61 Frames Per Second

Browse by Tags

• Trailer Review: Edge

  Take a gander at this trailer for Edge, the new iPhone/iPod Touch game released today by mobile phone game developer mobigame and feel the waves of nostalgia for a game you've never even played. In its presentation, Edge is equal parts Marble Madness, Q*Bert, and Tron, but it clearly has potential to be ever so much more. Read More... Posted Jan 05 2009, 03:30 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: marble madness, trailer review, derrick sanskrit, everyday shooter, edge, ipod, iphone, eden, pixeljunk, tron, echochrome, cubello, orbient, art style

• Trailer Review: Dante's Inferno

  I had to read Dante's Inferno back in college around the time that Doom 3 was released. Cole: Dude, you're playing Doom 3. Looks awesome. Bro: It's aight. Kinda boring after a while. Cole: Dude, they should totally make an expansion for this based on Dante's Inferno. Bro: I dunno, brah. Cole: Seriously, gluttons forced to slosh around in black sleet? The slothful gurgling beneath the filthy River Styx? Heretics in flaming tombs? A river of boiling blood? Bro: Alright already, I get it- Cole:  Centaurs firing flaming arrows? Harpies tearing the wooden flesh of sinners doomed to be gnarled trees for eternity? Flatterers steeped in a lake of shit? Crying sorcerors with reversed heads? Demonic snakes and lizards? Bro: OK, geez. Cole: I haven't made it to the ninth circle yet. And just think of the boss battles! Scary, dude. Scary...as hell.  Video after the jump: Read More... Posted Dec 15 2008, 04:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: trailer review, cole stryker, dante's inferno, doom 3

• Trailer Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic

  It's a double shot of Trailer Review from me today, this time with the first in a series of video documentaries from the folks at Bioware and Lucasarts. Star Wars: The Old Republic is an upcoming MMORPG based in the universe that we know and love from the Star Wars films. All the action takes place 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic and roughly 3,500 before Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker went toe to toe.  Check out the video, after the jump: Read More... Posted Dec 15 2008, 10:00 AM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: trailer review, lucasarts, cole stryker, bioware, star wars: the old republic

• Trailer Review: Resident Evil 5

  Game Trailers has posted some new Resident Evil 5 in-game footage, and does it look pretty. I am consistently amazed at how heart-pounding they have been able to make this game, even though it seems largely set in bright sunlight. I find it impossible not to be a little nervous when I hear those wailing sirens that sound when enemies are near. Maybe it's because I've been playing so many old games over the last year, but the way the camera wobbles when slap a dude disorients me. Was it that dramatic in RE4? I can't remember. Watch a guy and a girl kick and shoot some undead suckers back and forth, just for giggles. The footage, called "Zombie Ping Pong Montage" after the jump: Read More... Posted Dec 12 2008, 03:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: trailer review, gears of war, cole stryker, resident evil 5

• Trailer Review: Scribblenauts

  Last Friday, IGN was treated to the exclusive reveal of the new DS title from 5th Cell, the young developer with mostly mobile phone games under their belt. Why is this worth an exclusive reveal? Because 5th Cell's last two games, 2007's Drawn To Life and 2008's Lock's Quest, both for the Nintendo DS, were wildly exciting experiments in game design and interaction. Most notably, Drawn To Life delivered on the dreams of many DS gamers by asking the player to use the touchscreen to draw various elements throughout the game world, including the protagonist and their weapons and vehicles. The game was such a fresh new concept that 5th Cell licensed their engine to publisher THQ for a Spongebob Squarepants spin-off and an upcoming Wii version. So how do they follow-up on a game that let players draw pretty much whatever they wanted in an admittedly limited capacity? Well... it's kind of hard to explain... Here, just watch this trailer for Scribblenauts and prepare to be buried under a mountain of brand-new gameplay ideas: Read More... Posted Dec 08 2008, 10:00 AM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo ds, trailer review, derrick sanskrit, drawn to life, 5th cell, scribblenauts

