Category: Features

The GamerSushi Show, Episode 47: Getting the Band Back Together

Hello Sushians, it’s podcast time! Episode 47 is upon us as we inch ever closer to the big five-oh. It’s kind of crazy that we’ve managed to put out more than a few of these things, but such is our dedication. Who’s to say what exactly will happen in Episode 50, but drinks will be consumed.

Speaking of drinks being consumed, this episode is kind of an accidental drunk cast as Jeff and I imbibed a few beverages before and during the recording, as you will be able to tell. Nick also joined us for the first time in over a month and brought us a game of Buy or Sell! We also talk FEZ, Trials Evolution and get down and dirty with a few trailers. Listen. Rate. Live long and prosper.

Link dump:

Trials Evolution Limbo level.
Trials Evolution Inception level.
Trials Evolution intro music.
Video game rock medley.

0:00 – 2:43 intro
2:45 – 7:50 God of War trailer
7:51 – 13:04 Dishonored trailer
13:05- 24:15 FEZ and the Return of the Beard
24:16 -30:35 The Indie free pass
30:38- 42:40 Trials Evolution
42:43 – 48-28 Mass Effect 3 multiplayer
48:29 – 48:50 GAME TIME (Buy or Sell)
48:51 – 58:22 Will the Halo movie get made?
58:23 – 1:05:45 Do you want wearable computing?
1:06:11 – 1:13:15 Is Prey 2 delayed or canceled?
1:13:16 – 1:16:43 Outro

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Review: FEZ

April is one of those in-between months when it feels like all my most anticipated games are a good six months away, and no amount of refreshing my Amazon pre-order page will make Bioshock Infinite head my way any sooner. Thankfully, a bumper crop of excellent downloadable titles were released conveniently during this early springtime lull, just when I needed them most.

FEZ, one of the stars of the bunch, is a quirky side-scrolling platformer from Polytron Corporation. At first glance it seems like it might be nothing more than another indie throwback 2D side-scroller with a clever gimmick. However, there are hidden depths to this deceptively simple game, and I think the hype is more than justified. Read on to find out more about this gorgeous little side-scroller.

Continue reading Review: FEZ

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 46: H8 cast

What’s this? Two GamerSushi Shows in a row? We must be getting back on track or something. This podcast might mark Eddy’s last appearance on the show for a few weeks so I hope you enjoy basking in his video game knowledge and hatred of my silent treatment.

Yes, on this episode of the GamerSushi Show I was overcome with a fit of shyness and basically stopped talking and participating around the time when we start chatting about Max Payne on the iOS. When it came time to do the game Eddy was getting understandably frustrated with my lack of vocals and you can hear that creeping in at a few points, hence the title of this cast.

So yeah, listen, rate, be merry. Hopefully we can keep up this pace so you guys won’t have to wait too long for the next episode. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 46: H8 cast

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Review: Saint’s Row: The Third

Saint's Row 3

When ranking the great surprises of this past generation, I would have to stick both Saint’s Row 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV somewhere near the top, for completely opposite reasons. GTA IV was heralded as the savior of all fun things ever, but turned out to be a game that I found soulless and dull. On the other hand, Saint’s Row 2 was dismissed as nothing more than a Grand Theft Auto clone — yet it found a way to make its sandbox a true chaotic playground in nearly every sense, offering up scores of hilarious rabbit holes, lots of customization and a decent story to boot.

Enter Saint’s Row: The Third, Volition’s follow-up to the mayhem manager and one of my most anticipated games for 2011. This entry into the bombastic franchise promised even larger scales of destruction, more violence, greater levels of absurdity (there’s a dildo bat, for goodness’ sake) and an all around hilarious time. But does it deliver the goods? One thing’s for certain, Steelport and the Saints will never be the same. Continue reading Review: Saint’s Row: The Third

Review: Sonic Generations

Sonic

Let’s not be coy about it: the Sonic franchise has seen better days. What once stood as the speedy bastion of an entire console experience and a worthy rival to Nintendo’s Mario has limped along for many years, a hedgehog much past his prime. Over the years, Sega seems to have lost its way with the spiky blue wonder, unsure of how to transition him properly to 3D while still honoring the tried and true flavor from generations past.

