Scrounging around the internet as I always do, I happened upon this INCREDIBLY detailed article/essay regarding No More Heroes, the sleeper-hit from a couple months ago. Various reviews and articles discussing the title have described it as ‘punk’. Not your sad excuse, MCR, Sum 41 kind of punk, boys and girls. I mean the Ramones/Clash/Sex Pistols, stick-it-to-the-man, slap in the face punk.

The article goes into the various levels of symbolism that can be found in the enormously eccentric plot of the title. After reading it, I ended up discovering points I hadn’t even considered, and honestly, I appreciate the game even more now. There are some spoilers, so if you have yet to beat it, or haven’t even played it, approach with caution. But, it’s an excellent read and I strongly recommend it to anyone.

No More Heroes is, on the surface, a game that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. But first impressions most certainly don’t do it justice. The more I’ve thought about the game and analyzed it, the more I’ve come to realize its genius. I’ve contemplated for weeks on how to discuss this topic. It was dark, humorous, and flat-out absurd. It was an experience that absolutely begged to be recounted, yet it was so ridiculous that I had no idea where to start.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Check it out, we made the local newspaper for camping out for Smash Bros. We were first in line, and got interviewed by a dude. There’s our fifteen minutes of local fame! Woo!

Check out the article here!

To Smith, games are more than just a distraction. “Unlike other art forms, like movies or paintings that are meant to be viewed, games are meant to be played.”

Yeah, I’m awesome.

Uber anticipated strategy RPG Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift is heading to North America! Square announced that the game is set to launch on June 24th. Now, if only I knew what a grimoire was…

Grimoire: noun, a manual of black magic (for invoking spirits and demons)

Ah, thank you dictionary.com!

Hit the jump for the presser.

Read the rest of this entry »

Found a very well done article discussing the controversial topic of violent video games. Are they bad for society? Is there enough psychological evidence to warrant violent games as illegal? The article is the first of a 3-part series meant to discuss the topic from all angles. Let me personally say that it’s the best article I have read through arguing the topic, with opinions and viewpoints coming in from all angles.  I strongly suggest you check this one out. Click the link below.

Link

Nintendo announced that Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the fastest selling game in the company’s history. The title has sold 1.4 million copies since it’s release just over a week ago, included in that was 847,000 copies on the first day alone!

No wonder nobody could get online the first day…. if YOU haven’t picked it up yet, well, what are you waiting for? You’d better hurry though. At that rate, they’re selling 120 copies per minute.

Me too. The only catch is, you’d have to forfeit $90,000… and relocate to Colorado.

It’s been one of my dreams for a while, and probably always will be (to own a game store, not to live in Colorado). Video Game Exchange of Pueblo, Colorado is looking for new ownership. They’ve got everything you need to take over, and for a meager $90,000 you get all of their stock. ALL of their stock. Thousands of games, some for every system, and if Colorado really isn’t your thing you don’t even have to keep the store (though according to the ad, it pulls in a decent $60,000+ profit a year with only one employee). You can just buy all the stock and do with it what you want. Even… get this… play it!

If I only had $90,000 kicking around…

EBay

You’re staring into the face of Mario.

The brand new photoshop blog Pixeloo brings us a vision of what our favourite plumber (or second favourite if you’ve got a Luigi fascination) might look like if he was transported into the real world. Pores and all.

Honestly, it’s a little frightening, but if you consider the amount of “super mushrooms” he eats, it all sorta checks out.

Pixeloo 

Now I’m not the BIGGEST fan of GameTrailersTV (formerly known as Game Head), but host Geoff Keighley always manages to get to talk to Reggie, and it almost always makes you leave with a smile. This latest episode is no different.

Against the backdrop of GDC, Geoff talked to Reggie a little about what’s coming this year for the Wii. Hell, go to any release list for the rest of the year and for the most part, it’s fairly slim-pickings. Reggie, in traditional fashion, only responded by teasing us like holding a donut in front of a jogging, tired overweight individual. Promising to reveal some great new content at E3, Reggie says that Nintendo’s complete lineup for the remainder of the year will be unveiled. Not that that’s a big surprise, but Reggie is like Peter Molyneux. Both could just be talking about crap, but you can’t help but get giddy with anticipation.

While not going into too many specifics, Reggie confirmed that WiiMusic is still in development. Also, ‘gamers should be excited, and the expanded audience will be excited’. Does that mean games being marketed to both audiences? Are we going to get another “bridge game” like Mario Galaxy or Mario Kart Wii?

So what do you think we’ll see at E3? What do you want to see? Disaster: Day of Crisis? Could we see that “returning franchise” be unveiled as teased by IGN? Could it be Kid Icarus? Will we see more of the latest Mario baseball game? Will Camelot confirm a third Golden Sun? Hey, historically speaking, aren’t we due for a new Zelda trailer?

We’ve got a thread going about this on the forums. Let’s hear your predictions!

So if you’re dying to get some kind of teaser to get excited for E3, check out the GameTrailersTV episode (and I recommend you do) by hitting the link below:

GameTrailers TV

Renegade Kid, developer of the first-person survival horror, DS title, Dementium: The Ward, has just unveiled their latest project. Previously known as Project M, the new project has been entitled Moon.

The game premise is set in the 22nd century on a colony being built on the moon. As the facility is being built, they uncover an underground alien race and all hell breaks loose.

Moon promises to push the DS even further than Dementium had done last year. The game promises to feature a very slick in-house developed 3D engine, dynamic audio, real-time lighting, and even slicker controls. Renegade Kid already impressed with last year’s title, so this new title is certainly promising.

Unlike Dementium, Gamecock will not be publishing the title. Publishing rights have instead been signed with Mastiff.  But this signing is not due to any “bad blood” says Renegade Kid’s creative director and owner, Jools Watsham. In fact, the two are still in talks for future projects together. However, they are talking about a more long-term deal.

Now this is a developer I love. They’re taking risks, and fighting against the image that has been set by Nintendo’s platforms, aiming for an audience that hasn’t been marketed to. I have huge respect for Renegade Kid, and I can’t wait to hear more about this title and whatever future plans they may have.

No release date has been set for Moon, but it’s likely we’ll see something at E3 in the summer months.

The premiere trailer (which is much more like a movie’s opening credits) can be found on IGN here.

So how’s everybody liking Brawl? Awesome, yes. It has taken over my life, haha.

Nintendo’s announced that the quasi-anticipated Mario Kart Wii will be hitting store shelves on April 27th in North America. I love how we only have to wait two weeks after Europe gets it, but they still don’t even have a release date for Brawl. Poor poor Europeans. It’ll ship with the Wii wheel, which will most likely suck, and we’ll all play with Gamecube controllers anyways. Mario Kart Wii also has 12-player online, which will be bitchin’. Yes, bitchin’. Buy it when it comes out, because it will be fun.