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Gamers USA Video Montage

2009-11-10T01:54:00.000-05:00

Gamer USA video montage from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

The new theme song for Gamers USA by John Brand called "8-Bit Boy".
This is not the new intro video, but just a montage to let you hear the entire song.

GamersUSA Podcast #7!

2009-10-07T12:24:00.002-04:00

Check it out!

Gamers USA Podcast #7 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

On podcast number 7 we review Halo 3: ODST, Forza 3 Demo, Need for Speed Shift, and Left 4 Dead Crash Course.

Videos: Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2.

2009-10-06T19:04:00.005-04:00

These are the latest trailers for both Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2. We talk about these in our latest podcast (episode 7, that has not yet been posted) and so I'm posting them here so you'll know what we're talking about.

This is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.

This is Battlefield Bad Company 2.

We hope you like them as much as we do. CoD:MW2 is due out 11/10/09 and BF:BC2 is due out 3/2/10. Both are being released for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

Podcast #6

2009-09-22T09:24:00.003-04:00

Here's podcast #6: The music extravaganza.

We talk about Guitar Hero 5 and Beatles Rock Band.

GamersUSA Podcast #6 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

GamersUSA Podcast #5!

2009-09-02T00:39:00.001-04:00

GamersUSA Podcast #5 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

In this episode we discuss Microsoft's exclusivity contract with Netflix as well as a possible search feature being offered in an upcoming update. Also, we review Konami's "Guitar Hero Killer" Rock Revolution, and talk about the Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo. We talk about Sony's keynote at Gamescom and their "announcement" of the PS3 Slim along with the 3.0 system update and what we can expect from it.

Email us! gamersusa@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter! @gamersusa

GamersUSA Podcast #4

2009-08-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

GamersUSA Podcast #4 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

In this episode, we discuss some recent Gran Turismo 5 news, talk about the NXE Dashboard Update, and review Fallout 3 DLC "Mothership Zeta" and "Turtles in Time Re-Shelled".

Follow us on Twitter! @gamersusa
Email us! gamersusa@gmail.com

Gamers USA Podcast #3

2009-07-30T20:44:00.001-04:00

Here it is.

GamersUSA Podcast #3 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

In this episode, we taste test the not-so-new-but-now-really-cheap Mountain Dew Game Fuel (WoW Edition). We discuss Xbox 360's new faster dashboard update, give our opinions on 'Splosion Man, a new XBLA game, talk about Activision's apparent overkilling of games and franchises, show off a fake Gran Turismo 5 car list, and touch on Raptr's newest endeavor: a multiplatform IM client.

Email us! gamersusa@gmail.com

Follow us on Twitter! @gamersusa

Video: Metroid Prime Trilogy Trailer

2009-07-23T23:29:00.002-04:00

I don't think I've ever been this excited about games I've already played before.

Coming August 24th, 2009. Only on the Nintendo Wii.

-CA

GamersUSA Now on YouTube!!

2009-07-23T00:36:00.001-04:00

Check out our YouTube channel!

http://www.youtube.com/gamersusa1

Don't forget the "1"!

haha....

Outtakes from Podcasts 1 and 2

2009-07-23T00:34:00.001-04:00

A little bit funny.....a little bit weird....

GamersUSA Podcast 1 and 2 Outtakes.... from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

Podcast #3 Teaser

2009-07-23T00:33:00.000-04:00

Two words: Game Fuel....

GamersUSA Podcast #3 Teaser from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

GamersUSA Video Podcast #02

2009-07-20T19:19:00.003-04:00

GamersUSA Video Podcast #02

In this episode, we review DLC for Fallout 3 and Burnout Paradise, take a look at Battlefield 1943 (downloadable for both Xbox Live and PSN users), and discuss some of the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles.

GamersUSA Video Podcast #02 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

Oh, Movie Games....

2009-07-13T01:29:00.003-04:00

Ok, kids, let me just get right to it. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (the video game, of course) is freaking ridiculous! This game is how the movie should have been. I'm tired of Hollywood studio executives and their skewed view on what should get made and how it should be made. I'm beginning to think that they just want to market a product without actually making it playable. Its almost like they assume that we, the consumer, will just buy any product that get tagged along with a movie release. "Hmmmm, let's make a a game out of this movie, but we only have like a year, but it needs to come out". Its almost like they're saying, "let's just completely forget about QA because we have a deadline to meet". Thats exactly what happened to E.T. for the Atari 2600. It was made in six short weeks. Why? because this "new-fangled video game console" was out and this movie just had to have a video game tie-in. In short, people hated it. Every copy of that game that did not sell in stores, is currently buried somewhere in the New Mexico desert. I guess the bottom-line is, all movie games don't have to suck so bad. If someone would just take a minute to think about the fans and the thousands of people you're disappointing by releasing a terribly made, "zip through QA", complete massacre of a film adaptation. Maybe you would sell more copies if you just gave a little extra, Hollywood game developers.

