Do you ever finish a game and don’t know what to play next? Man, I agonize over this sometimes. Should I go back and play some more Oblivion, but if I do will I not want to play Fallout 3 when I get it for Christmas? Do I want to finish Final Fantasy X-2 or find more prizes in Little Big Planet? When in doubt, I play Call of Duty 4.
Continue reading Bragging Rights: Pwning Call of Duty 4
Category: GamerSushi News
Valve Proves its BadAss-ness with Complete Pack
If you needed any further convincing, Valve has just confirmed that they are, in fact, complete and utter badasses. How did they do this? Well, first of all, by making some truly classic games, with a great track record. Second, for being the only gaming company that understands how its gamers want to use the Internet to buy things.
And lastly, the new Valve Complete Pack, which includes essentially every Valve game ever made, including Left 4 Dead and the Orange box, HL2, HL, CS, CSS, and all kinds of other things. How much does this cost you? $99. Seriously. It’s almost $140 in savings.
This is perfect for me because I actually don’t own the Orange Box and I was thinking about getting Left 4 Dead on the PC anyway. Anybody else going to hit Valve up on this?
Source- Steam
Final Fantasy: Blood of Bahamut for the DS
So the other day, a spooky but crazy epic Square countdown site launched, teasing gamers with an awesome looking shot of Bahamut over what looks like a colossus from Shadow of the Colossus. Oh, and the colossus has a city on its back.
While gamers speculated over what it was, it looks like the news has been broken by Jump Magazine in Japan. It is a teaser for a new Square game called Final Fantasy: Blood of Bahamut for the Nintendo DS. FF:BoB (as I’ve dubbed it) is a 4 player co-op action RPG game that has 2D sprites running against 3D backdrops. Which sounds incredible, by the way.
Even cooler? The premise has the characters living in the city perched atop the giant creature’s back. Only problem is, lots of other huge douches keep coming to attack your walking city. No fun. But I’m all for that. This game sounds terribly compelling and inventive. Anybody else excited?
Source- Nintendo DS Fanboy via Final Fantasy Union
Pitch Your Game: “For Real” Version
Last week, we ran the first edition of Pitch Your Game, our brand new GamerSushi feature where Anthony and I came up with the most absurd video game pitches we could think of, and pitted them against each other in mortal combat. It was Thunderdome meets a think tank.
This week, we go to the other side of the coin, where Anthony and I actually take serious pitches at game ideas that we think might need to be explored. At the end, you weigh in on which game you think you’d rather play.
Rumor: Subscription Based Gaming?
The writing has been on the wall for quite some time, but it looks like some developers are finally going after the bait that WoW has been dangling in front of them: subscription based gaming.
At a recent event, Take-Two (Bioshock, GTA IV) dude-in-chief Zelnick was heard to be talking up Blizzard’s business model, and how appealing it is for other developers. He even went as far as to talk about subscription based triple AAA titles with on-going transactions between the customer and the gaming studio. Basically, paying a monthly fee to play every game you own.
Well, that would just about ruin gaming. Ready to pay every month to play your copy of GTA IV or Bioshock? Because that’s probably where this discussion ends.
Left 4 Dead Demo Impressions
As many of us know, the Left 4 Dead demo dropped on XBox Live as well as Steam yesterday, sending gamers into a frenzy much akin to the virtual undead hordes that awaited bullet-pummeling. After a bit of a download time, I managed to nab the demo myself over XBL for the 360, and I couldn’t wait to get into my first game.
The thing that was curious to me from the menus and even once the game started was how much it felt like a game that belonged on the PC rather than the 360. Something about the controls, the HUD, the interface, everything about it screamed PC at me. Even hooking up with a party didn’t feel completely intuitive, though after a bit the matter was settled. So how was the gameplay?
Saving Seconds on those 360 Load times with NXE
The New XBox Experience is going live to the masses, bringing with it a variety of cool features for the XBox 360, replacing the current dashboard with something new, shiny and more avatar-y. One of the more notable features (in addition to group chat, finally) will be the ability to install games directly from your 360 game disc to your HDD. The idea is that this will significantly cut down on load times.
But does it? BingeGamer has put together a nice little chart that details just how much time is saved on game loads. It’s actually interested to check out, especially if you own any of the games that they tested. Apparently, Halo 3 is actually SLOWER after the install, and Lost Odyssey seems to have the most improvement.
Overall, the seconds saved seems pretty miniscule (around 10 seconds on average) compared to the several gigabyte installs. I guess i won’t be using this feature too much, then. What do you guys think? Are load times unbearable for you? Are you excited about the NXE at all?
Source- BingeGamer
What Ever Happened to Boss Battles?
After defeating the mighty Gears of War 2 this weekend, I was hit with a startling realization that I had heard repeated a few times before in its reviews- the ending boss was majorly lame. It was truly baffling. In this day and age, many of the blockbuster titles that we seem to play don’t have those uber boss battles that we used to know and love from when we were younger.
Rumor: Fable II Announcement Tease
Lionhead Studios are a crafty bunch of dudes. Also, they’re European, so you know that makes them of an extra wily sort. Plots, schemes, tricks and even hijinx are a part of their repertoire. Well, it seems that those devils are up to no good again, as they are now teasing about a HUGE Fable II announcement coming next week.
I mean, I’m not trying to be a cynic… but how huge could it be? In all likelihood, it’s DLC, so why should I poop my pants about it? Unless they’re giving you a code that unlocks 20 more hours of gameplay, I can’t see what the big deal is.
So what do you guys think the announcement is? Horse armor? A new patch? More wives?!
