News, Video Games

Green Day: Rock Band Announced for June Release

Johnny Sanford :: Thursday, March 11th, 2010 1:25 pm

The songs of Green Day will finally be remembered in the form of Video Gaming on June 8th, 2010. Players will have the chance to put on the shoes of Billy Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt and wail away at tracks like “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” along with 41 other tracks. Like Beatles: Rock Band, players will also get to harmonize vocals and play drums and bass with the tracks as well. All across the country, millions of prepubescent teenagers are begging their moms for an advance on their allowance to scrape together enough money to preorder a copy in order to one-up their friends. MORE »

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Reviews, Video Games

Review: Bioshock 2 - Déjà Vu of a Wet Dream

Daniel Casarella :: Saturday, February 13th, 2010 5:28 pm

I think everyone’s a bit skeptical when it comes to sequels now-a-days. We’ve all been fooled so many times by promise and fancy-pants marketing schemes that we are reluctant to believe part II can be any good.  This is the way I saw Bioshock 2 being developed. You want more Bioshock? Let’s cram in an alternative antagonist, add Modern Warfare-esque multiplayer system and replace Big Daddies with Big Sisters . Why 2K Marin thought the name Big Sister sounded as ambiguously imposing as Big Daddy once did is beyond me. For that matter, how Bioshock 2 turned out to be pretty darn good also escapes me.

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Video Games

Review: Mass Effect 2

Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, February 4th, 2010 1:39 pm

Here’s the problem; Everyone is talking about how Mass Effect 2 is so great. Like the iPad it’s reputation literally preceded its arrival. Take it from me, Mass Effect 2 is a decent game. It may be introducing a lot of novice role-playing-gamers to the genre and that could be why it’s being so celebrated but for veteran RPG fans, this is a light and sometimes boring affair.

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Immersed in BioShock 2

Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, January 28th, 2010 8:34 pm

One of the most interesting things about the game Bioshock was that it took everyone who played it into a world they’d never seen before. An underwater former utopia built half a century ago and left to rot in the Atlantic Ocean.  On February 9th 2010, BioShock 2 arrives on U.S. shores and I’ve had the unique pleasure of playing the ‘Shock and chewing the fat with the game’s creative director at 2K Marin, Jordan Thomas. His perspective on the game’s development and what it takes to make the sequel as beloved as the original is submerged in BioShock 2’s ability to send you back to the once lost city of Rapture. MORE »

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News, Video Games

Bayonetta Review: Bad-Ass

Daniel Casarella :: Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 4:02 pm

So about 10 years ago this guy named Hideki Kamiya claims to have reinvented the Castlevania style game of the generation yore with Devil May Cry. He actually did, and along came armies of clones, God of War being the most notable. Now he’s back with Bayonetta. The game is much like Devil May Cry on the surface, but it’s soon apparent that this time, Kamiya-san has turned it up to eleven. Here instead of fighting demons you’ll play as the last of the Umbra Witches fighting against armies of angels from Heaven. Yeah, you read that right. You fight God and the legions from Paradise. Sounds fresh right? Well that’s just the beginning.

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Rockstar Dates Red Dead Redemption

Daniel Casarella :: Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 3:18 pm

Rockstar Games has finally nailed a date to the wall for it’s big-time western sequel, Red Dead Redemption.  On April 27th, 2010 we finally get our six-shooters back.  The sequel to 2004’s Red Dead Revolver has been a traveling rumor for years.  It was known that the open-world western would be using the Euphoria engine from Grand theft Auto IV and would take many of it’s stylistic cues from movies like Nick Cave’s Proposition, The Wild Bunch, and 3:10 to Yuma.  Those traveling rumors are all but confirmed with this new trailer. Take a gander at Red Dead’s new dude. His name is John Marston and he looks dirty.

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News

Yes, It’s a Survey

Stephen Blackwell :: Thursday, November 19th, 2009 1:15 pm

It’s winter. That means it’s time to bunker down with some hot toddies and play video games all night. Need some? Fill out this survey and you’ll be entered to win the God of War Collection on PS3, Halo ODST for Xbox 360, and Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles for the Wii.

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Video Games

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition

Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, November 12th, 2009 5:40 pm

GODDAMMIT! Doesn’t anybody give a shit about the rules anymore?! I didn’t watch my buddies die face down in the mud so some fucking digital nobody could just hide in the bushes the whole match and shoot me! Yep, I’ve been playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 all week and I want to tear my eyes out. I’m a veteran of this franchise which saw its newest and most notable release on Tuesday, Nov. 10th.  Modern Warfare 2 (which is rated M for MADNESS) is pretty much everything you’d expect it to be. This is a double edged sword. While the first Modern Warfare blew minds for a myriad of reasons, the second can’t really snipe your expectations in the same way. So what it does is walk the straight and narrow and it does that very, very well.

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Review: Grand Theft Auto - Episodes from Liberty City

Daniel Casarella :: Thursday, November 5th, 2009 1:15 pm

I’m not going to lie. I run several night clubs owned by Anthony Prince. He can be a bit of a pansy but I’ve made many connections and a lot of paper cleaning up after the guy. You should come to one of my clubs. Depending on the night, I might be working the door or working the floor. Catch me on an off night and I might just have to put you in a box. I’ve also been known to do favors for some very powerful people you know. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the best hitman-driver-pilot-bodyguard-dancer-base jumper, but I can do all those things and I can make them look like fun. My name is Luis Lopez, and you can find me in The Ballad of Gay Tony, the second of two episodes found on the Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City experience.

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Review: Forza Motorsport 3

Daniel Casarella :: Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 1:26 pm

I don’t usually play a lot of racing simulators. That is, games in the Forza or Gran Turismo series. The gameplay tends to be dry and overly nuanced, you never get to start the game with any of the cars you want, and quite frankly the sheer size of these racing sims can be overwhelming at times.  So when Forza Motorsport 3 arrived I naturally shivered at the thought of having to play through 50 lap races on an oval course with a fucking Subaru hatchback. Like most guys, I can admit when I am wrong. I misjudged this one, seriously. Forza 3 is hard not to like.

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