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In this week's installment of Top 10 Tuesdays, Matt Beaudette of Gaming Irresponsibly counts down the top Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network games.
2011 has been a banner year for gaming. While we have seen major releases at retail, the download market has been just as strong. Sony today revealed the top selling indie games on PSN for 2011. The top game? You'll have to read to find out!
Indie Game: The Movie has officially been funded for launch, and it is truly a film that every gamer should be looking forward to. On this edition of Spotlight on Indie, Bright Hub writer David Sanchez discusses the importance of this upcoming documentary.
The games you know from the article you'd be more than familiar with the skills they possess and really wish you had those skills. Definitely some skills there that would be fantastic to possess.
NoobFeed.com got your back in today's Steam Summer Sale. It's going to be an artsy day today and cheap art at that. If you've got a spare fiver, you'll get your mind blown.
"I’ll start out by welcoming you to ‘Sound Bytes’; our indie game orientated musical rundown thingy. With you arriving at the birthplace of something potentially magical, (well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves), you may find sights and sounds have yet to be fully developed. Especially sounds. Don’t worry though as we’ll get through this together and break on through to the other side.
Although the humble indie game soundtrack can often be overlooked it is starting to become commonplace as ..."
"Andy hosts this week as Pat fulfills his wanderlust. David talks of his Homefront experience and he finally checks out Braid. Andy gives his initial impressions of the Nintendo 3DS and Pilotwings Resort, the Mortal Kombat demo, the Jill & Shuma-Gorath DLC for Marvel vs Capcom 3, and complains about some old PC games. Then Nick talks about his Metro 2033 play through.
We talk about games affected by the disaster in Japan, crumbling consumer confidence in the ability for digital games di..."
An auteur is, in film, a director who maintains complete control over the creative process and infuses a distinct personal style in his or her works. A video game auteur is someone who manages to have games that feel distinctly theirs, with strong narratives, styles, and a loose adherence to typical conventions. They are people who create that certain kind of game you can't find by anyone but them.
"It’s been a wonderful and sometimes bumpy ride for Microsoft with their Xbox 360 console. Improving in areas that they were weak with the original Xbox, Microsoft has pushed forward and continued to work closely to secure third-party publishing deals to keep their fans happy. It’s no surprise that our Top 10 Xbox 360 Games Since Launch is dominated by third-party software."
"Behold: GameZone’s Top 10 XBLA Games since the Xbox 360’s launch in November, 2005. There are plenty of great games that didn’t make the list for one reason or another, but until a port of The Simpsons arcade game arrives, this is our list. It’s interesting to note that the majority of these titles were published by Microsoft."
"If he had played the game, which of course he has not, Ebert would know that Braid is specifically about the impossibility of taking back our mistakes. As the game builds toward its famous final level, time manipulation ceases to be an amusing superpower and becomes instead a tragic distortion of perspective: What if you thought, mistakenly, that you could bend the laws of nature to your will? What sorts of mistakes might you make as a result? You would probably make some pretty horrible o..."
"You’re standing in a dank dungeon, looking for a door that doesn’t exist. The lights flicker, and you hear the raging scream of a distant enemy. Flump, flump – the steps are getting closer. Arming yourself with your favourite weapon, you peer around a corner in the low light and you see him: the Big Daddy. By this time in the game, you have crossed over a mysterious threshold – your brain has mapped itself into the undersea world of Rapture and all you care about is saving your own skin. An i..."
Xboxliveaddicts’ reviewers look back on some of the best Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games of the decade with scores of 9 or above in this feature.
"A whole new audience of gamers will be able to unwrap Braid from today, as Hothead Games has released Jonathan Blow's beloved indie title will on the European PlayStation Network. Available now for only €9.99, Braid offers current and soon-to-be PlayStation 3 owners a little extra holiday cheer this season."
"Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) really came into its own this year. From enormous adventures you can sink dozens of hours into to modest but addictive little puzzle games, Microsoft's downloadable game service has a wide variety of quality offerings.
We know this time of year there are a bunch of new Xbox 360 owners out there, so we've put together this list of the ten essential XBLA games you should download pronto. This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything the service has to offer,..."
Celebrating the 360's fourth anniversary IGN takes a look at the top 25 games on the console including some new and old releases over the years. The list is comprised of a wide variety of genres and features XBLA games for those looking for something on a budget. 360 owners can see what they've missed out on and put on their list for the holiday season.
A great episode of The Bender. We of course get Modern Warfare 2 talk out of the way, but we actually manage to cover the rest of the news too. Braid coming out again, On Demand games (maybe not a bad thing?), and more. listen live/stream through iTunes here or download the mp3 directly here
The critically acclaimed game Braid is finally debuting on PSN. The game surprised, and blew everyone away when it was released on Live and PC. Now PS3 games can get a chance to play this wonderful game on November 12, at the price of $14.99.
Don't know what Braid is? Check out the awesome trailer after the jump!
"Not every quality gaming experience comes from a full retail-sized video game these days. The new surprising breed of gameplay fun can actually come from a downloaded smaller and less expensive bite-sized game from Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), Playstation 3’s Playstation Network (PSN), or Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console.
