2010 March « ZarkSeven

Archive for March, 2010

Game Impressions: Bioshock 2

March 31, 2010

Introduction

Few games make an actual lasting impression on me. I may enjoy them immensely at the time, and remember them fondly, but press me for details and I won’t be able to produce many. The original Bioshock is one of those rare gems that captivated my imagination and has stuck with me. I love the concept, the art deco look, Big Daddies and Little Sisters and madness and mayhem under the sea. I think my appreciation of it actually rose from the time I wrote the Game Impressions on it to present. So it was with both longing and trepidation that I approached the release of Bioshock 2. Could the Electro Bolt plasmid strike twice?

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Posted in Game Impressions, Gaming, microsoft, review, Xbox | Tagged 2K Games, 360, Big Daddy, Big Sister, bioshock, Bioshock 2, Game Impressions, Little Sister, review, Xbox | Leave a Comment »

CAG Wish List Wednesday

March 30, 2010

I never win anything… unless it comes from Cheap Ass Gamer. Long time readers might remember that I won an Xbox 360 Elite from their CAG Fund for Child’s Play 2008 Charity Raffle Extravaganza. Well I won something again last week.

CheapyD has made a lot of improvements to the website over the last year or two (thanks to the coding brilliance of Super Programmer John), like collection lists, a game marketplace, a trade-in value tracker and so forth. One of the new items is the wish list, which you can use to keep track of the games you want to get, and can be used to match up potential trades with other CAG’s. CheapyD has been promoting this feature on the website and on the CAGcast podcast via a contest called Wish List Wednesday, where every Wednesday two CAG’s are chosen at random to win an item $60 or less from Amazon from off of their wish list. Well I was one of the two winners last week! I heard it announced Thursday on the CAGcast podcast about a half hour before getting PM’d about it. I picked the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Hardened Edition, which arrived at my door today. Thanks CheapyD!

If you haven’t already, go register on cheapassgamer.com and add some things to your wish list. Check out the other features when you’re there, and look me up! You find me listed as Zark7 (some other person that hasn’t been active since 2005 has ZarkSeven… the nerve!)

Posted in Gaming, microsoft, Xbox | Tagged CAGcast, cheap ass gamer, cheapassgamer.com, CheapyD, contest, game, podcast, shopping, winner, Wish List Wednesday | Leave a Comment »

APPraisal: Comet Racer

March 29, 2010

The iPhone / iPod Touch excels at small little game apps that didn’t cost much to make, and don’t make you feel bad for tossing down a buck or two to give them a try. Comet Racer is one of those apps.

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Posted in Apple, APPraisal, Gaming, iPhone, iPod Touch | Tagged APPraisal, Comet Racer, Donut Games, iPhone, iPod Touch, race, review, time trial | Leave a Comment »

The Arcade Ambiance Project

March 27, 2010

I saw an article the other day on Kotaku about the Arcade Ambiance Project. I finally got a chance to check it out, and wow, what a fun idea. Andy Hofle decided that the room containing his MAME cabinet lacked a little of that crowded arcade sound you may recall (if you’re old enough!) from days gone by, and set about to recreate it. The result are 4 long .mp3 files, with sounds you might have heard in an arcade in 1981, 1983, 1986 and 1992.

It’s been around for 5-6 years now, but somehow escaped my attention. If it’s escaped yours as well, go check it out and download the free tracks for yourself.

Now, if I only had a MAME cabinet.

Posted in 80s, Gaming, Music | Tagged Ambiance, Andy Hofle, arcade, cabinet, classic, game, MAME, sounds | 1 Comment »

Papercraft Friday #79: SSBB Mario

March 26, 2010

Photo by TouchFizzyGetDizzy

Paperkraft.net posted a model this week of one of the most detailed paper Mario models I’ve seen, created by Ignatius. He’s modeled in his classic pose from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Definitely not for the beginner papercraft modeler, but it appears to be well worth the effort for the experienced modeler and game enthusiast. Awesome!

Not keen on this one? Want more? Check out other Papercraft Friday posts.

Posted in Nintendo, Paper Models, Papercraft | Tagged card model, mario, Nintendo, paper model, Papercraft, Papercraft Friday, Paperkraft.net, SSBB, Super Smash Bros Brawl | 1 Comment »

Robert Culp: 1930-2010

March 25, 2010

I just read that Robert Culp died yesterday. While I can’t say he was my favorite actor of all time, I can say that I’ve seen him in so many things that I’m glad to have known him through his work. I’m sure you are to0. Not sure? Maybe you remember him as:

Kelly Robinson in I Spy

Bill Maxwell in The Greatest American Hero

Debra’s father Warren Whelan in Everybody Loves Raymond

Bob in the movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

“But I’m a gamer, not a movie or TV fan.” Ok, how about as the voice of Dr. Wallace Breen in Half-Life 2.

Personally I’ll always remember him for starring in three episodes of the classic series The Outer Limits, including one of the best known episodes “Demon With A Glass Hand” (pictured above), written by Harlan Ellison.

