Gammabit | Video Games, Movies, Gadgets and More!

The Death of the Video Game Manual

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:34:00 +0000

Since the mid-90's, Video Game manuals have been on a steady decline. EA announced last week that they are completely doing away with printed manuals in upcoming games.

I suppose the only thing we can blame is the internet, which rendered the manual obsolete. No longer did you need to write down the super-awesome secret you discovered in the "notes" section, you can look it up on GameFAQs. Need to learn how to play? The instructions are in-game now. I suppose it's a natural evolution, but one I'm not particularly in love with, y'know? Maybe I'm just a luddite.

But I like to reminisce to a time before I existed. The late 80's. Around that time, video game manuals were a significant part of the package. When you bought a game, regardless if it was for a home computer or console, it came packaged with a thick manual that was integral to playing the game. There were elements to the story, hints, information about various enemies. All-in-all, it made for an interesting read, sort of like the liner notes of an album.

What was especially interesting about the packaging for Home Computer games in those days, were something that were called "feelies." For those who don't know, Feelies were little objects, relevant to the game that were included in the box. This ranged from maps, thick manuals with back story, or little doohickies like nametags, keychains and other uselessly awesome stuff. We still see them today in the form of "Special Edition Boxsets." Yes, you now pay an extra $10-$20 for shit that used to be mandatory.

Everything but the spooky centipede!

A game that included an interesting pile of feelies was "The Lurking Horror," a Lovecraftian text adventure by the team behind the Zork series of games. The game included a student ID Card, a guide to the fictional University that the game takes place in, and a plastic centipede, which wasn't listed on the box. It's intention was to spook you a little bit before you play the game. Probably didn't work, but it was cool nonetheless.

Anyways, if you read this, I apologize. I just felt like ranting incoherently, that's all.

- Kyle K.

Akalabeth: World of Doom (iOS) Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Richard Garriott (AKA Lord British) is a pretty important man. Not only did he single-handedly bring the Role-Playing genre to Video gaming prominence with his legendary Ultima series, he is responsible for the existence of MMO's as well as being one of the first tourists to ever visit the International Space Station. He's a pretty awesome dude.

His flagship creation, Ultima, is widely regarding as one of the most important video games of all time and is directly responsible for the creation of other legendary RPG franchises such as Wizardry, Dragon Quest and Hydlide. But Ultima wasn't the first foray into gaming for Lord British, thus I bring to you, Akalabeth: World of Doom.

Originally re-released on the Apple II computer back in 1979, developer QuantumToast has brought the game onto the iOS, under the close supervision of Garriott himself.

The game is an emulation of the original Apple II program, everything is relatively untouched, save for some additions for beginner players that we will touch on later.

You play as a Knight, adventuring the land of Sosaria (The name of the world in Ultima I) after finding the castle of Lord British, he tasks you with the slaying of 10 horrifying beasts. Ranging from Giant Rats to the terrifying Balrog.

The gameplay will be somewhat familiar to fans of the Role-Playing genre. You must navigate the randomly generated overworld map, adventure through dungeons in the first-person perspective and slay a variety of creatures. You begin in one of a handful of towns, where you can buy equipment such as weapons, shields, magical amulets and food. Like it's Ultima successors, food plays an important role in adventuring. You need it. Every step you take on the overworld map or inside a dungeon costs some of your food. Thieves and gremlins can also steal it, along with equipment that you own. Run out of food? You starve to death. Simple as that. As with most other RPGs, slaying beasts results in experience points, which allow you to level up and improve your character stats.

The Dungeons of Sosaria are riddle with wireframe beasts, such as the Carrior Crawler Chest.

The visuals and audio are left unchanged from the Apple II original, which keeps the charm of the game. All the creatures are blocky wireframes on a black background. While the audio is just a bunch of beeps, boops and whirs that come standard on a prehistoric platform such as the Apple II.

The iPhone version isn't an exact port of the game, QuantumToast has included a handful of minute additions which make the game a little more accessible to new gamers. These include the ability to save your location (Impossible on the Apple II), find food in treasure chests and the ability to start next to the castle of Lord British. They don't sound like much, but even a seasoned RPG-er is bound to die on the first few descents into the dungeons. Akalabeth also includes OpenFeint, so those who have an account can earn achievements during their adventure.

The game is a classic, Role-Playing Gamers, both hardcore and casual, will enjoy this piece of RPG history. You can download it on the App Store for $1.99. Which is a small price to pay for an engaging retro adventure. Check it out!

- Kyle K.

Nintendo doesn't want "Garage Developers" on their consoles

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:35:00 +0000

I managed to stumble upon this article from Wired which I thought was pretty interesting. Apparently Nintendo doesn't want what they call "Garage Developers" on their platforms.

You can read the original article here. It's a pretty interesting read.

It sucks. Nintendo are draconian when it comes to developing on their hardware. Considering you can get hobby games that are oodles better than a lot of the Third-party garbage that Nintendo releases these days, I think they re-consider their perspective on this.

Look at the Playstation Network and the Xbox Live Indie Games service. There's tons of high-quality stuff developed by hobbyist gamers, same goes with the App Store. It's only so long before Nintendo is left in the dust. What do you think? Should Nintendo allow these "Garage Developers" work on their platforms, or is it a bad idea?

- Kyle K.

Holy SHMUP! A pile of SHMUP Reviews on the iOS!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:33:00 +0000

I'm rather peculiar when it comes to my video games. My two favorite genres happen to be Turned-based Role Playing Games and Horizontal Shoot 'em Ups. Especially the ones from the mid '80s to early '90s, when they were particularly raw and interesting. Unfortunately, both of these genres are pretty much devoid of life on Apple's portable operating system, which makes me a sad Panda. But, they do exist, especially SCHMUPs, here's a handful of SCHMUPs that you may (or may not) enjoy on your iProduct of choice.

Earth Defense Force

Though they share a name, Earth Defense Force has little in common with the Third-Person Shooter on the Xbox 360 (Which is getting a sequel! Yay!) This EDF is a rather solid Horizontal SHMUP that was released by Jaleco in the Mid-90's in Arcades and on the Super Nintendo.

Not the most revered SHMUP, but still a classic nonetheless!

Ported by DotEmu to the iOS, the game itself is left relatively unchaged. Additions include a level select, unlockable weapons and a free-play mode, as well as Game Center achievements. The only turn-off is the games' relatively short length and the difficulty, which curves from super-easy to borderline insane midway through. But if you enjoy old school SHMUPs, it's worth the $1.99.

