H -°, L 51° | Tomorrow: 
H 65°, L 60°Well, it’s finally time. 2K has released its “BioShock Infinite.” This game has been anticipated since 2010 when the original news of its development was released. Before I go any further, I will not put any spoilers in here to preserve the fun for everyone. I got a PC copy… Read more »
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Hold onto your Shock Jockey! Infinite has arrived!
Game titans to release new system
It’s that time of year again: The big three game companies, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, have announced their plans for this release season. The upcoming months promise new consoles, new games, social network integration and reimagined apps. Sony announced the release of the PlayStation 4 earlier this year. While there… Read more »
Thirteenth time’s the charm
Late last week, Namco Bandai, known especially for the “Soul Calibur” and “Tekken” series, released their English-language trailer for “Tales of Xillia,” the 13th installment in its“Tales of” franchise. The game was originally released in Japan in fall 2011 and is being released internationally later this year. Before hitting North American… Read more »
Fantasy world of ‘Ni no Kuni’
Earlier this year, the highly anticipated “Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch” was released in North America exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Created by Level-5, the developers of the popular “Professor Layton” games, “Ni no Kuni” employs many familiar elements from other popular franchises. It employs a battle system with… Read more »
Dance video games enjoy social, educational popularity
Since the late 1990s, the music game genre has slowly grown to be incredibly prominent in the gaming world. It expanded all the way from the arcade to school curricula - it has become an inspiration for fitness games to be a part of education while maintaining its strong fan… Read more »
New Sony title takes on popular Nintendo franchise
Sony’s new “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” may have a similar appearance to Nintendo’s successful “Super Smash Bros.” franchise, but “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” offers players a new kind of gaming experience. The similarities between the two allow “PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” to draw in “Super Smash Bros.” fans as well… Read more »
Nintendo nostalgia in new releases
Turn-based role-playing games have been around for a long time. Some of the most well-known being Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and Advance Wars and Pokémon from Nintendo. These games are single player and usually have no way to connect with one another. This is true for two of the… Read more »
Survival-horror franchise lives on in sixth installment
The survival-horror genre of video games has been around since the dawn of modern video games, and the “Resident Evil” franchise is a big part of what started it all. Today there are many games of the genre, but “Resident Evil” is still a name above all others. Always including intense… Read more »
Video game tester tells tricks of trade
Closed beta versions of video games are like test runs distributed to a limited audience, and people with access often think of themselves as the “real” beta testers, but this is not the case. In a closed beta, only a fraction of the bugs remain undocumented, and the company wants… Read more »
For most games, once was enough
New and refreshing ideas for games are hard to come by. To design a playable and engaging title that stands up on its own is a tough thing to do for any game developer. As a result, game creators are often forced to play it safe, boxing up re-hashed existing… Read more »
Hungry for more after beta taste of “Diablo 3”
Last weekend, Blizzard opened up its much-coveted “Diablo 3” Beta experience to the general populace for the first time ever. Although players were only granted a 72-hour opportunity to hack and slash their way through undead hell spawn, it was more than enough time to progress through the first few quests… Read more »
Forget the best: A look at more obscure video games
Sometimes it seems that the video game community is obsessed only with the “best” of things. Browse any popular gaming website or magazine and you’ll find countless lists full of what people call the best games, best consoles, best characters, etc. But what about all of the games that don’t… Read more »
New ‘Mass Effect’ stumbles over previous strength
It’s hard to argue that there is a game out there, much less a series, that offers more character and story customization than the “Mass Effect” trilogy. I remember when “Mass Effect” was released in 2007 and blew everyone away. What could be better than assuming control of a spaceship and… Read more »
Gaze at crystal console: Guessing future of gaming
A few days ago, I stumbled across a few leaked gameplay images from Microsoft’s alleged Xbox 720. I’m fairly pessimistic when it comes to such conjecture, and quickly declared bull. Regardless of these sexy and heavily-pixilated images’ validity, their release shows the gaming community is officially looking toward what the… Read more »
Multi-player madness: Let the rivalries begin
Sometimes there’s nothing better than some split-screen action to add a little friendly competition to your weekend binge-session. That being said, if you’re going to have a group of people over and you’re thinking of whipping out a game or two for some multi-player action, what should you go for?… Read more »
‘Reckoning’ brings a refreshing change to RPGs
Recently, I was able to get my hands on the newest entry into the Role Playing Game market, titled “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.” The game seemed to hit the shelves in a fairly shy and timid manner, without the usual marketing mayhem preceding its arrival. In fact, the only reason… Read more »
Hopes high for strong gaming year in 2012
2011 Game Titles set a High Bar for ‘12 Game enthusiasts across the nation are undoubtedly still knee-deep in many of the fantastic titles of late 2011, temporarily oblivious to what’s in store for them in the coming months. But if the Mayans are correct and we do indeed find… Read more »
