tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85943525739431029442012-02-14T16:22:10.368-08:00Reviews, Commentaries, and Discussions Centered Around the Medium of Video GamesBeyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.comBlogger1921100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-10723555030115340402012-02-14T13:25:00.000-08:002012-02-14T13:25:23.677-08:00

In other news, I realize that it is Valentine's Day, a time of love and so on and so forth. So I think today is a good day to show off my own labor of love that I've been working on for the past few year. Hold on and hit the jump, because what you are about to see is the worlds first glimpse at some of the great concept art from Star MERCs, an action/arcade shooter being developed by my own

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-74136530364517567532012-02-14T11:17:00.000-08:002012-02-14T11:17:51.609-08:00

This beautiful sunrise is from a "Rated M for Manly" title I recently read a blog article titled "Rated M for Manly" that I unfortunately could not agree with. The gist of the article was that game developers were decrying the Wii and promoting an unhealthy number of M-rated games in order to vicariously feel manly. Which...is pretty ridiculous. There are plenty of reasons to dislike the Wii,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-21499187784861902562012-02-10T11:46:00.000-08:002012-02-10T13:52:58.611-08:00

The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy here at Beyond the Controller getting ready for the next big feature: The 2012 Edition of the Top 25 Gaming Soundtracks of All Time is swiftly coming, and the work that has gone into it this year has topped both the prior years put together. Not only has the number of soundtracks considered for the honor more than doubled, but new tweaks have been

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-6897289849606219682012-02-03T15:01:00.001-08:002012-02-03T15:07:54.010-08:00

Talk to any group of seasoned gamers long enough, and eventually the topic of casual games is bound to come up. From the most hardcore to the relaxed, most gamers have an opinion of casual games. Some despise them, seeing them as nothing more then a development that cheapens the medium. Others see them as a fun way to play games with family and friends who've never bothered to try games before,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-92114042898132684912012-01-31T12:39:00.000-08:002012-01-31T12:44:05.035-08:00

TF2's Heavy Weapons Guy Summarizes My Feelings on the Gaming Community this Week There are weeks that pass when I'm proud to be a gamer. Proud to be on the forefront of a new entertainment medium, and even prouder to be working in that medium. Days pass where I look at some of the envelopes that developers push and I get a feeling of grand satisfaction that comes with being involved in new

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-28098540856925747312012-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:002012-01-20T12:52:29.544-08:00

Earlier this week I wrote a pretty strongly worded case for why DLC was significantly damaging many players gaming experiences with an article heavily criticizing one of DLC's common flaws. But I couldn't rest without presenting a good counter argument for the case of DLC because as much as I find problems with the current DLC system that need to be fixed, as a whole I actually like DLC. I like

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-26204042682787815782012-01-17T12:39:00.000-08:002012-01-17T12:48:25.131-08:00

Horse Armor! It does nothing for only $5! These days, it seems like there isn't a game released without at least one piece of Downloadable Content (DLC) becoming available in the first few weeks of its life. In the modern gaming world, DLC has replaced the expansion packs and content patches of old, asking players to shell out slightly smaller sums of money (called of all things,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-88135032940015222652012-01-11T16:19:00.000-08:002012-01-11T16:25:21.195-08:00

Image owned/copyright Ubisoft Over the Holiday period I had the chance to indulge myself in Ubisoft's newest Rayman title (called, unsurprisingly, Rayman: Origins), a co-operative two-to-four player affair that returns Rayman to his platforming roots for some beautifully hand-drawn (and hilarious) gameplay. Now, while the glut of holiday games means I won't be doing a full and proper review for

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-79393186153603119922012-01-10T14:02:00.000-08:002012-01-10T14:02:19.672-08:00

At this point, I've brought this blog back from the edge of death so many times I may need to start buying Phoenix Downs in bulk! To be fair, a lot was happening that kept me from updating this site in a timely manner, but it was for the best. Soon, very soon, this blog will be getting the first teaser of a look at my studios upcoming Action-Arcade title. It's coming and coming soon. Before that

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-1494457555623728292011-08-15T18:01:00.000-07:002011-08-15T18:03:51.103-07:00

No, I'm not dead yet. That said, offerings may be sparse over the next few weeks (although hopefully not nonexistent as they have been) before coming back up to speed. In any case, although there may not be as many articles as I'd like to have up here, there are a few in the wings getting ready for deployment, and if you check back over the next few weeks you're bound to find some new stuff.

