Cross Border Gaming #118: Like LJN!

Harold & Frank are joined by Aaron of GameEnthus, as they talk E3 staying in LA, Final Fantasy XIV (yes, it is still a thing), PC gaming (yes, that is also a thing), Umbrella umbrellas, Playstation All-Stars leaks, Zynga under investigation, a special edition of You Don’t Know Jack, Best Buy sales, Robin Sparkles, The Wreckateer, Wario Land (it’s about damn time!) & more. We also discuss whether or not games are as good as they used to be.

Download Now
[podcast]http://s93380653.onlinehome.us/CBG_Podcast/episodes/cbg118.mp3[/podcast]

On This Week’s Episode:

  • Zynga getting into real money gambling in 2013
  • PSASBR roster & stages leak
  • Gabe Newell proclaims that Windows 8 is “a catastrophe”
  • Microsoft wants to make a Wii Music Like game for Kinect (please don’t)
  • Oh Look, Harold got his Wario Land

Alternate show titles that didn’t make it:  “There’s Your F***ing Wario Land”, “This Time, It’s For Money”, “Umbrella for Nerds”

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  • [Email] Have your questions, comments, and rants read on the air every episode.
  • [Twitter] Send a tweet to @CBGPodcast to have it read on the show.
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Hosts:

Harold (@usfhbomb) & Frank (@EMaster1980) with Special Guest Aaron (@ind1fference)

Audioboo: Hbomb (Harold),  E*Master (Frank)

Music:

Intro Song: The CBG Theme by E*Master
Played during the show: Various
Outro:   It Is Such a Good Night - Charlie Steinmann Orchestra

Original Article

LittleBigPlanet Karting Beta | First Impressions (PS3)

It seems as though Sackboy always has a trick or two up his sleeves, even if he doesn’t actually have sleeves. From costumes to frowning faces, he has never failed to entertain. His latest trick, however, breaks away from the typical 2D (ish) platformer known as LittleBigPlanet and takes him to a whole new level of mobility. Sackboy got a kart, and he has a whole new racing adventure coming this fall! LittleBigPlanet Karting was announced earlier this year with a release date speculated to be around October 2012, but developer Media Molecule wanted to collect some first impressions of the gameplay before it’s released. Thus the LBP Karting beta was born, and I was one of the lucky folks who hopped into the action. Here’s what I found out.

I haven’t played a kart racing game since Crash Team Racing on the original Playstation, but the tutorial level quickly brought me up to speed. I even had the ability to choose my control scheme. For the record, I prefer the old school X button to accelerate and shoulder buttons to slide, but you can also use the right trigger for the gas. The sliding feels absolutely perfect, and I had no trouble navigating around tight turns while drifting. There’s also a boost that kicks in while sliding after a certain amount of time, and if you time the slide button release just right, the boost is even more powerful. When in the air, the shoulder buttons adjust your landing trajectory slightly, but if you want to really turn, you can hold down one of the trigger buttons and turn with the left analog stick. If you manage to spin at least 360 degrees, you’ll get a boost when you land. The controls aren’t anything new, but they’re done very well.

[jwplayer mediaid=”16970”]

But what would a karting game be without a few weapons? The weapon pickups are scattered along the tracks, and once picked up, can be held onto and fired whenever you please. A few are defensive (like mines or explosive boxes), others are offensive (like missiles and bombs), and some give you a speed boost to catch up with the pack. A feature that I particularly liked was the ability to use any weapon you’re holding defensively if you’re being attacked by another racer. If a weapon has locked onto you, a small red icon pops up to warn you, but if you have a weapon, at the last second the red icon turns into a shield, and that’s when you can launch your weapon to block the attack. So if you’re ahead of the pack and have a missile, you can just hold onto it in case someone tries to take away your lead.

As with the rest of the LittleBigPlanet series, creativity plays a huge part in level design. Each of the levels the developers made and included with the beta were unique. There were a few circuit races and battle arenas, as you would expect in any karting game, but there was also a strange level where you race around to pick up eggs and take them to a targeted area. But the real highlight of my experience in the beta was the community designed levels. With the outstanding toolkit included with the game, players have already made some incredible tracks that rival what the developers made. I can tell that the community is going to give this game infinite replay ability, since there will probably be some new content every time you load the game.

