I know the Beta started Monday, but between kid duty on Monday nights and Lost on Tuesdays, this was the first chance I’ve had to download the Halo Reach Beta. I’ll be diving in as soon as I hit Publish.
May Releases
Yay, it’s the monthly releases, yay! May has a very solid group of offerings. Never mind the Halo Reach Beta, let’s get to some actual real life games:
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Autobahn Polizei
Week of May 10th
Lost Planet 2
Skate 3
Week of May 17th
Shrek Forever After
Red Dead Redemption
Alan Wake
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Split / Second
Week of May 24th
Blur
UFC Undisputed 2010
Week of May 3rd
Reader Rabbit Kindergarten
Iron Man 2
Week of May 10th
Winter Sports 3
Week of May 17th
Boot Camp Academy
Trauma Team
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Week of May 24th
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Trackmania
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Picross 3D
Dementium II
Week of May 10th
Monster Racer
Week of May 17th
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Color Cross
Week of May 24th
Trackmania
Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force 2
Dawn of Heroes
Week of May 3rd
Burger Island Combo
Out of the Park Baseball 11 Deluxe
Week of May 10th
House
Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
Week of May 17th
Becky Brogan: The Mystery of Meane Manor
Split / Second
Week of May 24th
Blur
Making History 2: War of the World
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Week of May 10th
Quantum Theory
3D Dot Game Heroes
Lost Planet 2
Skate 3
Super Bike World Championships SBK
Week of May 17th
Split / Second
Red Dead Redemption
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Week of May 24th
Blur
ModNation Racers
UFC Undisputed 2010
Week of May 3rd
Iron Man 2
Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake
What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2
Week of May 10th
Naruto Shipuden: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
Week of May 17th
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Week of May 24th
ModNation Racers
Hexyz Force
What are you picking up?
(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)
Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills
I wonder how this virtual reality experiment would translate to the video game world:
Even in virtual-reality settings, men will take risks to impress the opposite sex.
Does playing with a girl (either in person or online, playing in a multiplayer setting) affect the way you handle yourself in-game? I know it has affected me.
Video Game Power Rankings #1
So I’m trying out a new, (hopefully) regular feature on the blog, the “Video Game Power Rankings.” What are the VGPR, you ask? Well, if you’re a sports fan, you’re familiar with “Power Rankings”. Done for just about any sport, on a weekly basis, Power Rankings aren’t a list of the best teams but which teams are garnering the most attention and mindshare. This is usually because they are winning (and therefore the best of the teams) but they go beyond that.
The other day, I was listening to the BS Report (a podcast by ESPN columnist Bill Simmons) and he was talking to Tim Goodman, a TV critic for the SF Chronicle, who does a similar Power Ranking, only with TV shows. I thought “why not do one for video games?” So this is a first stab a new idea. We’ll see how it goes.
The format will probably change as I do this, but the idea will be the same. The rankings will be based on a highly secret and detailed equation known only to me that will hope to capture the popularity of games and gaming topics that are occupying the mind of gamers. These topics will be gathered from blogs I’m following, conversations on Twitter and other community sources. I’ll start with a top five, but hope to build it into a top ten or even twenty. So on to the rankings:
1 (-) – Halo Reach – If you were watching TV Tuesday night, you probably saw the new HD commercial last night for Halo Reach. As if gamers weren’t excited enough for the multiplayer beta starting next Monday.
2 (-) – Ebert and games as art – This one probably would have taken the top spot if I posted it last week, but Ebert continues to claim games are not art. Bloggers and other gamers continue to disagree.
3 (-) – Splinter Cell: Conviction – The long awaited, retooled return of Sam Fisher has been met with mostly critical and financial success. I know I’m enjoying it. Even this “ill-advised” marketing stunt can’t slow down its momentum. I should have my thoughts/review up as soon as I finish the single player.
4 (-) – California’s Supreme Court A hearing about the sale of violent video games to minors bill that will. not. die.
5 (-) – Dead Rising 2 – A personal favorite here. I know it’s still three months away, but I’m getting excited. Not sure how I feel about “Case Zero” (other than “WOOHOO! Another Dead Rising game!) but Bill Harris calls it a demo.
Honorable Mention: The Korean Starcraft/Gambling scandal and Super Mario Galaxy 2’s 2D video.
This is a rough draft and I’ve noticed that it is console-heavy and absent of anything Sony related (unless you count the multi-platform games). This will change moving forward. Any suggestions or ideas where to go forward with this? Is someone else doing this already? Can you do my laundry?
