I really liked last year’s DBZ game, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit 2. It felt like the franchise had finally achieved some serious attention with a game that was both deep and fun.

This year, we get Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi, which feels like they took Burst Limit 2 out back and tried to killed it.

It’s not all grim. The character models look better, and there’s a different take on combat that is actually novel (but limited, more on that later)… but any good feelings are stomped by the game’s outlandish insistence on loading screen after loading screen after loading screen.

Ultimate Tenkaichi tosses another DBZ Story Mode on the fire. All the highlights you know and love, with some fresh additions… like Bardock’s fight against Freiza back when Goku was just a baby, for example. The game also includes massive boss characters, meaning you finally get to face off against Saiyans in Great Ape mode.

The structure for Story Mode, however, is a Great Bear. Encounters are selected by flying characters across a pointless overworld. Choosing a battle initiates a load, followed by a cutscene, and then another load. Finish the battle and win yourself another loading screen. The game helpfully puts a terrible minigame on the loading screen, a sure sign that the developer knows there’s a problem but has no real good idea what to do about it.

The battle controls shift to something less like a fighting game and more like constant Quick Time Events. Whether you’re in short range or long range mode (which determines if your buttons throw punches/kicks or ki blasts), you’re working up to triggering a “clash” that ends in either your or your opponent winning a QTE faceoff. Faceoffs can be chained into a sequence of pre-animated attacks that do a nice job of replicating DBZ-style battles.

Which will look neat the first time. After the fiftieth? Not as neat.

Unlike Burst Limit 2′s special attack system, Ultimate Tenkaichi makes character-specific attacks an oasis in the desert: rare and often an illusion. You need to meet certain conditions to pull off a special attack – both specific energy levels and position on the battlefield – and I felt like most battles were skating by without me ever reaching that point. Whether I was in Story Mode or Hero Mode or Tournament Mode, every battle became a race to get in the required number of attacks to initiate a clash, win the clash (which is little more than a coin flip) and then string together the big high-damage QTE hits.

Like I said, it’s a novel system, turning a fighting game into a QTE faceoff, it just needs way more options and animations… and even way more QTE challenges themselves. Holding left and hitting square will sail you through the QTEs almost every time.

I’ve often complained of the DBZ games’ pattern of ignoring the anime’s non-fighter characters, like Bulma and Master Roshi. Ultimate Tenkaichi makes a move towards opening up the playing field with all-new massive boss battles. No, it’s not Mr. Popo, but at least you get to fight something outside of the usual Toriyama musclemen.

Perhaps the single best addition is the ability to create your own Z-fighter in Hero Mode and tackle a wholly different Dragon Ball alterna-verse. Familiar characters will show up for fights, but it’s against a customizable, RPG-lite battler of your own design. There are even different voices to choose from, meaning the game bothered to have eight or so different voices run the script for the entire Hero Mode storyline.

Again, this is all great… except that you’re still stuck in the same repetitive QTE combat, chaining together similar attacks for the same net result.

In the end, it’s the constant, lengthy load screens that do more damage than anything else. DBZ fans are likely willing to sit through another tired replay of the storyline in order to experience a new combat system or see a few new characters… but nobody should have to sit on their controller for this long between bouts. Head back to Burst Limit 2, DBZ fans.

For a bulky, repetitive framework that wrecks some otherwise nice graphics and animation, Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi gets 2 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi was released October 2011 (NA) on PS3 and 360.
Rated T

Check out other Dragon Ball Z reviews at Test Freaks.

I have always been a skeptic for attachments that go on the top of your controller sticks.  I could never see how something like that could give anyone better control over their game.  The people at Kontrol Freek must have heard my complaints from the podcast, as they sent over one of their newer products, the Rcade Freek.  The Rcade Freek attachments look like old school joystick balls that go on top of your controller sticks, with the idea that they will give you more grip when playing games that you would normally play with a joystick.  Would the Rcade Freek stand up to the test?  Surprisingly, the answer is yes, but it will depend on the controller that you are using.

The Rcade Freek comes with two, ¾” diameter rounded joystick balls, with one being attached to each stick on your controller.  The bottom of the two attachments have little clips that snap on easily to the controller and give you more grip for those games where you are going to need to move the stick in many directions, quickly and with much force.  Looking at the controller with these two attachments sitting on top made the controller look a bit awkward, but if it works, aesthetics are small price to pay.

