LBP captured my heart in 2008 with its adorable, adventurous gameplay, and its undeniably charming sackboy mascot.

Now, the sequel is preparing for its launch later this year, and I can’t help but get excited. Especially since they are ramping up the already powerful level design tool. Media Molecule is promising that LBP 2 is not only a fun platformer, but also a “platform for games”.

With that in mind, I took some of the mini-games they had on the show for a spin.

The three games I got to play with some of my colleagues was a competitive arena bumper car game, timing-based game where players earned points by pressing the correct button, and an arena rocket combat game.

Each game was extremely entertaining, and it shows – on the basic level – just how different you can make the games now. What’s more exciting is that players were able to do some INCREDIBLE things with the last level designer, and the new freedoms implied by the digital puppetry and expanded power means that players will be producing even more awesome content.

And what’s not to like about that? The last game provided content well over the $60 price of admission. The Play, Create, Share model of Media Molecule, and Sony, is an awesome philosophy that I hope bleeds over into other games (Modnation Racers was one of them).

I was also given a chance to take a single level for a run. The grappling hook is an interesting addition to the core gameplay, and the digital puppetry gives each level more to look at than before. There were giant crabs on the outside of the castle I was running up, and paper airplanes would fly off the walls as I ran by.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sample a taste of the level creator. Which is probably good since the last game’s tutorial was forever long.  With the debut trailer, and the demo we saw at the Sony press conference, it’s obvious that Media Molecule isn’t skimping on anything. It is going to be powerful.

The only problem is the game is slated for later this year, and I can’t wait. The demo we played at E3 was short, but the mini-games were an absolute blast to play, and I can see the game transitioning from a platformer for friends, to a party game as well. I can comfortably say that I wouldn’t mind inviting my friends over for some sackboy fun!

I feel bad for Nintendo. Their press conference had an abysmal display of the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. They couldn’t get anything to work correctly, and the Internet ate them alive for it.

I took it upon myself to determine whether or not their debacle on stage was legitimate interference, or poor design. I’m happy to report that LoZ: SS isn’t only one of the best looking games on the Wii, but it works perfectly.

Now, my childhood dream of controlling sword and shield independently is coming closer to fruition.As I stepped onto the absurdly uncomfortable death platforms Nintendo makes you stand on to play their games, the Nintendo booth babe told me to slip on my safety strap. I made a snarky comment about “safety first,” she didn’t laugh, and I began my new adventure with Link.

The game looks great on an HDTV. It has a pastel look that blends traditional modeling and cel-shading. The distance blurs together with grace, and the characters move fluently.

There have been radical changes the way the game is played with the WiiMote. Players can still use the Nunchuck to move, but all of the swordplay play is tied to the motion sensor. To use the shield, players thrust the nunchuck forward. To attack, players swing the WiiMotion Plus-Mote in a direction, and Link does his best to follow suit.

It isn’t one-to-one, but it’s pretty damn close. A lot of the enemies require you to attack in certain directions, and I was able to defeat them without messing up my swings. The trick is to be deliberate in your movements. Link’s shield is sturdy, and holding it forward provides plenty of time to line up your swing, and deliver the killing blow.

Link also attacks much faster. It brings an exciting feel to the combat because stringing combos against exposed foes is a direct action, instead of a button press. The drawback is that quick swings force you to lose control of the blade.

Players may think this is the motion sensor’s fault, but LoZ has always had plenty of fights that are moving puzzles. Harder enemies must be defeated with lithe acrobatics and controlled swings. LoZ: SS is the same, but now you must attack at certain angles.

The best example of this is the demo’s boss battle. The giant scorpion has two claws that open, but only allow the sword to pass through at a certain angle. I had no problems dodging and defending as I slipped the master sword through the monster’s defenses. To finish him off, players had to thrust into a small opening on its head, and I took advantage of a new mechanic to do so.

