PixlBit

Ok, well it's not exactly part one...

So, funny story, I think Backloggers Anonymous is cursed when it comes to handling games designed by Irrational. The reason? Well, this is actually our second first recording for System Shock 2. The first one somehow disappeared from my computer after we recorded it, and the backup is gone too. I half expected SHODAN to email me something like I'VE DELETED YOUR PODCAST, INSECT, but that didn't happen, so I'm gonna chalk it up to the curse.

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Without Sega's competing BLAST PROCESSING, it's just not the same.

If you were paying attention yesterday during Nintendo’s "Nintendo Direct" address, you might’ve noticed a common theme undercutting the entire broadcast. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest properties put on display: Yoshi’s Island 3, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, The Legend of Zelda (A Link to the Past 2), Earthbound, and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, which saw a change in visuals/perspective that makes it even closer in style to its spiritual predecessor, Super Mario RPG . Maybe it’s just me, but this line-up is conjuring up some strong memories of the SNES.

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It's probably best to keep games with "Mystery Dungeon" in the title away from Nick.

Mystery Dungeon. Seeing those two words in succession are enough to make me cringe. For years now, Chunsoft has been developing this series of roguelikes across different licenses, with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity marking the third in the respective subseries. No matter how they seem to spin this core concept, I simply can’t build an appreciation for it. While it tries to cater to a wider audience by removing the “hunger” facet and dialing down the difficulty, it’s still possible given its random nature to have the odds stacked so highly against you that there’s no chance for success.

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O Igarashi, where art thou?

As a game critic, it can be extremely difficult to set your expectations aside when playing a game for review. At this point in my “career,” I’ve become quite adept at seeing a game for what it’s worth and reviewing it without allowing my expectations to impact my assessment. I found this extremely tough to do with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. I, like many others, expected something similar to a post-Symphony of the Night 2D Castlevania, but Mirror of Fate only resembles these titles on the surface. Digging deeper, it’s clear that Mercurysteam has merely converted the Lords of Shadow experience into 2D, placing the larger focus on combat, with only a minor emphasis on puzzles and exploration.

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Come ponder the ethicality of the day one patch, as Nick waxes philosophical in his latest editorial.

Something that has become commonplace in gaming’s new world is the infamous day one patch. Because development cycles are so incredibly tight games often have to go to the production line in an incomplete state, leaving the developer in a position to complete the bug fixing post-production, but pre-release. In many instances, the day one patch still isn’t enough to shore up the various bugs, leaving players with a game that may not even work properly on their machines. This raises the question – is it ethical to put a game on the production line that’s incomplete?

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