I decided to load up a couple of fighting titles, like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter IV to give these attachments a run for their money, and to my surprise they do work as advertised.  I definitely felt more accurate with my control Pad, and for anyone that has used a 360 gamepad, you know that the D-Pad is not to be trusted for fighting games like these.   I also tried out some arcade titles like Pac Man Championship DX and even opened up Game Room to try out an old favorite of mine, River Raid, and again, I felt that I was getting extra grip to execute quick movements on-screen.

The other thing that you don’t get from these attachments, and it is a blessing, is the dreaded D-Pad thumb.  You know that feeling where your thumb slowly starts to turn red and feel like it is forming into a blister due to putting way too much pressure on the D-Pad.  These attachments alleviate a lot of that stress from the one pressure point on your thumb.  It also helps that the sticks are very smooth, with no seams on any of the contact points, making them feel silky smooth on your thumbs.

I never had an issue with the Rcade Freek coming loose, or snapping off at any point, as they do attach very firmly to the sticks.  I did have one issue with them, and that was on the PS3 controller.  While the offset layout of the 360 controller makes these things feel like a dream, on the PS3 controller, the two stick attachments will come into contact with one another.  While it does not happen often, it could be an issue for those that are playing dual stick shooters and have to move the sticks towards one another in an extreme fashion.  Also, while the attachments are a good alternative, anyone that is serious into fighting games will still want to get a professional stick, as they are not a permanent replacement for that option.

But after several hours of play with the Rcade Freek, I felt that for the low price point, they do give players a solid alternative to the current D-Pads on the controllers.  They do seem to be better suited for a 360 gamepad, but they will work out okay on a PS3.  If you are looking to compete hardcore on the professional circuit for fighters you might be inclined to look elsewhere, but for those that are looking to get a little more advantage in their twin stick shooters, arcade titles or fighting games, you will find it in this little $10 package.  The Rcade Freek gets 4.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

SteelSeries, a company that when you hear the name you think of gaming gear for professionals. With their large selection of mice, keyboards, accessories, and headsets it is not easy to come out with another product that can shadow over their already amazing headsets. So SteelSeries does it again by bringing out a work of art with the Spectrum 7XB wireless headset. A great addition to your home theater system, your Xbox360, and even your PC, the Spectrum 7XB by SteelSeries has made what I call one of the best wireless headsets around.

The solid construction of the Spectrum 7XB screams pro gamer. The 7XB has a hard plastic body, the drivers swivel left and right, and the band that goes over your head is padded. The ear cups are leather padded cups that can be changed out for cloth pads, which makes it great because you have the option to change out the pads for a different audio experience. Another great feature is the retractable mic that is on a wire that can be manipulated to what ever need that suits you. The ability to store your 7XB head set would be greatly limited because of its size, but since the head set actually breaks down to 3 pieces you are able to store it in anything you want. Along the side of the right driver there are 5 powerful buttons that change your experience while listening to music, games, or movies. The buttons are; on/off, 2 for volume control, LiveMix, and ExactSND. The first 2 buttons are pretty self explanatory, but once you get into the LiveMix and the ExactSND that is when you start seeing the full potential of the Spectrum 7XB.

The 50mm drivers deliver a great punch for the size; along with the drivers there are 2 buttons that will make your experience a hell of a lot better. The LiveMix button will actually change the settings of your volume while playing and chatting with your teammates during a game, your teammate’s voices are perfectly mixed in with the bullets and explosions are ringing in the background, so you don’t have to keep asking what the hell they are talking about. The ExactSND is a great equalizer button that has 3 setting; Performance, Immersion, and Entertainment. Performance ups the background noise to be able to hear footsteps or gunfire and pinpoint what direction it’s coming from. If you were playing in a jungle or a wooded area of a game you would choose the Immersion setting that increases the background sound and the music. When all the gaming is done and you want to relax and listen to music or watch a movie you would choose the Entertainment setting, which brings out the bass and surround sound to what ever your watching or listening to.