If Link holds his blade above his head, it’s becomes charged with the “power of the heavens”. If you swing the blade after doing so, it emits a blade of energy depending on the angle of the swing. In my scenario, thrusting shot out a bolt of energy that easily slipped into the eye of the behemoth. Victory, and happiness, were mine.

Link also has myriad new items supported by the motion control. The slingshot and bow and arrow return (Link can move while using the slingshot), and the new whip, beetle gun, and rolling bomb were shown.

The whip harasses enemies and pulls items closer (possible other uses weren’t shown), the beetle gun launches a motion controlled flying beetle that can pick up items, and the rolling bomb allows Link to roll bombs along the ground, as well as throw them.

Link can dash now, as well. A little green circle drains as you press forward, and draining it completely will leave him sluggish for a few seconds.

My only complaint is that Link looks ridiculous when his sword is drawn. It completely takes you out of the game because he is running around with the sword thrust out in front of him when you are in a neutral position. It’s a small complaint, but he just looks so damn silly.

My experience with the game couldn’t have gone any better. I wish it would have worked that way on stage, because everyone would be as excited as I am. But, it didn’t, and now the game has a gauntlet of scrutiny to tackle before its release next year. Hopefully, Nintendo finds a way to demo the game so we can all wield the master sword together.

All Points Bulletin had to work its way onto my radar. I’m not a fan of twitch shooter MMO’s, and APB seemed like another game that would attempt to capitalize on the expanding market. However, my skepticism was abated when I was able to spend some quality time with Realtime World’s new baby.

Yep, a company with only one major release (the studio is filled with talented and experienced individuals) will be releasing a bold MMO in 11 days.   What’s different here is that Realtime Worlds is trying to put creativity in the hands of the player, and from our hands on, they are heading in the right direction.

The first part of our demo was set in the game’s action district. These instanced locations are cities that are filled up with about 100 players. These players will be criminals, or enforcers, and they can team up together to take on quests and earn money.

This is a fairly generic experience. Players compete quests akin to most – if not all – MMO’s. But, APB adds a little twist. Since the world is a concentrated source of players, completing missions raises the opposing factions awareness of your deeds. Rob too many banks, and enforcers witness your crime, the game will begin setting players against each other in matches.

These matches occur dynamically. While our group of four was heading off to raid a hideout, the criminal faction grew tired of our deeds, and criminals began an assault to stop us. The game takes a big twist here. Now, instead of completing these missions without any opposition, other players are trying to stop you.

These matches can grow anywhere from four on four, to 20 vs 20. And, the matchmaking system Realtime has created for the game will do everything in its power to balance the team. They told us that certain games will have matches of 4 vs 12 because one side is way too good. There is a large focus on making sure that player’s earn their keep by skill, rather than gear.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any items. APB has a large selection of weapons and upgrades players can buy to customize their aggressive personality. I took the rocket launcher for a spin, and also blasted citizens as I passed by while a teammate took us to our destination.

The game comfortably borrows from GTA with the ability to kill citizens, and steal cars, but the main focus is generating these PvP matches by completing tasks. The driving is a bit wonky, and we had a bit of a hiccup trying to get a match started after our first one, but once they start, they soon balloon into an exciting third person shooter experience.

The second part of the demo was a look at the customization options. Instead of offering players set hair pieces or sliders with numbers, they are offered an obscenely large amount of content. OBSCENE.

The major selling point of the game is that players can utilize this system to channel their personal creativity into the character. Realtime has divorced functionality from the visuals. This is great, because gear based MMO’s have a tendency to create high-level clones. Not anymore,  players are free to express themselves because rewards are based on twitch-skill.

It’s hard to encapsulate all of the customizations power in a few quick sentences, and it is too it’s benefit. The system is massive, and is by far the most expansive I’ve seen on an MMO. It rivals anything City of Heroes/Villains. You can literally do almost anything.

