Dying Light is another zombie action game from the makers of Dead Island. If you're new to the site, GrrlGotGame is a massive fan of zombie action games, and she couldn't wait to get her hands on this one! Hear her learn the basics and find out what to expect when this game is released in 2015.
If you're curious about why this podcast took four months to edit (almost a year from the actual interview!), well, apart from living up to our names as busy gamers... this was an excessively long interview that was tricky to make concise and listenable. If you're interested, I'll post the raw audio and you can compare.
This concludes our extensive PAX coverage (take a look, we covered a ton!) - just in time for PAX Prime 2015. We're going to make it fast and loose this year with few, if any, scheduled appointments so that we can post all of the gaming goodness we collect quickly. (Hopefully like we did last year with our report on Transistor, which went up the first night!)
As always, you can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
]]>The art form - yes, comics are an art - boasts some of the best storytelling you will find in modern day fiction and artwork worthy of any gallery. Add animation to the mix, and you have the recipe for one helluva great videogame.
Telltale Games has proven very adept at taking comic-based intellectual properties ("IPs") and converting them into enjoyable games delivered in bite-sized sections with decent replay value. These are not your standard comic-based brawler or action games. They are generally low-key, story-heavy adventures. They are also highly entertaining.
But do they resemble their source material? Let's check them out.
The Wolf Among Us by Telltale Games
Comic Source: Fables, created by Bill Willingham
What's the story? Both the comics and the game are set in Fabletown, a magical neighborhood in modern-day Manhattan. The area is home to a variety of fairy tale-based "Fables," both human and animal, who have escaped from the occupied Homeland. Both the comic and game tap into familiar fairy tales for characters and origin, but these are not your child's bedtime stories. Snow White is a bureaucrat. The Big Bad Wolf is a very hairy sheriff named Bigby. Mr. Toad is a landlord. And so on. All animals or creatures that might freak out the "mundies" (aka mundanes - basically non-magical folk much like the Muggles in Harry Potter) must pay to have humanoid glamours applied by a local witch, disguising their true appearance. Failure to comply can result in being shipped off to the Farm upstate. (No, that's not a euphemism. They really do go live on a farm!)
Before Match.com, there was the Book of Fables
The comics bounce between modern-day events in Fabletown, the Farm, and the Homelands, with occasional deep dives into an individual Fable's origin tale. The game sticks to the city, but there's plenty of adventure to be had when you're a wolf in the Big Apple. Bonus points for picking up background details from the comic world and peppering them throughout the game. It adds to the atmosphere while also giving a nice shout out to fans.
Bigby accidentally watches Keeping Up with the Kardashians on Mundie television
Game, comic, or both? Depends on your taste. The comics tend to have more sex and violence. Expect the comics to be more graphic, but it's not a big difference - the game's pretty mature, too. If you can handle one, you should be able to take on the other. The comic storylines tend to bounce all over the place. If you want a straightforward cohesive story, stick with the game. That said, both are extremely well done and entertaining. Pick your medium to start, but definitely consider picking up both.
The Walking Dead by Telltale Games
Comic Source: The Walking Dead, created by Robert Kirkman
What's the story? Yet another zombie story, albeit one that can go an awfully long time without any zombies appearing. While the undead - or walkers, as they are known in this universe - are definitely a consideration, the bigger enemies tend to be other people. The book follows a core group of characters led by Rick Grimes, ex-cop and father to budding young psychopath Carl. Fans of the TV show will find a lot more in common with the book than the game, but there are still plenty of differences between the comics and the series. (Hint: Some of your favorite TV characters are dead in the book, and vice versa.)
Fear not the sword, but the chick who wields it
While the comic gives all-new meaning to the term "graphic," the games have been relatively tame. You still follow a core group of people that includes a kid, but this time it's a smart young girl who has been separated from her (presumably dead) parents. That's where the resemblance ends. There's no prison, Woodbury, or Hilltop in the game, and the violence is a thousand times milder. Expect to spend your time wandering around searching for clues, solving puzzles, and trying to figure out what to do next.
Important safety tip: Make sure you get Telltale's Season 1 to start and NOT the poorly regarded first-person shooter subtitled Survival Instinct.
This sums up my reaction to the Woodbury storyline in the comics
Game, comic, or both? This is one of those choices you're going to have to make for yourself.
Let's go to the decision tree:
Bone Complete Bundle by Telltale Games
Comic Source: Bone, created by Jeff Smith
What's the story? Bone follows the adventure of "The Bones" (including Fone Bone, Smiley Bone and Phoney Bone), a group of vaguely humanoid white creatures who roam Boneville having little adventures. Other denizens of the world include a human girl named Thorn and her Gran'ma Ben, a feisty old broad who could probably kill you with a spoon (but she won't - these are kid-friendly stories). The books focus more on relationships than actual adventures, but are completely engaging and charming. They were also oddly banned by some school districts for sensuality (Thorn and a Bone become involved in the most chaste love affair in comics history) and alcohol (Gran'ma Ben likes her some moonshine).
It's a Bone fashion show!
The games follow the same characters exploring the world beyond Boneville, but don't expect any major anachronisms. This is not "Bone in the City." They stick to the valleys and regions familiar to readers - or areas like them.
I dunno, what do you want to talk about?
Game, comic, or both? Adults and kids alike will dig the comics. Younger kids may not understand a lot of the subtext, but will find The Bones amusing. (Hint: There's a lot more going on in these comics than meets the eye.) The games were among Telltale's earlier forays into this style of gameplay, and it shows. It's slow, and may not keep your attention. Your kids will love it, though.
Books that need their own games
As I researched this story, I realized that the majority of comic-based videogames out there come from either Marvel or DC books. Superheroes, mainly. There's plenty of room out there for more subversive stories, including a few covered in Make My Game 2.0 (Mercy Sparx is still one of my favorite untapped IPs!).
I know most of those will never happen, although some have had real-world negotiations that haven't lead to anything... yet. There is one title that really needs to happen, in my mind. It has outstanding writing, a rabid fan base, and a creator with a great pedigree and talented collaborators. For your consideration:
Runaways, created by Brian K. Vaughn
What's the story? A group of teens discover their teenage angst bullshit has a body count, courtesy of their supervillain parents. Add in newly discovered special abilities and - oh yeah, hormones - and you have one of the best origin stories ever.
Say hello to my little friend
What's so great about it? Imaginative storytelling that always maintains a level of palpability, even when they drag stuff like time travel into it. The female characters all exhibit individual strengths, from the literal (Molly, who is like a pint-sized Thor) to the emotional (Gertrude Yorks, who controls her dinosaur companion with her mind). Everyone acts their age. Some are cool, some are curmudgeons, some are just jerks. Everyone has good and bad days. When someone dies, it guts you inside. In short, it's the comic you regret reading month-to-month, because you need to know what happens right now. I'm still waiting for them to tell me if (spoiler) lived or died in the last panel of the last book. (OK, who's the joker who canceled it on a cliffhanger?!?!)
Anything else I should know? Expect a variety of stories and art styles that change, sometimes radically, as writers and artists join or depart the book. There are a few artistic styles that are rather jarring, but you'll figure out who everyone is soon enough. Oh, and Joss Whedon wrote the second part of the second series. Amazingly, he was NOT responsible for one of the most shocking deaths in the series.
Have a favorite comic-sourced game or a graphic novel to recommend? Let us know in comments!
]]>It's easy to build a backlog of retail games that's both intimidating and packed with pressure that can make gaming feel like work instead of fun. We've all been there. But lately I've noticed my gaming habits have shifted. I'm bypassing the stacks of unopened and incomplete games and starting to enjoy a wider variety of busy gamer friendly fare.
My Nintendo DS was once my go-to gaming machine. It's portable, and you can snap it shut to save progress (as long as you don't pop out the game cartridge or let the battery run out). Perfect for busy gamers, right? But my 3DS, for whatever reason, just doesn't grab my interest any more. Instead, I favor iPad games, particularly free-to-play titles that can be played in bite-sized sessions.