Aerial Assault

Not the most originally titled Shoot-em-up in the world, Aerial Assault is a Vertical SHMUP, released by GameVibe Studios. The game is completely unrelated to Aerial Assault on the Sega Master System, instead this game borrows heavily from the Raiden, especially in terms of enemy design.

This is the closest thing to a screenshot that exists for this game!

You pick one of three ships, each with it's own weapons loadout and you proceed to shoot everything in sight. The levels are short, but plentiful, each with their own unique Boss. The major gripe is the music, there appears to be a single song throughout the whole game. It's by no means bad, but it's irritating that they didn't include more rockin' tunes. The game is also $1.99. If you're a more hardcore SHMUP fan, you're better off passing on this one.

HotField

Another Raiden-influenced Vertical Shooter, HotField is weird. Instead of touch-based controls like the previous games, HotField has two control options, tilt, which can be occasionally unresponsive and flick, which gives you a digital control pad. The game combines sprite graphics (Stolen from Raiden) and a bit of Polygonal 3D stuff, which looks similar to something on the Sega Saturn.

THE EYES! WHY GOD WHY?!

The game has some sort of plot, which is pretty much impossible to follow. There's a whole pile of silly dialog and horrible one-liners like "How about I take you out for a walk! You worm!" Also, another interesting mention is the character portraits. They're literally pictures of Pokemon characters which have been retouched with what appears to be Microsoft Paint. For some reason, the designers thought putting huge, poorly-drawn eyes on a re-coloured Ash Ketchum was a great idea. Instead, we get pure Nightmare Fuel. The game is pretty fun and $1.99. One of the better titles on the iOS.

Jet Fighter Ace: The Secret Wars

Formerly known as Corsair, Jet Fighter Ace is what you get when you combine Raiden (Fuck, everyone loves that game apparently...) with elements of Farmville. Every hour or so, you get fuel. You can use said fuel to fly in dogfights against a computer-controlled ship. Successfully destroying an enemy results in credits, which can be spent on new weapons and parts for ships.

The game has a variety of interesting ship upgrades and the weapons are generally pretty cool. You can real money to purchase extra fuel, as well as gems, which allow you to buy more badass parts. The game gets old after a little while, considering it's one-on-one fighting, with repetitive background tunes, but it's free to play, so I guess that makes up for things. It's worth checking out, for a little while at least.

Well, there you have it! There's a few more SHMUPS that I'll get around to reviewing, but unfortunately, the App Store is pretty bare of high-quality Shoot-em-up experiences. Maybe someday...

- Kyle K.

Sucker Punch - A slap in the face.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:53:00 +0000

If you watch movies, you've probably seen a trailer for Zack Synder's latest cinema offering Sucker Punch. An insane combination of robots, guns, girls, dragons and all sorts of other wonderful ingredients, Sucker Punch has a little something for everyone. At least, that was it's intention.

Just a heads up, this isn't really a review, more of a rant. It's going to be full of spoilers! So if you haven't seen the movie and you want to. Don't read this. Everyone else, scroll down.

ONCE AGAIN! SPOILER WARNING!

Sucker Punch is a bizarre film. It's not really a movie, it's more eye candy than anything. In fact, the movie has more in common with a porno than a big-budget Action-Fantasy. You're not there for the paper-thin and non-existent plot, you're there for the fucking. Or in this case, the action-packed fantasy/sci-fi dream sequences. If you look at Sucker Punch as a movie. It's an atrocity. Lacking any sort of substance or continuity. But as eye candy, it's a thrill ride suitable for our FPS-obsessed ADD generation.

Unfortunately for me, I tried to make sense out of the plot, that's where my madness began. The movie tries to pull some Inception shit, with a reality, inside a reality, inside a reality. It's hard to tell which characters are real and what is actually happening in real life.

It all starts off pretty reasonable, the main character, Baby Doll, is sentenced to an insane asylum by her sinister Step-Father, who is after her inheritance. To cope with her life in asylum, Baby Doll imagines it as a club that secretly doubles as a brothel. There she is introduced to four other girls: Sweet Pea, Rocket, Blondie and Amber.

This is where things start to get weird. In order to transport to the alternate imaginary world of badassery. Baby Doll does a sultry, hypnotizing dance (That we never get to see.) and transports her mind into such magical places as Steampunk Trench Warfare, a Fantasy Battlefield and a futuristic transport train. These scenes are super cool and make the up the bulk of the film's appeal.

But the film is a pile of inconsistencies. Only three of the five main characters are actually observed in the real-life Asylum situations (At least to my knowledge.) Two of them die in the club reality, without any consequence in the asylum one and Vanessa Hudgens has a stupid face. It's shit like that. The character's cover is blown when Stupidface Hudgens breaks down into tears for no reason and is overheard discussing the plan by Blue, the asylum director/club owner. Why is she so upset? What exactly did she say?

Another confusing situation is when Baby Doll and her cohorts acquires the knife, one of the items that is required to escape. As they snatch it, they're apprehended by Blue, who punishes one of them and kills stupidface and another one. When Baby Doll is attacked by Blue a couple scenes later, she has the knife taped to the bottom of a drawer with the rest of the items. How did it get there? Based the on the scenes prior, there was not opportunity to hide the knife. So what the fuck?

As I mentioned a couple times, two of the girls, Amber and Blondie are shot by Blue for their offenses against him. He does it in front of the Asylum therapist/Dance instructor, Madame Gorski, who doesn't alert the police. Did he actually murder the characters? Did they exist outside of the Club reality. Doesn't seem like it. Sweet Pea and Rocket are the only main characters, aside from Baby Doll, that you directly observe at the beginning, at least to my knowledge. So what the fuck?

If you can somehow understand this movie in ways I cannot, be sure to explain things for me, because I am confused as shit. Other than that, this movie was not worth the $12 I paid on opening night. Not at all.

- Kyle K.

News.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:37:00 +0000

So it's been over a year since I started this Blog, roughly 6 months since I made it inactive, and 3 months since I said I would be coming back.

Well, it is.

I originally intended to port all this shit onto Wordpress, which I quickly found out was a wonderful crock of shit, but that plan is gone now. After 3 weeks of wasted time and energy, as well as general not-giving-a-fuck, I backed out of bringing this blog back.

As fortune has it, there are actually people out there who enjoy reading the shit I write. I know, I thought it was ridiculous at first too! But, that was enough encouragement to have me reboot this bitch.

Gammabit is back officially. Rejoice!

But, I'll have you know, it's not my priority, not like it used to be, where I religiously wrote about as much shit as I could during the week. I may do something like that over the summer, but not now. I have school, then I'm hoping to find a full-time job so I can fund this fucking site AND start up a hobby record label at the same time.

