About Author: Ryan Thompson

Website
http://www.twitter.com/BardicKnowledge
Description
Ryan is a ludomusicology graduate student at the University of Minnesota currently researching interactive audio and how it is changing modern gaming.

Posts by Ryan Thompson

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Minecraft toys coming this holiday season

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on April 22, 2013Posted in: News

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Dave Tach at Polygon summarized a press release by toy manufacturer Jazwares that they will be producing a variety of Minecraft toys, including “action figures, plush, and paper craft items” to be made available this coming holiday season.  Laura Zebersky, the Executive Vice President of Global Sales for Jazwares,  asserts that “Minecraft is one of the hottest brands on the planet right now,” an assertion backed by a variety of data on Minecraft’s performance across various platforms, including its spectacular showing on XBLA.  Zebersky continues by saying that “the marketplace is primed for a line of toys…that reflect the fun and creativity of the game.”

Jazwares is responsible for creating a number of toys based on video game brands, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Plants vs. Zombies, Star Wars, and others.  It’s worth noting that this is not the first jaunt into physical Minecraft-themed products for Mojang, as Minecraft-themed Legos have been available for some time. Minecraft continues to garner success beyond the virtual world, however, and this announcement of new Minecraft-themed toys demonstrates the continued success of the brand.

Source: Jazwares via Polygon

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Telltale explores why players preferred Carley to Doug

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on April 18, 2013Posted in: News

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Note: Spoilers for the first episode of The Walking Dead follow — read on at your own risk if you haven’t played through the game’s demo episode (available for free on XBLA).

Phil Kollar at Polygon wrote a summary of a GDC panel in which Telltale writers Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin discussed The Walking Dead. Upon completion of each episode, the percentage of players who made each one of the episode’s tough choices is revealed to players. Vanaman and Rodkin reveal that Telltale was surprised to find that an overwhelming majority of players chose to save Carley over Doug — 75% of players rescue Carley when it come time to make that crucial decision.

This is a more complicated issue than a mere difference between gender — Telltale thought it was too easy a solution to merely ascribe this difference to a preference of a gun-wielding girl (Carley) to a techie nerd (Doug). Carley is introduced as an active character that already has a connection to Lee — she is compelling from the start, and players want to know how the connection between the two characters (Carley knows that Lee is a convicted murderer) will play out. Conversely, Doug is presented as a relatively passive character without a personal connection to Lee — there are relatively few opportunities for the player (as Lee) to interact with Doug before the choice between Doug and Carley must be made.

It will be interesting to see how Telltale learns from these types of issues in The Walking Dead as we await the continuation of the story.  The Walking Dead was one of last year’s best games, and a long-awaited revival of the classic adventure genre.  This type of reflection and reaction to the player experience should make the sequel even better.

Source:  Polygon

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XBLA Deal of the Week

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on April 9, 2013Posted in: Deals and Discounts, News

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There are lots of discounts on XBLA games both this week and next week worth some attention. If you are yet to play Dungeon Defenders, it’s one of the standout titles for XBLA.  Remakes feature heavily this week also, with Prince of Persia Classic and the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise all discounted.  Next week, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is on sale for only 200 Microsoft Points, making it the best deal of the entire two week period, though many other games are also well worth a glance – Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Gotham City Impostors are excellent choices for multiplayer, and Bionic Commando Rearmed remains one of the best high-definition remakes of the entire generation.

The majority of these titles have had some success on XBLA, and playing through the demo for any of them is a worthwhile investment of time. See the entire list below, and feel free to recommend specific titles in the comments!

This week:

Prince of Persia Classic 400 (50% off)
Counterstrike GO 600 (50% off)
Real Steel 320 (60% off)
Battlefield 1943 600 (50% off)
Dungeon Defenders 480 (60% off)
Realms of Ancient War 480 (60% off
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 600 (50% off)
Marvel vs. Capcom Origins 600 (50% off)
Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection 400 (50% off)
Kinect Central: Babel Rising 320 (60% off)

Next week:

I Am Alive 480 (60% off)
Gotham City Impostors 600 (50% off)
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 200 (75% off)
Warhammer® 40,000®: Kill Team™ 320 (60% off)
Lara Croft The Guardian of Light 600 (50% off)
HELL YEAH! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit 480 (60% off)
Bionic Commando Rearmed 320 (60% off)
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 480 (60% off)
Black Knight Sword 400 (50% off)
Fruit Ninja Kinect 320 (60% off)

