Tag Archive: video games


Drawing Up Plays in the Sand

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May 11, 2010

Originally Published: December 8, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Few would argue the dominance of Madden as the premiere football franchise, but there are several competitors out there who are offering some interesting alternatives to the typical football experience. Everyone knows I’m a fan of the Blitz series. It’s a nice alternative to the Madden series how it provides true bone-crunching play and some less than legal alternatives to medicine, but it is more of an arcade experience than true football.

Another of these alternative franchises is the Backyard Football franchise that is trying to branch out from its “kiddie” label over on the Wii console to something that is a “family friendly” alternative. Part of that movement is making it available for the Xbox 360 in this year’s version. Unfortunately, it has still has a long way to go before it can shake off its “kiddie” label.

For those of you who are unaware, the Backyard Football franchise looks like a bunch of the Wii’s Miis in football gear representing the 32 NFL teams. Along with the cartoony looking children representing these teams, each team has one age regressed superstar from each NFL team. San Francisco has Frank Gore, the Giants have Eli Manning, the Arizona Cardinals have Kurt Warner, etc., etc. To open up the field a bit, each team also only has seven players on the field so you see a lot less “in the trenches”.

In terms of a football game, this will not appeal to any hardcore fans out there. It might appeal to little children (or ignorant girlfriends) who are trying their hardest to get into football and might make a decent stepping stone before trying to focus on the real deal. To also appeal to a younger generation, you can also earn powers to help out your team in tight spots like the “bull rush” where you grow horns and run over everyone or the “twister” where you spin around the field and can’t be tackled.

A nice new feature is also the ability to create-a-player and make custom teams to help personalize your playing experience during the 16-game season. Still, the experience overall is very simple and will bore most gamers very quickly.

The graphics are poor even when admitting they were done in a cartoony style and the audio is subpar at best. The commentary might make you chuckle a little as they try to spoof the old Madden style (and are probably more entertaining than the current commentators for Madden), but the kiddie carousel music will have you shaking your head by the time you finish your first session.

This is not a very good football experience overall, but if you have a little child who is trying to learn about football and can’t wrap his head around the Madden franchise or the actual live game, this might be a nice way to bridge the gap.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 4.0: Even though you know going into this game the graphics are going to be cartoony, they aren’t even a very good cartoony look. Plus, it’s very hard to follow the football because the graphics are so poor.

Audio: 6.5: A barely passing score due to the light-hearted commentary, but it grows old very quick and the music grows old even faster.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It’s supposed to be a sports sim…

Gameplay: 7.0: Controls are a mix of both the old-school Blitz series from the arcades and the current Madden style and it works, but it is really nothing spectacular.

Replay Value: 5.0: There is a season mode that can keep bringing you back if you want to play with different players or teams, but that’s really it. There is also only localized multiplayer so all those Wii friend codes you collected or that Xbox Live account is worthless.

Overall (not an average): 5.0: A poor attempt overall as a football alternative and it doesn’t appeal to anyone who can tie their own shoes, even with the cheaper price tag than its more adult counterpart ($39.99 compared to $59.99).

Backyard Football 10 is available now for Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

-Ray Carsillo

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From My Mom’s Basement – Episode 1

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Originally Published: December 6, 2009, on Lundberg.me and Sportsrev.tv

This pilot episode features reviews of Assassin’s Creed 2 and Uncanny X-Men #518.

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Reinventing the Renaissance: Assassin’s Creed II DLC announced

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Originally Published: December 2, 2009, on Lundberg.me and Examiner.com

With Assassin’s Creed II living up to the tremendous hype it had leading up to its release with awesome gameplay and an engrossing plot, and with a solid 800,000 units sold in its first week for Xbox 360, it is no surprise that Ubisoft has officially announced two new DLC packs for the first quarter of 2010 for Assassin’s Creed II.

The first new DLC is titled “Battle of Forli” and will hit the marketplace sometime in January 2010. No details of the plot have been released, but if it is taking place in the Romagna/Forli region, and if you paid attention to the Animus’ promptings for history lessons about the people and buildings in the area, then you could probably draw the conclusion that you are going to be doing a few favors for the lovely Catalina.

The second new DLC is titled “Bonfire of the Vanities” and is supposed to hit the marketplace in February 2010. There have been absolutely no confirmed details released about either of these DLC’s in terms of plot and how they tie into the main story of Assassin’s Creed II, but Ubisoft has confirmed that each DLC should be about 1 GB in size. This means that each one is going to be about the size of GTA IV’s The Lost and the Damned if you are looking for a point of reference.

