Exploring Stuff That Makes Life Great
It took us a while to get the group back together, but we finally have a new episode. We gave the show a different format to what we thought would improve it. Please let us know what you think!
On this episode we discussed:
Stuff we liked over Winter break
SplitFish Games’ MotionFX Accessory review
Rogue Galaxy review
Japanese versus America Action games
Development of The Divine
After several months of no major public announcements, the development team at Packom Interactive uploaded major content changes on
www.TheDivineGame.com. A teaser trailer, new screenshots, concept artwork, and wallpapers have all been released.
“For 30 days TheDivineGame.com featured a countdown clock, marking a deadline that was just as exciting to us as it was gamers,” said Executive Producer David Rodriguez. “We’re proving to the world that even though we are an independent game development studio, we can still create shockwaves in the industry.”
While /The Divine/ is still a work in progress, gamers can now get a better feel of what to expect. In total 12 new screenshots, a teaser trailer, 4 concept artworks, and 8 wallpapers have been uploaded.
Expect even more updates in the coming weeks.
*About /The Divine/*
The battlefield of space is lit brightly with the fires of war for the Colonial Federation. Between attacks from the Confederation and their mutual enemy The Fleet, Lieutenant Zeke Auris is just a man trying to stay alive. Drafted into the war, his only goal is to see the day the battles are done. But fate has a different idea in store for Zeke when he stumbles upon one of the greatest mysteries that may lead to mankind’s peace… or destruction.
A mysterious nanny shows up to help out a widowed father who must remarry before the end of the month or lose custody of his seven children.
It’s hard for me to believe that I enjoyed this movie. It’s clearly a children’s (ahem, I mean “family”) film. A single father needs to find a wife so that his seven, very badly behaved children can remain together. Helping out is the magical Nanny McPhee, whose special tactics not only keep the children in line, but teach them the importance of manners and respect. How could I possibly enjoy a movie like this? They’re teaching etiquette for goodness sakes! There is a babysitter with witch-like power involved. This movie should not be anything I even like.
How did this come to be? Start off with Colin Firth (oh, he’s so dreamy) as Cedric Brown, the likable father trying to keep his family from falling apart. He even keeps his dead wife in the loop by looking to her memory for advice. Emma Thompson is the titular Nanny McPhee, and why the hell not, throw in Angela Lansbury as the evil Great Aunt Adelaide who is trying to split up the family. Their performances, while might not be the greatest of their lives at a critical level, are appropriate for this movie. They bring an air of fairy tale charm that helps to raise my appreciation for what might be an otherwise no enjoyable flick. The children’s acting is acceptable, but you can’t really expect too much from them, because, after all, they’re still just children. But still, totally acceptable.
Just because something is a family movie, it doesn’t mean you should rule it out. You should give this one a shot, I know I don’t regret it.
Mythopoea Games (www.MythopoeaGames.com) and Packom Interactive (www.PackomInteractive.com) have formed a partnership to allow Packom exclusive publishing rights to Mythopoea Games’ Office Purks! This top-down 3D arcade game is a continuation of what Packom Interactive pledges to offer gamers: fun and entertaining games first and foremost!
Office Purks allows players to take on the challenges of the corporate world in a whole new way. As Percy Purks players will join him in his daily 9 to 5 battle against the forces of monotony. Wander the maze-like halls of your office dodging work and collecting paperclips to fulfill your life long dream of constructing the world’s largest paperclip chain. Stay out of sight from tattle tailing co-workers who’ll rat you out to the big boss. Get caught slacking off too many times and you’ll get canned! Keep an eye out for other random office supplies to boost your score. Try and survive all 20 levels before Percy leaves his job forever!
Office Purks is now available for $8.95. It can be purchased at www.MythopoeaGames.com
Demo:
http://www.mythopoeagames.com/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?cid=8&lid=6
Screenshots:
An exclusive interview with Sean O’ Brien producer of NCAA March Madness 07 for the Xbox 360. An exclusive interview with Sean O’ Brien producer of NCAA March Madness 07 for the Xbox 360.
Imagine Resident Evil 4 with more fluid controls, less scares, and just the same amount of intense gameplay and you’ve got Lost Planet.
Capcom’s aim to create games that can be enjoyed by all markets — Japanese, European, and American — has yet again paid off! For a period Capcom was having problems reaching mass audience appeal, but ever since Resident Evil 4 Capcom has created several huge titles. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition can be added to this ever growing AAA game list.
The aspect that will take your breath away is the graphics. Right off the bat they are extremely solid. When explosions after explosions makes you look away from the screen you know that the game has intense graphics. Running at a smooth 30+ frames per second in high definition in expansive worlds is no small task and Lost Planet abuses the power of the Xbox 360.
The story has an anime style feel. Both in the way the cutscenes are presented and that the voice actors are the average anime characters. The macho man voice, the squeaky girl, etc. are all here. If you don’t like anime, which I personally don’t, the cutscenes will be the worst part about the game. What saves them from being a bad experience is the graphics and the story. The story itself is about humans trying to colonize this planet, but of course there are vicious bugs that attack everyone. It’s up to you to destroy as many of these bugs as possible so that humans can terriform the planet into something humans can leave peacefully on. Sure the story isn’t spectacular but it’s at least decent.
The missions consist of killing either bugs, snow pirates, or mechs, with the occasional boss battle. While this may seem like a simple formula that would get old overtime, it’s far from it. There’s plenty of variety in weapon types and enemies. The boss fights are outstanding. They require both strategy and quick reflexives. While overall the mission types are very linear, it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment that comes with completing each one.
The gameplay is from the third person perspective. You play as Wayne whom can navigate mechs. Whether you’re playing as Wayne or as a mech the controls feel solid. With quick 90 degree turn action buttons and easy aiming the action never stops. The twist that separates Lost Planet from other games is that there is a limited amount the the player can survive in the outside world. Because the world is in frozen over in snow, the player has to stay warm by collecting energy from the enemies that he kills. If the countdown of energy runs out the player begins to slowly lose life up until their death. This life meter puts an urgency on every action that the player takes. Thankfully gaining a ton of energy isn’t that difficult.
There is a pretty good multiplayer side to the game as well. It has all the basic modes that gamers expect out of such action games: team, deathmatch, etc. 16 player matches with eight maps definitely adds a good amount of replay value.
And above all else, the music is absolutely fantastic. While it isn’t memorable, during gameplay it certainly intensifies the combat.
I’ve had hard times justifying $60 game purchases, but Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is one of the few games that is worth the money. The downside is that it only has 11 single player missions, but overall the game is an intense thrill ride that will make one want to complete it as fast as possible.
