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  • Softballchic10

    An Open Letter to Ellie and Joel

    By Softballchic10

    There are certain games that come along from time to time that really get your attention. It could be for the action, the graphics or game play. However, it is a rare occasion that a game grabs you for all of these, plus the amazing experience of becoming emotionally attached and involved in the actions of characters. It is to this that I write this open letter to Ellie and Joel. I met them in the “The Last of Us.” *(Please note that I've tried to write this to contain no spoilers.
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Where I Read ? Analog Computing Issue 2

We move on with the issues of Analog Computing with its sophomore issue, for March and April of 1981. As you can see from the cover, we’ve got coverage of some printers for the Atari 8-bit systems. Editorial Last issue’s Editorial column was a statement of principles, while this issue’s column is a request for feedback from readers asking what they’d like the magazine to become. They also stated that at the behest of Atari dealers they’ve decided to stop running ads for their own Atari softwar
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Quality Control ? Raging Fighter

For this review of Raging Fighter for the Game Boy, I have to admit that I didn’t get into the game as much as I’d like. By “get into the game” I don’t mean get interested in the game, as much as I mean make progress in the game. For those unfamiliar with the title, and there probably are a lot of you, this game is a fighting game for the Game Boy, published by Konami. In the game you play one of several martial artists, who beat each other up in a martial arts tournament. I can’t really put a
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Where I Read ? Nintendo Power #49

After a far too long delay, I’m finally carrying on with my Nintendo Power Recaps with issue #49 for June of 1993. Our cover story for this issue is the crossover that nobody was really anticipating ? Battletoads and Double Dragon. It perhaps bears noting that it is the Battletoads which are hogging the spotlight here (no pun intended) while one of the Lee brothers is in the far background. The letters column this issue has a request of more reviews of alternate controllers. It does bear mentio
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Custom Music Game Roundup

I have a lot of music on my computer. A lot of music. Currently, iTunes says that I have enough music to play for 8.9 days straight. Consequently, I like games that let me bring my music into the games in means that matter, by procedurally generating content based on my music, and I’ve purchased a lot of games that let me do this. I’m going to call these ?Custom Music Games?, because ?Music-Based Procedurally Generated Games? is clunky as well. However, such games don’t lend themselves well to
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Building the Perfect Retro Game Podcast

With its next episode, one of the Internet’s best retro game podcasts, Retronauts, is coming to an end. This leaves a bit of a void, as I can’t think of a lot of truly great retro game podcasts out there. Destructoid’s Retro Game Podcast, which was okay, but not great, has ended. IGN’s retro game podcast is similarly over. However, I can still think of demand for podcasts in this field, and even material that the Retronauts themselves haven’t covered yet (if only retro Wrestling video games). So
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Where I Read ? Analog Computing #1

Having run out of issues of EGM for now, it’s time for something completely different. Specifically, we’re shifting focus from gaming consoles to computer gaming, with Analog Computing Magazine. For those unfamiliar with this magazine, it focused on computing on the Atari 400 and 800. Why am I picking this magazine? Well, because the first computer I ever used was an Atari 800, so Atari computers hold a special place in my heart over the Commodore 64. Fear not though, once I’ve gone through this
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The Journey Down Interview with Theodor Waern

In this interview with main Skygoblin Theodor Waern, who is fresh off releasing the very first chapter of his four-part adventure game series, The Journey Down, we discuss the game?s unique look and feel, Waern?s inspiration for the game and find out more about the role Adventure Game Studio played in the game?s development. We also got around talking about the importance of polish, what makes a puzzle a good puzzle, and Waern’s workflow. In addition to this interview, we have also simultaneou
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The Journey Down ? Chapter 1: Over the Edge Review

Under the moniker of Skygoblin, Theodor Waern, with music provided by Simon D?souza, has written, painted and animated a standout freeware indie adventure that is perhaps most easily described as an amalgamation of three LucasArts classics from the past: Monkey Island, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. Even if the game does recall the meta-level humour and carnivalesque of the first, the animations and the magnificent meld of 2D/3D of the second, and the stylish ambiance and setting of the third,
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Quality Control ? Kendo Rage

Get Kendo Rage from eBay Kendo Rage is a bit of an odd duck, or perhaps rather an ugly duckling. The game takes the action-platforming style of the Valis series, gives the game the sense of humor (both in terms of tone and in terms of level and monster designs) of the Parodius series, and the persistent timer of Prince of Persia, and it kind of works. You play as Josephine, a girl living with her grandfather in rural Japan, at his kendo dojo, where she’d been training over summer break. Well,
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Boiling Point 2 and Precursors in English

Intent stare, intent marketing A few months back, we lamented the fate of Russian developer Deep Shadows? two latest projects, Xenus II (“Boiling Point 2,” or White Gold: War in Paradise, as it would have been called here) and Precursors, two very unique games that unfortunately remained both untranslated and unpublished in the English-speaking world. Thanks to Badmofo?s comment on the original post, however, it came to our attention that fan-made English translations for both games are finall
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Book Review ? Knight: The Medieval Warriors Unofficial Manual

Get Knight from Amazon.com So, I enjoy historical books, particularly those about the middle ages and the renaissance, so when I saw this book on display on the library, it caught my eye. Since I’m going to an SCA event this weekend, this is probably the perfect time to put this review up. The book is meant as sort of realistic and semi-cynical guide on how to be a medieval knight, covering everything from tournaments to warfare to economics. The book is generally a fun read. Because the tone
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Where I Read ? Nintendo Power #48

