...And we're back!

Hello out there to everyone in Internet Land!!

It's been far too long, I know. But what can I say except that life happens? It was a busy summer for Speeder and I. But recently, we experienced an event that has inspired us both to pick up our keyboards and get this blog show back on the road. That thing was PAX Prime 2012 in Seattle, Washington and it is the topic of my post today!

For any who may not know, PAX (or Penny Arcade Expo) is a huge gaming convention started by the guys over at the Penny Arcade web-comic. And if you are a gamer, you NEED to know what this thing is all about. I didn't quite know what to expect when we first decided to go, but now that I have been to this unbelievable convention, I can tell you this: if ever there was a geek equivalent of Mecca, this would definitely be it. There were thousands and thousands of gaming nerds flooding the streets of downtown Seattle for three days. And I mean all types of nerds: video gamers, table top gamers, RPG gamers, cos-players, ALL OF THEM! I have never been surrounded by so many of "my people" in one place at any point in my life. But the really fascinating and fantastic thing about all of these strangers was that I felt an almost instant camaraderie with them. We'd be waiting in line for a panel or something else and play Cards Against Humanity with a bunch of people we didn't know, or we'd start up a conversation with other people standing in line and just talk games. It was a truly amazing experience. 

But it wasn't just the people that made the trip awesome. The games...oh the games! The very first thing we did once the expo hall opened on Friday was rush over to the Sega Games booth and get into line to play Aliens: Colonial Marines. This game is set to come out on February 12th, 2013 so I have a decent amount of time I have to wait until I get to play it in full. The feeling of sitting down and getting to play this game for 15 minutes was pure joy to me. You can ask Speeder if you don't believe me. The look on my face was pure joy. I've played a lot of Aliens-based games in my day, and this one definitely looks promising. I definitely felt like I was part of a squad of marines trying to escape an alien infestation. After my turn was up, we watched the Alien players (guys from Gearbox, the team producing the game) play against the next group of marine players. In watching, my only current concern about this game is the speed of the Aliens. They seemed really slow, and that characteristic really ruined the Alien gaming experience in Aliens Versus Predator 2. But until the game actually comes out, I guess we won't know for sure.
 We played ZombieU for the new WiiU system, and had mixed reviews. It was not the game but the console itself that kind of bothered Speeder and I. Your controller essentially looks like a tablet with buttons. During the game, you kind of have to alternate between looking at the TV and the console screen. It became a bit easier as you played it, but was still pretty disorienting. It didn't help that there was a guy dressed as a british Queen's guard zombie who was shambling around and blankly staring at people as they played. He would also laugh at people when they'd get killed. 
 Speeder played the new Tomb Raider game which is actually a prequel to the classic series. It is a beautiful game (from what I've seen thus far) and I'm curious to see the rest of the story of how Lara Croft became the Tomb Raider.
I got to play the Walking Dead game from TellTale games (available on PS3, X-Box 360 and Steam) and I enjoyed it. It was pretty much a hybrid between a point-and-click and an adventure game that is also episodic. I think I'm going to have to buy the series now that I was allowed to get a taste. I love the Walking Dead graphic novel series and I feel like this game is a good addition to the mythos.
We wanted to try out Borderlands 2 and the new God of War game but the lines for them seemed endless each day. Luckily, Borderlands 2 is coming out in a few more days so the wait will be over soon. 
We also played Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 in the free console play areas and although these games are very dated by now, they are still great to play. I was mean and made Speeder race me on the original Rainbow Road. Oh he was so mad at me!

To sum it up, PAX was simply incredible. The only downside was that it eventually had to end, and it left Speeder and I both with post-PAX depression (real thing!) We have decided that we definitely want to try and go next year, and I encourage anyone else who's even mulling over the idea to find a way to go at least once. You won't regret it. I can't wait until next year!
 

Game artwork: box art project

I was thinking to myself on what I would like to post about next for the blog, and I recalled my Senior Seminar project I did in college. It was a self-designed project that utilized the skills of your chosen degree program. I chose to design box art for three different fictitious games that I made up. While I didn't get to delve far into the details of each game, it was very fun to create the art and design the boxes for each one. So I decided I would share my favorite of the designs on the blog. I name of the game was "Forces of Nature". The basic idea I went with for the art was that you got to control a being that had certain elemental powers, depending on which one you chose. I wish I was a better digital artist. Maybe I will explore it more if I get a bit more free time. In any case, enjoy!

Ink drawing of the cover of the box art.

Digitally colored drawing for the cover

Final mock-game box art (minus the screen shots on the back)

Trailer of the Day: The Walking Dead video game

While Felon and I are big fans of The Walking Dead comic books, we've been pretty lukewarm on television series thus far but the new 5 episode game by Telltale Games (Back to the Future, Jurassic Park) looks pretty interesting.

The first episode drops in April for PSN, XBLA, and PC.

What I've been playing now: Half-Life 2

So yet again, I allowed myself to be completely enveloped in a game. While this action is good for research and review, it also means that I've been absent from the blog! But now that I've finally been able to put down Half-Life having finished it in it's entirety, I'm here to talk about it. Yay! And as always, SPOILERS!

Why I never played this game before, I'm unsure. I know when it came out I didn't have a good enough computer nor an XBox to play it on. I definitely missed out, cause this is a rather addictive game.

The first Combine soldiers you encounter.

