That's right, we have been around three whole years! I can hardly believe that much time has gone by sine we decided to start bringing game news to the gay community. It's been an amazing journey so far: sometimes difficult, sometimes easy but always really fun. I'd like to send out a big thanks to all of the people who have made GayGamer.net what it is today. That includes my partners Mikey and TinyDancer, our wonderful writing crew who have come and gone over the years. I would also like to extend a big thank you to the gaming industry who have, by and large, accepted us with open arms.
And last but certainly not least, I would like to thank you, our readers! We certainly couldn't have done it without you. Here's to many more!
Kodu is finally here! And honestly, it's everything it was promised to be. But this isn't just a one game show here, we've got a whole week's worth of games to cover. Although it looks like the release of Kodu intimidated a few developers, because there really wasn't a lot else offered this week.
Yay
Kodu - 400 MS points. I've spent several hours with Kodu building levels, tweaking gameplay, building games, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what can be made with it. For starting you out there a a number of pre-made "games" which serve as a tutorial of sorts to teach you about some of the gameplay possibilities that you can create, but behind the simplified interface and commands is a great deal of depth to makes some great games of your own. Kodu was designed to bring game development to those who don't actually know how to program, and on that front it succeeds completely. But, because Kodu is so easy to use, even those that are pros in programming languages might find a lot of value in Kodu since they can test out a gameplay idea in Kodu before spending the time building a game from the ground up around an idea. If you've ever played a game and thought "I could do better," well here's your chance.
Gravity Bounce - 200 MS points. This game is a little hard to explain, but trust me, it makes a lot more sense when you play it. You control a little red ball amid a screen of bouncing balls, each with its own gravitational pull. Using only the A button, you charge the other balls with electricity and use their gravity fields to make charged balls collide. A highly addictive game that's also fresh and original? Yes please.
Ay?
Sketch - 200 MS points. Kudos to Sketch for accurately recreating the experience of playing with an etch-a-sketch using the two analog sticks on the 360 controller. That also means that you get all of the frustration of an etch-a-sketch along with it. Don't expect to be making any circles anytime soon. It's a fun toy to play around with, especially using the "advanced" controls that have you rotating the analog sticks like you would nobs on the real thing, but your mileage with Sketch will depend most on your level of nostalgia.
Nay
Meet UR Match - 200 MS points. This is your typical card-flipping memory matching game. The big draw for this one is that it supports the Scene It "Big Button" controller to give it more of a party game feel. It works well enough, but ultimately the experience is the same no matter which controller you use. There's also a hangman mode, which I feel is the real star of the game, but it's not quite fleshed out enough to warrant a purchase.
Shaitsu Massage - 200 MS points. Really, another massage app for the Xbox? I imagine that everyone that is going to get one of these apps has already done so by now since there are about a dozen already out there. This one tries to distinguish itself by having recommended positions for the rumbling controller to get different effects, like concentration or memory. Maybe it's just me though, but putting an Xbox controller on my face does not stimulate my concentration.
Updates
Nuke Your Neighbor
Go Go UFO Smackdown
Fittest
It's that time of year again! Here in the U.S. it's Independence Day and since it falls on a Saturday this year, the government has seen fit to let us off the hook for Friday as well! So the GayGamer crew is taking the next two days off and Dawdle will return on Sunday to catch up on any news we might have missed.
PLUS, Tomorrow we will be the 3rd birthday of a certain gay video game website! But we'll be posting more about that tomorrow...
Dear Diary,
Writing you a little early this week because it's a big holiday, and everyone's going away. Me too! But even though it was a short week, I still accomplished a lot. Well, except for the first day, because it was another Flea Market. I can't stand Flea Market day. You can't go inside your house for any reason because after a little bit, someone will come wandering in and try to buy your furniture. I know you can put all kinds of extra crap around and sometimes sell it for crazy profits if your townsfolk are gullible enough, but I just couldn't be bothered.