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-4448057628713615262011-06-25T16:02:00.000-07:002011-06-25T18:04:02.709-07:00

Microsoft's Latest Cash Grab is Nothing Anyone Needs Magic new armor and a lack of Bungie. It's Zombie Chief, back from the end! It was hard to miss the grins on Microsoft's faces walking onto the stage at this years E3. After all, Microsoft had formed 343 studios with the sole purpose of milking the Halo franchise dry (my words not theirs, but effectively true) so we knew that Microsoft had to

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-18599356216226477242011-06-24T17:18:00.000-07:002011-06-24T18:24:24.407-07:00

This Demo Doesn't Disappoint For Sonic fans who celebrated Sonic's 20th Anniversary on Thursday, the last 20 years have been full of more ups and downs then one of Sonic's trademark speedy levels. The series started out strong, but with the advent of 3D weakened and split the fanbase right down the middle with a rough move to 3D, hordes of added characters that didn't belong, and gimmicks that

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-35463110134518440822011-06-21T23:10:00.000-07:002011-06-21T23:10:19.630-07:00

Is Capcom's latest DLC offering for SSFIV worth the Price? The Street Fighter series is known for many things, from its fast and fluid fighting system to its robust character options, but one thing that has been more a mark of Street Fighter than any other fighting game is Capcom's love of releasing multiple copies of each title. Each one is tweaked with new character balancing, new modes,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-50538920411704621322011-06-19T04:21:00.000-07:002011-06-19T04:21:12.760-07:00

If any of you become global industry leaders in the entertainment industry, here's a great lesson you can pick up from Microsofts E3 presentation this year: Never start by welcoming people to a "global media briefing". Sure that might be what it is, but that's a bit like telling the buyer of a sports car that he's about to purchase a "personal combustion transportation device." At this point,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-13721284896929755782011-06-09T21:01:00.000-07:002011-06-09T21:01:46.211-07:00

Nintendo has got class. Sony starts it's show with flashy techno beats. Microsoft, of course, goes with as much pop music as it can. Nintendo on the other hand started out its E3 presentation with a live orchestra playing nothing other than an impressive Medley from the Legend of Zelda series. As far as presentations go, it was a unique way to start. Normally the crowd is talkative and noisy, but

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-70350426464851568142011-06-06T19:41:00.000-07:002011-06-07T02:52:21.356-07:00

Yeah I know, Microsoft was earlier, but time zones being what they are, you're getting the Sony review first. Besides, it doesn't sound like I missed much. Anyway, that aside, lets jump in! The big question on everyone's mind heading into this years E3 (or one of them at least) was what Sony was going to do to respond to their recent *ahem* security and network issues. With all of the bad

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-22660339544524983902011-06-04T15:35:00.000-07:002011-06-04T15:35:19.368-07:00

Rage. It may not look like much, but wait until you see it in action This years E3 is just around the corner (look for my coverage next week) but the usual E3 hype has already begun with developer after developer dropping teasers, hints and in some cases just jumping the gun early and putting whole five-to-ten minute presentations out on the web. In sifting through all these inevitable teasers

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-71832163964671219242011-06-01T21:48:00.000-07:002011-06-01T21:48:33.278-07:00

I play a fair amount of Minecraft. It just can't be helped, it's a great game and I enjoy what time I get to spend with it. But I've noticed a subtle disconnect with the enjoyment I experience playing Minecraft compared to the understanding of those who are watching me play Minecraft. If I'm playing a game like Magicka (and excellent ride), Portal 2, or Street Fighter, people are usually fairly

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-6835924428908123782011-05-30T22:33:00.000-07:002011-05-30T22:33:15.640-07:00

Hah hah! It's alive at last! Alright, it has now been over a month since the last post went up here, and for that I apologize. Just when there was a batch of regular viewers, the updates stopped. However, it wasn't something I did. After the review of Dawn of War and week of free games, I was taking some time off, but when I came back to start posting again, I discovered that almost three weeks

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-13301847819466915012011-04-28T17:48:00.000-07:002011-05-29T19:05:53.340-07:00

Don't make her angry. She has a floating skull! In the future, there is only war. Luckily for all of us, the future of Warhammer 40,000 is a long way off. For those unfamiliar with how Games Workshop's classic tabletop miniatures game has envisioned the place, it is not a happy one. In fact, its one you would never want to live in. Unless of course you like the idea of constant warfare on

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-65924132459411694642011-04-15T15:49:00.000-07:002011-04-15T17:15:02.006-07:00

A Nintendo Wii in it's natural setting The rumor gates are wide open this weekend as the general public is finally starting to catch up to industry rumors and reports of closed doors presentations of Nintendo's next-generation home console system prior to what we expect will be an "E3 reveal." Along with the general public's attention of course comes a wide variety of hearsay, 

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-58776067657814357682011-04-15T02:16:00.000-07:002011-04-15T02:20:19.994-07:00

More $$$ value then most $60 games How many times have you seen this scenario on TV. Space ship comes into orbit over human colony. Colony is strangely silent, with no-one responding to hails. So what does the colony ship do? Send down a group of inexperienced civilians and scientists soon to be members of some crazy alien food chain. Bottom members. Fortunately for us, Alien Swarm is not from

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-46620351803902389242011-04-13T23:01:00.000-07:002011-04-13T23:03:27.144-07:00

Image courtesy Nadeo If you've ever played a racing title and thought "I can make a better track then that" this is your chance to prove it. Not only is Trackmania Nations Forever a free excuse to send your car flipping and spinning through ramps, loops and half-pipes courtesy of Nadeo, it's also a full set of track building tools ready for you to build your own crazy course. The Trackmania

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-27971881828087504902011-04-13T05:05:00.000-07:002011-04-13T16:24:43.016-07:00