Also, Gammabit is going to be less newsy that it used to be, I'm planning to write a couple articles about obscure Japanese RPGs, Indie Gaming in Toronto, Why the 3DS blows, SCHMUPS as well as other things. If you would like, I'm completely willing to have someone become my "News Intern." Where you can scrounge up an interesting spot of news, a review, or something else every once in a while. That's cool with me.

So I'm hoping to have a couple things for you guys on Monday. Thanks for the support and stuff.

Kyle.

Nintendo Shop Updates -September 20, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:08:00 +0000

Except for the inclusion of Aero the Acrobat 2, there's not much interesting to download this week. Very disappointing, unless you're a retro-fanatic of course. Then you're gonna love it.

- Kyle K.

WiiWare

Triple Throwing Sports

Publisher: The Code Monkeys Ltd.

Players: 1-2

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Price: 500 Wii Points™

Description: Triple Throwing Sports is the most advanced recreational throwing game available for the WiiWare service, immersing players in the world of competitive projectile throwing. Most Olympic events consist of activities that are traditionally derived from hunting and combat skills. Over time these practices have evolved into a variety of competitive sports that include Javelin, Discus, Shot Put and Hammer. As with real-life throwing events, you will have full control over the aim of the projectile. You must also take into account the angle, release point and power – all of these factors can influence the success of your throw.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s ABCs

Publisher: CYBIRD Co., Ltd.

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: EC (Early Childhood)

Price: 800 Wii Points

Description: The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s ABCs is an educational game based on the children’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It allows parents to help children learn basic English while enjoying a game together. The game consists of four parts, including alphabet flash cards featuring colored letters and pictures by Eric Carle, plus a vocabulary quiz for preschool-aged children that includes numbers, colors, shapes, animal names and simple verbs and adjectives. Young players can also engage in fun activities such as erasing parts of a colored screen to reveal a hidden illustration, or placing a variety of animal stamps on the screen. Finally, parents can use the “To The Parents” option to check their children’s progress in remembering vocabulary words. Your whole family is sure to appreciate the colorful illustrations by Eric Carle, internationally renowned as a creator of beautifully illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for children.

Virtual Console

AERO THE ACROBAT™ 2

Original platform: Super NES

Publisher: Sunsoft

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence

Price: 800 Wii Points

Description: The aerialist extreme, Aero the Acro-Bat, bounds back into the spotlight once again to stop the wicked industrialist, Edgar Ektor! Aero has entered a new realm of enchantment and must now use all of his acrobatic prowess to foil a criminal plot known only as “Plan B.” Join Aero as he discovers new friends – and enemies – in a world custom-built for his high-flying adventures. There are 45 levels of acrobatic fun, including Bonus Rounds, Chance Stages and Hidden Chambers. Discover new villains and original digitized character voices. A password feature allows you to return to any level. The Chillin’ Snow Boarding Stage adds a new twist to Aero’s style, and you’ll find new moves and fighting techniques for Aero’s attacks.

Nintendo DSiWare

Nintendo Countdown Calendar

Publisher: Nintendo

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: Not Rated

Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™

Description: With Nintendo Countdown Calendar, you can add and track all of your important events in a fun and exciting countdown format. Simply set up your personal profile and then start entering events. Adding events is easy: Choose a date for the event, decide whether it will be an open event (which you name yourself) or a set event (chosen from the School, Work or General Events categories), and select an icon from the wide variety of available options. If necessary, you can set the recurrence of the event or even move the event to the Hidden Events List. From there, the calendar does the rest – just watch the days count down! On subsequent visits to the application, you may see special greetings or suggested seasonal events you can choose to add to your calendar. All events added to the calendar are displayed chronologically, so you can quickly view all of your upcoming events in one place.

GO Series 10 Second Run

Publisher: Gamebridge

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points

Description: Run like the wind in this unique twist on the classic platform game. Take control of a stick man and run for your life across an obstacle course to reach the goal within 10 seconds. Dash across platforms and avoid various hazards, desperately trying to reach the exit in time. Ten seconds is all you’ve got. Go flat out over 50 stages and three game modes. Do you have what it takes to reach the finish line?

Everyday Soccer

Publisher: Aksys Games

Players: 1-2

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points

Description: Play soccer against teams from all over the world. Customize your characters to be normally sized, small, tall or muscular. You can also customize their shirts, shorts and shoes. Take advantage of your players’ specific traits as dictated by their body types. Assembling a well-balanced team is the key to becoming world champions. There are many teams to play against, so keep your mind sharp and your kicking foot sharper. Play against friends via DS Download Play and find out who’s the true soccer champion!

The Misadventures of Clyde - Art

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:58:00 +0000

As I was digging through my old flashdrive, I found all sorts of interesting things. Though the 20 GB was mostly hardcore porn, there were all sorts of other interesting, nifty things to discover. The best however (Aside from a lesbian-photo gallery featuring a variety of redheads, prow.) was a folder that contained MS paint photos. Not just any photos however, but photos that I had drawn while on various illicit substances. It was an experiment I don't remember doing, because back in 2003, I was fucked up ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I keep forgetting it's 2010 and I've been to rehab. Those were the good ol' days.

Anyways, here's some of the various paintings and the substance that was involved in it's creation:

- Clyde.

Horse Tranquilizer

Cocaine


Crystal Meth

LSD

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Review

noreply@blogger.com (Cinema Simpleton) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 22:32:00 +0000

The Man of Steel and the Dark Knight merge together once again in an effort to save one of their own. Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El debuts as the focus to DC Animation's latest installment Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.

When a strange spaceship crashes in Gotham City, Batman (Kevin Conroy) runs into a young teenage girl who speaks in a language he's never heard before and with powers beyond that of ordinary mortals. Superman (Tim Daly) reveals that she is his cousin, Kara of Krypton, (Summer Glau) and takes her under his wing in order to control her amazing abilities. But on the edge of the universe, the demonic tyrant Darkseid (Andre Braugher) sets his sight on Kara's to manipulate her for his own purposes. Superman, Batman and other superheroes venture off to the hellish world of Apokolips to rescue Kara from Darkseid, but aren't truly sure what they'll find when they arrive.

While the story sets up for something of reasonable interest, its execution where most elements fall short. Post-exposition is used to lightly trail on plot threads and much that would have left the story more interesting is visually ignored. The film feels short when it's all over and several things that could have been explored would have added at least a little more time and develop interest.

