Jared Rea

Reviews

Reviews By Jared Rea

Joystiq megareview: Halo 3 campaign

Years of waiting have lead to hours upon hours of gaming and finally, we here at Joystiq are prepared to weigh in with our final judgements of what is easily the biggest event of the year: Halo 3. For our megareview, we've gathered three of our writers, each with his own unique perspective of the Halo 3 campaign. James Ransom-Wiley is our most learned reviewer, having been locked in a small room with Halo 3 weeks before most had even managed to get it leaked into their hands. From there, Jason Dobson fills the role of 'teh n00b' -- his Halo experience can be summed up in a single statement: Um, I know it's a space-alien shooter... Finally, yours truly, Jared Rea, is the be-all-end-all Master Chief groupie. Shall we proceed? %Gallery-2155%

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Xbox By Jared Rea

New Halo 3 VidDoc and final pre-launch podcast

With less than five days to go before the biggest gaming event of the year, you'd better believe we plan on spending it in a Game Fuel induced haze of Bungie hotness. First up, the latest video documentary entitled "Cinema Paradiso" that not only walks you through the map editor, Forge, but also features some of the most jaw dropping multiplayer footage yet. We now fear, respect and lust after the Gravity Hammer all at the same time. Speaking of walkthroughs, Bungie has put up a three part series on Forge editing as well as a lengthy FAQ on saved films. The good news is that they're still blowing our minds here. The bad news is that you can't create clips of your campaign footage. Minor doh. Finally, today's Halo buffet concludes with a massive two hour Bungie podcast with special guests Joe Staten and Marty O'Donnell. So snuggle up, nation ... it's going to be epic.

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Xbox By Jared Rea

This Wednesday: Geon: Emotions on XBLA

On its Xbox profile page, Geon: Emotions is described as "a fast-paced abstract sports game that lets you explore your emotions as you compete against opponents." No, it's not a CalvinBall title starring Tobias Funke, but it's possibly just as confusing. If going solo isn't your thing, Geon supports online multiplayer where up to for players can "let it all hang out on an emotional battlefield." In situations like this we're infinitely thankful for having demos of every game that goes up on the service. Geon: Emotions will cost 800 Microsoft Points.%Gallery-7563%

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Xbox By Jared Rea

Don't Forget: win the ultimate Halo 3 setup from X3F

Seven days left until Halo 3 swallows the world of gaming and it isn't safe to be online due to potential spoilers. Does Snape kill Cortana? Is Sergeant Johnson really Master Chief's father? We can't say for sure, but we can tell you this ... the folks at Xbox 360 Fanboy are giving away one sweet rig.A 50" Panasonic 1080p plasma television, a Bose 3-2-1 GSX surround sound system, and an Xbox 360 Elite gaming console. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment over at X3F and hope for the best. The winner will be chosen at random but you can enter once per day to improve your odds.Hit the jump for some real spoilers.

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Xbox By Jared Rea

Reminder: win the ultimate Halo 3 setup from X3F

There are now less than eight days between you and the end of a long, hard intergalactic war. We're talking of course about Halo 3. Do you have an Xbox 360? Wait ... do you even have a television? Regardless of your answers to these vital questions, our Warthog co-pilots over at X3F have an incredible setup to give away to you, dear readers.We're talking about a 50" Panasonic 1080p plasma television, a Bose 3-2-1 GSX surround sound system, and an Xbox 360 Elite gaming console. The only thing missing from this baby is a crate full of Mountain Dew Game Fuel. To enter, simply leave a comment over at Xbox 360 Fanboy and cross your fingers. The winner will be chosen at random but you can enter once per day to improve your odds.Do it today. And then again tomorrow. The Chief deserves more than RCA quality.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Rock Band: The next great franchise (an interview with Harmonix)