Its short but sweet Most readers familiar with games probably expected me to showcase Cave Story at some point this week. Well, that right there is as much of a mention as Cave Story is getting (go download it though, it is pretty good) because its gotten plenty of write-ups on other sites (all well deserved). Rather then simply retread those write ups, I'll be looking at another fanmade title

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-46543885772971180772011-04-12T01:42:00.000-07:002011-04-12T01:42:53.417-07:00

Battle for Wesnoth is a top tier strategy game. I'd pay $30 for it. Turn based strategy games are few in number, and it's small wonder. Whether it's Civilization, Advance Wars, or Fire Emblem, they don't have much room for competition. Turn based strategy games are slow and inexorable in their approach. You sit down with the intention of playing just a few minutes and before you know it hours

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-59133370222686874412011-04-10T23:50:00.000-07:002011-04-11T21:09:14.694-07:00

Streets of Rage Remake is an epic blast. Worth 25 bucks on a console. Back in the 16-bit era of gaming the Brawler genre reached an all-time high. Spurred on my genre starters such as River City Ransom and Double Dragon, Brawlers put the player in the task of defeating hundreds of baddies--one fist at a time. Brawlers are mostly a mix between fighting games and adventure games, the idea that

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-31255741853670143032011-04-09T21:20:00.000-07:002011-04-09T21:20:26.649-07:00

Heads up. Sorry Recettear. You're cool, but you won't make a dime here. Next week I'm pulling off another one-a-day feature, this one for the enterprising gamer with wallet issues. In light of most games going up to $60 these days, and some rumored to be jumping up to $90 in the near future, that's all of us. This next week, I'm going to be looking at five free games that are so good, you'd

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-9027476003094607552011-04-07T05:17:00.000-07:002011-04-07T05:17:37.070-07:00

First we looked at layouts and mechanics, then we looked at scenery and equipment, today we take our third and final look at what goes into building a good map as we look at spawn points and players. Before I hop into this completely though, just a quick refresher for those out there who need it. Today in the gaming industry we have what is known as DLC (short for downloadable content).Paid for

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-30179379883593580862011-03-30T23:06:00.000-07:002011-03-30T23:06:35.975-07:00

Last week I posted the first in what is now going to be a small series of articles on map design. The reason? A lot of games, especially FPS games have found a steady market for small packs of after market content. Downloads bringing new maps, new weapons, and new features have become so prevalent, its almost expected of any developer to produce new content at some point after release. Of course

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-31387894177693607382011-03-26T21:44:00.000-07:002011-03-26T21:44:33.235-07:00

If you've never had the good fortune to stumble across OverClocked Remix then you'll need a bit of explanation, but if you're one of the millions of OCR listeners around the world you'll want to hear about this new album already. For those not in the know (yet), OCR is a collection of composers who take video game tunes, any tune from any game source and re-imagine it. These aren't remixes in

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-87796106421822146672011-03-25T15:07:00.000-07:002011-03-25T15:07:43.727-07:00

Image from Halo Reach's Noble Map Pack by Bungie For those of you who play First-Person-Shooters, you are likely familiar with the gaming industries latest pocket change tactic of releasing DLC map packs. It's inevitable that, at some point in the life of the game you bought (very possibly before it even ships) that an extra set of maps will become available. More likely several sets of maps.

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-87756840313543918762011-03-25T01:56:00.000-07:002011-03-26T22:47:06.384-07:00

Here it is. The Number 1 soundtrack for this year. It wasn't wasn't easy to arrive at this decision. In fact, it was hard, especially when the last two tied. But when it came down to it, I had to pick one, and I made my decision. I give you: That's right. This years #1 position is going to none other the Yasunori Mitsuda's orginal masterpiece, the one that started him down the path to being a

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-60049545589820492092011-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:002011-03-24T17:28:24.878-07:00

So according to what I've heard, Sucker Punch is the next big movie critics say you shouldn't see because it resembles a video game. Say what now? That's right, movie critics have apparently decided that their next big tactic to halt the growing advance of video games as a medium is to remind everyone they can that each new movie that isn't up to snuff is so because it embraces "...the video

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-45923331455263433122011-03-24T04:02:00.000-07:002011-03-24T04:02:34.584-07:00

Number 2: Sonic 3 & Knuckles This was a hard decision, but I made it. When it came down to the final two soundtracks, I was left with a tie, and I had to make the call. So I did. The number two position for the Top 25 Gaming Soundtracks this year is being handed over to none other then Sonic 3 & Knuckles. S3&K was one of the most ambitious genesis titles, a game so large that it had to be split

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-31112423860057466572011-03-23T21:55:00.000-07:002011-03-23T21:57:56.372-07:00

I love being right. A few months back I ran a two-part feature (an article and a follow up piece) discussing the new techniques and abilities the Kinect would unleash on the gaming world. In particular, I made the following prediction: The first thing that jumped to my mind was head tracking for camera and targeting systems. By this, I mean that as you played the game, Kinect would track your

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-49685776054030041782011-03-23T02:25:00.000-07:002011-03-23T02:25:40.638-07:00

Number 3: Halo Reach Sometimes a soundtrack is great because its made with care and love. Sometimes its great because it brings a number of elements together in the best way possible. Maybe it's the composition. And just sometimes, it's great because it's all of these things and more besides. As we come down to these last final three, it's truly only the best of the best that make it this far,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-36065234871914603652011-03-22T23:40:00.000-07:002011-03-22T23:40:00.565-07:00

