Category Archives: PlayStation Network

Pinball to the skull

There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of new activity on the gaming front this week…at least as far as disc-based games are concerned. Last week was Xenoblade Chronicles and Devil-May-Cry-1-3-and-some-other-disconnected-game week, so apparently the floor is being conceded to the download realm while the gaming world takes its time playing those games.

I grabbed The Pinball Arcade on PlayStation Network last night. It was out on Xbox Live Arcade the week before, but I chose to get it at the same time as the release of Skullgirls to save myself some time. Unlike Zen Pinball and Pinball FX, this game has four different based-on-real-life tables such as Theatre of Magic and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! I haven’t played any of these machines in real life, so I’ll just have to take Farsight’s word that they’re accurate down to the last detail. I’ve made it onto the top five (local) high score lists on all four tables, but just like in real life, getting the top score on each is going to take a lot of work.

Speaking of Skullgirls, I’ve followed this game pretty much since its first announcement last year. I’ve finished the story mode with three characters so far – Filia, Cerebella and Peacock – and even actually won a one-on-one game online. I’ve practiced a bit with Filia (and her living hair parasite, Samson) and picked up a few decent combo strings (without looking at combo videos on YouTube, even!) Of course, I had to download a character guide from the website since the movelist isn’t included in-game… I like her style, though, and she may be my “main” character for now, until I figure out how to effectively use the other characters. Painwheel looks promising, of otherwise completely insane.

Why didn’t I think of that before?

You know how sometimes playing a sequel makes you want to go and replay one or two of the games that came before it? Well, after I gave PixelJunk Sidescroller a test run yesterday, I decided to go back to the first PixelJunk Shooter to find out whether I could get past the last section of Stage 2-3: Trespassers Prohibited. Continue reading

See you when the summer’s through?

If I had to pick my two favorite games from this year’s Summer of Arcade and PlayStation Play campaigns, I’d pick Bastion on Xbox Live Arcade, and Renegade Ops on PlayStation Network, with Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (XBLA) and Street Fighter III: Online Edition (PSN) coming in closely behind. Shame on me for not actually dedicating enough time to playing all of them all the way through – I’ve only beaten one-and-a-half of them (full point for Bastion, and only half-a-point for SF3OE because I’ve only beaten it with one characters).

I think this year I played way more downloadable games on my consoles than I did with disc-based games, mainly because I rent from GameFly now instead of buying most of my games at Best Buy or GameStop. Catherine is probably the only other “summer game” I can say I really enjoyed. I’d also count Child of Eden, but that was released maybe a week or two before the start of summer.

I kinda wish that there were more WiiWare games to talk about so that I could have something to say about all three downloadable services, but it looks like MotoHeroz may be the best one to come out of that camp this summer (if you’re curious, it’s made by RedLynx, the same developer who made Trials HD on PC and Xbox 360). Unusually for a WiiWare game, it costs 1500 Wii Points (or, to put it in simple dollars-and-cents terms, $15), so I’ve been cautious about buying it until I’ve heard enough about it to justify the price. Maybe I should pick it up before summer officially ends tomorrow.

PlayStation Play Pay Day

Street Fighter III: Third Strike: Online Edition? Check.

(Deathspank 3:) The Baconing? Check (even though I haven’t actually played it, holding out on playing until I finish Thongs of Virtue).

BloodRayne: Betrayal: Check.

So all that’s left on my PlayStation Play list is to get Renegade Ops tomorrow and I’ll have collected the full set, making me eligible for Payday: The Heist, in the same way that getting all five Xbox Summer of Arcade titles (Bastion, From Dust, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Fruit Ninja Kinect, and Toy Soldiers: Cold War) scored me a free copy of Crimson Alliance. I dunno whether or not the game’s gonna be good or terrible, but any time I’m presented a chance to get something for free, you’d better believe I’m gonna take it.

Life after Bastion

Last night, I got everything there is to get in Bastion after two playthroughs and about 11 total hours of game time. On my second run through, I wanted to make sure that I got every damn thing done before entering the Tazal Terminals, which is the final level of the game. That meant clearing every stage, collecting every weapon upgrade in the Forge, winning every Proving Grounds challenge, and maximizing my character’s level (it stops at 10, but I didn’t actually get to do that until I reached the Terminals). With that done, the only thing I could try to do with my maxed-out character is attempt to play through the entire game after activating all of the Idols, with each one imposing a different challenge to make the game harder (enemies getting improved attack/defense, enemies recovering health, enemies reflecting physical attack damage, etc.) Or perhaps even more insane: all idols active and no stat-boosting tonics. A “no-weapon-upgrade run” is right out, since that would require me to start from the beginning and discard my New Game Plus data.

With that done, I still have From Dust and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet to play through out of the games that are featured in this year’s Xbox Live Summer of Arcade (Fruit Ninja Kinect comes out this coming Wednesday, and toy Soldiers: Cold War arrives the following week).

But that’s not all I have on my plate! The arrival of Catherine came just as I’d returned from my vacation. Right now I’m on the fourth stage, and poor, harried Vincent now finds himself trapped between two similarly-named women. I’m trying to keep him on the straight-and-narrow for my first time around, because I’d hate to see what happens when Katherine (with a “K”) gets the idea that ripping a guy’s heart out with a dinner fork is a good stress-relief technique.

Section 8: Prejudice came out on the PlayStation Network last week, as well. Even though it’s been on Xbox Live Arcade and PC for months now, I had some money left over in my PSN wallet, so I bought that version instead. I’ve dipped my hand in a few of the online modes, but I feel like I was cheated out of a certain victory because the game switched me to the losing side just as my team was within 100 points of victory. No worries, though…my kill-death ratio isn’t as pathetic as it has been in most other first-person shooters, so I’m feeling pretty good about myself right now. My stats? Not all that impressive, but I’m working on it.