Gordon Freeman is Now These Hands

These vids were write by kid and made by grown-ups. They make laughs come frome me mouth and internets smile. 2 vids is called pullin a Brian times 2.

Whats Next?

Today was the one day out of the year that I would have killed to have a new gamefly game, but nothing had caught my eye. But then I was reminded that Lost: Via Domus is coming out in a couple of days and I immediately moved it on to my GameQ. I have very high expectations for Lost, being a new fan to the series so given the opportunity to function in the Lost universe and interact with the characters couldn't be cooler. Especially because of the level of detail that will go into this game in terms of easter eggs, hidden achievements and all kinds of crazy stuff. I've only seen a couple of clips of actual game play an it looks decent. Kind of reminds me of Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, but knowing that Ubi-soft has been working on the title and has been given strict rules to follow makes me all the more excited. So check out for my review of Lost: Via Domus on the next couple of podcasts. Hopefully it won't disappoint.

A Bundle Of Joy

It's all but official, but it's looking like I'll be purchasing a Playstation 3 entertainment system on June 12th, 2008. It is by no means written in stone, but this date in time has renewed my excitement for Metal Gear Solid 4 far beyond any previous levels. Metal Gear fans know that we at Scissors 61 are huge Metal Gear enthusiasts by our title alone. There are plenty of titles that I am psyched for, Grand Theft Auto IV and Ninja Gaiden 2 to name a few, but MGS4 is the game that I will refuse to put down until I have all the answers that I've been waiting so many years for.

Episode 25: Where Have You Gone Jaleel White?

Brian has the Tyrant virus. He had a good run, but I fear the worst has yet to come for Mr. Mihaich. Side note, is it proper to call the undead late? Like if I saw an undead Paul Newman should I call him the late Mr. Newman? These the types of things I need to know before I die. In southern New Jersey video game podcast news, episode 25 of the Scissors 61 podcast is live. We lose all track of time talking up GDC, and of course more references to yesteryear.

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[Podcast episode art celebrity update: Ernie Hudson in Dragonball movie confirmed!]

PigPen Chronicles: Confirmed

I can't wait for the gamer pictures and the theme. I can smell them from here

The Quiet Storm

With no new releases this week really snagging my interest (sorry but The Club just seems so blah), I had to do some searching to quench my thirst for new gaming. Audiosurf is quickly taking over the majority of the time I spend at my computer. Audiosurf is a music game similar in style and setup to Amplitude and Frequency. However in Audiosurf you don't hit buttons to be beat, but collect blocks in a track created by the song you are playing. The coolest part of Audiosurf is that you are able to use any mp3 that is on your PC to create tracks to play. This allows for an endless track list of your choosing, and the full version is only $9.95 on Steam.


The goal of Audiosurf is to collect colored blocks as they pass by and match three or more of the same color together in order to score points. Each song you play creates a track that you travel; you go uphill in the slower parts, and downhill during the faster parts. You can play as different characters that change the way you collect your blocks. There is a mono character that has you collect only one color but you must avoid gray blocks or you'll lose points. Also there is the pointman that has tracks of three different colors of different point values that you must match together. Once you complete a song your score is uploaded onto a global scoreboard, and if someone beats your top score on a song you'll be sent an email to take back your throne.

For a game that allows you to use anything you want Audiosurf works surprisingly well, although it's not perfect. I find myself using Audiosurf as my new music player, causing me to focus more of the song instead of just having some background. Now if someone like Rock Band would allow you to use your own songs.

Portal 2 Confirmed

Valve's Doug Lombardi officially just confirmed the development of Portal 2. I say follow the Halo formula and call it a day.

Finally... Something With Some Originality

OK, my first truly original post. With the announcement of Guitar Hero 3: Aerosmith I was asked several times by different people, "hey you gonna get that?" I don't think I will so that got me thinking, what Guitar Hero expansion would I buy. So here I present my list of what I would like to see as potential Guitar Hero expansions:

Metallica

Nothing would be a bigger ball breaker than an entire disc of just straight up Metallica. Everything from Kill Em All, to Saint Anger. After playing One a thousand times with Max, I know that a whole expansion based around the band would be incredible.

White Stripes

My second choice is the White Strips. Nothing would be cooler than being given the chance to play Icky Thump, and Seven Nation Army. Not to mention the rest of the amazing library these 2 have put together.

