A tale of two portables. And four games.
The PSP and the PlayStation Network have come a terribly long way in the last year, and if their progress keeps pace, the PSP might supplant the DS as my favorite portable. I submit the following as evidence by way of anecdote:
Calamity befell me last week. And by "calamity," I mean a minor annoyance that almost ruined my Thanksgiving Eve.
Giant Bomb posts a new Giant Bombcast each and every Tuesday. It's one of the highlights of my week and something against which I compare our podcast often.
So you can imagine my disappointment when I noticed Wednesday, Nov. 25, that my iPhone hadn't traded the Nov. 17 episode of the Bombcast for the Nov. 24 episode. Maybe I forgot to sync it Tuesday night, I thought, or maybe I synced before the episode downloaded, in which case the podcast wouldn't have transferred unless I manually synced afterward.
When I tried again Wednesday night, I learned the awful truth: my iPhone wouldn't sync at all, despite multiple reboots of the device and my computer. I would have to restore, a mostly simple process that involves wiping your iPhone's hard disk, reloading the OS and reinstalling all of your applications and personal data. If all of your apps are backed up on your computer, it's a no-loss scenario.
No, but what choice do I have?
But not all of my apps had been backed up. Based on the 38 that did make it, I'd say my phone stopped syncing apps with the computer in September or so. Which means I lost ROLANDO 2, the two GEODEFENSE games and a handful of other portable treasures for good. If I want them back, I'll have to buy and download them again, and even then, I won't have the save data and high scores I had logged beforehand. In a nutshell, that means I'll probably never play those games again, let alone finish them.
See what I mean? Calamity! But the drama throws into sharp relief the wonderful (if expensive) experience I've had downloading games to my PSP over the last few days.
This Black Friday, I'm Thankful for Free Indie Games
While everyone else is out there dropping mad dollars on mega deals, and because there's little interesting coming out till after the holidays, I've been checking my indie sources for stuff that's worth playing. Here are two that stole some of my weekday hours this week.
WE WANT YOU
We Want You is a procedurally generated platformer, which means the levels are generated as you go along. Or fall along, in this case. You play an unnamed soldier who's dropped in a war zone. Your goal is to survive. As you fall towards your ultimate destination, a friendly base, time passes. The longer the war lasts, the more dangerous the enemies strewn across the landscape become. At the start they just sit there waiting for you to pass through their crosshairs, but after the first year they start coming after you.
Not looking too healthy.
As you play, headlines from back home appear on the screen, letting you know which generals are involved in scandals and how many men you've killed so far. The game isn't quite as polished as Spelunky, another procedurally generated game, but it's controls are a little more forgiving. You have unlimited mines, which are used to destroy terrain. You can pick up armor and a lot of weapons, though you'll still spend most of the game bleeding on your pistol.
LEVEL UP
Another 2D platformer for the list. Level Up is inspired by UPGRADE COMPLETE, a vertical shooter where everything, from the weapons to the title screen, have to be bought with points earned in the game. Level Up applies that idea to a lesser degree. The main character's attributes, jumping, running, healing, all improve through use.
Yay! Now I heal better.
At times the game feels like simplified Metroidvania. Large parts of the map are only unlocked after you max out your jump skill, and you can learn a double jump from one of the two tribes populate the world, elephant people and square people. Each group sells upgrades for your main attributes. The square people sell the attributes for full price, while the elephant people sell them for cheap if you can pass a test. But I only completed one quest for the elephant people because gems aren't hard to come by and the challenges were pretty tough.
NEWS
Gaming Day at libraries was a big success, though I guess it's not surprising that games are a good way to get boys in the library. In other library news, Sony donated a thousand PS3s and copies of LittleBigPlanet for Game Changers to libraries and community organizations so kids can make content that uses science, engineering and math skills. Game Changers is a competition that's part of Obama's Digital Learning Initiative.
Square Enix thinks the network is the future of home gaming, though, the guy with the download-only system says otherwise.
