New Gravity Rush DLC headed for LittleBigPlanet
Posted: November 19, 2012 Filed under: DLC, News, Video games | Tags: battle royale, dlc, gravity rush, karting, kat, littlebigplanet, playstation all stars, playstation all-stars battle royale, scea, sony, videogames 2 CommentsThere you go.
The Death of the Console
Posted: November 13, 2012 Filed under: Video games | Tags: consoles, death, death of the console, ios, iphone, microsoft, nintendo, sony, unrealistic, video games Leave a commentCall me old-fashioned, but I don’t see the death of the console as a realistic thing in the same way that I don’t see real handheld gaming dying.
Ouya — the open source, Android powered console — is a go
Posted: August 9, 2012 Filed under: News, Opinion, Video games | Tags: 3ds, android, handheld gaming, katsuhiro harada, kickstarter, microsoft, nintendo, open source, ouya, playstation, playstation 3, sony, tekken, vita, wii, xbox 360 Leave a commentYesterday I talked about “The Future of Handheld Gaming” wherein I said quite definitively that phone-gaming is a bit of a fad and true handheld gaming can (and hopefully will, survive).
Somewhat related to that is the news that Ouya — the open source console powered by Android — pulled $8.6 million dollars via Kickstarter. They’ve lined up some companies, too, and well, are now accepting pre-orders. This is huge news, of course: while the Vita has been stumbling its way through cross-play gaming, with an Android console that becomes a huge reality — taking games with you on your cell phone seems to be a real possibility.
The only question is, will developers jump for it?
Katsuhiro Harada — Mr. Tekken — recently said that he believes that a one-console future is the way to go, and while that would make things a cinch for devs and likely help the big three settle their differences, it at one point seemed unlikely. I remember imagining as a kid that that would be the future… I kind of doubt it these days, but with projects like Ouya going big, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are going to have to find a way to compete. Ouya will likely feature tons of free games — courtesy of Android’s already huge library — as well as premium content designed for the Ouya itself. Something open source like this will be ripe for piracy, too — SNES/NES/GB roms on your Android powered console? Probably.
God knows console sales have been interesting over the last little while, but with a retail price that pretty much trounces the competition, not to mention the 3DS and Vita, I’d be worried if I was one of the big three.
The Future of Handheld Gaming
Posted: August 8, 2012 Filed under: Essays, Opinion, Video games | Tags: 3ds, android, cell phone games, facebook games, farmville, handheld games, handheld gaming, ios, mobile, nintendo, phone games, sony, vita 3 CommentsI don’t like talking about “the future of handheld gaming” because whenever you do, someone almost immediately mentions how the handheld console is dead, and long live iOS/ Android. It is a bit of a loaded idea for two reasons:
1) Phones cannot handle “serious” gaming and
2) It is typically said by someone quoting someone else.
“Non-gamer” websites frequently refer to this statement, citing sales numbers and so on, like the insane success of something like AngryBirds. These are the same fools who will then go on, saying how the mega-success of Facebook games like FarmVille are proof of the decline of the game industry itself. It’s typically said by someone who doesn’t know anything, kind of like people who claim to be “social media experts” or “gurus” because they’ve figured out how to use HootSuite. It’s a meaningless sentiment that doesn’t look at much beyond itself. Read the rest of this entry »
Touch My Katamari
Posted: April 2, 2012 Filed under: Review, Video games | Tags: buddy system, dlc, eternal mode, fan damacy, Goro, katamari, katamari damacy, katamari vita, King of All Cosmos, namco bandai, near, ocd, ps vita, puns, rolling, sony, spinning, The Prince, touch, touch my katamari Leave a commentTouch My Katamari is the latest Katamari game and is out on the PS Vita (and has been for awhile). It retains the classic gameplay elements that makes Katamari fun and mixes it up with a new feature, allowing the player to control the width or height of the Katamari, enabling them to squeeze into or under tight places or roll things up in different, possibly easier ways. Read the rest of this entry »
PS Vita Wins Red Dot Award for Exceptional Design Quality
Posted: March 28, 2012 Filed under: News, Video games | Tags: beautiful hardware, design award, design quality, ps vita, quality, red dot, sony, vita 2 CommentsThe very first line of my PS Vita review described the thing as a beautiful piece of hardware — no matter what you think of its performance or its price or whatever, you can’t deny it looks great. Read the rest of this entry »
Motorstorm RC
Posted: March 16, 2012 Filed under: Review, Video games | Tags: big rigs, buggies, cross-platform, cross-play compatibility, evolution studios, free, free ps vita, games, iq, local multiplayer, monster trucks, motorstorm, motorstorm rc, multiplayer, muscle cars, playstation, playstation vita, ps vita, ps3, racing, racing games, racing trucks, rally cars, scion, scion iq, sony, supercars, superminis, vita 2 CommentsMotorstorm: RC is a racing game that is currently free for download on the PS Vita (though you have to endure starting out in a Scion iQ…) and is one of the best racing games I’ve played in a long time.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Posted: March 5, 2012 Filed under: Review, Video games | Tags: bend, camera, chase, dante, drake, drake's fortune, emulation, feminism, golden abyss, Guerrero, jason dante, marisa chase, mass effect 3, nathan drake, naughty dog, patience, platformer, playstation, playstation vita, release, shooting, sniper rifle, sony, south america, uncharted, videogames, vincent perez, vita Leave a commentYou may remember that I am the proud new owner of a PS Vita. My original review was written after only playing a few of the Augmented Reality games, a bit of Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and a few hours of Touch My Katamari. I lauded the machine in just about every aspect, and I still have no complaints.
Playstation Vita
Posted: February 24, 2012 Filed under: Review, Video games | Tags: 3ds, android, augmented reality, circle pad pro, console, ds, ds lite, dsi, handheld, ios, microsoft, near me, nintendo, playstation, playstation network, playstation portable, ps vita, psn, psp, psp vita, sony, touch my katamari, uncharted, vita 2 CommentsI need to begin by saying that the Playstation Vita is a beautiful piece of hardware. Read the rest of this entry »