Dance Dance Revolution showed that rhythm titles had a life here in the States, but Guitar Hero proved they could also become full blown phenomenons. No one could have guessed it at the time, but Harmonix's musical masterpiece quickly became the most culturally significant video game since Master Chief became a household name. The success was long overdue for Harmonix, having already shown off their rhythmic chops with the PlayStation 2 favorites Frequency and Amplitude. Teaming up with Konami, they quickly established their dominance of the microphone on this side of the ocean with Karaoke Revolution. With 2005's Guitar Hero, they crafted the perfect blend of boyhood dreams and American rock insanity. The next step was obvious, but how could it possibly be done? Speaking with Harmonix CEO and co-founder, Alex Rigopulos, we look into the history of the great white hope of rhythm gaming and what goes into creating what, if everything goes according to plan, will be considered one of the greatest rhythm titles of all time. From the challenges of gathering licenses to taking on their own success, this is the story of the next great franchise.%Gallery-3923%

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Xbox By Jared Rea

First video of Virtua Fighter 5's online play for Xbox 360

It may not be the 10th Dan insanity of Super Battle Opera, but this video from the good folks at Gamersyde shows off the single most important addition to the Virtua Fighter series: online play. Coming straight from Leipzig, we're willing to bet that Sega had a pretty beefy connection in order to pull this off so well. Aside from a few fits of slowdown (as seen in fellow online fighter, Dead or Alive 4), we definitely like what we're seeing.Your chance to put Sega's network code to the test comes October 30th when Virtua Fighter 5 is released on the Xbox 360.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

GameTap Thursday: Garou Mark of the Wolves

The GameTap Summer Throwdown concludes this week with what should be considered the headlining act, Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Though its quality is practically folklore at this point, Garou represents SNK at the top of their game. Hidden amongst the quality fighting is a guilty pleasure that makes this week's releases so very sweet indeed. Garou: Mark of the Wolves (Neo-Geo) - Like the rest of the Fatal Fury line, Garou tends to fall apart under the pressure of competitive play. For casual play, however, you can't go wrong with what is easily SNK's finest and most accessible fighter ever. Oh, not to mention it's a technical marvel and like most fighters on GameTap, it features online play. King of Fighters 2003 (Neo-Geo): After a return to form in 2002, KOF nearly reverted back to its old ways with this incredibly unbalanced entry. The saving grace of 2003 is in its cast, featuring some great new faces (Malin!) and characters from -- surprise -- Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Jaws Unleashed (PC) - It may not have taken home any awards for its quality, but we have a soft spot for ol' chompers. You swim around the ocean as Jaws and munch on defenseless humans. Are you not entertained? Atlantis Evolution (PC) - Hooray for adventure games! Boo to sequels that toss in far too many shoddy action sequences! Enemy Engaged 2 (PC) - Okay, for once we've been stumped. We can't recall playing any helicopter games since G-Police and that barely counts. Perhaps you folks would like to fill us in on this one? Beach Life (PC) - Manage a luxury resort in this simulation that shares more than a few qualities with a sim favorite, Theme Park. Hello, weekend gaming. We have the updated list of free games for you after the break that includes some great new additions such as The Last Blade and the overlooked PC action title, Joan of Arc. Enjoy!

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Dark Sector set for January 22nd, demo this Fall

You remember Dark Sector, right? After all, it was only the first "next-generation" game ever. It's gone through some significant changes since we last saw it and come this Fall, a demo will allow PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners a chance to go hands-on with it before it launches on January 22nd, 2008.Dark Sector tells a Cold War tale of a secret agent who has been injected with a virus that allows him to pull a blade-like weapon from his body. It could stand a few cybernetic ninja if you ask us.Read -- Dark Sector demo this fall [1UP]Read -- Dark Sector dated [GameSpot]

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Microsoft

Microsoft By Jared Rea

Behold! Microsoft resurrects the SideWinder mouse

With five programmable buttons, adjustable weights and an on-board LCD display, the only thing missing from Microsoft's new SideWinder gaming mouse is a signed autograph by Fatal1ty in pizza grease. The SideWinder series was a staple of Windows gaming in the 90's, marred by compatibility issues and bad taste. Well, it's back and while we're sure that Microsoft won't have any issues with compatibility (it's only a USB mouse, after all), they've still got a long ways to go in the style department.The SideWinder mouse will be available this October and for the hefty sum of $79.95.%Gallery-6253%