Source- Eurogamer
Up On My Soapbox: Censoring Video Games
First things first: I am a flaming liberal who believes in a high amount of freedom. So I don’t believe in censorship of any kind. I do understand and support the need for a rating system, both in movies and in games. Nothing pisses me off more than when I go to see Zach and Miri Make A Porn and in the middle of a movie, a couple of 14 year olds stroll in. Hearing 12 years old talk about GTA and Gears of War irritates me as well because those games are for adults.
Pitch Your Game: Ridiculous Version
Here at GamerSushi, we’re not only about talking about our favorite video games, we’re all about being creative and making them, too. Granted, none of us are developers, coders, artists, and any of that stuff. But we can play a mean lick on Guitar Hero or pull off a triple jump on Mario. That should be enough right?
Since we’re completely qualified to make up new games, we figured we’d start off with some of the most ludicrous, ridiculous, cheesy and stupid ideas for video games that we could think of, in a new feature called “Pitch Your Game!”
Who Else Got Gears of War 2?
So I got Gears of War 2 at midnight last night, and then played til just after 4 in the morning, central standard time. I’m about to hop on it again, too. I got about almost halfway through the game I’m guessing, and I wanted to leave a few impressions.
If you were even remotely a fan of the first campaign, get this game. So far, I’d have to say it’s tougher, huger and more epic than the first. There are constantly more enemies, more objectives, and all the new gameplay features work out really well together. I haven’t even dipped into the multiplayer modes yet, but I think the campaign is going to be a distraction for hours to come. Save for one completely out of place level (you’ll know it when you play it).
So yeah, weigh in if you got this game already or plan on getting it in the near future. If there are enough of us, I’d like to try a GamerSushi community match at some point in the near future. Let me know!
Gamepro’s List of Top 26 RPG’s Of All Time…
Gamepro.com just released their list of the 26 Best RPGs and like every list, this one seems destined to start up some controversey. And I am happy to oblige. No LARP’s allowed!
Continue reading Gamepro’s List of Top 26 RPG’s Of All Time…
5 Features That More Shooters Need
Shooters, shooters, shooters. Gaming is full of them these days. I mean, one has to look no further than this year’s gaming line-up of heavy hitters and system sellers like Call of Duty: World at War, Resistance 2, FarCry 2, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Mirrors Edge, Quantum of Solace and the like to see that shooters have replaced the titles of old.
With all of these titles coming out, it’s easy to start wanting a little more from the genre. At this point, we’ve slaughtered so many imps in Doom and Nazis in Wolfenstein 3-D that we kind of know what to expect.
Mirror’s Edge Impressions: Free Running Bliss
So last week, the Mirror’s Edge Demo dropped with a mighty splash on Sony’s PSN as well as XBox Live, bringing with it the stylized First Person Platformer that we’ve been catching tantalizing glimpses of for months.
The demo comes with a trial mode (if you’ve pre-ordered the game) as well as a tutorial and a small bit of the single player campaign. Having been excited about this one for a few months, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and give it some control time myself. So how does it hold up?
Continue reading Mirror’s Edge Impressions: Free Running Bliss
A Gaming Emergency!
So I’m exactly in the position that i didn’t want to be in: I’ve got a bunch of games to play, and I’m dabbling a little in each one, without ever really jumping into one to finish it.
Right now, I’ve got: Fable 2, Saint’s Row 2, Fallout 3 and Little Big Planet sitting in my apartment, and I’m just knocking out a bit here and a bit there. To top it all off, Gears of War 2 releases later this week, and after playing the Mirror’s Edge Demo (more on that later) and seeing the new Prince of Persia trailer, I’m in a bad spot.
Next Gen Underachievers
Remember when your teacher would give you progress reports and it always said something like, “Not living up to potential”?
Yeah, me either. But I am sure it happens to people out there, just as we know that some games are not living up to their next-gen potential. This post will examine these chronic underachievers.
The Gaming Fortune Teller
Welcome to a new GamerSushi feature wherein Anthony and I interview The Gaming Fortune Teller, the world’s most famous gaming prophet. He is blessed with the uncanny ability to predict gaming events before they happen. He even called the fall of the Virtual Boy, and we all know that came out of left field.
So without further ado, I present to you our recent sit-down with the Fortune Teller, who only appears once in a lunar cycle, coincidentally. Something about vaccinations. We asked him some of our more pressing questions concerning our favorite pasttime, video games.
New Little Big Planet Levels And More
I just started digging into User Created levels last night and after about 5 minutes, I was frantically calling Eddy to tell him how awesome it all was. Well, the good news doesn’t end there as Gamepro.com is reporting that Sony has confirmed that Media Molecule will be adding new levels and more as DLC.
Eric Fong says,
Yes, Media Molecule is continuing to add to the player experience with new levels, costumes, materials, and a host of other content.
I love what I have played so far and I look forward to more goodness from the MM crew. Have you guys played this yet?
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Source- Gamepro
The Review Blitz
Ah, this is a subject I could rant on for hours on end. Kotaku’s magician-writer Brian Crecente has written an editorial piece about “The Rush To Review”, asking why people get reviews for games out so fast. His main case concerns Little Big Planet, whose reviews came out two weeks ago, even though the game wasn’t fully playable (the servers STILL aren’t running).
I felt this way about GTA IV and I totally agree that this question needs to be asked more often. To me, a game that relies on user content needs to be reviewed a few weeks after the game ships, to see how the game holds up. Sure, you can review the solo stuff, and it sounds like LBP’s is still great, but don’t tell us the whole game is perfect if you don’t know.