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Elf menu Search Results

Your search for Elf menu located the below Elf menu Search Results. The Elf menu Search Results are returned from stories QJ publishes stories covering Elf menu news, Playstation news, Xbox news, PC news, Wii News, Nintendo DS News, Gaming News, Reviews, Downloads, Custom Apps, Homebrew and much more.

What Can J-Runner Build 276 Do That Build 275 Does Not?

Posted May 31, 2012 at 11:00AM EST by Demonchild Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: j-runner, jtag, nand, reset glitch hack, rgh, Team Xecuter, tx

Another day, another build of J-Runner that's downloaded to your computers. What's new this time around? Read on.


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Play Your Homebrew via Super Collapse Now

Posted Apr 23, 2012 at 12:25PM EST by Demonchild Listed in: PS Vita Tags: Exploit, half byte loader, hbl, ps vita hacks, psp hacks, super collapse 3, thecobra, vhbl, wololo

With a bit of delay, Wololo finally releases VHBL for the exploit hiding away in Super Collapse 3. Hopefully you purchased and transferred your copy of the game over to your Vita.


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Happy Mass Effect Face Day!

Posted Apr 9, 2012 at 3:20PM EST by Todd B Listed in: PS3 Tags: BioWare, commander shepard, mass effect 3

If you’ve been waiting for Bioware to fix the face import bug in Mass Effect 3, today’s the day you start playing. Or tomorrow.


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QJ Download and Homebrew Round Up for April 6

Posted Apr 6, 2012 at 1:15PM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Nintendo DS, Wii, PSP Tags: nds homebrew, psp hacks, psp homebrew, wii homebrew

Welcome back to the QJ.net Download and Homebrew Round Up for April 6, 2012. Today we've got some cool homebrew games as well as some tools that will maximie your PSP and give you more functionality. So let's get right to it.


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Review: Grand Slam Tennis 2

Posted Mar 8, 2012 at 10:45AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PS3 Tags: ea games, EA Sports, grand slam tennis, grand slam tennis 2, review, sports games

Is EA swinging with a good back hand or just throwing their tennis racket down and walking away?


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PoV: The Pros and Cons of a Steam Console

Posted Mar 7, 2012 at 11:30AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PoV Tags: consoles, kinect, motion controls, playstation 4, psn, Sony, Steam, steambox, valve, xbla, xbox 720

So while GDC is going on and rumours are flying everywhere there's something we need to weigh up.


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Cancelled Gotham By Gaslight Footage - Batman vs. Jack the Ripper

Posted Feb 29, 2012 at 10:15AM EST by Brett Huffman Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: Batman, day 1, gotham by gaslight, THQ

I would have so played this game, but none of us will ever get the chance since it never got picked up. Have a look.


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DL and Homebrew Round Up for February 3rd

Posted Feb 3, 2012 at 8:08PM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: PS3 Tags: crashserious, factory service mode tool, hero city, ps3 homebrew, ps3 tools gui, red screen of death, rsod solutions, thatotherperson, wii homebrew

This weeks round up brings us some really good tools for your PS3 that you will definitely want to check out. And of course, it wouldn't be another download and homebrew round up without a cool homebrew game from ThatOtherPerson. So let's see what is on the menu today.


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GameJam Wollongong 2012

Posted Jan 30, 2012 at 8:14PM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: gamejam wollongong, ggj, ggj12, gjwoll, global game jam, ouroboros

Or How I Spent my Weekend watching 20+ people make games in 48 hours.


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Minecraft Has The N Word

Posted Jan 28, 2012 at 9:45AM EST by Mr Ham Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: minecraft, mojang

THIS wouldn't have happened in a non-indie title.


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PoV: Postal 3 review

Posted Jan 12, 2012 at 11:15AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PC Gaming, PoV Tags: postal 2, postal 3, postal 3 review, review, Running with Scissors

The Postal Dude is back, but how good is it being back?


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PoV: Skydrift review

Posted Dec 15, 2011 at 12:00PM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360, PoV Tags: Digital Reality, psn, review, skydrift, xbla

Harrison E takes to the skies in the new aircraft racer Skydrift. But will it take flight or crash and burn?


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PoV: Ratchet and Clank All 4 One Review

Posted Nov 10, 2011 at 11:00AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PS3, PoV Tags: Insomniac Games, ratchet and clank, ratchet and clank all 4 one, ratchet and clank all 4 one review

All 4 One or All For Nothing as Harrison E. reviews the latest Ratchet and Clank title.


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Exclusive Review: Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta

Posted Oct 19, 2011 at 10:00AM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PS3 Tags: exclusive, Naughty Dog, ps3, uncharted 3, uncharted 3 multiplayer beta

Uncharted 3 is already the most hyped exclusive of the year and now we've got an exclusive of our own.


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Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad gets new patch

Posted Oct 9, 2011 at 2:30PM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: red orchestra 2: heroes of stalingrad, tripwire interactive

The update comes with a variety of fixes covering everything from stats and gameplay to performance boosts.


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Bethesda Offers PC Performance Tips for Rage

Posted Oct 5, 2011 at 11:37AM EST by Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: Bethesda, pc gaming, rage drivers, Steam

The game developer struggles to keep up with an enormous wave of bug reports, graphical errors, performance issues and driver problems.

