Added: 13.10.2014 18:12 | 7 views | 0 comments


"With the release of Vib-Ribbon recently, it reminded me there are a lot of games that never made their way to North America that could benefit from a digital release today. Vib-Ribbon may never have released in North America, but it did release in Europe, meaning it did go through the rigors of translation. After going through the trouble of releasing an English version of the game, why not release the game digitally for North America players? These are a few more games that should see release in North America with the advent of digital distribution that have already been translated making the process of releasing them that much simpler."

Added: 13.10.2014 16:12 | 5 views | 0 comments


Chelsea striker Diego Costa has enjoyed a fantastic start to life in the Premier League, scoring a hatful of important goals already in west London. And, one fan in particular has paid homage via FIFA 15. The Blues hitman - who notched for Spain in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday night - has hit the back of the net nine times in the English top flight since arriving from Atletico Madrid.

Added: 12.10.2014 15:16 | 23 views | 0 comments


It will be available exclusively on PlayStation Vita in January 2015 via the PlayStation Store (no physical copies) and will feature both Japanese and English audio.

Added: 11.10.2014 5:12 | 9 views | 0 comments


Sekai Project has announced an ambitious Kickstarter project to bring all three games of the Grisaia Trilogy to the West.

Added: 08.10.2014 21:50 | 3 views | 0 comments


The Phantom Pain's 20-minute gameplay demo, now with an English voiceover in high quality 1080p60.

Added: 08.10.2014 1:08 | 0 views | 0 comments

Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes franchise has quietly become one of the best names in adventure gaming. The games based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth and his sidekick Dr. John Watson have been steadily getting better for a decade now, continually building on top of the Mesozoic point-and-click mechanics and visuals of early releases. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments takes the series to a new level when it comes to game mechanics, storytelling, and visuals. Rigorous detective work and an affinity for the unique Sherlockian atmosphere do everything but put a deerstalker on your head and a magnifying glass in your hand.

Story structure veers away from the single cases featured in previous games in the series. Crimes & Punishments lives up to its name with six separate investigations in which Holmes and Watson scrounge through clues to bring villains to justice. Foreshadowing regarding a gang of terrorists called the Merry Men is sprinkled through the entire game, although there are otherwise no linked elements, aside from brief clips such as one in which Mycroft Holmes shows up to lecture his brother about this insidious gang. As a fan of the original Doyle tales, I greatly appreciated this approach--especially given how the storytelling, characterizations, settings, and incidental references absolutely nailed down the atmosphere of the Sherlock Holmes world.

Each of the cases lasts a good few hours, so the episodic format never gets in the way of digging your teeth into each story. I never felt rushed, and in fact, each case feels like a full standalone game, to the point where I was continually surprised when I finished one and was immediately thrust into another. The game certainly provides great value for your money. There is a good range of subjects as well. Crimes range from a fairly straightforward murder with a whaling harpoon, to a vanishing train in the English countryside, to a ritualistic killing in Roman baths. None of the cases are paritcularly fanciful, though, which might be a disappointment if you're hoping for something supernatural, like the Cthulhu case in

Action sequences and puzzles fill out the remainder of the tasks on Sherlock's to-do list in Crimes & Punishments. Cases are loaded with challenges and conundrums like having to win an arm-wrestling duel, mentally assemble images in Holmes' mind, pop open cylindrical locks, use the analysis table at 221b to blend chemicals and reveal hidden message, and so forth. Many can be tough to get through, so thankfully there is always an option to skip through to success and get back to the more traditional adventure portions. Holmes also has to play dress-up and put on various costumes and facial makeup to deal with certain suspects and situations.

Speaking of traditional adventure games, Crimes & Punishments looks nothing like the average game in this generally dated genre. While the previous Sherlock game in the series, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, looked pretty sharp, this successor raises the bar even higher. Characters and environments are sharp and beautiful, even when character models come close to crossing into the uncanny valley with their lifelike faces and expressions. I found myself staring intently at suspects and witnesses during interrogations, trying to look through their eyes and see the truth. That deepened my connection to Holmes, as if I were truly taking on the role of the legendary detective. Scripts and voice acting are every bit the equal of the visuals. Nothing here would be out of the ordinary in a first-class cinematic Holmes adventure.

All of this new technology comes with a cost, though. Loading times are lengthy and frequent. Every time you move to a new location--and you do so often, as investigations in each case take you to many places, some that you visit repeatedly--the game drops to a loading scene of Holmes sitting in a horse-drawn cab, either smoking or reading a book, and remains there for 20-30 seconds. I wished I had a book on many occasions, too, especially when I had to endure these rides numerous times in no more than a few minutes as I was scurrying from one location to another following up leads.

