New Games |
- Would you play a Sailor Moon Mass Effect?
- Medal of Honor Warfighter shows off a new multiplayer map
- Expendables 2: The Video Game looks like stupid fun
- OC ReMix smokes past Kickstarter goal for its FF6 album
- Source Filmmaker now open to everyone
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD feels like classic Tony Hawk
- This is my childhood! Sonic & Mega Man's comic crossover!
- Preview: Playing superhero in Marvel Heroes
- Live show: SMITE, beta key giveaway extravaganza
- Black Ops II's villain is the 'messiah of the 99%'
- Free fitness tracker Kinect PlayFit hits Xbox Live today
- The ten most annoying flying enemies in videogames
- Team Fortress 2sdays: Child wranglin' edition
- Review: ROCCAT Isku
- Musician Side Brain busts a move with an NES controller
- Grab The Splatters and other XBLA games for half price
| Would you play a Sailor Moon Mass Effect? Posted: 10 Jul 2012 04:00 PM PDT
Last Sunday on Sup, Holmes? (now on iTunes!), Christine Love (developer of Analogue: A Hate Story, Digital: A Love Story, Don't take it personal, babe, and Lake City Rumble II:The New Challengers) revealed to the world her dream project -- a RPG about magical girls. That came as some surprise, as Christine's games are all a lot more intelligent and interesting than Sailor Moon to me. Then again, I probably don't see Sailor Moon the way Christine does. Her perspective on the series was quite enlightening. I'm not so sure Id' want about a Magical Girl RPG made by the creators of Sailor Moon, but if Christine was behind the wheel, I'd snatch that gravy up on day one. How about you? Would you play an RPG about women being whatever type of woman they want to be, while killing monsters and talking about life in their spare time? |
| Medal of Honor Warfighter shows off a new multiplayer map Posted: 10 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT The latest look at Medal of Honor Warfighter's multiplayer shows off the new Tungawan Jungle map, based in the Philippine jungles. There's lots of explosions, shooting, people dying -- you know, the usual. What's not usual is the fact that players can pick what type of soldier they want to play as from 12 different branches around the world. I'm all in favor of giving players the option of playing as their respective countries soldiers, as opposed to playing as some terrorist group. |
| Expendables 2: The Video Game looks like stupid fun Posted: 10 Jul 2012 02:00 PM PDT
This looks so stupid. Stupid in the good way, though. An isometric, four-player (local or co-op) shooter where you kill the sh*t out of everyone in the most over the top ways possible? Sign me the hell up. The premise of Expendables 2: The Video Game sees you tasked with saving a kidnapped billionaire, with the game ending right where the upcoming movie begins. Best of all, you can play as Stallone, Lundgren, Terry Crews, or Jet Li. Expendables 2: The Video Game will be out on July 31 through the PlayStation Play promotion for $14.99, or $11.99 for PlayStation Plus members. Xbox Live Arcade and PC players can expect the game on August 17 for $14.99. I'll be seeing this game at San Diego Comic-Con this week so expect some hands-on impressions soon. |
| OC ReMix smokes past Kickstarter goal for its FF6 album Posted: 10 Jul 2012 01:00 PM PDT
OverClocked ReMix recently released Final Fantasy: Random Encounter to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise, but the party doesn't stop there! The team is prepping a massive four-disc Final Fantasy VI tribute album to be released later this year, and they need your help to make the launch extra special. Scratch that: They needed your help. Not so much anymore! All of OCR's albums are distributed for free digitally, but for promotional purposes, a limited number of physical copies are sometimes printed and given away as contest prizes, at panels, and so on. Typically, the money to press these discs is raised via fundraising efforts. For Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin, OCR decided to turn to Kickstarter in order to raise $15k. In less than a day since opening donations, the goal was met. Any extra money will go towards site maintenance and studio recordings. Of course, for pledging some dough, you'll score copies of Balance and Ruin plus other physical albums from OCR's back catalog, of course! Balance and Ruin is shaping up to be monumental, with musical contributions by 30+ artists including Danny Baranowsky; Jake "virt" Kaufman; Jimmy "Big Giant Circles" Hinson; OCR legends zircon, djpretzel, and McVaffe; and many more. So even if you don't chip in any money whatsoever, you'll still be getting one f*ck-amazing album! A 4-Disc Final Fantasy 6 Album from OC ReMix [Kickstarter] |
| Source Filmmaker now open to everyone Posted: 10 Jul 2012 12:30 PM PDT
Valve's Source Filmmaker is now in open beta for everyone. The storytelling tool lets fans have full control over creating animated movies set in the Team Fortress 2 universe. Just head on over to the Source Filmmaker website, and click "Install SFM. It's FREE." on the right hand side to get access. There's already been a number of insane videos made by the Valve community. I'm looking forward to seeing the flood of new content now that this is open to the public. |
| Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD feels like classic Tony Hawk Posted: 10 Jul 2012 12:00 PM PDT Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 were the bomb. Hard to believe the former only came out in 1999. Unfortunately, the series quickly spiraled away from being the bomb and, in more recent years, toward being a laughing stock that Activision has been so sure people are going to eventually buy en masse after realizing the error of their ways. Fortunately for us, Activision seems to have realized that this strategy is not working (also not working: making bad games and expecting them to sell well, especially against Skate). Accordingly, we’re getting Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD in about a week's time as a $15 downloadable amalgam of the first two games in the franchise. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade [previewed]) I tried my hand at the whole "skateboarding" thing years ago. An uncle inexplicably came across a skateboard and gave it to me one day so his son wouldn't hurt himself on it, then I spent a few years occasionally falling about with it (it wasn't a terrible means of transportation, at least). Still, for everything I lacked on the board, once the Tony Hawk games came out, I could live vicariously through them, performing all manner of life threatening acrobatics through my surrogate skater. After going hands-on with the multiplayer in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, I can safely say it's a nice little hit of not-too-distant nostalgia. There's a solid selection of skaters available, including new additions Riley Hawk and, hilariously, Xbox Live avatars to go along with the old-school levels. Anyone who spent time with the first two games will feel right at home back at the Warehouse, Hangar, or School. Though they're mum on a Spider-Man appearance, the other unlockable characters from the first two games will be making triumphant returns. Even the music is unchanged; though new tracks have been added to single-player, the multiplayer score consists solely of the game's original music. One other amusing change to the single-player is that the secret tapes that are hidden and scattered about levels have been replaced with secret DVDs, though I suppose even then they're behind the eight ball in an increasingly digital world. The franchise staple modes are back. Trick Attack tasks players with putting together their best lines for the highest scores they can achieve in a given time limit; Graffiti requires players to perform tricks of as high a value as possible on various pieces of the environment, thereby adding that piece to your controlled territory; and lastly, Free Skate lets you faff about. In addition to the expected Free Skate, Trick Attack, and Graffiti modes that defined the franchise's multiplayer, a new Giant Head mode has been added. Player heads all begin to grow at a steady rate, and executing tricks keeps your noggin down to a proper size. As the mode progresses, the growth rate increases. If your head reaches maximum size, it pops with enough force to throw your character into a little flip as confetti pops out of your exploded cranial cavity. The game will feature four players online or locally, so Big Head mode persists after the first burst if there are more than two players. At this point, the loser can skate around headless and try to disrupt any of the remaining players. The mode is a fun addition, fitting nicely with the game's style of play. With the exception of Free Skate, multiplayer matches skip along quite snappily, allowing you to get in quick games without feeling too pressured or committed. While I was barely able to keep up with the game's developers at Robomodo -- I'm more than a little bit rusty -- I'll be content as long as I can handle the people I'll be playing with locally. It's nice to see the four-player multiplayer being preserved, which could make Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD a nice little jump-in title that reminds us of a slightly simpler time. On top of that, DLC from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 will be available next month, bringing the revert back to your combo expanding repertoire. |
| This is my childhood! Sonic & Mega Man's comic crossover! Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:30 AM PDT I was a Sega child, so I was always in the "Sonic > Mario" camp. I've also been a Mega Man diehard (big surprise, right?) since his very first game. So while schoolyard kiddies spoke passionately of the rivalry between Mario and Sonic and their dream crossover games, I instead fantasized of a partnership between my boys in blue. When Archie Comics picked up the Mega Man license, everyone knew it was just a matter of time before Sonic and Mega Man joined forces. Still, to that dream coming true makes me feel like I'm seven years old again. I don't even need to so much as glance at a draft page to know that this will be a far more satisfying crossover than Mario and Sonic's Olympics shenanigans. Kicking off in 2013, the 12-part storyline will be woven throughout the existing Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sonic Universe comics. And don't think that the boys in red will be left out either! There are hints that Proto Man and Knuckles will have some kind of team-up as well! Whatever goes down, I know without any shadow of a doubt that this will be one of the most amazing things I ever read in my life. Mega Man and Sonic's "When Worlds Collide" Saga Formally Announced [The Mega Man Network] |
