On the surface, the Saints Row franchise appears to be little more than a GTA clone (both are sandbox adventures with a serious bent towards graphic violence), but the latest entry in the series has a serious amount of polish, is ridiculously funny, and most importantly, a ton of fun. It’s far and away the best Saints Row yet, and a worthy holiday season release even with gaming juggernauts Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Battlefield 3 competing for your hard-earned dollars.

While the story isn’t exactly a Puzo-esque tome, it’s good enough and has some legitimately funny moments. You’re the leader of the 3rd Street Saints gang, and are the most popular and powerful posse in Steelport (a much more interesting version of Pittsburgh blended with NYC). The Saints celebrity has gone out of control (passers-by ask you for pictures and autographs while you’re in the middle of boosting a car, etc.) and your gang must keep away contenders to the throne. That’s about as deep as it goes.

What makes Saints Row great, though, is the slick gameplay, extensive character customization, and unparalleled outlandishness of the game. Whether you’re tasked with causing $250,000 worth of damage in a neighborhood while rolling around in a tank, or beating up an old lady with a giant dildo-bat after base jumping off of a luxury high-rise, it’s consistently engaging. The controls are intuitive, and the updated combat system – which rivals Batman:AC in terms of smoothness and combo-linking – are a joy to behold. Aiming weapons still sucks ass, but never becomes a serious hindrance. The number of WTF moments in the game is off-the-charts and includes: getting a sex change, participating in a murderous Japanese game show, and dismembering Mexican wrestlers. I spent two hours perfecting the look of my playable character, who ended up a spitting image of Walter White from AMC’s hit show, Breaking Bad. (more…)

It’s looking like NBA 2K12 is the closest basketball fans will get to an actual season this year. The league may have failed you this season but 2K Sports has created a worthy successor to last year’s sleeper hit. Regardless of genre, I believe that immersion is a necessary component to an enjoyable gameplay experience. NBA 2K12 acknowledges this while actually improving upon where its critically acclaimed predecessor left off.

The game essentially draws on nostalgia, dream match ups and competitive gameplay to create an accessible, fun product for fans of all ages. This years installment is a lot more than last years addition of Michael Jordan. 2K12 sees the playable debut of 10 new basketball legends including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and a host of others to create modern-era matchups. NBA fans will surely nerd out at the attention to detail in 2K12. Select to play as circa 1960’s Boston Celtics and witness the transformation of modern day gameplay to a black and white television broadcast throwback with genuine announcers in uncanny detail.

Speaking of the graphics, many of the players have noticeably improved from 2K11’s somewhat extraterrestrial looking player aesthetic. Lebron James and Dirk Nowitzki are crafted meticulously as you control them rather fluidly up and down the court. New players will feel a slight learning curve with the sequence of controls. You can essentially micromanage everything that is going on in the game while on the court, both offensively and defensively. (more…)

You know how on Cheers whenever Norm would enter the bar everyone would shout his name? I plan on spending as much time at Barcade to earn myself such a welcoming.

The just-opened Fishtown bar combines two of this Geekadelphian’s favorite things — old school video games and craft beer. The result is the sort of place that hardcore gaming geeks and the general populace can all call their home. Having already opened successful Barcades in Brooklyn and Jersey City, owners Kevin Beard, Paul Kermizian and Pete Langway complete a hat trick of awesomeness with the opening of the Philly location.

The beautiful space features such yesteryear classics as Burgertime, Tron, Tapper, Joust, Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, Popeye, Double Dragon, Rampage, the ageless Ms. Pac-Man and many others. The best part? They will still only cost you a quarter, which will leave you with plenty of cash to sample the bar’s impressive beer selections. I recommend the Southampton Pumpkin Ale. If all the vigorous games WWF Wrestlefest have you working up an appetite, there’s food ranging from Siriracha-infused deviled eggs to a 3-cheese grilled cheese sandwiches available. Seriously, once you go there you are totally going to want to move in.

In conjunction with Barcade’s opening, I had the chance to talk with co-owner Paul Kermizian (who also directed the 2004 documentary American Beer) about the business, video gaming and what visitors can expect. Here’s what he had to say. (more…)

Crazy Machines Elements is the latest entry in a series of wacky physics based puzzle games from German developers FAKT Software. Elements feels like a throwback to the glory days of simple but logical video gaming. Long before being a gamer was defined by how fast you could button mash a keybinding macro on World of Warcraft, puzzle games harken back to the glory days of the 8-bit. All nostalgia aside, what Elements does, it does well… it excels at being widely accessible to all types of gamers while communicating the importance of physics and creativity in solving problems.

