Somewhat Manly Nerd » XBLA

BUY IKARUGA ON XBLA NOW

CajoleJuice — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:34:11 +0000

BUY IT

BUY IT NOW

Back when it was on Dreamcast and Gamecube, I never quite wanted to fully recommend it, since it’s not a game for pussies, and for $40, some people might complain about the short length (even though it’s a SHMUP). But now you can buy it for $10 (800 MS points) and can download it in minutes, I command you to buy it. Not to mention it’s in HD, and has online play and leaderboards. The game is probably now the best looking game on the service, has tight controls coupled with ingenius, simple mechanics, and is so difficult you will break your record for obscenities per minute while playing. But you will learn to enjoy getting your ass pounded by this game, over and over.

BUY IT

Buy N+ on XBLA NOW

CajoleJuice — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:49:38 +0000

Any game that features levels called “There’s no I in Teamocil” and “In Soviet Russia, N plays you” deserves to be bought for $10 bucks. It just so happens that this game also is incredibly fun and unique in its own right. You are a miniature ninja attempting to jump and slide his way through increasingly difficult levels of pure platforming goodness. It’s been available in freeware flash form on the PC for years, but there has never been controller support (unless you really know your PC shit). Now, released on the 360 with HD graphics and — obviously — controller support, the game is one of the best on XBLA, and arguably the most content-laden of any 800 point game on the service. 250 single-player levels and 50 co-op levels to conquer, with a bunch more for multiplayer race and survival modes. You can even make your own maps, but only the person who made the custom map can host a game using it, basically defeating the purpose. That, and horrific lag in 4-player online, are the only complaints I can muster. The game is totally awesome. Wall-jumping, lasers, missiles, and gibs in floaty gravity is an awesome formula. Don’t even download the demo. Just buy the game. I should’ve bought it a few weeks ago when it came out. Don’t make the same mistake that I did. Don’t wait. BUY IT.

P.S. The game is coming out for DS and PSP and I bet it’ll be at least 20 bucks.

What I’ve Been Playing: February ’08 Edition

CajoleJuice — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:18:52 +0000

Burnout Paradise

The definition of a love/hate relationship. I love the amazing crash physics. After approximately 1287 crashes, I hate still having to see every single one in slow-motion (previous Burnouts had the option to turn Takedown cams off). I love doing challenges online with online buddies. I hate that I’ll probably never get the 250 challenge achievement, since I’ll never do challenges with 6, 7 or 8 people. I love the ease of online racing, the leaderboards, and the stats given before each race. I hate losing races due to missing a crucial turn. I love the variety in the vehicles and how they actually react differently in collisions. I hate having to do specific Burning Lap events with specific vehicles. I still love Road Rage events. I hate the new Showtime (Crash) mode, but not nearly as much as I hate Stunt Mode.

Omega Five

Exactly the type of game that XBLA should have in droves. An original shmup that has tight controls and impressive graphics. And XBLA adds the incentive to drive for a high score with leaderboards. I can’t wait for Ikaruga to be released. I still can’t believe I just sold the GC version on Amazon Marketplace for $45. Can’t wait to rebuy a superior version for $10!

Halo 3

Yeah, I’ve been a huge critic of this series since the original, but co-op apparently is still fun. Ripped through the game on normal. Just as my predetermined hatred of the campaign was starting to recede, we reached a level that took place inside a giant anus. I don’t know who thought it’d be a good idea to have such a disgusting level in a video game. And there were anuses inside the anus. And it vibrated its walls as it spoke a few times. Bungie should be ashamed of themselves.

The Dishwasher

One of the XBL Community Games, which means it was developed with XNA Game Studio and released with XNA Creators Club. Let’s just say it’s a way for independent developers to get their cool games on XBLA. There’s still time to play a bunch of these games for free. I haven’t gotten a chance to play any others, but this one is pretty fun. You can tell it’s an amateurish work-in-progress, but it’s Devil May Cry/Ninja Gaiden in 2D, which should sound cool to anyone.

Call of Duty 4

Never completely out of the gaming rotation. Took a while to beat the single-player campaign, as Veteran was a bitch. I’m determined to eventually get 1000/1000, so I’ll need to beat the extra level on Veteran, even if it’s the most frustrating thing I’ve ever played. As for MP: even after weeks of vacation, I still rock the shit — most notably on Wet Work. I reached Prestige mode, and kept on mercilessly killing dudes with the vanilla M16. Call of Duty 4 might as well be renamed Boost Joel’s Self-Esteem.

Also, I just came across this gem (sorry, had to shrink to fit):

Facebook Scrabulous

This counts! I’ll take on all comers! I’m not especially good, but I can hold my own at times.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

CajoleJuice — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:47:50 +0000

Yea, it’s a long name. But holy shit is it going to rock.

This is how it’ll look on your TV most likely. I always find the off-screen TV shots make games look better.

Here are a couple of other shots from Capcom’s blog…finally.

Ken’s Flaming Dragon Punch and Ryu on fire in HD…so awesome.

Even the player select screen kicks ass, although the player portraits could be better. Ryu and Ken both look a bit Mayan…

You can see them in high-res on the site here.

And in case anyone doesn’t remember what the original looked like:

Even if Capcom releases this at $15, it’ll be a bargain. XBLA is fucking incredible.