Late in the game review: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Game title: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: Nintendo
Release date: December 7, 2009

Late in the game review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

Game title: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Platform: PS3 via Playstation network (PSN), Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA)
Developer: Ubisoft
Release dates: August 10, 2010 (PSN), August 25, 2010 (XBLA)

Late in the game review: Fallout: New Vegas

Game title: Fallout: New Vegas
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developers: Obsidian Entertainment, Bethesda Softworks
Release date: October 19, 2010

Pacing yourself

It's getting to be that magical time of year once again, folks. The time when the air grows cooler, when families gather together, and when everyone you meet seems to have a spring in their step. That's right, the winter gaming season has begun.

Late in the Game Review: Dokapon Kingdom

Game title: Dokapon Kingdom
Platforms: Wii, PS2
Developer: Atlus
Release date: October 14, 2008

Late in the game review: Portal 2

Game title: Portal 2
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC/Mac
Developer: Valve
Release date: April 18, 2011

Late in the game review: Sonic Generations

Game title: Sonic Generations
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, PC
Developers: Sega, Sonic Team
Release date: November 1, 2011

Late in the game review: Red Dead Redemption

Game title: Red Dead Redemption
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360
Developer: Rockstar
Release Date: May 18, 2010

Flashback: Party however you want in Dragon Quest IX

For uninitiated readers, the Dragon Quest series is by far the most popular series of RPGs in Japan. It's not uncommon for Japanese businesses to shut down when a new Dragon Quest is released because so many employees have skipped work to pick up the next installment. The fact that the newest one is exclusive to the DS is a great asset to Nintendo. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies has some big shoes to fill, and it does not disappoint.

Flashback: Crackdown 2 is astoundingly mediocre

Crackdown 2 is finally out and gamers have greeted it with a well-deserved cry of "meh." The first Crackdown had more going for it: it included the Halo 3 beta.

Flashback: Transformers: War for Cybertron breeds Halo and Twisted Metal

The game industry is a lot like the film industry. More an more often, the fomula seems to boil down to taking existing intellectual property, adapting it to the medium and then cranking out as many sequels as possible. This has been done in video games for years, especially with superhero games, and thinking about these poorly-made, unoriginal disappointments gives the whole genre an overwhelming sense of dread. That's the feeling that comes when hearing that there's a new Tranformers game, but it will quickly dissipate this time around.

100 posts!

Hard to believe it, but this is post number 100 for Deranged Gamer. I hope everyone reading has enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for everything, Internet! 

Flashback: Split/Second delivers explosive action

You know how some people only watch car races on TV in the hopes of seeing a wicked crash? Split/Second was undoubtedly made by those people. They've packed so many huge explosions and crashes into this game that you'd think Michael Bay had a hand in it. If there isn't something over-the-top happening every 30 seconds or so, you're playing a different racing game.

Late in the game review: inFAMOUS 2

Game title: inFAMOUS 2
Console: PS3
Developer: Sucker Punch
Release date: June 7, 2011

Late in the game review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Game title: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Console: Wii
Developer: Nintendo
Release date: November 15, 2009

A newcomer's guide to sandbox games

Sandbox games are nothing new to the industry, but many non-gamers may not be familiar with the style or the games that use it. So, for all of you out there that are unfamiliar, welcome. Here's what you should expect.

Late in the game review: Dead Rising 2

Game title: Dead Rising 2
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Capcom
Release date: September 24, 2010 (PS3 and Xbox 360), September 28, 2010 (PC)

Flashback: Skate 3 raises the bone-cracking bar

The series that put Tony Hawk to shame is back to bring the pain. Skate 3 takes the players to Port Carverton, the ultimate skating utopia. This city has ramps and rails everywhere, and since it's a utopia, security guards won't be chasing you down and knocking you around this time.

Late in the game review: Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Game title: Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Ubisoft
Release Date: November 15, 2011

Flashback: Splinter Cell: Conviction makes its mark

Sam Fischer returns in Splinter Cell: Conviction to find out the truth about his daughter and crack a few heads along the way.

Flashback: Just Cause 2 is a cocktail of monk-crafted crack

Explosions are the name of the game with Just Cause 2. Players resume the role of Rico Rodriguez as he completes missions to uncover a plot that surrounds the island nation of Panau. Mostly though, it's a third-person shooter about a guy with a grappling hook and a penchant for destruction.

Flashback: God of War III: If it an't broke...

The God of War series is a gaming powerhouse, and God of War III reminds us why. It picks up right where God of War II left off: With the protagonist Kratos leading an army of Titans up Mount Olympus screaming "ZEUS!" so hard he almost pops a blood vessel.

Flashback: Final Fantasy XIII sends mixed messages

The series that's anything but final has returned to consoles with its thirteenth numbered installment. Over 5 million copies have been sold [at the time of writing], so why all the fuss?

