Players Pulse
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![During today’s Xbox One press conference, Wired revealed that Microsoft’s new console will have a system in place that forces you to install the game to the hard drive. This would allow you to play the title straight from the console without the actual game-disc involved whenever you’d like, which sounds like a great idea except for the fact that the disc itself would become useless for another user unless a fee was paid:
“Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc.
But what if a second person simply wanted to put the disc in and play the game without installing – and without paying extra? In other words, what happens to our traditional concept of a “used game”? This is a question for which Microsoft did not yet have an answer, and is surely something that game buyers (as well as renters and lenders) will want to know. (Update: Microsoft called Wired after this story was originally published to say that the company did have a plan for used games, and that further details were forthcoming.) [X]”
Obviously, this Microsoft’s way at fighting against the robust used market that profits directly from second-hand selling of video games. However, the aforementioned fee for doing something as simply borrowing a game from a friend or renting through GameFly or a RedBox kiosk really bugged me since there was no mention of how much this Xbox One would charge the user for such a heinous crime against the industry.
Enter Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison to explain how this will all work in an interview with Kotaku:
“‘The bits that are on that disc, you can give it to your friend and they can install it on an Xbox One,’ he said. ‘They would then have to purchase the right to play that game through Xbox Live.’
‘They would be paying the same price we paid, or less?’ we asked.
‘Let’s assume it’s a new game, so the answer is yes, it will be the same price,’ Harrison said.” [X]
As someone who regularly purchases and rents titles through GameFly, I don’t believe that I will be supporting this new Xbox One if this is what they plan on doing with the system. I was actually very intrigued at all the hype surrounding this new console before the conference, but the always Kinected news along with the second-hand fee just absolutely kills it for me.
What a terrible, terrible move on Microsoft’s part.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/3de4662b073142cb533a04aa7ce488b7/tumblr_mn66twvOMt1r15h74o1_r1_500.png)
During today’s Xbox One press conference, Wired revealed that Microsoft’s new console will have a system in place that forces you to install the game to the hard drive. This would allow you to play the title straight from the console without the actual game-disc involved whenever you’d like, which sounds like a great idea except for the fact that the disc itself would become useless for another user unless a fee was paid:
“Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc.
But what if a second person simply wanted to put the disc in and play the game without installing – and without paying extra? In other words, what happens to our traditional concept of a “used game”? This is a question for which Microsoft did not yet have an answer, and is surely something that game buyers (as well as renters and lenders) will want to know. (Update: Microsoft called Wired after this story was originally published to say that the company did have a plan for used games, and that further details were forthcoming.) [X]”
Obviously, this Microsoft’s way at fighting against the robust used market that profits directly from second-hand selling of video games. However, the aforementioned fee for doing something as simply borrowing a game from a friend or renting through GameFly or a RedBox kiosk really bugged me since there was no mention of how much this Xbox One would charge the user for such a heinous crime against the industry.
Enter Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison to explain how this will all work in an interview with Kotaku:
“‘The bits that are on that disc, you can give it to your friend and they can install it on an Xbox One,’ he said. ‘They would then have to purchase the right to play that game through Xbox Live.’
‘They would be paying the same price we paid, or less?’ we asked.
‘Let’s assume it’s a new game, so the answer is yes, it will be the same price,’ Harrison said.” [X]
As someone who regularly purchases and rents titles through GameFly, I don’t believe that I will be supporting this new Xbox One if this is what they plan on doing with the system. I was actually very intrigued at all the hype surrounding this new console before the conference, but the always Kinected news along with the second-hand fee just absolutely kills it for me.
What a terrible, terrible move on Microsoft’s part.
LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game Loading Screen
Whenever you load up a new area or level, you get treated to short scene of this image being handdrawn and painted in front of you. Pretty nifty loading screen, if you ask me.
![WWF RAW Advert -Xbox [February 2002]
This game has the distinction of being the first WWF licensed video game to show up on the Xbox console. Even if WWF RAW didn’t have the extensive features that the PlayStation’s WWF Smackdown series had, it did have the best looking graphics of any wrestling title at that time.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcmfuensp51r15h74o1_500.png)
WWF RAW Advert -Xbox [February 2002]
This game has the distinction of being the first WWF licensed video game to show up on the Xbox console. Even if WWF RAW didn’t have the extensive features that the PlayStation’s WWF Smackdown series had, it did have the best looking graphics of any wrestling title at that time.
