For over 20 years I've been holding on to my original Atari 5200 “Advanced Video Entertainment System” with the hopes that one day I would play it again. It was old but in great shape and I had a library over 15 old school games collecting dust. The only two controllers I had were in parts due to the fact that they took a beating over the years and I needed to do my own repairs.

Well about 3 years ago for Christmas my wonderful wife Teresa bought 2 refurbished controllers and a new power pack to fire up the old system. Great ! The only thing I needed was the old TV/Game switch box to make it all work now.

Well time went by and all I had to do was go online and find one, something not hard to do. Well 3 years later I was still without that switch box. Now my wife being the Ebay guru that she is spends a lot of weekend mornings at garage sales looking for that diamond in the rough. Of course some junk comes home with the kids a lot, but its pennies on the dollar compared to a new toy they would use for a day or two and forget about after that.

That being said I get some stuff brought home for me as well. Over time my wife has brought home boxes of video game stuff like old NES’s, Atari 2600’s and Genesis systems with a bunch of games and random parts. I usually hook them up for a day or two and then they end up on Ebay.

Well this past week was the jackpot ! She again brought home a bargain box deal for $5.00 that contained 2 NES's and 2600 systems with games and etc….. So after digging threw I found this TV/ Game switch box from RadioShack . I was like this it this is the one that will work with my 5200 !.

Sure enough I hooked it all up and it worked. Before I knew it I was playing Pac Man, Pole Position, Jungle Hunt, Kangaroo and many more. Now I don't see myself playing this every day, but the fact that after 20 years its 2nd system I ever owned and it still works to this day makes it all worth having. Now that's what I call old school !

-TX

 

 

 

Its a beautiful sunny day. The grass is green, the sun is shining and the birds are singing. But then in typical fashion when it comes to video games it all goes wrong. Your lovely day is ruined. What happens when your front lawn becomes overrun by Zombies ? What are you going to do ? Nothing. That's right Nothing !

Your lawn takes so much more pride in its self than your you ever could dream of and is ready to fight back in Plants vs. Zombies. Your front Lawn is hardcore From the Sun Flowers right down to those measly little mushrooms that seem to pop up from time to time.

I know I may be a little late to the party here with this one, but I just downloaded a demo yesterday and loved it. The game is what I would describe as a strategy defense game with mini games. You use your sun flowers to collect sun witch gives the energy you need to grow more plants to defend your lawn.

You have “pea” shooter turrets, walnuts that acts as a blockade defense and cherries that bomb multiple zombies at once (get it cherry bombs). Every level you unlock new weapons or defense seeds to grow in your garden. Once you have a full arsenal you can only choose to have a certain number of weapons to bring to the party so choose wisely . Every few levels or so the game throws some faster paced mini games at you to keeps things fresh. Brilliant I say !

This game is so much fun and so addictive that I'm going to delete the demo I downloaded yesterday and find a new one to download now (timed demo). I suggest checking the Link below and downloading the trail version yourself. Also checkout the video ICandee posted at her blog , its priceless. If this game isn't announced for the the 360 or at least iPhone by the time E3 comes, this my very well be the first ever PC purchase I make.

Pop Cap Games: Plants vs. Zombies

-TX

 

Never has it been a better time to be a fan of the fighting genre. With in past year we’ve seen games such as Soul Calibur 4, Mortal Kombat vs DC, WWF Legends of Wrestling and Street Fighter 4. We can still look forward to Marvel vs Capcom, Tekken 6 and King of Fighter XII when it comes to traditional fighting games.

In just the past few years the UFC has become more popular world wide. Though its been around for about 10 years its just now being more accepted as a true sport and not a “blood sport”. The UFC is a combination of different fighting styles, such as boxing, wrestling, jujitsu and Karate for short MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and makes for some exciting fights.

Enter UFC 2009 Undisputed. The game ships this week and is already getting great reviews. In the past there has been a couple of UFC games, but they were just button mashers and not very fun to play. UFC 2009 has already won over the fans with a demo that released just over a month ago.

The demo allowed fans to hop right in the Octagon and get a feel for the game. With a deep learning curve, the demo was also equipped with a hefty tutorial to teach you how to throw more then just punch and kicks.  UFC 2009 Undisputed is going to be BIG!

  The most anticipated fighter of the year has to be Fight Night Round 4. When this series debuted on Next gen consoles it was highly accepted by fans and reviewers alike. Heck it even caused a bit of change in how people score their reviews after one publication gave it a “10”.