After my harsh experience with the Crysis 2 demo left me feeling burned, it would still be strange if I missed it's launch day without some sort of news. It's here, but most of the reviews out there are of the console versions. So I took the liberty of tracking down a PC review for those who are interested. PC Gamer's Review of Crysis 2. Their review seems pretty fair, and critical of the same

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-73713355935786828972011-03-22T03:55:00.000-07:002011-03-22T03:55:25.263-07:00

Number 4: Halo: ODST Martin O' Donnell is a strong force for the music side of the gaming industry. While he toiled away at Bungie for some time, it wasn't until Bungie released Halo that he was catapulted into the spotlight. Halo's sudden popularity on the console scene launched the number of listeners he had garnered to far past what it had been. But it also gave rise to a more interesting

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-32465134705133870452011-03-21T02:37:00.000-07:002011-03-21T02:41:31.831-07:00

Number 5: Xenogears Now we crack the top five. The peak of what gaming music and musicians have to offer. It doesn't get much better than the week we have ahead, and tonight I bring you the number five best gaming soundtrack of this year: Xenogears. Xenogears is well, I'm going to link the whole soundtrack on a Youtube playlist right here. You can listen to individual songs if you wish, but the

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-39516807561165190972011-03-19T19:06:00.000-07:002011-03-19T19:06:56.423-07:00

Heh, it's been no secret that I tend to stay pretty busy. But now you're about to see why. Because I now own my own game development studio: PolyGonic Games. We're still getting everything taken care of, but we're also working towards our first release. More on that later. The big thing today is that my studio needs help. Not money, but opinions. Because I don't want my studio to be another

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-34120309856529471912011-03-18T00:57:00.000-07:002011-03-18T01:00:55.146-07:00

Number 6: Final Fantasy VI There are a lot of powerful titles out there that are held in high esteem, and many of which are early Final Fantasy titles (they've dropped off a bit as of late). Of that series however, two are constantly brought into battle for the top position: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VI. There is quite a bit of debate from one side or the other over which is the better

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-61209469869682400552011-03-17T04:40:00.000-07:002011-03-17T04:40:36.656-07:00

Number 7: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Last year when I first tackled the subject of top gaming soundtracks, readers may remember that when I placed  Super Mario Galaxy in 8th place I mentioned that if the composers kept up their good work on the sequel, the next soundtrack would doubtlessly place even higher. One year later and here we are. Super Mario Galaxy soars into 7th place, barely besting it's

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-21580728856292331742011-03-16T03:49:00.000-07:002011-03-16T03:49:35.080-07:00

Number 8: Sonic Colors Sonic Colors was a soundtrack that I knew was going to do well on this list before it even came out. In part due to the success of another game on this list (Sonic Unleashed), but also because even the early teasers the game offered of its soundtrack just clicked right. So it was that Sonic Colors became one of the last games I reviewed, largely because the soundtrack

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-78713559893617346082011-03-15T05:22:00.000-07:002011-03-15T05:22:23.870-07:00

Number 9: Command and Conquer Command and Conquer hails from the heyday of computing, back when PC games were the unchallenged kings of style and innovation and new genre's were coming out every month. Command and Conquer was one of the first RTS games, and for many the first true RTS ever developed. When Westwood studios went to work on it, they knew that every bit of it needed to be a blast.

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Number 10: Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles If you're bored with the standard fare of gaming soundtracks, The Crystal Chronicles is a good way to get some variety into your musical diet as much like a salad, Crystal Chronicles style is something you probably don't see that often. Which is a shame. Crystal Chronicles is one of the Final Fantasy series black sheep. An experimental title for

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-866808858322297242011-03-12T00:18:00.000-08:002011-03-12T00:20:02.071-08:00

Image Credit Wikipedia Alright, so ordinarily I would not be posting commentary on movies on here (with one prior exception) but this is one of those special cases. Tonight I went to see a movie I had been both looking forward to and dreading for some time: Battle LA. I had been looking forward to it because the previews were promising a straightforward serious take on the Sci-fi Alien Invasion

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-75197077304879107712011-03-08T14:31:00.000-08:002011-03-08T15:31:17.527-08:00

First things first, today's topic will contain spoilers for a title not yet past the year mark, Starcraft II. So if you haven't yet played Starcraft II but don't want anything spoiled for you, then you might want to avoid the further reading button, because some major spoilers are going to be discussed with our topic today. If you're not familiar with the term Retconning, its short for the

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-7279432559721471912011-03-07T02:48:00.000-08:002011-03-07T02:48:28.956-08:00

Don't worry, it's not dead yet. But I am having a week long break between our first fifteen soundtracks and the final ten, mainly just because I'm swamped lately and I need the break. Plus, I'd like to be able to do a few review features that I've been meaning to do for a while. So relax, The Top 25 Gaming Soundtracks will be back next Monday.

