Games

Penny Arcade Sums Up E3 In Three Panels

Image Courtesy of TechShowNetwork I didn’t lead with the comic itself as it contains some language and phraseology that might offend some … so click on in to see the comic itself – or head to Penny-Arcade to check it out! I have written at some length about the Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony presentations, but in their most recent comic Penny-Arcade sums up the whole thing much more efficiently than I have seen anywhere: Um … yeah. What they said. Source: Penny-Arcade


My Summary of Sony’s E3 Presentation: Buy Our 3D TV’s, We Make a Better Wii-Mote, People Are Too Dumb for the PSP

I am honestly beginning to believe that hubris is so tightly ingrained in the Sony Corporate culture that ‘berate the customer day’ likely stands alongside ‘casual Friday’ as a regular occurrence. OK, perhaps that is a bit harsh, but what came out of the mouths of Sony at their E3 press event were definitely NOT the words of a company in DEAD LAST in every possible category of gaming for the last several years who should be looking to ingratiate themselves with the customers who had previously made them the biggest name in console gaming. How bad is it? Nearly…


Shift for iPhone/Touch

Once again my weekly app store search has brought yet another game.  This week’s choice combines subtle, simple graphics and a cool soundtrack with platform game play and puzzle strategy into a truly addictive and unique gaming experience.  Shift utilizes simple, yet intuitive controls to guide the character through each level.  The game usually costs $.99 but has been free the past couple of days. Shift’s graphics are extremely simple, yet work amazingly well.  No fancy 3D rendering or colorful puzzles, just black and white.  Much like Spy vs. Spy, the game is entirely in black and white which is…


GearGames Retrospective: 5 PC RPG Games That Defined The Year 2009

Last month I provided an introduction to the series I am now kicking off for real: a look back at the last decade as seen through the lens of a PC Single Player RPG fan. Now after getting all of the full reviews completed for my top games for last year, it is time to begin the journey in earnest by looking at five games that shaped the genre in 2009! As a reminder of what I’m doing, as we enter a new decade I thought it was worth taking a look back at the last decade and what has…


Angry Birds for iPhone/Touch App Review

It is summer and time to have some fun.  I have recently heard rumblings of another great iPhone game.  The game was mentioned in the same sentences as Plants vs. Zombies so my ears perked up and I paid attention.  I needed to check out the game if it is near as good and addictive as what I was hearing.  First I tried the Lite version and thought about using it as the Blue Plate Special, but I was having so much fun I had to go ahead and buy the full version. I was trying to find the words…


Sony Casts ‘Rewrite History’ to Explain the PSPGo Flop

Way back in the fall of 2009 Sony introduced the PSP Go. Before releasing the system, they touted the all-digital system based on the appealing physical form, the removal of the slow & noisy UMD drive, the ease of using the PSN store, and the new PSP Mini games. With the rumored UMD-to-PSN trade-in system, the system looked appealing despite being much more expensive than the PSP-3000. But then suddenly, shortly before the system launched, Sony killed any sort of ‘UMD to PSN’ transition system, killed any pack-in games for North America, confirmed that many games wouldn’t arrive at the…


Dragon Age: Origins The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC: PC/XBOX360 Game Review

I have already detailed my feelings about the epic role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins, stating in my review that “not only do I love nearly every aspect of the game, I also love how after finishing it a couple of times I am thoroughly enjoying a new play-through as I contemplate my actions and consequences from the prior runs.” After such praise, it is a pretty easy guess that I am a lock to get any and all new content for the game. There have already been several add-ons released, from the initial Return to Ostagar DLC to the much…


Half-Life 2 (FPS, 2010): Mac Game Review

If you ask any long-time Mac Gamer about the ‘ones that got away’, there are two games they will instantly cite: Marathon developer Bungie’s ‘Halo’, and Valve’s Half Life. Halo got a mediocre release for Mac & PC ages ago (and the even MORE mediocre Halo 2 came along later as an attempted Vista Trojan Horse), but the Half-Life franchise has eluded a Mac release … until now! We still await the release of the original, but for now Mac gamers can rejoice and enjoy the classic Half-Life 2! The Hype: By taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of…


Avernum VI (2009 RPG): The Netbook Gamer

Something interesting about the games from Spiderweb Software: I have been fortunate enough to be on the beta-test teams for the last few iterations of both the Mac and PC releases of the Geneforge and Avernum games. This means having access to the code early, getting loads of play time in before release … and yet in all cases I find myself writing reviews months later. I attribute that to the difference between playing to test for issues, and playing as a gamer figuring out what I do or don’t like about the overall experience. So here I am in…


Portal (FPP, 2010) Mac Game Review

[GlaDOS voice] Hello and again welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center. We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin the test proper. Before we start, however, keep in mind that although fun and learning are the primary goals of the enrichment center activities, serious injuries may occur. For your own safety, and the safety of others, please refrain from … [/GlaDOS voice] The Hype: Portal is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories,…


Glass Tower 2 for iPhone/Touch App Review

Many puzzle games involve items or shapes falling from the top of the screen that must be eliminated in some way.  Basically they are a take on Tetris which I loved to play back in my early high school days.  Every now and then one of these games is actually unique and fun.  I came across Glass Tower 2 on a random search of the app store and it turned out to be a great game. The game is free, but very limited with only 10 levels that may not be repeated.  Extra level packs are available for $.99 and…


We Rule…Just a Money Grab?!?

