Monday, February 28, 2011
Cottage Cheese Pink Salad
Fruit salad is one of those dishes that have rich memories for me. It started when I was growing up. We called it ?Grandma?s Salad.? That one consisted of a can of fruit cocktail and a tub of Cool Whip. We had it on every special occasion and holiday imaginable. It was one of my [...]
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Gas Powered Games Now Taking On Age Of Empires Online
In a surprising move, Robot Entertainment has passed on development of free-to-play RTS Age of Empires Online to Gas Powered Games. In a short post about the switch on the game's blog, Gas Powered Games reveals that the transfer ?has been the plan for some time,? and GPG and publisher Microsoft share a similar vision about the long-term success of the social-focused strategy game.
Robot Entertainment, as you may know, was founded by a lot of ex-Ensemble staff, so Microsoft putting an Age of Empires in their hands seemed like a natural, fitting move. This developer transition doesn?t strike me as quite a natural move, but it?s not like GPG doesn?t have RTS or strategy chops. This is the studio that built Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege, after all.
As for what Robot Entertainment is doing now with AOE off its back? Well, there?s some news on that front. Earlier this week, Robot announced its third-person action game with a tower defense twist, Orcs Must Die!, for PC download and console digital distribution platforms. In a nutshell, the game is about protecting one?s keep with traps, both physical and magical, from a flowing stream of Orcs.
In a recent post on its forums, Robot Entertainment echoed Gas Powered Games, saying that allowing GPG to take on the lead developer role for AOE Online was always the plan. It also added that the Orcs Must Die! announcement will be followed by other original game reveals in the near future.
But until then, here's the first Orcs Must Die! trailer:
No word on the release date for AOE or Orcs Must Die, but both should hit in 2011.
Robot Entertainment, as you may know, was founded by a lot of ex-Ensemble staff, so Microsoft putting an Age of Empires in their hands seemed like a natural, fitting move. This developer transition doesn?t strike me as quite a natural move, but it?s not like GPG doesn?t have RTS or strategy chops. This is the studio that built Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege, after all.
As for what Robot Entertainment is doing now with AOE off its back? Well, there?s some news on that front. Earlier this week, Robot announced its third-person action game with a tower defense twist, Orcs Must Die!, for PC download and console digital distribution platforms. In a nutshell, the game is about protecting one?s keep with traps, both physical and magical, from a flowing stream of Orcs.
In a recent post on its forums, Robot Entertainment echoed Gas Powered Games, saying that allowing GPG to take on the lead developer role for AOE Online was always the plan. It also added that the Orcs Must Die! announcement will be followed by other original game reveals in the near future.
But until then, here's the first Orcs Must Die! trailer:
No word on the release date for AOE or Orcs Must Die, but both should hit in 2011.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Giant Bombcast 01-11-2011
Jeff takes a break from his go-kart training to join our discussions of kill room aesthetics, earthquakes, Predator tech support, Mel Blanc oral reports, Borderlands sadism, ilomilo pronunciation, crank calls, crypto, and 3DS redesigns. Plus, a contest!
Lindsay Lohan is Going to Trial
Lindsay Lohan is going to trial for jewelry heist
Lindsay Lohan is determined to not serve a single minute behind bars over the necklace that she is being accused of stealing and she is going to trial to prove it.
Lindsay Lohan made an appearance in court this morning, accused of stealing the one-of-a-kind necklace. ...
Lindsay Lohan is determined to not serve a single minute behind bars over the necklace that she is being accused of stealing and she is going to trial to prove it.
Lindsay Lohan made an appearance in court this morning, accused of stealing the one-of-a-kind necklace. ...
Bulletstorm "Gun Sonata" DLC Detailed
Hold on to that copy of Bulletstorm--publisher Epic Games and developer People Can Fly have some DLC in the works. In fact, the duo has already detailed the first bit DLC, a joint called ?Gun Sonata.? In a nutshell, it?s a $10, five-map download that?ll hit PSN, XBLM, and PC later this spring.
