Required Gaming

Don't feel bad staying in the Darkness about this one.

2007-10-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

I've most recently completed "The Darkness" for my Xbox 360. I'm a bit late on this one, but mixed opinions and these wonderful $60 price tags had me overlook it until the price was a bit more fair. Add to that the fact that I respected, but did not enjoy Starbreeze studios' last game, "The Chronicles of Riddick" and you have your own recipe for ambivalence. I will say that I am a longtime fan of

Required Gaming-September 2nd, 2007 Final Fantasy X

2007-09-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Each week Required Gaming presents a game that any gamer should know and love. Like required reading lists, but for games! If you're a new gamer, or have been around the hobby for a while, hopefully these will introduce you to some overlooked classics, or make you want to replay an old favorite you had forgotten about.Being the most recent Final Fantasy completed, and also one of my personal

The less expensive Suikoden

2007-08-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

Suikoden is a charming old RPG that has not exactly stood the test of time. If you can look past its unintuitive menu system, ugly graphics, and relatively slow pace, there is a lot to like.Suikoden was one of the first Playstation RPG games in america, and it's technical inferiorities show. 90% of this game could have been done on a Super NES. Beyond just plain ugliness from a graphics

Daxter: Now with 100% less Jak!

2007-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Daxter is great portable platforming fun. The game has loads of personality; Daxter is consistently funny and interesting to listen to. It's a shame the writers didn't come up with a story to match the witty dialog. As far as I can tell, Daxter's stranded in this city and stumbles upon a job exterminating bugs.The story isn't the focus here, though. Top notch platforming is what Daxter is all

Virtual Console Love

2007-07-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

Virtual Console goodness does come at a premium, but who could argue with the excellent games that have been available in the past few weeks? Here's a few I've been putting my rose-tinted glasses on for.Super Mario Bros. 2A game that's much bigger, more colorful, and more fun than I remember. I played the hell out if it back then, of course. The memory of it's successor just dwarfs this classic.

Last Gen Gaming is so underrated.

2007-07-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

It could be my lack of broadband, the $60 prices, the massive hardware failures, or the 10 hour "epics", but my 360 is gone, turned into a cool $250. I'm proud considering I kept the hard drive, and the $50 price cut is coming in a week or two. The mounting guilt every time I saw the mess of unplayed systems sitting in my gaming area became too much. Call it a wallet protecting measure for the

Indigo Prophecy Teaches us how to Ruin a Story.

2007-06-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

I really liked Indigo Prophecy. The mystery, the interesting characters, the unique dynamic of playing the killer/investigator, it all drew me in. But I was fooled. I didn't see it coming. Indigo Prophecy falls apart so fast that you'll hardly know what happened.In less than an hour of gameplay, your character will go from an average Joe who works at a bank, trying to patch up things with an

Let me be frank about F.E.A.R. on XBox 360.

2007-05-15T10:50:00.002-07:00

F.E.A.R. is a standard first person shooter with some horror/slo-mo elements added in. In general, I never felt very polarized either way about FEAR, neither loving or hating it. Nothing much stands out in the game, run through linear passages through office/industrial/slum environments shooting enemies with a variety of weapons. The enemies are quite smart and did surprise me several times when

Let's paint a dystopian future: What if the Wii reaches PS2 levels?

2007-05-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

Seeing week after week in japan, and month after month in US, Wii and DS sales keep dominating, doing very well in a traditionally slow season for gaming. The software isn't quite there in the US yet for Wii, but rarely are more than 5 of the top 20 software spots in japan belonging to non-nintendo systems. Traditionally, NA has

Square Enix not Down with Digital Distribution

2007-04-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Square Enix seems to have indicated that their classic catalog of games will not be getting the microtransaction treatment so many companies have taken advantage of this generation. Square cites lack of Japanese interest in digital downloads as the reason. The statement was specifically targeted towards the Wii's Virtual Console, but the response makes future releases unlikely for PSN or Xbox

The 20GB Playstation 3 dies quietly in North America

2007-04-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

Sony today confirmed that the $499.99 version PS3 will no longer be available. Sony's Dave Karraker cited "overwhelming demand" for the $599.99 model during launch for the move to one system at retail.Opinion- As always, Sony makes a confusing move. Who stands to benefit here, other than Sony? One of the biggest problems people have had with the PS3 is its pricing, and the $500 model becomes even

EA and Bizzare launch a dud with Boom Boom Rocket.

2007-04-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Let me get this out of the way. Boom Boom Rocket (BBR, get it?) is a shameless attempt to cash in on the recent rhythm game popularity. BBR even yoinks the famous DDR font to give added subliminal connection to potential buyers. Don't be fooled. This is as simple as it gets push the button when it crosses the line gameplay. On top of that, the graphics are very blah, the music is all royalty-free

Review: Yes folks, there IS a good TMNT game out there!

2007-04-10T11:58:00.002-07:00

I was a Ninja Turtles kid. The toys, the show, all that stuff. I never thought twice that the concept of amphibious lizards who know karate and eat pizza was ridiculous. Anyway, that series went gracefully into the night, or so it should have. The recent attempts at reviving TMNT fell hollow on today's Pokemon and Hilary Duff infused youth, while also managing to destroy older fans' image of the

360 Keyboard Controller Attachment Rears its Ugly Head

2007-04-10T11:58:00.001-07:00

Images of an Xbox 360 keyboard controller with a small keyboard added were quickly removed after posting at GameSpot. This seems to go hand in hand with the dashboard update video shown early last week with MSN messenger functions built in.Pictures, and also the location I shamelessly abridged this from: http://kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/xb...ing-250606.phpOpinion: Few are going to buy this when

Nintendo fesses up, offers replacement Twilight Princess discs

2007-04-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

Nintendo is now offering a new, fixed Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess disc for those who have experienced either of the infuriating bugs. The glitchy areas effectively halt your progress in the game, requiring you to do at least 3 dungeons over. Apparently the new disc will fix the problem even with a glitched save, no need to restart the game for the fix to work.Nintendo's directions:Write a

A classic proves it's (mostly) free of wooden stakes, and a great value.

2007-03-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

Seeing an early Playstation era classic on Xbox Live Arcade comes as a bit of a shock. Especially to those of us who remember eagerly awaiting the game's release back in 1997. (was that really ten years ago?) As we all know, old does not mean irrelevant, and Symphony of the Night holds up very well for it's age. SotN is the story of Dracula's son, Alucard, who has awoken to investigate the