Green Day

I chose Green Day because they were for me, the first rock stars I ever knew, so giving me the chance to emulate and impersonate these guys would be awesome. Playing some of there stuff from Dookie and Nimrod would be amazingly fun too.

Eagles Of Death Metal

Eagles of Death Metal would also be very sweet to see in guitar hero. Since Queens of the Stone Age is pretty much a Rock Band band I went with Eagles for some guitar hero action. Eagles would be a great band that probably wouldn't sell to crazy but for fans would be pretty fucking cool.

These are just a couple of ideas I had but I would definitely buy any of these if they were add-ons or sequels or expansions for Guitar Hero.

Resident Evil 101: Ink Ribbon Under My Pillow

I love me some Resident Evil. I mean, I Loooove me some Resident Evil. I once owned a 10 foot cardboard cutout movie standee, for the first movie, that I could not fit in my front door(Alice lived in the basement). I own the huge Resident Evil encyclopedia and raise my fist to the air and mumble "Damn you...." every time I smell Wesker's Old Spice.

Like most people who breath air, I troll wikipedia for plot summaries of metal gear and RE in my leisure time, and today I found the mother load. A game I've never heard of, and perhaps for some good reasons... Resident Evil Survior 2: Code Veronica.


Now I know Reisdent Evil Survivor sucked bigtime and so does every game that doesn't have a number in the title other than Code Veronica. But this could be different. This could be the one off shoot game that puts Outbreak in its place and tells the Resident Evil Gaiden (where your on a cruise ship of terror) to Shut Up!!!.

Nope.

The game looks and plays like garbage. But the saving grace could be a great storyline, that might of been forgotten. Some big plot reveals, held for the hardocores, who would weather such a storm.

Nope.

"The game's events are actually a dream which Claire is having after escaping Rockfort Island with Steve before the second half of Code: Veronica, and as such has no connection to the main series' storyline."- wiki

Pullin a Bob Newhart. Shits Weak! At least we still have this!

The FPS Well Is Drying Up

I spent some time today checking out some demos to the new batch of first person shooters with the required colon in the title, Conflict: Denied Ops, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, Frontlines: Fuel of War. While its not really fair to review a game based fully on its demo, I do know that isn’t a chance in hell that I’ll review even two of these games.

With Conflict: Denied Ops I don’t even know where to begin, even the title is just plain awful. You play as two dudes that you couldn’t care less about, with generic sniper rifle and generic machine gun. The enemies just kind of run at you, and there are explosive barrels everywhere, it feels like 75% of the enemies hide behind propane tanks that are just sitting in the middle of a room. The demo ends with a helicopter crashing in the room you’re in that you didn’t even shoot down. Please just stay away from Conflict, I beg of you.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, the 248th WWII shooter in video game history. Of course the developer has to be aware of this so they give it a twist, Nazis in New York. Throw in the nameless construction worker hero and you’ve got gold right? I could be wrong but I think Nazi soldiers didn’t crouch in the middle of an empty lot and not react when you ran up next to them shooting, but hey I’m no history buff. I don’t understand the idea of having AI shoot at you only when your back is turned, its as if you’re fighting a boo in a Mario game that wields a gun. The textures and the layout of the level in the demo were also pretty below average to at best average, it just doesn’t seem to be on par with the current generation of games. Personally I’m staying away, but if you want a dumb Nazi shooting sim I say go for it.

The winner of the bunch, although it wasn’t much compition, has to be Frontlines: Fuel of War. Frontlines is set in a modern setting that feels very much like a Call of Duty 4 Lite. The multiplayer demo is available on Xbox Live, and while its nothing great, its not terrible either. The controls don’t feel as tight as they probably should be in a shooter that is based on being fairly quick on the trigger. The full version is said to have 50 player matches, which would be an experience you really don’t get in console first person shooters. With that said I might check out Frontlines when it is released next week.

Episode 24: [Insert Companion Cube Joke Here]

The calm before the storm of the Game Developers Conference. This week we talk up our thoughts on Devil May Cry 4, and get excited about several games announcements. Finally the world can get ready to lose their lives to Will Wright's Spore. Red Alert 3 will return and amuse with its quick gameplay and live action cut scenes. We review what brave EA investors learned in a six hour meeting. KOTOR 3 confirmed??

