the grunter

(This has to be the review with the most number of screenshots, I had fun simply taking these photos, the game is that fun.)

As one of Xbox 360′s early titles (2006), Volition’s Saints Row obviously had the advantage that Rockstar’s GTA IV was nowhere in sight (not even announced that year), but did Saints Row really need that advantage? If you ask me, I’d say it would do just fine even if GTA IV was released that same year.

The dev team that made Saints Row was apparently well aware of two things: 1) They couldn’t succeed by making a copycat of GTA (smart) and 2) Who says the GTA series is perfect as far as sandbox games go?

With confidence Volition gave us a healthy alternative to the dominating GTA titles. I played it when it came out, and found myself saying “Game quality-wise, this is at least on par with GTA: San Andreas (the latest in the series at the time). But personal enjoyment level-wise, this game is wayyy beyond GTA on my scale.”

Read more

One of the high points of my early gaming years was on my cousin’s Famicom (FC), or NES for you North Americans.

I love action games, I played Super Mario Bros and thought that it’s cool, yet a little bit “vanilla”. Now “Double Dragon” and “Contra”, they involved people getting punched or shot in the face point blank, and better refined my definition of what a decent side scroller should be.

And then along came Capcom’s “Bionic Commando”, with a way cooler title name for the Japanese release – ヒットラーの復活 トップシークレット, translates to “The Resurrection of Hitler: Top Secret”. There’s no debate that this title won’t fly in the Americas and Europe, so all instances of the Nazi/Swastikas/Hitler are gone in the US version. Read more

A blast from the past! Sorry to disappoint if you think I only write reviews for new games because I’m planning to write a review on each of the games I own. And if you’ve been following this blog you’d know that I have cut back on buying new games for the past months now. Oh and I lied, if you think Kameo is “a blast from the past” as far as my reviews go, you’re in for a surprise (Hint: Check out my updated games list, new lists include Sega MD/NES).

Anyway, let’s look at this 2005 game that may be found in the $5 bin in your local Thrift store.

Read more

Originally came out in 1993 in practically every arcade in North America, NBA JAM is the first ever (and probably the last) arcade game cabinet to have earned $1 billion dollars, one quarter at a time.

Featuring two versus two style full-court gameplay, people love NBA JAM because none of the official NBA rules apply in this game. Be it out of bounds, fouling or 3-in-the-key, expect to go all out and do whatever it takes to gain points, with the only exception of goal-tending. Even the laws of physics don’t apply in the world of JAM, expect to see players fly above the hoop, do a 720 degree spin and end with a reverse dunk.

Read more

好友占占曾對我說, 希望我能在523講多點有關遊戲開發的大小事情. 「血淚史」就談不上了(可況事業在這個階段, 「血淚」要成為「史」還有一段時間呢 :P), 但的確在上班之後, 有很多東西是連在Art Institute讀遊戲開發都學不到的. 各大機種的開發專用機就是一個好例子. 一來它們訂價不便宜(PS3剛推出時一台dev kit要賣美金五位數字), 二來也不是說有錢就買得到(ebay上面二手的不算), 畢竟主機的公司也需要知道什麼人在開發該機器的軟件, 軟件內容是什麼等等.

先說我使用經驗最多的360吧, 我從做part time時已經主要在這個平台做測試的工作, 其間有些日子也會在不自願的情況下轉到PS3去.

Xbox360開發機有分兩種, programmer專用的dev kit還有比較普遍也比較便宜的test kit. 我的經驗主要在test kit方面, 所以對dev kit的特點也不能說得太清楚. 很多人在雜誌看到360的開發機圖片, 大部份應該都是dev kit. 原因是test kits很多時候外表是與retail版沒兩樣. 當然開機後進入了開發OS這點是最大不同, 但雜誌很少會公開這些畫面.

Read more