Click image to enlarge
Archive for June 2009
Of all the ripples, rumors, and outright leaks swirling around Sony’s showing at E3, the announcement everyone was hoping for didn’t happen. For the umpteenth time in as many opportunities, Sony’s talked about the PS3 without using those two magic words: price cut. Ever since Microsoft dropped prices on the three versions of the Xbox 360 almost a year ago (bringing their hard drive-less Arcade unit to the magic $199 price point), cash-strapped gamers have held their breaths in anticipation that Sony would follow suit. So far, no luck. At twice the price of Microsoft’s entry-level unit, the $399 PS3 consistently brings up the rear in monthly hardware sales (Nintendo’s Wii, meanwhile, sells its normal bajillion units). With a solid stable of great games in 2009, it seems like the only thing keeping gamers from adding Sony’s black box to their sagging entertainment centers is that they just can’t afford it.
For a while now, the rumor has been that a slimmed-down version of the PS3 will hit stores this summer, accompanied by a price drop of anywhere from $50 to $100. But with E3 come and gone, and Sony staying steadfast in its position that the feature-rich PS3 remains a value proposition at the current price, is it all just wishful thinking?
Considering the $250 price point for the new PSP Go, it might be.
Continue reading Does a $250 PSP Go Mean No PS3 Price Cut This Year?
I don’t know what “Diva Girls” are but as long as they’re not as whorish as the Bratz, then I’m willing to give them a fair shake. If you’re a Wii and/or DS owner and have long thought that your life has thus far been a sad, incomplete batch of misery and discontentment without the presence of an adolescent-girl-ice-skating sim, then buck up champ, your time has come!
Diva Girls: Divas on Ice will triple Lutz into your hearts on June 16. Pulse-quickening screens after the jump.
Do you desire a crippling, debilitating addiction, but can’t afford the cost of heroin or all the fussing with needles? Looking for your next fix, but tired of the bloody noses that come with constant cocaine use? Have we got the fix for you, my friends. Peggle, the PopCap Games game that destroys marriages and lives, received a faithful port to the iPhone platform, and is now on sale for a measly 99 cents. That’s right, less than a dollar.
From someone who a) is in rehab for Peggle addiction and b) spent five bucks on the game full price when it came out, this is a fantastic deal. It’s not just that I’m lonely here in rehab with no one to play Peggle with. Honestly!
Peggle for the iPhone and iPod Touch is available via the Apple Store.
The Charge
War is Hell–and bananas giraffe forklift!
Opening Statement
Activision continues its money-printing shooter franchise with a stark departure from the series. Be warned: this isn’t the Call of Duty you’re used to.
Continue reading Review: Call of Duty Post-Modern Warfare (Xbox360/PS3)
It’s a wild and wooly return to our normal podcast format this week, as Erich, Dave, Adam, and Steve ramble their way through tangents, technical difficulties, innuendo, and the occasional video game talk. Dave hacks his way through a bargain bin purchase of Devil May Cry 4, Adam gets sucked back into World of Warcraft, Erich replays New Super Mario Bros., and Steve talks Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings before laying into Prototype. The crew puts a bow on E3 with final thoughts on games like Just Cause 2, Castlevania: Lord of Shadows, and Assassins Creed 2, leading into a discussion of which games they actually plan on buying before year’s end. (Spoiler: Steve’s going to buy everything.) And if Dave’s Skype connection hadn’t reduced him to feeding text messages for Steve to read aloud, there might actually have been a discussion of this week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum topic: Favorite Capcom Game. Where’s “that guy from Saved By the Bell” when you need him?
What do you plan on picking up this year? Add it to the comments below, or join the discussion in the Jury Room forums. Afraid of public scrutiny? Email us at feedback@pixelverdict.com.
You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.
Ripclaw? What's a Ripclaw?
The Charge:
Become Anything… Change everything!
Opening Statement:
After a few less than stellar Crash Bandicoot titles, the developers at Radical Entertainment, the guys behind the critically acclaimed Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, have returned to the sandbox territory with Prototype, but does the game have what it takes to survive in today’s more sophisticated sandbox?
Facts of the Case:
A gravelly, brooding voice tells us that we are Alex Mercer (no relation to Pixel Verdict’s own resident superhero, Jon Mercer), and Alex Mercer is having a bad day. It would seem Alex has woken up dead, or more accurately, he’s woken up on an autopsy table, with no memory of who he is. Turns out there’s a virus loose in New York City that he may have something to do with, the GenTEK corporation is hunting his every move, his wardrobe looks like he mugged Avril Lavigne, and his sister just can’t stop compulsively dropping f-bombs, with extra enunciation on the “f” part. Luckily, Alex is also blessed with super mad crazy super powers, the kind that let him morph parts of his body into melee weapons, defy gravity by running sidelong up the surface of even the tallest buildings, and disguising himself as whomever he’s consumed in order to escape detection. It’s all up to Alex to piece together the fragments of his clouded past and hopefully save the Big Apple from certain doom. All in a day’s work for a super hero, right?
"Don't get up in my Tiger's grille! You see what he did to Roy!"
The Charge:
Light or Shadow, You Decide!
Opening Statement:
After more than a few delays, and a divisive late-2008 PC release, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel at last makes its way to Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox360. Is this PC transplant truly a sacred offering for console owners? Or does it deserve a special place in hack n slash hell?
Facts of the Case:
A mysterious force known only as T-Energy fuels the flow of life and magic in the fantasy kingdom of Ancaria. Originally the dominion of the Seraphim, a race of warrior women resembling something out of a Todd McFarlane comic, these female ass-kickers grew bored with controlling this blue goop, and transferred their power to the High Elves. Now, the difference between “high” elves and regular old vanilla Elves is that High Elves are bigger douchebags. Being supreme jerks, the High Elves split into two factions, and began squabbling over control of the T-Energy. Every other race on the planet decided to make a grab for the T-Energy as well, figuring the High Elf jerks would be too busy stabbing one another to notice. Much more stabbing would ensue. Stabbing accompanied by the dulcet tones of Medieval minstrels, Blind Guardian.
Your role in all this depends on the choice you make immediately following the title screen. You can choose light, and attempt to return order to the wonderful world of Ascarion, or, you could choose shadow, and aid the douchebags in destroying one another by spreading even more chaos.
Continue reading Review: Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PS3/Xbox360)