Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 8/30/09

2009/09/07

Moron of the Moment: Yoshiyuki Tomino

"Video games? Ugh!"

Recently, Japan’s CEDEC 2009 game developers’ conference, Yoshiyuki Tomino made some rather unwise comments about games and gaming, and this has led to some conversation over the net, naturally.

I've read that the video games he's worked on aren't very good anyway. I've never played them.

Some of his comments that are causing a fuss are:

“Video games are evil,” and "Has there been anything better than Tetris since it first came out?"

Two-faced hypocrite.

Sources:

Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino "I think that video games are evil,"
A videogame developer calls videogames evil
http://gamasutra.com/news?story=25118
http://gamepolitics.com/2009/09/06/video-games-are-evil-says-guy-who-made-lot-money-creating-video-games

2009/09/06

Video Games Coming out This Week In September 2009: 9/06 - 9/12

Pick of the Week: Trine

Trine has been available on digital distribution sites for some time now. This week its the retail version. I've played the Trine demo, and not only is it one of the more colourful games out there, among all the grey and drab nowadays, but it's also quite fun. You control three characters and take on an army of undead, plus you have to navigate traps and puzzles to progress. Many have compared the game to the Lost Vikings and Realms of Chaos.

The multi-platform releases that will get some people in a tizzy include The Beatles: Rock Band, and there's even a free game in Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited.

PC

Darkest of Days
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (Free-to-Play)
Mini Ninjas
Time of Shadows
Trine (Retail)
War Leaders: Clash of Nations

PlayStation 3

DiRT 2
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition
Mini Ninjas
The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles Limited Edition Premium Bundle

Xbox 360

Darkest of Days
DiRT 2
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
Mini Ninjas
Qubed (Every Extend Extra Extreme, Lumines Live, Rez HD)
The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles Limited Edition Premium Bundle

Wii

Arcade Zone
DiRT 2
Go Play City Sports
JumpStart Pet Rescue
Mini Ninjas
The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles Limited Edition Premium Bundle

Nintendo DS

Ant Nation
DiRT 2
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
Imagine: Detective
Mini Ninjas
My Virtual Tutor: Reading 1st Grade to 2nd Grade
My Virtual Tutor: Reading Kindergarten to 1st Grade
My Virtual Tutor: Reading Pre-K to Kindergarten

PSP

DiRT 2
Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days
IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey

Source: Shacknews

2009/09/05

PS3 Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Has Sold Out

I just read that the PS3 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition has sold out.

So, if you have an Xbox 360 , then you've still got a chance to get a hold of those night visions goggles. If not, then tough. At least you had a chance, unlike PC gamers. They didn't get the Hardened Edition or the Prestige Edition.

This Week's Video Game Releases and Deals on Direct2Drive

New Releases

Section 8

F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Raven Squad

Foreign Legion

Champions Online

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim Gold Edition

Deals

Dragon Age Origins Deluxe Edition is now available for

Get $5 OFF Crysis Maximum Edition for PC at D2D now through Sunday

Price Drop! Nation Red is now $9.95

2009/09/03

Classic Games Resurrected Hubs Updated

After a string of technical issues, I am finally able to continue publishing hubs over at HubPages.com.

I took the opportunity to update my CGR hubs. There's been some new info added, and mainly new touches to the photo capsules, with thumbnails instead of the pictures being under one another, which makes it look tidier.

These are the hubs that have been updated or edited in some way:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Blood-Game
http://hubpages.com/hub/Doom
http://hubpages.com/hub/Classic-Games-Resurrected--Doom-2 (Fixed broken link in resources capsule, still seeking replacement)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Duke-Nukem-3D
http://hubpages.com/hub/Rise-of-the-Triad (new info on ROTT reboot and updated ROTT Franchise capsule)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Shadow-Warrior
http://hubpages.com/hub/System-Shock-2
http://hubpages.com/hub/Thief-The-Dark-Project
http://hubpages.com/hub/Wolfenstein-3D (Updated Wolfenstein Franchise capsule)

For all of these hubs and more, check here.

I haven't worked on any new articles of this type for a while- one reason being the aforementioned technical issues, as well as working on other projects. I should have some new RRR articles up some time as well. RRR is my series of Recent Release Reviews. I've been playing Wolfenstein lately, so I might have a review up about that game soon, hopefully. I've got other unfinished reviews sitting on my hard-drive that I should put up as well.

I'm also thinking of branching off on CGR articles, since it takes a lot of work and research to do these types of articles, and not every classic game has received the attention as far as modernizing or customizing goes, sadly.

Yesterday I did publish a new article on my other profile, though.

2009/09/02

Rise of the Triad sale at GoG.com

Speaking of Rise of the Triad, you might be interested to know that GoG.com, or Good Old Games, has a sale over there now which gives you 10% on Rise of the Triad: Dark War, which usually goes for $5.99. It also comes with some additional levels and the game's soundtrack. The deal ends on Sunday.