You are the man named Gordon Freeman.You start out in the dystopian City 17, a dilapidated  city of people who are clearly oppressed and miserable. You find out that an alien race called the Combine have taken over and are in control of the city (and most of the world you will be exploring). You meet up with the Lambda Resistance, a group of freedom fighters who are trying to defeat the Combine and free humanity from them. The resistance is made up of people who also worked at Black Mesa (a scientific corporation from the first Half-Life) and they are the main side characters you encounter. You end up escaping from City 17 and wandering the countryside until you get to the Resistance's base. From there, you adventure to various places usually to escape the Combine, fight the Combine, or rescue captured characters. You eventually defeat the main enemy, a human man named Dr. Wallace Breen who is in league with the Combine (he is apparently the go-between of the Combine and humanity). Half-Life 2: Episode 1 takes place right after the explosion from defeating Breen, and your goal becomes escaping City 17 with Alyx Vance as there is going to be an explosion that will destroy everything nearby.

When I first started out in the world of Half-Life 2, I honestly wasn't quite sure what to think of it. I liked the disturbing feeling of being in City 17 but as soon as you get out into the countryside, the game felt very different. The landscape doesn't feel as repressed and I felt like it was almost a different game for a short while. Then you get into Ravensholm. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of the game, most likely because I can see the beginnings of what would eventually be Left 4 Dead (also made by Valve, of course). This place is SCARY. An abandoned city teeming with head-crab zombies and creatures. You're all alone, and ammo is rather short. I had more then one jump-out-of-my-skin moments as I played through it. You eventually make it out and must go through an area infested with antlions, large bug-like creatures that are incredibly aggressive. At one point, you have to avoid stepping on areas of sand lest the antlions get riled up and attack you in mass. However, towards the end of this section of the game, you actually get to control the antlions. They end up aiding you in breaking into a Combine prison and rescuing Eli Vance, one of your allies. You eventually end up back in City 17 helping the resistance fight the Combine. You eventually defeat Dr. Breen and the Combine citadel, the alien structure which is the Combine's base of operations, and that ending leads into Half-Life 2:Episode 1. Overall, the story is well-written, very captivating and makes the gamer want to see it to the end.

The creepiness that is Ravensholm.

The graphics and details of this game are amazing. The designers clearly payed close attention to small little graphic details in the scenery, such as trash littering the simplistic apartments that the people of City 17 inhabit. Not only that, the faces of the NPC's you interact with are expressive and realistic (especially for the time that this game came out). While these are somewhat minor pieces of the game, they make the gaming experience that much better. The sounds of this game are also integral to the experience. The music is only played at certain times, but is well-crafted and fits with the futuristic feeling of the game. Also, the sound effects and noises of the enemies are well thought out. Most of the time, their sounds will help you prepare for what's coming, such as the Combine soldiers communicating on their radios or a head-crab making a little chittering noise. The scariest and most disturbing of these noises is the muffled screaming of a head-crab zombie. It is truly creepy and upsetting.
 The controls are easy to adapt to and the weapon system is fairly easy to navigate. I like that you can carry a full arsenal of weapons versus having to choose between only a few that you can carry at once. I also like that the game makes you use just about every gadget or weapon by placing certain obstacles or puzzles in your path. There was also more then one puzzle that had me stumped for at least a few minutes. However, one thing I have noticed and like about Valve games is that while they want to challenge you with their game puzzles, they don't make them so complicated that they are impossible to figure out. I never became overly frustrated with the obstacles I encountered in Half-Life 2.

If for some reason you've never played this game before, definitely make time to do so. And according to Speeder, now I know the pain of all Half-Life 2 fans in that after experiencing the cliff-hanger ending of Half-Life: Episode 2, I have to wait impatiently to see what happens next whenever Valve decides to release the next game.

Hell breaks loose on May 15th.....

As you can see above, Diablo III finally has a release date and is now up for digital pre-sale over a Blizzard.com.

Mad Dog Mcree will ride again on the 3DS eShop

The classic FMV laserdisc/arcade game Mad Dog Mcree will find it's way to the 3DS via the eShop sometime this summer. Engine software is the company in charge of porting the game and said that it will not take advantage of the portable's stereoscopic 3D,  Ruud van de Moosdijk VP of development having said:  "because how were you gonna do that?". How indeed?


 Via: Nintendo World Report

Steampunk George Washington is completely terrifying

I know I've been posting a lot of videos this week but I couldn't resist this latest from Bioshock Infinite featuring a mechanized evil George Washington. I'm guessing these are the Big Daddies of the Infinite world and that thought is equally cool and scary.

WTF Star Wars Kinect!

Today's post was initially going to be about the controversy surrounding the on-disc DLC for Street Fighter X Tekken but then I found this Star Wars Kinect video and feel a need to lay down.





Now I understand that not every Star Wars game needs to appeal to the core gaming audience but where Lego Star Wars for example takes simple gameplay that's fun for nearly any age range, Star Wars Kinect just looks all kinds of wonky. The worst offender in this video though has to be the dancing mini-game, it is just painful to watch.

Trailer dump: Assassin's Creed III, Halo 4, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

First off we have the official announcement trailer for Assassin's Creed III:

 Next is a first look at Halo 4 which not being made by Bungie but instead by 343 industries (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary):

Finally anyone remember Steel Battalion? The  2002 Xbox Mech simulator that came with a 40 button controller and cost about $200. Well the new one is now a Kinect game and honestly looks kinda cool:

You have my attention now Assassin's Creed 3.

Yesterday a leaked promotional image that was taken by a Best Buy employee made it's way online, featuring the first look at the next Assassin's Creed game.  I have to admit that after 4 games set in the 16th century I was getting a little tired of this series but a Colonial America Assassin's Creed seems pretty bad ass.

In case anyone thinks this might just be really well done fan art, Ubisoft this morning posted the official box art confirming it's authenticity.  

Felon's Femme Fatales: Sarah Kerrigan

Time for another Femme Fatale! And today, I've chosen to talk about Sarah Kerrigan from the Starcraft PC games. As always, there are some story spoilers here. BEWARE!

