IGS is Killin' it!!!

My first article on this blog was dedicated to a cartridge-based arcade hardware that remains relatively unknown here in the states, the PGM (Ploygame Master.) During the PGM's short life span, it hosted some of the best modern arcade games you could hope for. International Games System (IGS) - the Taiwanese developer that created the PGM and recently released the PGM II; so naturally I am rooting for their success in the shrinking arcade market. Much to my shock and jubilation, IGS released a press statement last week stating their sales are better than they have ever been.

Digitimes.com, an international technology news site, reported the following:

International Games System (IGS), a Taiwan-based developer of arcade game hardware/software and operator of online games, has reported revenues of NT$296.6 million (US$8.8 million) for March 2009, the company's highest monthly level ever. The record revenues were due to booming shipments of arcade gaming machines to China and Italy, said IGS. While the overall revenues for March increased by 15.6% on month, the revenues attributed to arcade gaming machines hiked by 36% sequentially, IGS indicated.

Following this great news, I am expecting some new games to be developed for the PGM II, which currently only has one title to speak of. Hopefully the PGM II will become more prolific and in turn, a bit more affordable so I can get my hands on one. Regardless though, I am always excited to hear that an arcade developer is doing good business.

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Nasty Sick KOF XII Trailer: 60 FPS?

Watch this trailer then imagine yourself 3 months from now chilling at a Caribbean beach resort, playing KOF XII projected in HD on a ship sail.

I'm totally in love with it's breezy color palette, spicy guitar licks, and how about them graphics? Do I spy 60 hand-pixel-sketched frames per second? Everything about this game screams Summer Vacation Fantasyland.

July cant come soon enough.

P.S. That other more flamboyant 2DHD fighter is also coming to an America near you this summer.

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My Thoughts on The Bioshock 2 footage...

As someone who absolutely adored the first Bioshock, I'm pretty excited about it's sequel based on the small amount of in-game footage that was released last night.

Playing the game as a Big Daddy seems so badass and neat. Looks like they managed to get the weight and movement down perfect; you still seem to lumber around, but it doesn't seem sluggish and clunky like -SPOILERS- when you were in the BD suit towards the end of the original Bioshock. Overall, the animation on everything (including the splicers) seems to have improved.

Then there is the Big Sister, a character that has the potential to be really cool and really creepy. From what I've gathered, Big Sister is going to be on your ass through out entire game, which could possible lead to some intense Resident Evil: Nemisis-inspired set pieces. What I'm wondering is how scared will you be of her when the character that you play as is already pretty scary? What made the encounters with the Big Daddies in the original so intense was that you were just a normal guy (well, minus the super powers) who was pitted against these brooding juggernauts. It was the classic "David and Goliath" scenario. In Bioshock 2 it seems as if those roles are reversed. Sure Big Sis is faster and perhaps smarter, but in the end, you're playing as Big F'n Daddy!

I have high hopes for this title. Let's hope that it lives up to it's name.

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Bioshock 2 Gameplay Footage

I am a bit torn when it comes to the original Bioshock. On one hand it was one of the most atmospheric games I have ever played with an inventive plot, memorable characters and some the best design and lighting this side of Hollywood. However, it was also quite flawed: about two thirds of the way through the adventure the lackluster gun play and repetitive splicer fights start to become tedious and even the incredibly detailed environments weren't enough to keep me totally locked in the experience. With that being said, I still recommend the game to anyone who has yet to play it; it is a unique experience and offers a sense of character and style that very few games can compete with.

A few months ago 2k released a teaser trailer for a sequel to the underwater adventure. As excited as I am for this one, I am also a bit weary of what the final product will offer. The original Bioshock developers 2k Boston are not going to be working on this one replaced instead by a new 2k sister company: 2k Marin which consists of a few members of the original Bioshock team along with some new talent. Hopefully the new blood will be a good thing and Bioshock 2 will be a fresh and improved experience. Unfortunately, judging by the gameplay footage released just a few days ago, I don't see many new ideas or even any real major visual improvements to the original game.

Check it out for yourself and see what you think:



Hopefully 2k Marin will come through with this one. I do have to say the part where the water floods the room was very, very cool...

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Trent Reznor is Pretty Cool...