It wasn’t but a few hours after yesterday’s launch of “Rage” that reports started to trickle in about problems with the PC version of the game. Screen tearing, missing textures and a variety of other problems were reported by users of both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, and Bethesda worked to remedy the situation by advising people to update their drivers and eventually released an updated set specifically for “Rage.”

While this seems to have solved a large number of the issues being reported, Bethesda is still working with the PC gaming populace and has posted a massive list of troubleshooting techniques for those users still experiencing problems after updating to the new drivers.

The list is pretty in-depth and I imagine will be continually updated as Bethesda targets and resolves issues as they are reported by gamers. It’s unfortunate to see such a well-reviewed game experience this much difficulty at launch, as there’s no telling how many players may have simply given up and moved on to other titles.

Unfortunately for casual PC gamers like myself, the solutions currently offered by Bethesda involve modifying settings that aren’t necessarily represented in the game’s built-in menus.

For example:

“The user can force V-sync on or off in the graphics vendor control panel. Right-click on the desktop to access the graphics vendor control panel.

If V-sync is forced on then RAGE will always V-sync.

If V-sync is forced off then RAGE will auto-detect that V-sync is not working and RAGE will instead synchronize to real-time and screen tearing may occur.

Alternatively you can force V-sync on by adding the following to the RAGE launch options in Steam:

+r_swapInterval 1”

I’m sure that paragraph means something to some PC gamers, but it looks like a bunch of gibberish to me. I guess less tech-savvy players will just need to wait until an official fix is patched into the game, which I’m sure won’t take too long considering the sheer volume of the complaints.

Are you experiencing any issues with “Rage?” How did you fix them?

The game developer struggles to keep up with an enormous wave of bug reports, graphical errors, performance issues and driver problems.


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Burnout Crash and The Gaming Identity Crisis

Posted Sep 29, 2011 at 4:00PM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: burnout, burnout 3: takedown, burnout crash, ea games, music in games, PS2, psn, xbla

The Burnout series is synonymous with fun for me. Being a PS2 owner from way back when I was a cursey teen instead of a cursey adult (or someone in their early 20's) as I am now, it's like a Pokémon evolution except not cool and really just learning about controlling my emotions and maturity and all that lame stuff. Included in that evolution was getting a PS3, and eventually being excited about the release of Burnout Paradise. I actually owned a PSP at one point and playing Burnout Dominator was bliss for me. Long bus rides filled with angsty or beat-punching music as I swerved corners and took badasses down whilst everyone just kinda looked at the weird fat kid and wondered where his guardian was.

Burnout Paradise was a personal low in the series. Despite, friends having the initially pre-release, I convinced myself that a free-roaming city was actually "really cool" and that it totally wouldn't be "lame" and you'd have a lot more freedom. I was wrong. Really wrong. I don't know about you but being in a free-roaming cityscape and having no sense of direction, as well as a poorly intuitative, linear map design really doesn't bode well with someone thinking in free-roaming mode. So burned by that Burnout experience, the announcement of another Burnout game spurred the pessimist in me and I was excited once again, but when I saw the first video's for it, I wasn't too pleased. I was less than pleased and the optimist inside me died...just a little...not too much, I hope.

I did go into Burnout Crash with less than a positive aspiration for what the game actually might be. I know people don't like people who waffle on, so let's just say Burnout Crash is good and there is a demo you can play, it's free, it'll give you a good indication of what it's like except for some modes but let's also say that Burnout Crash is initially underwhelming.

The 2D opening is cutesy to say the least but so mediocre it doesn't really register on my mental spectrum as being a video game. It reminds me of the animated sequence in Catch Me If You Can and I'm half expecting the little ute (or pick up truck for our US readers) to hit a tiny Leonardo DiCaprio and send him flying against a 2D wall...but yes, it's underwhelming and my memories of Burnout begin to fade, like the opening screen does. I left the opening on too long to start writing the opening paragraph, the visuals humming away in the background with my PS3 and then a song begins.

This is where my opinions change by a simple video and musical manipulation. The song by The Primitives, aptly titled - at least for this game - Crash and I'm brought back to a simpler time in my childhood called the 90's, when this song was not written. It's an 80's New Wave pop song and whilst I became a fan of New Wave some time in my late teens, the song still resonates and I'm back to apart of what makes the Burnout series amazing, the mind numbing, heart racing music. When I say mind numbing, I don't necessarily mean it in a bad way, it's just beautiful background fodder. Much like the Clair De Lune in Burnout Paradise or Shotgun by The Outline in Burnout Revenge, it brings you into a different element when it comes to the game.

One of my fondest memories of Burnout Paradise is watching the sun slowly set just as Clair De Lune began and I started a Takedown Race and watched the shadows stretch and pull the landscape of the city as I raced from night into day and won with 12 Takedowns when I only needed 5. I get weird when it comes to games and music. Most pieces just wash over me and I just shrug my shoulders, but when there's a piece that's memorable, it really sticks. Whether it's the beautifully whimsical music from Legend of Zelda, a series I've barely played or the block rocking minimal piano and beats of Minecraft - it all sticks in my mind like Tetris tessalated musical blocks.