Veteran voice actors Daly and Conroy know where to take their characters when it comes to performance, the only problem remains that some of these characters don't feel all that important to the story other than convenience. The film's plot revolves around Superman, Kara and Darkseid, leaving all other characters as extra meat. Even Batman himself narrowly stands over the line of relevance in this film, despite the title's implication.

Glau embodies the character of Kara well in the film, giving the viewers a genuine portrayal of what it means to be young, ambitious and at times a little fearful. Braugher on the other hand really doesn't offer that much coldness to his villainy other than the voice he's known for. Darkseid appears as little more than a sadistic brute.

Superheroines Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg) and Big Barda (Julianne Grossman) tag along for the rescue, giving what the writers may have organized as a female counterpart to the light/dark aspects of Superman and Batman's partnership. But their characters and ethical standpoints are almost identical when trying to compare them, if you even can. Both are females with strong demeanors, not hesitant to fight dirty if they have to and accept the world around them as harsh. If DC Animation hoped to parallel their "World's Finest" superheroes, they really didn't think that far ahead when it came to writing.

Animation is where Apocalypse evolves from its predecessor, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Characters aren't as stocky and have more human builds to their phystiques, despite how much muscle they have. But the facial expressions on characters like Superman and Batman leave almost the impression of pursed, feminine lips.

Where the biggest impact is delivered is in the action. Heroes and villains collide in melee that is gritty, bloody and destructive no matter how big or small the scale. Everyone fights furiously and hits to hurt. The progression of action grows with the story, leaving the last battle as a true spectacle.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is, in the spirit of DC Comics, a "Bizarro" version of Public Enemies. Rather than poor animation designs and good story, it's the other way around. Comic fans may enjoy seeing their characters on screen, but their morals and values are almost distant from the source material and other media incarnations. Flipping through the pages of another issue may be a better alternative...

-Braydon K

The New Dante

noreply@blogger.com (Gameus Rampageus) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:33:00 +0000

The recently announced reboot of the Devil May Cry series truly does come as a shock. Not because the series somewhat needs a shot in the arm because of competition like Bayonetta, Vanquish and of course the God of War series. It actually comes down to the brand new character design of Dante.

The Old vs. The New...which one do you prefer?

Capcom and Ninja Theory (the developer of Heavenly Sword) have decided not only to probably get rid of the personality Dante is known for but also his signature look. To put it bluntly the dirty red jacket and black hair with a spot of white combo makes him look well like a character from a gritty reboot of a series (aka this game)and doesn't come close to resembling the lovable rogue that we've all come to love. It wouldn't even be so bad if he didn't just look like a skinny punk who has constant look of "I've just been punched in the face." Hell just even put in the white hair and it'd be fine but no they just couldn't do that.

Just in case you haven't seen this

Another thing is that what can be gathered from the trailer is Dante is a troubled youth and a young offender. No word on if he is the son of Sparda, no information on if he even hunts demons as his professional job along with the massive debt he has somehow collected. The first image we even see of this new Dante is that he is chained up in some random location. So they chose gritty reboot even for the first thing or eyes even set on.

This new Dante has been met with vile contents from around the Web and has made fans cry out against it. What could happen is the Infamous 2's situation where people disliked the new look of Cole. That situation was resolved when they went back and used the original Cole making fans extremely happen. Though this will probably not happen with Devil May Cry one can't rule it out. Especially in the case that the look is just alienating fans in the first place.

In closing if his look stays most people will not even pick up the game, if you just even look at the comments from around the Web. It just goes to show just how important character design is, especially with an established one.

-Ryan P.

*Note: This is a personal opinion and does not represent Gammabit's opinion of the Devil May Cry reboot.

Epic Citadel (IPHONE) Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:11:00 +0000

While this review was in the planning stages, I had several people confront me with the concept that "Epic Citadel isn't something that you can review." They're probably right. But that doesn't deter me in anyway.

If you don't already know what Epic Fortress is, let me sum it up for you. It's essentially a really pretty tech demo for the latest iteration of the iPod Touch/iPhone. What exactly is it demoing? Why, Epic Games' Unreal 3 Engine of course!

In Epic Citadel, you get to explore a large, medieval setting in a first-person perspective.
...That's about it. The controls are touched-based, typical of a touch-based device and handle the full-3D world. But that's not what we're here to talk about.

Yeah, It's pretty.

It's that. The visuals are sexy. Though the platform isn't necessarily as powerful as the PC or a home console, the Unreal Engine 3 holds out pretty well. It's an impressive feat. The citadel itself is ripe with details, it's fun to explore and find all the unique things that the "game" has to offer.

Overall, you can't really give something like this a shitty mark, since... It's not a game. But it's a real neat experience, especially if you're a big iPod geek. The game also happens to be free, which is a plus. But if you're not running on the latest iPhone/iPod Touch or the iPad (HAH) you won't be able to play it. Oh well, check it out if you can!

- Kyle K.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - The Game (PSN/XBLA) Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:39:00 +0000

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World: The Game is a fun, albeit clunky experience, which is a must have for any Scott Pilgrim fan or retro-enthusiast.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year or so, you already know what Scott Pilgrim is, a magical graphic novel turned magical film and now, a video game? But is the game as magical as the other formats? Well, that's why you're reading this, am I right?

To summarize Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, you play as either Scott, His new girlfriend Romona, or either his fellow Sex Bob-Ombs, Kim, the Drummer or Stephen the Singer/Guitarist. You must fight your way through hordes of thugs and defeat each of Ramona's evil Ex-Boyfriends. Sounds like a good time, huh?

The key appeal of SPVTW:TG is that it's completely rooted in retro-gaming goodness, which unfortunately brings about it's only major flaw. The game takes elements from classic NES and Arcade beat-em-ups. If you've played anything from Double Dragon to River Street Ransom, you'll feel right at home with Scott Pilgrim. The game is a solid beat-em-up romp, you can mash some buttons, kill some dudes, then revel in your murderous spree. Simple, addicting, fucking awesome. Unfortunately, parts of this game are a little "too-retro" which you would imagine is impossible. The game suffers from clunky movement, which is forgivable if you're playing a game that was released anywhere from '82 to '95, but this is a title from 2010, We shouldn't have to put up with it. Though the controls can be frustrating, you can compare it to a uni-brow on the Mona Lisa. A glaring flaw on an otherwise flawless piece of art.

I've been to Sneaky Dee's in game, but never in real life. I shall remedy that soon!

