Weekly Bits & Bytes: July 20-27

Videogame industry news moves at the speed of light and is impossible to keep up with if you have a job, wife, or life; I lack all three! Free of all those frivolous duties I can constantly refresh my favorite game sites for the latest industry press. It's great to be the king of gaming trivia, and to be a good king I must share my knowledge with you serfs who lead lives of priority. Prepare thyself for ye gaming updates!

Update 1: Indie-d Summer Time

GamesRadar, the gaming site more known for their brand of snarky top (insert number here) lists, has compiled a list of games from the industry unknowns. In celebration of the sweltering summer days they've rounded up a whopping 365 indie games to play on these breezy evenings. All free, all amazing. The high game count may seem a bit daunting to shuffle through, but have no fear because the list is grouped by genre for easy picking. After downloading a number of them myself, you truly can't go wrong with their stellar selection.

365 Days of free games

If you still would like a more structured guide to the prime pickings, I'll riff some stylings from GamesRadar with my own top ten.

TOP 10 Indie Games From the "365 days of free games" List
Click upon the unknown, and experience these gems.
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1. Rose and Camellia
2. TrackMania Nations Forever
3. Cave Story
4. Guest House
5. Knytt Stories
6. Echoes
7. Shift
8. Clean Asia!
9. Dino Run
10. 5 Days a Stranger (The first entry in a five part series.)

Honorable Mention: The other 355. Seriously, I had to pry myself from these games to write this post.

Update 2: Bounce Trounce

If you're a fanatic of fighting games, like me, you're probably clamoring for Soul Caliber IV's release later this week.

The latest addition features much of the same gameplay as previous Soul titles. Buff men wield large slabs of meat against voluptuous, scantily clad women. Newly updated for Namco's latest are: mammary gland expansion for each girl, a clothing destruction system, and a climax move usable against the unclothed opponent. In fighting games I prefer light and quick over strong and heavy, so I often choose XX chromosome aligned characters. Usually the hyper-sexualized appearance of my fighter poses no issues, but Soul Caliber IV has gone into sexy overdrive. Behold a picture of sword-chain-whip wielder Ivy for comparison.

Soul Caliber II Ivy Pre-Op ---------- to ----------- Soul Caliber IV Ivy Post-op

As a dedicated Soul Caliber fan I can appreciate the extra eye candy while mastering moves, but are gamers so shallow that we only seek greater cup sizes in sequels? Answer... yes.


Update 3: Why So Serious?

Actor Gary Oldman, who plays commissioner Gordan in Batman films, recently let slip information on a videogame tie-in to the Dark Knight film. The news of the still mysterious game was uncovered during an interview between Gary Oldman and G4 ComicCon coverage. Details are sparse, but the actor described the game featured numerous action sequences.

This is particularly interesting because the previous movie adaption Batman Begins was entirely stealth based. I've yet to play the first game, but weren't jazzed by the sneaking gameplay.

"The fear system is so weakly implemented, the stealth elements are so heavily swayed by trial and error and the game's progression is so tediously scripted, I never became the Dark Knight."(Ivan Sulic, IGN)

If the developer is willing to abandon their system, there is promise of a successful game yet.

After seeing the film there are a few difficulties I can foresee in making a Dark Knight videogame adaption. Even though the film featured some exciting sequences, the ratio of drama to action seemed nearly 4:1. Unless the developers pad the game with extra levels and storyline not featured in the film, expect a very short game runtime. I'm always wary of film to game adaptations after suffering through Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Nightmares of the escort Princess Amidala missions haunt my dreams still.

Coming Attractions: Pumpkin Kings Edition

It may be a bit early to look forward to Halloween scares, but developers over this summer have shown a number of horrors awaiting us in October. Enjoy these horrifyingly good teasers of what you and I will be playing later this year! (Twinkle, twinkle little star will never be the same.)

Dead Space

Siren: New Translation

Silent Hill: Homecoming