Fun Games For Free
Bit of War
Bit of War is a free download for your PC, made by Holmade Games, who are also responsible for Pixel Whirled and Hurdle Turtle, both available on the Xbox Live indie arcade. But neither one of them are free, or as worthwhile as Bit of War, so I won’t get into them here. Bit of War follows the familiar story of Kratos defying the lords of Olympus, albeit in a side-scrolling, platformer fashion. A cherub-like Kratos wields his blades of chaos against 8-bit skeletons and minotaurs, with a soundtrack to match. They even have a Game and Watch version of God of War on the site, which is a fun diversion for a few minutes.
Mega Man: Day in the Limelight
This one’s hard, even for a Mega Man game. You play as the boss robots from Mega Man fighting through remixed stages from Mega Man 2. After so many years of having the mega buster, not using it throws the whole dynamic of the gameplay off. It’s a challenge. Or Maybe it’s just me, maybe I suck. Playing as Gutsman is particularly tough because you can’t run with him, only jump, and his attacks are ponderously slow. They have a sequel in beta right now. This game comes from Fusion Fangaming and there’s a bunch of other stuff on there so be sure to check them out.
Spelunky
Spelunky is like the spiritual successor to the 1980s console game, Spelunker. Though that game never deserved any kind of sequel, we got one, and it’s pretty damn good. And if you’ve never played the original or don’t remember it, it was impossibly hard, like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde for NES. Even more obscure? Too bad. Anyway, Spenlunky is far more playable and follows many basic platformer principals, which I’m usually not a fan of but has enough of an adventure feel to make up for it. Armed like a mini Indiana Jones, with a whip, some rope, and a few explosives, your goal is to go relic hunting and find as much riches the bowels of the earth has to offer. This game has already been nominated for a number of awards and is available now for free to download on your PC and will be coming soon to XBLA. The xbox version however has traded its pixely aesthetic for a more polished, cartoonish look. Also, for you toy aficionados out there, they’ll be releasing a set of collectable Spelunky minis along with the game.
Click the links below to check out each games website
Mega Man Legends 3 Revived?
Less than a year ago Mega Man Legends 3 development was cancelled by Capcom. However, that would not be the last we heard of it. A great fan uproar was heard around the world as we all screamed aloud our horror and frustration. Fans have not given up and the demand for MML3 has been thrown down on Capcom’s doorstep. Production of the game was well underway, a prototype was scheduled to be released on the 3DS eshop. It almost seems silly they would cut back on one of their oldest and most adored franchises. Let Capcom know how you feel, sign the petition and join the facebook group.
Wasteland 2 – By Gamers, For Gamers
“By gamers, for gamers” Interplay’s motto – a video game company founded by Brian Fargo, who brought us classics like Planescape: Torment, and of course the lauded Fallout series.
Wasteland, the George Washington of the Fallout series. Actually it’s more like Fallout was the spiritual successor of Wasteland. And I’m not talking about Fallout 3 and New Vegas – those are laughable mutations compared to what Fallout 1 & 2 brought us. Wasteland was THE sandbox game before that term was even used. It existed in an era when games with creativity could thrive and not be shadowed and forgotten because they didn’t sell 2 million copies the first month they’re out.
Why is this all relevant? Because Brian Fargo’s new development studio, inXile Entertainment, is going to bring us Wasteland 2! And this will truly be a game by gamers, for gamers. For starters, a handful of talent from the original Fallout team will be working on Wasteland2. Plus this will be a project free of big corporate publishers (oh how I wish EA never bought Bioware, but that’s another story), they are getting their funding through Kickstarter. They’ve actually already met their budget and will be officially funded on April 17, but if you want to get in on the ground floor, there’s still time to check it out. Besides, the more money they get, the more they can throw into the production of the game and the better it will be.
Maybe you’ve never played the original Fallout games. Maybe you’re first foray into the Fallout universe was Fallout 3. In which case, I feel bad for you. You like Fallout 3 you say, and can’t imagine it not being a first person shooter, and hated all the “useless” dialog in the game? Well then you might as well just forget you read any of this and go on with your life. But if you really want to experience a true open world classic RPG made by the masters of the craft, then do yourself a favor and check out the game.
