The week before Christmas brings the long-awaited return of BioWare to Star Wars, one of the most controversial PC game franchise ever, plus the one Sonic game that everyone has heard about, but have never actually played!
BioWare had been around a little while, but what really put them on the map was Knights of the Old Republic for the first Xbox. This helped to create a legacy and reputation that, to be honest, has been somewhat questionable as of late. Dragon Age 2 was just that bad. Not helping is how people’s love for Star Wars has also been on the serious decline in recent years (for perhaps obvious reasons). Hence why The Old Republic, the new Star Wars MMO that has BioWare returning to familiar territory is so important. With an estimated budget of $135 million, making it the most expensive video game ever produced, it’s their first foray into the world of MMOs is something they had wanted to do with for a very long time. The fact that they’re promising a strong emphasis on story makes one wonder if they know what they’re doing. At the very least, they will hopefully again create a rich and compelling Star Wars universe, something that the real folks behind the franchise have severely fallen short on. PC
The follow-up of one of the most infamous games of the past fifteen or so years, due to the blatant exploitation of ultra violence, and one which has been in development for seemingly forever, is finally out. Once again, you’re “The Postal Dude”, in a brand new town (since you nuked the last one) that’s ripe to be rampaged with the main character’s less than optimistic worldview of people and society at large. And once again, it’s an entirely different viewpoint of the action; instead of the first person viewpoint of the last game, this new one is a third person affair. So given the cinematic nature of the story telling, along with the sandbox-ish gameplay, expect a somewhat Grand Theft Auto-esque experience. One that makes actual GTA look quite tame in comparison. Oh and it guest stars Ron Jeremy and Sarah Palin. Plus the trailer alone features about ten different things that will surely get the makers lawsuits when all is said and done. Though it remains to be seen if it can actually complete in the current day and age where one needs a little more than shocking content to get by. PC
Most lament Sonic’s fall from grace, and indeed he was the king of the hill back in the purely 2D days. And most of his exploits, from Sonic 1 to Sonic & Knuckles, have been readily available (the first Sonic must have the world record for the most ports underneath its belt, and that’s no exaggeration, just look for yourself). But the one 16-bit entry that hardly anyone has played was Sonic CD, for assorted reasons. First off, it was originally for the Sega CD, a system that very few people owned. There’s been only two ports thus far, for Windows 95 and the GameCube, and both were hardly accessible. At least now people will be able to enjoy such forbidden fruit, given that current delivery methods and technology in general has finally caught up. Best of all is how both Japanese and American soundtracks have been included, which was the cause of much controversy when the game first came out ( us Americans got a distinctly new age-y offering, instead of the techno-centric Japanese release). It’s also being somewhat reconnected to connect with the upcoming Sonic 4, Episode 2, for whatever reason. XbLA, iOS, PSN
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