While we enjoy these downloadable games from all consoles (Flower is an amazing concept!), we will be looking at our staff’s most loved XBLA games. See if you agree with us, or..."
"For a lot of you out there, the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) offerings are either too expensive or not appealing enough to warrant inclusion in your game collection. Personally, I look at the XBLA games as a great supplement to any gamer’s repertoire, as well as an opportunity to boost one’s gamerscore by up to 200 points per game. I own about 18 arcade games, and a lot of them were bought cheaper than you’d expect, at discount (Xbox has a weekly special and a “discount” bin of arcade games)."
""Game creator Jonathan Blow became an overnight celebrity with the success of Braid, a game that he created from scratch with the help of artist David Hellman. It became a huge hit on Xbox Live, and was subsequently released on Mac and PC platforms as well. But it looks as if Xbox 360 won’t be the only game console to support Jonathan Blow’s incredible vision.""
"Generally, the first rule when it comes to rescuing hostages is ‘don’t let everybody get horribly done in.’ But sadly, this proves too much of a stumbling block for many game heroes. Be it accidentally killing geriatrics with a killer virus or letting the damsel in distress get crushed by a cow, the following rescue missions all get botched. Spectacularly."
Digital distribution service Impulse has some sweet deals in store this weekeend, particularly World of Goo's 50% discount, and $5 off the wonderful Braid. If you haven't picked up either of these titles, now is the time (unless with World of Goo, like us, you're planning on ordering the new box version)!
They also remind Red Faction: Guerilla is currently available for pre-order at $40, which includes the first two games free.
"Mac gamers rejoice! You too can now manipulate the flow of time and rescue the Princess. Hothead Games proudly announced today the release of the Mac version of Jonathan Blow's Braid on the Greenhouse indie digital distribution platform at www.playgreenhouse.com. Available for worldwide download at only $14.95, today's launch of Braid represents the one of the first in a unique collaboration between Hothead and other top-notch independent developers to bring their award-winning titles to new ..."
"You know that game you play for hours every single night, and dream about playing throughout every single day? We can’t stand the damn thing. You remember that game you treasured as a child, the one you still get warm and fuzzy and misty-eyed just thinking about? Seriously, it sucks.
What follows are the “classics” our individual staffers consider crap. The overrated gems we just don’t understand. You may not agree with us, but that's okay - in most of these cases, we don't even agree with..."
PC gamers hankering for some Braid will have to wait an extra ten days beyond the initial release date. Creator Jonathan Blow says in the Braid blog he's encountered some bugs which require fixing, but everything should be good to go April 10.
Perhaps to make up for the delay, a "special surprise" regarding the game's music is planned. An included soundtrack, perhaps? Only time will tell..
As mentioned last week, Braid is coming to the PC, though up until now a release on Impulse only was confirmed with other deals said to be in the works. Contrary to what some suspected, the game will be showing up on Valve's service Steam, also on March 31 and for the same price point of $15.
The difference with this version is the inclusion of achievements and "community features".
"Among the first to join in this effort is Jonathan Blow, whose 2008 launch of Braid via XboxLIVE! Arcade amazed gamers with its innovative game play and distinctive art style. Hothead Games is partnering with Blow to bring his ground-breaking game to the Mac platform and has secured exclusive digital publishing rights to that version."
As we said, Braid will be coming to the PC in the near future: March 31, to be exact.
Stardock's digital distribution service Impulse has the game available for pre-order now for a cool $15 (note that the price has since been lowered from the original $20 following some 'whining').
A list of 7 of the most Bizarre video game characters that somehow manage to remain awesome. Ranging from such video games as Wolfenstein 3D to Age of Mythology all the way up to Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3.
Major Nelson has posted the Live Activity for this week, summing up what is being played online in the gaming world for Xbox 360. I am amazed that despite the release of World at War, this does not hinder the CoD4 community from taking down everything that isn't Halo 3. Real football (FIFA) manages to beat out American football (Madden), and surprisingly, people are still playing Grand Theft Auto.
"In years past, NeoGAF has done their favorite moments in gaming, using only MS Paint to show you. Looking back at 2008 brings us some of the coolest moments, great memories that can look amusing to just plain epic, even when in Paint. I purposely left out the names of the games as half the fun is guessing (but if you cant figure it out, right click and hit properties to see the file name where I put the game)."
"Well, the year 2008 is finally at an end and though there were disappointments, many games lived up to the hype. The decision to make a Top 5 Games list instead of a Top 10 list was rooted in the fact that there were so many great games that it was tough for the staff to develop a consensus past the first five. Plus, the longer the list, the more you start to get all political with it and say crap like, "Boy, we need another game from x console in there." So here they are, our top five games ..."
"After 12 months of playing and enjoying as many games as possible, its time to take a break, look back and choose the best of the best - the best 10 games of the year 2008. As you can imagine, its a really tough mission, especially because the overall quality of the games released this year was pretty high (there were exceptions, of course), but we must choose the game of the year here, at the Unigamesity!"
"A lot of people are writing in asking about the release date for the Braid PC version.
