Review: Nintendo 3DS Console

The Nintendo 3DS portable gaming system is among the most anticipated releases in recent history, but it seems a bit of an uphill battle for this platform. With no ability to capture the actual effect on camera, the 3DS has a limited amount of commercial marketability. Being caught up in the throes of the “3D Age”, it may seem a bit gimmicky, but it's not the first time that the 'gimmicky' handle has stood in the way of Nintendo's success. With many touted benefits and new features, can it overcome the doubters and the downfalls a new platform imminently must face, or are we in the early stages of what will ultimately be dubbed as the unwanted successor to the Virtual Boy?

Having actually had the chance to play the 3DS has definitely opened my mind to the system, more than I originally thought it would. Though crisp and eye catching, the graphics are not seemingly a vast improvement over the DSi’s capabilities, but it is still early and hopefully we will eventually start to see some titles that will push the systems graphical capabilities. The addition of the “slide pad” analog control stick adds a new level of control, as it is not only easier to maneuver, it's much more comfortable. Another new addition are the cameras, which now number three in total: two on the outside facing away from you, and one on the inside directly facing you. The 0.3 mega-pixelll cameras don’t seem to be an improvement at all over that of the DSi/DSi Xl, except for the fact that the outer two can utilize 'line of sight technology' and take 3D images. This is quite awesome, and in addition the system also comes with free “augmented reality cards”, which when used in conjunction with the camera display a 3D image on your screen. The 3DS has a gyroscopic sensor as well as an accelerometer, which means it can utilize some amount of motion based control into its games. Finally, the system is also stocked with random other neat little features, such as a built in activity log to keep track of play time per game, and a pedometer which rewards gamers with coins that can be used to purchase items in games. The 3DS also retains the microphone feature from its predecessors.

Of course, the 3DS is capable of multiplayer through a Wi-Fi or LAN connection, but Nintendo decided to throw in a couple new features: Street Pass and Spot Pass. Street Pass is a function which allows players to pass each other with their 3DS in sleep mode and gain trophies or figures for basically just having the game. Utilizing a similar technology, the Spot Pass mode will automatically seek out Wi-Fi hotspots to allow the 3DS to update while in sleep mode, and will also allow for gamers to play online in more public settings. Hopefully this means that the 3DS will have more games that support online play, and in a better way, than the DS ever did. Nintendo has already announced that in late May they will be utilizing AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots to provide gamers with more accessibility at no additional charge, so that should help as well.

The top screen on the 3DS is now in a widescreen (16:9) format, but it is hardly noticeable without a previous generation DS for comparison. The lower touch screen however is slightly smaller than the top screen, and appears so partly due to the fact that it is now framed in by the navigational buttons along the bottom. The new navigational buttons are nicely laid out along the bottom of the screen which allow you to move through the 3DS's menu. The menu system will be very familiar to users of the DSi. The system is, unfortunately, a bit thicker than previous versions of the DS, making it harder to carry in your pocket. The system does have an e-shop channel (similar to the Wii Shop Channel) but it will not be launching until sometime in May.

The lineup of launch titles for this system feels a bit weak and only holds a few games that will really last long enough to hold most gamers interest. Nintendo is only bringing three first-party titles to the launch table: Pilotwings Resort, Nintendogs & Cats, and Steel Diver. The good new is, though, that the 3DS has full backwards compatibility, so you can keep playing your favorite DS games. With Nintendo having already announced the development of new Zelda, Starfox, & Mario Kart titles, along with many others, the system will hopefully have a strong first-party lineup by year's end. For the currently available third-party titles, Street Fighter IV 3D and Rayman 2 seem to be the stand outs, with additional solid titles such as Dead or Alive: Dimensions to land soon after launch.

The 3DS releases March 27^th, 2011, and seeing truly is believing in this case. Time alone will tell if this system will have what it takes to make it in the game industry today, but let it not go unsaid that it is an extremely innovative device that could possibly change the way games are done from now on. All in all, it functions well and, all complaints aside, has so far managed to make a great impression, at least with myself. I personally recommend the system, and I'm eagerly looking forward to what I believe will be its very bright and successful future.