Ubisoft has also said that they will reveal more before the New Year at least about “Battle of Forli”. There has been no word on achievements, price, or exact release dates up to this point, but with the few details we have, I think it is enough to get excited about considering how great Assassin’s Creed II was.

An addendum: Published 12/5/09: After finally completely beating the game, I make the prediction that the two DLC packs are the “two sequences” that are skipped over in the regular game for the sake of time due to the Templars closing in on your Animus 2.0’s position.

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The Beautiful Game

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Originally Published: December 2, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Soccer has always been the most popular sport in the world, but in the United States it has never been better than 5th in many people’s eyes. Slowly though it has pulled even with other sports for many people as the USA’s representative team and MLS teams have improved their overall quality of play over the years. Now, as we prepare for the 2010 World Cup, US soccer fans are almost at a fever pitch.

Although it is arguable if a US soccer fan will ever reach the level of intensity as fans from European or South American countries (probably not), the spike in popularity for the sport on US soil is clear. With this spike in popularity, we have seen a spike in video games sales for the main soccer video game franchise, FIFA, produced by EA Sports, as well.

FIFA 10, this year’s entry into the FIFA library, is clearly the best version ever produced in the series as the inclusion of the My Live feature, similar to the NBA Live 365 feature, allows you to take control of your favorite team like never before. And the people have responded to this year’s improvements as 4.5 million units have been sold worldwide in its first five weeks of availability, easily making it the most popular sports game of 2009.

I had a chance to talk to Sam Cooper, the Global Product Manager for the FIFA Soccer Franchise at EA Sports, about everything dealing with the FIFA franchise from the increase in sales and popularity over the years and improvements to this year’s game to his overall thoughts on the upcoming World Cup.

To listen to my interview with Sam Cooper, Global Product Manager for FIFA at EA Sports
CLICK HERE!

–Ray Carsillo

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The Newest Face in Late Night

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Originally Published: November 25, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

He is a Saturday Night Live alum, a movie star, and now he is leaving his mark on the late night landscape in a way no one has ever seen before.

Of course, I am talking about Jimmy Fallon. From using Twitter to drive people to his show’s blog (how about the fact his show even has a blog), to spoofing video games, to having the biggest names in movies, music, and sports on his show, Jimmy has already made his mark during his short tenure in the world of late night talk.

Robin Lundberg and I had a chance to talk with Jimmy about all these things and more as Jimmy gets ready to tackle his next big project…the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

To listen to Robin Lundberg and I interview the newest face on the late night landscape
CLICK HERE!

–Ray Carsillo

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Shredding on the World Stage

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Originally Published: November 20, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (Now ESPNNewYork.com) and later re-published in the Nintendo Wii archives of ClassicGameRoom.com

Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White with Ray Carsillo
Video by Jared Bodden

I’m the first to admit that I know little to nothing about snowboarding. The only shredding I know about has to deal with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character and the only carving I generally do concerns next week’s turkey. The one time in my life I did hit the slopes, I looked more like a Looney Tunes character rolling down the mountainside as the snow collected around my body. But when Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White comes out with a sequel to his hit video game franchise and wants to sit down for a few minutes (check out the video!), I’m more than happy to brush back up on the subject.

After sitting down with man the game is named after, I grabbed myself a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage (a Wii exclusive), turned my Wii Balance Board sideways, and geared up for one of the most fun gaming experiences I’ve had all year.

The game opens with a cut scene featuring Shaun and several of his friends as they head to their central base of operations, an airport (so they could have quick access to some of the worlds most premiere courses), as they prepare to move up the international snowboarding rankings and try to make a run at the World Championships. Of course, the higher your rank becomes, the harder it is to keep moving up as the competition and the courses increase in difficulty accordingly.

The boarders are a little cartoony looking, as is typical with many of the Wii’s best games, but aside from that, the game looks beautiful. From snow covering your boarder if you fall flat on your face (which I am very accustomed to) to detailed designs of all the courses used, the game surprisingly delivers big-time on the visuals.

The audio is pretty average. It has a few sweet tracks from Kiss and Andrew W.K. as you shred, but it needs a larger selection to keep me entertained as I perform barrel rolls down the half-pipe. Shaun and the other boarders who lend their voices do a pretty good job at sounding natural and enthusiastic, which was a nice surprise. There isn’t a lot to expect in terms of SFX aside from generic crowd noise so the audio mixers weren’t exactly strained as this game was being put together.