Kerrigan as her human self.

Kerrigan is another one of my absolute favorite video game villainess'. Maybe it's because she was a heroine before she was corrupted. Or maybe it's because she is a great example of a strong female character. In any case, she is manipulative, deadly, and powerful.

Kerrigan after she is infested.

Kerrigan did not start out bad. She was initially one of the main characters involved in the Terran missions in the first Starcraft game. She was a Ghost, a psychic human. During the course of the Terran missions, she is betrayed and left for dead by her leader, Arcturus Mengsk, the commander of the Sons of Korhal. It is then that she is taken by the Zerg and transformed into the Queen of Blades (as she calls herself), a cross between human and Zerg. She starts out under the control of the Overmind, the being that controls the Zerg Swarm. She willingly serves the Overmind until the point that the Overmind is destroyed (at the end of Starcraft). Kerrigan then spends most of Broodwar ensuring that she alone is in control of the Zerg. She is also still out for revenge on Arcturus for leaving her to the Zerg. She spends most of the Broodwar expansion manipulating both the Terran and Protoss into eliminating her existent and potential threats, namely a new and growing Overmind, which would enslave her mind once again, and the United Earth Directorate whom are also trying to control and harness the power of the Zerg as a biological weapon. The other characters are ever suspicious of her and yet she still prevails in convincing them to help her. Of course, her goals are never what she makes them seem, but this just shows how truly cunning Kerrigan is. And even when her plans are laid bare, she is merciless in order to  have her goal accomplished, such as when she holds a Protoss character hostage in order to ensure the new Overmind is destroyed.
It's true, Kerrigan is ruthless like any villain. And yet periodically, you are still allowed to see some of her humanity, hidden under her venomous shell. On at least a couple occasions Kerrigan has the opportunity to kill Jim Raynor, a Terran man she was close with, and yet she lets him live. The storyline suggests that it could be because she sees him as no threat, or because she still harbors feelings towards him underneath. This possibility gives her even more depth as a villain. She kills and manipulates to reach her goals, and yet she is not completely disconnected from her human life and bonds. It gives her character more depth.

There is a lot of storyline with Kerrigan through out the current Starcraft games, so much so that I feel like I really can't do her justice. The best way to truly see why she is one of the top rated computer game villains is to play through the games. I'm also excited to see what else is in store for her in Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. In any case, play the games and see why she's one of my all-time favorites!

Mass Effect 3 will be available digitally at launch for the PSN.

When Mass Effect 3 comes out next Tuesday you'll not only be able to pick it up in stores but also digitally over the PSN. The pre-order is up right now and you'll get some exclusive DLC (just like everything else Mass Effect 3 related right now) as well as a PS3 theme for going the digital route.

This is a pretty big deal and not just in terms of Mass Effect. Day-one digital on all platforms is the future of the games industry and this may just be the first of many big releases this year to see a launch day digital release.

Via: PlayStation Blog

So Poison was a dude......Wait?

Kinda of slow news day so far, so here's a nearly 20 minute documentary concerning the gender origin of Poison the Final Fight baddie turned Street Fighter X Tekken fighter. It's a pretty interesting  piece even for people not aware of the history this infamous character.





Via: Joystiq

RETROspective: Alien Versus Predator

That's right, it's time for another RETROspective! Today, I will be talking about Aliens Versus Predator for the PC.

This game was released in 99' for the PC and Apple computers by Rebellion, and was one of my favorite first-person shooters. The best part of this game was that you were able to choose between three species to play: the Colonial Marine, the Alien and the Predator. Each of them had their own single player campaigns which were usually several levels long. Not only that, each species had unique weapons and perspectives.
 The Colonial Marine had weapons and gadgets mostly from the Alien film franchise, such as the flamethrower (Alien and Aliens), the pulse rifle (Aliens) and the motion tracker (Alien and Aliens). Along with that, the Marine was given a normal vision mode and a night vision mode. You also had to find med-packs to heal. I'll say it right now (and I've said it before): the single-player Marine missions were the scariest experience of all three species. Most of the levels were dimly lit and when I my motion tracker make that "bleep" noise indicating something was coming my way, it made my palms sweat. It was even worse when you had to use the infrared vision mode because your motion tracker would disappear. Although the Marine has decent weapons available, he was still rather weak up close. One good hit from an Alien's tail or a Predator's shoulder cannon and you were usually finished, even with body armor. However, of all three species, the Marine was still the most balanced between power and vulnerability.

A rare shot of an Alien, Predator and dead Marine all together.

The Alien was my favorite species to play in this game, and I'm fairly sure it was the first campaign I completed in full. The Alien had no ranged weapons, just claws, a barbed tail and a mean set of inner jaws. This meant that you had to get up close and personal to take down an enemy. But despite this handicap, the Alien was MUCH faster then the other two species and could climb on almost any surface. This helped balance the inability to attack from a distance and made the Alien a fascinating gaming experience. You also had a vision mode to navigate in the dark and a "fish-bowl" vision perspective. While the Alien was powerful in close quarters, it's armor was weakest to the firepower of the other two species. But at the very least, when you were the Alien, you didn't have to worry about getting ambushed by other Aliens (except in some multi-player modes). You could also regenerate health by head-biting an enemy with your inner jaws.

The Predator was probably the most super-powered of the species. His weapons were strong and so was his health. The Predator also had the ability to heal at will as long as he had enough energy. Given the right situations, this made the Predator very tough to beat. He also had four different vision modes: "normal" vision (which is not canon accurate, might I add), infrared, Alien mode, and Predator mode. The Predator's auto-targeting weapons, the shoulder cannon and disc, were tied into these visions and would home in on what ever species was highlighted. This was very useful in single player because there were very few instances where you had to fight Aliens and Marines at the same time. However, in multi-player mode this was actually a disadvantage because if you were playing with humans and Aliens AND Predators, it was inconvenient to have to switch between modes to auto-target them. Still, the Predator was probably the toughest of the species. It took many more hits from the Alien and one of the bigger guns from the Marine to take a Predator player down.