Almost all of the character models and artwork you see associated with the game has been created using their customization toolset. You can design your car, different sections of your hair, design your own tattoos, clothes, and symbols.  That isn’t even the half of it. It is phenomenal.

And, if you are quite good at making designs, players can create art and sell it to other players for in-game money, or RTW points – which can be used to fund your account.

There is also a fully functional midi toolkit available for players to create their own tunes to listen to on the road and show off in the social district. Players can also make a death tune that acts as a musical teabag each time you kill a player.

I’m ready to give APB a full time shot. Their business model of allowing players to purchase hours that rollover is an effective way to get players that’ can’t dedicate the time to afford paying the standard $15. And, if you love the customization, but don’t want to shot people, the social district and creative aspect is free to play.

However, the isn’t exactly a “massively” multiplayer game. The districts are limited to 100 players, and getting in and out of matches without going into a matchmaking system requires moving from mundane mission to mundane mission. But, when enforcers and criminals are pit against each other, and the bullets start flying, it’s a blast.

I love me some metroidvania. In fact, I consider Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to be one of the best games EVER released. Now, whenever Konami talks about releasing a side-scrolling Castlevania adventure fest, I’m there waiting with puppy dog eyes and a slack jaw.

Enter Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. It’s a six-player side scrolling action platformer that attempts to marry cooperative play with Castlevania’s classic gameplay, and it’s set to hit gamers during Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade in July.

So, how are things coming along?

I scrolled up to the booth and began the game as the whip toting Jonathan Morris from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and I immediately noticed several differences to the gameplay compared to the popular handheld titles.

The game takes place in a castle that is broken up into segmented levels that are like large quilts with patches of levels borrowed from the Castlevania series. Players can zoom out and take in the entire level at once – while still controlling their character – or they can zoom in a little further for a little better control, or they can set the camera to the traditional single room view

The objective of the map I played was a race to the boss with a time limit. The game felt just like you would expect a metroidvania to feel. On top of the traditional attack and double jump, Jonathan could cast spells based on what direction held with the B button. There was also some inklings of character customization with items I picked up from chests scattered throughout the map, but the demo didn’t offer any actual gameplay of it.

But, there were inklings of character progression with the ability to increase the power of Jonathan’s abilities. There is also a shop where players can purchase items between missions. This, on top of each of the five character’s (characters from previous Castlevania titles) handling differently, will give players a lot of choice when tackling Dracula’s nefarious foes and traps.

As I made my way to the top of the tower, I noticed that each of the levels were almost direct renditions of rooms in previous Castlevania titles. The throwback is nice, but the rooms felt like they were stitched together haphazardly; there was no synergy. There were little traps and levers that brought a little puzzle to the action, and there is an obvious push towards players working together, but I was unable to access the multiplayer on the show floor.

To my delight, the game was a bit challenging. The enemy placement, and allure of treasure, kept me off balance as the time limit crept closer and closer to failure. I ended the demo by deftly felling a large minotaur with an even larger halberd, only to find the time limit line up goose eggs. A confidence boosting, large FAILURE popped on the screen and I was kicked back to the main menu.

With all of the character customization, and the possibility of effective co-op, the game might be shaping up to be a valuable member of the summer of arcade. Yet, this title falls under the safe words of “interesting and possibly.” It looks good, and plays well, but nothing has been proven for sure just yet. Keep an eye out for Castlevania: Harmony of Despair during Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade.

[note: thanks to the background noise of Microsoft's press only area, we were unable to hear the wonderful music of Limbo. highly recommend checking out video feed shot in a quieter setting]

Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade is almost upon us, and an exciting little title called Limbo is creeping its way into the hearts of gamers. The simple 2D platformer utilizes audio and visual minimalism to create an experience remiescent of Darkfate.

Play Dead Games were kind enough to give us a demo of the game (interview coming soon), and I can’t be any happier that it will soon be digital added to my heart drive.