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Number 11: Planetary Pieces: Sonic World Adventure Here we are, the last entry before the coveted top ten. Taking home spot number 11 is a winner of  last years top ten placement, Planetary Pieces. Planetary Pieces was the official soundtrack of Sonic Unleashed, one of the Blue Sega Mascot's more recent attempts to pull the series back on track. Part of this was a switch in the soundtrack styles

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-66130088187833072212011-03-03T01:46:00.000-08:002011-03-03T01:46:43.969-08:00

Number 12: Donkey Kong Country 2 Ah the good old days of Retro gaming. When main characters weren't muscle bound gun-toting action heroes (most of them), when seeing platforms suspended over the abyss was common, and when two monkeys teamed up to save another monkey from a vicious band of alligator pirates. Oh yes, those were the days. Donkey Kong Country 2 was that last title, a tough as nails

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Number 13: Mirror's Edge Mirror's Edge is a unique premise for a video game. It's rare to see an FPS that isn't all about run-and-gun action and Mirror's Edge not only embraces that concept, it outright encourages the player to avoid guns whenever possible, instead tasking the player with performing full out Parkour maneuvers to navigate the games environment. It was unfortunately a title that

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-19152173295328004962011-03-01T02:34:00.000-08:002011-03-01T02:34:46.688-08:00

Number 14: Halo 3 These days, Martin O' Donnell and Michael Salvatori have reached the point when they can't release a single soundtrack without being nominated for some kind of award. Lets face it, their work on Halo just kept getting bigger and better. What started as a few live instruments for the first title became a much larger assemblage and choir for the second title, and by the time

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Number 15: Super Mario Galaxy Super Mario Galaxy is a pretty solid example of what the top 25 list represents, so if you're looking for a solid score to give to someone, Mario Galaxy is probably a movement in the right direction. Beyond the Controller is no stranger to this soundtrack, after all it was our Number Eight last year, and while it may have dropped a few spaces this time around, Mario

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-17470042605314524962011-02-25T16:47:00.000-08:002011-02-25T16:47:23.006-08:00

Sorry about the delay, the internet and routers at my apartment went kerplooey last night and I wasn't able to get on in time. Updates should be back on track.

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Number 16: Secret of Mana Oh, the days of 16-bit RPGs. When co-op was faintly dreamed of and games were all about story and exploration. I still remember the first time I played Secret of Mana at a friends house, how awesome it was that we could play cooperatively. I also remember the first big boss we fought, and most of all importantly to this article, I remember humming the music weeks later.

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Number 17: Sonic CD Japan About time this showed up on here. Remember a few numbers back when I posted Sonic CD US edition? Well it's time for the Japan edition to make an appearance! Just a quick recap, Sonic CD is one of the only games, if not the only, which received not one but two soundtracks. One for the US release, and one for the original Japan release as well as the European release.

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Number 18: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 At long last, one of last years victors appears on the list! Red Alert 2, the brainchild of Frank Klepacki, may have dropped a few spaces, but it's no worse for the drop, and I'm personally quite glad to see that RA2's unique mix of industrial-funk/rock held up so well against the mass influx of newcomers this year. In case you missed it when it first

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Number 19: Streets of Rage 2 Back in the 16-bit days of gaming, a soundtrack seeing a separate release was almost unheard of. Nowadays it is much easier to find a CD copy of say FFVI somewhere, but most of us forget that these soundtracks were almost always released years after the game itself came out. Not so with the Streets of Rage series. Not only was the music good enough to warrant a CD

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Number 20: Final Fantasy VII Here's one most probably expected to see on here. After all, Nobuo Uematsu is considered by many to be a sort of modern Beethoven. There are a lot of modern composers out there, but I'd be hard pressed to find one that has produced more quality soundtracks over the years. I'm just going to say this flat out. Uematsu is a highly skilled composer. He's able to weave

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Number 21: Shadow of the Colossus Shadow of the Colossus is one of those few games that is almost universally known, but at the same time rarely played. I'll admit, even I've never played it. But what little I've seen, watched and heard, Shadow of the Colossus is an incredible experience. Its rare that a game is made entirely of boss fights. Its even more rare to make a game where those boss

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Number 22: Chrono Cross Chrono Cross, will we ever see you again? The only sequel, to date, that Chrono Trigger has ever received, Chrono Cross was less popular then its predecessor but still loved by fans of the series. Chrono Trigger was known for its music so it was no surprise to anyone when Chrono Cross was composed once again by Yasunori Mitsuda. Once again, Mitsuda delivers a stellar

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-56354189453728242102011-02-16T20:52:00.000-08:002011-02-17T18:54:15.595-08:00

At this point, Starcraft II is probably one of the few games ever, it ever to have a sequel release date in the 10+ year range. Let it never be said that Blizzard has ever rushed a single one of it's releases. Blizzard is a company second only to Valve for pushing back release dates to add a little extra polish. The real question with Starcraft II however, is not how much spit and polish went

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-89554595772879041172011-02-16T02:44:00.000-08:002011-02-16T02:48:55.755-08:00

Number 23: Sonic CD US When gaming busted onto the CD scene in the early 90s, it did so in a big way. Where a cartridge at the time could anywhere from 2-4 megabytes of hard data, CDs could hold almost 700. Which meant a whole lot more space for graphics, levels, effects and of course music. One of the earlier console games to come out on a CD was the famous and well publicized Sonic CD. With