With FN RD 3 the game was a great port of FN RD 2 (last gen) with a major jump in graphics. The Only issue was the solid but slower 30 fps. FN RD 4 looks to lock in 60 fps and have collision detection like no other game has ever seen. With the addition of Iron Mike Tyson  in his prime you cant tell me your not looking forward to knocking someone's A** out !

So it doesn't matter in you like 2D or 3D, punching, kicking or wrestling The past year has had plenty of options for your butt kicking style. I love my fighting games and I look forward to seeing you in the ring, octagon, squared circle, arena …..which ever !

-TX

Recently I finally purchased my first Xbox 360 Community Game: A Fading Melody (200 MS points). A Fading Melody is a simple platformer, which takes cues from last years XBLA hit Braid.

The narrative, which is told by scrolling text at the start of each level, is about a woman who is fighting a coma by bringing light and colour back into the her (subconscious) world and hopefully in the process, discover why she is in the coma in the first place. As you take out enemies, it helps prevent you from going deeper into your coma and lightens up the screen with each kill.

The main character and enemy designs are very simple (as you can see in the screenshot below), but the slightly more detailed backgrounds help draw the player in a bit more. The first thing though that should get your attention is the beautiful classical music score.

The gameplay mechanics, like the art style are also very simplistic, making the game feel like a platformer from the Commodore 64 days! Having to retry jumps or miss stomping on enemies can be a bit frustrating.

A Fading Melody, I would say is in the “art game” category, so if your not into that sort of thing I would pass, but if you like good music, the story concept and have a bit of patience I suggest giving a try (it’s also only 200 points remember!).

- Schu

Several weeks ago I was getting ready to write a blog in regards to why it was a good thing that Konami was going to publish Atomic Games first person shooter Six Days in Fallujah.  The game was to be based on the events of the second battle of Fallujah during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Unfortunately as I was going to begin, the word had dropped that Konami decided to no longer  publish this title as a result of mounting criticism from veterans groups and others sensitive to Atomic's portrayal of the conflict.  Now I can not defend freedom like the brave men and women in our armed forces do day in and day out, but I can defend this game, and for better or for ill state why it is important we have the opportunity to decide for ourselves the fate of Six Days in Fallujah

The Call of Duty franchise Is easily one of the greatest first person shooter franchises of our time.  All but one of the titles in the series have taken place during World War II, the most important and Earth-shaping conflict in recent memory.  Still to this day many still carry the memories of those events, yet their has been no significant backlash to these titles, rather the purchasing public is begging for more.  Even Call of Duty: World at War's depiction of extreme violence, be it in your face or unleashing a flamethrower on your enemy did nothing to slow the franchise momentum, rather it accelerated it.  Yet Six Days of Fallujah felt the heat so harshly it will never see the light of day.  Is it too soon?  I argue the time is right now.

 

Now it may seem in the last paragraph I was down on Call of Duty, rather it is the opposite.  I wanted to discuss it to make my point about Fallujah.  When I started playing Call of Duty, it was with Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360.  I was blown away at the time by its attention to detail and its portrayal of the events of World War II.  For the first time in my life I became keenly aware of the sacrifices our soldiers went through defending our freedoms.  I used that interest as a springboard to learn more about the conflict, to ask questions to what happened and why, and in the end have more respect and admiration for those who have served in the past, present, and future.  Playing the game, you realize that this isn't exactly how it goes down as your health doesn't regenerate in real life, but it is just a way for us that get just a tiny glimpse or a feel for what those soldiers faced, to spark that interest and curiosity.

That is why we need Six Days in Fallujah more than ever, to reach those who may not watch the news on TV, or listen to the radio, or read the newspaper.  Even if the game is just an adequate first person shooter that does nothing to push the genre forward, by the fact that is taking place in a theatre of operations that has such a profound effect on all our lives, this game could be the catalyst for some person out there to be awakened to what has and is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Think of it as the gateway drug to explore their countries involvement in wars that are going on to this day, and perhaps learn more about the sacrifices that have been made and are still being made today.  That is why I think Infinity Ward dropped the ball a bit with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.  Such an incredible game with moments the likes of which we have never seen, but I always felt that the absence of a real-world middle east 'villain' took away from the games impact.  I can imagine the difficulty they must have had, even with the decisions they made, in particular,  the detonation of a nuclear device, but at the end of the day they still took the easy road out.