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Bionic Devil Might Creed Galaxies

I for one am a strong believer in originality and innovation, but after a long hard sit with Devil May Cry 4 I must say, it got screwed. Not in the fact that it does anything wrong but, there are a few things that appear the game that also appearing in games that came out this holiday season. Devil May Cry has been in development for several years and non of these things are its fault, it just makes wonder if the developers were like, "Crap, this game stole our idea".

Exhibit A in the case of DMC vs. industry. Take the opening cinema where Dante storms a church service. All of the monks in attendance are wearing the exactly same monk outfit from Assassin’s Creed. Now this maybe historically accurate and I know its not a concept theft per say, but regardless, Capcom must of been like, "crap...." as Ubisoft took a little bit of wind out of its sail.

Exhibit B is the grapple system that Nero uses to move around in platforming sequences. Robbed again. Nero points at floating orbs and grapples from one to another to elevate himself, exactly like the same mechanic used in Super Mario Galaxy. This grapple had its wind knocked out of its sail with the preview video of Bionic Commando as well... Its pretty much the same thing.

In the end NONE of these things affect DMC4 and they shouldn't but time and time again I could take myself back a few months when these games were on top of the world and here a very quite Capcom whispering "crap", under their breath.

Giddiness Factor: February Edition

This is a quick list of things that occupy my brain on a daily basis that I am probably way too excited about.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

El Scorcho on Rock Band

A world where Jack Thompson can't get on our televisions

A decent RPG

Arrested Development: The Movie

Raining Blood

Going into No More Heroes I was excited for a game that was an over the top experience that spoke to video game and anime fanatics. It’s style accomplishes this right out of the gate, but the game as a whole falls a little short. No More Heroes does an excellent job of grabbing you in with a character in Travis Touchdown that is bad ass, but at the same time has the same wants and needs of your average gamer (girls out of their league, fighting hordes of henchmen, and of course money). No More Heroes does a fantastic job of letting you know right off the bat, this is a video game, we know this a video game, and we made this game for people who like video games way too much. At no point does it try to be more than what it is.

The concept of No More Heroes in a nutshell is Travis Touchdown starts out as the eleventh ranked assassin, and must continue to kill those ranked ahead of him to become number one. Each assassin along your path to number one has a unique style, and these battles are the best part of the game, but as it goes on they seem to get less interesting and the fights become less exciting. Even Travis’ banter with the enemies seems to trail off as the game goes on. Whether this is to show that he is becoming colder by the entire experience, or that there simply wasn’t anymore material I do not know, but either way it made the confrontations less enjoyable.



The biggest issue with No More Heroes is the time spent in between ranked fights. In order to drag out what would be a solid six to eight hour experience into a ten to twelve, you are forced to work in order to pay an entrance fee. This leads to navigating an city that has very little to no interaction, and taking part time jobs in the form of mini games. These mini games lead to assassination missions for more cash, which may sound like a good idea to keep the action up, but when you come to realize you’re just killing a Pizza Butt CEO four different times in a garage with the remaining assassinations just being kill guys until time runs out, it loses its pizzazz.

When it is all said and done No More Heroes is a great action title for the Wii when you consider its library of Mature action games. While it seems that I didn’t enjoy the game at all, it was worth the rent and to some Wii only owners it could be worth a buy with replays on harder difficulties, and the fact there isn’t much of this type of game on Wii. To multi console owners I say keep yourself busy with Devil May Cry 4 and wait for Ninja Gaiden 2.

Metal Beer?!

So I was trying to think of something to post when I stumbled across this gem of a video. Anyone a fan of this podcast and the Metal Gear Series will adore the time and careful planning that went into the idea and concept of this video. Be sure to hang around until the end for the explosive finish.

Game Idea: Mammal Quest

Today, PC Gamer is sporting a sweet cover shot, unveiling and announcing Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3. Upon reading this my shit meter went off. At an age where nothing seems to really get me excited and anymore and innovation and originality are the only things that give my joystick, gaming wood; I thought no sequel aside from Dead Rising 2 could cure my gaming genital disfunction. Alas mother Russia is a cold hard sex goddess and I am ready to bring down the Berlin Wall with a Rumble Pack in my pants.

