This odd Super Nintendo game can pretty much be described as Araknoid meets Zelda. Although it doesn’t look too much graphically, it has a unique style of gameplay that you just don’t see in action games. Playing as a firestriker known as Slader, you make use of the Traillight (which is basically a fancy ball) to stop an evil archmage. Along the way, you’ll battle monsters and rescue any comrades you meet along the way. You’ll be accompanied by a mage which acts as a goalie. You can play co-op mode with another player, or battle up to three of your friends in competitive multiplayer modes. Hopefully it won’t be much longer until someone brings this game to virtual console. Better yet, why not a 3D remake using the Wii remote?

Halo: Reach takes over the podcast, and Vinnk makes a (surprise?) appearance to talk about video games!

Direct Link: Powetcast 40: A Fiery Death Awaits You

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Data East’s Sly Spy makes no attempt to hide the fact that it’s inspired by James Bond, although it is a fun game regardless. Playing as an agent (whom you are asked to assign a 3-digit number at the beginning of the game), you are tasked to save America from terrorists. While most of the game takes place in a side scrolling view similar to Namco’s Rolling Thunder, some of the game’s levels mix up the formula adding variety. When you start the game, you’re skydiving while shooting at the bad guys, and in another level you ride a motor cycle. The boss battles are pretty easy, and there are James Bond references throughout the game.

Sly Spy is one of those games that while it may not be anything Earth-shattering, it represented every thing that was cool about arcade games. Just like Big Karnak and Flashgal, Sly Spy would have benefited from a NES or Sega Genesis release. This game is available on Data East’s Wii classic arcade compilation disc, so now you have another chance to check out this game.

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

Shia LaBeouf, the greatest actor of our time, has done many amazing things, yet is constantly the butt of fanboy’s jokes as they accuse him of having raped their childhood. Let’s take a look at the life of this amazing man!

Shia LaBeouf eating a banana

Shia was born in a Jewish hippy household in 1986. His family name “LaBeouf” is a spelling nightmare of the French “Le Boeuf” or “The Bull”. With parents that were free spirited performers it’s no surprise he made the career choices that he did. LaBeouf, who has a natural comedic talent which is often overlooked, began performing at comedy clubs as young as the age of 10, and pursued various shitty roles in TV shows until his big break.

Young Shia LaBeouf in the Even Stevens pilot

In 1999 Shia landed the lead role in the Disney Channel comedy series Even Stevens. This was a hilarious show which to this day is the only thing to fully exploit his vast array of comedic ability. Even at 13 years old right from the first season this show featured some hilarious episodes like “Battle of the Bands” and “Movie Madness” which are full of top notch performances by Shia.

Shia LaBeouf in the Even Stevens episode 'Battle of the Bands'

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Capcom put together another trailer of all the “First appearances” from previous trailers, reminding us that the cast is getting huge.

And shortly after this, it got bigger, with the introduction of X-23 and Tron Bonne.

See their premeire game play videos from Capcom Unity below.

videos from Capcom Unity

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

The early 90s bought gamers a new genre of video games: the one-on-one fighter. This new genre of games was the offspring of sports games and beat-em-ups. You took one fighter against another, and it was up to you to take him down. These games weren’t controlled by the simple joystick plus 1 or 2 button setups. No, there were anywhere from 3 – 6 buttons, and you performed special moves by pulling off combinations of the joystick and these buttons to pull off special attacks. The key to winning these games was mastering and utilizing these special attacks, stringing them together in combos. To the best fighting game players, this became both art and science. It wasn’t uncommon to see crowds of players standing around a heated fighting game contest that was going on at the local arcade, weather it was Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Power Instinct, or X-men. Capcom was the undisputed leader of the genre, although beside Midway’s Mortal Kombat, there was another competitor, SNK. Of all the game developers who made fighting games, SNK had the most acclaim after Capcom. The developer had released a collection of fighting games for its Neo Geo arcade system/home console, among them were Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. These two games enjoyed a deep storyline and an interesting cast of characters who were every bit as memorable as Capcom’s fighters. In 1994 however, they would release something that had never before been seen in gaming, the King Of Fighters.
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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.
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With the release of Grand Theft Auto 3, the GTA series went from a cult hit to a pop culture icon almost overnight. However, as titles such as Vice City Stories painfully illustrated, the series was beginning to run its course. Though it was far from mediocrity, it was becoming obvious that the series would need to be reinvented if it was to maintain its relevance in the new generation of game consoles. Thankfully, this was a fact that was not lost on Rockstar, and they went right back to the drawing board for GTA IV and came back with nothing less than a masterpiece.
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