61 Frames Per Second

Browse by Tags

(RSS)

Trailer Review: Flock

Capcom has a new game up for preorder. It's called Flock, it looks like it lies somewhere between Pikmin and Lemmings, and it's due to release in early April.

Like Lemmings, it's about moving sheep from one end of the landscape to another, only this time with a UFO avatar. With light puzzle elements and a pastoral setting, this game looks like a great little casual game. It's only a $15 download, too. Apparently it also had a "sophisticated physics engine." Who knew? I wonder why this isn't being developed for mobile devices. It seems perfect for a grab and go-type gaming experience.

Video after the jump:

Posted Mar 06 2009, 05:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments

Filed under: capcom, pikmin, cole stryker, lemmings, flock

Nintendo Might Just Hate You

The Nintendo Press Conference back at the beginning of October was, as Bob so precisely put it at the time, a bit like Christmas for the Nintendo faithful. The reveal of new Punch-Out! and Sin & Punishment games and a recommitment to Trace Memory (one of the publisher’s scant few newborn IPs) certainly made the old Nintendo fanboy inside me stir for the first time in a couple of years. The announcement of Nintendo’s Play On Wii line of re-appropriated Gamecube games featuring tacked on Wii controls gave me pause though. It’s a very good thing to give games like Metroid Prime, Pikmin, and Chibi-Robo a new print run considering that there are literal millions of Wii owners who never had the chance to try them out on their initial release (or don’t know they can walk into any Gamestop in the country and pay fifteen dollars total for all three.) But will they be full price? Should they be? Will any new content offered be made available to owners of the original games?

On the one hand, giving Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat another chance at life makes it seem like Nintendo loves you. Adding new levels makes it seem like they really, really love you. Yoshiaki Koizumi and EAD Tokyo’s debut platformer, the game that led to their making Super Mario Galaxy, is one of the Gamecube’s best.

Posted Nov 12 2008, 08:15 PM by John Constantine with | with 7 comment(s)

Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, wii, donkey kong, gamecube, pikmin, metroid prime, super mario galaxy, chibi-robo, trace memory, punch-out!, play on wii, yoshiaki koizumi, Nintendo ead, donkey kong jungle beat, sin & punishmen

Pikmin Remake: Too Soon?

The Pikmin series is one of Nintendo's most recent franchises, and seemingly, its most overlooked--but Nintendo itself is seeking to remedy this with a new, improved Wii-make (I shudder at the terminology) of their cartoony take on the RTS. As a big fan of Pikmin, it's nice to see some attention given to a series that's really deserved more; and even hardcore Nintendo fans can admit that the GameCube was by no means a popular enough system to make Pikmin the hit it should have been. But if this new Pikmin is more of a remake than the Wii's Resident Evil 4, wouldn't Nintendo's time be better spent on making a new game? Note: I realize they don't normally solicit advice from gaming blogs.

Of course, we don't know if the "new" Pikmin Miyamoto casually mentioned at E3 is this remake--so things are still up in the air at this point. But if the only new Pikmin we see this gen is a slightly revamped version of a seven year-old game, you'll be able to taste the disappointment in the air.

Posted Oct 03 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 9 comment(s)

Filed under: remake, nintendo, wii, pikmin, klonoa, bob mackey

Top Ten: Favorite Bosses part 2

The first arcade game to sport a boss fight was Phoenix, which was released in 1980. While most people were probably playing Space Invaders, I was playing Phoenix on my Atari 2600. Boss encounters have come a long way since the days of yore, displaying wonderful variety and imagination. The last five on my list go far to demonstrate just how unusual these encounters can be.

!! Spoilers Ahoy !!

Posted Sep 19 2008, 01:00 PM by Amber Ahlborn with | with no comments

Filed under: shadow of the colossus, amber ahlborn, pikmin, super mario galaxy, metroid prime 2, top ten list, sly cooper

Personal Firsts: My Gaming Scrapbook, From A to Wii

Written by Amber Ahlborn

At some point in the 1980s, the year nebulous in my memory, my mom bowled with her team every Thursday night. I loved Thursday nights because dad let me stay up late to watch M.A.S.H. and Benny Hill. Sometimes he and I would hop in the car and go visit mom at the alley, and that was the best. Dad would sit and watch mom bowl. Me? I would squeeze every last quarter I could get out of him. With a fist full of change and dollars soon to be converted into change, I’d walk down to the alley’s hamburger bar, snag a stool, and drag it through the glass doors into the arcade. Without deviation, I’d position my stool in front of the “Ostrich Game” and stay planted there until I ran out of money. I’m speaking of Joust of course, but at that age I could neither reach the controls without a stool to sit on nor read very well.

Posted Jun 02 2008, 01:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments

Filed under: pac-man, metroid, wii, legend of zelda, snes, nes, ico, mega man, atari, gamecube, amber ahlborn, kaboom, katamari damacy, chrono trigger, firsts, pikmin, Playstation, joust, pitfall, star fox, ps2, frogger, super mario bros, ds

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.