Star Wars Pinball ReviewI am not the Star Wars geek that many (most) of my friends are, but I do respect the characters and the franchise as a whole, plus I had the O.G. Star Wars bed sheets when I was a kid. My own kids use them now, so we are still a Star Wars family to a degree. When I first learned of the Star Wars Pinball tables, I got pretty excited. But now that the first pack of tables is here, is it worth your credits?
Bungie has announced Destiny, a persistent, online, Massively Multiplayer First Person Shooter. It seems a bit early to announce a game that won’t be available for at least another 10 months and probably a year, but Bungie felt it was the right time.
I have my doubts, even this early on, about whether Destiny is something to even pay attention to at this time. I strongly feel that rather than get pulled into the hype cyclone, gamers should take a “wait and see” approach even considering a “trusted” developer like Bungie.
Zen Studios has announced Star Wars Pinball for pretty much all major digital download services.
Star Wars Pinball will include three tables including Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. You had me at Boba Fett.
This may be the first of multiple packs as the wording in the press release calls this “The initial three-table pack”. Star Wars Pinball is heading to a star system new you February 2013.
May the silver ball be with you!
Writing a review of Guinness World Records 2013: Gamer’s Edition would be a little unfair, and perhaps disingenuous. Guinness is the finest collection of world records in print today. They have made world records a serious business, but with their Gamer’s Edition, they have proven that they know how to have some fun too.
So rather than post a “review” of the book, we will give our impressions. Here are our thoughts on everyone’s favorite records book, done gamer style. Continue reading
Video games, like movies, rely on many parts to make up the whole. These parts can be categorized by what you see and what you hear. As a good flim director knows, the music/sound effects can make or break a scene or even an entire movie. Unlike movies though, video game music is often called to be dynamic and evolving, based on the location and current situation of the player character. Whereas movies are entirely scripted, a video games pacing is determined largely by the player.
Because of this dynamism, video games require a music composer who is adept at setting the stage and can marry sound with an intended visual.
Christian M. Krogsvold, AKA Waterflame, is a composer from Norway, has been involved in several indie game projects, had his music featured in the very popular Castle Crashers, and been the recipient of Newgrounds’ “Musician of the Year” award. He also provided the music for Zen Studio’s upcoming game CastleStorm.
Waterflame has released over 200 songs, many of which can be downloaded for free. His music spans many genres and moods. Some songs evoke a dreamy feeling of relaxation, or perhaps flying through space, exploring distant planets. Others feel like a fight for survival against a seemingly unbeatable foe. From ambient textures to exciting adventurous romps through an enchanted forest, Waterflame has the ability to capture the scene and the setting in audio form.
As an avid gamer and musician, it’s an honor to be able to interview a master of his craft who works simultaneously in two exciting industries, Games and Music.
Every once in a while, a game comes along that relies heavily on religious iconography for its story telling. Usually, these games also come bundled with some degree of controversy (whether intentional or not), and they run the risk of scaring off gamers who see the use of their beloved beliefs as nothing more than mythological fantasy exploited for entertainment purposes. Party of Sin doesn’t appear to have an anti-religious agenda behind it. More likely, it seeks to marry old school platformers with the modern gaming conventions we have come to expect from action puzzlers.
There is both some good and bad to report about Party of Sin. The controls are stiff and combat is simplistic and boring. Fortunately there is a whole lot of interesting puzzle gameplay that redeems Party of Sin from the Hell it would otherwise deserve.
Zen Studios has given us a steady stream of high quality, fun, and varied pinball tables over the last couple of years. Over time, the quality of design of the tables has improved greatly, which makes the recent (re)release of these classic tables a touch bittersweet.
The Zen Classics tables originally appeared as part of Zen Pinball on the PS3, making this their first appearance on the Xbox 360. Because these tables are remakes, albeit with improved graphics and physics, they don’t quite display the quality, flair, and balance that the more recently developed tables do. On the other hand, all four tables bring a retro vibe that fans of the early 90’s pinball era should be stoked for.
Whereas the more modern styled tables typically include a 3D model of a character or two, these classic tables are more “realistic” and you really get the sense that there are physical mechanisms at work here. The included tables are:
Pinball FX2 is inarguably one of the finest Pinball simulations ever made. Both the physics and graphics engine behind the tables are very well done. It’s then up to developers Zen Studios to produce tables that utilize the FX2 engine artfully to ensure that pinball fans have a variety of themes and skill levels to choose from. These tables are released as downloadable expansions to the base game. This is a review of one of these expansions.
The Marvel license has been good to the Pinball FX franchise. Digital pinball wizards have an assortment of Marvel tables featuring some great characters and “storylines”. The story in the Marvel Civil War table unsurprisingly follows the Civil War storyline in the comics. This storyline follows the tragic incident at Stamford, Connecticut where super villain Nitro killed more than 600 people with his mutant powers.
This event causes the government to enact the Superhuman Registration Act in an effort to catalog and track superpeople worldwide. Iron Man agrees to help round up the superhumans whereas Captain America refuses, seeing it as an infringement on civil liberties. This disagreement between two prominent superheroes results in a “civil war”. Both sides of the issue rally for support of other mutants as the war gets bigger and and deadlier. Continue reading
Typically, when I see a brand name like Red Bull used for a game license, I roll my eyes and set my brain to dismiss. But Crashed Ice isn’t just some marketing cash in, Red Bull actually sponsors and runs the event every year. So the inclusion of Red Bull in the title of the game is actually appropriate, and short of the occasional Red Bull powerup in game, there isn’t any cheesy, forced product placement. Crashed Ice is a solid game that happens to have Red Bull cans floating high in the air at various points in each course. But to understand the game, it’s best to have a little background on the event on which it is based.
Red Bull Crashed Ice is an extreme winter sport that takes 4 dudes in ice hockey gear (sans sticks) and sends them jamming down an ice course laden with hills, jumps, dips, and curves in a race to first. I just learned all that myself, so forgive me for not being an expert. I am here to review the game, not the sport.
“Dunwall City Trials” is the DLC expansion for Dishonored scheduled for release worldwide on December 11th, 2012.
In the meantime you can enjoy some high resolution wallpapers to spruce up your desktop or lock screen.