The Spectrums transmitter is a powerful beast for being a little box. It can run on USB power from your XBOX 360 or your PC, regardless where your powering it from you have up to 9 meters (32ft.) of listening space, so yes you can listen to music while your in the bathroom as long as your in view of the transmitter box. The 7XB runs on wireless4Mbit/s bandwidth, which makes it pretty solid and you get no loss of your audio signal, it is able to jump frequencies 344 times per second to keep the sound fresh and crisp. One feature really blew me away was the ability to sync up to 4 Spectrum headsets to the transmitter. So when you’re playing at home with buddies and don’t want to wake the wife up your able to sync up to 4 of these bad boys and play all night.

This headset is one of the best wireless headsets I have seen on the market, hands down. The fact that it changes frequencies so rapidly and is able to hold up to 3 other headsets along with yours makes it absolutely unique. The price tag on this baby is 179.99 off the SteelSeries Website, for some it what this headset has to offer it is worth more than that. I am astounded with this headset after using it for countless hours playing my 360 and then switching it over to my PC. I give the Spectrum 7XB a 5 out of 5, because of great looks, amazing sound, high customization, and reliability that is beyond its price tag. For more information and where to buy check out SteelSeries Website.

Trying to put together a review for Catherine has been one of the most challenging things I have done in four years of writing.  It is a rare breed of game, and yet its base game mechanics are as simple as they come.  It asks compelling questions, but mixes it up with bizarre puzzle sequences that seem so out of place.  I found myself enjoying Catherine more every time I played it, and yet, in the back of my mind, I feel as if a bait and switch has been done on my expectations.  Catherine can be a lot of fun to play, and does as some great questions about love, relationships, marriage and more, but the core puzzle game and daunting difficulty will end up turning more people off then winning them over.

Catherine tells the age old story of how we as humans look towards relationships, monogamy, love and more with our main hero Vincent.  Vincent has a decent life with a good paying job, a loving girlfriend of five years and a great hangout with his friends.  Katherine, Vincent’s girlfriend wants to see them move forward, with marriage, children and more, but he is conflicted.  It is not that he is not in love with Katherine, but he likes the status quo, feeling that marriage would stifle him as a man.  Putting his love to the test, he ends up meeting up with another woman in the bar one night by the name of Catherine, and in a drunken stupor, finds himself in his own bed with this strange woman, turning his world upside down.  He is challenged with questions about his current happiness with Katherine, or the freewheeling love without long term commitment to Catherine.

Coming from the creators of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, I thought that this idea of exploring relationships in that atmosphere would be a fantastic idea, and for most of the advertising campaign, this is what we thought Catherine would be about, but while it does have some great philosophical moments about these concepts, they are more bookends for the actual game which resides as a puzzle game, where you are delved into a nightmare world each night, having to move blocks to ascend a tower, with each night corresponding to a level of the tower.

Yes, you read that correctly, Catherine is mostly about moving blocks as you try to escape a horror each evening in this nightmare world.  And while I was a bit blindsides at how integral this puzzle mechanic is to the main game, it is a surprising amount of fun, albeit challenging.  Actually, challenging is a bit light, as the later levels are devious in their cryptic nature.  Many times, you will find yourself repeating sections over and over as you find a good solution to make it to a top of a level.  Levels also introduce new block concepts that add more danger to the mix, like blocks of ice that will have you sliding off edges, or explosive blocks that will blow themselves up and weaken others around them.  It is not all bad, as you do find helpful items scattered throughout the level, like the ability to create a new block, or one that will change all the blocks in current view to standard blocks.  However, you can only carry one power up at a time, so you have to weigh out which ones to pick up and which ones you can miss.

Each phase of the tower is broken up by landings where you can meet other “sheep” (everyone in this nightmare world are viewed as sheep by the person having the nightmare), and discuss their dilemmas, learn new techniques, and occasionally meet up with a merchant where you can buy power ups with the coins that you earn from completing levels.  Talking with the other sheep on these landings is very entertaining, as you get a glimpse into what other people have to fear in their nightmares, and no one nightmare is the same.  You hear about crazed mothers, cheaters, liars and more despicable acts that have lead them to this horrifying world.  When you get ready to leave the landing, you enter a confessional booth where you are asked a question that will affect your moral meter.  The meter can swing between True Love and True Freedom, but the questions are great to have to sit and answer, especially when you are sitting with a significant other.  Some of the questions I encountered asked about “Who is at fault when someone is a cheater?” or “Does Life Begin with Marriage or End?”   Better still is the fact that you get to see a pie chart of where others have answered while the next level loads, finding out if you are in the minority or majority.