Nintendo is really popular with the ladies.
And finally, cactuar!
Ramblomatic Review: "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII"
Remember when "Zack" was just some random dude that Cloud had psychologically switched identities with? Back when we thought there was a real love triangle between Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith?
Those were simpler times.
CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII was supposed to be Square Enix's killer app that pushed the PSP to reluctant gamers. The Action RPG takes place five years before the events of FINAL FANTASY VII, centered around the famed "Nibelheim incident," wherein (spoiler alert?) Sephiroth goes insane.
But Crisis Core is, surprisingly, more than just a history lesson for overzealous fans (though it is certainly that as well). It's an Action RPG with a system unlike any I've seen. Before I make a judgment call on whether or not that's a good thing, let's start by reviewing that history lesson. Again, spoilers aplenty, so don't read any further unless you don't care about the fate of Zack and his cohorts (hint: you shouldn't care that much). Also, non-spoiler warning: this review is way too long for its own good. Expect detailed plot and gameplay analysis.
Jurassic Radio #29: Vas Unprofessional
Want to know a se-ca-ret? There's a new Jurassic Radio, and it's inside the Internet RIGHT NOW.
In this week's show, Pete R. talks Twilight, I freak out about MIDNIGHT RELEASE SYNDROME, and Pat recounts about the topsy-turvy clinical fate of his scrotum. Poor Gameodactyl.
What? You come here to hear about games? What's wrong with you? Get to Giant Bomb or Bitmob or any of the other indie gaming blogs that do this properly? But since you've been asking so nicely, well, we talk about LEFT 4 DEAD 2 lag, the wonder-provoking ASSASSIN'S CREED II and the NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII endgame. Pat, meanwhile, wades through 45 hours of CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII.
We also count down our three most disappointing games of the year. In a word, SCRIBBLENAUTS.
With music from Daft Punk vs. Young MC, Greenday, Roisin Murphy and Toots & the Maytals.
PODCAST
(right-click to save, use player below, or get the show on iTunes here)
Jurassic Radio #29: Vas Unprofessional
00:00 - 27:11 -- One interesting thing
ACT BREAK -- Daft Punk vs. Young MC, "Around the World Vs. Bust A Move"
27:46 - 1:02:51 -- What we've been playing
ACT BREAK -- Greenday, "Welcome to Paradise"
1:03:34 - 1:34:15 -- Top three disappointing games of 2009
ACT BREAK -- Roisin Murphy, "Overpowered"
1:34:52 - 1:58:55 -- The news, what's coming out
OUTRO -- Toots & the Maytals, "That's My Number"
SHOW NOTES
Jumpman Review: "New Super Mario Bros. Wii"
I missed Mario. Sure, there's been a great Mario game on each of Nintendo's last three consoles, but it's just not the same when he's in three dimensions. Mario is the one character that I don't want to see punching bad guys in the face. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII gives me the chance to stomp on goombas again.
Not much has changed. Bowser has stolen Princess Peach, again, and Mario will stomp on any residents of the Mushroom Kingdom who get in the way. And if you haven't played a Mario game since SUPER MARIO WORLD was released nearly 20 years ago, don't worry.The title character has a few new costumes, and he's learned how to jump off of walls, but he's still Jumpman at heart.
In addition to the fire flower and super mushroom common to all Super Mario games and the tiny mushroom that showed up in the Mario for Nintendo DS, New Super Mario Bros. Wii introduces an ice flower, a propeller suit and a penguin suit. The ice flower lets Mario freeze most bad guys into blocks of ice. When in the penguin suit, he shoots ice, swims quickly and can slide on his stomach. In the propeller suit, Mario can shoot straight up in the air and float down. Unfortunately, to get Mario to spin, you have to shake the Wii remote up and down, which isn't precise or very natural. It's not going to kill you often, but it is going to happen once or twice.
The propeller suit is handy, but handles poorly.
