Features

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Wii U | 0 comments

It’s Saturday, which means news is mostly pretty slow! Instead of refreshing the page every fifteen minutes, why not join the forums and take part in a discussion I’m having about the Wii U and stupid things people have said about it? It’s free and maybe even fun!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Oh me oh my I am supremely upset today. Not about anything substantial, or even about anything that I’d normally get upset over, but simply due to trolls and commenters spewing their nonsense across the vast web of interconnected computers that we call the “Intrawebz”. Instead of brushing this stuff off like I normally do, however, I’d like to take the time to address many of the concerns I’ve read. Some of them semi-valid, most of them absurd, and all of the responses surely filled with far too much distress.

That’s okay though, because every once in a while it is okay to let yourself be angry about silly things. For me, that time is right now. Hit the break to see various arguments against the Wii U, as well as a response to each one designed for maximum catharsis.

Read More

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 0 comments

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Features, Reviews | 0 comments

Platforming Fans: You have a new game to buy. I’m not kidding either.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

MegaMan 2 was a game I grew up on. I never beat it as a kid- it would be ten years until that accomplishment- but I played it more than any other NES title I owned, plowing through the harrowing platforming puzzles, dodging beams of light on FlashMan’s stage, and cursing (as good as any 6 year old could, anyhow) at the frustrating spikes scattered about BubbleMan’s underwater fortress. By age 8 I had beaten every robot master thirty times over, and though I never defeated Wily himself, I got as close as anyone else my age.

I was- and still consider myself to be- a very skilled platformer.

It is with great consideration, then, that I concede (temporary) defeat in front of the latest game I have had the pleasure of reviewing. That game is ‘Fractured Soul’, a dual-screen platformer from the makers of nothing you’ve likely heard of. If you want to know more about the developer, you can read my interview with them here. If you want to know more about my concession to ‘Fractured Soul’?

Simply hit the break and I’ll tell you all about it.

Read More

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Features, Interviews | 0 comments

The ‘Fractured Soul’ developer talks the development process, frustrations with protecting ideas, and why you should buy their game.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~

I hope you guys like interviews (I sure do!), because you’ll be seeing a lot more of them over the coming months. Lined up we have 5th Cell, Junction Point, Broken Rules, and WayForward (tentative), and over the past few months we’ve dealt with n-Space, Renegade Kid’s Jools Watsham, and some writers from Cracked.com (horrible, horrible interview).

Recently I’ve conducted interviews via lists, weird fan-fiction write ups, and as straightforward Q&As. This time I think it’s certifiably appropriate to hit it from the IGN angle: Straightforward Q&A with some splashy fluff and awkward text-ifyings of emotional responses.

Ha ha ha.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ ~

So what’s in store for today? It’s time to get to know the guys behind 3DS’s potential next great platformer, Endgame Studios! A relatively new name to the development scene, they’ve been doing licensed games and dev-for-hire stuff since 2003, but they didn’t foray into independent game design in a serious way until 2005/2006, when the early early concept for ‘Fractured Soul’ came to be. It’s been a long development cycle, but we’re finally nearing its September 13th release date and many people are looking for a reason to pick it up.

So I started with that.

Read More

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 0 comments

Right click, “Save As” to download.

I am so tired of wrestling with blogger and tumblr and feedburner and iTunes and archive and all these stupid websites to try and make the feed subscribe-able. I’ll get it going later but I’ve been at it for nearly ten hours and nothing seems to function properly, so for now you just have to download it the old-fashioned way. Apologies to you guys who asked for a feed to subscribe to! Maybe next week?

News this week: Zelda Wii U rumors (lies), cheap iOS games, Ace Attorney 5 news, and a few other short topics.

“Guess the game” for this week: Here’s the link to the image if you want to play along.

Top ten list this week: Top Ten Gamecube games.

Enjoy, and if anyone knows how to get a podcast feed going and make it on iTunes and all that jazz, please let me know!

~Austin

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 2 Comments

So here’s another one! This time actually on time, and I have to admit: Despite it starting really slowly, the discussion we had at the end about how old various Nintendo characters are was definitely my favorite discussion we’ve had so far!

If you want to join in on the fun, listen to the podcast and then decide for yourself: How old are all of the following Nintendo characters?

Mario, Toad, Peach, Wario, Waluigi, Grampa Toad, Windwaker Link, Tetra, Gramma Link, Malo, Spirit Track’s Link, Happy Mask Salesman, Fox, Falco, Peppy, Slippy, Krystal, Samus, Ash’s Mom, Pit, Tom Nook, Captain Olimar, Captain Falcon, Snake from MGS4, Kirby, Dr. Kawashima

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, Podcast | 0 comments

In the third episode (fifth if you count the one I didn’t put up and the one I accidentally didn’t record!) of ‘Here’s a Podcast’, the people sitting around the iPad talk about New Super Mario Bros 2’s bad 3D, the Miiverse’s potential for success (or failure), potential new Smash Bros. characters, and much more! It’s four people this week instead of three.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This weeks’ Top Ten List: Five characters we’d eliminate from Smash Bros. and five characters we’d add in. Hit the break for each of our lists, and listen to the full podcast for the complete discussion among a lot of nonsense.

Read More

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, That One Show, Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

Hooray it’s back! Interesting topic that came to mind, sort of related to the podcast we’re trying to make function properly. What do you guys think?

Edit: I enjoy that- despite the new channel, new camera, and new “season”- youtube still picks the greatest thumbnails. So good. So brave.

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Features, General Nintendo, Podcast, Wii U | 0 comments

This week I think we had a very nice discussion about the Wii U and the concern that it will be filled with ports of PS360 games! Additionally we wrap things up discussion IGN’s list of top ten 3DS games so far. Check it out here:

Also, if you’re wondering why I haven’t put this podcast on iTunes, it’s because I’m a firm believer in the concept that the first ten of anything you make (such as this podcast) are destined to be crap. So we’re gonna do ten “test” episodes via archive.org and then I’ll get them subscribe-able on iTunes for you guys after they get good! : D

~Austin

Posted on 12 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, Features, Reviews | 0 comments

Never heard of Heroes of Ruin? Check out this launch trailer!

It was a very long time ago that I first played Gauntlet Legends on Nintendo 64. For some reason it sits in my mind as one of those “N64 classics” despite not REALLY doing anything revolutionary at the time. Maybe it’s the really funny running animations? Still, it was fun, but thinking back it really wasn’t as good as I remember. Terrible? No, not at all. Just not great.

Then comes along the latest game from n-Space, Heroes of Ruin. I remember playing it at E3 last year and not being terribly impressed, but when I got back from L.A. it seemed like people were raving about it left and right, saying it was going to be the 3DS’s Diablo, or a true game for those that have been waiting on that old Gauntlet DS game that got cancelled. But is it?

Sort of.

Read More