Daily Bits for 6/29/10
In today’s Daily Bits, Hulu finally made official, PlayStation plus launches and a little something for you Lightcycle fans.
Hulu Plus coming to Xbox Live and PSN
It is finally official: Hulu has announced a partnership with both Xbox Live and PSN to bring Hulu Plus to the consoles. Hulu Plus is a $10 a month subscription service that gives you access to full seasons of series from many different networks instead of just the most recent episodes. The PSN version is due out in July sometime, while the Xbox Live one, which will only be available to Gold members and will have “added features” taking advantage of the live community (according to Microsoft) is due in 2011.
So I have already cut my ties with cable TV, and now I am wondering if Hulu Plus will convince others to do the same. Cable companies might have to actually get competitive to stay alive.
PlayStation Plus is Live
For those of you who do not already know, PlayStation Plus, Sony’s answer to Xbox Live, is now available for PS3 owners. The new firmware update that just rolled out brought that added functionality, along with a PS3 Facebook app and a video editor among other things. PlayStation plus costs $18 for 3 months or $50 for a year (you get a bonus 3 months if you sign up now), and it includes added features like free Qore episodes, extended demos, free games that remain free as long as you have a subscription and the ability to set things to automatically download on the PS3.
I believe I have made my feelings about PlayStaion Plus very clear. I will not be paying for it.
A Real Lightcycle?
Are you a major fan of Tron? Can you not wait for the new movie? Do you have $35,000 dollars lying around? If so, you can really show your love of the movie by purchasing a real life, street legal Lightcycle.
Parker Brothers Choppers of Melbourne, FL is creating 5 custom bikes based on the new Lightcyles. These babies will be sold on Ebay for $35,000, and they will include that neon glow that will make them seem just like the ones in the movie, crash inducing glowing wall emanating from the rear wheel not included.
While I in no way have this kind of money to spend and realistically would not buy one even if I did, I would be less than honest if I didn’t mention it would be a little tempting.
Daily Bits is a collection of all the gaming news that has happened for the current day that we deem as interesting and relevant to our readers. Check back daily for more news round-ups and feel free to send your suggestions to dailybits@everydaygamers.com
Daily Bits For 6/11/10
Daily Bits is a collection of all the gaming news that has happened for the current day that we deem as interesting and relevant to our readers. Check back daily for more news round-ups and feel free to send your suggestions to dailybits@everydaygamers.com
We Are Going To E3!
As we have mentioned on the podcast, Our very own Eric Bouchard will be attending E3 this year. This is a very exciting moment for all us and we cannot wait until everything unfolds. We will have all of the latest and greatest that comes out of E3 so keep your eyes peeled to the site and don’t forget to follow Eric on Twitter (AZRockslide) for all of your gaming news.
Get Ready For The Apocalypse
Last week there were rumors speculating about a new Motorstorm title from Sony. Well today those rumors can finally be put to rest. Evolution Studios has dubbed “Motorstorm Apocalypse” as the next title to there racing franchise. Set in an urban environment, specifically San Francisco but not going “completely urban” says Game Director Matt Southern.
Throughout the game the city will be ripped to pieces, in real-time, as you race. Routes will be affected, as will our emergent gameplay, with the game to feature “two groups” left behind in the crumbling city that don’t take too kindly to MotorStorm’s arrival
He also goes on to add.
This isn’t post-apocalyptic. It’s apocalyptic. You are there when it happens. It’s survival racing, when buildings “come down” they “stay down.”
“When you race a track again, the buildings will still be down and the MotorStorm crew will have carved yet more routes into the ruined landscape. The only time you’ll see the same thing twice is when you choose to.”
Matt Southern also talks about a Multiplayer with a full rank up system, very deep customization, and a “Game Mode Creator”
It sounds like a mix between Split/Second with the destruction, mixed with a deep multiplayer like BLUR. This could be very intriguing considering both those games put together would be unbelievable.
Do You Want To Be A Rock (Band) Star?
Images for Rock Band 3′s Instruments have been revealed today. Click our Source link below for the full layout of gear. Now only problem is, where are you going to put it all?
Bad Company 2′s Onslaught Mode Coming June 22
DICE has priced and dated there upcoming Onslaught mode for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The 4 player cooperative mode will arrive on June 22 for 800 Microsoft Points or $10.00 on the PSN. Europe PS3 owners will have to wait a extra day for the content.