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Reviews

Reviews By Jared Rea

Joystiq hands-on: Rock Band

In 1999, Konami of Japan unleashed DrumMania on Japanese arcades and with it, the ability to link the machine together with GuitarFreaks for session play. This was considered a novel idea at the time, though it wasn't the most affordable setup. The following year, they released a home version of DrumMania, complete with the appropriate controller. That is, of course, if you had no intentions of playing the game with any sort of accuracy.Jump to the present day and not only has Harmonix solved the problem of session play, but they've also produced a drumming peripheral that challenges the quality of Konami's original arcade beast. Sticks in hand, we sat down behind Harmonix's latest kit, flipped the difficulty to hard and proceeded to lay in like few others have before. If there is any doubt as to the mastery of rhythm wielded by Harmonix, Rock Band surely squashes it.%Gallery-3923%

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Nintendo

Nintendo By Jared Rea

Classic items return in Super Mario Galaxy

Joining the already colorful collection of new equipment found in Super Mario Galaxy come the ol' stand-by's the Fire Flower and the Super Star. Now, our Urban Champion league friends over at Wii Fanboy considered this news to be the most spoiling of spoilers, but really, it's about as shocking as finding out that in Galaxy, you collect coins. Hachi machi! Do you think if you collect a certain amount of them, you'll get an extra life?The Fire Flower went missing during the 3-D installments of the series, but was brought back into the fold with last year's New Super Mario Bros. The same can also be said about the super star power-up, though Metal Mario filled the void at times in Super Mario 64.For some real spoilers concerning the plot, check out the story itself. Now those we'll protect you from.[via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

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PC Gaming

PC Gaming By Jared Rea

Blizzard issues new patches for Starcraft

The nation of Korea let out a collective "GG!" today as Blizzard released a new patch for both the original Starcraft and its expansion, Brood War. Starcraft has been on the shelves for a little over nine years now, surviving countless leaps in technology to remain one of the most popular strategy titles available. This patch doesn't fiddle with the intricate balance achieved by nearly a decade of competitive play, but it does iron out few of the last remaining bugs before Starcraft II arrives. Made stability improvements to replay saving code. Fixed a bug where the map download progress was not shown. Pressing alt-f4 while in Starcraft and logged into a league now logs you out of the league. Updated some of the localization for the league page. Fixed an exploit that allowed nukes to fall anywhere on the map.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Skate demo is now available on Xbox Live, PS3 demo coming soon

After being held up for six days, EA's Skate demo has finally arrived on Xbox live, begging to be downloaded and obsessed over. We're just a tad bit obsessed with it ourselves, going as far as calling it "a spiritual experience." Will you reach gaming nirvana as well? Not unless you can achieve that state within thirty minutes of this timed demo.Your thirty minutes in heaven takes place in the community center skate park in the suburbs and it's fully equipped to experience a good chunk of what's possible in Skate. After a brief tutorial of the flick-it controls, you'll be let loose on the park, free to do whatever you please.What really makes this demo special is the ability to save and upload a movie using the saved films feature so please, feel free to share your creations with the rest of the class. As for PlayStation 3 owners, your demo will be arriving sometime soon as folks at EA have said that it's been completed, sent out and is now in Sony's hands.

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PlayStation

PlayStation By Jared Rea

'Vast' memory card claims tool-less unlock for PlayStation 2

From the "too good to be true" department comes the "Vast" advanced memory card, capable of providing PlayStation 2 owners with the same functionality found in modified consoles. This means everything from playing imported titles to other nefarious and totally discouraged deeds.MaxConsole claims to be in contact with the developer of this new memory card that is being prepared "to be launched within the next two weeks." While we have our doubts, it should be noted that an exploit of this nature has popped up before, known as Independence. That exploit, however, was nixed with the Slim line of PlayStation 2's.Prove us wrong, Vast ... and would you mind doing it before Arcana Heart is released? Thanks![via Engadget]

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Square Enix opening US merchandise store midnight tonight

