Monday Night Combat - From PAX East

While walking through the exhibit halls at PAX East, McAnus and I turned a corner to see Monday Night Combat from Uber Entertainment. I instantly said, "Holy Shit, that looks sweet", from just seeing the banners they had hanging up. Upon closer inspection, my initial impression was not incorrect. The game looked insanely fun. We stuck around to watch two games, hoping to get into a game. Right as it was our turn, they shut it down for a tournament. We didn't get to play at that moment. We came back later and I was able to get into a game, but McAnus was not, some fat kid stole the controller from him before he could play.

Monday Night Combat is a Third Person Shooter coming to XBox Live Arcade sometime this year. The game is made up of six classes: Sniper, Assault, Assassin, Tank, Gunner and Support. I was able to play the Assault class and watched people play the Assassin and Sniper classes. The game mode that they were demoing at PAX East was called Crossfire. The object of the game is to destroy the other team's money ball before they destroy yours. To do this, you must escort a group of NPC robots into your opponents base, once the robots are in the base, they lower the shields on the money ball and you can attack it. Keep in mind, they other team is escorting their robots into your base also. Each class is very distinct, and all have 3 special abilities, which can be upgraded. The abilities for the Assault class were a rocket pack that allowed you to hover in the air and move in any direction, a grenade and a charge ability, that when level 3, is an instant kill.

The game was a ton of fun, I enjoyed the shit out of it. I only got to play one round, but it is definitely a game that I would purchase when it comes out on XBLA. I am not overly sure on the release date of the game though, I have a post card that just says "coming 2010", so hopefully, the game comes out soon. What the game most reminded me of was a mix between Team Fortress 2 and Defense of the Ancients. It had a very cartoonish feel to it, which I like. It does not look like a Modern Warfare 2, or anything of that nature, they were not trying to be realistic. I enjoy the vibrant colors to be honest. Some games can pull it off, some games can not. This game absolutely pulls it off. I am interested to see what sense of humor the game has, I did not get a sense of it while playing, but I only played once. I can not imagine that a game that looked like this would not have a sense of humor. They were only demoing one game play mode, on one map. I really hope there are more maps and more modes. As much fun as I had with the game, I would eventually get sick of that one map. I wasn't able to ask the developers if they had more modes shipping with the game.

Overall, I recommend Monday Night Combat, for XBox Live Arcade, the game was fun, looked great and played very well. It will be something I that will be getting when it comes out. I would just keep an eye out to see if they announce more maps and modes. I highly doubt that the one I played was the only one, but if it was, I would think twice about the purchase, if there are more, it is a definite buy, hands down.

We also have a twitter account, if you are not following us, you should. On top of letting you know when we update the blog, we have a lot of fun stuff going on with our twitter. We also have a facebook fan page, look to the right side to become a fan.

Joe Danger by Hello Games

This weekend, Egan and I were able to enjoy the full three days of PAX EAST 2010. The Penny Arcade Expo is touted as the convention for gamers. Games at all stages of production are available to be played. One of the games Egan and I got a lot of hands on time with was Joe Danger. Joe Danger is a motorbike stuntman and in the first game developed by The U.K.’s Hello Games, Joe Danger must race down a track in any number of game modes. One of the first things that caught my eye about the game demo at the Hello Games booth was the friendly and enthusiastic developers showing the game. There were no pitches, no fast talking, just a couple of guys that are very proud of the game they created and were eager to show off. The vivid colors of the game got my attention while watching other people play the game. All the games were running on HDTVs via PS3 or Xbox360. The colors were crisp, fun and very cartoon like. The art direction is just as cartoony and fun. Sprawling desert landscapes with ghost town saloons, big wooden boxes to drive through and big totem poles all try to hinder Joe Danger from proceeding down the track. The sound made me feel like I was in a giant arcade, lots of chimes and bells, fun music, other sounds that are played when bonus points are gained help drive home how rewarding well executed sound design is.

