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Show Me The Games You Got In 2008 & I’ll Show You Mine
As 2008 comes to a close (or has already for those of you in The Future) it’s always fun to look back on a year’s worth of purchases and obsessively list twelve months of consumption. This year represents, as far as I know, my biggest haul. The reason? This is the year I started to…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 31, 2008 -
Reminder: Blizzard Customer Support Still Not A Teen Suicide Hotline
Teenage suicide? Don’t do it. And don’t threaten that you’re going to kill yourself to Blizzard Entertainment customer support representatives via online chat, because that will land your ass in jail. (Pro tip!) Unfortunately, one 17-year old doofus from Middletown, Ohio hadn’t learned that lesson in time, making a phony threat while chatting in-game with…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 31, 2008 -
Way of the Samurai Finds Path To Xbox 360
Former PlayStation exclusive series Way of the Samurai is making the platform jump. Publisher Spike announced its intentions to bring Way of the Samurai 3 to the Xbox 360 in February. Originally released on the PlayStation 3 in November, Way of the Samurai 3 (aka Samurai Dou 3) debuted in Japan with 81,000 units sold.…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 31, 2008 -
Reviews
Meteos Wars Micro-Review: Make It Rain
Q Entertainment has given its Nintendo DS puzzler Meteos new life on Xbox Live Arcade with Meteos Wars. Why the “Wars” distinction? It’s certainly no bloodier than the standard Meteos (or even Meteos Disney Magic.) In fact, Meteos Wars doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from the 2005 game it’s based upon. The color-matching block…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 31, 2008 -
Who’s Asking If Games Are Art Now?
The London Review of Books! John Lanchester questions whether the medium is “art” for the literary publication, now three decades old, and comes away conflicted, if positive about the present and future of games. Lanchester, writing in a way that eases the typical London Review of Books reader into the scary world of video games,…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
GameStop Crime Spree Sweeps Sacramento
We’re not sure what technically quantifies a “spree” but five armed robberies at video game stores in Sacramento, four of them GameStops, makes us think we’ve got a full blown spree on our hands. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, a pair of armed robbers, one sporting a shot gun, has been hitting area…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
Hot Hachi Koi Lotion Application Gameplay
Electronic Arts (of Japan!) wants to get its mitts on that naughty, forbidden flesh-flirting gameplay previously explored in games like Doki Doki Majo Shinpan, expanding the “Touch! Generation” with some “Touch Yourself! Generation” tactics. The game is Hachi Koi, a romantic adventure sim that requires the wooing, and occasional touching, of girls who are totally…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
Japan’s Best Selling Games Of 2008 Are…
…dominated by Nintendo. Even though it didn’t claim the best selling game in Japan this year—Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G did—it published more than half of the games in the top thirty. Additionally, over twenty of them were created for either the Wii or Nintendo DS, a fact that will probably ease Nintendo’s pain…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
Lara Croft Downloadable Wet Suit Alert!
Clearly, Eidos does not “get” the business of microtransactions, because it’s giving away a downloadable wet suit pack for Tomb Raider Underworld for free. Insanity! This won’t make investors happy. But giving them away for free they are, seemingly as a promotion to light a fire under Xbox 360 owners to pick up the latest…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
DIY Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming On The Cheap
If you’re the proud new owner of an Xbox 360, you might have come to the realization that Microsoft is hornswaggling you on wireless connectivity. No wi-fi built in, no $99 wireless adapter, no problem. Popular Science points us to a quick and dirty DIY option for unwiring your Xbox 360, using the freeware DD-WRT…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
Your NXE Avatars Are Ready To Rave In The New Year
Wanted to go online New Year’s Eve, but didn’t have a virtual stitch for your avatar to wear? Never fear, totally fresh clothing and accessories for the New Xbox Experience are here. Keeping up with the latest trends, Microsoft is offering new, brightly colored gear like an all over print “Pixel Art Hoodie” and a…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
Xbox 360 Updates: Another Reason To Check Your Blackberry
Have a Blackberry, just don’t feel the need to check in with it often enough? Thanks to Xbox 360 updates on your mobile device, you can break eye-contact more regularly than ever before! Zumobi, a partner of Microsoft, brings Xbox 360 news, video, audio clips, community updates, gamertag status and “more” to a range of…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
PlayStation 3 To Xbox 360: I Want You Inside Me
Like the Xbox 360 library, but prefer the PlayStation 3’s aesthetic and higher asking price? Why not put your 360 inside your PS3? “Because that would be stupid,” you say? Please. The so-called PS360 doesn’t care about “logic” or “necessity,” its only concern is that the guts of an Xbox 360 fit inside the sleek…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
One More Bonus Round Before 2009
What? One more Bonus Round plug?! You betcha! The fifth and final (and I mean it this time) segment features me, Giant Bomb’s Ryan Davis and Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter talking about our consoles of the year, the PlayStation 3 in 2009 and maybe one more other item of interest that escapes me right…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
StarCraft II’s Zerg, Protoss Campaigns On The Backburner
When Blizzard revealed that it was splitting StarCraft II into three separate products, we grumbled. Who wouldn’t? But we’ve come to terms with it, especially since the Terrans get first shot at the story. StarCraft II lead designer Dustin Browder tells 1UP that while the Terran single-player campaign — over two-dozen missions strong instead of…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 30, 2008 -
“Sony Is Doomed!” Ray Redirected Toward PSP
It’s been a rough couple of months for Sony and the PlayStation 3, particularly in the mainstream press. Now that the two year old console has been sufficiently thrashed, we think the PSP is due. And so does Yahoo! Games, who paints a very bleak picture of the PSP’s current performance and its future. Clearly,…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 29, 2008 -
Wii Fit Moves Out Of Electronics, Into Women’s Clothing Department
Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers: the mega retailer is currently doing massive reductions on women’s self-esteem, moving the Wii Fit advertising kiosks from the electronics department to women’s clothing. A diabolical tactic! Yes, that’s a full length body mirror adjacent to the Wii Fit kiosk, a deviously placed hint that’s not so subtly telling Wal-Mart shoppers “Hey,…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 29, 2008 -
Yuji Naka Explains Why He Left Sega, Created Let’s Tap
When Sonic the Hedgehog programmer and Nights creator Yuji Naka left Sega, we expected big things from his Prope studio. We got Let’s Tap instead. So why’d you leave Sega again, Mr. Naka? In a nutshell, Naka wanted to get back to real game development, away from that high level managerial nonsense. He tells Gamasutra…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 29, 2008 -
Classic Metal Gear Moves Work, But Only On Pro Wrestlers
Hiding from your enemies in a cardboard box doesn’t work too spectacularly in the real world, or even in Metal Gear Solid, but it works in the squared circle, as proven by Akiba Pro Wrestling. Famitsu.com reports that the wrestling league recently tried to lure in the video game otaku — and probably promote some…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 29, 2008
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