But aside from that one irksome control scheme, New Super Mario Bros. Wii oozes polish. Most levels are short, tightly designed obstacle courses that can be dashed through at full speed if you have the skill, and confidence, to jump at each right moment.
Three big coins are hidden in each level, and the coins can be traded for movies in Princess Peach's castle in the first kingdom. These movies are worth unlocking. Some of them reveal the big coins you haven't found yet, some of them reveal secret level exits, but the most interesting ones are the super skill videos that show off amazing precision work by people playing the game. The skill videos are fun to watch and give you ideas for how to up your game, which is important for the multiplayer portion of the game.
Players can work together to play through the game in coop mode, they can compete for scores, kills and coins in free for all, or they can compete for coins in coin battle
Luigi controls the lights while everyone else plays the level.
No mode works well well with two players. My roommate and I did little more than send each other to our deaths when we tried to help each other in coop mode. And if one player has more experience with the game, coin battles and free for all are lopsided and frustrating for the other player. A third or fourth player makes each mode more chaotic. That detracts from coop, but evens the playing field during coin battles and free for all because weaker players can conspire to doom the better players (like Luigi, the jerk).
It's a testament to Nintendo's polish that neither single nor multiplayer mode feels tacked on, and it's hard to say which style of play is more enjoyable. Among the multiplayer options, coin battle is the clear winner for me, but my solo playthrough was only broken by sleep and work. If you have access to three friends who want to play the game, use them, but it's not a big deal if you don't. Either way, "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" is an ode to the two-dimensional side-scrolling plumber platformers of the 8- and 16-bit consoles, and I couldn't be happier.
Family Time Gaming Dos and Don'ts: A Reverse Advice Column
I usually fill my weekly segment with a review of a game. Unfortunately, CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII is a much more involved (read: longer) game than I expected it to be. So enjoy this personal piece in its place, and forgive me for a very "bloggy" post.
Growing up, I was near-addicted to videogames. Most children want to go outside and have to be told to come inside to eat dinner. In my house, mom had to force me to have "outdoor time" with which I could earn "gaming time." No lie.
In an odd twist of fate, there was a Mega Man Soccer for SNES. Neither that nor real soccer is as cool as this NES classic.
One time, a local playmate (and friend to this day: hope you're having fun in Japan, John!) came over to my house. He wanted to play soccer with me in the backyard. My mom was a big fan of this idea and was encouraging him to persuade me to stop playing MEGA MAN 3. But who can resist the temptation of those 8 stages and bosses? And how can you not get excited the first time Proto Man shows up in a stage? Long story short, John's half-hour plea failed and I continued to play MM3.
Another memorable moment, from the blizzard of '93. My father asked all three of his male children to help shovel the driveway (a near impossible task with 18+ inches of snow and primitive tools to deal with it). Apparently, they ended up having a lot of good outdoor winter fun while trying to get the work done. My older and younger brothers participated. But me? I was inside playing SECRET OF MANA, adamant to stay inside, against my parents' wishes. It was a fine experience, but did it rob me of more important family-bonding experiences? Probably. Is there anyone to blame other than myself? Probably not.
I also have plenty of memories of my father threatening to destroy my most current console (NES, SNES, N64, PlayStation, even the PC) either with a hammer or by throwing it out the window. Having talked with many like-minded nerds, I understand that this threat is far more common than anyone would like to believe, and that some fathers out there have actually made good on it (mine, thankfully, did not).
Why am I revealing all of this background information? Truth be told, it's an important exposition to the coming story, that which is being written now. As Auron might say to Tidus, so I say to my children: "This is your story."
My oldest son, Isaiah, recently had his third birthday party. The theme was sports. Presently, he seems really into sports. He knows the difference between each ball type; he loves to kick, roll, and throw a variety of balls; he'll run around the house yelling "I'm running in a diamond!" (baseball). There are real hopes that, even if he's not a terrific athlete (though he may be), he'll at least have the interest in outdoor-ish stuff that I loathed as a child. And I'm happy for him.
