If you haven’t seen this yet and you are a gamer, then you owe it to yourself to take a minute and watch this.

By Joseph Tresca

It seems certain mass media outlets are of the opinion that casual games for handheld devices such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad and Android phones/tablets will mark the end of gaming consoles as we know them. I can tell you without a doubt in my mind this will never happen. I know that is a brazen statement to make; after all you might ask how I could possibly know with absolutely certainty that gaming consoles will continue to be a part of our lives in the foreseeable future.

It’s about the psychology of the consumer

I must admit as an advertising professional I’ve spent a great deal of my time trying to figure out why people buy the products that they buy and the secret always has to do with human psychology. People are social creatures by nature so the very first reason that portable consoles in their current form cannot and will not be the death knell for traditional consoles has to do with the simple fact that I cannot easily play a game with my friend physically in the room with me on a small screen. While multiplayer casual games will certainly have their place in the market, the small screen will diminish visibility and thus overall play satisfaction for popular games such as Call of Duty. Given the choice, the competitive multiplayer gamer will always choose a bigger screen with surround sound over the smaller screen with headphones. This kind of experience can only be accessed at home on a gaming console.

The time and depth of the gaming experience matter

Now lets talk about time. Casual games are comparatively cheap to develop as opposed to console games because they offer very simple gaming experiences.
As expected these games offer less substantial yet often addictive “get in, get out” experience. However hardcore gamers tend to gravitate toward more involved experiences (Mass Effect 3), plots (Heavy Rain) and in some instances control schemes (Kinect or Move) that handheld games simply do not offer. It would be ludicrous to assume this audience will simply disappear. What I instead envision is that the big three will divide their focus between both casual gamers and hardcore gamers, a trend that Microsoft in particular has already set in motion this year.

Technical barriers still impede market reach

Lastly, although graphics on portable phones have improved to the degree that they are capable of rendering graphics and animation similar to the current generation of consoles, there are still technical barriers which portable systems need to overcome, such as the earlier mentioned proper game controls, battery life and visibility in direct sunlight. As a gamer, I’m happy that casual games are creating new markets and that in many ways we’re experiencing a renaissance in terms of a few guys in a garage making millions of dollars on a hit casual game. However the big three know that the casual market is a fickle crowd with a short attention span who demonstrate very little loyalty to gaming franchises. It’s simply bad business to ignore the core gamer while focusing strictly on casual market. Just ask Nintendo who’s forthcoming Wii U is smartly aligned to both market segments, a lesson they quickly learned as the casual focused Wii’s hardware sales are on the decline.

By Joseph Tresca

Remember that trailer which told the story in reverse, starring a little girl and her family struggling for survival against an onslaught of zombies? Forget all that because it has nothing to do with the game. That’s bad news if you thought the trailer was absolutely amazing. But if you take your trailers with a grain of salt, then you’ll be in the right frame of mind to enjoy Dead Island for what it is; a first person shooter where melee weapons are the focus instead of guns. Is that a paradox? Perhaps but Techland and Deep Silver also intend to differentiate their game through the use of an RPG styled leveling system.

The E3 preview had our character passing out on the beach before stumbling around drunk moments before. The game takes place on the fictional island of Banoi in the South Pacific. We blacked out just as we began to see the first zombies attacking fellow vacationers. Upon awakening we realized that we were in a safe room of some sort. As luck would have it, some survivors dragged our hero to safety.

“Worst day ever”, was the first thing to come to mind when fellow vacationers elect our character to save a life guard about to be devoured by several zombies. Perhaps it’s liquid courage that involves us in the game’s first mission. Armed with a canoe paddle or maybe a baseball bat, we exit the safety of the hut to kick some zombie ass.

