Commanding your own starship is one of the few fantasies that all science fiction fans share. While it is fun to watch Kirk or Picard command their respective Enterprises though thick and thin, the entire time you’re watching you want that thrill to be yours. That’s where video games have the advantage over other mediums, video games have in one way or another given you the chance to command a ship though the stars. The thrills of fighting off pirates while a star let’s of solar flares that light your ship ablaze or trying to destroy a unmanned scout before it can report your position to your pursuers are just a few of the scenarios that you encounter in FTL. If you are looking for a game to fulfill your commanding desires like I have, FTL is the right game.

      The simple premise of FTL is that you control a federation ship on the run with valuable information that will stop your enemies, the rebels. You begin the game with a standard well rounded ship. I continued to use it even after I had unlocked other ships because of how well balanced I found it for the various upgrades you can install on your ship. During a play though you’ll have the chance to upgrade your ship’s weapons, shields and equip different systems such as a teleporter or drone control unit. This is why I found the standard ship the most helpful, as I found it was the easiest to incorporate different systems and weapons into and find the upgrades and systems that I loved the most. You can upgrade and buy systems with scrap you earn from defeating enemy ships, doing little side missions or just random chance.

     That said, the game has plenty of ships for you to try out as you make your way though the game. After you unlock a new ship you can also unlock alternate layouts for these ships by completing different objectives during a play through with them. Along with weapons and upgrades, there are different species you can use to crew your ship. Each species has different abilities to utilize: Zoltans provide extra power to help you use more systems, while Mantises, which excel at physical combat, make defending your ship from an enemy boarding attempt easier to defend against or making your attempt to board easier to complete.

     The game randomly generates your encounters and the solar systems you progress though. These encounters range from simply encountering a pirate out to attack you at first sight to distressed ships you can decide to aide or ignore. Along with standard encounters sometimes you’ll find your fights more harrowing as asteroids constantly barrage the shields of your ship or you find yourself battling it out while a star pulses an EMP knocking out your weapons (something they added with the new update). Combat isn’t the only thing these random encounters throw out at you, you might be asked if you want to navigate an asteroid field to loot an abandoned ship, whether you succeed or not is decided at random.

     This is the game’s biggest problem; the game’s randomness is equal parts good and bad. With the levels and encounters being random you never can expect the same play though twice. After awhile your start to recognize situations and outcomes but they are also inconsistent enough that they don’t get too stale. The real problem with this starts to crop up when your start a play though only to have your first three encounters be mandatory fights that drain your health and don’t reward you with anything other than some scrap, or nothing if have to run away. Of course you could always break even on your next round where you do nothing but stumble upon easy to get upgrades and better weapons. The game’s difficulty can be stifling too. Most of your play though will end before you venture to far in the galaxy and I attribute that to the randomness. You can master the combat all you want but when losing a crew member that’s earned at his max level is decided at random it can set your endgame run back to un beatable territory.

     Visually the game has a simple 2D art style. Characters are small sprites that operate their small sprites ships. I did not find any of their designs too compelling, though I did wonder how anyone was supposed to properly operate some of these vessels with the unusual layouts of their systems. But what do I know about starship design anyway? The music it is what you expect from a game about starships. Electronic tones accompany the emptiness of space or excite a battle. The music is fun and always fits the mood of your encounters in the game.

       FTL captures that love of commanding a space like few games have. Whether it’s battling a pirate you stumbled upon or looking for that next weapon upgrade to help you get though the endgame there’s plenty to do. The game can be a struggle sometimes, it’s difficult even on normal and a bad draw of random encounters can end your game before it begins. Very few games give you the chance to explore a galaxy and that simple premise, along with the game’s good execution, makes FTL a game you’ll want to play.

Capybara Games is bring its time shifting action-platformer Super Time Force to PC with an added Ultra subtitle.

Super Time Force Ultra, or STFU if you prefer brevity and have no patience for hearing others speak, will leave behind its Xbox exclusivity and come to PC by way of Steam this summer.

/// First exciting announcement: SUPER TIME FORCE ULTRA (STFU) IS COMING TO STEAM THIS SUMMER! http://t.co/aVgsqY6jASpic.twitter.com/kaZVcqrn7I

— CAPY (@CAPYGAMES) July 2, 2014

The game's Ultra subtitle does mean the game will have extra content, but Capybara isn't ready to reveal what it is just yet. Alongside the announcement of a new platform for the game also comes the announcement of the game's soundtrack availability.

/// Second exciting announcement: THE SUPER TIME FORCE OST BY @jason6955 IS OUT NOW!!! http://t.co/PuyCGsP2JNpic.twitter.com/KmwC5GYrMz

— CAPY (@CAPYGAMES) July 2, 2014

You can grab all 53 of the game's chiptune tracks by heading here for the Bandcamp download, and here for iTunes.

For our review of Super Time Force, head here. Also, here's a cool gif from the game.

[Source: Capybara]

Our Take
This is good news for PC players. Super Time Force is a quality game. Expanding the audience is always a good thing. I'm curious what the bonus content will be. I've got my money on additional characters.

A killer queen.Triforce with laserbeams...

Hyrule Warriors is a stunning announcement from a company in need of reinventing itself: unable to cater to the "casual" market which propelled the Wii to become the number one console of the prior generation, and unable to convince the "hardcore" market that actual hardcore games exist on the Wii U (the Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2), Nintendo finds itself taking a look at its most storied franchises and its very nature as a company leading to some very interesting partnerships and possible acquisitions (the latter of which appears to have been signaled to have already occurred according to a recent shareholders meeting, according to an industry pal).

Hyrule Warriors itself doesn't appear to be unique, taking the Dynasty Warriors formula and partnering with a third party as with similar examples with the "Gundam" franchise so what could it be about Hyrule Warriors which has so many gamers excited over every reveal?

Waifus.

The Zelda series is renowned as a waifu simulator beginning with a game which constantly is said to be the best in the series if not the best game of all time, Ocarina of Time. In this game one could find waifus of different species, different cultures, different ages and sizes and personalities, a veritable harem of Hylian hotties. While there are some who may dispute that Ocarina of Time is and owes its popularity to being a harem game and waifu-simulator, how can the existence of a "trap" character, required for every modern harem, be waved away by the skeptical?

