I don’t know why Jeff gets the rap around here as the iOS game guy, I’m just as guilty as putting as much time into my iPhone as my PC or consoles. Maybe it’s because I play more than two or three of the major triple A titles every year, but I digress.
Recently I’ve become addicted to a game called Tiny Tower made by NimbleBit. It’s actually been out for quite a while but I didn’t check it out until recently. This is one of the benefits of iPhone gaming, in my opinion, there’s not really a rush to get to the newest titles quickly (there are exceptions like Sword and Sworcery and Infinity Blade). Mechanically the game is very similar to Game Dev Story, but instead of running a studio, you build and maintain an apartment/shopping center and stock it with stores for your little “bitizens” to work in. There’s actually very little game here after the opening few hours; aside from a bit of re-stocking every now and then and building new floors, the game is hands-off for most of the time.
So why am I so addicted to it? Part of it is that the game taps into the aspect of my personality that really loves sim titles. Even if Tiny Tower requires very little attention from me, I still like the feeling of running something and micro-managing different aspects of it if I can. Even though the stores you get are random (and fall into different categories like retail, service and food, to name a few) you still need to staff them with bitizens who are good at those types of job, and try to get them into their dream jobs if you can. Another reason I really like Tiny Tower is because the game works on a similar concept to the Achievement noise, as the it will constantly chime at you when it needs to be re-stocked or when something else happens. It’s the definition of Pavlov’s Bell, and I hate it and love it for that. It’s the perfect game to have on your phone because it requires little attention and even when you have it open it only has you doing menial tasks like moving the elevator between floors.
So much of my time is spent glued to my phone because of this game, even though I spend very little of that time actually doing something. Have you guys tried Tiny Tower? Is there a game that you’re addicted to for a stupid reason? Go!
SPIKE TV’s annual half-celebration half-”see I told you this is what them video games is like” Video Game Awards show airs tomorrow and in-between all of the trailers for upcoming games there’s a chance for developers and individual games to walk away with trophies.
2011 has been an exceptional year for games and the VGAs are chock full of titles that I’d be hard pressed to choose over one another. Some are obvious winners for me (like picking Battlefield 3 as the best multiplayer game over Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3), but a few I had a hard time deciding on. Do I really like Skyrim better than Batman? That may seem like an obvious choice at first, but then I start thinking about it and maybe I break out into sweat. Who’s to say?
I’m also a little disappointed by the lack of a GotY nomination for Deus Ex: Human Revolution but I’m just one man. Take a look at the nominees for the various categories of the 2011 Video Game Awards and tell us what you think. What’s your pick for Game of the Year? Any write-in votes?
Look at that, two weeks in a row. My, we are on something of a streak. In fact, you might even say that we are streaking. Just throwing that out there.
In this edition of the podcast, Jeff and Anthony acted like divas and stormed off the set, leaving myself, Nick and Mitch to discuss things all by our lonesome. We basically used this time to talk about all the things we can’t normally talk about with those two bozos around, which really means we spend a good chunk of time talking about StarCraft 2. It gets… fairly in depth at a couple of points, so hopefully you like that kind of thing. I know I do.
We also took the three-man opportunity to play a game we’ve never been able to play before on the podcast – a real-time edition of GameCop Versus LameCop, with each of us swapping roles as we see fit. I think the results are particularly entertaining, and hopefully you do, too. You will either love it or turn the podcast off and throw it from your window.
**Also a big shout out to Temp0, who’s song, “All I do is Stim” we stole for the outro this week. Check him out on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud.**
As I said in the podcast post, you should notice that there is more going on around here than there has been in the last few weeks. We were taking a break because of the post-E3 news drought, and because we just wanted to chill a bit. It’s funny, because for some reason, I took a break from gaming in general, save for the daily StarCraft 2 ladder match.
So, now that the gaming season is kicking back into high gear, I’ve been trying my hand at a few games lately. For one, I picked up Bastion, and have played just a bit of that lately. I’m really enjoying the presentation, and it helps that the gameplay is solid, too. On top of that, I’ve been knocking out some Civilization V, which I’m enjoying as well.
But for me, though, the crown jewel of my gaming life the last two days has been Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on iPhone. For those unaware, this is the PSP remastered version of Final Fantasy Tactics, one of my favorite games of all time. The idea that it’s in my pocket whenever I want to play it is kind of incredible, and already I’m sucked right back into it. Seriously, if you have never played this and have an iPhone, get it.