The fireworks aren't just up in the sky this Fourth of July, but in these explosive new screenshots Capcom just released from their upcoming Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom for the Nintendo Wii. I appreciate the 2D fighting with 3D characters, and it seems like they've really gotten some unique Capcom characters in the lineup (I also love Gatchaman, so I can't wait to play as Ken or Jun). It's also nice that they're including options to use the Wiimote & Nunchuck, Classic Controller, Fighting Stick or the GameCube Controller so somehow everyone should be able to find an option that lets them kick maximum ass. I don't mind Capcom teasing that although there's already 20 fighters to choose from, they're still thinking about adding more. I just wish they'd confirm whether or not there's going to be some kind of online component already. I mean, get on that! The game's due out this holiday season!
"Lose the tights, bury your crystals and stop playing with your wand" directs this premiere video for Fallen Earth, a nontraditional MMO under joint development between Fallen Earth LLC and Icarus Studios, which also asks the question, "Sick of ogres, elves & pixies? So are we."
That Fallout MMO better hurry on up, 'cuz Fallen Earth is taking on the post-apocalyptic MMO scene in a big way. Currently in closed beta and scheduled for release this fall, Fallen Earth reveals a world devastated by nuclear conflict and a strange virus (double whammy!) - less than one percent of the population has survived and now resides in either the Hoover Dam Garrison or the headquarters of the Grand Canyon Province - which is also the 7,000-square kilometer zoneless world in which the game takes place.
With an open-ended character development system that forgoes a rigid class structure for skill-by-skill advancement and played on a topological map of the Grand Canyon measuring 84 kilometers on each side, Fallen Earth is one of the up and coming MMOs for which this MMO junkie is jonesing.
Finally, there's some decent DLC on the way for Microsoft's Lips. They've been a little too heavy into the alt rock, which isn't nearly as much fun to sing as pop, and like I've always said, I can get my rock fix from Rock Band. When I play Lips, I want fluffy pop! Well, anyway, here's a list of the next three weeks of DLC, all available for 160 Microsoft Points apiece. And the Pink Pack contains all three songs for 440 MP.
July 3
"Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot
"The Next Movement" by The Roots
"Shut Up" by The Black Eyed Peas
I do love "Shut Up," but the clear winner here is "Baby Got Back." Cannot wait to shake my ass singing along to that one!
July 10
P!nk Song Pack
"Get The Party Started"
"Don't Let Me Get Me"
"So What"
Since they're available separately, I might just go with "So What," although I may end up getting the whole pack...
July 17
"Just So You Know" by Jesse McCartney
"Hey Mama" by The Black Eyed Peas
"Can I Get Get Get" by Junior Senior
Seriously? I get me some Junior Senior? Awe. Some.
I've been pretty giddy for no reason about Infinite Space and it's eventual US release. After little to no word from Sega, I was beginning to fear that the game would not see an American release at all. Thankfully, Sega has come through and reaffirmed that this is going to be my must have portable title for spring 2010.
The gameplay looks solid, a strategy RPG featuring completely customizable ships, voice overs, anime sequences and a webisode series that are all bring localized to english. You can see the first of the translated series at the top of the article.
Grandmaster Flash is going to be getting down and funky in the upcoming DJ Hero. Not only will there be tracks from the "founding father of hip-hop" (Herbie Hancock "Rockit" vs. N.E.R.D. "Lapdance" and Grandmaster Flash "Here Comes My DJ" vs. Gary Numan "Cars") but he will also be making an appearance as the voice of the game's tutorial level.
While those tracks are fine, I can only hope we'll get a chance to "scritch scritch scritch" and "wiki wiki wiki" to White Lines. And I don't mean Wikipedia.
Thanks to a Japanese teaser site and a recent issue of Shonen Jump with some very busy but telling graphics, Square Enix has tipped off the rumor mill about a new Final Fantasy game for the DS: Four Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Gaiden.
