Picking the top 5 movies of 2009? Easy. You’re pulling from one source; two if you count direct to video as something glaringly different than the traditional “starts at the cinema” model. Try picking 5 games – do you stick to the Xbox 360 and the PS3? What about the Wii? Or the PSP, or DS? Don’t forget about PC…

So, rather than applying some sort of scientific process to set all consoles and games on a level playing field, we’re splitting it up this year; say hello to your top games of 2009, plus a ton more notable runners-up!

Best Multiplatform game of 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Runners Up: Assassin’s Creed 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Resident Evil 5

Big loser: Terminator: Salvation – The Video Game

Batman: Arkham Asylum almost lost this very close race for game of the year. In 20 years of gaming, this title holds the distinct honour of being the only game I’ve ever had a save file go corrupt on. Needless to say, my first thought when considering the game was how I was forced to replay a game after getting through 79% of it beforehand.

My second thought? I barely noticed I’d played through most of the sequences before! Two words on why: Mark Hamill. Or, Kevin Conroy. How about Arleen Sorkin? Or simply, “HOLY NOSTALGIA, (Batman!)”.

The plot is stellar, the voice actors are literally ripped from our childhood – come on, you know Batman: The Animated Series is a total classic – and…finally…it’s a Batman game that actually makes you feel like Batman. Moreover, it’s a superhero game finally done right. With a sequel recently announced, Batman fans cannot be happier right now.

Arkham Asylum narrowly beat out Assassin’s Creed 2, though the two share strong plots and simple controls that are easy to learn and hard to master, and Ghostbusters: The Video Game which relied on a ton of nostalgia itself. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was almost up there due to addictive multiplayer modes and a non-stop (though short) single-player campaign. Dragon Age: Origins gets a nod purely for its gay sex option* in my book, and since I’m being biased, Resident Evil 5 also gets tipped for finally tying together all the series’ loose plot threads. Mostly.

The big loser of the year? Terminator: Salvation – The Video Game. Hands down. If you want to learn how to very loosely tie a game to a film franchise, and then rush it out the door so quickly a first-year game developer could have done a better job, look no further. Avoid it all costs unless you’re looking for some relatively achievements/trophies.

Best Xbox 360 exclusive game of 2009

Halo 3: ODST

Runners Up: 1 vs 100, Forza Motorsport 3, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Shadow Complex, Trials HD

Big loser: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

The problem with console-exclusive awards this year is that there weren’t too many exclusives. THAT IS A GOOD THING. Still, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all need their exclusives, so let’s start the awarding. From the Microsoft camp, Halo 3: ODST gets the gong. It’s  another Halo; not particularly innovative in its single player campaign, but still a lot of fun. The multiplayer, however, is why this award is being issued; if you haven’t played the Firefight mode yet, you’re missing out. It’s fun with a partner, and even better as 4-player co-op. Throwing Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Adam Baldwin (all from Firefly), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), and Nolan North (every single video game on the planet, it seems – most notably Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed, and Prince of Persia) into the mix surely didn’t hurt either. The star power and replayability just put it past the post when compared to Forza Motorsport 3.

The Xbox Live Arcade beats the PlayStation Network and its offerings hands down. The best of the crop this year? 1 vs 100 looks like a hoot; it’s shame Australians don’t get to find out, first-hand. Trials HD is another easy to learn, hard to master puzzle game – you’ll lose hours on it before you realise – and Shadow Complex is an old gamer’s side-scroller brought into the present. On the DLC front, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is literally a standalone game and shouldn’t just be considered DLC; hopefully we’ll see more of that type of content rather than extra costume packs and other money-wasters.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts was the big loser; a celebrated game series simultaneously reintroduced and brought back fifteen steps. A decent start was crushed by a crap 3D world and the unnecessary inclusion of VEHICLES (yay, vehicles!) and shows you just how wrong Rare got it.

Best Sony PS3 exclusive game of 2009

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Runners Up: inFamous, Killzone 2, God of War Collection, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Big loser: EyePet

If only Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was handled by Naughty Dog; we might have gotten something closer to what Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was and less (spoiler alert!) aliens.

The gameplay is solid, there’s a very rich multiplayer mode that doesn’t feel tacked on, and we have a chauvinistic, cocky, pigheaded bastard of a main hero…who you will LOVE. As a fellow reviewer has pointed out, “Uncharted 2 is a 10/10 game after two minutes of the first level.” Much like Modern Warfare 2, you’re constantly running, jumping, and fighting with zero let up; it’s an action movie that you get the privilege of controlling.

To summarise: this is the game that makes me want to buy (or at least borrow) a PS3. No other game will ever make me say that.

inFamous was solid, but releasing it at the same time as Prototype drew too many comparisons to make this a contender for Sony’s exclusive prize. Killzone 2 is a solid shooter, and Sony’s answer to Halo; well worth picking up. Hitting up that familiar (especially this year!) sense of nostalgia, the God of War collection is worth a purchase if you’re new to the series and getting drawn-in by the marketing for God of War III; the updated graphics make it appealing to old fans as well. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time delivers another solid sequel the addictively fun series.