Submitted By: Corey Hall (Employee)

Review: Catherine (PS3/360)

Like Catherine and Katherine, our love for this game can't be restricted to just one person, so we had two reviewers give their takes on this amazing game! The first review was done before the game was released in America, using a Japanese copy, while the second one was reviewed after its US release. That being said, let the review commence!

                                                                                                                                                

Atlus, renowned publisher of edgy, interesting RPGs such as the Persona series, has finally released a new game to their adoring public. Interestingly enough, Catherine, for the PlayStation 3, is not an RPG. While still edgy and interesting, Catherine is an adult, violent, slightly disturbing, completely addicting puzzle game.

Following the story of a young man named Vincent, the game plunges you into his life, quickly setting up the basic information you need to know. Young men across the country have mysteriously been found dead in their beds a few days after telling their friends they've been seeing weird, scary dreams. Now, you, as Vincent, are having them too. Throw into all this that you are being stalked by a sexy blonde girl with the same name as your girlfriend of five years, and Vincent starts really having problems.

The game is half puzzle, half relationship sim, with a little bit of horror and suspense thrown in. The relationship sim part comes from your daily interactions with your friends, Katherine (your girlfriend of 5 years who is pressuring you to get married) and Catherine (the aforementioned sexy blonde girl). How you play the game, and what conversation choices you make, determines whether you end up with one girl or the other, or alone. The puzzle part comes at night, as Vincent goes to bed. Every night, you are thrust into a nightmare where you have to climb a pile of blocks that are constantly falling in order to get to the top and escape as fast as you can.

The gameplay is simple, as all you do is literally pull and push blocks around. As the game progresses, you run into different types of blocks, some which can't be moved, or explode when you stand on them, that increase the difficulty. You also learn different tricks and patterns to pull blocks into in order to climb up the tower faster, but you don't get any new abilities or powers to help you as you progress. Despite this seemingly simple and austere gameplay, it is amazingly addictive, and surprisingly nerve-wracking. Finding yourself frantically pulling blocks, trying to figure out how to climb up higher, while the blocks almost immediately under you just fell into a bottomless pit, is prime sweaty-palm inducing stuff. For added stress, each boss level usually finds you being chased by a monster straight out of your nightmares, literally, as you climb... just in case you weren't stressed out enough whenever you got stumped.

A perfect complement to the frantic gameplay is the story. Starting out almost serene, it slowly builds in pace, tension, and suspense until you get to the end of the game. Eventually, all your answers about the mysterious deaths and where your stalker come from are answered, but how the game ends is up to the choices you make. There's about 8 different endings you can get, some better than others. The story is supported the whole way through by beautiful graphics in-game, and amazing anime cut-scenes for the cinemas, which will make even a casual Persona fan froth at the mouth imagining what Persona 5 will look like on the PS3.

This game was originally not supposed to ever come out in the US, but it has sold so well in Japan that Atlus has decided to release it in the States this July. Hopefully it will stay just the same as the Japanese version, as there is no where to really improve on this amazingly fun and interesting game. Pick it up as soon as you get the chance, and get lost in the world of Catherine.

Submitted By: Sherrie Blackwell (Employee)

                                                                                                                                            

When faced with a game as unique as this one, it's hard to describe its genre to others. When you say the words "it's a dating sim/puzzle game", they give you the weirdest look you will have ever seen, but in the case of Catherine, well...... that's what the game is. Catherine is developed and published by ATLUS, renowned makers of quirky RPGs like the Persona series. In fact, Catherine originally started out as a test for the PS3/360 hardware for Persona 5, but it truly blossomed into its own with its unique visuals and its intense and intriguing story.

As stated earlier, this game was originally conceived as a test for Persona 5, meaning that the same brilliant minds behind the Persona series were working on this game, and all of the stylistic visuals and dark story interactions are up to par with that series. The game puts you in the shoes of Vincent Brooks, a 32 year old man who can't seem to make up his mind about what he wants to do with his life, especially his love life. His girlfriend of 5 years, Katherine, is constantly pressuring him to get married, but he just can't seem to take the plunge. Then late one night he has a fateful meeting with another woman, Catherine, who just so happens to have the same name as his girlfriend, and madness ensues. From there the plot twists and turns more than an M. Knight Shyamalan movie! Along the way, you can make decisions on what to say to other characters that effects a "morality meter" that can determine the overall outcome of the game, as well as which 'Catherine' you end up with. That being said, there are 8 different endings to the game, so your decisions really effect how happy you'll be when the credits screen rolls.