And a wonderful piece of art it is. Brian Lee O' visual style is well-replicated in 8-bit, thanks to retro-fanatic Paul Robertson. (The man responsible for Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006. Google it!) The characters aren't the only fantastic element, but the different locales are amazing too. Toronto looks better in 8-bit, I'm there everyday, I can confirm this. But that's enough about the visuals, the music is equally fantastic. Anamanaguchi, 8-bit/punk extraordinaire (Whom we did a short feature on a couple months ago.) provides the fantastic soundtrack. The raw beeps and boops of a hacked NES go perfect with the visuals and the gameplay.

In conclusion we can determine that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is a Outstanding adventure into the realms of psuedo-retro gaming, ridiculous comic book themes and the horrors of walking around Toronto (You really have to generic thugs in the streets, I shit you not, ask anybody!) but alas handles like a drunken snail. But if you can forgive some clunky controls, you'll have a great time, especially with the Co-Op Multiplayer. You can pick up Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game on the Playstation Network for $9.99 or on the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points. I demand you purchase the game. Immediately.

- Kyle K.

Xbox Live Marketplace Updates - September 15, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:13:00 +0000

Unlike it's Nintendo Counterpart, the Xbox Live Arcade seems to be having a good week. A new Space Invaders title, a port of Sonic Adventure and a King of Fighters... SHMUP... Yeah.

- Kyle K.

Xbox Live Arcade

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene
Publisher: Square-Enix
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Space Invaders, the game that defined video games for generations, is back with a new twist! The game starts off looking like the classic Space Invaders, but as you play through the game, it evolves. Unlock new stages, new power ups, and new features. The full game features a total of 143 stages from both Normal Mode and the breathtaking Challenge Mode where stages change with each playthrough. You can even blast your way through unique stages evolved from your very own music! Compete against other players from all around the world in real time with the appropriately named Real Time Rankings! Space Invaders Infinity Gene is the pinnacle of outer space shooting action! The more you play, the more the game evolves!

Sonic Adventure
Publisher: Sega
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Join Sonic and friends as they embark on their first truly epic quest to stop Dr, Eggman’s most villainous scheme in the hit Dreamcast title Sonic Adventure™ now available on Xbox®LIVE Arcade. An ancient evil lurking within the Master Emerald has been unleashed from its slumber by the devious Dr. Eggman and is on the verge of becoming the ultimate monster using the 7 Chaos Emeralds. Only Sonic and his friends are heroic enough to put a stop to Dr. Eggman and his evil minions. Hit the ground running in this classic epic adventure in a race against time to save the world!

King of Fighters Sky Stage
Publisher: SNK Playmore
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
This "Real Martial Arts" shooting game takes to the blue skies as six of your favorite "The King of Fighters" main characters fight to stave off the resurrection of Orochi. Each character retains their own normal shots, as well as ultimate techniques. Each character's special move has 3 three levels at which they can be unleashed, depending on the amount of energy in your ultimate technique gauge. The biggest feature of this game is its brand new fusion of the play systems of the "Shooting" and "Martial Arts" genres.

Game Add-ons

Sniper: Ghost Warrior - Map Pack
Publisher: City Interactive S.A.
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Map Pack further expands multiplayer experience with 5 new maps. Battle to control ruined oil-rigs or lie in wait to capture one of mystic stone towers. This Map Pack brings new sniping spots and chance to eliminate enemies from even longer distance. Sniper: Ghost Warrior Map Pack includes new maps for deathmatch, team deathmatch and VIP modes featuring a variety of new locations!

NHL 11 (360/PS3) Review

noreply@blogger.com (HairyJerry) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:50:00 +0000

With the recent start of the NHL preseason, what better time is there to review the latest title in EA's long running NHL franchise?

NHL 11 brings some new and interesting gameplay elements to the table this year, but remains true with some old favorites that will keep new and existing fans glued to their TVs even more so than before. EA has to be loving the success of their 20th addition of the NHL series.

The newest and most exciting game mode, "Hockey Ultimate Team," allows you to create your own team and get random players added to your roster by opening packs of "cards." You can get more players, and stat-boosts to put on players who need some extra help in their stats. You create the best lines for chemistry and get to scratch players if you deem it necessary. This new feature will add hours upon hours of gameplay to keep NHL fresh thanks to the chance element put in. This mode can also be played alone or against other created teams online.

Fan favorites, Be a GM, and Be a Pro return, but with a few added features to both. In Be a Pro mode you can now start in a junior league that makes up the CHL if you wish. In Be a GM mode there is the addition of restricted free agency, six seasons worth of draft picks, and a revamped Rookie Generation system. These new features succeed in refreshing and adding more length to these existing modes.

The core gameplay receives a few major additions too. Players can now either drop or even break their sticks in gameplay and be forced to either pick up, or get a new stick. Other skaters can also lend the stick to the player who lost theirs. The new physics engine allows every body check and shot to be different instead of having an old-school animation-based system. The new face-off system allows the player to change their grip on the stick, and even tie up the other centre skater, allowing the wingers come in and get the puck. The passing system has also been changed to allow you to control the amount of power on each pass, by having the pass trigger at the release of the trigger button.

Visually the game looks incredible. The player models all look very close to their actual pro likeness. The animations are almost flawless and there is no choppy moments in the motion, unless of course, you're online but that's always to be expected. As always, the rinks are realistic, but nobodies here to see the rinks, right?

The CHL teams are a neat addition... If you're a Canadian like us.

The audio for NHL 11 is pretty good. The sounds on the ice are very life-like. Whether it is the puck hitting the boards, players crashing into said boards, or the puck hitting a post, it is clear the developing team put lots of hard work into making sure all the sounds are just as they would be if you were at the game. The only downside to the audio is the damn announcers. It's not that their voices are terrible or anything, it's just that the amount of dialogue is extremely limited. Just like every other NHL game within a few games you find the announcers saying the same things. Their play-by-play isn't bad until they start talking about players or where the game is held because they only have one fucking thing to say about everything.

So overall, NHL 11 brings fun new game modes, a great new phyics engine, tons of new features. If you're a hockey fan, you'll find hours and hours of content to enjoy. Just try not to pay much attention to the announcers as they might cause immense amounts of rage. If you want some awesome new hockey action, run out and get a copy for your Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

-Jeremy M.

Nintendo Shop Updates - September 13, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:07:00 +0000

In summary, this week sucks. Huge balls. If you're going to be remotely interested in any of these titles, it'll probably be Castle Conqueror. The rest are pretty crappy.

- Kyle K.

