video games

NFL 2010 HD Review: An NFL Game Not Made By EA? What?

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A number of years ago, EA locked up exclusive rights to make NFL video games. Because of that, I was very confused as to how Gameloft could release their own NFL football game on the iPad. Apparently, EA didn’t lock up mobile games, which allowed for this release to happen.

I haven’t played a football video game since 1996 with Madden 64. However, the release of Backbreaker has whet my interest in something meatier and there aren’t any other NFL licensed football games on the iPad on sale for $0.99. With all of that going for it, I decided to give NFL 2010 HD a shot.
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Review: Pix N’ Love Rush

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Do you remember a time before Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System? An era where games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong ruled the scene? Pix N’ Love Rush feels like a game heavily inspired by games of that era. For gamers that fondly remember that era, you’ll feel right at home here with it’s modernized pixelated look, chip-tune music and simple play mechanics. For everyone else, there’s still a fun iPhone game worth your $0.99.
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Get Hype! EVO 2010 Starts Today!

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Last year was a monumental one for everyone involved in the Evolution fighting game tournament. Besides it being the debut of the massively-popular Street Fighter IV, it broke records for participants, attendance and for the first time ever, it was all viewable live to anyone with an Internet connection. EVO was no longer just the one YouTube clip of Daigo parrying all of Justin Wong’s super combo hits. Hundreds of thousands of people tuned in throughout the weekend to watch Daigo and company play out the fighting game magic. I was glued to my computer that entire weekend; watching arguably the best fighting game action I’d ever seen in my life. That tournament even went as far as inspiring me to level up my own skills.
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These Might Be the 25 Least-Loved Wii Games

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Kotaku’s Nintendo Channel stat-tracking articles are some of my favourite pieces of gaming enthusiast press content. I applaud Stephen Totilo for going through the effort of digging through the Nintendo Channel stats every month to gather insights on what Wii players are playing.

In this particular case, what they’re not playing. Most recently, Kotaku posted an article called “The 25 Least-Loved Wii Games, Maybe“, which lists off the Wii games with the lowest average time played. There are a number of qualifiers and disclaimers you should know to give you context to this data, so I recommend you check out the original story on Kotaku if you haven’t already. If you have (or don’t want to heed to my warning) hit the jump to see the least-loved Wii games and my analysis of these unfortunate games.
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Beat It! Turns My Musical Passion Into A Game

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Since the early 2000’s, I have spent countless hours in front of music sequencers, creating music of varying quality. While my sequencer of choice has been FL Studio (better known as Fruity Loops), I also have experience triggering samples on Reason, GarageBand, Ableton Live as well as hardware samplers such as the Akai MPC and assorted Roland/Boss drum machines.

Why does any of this matter? Because Beat It! takes the sequencer experience and turns it into a game. Beat junkies like me will have a blast with this game. However, if you don’t have experience laying down tracks, you may still enjoy this as a different take on the music game genre.
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Some Love for Air Fortress

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To most people, Air Fortress is a game they’ve never heard of. According to the Wikipedia page for the game (so the validity of this fact is questionable), only 385 copies of the game came out in the US. In any case, this is not a game anyone will mention, ever. This is a shame to me, because I think it’s a pretty awesome 8-bit action game. The game also has a strong sentimental value with me, but first, let me explain what the game was about if you’ve never heard of it. I’ve included a video below as well to further explain.

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Canada’s Contribution to Video Games

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Today is a special day in my home and native land. While I should be enjoying my day off by playing hockey and tending to my igloo, I’ve decided to do a little bit of research and put together a not-that-serious piece on Canada’s contributions to video games. Find out if your favourite Canadian contributions made my list (and don’t be mad if they didn’t).

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Mobile Me

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I used to hate mobile gaming with a passion. Before I go into my little rant, let me say that when I mean mobile, I don’t mean dedicated portable gaming systems like the DS or PSP. I mean mobile like cell phone games. I looked down upon that entire segment of gaming. I hated the lack of graphical horsepower. I hated how weird it was to get games on your phone. I hated the poor quality games. I hated the controls. I don’t think any game controls well on a number pad. There was a point in the early-to-mid 2000s when analysts were predicting the cell phone market would expand tremendously, and I scoffed at that notion for all of the problems I mentioned above. Up until the release of the iPhone, I was absolutely right.

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Pick Up Post: Join the Darkside

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Back in January, this THQ game caught a lot of people by surprise. People who were expecting it to be a God of War clone were surprised at how Zelda-like it’s gameplay was. It reviewed well and as far as I know, sold above the company’s expectations.

For a number of reasons, I kept tabs on it until it came down to a lower price. A few weeks ago, it hit $20, and I grabbed my local Best Buy’s last copy.

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A Dragon You May Not Want to Enter

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During the apex of my fascination with ninjas as a child, my dad went out of the way to sit me down to watch Enter the Dragon. My dad hyped up Bruce Lee to me as the best karate guy ever. Yes, even better than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now that’s serious.

Years later, I still idolize the only person to ever beat Chuck Norris. Seeing his name on this game for iPhone and iPad did pique my interest, but Bruce Lee games historically suck. Really bad. Even at $5, I was reluctant to give it a go. However, it went on sale last week on the iPad for $0.99, which is low enough for me to try almost anything.

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