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Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 59: Mass Effect 2 Special with Alexander Sliwinski

With the release of Mass Effect 3 rapidly approaching, it seemed only proper to revisit Episode 59 of Kombo Breaker in which Joey Davidson, Brad Hilderbrand, and I welcome Joystiq's Alexander Sliwinski to discuss Mass Effect 2.  This installment originally aired on February 1, 2010 and includes mostly spoiler-free discussion regarding combat, mining (oh, how Brad loves mining planets until they're hollow shells), characterization, and so much more.  Mass Effect fans will want to set aside the hour and twenty minutes required to take it all in.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 59: Mass Effect 2 Special with Alexander Sliwinski

Free Shank Comic Slashes Your Way

Klei Entertainment and Electronic Arts recently released the sequel to 2010's slashing platformer, Shank, for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and PC.  I've been working my way through Shank 2 over the past few days and while I'm enjoying it so far, one of my criticisms is that I have no idea what is going on with the story.  The original Shank ended with the protagonist completing his roaring rampage of revenge against his former partners in crime, while the sequel opens with him becoming embroiled in some sort of rebellion.  How does it all fit together?  What happened between the two titles?  Thankfully, Klei has come to the rescue with answers in the form of a free downloadable Shank comic that bridges the gap between the two games.  In the span of just a few pages, Jeff Agala and Vangelis Christou explain what happened after Shank slaughtered his enemies and just how he wound up on a bus in the middle of nowhere.  It's a quick read and worth your time if you're a fan of the series, but be aware that like the Shank games, it is rather gory.  Head on over to the official Shank website to catch up on your Shank lore.

Next Sonic The Hedgehog 4 Episode Looks Really Good

Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace website has some surprisingly impressive screenshots of Sega's upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II that are leaps and bounds above the comparatively simple visual style of 2009's Episode I.  Perhaps the creative team behind these downloadable releases has been paying attention to constructive criticism after all because some of what I see here looks like it's on par with last year's Sonic Generations in places.  Check out the the detailed character models!  Marvel at the lighting!  Swoon at the the textured objects!  This looks downright gorgeous and probably explains why a Nintendo Wii release isn't happening for this installment (every other current platform will see it though; it's coming to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, and PC).  Episode II is expected later this year, but if the game plays as well as it looks, then its release can't come soon enough.

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 25: Controlled Response

This week's classic episode of Kombo Breaker dates back to April 24, 2009 and features a clearing of the air as Dan Johnson, Joey Davidson, Brad Hilderbrand, and I settle a few issues that had been building up over the previous weeks.  The heart of the first segment revolves around a debate on control stick placement on video game controllers, but there's also time for Brad to share in the pain of Lux-Pain as I shake my head in disappointment at Sonic Unleashed's extra downloadable content challenges. Peggle addiction shows itself once again and Joey revisits Outrun and explores Killzone 2, too.  Oh, and I also brag about getting tickets to see the then-upcoming The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien while in Los Angeles for E3 that year.  After the break we come back to discuss Stephen Totilo's jump from MTV Multiplayer to Kotaku that was big news in the game journalism business that week. Will that work out well for him?  Yes, I think it will.  Then before all is said and done we beg Harmonix to add a keyboard to Rock Band.  That also worked out well in the end.  Join us for eighty minutes of flashback fun.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 25: Controlled Response

Whatever Happened To The Rare Of Tomorrow?

Microsoft swooping in to buy Nintendo's prized secret weapon, developer Rare, for an awful lot of money seems like it happened a lifetime ago now.  Part of that has to do with the passage of time, sure, but I bet that for most of us who remember the company's fantastic Super NES and Nintendo 64 catalog, that feeling comes from the lack of stellar Rare releases since the company joined the world of the Xbox.  Just what happened over there in Twycross that stifled the creative environment that the company enjoyed in the 1990s?  Who killed Rare?  Eurogamer presents and intriguing and interesting answer to that very question.  It all begins with a bonsai tree.

Through a locked gate, down a winding path and by a still pond a few miles outside of the leafy village of Twycross, England, a bonsai tree stands. It was a gift given to Rare by Shigeru Miyamoto, the most famous game designer in the world, as a thank-you for the game developer's critical and commercial success in creating games for Nintendo, the most famous game maker in the world.

For Rare's staff arriving to work at 8:30 sharp each morning, it has served as a reminder of the company's heritage, of who they are, of how lucky they are to be a part of something so admired, so rare. An unassuming trophy of past glories, it's also an inspiration for future goals, a symbol carefully cultivated to weather trends, transcend fashions; rooted, a gnarly resolution.

On 20th of September 2002, Microsoft paid $375 million for this bonsai tree and all that it symbolised: creative excellence, technical mastery, innovation, originality, soul and the precious fingerprints of Nintendo. The fledgling Microsoft Game Studios, desperate to acquire world-class talent that could help establish its game console, saw in that tree everything it desired to become.