| Preview: Playing superhero in Marvel Heroes Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT Is the whole “Marvel versus DC” thing still a thing people bark at each other over? Well, the DC universe has its own cleverly titled MMO, DC Universe Online, leaving Marvel to play catch up with its equally cleverly titled Marvel Heroes. Of course, the differences in the games are plenty, not the least of which is that Marvel Heroes will be free to play. Yes, the dreaded acronym that leaves hardcore gamers recoiling in disgust, hissing from beneath flower planter in the garden of the current videogame industry. Anyone who will be at San Diego Comic-Con in a couple days can check the game out for themselves; for the rest of you, I’ll tell you a bit about it. Marvel Heroes (PC) Marvel Heroes runs on Unreal Engine 3, continuing the trend of free-to-play multiplayer games that look quite nice. From the isometric view, you can scroll to zoom in and out if you want to get a closer or more distanced view of the action. As I pulled the camera all the way in to check out my hero’s threads, I could appreciate the comic-book simplicity and overall cleanliness of the art direction, which feels something like a natural evolution of Marvel Ultimate Alliance’s style. The isometric view isn’t the only parallel the game has to the recently released Diablo III. The click-to-move system is the same, holding shift precludes your character from moving while attacking, and loot drops bear randomly generated affixes. On top of that, there is a clear narrative, penned by big-time Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, New Avengers), which harks back to a late '70s/early '80s story about a group called the Purifiers, which seeks to wipe out all mutants -- what else is new? -- in the name of god. While certain scenes are going to play out in motion comic form, the fact that an overarching narrative exists is going to have a palpable impact on the game, as opposed to simply being a framing mechanism for the beginning and end state. I’m told there won’t be standard “kill x amount of x enemy” quests, nor will you be inundated with useless quests. Rather, you’ll have a few sidequests with story implications in the hub areas, as well as a few you might run into when you’re gallivanting about playing superhero. I’m all for getting rid of superfluous quests and repetition. During my hands-on time, I checked out Iron Man and Wolverine and fought alongside both Scarlet Witch and Hulk. Heroes are afforded four ability slots in addition to their left and right mouse click attacks, some of which are hero specific and some of which are general use. As you play, you build up a large repertoire of skills and find both new ones and improved versions of the ones you have. The Wolverine I used had a great skill equipped that was a circular swipe, which was great for taking out crowds, especially when combined with his standard right click, a homing slash. While Wolverine played as the fierce bruiser you might expect, Iron Man was decidedly flashier and shared a lot of similarities to the current film interpretation; in fact, his default costume was the film version. Two particularly great skills the tin man had are an uppercut that suspends enemies long enough for a volley of projectiles to pepper them, as well as a stylish fist to the ground which has a fairly wide area of effect. Scarlet Witch’s focus was ranged attacks, while the Hulk was the expected offensive, smashing powerhouse -- he can even throw cars for big damage. The hugely variable skill sets also help differentiate heroes when multiple people are playing the same one, as the game won’t wall off heroes other players are using. On top of that, there are a number of different costumes to choose; I found two alternates in addition to Wolverine’s starting costume just in the bit of the game I checked out. In addition to hub areas like Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Marvel Heroes has randomly generated public areas where people will be milling about, working on their own quests and the like. In these areas which are going to randomly generated daily, public events pop up that anyone can join in on. In our demo, a Sentinel showed up out of nowhere and our party took him out for some fat loot. Thankfully, whatever loot appears on your screen is your own loot; Marvel Heroes does away with a general communal loot drop, circumventing fights over who gets what and disappointment for people who might otherwise draw the short straw and get the most rubbish bit of the drop. As our quest