Video Games

On Live’s Micro Console: A Terrifying Step Into The Future

Last week we discussed the new gaming service Onlive.  It’s an innovative way to let players with low end computers run high end games.  Basically, Onlive lets you play games  by hosting them on a powerful server, which streams live video of the game back to your computer.  You can control the game without any lag using your own computer’s mouse and keyboard.  We briefly mentioned that a “Micro Console” was on the way from Onlive that would let you do the same thing, but with your TV  and a console-style control pad.  Today Onlive announced that the Micro Console will be released in two weeks.

Weekend Sales November 18

It’s a week to go before the mountain of online sales for Black Friday but, if you have a wad of cash burning a hole through your pockets,  you’ll find plenty of ways to spend it this weekend with all of these deals from digital distributors.  Direct2Drive.com has been holding a Rockstar Sale all week, and today’s Deal of The Day is BOTH Max Payne games for $3.75 altogether.  That’s 75% off the usual price, and a fine way to spend $3.75.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood PS3 Review

The first Assassin’s Creed was an ambitious experiment from Ubisoft that divided gamers. The game granted players unparalleled access to their environment, but conversely restricted the actual gameplay to a handful of restrictive mission types. Two years later, the second game in the series released and ruthlessly eliminated many of the issues that plagued the original release. Better in almost every conceivable way, Assassin’s Creed 2 was a huge leap forward for the franchise that set the bar for action games just a little bit higher. Now, only a year later, Ubisoft has released a third Assassin’s Creed game. Does Brotherhood mark another step forward for the franchise, or is it content to tread water?
Honestly, the answer is a little bit of both. While there are many facets of Brotherhood that feel progressive and unique, the core of the game still revolves around taking missions from various NPCs, building up your city with merchants and brothels, and of course assassinating the bad guys. These pillars of gameplay feel almost the same as they did in AC2, but Brotherhood skirts any feelings of repetition by executing its set pieces on a much grander scale. The opening missions of the game, for example, introduce the combat and horse riding mechanics against the backdrop of a frantic siege. This focus on grand action complements the social-stealth gameplay of past games surprisingly well, and it goes a long way towards making Brotherhood feel as much like an interactive movie as a video game.

Daily Deals Wednesday November 17

The internet is swamped with sales on PC games this week, and several digital distributors are holding daily deals all week long with a different game on sale every day.   Amazon, D2D and the new version of Games For Windows Live are all pestering us with their cheap games, so let’s see how we can spend some scratch before the inevitable Black Friday sales we’ll see next week.

The Ball- Review

Every year, Epic Games and Intel hold a contest called “Make Something Unreal” which let’s designers create mods for the Unreal engine and compete for a chance to have their mod become a licensed, commercial game.  Publisher Tripwire Interactive brought one of that contest’s winners to the market last year; the Zombie shooter Killing Floor.  Now they’re back with The Ball, another Make Something Unreal winner.

Prince of Persia Trilogy Coming to PSN

Prince of Persia Trilogy, which is a compilation of three Prince of Persia games originally from the PS2, will be coming to PSN in the U.S. The three games included will be Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. All three titles will be reworked in HD with improved textures.

PSN and PS3 Store Releases for 11/16/10

Some good store releases this week. Starting with the new Assassin’s Creed, and the very solid arcade antics supplied byNeed For Speed: Hot Pursuit. 

On PSN, Sega’s Crazy Taxi has been updated with HD graphics, online leaderboards, and trophies for its online release.Prince of Persia: Sands of Time HD is the first of three PS2 Prince of Persia’s coming to PSN.