Nintendo DSiWare

Castle Conqueror
Publisher: CIRCLE Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Castle Conqueror is a real-time strategy game for casual gamers. You play as a commander who must resist the empire and save the lives of the people. Lead your soldiers into battle, seize the enemy's castle and gain victories until you destroy the empire on the mainland. The rules are simple. Use the stylus on the touch screen to select the player's castle and send your army to storm the enemy's castle in real time. Capture the castle and destroy your enemies to earn gold that can be used to upgrade your commander's abilities and to buy items that will help you win more battles. Select commanders and different cards to upgrade your army or castle. If you've managed to occupy the enemy's castle by the end of a battle, you win the game!

Crazy Pinball
Publisher: dtp entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Find fun pinball action just like at the arcade. Five fantastic tables and plenty of themes ensure awesome variety. Go hunting for points with the Safari Flipper, or zoom from one goal to the next with the incredible Deep Sea Flipper. Set records that will blow your friends away. Crazy Pinball is the ultimate portable pinball experience.

myNotebook: Tan™
Publisher: Nnooo
Players: 1
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: myNotebook allows you to take notes wherever you are. Just pop open your Nintendo DSi™ system and jot down your thoughts. Make a list and cross it off, or even play your favorite pen-and-paper games (games not included). You can personalize your notebook by drawing on the cover or by changing the paper type with 24 unlockable squared and lined paper styles. Use the pen or pencil to make notes or doodles and then erase the bits you don't like. With five ink colors, you'll always be able to make your notes and doodles look stylish. myNotebook also includes 128 pages to write on, plus the ability to export your pages to your Nintendo DSi Photo Album.

WiiWare

Adventure on LOST ISLAND – Hidden Object Game
Publisher: ATeam Inc.
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: Discover hidden-object fun for kids and adults. Quickly find items in every stage to complete this adventure. Work together or compete in each stage to find items and help the game's hero find a way home. From seashells to sparkling jewels, do your best to find all of the hidden objects as fast as you can. During this adventure you will also confront ghosts and a dragon in action stages. Each stage can be played by up to four players for great gaming fun.

Retronexus: Clash at Demonhead

noreply@blogger.com (Gameus Rampageus) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:34:00 +0000

A long long time ago there was a game, and it opened up with a picturesque view of crabs on a beach. Here we have Billy "Big Bang" Blitz enjoying his vacation with his girlfriend Mary. That is until he is contacted by his employer S.A.B.R.E telling him that the probably world famous Professor Plum (don't get confused with Clue here) has been kidnapped along with the Doomsday Bomb he created. So Billy, probably the best agent ever, sets off to rescue and stop the detonation of the Doomsday Bomb. More importantly though he has a ruined vacation.

That's how Clash at Demonhead starts, with the rudest introduction cut scene ever probably in the history of video games. Seriously what is ruder then someone interrupting your vacation? Anyway back to the game..

Clash at Demonhead is a platformer developed and published by Vic Tokai. It has the esteemed pleasure of being one of the many cult games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Also has the pleasure of having some amazing box art, you seriously won't find it on a list with the original Mega Man.

So...awesome...

Other then that intro sequence much of the plot is dispensed through conversations between Billy and other characters throughout the game world. The bosses certainly fall into the villainous speech category telling you how you'll fail, etc. Soon there's something to do with demons, aliens and a skeleton with a jet pack.

The game is off the wall with its enemy choices. You'll face bullets, what can only be described as floating robot rabbit head things, trashcans that shoot bullets, fuzzy looking things with evil red eyes...you get the picture. Nothing really makes sense for the enemy choices and they don't follow a simple theme like other games. They even have a pair of dancing pandas as a boss. Why? There isn't really an explanation for it, it just doesn't make sense. All of these things may be odd but the gameplay is your typical run-and-gun shooter. You have your different suits that last for a limited time that gives you special abilities like running fast, swimming underwater or being able to survive through lava. Same goes for your shot types, they also last for a limited amount of time and have the usual variety. The only thing that does make this interesting is the weirdness in the game. It really is what makes you play it for an extended period of time.

It also has whatever the hell this thing is

A truly weird moment is when you have a conversation with one of your comrades as they are dieing. What happens is that you talk to him and keep leaving the screen and coming back. After you do this a few times they'll be nothing left but a skeleton with a somewhat insulting note. Sure there may contain plot elements but the real gain from these little chats is you gain one of each item after you talk to the skeleton. So not only do you have a nice chat with your comrade whilst he dies but you loot his corpse afterwards...nice.

So where does Clash at Demonhead stand today? Besides being a reference in the Scott Pilgrim series its been forgotten by time. But hopefully what you've learned here will make you want to search it out, or even make it a footnote in the pages of gaming history.

-Ryan P.

What's new at Gammabit!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:51:00 +0000

Alright kiddos, we're here to announce some big changes that will be happening in the coming weeks. BIG changes.

- If you've been paying attention to our content as of late, you may have noticed we've began to focus more for downloadable titles, since it's a little more cost effective for us. (We're all J-students here at Gammabit, so we're not exactly rich.) But we will do reviews for more large-scale titles as we see fit. (Example: NHL 11 will be reviewed sometime next week.)

- Due to Post-secondary commitments, Gammabit will now be updating three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks to school, we'll have to focus a little more on that. But the good news is, thanks to renewed manpower, and more time to write better stories, we'll be able to provide more content on those days, so don't stop reading our stuff just yet!

- We've been running a small ad-campaign using Google Adwords which will last to mid-September. If you've made your way here via these ads and you like what you see, feel free to join our Facebook and/or Twitter, and invite your friends to do so, we could use the readership!

- With our tech-master, Dennis W. back on board, we'll finally be able to follow through with some visual updates to the blog, and hopefully (If our technical skills allow it) a half-assed, but functional forum. The updates are still TBA, but we'll let you know when and what's happening with that.

- Since the "Street Team" was an epic failure, we've been thinking about holding design costumes. We still want to guerrilla advertise the blog by postering the shit out of things. Would a poster-contest be of any interest to you guys? The winner's work gets to be the "official" Gammabit poster!

- We've been a tad bit lazy with the daily updates (Nintendo Shop, Xbox Marketplace, Clyde, Indie Friday) but we're going to pick up slack and get that shit done. Clyde stories have been moved to Friday, so you'll get your fix tomorrow of hilarity next week. We promise. Also, if anyone can find us a source for Playstation Network updates, we'll gladly start putting them up.

- If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave them in the comment box. Also, if you like the Poster contest idea, let us know as well. Feedback good.

Thanks a billion,
- The Gammabit Team

Xbox Live Marketplace Updates - September 8, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:05:00 +0000

Plants vs. Zombies seems to be infecting it's way onto almost every platform imaginable as of late, officially making it's way onto the Xbox Live Arcade today. There's also a game about dancing, but who gives a shit? Am I right?

