Category: Video Games

Amish Otaku, Nintendo, Video Games, Wii

Wii Virtual Console Releases for 8/11/08

Telltale Games

The most exciting thing to ever happen to WiiWare is finally upon us. Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner has finally hit the Wii for 1000 points and fanboys everywhere are surely up in a tizzy. I know I’m kind of excited.

From everything I understand SBCG4AP is a point-and-click adventure in the same vein as Roberta Williams’ King’s Quest games. I’m curious to see what state-of-the-art cell shaded graphics will do for the genre, but I’m more interested in how the developers will take advantage of the point-and-click interface given Homestar Runner’s predilection for Easter eggs.

Other releases after the jump.

Continue reading “Wii Virtual Console Releases for 8/11/08”

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Amish Otaku, Video Games, Xbox, Xbox 360

One-of-a-Kind Halo Sculptures in Silver

Guest Post

How much of a Halo fanatic are you? Do you own all the games. Did you just have to buy the Legendary Edition of Halo 3? Did you just need the scale model helmet?

If this sounds like you then you might want to check out the new Halo sculptures from Weta. If you were at the San Diego ComicCon this past month you’ve probably already seen the one-of-a-kind silver-plated Halo sculptures but now you’ve actually got a chance to own these one-of-a-kind items.

The only way you’re going to get your hands on these beautiful figures is by winning them in an auction on Ebay. The current bid for the Master Chief and Arbiter sculpture is currently at $898 and the reserve has yet to be met. So yeah, these aren’t for just anybody. In case you’re wondering the Master Chief and Grunts is currently bidding at over $1,600. Continue reading “One-of-a-Kind Halo Sculptures in Silver”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Long title for a game with a long review)

Guest Post

Sitting here in a hair salon just South of Boston, it occurs to me that, up to now, I’ve written about PC games, console games, and game modifications…But have left the subject of portable games woefully underrepresented.In recognition of this fact, I feel that it’s time to break my silence on the subject and bring my – admittedly slight – experience to bear on you: my adoring public.In fact, I’m so committed to the idea, I’m typing this with my thumbs on my recently-purchased LG Voyager phone.

So PSP, DS, GBA, Game Gear, Gameboy…Consider this my penance to the portable gaming world, as anybody who has “typed” anything of significant length with their thumbs can attest.

Continue reading “Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Long title for a game with a long review)”

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Amish Otaku, Video Games

America’s Army in Violation of International Law?

Ubisoft

According to Michael B. Reagan at www.TruthOut.org the ACLU has published a report that finds that the United States Army is in violation of the UN Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

Basically the Optional Protocol says that militaries are not allowed to recruit to or deploy anyone under the age of 17. The US senate ratified the Optional Protocol in late 2002.

Mr. Reagan’s article is kind of long-winded and tedious but it does make a good point. That is the Army and the game’s developers intentionally toned down the violence in the game to achieve a T for Teen rating from the ESRB and put it in the hands of more people, specifically younger people, even more specifically boys aged 13 and up. Continue reading “America’s Army in Violation of International Law?”

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Amish Otaku, DS, Nintendo, Video Games

Review: Mega Man Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja/Saurian

 

Capcom

Mega Man Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja is the first new Mega Man game I’ve played since I rented Mega Man X for my SNES many years ago. That means I never played any of the sequels to X or played any of the portable versions. That also means I never heard of the alternate Mega Man time line where instead of robot technology reaching ascendancy, network technology took the developmental lead. This is the setup for the Battle Network series of games released for the Game Boy.

Two hundred years after the events in those games take place – in the year 220X – a new hero will take up the moniker of Mega Man. His name is Geo Stellar and that, not the fact that he’s in fifth grade, should be your first hint that the story in this game is going to be directed squarely at a preteen demographic. In fact almost every character, location and plot point in this game has the intellectual complexity of an arithmetic test using only one digit numbers presented in a true/false fashion.

Continue reading “Review: Mega Man Starforce 2 Zerker X Ninja/Saurian”
Daniel Allen
Amish Otaku, Caught My Eye, N64, Novels, Xbox 360

Caught My Eye: Perfect Dark: Initial Vector

Guest Post

This review will be a little different from what you normally see from me. I am pretty much a comic book man on Amish Otaku, but I recently read a novel that I felt compelled to talk about. The novel is Perfect Dark: Initial Vector and is written by comic book writer and novelist Greg Rucka. What I found interesting and noteworthy of Perfect Dark: Initial Vector was that it is a novel based on a video game and written by a pretty popular comic book writer. That mash up alone makes it a prime candidate here, despite being a format which we hardly cover.