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-46167322005137231712011-02-15T02:04:00.000-08:002011-02-15T02:04:41.785-08:00

Number 24: Megaman II Ah the NES. The days when games only had a few colors they could display at one time, were really hard, and had terrible box art. But what they lacked in graphics and sophistication they made up for with gameplay and music, and Megaman II is one that succeeded wonderfully on both accounts. As scary as it may sound to us modern players, Megaman II almost never made it. That

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Number 25: Dawn of war II Starting us off at Number 25 is this beast of a soundtrack. Dawn of War II is a Tactical Real-Time Strategy game set in the grim universe of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop games. When I say grim universe, I mean it. If this game ever featured a single blue sky or a rainbow, players heads would probably explode. A game set in a grim universe needs a grim, serious

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-41025403900626433812011-02-12T14:54:00.000-08:002011-02-12T14:54:55.880-08:00

Sony has been generating a lot of news lately, some of it the typical (announcements for new games and peripherals) but some of it is very atypical. Sony is waging a war in court over who really owns their Playstation 3 console once it's been sold: Them or the Customer? The genesis of this legal battle has been building for a while, but the debate truly crystallized a few months ago when Sony,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-42284157583519964752011-02-09T21:57:00.000-08:002011-02-09T22:00:41.252-08:00

It's finally ready. It's finally complete. The Top 25 Best Gaming Soundtracks: 2011 Edition is here on  Beyond the Controller this coming Monday. It's bigger, badder and more elaborate. More links, more details, and a numeric rating system. Oh yeah, its going to be big. But what's changed from last years list? Aside from an upset of last years winners like the album at right? The largest

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-71110046464302323682011-02-03T15:44:00.000-08:002011-02-03T15:46:27.364-08:00

It struck me today how useful cloud gaming really is. No, really. This was because last night, I finally got my computer running again, only to be forced to reformat the hard drive due to the new hardware I'd installed. Now, I was able to save my music and my documents thanks to a handy backup drive, but for the most part, a lot of my game saves were gone. Not all of them. I did manage to find

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-51589705509476163772011-02-02T20:22:00.000-08:002011-02-02T20:22:45.586-08:00

Donkey Kong Country is a series so old a lot of younger gamers probably don't know it was a series. That said, Donkey Kong Country Returns is an excellent chance to sit your son/daughter down to a nice little show and tell of "awesome game from my day". This is because if they liked DKCR, they're very likely going to like the older classic DKC titles. For those of you who are younger readers who

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-15485693071005112572011-01-28T18:37:00.000-08:002011-01-28T18:37:38.803-08:00

Alright, one thing right off the bat, I am deeply apologetic for my long leave of absence. It had some good reasons (some of which you'll be hearing about soon) and some not so good ones (which you won't be hearing about), but the long story short is both and absence of content and of updates that I promised long ago. Hold me to those! Oh, and for you audiophiles out there, the Top 25 Soundtracks

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-35690042098657616882010-12-31T11:22:00.000-08:002010-12-31T11:22:22.255-08:00

I'm not going to lie, its been a while since my last post, and unfortunately it will be a while until my next one as well. Its not jus one thing, its a combination of a lot of things. Some of my negligence was caused by a combination of things: building my game, finals in one of my last semesters at college with all the projects that entaled, figuring out travel arrangements home for Christmas,

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-67883851337382948842010-12-03T18:16:00.000-08:002010-12-03T18:16:03.198-08:00

It's that wonderful time of year again! Christmas is coming, and with it comes the usual deluge of holiday chaos and insanity. Still interspersed with those frantic gift hunts are the quiet and wonderful moments were you pull up close to a mug of hot chocolate and watch the snow come down. There's just something magical about snow. Unfortunately, some of use don't get to experience this because

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-4262472913394986712010-11-16T00:44:00.000-08:002010-11-16T00:44:43.226-08:00

In my last piece, I was questioned, and rightfully so, about what Kinect could bring to several genre's of games. The question is entirely valid, as most of my experience with Kinect revolved around Dance Central. Dancing games may be fun and all, but they're hardly anyone's cup of tea. Which is what prompted this question from regular Time Enforcer Anubis: What will control systems like Kinect

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-233605403374218172010-11-13T00:28:00.000-08:002010-11-13T00:28:43.086-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, gamers and non-gamers. I have played the Kinect. Earlier tonight a Microsoft Representative held a free, open to the public demo of the Kinect. Anyone could walk in, have a snack, and play the Kinect on a large screen TV with a crowd of people. I was one of the first to arrive, because I myself wanted to see what the Kinect held. It was different. It was

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-23710267233299922392010-11-11T13:40:00.000-08:002010-11-11T13:41:08.272-08:00

As a gamer, its very difficult right now to not know that Activision just released their newest Call of Duty game. Ads and voices for this game are everywhere. But should any gamer really be so excited for its release, or any upcoming shooter release? Sure, we might say, it has weapons all based on real guns in the real world. It has a plot about a weapon of mass destruction that could do

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-28269435580881065582010-11-09T19:08:00.000-08:002010-11-09T19:09:19.352-08:00

