Mass Effect 3 – Re-Mapping/Controller In-Game Options
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
Tested on XBox
360
Available on Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and
PC
Developed by Bioware and published by
Electronic Arts
Layout
Mass Effect 3 - Visual Aids
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
Tested on XBox 360
Available on Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and
PC
Developed by Bioware and published by
Electronic Arts
Subtitles Available? Yes - Available in English,
French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Russian and
Polish
Full Captions
Available? No
Other Notable Aids: Read
on...........
Ridge Racer Unbounded – Re-Mapping/Controller In-Game Options
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
Tested on
XBox 360
Available on Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and
PC
Developed by Bugbear Entertainment and
published by Namco Bandai
Games
Layout 1 -
Super Street Fighter 4 on 3DS
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
A simple touch screen interface redeems
this graphically inferior port find out
how…..
Developed by Capcom and Dimps and published by Capcom
5
5
5
2
Super Street Fighter 4 is one of my favourite games of all
time. It’s odd as well, because at first, even though I was a
huge fan of Street Fighter 2 back in the day, I avoiding
playing SF4 for a long time. I knew it was Capcom’s intention
to drive the series back to its roots; by including the 12
original characters of SF2, and by trying to make it easier for
the uninitiated to get a grasp on the game’s long established
mechanics, in the hope of steering the series away from being
solely the realm of the hardcore fighting fan. Yet I didn’t sit
down and play SF4 until a year after its
release.
Lets Tap
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
This
game’s Visualizer Mode is essentially a push the button, cause
and effect game for the
Wii…….
Available on Nintendo Wii
Developed by Probe and published by Sega
8
7
5
2
CUTO
It’s an absolutely bonkers concept for a game; you lay your Wii
controller face down on a flat surface, and you then play a
variety of mini games by tapping away on it. Ideally, the
surface you use should be a box, as the controller can pick up
the vibrations of your taps and slaps easier on a box, than on
a solid surface like a desk; and it means that the game can
recognise really quite light taps that can be made with minimum
effort. You also have the option of adjusting the sensitivity
of the controller if you find your taps and slaps are too light
or hard. With some adjusting and by laying my controller on a
big box on the floor I was even able to operate this game by
kicking my feet. It’s also nice how you are able to navigate
the game menus by using the tap interface; a single tap will
scroll through the options and a quick double tap will act as a
button press and select one.
What Are Your Gaming Landmarks?
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
Having come up with the idea to do this article in the first place, I found it extremely hard to pin down what games, over the years, have left an indelible mark on me. I’ve been playing games for quite a few years now, so I’ve enjoyed a few, but sometimes you don’t get that “wow, that has completed changed my life!” feeling, sometimes the changes that happen to you as a gamer are subtle, without your knowledge but no less important.
I know that this intro sounds like me trying to justify why my list has no flow, theme, rhyme or reason (and I have got to be honest it kind of is), but having put the question to the GameBase community we have received back some great answers, which should make up for the guff that I've spewed out.
- Gav
Botanicula
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
A beautiful relaxing game but
are the puzzles for you?...
By Amanita
Games
Available on PC, Mac and
Linux
3
5
2
2
Botanicula is stunningly beautiful. The first screen of the game shows an ethereal glowing plant, hard-set against the dark background of the night sky. As I moved my cursor towards the plant its shoots moved towards it, yearning to be touched. A click on each of its buds made them burst into glowing life. Once they were all uncovered a spider appeared, ate them and then quickly dashed away. At that moment, I knew there and then, that this was a special game; it was only the first screen and already my emotions had been tweaked.
Botanicula doesn’t just look great but it also sounds great. Your speakers will be filled with beautiful ambient noise; birds chirping, the rustle of leaves as the wind blows through them; it’s all very relaxing and I found myself, when I was writing this review, choosing to keep the game running in the background just so I could enjoy the soundtrack.
Pix’n Love Rush
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
A cavalcade
of simple touch screen modes but are you up for the
challenge?....
Developed by
Bulkypix
Available
on iPod, iPhone, iPad and on PSP and PlayStation3 via
PlayStation Network
2
5
3
0
When I picked this game up it just had two modes of play available, both very good and so it was well worth its 69p price tag, but through a couple of updates, Bulkypix have generously given two additional simple touch screen modes for free! So now, if you like a game with simple controls, a pleasing-to-the-eye retro aesthetic, and a whole heap of challenge, this one simply can’t be missed.
In the standard Classic Rush mode you have to pick up as many “+” signs (and so gain as many points as possible) within the time limit while avoiding the “-“ signs, bats and getting trapped behind obstacles in the scrolling levels. It’s a good game, but as it utilises virtual buttons, as usual, I find myself getting frustrated, when I miss tapping or accidently hit, buttons because of their small size on my tiny iPod screen. So, this mode isn’t the main attraction for me, it’s all about the simple touch modes.
DJ Hero 2
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
Developed by FreeStyle Games and
published by Activision
Available on Xbox360, Wii and PlayStation
3
It’s a shame that the DJ hero series didn’t sell better than it did, a real shame, as they’re fantastic games! And no-one will know precisely why, but personally, I think it was a combination of factors; the downturn in the economic climate coupled with the fact that people needed to buy a new controller to play (that they probably envisioned just ending up sitting on top of all the kit they already owned for the guitar based games). The fact that a-lot of people just don’t understand the culture, most people know what a guitar does and how it would be played, but do as many people know how two turntables are joined together, and what to do with them when they are? Also, and most importantly of all, I think that the DJ Hero games simply came too late. As by DJ Hero’s 2009 release people had started to tire of peripheral based rhythm action games, after having been fed a new one every few months since Guitar Hero’s release in 2005.
However, even though the DJ Hero games are very much “Hero” games, with you tapping buttons to hit notes (called ‘taps’ in these games) that scroll down the screen, a-lot of new mechanics were introduced; you needed to push cross faders left and right, twist effect knobs and scratch records; and as a result the games were sufficiently different and actually felt fresh. I’m of the honest opinion that if these games were released earlier, they would have sold hugely better, staved off the fatigue of the genre, and inspired the “Hero” and “Band” games to venture out of their comfort zones and try different things.
Our Favourite Games (well, right now anyway!)
By Gavin (R&D SpecialEffect)
The internet is aflame! People want to know
what Gamebase is playing!! Well, that may not be entirely
true...but here are our top three games
anyway.....
Bill
Plants Vs Zombies (by Pop Cap
Games)
Available on PC,
Browser, Mac, Android phones, Windows phones 7, iPod, iPhone,
iPad, Nintendo DS, PS Vita, PlayStation 3 and
Xbox360
P's Vs Z's is a constant, reassuring feature on my Xbox. Always available for a quick, five minute, zombie bashing between browsing BBC iPlayer and a bout of Battlefield. The basic premise of the game is to protect your house from zombies using various repellents, which are mostly plant and fungi based. The steady rising in complexity of the game-play, and the difficulty of the levels, suits me perfectly and is something that Pop Cap does so well in all their games. Before you know it, you will find yourself weighing up the various merits of Fume-shrooms and Gloom-shrooms like a pro. Brainzzzz!
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