‘Skyrim’ makes up for small flaws with haunting beauty
Traditionally, role-playing games are of Japanese origin. In fact, up until recently, almost all quality RPGs were from the Land of the Rising Sun. In the past 10 years, however, one American developer has been edging closer and closer to perfection with its ongoing RPG saga “The Elder Scrolls.” That developer is… Read more »
Modern Warfare enters round three with near perfection
Call of Duty’s Modern Warfare is the best-selling shooter series of all time and for good reason. Infinity Ward’s prized shooter caters to all aspects of society, transcending class, age, sex and geography, bringing us all together to kill each other in the most entertaining ways imaginable. There are some… Read more »
Third installments of Battlefield, COD shape up well for fall
We are often faced with big decisions during our lives. Boxers or briefs? White or whole wheat? Med School or McDonalds? These are all equally important decisions, but now, as fall rears its leafy head, a decision looms which dwarfs all others in importance. Battlefield 3 or Call of Duty:… Read more »
GoW3 flawlessly ends an era
RING-ING-ING-ING-ING! RING-ING-ING-ING-INGGG! Like the bells of Christmas, a chorus of revved chainsaws ushers in an equally spirited season. And no, I’m not talking about the local lumberjack festival. I am speaking, of course, regarding last week’s release of the incredulously anticipated Gears of War 3 by Epic Games. It seems… Read more »
Gears of War trilogy culminates with best game yet
Another great gaming trilogy came to an end Sept. 20. Since that date, Gears of War 3, the final release in the trilogy in question, has already sold over three million copies. The good news for those three million consumers is that the Gears franchise is going out on top… Read more »
Pre-used market poaches big game industry’s profits
In today’s economy, nearly all markets are suffering because people cannot afford to stimulate them. Naturally, people are always looking for ways to retain their old spending habits but at cheaper cost; thus, wallet-friendly options are born: cheaper restaurants, wholesale stores, eBay and so on. The video game world has… Read more »
Bloody rebirth of ‘Mortal Kombat’
The “Mortal Kombat” franchise hasn’t had the best reputation over the past decade or so, but with it’s latest reboot, NetherRealm Studios is trying to give the MK name a new life. The 2011 “Mortal Kombat” brings the series back to a system closer to “Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3,” arguably… Read more »
New ‘Mass Effect 2’ content ends game with a whimper
The end of a video game isn’t as final as it used to be, and BioWare is embracing this fact with some new “Mass Effect 2” downloadable content to whet our appetites for the upcoming “Mass Effect 3.” The plot of “Mass Effect 2: Arrival” is as incredibly simple as… Read more »
Block by block: Minecraft explained
Minecraft. It’s possible that this word alone means nothing to you; an obvious portmanteau of the words “mine” and “craft,” one would think that the word describes creating objects via materials gained by mining. This assumption is not too far from the truth; however, it would be an extreme understatement… Read more »
New game by Marvel, Capcom worth decade-long hype
After 10 years of waiting and begging, the popular fighting game franchise that combines the characters from Capcom video games and Marvel comics returns in “Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.” A fast-paced fighting engine and fantastic presentation make for an awesome gameplay experience, but unfortunately many gamers won’t… Read more »
Smithsonian tries to elevate gaming artistic appreciation
The world of video games is about to make another step towards mainstream acceptance on a nationwide scale: The renowned Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. is preparing to host an exhibit entitled “The Art of Video Games.” This is slated to run from March 16 to Sept. 30,… Read more »
Social attitudes must change for U.S. to enter pro-gaming arena
Are you familiar with the term “tighten up the graphics?” It comes from an old ad for Westwood College’s School of Industrial Service promoting a job in the exciting field of game design and testing. The ad features a couple of dudes sitting around the office, playing through a video… Read more »
Promising 3-D games hope to avoid ‘House of Wax’ tragedy
The element of 3-D in films has been used as a gimmick to get people out of the house since the 1950s, but it’s no grand secret that it’s had a resurgence over the past decade. Video games in 3-D are similarly not a new phenomenon, but with the North… Read more »
Market over saturation stifles game creativity
Just last week, I was discussing the state of the video game industry with my roommate. The conversation was soon monopolized by the publishing juggernaut that is Activision. This discussion quickly turned sour due to Activision’s sometimes questionable business tactics. In recent years, Activision has had a habit of… Read more »
‘Starcraft II’ club: A unity of gamers
The long running real-time strategy franchise by Blizzard Entertainment, “Starcraft,” is best known for its position as the number one professionally played video game in the world, particularly in South Korea. Now with the release of “Starcraft 2” this past summer, several students on campus have begun to spread the… Read more »
‘Epic Yarn’ weaves a new chapter in the Kirby legacy
“Kirby’s Epic Yarn” is a bit of a strange case. On the one hand, it definitely feels like a Kirby game. It’s got that same sense of overwhelming cuteness that’s characteristic of the series, and a lot of familiar characters are back. On the other, it’s completely ditched the series’… Read more »
Avoid zombies, let a game eat your brain
If you’re a horror game fan like I am, Halloween’s probably got you in the mood to dust off some of your old favorites for a creepy trip down memory lane. Everyone knows their “Resident Evils” and “Silent Hills,” but if you’re looking to expand your horror game repertoire a… Read more »
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