Re-made version of NES Bionic Commando coming to XBLA

Sorry for the radio silence-- my home computer recently suffered a loss of BOTH hard drives. While you're waiting, check out this awesome preview video from Capcom:



This alone would almost make me want an Xbox.

Have Fun Now, ASCII Me How!

While PC games like Crysis make your video card cry and beg for its motherboard, there is a revival of appreciation for ASCII games rippling its way through the gaming community.

Here are some gems I've found recently:

• ASCII Sector, a remake of the classic Wing Commander Privateer
• The surprisingly action-packed Doom RL;
• Legerdemain (
• And the hardest strategy game ever, Dwarf Fortress (now with a new unofficial tileset and experimental 3-D visualizer that may prevent some eye-bleeding).

Classic, complex Rogue-like RPGs continue to go strong, too.

Those interested in exploring further should peruse this list of the best new releases from ASCII dreams.

RPGX.org Release New Game For Cheapos, People Eating Fast Food

Hey! If you read this blog, chances are you like tabletop games. And unless you're some kind of mutant commie Bolshevik space alien, you probably like board games, too.

Have the RPGX crew got something for you!

X-Craft: Fast Food Table Top Strategy!

X-Craft is a 2 player, hex map board game that can be played with loose change and a drinking straw. The game was originally created to be played on the back of "generic" fast food wrappers containing a hex map design. Rules are simple and a game usually lasts about an hour.

The downloadable rule book folds into a 4 page booklet no bigger than a standard sized buisness card. Rules are availible for download now.

You can beta test the new rules for free!

X-Craft "Beta Version"

So You Want To Be A Video Game Journalist?

This series is a bit of an oldie, but a goodie.

I've written feature articles for 1UP.com and been published in PC Magazine, I have written for 411Mania Games, and I blog for RPGX.org. What insight can I offer to those wishing to become a Games Journalist?

Hell if I know.

Seriously, I'm not some big special person, I just had the right ideas at the right time, and was a little bit lucky. As passionate about the medium as I am, I do other things besides write about video games; it's nowhere near a full-time job. I don't really have any authority in the matter. I don't think I'd be up to writing a guide, personally.

CMP, the company behind Game Developer and Gamausutra recently published an article titled "So You Want to Be a Games Journalist" by Aaron McKenna. Criticism leveled at the article was that it was written in what seemed like an overly optimistic, condescending and starry-eyed tone that wasn't helpful in conveying what it REALLY was like to be a video games journalist.

This article got Kieron Gillen and Tim Edwards so hot under the collar that they arranged for as many games journalists as they could think of to publish articles titled "So You Want to Be a Games Journalist" of their own at the same time. Matthew Kumar of Insert Credit says:

There are currently 12 entries, and you can read my take at my workblog, but readers might particularly be interested in the Triforce's extended metaphor, John Walker's frontal attack on the original piece, and Kieron Gillen's completely straight (and certainly useful) guide. But there's also Tim Edwards, Tom Bramwell, Suki, Bill Harris, Jon Blyth, Richard Cobbett, Stuart Campbell and Jon Hicks.

You've never heard of any of them? Well, as my guide explains, that's practically the point.

The entire series in incredible reading; I particularly recommend the Triforce's piece, along with Tim Edwards' and Kieron Gillen's article, but they are all good, all useful, and they all ring true (even the contradictory parts).

Play The First Level of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Right Here, Right Now

In what I think is a great move by Capcom, they have recreated a bit of the first level of the soon-to-be-released Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney game for the Nintendo DS that you can play right now. BEHOLD!

Isn't the ending for the demo clever? I loved the 2nd Phoenix Wright game and what I saw of the third... now I can't wait for this game to be released!

I Swear This Game Is Real

Yes, that video is real. A real person really wrote the dialogue, animated that cut scene, and designed a game where you turn into animals and then race on a track while the voice of God Himself does announcing duty.The game? Zoo Race

The website to download a demo of The Zoo Race is here; it gives you useful advice such as:

"... If playing on the “Hannah’s Heights” or when running on the “Moon” itself though, then be careful of the crows there and them dropping their crow poop on the ground towards you. Do not mistake the food for the crow poop, because eating crow poop results in a speed penalty, which will slow you down. "

I have sent an email to the game's creator. Watch this blog for an interview.

This is the coolest DS Homebrew application ever. And I have proof!

See that cat? That was painted.. with a DS.

If that has you intrigued, check out this amazing gallery of images created using Colors! A Nintendo DS homebrew app that makes use of the machines little-known pressure sensitive capabilities.

Sure, you need a flash card to paint yourself, but as the gallery shows, it is SO totally worth it.

Want the new Bionic Commando game To Appear on the Wii? Here's how.