Three of those maps, the lovely Sewers of Stygia, Hotel Elysium, and Villa, are exclusive to Anarchy mode. If you're not familiar with the game, Anarchy is basically Bulletstorm's answer to Gears of War's Horde mode. Up to four players work together (and for themselves) as they attempt to reach specific score thresholds. The twist, here, is the choice of what you do with your spoils: score points for personal upgrades or for the round progression.
The other two maps, Crash Site and Guns of Stygia, are Echo mode maps. You may remember this mode from the game's demo--it?s all about reaching the highest score possible in one-off single-player challenge levels. Epic shot over some descriptions of these two maps specifically, adding that Crash Site is where ?soldiers must deal with ramifications of their crashed ship,? and that Guns of Stygia is a place where a ?captive commando escapes from an enemy prison.?
In addition to these maps, Gun Sonata will also bring two Leash enhancements: the Pulp and the Flamingo. Epic isn?t getting specific about these quite yet, but I imagine that you already get the idea what these might be.
Who's enjoying Bulletstorm so far, and who's ready to pony up for some new maps?
Three of those maps, the lovely Sewers of Stygia, Hotel Elysium, and Villa, are exclusive to Anarchy mode. If you're not familiar with the game, Anarchy is basically Bulletstorm's answer to Gears of War's Horde mode. Up to four players work together (and for themselves) as they attempt to reach specific score thresholds. The twist, here, is the choice of what you do with your spoils: score points for personal upgrades or for the round progression.
The other two maps, Crash Site and Guns of Stygia, are Echo mode maps. You may remember this mode from the game's demo--it?s all about reaching the highest score possible in one-off single-player challenge levels. Epic shot over some descriptions of these two maps specifically, adding that Crash Site is where ?soldiers must deal with ramifications of their crashed ship,? and that Guns of Stygia is a place where a ?captive commando escapes from an enemy prison.?
In addition to these maps, Gun Sonata will also bring two Leash enhancements: the Pulp and the Flamingo. Epic isn?t getting specific about these quite yet, but I imagine that you already get the idea what these might be.
Who's enjoying Bulletstorm so far, and who's ready to pony up for some new maps?
Charlie Sheen: ?I Just Cured Alcoholism. Right Now. With My Mind.?
“You’re welcome!” In case there were any doubts that Charlie Sheen didn’t just launch himself into an private jet full of coke and porn stars, he called in this afternoon to Alex Jones’ Infowars and revealed he’s in the air with “two hotties.” (Ha! Brooke Mueller thought there was going to be a foursome. Stupid drug Read More ...
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Giant Bombcast 01-04-2011
Ryan, Vinny, and Brad are joined by a very special flaxen-haired guest in this, our inaugural Bombcast of 2011! We return from our holiday break with heartwarming tales of family togetherness and... actually, it's mostly just games.
Dead Space 2 "Severed" DLC Hitting Next Week
That Dead Space 2 DLC, ?Dead Space 2: Severed,? now has a date and a price. The content will land on PSN and XBLM on March 1, 2011 at an agreeable seven bucks (or 560 Microsoft bones). No PC date is planned.
As previously noted, Severed adds two stand-alone chapters to the core game that star Dead Space: Extraction?s Gabe Weller and Lexine Murdoch. You?ll play as Gabe in both, and as a press release reveals this morning, Gabe?ll have access to a unique security suit and a supercharged Plasma Rifle.
Both chapters take place on an infested Sprawl around the same time as the events of the core storyline, so expect the typical monster fare you saw in Dead Space 2. But don?t be surprised when you also bump into the Twitcher, the original Dead Space?s marine-and-necromorph hybrid. You?ll catch your first glimpse of this guy in the embedded trailer, which just hit today.
Shoemaker got his hands on this DLC earlier this week, and we?ll be running a video preview of it a little later this Friday. Make sure to check it out!
As previously noted, Severed adds two stand-alone chapters to the core game that star Dead Space: Extraction?s Gabe Weller and Lexine Murdoch. You?ll play as Gabe in both, and as a press release reveals this morning, Gabe?ll have access to a unique security suit and a supercharged Plasma Rifle.