I got this email update from them, plus you can just find it on their kickstarter page, and rather than paraphrasing it, I’ll just copy and paste the whole thing here:
All of the money we raise through Kickstarter is being spent on making the game. Most of the cost of development is in paying for the team to create the game. There will be a team of engine programmers, game-play programmers, UI engineers, character artists, environment artists, animators, effects artists, UI Artists, sound designers, composers, writers, game designers, systems designers, level scripters, and testers. Not to mention all the interns it will take to handle the mailing out of the physical goods. It is simple math that the bigger this budget gets, the more jobs it will create. The bigger the team, the deeper and bigger the game gets. If you want a deeper and larger game, and we think that you do, you want us to raise as much money as possible to spend on the game.
Did I just hear all 43,000+ of you say ‘How can we help?’
I am glad you asked!!
One thing you will notice in that list of potential jobs above is that nowhere in that list do you see ‘Marketing Lady’ or ‘PR Guy’. That is because we don’t have these positions, nor do we plan to hire them. We want to spend the money on the game, and only the game.
This is where you come in…
All 43,000+ of you are our marketing and PR team. We need your help to get the word out that the Kickstarter countdown is on.
• Post to your Facebook pages with links back to the Kickstarter.
• Follow @BrianFargo on twitter and retweet my Wasteland related tweets.
• Post it to forums where you think it is relevant.
• Send emails out to everyone you know.
• Go to our website and put our Doomsday countdown clock on your website.
• Get a friend or family member to buy in.
• Shout it from the rooftop.
• Do some early shopping for Christmas 2013!
If every person who has pledged manages to get one more person to buy in for $15, we will increase the budget by over $600,000. You can help the project in very tangible ways by helping us get the word out.
Lastly, I am very excited to release the first official piece of Wasteland 2 concept art. We asked the very talented Andree Wallin to help us establish the look and feel of the Desert Rangers. I think this image speaks for itself…
Hope you enjoy it,
Brian
Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril
If you still have a NES console chances are it’s main fear, as it sits alone in the darkest recesses of your basement collecting dust, is that the next time it sees daylight will be at a garage sale, being offered for a sum so low that a desperate hooker would be insulted. Though the NES glory days may be gone, there is no reason to relegate this once mighty titan to just a fond memory. Through an underground community of dedicated fans, 8 bit games have never truly died. Fan made games, and independently produced titles have been in production for years behind the curtains. The most notable game to crawl its way out of obscurity would of course be Battle Kid: The Fortress of Peril. This is not a reproduction or a run of a game that was never officially licensed, but a brand new homebrew IP designed and produced specifically for use on the NES. Do not confuse this for how we got Mega Man 9 & 10 as downloadable titles for the Wii, PS3, and Xbox; Battle Kid comes in official cartridge format.
Battle Kid plays like the bastard child of Mega Man and I Wanna be the Guy. For those of you who haven’t heard of or played I Wanna be the Guy, know that playing it is more frustratingly painful than having a goat chew on your nuts. Battle Kid isn’t quite as hard, but it’s definitely a challenge. The story is largely irrelevant – has any old school platformer ever had a story that mattered? All you need to know is that there’s some evil guys doing evil and you need to break into their lair, destroy the bosses, and win. That’s all the story we ever needed in the 8 bit days. Your ship lands on the outskirts of the fortress and then you’re on your own, figure it out from there and learn the rules of the game as you play. Like many classic platformers, your skills, reflexes, and patience will all be tested. Expect to throw your controller across the room in a monkey-throwing-feces fit of anger because you will die A LOT. One hit from anything kills you and there’s plenty pitfalls, traps, and tricks to trip you up as well, such as fruit from trees falling UP at you as you jump over them. Checkpoints are few and far between as well, making death all the more unforgiving. There are however multiple difficulty settings along with a password feature. Don’t be fooled though, easy doesn’t necessarily mean easy, just means you have infinite continues. And just forget about unfair mode – no continues and no saves, only one life to complete the whole game – which is impossible unless you’re some teenage Asian kid.
From a development standpoint, this game is the Bret Hart of the video game world. And by that I mean it’s the excellence of execution, not a geriatric, operating in a medium that it’s grown too old for. Controls are tight, accurate, and responsive, which is a requirement of any good platformer. Graphics can seem a bit bland at times, but for the most part there is as wide a variety of colors that the 8 bit palette can muster.
