The game industry is no stranger to the oxymoron. From the endurance of the Final Fantasy franchise, the amount of wholly original content in New Super Mario Bros. 2, to control schemes which provide only the slightest semblance of direction, contradictions are commonplace and often unintentional. Conversely, the incongruence of the ‘modern retro’...
Too often, death is little more than an irksome impediment in gaming. Amidst the coin-op era, the manacles of mortality could be undone by an additional quarter or token. At home, a visit by the grim reaper is often remedied by the press of a start button, save for the tendency of Rogue-likes and the oft-overlooked Fire Emblem series. Adhering to...
Following Tomonobu Itagaki’s departure from Team NINJA in 2008, the Toyko-based development team has irrefutably struggled. From the superfluous changes and reduction of viscera made to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 as well as the critical and commercial disinterest towardboth Metroid: Other M and Ninja Gaiden III, the studio’s post-auteur efforts have f...
Veteran players are likely familiar with many of the protagonists featured in this week’s new releases. From the return of gaming’s original space marine in Doom 3 BFG Edition to a visit from everyone’s favorite Gatling-gun toting protagonist- Serious Sam, recognizable faces abound. Hell, even Pyramid Head’s geometrical dome is likely to evoke mem...