Electronic Gaming Monthly articles from December 2008

Electronic Gaming Monthly archives from December 2008

Eastern Front.
December 1, 2008... Nintendo: A party of one Nintendo's decision to hold its own private press conference a week before the 2008 Tokyo Game Show came as no surprise (the company historically never attends, save for a keynote appearance by President Satoru...

FAR-OUT FANS.
December 1, 2008... When videogame fans dress up like their favorite characters, it's usually "game over" for your eyes. But not all cosplayers are cringe-worthy. Just take a look at Nintendo dress-up lover Jenni KA[currency]llberg. This talented Swedish dork...

Batman: Arkham Asylum.
December 1, 2008... Earlier this year, rumors swirled that Pandemic and Electronic Arts were working on a Batman game to coincide with this summer's smash film The Dark Knight. Whether it was Electronic Arts, Pandemic, Warner Bros., or another company entirely,...

Idol Chatter : Patience, Grasshopper.
December 1, 2008... Grasshopper Manufacture's GOICHI Suda, aka Suda51, may be the mind behind edgy, violent, and gleefully vulgar creations like Killer7 (PS2/GC) and No More Heroes (Wii), but he's surprisingly down to earth. Nevertheless, he's Japan's biggest...

FINDING THE FUNNY.
December 1, 2008... "Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center. We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed, and we are now ready to begin the test...

Field Report : World of Warcraftland.
December 1, 2008... Only one game developer has the juice to pack a whole convention center with its adoring fans for two days, each paying $100 a head for the privilege--or $40 to watch on pay-per-view. "When we finally got our website up," says Blizzard...

Going Mobile.(video game Newtonica for iPhone use)
December 1, 2008... Kenichi Nishi has an interesting resume. While his early days at Square were spent working on legendary games like Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he left the company to join Polygon Magic, where he designed the...

Seasonal Swag: EGM's Present Day Picks.
December 1, 2008... Mega Man 9 Soundtrack $24 * www.play-asia.com Too bad the blissful bleeps and boops that make up this glorious soundtrack don't emanate from a cassette tape. CDs are so 1990s. Nintendo Wall Decals $75 * www.whatisblik.com...

FAMILY GUY.(LittleBigPlanet and Sony Playstation 3)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Few games this year generate as much excitement as LittleBigPlanet. I've spent some time with the game, and it's clear that it's beautifully constructed and has possibly the most deeply satisfying and consistent aesthetic of just about any...

WATCHMEN.
December 1, 2008... For over two decades, Watchmen has cast a long shadow over the comics landscape with its reinvention of the modern comic-book hero, portraying its protagonists as a beyond-their-prime collection of would-be vigilantes in the throes of midlife...

Mushroom men: the spore wars.
December 1, 2008... Wii Publisher: Gamecock Developer: Red Fly Players: 1-2 ESRB: Everyone 10+ wnick: Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is what it is--an aesthetically imaginative action-platformer on the Wii developed by a new studio--and bears the...

Far Cry 2.
December 1, 2008... PS3/XB360 n Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Players: 1-16 ESRB: Mature wscooter: Far Cry 2's on the short list of best first-person shooters I've played this year. Depending on whom I'm talking to, I'd describe it as...

Endwar.
December 1, 2008... PS3/XB360 Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Shanghai Players: 1-4 ESRB: Teen wjustin: Civilization: Revolution took a historically PC-only game and made it work on consoles; EndWar attempts a similar console real-time-strategy...

LITTLEBIGPLANET.
December 1, 2008... PlayStation 3 n Publisher: Sony CEA Developer: Media Molecule Players: 1-4 ESRB: Everyone wNICK: LittleBigPlanet examines the very nature of games--the dialogue between creators and players and the relationships possible between...

Fable II.
December 1, 2008... Xbox 360 n Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Lionhead Players: 1-2 ESRB: Mature wMILKMAN: The first Fable, with its (in theory) world-altering consequences and moral choices--which, in turn, affected the appearance of...

Valkyria Chronicles.
December 1, 2008... PlayStation 3 Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega WOW Players: 1 ESRB: Teen weric: Like most of you, I wear my socks firmly ensconced within a pair of sneakers, which are themselves strapped tightly to my feet with strong, cordlike...

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
December 1, 2008... Xbox 360 n Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Developer: Rare Players: 1-8 ESRB: Everyone 10+ wANTHONY: Rare's done more than I could've imagined with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, crafting a genre-bending platformer that no one...

Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff.
December 1, 2008... wtodd: The moment I turned on Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff, I was flush with sentimentality. But while I wanted it to be the greatest comeback in sports-gaming history, the joy and simplicity didn't overcome Kickoff's many frustrating fumbles. For...

download/wrap-up.
December 1, 2008... PS3 Resistance 2 Publisher: Sony CEA ESRB: Mature We didn't get final copies of this highly anticipated sequel before going to press, but we played a near-complete version not too long ago and came away impressed. The campaign...

SUPER ADAPTATION.
December 1, 2008... Despite common sense telling us otherwise, comics are difficult to adapt into movies and games. Somewhere on the journey from comic book to Nintendo, superheroes pass through some kind of wuss ray. Like the one Superman used in Superman II,...

Return of the Invaders.(video game industry and Space Invaders Extreme)
December 1, 2008... 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders--an impressive landmark for the industry. Invaders' iconic, cephalopod-like alien attackers are a cultural mainstay that show up everywhere, from Futurama to angry political artwork to the...

NEXT MONTH.
December 1, 2008... The games of 2009 So long, 2008! You were great, really, but now it's time to shift our attention to the anticipated games that should make 2009 shine. And there's a lot, including a new look at a familiar face. So next month (year?), we...

BLU-RAY BUNGALOW.
December 1, 2008... Dark City Publisher: New LineDetails: As a purveyor of gothic sci-fi flicks with darker-than-Star Wars level grist, director Alex Proyas has made a name for himself as a visionary auteur, crafting films like The Crow. But thus far, his...

10 things we've learned from our xbox live headset.
December 1, 2008... 10 Your Mother...has a long, storied, colorful, checkered past. She's corpulent and has performed innumerable sexual favors for little compensation. In the case of your opponents, she's done so for no reason other than the joy of bearing...