Limbo is a game about a boy traveling through an unknown world. We aren’t sure what he is looking for, or why he is there, but it’s filled with dangerous creatures and treacherous traps.It’s a platformer that sets out to deliver a powerful experience by combining unique visuals and sound. The art was born from “concept art drawn six and a half years ago,” said Limbo’s produer Mads Wibroe; its powerful black and white contrast that looks even better in motion, and can’t accurately be summed up in words.

Coupled with the simple aesthetics is a straightforward controls system that focuses on intelligent item placement, and intuitive gameplay married to the visuals. The boy can jump, and pull, objects in the environment to solve puzzles.
And that’s where you will find everything. The game is designed so that all of the assets needed to solve the puzzles are available – if the player is able to find them. The visual style allows object to be hidden in plain sight. I experienced this the hard way while trying to move across a larger body of water (the boy can’t swim).

A crate next to the water made it seem like I could run across it, but jumping on it caused it to sink. After dying a few times, I was told that a rope – an inconspicuous bastard that blended in as a member of the background – was the key to my success.After pulling the crate over to the rope, I learned that I could traverse the trees to continue on my quest across the mini pond.

The great thing was that after every death I was taken far enough back that I would pass the items I needed to complete the task at hand. The game wants the player to figure out – on their own – how to succeed, and struggling, and accomplishing, each task is satisfying.

PGD guaranteed that players won’t be doing the same things twice either. Throughout my demo I moved boxes, pushed over tree trunks, moved traps, and fooled a spider into getting its limbs chopped off. It never felt repetitive as I explored the solemn.

The demo was relatively short, but it’s obvious a lot of love was put into the game. The graphics and gameplay coexist with each other in a way that promotes player exploration and imagination. It’s the perfect example that visual power, and complex controls, don’t guarantee success. In fact, PGD is proving – along with other Indie titles – that artistically driven games deserve a place in our virtual, and retail, marketplaces.

Kirby is a mixed bag for me. As a child, I loved the simple platforming, adorable enemies, and copycat technology. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost interest because Kirby hasn’t grown up; the handheld versions, Squeak Squad and Amazing Mirror are obviously targeted toward younger audiences. Super Star Ultra brought back some of the retro goodness, and the original could be argued as the most difficult, but not on the scale of difficulty, it hovers around bothersome.

Now that I’ve played Kirby’s Epic Yarn, not much has changed, but there is still hope.

The obvious change in the Kirbyverse is the new visual style. The backdrop and platforms are largely made from fabrics, and the characters are animated pieces of yarn. Seeing it in motion up-close, it looks and flows wonderfully. The yarn adds a ton of aesthetic value to the game at the sake of looking – almost – too childish.

However, even though it looks like something your grandmother stitched together when you were younger, the game looks awesome up close. There is almost a realistic look to the  yarn characters, and the fabric backdrop looks like it has been laid underneath the screen of your TV. Everything works together really well.

The demo consisted of three levels: tutorial, full level, and a boss battle. Like most other Kirby games, it felt very easy to play; unlike my Donkey Kong Country Returns playthrough, I never felt challenged at any given time. But, these were only tastes of the beginning of the game, and with the string and physics mechanics, there is the possibility of devious puzzles to challenge solo and cooperative players alike.

Yep, there is multiplayer! Player two controls Prince Fluff and helps Kirby throughout each level with the same abilities. The crux of the gameplay revolves around Kirby, or Fluff, using a piece of yarn to destroy and grab enemies; unzip or stitch together the level, grab objects, or combine powers to become an unstoppable yarn-tank. Players can also work together to boost themselves up and find hidden treasures to increase their score.There wasn’t anything available to show what the score was for, but knowing Kirby, extra modes and mini-games might be included in the final title.

Surprisingly, unlike other Kirby games, the pink guy can’t absorb enemies to gain new abilities, not in the demo at least. Instead, he has a multitude of abilities that transform him into different items. Dashing turns him into a car, pressing down in the air turns him into a weight, and pressing jump again causes him parachute slowly to the ground. It’s a waiting game to see what other powers he might possess.

