Features

10 years ago in 2001 Volition released a revolutionary game; one with real-time destructible environments. It was something that had never before been seen, let alone running on a console. Sure, a PC version was also released, but this was a game that showcased what the PlayStation 2 could really do. Red Faction is set on Mars and follows the story of a lowly miner known as Parker as he becomes part of the Red Faction, an organization set to overthrow the corrupt Ultor Corporation and their slave-like treatment of their miners.

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Another four man show this week, for no reason other than we felt like it! Myself and John Carson join Andrew and John Laster to discuss the upcoming XBLA releases and some of the cooler looking games on the horizon.

None of us bought Torchlight but that doesn’t stop us talking about it some, check out our review if you want some more informed information on the game. John Laster reviewed Full House Poker and Andrew tried it out, so they talk about that for a while. Then I talk for way too long about Battle: LA (review forthcoming) and Andrew chimes in with his thoughts too. Spoiler alert: we weren’t overly impressed.

Before we say goodbye John Carson talks about his experience watching the Game Informer guys break a world record and Andrew asks us what we think about how aesthetic changes are spread throughout games.

As mentioned before we’ve changed hosts for the podcasts, as a result the iTunes feed isn’t updating properly at the moment. We’re trying to get this fixed but in the meantime you can download the MP3 below or add the new RSS feed straight into iTunes or your favourite reader software.

RSS | MP3 | iTunes

[podcast]https://xblafans.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/XBLAFanCastEp5.mp3[/podcast] Read More

We’re suckers for unique tracks, and today’s featured track fits ‘unique’ to a T. DrittesAuge’s track Chaosphere is both a challenge and a work of art. It’s just one …
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Some franchises, regardless of quality, just never become very popular. One such example is the Sam and Max comic and video game series, which most people never heard of but have never played. Sam and Max: Hit the Road was one of LucasArts’ classic adventure games, first released in 1994. The game was based on the late 80’s comic series by Steve Purcell, who worked at LucasArts. It featured the wacky antics of a 6-foot tall dog and a hyperkinetic rabbity-thing, a duo who called themselves the Freelance Police.

The world they inhabit is wacky and unconventional while being chock full of jokes and puzzles. Recently, LucasArts have re-released their classic Monkey Island series in the XBLA in special editions featuring updated art and voices, modernizing it while retaining what made it great. Now would be a perfect time for Telltale Games, who now own the franchise, to re-release the Sam & Max that started it all.

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A tad late, a lot longer and a bit rougher. That’s how one would describe this weeks podcast, John, Tyler and Andrew are joined by new writer Stephen to talk about all things PAX East. Both Andrew and Stephen attended so they share their thoughts and experiences from the show, while a jealous John and Tyler quiz them.

Apologies for the spotty editing and audio this week folks, various events and technical difficulties conspired to make this show as big a hassle as possible. Still we persevere and bring you a new episode.

We’re also changing hosts for the podcast, these changes might not be reflected on iTunes right away. We’re still working out the technical details but in the meantime you can listen below or download the MP3.

We’re now on iTunes! So please subscribe, rate and review us there. As before if you have any feedback or general comments then feel free to get in touch. You can either post something in the comments below or shoot us an email to podcast@xblafans.com

RSS | MP3 | iTunes

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This week’s Trials HD custom track comes to us from KatamariUK and is entitled Time Crisis.   The title fits the gameplay to a T — objects move to closer …
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Some franchises will never have enough depth to be full retail titles on current consoles.  Pac-Man will never be a 10+ hour action adventure, Burger Time will never be an MMORPG, and Tetris will always be a simple puzzle game at its core. The Rampage franchise is one of those; as addictive as the gameplay may be it’s still very simple on so many levels.  There are no adventure quests, there’s no need to “level up”, and it will never need big name Hollywood voice actors.  But that doesn’t mean the franchise needs to be buried six feet under.  Xbox Live Arcade has become a hotbed for smaller-scale titles.  Whether the game is a trip back in time in the form of a remake a new IP it provides the perfect platform for smaller scale, smaller price games.  That’s where Rampage Total Destruction comes in.

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PAX East will be upon us in roughly 24 hours, and XBLAFans has rounded up as many booth locations for great XBLA games as we could, all in one convenient post.  That’s not to say you shouldn’t wander around PAX looking for other booths we didn’t know about, but we love our readers and so put the most comprehensive list we could together.  Check it out after the jump.  If you know of other XBLA games shown at PAX East send the info to tips@xblafans.com.  If we could get link to the source (if possible) and the booth number as well that’d be super-great!  Have fun at PAX!

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Clearing your system cache will temporarily fix the issue.
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It’s happened to all of us — we pick up a game we’ve been waiting to play only to find something horribly broken in it. Achievements don’t unlock, characters get stuck in walls, scripted events don’t fire, or at times even core gameplay feels off.  It’s frustrating, and so often the issues kill sales for what could have potentially been a great game.  So often our hopes lie in a patch, known on Xbox Live as a title update.  But for some games that patch never comes.

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