In My Hands
I have mixed feelings about starting this game tonight. I had really hoped to have Mass Effect 2 finished before this disc showed up, but I didn’t quite meet that goal. I also feel like I’m neglecting things around these parts as my blogging has dwindled recently. Hopefully this will spark the writing bug after some good sneaking around tonight.
First impressions to follow…
Pixel Armageddon
I imagine some of you have probably already seen this (it’s been all over Twitter and the blogs) but some of you probably have lives, so it may have slipped past your radar.
UNTIL NOW:
Socialize with us
I’ve added a new little widget to the sidebar over there to your right. You’ll see three sections, three vectors of socialization you can have with the Buttonmashing dot com crew.
The first our little fan page on Facebook. I use Facebook fairly regularly, but I reserve it for people (with a couple exceptions) that I actually have a meat-space relationship with. This includes family, close friends and co-workers. Basically, people I’ve shared air with at one time or another. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to interact with other people on Facebook, especially you guys, so this fan page will allow for that interaction. Becoming a fan will allow us to discuss things that may not fall within the realm of the blog, but would still be interesting to chat about. For now, I just have the site feed hooked up to the Facebook page but in the future I hope to do a little more with the fan page. A contest perhaps.
The next section is the Twitter accounts of those of us writers that use Twitter. I’ve used it a little less than I normally do, but I’ve been busy during the day, which is usually my Twitter prime-time. I use Twitter more as a listening device which works for me. I’d love to hear from you outside the confines of the blog.
Finally, I’m playing around with the Google Friend Connect. If you have a Google Account (and at this point, who doesn’t) you can become a “member” of the site. This allows me to put a name with a face of you guys, which I appreciate. It’s similar to becoming a fan on Facebook, with a lot less interaction and functionality.
Sure, we’re bit behind the times with a few of these, but I’d love for you to follow us in whatever way you’re most comfortable with.
April Releases
It’s that time again, time for the long list of monthly releases. April is anemic. Splinter Cell and Monster Hunter Tri and… Let’s Garden? Not much to get excited about this month.
Week of April 5
Borderlands Double Game Add-On Pack: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned / Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot
Week of April 12
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction
Week of April 19
Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper
Week of April 26
NIER
Super Street Fighter IV
Record of Agarest War Limited Edition
2010 FIFA World Cup
Dead to Rights Retribution
Week of April 12
Pirates Plundarrr
Attack of The Movies 3D
Flip’s Twisted World
Week of April 19
Monster Hunter Tri
Week of April 26
Let’s Play Garden
2010 FIFA World Cup
Week of April 5
Montessori Music
Week of April 12
Sea Park Tycoon
Week of April 19
Casual Mania
Dementium II
Beat City
Week of April 26
Let’s Play Garden
Week of April 5
Margrave Manor 2 The Lost Ship
Borderlands Game Add-On Pack The Zombie Island of Dr. Nex and mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot
Week of April 12
Pure Hidden
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Mystery P.I.: Lost in LA
Week of April 19
3D Hunting 2010 MBX
Week of April 26
Jumpgate Evolution
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction
Week of April 12
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Week of April 26
Dead to Rights Retribution
Super Street Fighter IV
2010 FIFA World Cup
NIER
Week of April 12
Blood Bowl
Week of April 26
2010 FIFA World Cup
What are you picking up?
(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)
Conquered: Bioshock 2
- I loved the little details they added to the weapons after upgrading them in the first game and they packed a bunch of good ones in the sequel. The Steam Punk theme was strong once again
- Exploration played an obviously huge role in the first game. Exploration in the sequel was fun but a little of the sheen had worn off. The new areas of Rapture were still interesting and slimy.
- We were given two views of Rapture at its zenith. Both times were excellent. I wish more time was given to Rapture when it was actually rapturous.
- This will be expanded upon in a future post, but some of the weapons were very satisfying. Playing as a Big Daddy was also equally satisfying. There were times when I didn’t feel as powerful as the Big Daddies seemed in the first game, but overall there was a weight and heft to your actions and it felt good.
- I don’t feel like playing it again. It was a good game, but I’m ready to move on. That doesn’t usually happen to me with games. There usually isn’t as definitive of an ending for me with games. Even after playing the multiplayer for a while, I felt like I had accomplished everything I wanted to do with the game. I think that’s a good thing.
You say potato…
So I’m working on a post in which the concept of the “melee attack” will be part of, and it got to thinking what the right way to say the word “melee” was. Me, I normally say “may-lay“. I’ve also heard “mee-lay” and “mee-lee” (but never “may-lee“).
So I’m wondering: which camp are you in? Which was is the right way?
I’m also wondering: what are you playing this weekend?