Sonic games have had a rough path since their glory days. They've endured reboots, the loss of most of the original team, and rapidly seesawed from good solid fun to abysmal exercise in futility with each release. Sega's once crown jewel has rapidly become one of the industries largest whipping boys, and if it wasn't for the blue spiky hedgehogs die-hard fanbase (as conflicted as they are) Sega

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-62185563966078113072010-11-02T13:42:00.000-07:002010-11-02T13:42:52.286-07:00

Well, now that Halloween is over and done and November has come, it's time to look forward at some of the new developments that have gripped the video game industry in preparation for the big Holiday build up. There's a lot in store for the industry in the tail end of this year, some of it good, some of it questionable, but one things for certain, it will be interesting. There is an update for

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And here we are. The eve of October 31st: Halloween. We've looked at villains, soundtracks, remixes, enemies, and crazy moments, there's only one thing left to look at: The five scariest game companies. Happy nightmares. Activision Scary, scary and scary. If you've kept up on your gaming news, you already know why. Activision is the least "video game" of all of the video game companies out

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-39977820336672638112010-10-31T18:15:00.000-07:002010-10-31T18:15:49.511-07:00

I'm short on time due to delays, and there isn't much to say here. There's just a depth of villains to plumb, and there was no way I was only doing one Villain feature. So here are five more villains you don't want to find under your bed before you go to sleep. Lavos Alright, if you've played Chrono Trigger, you can probably guess how Lavos is creepy. If not, let me lay it out for you. Lavos

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Sorry for the delay, updating now! Everyone has had one of these moments in their life. It doesn't matter if its a movie, a game, or even a book, you'll be going along when suddenly something intensely shocking and awesome happens, but its so awesome (and sometimes terrifying) it just makes you think "Oh Crap." Darth Vader is Lukes father! Oh Crap! Stuff like that, where you get a stunning

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-46858205836316756272010-10-28T13:05:00.000-07:002010-10-28T13:07:15.646-07:00

Halloween is creeping ever closer, so if you're planning on having a Halloween party at all, by now you'd best be on the way to getting it set up. A few days previous we looked at some great Halloween style game soundtracks, but maybe you're in need of something with a little more bit, a bit more body, or maybe just to flesh out your playlist with a little extra oomph. Or maybe you're just

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-64589974940555465952010-10-26T15:54:00.000-07:002010-10-27T17:22:17.736-07:00

One thing is for certain about video games: there will always be more things to fight/shoot at/jump on/run from. One of the integral pieces of a video game is the challenge to overcome something, and most of the time that something is going to be an enemy out to get you. It doesn't matter what kind of enemy it is. It could be an armless Goomba from the Mario series or an Android assailant from

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-86706433134023365452010-10-26T12:50:00.000-07:002010-10-26T12:50:11.202-07:00

Diseases suck. Maybe it’s because it’s one of those things that is halfway up to chance. You might catch it, you might get better, you might get a cough, or die. Great. There really isn’t much you can do to stop a disease, short of an anti-dote, and even that’s not a guarantee that the problems been solved. Much like the rest of real life however, there isn’t much that can’t be made more ominous

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-78036282490596909492010-10-25T11:43:00.000-07:002010-10-25T11:43:44.189-07:00

All right, let’s revisit the scenario from yesterday. You were home on Halloween week, wanted to do something Halloween themed, and were uninterested in a movie or book. So you decided to play a game. Well, what if you’re in pretty much the same situation, but all of your friends are over? What do you now? You grab a co-op game of course! While there aren’t a large amount of Co-op games out there

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-83588547004670282562010-10-23T03:56:00.000-07:002010-10-23T03:56:21.077-07:00

Pop quiz. It’s a dark night, there’s no parties in your neighborhood, and your friends are all out of town. You don’t really want to watch a movie or read a book, but playing Mario Galaxy 2 just doesn’t seem to fit the whole Halloween deal, you know? You need some games suited for the Halloween spirit, and since your friends are gone, you’ve got to be able to best them alone. So what to track

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-27031525174893001542010-10-22T17:07:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:07:41.874-07:00

There's a question that often gets asked whenever any particular series has a rabid fanbase that produces their own fan games. How long will it be until that fanbase is capable of producing games that are on par with, or even better then what the actual studio produces? For many styles of games, it's not often that this would ever be the case, most fan groups are just not dedicated enough to sit

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-89644980570437948302010-10-22T04:19:00.000-07:002010-10-22T04:19:23.944-07:00

Looking for a little spooky mood music for that haunted house or Halloween party this year? Video Games have (unsurprisingly) churned out some eerie soundtracks over the years, usually accompanying a horror title (although not always). So if you're looking to add some spooky music to that party of yours, why not start off with a quick youtube search for a few of these soundtracks (search the name

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-45188127636596965952010-10-21T03:53:00.000-07:002010-10-21T03:53:03.067-07:00

Well, starting today we have just over a week until Halloween hits in force. Now I'll admit, I'm a sucker for holidays, and I tend to fall into holiday themes as this time of year approaches. Spooky music for Halloween and horror games, stuff like that. But this year I'll be extending that to Beyond the Controller with a nice little 10 day countdown. Every day you're going to see something new