Oh ho ho, now these are the true "adventures of Link."

Every major console Zelda game since Ocarina of Time has introduced multiple waifus to woo: Wind Waker showed that no female is safe from the lecherous Link be she from air, sea, or dry land:

Just try to plunder dat booty, brah. Nice knowing ya.

You do NOT even wanna know how long it took me to find a PG pic of her.

"My little sister can't have a mistaken identity this cute!"

Twilight Princess would continue this and prove why it was better than Ocarina of Time: not because it slavishly adhered to the A Link To The Past formula more so than even O.o.T., but because the waifus wrecked those of O.o.T.:

"What's that, Malon, Illya? You think he wants to ride Epona? I rode him bareback like he was a beast!"

The Zelda series knows how to make you fall for its waifus hook, line, and sinker.

Really, shippers? Agitha x Link? I mean, are you suggesting he used The Bug Catching Net to capture her heart.......aw hell, fanfic time.

Illya? Who? I said waifus, not wastrel-y waifs. And stop it with this "Fi" talk.

That game never existed.

Who do you waifu in Zelda? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @CodeNameCrono

Tales of Hearts R, the first Tales game set for release on Vita, has a release date.

The game will be available on November 11 exclusively for Vita. For more on Tales of Hearts R, you can head here to see the game's E3 trailer. One of the elements revealed about the game at E3 is it will not have English voice over. The game will only be available to play in Japanese with English subtitles.

You can also check out a collection of new screens for the game in the gallery below.

The formerly download-only Gone Home is now available in retail form with some added goodies.

The special edition of the game is $29.99 and you can order the North America version of the game here, and the European version of the game here. Included in the bundle is the game on a disc, as well as a download code redeemable on Steam. You will also find the game's soundtrack and all of its audio diaries in mp3 form, a special poster featured in the game, a sticker, a 40-page designer's notebook, and a special Lisa Frank inspired DVD case to hold the game, all packaged in box that has been mocked up to look like a Super Nintendo version of Gone Home.

For our review of Gone Home, head here.

[Source: Fullbright, via Polygon]

Our Take
I'm still a sucker for boxed games, and the fact that it comes in a faux-SNES box makes it even harder to ignore. It's too bad this version of the game didn't launch alongside the game when it released last August.

In case you didn't read the introduction, a Tear to My Eye is a series where I will talk about parts of great games that I feel don't get any love. It will not be remembering parts in games where I cried, unless that moment is the focus of that entry. To start this series, I'm going to talk about how I feel Pikmin 2 has some of the best boss fights out of any Nintendo game, talk about each boss, and why these bosses should be used as a blueprint for boss design. 

I feel that I could write a whole entry on the brilliance of this boss alone.

This might seem like high praise for a game that released ten years ago, but I assure you it isn't. For those of you who don't know, the Pikmin series is a strategy game where you command a bunch of small creatures called Pikmin. In Pikmin 2, there are five different types of Pikmin with their own abilities. The red Pikmin are great at fighting and are resistant to fire, blue Pikmin can go in water, yellow Pikmin are thrown higher and are resistant to electricity, white Pikmin are resistant to poison and damage enemies when eaten, and purple Pikmin are slow, count for ten Pikmin when carrying anything, and stun enemies. These different abilities are then mixed with how many Pikmin you can keep with you (100), so you must construct your ideal squad to delve into the dungeons for treasure. 

One thing that unifies all of the bosses in the story caves (minus the Burrowing Snagret) is that they give you useful items to fill up your "survival gear." This might be making you resistant to electrical damage, fire damage, unlocking a co-op mode in the menu, or allowing you to pluck Pikmin with your horn. While each boss fight is not required to beat the game, each are worth it not only for the fun fights, but because of the rewards from the bosses. This all changes in the games final three bosses, which are done only for completing the game.

Most of the bosses appear again in a cave called the Hole of Heroes, or Cavern of Chaos which adds a devious twist to all of the battles.  The bosses that don't appear again are the Giant Breadbug and the Water Wraith. There will be a paragraph explaining the changes to each boss in the final caves.

At your first boss, the Empress Bulblax, you only posses two types of Pikmin, the red and purple types of Pikmin, and it's a fairly straightforward fight. The most important part of the battle against the queen Grub-dog is the fact that you must watch your enemy for signs that they are about to attack. The signal is incredibly obvious, with the hulking worm shaking off all of your Pikmin before rolling around the room. The Empress Bulblax then rolls it's position, around the room that it's in, and back to it's original position. It's a great introductory boss that sets the stage for more complex bosses.

I think the size of this beast is important, as it provides an easy target for those still learning to use the aiming mechanics in the game.

The next boss, the Burrowing Snagret is more of a challenge, and is the first boss that has multiple approaches for fighting it. The Snagret emerges from the ground, and pecks at your Pikmin with startling range. When it emerges from the ground, sometimes it gets stuck, which makes it unable to attack you for the few seconds after it emerges from the ground. If you're cautious, you might wait until it's stuck before barraging it with your Pikmin. If you're going in guns blazing, you'll attack it whenever it's above ground. If you're heartless, you'll let the Snagret eat your white Pikmin to kill it.

The Snagret's head is the only part of it that takes massive damage from your Pikmin.

Those are the only two bosses that have to be done in that order, but there is a recommended order for tackling the eleven caves available to you in the story. I'm going to cover all of the bosses, even those that are repeated fights, as the circumstances and location of each fight with bosses changes. This might be the addition of new abilities to bosses like the Empress Bulblax, or having to fight multiple Burrowing Snagrets at the same time.

The next boss is the Beady Long Legs, which is another boss that has multiple ways you can come after it. You can use your newly acquired yellow Pikmin to constantly attack this boss, as it's weak point can only be reached by yellow Pikmin. You can also use your red Pikmin to attack it when it lowers it's head, but this makes you unable to constantly attack it. It is one of the easier bosses, as you only have to watch out for its feet. By beating the Beady Long Legs, you unlock a co-op mode in the main menu.