With the release of Resident Evil 6, I thought it’d be fun to make today nothing but Resident Evil posts! Beyond that though, I wanted to give people a heads up about the two console-exclusive special edition packs that are available in stores today as I was completely caught off guard with this release.
In the PS3 exclusive Resident Evil Anthology Set, you get Resident Evil 6 along with digital copies of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 4 HD, and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition.
In the Xbox 360 exclusive Resident Evil Archives Set, you get Resident Evil 6 along with the film Resident Evil Degeneration and digital copies of Resident Evil 4 HD, Resident Evil CODE Veronica HD, and Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition.
Both sets retail for $89.99 but there’s only one actually worth picking up, in my opinion. Not too sure why these things differ so much from one another, but it is what it is. Just something to ponder while you’re at the store.
Apparently, Fire Pro Wrestling is now available as a downloadable game on Xbox Live Arcade and has very little to do with the franchise from which the name comes from. Spike developed the this title as a simpler game hoping to get the attention of casual gamers by including the use of your Avatar as a wrestler.
Even if you’re like me and have a WWE costume for your Avatar, I’d still stay away from this title. I’ve already been bored to tears by the demo, and with all the changes, I’m surprised that Spike had the gall to still use the name Fire Pro Wrestling.
Don’t be tempted by the five dollar price tag — this one is a stinker.
![When I decided to come up with The First 24, I wanted to push myself to write more without necessarily reviewing a game. By only allowing myself to type out what I liked about a title after spending one day with it, I thought that it could lead to some interesting cases where my original words would be completely void once I finished a game. I never once thought about what would happen if I actually beat a title on that first day.
Well, shit.
[[MORE]]
Early impressions and photos all leaned toward Double Dragon Neon being an absolute stinker, but I’m glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how great it turned out. To be fair, the fact that the game was absolutely free for Playstation Plus members COULD be clouding my judgement, but I’d like to think that I genuinely enjoyed spending my Tuesday night burning through this title. I mean, rebooting a classic beat-em-up could very easily turn out terrible if you stay too faithful to outdated gameplay and ideas, but Way Forward managed to avoid this by recreating the Double Dragon formula in the goofiest of ways.
That’s not necessarily a negative as Neon is such a strange hodgepodge of classic video games and 80’s pop culture. You collect cassette tapes that grant you various special powers or help level up your character’s stats. You gain health by drinking cans or liters of an unnamed Cola that sometimes shows up as in a Clear Cola variant. You’ll fight through a Space Dojo, only to come across the boss that’s clearly supposed to be a take on Capcom’s Mega Man. It seems that Way Forward gave the series the same treatment that they gave Contra 4 by crafting something that’s a love letter to the old fans of the franchise all while injecting their own absurd humor into it.
[Sidenote: Seriously, Way Forward had Lance dress as a woman to infiltrate an enemy base in Contra 4]
WAT
You’ll end up realizing how ridiculous this game is by level 3 when the main villain is revealed to be a a towering demon named Skullmageddon, a baddie with a voice that’s very similar to Skeletor from the He-Man cartoons. Beyond the oddball humor though, there’s a game that’s actually fun to play with a combat system that rewards you if you keep away from mindlessly button-mashing. Successfully dodging an enemy attack will grant you an instantaneous power bonus to your character for a few seconds, making your own attacks twice as deadly. Getting this pattern down for each enemy type is key to surviving but thankfully the game is extremely forgiving by making extra lives plentiful throughout the levels and super-cheap if you choose to purchase them at a store.
Behold — the Deadly Spin Kick!
Double Dragon Neon is polished enough with several different beat-em-up tropes included to make it an entertaining title for those who grew up on these types of games, but I was disappointed at the lack of pieces from previous entries of the Double Dragon series. It might be a weird complaint to make but there seemed to be more gameplay nods towards the Konami Arcade beat-em-ups than the actual Double Dragon games. While I enjoyed the remixed classic tunes from earlier Billy and Jimmy Lee adventures and seeing the 8-Bit NES sprite on the map page, I really was hoping that Way Forward would have kept all of the original fighting techniques intact. Double Dragon Advance did this perfectly, even down to double tapping forward to run — why couldn’t this downloadable title have done the same?