Oh, and, Wolverine? you and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay are now the only two movie games that dont suck complete ass. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Prince Caspian...

-JD

GamersUSA Video Podcast #01

2009-07-08T20:23:00.006-04:00

Well, kids, here it is. Our very first video Podcast. In this episode, the team discusses some of the more important announcements and unveilings at this year's (2009) Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Enjoy!

GamersUSA Video Podcast #01 from GamersUSA on Vimeo.

Questions or Comments? Email us at gamersusa@gmail.com

Or just Tweet us: @gamersusa

-JD, CA, and D

Forza + Gran Turismo = Racing Ecstasy

2009-07-07T10:23:00.008-04:00

This year's E3 unleashed what is for gamers who love racing: Heaven. Both Turn 10 Studios (T10) and Polyphony Digital (PD) showed up to L.A. with their guns blazing and both left everyone in attendance saying, "I WANT IT NOW!" Unfortunately for Gran Turismo fans and gamers who only own a Playstation 3, there is still no official release date for Gran Turismo 5. Rumors have come about with a release date slating it for November in Europe, but there has been no official word from PD. Though, unlike T10's secret approach with Forza 3, PD has been slowly letting gamers get a taste of Gran Turismo 5 via the Playstation Network with Gran Turismo HD Concept and later with the "supersized demo" Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. T10 has kept Forza 3 a secret (even though we all saw it coming) up until E3, then surprised everyone with the release date of October 27th, 2009. So let's break down both what has been speculated and what has been officially said for both games.

Let's start with Forza Motorsport 3. Officially, T10 came out at E3 showing that yes the game is coming and it's coming out on October 27th, 2009. They've said that it will be on 2 discs, there is a collector's edition that comes with bonuses such as: "Forza Motorsport 2GB USB Storage and keychain: Show off your Forza pride with these specially branded items. Forza Motorsport VIP Membership* and Exclusive Car Pack*: Want to be a top painter, tuner, driver or just more active in the community? VIP membership is the way to get yourself noticed. Includes special treatment within the online Auction House, Community Storefront and on the Forzamotorsport.net forums. Also includes 5 of the hottest cars from the roster of Forza Motorsport 3, available only through your VIP membership. Exclusive Collector’s Edition Car Pack*: This one is for the fans. This pack includes 5 cars that have been hand tuned and hand painted by the developers at Turn 10 to fly the Forza Motorsport colors. Exclusive Forza Motorsport 3 Theme:* Customize your Dashboard experience with this limited availability Xbox 360 theme." -(Gamestop.com) Also T10 has officially said that there will be over 400 cars in the game (excluding DLC and CE cars) as well as over 100 tracks.

The biggest aspect of Forza is and has always been realistic physics and T10 claims to have raised the bar yet again. Officially T10 has revealed that there will be obscenely realistic physics all the way down to tire flex. Also they have shown that you can, in fact, roll your car in the game and that if you mess up during a race you can press the back button to enter rewind and try and fix whatever it was that you did wrong without having to restart the race. T10 has also said that the car models in Forza 3 contain 10 times the number of polygons from the cars in Forza 2, in other words, the cars look like sex. As far as game modes are concerned, "An innovative single-player season mode puts you through a completely personalized racing calendar that includes more than 200 different events, including Circuit, Oval, Drag, Drift and Timed Events. No two calendars are the same; they react to the cars you love and the races you enjoy most. In addition, the online multiplayer mode* gains an all-new game rules editor. This gives players a never-ending variety of ways to play with friends." -(Forzamotorsport.net) the only other things that have been officially revealed are the prices ($60 for regular $80 for Collector's) and a few cars which I will list after we talk speculation.

