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Game Review - Garshasp: The Monster Slayer

Rough around nearly every edge, but still an impressive feat for indie gaming.

Independent developers are becoming increasingly prevalent in the gaming industry. Digital download platforms like Steam, PSN, XBLI, and GamersGate have given would-be game creators an accessible method of distribution to bring their titles to the masses. These days, creating your own game from scratch and publishing it yourself isn’t just realistic; it’s a regular practice. Indie studio Dead Mage is one such developer who has entered the realm of self-publishing with their inaugural title, Garshasp: The Monster Slayer. With it, they hope to change what you expect from an independently developed video game. But while Garshasp doesn’t last long and is rough around nearly every edge, the areas in which it excels make it quite the impressive …

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This Month in Gaming - May 2011

The new month brings new games, including the highly-anticipated "L.A. Noire." Check out five of May's biggest titles.

Well, we've made it this far. The weather's getting warmer, the sun's getting brighter, and you can occasionally leave that jacket at home. Plus, we should start seeing some of those May flowers, right? In the meantime, here are five of the biggest games budding this month: This month's resident team-based multiplayer FPS comes in the form of BRINK, courtesy of developer Splash Damage. Set in the "near" future, a floating city known as "The Ark" off of the coast of San Francisco serves as the game's setting. This is where the two warring factions, "Resistance" and "Security," go to battle. On the surface, it sounds pretty standard as a class-based, 16-player team shooter. However, BRINK's calling card is the SMART (Smooth Movement Across …

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WTF! My PSN is Down!

Offline for nearly 10 days and counting, The Great Playstation Network Outage of 2011 rages on.

Only three months ago, along with many other gaming journalists, I declared 2011 as The Year of the Playstation 3. With a laundry list of AAA exclusive titles lined up that easily eclipsed the competition, it sure looked like Sony’s console had a lot more going for it than anyone else in the field. I almost had the title right. As it turns out, when it comes to the popular gaming system, 2011 will more likely be remembered as The Year of the Playstation 3 Outage. Inexplicably at the time, the Playstation Network suddenly went offline on Wednesday, April 20th. No services requiring internet connectivity could be accessed: no Netflix, no Playstation Store, and most importantly, no online gaming. It was particularly bad timing, as just the …

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Jeff Lugar

6:35 am on Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Classic—an article about how Sony has completely and utterly dropped the ball ends with "Pick up Sony PS3, its peripherals ..." :P Anyway, my article that hits Doylestown Patch later this morning takes a much darker spin on the affair.   more ›

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Steam on the PS3: What Does It Mean?

Valve has announced that their anticipated title Portal 2 will run on a new version of Steam built for the Playstation 3. Here is why this could be big news for Sony's console.

Co-founder of the popular video game development company, Valve, Gabe Newell and his relationship with Sony's Playstation 3 has been somewhat of a roller-coaster. Back in 2007, he was very vocal and forward about his disapproval of the game console: "[The Playstation 3 is] a waste of everybody's time and a disaster on many levels ... I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a do over. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it'." Tell us how you really feel, Gabe! This is precisely why there was a good deal of shock over his appearance on stage during Sony's keynote at E3 2010. Evidently, he was displeased at how…

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This Month in Gaming - April 2011

A look at several of the more anticipated titles slated for release this month

A new month is here, bringing with it a fresh batch of game releases. While those April showers are coming down outside, here are some new titles to keep you cozy inside: You may be one of the people who ran out to pick up the brand new Nintendo 3DS handheld, gawking at the technical achievement of glasses-less 3D. If so, you've probably also noticed that there aren't too many game choices available yet. Well, that will partially change this month with the release of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D. At its heart, it is a remake of Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, the critically acclaimed stealth/espionage action game from 2005. Unfortunately, it might not be the answer to your 3DS prayers, as it has been available in Japan since March 17th and …

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Playstation Move and Kinect for Xbox 360: Play or Pass?

A look at the current state of the motion control systems offered by the HD gaming consoles

When the Nintendo Wii was released in November of 2006, it set out on a mission to prove that affordable and innovative gameplay would win out over system horsepower. The vehicle it rode to household name-status was the Wiimote, the console's now-iconic motion controller. But in order to keep the system's price low, Nintendo chose to forego the processing power necessary to provide the high-definition displays, deeper color palettes, and polygon counts that its competitors boasted in the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. Nintendo's gamble seemingly paid off as sales of the Wii were through the roof. By the end of March in 2010, Nintendo reported that it had sold over 70 million units. The Playstation 3 was also released in …

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The Game Room

Each Saturday, check in at Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch for the newest upcoming video games

This week, Mike Coppolecchia of PlayNTrade in Lansdale readies us for the upcoming and recent hottest games. Out Tuesday are "Bulletstorm" and "Killzone 3." "Marvel Vs. Capcom 3" is available now on all systems. Find out more about PlayNTrade here.

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Michael Coppolecchia

3:21 pm on Saturday, February 19, 2011

Wow, the camera really does add 10 pounds...   more ›

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2011 Will Be the Year of the Playstation 3

Numerous AAA exclusive titles pepper the PS3's 2011 release schedule. If you don't have one, now may be the time to buy.

When writing my column last week on Five Games to Look For in 2011, I was making an effort to generate universally-useful content to accommodate owners of any home consoles.  I had originally intended to pick two Xbox 360 exclusives, two Playstation 3 exclusives, and two Wii exclusives to map out the coming year. However, the task of putting all consoles on an even keel proved to be more difficult than I had expected, and I ultimately gave up trying. However, the attempt brought me to a few conclusions: For one, there’s pretty much nothing coming out for the Wii this year short of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Yeah, there’s another Mario sports game coming out, but Wii Sports Resort is still fun enough to scratch that itch. Heck, the…

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Keith Heffintrayer

12:40 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011

Great article, Matt! As I said last week, I'm going to be blowing the dust off the XBOX for Gears 3, but now that you mention it, there really isn't a whole lot to look forward to. Maybe developers have finally figured out how to make use of the PS3? I've always considered the XBOX a gaming system, the Wii a fun playful system, and the PS3 an "entertainment" system. Your article really has me …   more ›