With Sonic Generations, they tried their hand at something new — rather than try to reinvent both wheels, why not package both 2D and 3D Sonics together into one comprehensive experience? Continue reading Review: Sonic Generations

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Modern Warfare 3

After the well-publicized falling out of Infinity Ward and Activision, the Modern Warfare franchise returns with (presumably) the final chapter in the world-devastating saga. There is no question that this game would sell a ton of copies, but the real question is can the remnants of Infinity Ward, along with a little help from their friends at Sledgehammer, maintain the quality that the fans demand? Continue reading Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Review: Ico and The Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection

Ico Review Cover

Team Ico is responsible for two of the most acclaimed games of all time. Now both those games are together in one affordable HD collection for the PS3. I played just a bit of Ico in the PS2 days and managed to miss out on Shadow of the Colossus entirely, but now that both have emerged in this new collection, I am eager to take the plunge and find out if these two games still live up to the hype that they have left in their wake. Continue reading Review: Ico and The Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection

Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

the elder scrolls 5 skyrim review

The coming of an Elder Scrolls game is always a monumental occasion in the world of video games and the release of Skyrim was no different. Hype for this game was incredibly high and it even knocked Counter-Strike: Source off the top-played list on Steam for a short while. It seemed like the entire world was waiting on baited breath for Skyrim, but does it keep up the legacy of the Elder Scrolls or take an arrow to the knee? Continue reading Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Groovy Horror of Kinect Star Wars

star wars kinect galactic dance off

Even in a site where everyone can easily be considered a nerd, Anthony and I have another badge to pin on the sash of our geekiness: we are both huge Star Wars fans. We read the books, play the games and watched the Phantom Menace in 3D (or at least I did). Since neither of us have a Kinect, we won’t be playing the recently released Star Wars title, but the game’s Galactic Dance Off mode seemed like good fodder so we decided to watch a few videos and give you our thoughts on them. Be warned, the songs featured in the videos are terrible to the extreme.

See our breakdown after the jump! Continue reading The Groovy Horror of Kinect Star Wars

Gaming Pop Quiz: Spring 2012 Edition

Pop Quiz

Did you know we haven’t done one of these pop quizzes since October? That’s half a year. My, how time flies. Things seemed so much simpler back then. There was no Mass Effect 3 debate to keep us up at night. We hadn’t yet played the likes of Arkham City, Skyrim or Uncharted 3. Final Fantasy XIII-2’s ending hadn’t shocked us. And Assassin’s Creed III hadn’t turned on the hype machine to its full effect.

So now here we stand, Spring 2012, and we’ve got a few months of quiet to look forward to while we catch up on gaming backlogs (The Witcher II and Kingdoms of Amalur for me), or enjoy some quality time with the games that currently tickle our fancy (Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3). All while we wait for Diablo 3, Borderlands 2 and then the eventual tidal wave that hits us at the end of the year. It’s an age-old cycle, but one that I sort of love.

In light of that, it’s time for a pop quiz. We wanted to ask you guys some questions that take more of a sit-back-and-reflect stance this time around. As always with our getting-to-know-you type games, feel free to answer with as much or as little as you like. Answer to the best of your ability. Go! Continue reading Gaming Pop Quiz: Spring 2012 Edition

The GamerSushi Show, Ep 45: Don’t Stop Believing

It’s been a couple weeks since our groundbreaking Mass Effect 3 spoiler cast, but we just wanted to give you guys some time to absorb the postmortem we gave the series and reflect on how right we all were. OK, that was a lie, but let’s just agree that that’s what happened.

It’s a three man show this week because Nick and Anthony had to sit it out but Eddy, Jeff and I kick off a series of fantastic conversations ranging from Mass Effect 3’s Extended Cut DLC to The Hunger Games to Journey. We also wrap it up with a game of Grades, which we know you love. There’s no overt technical issues this time, because everyone managed to sort out their microphone issues from last week.

