Video game news, video game reviews, walkthroughs, video game mods, and game trailers

Search results for: World of Illusion

Originals

The Magic of Early 90s 3D

Over twenty years ago, video games began taking their first painful steps into 3D spaces. This was a time when Atari's memory was fading fast and the Nintendo Entertainment System was becoming the kingpin of the gaming landscape. Console gaming would spend the next several years perfecting the art of 2D gaming goodness. Words such as “Project Reality” (the Nintendo 64) would be tossed around in magazines every so often, but the simple truth was that home-based polygon video games were years away, and most of the early stuff would be crude at best thanks to limited technology. If you wanted to see the latest and greatest mind blowing 3D gaming technology, you went to arcades. Familiar names like Atari Namco and Sega were in a silent arms race to develop the best, most powerful, most badass, and most boringly titled (“System 21” and “Model 2”... really guys?) custom video game hardware known to man. 3D games were a novelty in arcades for quite some time prior. While quarter munching 2D brawlers like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men or competitive V.S. fighters like Street Fighter II and Fatal Fury were the cheap, reliable workhorses of the floor, every serious arcade operator had at least one super expensive monster 3D machine sitting in a dark corner drawing glares from mystified onlookers more accustomed to the crusty and familiar blocky image of a late gen NES title. Most of the early 3D game designs were crude and blocky, but nobody cared in the late 80s. Moving around in a 3D space with solid 3D objects floating all around you like a Weird Al music video was enough to impress back then. The hardware often ran hot and unreliably, and the cabinets were often mammoth, but they guzzled quarters like nobody's business. These were the trailblazers that tore down the walls and eventually brought 3D home. In this far removed time, outside of more mainstream brand names like Star Fox, nobody remembers these crude, flat-shaded pioneers. Let's take a look at some of the early 3D games that time forgot about...

Originals

Clash of the Titans Review

With summer blockbusters coming to a close, so too are the games based on movies. This year has already seen its fair share of those types of games with really good ones like Toy Story 3. However, this summer’s batch of movie games is going to close out with one of the biggest disappointments with Clash of the Titans. The indication that Clash of the Titans is sub-standard effort should be fairly obvious. Rather than releasing alongside the movie release to cash in on the merchandising dollars, Clash of the Titans was delayed. Not only was that a poor business decision, it appears the game didn’t benefit from that time. It would be unfair to peg the problems squarely on Namco Bandai and developer Game Republic. The movie was delayed to give it a 3D perspective so the game suffered from massive bungling from Hollywood executives.  This had to have caused massive game production problems, which must have been tied to the release window of the movie. The resulting game is full of unfinished ideas and sloppy execution.

Originals

Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol gets the "Role Playing" right but doesn't deliver on the "game" part.

Originals

Nintendo Download - 12/28/09 - Prepare for '10 with 10 New Downloadable Games from Nintendo

...oh. Oh my. This... this is all so rather unexpected. Well, not all of it. We knew Pilotwings was promised for 2009, so it had to be today. And truthfully, it could probably have carried the day alone. But no, we get more. It's almost like Christmas 1991 all over again (despite not getting my Super NES until 1992) as we not only have Pilotwings on the Virtual Console, but the 16-bit love-letter that is Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth as well for the expected 1,000 points. On top of that, DSiWare gets The Oregon Trail, which some of you no doubt remember playing on your school's Apple II back in elementary school and watching everyone die of dysentery (as an aside, I still want a WiiWare version that uses Miis). On top of Pilotwings, Castlevania, and The Dysentery Trail, there's also the WiiWare title RABBIDS Lab, which lets you customize and tease your very own Ubi-bunny inside your Wii Remote for 500 Wii Points. And if all of that isn't enough for you, there's still more. Check it out in the press release after the cut.

Originals

Nintendo Download - 12/14/09 - 11 New Downloads Blast Their Way to Nintendo Systems

It's kind of funny the turnaround the Virtual Console has had this year. It started off a bit slow, with a rumor even emerging after a few no-shows that Nintendo would be discontinuing the service. But now, we're getting some pretty good stuff. Case in point, today's two offerings. Not only are we getting Blaster Master for the NES, which for many people could have carried the day on its own, but another underground hero emerges in Earthworm Jim 2 for the SEGA Genesis. And of course, there are plenty of other more contemporary releases on WiiWare and DSiWare alike. You can find all the details in the press release after the cut.