Busted on OUYA

Busted by PIM Entertainment  is an endless arcade runner, except with a car. So instead of running like in Temple Run or Sonic Dash you are driving. I was pretty skeptical when I first loaded up Busted. I personally love to play Sonic Dash.I think it's the best endless runner on the App Store. My endless runner bar is set pretty high, so I didn't think I'd like Busted. However it's a pretty fun game and a good time killer.

Let's talk about how Busted looks. Is it an ugly game? No, it's not an ugly game. It is however a very plain looking game. When your car flips over (and it will flip over) you will see absolutely no details on the undercarriage. This isn't really a problem given the price of the game, but I would have liked to see a muffler or something under my car. Still the graphics in Busted are effective and they look pretty smooth overall.

The presentation of Busted is also good. I have played it for at least ten minutes everyday for the past week and not once have I experienced any slow down. Even when the nitro kicks in and your car is flying down the road it holds its frame rate. This is extremely important in a racer (or runner...racer runner?), and it performs great. I wont lie the audio track gets old extremely fast. There's nothing really wrong with it, but you will be tired of hearing it.

Also you can play with a few different vehicles and change the color of your car. They are not fully customizable but it's nice to have the option. You can also buy power ups to help you increase your score. So make sure you grab as much cash off the street as you can...because you will need it. 

Busted controls pretty well. The left analog stick controls your movement. While the O face button works your brake. You really won't use the brake to often but it can save you if  it's used sparingly. There is one thing I'm not fond of in Busted. It's those damn ramps(like in the picture above)! They're awesome if you hit it just right.and your car goes flying through the air. However if you aren't lined up exactly right it's game over. Or if you fly off the ramp and land on a car it's game over. It's not a deal breaker, just a little annoying. 

Since all games on the OUYA are free to try, give this a download and see what you think. If you decide to purchase the full game it will set you back $2.99. If you enjoy endless runners then you will like Busted. It's another good game to play on OUYA.

CLARK for the OUYA Review

CLARK has released on the OUYA...and it is amazing! The OUYA really needs a lot more games like this. Here's the official description of the game.

CLARK is an action loaded puzzle adventure. It combines complex spatial puzzles with arcade style action elements and an epic storyline. As the story unfolds, the nerdy forklift robot Clark will encounter partying robots, attractive nuclear missiles, intoxicated supercomputers, save the facility from an intruding spaceship and kill M.O.T.H.E.R. CLARK features 25 levels with 100 puzzles and more than 12 hours of gaming. Our grid-based game play and tight controls will give you the retro feel of your first console.

CLARK is a beautiful game. It uses cell shaded graphics so it looks like a living cartoon. The initial menu worried me, because it looked rather cheap. However once you start playing the game you will be blown away. It is one of the better looking games that we've seen for the OUYA (so far). CLARK looks adorable and everything looks bright and crisp on my LED screen.

The game also controls very nicely. The left stick controls CLARK, and the right stick controls your camera. At first I wasn't a fan of the camera, but after playing for a few minutes it felt natural. You also will need you use the face buttons to move objects and etc. You can tell that this game was designed with a controller in mind. So it really does work very well.

Seriously go and buy this game. CLARK only costs $7.99 and that's a great deal for what your getting. It'd be hard to find a better game right now on the OUYA. If you like fun puzzle games with great graphics then this game is for you. If you don't like fun puzzle games with great graphics then it still may be for you. Give the demo a try, you will not be disappointed.

GameStick is Coming Soon

It seems like Android consoles are pretty popular right now. By "popular" I mean multiple companies are making them and shipping them out soon. Whether or not any of these will be successful is yet to be seen, but GameStick looks like it could be a contender.

 

 GameStick is being developed by PlayJam. It was funded by Kickstarter and it made $650,000, which surpassed it initial goal. It was originally going to release in April 2013, but after being so successful they had to delay it's release. Amazon.com has it listed for an August 26, 2013 release date.

 

 

 

Here are the Specs for the GameStick as listed by Amazon

• Includes: 1 GameStick HDMI Console + Bluetooth Controller
• Easy to navigate user interface with access to Android games at 1080p
• Under the hood: ARM Cortex A9 CPU / MALI 400 GPU
• Storage: 8GB internal flash storage (expandable to 32GB via SDMicro)
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFi / Bluetooth 4.0

You get all of this for only $79.99 ($20 cheaper than an Ouya).

What really stands out about the GameStick is it's portability. All you do is plug in the HDMI dongle to your HDTV and you are ready to play.

GameStick is based on Android architecture, however it has it's own UI built specially for it. It looks nice and easy to use, but I'll have to play around with one to know how well it actually works.

One downside to the GameStick is that it wont use the GooglePlay App store. This means you will need to repurchase games you own. Also game selection could be limited since they must be approved by PlayJam. PlayJam has said that it has over a hundred developers who say they want to make games for it. So hopefully they will make good on their promise and keep the games coming.

We will have to wait and see if the GameStick is successful. It looks promising and hopefully it will deliver.

Does Ouya Matter

Ouya has finally been released. Ouya was a huge sucess on Kickstarter. It had a lot of people excited about the idea of an Android gaming console. So how is Ouya and does it matter in today's gaming market?

For starters Ouya is not a powerhouse. Ouya is designed with Indie developers in mind. This means that you wont see a lot of big budget titles releasing. However Sega has a few Sonic titles and Square Enix has Final Fantasy 3 on Ouya. So there are some exceptions, but overall it will have smaller unknown games. For the record I love Shadowgun on Ouya (just like I did on Xperia Play).

