May 20 – May 24

Section: 

This weekend we wrapped up the GWJ annual executive board and shareholders meeting, which is to say that Shawn Andrich came to visit and we drank gin and suffered through a thrashing in Monopoly as delivered by my nine-year-old. It is possible that the gaming failure was an indirect result of some poor land deals I executed with my real-estate-baron child and my dramatic undervaluing of the railroads. Who could possibly say for sure?

This week, Stardock releases Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, which apparently I still get for free as a purchaser of the original and widely panned Elemental: War of Magic. Fallen Enchantress is one of those games that I check in with every few months, and which does, I have to admit, keep improving. The difference between what Elemental was on release and what it is now can not be overstated, and I'll definitely give Legendary Heroes a try to see where the game has come now.

It's been years now, and for whatever sins can be laid at the feet of Stardock, their commitment to make things as right as they possibly can for Elemental is wholly remarkable in the gaming industry right now. They could have long ago just said, "ok, Elemental wasn't great so here's a coupon to get one of a few select Stardock games for free. We cool now?" No, we would not have been cool. But having gotten Fallen Enchantress and now Legendary Heroes for free, not only do they seem to be still trying to atone for the launch or Elemental , but they are doing so by aggressively supporting a game that, by all rights, they should've long since given up for dead.

So, yeah, Stardock. We're cool now on the whole Elemental thing. Here's hoping that Legendary Heroes keeps moving the game forward. In a week of otherwise middling games (my interest in anything Resident Evil long since exhausted), my nod goes to a company that, successful or not, seems willing to keep trying to prove that they value me as their customer. There are a lot of things you can say about Brad Wardell or Stardock, but I don't think that you can question whether they are interested in building a relationship with their customers.

I know it may be a somewhat controversial pick, but my nod for the week goes to Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes.

PC
- Call of Juarez Gunslinger
- Dust: An Elysian Tail (download)
- Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes (download - $40)
- Fast & Furious: Showdown (download)
- Resident Evil: Revelations
- Skyward Collapse (download - $5)
- The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (download - $15)

Xbox 360
- Call of Juarez Gunslinger (XBLA)
- Fast & Furious: Showdown
- Resident Evil: Revelations

PS3
- Call of Juarez Gunslinger (PSN)
- Fast & Furious: Showdown
- Resident Evil: Revelations

Wii U
- Fast & Furious: Showdown
- Resident Evil: Revelations
- Sniper Elite V2

Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)
- Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PSN)

3DS
- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
- Fast & Furious: Showdown

Comments

Ooh, DKC on 3DS. Tempting.

Fluff piece!

IMAGE(http://puffinpalooza.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/puffin-skip.jpg)

RPS's John Walker praised Call of Juarez - Gunslinger, so it's now on my Steam wishlist.

Resident Evil: Revelations is great fun on 3DS (especially the Raid Mode, which is fantastic) so that's already pre-loaded and ready to go. I hear good things about Dust : An Elysian Tale as well. AND that van-helsing game might be a competent diabo-a-like.

Lots of interesting things this week it seems.

..think I'll pass on Men's Room Mayhem though.

MeatMan wrote:

RPS's John Walker praised Call of Juarez - Gunslinger, so it's now on my Steam wishlist.

I'm conflicted on the fact that I read that review. On the one hand, it wouldn't have been on my radar at all and now it is, which is good. On the other, I would have loved being surprised by some of that stuff mentioned in there. But if I hadn't read it, I wouldn't play it...argh. Brain sore.

spider_j wrote:
MeatMan wrote:

RPS's John Walker praised Call of Juarez - Gunslinger, so it's now on my Steam wishlist.

I'm conflicted on the fact that I read that review. On the one hand, it wouldn't have been on my radar at all and now it is, which is good. On the other, I would have loved being surprised by some of that stuff mentioned in there. But if I hadn't read it, I wouldn't play it...argh. Brain sore.

Yeah, it wasn't on my radar either. That review, plus watching a few minutes of gameplay, plus the fact that it's $15 means that it got added to my wishlist and that I'll end up playing it at some point.

I'm tempted to double dip on Resident Evil: Revelations. I really enjoyed it, played through it 2.5 times having great fun. It's not perfect, but I'd call it the best Resident Evil since 4.

I have a theory if the port sells well then Capcom will go back to that more survival-horror style of play. Unfortunately, I don't know if the game is actually getting a real marketing push, something Capcom seems to really suck at these days when it comes to games that ought to sell well.

So if anyone is at all interested in the Resident Evil franchise, I would greatly encourage them to take a look at Revelations.

Just...don't expect much out of the story. It's crazy go nuts.

Dust: An Elysian Tale was one of my favorite XBLA games of last year.

Wow! Talk about a slow week. Nothing really catches my attention... at least nothing that hasn't already been released in some other platform.

Let's hope the dearth of games continues for a bit, as my pile greatly appreciates.

I'm actually looking forward to trying out this final Elemental release.

Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)

GOTY

Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)

GOTY

cabdodger wrote:
Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)

GOTY

This looks fun as hell.

garion333 wrote:
cabdodger wrote:
Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)

GOTY

This looks fun as hell.

You might change your tune after the Senator Larry "foot tap" Craig level.

Running Man wrote:
garion333 wrote:
cabdodger wrote:
Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)

GOTY

This looks fun as hell.

You might change your tune after the Senator Larry "foot tap" Craig level.

After all, he sure did.

garion333 wrote:
cabdodger wrote:
Vita
- Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2)

GOTY

This looks fun as hell.

It actually kind of does. It appears to be similar to the air traffic control game on mobile devices.

Sean, if you weren't joking about playing Monopoly, after all this time covering gaming as a culture and as an industry, from digital to tabletop to LARPing and smelly hippy RPGs, from GameStop managing to PAX-panel hosting...then you've wasted all those years and learned nothing. No, the one sole acceptable reason to ever play Monopoly is for historical demonstration purposes for your children: "you see, son, this is what gaming was like before people were smart." And then you must promptly decontaminate yourself and your home of its festering vileness.

Re: Larry Craig joke....you guys. ...you guys.

Keithustus wrote:

Sean, if you weren't joking about playing Monopoly, after all this time covering gaming as a culture and as an industry, from digital to tabletop to LARPing and smelly hippy RPGs, from GameStop managing to PAX-panel hosting...then you've wasted all those years and learned nothing. No, the one sole acceptable reason to ever play Monopoly is for historical demonstration purposes for your children: "you see, son, this is what gaming was like before people were smart." And then you must promptly decontaminate yourself and your home of its festering vileness.

What about demonstrating to your children that real estate is a rat-race of depression and wringing every drop of profit from those you love?

Play Acquire

Keithustus wrote:

Play Acquire

:lol:

I've long since been comfortable with the idea that my epitaph will probably be something along the lines of:

Here lies Sean Sands
He learned nothing

Man, I got so confused when I saw Resident Evil: Revelations. It's just an HD port of the 3DS game.

Dust: An Elysian Tale got robbed for gotw.
Come on, Elysium, how could Elysian not get gotw?