Zac has a lot to say about the new Pac-Man game, and we wanted to give him the time to say it! Enjoy this supplemental, all about the new title that you can play RIGHT NOW! (While you’re listening to this podcast, for instance.)

Direct Link: Powetcast 44.5: Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Super Turbo Tournament Edition

Audio Netcast Details
Subscribe to the Powetcast on iTunes

(Leave your comments below!)

Show notes after the jump

[Read the rest of this entry…]

Brave New Films, a progressive viral film site born out of the 2008 election, has taken a sharp stab at conservative pundits. Unfortunately they did so by slandering a classic video game character in the process.

An email sent out of subscribers and an update on their home page shows a headline “Pac Man vs Palin? You Betcha!” paired with an image that depicts the Namco owned character chasing former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin like one of the enemy ghosts. In the text they refer to him as “Progressive Against Conservative” Man though there is little mistaking the character, right down to the basic yellow pie shape.

The game itself is identical to the original Pac Man, with a purple maze instead of blue, and the ghosts replaced with Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Bill O’Reilly. When a player eats a power pellet and then eliminates an enemy ghost, an audio clip from one of the conservative pundits plays. Likewise, when a pundit catches Pac Man, a clip taunting the player also runs.

Parody and satire are well and good, and fair use laws when paired with non profits are generous and fair. However, it cannot be mistaken by my eyes that Brave New Films and its founder Robert Greenwald are guilty of stealing Pac Man for their own gain. There are millions of unique or even similar flash games available and plenty of like-minded developers who could’ve made a game for Brave New Films. Instead they took an existing idea and willfully modified the visuals and audio. The core game mechanic, the very thing that makes Pac Man an arcade classic, is completely unchanged.

Brave New Films did not respond to requests for comment, we will update if they do. The game is currently still available at http://bravenewpacman.com/

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

Only missing Halloween by a week, but in honest, for some of us Halloween doesn’t end with a date. There a very special subgenre on geek that specializes in the supernatural, the arcane, and the frightening and everything in between. The horror geek, or “Shriek Geek” as I am dubbing them (and myself, in essence) leans toward media and realms that deal with the freakish, the ghoulish, and the downright creepy and chilling.

And you can tell there’s a fair amount of Shriek Geeks out there, since zombie movies are so prolific these days, along with supernatural thriller and survival horror games such as Resident Evil, Clock Tower, Silent Hill and so on. Then there’s a certain side of the Shriek Geeks that go for horror with a bit more of a gross and physically terrifying side to it, such as Clive Barker’s Jericho and Dead Space. But before those games came about, one gaming series in particular stood out for its freakish themes and chilling visuals and violence: Splatterhouse.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Capcom takes on all comers. First they pitted their Street Fighters against X-Men, then the entire Marvel Universe, rival developer SNK, and finally Tatsunoko anime stars. Who’s next?

Never stepping away from a challenge, Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono was approached by Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada live at ComiCon, and sure enough they had a new tag team game ready to demo. Ryu and Chun Li from Street Fighter against Kazuya Mishima and Nina Williams of Tekken! The game will be in 2D, similar to the Street Fighter IV and developed by Capcom. Ono-san says its early in development, so we’ll have to keep playing SFIV and then Marvel VS Capcom 3 before we’ll get our hands on the new game, titled “Street Fighter x Tekken.”

Tekken Die-hards will be pleased to know a 3D game similar to Tekken 6 is also in production called Tekken x Street Fighter at Namco.

Capcom Unity has more screen shots!

SoulCalibur 4 marks the current generation debut of Namco’s Hack ‘n’ Slash fighting game series. While the game has been enhanced in some areas (notably graphics and online play), the game tends to be somewhat lacking in others (story and single player content). Even so, fans of SoulCalibur will once again have a chance to enjoy another installment of the fun and fast paced action that the series in known for, and there are even a few surprises included as well.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

The first Powet review of an iPhone game! How does it stack up to the Xbox Live Pac-Man: Championship Edition?

Buy this game on iTunes if you’d like, or you can redeem a code for the original version or purchase an iTunes card to download Pac-Man CE to your iPhone or iPod Touch!

I think it goes without saying why this movie will be absolutely terrible. But it will be.

Here, buy a Tekken game, that will make you feel better.

Throwing all you oldschool gaming fans a Halloween treat!

[Read the rest of this entry…]