Latest Articles
feature | 09/23/07 | Chris Martin
Tuesday can\'t come soon enough. But if you\'re looking for Halo 3 reviews, and what all the buzz is about, then we\'ve got you covered. Gamesfirst has the links to all the Halo 3 reviews, as well as overall thoughts from sites all over the interweb. Our own review is forthcoming (as we have to wait for the release) but in case you\'re curious about what everybody else is saying, this article is for you.
Come back to this article to see updated reviews as the week, and the Halo 3 playing, continues.
editorial | 09/20/07 | Chris Martin
Gears of War is considered one of the best shooters on the Xbox 360, scratch that, one of the best shooters period. But But Epic\'s gruesome stop-and-popper is still second best on Xbox Live losing to a last generation Halo 2. It\'s a great game, sure, but it has problems. Serious problems. Find out why Chris would be so quick to toss GoW to the wind, perhaps you sympathize.
editorial | industry | 09/17/07 | Chris Martin
This article came by way of
Shacknews, but originated from
Pro-G who reported (citing some insider info) that Sony is likely to announce at TGS a new Dual Shock (we are only on #2, at this point) in an effort to cover their bloodied SIXAXIS tracks right into your living room. The rumored \"update\" looks an attempt to curb the potty mouths of internet users and Sony bashers everywhere, and comes hot off negotiations with rumble manufacturers (and patent holders)
Immersion. And it\'s about damn time, since the PlayStation pioneered rumble anyway. Now that rumble is being reconsidered in the PS3, is it enough? Will it be enough? We give our two cents.
gallery | 09/08/07 | Chris Martin
Once the reveared developers of Shenmue, Virtua Fighter, Afterburner, Space Harrier (the list goes on) are hard at work bringing their \"light gun shooter\" Ghost Squad to the Nintendo Wii. Which means it\'s a \"Wii gun shooter\" or a \"light Wii shooter\" or a \"Wiimote shooter.\" Whatever you call it, it\'s very much in Wii vein with 4-player co-op. Sure, the game has been out in arcades since 2004, but better late than never, I always say.
gallery | 09/07/07 | Chris Martin
For a game to share a name with the hometown of a certain caped crusader and to become one of Microsoft\'s flagship series is kind of mindboggling. Project Gotham Racing 4 has become the place to go for mostly arcade, semi-simulation racing. It\'s a game about looking good while winning, and in the fourth iteration, Bizarre has added some features to make you look even better. This game is looking gorgeous, and we can\'t wait for it to get here. In the meanwhile, here are some pics from the new \"Photo Mode\" and some very sexy pics at that.
editorial | 09/06/07 | Chris Martin
We went in expecting Magic the Gathering Online Version 3, but what we got was much, much bigger than we anticipated. PAX 07 was great for a number of reasons - concerts, contests, Family Feud - but Wizards of the Coast\'s ace in the hole Gleemax took us aback, slapped us around, and handed to us the most complete vision of an online gaming community we\'ve ever seen. Complete with indie game developer support, event hosting, and cross-game currency and trading. Don\'t know about Gleemax? You should, and here\'s why...
editorial | happening | 09/05/07 | Monica Hafer
Our roving reporter Monica Hafer, in search of excitement and mayhem, wound in up San Diego for this year\'s Comic-Con. This year was the biggest turnout in its history, selling out all four days of the convention. Prepare to be delighted in the latest comics, games, and costumes that our girl could find and pictures of some of the festivities!
editorial | 08/23/07 | Chris Martin
It\'s
officially unofficial according to Capcom reps. But you know we\'ll probably see a Dead Rising sequel some time in the near future.
Dead Rising sold over a million copies worldwide and became one of the staple buys for adopters of the Xbox 360. It was an excellent survival horror game with some great humor. The sandbox environment, multiple endings, and various side quests gave it longevity. Basically, we know it\'s coming on one platform or another. Not
if but
when it gets announced, here are the top 20 features we would like to see in the sequel.
editorial | 05/15/07 | Monica Hafer
There\'s quiet a bit of talk these days about the new wave of online gaming. One of the most publicized is the notion of real-life economies where a person can make a living doing what they love most--gaming! But often times these games aren\'t really judged as a gaming experience and only get press for their entrepreneurial events. In an attempt to penetrate the \"real-deal\" of Entropia Universe, it is necessary to make the investment of time to discover its complexity and uniqueness.
interview | 05/15/07 | Monica Hafer
Alt-Reality games are so hot right now. Seriously. CIO of MindArk, developer of the Alt-reality game Entropia Universe took the time to talk to our own Monica Hafer and discuss what it takes to maintain and balance an alternate reality game and an alternate reality game economy.
editorial | happening | 05/02/07 | Aaron Stanton
When a student at Clements High School in Texas made a video game mod based on the layout of his local high school, he probably didn\'t expect the reaction it eventually received. Two months after the map was created, the Virginia Tech shootings happened, and authorities took the students map as a threat. Not only was he removed from the campus grounds and sent to an alternative school, he\'s been bared from participating in graduation. Yet no one seems to believe that he actually represented a threat to the community - in that no one seems convinced he was on the verge of picking up a gun and shooting someone. The only problem is that he did something that - some people, at least - connect to events like Virginia Tech. In other words, it didn\'t matter that he wasn\'t really a witch, merely that he looked enough like one to be punished.
editorial | 04/04/07 | Chris Martin
Microsoft seems to be trying to play catch-up with the wrong gaming company. Instead of chasing the Nintendo Wii as it storms through the gaming industry, Microsoft is introducing features that bring it closer in line with the PS3. The PS3 has Blu-ray; Xbox 360 gets a HD DVD drive. PS3 has HDMI, and now so does the Xbox 360 Elite. Both systems now have price tags approaching half a grand. Standing in the middle between Nintendo and Sony\'s price tags, Microsoft would be better served introducing a cheaper SKU to compete as a high-end competitor to the Wii, not a low end competitor to the PS3. Yet both Sony and Microsoft seem to be pursuing features that are driven less by consumer demand and more by their own competition for the beefiest console. There\'s a reason that we don\'t need the Xbox 360 Elite; it\'s called the PS3, and not many people are buying that as it is. Why use that as the model for your feature list?
editorial | 03/26/07 | Aaron Stanton
Viva Pinata is one of those games that continues to surface in discussions amongst the GamesFirst staff in a way that is normally reserved for blockbuster titles. Though it certainly is too far outside the realm of \"normal\" to appeal to every gamer, Viva Pinata does an extraordinarily good job of being different and addicting at the same time. Yet its simple gameplay has one issue. Through its use of context sensitive buttons, Viva Pinata managed to take a simple gameplay experience and endow it with the impression that there were too many buttons. Is it possible that what was once a feature that developers bragged about has in some ways managed to simply over-complicate the game?
editorial | industry | 03/20/07 | Chris Martin
Microsoft Game Studios\' head Shane Kim sat down with GameDaily and they talked about everything from the Xbox 360\'s performance in 2006 to the negative feedback the PlayStation 3 has been garnering from a majority of the online press. He\'s fairly candid about his feelings in regard to Nintendo and Sony. And although he does a fair share of boosting Microsoft\'s image, he does have some constructive criticism about Microsoft as well. More inside.
editorial | 03/10/07 | Chris Martin
We loved Viva Pinata so much, our resident creative writer Chris decided to do some neato lyric essay work about it. This is not the review,
go here for the review. But for an interesting take on the Viva Pinata universe, from a second person perspective no less, come on in. WARNING: language.
Entitled to the sweat of our collective brow.