by John Carle, Aug 9 2013 // 8:00 AM

No need to sugarcoat it. Every one of us has our guilty pleasures. For some its watching a cartoon that was never really that good. For others it is dumping tons of cash on a new collectible.
And for some of us, it is watching and enjoying something we know we shouldn’t. Rage Quit, which is available on the Rooster Teeth YouTube channel, is one such example. In essence, there is nothing I should like about watching episodes of Rage Quit. High pitched screaming and hordes of swearing while watching someone else fail at a game. Why would that be entertaining?
It’s not because of maturity. It’s not because of a cheap laugh. It’s because Michael Jones represents how so many of us feel but doesn’t have to hold it in. For the most part, I want to scream at my screen and flip the hell out as a game gets more and more frustrating. And often the more frustrating it gets, the louder I want to scream. But I don’t.
I don’t because I don’t want my roommate to complain or my parents to kick me out of the house or the girl I am seeing to think I am a lunatic. So I just turn the game off. Imagine all that pent up rage with the inability to turn a game off because you know at minimum your video needs to be at least five minutes of useable footage. Enter Rage Quit.
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Posted in: Games · News · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360 · YouTube
Tagged: Let's Play, Michael Jones, Mogar, My Guilty Pleasure, Rooster Teeth, The Impossible Game, The Internet, XBLA, Xbox 360, YouTube
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by John Carle, Jul 9 2013 // 11:00 AM

Last year, players got to experience a Walking Dead experience that rivaled the comics with Telltale’s The Walking Dead. Sticking to a traditional point and click adventure style of storytelling rather than an action game or shooter (like AMC’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct).
Last week on Tuesday for PSN users and Friday for XBLA users, Telltale released a special episode for The Walking Dead. Meant to act as a bridge between season 1 and the upcoming season 2, there is a departure from part of what people loved so much of the first season for. But, the new aspects of the game and its storytelling keeps the hook there for players for the next season.
The Long
The first thing players will note in The Walking Dead: 400 Days is the separation from the main characters in the first season. Where there is an appearance from some periphery characters, the majority of those seen in the game are new to both the game and the comics. There is also a group of six characters players take the role of (five characters with their own chapter and then one epilogue) as opposed to only playing for Lee in the previous title.
This is where things start to feel starkly different. Part of what was so addictive in the first season of The Walking Dead was following the relationship between Lee and Clementine. In 400 Days though, before you can get too invested in a single character, you move onto the next. The long term results of these actions also remain to be seen as to how these characters will play a role in the second season alongside those who made it through the first.
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Posted in: Comic Book Games · Comics · Game Reviews · Games · iOS · News · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Reviews · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: 400 Days, Comic Book Games, Comics, Image Comics, iOS, Mac Games, Mobile Games, PC Games, PlayStation Network, Reviews, Robert Kirkman, TellTale Games, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: 400 Days, Video Game Reviews, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360, Zombies
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by John Carle, Jun 26 2013 // 8:00 AM

When I was younger, like most kids, I had Michelangelo pegged as my favorite Ninja Turtle. He was the fun one, the cool one, the one that everyone wanted to be. But as I matured (as mature as you can get when still being a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that is), I began to lean more and more towards Leonardo.
Of the four brothers he is the one who had to balance a father’s expectations along with brothers who were either immature, socially outcast or rebellious. He also has the most badass of any of the weapons.
In this new darker TMNT game coming to the PlayStation Network and XBLA this summer, Leonardo may very well be the first turtle I choose to be. In the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game his swords were second only to Donatello’s bo for range and damage and later iterations put in him the role as team leader amongst his band of brothers.
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Posted in: Activision · Game Trailers · Games · News · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Trailers · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Activision, Announcements, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, PC, PC Games, Playstation 3, PlayStation Network, PSN, Rafael, Red Fly Studio, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT, TMNT: Out of the Shadows, Trailers, Video Game Trailers, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360, XBox Live Arcade
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by John Carle, Jun 5 2013 // 8:00 AM

When you look at the XBox Kinect it is pretty easy to list off its successes. The Gunstringer. Fruit Ninja Kinect. The Dance Central series… and that’s it. While there were numerous Kinect releasing, only a few really brought the promise of the hardware to life.
And like Fruit Ninja Kinect, another piece of software that originated on iOS is making its way to the XBLA for the Kinect with Doodle Jump. Unlike Fruit Ninja Kinect though, we aren’t exactly sure how Doodle Jump is going to fair with its change of control. Fruit Ninja Kinect was kind of a no brainer to let players replace their finger motions with swipes of their entire arm.
Doodle Jump Kinect sounds like it is going to require players tilt their body in the same way they tilted their iPhone on the original game. In addition, various arm gestures will help them shoot, fly and perform various other functions. After seeing how well the Kinect reacts to simple tasks when watching Netflix, I still have my doubts.
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Posted in: Announcements · News · Screen Shots · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Announcements, Doodle Jump, Doodle Jump Kinect, Games, iOS, Kinect, Lima Sky, XBLA, Xbox 360
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by John Carle, May 20 2013 // 9:15 AM

Way back in late 2010, Doritos brought out their second free game Doritos Crash Course to the XBLA. The title used XBox avatars as characters in a Wipe-Out / MXC style obstacle course. Luckily, the Doritos name was only present in the title and it never became a hit you over the head advertising ploy. There weren’t any Doritos speed boosts or Cool Ranch extra lives. And it ended up being pretty fun, despite only having three sets of courses that all looked pretty similar.
Doritos Crash Course 2 brings back the fun gameplay of the original with four distinctly different environments, a new unlockable progress system and support for Avatar FameStar. While the environments do a great job of adding visual variety, it’s the system of unlocking new content that gives Doritos Crash Course 2 an original feel. Instead of just progressing in order through levels, players unlock medals and stars that they use to purchase new levels. Getting certain placement against AI opponents earns a player more medals while taking various paths through a level allows access to different stars.
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Posted in: Games · Monday Freeview · News · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Doritos, Doritos Crash Course, Doritos Crash Course 2, Free, Games, Monday Freeview, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360, XBox Live Arcade
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by Joe Gillis, May 8 2013 // 3:30 PM

