Japan has a myriad of head scratching attractions that are borderline appalling. Yet, strangely enough, they draw a certain following that seems to flourish in Japanese society: Maid Cafes, Gyaru Mamas, Snack Bars, Karaoke, Cat Cafes, influence of sex fetishes, etc.

If none of those things send you straight to Google Search, then get ready for Purikura – The video game industry’s answer for the female market. But wait! Is it a video game or nothing more than a photo booth?

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One of the most difficult things about being a gamer is seeing Japanese releases of our favorite series or most anticipated titles in Japan months before it ever hits foreign markets: i.e. US, UK, and AUS. The other difficulty is knowing that sometimes our favorite titles will never reach foreign soil.  It’s a sad fact and facing those difficulties is something we’ve all had to confront at least once in our lifetime.

But wait! For those who are not deterred by cultural boundaries and language barriers, you can be one of the select few in this world that have had the opportunity to play the unobtainable.  But before you delve further, I have to tell you that I’d be lying if I’d said I have the answer to all your problems; I don’t. But with a little work and dedication, anyone can turn a daunting obstacle into a rewarding experience. Read more… »

During the Games Developers Conference in downtown San Francisco this past Wednesday THQ partnered with GameStop to promote their upcoming game Homefront. The game has become quite well known in the gaming community for its fantastic viral marketing campaign.

Because Homefront is set in the near-future where the United States is invaded by North Korea, THQ hosted a mock rally against  the North Korean government, culminating in the release of ten thousand red balloons. While the stunt garnered THQ with quite a bit of attention for their upcoming title, it wasn’t as positive as they may have liked. San Francisco residents soon began complaining about the flurry of trash polluting their city and public waters.

Hit the jump for a full assessment of the situation and its potential environmental consequences.

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Killzone 3 may be gaining rave reviews, even our own Kyle MacGregor has expressed his admiration for the game, but I’m unconvinced. While the multiplayer is definitely a step up from Killzone 2, the single player campaign left me less than impressed.

In fact, I believe that the single player campaign in Killzone 3 is three steps backwards for the entire series. Hit the jump to hear why I think Guerrilla squandered a ton of narrative potential with this game.

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I just finished Final Fantasy VI yesterday (or is it III? Either way the one with Terra and Kefka). While I can see why the SNES version is sitting comfortably with a 93% on GameRankings.com, I found some flaws with the game. Namely with the characters.

Don’t worry, Kefka the insane clown was one of my favorites, probably because of my nearly crippling fear of clowns. It’s some of the heroes I have problems with. Read on to find out why I think the characters are Final Fantasy VI‘s greatest strength and its biggest weakness. Read more… »

The above image is from the 1982 title Microsurgeon, one of the many that are getting nods from an unsuspected group of people — museum curators. Reaching beyond the  much exhausted ‘Video Games As Art And Culture’ argument, this fine group of people essentially says “yes, video games are and they deserve to be appreciated as such.”

More than just talk, they back it up by opening up museum exhibitions like those found in Germany and Rochester, N.Y. Now, gamers can add two more to their list of places to visit — the mecca of the gaming world San Francisco, Calif., and Washington D.C. Unlike the fun-to-say-three-times Computerspiele (Berlin) and hard to find ICHEG (Rochester), the two new exhibits are treating games like they are supposed to be treated — for the gamers.

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While Sony might be planning on 3D becoming the next big thing, right now the gaming world is focused on HD, and more specifically HD remakes. The fad caught my eye when the God of War Collection first came out in 2009. Then there were others. It feels like more and more HD remakes are coming out of the woodwork almost every day. Is this a good thing? Or is this HD-ification of the past just a shameless cash grab? Read more… »

As a new addition to the Gamer Limit team I was planning on writing an article that covered my favourite game of last year, as many of the writers here have already done. However I decided against telling you about how much I enjoyed the brilliant Mass Effect 2, because I would only be repeating articles that you have read already on plenty of different gaming websites, including Gamer Limit. Although it was rather brilliant, wasn’t it?

Instead, I thought, as a new contributor to the website, maybe it would be more appropriate for me to talk about the future of 2011 and the games that we can all look forward to. Last year was pretty good for gamers with a variety of great titles for us to choose from and 2011 doesn’t look like it will disappoint. Hopefully you all have a couple games in mind (I definitely have more than a couple), whether it be revisiting the land of Tamriel or searching for yet another lost city with Nathan Drake. Read more… »

I’m going to share something with you. Up until very recently, let’s say January 2011, I hadn’t played either of the games in the Mass Effect series despite being both a RPG and science fiction fan. I knew of the supposed quality of the series and Mass Effect 2 in particular, especially considering how many Game of the Year nominations it picked up.

I just finished playing both games. I put well over twenty hours into Mass Effect, and continuing with my female Renegade Shepard, I put over thirty-five hours into Mass Effect 2. Both games were incredible, and the series does so many things right. However there is one area where I feel BioWare missed the mark. Hit the jump to find out.

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[Over the next few weeks the staff here at Gamer Limit will be sharing their personal favorite game of the past year with the community in build up to Gamer Limit’s Game of the Year Awards for 2010.]

After waiting for twelve long years gamers finally got what they’ve been begging for: StarCraft 2. I mean, is it really any surprise that SC2 is my pick for Game of the Year? Let’s run the numbers: it’s a PC exclusive that has a rapidly growing competitive scene complete with celebrity professionals (Idra, Huk, TLO, etc.), its own culture, icons, inside jokes (Day9, the Graken), and most importantly, a fantastic community that’s dedicated to evolving the game. When you really think about it, SC2 is a complete entertainment package for gamers of all levels of commitment.

That said, StarCraft 2 is not a perfect game. The writing in the single-player portion wasn’t exactly what I would call great, and the story really doesn’t reflect twelve years of work. However, the actual gameplay easily makes up for these faults. With multiple, persistent tech paths, as well as secret levels and branching story lines, there is more than enough content to warrant multiple playthroughs. Read more… »

[Over the next few weeks the staff here at Gamerlimit will be sharing their personal favorite game of the past year with the community in build up to Gamer Limit’s Game of the Year Awards for 2010]

I played a lot of great games in 2010. I also played a lot of not-so great games in 2010. However, there’s one game that really resonated with me, even though I played it at the beginning of January. Hit the jump for my thoughts on the brand new IP and my GOTY pick: Darksiders.

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The time has finally come! Gamer Limit is ringing in the new year with the best game 2010 had to offer.

All of our Editors and Writers voted with their choices, and the majority vote won: so keep that in mind if you don’t see your favorite game below. Without further ado – hit the jump for our choice!

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