Dreamcast Titles Coming To Xbox Live, Playstation Network
Wish you could play the old classic Dreamcast games on your 360 or PS3? Well this fall you can. Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi will be the first two games that will come to the next gen consoles. Sega has assured everybody that these games won’t be just ports from the Dreamcast. Expect a crisper resolution, with achievements/trophies, online leaderboards and even support for surround sound. No announcement has been made on pricing, but I’m sure you can expect the standard 800-1200 Microsoft Points. ($10-15)
Expect more information at E3.
Borderlands: Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot
Riding the unheralded success of Borderlands, Gearbox has released Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot for 10 dollars on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network respectively, as well as the PC. The content offers players an arena to engage in combat with increasingly difficult waves of opponents with ever changing game modes and modifications, but does it satisfy the cravings of Borderland junkies waiting for their next fix?
The answer, sadly, is no. Unlike the previous Zombie Island DLC, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot fails to capitalize on what helped Boderlands become so beloved as it forces players to trudge through waves of waves of enemies while receiving little to no reward for doing so. All the weapon proficiency and experience points players would regularly receive from combat has been omitted for this DLC. While it makes sense as a way of preventing players from taking advantage and quickly raising their level, it also drains the game of any sense of accomplishment. Even with friends the arena’s and game modifications quickly become predictable and drab. Some little treats (an extra skill point, backpack slots) might draw some in, but it won’t keep them for long.
Another major issue I have with the DLC is the lack of an ability to save progress during an arena. If you are forced to leave (or are disconnected) the game during the match at any point, you will be forced to start at the very beginning the next time you play. This happening 2 hours into an arena is enough to turn anyone off from ever playing this DLC again.
Even if some of these things were fixed in an update, the entire focus of the content still seems misplaced. Not that Borderlands combat is bad necessarily, but it’s not what makes the game fun nor is it the games strong point.
All feeling of progression and the delights of rooting through loads of loot are tossed aside as the game attempts to beat you over the head with combat. Even the levels themselves don’t do much to show off the wonderful cell shaded style the game aught to flaunt at every chance. I would only (and barely) recommend this for hardcore and high level Borderlands players who are desperate for more time on Pandora. I’m scratching my head trying to find the logic progression that led from Zombie Island to the Underdome Riot, but I just can’t see it. It seems that wave based combat modes (Horde, Fire-fight) are all the rage lately, but this one just isn’t worth your money or time. It’s not a deal breaker in terms of purchasing DLC for Borderlands, but I sure hope Gearbox has something better up its sleeve.
30 Reviews in 30 Days, Day 21: CarneyVale Showtime
One of the nice things about the Xbox Indie games is some of the developers are really trying some unique things. I have already reviewed a couple of games that fit the bill with Groov and Artoon. CarneyVale Showtime is another game that falls under that category. An unusual platformer, CarneyVale Showtime will keep you coming back for more.
Throw that clown around
In CarneyVale Showtime, you play as Slinky the clown. Slinky is a circus performer in the Carnival. Your job is to try and entertain the crowd, but the thing is you do not really have direct control of your actions. To move about the levels, you have to use the grappling arms to grab your character and fling him throughout the level. The object is to try and pop the balloons throughout the levels, making way to the exit without falling off the board or hitting the various obstacles in your path.
CarneyVale Showtime‘s unique gameplay and level designer make welcome addition to the Indie games.
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it is not. You not only have the learned just how to launch off the grappling arms to reach the next section of each level. While you can have a slight influence on the direction Slinky will travel, ultimately you are at the mercy of the physics in the game. Not only do you need to advance to the next level, but you need to do so with flair, scoring well enough to advance. After all, you need to put on a show.
So you have the entertaining and challenging puzzles, but that is not all the designers have given you.
Create your own levels
The creators of CarneyVale Showtime seem to think that, since they had so much fun creating the game, you would have fun creating your own levels. The level editor they have included with the game is extensive and yet easy to use, giving you the chance to try out the levels as you work on them to make sure you are not making them too difficult.
Unique gameplay, a level creator and the nice touch of built in achievements that may not improve your gamer score but still add something to the gameplay make this a game you really should try for yourself. CarneyVale Showtime gets a 4 out of 5.
Trials HD
Trials HD is developed by RedLynx and is available via XBLA for 1200 MS Points. Trials HD is a physics-based motorcycle racing game. Trials is very simple to play. The controls go like this, you use the right trigger for gas and the left trigger for brake while using the left thumbstick to shift your weight. You don’t have to worry about steering or anything else. Trials HD is a simple game to pick up and play but a very hard one to master. Trials HD has over 50 tracks for you to master spanning 5 modes: Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Extreme. It also has a skill games mode that lets you test skills such as hill climbing, rolling in a caged ball, flying with a rocket propelled bike through fiery loops, and many others.
