AJ Glasser

Arkedo — The Funniest Press Release I’ve Ever Read

Game developer Arkedo brought us Nervous Brickdown and Big Bang Mini — two incredibly cute and challenging games for the DS. Now they’re on Xbox Live Indie Games with a new series. The Arkedo series kicks off with 01 JUMP!, which was developed in 35 days by two guys and is out now. Based on…

What Makes A Video Game Scary

How can a video game be scary? Unlike horror movies where you’re stuck watching some hapless victim succumb to scary stuff, video games empower players to fight back. Or at least run away. It’s October. Time to identify horror-gaming’s essentials. Some of the scariest experiences I’ve had in my life come from video games. I…

Go Play Games With Earthquakes In Them

October 17 marks the anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake — that famous 1989 one that rocked Northern California during an Oakland Athletics/San Francisco Giants game. So all this week, I’m going to try to play games with earthquakes in them. I guess I could widen that to include games with bridge collapses, since part…

Mass Effect 2 On PS3? Da, Mate! UPDATE

Two non-United States EA sites are listing Mass Effect 2 for the PlayStation 3. UPDATE: Brian Rubin with Fortyseven Communications has confirmed to Kotaku that those listings were “both mistakes, and they’re being corrected.” Sorry, PS3 owners! The first spotting was made by RPG Site on Russia’s EA site. VG247 made a second spotting on…

Prince Of Persia Creator Talks Film Sequel

At China’s Game Developers Conference, Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner talked about the evolution of the series and about the sequel potential for that upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal flick. Gamasutra reports that Mechner sees potential for the film to continue on its own way in sequels that aren’t necessarily bound to any of the Prince…

You Led Me On! — Dating In Video Games

I peruse columns on Sundays and today found myself cracking up over Emily Short’s GameSetWatch column, ‘Homer In Silicon’: Communicating Character. In it, Short recounts her first brush with Fable II‘s romantic interaction system. She was told non-playable characters would have gifts for her, so she mistook the ring icon above a villager’s head as…

On The Future Of Home: If You Ask For It, They’ll Build It

Home Director Jack Buser delivered a state-of-the-software address while walking me through the new Home spaces announced this morning. Far from being concerned by the fact that not all PlayStation 3 owners make use of Home, Buser was excited that so many people have even tried it at all. “We came so close to setting…

Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted 2 Coming Home

The Uncharted-themed Sully’s Bar was one of the best things about PlayStation Home 10 months ago when the virtual world was still in its infancy. Now we’re getting more of the awesome. For the upcoming launches of Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, PlayStation Home is launching two new…

Left 4 Dead 2 Infected Gameplay — This Is How I Spent Last Night

For those of you wondering what I was talking about with generator-camping — that’s exactly what’s going on in this clip. The level is set in an abandoned motel and the generator is in the drained pool at the center of the complex. Now these Infected are mostly just mobbing the back right hand side…

You Got Lombax, Bayonetta And Monkey In My Chrome

Google Chrome recently updated itself with a bunch of new themes. I promptly chose butterflies — but you could chose Ratchet & Clank or Super Monkey Ball. Ratchet looks a little ripped in his theme — which apparently was done by a Japanese artist, or perhaps just by somebody who knows their katakana. Monkey Ball…

Here, Have Some Demon’s Souls

This game looks pretty and sinister at the same time. Plus, it came out this week. So let’s celebrate with some screen shots and a trailer!

The Role of Music Games

I got kicked out of choir in middle school and ever since, I’ve limited my study of music to whatever Guitar Hero and Rock Band have bothered to teach me. Now, of course I’ve heard people say that this is wrong; that video games cheapen or damage the experience of learning real music with their…

Jam Sessions 2 Preview: I Fought The Law And Nobody Won

I missed out on the first Jam Sessions game for the DS – but given the near over-saturation of the music sim market, can you blame me? Answer: Yes, go right ahead. You see, Jam Sessions wasn’t like other music games in that it wasn’t really a “game.” It was a tool to let people…

Did That “Kill 1000 Kids” Achievement Make The Cut?

Playlogic has released an Achievement/Trophy list for the upcoming Fairytale Fights and that “Kill 1000 Kids” one we were told about doesn’t seem to be on it. However, there are six “secret” Achievements/Trophies and a whole slew of “kill xx enemies this way” awards that suggest the game hasn’t been watered down at all. My…

Adventures To Go To North America

Natsume is adding another role-playing game to the PlayStation Portable‘s lineup this fall when Adventures to Go hits GameStop shelves October 29. The strategy RPG looks a lot like several dozen other dungeon crawlers I can think of for handheld systems. But Natsume’s President and CEO, Hiro Maekawa, says it’s “unique,” “charming,” and that it…

So Now We’re Getting Rock Band On The iPhone?

Last month, it didn’t look like we were getting Rock Band on the iPhone right away. But IGN reports that we’re not far off now, pending a big announcement from EA Mobile this morning. The current mobile version of Rock Band features 25 licensed songs from artists like the Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins. Plus,…

Left 4 Dead 2 Scavenge Mode Preview: Giving Multiplayer The Gas

Valve says the sole purpose of Left 4 Dead 2’s new multiplayer mode, Scavenge, is to provide the game “quicker, even more frantic gameplay” than the versus mode has to offer. That’s hard to imagine given the blinding speed at which us games journalists tore through the normal versus mode while waiting for the developer…

So About Those Porn Stars And That Trailer…

A Playlogic representative has confirmed that the Ron Jeremy images we came across yesterday (no semen joke intended) are indeed from a promo trailer for Fairytale Fights. Adult film actresses Krissy Lynn and Andy San Dimas also confirm the images on their blogs and make appearances as Red Riding Hood and Snow White – the…

FATALE Preview: Alluring, Alarming and Totally Ambiguous

Tale of Tales isn’t the kind of indie dev to over-explain their artistic creations and I’m not the kind of person who reads the Bible. This combination creates the weirdest gaming experience ever. Don’t even bother telling me “You just don’t get it, it’s art!” because I’ve already accepted that as a foregone conclusion. Still,…

Yay! A Witch’s Tale Just In Time For Halloween

I’ve been waiting for NIS America to release A Witch’s Tale for about two years. Now, as of October 6, I can finally own it and realize all my stylus spell casting ambitions. A Witch’s Tale is an action role-playing game where users play as a super-cute witch in a Halloween-themed world. Nearly all the…