Living with childhood diabetes has to be tough. Bayer is making testing your blood sugar into a game, with Didget, a blood glucose meter that you plug into your DS. Rewarding kids for monitoring their health seems like a great idea. (Just needs Achievements)
July Releases
It’s that time again, the long list of monthly releases. Thankfully, July is mercifully bereft of top-tier games, so we can play catch up with all the good gaming that has come out recently.
Week of July 6th
The Bigs 2
Bioshock & The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Bundle
Week of July 13th
NCAA Football 10
Week of July 20th
Watchmen: The End is Nigh – Part 1 & 2
Rock Band: Country Track Pack
G-Force
Week of July 27th
The King of Fighters XII
Fallout 3 Downloadable Content: Mothership Zeta
Week of July 6th
PDC Championship Darts 2008
Week of July 13th
Birthday Party Bash
Week of July 20th
Little King’s Story
Rock Band: Country Track Pack
Science Papa
Week of July 27th
DT Carnage
Aliens in the Attic
Wii Sports Resort
Week of July 13th
Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery Of The Mummy
Week of July 20th
Science Papa
Chocolatier
Garfield Gets Real
Week of July 27th
Space Bust-A-Move
Sushi Academy
Week of July 6th
Street Fighter IV
Week of July 13th
Helldorado
Week of July 20th
ArmA II
Week of July 27th
Bionic Commando
East India Company
Memento Mori
Week of July 13th
NCAA Football 10
Week of July 20th
Rock Band: Country Track Pack
Watchmen: The End is Nigh The Complete Experience
Week of July 27th
The King of Fighters XII
Week of July 6th
CID The Dummy
The Bigs 2
Week of July 13th
NCAA Football 10
Somewhat slim pickings this year.
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.)
Gameplay impressions (Resident Evil 5 and Prototype)
I haven’t posted much lately about games. It seems like I’ve been talking about talking about games, but not actually the games. So, finally, I’ve got some games to talk about: Resident Evil 5 and Prototype.
Resident Evil 5 – After playing the demo a while ago, I told myself I just needed to have an RE4 state of mind to enjoy it. But it didn’t work. I wasn’t “feeling it.” Despite previous experience, I decided to grab a copy of the game and give it a try anyway. After 20 minutes by myself I realized this wasn’t going to work. The AI-controlled Sheva was frustrating almost immediately. I didn’t want to give up, though, and figured it couldn’t get any worse if I played it with James (aka Ehergeiz, who will go by James from now on, since that’s his name) so after scoring a copy for him, we decided to give it a play through together.
I will say this: this game is Resident Evil 4.5. I will also say this: this is not a bad thing. RE4 holds a special place in my heart and I love that RE5 feels so familiar. From the laser sight to the ridiculous idea that first-aid spray is a real thing, this feels like home. That being said, RE4 was four years ago. Game design has changed, for the better. When the game first cam out, gamers complaining about not being able to run and shoot made me want to scream (you try shooting a 12-gauge on the run, big guy!) but now I see what they mean. It can be frustrating. There are other little issues that crop up, but they are harmless gnats on the windshield at 55 MPH.
We’re almost done with RE5. I’m probably not going to review the game, but I would have given it a BUY rating. I am liking it very much. I miss the “What are ya selling?” guy, no matter how ridiculous the weapon upgrade system is (my revolver holds 12 bullets!). I still love this game.
Prototype: The obvious comparisons are going to come up — an open world, a superpowered character and the opportunities for destruction abound. I can’t compare it to inFamous but I can compare it to Crackdown. The similarities are there — climbing to insane heights, jumping, throwing cars, collecting “orbs” and upgrading abilities. But where Crackdowns upgrades were limited and linear, Prototype has tons. Both games have “challenges” outside the main story-line, but again, Prototype outnumbers Crackdown in every way. What Crackdown does have more of than Prototype is charm. The satisfaction you get from climbing buildings in Crackdown is absent in Prototype. You just run up the building and you’re done. No challenge. No frustration, either, but it’s not the same. This is a feeling I get quite a bit with Prototype. I’m enjoying it, but it’s not quite satisfying.
The combat conflicts me. I can’t tell if I’m good or it’s easy. I’d prefer the former, of course, but the challenge hasn’t been there for me. I’ve died my share of times in the course of a mission, but the enemies keep you in health orbs and you can always run away (or hide in a disguise) if things get dicey. Disguise mode is a blast. Anyone you “consume” allows you to become that person. So you can blend in the crowd by consuming a bystander or you can get into an army base by consuming a soldier. It’s a riot. Especially consuming an old man, picking up a car, and run through the streets at high speed. It’s a riot.
The mission structure is fine. It’s easy to navigate your way around the city and find what your looking for. Their version of NYC lacks character that GTAIV’s had, but the game does look gorgeous.
Overall, Prototype has strong BUY potential.
In my hands
In my hands: Red Faction Guerrilla [Xbox 360]
Unfortunately, this arrived at a busy time, I’m not sure how much I’ll actually get to play. I’m knee-deep in Prototype and Resident Evil 5 and I’m heading out of town tomorrow and won’t be back home until after the 4th. I do believe Jason O has a Red Faction Guerrilla review coming up soon, so you’ll have to get your Red Faction fix from him.
In my Hands: Prototype [Xbox 360]
In my Hands: Prototype [Xbox 360]. Impressions to follow, as always.
New Look, New Faces
So if you’ve visited the site in the last 16 hours or so, you probably noticed a new look here at buttonmashing.com. Nat has been working hard on a new theme for the new look. Big Huge Thanks™ to Nat for putting this together, I think things have come together nicely.