What would the internet be like without speculation? We're not going to find out! Ever since the leak of the Forza 3 logo, there has been TONS of speculation about the game, and the devs at T10 just fueled the fire for fun as well. Before the game was announced, the weekly pitpass report that is posted by the T10 devs on their site Forzamotorsport.net talked about "their next big thing" and "water physics". With the logo leak, speculation got as far as the next big thing being Forza Watersports. Someone actually photoshopped the logo to turn the M/roman numeral 3 into a W. It was really quite ridiculous but a lot of people bought into it. Thankfully it was proved false with the unveiling of Forza 3 at E3. But this has me thinking, they haven't officially said that there was going to be weather effects in the game... but they kept talking about water physics. So via the powers of speculation, I'm almost assuming that there will be weather effects in Forza 3. T10 has said that the modification of cars in Forza 3 is much more in depth than Forza 2, but didn't go into detail. One thing that I am hoping for is more tuning options, particularly with boosted cars. Boosted cars have a tendency of having an absurdly high PI rating (which is returning for Forza 3). If we could adjust the boost pressure, we could better tune our cars to specific PI levels so that we can use them in more races. Also, with the inclusion of timed events and drift events, it makes you wonder if the point-to-point races and tracks will be returning from Forza 1. Uphill and Downhill tracks like the point-to-point ones in Forza 1 are perfect for drifting. There has still been no mention of rally racing though T10 has said that they still have tons of feature to announce. There has also been speculation of time of day effects. It's going to be a long few months. Of course, the most speculated thing for racing games is always the car list. So here is a list of confirmed and rumored cars for Forza 3. The cars in the list are speculated unless otherwise noted.

Alfa Romeo:

8C (confirmed)

Audi:

R8 V10 (confirmed)

R8 race car (confirmed)

R10 TDI (confirmed)

TT-S

Aston Martin:

DBS (confirmed)

DB5 Vantage (confirmed)

DB9

Bentley:

Speed 8 (confirmed)

BMW:

V12 LMR (confirmed)

'08 135i (confirmed)

'09 M3

Cadillac:

Northstar LMP (confirmed)

'09 CTS-V (confirmed)

XLR

Chevrolet:

'06 Corvette Z06 (confirmed)

'09 Corvette ZR1 (confirmed)

'10 Camaro SS

Cobalt SS

Dodge:

Challenger SRT8 (confirmed)

Viper SRT10 ACR (confirmed)

Charger SRT8

Ferrari:

F333SP (confirmed)

California (confirmed)

F430 Scuderia (confirmed)

599 GTB (confirmed)

F50

F40

Enzo

FXX

Fiat:

500 (confirmed)

Ford:

GT (confirmed)

'68 GT 500 KR (confirmed)

'10 GT500

Focus RS

Honda:

NSX (confirmed)

Fit (confirmed)

Civic

S2000

Infiniti:

G37 (confirmed)

Jaguar:

XKR-S (confirmed)

XJ220

Lamborghini:

Murcielago LP-640 (confirmed)

Murcielago LP-670 SV

Gallardo LP-560-4

Lexus:

IS-F (confirmed)

Lotus:

Elise (confirmed)

Evora (confirmed)

Maserati:

Gran Turismo (confirmed)

Mazda:

Mazdaspeed 3

RX8

Mercedes-Benz:

CLS 63 AMG (confirmed)

SLR (confirmed)

ML 63 AMG (confirmed)

SL 65 AMG BLACK (confirmed)

Mitsubishi:

Evo VIII MR (confirmed)

Evo X GSR (confirmed)

Evo IX

Eclipse GSX

3000GT VR-4

Nissan:

GT-R multiple gt class race cars (confirmed)

R390 GT1 (confirmed)

370Z (confirmed)

Sentra (confirmed)

GT-R R33 (confirmed)

GT-R R35

Versa S (confirmed)

GT-R R34

Silvia S15

Pagani:

Zonda C12-S (confirmed)

Zonda R

Porsche:

997 GT2 (confirmed)

997 Turbo

997 GT3

Carrera GT

Caymen S

Subaru:

Impreza STi (confirmed)

Toyota:

GT-one (confirmed)

Yaris (confirmed)

Supra

TVR:

Sagaris (confirmed)

