fragger

PLATFORM: PC
RELEASE DATE: 6/2010
DEVELOPER: Armor Games
ESRB RATING: NA

Progress: 100% (Normal Difficulty) 

I stumbled upon a late night gem. Fragger. I know some of you out there are internet game skeptics, but some of them are fun, even if fleeting. If you’ve got 30 minutes or an hour to spare, you can play and probably beat this game. (Well on normal level difficulty).

wii in the woods

PLATFORM: Bachelor Party
RELEASE DATE: June 2010
STATE: VT
ESRB RATING: M
Progress: 110%

Camping in the woods can be a lot of fun. Combine it with the epic landscape of Vermont and 10 of your great friends and you got the makings for a successful bachelor party. But I felt I needed to contribute more than just beer, liquor and the usual bad jokes so I packed a little something extra in my gear. Combined with my buddies projector the Wii packed more punch than expected. We had ourselves the first log-cabin-in-the-woods Wii games! Hope you enjoyed it, Simon, can't wait for the wedding. Enjoy the pics more after the jump.

E3 2010 impressions

PLATFORM: Electronic Entertainment Expo

RELEASE DATE: 6/2010
LOCATION: LA
MY STATUS: Not invited

I don't understand why this really didn't start last Monday because the doors may not have been open but the content was streaming all over the web. My invitation must have been lost in my junk mail (yuk yuk). Thank god for GameTrailers.com and Kotaku.com and everyone else for their live streams and live blogs. Basking in the glory of E3, safely from behind a monitor, here are my impressions from this expo and also some of my favorite trailers.

ratchet & clank future: a crack in time

PLATFORM: PS3
RELEASE DATE: 10/2009
DEVELOPER: Insomniac
ESRB RATING: E10+

Progress: 76% trophies as of posting

Right off the bat I need to tell you this review is completely biased. I'm fairly certain Ratchet & Clank is my current favorite video game/franchise. The graphics from the first Ratchet &Clank Future PS3 Release in 2007 is the reason I dropped my Wiimote and came over to The Darkside Playstation. The latest release in this very sucessfull Playstation exclusive franchise is Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time. This is a very finely polished platformer that excels with its engaging story, humor and action. Go forth and join this fuzzy, alien Lombax named Ratchet on his journey to rescue his lost buddy Clank and uncover some secrets about himself.

modnation report 02

PLATFORM: PS3
RELEASE DATE: 5/2010
DEVELOPER: United Front
ESRB RATING: E

Progress: 20% trophies as of posting

My first Modnation Racers and piña colada party was this past Friday! In fact, I think I have invented a new trend in gamer parties: themed drinking/gaming soiree. I prepped for this particular bash by getting a new blue Dualshock 3 controller and had my friends B-real and Verdeberg over. Verde' brought his own controller; bringing our controller count up to 4. The lovely Megan, my girlfriend, was on hand to race and man the blender for piña coladas. If you care to recreate my awesome get together, Megan's amazing and very simple piña colada recipe is below.

lostwinds

PLATFORM: Wiiware
RELEASE DATE: 5/2008
DEVELOPER: Frontier Developers
ESRB RATING: E

Progress: 100%

Wiiware is Nintendo's first step into the downloadable game market. The choices are slim and most are not very good. LostWinds is a hidden gem among some of the bad offerings on the Wiiware system. The game takes full advantage of the unique Wii  console motion control system. You play as the lovable Toku and his spirit guide Enril. With Enril's help, you navigate Toku through the levels, which are basically puzzles utilizing the motion control system. While Enril is an important character in the game, he is always by your side because he is actually your Wiimote cursor. Using Enril you can control the wind and propel Toku, who cannot jump, across chasms and higher and higher ledges. LostWinds is very short game, and is really just the first three chapters of a larger story to be told in future releases.

modnation report 01

PLATFORM: PS3
RELEASE DATE: 5/2010
DEVELOPER: United Front
ESRB RATING: E

Progress: 20% trophies as of posting

There was no real decision for me in purchasing Modnation Racers. As a big fan of Little Big Planet and the whole concept of "Play, Create, Share" combined with a history of Nintendo kart racing-love this was indeed a day one purchase for me. Seeing as this game will very likely represent years of content and challenges for me I felt a normal review wouldn't cut it and this is the first of many "Modnation Reports" I will be posting.