PICTURE OF MARIO MUSICAL BLOCK

Of course, the Burnout series is just more than music and so I actually start playing Burnout Crash and stop listening to the Primitives for the 12th time....and I press start and the song actually starts to play in full, kicking off with a lovely little animated explosion of the pick-up. The menu kicks in after a failur to login to the PSN/Autolog network and a voice gives me a warm douchey welcome, sadly often associated with Burnout games. No one I really know is a frat kind of person and I feel EA keeps those voice over guys for that reason, I kinda liked it when it was the chick running Crash FM, but meh, that was then, this is now.

So far, the visual design is nothing like the little opening animated feature, with a nice little neon sign design floating as the menu and I kick off the game itself (after adjusting the sound settings, music up, voice over off). So after I'm told I'll be on the wildest ride of my life I choose the first mission and go on a bit of a rampage and you know what, it's fun. It's consistently fun, it's a whole lot of fun. Seeing those little cars coming, which is indicated in-game by a yellow arrow, and noticing all the little details on the houses and cars and just everything, I want to look at it closer but also destroy it at the same time. It's like being Clockwork God with a magnifying glass, but alas, my creations are not my own, only the destruction. But alas, before all the destruction there's a tutorial and it's a bit annoying.

Last time I was in a gaming DMV I decided not to play the game, that game was Driver, I was 8, things were different. Here it's nice little tutorial that tells you about all the great things including the "Crazy Special Feature", which didn't exactly hype me up despite the vocal inflection and after playing Bastion last week I feel all voice overs need better voice actors or better writers, seriously. There could have been a lot more to do with the wacky voice-over, there are a few amusing lines here and there such as the description of the area being remembered as "all field" and the voice over actor pausing and being like "oh...it still is", I laughed at that, but the humour was far and few between and like Dreamworks movies, relied too much on pop culture than raw wit.

Old system of "More stars to unlock more cars" gives you a good old sense and even with the top-down look, Burnout Crash becomes a lot less like the Burnout series minute by minute. What I feel is Criterion should have just called it Crash. I understand that they may have possibly been sued by Universal for use of the fluffy Bandicoot character, but using the brand recognition of Burnout really doesn't work here. It's a real identity crisis where it's clear they want to re-establish their brand for whatever reason. I remember Burnout selling like hotcakes, with every iteration since the 3rd one, and personal favourite, Takedown. The actual game itself does get a big hand from musical and sound cues, but a better focus on gameplay and making the game a lot more interesting, in regards to the voice work and writing, would have been better. For example, whilst the game out and out visually wants to have a rough design, it wants new players to the franchise to remember "to use that Crashbreaker" in an overly excited tone as if the big flashing x button on screen and the fact that other than kinda moving/sliding around the map, there isn't much else to do in-game, other than be amused and giggle when a bank truck comes along and the bombastic voice of Shirley Bassey claims "HEY, BIG SPENDER"...I giggled...like a girl.

Despite my girl giggling, there will be a lot of references young player - new players - won't get and will be baffled why they're in the game at all. Hearing Spandau Ballet's Gold when I blew up a golden truck was amusing for me but may only reach 5% of the people who play the game, seriously after reading the above paragraph, who knew 1. Who Spandau Ballet was/is? and 2. Who Shirley Bassey was? The identity crisis Criterion creates is more of a cultural problem than a gaming problem. Licensing those tracks would have cost them/EA millions, literally, and if it was worth it, I feel like we're on the inside of an in-joke, but everyone keeps beating the outside of it and it just keeps making a hollow thud.

I do want to give a handshake this week to two people, the guys who chose the music and the visual designers. As much as I've bitched about the visuals in the game, I do have to say the mix of eclectic styles of Neon-signed - almost Las Vegas in tone - and the cute top down car creations, it all works. It melds into this odd piece of automotive Americana, filled with the right colours here and there to look it mildly entertaining as well as watchable. When almost every week there's a lot of grey and brown being sloshed around, it's good to see emerald, aqua and crimson red to be thrown into the mix. Sure, the game does have a fairly consistent use of black on the menus, but it adds to the steel and burning rubber style Burnout is known for, and that's where it really takes a different side to the Burnout series.

However, it being a top-down game, it does have it's visual misdemeanours, such as the

The game's reward system is quite classic too. The star system is something I've always favoured in the series, with the whizzing or rushing of the flaming stars to come crashing into my self-gratification coz I pressed da buttons and dey do da ting dat it was programmed to do. The actual gameplay itself is quite simple, you're in a runaway car and you're going to crash. It's a lot more interesting to imagine you're a man who recently just went through the worst day in the world and intend to have the most creative day in the world, which includes ending with a multiple car pile-up, however, he keeps having a Groundhog Day-Quantum Leap scenario where he wakes up in a new car and new body everyday and ends it all the same...or I might be insane.

A few minor gripes about the game itself as there were a few framerate issues, even playing on the first level, but nothing to noticable as the game went on. The gameplay element of The Good Cops was a bit weird and has never really come up in previous parts of the Burnout canon...I guess, there really isn't a canon to a series about cars that gone and done smashed demselves up. However, the game does require a bit of strategy and it would have been interesting, if a bit farfetched, if you could place the cops at an entering intersection of yout choice.