Speed 12

Now on to Gran Turismo 5. Though Forza has taken the throne from the racing kings at PD, Gran Turismo 5 may just be what it takes to reclaim that throne. PD hadn't said much officially about GT5 prior to E3. They said it would have tons of cars and super realistic graphics and not much else. GT HD Concept was more or less GT4 reskinned in HD. GT 5 Prologue, as PD said, is about 1/100,000 of what GT 5 will be. It shows a few cars, a few tracks, and a little bit of the new physics. So what all happened at E3? They announced that GT 5 will include NASCAR, FIA WRC, damage modeling, weather effects, and time of day effects. With the inclusion of NASCAR and FIA WRC brings forth many questions such as, how will the races take place exactly? Will you just randomly have a NASCAR race or will there actually be a league with points and everything? Same goes for FIA WRC. The beginning of the GT 5 E3 trailer shows someone walking in DuPont racing gear exactly like Jeff Gordon's, but whether Jeff Gordon is in the game or they just rendered matching racing gear is in the air. While the game plans to take up all 50GB of space on the dual layer blu ray disc, it does make you wonder how far will they actually take it?

Without a release date still and without much official talk of what will be in the game, I can't quite comment on GT 5 as much as I can on Forza. Will they be able to get roll overs like Forza? Will their new physics engine compare to the one that Forza blew GT3 and 4 out of the water with? This is all speculation of course. Gran Turismo will likely have a larger car list than Forza just based off what they have done in previous games and their larger disc space. Even with 2 dual layer dvds, Gran Turismo 5 has more than twice the space Forza 3 has to use. But will Gran Turismo suffer the repeating cars that past GT games have? Will there be 300 different kinds of Civics again? Will all the american cars sound like vacuum cleaners again? Will you be able to mod the cars in more detail? Will you be able to mod race cars again? Tons of questions still remain. As far as car lists go, you can pretty much rest assured that everything from GT HD Concept and GT 5 Prologue will be in Gran Turismo 5. The tuned versions of the cars on the GT5-P list will likely not return, though, that is assuming they bring back the option to mod your car (which they better bring back or I'll be pissed!). Obviously you can add stock cars from NASCAR and a few rally cars the list.

From GT 5 E3 trailer:

Various NSX gt class

Citroen rally car

Various GT-R R35 gt class

Maserati MC12 gt class

Various Supra gt class

350Z gt class

RX7 gt class

Ford Focus rally car

Suzuki rally car

Subaru WRX STi rally car

R33 Skyline (clearly modded)

Ford GT (clearly modded)

Corvette Z06 (clearly modded)

Bugatti Veyron? (can't tell, if it is, it's modded)

Mercedes Benz SLR

Mazda 787B

Audi R10 TDI

From GT HD-C:

1995 Suzuki Cappucino

1989 Mazda Eunos Roadster

2004 Honda Integra TYPE R

1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR

2006 Infiniti G35 Coupe

2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GSR

2005 Lotus Elise 111R

1994 Nissan SKYLINE GT-R Vspec II

1995 Toyota Celica GT-FOUR Rally Car

2006 Ferrari 599

From GT5-P:

Acura NSX '91

Alfa Romeo 147 TI 2.0 TWIN SPARK '06

Alfa Romeo Brera Sky Window 3.2 JTS Q4 '06

Amuse S2000 GT1 Turbo

Amuse/Opera Performance Gran Turismo 350Z RS

Art Morrison Corvette'60

Aston Martin DB9 Coupe '06

Audi R8 4.2 FSI R tronic '07

Audi TT Coupe 3.2 quattro '07

Blitz Dunlop ER34 '07

BMW 135i Coupe '07

BMW 135tii '08

BMW M3 Coupe '07

BMW Z4 '03

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6) Tuned Car

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 '06

Citroen C4 Coupe 2.0VTS '06

Clio Renault Sport V6 24V Tuned Car

Daihatsu Copen Active Top '02

Daihatsu OFC-1 '07

Dodge Viper GTS

Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe

Dodge Viper SRT10 Coupe Tuned Car

Ferrari 512BB '76

Ferrari 599 '06

Ferrari F40 '90

Ferrari F430 '06

Ford Focus ST '06

Ford GT '05

Ford GT Tuned Car

Ford Mustang V8 GT Coupe Premium '07

Honda Integra TYPE R '04

Honda NSX Type R '02

Jaguar XK Coupe '06

Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione '91

Lexus IS F '07

Lexus IS F Tuned Car

Lotus Elise 111R '04

Lotus Elise 111R Tuned Car

Lotus Elise '96

Lotus Elise Tuned Car

Mazda Atenza Sport (2007 Tokyo Motor Show reference exhibit)