While many PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC owners are excited about the forthcoming update of Capcom's classic Bionic Commando, many Wii owners are sitting around pouting about how great it would be to control a robotic swinging arm with their Wiimote. Well don't just sit there, do something about it! Let Capcom know you want it, and who knows? In an interview with Videogamer.com, Capcom's Ben Judd suggest that a surge of fan interest could get the job done.

When asked if a Wii version could ever come to the Wii, Judd said: "It will largely depend on what the fans want for the future of Bionic Commando."If the interest is there, of course we want as many people as possible to appreciate this great franchise."

If you come, they will build it.

Full article at Videogamer.com

A Quit To Go Galga For!

This Galaga quilt from Carolina Patchworks is, according to the etsy listing, it "is fully compatible with the XBox 360, Wii, PlayStation III, all high-definition televisions, most models of fireplace, and a wide variety of good books."

It is also 100% AWESOME.

Zero Punctuation: Silent Hill Origins Review

So, great, the only reason for me to get a PSP now is the re-release of Final Fantasy Tactics?

WOTC Announces Plans for D&D 4E Open Gaming License

Wizards of the Coast recently announced its plans for the 4th edition version of the Open Gaming License for the up-and-cming Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. Noticeable differences include earlier access to 4th ed OGL content and an exclusive "head start" sort of publishing window to companies forking over 5 grand.

Notable game designer Robin D. Laws had this to say in his livejournal recently:

The $5000 access fee is a blunt and imperfect instrument. It keeps the basement operations in the starting blocks, but doesn’t stop a couple of well-funded entities from pumping out deluges of quickie products. It may dissuade some established companies from entering the fray, depriving players of some hypothetical high-quality products. Overall, though, it should go at least some distance toward better matching the quantity of products produced to the market’s ability to absorb them. More finely tuned approaches to the problem, like quality inspection by WotC designers or outside committees, are either financially or organizationally unfeasible. A coarse solution is better than none at all.

What say you, gentle readers?

A Very Weird And Blocky Future: Video Game Nostalgia From Todd Levin

Todd Levin, best known for his monthly comedy reading series, How To Kick People, began a retrospective on the various home video game console systems he has known and loved. From the article:

In 1979, my father brought home a beige-colored box made of industrial plastic. There were a few metal toggles and dials on the face, and a tangle of black electrical cords hanging from it, attached to a pair of smaller plastic boxes outfitted with small, sliding dimmer switches. It looked like something hospitals use to test blood glucose levels, or jump-start a patient’s heart. But, instead of squirting conductive jelly on its two electric paddles, my father hooked the device up to our 13-inch black-and-white television set, gathered up his children, and said, “Here is your new toy.

This looks like a promising series, so you'll want to get in on the ground floor.

A Bricked Game Boy You'll WANT In Your House!

A Dutch ceramicist by trade and a gamer by passion is selling a pretty cool combination of both these passions: a line of clay bricks cast in a mold taken from an original Nintendo Game Boy-- y'know, the grey, fat, won't-fit-in-your-pocket, green and beige color display Game Boy.

They're 20 Euros each, putting them firmly out of MY budget... but the idea is just so COOL. Check 'em out here!

World of Warcraft Player Determined To Level Up Without Killing Anything

A college student is attempting to level two pacifist characters up to the highest level of World of Warcraft's character progression, characters he's playing without attacking anything.

Why is he doing it?

As he explains to WoW Insider, t's partly to try out the philosophy of pacifism in a decidedly violent virtual world, and partly to see if he can do it. From the interview:

Show us your kung fu: what's the actual nuts-and-bolts reality of this character?

Both my priest and my rogue try not to hit anything, although there's always a chance of a misclick when trying to open a quest item with mobs fighting near it. Both of them always wield a fishing rod, so any accidental hits won't increase their weapon skills. Neither of them will do quests where they have to kill things. In battlegrounds, my rogue will throw bombs to interrupt flag captures and stun people and may even accidentally kill players low in health or nearby critters. My priest only heals, so he is actually closer in roleplaying terms. Neither will "get around" these limits by grouping and having other players do their dirty work. In terms of bragging rights, I intend to keep my rogue's weapon skills (dagger, thrown and unarmed) at all 1s. My priest will also have all 1s, but it won't be obvious on WoW Armory that he has no offensive spells beyond the level 1 Smite all priests start with.

As they say, "Read The whole thing".

My new year is starting off hilariously!

I don't know which has left me laughing harder whilst on-hold with vendors for work today:

• Supporters for Presidential candidate Ron Paul decided an effective use of their time and energy to garner support for their candidate of choice was to lead a campaign rally march... in the middle of WORLD OF WARCRAFT, or
• this RPG.net thread devoted to brainstorming a new game setting, "Weaboo Fantasy"

Either way, it looks like my year is starting off with a lot of laughs.