Animal Crossing: New Leaf first impressions: Guess what, it's Animal Crossing

I've been playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf since it came out at 12am EST on June 9. When I first launched the game, I was giddy and couldn't wait to start fishing, picking fruit, catching bugs, and digging up fossils. Then I realized it was 12am EST and no in-game store was open, so all my plans were killed by the game's real-time clock. What did I do? I time traveled. I did the one thing I find most despicable among Animal Crossing players, but I had been waiting so long and couldn't bare waiting ten hours just because the game is as good as dead in the middle of the night when you have no tools or anything other than a backpack full of fruit you can't sell or plant. And so, I time traveled for a brief moment, bought myself a shovel and a fishing rod, and then immediately time traveled back to where I came from; for those unfamiliar with the franchise, time traveling is not a part of the game, it is done by changing the console's internal clock, thus, tricking the game into believing it's a time different than the actual time. I have not time traveled again since.

Nothing against those who time travel, but you guys and gals are stupid. Alright, that wasn't nice, but I find time traveling in Animal Crossing--unless you've been waiting years and just need some tools because the game is empty at midnight without them--pointless. The charm of Animal Crossing has so much to do with its use of real time; having to wait for something that is only available at a specific time or during a specific season, etcetera, makes the game feel special; if you time travel, you rip out all that makes the game special. If you feel inclined to time travel in Animal Crossing, you might as well time travel in real life, to a point in the future when you've already beaten the game and have no more reason to play.

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Robert from The Last of Us and Bronn are the same person

I have just started playing The Last of Us and the first thing I thought when I saw Robert was, "Oh shit! That's Bronn from Game of Thrones!" Robert isn't voiced by the actor who plays Bronn, but he has to have been the inspiration for Robert's look because they are just too similar to be a coincidence. What do you think? (Also, I wish Bronn was more prevalent in season 3.)

How not to run over a zombie in State of Decay

State of Decay is an awesome open-world game that y'all should check out if you haven't already; there's a lot packed into the game and only playing it can show you just how great it is. That said, this is what can happen when you try to run over too many zombies at once.

State of Decay preview: a fun and tense open-world game

State of Decay isn't lying; it is a world in a state of decay, infested with zombies, and your ultimate goal, from what I've played, is survival. State of Decay isn't scary, but it has filled me with an almost constant feeling of tension as I explore the world, complete missions, look for survivors, and scavenge for supplies because death is, quite literally, behind every corner; zombies can be found anywhere and it is up to you to decide whether the potential reward is worth the risk.

State of Decay is, when I think about it, a game entirely about risk and reward—searching buildings and the like takes a while, but you can speed up the process at the risk of alerting a horde from the added noise that comes with expedited searching; guns can take down zombies much faster than melee weapons, but the noise, if not using a silencer, will bring a lot of unwanted attention; the entire game is filled with similar choices and, as someone who is usually more cautious in games, I find myself risking my in-game life more often than not because death is not scary or annoying, causing constant retries, it is just a part of the world and inevitable.

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Little Luca review: It may be little, but it's a lot of fun

What happens when the stars vanish in the sky? No, it doesn't mean your town is way too polluted--well, it might mean that--it means you will have to get a ball through tricky environments, collecting stars on your way to a black hole that sucks and sucking up flags. It's a simple setup with familiar gameplay, but Little Luca manages to take familiarity and makes it feel fresh thanks to cleverly designed levels that are easy to beat and hard to master.

Little Luca is a physics-based puzzler--a popular genre on mobile devices--and, at first, seemed like it was just another generic puzzler; however, all those feelings changed about ten levels in, when the game started throwing new obstacles in the way of reaching the black hole. It is this constant addition of new obstacles and new ways of manipulating the ball that keeps the game exciting and interesting because every puzzle felt at least somewhat different, more different than just, "Oh, well, now I'm going from right to left instead of left to right."

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Quick Look: The Last of Us

Are you excited for The Last of Us? Do you enjoy watching Rob suck at video games? Would you become physically aroused from the mashing of question 1 and question 2? If you said yes to either of the first two questions or both, this is the video for you! If you said yes to the third question, well, you may want to seek psychological help.

Alice: Madness Returns...eventually

I bought Alice: Madness Returns years ago and never played it--this happens more often than I'd like to admit--but, now, for whatever reason, I decided to change that; I am playing Alice Madness Returns and I don't know what to make of it, not yet.

I never played the original Alice--part of me thinks I would enjoy Madness Returns more if I had--but one doesn't need experience with the first game to understand what's going on in Madness Returns; shit is crazy and that's all that matters. The beginning of the game is the creepiest part, so far, thanks to plastic-looking people and a surprisingly graphic opening cinematic; the game is creepy throughout and much of the reason is because of the visuals. I love the artistic style, though it looks like it's been wiped with a muddy rag, and hope the environmental variety continues as I keep playing--I really just want out from my current location because it's so plain compared to the colorful area I started in.

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CastleStorm review: More like CastleParty, eh...I'm not funny

CastleStorm is the latest game from Zen Studios, the studio behind many great pinball games—like Pinball FX2, Zen Pinball 2, Marvel Pinball, and most recently, Star Wars Pinball—but CastleStorm is not a pinball game, it is a real-time action strategy game and a refreshing change from the pinnacle pinball studio. But change can be tricky, so, is this change a good thing?

Yes. CastleStorm is a fun blend of action and strategy, mixing Angry Birds and more casual MOBA-esque games, giving players multiple ways of defeating their enemies. The object of the main game is twofold: either destroy the enemy's castle or steal their flag (and occasionally more specific objectives). Destroying a castle is where the comparison to Angry Birds comes in as you use a combination of different projectiles in order to topple enemy castles—like exploding apples, battering sheep, and bundles of trash—but if destroying the castle isn't your style, you can steal the enemy's flag instead by sending various troops, who cost food,  to break through the castle doors, steal the flag and return it to your castle without dying—you can even get down and dirty yourself, dropping into the action as one of a few different heroes. It may sound simple and easy, but it's not so easy because the enemy can do the same things to you.

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Can Knockdown 3 review: still fun knocking down cans

Can Knockdown 3 is a game where you...knock down cans. It may sound simple and straightforward--because it is in many ways--but Can Knockdown 3 adds quite a few variations throughout the course of the game, keeping it fresh and interesting.

I have played all three games in the series--it is a bit weird realizing there is a series about knocking down cans--and the biggest change in Can Knockdown 3 is the change in format from a focus on arcadey, get as far as you can, leaderboard-chasing simplicity, to a level-based, puzzle-esque format. The 'Endless ' mode that was the focus of the previous games is still hidden within, but only becomes available for a specific area when said area is 100% completed. It is a design choice that makes little sense as I see no reason to initially lock the mode that was the main focus of the previous games. That said, the levels aren't particularly difficult, so unlocking 'Endless' mode for each area shouldn't take too long.

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Star Trek: The Game is ridiculous

And this is just one, creepy example of why it is just so damn ridiculous. Is any part of the game good? No, not really. I guess one could say the voice acting is alright as it's coming from the actors themselves, but even that leaves me disappointed (and I'm not even the biggest Trek fan). Anyway, feel free to watch this video and "enjoy" a little Spock/Kirk creepiness.