The real danger this beast has is giving you a heart attack when it falls from the ceiling.

As fans of the original Pikmin know, the Emporer Bulblax is a fearsome creature. While not as giant as the original Pikmin game had it, the Emporer Bulblax is not an enemy to take lightly. The king of Grub-dogs returns with all of his moves intact, from his giant Pikmin-stomp to his long tongue lick. He doesn't have as much health as the first game gave him, but for people who haven't danced with the grand Bulblax, he's a tough boss. This boss introduces the fact that you can't attack enemies on all of their body. The Burrowing Snagret guided you toward attacking it's head, but attacking it's snake body still works. If you attack the back of the Bulblax, it will not go well for you. For beating the Emporer Bulblax, you get flame resistant armor.

Emporer Bulblax is judging you for only using purple Pikmin to fight him.

This next boss, at first glance, is quite pathetic. Unless you haven't been paying attention to what the Breadbugs can do (they drag treasure back to their hole, and if you don't have enough Pikmin dragging against it, it eats them) throughout the dungeon the Giant Breadbug resides in, you're safe. What makes this boss fight something other that easy, is the fact that you either need to react quicker that most other people, or learn things about your environment. Until I first got to this floor, I did not know that the enemy called Anode Beetle could even be defeated. The Giant Breadbug and the two Breadbugs that are on this floor take the treasure back to base quickly, so it's up to you to attack the Breadbugs. You might not also have learned that you can attack Breadbugs by throwing Pikmin on their back. This fight encourages experimentation against previous ideas that you have established on certain enemies, which is a valuable skill. This boss gives you armor that makes you invincible against electricity.

This boss wins the prize for being the most adorable.

While it might look like the Beady Long Legs, the Man-At-Legs is a completely different boss for many reasons. After traversing the explosion filled "Subterranean Complex," you are met with a... steaming ball in what looks like a spider's nest. Once you attack, this giant... spider thing emerges and begins firing lasers at you. If you wish for your Pikmin to survive, you must flee to the small amount of cover this floor provides you with. With only two hiding spots that constantly work, this fight proves the value of scouting out the area before you begin in any fight, if you're given the chance. This boss gives you the lightbulb, which fully illuminates every cave.

His missiles are fast and home in on your Pikmin like no other attacks. Just wait until you have to fight him again.

The Ranging Bloyster is the weirdest boss in the game, and that's saying something in a game full of strange bosses. This... I can't even come up with another name for it, it's that weird. Anyways, this boss focuses its attention to whatever captain you control. Up to this point, you have been able to take on each boss with just one captain, with two being a bonus, but if you don't have two captains, this boss is impossible. With the range that its... tongue? I don't even know. With the range of its tongue, you must switch captains constantly to sneak around to it's back and attack the small bulb it has. It's not a difficult boss this time around, but the way that you can approach it slowly affects how disorientated you are the second time you fight this sponge.

The weirdness of the Pikmin series reaches its peak at this sponge-like boss.

The Pileated Snagret is one of two examples of taking a boss and making it much more difficult. This green Snagret improves upon its relative, the Burrowing Snagret, by allowing it to hop around the arena and eat your Pikmin with ease. It has the same failings as the Burrowing Snagret, with it being stuck occasionally when it leaves the ground. But it is stuck for shorter amounts of time, throws off your Pikmin faster, and is tall enough that barely any Pikmin can reach it when it's fully out of the ground. The Pileated Snagret is a great example of an evolving boss that rises to meet your skill, and when it returns in Hole of Heroes, it has a crazy twist.

When you learn that this hops after you, it is one of the most terrifying moments in the game. Speaking of terrifying,

The Waterwraith is a constant plague throughout the cave Submerged Castle. If you take too long on any floor, the (at the moment) invincible Waterwraith will drop from the ceiling and squish all of your Pikmin. This adds a sense of urgency to every floor, because it's game over (not really, you can still finish the floor) as soon as this monster drops. This cave is incredibly stressful, given that you are only allowed to bring in blue Pikmin, yet every hazard is present in this creepy cavern. Once you finally do face off against this specter, you are armed with purple Pikmin, making it take physical form when you throw Pikmin near it. This boss terrifies me each time I play through the cave, as you never know when it will descend.

Sweaty palms throughout the entire Submerged Castle.

The second round with the Empress Bulblax changes greatly because of two things: You don't start at it's head, you need to navigate a maze filled with the upcoming creature, and it has one of the quickest devourers of your Pikmin: Bulborb Larva.

These creatures might look adorable, but they devour Pikmin like nothing else. They are kinda like children, they eat all of their food in one bite and don't bother to chew. These menaces constantly emit from the Empress Bulblax's butt, and they quickly fill up the final floor of the cave. If you don't lose any Pikmin to this boss fight, you're a legend.

The final three boss fights in the game are some of the most difficult fights I have ever done. Most of what the previous fights have taught you is thrown out of the window, forcing you to create a strategy on the fly. But I feel that I should cover the changes to the previous bosses that occur in Cavern of Chaos and Hole of Heroes

In the Cavern of Chaos, you must fight the Emperor Bulblax again, except this time there is water, bombrocks, and another Emperor Bulblax on the floor. With clever use of the bombrocks, it's an easy fight, but the water makes it tricky.

Hole of Heroes is one of the best boss rushes in gaming, as it has most of the bosses in the game, and changes the environment they are in. You must fight a Burrowing and Pileated Snagret at the same time, in a room that has a whirpool of sand sucking you into the center of the arena. The Empress Bulblax starts you right at the back of it, with Bulborb Larva already spewing forth. You must fight the Beady Long Legs again, but not much has changed, and it's still pretty simple. The Ranging Bloyster has a jarring change. While in the original fight you had time to observe how it switched its focus from captain to captain, you have very little time to react to the completely open space with the boss right in front of you, with other enemies that having boulders that home in on your captain, and meteors falling from the ceiling. The biggest change to any boss is the Man-At-Legs, which is surrounded by water and has significantly less cover options. Because it is surrounded by water, this makes blue Pikmin the only Pikmin able to fight this tough creature. 