Mazda RX-7 (FD) Special Tuned Car

Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD) '02

Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD) Tuned Car

Mazda RX-8 Type S '03

Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG '02

Mine's BNR34 Skyline GT-R N1 base '06

Mini Cooper-S '06

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GSR '05

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR Premium Package '07

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR Tuned Car

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GSR Tuned Car

Nissan Fairlady Z Version S '07

Nissan GT-R '07

Nissan GT-R Proto '05

Nissan Skyline Coupe (V36) Tuned Car

Nissan Skyline Coupe 370GT Type SP '07

Nissan Skyline Coupe Concept '07

Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec II Nur '02

Nissan Skyline Sedan 350GT Type SP '06

Peugeot 207GTI '07

Peugeot 307cc Premium AVN '04

RE Amemiya FD3S RX-7

Renault Clio Renault Sport V6 24V '00

Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STI spec C Type RA '05

Subaru Impreza WRX STI (18inch BBS Wheel Option) '07

Suzuki Cappuccino '95

Suzuki Cappuccino Tuned Car

Suzuki Cervo SR '07

Suzuki Swift Sport '07

Suzuki Swift Sport Tuned Car

TVR Tamora '02

TVR Tuscan Speed 6 '00

Volkswagen Golf GTI '01

Volkswagen Golf V GTI '05

Both games seem to have taken their own unique route, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Some final details if I may. Forza 3's native display is 720p though the Xbox 360 will easily display it in 1080p and most will notice nothing different. GT 5 is native 1080p. Both games claim to run at a smooth 60fps. I'm getting them both, pretty much no matter what.

-CA

NEWs UPDATE 7/8/09: Forza 3 developer Che has just revealed via Forza Motorsport forums that there will NOT be weather effects, night races, or rally races in Forza 3. :-(

Email us with Questions/Comments!

2009-06-29T23:32:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, if you want to Email us here at Gamersusa with any questions or comments please feel free. We are currently working on trying our hand at a video podcast, so if you have any questions or suggestions, let us know.

Email is gamersusa@gmail.com

Can't wait to hear from you!

-gmusa team

E3 '09 Excitement

2009-05-31T16:05:00.004-04:00

Ok, guys, I thought I should just kinda run over some of my hopes and dreams from each of the "Big 3" at this year's E3 show.

Lets start with Sony. There are a few things that Sony really needs to do to get me to play my PS3 a little bit more and one of those things is a better networking interface. I know what you're thinking "what about PSHome, JD?" and I say, what about it? Anybody who has spent more than 10 minutes trying to use it usually stops the second you have to wait in line to bowl in a virtual bowling alley. The idea is cool and all but its just not cool enough. Though they do have a decent online store where you can buy and rent movies in HD and standard, Netflix would definitely not hurt.

Next up, Nintendo. I really just wanna see a new Zelda or Metroid game, but there are some hardware issues that need to be addressed. The first one is obvious: a hard drive. Please. i dont wanna constantly have to re-download all of my virtual console and WiiWare titles every time i wanna play Ecco the Dolphin for the third time through. Also, just an after thought, DVD playback maybe? We'll probably never see that but it doesn't hurt to throw it in there. Oh, and also, i really don't want them to announce a WiiHD or something that has anything to do with that. Not because i don't want to see it, but because i dont want to have to buy another Wii.

Last but not least, Microsoft. What's there to say about Xbox 360? They have an amazing online interface, with an extremely successful marketplace, and Xbox LIVE. But where is the internet browser? Its such a small request and it really wouldn't matter either way, but it would still be cool, I mean, Microsoft does have Internet Explorer. Both PS3 and Wii have their own browser that work extremely well. They can both even stream YouTube videos fairly well.

In closing I would just like to recap: Wii needs a hard drive, 360 needs an internet browser, and Sony just needs to hit the delete button on Home.

thanks for reading.

comments welcome.

-JD

Batman AA (PS3 Trailer) : "FreeFlow" Fighting Style

2009-05-02T01:51:00.003-04:00

...Ok mons here's a trailer i came across, its a new one. This will give you just a peek at an all important feature they've so obviously called "free flow" fighting In Batman: Arkham Asylum, due hit the shelves "ummm sometime this year". (c'mon make a deadline already!) Its pretty self explanatory but the technology is not just goin' be featured in AA but all over soon enough.

I'm excited to see these all new high-def trailers that Devs are releasing. It the perfect medium to express all the kick-ass features that will keep us icing our ankles while standing in line at the local shop. Check it out.......Bane sound awfully like a familiar ill-tempered resident of the Waistland to you?