Flashback: Killzone 2 delivers

Killzone 2 has been one of the most anticipated games in the PS3's future for years. It was announced years ago, even before the PS3 was released. After all that anticipation, [Sony] delivered a solid shooter.

Flashbacks

I've got some older content, and I thought I'd share.

Americans like free games, go figure

A new report by NPD Group, a leading market research firm, states that free-to-play games are becoming wildly popular with Americans, and turning into a profit, to boot.

Take time, make time

I've written previously about how hectic life can be, and how important it is to find gaming time despite that, but I think it bears repeating.

Assemble!

So, The Avengers is coming out in less than a month. This thing has been building since 2008 when Iron Man first came to theaters, incorporates four major comic book characters with their own origin movies, two of which already have sequels. Needless to say, I'm fairly excited.

"Family values" groups continue anti-gay campaigns against EA and BioWare

BioWare, and its owner EA Games, have been the targets of more than one email campaign by organizations that are outraged that same-sex romantic relationship are available in some of their games. In the past few years, games like the Dragon Age series, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Mass Effect 3 have had these possibilities.

Late in the game review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Game title: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Console: Wii 

Developer: Nintendo 

Release date: November 20, 2011

ALL .com, .net and .org websites are subject to U.S. laws

The Internet is, undeniably, a global community. Anybody from anywhere all across the world can start up a website and start producing content. Well, it turns out that, even if the website is owned an operated outside of the United States, the U.S. government probably still has control over it.

UK retailers Game and Game Station refuse to stock EA titles, cancel pre-orders

You know how Gamestop is everywhere in the U.S.? It's one of the few game-only retailers out there these days. Well, in the U.K. their equivalent is a chain of stores named Game. Seriously, I've seen three of these things withing 5 miles of each other before.

Now Game and it's subsidiary, Game Station, are reportedly refusing to stock all EA game releases for at least the month of March and cancelling customers' pre-orders. That means U.K. gamers will have to look elsewhere for Tiger Woods 13, Sims 3: Showtime, and Mass Effect 3.

Late in the game review: Batman: Arkham City

Game Title: Batman: Arkham City
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Rocksteady
Release Date: October 18, 2011

Schedule adjustment

Hey all, I just wanted to make this post to say that, due to scheduling conflicts, Deranged Gamer will have one-update weeks for the next two or three weeks. New posts will be on Thursdays. Come on back next Thursday to check out a new late in the game review!

Late in the game review: LittleBigPlanet 2

Game Title: LittleBigPlanet 2
Console: PS3
Developer: Media Molecule
Release Date: January 18, 2011

Collapsing anime snow sculpture injures an elderly woman in Japan

A unnamed 61-year-old woman in Japan recently reportedly sustained small injuries when a statue of Hatsune Miku, the anime-styled Japanese pop-star, collapsed.

83-year-old woman replaces her lower jaw with a 3D-printed version

An elderly woman in Belgium has successfully had her entire lower jaw replaced with one created with a 3D printer. This is reportedly the first time something like this has been done.

Bioware to host summit with The Old Republic guild leaders

Bioware, creators of, among other things, the hit MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, plans to host a summit to discuss "the state of the game" with the players. Specifically, guild leaders.

Late in the game review: The Force Unleashed II

Game Title: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Console: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo DS, iOS
Developer: LucasArts
Release Date: October 26, 2010

Battlefield 3 hackers exploit the system to frame innocent gamers

Hackers. They can be a pretty common thing with online games these days. Usually, they cheat to give themselves an unfair edge against others or to get themselves extra benefits like XP. But what happens when hackers start targeting innocent players, and those players end up banned as a result? That's exactly what's been happening on the PC version of Battlefield 3 these days.

The SOPA 'splosion

As I'm sure all you tech-savvy readers are aware, last week was quite an eventful one in the age of the internet. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its counterpart the Protect IP Act (PIPA, somehow short for the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act) have taken the internet by storm. And by "storm," I mean that thing that happens right after you kick a bee hive.

Late in the game review: LittleBigPlanet

Game Title: LittleBigPlanet
Console: PS3
Developer: Media Molecule
Release Date: October 28, 2008

Late in the game review: Mass Effect 2

Game Title: Mass Effect 2 
Consoles: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Bioware
Release Date: January 26, 2010

U.S.-born video game designer sentenced to death in Iran

Amir Mizra Hekmati, an Iranian-American working for New York-based Kuma Reality Games, has been sentenced to death after allegedly confessing to spying and creating games specifically to sway public opinions concerning U.S. policies. 

Back in the saddle

After a holiday absence, Deranged Gamer is back in action! While taking some time off from writing, one fact has recently become apparent: how scarily easy it is to get wrapped up in day-to-day life without including our favorite hobby.