I began my playthrough of the beta in single player mode, just to get a feel for the layout of the game. The first thing that I noticed in my first race was the difficulty of the AI. There was an option to choose difficulty, but there were only two choices: casual and normal. The casual mode advertised that everybody wins, so I went with normal difficulty. I believe a more apt description of that level would be legendary, because I was never able to beat the AI. Of course, I wasn’t much better at beating other humans either, but still, the AI was VERY good at racing. What’s great about the weapons in the game is that they’re designed to change the tide of the race in an instant. There were a few times I was in first place, but a well-placed missile ended it rather quickly. In the same fashion, I was able to move up from 8th to 3rd thanks to a few bombs. Unless you really screw up while driving, you always have a shot at winning the race.

The single player is fun and all, but LittleBigPlanet really shines in its multiplayer aspect, so I felt obligated to try it out. ThatGamerHub’s own Albert Perkins was also playing the beta, so we decided to see if we could join each other in a race. It was a little dicey trying to connect at first, and Albert actually ended up with a black screen and a kart, but no level! But once he restarted the game, he was able to join the track I was on, and from there we raced through several other levels after that. We even had a few other online players join us, and we had a blast in some battle arenas, frantically racing around and trying to blow each other up! Given the choice of offline and online play, it’s clear that online is the winner when it comes to this karting game. Plus, if you’re not online, you can’t access all the great community content, which is what makes this game truly unique.

All in all, I had a blast playing this beta, and I will be picking this game up when it’s released this fall. It combines what I love about karting games and LittleBigPlanet, and it works so well. The controls are well-designed, the karts are responsive and easy to drive, the weapons are a blast to use, and the ability to race with your friends is always a plus. There is already a preorder available on Amazon, but there isn’t an official release date. But when it is released, I guarantee I’ll be online and racing, day one!

Original Article

Gang Wars | Review (PS Mini)

Gang Wars was first released in 1989 developed by Alpha Denshi and published by SNK. It was (and still is) your average 2D beat ‘em up arcade game. It’s set in New York City, you play as someone who resembles Jackie Chan almost enough for a lawsuit, and you can even play with a friend with 2 player Co-op! But what  makes this relevant to this day and age? Well for one, SNK just re-released Gang Wars and a PS mini for PS3, PSP, and PS Vita! Now you can relive the magic of almost being the Chan man himself on your preferred Sony console!

The  question is…do you really want to?

Even back then there was nothing really special about Gang Wars, but to be honest, there wasn’t really much to offer when it came to games like these. You are a fighter, there is an antagonist who has a gang of minions at his disposal, and before you can kick his ass, you must beat all of them. You walk, you fight, win, move on, and repeat, pretty solid and simple gameplay, but even still, very entertaining. It was in a away, the perfect way to describe most action movies. There’s walking, there’s fighting, and there are bits of story line to bring it all together.

Gamplay translates quite easily on to the Playstation controls;  X to punch, O to kick, Triangle adds lives and Square to jump. You move with the D pad or Analog stick. What kind of separates  Gang Wars from the rest old the 2D beat em up arcade world is that unlike many of them this game includes weaponry (Assult Riffles, Flamethrowers), and has a customization system in which you can upgrade 3 different attributes (Power, Speed and Guard) as you wish.

All in all, the best part about this release is the nostalgia you may feel while playing it, as it takes you back to the days of late 80’s video games. You may smell the sweat of other teenage youth, spending their days in front of arcade machines. You may feel the dozens of quarters you would eventually spend instead of using them for laundry. Everything was so simple, so honest back then. Eventually you’ll snap back to reality and realize beat ‘em ups won’t entertain you for more than an hour or two; but for $2.99 on PSN? That’s affordable enough to download and keep those memories in the palm of your hand. You’ll probably save a lot of quarters, too.

Original Article

Astro A50 Headset | Review

After a fairly long hiatus, ASTRO Gaming has finally released their latest concoction. The A50 headset is the first fully wireless headset that ASTRO has ever released, and it utilizes some of the latest wireless audio technology to make it one of the best sounding gaming headsets on the market. Everything that made the A40 headset a favorite of competitive gamers is still there, but ASTRO has taken it to a whole new level. However, at $300, this headset is not for everyone. The price tag may be a little steep, but this is a case where you get what you pay for. The quality of the A50s is unmatched by any other competitor.