Courtesy of Steve Wampler The first day I had an ipad, my kiddos were super excited and demanded that I get some games. Of course I had to listen!  After a few hours of Plants vs Zombies, they wanted more. Translation, I needed to find a new game for them to play. I remembered hearing about the game We Rule on a podcast so we took a look. The boys were instantly hooked! We Rule might best be described as farmville on steroids. You farm your crops and the more you raise the better things go. You add businesses, houses and…


Bloons TD Lite for iPhone/Touch App Review

Working at a school allows me to see many different fads and phenomena.  Sometimes it is a certain clothing style, a catch phrase, a certain style of purse or shoes etc…  This year the craze seems to be a certain flash game.  The game is available on an educational website that is actually not blocked by the filter at our school.  There is a huge number of games to play but one has become the default for almost everyone.  Bloons Tower Defense is not only played by the students in spare moments in the computer lab, but the coaching staff…


Borderlands: PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review

Late last October Gearbox software launched a game called Borderlands. I played it quite a bit at launch, and since then there have been a few DLC add-ons and other attempts by the developers to keep the game fresh in the minds of the typically short-attention-span target audience for this sort of game. As I was revisiting the games of 2009 I thought it would be worthwhile to give this one another go. The Hype: A sci-fi/action RPG from acclaimed developer Gearbox, Borderlands combines the best in first-person action gaming with elements of a traditional role-playing game (RPG). The excitement…


Drakensang the Dark Eye PC Game Review

Games from European PC developers and publishers often have an uphill struggle to begin with: they lack the entrenched network of marketing and promotion, often struggle to get a community base built up of native speakers on popular game forums, and of course are strapped with an image of lacking polish and suffering from poor language translations. As a result they often fail to gain shelf-space at major retailers, making it even harder for them to gain new fans. So you are forgiven if you have never heard of this game, let alone knew that it has been out for…


Eschalon Book 2 RPG First Impressions

A few weeks ago I noted the upcoming release of the sequel to the indie game Eschalon Book 2. As noted, the release was May 12th – same as Steam for Mac … so I’ve been quite busy with all of these new gaming opportunities! I’ve only had a couple of hours to get started, but wanted to give some early thoughts. If you played Eschalon Book 1, the new game will immediately feel familiar. Which is a wonderful thing for me. As background, I thoroughly enjoyed Basilisk Games Eschalon Book I (in fact, if you look on the link…


Steam on Mac First Impressions (also Portal and Torchlight)

At long last Steam has officially arrived for the Mac – and rather than just announce it, I figured I’d give you some quick impressions after using it to download and play a few games. For those who are not aware, Steam is a digital download, automated patch management, and multiplayer matchmaking service … and more. From Valve’s ‘About Steam’: Steam, the world’s largest online gaming platform. Steam turns any PC (and soon any Mac) into a gaming powerhouse by providing instant access to a huge library of titles, and by automatically keeping a user’s games completely up to date….


Does the iPad FINALLY Give Apple a Viable Gaming Platform?

Wait … WHAT?!?! I know what you’re saying: what about the 150 trillion games in the App Store? What about the massive growth in the sales of games for the iPod Touch that I talked about here? I know about all of that, but I still believe this: the iPod Touch business model as it exists today is not one that is sustainable for the game industry, and therefore the iPod Touch will NEVER be a viable ‘major tent-post platform’ based on that business model. OK, you have probably noticed I’m already starting to nuance my phrases in the first…


50 PC RPGs That Defined a Decade

As we enter a new decade in 2010, it is worth taking a look back at the last decade and what has been happening in the PC role playing game genre (and no, we won’t debate whether or not 2010 actually starts the new decade). Certainly the 2000’s have been a decade of change for PC gaming in general, as the decade started with the PC as the only real place for shooters and large open-area games, went through a perceived crisis in the middle of the decade based on a large impact from piracy and DRM and the advent…


Greed – Black Border PC Game Review

Game reviewers play so many games across various platforms and genres that it is often easy to forget one important detail – we all got started with a love of games and a passion stoked by games we loved playing to the point that we began sharing our thoughts with others in written form. So when the sci-fi shooter action-RPG Greed – Black Border came along, it was right up my alley as a PC shooter and RPG fan … so I had already pre-ordered it even before the review version came along. That adds some benefits as you’ll see…


Dragon Age: Origins Mac Game Review

Not too long ago I did a review of Dragon Age: Origins, looking at the PC and console versions. Back when I was first playing the PC version the Mac version was announced and released, and I started playing – knowing that I would come back to provide a review on the port at a later time. The Hype: From BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Baldur’s Gate comes Dragon Age: Origins. An epic tale of violence, lust, and betrayal, Dragon Age: Origins is a single player role-playing game (RPG) set in…