While the single-player campaigns were fun, they were not particularly driven by a deep plot-line. But ultimately, the single-player mode was not the reason you played this game. It was the online multi-player mode that really made this game shine. It was one of the most adrenaline driven and face paced games I've ever played. You had to be on your toes almost constantly to avoid getting ambushed or blown apart. The way you played was also different. You could use what ever weapon you wanted in single player but in multi-player, other gamers had different expectations. You were more respected if you were good with the weapons that took skill to use. A good example was the spear gun for the Predator and the pulse rifle for the Marine. Both of these weapons took more skill to use effectively because one required you to be incredibly accurate with your aiming and one was lower in power and required accuracy. One nice feature online, however, was the ability to lock certain weapons when you hosted a game. So if you didn't want a bunch of Predators disc spamming or a bunch of Marines using the smartgun, you could just lock the weapons. I literally spent weekends playing this game online. It was that entertaining.

Eventually, the online community died out and people moved on. But this game will always have a special place in my heart. And, in writing this segment, I discovered that it is available on Steam (through Valve) so I might just download it and relive some of the excitement I remember from those days. If you're interested in a scary, exciting and (for it's time) unique game perspective, go and download Aliens Versus Predator Classic, turn all the lights off and PLAY THIS GAME!!

Jet Grind Radio is coming to XBLA and PSN!

True Story one of my all time favorite video game soundtracks is Jet Grind Radio for the  Dreamcast and today Sega dropped a video (above) teasing the return of the classic Jet Grind Radio for XBLA and PSN. No release date was given but here's hoping the soundtrack hasn't been striped out because of licensing issues like the previous Crazy Taxi re-release.

Will you be returning to Pandora on September 18th?

And no I'm not talking about Avatar 2 (that would be posted on our not-fake-at-all movie site Do not turn off the Projector), I'm talking about Borderlands 2.  The sequel to the excellent 2009 FPS/RPG hybrid will feature 4 new playable characters and promises 870 GAJILLION more guns. Don't believe me check out the new trailer below.

waring: trailer includes Claptrap wubstep

The future of Do not turn off the Console.

It's been a little over a month since Felon and I started DntotConsole and the response has been tremendous. We have some pretty great ideas planned for the site in the coming weeks/months but we'd like to hear from the you guys. So tell us what you want to see posted here, whether it be more news, RETROspectives, segments like Off the Shelf (which we are working on posting more of), or more posts about video games as a culture.

Let us know in the comments or e-mail Felon and myself and thanks for all of the support thus far.

Cool videos on the web: Real Life Goldeneye and Mass Effect 3

First we have Goldenye 64 in real life which I would argue is better than any game released with Goldeneye in the title since the original:

Next is the launch trailer for Mass Effect 3 that premiered during The Walking Dead last night:

Yes, I've already pre-ordered the Minecraft Lego set.....

Here it is, The official Minecraft Lego set that I mentioned a few weeks back.

I love the little Lego creeper in the first picture. The 480 piece set will be available this summer for $34.99 and can be pre-ordered through Jinx right now.  You can also read the official Lego press release over at The Brothers Bricks website.

What I've been playing: Area 51

So I know it's been a while since I posted, but I have a legit reason! I've been playing the hell out of my birthday present from Speeder: a copy of Area 51 for the PS2. I had all but forgotten about this little gem until recently, and as soon as I got back into it and remembered the controls I just couldn't put it down! So I decided that I should review it. Note: as always, spoilers are possible.

Here's the plot: you are Ethan Cole, a member of a HAZMAT team sent into Area 51 to control the outbreak of a bad alien virus. You proceed deep into the underground complex where all hell is breaking loose and must survive after all your team mates are killed (no big surprise there). On top of this, you also become infected with said alien virus and are able to mutate between human form and alien-monster form.

A view of your wrist HAZMAT scanner.

Cool points of this game:
- To begin, David Duchovny voices Ethan Cole. Funny that he decided to do some voice acting in a game that is also centered around aliens. I can't help but giggle to myself about this. He also uses the Mulder voice when he narrates. Definitely a plus for this game.
- The secrets in this game are also interesting and fun to collect. You're given a wrist-mounted HAZMAT scanner, a little device that you can cycle to in your weapons menu and use to scan items. They're usually a random file folder or piece of paper lying on the floor or on furniture.When you find one of these items, you scan it and a little description pops up as to what it is. It is then added to your "Databank" section in the menu where you can actually view it in full. The contents of these little treasures are incredibly entertaining and thought-out. An example: a file about an early experiment with an alien mutant who escapes the lab, is seen by people, and starts the Bigfoot rumor. A lot of the secrets are about various conspiracy theories and rumors and are tied into what Area 51 and it's scientists have been doing for decades. The amount of detail and thought that went into these secrets definitely add to the game's playability.
- For a game that came out very close to the launch of the next generation of consoles, the graphics and game play are very good. Although I feel like this first person shooter was a little more fluid on the X-Box, the PS2 version is still easy to play.
- Being able to switch between human and alien form is definitely an interesting twist and very helpful with some battle situations in the game. You can actually regain your health by using a ranged attack as an alien, so when you're caught in a fire-fight (and when you have enough in your alien power bar) you can use this attack, gain back some life, and then switch back and start shooting at enemies again. It takes some finesse at first but then becomes second nature.
- The story draws you in. It's definitely not the most intricate storyline I've encountered before, but it still makes you want to play through the game. Also, I cannot stress enough how much the secrets add to the quality of the storyline. While you see all sorts of crazy, horrific stuff when you're in Area 51, the secrets shed more and more light on all the other creepy and disturbing stuff that has happened there or otherwise been caused by those running it.

