Pads & Panels

Best Video Games of 2011 – Honorable Mentions

Pads & Panels will soon be counting down its Top 10 Video Games of 2011, but before we get to that point, we’d like to pay mind to 10 other games that stood out as top contenders for the year. They were all part of our discussion and all deserve some recognition for their achievements in gaming, even if they didn’t quite make the cut of the illustrious Top 10. All 10 of these titles were games that earned our attention and respect in one way or another in 2011, the list of them effectively serving as our 11-20 choices, presented here in no particular order. (more…)

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Best Games of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

Creating a Best of List for Pads & Panels is no easy task. It involves everyone putting in feedback, a get-together and copious amounts of drinking, when we argue our cases for what belongs where on the list. Inevitably, fantastic titles don’t make it to the top of the tower, and we’re left feeling bad for not honoring the enjoyment some of these games provided us throughout the year. So that’s where the Honorable Mentions come into play. These are the list of games that didn’t quite make our Top 10, but we think you should be playing them nonetheless. Plus, it’s always kind of fun to make our readers wonder, with titles this great on the honorable mentions list, what is going to make our Top 10. They are essentially our #11 through #20 picks, but are presented in no particular order. Enjoy! (more…)

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Chris Park spent all of last week running around Los Angeles to cover the Electronic Entertainment Expo. He started Monday, June 14, with Electronic Arts’ E3 Press Conference. Though E3 didn’t properly open at the Los Angeles Convention Center until Tuesday, EA took an early opportunity to show off many of its upcoming games, in this case at The Orpheum Theatre. Park reports…

The first title shown was Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, the Criterion Games-developed racing title. A proper mix of Burnout and Need For Speed, Hot Pursuit is scheduled for release Nov. 16, 2010, and returns to the high-speed and intense chase racing of the previous titles. While little more information on the title was revealed, a major function called Auto Log was introduced. It acts as an online hub connecting friends. Tracking stats and progress, Auto Log looks like an extension of what Need For Speed: World plans to do for free-to-play online games, only this time on console. (more…)

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Game of the Month – March

God of War III (PS3)

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment – Developer: Sony Santa Monica

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It may try just a little too hard at the end to give itself some artistic relevance, but God of War III is the perfection of the balls-to-the-wall action that has become the standard for the genre, emulated by countless others. The “final” installment of the trilogy is all killer, no filler, bigger and more badass than the series has ever been, and still Sony Santa Monica found the room to try some new ideas along the way. A great “conclusion” to the epic story of Kratos.

–Bill (more…)

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These days I try to balance my social life, work, writing, relaxing and fitting my love for music, comics and gaming all into these 24 hours of a day we call life. I must admit I find myself slipping and not being as productive as I should have been this winter. Ask Bill; I’m sure he will tell you that more than once he had to give me a productive nudge into finishing some reviews. But in this all I still force time to enjoy the things we bring our opinions on. I’m going to use this time to bring up a couple different things in comics, gaming, movies, television and music that have been taking up the area of my days I call “relaxing,” and into the area I call writing.

First and foremost, comics are a huge part of what I do for Pads and Panels, so I’ll tackle them first. I’m sorry to say I find it harder and harder to find good comics these days. Maybe it’s just that I can be a little critical at times, but there are only a few that shine above the others. I just finished the Kick-Ass trade, and will be writing a review soon, so besides saying that the movie better do it justice, I’ll just say it’s awesome. I also need to catch up on one of my all time favorites The Walking Dead, since for some reason I’ve stopped at book #9. The only other thing I’m really interested in reading at this second is Civil War by Mark Millar. As you can see here by a growing trend, I like his work. If anybody out there has some recommendations on comics, please enlighten me since I’m always looking for good things to read. (more…)

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