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Rainier's Articles


Xbox Live Arcade Preview - 'Braid'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2008

Genre: 2-D Platformer
Publisher: Number None
Developer: Number None
Release Date: Q3 2008

At just about every turn, Braid thumbs its nose at your expectations.

To hear one describe it, you'd think that it's all been done before, but the approach in this 2-D platformer title is fresh and new. The player journeys through a series of five worlds in Braid, collecting puzzle pieces along the way. The platforming sequences pay homage to everyone's inspiration, Super Mario Bros. — right down to a creature coming out of the castle at the end and proclaiming, "I'm sorry, but the

'Locomotion' - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Pre - E3 2004

Designed and developed by the creator of the best-selling RollerCoaster Tycoon® series, Chris Sawyer’s Locomotion challenges you to build and operate a money-making transport network by linking passengers and cargo to their destinations. As the spiritual successor to his original 1994 masterpiece Transport Tycoon, this latest strategy offering from Chris Sawyer continues his tradition of putting the fun in the world-watching as well as in the creation. Fans of RollerCoaster Tycoon will immediately recognize Chris Sawyer’s well-known interface, addictive gameplay, and pioneering style as he brings a world of moving trains, trucks, buses, ships, and aircraft to life.

Xbox 360 Preview - 'Fallout 3'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2008

Genre: RPG
Publisher: Bethesda
Developer: Bethesda
Release Date: Fall 2008

For those unfamiliar with the awesome Fallout world setting, imagine that the future we had pictured in the '50s had actually come true. Household robots and ray beams exist, and there is still that bizarre '50s sense of misogyny and racism that is somehow both hilarious and offensive at the same time. Unfortunately, one of the other big '50s predictions — the entire world would blow the crap out of each other in a nuclear war — also came true. Most of the world is a

Xbox Preview - Van Helsing

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Pre - E3 2004

Genre : Action
Developer: Saffire Studios
Publisher: Vivendi
Release Date: May 7, 2004

Let’s get the obvious observation over with: Van Helsing looks a lot like some kind of Victorian-era mod for Devil May Cry, maybe with a bit of a nod towards some of the over-the-top moments in the Hunter: The Reckoning series.

Van Helsing approaches the third-person shooter genre much in the same way as DMC did, as an attempt to seamlessly blend a cinematic sensibility with nonstop action and unmatched style. It features an extraordinarily agile hero, who’s constantly flipping, dodging, racing, and swinging

'Champions Online' - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2008 - July 15th

Cryptic Studios also announced today that it has acquired the Champions intellectual property (IP) from Hero Games. First published in 1981, the Champions role-playing game is one of the first RPGs to forgo the traditional dice-rolling system of character generation in favor of a point-based system. Cryptic Studios has licensed back to Hero Games the rights to produce Champions RPG books, and the sixth edition of the HERO System and Champions, set to release in 2009, will include rules on how to recreate Champions Online characters and scenarios.

Champions Online is all about total customization -- it will offer

Xbox Live Arcade Preview - 'Galaga Legions'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2008

Genre: Shoot-'Em-Up
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Developer: Namco Bandai Games
Release Date: TBA 2008

Galaga Legions was developed by the same team that made Pac-Man Championship Edition, and much like the dot-chomping fellow, this new Xbox Live Arcade iteration is a successful update to the original Galaga formula. Although the premise is still the same - you pilot a spaceship and are tasked with shooting down waves of insect-like aliens - Galaga Legions incorporates a number of additions that help modernize the title.

First of all, you can move your ship in all directions with the left thumbstick,

NDS Preview - 'Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2008

Genre: Action/RPG
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Release Date: Fall 2008

I've loved Castlevania since the moment I took Simon Belmont on his awkwardly difficult adventure through the castle to punch Dracula in the face, and while not every title in the franchise has been good, the 2-D titles remain some of the best offerings on their respective systems. The announcement of a new Castlevania for the DS brought joy and happiness to my heart. While I was a bit disappointed with the last DS title, Portrait of Ruin, it was still a great game, albeit a tad

PS3 Preview - 'Valkyria Chronicles'

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Post - E3 2008

Genre: Action/Role-Playing
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Release Date: November 2008

With the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the Xbox 360 in addition to the PS3, things are looking kind of grim for Sony in one of the areas where they used to be the undefeated champ: role-playing games. With titles like Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4 and now Final Fantasy XIII coming to Microsoft's system, in addition to support from niche companies like Atlus, Sony's lost a lot of its normally unbreakable hold over the RPG gamer market. Yet for all of that,

'ShadowOps: Red Mercury (Ps2/Xbox/PC) - Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - Pre - E3 2004

Set in the near future, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury is a gritty, real-world first-person shooter (FPS) in which the player fills the combat boots of an elite Delta Force operative. Featuring the high production values of a blockbuster Hollywood action/thriller, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury is a cinematic, action-oriented experience aimed at capturing and recreating the thrills of major Hollywood action films.

In the game, the player is hand-picked by the CIA’s Special Missions Unit to track down and contain the notorious “Red Mercury” – a substance that is thought to be capable of acting as a nuclear accelerant – before the

'NBA 2K9' (ALL) - 10 New Screens

by Rainier on Jan. 1, 2006 @ 1:30 a.m. PST | Filed under E3 - E3 2008 - July 15th

2K Sports announced that 11-time NBA All-Star and 2008 Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics will be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for this year's version. NBA 2K9, developed by Visual Concepts, is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this fall for Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2.