I haven't abandoned console games, but I'm becoming more selective and devoting my time to the rare triple-A and indie games that grab my attention and won't let go. I'll play these for an hour or so a day for a few weeks and then move on when I either finish or lose interest. I'm realizing that there's no shame in saying "I'm done" if a game is no longer doing it for you.
The final category of games that I've become enamored with are PC games. Which is funny, because I've only rarely become interested in playing a PC game for more than an hour or so (at least that's been the case since my Commodore 64 days). My excuse has been that I don't usually want to stay in front of a computer monitor after a long day of riding my laptop for work. I use games to step away from work and de-stress. I'd much rather play on the couch in front of a large TV in the evening with a shot of tequila or frosty beverage close at hand. The last game that had me hooked to my PC every night was Dungeon Siege, and that was 12 years ago!
But the Humble Indie Bundle, launched a few years ago, convinced me to start collecting low-cost Steam games. It started out small but now I'm hooked and scouring the Steam sales and bundle sites such as Bundle Stars, sometimes on a daily basis. My Steam library recently broke 300 titles, though I actively play about 10 or so regularly. Yeah, I'm a little late to the party here, but I came around and found a way to integrate PC gaming into my day and now I'm a lot happier.
Here are some of my favorite games from each gaming segment:
Portable
I have an iPhone and an iPad, but I use my iPhone mostly for mail, Twitter, camera, and the occasional e-book. I don't have much time for gaming on it. Also, I prefer the larger screen on my iPad 3, so that's become my gaming portable of choice. I do buy iOS games from time to time, but I was surprised at how good some of the free-to-play titles are and how much fun I can have with them.
Best of all, most of these games can be played with the sound turned down while you're watching TV or a less than engaging movie. Oh, and I've tried game controllers but so far I haven't found one that's super easy to use (the Drone we kickstarted was a bust). And there aren't any significant mobile games that have controller support that I'd want to go to that much trouble to hook one up anyway. For now, I'd suggest you save your money.
Trials Frontier. I bought Trials Fusion on my Xbox One and downloaded the free-to-play Frontier on the same day. I've barely scratched the surface on Fusion, but I'm deep into Frontier despite the cooling off period required to refuel if you don't want to pay for extra in-game currency. In fact, one of the things that I love is that I can play for several minutes, make some progress, and then switch off to something else while my fuel meter recharges. I normally avoid action games with touchscreen controls, but after a few minutes I found I was intuitively revving and flipping with ease. Upgrading your bikes (combined with hours of practice) will make the controls seem even tighter, but the handling was solid right from the start.
The only knocks I have are that the hourly slot machine challenges can make you a bit obsessive as you attempt to get extra spins in to win new tracks, and the game became unstable while I was writing this review - crashing whenever I tried to launch a specific slot machine challenge, making it unplayable. Each day, the slot machine resets but eventually I hit the challenge that triggers the crash and I'm out again. That said, this is likely a speed bump that will get fixed soon enough.
When it works, Trials Frontier is seriously fun and addictive. Perhaps I should be thankful for the occasional instability that forces a break in play and makes me resistant to investing actual cash in it. Because this game is really good.
UPDATE (June 5): The game no longer crashes on slot machine spins, and the hourly challenges have become significantly easier.
Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign (also on Steam for PC). If you've enjoyed Puzzle Quest games in the past, you'll probably love this. For one thing, it's free (though you may find yourself opening your wallet to add more character slots - more on that in a bit!). It's also remarkably deep. You start out with a few heroes, and you collect more by winning tokens redeemable for random comic book covers. You beat enemies by matching gems to power up devastating attacks and sturdy defenses. Part of the challenge is putting together a winning team or two. It can take several weeks to get good and collect enough characters, powers, and levels to become a consistent winner. Until then, you'll grind through the easier levels over and over. There are also player vs player battles, though you're really fighting AI that uses another person's top roster characters. And, once you've leveled up a bit, the single-player tournaments can yield great rewards - though you'll need to grind a lot for a day or so to benefit. And sometimes the rewards you earn this way may lag a few days.
As with other Puzzle Quest games, part of the challenge is adapting when the game's parameters change. For instance, a new enemy may exploit an unforeseen weakness in your otherwise "bulletproof" strategy, such as when Falcon began dropping massive defenses or Hulk smashed my weaker characters before I could unleash their formidable attacks. You also may be restricted from using a favorite character, or find yourself choosing boosted characters - with unfamiliar powers - to succeed in a tourney.
Just be aware that the economy is stacked against you. Slots for adding new characters to your roster are extremely expensive and require coins that are hard to come by unless you pay $2 to $100 in real money for varying quantities. I put in $5 as a "tip" to the developers - which got me about 4 roster slots - but I almost resisted due to my unhappiness with the poor pricing structure. I would have gladly invested $10 except that the major price break for coins happens at $20, quite a bit more than I wanted to pay. So rather than pay $5 twice (with no savings benefit for doing so), I left it at $5. I'm at 20 slots now, and could use a few more - but I've been selling off unwanted covers and only preserving characters that I deem vital. I'm still having fun after several months of nearly daily play, so I'd say it was worth the investment.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out. When I downloaded Tapped Out, I didn't expect to still be playing nearly a year later. But here I am, still tapping every day on this free-to-play gem. The main reasons are the holiday activities and ongoing storylines, incredibly funny and crafted by the writers of the TV show. Every month or so, there's a new update that introduces a character or quest, such as collecting holiday gift cards or Easter eggs (hatched from swarms of rabbits!) that earn you spins for cool random prizes. There are so many collectibles that it's easy to get hooked on grinding for the in-game currency of dollars and donuts (the latter can be bought though I saved up 200 donuts for Hank Scorpio's Volcano Lair without spending a dime and I've since banked 50 more).
My main complaint is that, for a game where tapping is literally the name of the game, the engine seems to pick up every nearby tap EXCEPT for the thing that I'm aiming for. Once I realized that money and other pickups don't need to be picked up (they just whoosh into your account after a few seconds), I began focusing on the objects that I do need to touch. But it seems like every scrap of money and experience in the vicinity needs to be gone before you can tap something new - like a roving Sideshow Bob, who easily hides in clusters of characters that I'll accidentally select instead of the obvious target.
The other big problem is that the game can become unstable. I missed out on the last two weeks of the holiday grind due to a corrupted cloud save that prohibited me from recovering my progress with my Origin account. EA support was unresponsive, but fortunately the next update fixed my save with minimal losses (except for a few limited-time prizes I might have earned during the downtime). More recently, there was crippling lag that made the game virtually unplayable for a couple of weeks, but a patch repaired it and provided a donut bonus as a make-good.
If we'd invested money in the game (as so many players apparently do), I'd be pretty annoyed - but this is one of the easier games to put down, especially if there's no holiday event active.
Candy Crush Saga. I know that King made a lot of enemies over that whole "candy" trademark snafu, but I'm nearly 300 levels in without ponying up a penny (no "tip" for you, King!) or bothering a single Facebook friend. So I'm not about to give up now. That said, this game is at the bottom of my playlist so I only launch it once or twice a week to see if I can clear a level or two, some of which get pretty hard. I've actually spent months, playing nearly every day, to complete a single level. There are also speed bumps every so often that require you to beat a challenge and then wait a day before attacking the next. This is one of the few games I keep on my phone (with a separate save) to while away a few minutes when I'm stuck waiting in a line somewhere and away from my iPad.
Tiny Bang Story (also on Steam). This game will actually cost you $2-3 on the iTunes/Google/Amazon stores (and $5 on Steam) but it's the most beautiful, endearing puzzle game ever. It's not super difficult but somehow very gratifying to tap (or click) to uncover hidden items and puzzle pieces. Unlike the other mobile games I've reviewed here, this is a more traditional "beat it and move on" title - but sometimes that's just what you need.
PC
I've not been one to disparage PC games or predict their downfall. I can see the appeal of the keyboard and mouse for first-person shooters, but I much prefer a controller. I play games to explore and decompress, not to memorize hundreds of keyboard mappings.
