Halo 2600

Source: Yahoo News