After unboxing the headset, connecting it to the system of your choice (PS3, Xbox 360, or PC) is quite simple. Connect the optical cable and the USB cable to the transmitter and the console, and you’re ready to go. Setup is the same across all three platforms (except for the additional chat cable for Xbox 360). The transmitter also has optical pass-through to send the audio to an additional source, and it has a 3.5mm audio jack to connect another source to the headset. This can be used to listen to some music on an MP3 player while playing a game on your console.

Astro A50 Headset with included stand and transmitter

The sound quality is on par with any pair of wired headphones that I’ve ever used in this price range. The headset comes with three EQ settings that can be switched at any time via a small sliding switch on the headset. The first setting is designated for gaming, and it allows you to precisely hear every sound effect. This feature would be most useful for competitive multiplayer FPS gaming, but since I don’t play games like Call of Duty or Battlefield, I tested this setting on my favorite cooperative FPS of all time, Borderlands (on both PC and PS3). As soon as I loaded the game, I began to hear all the tiny details that sometimes get washed out when listening through speakers or a cheap headset. Every shot, every footstep, and every shout from an enemy was crystal clear. Even though this setting accentuates the higher frequencies, there is still a good amount of bass to go with it, but not too much as to drown out other sound effects.

The other two profiles are for movies/music and standard Dolby Digital surround sound. I used the music profile to listen to audio CDs on the PS3 and streaming music on the PC, and in both cases, it sounded wonderful. ASTRO has managed to successfully wirelessly transmit a full range of frequencies to the headset, from the thumping of an intense bass track to the high frequencies of a great vocal performance. The third profile is there for anyone who doesn’t want the hardware to interfere with the standard Dolby Digital output, but I found the other two settings to sound much better. ASTRO Gaming clearly knows what they’re doing when it comes to virtual surround sound.

Breakdown of the ASTRO A50 Headset

Besides sounding great, the A50 headset also feels great while perched on your head. The cushioned headband on top keeps the closed ear cups from putting too much pressure on your ears. The controls are located in positions that make it easy to adjust volume or change the EQ setting without taking the headset off. One great feature that ASTRO has always included with their Mix-amps is the game-to-voice balancer. Since they’ve gone fully wireless, this is no longer a knob on a separate Mix-amp. Instead, the right ear cup has a click button that allows you to adjust between the game audio and chat audio. Again, I tested this feature with Borderlands, and it works perfectly. I was able to quickly and easily find the perfect balance so that I could chat with my buddy and still hear what was going on in the game. Although I didn’t get to hear what the audio that the microphone picked up sounded like, my friend certainly did when we were playing Borderlands. He said that it was a huge improvement over my previous headset, and that my voice was crystal clear. The microphone is positioned well on the headset, and also features a positional mute switch. When the microphone is rotated all the way up, the mic is muted, and when it is moved down, it is unmuted. The A50s may not be the first headset to implement this feature, but I’ve always found this method to be preferable to a separate switch. Of course, this means that, unlike the A40s, the microphone is permanently attached and cannot be removed. That’s a small price to pay for a fully wireless headset, I suppose.

My only complaint with the A50 headset is the range. It uses Kleernet 5.8 GHz technology, which claims to have less interference and more range. I never had any interference issues (although my house isn’t the most extensive test of that), but I found myself to be limited to the same room as the wireless transmitter. As soon as there was a wall in the way, audio began to cut out until it dropped completely. I got better range from my 4 year old Creative HS-1200, which used 2.4 GHz RF signals. It could at least get a signal through a couple walls. Fortunately, I only need to use this headset in the same room that I’m gaming in, so this limitation doesn’t bother me. But don’t get the A50s and expect to walk all around the house listening to music or chatting with your friends on Skype.

Overall, the quality of the ASTRO A50 headset matches the price tag. Although many people would balk at spending so much on just one accessory, I think it’s absolutely worth it. Some might be upset at the lack of speaker tags (strong magnets don’t work that well with wireless!) and the lack of a removable microphone, but the A50s make up for it by being ASTRO’s first fully wireless headset. If you want to lose the wires but keep the great sound, then look no further than the A50s. This is the finest wireless headset on the market.

