Staff Blog: Looking for help with an upcoming PixlBit feature

Looking for help with an upcoming PixlBit feature

On 04/04/2013 at 02:04 PM by Angelo Grant

So I run this podcast on Pixlbit called Backloggers Anomyous, maybe you've heard of it? Our mission is to encourage gamers to dig into their backlog and play games they may have missed. The problem is, up until recently, the only gamers who really were interested in the podcast were fellow staff members. Now that we've got regular visitors, I'm very interested in finding out what you want to play from your backlog, and we'd love to play through those games with you on Backloggers.

In a week or so, I'll be posting a poll article on the website proper where we'll determine which game to play next, but we need candidates. We've got guidelines though, so read this first:

These games need to be older titles that we can spoil the crap out of. Generally, we try to play games that are at the very least over a year old. Yes, we will accept retro games going as far back as the NES as long as they are relevant.

These games need to be titles that people actually backlogged. Sorry, but this means no super successful big budget AAA titles here. No Call of Duty, no Halo, no Final Fantasy, no Super Mario Brothers or Legend of Zelda, you get the idea. I'll make an exception for more obscure titles, but generally speaking, people play those games right away, so they aren't worth covering.

Here's some games I've been thinking about doing an episode on, just so you get the idea of what we're looking for. They won't be included in the poll unless you mention them in the comments: Alan Wake, Eternal Sonata, Binary Domain, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, El Shaddai, Spec Ops: The Line, NieR, Bushido Blade (PSX,) Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen (PSX)

That's about it I think. Let me know in the comments below what games you'd be interested in playing along with us, or even games you just want us to play and talk about in vivid, spoileriffic detail.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

04/04/2013 at 02:13 PM

What about Obscure?

It's a legit game for PS2 (I think it was a PS2 release?).

Anyway, it's kind of like the ORIGINAL Alan Wake before Alan Wake ever came to be.

Angelo Grant Staff Writer

04/04/2013 at 03:12 PM

hmmm... Never heard of that one. Guess it's living up to it's name!

Julian Titus Senior Editor

04/04/2013 at 03:31 PM

Rob really talked up Obscure on NWP.

04/04/2013 at 05:35 PM

Just checked. It's for PS2 and Xbox and is NOT compatible with the Xbox 360. Unfortunately I don't have my original Xbox because I believed MS when they said they would eventually make the entire library compatible. I still have 2 games that simply will not play on my 360. It's a shame too, because this game sounds crazy. I might have to figure out some way to play it...

04/09/2013 at 08:38 AM

I THINK they released a new(er) version, if not a sequel, on the Wii. You could check that out! The Co-Op aspects were awesome too! it's hard to find a solid co-op game in the Horror Genre, but they pulled it off pretty well!

04/09/2013 at 10:44 AM

Ah! It's on PC as well! Nice!

04/04/2013 at 02:22 PM

I know I don't count as a reader, but I'd love to spearhead an Asura's Wrath cast...

Your vote still counts! I want to let that title age for just a bit longer though. Is it even a year old yet?

True Gamer At Heart

04/04/2013 at 02:32 PM

Man I was thinking of chrono trigger..But it looks like That is a AAA title..Been meaning to play this forever and it keeps on getting backlogged.

04/04/2013 at 03:11 PM

I'll consider it anyway. No promises though!

asrealasitgets

04/04/2013 at 02:33 PM

I need to go back and finish Demon Souls. and Valkyria Chronicles, not to mention Resonance of Fate. God I'm bad.

04/04/2013 at 03:08 PM

I can absolutely get behind Resonance of Fate. I've already played that one, but plenty of other people haven't.

I don't actually have a way to play Valkyria Chronicles, or Demon Souls, so I might have to pass on putting them in this round, but I'll add them to my list. Demon Souls might be a tough one to do logistically though...

trefingers

04/04/2013 at 02:59 PM

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, way better than Blood Omen.