But Isaiah also seems to take a keen interest in my favorite pastime. To him, everything is a Nintendo (or rather, "Tendo") since he first learned of gaming devices by watching me play the pink DS. But the PSP, the Wii, and the PS3 are also Tendos. And Isaiah loves watching his daddy play Tendo. Unfortunately, most games simply aren't age-appropriate.
Isaiah is simultaneously scared and excited. He is Tager; my forehead is a non-combatant bystander.
The first negative experience I had with Isaiah was when he watched me play the fighting game BLAZBLUE. Within five minutes he had started slapping his forehead, and then he slapped my forehead. He seemed almost frightened by the television, but he was unable to look away. Obviously, that was a bad parenting move. Lesson learned: no fighting games around the kids (yeah, I should've known that ahead of time).
But even seemingly innocent games, such as THE WIZARD OF OZ: BEYOND THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD had a detrimental effect. There weren't any violent reactions, even during the battle scenes. But, from a visual standpoint, I think there was something that held Isaiah's attention just because what he saw looked so entirely "other" from both the real world and the things he's seen on television. For him, the game was interpreting what he saw on the screens. He rightly recognized Toto as a "doggy," and he knew Dorothy was a "girl." But all the fictional creatures he came across, he wanted to identify them but could not.
What's so scary about this, for me? Well, when it was time to put the Tendo down, Isaiah wouldn't stand for it. It was worse than any other toy being taken away. He wasn't just throwing a tantrum; mentally, he seemed distraught, unable to cope with the transition from "staring at screen" to "oh, hey, it's real life." I know the feeling all too well, though years of practice has gotten me used to the transition.
This is my fear: that my own recreational "habit" of gaming might influence my children, and potentially hold them back from doing far cooler things, like playing outside or reading a book. I don't think video games are a sociocultural evil per se, but at such a young age, do I have any other choice than sheltering them? The "age-appropriate" games released are stupid wastes of time; Isaiah takes no interest in them, and that brand of "edutainment" geared to children ages 3-5 strikes me as either boring, useless, or harmful to a more formal education process.
And so, I leave my thoughts here for you to critique and advise. What should I do to protect my children? Do they need protection at all, or should I just "go with the flow" and let them see and play games? Am I wrong to think that there's something they have that I didn't have, that I should try to protect? Or will their natural propensity towards "sports" be their protection, and I don't have to worry about placing boundaries and restrictions on my own gaming to help them?
This one is too young to notice how awesome my PSP "Tendo" is. She's safe for another few months as my co-op baby-gamer.
Growing up, I was near-addicted to videogames. Most children want to go outside and have to be told to come inside to eat dinner. In my house, mom had to force me to have "outdoor time" with which I could earn "gaming time." No lie.
One time, a local playmate (and friend to this day: hope you're having fun in Japan, John!) came over to my house. He wanted to play soccer with me in the backyard. My mom was a big fan of this idea and was encouraging him to persuade me to stop playing MEGA MAN 3. But who can resist the temptation of those 8 stages and bosses? And how can you not get excited the first time Proto Man shows up in a stage? Long story short, John's half-hour plea failed and I continued to play MM3.
Another memorable moment, from the blizzard of '93. My father asked all three of his male children to help shovel the driveway (a near impossible task with 18+ inches of snow and primitive tools to deal with it). Apparently, they ended up having a lot of good outdoor winter fun while trying to get the work done. My older and younger brothers participated. But me? I was inside playing SECRET OF MANA, adamant to stay inside, against my parents' wishes. It was a fine experience, but did it rob me of more important family-bonding experiences? Probably. Is there anyone to blame other than myself? Probably not.
I also have plenty of memories of my father threatening to destroy my most current console (NES, SNES, N64, PlayStation, even the PC) either with a hammer or by throwing it out the window. Having talked with many like-minded nerds, I understand that this threat is far more common than anyone would like to believe, and that some fathers out there have actually made good on it (mine, thankfully, did not).
