Tony, Tom and Kaz have an intimate discussion of the gaming goodness they’ve indulged in this week and the aftermath of the E3 festivities. Games discussed: inFamous, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Red Faction Guerrilla, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again. Topics Discussed: E3 Conferences from the big three and the games that excited us
The Rumble Pack Posts
(originally published at Smile Politely, 6/1)
From Bald Bull’s signature charge to Little Mac’s pink sweatsuit, everything from Nintendo’s original Punch-Out!! is iconic. For many nostalgic gamers, the series – comprised of the NES game (originally endorsed by Mike Tyson) and its under-appreciated Super sequel – is just as revered as Nintendo’s more prolific franchises. It remains a mystery, then, why everyone’s favorite diminutive pugilist has been kept out of the ring for the past 14 years. But Little Mac and crew are finally back, and while the controls remain unchanged, this update still manages to eclipse its classic predecessors.
Nintendo has had success in the past farming out dormant characters to outside developers, most notably with Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime trilogy. However, I was skeptical when it was announced that Next Level Games would be reviving Punch-Out!! for the Wii. The original game was great fun, so how would a modern sequel beef up the feature set without muddling the series’ simple charm?
Our trays, E3 predictions, and early impressions of inFamous this week on the Rumble Pack.
After our unintentional sabbatical, the whole crew is back. This week: Nintendo releases a DSiWare title worth getting, Peggle invades your iPants, Tom discusses Fallout 3 DLC and plenty more. There’s a lot of catching up to do!
(originally published at Smile Politely, 5/20)
It’s easy to understand why zombies have long been a gaming staple. For starters, they’re overwhelming in packs and exceptionally speedy (post-“28 Days Later”). However, in recent months, it seems that video game developers have been returning to the undead far too often, with Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil 5 as the only major standouts. Likewise, in the wake of successful, free Flash games like Desktop Tower Defense, many “tower defense†clones have diluted the sub-genre’s appeal. Thankfully, PopCap’s Plants Vs. Zombies has combined the two genres with enough cartoon silliness to keep things fresh.
Like DTD, PixelJunk Monsters and so many others, Plants Vs. Zombies asks players to build sentry turrets, minefields, anti-air weaponry, and other defensive structures to defend a base. In this case, said structures are all plant/vegetable-based – pea shooters, cabbage catapults, and nocturnal mushrooms. More than fifty species are at your disposal in order to keep zombies from invading your suburban home and eating your brain.
Due to the current state of our recording equipment (which is in transit), there will be no new episode this week. In the meantime, you can always check out the boards. Thank you for your patience.
We now have a Twitter page for the podcast as well, so we’ll be making announcements about the show there too.
-The Management.
…and the verdict is in on Resident Evil 5‘s replayability, World of Warcraft‘s newest content patch, Too Human‘s legacy and Battlefield: Heroes‘ slick style. This week is all about what we’re playing, but we do make some time to offer some dating advice.
This week: More Rhythm Heaven, Gamestop’s game rental policy, waxing poetic about Half Life 2 and much, much more.