Maximum Letdown: Battle Arena Toshinden 3 (PS1)
In the early days of the Playstation, Battle Arena Toshinden was all the rage. It provided some excellent 3D fighting action, showcased what the system was capable of, and it provided some eye candy in the form of the lovely Sofia. However, that was then. By 1998, the franchise had fast become a relic of days gone by (and this despite its sequel being published in the arcades by Capcom no less). As franchises such as Virtua Fighter and Tekken were evolving the genre into something greater, Toshinden was consistently failing to offer fighting game fans anything different, and as Tekken was soaring to new heights, Toshinden would slowly fade off into the darkness by the new millennium, and its developers decided to kill it off gracefully with this supposedly last entry (of course there was a Battle Arena Toshinden 4, but it was never released in America, and at that point, no one would care about it anyway).
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Chains, an independently developed puzzle game released on Steam by developer 2dEngine, is a perfect example of how a seemingly simple concept can become addictive and engaging if done right. The best way to describe Chains would be Columnus with a little physics attached to it. As in most puzzle games, you make matches of three or more to make them disappear. You do so by using your mouse to connect them. It’s the game’s levels that provide the real challenge. In one level, you may have to make a certain point total while another forces you to make a certain amount of chains before a hatch opens. As you beat one level, the next will unlock. Unfortunately, there is no ‘free mode’ where you can just play until you lose. You’re merely stuck playing through the levels. Even with this oversight, Chains sets itself apart from other games of it’s type, and on top of that, the game is only $5 on Steam. While it may not be the next Tetris or Lumines, it’s certainly offers something compelling and different for a good value. This would make an excellent downloadable DSi game (Hint Hint).

What takes you right out of a game? Or a movie? What keeps you wanting more? Powet tackles these questions, along with the premiere of ABC’s V, and much more!

Audio Netcast Details
Subscribe to the Powetcast on iTunes
Direct Link: Powetcast Episode 22: In V We Trust

(What do you think about the new V? Did you watch the old series? Leave a comment below!)

Show notes after the jump!

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While there are many highly anticipated games this holiday season, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is probably on the top of most people’s lists. It’s no surprise this time around; in 2007 Infinity Ward delivered Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which blew everyone’s expectations out of the water.

It was a major change in the series as it was previously exclusive to World War 2 and many, including Activision themselves weren’t quite sold on the idea when it was first announced. Infinity Ward gave us a gritty and realistic depiction of modern-day warfare in gaming. It was a gripping shooter that was believable and most importantly delivered on story, emotion, a gave us a different perspective of war, yet also delivered tons of fun and replay. Last year, Treyarch took us back to World War 2 with warm reception, but fans have been eagerly waiting to return to Modern Warfare and more importantly hoping that Infinity Ward would deliver once again… [Read the rest of this entry…]

Powet’s own Caleb Goessling and Sean Corse were featured on NBC 15 in Madison, WI last night as part of a story on the dangers of online gaming, and what you can expect to hear when you put on a headset.

You can find the entire clip here. What you don’t know about playing online… could kill you… or something.

Remember Where’s Waldo? That was a series of books that were centered around finding some goober hiding in a crowd of people. Eventually Where’s Waldo faded into one of those “dear god we were lame back then” gimmicks, but not before there ended up being a TV series (which thankfully didn’t last long). Of course since publishers are all too often willing to spend money for the rights to any intellectual property they can afford regardless of how well it would translate into a good video game (particularly back then), there was also a NES game based on the franchise. Like the books of the same name, Where’s Waldo had you looking at still pictures to find out where he is hiding. There are only 5 levels (and by that I mean still images) and 4 levels of difficulty including practice. On medium and hard you have to scroll to the side to see the rest of the screen, but that’s pretty much as complex as it gets. The graphics are horrible (as the NES really wasn’t big on the type of detail required for this game) making it hard to see Waldo, and the only plus is that Waldo is in a different location each time you play. Shockingly this game was developed by Bethsheda Softworks. Yes, the same Bethsheda Softworks that would go on to create two of the biggest modern single player RPGS ever: Oblivion and Fallout 3. Of course obviously you couldn’t possibly be able to tell that from playing this game. Oh yeah, there was a slightly improved version for the SNES and Genesis, but all that did was upgrade the graphics a bit.

As I played this week’s $20 GOTW entry, three questions immediately popped into my head. How were the people who made Okami make the transition from something so beautiful and artistic to well….this? How did Sega get the green light from Nintendo for this to be released on the Wii of all systems? Most of all, WHY IS NO ONE BUYING THIS GAME? The Wii’s hardcore gamer audience would love this game, as it contains the perfect combination of extreme violence and “what the hell is this” brand of zaniness that made No More Heroes and Killer 7 cult classics. It’s Japanese producers designed this game with a western audience in mind. In fact, as of this writing it’s unsure of weather of not this game will even be released in Japan!
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The new theatrical trailer for the Prince of Persia movie has been released on YouTube for the world to see. The trailer looks pretty good; similar to Pirates of the Caribbean in terms of special effects and overall-feel. What I’m digging is the subtle influences from the game that they actually have put into the movie, such as honest-to-god wall jumping, and the activation of the Dagger of Time making the Prince (Jake Gyllenhaal) look something akin to the Dark Prince’s form from “Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones“. If the entire movie has such influences and easter eggs that were prominant in the games, there might actually be hope for the film.