The best part of this game is clearly the gameplay. Using the Wii balance board, you feel like you’re actually on the slopes as you apply pressure to different quadrants on the board to perform a plethora of tricks from tail grabs to indies to gorillas. I don’t recommend playing the game for extended periods of time though because if you play for four or five hours straight, like I did after getting addicted to the game, you’re sure to break a sweat and maybe give yourself a stiff neck from straining your neck left or right constantly as you grind over the always fresh powder.

A real downside for the game is that it’ll probably only take you 10 hours of gameplay to blow through the 100 world ranks and to challenge Shaun as the top dog, but to help bolster the replay value, the game is online capable and there is a new feature where you can design your own tricks to only add to the last version of this game’s awesome customization features.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage successfully avoids a sophomore slump and comes out strong with seamless gameplay and awesome additions like new courses, boarders, and online vs. modes. Even if you are not a fan of snowboarding, this is a ridiculously fun game and you can very easily find yourself addicted to it.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage is out now exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: Although I’m not a tremendous fan of the cartoony look, I understand the limitations of the Wii and it actually works well with the atmosphere the game looks to create. Add-in some sweet effects like snow covering your boarder when you screw up a trick and I can walk away content with the looks.

Audio: 7.0: Solid voice acting bolsters the game, but not enough music tracks and generic SFX drop the score into a more average range.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It’s a sports sim…

Gameplay: 10.0: I used the balance board when playing the game, and although there is a mode where you can only use the wiimote and nunchuck, using the balance board is the ultimate way to experience this game. Also consider that the board flawlessly responds to every shift in weight and movement you make and there isn’t a glitch in the game to speak of.

Replay Value: 8.0: Online vs. modes, create-a-trick mode, and a campaign that will take you probably around 10 hours to get through and this is a good amount to bring you back to this game, especially if you are a shred-head.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: The game wasn’t perfect. But it was so much fun. I really enjoyed every aspect of the game and only a couple of rough edges keep this from being perfect. I can’t wait to see how Shaun tries to top this year’s version in the future and I applaud the move of moving the game from other consoles to a Wii exclusive because I believe being able to focus on the Wii balance board and their control set helped them correct a few of last year’s flaws. The new features and seamless gameplay make this game a sleeper must-have for the holiday season.

-Ray Carsillo

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Video Games Live!

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Originally Published: November 9, 2009, on Lundberg.me and 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

Since the video game revolution really started plowing forward back in the mid 80s, one of the most underrated aspects of the aspects has been the music. The 8 and 16-bit processors that the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis systems could produce were not much more than melodic beeps and pings made to sound like a catchy tune.

Of course, times have changed. Now, many of the best and brightest games have scores composed by full orchestras or big time, main-stream bands, but those original compositions still bring back childhood memories of simpler times to go along with our simpler games. The themes from Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Castlevania, are still lovingly talked about alongside the newcomers from Metal Gear Solid, Halo, and Kingdom Hearts.

The music from these games and the feelings of nostalgia they conjure up are only now starting to get the respect they deserve on a scale worthy of the sales of these monolithic franchises. In that vein, I present to you Video Games Live.

Video Games Live was founded back in 2002 by celebrated game composers Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico and has been a tour de force ever since. With a full orchestra and choir in tow, Wall and Tallarico have put together a show that needs to be seen to be believed. Fortunately, I saw it about two weeks ago. With musical selections from over 20 video games played, and 40 more waiting in the wings ensuring that an audience will never see the same show twice, Wall and Tallarico mix in geek-based humor with a light show, scenes from the greatest games ever created, and musical acumen that rivals the best and brightest out there.

The show I went to at the Beacon Theatre was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. You had a costume contest for people dressed as video game characters, a Guitar Hero competition, and a random drawing for a Nintendo DSi. You had special messages from Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series, as he gave a special recorded greeting before the playing of the Metal Gear music, and Koji Kondo, the composer of the Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda themes, give a special message as well.

There was a live Q & A with Ralph Baer, the man credited with inventing video games (he is also credited with inventing the light gun, the first video game system peripheral, and the popular kids’ game Simon in the 70s), over Skype and it was impressive to see this legendary inventor at the ripe age of 87 still smiling at how his invention has changed and influenced the lives of so many people across the world.

You had YouTube sensations, pianist Martin Leung and Laura “Flute Link” Intravia, come on and do what made them famous on the stage. Martin is best known for playing the Mario theme on piano blindfolded and Laura plays a stunning rendition of the Ocarina of Time music on flute, in full green tunic like the Hero of Time. Both would accompany the orchestra on several songs over the course of the night, usually to standing ovations (I nearly leapt out of my seat when Martin started playing the Super Mario World theme).

