Eddy has written a total of 422,116 words on this site.

I write about samurai girls and space marines. Writer for Smooth Few Films. Rooster Teeth Freelancer. Author of Red vs. Blue, The Ultimate Fan Guide, out NOW!

The Video Game Level Hall of Shame

At present, we’ve already had two sets of inductions into our very own GamerSushi Hall of Fame: one for solo campaign levels as well as multiplayer maps. When I wrote those, I was sure to note that they were by no means a final list, and that we would be adding plenty of new groups in with them. That’s why I’m here today to bring a new set of candidates, but with a bit of a twist: The Video Game Level Hall of Shame.

This wing of the Hall of Fame is devoted to those game levels which are masochistic in their design, ever demanding more skill from us, more hours and frustration and yes, even blood sacrifices in order to add their notches to our belts. The Video Game Level Hall of Shame is reserved for those notorious offenders that made us collectively throw our controllers in frustration and disdain, scorning the forges that could create such misery in video game form.

Allow me to display the first inductees: Continue reading The Video Game Level Hall of Shame

The Trailer for Studio Ghibli’s Ni No Kuni

If you’re at all familiar with anime, then you’ve no doubt heard of Studio Ghibli, the group behind such memorable and classic titles like Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. These movies are known not only for their stories, but for their memorable artistic style and the quality of the animation. They’ve produced some truly remarkable films, some of which rank among my favorites of all time.

That’s why I’m excited that Studio Ghibli and Level 5 (Dragon Quest VIII) are teaming up to create Ni No Kuni, a PS3 and DS title that’s slated for release next year in Japan. The new trailer for the game is out, and in my opinion, its absolutely stunning to look at. I love the animated look of the whole thing, and how smooth and vibrant everything appears. I for real can’t wait to play this game.

What do you guys think? Anybody else excited?

The Economics of Gaming

MoneyWhen I was a kid, I remember lugging around a case of 20 or so NES games with me to my day care during the summer. The place that my brother and were imprisoned at had one bonus about it: a row of NES systems to keep the kids occupied, herded like sheep and left to stare bleating in front of small television screens.

Oddly enough there’s only thing to me that’s strange about this scenario. And no, it’s not the fact that I can’t even remember anything else about this period of my life except beating Mega Man 3 in front of onlookers, or the fact that the day care had all these NES units in the first place. The weirdest part of the whole thing for me? As a little kid, how did I afford to buy that many NES games for myself?

If there’s one drawback to this otherwise beloved hobby of ours, it’s that video games don’t grow on trees or drop out of the sky for our enjoyment. These little boxes of contained and bridled joy are ass expensive, especially when you add them up over time. Continue reading The Economics of Gaming

Portal 2 Gameplay Videos

As cool as the reveal of Portal 2 was at the Sony E3 press conference, I’ve been looking forward to seeing something more than the brief teaser trailer we got. From the sounds of things, the story is going to be a much bigger deal this time around, and there are going to be lots of new gameplay elements as well.

That’s why I’m excited that these two new Portal 2 gameplay videos have hit the Web, with Valve showcasing what the next game has to offer for all of the franchise’s many adoring fans. In the first video, we get to see a bit about the set up of the game, which apparently takes place many years after the first. The second video highlights some of the new gameplay additions we’ll be seeing. Personally, I think these awesome. I’m assuming you will agree.

Hit the jump to see the second video! Continue reading Portal 2 Gameplay Videos

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 4: E3 Phone Home

Haters Gonna HateWell, E3 2010 has come and gone, and boy is there a lot to talk about. And talk we did. In this special E3 edition of the GamerSushi podcast, we tackle all three of the big console press conferences, the surprises (or lack thereof), motion control and even the ghosts of E3 past. This is probably our most fluid and lengthy podcast yet, and we easily could have gone on for another hour about all this stuff.

Hopefully you don’t hate it.

As you’ll hear me say in the beginning of the podcast, E3 is one of my most anticipated times of the year, so it’s hard for me to contain my enthusiasm for much of this session. Anyway, we hope you guys like it, and feel free to share your thoughts on our E3 themed discussions. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 4: E3 Phone Home

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Do You 3D?