I know the Blonde Lusty Team loves it, but the big loser for Sony is EyePet. Imagine what that game could have been if released with Sony’s motion controller/camera bundle, codenamed Gem, next year…

Best Nintendo Wii exclusive game of 2009

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Runners Up: House of the Dead: Overkill, Mad World, Dead Space: Extraction

Big loser: Nintendo in general. Can we move on now?

I’ve already admitted to being biased, so I’ll flat out say it: the Wii is useless. An SD console in this day and age is enough to warrant that claim; the introduction of Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s Gem systems next year is the icing on that cake. The amount of party games and other shovelware is beyond ridiculous and Nintendo’s ever-slipping market share is starting to show that consumers are clueing into that fact.

That gripe aside, a lot of games are riding the nostalgia wave this year, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the most unashamedly so. This is Super Mario Bros. 3, but with 4-player multiplayer!

…and that’s all I got. I don’t need to sell this game, do I? You’ve already bought it.

Our runners up? House of the Dead: Overkill is perfectly tongue-in-cheek and extremely fun and funny to play. Mad World seemed to get lost amongst party games and didn’t get the respect it deserved (try putting it out for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Sega!), and Dead Space Extraction is another solid on-rails shooter that has spectacular graphics; forget you’re spazzing out with motion controls for a second and you might think you’re playing an HD console.

The big loser? I think we’ve already covered that. To conclude: Nintendo, this isn’t 2006. A vitality sensor isn’t an innovation, it’s pointless. How about an HD console in the very near future, and less gimmicks in general?

Best handheld game of 2009

Scribblenauts

Runners Up: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Canabalt, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Big loser: Every single app on Facebook that doubles as a game.

For all the loathing I focus on Nintendo for the Wii, I’ll throw them praise for their handheld ventures; the DS is actually pretty cool. Most of our handheld entries come from that console, but Scribblenauts takes the prize this year very easily. Sure, it might be a bit rough around the edges at times, but the concept is unbeatable. Just try to find a word in the dictionary that doesn’t have an in-game model. You won’t. Fans of puzzle games and those with great imagination will lose themselves in this game.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars gets a mention purely because any game that gives you an updated version of Drug Wars is a-ok in my book. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story gets a nod for its creative setup, as does Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.

If you can’t tell, by this point of our proceedings, I’m (i)Phoning it in, so the last nod goes to Canabalt – go grab it from the App Store and you will not be sorry. It’s simple, but hilariously fun – check it out online first if you don’t believe me (and Merry Christmas! Don’t say I didn’t get you anything.).

The big loser? Technically not a handheld device, but accessible on mobiles, I’m lumping together every single “game” on Facebook and giving it one huge raspberry. I’m looking specifically at you, Farmville!

–

So that’s it for 2009. I’m by no means an expert when it comes to Nintendo or Sony, or arguably Microsoft or video games in general, so if you thought I got it wrong (or right!), let’s hear why in the comments. I’m also very keen to see your own personal top 5 and bottom 5 games for the year, so what are you waiting for? Put ‘em up!

*And nope, I wasn’t kidding. Here’s Jimmy Kimmel to explain and provide you with yet another Christmas pressie — probably NSFW, but not too bad.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts’ LOG’s Lost Challenges DLC will also set you back a paltry 400 Microsoft Points and will take up 80.86 mbs of disc space.

“Worried that Banjo and Kazooie may be falling back into their lazy ways, L.O.G has created a fresh series of tests and seven additional multiplayer modes for players to continue building their own distinctive vehicle creations. Although Spiral Mountain has been rightfully won, L.O.G. has an enticing reward for completing his new challenges: another version of Klungo’s Arcade game.”

The Resident Evil 5 Versus Mode DLC will set you back 400 Microsoft Points / 5 dollars and take up a staggering 1.86 mbs (yes, I said megabytes) of space on your hard drive.

“Versus allows up to four players to match wits in online battles across two very different game types. Slayer’s Rule is a point-based game that challenges players to kill Majinis. In Survivor’s Rule, players hunt the most dangerous game, each other! Players can begin the hunt as Chris, Sheva or other secret characters, and choose from either one-on-one or two-versus-two team matches for either of the two gameplay styles.”

]]> http://hardcoregaming.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/dlc-de-banjo-kazooie-nuts-and-bolts-confirmado-para-7-de-abril/ Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:21:51 +0000 Fernando Landeira http://hardcoregaming.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/dlc-de-banjo-kazooie-nuts-and-bolts-confirmado-para-7-de-abril/

Microsoft acaba de confirmar o lançamento do DLC de Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Se chama “L.O.G’s Lost Challenges” e estará na Xbox Live a partir do dia 7 de Abril.