The Jump piece doesn't give many details: you'll play as a 14-year-old boy charged by your local king to go off and, yes, rescue the princess; eventually you'll form a party of four, who will save the world. That's Final Fantasy for ya. Coming to Japan this fall, and most likely coming to the western world sometime in 2010.
All-New, Old-School Final Fantasy Announced for DS [GameLife]
The folks over at rethink clothing have added a little blast from the past (pun intended) with this Zapper tee! Rethink is a store which features designs exclusively by college student artists.
The Zapper tee comes in orange or "asphalt" (read: grey) and will run you $19.99 with a flat $3 shipping for US and Canada, $6 for international. They are printed on American Apparel tees so make sure you keep that in mind when ordering as their sizes seem to run a bit small. Damned skinny assed L.A. people...
Well it looks like your day is going to be a little greener starting next week in Rock Band since they are releasing a three-pack of songs from their latest album next week as DLC. This will be the first Green Day songs available as downloadable content for the game. I'm sort of sad to see that they still haven't released anything from the Dookie album, but there's always more time for that.
Green Day Pack
Also being released next week are songs from various artists that are playing in the Mayhem Tour that is happening this summer:
Mayhem Pack
- Behemoth - "Conquer All"
- Black Dahlia Murder - "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse"
- Cannibal Corpse - "Hammer Smashed Face"
- God Forbid - "Empire of the Gun"
- Job for a Cowboy - "Embedded"
- Marilyn Manson - "Disposable Teens"
- Slayer - "Black Magic"
- Whitechapel - "This Is Exile"
These tracks will be available for the Wii and Xbox 360 on the 7th and then on the PlayStation 3 on the 9th. All tracks are individually priced at $2 (160 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points) along with the Green Day pack going for $5.49 (440 Points) and the Mayhem Pack one for $13.49 (1,080 Points).
While I would usually wait until I have more time with a game to do an official review, I feel multiple reasons why I should get the some initial impressions out on BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger sooner rather than later. First of all, it's fairly obvious that this game had a significantly smaller print. Second, it comes from the makers of the critically acclaimed Guilty Gear series. And lastly, it's so good that it demands to be talked about!
For most players, the fighting genre begins and ends with Capcom's various titles, but for those looking for deeper, quicker, and above all more challenging gameplay there's been few recent titles or series worth talking about, especially when it comes to 2D fighters on HD consoles. While developer Arc System Works could have just upscaled or touched up some of their ridiculously detailed Guilty Gear sprites the PS3 and 360 to please fans, the team went above and beyond by creating a totally new series with some ambitious goals.
If there ever was a game that was truly HD, this is it! Every visual element burns the screen with a level of detail not seen in any other title today, 2D or 3D. Those familiar with Guilty Gear already know what to expect in terms of over the top animations and effects, but for those new the developer's efforts are in for a spectacular treat. Continuing where Guilty Gear left off, the character roster here is wildly varied and are (from what I've encountered so far) well balanced with the minor exception of some single player Arcade Mode bosses.
Once acuminated to the game's surroundings, you'll discover one of the most in-depth fighters around. While the learning curve is certainly sharper than Street Fighter 4, it's nowhere near as technical as the Virtua Fighter series. You won't be required to count frames, but learning your character of choice's move-set backwards and forwards will be. Like many other 1v1 fighters, much of the fun here is dependant upon how dedicated you are to learning the moves and knowing when to use more powerful special moves. Fortunately for everyone, I found the game to be easily playable by both a standard gamepad and arcade stick.
Fighters have never been the place to find a great narrative experience, but there is a story here if you're desperate. Personally speaking I found it to be largely throwaway, but I enjoyed some of the hilariously performed English dialog in the same way that I enjoy terribly dubbed anime. This is the biggest "your mileage may vary" aspect of the game, but for those that hate it, it's easily skippable and not required to enjoy the overall game.