One of the big topics of E3 and around the gaming industry in general right now is bringing 3D to the gaming experience. It seems like everywhere you turn, there’s news of another game getting 3D support, or more demonstrations like Crysis 2 or Killzone 3 that are putting a big emphasis on adding that mystery dimension to the way you play.

Personally, while I don’t care if game companies start going after this, I don’t want to see a future where gamers are forced to have 3D TV’s in order to play what they want to play. Imagine having to buy several pairs of 3D glasses for everyone that wants to play multiplayer on your couch or watch a movie. In fact, EA boss John Riccitello says that 3D games could cost more than current gen games.

However, it doesn’t really matter what I think. What matters is the big honchos. So what do they think? Well, even though Nintendo mocks 3D glasses with their new 3DS promotions, they haven’t ruled out making the next Nintendo console 3D compatible. At Sony’s press conference, they pushed it as the next big thing. And Microsoft? They’re not sure it’s the future.

So, now that you know where all of them stand, it’s time to hear from you guys. Do you want 3D gaming? Go!

Do you want 3D gaming?

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Kinect Doesn’t Like Couches?

KinectAs you’ll hear in our podcast that releases tonight/tomorrow, we have some pretty harsh words for the XBox Kinect. I was never too amped about the thing to begin with, but Monday’s press conference raised some concerns about the technology and the kinds of games that are going to be associated with it.

While I’ve been telling myself that I don’t want to judge it too harshly before it’s even available for regular mortals like you and I to try out for ourselves, it’s hard to watch things like Kinectimals and remain optimistic about the whole thing. People that have tried it out at E3 so far seem to be mostly positive, however, IGN posted a well thought article titled 5 Concerns about Kinect, which totally hit on some things that I had been thinking about since the press conference bomb.

As I said, they raise some good points, and the most disconcerting one is the assertion that some Kinect developers are saying that you can’t play Kinect while sitting on a couch. This has always been one of the big barriers for me and motion control. I’m not a lazy guy by any means, but when I sit down to play games, I like having a controller and hanging out on my couch. It seems that Kinect has problems recognizing a skeletal frame when it is sitting down. In fact, the IGN article actually said this earlier, but was later edited. According to VG247, a Microsoft rep says that this experience differs depending on the game. Once again, it’s far too early to tell this, but it’s definitely food for thought as the launch window rapidly approaches.

So what do you guys think? Fair or foul if you can only play Kinect while standing?

Update: IGN released a kind of retraction later, though the quote here is slightly different from the one given to VG247. Regardless, Kinect still didn’t work well with folks sitting down at E3, and signs point to this perhaps being a future issue with certain games, so this topic stands.

Source- IGN

Fallout MMO Beta Site Launched

Fallout Online

For many months now, there has been a rumored Fallout MMO in the works, with Interplay and Bethesda caught in a slight legal debacle over the rights to the game. The codename for this game has been Project V13, and while it wasn’t scheduled to go into public beta until sometime in 2012, it seems that things might have changed. A new Fallout Online site has been launched by Interplay, with a flash animation, some artwork and even a form to register for the beta as well as regular e-mail updates. I guess they’ve had their issues worked out, recently?

This is potentially pretty cool news, even though I have yet to finish the game. The Fallout world is a really rich one with plenty of great locales to visit, and tons of room for player exploration. I think it’s exactly the kind of property that lends itself perfectly to an MMO, so the developments here should be fun to see. If any of you are interested, head on over to the site, but just be warned that it’s loading a bit janky right now because it’s servers are no doubt being beaten like a drum.

So what do you guys think of this? Who’s going to sign up?

Source- Blues News

Drowning in a Sequel Sea?

Stormy SeaCan I just say that I’m tired of seeing only sequels? I just want to go out on a limb and say that to the entire video game industry right now: Please. Stop. With. Just. The. Sequels.

Now, allow me to back up a few steps before I continue that thought. Today was truly a stellar day for all of E3, past and present. I honestly can’t remember the last time that an E3 day was this monumental, this exciting, and this surprising. I was right there with everyone who was cheering about Donkey Kong Country Returns, Goldeneye, Twisted Metal, Metal Gear Solid 3, Star Fox and Mario Kart on the 3DS, and the like. Continue reading Drowning in a Sequel Sea?