There is one problem though: Area 51 was not chosen to be compatible with X-Box 360 and is not available for purchase on either X-Box 360 or PS3. So if you want to play it, you'll have to have an X-Box or a PS2 and then find a copy. If you have the means though, please play it. It deserves more credit then it was given. It's just sad that it came out so close to the end of the X-Box/PS2's life cycle. I can only imagine what it would be like if it had been made an X-Box 360 or PS3 game. Oh well, I can dream I guess!

Resident Evil 6 will do something no other Resident Evil has done before.

You will be able to MOVE and SHOOT at same time and Resident Evil 6!

"I know, I'm surprised too!"

Capcom reveled today that Resident Evil 6 will feature an "evolved control system" that will allow players to move and fire weapons for the first time in the long running franchise. Capcom talked about other improvements to it's control system stating the following : "slide; roll in any direction, and to take cover along with the addition of an enhanced melee attack." 


You are really breaking into new territory there Capcom, I would have just been happy with being able to move and reload in Resident Evil.

Via: Joystiq 


Also in news so obvious it doesn't deserve it's own post: Assassin's Creed 3 will be hitting the consoles on October 30, 2012. Get your Pre-Orders in now.

Mass Effect 3 demo is available on Xbox live now...

Go download it......Go NOW!

Or if you just want to watch the first 40 minutes of gameplay click on the video below:

What is the greatest video game ending of all time?

Well according to the Guinness Book of World Records it's.......Call of Duty: Black Ops?

With more than 13,000 votes for the Guinness World Records 2012 Gamer's Edition book, fans chose Call of Duty: Black Ops to have to best ending in all of video games beating out titles like Bioshock, Portal 1 & 2, and Super Metroid.  It should also be noted that Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 & 2 and World at War also placed on the list with Modern Warfare 2 getting 4th after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Halo: Reach.

Now I'm not one to call bullshit on Guinness' wisdom when it comes awarding records but from looking over the list it seems like the voters just picked out a bunch of current favorites and didn't put much thought in otherwise.


Via: Kotaku

This Week In Review: February 10, 2012

Here's the news for this week:

-Tim Schafer and Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend) decided to use Kickstarter to help fund their next game and raised a MILLION dollars in 24 HOURS. The target goal was $400k  in donations and was surpassed in a little over 8 hours after being announced.

-Okay I'm just going to be blunt about this: There is going to be a FPS Battleship game that's based off of the movie being released this summer (see ridiculous trailer here) that is based off of the classic board game. My head hurts now.

-Hey remember that new Star Trek game that was announced at E3 last year? Well it's finally going to come out....in 2013. The release will likely coincide with the release of the next Star Trek movie of which the game based in the same fiction. 

Sorry for the lack of updates this week by the way, I want to say I was just plain busier than usual but in all honesty I been playing Jak and Daxter pretty much non-stop.

Weekly Wrap-Up is moving to friday and has a new name...

New name, same great blogger taste it's This Week In Review and it's being posted on Fridays now! The reason for the move is pretty simple plus the 2012 DICE Summit is going on right now and I'm hoping some actual news from that will come out between now and Friday.

But I will leave you with this Gamespot trailer for Lollipop Chainsaw, which I cannot decide if it's awesome or insane:

What are we playing?

In nearly a month after starting the site, Felon and I realized that we have yet to talk about what games we are currently playing. I've been trying to trudge my way through Heavy Rain (which I may do a post about at some point) and Felon has been playing Area 51 (2005) for the PS2 and replaying Super Mario RPG.

Today however I picked up the Jak and Daxter Collection. While I am a huge fan of Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot,Uncharted) I never got a chance to play these games on the PS2 or really any of the HD collections that have been coming out in past few years. I may do a post on each individual game or one big post when I've finished all three depending on how much time it takes.

Also of note, Felon has played all of the Jak and Daxter games and will be offering her opinions on the updated graphics within my posts.

Naughty Dog almost made Jak and Daxter 4

With the Jax and Daxter Collection coming to the PS3 this week, developer Naughty Dog has reveled to Game Informer that they were originally planning on making a new Jak and Daxter game before scrapping the project and making The Last of Us instead. Naughty Dog co-founder Evan Wells had this to say on the matter:

"Even if we felt like we're going to give the fans another Jak & Daxter, we felt we weren't going to give them the game that they wanted. We would end up limiting the direction that the company had this passion for while simultaneously not creating the game that fans wanted. We just realized we were going to just do everybody a disservice."

  

Wells went on the say "Never say Never, It could happen" in regards to a future Jak and Daxter game. 

Via: Ign

Game ideas - a sequel to Star Wars:Republic Commando

Star Wars: Republic Commando was a first-person-shooter/team game that came out in 2005 for the X-Box and PC. I loved this game not only because it was from a different perspective then most other Star Wars games (i.e. from the view of a squad of clone troopers) but also because you got to control a whole team versus just one character. The game was built around this ability and it was very well done. I can still play through it over and over (in fact, I wish it was longer). I always wished they would have tried to make a sequel to this game, but I can also understand why that would be difficult given the storyline of the Star Wars prequels. But that didn't stop me from thinking one up. Note: there are some game spoilers in here! You've been warned!