One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to talk about this game today was that I was really impressed with the goodies that came with the limited edition of the game. In a day and age when publishers are using limited editions to drain even more money from their fans with subpar goods, it was absolutely refreshing to go through the extras that came along with BlazBlue. The two main additions are a pair of comprehensive soundtrack CDs and a bonus DVD (or Bluray in the case of the PS3 version) that features tutorials and detailed techniques part together by the fighting masters of dustloop.com and shoryuken.com. These extras make up merch that typically sells for stacks of cash in most other countries, but the DVD/Bluray offers a great way for those new to the genre to learn the basics, as well as let more advanced players go into detail with their favorite characters. What's the best thing about these extras? The limited edition of BlazBlue will only run you $60. For the price of a "regular" PS3/360 titles, you'll get some of the most useful extras I've ever seen included with a limited edition. Of course, cheapskates can opt for the "standard edition" for $50 if they like.
It goes without saying that I'm really digging this game and it shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. With 12 characters to master and hundreds of people to pummel online, I'm predicting that this is one fighter that fans will want to partake in and will hopefully attract some new fans along the way. While the 360 version may be more readily available for now, tracking down a PS3 copy of this game down the road may become quickly, so I recommend that anyone interested in it should go pick it up promptly.
Console bundles are nothing new, but this newest trio of Wii bundles from GameStop might just be the strangest ones yet. Of course the best of the bundles is the one pictured, the "Take a Bath with a Buddy Bundle," which bundles a Wii console with a rubber ducky. I'm all for communal bathing, and I don't think that anyone with even half a heart could hate on rubber duckies, but still...what?
If for some reason you don't want a rubber ducky with your Wii, GameStop also offers bundles that include pirate temporary tattoos and a water gun. Oh yes, these are real. And I'm sure that Wii sales will skyrocket now with these new bundles. After all, everyone knows that electronics and water toys are a perfect match.
I applaud GameStop for encouraging us to bathe with buddies, but if you're doing it right you shouldn't have to pay $250 for it.
If you were hoping to get your hands on Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement in the near future? Well, it might take a little bit longer. Konami has decided that it plans on releasing in "winter". It's not terribly specific, but hey, it's better than nothing.
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement is the prequel to the tactical RPG that started a decade ago. Now, the series is heading to the PS3 and Xbox 360 as a downloadable title.
Vandal Hearts for PSN/XBLA this winter [eurogamer]
Watchful fans of Blizzard have discovered something this week. The MMO juggernaut has trademarked the title 'Cataclysm' for just about every single product type under the sun. I'm not talking about just games either, check out this list.
- Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line computer games; providing computer games that may be accessed via a global computer network; and providing on-line information in the field of computer gaming entertainment
- Comic books, computer game strategy guides, trading cards, coloring books, adhesive stickers, rub-on transfers, notebooks, stationery-type portfolios, posters, greeting cards, calendars, instructional leaflets in the field of computer games, computer game instruction manuals, catalogs in the field of computer games, advertisement boards of paper or cardboard, photographs, art prints
- Computer game software and related instruction manuals and guides sold together as a unit; downloadable computer game software; interactive multimedia computer game program; mousepads
Basically everything except Cataclysm brand condoms. (which probably wouldn't sell well, based on the name) What does it mean? Well, hard to say, but the two most popular theories are that it's the name of the next World of Warcraft expansion, (the rumored 'Maelstrom' expansion could certainly come out under this name), or some sort of game service similar to Valve's Steam. My personal theory is that it's BOTH.
If Blizzard's previous pattern of trademarking is any indicator, we'll see something more about this at Blizzcon, because this is right about the time they did the same thing for their previous expansions. IE, trademarking it a few weeks before a Blizzcon announcement.
