Console

Puzzlers typically follow a predictable trajectory, steadily increasing in difficulty level as players tackle each successive conundrum. Distinction stems from just how strenuous the game becomes. The recent Steam release of International Games Systems’ Constant ...

Although ‘90’s gaming is often remembered as the decade dominated by Mario and Sonic, the platformer was remarkably pervasive, inspiring developers from all over the globe to create their own interpretation of the genre. Some ...

As successful game series spawn sequels, the push toward conceptual innovation becomes stronger. But one of the tragedies of this ambition is when imprudent mechanics are shoe-horned in to offset stagnation. Too often, these ill-developed ...

A number of news articles revealed that 2010’s Lords of Shadow nearly wasn’t a Castlevania game. Purportedly, an early build veered too far from franchise canon- causing Konami to ask for the removal of their ...

As the ever-growing convoy of action anthologies such as the Killzone, Ratchet & Clack, Sly Cooper, and Zone of the Enders collections have demonstrated, high-definition remasters appear to be profitable. Naturally, publishers have been expanding ...

The timeworn cliché, “you only have one chance to make a first impression” often doesn’t apply to the game industry. Quite often, a developer shows off a slice of an alpha, which seems to be ...

Robert’s Take: First introduced in Japan in 1998, D3 Publisher’s Simple series of budget-priced games has become a modest phenomenon. With an assortment of nearly four hundred titles spread across ten different hardware platforms, the ...

Not long ago, hardware and software developers were given near-absolute creative freedom. But over the years, the cost of game production escalated, thereby increasing the involvement of risk-avoidant publishers. The proliferation of game journalism has ...

Mash-ups are hardly a new phenomenon for the game industry. NES titles such as Pinball Quest and River City Ransom shrewdly combined genres- while even earlier, coin-ops like Gorf and Tron attracted players by merging ...

Although adaptations like Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery and Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines have tried to translate the allure of Ubisoft’s flagship franchise onto portable screens, the DS and PSP hardware weren’t quite able to capture the ...