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-6205731834906623272010-10-15T16:34:00.000-07:002010-10-20T17:06:28.818-07:00

So about two-three months ago now (yes, I didn't count down to the official date, so sue me) the world finally saw the long awaited release of Starcraft II, Blizzard's love letter to Korea and the rest of the RTS loving world at large. Even I picked up a copy, and I must say its a fun game to play. But there was one little thing about the game that bothered me. For whatever reason, as I read

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-812470486445913412010-10-12T16:52:00.000-07:002010-10-13T17:25:54.250-07:00

Alright, so it's been a few months since I announced the upcoming revisit to the Top Ten Soundtracks feature I did in May/April as a Top 25 feature starting in December. For those of you who are new, its a pretty straightforward gig--I'm going to attempt to pin down the top 25 video-game soundtracks of all time. The trick here is that there are a LOT of soundtracks out there from an ever

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-16185465812438723922010-10-11T16:46:00.000-07:002010-10-11T16:46:43.092-07:00

Just a quick shout here to let you all know that I'm not gone. I've been having some severe internet connectivity issues (read: NO internet) so I've been trying to make do with other setups. In any case, I thought I'd just throw out some coolness for the day to make everyone feel glad to be a gamer. First up is Valve's recent release of new Left 4 Dead 2 content, which lets players play as the

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-66123756352472043052010-09-30T14:07:00.000-07:002010-09-30T14:09:59.970-07:00

The concept is simple: Somehow, Dinosaurs have come to infest an abandoned military base on a tropical island, and your crack team of mercenaries has washed up on shore. If this sounds a lot like what you spent time imagining as a kid then this game is what you've been waiting for. This is Primal Carnage. Primal Carnage is a game currently in development by Lukewarm Media. Effectively, the

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-60939294096025900422010-09-28T16:57:00.000-07:002010-09-29T16:29:32.532-07:00

As some of you more news savvy readers may know, the United States Supreme Court is currently hearing a case effectively deciding whether or not games are protected by the First Amendment and whether or not the government should be allowed to regulate what gets sold and what doesn't. Those of you who are even more familiar with this concept may realize that it pretty much is asking for a lead-in

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-90423435816475230052010-09-27T21:30:00.000-07:002010-09-27T21:35:51.442-07:00

Honestly, what else can I say? You're about to read a review of the swan song, the one and only finale, Halo: Reach. Click the link, and see exactly what you came here to see. Halo: Reach Developer: Bungie Studios Publisher: Microsoft Type: First Person Shooter ESRB Rating: M for Mature Platform: X-box 360 (Reviewed) Price on Amazon: $59.99 (Standard Edition), $79.99 (Heroic Edition), $149.99

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-8144788181955083482010-09-23T13:43:00.000-07:002010-09-23T13:43:41.849-07:00

I'm back! It's been just over a month since my last post, but I am finally settled in (mostly) in my new home of the foreseeable future, which means that until I move again, The Game Critic is back online! It couldn't of happened better either, because this is a milestone of a post for this site. Today marks the 100th post placed on this site since its humble beginnings back in 2008. Working out

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-77228727001490759692010-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:002010-07-16T13:39:36.495-07:00

It's been a sort of chaotic week. Between trying to find a job, writing, and getting sick, getting things done this week has been a little less streamlined then normal. But regardless, one of the great things that has occurred this week is the return of my freshly repaired X-box 360, which has allowed me to reopen a few games I haven't touched in a while, one of which I had deliberately walked

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-27149285702654840382010-07-10T15:14:00.000-07:002010-07-11T00:30:15.886-07:00

So the other night I was playing Trackmania Nations Forever (the same game I just finished reviewing) online with friend. Or at least, I was trying to. You see, despite all these advances in computer technology, for some reason networks and routers seem to be determined to remain as obtusely difficult as they have always been. While I could join my friend in a game, for some reason I was unable

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-564412043424377332010-07-10T12:44:00.000-07:002010-07-10T12:44:59.036-07:00

Despite how often I tend to wax on about events inside the industry or their effect on all of us as gamers, I still remember that once in a while, most may actually care to read about something more tightly related to our favorite hobbies. In this case, today you're all getting a double feature, starting with a review of Trackmania Nations Forever. Trackmania Nations Forever Developer: Nadeo

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-45618295609230199072010-07-07T11:18:00.000-07:002010-07-07T11:18:32.209-07:00

At the current rate, if Bobby Kotick keeps talking in public, he may actually eclipse Sony for some of the worst and most uninformed statements said to the public about gaming. If you've ever followed the game industry in the last few years, you've probably heard of Bobby Kotick, either talking about stuff he doesn't understand or going on about (more unfortunately) the one thing he does

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594352573943102944.post-30993949005958668672010-07-06T13:33:00.000-07:002010-07-06T13:33:57.282-07:00

A few weeks ago when I ran my piece on things that are killing gaming, one area that I did wish to discuss, but did not due to it's more complex nature, was the now booming market of downloadable content, or DLC. DLC has actually been around for quite a long time, although what we now call DLC was more commonly called a patch or an update and was exclusively for PC based games only, for a very

Beyond the Controllerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17271112487293165523noreply@blogger.com0