The gameplay is... well, it's a dating sim/puzzle game, so suffice to say it has a very unique play style. Similar to the Persona games, you spend your days interacting with other characters, helping them with their problems and having various discussions with Catherine/Katherine. At night, you have nightmares in which you must climb a tower. However, just climbing a tower would be boring without the threat of death close behind, so you are quickly informed that if you die in the dream, you die in real life! This is bad news for Vincent, so in order to navigate your way up these towers you must move blocks around to create a path to the top, all the while dodging the enemies and obstacles in your way trying to hinder your progress. It is a very challenging process, and on the hardest difficulty there is a huge sense of accomplishment when you've completed a puzzle, because hardest must mean insane difficulty to ATLUS. Finally, once you've beaten the game, you can compete in multiplayer head-to-head matches, as well as a mode called "Babel", which is a challenge mode of sorts with 4 increasingly difficult levels. Just in case the normal game wasn't enough of a challenge for you, that is.

All in all, Catherine is an incredibly interesting and "Qbert-ian" journey that is well worth multiple play-throughs to see what comes of Vincent, or, more accurately, what you choose to have happen to him. If the quality and beauty of Catherine's graphics and storytelling are any indication, then Persona 5 should be a real treat as well.

Submitted by: Tom Ferko (Employee)

Review: Bulletstorm (360/PS3)

“Is it just any old thing you touch that crumples into dog !@#$?”

“Your Mom survived. Barely.”

“Guess I know how the old gal got that limp.”

Make no mistake, Epic’s new FPS BulletStorm will win no Oscar this year for intelligent prose. This game drops the F-bomb almost as often as I did as an enlisted soldier in the army, and the gore is so over the top that it’ll probably make even the most anti-videogame lobbyist feel silly for ever complaining about Mortal Kombat. However, despite the fact that the game is being marketed as the next “controversial avant-garde” action game, BulletStorm delivers one of the satisfying and fun experiences I’ve ever had playing a videogame.

Like most people, I purchased the game for no other reason than to play the Gears of War 3 beta; I wasn’t even planning on playing it till the beta launched. Black Ops burnout was really setting in, however, so I decided pop in BulletStorm, expecting a quick mindless frag-fest. I was more than shocked to find out that BulletStorm’s profane and shallow exterior was nothing more than a candy coating for the real treat that wasn’t advertised. The environments in BulletStorm are full of colorful and vicious life, packed so full of details and backstory that the developers really made it feel like it was a world long before you decided to crash land on it. The “kill with skill” tagline really delivers, as there are a multitude of different ways you can kill the hordes of enemies set against you, and the game rewards you with better weapons and jump out of your seat “HOLY !@#$, that just happened” moments. Early in the game I was a bit tentative and was satisfied with kicking enemies off cliffs and impaling them on jutting pieces of rebar, but later found the joy of hitting them with anti-gravity and turning them into a sloppy bottle rocket with one of my firearms. Of course, there are many, many more ways to kill your enemies in BulletStorm, which I encourage you to explore.

Like every game, this one has its downsides. Despite the fact that this is a very well made game (imagine if they made Gears of War a FPS), you won’t be wearing an MLG BulletStorm T-shirt any time soon. Unfortunately, the multiplayer is much more like Halo “Firefights” than a “Team Death Match”. You can kill the AI in hundreds of cool ways, but your friends? Not so much. If you were looking for a realistic tactical experience, you’ll also be woefully disappointed. Oftentimes cover is more dangerous than the enemies themselves, so methodical gameplay is pushed aside for a more balls to the wall approach. Lastly, the profanity is so intense, that videogame reviewers will say things like “Balls to the Wall” and not even bat an eyelash. Seriously, don’t buy this for your 8 year old. You were warned. However, if you are mature enough, or the person you are buying it for is, be prepared for one of the most ridiculous, bloody, over the top, most-fun-I’ve-ever-had experiences this year.