- Kyle K.

Xbox Live Arcade

UUUURGH! ARAAAARGH!

Plants Vs. Zombies
Publisher: PopCap Games
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points
Get ready to soil your plants!

Dance! It's your Stage
Publisher: Sproing Interactive Media
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
The stage is shrouded in dry ice, spotlights gradually focus on the centre of the stage, the curtain rises and with the first move a fantastic show explodes around you: this is your first performance! You will be dancing with the world's best. Select one of the 6 available characters, style your character using around 400 accessories and perform at 8 spectacular venues. Dance the hottest moves using the Controller or on the Dance Mat. Use the cool dance routines to show off your skills in 20 tracks that have been created exclusively for the game! In Multiplayer you can play with up to 4 players and dance against your friends, and you'll soon be looking down at your rivals from the top of the online leaderboard; the stage is yours

Game Add-ons

Mass Effect 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Liara T’Soni is tracking down the mysterious Shadow Broker, and no one is safe. She’ll do anything to recover the man the Broker kidnapped… and the Shadow Broker’s agents will do anything to stop her. Team up with Liara and chase clues from the luxurious heights of Illium to the Shadow Broker’s own secret lair. Adds the Shadow Broker intel center, new research, and five new achievements – and the chance to continue a relationship with Liara.

Clash of the Titans - Hades' Challenge Quest Pack
Publisher: Namco-Bandai
Price: 160 Microsoft Points
This downloadable content will allow players to experience the following additional quests: "White Horse of the Underworld" and "Absolute Defense." Obtain new subweapons and rare gift items by clearing this quest. A challenge from one of the 12 gods of Olympus, the god of the underworld, Hades! Defeat the monsters that dwell in the depths of the underworld and rise to new heights of power! Both of these quests are playable after completion of Main Quest 49 - "Taking out the Trash."

Dragon Age: Origins - Witch Hunt
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Price: 560 Microsoft Points
A final confrontation with Morrigan! "Never follow me." With these words, Morrigan vanished into the shadows. Her plans and her whereabouts have remained a mystery... until now. But whether you seek answers, revenge, or reconciliation with your lost love, you may find more than you bargained for. From the main menu, select New Game. Then, either import your character from Origins, Awakening, or the Golems of Amgarrak, or create a new, high-level hero!

Deathspank: Thongs of Justice (XBLA/PSN) Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:38:00 +0000

If you're like us, then you were crack-addicted to Hothead Games' DeathSpank. It's humor, accessible gameplay and unique style has secured DeathSpank's place in various Best-of lists. (Well, our best-of lists anyhow.)

When we just recently discovered that a sequel is on it's way, just over two months after the original was released, we pretty much shit ourselves. Thus, we bring you a brief preview of DeathSpank: Thongs of Justice.

Christmas Pips aren't too pleased with your interference.

The game continues immediately after the first title left off. DeathSpank is thrown into a modern setting, complete with more modernized weapons (like firearms!) and enemies to boot. You'll have to start off fresh (None of your wonderful equipment or hard-earned levels will carry over) which will hopefully serve to make the experience fresh again. Aside from your quests to find the other colorful thongs, there has been little information on the story.

Hothead also promises the game will have 50% more content, so we can hope the game will be a significantly more lasting experience than the first. Yay!

Robots and factories? Oh my!

We'll get you a review as soon as the game drops, September 22, 2010, for download on the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade!

- Kyle K.

Indie Friday - September 3, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:30:00 +0000

We're only going to look at one Indie Game this Friday. It's so fantastically addictive that It's been slowing down our work progress. It's the reason the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game review isn't up. Actually, that's a bit of a lie, we're just lazy. Tee Hee!

- Kyle K.

Radiangames Crossfire

Pew pew! Co-op alien shooting is fun!

Radiangames has a tendency to take an old school inspired shooter, then make it fresh and exciting again. This time around, they're taking elements from Demons and Diamonds. A classic title that nobody gave a fuck about, now something that everyone should give a fuck about. The game is a visually stunning, co-operative pew-fest. You and a friend must shoot alien ships, collect gems to charge your super-weapon and hop from the top to the bottom of the screen to avoid enemy attacks, ambush from the rear, etc. It's simple, flashy and addictive, especially if you're playing with a friend. It's definitely one of the best shooters available on the Xbox Live Indie Games, so download it right now for 240 ($3) Microsoft Points. Do it! Get it right here! Also, you can download it's sweet soundtrack too! For free!

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero (XBLA) Review

noreply@blogger.com (HairyJerry) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:20:00 +0000

With so many fans waiting for Dead Rising 2, Capcom was smart and released a downloadable game to tide over fans who just can't wait to get their hands on the zombie killing action that is Dead Rising. It's a great way for them to make some extra cash too!

Developed by Blue Castle Games Inc., and published by Capcom, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero (DR2:CZ) hits the virtual shelves with the downloadable prequel to Dead Rising 2. The game to tide over fans features most of the new things that will be in Dead Rising 2 and gives us a little taste of the story in the prequel to this year's full game to come.

DR2:CZ follows Chuck Greene and his daughter Katey's journey to the small town of Still Creek. The pair are escaping from Las Vegas' recent zombie outbreak and are hoping to find some rest in Still Creek. If this were to happen what fun would the game be though right? Of course there are thousands upon thousands of zombies in the small town. The amount of zombies is much more than the town's population which is one thing that doesn't make much sense. While Chuck goes out to fight zombies he must also find some Zombrex for Katey who was bitten back in Vegas. After enough slaying and saving of survivors the pair finally get to escape from Still Creek.

The gameplay is that of the original Dead Rising but with a few new features to keep things fresh. The game still plays the same in the controls for attacking and trying to help people out. The series still has all the bloody, brutal gore everyone loves, and the wild sense of humour that was found in the first title. The main new feature to the gameplay though, is the ability to combo two weapons together. With most combinations of stuff the player can make Chuck fuze the items together to make an every more badass way of destroying zombies. One that really stands out is taking a baseball bat and jamming it with nails. This makes for endless new ways to kill zombies keeping interest in the game.

Zombies aren't the only threat in Still Creek.

Visuals in the game have the same style as the original Dead Rising, but taken up to a newer level. The graphics are much shinier and don't seem as dark styled. But still the visuals remain slightly cartoon-ish in a way that makes it still seem like Dead Rising. In the cutscenes however, there are a few choppy areas where object will go right through each other, or things will randomly appear/re-appear.

