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March 2012

Maverick Rising OverClocked Remix Album Out Now

Maverick RisingAfter holding the OverClocked Remix Facebook page hostage for a few days, Sigma has relented and allowed the video game music remix community's latest album, Maverick Rising, to be released.  This massive free five-disc collection of music based on Capcom's Mega Man X franchise includes all kinds of fantastic material from the eight primary games and a few of the spin-offs.  You'll hear new takes on stage themes belonging to Armored Armadillo, Morph Moth, Tunnel Rhino, Cyber Peacock, and so many more.  It's over four hours of music for your enjoyment and one of OC Remix's strongest albums to date.  Allow me to share one of my favorite tracks, "10 Minutes of Hypothermia" by Metal Man, which is a medley of themes that take one through the experience of choosing a stage, fighting one's way through Chill Penguin's territory, beating the Maverick boss himself, collecting his weapon, and then writing down the password.  It's amazingly comprehensive and one of the true stand-outs of the set. 


"10 Minutes of Hypothermia"


Quick Facts About Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II

Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode IISega's Sonic the Hedghog 4: Episode II is building some decent buzz as screenshots and trailers reveal a game that might actually get the old school Sonic feeling right this time.  Adding to that excitement is a feature at GamesRadar that lists fifteen things that you probably don't know about the new installment including two-player cooperative multiplayer action, Sonic's new animation for gulping down underwater air bubbles, fun nods to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and much more.

We've long-since given up on the idea that Sonic's old physics can return in modern games. The movement in Sonic 4: Episode 2 does have slightly more inertia than its predecessor, but it still feels similar. As a result, as you're running down a slope, your best bet for acceleration is not to go into a ball as you would on Mega Drive, but instead to stay on your feet and let Sonic's legs bring the power. Disappointing, yes, especially as the recently re-released Sonic CD's slightly tweaked physics are an absolute joy. Still, that team-up move as seen here moves VERY quickly.

This is the best part of the Sonic Cycle: the time when the game is nearly finished yet not yet available in which we can all bask in the renewed hope that the new Sonic game will actually be as much fun as Sonic the Hedgehog 3.  Who knows?  Maybe Episode II can finally crack the cycle.  I'm certainly optimistic about this one, anyway.  It just looks so polished, and I seem to have a blind spot when it comes to Sonic the Hedgehog titles.  Either way, enjoy what you can from this next episode.  According to Sega, there are no plans at this time for Episode III and beyond (unless Episode II blows away sales expectations, I'd imagine).


Get Your Free Kid Icarus: Uprising Augmented Reality Cards

Kid Icarus: UprisingRemember those neat augmented reality cards that come with the Nintendo 3DS that let you insert popular Nintendo characters into reality via the handheld's 3D camera?  That technology has gone quiet over the past year, but now Nintendo is bringing the AR cards back into style with Kid Icarus: Uprising.  The upcoming 3DS title makes use of hundreds of special AR cards that allow the Icarus characters to virtually meet and interact on your tabletop.  Six of the cards come packed with the game, but starting today in North America (and while supplies last), Club Nintendo members can send away for three additional free cards featuring Great Reaper, Drill Arm, and the rare Palutena.  They don't cost any Club Nintendo coins, nor will you be charged for shipping and handling.  What a deal!  It's almost angelic.


Mini-Review: Kirby Super Star Ultra

KirbyThis article was originally published at Kombo.com on October 7, 2008.

Kirby has returned to the Nintendo DS in a revival of Kirby Super Star from the Super NES era. The original Super Star was more than just a single Kirby game, mind you. That one game cartridge included eight — count 'em — eight unique Kirby platformer games and a few mini-games. Kirby Super Star Ultra takes the original content from the 16-bit game, adds a few little tweaks and updates, and jams some entirely new content in for good measure. A second player with his or her own DS can join the fun, too. Here's the Ultra game breakdown:

  • Spring Breeze - A pseudoremake of the original Kirby's Dream Land intended to teach the basic gameplay mechanics.
  • Dyna Blade - A step up in difficulty from Spring Breeze, this game adds a map screen and a hidden level to the experience.
  • Gourmet Race - Race King Dedede to the goal and eat as much food as possible along the way in this three round time attack.
  • The Great Cave Offensive - Kirby must explore a massive interconnected world and loot its many precious and hidden treasures. Guide Kirby to the exit and collect as much treasure as possible for a higher score.
  • Revenge of Meta Knight - Essentially Dyna Blade kicked up a notch, this game has a ticking clock element. Defeat Meta Knight and his Halberd battleship before time runs out to win.
  • Milky Way Wishes - Kirby's trademark copy abilities get a mix here as players must find hidden abilities in order to use them. However, once Kirby acquires an ability, he cannot lose it.
  • Revenge of the King - A direct sequel to Spring Breeze, this game is essentially the "other half" of the original Kirby's Dream Land with an extra kick of difficulty.
  • Meta Knightmare Ultra - Replay portions of the previous games with Meta Knight instead of Kirby in this time attack challenge.
  • The Arena - Defeat Super Star's bosses one after the other with limited opportunity to recover lost energy.
  • Helper to Hero - Take control of Kirby's helpers (Sir Kibble, Bonkers, etc.) and face an Arena-type challenge.
  • The True Arena - Defeat Ultra's most challenging bosses one after the other with extremely limited recovery opportunities. 

Continue reading "Mini-Review: Kirby Super Star Ultra" »


Power Button Presents Kombo Breaker - Episode 58: Let's Catch Up

Power Button Presents Kombo BreakerThis installment of classic Kombo Breaker slows things down as Joey Davidson, Brad Hilderbrand, and I roll guestless in order to discuss some of the games we were playing around the podcast's original airdate of January 25, 2010.  Some of the titles on the table include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed II, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Flower, Muscle March, God of War Collection, the two Mega Man: Official Complete Works art books, Heavy Rain, and much more.  It's a casual hour of chatter.  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 58: Let's Catch Up


Weekly Poll: Make Your Own Mission

Weekly Poll gfor 3-05-2012A large majority of you out there would be interested in a Ratchet and Clank Collection for the Sony PlayStation 3 should one be announced.  I'd certainly pick it up if it actually and officially existed.  The Ratchet titles are some of my favorite from the PlayStation 2 era, and while the PS3 sequels eclipsed them in terms of technical wonder, story, and overall accomplishment, they're still worthwhile titles worth another look.  Insomniac Games staff once said that while they approve of a Ratchet collection, they won't be the ones to handle the upgrade, so my hope is that if this is a real product, whichever company is handling it knows what its doing and can treat these games with the proper respect.

Moving on, last week at the Game Developers Conference, Sucker Punch co-founder Chris Zimmerman explained that the company is aware that the user generated content in inFamous 2 isn't really good at all.  Garbage in, garbage out, I suppose.  A content creation community is only as strong as its talent.  Do you usually create content in games that provide creation tools and encourage active participation?  Do you craft LittleBigPlanet 2 levels?  Do you dream up missions for inFamous 2?  Do you share your custom characters in Saints Row: The Third?  Or do you prefer to spend your time playing games rather than building little portions of them?  Let's hear your thoughts.


Sucker Punch Knows That inFamous 2's User Generated Content Isn't Very Good

inFamous 2Back in Episode 53 of the Power Button podcast we discussed that the original missions created by users in Sucker Punch's inFamous 2 for the Sony PlayStation 3 weren't very good at all.  The general consensus at the time was that much of the user generated content was pointless, unfinishable, packed with misspelled words, and basically wasn't worth the effort to explore, but we hoped that things would improve over time.  That didn't happen.  Now Sucker Punch has acknowledged that the material created by the community isn't very good and considers that a third-person action game such as inFamous 2 may not be the best platform for users to be creative.  Game Informer has the story.

During a GDC talk today titled "User-Generated Content in inFamous 2 (And Does It Make Sense For Your Game?)," Sucker Punch co-founder Chris Zimmerman discussed criticisms of the sequel's user-generated content feature. Speaking candidly, he said "Most users were disappointed by the UGC missions they played."