As most of you may know, Perfect Dark was a video game by Rare that came out on the Nintendo 64 some years ago. It was the follow up to the widely popular Goldeneye on the same system. More recently, Rare joined forces with Microsoft and released a prequel game on the X-Box 360 title Perfect Dark: Zero. The basic premise is that the lead character is somewhat of a spy/general ass kicker for an agency called the Carrington Institute where their primary targets are super powerful corporations. It is set a few years into the future, where of course they have flying cars amongst other cool gadgets we are still waiting for. Continue reading “Caught My Eye: Perfect Dark: Initial Vector”

Clint Page
Amish Otaku, PSP, Sony, Video Games

Space Invaders Extreme

Thirty years after its initial release, the latest incarnation of Space Invaders kind of snuck up on me. As has been the case with some of the best sleeper PSP titles, I caught my first glimpse of it on The 1up Show. It was flashy, it was bright, it was the kind of eye candy you’d get hooked on quickly, the good stuff.

The original Space Invaders from 1978 was pretty simple by todays standards. While the game incorporates almost all of the original elements of the game, there’s so much else going on it can hardly be considered the same game. The enemies still come from the top of the screen and it’s up to you to shoot them all before they reach the bottom of the screen.

Now enemies also come in different colors. Shooting four of the same colored enemy in a row causes a bonus to drop down. There are three weapon bonuses and one shield bonus. Red enemies drop bombs (area of effect), green enemies drop the broad shot (multiple shots simultaneously), blue enemies drop the laser (continuous, kills everything in it touches) and gray enemies drop the shield. Bonuses only last for a limited time.

Shoot eight enemies in a special pattern and a bonus round ship will fly across the top of the screen. Shoot this ship to go into the bonus round. At the start of the round you will be given a goal and a set amount of time to achieve this. Fail and nothing happens. But if you succeed you go into Fever Time and your weapon gets a major boost in firepower. Just like the weapon bonuses the Fever Time bonus is also only active for a limited amount of time. Fever Time is where the bulk of your points will come from and it’s the best way to tear through the waves of enemies. Continue reading “Space Invaders Extreme”

Daniel Allen1 Comment
Amish Otaku, PS2, Video Games

Gungrave: Overdose–High On Fun

Guest Post

Gungrave: Overdose is the sequel to Yashiro Nightow’s 2002 frentic shoot ’em up featuring the resurrected mob enforcer Brandon Heat, a.k.a. Beyond The Grave. The people at Red Entertainment must have paid very close attention to the reviews and feedback received from the original Gungrave, because almost every element has been improved in Overdose, giving the sequel a more complete and, most importantly, a more fun experience.

One major improvement comes from the overall storyline, something the the previous game had very little of. This time he gamer does not have to piece things together from different Wikipedia entries or wait for the anime to come out since the plot unfolds masterfully through cut-scenes and in-game dialog. The events of Overdose take place three years after the fall of the Millenion criminal empire. Mika Asagi and her plucky young sidekick, Spike, reawaken Grave to stamp out the remants of Seed, the super-drug that turns it’s users into deformed killing machines. Aiding them in their search are two new playable characters: the (literally) hot-headed swordsman Juji Kabane and the ghostly rock star, Rocketbilly Redcadillac. The story is something that the player can easily get wrapped up in since there are so many twists and so much character development as the game goes on.

The game is very easy to pick up, whether you have never played it or have left it on the shelf for a while. That is not saying that it is easy to beat (that’s probably the reason it was laying on your shelf). Even if most of the enemies do not require too much strategy to beat, they usually come in packs and have an insane bloodlust. Luckily you have a variety of ways to get through them, unlike in the first game which was basically just shoot and dodge.

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William Hall2 Comments
Amish Otaku, Features, Video Games

Non-Gaming: The State of Play

Non-games are not new to video gamers. Nintendo’s Mario Paint was an early innovator that can still be seen in YouTube videos. The now-defunct GameTek released a series of titles for the original Game Boy in 1991. From DS Fanboy: “[the series] included French and Spanish dictionaries, a personal organizer, a travel guide, and a spell checker/calculator. Not a dictionary – a spell checker.”

It’s not surprising that these games didn’t sell well and also didn’t do much to expand the non-game market anywhere. More than 10 years later, though, the descendants of the original Game Boy – the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP – have realized the early promise and potential of non-games with their greatly increased power and portability. Continue reading “Non-Gaming: The State of Play”

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Amish Otaku, PS2, Video Games

Shinobi: Don’t Call It A Comeback…Seriously

Shinobi is the Playstation 2 title that brought the classic Sega series to the 3-D generation, along with a new hero and a new mission. Although the game looks great and is constantly keeping the player on his toes, overall it does not feel like the comeback the franchise deserves.

You play as Hotsuma, the last of the famous Oboro ninja clan, out to avenge the death of your brethren at the hands of the sorcerer Hiruko. To make matters worse, Hiruko has resurrected your clan and forced them to fight against you – and one of the zombies is your own brother, Moritsune! So yeah, the storyline is nothing too groundbreaking, but it gives you motivation and opens up the game to some interesting plot points and character interactions.

Shinobi introduces a couple of new mechanics to the action/platform genre. The main means of combat consists of doing Tates, which is where you kill a certain number of enemies within a certain span of time. Doing so activates a cut-scene that shows Hotsuma striking a pose while his victims split apart around him. It’s a very slick touch, especially when done during boss battles. However, Continue reading “Shinobi: Don’t Call It A Comeback…Seriously”

William Hall