10 years later and Bill Gates is yet to plant a bonsai tree in Rare's once-fertile grounds.

In that time Rare's critical and commercial success has tumbled, the studio's games struggling to live up to their creator's name. Two years after the acquisition, Chris and Tim Stamper, the brothers who founded the company in 1982, departed into "exploring new opportunities" obscurity. Faithful fans became disillusioned while, apart form a couple of notable exceptions, the developer's new, scattershot directions have failed to inspire loyalty or passion in the next generation of players and the next again.

What went wrong? And who - or perhaps what - is to blame?

When I read about the sale a decade ago, I immediately had a sinking feeling that a clash of corporate cultures and the lack of Nintendo's guiding hand would leave Microsoft holding the bag, as it were.  The developer that once brought us imaginative characters like Diddy Kong, Joanna Dark, and Banjo as well as innovative uses of technology has instead been reduced to cranking out lackluster Kinect titles and other material that the core Xbox 360 audience hasn't really seemed to have requested.  Ten years ago I had assumed that Microsoft would gut Rare, take the aspects of the company that it wanted for its other enterprises, and then sell or outright close what was the left.  Considering that the video game industry is one that loves to swallow up studios and dismantle them, I am genuinely impressed that Microsoft has kept Rare around even if it is a shell of its former self. 

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 19: Glenn Gamble of Terminal Reality and Ghostbusters

If you listened to Episode 75 of Power Button (and, really, you should have), then you heard Brad Hilderbrand mention that he'd been to a THQ press event several years ago.  As luck would have it, he talked about that experience on a classic episode of Kombo Breaker, so it seemed only proper to bring back Episode 19 which originally aired on March 13, 2009 so you can hear Brad talk about his experience with the Legends of Wrestlemania event.  That's just the prelude to the main topic for this episode, however.  When Ghostbusters: The Video Game was in development at Terminal Reality, we used our mighty Kombo clout to bring the company's Glenn Gamble on to the show several times to answer all of our burning questions about the then-upcoming game.  This is Glenn's first appearance with us and, naturally, I had a lot of geeky Ghostbusters questions for him.  You'll hear all about what Dan Aykroyd thinks of the upgraded design of the iconic proton pack, which quips Bill Murray brought to reprising the role of Peter Venkman, why the librarian ghost from the opening scenes of the original film returned, and much more.  Mixed in there is some discussion about Tomb Raider: Underworld, Call of Duty: World at War, and Halo Wars.  It's a busy episode!  We had fun recording it back in the old days.  We hope that you enjoy listening to it now just as much.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.

Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 19: Glenn Gamble of Terminal Reality and Ghostbusters

Game Boy Glaucoma And Other Problems

There's nothing like a well-built video game system, but even the most beloved and famous pieces of hardware are subject to weaknesses.  Some are more glaring than others.  Pins were out, screens lose their pixels, joysticks snap off, and lasers lose their ability to lase.  Over at Topless Robot, Shaun Clayton has a list of ten of the most common hardware failures of video game consoles and handhelds both past and present.  For instance, consider Nintendo's original Game Boy and how, over time, its screen degrades:

The Game Boy came onto the scene in the late 1980s, and essentially established the firm pylons of portable gaming that Nintendo clings to this day. Still, it had one slight problem - over time, the screen edges would start losing pixels, or having garbled pixels, and eventually the view space grew narrower and narrower, like a digital glaucoma. Apparently one of the cables would just start wearing out and begin losing the connection. It wasn't a huge problem for Nintendo as they had released successive Game Boy models by the time massive failures started to arrive; still, a Game Boy with a good screen after three years is a small miracle.

I can vouch for that one.  I still have my original Game Boy from 1989, but it's not like I can see anything on its screen anymore.  The darkness began to close in in 1995 and steadily grew worse over time until, eventually, only the middle third of the screen had enough active pixels to show what was happening.  As it turns out, it's very difficult to play Donkey Kong Land when one cannot see what's coming up ahead.  The solution was to buy a used Game Boy Advance SP that will play my old Game Boy cartridges with a clarity not thought possible by my eight-year-old self.  I still hang on to the increasingly faceless Game Boy though.  There's a lot of memories and a lot of miles in that little plastic brick.

The Simpsons Arcade Game Returns!

The rumors were true!  Fans of Konami's original arcade game based on the then-controversial FOX program The Simpsons should celebrate as the company has officially announced that it's bringing the 1991 title to the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 as a downloadable game.  $9.99 / 800 Microsoft Points will snag you the adventures of Homer Simpson and his family as they battle their way through Springfield to rescue Maggie who has been kidnapped by the evil Waylon Smithers.  As an added perk, the game includes some improvements not seen in the the original version and even has a bit of bonus content.