The three final bosses are the Segmented Crawbster, the Raging Long Legs, and the Titan Dweevil. Segmented Crawbster is nearly impossible to keep all of your Pikmin, and this is from someone who resets every time he loses a Pikmin (no joke). He rolls around a tight space, meteors fall from the sky, and he is a large boss that squishes a lot of Pikmin. The Raging Long Legs is a lot like the Beady Long Legs, except he has larger feet, and when he shakes off your Pikmin, he stomps much faster, earning the "Raging" in his name. These two challenges pale in comparison to the final boss, the Titan Dweevil.

The Segmented Crawbster and the Raging Long Legs are both hard, but the Titan Dweevil is the true test of your minion throwing skill.

 The Titan Dweevil is a formidable boss because it uses all four hazards against you. It has four weapons/treasures that wields the four hazards: fire, water, electricity, and poison. Each of these weapons are deadly, but none more so than the electric weapon, the Shock Therapist. Electricity is a one-hit-KO in Pikmin, and with balls that link electricity between them thrown all across the small room, it's hard not to lose all of your fighting force. The water weapon, the Monster Pump is equally as dangerous, except for the fact that water doesn't instantly kill your Pikmin. The other two weapons the Titan Dweevil has aren't as dangerous, but are still potent to anyone who isn't careful. You get a small warning on what the next attack is by what color the Titan Dweevil turns, which is around a one second warning. This tests everything you've learned, and your Pikmin squad has everything to do with your success, because if you don't beat the boss with at least 30 Pikmin remaining, you will have to do the boss again to complete the game.

Has an awesome theme as well.

Well, that's it! My views on each boss in Pikmin 2, and how each boss builds upon your skill until you're fighting giant behemoths with electrical weapons of death. It ingeniously trains you to quickly stratigize against the strangest monsters Nintendo can come up with like the Ranging Bloyster and the Waterwraith, to killing machines like the Segmented Crawbster, Man-At-Legs, and the Emperor Bulblax, to even stranger bosses like the Giant Breadbug. Each one is a memorable experience and are made even better by their rematches in more difficult caves. The fact that none of these boss fights truly brings a tear to my eye.

The next installment of A Tear to My Eye will be about Rayman Origin's water levels. If you have anything that makes you sad because it was forgotten by the gaming masses, leave it below, and I will try to make it into a blog. Until then, have a great time, and give Pikmin 2 a go. Maybe you'll make it to the end.

By the way I made this specifically for this article XD I thought it would be too perfect, especially for the internet.

Delays and extensions to video games has become all too common in recent years, and we have seen a good few games pushed into the threshold of 2015 from their expected 2014 arrival. But is this necessarily bad? Or do we have more to gain? What is it about the driving force of pushed bad games that can sway the minds of gamers alike?

Why a Delay is Awesome!!

Making the Game Better: An extension on the release means the developer has more time to smooth out the kinks of their title. Numerous times when a game is released a handful of disappointed consumers find server issues, crashes, bugs, etc. This time allows for the developer to work a bit more closely and after completing the game, work out any upcoming issues it may have upon release. Of course it is perfect or full proof. Unlike the hundreds upon thousands of copies being shipped out to a variety of systems and owners, the studio itself only has so much to work with so they cant dissect and fix every single problem, namely because they themselves have not come across it. But by having more time they are given a better opportunity to reduce the amount of consumers disappointed when they come home from their midnight release and discover several issues.

--Upgraded--

Rocksteady, the Original minds behind the Arkham franchise, after announcing the delay in release also upgraded their Pre-Order Bonus so that now not only do we play as Harley Quinn during Challenge Missions but as well as in her own story. Possibly similar to that of Catwoman's w/ an intertwined, interchangeable option similar to Arkham City or another Arc altogether like Robins.

More Content: On rare occasions, with it be purely for consolation purposes, gratitude, or just because, some studios will take that extended time and upgrade their original content to feature more. Whether it be more in-game missions, additional story or feature, or upgrade in pre-order bonus, more to do in said game is always well received and much appreciated. It gives us something more to look forward to, and lets us know that good things are happening during the wait period.

Now why taking some extra time to work on a game is great, it can also be detrimental. This depends on the person itself but affects the overall sales of the game. The stir, the buzz, the hype, whatever you want to call it, it affects all of us during game announcements. And while being pushed from one year to the next is like a breathe of fresh air to some, its like someone cracked a bad egg to others.

Why Delayed Games Hurt...

Loss of Hype: The pure dieseled excitement and anticipation of a title!! Numerous brand new and unknown titles are teased during E3, any Con, or just on an average day. And when that happens we all feel that little tingle. The excitement building, the wanting, yearning, and needing of that game even though we know little to nothing about it. That hype is one of the driving factors in selling a game, after all first impressions do count. After its initial tease we will scour the internet for whatever tidbit of information we can dig up, even if its just the same news rehashed on a different site in their words. Over the following weeks things begin to pop up on the internet about said game, whether it be screenshots, trailers, developer diaries. All of this just feeds the fire that is our hype. But then comes the day when a delay is announced. Here is when the feelings and emotions can change, because on one side you can feel relieved and on the other disappointment. One cannot deny a delay can be a good thing but disappointment is the initial feeling. After the delay is announced the developer still wants to keep its audience and fanbase interested so it will continue to push out new featurettes, which could range from trailers with commentary to more screenshots, to official forums for the fans to gather and discuss suggestions, feedback, etc. How this can hurt the game is when the content released becomes to repetitive. Everything show the same scenes as before, no new features are learned, characters and plot are still left up in the air to leave some mystery left to the game. While it remains good because we do not have much spoiled for when it is launched into our hands, it can also leave us weary and question how much we desire the title. It gives us time to think about how much we want it, is it worth the day one purchase, or the time. Knowing practically nothing about something, even who the main protagonist is yet still wanting it is the core of hype. Striking while its their is crucial. Learning more about the game is just icing on the cake. Extended time and a lack of anything new is a detriment.

