Here we are again – it’s reached that time of the month when we take a look at our picks for the best content from the other members of the Character Select Network from the last thirty or so days.

We won’t waste your time with waffle, you can find our selections below – happy readings!

Binary Domain Review

Joshua Garrity reviews Sega latest release, the western flavored sci-fi shooter with more robots and guns than you could shake a stick at.

Binary Domain does have its share of flaws, and a lot of its more unique ideas don’t really amount to much. Yet when it comes down to the basic fundamentals of what makes a third person shooter worth while this game really shines. And all that is wrapped up in a sense of style and characterisation you don’t get from most third person shooters.

 

Cane & Rinse podcast Episode 30: Eternal Darkness

Meanwhile, over on their podcast, the Cane and Rinse team take a look at seminal Gamecube title Eternal Darkness – arguably Silicon Knights finest moment.

In 2002 Silicon Knights produced this GameCube exclusive survival horror yarn. Leon, Tony, Karl and Darren Gargette return to the Roivas mansion to discover whether or not this Lovecraft infused adventure remains as startling as it was ten years ago.

Silent Hill: Downpour Review

Loz Masters takes a look at the latest entry in the Silent Hill series to see if it can resurrect its former fortunes or if it’s just a damp squib…

When you visit the same town over and over again, its hard to get still get wowed by anything it has to offer. Doing it in game has the exact same effect unless some real overhauling is done. The residents are weaker, the enemies are less original, and the attempts at making you feel isolated and vulnerable often just make you a little frustrated.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Review

While Dan Bendon takes a look of the updated console release of the Witcher 2 for Xbox 360.

The question of morality is also tackled in a more mature way, throughout the game you will be given choices that, even though you are well informed about the situation, will not be clearly defined as good or bad. Often it is just a choice that will lead to events playing out in a particular way that could not have been predicted one way or the other.

April’s come crashing down on our heads like the seasonal showers… well, unless you’re in the parts of the UK which are suffering a hose pipe ban… anyway, terrible analogies and rambling intro’s to one side, another month means it’s once again time for us to take a look at what we think is the best content from our other partners in the Character Select Network.

So wrap your eye holes around the following:-

Going Silver

Darren Gargette toys with the perils of dropping your Gold Xbox Live Subscription down to Silver…

After about a weeks worth of a Goldlessness I am beginning to see the benefits of remaining a paid-up member but only really to those who buy and play videogames on Xbox 360. With a capable PC and the upcoming release of Blizzard’s Diablo III I don’t really feel the need to.

There are however some cracking XBLA titles on the way and if the multi-player turns out to be a riot for Trials Evolution then maybe I’ll resurface for the months I want to pay.

Quick Rinse: The Darkness

Meanwhile, to tie in with their fantastic podcast about the gory Darkness games, Leon Cox has a good sit down with the first game

PlayStation Vita: The Verdict

Over on Gamerdork, Delb2K takes a lengthy look at the Sony’s new endevour, the PlayStation Vita

From a useability perspective the unit is incredibly impressive, from the touchscreen to the physical inputs on the front of the console everything has been cleverly designed to provide a real sense of quality that is actually backed up when the device is used. What is less successful is the OS implemented.

Bit.Trip.Complete Review

Sarah-Lou Costley takes a look at Gaijin Games disc based released of their WiiWare titles, which we had a real soft spot for here at Console Arcade

To add to the excitement of the highly addictive yet excruciatingly hard games are the smattering of extras available. The collection gives you a further 20 levels per game, a free soundtrack of 18 songs and plenty of videos and artwork which can be unlocked. You also get an online leaderboard so you can see how well you do against your friends.

Sine Mora Review

We loved Sine Mora here at Console Arcade, and so did Danny Russell over at Ready Up

Sine Mora has more content and wow factor than any shoot ‘em up of late. There is plenty here for casual onlookers seeking a wild ride and a harsh but not completely unforgiving challenge, while enthusiasts of the genre have a meaty amount of content to hone their skills to. It’s clear that the arrangement between Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture in terms of planning and developing has worked wonders here and everything has slotted together perfectly.

Time Marches on (get it?) and here we are as the big old train of life pulls into the third stop of 2012.

Or, er, something…

Which means it’s one again time to look at our picks from the other venerable members of the Character Select Network from the last few weeks.