All of these mental images aside: C&CRE3 is my cup of tea... Star Craft 2 being lamb's juice. I mean I'm sure Korea is thrilled to have a new game to play Russian Roulette to in underground death tournaments, but Red Alert has a lot more style and humor behind it where Star Craft has soulless aliens and predictable bad ass marines. I hope EA/Westwood has fun with this title and we see more cheesy cinemas and giant brain washed squids. I say brain wash every animal and control them in an RTS manor. Call in Mammal Quest: Frontline Black Ops Mission Zero Prime. It will be the first successful platform RTS, not because it controlled well, but because it changed the world.

Curiosity Will Be The End Of Me

I said I would bite the bullet and check out Lost Odyssey's four disc adventure. Instead I have setup Professor Layton and The Curious Village for the DS as my next game. Hopefully I can snag Lost Odyssey as well, but it wasn't a solid release date for the next podcast. Anyway I am strangely excited to play a puzzle game that's also a mystery. Professor Layton is hugely successful in Japan, and it's developed by Level 5 (Dragon Quest VIII, Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy, and Jeanne d'Arc). Expect my impressions during episode 24.

For Me Lads

If my name were Brian Mihaich this would be my post for the week.

Episode 23: Show Me Suicide

A very special episode Scissors 61 about the dangers of changing your game ratings scale, and how it could lead some interns to suicide. Special guests from your favorite shows of yesteryear Ray Combs, Bronson Pinchot, and Emmy nominated Meshach Taylor. Help support the cause and save an intern today for just the price of a Mass Effect download. Homes for these poor interns were accomplished by the Playstation Network. Show your support with a download that doesn't require you to make a sandwich to pass the time.

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You love Mr. Dante right?

She-vipers, giant toads, and fire beasts from hell are nothing. Half demon in a red coat, brick wall. Fuck you Dante, fuck you for being too good at what you do.

Dead Rising 2: Where will the Dead Rise From?

I know its coming. I can smell rotting flesh and approaching apocalypses(great band name, you can have it) in from a mile away. Dead Rising 2 has been confirmed to be in development and will most likely revealed this spring. This mall massacre mess was and still is my favorite 360 game, but I think this romp will have to leave the "smell of commerce in the morning" in order to up the sequel anti But before the (dead zombie) cat is let out of the (dead zombie) bag and this game appears on the cover of Game Informer or..... Game Informer..... I wanna riddle down some of the better guesses. Keep in mind DR's biggest game play feature is a huge variety or real world weapons( make a mall great). We need locations that can still shell of the goods.

5. The Moon (If they go with the first thing some guy thinks of, like this pic)
4. Army Base (come on, you get it)
3. GTA style city (most likely but, I felt the limiting size of the mall help it.
2. Airport (similar to malls, but enough new variety for me to buy it)
1. Theme Park (Rides, Games, Prizes, Zombie Death - done)

Or I'm wrong and its just a bigger mall...sighh...It's probably just another mall...I'd still play it.

Legends of Rock Heroes in Paradise at Twilight

I gave myself a rather large gaming task list today. Finish Twilight Princess, get 80% completion in Burnout Paradise, beat the solo guitar tour on hard in Rock Band, and finally bang out as much of No More Heroes if time would allow.

The first task I decided to bang out was completing the solo guitar tour in Rock Band. While Rock Band's guitar difficulty doesn't touch Guitar Hero III, things can get a little rough at the end. The final song Green Grass and High Tides by The Outlaws is quickly becoming a new favorite of mine with its two really long and quite frankly pretty insane solos. This of course rewarded me with a respectable 90 gamerpoints and a golden guitar for my efforts. Status: Complete

In Burnout I have begun working on banging out some of the road rules times around the city. While I am starting to narrow down my options there is still way too much to do in Paradise City (EA talking about DLC will only help this statement). I have 44 events until my burnout elite license, around 20 some billboards, lord knows how many smashes, and just about every showtime left just waiting for me to stamp on my license. With that said I'm sitting at around 77%. Status: Currently playing

This brings us to Twilight Princess, which I can now safely take off of games I need to beat. I was a little late to the party, but I still had a good time. That said it didn't win over my heart like some past Zelda games. The world of Hyrule feels like an after thought with very forgettable characters and areas. While there are a few dungeons that keep you on your toes, I found most of them a little slower than I'm use to, with boss fights that didn't really get going until the very end. With all this said it is by no means a bad game, its just not a step forward for the series in my opinion. Twilight Princess feels like a game that was made for those that didn't bother to play Wind Waker because of its cel-shaded graphics, when I for one believe Wind Waker is a much better game. Status: Accomplished