After defeating the boss (and realizing his yarn becomes frayed as he takes damage), I walked away from Kirby’s Epic Yarn with mixed feelings. I really enjoyed the art style, and the nostalgic feel of a classic Kirby game on consoles, but I wasn’t completely sold. There are a lot of awesome mechanics available here, but the introductory levels don’t show off their full potential.  However, it is an early demo, and I have faith that Nintendo will make sure its first console reboot for the pink fluff makes for a good show.

[note: It has been brought to my attention that their were factual errors in this post. Those errors have been corrected. Thank you and enjoy the E3 coverage!]

I haven’t been apart of the Civilization franchise for a long time, but Civilization IV pissed off my bladder when it haphazardly drained ten hours of my day. It’s a game that offers so much to players that building a world is possible, but like Rome, nothing can be built in a day. Because of this, newcomers may find it difficult to find the willpower and time to establish themselves as dictators or cultural icons.

But, no fear, Civilization V is here!  It offers one less roman numeral column and a bunch of tweaks to the beloved Civilization gameplay that will excite/anger veterans; and hopefully, bring in new world leaders to battle over territory and technology.

Hold on ladies and gents – there is a lot of content here.

As the demo began, I wondered what to expect, thinking that Civilization IV’s mechanics were good enough, and making a fifth installment seemed like it would be overkill. However, once they unveiled the map, my skepticism was abolished. It was vibrant, detailed, and the fog of war was made of clouds instead of the standard ominous black veil.

On top of this, the land mass looks a lot more functional. Civ IV’s square tile system gave the game an obvious board game-like feel, but Civ V’s transition to the hexagon tileset (go Heroes of Might and Magic!) gives Firaxis, and map makers, the ability to create more realistic relationships between land and sea. Players will be able to navigate the lands easier and will allow them to focus on positioning troops and cultivating their lands.

Troop positioning has taken a radical turn in the game as well. The demo confirmed that players won’t be able to stack troops, but their position and terrain will provide bonuses (like previous Civ titles). The demo showed a single infantry unit battle three opposing units before being eradicated. This ups the ante on developing defensive and offensive strategies, especially with the hexagonal tileset.

Another feature on display was the social policy feature. This feature allows players to spend culture points on different policies to provide benefits to their nation. Religion has been moved into this category to provide a more “direct benefit.” It wasn’t on display during the demo. After players master a number of the six social policy trees available they can build the utopian wonder, and win a cultural victory.

The demo moved on to finally reveal the tech tree in all of its glory. I wasn’t able to quickly jot down everything, but the tree is still massive.Players can still select a technology they want to focus on by clicking on it, and their nation will focus on researching the prerequisites necessary to learn the tech.

It offers players the capability to specialize without all of the micromanagement. If you are a person that enjoys punishing yourself, this isn’t a requirement. Players can still choose to research techs at their leisure if they wish to do so.

Cities now have the capability to fight back against opponents without troops stationed in them, and their HP must be reduced before infantry and take them over. After doing so, players have the choice to Annex the city (and increase unhappiness), create a puppet (a city that operates as an NPC with a focus, and less happiness), or burn it to the ground.

City states are also available throughout each map as well. These NPC controlled mini-nations aren’t trying to win the game, but they provide extra resources and allies for players willing to treat them kindly.

They also showed the city specialization option, another feature returning from past series. Instead of manually selecting citizen and resources focuses, players can command cities to provide extra food, culture, or technology with the click of a button.

However, like the technology focus mentioned above, players aren’t forced to use this option. Also, alerts that occur when workers, research, and buildings are finished have been moved to the right side of the screen and they float down and are much bigger than before. Also, clicking on them will assist the player in queing up the next building, technology, or other asset.

The demo ended with a wonderful nuclear explosion. To be honest, it was an extremely successful show. The game is looking great and the available options for newer players will make draining your day much easier. All of the new tweaks are shaping up to make a fantastic game.