Both chapters take place on an infested Sprawl around the same time as the events of the core storyline, so expect the typical monster fare you saw in Dead Space 2. But don?t be surprised when you also bump into the Twitcher, the original Dead Space?s marine-and-necromorph hybrid. You?ll catch your first glimpse of this guy in the embedded trailer, which just hit today.
Shoemaker got his hands on this DLC earlier this week, and we?ll be running a video preview of it a little later this Friday. Make sure to check it out!
Quick Look Throwback: Stronghold
Click To Watch Video
Lords Drew, Ryan, and Vinny throw way back to the middle ages in this self-proclaimed "castle sim."
Lords Drew, Ryan, and Vinny throw way back to the middle ages in this self-proclaimed "castle sim."
Review of Lost in Shadow
Platform: (WII)
3 out of 5
We spend a lot of time looking at a game's length as some kind of quantifiable measurement of value to a product, but in truth, a long game does not necessarily equal a better game. Take Lost in Shadow, a new platformer from Hudson which revolves around an unusual concept: as the detached shadow of a young boy, you can only traverse the shadows of objects in the three-dimensional realm. This is a game with a novel idea, and one that, for a while, feels fresh and fascinating. But as hours pass and the game continues on, that once fresh feeling eventually gives way to monotony. Its fitful attempts to evolve the experience do little to break up hours upon hours of merely solid and largely unremarkable platforming levels that feel like little more than the filler required to make this a retail, disc-based product, and not a digitally released title.It's a shame, because Lost in Shadow most certainly piques one's curiosity from the get-go, albeit not through any form of narrative. You know little going into Lost in Shadow, beyond an opening cutscene that depicts a brutish executioner slicing a boy's shadow from his body, and tossing it from the top of an absurdly tall tower. You, the shadow, awake at the bottom, and with the help of an inexplicable fairy that wordlessly appears and begins assisting you, your goal is to get to the top of that tower... and then go back down... and then unexpectedly keep on going until the game just up and decides to end.
The shadows of the environment are your platforms.
Sadly, that moment passes, and brilliance never comes to fruition. While the game's method of shadow puppetry intrigues at the outset, malaise begins to set in after several hours of repetitive gameplay--and then gets piled on after even more hours of that seemingly endless repetition. The best platformers find a way to ramp up the difficulty slowly, methodically, with a key understanding of what the player has experienced early on, and building upon those experiences. Lost in Shadow more or less does the same thing again, and again, and again, for hours on end with only periodic bouts of difficulty peppered in at random moments. The level designs start out interestingly enough, but fail to evolve into anything more than a shadowy riff on the same sorts of platforming gimmicks you've seen done a billion times before.
The game toys with some variety, offering up shadow corridors, which twist physics in some interesting ways, and light gates, which turn your shadow into a glowing, three-dimensional being that can navigate the foreground for a limited time--but little is done with these concepts outside of the same repetitive gimmicks over and over again. True cleverness simply seems to elude Lost in Shadow, and its few brushes with it come so late in the game that some people will have likely given up before they get anywhere near these moments.
�Light gates let you venture out into the three-dimensional realm for short periods.
Before eventually submitting to tedium, Lost in Shadow is an easy game to like. It shows you a stellar idea (that it sadly proceeds to squander) and offers up a visual aesthetic that is absolutely pleasing to look at. The way light and shadow are depicted and played off one another are great, and while the art style owes a great deal to Team ICO--like, Hudson should probably just cut those guys a check now and get it over with--it's a particularly pretty derivation that stands out among many of the best-looking Wii games.
As I trudged through hour after hour of Lost in Shadow's adventure, a singular, pervasive thought cycled through my head: I wished this game were shorter. Besides the combat, there's nothing particularly awful or busted-feeling to endure, but the middling nature of the platforming becomes a tiring slog as the game goes on, and on, and on, refusing to lean on anything but its novel concept. If the developers had cut things down to maybe half (or even a quarter) of its current length, and focused on polishing up the game's best, cleverest levels, Lost in Shadow might've had a chance of standing out as something legitimately special.