O pacote irá adicionar ao game 250 pontos de achievements extras, 12 novos desafios e 7 novos modos para o multiplayer.

Será seu por 400 MS Points.

One of the great Xbox 360 games (in my opinion) has received a price drop. Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts was originally $39.99 but now is $29.99. So thank you Microsoft for the great deal for a great game. If you haven’t tried this game out please download the demo and enjoy!

Rating: 8 Out of 10

Banjo and Kazooie are both back for the 360 in an interesting take of the Banjo Kazooie series. This game is different from the other games where this is a vehicle based adventure game where the faster you complete objectives in each world, the more prizes you win. The vehicular creation tool is very easy to do and you can make tons of different vehicles and share them with your friends. The missions can be tackled in a variety of ways, the graphics look amazing and the audio definitely is a good backdrop. This game also has a lot of replay value and multiplayer mode. However, the controls for the land vehicles are a little touchy and the frame rate can drop from time to time. Overall though, if you liked Banjo Kazooie, you will like this one too but only if you keep in mind that this isn’t the same stuff that you are used to.

Pros:

+ Vehicular creation tool is robust and easy to use

+ Missions can be tackled in a variety of creative ways

+ Visuals are distinct and inviting

+ Soundtrack provides a great backdrop

+ Lots of replay value and a cool multiplayer mode

Cons:

- Control for land vehicles is touchy

- Frame-rate drops are infrequent but still punishing

Extras:

# Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts Cheat Codes

# Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts Achievements

Another Realm: 2008 Review Podcast

With Cali-Otaku: SS away on Christmas break Mark and Dave ‘Tiberious’ Todd bridge the gap into the new year.  In this Christmas Special we discuss the years movies and games and what we’re looking forward to in 2009.  We also find out the main reason why Dave wants to go to Japan.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q2F0K743

1:30:44 (41.5 MB)

Mark

Parent Play: Games The Whole

Family Can Play Together on Xbox.

Massive Xbox Games List: “It’s Good To Play Together” These Holidays!

A nice new section that we will be exploring in 2009 is family gaming.  As well as looking at the games we as parents can share with our children, we will also explore issues relating to online behaviour and how to navigate the increasingly adult-focused game world with our children.

We believe that being involved in video games with your child is not only the bonding fun experience of playing together and relating to their interest, but also the best way to educate yourself to better understand the content of the games they play.  Just as with the Internet, film, or TV, being involved allows you to make the decisions you believe are in the interests of your child more accurately.

With “Parent Play” we hope to open up a dialogue between the young and ‘older’ with various articles, personal stories, and views on the role of government agencies, hopefully from both the perspective of the parent and the child.

Plus, with all the negative press gaming gets, it can be easy for parents to see their children’s gaming as something negative.  In fact, gaming can bring the whole family together to share laughter and fun in an age where precious family time is often stolen away by busy life and there sometimes seems to be a divide between adults and kids.

This holidays why not spend some time together gaming?  Children, ask you parents; parents, ask your children. Someone has to start the ball rolling…

At OXCGN we know that it can be confusing for parents and kids to work out which games are best suited for family gameplay, so we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of 360 titles from both full disc-based retail and Xbox Live Arcade titles.

Think the Wii is the only console with good family fun?  Wrong!  We have two of our staff give you some suggestions with pros and cons and a family friendly rating, though you can get a full review by clicking on the title.   At the end we have some suggestions for Microsoft and retailers for some “game packs” we’d like to see.

But for now, let’s just have some fun and enjoy some games together this Christmas holidays . . .

Happy gaming this holiday season, from OXCGN.

TWODOGSz’s Picks:

by TWODOGSz

© 2008 Aaron Bertinetti

TITLE: Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
GENRE: Platform Adventure
PRICE: RRP $70
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 8 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 10
PROS: Lego without the mess, colourful, funny, parents will love it, cheap, intuitive, open ended, encourages creativity and design.
CONS: Small text on SDTVs

TITLE: Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
GENRE: Gardening Simulation
PRICE: RRP $70
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 4 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 9
PROS: Colourful, funny, cute, engaging, open ended, teaches time and money management.
CONS: Addictive as candy, themes of life cycle (birth, death, mating, etc), original Viva Pinata game is only $30

TITLE: Kameo: Elements of Power
GENRE: Action Adventure
PRICE: RRP $30
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: Colourful, story orientated, bargain
CONS: Minor animated violence

TITLE: Lips
GENRE: Music (Singing)
PRICE: RRP $100
PLAYERS: 1-2 Singing + up to four controllers
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: Casual approach, easily accessible, plug in MP3 player and sing along, great for parties/sleepovers, great for non-gamers
CONS: Low difficulty, some songs contain mild language

TITLE: Scene It? Box Office Smash
GENRE: Party Game (Quiz)
PRICE: RRP $100
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: Fun for all family, great for non-gamers, Mum & Dad will play, Avatars, get to press buzzers
CONS: Some mature themes in film clips, Some questions appear more than once

TITLE: FIFA 09
GENRE: Sports (Soccer)
PRICE: RRP $100 (Or $60 when you buy another EA title @ GAME: limited time only)
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 16 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 10
PROS: Easy to learn, Single screen multiplayer, The best football game out there, Looks fantastic,
CONS: Dad loves soccer… but Mum may hate it!