Level design is clever and well planned out, offering a lofty challenge but without being too completely unfair. The world is broken down in a Metroidvania style, where instead of defined stages, there is one large seamless map. You are free to explore the areas of the fortress at your leisure, though many areas will be blocked until you obtain the appropriate upgrades after defeating one of the games 8 bosses. My personal favorite aspect of the game is by far the soundtrack. I can only stomach the insane difficulty of the game in small pieces, but the music is always good. 100% authentic, catchy, 8 bit chiptunes, could easily fit into any Mega Man title, and has a quick tempo that perfectly fits the gameplay.
This game is currently available at Retrozone for $30, comes with a full color manual, a dust cover, and should work on any version NES. You can check out a demo of the game in ROM format at the Sivak Games website and also check out the demo of upcoming Battle Kid 2: Mountain of Torment.
Developer: Sivak Games
Publisher: Retrozone
Release Date: February 22, 2010
Playing Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 3 is out. No time for any nonsense this week. Consider this a status update for the indeterminable future.
BIG BOSS WANTS YOU! – The Next MGS?
Many of you have probably already seen this image, so this is nothing new. But what is the “Next” Metal Gear game going to be? Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, will be appearing at his booth at the upcoming GDC for what is an essentially an open casting call for game developers. He plans to take on around 2 dozen programmers, level designers, artists, etc. for spots available in both California and Japan. He says that “the latest Metal Gear Solid is targeted for high-end consoles and PC.”
So here’s my prediction: Cross platform play, which includes the PC, along with development studios on both American and Japanese soil leads me to believe it’s going to be some sort of MMO action/shooter. And I don’t mean anything like WoW, so get that out of your head. That just wouldn’t work in the Metal Gear universe anyway. I’m envisioning something more like the Assassin’s Creed online play mode, but with a more flushed out world and storyline and clear objectives, rather than just a multiplayer gankfest. If not an MMO styled game, it’s definitely going to have a heavy multiplayer focus. I can think of no other reason Kojima would want to have a cross-platform game developed in part by American developers.
I could also be way off my mark. Your thoughts?
Video Game Music – Been Busy
I’ve been pretty busy lately and haven’t really had time to come here and work on anything. No fantastic insights, no new stories, no reviews, haven’t really played anything new lately. I’ve been wrapped up in real world problems lately; Financial issues, car issues, moving, trying to buy a house, get a loan, find new job, etc. A lot of this searching I’ve been doing online and anytime I spend lengthy periods of time on the internet, I need some background music. My music of choice – video game music.
There’s two really good sources of video game music that I always turn back to. A fan of video game music himself who goes by the name, Garudoh, has his own YouTube channel with over 500 listings for games from all systems and all genres. The best part about his videos is that you get a mix of tracks in each one. Instead of one song as a time, he posts videos that are generally about 10 minutes long splicing together various tracks all from the original game soundtrack. The only downside is that sometimes (probably more than sometimes) I get distracted by the video and end up watching instead of just listening. His own website, Gar’s VGM Site, has a more visually appealing interface than youtube, but all links still lead to his youtube channel.
The other is OverClocked Remix. This site has way more music and is updated constantly and is probably one of the first websites that will come up if you do a search for VGM on google. I’m not really a big fan of song remixes, but every now and then I stumble across something worthwhile. OCRemix is more of a huge hub for video game music and fans, so there’s a lot more going on and requires more of an active participation and isn’t as useful if you just want to sit back and listen to music.
There’s way more out there too, but it would take forever to list all the good places to get video game music and the different types and avenues that people have been pioneering in creating their own new video game inspired music. Perhaps another time as we get closer to BlipFest I’ll talk some more about that.
Wii U Getting Renamed – Nintendo’s Next Console
Last year Nintendo revealed their next home console. The Wii U was unveiled to a less than overwhelming reception and it was pretty much unanimously agreed it had the dumbest name in console history. But it was just the project codename… or so we hoped. Nintendo is now rumored to be considering a new name for the console. When I heard this, I knew there was one person I had to contact immediately.
