The hiatus is over and the Bitmob Mailbag is bag. Where did it go? We may never know for sure, but we heard rumblings about some trouble out in Wahoo, Nebraska. What kinds of great e-mails did you send to
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in the interim? Let's find out.
Hey Bitmob,
Is it possible that the failure of EGM can be attributed to the fact that the longer, more in-depth article philosophy did not work? Toward the end of EGM, I can vividly remember skipping over large portions of the magazine that had articles I had absolutely no interest in reading.
If the magazine had more tidbits, screen shots, quotes, and 1/4 page columns I would have read almost everything. Even if this information was on the Internet, it would have taken me a long time to find it, and most of it would be missed because I wouldn't even think to look for it.
Am I way off base with this? Let me know.
Dave
Electronic Arts is hosting an event for their upcoming racer, Need for Speed Shift, later this week in New York City. Since most of the Bitmob crew is stuck in San Francisco, we won't be able to attend this invitation-only, hands-on event. That's where you come in.
If you're in the NYC area this Thursday evening (August 27), are over the age of 18, and want to get a chance to play this game, send an e-mail to
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with "Need for Speed" in the subject line and why you want to go in the body. We'll choose two winners to be added to the guest list.
The best part (besides bragging rights among your friends that you got to play this game before anyone else)? If you think of a clever angle to write up what happened at the event and your experience there, there's a good chance we'll make it a featured story on Bitmob.
Again, we have two passes to give away, so get your entry in now! More event details after the jump.
OK, I had to skip a rotation of this column to take care of a little chore -- moving doesn't happen in a day -- but I'm happy to be back on the Indie Scene.
With the first five letters out of the way, this edition is brought to you by the letter F. I can't say all the games below were fun, but they weren't short on creativity, which is sometimes equally satisfying. Can I interest you in an interactive drama or a game that can't be completed?
Let's dig in...
This was a tough entry for me. For one, I wasn't able to put as much time into each game as I typically do, but -- second -- this was the weakest batch of games I've come across yet. Oh, E, why do you treat me so?
My sources included the Indie Game Database and some recommendations (thanks, James DeRosa and Daniel Feit!). OK, let's get rolling.
By now a lot of you have listened to the latest Mobcast (apologies on the up-and-down sound quality -- we're working on it!). It's a great episode, with some great guests -- including ex-EGMers Crispin Boyer and Mike Cruz, and community member Derek Lavigne -- that I'm sorry I missed.
But that doesn't mean I can't join in on the fun, as the guys brought up two topics that I wanted to chime in on: one EGM related, one time-travel related.
First, in our community question this week, PJ Sangalang asked, "In the old EGM/1UP days, what was your favorite game to review and least favorite game to review?"
Continuing an unofficial series of random gaming-related stuff found around San Francisco, I wanted to put up a quick post about what I came across the other week.
After an enjoyable night in the Fillmore district, my girlfriend and I decided to finish the night with some bubble tea (a unique drink that, I might add, I never knew existed until I moved out here).
Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw the poster to the right (excuse the quality -- I took it with a camera phone) immediately upon entering. Wait a sec...was this some Nintendo product? Nope. On their menu, they had some crispy mushrooms. I don't know who to feel worse for -- the close-but-not-quite-authentic Mario or the about-to-be-devoured mushrooms, who seem to delight in the fact that they are soon to become someone's snack.
And that wasn't it. Hit the jump for the other gaming poster in the same store.
This week, reader Thomas Lin heeded our call and gave us a letter we could sink our teeth into. If you'd also love to feel this glory, hit us up at
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. Now it's time to crack open that bag...
Hey Bitmob,
Just a question and over/under time again because after last week's mailbag, there needs to be some more excitement.
Question: Is Demian ever going to bring back Legendary Thread?