While I did like the puzzle sections, even when they ran on a bit long, I was a bit disappointed that we were not given more freedom when in the real world.  Beyond the cut scenes that place you at various locations, you are normally only allowed freedom of movement at the main hangout, the Stray Sheep.  Sure, you can walk around the bar, change the song on the jukebox, drink and interact with other patrons, it seems so constrained.  I mean, I enjoyed it, but the animation is so beautiful in these interaction sequences, and I wanted to see so much more with the presentation.  It is a beautiful world, and you get to interact with so little of it most of the game.  It just seems like a missed opportunity.

The other problem that I encountered would be the unforgiving nature of the puzzle sequences.  There were nights where I spent a good 45 minutes getting past one segment of a level in the later stages of the game.  The puzzles become incredibly difficult, and a lot of my time at the end became a frustration gesture of trial and error.  I love a good challenge, but after an hour, the pure frustration you feel makes you just want to shut it down for the night.  You can undo things to a certain point, but sometimes, you error could have happened much farther down the tower, leaving you to bite the bullet and restart the section.  All of this frustration came on the normal difficulty level, and I was easily scared off trying anything higher than that, as I was already losing my patience at points on normal.

Even with the cascade of words in this review, I still find myself tripping over the idea of whether I enjoyed Catherine.  I loved the story, and I did like the challenge most of the time with the puzzle sections.  I thrilled in my genius when I finished a section that kicked my butt.  More telling is the fact that I would put the game down after becoming frustrated, and yet, I would find myself dreaming about the different ways I could move the blocks.  Catherine is a polarizing game, and I would suggest trying the demo on the consoles before picking it up, but I have to say that I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.  It is not for everyone, but if you give it a chance, Catherine might just grow on you.  Catherine gets 4 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

For  those that might be looking for something new and different to play, we might have a game for you to play, and best of all, it will cost you nothing.  Yes, the good people at Perfect World have given Aeropause Games a bundle of 500 codes for the Rusty Hearts Closed Beta, which launched yesterday for those lucky enough to have one of these codes.

If you want to get in on this stuff, watch our Facebook page throughout the day today where we will have plenty of codes for all of our fans.  All you have to do is head over to the Rusty Hearts website, create a user account and enter your code to get in.  That is pretty much it, wtih no cost to you.  How sweet is that?

Rusty Hearts is a free to play MMO that features fast action combat and a ton of tracked stats for the player.  Check out our previous articles on the title to get a bit more info, or head over to the official site via the link above.

Good Luck!

Starting August 12, the $249.99 handheld gets a significant price drop to $169.99. Clearly this is Nintendo shoring up fortifications well in advance of Sony’s PS Vita arrival, and removing the single biggest objection that has been dogging the 3DS since launch: that price.

And that’s not even the best news.

In a very classy move designed as a peace offering to existing 3DS owners (dubbed “3DS Ambassadors,” thankyouverymuch), anyone who connects a 3DS to the Nintendo eShop at least once before midnight on August 11 will receive twenty free downloadable games. Twenty free downloadable games.

And we’re not talking about a bunch of old questionable DSiWare games, or the complete collection of downloadable Clubhouse Games and Brain Age fragments. We’re talking classic NES games and classic GBA games. Super Mario Bros, Balloon Fight and Legend of Zelda represent on the NES side, while the GBA list includes favorites like Metroid Fusion, WarioWare MegaMicroGames, Yoshi’s Island and Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Nintendo has not released a full list.

The ten NES Virtual Console games will be made available to Ambassadors before they go on sale on the eShop for the general plebian public. The ten GBA games are Ambassador-exclusive, with Nintendo outright stating that they have “no plans” to make these ten available as downloadable Virtual Console eShop offerings in the future. This is going to be some serious damage on the SD card.

Holy freaking crap, aggressive Nintendo is fun to watch.

