Sports games are a topic I’ve danced around for a while. They comprise a majority of released local multiplayer games, in all likelihood, but still manage to be the black sheep of the field. It’s a tough topic to take on alone, so I called on Brad Woodling, friend of the site and sports columnist for Retroware TV, to help me talk about the genre’s challenges and bright spots.
So first: Sports games hold a strange place in the local multiplayer scene. Often they’re the quickest and most likely to embrace such things, with almost every large release supporting four or more players. That said, I’m not sure they’ve found a successful formula for doing so, with the possible exception of soccer titles. Why do you think that is?
Brad Woodling: And just to clarify, we’re talking local multiplayer, not Connected Careers or Online Dynasty stuff. Strictly the features given to sports games with two or more guys or girls in front of the same TV. READ MORE
On this episode, Andrew tells us about DmC: Devil May Cry and Anarchy Reigns, Shawn leads us through crazy news like Nvidia’s Project Shield and XSEED’s Pandora’s Tower localization, and Graham recruits us all to the Wake-up Club. Plus: discussion of what hardware lies ahead from Microsoft, Sony and Valve.
Check out the show here, check us out on iTunes or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast aggregator. Let us know what you think! Email podcast[at]snackbar-games.com.
Hosts: Andrew Passafiume, Graham Russell, Shawn Vermette. Music: Podcast theme by Tom Casper.
I’ve played some weird games over the last few years, but this one has an element I’ve come to be familiar with. Mitchell Corporation, the driving force behind the original Puzz Loop that started it all and the Magnetica games that appeared on both the DS and Wii, bring a lot of that gameplay to the company’s eShop debut. But Tokyo Crash Mobs brings the marble-matching game to a level I never would have imagined. READ MORE
Before I get started here, I need a moment. Just a moment. I am sitting here, in a fairly comfortable reclining chair, preparing to write a critique piece on a game that I honestly did not expect to be able to play. My Vita, resting on a table for the time being, contains not only a digital copy of Team GrisGris’ anime-inspired splatterfest Corpse Party, but also one of its follow-up: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. READ MORE
Any gamers worth their salt will scoff at the notion that graphics are the most important part of a game. Many of us grew up on the older systems: Atari, NES and the like. Even at the time, we knew the graphics weren’t the most amazing thing ever. They were, at the time, but we knew that things could get better.
Graphics are important. They can affect us emotionally in the same way that characters, storytelling and music can. They pretty much have to; you can’t taste a video game, nor can you touch or smell it. You can’t feel it physically. It’s merely graphics and audio and your input changing them, so it’s not a surprise that one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever seen in a game is almost purely due to graphics. Not just that; anything this affecting has to come from more than photorealistic models and dynamic lighting effects. It is a scene made possible by two games’ worth of storytelling. It is a result of dozens of hours of curiosity, perseverance, appreciation, fear and wonder. It is my favorite moment of the BioShock series, and it comes in the form of you playing as a Little Sister in BioShock 2. READ MORE
