E3 2011: Super Mario 3DS World 1-2

NintendoWorldReport posted some videos of gameplay for the new Super Mario 3DS game. The results are unimpressive: Nintendo is using the same Mario sprites, engine from New Super Mario Bros. and updating it into 3D. Level design looks awkward. Gameplay looks slow.

Nintendo! We would have bought New Super Mario Bros. 2! Add some new power-ups and think of some new environments and the fanbase loves you! I don't get them.

Watch the official Trailer on IGN if you want.

Reggie's a little confused in the trailer, saying that this is the first "mario platformer created from scratch on a handheld."

Clearly he just forgot about New Super Mario Bros., my favorite Mario game--of all time, I said it! Yes, I think it actually improves on SMB3 and SMW and is a worthy successor. 3DS, of course, is using textures and everything else from NSMB!

Anyway, best of luck to Mario 3DS, I never really enjoyed this kind of 3D platformer, but I'll try it out on a store display hopefully

b :D b

E3 2011: Wii U Controller Revealed

Iwata claims this isn't meant to be a portable gaming system, but you'll be able to play Wii games on the go and Wii U games without the TV.

This was a natural evolution in systems. Nintendo claiming it's not a portable system is only because of the stigma that goes along with handheld gaming being a generation behind console gaming.

It's possible you'll still need the Wii-U to be turn on and hooked to the internet for this thing to work, but perhaps not.

Nintendo calls it the future, but this thing is already the past. The Dreamcast had a portable memory card with a primitive screen, so it's hard to get excited about this thing.

Also, to be blunt, using an iPad in the store last year was enough to convince me that I never wanted another touch-screen product that didn't work as well as Apple.

As the entire world moves toward cloud computing, the idea of consoles strikes me as incredibly dated. The best games over the last few years have all been downloadable titles or indie releases (usually both). If there is one thing almost all E3 commentators have in common this year, it's the idea that somehow the industry doesn't get gamers.

The video game industry, more than anything, simply knows how to advertise. They know how to sell. They don't exactly know how to make good games because they never stopped to ask, "What makes a game good?"

"What makes a good game?" is a very different question from "How do I impress the average reviewer?" All reviewers seem to demand is big-budget appearance, "fun-factor," and "playable." What if, to be a good film, it simply had to be "fun"? Or simply "watchable"? Why don't game developers take their job more seriously? Why are most videogames, intellectually, regressing even further and reinforcing stereotypes and cliches that were barely acceptable in the '80s? Why does any philosophical discussion in a video game feel 200 years old? Why are there so many cutscenes? Why are the games so easy?

E3 2011: PixelJunk SideScroller

Moving beyond tower-defense and Robotron-style action, Q Games presented a playable demo of their new game "SideScroller" at this year's E3.

Like Gradius, the game is a verticle shmup, complete with special weapons, customizable ship, and power-ups. Weapons include homing missiles, a spin (which provides a brief invincibility), machine gun, lasers, and so on.

Be prepared for bullet hell.

The coolest thing about this game, in my opinion, are the vector graphics. The ZX Spectrum and many arcade machines could use vector graphics (everyone else might remember them from highschool physics class). At E3, Q even had CRT overlay to add to the retro feel of the demo.

PixelJunk SideScroller promises to be an exciting title for shmup fans, look for it this summer on the PSN (if it's working).

E3 2011 NEWS

E3 2011 News update: everything is totally boring.

E3 2011: Duke Nukem Forever

"Fuck yea, I'm back baby!"

One of the most anticipated titles at E3 this year is the legendary Duke Nukem Forever. Once written off by mass media and fans alike as the textbook example of vaporware, 3D Vaporware just released a Demo on Friday June 3, 2011. You have to be a member of "First Insider Club," to get an access code. You can get a code from Borderlands Game of the Year Edition box or a Duke Nukem pre-order.

Well, congrats to those lucky few who can play the demo. Everyone else is stuck waiting until the 2k games press releasing sometime this week.

You could always visit the official Duke Nukem site. It's even got a pretty cool melodic, almost heavy, medal track that plays in the background.

E3 2011: Retro City Rampage Screenshots

Looking at the screenshot, it's easy to see that Retro City Rampage expanded beyond it's roots as a GTA clone and embraced more of 8-Bit gaming.

Just in these screens, you can see references to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mega Man 2, Ninja Gaiden, and other classic platformers.

I really can't wait to get my hands on this one! Brian Provinciano really went all out!

He also has a development blog, in which you can watch a video of Grand Theftendo, his demake of GTA 3 (now defunct). Retro City Rampages promises all the older project could offer, plus more. Hope you enjoy this gallery of screenshots in the meantime!

First of E3 2011: Retro City Rampage

I often wonder about some homebrew NES games that simply vanish. One such game was Grand Theftendo: an attempt to create an GTA-style homebrew NES game. I stopped keeping up with the project year ago, when the developer went AWOL.

However, the game has resurfaced as a WiiWare, PSN, and XBLA title: Retro City Rampage. Suppodly the game cracks jokes, much like Fight Town, and gaming/GTA/beat-'em-up tropes (Final Fight took place in "Metro City" and "River City Ransom" is considered by many gamers to be the greatest beat-'em-up of all time, and the first to fuse RPG elements into a beat-'em-up.

Even though Retro City Ransom loses some novelty by not being an actual Famicom game, I'm glad to see the developer reach a wider audience with 8-Bit gaming.

More info on Retro City Rampage, and other interesting 2011 E3 News next week! I expect a general release date and pricing, as well as anecdotes revolving around the creation of the game to be revealed, but who knows? For now, check out these really sweet Retro City Rampage screenshots.




He's serious about that Code Book. I'd be pissed too, those things were important before the internet, damn it!