Take a walk on the fringe!
Welcome to a spooooky special edition of Nerds Without Pants! Okay, actually not that spooky, but Julian is joined by Jordan Bonaparte, the creator and host of The Night Time Podcast. Jordan produces an incredible show that deals with the fringe, the weird, true crime, and more, and Julian has a great time talking to him about a ton of different topics.
This dog has learned tricks from all over the industry!
It felt like the big message of E3 2012 was that 2013 will be one of the greatest years in gaming history. But what about the rest of this year? There are plenty of new and interesting games on the way, even if it feels like the games we’re really waiting for won’t drop for a long time. That leaves plenty of opportunity for some dark horse entries to find an audience and success. Enter Sleeping Dogs, the new open world action game from United Front Games and Square Enix.
We built this city with LEGO bricks!
Lego City was announced at last year’s E3. Initially the concept was a curiosity; gamers and journalists alike were unsure of exactly what we would expect from the title once it was formally revealed. Nintendo’s press conference on Tuesday gave us all some clarity and presented an open world, story driven game that will be the Lego brand’s most ambitious video game title yet.
The saga continues this May.
Today, Rockstar Games officially announced the release date for the third game in the Max Payne series. Releasing first in America on consoles, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners will be able to pick up Max Payne 3 on May 15; May 18 it will release internationally. On May 29 the game will release for PC in America, followed by a June 1 international release.
You read that right, the next game in the Saints Row series has been confirmed less than a week before the release of The Third.
Next week sees the release of Saints Row: The Third, the crazy sandbox organized crime game that filled in the void left by Grand Theft Auto when Rockstar decided to go in a more mature and socially relevant route with GTA IV. It’s no surprise that the series has done well and THQ and the crew expects that this will be the biggest Saints Row yet. They have so much faith, in fact, that THQ’s own Danny Bilson has revealed that a fourth entry in the series is already in the works.
A more deliberately paced game with a strong narrative, Mafia II defies expectations.
Though pegged as another Mafioso-inspired sandbox game, Mafia II doesn’t have that much in common with its open world contemporaries. Rather than being inspired by Scarface and Goodfellas like GTA or Saints Row, Mafia II is more deliberately paced and more akin to The Sopranos or The Godfather, in which story and the lifestyle itself are front and center. There are no side quests or odd jobs to complete. Although there’s a big city, this is not an open world game. It's a linear action game with a strong narrative.
Storytelling takes the front seat in this new crime drama that despite some flaws, shines above the rest.
There is no game out right now that is exactly like L.A. Noire. From the moment players dip into the crime infested 1940’s Los Angeles, they are greeted with an aura that sets this game apart from most. As a game, L.A. Noire isn’t without its problems, however its gripping narrative, compelling characters, and fantastic animations make it a must play, and one of the best titles to come out this year.