Original Article

NCAA Football 13’ | Full Review (PS3)

With college football right around the corner, there is no doubt in the minds of many college football fans this is their time to celebrate. And what a better way to celebrate the tradition of college football with the release of NCAA Football 13’ right? Well, actually there’s a catch to that. If you haven’t played a college football game in quite sometime, this is one you’re not going to want to miss. However, if you purchased last year’s game, you’re really not missing much. Something that is unfortunately all too familiar with EA Sports football games.

Don’t get me wrong NCAA Football 13’ is a fantastic football game. It’s as real as you’re going to get in accordance to tradition, rivalries, and school spirit. There isn’t anything like it in the industry today. The crowd getting fired up, the marching bands on the football field prior to kickoff, the pre game traditions before taking the football field, the in stadium chants - it’s all there in NCAA Football 13’. It’s the little things like this that make NCAA Football 13’ an enjoyable college football game. EA Sports surely knows how to capture it’s audience when it comes to that.

There are multiple new modes of play with NCAA Football 13’. With this year being the 20th anniversary of the game (wow I am really getting old if the first game came out in 1992) EA Sports added the Heisman Mode. Basically, this gives you the opportunity to control a player from the past who won the coveted trophy and take them to any college football team in the game. For example ever wish Barry Sanders would have chosen Oklahoma over Oklahoma State? Done. How about Desmond Howard playing for The Ohio State Buckeyes? Sold. Or Robert Griffin III playing for Alabama (as if they need another superstar on their squad) no problem. I thought this was a really cool feature to be added in this year’s game as it also gives you a history lesson of that player’s journey throughout his college career, highlights, and more.

[jwplayer mediaid=”16757”]

In terms of graphics, NCAA Football 13’ has not changed much over the years; which well, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The animations are the same but where EA Sports seemed to really improve upon was the time lapse during the duration of the football game itself. You’ll find yourself playing a game during the late afternoon and by the fourth quarter the stadium lights will begin to turn on as the sun sets over the stadium. It’s a really nice touch.

Recruiting in NCAA Football 13’ in Dynasty Mode still has the usual recruitment map but some AI improvements were made. For example if a player is interested in attending your school, if you do not recruit him, he will gladly choose another school. In the past, usually if the player had your school ranked in the top 3 with your school having the most prestige it was a shoe in and you didn’t have to devote nearly as much time to that player. This time, around though, you have to do your homework and make sure you follow through with the recruit or you might find yourself having headaches because he’s lacing up against your rival in the same conference.

Perhaps the best addition to the game this year was the in game updates. Reese Davis provides in game updates during your game in dynasty mode as if the game is live on television. It made the game feel a lot more real in terms of presentation and I welcomed this addition with open arms. Transitions are flawless between the in game updates and your game as if you’re watching an ESPN television broadcast. Another nice touch - the ESPN Bottom Line. It updates as if there are live games going on just like an ESPN broadcast. It’s really superb.

[jwplayer mediaid=”16792”]

NCAA Football 13’ Video Review

Outside of that however, there really isn’t much that has changed with NCAA Football 13’. In fact, a lot of people might think it’s the same exact game. I had a close friend of mine watch me finish up a game in the fourth quarter and he mistakenly thought I was playing the previous year’s game. This is a testament of how EA Sports tends to stay with the, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. With that said in conclusion, NCAA Football 13’ is a fantastic game, but I would only recommend it if you’re a hardcore college football fan, or if you haven’t played the previous year’s game. There’s a lot that is offered in this year’s game but there is also too much of the same as well. But all in all, a solid college football game. NCAA Football 13’ is out today, July 10th 2012, for Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.

Original Article

NCAA Football 13’ | Full Review (PS3)

http://vimeo.com/45491780

With college football right around the corner, there is no doubt in the minds of many college football fans this is their time to celebrate. And what a better way to celebrate the tradition of college football with the release of NCAA Football 13’ right? Well, actually there’s a catch to that. If you haven’t played a college football game in quite sometime, this is one you’re not going to want to miss. However, if you purchased last year’s game, you’re really not missing much. Something that is unfortunately all too familiar with EA Sports football games.

