Archives by Day

December 2025
SuMTuWThFSa
123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031

Advertising

As an Amazon Associate, we earn commission from qualifying purchases.





Rainier's Articles


Microsoft E3 2009 Media Briefing Summary

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Pre - E3 2009

During Microsoft's E3 2009 Media Briefing, it not only revealed that Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm are coming to Xbox Live, new Netflix and HDTV features and controller-free gaming, but also showed off a slew of titles such as Splinter Cell Conviction, Crackdown 2, Forza Motorsport 3, Halo: Reach and a bunch more.

The Beatles Rock Band

The show opened up with a demonstration of the newest entry to the Rock Band franchise, starring the original pop foursome themselves, The Beatles. The game's opening cinematic was a long and surreal trip through every thinkable Beatles reference, and then we got a demonstration of

PS2/Xbox/PC Preview - 'Arthur and the Minimoys'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: 3D Platformer
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Etranges Libellules
Release Date: January 2007

There is something faintly surreal about sitting down to a demonstration of a license game based on a very prestigious license that you've never heard of. The developers seemed to have been getting that reaction out of journalists all day, and helpfully explained exactly why I should care about Arthur and the Minimoys before they got down to the nitty-gritty of showing me the game. Since I imagine I'm not the only American who felt that way, I'll pass along this information before I

PS2 Preview - 'Yakuza'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Action/Fighting
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Release Date: September 2006

The point of Yakuza, according to Sega, is to allow the player to “see the underside of Tokyo like never before.” Set in 2005 Tokyo, Yakuza is a beat-‘em-up that purports to “deliver the authentic experience” of being a member of the modern yakuza, the Japanese mafia.

Apparently, being an authentic yakuza involves beating roughly five hundred men a night to death with whatever happens to be handy, from bicycles to street signs to knives.

Yakuza is a story-driven beat-‘em-up that takes place on the mean streets of

PSP Preview - 'Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Tactical RPGs
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Release Date: Q4 2006

After the change-over to 3.5 rules, Dungeons & Dragons became a game that practically required some sort of miniatures to play it properly. There were all sorts of rules about facing and attacks of opportunity and reach that you just couldn't follow very well on paper unless your GM was willing to hand-wave through a lot of rules. As any gamer knows, of course, the problem with using tons of miniatures is the sheer cost involved. If you want really nice ones, you can

PC Preview - 'Neverwinter Nights 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Obsidian
Release Date: September 2006

Obsidian managed a successful debut with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, despite having to face the Herculean task of crafting a sequel to one of the finest licensed games ever made, and by a developer no less than Bioware. In light of that, it suddenly seems a bit more understandable that they're now tackling the unthinkable challenge of crafting the sequel to Neverwinter Nights, perhaps the single most popular Dungeons and Dragons game ever. With NWN, there is not only the challenge of

PS2 Preview - 'Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: 3D Fighter
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Spike
Release Date: October 2006

If Super DBZ is the "professional" of the two upcoming Dragon Ball Z games, then Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is the feel-good, super mainstream title. Building off of the best-selling DBZ title in history, the original Budokai Tenkaichi, BT2 introduces new characters, stages, and gameplay modes. The gameplay is still super-accessible 3D brawling, complete with multiple transformations for most characters, an expansive selection of characters, and enormous levels in which to battle.

BT2 is determined to outdo the previous title in every respect. The already-large BT levels

PC Preview - 'World in Conflict'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Publisher: Vivendi
Developer: Massive
Release Date: Spring 2007

It may look like another World War II RTS when you see the screenshots, but it isn't. World in Conflict is actually a World War III RTS, set in an alternate universe where the Cold War did not end in 1989.

Instead, it heated up rapidly, culminating in Russia invading the United States via Alaska, forestalling the collapse of their economy by shooting the hell out of people. As a result, the settings of World of Conflict aren't the usual Eastern European/Middle Eastern hellholes; you'll be fighting

NDS Preview - 'Crash Boom Bang!'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Party/Puzzle
Publisher: Vivendi
Developer: Dimps
Release Date: October 2006

Well … Crash is back.

Crash Boom Bang! is sort of weird, in that it's the first game in the long-running Crash series being made by a Japanese developer. For Crash's DS debut, the reins have been given to Dimps, the house behind Dragon Ball Z: Budokai.

As a result, Crash Boom Bang! has taken a turn for the anime. (Look, Mom, I'm using nouns as adjectives!) The game is more colorful than its American predecessors were and definitely more cute; Crash has gone from looking insane to looking

Konami E3 2009 Media Briefing Summary

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Pre - E3 2009

Konami's E3 2009 press conference ended up being extremely top-heavy, but that's what you get when Hideo Kojima shows up from the start to announce Kojima Productions' four-game lineup.

After a bit of the mysterious storm footage, Kojima revealed Metal Gear Arcade. Currently planned for Japanese arcades, it's basically a 3 version of Metal Gear Online with save cards. A U.S. release will hopefully be coming, possibly with a different cabinet. For the arcade debut of Solid Snake, it's nothing exceptionally special, except for the fact that the machines will be connected to the Internet so that you can battle other

PC Preview - 'FreeStyle Street Basketball'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2006

Genre: Sports
Publisher: Vivendi
Developer: JC Entertainment
Release Date: Q1 2007

It is within the bounds of possibility that you could sell a million copies of anything in Korea, as long as it was a massive multiplayer online game. Ideally, it should be an MMO you can play with one hand, freeing up the other hand to smoke a cigarette.

Freestyle Street Basketball is, at once, a demonstration of this principle and an idea I'm surprised we haven't seen before now. This is a game where you can create and kit out a cel-shaded cartoon avatar, and then