Of course, the most important part of any home run:

Anyone will tell you that I’m a fan of baseball.  Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and the pre-juice Barry Bonds: these are names I know well and careers I greatly enjoyed following.  Thus, it seems like a no-brainer that when a baseball game came out that I would jump at the chance to play it … but that’s not exactly how this game came to be in my possession.  For you to truly understand, I have to take you back on a trip through time and space: The year is 1998 and the place is my parents’ lounge room.  There, a young Moose is putting in a cartridge into his N64 that would forever change his life and bring out the horrifying OCD side of his gaming: Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr.  The moment I turned the console on and that baseball came flying at me, I was hooked.  I spent hours upon hours slogging through regular season mode, game after game to make my way to the World Series.  This game was heaven.  I played my way through the season mode 3 times; a painful exercise for even the most die-hard fan.  This was the best of times and it was the blurst of times.  The game made me so happy; however, it raised the bar to a level that (apparently) no other baseball game could live up to … until now.

A short while back the Armchair team went to an Xbox event held at the State Library in Melbourne with the express intent of making the building explode with irony.  Once there, Matt and I sat down to one of the few games that had an available console: The Bigs 2. I sat down, safe in the knowledge that Matt was only playing this game to humour me and because there were no other free games.  Then the strangest thing occurred: we got into it.  There was yelling; there was shouting; and most of all there was enjoyment.  But I was wise.  I had been burned before.  So I played it cool, unsure of whether or not this game was actually the real deal.  So when I finally acquired my own copy, with much trepidation, I sat down and prepared to let myself love again.

OK, so love is a strong word, but I opened myself up to the thought of holding someone other than Ken Griffey Jr in my arms.

Actually, now that I think about it, that wasn’t even close to being better.

Uhhh … on to the review: (more…)

Remember when Billie Joe had really cool hair?

Harmonix is one of those developers that always seems to have made the right moves when it comes to their games. When they originally split from the Guitar Hero franchise and started Rock Band, they put a lot of thought into their product, introducing both the vocal and drum tracks into the music genre. They focused on bringing both quality and upcoming artists to their track lists, and built an expansive library of downloadable content that worked across multiple titles in the Rock Band series.

You’ve always been able to describe them as Guitar Hero‘s more mature older sibling. While Guitar Hero was releasing disc after disc of band or genre themed full retail titles, Rock Band continued to support it’s core titles with optional track packs and community events. And when Harmonix did decide to release a band-themed stand alone title, The Beatles: Rock Band, they put so much effort into making it a unique experience that the result was one of the most critically acclaimed music games of all time.

Which is why I’m a little bit disappointed this week as I play my way through Green Day: Rock Band, Harmonix’s second band-themed stand alone title, and surely the low-light of their development career to date.

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The article title rhymes!

Let’s just get it out there: I’m not a puzzle gamer. They just shit me, I get frustrated and tend to start throwing things; keyboards, tantrums, etc.  But after picking up World of Goo as part of the Humble Indie pack, I’ve been secretly playing it whenever I can.

World of Goo is really quite good. The premise is simple: a bunch of goo balls need to get to the pipe leading to the next level. They can do this by building structures (bridges, towers) by joining to each other, and there’s different types of balls to play with (oh grow up!). Some are single-use: they can be placed in a structure, and that’s it. Others let you dismantle the structure at your whim, others stick to surfaces, others are like water and will ‘drip’.

It can be a bloody hard game at points. Unlike other bridge or structure building games, the goo balls have an amount of flexibility, so if the structure isn’t as strong as it needs to be, it will bend, flex and topple. And naturally, some levels have hazards that must be avoided: spikes, blades, and a range of other sharp pointy things. All of which will burst your goo balls, rendering your lovely bridge a little less structurally sound.

The difficulty of levels is a little inconsistent. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the alternating challenge means you get to do simple, fun levels in between the incredibly tricky ones. There are also a good selection of challenges to overcome. Some focus on structural integrity, building a large bridge in as few ‘blobs’ as possible or building a huge tower that, if you don’t place your goo balls properly, will send your tower toppling over. Others require very little building, relying on timing and simple shapes to get through the level.

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It's wall bustingly good!

