Video Games

Comic Jumper Review

I have never been a big comic fan. While I have always had an appreciation for all things nerdy, the whole comic genre was a place I never saw myself entering (Don’t tell the guys over at Player Affinity Comics). However, given the chance to experience the comic medium via Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley was hardly something I could allow myself to pass up.

Comic Jumper is for lack of a better word, comical. It’s a mostly side-scrolling shooter game set in the outlandish world of Captain Smiley. It’s a world where comic characters are completely aware they are being published each month and actually have to worry about scheduling battles or hiring evil doers to make appearances. Being in comics is a career and it’s up to them to find a way to get paid.

PC Digital Download Sales 10/3/10

This week on PC Digital Download Sales, Impulse will be added to the weekly listings. Impulse sales will be counted the same way as Steam and Direct2Drive sales, at 3:00 PM on Sundays. Last week, Civilization V was cleaning house, and that’s still the same here, though not on Impulse. Steam also supported lots of new releases last week, but that’s been quelled a little this week. 

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene Preview

Released in arcades back in 1978, Space Invaders introduced to the world what the shooting game genre was capable of. Developed by Taito, the game is widely considered one of the most influential games, if not the most influential game, ever made. Thirty-two years later and the franchise is still popular enough to warrant receiving a much needed face-lift along with another opportunity to wow the masses. Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, published by Square Enix, is being crowned the next evolution of the venerable series. 

The Hot Female Journalist Gimmick

There are many annoying things going on in the video game industry right now, such as fanboyism, motion sensing, the 3D glasses movement, the Wii… the list can go on and on. However, one of the most annoying things is the “token hot video game journalist chick”.

Bungie Bans 15,000 Halo: Reach Players

15,000 Halo: Reach users may have been very upset when they logged onto the popular game only to find out that their online accounts had been reset. They lost all their credits and, as a result, their rank dropping down to the lowly recruit.

Bungie made the move after discovering that these users were using a process of “intentional disconnect” that allowed them to complete challenges 20+ times. Bungie also applied a one day credit earning ban for the users to “ensure that recipients receive an in-game notification of the action taken.”

What Does Bungie Leave Behind?

With Halo: Reach, Bungie has ended its tenure of one of the most influential series in the video game industry. We are all familiar with the accolades by now – Halo was the Xbox’s killer app, the series that legitimized Microsoft’s stake in the console business, the herald of Xbox Live, and a multi-million dollar, platinum gajillion-seller franchise.

Why Don’t We See More Celebrities Endorse Games?

Lately Sears has been using a series of TV ads called “The Sears Blue Crew” in which a band of zany actors dress as Sears salespersons in light-hearted commercials.  One of those whacky actresses was nerd diva Felicia Day from The Guild.  The odd thing about this ad was that Felicia was playing the role of “Sears Salesgirl” selling washing machines.  She wasn’t “Celebrity Felicia Day” saying “Hello, I’m Felicia Day from the popular web series The Guild.  I buy all my graphics cards from Sears.”