High Expectations/Raising the Bar: Along with an extended release window, so too do the expectations of the game itself increase. Whatever it be, the community generally hopes for better when it is finally released. If an A-List game comes out later than expected with not much changed about it, it can drop to a B-List game. Why? Because be people began to think more highly of the game. The hype that once clouded our eyes and slightly lifted and through the fog we can see the game a little more clearly. We think too highly and if that game doesnt meet criteria even a little it can prove a disappointment to some, simply because we expected more. One of the key examples of this is with graphics. During E3 or whatever conference the developer heads showcase a game with stunning graphics in means of drawing people in and grabbing their attention. If it takes 1-2+ more years for the game to release because of a delay and the graphics arent on par with what was "presented" people instantly take notice. This is one of the leading factors to a AAA games downfall.

One of the few times I have seen this backlash avoided was when the original visuals of the game were completely overhauled and replaced to fit the new atmosphere of a title. Ex: Borderlands

OriginalBorderlands E3 2008 Helena vs Actual
Original Borderlands Mordecai and Roland

Competition: One of the most well known facts in gaming is that a big portion of the most anticipated times come out in Q4, which is namely the end of the year, following shortly behind are the VGA's, a grand ceremony honoring all the released titles of that year. A time to sit back and talk with friends about the games that gave us memories, made us laugh, cry, hate, love, etc. During this time of year most of the most anticipated titles are released which can prove troublesome to some. This is one of the main reasons some love delays in games, it gives them time to comb through their backlog and appreciate the titles they already have so they can give their all to the delayed title later, as well the developer doesnt have to worry about consumers purchasing this game over theirs. However, this proves as a great risk as well as a beneficial move. The games pushed to 2015 dont have to compete with the games already designated to compete with them, but now they have some fresh faced competition whose hype is much stronger because they are coming out on time. So unless it is already a well establish series, developer, or the fans are still clamoring for the title it can still prove dangerous.

My Take: Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with delays. It can either be a breathe of fresh air because I know they can make it better or do more to polish it. Or it can make me think more about the title, and whether its really worth purchasing. Im the type of person that if I dont get the game Day 1, I probably wont be getting it at all so the hype is a big factor.

Your Take: What do you think about game delays? Do you love them? Hate them? Have they ever made you think twice about a game? Made you sigh with relief? Share your thoughts and opinions and thanks for reading ^___^

Sir Athur Conan Doyle's famous detective Sherlock Homes has had several video game releases over the last decade or so. In the past, I've greatly enjoyed adventure games, as well as solving crimes in games such as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, so I decided to pick up The Testament of Sherlock Holmes during the Steam Summer Sale last week. After spending a bit of time with Dr. Watson and Holmes, I've got some impressions to share about Frogware's 2013 title. 

When it was originally advertised, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes promised to take a darker turn than previous Sherlock Holmes games and narratives, and to actually delve into the psyche of the famous detective. The game is meant to chronicle his descent into supposed madness, and it's also meant to inject more player choices into the series, in order to dictate how threatening Holmes can be when trying to solve crimes. Since I've only spent a little over an hour with the game, I haven't seen really any of this descent yet, but as someone who loved Alan Wake, I'm really looking forward to how the story plays out.

Even though I'm not very familiar with many elements of the Sherlock Holmes universe, I did not feel very confused when I booted up the game. There are references to past games, as Dr. Watson references dealing with Jack the Ripper, which was a focus in the previous game, but I was able to follow along with what was going on. The world of the game is established, but it's clear that you don't need to know everything about Sherlock Holmes to understand what's going on. All you really need to know coming into the game is that he is a self-centered intellectual who is aided by his colleague Dr. Watson. Relationships with other characters like Inspector Baynes are made apparent immediately, even though I had no idea who that character was before trying out the game. As someone who appreciates story in a game above all us, I was happy to see I could understand what was going on with my limited knowledge of the series.

The game opens up with Sherlock Holmes investigating the disappearance of a Samoan necklace, one of the most valuable pieces of jewelry in London. After finding it hidden in the very room it was stolen from (having been dropped by the thief), the necklace is verified as being the original by its owner, and Holmes and Watson relocate to their home at Baker Street. The next day, however, an article is published in the paper saying that the necklace is actually a shoddy fake, according to the owner, and it insinuates that Holmes himself took the real one and replaced it with the fake. After being visited by the police, Holmes easily identifies the necklace as a fake, and Watson is disturbed at both the accusation and at the fact that the owner had confirmed it was the real one the previous day. The police are skeptical of Holmes being the culprit, and so they let him go on his way to his appointment, but it's clear that Holmes' validity is already deteriorating a bit.

The most surprising development occurs when Holmes arrives at his destination; he had a previous appointment with the Bishop of Knightsbridge, but upon arrival Holmes discovers that the man has been brutally mutilated and murdered. It's here that the game starts to open up, and you get a real taste of what's in store for the future of the game. 

Probably my biggest complaint, so far, is that moving Holmes around the environment in any perspective that isn't first-person is just plain awkward. With the game taking place in more confined spaces than games like Alan Wake and Dead Space, it's hard to effectively move about when the camera is set in a third-person perspective. Moving in first-person is better, but the fact that you cannot move while characters are talking is a bit of a nuisance, in my book. Examining clues in the environment is easy, however, and Holmes also has a special sixth sense ability that shows where clues are in the environment. It may be a bit of a cop-out, but it definitely works for when you can't find that one last item/clue in order to advance the story.

One feature I've enjoyed is putting the clues that Holmes finds together. Inside his journal you can start a sort of flowchart, starting with the clues he knows, and then moving on to connecting them and giving them more meaning. There's some trial and error, if you get one of them wrong, but doing it correctly is very satisfying. 

The game definitely won't win any awards for how it looks, but it looked pretty fine on the low settings I had. Lip-synching was a bit off, but the actual voice acting during the story sections is pretty good. However, when investigating/performing activities...it's a little too repetitive. When I was examining evidence at Holmes' desk at home, he kept repeating the same tired lines over and over when I did something wrong, with no variety. This took me a bit out of the experience, and felt disappointing, especially because I'll likely hear that line repeated quite often in the future.

Even though The Testament of Sherlock Holmes has some obvious flaws going on, the premise of the game (and story) is intriguing enough that I'm anticipating the next big development. I don't know how dark Holmes truly goes during the events of the story, but I hope that Frogware made his descent an enjoyable one.