We’ve taken a bit of time away from the podcast (and if you’ve noticed, the site in general) to recharge our batteries a bit before heading into the fall. The thing about video game news is that like anything else, it works in seasons of dry spells and deluges, and the month of July is a drought of anything worth talking about on the whole. This is mostly due to E3, since the games industry seems to save all its mojo for one special week, and then deals with the announcements for another couple of weeks after. And then the dread silence.
So, we decided that for the podcast, August through E3 will now be a “season” of the show. Which technically makes this season 2, I guess. Welcome! We’ve got a game of over/under for the first few games of the fall, some talk about Bastion, as well as some silliness about the Nintendo 3DS price drop.
Anyway, you’ll see more posts in general around these parts, including the continuation of the weekly podcast. I for one am ready for the Fall of epic gaming to be upon us. Here are the topics for this week’s prodigal podcast:
We’re back this week with Episode 24 of the podcast, which takes place entirely in real time. Sort of. We actually had a lot of technical difficulties with this one, but I think Nick did a great job of lessening the horrors that we faced.
Technical gremlins aside, this week we participate in the same tomfoolery that you’ve experienced from us every week, only this time we talk about Quantic Dream versus Rockstar, Square Enix’s fall into irrelevance, the most annoying fanboys in the world and Mass Effect 2′s Arrival DLC. After that, Nick drops a new game of Either/Or on us, and we hit up the PS3′s sales, Nintendo versus Angry Birds and the new trailers we got last week.
So, there you have it. Check it out. Rate it. Enjoy.
The video games industry is starting to remind me of the East Coast/West Coast hip hop wars of the 90s. First, Nintendo said that smartphone gaming was destroying the value of video games. Then they crapped all over “garage developers”. Now, the Angry Birds are firing back at the Big N for their arrogance.
“Of course, if I was trying to sell a $49 pieces of plastic to people then yes, I’d be worried too. But I think it’s a good sign that people are concerned – because from my point of view we’re doing something right.”
He goes on to say that the consoles aren’t the fastest growing market anymore and that “real” games can be made on smartphones, as well as consoles.
Now, I have no interest in smartphone gaming one iota and I personally think Angry Birds is an overrated game, back when I played something similar to it years ago, but I agree (to a point) with Vesterbacka. There is enough room for everyone in this industry, but it appears he is doing the same thing Nintendo is.
Nintendo is writing off smartphone gaming because they view it as a threat. Vesterbacka is doing the same thing with consoles because they aren’t the hot new thing out there anymore. Both can coexist in the same market, though. And Vesterbacka shouldn’t worry: Nintendo is pretty good at selling pieces of plastic.
What say you, GamerSushi nation? Is Nintendo right or are the Birds’ anger justified?
Now that I’m finished with Dragon Age 2, there seems to be a bit of a brief lull between Bioware’s not-quite-as-epic fantasy RPG and the sequel to Valve’s runaway hit, Portal 2, which releases on April 18th. As such, I now have some time to chip away at the always growing pile-o-games that awaits me at each and every turn.
The games I’m currently playing: Final Fantasy VI, Beyond Good and Evil HD, Infinity Blade and Demon’s Souls. I also plan on starting Torchlight on XBLA as well as Back to the Future on PC. I might even throw a bit of Lost Odyssey in there for good measure. The game I’m most curious about is Demon’s Souls, the uber challenging PS3 exclusive that I keep hearing horror stories about from Anthony. So far, it seems pretty interested, but I’m admittedly not very far into it.
So what about you guys? What are you playing at the moment? Has anyone else out there completed Dragon Age 2? Thoughts? Any Demon’s Souls advice for me? Go!
The funny thing about the banner image on the front page is that we thought about Photoshopping our faces on the characters of The Hangover, but then realized we could leave Nick’s the same. Think about it.
So how do we all hold up after a couple of weeks to reflect and regret our actions in the last podcast? Pretty good, actually. Episode 22 of the podcast is all about Dragon Age 2, Infinity Blade, Radiant Historia and other gaming goodness. Apparently we were focused on RPG’s when we did this. “Nice.”
After those initial topics, Nick drops a game of fill in the blank on us. As always, my exceptional vocabulary and clever word play propelled me ahead of my opponents and secured my victory. So be ready for that.