In rescuing the hapless life guard we’re introduced to the visceral hand to hand combat mechanics of Dead Island. Blood splatters everywhere and since the first mission takes place in day light, none of the gory details are left to the imagination. Dead Island’s setting is rendered beautifully. The sun light casts real-time shadows of palm trees and surrounding flora on the sandy beach. The textures appeared to be of a decent resolution, even up close. Character models were detailed, animated well and most importantly varied. Nothing takes you out of a game like seeing the same zombie model, clothing and all, attacking you from multiple directions at the same time. Fortunately this wasn’t the case at all. After rescuing the life guard we were able to lead him to safety where we discovered the existence of a guard house with a radio which would allow us to call for help. Since the demo was timed, our play time ended here. What will make Dead Island will be the 4 player cooperative campaign which we were told will be included in the final game. Dead Island has a few cool concepts which would be even cooler if played with a few friends. Taken as single player game and from what we’ve played, it shares a lot of similarities with Condemned albeit with an improved hand to hand fighting mechanic. We will have much more on Dead Island when it launches for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on September 6th in North America.

By Dan Malave

Supermarket Management, by G5 Entertainment, is another game in the time management genre available for the IPad, IPhone, and Mac OS. This time around, you star as Kate, a recent college grad looking to join the workforce and jump right into the daily rise and grind. Luckily for Kate, she doesn’t have to wait long to start her illustrious career. The owner of a superstore chain quickly hires her after a brief traffic encounter. Thus beginning Kate’s journey through the world of retail time management.

As you progress through the 49 challenging levels of Supermarket Management, you will have the opportunity to manage 4 different shops, reaching various goals on your way to becoming Supermarket Manager.

There are over 13 upgrades that you may purchase after each level is complete. Upgrades can be applied to your shop or your character. Ranging from larger counters that allow you to spend less time restocking shelves, to hiring up to 3 assistants that help in easing the burden of racing back and forth between the counters, Supermarket Management will challenge fans of the genre. You also have the option to spend your coins to upgrade Kate’s speed and strength allowing her to move more quickly around the shops, and stock the shelves at a faster pace. There are a total of 9 sale mini-games to test your skills in, and also 3 more special-task counters that you may purchase and upgrade.

Gamers familiar with this genre will find the game play to be the standard “click” or “click and drag” controls popular with the other time management games on the market. Supermarket Management does a very nice job of going step-by-step, teaching the players the various tasks they must perform, making the game very enjoyable and easy to learn, even for the novice time management gamer.

The game gets progressively more difficult as your shops become busier and busier, at times making you sweat as you try to keep up with the fast paced action and speedy shoppers! Some players may find it a tad bit annoying trying to click on the right spot with an over-abundance of shoppers blocking the area, but this is a minor gripe for an otherwise enjoyable game. Shoppers tend to quickly disperse from an area almost as quickly as they flock to it. Experienced players of the genre shouldn’t find it too difficult to achieve expert times on each level, although it may cost you a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears as you reach the later stages of the game.

Overall, Supermarket Management is another fun, fast-paced entry in the retail time management genre. The brightly colored shops, easy controls, and highly addictive game play should attract gamers of any age and level; from the seasoned veteran, to the casual gamer. Either way, this should be a fun and enjoyable way to pass the time and/or test your time and priority management skills!

By Joseph Tresca

Last year we chronicled the Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association/Entertainment Software Association case where the prosecution was seeking to have the states government regulate the sale of video games in California. As we noted before, the implications of the ruling on this case could have been far reaching in that it would establish a precedence for which other states could adopt draconian regulation procedures, given the case had reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

The defense made the case that Video games like other forms of entertainment such as movies, music and books deserve the right to be protected under the first amendment without government interference. At the heart of the discussion was the 2005 statute proposed by the prosecution to regulate games based on content. Ultimately the state needed to prove a compelling government interest for the law and also that California’s proposed remedy was the narrowest possible way of furthering that interest. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California failed in both respects.

In the decision, Justice Scalia, writing for the majority, stated with regard to the validity of the scientific evidence put forth, “The State’s evidence is not compelling. California relies primarily on the research DR. Craig Anderson and a few other research psychologists whose studies purport to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children. These studies have been rejected by every court to consider them, and with good reason: They do not prove that violent video games cause minors to act aggressively (which would at least be a beginning). Instead, ‘[n]early all of the research is based on correlation, not evidence of causation, and most of the studies suffer from significant, admitted flaws in methodology.”