Also, where the hell is my ability to grab an enemy and knee him repeatedly in the face?!
8-Bit Billy Lee!
Even though I managed to complete Double Dragon Neon in a little over two hours, I still feel compelled to stick with it for a while to try out the harder difficulties that I’ve unlocked. Getting through them might require level-grinding by repeating beaten stages, but that’s part of the fun to be had. With each run-through, it feels like I’m building towards being able to understand how to survive the game’s “Double Dragon” difficulty mode, the hardest challenge that forces you to know the enemy patterns and levels inside out to survive.
Fun title — absolutely worth paying the ten dollars if you have any love in your heart for these kind of games.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_manz0oQhEA1r15h74o1_500.png)
When I decided to come up with The First 24, I wanted to push myself to write more without necessarily reviewing a game. By only allowing myself to type out what I liked about a title after spending one day with it, I thought that it could lead to some interesting cases where my original words would be completely void once I finished a game. I never once thought about what would happen if I actually beat a title on that first day.
Well, shit.
![Cheap Ass Deal O’ The Week - Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Now, I know this title didn’t really get that many amazing reviews when it was first released, BUT I skipped out on it and couldn’t help but pause for a minute when I saw that price. Metacritic has it listed as a 52 aggregate score, but the reviews seem to point out some promising things about the four-player co-op shooter. If you’re curious about this one, you can get it at a nice price right now:
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - $19.99 [PS3]Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - $19.92 [Xbox 360]
I mean, surely Capcom didn’t screw up having fun while killing zombies, right? Right??
By visiting Cheap Ass Gamer, you can find your own $19.99 and under Cheap Ass Deal by using their search bar to sort out game prices from big-name retailers.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma43p4tSU71r15h74o1_500.png)
Cheap Ass Deal O’ The Week - Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Now, I know this title didn’t really get that many amazing reviews when it was first released, BUT I skipped out on it and couldn’t help but pause for a minute when I saw that price. Metacritic has it listed as a 52 aggregate score, but the reviews seem to point out some promising things about the four-player co-op shooter. If you’re curious about this one, you can get it at a nice price right now:
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - $19.99 [PS3]
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - $19.92 [Xbox 360]
I mean, surely Capcom didn’t screw up having fun while killing zombies, right? Right??
By visiting Cheap Ass Gamer, you can find your own $19.99 and under Cheap Ass Deal by using their search bar to sort out game prices from big-name retailers.
I experienced what may be my favorite video game moment of 2012 (thus far) when I ran into the Guardian in Darksiders 2 and this song swelled up. It was one of those perfectly scored moments that make you swell up with emotion with the task at hand.
The soundtrack as a whole is simply fantastic, but for some inexplicable reason this track isn’t on the OST (which is downright criminal as it’s one of the best tracks in the game).
Video games, man.
Just started playing this one, and I can say that I’m loving several of the musical pieces contained within.
Expect The First 24: Darksiders II to be finished up by Friday.
Takken Tag Tournament 2 Covers Revealed, Feature Reversible Box Art
It’s to my understanding that the top photo will be what gamers in North America can expect while the bottom photo will be the packaging sent out to Latin America countries. If you don’t live in either one of those areas, it seems that you will receive the standard cover of just Heihachi and Jin (top right).
I haven’t been hit yet by that pesky Fighting Game cycle, but I’m sure that I’ll be overcome by the hype soon enough. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will be released in North America on September 11th for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler Character Screen Shots - WWE ‘13
I don’t want to get pulled into the hype regarding this game due to how mangled WWE ‘12’s servers were, but I just cannot help getting giddy over roster reveals and screen shots. The entire roster has been revealed over at the official website, and it showcases some interesting choices for playable characters.
Vader, Kevin Nash, and Brock Lesnar are still in due to their involvement in WWE storylines over the year. The inclusion of the “Attitude Era” means that we’ll see characters that we haven’t seen in a WWE video game in over a full decade like The Godfather, “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn, and Ken Shamrock! Also, there’s three versions of Triple H! Fucking madness!!
THQ has not gotten my money yet, but I will be GameFly’ing this one on day one.
