REVIEW - SONIC & ALL-STARS RACING TRANSFORMED

I've never liked racing games, as a whole.  I enjoyed F-Zero on the SNES as a kid, but beyond that they've never had much appeal to me.  I had more disdain for the cutesy mascot kart racing games, like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing.  So needless to say, when I played the original Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, I was shocked.  For some inexplicable reason, I loved it.  Loved.  I had so much fun with this silly little kart racer.  So when the sequel, Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, came out, I KNEW I had to get my hands on it.

AND SO IT BEGINS

Just a quickie update here.  Kaylei Bristol, writer/reviewer for Attack Initiative and a very dear friend of mine, has picked the first game for me to play and review from the list. 

She has chosen Bulletstorm.  Or as she so eloquently phrased it, "You need the game with all the dick jokes in the world to be your next game."

I'm already two or three hours into the campaign, got some piping hot screenshots ready, and am forming my opinions.  Tune in Monday for the first review of 2013!

THE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION, PART DEUX

Wanna help control the content of this site, and keep me on my toes?   Here's how!

2013 - A NEW APPROACH

So I'd be shocked if anyone's reading this anymore.  My life has become a rollercoaster of chaos, as has Ryan's (my cohort with the North-South Geek Show).  We keep promising "This isn't dead!" and then not following through.  It's not for lack of trying, and not for lack of wanting to, we just can't make our schedules mesh due to the complications of Real Life.  When I'm free, he's working, and vice versa.  

So for now I am focusing on this blog, something I haven't done much of lately.   I have made a commitment to myself.   Like many PC gamers who have Steam, I have a terrible habit of buying a bunch of games when they are discounted, and then never playing them.   I have well over 200 games on my list, and have only actually played maybe 1/4th of them.   So each week, most likely on a Monday, I will play a new game, and I will do a preliminary review of it on Tuesday, and a follow-up review along with the next game on the following Tuesday.

These won't all be hot new games, or AAA titles.  Some might be much older games.  Some could be indie titles.  Some could be AAA titles a few months late.  I'm kind of broke, so realistically the only way I can do AAA titles right away would be if it was something I was really chomping at the bit to play (like the upcoming Bioshock: Infinite or GTA V).  There could be some console games in there, but to be perfectly honest, I'm like 90% a PC gamer.  

Either way, a weekly schedule will keep me going on this blog, and it'll give me an excuse to chew through all of those unplayed games I paid hard-earned money for!

COMING BACK....AGAIN

I'm not dead.

This blog?  Not dead.

The North/South Geek Show podcast?  Not dead.

All just dormant due to chaos.  Ryan and I got everything going, and then shit hit the fan in both of our lives, and we both had to move and sort of re-situate our lives.  I'm now in a different city, with a different job in a different field.  It's been a hell of a readjustment.  The biggest downside in regards to this blog is that I haven't had a lot of time for gaming, but I'm trying to make time.  Mostly all I've been playing have been casual things like Minecraft (stupid 1.3.1 update, sucking me back in), along with some older titles like Darksiders and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow Of Chernobyl*.

But I promise you dear readers, we've merely put these projects on the back burner.  They're not dead.  Ryan and I have been talking about new ideas, new structures, new formats.  Life gets in the way sometimes, but we're bound and determined to make this thing work.

Thanks for stayin with us.


* - Seriously why the hell did I wait so long to play this game?  It's awesome!

THE RESEMBLANCE IS UNCANNY

I can't claim to have ever played Persona 3 due to my intense loathing for JRPGs, but now I kind of want to.  The columnists at Kotaku have uncovered some unsettling similarities between P3 and television cult favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer.   From the sound of it, they're practically one and the same!   Well played, Kotaku...


Persona 3 Really Is Buffy The Vampire Slayer Down To The Smallest Characters 

(Though I have to admit, their assessment of Tara made me a little sad...maybe it's just that I've met Amber Benson, but I always loved her.)

AT A GLANCE - RAYMAN: ORIGINS

Ubisoft is trying to bring platforming back into the spotlight with a revival of their Playstation-era hero, Rayman.   The cartoony French mascot debuted in 1995 and enjoyed some popularity, he hasn't been seen in his own title almost a decade.   The Raving Rabbids series began as a Rayman game, but spun off into their own series, leaving Rayman behind.   Now he's back in a gorgeous retro-styled platformer that returns to the series' 2D roots.  It's been showered with accolades by reviewers and gamers alike since its release, becoming something of an underdog success story.  This week, Ubisoft put the game on sale for 50% off, and I decided to see what all the hype was about.

DIRGE FOR A FADING GENRE

It came out of nowhere, shocking us.  Thrilling us.  Uniting us.  And the idea took off like wildfire, dominating the industry, firmly implanting itself into the pop culture subconscious.  It burned brightly, breathing new life into the video game industry like no one had seen before, forging an alliance between the two warring camps of Casual and Hardcore gamers.  But its star burned too fast, and companies tried too hard to milk its seemingly neverending teat, until nothing new could be drawn from it.  And now, the beast is dying.

I speak of course, of the music/rhythm game genre.