There was a short while that I tried out online RPing (role-playing) and while doing a Star Wars RP, I took on the role of Sev, one of the three characters you can give orders to in the game. The time frame was set after the ending of Republic Commando. At the end part of the game, all four of the Commandos must separate from each other to man four different guns while on Kashyyk, as they are helping the wookies there. Ultimately, Sev gets ambushed (heard over comms) and you are ordered to leave him because of the mission. There is a hint at the very end of the game about going back to Kashyyyk but it's never revealed what happens. My Sev was based on this, and so was the game I envisioned.

This is Sev (or RC-1207).

The idea I had was that Sev would turn against the other three Commandos because he thinks that they willfully left him to die on Kashyyyk. He would set up an intricate plan to get back at his brothers and since he was trained the same as them, he would be the ultimate foe. Sev's nature in Republic Commando suggested that of all the squad members, he would be the most capable of turning against them (despite the fact that he does feel loyal to his brothers). Some may say that the clone troopers are unable to disobey given how they were made BUT the Commando units were different from the normal clone troopers. They mention this in the beginning of the game, but it is also elaborated on in the Republic Commando books. The Commandos are able to think for themselves and have the ability and willpower to disobey orders. SPOILER FOR BOOKS: There is even an occurrence of this in one of the books.A random Jedi is saved by a squad of Commandos who disobey Order 66. This was the other part of my game idea. Because these Commandos felt close to the Jedi, they would turn against the other clone troopers and help the Jedi as best they could. And eventually, Delta squad (the squad from Republic Commando) would run into a vengeful Sev in their course of turning against the Empire.
Star Wars: Republic Commando was a solid game. It's sad that they never tried to get a sequel made to it because the gameplay and storyline were great. But I can always imagine what would happen next. That's a little bit of why I'd like to be a game designer: my over-active imagination. In the mean time if you have never played Republic Commando, give it a try! Luckily it is compatible with the X-Box 360.

News Wrap-Up: Feburary 2, 2012

I had a good time with the news wrap-up last week so I'm going to try to keep it as a weekly feature.

-It's been a bad week for THQ with the NASDAQ stock exchange threatening to delist the publisher if can't get it's stock price back up. President and CEO Brain Farrell has taken a 50% pay cut for the year and nearly 240 employees have now been laid off.

-Both Sony and Microsoft stated this week that they have no plans reveal a new console at this years E3 event or release new hardware in 2012.

-Breaking from what seems like the biggest trend in games right now, EA's reboot of The Syndicate will not include an online passcode for it's multiplayer when it releases on February 12. While SSX will ship with an online pass but will not lock players out of the multiplayer but instead will not allow the use of obtaining in-game credits without the pass.

-And finally if like me, you love The Simpsons (at least up till season 10) and you should be excited to hear that the classic Simpsons Arcade is coming to Xbox and PS3 this week. With Xbox users getting it this Friday (800 ms points) and PlayStation Plus members getting it for free as part of their subscription (or 9.99 for non-members) when it arrives Tuesday Feb. 7.

Vita download games cheaper than their retail counterparts

In a move the should have been made when the PSP GO was introduced, downloadable Vita games will carry about a 10% discount over retail boxed copies of the same game. This rumor was initially started when a NeoGAF member posted a picture from the Best Buy database (below) and was confirmed by Shacknews yesterday afternoon.

Sony has yet to offer exact details of the digital pricing but with the Vita launch less than three weeks away, official information should be released soon.

Via: PSNSTORES

Off The Shelf: Trouble Shooter

While Felon and I grew up and different parts of the country, we both have similar memories of buying/renting games based solely on the box art. This new segment is dedicated to that idea.

1991, Sega Genesis

Felon: So, we have two scantily-clad women who are obviously in the future and are dancing on roof tops avoiding gun fire?

Speeder: No no no, you don't get it. They're rogue aerobics instructors with jet packs. They are the only hope in this distopic future.

Felon: With futuristic space ships that verge on copyright infringement from the Aliens movie. Ok, my guess is going to be these two ladies are the protagonists of the game and they are fighting for freedom (or something). Also, some enemy forces are attacking and they have to escape the planet? I don't know...

Speeder: I'm going to go out on left field on this one and say that you  don't play as the aerobic instructors and that you actually play as the ships and you're trying to stop them.

Here's the description from the back of the box:

"When King Fredrick's only son and heir to the throne is kidnapped by Blackball, the mutant military weapons genius, an international disaster seems imminent.

Colonel Patch quickly contacts the "Trouble Shooter" to find Prince Eldon and destroy Blackball and his treacherous robotic underworld. You can imagine his surprise when two gorgeous girls show up, ready to do battle.

Madison and her faithful sidekick, Crystal, go through five stages of violent combat to rescue the Prince. They encounter all sorts of fearful creatures in their adventure throughout Blackball's domain. Will Prince Eldon survive? Can Madison destroy Blackball? Will the girls emerge from Blackball's evil empire safely? Only time will tell........"

Speeder: First off, Madison and Crystal: total stripper names. Second, the name "Trouble Shooter" is singular. Is Madison the Trouble Shooter? Is the name of the company they come from Trouble Shooter? So many unanswered questions!

Felon: Apparently in the future, there is still a monarchy in place. Also, really? You named your antagonist Blackball? That just conjures nothing but bad thoughts. Let's move on to the video of the game play.

Speeder: So pretty much it's a side-scrolling shooter, which based on the box art, surprises me. Also, Colonel Patch literally has an eye patch.

Felon: And for some reason they need a non-futuristic looking car to drive around, and then proceed to fly around with jet packs for the entire game. I don't get it. And the first boss is an awkwardly standing robot that pretty much just stands there and laughs at you while blowing kisses of death? The way the laughter was spelled also killed me. A giant H and a very small A.

Speeder: Look, you always want stronger female protagonists in your games. Beggars can't be choosers.

Felon: Well as they say "Truly, the best man for the job is a woman".