If you look at his imdb page, you start to wonder what he wasn’t in. Classics like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Gunsmoke, and Get Smart. Not to mention classic game shows he appeared in like Hollywood Squares and Match Game. Comedy things like Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live. 70′s and 80′s shows like Love Boat, Columbo, Police Story, Hardcastle & McCormick, The Cosby Show, Highway To Heaven, Matlock, Jake and the Fatman. 90′s shows like Wings, The Nanny, Lois and Clark, Lovesome Dove. Even more recent things like The Dead Zone series and Robot Chicken. And that’s just a small sample. You’d have to work hard not to have seen him in something.

Some of the flash-in-the-pan stars of today can only dream of having his body of work. He may be gone, but his legacy lives on.

Posted in news, TV | Tagged Demon with a Glass Hand, died, dies, Greatest American Hero, Half-Life 2, I Spy, Robert Culp, The Outer Limits | Leave a Comment »

Game Impressions: Mass Effect 2

March 24, 2010

Introduction

I remember the gaming Fall of 2007 very well. Bioshock came out on August 21st. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption came out on August 27th. Halo 3 came out September 25th. The Orange Box came out on October 7th. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare came out November 5th. The first Assassin’s Creed came out November 16th. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune came out on November 19th. Finally, on the same day as the original Rock Band came out, Bioware’s Mass Effect came out on November 20th. In the span of exactly 3 months, 9 blockbuster titles came out. It’s enough to make a gamer shout for joy and sob on his joystick all at the same time.

Of those titles, a few had a big effect on me. I named Portal my Game of the Year, followed closely by Bioshock at #2. Mass Effect was #7 in my Top 10. While that might not seem high on my list, a quick look at my achievements shows that I started the game on November 21st, 2007 and completed it on December 5, 2007. It doesn’t appear by the achievements that I played every day, but in that 15 day span I visited every planet, completed every side quest, and finished the game in just over 40 hours of gameplay. Given the number of games I buy and never play, or start and never get far into, the fact that I spent 40 hours in 2 weeks on Mass Effect during that crowded Fall season says something about how much I enjoyed the game.

Still, I didn’t really wait with bated breath for Mass Effect 2. In fact, as soon as it was announced that it would be coming in January, after the holiday release season, I sort of put it out of my mind. When January came, I saw it on the list of upcoming titles, and it came back to the forefront of my consciousness. I started reading Mass Effect: Ascension. I played Mass Effect Galaxy. I got the first issue of the Mass Effect: Redemption comic. And I pre-ordered Mass Effect 2 from Gamestop.com, with free shipping. As the date approached, my anticipation rose and rose, until I regretted that free shipping option I picked.

Thankfully, my game arrived the day after release, and I fired it up that evening. So do I think Mass Effect 2 is a worthy successor to the original Mass Effect? Was my heightened anticipation rewarded?

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Posted in Books, Comics, Game Impressions, Gaming, microsoft, Xbox | Tagged Bioware, Game Impressions, Mass Effect 2, review | 1 Comment »

Doctor Who Series 5 BBC America Trailers

March 23, 2010

The long one:

The short one:

Posted in doctor who, Youtube | Tagged BBC America, doctor who, dr who, Series 5, trailers, Youtube | Leave a Comment »

Cave Story

March 23, 2010

I often post Game Impressions, and occasionally post about a game on release day, but I usually shy away from saying solely in a non-review type post that you should go buy a particular game. But I’m going to break with tradition today and say that if you have a Wii, go spend $12 and buy Cave Story.

If you are unfamiliar with Cave Story (you’ve been living in a cave, right?), let me give it a brief introduction. It was first released in 2004 for the PC, and is one of the best known indie freeware games ever made, in part because it is excellent, and in part because it was developed completely by one person, Daisuke ‘Pixel’ Amaya, over a span of 5 years.

A 2D side-scrolling platformer with an old skool style, Cave Story takes its inspiration from classic games like Metroid and Castlevania, and it delivers a game that rivals such classics in story and play time. The game was adapted for WiiWare by independent developer Nicalis, and sports new widescreen 480p graphics, a new English localization, new character designs by Pixel himself, and new music. It also includes some new gameplay modes.

It’s in vogue these days to say “there’s nothing to play on the Wii” or “my Wii’s collecting dust” or something similar. Don’t be one of those people who like saying that at the expense of playing a good game. Hopefully this game gets the mainstream attention it deserves, and Pixel realizes a little monetary gain for all his hard work. In a console generation or two, when you see the inevitable lists of games you should have played on the Wii, Cave Story will be near the top of the list.

Hit the jump for some gameplay footage.

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Posted in Gaming, Wii | Tagged Castlevania, Cave Story, Daisuke Amaya, Doukutsu Monogatari, Metroid, Nicalis, Pixel, Studio Pixel, Wii, WiiWare | Leave a Comment »

Amazon Kindle for Mac

March 18, 2010

Amazon released a beta today of its Kindle software for the Mac operating system. As the press release states “Kindle books can now be read on the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC and Mac, and soon the iPad.” I don’t know that I’ll ditch my Kindle in favor of reading on my Mac, but I’m glad to see the Mac love. With Whispersync technology syncing my bookmarks and last page read across devices, it just gives me one more option to get that latest novel read. Download yours today.