Calling your game “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” creates an expectation right off the bat. Is the planet shadowy? Is the planet twisted? And most importantly, is the twisted, shadowy planet INSANELY twisted and shadowy? The name alone creates a list of criteria that must be met. Does Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (say that five times fast), the third entry in this year’s Summer of Arcade following Bastion and From Dust, live up to its name? If it does live up to its name, is that necessarily a good thing?

SPOILER: it does, and it is. Read the full story

There are times when you can sum up a game in one sentence. This is one of those times. If there is one thing to be said about Limbo, it is this. This game is art. Read the full story

It’s that time of year again, and we find ourselves on the cusp of yet another Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. Last year saw some fantastic games that might be hard to top, from the award-winning Limbo to the wonderfully entertaining Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. We were lucky enough to get our hands on one of the upcoming Summer of Arcade games last month in the form of Ubisoft’s From Dust, and if it’s any indication of the quality of the rest of this year’s Summer of Arcade offerings, we’re in for a big treat. Read the full story

It’s officially 2011, so it’s time to recap and present to you all our choices for the best and worst video games that came out in 2010. We’ve all been working on this for months, changing some of our choices as new games came out, but what you see below is what we’ve all finally settled on.

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In case you missed Spike TV’s 2010 Video Game Awards, we’ve got you covered! Check out everything that happened!

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Zombie Cow Studios is the company behind Privates, a game that definitely caught my attention. I reviewed it last week, and I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to ask one of its founders, Dan, some questions. So, check out our conversation …

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I was searching through our post archive and our tag database before starting this article looking for anything I could backlink to.  Specifically, I was looking for anything that mentioned Ikaruga.  Surprisingly, I found no previous mention of Ikaruga on our site whatsoever, which is a damn shame, as Ikaruga is a truly wonderful game.  Ikaruga!  I did manage to find a small mention for the XBLA Summer of Arcade game, Limbo, however, so at least there’s that.  Now, you may be asking me out loud, even though I can’t hear you (which would mean you’re pretty much talking to yourself, you crazy, crazy person), “Chris, dude, what the hell is your point?”.  Well, the point is Outland. Read the full story

Last month, E3 announced a few details for the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade games we could expect to see this summer, only one of which am I visibly excited for.  While we have been in the dark over the last few weeks as to when we could get our grubby little paws on some of these titles, our long, dark tea-time of the soul finally has an expiration date set.  Release dates and pricing have just been announced for this year’s Summer of Arcade titles.

All Summer of Arcade titles will go for 1200 MSP ($15) each.  There are some incentives for purchasing more than one title, if you’re on the fence about some of the games.  Purchase 3-4 of the Summer of Arcade titles, and you will receive 400 MSP back.  Purchase all five Summer of Arcade titles and you will receive 1200 MSP back, which comes out to a buy-four-get-one-free kind of deal.  If you’re going to buy all five anyway, this is great news.  If you’re only planning on buying one game (like me – although Limbo may find it’s way into my hands as well), it’s hardly worth the extra expense to get the incentive, but it’s still an appreciated gesture nonetheless.

And now, the details:

• Limbo – 7/21 – Explore a unique and puzzling world to discover your sister’s fate.
• Hydro Thunder Hurricane – 7/28 – Race over LIVE for wave supremacy in the sequel to the classic arcade racer.
• Castlevania: Harmony of Despair – 8/04 – Dracula takes a bite out of Xbox Live arcade with “Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.”
• Monday Night Combat – 8/11 – “Monday Night Combat” takes you into the most popular lethal sport of the future.
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – 8/18 – Check out Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light if adventure, exploration, and combat are what you crave!

The audacity they have in making me wait almost a full month for Castlevania is simply appalling.

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