Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Now I love the mainstream as much as anyone. Like most other gamers worth their salt, I get a rise out of blowing someone away in Halo, running a touchdown in Madden, and carjacking and gunning my way to 6 stars while playing Grand Theft Auto. The current state of video gaming is great, and with new advances in gameplay and graphical technology, it’s only going to get better. However, if you look closely, there is a movement going on beneath the surface. Not only is the mainstream taking strides forward, but so is the independent scene. In the past few years alone, many independently developed releases have become just as critically acclaimed as the biggest mainstream releases, and with indie titles being released on outlets such as Steam and Xbox Live, there is greater incentive than ever. Far from being simple mods, independently developed games often feature innovative gameplay mechanics and presentation. Lets look at some aspects of the independent scene, and hopefully some of you more creative poweteers will get some inspiration.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

War For Cybertron Optimus Prime is a hotly anticipated figure. A classic character from a great new video game?

…

Ok, so this didn’t turn out as good as we hoped. They can’t all be great can they?
Just so you don’t feel ripped off, here is a REAL video about a REALLY GOOD toy: DCUC Plastic Man!

Okay, so this isn’t so much a game as it is a peripheral which for a time at least, changed the way we played Game Boy games. Back in the mid 90s, the Nintendo Game Boy was tearing up the handheld competition, even though it had a monochrome black-and-greenish screen. Of course, everyone wondered what it would be like if the system were in color. That answer would come in 1998, but this little device for Super Nintendo could help gamers get halfway. Plug it into the top of the SNES, then stick a game cart in the slot on the top, and you could play your Game Boy games in 4-color goodness. You could even adjust the color palette, and it would generate a code which you could share with your friends or enter to instantly recall your palette. I created a palette for Castlevania II: Blemont’s Revenge that turned the crystal castle level into a night time skylight paradise. You can even design the border around the screen as well. After the release of the Super Game Boy, several games were produced that made use of Super Game Boy enhancements when played on the system. These enhancements include special borders, SNES effects, two-player modes using SNES controllers, and the Game Boy version of Space Invaders even unlocked the full SNES version (sans 2-player mode) when used with the Super Game Boy. Of course, the popularity of the unit saw an instant drop when the Game Boy Color was released. At the time however, the Super Game Boy did a good job of breathing new life into your old Game Boy games.

If you believe Capcom’s ‘history’ of this downloadable title, then the company discovered this secret cartridge of a game that was in development for the NES. Supposedly, Capcom began work on the title only to cancel it due to the emergence of the Super Nintendo, only to rediscover it in a vault 2 decades later. Late Night talk show host Jimmy Fallon’s name is in the game as part of a supposed ‘contest’ that he won as a kid. Of course after seeing this game in action, I’m sure that most of you briefly forgot that this game was released in 2010 and not 1989. I know I sure did.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

In the short time they had been around, manufacturers took steps to make video games available in as many formats as possible. After their arcade origins, games were made available on home computers, and consoles. After making consoles which allowed interchangeable cartridges, the next logical step would be to make games that you could take with you on the go. From the tabletop electronic games of the 60s and 70s to the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, and everything else in between, there has been no better way to pass the time.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Have I got some good news for you, poweteers! I was logged in to some multiplayer on War for Cybertron last night and noticed the marquee in the waiting room announcing that this weekend will be a QUADRUPLE XP weekend starting Friday at 6PM PST. Normally this would be great news on its own, but add this to the fact that this weekend will play host to PowetTV’s August game night featuring no game other than Transformers War for Cybertron. For more on game night and who to add to your friends’ list to play, check out the thread in our forum here.

Even though this is a crappy game and it is a maximum letdown, Jaleco’s Robowarrior holds a special place in my heart. It’s one of the first NES games i got. While it had an interesting premise (and the first level’s music was pretty catchy), all i remember about the game was that it was hard. Not in a Ninja Gaiden my-repeated-failures-want-to-make-me -try-harder-if-for-no-other-reason-than-to-see-what-comes-next kind of hard. Nor is it in a SWAT 4 I-have-to-think-very-very-carefully-about-how-to-approach-this-situation-least-the-whole-mission-ends-up-going-to-hell-in-an-instant kind of hard. Not in a Heavy Rain I-have-to-make-my-onscreen-character-do-things-that-should-be-second-nature-to-a-gamer-but-the-characters-and-story-have-made-me-catch-feelings-like-no-other-game-before-it-so-now-I-am-being-forced-to-make-my-characters-make-extremely-difficult-decisions kind of hard. Not even in a Super Columbine Massacre God-help-me-I-have-to-carry-out-what-was-one-of-the-most-horrific-acts-of-middle-class-suburban-violence-in-the-late-1990s kind of hard. No, it’s a there-are-so-many-idiotic-and-stupid-gameplay-mechanics-I’ll-be-lucky-if-I-can-make-it-past-the-first-level kind of hard.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

The SWAT series started off as the fifth entry in Daryl Gates’s Police Quest series, but spun off into it’s own franchise. The games center around SWAT training and tactics. The first two games were branded as Police Quest games, but spun off into their own series with SWAT 3, which ditched the Police Quest branding and became an FPS. SWAT 4 is the most recent PC entry in the series. Like its predecessors, SWAT 4 stresses tactics and strategy over running and gunning, and encourages the use of non-lethal force. It’s a thinking man’s shooter, and it rewards patience, planning, and strategy over senseless shooting. Oh and it just so happens to be from the same people who made System Shock 2, the Freedom Force games, and some little known game called Bioshock.
[Read the rest of this entry…]