I have to admit, I hadn’t heard anything about Trials HD until the demo was released. I downloaded it out of curiosity and was instantly hooked. I’m not a huge motorcycle fan but you don’t have to be to like this game. The formula is simple for anyone. The great thing about Trials is that it’s easy to keep trying to perfect your run. You have two options when on the track, press the back button to start over from the beginning of the track or press the B button to start from the last checkpoint. Starting from the last checkpoint counts as a “fault” which will in turn affect your overall time so it is best to start over from the beginning if you want to get the gold medal. For each track you are either rewarded a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal. You can also compare your times with friends that have the game. For example one of my friends has Trials and we’ve been competing back and forth to get a faster time on each track. This is what makes Trials so addicting. Yes competing for Gold medals is tough enough but trying to beat your friend’s score is added incentive. I almost wish I could host an Xbox Live party to bring my friends in the game so that we could watch each other race the tracks and see who can get the fastest time. I also like how Trials loads fast, if at anytime you want to restart a track you press the back button and instantly you are at the beginning ready to give it another shot. Because of this I always find myself saying “okay, one more try” even though it really is never my last.
You may ask yourself, “What is so hard about Trials HD?” Trials is physics-based meaning you must tilt your body either forward or backward at the right time to get the smoothest ride possible. It’s the combination of tilting your body and pressing the gas that makes this game what it is. In the later levels your skills are really tested, you must be pinpoint if you want to complete the track with a gold medal. Take for example the video below, this level requires a lot of precision:
Other tracks in Trials just look plain awesome, like the one titled “Dreamscape” that has pieces of wood floating in the air and doesn’t look like a track at all. RedLynx definitely knew what they were doing when they created these tracks. Not to mention Trials also comes with a track builder which you can use to create your own tracks and share them with friends. Check the video below to check out the “Dreamscape” track.
Overall I love the game, it was a pleasant surprise and that might be the main reason I like it so much. Trials HD is fun, simple, and addicting, everything a game should be. If you have an Xbox 360 and 1200 points I highly suggest Trials HD even if you don’t particularly care for motorcycle games.
30 Reviews in 30 Days, Day 11: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
I first heard about Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords on either 1Up Yours or EGM Live. They talked about it on both shows, and I could not quite wrap my head around the idea: a puzzle game crossed with an RPG. Sounded like an odd combination to me, but the more I started to hear about it, the more I was intrigued. I finally broke down and purchased the DS version of the game. Several hours of gameplay later, it still ranks up there as one of the best puzzle games I have ever played.
A simple premise brilliantly executed
The idea behind Puzzle Quest is actually quiet simple: take the match three puzzle play of Bejeweled and toss in a light RPG element to keep players coming back for more. In the beginning of the game, you are given the chance to choose the type of character you want to play, and you will find many of the fantasy archetypes present and accounted for, including the ranger and the warrior.
Each character has different spells and attacks he or she can learn, so who you choose does make a difference. For example, the ranger will have spells that rely more heavily on the elements, where the knight may have more direct attacks. You gain the ability to activate these spells or attacks by building mana from the puzzle; if you match green gems, you get green mana, if you match red you get red, etc. Each spell requires a certain amount of at least one and often many types of mana, and these spells can range from attacking gems on the board and getting the damage effects to hurting your opponent directly.
Beleive it or not, you can combine a puzzler with an RPG.
After choosing a character, you get into the RPG element of the game. Unfolding before you is a story of an ancient evil that is slowly starting to reawaken. It is up to you and your allies to stop this evil. You do this by moving about the land, doing different quests and fighting different enemies along the way. These battles are fought on the puzzle board, where you match the colored gems to get mana to use for your spells. There are also skulls on the board, and if you match they, you deal damage to your opponent directly. The battle is over when either you or your opponent run out of health.
Seems simple enough, right? It is, yet there is a much deeper element to this game than there appears at first glance.
More hardcore role playing than you might think
For a game with such a simple premise, Puzzle Quest is actually a serious RPG. As you progress through the game, you are given choices that will effect whether or not you gain allies. These allies aid you in battle, doing things like hurting certain types of opponents or lowering their attack capabilities. These allies can help turn the tide of combat, especially early in the game.
If you face off against a creature enough times, you can try to capture that creature. To capture, you must remove all the gems from the board you are given. The harder the creature, the harder it is to make the appropriate moves to capture them. Once captured, you can train the ones you can ride and use them to improve your speed and attack. The ones you cannot ride, you can learn their spells, which you do by matching mana and scrolls in the puzzle.
On top of that, you can lay siege to the cities around you. If you win the siege, you gain control of that city, which means it will produce income for you. Of course the city might rise up against you, and you may find yourself having to beat it again to regain control.
