Tower defense is a difficult genre in which to innovate. Stray too far from paths and towers and you’re no longer making tower defense, but stay too close and there is nothing to separate you from all of the other TD games out there. 11 bit found a great way to stand out with the original Anomaly: Warzone Earth in which, instead of placing towers as a disembodied defender, you controlled the squad of attackers. Anomaly 2 iterates on that concept, and it’s a great alternative to the other, more traditional TD games in my library. READ MORE
In From Pixels to Polygons, we examine classic game franchises that have survived the long transition from the 8- or 16-bit era to the current console generation.
When Street Fighter II was released in 1991, the game took the world by storm. This would be Capcom’s most successful title ever, sparking many other companies to create rival games throughout the years, and leaving Capcom with the unenviable task of following up on an instant classic.
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Shades of Darkness, the new standalone expansion for Might & Magic Heroes VI, adds a new faction (Dungeon) and two campaigns. Still, it doesn’t really feel like there is much content here, at least not compared to its price tag. It adds a lot of hours of gameplay, but not much has changed from the first game. It feels less like an expansion, and more like standalone DLC. READ MORE
4X games are something of a weakness for me. It almost doesn’t matter what the content is; I’ll dig in for at least a couple of days, as long as it’s playable. That said, it takes something interesting to keep me coming back. StarDrive has what it takes, but it can be tough to get into it. READ MORE
I recently read that there are no more nerds anymore. It’s an antiquated description. The stereotypical male, age 18-to-35, who lives in his parents’ basement reading comic books, plays Dungeons & Dragons, wears beat-up glasses and can’t function in a normal social setting still exists. But it’s becoming derogatory and ignorant to label anybody who enjoys video games or surfs the internet or doesn’t enjoy sports as a nerd, living in a basement somewhere, as a social reject.
Go back to ’80s sex-crazed comedies and all you’ll find are jocks and nerds. Jocks enjoy sports, drinking beer and having sex, whereas nerds will never get laid, enjoy electronics and speak in a nasally twang that nobody could possibly find attractive. That image is dead and buried deep. The concept of judging somebody based on their hobbies and interests has changed dramatically; the richest man in the world is a self-described nerd. Not as many would think to make fun of a quiet, shy boy or girl who happens to excel in computers. It’s a beautiful skill to have. READ MORE
