Halo: Reach drops in two weeks. Are you ready to join Noble Team?
I can’t stop playing Starcraft 2. It’s an addiction. There were all these games for Xbox that I wanted to try out, but I haven’t turned my Xbox on for almost a month. Limbo is still in limbo, Death Spank has no life, and Final Fantasy is a fantasy. There’s only one game that has a chance to get me away from my mouse and keyboard, and that’s Halo: Reach, so I figured I’d take a look at why.
Inazuma 11 is a soccer game, but it’s pretty different from FIFA
When I was in Japan, I was pleased to see more portable gaming devices being played everywhere, especially on the subway. I hate to admit it, but whenever people were playing on the subway, sometimes I’d try to sneak a peak at what they were playing. It’s like DS stalking. On one particular subway ride, I managed to catch a peek of a kid playing some game that looked like a RPG, but there was something different about it – the protagonist was kicking around a soccer ball. Intriguing… Turns out the kid was playing the third installment of the Inazuma 11 series, a wildly popular soccer RPG series in Japan (and a very popular kids anime). I decided to pick up the first game in the series (in Japanese of course) and ended up playing that for the rest of my trip. What is a soccer RPG? Is the game only for kids? Is it weird to stalk people’s portable gaming choices? (Probably). Hit the jump for answers to all these questions and more!
Jim Raynor looks a lot better than he did in the original Starcraft
I’ve decided to give in and partake in Leveling Down’s Summer of Starcraft. Not that I haven’t been playing hours and hours of the game (much to my wife’s chagrin), but I wasn’t sure if having six straight articles on Starcraft was what the people wanted. Nevertheless, espion4ge has been focused on multiplayer, so I figured I’d give my single player impressions – especially for those of you considering buying this game that might be a little intimidated by the multiplayer suite. Hit the jump for my impressions!
The dastardly LeChuck is up to no good again in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
I really wanted to write about Starcraft 2, but decided to give any non-Starcraft playing readers a break. You’re welcome. (By the way, SC2 is awesome!) During my non-Starcraft time, I’ve been playing through the special edition of Monkey Island 2 which came out in early July. Since I loved the first one and love the Monkey Island series in general, I figured I’d take it out for a spin. So is LeChuck’s Revenge better than the original? Hit the jump to find out.
If you need evidence that gaming is alive and well in Asia, check this out: at the Osaka Aquarium, you can download information to your DS.
I spent a few years in junior high living in Hong Kong, which were major formative years – in my gaming life. After playing NES, SNES, Famicon, Super Famicon, and Street Fighter in arcades with my cousins, I was a gamer for life. When Mrs. cmfl3x and I decided to take a trip to Asia this summer (Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong), I was curious as to what the gaming scene looks like over there these days – to my more adult eyes. Hit the jump from my impressions.
Although the tech has progressed, 3D still gives me a headache. Is it the answer for gaming?
I found this year’s E3 pretty disappointing. Microsoft was all focused on its Kinect stuff, which seems not tailored to gamers at all. Sony focused on the Move and 3D tech, simultaneously pushing their games and their 3D televisions (funny how that works). Meanwhile, Nintendo just played to gamers’ nostalgic tendencies by introducing new versions of a bunch of old franchises. This left me with one question: Where is the innovation?
Everyone knows Rock Band is a huge hit, but what else appeals to non-gamers?
Last week I started the conversation about the types of games non-gamers (specifically, wives and girlfriends) could enjoy or at least tolerate. After laying out some general principles and looking at some broad areas of gaming, this week I’ll be narrowing my focus and talking about some specific genres that might appeal to non-gamers. I’ve organized the games from most appealing to least, in general. As always, your mileage may vary, and I’d love to hear others’ ideas as well!
Is the Wii the only answer to getting non-gamers interested in games?
Any gamer who lives with a non-gamer (generally, the Mrs., but I don’t want to assume) knows the inherent tensions that can arise in the household. “Do the dishes!” (Five more minutes…) “It’s time for bed!” (Let me finish this level.) “We’re going to be late!” (I’m fighting a boss.) “I’m going into labor!” (Let me get to a save point!) These tensions exist in my marriage as much as they might in any other and are compounded by the fact that my wife dislikes glowing rectangles in general. Thus any game that Mrs. cmfl3x and I can find a common interest in is like pure gold.
In this two part feature, I’ll be looking for some of the general principles that a gamer can use to try to find a game that can be enjoyed with a non-gamer. Obviously, your mileage may vary, and each individual user knows their significant other the best, but since I have a particularly difficult to please spouse, I figure I’d share some of my experiences. In Part 1, I’ll be looking at some general guiding principles and some general types of games, while in Part 2 I’ll discuss some specific genres that might house these diamonds in the rough. With examples!
Today’s FPS games need to respect where they came from!
As I’ve mentioned oftimes on this site, I spent a lot of my formative years playing deathmatch in Doom 2 over the modem. I have a lot of fond memories of the game, and after a lot of thought, I finally decided to buy in on XBLA. Since then, I’ve poured at least 20+ hours into it, and I’m not even halfway done, so I definitely have gotten my money’s worth. The question remains, is this old school game worth picking up on XBLA for non-nostalgia reasons? Hit the jump for my impressions and my thoughts on that question.