Submitted By: Daniel Dewey (Employee)

Review: Marvel vs Capcom 3 (360/PS3)

After 10 long years of waiting for the latest installment of Capcom's Vs series, Marvel vs Capcom 3 is finally here. At first glance, the game might appear to be a button-masher, but upon closer examination and experimentation with different characters and strategies, one begins to see the depth possible, and the world really opened up!

Being a big fan of the fighting game genre, I was immensly looking forward to this game, and after getting used to it, I was not let down. In my opinion, the very best thing about this game is that it's very easy to jump into. People who have never played a fighting game in their life can easily find themselves doing fancy combos and having an overall good time with the system. On the other hand, veterans of the fighting-game genre can also bask in the glory of the depth that the game offers, which lurks just beneath the surface. Regardless of level, however, doing 30 hit combos that end in an awe inspiring hyper combo, or hitting the assist button at just the right time in order to keep the opponent off the ground and in serious pain, is immensely fun and satisfying.

With all that said, let's get down to the nitty gritty. The graphics are gorgeous, with beautifully rendered character models that look incredibly stylized, like they just came out of a comic book. The story, like most fighting games, is rather light, and there is no specific story mode. However, the arcade mode offers a unique ending for each character that is at least mildly humorous.

There are several people out there that I have heard complaining about the size of the character roster, but in all honesty, there is way more going on in this 36 character roster than there was in MvC2's 52 character roster. In MvC2, the characters were severely unbalanced, and there were several "clone" characters as well. As far as tournament play was concerned, there were only about 8-12 viable characters. However, MvC3's roster has more variety and balance than its predecessor, and there are planned updates to maintain that important balance.

All in all, it's a very enjoyable game that has a lot to offer to both veterans and newcomers to the fighting game genre. Even if it isn't the absolute perfect game, if it's good enough to bring people back to the fighting game scene, then it's done its job. From what I've seen and heard so far, though, I think its doing just that!

Submitted By: Tom Ferko (Employee)

Review: Demon Souls (PS3)

One of the more challenging games exclusively for the Playstation 3, Demon’s Souls provides the satisfaction that many seldom get from most other video games. The story behind the game is fairly simple: a soul-devouring demon called the Old One and his henchmen demons are plaguing the fallen kingdom of Boletaria. These demons take the souls of men to become stronger, and the kingdom is in dire need of a hero to save it and the rest of the world. This is the part where you, fearless adventurer, come in.

You start your adventure fighting an unbeatable Vanguard that invariably kills you, by design.
You are then sent to the Nexus. This is where the plot gets more interesting and creative. The Nexus gives you a ring that can’t be taken off and binds your soul to it. Technically, you are dead, but you are still permitted to travel to the 5 different worlds in the game. Each world has about 3 levels to it and around 4 Demon bosses. You aren't given much guidance after entering the Nexus for the first time, but the main goal is to defeat each Demon boss and reach The Old One at the very bottom of the Nexus.

To increase your stats with your character, you kill the monsters in each world and they drop souls, which you then collect. The catch is that every time you die, all the souls you have at the moment will be gone and you start back at zero in the Nexus. However, there is a way to get those souls back. All you have to do is make it all the way back to the place where you died before, without dying again, and touch your own bloodstain from your previous failure. To add to the difficulty (which is especially horrible if you die really far into the level) all the demons re-spawn in your absence. Also, you don't go back to where you died as a fully healthy, 'alive' version of yourself. You go as a 'soul'. When you’re in soul form, you can still do everything you could if you were alive, but your health is cut by 50%, just in case it wasn't hard enough already to get your body back.

