For better or worse, games like Braid, Limbo, and other 2.5D “masterpieces” have reconfigured what a platformer can be. Spate, developed by Eric Provan and his development team at Ayyo, is not as complete a package as these games, but is still an astoundingly beautiful work of art, with truly arresting imagery, an interesting story, and a unique and moody soundtrack. However, with its tired mechanics, inconsistent controls, and sloppy (yet forgiving) physics, it is hard to quantify, or to even categorize. It is a conundrum, as it stretches between these two poles – one of artistic genius; and the other of uninspired game design.
October was an interesting month. Got a lot done...just not on the games front 
This week has been insane at work. Feels like all I've done is work and sleep since Sunday. But I wanted to tell you about something from the weekend. It takes a lot to get me out in this heat on a day off,especially when I could be gaming or seeing a good movie instead. But Tokyo In Tulsa is just a really cool event that seems to get better each year. They do it at the convention center and it pretty much takes up every area in the place. Great artwork,shopping,gaming,music,and some awesome cosplay going on.
Nintendo has always been a company that dances to the beat of its own drum. While Sony and Microsoft have been duking it out since 2001, Nintendo has been content to stay the course, remaining profitable while leveraging their wildly successful franchises. It shouldn’t have been surprising, then, when the company announced that they would not be doing a traditional E3 press conference this year, but instead would be issuing one of their very popular Nintendo Direct streams. What was shown was light on surprises, but pure Nintendo, through and through.
Want some new music? Of course you do! Want to know what I've been listening to lately to give you a rough idea? Ok then! I'll give you a mix of shit I've been listening to lately, from a few different genres (mostly metal, hip hop, and rock, because it's me) for variety. So, without further ado, check this shit out!
Despite my love for music, I've never played very many music or rhythm games. Not that I haven't played any, of course. I dabbled in the music portion or Mario Paint. I played Rhythm Heaven on the DS (which I had a shockingly difficult time with lol) as well as Elite Beat Agents (one of the best and most original DS games) and Donkey Konga, but I've missed on plenty of good ones over the years. If I ever manage to catch up, these are the games I'd most want to play.
Last year, a couple of months before the Wii U was released, I wrote a series of blogs about my favorite games on the Wii. One of the categories I wrote about was game collections. One game missing from my favorite game compilations on Wii was Bit.Trip Complete. I hadn’t gotten around to buying it yet, and I wasn’t sure if I should get the Wii or 3DS version. After several people commented and recommended I get the Wii collection, I finally broke down and bought it a few months ago when I saw it on sale. So in honor of the recently released Bit.Trip Runner 2 (which I will have a GamerDad.com review posted on that in a couple of days, so watch for it), here is a short run-through of the games found on Bit.Trip Complete for the Wii.
You know those trippy sequences in movies that come out of nowhere with no real explanation or warning? Like the pink elephants in Dumbo or the weird tunnel sequence in Willy Wonka? Far Cry 3 is basically filled with stuff like that. Want a lap dance from a tribeswoman with painted breasts? You got it. Want to walk around on TV monitors while your adversary Vaas is doing a pole dance one minute and pushing you to shoot him the next? Here you go. Insanity is the reoccurring theme in Far Cry 3 and if it's successful, we'll all be in for a psychological thrill ride.
Next week Gran Turismo 5 is getting its first dose of paid DLC soon and boy is it a doozy. Lucky for you, we’ve got the details.
This week in the Download, Nintendo delivers the first adventure of Mega Man X alongside several new titles.