GameJam - Castle of Illusion w/ The Wife

Tonight my wife joins me as we play Castle of Illusion on the Sega Genesis and it's remake on the Xbox 360.  Check out how much stuff was changed for the remake and how hard the original was.

GVN Live Plus 6-26-2017

THIS SHOW CONTAINS SPOILERS! Watch at your own risk.

Post show content that took place after GVN Live went off the air.  In today's GVN Live Plus segment, Nick and I go deep into Spoiler territory as we talk heavily about Final Fantasy XV.

GVN Live! E3 Edition 6-13-2016

For those that missed last night's live show, it's now available to watch on Youtube.  Hubbs, Dave and Joe of GameSack, Mark B. and Keith talk about E3.  We also catch up with Dave and Joe and see how things are going for GameSack.

GVN Review: Batman Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight
XboxOne, PS4, and PC
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Release Date: June 23, 2015

Update on TheProtector!

Hello everybody,

It has been a while since I have posted anything on the site and I just wanted to give an update on why and what I have plans for in the future for my GVN posts.  First off the main reason I haven't been posting much is because I am back in school finishing up my bachelors degree.  A lot of my focus has been on school and completing my classwork.  I have been able to finally find a balance between work and play so I have finally had time to play some video games.

DHGF Review: Project Spark (Xbox One)

Project Spark
Microsoft Xbox One

"Project Spark is an incredibly ambitious idea that Microsoft released. It’s one part game creation studio, one part online community project and a little bit of a game here. The one thing that is heavily push is the idea of creating worlds that you share with friends and other people around the world. It’s bold move for Microsoft especially after they just bought the Mojang games, makers of the insanely popular Minecraft. However does this concept of one part game creation studio and other part interactive game translate well? To be honest my feelings regarding Project Spark are mixed"

DHGF Review: Project Spark

GVN Review: Alien: Isolation (Xbox One)

GVN Review: Killer Instinct: Season 1 (Xbox One)

Killer Instinct Season One
Xbox One
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Double Helix

Killer Instinct was a day one Xbox One launch title that in all fairness, was an incomplete game. Six characters, a limited online mode, no story mode, and oddly enough one of the most in-depth training mode around.  So to review the game on those merits alone would probably make people not even bother looking into the famed franchise.  So I figured it would be fair to review the game after it's final season one update which finally made Killer Instinct a full game.

For the younger generations, Killer Instinct was a crazy combo fest fighter from the mid 90's that was developed by Rare exclusively for Nintendo to help demerit their kid friendly image.  the first Killer Instinct was a great game in its intense twitch based combo system, counters, fatalities and fast paced gameplay.  A few years later, Killer Instinct 2 was released with more characters, more insane combos, a new auto-double combo system, and better graphics.  Needless to say that the franchise was dropped and completely forgotten by Nintendo and Rare since then.  Some years later Rare is sold to Microsoft, and the rumors start flying about a KI revival during the entire lifespan of the Xbox 360.  So just before the announcement of the Xbox One system, we received confirmation and here we are a year later.

DHGF Review: Strike Suit Zero Director's Cut

Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut is a rerelease of the PC indie title made exclusively for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Chances are you might not have heard of this title when it quietly released last year. It’s a space combat game that centers around you flying a ship that can change into a mech (obviously influenced by the classic anime Robotech) as you combat giant waves of enemy fighters, frigates and capital ships. The synopsis of the game revolves around a small space naval brigade teaming up with an AI to stop colony extremists from destroying other colonies and eventually earth.

DHGF Review: Strike Suit Zero DC

GVN Quick Review: Titanfall (Xbox One)

Titanfall
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: FPS
Release: March 11, 2014

I'm have never been more serious about something that I felt needed to be said.  Titanfall is one of the biggest overhyped letdowns and the first major disappointed of 2014.  Titanfall has received heavy praise from many of the big gaming publications.  So that makes it even more of a disappointment when you realize all you're playing is an online only futuristic Battlefield with mechs and parkour abilities.

GVN Radio Episode 44 is live

Happy New Year. Hubbs, Andrew and newcomer Anthony bring in 2014 by discussing what hit and miss about good ole 2013.  We also manage to discuss Anthony and Hubbs interest in retro game collecting.

Download GVN Radio episode 44

GVN Review: Armored Core: Verdict Day

Potential Spoilers, you have been warned.

For a while I have been looking around for a good customizable Mech game. I tried a few others before trying out Armored Core 3. And 3, while dull at times managed to catch my attention.