The good news is that my wired Xbox 360 controller plugs in nicely to my Windows 8 computer, and a surprising number of games I've picked up on Steam work great with it. And it's opened up a world of gaming for me. Best of all, many of these games are patched regularly, can be family shared (though not on a title-by-title basis), and are relatively future proof - so there's little to no concern about backward compatibility. Depending on the game, saves may be automatically recorded to the cloud, so portability is also becoming less of an issue.
Another interesting thing about Steam is that many games offer free trading cards earned for time spent playing. You can collect these or sell them for Steam credit. Even just selling my duplicate cards, I've earned several dollars - sometimes 10 cents at a time - by auctioning them off in the Steam store. Hey, every penny counts, and these credits can help you justify your next Steam sale purchase.
Cook, Serve, Delicious (also on iOS). I bought this game on impulse during a Humble Indie Bundle flash sale, and it's one of the best PC games I've enjoyed in years. It's basically one of those cooking/restaurant management "sims" similar to Cooking Mama, which I enjoyed briefly on the Nintendo DS. But this one grabbed me and won't let go. I liken it to BioShock: If you read my review, I would try to savor that game by playing for brief spurts and then I'd shut down my console - only to reboot it just minutes later. This became a cycle that continued until I gave up and powered through the story. I'm doing the same thing here, only it only takes a second to reboot and about five minutes to play through another day in my restaurant's life.
You also can use a keyboard or DualShock 4, but I have the iconic Xbox buttons memorized better than the PlayStation buttons - which makes reading and reacting to the on-screen button cues easier. One small error can ruin a "perfect day" and the resulting $250 bonus. The game includes enough distractions to throw you off your game, from online dates who demand difficult dishes executed perfectly (and then text you as you're completing the evening's orders) to robbers who must be identified from a witness description to prevent a costly loss in hard-earned revenue. Building the right menu to succeed requires strategy and sometimes extra practice with complicated dishes to maximize profits and build buzz. You also must complete clean-up chores to avoid a devastating health inspection.
I only wish there were a console version (the iOS version's free demo convinced me that tapping isn't nearly as fun as using a controller). I might just have to try the HDMI output on my laptop so I can play this on a bigger screen.
Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign. Yes, I reviewed this already in the Portable gaming section above but I also play it daily on Steam. Since I much prefer the mobile version and its tap interface, I play here both because it's an easy way to kill a few minutes at lunch when I've out on a client visit and it's good practice. I can try things outside of my comfort zone without impacting my iPad game. For instance, when I started collecting dozens of recruit tokens without roster slots to store the extra heroes, I spent a bunch here to gauge the impact. I found that I would get some covers that could be used to train my existing heroes, new covers that were common and easily sold, and others that I wanted to keep and needed to juggle roster slots to make space. This gave me an idea of how many to unlock at a time, since up to 99 tokens can be stored indefinitely but unrecruited characters expire after a week.
Broken Age. I did not back the Kickstarter for this game, but picked it up when the buzz from early adopters threatened to overwhelm my Twitter feed. I'm glad I did. I'm only halfway done (the second part is due later this year) but was thoroughly blown away by the storytelling and humor. This is basically a point-and-click adventure with some occasionally maddeningly sneaky puzzles that left me scratching my head for days. I resisted the urge to look up the answers and worked first through the girl's story and then the boy's. I'm glad I chose this order because I found the Act I reveal to be a jaw-dropper, and I'm not sure it would have been as impactful had I chosen the alternate path. Either way, if you like adventure games at all, this one is worthy of your time.
Gone Home. This is another game that received amazing online buzz. I've heard it disparaged as a "walking simulator," but if you like to explore and unravel mysteries this one is a doozy. I found myself both captivated and on the edge of my seat for the entire three hours or so that it took to beat. I played it in the dark, which added to the mood and my ongoing expectation that a psychopath could and would leap out at any time. The game is more interactive story than first-person shooter but - at least for me - that's even more reason to revel in it.
Portal/Portal 2. You know that we love our Portal games (we named Portal 2 our Busy Gamer Nation Game of the Year in 2012). We actually won the first Portal as part of a Valve prize package at a Child's Play auction years ago, starting our Steam habit early (we thought we'd never play most of those games at the time, but it was for a good cause). I picked up Portal 2 recently during a Steam sale that included The Final Hours of Portal 2 interactive book (also available on mobile). Replaying these fantastic games on the PC is a nice fallback when I get a console game jones but GrrlGotGame has dibs on the living room TV. And with saves between test chambers, it's easy to knock out 1-2 puzzles at a time.
Type:Rider (also on iOS). As a former print journalist and typeface nerd, I found this little puzzle platformer to be charming and, ahem, illuminating. (Type nerds just snickered... the rest of you, play this game to get it!) You guide what's basically a sideways colon (two dots that roll) around picking up letters and bonus items that unlock mini-history lessons. Yes, I stopped to read them all. The levels are themed around the type face, and there are lots of cool touches that make this a joy to explore. I picked up the iOS version as well, but alas it won't play on our son's first-gen iPad without crashing. So I got an extra Steam code for him from one of the Bundle Stars sales (shh, it's a surprise!).
Luxor Evolved. If you enjoy Luxor games (basically Zuma with a movable marble shooter that runs along the bottom of the screen, Space Invaders style), this one amps it up with nifty retro graphics reminiscent of Tempest. Best of all, you can save anywhere - even mid-level. There's really not much else to say. It's a solid puzzle shooter. If that's your thing, this is a solid buy.
7 Wonders series. If you can't get enough match-3 action, the 7 Wonders games are all pretty good. 7 Wonders II has an edgier art style that diverges from the rest of the games, while Ancient Alien Makeover is the only one to offer up Steam achievements. Magical Mystery Tour is the one I've played the most, beating it in about 13 hours. For some reason, The Treasures of Seven won't run at all on my Windows 8 machine (it launches as a background process but no amount of troubleshooting has fixed it - and the game's Steam forum has been a bust on the issue). Here's hoping that it gets fixed before I finish the rest of the series!
Update (June 5): A few days after this went live, The Treasures of Seven was patched to work on Windows 8, and it adds a compelling twist: You can rotate the board. Worth the wait!
Console
We're not giving up on consoles any time soon. We have all of the major ones from the past 20 years, including the PS4 and Xbox One. But console games still tend to be the least busy gamer compatible, with poor checkpointing and a seeming aversion to "save anywhere" and other time-saving amenities. It takes a really good game to earn our devotion. Here are a few that we're currently in thrall of:
Infamous: Second Son (PS4). I've enjoyed but never finished an Infamous game, until Second Son. Perhaps it was because it's set in my home town (though with many notable and sometimes vexing discrepancies), but I could not get enough of this open world. You unlock portions of the city at a time, and clear them out of enemies to gain control. At times the story feels optional - you can run around and just shoot up the town with your growing range of powers. But the story is solid and mostly enjoyable, even with a few difficult boss battles thrown in to slow you down. There are some emotional moments, regardless of whether you play as a hero to the people (as I did) or a scourge upon humanity (as GrrlGotGame prefers).
Wolfenstein: The New Order (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, PS3, PS4). This is not your father's Wolfenstein. It's dark, brutal, and refreshingly revisionist. Even with the difficulty lowered, it presents a hearty challenge. I'm only a little ways into it, but I don't see myself putting it down until I'm done. If so, this will be the first Wolfenstein game I've fully completed (though I've played deep into several others).
Transistor (PS4 and PC). We waited a long time for the spiritual successor to Bastion. And while the game is beautiful, the mix of action and turn-based combat and complex skill tree system takes some getting used to. This is a game to chip away at, not blaze through. It may be impossible to recreate the deep-set emotions evoked by its predecessor, but time will tell. If nothing else, Darren Korb's music will draw us to the end.
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360, PC, and PS3). This is a rare gem: a solid RPG and South Park game with great writing, enjoyable storyline, and a variety of classes to experience. My first impression was that the character's bouncing made me a little dizzy, but I soon acclimated and found the game to be one of my all-time faves. After beating it once, I'm already preparing a second run through. Just keep in mind that the content is very mature, more so than even the foul-mouthed, offend-'em-all TV show. It's more in line with the movie, minus the musical numbers and with much more fart humor. This one's so good I picked up a Steam copy on sale (thanks Humble Indie Bundle!) so I could try to finally best the toilet mini-game, which is much easier to do with a keyboard than a game controller.