• Trailer Review: Terrifying New Mirror’s Edge Content

  Ah, Mirror’s Edge. There’s so much to think about when talking about it. It is, without doubt, a flawed, frustrating experience, the kind of game experience that you hate just as much you love. It also just happens to be the most important, must-play AAA title of the year. And it’s beautiful, and also nauseating. It has dizzying production values, and cheap looking Flash-like cutscenes. For every positive point, DICE’s opus has an equally negative counter-point, save for the one negative that stands alone: Mirror’s Edge is pretty darn short. So of course there’s new DLC coming out for it, and it’s not just more of the same—for starters it’s called the Pure Time Trials pack, time trials being the one thing that everyone unequivocally loved about the original. And judging by the trailer, which I’ve just watched for the sixth time in a row, it is also in its way more beautiful than the rooftop playgrounds of the game’s story mode. If you thought that was a clinic in Swedish minimalism, you’ve seen nothing—these new levels are made entirely of blocks of solid color hovering in space. The camera twirls as the mind boggles, searching for the seemingly limitless paths of flow in this pristinely artificial landscape. Here is the game that design mechanic fetishists wanted the original to be, this trailer seems to say. I personally couldn’t be happier. Read More... Posted Dec 04 2008, 04:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: trailer review, dlc, mirror’s edge, joe keiser, minimalism, time trials

• Ghostbusters. Peter Venkman. Walter Peck. The World is Just.

  There is a reason that this new trailer for Ghostbusters: The Videogame is not getting posted under the Trailer Review banner: I am completely incapable of judging this game with any kind of objectivity. Don’t you see? It has Walter Peck, a William Atherton voiced Walter Peck, cowering in fear and then getting possessed by a ghost. It has the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man tossing police cars about Manhattan and Ray Stantz, a Dan Ackroyd voiced and written Ray Stantz, saying it isn’t his fault this time. It has Peter Venkman. Read More... Posted Dec 03 2008, 07:15 PM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, Ghostbusters, dan ackroyd, atari, bill murray, william Atherton, walter peck, ghostbusters 3, stay puft

• Trailer Review: The Chase - Felix Meets Felicity

  Look, Atari has a new DS game coming out! Oh, and its a platformer about a boy and girl who fall in love? Yeah, and the graphics are the kind of saccharine sweet that are rarely seen outside of Barbie's Horse Adventures? Surely this will appeal to nobody except for the kids who buy the Suite Life of Zack & Cody games and all those Ubisoft pet simulators that end in the letter Z. Ah well, here's the trailer, I might as well watch it to confirm all of these suspicions. Hmmm... this is actually pretty fast-paced looking, and the music is sort of exciting. Hey, you draw platforms just like in Kirby Canvas Curse! I loved that game. Woah, look at that jump, these kids are serious about OH MAN did she just swing on that? DAMN, look at him slide through those WAS THAT A ZOMBIE??? Read More... Posted Nov 17 2008, 12:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo ds, trailer review, derrick sanskrit, atari, kirby canvas curse, felix meets felicity, the chase

• Trailer Review: Yakuza 3

  Kazuma Kiryu and I are going to hang out. We’ll go out and he’ll show me the sights, take me to a hostess club, and we will laugh and laugh. Chances are, some dudes in puffy winter jackets will start some shit. I will hold their leader in a headlock and Kaz will drop kick that mofo so hard that Canadian children will say, “Ow” in their living rooms, thousands and thousands of miles away. We’ll high five each other then, before listening to a hardboiled detective tell us of intriguing and nefarious dealings in the Tokyo underworld. It’ll be sweet when the jazz rock starts playing. That heady day will only end when I’m woken up in my study, a firm bionic hand on my shoulder and a disapproving voice asking if I’m “dreaming of that Celestial roustabout” again. I will lie, of course. A white lie to soothe my beloved Commando’s nerves. But I will treasure that dream all the same. Yakuza 3, as you can see from this trailer, looks totally frigging rad. Read More... Posted Nov 14 2008, 12:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, bionic commando, sega, yakuza, yakuza 2, yakuza 3, kazuma kiryu

• Trailer Review: Dragon Quest IX

  As October wears on and the fruits of game season, grand experiences like Dead Space and Fable 2, start to illuminate my living room with an incandescent and warming light, I find myself not looking forward, but back. 2008 has been, to date, a year overflowing with great games and even though it’s been less than a month since I finished it, I’m already looking back at Dragon Quest IV fondly. The characters, the leveling, the music; it was glorious. But, as it is with JRPGs, it will be a very long time before I ever attempt to complete that particularly glorious remake again. (If ever. Role-playing games are a steep time investment as is, a fact I’ve discussed many times in the past.) But this trailer, only recently presented in high-quality after its debut at Tokyo Game Show, fills me with hope for the future. Dragon Quest IX will be awesome. Oh yes, it will be so, so awesome. Read More... Posted Oct 20 2008, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, square-enix, dragon quest, fable 2, dead space, yuuji horii, dragon quest iv, dragon quest ix