GVN Review: Dead Or Alive 5 Ultimate (PS3/Xbox 360)

Dead Or Alive 5 Ultimate
Publisher: Tecmo Koei
Developer: Team Ninja
Release: September 3rd, 2013

It's been almost a year ago that Team Ninja released Dead Or Alive 5 to the masses.  It's been almost 7 years plus since the console release of Dead Or Alive 4, which graced the Xbox 360 as an exclusive title nearly missing the launch window.  Since then there was not a peep about a sequel for many years because Mr. Itagaki considered DOA4 his opus to the fighting game world.  In the quiet time since the last iteration's release, we have seen multiple releases and ports in the Ninja Gaiden franchise and Tecmo merging with Koei.  It wasn't until Hayashi (Itagaki's protégé), took the helm of Team Ninja development, that a new DOA game would be released.  What we received was Dead Or Alive Dimensions, a Nintendo 3DS exclusive, which was created as a means to test the waters to see if the franchise still had viability.

GVN Radio Episode 40

In the latest episode of GVN Radio, Hubbs, Mark and Andrew talk about the change of DRM policies from Microsoft, Andrew brings up a topic regarding augmented reality, and we talk about underrated or unknown FPS games that helped grow the genre.

Download Episode 40

GVN Review: Remember Me

 

Developer: Dontnod Entertainment

Publisher: Capcom

Released: June 4th, 2013

 

Remember Me is quite possibly one of the most stylish and unique game that I have experienced in quite some time.  Remember me finally caught my attention when I saw gameplay footage that was released by Dontnod, the game's developer.  What they created was a game that involved a good balance of combat mixed in with platforming in a game with a setting similar to a cyber punk, Bladerunner setting.  Remember Me has amazing graphics, excellent voice acting, a beautiful world, and a good combat system all rolled up together.  However it is marred by some small hindrances like questionable controls, limited immersive experience, an inconsistent character driven plot, game length and little replay value.

Diehard Gamefan Review: Sanctum 2(XBLA)

A new review is up from me over at Diehard Gamefan.

"I never played or read up much on the first Sanctum when it released back in 2011.  I have never been a big fan of the tower defense genre of games.  For whatever reason the concept, though novel, just never clicked with me.  So when Sanctum 2 was released I decided to look into it.  The idea of creating a hybrid genre by mixing it with a first person shooter setting merited me to play it.  To my amazement I was surprised by how well the two genres can work together.  Does Sanctum 2 offer me enough variety to keep me hooked and playing?"

Follow the link to read my Diehard Gamefan Review: Sanctum 2

GVN Radio Episode 39

*Notice* I apologize for the audio quality of this episode. Mic volumes were somehow distorted and will be corrected for future episodes.*

It's all about E3. Hubbs and Andrew of GVN are joined by Diehard Gamefan Elite Mark B. And Sean Madson, and newcomer Chris Bahn of putthatback.com. We discuss The big 3 conferences, the games that stood out and what disappointed us.

Download Episode 39

GVN Review - Resident Evil: Revelations (PC)

 

Notice: This review does not discuss the multiplayer mode

This is my first Resident Evil game that I've played extensively in quite some time.  I played part 4 heavily but never beat it, Part 5 made me bitter and felt like the series was loosing it's charm, and part 6 I didn't bother to pick up.  I played the demo of Revelations when it became available on the 3DS and found it quite impressive but sadly I passed it up on release day because the reaction heavy gameplay didn't feel right on a handheld to me.

Some time later, Capcom decided to port it to consoles and PCs and I was honestly very excited.  Resident Evil Revelations received quite a graphical upgrade and had some gameplay mechanic tweaks since it was moved off the touchscreen handheld.  The scare and panic factor also makes their return, which has been missing since Code Veronica returning the franchise to it's survival horror roots.  So how well does the newest Resident Evil game compare after being released after the lukewarm reception of part 6?

GVN Radio Episode 38

Hubbs is joined by super personality, Shidosha the Fly Guy, as they catch up about what Shidosha has been up to since his last appearance on the show and a rant about the Xbox One. Hubbs and Shidosha also discuss a topic about sports games. Do we need more companies again to promote growth of the sports genre or do we need less companies to not flood the market?

Download Episode 38

GVN Review: Tomb Raider (PC)

 

As one might have expected from me, I was extremely pumped as well as apprehensive to play the new Tomb Raider reboot.  After voicing my thoughts on the franchise along with some friends in a documentary styled video mini-series, I was not shy in mentioning my concerns about the reboot.  My fear of the game being nothing more than a torture porn fest as we watch Lara Croft getting beaten and battered as she learns to survive in a brand new origin story was something I was truly concerned with.  Thankfully throughout the game that wasn't the case although Lara still does get quite roughed up throughout her journey.  So how well did the new Tomb Raider go about giving birth to a new Lara Croft?