approached its end, we reached a private instance fight against Magneto, who was holding William Stryker hostage for his role in supporting the Purifier loons. From there, I assume the plot is going to spiral out of control in superhero comic fashion, twists abound. What I do know is that I gave Magneto quite a whooping, twice, despite playing characters that are covered in metal -- obviously that specific power of his coming into play wouldn’t be fair. That being said, the Magneto boss fight was pretty fun, as Magneto had enough moves to force to you switch up what you’re doing every once in a while. The president of Gazillion Entertainment, the studio that’s making Marvel Heroes, is David Brevik, Blizzard North co-founder and creator of Diablo and Diablo II. They’ve got an award-winning comic writer writing the game’s story. It’s going to be free to play and what I played was pretty fun. Plus, Gazillion has a ten-year exclusivity contract with Marvel and updates to the game are going to be flowing in at a constant clip. If you like superheroes or MMOs, I don’t see any reason not to give this one a shot when it drops. |
| Live show: SMITE, beta key giveaway extravaganza Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:30 AM PDT [Mash Tactics airs Monday through Friday at 4p.m. Pacific on Dtoid.TV. Watch King Foom play a variety of games, each day with its own theme. With a heavy focus on community and viewer interaction, you can be as much a part of the show as anything else.] Tonight on Mash Tactics, thanks to the awesome peeps over at Hi-Rez Studios, we have the opportunity to broadcast and show off SMITE, an upcoming third person MOBA, while it's still in closed beta. Even more amazing however is that we have damn near 100 beta keys that we're giving out to the viewers throughout the show. We got a bit spoiled, and I can't wait to share it with the community. I'll start out by playing some public matches, while getting a feel for the mechanics. Then a bit later on, as more beta key winners get the game downloaded, we'll get into some matches with the Dtoid.Tv crowd. SMITE is definitely a MOBA to be on the look out for in the future. Getting an early chance to play, and get our communities involved, should make for an amazingly fun evening. |
| Black Ops II's villain is the 'messiah of the 99%' Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:00 AM PDT
Now why would Activision publish a game in which the downtrodden, working class masses are led by a murderous monster of a man, hell-bent on demolishing our proud American society? Do I detect a subtle message that the angry poor are naught but gullible puppets that should listen to their corporate overlords? I know, I know, I'm being way too cynical, but with Activision, it can be difficult not to be that way. Black Ops II treads the topical line by having its central villain hailed as a hero by the poor. A bit like Bane in the new Batman movie, or Electro in the Spider-Man comic a while back. The above trailer shows how he's manipulating the class divide, and threatens to wipe out the civilized world. Now you may feel free to post about your political opinions in the comments. Such a discussion would definitely end well. |
| Free fitness tracker Kinect PlayFit hits Xbox Live today Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:30 AM PDT The rumored Kinect PlayFit application for Xbox 360 that tracks calories burned across multiple games has released for free today in the United States. Further regions will get access to the download later this week, according to Xbox Live's Larry Hryb. I have a feeling this app won't be particularly relevant for many of you, but similar to Holly, I tend to use my Kinect more for cardio than anything else. So, neat, I guess? For what it's worth, Kinect PlayFit even has Achievements. I've yet to see the full list of supported games, but Dance Central 2 and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 were both specifically mentioned. Kinect PlayFit launches today [Major Nelson] |
| The ten most annoying flying enemies in videogames Posted: 10 Jul 2012 09:00 AM PDT It's a known fact that the most annoying enemies in videogames are the flying kind. They are the worst. When you are about to jump over a bottomless pit, they are always there to hit you right in the face. When you are equipped with a sword, they always manage to swarm you and hover just out of reach. Seriously, they are the worst. But which flying enemies are the most annoying of all time? My God, there are so many to choose from. I will never forget the first time I encountered Lakitu in the original Super Mario Bros. I remember thinking to myself: Oh look! That guy is flying in a ridiculously cute cloud! It's smiling! How cute! This warm first impression was quickly shattered when Lakitu starting throwing spike-covered Spinies down upon Mario's head. And then he continued to throw more. And more. And more! The rain of Spiny destruction never stopped until poor Mario ran away, ducked down a pipe, or made it to the end of the level. Why would you corrupt that poor cloud like that, Lakitu? He is so cute! So cute ...