See putting in extra obstacles such as The Ambulance, sometimes makes me feel as though they're dragging out the level, but then again hearing the words "Paging Dr. Beat" followed by the song by Miami Sound Machine, just makes me want to throw on some more 80's tracks and start dancing...nobody wants that. But it is a nice touch, if a bit cheap, I say cheap but honestly it resonates with my pop culture brain like a meth addict and I can't wait for that siren blaring bohemoth to come screaming through the streets again.

Having elements such as Tornados and Magnets are incredibly fun and don't outstay their welcome, the actual gameplay does begin to get stale in the other modes, but it's really just a personal preference and I think you should try out the other modes such as Rush Hour and Pile Up, I highly recommend them but they're not particularly my thing.

Rush Hour is a personal pain as I hate almost all timed missions in games and it just frustrates me. It almost seems like it'd be a lot interesting if it was an extra option that you could turn on or off, even have it as a version of the game like a Quick Match section of the game. Meanwhile, Pile Up is just cause as much destruction as possible, it's fun if a bit boring after a while, all the same gameplay elements are there. A co-op implementation would have been freaking amazing with you having to smash into a friend's car on the same interesection and see who could do the most amount of damage on a stretch of road, like a drag-race + Burnout...just an idea, Criterion.

Other than the music, which turns a bit generic but fun after Crash plays, the sound design is phenomanal with firey auto crashes sifting through my ears and the sound of poker machine winnings as points rack higher and higher like the possible animated body count, if the game was any ballsier...coz that's totally a word. The random sound effects add to the crazy style The money has always been an interesting thing to me, not just money in general, God knows how the economy works, but the actual pricing of each car and the potential for costs and multipliers is just something I've wanted to calculate, make a big chart of, actually do math...yep, definitely insane.

In the corner I'm informed I'm a Wannabe, which gives me the assumption that the writers or designers of the game, and a lot of game worlds for that matter, really have this disdain towards players from the get go, but then again I'm a bit of a wuss who can't take any form of criticism whatsoeverpleaseloveme. But the actual gameplay elements are never really against the player, there is a balanced sense of both challenges and even with a plot-less game, there is a drive - whoa, pardon the pun there, been left over for weeks - to actually see the next intersection, the next car and the insanity that will ensue. For example, really how determined are these drivers, logic is best not put in the way of the Burnout series...especially when car magnets are concerned.

Burnout Crash is not a bad game, it's just not a Burnout game. It does take the basic game mechanics of Crash, my honest to God, favourite part of the series, something I always look forward to and just made it a Downloadable Title. I'm looking forward to the good old days of burning through a city doing challenges and having some real fun, but for now, I guess this will tire me over. It's not expensive, it's a lot of fun, it's great to listen to and look at, it's like the

perfect girlfriend...there's your selling caption for Burnout Crash - Burnout Crash: The Perfect Girlfriend.

So Burnout Crash is out, but is it really a Burnout game?


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PoV: Diablo III early impressions is not looking good

Posted Sep 23, 2011 at 12:30PM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PoV Tags: Blizzard, diablo iii, DRM

It looks like its not only the always-on DRM scheme that will be giving you headache once Diablo III arrives.


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Bastion and the Big Company

Posted Sep 21, 2011 at 4:00PM EST by Harrison E Listed in: Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: bastion, reviews, warner bros

Bastion and Big Companies

I was gonna play From Dust this week but sadly my router screwed me and I was left almost gameless for a good two hours. So instead I called up my bro from last week and asked if he'd gotten anything new. Bastion lept forth from his mouth and I was in my car and over in minutes. My mate was busy with a coding assignment and I was reserved to being quiet and to only have the sound of the music up a little bit. As a writer, the conditions were not uncommon, but still I decided to write something good this week...well, objectively good.

The game starts off and the loading screen looks like someone trying to uncover elvish ruins and then the narrator speaks and it is glorious. I want to fall asleep to this man's voice cradling me and telling me every story known to man and I want to serve under his every golden voiced whim...but I keep playing the game and it is incredible in every way imaginable, without him holding me.

I start off with a gigantic hammer, which in the book of gaming, almost all great characters have gigantic hammers. Super Mario, Ramona Flowers, Tomba and now Bastion, and you can destroy everything in your path. Blocks just crumple under the weight of mighty hammer. You are Thor's tiny narrated brother and your whim is the world's way. So yeah, the game is a highly stylised, beautifully narrated and cleverly designed hack and slash.

The narration is not only soothing but it's helpful. In a comparative note, you would have Portal's GlaDOS, a mean-spirited but contextually justified character voice, whilst Bastion's narrator is calming but casually reassuring as the game's linear world forms around you, so does his words, creating an audible scenery to match the colourful block-filled world.

The collectables in the game, other than your weaponry, are tiny little crystals, which at first seem fairly arbitrary, but become incredibly useful regarding the RPG elements later on and even finding them is half the fun. The landscape forms beneath your feet and as such, secret areas will pop up by just wondering around and leading you in a path of danger or delight. Also destroying blocks around you, free-form GTA style will find a few more bits of fun and a lovely bit of narration, such as "The Kids just rages for a while...", I smile with delight and continue to punch the B button.