Alright, victory celebrations aside, here’s the podcast. Listen. Rate. Enjoy.
The original title for this article was “When Are You Addicted to a Game”, but then I would have admitted publicly that I’m a sucker jonesing for a gaming fix. At any rate, I was thinking about this subject today as Eddy passed around an email thread where he detailed his current problem with Infinity Blade: namely, does he buy the titular sword or purchase less powerful weapons to get some experience points for the immediate future. He’s also completed about twenty bloodlines in the game, meaning that he’s well and truly in the throws of an Infinity Blade obsession.
That’s not to say that I’m immune though. While I did have a lengthy infatuation with Infinity Blade, I’m currently eyeballs-deep in another Dragon Age 2 playthrough, this time as a female Rogue. I’m determined to see everything I didn’t find last time, so I’m searching ever nook and cranny and even taking advantage of the leveling glitch to make my progress a bit smoother. BioWare games do this a lot to me, where I’ll play for a little while then get hooked into the experience. Knights of the Old Republic and both Mass Effects have done this to me, and now Dragon Age 2 has as well. Something about their games are just irrestiable.
What about you guys? Have you had a similar experience with a game? Do you know when you’re enthralled with a game, when every waking moment is consumed with thoughts about it?
I’m kind of late to the party on this one but I recently (along with a few other GamerSushi editors) picked up Infinity Blade, Epic Games and Chair Entertainment’s fantasy hack-and-slash title for the iOS. For the uninformed, Infinity Blade is a game that revolves around one family’s quest to kill the God King and avenge the death of the blood lines’ progenitor. The game is played through a series of one-on-one fights between the player’s character and various enemies and has a deep RPG undertone to round out the gameplay.
This is the second hand-held game that I picked up the last couple of days, the first one being Pokemon Black. I had some doubts going into Infinity Blade, and, despite the fact that I’ve played some great iPhone games over the past while, I didn’t think I would find something that would drag me away from the “real” gaming devices. How wrong I was. I put down Pokemon Black to try out Infinity Blade, and I haven’t picked up my DS since. First off, the game is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the design of the enemies, the stages, and the weapons and armor. It has a very “dark fantasy” feel, and it appeals directly to the gamer in me that has been crying out for a bad-ass sword fighting game.
I’m totally floored by how quickly Infinity Blade drew me in, and on a phone of all platforms. I thought that the iPhone wasn’t made for this type of game, but Infinity Blade blew my preconceived notions out of the water. I could ramble on about Infinity Blade forever, but what about you guys? Has any game changed the way you thought about a gaming device, or maybe a different type of input method (like motion controls)? Have you tried Infinity Blade, and what do you think? Want to make fun of me for only realizing just now how great this game is? Go!
It’s a new edition of the GamerSushi Show, ladies and gents. While 17 is not a very special number to celebrate (except for dog lovers in Canada, apparently), we’re still happy to be releasing these podcasts every week, despite our general apathy towards doing things. And really, that’s an achievement in and of itself.
In the not-so-remarkable-but-still-excellent 17th episode, we chat about a number of gaming topics, including: Sony’s NGP, Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, Crysis 2 and Game Dev Story. We also play a whopping two games this week instead of the usual one from our friendly beard. This week, Anthony drops in with a game where we guess about a classic review. Likewise, Nick gives us a game of Grades, where we rate industry happenings. We also talk about the Social Network at some point in there, I think, unless it got cut by Nick’s merciless editing.
Intro
NGP (Yeah You Know Me)
Dead Space 2 Impressions
The Demos: Bulletstorm and Crysis 2
Game Dev Story
Classic Review
Anthony’s Mystery Game
Grades
Excitement for the NGP?
Heavy Rain: the Movie?
D2D Gaming Rentals?
The Big Question: What grades would you give to the topics that we discussed? What’s your level of excitement for the NGP? What did you think of the Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 demos? What’s your ideal PC gaming rental system? Go!
One of the things about portable gaming that always kept me at arms length was its long term accessibility. It’s cool to be able to play something on the DS or iPhone for a few minutes here and there, but I never imagined that I would sit down for a few hours straight in order to play something. Recently, that notion has been challenged by 999, which I’ve posted about a couple of times. However, another addictive game ruined my life this week in the form of Game Dev Story for the iPhone.
