Full-size mattress w boxspring and frame, very good condition $200. Two […]

A Whole Lotta Retro Going On
There must be something in the water, because the video game industry is starting to feel old. Not stagnant old, but retro old. Case in point: Root Beer Tapper is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this week. Any arcade buff worth his or her Pietro’s pizza remembers that one, and I find it hilarious that we’re about to bottle some sarsaparilla on a next-gen console. But that’s not all that’s retro today: GameSpot has dug up info that Dan Aykroyd is going to appear in a Ghostbusters game sometime in 2008. Ghostbusters? Ghostbusters. Say it with me, now: I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghost.

Digital Distribution Coming to a Console Near You
GameSpot’s reporting that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night exceeds the 50-Megabyte limit for downloads on Microsoft’s online platform. Since it’s a massive (albeit old) game and is bound to fetch a higher price than most Xbox Live Arcade titles, the large size doesn’t make me bat an eye. But the fact that it’s the first download to be that large brings up an intriguing possibility: it’s Microsoft’s way to “baby step” Xbox 360 owners into the world of digital distribution.Technically, downloading anything from Xbox Live Arcade qualifies as “digital distribution,” but gamers have wondered for months when they’d be able to download full games (say, Killzone 2 or Halo 3) rather than go into a store to buy their packaged versions. Well, let’s follow the “paper trail” for a moment.The past week has seen Internet rumors of an Xbox 360 on the way with a 120-Gigabyte hard drive. The PlayStation 3 gives owners the ability to swap hard drives (i.e. install a larger one). Both systems have a broadband, online network. Valve has proven with its PC-based “Steam” digital-distribution program that people are open to downloading complete games. In my dark corner of the world, that adds up to digital distribution not being far away on a home console. In fact, it’s starting sooner than we think, with the Castlevania download on Xbox Live Arcade.

Arts Calendar - Cookeville Herald Citizen
Arts CalendarCookeville Herald Citizen, TN - May 18, 2007For additional information, call gallery owner Camille Fliss at 260-3658 or e-mail camillefliss@frontiernet.net. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Saturday, …

PS3 Phoning ‘Home’ this Fall
The PlayStation3 has had its share of online ups and downs, from easy demo downloads to a frustrating (for “score whores”) lack of achievements a la the Xbox 360. Well, that’s all about to change this fall, as Sony will release “Home” for the PS3 as a free update to the online interface.”Home” essentially sounds like a miniature version of The Sims, but one in which only PS3 gamers can interact and share their list of in-game achievements (called “trophies”). The fully 3D interface will support online chat, streaming ads/video/audio and a world that each gamer creates for his or her own online space.”Home” could go either way; gamers could find it to be a must-have community experience, or it could be an overly ambitious and commercialized fiasco. Considering it’s a free, downloadable update, I have a feeling it will turn into the latter, if for no other reason than people love a good social simulator — and this one will be free. However, it’s also bound to turn some people off, because there are going to be those who just want to check out their rankings/stats and move on — without going through a game-like 3D interface.What are your thoughts? Do you think the PS3’s “Home” will be awesome or awful?

Old-School is New…And Good!
We’ve all heard about the increasing cost of video game development, the Hollywood-sized budgets and the need for games to sell by the boatload if publishers are to recoup their investment. Of course, in the same breath we’ve also heard about a resurgence in casual games, those pick-up-and-play-for-five-minute titles often developed by just one or two people.Well let me tell you, the newest casual game on Xbox Live Arcade, Heavy Weapon, has amazed me with its fun factor. Heavy Weapon been on PC for a while now, but since this is the first time I’ve played it, I’ll just call it “new” and move on.To call it “new” is a bit of a misnomer, though, because its art style and gameplay are about as old-school as you get. It’s basically a re-imagining of the arcade game Moon Patrol, with a bit of Metal Slug flair thrown in for destruction’s sake.Players take control of a tank that moves left and right over an always-scrolling screen. One thumbstick controls how fast you move across the landscape, the other controls the direction of fire. That’s it. Along the way you gather powerups that equip the tank with heat-seeking rockets, lasers, even nuclear bombs that obliterate everything on screen.The gameplay is completely and utterly basic (blast everything to bits), and that’s precisely what’s so fun about it. Playing online with four friends brings about so much laughter that’s it once you turn the power on the Xbox 360 off, you realize how seldom a mega-budget game elicits the same reaction. There’s certainly a sense of camaraderie in those games, but it’s not on the same “primal fun” level of Heavy Weapon. This “new” game is about as arcade-old as you can get … and I love every minute of it.

Great, Good, Bad and Ugly
The first part of the calendar year stinks. Following the holiday game-release craze, there’s really nothing to do but sit and wait for the next batch of games (in the spring), then resign ourselves to a yet another months-long doldrums until the next wave of games in the fall. Fortunately, we’ve got snarky bloggers to keep us entertained, even if it’s only periodically during these dark, dark days. So, here’s your dose of entertainment for today: The Great, the Good, the Bad and the UglyThe GreatCrackdown. It’s not even close to a Grand Theft Auto knockoff. Instead, it’s more of a superhero game knockoff that lets you boost your skills in explosives, firearms and driving, and all in all just letting you blast the crap out of Pacific City — as a cop! It’s got more than its share of cooperative-play bugs, but the simple fact that it even has online co-op is a feather in its cap. My score: 8.4 out of 10.The GoodNintendo Wii. It’s wowing Portland adults everywhere, and not just because its “motion sensitive” controller happens to swing the right way in the per-capita strip club capital of the universe. Get a few drinks in you, and you won’t even notice the GameCube-esque graphics. Seriously, Nintendo was the dark horse contender in this generation of consoles, but it’s taking the lead.The BadUbisoft. Remember when they were afraid of a hostile takeover by Electronic Arts? Ubisoft didn’t want to succumb to the big publisher’s penchant for half-baked sequels, and they hated the thought of being owned by the house that sequels built. Yet here they are, set to release a sequel to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter less than one year after the first GRAW came out. Take a little more time, guys; you just look like a bunch of hypocrites.The UglyPlayStation 3. Not to dog on Sony, but remember that bit about the Wii taking the lead? Well, while the Wii outsold both the Xbox 360 and PS3 in January, the PS3 continues to limp along and be the butt of most gamers’ jokes. The latest issue of EGM, in fact, includes an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s president, and he comes of sounding completely arrogant. Worse yet, PS3 preorders in the United Kingdom are still available, even though similar orders were sold out State-side in about 30 minutes.

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