Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week: 11/15 – 11/21
by Jonathan Zungre on November 18, 2009 at 7:47 am
Every week, I research all the best new video game releases to find the one game that you need to play and the one game that you need to stay away from: my Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week. This week with 100% more winners! Read more…
Wii/DS Review: Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games
by Sam Naylor on November 16, 2009 at 7:47 am
Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, like Mario and Sonic and the Olympic Games before it, combines the plethora of sports associated with the events with the somewhat madcap world of Nintendo and SEGA mascots. This provides a welcome relief from the charmless sports games that are often released around these major sporting events; the vibrant and less-than-serious world of Mario and Sonic certainly adds something to the sports game formula, but does it work as a game in its own right?
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Ripten Radio: Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week, 11/1-11/7
by Jonathan Zungre on November 6, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Every week, I research all the best new video game releases to find the one game you need to play and the one you need to stay away from: my Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week. Who will win this week? Dragon Age: Origins? Band Hero? Five Minutes to Kill Yourself? Read more…
Review: Able Planet PS500MM Headset
by Dan Landis on October 31, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Able Planet’s original intentions were to help those with hearing loss, but they have now decided to enter the mainstream headset world with their sound-enhancing technology. Thus was born the PS500MM headset, designed with PC gaming in mind. The question now is: Is it worth the price? Read more…
Review: Need for Speed Shift
by Dan Landis on October 30, 2009 at 10:55 am
Need for Speed: Shift is somewhat of a return to form for the NFS series. Unlike the last few games that had you open-world cruising the city while running from cops in your nitrous-infused, mostly illegal street racer, Shift is all about real racing on actual tracks and stuff. You know, the kind of racing that doesn’t involve any slutty girlfriends. Read more…
Famitsu Rates Bayonetta with a Perfect Score
by Chad Lakkis on October 20, 2009 at 10:18 am
I’ve been a fan of Sega’s multi-platform title Bayonetta from the moment I laid my eyes on an early preview of the game at E3. In fact, I rushed home and told everyone I could about the game … heck I even tried to sketch a few aspects of it for our readers.
Well, the popular Japanese video game publication Famitsu seems to think that Bayonetta is pretty spiffy as well.
Only twelve titles have received a perfect score of 40 in the magazine’s life span, with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being the first in 1998 and Bayonetta being the most recent. Hit the jump for the full list of games awarded a perfect score by Famitsu. Read more…
Ripten Movie Review: Gamer
by Jonathan Zungre on September 17, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Gamer unseats The Happening as the worst movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a disgusting, abrasive movie made by someone who doesn’t understand or appreciate games and can only see the negative in the youth and culture that surround them. Read more…
Review: Wii Sports Resort
by Rangebar Merani on July 31, 2009 at 1:50 pm
The first time I saw and got my hands on Wii Sports Resort was at last year’s E3. I had a chance to actually play the Frisbee mini-game and it immediately put a smile on my face. I thought it was a great idea for Nintendo to come out with a sequel to Wii Sports, but damn, I didn’t think it would take them a year to get it to us. Well, after a long wait and in the middle of a summer video game drought, Wii Sports Resort has finally arrived and it sure was worth the wait.
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Sumo Sultan Review: The Ultimate Gaming Chair or Ultimate Friend?
by Jonathan Zungre on July 15, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I wasn’t sure how I felt about the Sumo Sultan at first. It’s a monstrously large luxury “bean bag chair” that has a removable, washable micro suede cover, and claims to be the ultimate gaming throne. But it’s actually filled with a super sculptable furniture foam, not beans of any sort, and so right off the bat, I felt the Sumo Sultan had lied to me about its true nature, and I could see my other furniture was intimidated by its Brock Lesnarian size.
However, I began to notice how my guests reacted to the Sumo Sultan as opposed to my other furniture pieces. Where I saw apathy to my rustic leather couch and awkwardness and fear to my seven foot wooden Indian carving, I saw enthusiasm to the Sumo Sultan. Read more…
Xbox 360 Review: UFC Undisputed
by Jonathan Zungre on July 12, 2009 at 4:44 pm
UFC Undisputed’s authenticity in portraying the sport of mixed martial arts is both its greatest strength and weakness. Read more…
Review: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
by Dan Landis on June 25, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Oh, Vin Diesel. Even though I find it somewhat amusing that you feel the need to star in all of the games that you make, I actually don’t mind it when that game turns out to be pretty decent. The real question here is whether or not people are willing to pay full price for what is essentially a last-gen game with a facelift and an expansion pack. Do you really think your game is that good? Read more…
PC Review: Stalin vs. Martians
by Sam Naylor on May 25, 2009 at 4:18 am
“Stalin vs. Martians” just about sums this game up. There’s not much to this game. That’s why there aren’t that many words in this review. Go ahead, hit the jump.
