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• Rez: 4/20 Game of the Day

  It may be a bit of a stereotype, but I'm willing to bet a lot of you gamers out there--people known for laid-back, couch-bound fun--plan on celebrating the High Holiday (of course, no pun intended) of April 20th. People unfamiliar with this special day should probably be aware that--wait, you're not a cop, are you? Read More... Posted Apr 20 2009, 01:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: rez, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, drugs, gaming habits, 420

• The Problem With XBLA Pricing

  When the amazing Bionic Commando: Rearmed launched last summer at the cost of 800 Microsoft Points (10 dollars), fans of the old-school franchise were relieved--and some were even worried that Capcom wasn't charging enough. But just a week before this, the 1200-Point price tag attached to the equally-amazing Braid caused a bit of alarm--though most agreed that an extra five bucks was more than worth it for such a unique and unforgettable experience. These days, the 800 Point-and-under pricing structure of XBLA games is seemingly becoming a thing of the past; this week's releases of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and Flock are available for 20 and 15 dollars, respectively. For the gamer on a budget--or me, anyway--the 10-dollar price point is the sweet spot for XBLA game prices. And as new XBLA releases find themselves slipping further and further from this comfortable territory, I'm finding myself less and less interested in what's available in the marketplace. Read More... Posted Apr 09 2009, 02:15 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: xbla, bob mackey, dlc, xbox live arcade, flock, puzzle quest: galactrix

• Crystal Defenders: Square's New Low

  While hopping onto the Xbox Live Marketplace yesterday to force another innocent soul into the cult of Peggle, I noticed something that could only be described as “curious.” Somehow, a Final Fantasy game had snuck its way onto XBLA—and it wasn’t just any Final Fantasy-based product. This new title, Crystal Defenders, was entirely based on the Final Fantasy Tactics (Advance) universe, my most preferred of Final Fantasy settings. So, knowing absolutely nothing about Defenders, and with the screenshots and marketplace description giving no clue as to what the game actually entailed, I downloaded Crystal Defenders if only to find out what the hell it was. Booting the game up, I was greeted by a selection from Hitoshi Sakimoto’s amazing Final Fantasy Tactics A2 soundtrack. And after that, it all went downhill. Read More... Posted Mar 12 2009, 12:45 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy, square, xbla, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, final fantasy tactics, crystal defenders

• Board Games Should Be Downloadable

  I love board games, though we've had a confused relationship over the years. Once I could no longer torture my parents with endless games of Monopoly, Scrabble, or Hero Quest, I quickly dismissed the whole activity as low-tech kid stuff and concentrated my nerd powers into more pressing matters, like video games. But around three years ago, I wandered back to tabletop gaming on a whim; a few friends and I started to dabble in fantastic games like Settlers of Catan, and I was unexpectedly brought back to something I once truly loved. Part of the reason I opted to first buy a 360 over the other systems was the fact that there were so many board game adaptations available on XBox Live. And while they could be much greater in number--where the hell are my Catan expansions, anyway--things like Zombies!!! are still on the way, which means that the whole XBLA board game thing must not be a total failure. Then again, if you happen to be a fan of traditional (non-nerdy) board games, the selection available on this gen's digital download services is a bit troubling; the old standbys of Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Sorry, and others are only available in disc form at prices slightly lower than the standard $60 cost of a new game. Read More... Posted Mar 10 2009, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: xbla, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, catan, board games, monopoly

• Virtual-On and On: Oratorio Tangram Resurrected on Xbox Live Arcade

  I’m not sure that the videogame fan’s fetish for promotional and limited edition hardware is much of a problem. Most people just love having stuff. Some folks are into shoes. I’m not talking about people who hang out at Footlocker waiting for a fresh shipment of Lebron Signatures. I mean there’s a whole freaky subculture of people who collect and buy custom made sneakers designed by graffiti artists. They spend thousands of dollars on pairs of sneakers. Sneakers they already have. Those sneakers look different than their other sneakers. The things you learn watching Entourage, I tell you… The gamer’s most disturbing predilection is his unceasing devotion to brand. Nothing gets our blood going like the latest sequel, remake, or re-release. It isn’t just nostalgia, that ready scapegoat for franchise excitement. The iterative nature of game design (and business) has simply made us gluttons for the familiar. We are addicts for the names we know being followed by ever increasing numerals and for the inevitable resurrection of classic milieus. I’m feeling particularly guilty about it today. When it came out last night that Sega’s Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram was getting re-released on Xbox Live Arcade I damn near wet my pants. I’m a sucker, what can I say. Read More... Posted Feb 25 2009, 05:30 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, xbox 360, sega, xbox live, famitsu, xbox live arcade, virtual on, oratorio tangram, lebron james