It is with a sad heart that Matt and I must announce that our band, The Afternoon Frolics, is breaking up.  We had a whirlwind time recording 5 albums and doing countless world tours since the creation of the band in mid-January.  Unfortunately, when living in close proximity with one another certain facts cannot be overlooked.  For us, it was that Matt, as band leader, refused an octopus the right to be our drummer.  I found this unacceptable and we have agreed to go our separate ways.  However, more about the break up of what many people referred to as “a modern day Herman’s Hermits” later.  Now it’s time for me to talk to you about what made our career possible: LEGO Rock Band.

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the Rock Band series.  Anyone that read what I wrote about it in our countdown of the best games of the previous decade would know my feelings about Harmonix and it’s rock creation.  From the outset they put out a strong product that showed that they were serious about what they were doing.  All the while LEGO had been turning it’s hand to games with the creation of the LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones thanks to the fine people at Traveller’s Tales. Harmonix, most likely to compete in the family friendly Wii market, teamed up with TT Fusion to create a LEGO rock spectacular.  Apparently only half of those at TT Fusion were on board with the concept, who wanted to make sure they “weren’t just skinning one franchise on another”.  Once their fears were allayed production was begun in late 2008, with release in November 2009.

And apparently we’re so lazy that we only bothered to pick it up in 2010.

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You'll find this box inside the other box with the expensive peripheral

As with all ‘innovative’ games, the shadow of its evolutionary past and the pressure of its own groundbreaking present is sometimes just enough to stunt its future. When considering DJ Hero as a ‘logical’ leap from Guitar Hero, the game suffers from this trip up. But seeing DJ Hero as a niche market game and isolating it from the hype of the ‘next big thing’ in plastic instruments gives it a chance to … well, not exactly shine, but perhaps glow a little in the dark, dark room of single player obsession games.

A simple way to describe the game would be to say that it’s a music/rhythm game for people who like Hip Hop and be done with it. You get a lap-sized plastic turntable, 23 set lists/concerts of mashup tracks and lots of famous and credible DJs featuring in the credits and character sets.  You could add that it features funky mixes of both old and new tracks like ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye, ‘The Big Beat’ by Billy Squier and ‘Hollerback Girl’ by Gwen Stefani, and that around 78% of the time those mixes are awesome. You could easily dance to them out at a club somewhere. The controller is a simple design, reflecting in a very basic way what a real turntable and crossfader look like. To cap this off, I’d probably add that if you’re a fan of turntablism, this game will give you a small but tantilising glimpse into how your favourite DJ works their magic.

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It Came From An Alternate Time Continuum!

It seems like over the past few months a I’ve managed to grab myself a great number of adventure games published by Telltale Games.  Part of this is nostaglia for the franchises that Telltale has continued, and part of this is from my enthusiasm to see the adventure genre as a whole resurface.  But most of all, it’s because Telltale (even in their weaker chapters) haven’t yet failed to deliver a quality game to me.

Now Season 2 of Telltale’s Sam and Max series (renamed to Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space for XBLA) has actually been available since the later part of 2007, but after seeing what an enjoyable port Season 1 had made, I’d basically decided to hold off buying the second season for PC and wait for the Xbox port instead.  Also, waiting for the Xbox port would give me another 200 achievement points.  Yes, my brain does operate that way some days.

Anyhow, Beyond Time and Space hit XBLA mid-October this year, and after playing it through I’m confident in saying that this is probably Telltale’s strongest adventure game season yet.

Beyond Time and Space basically picks up where Save the World left off, which might prove a bit of a problem to those of you who haven’t played the first season.  Much of the game’s plot relies on previous knowledge.  Max’s presidency, the detatched statue head of Abe Lincoln dating professional careerist Sybil, the obsolete computers running an auto shop … all of these things will make little sense unless you’ve played through Sam and Max: Save the World.  In this regard, it’s probably best to think of the two seasons as one large game, and be sure to play it from the beginning.

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"We only doubled up on two bands!"

Ever since my brother gifted me the Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock bundle for Christmas a couple of years back, I’ve been a great fan of the series and the music genre in general.  I’m not a naturally talented musician (despite six years practicing the trombone), so a game that gave you the chance to play along with all your favourite rock songs appealed to me.  Even more so because the game is constantly challenging and great fun to drag out when your party is getting to the boozy end of proceedings.