We’re moving on with the Nintendo Power Recaps with issue #48 for May of 1993. Our cover story for this issue is the beat-em-up adaptation of the Batman Returns film. Our letter themed topic for this issue is suggestions for contests. The prizes that are printed seem pretty reasonable. We have one writer who suggests a Wrestlemania themed contest, with the winner getting a trip to Wrestlemania IX, second prize being a Super Wrestlemania Game Pak and a years subscription to WWF magazine, and the
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Where I Read ? Electronic Gaming Monthly #104

I’ve found one more gap that I can fill in my Electronic Gaming Monthly Recaps ? with issue 104 for March of 1998. Our cover story for this issue is Yoshi’s Story for the N64. This issue also has the absolute dumbest ad for Klonoa ever ? in that it deliberately tries to draw a connection between the main character of the game and blood-borne pathogens of the sexually transmitted variety. Yeah. Our editorial column for this issue is from Editorial Director Joe Funk, about starting a retro gaming
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Video Game Review ? Guitar Hero: Van Halen (PS3)

Just to get it out of the way. I love Van Halen in general. Both the David Lee Roth era and the Sammy Hagar eras of the band both had some amazing songs which I absolutely love… and let’s just pretend that the Gary Charone era didn’t happen. So, when I heard about this game, I was looking forward to the game with great anticipation. Then I learned that there wouldn’t be any representation of the Sammy Hagar era on the album because the band was currently touring with David Lee Roth, and my inter
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New Left 4 Dead DLC: The Sacrifice

This Friday?s Portal 2 GTTV episode also had a brief but promised Left 4 Dead segment to it. Valve?s Chet Faliszek talked with Geoff Keighley to announce the details of the new Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 DLC, called ?The Sacrifice,? to be released free on the PC and on the Macintosh, too. Unlike the previous Left 4 Dead 1 DLC, “Crash Course”, which did so in name only, the forthcoming downloadable content is all about Valve bridging existing gaps in the games’ storyline: ?The Sacrifice? will reveal to
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Open Outcast

Open Outcast is a to-be free total conversion of Crysis Wars, planned as a successor to Appeal?s original 1999 release Outcast, a game that remains in many ways the artistic pinnacle of voxel-based graphics. While Novalogic?s series – Comanche and Delta Force – were always the best-known trumpeters of the technology, and though voxels have been utilized in a far lesser role in various strategy games and even in the level editor of Crysis, it was Outcast that made the world of volumetric pixels a
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The Crossing: Fingers Crossed?

As we reported back in May 2009, Arkane Studios’ unique-sounding Source engine game The Crossing had unfortunately been put on hold thanks to unforeseen financial complications. In July of the same year, however, we also learned that Arkane had been secretly aiding 2K Marin with the development of BioShock 2. Yesterday, Zenimax Media announced, during the opening segment of QuakeCon 2010, their acquiring of Arkane Studios: This is an exciting moment for Arkane. After 11 years of independent
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Video Game Review ? Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS3)

Get Guitar Hero: Metallica from Amazon.com A while back, I went out on a limb and said that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was superior to Guitar Hero III. I’ve now had an opportunity to play the second band focused Guitar Hero game, and while I enjoyed it, it encountered some of the same problems that Guitar Hero III had. For starters, the game isn’t balanced well. On Normal, I found myself running into serious problems with the first two tracks of the game, with the game. Even when I switched down t
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What Was Icarus? BioShock Infinite

The over-speculated and hotly anticipated Irrational Games project that was to be revealed today? BioShock Infinite. The announcement of the latest game in the BioShock franchise, slated to launch on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in 2012, seems to belong to the category of ?expect the expected:” As we all turned to the unexpected (Freedom Force, SWAT, X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, Kingdom Hearts or Yar?s Revenge), I don?t think many of us really did see the new BioShock game coming – not one
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What is Icarus?

The past week has seen some irrational behaviour on a strange teaser site, whatisicarus.com. Initially there was nothing to see but a smoky background and a single grey spot, not much of a tease. But sharp visitors noticed that the white spot changed position every day, making a slow but deliberate migration around the page. It was a few days before the overall shape was discerned: a figure 8 or vertically-oriented infinity symbol, and the spots looked instead like holes cut out in the black, re
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Film Review ? Iron Maiden: Flight 666

Get Flight 666 from Amazon.com “World Tours” are, anymore, a given for most rock concert tours, at least with any performer big enough to get Platinum records. However, I really don’t think that most people “get” what goes into a concert tour that goes around the world – both in terms of the toll on the performers and the toll on the crew. This leads us to Flight 666, a concert film that follows Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere Back in Time” Concert Tour. What makes this tour different from other tours
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Where I Read ? Nintendo Power #47

We continue on with the Nintendo Power recaps with issue #47 for April of 1993. Our cover story for this issue is Starfox, after it played second fiddle to Tiny Toon Adventures last issue. Our letters column this issue has a bunch of letters asking the question of what column they’d like to get rid of, and what they’d like to replace it with. Overall, most of the readers of the magazine would like to get rid of George & Rob’s column. I’m not too surprised ? the column’s reviews aren’t neces
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Where I Read ? Electronic Gaming Monthly #66

I’ve finally found another issue of EGM to fill one of the holes in my back catalog, with issue #66 for January of 1995. Our cover story for this issue is Killer Instinct, and is looking positively ’90s-licious. We also get a look at the Virtual Boy on the cover. This issue’s editorial column is about the Virtual Boy, and to be short, Ed Semrad is not impressed with it, in terms of game quality, display quality, or quality of the controls. Letters This issue’s letter of the month is a cautiona
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