Xbox 360

A Vapid Beauty

HIGH The dance number after the credits roll.

LOW The "story" is a bloated, empty mess of half-realized nonsense.

WTF Why is Jeanne glowing there?

Extra Credits takes a brief look at combining genres. They give some pretty nice examples of it working (Puzzle Quest) and examples of it not being such a bright idea. Something to keep in mind as genre blending has been kicked into overdrive over the last few years.

Cinemablend ran an article recently that leveled some pretty serious charges at the gaming press. The article uses terms like "publisher-bought gaming media" and maintains that gaming press needs to come clean before games come out if they're bad. This article, if you haven't read it already, is fallacious and unnecessary.

Better Than the Devil You Knew

HIGH The Barbas battle is a true showstopper.

LOW Vergil is… kind of a dick.

WTF The awkward button combos required for Devil/Angel dodges.

Extra Credits discusses the design concept of "Counter Play." The idea here is that in a multiplayer game, there should be interesting abilities or weapons that a player can use on another player that is also interesting for that player on whom the weapon or ability is being used. It's a seemingly simple idea that upon discussion appears to be something the industry hasn't wrapped its head around yet.

Here's our interview with Tommy Refenes of Team Meat!

In this interview, we discuss everything Super Meat Boy, Tommy's appearance in (the excellent) Indie Game: The Movie, his new game, Mew-Genics, and the act of tessellating someone's face.

Please enjoy this honest, insightful chat with a great developer.

Points go to the Extra Credits crew (and basically anyone who talks about preserving old, landmark games), but a lot of this just seems "pie in the sky." As mentioned in the video, a lot of the technology that ran and interfaced with these early titles do not even exist any longer. The only solution would be an industry-wide investment, resurrecting arcades, building kiosks, museums, you name it, just so some kid can play Battletech or Space War as was originally intended. When you really think about it, it seems that these treasures are doomed to obscurity.

The Extra Credits guys give us a quick summary on the importance of the horror game protagonists. After recent comments pertaining to the reception of Resident Evil 6, the creators of Resident Evil really need to watch this video before they even think about returning the Resident Evil to its survival-horror roots. Such an about-face would require a level of expertise (and guts!) that Capcom hasn't demonstrated in over a a decade.

I Knew It!

HIGH Crossing the vast, sprawling rooftops of Terra Verte.

LOW Limping through a boss battle while painfully low on ammo.

WTF Potted meat factories… For the sick and elderly?

Second Time's the Charm

HIGH Eight lasers firing at once, annihilating everything onscreen.

LOW Where are my Golden Guns, MBG?

WTF This time around, I'm going to say... dynamite-powered unicycle.