Blizzard trademarks "Cataclysm" [MMO-Champion]
CDV just released some new screens from their upcoming Nintendo DS title I Heart Geeks, but I have to admit I had never even heard of it before today. But it looks terribly adorable, with the artwork and story developed by Marc Ecko and his team. Basically, you'll be playing a brainy Geek who must overcome the bullying Jocks to win the heart of the beautiful Cheerleader. You'll use dozens of devices — from rockets, candles, sponges, etc — to solve unique puzzles that use real-life physics like gravity, friction, inertia and whatnot. Sounds geeky!
There are over 100 different puzzles of gradually increasing difficulty, but there are multiple ways to solve most problems, so don't worry if you're not some kind of crazy uber-geek. You can compete head-to-head in timed puzzle-solving races wirelessly with your pals to see who's geekier. I Heart Geeks is due to hit streets Q3 of 2009, and I've included that little gallery below featuring the final art style for the game. It looks wicked cute, but judging from the game description, there's some brains behind that beauty!
I admit, I had quite the shock when I was perusing the New York Daily News this morning when I stumbled upon a tiny little article with the headline "Wii to be HD."
The next generation of Wii is slated to make its appearance at the end of 2010, according to industry insiders. Nintendo's "Wii Plus" HD will feature enhanced graphics on par with PS3 and Xbox 360, and would facilitate the use of games between all three consoles. The upgrade is expected to spell big trouble for Nintendo's main gaming competitor Sony. The new "Wii Plus" format is expected to gain support from game publishers because it would cost them less to port an Xbox 360 game to the new Wii format than to build a new Wii game. "We believe that these factors will shift in Nintendo's favor eventually," said analyst, Michael Patcher.
I know, right? That's the whole article right there. And it totally makes it sound like the Wii Plus HD is already in development. But having read nothing about this groundbreaking news anywhere else, I was suspicious. It wasn't until I reached MIchael Patcher's name that I realized that this was just misreporting of pure speculation on his part. That's what the guy does. Blogs all over the interwebs are debating his musings, but the way the Daily News article is written gives a slightly different impression.
Personally, I'm glad there's no HD Wii Plus on the way. And Nintendo would be foolish to do it. The Wii is still champ, and while I have no doubt that somewhere, deep in the recesses of Nintendo's stronghold, they are already hard at work on its successor, there's no way anything is going to come out before the Wii starts declining in sales dramatically. Also, the very idea of porting games from the 360 easily to the Wii is kind of ridiculous because even if you had equally powerful processors for the graphics, the consoles still have vastly different control schemes. But who knows? I mean, we never thought Nintendo would suddenly come out of nowhere with a little add-on so they could finally have the 1:1 motion control that the Wii should have come with in the first place. They can be crazy that way!
It looks like Gold Farming might remain legal in China, for awhile at least. After a University of Manchester's professor Richard Heeks looked over the new Chinese law on virtual currency, the law is slightly more specific. The main focus of the law is trading virtual currency for real world goods, and gambling, not the trade of money for virtual goods.
This [new Chinese law] therefore is not about what gold farming clients do: use real money to buy these virtual currencies; it's the mirror image. And it's not about the major trade in gold farming such as World of Warcraft, which relates to other types of virtual currency. And it's not about buying/selling in-game items. And it's not about the power-levelling of avatars. Bottom line: it's not about gold farming.
The real purpose of this new law is to maintain governmental control over currency, rather than letting the value of a dollar be controlled by the developers of an online game. It is pretty obvious that an influx of foreign currency to their country is not a bad thing at all. A multimillion dollar (possibly even billion) industry is not something any government wants to snuff out.
Is Gold Farming Really Banned? Confusion Over China's New Virtual Currency Rules [GamePolitics]
A crafty crafter (GeekMythology) has turned the Left 4 Dead survivors into custom sprites and then created them in perler beads! I just love stuff like this and really, who wouldn't want a little spritely Francis to call their own?
The whole set is available for $50 on GeekMythology's Etsy page.
[via Wonderland]
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