Don’t get me wrong NCAA Football 13’ is a fantastic football game. It’s as real as you’re going to get in accordance to tradition, rivalries, and school spirit. There isn’t anything like it in the industry today. The crowd getting fired up, the marching bands on the football field prior to kickoff, the pre game traditions before taking the football field, the in stadium chants - it’s all there in NCAA Football 13’. It’s the little things like this that make NCAA Football 13’ an enjoyable college football game. EA Sports surely knows how to capture it’s audience when it comes to that.

There are multiple new modes of play with NCAA Football 13’. With this year being the 20th anniversary of the game (wow I am really getting old if the first game came out in 1992) EA Sports added the Heisman Mode. Basically, this gives you the opportunity to control a player from the past who won the coveted trophy and take them to any college football team in the game. For example ever wish Barry Sanders would have chosen Oklahoma over Oklahoma State? Done. How about Desmond Howard playing for The Ohio State Buckeyes? Sold. Or Robert Griffin III playing for Alabama (as if they need another superstar on their squad) no problem. I thought this was a really cool feature to be added in this year’s game as it also gives you a history lesson of that player’s journey throughout his college career, highlights, and more.

[jwplayer mediaid=”16757”]

In terms of graphics, NCAA Football 13’ has not changed much over the years; which well, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The animations are the same but where EA Sports seemed to really improve upon was the time lapse during the duration of the football game itself. You’ll find yourself playing a game during the late afternoon and by the fourth quarter the stadium lights will begin to turn on as the sun sets over the stadium. It’s a really nice touch.

Recruiting in NCAA Football 13’ in Dynasty Mode still has the usual recruitment map but some AI improvements were made. For example if a player is interested in attending your school, if you do not recruit him, he will gladly choose another school. In the past, usually if the player had your school ranked in the top 3 with your school having the most prestige it was a shoe in and you didn’t have to devote nearly as much time to that player. This time, around though, you have to do your homework and make sure you follow through with the recruit or you might find yourself having headaches because he’s lacing up against your rival in the same conference.

Perhaps the best addition to the game this year was the in game updates. Reese Davis provides in game updates during your game in dynasty mode as if the game is live on television. It made the game feel a lot more real in terms of presentation and I welcomed this addition with open arms. Transitions are flawless between the in game updates and your game as if you’re watching an ESPN television broadcast. Another nice touch - the ESPN Bottom Line. It updates as if there are live games going on just like an ESPN broadcast. It’s really superb.

Outside of that however, there really isn’t much that has changed with NCAA Football 13’. In fact, a lot of people might think it’s the same exact game. I had a close friend of mine watch me finish up a game in the fourth quarter and he mistakenly thought I was playing the previous year’s game. This is a testament of how EA Sports tends to stay with the, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. With that said in conclusion, NCAA Football 13’ is a fantastic game, but I would only recommend it if you’re a hardcore college football fan, or if you haven’t played the previous year’s game. There’s a lot that is offered in this year’s game but there is also too much of the same as well. But all in all, a solid college football game. NCAA Football 13’ is out today, July 10th 2012, for Xbox 360, and Playstation 3.

Original Article

Lollipop Chainsaw | Review (Xbox 360)

Just a year after bringing us the highly entertaining Shadows of the Damned, Suda51 is back with a brand-new original games. Taking a break from demons (sort of), the crazy Japanese game designer puts us in a world infested with zombies and… cheerleading? As weird as it may seem, that’s what Lollipop Chainsaw is about. Even weirder: these two elements work rather well together. Here are my thoughts about the game.

Lollipop Chainsaw tells the story of Juliet Starling, a young zombie hunting cheerleader celebrating her 18th birthday. Sadly for her, things go wrong as a teenage antisocial Satanist unleashes a zombie apocalypse in the poor girl’s high school. Even worse, her boyfriend gets bit by a zombie and she is forced to cut his head off to keep him alive as her sidekick that she keeps attached to her. Juliet then goes on a quest to stop the evil forces from destroying her hometown, equipped with a cute heart-decorated chainsaw. While all of this might look weird, the game’s strange setting and dialogues are such a blast to hear and see that it’s almost a good thing that most of the game’s cutscenes are not skippable on the first play through. You will laugh at the ridiculousness of the game and come back to it to hear it over and over again.

