Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture
As we venture into the last few weeks of 2012, most publishers have called already called it quits for the year. The same can’t be said of Nintendo, who is supporting their two portable systems with an nearly unprecedented quantity of downloadable titles. Regretfully, these efforts aren’t matched for their new console, which won’t see any releases across the next seven days. Still, Wii U Ambassadors should be able to drown any sorrows in the Rayman Legend‘s demo, which brings some coddling optical opulence to Gamepads and television screens.
360
Forza Horizon: Rally Expansion Pack (XBL, $20)
Kinect Party (XBL, Free)
WWE WrestleFest (XBL, $TBA)
PS3
Labyrinth Legends (PSN, $TBA)
Wii U
No releases
3DS
3D Game Collection: 55-in-1 (eShop, $5.99)
Bit.Trip Saga (eShop, $14.99)
escapeVektor (eShop, $9.99)
PIX3D (eShop, $3.99)
Rising Stables 3D: Rivals in the Saddle (eShop, $29.99)
Wario Land II (Virtual Console, $3.99)
DS
Cake Ninja: XMAS (DSiWare, $1.99)
Castle Conqueror: Heroes 2 (DSiWare, $4.99)
Vita
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD (PSN, $14.99)
PC
Street Fighter X Mega Man (Free)
Robert’s Pick: While I’m not one of those adamant DLC disparagers, I rarely buy supplemental content unless it’s at a substantial discount. That said, as a rally enthusiast and fan of Forza Horizon, this week’s expansion is remarkably tempting. With new vehicle, courses (and naturally a co-driver to help navigate the twisting ruts and grooves), and surfaces to navigate, this just might tide me over until the Codies give us a proper rally title.
Jeremy’s Pick: Creat Studios is one of those companies that secretly has a pretty decent little stable of games that seem to fly a little lower under the radar, but are genuinely a lot of fun. (We mention Mushroom Wars on the newest podcast; my mind frequently wanders to their PS Mini Mecho Wars; and I can tell you that a lot of Hamsterball is played in my household.) The studio’s 21st outing on PSN is Labyrinth Legends, which brings the top-down dungeon adventuring genre back to consoles, and will do it with up to 4 local players, all hacking and looting and puzzle-solving together. The studio has traditionally been very responsive to fan feedback, and has hinted that online play (or even a Vita version!) may be in the cards, if there’s a player base to support it. That possibility, along with the basic, rowdy, dungeony fun that Creat has shown in the Labyrinth Legends pre-release trailer, put it at the top of my list for the coming week.
Eric’s Pick: It seems like it’s been forever since the last time I praised Capcom. After various cancellations and on-disc DLC controversies, I was beginning to think that they had lost touch with the fans. Enter Street Fighter X Mega Man; a fan project on the PC that has become an official release. Based on the NES Mega Man games, SFxMM sees Dr. Light’s greatest creation go toe-to-toe with Street Fighter characters like Ryu, Chun-Li, Blanka, Rolento, and Rose, who play the part of the Robot Masters this time around. If Capcom themselves are getting behind SFxMM, it should be a high-quality game. Street Fighter X Mega Man will be offered up on Capcom’s official website for the low, low price of free.
Any word of whether Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD is cross buy enabled? I already own the PS3 version.
Consults Magic 8-Ball
“Signs point to no”
Is Bit.trip Saga the cartridge version? If so, $14.99 isn’t bad at all.
Labyrinth Legends looks tasty. I’m hoping you guys review it.
Little known fact: escapeVektor was going to be four games. Now, it’s one big 3DS download that kind of like Pac-Man.
Looks cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLxTcqUVrW8
See that video games me really wish the eShop had demos for every game.
Castle Conqueror Heroes 2 looks a bit like Advance Wars. Anything that looks remotely like Advance Wars has my attention.
Here’s a screenshot of the game:
BTW- if Nintendo makes Fire Emblem or Advance Wars for the Wii U, I’ll buy one.
I really don’t expect much in the way of Wii U stuff until next year. Maybe March or April.
Picked up Forza for $15, which makes DLC that’s $5 more than the game (and probably 1/10th of it’s content seem ridiculous).
Maybe at $10.
Glad to see someone know the difference between drifting and rally.
From Joystiq:
“As Vin Diesel and Bow Wow taught us in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, drifting is the coolest possible way to travel from Point A to Point B, regardless of situation, circumstance or the amount of neon lights underneath your car.
We bring this up because Forza Horizon’s latest bundle of DLC is a rally racing expansion pack, available next Tuesday, December 18, for 1,600 MS Points. The “Rally” expansion includes five new rally-purposed cars, new stages, new online multiplayer events and even co-driver announcements, so you can keep your damn eyes on the road you lunatic.”
‘tards.
No review for the rally DLC for Forza? I don’t want to drop $20 unless it’s worth it.
If you need an Englishman to review the Rally Expansion Pack, just let me know. I’ll gladly craft a bit of prose for you. 😉