Until tomorrow, everyone.

Peace.

Murdered Souls Suspect had caught the eye of a lot of people last year at E3. However as more of the game showed and circulated it wasn't advertised as much. Many of the professional reviews rated it low but one common thing I realized quickly in there reviews is they all stated it was worth playing at least once. With that statement I could not agree more.

Murdered Soul Suspect puts you in the role of Ronan O Connor a detective working the Bell Killer Case;A Serial Killer who leaves a mark of a bell on his victims across the city of Salem, Massachusetts. His life comes to an abrupt halt when the Bell Killer tosses him out of the fourth story window and shoots him in the chest seven times. Ronan sees his dead body laying on the ground and tries to get back into his body but he can't. The cops are called in to investigate the scene. Ronan sees his dead wife Julia but before he can go and join her in the afterlife he first has to settle his unfinished business.  Ronan starts to investigate the scene and find out any information about his killer that he possibly can. It leads him to a a young girl named, Joy whose mother has gone missing. The clues quickly lead that she has been helping to catch the Bell Killer and aiding a fellow police officer named Baxter. Joy and her Mother, Cassandra, are spiritual mediums, Cassandra has worked with them on cases before. Cassandra has leads that she has been investigating on her own. Ronan has to piece together the clues to and find out who the Bell Killer is. Its story and characters is where the game truly shines.

While Murder Soul Suspect gameplay isn't horrible, it doesn't ad up to the highly action style based games on the market today. While many might see that as a flaw, it really isn't cause anybody that sits down long enough will realize that the game wasn't meant to be an action game. It focuses more on interaction and investigating, and piecing together puzzles, its kind of a blast to the past of all those games that had puzzles and problem solving something the world doesn't seem to have time for anymore.  Like I previously said you use alot of investigating and most of the gameplay has you go and pick up random objects, but that doesn't mean that you can't have a little bit of fun with Ronan's newly acquired ghostly powers. As the game progresses you will learn differing things from how to poltergueist to telaporting. Many of theses features you have to use to help Joy sneak past the cops and other humans that get in the way. You also have to use influence on some people to get clues and progress in the story. Any action that comes from the game comes from hiding in ghost residue and waiting for the right moment to exorsize a demon. Those momenets occour frequently but not alot.The game also has a lot of collecting and has alot of reading to do to learn more about the characters and history of the game. It's ghost stories are good and it does have its scare factors to it.

In closing Murdered Souls Suspect isn't a horrible game and I enjoyed it perhaps more than most people would. It was really a blast from the past in a time where stories and problem solving was more important than gameplay. Murdered Soul Suspect is a unique game that many will love and hate. It had a lot going for it and its not for everybody but, any gamer with a unique feel and open minded enough will play it and come the conclusion while not the best game ever made it was still a journey worth taking. That is why I can only give it a 7/10. I loved its story, its characters, and history surrounding the game. The gameplay wasn't even that bad its just not a game that I can see myself going back and playing multiple times.

I've been considering blogging about this subject for a little while now. And I suppose in a sense I sort of have in that I've already blogged about one of the games I'm going to mention here. I think what finally pushed me over the edge was seeing Kyle Hilliard's post titled, "Retail Special Edition Of Gone Home Now Available In SNES-Themed Box". You can read it here. When I saw the box, I loved it. I like Gone Home and I always get a kick out of seeing modern games get a throwback box or cartridge.

When I think about some of the games I've played or watched this year, quite a few of them are clearly inspired by the classics. You may recall my blog not all that long ago about Super Time Force. A great little indie game that just released back in May, but full of design elements reminiscent of games from the 80s.

Super Time Force Ultra is coming to Steam this summer! We'll be bringing STFU to PC players in the not-so-distant future, and while we're at it, we're adding some very cool (but presently very secret) stuff to our crazy time-traveling game!

Hah. How clever.

Well, tonight I played yet another fine example of a new game you would swear is a game from the late 80s - early 90s when Nintendo and Sega were battling back and forth. This game is barely a week old, but feels like its 20 years old (but in a good way). Maybe you've heard of it. A little game called...

Shovel Knight

Shovel Knight is a 2014 action platformer video game developed and published by independent developer Yacht Club Games for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and personal computer platforms. The game was released worldwide on June 26, 2014.

Shovel Knight is a 2D side-scrolling platform game. The game features 8-bit graphics designed to resemble classic games. While the color scheme used adheres to the Nintendo Entertainment System's original color palette, the game features modern graphical techniques, such as parallax scrolling. The player controls the eponymous Shovel Knight character, who wields a sharpened shovel that is used to attack enemies, destroy barriers, and dig up treasures. As an homage to the game DuckTales, the player can use the shovel as a pogo stick to bounce off obstacles or the heads of enemies.

I'm no Nintendo or Wii U expert, so I'm not ashamed to say I don't know how active the independent developer community is on the Wii U...how many of them partner with Nintendo...but I was surprised to learn this game was created by independent developer - Yacht Club Games.

So, I've played it for about an hour and I'm happy to say...it's awesome. It's funny; it's fun; and it's scratches that nostalgic itch many of us get from time to time. Everything about the game is polished and the attention to detail to recreate that retro feel is unmatched. I wonder what it's like developing a game like this on platforms that are far more powerful. Easier? Harder? I don't know...

Everything about the game is a joy to experience. The story is intriguing, the dialogue is entertaining, the graphics are wonderful and the sounds...the sounds are like stepping into an arcade, or sliding the cartridge into your NES and pushing it down into the system.

Shovel Knight features a chiptune soundtrack composed by Jake Kaufman, with two contributions by Mega Man composer, Manami Matsumae. The game's soundtrack was released for download via Bandcamp on the same day as the game, as was a separate album featuring various arranged versions of the game's tracks.

The Wii-U continues to impress. After an abnormally long drought of no games, it's refreshing to continue seeing so many amazing games  being released for this beleaguered platform, especially when they harken back to the days when Nintendo was on top of the world.

