Diehard GameFAN

Author: Christopher Bowen

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for June 1st, 2010

    It’s heading into June, and that means one thing for me personally: roller hockey season is starting up again. This is a good thing for me because it keeps me sharp (as a referee) until it’s time for ice hockey to start up again, the money’s not bad, and it keeps me in shape throughout…

  • Review: 3D Dot Game Heroes (Sony PS3)

    3D Dot Game Heroes Developer: Silicon Studio Publisher: Atlus Genre: Action RPG Release Date: 5/11/2010 Though I’m one of the biggest retro freaks on our staff, I am not a huge fan of this New Retro craze going on. What is “New Retro”? It’s when a game makes a huge deal out of being retro,…

  • Xbox LIVE Wrap-Up for May 27th, 2010

    I have bad news, and more bad news. The bad news is that DJ Tatsujin, due to his (absolutely outstanding) work with our PR department, will no longer be able to do this piece on a weekly basis. The more bad news is that you’re all stuck with me until we can find a permanent…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for May 25th, 2010

    This is one of those weeks that just pisses me off. Seriously, I don’t mind a bad content week. Even if that was the case this time around, they happen, and really, last week’s update was so awesome that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Besides, it’s not like Sony’s pulling a Nintendo and forgetting a…

  • Custom Pac-Man Board Playable on Google

    Visitors to the Google main page today will get a treat: the Google logo, which celebrates Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary looks good, but the big news is that the logo is actually playable, using the keyboard’s arrow keys. There’s really nothing else to say here. Get over to Google, and play! It’s Friday, to hell with…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for May 18th, 2010

    I spend a lot of time here bitching about demos. More specifically, I bitch about the lack of demos. It’s to the point where I have friends that go “OK asshole, we get it. You want the PSN to include more demos. You also don’t like the Wii. Back off it.” I don’t know if…

  • Review: 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (Microsoft Xbox 360)

    2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Sports Genre: Realistic Sports Release Date: 4/27/2010 (NA) I was very, very nice to FIFA ’10 when I reviewed it. I gave it a good score, pointed out that it was a better football game than Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, and said that it…

  • Preview: Hexyz Force (Sony PSP)

    Over the weekend, I sacrificed a Friday night out to view a demo of the newest Sting/Atlus RPG, Hexyz Force. I’ve always been a fan of Japanese Role-Playing Games, though I’ve been ambivalent on the market as of late due to some uninspired offerings that play up vapid female characters at the expense of everything…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for May 12th, 2010

    It would have been foolhardy for people to expect another update as amazing as last week’s. No matter what your preferred genre is, there was something for you then unless you weren’t a PSP owner. This week, things come back to normal a bit, though there’s certainly enough goodies this week, especially for racing fans.…

  • Review: Mount & Blade Warband (PC)

    Mount & Blade Warband Developer: TaleWorlds Publisher: Paradox Interactive Genre: Fantasy War/Strategy RPG Release Date: 3/30/2010 When I reviewed Mount & Blade, I was pretty hard on it. I heavily crtiticized the steep learning curve, ridiculously stacked odds against people starting out, and the bugs that were rampant in the early builds of the game.…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for May 4th, 2010

    So, funny story: all week since Thursday, I’ve been telling myself that I have to remember that the Playstation Network update is on Tuesdays instead of Thursdays. I kept saying it to myself over and over again, up until Tuesday, when I promptly forgot it until about 9:30PM EST and went “OH SHIT THE PLAYSTATION…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for April 29th, 2010

    I have officially declared Grace Chen my nemesis. She not only screws up my schedule, she taunts me while doing so. While a layperson would say “Chris, she has no idea who the hell you are” and “will you stop listening to those voices in your head?”, I know. Oh, I know! First, her Playstation…

  • Bungie Signs Ten Year Publishing Deal With Activision

    Halo developer Bungie, on the same day that the beta for their latest game Halo: Reach starts for certain users, dropped a bomb on the videogame industry today, announcing that they are entering a ten year publishing deal with Activision, known for series such as Call of Duty, Rock Band and Tony Hawk. This marks…

  • Hands-On Preview: TNA iMPACT Cross The Line (Sony PSP)

    Recently, Aileen Coe and I went to a conference call with SouthPeak to check out a few of their new games. They had two they wanted to show us: one, Aileen will be able to tell you more about, but the second one is the next Total Nonstop Action game, TNA iMPact Cross The Line…

  • Review: MLB ’10 The Show (Sony PS3)

    MLB ’10 The Show Developer: SCE San Diego Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America Genre: Realistic Sports Simulation Release Date: 3/2/2010 Not many would argue that MLB ’09 The Show wasn’t one of the best – if not THE best – sports games of 2009. Sony’s been knocking their series out of the park since ’07…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for April 22nd, 2010

    Normally, I judge these updates on the games that come out. If more good games come out than bad games, I give it a thumbs up, and vice versa. But one would notice that I almost never talk about auxiliary things like downloadable content or premium themes unless something is significant. My focus is more…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for April 15th, 2010

    Being self-employed has its perks. You’re independent. You determine your workload. You don’t have to waste your life away in a cubicle, unable to listen to even a shitty Top 40 station at inaudible levels because some harpy four cubes down who hasn’t gotten laid since Michael Jackson did Rock With You doesn’t think it…

  • Review: Spectral Force Genesis (Nintendo DS)

    Spectral Force Genesis Developer: Idea Factory Publisher: Ignition Entertainment Genre: Turn Based Strategy Release Date: 3/16/2010 I have a good friend who wrote for us back when we were Not A True Ending named Ryan Smith. Ryan is so into Japanese culture that one could confuse him with Peter Payne. He watches all sorts of…

  • Dark Void Zero To See PC and iPhone Release

    Back in January, I briefly discussed the DSi game Dark Void Zero. It was a good platformer from the early ’90s that was developed for the Playchoice 10 arcade machines before those machines were discontinued. It didn’t seem right to me that the game was only available on the DSi, arguably the worst download system…

  • Playstation Network Wrap-Up for April 8th, 2010

    I apologize for not being around last week. It was a tumultuous week. I ended up attending the funeral for the Install Other OS feature, which was attended by most of the biggest names in the Linux community, including the immortal Richard Stallman. Technically, he didn’t attend so much as stand across the street screaming…