Nintendo 3DS Price Drops to $169.99, as Great Value and New 3D Games Come Together

Star Fox 64 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising Prep Nintendo 3DS for a Strong Holiday Season

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo of America today announced plans to drop the suggested retail price of its portable Nintendo 3DS™ system to $169.99 in the United States, as new games based on some of the world’s most beloved video game franchises head to the system. The new price, down from the suggested launch price of $249.99 and effective Aug. 12, makes an outstanding value even better and sets up a strong holiday season for the system.

“For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games.”

Nintendo 3DS has the strongest software lineup of any video game system this holiday season and the new price now opens up the glasses-free 3D experience to many more consumers. Building on the popularity of The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, which launched June 19, the upcoming game calendar is a Who’s Who of iconic video game franchises. Star Fox 64™ 3D arrives on Sept. 9, followed by Super Mario™ 3D Land in November, Mario Kart™ 7 in December and Kid Icarus™: Uprising during the holiday season.

In addition to great games, Nintendo 3DS has a host of attractive features* that make it the must-have video game system this season:

- The new Nintendo Video™ service automatically delivers short 3D videos from the worlds of music, comedy, animation and Hollywood.

- A free application allows Netflix members with unlimited streaming plans to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streaming from Netflix.

- The Nintendo eShop is a digital store for Nintendo 3DS owners that provides access to a wide variety of downloadable content, such as original 3D software, classic games that have been re-mastered in 3D called 3D Classics, Game Boy™ and Game Boy Color “Virtual Console” games in their original 2D glory, and more than 350 Nintendo DSiWare™ games. Visitors can also view video game trailers, screen shots and product information for games, including those available at retail locations.

Since Nintendo 3DS launched in the United States on March 27, more than 830,000 people in the U.S. alone have purchased one to enjoy 3D visuals without the need for special glasses. These Nintendo 3DS owners represent some of Nintendo’s most loyal customers, and Nintendo is rewarding them for getting in on the action early with 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.

These free games are available to anyone who owns a Nintendo 3DS system and uses a wireless broadband Internet signal to connect to the Nintendo eShop at least once before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Aug. 11. These users will automatically be registered in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. The program contains two elements:

Starting Sept. 1, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors will be able to download 10 NES™ Virtual Console™ games at no charge and before they are available in the Nintendo eShop to the general public. These games, including Super Mario Bros.™, Donkey Kong Jr.™, Balloon Fight™, Ice Climber™ and The Legend of Zelda™, are slated to become paid downloadable games, but Ambassadors get them early for free. Once the paid versions of the games are posted to the Nintendo eShop later in the year, the updated versions will be available to Ambassadors for download at no cost.

By the end of 2011, Nintendo will provide Ambassadors with 10 Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games. These include games like Yoshi’s Island™: Super Mario™ Advance 3, Mario Kart™: Super Circuit, Metroid™ Fusion, WarioWare™, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ and Mario vs. Donkey Kong™. These games will be available exclusively to Ambassadors, and Nintendo currently has no plans to make these 10 games available to the general public on the Nintendo 3DS in the future.

More details about this program will be announced in the future.

Remember that Nintendo 3DS features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

While I am not the most proficient mobile gamer I have, from time to time, sat down with games on my phone.  I have a few games on my Windows Mobile, and before that a couple on my iPhone, but it never amounted to more than that.  However, my wife and son both have Droid phones and have a ton of games that they play, mostly because they are free.  One of the newest titles in their rotation of games is Rhythm Racer 2, a game from Avatar Labs.  If you are familiar with Audiosurf and wanted that type of gameplay on the go, Rhythm Racer 2 is very similar.  If that title is a bit foreign to you, think of Rhythm Racer 2 as a fusion of Guitar Hero and a racing title.  It is a lot of fun, although it is missing one piece that would really make it stand out, but hey, what do you want for free.

Rhythm Racer 2 places you in a racing vehicle with small wings and then has you barrel down a winding highway, complete with orbs that you have to pick up.  The speed of the tracks and the pattern of the orbs on the track coincide with the tempo of the music tracks playing in the background.  Controls are simple enough with tilt being used to move the car left and right on the track and tapping the edges of the screen allows you to boost for a limited time.