• TGS Trailer Time: Resident Evil 5

  A trailer for Capcom's upcoming Resident Evil 5 debuted at the Tokyo Game Show, and--fortunately for you--watching it is now mandatory. Note to Capcom: if you're going to introduce a female character by first showing us her butt, you might as well go all the way and throw in a cartoony thumping bass drum for full effect. This is the most story we've seen out of RE5 yet, which may be why this preview reminds me so much of Metal Gear Solid (mainly when the stirring music kicks in).  And the real return of longtime series villain Wesker should delight all of the RE fans who poo-pooed 4 for essentially being a side-story.  Yes; there are seriously people who didn't like RE4 because it was only tangentially related to the series' tortured, ludicrous continuity--and they walk among us, so watch out for that. Read More... Posted Oct 09 2008, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: trailer review, resident evil, capcom, bob mackey, tgs, resident evil 5

• Trailer Review: Retro Game Master

  You know, not to be glib, but this is some meta shit right here. Follow me down the rabbit hole of abstraction, won’t you? Game Center CX is a show about a comedian pretending to be Japanese middle-manager who plays NES games in marathon sessions, with typically hilarious results. The show’s Americanized name is Retro Game Master, though the show currently has no distribution in the United States. XSEED games, a fairly new US game publisher that specializes in Japanese quirk, is publishing Retro Game Challenge, an English localization of GameCenter CX: Arino no Chōsenjō, a videogame made up of pretend NES games based on a show about a pretend man who plays real NES games. It boggles the mind! Read More... Posted Sep 29 2008, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, game center cx, xseed, Retro game challenge

• Trailer Review: Golden Axe

  In the grand pantheon of beat-em-ups, brawlers, hack-and-slashers, kiss-your-mother-with-that-mouth-ya-jerk, dick-punching games, Golden Axe is a middleweight. Hell, it started as a welterweight in 1989. The fantasy setting, magic powers, and ride-able dragons and chicken-salamanders were novel, certainly, but how could it compete with Final Fight, a game that let you be a pro-wrestling mayor who compulsively took off his clothing? How could its triumphant trio of sword-guy-in-underpants, little person, and Red Sonja-cosplayer compete with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Golden Axe was plain outclassed for its first couple of games. That is, until arcade-only sequel Death Adder’s Revenge came out, a game so gorgeous, strange, and playable that it stands as the best beat ‘em up ever made outside of Capcom and Konami (yeah, that’s right. It’s better than Streets of Rage. All of them.) Right when the series started showing its mettle, it all but disappeared. Death Adder’s Revenge’s legacy lived on in a cruddy Genesis sequel, a Saturn fighting game, and a bizarro PS2 remake of the series debut. Until now! Read More... Posted Sep 04 2008, 05:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, up all night, devil may cry, capcom, konami, sega, god of war, heavenly sword, golden axe, conan, teenage mutant ninja turtles

• Trailer Review: House of the Dead – Overkill

  Back in what kids are calling “the day”, I spent a lot of time in an arcade in State College, Pennsylvania by the name of Playland. Playland was a classic. Made up of four dark, dank rooms lined with cabinets from every era of gaming up to 2003, it reeked of cigarette smoke and pheromones, always overflowing with people, most of them laughing, a few scowling with concentration. Actual fights were rare, heated Street Fighter fights common. It was beautiful like the sun. For most of the year 2000, I had a routine running at Playland. I would head over once class ended at three o’clock, and I would bring one dollar in quarters. Then I would play House of the Dead and see where that dollar got me. Afternoons that year were spent with one arm stretched in front of the cabinet, memorizing when some grizzled undead monstrosity would pop out from behind a specific wall, and getting just a little farther on a single quarter. I never did manage to beat it on one credit (came close,) but it didn’t matter. It was awesome all the same. But not nearly as awesome as House of the Dead’s resurrection in this trailer. Indeed, this trailer may be the awesomest thing I have seen in my life. After watching it, after witnessing this all out zombie brutality, I think I might be suffering from awesome poisoning. Not acute awesome poisoning. Severe. Read More... Posted Aug 19 2008, 05:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, wii, sega, headstrong games, house of the dead

• Trailer Review: Riz-Zoawd

  I like me a good Japanese RPG. Actually, let me rephrase: I love Japanese JRPGs. Like many a youth twenty years back, I received a free copy of Dragon Warrior with my Nintendo Power subscription. I didn’t actually play Dragon Warrior myself, I played it with my older brother, start to finish. It was, as I believe was the point of the game, epic. The experience from level one to defeating the nefarious Dragon Lord really did feel like a vast journey, a true hero quest. But I never got around to playing another JRPG until I was fourteen. That game was Chrono Trigger and it turned me into a slavering addict. These days, I only get to play one JRPG a year. They typically require a massive investment of time and, so, I’m forced to pick and choose. I’m not sure if it’s going to come to the US at this point, but if it does, I might have to make Ris-Zoawd the JRPG I play next year. Read More... Posted Aug 08 2008, 05:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, nintendo ds, trailer review, final fantasy, chrono trigger, dragon quest, jrpg, riz-zoawd, wild arms, dragon warrior