It’s impressive that a game as complicated as Civilization has taken on the terrifying buzz word “accessibility,” and they have applied it well. It’s a game that lends itself to having a myriad of options, so it seems only natural to have set-ups available to ease in new gamers, but that doesn’t come at the cost of complexity.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Firaxis and the modding community have in store for such a promising game. If today’s demo at E3 is any indication, I have a supply of spaghettios and diet soda waiting in my closet to feed my newborn nations.

I approached the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow booth with the careful reserve that I normally save for pretty women, or rabid animals. I picked up the controller and promised myself we would take it slow; the last 3D outings were painful.

So, hitting start opened the ominous book floating mid-screen, and I began a new chapter in the Castlevania universe.

Gabriel – the hero – approached the rain-drenched town’s wooden gate; his solemn grimace, and the howls of approaching lycanthropes, reassured their fear. The night wasn’t over.

After the cinematic, I was thrust into LoS ‘s new combat system, and like most of the videos you may have seen, it pulls heavily from the 3rd person action adventure standard we have grown accustomed to in God of War and Devil May Cry. It includes character development with new combos and abilities, and it’s effective – flashing the whip around offers gamers a fair amount of power – but the demo doesn’t  provide enough to give the combat its own flavor.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. The combat works, and that’s more credit than I was willing to give it before I played. The underlying problem is that the Castlevania series has had resounding success with a mixed focus on exploration and RPG element driven combat. Metroidvania if you will. Yet, that aspect of the series is noticeably absent in the demo.

Instead, I was assaulted with closed room combat, and then an on rail horse chase with limited combat. This sequence finds Gabriel on a mysterious horse chased by wargs with werewolf riders. You can attack the rider or the warg, and after dealing enough damage to the warg – after killing the rider – you can press R2 to jump to an FMV and watch Gabriel kill it.

This leads to another arena zone where I had to kill a bunch of enemies to continue. Afterward, the on-rails horse sequence continued, I had to kill another series of the same warg/werewolves, and the demo ended in an epic slow motion jump over an all too long cliff.

As it faded to black, all I could think about was how underwhelmed I felt. There was a noticeable push toward a cohesive narrative – Gabriel is haunted by a loved one it seems – and the game is beautifully gothic, but I find myself with the burning desire to explore.

It’s been proven with Batman: Arkham Asylum that the Metroidvania exploration style is possible – and can be done well – in a 3D environment with a great combat system. However, as I said earlier, that vital aspect of the Castlevania universe was absent.

The combat system is effective, and if they include exploration it will compliment the game well. Without it, LoS may boil down into nothing but another attempt to capitalize on the tried and true action-adventure combat format.

Before showing us a crazy demo filled with bad dialog, point driven combo skills, and more shit, Epic’s team announced that Bulletstorm will be hitting shelves on February 22, 2011.

The demo they showed promised lots of action, and Epic guaranteed that the game will be playable on the floor, so check back for our hands-on coverage.

Today’s video game retail landscape is laden with powerful graphic engines and faster gameplay that focus on the bigger, better, and stronger. With that in mind, From Software and Atlus took a chance with 3D Dot Game Heroes (DGH).

It openly defies the industry majority by *almost* perfectly recreating the gameplay of The Legend of Zelda; while adopting the visual style of Patrick Jean’s “Pixels;” combining them into a stylistic and charming 3D adventure that inoculates players with wonderful nostalgia, but teeters on the fine line between flattery – and plagiarism.

DGH opens with the king of Dotnia decreeing that his nation changed from 2D to 3D. The world inflates in an adorable pop-up sequence, but the pixels forgo the evolution into polygons (the king pressed B, of course). The end result is a surprisingly prodigious world built entirely of giant pixels; a visual style that channels the humor and charisma of the 8-bit era, but fits comfortably in the HD scene.