It does take a little bit of time to get used to the tilt motion, and I did have to dig into the settings to adjust the sensitivity, as I was careening across the track wildly with the default tilt settings.  However, you do start to get used to the motion and the gentle sway that will move you back and forth across the track.

The music included in the mix is also pretty good, blending together some electronica and techno, and it does become infectious over time.  However, the music selection is limited, and it would have been great to see an added feature that would let me use my own MP3 files that were on my phone.  I mean, phones are vast media devices at this point for people, and having the ability to tap into that collection would add a huge amount of replay value, not to mention, attachment to the game over a longer period of time.

As stated before, the game is completely free on the Droid marketplace, and there is an iPhone version available as well, although I do not have the pricing on that version.  At the price of free, it is a no-brainer to at least give the game a spin.  My wife and son have really enjoyed the game, and I had fun with it while I kicked the tires on the game.   I have a hard time attaching a score for a game that is free, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fun title on their phone.

Backbreaker Vengeance seems to be one of those ideas that is fueled by a development team that needs to get more out of a cool engine that they put together, but the main event it was used for did not sell all that well.  Backbreaker was a cool idea, but its core football mechanic left a lot to be desired, but the engine fueling that action is a thing of beauty when it comes to rendering the graphically violent hits that occur on a football field.  So with that in mind, Natural Motion stripped away the game of football, and put together a collection of games that allow for the visceral impacts to occur, while adding some puzzle-like elements into the mix.  Backbreaker Vengeance ends up with a great initial impression, but fades after a sense of repetition starts to build up.

Backbreaker Vengeance breaks down into three core modes of gameplay, each focusing on a specific action in the game of football.  First is Tackle Alley, where you are set as the ballcarrier, and you have to work your way down the field dodging and juking tacklers as you work your way to the end zone.  Things start simple enough, but as you move forward, portions of the field are cordoned off in red, removing real estate that you can use to evade tacklers.  Tacklers also have to be approached in different ways, with some needing to be dodged, while others will be color coded, meaning that they can be jumped, bowled over and more, with each type painted a different color.  Tackle Alley starts off easy, but soon becomes very devious with the way routes are set up, and as more and more tacklers are thrown into the mix.  The problem is that after a while, the game becomes overly challenging and you do find yourself repeating some challenges over and over to the point of mind-numbing frustration.

Vengeance mode, however, is never as tiring, as you get to play the opposite side of the ball, as you are tasked with taking out the ballcarrier.  In this mode, you are constantly charging down the field, looking to unlock a barrel of hurt on the opposing player all with the goal of stopping the opposition from scoring.  Hits are fierce, and watching the excellent ragdoll physics makes you wonder why other football titles have not capitalized on this more realistic motion for pure football hits.  As with the Tackle Alley, new levels add more complex patterns to the field and obstacles to overcome on the way to the ballcarrier.

The last mode is probably the most questionable addition to Backbreaker Vengeance is the Supremacy mode.  This plays out with the same philosophy as Tackle Alley, but you are on the field with three other players, racing to the end zone to be first, and with the highest point total.  I really scratched my head with this mode, as the opponents always seem to have laser precise routes to the end zone target, but I never seemed to be as precise, more due to the spongy controls that my lack of gaming prowess.  It does have a neat mechanic where the lowest scoring runner starts the next round as a defender rather than a ball carrier, but Supremacy left me wondering if I could ever actually beat the computer opponents with their uncanny ability to stride to the finish line unscathed.

Backbreaker does offer up a lot of replayability with leaderboards and such, but that replay is never any good when it comes at the cost of mind numbing frustration with the higher difficulty levels.  Towards the end, I found myself repeating levels several times over, and never managing more than a bronze helmet.  Some would say that I should learn to suck at games less, but the difficulty seems too tightly wound at the later levels.

There is fun to be found for a period of time with Backbreaker Vengeance, but over time, it all seems to blur together into a haze or repetition.  The game is a lot of fun in small bite sized chunks, but never amounts to much in the way of long lasting fun.  Those that love both football and puzzles will find a lot to love here, but for the rest, Backbreaker Vengeance wears out its welcome far too soon.  Backbreaker Vengeance gets 2.5 out of 5 Aeropausonauts.