TITLE: Rockstar Presents Table Tennis
GENRE: Sports (Table Tennis)
PRICE: RRP A$30
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 1-2 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 10
PROS: Easy to learn, cheap, looks great, sounds great, single screen multiplayer
CONS: Impossible to master

TITLE: Forza 2
GENRE: Racing
PRICE: RRP A$30
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 8 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 10 (Offline), 7 (Online)
PROS: Split screen multiplayer, caters to all difficulties, bargain price, great community, endless gaming hours
CONS: occasionally adult images on online car marketplace

TITLE: Rock Band
GENRE: Music (Instruments and Singing)
PRICE: RRP $200
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 1-4 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: Three games in one (Drums, Guitar/Bass, Vocals), Whole family can play together, great spread of songs, everyone will find something they love, friendly difficulty curve
CONS: Expensive, durability of drum kit’s pedal

TITLE: Fable 2
GENRE: Adventure
PRICE: RRP $100
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 1-2 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 7
PROS: Very accessible, Casual gameplay with hardcore depth, Local Co-op campaign, One button combat, Beautiful production values, A game that anyone can enjoy and be and do what they please (eg. fighting, exploring, levelling, trading, the Sims like socialising, Tycoon like economic simulations, etc), cute dog you can train and interact with.
CONS: Adult themes such as sex, relationships, death, etc but not core to gameplay.

© 2008 Aaron Bertinetti

dkpatriarch’s Picks:

by dkpatriarch

© 2008 David Hilton

TITLE: Age of Booty
GENRE: Xbox Live Arcade: Party Game (Board)
PRICE: RRP 800 Microsoft Points (Around $14)
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 1-8 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 10
PROS: Easy to understand basic strategy game, kids love being pirates and sinking ships, lots of maps and an easy to use map editor, 4 players can play together on the same screen and even play in teams, cute and colourful, worth every penny of the cheap price
CONS: Someone has to win and kids hate losing, like a board game it can get repetitive

TITLE: Halo 3
GENRE: Shooter
PRICE: RRP $69
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 1-16 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 7
PROS: Top shooter with co-op missions as well as 4 player multiplayer, great variety of multiplayer games, can film and save matches to watch and laugh at later, not as violent as most other shooters and space theme makes it more Star Wars than realistic Black Hawk Down-type shooting
CONS: Those unused to controllers may find it difficult, split-screen games can feel empty with only 4 players, younger (or newer) players will get sick of being last all the time

TITLE: Perfect Dark Zero
GENRE: Shooter
PRICE: RRP $49.95 (or less)
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 1-32 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 9
PROS:Fun shooter with co-op missions as well as 4 player multiplayer, great variety of multiplayer games including the super fun infection mode, variety of maps, cartoony look, not as violent as most other shooters, has bots (AI controlled characters) which really makes for fast frantic gameplay and allows the whole family to be a team against the baddie bots, very cheap older title
CONS: Those unused to controllers may find it difficult

TITLE: Lego Games: Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman
GENRE: Action Adventure
PRICE: RRP $69.95 – $89.95
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: Explore popular franchises like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman in legoland, great fun co-operating with another person, colourful and funny, drop in drop out so if someone wants to keep going they can with the computer AI taking over one character
CONS: Puzzles can stump some, camera angle can frustrate, only 2 players, some get frustrated when other player doesn’t keep up

TITLE: Burnout Revenge
GENRE: Racing/ Crashing
PRICE: RRP $49.95
PLAYERS: 1-2, / 1-6 Offline, 1-6 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 9
PROS: Unrealistic fun arcade racing where crashing is part of the fun, variety of locations and tracks, not just racing but a 1-6 player crashing mode where players swap the controller and take turns trying to build a huge crash score, kids like cars (so do big kids)
CONS: Some kids don’t like cars (some big kids too), hard to find this game these days, not good for sore losers

TITLE: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
GENRE: Action Adventure
PRICE: RRP $89.95
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 1-2 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: A movie game that is actually fun! Great co-op game that looks and plays well, can switch and play as a variety of characters from the movie, drop in drop out so if someone wants to keep going they can, swashbuckling and arrow shooting in a variety of locations from the film
CONS: Some players may get frustrated when someone doesn’t keep up, only 2 players, fighting gets repetitive