Lollipop Chainsaw’s gameplay is rather simple and very linear: execute crazy chainsaw moves against waves of zombies to proceed to the next area and repeat. The gameplay feels like a slowed down version of Devil May Cry, but with “stiffer” controls. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing but more fluidity in Juliet’s moves would have been better. It is also possible to upgrade Juliet’s stats and abilities using the game’s store, as well as buying alternate costumes, songs, and concept art pieces. In addition to this, there are also some rather original gameplay sections like any other Suda51 games. You will get to fight enemies on a Pong arena (having to dodge the bouncing ball as you are fighting enemies), collecting keys in a Pac-Man level (while avoiding Pac-Man-like enemies that want to eat your character), and many others.

As it is the case with all Suda51 games, the boss battles are an important and great aspect of the game. Without spoiling much of the surprise, Lollipop Chainsaw’s bosses are totally ridiculous. Not in the way that they are insanely hard to beat or anything like that. They are simply over-the-top stereotyped characters which will make you laugh quite a lot and will definitely keep you coming back for more of their awesomeness. Each of the game’s bosses represents a specific music genre, making them even more special and distinct from one another.

Graphically, the game is not all that impressive performance wise. It definitely is up to recent game standards but it does not crush any expectations you might have from today’s video games. However, the game does shine through its explosion of colors it brings to the zombie games universe. Gone are the brown and dark colors: the game is all about bright colors, pink, sparkles and glitter. While some gamers might be alienated by this strange mix of colors and monsters, it brings a wind of fresh air on the zombie genre that has been rather predictable over the five past years.

The audio front is quite good too. The game’s soundtrack was handled by Akira Yamaoka who previously worked on No More Heroes 2, Shadows of the Damned, and most notably the Silent Hill series. As for the boss battle theme, Little Jimmy Urine (from Mindless Self Indulgence, also voicing a punk boss in the game) was brought on the team with an excellent result of explosive tunes that heavily support the intense combats you have to engage yourself in. Like if that was not already enough, the game’s soundtrack also features some licensed songs including Joan Jett’s Cherry Bomb, Children of Bodom’s Needled 24/7, and even Skrillex’s Rock and Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain).

The game does suffer from some problems unfortunately. The most notable element is that the gameplay is very stiff like I mentioned earlier. You never really feel like you can attack enemies exactly like you would really want to, making it hard to chain combos together easily. Also, the game is very, VERY linear with basically no alternate path letting you play the game how you want. This is usually not a bad thing in some games but it does get repetitive and less motivating at some point. Finally, the game has very low replay value, giving you almost no reason to go through it after you are done with the game’s single player.

Despite that it is not what I would call a AAA title, Lollipop Chainsaw is a very entertaining game. If you are looking for a change from the modern shooters, the prince-saving-the-princess, and all the other predictable video game stories, this game is definitely for you. I would highly suggest you rent it at least, and to buy it if you are a big Suda51 fan. Lollipop Chainsaw is not the designer’s best effort but it sure is not one you should pass on.

Positives

- Original and over-the-top story
- Incredibly great soundtrack
- Great boss battles
- Humorous non-politically correct dialogues

Negatives:

- Very “stiff” gameplay
- Rather short game with low replay value

Game experience at time of redaction: Game cleared on Normal difficulty.

Lollipop Chainsaw is available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $59,99.

Original Article

Cross Border Gaming #113: Kevin, The Magic Waffle

Harold and Frank are joined by Andy Hoover of Nintendojo (and People Eating Tasty Animals) as they wrap up E3 and also talk THQ’s new boss dissing Saints Row the Third, a Minecraft wedding, things to do on public transit, a release window for Rock Band Blitz (spoiler: not soon enough), a bunch of Zen Pinball/Pinball FX news, a bunch of Nintendo news, & more.

Download Now
[podcast]http://s93380653.onlinehome.us/CBG_Podcast/episodes/cbg113.mp3[/podcast]

On This Week’s Episode:

  • E3 Wrap Up - Nintendo
  • 38 Studios Declares Bankruptcy
  • Zen Studios In the Process of making a PopCap based Table
  • Wii U will not be sold at a loss to have simplified friend codes

Alternate show titles that didn’t make it:  “Happy to Satisfy You in Any Way”

Subscribe:

  • [iTunes] Subscribe to Cross Border Gaming in iTunes.
  • [Stitcher] Subscribe to us on Stitcher
  • [RSS] Add the Cross Border Gaming feed to your RSS aggregator.