Issue Twenty-Two: Mass Effect & Mass Effect 2

With the launch of Mass Effect 3 almost upon us, the Cane & Rinse crew take a timely look back at the first two parts of the epic space trilogy

Leon, Darren Forman and Josh Garrity climb back aboard the Normandy to once again explore BioWare’s rich, galaxy-spanning fiction. Do the earlier games in the series justify the fever for the third? And just who are the sexiest members of the crew to three male nerds of various ages?

Issue Twenty-One: Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath

And with the recent PSN re-release this one is also another timely podcast, as the Rinser’s take a look at what some consider to be Oddworlds greatest moment to date.

Leon, Tony and Darren Gargette attempt to establish whether Stranger’s hallowed reputation is justified, as well as delving into the history of Oddworld; from Abe’s days as a prestigious PSone platform star, through Munch’s brief time in the sun to Stranger and what the future may hold for Oddworld’s Inhabitants.

Never Letting Memories Go

Gamerdork regular OnyerSix takes a look at why some games will always hold a hallowed place in our hearts – or in his case, a very unhealthy obsession with a speedy blue hedgehog. Better that than being obsessed with a podgy Italian Plumber?

What I can’t work out is why I keep getting hold of copies of this twenty-year-old game.  It’s not as if there has been nothing better since then.  There have been hundreds of games that I have enjoyed much, much more, but games such as the Final Fantasy series are adventures.  They tend not to have too much replay factor.  When they are done, you get a sense of achievement, but you don’t feel like starting over again a week or so later, because they require a big investment.

Lumines Electronic Symphony Review

With Sony’s Vita launch taking center stage for the company this month, Dan Bendon takes a look at the latest iteration to everyone’s favorite portable puzzler

There is of course a whole new soundtrack to go with the new skins and it’s a real treat. Lumines once again combines songs you know and love with tracks from relative unknowns, each with their own personality that perfectly matches the visuals and play style of the skin they’re paired with. The Vita’s fantastic OLED screen and considerable graphical power have been put to good use with every special effect slider pushed up to 11 to create the beautiful skin backgrounds that frame the now fully rendered 3D blocks that seem to channel the music directly to your brain.

The Darkness 2 Review

While Joanne Kendrick takes a look at the colorful comic book sequel sequel which has had a few changes since the original.

The fact that there are people out there who know about the Darkness and want to steal it, adds a bit more variety in the range of enemies in this game. In the first game, you had Uncle Paulie’s men and then a few weird things in the Otherworld. In this one there are still ‘goons’, but as the game progresses there are different types of people and it shows that they are wise to your powers. There’s a type who steal your weapons, and another type who have blinding lights attached to their heads, so you have to be kind of strategic if you want to live very long.

At this rate the only thing you won’t be able to play VBlank Entertainment’s upcoming Retro City Rampage on is your kitchen sink!

First announced for WiiWare, then as coming to XBLA as well, it’s now been confirmed that the GTA-style title is coming to the PSN and Vita too.

Hooray for more choices!

Boo for them still not telling us when the game is getting a release date!

C’mon guys it’s been almost two years since you first teased the game – just release the damn thing already!

edit: New video states a May release window – let’s hope they stick to it this time.

Again it’s retro titles that are keeping Nintendo afloat this week in term of downloads releases.

First title of note is a port of the Genesis version of Stider on the Wii’s Virtual Console in North America. Those in Europe who fancy some action will have to own a 3DS if they want to take part, thanks to Wario Land arriving on its very own Virtual Console.

See below for a full (in the loosest sense of the word) list of the releases, out now:-

3DS Virtual Console – Super Mario Bros. ($4.99)
Wii Virtual Console – Strider (800 Points)
DSiWare – iSpot Japan (200 Points)

3DS Virtual Console – Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (£3.60/€4)
DSiWare – GO Series: Undead Storm (200 Points)

This week’s release for WiiWare is Burger Time World Tour, the latest attempt at updating an Arcade classic.

The game was released on PSN and XBLA late last year and, like a moldy bun, didn’t go down to well round these parts – have a read of our review to find out why.

So that leaves the other formats to prop things up – the full list of releases can be found below:-

3DS Virtual Console – Maru’s Mission ($2.99)
BurgerTime World Tour (1000 Points)
DSiWare – 40-in-1 Explosive Megamix (800 Points)

Wii Virtual Console – The King of Fighters ’97 (900 Points)
3DS Virtual Console – Kirby’s Block Ball (£2.70/€3)
WiiWare – BurgerTime World Tour (1000 Points)
DSiWare – Crazy Cheebo: Puzzle Party (200 Points)
DSiWare – Gaia’s Moon (200 Points)

With the opening month of 2012 now behind us (did that go as quick for everyone else too?) we’re at that time of a new month when we have a look at the best of the content on offer from the other members of the Character Select Network.

