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Newest WildStar Wednesday talks about creatures like a boss
When you're out in the wilds of WildStar, you're going to run into some creatures strong enough to throw you to the ground. That's why this week's installment of WildStar Wednesday discusses the minibosses one can expect to find out in the Northern Wilds. Only three of the denizens are given a full writeup, but the triumvirate should be more than enough to give potential players a sense of what dangers lurk in the planet's unexplored regions. If you like your enemies with a thick carapace, the Xenobite Queen should be right up your alley, complete with vile poison and ravenous young. If you'd prefer to be pounded into the dirt by a mechanical emissary of the Dominion, the Ultrabot should provide you with all the laser-guided missile-flavored death you could want. Or you could face down a Frost Giant and enjoy watching a long-haired beast with poor eyesight hammer you into oblivion. It's all interesting flavor for fans of the game's development thus far, and it includes small factoids about the beasts that should prove completely irrelevant when fighting them. The more you know.
It's-a Mario World: Mini-Boss Mayhem
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Mario_s_10_greatest_mini_bosses'; Last week we prompted some rich scholarly debate about Bowser's kids, as literally hundreds of comments (precise statistics unverified) argued back and forth as to whether the Koopaling characters are worth a damn. Today we return to pose another question: What are mini-bosses, exactly? Are they, like, regular Koopas after chomping down a few mini-mushrooms? Are they the less-popular bosses who have shrunken from our memories? What is so miniature about a mini-boss? Size? Reputation? Well, neither, really. A mini-boss might be defined as an antagonist too powerful to be categorized as a standard henchman, yet too weak to provoke any controller-throwing frustration. Much like their more difficult counterparts--area and final bosses--mini-bosses are usually faced in an enclosed, 1-on-1 setting, albeit with considerably less fanfare. With some exceptions, no trumpets sound as they enter, and no medals are award when they are defeated. Mini-bosses occupy a liminal position in villainy as the halfway hurdles of an overarching challenge. Mario has encountered dozens of these types, a few of which have continued their careers as playable characters in sports and party titles. But do you recall the most famous reindeer mini-bosses of all? We hope so, because we've stuffed a piping hot new gallery full of 'em. It's-a Mario World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's flagship character is celebrated: We'll incessantly ruminate about mustache wax, debate the curious whereabouts of the princess and covet the luminous power stars strewn about the galaxy. Check back here every Friday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps. And if that isn't good enough, check out the retro Mario you never knew in the latest, greatest Virtually Overlooked.
PAX07: Wil Wheaton keynote, TGS prize, Minibosses headlining
Additional details of this summer's PAX07 festival have just been released. We already knew about the larger venue -- the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in downtown Seattle -- and the dates -- August 24-26 -- but we didn't know about the keynote speaker, the Omegathon prize, and the headlining band. Until now.Taking the place of last year's thoroughly entertainging keynote speaker, Alex St. John, is wundergeek Wil Wheaton who's certain to find a receptive audience in the geek-hungry halls of PAX. Next up, the Omegathon prize. Taking the place of last year's tricked-out Scion xB, the gamer with the mostest gets a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show (in new four-day flavor) along with $5K in spending money so you can nerd it up in Akihabara. Lastly, the headlining band. Taking the place of last year's face-melting Minibosses are ... the Minibosses! Of course, they joined by the likes of The OneUps, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Freezepop, The Neskimos and Optimus Rhyme, so expect a full two nights of rocking (and rhyming, whatever the case may be).
In a week of new consoles: some retro video love
With a week that has not one but two major console launches looming, it's nice to get a dose of what brought us here. A glance back at the simple (yet extremely tough to beat) days of only one directional pad and two buttons. The Minibosses perform "Castlevania III" complete with retro graphics and hand-drawn animation, and of course -- music.Check out the video after the jump, and catch your breath before the weekend strikes.[Thanks, Meredith]
The Minibosses were the final bosses at PAX concert
He's a little bit hip-hop, they're a little bit rock and roll.The Minibosses were the second and final band last night and the final band in the PAX concert series, following Friday night's performances by Optimus Rhyme, the NESkimos, and the always popular Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung. Their metal interpretations of classic video game tunes made our fingers ache for the day when maybe, if there is a benevolent deity, Activision will see fit to release a Guitar Hero expansion with only Minibosses tunes.Cell phones at U2 concerts? Pffft. We've got the main theater of the Meydenbauer Convention Center teeming with fans, all waving their brilliant (and copious) DS Lites in unison, screaming out "Rygar" and "Castlevania" between tracks. One of the Guitar Hero: Minibosses interstitials could read, "They don't really want you to play Rygar. They're just heckling you." More pics of the rock and a setlist after the break.
PAX: Tycho melts faces at Guitar Hero Omegathon challenge
Tycho and Penny Arcade's biz dude Robert Khoo started round four of the Omegathon correct with an intense round of STP's "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" in Guitar Hero II ... on Expert ... twice (it crashed half way through the first time). Then, 'cause he can, Tycho smashed his guitar. I wanted to yell out, say something about how starving kids in Africa don't even have guitar controllers at all, but the spirit of the evening washed over me, and my outrage morphed into delight.After their intro, the eight remaining Omeganauts took the stage for four rounds of one on one Guitar Hero II. Eight enter, but only four will leave. More pics and info after the break.
