About Author: John Carson

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Posts by John Carson

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Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon teaser trailer and website embrace an ’80s future

By
John Carson
– Posted on April 1, 2013Posted in: News

Farcry 3: Blood Dragon has been on XBLA Fans’ radar since Marketplace art leaked online last month, and now Ubisoft has made one of its worst-kept secrets a reality. A teaser trailer for Blood Dragon appeared alongside a Geocities-esque website today, which portrays the game as an ’80s sci-fi action movie. The teaser doesn’t reveal much outside of reinforcing the 80s-inspired aesthetic, though we captured a brief flash of what appears to be in-game footage. If anything can be gleaned from it, it looks as though Blood Dragon will keep with Far Cry’s FPS lineage.

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Newsbit: Microsoft toying with “wearable” controllers

By
John Carson
– Posted on September 21, 2012Posted in: News


By now the world is well aware of what it’s like to be the controller thanks to Kinect and other motion-sensing peripherals, but a recently-filed patent from Microsoft hints at a future of wearing controllers. And no, it’s not a new Power Glove. We’ve learned from IGN and Patent Bolt that the new patent describes utilizing electromyography sensors which read electrical signals sent through specific muscles to execute commands based on the user’s gestures. In lay man’s terms, this new system can record how your muscles move to control a device, and that’s pretty darn cool. Not only is this neat for games, but more importantly, it can be used to control prosthetic limbs among other life-changing applications.

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Microsoft renews Killer Instinct trademark

By
John Carson
– Posted on September 17, 2012Posted in: News, Rumors

Not much is said on the matter, but PlayXBLA got the okay from the Microsoft legal team to announce the trademark renewal for the long-absent fighting game franchise, Killer Instinct. The morsel of information given lies within this single quote regarding KI: “We have either renewed or refiled a trademark application in various jurisdictions.”

Trademark renewals are not normally a subject to turn heads. Renewals are very common in either protecting past intellectual property from being used by another company, or to keep IP for future use. With recent stories claiming Microsoft canned an HD revival of Killer Instinct by Rare, the former purpose of the trademark renewal seems likely. With that said, it is quite rare (no pun intended) that a publisher would release this kind of information to a fan-facing outlet unless there are plans in place.

The last Killer Instinct release was the Killer Instinct 2 arcade cabinet in 1996 and its N64 port, KI Gold, later that year. No plans for any current ports or sequels have yet to be announced. Whether this is an unintentional troll or foreshadowing a revival, we are happy to once again see Killer Instinct has not been forgotten.

Source: PlayXBLA

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Thief vs thief (vs thief vs thief) in Monaco

By
John Carson
– Posted on April 6, 2012Posted in: News

Sometimes there are games we have to let you know about even if it isn’t quite clear whether XBLA will be home to it upon eventual release. This especially includes indie darlings, such as 2010 IGF Excellence in Design and Seumas McNally Grand Prize winning, Monaco.

XBLA Fans’ PAX East discussions with Andy Schatz, Founder of Pocketwatch Games and designer of Monaco, have revealed extended plans for multiplayer in the over-head, co-op heist game that make a turn for the competitive.

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Full deck customization in Duels of the Planeswalkers unlikely

By
John Carson
– Posted on April 6, 2012Posted in: News

Complete deck customization is what makes collectable card games so personal and fun. Every deck is different and can be suited to the style of play the owner is comfortable with. It’s one of the reasons why Magic the Gathering has had such a long and legendary life. When Wizards of the Coast released Magic: the Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers back in 2009–as well as its updated 2012 edition–it felt like something was missing. While the player was provided with decks by progressing in the campaign not much could be done to make that deck feel different and special from person to person. Cards earned could be substituted while not compromising the theme of a given deck, yet full deck building has not yet been a part of the Duels series. That is not set to change anytime soon, either.

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Real Steel review (XBLA)

By
John Carson
– Posted on April 1, 2012Posted in: Featured Reviews, Reviews, XBLA Reviews

Real Steel was developed and published by Yuke’s Co., Ltd. It was released on December 14, 2011 for 800 MSP. A code was provided for review purposes.

Like its big-screen brother, one would have a fair amount of skepticism going into the game adaptation of Real Steel. However, unlike the film you will most likely find frustration rather than dumb fun. That’s a shame, really. There actually is ample potential within Real Steel, but issues that seem small at first end up ruining everything in the long run.