The Wolf Among Us (PS3, PC, Xbox 360, iOS). This is my favorite Telltale adventure game to date. It's dark yet garish with a compelling story, interesting choices, and bursts of action. Fans of the comic Fables, upon which this is based, are in for some surprises. Each episode is about an hour or so, with chapter breaks. You can't save anywhere but, at least on the Xbox 360 version, you can pause at almost any time by pressing the Start button. My only complaint is that they put the season pass on discount before Episode 2 came out, so day one purchasers like myself felt a bit cheated. If they had waited until Episode 3 or 4, it wouldn't have stung. That said, I can't wait to finish this and play through again, making different choices.
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea (PC, PS3. Xbox 360). BioShock Infinite was a solid game with some great moments (and really cool music!) but overall it just didn't enrapture as much as the first two games. But the Burial at Sea DLC, especially Part 2 where you play as Elizabeth? That was aces. In total, it's only another 5-10 hours back in Rapture, but it felt just right in length and filled in some interesting backstory.
Instant Games Collection (PS3/PS4/Vita). After resisting its pull for some time, we picked up a PlayStation Plus subscription when they were on fire sale right before the next-gen console launch. There really are a lot of games, though truth be told I spend more time downloading them actually playing them. I did play Contrast quite a bit since there wasn't much else of interest at the PS4 launch, and recently nabbed Stick It to the Man!, which looks to be worth a try. My PS3 hard drive is much more packed with Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Devil May Cry, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and Puppeteer to name a few. I don't have a Vita, but if I ever do get one I'll have more games than I could ever play (as long as I keep PS+ paid up). Actually, that's probably a good enough reason NOT to get a Vita. But if you have one, this is a good way to stock up on stuff to play.
Games with Gold (Xbox 360/Xbox One). Yes, as I've mentioned before, I consult for Xbox marketing - but that doesn't mean I don't like the free games (for Gold members). Recent highlights include Hitman: Absolution, Saints Row the Third, Sleeping Dogs, Deadlight, and one of my all-time favorite sandbox games, Crackdown (review). And Xbox One will start getting free games in June, starting with Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (a solid puzzle game that I bought during the early post-launch game drought). As with the PS+ offerings, the challenge is finding the time to play all of the games I download. But there's less guilt since they're - more or less - free. One important note: On Xbox 360, you keep the games even if your Gold expires but on Xbox One, they'll be tied to your Gold membership the same as with PlayStation Plus.
Everyone's tastes are different, so I'm not saying that these gaming paths are perfect for everyone. My point is to not skip any paths or channels that might contain game experiences that you will unexpectedly and inexplicably love. Game on!
]]>Want to know what Harmonix' upcoming Disney-themed rhythm game, Fantasia: Music Evolved, is all about? Give this podcast interview recorded at PAX Prime 2013 a listen.
We even include some snippets of the movie/game music to give your ears a taste of what's to come. And, yes, there really is Queen remixed as chamber music.
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
Just a few more PAX Prime 2013 podcast interviews and audio reports before we complete our coverage. Here is what's coming soon:
And, after we finish with PAX, we have some interviews from Geek Girl Con in Seattle including Project Spark. And more audio gaming adventures you won't want to miss. Enjoy, and if you like what we're doing, post a comment and share us with a friend!
]]>If you enjoy strategy, XCOM: Enemy Within wowed PAX Prime 2013 boothgoers with some new twists on a popular turn-based formula. This expansion pack is out now for PC and Mac and available for PS3 and Xbox 360 in the XCOM: Enemy Within Commander Edition.
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
We have just a few more PAX Prime 2013 podcast interviews and audio reports on the way, including:
And, after we finish with PAX, we have some interviews from Geek Girl Con in Seattle including Project Spark!
]]>Right on the heels of the PlayStation 4 launch, we have details on one of its more mysterious launch titles: the dark platformer Contrast - free for now on PlayStation Plus and also available on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 and PC via Steam. You'll also find it on the PS3 in a matter of days.
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
We have more PAX Prime 2013 podcast interviews and coverage incoming soon, including:
And, after we finish with PAX, we have some interviews from Geek Girl Con in Seattle including Project Spark!
]]>With the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the way, this seemed like a good time to get ready for a bit more high definition in our lives. For years, we muddled by without HDMI at all and then - back when we got a 3D TV - we switched to HDMI output just on the PS3, leaving our cable box and Xbox 360 relegated to sub-par component and optical outputs.
Alas, each time I dream what shouldn't be such an unrealistic dream, I'm sorely disappointed and end up jury-rigging awkward workarounds that make it near impossible for anyone in the household but myself to operate the TV. GrrlGotGame often jokes that I do it on purpose so she'll keep me around. We've even had babysitters who were forced to read a book while waiting for us to return home from an evening date.
The project
This year, I still didn't exactly get my wish for an A/V utopia but - with some work - I was mostly successful in getting the desired result. Eventually.
This was my goal: Plug in my cable TV box, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, the two new consoles, and assorted other devices such as older consoles and an ancient but recently repaired laserdisc player, and have the newer devices play at 1080p with 5.1 sound in the living room. The older devices should just serve up whatever they can deliver - but connect through HDMI to our main TV regardless of their maximum output capabilities.
But that's not all. I want them to mirror what's airing in the living room to a kitchen TV and speaker setup via a rather long set of component video and stereo wires we had our contractor run years ago through the basement ceiling and up through the counter next to where we do dishes and food prep.
We didn't quite get to 1080p all of the time - so it's a small hassle to play 3D movies - but after many weeks of struggles we have everything more or less working to our satisfaction. Here's how:
The equipment
Marantz NR1604 - This receiver had overall solid reviews. It even offers AirPlay, so our iOS devices can talk to it without being plugged in with a wire. But alas that feature is audio only, so you'll have no luck bouncing a YouTube video from your phone for playback on your TV. (Their official answer? Get an Apple TV. And while that's probably Apple's fault for not sharing their toys, it's just one more ridiculous limitation. So we just tag the video using Watch Later and call it up on the YouTube app via Xbox 360 or PS3. But I digress.)
There's also only one HDMI output; Marantz models with two outputs cost twice as much or more! (Buying a much costlier receiver was the official Marantz Twitter's official suggestion when I called them on this.)
Finally, as with pretty much every other receiver on the market, it won't down-convert to component. (Marantz also agreed that down-conversion wasn't happening.)
To be fair to Marantz, they are the company whose product we purchased. No doubt, the support experience for every other A/V receiver manufacturer would have been similar. I imagine that somewhere in each company is a frustrated engineer going, "But it would be so damn easy to include down-converted outputs! No one else is doing it! We'd be printing money!"
As best I can tell, this is all due to pressure from the entertainment industry, which fears that quality down-conversion from HDMI would lead to rampant piracy. In their minds, we'd all sprout eye patches and parrots on our shoulders, and then start selling illegal dubs of hit movies from the trunks of our hybrids and minivans.
Whatever. I just want to watch whatever's going on in the living room - whether it's live TV, DVR-recorded programming, Blu-ray disc, or streaming show or movie on Netflix, HBO Go, Vudu, Hulu Plus, or Amazon Instant - while I cook and clean dishes.
Yes, I reallly do cook and clean. Is this really so much to ask in the name of household entertainment efficiency and domestic bliss?
Apparently, yes.
But more on that in a bit. Let's look at what else I needed to engineer a better than passable entertainment miracle.