In Crazy Machines Elements players must utilize physical and interactive objects in order to create a series of chain reactions in order to advance to the next level. Throughout each level, the player must determine creative ways to harness the elements and objects like pinwheels, cloud machines and flamethrowers in order to meet the puzzle’s objective. Each puzzle gets progressively difficult while involving more and more objects or elements to manipulate within your environment to advance.

The developers did a tremendous job making the player feel rewarded along the way as you progress throughout the game, unlocking more levels and miscellaneous challenges. Elements also features a level editor mode which enables the player to create custom puzzles, sans the ability to share with friends on XBOX Live unfortunately. While Crazy Machines Elements is no Limbo, it’s still an ambitious puzzle game with solid positives – hypnotic replay-ability, immersive soundtrack and old school puzzler roots – that make it worth a look! Crazy Machines Elements is available for download on the XBOX Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points.

One of the hardest parts of being a fan of role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons is the learning curve. If you are older and have children, you really want to share with them the joy of creating a character, exploring a dungeon and fighting an orc with nothing but your imagination. But little ones are too young to follow all the myriad rules and when they get older, try telling them to read 6 hardcover rulebooks before you can even get started.

Enter Kids Dungeon Adventure.

Created by Ben Garvey and his 4 year old daughter, Sasha, it is a download, print and play rpg that has everything you need to share the fun of role playing with your children. You just print up instructions, card and hitpoint sheets, build a dungeon with your child’s blocks or legos and you’re off to the races. It adds a visual element to rpgs that younger children need to enjoy a game like this. And as they get older, it serves as the perfect gateway into games like Dungeons & Dragons and Rifts.

So turn off the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo 3DS for a couple hours and teach your kids all about the best video game ever created: the imagination.

Kids Dungeon Adventure
www.kidsdungeonadventure.com

Let’s get this out of the way right now. Warhammer 40k: Space Marine is the biggest gaming surprise of the Summer. In fact, it might be the biggest game-related surprise I’ve ever had. When THQ emailed me about the title, I shrugged it off as shovelware… but wow, it’s as though Gears of War and Darksiders fell in love and had a beautiful baby clothed in an ostentatious suit of armor… wait, wait. Space armor.

Switching on this game, there is no opening cinematic, just a brief blip about something going wrong on some random planet. Right away, you’re thrust into a world full of questions. Why are there Orcs in space? Why do other soldiers treat your character like he’s a deity of some kind? Why do the Orcs (who are in space) have cockney accents? What’s with the floating skulls scanning dead people and emblazoned on every single door? What are these Titan war machines, and why do citizens refer to them as The Machine Gods?

All these questions and more are raised, but never answered. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. Because you’re too busy having fun to give a damn. All hail the Emperor, whoever the hell he is. (more…)

Torrenting. That word has a bit of a negative connotation to it these days. Whether you’re thinking about The Pirate Bay, Suprnova, or any other number of torrenting websites, the first thing that comes to mind is “those are places I can steal music, software, movies, etc.”

Well, Hive 76 isn’t going to teach you how to do that. Sorry.

Need to get 4GB worth of files to 12 different people all at once? Struggling with huge files that you can’t dish out over Sendspace? Swing by the Hive tomorrow for a special torrenting class led by eagleapex. He’ll teach you how to safely and legally send large files over a bittorrent network.

The source kicks off at 6pm at Hive 76′s headquarters at 9th and Spring Garden. The course is free, but go RSVP on Hive 76′s website to let ‘em know you’re coming.

Torrenting Course @ Hive 76
Tuesday, September 13th, 6PM
www.hive76.org/workshop-how-to-torrent

Mobad Media and Arcana Studios have partnered to produce The Gwaii, a 3-D comic (no glasses needed) book for the iPad. Geekadelphia was given the chance to check out the 1st issue and we have the skinny on this innovative piece of media.

While The Gwaii is decidedly family and child oriented, the story is original enough to make for an interesting read to a comic fan like myself. Written by Arcana co-founder Sean Reilly and illustrated by Pedro Del Gado, The Gwaii centers around Tanu, a sasquatch in the Canadian wilderness that loses his mother to hunters turned kidnappers of this rare animal. Tanu teams up with fellow sasquatch Jaada and the adventure begins.

