Recent game industry trade articles have been bandying about the very real possibility that GameStop’s lucrative used game sales are going to begin to tank as the digital distribution model grows. Is all that yummy buy low/sell high action going to just fade away? GameStop doesn’t seem to be too concerned. IndustryGamers reports on a recent study by Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia that claims that digital download technology won’t reach a critical threshold of …
Review by Meho Krljic Let’s Tap Developer Prope Publisher SEGA Released June 16, 2009 Available for Wii Time Played It’s not about length, it’s about love Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up “If imagining a scene where four people tap on pizza boxes furiously, sweating, cursing, breaking into tears (and, well, yes, breaking stuff with thrown Wiimotes too) and dancing embarrassing victory dances every minute or so doesn’t make you think “I would like some of that …
Did I mention I’m a sucker for strategy games even though I lack the strategy gene? Unless clicking all around the menus adding buildings because they’re pretty is considered a strategy. Anyway, I spent most of this past weekend playing around with Related Designs’ demo of their newest entry in the Anno series – Anno 1404. (And because we’re an illiterate lot here in the U.S. and Ubisoft apparently felt sorry for us, you’ll find …
In a recent New York Times Magazine article by Tom Vanderbilt, he wonders how the Internet data centers we have built can keep up with our massive use. After reading the article, I felt like crawling into the fetal position, covering my head and eyes, and just waiting for the end of the universe to arrive. For surely, the end of the universe as we know it is near.
Good news for slackers, procrastinators, and ne’er do wells: Casual Collective’s Desktop Tower Defense Pro is now available, free, here. Enjoy 24 scenarios and a more robust tutorial, plus a bevy of other goodies, from new creep types to multiplayer mode. Hope you don’t have any afternoon meetings scheduled!
In a recent posting, I expressed curiosity about what makes a game a sure fire winner.Statistically, only two percent of games actually return a profit to their developers, so I asked the question, “Why do some games, like Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Max Payne and others become such winners in the marketplace?” One of you supplied an answer that intrigued and pleased me.The response agreed with the theories I had proposed in my article while …
Review by Meho Krljic Muscle March Developer Namco Bandai Publisher Namco Bandai Released May 26, 2009 Available for Wii (WiiWare) Time Played Half an hour (seriously) Verdict: 2/5 Rotten Egg “Not even its awesome gay power is able to save this barely-there game from spiraling down in flames and imploding with crushing boredom after the magic of its surreal beauty evaporates. Most people will last fifteen minutes.”
Review by Meho Krljic Developer Radical Entertainment Publisher Activision Released June 9, 2009 Available for PC/Xbox 360/PS3 (Versions reviewed: Xbox 360 and PC) Time Played 10 hours Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up “Come on, you play games because they are about destruction, not creation. Admit it!!!”
IGN has surprised us all with this review of Radical’s Prototype, one of the most anticipated and hyped games of the summer. A 7.5 may seem like a good score, but let’s remember that a 7.5 from IGN is a 1 from anyone with credibility. Moreover, the substance of the review is… chilly at best.
“By now, everyone interested has seen this year’s Microsoft’s E3 presentation. And everyone’s breath is predictably short. We knew. We knew Microsoft was going to announce a motion sensing camera system for its Xbox 360 gaming console. We still can not but feel excited. And predictably, I am here to tell you why you should be disappointed.“
Because they say it’s good for publicity and stuff, you can now follow Tap-Repeatedly on Twitter! I… think… I set it all up right. And there’s a plugin installed. God, I need to learn some new skills. Personally I think Twitter is idiotic, but hey – more traffic. 🙂
So in violation of all my intentions, I bought Red Faction: Guerrilla on Tuesday. I’d been meaning to hold off for Prototype, which looks like it’s going to be the better game, but then I thought, “Why not both? I’ll stimulate the economy a little.” And with luck I can finish Red Faction in time to trade it in for Prototype when that game comes out next week.
Few things are more immersive than visiting a fully realized universe. This doesn’t mean we aren’t looking for great story or boffo gameplay. But often as not, the world that keeps us playing, drawn to that altered state that only gaming can provide.
So, right before this year’s E3 started, the cat was let out of the bag and the worst kept secret in the videogame business was finally in the open. Yes, it is true, confirmed Sony’s John Koller, the leaked material was right, Sony is working on a new revision of its portable gaming platform, PSP. The new PSP, however will not be just a numeric update of a ‘thinner, lighter’ kind. The new PSP is …
Jeez, people. They call this “E3 Day Zero” for a reason, you know. Nothing’s supposed to happen. Half the exhibitors are still setting up. And instead we get Valve announcing Left 4 Dead 2, to ship scarcely a year after the first? We get Remedy’s promise that Alan Wake is really really real, and will see a 2010 release? We get Microsoft’s Minority Report-inspired Natal Project, allowing us to poke our fingers at the air …