Because I loved GH3, I went out and bought Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero: Rocks The 80′s and Guitar Hero for PS2, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, the Guitar Hero: World Tour bundle, Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits. I have a grand total of four plastic guitars stashed around my house and one faulty, neglected set of electronic drums perched above my wardrobe.  And maybe with the exception of Greatest Hits, I’ve never been so disappointed in a Guitar Hero title until now.

Part of this may be because I picked up both GH5 and The Beatles: Rock Band in the same week, and stood next to one another it’s clear which game was made with care and attention.  But it seems to me, if you’re going to try and push a new title in the series out year after year, then you better be rethinking your gameplay, improving your features and adding something new for players to enjoy.  It’s the last point where I think GH5 falls down, and it’s the point that also has me feeling like such a pathetic shill at the fact I paid money for Activision to continue this cycle.

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Guitar Hero would have made itself top of the bill

Let’s face it. Rhythm games are over-saturated and, if you’ll excuse the pun, played-out. There is never really much new gameplay-wise to enjoy in a new release, long time players have lost most of the challenge by practicing too much, and the song catalogues accompanying most new titles are uninspiring at best. Drop on top of this a full retail price every time a developer feels like grinding out a new game, and it’s not really very hard to see why many gamers are over the entire music game trend.

Which is why, amongst this slowly composting genre, it’s lovely to recieve the breath of fresh air that is provided by The Beatles: Rock Band.

Now, before I gush (and gush I will, trust me), let’s do a little checklist on my list of gripes above.

Technically, there isn’t much new gameplay-wise in TB:RB. There are a few new mechanics that I’ll get to in a second, but overall there isn’t much changed here since Rock Band 2.

The difficulty also won’t exactly challenge any experienced player, with the exception of maybe a few of the trickier songs. If a player is comfortable alternating 3-button chords, then there isn’t much to seperate them from 5 starring every track.

And yes, you will be slugged (at least initially) full retail price for your copy of The Beatles: Rock Band.

But all that can be easily forgiven when you play the game, and discover the beautiful way in which Harmonix has collaborated with Apple Corps to make such a brilliant tribute to the life and times of the Beatles.

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Also known as "Guitar Hero: Smash Hits" for our US counterparts

God I’m a shill.  Activision has made me it’s bitch so hard it’s not funny.

So here’s the story.  Despite owning every single Guitar Hero game, I seem to have purchased a game called Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits which is a compiled collection of the best songs of Guitar Hero 3 and before.  SIXTY DOLLARS WELL SPENT, MATTHEW!

It’s kind of difficult not to think this way when you see a title like this.

“Oh, so we’re paying money for something we already own.  Who buys this junk?  What a cash grab.  Why wouldn’t they just change discs and play whatever song they like?”

-Rational gamers everywhere

I’m a little mixed on this game.  It seems a little at odds with the rest of the Guitar Hero collection, given the fact that all it’s really doing is giving you a few songs off each title, as opposed to whole collections.  With the speculation that Guitar Hero 5 will be including more than a hundred songs, the 48 tracks on offer here seems paltry by comparison.  They could have included an entirely updated version of the original Guitar Hero setlist of 47 songs, and had plenty of room left over for a selection of II, Rocks the 80′s, III and Aerosmith.

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Saving the world ... for very reasonable prices!

It’s been absent for a long time now, but the adventure game is clawing it’s way back into your gaming field of vision.  Sam and Max: Save the World delivers in one package the first six episodes of Telltale Games’ continuation of the Sam and Max franchise.  To clarify however, these games aren’t new, they were originally released online in the bygone yesteryear of 2006.  Sam and Max: Save the World is simply a new port to make the first six games available for the 360.  Hopefully, with enough interest, we’ll also be getting the next six!

Even though I knew of their existence, I hadn’t actually tried the new games yet, because I’m not really into playing my games in short segments (as witnessed by the fact I sat down and finished this game whilst forsaking all others).  So when this package was announced, I immediately vowed to get on board: it compiles several episodes for sustained gameplay, it’s nostalgic off the charts, combines classic adventure gaming and also nurtures the achievement whore deep inside too.

And I was not disappointed, on any of these scores.  If you haven’t played the original Sam and Max: Hit the Road, well a lot of gamers (me included) will tell you of your deficient gaming lineage.  It’s one of the all time classics of computer gaming, which is why it was an obvious choice to update for the new generation. (more…)