KanaaN HDMI Matrix 4 Input/2 Output Splitter Switch - After trying fruitlessly to devise a solution that split the Marantz receiver's HDMI output between the living room TV and down-converted component/stereo to the kitchen (lots of audio issues and it seemed to always mess up the PS3's 1080p auto-detect sniffer), I figured out that I really needed to do the splitting BEFORE the receiver. This means giving up two of the Marantz' six HDMI inputs in favor of the four inputs this switch can take. Cable, Xbox 360 (for HBO Go), Xbox One, and PS4? Yeah, we'll be OK - though we'll need to revisit and reprioritize which devices get a space on the switch over time. And non-HDMI devices like the laserdisc player? Forget it. We can plug other entertainment appliances directly into the Marantz and enjoy them in the living room only, which is fine for - say - Wii U. I guess we should feel lucky that any of it works at all.
ViewHD 2 Input HDMI to RGB Component/VGA Switch Converter - This seemed at first glance like the answer to our prayers. We only needed one of the two inputs (no switching required) but the key feature here is that it down-converts the signal from HDMI to component. It also promises to handle 5.1 surround output but, as we learned, NOT VIA THE STEREO OUTPUTS. We were going to return it, thinking that it was defective, but the seller - J&R Galaxies - set us straight that the audio conversion only works with 2-channel sources.
Well, hell. Since we don't have optical running to the kitchen (just standard 2-channel RCA audio cables) we found out the hard way that the stereo outputs won't work. J&R was nice enough to steer us toward the fix for this, another gizmo. So we also needed:
ViewHD Digital to Analog Audio Decoder - This magic little box converts optical audio down to stereo and mixes it neatly down to two channels. This is important since otherwise many 5.1+ programs drop all or most of the dialogue, which is often pushed to the center channel. We found this works great except for one odd issue we encountered with the PS3, but it's not really the decoder's fault and we'll get to that.
IMPORTANT: There are cheaper devices that look just like this, but they won't down-convert surround sound to 2-channel stereo. Thanks J&R Galaxies for catching this while there was still time to cancel my order for the wrong item and get the converter I really needed!
We also needed:
Fortunately, you can learn from our mistakes and get there a whole lot faster. And if anyone needs a 1x2 HDMI splitter with 4K support for any reason, we ended up not needed it after all. We'll give you a good price. But you won't need it for this solution.
Putting it all together
So the first step is to plug in the receiver. It doesn't have to be the Marantz. To be fair, the receiver we bought delivers a really amazing sound field through our 5.1 speaker setup, now that everything is working as it should. But there are plenty of good choices. Read lots of reviews and get what best meets your needs. Two HDMI outputs aren't required and, apart from the cost, might cause unintended problems. (I can't be sure since we haven't actually tried it that way.)
Here's what worked for me:
Plug HDMI cables from your four top devices into the 4-Input/2-Output HDMI Switch. These are just the ones we expect to favor - choose whichever gadgets with HDMI outputs that you want to use:
Take the first output from the switch and plug it into your first HDMI input on your receiver. Connect your receiver's HDMI out to your HDMI TV:
Boom. Room 1 is done.
But that part is easy. You probably wouldn't need this article if that's all you wanted. Here's the tricky part.
Back to the HMDI Switch for Room 2. This is where it gets interesting (as defined in the movie Serenity!). The other output goes to the HDMI to RGB Component Converter:
Plug your long, second room component cables into the component out from the converter:
If it's really long, you can get a component in/out signal booster to reduce signal degradation (not pictured).
Now plug an optical (TOSLink) cable into the Component Converter's optical out and connect that to Digital to Analog Audio Decoder:
The stereo output from this can either go directly to the other room or, as we've depicted, it can be used with an audio A/B switch to permit you to quickly toggle between your down-converted audio and the pure stereo output from your receiver (not down-converted but good for 2-channel sources such as AirPlay and radio).
In our kitchen we have a small TV with component inputs and an RCA to miniplug converter that goes to a mini amp with bookshelf speakers connected:
You could just plug it right into the TV and let the built-in speakers play your sound. The choice is yours. We just happened to have another set of small speakers that fit neatly in our kitchen, and we had this part all rigged up already from our previous setup. It's a "nice to have" in this scenario.
All said and done, that wasn't an obvious solution - but it works! Now Room 2 is complete.
Finally, a universal remote is recommended to tie it all together and reduce the fumbling for the right remote or, worse, using a game controller to watch movies or TV shows. Training our Harmony One to handle the HDMI switch proved problematic but we've gotten it to where it definitely changes the source for the HDMI Switch's first output every time and sometimes gets the HDMI 2 output to match. When this doesn't happen, we use the shiny little silver remote they included with the KanaaN to correct what’s displaying in the kitchen.
And there are times when this lack of synchronicity is a boon... We're getting to that.
How it works (and sometimes doesn't)
Most of the time, this system works like a charm. The only times it doesn't seem to be related to how the PS3 handles automatic TV detection.
For some reason, you can't just set your PS3 manually to 1080p for 3D movies and games. If you do this, 3D won't work. You need to let the console auto-detect the TV's capabilities. Additionally, the ViewHD converter only handles up to 1080i - so when it's actively receiving the PS3 signal, the PS3 won't acknowledge the TV's 1080p capability through the switch and receiver. I think it's something to do with the lowest common denominator connection being the one it accepts.
So if you have the PS3 on in the living room and simultaneously bounced via the switch to a second room, it will only detect 1080i. But if you change the second output to another device and then ask your PS3 to auto-detect - voila, it works! As an added bonus, sometimes when we switch on the PS3 and the switch doesn't flip the second output to the same thing (which is often), the PS3 will detect the TV and offer to switch to 1080p. You can always say no and it will stay at 1080i for second-room mirroring.
So, yeah, there's no 3D in the kitchen (not even audio), but we didn't expect or really need that. But the little dance we have to perform sometimes to get 3D to work is a minor pain.
Important safety tip: When you are done with 1080p, be sure to have the PS3 redetect the HDMI audio settings as well as video when you have both switch output sources set to PS3. Otherwise, you'll find that 5.1 content in your other room lacks the down-mixing and you'll get that no center channel thing I mentioned earlier. You'll know it when you can hear music/score but little to no dialogue or singing. This little wrinkle took me an extra week to figure out! I was sure it had either never worked (I'd somehow chosen only programs that had different mixing that masked the problem) or, more likely, something had broken. I checked and rechecked my connections far too many times to count. But in the end, I figured out it was a simple technology snafu.
One more improvement to consider: Remember how the Marantz (and, I'd imagine, many other brands of receiver) can only handle audio-only AirPlay? It would be cool if you could blast that to your second room as well, right? Alas, with this arrangement your second room only gets sound from the HDMI switch BEFORE the receiver.
So here's a quick fix. Get a simply RCA audio A/B switch. (If it has yellow ports for video, you can just ignore those - they won't work since your receiver won't down-convert video signals and we're just worried about audio here.) Plug the audio from your ViewHD 5.1 decoder into A and the 2-channel stereo output from the receiver into B.
Now whenever you want the audio from your receiver in your second room, just push B on your switch. If you're like us, you'll only need this once in a while but it sure beats going behind the TV and swapping cables each time.
Here's the full flow chart of my setup (click it to view a higher resolution version):
Have your own awesome A/V setup? Solve this problem another way? We'd love to hear about it!
]]>In our third podcast in less than a week (go BGN!), we talk to Josh Jeffcoat from Gearbox Software about the upcoming Halloween-themed T. K. Baha's Bloody Harvest, the first of several Headhunter Packs for Borderlands 2.
We also discuss what's included in the just released Game of the Year Edition of the game in case you were thinking about picking it up.
And then there's the spoilery but thorough briefing we received on how to take down the big Bloody Harvest boss, Jacques O'Lantern. Don't worry, we save it for last and warn you beforehand so you can skip this part if you want to figure it out for yourself.
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
We have more PAX Prime 2013 podcast interviews and coverage incoming soon, including:
We're almost halfway done with our PAX coverage. What would you like to hear next?
]]>The Wolf Among Us launches tomorrow, so we dug through our PAX Prime 2013 interview log - and there it was. A great little chat with the game's co-director, Nick Herman.
This episodic game has a lot of texture and flavor, so we've captured as much as we could in the podcast along with Nick's insights into developing the comic Fables into an episodic adventure series while remaining true to canon.