The difficulty curve of the game is interesting to say the least, but using the right weapons, skills and heals you can get yourself through any battle with the salty voice of the narrator peppering you through the worlds.

The RPG elements of the game really help with adding a bit of flavour to the game. The elements range from little things such as levelling up to building brand new places on the Bastion such as a forgery and distillery. The distillery promotes some minor underage drinking musings but nothing harmful...as long as a kid doesn't know what a distillery is. The forgery brings you new weapons so you can kick more arse and before you know it, you're hacking and slashing like never before unless you fall off the edge of the floating world...which happens a lot.

When you die, you fall into the Bastion. It's a beautifully green landscape. The call of a crow, the hum of the cicadas i nwhat looks like the freshest brightest spring day you've ever seen and somewhere standing on a golden and freshly cut pasture...is someone simply called Stranger...the narrator calls, he finds "another...he finds me", you can actually talk to the narrator and a beautiful guitar melody begins to play. Something akin to Neil Young or early Willie Nelson and I just want to sit here and turn up the soundtrack. It's monumental and oddly moving, but I must continue my quest. But actually it's here where the greatest plot element is revealed. It's a bit of a spoiler so if you want you can just play the first 30 minutes of the game or the demo and just wait for the words "subtlety is key".

Upon plot-assisted-death or what anyone who played the first Silent Hill and understood the opening without going, "Dude, wtf do I have to die, srsly, lame?!" the Bastion is essentially an overworld that actually helps you to different parts of the game world. The world itself acts as a land slowly growing and renewing, much like the game's landscapes during the gameplay. It's a beautiful landscape in a beautifully constructed game.

Subtlety is key here...with people who are made of ash, who when you smash to pieces the narrator gives a minor backstory to them and you either go "Sorry, my fault", or you chuckle unevenly. The game's key is playing with established video game and narration tropes and playing them with and against the player. Whilst some bits of narration and gameplay are expected, they're played into the story and atmospheric strengths, except for a few minor naming issues...such as "Something Heavy" and "Something Stringy", which I find lacking in creativity rather than subtley humourous, but I'll get to my gripes later.

Healing in the game is represented by fountains and tonics and the first time you hear the narrator talk about it, it seems real and almost like an advertisement for a fictional drink with the tagline "Sometimes you need a drink"...take all my money, now, magical narrator man.

"And then he falls to his death...I'm just foolin'" had me laughing so hard I annoyed my friend anough to throw a wireless mouse at me. I returned it sullenly and was told to keep writing or otherwise he'd not take my job as seriously. My friend is a coder and his work is serious business, whilst I takka takka away.

Some of the story elements, whilst almost non-sequitor like adds to the feel of the world. I'd use the word atmosphere a lot, but I did last week so I'm just gonna write the words Shabadoo instead. The Shabadoo works so well in this game that the little embers that burn in the opening world and the creatures you encounter seem to just add so much more to the game than just the narrator's voice. The crafting of the character and the narrative elements and how they seem to drip slowly and poignantly like water from a tap into a long deep echoing well makes for one hell of a Shabadoo-ic experience.

Weaponry such as The Fang Repeater, a shark-looking weapon - that's right SHARK-LOOKING - and the Breaker Bow - which the narrator tells you after you fall on it - "it breaks his fall, but it ain't broken - is given to you and the narrator professes delicately how they should be used. Not mockingly, not annoyingly, just subtlely with a bit of an onscreen flash of a button tutorial. This is barely half an hour in to the game and you're just riding the wave and the Shabadoo of the experience - that'll become clearer later on . You're just into the narrator's voice and the mood of the game; you just feel like it's right, that the gun or the voice will never steer you wrong...and this is where my first problem comes into the game. Nothing to with the gameplay or the game itself, this is where I'll become mildly analytical and you can tune out till I write the words, 'so the game'.

The tone of the game is strictly, speaking all over the place. Whilst thematically, there is little to draw on from the get-go, the game's style and over-arching story-based narrator-heavy theme leaves me high and dry sometimes, but the gameplay and humour just slides me back into a forgiving mode. I'm not sure what Bastion wants to say about games or narrative or characters or if they creators wanna say anything at all...all I want to say is that the game is amazing looking, great to play and also structurally beautiful...literally.

So the game does a lot of things amazingly and I've found the testament of a true game is that it keeps me wanting more of it. Resident Evil 4, LA Noire, Plants vs. Zombies and Half Life 2 all have kept me - and a million other gamers like me - wanting more and more like a battered lover. The look of the game just is amazing from the character design, overworld and parchment style menu design, the game has a very distinct style like a mix between nature-based artwork and naturalistic writing.

Like last week's Audio Team for Dead Island, this week's Handshake Award goes to the Design team for Bastion as they have created stunning architecture which is both eye-catching and never boring, some points in the game I feel bad for a micro-second for destroying things with a gigantic hammer.

A repetitious soundtrack - which isn't annoying - pumps in a lovely low bass as I pause the game, continue to type and it doesn't annoy my mate. The game has heaps of tracks and they all do follow a fairly similar progression but it never gets on your nerves. My mate was trying to code quietly and calmly, but when I pause so he can focus, he just grooves and hums along with it. We smile and clink our drinks together and go back to our prospective mediums, his "real work", my....uh...this. The slow strings of a guitar whine in as I enter a saloon, the narration is slow, perfect and much like this sentence ends on a sarcastic but humourous note, damn.