TITLE: NHL 08/ 09
GENRE: Sports
PRICE: RRP $69.95- 99.95 (Or $60 when you buy another EA title @ GAME: limited time only))
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 1-12 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 9
PROS: Fun easy to work out game that even has a shootout mode to keep things different, feels like you are there with commentary and great sound, looks amazing
CONS: If you don’t like sports, 2 players only on same screen

TITLE: Guitar Hero titles, including World Tour
GENRE: Music
PRICE: RRP $69.95- 329.95 (including the bundle with drums, mic, guitar and game)
PLAYERS: 1-2 Offline, 1-2 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 8
PROS: Be a family band!  Kids love playing with music (so do big kids), variety of songs
CONS: Some drum pads are reported faulty and don’t last, expense of full kit, need some co-ordination

TITLE: Worms
GENRE: Xbox Live Arcade Turn based strategy
PRICE: RRP 400 Microsoft Points (around $7)
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 1-4 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 10
PROS: Cute, colourful and fun, variety of funny weapons and locations, a classic from way back looking good on 360, cheap as chips
CONS: Some younger kids and newer gamers may initially have trouble working out buttons to press to change weapons, aim, and shoot, nobody likes to lose

TITLE: Carcassonne
GENRE: Xbox Live Arcade Turn based strategy board game
PRICE: RRP 800 Microsoft Points (around $14)
PLAYERS: 1-4 Offline, 1-5 Online
FAMILY FRIENDLY RATING: 9
PROS: Cute, colourful and fun, this unique game brings the medieval tile game to the 360 perfectly, simple to get the hand of, easy controls, cheap
CONS: Some younger kids may not get the strategy element of it but still enjoy building castles, roads, and abbeys, nobody likes to lose

© 2008 David Hilton

FUN XBOX 360 CONSOLE PACKS WE’D LIKE TO SEE:

The Rare Box: Banjo, Viva:TiP, Kameo, PDZ, and NXE

The EA Box: Two EA Sports + 1 other (Bad Company, Mirror’s Edge, Army of Two, Dead Space, Red Alert 3, Mercs 2, Fight Night 3)

The Family Fun Box: Lips + Scene It? BOS or You’re in the Movies + Banjo or Viva:TiP

The Music Box: Rock Band 2 + Lips (+songs from Rock Band 1?)

The RPG Box: Fable 2, Mass Effect + 1 Other (Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, Tales of Vesperia, Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery, Oblivion GOTY, Fallout 3, Sacred 2, Rise of the Argonauts) – could do Eastern & Western versions?

The Shooters Box: Halo 3, Gears 2 + 1 Other (Left 4 Dead, Frontlines, Far Cry 2, Gears 1, FEAR, The Club, Unreal Tournament, Call of Duty series, Orange Box, Shadowrun, etc)

The Racing Box: Forza 2, PGR4 + 1 Other (Midnight Club, GRID, SEGA Rally, Pure, MX v ATV, DIRT)

The Strategy Box: Halo Wars + 2 Others (Red Alert 3, BFME2, EndWar, Universe at War, Supreme Commander, Civ Rev)

The Rockstar Box: GTAIV, Midnight Club 3, Bully, Table Tennis

The Platinum Box: 4 titles of gamer’s choosing.

The Microsoft Games Studios Box: Rare, Lionhead, Bungie, Turn10, Bizarre, Epic, etc… (Pick three)

All goes to show the diversity of games on the 360 console, doesn’t it?

© 2008 Aaron Bertinetti

Share us

Cali-Otaku: SS Podcast: 02/12/08

Finally recovered from Auchinawa; Cali-otaku are back to discuss what they’ve been watching, the games that they’ve been playing and Cali-Otaku’s first even of the semester.  Also, Mark introduces a little internet culture to the group, through his addiction to twitter.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5H8YWP45
Length: 0:57:27 (26.3MB)

Dont forget you can send comments, questions or just tell us about your day at cali-otakuss@live.co.uk

Mark

Personagens de games passeando pelo mundo real sempre geram um visual engraçado. Abaixo um comercial da Rare, com Banjo. Mas poderia ser mais engraçado…

Eu quase gostei… estão bem longe de serem hilários como os comerciais com os coelhos de Rayman da Ubisoft, por exemplo.

[Via videogaming247]

As a hardcore gamer I usually don’t play the “kid” games very often. But Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is a great game! I have never played the original game or it’s counterpart, but it’s soooo nice to see Rare get back on the map with a solid and purely fun game. This game is unusual in the sense that a number of people of varying ages can get enjoyment out of it. Although, the best part of the game-making your very own vehicles from scratch-may be a little too deep for very young ones.

That brings me to my next point. If you get any sense of enjoyment from design, you WILL love this game. I have a very creative mind and enjoy designing. With Nuts and Bolts you can literally build any type of land, sea and air vehicle that your mind can dream up. It’s that deep. At the same time, designing and building your very own creation is not all that difficult. You collect parts from around the main “hub” world which you can then use to design your vehicle. There is even a paint shop and test track within the workshop. Finally, you get to save and name your brand new creation!