• My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

  It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal over the next few excruciating days! Please enjoy. Since I jumped on the current-gen bandwagon so late, the modern twin-stick shooter was an unfamiliar concept to me. I'd played a few of the old-school predecessors like Robotron and Smash TV, but, before picking up a 360, I didn't really understand how such limited gameplay could possibly hold my attention in our futuristic age of bells and whistles.  Obviously, I hadn't yet experienced any of the Geometry Wars games at that point in time--otherwise, I would have been aware of my complete and utter wrongness.  Geometry Wars 2's lack of superficial complexity is almost a necessity--with its insanely twitchy, adrenaline-pumping close calls, I don't think my brain could have handled much more than move, shoot, and bomb.  And in applying these few concepts to six completely different game modes, developer Bizarre Creations makes developing stratgies a requirement for success--kind of unexpected from a game that, at first glance, looks like a screen saver gone horribly wrong. Read More... Posted Dec 18 2008, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: xbox 360, top ten, bob mackey, geometry wars, xbox live arcade, top 10 of 2008

• My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Braid

  It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal over the next several excruciating days! Please enjoy. As far as downloadable games go, Braid was a pretty big deal; I don't think a day in August went by without me reading several blog posts by people caught up in creator Jonathan Blow's amazing world--oh yeah, except for those days in August when Braid wasn't out.  Nevertheless, there's really nothing else on XBox Live Arcade--or any other platform, really--that's like Braid; though its originality would be irrelevant if the game played like crap.  Luckily, Blow's deconstruction of the platformer is an immaculately-design work of genius, a mechanical, visual, and aural delight from start to finish.  And somehow, even with my embarrassingly poor competence at video game puzzle logic, I stuck through to the game's mindblowing ending. Please stop me if you can't take all of the well-deserved hyperbole. Read More... Posted Dec 09 2008, 08:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: xbox 360, top ten, braid, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, jonathan blow, top ten of 2008

• The New XBox Experience: A Brief Reaction

  The New XBox Experience is finally available to all XBox 360 users today, and I couldn't be happier.  Microsoft's old "blade" format had quite a few problems, most of which involved finding stuff on the marketplace; to use the old GUI effectively, you pretty much had to train yourself to think bass-ackwardsly.  And when you got to the right place, sometimes you couldn't even find what you were looking for; I remember a certain summer adventure when a friend and I wanted to play the newly released Commando 3, only to find it minutes later listed under WOTB--which caused me to forever think of the game as Woe Tub. The best idea out of all of the new changes has to be the Netflix streaming movie integration. As a loyal NetFlix customer, I was aware of their streaming service before the NXE announcement, but never really used it because I sit in front of my computer too damn much as-is. But now when I'm alone or entertaining (and most importantly, far from my computer desk), I can choose from a good selection of quality (and not-so quality) programming that further justifies me not having cable TV. My own cheapness can only excuse so much. Read More... Posted Nov 19 2008, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: xbox 360, xbox live, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, hardware

• God Help Me, I Am Looking Forward to Banjo-Kazooie XBLA

  Back in the Summer of 1998, my friend lent me his N64 when he left for a week-long Florida vacation--I didn't end up getting the system for myself until the combination of bargain-basement prices and Paper Mario forced my hand three years later.  With my judgmental friend out of sight, I took this as a prime opportunity to rent some N64 games that were skewed for a demographic much younger than the average, mumbling 16 year-old male.  My first stop was Yoshi's Story, a game I was excited to play after the world-changing Yoshi's Island.  As with many other gamers out there, I gathered I was being punished for some great evil I had done. An equally unexpected happening happened when I disposed of Yoshi's Story in a local fire and picked up Rare's then-new Banjo-Kazooie. Unexpectedly, I loved the game; and even though I'm much smarter and have a solid 8 years of Rare grudge resting on my shoulders, I can't help but anticipate the release of BK on XBox Live Arcade in a few weeks. See if this trailer will fill you in on my mental state: Let's get some things out of the way: all of these characters are absolutely insipid. Read More... Posted Nov 18 2008, 11:30 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: banjo kazooie 3, rare, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, banjo kazooie, banjo tooie, donkey kong 64

