Games Cheats and Reviews

Limbo does a great deal with very little. Stark black-and white-visuals and a simple two-button control scheme (“action” and “jump”) highlight the power a talented developer can wield by keeping things simple. While the game’s story (and its abrupt ending) leaves a bit to be desired, the framework surrounding it provides more than enough reason to explore the game’s haunting world.

At its heart, Limbo is a puzzle game: you interact with the environment and overcome obstacles while trying to avoid an untimely (and messy) death…but you’ll die a lot anyway. Learning to find the dangers cleverly concealed in the game’s shadows keeps you aware of your simplistic surroundings, and draws focus to the minute details of the landscape. Limbo presents it’s fair share of platforming and precision button pressing as well, but unlike, say, Mega Man, you’re never forced to start back at the beginning of a stage. Any frustration you might feel at an inopportune death melts away when you respawn right next to where you failed. And when you finally figure out the solution to open the path forward, you feel like you’ve accomplished something. Limbo is not a game that gives up its secrets through mere trial-and-error — its puzzles demand thought and contemplation.

You won’t find me speaking ill about Burnout Paradise’s ever-giving wonderland of thrills, but as someone who poured hours into its predecessors’ perfectly manicured closed courses — each packed with unique sights and terrain — the switch to one large city and its surroundings left a small void in my gaming heart. Split/Second is a very different game than Burnout, emphasizing over-the-top and oftentimes implausible action scenarios over pure racing, but ultimately, it scratches the same itch as Criterion’s racing classics — and it leaves marks.

Split/Second is a game populated almost entirely by “holy shit” moments: the kind that cause you to yell at your TV (though not necessarily in anger), physically contort your body in concert with the analog stick, and leave a semi-permanent imprint on the forefront of your sofa cushion. Sure, it maintains the fundamentals of the arcade-racing genre — blistering speeds, drift-heavy super cars, and enough paint swapping to go around — but what makes Split/Second such a consistently stunning experience is the Power Play mechanic.

After dominating the field for years, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer has arguably fallen behind the competition. The dev team appears to be aware of this, promising fundamental changes for the upcoming Pro Evolution Socer 2011.

“It was time for PES to transform, and PES 2011 represents the most ambitious redesign in the series’ history,? said team leader Jon Murphy. “We’ve continued to work closely with the fans to pinpoint what it is about football that PES didn’t do.”

He continued, “Total freedom was the priority and all-new animation a must. PES 2011 does both – indeed, they are directly linked to each other – and while the new game is recognisably PES at its heart, it is also the most radically improved version ever.”

Yeah that’s right, and the irony of it all is that it will be settled exclusively on the PS3. As promised, Compile Heart has unearthed new details in the upcoming RPG, Super Dimensional Game Neptune. The concept places a parody on a realistic yet sophisticated emphasis that gets in all that are involved in this industry in some way or fashion, the console war.

SCRAWL’s Sal writes: "The latest issue of Famitsu has officially Neptune for PlayStation 3. It’s a PlayStation 3 role-playing game scheduled to launch in Japan this summer. It’s also the game Compile Heart launched a countdown to this morning."

In a recent interview on IGN, Cliff Bleszinski talked about the future of gaming and the Gears of War franchise. In the interview he expressed his support for motion controllers like ‘Project Natal’ stating that he was preferring that over the other motion controllers, purely because you don’t need to hold anything in your hands. Cliffy B also talked about how he wanted Gears 2 to be a better experience when it was released, and that the issues with the online matchmaking was the single biggest disappointment for him and when it gets brought up it breaks his heart. He also stated that when he reads posts on online forums it hurt him how people identify with the big, buff characters and how there is a lot to be said for the background of the world he’d created.

Simon Weatherall adds his personal spin on the contents of the interview.

Destructoid: I got into various arguments with people this weekend who justified Final Fantasy fans hating the Xbox 360 because it apparently "ruined" Square Enix’s latest hundred-hour monstrosity. Now, there’s no denying that Final Fantasy XIII has its share of problems. Ahead of our review, I can tell you that this game boasts a variety of disappointing elements. However, there are those who legitimately blame the Xbox 360 and demonize it as the heart of XIII’s troubles. After debating with several of these individuals, I have concluded that such people obviously know nothing about the game’s development

Gamestop USA is here to save the day!

Gamestop (USA) is offering 40$ off of God Of war 3 & Final Fantasy 13, When you trade in 2 of the following games…

Also, On Top of that, There "Power Trade" promo gives you an extra 20% Credit when planning to Trade any games towards the pre-order or purchase of God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Splinter Cell: Conviction: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Red Dead Redemption or Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver!

There big promo, that is only up for 3 more days, the "50% Bonus On All Games Traded" sounds really appealing.

Pokefans only have a few more days to bag the legendary Jirachi at their local GameStop store.  The videogame retailer has teamed with Nintendo to distribute the little critter to eager fans and to build interest in the forthcoming Heart Gold and Soul Silver.  Nintendo DS owners simply need to bring along their DS and copy of Pearl, Diamond, or Platinum to download Jirachi.

The legendary Pokemon is available until March 13^th at over 4,000 participating GameStop stores.  Hans who swing into stores on March 13 will simply need to return the following day.  That’s when I…  I mean, THEY…  will be picking up their copy of Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

When two developers go head to head for the same core audience, it’s not uncommon for their to be some rivalry between the two groups. DICE and Infinity Ward are in this situation. Firing the first shots over the bow, DICE references Modern Warfare 2 in Bad Company 2’s single player campaign. The video below is a couple of references that appear to be directed squarely at Infinity Ward. Apparently, DICE believes that both heart monitors on your guns and snow mobiles are for sissies….ZING!(more)