IGN (corporate beasts that they are) recently posted a very nice, four page Q&A with two of the producers for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

One of the biggest reasons that The Astringent Gaming Journal exists is to bring you unbiased gaming news. We’re tired of games with the best ad campaigns getting the most hype and the most sales, and we suspect that a few of you are too. Because of this, I’m reluctant to post anything from a website like IGN. However, they have connections that we don’t, and it’s really pretty hard to put corporate bias into a Q&A session.

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The wonderful people over at GameTrailers recently released a video detailing the top ten most influential video games of all time.

I’m generally not that fond of top ten lists and things of that sort, because by their very nature they will always exclude something that someone else finds absolutely necessary. All they do is generate complaints, and the comments on the video’s page are proof of that. However, I find the games on this list and the reasons given for their inclusion to all be extremely valid.

Hey, it’s a nice little ten-minute video for those interested in how the industry got to where it is today. I think it’s fascinating and would be foolish to argue about, especially on a different site than the one that made it, but if you guys want to start a flame war in the comments, be my guest.

Oh, and Mr. Wirefly: nice post storm, sir. I’m a fan.

…..Damn, and I was just starting to appreciate the world. Well, at least we still have 4chan.

Unfortunately, all of this depressing nonsense is indeed true. Not that you even need it, but you can go to the official site right freaking HERE.

First off, Edward Cullen is stealing my women. Hey ladies, just a newsflash for you, HE’S NOT REAL. YOU CAN’T AND WON’T GET A DATE WITH HIM. IF THAT WERE TRUE, I WOULD BE IN AN ORGY WITH THE CAST OF DEAD OR ALIVE RIGHT NOW.

I never read the books, nor have I seen the movie. I don’t intend to, and I never will. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re going to turn a book series into a “mumorpuga” (thank you “Yahtzee” Croshaw), at least have some decency to choose a GOOD ONE. Lord of the Rings, Shannara, even Harry Potter would make a good one; I’d love to test my duelist and Quidditch skills against a team with people from across the world.

Seriously, according to the website, you can play as a human, vampire or werewolf and explore the world of magic, mystery and forbidden love that is Twilight. Quite frankly, if I want to be a werewolf, I want to TEAR STUFF UP, not make the Cullen household all pretty and shit. Aside from playing Martha Stewart Living with a vampire, what the hell am I doing? I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong and this game could blow the socks off of us all, but lets face it, there’s a better chance of Lara Croft kicking down the door of my room at 1:30 AM, pointing at me saying, “I liek chocolate milk” then this being a truly phenomenal game.

Conker’s Bad Fur Day- N64, Rare

Dear God, what have I gotten myself into… Oh well, somebody had to do it.

When I say “Rare”, you probably think Donkey Kong, Banjo Kazooie and Perfect Dark. I happened to come across this game and I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist. The box just called to me.

All I can do while playing is shake my head and laugh at how absurdly awesome this game is.

Now, I just started this game, so I cant truly say much just yet, but this just might be another 10/10. It’s beyond hysterical and it’s countless movie references are insane. The game doesn’t just break the fourth wall, it practically does something I probably can’t say on the site to it. (Something about a corndog and an exhaust pipe, but forcefully. You get the idea.)

Bad Fur Day is rated M for just about anything you can think of. It’s loaded with raunchy humor, sexual innuendo, language out the wazoo, alchohol references and the list keeps going. I was actually surprised that Nintendo even allowed its release. The game saw a re-release for Xbox, Conker: Live and Reloaded, but it doesn’t seem to capture the cartoony, crap-tastic graphics of the original. That’s right, the bad graphics just make it that much more enjoyable. Like I said, I’m not very far; I just fought The Great Mighty Poo….. yes, it’s a giant, pile of crap, but believe me- once I finish…. I will have a review for the ages. Isn’t this a great way to open up The Retro Corner?

Hello, and good morning all! We had a few requests for some classic games to review on our Facebook page. Within the upcoming weeks, OriginOfBob and I will initiate The Retro Corner. Here, we will review classic games from the pre- PS2, GameCube, and Xbox era. In conjunction with the new section of TAGJ, I will also have a 2-part post coming up that revolves strictly around emulators. Part one will be for the Mac users, part two for the Windows crowd. Some people may not have a full understanding of emulators yet, but that’s what we’re here for.

If you have any requests for The Retro Corner, please comment on this post, or on the new thread on the Facebook page. Believe it or not, we actually read them and I assure you, if it’s suggested, one of us will do it. This is Eden Wirefly for TAGJ signing out.

Hey, I couldn’t let OriginOfBob have all the fun…

American McGee’s Alice- MAC/PC, 2000/2001. EA Games

Story- 10/10

Gameplay- 9.0/10

Design- 9.0/10

Control- 9.0/10

Music- 10/10

Fun Factor- 10/10

Overall- 10/10

If Disney’s rendition of “Alice in Wonderland” is the equivalent of a happy-go-lucky acid trip, then welcome to “American McGee’s Alice”, the acid trip from hell.