• Trailer Review: Idolm@ster PSP

  Japan. We have been over this. Many times. Stop being so damn weird or we are going to stop liking your stuff. Read More... Posted Jul 29 2008, 03:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, japan, idolmaster

• Trailer Review: The Last Guy

  Zombies are so fashionable these days. They're the new ninjas, who were in turn the new pirates, who themselves were the new monkeys. But consumers are fickle, and as such zombies will soon be passé. Always trendsetters, Sony's Japan Studio are one step ahead with a new game in which alien zombies are destroying the world. Awesome. Of course, the gimmick to this game that most people seem to be interested in is that the environment is built from hi-res satellite images via Google Earth. Also awesome. Add to this cocktail gameplay that simultaneously resembles retro classics Snake and Pac-Man and say hello to the triple threat Playstation Network game that is The Last Guy (awesome title). Read More... Posted Jul 24 2008, 06:15 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: playstation 3, trailer review, derrick sanskrit, google, the last guy

• Trailer Review: Tecmo Bowl – Kickoff

  E3 2008’s been running for just under forty-eight hours at this point, if you count yesterday’s early festivities with Microsoft and EA, and the internet is awash with flashy exciting trailers. The first gameplay footage from Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia proves that the new adventure is even more deliciously gorgeous and detailed than its already beautiful screenshots, the Mirror’s Edge gameplay demonstration delivers on the promise of that game’s unique take on first-person gaming, and iD’s Rage is exhibiting all the gloss and zombie-ness of a classic John-Carmack-Tech-Showcase. But who cares about those? Every trailer, every look at fresh gameplay from cutting edge titles, every CGI tease pales in comparison to these sixty seconds of Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff. Read More... Posted Jul 15 2008, 01:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, mirror's edge, ea, trailer review, prince of persia, e3, rage, id, tecmo bowl

• Trailer Review - Captain Rainbow

  skip LTD. are not a second-party Nintendo developer, though a look at their game catalogue might have you believe otherwise. They are responsible for six of the seven delightfully simple BitGeneration games for the GameBoy Advance as well as the colorful and charming Chibi-Robo on Gamecube and its DS sequel Park Patrol. Vibrant, energetic, genre-defying, critically-acclaimed all-ages games exclusive to Nintendo platforms, if you haven't played any of these titles (and odds are 99% of gamers haven't) you're missing out on some truly special experiences. Now skip are turning their attention to the Wii, and they've brought along a yoyo-slinging Captain Planet wannabe. Read More... Posted Jul 09 2008, 03:00 PM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with no comments Filed under: nintendo, nintendo ds, trailer review, derrick sanskrit, wii, okami, gameboy advance, chibi-robo, captain rainbow, skip, bit generations

• Trailer Review: The Past and Future With Mega Man 9 and Chrono Trigger DS

  May of 2007 to May of 2008 was very much about the future of videogames. Even when nostalgia was clearly fueling some of last year’s biggest announcements — Capcom’s dual announcements of Bionic Commando and Street Fighter IV were targeted at a pretty specific audience after all — they were defined as contemporary efforts, game’s built on something familiar to sell something new. The past, as an entity, has been a whole lot more vocal in the past few weeks. Two announcements in particular have gotten the entire gaming world in a state of frothing enthusiasm, and nostalgia is almost the only fuel behind the fire. Chrono Trigger DS and Mega Man 9 are opposite sides of the retro-pandering coin. Read More... Posted Jul 07 2008, 01:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, mega man, chrono trigger

• Trailer Review: Densetsu no Stafi 5

  Alright, fine, these two videos are not trailers. They are Japanese commercials and are understandably, given their place of origin, weird as hell. But just being Japanese does not justify these levels of batshit crazy. A squeaking, smiling, boiling pile of celestial mass is under water, touches a thought bubble (thought bubbles are corporeal in Japan) and is then sticking its horrific grin out of the whale’s mouth. Then it’s in a dragon’s stomach, setting a giant, orange clam on fire while a mermaid, old-man-crab, and what I can only assume is a female pile of celestial mass giggle in delight. WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE GAMES! Read More... Posted Jun 26 2008, 04:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review