Why design your own vehicles when the game gives you lease to many standard varieties? Because the numerous and very different challenges you must compete in will require a wild variance of design to complete in the best and quickest way possible. For instance, there is an achievement you can get in the test track. You have to get a floating soccer ball down to ground level and stuff it in a pipe. Sounds easy, right? This is a very stubborn soccer ball. First off, it is very big. Secondly, it is filled with helium, so it never wants to stay down. I tried using a few different vehicles, but nothing worked. So, I designed this….

Flying Soccerball Catcher Thingy

The Flying Soccer Ball Catcher Thingy was what I named it. Appropriate, don’t you think. It took a few trials to get the final design to work right. The ball fit perfectly on the underside/cage of the vehicle. I ended up having to add two sinkers to make the vehicle heavy enough to make the ball go down to the ground. But it would only do so once I deflated the balloons on the four corners. On a side note, I have used this vehicle to complete many of the challenges. The helicopter route seems a good way to go. I have added two egg launchers since this picture was taken. You always have to be well armed!

In the end, if you enjoyed the first Banjo-Kazooie game, this one’s emphasis is NOT platforming. It’s DESIGN. There is some platforming and lot’s of collecting, but it all blends together really well. The satisfaction of designing a vehicle from scratch and watching it succeed is tremendous. Of course, watching your creation completely fail the first time on the test track is very hilarious as well! The short of it is this-if you like Banjo and if you like Kazooie and if you like design, then this is the game for you!

Here are some of my pics I uploaded to the Banjo-Kazooie site. Enjoy!

http://banjo-kazooie.com/showroom/default.htm?ViewType=2&Gamertag=Jayngo

Banjo Kazooie XBLA Review

The Classic Bear’n'Bird Duo.

by Shadow Wave

©Ben Cadwallader

Celebrating the release of Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, RARE has given the franchise’s decade old fans a gift to rejoice over, a port of the original Banjo Kazooie for Xbox Live Arcade.  The story throws you into the backpack of Banjo and Kazooie as they venture through Gruntilda’s Lair to find Banjo’s ‘cute and nice’ sister, to stop the ugly witch from stealing her good looks!

Banjo Kazooie has similar elements in common with Super Mario 64, it adheres to the platforming genre of collecting items.

These items will unlock doors, which in turn open more worlds for you to visit with more items for you to collect. It’s a simple theme, but it worked 10 years ago… and it still works today.

Most people have experienced the original Banjo Kazooie game previously on the Nintendo 64 platform but the XBLA version brings something new to the table. When the opening cinema starts, I found the graphics as impressive as they were initially some 10 years ago.  There is NOT ONE jagged edge anywhere to be seen, the game looks crisp and clean.

Objects in the far distance did not have noticeable jagged edges either, with draw distances of characters also significantly increased. Suffice to say this game still looks good, even the characters models have been improved, if you never knew that this was a N64 game, you would just assume that it was the unique art style of the title.

Widescreen support has been added which is brilliant, with the HUD needing a few slight adjustments to compliment the widescreen support.

Unlike many arcade games that add the border around the edges to compensate for the wide screen view, Banjo Kazooie is displayed in its’ full widescreen beauty, another indicator that RARE cares for its’ fans.

Textures on characters and the environment have been improved to a much higher standard, whilst not to the degree expected from full retail games, they are a noteworthy improvement over the original.

All text in the pause menu and the HUD have been redone to a much clearer font, that’s very easy to read and is noticeably larger, catering to young children and their reading abilities.

However, there is one major downside to the graphical enhancements of the Banjo Kazooie XBLA version, the frame rate will often drop to give you substantial slow down. It’s often as you enter an area, or as you approach something that is not common (such as the puzzle piece boards to open levels) and seems to happen randomly.  It is a real let down and possibly a put off for some gamers to stop playing, especially those gamers new to the genre’.

There have been a few gameplay tweaks and changes here and there, such as doing certain tasks, which now unlock special Xbox gamerpics. The major change though is now RARE has made the Tolls Of Death much less frustrating. In the original version, if you died during the game and had not collected the 100 musical notes you effectively had to start the level again. In the XBLA revision, RARE have taken that specific penalty away and you can now find all 100 notes in however many attempts you wish.

The fabled Stop’n'Swap feature has finally been added, with the Ice Key and other collectibles reflected in Nuts and Bolts to give you extra bonuses (I won’t spoil the surprise). Xbox Live features leader boards where you are able to track how your friends are doing by how many collectables they have, as well as how long it took for them to complete the game and each world.