Content-wise, things won’t change dramatically around here, but navigation on the actual site will. Now, there will only be two posts on the main page, the most recent post and a “Featured Post,” where we can highlight a post that we think deserves a little more attention or warrants more discussion. This post will change periodically. Recent posts will still be available in the sidebar to the right. Below the Featured Post will be a collection of Asides which are short, Twitter-like posts that don’t really qualify as a “post” but are still things we think are worth a look. Everything will still be available via the feed.
We’re still working on some items, including reorganizing the categories and the links to other sections of the site. This shouldn’t take too long.
If you’re reading the site via a feed reader (which I assume most of you are) things will continue uninterrupted, but we invite you to come down and take a look.
Along with the new look, we’re also welcoming two new contributors to the site. Will and Jason O will be joining the crew to add to the buttonmashing conglomerate. Both have been frequent commenters here at the site and both have done a bit blogging elsewhere. I’ll let them introduce themselves when they get a chance, but we should be hearing from them shortly.
So welcome Will and Jason and welcome all to Buttonmashing 2.0.
[2 Minute Review] The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Does hope really begin in the dark?
DO: You are Riddick, a man with a very high opinion of himself. For some reason, however, he keeps getting caught. He likes the shadows and is willing to stab the occasional obstacle in the head.
TYPE: Stealth/Shooter hybrid
PLATFORM: Xbox 360 (reviewed here), PS3 and PC
PRICE: $60
MEAT: There are essentially two games here. First, there’s a remake of the popular Xbox One game, Escape from Butcher Bay, where you control Riddick as he tries to break out of prison. Having broken out of prison, he finds himself a prisoner of sorts on the Dark Athena, a mammoth space ship. The second game chronicles your attempt to escape once again.
Escape from Butcher Bay concentrates on more of the stealth aspects of the game while Dark Athena is shooter heavy. Butcher Bay has some almost-RPG elements as you can complete missions for fellow prisoners (which basically boils down to punching people in the face) as you try to figure out a way to escape. The hand-to-hand combat is quite satisfying. The sneaking around has its issues and the shooting isn’t perfect. But for the most part, when it’s sticking to one or the other, it’s a heck of a game.
Both games have their problems, I’m not going to gloss over them. As I said, stealth isn’t perfect. If I’m hidden, let me stay hidden. If I’m caught, but can get away, let me have the freedom to move around without being spotted from across the room. The PITCH BLACK room. There are swear-off-gaming-forever moments of frustration. There are also exhilarating did-I-just-do-that? moments that make you forget the aforementioned downers.
It’s a balancing act, but in the end I enjoyed Riddick.
PERKS: Stealth kills are crunchy and will bring a smile to your face, whether you’re beating someone down with the “Peacemaker” or your stabbing them in the head with a screwdriver, it never gets old.
SCREAMS: That it would make up its mind! Either be a shooter or a stealth game, but don’t force me to do a shooter set-piece when all I want to do is hide until the badmen go away. The shooting is well done and fun. So is the stealth. But the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts. Stick to one thing and do it well.
VERDICT: Buy. I struggled with this one. After some of the frustrating moments, I would have said “Rent”. I would have said that it’s not worth the effort. Even after beating the final enemy, I wasn’t convinced. But looking back, taken all together, there is a really fun game here. It’s not a strong, 100% Buy recommendation, but I still feel confident that most buttonmashers will enjoy it.
Good games, dirt cheap
Well, fifty bucks isn’t exactly cheap, but shortly after I wrote about wanting to pick up Red Faction Guerilla, I noticed the 360 version(you’ll have to select 360 instead of PS3) is currently on sale at Amazon.com. X-Men Origins: Wolverine(again, select Xbox 360 once you get to Amazon) can also been picked up on the cheap (combined with the coupon code XMENWLV5 brings it to $33.49 (via Gamerdeals.net)). I’ve heard Wolverine isn’t a sixty-dollar game, but maybe under forty is worth it?
I don’t know how long these prices will last. Just keeping you informed of deals we think are worth your time.
(Note: 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.)
Yes!
Feeling out of it
I was Blockbuster today, perusing the gaming section and thinking to myself, “Self, you are really out of it. Look at all these games you aren’t playing! Get with the program, man.” While I’ve never been able to keep up with all the latest games, I have fancied myself as someone who is “with it” and in the “in crowd” in terms of new games. Sure, I’ve been playing a little Sacred 2: Fallen Angel and a lot of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, but outside of those two, I have hardly played anything new. So there I am at Blockbuster, all the games I want to be playing are staring back at me, beckoning my rental dollars. Games like Bionic Commando, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Tiger Woods 10, Terminator: Salvation and of course, Resident Evil 5. It’s almost blasphemous that I haven’t played RE5, as RE4 is one of my favorite games of all time, and my RE4 translation guide is still one of the highest trafficked pages on the site.
I need to play some of these games.
To make matters worse, more and more games have been popping up, garnering good reviews and generating a lot of buzz. Those games would include UFC 2009 Undisputed, Red Faction Guerilla, Ghostbusters, and Punch Out. And those are just 360 and Wii games. Nevermind the PS3, PSP or DS. Good grief.
So I hope to rectify my recent absence of gaming. I picked up Resident Evil 5 while I was there at Blockbuster and have high hopes (notwithstanding Brock’s recent tweet). Too bad Xbox Live will be down today, I really want to try co-op RE5. Then it’ll be some UFC Undisputed and Red Faction. Oh, and I’ll finish up Riddick, as well. And I’ll have fun, dangit!
How do you keep up? Or do you even try?
Buttonmashing is going to kindergarten!
That’s right, today button mashing dot com has reached the age of a small child. Five years ago today I launched the site.
We’ve got some new stuff coming, including a new look and some new contributors. I’m closing my eyes, making a wish, and blowing out the candles!