Cheers.

  the movie tie in aspect of this game is what killed it.  the story makes no sense and the ending cut scene has no relevance to the game.  the fall of cybertron had us see the autobots and decepticons on course for earth but when the movie scenario cuts to the cybertron portion it holds no aspect of the canon following it's predecessor and leaves the scenario abruptly and never revisits it until the very confusing ending cut scene which shows no purpose other than the ironic befudlement held by both optimus and the player. Activision shamelessly takes advantage of a licensed property at the expense of everyone who blindly buys this game,   

There have been times in our world history where some terrible things have happened. We had a dictator who came close to world domination, who believed in a perfect race, even if it meant doing horrible things. There are crimes taking place every day in our own backyards, people stealing from one another and even lives being taken because of petty stuff. Watching the news and hearing about a child being abducted and only to be found years later if at all, makes you wish the scum would just disappear.

We have a chance to be the heroes in the games we play, taking out the degenerates that popular whatever world we're exploring. A game like Wolfenstein comes to mind, a game that revolves around the fascist Nazis who are experimenting with weird occult practices and trying to make highly advanced weapons. Your character is tasked to do whatever means necessary to stop and prevent them from accomplishing such lunatic goals. The enjoyment isn't completing the mission, but taking out the xenophobe, psychotic Nazis in the process. You read and watch history lessons on what this group had accomplish and it makes taking out these repugnance of humans out all worth it.

The running jokes in games use to be about WW2 games constantly being pumped out into the market. It wasn't until about six years ago when the first Modern Warfare came out that the trend was broken. Why were WW2 games the ideal premise for a shooter? Because it is a common group that is strongly disliked around the world and you honestly show no sympathy for what these evildoers have done.

Taking out something that resembles all things bad can be a rewarding feeling in games, from defending earth from hell demons taking over in DOOM, or trying to survive an apocalypse by bashing in a walking corpse head. Choosing what enemies you'll be facing can be a key component in game developing, so choose wisely developers.

As we prepare ourselves for Independence Day, let us celebrate our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of mobile games. This week, we've got some neat, cute, and unconventional games for our weekly round-up.

Civilization Revolution 2
Developer: 2K
Platforms: iOS
Price: $14.99 

The sequel to the 2008 original brings tried-and-true resource management gameplay to your Apple device once more. Revolution 2 includes new technologies, units, and buildings, like modern medicine, the jet fighter, and nuclear power plants.

Feeding Time
Developer: Incubator Games
Platforms: iOS
Price: $0.99

Match 3-style mobile games are a dime a dozen, but Feeding Time breathes fresh air into the genre with its charming aesthetic and clever design. You begin with a board populated by foodstuffs like cheese and fish and animals like dogs and cats, matching each critter to their respective meal of choice.

By tapping an animal’s face, it will begin chomping its way through its food until, say, a mouse eats through all connected cheese pieces. Chaining buffets is the key to earning the highest scores in the minute or so you’re allotted.

Desert Fox: The Battle Of El Alamein
Developer: Shenandoah Studio
Platforms: iOS
Price: $9.99 

If you enjoyed the recently released Valiant Hearts, Desert Fox might be right up your alley. Though not as stylized as Valiant Hearts, Desert Fox incorporates commentary and historical photographs and footage from WWII to accompany the board game-style action.

The turn-based strategy game features a campaign mode as well as online play, in which you’ll send infantry into battle while laying and avoiding environmental hazards like landmines. Though the $9.99 price tag might be steep compared to most games on the iTunes store, it looks to be a refreshing alternative to the familiar Civilization Revolution series.

Jellies!
Developer: Aleksei Kalinin
Platforms: iOS
Price: $1.99 

Jellies swim across the stage in this matching game, and you clear them from the screen by connecting jellies of like color. To eliminate even more jellies, corral them inside your swipe movements and extend your playing time for more points.

World Of Tanks Blitz
Developer: Wargaming.net
Platforms: iOS
Price: Free 

It’s the World of Tanks you know and love, now on mobile devices. What an age we live in!

Play in 7-on-7 deathmatch or territories game modes with light, mid-sized or heavy tanks, all impressively detailed. Plus, it's free-to-play and features fully customizable UI.

MTN
Developer: David O' Reilly
Platforms: iOS
Price: $0.99

Because it's a holiday weekend, we hope you’ll be taking some time to yourself to unwind. What better way to relax than to stare at a digital rendering of a mountain on your phone?

You don’t interact with your mountain at all in MTN, outside of adjusting audio options and zooming the frame in and out. Mostly, you'll just watch as seasons change and the circle of life unfolds on your little pet mountain.

In celebration of our nation’s holiday (and savings on games), Humble Bundle has kicked off its DRM Freedom Sale. The event, which started earlier today, runs through July 16.

Each day, the sale will refresh with new titles at discounts up to 85 percent off the normal price. Every game is DRM free, though some include Steam access.

Each purchase also aids charity, with 10 percent of the purchase price going to the American Red Cross, Child’s Play, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, World Land Trust, and charity:water.

The Humble Store has raised over $1 million since its inception in November 2013. Humble Bundle, which has been in existence since May 2010, has raised over $39 million for charity.

You can check out the sale on the Humble Store.

Our Take
You might think you’re tapped out after the Steam and GoG.com sales, but you probably missed something you didn’t even know you want. Or maybe, you just want to buy a game and support charity at the same time. Or, I suppose it’s possible that you just love bargains and won’t ever play the games you buy. That doesn’t sound like anyone I know.

Scuf, a company specializing in custom controller modifications, has announced that it will begin shipping its PlayStation 4 controllers soon. The company has already made modified Xbox One controllers available.

In addition to aesthetic customization, Scuf adds paddles to the underside of the controller (that duplicate the function of any face button) and offers different length and shape thumbsticks. The company has also started shipping a removable control disc that fits over the D-pad in an effort to make standard controllers better compatible with sports and fighting games.

The PlayStation 4 controllers with two paddles start at $119.95. The Xbox One controllers start at $109.95. You can find out more on the company's website.

Our Take
Scuf has a presence in the competitive gaming scene, and the controllers have been comfortable when I’ve held and used them. As for whether you’re willing to spend at least twice what an off-the-shelf controller costs? I suppose it depends on how serious you are about your K/D ratio.