Check Out These Star Wars: TOR Gameplay Clips

I know that Bioware has shown off little bits of The Old Republic gameplay here and there, but I’ve largely been avoiding it so I could see a more lengthy piece that showed a healthier stretch all together. Well, because of E3, we’ve gotten several of those in a row, taking us on a small quest through numerous classes.

In terms of the gameplay, I’m not quire sure how I feel about it. It doesn’t appear particularly exciting, but then again I’ve never played an MMO. In terms of MMO combat, this is about as exciting as it gets, from watching friends play WoW. It’s also fairly impressive that the entire thing is going to be voiced, which is a gigantic undertaking for that many quests.

What do you guys think? Check out the lightsaber gameplay below, along with the other class videos after the jump. I’ve even included the video that tells you all about ships, which act as the players’ homes in the MMO.


Continue reading Check Out These Star Wars: TOR Gameplay Clips

Sony’s E3 2010 Event Highlights

playstationSo far, Microsoft was mediocre. Nintendo was superb. What is Sony, the Playstation 3 and PSP heavyweight, going to do? Would their press conference be the longest of the bunch? Let’s find out.

Here are the highlights, after the jump!

Continue reading Sony’s E3 2010 Event Highlights

TOR: Hope of Alderaan Trailer

While the Ubisoft press conference was mostly a complete and utter disaster today at E3 2010, EA came through with some nice tidbits and announcements. In particular, there was this rad Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer called The Hope of Alderaan, which has some spectacular jedi on dark jedi action sequences. Sure, it flies in the face of Canon possibly, but who cares, because it is epic.

Still no word on a release date or some official gameplay footage yet from Bioware, but hopefully we’ll get some more information about either of those sometime later this week. We’re running on a couple of these great trailers for the last two years with no idea of when we can expect to see and play this game. Get a move on, Bioware!

Microsoft E3 2010 Press Conference Highlights

x360The Microsoft E3 2010 press extravaganza has come and gone. Naturally, we’ve got lots of great news, videos and demos to talk about.

Here are the highlights, after the jump!

Continue reading Microsoft E3 2010 Press Conference Highlights

The E3 2010 Madness Begins

E3 2010E3 2010 has arrived. And it is glorious. Revel!

Already, the gears of gaming wars are spinning into existence, and the rumors/news flying out is hard to keep up with. This is the week where we, only being dudes who do this for a hobby in our limited free time, will ultimately fail to keep up with the barrage of new information that is coming out. But we will try our hardest to keep everything up to date, and we’ll love doing it, because seriously, this is gaming nerds’ favorite time of the year.

And man, the deluge has already started. We’ve got XBox Kinect, leaked drawings of the Nintendo 3DS (which is supposedly going to make its debut tomorrow), the Metroid Prime team rumored to be working on a Donkey Kong game, and all kinds of other craziness. Check back here later today and you’ll find a bullet-pointed break down of the Microsoft E3 2010 press conference, with handy links for more information for all of you that will miss it when it runs this afternoon.

So, what are you most excited about for E3? Go!

Microsoft: XBox “Kinect”, Plus A New 360 Model

Microsoft KinectEver since last year’s Microsoft press conference at E3 2009, people around the gaming industry have been wondering about what their new motion control system, codenamed Natal, was eventually going to end up being named. We saw a similar thing several years ago, when the Nintendo “Revolution” wound up with the then-strange-but-now-household moniker: “Wii”. Well, news has finally dropped tonight. Natal’s final title will be the Xbox “Kinect”.

While the name certainly isn’t everything, and I see the idea they’re going for, I actually thought Natal was kind of catchy in the same sense that “Wii” was, because it represented something new that we hadn’t seen before. With no controllers, Kinect is certainly going to be an interesting evolution of the motion control platform. By all accounts, this makes Sony’s Move seem like a stroke of genius in comparison.