So, the usual song and dance. Listen, bask in our gaming-related intellect, and give us a good rating. It’s for your health.

0:00 – 3:38 – Intro
3:38 – 24:16 – Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC
25:20 – 38:05 – PlayStation Orbis and the Amazon Instant App on PSN
40:16 – 1:03:33 – Journey
1:03:35 – 1:04:04 – GAME TIME
1:04:06 – 1:12:18 – Notch’s new game 0x10c
1:12:20 – 1:24:29 – The Influx of Kickstaters
1:24:30 – 1:30:38 – Rent a Server for Battlefield 3 on Consoles
1:30:39 – 1:31:25 – Outro

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The PC Gaming Time Machine

Back to the Future

Somehow, I feel like I’ve stepped into a time warp. I’m not really sure how or when it happened, but gaming has taken me back about 12 years or so. I look a little bit older, I know only a couple of more things, I’m about to be a father, but the mouse and the keyboard still feel the same: every satisfying click fires another round, sends another SCV, marks another target or claims another piece of loot.

And there’s something terribly right about the whole thing. Continue reading The PC Gaming Time Machine

Breaking Bad in Games

breaking bad in games

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is AMC’s Breaking Bad, the story of how a mild-mannered chemistry teacher becomes a hard-core crystal meth dealer. In the opening few episodes, the central character is told by his junkie accomplice that you just can’t start “breaking bad”, implying that if you’re a kind person at heart, you just can’t start doing things that are incredibly out of the norm for you.

I feel this way about moral choices in video games. I’ve just started replaying the entire Mass Effect trilogy as a Renegade female Shepard and I’m finding it difficult to “break bad” as it were. I subconsciously find my conversation wheel hovering over the Paragon dialog choices before the option is even up, and when it comes time to make a Renegade decision I get a little sick in my stomach. Continue reading Breaking Bad in Games

The GamerSushi Show, Episode 44: Mass Cast

Hey dudes, we are back from outer space, here to bring you our thoughts on BioWare’s space opera trilogy ending Mass Effect 3. We’re unfortunately beardless this week, but Eddy, Anthony, Jeff and myself wax philosophic about everything from story beats to the multiplayer, the ending controversy and the ending itself.

There’s no Six Minutes with Resident Evil 6 or a game this week, so I hope that an hour and a half of straight up Mass Effect is good enough to tide you over. Eddy hadn’t finished the game when we recorded, so he dropped out for the ending talk. When you hear Harbinger for the second time, that’s when we launch into the discussion. There was also a technical issue with both Jeff and Eddy’s mics, and the way the cast is recorded means these sorts of problems are hard to rectify. Jeff fixed his junk for the ending talk, but for the first half of the show he is super quiet.

Technical problems aside, the cast is super sweet so I hope you enjoy. If you guys could also rate the cast that would be boss. Enjoy!

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A Massive Outcry

I’m upset.

Not because of the ending of Mass Effect 3, which apparently is the worst atrocity to hit humankind since whatever that Kony dude (allegedly) did.

I’m upset because gaming sucks today.

Not actual gaming. When you put the game in the console (barring a RROD or a YLOD) and it’s just you, the controller (unless you are playing Kinect) and the game, it’s awesome. All is right with the world. Immersion into a foreign world, excitement, adventure…a gamer craves these things.

No, it’s not games that are the problem.

It’s the gamers. Continue reading A Massive Outcry

The GamerSushi Show, Episode 43: Shut Up and Take My Money

Sup fools and lady fools. It is I, your friendly Canadian taking over the podcast posting duties for our esteemed Editor who is indisposed with lots of “real life stuff”. It’s kind of sad how busy Eddy is; he’s only played four hours of Mass Effect 3.

