By Archie Easter
With the PlayStation Vita’s Feb. 22 launch date soon approaching, a new contender is being readied in the collective battle for gamer’s pockets. I recently had a chance to go hands on with Sony’s newest portable at a PlayStation Blog Social Club event hosted in Chicago, and one thing was made immediately clear: The Vita is one serious piece of hardware. (more…)
Print This Post
By Matt Peters
This year is scheduled to be one of the biggest of note in the world of comics, video games, and all-around geekiness. We here at Pads & Panels would like to give you twelve reasons that 2012 will be awesome. Let’s hope our Mayan overlords don’t return from outer space until we get to experience most of it. Take a look below for some of the highlights:
Title: NCAA Football 12
Platform: 360 (PS3)
ESRB: E
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Tiburon, EA Canada
Rating: 
Review by: Bill Jones
Sports games have the benefit of being an easy sell, in that fans already love the sports, know the series, and like to keep coming back to drop $60 for a few more features if done right, but a difficult sell in that savvy fans know that in terms of gameplay there usually isn’t much changing from year to year. College football has the extra-dubious task of selling without the NFL star power of the Madden series.
That said, the NCAA Football series from EA Sports has been excelling in recent years at making that sell, pulling my attention completely from the pros and back to college with an absolutely addictive Dynasty (Franchise) mode. Last year, I became so caught up with trying to sign four- and five-star recruits to my school it got to be a bit ridiculous, and that’s saying a lot for someone who was never interested in franchises, just in playing some fun video game football. (more…)
Print This Post
By P&P Staff
.
(XBLA, PC)
This game is alternately heaven and hell for platforming fans, but it manages to toe the line well enough to always be stuck in that sugary sweet spot that makes it so addicting players don’t even mind dying a few thousand times in the game’s 300-some levels. Plus, the Xbox Live version is going to have regularly-updated free downloadable levels added, which only makes the game even better! (more…)
Print This Post
By P&P Staff
.
Sega managed to cram a full-fledged sequel to it’s PS3 tactical RPG, Valkyria Chonicles onto the PSP while maintaining the original game’s strategy and stylized watercolor art style. Although the units may be smaller, they’re no less powerful, as this proves to be more than a worthwhile followup to one of the PS3’s stand-out titles of 2008. The military strategist on your list (and who doesn’t have one?) will thank you for this one. (more…)
Print This Post
.
Infamous was one of 2009’s best games. Developed by Sucker Punch, it turned out to be a huge departure from their Sly Cooper series released on the PlayStation 2. The game starred Cole MacGrath as he awoke to find a crater of devastation surrounding him and new-found electricity-based powers. Now Cole is back in the sequel to last year’s game, Infamous 2. Archie got a chance to go hands-on with the game at PAX and see what new tricks Cole will have up his sleeves when the game launches sometime next year. (more…)
Print This Post
Chris Park is acting as our correspondent in his spare time out at E3 in Los Angeles this week. After waking in San Fransisco at 1 a.m. and making the five-hour trek to the Los Angeles Convention center today, Park sat in on the Sony Computer Entertainment Press Conference. Then he did a hands-on at the Southpeak booth with two of the publisher’s upcoming titles, before a little wandering. He also took some photos of the event. Park’s report follows… (more…)
Print This Post
Title: Flower
Platform: PSN
ESRB Rating: E
Publisher: Sony
Developer: ThatGameCompany
Rating: 
Review by: Bill Jones
Flower deserves respect, if for nothing else than pushing the boundaries of what a “video game” can be. Arguably more than anything before it, Flower proves to be a different kind of interactive audio-visual experience, challenging us to rethink our notions of gaming and art, and what they have the potential to be. (more…)
Print This Post