In addition to that piece of news, there are also reports of the long-rumored “slim” XBox 360 finally making its debut at E3 this week, along with pictures of the new model. Supposedly, the only difference between this new model and the old ones is that the HDD is 250 GB and it also has built-in Wi Fi. To me, this design seems like a step back, especially compared to the PS3 slim, which was such a well done re-design of a system. This rumored model is sharp and angular. If this ends up being real, they might as well call it the XBox 360 Orthanc, after Saruman’s tower in Lord of the Rings.

Anyway, there has also been a short list of Kinect’s launch games, which include a dance game as well as a Wii Sports ripoff. So what do you guys think of all of these developments? Do you like the name Kinect?

Source- Kotaku (Kinect) and Kotaku (New XBox 360 Model)

Today’s WTF: Valve Canceling E3 Event?

Well, file this one under “kind of freaking weird”, I guess. Not even our GameCop feature could have predicted this kind of psycho madness.

So, remember all that E3 Valve commotion that started last week? In case you didn’t remember here’s a brief recap. First, Valve said that it was going to have a “special surprise” at E3. Then, images circulated about a supposed “Gordon Freeman” thing that had to do with the surprise. Then Valve said that no, it wasn’t Half-Life 2 Episode 3. After that, there were rumors that this was going to be a reveal of a new Source Engine. Even farther still, Valve then announced that Portal 2 had been delayed to 2011.

Crazy, right? Well, now Valve has reportedly canceled its E3 2010 event completely. Here’s the note from Valve’s Doug Lombardi regarding the cancellation.

“Just a quick note to clarify the Monday Press Event at the Regal Theater is completely cancelled. Please do not head over there expecting to see us.”

What a strange, sordid tell. So what do you guys think? More Valve tomfoolery, or did this “special surprise” thing blow up in their faces once they realized that what people really wanted was Half-Life 2 Episode 3, and perhaps they didn’t have that for them. Thoughts?

Source- VG247

Submit Your Podcast Questions!

MicrophoneIt’s that time again! Next week, we’re going to be releasing the 4th episode of The GamerSushi Show. That means that we need you guys to supply us some of those awesome questions we’ve been fielding during the recording session.

If we’ve neglected your questions before, we apologize. Sometimes we get rolling and we just don’t have the time to get to everything we want- but we seriously love the topics you guys have submitted! We’ll be recording the ‘cast on Sunday or Monday, just before all the craziness of E3 2010 begins, so feel free to make them E3 related if you wish. We’re also thinking of doing a post E3 wrap-up since there’s no possible way we’ll be able to keep up with the volume rolling in around that time.

So, what are your questions? Go!

Obligatory Viral Video Post: Mortal Kombat Rebirth

By Internet standards, this news is a couple of days old, so by now it’s practically ancient history. However, that hasn’t stopped people from talking incessantly about this brand new Mortal Kombat short film that made its debut on the tubes and swelled to mythical proportions in just hours.

Here’s the rundown: it’s a gritty, well made depiction of the Mortal Kombat universe with some excellent production values behind it. No, it’s not a trailer for a new game, nor a trailer for a new movie. It is, however, a brief proof-of-concept that director Kevin Tancharoen made to pitch to Warner Bros., in the hopes of getting a new movie produced.

While I’m not quite as enthralled as the rest of the Web seems to be over this, it’s still pretty damn entertaining, and would make a great opening to a potential new Mortal Kombat film. If this guy gets picked to bring the next one of these to life, then sign me up.

GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: E3 Edition!

It’s been a couple of months, and many of you left feedback that you love the GameCop vs LameCop vs PsychoCop feature, so we thought we’d do an honorary E3 rumor edition!

If you’re unfamiliar with this feature, we discuss gaming issues and we switch roles each time. The GameCop is looking out for you, the gamer, while the LameCop is just what he sounds like: kind of a lamewad. Meanwhile, PsychoCop is a troll in every sense of the word, and completely bat poop insane.

In honor of next week’s E3, we have a completely intellectual debate regarding the status of several E3 rumors, including Hulu coming to the XBox 360, Rockstar pulling out of E3, and Valve’s special showing.

Enjoy!
Continue reading GameCop Vs LameCop Vs PsychoCop: E3 Edition!