Yeah, Rippers are near-invulnerable and can only be killed with the Screw Attack and other late-in-the-game Samus power-ups. But that is not what makes them really annoying. What makes them so frustrating is their placement in the Metroid games. The Rippers move back and forth in small, hard to navigate areas, making them tough to avoid. In addition, they are almost always found in tall, vertical shafts, causing Samus to fall all the way to the bottom if hit by them. It is super irritating and seems to always happen right before you make it to the safety of an elevator. Riiiiippeeeeeers! <shakes fist in air>
Even if you have never played The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, you may have heard tales about the dreaded Cliff Racers. These flying prehistoric creatures like to constantly swoop down and attack helpless players in giant swarms. And to make matters worse, since Morrowind is primarily a first-person game, you can rarely see them coming, resulting in a constant barrage of unexpected attacks. The Cliff Racers are so notoriously awful, that the designers themselves even admitted their inclusion may have been a mistake. THE DESIGNERS EVEN HATE THEM! It is no coincidence that the winged creatures have not appeared in any Elder Scrolls game since. And the sound they make. Oh, man, that sound ...
The original Legend of Zelda is a top-down, 2D game, so trying to include flying enemies must have been a tough design decision. How do you make something fly out of reach when Link can technically still hit it with his sword because of the perspective? Oh, I will tell you how. You make the Peahats spin their propellers, simulating flight and making them impossible to hit until they are motionless and back on the ground. Now, how do you make them super annoying? You allow the Peahats to hit Link at all times, even when he can't strike them. That'll do the trick. To this day, I still avoid fighting Peahats. It is too much of a hassle to bother with them.
When you are standing on the ground, the birds in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time are not that tough to defeat. Sure, they make quick jabs towards you, but their attacks can be easily blocked and immediately countered. Not too tricky. The birds become annoying when the Prince is balancing on a skinny ledge -- which, of course, happens throughout the entire game. When balancing, the Prince can’t block, forcing you to have to swing your sword at the exact right moment. There really is only a split second window when the bird is in striking range. Delay for even a moment, and the Prince is knocked off the ledge. It is beyond annoying.
I refuse to speak ill of Phanto in the fear that he will find me and kill me.
The Moas are flying eyeballs that, at first glance, don’t seem like they would pose too much of a challenge. Most of them can be killed with one sword slash, and they don’t have any armor to protect them. But encountering them is the worst. In the already-challenging-enough Zelda II, the Moas fly back and forth in strange, irregular patterns, making them very hard to connect with. In addition, some of the Moas drop fire, while others drain precious experience points when they hit you. There are even some -- the rare blue variety -- that are invisible unless Link possesses a certain item. When fighting in groups, this enemy will drive you insane. The only redeeming factor of the Moas is the satisfaction you get when attacking them with a perfectly timed down- or jump-thrust. It feels so good to connect with one of these moves, and almost makes fighting them worth it. Almost.
UUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! That was the exact sound I made as a child when I used to run into the Red Devil in Ghosts 'n Goblins for the NES. Actually, that is the noise I still make when a run into this flying red jerk. He is that annoying. The Red Devil swoops down on the helpless Arthur and is a huge nuisance to kill. For those of you that don't know (and have been spared the game's torturous difficulty level), main character Arthur is killed with only two hits in Ghosts 'n Goblins. Two hits. That's it! One sheds his armor; the other hit turns him into bones. When fighting a Red Devil, the flying demon is constantly hovering high on the screen so Arthur cannot hit him. When he does swoop down, it is very fast, forcing the player to have to jump over him at the last possible second and then quickly turn around to attack. (Good luck if you accidentally get stuck with the fireball as a weapon.) The process is insanely difficult, made near-impossible by the brutal two-hit death rule. And don't even get me started on later in the game, when two Red Devils attack Arthur at the same time. Yeah, that actually happens.