Speeder: You stole that from the back of the box, didn't you?

Felon: Maybe.

Lego Universe 2010-2012

While I'm not a big player of MMO's, it's always sad to see one permanently shut down. As of midnight this morning, Lego Universe shut down all remaining servers. Lego Universe never really caught on with players since it's release on October 26, 2010, even after going free-to-play in August of last year. With the virtual Lego juggernaut that is Minecraft becoming more and more popular over the last year, I wonder if that may be what attracted Lego fans.

In other MMO news the thirteen year old EverQuest will be going free-to-play in March following the success of it's sequel going free-to-play late last year.

via: Kotaku

Felon's Femme Fatales: Eve

Speeder recently showed me a video of a panel had been held at last year's PAX East (Penny Arcade Expo), one of the largest videogame conventions in the US right now. The panel was women on female game characters. They mainly talked about different female characters from video games, both good and bad, and how they felt about these characters from a woman's perspective. This gave me the idea for a new segment: Felon's Femme Fatales. By definition, a Femme Fatale is usually a deadly female character most often in the Film Noir genre of films. But in this case, I will be discussing both antagonist and protagonist game characters. *Warning! There are some spoilers present in this article. If you want play the game, do so and THEN read this!

Eve in her first form, after transforming her host body.

I'm going to begin with the character Eve from Parasite Eve for the Playstation 1. Parasite Eve is one of my favorite horror-RPG type games and it is very largely because of the antagonist by the name of Eve. She is essentially the voice and consciousness of the rebel mitochondria that are wreaking havoc in their attempt to free themselves from "slavery" in the cells of humans.
Eve is a deadly villainess. I mean, she can make people spontaneously combust at will and mutates animals into monsters through-out the game. Despite her unusual appearance, Eve also has a seduction element, making her truly live up to the persona of the Femme Fatale. Her determination to reach her goal is unconquerable. And she's always one step ahead of Aya and the other protagonists in the game. However, one thing that is particularly fascinating about this character is that despite the fact that she is clearly labeled as a destroyer, she is also placed in the position of motherhood, or creation, as well. Eve's ultimate goal is to create the Ultimate Being: a creature that is wholly descended from the mitochondria and is thus unbelievably powerful. She becomes pregnant with this creature in the later half of the game and takes on a form that is very reminiscent of a pregnant woman. There is even one point where Aya discovers Eve in this state and points her gun at Eve, to which Eve calmly responds with a shooshing motion, almost as if to say "don't wake the baby". The birth of the Ultimate Being is, of course, part of Eve's agenda to conquer humanity and is therefore part of her villainy, but it still gives an interesting twist to the character archetype.

Eve's pregnant form. This is when she quiets Aya.

Eve is one of my favorite female characters because even though she is a villain, she still has the traits of a powerful female figure: determination, intelligence, resourcefulness, and strength. And she makes Parasite Eve an excellent game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines delayed until fall 2012

In news that will certainly upset at least half of us here at DntotConsole (that half being Felon Ripley), Aliens: Colonial Marines has been pushed back from it's initial release of spring 2012 to now some time in fall of this year according to a Sega press statement.

A new trailer for the game has also been released today:

Aliens: Colonial is being developed by Borderlands creators Gearbox Software and being published by Sega.

Via: Joystiq

Mega Man has seen better days in this Street Fighter X Tekken trailer.

When it comes to fighting games I've always been on the Mortal Kombat side of the genre. But, the new trailer for Street Fighter X Tekken which features PS3/Vita exclusive fighters such as Cole from Infamous, Pac-Man in some kind of Mech suit, and the MOST INSANE version of Mega Man I've ever seen caught my attention.

While I'm aware that this is supposed homage of sorts to the Nintendo box art of the first Mega Man game, it just makes me think of the hard times Mega Man has fallen on recently. I know things seem rough now Mega Man, with the cancellation of a couple of games and not being included in the roster for Marvel vs Capcom 3 (twice) but you can't let yourself go like this.  How does a robot let himself go like this?

News Wrap-Up

Let me start off by saying sorry for not updating as much as I hoped this week, the news has been a lot of rumors and speculation and I really didn't want to start off the site reporting on unconfirmed reports. So here's a few quick articles from this week:


RUMOR: Rocksteady's next project may be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game - I want this to be true so badly, if there is anyone that should be allowed to do a new TMNT game it's the studio that brought us the best Batman games of all time.

The Next Xbox will have a Blu-Ray player but will not play used games - Ok, to me the Blu-Ray player seems likely (however I think digital distribution will be the big push for the next generation) but the anti-used games thing bugs me. Frankly if Microsoft were to actually go though with this, places like GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy would either not heavily market Microsoft's new console or threaten to flat-out not sell it at all.

THQ moving away from kids games to focus more on "core gamers" - While Saints Row: The Third and Space Marine sold pretty well, Homefront and Red Faction did not and lead to studio closers. I guess we'll see what 2012 brings for THQ. 

Insomniac is done making Resistance games - With Overstrike (Insomniac's first multi-platform game) on the horizon it will be interesting to see if Insomniac makes future PS3 exclusive titles.  

RETROspective: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

 Just about everyone knows who Super Mario is, gamer or not. While I can't speak for everyone, Mario games were a staple for many of us since we first picked up a Nintendo controller. So for my RETROspective I chose to focus on Super Mario RPG, one of the more unusual of the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) Mario titles.

