GBA Ambassador games available now on 3DS

If you have a 3DS and happen to be an "Ambassador"—you surely know by now if you are or aren't—today is the day you've been waiting for; you see, the Gameboy Advance games promised so many months ago are finally here!  The NES games were fine and dandy, somewhat disappointing, and I only cared for a few of them; however, having played all ten games for about ten to fifteen minutes, I pretty much love all but one of the GBA games included—Mario Kart: Super Circuit doesn't hold up particularly well, especially obvious with the release of Mario Kart 7.

The full list can be found below, but my stand out inclusions are The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, and my personal favorite: Metroid Fusion—which is still fantastic. Another nice addition since the release of the NES games is the ability to download multiple games at once, conveniently maxing out at ten; it may not be the most ideal or user-friendly system, but it's better than nothing. My last words: these games, without question, validate the Ambassador Program. Now go download the awesome!

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Review: Footprints #2

I reviewed Footprints #1 a long, long time ago when it was still a mere Kickstarter project looking for a little kicking to get started. I really enjoyed it; so much, in fact, I ended up backing the project—it's still the only project I've backed that was successfully funded. With the history lesson out of the way, you may be wondering what all of this is about, unless you read the title or looked at the header image above of course; however, in case you're a bit slow, I'm talking Footprints #2 here—better late than never.

"Yeti always said it was luck that won us the war. Luck that brought us together. Lookin' back, he was right. I've just never been able to figure if he meant good or bad." I enjoy this quote and, for the most part, really enjoyed Footprints #2. The issue starts with a nice bit of back-story and quickly jumps back into the present, delivering a lot of information in only twenty-three pages, all without ever feeling overbearing. The only criticism I have is that which really isn't criticism: I wanted to continue reading as soon as the issue ended.

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Dead Island 99% off, you save $$5,952.01

Talk about a deal you'd legitimately call a steal; Dead Island's list price of $5,999.00 seems a tad steep, but at $46.99 (99% off), how can anyone say no? An obvious price mistake already fixed on Amazon's site, I found it somewhat funny and said to myself, "what the hell, why not post it?" Sure, it may be the early hours bringing the majority of my amusement, but if I managed to chuckle, at least one other person must come to chuckles too. A full picture can be found below and all I can say is I hope Dead Island finds a rather cheap price for Black Friday as I'd love to snatch up a copy.

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Abobo's Big Adventure: official trailer of official loveliness

Abobo's Big Adventure is basically a machete to the face and a steel-toe boot to the balls of the NES, and I mean that in the most positive way. There are no words capable of doing the trailer justice, butter it's better than crack and that ain't whack! When Whitney Houston was high as a kite with coke up her nose, singing she will always love you, she was talking about this game. Stop reading this and just watch the trailer over and over again. And if you feel so inclined, check out the official site: Abobo's Big Adventure

The Cursed Crusade: Decapitating Haircuts

I mentioned my distaste for The Cursed Crusade a week or so ago, specifically citing an oddity coming from the process of decapitation. In The Cursed Crusade, the Xbox 360 demo at least, decapitation not only cuts off one's head, but completely removes their hair as well, which some could call a haircut. Well, I didn't only want to tell you about this, but show you the loveliness too; and now that I have the ability to do so, I did do so indeed. Enjoy some video proof of decapitating haircuts, the only haircut you'll ever need.

Thomas Was Alone until watching this trailer

Because watching this trailer makes me want to offer my company, and hopefully does the same for you. Thomas Was Alone: "a minimalist game about friendship and jumping." Minimalist art, if done well, is one of my loves and this announcement trailer shows off the visuals in such a way that makes me want to play this here little game today. The trailer has also apparently filled me with enough glee to start rhyming and I always enjoy a good rhyme. In addition to lovely visuals and an interesting style of play, the music featured is a beautiful original piece by David Housden, who's supplying all of the game's music. Anyway, Thomas Was Alone has a planned release of April 2012 for PC and Mac—let the impatient waiting begin. Be sure to follow the game's mastermind, Mike Bithell, on Twitter for all the updates you'll ever need.

Review: The War of the Worlds (XBLA)

The War of the Worlds' greatest accomplishment is bestowing upon me the knowledge that Sir Patrick Stewart should spend the rest of his life narrating most audiobooks; and by most, I mean each and every audiobook from now until the end of time. But as great as Stewart's wonderfully soothing and inviting narration is, it lost a lot of its impact when I heard it eight times in a row due to cheap deaths, or hearing it get cut off in mid-sentence because I passed a very specific point in a level. And if it isn't already obvious, my praising of the game's narration above all else should be rather telling of the overall quality.

The War of the Worlds is, yes, based off the story penned by H.G. Wells and does a particularly good job at creating the morbid atmosphere of this well-known story of an alien invasion. Often, the visuals feature lovely bits of contrast, both literally and figuratively—contrast of colors, light and dark, and life and death. That said, there are moments when the visuals come across muddy and a tad ugly when I took the time to stop and look at them, but most of the time, the game is beautifully stylized and suits the subject matter extremely well.

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Paranormal table for Pinball FX2 free from 10/26 - 11/2

If you regularly follow the site and Mr. Sausage himself, a.k.a., me, you know how I gush over Pinball FX2 and every new release from Zen Studios. Today sees the release of a new table—Paranormal—and it is completely free for one week, from October 26th to November 2nd. I can't comment on the table's quality, but based off all their previous work, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's scrumptious. And in case you haven't played Pinball FX2 and want to get in on the free table, just remember you need Pinball FX2 installed to play it, which is a free "game"—it's really just a game launcher along the lines of Game Room and whatnot. So get yourself some delicious free treats now.

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Grand Theft Auto V officially announced

You know, I really thought they were going to stop after Grand Theft Auto IV, but I guess I was wrong. Sarcasm aside, this is pleasing news and now let's all say, "Grand Theft Chicago." If you're looking for more details, none exist, other than this image covering Rockstar Games' front page.

Review: Crimson Alliance - Vengeance Map Pack (XBLA)

Crimson Alliance released early last month and many people got the game—technically, the complete class pack—for free as part of the Summer of Arcade '11 promotion, and now Certain Affinity has released some lovely new content: the Vengeance Map Pack. I could go into the intricacies of how the game plays and all that jazz, but seeing as this is additional content, I am going to assume anyone interested has already played the game. Also, the DLC is most definitely endgame content.

Endgame content you say? I do say, and the reason is due to the fact that playing any of the levels included in this DLC as a new character will end in death like making a wrong turn in Dark Souls—which makes no sense if you don't know that game; translation: a lot. Don't let this scare you off; the new content is not too difficult, it's just meant for seasoned characters. As far as the actual content, this particular DLC pack includes two somewhat meaty levels and a wonderfully thought-out challenge map.

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