Sorcerer’s Lair will be free for Pinball FX2 from 21st June on Steam. There will be no restrictions on it and no ads on the table so you can just enjoy the game. This puts the title in line with Zen Pinball on iOS and Android where the table is also free. Anyone who has a computer capable of running Pinball FX2 should download it and the app is free and you just buy the tables that you want to play.

Also Paranormal, Fantastic Four and Marvel Civil War will be available to download on the same date at $2.99 each, with more tables coming to the platform in the future.

Edward, Tim and Amy talk all aspects of E3 week.  From the Xbone to Nintendo Direct.  Including the Big Name Publishers and upcoming releases.  What titles we are most excited and unexcited about, some snarky commentary.  Tim announces his ChatterPlay of Kerbal Space Program.  Our community question and the new community question, What we are playing, Shout Outs and emails.  Enjoy the show!!

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This week, we look at Persona 4 Golden.

Persona 4 was developed by Atlus studios, originally for the PlayStation 2. Golden is a remade version for the PlayStation Vita. The game is a dungeon crawling RPG, with an element of social simulator. The controls are the same as it was in the original and transfers well to the portable system. Players control the main character, visiting the country city of Inaba while visiting your uncle. Strange things are happening in Inaba, a string of mysterious murders that always come after a thick fog covers the city. It’s up to you, and the friends you make at school, to find out the truth to these murders.

While the game can be a little slow to start, it has a way of latching onto players. Players will meet a cast of different characters, and will be drawn into the fantastic mystery story. In comparison to the original, there are quite a number of changes. Fusion of Persona, or special beings that help the characters fight, is more intuitive and more personalized. Players can choose the skills themselves as opposed to having the element of chance for skills. Along with that, there is a card system with a character that allows you to give skills or abilities to Persona that are already created.

With the social simulator aspect of the game, there is a bit more to do. There are a couple more social links to pursue, which give a couple new stories to explore. Along with that, there is a new city area to explore (harkening a lot to Persona 3). Here, players can upgrade their social skills easier than just going through the game story itself. Also, there is the new element of buying clothes to personalize the characters how players want. There is even a multiplayer addition to the game. Vox Populi (or Voice of the People), shows you how other players progressed through their day and SOS allows other players to send you words of encouragement that will give you a boost in tough dungeons.

Nothing is lost on this new edition of a trademark series. A great game with a great story. Without a doubt, it’s one of the leading games that should be looked into on the PlayStation Vita.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (999) is developed by Chunsoft games, and part of the Zero Escape series. With a name like 999, there is so little telling what the game is about, it’s how I was drawn into it’s mystery. It’s another game that I haven’t heard much press on, and I wanted to know what the game was all about. After playing it, I couldn’t wait to jump right back in. Here’s a review of this fantastic tale of 999.

Gameplay:

999 is a narrative game mixed with a puzzle game. The game focuses on telling a story as opposed to making confusing controls or extremely detailed graphics. As opposed to other narrative games like Heavy Rain, 999 is closer to a virtual “choose your own adventure” book. Players are cast as the role of Junpei, just the average joe character who gets chosen, along with 8 others, to play the Nonary Game. None of the characters know why they were chosen or where to go, but they know what they have to do: escape. All of the characters have to work together in order to survive, all while figuring out the mystery of their captor, Zero, and the dangerous Nonary Game.

This simple game is mostly story. Players read the story as it goes along, hearing the dialogue and thoughts of each of the characters. There are some choices that players make throughout the story, changing what players see, hear, and explore. In some rooms, players will start the escape mode. This mode forces players to look around, finding clues to escape the room they are trapped in. By putting the clues together, a key will be revealed.

Graphics:

With such a strong focus on story and character development, there was also no lack of attention to art in the game. The stylized illustration of the characters is a nice contrast to the normally dark and creepy setting that the characters are trapped in. With the first person look on the game (normally in the eyes of Junpei), players get sucked into the game and feel like they’re also trapped with everyone else.

Audio:

There isn’t much to audio. Minus the occasional music in the background, there isn’t much audio in the game. Characters are not voiced. As text for each character is shown on the screen, the tone behind the text changes depending on which character is talking. Otherwise, audio is mostly for atmosphere and nothing more.

Final Thoughts:

999 is a fantastic game. There is a wonderful story, very pleasing graphics, and good gameplay to keep the game simple yet fun. There is also a decent replay value to the game, as there are multiple endings. One playthrough is maybe 6-8 hours. Other plays will be less, as the game makes it easier for you to skip through dialogue you have already seen. If you want a good story, look no where else than this game.

Score: 9.5 / 10

Publisher:  Chunsoft Games Developer:  Aksys Games

Release Date:  November 16, 2010

Platforms:  Nintendo DS

Price:  $20 Rating:  ESRB: M

Offline Players:  Single Player

This week, we look at Donkey Country Returns 3D for the Nintendo 3DS.

This game takes the original Donkey Kong Country from the SNES and updates it to the portable Nintendo 3DS.  All the original gameplay transfers well onto the 3DS.  Donkey Kong and his buddy Diddy, along with Trixie Kong, attempt to regain the banana’s that were stolen from them by the Tiki Tak tribe, along with saving their animal friends.  The game is still as good as the original, with fantastic platforming action in over 70 levels of play.

This game adds some new content as well.  When the original 8 worlds are finished, players can return to the game for a new world with another set of levels to play through.  Also included is local wireless multiplayer for two player co-op action.  Donkey Kong Country Returns features two different modes of play: Classic mode and Easy mode. Classic mode is just how the game was made on the SNES.  Easy mode, on the other hand, gives players a chance to find items and enhancements that will make the game easier for players.

All of the original gameplay is still the same from the SNES version.  Mine cart levels, collectibles and secrets, and levels where Donkey and Diddy get to ride on their trusty rhino, Rambi.  Some new gameplay includes Cranky’s shop for enhancements to make the game easier, along with Super Kong.  Super Kong can activate when a player has lost a number of lives on one level.  Players can ask Super Kong to go through the level for them.  Be advised, Super Kong will not get secrets for players though.

One downside to the game is that graphics do suffer slightly from frame rate.  Compared to Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii, the game plays a bit slower and doesn’t look quite as smooth.  With that said, everything else about the game is well done.  For retro gamers, this is definitely not one to miss.

Nintendo’s E3 For the People had a relatively large turnout in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.  Local Nintendo fans got a taste of the E3 experience as the line was over 3 hours long.

Gamers were able to play one of the following:

• Mario 3D World
• Mario Kart 8
• Zelda The WindWaker HD
• Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze.

By my count, the unofficial crowd favorite was Mario Kart 8.

Up for grabs, plenty of Spot Passes while we stood in line and Nintendo swag after playing one of the demos.

As the Best Buy employees gathered in dismay to glare upon the line of 3DS playing pseudo E3 goers, the lone kiosk intended to facilitate over 200 gamers cycled through the four game demos.

When my turn finally came up, I chose to play Mario Kart 8.  I’m sold!!!

While I enjoyed my time with Mario Kart 8 (all 6 minutes and 28 seconds of it), overall, Nintendo’s E3 for the People was a bit of a letdown.  I assumed that we’d have at least four kiosks each playing a demo versus the one kiosk playing four demos.  A little extra effort would have went a long way here.  Regardless, this was a valiant effort by Nintendo.  At the very least, I feel like their heart was in the right place.