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• The 61FPS Review: Big Bang Mini

  Big Bang Mini? More like Big Bang Awesome, you know what I'm sayin'? No? You don't know what I'm sayin'? Ah, well then, let me explain... Big Bang Mini is a very unique DS arcade shooter from French studio Arkedo and it's the kind of beautifully unique game that screams "I was made by a small team of devoted and creative people!" (Other recent examples, Flower, World of Goo, LOL, Everyday Shooter) While most arcade shooters allow you to fire and move simultaneously via dual analogue control, Big Bang Mini is entirely touch-screen controlled, so you can only do one at a time. Drag your ship around to avoid bullets, let go somewhere safe, flick up towards the top screen to fire on your enemy targets. Oh yeah, and your ammunition is fireworks. BOOM-KRACKLE-shizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Read More... Posted Feb 18 2009, 12:30 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: derrick sanskrit, portal, 61fps review, ds, Retro game challenge, big bang mini, south peak, arkedo

• Final Reminder: Funde Razor Tonight

  I feel like I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t remind everyone that tonight, December 10th, is that magical time of year known as Funde Razor. Allow me to explain—once a year in December, the gamers of America’s major metropolitan areas gather for a night of rhythm action and charity auctioning, with all the proceeds going to brighten the lives of sick children through Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play. Okay, so it’s really just an excuse to drink a lot of beer and sing Eye of the Tiger in public, which is something I do pretty much every weekend anyway. But it’s a really good excuse, what with the helping children and spirit of the holidays and all. And there’s stuff to win in contests and raffles, from Castlevania whips to signed games and typically awesome grand prizes. While this year’s grand prizes haven’t been announced, last year you had the chance to win a gigantic Weighted Companion Cube plush toy. By the end of the night it was only humped by two or three really drunk guys, so that’s a pretty good deal. A picture of last year's prize is after jump. Read More... Posted Dec 10 2008, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments Filed under: penny arcade, portal, charity, joe keiser, funde razor, child's play, denver, san francisco, new york city

• Left4Dead: The Most Important Training Simulation You Will Ever Play

  I am not embarrassed by many things. For example, when I invite a delightful young woman over to my apartment for a romantic liaison, I know full well that one of the first things she is going to see is a gigantic vinyl Godzilla. It sits on a mantle over a television surrounded by seven videogame consoles. The fridge is empty save for countless individual packets of soy sauce, a pitcher of water, and a lonesome bottle of Miracle Whip that may or may not have been there when I moved in. There is a framed map of Zebes from Super Metroid hanging in my bedroom. These are not things that label me “a catch.” I am also not embarrassed to admit what a terrible cliché I am. Like countless other men of my generation, raised with a nigh on religious devotion to media, I too have a Zombie Plan. The plan details what I will do during the initial weeks of the zombie apocalypse, that is to say, when my urban home is overrun with the brain-hungry undead. The plan is multi-tiered and incredibly thorough. I have this plan because it is important to be prepared for zombies. I also have it because I enjoy daydreaming about the zombie apocalypse. I am not embarrassed by this, and apparently neither is Valve, makers of Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and this fall’s Left4Dead. Read More... Posted Oct 15 2008, 09:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, ea, valve, portal, half-life, team fortress, zombies need to be planned for, left4dead, john romero, 28 days later

• Handjobs for Homebrew: Mario Paint Composer DS

  There's never been a better time to be an independent software developer. College students are designing original concepts that are then developed by established publishers into big games like Portal and de Blob. Small teams working in bedrooms or coffee shops are developing downloadable console games like Braid and World of Goo. And then, of course, there are the homebrew developers, releasing their software often for free or a small donation. Widely seen in less-than-100%-legal light, homebrew software is often a means of "hacking" the platform of choice to add functionality that had not originally been intended. While there's never any guarantee of quality when it comes to these things, there are some fantastic pieces of homemade software out there, and we hope to spotlight a few of them here on "Handjobs for Homebrew" (this is Hooksexup, I can say "handjobs," can't I?) Originally demoed just about a month ago, BassAceGold's homebrew of the Mario Paint Composer for the Nintendo DS was released to the internet masses last week. There have already been a number of homebrew applications to add the painting and animation components of the Super Nintendo classic Mario Paint to the touch-screen handheld, but MPC emulates the feature that always seemed to me (and, apparently, the YouTube community) to be the most engaging element, its cartoonish music composition score. For those who've never played Mario Paint, allow me to explain… Read More... Posted Oct 06 2008, 01:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: nintendo ds, derrick sanskrit, portal, world of goo, korg ds-10, de blob, mario paint, braid, jam sessions, electroplankton, homebrew, lsdj

• Whatcha Playing: Another Slice of Cake

  Having never been much of a PC or Mac gamer, I’ve come into Valve’s games far later than most. I experienced the original Half-Life second hand through my college roommate and only played through it myself last summer, on the PS2 of all things, in anticipation of the Orange Box’s fall release on consoles. When I finally did play through Half-Life 2 and its subsequent episodes, I was more than impressed. Valve’s reputation as peerless storytellers is more than deserved and despite being four years-old at this point, Half-Life 2 remains a high-water mark for game making free of the language and tools of film narrative. Writer Eric Wolpaw’s most impressive work in the Orange Box, however, is the widely lauded Portal, a perfect mix of Half-Life’s menace with the humor of his work on Psychonauts. Up until last Sunday, I’d been waiting for a chance to race through Portal a second time for months. This wasn’t possible since my copy of the Orange Box had ended up in Korea. Damn roommates. Portal is a strange experience when you return to it. Read More... Posted May 16 2008, 10:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, whatcha playing, valve, portal, PC, fallout 3, orange box, half-life, mac, still alive