Contact:

  • [Email] Have your questions, comments, and rants read on the air every episode.
  • [Twitter] Send a tweet to @CBGPodcast to have it read on the show.
  • [Facebook] Become a fan on Facebook to receive our latest shows and updates.

Hosts:

Harold (@usfhbomb) & Frank (@EMaster1980) with Special Guest Andy Hoover

Audioboo: Hbomb (Harold),  E*Master (Frank)

Music:

Intro Song: The CBG Theme by E*Master
Played during the show: Various
Outro: Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations

Original Article

Have Small Hands? This May Be The Controller For You.

I have small hands. Child-sized hands. Kids medium glove sized hands. And while they may look cute (or creepy, depending on your viewpoint), they aren’t really conducive for gaming. Think about it. You need a fairly decent hand span to be able to accurately and effectively press all the buttons on today’s controllers. Can’t reach the end of the joystick? You die. Have trouble stretching your finger to the R2 button? You die. Get so mad at your hands for being too small for the controller that you throw it against the wall in a fit of rage? The controller breaks mid-way through the game and you die.

So, what do you do if you’ve been blessed/cursed with small hands and a love of gaming? Well, you could simply suck it up, play for as long as you can and then spend the next few days nursing your sore hands (and inevitably a bruised ego). Or, you can get yourself a Power A controller and enjoy hours upon hours of blissful, pain-free, gaming heaven.

Power A makes controllers and accessories for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, PS Vita, Nintendo DS – pretty much every major gaming system. Since I’m a PS3 kind of girl who loves all things wireless, I opted for their mini pro elite wireless. Like its namesake clearly states, this controller is well, mini, which is a dream come true for us baby-handed folks. Everything from the actual button sizes to the distance between buttons is noticeably smaller than the controller that comes with your PS3. For the first time, my tiny thumbs have no problem reaching the d-pad, analog sticks or movement control buttons and my itty-bitty pointer fingers can finally reach the R1, R2, L1 and L2 buttons with ease. Even the analog sticks have tiny grips along the rims, making it nearly impossible for anyone, big or small, to have issues using them.

Unlike Sony’s controller, which has a lot of sharp edges that can easily dig into your skin, the mini pro elite wireless controller is curved. This sleek, smooth, ergonomic design means that you can grip the controller as tight as you want without having sharp corners jutting into your hands. So, go ahead, use that death grip you’ve spent years perfecting. Your hands will barely notice.

All of Power A’s PS3 controllers, including my beloved mini pro elite wireless, have the left analog stick on the top left and d-pad on the bottom left – the same position as in every Xbox 360 controller. It may take a little time for you to adjust to this new set-up, especially if you’re a hardcore PS3 gamer, but don’t be alarmed. You’ll be battling minotaurs and creatures from Shangri-La with ease in no time.

In order to battle these aforementioned creatures, you need to have a firm grasp on which face button is which. The makers of nearly every PS3 game are aware of this fact. That’s why a green triangle or pink square will flash on the screen during a fight. Flashing a picture of the face button as it looks on your controller can greatly help us directionally challenged folks. I may not remember where the x button is per say, but my brain does remember where the blue x button is. Therefore, when a picture of the face button with its matching color appears on the screen, I know instinctively which button to push.

Unfortunately, Power A did not take this color association into consideration. Their face buttons lack those iconic colors we’ve all come to know and love. If you look very closely you will notice the faint outline of a shape. However, most of us don’t play with the controller up against our faces. There is a button on the underside of the controller that causes all the face buttons to light up in a funky, neon blue and, while that does make the buttons easy to read from far away, it doesn’t change the fact that they are all still the same color.

So, the question remains. Should you purchase the mini pro elite wireless controller? If you have small hands, the answer is a resounding yes. If you have normal sized hands, the answer is also a resounding yes. If you have larger than life giants hands, well, I don’t know anyone who fits that bill, but I imagine the answer would be no. Then again, if you fit that description you would never buy anything with the word mini in it, unless it was something you ingest. After all, who doesn’t love a mini doughnut?

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Asura’s Wrath | Review (PS3)

Asura’s Wrath is a game that is unlike anything I have ever seen before. An interesting new IP from Capcom, Asura’s Wrath takes you through the tale of a demigod’s revenge, and his wrath. A lot of wrath.