There was a request portion (where I nearly lost my voice screaming for the Mega Man theme and starting a Mega Man chant in my section of the Beacon Theatre; I was pleasantly surprised to find it was incorporated later into the show) where everything many fans called for was played and many were pleasantly surprised when Martin broke into the original Tetris theme, just because.

There were classics played from Mega Man and Chrono Trigger to more recent games like Halo and Shadow of the Colossus, but no matter if you were young or old, newbie or wily old veteran, there was something to make every geek and video game fan smile and laugh.

Video Games Live is now on their fourth world tour, and much like the game music they play, are just beginning to receive the respect and recognition they deserve. Playing to sold-out shows all over the world and constantly adding new and beloved video game music all the time (including the one I went to at the Beacon Theatre), Video Games Live is an ever-evolving entity much like the games off of which they are based. It is with the utmost praise that I recommend that every video game fan should see this show when they come to your town.

-Ray Carsillo

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Not So Happily Ever After

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Originally Published: November 6, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Examiner.com

Fairytales. We all know them and all grew up with various incarnations of them. Capitalizing on this ingrained popularity, the folks at Playlogic have created a twisted, sadistic, bloody vision incorporating some of our favorite characters for their new game, Fairytale Fights.

Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Naked Emperor (from the Emperor’s New Clothes), and Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) have teamed up after a mysterious stranger has come to steal their fame away from them. And in their fairytale world, fame is everything. Without fame, their stories will be lost forever, and their purpose will then cease to exist.

It is an interesting concept for a story. And the universal recognition of these characters will probably sell push a few units, especially when you consider the sadistic amount of violence in this game. To see these cute, cuddly, little creatures chopping each other up in one of the most blatantly bloody games (even if it’s very cartoony blood) to have come out in a long while was a very unexpected surprise.

Little Red Riding Hood chopping up lumberjacks with axes, Jack impaling gingerbread men with swords, and Snow White bashing toy soldiers with frying pans are just some of the examples of the carnage that can be inflicted during your adventures through fairytale land as you try to reclaim your fame in the most violent ways possible.

Unfortunately, this great concept falls flat in its execution. The cartoony graphics and effects give it a feel as if the game is torn between being an E-rated game and a M-rated game instead of just going full-tilt in one direction of the other. The senseless violence is great, but the goofy faces of the cartoon characters and the loose execution of the plot really take away from the overall theme of the game.

Add in that the controls are absolutely abysmal in that you attack with the second control stick instead of just assigning the attack mechanism to a button, there’s no way to lock onto enemies, and an impossible to kill number of enemies that are thrown at you over ridiculously long levels really makes this game a bore that no amount of blood and guts splashed on the screen could save.

I loved these characters while growing up. The Abbot and Costello version of Jack and the Beanstalk is still the defining version of the story in my mind. I think part of my dislike for this game might be its perversion of these classic characters. However, even when I put my personal biases aside, the execution of the game is still abysmal. The game is a glitchy button masher with little to no variety over the course of its 13 levels. Even the four playable fairytale characters have no variety besides their looks. Snow White has no different abilities from the Naked Emperor. Jack is no different from Little Red Riding Hood. Why have four different characters if they all play exactly the same?

This game is a perfect example of wasted potential, a solid premise that falls flat on its face due to cut corners and poor execution. The blood and guts might appeal to a few players out there, but I would recommend that if you are tempted to even look at this game, rent it before looking to buy it, especially for the listed $59.99.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 7.0: The graphics are cartoony and goofy as to be expected with a game based on fairy tales. Still, the look of this game is a perfect example of corners that were cut as the characters look a little too blocky for a modern console game.

Audio: 6.0: No voice acting in the game automatically docks the game points. The SFX are repetitive and bland. The only saving grace is that the background music actually sounds like something that would be fitting for a fairytale.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.5: A solid plot concept that falls flat on its face due to poor execution. This is a great example of where this game did not know if it wanted to be a mature game or a kids game because the plot was too simple and too simply explained to be geared towards a more mature audience.

Gameplay: 3.0: Lots of glitches over the course of the game made an already horribly handling game come off as even worse. The attack mechanism should have been assigned to a button and not the second control stick, each character should have had their own individual powers or abilities, and the levels were easily twice as long as they needed to be and got repetitive much too quickly.

Replay Value: 7.0: The game does have a co-op feature, which could make it better since misery loves company, and playing this game might make you miserable. Add in a simple arena vs. mode and the game has decent replay value.