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
We have more PAX Prime 2013 podcast interviews and coverage incoming soon, including:
Two in one week! And the next two are already in progress. Stay tuned for more great short-but-sweet podcasts!
]]>Tommy Tallarico is the biggest name in videogame music - you can look it up in the Guinness Book or World Records. Or just listen to our podcast to hear all about it and his Kickstarter for the Video Games Live! Level 3 collection (closes Friday, Sept. 13, so pledge fast if you want in).
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
We have more PAX Prime 2013 podcast interviews and coverage on the way including:
After that, we're working up an extensive revue and feed of the I Love Bees radio drama set in the Halo universe. And who knows what else!
]]>First, tickets went on sale while Seattle was on spring break, and scalpers found a loophole the size of a wide-load truck and took full advantage of it. (Exploiters were eventually caught and the tickets offered up to the quick and attentive.) Not that it mattered much. If you didn't follow @Official_PAX on Twitter, you never knew tickets were ever on sale. The official website continued to say "stay tuned" after the show sold out not once, but twice.
Expanding the show an extra day also promised to do little but turn our already sore feet into complete hamburger.
Fortunately, we were wrong. This year's PAX Prime was by far the best run we've seen in... well, possibly ever. And we've been to every PAX held in or near Seattle.
Yes, there were still hella-long lines to get through so you could see and maybe even try the games that you're probably going to buy anyway. But there were also endless nooks and crannies filled with indie games and hidden gems to play until your thumbs go numb.
Here are the standouts for us from this year's show, with related links and our Busy Gamer Nation podcasts as we get them edited and posted.
Kickstarters
The Indie game area was packed with Kickstarter projects this year, and some without a booth sought us out to share news of their endeavors - one of which had just exceeded its goal with a days to spare and another was fully funded and showing off the team's nearly completed game.
Here are the most promising Kickstarter projects we saw at the show:
Sword 'N' Board. This charming adventure is reminiscent of old school Zelda games: gentle combat, colorful backgrounds, and a brave hero taking on the bad guys. An early demo on the Kickstarter page intrigued our 10-year-old, but also sent him overboard with suggestions. (It turns out that fixes for most of his feedback are already in the works!) The project reached its Kickstarter goal on Labor Day - aka the last day of PAX - but still has a day or two left if you want in.
Video Games Live: Level 3! If you love videogame soundtracks, odds are Tommy Tallarico had something to do with many of your faves. His voluminous resume includes soundtracks for Prince of Persia, Tony Hawk, Metroid Prime, Mortal Kombat, and more than we can recount here. Tallarico takes his music - and that of other great videogame composers - on the road each year with symphonic adaptations in his Video Games Live! show. He collaborates with major orchestras in each concert city to develop a unique evening filled with music, synchronized video and lighting, live action, and interactive segments. Tallarico hopes to use the Kickstarter to fund a third album of this music entitled Level 3. To entice pledgers, he has set up a dizzying array of rewards that could only be assembled by someone with 23+ years in the industry.
Chromancer. An online trading card game that is simple to learn, hard to master. The developers initially created the game to entertain just friends... but isn't that how great games are born? The intricate rule design (fully adaptable) may require longtime TCG players to rethink their game. Players must use adaptive strategy to take down their more sophisticated opponents in battle. The free-to-play game will include in-game currency that can be used to "buy" cards. The creators say users will be able to earn enough in-game coinage to buy every available card without pulling out the plastic, unless they're impatient or really want a specific card (each is tracked as a unique item!).
Neverending Nightmares. Matt Gilgenbach, the creator of Retro/Grade, digs deep to create a personal project that is both disturbing and oddly beautiful. You see, Gilgenbach has battled mental illness since childhood. Even "good" days can be filled with terrifying images that he cannot banish away. Neverending Nightmares gives life to those images in a simple black and white style reminiscent of Edward Gorey. The color red is used to augment violent imagery to create a grotesque yet oddly hypnotic effect.
Lifeless Planet. Last but not least, a Kickstarter success story! This game brought in more than 200 percent of its goal, and is now in the final stages of development. You play an astronaut dropped onto a seemingly uninhabited planet who must piece together clues about what the hell happened to make it that way. These include strange Soviet detritus and a mysterious woman who converts dusty land into lush greenery simply by walking on it. Part Myst, part Twilight Zone, all intriguing! Creator David Board estimates the project is approaching 90 percent complete and expects to release it on PC and Mac before the end of the year.
Best of the (non-Kickstarter) Indies and Mobile
Last year's PAX was packed with games releasing later that year - in some cases, within weeks of the show. This year, the answer to everyone's favorite question was almost invariably tied to a console launch or "sometime next year."
Here are our favorite smaller games from the show, all seemingly coming out between now and 2015:
Transistor. From the people who brought you Bastion comes a tale of... well, a hot red head chick in an awesome coat who runs around killing computer enemy things. GrrlGotGame didn't care much for Bastion (though Gamewatcher and ThePikachuFan both loved it), so it took some coaxing to get her to check out Transistor. She was immediately bewitched by the futuristic yet deco art style and Darren Korb's hypnotic music. (He also wrote the Bastion soundtrack, which we all deeply love!) She thoroughly enjoyed the demo, and we're all looking forward to exploring the world when the game releases in early 2014 for PS4 and PC (and possibly more platforms later).
Contrast. We first spotted this gem on a pair of demo stations in a hard-to-find corner of the Sony booth on the main floor. Later, we found the game's own booth in the Indie area surrounded by a well-deserved crowd. Without giving away too much of the story, you play a scantily clad 1920s "acrobat" who lives in a little girl's imagination. Together, you explore the child's world, which is filled with carnival rides and cabarets - much of it in drenched in film noir shadows. Oh, did we mention that you can turn into a shadow yourself and climb walls that are webbed with sometimes static, sometimes moving paths of light and dark? Best of all, it's a PS4 launch title but also coming out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
The Wolf Among Us. The studio that brought you The Walking Dead game (the good one!) returns to the ink well again, this time to create a prequel to Bill Willingham's Fables series. Don't let the title fool you - this isn't a book about kids eating candy houses or romping through the woods. Fables is a gritty, very adult book that takes familiar fairy tale characters and drops them in the fictional Fabletown area of New York City. The demo that GrrlGotGame played at PAX focused on the town's sheriff, Bigby Wolf. (Get it?) Expect a lot of adult language (more so than TWD!) and brutal violence when it kicks off with Episode 1 in October. Also, don't trust the Frog in Apartment 23B. Personally, we cannot wait. (Oh, and go buy the comic already.)
World Zombination. Long-time readers know GrrlGotGame is obsessed with zombies - so seeing this on the list is a no brainer. (No pun intended, really, we swear!) World Zombination is a faction-based strategy game that allows you to play as humans or zombies... it shouldn't be hard to guess which side she picked. (Brainnnzzzz....) While you will be able to play on your PC or Mac, we'll go for the finger gaming option (iOS or Android). Pretty to look at, easy to pick up and play, and did we mention zombies?
Dragon Fin Soup. New player Grimm Bros is combining two great tastes that go great together: RPGs and fairy tales. "But I already play (insert fantasy RPG here)," you say. Well, this isn't like (insert fantasy RPG here) - no matter how you fill in the blanks. Because unless you're in the special room at the video store, I'm pretty sure Red Riding Hood didn't look like this. Dragon Fin Soup uses sex, violence, and a sense of humor to create an RPG that even non-questers will enjoy. Expect some terrible puns (the booth sign featured a skeleton saying, "I have a boner"), inappropriate behavior, and the usual assortment of buying/trading/dressing your character. Bonus points for putting together a real-world roguelike game for swag prizes in a tiny area. It seems like people just aren't having fun with their booths anymore, and it was great to see someone get creative. (Kudos to the dude in the skeleton head for keeping it light and goofy when it was like 100 degrees on the show floor!) Join the mailing list to get in on the beta.