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Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams review (XBLA)

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on April 2, 2013Posted in: Featured Reviews, Reviews, XBLA Reviews

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Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is the rare platformer in today’s world that is simultaneously incredibly demanding and very satisfying. The game, ported to XBLA from the first batch of Steam Greenlight games, was originally part of a successful Kickstarter project. The game’s protagonist, Giana, derives her name from the original Great Giana Sisters of the 1980s which was most well known for being successfully sued by Nintendo for its close similarities to Super Mario Bros. The new game maintains the charm of an older era while demonstrating a keen awareness of how graphics and sound have improved in 25 years between the original and Twisted Dreams.

The game’s main mechanic involves Giana’s ability to shift between two different forms, which shifts the entire world’s graphics and music accordingly. Players will find themselves shifting back and forth between worlds extremely rapidly at times — it recalls the shifting of Ikaruga and Outcast, though with substantial changes to the environment also, not just the main character.

Continue reading “Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams review (XBLA)” »

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Ducktales Remastered announced for Summer 2013

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on March 22, 2013Posted in: Breaking News, News

Ducktales game

The original NES Ducktales game was one of the gems of the era, an incredible platformer designed by the creator of Megaman, Keiji Inafune. It contained one of the most memorable chiptune soundtracks of all time in addition to sporting some of the tightest platforming on the platform.

At PAX East today, Capcom and WayForward announced Ducktales Remastered, a remake of the original NES classic. The reveal trailer looks amazing, featuring Disney hand-drawn animation that remains faithful to the original animations of the video game. Though the trailer doesn’t feature any voiced characters, the Capcom-Unity newspost about the announcement of the game reveals that the team behind the game managed to get the entire original cast back to record the game, 30 years after the release of the original. If that weren’t fantastic enough, WayForward has an extremely strong pedigree with regard to rereleases of older titles — composer Jake Kaufman’s work on both Double Dragon Neon and Contra 4 (for the Nintendo DS) was absolutely outstanding, and his arrangement and homage to Ducktales will very likely be just as impressive. The game is set to launch this summer.

We hope to have more details in the coming days — for now, watch the trailer on YouTube and sing along!

Source:  Capcom-Unity

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Dungeon Defenders II announced…but not coming to XBLA

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on March 22, 2013Posted in: Breaking News, News

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The original Dungeon Defenders was an extremely popular XBLA title, and many players have been looking forward to the inevitable sequel for some time.  The sequel is looking very promising — it features an all new competitive mode in addition to the original’s co-op gameplay and will be free to play!  Unfortunately, it won’t be coming to either XBLA or PS3, though next-gen console plans are not out of the question.  The official website for the game currently lists only “PC, Mac, iOS, Android and Web” for its platforms.

In an interview by IGN with the developers of the game, marketing director Philip Asher reveals the reason why the current generation of consoles is being excluded: “The bit of sad news in all of the talk about platforms is that Dungeon Defenders II won’t be releasing on PSN or Xbox Live. “When starting to develop Dungeon Defenders II, we wanted to focus on platforms that would allow consistent updates and cross-platform play. Because of this, we decided to not release Dungeon Defenders II on current-generation consoles,” said Asher. The good news for console players in all of this is that there’s still hope, as Asher added the following caveat, “However, if the next generation consoles fit this bill, we would consider releasing Dungeon Defenders II there as well.”

Hopefully the next generation of consoles accommodates cross-platform play, because if Dungeon Defenders II follows in the footsteps of the original, Microsoft and Sony will both be missing out on a great game. Look forward to continued coverage on the game from our sister site SteamGameFans for now…

Source:  IGN

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A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX coming to XBLA

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on March 15, 2013Posted in: News

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A re-mastered port of A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda, currently available on Steam, was recently announced for XBLA to be published by Aksys. The original game is an action-platformer set in the near-future, casting players in the role of the robot Ares, navigating and shooting his way through a variety of environments that bring to mind memories of Capcom’s Megaman X series. The “EX” in the console version’s title refers to a variety of enhancements made to the game specifically for the new port.