I am laughing to myself as I type this because the eagles in the original Ninja Gaiden drive me so insane that I can't help but chuckle like a madman when I think about them. Ninja Gaiden is one of my favorite games of all time. I absolutely adore it and make a point to play it at least once a month. But every time I pick it up, I am still blown away by how frustrating the eagles are. The main reason the eagles are so infuriating is actually a fault in the design of the game. Throughout the entirety of Ninja Gaiden, if you move even one pixel in the opposite direction after killing an enemy, that enemy will immediately respawn. This is manageable for most of the enemies, since you are constantly moving forward, but the eagles always (always!) appear right before you jump over a pit. After killing them it is only natural to want to back up a bit to make the tough jump. By doing this, though, the eagles just keep reappearing. Over and over and over again. <sigh>
I am sure all of you know about the Medusa heads in the original Castlevania. I am sure you have all even experienced the Medusa heads in the original Castlevania. They are infamous for a reason. The Medusa heads are never-ending spawning enemies that approach Simon Belmont from both sides in a hard-to-hit wave pattern. This by itself is annoying, but what makes these enemies so awful is the fact that they knock Simon back when they hit him. This jarring knockback usually results in Simon being thrown back into a pit -- especially on the clock tower level. And these sadistic Medusa heads never stop, no matter how long you sit there and attack them. THEY JUST KEEP COMING! On the rare occasion that the Medusa heads drop a reward for your patience and skill (a heart or maybe a money bag), you can't even retrieve it on the very likely chance another head will appear and knock you back -- you guessed it -- into a pit. Eff the Medusa heads. And eff pits!
----- I am sure there are many other annoying flying enemies in videogames, but these are the ones that have always bothered me the most. What are your picks for the most irritating enemies that just can't stay on the goddamn ground? |
| Team Fortress 2sdays: Child wranglin' edition Posted: 10 Jul 2012 08:30 AM PDT Every Tuesday a bunch of us Dtoiders get together and hop online to play some Team Fortress 2 on the official Destructoid server! You should join us! Instead of making some poor jokes this week I decided it would be much more appropriate to talk about two things that are close to everyone's hearts: Strategy RPGs and pedophilia. Fortunately enough, the Dtoid TF2 community is here to satisfy on both of those accounts. Within the past few weeks several regulars from the server have started developing a Strategy RPG with Pokemon-style collection elements centered around capturing children and forcing them to do battle for you. Here's hoping the guys can actually complete the game. Want to figure out how to meet the brave souls responsible for creating this monstrosity? Hit the jump for details. Server Early Match Late Match sd_doomsday cp_foundry plr_pipeline pl_thundermountain cp_egypt_final pl_barnblitz cp_granary If you have any suggestions for next week's match, sound off below! Also, we'd love to recap this week's events during next week's post, so take lots of screenshots and email them to spencer[@]destructoid.com! Special thanks to Baseballfuries for the header and Swishiee for streaming the session over on Streamtoid. |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT We're going to take a closer look at the ROCCAT Isku today. With a backlit keyboard, built-in wrist rest, tons of customization, and awesome software, what's not to love? For some added context, I will be comparing the Isku with another keyboard I reviewed for Destructoid, the Razer BlackWidow. While there are differences between the two -- the Isku isn't mechanical, for starters -- it's always nice to have something else to relate to. Also, the price of the BlackWidow Ultimate edition is very close. Anyway, getting on to the review! The ROCCAT Isku comes fully stocked with tons of settings -- probably more than you will ever end up using, in fact -- and stacks up so many little things that makes this an awesome keyboard. Glossing a bit over the specs (I'll go into more detail on each later), the Isku comes with blue backlighting, Easy Shift[+], 36 macro keys, on-the-fly macro recording, media keys, and a built-in wrist rest. ROCCAT Isku price: $89.99 Razer BlackWidow Ultimate price: $91.99 Blue backlit keys are addictive In case you didn't read my review on the Razer BlackWidow, I opted against getting the Ultimate version of the keyboard and missed out on the backlighting it offered, so when I got the Isku, I became quickly addicted to the nice glow and how easy it was to glance down at my keyboard and see what I was looking for