~eek

More Batman: Arkham Asylum News & Previews

Waistin...my....life.....

2009-04-12T00:50:00.000-04:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Review: Street Fighter IV (PS3, 360)

2009-02-25T17:30:00.002-05:00

Street Fighter is back and better than ever. Capcom's outrageously popular Street fighter series has accomplished "the impossible" in its latest title: reinvent while maintaining the roots of the game. I know it almost sounds like an oxymoron, but I assure you it is not. While all new 3D rendered graphics and beautiful art styling take the series to a whole new level appearance wise, the main gameplay mechanics stay intact. The fighter is still true to the Street fighter II roots in that it is strictly 2D.

A few new characters have been added to the series (Seth, Rufus, and Abel to name a few) but most of the lineup is compiled from you favorites like Ryu, Ken, Guile, and Chun-Li. The gameplay remains solid as a rock while the story remains shallow and lame. There is a new last boss named Seth... and he is the worst part about the game. He is quite possibly the cheapest character in fighting game history. I'm not exaggerating either, I've lowered the final score of the game because it is THAT bad. Also, if you think you can alleviate the situation by lowering the difficulty, you're in for a rude awakening. Seth fights exactly the same in every difficulty so unlocking characters (especially Akuma and Gouken) is not so much fun. (see image below for Seth)
Aside from the gorgeous graphics and solid gameplay, there are several gameplay modes to tickle your fancy. From training mode to challenge mode, this game has a lot to do. Let's not forget the online battle mode either! There really is no difference between the PS3 version and 360 version other than the fact that if you want to use the d-pad for movement, you'll want to go with the PS3 version because the 360 d-pad is just awful. The analog sticks on both consoles are a little sloppy but practice makes perfect. As a side note, I thought I would also share the sexual exploitation in the game. All of the girls in the game have unrealistically bouncy (almost like they float) breasts, and Cammy... well, I'll just show you a picture... The left is the first thing it show when you start a fight with her and the right is her while fighting. I'm not complaining by any means (I love it), but I thought I'd inform :)

On that note, Street Fighter IV scores a 9 out of 10.

9/10

-CA

Review: Noby Noby Boy (PSN-PS3)

2009-02-25T16:57:00.005-05:00

Before I get into this review, I have to address an issue I've found with the Playstation Network. Hardly any of thier games have demos, whereas if you went on, say, Xbox Live... Every XBL game has a demo. Playstation needs to hop on that train... ANYWHO!

From the creators of the strange yet entertaining Katamari Damacy comes this... strange yet entertaining game. Noby Noby Boy! The game's premise is pretty straightforward, you control a character called BOY and you stretch him out and eat things to make him grow. When BOY grows larger, GIRL also becomes larger as well, but that isn't all there is to it. The game has you connected to the PSN and when anyone's BOY grows, it makes GIRL grow (there is only 1 GIRL). Now, GIRL is far larger than boy, and when she grows, she grows outward from Earth to reach other planets. So everyone that owns the game is working together to reach other planets. So far, GIRL has reached the moon and is heading towards Mars. Each planet is a level of the game, so everyone is working together to reach the next level. Pretty unique concept if you ask me.

To those who enjoy more straightforward and/or linear game such as the Halo series, you may not enjoy this game as you will probably start playing and say, "So all I do is run around and eat stuff? This is dumb..." Whereas the more imaginative gamer would think otherwise as there are many things to do as you run around and eat things. In the end, the game is a mere $5 so even if you do not like it, you didn't lose much dough in the process. On the other hand if you do like it, that's a good game for 5 bucks!

Noby does include trophies however there are only a few and there is no platinum trophy. All trophies are attainable without getting to any planets that have not yet been unlocked. There is no word yet though on whether or not they will add trophies as more planets come available or whether the game will continue on past pluto. I give Noby Noby Boy a 7 out of 10. The unique concept and gameplay won me over, but it definitely isn't a game for everyone. The $5 price point helps though!