Why am I revealing all of this background information? Truth be told, it's an important exposition to the coming story, that which is being written now. As Auron might say to Tidus, so I say to my children: "This is your story."
My oldest son, Isaiah, recently had his third birthday party. The theme was sports. Presently, he seems really into sports. He knows the difference between each ball type; he loves to kick, roll, and throw a variety of balls; he'll run around the house yelling "I'm running in a diamond!" (baseball). There are real hopes that, even if he's not a terrific athlete (though he may be), he'll at least have the interest in outdoor-ish stuff that I loathed as a child. And I'm happy for him.
But Isaiah also seems to take a keen interest in my favorite pastime. To him, everything is a Nintendo (or rather, "Tendo") since he first learned of gaming devices by watching me play the pink DS. But the PSP, the Wii, and the PS3 are also Tendos. And Isaiah loves watching his daddy play Tendo. Unfortunately, most games simply aren't age-appropriate.
The first negative experience I had with Isaiah was when he watched me play the fighting game BLAZBLUE. Within five minutes he had started slapping his forehead, and then he slapped my forehead. He seemed almost frightened by the television, but he was unable to look away. Obviously, that was a bad parenting move. Lesson learned: no fighting games around the kids (yeah, I should've known that ahead of time).
But even seemingly innocent games, such as THE WIZARD OF OZ: BEYOND THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD had a detrimental effect. There weren't any violent reactions, even during the battle scenes. But, from a visual standpoint, I think there was something that held Isaiah's attention just because what he saw looked so entirely "other" from both the real world and the things he's seen on television. For him, the game was interpreting what he saw on the screens. He rightly recognized Toto as a "doggy," and he knew Dorothy was a "girl." But all the fictional creatures he came across, he wanted to identify them but could not.
What's so scary about this, for me? Well, when it was time to put the Tendo down, Isaiah wouldn't stand for it. It was worse than any other toy being taken away. He wasn't just throwing a tantrum; mentally, he seemed distraught, unable to cope with the transition from "staring at screen" to "oh, hey, it's real life." I know the feeling all too well, though years of practice has gotten me used to the transition.
This is my fear: that my own recreational "habit" of gaming might influence my children, and potentially hold them back from doing far cooler things, like playing outside or reading a book. I don't think video games are a socio-cultural evil per se, but at such a young age, do I have any other choice than sheltering them? The "age-appropriate" games released are stupid wastes of time; Isaiah takes no interest in them, and that brand of "edutainment" geared to children ages 3-5 strikes me as either boring, useless, or harmful to a more formal education process.
And so, I leave my thoughts here for you to critique and advise. What should I do to protect my children? Do they need protection at all, or should I just "go with the flow" and let them see and play games? Am I wrong to think that there's something they have that I didn't have, that I should try to protect? Or will their natural propensity towards "sports" be their protection, and I don't have to worry about placing boundaries and restrictions on my own gaming to help them?
Jurassic Radio #28: Luigi the Jerk
I'm trying to get the other two guys together once a week or so for cooperative or locally competitive multiplayer experiences. We managed to do that Sunday about an hour before we started recording via NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII's coin battle.
Holy cow, that game is good. It takes everything I liked about pretty much every Mario platformer since 1985 and somehow blends it into something altogether modern.
But I didn't realize until I went back through the original NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. this week that the Wii game leans on the DS game for so many of its ideas. ("Original new." That's something to chew on.) That's not too much of a surprise, given that they're, well, sequels and all. But a lot of the things we crow about in this week's Jurassic Radio actually have been done before -- and sometimes better -- in this steadily growing franchise.
The red coins, for instance, or the renewed emphasis on topping the flagpole -- that's all stuff that was introduced in the first New Super Mario Bros. Not a problem, certainly, but credit where credit is due.