Yesterday, Netflix sent out word to its subscriber base that it was going to be changing its plan structure starting on September 1^st, 2011.  Instead of including streaming with every disc plan, Netflix has split off the streaming into its own subscription plan, and you have to either choose a disc plan or a streaming plan, or pay for both.  Response from the Internet was swift, with people raising up pitchforks and threatening to cancel subscriptions en masse, and walk to another service.  But what does the new rate change actually mean, and how will it actually affect people in the long term.  I thought I would throw out my scenario and where the cards fall in that case.  Or course, all cases are different, and some may look at my scenario as inconceivable, but it is just a one case opinion.  Also, I have decided to include some possibilities that could change the playing field in the future, at least for Xbox 360 owners.

Right now, I spend a total of $10.86 on a monthly subscription to Netflix, which allows me to stream Netflix to all the devices in my house, as well as get one disc out at a time.  I have three Xbox 360 devices in my house, one for the living room, one in my son’s room and one in the master bedroom for my wife and myself.  All of these devices have connectivity via that one account, as Netflix allows six devices to connect to the service at any one time.  I also go through about two to three discs a week.  I tend to watch a disc as soon as it comes in and get it out just as fast to maximize my subscription.  Not everyone is in this same boat, but this is the one scenario that I have going at this time.

Under the new proposed rules, my rate would increase to $17.28 after taxes for my county, resulting in a 62.8% increase in my total fees, which is not a cheap proposition.  Anything over 50% is rather steep, and it does bring into question as to how fair the change is to current subscribers.  When looking at it from this one angle, it seems to be an impractical change for a current subscriber, and it did piss me off when I did the initial math.

But what are my main alternatives, and really there is only one for my scenario and that would be Redbox.  I have about six Redbox kiosks local to my house, and three of those are within walking distance of my location.  Redbox has made a huge splash in the rental marketplace, single-handedly taking out Blockbuster with their simple method of distribution.  Rent any DVD from them, for $0.99, and you do not have to return it until the next day.  You can also rent the movie from one Redbox and return it at a completely different Redbox.  It allows for convenient returns for most consumers, as they can rent by their house, and return it by their work, or back to any of the numerous locations.

In comparison to Netflix, I find that renting from Redbox would cost me more in the long run than my disc plan on the surface, because 10-12 rentals a month from Redbox would cost me between $10.78 and $12.93 a month.  Obviously not a huge difference, but this is not the only difference.  The bigger issue comes from selection, and this is where I would take the bigger hit.

My main reason for using Netflix disc rentals is because I pick obscure titles that are not available on streaming at this time.  I rent things like Smallville, obscure foreign titles, and other things that are older in nature.  Redbox tends to focus more on newer titles, with an odd spattering of older titles, normally relevant to movies out in theaters now.  Losing the ability to gain access to over 100,000 titles is a tough sell for me and my family at this time, even though I like the idea of being able to walk across the street to get a film on a whim, rather than waiting 24 hours for a film to show up in my mailbox.

Now there is one option that could be happening here in the near future that could make a difference for Xbox 360 owners, although it will depend on how this rumor comes to fruition.  According to sources from Microsoft, there is a new subscription service that will be coming for the Zune Video marketplace this fall.  It appears that this service would be very similar in nature to its Zune Pass for music, and would give users access to stream all they can eat from the Zune video marketplace, which is far more current in nature and complete over the Netflix and even Hulu Plus options.  However, cost, and the ability to stream this to more than one account will be the questions that need to be answered in order to make this practical in my house.  If I will have to pay $15 per console, then it loses some of its luster, but if they offer something similar to the Family Gold Pack for something like this, then I am all in for this and might kill both my Netflix and Hulu Plus subscriptions.

Of course, that option is a rumor at this point, and may be a misinterpretation towards the soon to arrive Live TV initiative from Microsoft, which is coming with the new dashboard update.  But a new subscription service to the Zune Marketplace for Video could be a deal maker for me and many others if the price is competitive.

