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October 21, 2010

Review – Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 6:43 pm

Kirbys Epic Yarn
As the puntastic title suggests, immense amounts of yarn were spooled and stitched together to form Kirby’s long awaited return to proper console platforming. And as far as visual / narrative gimmickry goes, you’d be hard pressed to find a better example of a game that brings back the tactile feel of a classic franchise whilst presenting an entirely new aesthetic to capture the eyes, mixing new and old ideas that preserve plenty of the old time Nintendo charm that keeps me coming back.

Kirby’s a critter of simple pleasures, and this latest adventure matches that philosophy by turning the WiiMote sideways to wax a bit nostalgic on straightforward NES styled controls. The simplicity of the game leaves me feeling far less words are required than usual, though I could certainly go on about Kirby’s cute abuse – his excited arm flailing animation for example is cuter than a basket full of baby bunnies.

All the same, the depth of the stitch work that creates the visuals deserves some words, as does the way in which the game weaves together a toybox of ideas that is simply a pleasure to play with.

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October 4, 2010

Getting Lost in Shadows, How To

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 4:44 pm

Lost in Shadow
Detoxing delicious dependencies from my system has made for a melancholic week in Sugarland.

When not otherwise curled into a ball of whimpering insensibility, it seemed an ideal time to get on with the business of gaming. I was a bit desperate for something new on the shelf, a game to fire and order the synapses by nature of an inviting challenge to the still functioning bit of reason left to me.

For their part, Hudson sent out a demo disc for Lost in Shadow, quite a bit early given that the Wii game doesn’t arrive here until January.

The taste that demo disc offers is welcoming enough, with the shadow puppetry premise finding plenty of ways to twist and turn and most importantly, to build. There’s a progressive layering of ideas in the best tradition, continually inviting the player deeper into the shadows of the game’s looming tower.

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September 16, 2010

Review – Ivy the Kiwi?

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 6:07 pm

Ivy the Kiwi?
Last year’s mobile game from Prope has returned for a Wii/DS combo release, though interviews have revealed that the Wii version preceded all other concerns – and it definitely shows.

Prope Studio founder Yuji Naka’s life after Sega is easy to typecast as one focused on the control side of gaming – the way we interact with the medium, not simply via the use of new peripherals but in exploring the way tactile actions and video output work together to create new experiences. Last year that focus had me tapping on a cereal box to vibrate a WiiMote with the release of Let’s Tap, but where that release came across more as an interesting technical demonstration, Ivy the Kiwi? is less on the esoteric and more about playtime with straight-forward appeal.

More over, Ivy feels like a return to form, a game of crafted levels designed for an instantly iconic character that is unavoidably as cute as a box of puppies, and finds a welcome place alongside other Naka creations such as Sonic the Hedgehog or Nights into Dreams

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September 7, 2010

Review – Metroid: Other M

Metroid: Other M
In 2004, the original NES release of Metroid joined several titles deemed classic enough to represent that period of gaming through revisits on the GameBoy Advanced, and yet that same year also saw a much more thorough revisit on the handheld with the release of Metroid: Zero Mission. Aside from several tweaks within the game, the release returned to the source of the series to establish cannon at ground zero, setting the tone and direction for all subsequent releases.

The most significant element of that release was the newly added Zero Mission, a mission that showed Samus Aran stripped of her armor and evading space pirates in the instantly iconic zero suit. It was the emergence of a more vulnerable, but still capable Samus, and a defining moment that opened the floodgates for a greater discussion of the role gender plays within the Metroid series, executed with clever subtlety.

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August 19, 2010

Metroid’s Live-Action Pitch

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 8:08 pm

Metroid Other M
The live-action commercial for Metroid: Other M is without a doubt the darkest ad for a Nintendo published title I’ve ever seen – and as far as ads go this hits every note with precision.

I’m lacking a few words at the moment that aren’t me just blathering on here, it’s entirely possible that this ad is better than the game itself. What is certain is that waiting the last few days out to finally know how this all came together is agonizing.

Catch the video after the break.

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July 28, 2010

Lost in Shadow’s Release Date Materializes

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:40 pm

Lost in Shadow
Hudson’s regionally title confusing shadow game is set for a North American release on January 4, 2011 – rather than any previous aspirations for taking on the Fall 2010 crowd – under the name Lost in Shadow.

Along with the announcement we get a peak at a new feature, Materialization, which sees some snazzy swords added to the mix, as well as the ability for our shadow protagonist to become a “creature of light” in order to manipulate physical objects.

Catch a glimpse for yourself after the break.

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July 17, 2010

Your Translated Dose of Metroid Developer Talk

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:36 pm

Metroid Other M
It’s a glorious Saturday when you discover that someone was good enough to tackle translating and subtitling Nintendo’s Japanese developer feature for Metroid: Other M – so be sure to drop by and thank them.

To be honest, the language barrier didn’t stop me from already watching the two videos several times over with limited comprehension – Metroid footage is universal, kinda like the language of love as far as I’m concerned.

That said, being able to follow along and hear about some of the challenges in developing the latest release in the franchise is not to be missed – so catch it after the break.

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