I go on a little bit about MODERN WARFARE 2 as well, although we're more or less done talking about it for Gameosaurus after today. For my full feelings on Modern Warfare 2, scroll down a few lines or click here. They're not novel or especially well-argued thoughts, but you'll read them because I politely suggested that you do that.
We also finish up our Winning Time with PHOENIX WRIGHT: ACE ATTORNEY, and we breathe three sighs of relief as we look over the mercifully bare release calendar through the end of 2009. I'm knee-deep in both ASSASSIN'S CREED 2 and LEFT 4 DEAD 2, and it feels great to have the fall gaming pile nearly complete. Now we're just waiting on SPIRIT TRACKS, PIXELJUNK SHOOTER and BIT TRIP VOID. Did I miss anything?
With music from The Cure, Danny Elfman and the Hippos.
PODCAST
(right-click to save, use player below, or get the show on iTunes here)
Jurassic Radio #28: Luigi the Jerk
00:00 - 43:11 -- One interesting thing; What we've been playing
ACT BREAK -- The Cure, "In Between Days"
43:52 - 53:48 -- Winning Time II for "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney"
ACT BREAK -- Danny Elfman, "Jack's Obsession"
54:33 - 1:01:56 -- The news, what's coming out
OUTRO -- The Hippos, "Your Time Has Come"
SHOW NOTES
Of Modern Warfare 2 and Dick Armey
In this week's podcast, I speak at some length about my frustrations with MODERN WARFARE 2's attitude, but the nonsense that pours out of my mouth is ... well, nonsense. I want to elaborate on that in print.
But first, know that the superb refinements in the game's competitive multiplayer component -- and the outstanding addition of an addictive, two-player cooperative mode -- are reason enough to pick up the game. For the few of you (6 billion less 6 million or so) sitting on the fence, you're in good hands. Upgradeable perks, new and improved weapon-customization options, killstreak tuning, the addition of deathstreaks; it's everything you could have wanted from what CALL OF DUTY 4 introduced, and it's implemented with the effortless spitshine that Infinity Ward does so well.
I'm terrible at it, by the way; if you see Silent Ender on your deathmatch team on Xbox Live, exit your game immediately and find another match.
Special Ops, a series of one- or two-player missions that can be played split-screen or online, takes the mayhem of Firefight or Horde and condenses it into 23 manageable, repeatable, scripted and voice-acted scenarios. It greatly extends the local playability of the game, especially if you're set on completing each level on the hardest difficulty or within the prescribed time limit.
But the single-player campaign is troubling -- not in a what-about-the-children sense, but in a these-people-are-making-me-feel-stupid sort of way. The story, which is more than just another FPS throwaway yarn, brings back most of the surviving personalities from Call of Duty 4 and riffs on things that happened in that game. Characters who previously went voiceless are imbued with some great rah-rah personality (Kevin "Fucking" McKidd -- Lucius Vorenus himself -- turns his highlands brogue up to 11 as Captain "Soap" MacTavish), the scripted moments are the best in the history of first-person shooters, and you'll be genuinely excited to find out what happens next. As moment-to-moment gunplay goes, Modern Warfare 2 is the most reliably thrilling experience you'll find this year.
Here, however, is a game that has the temerity to quote Edward R. Murrow and Dick Armey in practically the same breath.
No dragons yet, but I'm full of hope
In the past two weeks I've been playing a lot of Dragon Age and a bit of Borderlands. But mostly Dragon Age. Cause it's pretty great, and I hear there be dragons.
BORDERLANDS
Ben and I did the first co-op lap around Borderlands. For a while he had a pair of game-unbalancing revolvers, and I'd have one kill for every three or four of his. But things had mostly balanced out by the last hour or so of gameplay. The end of the game surprised both of us, but that probably has something to do with our tendency to take quests without reading them very carefully.
My only real complaint with the game is that I wish I had more target variety. I killed so many soldiers and bandits. There's little aggressive wildlife besides the skags, and Eridians are rare until the end. There's great variation within the groups, but once you figure out a group's dynamic they're pretty easy to pick apart.