• Trailer Review: Sonic Unleashed

  Yes, Sonic Unleashed does look good, idiotic title be damned. A lot of folks talk about how Sonic’s fallen on hard times in recent years. Every time a new console Sonic gets announced, it’s hyped as “the one”, the Sonic game that brings back the ‘Hog’s glory days, when he wasn’t playing second fiddle to Mario just so people would pay attention to him. And every time, the game turns out to be, at worst, a steaming pile of crap (Sonic Heroes/Riders/PS360 Self-Titled) or, at best, a competent imitation of past success (Sonic Advance/Rush). Unleashed’s luscious presentation, fun music, and pure speed are certainly tantalizing but who knows how this game actually plays? Read More... Posted Jun 18 2008, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, sega, sonic the hedgehog

• Trailer Review: Infinite Undiscovery

  Japan, look. I haven’t said anything about this, mostly because I like your stuff and I was trying to be nice, but this is the last god damn straw. People do not need to yell everything they do. When people walk down the street in polite society, they do not say things like, “MARVELOUS STEPS FORWARD!” This wasn’t a problem in your games ten years ago. No one use to say anything at all. Now I can’t even enjoy a 2D platformer on DS without some giant-eyed tween screaming about his stupid special moves. I want to be excited about Infinite Undiscovery, I really do. Read More... Posted Jun 11 2008, 11:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, japan, infinite undiscovery

• Trailer Review: Sonic Chronicles – The Dark Brotherhood

  May 2008. San Francisco, CA. Sega of America, Office of VP Marketing. “Got that trailer for the Sonic RPG almost put together. Just needs voiceover.” "Look, whatever you do, don't say, 'Sonic and his friends.'" "Why not?" "Just don't." Read More... Posted Jun 05 2008, 10:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, sonic, bioware

• Trailer Review: Street Fighter 4

  The old maxim, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” doesn’t always hold true for videogames. There are many times when you can absolutely judge a game by its cover. For example: This game is exactly what it looks like. It involves people wearing ludicrous clothes fighting green gorilla men in the street. Read More... Posted Jun 02 2008, 11:00 AM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, capcom, street fighter 4

• Trailer Review: The Conduit

  The Wii has a reputation as being a console devoid of more traditional games and home to piles of mini-game collections and children’s-license hatchet jobs. It has earned this reputation because, well, there aren’t very many traditional games available for the Wii and there are many, many mini-game collections and licensed hatchet jobs. So it’s always worth noting when a developer takes a stab at making a “hardcore” game for the system and its unique controller. High Voltage Software’s The Conduit certainly falls into the "hardcore" classification, a first-person shooter with, from the looks of this trailer, an emphasis on story and frenzied fire-fights. It’s a visual mixed bag at this early stage, delivering on High Voltage’s impressive tech demo one moment and looking like a game that barely utilizes the eight-year-old Gamecube hardware the Wii is built on the next. Still, the b-movie dialogue is campy fun and the organic looking weapons certainly seem, if nothing else, unique. High Voltage still hasn’t found a publishing partner for The Conduit but if they continue to polish it up, their game will undoubtedly find its way into the hands of Wii owners hungry for something a bit meatier than Carnival Games. Hit the jump to check out the debut trailer. Read More... Posted May 20 2008, 11:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, nintendo, trailer review, wii, carnival games, high voltage software, the conduit

• Trailer Review: Mirror’s Edge

  SCEE showed the first public footage of Dice’s Mirror’s Edge at their Playstation Day 2008 event this past Tuesday and it’s thrilling to say that it looks every bit as good in motion as early screenshots have implied. The first-person parkour play looks like it may be initially disorienting but if the control ends up being as streamlined as ME’s world, it will be one of 2008’s most exciting works on a sheer mechanical level. But beyond the way it moves, Dice deserves a huge high five just for their choice of setting and character. The blindingly unblemished cityscape and blue skies are a serious change of pace from the Blade Runner-inspired dank metropolises that have typified gaming for years. And protagonist Faith, well, not to be blunt, but she doesn’t have a monolithic bust line, she’s wearing athletic attire that’s actually suited to her actions, and she’s not white. Hell, she’s not even baring a mid-riff! If it weren’t for the silly eye tattoo, I’d be comfortable saying that she’s hands down the most interesting female lead since Beyond Good & Evil’s Jade. Hit the jump to enjoy the sights and sounds. Read More... Posted May 12 2008, 02:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, scee, beyond good and evil, mirror's edge, ea, dice, trailer review