The last very important thing about Demon’s Souls is the Soul Tendency feature. Each world has its own Tendency along with your character. Some areas in the game are not possible to reach without having a Black Tendency or a White Tendency in the world or from your character. Having Black Tendency in a world makes the enemies harder, but gives you better items. Having White Tendency in a world makes the enemies easier, but the items are not as appealing. Changing your Soul Tendency is not very easy, not that anything else in the game is either, and it sometimes takes 2 play-throughs to achieve pure white or pure black. If you die in a world, your tendency in that world will become more black. When you kill a Demon however, the tendency will sway more towards white. However, Soul Tendency overall isn’t vital to the game unless you like getting everything out of your game, so if it sounds too annoying or difficult, feel free to ignore it.

I think that overall this is one of the most challenging games for console systems. I've heard of several people smashing controllers over it [EDITORS NOTE: I myself smashed two controllers into tiny, tiny pieces playing this game]. With that being said, however, they always go out and buy another controller, just to continue playing it. It's beautifully designed, slightly addictive, and while it takes a while to get into, ultimately it can be very satisfying too. Especially when you finally manage to beat the game, since it really is an achievement to be proud of. [EDITORS NOTE: Make sure you keep your eye out for the sequel, Dark Souls, coming later on this year.]

Submitted By: Alex Abreu (Employee)

Review: Bulletstorm (360/PS3)

Blood. Guts. And shooting baddies in the face while intoxicated? You guessed it, Epic Games, creator of the legendary Gears of War series, is back to blow your mind. This time we call it Bulletstorm, and they’ve come to deliver with another, dare I say it, Epic game. It may be ridiculous and unnecessary but that’s one of the aspects that makes it unique from the average shooter.

You find yourself as Grayson Hunt, a space pirate mercenary with an interesting vocabulary. The story is definitely not anything to get excited about by the fact that its nothing new and would be called “cliché” by many. Basically, you’re an angry meat head fueled by whiskey and vengeance when you and your squad find out you were tricked into killing thousands of innocents by a tyrannical general. Don’t expect any crazy surprises in the end because you won’t find them in Bulletstorm. The story is not one of the reasons it’s a game to pick up. The characters may be a little one dimensional but overtime I became interested in the interactions with them. It was cool seeing your partner, Ishi, battle the AI in his head causing almost a split personality. He can either be an impulsive angry terminator or a grave monotonous killer. The characters were interesting to keep track of but the highlight of story mode elements was definitely the environment. Your placed on a surprisingly deadly planet called Stygia, where the inhabitants are as nice as the environment. Unnaturally sized cacti, raging rapids, and scorching deserts are just some of the joys found on the planet. Beautiful as it is dangerous, its even more pretty when there is blood and guts flying around in the air.

Now your asking, what makes it different from other shooters? Bulletstorm is the first game in the genre to introduce the idea of killing with skill. The premise of the game is to gain points by leashing, kicking, and spraying lead through hordes of enemies mixing and matching the three up to get a variety of different ways to kill. Over a 100 different ways to deliver pain kept me coming back to try and get that skillshot I couldn’t get on the first play-through, and some of them do get challenging. After getting these points you can then spend them on equipment like guns which you can upgrade to kill in even more outrageous ways. It’s the cycle of gaining points and spending that surprisingly stays refreshing through the game. Bulletstorm comes with 3 game modes: Story Mode, Echoes, and Anarchy. Since I already covered story mode, I’ll explain echoes. Echoes is divided into 14 submissions from the campaign in which your supposed to use guns of your choice to try to get highscores by getting different skillshots and chaining them together but also finishing the mission quickly. Anarchy is Bulletstorm’s version of horde where you and your friends use team skillshots to get to the required score and finish the 20 rounds. It is fairly easy to level up and get to the capped level of 65 but it is still fun to brag to your friends about getting a quadruple shiskebab into not in Kansas skillshot.

In conclusion I found Bulletstorm to be a refreshing and joyful experience that took me around 10 hours to complete the first time around but add on 20 or so hours of getting high-scores and playing with friends to add some replayability. The quirky cheesy jokes and sadistic gore-filled gameplay told me Bulletstorm was made by some maniacle people who new this game would be eye candy to a FPS junkie like me and anyone else looking for a energizing game to keep us company while waiting for long-awaited titles. Until then, like Grayson Hunt says, “Quit fartin’ around and go kill with some skill!

Submitted by: Nolan Abreu (Customer)