The game is a 2.5-D race from left to right down a track with obstacles. Any gamer would immediately compare it to Excitebike on NES right off the bat, similar ramps, jumps, speed boosts and the 3 or so lanes to race down, however Joe Danger brings some more elements to the classic formula. The player is able to control Joe Danger in air and perform stunts that increase the score, the player can also duck or bunny hop over obstacles. The player also can lean back while riding, allowing for a wheelie that links and chains stunts together in a combo system. There are a few different game modes, time trials, races vs. AI, a mode where there are bull’s-eyes on the ground and you score more points for landing on them.

Joe Danger will also support online leader boards when it comes to PSN, XBLA, and PC as a down loadable title. There is also a track editor players can work on and collaborate together by sending the files back and forth. No plans to have a space for maps to be uploaded have been announced at the time of PAX EAST; however tracks can be shared with players on each other's friend list by sending the file directly.

I am eager to check out a final version of this game when it is released sometime later this spring. The game has a lot of heart and is a wholesome fun time. The game had an excellent learning curve to accommodate the skill level of any player. The player could race through a level dead straight, or step it up and score extra points by trying stunts. If there was a race that was not completed in time, the option to try again was a button away. I know if I had this game on my PS3, I would start playing it and realize that I let 8 hours go by. Joe Danger definitely has the hook that keeps you wanting to play “just one more game, and then call it a day” about 200 times. Keep an eye out on the PSN, XBLA and PC and find out more at the Hello Games site http://www.hellogames.org/

Listed M.I.A.

Let me give every one a rundown of whats been going on in the D-Pad D-Bag universe. Egan and I have been getting amped up for PAX. We've been coordinating schedules, putting in for vacation pay and days off, getting our finances in line, finding cat sitters, and going over the panel list and prioritizing what we want to hear about.

I'm looking forward to a group of panels, following a theme. Journalism. I hope to gain some insight from people who know what they are talking about on the basics of Journalism relating to the video game industry. Maybe I'll pick up a few pointers like "under no circumstance make a food network chef reference, no matter what context". Hopefully Egan and myself will pick up tips and improve our blog and find a clearer voice.

I also picked up MLB 10: The Show. I'm an early adopter of the series, and am impressed with the 2010 release. The graphics and animations are crisp, clear and beautiful on an HD TV. The beauty and detail of ball parks brings a tear to my eye because it is the closest I will ever get to stepping into the batters box and taking a swing. The difficulty of this game also brings a tear to my eye. I am horrible. I have always been horrible in most of the Show games, I doubt I will improve. I am struggling with a 1-6 record. How ever, I continue to play. It is a fulfilling moment when you hit a solid lead off double, steal third and wait on baited breath for a scoring opportunity. It is equally as heartbreaking to strike out twice, then line drive to second and end the inning scoreless. I play on the edge of my seat. That is what a good game does. The Show 10 definitely toys with my emotions and slaps me upside the head.

I got back into playing Modern Warfare 2 a lot more after 2 months off or so. I've been playing Ground War Multiplayer. Not much has changed other than my skill disappearing, my ratio dropping, everyone lapping me in terms of prestige mode and having the same level as me. I keep on fighting the good fight for now. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is very tempting. I plan on trying to organize a MW2 PS3 game night in the coming weeks. If you are interested leave a comment. Or

Peacewalker has been delayed. The good news, it will be bundled. I will still be picking the game up on June 8th (unless it is delayed again). Only this time instead of Ruby Tuesday which has gone out of business, I will probably get my ass out of bed at 10am, head over to the crappy mall pick up my copy of Peacewalker and then spend time at Ihop or Old Country Buffet steam rolling through the game. Until I am full of waffles made of shame.

As the twitterverse has been exploding with Just Cause 2 praise and chatter, I am very curious about this game and may put it in my queue to play when I get a chance to get my hands on it. I am worried it will be the Red Faction Guerilla of 2010. RF:G was very excited, it looked good, large, expansive, destructive, challenging and a unique experience. I get the feeling from reviews and videos that Just Cause 2 is similar. I sank a lot of time just aimlessly driving and breaking stuff last summer on Mars and haven't picked the game back up since. I'd hate to get rid of it because was so refreshing.

