PixlBit

Nick, Chessa, and Jason R perform a special recorded PlayBit with some classic arcade beat-'em ups. Watch and listen for The Simpsons Arcade, Turtles in Time Arcade, and X-Men Arcade as well as talk of the upcoming E3!

As has become tradition, part of the PixlBit crew has gotten together for a PlayBit before E3! This year we've decided to do things a bit differently. Rather than broadcast live, we decided to record our play session and post it so that anyone can see it, regardless of their schedule.

Read more »

Jason analyzes the recent sale of Harmonix, and what it means for the future of rhythm game sales.

A few months ago, Viacom sold off rhythm game developer Harmonix for a reported amount of fifty dollars. The most shocking aspect of this trade is that Viacom originally bought Harmonix for $175 million. Apparently the trade gives Viacom about $150 million in tax benefits, which is quite a hefty number, itself, but still, it seems like this is a major failure on Viacom's part, which reflects as a failure on the part of Harmonix, itself. A little while later, Activision reported that they will not publish a new Guitar Hero or DJ Hero game in 2011 after disappointing sales of the previous entry, simultaneously halting future DLC for the two franchises. The once-popular music gaming genre appears to have come to a screeching halt after oversaturation and the companies' failure to understand the market.

Read more »

I hate to say it, but Telephantasm is the best part of the whole package.

At this point, the Guitar Hero series has undoubtedly overstayed its welcome. While the series saw some definite innovation in its transition from 3 to World Tour, and moderately so from World Tour to 5, Warriors of Rock brings almost nothing to the table. Sure there's a new track list and they added the mediocre Quest Mode, but the only thing that truly stands out is the Quickplay + Mode that began in the last iteration of the series.

Read more »

My frothing demand for this game increases.

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor is the sequel to the adrenaline-infused Sin and Punishment, an on-rails import shooter originally. Though originally released on the N64, the was finally able to see the light of day in North American and PAL territories on the Wii's Virtual Console. To put it briefly, the original felt like a cross between StarFox 64 and Galaga, with difficult, but wild, over-the-top bosses thrown into the mix.

Read more »