• Four-player online action. The Simpsons family is a force to be reckoned with when all 4 members of the family are teamed up. Now you'll never have to go it alone with online four-player cooperative play!
• Four different ways to play the game. Relive your favorite game modes, including the original coin-op experience in "Quarters" mode, or enjoy "Survival" mode which challenges you to see how far you can get with only one life! And for those looking for a more casual experience, "Free Play" gives unlimited continues so you can enjoy the ride.
• Bonus content! Play through new unlockable content that is sure to bring you back to 1991! For the true fan of The Simpsons™ Arcade Game, unlock and discover the never-before-seen Japanese version of the game, view classic flyers and posters, and peruse a guide that highlights the many Springfield characters who appear in the game!

PlayStation Plus members can download the game for free next week when it hits the PlayStation Network on Tuesday, February 7.  Microsoft Xbox 360 owners can get an early start on things this Friday, February 3.  Why now, you may ask?  As it turns out in what I'm sure is totally a coincidence, the five-hundredth episode of The Simpsons airs later this month.  It's cross-promotional marketing synergy at its finest!  As for that mention of the Japanese version of the game, Hardcore Gaming 101 notes that this iteration of the game features an easier difficulty level, increased frequency of health power-ups, a different scoring system, and the ability to jump while holding a melee weapon.  There are no lost levels to be found, but it'll be interesting to play a variation on a classic creation.

Power Button - Episode 75: The Amazing Insanity of Saints Row: The Third

While you were busy with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword last November, you missed a fantastic and amazingly insane title from THQ called Saints Row: The Third.  This week on Power Button, Joey Davidson, Brad Hilderbrand, and I discuss why you really need to circle back and explore the vibrant city of Steelport in order to experience the madness of Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax, the bizarre Tiger Escort mission, the amazing cameo from Burt Reynolds, the might of the Apoca-Fist, and all of the other crazy things that make the game so much fun to play.  We also touch on some of THQ's recent business problems and suggest ways that the company could turn itself around.  Join us for 80 minutes of good times and favorite moments about a franchise that has long since stepped out of Grand Theft Auto's shadow.  Download this week's episode directly from PTB, listen with the player below, or subscribe via iTunes, and be sure to catch up on past episodes if you're joining us late. Remember that you can reach all three of us via , you can leave a message on the Power Button hotline by calling (720) 722-2781, and you can even follow all of us on Twitter at @PressTheButtons, @aubradley84, and @JoeyDavidson or for just podcast updates, @ThePowerButton.

Power Button - Episode 75: The Amazing Insanity of Saints Row: The Third

The Darkness II Is Lurking

The gothic horror story in 2007's The Darkness is about to continue in the upcoming and appropriately titled The Darkness II for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and PC.  Publisher 2K Games sent over this launch trailer which shows protagonist Jackie Estacado wielding the dark supernatural force known as (again, appropriately enough) The Darkness against those who would harm him.  I missed out on the original game and have never heard of the comic on which it's based, so now I'm playing catch-up regarding the events of that title and trying to find out what has led us to the events of the sequel.  Wikipedia offers a concise summation of the story so far.  Here's enough to get you started without thoroughly spoiling things:

The player takes the role of Jackie Estacado, with the story presented as a future-narrative on the present events observed by the player. On the eve of his 21st birthday, Jackie was targeted for assassination by the don of the New York mafia, "Uncle" Paulie Franchetti. While hiding in a cemetery bathroom, The Darkness, an ancient force that has inhabited his family for several generations, awakens within Jackie and slaughters the remaining mobsters, with the benefit of Jackie becoming the possessor of seemingly unholy demonic abilities that feed off the dark. Using these powers, Jackie is able to survive further assassination attempts and track down Paulie, but not before Paulie and the corrupt police chief, Eddie Shrote, kidnap Jackie's girlfriend, Jenny Ramano (voiced by Lauren Ambrose). They take her to the orphanage where Jackie and Jenny grew up, and then they murder her and escape while Jackie is unable to stop them or save Jenny due to The Darkness deliberately restraining him, forcing him to watch her die.

He commits suicide out of sheer emotional stress. He finds himself in the Otherworld, the realm of The Darkness with patchwork undead beings in World War I outfits fighting each other, and physical manifestations of The Four Horsemen.

Quite dark, yes?  This seems to skew a bit darker than I typically enjoy, but it does seem interesting.  Here's hoping that developer Digital Extremes can keep things moving and deliver a fitting continuation.  Those who would rather play the first game before embarking on the second and cannot find a used copy out there somewhere should watch for it on Xbox Live Marketplace in the near future.  Those who are up to speed on things or would rather just jump into the sequel can check out the demo now available for Xbox 360 and PS3.  The Darkness II hits stores on February 7, 2012.