Retro Review: Digimon World

Players: 1-2

Rating: Teen (Comic Mischief)

Digimon sprang up right alongside the Pokemon revolution, and never really had the thunder that Pokemon did.  That said, BanDai made several solid titles around the Digimon franchise.  Digimon World, one of the first, is one of them.

Metro Last Light teaser now online!

Those of you who saw my review of Metro 2033 yesterday will be interested in this little tidbit...

Review: Metro 2033

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360

Publisher: THQ

Rating: Mature (Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence)

Players: 1

Reviewed on: Xbox 360

Metro 2033 literally flew under the radar of most of the gaming communities when it came out in 2010. It's based on a Russian novel by Dimitry Glukhovsky, and set in a post-apocalyptic Moscow.  After playing it, I really wish I'd stumbled upon this game sooner.

What can we learn from Diablo 3 & and open letter to Blizzard

With all the hype about Diablo 3 as of late, it's been plagued by several issues.  What lessons should Blizzard take away from this?  In my book, plenty.

Retro Review: Area 51

Players: 1-2

Rating: Mature (Realistic Violence)

Reviewed on: Saturn, PS1, Arcade (Yes, I've played all three, and recently!)

If there's any genre that gets a ton of attention out of me, it's the light gun shooters.  There's something about the actual holding the gun and actually aiming that Call of Duty and Half-Life just don't do for me.  And Area 51 is quite probably one of the quintessential light gun games of the late '90s.  For a game that gave me the willies when I was younger, it really has its charms.

Review: Bayonetta

Japanese and US covers

System: Xbox 360, PS3

Players: 1

Rating: Mature (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes)

Reviewed on: PS3

Bayonetta was on my radar screen for a while, though I had never taken the time to pick it up and play it.  Boy, was that a bad idea!  This little gem from Platinum Games deserves a look, if you haven't already.

Video Game Music: It's Finally Mainstream!

Game Music in general is reaching the point of being on par with movie soundtracks.  In some cases, they're even bigger than movie soundtracks.  Title themes from The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy have as much of a spot in the public conscious as Indiana Jones and Star Wars.  Hum a few bars of any of those themes, and you'll find a whole group of people who know what you're singing.

Ever since the advent of the home video game console, game music has become increasingly popular in the public eye.  And now, finally, video game music is reaching the point of mainstream attention.  In this rant, I'm going to point out some of the more ingenious musicians out there, as well as a few major works of art.