Capture enemies, learn spells, gain allies…. The hardcore RPG fan will find much to love about Puzzle Quest.
Add to this your standard character leveling system and the chance to craft master weapons and armor through the puzzle board, and you find there really is a much deeper game here than meets the eye. The story may be a little cliched, but the rest of the game makes up for it.
The one major flaw
You mat have noticed that Puzzle Quest is in my top 10 games of all time. Only one thing keeps it out of the top five: the one major flaw of the game.
Imagine this: you are facing off against an opponent you should be able to beat. Several moves in, it looks like everything is going your way. Suddenly, the enemy gets a rather convenient combo of gems, allowing it to gain another turn. Then it happens again. And again. In no time, this battle that was going so heavily in your favor has gotten out of hand, and you find yourself losing.
Puzzle Quest has what has been referred to as a rather convenient AI. At too many points in the game, you will find your opponent making just the right move, which leads to a chain reaction that completely turns the tide of battle. This becomes extremely annoying at the end when you are facing against Lord Bane. He is a difficult enough final boss to fight without having to worry about him “cheating.” It is the one major flaw of the game, an it will leave you needing to walk away from it on more than one occasion.
That being said, Puzzle Quest is easily one of the most addicting games I have ever played. I have payed for the DS version twice (and soon will probably get it for a third time), and I also own the Xbox Live Arcade version of the game. I guess I just can’t get enogh of it. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords gets a 5 out of 5.
OverAchiever – Point Hunter Field Guide
So you eat sleep and breath achievement points? You’re a man of strictly numbers. A man who scoffs at others jealous of your numeric stature and their petty “observations” that most of your achievements didn’t require any real skill. Their “logical” arguments are made simply out of insecurity of their own Gamerscore. Ignoring such quibbles you only point with satisfaction to the massive stockpile of (utterly useless, completely ambiguous) points you have accumulated and smile with pride. You can’t do anything with them, many require no talent to achieve, and some can even be scammed out of the game but that doesn’t matter, because you have a lot of them. Good news my friend. Christmas has come early and I’m here to bestow a wealth of (practically) free achievements to all the good boys and girls. If your bad please don’t read any further.
The strategies and tips mentioned here will work in the long term for dedicated achievement hunters but can also be used to nab some fast achievements for those looking to quickly boost their score higher than a buddy’s so they can lord it over them. This is not a guide for completionists or those looking to tackle the toughest achievements. Because the only thing you get out of that is personal satisfaction and that’s not good enough for us. Only a ridiculously inflated Gamerscore will make us happy. But let’s get right to it. You didn’t come here to waste time reading. There’s points to be had!
Play Often. Play Cheap.
The real trick is to concentrate on rentals. It’s the best way to maintain a steady flow of points with easy games and simple achievements without shelling out a fortune on multiple games or being stuck with just a few to labor over the tedious ones. This way you will also have access to a number of games that ordinarily would not be worth your money (certainly not $60!) or time but offer simple achievement supremacy. The best solution for dedicated point hunters are online game rental programs. Subscription services such as Gamefly or GottaPlay offer programs similar to Netflix and allow you to rent unlimited games per month a set number at a time. The services can seem a little pricey, especially when compared to similar DVD rental programs, but they’re generally cheaper than renting them at a local store. The only real drawback is the delay for shipping them back, having a new one sent, and receiving it (generally 3 days or more) but the available selection of games and reduced price vs. that of your average retailer makes up for the slight inconvenience. It should be noted though that games in high demand such as newer or more popular titles may take longer to ship.
In store or online, either way, if points alone are your prize then renting is an essential strategy because while 100% completion is often a time consuming challenge most games offer a variety of simple achievements that can be acquired during the natural course of the game and require little additional effort, special skills, or practice from the gamer. These points can be grabbed over the average rental period and the game discarded (ahem…returned) when the going gets tough. For instance Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 offer achievements simply for completing levels on most any difficulty setting and there are some games that even reward failure, while harder achievements, such as finishing the game on the toughest difficulty setting require a greater investment of skill and patience. This is why maintaining a steady flow of rentals is a key strategy for point hunters. It allows them to score a lot of the basic, easy points and move on when the achievements demand to much time to be worth it.
Sigh…More Reading
Research is an important part of a successful point campaign as well. It pays to know which games will reward you the fastest and most liberally and to plan an efficient course of action for playing them. Websites such as xbox360achievements.org and easyxbox360achievements.com are great resources that provide lists of the easiest game achievements as well as guides and community forums by and for fellow point hunters. Xbox360achievements.org has a comprehensive listing of achievements and tips and Easyxbox360achievements.com even categorizes a handful of easy games by approximately how long they take to max out the achievements as well as lists of “time consuming” and “hard games.” It’s easy to google specific games and achievements and youtube.com will typically have walkthrough videos for pretty much any.
