Yes folks, it's time for more of everybody's favorite singing sensation, Tonetta! Now, I was among those who raised an eyebrow when Barack Obama won the Peace Prize for basically being a trendy politician, but I did not take my grievance to the heights that Tonetta has done -- donning blackface and writing a scathing political song about it. This is because I don't have brass balls like Tonetta.
On the subject of balls, we played videogames this week, as bloody usual. Hit the jump and find out which ones because IT IS SO EXCITING!
North: I'm Finally (pun intented) nearing the end of Final Fantasy XIII J. There are some epic battles in this game. One earlier this week took me nearly fifteen white-kunckle minutes to weather through, and that was after dying 4 times. I'm on the last stage of the PS3 version of Diner Dash. If anyone knows the trick to beating this very last stage, let me know.
Tolentino: I what is rapidly becoming a habit of breaking my promise to play Persona PSP, I played Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble. It's great fun and oozes personality, but could use a lock-on button (and more convenient save point).
Sterling: I have mostly been playing Global Agenda, where I've learned that trying to point out flaws in a beta will piss off random people who have signed up to Dtoid for no other reason than to be pissed off. I also played Army of Two: 40th Day for review, which you can read on the Internet. It's a good rental game, definitely. Also played a demo of Calling on Wii which was a cool experience, mostly due to how cheesy and gimmicky it is. Sometimes that's a good thing to have in a game. Also tried to play some mobile games since I have a phone that wasn't invented in the nineties now. Yeah ... I think I'll stick with my PSP and DSi for portable games.
Holmes: Normally, I lead a fairly solitary life, but for some reason I ended up spending a lot of time with relative strangers this week. Even more unusual is the fact that they were all women, and they all wanted me to introduce them to the world of videogames. This led me break out New Super Mario Bros Wii, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Zack and Wiki, Bit.Trip BEAT, Smash Bros Brawl, and Rhythm Tengoku on the Gamecube's Gameboy Player.
I was surprised to see that New Super Mario Bros Wii, WarioWare, and Rhythm Tengoku were the most approved games of the bunch, especially seeing how Rhythm Tengoku is entirely in Japanese. The game's charms were enough to overcome the language barrier. Now if only it could overcome Nintendo of America's discrimination against "weird Japanese" games.
Also, been practicing in Tatsunoko Vs Capcom. I'm coming for you, Killian!
Sterling: So ... did you get any?
Cantler: The ModNation Racers beta seems to have expired while I was busy making cartoons, so I'm not playing that. Which sucks, because that game was great and now I miss it. Instead, I played some Puzzle Fighter and Espgaluda, and downloaded the Dark Void demo, which was a big fat disappointment. What the hell happened there? Also played the Tales of Vesperia demo and didn't like that either. I want my kart racer back.
Zimmerman: I'm so near the end of Bayonetta that I can taste it and the game has been fantastic fun.
I also picked up Darksiders on PS3 and, man, I don't know about this one. It's getting all sorts of praise (our review included) but I'm not feeling it at all. Lots of distracting screen flicker and tearing aren't helping but the balance between combat and puzzling so far are my big complaints. I'm hoping that as I get further in, I'll appreciate it more but it's a slow burn and I'm having a hard time staying interested.
Ross: I've successfully stuck to my resolution and just completed Darksiders yesterday, which is all I've been playing except for a couple matches of Left 4 Dead 2. I'm glad I bought Darksiders, but towards the end of the game the flaws had become really apparent. Overall a lot of fun, but I had quite a few instances of frustration due to controls that felt unresponsive, and a couple times where the game froze outright and I had to restart. Action games aren't my favorite genre, but this one wasn't bad.
Taking suggestions on what to play next, BTW. Also this is unrelated to games but you're all here so HOLY SHIT did you see Tonetta's new blackface video about Obama?
Grim: Pretty much just Darksiders. Beat it, then went back to an older save to find the last few collectibles because I am a fool. Great game, can't wait for the sequel. I didn't run into any freezing, but I did manage to fall through the map, which was hilarious. I think the last time that happened to me was probably in SSX Tricky; never fails to crack me up.
Concelmo: I finished Bayonetta earlier in the week, and am now a good ways into Darksiders. Both games are extraordinary, and I really don't know if I can decide which one I like better. Bayonetta just oozes style and polish, and Darksiders is everything I love in a single-player game (mainly, anything similar to Zelda). Let's just call it a tie for now.
It is amazing to think we are not even three weeks into the New Year and there are already two great games that could easily make my best of the year list. And with a slew of games coming this year that I am dying to play (Super Mario Galaxy 2, Zelda Wii, Metroid: Other M, God of War III, BioShock 2, etc.), 2010 could turn out to be one of the greatest years in gaming history. 2010!
Holmes: To answer you question Jim, there was a lot of squealing, thrusting, and exclimation of statments like "OH GOD YES!" and "I'm so confused! Who has me in their mouth right now?" but no pants actually came off.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
Likes
PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3
Meet the rest of the team
Working on Digital Devil Saga 2, more twists going on there than in a pretzel. Also trying to muster up the will to finish Zelda: Spirit Tracks, but this is the first one in a long time that was so good I don't want it to end.
Well, on the console side, when my little brothers aren't over and hogging shit I've mostly been playing Army of Two: The 40th Day with small bits of Bayonetta, Iron Man and Saints Row 2.
On the PC side of things, MAME roms and a hentai stragety game called Sengoku Rance that a friend of mine gave mea copy of.
Manning up to try out Bayonetta on Hard mode. Seeing as how the Prologue is nice enough to throw a pair of Grace and Glory at me, I imagine I'll be occupied with this for quite a while.
Wii Fit Plus till I killed my back when my grandfather replaced his 1987 Mitsubishi big screen with a 60' HD Tv. SO I've been taking it easy.
Also, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bayonetta, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Crono Trigger, and Elite Beat Agents.
I'm working my way through the Tales of Monkey Island episodes, playing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 on the bus to and from the gym, and I've gotten back into Gyromancer.
Brutal Legend: I've come to the conclusion that i hate it. Even if the character design and the music is fantastic.
Ratchet & Clank Future: A crack in time. Incredible, the only platformer that can stand toe to toe with Mario Galaxy. Plus it is a mad third person shooter too. I give it a 10.
Also a friend lent me MGS4. We'll see how it goes. I suck at stealth.
I've played Planescape: Torment again, this time in German. And Tonetta. I mean, I didn't play *him*, I clicked play on the video. And closed the browser right away.
Played some Darksider's but it had to go back. It was s loaner. And played some Serious Sam HD. Otherwise trying to finish battlestar galactica before dark void arrives tommorow and finish that before ME2 and NMH2 next week.
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Contest:
9:00 PM on 01.17.2010
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Played some SMT: Devil Survivor. Arkedo 1: Jump! and I think that's it.
Going back to the video store tomorrow to see if they've got Darksiders for rent.
I'm kinda broke at the moment :<
On the PC side of things, MAME roms and a hentai stragety game called Sengoku Rance that a friend of mine gave mea copy of.
Also, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bayonetta, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Crono Trigger, and Elite Beat Agents.
Ratchet & Clank Future: A crack in time. Incredible, the only platformer that can stand toe to toe with Mario Galaxy. Plus it is a mad third person shooter too. I give it a 10.
Also a friend lent me MGS4. We'll see how it goes. I suck at stealth.
Great week overall! Next week will be better!
Also:
FUCK YOU "VENI VIDI VICI" ROOM. FUCK YOU. After literally 250+ deaths, I got the trinket. Accomplishment of the year.
Also, going through Muramasa's toughest dungeons sonI can get the true ending for both characters.