Bam Margera Caught Cheating on His Wife With a 17-Year-Old
TheDirty.com has gotten a hold of several recent photos of Bam Margera in a Calgary hotel room with a 17-year-old girl who’s not his wife. While some people might suggest the story here is that he’s clearly been caught having an affair, I think we should look at the more pressing issue of how right Read More ...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Infamous 2 Hitting June 7, Hero Edition Announced
Infamous 2 will be in stores this summer. Sucker Punch hit the PlayStation blog this morning and announced that the superhero follow-up will be available on June 7, 2011 in North America. The studio also confirmed the existence of the "Hero" collector's edition, which previously popped up on Amazon a bit before marketing folks wanted it to.
Let?s talk about that Hero bundle for a second. For a staggering 99 dollars, you?ll be able to obtain the following: a cute sling pack modeled after the one Cole wears, an 8.5-inch statue of Cole that you can put into said bag, a DC mini-comic, a copy of the game, and a ?Super" downloadable voucher that features...
Each of those ?Super Voucher? items are also being offered as pre-order bonuses for the standard version of the game. Amazon scored the Gold Amp, Best Buy secured the Kessler Skin, GameStop has the Lightning Hook, and Wal-Mart will carry a voucher for the Electrocution Grenade.
All of these participating retailers mentioned will offer up the soundtrack as a bonus. Here's the pics of each from the blog posting. Check out that lightning hook!
Honestly, I?m still stuck on the 99-dollar price point of the Hero collection--that?s a lot of extra dough to drop on a game that comes with a fancy man purse. Any of you thinking about biting, or is that a little too out of your price range, too?
Let?s talk about that Hero bundle for a second. For a staggering 99 dollars, you?ll be able to obtain the following: a cute sling pack modeled after the one Cole wears, an 8.5-inch statue of Cole that you can put into said bag, a DC mini-comic, a copy of the game, and a ?Super" downloadable voucher that features...
- An in-game Kessler skin
- A 24K Gold Amp in-game weapon
- The Electrocution Grenade Power
- The game?s soundtrack
- The Lightning Hook Power
Each of those ?Super Voucher? items are also being offered as pre-order bonuses for the standard version of the game. Amazon scored the Gold Amp, Best Buy secured the Kessler Skin, GameStop has the Lightning Hook, and Wal-Mart will carry a voucher for the Electrocution Grenade.
All of these participating retailers mentioned will offer up the soundtrack as a bonus. Here's the pics of each from the blog posting. Check out that lightning hook!
Honestly, I?m still stuck on the 99-dollar price point of the Hero collection--that?s a lot of extra dough to drop on a game that comes with a fancy man purse. Any of you thinking about biting, or is that a little too out of your price range, too?
Paris Hilton?s Birthday Cake Stolen, Donated to Homeless
Paris Hilton’s birthday cake was stolen and donated!
I gotta admit, I love this story.
During one of Paris Hilton’s many birthday celebrations last week her birthday cake was stolen minutes after she blew out the candles. The cake caper weaseled his way into the party then snagged the birthday cake when the perfect ...
Tales of Monkey Island Review
When it was announced that there’s a new game in the Monkey Island series in development, fans were in complete ecstasy. Some of you may not have even heard the name, and that’s understandable, considering the last game in the series came out about ten years ago. However, those who do know it, also know [...]
Giant Bombcast 01-11-2011
Jeff takes a break from his go-kart training to join our discussions of kill room aesthetics, earthquakes, Predator tech support, Mel Blanc oral reports, Borderlands sadism, ilomilo pronunciation, crank calls, crypto, and 3DS redesigns. Plus, a contest!
Nintendo Confirms 3DS Launch Game Line-Up
At its New York event in January, Nintendo wasn?t as clear as we hoped it would be about the 3DS? game launch line-up. Instead, it opted to throw around the loose term ?launch window? when talking about upcoming titles set to grace the portable in its first few months of release. Now, though, we have a clearer picture: Nintendo has announced a total of 16 games that will be available on March 27--the day the 3DS hits. The list is as follows:
Here's a look at some of those titles in action.