Sucker Punch continued to refine the feature, adding a "Win to Publish" step that ensured user levels could actually be beaten. Early levels were frequently too buggy to complete, and Zimmerman said that users who didn't like the first level they played rarely tried a second.

Here's the thing: first impressions are everything when it comes to user generated content.  When the first UGC level that inFamous 2 presented to me involved user-created instructions that read "cole u hav 2 get 2 the power plnt becuz zek iz in truble" and then expected me to fight my way through half a dozen of the most ferocious monsters that the game had to offer without providing me with any electricity to use to blast the enemies, I couldn't find the Quit option quickly enough.  I tried a few other UGC missions and always came away disappointed.  Many people seemed to see themselves as auteurs directing pointless misspelled sagas in nine parts that didn't accomplish anything  worthwhile or provide interesting objectives.  I'm glad that Sucker Punch gave the UGC tools a try, but I really don't need to see them again in inFamous 3.


The Other Portal 2

Portal 2We all had a lot of fun with Valve's Portal 2 last year, but what finally arrived as a finished product turns out to be very different than what was originally intended.  All of that great stuff from Portal 2 that we know and love — Wheatley, GLaDOS, Chell, "Want You Gone" — wasn't the focus of the original concept.  At the Game Developers Conference this week, Valve writers Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw held court to discuss how the original Portal 2 pitch was a much different experience that involved multiple personality spheres, a different role for Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, and an explanation for that bizarre GLaDOS-comprehends-Garfield sound clip that was uncovered a while back.  1UP.com has the rundown on the Portal 2 panel.

The co-op campaign's initial premise was that GLaDOS would continue to perform tests using the robots introduced in the single-player, but without a human observer around to interpret the results, all her testing data would be in a "weird Schrodinger's cat of quantum uncertainty." In order to make up for this, GLaDOS sends the robots out into Aperture to find human artifacts and try to understand how humans think. One of the first items they would bring back is a crappy Garfield knock-off called "Dorfeldt".

Except, between GLaDOS and the two co-op bots, none of them understood why humans find the traditional Dorfeldt strip -- complete with inane punchline about eating his owner's lasagna -- funny at all. So GLaDOS decides to re-write Dorfeldt to her standards of humor. This time, instead of the traditional exasperation of why Dorfeldt has eaten the lasagna, the owner informs Dorfeldt that he has activated the neurotoxins in the room, and the last panel has Dorfeldt thinking, "I've made terrible choices in my life" before dying.

There's some great stuff that landed on the cutting room floor that we may see again sometime in a future Valve game, but in the end I think I'm pleased that Portal 2 wound up being the experience that it was.  There are so many wondrous moments in the game that I'd hate to imagine any of my favorites being replaced.   After all that players went through in the original Portal, not returning to the Chell versus GLaDOS conflict would have been a disappointment.  GLaDOS experiences major character development throughout the Portal 2 story and it would have been wrong to rob her of that.  As for Dorfeldt though... I think I'd like to see more of that.


Variations On A 3DS

Nintendo 3DSNintendo learned back in the Game Boy era that it could release differently colored and decorated versions of stock hardware in order to help drive sales.  The practice continues today with the many kinds of Nintendo 3DS that one can buy, and this graphic via Tiny Cartridge (head there for the full size image) shows of the various styles of handheld system that are available in Japan.  In addition to the base colors (several of which are for sale in other regions), Japanese players can also choose from snakeskin styles of Metal Gear Solid, Peachy pink princess colors, and other exclusive designs.  I don't know about you, but I've never been one to buy a piece of hardware just for the color or design that it sports.  I choose from whichever style I like the most when I'm ready to buy and then live with that decision for the life of the device.  I stuck with my original gray Nintendo DS for seven years and hope to get just as much longevity out of my black 3DS.  When I bought a used Game Boy Advance SP last year, however, I did insist on the retro Nintendo Entertainment System color scheme.  I prefer single dark colors, but I'm not made of stone.