Now all of these options look at one situation in time.  As of right now, I will probably continue my subscription for the time being, but I will start monitoring my usage to see if it still provides value far closer than I did before.  And if a Zune Streaming option shows up, I am completely ejecting on the other options right away, pending the options and features, along with cost will factor into that determination.  I would suggest that everyone weigh out the options before making a final decision, and if you do decide to make the change, follow through with it and make sure Netflix hears you.  This is the only way to reflect your change is by speaking with your dollars.  If enough people hit them in the pocketbook, then they may backpedal on the changes.  It is a longshot, but has worked before and could work now.  Until then, I am sticking with Netflix, but keeping a close eye on my options.

As most know, I am a huge fan of the Yakuza series of games which are produced by Toshihiro Nagoshi.  He work on the series is the stuff of legend, and most that I tell to try the games, end up loving them.  They are all about creating a deep, complex narrative, wrapped around a very deep brawler type game.  So when Nagoshi first announced Binary Domain, I was immediately onboard with this new property.  The idea of a world where robots rise up against humans is not new, but the idea of a quality narrative and character interaction wrapped up with that standard premise looked very intriguing.  After playing through a section of Binary Domain, I was sold on the game.  It is still a bit rough around the edges, but you can see that Nagoshi’s ideas are front and center in this action shooter.

Binary Domain fast forwards to Tokyo in the year 2080.  Over this time, the human race have advanced technology, but as with most futuristic stories, that evolution of tech has come at a cost.  In this case, the robots that we have designed to help our society with day to day tasks have become self-aware and have risen up against the humans, and a squad of international soldiers has been sent in to save humanity from their creations.

While there is an overarching story about the tech of the world rising up against its creators, there is an underlying theme of trust in Binary Domain.  Before a mission, you pick a few squad members to jump into a mission with you.  Picking squad members, as well as interactions with those squad members either builds or erodes trust with them, and that trust relationship can have consequences in missions that are both good and dire.  In one instance, which was a bit humorous, I had a female Asian squad mate with me, and another member of the squad asked me if I was into the female squad member.  If I said yes, I would curry favor with the male squad member, but if I answered along the lines of, “we shouldn’t be checking our teammate out”, I would gain trust with the female squad member.

That trust ends up spilling into combat.  There was a point where I had gone down in the field of battle and I needed help from another squad member.  One of my teammates, whom I had not made much favor with was ignoring my needs, as he did not trust me, but another squad member that did have a trust bond with me, ran over, under a hail of bullets and gave me a health pack.  Squad members can also be incapacitated during battle, and saving them will boost that trust mechanic with them.  Sure, the idea of trust as a game mechanic is not new, but it seems to work well in the scope of Binary Domain.

Combat works well, with members having a variety of attacks that can be used, as each will prefer certain weapons and abilities.  The enemies were surprisingly smart, using cover and flanking to outmaneuver your team from all different angles.  I did like the fact that enemies moved around in cover, instead of planting at a spot and then popping out from the same location, allowing you to easily get a bead on them.  You will have to watch carefully for the enemy, and again, order your squad efficiently to survive battles.  Enemies go through procedural damage cycles as well, so just because you sever an arm or even a torso, it does not mean that the enemy will go down.  One of the attacks I really enjoyed was taking the head off of an enemy robot, as he would end up blindly firing in all directions, shooting not only at you, but at his fellow team, keeping them a little off guard.

Another neat little feature, which is optional, is the idea of voice control for your teammates.  You can order them to move up, cover, attack a point, or call out for assistance.  While it is not a huge advance, it is a nice, additional touch that can add a bit of immersion for gamers when playing Binary Domain.  It is optional for those that do not want to use it, as commands can also be issued via the d-pad on the controller.

While Binary Domain is still a ways off, now scheduled for a February 2012 release on PS3 and Xbox 360, it looks visually stunning.  The environments that we were in were a great mix between shiny, industrial metal, and a run down, Blade Runner noir.  It is futuristic, and yet, still seems to have some roots grounded in a natural progression of city development from our current time frame.  Areas are huge in size and offer up a lot of visual detail, both up close and far away.

Binary Domain is shaping up to be another great hit from Sega Japan and Toshihiro Nagoshi.  The environments are amazing, and as always, we are seeing signs of the great narrative that the Yakuza series is famous for, along with solid shooting mechanics and great enemy AI.  Look for more on Binary Domain heading up to its February 2012 release date.