Take note of the missing titles here. As we were correctly led to believe, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Mario Kart won?t hit on day one. But according to today?s press release, they?re all still slated for 2011. As for the first-party titles we?ll actually see on launch, those are the aforementioned Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs Plus Cats, and Steel Diver.
Not the strongest stable of titles out of the gate, right? But are you still interested in grabbing 3DS and some games on launch day?
- Asphalt 3D
- Bust-A-Move Universe
- Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
- Madden NFL Football
- Rayman 3D
- Ridge Racer 3D
- Samurai Warriors: Chronicles
- The Sims 3
- Steel Diver
- Super Monkey Ball 3D
- Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
- Tom Clancy?s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
Here's a look at some of those titles in action.
Take note of the missing titles here. As we were correctly led to believe, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Mario Kart won?t hit on day one. But according to today?s press release, they?re all still slated for 2011. As for the first-party titles we?ll actually see on launch, those are the aforementioned Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs Plus Cats, and Steel Diver.
Not the strongest stable of titles out of the gate, right? But are you still interested in grabbing 3DS and some games on launch day?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
A Look Back at Iconic Oscar Moments With Brad, Reese, Matt and More!
The 2011 Oscars are just days away, and we're getting ready by taking a look back at some of the show's most iconic moments. From young Gwyneth Paltrow winning to Angelina Jolie's controversial brother-loving acceptance speech to Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's moments as presenters, check out all these highlights. Buzz is looking back at the winners circles and Fab is all over iconic jewels. Also, be sure to make your predictions for a chance to win a Samsung TV and download your own ballot before Sunday. We'll be live from the big event and all the parties this weekend so stay tuned here and on Twitter!
Giant Bomb Game of the Year 2010: Day Five
Our descent into madness is almost complete as we enter day five of our deliberations, where we choose winners for The Northies - Best Performance by Nolan North, Best Competitive Multiplayer, Best Ending, the Take a Break Award, and Best PS3-Only Game.
Alessandra Ambrosio candids from photo shoot
Alessandra Ambrosio is one hot lady. It’s nice seeing her in a more candid way. These pictures give us a look at what it looks like behind the scenes of one of these photo shoots and I, for one, was shocked. The man aren’t staring with their mouths agape and no one seems to be [...]
Monday, February 21, 2011
Troy ?Escalade? Jackson, Mark Jackson?s Brother, Dead at 35 [PHOTO]
Troy ‘Escalade’ Jackson, the Brother of ESPN Analyst Mark Jackson, is dead at 35
The younger brother of ESPN analyst Mark Jackson, Troy ‘Escalade’ Jackson, died in his sleep at the age of 35.
Troy ‘Escalade’ Jackson played for the Louisville Cardinals 1996-1998, the Harlem Globetrotters and was a famous streetballer with the ...
New Meal Plan and a Birthday Breakfast
My baby turned 8 years old today! I think 8 year olds are great. They haven?t gotten too sassy. They can do most things for themselves. They are just darn adorable. So, I made pancakes for the birthday boy. Have you used the squeeze bottle method? Just simply put your pancake batter in a squeeze [...]
Prince William Kate Middleton Wedding Invitation [PHOTO]
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding invitation
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding invitations have been sent out to the 1,900 guests expected to attend.
The formal invites say:
The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by The Queen to invite. . . to the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, K.G., ...
Katie Price in black and white track suit?
I don’t like Katie Price. I don’t really know why. There’s just something about her that bugs me. She’s like spiders. They’re okay with me as long as they don’t come close enough to get on me. These pictures taken as she launched her fashion brand in London didn’t really do anything to change my [...]
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Whiskey Media: Happy Hour 02/18/11
Adrianne Palicki: Wonder Woman [PHOTOS]
Adrianne Palicki is the new Wonder Woman
Adrianne Palicki of Friday Night Lights has landed the role of the glamorous superhero Wonder Woman on the upcoming television series for NBC.
(Also be on the lookout for Adrianne Palicki, 27, in the upcoming remake of the 1980′s movie, Red Dawn, which is slated for ...