This is me. And this is my gun.
I'm playing through by myself as a berserker. I'm going down the punch-things-really-hard skill tree because I prefer shotguns to rocket launchers. I can take quite a bit of punishment before going down. The play dynamic is very different. I spend very little time hiding behind things now. I just run into the middle of things and hope I can knock everybody out before my meter runs out.
DRAGON AGE
I want to put more time into Torchlight and Risen, but the only game able to pull me away from Borderlands this week has been Dragon Age, a fantasy RPG from BioWare, those guys who did Baldur's Gate.
A lot of what made Baldur's Gate great is in Dragon Age. You have to worry about what your party members think of you (or at least have gifts on hand to soothe the feelings of your evil companions when you do good things). Characters of different alignments argue about what the group should be doing while you wander around towns looking for quests. Combat is an exercise in micromanagement -- complicated by friendly fire and area-of-effect spells, but that's nothing new. I like the changes Dragon Age brings to the table; I'll take mana pools over spell slots any day.
I want to be the guy on the left.
And there's the well thought out world, only this time it's pretty original. Sure, there are dwarfs and elves and orcs (though they're called hurlocks for some reason), but the fantasy basics are tweaked enough that nothing feels ripped out of Tolkien or Dungeons and Dragons. The presentation has been excellent. When Alistair shield-bashes one of the darkspawn, they topple in very fulfilling way.
The story has been pretty engaging, and I haven't had to think this hard about dialogue options since Fallout 2. Options are rarely black and white and rarely redundant. The voice acting is good, but knowing the escape key skips spoken dialogue is essential because I don't have that kind of time. Unfortunately, one of the first important cut scenes is tied to the last line of text in the scene before it, and if you skip that line of text, you skip the movie as well.
The AI is also unfortunate. Your party members aren't bright, but at least you can take control of them. Your enemies have no such luck.
NEWS
Microsoft has cracked down on piracy, banning about 600,000 consoles from Xbox Live. The consoles run modified firmware, which lets them play backup copies of Xbox 360 games, even on Xbox Live. Of course, not every console is modified for piracy, but the Gameodactyl will have to weigh on on whether there's any reason to modify an Xbox 360 to play imported game.
Holy crap, Modern Warfare 2 sold a lot of plastic discs. And PC gamers aren't happy. Kotaku rounds up how it did against other forms of entertainment.
Chris Kohler leads us through the life and times of Nintendo as a video game company. A fitting history lesson for the days before New Super Mario Brothers Wii comes out. Sadly, no mention of why Nintendo release games on Sunday.
Extremer Review: "Space Invaders Extreme 2"
Last year's SPACE INVADERS EXTREME celebrated the 30th anniversary of Taito's classic arcade shooter. Taito and Square Enix released this game on DS and PSP, and an XBLA version was released with extra work from Backbone Entertainment. SIE was a success on all platforms, and it had small but useful differences on each platform. What kept the gameplay alive in this generation was generally simple execution of small features that, taken collectively, forced players to add strategy to their gameplay. No longer would it be a free-for-all "kill everything on screen." Killing what, when, and how many would all make a difference.
So, how do you take something that already went to the extreme, to the extremER? That's the question I pondered while awaiting receipt of my copy of SPACE INVADERS EXTREME 2. And yes, the bad grammar was a part of that thought process. Stupid inconsistent rules for comparative and superlative adjectives.
I was worried that the developers would come to all the wrong conclusions: add tons of not-fun modes that derive too many mechanics from games that aren't Space Invaders; attempt to overwhelm players with an exorbitant amount of stages; add secondary (tertiary?) guns and power-ups that can be activated with the press of a different button; attempt touch-screen functionality on the DS. Any and all of these things probably would've made SIE2 less fun than SIE. Somehow, against all odds, the DS-exclusive sequel came out slightly stronger than the first. And here's how they did it.