If you've got any marrow or plasma to spare, you'd better go get it sucked out now because at midnight tonight, Square Enix opens the online merchandise store to the United States. The online store has been available to Japanese consumers for quite some time now, offering everything from Dragon Quest stationary to replica Gunblades from Final Fantasy VIII.The US store will have a modest opening, sticking mostly to figurines. A full list and descriptions of featured items are available after the break.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Epic believes People Can Fly, acquires majority stake

Epic isn't letting their courtroom tiff with Silicon Knights slow them down as they continue to push forward, investing a majority stake in independent developer, People Can Fly. Best known for their work on the 2004 first-person shooter, Painkiller, PCF have been working on a multi-platform project utilizing the Unreal Engine 3 for the past year.Mark Rein, Vice President of Epic Games, was particularly impressed with PCF's work saying, "[They] showed us their early prototypes within only a few weeks and we were totally blown away." On the other end of the deal, PCF co-owner Adrian Chmielarz sounds just as excited: "To be able to work with the best technology company in the business and collaborate on making amazing fantastic games is an offer you just can't refuse."What could possibly be better than making amazing fantastic games? Tasty delicious cake would be our guess, but we'll settle for an amazing fantastic title.

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TV & Movies

TV & Movies By Jared Rea

Paramount and Dreamworks ditch Blu-Ray for HD-DVD exclusivity

The latest blow in the stalemate war: Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation have dropped their Blu-Ray support in exclusive favor of HD-DVD. When the format fiasco initially began, the two studios were already exclusive to HD-DVD, before later deciding to release their films on Blu-Ray as well. This flip-flop means that films such as Transformers and Shrek the Third will only be available on HD-DVD, along with features from Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films.Troops on both sides of the fence can breathe easy, however, as the single greatest American film of all time will still be available on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.[via Engadget]

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Nintendo

Nintendo By Jared Rea

Metroid Prime 3's token feature a small taste of achievements

It's not the system-wide accomplishment tracking that we've grown to love on the Xbox 360 (some more so than others), but according to a GoNintendo tipster, Nintendo fans will get a taste of the sweet life on August 27th when Metroid Prime 3 finally lands on the Wii with bonus content for in-game tokens.So how does it work? The tokens are doled out in four tiers: red, blue, green and gold. Red tokens are gained by scanning enemies and items, blue for scanning lore and completing side quests, green ones you receive from friends and gold is achieved by destroying bosses on various difficulties.According to the tipster, tokens can be traded in for bonus content in-game, but are also used to track progress amongst your friends. Vouchers for those friends can be found and then sent in the form of green tokens as well. We've seen these tokens in recent videos of Metroid Prime 3, but we may have a wait ahead of us to find out exactly how they function.

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Reviews

Reviews By Jared Rea

Joystiq hands-on: MySims

Your enjoyment of MySims -- EA's Nintendo exclusive Sims title -- will be directly tied to how appealing you find its style. If you've glossed over screenshots and felt a toothache coming on, then you should step aside before you get hurt. However, if you're like us and the sight of it makes you you squeal like a 12 year old girl watching High School Musical, then congratulations: you've found your new favorite obsession.Like all great sandboxes, creating and accessorizing your character is half the fun of MySims and here, you don't have any pesky genders to get in the way. Taking your customization a step further is a voice editor that allows you to pick from a variety of pre-sets and then alter the pitch to find the Simlish tone you're looking for. Naturally, progressing through the game unlocks new fashions for your character, so those who spent dozens of hours finding their perfect look in Animal Crossing will have more than enough reasons to make more room for mirror-time.Not surprisingly, the Animal Crossing comparison doesn't end with the superficial. %Gallery-1810%

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Uwe Boll calls up Chris Kohler -- hilarity ensues

What do you do for an encore after you've told a critic to go have sexual relations with his own mother? You agree to a follow-up interview and proceed to flip out. To say that Wired's Chris Kohler didn't enjoy Boll's latest film, Postal, is to say that smashing your toes with a hammer merely "tingles." The infamous director took it to Kohler earlier this week in a barrage of broken English and PR buffoonery that -- we thought -- couldn't be crazier if he tried.Uwe Boll ... you sly dog.Conducted via telephone, Boll opens the conversation by saying, "Whatever I say, you have to print it how it is, and correct the spelling." Kohler responds, "Well, there's no spelling on the phone. So, it's okay." Can you hear that? It's the sound of the lulztrain making a stop on your Internets.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