Second for Valkyria Chronicles. Both times I've played it, my PS3 has died. The first time on the 9th mission, the second time somewhere like the 20th mission. I had invested so much time by that point, I put it away and haven't looked at it since. But it's an excellent game.

04/04/2013 at 03:10 PM

Your history with Valkyria Chronicles sounds a lot like my history with the original Alundra. I played that game twice. Once, my save became corrupted due to a defective memory card, the second time I accidentally erased it.

transmet2033

04/04/2013 at 03:19 PM

alpha protocol

i loved deus ex: HR and have been meaning to replay it.

i have also been curious about nier

04/04/2013 at 03:33 PM

Oh, Alpha Protocol is a good idea.

Casey Curran Staff Writer

04/04/2013 at 03:52 PM

Jade Empire.

BrokenH

04/04/2013 at 04:11 PM

Be cool to know your impressions on Binary Domain. I got it recently and I've really been having a blast with it so far! I probably prefer it a bit over Gears Of War 2 as I find the squadmates to be more likable. (Though they come with the usual steroetypes. I'm especially fond of the french combat robot Cain. lol.)

Beyond that, Casey brings up a solid point. Jade Empire is great and I kind of wonder why we haven't gotten a sequel to it yet.

04/04/2013 at 04:24 PM

Jade Empire and Binary Domain then. Good stuff so far. Binary Domain might not be old enough just yet to spoil the way we like, but I'll check on that.

04/04/2013 at 04:55 PM

I just finished a run through of Binary Domain and wrote about it on here at pixlbit. It's short.

04/04/2013 at 06:21 PM

Might have a point though I think Binary Domain is over a year old. However, I've been wrong before. lol.

mothman

04/04/2013 at 06:03 PM

Primal. I came right to the final boss battle in that game and never finished. Even so what I played was a lot of fun and I've since purchased it on PSN. It deserves some love.

04/05/2013 at 01:19 AM

Oooh, after finishing this BA for Enslaved Primal sounds great. I loved the voice acting by Hudson Leik, and the world building was great. Almost up there with Legacy of Kain's Nosgoth.

teemuroo77

04/04/2013 at 06:14 PM

I would recommend playing Folklore...it is actually a pretty fun game,It was the first game I remember to integrate the six axis function properly in a PS3 game.You had to use it to yank out the enemies energy

leeradical42

04/04/2013 at 06:44 PM

Well to name a few Venettica,Tales of Vesperia,Magna karta 2, then of course ps2 titles pretty much anything from Shin Megami Tensie,or NIS,or pretty much anything Atlus makes,because gamers love these games.

Travis Hawks Senior Editor

04/04/2013 at 10:09 PM

I can hear Nier and Split Second begging for their turn from my cabinet. Also, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers tries to chime in from time to time.

04/06/2013 at 10:31 AM

Tried the demo for split second and wasn't really impressed, but it can be had for peanuts these days, so I'm willing to give it a chance.

NieR will be added for sure!

04/06/2013 at 12:15 PM

I bought both NieR and Split Second for said peanuts. And both are still wrapped up and begging.

Oh, how about Ufouria on the Wii VC?

04/05/2013 at 10:19 AM

FYI, I'm also adding our two MIA finalists to the pool: Eternal Darkness and Legacy of Kain (represented by Blood Omen on PSX)

Ryan Bunting Staff Alumnus

04/05/2013 at 11:40 AM

Solid NES title from Sunsoft - "Journey to Silius." Great soundtrack, GORGEOUS sprite work (come on, it's Sunsoft, have you SEEN Return of the Joker on NES?), and a fun run-and-gun action platformer.

04/05/2013 at 12:18 PM

Both of those games are fantastic. Return of the Joker doesn't get enough praise.

04/06/2013 at 10:30 AM

I'll add both then. We need more retro stuff anyway.

