Pixelated Geek

First we get a glimpse of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II Collector’s Edition and now this, the Ninja Gaiden Σ 2 Premium Set. Due in Japan on October 1st and priced at ¥9,980 (or about US$104), the premium set includes the original soundtrack and an accessory set, along with the game bundled up in a special sleeve. Also, those who preordered get a starter guide, which includes a costume code for a special costume for Ryu Hayabusa.

While this is great for Japan, will the US get this special collector’s edition or will Tecmo give US fans the shaft, as tends to be standard for US releases of Japanese games? Only time will tell, I guess.

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August 23rd is just around the corner and as expected, the rumor mills and newswires are going cah-razay!  Here is a small summary of whats going around the net for Blizzcon.

But, before we get to it, I would just like to announce that PixelatedGeek will be there for the people who (a) didn’t get a ticket and (b) don’t want to pay for the internet stream.  During the keynote and costume contest, we will be live blogging the events.  That means, right when we hear something good or see a costume on stage, it’ll be posted on the site, right away! Now, on to the news and rumors.

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I can just imagine it now.  A new Mario Bros game.  Super Mario Bros Wii: Polynesian Vacation.

Genres: Comedy, Drama

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Saki focuses on the high school life of its namesake, Saki Miyanaga.  She meets up with her friend, Kyotaro Suga, who abuses her friendship to get him a “ladies only” special from the cafeteria.  He also happens to be a member of the school mahjong club/team.  After some light pestering, he convinces her to meet up with them.  Saki has never been a fan of mahjong as her family usually quarreled about her playing to poorly or to well (we later find that her family is divided and that her mother left with “the other” members, leaving her and her father together).

Upon reaching the club Saki comes face to face with a girl she took note of during the opening of the series, Nodoka Haramura.  Nodoka is a naturally talented player who was a champion at her junior high.  Another member of the club is Yuki Kataoka, the youngest and most scatterbrained of the lot.  Her hyperactivity and attention span of a gnat make her an occasional annoyance to the others.  They play three games, and Saki leaves.  The club’s president, Hisa Takei, takes not that Saki’s score for every game was exactly 0.  Not a good score by any means score, doing this three times in a row is nigh unheard of.

This score perplexes the club president, and she convinces Saki to return for two more games.  On the first, Saki again attains a 0 score.  On the second, the club president convinces her that she needs to play to win, so she tells her to play as if she only started with 1000 points, rather than the original 20000.  If Saki can maintain her mindset of scoring 0, under the revised system she would actually win (as the club president said to play AS IF the had 1000, not that she actually had 1000).

Saki and Nodoka develop a rift as Nodoka loves mahjong, but was beaten by Saki, who really hated it.  The final scenes of the second episode touch on Saki’s mother and sister probably not coming back, and that Saki will join the mahjong club to play more with Nodoka (as she actually has fun playing with her).  It’s to be noted that the games played in this series are VERY animated, with mock visual effects added to moves… a bit over the top, but fun.

Overall Hook Rating: B

Those of you who have been either a Windows Mobile or a Palm OS user will probably be familiar with the venerable Astraware Solitaire. As one of the best card games available on many platforms, Astraware have now brought some slick and full featured Solitaire to the iPhone.

Hit the read link to see what we thought. (more…)

It was back during a time of cooties and ice cream cake, and it was in between the tetherball and four-square courts. Only the toughest survived – the weak were sent to the depths of the principal’s office. A throng of rebels would participate daily in perhaps one of the most daring games of the 1990s. How did they do it? By using slammers to knock down a stack of round pieces of cardboard.

With that said, if you didn’t play pogs for keeps, you were a fucking pussy.

Years before the elementary school crackdown on Tamagotchi, keeping pogs around during school hours and on school property was an indication of how truly bad-ass a fifth grader could be. Boys would be envious of the strength of your metal slammer and girls would be enticed by the size of your pog case.

The types of pogs you flaunted would also serve as an almost direct reflection of your popularity. For example, owning a few free pogs from a car dealership usually meant you ate lunch by yourself. In contrast, boasting a vast collection of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Power Caps would make your coolness factor skyrocket – you’d just have to be careful of not using the knock-offs from the swap meet.

Whether your pogs were from Gargoyles, Animaniacs, the Tick or Sailor Moon, what you had was perhaps one of the last of a dying breed – that is, one of the last taboo toys that you could’ve spent your lunch money on. Seeing as how elementary students of our day are now fussing around with the likes of BlackBerries and iPods and all the such, we can only hope that one day a generation will once again experience the beauty of the pog.

Sure Aliens in the Attic looks like a lame kids movie, but it’s got 78 year-old Dorris Roberts laying the smack-down like it’s nobodies business. Street Fighter style.

If you want to see the grandma from Everybody Loves Raymond pull off a text book 360 Power Hammer Shoryuken then watch the video below. Skip to around the 45 second mark to see her in all her geriatric kung-fu glory.

Gdgt the new venture from Ryan Block and Peter Rojas has finally launched after being announced just under a year ago. It’s a little difficult to explain, it’s a kind of gadget community based around an impressive gadget database that users can add to and update. I’m sorry if that description doesn’t really do it justice but here’s the lovely Miss Belmont to explain it a little better:

http://www.vimeo.com/5404387

So if you’re a gadget fan like me, head on over to gdgt.com and join in the fun.

Gaming for me started in the early years of my childhood. Evolving from NES to Apple IIe to the glory days of the PC. During the glory days Lucas Art’s wasn’t just releasing the next iteration of the Star Wars Franchise. They were releasing these Point N Click adventures and they were great. Now I’d played plenty of Point n Clicks back in my time ranging from King’s Quest up to Full Throttle. The sad thing was for me during this time one particular Point N Click slipped through my grubby mouse clicking fingers. This jewel was constantly advertised and various demos were included in almost all Lucas Art’s Games. This game of course was Sam & Max. I heard the series was going through a rebirth and I got really excited well for a moment and then I saw the PC requirements. Again to my dismay I would be unable to play Sam & Max lucky for me Telltale Games has released it on both the Wii and the Xbox 360. How does the Point and Click hold up to today’s standards? A question that I shall answer.

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