E3 2009 Introduces A Slew of New Games to Gamers

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3 made an early appearance this year to show off what gamers around the globe have been waiting for, more games. After last year's blunder, some were worried that E3's flair had died down, though this year proved that it was anything but.

Sony reintroduced gamers to many hit titles mentioned last year and earlier this year, such as Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Santa Monica Studios' God of War 3 and MotorStorm: Artic Edge alongside some classic goodies, Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid, which are to be sold on Sony's online store, the PlayStation Network. These were just the tip of the iceberg though as Sony would continue to announce title after title and a new PSP system (th PSP Go!) over the course of these four days.

Nintendo took many by surprise, seeing as they were the source of a lot of last year's disappointment. This year they managed to repent by showing us trailers for 3 new Mario titles (one for the DS and 2 for the Wii), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (DS), Golden Sun DS (Do you have to ask what it's for?) and the biggest surprise of them all, a brand new Metroid title for the Wii being made in conjunction with Team Ninja of Ninja Gaiden fame.

Microsoft felt a bit lacking this year, following the Nintendo format of last year's E3 by displaying a new motion sensing peripheral and a few new games, Left 4 Dead 2, Halo: Reach, Forza 3 and Crackdown 2. Realistically if it weren't for the third-party developers, Microsoft would have definitely fallen behind. There's not much excitement to be gained by that however, since most of them were multiplatform titles.

-Chad

Random Awesome Character: Riku

This week, the spotlight is on Riku, a main character from the Kingdom Hearts series. His personality is a little difficult to explain. On one hand, he cares for the well-being of his closest friends. But, he's also a loner & pushes away the people he loves most. Through is faults, Riku is loved by his friends. Riku goes as far as trying to kill his best friend Sora, but that doesn't stop Sora from caring for Riku. Riku also has personal demons clouding his mind. He's torn on whether to indulge in the light, or get consumed by the darkness. Ultimately, he chooses the middle road, gaining abilities from both.

-Jesse

Videogame Update: Batman Arkham Asylum

"I'll save Gotham, just wait a bit longer Commissioner Gordon..."

After being placed under the vague release date of "Summer 2009," Batman Arkham Asylum, the long awaited Batman game that might actually do the superhero some justice, has been given the release date of August 25th. In retrospect, it's a real drag considering it was originally supposed to release a couple of weeks ago rather than a couple of months from now. Looks like gamers will have to find some other way to keep themselves occupied over the summer.

-Chad

Music of the Month: Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack Complete

As most of us gamers know, a videogame’s soundtrack is equally as important as its plot or even gameplay. The musical score is what creates a sense of fluidity and emotion while playing the game. To kick off our first celebration of musical marvels found in videogames, I present to you Kingdom Heart’s complete soundtrack. Boasting 9 discs, this album is in fact a compilation of tracks found within the series’ 3 main titles, Kingdom Hearts (Discs 1 &2), Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (Discs 7 & 8) and Kingdom Hearts 2 (Discs 3 through 6). In addition to music from the original titles, Disc 9 features music from the Japanese exclusive Final Mix remakes of KH and KH2, as well as scores from the revamped version of CoM. The goodies don’t end there though. A booklet filled with illustrations by game director and character designer, Tetsuya Nomura! Too bad it was only released in Japan... Time to import?

-Chad

Retro Review: Super Mario 64

1996 marked the year that Mario (successfully) transitioned from a 2D sidescroller into a 3D platforming adventure. At the time, the game was regarded as revolutionary. We now look back at Super Mario 64 in full detail, to see if it really deserved the positive reviews it once received.

The game starts off as any other Mario game, the princess is captured by Bowser and Mario needs to rescue her. Rescuing the princess is not as easy as storming into the castle & finding her. Bowser has stolen the castle's "Power Stars" & hid it across many worlds. The worlds can be accessed throughout giant portraits throughout the castle. As more stars are collected, more areas become unlocked. Each world produces 7 stars, but they are earned differently, by completeing different tasks.

Mario's actions were expanded for the 3D game. Before the only way to attack an enemy was to bounce on its head. In SM64, Mario can now slide, kick & punch in addition to his normal attack. The game also expanded on Mario's jumps. Now Mario is able to Triple Jump, Back Flip & Wall Jump to continue his adventure.

The audio & visuals for this game, by today's standards, would make most gamers cry. But in the time it came out, it was spectacular. The combination of 3D & 2D produced a great environment. All the worlds were completely different, each one having its own flair & taste. The music was also done beautifully. Wherever you went, it felt like the music fit. When Mario is in an underwater stage, slow, soothing music plays. When Mario is in a ghost level, errie music fills the stage.

Overall, this game deserves to be one of the greatest titles ever to hit any console. The game could be played over & over again without any feeling of streching out the fun. Over a decade later, the game still deserves a 10 out of 10.

-Jesse

Random Awesome Character: Solid Snake

Time for our first edition of Random Awesome Character! To kick off our event, we call upon the master sleuth badass himself, Solid Snake! *applaud here please* Solid Snake, protagonist of the critically acclaimed stealth action series, Metal Gear Solid, is a man with a tremendous fanbase (which we here at The Lounge are happily a part of), but hey, with skills like his, who can blame us? He infiltrates enemy bases and destroys nuclear weapons! Kickass much? Well anyhow, since his premiere in the late 1980's (Metal Gear on the MSX2.... yeah we're not sure what that is either lol), Snake's popularity has risen to such heights that it allowed him to be featured in titles outside his own franchise. Primary examples include Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii and LittleBigPlanet for the Playstation 3.

-Chad

Birth By Sleep Update

It was 1st speculated that Kingdom Hearts : Birth By Sleep was suppose to be released in Japan in the summer of '09 & in North America by December 2009. Now it seems like the game will be released by Decemeber of '09 for Japan. A source says that the North American release will be sometime in the summer of '10.

-Jesse

The Beginning

Welcome world, if you are here you must be bored as hell. Luckily, we'll entertain you with random information about videogames! :D

-Jesse & Chad