• Vigilante 8: Twisted Metal's Cooler, Younger Brother

  In the late 90s, car combat sims were en vogue; you might say they represented the in-your-face, totally-not-for-kids sentiment about video games that took off around the Playstation era.  The genre eventually crashed and burned with 2001's Twisted Metal Black, which was probably for the best--by that point, the series was taking itself more seriously than a Tool poster hanging in the bedroom of a 15 year-old suburbanite.  But before this swan song, there were certainly quite a few good games; my personal favorite is Interstate 76, a complex and brilliant car combat game that combined Mechwarrior with the visuals of Dire Straits' Money for Nothin' video.  Unfortunately, I76 never made it to home consoles--but a stripped-down, spiritual successor by the name of Vigilante 8 did.  And surprisingly, it wasn't crap. Read More... Posted Nov 05 2008, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: bob mackey, xbox live arcade, vigilante 8, car combat, interstate 76, twisted metal, ports

• Duke Nukem 3D Was Actually a Great Game

  It may be hard to believe, but there was once a time when the phrase "Duke Nukem" didn't conjure up hoary old jokes by would-be Internet comedians who were known to say, "More like Duke Nukem ForNEVER, am I right!?"  Well over a decade ago, Duke Nukem was actually relevant, and Duke Nukem 3D was a creative, tongue-in-cheek alternative to id's Doom series, the aesthetic of which could only come from people who read Spawn unironically. I might have been a 14 year-old boy back when 3D came out in 1996, but I was savvy enough to recognize that Duke's over-the-top masculinity was an insincere, tongue-in-cheek take on action heroes, a la The Simpsons' McBain. The question here is, will today's 14 year-olds--who weren't even multi-celled organisms during the original release of Duke Nukem 3D--get the joke? And will anyone else care? All of this Nukem news is relevant because tomorrow the game will be available on the XBox Live Marketplace for the pauperly sum of 800 Microsoft Points. That's a tiny price for what amounts to a lot of game, but I'm not here to tell you about the 360's faaabulous deals. In fact, I'm not even going to buy the game; my old CD still works fine, and programs like EDuke ensure that the original files I once played on my Pentium 133 will work long into the future.  The important thing to think about here is how Duke Nukem 3D was once innovative and unique; this is very hard to imagine after the franchise was left to fester with increasingly awful console ports and reimaginings, but it's true. Read More... Posted Sep 23 2008, 11:30 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: xbox 360, doom, duke nukem, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, pc games

• Jonathan Blow Your Mind

  The Onion A.V. Club recently put up an extensive and excellent interview with Jonathan Blow that's sure to piss some people off and make others fall deeper in love with the outspoken game designer.  I'm leaning more towards the latter, even though he mocks my chosen profession--hey, at least I was smart enough not to even attempt an analysis Braid's storyline and pass my word off as law.  Which is why the following inflammatory quote really doesn't bug me.  Honest: What’s interesting to me is that in terms of people who I feel are getting what it’s about – and here I’m not even talking about what the elements of the story mean, like, whatever symbolism and metaphors and things are in there. But even the structure of the game, like, there’s a fundamental structure and reasons in the way things are laid out, and parts of the game that are meant to draw people’s attention to certain things, regardless of what’s contained in that structure. And what’s interesting to me is that some people get that, and some people don’t. But that’s completely decorrelated from people’s claimed positions in the sphere of commentary. By which I mean, there are lots of random blog posters on places like Gamespot or NeoGAF or whatever who show a clearer understanding of the game than people who are all, “I’m all about games, and narrative and meaning, and I write a blog just to tell you about how I analyze all these things.” Those people have the same hit rate as your general forum poster. So that’s given me a cynical response to that whole community, which is just that, “Guys, are you sure you’re qualified to do this?” And that sounds asshole-ish, and mean and snarky, but that’s just how I’m feeling right now. Read More... Posted Aug 29 2008, 10:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: braid, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, jonathan blow, interview

• On Beating Braid

  I hate to be late to the party--or whatever the lingo is for when you don't finish a game 48 hours after its release--but I finally got around to beating Braid. Yeah, it's been about three weeks, but this was a game I really wanted to savor. Also, when it comes to logic puzzles, I suck on toast. If there's a Hell and I end up going there, Satan will lock me in a tiny room with nothing but The Adventures of Lolo trilogy for all eternity. While I'm slightly ashamed, I was able to get through Braid with only a minimal amount of cheating. I managed to finish Portal unaided through sheer willpower alone, but Braid kinda broke me. The puzzles--save for one with an autonomous key--are all watertight. My only problem with the game arises in a few of the later levels, when designer Jonathan Blow's penchant for non-intervention robs you of the tools you need to get some of the trickier pieces. If you haven't finished the game, beware: spoliers lurk below. Read More... Posted Aug 28 2008, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: independent developer, braid, bob mackey, xbox live arcade, jonathan blow