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I actually like a lot of indie games. As smart phones have proven there is a huge market for these games. So time will tell of people want to play these games on the big screen.

Okay so Ouya wont blow your mind with graphics but it is a really well built(and good looking system). The OS is also smooth and attractive. Every Ouya game is "free to try" so there's no upfront money to get playing. Overall the Ouya is a good, cheap console ($99).

Does the Ouya matter? I thought the Ouya concept was great when I first heard about it. However since then both Sony and Nintendo have been making huge efforts to get Indie games on their platforms. In theory the games releasing on Ouya will also be on Wii U, PS3, PS4, and PS Vita. Plus the fact most of these games are on IOS and other Android devices.

Ouya really is a cool device. At $99 it has huge potential to make waves in the gaming industry. I just wonder if it's a little to late. Either way if you can afford to buy one you might as well, it's fun.

PS4 and next Xbox Struggles

Both the PS4 and the nw Xbox will be out by the years end. I believe that both of these new systems could suffer from "slow sales" just as the Wii U. Before the Wii U was launched everyone was very excited. Gamestop was saying that the Wii U had "huge interest" and pre orders were through the roof. Now that its been out 6 months it seems as if no one is in a hurry to buy one.

Most people that I talk to don't seem all that interested in buying a new console. The average gamer is perfectly happy with what they already own. Plus a lot of people have gone to PC gaming. Gaming on a PC is a better investment than buying a console. Let's not forget that IOS and Android phones and tablets are everywhere. Android gaming gaming is on the rise with both Ouya and the Gamestick releasing in the next 2 months.

When you consider all of this its no wonder that Wii U is struggling. So it's not  far fetched to think the PS4 and next Xbox will also struggle.

Amazing SpiderMan 3DS Part 2

I finally saw 3 (yes 3) screen shots from the upcoming Amazing Spiderman on Nintendo's 3DS. How were they...extremely ugly! If you can find this months issue of Nintendo Power magazine the pics are printed. It is possible that the screen shots are a low-res picture. Still if this is whats coming I'm very disappointed.

The worst part is that Amazing Spiderman on 360/PS3 looks to be one of the best games of the summer. On 3DS and Wii it looks to be a quick cash in. Beenox gives a reason why it's so different from it's big brother versions. Here's a portion of the interview.

S: What is the Nintendo 3DS version of The Amazing Spider-Man like? Retailer descriptions say that only the HD versions are open-world. Will the 3DS version be close to the console versions at all?

DB: The Amazing Spider-Man for the Wii and for the 3DS is actually based of the same code base and game assets which means that they share the same game play.

We’ve optimized the experience on the Wii and 3DS to take advantage of their unique platform differences and motion controls, which means that players will have a different experience with the game on those platforms.

While the Wii and 3DS versions won’t have Spidey “roaming” between story missions, there are still plenty of collectibles, unlockables, and in-game challenges awaiting the wall-crawler, on top of large areas to sling through and intense combat with numerous enemy types. The Wii takes combat and web-slinging to new levels of immersion thanks to its motion controls, and the 3DS version will also have several unique mini-games that use its touch-screen.

If held side-by-side, all of the “level based” missions are very similar to what will ship on the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms, just optimized to fit the Nintendo platforms’ unique capabilities.

What's so funny about this is that Gameloft just showed it's new trailer for their Amazing Spiderman game on IOS/ Android. Guess what...it's fully open world and looks amazing. Check out the trailer below.

http://youtu.be/hAma5rlQj80

So obviously they could have made a full 3D world for Spiderman to roam around. Beenox just decided not to. Spiderman on 3DS and Wii could still be a fun game...but the odds are stacked against it. Plus why spend $30 on the 3DS version (or $50 for Wii) of Spiderman when you could pay $7 for your phone or tablet.

ShadowGun Xperia Play Review

ShadowGun by MadFinger games, is one of the best looking games on any mobile device. It uses the Unity3D engine and it really impresses. I can't give this game enough praise. ShadowGun looks and plays very similar to Gears of War. If you've played Gears then you know what to expect. Also the game has some pretty good voice actors, which is uncommon for most mobile games.


Think he's compensating for something?

 If you're using the Xperia Play the game supports the slide out controller. Everything plays smooth and you shouldn't have any trouble playing through the entire game. If your using any other phone or tablet the on screen buttons work pretty well. I did have a little difficulty aiming, but after you play a few levels you'll get the hang of it. So either way you're covered.

Let's be honest we don't play 3rd Person Shooters for the story. We play so we can shoot and blow up stuff. Now it is nice if a game has a coherent story, but it's not mandatory. Fortunately ShadowGun has a pretty decent and straight forward story. You play a bounty hunter, and your there to get your bounty...enough said about that.

What's even better is how MadFinger games has released a new and free update. The update takes place after the main game, so the story continues. It adds new levels and a new weapon. It's nice when a developer continues to support a game even after they've made their money.

If you're looking for an awesome shooter then buy ShadowGun. It will not disappoint you in any way. It's honestly as good as the average console game, and a fraction of the price. In the words of Plex the Magic Robot. Try it...You'll like it!

The Dead: Chapter One for Android

If your looking for a good zombie shooter, than look no more. The Dead: Chapter One is a free zombie FPS. The Dead puts you against waves of zombies. Kill them all and repeat again and again...until you die. I'm running this on my Xperia Play and the game is fully optimized for the slide out controller. The graphics while being suitable, aren't going to wow you. They are very outdated, but considering it's free that doesn't matter. Give it a try and see what you think