Windborne. Created by Hidden Path Entertainment - the company best known for tower defense (including the forthcoming Defense Grid 2) and the FPS Counter Strike: Global Offensive - this game is something of a departure or perhaps a frivolous whim. And it's one that appears poised to cash in on the popularity of Minecraft with something seemingly much deeper and more compelling. Windborne uses the same block metaphor for building but it’s highly polished (eschewing the 8-bit look), includes quests to the drive deeper exploration, and even offers a capture-the-flag mode for the competitive types. It's due on PC and Mac via Steam Early Access by the end of the year, or you can watch for opportunities to nab a beta key sooner. (Hint: We'll have at least one to share!)
Contraption Maker. If you loved solving puzzles while building Rube Goldberg style devices in The Incredible Machine, this spiritual successor built by many of the original team members may be just what you're craving. It's a bit rough and driven primarily by community content at the moment, but you can get it through Steam Early Access and start building solutions or even your own puzzles right now.
Troubadour. More interactive story than game, there's enough humor and bright, stylish art to entertain you in the 5-minute demo shown at PAX. Designer Eric Doty and artist Zak Alexander promise there's another 20-25 minutes of play on the way.
Backyard Battles. This turn-based game for iPad, Android, and the Web had our 10-year-old's attention. He was ready to play more when the short demo was over! Developed over just a few months, the game from Naked Sky Entertainment (makers of RoboBlitz) has crazy deep mechanics and polish for a game so early in development. Described as a "collectible card game without the cards," it lets you assemble a squad of costumed kids, each with their own powers, and puts them into, well, backyard battles (whatdja expect?!) with inspiration drawn from the world of videogames.
Romans From Mars. This forthcoming free-to-play game for iOS and Android tablets is a fresh twist on tower defense. You're in the tower, and you tap to shoot arrows or summon powers to devastate hoards of alien enemies as they approach. There are all sorts of power ups and upgrades, but you don't have to pay for any of them if you don't want to. The game seems fun, fresh, and already deeply polished as developer Majesco's mobile team prepares for an October release.
Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Also free-to-play, this iPad game from Big Fish Games takes a shot at PopCap by proclaiming "Less plants, more zombies." Now we both worked at Big Fish Games, and our exits weren't entirely amicable. But at least Gamewatcher is willing to forgive and forget somewhat after playing this surprisingly engaging title for several minutes. It's a twist on a Match-3 puzzle game that looks nothing like a Match-3 puzzle game. You trace to match triangles of matching zombie types (destroying them and any others inside), and toss grenades, overheat grills, activate knifey ninjas, and even call in air support to clear waves of zombies or stragglers you can't match. It's good fun, and you'll be able to play for no pay if you choose when it comes out soonish.
The Big Guns
The Triple-A circus continued to draw the crowds, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One taking center stage near the front of the main expo hall:
Titanfall. Let's say this up front: Gamewatcher does not like very many multiplayer games, and in particular avoids team multiplayer games where he feels sure he'll let down his squad. On impulse, he tried Titanfall and was amazed at the damage he did and, even better, how much fun he had. You're basically this futuristic cyberwarrior somewhere between Master Chief and the highly agile Crackdown cops but then you get to spawn giant mechs from time to time. It's hard to decide which is cooler: piloting a mech, or taking down an enemy's giant piloted robot with a highly armed but relatively puny super soldier. One of the greatest moments in the match was ejecting from a dying titan, landing on an enemy mech's head, smashing in a panel, and then shooting the machinery until it exploded. We may have to pick this up for our launch Xbox One.
Dying Light. Speaking of zombies (and aren't we always?), Dying Light is first-person, action survival horror game from the people who brought you Dead Island. (Wait! Don't leave!) We know you don't all share GrrlGotGame's love of DI - but trust me when we say that the creators have learned from their mistakes in that series. GrrlGotGame had a good 15 minutes of hands-on time with the game, and every second was absolutely terrifying. The zombies range from traditional slackers who basically wait for you to whack them to the crap-your-pants 28 Days Later style zombies... who know how to climb ladders. This is NOT - repeat, NOT - your standard zombie horror game. The game takes full advantage of next gen graphics and engines to flesh out the post-apocalyptic world in gritty, realistic detail. And that's just during the day - at night, the zombie behavior shifts, and new, nighttime-only zombies are unleashed. For once, mastering the sprint button is just as important as learning how to swing a wrench. Still skeptical? Watch 12 minutes of gameplay footage on the official site, and just try to sleep before it ships next year on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Fantasia: Music Evolved. Harmonix rises from the Rock Band ashes with a sweet, sweet Disney license for the name Fantasia and some of the related assets. Don't go looking for dancing hippos just yet, however. This is a reimagining of Walt's original vision - now with more Bruno Mars. They didn't have much to show at PAX, but what we did see was spectacular. Expect a mix of old and new music spanning different genres, and the ability to tweak them. (Locked Out of Heaven as a heavy metal tune? Yes please!) The game will require a Kinect, making it an Xbox exclusive by default. Look for it on both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One sometime next year.
Infamous: Second Son. The first, and until recently, only title that GrrlGotGame played for more than five minutes on the PlayStation returns with a new character, storyline, and console (PS4). We watched a dev gleefully destroy one of son's favorite Seattle stomping grounds, the Pacific Science Center - and loved every second of it. The level of detail and destruction made possible by the PS4 is astounding. We both cannot wait to play this game.
XCOM: Enemy Within (PC expansion pack or console Commander Edition): Last year's winner for best - and weirdest - booth kept it simple this year, herding groups in to watch a bored dev play the game. This year, the developer featured an PC expansion pack that's also coming to consoles as the XCOM: Commander Edition bundle, both packed with new weapons, aliens, soldier classes (including a mecha), and maps.
Borderlands 2 Headhunter Pack - T.K. Baha's Bloody Harvest (DLC): Vault Hunters rejoice! 2K Games will be releasing a series of "Headhunter Packs" (DLC) for Borderlands 2 beginning with T.K. Baha's Bloody Harvest in October. Each pack will include a short mission leading up to a massive boss battle to the death - probably yours. Defeat the boss and win his head as a prize, which you can then wear as a mask in the game. Look for it on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in October.
Also announced: Borderlands 2 Game of the Year Edition, which will include Season 1 Pass DLC, a level up pack, all of the pre-order content (from when the game was originally released), and every playable character available at the time of the pack's release. Just not the new Headhunter Packs.
2K Drive. This iPad racing game from the makers of Blur came with no instructions and was hard to control using swipes and taps on the screen. Maybe if there were a compatible controller? (Hey, 2K, check out the Drone Bluetooth controller reviewed below!) Afterwards, we were told that you could choose one of four control schemes, including moving the iPad around and steering with its gyroscope. Still seems wonky, but the racing looked potentially great and you can unlock some cool-sounding minigames if you're patient or pay a bit extra over the price of this not-free-to-play game for unlocks.
The Elder Scrolls Online. You may know that Gamewatcher is a big Elder Scrolls fan, but also NOT a fan of mouse and keyboard PC gaming. He took a shot at it, but didn't want to waste a station that could go to a PC gaming fan - so he moved on quick. At $15/month, you might want to as well. Then again, we'll take a look when there's a console version available to play.
Forza Motorsport 5. Gamewatcher also loves a good racing game, and the Forza series has been his favorite series in recent years (along with Test Drive Unlimited). This looks to be more of the same, and an Xbox One launch title. A no-brainer to pick up if you enjoy racing and you're getting an Xbox One.
Peggle 2. The original Peggle is one of our all-time favorite gaming experiences. The sequel appears to be more of the same with some new twists like multiple challenge conditions and new characters, such as Luna whose power is to make the blue bricks translucent so that your ball passes right through on the way to your orange targets. Due for Xbox One first, and then presumably everywhere possible, we're in!
Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus. Gamewatcher used to love the Ratchet and Clank series, and recently rediscovered them in the HD reissue for PS3. He's been checked out on the past few, and will probably pass on this one. One of the new twists is the ability to create Portal-style conveyances that transport you through a tunnel of pink light. After the time travel hijinks of the previous installment, this is probably just what the doctor ordered - but we really just want to run, gun, and collect bolts. If it gets good reviews, this might be something we pick up when it inevitably drops in price and joins the Greatest Hits program.