Without further ado, here’s some of what the others were up to during January:-

Introspective Retrospective

2011 may be old news now, but that doesn’t mean there’s no scope for people to sit down and have a natter about what gaming treats they enjoyed. The Cane and Rinse podcast gets a few members on board to talk about their favorites.

To conclude our thoughts on the year in videogames that was 2011, Cane and Rinse contributors Karl Moon, Darren Gargette, James Carter, Joshua Garrity and Darren Foreman each offer their own personal perspectives on the previous twelve months of digital delights.

And while you’re there, and if you’re a fan of Halo, you might want to check out their podcast all about Halo:Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition

This week Leon and Tony are joined by Karl Moon and, making his Cane and Rinse podcast debut, Darren Gargette, to discuss 343 Industries Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

 

The Changing Demands of Gamers

Onyersix (possibly not his real name) ruminates over just how gamers tastes may be changing as the medium pushes ever onwards, including things like value for money and catering to everyone’s different play styles.

Although the character is an important aspect of the game, modern day RPGs have taught us that you can, to a certain degree, role-play and develop characters in your own styling.  You might choose to play Fallout 3 as a psychopath, homicidally murdering people in their sleep and insulting everyone you speak to.  (Telling a woman she was bats**t crazy was hilarious to me!)  If nothing else, it lets us mold the story to our own choosing, rather than dictating a linear path in the style of games like Uncharted 3.

Syndicate Preview

While the change into a First Person Shooter may not site well with some,  sci-fi title Syndicate is soon to be reborn. Tony Chandler has a look at how the game is shaping up with a hands on preview.

The new Syndicate takes the basics of this, and spins it into a very modern game. Gone is the old fashioned isometric viewpoint, replaced instead with a first person perspective. The characters look has been changed too, from the very 90s sunglasses and trench coats look of the original to a futuristic cross between a character from Mass Effect and Killzone. The demo we were given to play was the four-player online cooperative mode, on a mission to find and kill a rival Syndicate’s Colonel. There were three classes of agent to choose from, Offense, Defense and Support, so for the first game I picked Defense.

Meanwhile Dan Bendon takes a look at the latest in the series of Boobs and Battles…sorry, Swords and Souls with a review of Soul Calibur V

Once fully unlocked you’ll have a choice from a cast of around 28 characters made up of returning characters and newcomers in about equal measure with some of those newcomers being inspired by older characters, remade and revamped into younger bodies. All of the newcomers have entirely new move-sets and fighting styles so while it might look like Taki, Kilik and Sophitia have just undergone some plastic surgery and been given a new name it’s not the case. The cast feels very well rounded with very little overlap in styles, even the Alpha and Omega versions of Patroklos and Pyrrha play quite differently from their standard alter egos.

A rather stifled week again for the Nintendo downloads. Punch-Out with swords, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword is probably your best bet in North America if you have a 3DS.

Nintendo users in Europe fair little better with TNT Racers on WiiWare and the original Kid Icarus on the 3DS (if you didn’t qualify to get it free a few weeks ago).

As usual the full list of notable releases can be found below:-

3DS Download Software – Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword ($6.99)
DSiWare – GO Series: Undead Storm (200 Points)

3DS Download Software – 3D Classics: Kid Icarus (€6/£5.40)
3DS Download Software – Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (€5/£4.50)
DSiWare – Castle Conqueror — Against (200 Points)
WiiWare – TNT Racers (1000 Points)

It’s another week of iffy Nintendo downloads and there’s no mistake.

Aside from lots of rubbish learning games, North America at least gets a WiiWare release with physics puzzle based game Newton Vs the Hoarde.

Meanwhile Europe has to make do with just the 3DS Virtual Console release of Balloon Kid and, for DSiWare, one of the most dodgy titles games I’ve had the misfortune to read for a long time; Double Bloob.

It’s only one letter away from making a tit of itself… *budum tish*

Ahem.

Puns aside, below you can find the full list of download releases for the region (crappy learning games not included):-

3DS Download Software – Mutant Mudds ($8.99)
DSiWare – Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish (500 Points)
WiiWare – Newton Vs The Horde (500 Points)

3DS Virtual Console – Balloon Kid (£2.70/€3)
DSiWare – Double Bloob (500 Points)

With today’s update the Virtual Console releases something in Europe for the first time in ages! The SNES version of Prince of Persia kickstarts the old girl back into life, while the title also arrives on the 3DS’ own version.