Falling off is an inconvenience, but is even greater so when dodging an enemies attack. The game treats death like "it ain't no thang", but really that "thang" does become quite annoying after a while when you wish you hadn't destroyed the barrier around the land looking for more crystals to level up your stuff. Aiming can also be a serious pain in the arse. You may be a fraction of a degree off and end up wasting a Fang shot or two or just simply miss a crucial shot instead of healing and it's Game Minor Inconvenience for you, buddy.

Whilst the enemies are fairly varied, they all have two or three attacks and one of them is a strictly "Come at me bro" strategy, to just run directly at you, you can usually expect it, but it does become mildly annoying.

The voice for The Kid is mildly unfitting, I imagine more of a young Link voice, but he sounds like a whiny 20 year old who just found out he's got a term paper due in a fortnight. There are more unexplained things such as where do my weapons go when I obtain new ones and why couldn't I switch them out with the D-Pad and when I defeat the big Gas guy in the second area how all those guy love me and then disappear...I want them to be my slaves and to build a posse rather than turning up randomly...well I did free them...maybe I shouldn't have slaves...slaves are bad.

Picture of THE MORE YOU KNOW (with Kirby)

The life point system for enemies is a intriguingly redesigned circle beneath the NPC and disappears with every swift ring of the hammer towards it. Bastion is not a perfect game and whilst the experience is enjoyable some minor things like the AI being too easy, a lack of co-op, a slightly meh RPG, XP system and a leaderboard system (something I've personally never cared for) do not keep this game from being perfect, but just feeling a bit undercooked. I wish the game was a bit more creative or exciting in those elements.

I know I spent a good 90% of this article praising the heavenly voiced angel which descends into our mortal audio realm, but maybe having a secondary voice or another voice to play off would have been interesting. A finely-tuned weapons upgrade system, rather than just pictures and purchasing. Buying stuff in-game almost always makes me feel cheap. Oh and according to the game, you fly to each of the Skyway levels...I would have loved to have seen a bit of that, even in an opening cut scene.

Actually that being said I'm glad there are no cut-scenes in this game, it would have ruined the flow and fun...but flying would have been nice and interesting, but maybe a bit too much. To be honest, when I find flaws in a game I know it's just apart of me, not as a reviewer, but just knowing my tastes vs. knowing my standards as a gamer. I feel at a loss when I see potential and finances wasted on mediocrity.

And Bastion is not mediocre, it could be better, everything could be better, I could be a hell of a lot better...what I'm saying is...I just want a Bastion 2, I want to meet the developers and thank them and I wanna work on anything they make in the future, if they'll have me...and I know that's asking a lot. It's like asking for a shark to borrow it's gills and to be bros or for a volcano to not erupt and to be quiet, but I do love this game and I expect more amazing things from these guys.

Games like Bastion rarely get everything right and I do have to commend Warner Brothers for publishing a title, letting it be made and it being amazing in almost every domain. It's rare that a game will inspire me or at least enlighten me, entertain me and brighten up my day like Bastion does, the only other games I can think of similarly is the visual poetry of Flower or the blocky-creativity of Minecraft. The narrative, gameplay and music fit so perfectly together, you'd think three pieces had been scattered across the globe and the developers had put them together perfectly. So I do implore you, nay, beg of you to get this game on XBLA or Steam, it's worth every single dollar as I want these guys to make another game or for the narrator to come to my house and give me a lecture about quantum mechanics and their relation to the Futurama Universe.

Why you should play Bastion and why Warner Bros. publishing may be the next big thing.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

My Stay on Dead Island

Posted Sep 14, 2011 at 2:10PM EST by Harrison E Listed in: PS3 Tags: Australia, dead island, shooters, Silent Hill, zombies

We sent an Australian writer to a little place in the red sun to die...


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [2]	READ FULL STORY!

Homebrews - Uname v0.1, Tinke v0.8

Posted Sep 9, 2011 at 5:23AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Nintendo DS, Wii Tags: benito356, benjamin, ds homebrew, tinke, uname, wii homebrew

Two brand new homebrewed apps for your Wii and DS.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

QJ Downloads Roundup -- 9/3/11

Posted Sep 3, 2011 at 6:00PM EST by Carl B Listed in: Nintendo DS Tags: downloads, homebrew, Nintendo

Need to fuel your downloads craving? QJ has you covered in one comprehensive post.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [0]	READ FULL STORY!

NBA 2K12 soundtrack unveiled

Posted Aug 13, 2011 at 3:24AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 Tags: 2K Sports, nba 2k12

This year's lineup includes an eclectic mix of talents, from Eminem, Busta Rhymes and Lil Jon, to Cee-Lo Green, Travis Barker and Friendly Fires.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [5]	READ FULL STORY!

Wii homebrew - C64-network.org v2.4

Posted Aug 12, 2011 at 5:32AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Wii Tags: Commodore 64, emulator, Simon Kagstrom, wii homebrew

Here's the latest build of Simon Kagstrom's Commodore 64 emulator for the Nintendo Wii.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [0]	READ FULL STORY!

