10 years ago, I introduced powet staple $20 Game of the Week with a look at this game. After doing this column almost every week for 10 straight years, maybe now is a good time to revisit it. This is one of the few games that I still have in my collection, and it’s one of the few original Xbox games that are backwardly compatible on the Xbox 360. I remembering purchasing this game like it was yesterday. I had just paid off my tuition for fall of 2005, and I was looking for a game to keep myself occupied until school started. A trip to gamestop saw this title available for only $20. On a whim, I picked it up, and enjoyed it enough to use it as a stepping stone to start a weekly column. While it hasn’t aged well since then, Outlaw Tennis still retains its own unique charm.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

If you had a Super Nintendo, you might vaguely remember Konami’s sleeper hit, Cybernator. In that game, players took control of a mech as they bought untold amounts of destruction upon the enemy. Gigantic Army, developed by Astro Port, seems to be a spiritual successor to Konami’s classic. Once again, players take control of a mech as they bring untold amounts of destitution upon an enemy. Before you begin the game, you select a basic loadout for your mech. You also have a shield, jetpack, and a melee weapon. While most of the game’s enemies are pushovers, the real challenge comes in conserving HP as you battle the game’s larger-than-life bosses. Also, a timer constantly counts down, forcing players to always be on the move. This insures that the action is chaotic and frantic at all times. The story (not that there is much of one) is told through diary entries in between levels. If you’re a fan of 16-bit gaming, you’ll want to check this game out. It’s on sale on steam for only $2.99, so check it out.

This past week, Microsoft had a showing at Gamescom in Germany, showing off things you didn’t see at E3. Quantum Break (which had been shown since E3 2013), Crackdown (which had been hinted at since E3 2013) and Platinum Game’s Scalebound (which was shown off at last year’s E3) along with a few surprises. While most of the cool stuff isn’t coming out til 2016, there was plenty at the show for Xbox Owners to look forward too.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Huge multiverse-spanning crossovers seem to be the big theme this summer with DC’s recently concluded Convergence and Marvel’s current event Secret Wars. However, one event you may be missing is Archie Comics’ Mega Man/Sonic: World’s Unite, featuring characters from Mega Man and Sonic, along with Mega Man X, Sonic Boom, and the game libraries of both Sega and Capcom. The sequel to 2013’s World’s Collide, Worlds Unite doesn’t stop with our blue heroes, but instead brings in characters from Street Fighter, Nights: Into Dreams, Breath of Fire III, Alex Kidd, and more to give comic fans the greatest crossover videogame they’ll never play. Check after the jump the see the issue order. With two issues left to go, including next week’s Sonic the Hedgehog 275, you’ll want to catch up on the action.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Re-Logic and 505 Games announced that the Metroid meets Minecraft meets city builder hit Minecraft will FINALLY be hitting the Wii U and Nintendo 3ds early next year. With the recent Mac and Linux beta, this will make the game available in just about every currently format. For the uninitiated, Terraria puts players in a 2D world in which they must mine and gather materials to construct buildings, weapons, and items. Non-player characters can move into the buildings you create and deal you various services, and various enemies will appear as you explore the randomly generated land. No doubt the dual-screen format of the NDS and Wii U will allow the game to have an experience that is very close to the original PC, which was released over 4 years ago. My how time flies! You can learn more about the Wii U and 3DS versions from the developers themselves by clicking here.

WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator will be this year’s preorder bonus for WWE2k16, enabling everyone to finally fulfill their dream of putting Randy Orton against a killer robot from the future. He’ll be joining Alexia Bliss, Page, Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, and Daniel Bryan as one of 120+ unique characters who will be in this year’s game. One superstar who won’t be a part of this year’s game is Terry Bolla, a.k.a Hulk Hogan due to the events of this past weekend. Stone Cold Steve Austin is this year’s cover athlete, and there are rumors that the game’s main mode will center around him and the attitude error. This will most likely mean that the game’s Showcase mode, introduced in WWE 2k15, will probably have a section centered around him. Of course this is all speculation, as more info on this year’s game, including it’s roster, will be revealed later on this year, usually around Summerslam. The game itself is scheduled to hit stores on October 27 of this year.

The gaming world lost one of it’s great innovators this past weekend. Satoru Iwata passed away due to complications from Bile Duct cancer. Following his graduation from Tokyo University, Iwata worked with frequent Nintendo developer HAL Laboratories, where he developed games such as Kirby, Balloon Fight, and Mother (a.k.a Earthbound). In the early 90s, he became president of the company, helping turn its fortunes around, and contributed to Pokemon Gold/Silver, the start of another classic Nintendo franchise. In 2002, he became the fourth president of Nintendo, and the first not to be related by either blood or marriage to the Yamauchi family. Taking over Nintendo, Satoru began an initiative to make gaming more appealing to all different audiences. To that end, Satoru was the catalyst behind the development of the Nintendo DS and Wii, along with their successors the Wii U and 3DS, all of whom provided Nintendo fans with unique styles of gaming that were unseen on either of their competitors’ consoles. He also improved communications with fans as well, creating the Nintendo Direct conferences, a series of online presentations aimed at introducing new software and hardware to the public outside of regular channels. In 2013, Iwata took over as head of Nintendo of America. Under his direction, the company nixed large E3 presentations in favor of the smaller Nintendo Directs, such as last month’s puppet show. Earlier this year, Iwata cut a deal with mobile developer DeNA to bring its properties to the mobile market.

Ever since it entered the console gaming market in the early 80s, Nintendo has been an innovator in the industry. It was thanks to the efforts of great men like Shigeru Miyamoto, The late Gunpei Yokoi, Reggie Fils-aime, and Takashi Tezuka that the company continues to be innovative. Satoru Iwata is another one of these innovators, and he helped pushed the company above and beyond what it was. The impact of his loss will no doubt be felt throughout the gaming industry.

More posters and the trailer after the jump!
[Read the rest of this entry…]