7/10

-CA

Upcoming games to look out for

2009-02-09T17:06:00.004-05:00

Like most years, 2009 has started out slow with in terms of big games being released. But, alas, January is over and the games are about to flow. Tomorrow, the sci-fi horror shooter F.E.A.R. 2, which has received mass praise after its demo was released, ships out for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. While I didn't write an article about it on here, I was thoroughly impressed with the F.E.A.R. 2 demo and can't wait to get my hands on it. For those who only have a Wii and still want a fun and gory experience, do not worry. Sega has you covered with the all new House of the Dead: Overkill. We only hope that they have improved the voice overs from the past games. That's not all to expect from Sega this week though, for you fans of classics, Sega has created the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360 and PS3. This is not another Sonic compilation game! This game includes 40 (THAT'S NO TYPO, FORTY!) classic Genesis games, oh, and did I mention it's only $30? You want a list? You got it:

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Dr. Robotnik's MBM
Dynamite Headdy
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
E-SWAT
Fatal Labyrinth
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
Shining in the Darkness
Shining Force
Shining Force 2
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic Spinball
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Vectorman
Vectorman 2

There are more games than this that will be unlockable as well. Finally a classic game collection with good games! But this week isn't the end of it! Oh no, in two and a half weeks (Feb 27th) Killzone 2 ships out! Based off the demo (whether you preordered it or downloaded it from the European PSN store), this is going to be a system seller. The PS3 has had a hard time getting a legitimate system seller like Microsoft's Halo series. Metal Gear Solid 4 is probably considered its strongest "system seller" at the moment, but a lot more people would go for an fps then a stealth third person action/shooter. Killzone 2 is a solid shooter with insane graphics (best looking game yet? maybe...) and great action. If the new multiplayer scheme is a winner, Killzone 2 will be a system seller for sure.

If that wasn't enough, psp owners will finally get to dust off their fancy little portables come March 3rd when Sega releases Phantasy Star Portable. The Phantasy Star series has a pretty strong following and his title will hopefully bring some life back into the psp. It is basically a new and updated version of Phantasy Star Universe with a nice wireless multiplayer feature. Does Sega stop there? Nope! They recently announced Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS which is a prequel to the hit title Phantasy Star Online that was released years ago for Sega's Dreamcast, then eventually Xbox, Gamecube, and the PC. No date has been released for that game yet though. Wii fans not happy with the gory'ness of House of the Dead, well Capcom has you covered with Dead Rising: Chop til you Drop which is coming February 24th. Also, for you fans of fighters, Feb 17th marks the day of Street Fighter IV for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Also on March 3rd, Halo Wars for Xbox 360. Microsoft's hit fps goes rts with this prequel to the hit Halo series. A demo is currently available on XBL. March 13th brings Capcom's survival horror series Resident Evil back to life with Resident Evil 5. The demo for that is already out on PSN and XBL for download offering a look at two different levels. If none of the games mentioned in this article appeal to you, then there's something wrong with you. In the next month, there's something for everyone coming out.

-CA

Killzone 2 Demo Downloadable in the US

2009-02-07T12:28:00.004-05:00

Yes, its true, boys and girls. It is possible to download the Killzone 2 demo here in the states. Through a surprisingly easy and deviant process (and legal for the suits out there), you'll be dropping Helghast in no time. To do this, simply hop online to www.playstation.com and create a European account (prefferably a UK account), follow the login process, and your on your way. You do, however have to create a new user on your Playstation 3 console, but that only takes a total of 3 seconds. You might also want to make a new gmail account and tell them that you're in the UK as well. My Playstation 3 is downloading the demo as you are reading this, lets hope it was worth the trouble.

Killzone 2 is slated to release stateside on February 27th, 2009

Thanks to Kotaku.com for the heads up!

-JD

DLC Review: Fallout 3's Operation: Anchorage (Xbox 360, PC)

2009-01-28T01:42:00.004-05:00

The first of 3 downloadable content packs has been released to our 2008 Game of the Year called Operation: Anchorage. After you download the content, when you start your game (once you're out of vault 101 if it's a new game) you receive an emergency radio transmission from the Brotherhood Outcasts. This will place a quest in your quest menu, and a map marker on your map. When you travel to the marker, you will find an Outcast outpost in a big battle with Super Mutants. After the battle you'll be invited into the outpost because you have a pip-boy. The outcasts tell you that there is a large weapons cache that they have found but they cannot open it until they complete a military simulation. None can use the military sim without a computer like the pip-boy. So they offer you the task and in return you will get your share of loot from the cache. *Note: Even if you killed all of the Outcasts in Fort Independence you WILL be able to do this quest. **Image below courtesy of IGN

Once you are in the simulation, you get to see Fallout 3 in a whole new way. This is both a good and a bad thing. It is good because the environments are new and fresh, everything is clean and new, your weapons and armor are brand new so they do not deteriorate, and best of all, there are a couple all new weapons and armor. The bad, well, the content as a whole is very linear. There is a lack of exploration due to the fact that you can only pick up certain items in the simulation. Enemies disappear once they are killed so there's no loot to be taken from them either. You are limited to certain areas of the simulation as well so the whole free-roaming feel just disappears. That does not mean that the content is terrible though. It is still very fun and bring lots of great battles. The story is pretty decent as well.