Team Twiizers' releases LetterBomb

Posted Aug 12, 2011 at 3:38AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Wii Tags: bannerbomb, hacks, letterbomb, Team Twiizers, wii homebrew

Team Twiizers has released a much safer method to enable homebrews on the Wii without the need of game disc based exploit such as BatHaxx, Return of the Jodi and others.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [2]	READ FULL STORY!

PSP homebrews - LCFW, CFW 6.39 ME v9 released

Posted Jul 26, 2011 at 1:33AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP Tags: neur0n, psp cfw, psp custom firmware, psp hacks

Homebrew developer neur0n updates his own custom firmwares, LCFW (or Light custom firmware) and CFW 6.39 ME, bringing it to version 9.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [2]	READ FULL STORY!

The Witcher 2 gets free quest in next patch

Posted Jul 17, 2011 at 1:04PM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: CD Projekt, the witcher 2

Although The Witcher 2's patch 1.3 still doesn't have a release date, CD Projekt already has a list of changes and new additions being introduced in the update.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

Dolphin SVN r7648 x86

Posted Jun 29, 2011 at 3:52AM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: Wii Tags: f|res & ector, homebrew

A new version for F|ReS & ector's Dolphin homebrew for the Wii is now out for your consumption. This version, r748, removes the disable-alpha bools in virtual copy shaders.

Dolphin is actually workable on both the Wii and the NGC. It also features partial Wii support, and plays most Gamecube games smoothly.

Further features include:

Supports DOL/ELF, Gamecube + Wii disc images / physical backup discs, Wii system menu / channels, and WADs.

Debuggers for PowerPC, DSP, and graphics processors

Interpreters and recompilers for each processor

OpenGL, DirectX, and software renderers with graphical enhancements and debugging features.

Action Replay Simulator / Gecko Code Interpreter

Gamecube Memory Card Manager

Real and emulated Wiimote support

Gamepad support (including Xbox 360 pad)

Experimental NetPlay

Save states

As for the system requirements:

Windows XP or higher, or Linux, or OS X (Intel only).

Fast modern CPU with SSE2. Multiple cores for a speed boost.

Any reasonable modern GPU with Pixel Shader 2.0 or greater. nVidia or ATI are good. Older integrated Intel chips may not work, newer ones should work fine.

A new version for F|ReS & ector's Dolphin homebrew for the Wii is now out for your consumption.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [0]	READ FULL STORY!

Civilization V receives a new patch

Posted Jun 28, 2011 at 6:06AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PC Gaming Tags: 2K Games, civilization v, Firaxis Games, patch, Steam

The folks at Firaxis and 2K Games has revealed the details of the upcoming Civilization V update.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [0]	READ FULL STORY!

DS Homebrew: Really Bad Eggs v20110627

Posted Jun 27, 2011 at 10:39PM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: Nintendo DS Tags: Ant512, homebrew

ant512 has released the first alpha phase of his latest homebrew project, Really Bad Eggs. If it sounds or looks familiar, it's because it's a remake of Super Foul Egg, the freeware Commodore Amiga version of Puyo Puyo.

The dev also notes: There's still a lot of work to do on the presentation side of things, but the game itself is mostly complete. The only issue that you might run into is the number of block colours. Although the menu system suggests that you can choose to have 4, 5 or 6 block colours in a game, only the first 4 have been implemented. Choosing 5 or 6 colours will crash the DS.

As for the contribution you can make for him, ant512 calls out to graphics people out there for the following:

A title screen to replace the current plain text when the game starts up;

A background image for the menu system (though I could just re-use the title screen, probably blurred and greyscaled);

A background image for the high score table (not coded yet);

A graphic for the bottom screen when a game is being played with areas to put the current level, number of chains, score and incoming garbage count.

ant512 has released the first alpha phase of his latest homebrew project, Really Bad Eggs.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [0]	READ FULL STORY!

Wii homebrew - C64-network.org v2.2

Posted Jun 7, 2011 at 4:04PM EST by Karl B. Listed in: Wii Tags: c64-network.org, Simon Kagstrom

Homebrew developer Simon Kagstrom has released a new version of the C64 emulator with online play.


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E3 2011: Forza 4 dated and detailed

Posted Jun 7, 2011 at 11:46AM EST by Karl B. Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: forza motorsport 4, Microsoft, Turn 10

Mark your calendars, racing fans.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [3]	READ FULL STORY!

Watch: Dead Island E3 2011 trailer

Posted Jun 6, 2011 at 5:23PM EST by Karl B. Listed in: Xbox 360, PC Gaming, PS3 Tags: dead island, Deep Silver, e3 2011, techland

Rapping, dancing, and brain eating are on the menu.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [7]	READ FULL STORY!

Dolphin SVN r7580 released

Posted Jun 3, 2011 at 7:06AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Wii Tags: dolphin emulator, dolphin team, wii homebrew

The Dolphin Dev Team has released a new version of their open-source Nintendo Gamecube and Wii emulator for PC, the Dolphin emulator.