Story- 10/10

For starters, this is a game by American McGee. That said, if you buy this game (or torrent, cause you wont find it unless you do some serious searching) thinking, “Oh, well maybe this is another happy-go-lucky Disney Alice in Wonderland fairytale”, then you’re in for a rude awakening. By the way, if the box art isn’t a big enough clue, that “M” rating in the lower corner is there for a reason. “American McGee’s Alice” is one hell of a warped game- not “Conker’s Bad Fur Day” laughable warped, but more of a “Soilent Green is people” disturbing warped.

“Alice” has one of the most original spin-off plots for a game to date. The game takes place a few years after the events of “Through the Looking Glass…” (It’s fine if you didn’t read it, but you may not understand the significance of time, chess pieces and the Jabberwock.) Depicted through pages of a book and frantic sounds of panic during the opening cinematic, a young Alice wakes up to find the house on fire and her parents helplessly trapped inside telling her to flee and save herself. One of those “quick-zoom time lapses” occurs, where we find that Alice has now been institutionalized in an asylum. We return to Wonderland once again not as an escape, but to free the inhabitants of the Red Queen’s influence and to reclaim what’s left of Alice’s sanity.

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27 years after the release of the original Tron movie, the first trailer for a sequel emerged at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. Entitled Tron: Legacy, it promises a  memorable and effects-heavy experience.

Now, you may be thinking that a movie trailer has no place on a gaming news site. After all, if I asked a thousand gamers to list companies that were responsible for putting out truly great games, it’s highly unlikely that many responses would include Disney. The replies that did cite Disney would most likely stop at the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Others even before then. Those gamers, however, have forgotten about the various Tron games. All of the past games have been extremely enjoyable, and the film is a true nerd classic. If you’re unfamiliar with it or the games, you need to fix that.

What do you think about the trailer? About the original movie? About the games? Post about any of all of it in the comments!

Retro/Grade, finalist in the 2009 Independent Games Festival, has a demo out for PC users. It’s also coming to PS3, if that’s more your style.

But what is Retro/Grade? Well, let me build the concept for you. First, imagine a side-scrolling shooter, like R-Type or Jets’N'Guns. Now imagine that your movement is confined to a certain number of vertical flight channels, up to a maximum of five. Next, imagine that you’re playing the game in reverse. Oh, and it’s a rhythm game. To my knowledge, this is the only 2D shooter that you can play with a guitar controller.

That’s right! In Retro/Grade, you play as Rick Rocket, who has just saved the universe. But you did it so well that there’s an anomoly and you have to do it all again backwards. Using the standard PC controls, the arrow keys move your ship up and down between channels, and you press the space bar whenever your bullets (which, remember, are moving left because this is backwards) hit your ship’s gun. Enemy bullets move right back towards the ships that fired them, so you have to dodge those while connecting with your bullets to make sure that you don’t create a time paradox by not firing them. Each time you successfully fire your laser, an enemy ship appears on the right side of the screen as you un-destroy it.

I know, I know. It’s pretty hard to think about. My advice is to simply visit the site, watch the trailer, download the demo, (also available on Steam) and have a spectacular time with this little gem that’s already receiving a great deal of critical acclaim.

The great people over at Bioware have released the third video documentary for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This one covers the immense scope of the voice acting that will be in the game. As the video explains, there are thousands of voice actors and hundreds of thousands of lines of dialogue.

For those of you who don’t already know, Star Wars: The Old Republic (SW: TOR, or just TOR) is an MMORPG being developed by the same people who brought you Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Both of these are excellent games in their own right, worthy of your play time if you’ve managed to look them over so far. I implore you, though: play them in order.

The goal with this game is to not only bring the Star Wars universe to life, which is exciting, but also to do it in a truly immersive and memorable way, which is even more exciting. From the snippets that have been released thus far, the project looks like it’s on course to meet both of those goals. They claim it will be bigger than every other game ever made by Bioware or Lucasarts combined. A lofty claim, to be sure.

The game is far from release, but my anticipation is high. Is yours? Tell us your thoughts in the comments for this post.

Oh, and if you’ve missed the previous documentaries, here they are: First & Second.

P.N. 03 Review

by Jordan Schilling (July 10, 2009)

P.N. 03- GameCube, 2003. Capcom
Story- 6.0/10
Gameplay- 7.5/10
Control- 8.0/10
Design- 8.0/10
Music- 8.5/10
Fun Factor- 7.5/10
Overall- 7.5/10
We all need a break from compelling story lines and dynamic characters every once in a while. That’s where P.N. 03 comes in, delivering some fun, mindless futuristic arcade shooting, putting our in game cinematic-racked brains to rest… Until you get frustrated and throw the controller at the screen.

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