One More Thing...
We typically shy away from hardware at PAX, but...
Drone. This Bluetooth console-style controller for mobile and tablet devices grabbed our attention. It looks like a mini console controller, and it's surprisingly comfortable despite the diminutive size. Best of all, you can save 10% - or about $8 off the $80 controller - for a limited time with the coupon code DRONE.
Oculus Rift. Gamewatcher managed to grab a spot in a capped line and waited 30 minutes for the opportunity to strap into a set of VR goggles and... watch someone else's prerecorded racing lap. (Really?!) Turning his head to look around was kind of cool, until it made him dizzy and nearly sick. Maybe it's because he was watching and not playing, but the visuals looked grainy and not particularly captivating. It's also pricey, with a dev kit plus SDK running $300 (no consumer version yet). For now, we'd rate this a pass.
Nintendo 2DS. We didn't get a demo of the 2DS in action, but we managed to snap a couple shots of it in a display case. It's too bad, since our 10-year-old might be in the market for one of these and he's crazy good at saving up his allowance when he's motivated! We did hear the shoulder buttons are a bit dodgy from those who did play with it, but we can't confirm this firsthand. We do like the lack of a hinge, which makes it more tablet-like and less likely to break at the seam like our son's first DS did. The 2DS launches in your choice of red or blue Oct. 12 for $130.
BioShock Infinite has one of the most interesting game soundtracks ever but, alas, the main "album" was only bundled as a download code with premium editions of the game and, apart from that, most of the most amazing music in the game isn't officially released anywhere.
Fortunately for you, we've compiled our favorites and even have download links for the unofficial stuff in our show notes. There are even some fun little surpises like a sneak attack by Kevin Bacon and a bit of shawarma for you die-hards who make it to the end (it's just under 7 minutes, so no real stamina required!).
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
PAX Prime 2013 is right around the corner, and we plan to feed you podcast interviews just as fast as we can edit and post them.
Plus, we're working up an extensive revue and feed of the I Love Bees radio drama set in the Halo universe. And Pikachu Fan, now 10, is eager to get back in front of the mike with some reviews of his own. Stay tuned!
]]>This short guide covers the stuff you should study BEFORE getting in the plane/car/train/sticking your thumb out. It focuses on things you need to know about our fair city of Seattle when you're not roaming the PAX halls.
We also have a Busy Gamer guide to help you survive and enjoy PAX itself, once you're prepped and ready: full version, short version.
But for trip prep and guidance on meals and getting around our crazy messed up town, read on!
Pack Ins
First things first: Pack the stuff you didn't know you'd need! Things like:
Most of this can fit neatly in your bag while you walk around town, but you can leave the bubble wrap back in your hotel room. If you do get to town without this stuff (or don't want to shlep it on the plane), you can always visit one of the downtown Bartell's Drugs locations before the show.
Safety First
Downtown Seattle is one giant game of good block/bad block. It is entirely possible to walk through the crack blocks - and no, I'm not joking - safely. There are some things to keep in mind as you roam, though.
1st Avenue, home to the Pike Place Market, the Showbox, the Seattle Art Museum, and many small boutiques and restaurants is also a major crime and drug area. I have seen people smoking crack pipes a block from the Market at 2 in the afternoon. 2nd and Pike is a notorious open-air crack market. It's also the way you will most likely travel to get to the market.
If you go anywhere near these areas, just use common sense:
Getting Around Town
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk transportation nightmares. If you scored one of the official PAX hotels, congratulations! Parking - and just getting around town - is particularly difficult this year due to massive construction projects. Plus Bumbershoot is going on across town at Seattle Center, so the entire damn city is all heading to a five-mile radius. Things you should know:
Eating Out
For the love of God, don't go to The Cheesecake Factory. Our fair city is home to some terrific food, and not all of it requires an expense report. I know, I know... The Cheesecake Factory is only a few feet from the convention center doors. The time you spend waiting could be spent going just a little farther and enjoying some really great food for about the same - and possibly less - money than you'd drop there. Some alternatives:
Breakfast:
Lunch:
All of the places mentioned above have lunch, but you may not want to travel too far mid-show. (Exception: Blue Water Taco Grill, which is just a couple blocks away.) Other nearby options:
TIP: To avoid the flying fish morass, enter either the Market from 1st Avenue by the newsstand, or turn right at the crowds and enter through the next door a few hundred feet to the north. There are several food vendors in both corridors. Just turn around when you hear the "HHHEEEYYY" of the fishmongers and go out the way you came. DeLaurenti's cafe door entrance is right next to the newsstand - you can get to the full store through there as well.
Dinner Near PAX:
There are plenty of dining options near the convention center. Here are a few good ones:
There are several other places mentioned for lunch that give good dinner, including Gordon Biersch and Il Fornaio at Pacific Place.
Dinner for Those with Cars and an Expense Account (or Wllingness to Splurge):
OK, by now you're exhausted, and The Cheesecake Factory is RIGHT THERE. It's also going to take forever to get a table, so you might as well go back to the hotel, take a refreshing shower, and consider going somewhere decent. Here are some options:
Dessert:
Dahlia Bakery. If you don't go anywhere else unique to Seattle during your visit, go to the Dahlia Bakery and buy some of their exquisite baby Coconut Cream Pies. Eat one before you leave, then get right back in line. They are unbelievably good, and worth the are-you-kidding-me price. Trust me on this.
I'm sick of PAX, what else you got?
Occasionally, people ask me what else there is to do in Seattle besides walk the con floor. Here are a few ideas:
NOTE: If you have any favorite retail haunts in the Seattle Center area, check ahead to see if they're around. Several geek-friendly places have folded or moved this year, most notably Easy Street Records and Silver Platters. And there's that whole Bumbershoot thing again.
One Last Thing, Hippie...
Still with me? Good. Because this may be the single most important thing I tell you. You've probably heard that Washington State legalized marijuana. While it is technically legal, they haven't figured out what that means yet. We ain't Amsterdam - you will not find pot for sale in Starbucks (yet). It is also still illegal to smoke it in public. In fact, it's illegal to smoke ANYTHING within 25 feet of a building entrance or vent.
Anyway, try again next year. The entire city should be baked by then. And probably all eating at The Cheesecake Factory.
]]>What's odd about this interview is that it's sooooooo short!
You see, Deep Silver's Aubrey Norris (aka @Chupacaubrey) is one of the most talkative people on Twitter, and she's famous for her vaguely insane brand of press release. So you'd expect her to go on and on about the game she's repping, perhaps in some crazed manner.
The interview itself is less than a minute! We padded it to 1:17 with our now standard intro and some outro music from the game by Pawel Blaszczak.
It was probably bad timing. The company wanted to be tight-lipped on several aspects of Dead Island: Riptide, which had just been announced. So there probably wasn't much she could safely say without making an announcement to a scrawny, insignificant press outlet. (They wouldn't let us record audio of the demo walkthrough we attended either.)
The game's out now, so you can decide for yourself. (GrrlGotGame still prefers the original.) But this interview is now yours as a relic from an earlier, perhaps more innocent time in Norris' career.
You can download Busy Gamer Nation on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
We have one more podcast from PAX Prime 2012 to release - expect it shortly. And then we're throwing ourselves full bore into the production of audio tributes to BioShock Infinite and the Halo-themed radio drama, I Love Bees.
And, of course, PAX Prime 2013 is right around the corner.
]]>The podcast we call Busy Gamer Nation has been updated again, this time with a Twisted Pixel interview. (Not our first - we spoke to Mike Henry about Comic Jumper at PAX in 2010!)
This time, Jay Stuckwisch told us as much as he was permitted about LocoCycle, which looks like a racing title but plays like a fighting game. It's also an Xbox One launch title that may - or may not - include multiplayer.
Enjoy this podcast on iTunes, Zune, or our own RSS feed.
There are still more podcasts on the way:
Plus, we have plans for more great audio content on a much more regular basis. And this year, after PAX Prime we'll be able to post interviews and show content much faster - don't you worry!
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