Early footage of Asura’s Wrath made it seem like some kind of crazy interactive cutscene, but it so much more than that. Its an experience, and its one I won’t soon forget.

The game’s story is about the Eight Guardian Generals, which are eight demigods employed by the Emperor to stop the evil impure beings, the Gohma. The game opens with an all out war between the Guardian Generals’ fleet and the evil Gohma. From there, Asura, the main character, gets killed, comes back to life, loses his memory, and fights beings the size of planets. The story is absolutely ridiculous, as are its characters. Each of the demigods have their own transformations and their own absolutely insane scenes all to themselves. For example, one Demigod may expand into the size of a mountain and crush you under is bum. He may then punch you into space, grow to the size of a planet, and try to crush you with his finger. This, mind you, is only one of the demigods you face and there are still six more.

An easy way to think of the story is as an anime, especially since a third or more of the gameplay takes place in cutscene form. The characters and story follow similar anime tropes, as does the character and level design. Fights that span large cities/canyons, over-the-top angry characters, lone-wolves, and characters that only speak by yelling are all pretty normal here. Also, you’ll traverse from a medieval town located in a fissure to giant space ships in the sky, because nothing about an anime universe like this feels the need to make any sense. Fight scenes last multiple “chapters”, much like those encountered in Dragon Ball Z games, which usually contained three episodes of grunting and two more of punching. Similarly, the characters have an anime feel to them as well. All of the Eight Guardian Generals have a similar robotic design, drawn in a cell-shaded style, with dark thick lines running through their skin that make them almost statuesque. It is well stylized in this crazy universe the developers have crafted.

Unfortunately, some of the environmental textures seem really low-resolution when viewed up close. A noticeable example is the side of a giant space ship looking blocky and zoomed in, where you can see giant pixels lining the side like you’re back on the SNES. In comparison to the the great character designs, this noticeably ugly level/environment design decreases the beauty of the experience.

Gameplay falls into three basic categories: flying around and shooting like your basic shoot’em up (top-down shooter), or ‘shmup’; third-person action where you mash buttons and perform combos; and interactive cutscenes which are full of quick-time events.

When I say flying around like a shmup, I really mean it. Think of Panzer Dragoon, where Asura is flying around the screen destroying everything in his wake, as well as marking targets and shooting them with red rockets. Mind you, you’re actually just a person, so you’re more likely throwing some kind of projectiles out of your hands, although the game isn’t really clear on this. Suffice it to say, its ridiculous and satisfying, because you frequently lay waste to entire fleets of space ships and other enemies.

The combat portions are very basic. You have basic attacks that combo themselves and heavy attacks that have to cool down every time you use one. The combat feels far less refined than similar games like Darksiders. It is much more rudimentary and lacks any real creativity. Since it is only a third of the game and these sections typically last two minutes or less, it’s really not that much of an issue. Also, even though the combat is relatively basic, you will frequently encounter performance issues in both the third-person combat and even when simply flying around shooting monsters.

When engaged in either of the two types of gameplay listed above, there is a gauge under your health bar that slowly builds as you blow up ships and punch enemies in the face. Once it fills, you have the option to “Burst”, which is really the game’s focal mechanic. Once you burst, you enter a cutscene which includes numerous quick-time events. Usually, these scenes are absolutely insane. You may grow four extra arms, punch someone the size of the planet or take a sword in the stomach and fall through the stratosphere. Yes, all these things happen. Even though you aren’t in direct control of your character, it’s still incredibly satisfying to witness and your mind will be blown at some of the feats Asura performs.

Some unfortunate drawbacks, however, are the constant performance issues. Frequently, when the action gets more frenetic, the frame rate will drop significantly. There are also some choppy audio issues. In addition to these problems, the game’s occasional blocky environmental designs can be frustrating. Luckily, however, there are only four or five instances where this is evident.

Although I loved the insane story and its ups and downs, it ends with a good deal of unanswered questions and leaves an enormous gap for a sequel.

If you can enjoy the game regardless of its lack of resolution and huge focus on quick-time events like I did, then you’ll have a good time with Asura’s Wrath. If you don’t like either of these things, you may want to steer clear. I must say, there are some incredible story moments throughout the game, that I will never forget. Even though the game is only about eight hours long, it was some of the most entertaining eight hours of gaming I’ve ever experienced.

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