Welcome to a new season of Snackbar Speculator! Last season ended with Graham running away with victory. Can Andrew or Shawn beat him this time? Can he hold onto his crown? And how will Eric fare in his first full season on the panel? The only way to find out is to stick around all year! READ MORE
The Best to Own Forever series isn’t about what’s great right now. It’s about what will be great in 10 years, even though there will be better-looking games and later sequels, and what will keep you pulling that dusty old console out of the closet every once in a while. In this installment, we look at the PlayStation Portable.
Patapon 2 combines all of the basics from the original with a new layer of complexity that is deep enough for veterans of the series, but is still very welcoming to new players as well. The combination of a simple strategy game and the catchy rhythmic beats of the Patapon as they charge through enemies feels absolutely perfect on a handheld. There isn’t anything else like it on the system and the chances of seeing another game in the series (despite how much I would love a fourth game for the Vita) is unlikely. – Andrew Passafiume READ MORE
Gungnir, the latest in Atlus and Sting’s Dept. Heaven series, is supposed to be bizarre. It is, after all, Episode IX of a series that, while jumping and skipping around rather than releasing sequentially, is supposed to be further and further from normal the higher that episode number gets. It’s five installments crazier than Knights in the Nightmare, a game that put bullet-hell mechanics into a tactical RPG.
As it turns out, though, Gungnir is relatively traditional. It’s a strange choice, but one that results in a game that’s more accessible and still fun. READ MORE
Editor’s note: This guest post by artist Riss Pittman contains Journey spoilers. If you haven’t played it yet, seriously go play it.
Developer thatgamecompany’s Journey focuses not only on intuitive exploration, but also the emotive experience that is a core element of the game. It was created first and foremost to dive into the possibilities of invoking an emotional response out of the player. It takes a very cinematic approach to the presentation, almost like an interactive animated film, that never stops letting the player have a hand in how they view the world. Through use of visuals, sound, music, and a minimal approach to text or dialogue, Journey immerses the player in a very unique emotional journey that isn’t often seen in games.
Before delving too far, it’s important to the address the idea of games as an art medium. Games aren’t particularly respected by society and are viewed either as a childish waste of time, or as politicians want the public to believe, a vehicle for teaching violence to children. Even notable critics like Roger Ebert have scoffed at the idea of games being capable of being art forms. This often comes from a major misunderstanding of what art is and isn’t, and what games can and can’t be. READ MORE
As much as I love the sci-fi noir game Android, it unfortunately requires a lot of effort to play due to space and time commitments, and as a result I don’t get to experience it as often as I would like. Fortunately, the people at Fantasy Flight Games seem to enjoy the universe they have created as well. They have already published two novels set in and around New Angeles, the Heinlein Moon Colony and the Beanstalk that connects them, with more on the way.
But while I enjoy a good book, I was even more excited to hear of two new games being set in the Android universe coming out this year. The first, Infiltration, was just released. (The second is going to seriously threaten Sentinels of the Multiverse when it comes time to rank my favorites for my year-end column, but that will have to wait a couple more months.) READ MORE
