Video Games are murder simulators. This was declared by recently disbarred attorney Jack Thompson. He then came up with a proposal that could be considered no less than genius: create a game in which the player plays as the vengeful father of a kid who was killed by another kid who played video games. The father then goes on a rampage, killing the head of the software company who created the game, then expanding his rampage to killing as many of the people involved in the games industry as possible. If such a game was made, Mr, Thompson promised that he would donate $10,000 to the charity of the choice of Paul Eibeler, the head of Take-Two Interactive. A group of programmers (consisting of 3 alcoholics and a foreign exchange student) dubbed themselves “Thompsonsoft” and created I’m O.K, a tongue-in-cheek ‘murder simulator’. However,Thompson went back on his word to make a donation claiming that his proposal was a joke, and web comic artists Penny Arcade made the donation themselves. Although it’s not a game so much as political satire, I’m O.K is fun in its own right. Taking inspiration from the 8 and 16 bit days of gaming, I’m O.K is a 2D action platformer. Taking control of Osaki Kim, the father of a kid who was killed by a gamer, you take your revenge on the game industry using several weapons. Starting off by killing the head of fictional gaming company “Take-This”, he then takes his revenge on the entire gaming industry, from the lawyers at “Blank Stare” to an arcade, O.K makes his move to E3 2006, where the heads of the gaming industry will gather. In between levels, you take part in a gallery shooting bonus stage where you go into retail shops killing gamers and earning more money to buy more weapons. The game is gory and hilarious, and it is available for download over at http://www.imok.gzwn.net/.

Well, once again, today is my birthday. Although I’m the one hitting the big 3 to tha 0, you’re the one getting the present, just like we do every year. So click below, and get a quadruple dose of $20 GOTW/Lost Classics goodness.
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The last time that the name Remedy was attached to a game, Max Payne and Mona Sax were blowing away mobsters back in 2003’s Max Payne 2. Since then, the Finnish developers have been working on this Xbox 360 exclusive. It was one of the first titles announced for the system, and then info on it became scarce, almost to the point where one would think it was canceled. Thankfully that wasn’t the case, and Alan Wake finally hit shelves last year. Although it didn’t sell anywhere near what it deserved to, it provides gamers with a unique and memorable experience. You play as the title character, Alan Wake. A struggling writer from New York, you and your wife travel to Bright Falls, a town in the Pacific Northwest hoping to get away from it all. However, things go awry rather quickly. You wife goes missing, you keep finding pages of a manuscript you’ve written, although you don’t remember writing it, and worst of all, you’re constantly attacked by a darkness which has taken over everyone and everything in your way.
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You may remember a little known PC game by the name of Battle Chess. When you went to capture your opponent’s pieces, the game showed a battle animation. Sadly, you couldn’t control it, but it was fun to watch. What if you could control the battle however? For one thing, your queen would never be taken out some pawn of knight. Several years ago, there was a game with such a concept, Archon. Designed by Paul Reiche III and Jon Freeman (with the programming being done by Freeman’s wife Anne Westfall), Archon had a similar look to chess, although there were several dynamics in play that made it different. First of all, each piece has its own set of powers to use. When two rival pieces entered the same square, they engaged each other in combat, and players could control both pieces. Also, depending on what color the square was, one piece could gain an advantage over the other. While the game received a few sequels and remakes, it’s this 2010 remake that stands out. Archon Classic adds a number of new options. Power-ups during battle, new animated pieces, a campaign mode, new maps, and pieces that level-up during the game are but a few of the new additions. Best of all, you can turn off any of the new additions as you wish and play with classic graphics, the new updated look, or somewhere in-between. Up to four players can play against each other. Unfortunately, there is no true online multiplayer besides hot-seat play. Even so, Archon Classic gives gamers a new way (and new incentive) to experience this classic game, especially for its price.

The fight may have been finished back in 2007 with Halo 3, but thankfully there are still plenty of stories to tell about the Halo universe. One of them is the tale of a group of Orbital Drop Squad Troopers (or Helljumpers as they are nicknamed, and for good reason) and the losing battle they fought in the ill-fated African city of New Mombasa in the period between Halo 2 and Halo 3. You take control of one of these soldiers as you explore the city in an attempt to find out what’s going on. Originally conceived as a downloadable add-on (and originally slated to be called Halo 3: Recon), so much work was put into the story, setting, and characters, that Bungie ended up releasing the game as a standalone 2-disc package available at full retail price. The first disc contains the campaign (which can be played with up to 4 players) and a new mode called firefight where you fight off waves of covenant soldiers similar to Gears of War 2’s Horde mode. The second disc contains every map released for Halo 3, including those released on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The game also includes the Forge map editor for creating your own worlds.

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For years, the Battlefield series was a multiplayer-only affair. While certain games may have contained single player modes, they were there simply to train offline gamers, as they were fought with bots instead of live opponents. That changed with Bad Company. For the first time in the series, the single player component would take center stage. You step in the shoes of Private Preston Marlowe, a soldier reassigned to the Army’s “Bad Company”, a platoon filled with the worst of the worst. Their job is mainly cannon fodder as they are caught in a war between the U.S, Russia, and a Middle Eastern Coalition along with a group of mercenaries gets involved in the chaos. The environments are destructible, creating strategies for players in both the single and multiplayer modes. Speaking of multiplayer, the game includes the Gold Rush mode, in which attackers attempt to destroy crates of gold as defenders try to protect them. Conquest mode was added sometime later. Like other Battlefield games, Bad Company’s multiplayer is class-based and features ranks and awards. There is a selection of vehicles to drive, from tanks to helicopters. Bad Company isn’t perfect, as the controls are a bit sluggish and the AI is lacking, but the game’s destructible environments and hilarious chatter more than make up for it. Bad Company was so successful that a sequel was released this past year, so check them out if you love shooters.

Ever wanted to become a computer hacker? Don’t know how to program? That’s okay. Uplink, created by indie development group Introversion shows gamers what it’s like to be a hacker (well, at least the way it’s depicted in movies like Hackers and Sneakers) , without having to learn how to program. As a newly hired employee for the Uplink Corporation, you take on several types of missions, such as altering a student’s academic record or hacking into a corporation to steal data. You are given a computer, and you must earn money to upgrade your hardware and software in order to take on more complex missions. Make sure you cover up all evidence of your deeds, least the police trace anything back to you. As you’d expect, the game is light on graphics, but the soundtrack is catchy. The game is available on Steam for cheap, so if you’re willing to look beyond the lack of flashy graphics, you can indulge your 133t fantasies to your heart’s content.

Mega man 9 was a clever throwback to the franchise’s NES origins. It resonated so well with players that Capcom decided to take the Blue Bomber on another trip down memory lane with Mega Man 10. A virus has gripped robots all around the world, including Mega Man’s ‘sister’ Roll. Thus, Mega Man has to team with his ‘brother’ Protoman to find a cure. It’s classic 8-bit Mega Man action, just the way you like it, although it has a few new twists.
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