DEMO: Total War: SHOGUN 2 (Windows)

Total War: SHOGUN 2 on Steam for Windows

Courtesy totalwar.com

Genre: Historical Strategy (real-time and turn-based)

Full Game Price: $50.00

No. of Players: 1, with online multiplayer

In 5 words: complex, eye-candy, historical, epic, difficult

It's been awhile since I posted a demo review for PC and this demo is the reason why. Total War: SHOGUN 2, released this month, features a robust and rewarding demo that every strategy fan should try. It's kept me tied up for weeks.

Wii Demo Roundup - 03/28/11

Welcome back, and giddyup! It's time for this week's Wii demo roundup! We have two new demos on tap this week, something Nintendo has not deigned to deliver since February. But are they worth it? Head past the break to find out.

Freebie Flashback Friday - Scorched Earth

You're hunkered down in a nuked-out crater, hoping your enemies don't have any napalm. A variable wind besets your best attempts at ballistic bombardment and your shield is failing. What to do? What to do.

You admire the jagged landscape while evaluating your options. You could MIRV the guy on the ridge over there, or even better, if you place your shot right, you might be able to Death's Head your way straight to victory. Assuming you don't frag yourself in the process. Decisions, decisions. Welcome to Scorched Earth, my friend.

Wii Demo Roundup - 03/21/11

Monday means more free fun in Wii Ware land. This week, go to an alien world in search of fortune and fame in Dive: the Medes Islands Secret.

Freebie Flashback Friday - Wing Commander

It's that time again, time to step back to an era of mediocre graphics, launching games from the command line, and having a blast. That's right, it's Freebie Flashback Friday, and today's game is a space combat sim classic.

Courtesy Abandonia.com

REVIEW: Fludity (Wii Ware)

Jaded. Tired. Bored. That was me a few months ago. My apathy for video games was complete and a year of dust covered my Wii. Then Nintendo restarted its Wii Ware demo program in November of last year. The first wave of demos was alright, but then the Fluidity demo arrived. It quickly captured my attention and deftly liberated me of a few hard-earned dollars.

Wii Demo Roundup - 03/14/11

A new week means a new demo in Wii Ware land. This week, it's time to make some music in the Mix Superstar demo.

Freebie Flashback Friday - Transport Tycoon Deluxe

It's almost-Saturday, and that means I have a new old free game for you to check out! This week, I'm talking about Transport Tycoon Deluxe.

OPINION: The Future of Gaming

UPDATE: TEH INTERNETZ WIN AGAIN!

(big /SARC /SATIRE tags here)

REDWOOD CITY, CA - Electronic Arts announced today its "Future of Gaming" initiative, aimed at helping its customers to understand their roles and places in the gaming market. As part of the new initiative, EA will no longer be selling games, but rather the opportunity for customers to audition for the right to play them. The auditions will occur through the EA forums and a minimum of 72 business hours will pass from purchase to approval to play.

"We haven't been selling games for awhile now, we've just been selling licenses, you know, so this was just the next step," a business manager at EA said, asking not to be identified. "We feel that people must agree with us in order to play our super-awesome games. If your opinion, or even sarcasm, is too much for us to handle, you don't deserve our high-quality titles. Oh, and the sale of the right to audition is non-refundable."

Some gamers, expressing disbelief in the new initiative, received the following official response from EA: "It's in the EULA, dudes."

--Demo Gamer

Sound ridiculous? Check this out.

UPDATE: it gets worse.

Wii Demo Roundup - 03/07/11

Saddle up, it's time for this week's Wii Demo Roundup! Nintendo keeps it simple (and cheap) this week: a single demo called "Soccer Bashi" that previews a $5.00 game.

Freebie Flashback Friday - Star Control 2

This week, I introduce (or reintroduce) you to the only game worthy of being abbreviated as SC2.

Courtesy sc2.sourceforge.net

OPINION: Fluidity Deserves Better

Since its introduction in November 2006, Nintendo’s Wii has been the undisputed commercial success story of the latest video game console generation, primarily because it is (well, was) so revolutionary. Unfortunately, not all of Nintendo’s innovations with the Wii have been positive for consumers. I write specifically of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) with which Nintendo afflicts controls its Wii Ware and Virtual Console services.

Nintendo is the only company I am aware of that limits digital downloads to a single machine, and rightly so: using such a restrictive brand of DRM is bad for consumers and therefore bad for business. Why would Nintendo do this?

NEWS: SpaceChem's on Steam!

Click here to get the demo or download the game on Steam. Here's my review of the demo. SpaceChem's awesome!