This iPad app is extremely easy to use and perfect for sharing with the young geek in your life. There are great options for kids like having the story narrated to them (it also highlights the words as they’re being read in this mode to assist in learning) and toggling back and forth between dialogues as they appear on the page. While it hearkens a bit to the motion comic movement, the “no glasses required” 3-D was pretty effective and looked vibrant on the iPad.

Gwaii part one is available right now at the iTunes store with 2 more issues on the way. You can download your copy right here.

Or better yet, why don’t you leave us a comment below for a chance to win a free download of The Gwaii? Just tell us which nomenclature you prefer: sasquatch, bigfoot or yeti?

A few months back we featured the Kickstarter for A Cloudy Adventure from local indie game dev SkyKey.

Good news everyone! Thanks to your help, the Kickstarter was successful and the game is now out. I was lucky enough to check out the game; read on for a brief overview and details on how you can score a free copy.

Billed by its creator as an iPhone game made with happiness, hugs, and joy, A Cloudy Adventure is the first release from Philly local Emmanuel Petti. The Cheddar Bandits have struck the Cloud Kingdom, made off with all the cheese, and taken poor young Prince Cloudy hostage. After dumping him in the unfamiliar Pinelands, Cloudy has to find his way back home and get as much of the cheese back as he can along the way. There’s just one small problem – Cloudy hasn’t yet learned to fly. That’s where his buddies the Band of Blocks (and you) come in. (more…)

This month’s 8static is here, hitting Studio 34 this Saturday at 7pm. This weekend’s chiptune dance party brings in FlashHeart from NYC, and Philadelphia’s own Ro-Bear and an0va. Philly’s enso will be providing the 8-bit visuals.

Are you an aspiring chiptuner? Show up right at 7pm to sign up and play during the open mic before the main show begins. Joey Mariano (of Animal Style) will also “be giving an introductory lesson on the VGM Music Maker tracker.”

Tickets are only $8, $5 if you RSVP using this Google form. And make sure you let ‘em know you’re coming by RSVPing on Facebook.

Get ready to dance.

8static
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
www.8static.com

Studio 34
4522 Baltimore Avenue
www.studio34yoga.com

Transformers: War for Cybertron was, hands down, the biggest surprise in gaming for me last year. Despite all the hype surrounding the title, I had serious doubts. Blogs, print magazines, Twitter… everyone was fussing over this title, and I didn’t want to hear any of it. I mean, come on, have you played any of the other Transformers titles? Transformers: The Game or Revenge of the Fallen? Of course you haven’t, why would you do that to yourself?

However, with Gears of War-esque, third-person-shooter style gameplay, an intriguing canon-approved storyline, fluid controls and surprisingly good voice acting, High Moon Studios did the impossible… they redeemed the Transformers franchise in the world of gaming. And now, one year later, they’ve released Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a tie-in to the likely terrible (I’ve yet to see it, and probably won’t) film.

There’s a rule when it comes to most movie-game tie-ins… and that’s that the game is always disappointing. Not entirely so with this one. High Moon’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon isn’t a terrible game. In fact, I’d say its a rather great one. Unfortunately, the game is so short and lacking in features, that its hard to justify the high price tag. (more…)

As everyone knows, we are in the middle of one of the worst recessions in history right now. Jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate and most businesses are trying to figure out how to cope. One of the few fields that has seen only a minor bump has been the video game industry. For the most part sales have remained strong and developers are still hiring game designers and artists to work on their next big project.

That is why it is so important (and cool) that Pennsylvania Senator Daylin Leach has introduced a video game tax credit bill in the Senate. If passed, it would create a 25% tax credit for video game companies that are based right here in PA and it would be an important first step toward bringing new jobs and video game developers to the city of Philadelphia. Plus it would be a great help to allow game existing studios already in Philly to expand and grow.

So how can you help this become a reality? First, spread the word. For this to work it has to go beyond just the geek culture and enter the mainstream. Second, contact the representative for your area and let them know you want this bill passed. You can find out how to accomplish this here.

This will go a long way toward making this a reality and making Philly the next “it” place to develop and create video games. Wouldn’t it be awesome to say that the next Halo or Gears of War was made right here in Philadelphia?

VGI Philadelphia
www.vgiphilly.com