Getting into the swing of things now! No guests this week, just Neil, Spiro and Troy. We discuss the Infinity Ward news, Final Fantasy XIII launch, completionism & achievements, Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing, MAG and Resident Evil 5 DLC. Remember to send in any questions to our email address, which can be found on our site.
Jump behind the cut for a stream of the podcast!
...
MAG is an acronym for Massive Action Game,a new FPS from Zipper Interactive, creators of the once popular SOCOM series. Taking place after World War III, you have the choice of playing under one of three different rival factions, the thing that sets MAG apart from other popular franchises is the fact that it supports up to 256 players. Is this a recipe for overwhelming players or a breath of fresh air for the genre?
...
In one of the most surprising releases as of late, SEGA teams up with Sumo Digital to set the Sonic franchise right with a nod to Super Mario Kart. Along with Sonic and his pals, other SEGA characters have also rocked up to the starting line, including: Alex Kidd, Jacky & Akira from Virtua Fighter and Beat from Jet Set Radio. Does Sonic & SEGA All-Star Racing have what it takes to match Mario Kart ...
The first RPGs to grace new consoles are usually one of two things: generic or groundbreaking. White Knight Chronicles for PS3 is both and neither of those, depending on what aspect of the game you’re looking at. Mixing a typical fantasy story line, with town building and an envelope pushing online multiplayer mode, this isn’t your standard console RPG. In this dissection, we look at a title that is okay with the fact that it’s not Final Fantasy, instead trying something new on the online front. ...
Some of us writers for Ganatomy have come together to start recording podcasts, we've decided to call it the Heartcast. You can now subscribe to our fancy podcast with a special RSS feed, which you will find after the cut. Tonight, we recorded our first podcast featuring: Myself (Neil Golding), Spiro Koulocheris and Troy Nelson. Read more for a link to the podcast!
...
As a kid, my first experiences with Action RPGs started with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Being the first genre of games that I really felt a connection to, Action RPGs have remained one of my favourite game categories. Bringing fast paced battles and light storylines pointing you in the direction of new areas; it’s a simple formula that works. In this article, we take a look at the evolution of Action RPGs on home consoles, ranging from Adventure titles through to the heavily number-based Japanese influenced titles.
...
For all the technical advancement in gaming, high definition graphics, celebrity voice actors and giant orchestral scores that have become commonplace. However, gaming has been stuck in stasis for a long time when it comes to story-telling and characterisation – most developers have trouble making people care, meaning that any sort of work that’s gone into a world is rendered useless as the majority of people condense their gaming experiences to an ultimately rote series of gameplay challenges as cut scenes are skipped and anything that isn’t bashed over their head is ignored. But now thanks to the doctors at Bioware, this all changes with Mass Effect 2.
...