Though some aspects of Banjo Kazooie have been enhanced, other issues have still remained. Gamers will still have to use those infuriating swimming controls that make some worlds much harder than they should be.The original N64 control schematics have been emulated exceptionally well on the 360 controller and generally, if you are familiar with the N64 control style, then you will not have any trouble picking this up.

They even let you use either the Left of Right triggers to function as the Z button. The only downside is that while the Right Joystick lets you move the camera around; it still basically acts like you were pressing one of the C buttons on the N64 controller.

So there will still be those annoying moments when you want to position the camera directly behind Banjo, but it will jump to either side of him, a minor issue and one that fans of the series generally won’t notice.

Overall, fans of the series should buy this game now, without haste. It is definitely an improvement on the original game, and helps fix some of those frustrating moments of game play. The only downside to this experience as mentioned is the frame rate drops, though these are few and far between. I highly recommend giving this blockbuster game a play, for both experienced Banjo players and those new to the series as it’s a top-tier XBLA experience.

Especially with the NXE onboard your 360!

Nuts-N-Bolts Review

“9.0/10

©Ben Cadwallader

Share Us

It’s cold here in Glasgow.  I don’t think I can quite put enough emphasis on this part, I’m sitting here in my PJ’s feet swing over the radiator to get some damn warmth.  And with that there’s the realisation that it is definitely winter and ’ is fast approaching.  Which is crazy, it seems like only yesterday I was graduating and then running around like a madman trying to get on a post-grad course.  That’s not even including the fact that I appeared to have lost about 2 months somewhere trying get coursework done.  Argh!

Time travel, I've done it

But things are good, for the first time in 5 years I’m no longer regretting going to uni.  Having to go and learn about something you cared absolutely nothing for is something that starts to grate on the soul and I honestly believe that if it hadn’t been for the friends I had made on the course and the now-like-family people at Cali-Otaku I don’t think I even would still be in Glasgow right now, let alone Uni.  But as I said things are going well, my first grade is in at a respectable 62%.  At masters level that’s quite an accomplishment, especially given my mental age – this was the guy who just two weeks ago was at a con bawling out the Pokémon theme – but the more impressive thing was that if I hadn’t geeked out on the fundamentals of gaming in this essay I would have been in the high 70%s.  WHA!  That’s nuts!

Apart from that I got an interesting credit card bill through from Auchi… even though its over it still comes back to haunt me. HA!  So it looks like I’m going to have to be pretty creative when it comes to Christmas gifts this year.

WHA!? Auchi Strikes again

Other than that I’ve finally had some time to play some damn games.  Hazzuh!  Gears of War 2, Banjo-Kazooie: nuts and Bolts, Rock Band 2 as well as a little of Mirrors Edge, Dead Space and Fable 2 of which I’ll write detailed impressions of when I can get a good session going.  All I’ll say at the moment is that Rock Band 2 is better than the first, same with Gears and Banjo is probably the most suprising out of the list.

Podcast wise I should apologise for the delay in a new one.  We would have actually had one recorded and posted over the week but due to crazy drunken shenanigans by my sister it had to be abandoned and there hasn’t been a time/date set for the next one.  I, however, guarantee that there will be one this week.  For we have much to discuss.

Other than that there’s not much to comment on other than I’m still enamoured with a certain Tokyo Mew Mew.  See!  There’s that Auchi again!

Ugh… when did this get all emotionally gushy.  Where’s my prosium!?

Next time

Mark

And another three months or so pass before Matthew VanDevander writes his next blog post. I guess I’ve just been busy with college, or maybe it’s the fact that I changed my firefox homepage to ANGEL instead of my blog managing page. I’m betting it’s the second one. If I don’t really get the time to think about posting new blogs, how can I ever actually post new ones. I have to apologize every time I post a new blog it seems, because I’m so unreliable in terms of how often I do post them. I want to be more regular with them so that I can get some people to be interested in reading. I don’t want to disappoint someone who is reading my blog to the point of them just giving up on ever reading it again.

Well, since it has been so long, I guess that means that I had better supply the goods when it comes to this post, which definitely means some sort of lengthy rant or a review. Hmm… what about?

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

(quasi-review)

Well, I’ve been playing the new Banjo game for a few days now, and although I’m not quite far into it, (Only about the third world, which interestingly enough is the first world in the demo…hmmm) I think that I can safely give somewhat of an opinion about it now.

My first inclination after playing the demo was to hate the new game. After all, it wasn’t a real banjo game. They just took some wierd vehicle-based gameplay and slapped the banjo name on it after eight years to sell more copies. Those bastards. But after I played the demo a few more times, played the old N64 BK on Xbox Live Arcade, and had some time to delve into the juicy details of the vehicle building, I think my opinion has almost reversed itself. Almost.

The vehicle creation aspects of the new game are undeniably fun, and even if your vehicle controls like a turd half the time, it’s still fun to see something that you came up with…come to life, so to speak. The first time that I realized I could make a little “jetpak” out of basically a fuel tank, engine, and a propeller strapped together with a seat on top, well…it just made me smile a bit more than I expected.

