Review of: Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare

 
Reviewer: Joe Ruffini

Title: Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare

System: Xbox 360

Genre: Sandbox Action Adventure

***Spoiler alert! There are possible spoilers in this review. Read at your own risk***

                So Undead Nightmare picks up in red dead redemption around after John Marston is reunited with his family. It starts with you returning home during a storm, and obviously meeting up with your wife and kid. Everyone goes to sleep and is awoken by Uncle who is now a zombie, but since you are in the Wild West, no one knows about zombies yet. So they are extremely puzzled and you have to end up killing him. But not before he bites your wife, who then in turn bites your son. So you have to tie them up and it’s a whole fiasco. Horrible. Absolutely horrible.

Spotlight on: The Angry Video Game Nerd

Author: Amy Pistone

Gamer: The Angry Video Game Nerd

                Few people have gained as much fame and success from Youtube as The Angry Video Game Nerd. His persona is the true personality and life of avid Nintendo gamer, James Rolfe. He became famous because of his high-calibur rants, filled with colorful phrases to describe the terrible games that he grew up with. One notable episode was a video chronicling the downfalls of the Power Glove, where Rolfe rips the ridiculous attachment to shreds while still remaining funny and not just “angry”. Before Youtube he had been posting to his website, www.cinemassacre.com, but once he posted a few of his videos to the still-new Youtube site, he began to gain widespread publicity. Later on this would get him a job with www.screwattack.com and www.gametrailers.com . Now, new videos are few and far between on Youtube due to licensing issues, but he is still as popular as ever. Since his widespread publicity, not only does he have a paying job doing what he loves, he enjoys other perks such a going to E3 (jealous…). Overall, he’s a funny guy who combines the perfect ratio of nostalgia to ludicrousness and just a hint of vulgarity (okay, maybe more than a hint). Kids, if you are not allowed to watch movies with lots of swears in them, please do not go watch these videos. But adults – seriously, watch them.

Consoles: What’s the deal with these “statuses”, anyway?

 

Author: Amy Pistone

                If you have an Xbox 360, many would consider you to be a hardcore gamer. A Wii, a casual fanboy/fangirl who cannot move with the times. A PlayStation 3, someone who is a mix of the two. What is the deal with these stereotypes, anyway? Why is one console considered to be better than the other? And most of all, why do some people think they are better because they have a specific console?

                Status is not uncommon among gamers, it is just rarely talked about. People will argue which console is better to the death, but few will reflect back on these arguments and question why they were so heated in the first place. We could blame insecurities, jealousy, egotism… but this would all be wrong. The reason so many fight about these consoles, and fight for the status of their console, is not because of themselves – it is because of others. Every gameplayer is different, everyone has their niche. In our class of 5 die-hard gamers, including Mischley, everyone has their own niche, their own quirky games they like for no particular reason. We all accept this and discuss the differences in our class, rather than arguing, but part of this is likely due to the classroom setting. Gameplayers, in general, want the approval of their “clique”, their friends who are in this same niche. Consoles are consortiums of these niches that allow people with their differences to find common ground – but still, each console is a different bigger clique. Not everyone, not even most of the members in each clique deliberately try to alienate the other consoles, it just comes down to preference. This status is something that develops over time, where each player notices how awesome their console is and how much they like that. This is all fine and dandy, but as I have said, this is all a matter of opinion. No console is truly the best out of them all, there is no clear winner. They are just different.

                I say we abolish these statuses. Accept that you are a player, not a creator, of the console – you do not have to justify why you play it. Every console is awesome. Every console brings something to the table that the others cannot. Awesomeness is subjective, but everyone has their own unique form of it in their niches. Abolish the status of each console and every gameplayer can perhaps understand these differences. No longer will friends fight about how awesome their system is – and maybe they will play a game or two on a different console. But that does not mean the console is any less awesome.

Review of: Super Mario Galaxy

  

Reviewer: Amy Pistone

Title: Super Mario Galaxy

System: Wii

Genre: Platformer

            In past years, many innovative games have come out that stray away from traditional methods of gameplay. Super Mario Galaxy is one of them, being the most ground-breaking Mario title within the past 10 years. It plays with the players mind, achieving impossible feats by way of space. Instead of a simple sidescroller, Galaxy challenges players to broaden their horizons and open their eyes to a new type of platformer… in SPACE!

            Super Mario Galaxy’s graphics are pleasing to the eye but not anything revolutionary in terms of realism. The colors are bright and the scenery has depth, but Mario lacks the growth that a new title usually has as far as graphics. These graphics look just as good as if they were on the Gamecube, which shows a lack of development with the design. Especially since this was one of the main anticipated titles with the launch of the Wii, it would appear that Nintendo go anxious in designing and released the game prematurely. However, this most likely is not an actual problem with the game but one with the console. Despite this, it would have been nice to see some really magnificent graphics in space.

Spotlight on: Orisinal

Author: Amy Pistone

Company: Orisinal

  

Orisinal is an under-appreciated indie website by Ferry Halim that offers free online games. The difference between these games and the generic versions of Tetris and pinball is innovation. Orisinal prides itself on having unique games with new concepts that will not bore the player. A personal favorite of mine is Winter Bells, a snow-themed game in which a bunny must hop from bell to bell to score points within one continuous drag of the mouse. Other games include A Daily Cup of Tea, in which a team of mice must dart through shelves of falling objects to obtain sugar cubes, and Starry Night where the player must bounce a star on bubbles, making sure they do not pop. Orisinal currently has 58 completely unique games, and all are entertaining and addicting.  Phenomenal graphics are utilized within each game to capture the player’s

attention, or maybe just to look pretty. Backdrops are realistic and characters are animated in a way that gives them charisma without the use of a storyline. Overall, Orisinal is a quirky company with strong game design, so next time you get board, step away from the Tetris and try one of their games, you will not be disappointed.