Mashing buttons since 1984
Everybody remember this? Now we’ve got some proof:
(I don’t know why YouTube’s videos have gone all diarrhetic the last couple of days, but it works.)
I’m really starting to like what the fine folks at Criterion are doing. Yes, I will still pay for it. My only concern is that they’ve not said how much.
Just a few days left before Christmas and we’d thought we’d share our wishes.
Nat: I want for SEGA and Team Sonic to stop making crappy games with Sonic and create a new Sonic game in the same vein as what Capcom did with Mega Man 9. Bring back to speedy glory.
Ehergeiz: I want Capcom to put out a Resident Evil 5 demo on Live before Christmas, which would be like tomorrow or so. That would be great…ah…Christmas wishes. Come on Capcom don’t disappoint.
Brock: I want the local (and online) game retailers to refuse to sell me any games for the next 12 months so I can get a headstart on catching up on all of the games from the past 2 years. And if they can’t manage that, I guess I’ll go with a new Ace Attorney or Hotel Dusk game.
Tony: Can it be only one thing? If so, I want Dead Rising 2, online co-op (2 or 4 players, doesn’t matter to me) with Frank West making a return as the Zombie Genocider. Another mall setting would be fine (Mall of America, anyone?) or a small, zombie infested, city. I don’t care where. The moon would be fine. I just want Dead Rising 2.
What’s on your wish list?
…at least for Sony products.
TRANSLATION: This anti-theft practice is just ripe for a lawsuit when grandma slits her wrists open with her new PS3 controller packaging so she can get her Sackboy on.
Kudos for them to try and make it easier.
Bad form: announcing this just before Christmas when it’s not available yet.
Good form: what would be better than a Kirk action figure in his most defining moment.
Khaaaaaaaaaaaan!
I don’t know how many times in the last year my wife and I have received a movie from Netflix only to get about five to ten minutes into it and be amazed at the junk Hollywood is putting out. Some of these are PG and PG-13 movies. In the last six to nine months we’ve taken a different approach to consuming a lot of different media. Amazon reviews have been a good source when it comes to books and some movies and close, online friends have been great when it comes to video games.
For a long time, I’ve been wishing for a one-stop place on the web where all aspects of media consumerism are reviewed with the family in mind. Enter a little Common Sense Media.
I’m not for sure how long the site has been around, and I’ve only just come across it today via a new feature on Netflix. However, this site does an excellent job of being descriptive but also being spoiler free. A quick scan of some popular movies, books, and games and they have been pretty much spot on. Some reviews even present some discussion questions you can use with your family if you do decide to let them consume something that may not be normally appropriate for children.
I think I’ll be visiting the site a little more in the future before we decide to allow the boys to consume any type of media. Of course, we’re still going to be more responsible than that by viewing it ourselves as parents before they do. We took them to see Madagascar 2 based on the standards of the first movie alone. We enjoyed the movie, but my wife and I were a little apprehensive taking them to see something that potentially we wouldn’t want them to experience.
Let me step on my soap box for a moment. There will be a time where our boys will see and experience violence, language, bad humor, sex, and all sorts of other things that we won’t let them see now. However, that will be when they are grown up and on their own and, hopefully, have the same level of standards and responsibility that we’ve tried to instill in them. We want them to have integrity and to not be morally corrupt. However, the choice is still their own. Until then, they are my responsibility.
In keeping with our theme of silent cinema. I present Silent Star Wars.
Can a game make sounds other than what’s included on the disc?
Yes. It’s this: suck.
DO: You are an undercover cop looking to bring down all sorts of really unspecified “crimes” of street racers.
TYPE: Open world racer
PLATFORM: Pretty much everything (PS3 reviewed here)
PRICE: $60 (360 and PS3)
MEAT: You’re an undercover cop-street racer who can break the law in order to keep it. Basically it’s done by driving around in an open world that is pointless because it offers nothing in extra game play other than cop chases (which are good for some laughs). If you need to do a race, you just bring up the map and select it. (This game actually does a good job of validating Criterion’s decision to leave the races of Burnout Paradise truly open. Actually, it does a good job of validating a lot of Burnout Paradise. OK, all of it.) The graphics are well below the norm of current generation systems. A caveat: it’s 720p only. You have an HDTV that doesn’t support it, say 1080p or 1080i only, it scales the graphics down to 480p. the result is that games on the PS2 look better. It’s so bad, that you can barely read the text on screen. Oh, did I mention that the game almost comes to a stop when a pack of cars are in front of you. Fortunately, the game is easy. Super easy. You’ll win almost every event–every time. We ended up just driving around trying to set off the cops for chases. It’s was good for some laughs. There is a camera option, but no kudos for the PS3. Save the images to the hard drive? No. They go to EA’s website. Of course, even some of the images you take are out of proportion. Oh, and the cops are crazy…
PERKS: a good selection of cars; it’s over quick; fun for laughs
SCREAMS: to not get that good selection of cars so fast; to have built upon another EA game’s experience with open-world driving; to be made for the standard, accepted resolutions of HD (hint: there are only 2-3. Hitting the odd one doesn’t cut it. Maybe both?); to have an actual, procedural plot; to not, uh…suck
VERDICT: Pass. Come on down to Paradise City. It’s cheaper and better. Don’t even give this a rent. Having not played a Need for Speed game before this did not convince me to try others. I’m glad this game cost me nothing. I am ashamed.
I’d post my gamer card to show I finished the game, but you know, Sony is cutting edge with their stuff right now. Also, has anyone else noticed a trend with the PS3 side of multi-platform games being full of problems?
Say, the next time you want to try to win your daughter back, just get her a pony. The apocalypse just doesn’t cut it. – the Prince.
I deem Prince of Persia to be good. Above my expectations even–and they were high.
This has been traveling around the net on fire for the last couple of days. I spent almost all of last night enjoying it. Certainly the best music/game app on the web right now. Please come to the DS.
There is usually one day a year I go nuts. Ape crazy. Today wasn’t that day. However, I did score a lot of games today. All of them but two are Christmas gifts to my son (read: me) and myself. I’ll only get to touch two of them till after December 25th.