Over/Under
Times Wii Sports Resort will be sitting at No. 1 in the NPDs for the next year: 4.5
Millions of copies of Modern Warfare 2 sold in the first week without "Call of Duty" being anywhere on the box: 3.5
Millions of copies of Modern Warfare 2 sold in the first week with "Call of Duty" being somewhere on the box: 3.5
Reluctant Top 10 lists from Dan Hsu by the end of the year because he has good business sense (love ya, Shoe!): 6.5
Months from now before consumers see a real PS3 price cut: 4.5
Years when a public "OnLive-like" device hits the market: .5
OK, this week I made use of the excellent Indie Game Database to find a couple games, and followed up on a recommendation that didn't quite work for me. Read all about my breakneck adventures in the Land of D after the jump.
A light mailbag this week (step it up, people!), but what we have is good, including a thoughtful question, a foolish question, a bewildering question, and a throwback question. See if you can guess which is which. And if you want to be part of the fun:
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.
Hey Bitmob,
I have become interested in a little game these past few weeks I assume all of you have heard about called Ico. Unfortunately, it is seemingly impossible to find even a used copy at any local GameStop or Play & Trade, forcing me to take my hunt online. The lowest price I found was about $40 to $45 for the disk and a generic DVD case.
For anyone at Bitmob who has played through Ico, is it worth paying $40 (at least), or should I hold off and hope that Sony rereleases a digital version on PSN or included with The Last Guardian?
-Scott Haveman
Wait, what's going on here? What happened to the annual summer gaming drought? All of a sudden, just in the month of June, I've amassed a backlog of games I need to get my hands on and play. That's my November tradition, dammit!
Infamous, Prototype, Ghostbusters, and Red Faction: Guerrilla have all popped onto my radar in a big way. I followed one friend's adventure in nabbing Ghostbusters over Twitter. Jason Wilson turned me on to Guerrilla's sledgehammer-happy ways (and Area 5's Matt Chandronait recommended it first out of the four). My buds on the Player One Podcast can't stop talking about Infamous.
So how come when I finally got my hands on one of these games on Friday -- not working in an editorial office means these games aren't so readily available (I know...boo-hoo) -- a day later I put it aside?
June's been a pretty good month for games...but instead of playing them we've been reading your e-mails. You know, the ones you send to
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. Oh look, here's a few of them right here...just under this perfectly fine looking picture:
Hey Bitmob,
I have been listening to your podcast weekly. I had an odd compulsion to sketch the Bitmob staff that I could not control, resulting in the above picture.
In the indie gaming scene, I've heard Cave Story referred to as a classic, and I wanted to find out why. Rather than cast my net wide for this installment and gather up a bunch of "C" games to try out, I delved into this single game.
C:
Cave Story (PC, free...and soon to WiiWare)
Playing Cave Story, I can understand how it earned its reputation -- it does well by its mix of platforming and exploration. You start in a strange island world in the shoes of a small hero with only nuggets of information. After acquiring a gun and breaking free from a cave, you encounter a race of rabbit-like creatures called Mimigas who just don't seem to trust you.
Maybe it's something in the air, or maybe it was Brett Bates' recent story about pixel people, but I feel the need to share another slice of San Franciscan gaming randomness. On an outing to catch a movie at the painfully empty Metreon (what the hell happened?), my gal and I took a detour to a hotel lobby on 7th Street -- no kidding -- to check out some classic pinball machines we read about in some SF magazine.
This is pretty good, huh? E3 has put visions of amazing games in our heads, June has seen its share of solid releases already, and now it's Bitmob Mailbag time -- sometimes everything falls into place. This week, we field letters about social networking, editors as platformers, genre aversions, and Canada. So let's jump right in.
Hey Bitmob:
I'd like to know your opinions about Facebook/Twitter on 360.
360 already has messaging/chat between players. Do people really need some kind of update fix while playing Halo?
What's next? Will Niko be walking around Liberty City and his cell phone beeps with a real tweet that says, "dood, checkz out this video on yootoobz http:blah blah blah."?
Two games have been dominating my time over the past couple months: Punch-Out!! on Wii and the DS' Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Both are great games that I'm continually impressed by, and both have me thinking about the way I've been playing them.
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