Here’s a Podcast – Episode 66!
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 5 Comments
Despite a massive pile of listener mail this week, we manage to wrangle the podcast length down to 135 minutes compared to last week’s 180 minute unfinished monster. It’s also a really solid podcast! What we played: Call of Duty: Ghosts, Wii Fit U, Sonic: Lost World, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies. No discussion topic, but a LOT of listener mail rounds this out!
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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[Feature] Stop with the cat-suits and spin moves: The dramatic presentation of non-difficulty and how it relates to modern Mario
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Gaming, General Nintendo | 41 Comments
Austin note: This thing is not meant to be viewed as a criticism of a game that is not out yet (SM3DW) that I have only played twice before. It is also not meant to be a criticism solely of the Mario franchise. It is, as I hope is clear, a discussion and analysis of gameplay motifs and design philosophies for many kinds of games.
Kenta Motokura is co-director of the upcoming game-that-you’ve-all-heard-of, Super Mario 3D World. In a recent IGN article he said the following regarding the development of the game:
“Going off of our monitor tests, we wanted to see what beginners thought was difficult about the game, and also what was fun about the game. We learned from those tests is that if you were a beginning player, when you come to a cliff, you might stop, think about jumping, then jump and maybe not make it and drop. But what if we added this element of sticking to the wall so you could prevent yourself from dropping down?”
So he brings up this simple question: What if you added an element that prevented less experienced players from falling down?
[Review] Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Features, Reviews | 5 Comments
System: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: October 25th, 2013
Developer: Armature Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Author: Austin
“Hi, I’m Batman, and here’s uh… here’s my next game thing.”
Batman has been on a real kick lately, courtesy of the The Dark Knight trilogy of movies (which in turn, I understand, are courtesy of some graphic novels), and some of his most critically acclaimed recent appearances have been in videogames. This trend– on its fourth year– continues with the release of Batman: Arkham Origins and its sister game Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. The latter of the two is the one that will be discussed here.
‘Assassin’s Creed: Rising Phoenix’ art found within Assassin’s Creed: IV
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 2 Comments
Earlier this year, an image with the branding “Assassin’s Creed: Rising Phoenix” was found online (probably via a leak), and people began speculating that perhaps Ubisoft had accidentally let out a secret Vita project– or even a movie. To peoples’ dismay, Ubisoft promptly denied that they had any involvement with that logo, but today someone found a similar image– with the same logo– hidden within their latest game, Assassin’s Creed IV.
Maybe it was some sort of internal joke, but now that the image is directly tied with the company, it’ll be hard for them to deny some involvement! We’ll see what comes of it.
iGoGaming via Destructoid
Here’s a Podcast – Episode 65!
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 7 Comments
Twelve hours after finishing our Extra Life 24-hour live stream, we record another podcast! We discuss Batman (aka Austin excessively criticizes it), Mario Sunshine, Mario Galaxy 2, and 3D platforming, Wind Waker vs. Skyward Sword (and other Zeldas), the PS1 game ‘LSD’, as well as some great listener mail and a bit of news. This episode was way too long though. We’re working on that.
This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura
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More: highlight
Extra Life 2013 live-stream!
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Site updates | 1 Comment
More: extra life
Extra Life 2013 is over! Final details on the streaming schedule, prizes, events, and more
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Eggbusters, Features, Uncategorized | 7 Comments
Catch the stream here (8AM central time, November 2nd)
Hey guys! We’re just three days away from this year’s Extra Life 2013 gaming marathon for charity, and we have one last (okay, maybe the second to last) update for you on what we’re doing, when we’re doing it, and why you should consider participating. If you have no idea what Extra Life 2013 is, please check out this post.
The final schedule for the event has been worked out, and you can view it after the break. It includes things like video game jeopardy (where we ask the questions and you guys answer them), Ask Seaman Anything (a Skype call-in segment), The Walking Dead LIVE! (yet another call-in segment), and much more. Please take a look at it after the break.
Oh, and we have PRIZES FOR YOU. That’s right: You can win prizes by donating or participating in the event in a very intuitive way thought up by Jack. Here’s how it’s going to work:
For every dollar you donate to the cause, you’ll get one pretend digital raffle ticket.