immediately. I had previously looked at backlit keys as a waste of money, but I can totally understand why people enjoy them so much. In addition to this, the Isku has six levels of illumination to choose from -- including one that has no lighting at all -- which is pretty sweet. I especially like that I can set the illumination to dim or turn off after a set amount of inactivity, since I keep my computer on at night. The illumination does have some setbacks. I tend to sit pretty low in my chair sometimes, so I don't have a direct angle on the keyboard (probably a 45 degree angle to the table) and it cuts the key illumination off at the top. I know this is just from the lights for the keys being lower in the keyboard, but it's a bit of a bummer that the only time I can see the entire key is when I'm looking directly on to it. Additionally, the illumination key (the key you use to change light levels) and the macro recording button don't light up and there's no real way to tell which lighting level you are on quickly. This creates a problem when you're trying to change it from level five to level three (the button only makes it go up), since you have to count how many times you press the button or end up passing it and having to keep going back through the levels. In an ideal world, the illumination key would light bars up to show which level the keyboard was at at any given time. This is more of a nitpick; all in all, the keys make the keyboard look sleek and sharp while allowing for easy key viewing. Easy Shift[+] is a cool idea, but... Easy Shift[+] is more or less a function on the keyboard that doubles the uses of each key in the Easy Shift Zone. Pretty much when you press the Easy Shift key (they replaced the caps lock key), it changes all the functions of the keys in the three zones to another preset function. Cool idea in theory, right? It works pretty well, but I always forget to use it! This may not be a problem for all of you guys, but it ended up being a feature that sadly went unused in much of my gameplay. ROCCAT split the buttons that are Easy Shift compatible into three "zones." The first of these being the set of five macro-dedicated keys on the left, the second zone consists of the three "Thumbster" keys on the bottom, and the third and largest containing much of the left side of the keyboard, as shown above. It's a good function if you can learn to use it, and even better if you are able to use ROCCAT Talk, but I'll cover more about that in my upcoming ROCCAT Kone[+] review. It's not mechanical! The thing that I think really would have made this keyboard perfect would be mechanical keys, but they aren't there! Instead, you're stuck with your dome key, which is a little disappointing after you're used to using a mechanical keyboard (in my case, the BlackWidow). Either way, the keys are still fairly high quality in that I haven't had any issues with the keys sticking, popping off, or malfunctioning in any way. Had the keys been mechanical and still had all the features the Isku already has, I would have cried and never used another keyboard again. The little things matter the most The best thing about this keyboard are the small features, and it's those small things that I curse every time I have to game on another keyboard than my Isku. The first being the built-in wrist rest; I hadn't previously used one on my BlackWidow, and thought it would just get in the way when I typed. This didn't turn out to be the case -- although it adds a bit of space to the keyboard, it's not intrusive, is pretty comfortable, and in general nice to have so my hands aren't scraping up against the shiny plastic bits like they were with the BlackWidow. Speaking of comparing with the BlackWidow, a big problem (at least for me) was that the shiny plastic covering on the BlackWidow was was incredibly easy to leave finger prints on. So after a good big of gaming, the bottom of the keyboard would have a ton of prints on it from my wrists and looks pretty messy; with the Isku, that's not a problem because of the wrist guard. Moving onto the feature I enjoy the most about this keyboard: the raised bump on the W key. Yes, I know this is a small thing and can probably be found on other keyboards, but it is a difference that I think really makes gaming easier, especially when you're switching between typing and a WASD finger position. The driver software is top notch A lot of gaming keyboards are often brought down by their software, whether it's hard to use or simply not very useful. The Isku driver does not have this problem. Even from a glance, you can tell that the software has plenty of functions but is also pretty straightforward to use. The Main Control tab houses the functions for the five macro and thumbster keys along with their respective Easy Shift functions. To change the function of a key or Easy Shift key, all you have