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Review of Mario Sports Mix
Platform: (WII)
2 out of 5
This statement might come off like the apocryphal ranting of an alarmist lunatic, but it needs to be said: I think we've hit the limit of what can be done creatively with the mascot sports game genre. I know, I know! How is that even possible? There are still so many sports that pudgy plumbers, barrel-tossing gorillas and child-voiced dinosaurs have yet to partake of. American football! Rugby! Cricket! Water polo! Greco-Roman wrestling! TV 'rasslin'! SlamBall! Yes, the world of sport still seems very much open to Nintendo's plundering, but after playing through Mario Sports Mix, a B-sides collection of Mario-infected sports games and sports-infected mini-games tossed together with seemingly minimum effort, you will likely find yourself hard-pressed to muster much enthusiasm for any future entries in this genre.
�If you're hoping that you'll finally get your chance to break Yoshi's spine on the hockey rink, you're going to be sorely disappointed.
Though dodgeball is ostensibly the worst of the bunch, all the other sports suffer from similarly lacking forethought and fun. Volleyball just has you endlessly running to a marked spot on the sand/blacktop/rotating thing that is sometimes on fire, and simply waggling the Wii remote to hit the ball, with the perpetual hope that someone on the other team will magically not make it to the marked circle on their side of the net in time. Basketball is more or less the same core experience you may have played in Mario Hoops, minus the stylus action. You pass, you steal, you shoot, and you dunk all over Waluigi's punk ass using fairly simplified controls that result in a lot of scoring, and not a great deal of defense--except against the toughest AI, in which case the inverse is true. Hockey is simultaneously the best and most disappointing of the games. The pace is quick and some of the scoring special moves are cool, but the hitting feels severely weak, and scoring is completely out of control on the earlier difficulty levels, and damn near impossible on the higher ones.
Hockey's problems actually speak to an issue with Mario Sports Mix's AI across the board, one that rears its head in especially ugly fashion during the game's assorted tournaments. On the opening difficulty levels, Mario Sports Mix is absurdly easy. I'm not talking on a normal kid's game level, either. A child would have a field day bowling over these stump-dumb meatheads, which makes the fact that you have to play through multiple matches in each tournament on these borderline brain-dead difficulties absolutely maddening. For one level--the one before the toughest--the AI puts up what one might call a reasonable, challenging fight. Then you go onto the toughest level, and all reason flies out the window as you get obliterated over and over.
�If you can run into giant colored circles, you can be successful at this game's version of volleyball.
Similarly a problem across all included games is the obnoxious method of player switching. Passing a ball or puck to a computer-controlled teammate does not automatically switch control to that player--you have to press a button to manually make the switch. In multiplayer matches this is not much of a problem, since theoretically you have real teammates who do not require your constant babysitting, but when you have the computer on your side, this is awful. On lower settings, they never quite seem to know what to do with the ball or puck, and if you happen to be playing on one of the wackier stages, they rarely can figure out how to get around the bugged-out obstacles that pop up, which makes that extra step of having to manually switch control deeply annoying.
There are also four included mini-games, each loosely wrapped around the mechanics of one of the main sports. For instance, Feed Petey uses basketball as a base to create a game where up to four players run around, collecting low-hanging fruit of varying point values, and then run them up to a giant Petey plant to stuff down his gullet. That game contains a certain level of controlled-chaos that is mildly amusing in a multiplayer setting, but the pace of it isn't nearly exciting enough to amuse beyond a few playthroughs with friends. Other mini-games fare less favorably. Smash Skate revolves exclusively around knocking people off of a platform using hockey checks, which barely seem to register at times. Harmony Hustle is literally a game built around players running to marked spots on a field in correct time...to make awful, chintzy sounding notes from a classic video game tune.
Some of these problems are lessened when playing in multiplayer, which you can do offline or on (against coded friends or uncoded strangers), but even at the game's height of playability, Mario Sports Mix simply comes across like a bizarre copy of a copy. It's a fax-machine quality retread of such startling inanity that, at a point, you might actually find your fond memories of Mario sports games past overwritten by this blur of dispassionate mediocrity. We're a long way from the days of great games like Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, and with each progressively lamer franchise installment Nintendo thrusts upon us, that divide just continues to widen.
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