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Retronauts delivers the Truth!
Written by Modojo
posted October 5, 2006
While not interested in passing out fliers for the "other" gaming sites out there; I do like to give respect where it's due. Jeremy Parish and cohorts at 1UP, as well as freelance gaming debutante Chris Kohler, released the debut podcast for their Retronauts feature.
It *IS* absolutely worth listening to. The friendlies chat almost exclusively about Final Fantasy 3 for the DS, and their banter is most triumphant. Hell, I'd consider the entire 30 minute podcast a great companion piece to the feature we'll be running on Friday. The podcast is a great medium for stuff like this, and I actually prefer listening to good converstations, instead of music, while I'm browsing the netspace. I guess I'm just that talk radio type of guy.
The Retronauts column is something that I appreciate almost immediately. Parish takes the time out to explore some of the most notable (and eccentric) moments in the legacy of gaming. Further respect is delivered specifically for the popularization of Metroidvania. A term I've grown to cherish.
Check the podcast out through 1UP, but then make sure to come back to Modojo. We love you more.
Jealous, So... damn, jealous..
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 3, 2006
Now Rhythm Tengoku for the GBA is a game i've done my utmost to persuade people to obtain as its simply one of the most enjoyable games i've ever come across. One of the funnest parts being the drum studio, which i've had a good old play with, it's so much fun being able to record what you drum and play it back on the GBA, only thing is is that for me it showed how much I lack the gba drumming skills. "Meh! it's OK, I'm sure everybody else is as rubbish as me!" i thought to myself, until i stumbled upon a small clip on the bloggers friend that is Youtube.
Wow... just, wow. I await the day where i see a band actually replace its drummer with a man sitting on a stool with a gameboy micro!
-Phil Jones
Now Playing: iPod Edition
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 3, 2006
I bought a new fifth-gen iPod recently, mostly to see if the games available for it were any good. The scrollwheel as a videogame input device intrigued me.
The upside of my wonton disregard for such concepts as a "personal budget" and the separation of fun money from rent/food money is that you, the more mature, less impulsive Modojo reader can get the full scoop on these games before dropping your hard-earned dollars.
We'll have full reviews of all nine games soon (SOON), but for the time being I'm happy to report that for the most part, the "launch" games are actually... really good. You wouldn't guess that a game like Bejeweled would work on an iPod, but it does. Some companies seemed to have wrapped their heads around scrollwheel control better than others, however. Namco, I'm looking in your direction.
The other really nice thing is that the games are a very cool, very digestible $4.99 a pop. This is a trend, started by Microsoft on Xbox Live Arcade, that I can very much get behind. It's like... yeah games like Diner Dash or Zuma on PCs are fun and addicting, but for $20... I often times just can't justify it. $5-10 is a much more accurate value for these titles, I believe.
Don't hold me to this when the final reviews go up, but right now I actually am leaning towards crowning Apple's internally-developed Vortex as the best game of the bunch. I'm sure the internal team at Apple working on games is incredibly small, as it couldn't be farther from the company's core competency, but I'm still looking forward to what they have cooking up next.
-Justin Davis
Listen to Mother in your headphones!
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 2, 2006
While listening to your mother in your headphones sounds like the least enjoyable musical selection most people can think of, listening to Mother in your headphones is a slightly different beast.
The cover art to the soundtrack for Mother 3 was released recently, and it is as unique as the game itself. A pixilated piece of art as fine as any I've ever seen.
This release is obviously Japan only, just like the game itself. Popular import sites like YesAsia, and Play-Asia are gamers best bets for finding this OST when it is released. I couldn't find any listings as of yet, so this initial reveal of the cover art is probably a preemptive press release to get fans excited. No one seems to be carrying the disc for sale or pre-sale just yet. I'll keep searching and post the news when it's available.
On an aside, I've always wondered why gaming soundtracks rarely get the press they deserve. Even larger sites like IGN, while they cover damn near anything, never post any reviews or impressions of gaming OST's. Why not? They're some of the most cohesive and impressive musical releases out there. If they can gather enough funds (and fans) to go an a symphonic tour across the United States, it would seem that someone should be reviewing their efforts, and giving the shout-out to the real gems that see release. Any agreement?
A SCARY mobile game?
- Written by Modojo
- posted October 2, 2006
I discovered something quite extroadinary on the weekend. A mobile game which can actually be defined as "survival horror".
This is the third and final instalment of the "darkest fear" trilogy, released and developed by finnish developer Rovio mobile. This game actually got me frightened-something a mobile game has never done to me before. This is because, at some points in the game, anarchic, gruesome images suddenly appear on screen, which took me by surprise the first time I saw it.
Here are the darkest fear games in respect to their scariness:
Darkest fear: had its moments, but no.
Darkest fear 2: Grim oak: this is an RPG! no.
Darkest fear: nightmare: OH SNAP
You can check them out here: www.rovio.com
PS: in response to Cody's post......
LOL
- Karim Maksoud