to do is use the drop down menu to either create your own macro or use one of the preset macros. You can pretty much do anything in these macros, as to be expected with a high-quality keyboard, so you can open programs and such along with your basic key combination functionality. Moving onto the EasyZone Control panel, it's essentially the same thing as the Main Control, except it focuses on the main part of the keyboard. In case you can't see the picture, connect the dots with me; the EasyZone starts at the 1 key, goes to 5, down to B, over to Z, and back up to 1. Next up is the Media Keys/F-Key's macro tab. Again, more of the same. I'm not really one to use the media keys too much, but they're always nice to have when you decide you want to actually use them. I have to say though, I really enjoy the "My Computer" key and use it quite a bit instead of bringing it up manually. I would also use the IE Browser (it actually just goes off your default browser, so in my case, Chrome) key more, but if you have Chrome as your active window, it takes your current tab to a new tab page or whatever your home page is. I would have much preferred it simply open a new tab. Otherwise, it's okay -- it opens up a new window. Again, I would have been much more in favor of simply adding a tab to an existing window. The Advanced Control panel is pretty cool. You can change how fast it repeats a letter if you hold down a key, change the key illumination (note: you can just do this with the illumination key. You can't make it illuminate at say, 95% -- misleading, I know), and choose to make it dim after a certain period of inactivity. The Update/Support tab is nothing special. Instead of downloading the latest driver at the push of the button, it simply links you to the driver page. It also doesn't tell you when a new driver is available, as far as I can tell. As I'm sure you've been able to see from the other screenshots, the game profiles are at the bottom of every tab, and they're pretty handy, if I do say so myself. You can choose to switch profiles using one of the many macro keys or have it automatically switch on launch of a program. Computer specifications To review the ROCCAT Isku, I used the following test system, provided by NVIDIA:
Bottom line The ROCCAT Isku is an excellent keyboard, and really has some nice features. There are a few things that would make it a must have, like mechanical keys and a detachable wrist guard, but all in all, the lack of those features doesn't detract from it being a very good keyboard. The Isku is definitely more comfortable to use than the BlackWidow, and the Isku's software blows Razer's out of the water. However, I often find myself missing the feel of mechanical keys and bust the BlackWidow out once in a while (though I've made the Isku my main keyboard for the time being). I feel the price is a little high for the Isku, considering it is just a regular dome-keyed keyboard and the mechanical BlackWidow Ultimate is nearly the same price. If the price were $15-20 cheaper (especially since the standard edition of the BlackWidow is only $60.99), I would tell you to drop what you were doing and get this keyboard. That being said, I would still tell you to get this keyboard if mechanical keys don't do it for you. Otherwise, I'd probably go with the BlackWidow standard over the Isku, between the two -- it's an incredibly close call. |
| Musician Side Brain busts a move with an NES controller Posted: 10 Jul 2012 07:30 AM PDT
Electronic musician Side Brain likes to have a little bit of fun with his beats. Using the Ableton Live music sequencer, he is able to plug in pretty much any controller and go to town. He can use... oh, for example... an NES gamepad as a MIDI controller for live performances. Look at this sly cat! Even a Dreamcast arcade stick becomes his link to the rhythm dimension. The man does not believe in limitations! Side Brain- 8 Buttons (Nintendo Controller) [YouTube] (Thanks, Miry!) |
| Grab The Splatters and other XBLA games for half price Posted: 10 Jul 2012 07:00 AM PDT Action-puzzle game The Splatters is now half price on Xbox Live Arcade, and since this isn't a Deal of the Week, you won't need to be an Xbox Live Gold member to partake. The game will be 400 Microsoft Points from July 10 - 16. Find it under the Sales & Specials section of the dashboard, or use that link. I really dug the game, as did most of the people I know who bothered to play it, but The Splatters hasn't yet managed to reach the wider audience it would especially appeal to. If they only knew how fun it is to do the Flip stunt. You can't go wrong at this price. At the last minute, I noticed that a few other titles published by Microsoft Studios are also on sale. They are Toy Soldiers: Cold War, Hydrophobia, Section 8: Prejudice, and Hydro Thunder Hurricane. |
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