*Spoilers* After you beat the sim, you get to take everything out of a weapons room which includes some new weapons and armor such as the Gauss Rifle (uses microfusion rounds), Trench Knife (like the combat knife), Jingwei's Shocksword (electric Chinese officer sword), Winterized T-51b Power Armor (and helmet), and the badass Chinese Stealth Armor. This is not all that is in the cache though. There are tons of other weapons and guns throughout, but that is all of the new stuff that you get to bring into your Fallout universe. *End spoilers* My recommendation for maximum loot'age would be to do the sim, then kill all of the Outcasts in the outpost. They all have a lot of weapons and the outpost has quite a bit as well.

In the end, I'd give the DLC a 7 out of 10. It's hard to discredit the content too much because it is still Fallout 3 which is tons of fun and it brings some pretty awesome new stuff to the game. Though it does leave a little to be desired. Also, the 4 added achievements that total for 100 gamerscore are rewarded for completing the quests within the content and nothing more, so no going out of your way for strange achievements. Good thing it is only 800 points as opposed to 1200 or 1600.

7/10

-CA

Review: Resistance 2 (PS3)

2009-01-21T17:53:00.002-05:00

Resistance 2 starts off directly where Resistance: Fall of Man left off. You continue the story at Lieutenant Hale where you get airlifted out of Europe. A lot has changed for this game, versus the first Resistance. The first thing that you will notice is the graphics. HUGE improvement (as you would expect since the first was a launch title)! Everything is far more detailed than in the first game (especially the character models). The very next thing that you will notice is that this game is VERY BIG. Everything about this game is huge! The environments are bigger and better, the enemies are bigger and better, and the game itself is bigger and better. And the third thing that you will notice very quickly is that you can only hold two different guns at a time. While that last one may seem like a downer to some, it actually makes the game better (in my opinion) and more realistic (have you ever seen a soldier carrying 8 guns like you can in Resistance 1? Didn't think so).

The game is very much improved from the first, almost to the point where it makes Resistance 1 seem bad. There is a single player campaign mode as well as a co-op campaign mode. There is a 60 player multi player mode that is almost lag free! Insomniac really brought their A game for this title. Aside from the things mentioned already, they ditched the crappy four bar health system for the regenerative health system that almost all fps's now use (thank god). There is a much bigger variety of enemies and many of them are massive! It is a lot like Gears of War 2 with battle sizes and enemy sizes. Not only that, but they also brought many theme changes to the game as well. Most fps's are either run and gun (halo) style or hide and gun (gears of war) style. Resistance 2 provides a nice blend of the two, where sometimes you will have run and gun action sequences and sometimes you will have large battles in which the duck and cover method is required. Not only that, but some parts of the game even left you with a sort of survival horror feel to it. At one point you have to go through a large train tunnel which has hundreds of Chimera eggs throughout. Needless to say, you don't have nearly enough ammo to destroy all of the eggs, so you have to slowly creep through the tunnel and random eggs hatch and attack you as you do so. It gives a feel much like Dead Space during those sequences. Just before that event in the game, you get a sort of Left 4 Dead feel when travelling through a neighborhood in which all of its' inhabitants have been turned into Chimera eggs, ready to hatch. When you get to certain areas, a lot do hatch and they attack you. Because these Chimera have just hatched, they do not have guns so they sprint towards you and beat you to death (much like in Left 4 Dead) and yes, there are a lot of them, much like in Left 4 Dead when a boomer vomits on you. Anyway, enough with other game references!

The game proves itself to be a serious competitor in the intense competition of FPS games. With the combination of new elements (controls, guns, enemies, environments, etc) it really shines especially if you've played the first Resistance title. They even got rid of the boring narrative story telling of the first for a more personal truly FPS style of story telling. In the end, Resistance 2 gets a 9 out of 10. I'd say it's a much have for PS3 owners. And if you play this game before the first and think you want to go out and buy the first... you might be left disappointed because it is THAT much better than the first.

9/10

-CA