Posts by Michael Durr

The Penalty of Death, MegaMan turns twenty, and Microsoft gives the gift of giving - Welcome to the column that will have a Ho Ho Ho for Christmas but most likely sleep on the couch known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. The girlfriend and I decided to start a game together in Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Special Edition) for 360. We played through the first two levels and had a blast. I rotated between controlling Spiderman and Wolverine (and sometimes Iron Man) while she primarily stuck with Venom once he was available.

Raincheck for the Wii, Sex and Violence don't mix, and Christmas Nights in Japan? - Welcome to the column that promises to have a very merry christmas but still undecided on the new year known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I can safely say this past week, I did zero gaming. Yep, zilch, zero, nada. That's what going up to Ohio and spending seven days in some remote frozen tundra will do for you. I did stop at one Gamestop though. Bought 2 games and 4 dvds (buy 2 get 2 free) for $40 and some change. Final Fantasy XII (Collectors Edition) for PS2, Dead or Alive Ultimate for Xbox were the pickups for games.

Arkadian Warriors rocking to XBLA, No Rockband for Christmas in Canada, and Games of the Year? - Welcome to the column that promises to rock as much as possible but we have to be in bed by 9:00pm known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. As promised, a lot of FirePro Wrestling was played. I actually got down the timing system. Once I did that, I was able to figure out the little things and it made for an enjoyable experience. Be sure to read the review at your leisure. It was good to review a Playstation 2 game and I would expect there will be a couple more before we say goodbye to the system. Neo Geo Battle Coliseum released this week and the World Heroes compilation released sometime next year would be likely candidates.

Wrestling games are near and dear to my heart. From the first time I played Pro Wrestling for Nintendo or WWF Wrestlefest at the arcade, I knew I would be playing wrestling games as long as my fingers could mash the buttons. I've played some of the greatest wrestling games (Smackdown 2, Touken Retsuden 3) and some of the worst (WCW Nitro, ECW Hardcore Revolution). The Fire Pro series I've had a long relationship with. It's been love/hate mostly. I want to love it but I find myself more often than not hating the interface and struggling to play it. I've bought all three import games for the Turbo Graphix 16 system and the Fire Pro (6 man scramble) game that was released for Sega Saturn. However, when Agetec announced that they would be releasing it for the stateside Playstation 2, I was very interested. Maybe since I didn't have to import it, I would finally be able to see the menus in English and figure out the difficult interface. Every wrestling fanboy would tell me that it was the greatest thing ever. But what would I think?

The movie of Hudson Hawk was often panned by critics who thought the movie was the worst thing since George Bush Sr moved into office. Look where that has got us! Remember kids, bad presidents only birth worse presidents. Anyhow, Hudson Hawk which was billed as an action comedy and was thought of by many as sloppy, over-inflated movie making that took the cream of bad movie making. Was it a turd that sank like the Titanic?(both the movie and the ship) Was it a lemon like XXX? (both the movie and the scent of Vin Diesel's Mr. Clean head)

Reviewer fired for bad review, Xbox 360 Dashboard Update, & the Wii being put up on Ebay for grand larceny? - Welcome to the column that is always honest and promises that Kane & Lynch is indeed a steaming pile known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. Well as mentioned in the previous week, I finished Puzzle Quest and inadvertently started Carcassonne since it was offered free. To date, only Galaga has been easier for achievements. I finished the achievements on my own over the weekend. Easy 200 points, seriously.

I love some Adult Swim. There are some real standouts shown that have fun plots, edgy animation, and a whole lot of outlandish humor. Venture Bros, Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force immediately come to mind. Heck, I've even gave smaller shows like The Boondocks and Metalocalypse a try and liked them on some level. So needless to say, I was interested when I received Squidbillies Volume 1. Twenty episodes staring a Georgia-based hick squid family. How bad could it be?

Ecco Jr for VC, Asteroids for XBLA and another History Channel game for the 360, could this be the worst release week ever? - Welcome to the column that would realize that it might suck if it didn't spend enough time putting itself over known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another addition of Dare to Play the Game. Puzzle Quest has fallen, all twelve achievements are done with and I'm a pleased gamer. Level 50 went pretty quickly as I mentioned. I also finished Guitar Hero 3 on medium so I can safely say I've beat all the Guitar Heros on at least medium. The Lou battle wasn't so bad in comparison to the Slash battle but I guess I gained a few skills.

Remember Aquaman? You know, that guy who lived underwater and fought people who would dump hazardous waste in the ocean or people with big helmets named the Black Manta. No, not Charlie the Tuna. Let's try this description. He's King of Atlantis and has giant muscles and was a very popular super hero. Namor, the Sub-Mariner? *sigh* He's the one who sat behind the desk feeding the Justice League information cause simply he had nothing else better to do. Oh Aquaman, quite right.

Some of my most enjoyable gaming experiences have been with gaming compilations. "More bang for your buck" is the familiar slogan used to describe these games. Traditionally, these compilations show up late in console's life cycle in order to re-sell old titles that couldn't probably sell on their own. So needless to say the Orange Box surprised me on a couple of fronts. The 360 isn't an ancient or dying system by any means. Furthermore, by combining Half Life 2, the two sequels, Portal and Team Fortress 2 you bring together a package that from initial glance looks to be five great games in one. However, are these five games as vast as one would hope or instead are these five games that should have stayed on the pc to collect dust and be riddled about in debates about the best pc shooter to date?