Well we continue on our adventures through the past this week with the very first of a long running series that I’ve already covered the first 3D entry of. Metroid is a series that, as I’ve discussed before, acts as, both mechanically and stylistically, the hardest-core franchise of Nintendo’s line up. The Metroid series is gritty, difficult, and dark, and stands in tremendous contrast to the other offerings from Nintendo.
Hey all, Judge here. In celebration of Mother’s Day, we’ll be looking at some of the hottest moms in the video game world. For last year’s Mother’s Day, I compiled a list of the hottest moms in anime. Also, take a look at my friend Overlord-G’s list of hottest moms in anime. I’ve said it with many of my list posts but I’ll say it again: don’t take them too seriously, especially ones regarding “hotness” of fictional characters. I’m not a 2D worshiper, a pervert, or sexist. Well then…
10. Matriarch Benezia (Mass Effect)
If you believe women, like wine, get better with age, Benezia is for you. Especially if you’re into blue-skinned alien chicks. I’ll take her daughter Liara though. Continue reading »
So edgy no 14 year old high school boy could resist!
Some time ago footage was leaked about yet another cancelled Mega Man game. This game titled Maverick Hunter was going to be a darker version of the X-series story with X himself starring in an FPS. Good idea? Bad idea? Downright ugly? Let’s find out.
It’s time once again to revisit the original Playstation, a treasure trove of memorable titles that lead the brand to global fame and popularity. However, its competition, the divisive N64, managed to hold its own with some of the most universally beloved titles of all time. What the N64 lacked in quantity it made up for in quality, producing two of the finest Zelda games ever released, a superb 3D reimagining of the Mario platforming experience, and the first of Nintendo’s ace-in-the-hole fighting series, Super Smash Bros. That being said, the console was a near wasteland for third party titles, save for a few notable examples. And my list of those selections begins and ends with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
Now, I looove me some Rogue Squadron, but I’m not ultimately here to discuss its brilliance or weep over the lack of a fourth installment. No, I’m going to talk about Colony Wars, a game exclusively for Playstation that has no connection to the Star Wars franchise. Why did I give a perhaps needlessly lengthy introduction to Rogue Squadron, then? Maybe because Colony Wars serves as a similar but distinctive alternative to the game I loved ever so much. And thus, even if the game wasn’t in my perhaps narrow field of knowledge before roughly three or four months ago, I thought I’d spend the evening discussing it in an objective, non-nostalgic manner.
Hey all, Judge here bringing you a review of the latest one-shot Transformers Spotlight from IDW Publishing. This particular spotlight focuses on the Autobot Hoist. On a side note, make sure to check out Silverwolf’s review of the Megatron spotlight.
Transformers Spotlight: Hoist is written by James Roberts, writer of Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye. It’s set between issues #5 and #6 of More Than Meets the Eye. The art was done by Agustin Padilla (Transformers: Rage of the Dinobots and More Than Meets the Eye #16). I don’t have much to say about the art other than it was great (I’m not the greatest art critic). The opening panels of the Decepticon Tarn chasing Hoist were, however, particularly well done and really grabbed my attention. Now to the story. Continue reading »
Nintendo is an odd beast. Often accused of retreading tired ground with old concepts and even older IPs, the Kyoto-based developer/console manufacturer/surrogate parents for children everywhere manages to make money even today with games that rarely pull from the trends of modern design. And while one could argue that Nintendo basically has every known genre (and more) covered with their extensive library of franchises, they always seem to approach those genres in distinctive and wholeheartedly Nintendo ways.
And so then we have WarioWare, which manages to confound every convention of game design. Released on the GBA way back in 2004, it served as a proving ground for Nintendo’s untested ideas and experiments. And I thought I’d play it recently, not having done so before.
Cue the fangirls.
So for the past few months, Kyoto Animation has been teasing an anime about high school students doing things. Seems up their alley? You bet. Moe, moe girls all around, but that’s the rub, it’s an anime about high school boys instead! This week the trailer was released set to premiere in July, so what did it tell us? Let’s find out.
If I had to pinpoint a single, unmoving constant from my life, it would likely be my love and adoration for the works of Nintendo. As a kid, I moved around from state to state and even across continents a few times, constantly faced with new and strange challenges. But at least I had Pokemon, Kirby, and Mario forever at my side, and in my greatest moments of fear and solitude, those worlds came alive and swallowed me whole, letting me inhabit the fantasies that I could have only dreamed of otherwise.
And then I tried to get into Metroid. I still remember the day, long ago, that I purchased Metroid Prime at a Hastings while on a trip through Texas (cool store, but unfortunately nowhere to be seen in Northern California). I was familiar with the series in name and character design only, thanks to Super Smash Bros, and thought I’d give the more mature black sheep in Nintendo’s lineup a chance. What I remember from that impressionable period in my life was that I was often profoundly affected by atmosphere, in both a positive, inspirational sense and, unfortunately, the reverse.
I got scared easily, as a kid, and Metroid Prime‘s pulsating, grotesque, lonely world disturbed me. By the time I made it to Flaahgra, my interest was largely cut short by what I perceived to be a piece of media too far above my own psychological capacity. After a frustrating series of failures against that boss, I put the game back on my shelf, never to touch it again. There it sat, watching me grow and change, and today, I return to it once again, for both a historical analysis but also a personal awakening.
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Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the game where you are the boss, well, mayor, opening many doors of customization to the player. But the capabilities of the game don’t stop with adding your personal touches but also the ability to share them with friends, which is the topic of tonight’s piece. How effective would this new service be? Is it a good idea?
Today I’m shaking things up a bit in my weekly “Retrospective” column. Instead of looking back at a game I never played, fitting it into a modern context, I thought I’d play a game that I did play and loved again after nearly five years. Instead of evaluating its validity without an ounce of nostalgia, I thought I’d use nostalgia this week a a vehicle to drive my analysis of design. After all, Mass Effect as a franchise has exploded since this first effort, and what started out somewhat humble has since grown into a behemoth in the gaming spectrum.