It’s difficult to put into words just how great this trailer is. However, as we get paid by the word around here, we should at least give it a try.
Well, to be sure, it’s amazing. So many great bits and so much pop culture and old-school sci-fi/action b-movie nostalgia all rolled into a slick package. And hey, the game, a stand-along expansion to Far Cry 3 itself, looks pretty fun too. It even stars famous sci-fi actor Michael Biehn, which is pretty cool.
If you haven’t seen this trailer for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, you should. In fact, click through immedietly and watch it. You won’t be sorry. Once you watch it, be sure to buy the game too. We need to support things like this.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is available now for PS 3 via the Playstation Network and XBox 360 via XBox Live Arcade.
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Posted in: Games · Geek · News · Ubisoft
Tagged: DLC, Expansion packs, Far Cry 3, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Games, Geek, Michael Biehn, Ubisoft, Video Games, XBLA
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by John Carle, May 7 2013 // 8:00 AM

Plants vs. Zombies came out way back in 2009 for the PC and Mac from PopCap games. It would go on to be ported to iOS, XBLA, Nintendo DS, the PSN, DSiWare, Android, Windows Phone, the PlayStation Vita and then finally to the Blackberry in January of this year (also proving that BlackBerry really has no idea what they are doing). Originally titled Lawn of the Dead, Plants vs. Zombies is one of the most widely popular tower defense style games ever with a MetaCritic score of 88 to boot. So what is taking so long to get a sequel? That’s what YouTube stars like Francis and XBox community manager Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb want to know too.
With the teaser trailer below, we finally get official confirmation that Plants vs. Zombies 2 isn’t only real but that it is coming out in July of this year. Hopefully it won’t come out during Comic Con or there are going to be a lot of very confused people trying to figure out the best use of their time. Though no actual footage is shown, it is an awesome teaser that showcases how all of us feel about the wait on this title. The one the Flickcast staff seems to relate to the most is Francis.
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Posted in: Announcements · Game Trailers · Games · iOS · News · PC Games · Trailers · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360 · Zombies
Tagged: Games, iOS, Mac, PC Games, Plants vs. Zombies, Plants vs. Zombies 2, PopCap Games, Teasers, Tower Defense, Trailers, Video Game Trailers, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360
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by John Carle, Apr 29 2013 // 11:45 AM

One thing we’ve seen with freebie titles on XBLA is that things can go either way. Sometimes you get Yaris (and the less said about that title the better). But sometimes, you get something that is worth spending even more time with than some of your full retail games. Happy Wars is one such game that follows the free to play model and something I’ve put in a fair share of time with since its release without ever needing to spend money in its Free-To-Play model.
Happy Wars is a MOBA title featuring two teams of up to 15 players each. Players start off at opposing castles and taking the role of either a knight, mage or cleric, work their way across the battle field, taking control points until they reach their opponent’s castle. Unlike most MOBAs, there are no NPC characters chugging alongside the battle. All combat is player to player with a variety of skills that unlock as the battle progresses. Players are also able to switch between their knight, mage and cleric build mid-battle in between respawns to allow changes in strategy, something not seen in most MOBA cases.
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Posted in: Games · Monday Freeview · News · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Free, Happy Wars, Monday Freeview, Toylogic, XBLA, Xbox 360, XBox Live Arcade
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by John Carle, Apr 25 2013 // 8:00 AM

If you’re close to my age, one of your favorite video game memories is most likely being in the arcade playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game in all its side scrolling, beat-em-up glory. With the upcoming downloadable title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, we may get to relive our past glory while a whole new generation gets to experience it for the first time (without pumping the arcade machine full of $27 in quarters.
In the latest trailer, we get to take a look at Michelangelo in action. The first thing you’ll notice is that the combat doesn’t resemble that of a simple brawler as the moves done by Mikey more closely mimic that of the Batman: Arkham franchise. Combat looks to have a dynamic feel, and though there are bound to be some canned animations (like Mikey’s head spin) it appears as though there will be a plethora of different moves happening during a fight as opposed to a few basic swinging animations from the classic arcade series.
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Posted in: Activision · Game Trailers · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Trailers · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Activision, Announcements, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, PC, PC Games, Playstation 3, PlayStation Network, PSN, Rafael, Red Fly Studio, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT, TMNT: Out of the Shadows, Trailers, Video Game Trailers, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360, XBox Live Arcade
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by John Carle, Mar 13 2013 // 9:45 AM

Back at Comic-Con 2011, I had the pleasure of interviewing some of the development team for Payday: The Heist while Matt Raub was playing along in the background. (He still has the promotional clown mask hanging on his wall) Now, it will be getting a sequel this summer, dubbed simply Payday 2, with the XBox Live Arcade being added to the two original platforms with the PC and PlayStation network.
Despite the positive response Payday: The Heist received, developer Overkill Software most likely saw the potential for an increased audience for the downloadable title in making it available on the XBox Live platform which has had a better reputation for its online service than Sony’s PSN.
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Posted in: Announcements · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Video Games · XBLA · Xbox 360
Tagged: Announcements, Overkill Software, Payday, Payday 2, Payday: The Heist, PC Games, Playstation 3, PSN, Video Games, XBLA, Xbox 360
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