For being what the average gamer today might consider a “kids game,” the vehicle creation tool is remarkably deep. By which I mean, it is way deeper than the creature creator in Spore. (Remember how they promised us things about how your creature would have a better chance of survival if you gave it longer legs and such.) It does actually matter that you build a vehicle that is well balanced, as cramming too much parts onto one side of a vehicle will quickly make a somersaulting hunk of junk.

The game does start out rather easy, but the difficulty ramps up strangely quick. Some missions are quite easy even later on, but some are more difficult than they should be. It’s a bit quirky overall in terms of the difficulty, but it’s forgivable considering as with all previous banjo games, you can kind of skip over certain jiggies and visit new worlds as soon as you open them up. Which brings me to another interesting aspect, the worlds seem to open up very quickly, almost too quickly if you ask me. After only 3 or four jiggies in a world, the next world opens up. However, the worlds also have several “acts” which only open up after you have collected the number of jiggies on the door. This means that you can revisit each world many times.

The whole act structure is quite a departure for the series, more closely resembling mario 64 than the “reward your exploration” banjo series. Among most of the other aspects of the new game, this is somewhat of a moot difference. Obviously the new game features completely different gameplay than the previous entries in the series, as all of Kazooie’s trademark moves have been whisked away and replaced with vehicle components. Most fanatics of previous entries in the series, who consider the original games to be untouchable pieces of gold, will be extremely off-put by the new game. However, from my experience, this is only the initial wave, and once you get over your hurdle of disgust that the game is actually something new, you begin to appreciate it as it’s own gem.

And it certainly is a gem, and not a piece of crap as some people may tell you. I have begun to wonder about many of the complaints I have seen reviewers make about the new game. After playing the original BK on XBLA, I realized something very important. IF THIS NEW GAME WAS LIKE THE PREVIOUS ONES, I WOULD BE VERY VERY BORED. Banjo-Kazooie featured a very distinctive gameplay, but unfortunately, this gameplay does not give over well to many self-similar sequels, unlike the mario series which has basically just been the same game over and over again with different power-ups for the past 20 years. Even Banjo-Tooie had to cut out some of the moves from the duo to add new gameplay elements. (This is if I am not mistaken.) But essentially, Banjo-Tooie was the same game as Kazooie, with some extra wonky elements tacked on, almost all requiring the usage of special in-game pads, since there was functionally no way to add new moves to the controller since almost every button combination had been used.

So, the point I’m trying to make, is that regardless of whether or not this new Banjo game was initially concieved as a “Banjo-Threeie,” (Which, as far as I know, it wasn’t.) the game is not something that should simply be overlooked. If you have a hint of desire for another entry in the classic series, the game is certainly worth checking out, and for the price, (a measly $40) it might be worth your buck. I will be truthful, if  you are looking for “Banjo-Threeie,” you will certainly be disappointed, as this is not really a banjo game, because the very specific banjo-kazooie gameplay style is not here. However, you will find oodles of all the other things that made banjo great, namely the witty writing and in-jokes. Heck, even Rare makes fun of how the game is a departure for the series. In Mumbo’s shop, if you look at a certain part, Mumbo says, “Add or else vehicle sink like this game at retail.”

Well, anyways…I can’t think of anything else in particular to say. But if you played the old games, there’s certainly plenty to like in the new game. Unfortunately, there’s also plenty to dislike, but if you can keep an open mind, you’ll certainly enjoy revisiting the old bear and bird.

Preliminary Review

8/10

Not quite the Banjo-Threeie that Grunty promised, but its certainly worth your time, and please don’t judge the game based on the demo.

Well, until next time folks…and hopefully next time will be rather soon.

Good evening everyone. There’s actually some decent bits of news tonight, so I’m going to jump right into it.

The free Rock Band 2 songs, originally set to be released on Tuesday, have been delayed due to a problem distributing them online. No info has been given as to what the problem is, but they hope to have it fixed within the next day to get the codes sent out and be able to be downloaded successfully. It also seems that XBox users will be getting the songs before PlayStation 3 users, as the Harmonix is still working with Sony to get the songs on their system.

In other news, the new Banjo-Kazooie has a slight text problem on standard definition TVs. That is, the text is unreadable. Like in Dead Rising, the text comes in small and fuzzy, making it hard to be seen. Also like Dead Rising, a patch is not expected to fix this because it would take too much time and cost too much. While it was a decent demo, with a huge plaguing problem like this, sales might take a big hit once this is released. We’ll see how this goes once the game comes out. While this wouldn’t really hurt me on campus, at home most of the TVs there are still SDTV. So, if I do decide to get this, I’ll let you know how it looks on both TVs.

That’s all I have for today. Hopefully another big update will happen tomorrow.