The most noticeable difference between this game and it's predecessors was the fact that, well, it's a turn based role-playing game. I'm fairly sure I didn't even know what an RPG was when I first played it, but I became addicted to it very quickly. Maybe it was the fact that you got to play as other characters besides Mario or Luigi, or that it had a more complicated and involving storyline. Regardless, I loved/love that game. I even remember having a Nintendo Power magazine with strategies about beating each boss, which came in handy on more then one occasion. Being my first RPG, I didn't have a concept of how important it was to level accordingly, so I had a really bad habit of skipping through the side battles and ultimately getting my ass kicked by bosses down the road. Especially that stupid Croco guy. It took me FOREVER to get past him the first time. Any way, onto the game!
You're given five playable characters: Mario (the strong-and-silent type), Mallow (the loveable goof), Geno (the mysterious outsider), Bowser (the tough guy) and Princess Peach (the girly healer). Each character has both physical and magical attacks, though Geno is about the only character that seems to be proficient in both skills at equal levels, i.e. Mario and Bowser are more warrior class and Mallow and Princess are more magic class. Of course, you start out with only Mario and slowly gain more characters. The more I played this game, the more I started to appreciate all the characters for their unique strengths, though I distinctly remember not using Mallow very much when I was younger. His base hit points seemed to be lower then most of the other characters with the exception of Princess. However, the most exciting thing about the different characters was that you actually FINALLY get to play as Bowser! Aside from Super Mario Kart, that was a complete first and AWESOME. I mean you get to play as Mario's arch nemesis. Not many games had offered a role reversal like that before.
The world Mario RPG is set in is unique and different from any of the previous worlds you see in other Mario games. This game certainly pushed the graphics capability of the SNES at the time it came out and despite the fact that games on the X-Box 360 and PS3 would put it to shame now, it still looks good and has functionality even after all this time. It's also one of the few Mario games on SNES that was not a side-scroller.

An example of a typical battle scene in Mario RPG.

The enemies in Mario RPG are interesting to say the least. You get to see a few of the old, familiar faces like goombas, troopas and magi-koopas. But the main quest enemies are...different. They're monsters that are supposed to be living weapons lead by this mysterious boss called Smithy (cause he smiths weapons, get it?) Smithy is trying to take over Mario's world and you, of course, have to stop him. The fact that you are fighting against these living weapons is a strange concept and I would not be surprised if it's supposed to be a social commentary. But in any case, they're jerks and it's really satisfying to defeat them and make them vaporize and turn into coins, kind of like Scott Pilgrim but a tad less dramatic. There are lots of other challenges and side quests too along side the main quest so if you want a break from the story for a short while, you have options.

So to sum up, before this becomes too long (if it hasn't already), here are some of Felon's favorite things about Super Mario RPG: easy to play, engaging storyline, fun and different characters, good music and good graphics for it's time. In short, if you have a Wii, BUY this from the virtual store and PLAY IT! You're missing out on something amazing if you don't. Felon says so.

Mario Party 9's box art is an Amazing Technicolor......Wii game case?

I didn't think the human eye was capable of seeing this many colors at once. Also of note: This is apparently the second version of the box art, the first having left out Luigi. See if you can find him now.

Minecraft is offically getting Lego sets!

I'm a huge fan of Minecraft and after hearing in early December that Mojang had petitioned to have official Lego sets of the popular world builder produced, my mind nearly exploded with the idea of this perfect combination. Well after over 10,000 fans voted on Lego Community site CUUSOO it's officially becoming a reality. No word yet on what the sets will contain or when they will hit stores but I will be sure to post pictures/info as soon as I find out.

Via: Gizmodo

Do not turn off the Console is on Twitter.

As you can see on the right side of the page we now have a Twitter that you can follow us on. We will be using this to post quick news updates (because the mobile version of Blogger kinda sucks), sneak peaks at up coming articles/segments, and whatever else we feel deserves a max of 140 characters. So either click on the gadget to the right or use this link: @dntotconsole

Also Felon and I each have our own Twitter accounts:

@FelonRipley

@SpeederVenkman

Things Felon loves mixed with things Felon really.......doesn't care for.

Really should work on a more clever title...

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a Bronie (a male My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fan) but I have enjoyed the handful of episodes I've seen. Felon on the other hand wasn't as thrilled to see one of her favorite childhood shows remade (the word atrocity came up a few times within the first episode).  So feelings were decidedly mixed when I showed her this video:

 For the record, my favorite Pony: Pinkie Pie.

Amy may not be terrible, you may just be terrible at playing it.

Well we can't all be Resident Evil and Silent Hill...

Anticipated downloadable survival horror title Amy came out last week on the Xbox marketplace and was almost instantly taken to task by reviewers (24% on gamerankings and a 34% metacritic at the time of this post) with terms like "broken, buggy, and unfinished" dominating reviews and message boards. With it's release on The Playstation Network this week, Amy's official Facebook page posted the follow response to the criticisms:

 "We believe this is part of the survival experience we tried to build as we wanted the game to be challenging.However, we actively listen to the community and comments and hence recommend the non-hard core gamers to launch the game in EASY mode (in the settings) for now.This will give them a much more pleasant and smoother experience, especially as the checkpoints are scarce."

I can respect the fact the developer (or whoever runs Amy's Facebook page) doesn't want to say that the game is bad, especially so soon after release. However, to put the blame on the people playing, not to mention paying for the game, is a poor way of addressing the issue. 

Something else that bugged me was this sentence: "Indeed, AMY has been #1 in the daily XBLA charts since its launch in all major territories and players have rated it between 3 and 4 out of 5 on XBLA and more than 4 on the PSN despite the controversy." I'm assuming the "controversy" they are speaking of is the majority of bad reviews and the fan reaction to this. Researching further I could only find one decent review from Austrian gaming site GamingXP (still a 76/100) and less than a handful of people on message boards saying they enjoy the game despite it's flaws. Look, not every game can be critically under-appreciated and yet find a strong fan base (i.e. Deadly Premonition). Sometimes a game is just bad.