GoG says that the deal is on due to the news of a ROTT reboot by Apogee, revealed by Scott Miller last month, which may or may not be out in the next ten years, if DNF is anything to go by.

Sources& Resources:

Rise of the Triad now on sale at GoG.com
Hidden Gem of the Week: Rise of the Triad
http://www.gog.com/en/editorial/hidden_gem_of_the_week_rise_of_the_triad/
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/rise_of_the_triad__dark_war

Tom Hall’s Birthday Today

Today, in 1964, Tom Hall psychotically screamed into the world. He turns 45 today.

To me Tom Hall was really just a name on a screen until Rise of the Triad, or more specifically, the ROTT Goodies pack, which came out in 2005 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Rise of the Triad: Dark War. It was only then I witnessed the truly evil genius behind the game.

Tom Hall is not just a name after all though, because he is one of the original four horsemen, along with John Carmack, John Romero, and Adrian Carmack, who worked at Softdisk, and went onto form id Software, which was bought by ZeniMax Media this year after 17 years of independence.

Tom Hall was the creative director at id and worked on games like Commander Keen, which he claims is quite similar to his childhood, Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and Doom. Tom left id after some design disputes over Doom with John Carmack. Tom wrote much if not all of the Doom bible, the original design document, which reveals a lot of features that didn’t make it into Doom. He did design several levels in Doom and Doom II however, referred to as the "Tom Hall levels", although they were modified by John Romero and Sandy Petersen.

He then went off to join Apogee (later 3D Realms). There he was able to release his creative genius on the world with Rise of the Triad. He also had things to do with other projects at 3D Realms, like Duke Nukem 3D. While working on Prey, which was later cancelled and released ten years later, in 2006, he left 3D Realms.

Tom Hall joined up again with John Romero and co-founded Ion Storm. Since then he’s gone on to Monkeystone Games, Midway, and nowadays he is at KingIsle Entertainment.

Facts about Tom Hall:

He is the creator of the Dopefish, which has appeared in games like the Commander Keen series, Quake, and many others.
Tom Hall may be psychotic.
Tom Hall has a hell of an imagination, and this is evidenced by his usual roles in the creative department at the various companies he's worked at.
Unlike John Romero, Tom Hall has never been known for having great hair.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Sources & Resources:

TOMTOMTOM.com
Tom Hall on Twitter
Tom Hall wiki
Tom Hall wikia
Tom Hall on MobyGames
Dopefish.com

2009/09/01

Video Game Deals on Direct2Drive

FEAR 2: Project Origin- 10% off

$5 off the AaaaAAaaa! pre-order

Tom Clancy's HAWX is now $29.95

Dawn of War II is now $39.95

World War II: The 70th Anniversary

It’s been seventy years since the beginning of World War II. Today, September 1st, back in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, which is generally taken as being the beginning of the Nazi attempt to take over Europe.

Many video games have featured World War II as a back-story, whether based on real-life events, or entirely fictional. We’ve had many successful series, like Wolfenstein, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942& 3, and Brothers in Arms but to mention a few- and these are only a few of the most popular FPS games. There are also numerous strategy titles like Commandos, Sudden Strike and Company of Heroes too.

I read in two places that there are nearly 200 games based in WW II (183 when the article was published on 1up.com).

These are some of my favourites of all time:

Wolfenstein 3D
Spear of Destiny
ROTT
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Call of Duty
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Call of Duty 2
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Call of Duty: World at War
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway
Wolfenstein
Commandos
Commandos 2
Commandos 3

I hope sometime in the future to do more features on World War II video games.

Thank you to all the brave men and women who fought or contributed in some way during World War II.

Apocalypse Then: Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Developers: Point of View, Inc. (Saturn), Avalanche Software (PlayStation), Williams Entertainment (N64)
Publishers: Midway, Williams Entertainment
Series: Mortal Kombat
Engine: Updated UMK 3
Platforms: Nintendo 64, PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Game.com
Release date: September 1, 1996
Genres: Fighting

On this day in gaming, in 1996, Mortal Kombat Trilogy was released.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy combines practically everything from Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, hence the name "Trilogy".

Back in the 90s, I was obsessed with this game. I picked it up at a reasonable price at a local secondhand shop.

My favourite character was Sub-Zero, of which there were two, the masked (older, who is now Noob Saibot), and the unmasked (younger). In fact, this is the first out of two games in the series, the other being Armageddon, to feature all the ninjas, except this game just had them as palette swaps with different moves.

I was unable to play this game on Microsoft Windows XP for years, until I discovered a patch on a fansite, totalmortalkombat.com that makes this possible. Replaying the game while listening to Megadeth, especially Countdown to Extinction, was like going back in time.

Out of all the classic MK games I've ever played, I maintain that this is one of, if not the best, even though there are others who feel differently, particularly those who got one of the console versions.

You can pick up Mortal Kombat Trilogy here if you want to play a classic.