Being aware of achievement ‘habits,’ if you will, is helpful as well. High profile games (Mass Effect, Fable 2, Halo 3…) and accomplished publishers (Epic, Valve, Ubisoft…) typically balance the achievements and their difficulty very well, spreading the challenges throughout the experience in order to strategically extend the lifespan of the game. This can make accumulating the individual achievements more time consuming, often requiring multiple playthroughs. The ratio of time spent vs. points gained generally becomes skewed more towards time spent.
This doesn’t mean that hard work won’t pay off in many cases, however. Call of Duty 4 offers a stiff challenge for completionists (particularly if you want to join the “mile high club”) but hardcore gamers will find that, because of it’s brief campaign and absence of stubborn online achievements, with a little effort it is actually one of the quickest ways to accumulate a large cache of achievement points. It’s also one of the best games on the console which means the process is also very enjoyable (fun, remember?) This is where research can pay off in finding the games with the best balance of achievement points and entertainment value. It might be worth the extra effort if you’re actually enjoying the experience.
Crap Pays
Sadly it does indeed, and the best place to score huge amounts of points fast is with smaller publishers and games licensed from movies, comics or other media or games designed with kids in mind. Typically these games are lazy attempts by corporations simply to cash in on popular brand names or non video game characters and franchises. On a scale of crap to 10, let’s just say these games generally aren’t anywhere near 10. Since gaming greatness isn’t what motivates these games’ unnecessary existence, there is usually a minimum of time put into their design as companies rush completion to coincide with a movie debut or simply capitalize on a popular franchise quickly with minimal effort. Quality isn’t a necessity since the brand name will sell the product regardless.
This sad but successful corporate cycle consistently produces some of the worst software abominations in gaming history (Superman 64, E.T., Iron Man. The proud tradition continues…) but more importantly it has now finally begun to pay gamers back for the years of abuse inflicted on those niave enough to buy them or unfortunate enough to receive them as gifts. The small consolation now offered to 360 owners comes in the form of easy achievements. The lack of thought put into the actual game design means they are generally pushovers for points.
They may not be the most enjoyable gaming experience but you typically don’t have to play for very long since they usually offer quick and easy ways to cash in on the 1000 points offered. After that you never have to look at them again. Avatar and TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as well as movie games (primarily child oriented) such as Cars, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End, are good examples of this. King Kong will award you with 1000g simply for completing the main quest (approx 5-6 hours) but not only that there are cheat codes such as “God Mode” that you can use and still score the achievements! Avatar, however is the Grand Pubah of easy achievements. With only five, all based on hit count, it’s actually possible to score 1000 points in just a few minutes. No joke.
Odds and Ends
Sports Games should also be mentioned as a viable source. You’d think securing all the achievements in a genre structured and honeycombed with a variety of statistics would be a tedious exercise but the EA and 2K sports franchises, mainly the NBA and NHL, feature some fairly lenient entrees, though primarily in the ’06 seasons (in truth EA learned with time and the achievements in each subsequent season have gradually increased in number and difficulty). Most of the achievements are pretty basic, but if you have trouble you can usually play as both teams in a game. This should make things considerable easier since you’re bound to be a far more forgiving opponent.
One of the final things to consider when selecting games is access, or lack there of, to Xbox live, as some that feature multiplayer will orient many achievement points around online play. Just like offline achievements these can range from simple accomplishments such as finishing one match (“Player Match Debut” Guilty Gear 2) or be so difficult or time consuming only players who eat sleep and breath the game will ever complete them (“Seriously” Gears of War – 10,000 kills online). If you don’t have a Gold level subscription you can’t even begin to think about scoring those points no matter how easy they are, though a silver membership would allow you to access XBL Arcade for a handful of achievements in downloadable games. A few gems can be found but these little gaming nuggets are not cost effective enough to purchase for the points alone.
A successful achievement campaign involves research, planning and preparation. Skill really should have been in that list somewhere (we are talking about “achievements” after all), but alas, incompetent gamers rejoice. If you play your cards right, even hopeless noobs can attain achievement greatness. Using these strategies and a Gamefly membership, in theory it would actually be possible to rack up around 3000-4000g during their 10 day free trial alone and probably average 500-600 points a week thereafter. So stop wasting precious achievement time reading! Get out there and earn some points! Just remember the cold, sad truth is that while everybody admires their own achievements nobody cares about yours but you. Happy hunting!