 

In conclusion, I hope that Six Days of Fallujah sees the light of day and makes it onto our gaming consoles.  I myself was rather excited at the prospect, now in light of all the controversy I would like to hear and see what discussion would arise surrounding its release.  As hey say, their is no such thing as bad publicity, I guarantee that because of the backlash and the news stories that followed, this game would sell through one million units in no time and be a guaranteed financial success.  All we need at the end of the day is for one brave publisher to step forward.

Six Days in Fallujah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

-SG

 

We are just a little over two weeks away from this years new and improved E3 show. The past two years saw a more toned down quiet E3 without all the glitz and glamour. It was down to business for the gaming industry.

Instead of the loud music, lights and booth babes. It was all scheduled meeting for the press and media. E3 now looks to return to its somewhat  former self with publisher looking to bring back the Hollywood style show.

Now matter what E3 looked like on the inside it was always about the the Big 3 and the press conferences that delivered the news we waited all year for. Whether its once again Microsoft trying to implement motion control to the 360, The “New” PSP Go, or a Wii price drop, rumors are a big part of the weeks leading up to the show.

I know myself I don't need to see “motion” in my 360.  I think Lips and We’re in the Movies should have proven to MS to leave that market to Nintendo. Being a 360 Fanboy some of the things Id like to see would be….

A release date and gameplay footage of Alan Wake.

Peter Jacksons Halo Project.

New Exclusive titles.

New Live features like a Facebook feature or some sort of blogging option.

New Face plates !

I could go on forever, but Id like to keep the discussion open for the rest of you. What are you looking forward to at this years E3 from the Big 3 ?

-TX

 

Well we’d like to thank all of you, yes all 3  of  you that were eligible for entering in our Final Fantasy XI (PC) giveaway. One randomly selected winner has been drawn.

And the winner is ……………… ICandee ! Congratulation to you. I know with all your free time being a mom, wife, career women and gamer that you should have no problem finding time to play an online MMO !

Please contact me Via Xbox Live at gamer tag TormentX or at tormentx@hotmail.com for your shipping information.

Again thanks to all who entered and once again Congratulations to ICandee for becoming our winner !

 

Normally I wouldn't I do a post that subjects the previous post, but this has to be seen. Now I think its safe to say that the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine game is a huge success so far and kicks some major booty ! Hey Kratos eat your heart baby !

Wolverine is a true Bad Ass in the Marvel world of comics and movies and now even more so in video games. But what happens when it goes to far ? What happens when the it becomes all to real  ?

Well I’ll tell ya. It leads to a video that features some seriously awesome (and dangerous) home made claws and one dork that just looks hysterical try to pretend he is really Wolverine. Enjoy Folks !

Source: GiantBomb.com 

-TX

What an inflamitory title, but around my house there is a ring of truth to it. I have been a vocal Chronicals of Riddick supporter since it was released 5 years ago on the original Xbox. Ever since the announcement of the remake/sequel was made for the Xbox 360, I have been chomping at the bit to get my hands on it. A couple of weeks ago I picked up the game and was enjoying it. Recently my gaming time has been diminished, so once I started along the point in the game where there are several 'fetch-n-fight' quests punctuated by load screen after load screen, my interest started to wane in the face diminished returns. I actually was feeling a little stressed at the prospect of completing the missions that I started as weird as that may sound.

A funny thing happened that I did not quite expect. After a dreary session of load screens in Butcher's Bay, I realized that I had downloaded the X-Men Origins: Wolverine demo off of the Marketplace. Once I started playing I knew that this was the cure for what ailed me. Instant action, instant gratification, and the feeling of being a total bad-ass that I have not felt since Too Human. So on Friday I did what I often loathe to do, I traded in Riddick to help pay for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Friday night I took my son to the movie, that evening I started my adventure, and the rest is history.

It has ben an odd gaming year for me, often dictated by time and what my group of friends are playing. In purchasing Wolverine, a game that I would normaly shy away from, I am having as much gaming-therapy as I am fun. If you are a Marvel Comics fanboy from way back, or you are just looking for some crazy fun, Wolverine is a great gaming tonic. Now just because I traded in Riddick, it doesn't mean we are through, just think of it as a little cryo-stasis, I will wake you when I am ready.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Official Video Game Site

-SG