Anyways, on this, the 43 episode of the GamerSushi Show, the crew (minus Eddy) chats about a variety of topics, including the then-new Assassin’s Creed 3 reveal. We went into that discussion blind but we managed to nail a lot of the game’s features and mechanics just through some fancy guesswork (like the Frontier being a location for the game and the ability to climb trees). We’re kind of awesome like that.

We also talk about Twisted Metal, Anthony getting an iPhone, mech games and a whole bunch of other stuff. We even find time to fit in a game of Percentages between all of our nerdy ramblings.

You know the deal, guys. Listen, rate a thing, and enjoy. Just a head’s up, we’re on a one week break due to Mass Effect 3, but we’ll be back soon. Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Episode 43: Shut Up and Take My Money

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GamerSushi Asks: Resisting the Hype

resisting the hype battlefield 3

Sometime last year I made the promise to myself that I would stop trying to consume every piece of promotional material put out by the publishers. This included trailers, developer diaries, screenshots and anything else that came out of the hideous maw of the PR beast. It’s been a tough endeavor so far but I think it’s been worth it.

One of the main reasons I stopped partaking in this circus is that most trailers and screenshots for video games actually contain some pretty significant spoilers. You don’t realize it at the time because they’re out of context (and just a bunch of clips cut together), but you could be watching a really cool moment or a crucial plot twist. Movies are the same way, but games are so much more of a time investment. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Resisting the Hype

The GamerSushi Show, Episode 42: My Videogame Girlfriend

Welcome back to the GamerSushi Show, ladies and gents. Due to some scheduling and life stuff, we’ve gotten a tad behind on releases, so this episode was recorded a few weeks back – on Anthony’s birthday, no less. Because of that, Mr. Taylor skipped out to go celebrate getting a year closer to death, while the rest of us drank things and talked about video games.

The main topics we discussed were the Mass Effect 3 demo, fixing the Zelda franchise and great endings. Beyond that, we play a game of Buy/Sell about topics like Team Ninja, Apple gaming and more – all of which result in my inevitable and recurring victory, as always.

Listen up! Rate! Be merry! Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Episode 42: My Videogame Girlfriend

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The GamerSushi Show, Ep 41: ‘I’ for I Don’t Care

Welcome, friends, to Episode 41 of the GamerSushi Show, in which we say silly things about video games. As opposed to the rest of our podcasts, which are only super srs in nature. This thing was actually recorded all the way back on February 9, so you can listen to it with amusement and think about how wrong and naive we were all those weeks ago. Oh, the things we’ve learned since then. The places we’ve been. The games we’ve played. It was a different time.

Anyway, you’ll hear a couple of the technical difficulties that we had throughout this cast. Namely, that our Internet connections were goofing with the Skype call, making us sounds like robots every now and then. In addition, I had nearly a whole bottle of wine throughout the recording, so I just gradually transform into a troll over the course of it.

When we’re not robots, however, you’ll notice a number of sweet gaming topics, which range from Kingdoms of Amalur to the Double Fine Kickstarter to Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more. After all that, we play a game of grades in which we act all high and mighty about the whole industry. True story.

So yeah, check it out, everyone. And don’t forget to rate! Continue reading The GamerSushi Show, Ep 41: ‘I’ for I Don’t Care

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Renegade/Paragon

Renegade and Paragon

In preparation for the glorious release of Mass Effect 3, gamers everywhere are enjoying a taste of the game’s demo tonight and throughout the rest of the week. With an offering of both single player and multiplayer, it’s giving everyone a chance to see what all the hype (and in some cases, the fuss) is about. To join the Shepard spirit, we thought we’d debut a new feature, a brainchild of the good sir Anthony Taylor. Because he’s cool like that.

This feature, titled Renegade/Paragon, is a look at the video games industry through the brutal cut-and-dry scope of the Mass Effect universe. Here, we grade certain entities and rate them as either Paragons — bastions of light and purveyors of all that is good and true — or Renegades — bringers of gloom, doom and every corridor of evil in between those two. Afterwards, you get to make your own calls on the situations.

Let’s get started. Who are the current Paragons and Renegades in the industry? Continue reading Renegade/Paragon