Catch everyone at PAX, mention the blog and I'll buy you a beer.

Live Blogging at PAX

This weekend, both Kyle and I will be at PAX East. We are bringing various methods to keep everyone updated. I have set up UStream on my phone, and will be broadcasting live video and interviews all through the weekend. We will be bringing laptops for full posts to the blog, and we have set up a twitter account which we will be updating over the course of the weekend.

Keep up on all the PAX happenings with us over the weekend.

Lead Developers for Infitity Ward Fired

It is just coming out that Jason West and Vince Zampella, the lead developers for Infinity Ward were fired by Activision due to 'breaches of contract and insubordination.' Infinity Ward are the makers of the super successful Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series. This makes me wonder how much the next MW will change, and will be end up defiled, much like Activision has defiled the Guitar Hero series. I am interested to see how it pans out, but good luck to Jason West and Vince Zampella!

Playstation 3: Rise of the Machines?

10 years ago the world was a few months removed from the Y2K bug
shutting down the Earth and bring us back to the dark ages, and a couple
years past August 29,1997 when Skynet becomes self aware and robots take
over the world. Everyone was happy they purchased 6 months of non
perishable goods, and built bomb shelters in anticipation of the end of
the world. Everyone probably still has expired Prem canned ham, and
gallons of water because that day never came. Computer glitches were
fixed with no incident, until February 28, 2010. The day PSN became self
aware.
Sony officially states that there is a bug in the clock functionality
incorporated in the PS3 system. In other words, their date and clock
broke. I turned my 80 gig PS3 fat on and played a PS2 title for a couple
of hours, at the end of my gaming session I decided to check out who was
playing on PSN and possibly join into a game. I got an error saying that
I could not connect to the network because of an Error Code 8001050F. I
figured I needed to reset my modem and router. After that did not work,
I picked up my cell phone and used the web browser to find out what
8001050F means, and how to fix it.
The most recent headlines at that time informed me that the 8001050F
code means the system is bricked. I searched around more and found out
the 8001050F problem was network wide for the Fat models and not the
newer PS3 Slims. Today Sony has released very little information about
this crippling problem. Internet related games (including, Demon Souls,
Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer) , trophy enabled games, downloaded games,
and Heavy Rain are all left unplayable. Sony suggests just keeping the
system off until this problem is resolved, by their hopefully estimated
expectation of Tuesday morning.
As a veritable Sony Fan Boy this takes the wind out my sails. I can't
gloat about having a free network service. The response from now on will
be "You get what you pay for, 8001050F TW!" This raises a question, to
me at least, would paying a monthly or yearly subscription safe guard
against 10 year old glitches that almost stopped the world? With extra
income, would Sony be able to have programmers fix bugs, or test for
them first with more resources? Would Sony be able to apologize to all
of us by giving us a discount for the month, or some DLC or something
as a make up present?
I doubt this really is any writing on the wall in bold black paint
that PSN is a mess and needs to be restructured, but this makes me
have less faith that I can even turn on my PS3 now with out worrying
about a glitch. Will I have to check out blogs, message boards, and Sony
Press releases before I pick my my controller, just to make sure I don't
damage or corrupt any data or files? I hope not

Error 8001050F, pretty sweet

So, if you have a PS3, I am sure you have noticed the error 8001050F. Sony has said that it is an issue due to the internal clock of the system itself. They said it will be about 24 hours before there is a fix for it. As of right now, there are zero known workarounds that can be done at home. So, until Sony issues a solution they recommend that you don't even turn on your PS3. Hopefully they issues do not persist for more than a day, I know Kyle really wants to play The Show. I've heard that part of the issue is due to the date roll over from Feb 28th to March 1st, but I am not sure why that would be the problem. Either way, don't use your PS until the fix is in place.