I had the pleasure of sitting with the Nintendo prophet, Jim Peterford. Yes, THE Jimmy Peterford, who back in a 1991 issue of Nintendo Power, predicted the Wii console. Hoping that lightning would strike twice, we united our brains together until divine inspiration bestowed us with the NiRVGSCBAYSi. That is, the “Nintendo Real Video Game System Coming Back At You Suck it” (see how I worked those two lower case i’s in there like the Wii? Clever huh?) This no holds barred approach to naming is symbolic of Nintendo’s intention to show gamers that they’re back and they mean business and they’re more than just a toy for the whole family.
Peterford came up with his own artist’s rendition of what he believed the NiRVGSCBAYSi will look like. The front panel of the console itself seems to resemble a TV remote, which probably implies Nintendo is going more towards being a multifunction entertainment unit. There doesn’t appear to be any ports for inserting external media, which hopefully means there’s a substantial hard drive inside and any data transfer will be wireless. The most notable aspect of the new console is probably the controllers. Taking a more SNES look and style, the remotes are wired, forgoing the wireless motion controllers, thus restricting any sort of motion gaming programmers would throw in. Which is fine, because flailing your arms around and dancing to video games is stupid.
I’m pretty confident Jim Peterford is right on the money with this one. If our predictions are accurate, and they almost certainly are, Nintendo will once again be the top contender in the home console market for hardcore gamers.
PSVita Almost Here
Retail store Vita interactive display
So the Vita is almost available for retail consumption.
I think this is a device that the consumer population does not need. Am I going to get one? Absolutely, but it’s not necessary. Think of all the other devices out there already that do more than what the Vita does. The only thing the Vita has going for it is that it’s a dedicated portable gaming system. But let’s break this down a bit more. Portable? Maybe in the sense that it doesn’t have to be plugged into the TV, but it’s hardly something you could fit in your pocket. Although, the 5 inch OLED screen is the most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen – it actually makes me feel like my vision has gotten better. But still, the system is just too big. Like Sega Game Gear big, but skinnier. It’s basically a small iPad or a large iPod touch, either of which serve as a multipurpose device to a much greater degree. It does however answer my main complaints about those devices. I always felt that gaming on apple products and tablets was a waste of time. The games available for it are largely casual and can never really be considered viable for the core gamer audience. In addition, the lack of button or a control pad of any kind hinders gameplay. The onscreen control pads are awful. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need my large, obtrusive thumbs getting in the way of the action. And without the direct tactile sense of control, they never are as response as an analog stick.
Now since it is a dedicated gaming system, what does it offer in games? There will be 16 games available on the 15th and another 6 by the 22nd. But are any of them a system seller? Uncharted is just about the only game that would be a must buy, and Sony knows it since Uncharted is the only game with a $50 price point. All other games falling somewhere between $30 – $40. Sony wants to cash in on the one game they know everyone’s going to buy. Here’s the list so you can make up your own minds:
2/15
- Asphalt: Injection
- Virtua Tennis 4 World Tour
- Lumines Electronic Symphony
- FIFA Soccer
- F1 2011
- Dungeon Hunter Alliance
- Michael Jackson: The Experience
- Rayman Origins
- ModNation Racers
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
- Wipeout 2048
- Hot Shots Golf World Invitational
- Ben 10 Galactic Racing
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Little Deviants
2/22
- Ridge Racer
- Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen
- Touch My Katamari
- Army Corps of Hell
- Dynasty Warriors NEXT
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma PLUS
Sony has thrown in a few goodies with the $299.99 3g version, most likely due to the poor reception of the system in Japan. An 8gb memory card and a free game download will be bundled in now, making my earlier prediction on the US getting a price drop on the system shortly after launch seem less likely. I still believe it’s a waste to get the system at launch.
I’m surprised at myself that I’m not giving in to my usual, “I WANT THAT!” impulse when it comes to a new console. The last time I’ve cared so little for a system launch was when the Atari Jaguar came out. But I would never insult the Vita to compare it to the Jaguar that way… even though I kind of just did.
Capcom Resident Evil Oops!
Can you spot the mistake? Normally things like this make a nifty collectible but only when they’re not terribly widespread. Apparently the entire first shipment of these got send out this way, so it’s not like they’ll be in short supply. The IGN watermark on the Wii version of Okami didn’t hold up any collectible credibility, so I doubt this will be any different. Wait a minute… Okami.. wasn’t that Capcom too? Capcom, what are you doing?! Where’s your quality control?