I didn't get too far into No More Heroes today, but I have enjoyed it for the most part so far. The combat is extremely fun, and Travis Touchdown is earning a spot in my heart of hearts. The Wii remote finishing moves help keep the repetitive nature that you find in most action games fresh. The characters in No More Heroes are equally as fresh, if not more so. Each assassin has a style all their own, and Travis is never short on words. Some of the drawbacks to No More Heroes are that the open world isn't very appealing. With so much style in the story and the characters, I wonder if it is on purpose that the world is so bland in order to make them stand out more. Either way it just doesn't look nice to the eyes, and the side missions are really just a way to draw out the length of the game between missions. Hopefully I'll be able to have a full review sometime this weekend or early next week. Status: 8th ranked assassin

It was a great day to catch up on the games I've had sitting around (no car for a day will do that). With what seems to be a gap from here until mid March, I thankfully won't get backed up anytime soon.

Boom!

Once again in case you missed our Shear Awards: Best Explosion, I give you crysis. Thanks gametrailers.

Max Wishlist: Rockin - Rodeo

Late last week Gurney through up his pic for most wanted rhythm game song, and today every other damn blog on this lemmings hill known as the internet, had their pics. Wow. Any how, here's the Rockin Rodeo Core RunDown that is: Max's Rhythm Game Wishlist. Please enjoy this tool and then hit the breaks for the real jams




Every Time I Die - We'rewolf
MiniBosses - MegaMan 2
Pretty Girls Make Graves - Speakers Push Air
Protest the Hero - Sequoia Throne
The Darkness - Permission to Land (THE WHOLE BLOODY ALBUM)

Episode 22: Challenger Approaching! G-man!

As the people of New Jersey ready themselves to vote in the primaries tomorrow, the Scissors 61 crew can only wonder what could have been had some beloved characters been added to the Smash Bros. roster. I agree a dimension hopping final smash would be quite over powered for the likes of Half Life's G-man, but I'm sure the Friedman's* taskmaster would have some surprises. Join us for episode 22 for the search for flight 815, an extended rant on No More Heroes, how the makers of Too Human don't own a calendar, how Valve will someday rule over small countries, and what is probably the lamest week in DLC to date.

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*Friedman is Max's required mistake per podcast that was made while referring to the hero in Half Life and to MIT graduates everywhere, Gordan Freeman.

Toilet GOTW: Peggle

Welcome to the first of many Toilet Games of the Week. I for one, own every portable platform for one reason and one reason only... Oat Bran. Thats right I'm a huge fan of knocking off a few levels as I drop a few. Guilty pleasure maybe, but before you look down on this past time of mine, think first of the interesting criteria a great shitty game must adhere to. First that game must be fun in short doses... or long ones. The game should be able to be picked up and put down without a long period of trying to remember what was going one. And lastly, the best of the best pooper games take the experience off of the throne and into the family room, unwashed hands and all.

So boom here you go. The game that has over taken puzzle quest as my dumper of choice: Peggle. Peggle is a bastard child of Pachinco and Bust-a-Move mixed with Jimi Hendrix vibes and hip-hop unicorns. Its simple shoot the ball, hit the pegs, watch the magic ensue. Play a few free rounds over at Pop-Caps or Steam and try not to laugh as the orchestra kicks in on that final shot and the slow-mo drags your victory down to a slip second. Pay attention though. Peggle is available on many platforms and may prices. Pop-cap.com has it for $20, Steam for $10, and the iTunes store has it for only $5 smackaroos for your iPod. Of course you can only poop-and-play on your iPod so make it happen. Expect to see Peggle on XBLA in the near future.

Gurney's Wishlist: Impossible Germany

Wilco's "Impossible Germany" from their album Sky Blue Sky was easily my favorite song from 2007. I cannot stress how much I want, or quite possibly need, this song to be released for download on Guitar Hero III or Rock Band. I'll add more wishlist entries from time to time, for now enjoy the sweet sounds that I can only wish to play with five colored buttons.