I had originally announced the release date for the end of 2008, but for various reasons, this hasnt happened. Once we slipped into mid-October and all the big Christmas-season blockbusters started coming out, it just seemed like a bad idea to schedule Braid for that time period, as it seems likely itd get released and then disappear.
At this time, were looking at a window of February-March 2009 fo..."
"I played through dozens of games this year and tried at least a hundred more. And through them all, I experienced some amazing moments.
As I have done in years previous, here are my picks for My 10 Favorite Moments in Video Games for 2008. (As spoiler-light as I can make them.)"
"We look at the top 12 games from several platforms in order to determine which are the Top 12 Overall Games for 2008, and you might just be surprised at the overall winner for 2008 - coming from an Xbox site. OXCGN (aka XboxOZ360-gamer) has always maintained that the staff are gamers - not fanbois. Most have more than 2 consoles and platforms to play games on and simply enjoy gaming period.
So what better way to round off the year than to take a look at what we believe to be the top ..."
"Here's Dude Huge's advice:
Use your smoke grenades to incapacitate him and then rush in with a chainsaw finish.
The one two punch of melee plus shotgun is always a good thing.
When in doubt, bring up Braid and how trippy it was. Hes likely to start spouting and become distracted.
On to Bungie, whose analysis of Soulja Boy's tactics and tendencies is spot on and filled to the brim with win.
In a one-on -one scenario with Soulja Boy, youre dealing with a guy..."
"Throughout December, Gamasutra will be presenting a year-end retrospective, discussing notable games, events, developers, and industry figures of 2008, from the perspective of our position covering the art, science, and business of games.
Previously, we tallied up 2008's top disappointments, downloadable titles, and overlooked games.
Next, we'll cover this year's top five gameplay mechanics (with ten other honorable mentions), calling attention to a number of innovative, novel, or part..."
Today I bring you horrible news, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader has now been released for the Xbox Live Arcade at the price of $15. How the mighty fun of XBLA has fallen because of this price uprising to crap quality ratio . or has it? Could the pricing of this game end the reign of higher priced games or will XNA Community games cheaper prices do it?
This topic has already been covered fairly well (see: The Problems with Game Criticism, and The Problem with Game Reviews Part 1 & 2), but until we're in a better state, it's always a positive thing, yeah?
Anyhow, Variety's Ben Fritz offers his take on the situation (as a response to Variety critic Leigh Alexander's recent blog), saying we nitpick too much and actively look for things to criticize in games instead of really valuing what needs to be valued and not letting the little stuff (...
"Real world definition of "mature": Showing the mental, emotional, or physical characteristics associated with a fully developed person; involving serious thought.
Videogame definition of "mature":
Shits, tits and gibs.
What is adult? According to ratings boards and hand-wringing politicians, the only qualifications necessary are a bucket of blood, a stream of foul profanity and a parade of naughty lady parts. Ironically, the very things that are included to win over immature teenage bo..."
1 Wii sports
2 Braid
3 Halo 3
4 Fallout 3
5 Rockband
A very interesting list indeed. Recently a newspaper in the UK named the Independent released their list of the top 50 games of all time, above is the top five.
Their number one choice was Wii Sports, is this a joke? The inclusion of Halo3 makes some sense, but are there not many better games that should've made the top 5?
Yahtzee tackles on the highly anticipated indie Xbox-Live arcade game Braid. Expect the usual witty sarcasm, as well as a bit extra about "cookie cutter sequals", mainstream gaming, and how Indie games can even be better than some next-gen titles.
Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid, has announced that the title might becoming to the PS3 in the near future.
"PS3 might happen in the future. What's going to definitely happen this year is a PC release. The only reason that's not out right now is because I wanted to focus on one platform at a time," Blow revealed.
But there is bad news for Wii owners: There is absolutely no chance of getting the game on Wiiware. Weighing 144MB, it's just too big to be downloaded onto the Wii console.
"Jonathan Blow, developer of our latest addiction Braid told Game Focus in a special interview that he is considering working on a new game similar to Myst but instead of rendered backgrounds are fully 3D. After the amazing Braid we at Game Focus are anxiously awaiting his next game."
""With any artistic endeavour it's easy to slip from eloquent poeticism to haughty pretention when crafting a piece that boldly explores loss, existentialism and love. Humbleness and subtlety go a long way. Jonathan Blow's enigmatic platformer, Braid, is an intrepidly personal game; awash with gorgeous art, brilliant design and, at times, a rather contrived narrative. But perhaps it takes being just a little bit ostentatious to deliver something as strikingly profound and astonishing as Mr. Bl..."
"Once in a while, a game comes along that makes you remember why we love this interactive medium. A game that pushes at the boundaries of what videogaming can achieve. A game that is such a self-contained vision, that it takes you on a journey which transcends the controller in your hands."
There are going to be tons of good XBLA games coming out this month and with Microsoft running their Summer of Arcade contest, you can be sure August will be a big month for XBLA games.
What XBLA games are we going to see in September? Well, we now know that Shred Nebula will be coming out in the first Wednesday of September, according to CrunchTime Games, who developed the game.
Shred Nebula is a shooter and was announced on November 26th, 2007. The game is promising to be "experien...
