A few month’s ago, I featured this game’s predecessor, which could only be described as darkly humorous, delightfully tasteless, and disturbingly addictive. It attracted its share of controversy, and the fact hasn’t been lost on developer Running with Scissors. In 2003, they created this sequel, and there are a number of substantial changed to the formula. Although its content these days is pretty tame compared to the Grand Theft Autos and Manhunts, it can still get a bit extreme at times. In fact, its content is so extreme that it has been banned in both Australia and New Zealand. It gained further negative publicity a few years back after the Dawson College shooting rampage in Montreal when the gunman listed Postal 2 among his favorite video games. This is the type of game that, while it clearly doesn’t appeal to everyone, still maintains a healthy cult following.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

In possibly my final look at the gaming industry and culture in Wisconsin, I take on Raven Software’s new shooter and what it may mean for the studio.

Raven falls short with Wolfenstein , follows layoffs with high hopes for Singularity
Wolfenstein seems content to mimic rather than bust the genre it created, though there’s nothing wrong with that for a summer game. As an end-of-summer game with Halo and Call of Duty sequels on the horizon, though, it falls short. Then barely a week after releasing the game in late August, Raven laid off dozens of employees from its 180-person staff. This came at a time when the studio has been enjoying a higher profile thanks to its string of new releases.
Read More>

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

In the fall of 2004, amidst a general lackluster lineup of programming on TV, my brothers pulled me aside to watch this new show everyone had been buzzing about. After watching just the first episode, I knew there was something great about this show with a simple concept about a plane crashing on a deserted island, but that obviously was up to much more. For me right off the bat the show keyed into something I’ve always been into, which is a kind of survival show idea, but then as it goes on the show kept me hooked with great drama, intriguing mysteries and original ways of tackling sci-fi and fantasy elements.

[Read the rest of this entry…]

At one time, Square’s Romancing Saga franchise was as big as Final Fantasy. Romancing Saga’s key difference from most other RPGs was its non-linearity. The plot changed dependent on which character you selected as well as what choices were made in certain dialogue situations. However, for the longest time, the series was only released in Japan, necessitating various fan translations. The most the U.S would ever see of the series were the Game Boy Romancing Saga titles, which were released under the name Final Fantasy Legend. Saga Frontier for the Playstation 1 marks the first time that the series has hit North American shores on a console. While the game is a bit on the simplistic side compared to its predecessors, it’s free scenario system made the game enjoyable.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Lets turn the clock back to 2006. It was one year into the Xbox 360’s life cycle, and consumers were either stabbing and shooting each other in order to get their hands on the newly released PS3, or lining up for hours to get their hands on a Wii. Meanwhile, Xbox 360 gamers were still waiting the proverbial ‘killer app’ for the system. While games like Oblivion, Fight Night Round 3, and Saints Row did a good job or keeping players tied over, many of them were just higher resolution versions of games on the original Xbox. What gamers really wanted was Halo 3. Meanwhile, Epic had something brand new up its sleeve. Making use of the brand new Unreal 3 graphics engine, a lifelike alternate world, and unique gameplay features, Gears of War was unleashed on the scene, and it redefined the rules of the shooter genre.
[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.

Back in the gaming days of yore, the multiple genres of video games defined what type of gamer the person playing would be. You had your RPG gamers, your FPS gamers, your sidescrolling-adventure gamers, and your sports gamers, to name a few. (Though the sports gamers are considered a completely separate category from the rest and its fans are often rejected as being gamers at all. You know what I’m talking about) There was also the highly competitive fighting gamer. Despite one-on-one fighting games existing prior to its release, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter helped shape the genre into a more standardized style and gained it a following. It also found a niche in the arcade scene, and soon arcades across the nation were featuring fighting games left and right. However, MK and SF couldn’t carry the genre alone. Games like Primal Rage and NightWarriors soon popped up to satisfy the masses. Midway saw the goldmine that Mortal Kombat had brought in, and decided to try another fighting game in order to bank on the growing success. This game was Killer Instinct.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

When this arcade shooter from Konami was released in 2001, it was way ahead of its time. The arcade cabinet was lined with infrared sensors that tracked your every movement, so you could duck and dodge and take cover. Years before the Wii, Police 911 got players in the game like no other game could do so. Playing as either a Japanese police detective or an American police officer, your job was to stop a Japanese crime syndicate. You made your way through several stages, shooting enemies while avoiding fellow officers and civilians. There is a timer not unlike Time Crisis, so it’s best not to dawdle in an area for too long. You can increase your rank and earn bonuses by completing the levels without killing civilians. A sequel was released, featuring more characters and levels. This game would be a perfect fit on the Nintendo Wii, as the Wiimote and the balance board make a perfect substitute for the arcade cabinet’s infrared sensors.

One thing you gotta love about Goichi Suda is that he doesn’t care how well his games are received by critics. He doesn’t care how well reviewers score his product, how well his games sell, or weather or not he gets a game of the year award. In fact, he doesn’t care about gaining any kind of mainstream recognition whatsoever, as anyone who has played Killer 7 knows. He works in this same spirit as many independent game programmers, and simply wants to share his demented thoughts with the world. No More Heroes is his latest creation. Weather you love or hate the game, it will be sure to have you scratching your head in a way that few games can.
[Read the rest of this entry…]