These enhancements are extensive — the game should feel more like a remake than a port by the time everything is said and done. Ares is receiving new upgrades to help him fight completely new enemies in brand new areas. Additionally, the XBLA port adds a second playable character named Taurus, who will be stronger and more tank-y than Ares at the expense of some mobility.

The game will also feature completely redone graphics — both new high-resolution textures added for the EX edition, and all-new animated cutscenes. In addition to the excellent soundtrack by Hyperduck Soundworks, the EX edition will come with a second soundtrack composed by Charlie Parra Del Riego, whose metal stylings will fit the new Taurus character.

The game looks to be following in Spelunky’s footsteps, another PC game that had an excellent conversion to the XBLA platform. More great games on XBLA are always welcome — look forward to more news regarding A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX in the coming months!

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Star Wars Pinball FX 2 review (XBLA DLC)

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on February 26, 2013Posted in: Featured Reviews, Reviews, XBLA DLC Review, XBLA Reviews

The first Star Wars Pinball table pack for the Pinball FX 2 platform was developed by Zen Studios.  It was released February 27, 2013 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

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Zen Studios, makers of Pinball FX 2, is releasing a trio of Star Wars pinball tables this Wednesday, in what will be the first group of many tables to come, much how the studio has released multiple packs of pinball tables from the Marvel comics universe. These Star Wars tables, which include a table for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, a table designed around the Clone Wars cartoon show, and a table in honor of infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett, are all worthy additions to the ever-expanding body of content available for Pinball FX2. It’s worth pointing out that only one of the three tables is focused on a specific film — this strategy of utilizing both iconic characters (Fett) and Expanded Universe content (Clone Wars) leaves Zen Studios with a range of choices in developing future Star Wars pinball tables.

Continue reading “Star Wars Pinball FX 2 review (XBLA DLC)” »

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Former Microsoft engineer disagrees with vision for the Xbox 360

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on February 24, 2013Posted in: News

New-Xbox-360-Dashboard-Works-Great-with-a-Controller-Not-Just-Kinect-2

The team at Polygon shared a fascinating summary of former Microsoft developer Nat Brown’s blog a few days ago. He expresses his disappointment with the direction Microsoft has taken the Xbox, failing to capitalize on the “stumbling failures” of Sony and Nintendo while making a number of mistakes with the platform. The biggest of these mistakes is a lack of support for indie development — Brown has extreme distaste for the difference between the publishing models for XBLA and XBLIG (Xbox Live Indie Games). The other major issue Brown has with the direction of the Xbox 360 platform is the UI functionality — he pulls no punches, arguing that the “device OS and almost the entire user experience outside the first two levels of the dashboard are creaky, slow, and full-of-shit.”

There has been a clear shift in this generation of consoles to a new vision of the console as an entertainment center, as opposed to a box designed only for playing video games. Some of these changes have been very well received: one of the differences between gaming on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is that the Xbox 360 facilitates cross-game and cross-app conversations in parties — someone could be playing Street Fighter online having a conversation with their father who is watching a Netflix movie, for instance. In any case, it is difficult to make a strong case for the Xbox 360 as anything but a giant success for Microsoft, considering how successful it has been on the marketplace.

What do you think of Brown’s critique of the direction Microsoft has taken the Xbox platform? Let us know in the comments below. It is an especially interesting time for this sort of reflection, as an announcement for Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox 360 almost certainly looms on the horizon.

Source:  Polygon

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Charity donation drive to determine final EVO game for 2013

By
Ryan Thompson
– Posted on January 24, 2013Posted in: News

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The  folks at Shoryuken who run the yearly Evolution fighting game series of tournaments (usually known as just EVO) are having a charity drive contest to determine which game will be the final one played at EVO 2013 this summer. Most relevant for XBLAFans readers is last year’s excellent but sorely underplayed Skullgirls, which is currently third in the donation drive. Fans of fighting games who fancy themselves players, spectators or both may want to consider helping out a great cause. All of the money raised for the drive goes towards supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The drive has already raised over $32,000 for a great cause, and looks like it will be an extraordinary success for the organizers regardless of which game wins. There are still a few more days to consider a contribution to this worthy cause (donations are accepted until 1/29) while helping to determine which fighting game will step back into the spotlight as the EVO tournament season approaches.

Source:  Shoryuken

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