New Game Alert: More Zen in My Pinball!

I inducted Pinball FX 2 on the X-Box 360 into my Game Library today. I really like digital pinball and since Zen Studios already made a strong case with Zen Pinball that I got for the PlayStation 3 earlier this year, there is no reason why I wouldn't get PFX2. The game comes with four brand new pinball tables and they are more complex than previously released tables. There are many more tables that can be purchased ($2.50 each) including those released for the original Pinball FX though there are  a couple of overlapping ones between PFX2 and ZenP. If you have both games across the two systems, you can choose which tables to unlock individually to avoid unnecessary redundancy. For those overlapping tables, I plan to get them on the X-Box 360 because of my recent decision in regards to multi-platform direct download releases.

I am a what now? The game tracks your score and compare it to your friends' scores.

Guwange Next Wednesday!

After Cave announced that sad news that they will not be making any more region-free discs for their X-Box 360 import shooters, I was heartbroken. So much so that I forgot about their plan to release Guwange on the X-Box Live marketplace. The thing is, that plan has been in the works for a while now and coupled by the "no region-free" policy, my mind automatically erased it from my memory so I haven't been following up on its development. Well, a friend of mine on Live sent me a message last night informing me that the game is set to release on November 10th - awesome! Guwange is a vertical shooter where you control flying characters in a medieval Japan milieu. It's definitely one of the favorites of many Cave fans and I personally haven't played it but I have obsessed over the gameplay footage for a while. The game will be available for only $10 and it's really great to see it finally coming out. It still hurts however to see that Cave releasing Dodopnpachi Daifukkatsu later this month when I visited the official site since it's probably going to be region-locked.

Another bullet hell extravaganza, here we come!

There is Hope in Newerth

I updated the Heroes of Newerth client on my computer today - a common practice for me even though I haven't played the game in a while... I just like to keep things up to date - and I was surprised to see the following announcement:

That's rather promising.

The fact that 1600+ accounts were suspended - not sure what the whole 38% guilty rate thing is all about - could mean that S2 Games is indeed serious about cleaning up the game's unfriendly community. "Unfriendly" by the way is an understatement. Since you have to actually buy the game to play it, an account suspension does hurt really bad. I wasn't in the mood to test things out however but perhaps it is time to really jump into this game again.

X-Box 360 Fall 2010 Dashboard Update

The Kinect-mandated newly designed dashboard for the X-Box 360 is here and as much as I hate the inclusion of things I don't need on my video game console - the new ESPN channel for example - I do like the new look. It has a clean, basic feel to it with a lot of white put into the entire mix. The previous appearance of the dashboard is definitely a lot more complex and modern but it's easy to see that the simplistic feel is implemented to accommodate the new group of super casual players who will be joining the X-Box gaming community starting this Thursday. If you have technology-deficient guardians, you don't want them to get confused by fancy looking shapes and bold colors while trying to have some fun with the console, right? To further welcome them into the X-Box family, the dashboard even includes a tutorial of features and navigation that you must go through to complete the update process. Will I be an early adopter of the Kinect? We'll see. I am only interested in two games for it at the moment - well, actually one, Kinectimals, since Child of Eden must be played using a regular controller or the PlayStation Move for accuracy - and the motion capture mechanics that support the $149.99 add-on is looking too flimsy at the moment.

Fancy new boot-up sequence but that whole wave thing is so PlayStation 3 though.

I think we may encounter some problem if the newbies

that this tutorial were made for have to use the controller to set everything up.

You really can't deny that the camera itself looks very high-tech.

A "welcoming" change but not necessarily a welcomed one.

Games Played 10/25/2010 - 10/31/2010

- 10/25/2010 -

Final Fantasy XII - PlayStation 2

Haunting Ground - PlayStation 2

League of Legends - PC

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology - PlayStation 2

- 10/26/2010 -

Final Fantasy XII - PlayStation 2

League of Legends - PC

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom Demo - PlayStation 3

Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype - PlayStation 3

Time Crisis: Razing Storm - PlayStation 3

- 10/27/2010 -

League of Legends - PC

My Aquarium - PlayStation 3

Pinball FX2 Demo - X-Box 360

Time Crisis: Razing Storm - PlayStation 3

- 10/28/2010 -

Children of Mana - NDS

League of Legends - PC

Sonic Advance 3 - GBA

Street Fighter Alpha Anthology - PlayStation 3

- 10/29/2010 -

Clock Tower 3 - PlayStation 2

League of Legends - PC

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes - PlayStation 3

- 10/30/2010 -

League of Legends - PC

Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes - PlayStation 3

- 10/31/2010 -

Sengoke Basara: Samurai Heroes - PlayStation 3

The Sims 3 - PC