Ok, I have to admit, in the nighties I was a big Nine Inch Nails fan. I remember blasting Broken in my living room and basically just running in circles because I was feeling it so hard. I don't think I could go back and listen to any of those jams anymore but at the time they hit the spot. Even if I can't get behind Trent Reznor's recent work, I do like the guys style. As you probably know, he is a self proclaimed gamer nerd. He produced the soundtrack for id software's classic QUAKE and has confessed many times to the huge delays between his albums being due largely to his gaming habit.

Trent recently did an interview for Digg in which he answers questions submitted by the site's subscribed users. interview video and full article after the break

One question that was near the top of the list was about videogames. I was really shocked when I watched the clip below by how much of Trent's gaming philosophy matches my own. When he spoke about the huge budgets of modern games stifling the creative potential for developers,it honestly weirded me out because I just had that exact conversation with Adam a few weeks ago. He raps about games much the way my friends and I do and has that "I'm an old man, I know what I am talking about" approach I can definitely relate to. I found his comments on the potential of the the downloadable marketplace to be especially on-point. I can't tell you how much I agree with what he is saying there; when you don't have to spend a bazillion dollars on a project, you can take some risks and try some new innovative things. Not every game has to be some huge, bloated, cinematic experience - sometimes they can just be fun.

You tell em' Trent:


Wonder what the idea for his rejected game was: Self Loathing Man in Sad Town, perhaps?

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The Calm Before the Storm: id Software in 1993

This is a gem: video from id software in 1993, right before the OG DOOM dropped. It's really exciting for me to have this type of insight into the company responsible for a game that literally changed my life. I can still remember vividly the first day I played DOOM and the countless hours spent Deathmatching via dial-up modem.

There is some great stuff in this video: the incredible talent of id's sound designer, Bobby Prince (listen to that interweaving character theme melody) John Romero talking about his masterwork as he is playing it (you can hear the child-like excitement and passion he has for he does.) With a team like that, it's no wonder that DOOM turned out to be the incredible success that it was. Watching this makes me wish id would have produced a full-blown "making of" documentary as they where creating DOOM. I want to see them sculpting the models they photographed for the monsters and I still don't quite understand how the Kevin Cloud created those amazing wall textures...

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Gear up for the Zombie Apocalypse

What I love most about the modern-gaming landscape is that very often something will come out of the blue you've never heard of that looks to be totally "right up your alley".

Case in point: Zombie Apocalypse, a downloadable title shuffling its way to your 360/PS3 in second half of 09'.

Yup, if you haven't figured out that this was a high-score chasin' affair, the cat's out of the bag. Every zombie you kill nets you some points and every five zombies you kill adds one point to the multiplier. When you lose a life, the multiplier resets to zero. Now, you can see how important the Chainsaw Execution and its automatic plus-three to the multiplier is. Another boost to the score comes from the random appearance of survivors. Every so often, a crying lady in a blue pantsuit will come onto the scene and beg for your help. If you can defend her long enough, a ladder will drop from an off-screen helicopter in the sky. It'll take her away and leave an exploding teddy bear for your arsenal and net you 250,000 points. If you don't protect her and the zombies get her, the woman will immediately come back as an infected with her smart suit torn apart and head bleeding. She won't be distracted by bears and she'll really want to kill you.

When you survive a day, your character does a little dance and says something and then you're graded on a golf-like score card on how many kills you got, limbs you removed, survivors you rescued and so on -- including hazard kills. See, at the airport there's a jet engine turning and a helicopter blade cutting into the ground while there's a car crusher at the junkyard. If you shoot a zombie while he or she is standing in front of these objects, they'll stumble back into the killing devices. Seeing as how it takes

It appears to be everything that I could ever want in a game. Top-down twin stick arcade action? Check. Stupid/equally aggressive zombie AI? Check. Gibs? Check. Environmental kills? Check. Chainsaws. Check. Michael Jackson references? CHECK!

Get your soup cans stocked and your machetes sharpened.

On another note... Why do all these new zombie games (I'm looking in your direction COD:Nazi Zombies) have to have AXE-scented nu-guitar riffs as a main musical driving force? Hasn't Thriller taught you guys anything? The undead look, smell and act FUNKY. Let's gets some moog synths and bongos going for God's sake!

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