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Dolphin SVN r7555 released

Posted May 25, 2011 at 1:55AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Wii Tags: dolphin emulator, dolphin team, wii homebrew

The Dolphin Dev Team has released a new build of their open-source Nintendo Gamecube and Wii emulator for PC, bringing a slew of new fixes and improvements.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

DS Homebrew: Skull Panic v1.01

Posted May 17, 2011 at 4:11AM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: Nintendo DS Tags: duskwolf, homebrew, skull panic

The developer of Skull Panic would like to keep things a bit mysterious for his DS homebrew game, but it's fairly easy to spot that you'll be doing a whole lot of running in this game.


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Dolphin SVN r7538 now available

Posted May 12, 2011 at 1:09AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Wii Tags: dolphin emulator, dolphin team, wii homebrew

The Dolphin dev team has released a new version of their Nintendo Gamecube and Wii emulator.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

More homebrews: gpSP-J, Lightning v0.54, LUA-Tool v0.2 and EarthShakerDS

Posted May 11, 2011 at 4:35AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Nintendo DS, PSP Tags: Ant512, ds homebrew, earthshakerds, gpsp-j, lightning, lua-tool v0.2, psp homebrews, shaplayer, yosh

Here are some new homebrew apps/games that was recently added in the download section.


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PSP homebrew - 3D Roll v2.3D

Posted May 5, 2011 at 1:48AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP Tags: 3d roll, chimecho, psp homebrew

A new version of Chimecho's homebrewed game, 3D Roll, has been released.


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PSP homebrew - 3D Roll v1.3D

Posted Apr 28, 2011 at 10:35PM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP Tags: 3d roll, chimecho, psp homebrew

Here's the latest version of Chimecho's 3D Roll, a highly addictive homebrewed game in which you are tasked to get the ball as far down as possible, without getting stopped.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [2]	READ FULL STORY!

PSP homebrew - 3D Roll v1.1

Posted Apr 23, 2011 at 2:00AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP Tags: 3d roll, chimecho, psp homebrew

Homebrew dev Chimecho has released version 1.1 of 3D Roll, a highly addictive homebrewed game in which you are tasked to get the ball as far down as possible, without getting stopped.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [3]	READ FULL STORY!

Final Fantasy III slated for Wii VC

Posted Apr 16, 2011 at 1:30PM EST by Carl B Listed in: Wii Tags: Final Fantasy III, final fantasy vi, Square Enix, Virtual Console

Square Enix's epic JRPG classic is finally coming to the North American Wii Virtual Console.


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PSP homebrew - 5h4d0w's Plugin Manager v1.4_1

Posted Apr 14, 2011 at 2:29AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: PSP Tags: 5h4d0w, plugin manager, psp homebrew

Homebrew coder 5h4d0w has updated his handy "Plugin Manager" for the PSP.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [5]	READ FULL STORY!

PSP homebrew - CFW 6.20 / 6.35 PRO-B4

Posted Apr 10, 2011 at 10:20AM EST by Karl B. Listed in: PSP Tags: Coldbird, liquidzigong, psp custom firmware, psp homebrew

Liquidzigong and Coldbird have a big custom firmware release for all PSP homebrew afficionados out there.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [35]	READ FULL STORY!

DS homebrew - Woopsi v1.2

Posted Apr 8, 2011 at 4:05AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Nintendo DS Tags: Ant512, Nintendo, woopsi

A new version of Ant512's Woopsi, a handy windowing system for creating homebrew user interfaces for the Nintendo DS is now out folks.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [1]	READ FULL STORY!

Wii homebrew - Priiloader 0.7

Posted Apr 5, 2011 at 4:30AM EST by Ryan F. Listed in: Xbox 360, Wii Tags: dacotaco, priiloader

For the Wiibrew community, here is DacoTaco's latest revision of Priiloader, a modded version of crediar's Preloader but with some added new features.


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iPhone FAQ: How to Install the New Cydia 1.1

Posted Apr 1, 2011 at 9:36AM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple, Cydia, Cydia Update, ios, jailbreak

Jailbreakers rejoice! A major new update for Cydia has been released by Saurik. Cydia 1.1 comes with many improvements and additions which will make searching jailbreak content that much better.


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iPad FAQ: How to Set Up Home Sharing

Posted Mar 28, 2011 at 1:58AM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple, Home Sharing, iTunes

One of the interesting features which the iOS 4.3 update brought with itself was Home Sharing. What this feature allows you to do is stream all your iTunes content from your PC/Mac directly to your iPad. Anything from movies, music, podcasts etc on your computer can now be directly accessed on your iPad.


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iPhone Hacks: Camera Live Wallpaper

Posted Mar 23, 2011 at 5:28AM EST by QJ Staff Listed in: Tags: apple, Cydia app, ios

There are several cool examples of tweaks which can reinvent your jailbroken iPhone's wallpaper. Take for example the DeepEnd tweak which gives your iPhone's wallpaper a cool 3D like effect based on the orientation of the phone.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [0]	READ FULL STORY!

Dead Island is no Heavy Rain

Posted Mar 23, 2011 at 3:05AM EST by Mabie A. Listed in: Xbox 360, PC Gaming, PS3 Tags: dead island, Quantic Dream

If you dare compare Dead Island to Heavy Rain, then that would be "just awful" for the Deep Silver team.


EMAIL STORY! \| COMMENTS [4]	READ FULL STORY!

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