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Unannounced XBLA games hit rating boards along with many others

By
John Carson
– Posted on December 30, 2011Posted in: Breaking News, News

Coming hot off the heels of the recent board ratings for the long awaited Fez and Trials Evolution, we’ve come across quite a few more XBLA ratings as we enter the final hours of 2011. Some games have been under our watchful eye for quite some time such as A.M.Y., I AM ALIVE and Retro City Rampage. Some, like Tetris Party Challenge and Microsoft-submitted Wreckateer, are the first glimpses we have at unannounced titles. Even Saints Row: Money Shot is rated while retaining it’s title of “Worst Kept Secret on XBLA.” Below is an alphabetical list of the newly rated games along with links to their ratings pages which originate from the ESRB, PEGI, Australian Classification Board, Korea’s Games Rating Board, and Germany’s USK (Note: The USK doesn’t have separate game pages we can link to but game-specific ratings as all ratings are posted in a list as they are rated).

The best part about this is we are one step closer to many games hitting XBLA in the (hopefully) near future. Thanks once again goes out to @lifelower for being such a workhorse tipster.

A.M.Y.
PEGI

Babel Rising
ESRB
GRB

Bang Bang Racing
AU Classification

Deep Black Episode 1 & 2
PEGI

Defenders of Ardania
PEGI

Dungeon Fighter Live (this final title is unannounced.)
GRB

Happy Action Theatre
PEGI

Haunt
AU Classification

I AM ALIVE
AU Classification

Nexuiz
ESRB

Quarrel
GRB

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
USK

Retro City Rampage
GRB

Saints Row: Money Shot
PEGI

Scarygirl
ESRB
AU Classification

Shank 2
USK

The Simpsons Arcade Game
AU Classification

Sine Mora
GRB

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4 Episode II (officially announced today!)
GRB

Spelunky
PEGI

Tetris Party Challenge (Previously unannounced)
AU Classification

Warp
ESRB

World Gone Sour
ESRB

Wreckateer (Submitted by Microsoft, but no details as of yet.)
GRB

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Rumor: Sour Patch Kids adver-game on way to consoles

By
John Carson
– Posted on November 28, 2011Posted in: News, Rumors

Following in the long and proud (?) tradition set by classics such as Cool Spot, Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest, and most recently the XBLA Doritos duo: Crash Course and Harm’s Way, it looks like Sour Patch Kids will be using consoles to sell snacks. We’ve spotted what could be evidence of World Gone Sour on a Sour Patch Facebook page. While there, make sure to check out Method Man’s tribute to the tangy sweets. The video and photo found on the page vaguely describes World Gone Sour “a sour then sweet game headed to a console near you.” Given the track record of adver-games this generation, something tells us World Gone Sour will be a downloadable title that will most likely show up on XBLA, though we have nothing that confirms a distribution method as of yet. Stay tuned to XBLAFans.com for more details on World Gone Sour as they emerge.

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Burnout Crash review (XBLA)

By
John Carson
– Posted on September 20, 2011Posted in: Featured Reviews, Reviews, XBLA Reviews

Burnout Crash was developed by Criterion Games and published by EA. It was released September 21, 2011 for 800 MSP. A copy of the game was provided for review purposes.


Crashing cars has always been the appeal and the overall point of the Burnout series. Up until the last installment in the series, Burnout Paradise, Crash mode had been a staple that rivaled the the core racing game in popularity. Believe it or not, six years have passed since Criterion’s puzzle-like mode has seen a release of any kind. The wait has been far too long.

In Burnout Crash, the series is taken to new levels of absurdity as players wreak havoc in Crash City; a city with locations as diverse as those at a movie studio and more natural disasters than a town in Sim City. The game consists of 18 intersections ready to be deconstructed in 3 game modes. Each revolves around the concept of driving a car into a busy intersection and using a recharging explosive blast, known as a Crashbreaker, to how much damage can be done under a given mode’s conditions. How does Crash hold up in it’s solo debut?
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Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition review (XBLA)

By
John Carson
– Posted on September 1, 2011Posted in: Featured Reviews, Reviews, XBLA Reviews

Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition was co-developed by Capcom and Iron Galaxy Studios and published by Capcom. It was released August 24, 2011 and retails for 1200 MSP.

The 1999 arcade release of Street Fighter 3: Third Strike couldn’t have come at a worse time. Fighting games had begun their decline in popularity along with the disappearance of local arcades in which to play them in. As a result, many gamers had to get their SF3 fix on the less than perfect iterations of Third Strike for Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, but now that the fighting genre is experiencing it’s biggest boom in over a decade, Capcom saw the chance to reintroduce Street Fighter 3 to the masses. Is it still as relevant as they had hoped, or better yet, does it stand the test of time as one of the great brawlers?

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