Of the “least restrictive” requirement, the majority opinion stated, “California also cannot show that the Act’s restrictions meet the alleged substantial need of parents who wish to restrict their children’s access to violent video games. The video-game industry’s voluntary rating system already accomplishes that to a large extent.

“We are very gratified that our arguments – and those of over 180 other groups and individuals from across the ideological spectrum – were heard in this case,” said Gallagher. “The Court has now definitively held that legislative attempts to restrict video game content will be struck down. It is time for elected officials to stop wasting time and public funds seeking unconstitutional restrictions on video games. Instead, we invite them to join with us to raise awareness and use of the highly effective tools that already exist to help that parents choose games suitable for their children.”

Congratulations to everyone who loves video games, we won the freedom, respect and constitutional rights our industry deserves.

By Joseph Tresca

So remember how you thought Resistance 2 kind of sucked because it lacked a weapon wheel or any semblance of a good story? Remember how some weapons were just completely unbalanced and the graphics really didn’t improve, especially the water effects? Remember how 60 players online sounded awesome until you actually played it and realized it was a terrible idea. Yeah, all of that stuff has been or will be fixed with Resistance 3.

I was treated to a demo play through of some missions in the game and not only is the weapon wheel back, but everything else you ever loved about the original Resistance returns as well. This feels like a true sequel with much better graphics, animation and game play. First of all the environments have clearly been upgrade and Insomniac doesn’t hesitate to strut their knowledge of the PS3 SPUs. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING animates within the Resistance 3 environment. Trees blow in the wind, garbage slides across the ground and dust whirls between buildings. The lighting engine has also clearly been improved. This is most noticeable by the way the game looks more like painted concept art than it does a game. It’s also worth mentioning that when dispatching Chimera, there is a very satisfying blood splat effect which looks fantastic. From an art direction standpoint, at least from the level I was shown, the game appears much darker and grittier than R1 or R2.

The difficulty seems to be turned up a notch, making for a challenging play through. I died 5 times during the course of the three mission demo and from what I understood, that meant I played pretty well. The Chimera are more varied not only in look but also in movement this time around. Of particular note are these new gigantic bug Chimera which look really cool when they destroy the buildings around you Godzilla style.

You don’t seem to fight a particular type of enemy in waves as much as in the past installments. Because you end up fighting multiple enemy types at once, finding cover in the beautifully rendered apocalyptic (read grey and yellow) backdrops can present a real challenge.

At the conclusion of the demonstration you fight a boss which not only chases you up roof tops but also has the ability to throw cars at you. He’s also big and terrifyingly fast. One hit can remove 75% of your health. After shooting out Hulker Chimera’s weak points by keeping your distance from him though, he was pretty easy to beat.

I have to say that I wasn’t very excited about Resistance 3 after playing R2. This play through has absolutely changed my mind. The game controls smoothly and best of all, it immediately reminded me of R1 which is a very good thing. Resistance 3 is everything R2 should have been and much more. Look for a full review on Tuesday the 6th of September when the games releases in North America.

By Joseph Tresca


Developer Rocksteady gave Eyeballistic an in depth showing of Batman Arkham City at E3 2011 and we're eager to tell you all about it. The first thing we noticed immediately is that the environment is absolutely huge. You are no longer enclosed within the cramped setting of Arkham Asylum. You are now permitted to traverse all of Arkham City. Every detail from every comic book and cartoon has been painstakingly recreated here. The demo opened with Batman perched atop a gargoyle set off the side of a building. The caped crusader leaped from the statue spreading his cape wide which caught the wind allowing him to glide from rooftop to rooftop or all the way down to street level. We're told that this will be his primary mode of transportation. It's important to note some of the graphical improvements we witnessed while in flight. The textures remained sharp whether up on the roof tops or down on the street and the draw distance seemed impressively long. There wasn't any visible pop-in to even the tiniest buildings in the far background. Since we're talking about graphics you'll notice that visually the game has a grittier and darker feel to them. Everything seemed extraordinarily polished for a game still months away from its October 18th North American release date. Animations too have improved and there are many more of them. Batman can combo several opponents at once which when executed in succession looks like a Jackie Chan movie. There is a new detective vision mode which is more objective based as well.