Meanwhile in North America there’s Stonekeep: Bones of the Ancestors on WiiWare, with some little scraps for DSiWare and the 3DS Virtual Console. Check out the full list below for what’s out now to download:-

3DS Virtual Console – Lock ‘n’ Chase ($2.99)
DSiWare – Gaia’s Moon (200 Points)
WiiWare – Stonekeep: Bones of the Ancestors (500 Points)

Wii Virtual Console – Prince of Persia (800 Points)
3DS Virtual Console – Prince of Persia (£4.50/€5)
DSiWare – 40-in-1 Explosive Megamix (800 Points)
Come On! Heroes (200 Points)

Meanwhile in North America the most memorable release comes from Zen Studios with the portable version of the celebrated pinball title for the 3DS.

And then, to make sure DSiWare users don’t get left out, there’s 101 Pinball World for them to play. Seems the big N has gone pinball mad….

A full list of releases for the two regions can be found below:-

Nintendo 3DS Download Software – Zen Pinball 3D ($6.99)
DSiWare – 101 Pinball World (500 Points)
WiiWare – Carmen Sandiego Adventures in Math: The Case of the Crumbling Cathedral (600 Points)

Adventures in Math?! Sounds like an Adventure Time episode…

WiiWare – Bobby Carrot Forever (800 Points)
DSiWare – Doodle Fit (500 Points)

As 2011 drew to a close (and is now a distant memory) the other members of the Character Select Network were hard at work bringing you lots of delicious content to slap your eyes on.

So what better way than to kick off 2012 by highlighting our picks of the very best content on offer.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

Joshua Garrity has put together a sterling review of Link’s latest (and probably last) outing for the Wii.

While the greatness of the presentation is immediately apparent, the game takes a while to show you anything more than that. As has been noted by many, the introduction to this game is rather slow. Now I can understand why this might get on certain people’s nerves, but personally I really liked it. Why you ask? Simple, the answer is Zelda. Skyward Sword uses the time spent in its lengthy tutorial to establish Zelda as a character, and develop her and Link’s relationship. Yes, Nintendo could have been more economical with their use of your time, however the pleasing result is that when Zelda finally does go missing and it’s time to rescue her, you really want to save her. I’ll be honest, caring about Zelda as a character was never my motivation to progress in previous titles.

Quick Rinse: Super Meat Boy

Darren Gargette takes a look at the beloved Super Meat Boy, a game we share his love for, with a fantastic little play through.

It’s all gone a wee bit quiet over at Gamerdork of late (probably due to a 24/7 hootenanny) so there’s only one pick for them this month. That said, it’s a corker:

Location, Location, Location

No, Kirtsy and Phil haven’t invaded Gamerdork. Instead Delb2k once again comes up with the goods with an interesting look at the locations used in games.

For most games, it is important to realise that not every location has to tell a story through the pictures it creates. The central aim has to always be to envelop the player into a world, however fantastical, that feels genuine and enjoyable to explore. By delivering this alongside strong level design, navigation becomes not only more natural but exponentially more beautiful to look at and admire. Like a good painting, admiring an artist’s work can be just as fulfilling within the digital space as it can be within your local gallery.

Rayman Origins Review

Mark Patterson takes a looks at Ubisoft’s finest looking game ever, in his review of Rayman Origins, giving it a very healthy and deserved  8/10.

Rayman Origins is the most visually stunning game I think I’ve played this year. It was inevitable that at some point in the review the visuals would be mentioned, so I thought “Hey, let’s just batter into it, first thing.” Everything you see in Origins is essentially concept art that has been brought to life by the fantastic UbiArt Framework the game is running on. It’s almost like it’s less of a game and more of an interactive painting, really.

Ready Up Game Awards 2011

We’ve recently compiled our list of the Games of 2011 and over at Ready Up! Kirsten Kearney has done the same.

We really do have the best hobby, don’t we? This year the games that have graced our consoles, PC’s and phones have been an embarrassment of riches, as they were last year. The games that we have chosen to award our highest accolade, as voted for by the entire staff at Ready Up, are popular choices that few could dispute. Don’t assume, however, that the Ready Up team members throw their lot in with the majority. Far from it. We had votes for a very diverse mix of titles including Tiny Wings, Mount&Blade: With Fire & Sword, Xenoblade Chronicles, Where is my Heart, Frozen Synapse and Terraria.

And I can’t help but agree with their choice of Most Anticipated for 2012 too.