If you’re unaware, Game Dev Story is like playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, but with a video game development studio. You create games, hire staff, manage advertising and try pump up your sales and profits. You learn new genres, get bigger offices and can even make your own console eventually. The goal is to run the company for 20 years, and make great games in the process. It’s quirky, fun, easy to play and as I said before, crazy addictive. So far, my biggest hits have been a card game called Cardville as well as my RPG titled Loot World.
I downloaded the game on Monday and have been playing it several hours each day since. I never thought I would be that into an iPhone game, but it seriously has me itching to play more all the time, made worse by the fact that I physically can grab my phone and play whenever I want.
Have any of you heard of this game or played it? What’s the most addictive game you’ve played recently?
It’s a brand new year, so it’s time for a brand new edition of Would You Rather, that game where you answer questions and give us awesome rants and diatribes about life, gaming and what you had for dinner.
It’s been some time since our last WYR (November), so I think everyone should be recharged and ready to give us some good responses. Since we’re in a bright shiny new year, I thought it would be pertinent to come at you, bros, with a salvo of 2011 gaming-related queries. I know, I know, the 2011 thing is already getting old, but you’ll probably stop being told that it’s a new year on every site in the world sometime within the next week. That’s just how bloggers roll, I guess.
For the Would You Rather virgins out there, the game is simple: I ask questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.
But don’t let your answers suck. In previous years, we’ve threatened violence and humiliation for having bad bouts of WYR responses. This year, we are going to be more civilized, and instead threaten verbal assaults on your immediate family. After all, you can’t come back to the site if we’ve broken your hands. Anyway, answer away, gents.
Stuck with a dumb phone instead of a smart phone? I’m in the same boat and frankly, I am tired of hearing about Angry Birds, as I am sure the rest of you are. It’s probably just one of those stupid games that tweens like and…wazzat? It’s coming out on the PSN tomorrow as a Playstation Mini, which means you can play it on your PS3 or PSP? I’ve suddenly had a change of heart!
All kidding aside, I’ve heard so much about this game that I am quite excited to finally get a taste of what iPhone games are like, albeit translated through a console. I’ve played several other Playstation Minis and they are very enjoyable, good for small doses of gaming. I’m sure Angry Birds will fit right into that niche. Now I can go back and watch that skit from the VGA’s and understand it!
Is anyone else excited to get a chance to play this phenomenon? Any Angry Birds fans have tips for us newly angry birds?
Hot off of Eddy’s post about a list (we told you they were coming), I bring to you Time Magazine’s Top 10 games of 2010. Personally, I feel that the list is kind of strange, but I thought I would put it up here to see what kind of reaction you guys have to it. The first thing that I noticed about the list is that Alan Wake, Microsoft’s Lovecraftian exclusive, comes in at number one, beating out other luminaries like Red Dead Redemption and Halo: Reach.
The number two game on the list, something that I’m sure will make Jeff happy, is Rovio’s mobile sensation Angry Birds. On a traditional “game of the year” list, throwing something like Angry Birds on there still looks strange to me, even though I personally love the game. Instead of running through the list one by one, though, I’ll post it for you fellas after the jump.
I recently picked up an iPhone 4 and I’ve been loving the junk out of it. Most of my time is divided between Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies and I’m kind of surprised at how versatile a gaming platform the device is (I guess it’s also a phone too, or something). I’ve been keeping my eye out for unique or bad-ass iPhone games, and Star Wars Arcade fits the bill perfectly. It uses your iPhone’s camera to produce the background and it throws waves of TIE Fighters at you, superimposed over whatever your phone is looking at.
That looks pretty awesome, and I for one can’t wait to shoot down the minions of the Empire while I’m on the can. IPhone gaming is starting to really take off, so how many of you are taking the plunge? Anyone going to pick this up when it hits the app store later this month?
As we mentioned on our last podcast, Angry Birds is selling like hotcakes for the iPhone and now Android. I guess that wasn’t enough for Rovio Mobile though, because on their blog today they announced a special Halloween edition of Angry Birds. It will be a standalone game with 45 spooky new levels. Unfortunately for Android users it will only be available on the iTunes App Store. Rovio says it should show up at midnight on October 21st, and will run you $0.99 for the standard version and $1.99 for the HD iPad version.
Welcome to GamerSushi!
It’s a brand new year, so it’s time for a brand new edition of Would You Rather, that game where you answer questions and give us awesome rants and diatribes about life, gaming and what you had for dinner. 
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