Gamesugar

February 5, 2012

Lazy Sunday – Dual Analog, On the Go

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:24 am

3DS Circle Pad Pro
Having recently gotten my mitts on Nintendo’s 3DS Circle Pad Pro attachment, I feel obliged to attempt throwing a few words at the device – with only one game that supports the add-on at my disposal, a few might be all I can manage today. The Circle Pad Pro isn’t flashy or visually appealing by any stretch of the imagination. Practicality is the name of the game, housing two rear triggers and one shoulder button along with the add-on circle pad on a very light-weight frame that cradles your 3DS. Open spaces provide access to the 3DS’ volume switch, power cord connection, and headphone jack. There’s also a thin opening for the wrist strap included with the device, which is meant to be attached directly to the 3DS.

An infrared transceiver at the back of the device uses science and magic to silently detect the connection, which the 3DS makes no mention of until Resident Evil: Revelations loads and acknowledges the situation by offering to enable control style-D. As expected, this control option allows players to tackle Revelations as if they were using the dual analog controls offered by the PS3 and/or Xbox 360.

Guiding Jill through the derelict cruise ship with the Circle Pad Pro offered two observations.

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February 3, 2012

Nostalgia Trip – The Simpsons Arcade

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:07 pm

The Simpsons Arcade
The Simpsons’ trip to the arcades in 1991 represents a perfect intersection, the point where Konami’s apparent ability to create beat ’em-up quarter-munching arcade cabinets with any license, crossed paths with The Simpsons’ surging ability to sell any product their images were plastered upon.

Today the game hit Xbox LIVE Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points, and will appear on the PlayStation Network next week for $9.99 – or free to PlayStation Plus subscribers on that platform. Like last year’s release of X-Men Arcade, The Simpsons Arcade game was what I often longed for on home consoles, rather than the infuriating adventure games we got instead.

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Audio Bits – The Darkness II

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 7:39 pm

The Darkness II Developer Interview
Earlier today I had a chance to sit in on a developer call for 2K’s The Darkness II. Digital Extremes’ Sheldon Carter and 2K’s Dan Schmittou answered a variety of questions, including a few of mine, discussing the game mechanics, co-operative play, Jackie’s quad-wielding ability, and the comic book inspired art direction for the sequel, which hits shelves next week.

Since I always enjoy listening to the people who make games discuss their work, you can catch the full audio recording of the discussion below, which runs about fifty minutes.

[podcast]http://www.gamesugar.net/podcast/darkness2devchat.mp3[/podcast]

February 2, 2012

Be A Cat

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 8:35 pm

ChatChat
VVVVVV creator, Terry Cavanagh has offered a curious distraction recently with ChatChat, which has replaced my daily requirement of cat memes by giving me the opportunity to live and play as a cat in a free-to-play space with others, all within my browser window. The ready availability makes it easy to push work aside and return to find a little more each time.

It all begins with naming yourself, and being assigned a random cat color while materializing at the doorstep of a house that has no entrance, but does provide a doormat where you can place the trophy mice found throughout the single map.

I’d only just started exploring the different areas when another cat ran up and asked me to follow, leading me through one of the game’s secret passages that hid a series of piano keys – the other cat began walking over them to produce notes while I purred approvingly, having already learned that typing /purr would produce the imagined action. You can also try /meow, /nap, and /screech.

Today’s cat adventure revolved entirely around the matter of dogs – being bit by one had the curious effect of turning me into one. Biting another cat or leaving a mouse offering on the doorstep returned me to cat form, and wanting to get to the bottom of this dog business led me to a hidden dog statue where players were making mice offerings in order to become dogs – strange religious animal activities are afoot.

The game’s only instruction is “be a cat”, and as you might have guessed, it’s a very strange bit of business being a cat in this space. Naturally, that’s all the excuse I need to recommend you check it out via this handy link.

Review – Law & Order: Legacies (Episodes 1-3)

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , — Gregory Gay @ 2:56 pm


I’ve never really thought about it, but I have watched a lot of Law & Order. I wouldn’t call myself a diehard fan – I certainly don’t follow it with the same fervor that I do Fringe or Doctor Who – but I have probably caught hundreds of episodes of the show and its myriad spin-offs while searching the channels for some decent background noise.

It’s great comfort TV – often extremely clever, but at the same time, extremely structured. You know what to expect from the show; there’ll be a few witty cast members, a bit of mystery, and an interesting case that will be wrapped up within the hour (organized in such a manner that the first half will consist of the police investigation, while the second half will focus on the prosecution as they make their case in the courtroom). In fact, it’s a formula that seems to slot quite well into Telltale’s episodic game structure.

Even with a format perfect for a game adaptation, I would not in a million years have expected the Law & Order license to produce a good game. While flawed in several ways, by dropping many of the adventure game tropes that you expect from the studio and borrowing bits and pieces from the similarly themed LA Noire and Phoenix Wright, Telltale Games has produced an intriguing title that perfectly captures the spirit and conventions of its licensed material.

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