It’s impossible to describe, verbally, so just take a look at the pictures included in this review. It’s beautiful retro-loving, and it looks even better in motion.

If it wasn’t for this disgustingly charming presentation, DGH would go down in history as purely a LoZ clone. Everything from the music – which sounds like rearranged LoZ tracks - item acquisition order, dungeons, and health and mana bars, cry copyright infringement. However, DGH implements a few changes, and flexes its modern muscle, to try and find its own place in its mentor’s established legacy.

A full life bar will grant the hero an extremely large sword, and access to abilities like spinning (activated by turning your hero while attacking), wider and longer blades, and more damage. This displaces the healthy hero cavalier attitude with caution as you must keep the health bar full for maximum power. This is easy to accomplish during the first half of the game, but the later dungeons and monsters are fierce competitors that will vehemently consume your health apples.

Included is an intuitive and elegant editor that lets players create heroes for their dangerous quest. It consists of a large box that lets you build the character pixel by pixel. Players customize their characters’ standing pose, walking pose (consisting of two different frames), hurrying animation, and two attack animations; building a fully functional character to use in the game.

However, its simplicity doesn’t limit its capabilities. The models are built from single pixels; players can create almost anything. The best example out of the box is the shark.  It moves around the map as a dorsal fin, but attacking causes the shark to leap out of the ground and spew…well a sword.

The robust editor continues Sony’s Play, Create, Share motto they started with LittleBigPlanet; players can upload their best creations, and download their favorites from other players. It offers little more than personal customization, but running around as Ekans, or any other zany creation, goes a long way to lengthen your experience with the 8-9 hours of gameplay.

Players can also customize their experience with changes to the camera angle, or by smoothing the pixelation. The camera angles offered are limited, but they help gamers that might find the default camera a little too close or far. Let’s just say, the smoothing option makes the game look more like a glorified NES title: small changes, but options nonetheless.

DGH does its best to inject a bit of its own personality into the tried-and-true gameplay of LoZ; unfortunately, the wonderful motif and self-aware humor aren’t enough to keep it from feeling like the game you played 24 years ago.

DGH knows this, and embraces it, but experienced gamers will find that the nostalgia wears off quickly, and newcomers may be put off by the limited – however well-aged – gameplay. It’s a good alternative for Sony-lovers that never played the original masterpiece, or players looking to save a few dollars.

Hey guys, just wanted to remind you that the Limitcast is recording this Monday, May 8th, live at 7:30 PM EST on account of Mother’s Day.

Yeah, we love our Moms.  Wanna fight about it?

Good day, Gamers!  The Limitcast will be recording their live show at 7:30 PM EST this Sunday, May 2.

We have a great show planned for everyone; so, hit the jump and take a look at some of the topics up for discussion.

We all heard about Gizmodo’s stint with the brand new iPhone, but now it looks like Apple, or someone, is making them pay for getting an advance viewing of the new technology. We aren’t sure where this is going to go – but hopefully – we can watch it on the newest episode of Cops.

We reported on Capcom trademarking the term: Mega Man Universe, but what does that mean for the Blue Bomber?  We don’t know either, but what we do know is that if they can make a 2-D MMO Mega Man, that would please me – forget what everyone else thinks. Rolling with your bros, co-op style.

Last, but not least by any means, Josh wrote an article asking the question, “Is originality dead in gaming?” It was an interesting read that will spark a lot of discussion between the Limitcast members. If everything goes well, maybe even a fist fight. Stay tuned.

I was hoping to have a picture for you guys, but I couldn’t find anything to top Simon’s beard. However, I am at Josh’s house this weekend, and I promise to update this post with pictures from his birthday bonfire.

So, what do you guys think?  The industry is lighting up with a lot of interesting news; way too much to cover here. Leave your comments below and join the discussion!

Update: Despite Shawn, Chase, and Josh being in the same room this evening, we just realized we don’t have the necessary hardware to host the podcast. As such, we’ll be rescheduling for later in the week.