Overall (not an average): 4.0: If you are thinking about getting this game, rent it first. The game disappointed me because it was such a wonderful concept but had absolutely no polish to it whatsoever. The glitches were too numerous to count and the game lost itself about halfway through.

I would not recommend this game, but if you’re curious it is out now for Xbox 360 and PS3.

-Ray Carsillo

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Join the Dark Side

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Originally Published: November 2, 2009, on Lundberg.me, 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), and Examiner.com

Joe “Mad” Madureira is known for his legendary artwork with his run on Uncanny X-Men. What many people may not know is that when Joe left comics, he founded his own video game company and it looks to be producing one of the hottest looking games of 2010.

Darksiders follows the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse and how War has been blamed for bringing about the Apocolypse early. Charged with clearing his name and finding the true culprits, you take over as War and use your awesome powers to fight your way through the ruins of the world on your quest for vengeance.

I had a chance to talk to Joe Mad at this year’s Big Apple ComicCon as well as get a hands on with the game’s early demo. Check out the interview below for more details on the January 5, 2010 release and some sweet footage of this sure to be action/adventure smash-hit.

Darksiders Preview with Joe “Mad” Madureira and Ray Carsillo
Video by Jared Bodden

-Ray Carsillo

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Come On Down!

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Originally Published: October 30, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

With family-oriented games developing a strong following, mostly due to the tremendous popularity of the Wii, game show type games are becoming hugely popular as well. Trivia games like Buzz! and 1 vs. 100 have seen a steady stream of sales for their respective consoles since their releases.

To cash-in on this trend, Ubisoft has released their 2010 versions of some classic game shows for the Wii like Press Your Luck, The Price is Right, and Family Feud figuring that if these new game shows could develop a strong following, that classic game shows that were once TV staples (The Price is Right still is) should do well also.

I don’t know how they will sell, but these games at least deserve more than a $1 bid. Press Your Luck is probably the worst of the three because of the luck factor. Most of the game deals with trying to avoid the “whammy” that steals whatever money and prizes you have accumulated while playing the big board with a randomizer. The person with the most wealth acquired at the end of several rounds of taking and passing turns, accumulated via answering multiple-choice questions, wins.

The graphics are typical of the Wii as your avatars are cartoon-like in appearance with a lot of bright lights and funny sound effects reminiscent of the classic TV game show. Due to the majority of the game being based around luck (hence the title, I suppose), I would probably say this was the worst of this old-school game show triumvirate.

Next on the review list is The Price is Right. This game show has always had a special place in my heart because growing up I would spend many summer days at my grandparents’ house and we always would watch The Price is Right at 11AM on CBS and play along at home.

The best part of this game is that there are actual clips taken from the show to display the items used to play the pricing games (Barker’s Beauties, or maybe they’re called Drew’s Darlings now, are included in the clips as well). With over 30 original pricing games and thousands of items up for bid, the game can almost never play out the same way twice.

Again, the graphics are cartoony and I would love for the theme song to be featured more prominently, but aside from those minor complaints, it reminds me of those summer days playing along with my grandparents except this time I actually have control over the bids and games (and the Golden Road pricing game is still the bane of my existence!)

The only gripe I have with The Price is Right game is that when playing with the computer, it is almost impossible to win the big wheel to make it onto the showcase showdown. I almost always go over or get such a paltry score that the computer easily wipes the floor with me. Again, like Press Your Luck, there is too much of a luck factor with the big wheel and it’s never fun losing to a computer. If you have people to play with though, this game is a winner all the way.

The final classic game show game was Family Feud. I saved this for last because this is by far the best game of the three because it is fun whether playing by yourself or playing with friends because it tests your common sense and leaves very little up to luck.

The purpose of Family Feud, as anyone who has had exposure to TV over the past 30 years would know, is to guess the most popular answers to survey questions. When one team (usually a family in the traditional show) reaches 400 points, they have a chance to send their two best players out for an abbreviated version of the regular game and if they can get another 200 points, the team wins $25,000 dollars.

This is a great family oriented game because everyone gets a chance to be involved and can either work as a team against the computer or against each other as they try to figure out the answers to the surveys. The theme song is classic and the graphics are typical of all the games featured in this article. I would say that if you are looking for a family/group oriented game show game for the Wii, then the best value for the money is Family Feud because there is no luck involved and the competition level is evident from the second the game starts.

It is nice to see these family interaction oriented games are going strong and that classic shows are being incorporated in order to help draw in the older audience that remembers the shows as well as the younger audience that might enjoy them. Now all we need is a $25,000 Pyramid game and we’ll be covered on the classic 80s game show front.

All three of these games are available now.

-Ray Carsillo

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