Perhaps the best comment that I can make on the half-dozen cases featured in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is that they feel like lost short stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. The whodunits are fascinating, with odd casts of characters and plausible mysteries that blend elements of the police procedural with the quirky and eerie atmosphere unique to Holmes and Watson. Nothing really beats curling up with the Doyle's original tales about blue carbuncles, spectral hounds, and Bohemian scandals, but this game is about as close as you could ever get. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that this is one of the best adventures of the year, or that the game is continuing to make a good case that this series needs to be recognized as one of the best adventure franchises of all time.

Added: 08.10.2014 1:08 | 0 views | 0 comments

Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes franchise has quietly become one of the best names in adventure gaming. The games based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth and his sidekick Dr. John Watson have been steadily getting better for a decade now, continually building on top of the Mesozoic point-and-click mechanics and visuals of early releases. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments takes the series to a new level when it comes to game mechanics, storytelling, and visuals. Rigorous detective work and an affinity for the unique Sherlockian atmosphere do everything but put a deerstalker on your head and a magnifying glass in your hand.

Story structure veers away from the single cases featured in previous games in the series. Crimes & Punishments lives up to its name with six separate investigations in which Holmes and Watson scrounge through clues to bring villains to justice. Foreshadowing regarding a gang of terrorists called the Merry Men is sprinkled through the entire game, although there are otherwise no linked elements, aside from brief clips such as one in which Mycroft Holmes shows up to lecture his brother about this insidious gang. As a fan of the original Doyle tales, I greatly appreciated this approach--especially given how the storytelling, characterizations, settings, and incidental references absolutely nailed down the atmosphere of the Sherlock Holmes world.

Each of the cases lasts a good few hours, so the episodic format never gets in the way of digging your teeth into each story. I never felt rushed, and in fact, each case feels like a full standalone game, to the point where I was continually surprised when I finished one and was immediately thrust into another. The game certainly provides great value for your money. There is a good range of subjects as well. Crimes range from a fairly straightforward murder with a whaling harpoon, to a vanishing train in the English countryside, to a ritualistic killing in Roman baths. None of the cases are paritcularly fanciful, though, which might be a disappointment if you're hoping for something supernatural, like the Cthulhu case in

Action sequences and puzzles fill out the remainder of the tasks on Sherlock's to-do list in Crimes & Punishments. Cases are loaded with challenges and conundrums like having to win an arm-wrestling duel, mentally assemble images in Holmes' mind, pop open cylindrical locks, use the analysis table at 221b to blend chemicals and reveal hidden message, and so forth. Many can be tough to get through, so thankfully there is always an option to skip through to success and get back to the more traditional adventure portions. Holmes also has to play dress-up and put on various costumes and facial makeup to deal with certain suspects and situations.

Speaking of traditional adventure games, Crimes & Punishments looks nothing like the average game in this generally dated genre. While the previous Sherlock game in the series, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, looked pretty sharp, this successor raises the bar even higher. Characters and environments are sharp and beautiful, even when character models come close to crossing into the uncanny valley with their lifelike faces and expressions. I found myself staring intently at suspects and witnesses during interrogations, trying to look through their eyes and see the truth. That deepened my connection to Holmes, as if I were truly taking on the role of the legendary detective. Scripts and voice acting are every bit the equal of the visuals. Nothing here would be out of the ordinary in a first-class cinematic Holmes adventure.

All of this new technology comes with a cost, though. Loading times are lengthy and frequent. Every time you move to a new location--and you do so often, as investigations in each case take you to many places, some that you visit repeatedly--the game drops to a loading scene of Holmes sitting in a horse-drawn cab, either smoking or reading a book, and remains there for 20-30 seconds. I wished I had a book on many occasions, too, especially when I had to endure these rides numerous times in no more than a few minutes as I was scurrying from one location to another following up leads.

Perhaps the best comment that I can make on the half-dozen cases featured in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments is that they feel like lost short stories from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself. The whodunits are fascinating, with odd casts of characters and plausible mysteries that blend elements of the police procedural with the quirky and eerie atmosphere unique to Holmes and Watson. Nothing really beats curling up with the Doyle's original tales about blue carbuncles, spectral hounds, and Bohemian scandals, but this game is about as close as you could ever get. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that this is one of the best adventures of the year, or that the game is continuing to make a good case that this series needs to be recognized as one of the best adventure franchises of all time.