Waffle Squadron Omega

The new Punch-Out!! for the Wii seems to be hitting all the right notes.  Literally, since the snippet of score you hear in the video below seems to be a great, brassy version of the classic fight song.  Little Mac?  Check.  Punching King Hippo in the hernia, making him inadvertently drop trow?  Check.  Glass Joe?  Check.  The absolute best part of the video is Joe’s knockout, rife with subtle symbolism alluding to his French citizenship.

The only thing missing?  Mike Tyson, obviously.  Still, this is a whole hell of a lot closer to the NES classic than Super Punch Out for the SNES ever was.  I was always disappointed that they changed so many of the old classic characters for the 16-bit follow up.  It seemed like the designers originally intended to bring back old favorites but changed their minds at the last second, made minor sprite changes and gave the fighters new names.  Might the Wii version reach even further back into the Old School and bring back the “BODYBLOW!!BODYBLOW!!” I remember hearing above the rest of the arcade din in my tender youth?  Probably not, since that tended to grate on the nerves after a few minutes.  Still!  Enjoy…

Now, this seems like the Nintendo future I had envisioned as a kid.  Not the trendy minimalism of most first party Wii games (Mii Channel, Wii Sports, etc) but huge, fun, colorful characters with just the right amount of Japanese wackiness!  Not that Wii Sports wasn’t a blast, it just seemed a bit vanilla in the style department, y’know?  Lemme know what you think in the comments!

Fileplanet is now handing out free beta keys to play Age of Booty…the PC version, anyway.  You gotta sign up for a free Fileplanet account and wait a half hour before downloading the client, but hey…for a game that started as an inside joke at Bungie called “Pimps at Sea”, it’s worth a little work.  Also, it’s free.

Wow, this crept up on me without even noticing! Kotaku covered this a few days ago from Famitsu’s article on Phantasy Star 0, but it seems like Sega has launched a new website for the game today!

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Cap’n Jack here, with a Rewind Review! The Rewind Review features an old(ish) game that may have slipped under the gaming radar, and we rent, play, and review it for you!

Today, I bring you “WarTech: Senko Ronde“, released in May 2007 for Xbox 360. I tried this game upon a suggestion from one of Pernell’s friends he saw at PAX 2008. This game puts you in the role of a Rounder Mech pilot, in which you must battle your way past enemies in a story set in the distant future. Earth and the entire galaxy are your battleground, as you fight an assortment of mechs and bosses.

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Just saw a great post on Joystiq.  Someone here found this picture:

I for one will sleep better knowing that if things don’t go quite as well as the CERN scientists say they will, Gordon Freeman - Action Physicist will be on hand to minimize any Unforeseen Consequences.  As one commenter noted, the hard hats aren’t just for falling objects…they’re prudent protection against Headcrabs.

…or does The One Free Man bring death and destruction in his wake?  Will the crackpots be right in screaming that a black hole will eat the world tomorrow?  Or will we only be trying to settle into the semblance of a normal life in City 17 in a few years, ducking Combine Overwatch patrols and being utterly unable to procreate?

Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

So, finally my summary of my first PAX experience with PAX 2008 comes to a close.

I hope you guys enjoy the final chapter in my journey from Delaware to Seattle, to enjoy the largest fan-gathering of gamers in America, and the latest and hottest upcoming games.

I’m sad that it ended so soon, but my feet are glad to finally get some rest.

PAX Experience Day 3

Well, I finally finished the Day 2 page.

Man, I hope someone reads all this. It’s a lot of work!

Remember, you can submit comments on the main PAX Recap post page here.

Hope you enjoy!

PAX Experience Day 2

Hey guys! I finished fixing all the pictures on the original post, and the Day 1 page.

Also added some more stuff on Day 1 that I saw, including cosplay pics and Brawndo!

Check out the full article here:

PAX Experience Day 1

So, unfortunately I was wayyy too tired and busy at PAX to make live updates. Whatever. Nobody was checking the site until they got home from PAX anyway, which it turns out we had a big bump in unique visits on Wednesday 9/3. So, I guess the buttons worked! (For those who don’t know, there was a HUGE buttons-exchange where people designed and purchased buttons online to trade at PAX. My buttons can be seen here.) So yeah, sorry my update is so late. What do you want for free?

Anyway, on to my full PAX experience!

Update: PAX Days 1 & 2 have been completed. Day 3 is coming Monday!

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Have fun at PAX, you lucky bastards!  Sure, you’ll enjoy playing Left 4 Dead and countless other awesome games, but will this be at Gabe & Tycho’s event??:

I tend to dislike mobile games as a rule.  If it’s not Tetris, why bother?  I found this on Kotaku today and Gameloft may have just changed my mind.  The video speaks for itself. ..and it doesn’t even need audio to do it.