Mark of the Ninja Review

I'm a fan of stealth games, but no stealth game has ever completely pulled off the act of sneaking in the shadows without problems—like poor AI, excessive trial-and-error, or general wonky mechanics. Mark of the Ninja is one of the closest any game has ever come to successfully pulling off stealth gameplay. Much of the reason belongs to the game's 2D art, which makes knowing whether you're hidden or not simple and straightforward. But Mark of the Ninja is not just a great stealth game, it is a great game, period.

Mark of the Ninja is the newest game from Klei Entertainment—the studio behind Shank and Eets—and, like all of their games, Mark of the Ninja features beautiful 2D art and great cutscenes quite similar in style to Shank. As impressive as the art is visually, it's also important in terms of gameplay. The art is crisp and clean, and it's always easy to see where an enemy is, where a hiding place is—like a vent, a doorway, or a light post—or where light ends and shadow begins. There's no guessing when it comes to whether you'll be seen and the 2D art also allows for on-screen cues—like rings depicting where a sound will be heard—that are much more easily visualized than if the game was in 3D. The game is pretty dark visually and you will probably have to adjust the gamma settings, but a few seconds worth of adjusting left me with perfect visual clarity.

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Rock Band Blitz Review

Rock Band Blitz is hard to review. It is both a game and a collection of DLC for Rock Band 3. As a piece of DLC, Rock Band Blitz is a steal for the price with twenty-five songs from many different genres. If you're invested in Rock Band 3 and already own a good chunk of DLC, there's no reason to avoid Blitz; however, as a game, Blitz isn't as easy to recommend.

Rock Band Blitz harkens back to Frequency and Amplitude—the games Harmonix made before breaking out with Guitar Hero—in many ways, but Blitz is more than just a trip down memory lane. Playing Blitz looks a lot like playing Rock Band; except, in Blitz you use your regular controller and play every track of a song, not just guitar, drums, etc. You hit notes using one of a handful of controller schemes—like hitting notes with the triggers and moving between tracks with the analog sticks or vice versa—and each track contains only two notes: a left note and a right note. It may sound overly simplistic, but Blitz can get hectic real fast despite its simplistic look.

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PAX Prime 2012: Day 1

It's the morning of PAX Prime: day two (who knew?...I did, I knew), so I thought I'd write up a little something about the happenings of day one, you know, just for fun.

First and foremost, PAX can be a little hard to navigate; yes, there are maps here and there, but there aren't enough visible signs. Surprising no one, there are a lot of people -- some bad cosplay, some decent cosplay -- and all the people turned my 3DS into the devil. I was looking forward to the abundance of StreetPasses, but I never thought about the actual time needed to manage them -- it is an absolute nightmare and takes forever. And speaking of the people, it wasn't as smelly as some led me to believe -- though, I've only made it through day one -- and I don't feel like I'm coming down with anything other than sore feet.

Specifics: I checked out a few panels; met some cool people; and got recognized a few times (weird). I spent most of the time checking out the main floor and tabletop area, getting familiar with the layout and building a mental map. The tabletop area was a bit overwhelming with how much was going on; how many different games were being played; and how I have no idea as to what most of the board games are. Anyway, I'll be checking out the indie megabooth a bit more today (day two); sitting in on a few more panels; and, finally, I'll be going through 3DS hell once again.

Oh yeah, I saw my podcasting buddy, Robert "Rose-colored Glasses" Wood, and watched him buy suckers that were far too expensive for my wallet; you know, one could call him the sucker.

I'm hilarious.

Me, PAX, and What You Need to Know

I’ll be heading out to the airport in a few, but I wanted to make sure I post about what may be a quiet time on the site while I’m up in Seattle’s business for PAX and general vacationing. I don’t know if I’ll post much while away because I’m only taking my iPad, but if the iPad proves efficient enough for posting there may be more posts than usual (no promises). Also, there won’t be a normal Free Meat Friday since I’ll be at PAX; however, if you’ll be at PAX too and spot me…well, you just might get something extra special. That’s it and that’s all folks.

Dust: An Elysian Tail - Ending + Credits

I uploaded the end scene(s) (and credits) of Dust: An Elysian Tail earlier this week but didn't want to actively promote it before the game released and people had a chance to play it and beat it themselves; however, I've been enjoying the overall positive vibes found in the comments so I thought I'd post about it just so you (yes, you) might feel inclined to join the conversation if you've finished it like the rest of us. Here's to hoping the game sells well enough to warrant a sequel.

The Reason to Buy 'Sleeping Dogs'

Are you still on the fence trying to answer the question, "Should I buy Sleeping Dogs?" Well, get your ass off that fence and into a store because I have the one and only reason you'll ever need to make you want Sleeping Dogs more than an endless video of sleeping kittens. Just watch the video below and the game will sell itself as Wei Shen always wins when fighting the law.

Dust: An Elysian Tail Review

I can still remember the first time Dust: An Elysian Tail popped up on my radar when it was one of the finalists at Dream.Build.Play 2009 and eventually won the grand prize; I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the game, but, like many, I would have to wait, and wait, and wait. At times it felt like the game would never come out, but after three or so years of waiting the game has finally made its way to the wonderful world of Xbox LIVE Arcade.

So now Dust has finally released and there’s one question more important than all the others: “Was it worth the wait?” The quick and simple answer is yes; however, it would probably be a good idea to go into why.

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A Personal Post for a Passed Away Pet Named Pokey

This is a personal post with a title full of words starting with the letter 'P' like my lovely cat's name, Pokey. Pokey would have turned twenty years old today, but nothing lasts forever and the best things always end too soon; I still think about him and miss him to this day. (He passed away April 3rd, 2011 in the morning. Twas one of the worst days of my life.) No matter what the future holds, he will always be one of the best friends I've ever had, even though he didn't speak English, never cleaned up his own vomit, and occasionally left a little piss and excrement on the floor. This is my humble bundle of love for a cat that was all that and a bag of chip covered in hair.

Love your pets and support organizations that help find homes for those without—like PAWS Chicago. (And show cats love! They're not loners, but they'll become loners if you assume it's what they want and show them little love and attention.) *All donations to the site from today through August 10th will go to PAWS Chicago.

Some TMNT Nonsense

This is probably the dumbest thing I could ever post, but I must because it's some ol' bullshit. Someone is just playing an elaborate trick on me and I don't like it. (This can't be true.)

Guybrush Threepwood Kills Han and Leia / Punts Ewoks