brian

Couldn't agree more! SCB is a great arcade game that I've been playing for a long time with your normal gamepad and it rocks. Was stoked to see a mobile version but had my doubts about the buttons and it turned out true...it sucks. I was seriously bummed.

Frustration in gaming should come from the challenge of the game, not the technology driving it.

One of these days someone will figure it out.

I play more indie games than any other type of title and I have to say I am very disappointed that the Metro update craps on them even more than before...although, I must also admit I'm not surprised.

The biggest hurt is the lack of XBLIG titles appearing not only in the "new releases" but in the quick play as well. You'd like to think the quick play would feature *any* type of game you've played recently...not so much when it comes to indie titles.

I rant more in my review of the update...the Metro update has a good look and was MS's chance to fix a lot of problems, but I think they created more:
http://www.morningtoast.com/2011/12/the-xbox-metro-update-misses-the-mark/

About time we got The Darkness!!! Now we just need more of it! Half of that first album would make great RB songs. Just put out a Darkness 3-pack and we'll all be happy.

I think the last paragraph says it all for me, "If solo play is your primary motivator, then it's hard to recommend Battlefield 3" - I'm not a team player, I have a more Rambo-style and it sounds like BF3 won't reward that style of play. Bummer to hear the destruction and vehicles aren't what we'd thought they would be (or could be).

I'm looking forward to Catherine. I've only played the demo but can see the fun and serious challenge, which is great. But what I don't see is me paying $50+ for this title. Catherine will stay on the watch list for a while until it drops a few bucks or can be found used.

I can, however, say that playing with an arcade stick helps quite a bit when moving around all those cubes...at least it did in the demo.

http://www.morningtoast.com/2011/07/catherine-promises-to-be-a-hard-challenge/

Technical squabbles aside...I was expect and under the impression that the whole point of DNF was to take you back to 1997...? Basically, I am expecting Duke Nukem 3D with bumped up graphics and it sounds like that is true.

Were you expecting something like Bulletstorm? I wasn't. I was expecting Duke Nukem, which is cheesy, corny, silly and often in bad taste. I think you had your expectations too high if you thought it was going to be more.

So I'm supposed to pay $30 for a game that is unlocalized? Bummer. I love shmups and having Deathsmiles on the big screen would be awesome but that's a hard price to swallow, if you ask me.

Especially when you can get Trouble Witches for $10 and it's in English. But I will be interested to see what type of reception this release gets as it will be somewhat of a litmus test for import games.

And those of you that thought the original Rush N Attack was crap need to replay that bad boy. It is a wonderfully challenging arcade game. Just try beating the game without dying, or completing the game in under 12 minutes....and the music is awesome.

Wow, this is quite a harsh review. I guess it all boils down to expectations. I was expecting Rush N Attack 2 to be *more* like the original. This game not being like Shadow Complex doesn't bother me because I wasn't expecting a Shadow Complex. Ex-Patriot plays pretty well and delivers some solid arcade action. It's certainly worthy of more than a single star. I'd give it 3/5.

What made me not buy Ex-Patriot was the steathy combat stuff. The original RnA was all about quick timing (and stabbing) and that's what I wanted in a sequel too. I don't need maps or quests or puzzles, just point me in the direction of the goal and let me stab my way there as quickly as possible. I was hoping for a more direct-remake style (a la Bionic Commando) than a completely re-thought game.

I expected Ex-Patriot to be an arcade game and for the most part it is. Arcade games are repetitive and linear, so by all rights, this game does a pretty good job. Given the history of RnA, I'm not sure why someone wouldn't expect a simple, linear game.

Vorpal is pretty awesome, even if a bit short and somewhat "thin" on the run-n-gun. I made it through normal difficulty but hard is proving to actually live up to its name.

Best thing is that boss bar at the bottom of the screen. I'd never seen that before and it's spectacular.

The whole package is just well presented and clearly made with care that many other indie games lack. Well worth the dollar...and frankly, more.
http://www.morningtoast.com/2011/01/vorpal-is-all-boss-all-the-time/