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DS Review: Lux-Pain
by Dan Landis on April 25, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Lux-Pain is an interesting adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Actually, it’s not even really a game. Lux-Pain is more like an interactive manga. Regardless of semantics, the real question is “Is it any good?” Read more…
Review: The Godfather II
by Sam Naylor on April 9, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Perhaps the best way to begin this review would be to say that games based on a film license, in my mind, can be treated in two ways. The first is to compare the game to the movie — does the plot and overall quality translate into the game well? An example (perhaps the only one) of this would be GoldenEye on the N64- the game was as ridiculously over the top and silly as the film, and retained all of the charm, too. The result was a fantastic game.
GoldenEye was, however, not a great game because of the aspects of the film it borrowed, but because it was a great game first and a movie game second. This brings me to the second way of looking at a movie game (and my preferred angle): to ignore the film completely. A game can be judged on its own merits, and this is precisely what I’ll be doing in my review of the Godfather II.
BattleForge Review of Moneygrubbing +1
by John Landis on April 7, 2009 at 9:54 pm
BattleForge is a PC game that blends so many genres and games into on big-assed acronym your head will spin. So get your neck brace ready to find out if the world’s first MMORPGRTSCCG is as awesome as the letters make them sound, or is EA just a genius at figuring out ways to steal your money while you thank them for it. Make like Sam Beckett and hit the jump.
Okay, maybe Sam Beckett didn’t jump so much as leap, but you get the idea. I would have said Hayden Christensen but you all would have thought it was a Star Wars reference or something.
Enough with explaining the bad jokes… On with the review!
PSP Review — Final Fantasy: Dissidia
by Sean Mitchuson on April 7, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I decided after getting my Japanese stimulus check that I should use it for something good, like video games. I chose to pick up another new PSP and the games Final Fantasy: Dissidia, and another secret game that I will review at another time. Dissidia turned out to be more than I thought it was, which was great. The game looks beautiful, plays pretty well, has a mediocre story, and lots of extras to keep the player interested.
iPhone/iPod Touch Review: Metal Gear Solid Touch
by Demi Adejuyigbe on March 29, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Confession time: I’ve never actually played any of the Metal Gear Solid games. Well, to completion anyway; I own a copy of MGS2: Substance for the Xbox, but I’ve never actually played it past the the first level. I got confused towards the end of it, and I just never picked it up. When Konami announced Metal Gear Solid Touch, I thought it would be a great way for me to finally get into the MGS franchise.
I knew they’d worked hard on it, because they mentioned how Kojima actually scrapped the entire game and started from scratch halfway into development. Konami said it wouldn’t be a lot like the console games, and I didn’t expect it to, but with such a great legacy, how would Metal Gear Solid Touch live up to the Metal Gear games before it? Would it finally get me into the Metal Gear series? Hit the jump for the full review.
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Street Fighter IV Review
by Ripten Staff on March 9, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Street Fighter IV — it’s finally here. Find out just how much ass it kicks as your good friends Rangebar Merani and Sam Naylor assault your eyeballs with a one-two review combo beatdown! Read more…
PC Review: Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box
by Sam Naylor on February 11, 2009 at 9:58 am
Burnout Paradise was one of the best-received games of 2008 on the consoles, and is currently hailed as one of the best racing games this generation. A year later, and the game has had a multitude of downloadable content, all substantial and mostly free. This is aggregated in “The Ultimate Box” released for PS3, Xbox 360, and most crucially, PC. This is the first time the series has come to PC, but is the experience truly “Ultimate”? Can the game live up to the majesty of Burnout 2? Hit the jump to find out.
PS3/360 Review: Far Cry 2
by Patrick Steen on January 14, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Open world first-person shooters would strike fear into even the most robust developer, and to a certain extent the task has trumped Ubisoft, holding their game back from being the classic it might have been. Although it has its draw backs, Far Cry 2’s freedom results in a unique, engaging experience that other first-person shooters have never even had the guts to attempt. Read more…











