Designed by Dan Dixon over the course of a 15 year period, Universe Sandbox is exactly what the title implies: a sandbox allowing you to play with the universe. Not so much a computer game as an education tool, Universe Sandbox is a gravity simulator. While it simulates our universe, you can pretty much adjust and test anything within the game, from the size of the planets, position of bodies, to collisions of stars and planets. There are several simulations included with the game, and you can edit them as you wish. So if you want a look at how our solar system looks, or bring about the apocalypse, then you’ll want to download this game. Makes for a good science project too.

Heavy Metal is a comics anthology magazine that began life in France under the name Metal Hurlant. It gained notoriety due to its heavy emphasis on sex and violence. It was bought over to the U.S and renamed Heavy Metal in 1977, and was purchased and published by Kevin Eastman. Yes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Kevin Eastman. The U.S version of the magazine featured several news articles that tied it into the Heavy Metal culture. The series spawned two feature films: 1981′s Heavy Metal, a set of story sequences done in different art styles (similar to The Animatrix) and 2000′s Heavy Metal 2000, a feature film featuring a character played by B-movie actress Julie Strain. The game also spawned 2 video games, F.A.K.K.2, a PC game sequel to Heavy metal 2000, and Heavy Metal:Geomatrix, a 2001 Dreamcast/Arcade game from Capcom. Although it uses a gameplay style similar to Spawn: In the Demon’s Hand, various gameplay issues and a lack of content cause the game to fall flat on its face. It doesn’t help matters that the game has very little to tie it in with the comics.
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Welcome to the Powet Top 5, where we explore the top (and bottom) 5 items we think are relevant to any of a variety of topics that span the imagination. Sit back, read, and respond

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Borderlands is a synthesis of first person shooting action and RPG-style level grinding and looting. Playing as one of four survivors in a post-apocalyptic landscape, you search for what is called “The Vault”. According to legend, the Vault contains vast amounts of treasure. Since no one has ever made it there, you’re going to trek through miles of desert, battling enemies, and collecting weapons. You’ll complete several quests and meet several NPCs. The guns are a huge part of the experience. You’ll collect certain guns, fall in love with them, using them every chance you get, only to discard them when you find something even cooler and you’re nowhere near a shop where you can sell it. Each of their four characters have their own upgradable abilities, and you can team up with another player for online co-op. The sequel is on its way, so now is a good time to check out the original. If you got a little extra, you can buy the complete edition which contains all the downloadable content released for the game.

Earth 2140 is an old-school RTS in the vein of Command and Conquer. Strangely, it had more of a following in Turkey than in American and Europe. It told the story of two warring factions: The Eurasian Dynasty and the United Civilized States. This is your typical dystopian future, where Earth has been bombed into a nuclear wasteland and rival factions are at war for the world’s remaining resources. This is pure 4X strategy gameplay (expand, exploit, explore, and exterminate). Gather resources, build bases, and construct units. The soundtrack is a strange blend of jazz and adult contemporary, and the plot is light compared to the sequels. However, this is still a fun classic RTS. You can buy it from GOG.com for $5.99, and teh game includes the DOS version, and both expansion packs.

Welcome to the Powet Top 5, where we explore the top (and bottom) 5 items we think are relevant to any of a variety of topics that span the imagination. Sit back, read, and respond

I know that when I write these articles that they tend to get on pretty niche topics. This time around I think I have outdone myself on niche-ness. If you were born any time after 1975, you should know of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their wonderful initial toy line from Playmates in the early 90′s. If you collect toys, you should absolutely know of the Four Horsemen. You should also have heard of the Four Horsemen’s FANtastic Exclusive endeavor and the property it spawned, The Seventh Kingdom. In today’s article, we are going to draw some parallels between the properties. Read on after the jump to learn more!

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Developed by Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya over a period of 5 years, Cave Story is a throwback to classic 8-bit platformers like Metroid and Castlevania. Taking control of your typical silent hero, you explore a cave. By collecting weapons and powerups, you become stronger. The game’s storyline centers around a race of creatures that are apparently being subjugated. Although the game has been available as freeware since 2004, there are WiiWare and Steam versions of the game that add new gameplay features. A 3DS version is also available, but its $40 price tag is hard to justify with cheaper versions of the game available. However you get to play this game, please do so, as it is an excellent reminder of gaming’s glory age.

So this is one of those rare non-gaming Lost Classics, but it’s justified since there are plenty of games based on the WWF (or WWE as it’s called now), and there are plenty of games featuring hip hop music.
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