For every Jeopardy question you answer correctly, you’ll get one pretend digital raffle ticket
For every time you call in to the show, you’ll get one pretend digital raffle ticket
We’ll also be giving away raffle tickets to people that we consider outstanding participants. So if you do something cool or you make us laugh or whatever, we’ll give you extra raffle tickets!
When all is said and done, all of the raffle tickets will be bundled up and we’ll do drawings for fabulous prizes. Most (if not all) of the prizes are game download codes for Wii U, 3DS, PS3, Steam, etc etc. I can’t promise that we’ll give away anything crazy (no game systems or huge retail games or anything), but hopefully the ability to win some neato games will be enticing enough to get you to participate. More details to come on the day of.
More: extra life, highlight
Monster Hunter series director says he wants to bring energy back to the Japanese market
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
The following comes from an interview with Japanese gaming weekly ‘Famitsu’:
“To be honest, I don’t feel the current Japanese game market has a lot of energy to it, and I want to get that energy back. I think the only way to do that is to keep making fun games and keep energizing and exciting the gamers.
“Lately I’ve been running into overseas gamers at MH4 events and stuff, people with these MH t-shirts who go all the way to Japan for these things. I love seeing that, and I wonder if we can expand on that. It’s hard enough to launch a game in Japan alone, but for games like Pokemon that become worldwide hits, that energizes Japanese games across the board. I think there are qualities to Japanese games that only Japanese people can come up with, and I think it’d be great if we could expand on how we bring those strengths to the international arena.”
– Director of the Monster Hunter series, Kaname Fujioka
Fujioka talked about much more in the interview, as transcribed by Polygon. Check it out here.
More: Japan, Monster Hunter, top
FAA is relaxing electronics guidelines on planes; you can now play 3DS during takeoff and landing
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, DS, GBA, General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
As long as your device can’t transmit or receive wireless signals like texts or phone-calls, the FAA is soon to let you play with it during the takeoff and landing portions of any particular airplane flight. This means 3DS and Vita, phones and tablets (if ‘Airplane Mode’ is turned on), etc etc can all be used to calm your nerves or supplement the visceral experience of being forced into the air above earth at 400 miles an hour starting “soon”, according to the FAA.
Why the change of heart? It turns out that devices that aren’t transmitting or receiving things wirelessly can’t interfere with most planes’ computer systems.
Call of Duty: Ghosts – perks system details
Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in News, Wii U | 0 comments
Activision has shared a variety of details about Call of Duty: Ghosts’ perk system. Read on below for a roundup of information.
– 35 total perks, each with a point value (1 to 5)
– Start out with 12 “points”
– Primary weapon, secondary weapon, lethal grenade, and tactical grenade each cost one point
– Perks have assorted point values
– Perks are unlocked by gaining a certain amount of levels, or by spending Squad Points
– All perks are separated into categories:
Speed: Outrun and outmaneuver enemy players. Speed Perks are all about getting the lead and staying ahead. Examples include Sleight of Hand (Faster reloading) and Stalker (Move faster while aiming).
Handling: Dexterity and control drives the Handling Perks, improving actions and accuracy. Examples include On the Go (Reload while sprinting) and Steady Aim (Increased hip fire accuracy).
Stealth: Stealth Perks aid you in staying out of sight, maintaining a low profile and engaging on your terms. Examples include Takedown (Kill enemies without revealing their death locations) and Incog (Resistant to targeting systems including Recon, Thermal Scope, Tracker Sight and Motion Sensor. No name or red crosshairs when targeted).
Awareness: Keep in tune with your surroundings. Awareness Perks help you survey the environment and detect enemy players. Examples include SitRep (Detect enemy explosives and tactical equipment) and Wiretap (Utilize all active enemy and friendly SAT COMs on the field).
Resistance: A hardened endurance reduces the effects of fatigue. Resistance Perks keep you going through tough engagements. Examples include Focus (Reduced weapon sway when aiming down sights and reduced flinch when hit) and Blast Shield (Increased resistance to explosive damage).
Equipment: Tacticians swear by their gear, and Equipment Perks ensure you have the best tools on hand. Examples include Extra Tactical (Additional Tactical equipment) and Extra Attachment (Extra attachment for your weapons).
Elite: Elite Perks offer special abilities that affect your loadouts in a variety of ways. Examples include Gambler (Spawn with a random Perk) and Ping (Activate a sonar ping upon killing an enemy, revealing nearby hostiles).