SimCity Societies: new screenshots and impressions

Will Wright said it himself: SimCity is complicated. The series has always prided itself on its micromanagement but eventually, flexing the ol' executive muscle starts to feel more like work and less like playing god. No one actually dreams of being a city water commissioner, so why should you have to play one in a video game? SimCity Societies doesn't think you have to either.In an impromptu presentation, the Sims team at EA walked us through their latest city builder with a focus on accessibility. The act of zoning is gone entirely, leaving players to place their buildings one by one in order to lay our their city. That may sound contrary to the overall goal, but the structures themselves are the characters this time around. Each building comes with its own stats and attributes that more clearly affect the citizens of your city. Your choices are also tailored to your current societal path, which leaves much less room for confusion while still allowing for creative expansion.From there, it's business as usual, though more personal than ever before. With such a heavy focus on your citizens, its easy to understand the appeal of caring for the values and quality of life for your people as opposed to plotting out landfills and balancing budgets. For those who don't want to worry about money at all, a free play option will be made available from the very start.SimCity Societies is due out for PC later this year. When asked about other platforms such as the Mac or consoles, nothing was confirmed nor denied. %Gallery-4015%

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Gaming By Jared Rea

GameTap Thursday: Hitman's grand finale

Agent 47's killing spree comes to an end this week as Hitman: Blood Money arrives on GameTap. Also coming to a close is the Bogard dynasty with both of the major Fatal Fury series logging in their final battles before the release of Garou later this month. The load is light this week but that doesn't mean its lacking any quality. Athena (Arcade) - Sure, it may not have the catchy tunes of its follow-up, Pyscho Soldier, but Athena is still an important piece of SNK history. Fatal Fury 3 (Neo-Geo) - The last in an enjoyable, yet unbelievably broken fighting series. We'll be playing this to enjoy the first and last game where Bob Wilson is a solid choice. Real Bout: Fatal Fury 2 (Neo-Geo) - Fear the Bash! This sequel didn't introduce many new faces, but it's definitely one of the better entries in the series. Hitman: Blood Money (PC) - Possibly known more for its controversial advertising than its gameplay, Blood Money represents Agent 47 at his finest. Imperial Glory (PC) - Not the greatest RTS by any means, Imperial Glory is the dirty love child of Rome: Total War and Risk. Strategy nuts need only apply. We have your weekly free play update available for you after the break as well, sporting the notable addition of Vampire Savior.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

EA's Skate demo delayed "a few days"

Originally due out on August 15th, EA's Scott Blackwood has announced that the Xbox 360 demo for Skate has been hit with a short delay. How short? In an official forum post, Blackwood says, "We're not quite sure yet ... hopefully not more than a week."We spoke with EA about the cause for this delay and their spokesperson told us, "We are trying something completely new for an Xbox Marketplace demo in allowing people to play the game and upload footage they take in-game to our Skate website. The skate.reel video upload functionality is much more technically complex than a standard offline demo, and the number of moving parts have resulted in undue & hard-to-predict delays." Having recently played the demo area (and well beyond) and scoped out the included features, we assure you that it'll be worth the wait.The good news is that this delay has no bearing whatsoever on the final game, which will still be shipping out on September 12th for the Xbox 360 and September 24th for the PlayStation 3.

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Gaming By Jared Rea

Free Bioshock artbook for download from Irrational Games

Elizabeth Tobey, the official site manager for Bioshock, always wanted to include an art book in the limited edition of the title but they just couldn't manage it. Probably because of the whopping Big Daddy figure taking up all the space, eh? So they're doing the next best thing by offering it up online and for free.Available in both low and high resolution packages, Bioshock: Breaking the Mold weighs in with over sixty pages of the most beautiful PDF files you may ever see. One warning for would-be downloaders: skip the foreword. Apparently, it contains spoilers direct from Ken Levine himself.For those still downloading the demo, we suggest snagging this first, creating a flip book and taking a bath with it. It'll feel just like Rapture![Thanks, Dan!]%Gallery-6604%

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