Speaking of the cutscenes, the voice acting in the game isn't really great. They seem very typical and don't feel strong enough to support a prequel to what will be one of this years' biggest game releases. Keeping with audio in the game. The sound effects in the game are kind of typical of this style of game. Much of the hitting sounds are very similar and some of them seem to be the exact same as that of the original Dead Rising. Also, music isn't even noted .There is so little of it and it is so unforgetable when there is.

One very cool feature to this downloadable game is the fact that all PP, money, combo cards, and clothing earned in DR2:CZ will carry into the player's DR2 game. And considering DR2:CZ only costs 400 Microsoft Points, or around 5 bucks, you can't really go wrong, especially if you are a fan of Dead Rising and can't handle the wait any longer.

Overall, DR2:CZ will tide over all fans of the game who are waiting for the release. But with weak audio, and little difference compared to the original game, new players won't feel the need for this particular title. But for fans, you will greatly enjoy this little taste of the new game. Go check it out if the wait is too much!

-Jeremy M.

Xbox Live Marketplace Updates - September 1, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:11:00 +0000

Can't wait for Dead Rising 2? Well, Capcom expected that and are giving us the downloadable prequel, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. So if you're a fan, be sure to check it out.

- Kyle K.

Xbox Live Arcade

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
Publisher: Capcom
Price: 400 Microsoft Points
Get a taste of what Dead Rising 2 has to offer in this full-featured prologue! Chuck Greene and his daughter Katey have barely escaped the Las Vegas zombie outbreak with their lives. They arrive in the lonely desert town of Still Creek looking for some rest, but unfortunately there is no rest to be had as this sleepy town has become overrun with zombies. Chuck must kill zombies, rescue survivors and escape from the zombie nightmare that is Still Creek before time runs out. Any PP, clothing, and Combo Cards gained in CASE ZERO will carry over into your Dead Rising 2 game!

Game Add-Ons

Bioshock 2 - Minerva's Den
Publisher: 2K Games
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Minerva's Den offers a brand-new, self-contained BioShock story, presenting a side of Rapture you've never seen before. Seek out the tools you'll need to unlock new goals and spaces in the order you choose. Face Rapture's full range of opposition as you increase in power---a new challenge is always right around the corner. Expand your combat abilities with the experimental Ion Laser and chaotic Gravity Well Plasmid, unique to Minerva's Den. Face off against the new Lancer Big Daddy, the most advanced Protector that Rapture ever produced. Explore every shadowy corner of Minerva's Den, unraveling the mysterious past of The Thinker's inventor, and the dark secrets hidden within the unfeeling, omniscient machine he created

Grown Ups Review

noreply@blogger.com (Cinema Simpleton) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Adam Sandler brings several comedians under one roof for both a vacation and a reunion.

Years ago, five friends (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade) won a basketball championship that made their coach proud. But when the coach dies, the five reunite after many years to remember the good times and learn a message of how to change their lives.

So was the intention, but unfortunately, the execution did not deliver.

This should have been a simple comedy about men getting back to being kids again, and it isn’t. Its five guys with their wives and children with so much going on that you have practically zero story, little to no lesson and so many sub plots that you’d almost assume that they were the plot.

Far too many characters were included in this film, especially the children. The scripts doesn’t pay enough attention to them or the parents, it’s just to the comedic situations they’re involved in. It’s just a series of comedy sketches threaded together by the same location. Nothing more, nothing less.

You won’t even feel like this film has a plot until the very end. There’s no build-up to what this movie was supposed to be about, no story-pacing, barely even a good look at half of our main characters.

Grown Ups is fun, but its mindless fun. Its one high note is that the comedic styles of these actors hold together well and don’t overshadow one another. If they could have come together on such a script, maybe the movie would have been salvageable.

-Braydon K

Shank (XBLA/PSN) Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:48:00 +0000

Klei Entertainment's Shank is an uber-violent and thoroughly satisfying beat-em-up, that is both accessible and challenging.

Though it hasn't exactly become a trend, there have been several Tarantino-inspired, super-violent action romps in gaming as of late. The most recent of which is the beat-em-up Shank. Which may be arguably the best game of it's kind.

SHANK!

The game's story is ripped right from the pages of a Frank Miller comic. You play as Shank, a man on a quest for revenge. Your former partners turned on you and killed the one you love, now you must massacre hordes of criminals, find those who betrayed you and exact bloody vengeance. The story develops as you progress through the many levels, via opening cutscenes and an occasional video box that appears in the corner of the screen.

When it comes to Beat-em-ups, there's always a gameplay issue. Sluggish controls, shoddy combo-systems. Shank is a gem in that it doesn't suffer from any of those, Shank is a near-perfect example of how a beat-em-up should play. The game is fast-paced and responsive, the combo system is fluid and precise. The sheer amount of violence mixed in with the vast number of ways to decimate your foes brings the games' "OH SHI-" factor to it's maximum. The massive variety of weapons also serves to keep the gameplay fresh as well as exciting. Each weapon has it's own specific elements, and it's fun to mix and match different weapon set-ups to see how effective they can be. The games' difficulty also serves to keep things interesting, it has just enough challenge that keeps you wanting to play. The only drawback the game contains are the load times, which are the longest that this reviewer has experienced with a downloadable title. Fortunately, there is no repercussion on the gameplay, just a slight annoyance.

Though the gameplay is a strong aspect, the real winner is the visual style. Shank feels like it was genuinely pulled out of a pulp comic, everything is tight, over-the-top and gory. The backdrops feel very cartoon-ish, which is cool, and the characters are all stylish and unique. This especially shows in the cutscenes, which have fantastic animation. The audio in the game is a mixed-bag, the voice acting is fantastic and fits the characters perfectly, but the music is forgettable, simply serving as sub-par background noise.

Another noteworthy element is the games' Co-op mode. It's set as a prequel, leading up to the events of the Single player story. It's unfortunately restricted to local play only, so you'll need a friend in the same room in order to play it. But that's how we did it back in the day, it's old-school baby!

Overall, Shank is a magical ass-kicking adventure. And it's unequivocally one of the best downloadable games to come out on either downloadable service so far, and that's saying a lot. You can and should pick it up for $14.99 on the Playstation Network or 1200 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Arcade. Do it! Right now!

- Kyle K.

Gammabit is on... VACATION!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:47:00 +0000

Yeah, today, Friday and Monday will be news-less. We're on Vacation and will be unable to update the Blog, so all the goodies, like Indie Friday, Clyde, reviews of Shank and Scott Pilgrim will have to be pushed back until Tuesday. But you can wait until then, we believe in you!

- The Gammabit Team