To celebrate American independence, Free Lives has added two new bros to its over the top, 8-bit action game. In addition, publisher Devolver Digital is offering a patriotic discount on the title this weekend.

Cherry Broling, the second announced female bro, can hover over enemies and rain bullets down from her machine gun leg. Colonel James Broddock, on the other hand, focuses on hocking grenades at foes. Both new bros are available with today's update.

Cherry Broling, modeled after Cherry Darling of Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror.

Broforce is an action title that has you take down terrorists with the help of dozens of bros in the name of freedom. The game features fully destructible environments, a variety of gameplay modes, a level editor, and an army of bros with unique abilities and characteristics.

Colonel James Broddock, modeled after Chuck Norris as James Braddock in the Missing In Action films.

While currently playable through Early Access on Steam, Broforce is scheduled to fully release sometime in early 2015. The discount ends July 7. For now, read about our initial impressions with the game for more information about the characters and their abilities.

For some reason, there is a lot of butt talk in today’s news. This time, it’s Handsome Jack and a list of tips for surviving on Pandora’s moon in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

“But what does this have to do with butts?” I hear you asking. Well, as you might recall from our previews, when you are outside on Elpis, you’ll be able to rapidly decide onto your posterior by crouching while jumping. Even better, if you have an elemental Oz kit, you can cause all sorts of damage to your foes.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

You’ll also get a look at the laser and cryo weapons, along with Wilhelm’s active ability. And, if you want to hear Handsome Jack say what we’ve all been thinking about Athena’s active ability, you’re in luck.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will be out on October 14 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. For more, check out our E3 preview.

As gamers, many of us fall in love with video games as finished products, sometimes forgoing the opportunity to investigate the creative process behind classic titles. A new video series, described by its creator as a "video format artbook," aims to seamlessly weave concept art and its extant in-game rendering in a digestible form of before-and-after storytelling.

In his “The Art Of” series, Olivier Leclair intersperses gameplay video with concept art of corresponding locales, characters and moments, juxtaposing the still and moving images for games like Journey. In this video, he shows how the artists captured the sense of scale of the desert and mountain in-game and on paper, and even shows us other potential designs for the robed figure.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Leclair also has a “The Art of Shadow of the Colossus” video on his Youtube channel, as well. For more on video game art, check out the newly released Okami prints available for purchase and our story on Bayonetta 2’s concept art.

     We all know the big video game youtube channels.  The ones that get hundreds of thousads of views per video even if it's just them biting off their finger nail and eating it for twenty five seconds.  You know your Toalbiscuit, your Cinnemassacr, your Pat the Nes Punk, your Lazy Game Reviews, and your Gamechasers just to name a few, but what about those smaller channels?  You know, the ones that have been around forever, but never seemed to get a following as big as those despite being around as long as those channels.  Well here is my list of video game channels that deserve a bigger following than what they have.

I just wanted to have this as the thumbnail.

CygusDestroyer20XX

    Have you ever thought "Hey I grew up with some of those JLN games that AVGN is always ragging on, and liked them as a kid."  If so this is the channel for you.  When he's not doing let's plays, reviews, or just schooling his audience on retro games, he is ripping his jacket open and taking on the persona of THE LJN DEFENDER!!!!! 

(Please visit the site to view this media)

ProjectCEO

    Probably the coolest guy out of all on this list; ProjectCEO is a retro/current review youtube page that does a lot of obscure retro games that for the most part are all awesome.   At the moment it's all about Turbographix16 and PCEngine games, but it can be anything ranging from NES to Playstation 4.  Plus there are discussions about anything and everything within the world of videogames.  It's one of my favorites out of the bunch just because he brings up great and interesting point in the comment section.  Definitely a page to keep your eyes on.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Teh2Dgamer

    This guy made me realize how small my videogame collection really is.  LOL.  Teh2Dgamer is a youtube channel that has been around as long as AVGN and Pat the Nes Punk, but hasn't blew up like they did.  This is more so an informative channel showing great retro games that are must own for collectors.  Well collectors like me who collect to play. 

(Please visit the site to view this media)

NecroVMX

    NecroVMX... LOL.  Where to start?  I like messing with this guy just because he hates my sense of humor.  Okay, NecroVMX is a channel where he request games to try out, and he plays them on emulator.  He also has discussions about this and that.  I think the last one was about why some little kid reported his Custers' Revenge video, even though it had been up for five years.  He also does let's plays of some pretty good RPGS.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

The Real Blue Dragon

    I like what this channel does.  There are old retro commercials on this channel, as well as old interviews.  That's just the tip of the iceberg.  Along with let's plays; he puts up videos called Battle of the Ports where he will have two versions of the same game side by side.  Like the Sega Saturn version verses the Sony Playstation version.  Shhhhhhh... and if you look real carefully you might just find the Sonic the Hedgehog movie on this channel that was only released in Japan.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

FrDougal9000

    Not much to say.  This is a retro review channel where all the reviews are thought out, and well executed.  There is also informative discussion about this and that in the world of gaming and beyond.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Vizzed

    Vizzed is an emulator site that recently opened a youtube account.  From the website you can upload your gameplay footage which brings about the good and bad of what you'd expect from a bunch of random people uploding game footage.  Some videos are of people completing the game, some are of just the title screen, some are of just the music, some are just of some guy screwing around, some are just someone dying (sometimes over and over again, so you never know what will pop up on this channel.  But that is the magic of the channel.  You never know what someone is going to upload next.  Plus if you are to go to Vizzed.com tell them that kittenkilla sent you.  ;)

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Gexup

    This started up as a Gex fan page.  Then after the all was said about the Gex games this site grew into an intellectual site about this and that in the world of gaming.  Most of his points that are made are really good and I agree with them., But beyond gaming discussion there is also let's palys and retro game reviews.  All great might I add.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

     So there are a few of the gaming channels I watch that are underground, and don't get many views.  Maybe they might get a lot of views on a video, but it takes time, and is rare.   I'd love to hear what obscure gaming channels you all watch that need more recognition than what they get.  I'll subscribe to them if you are willing to subscribe to these channel that deserve a bigger audience than what they have.