04/08/2013 at 01:45 PM

Excellent - retro stuff is always good :)

Temperance

04/08/2013 at 04:41 PM

I can use all the encouragement I can get! Of course, I do have some of the games you mentioned in my own backlog, like Eternal Sonata (haven't touched it yet) and Blood Omen (played on and off for a decade), and I wouldn't mind seeing those covered. As for other recommendations, I guess it all depends on what you have on hand in your collection. While I would like to see something like Drakengard 2 (now that the third game was just announced) or Black Sigil, I'm not going to send you off picking up games to add to your own backlog. That said, after looking over your game collection, I can see some potentially interesting topics (I'm assuming games without ratings have not been fully completed). I see that you have Nostalgia, Mega Man ZX, Mega Man ZX Advent, and Endless Frontier for the DS, Skies of Arcadia Legends for the GCN, and Vanquish for the 360. Any of those would be interesting games to cover and I wouldn't mind hearing extra opinions on them.

04/09/2013 at 08:03 AM

I have no problem picking up worthy titles as well. I'm not exactly a collector, but I do want to create a gaming library of sorts, so Drakengard 2 and Black Sigil are great suggestions. I also played the original Drakengard, so looking into the sequel will be interesting. I also have more games than what's visible in my hoard, I just haven't gotten around to adding them yet, so don't be afraid to suggest stuff I don't have listed.

I actually did play SRT OG Endless Frontier a while ago. Guess I forgot to change that in my collection.

Oh, and I had Metal Warriors as a kid. Campaign was a little meh, but my brother and I spent endless hours smiting each other in the multiplayer. Good times.

04/09/2013 at 04:10 PM

That's great to hear! I guess as long as they don't break the bank (and Drakengard 2 should not), anything is fair game. Also, about Black Sigil: sometimes I recommend unpopular and/or niche games. That's what I spend most of my time playing, in an attempt to see if these games are worth our time (and then to write about it), so I'm always trying to get others to play them to gather more opinions.

Ah, so that's not your entire library listed. Perhaps you have something like Ys Seven or Gurumin hanging around? How about Suikoden Tierkreis or Avalon Code? Maybe Dungeon Siege III or War in the North?

So, did you enjoy your time with Endless Frontier, or was the criticism towards the game (like overly long enemy encounters) valid?

Finally, I had a blast with Metal Warriors' multi-player mode back in the day, too. I may not have ventured far into the campaign, but with such an enjoyable extra mode I didn't care. Anyway, Metal Warriors is a bit of a rarity these days in terms of discussions and availability. It had a small print run similar to Ogre Battle, which means many gamers missed out on it. I'm hoping to get around to it soon to see if it's worth it for others to seek it out.

04/09/2013 at 04:36 PM

I have... none of those games, lol. I don't mind playing unpopular games so long as they have something worth experiencing. The first title we did was Too Human for goodness sake, so as long as it doesn't suck, I don't have a problem with it.

Endless Frontier. I kinda had to force myself to finish that game. Most of the reviews I read on it treated it pretty fairly so I don't have a heck of a lot to add. It's on the low side of mediocre unfortunately, but hopefully they fixed that stuff with the upcoming X game.

04/09/2013 at 05:04 PM

Well, I guess you could update your game library and I (and everyone else) can sift through it for ideas. That way I won't be shooting in the dark and throwing several hundred titles your way. Anyway, I'll try to be careful with the niche games I recommend. I've played a few that offered no redeeming qualities (like Valhalla Knights and Dungeon Explorer, both for the PSP), and you will never see me mention them unless it's to talk someone out of playing them.

I really hope they address that for Project X Zone. Namco X Capcom had the same trouble, which makes me nervous that the gameplay will remain relatively unchanged.

daftman

04/10/2013 at 02:38 AM

I have plenty of backlogged games (check them out here). As for specific suggestions: Alan Wake, Mirror's Edge, Baten Kaitos Origins, Soul Reaver, Klonoa 2, Vanquish...I could list things all day lol. Personally I was thinking of starting Demon's Souls soon. It was free on PS+

smartcelt

05/08/2013 at 02:08 PM

I would suggest either Bayonetta or Wolfenstein. I have both games,but have not finished them. Both have been out a while so they could work I think.

PixlBit