gamedrinkcode

Author: Michael Lee

  • Design lessons from Chrono Trigger

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    This week sees the release of Chrono Trigger for the DS, an expanded port of the classic SNES RPG. For a game that has garnered a huge amount of critical and fan praise in recent years, outside of the misunderstood Chrono Cross (and a Japanese–only visual novel game) Square has avoided its usual tendencies to…

  • Falling off the Mirror’s Edge

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    Mirror’s Edge is a wonderful game. It’s unique, visually stunning, and at moments provides some of the best gameplay on any gaming system this year. If you want to read paragraphs of flowery prose singing its praises there are plenty of other websites out there that will satiate that need. To the point, its more…

  • The amazing generic avatar

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    Yesterday, Microsoft’s big Xbox 360 update, dubbed the New Xbox Experience (or informally the NXE) was released to the wide public after being hyped up for the better part of the second half of the year. It brings a host of improvements and new features that don’t need to be discussed here. One of the…

  • The triumphant return of Bit Generations

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    One of these days I should do a post on the awesome line of Bit Generation games. But for now, just be content that Nintendo themselves have not forgotten this totally unappreciated line of games. The surprise WiiWare release of Art Style: ORBIENT, a remake of the Bit Generations game Orbital, along with the promise…

  • Gears of War: Now with 100% less blood!

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    Epic Games’ Gears of War franchise can be described as many things. The descriptors are usually along the lines of violent, over-the-top, chock full of shooting many things with very large guns. One thing Gears of War isn’t is family-friendly. But apparently that has stopped Epic from attempting to placate some parents out there with…

  • Will Megaman 9 be the most awesome game ever?

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    Yes. (Thanks to Jeremy Parish & 1UP)

  • On the Mirror’s Edge

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    A few weeks ago EA and DICE (of former Battlefield glory) unveiled their newest title in development for the PS3/360, Mirror’s Edge. It’s the kind of game that jumps out immediately in the crowded next-gen market with too many me-too titles. It’s the kind of title that makes you angry — not because it exists…

  • Good puzzle, bad puzzle

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a delightfully charming adventure game for the DS (emphasis seemingly required whenever describing this game). Set in some wacky mashup of modern and 1800’s Dickinsonian England (minus the suffering of the lower classes) Professor Layton puts you in charge of the titular professor and his young assistant Luke…

  • Penny-Arcade, indie games, and distribution

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    Yesterday brought the announcement of Greenhouse, the new distribution service/game portal from the guys of Penny-Arcade. You can see further coverage at the Game|Life blog at Wired and an interview with by Chris Kohler the Penny-Arcade chaps about their new venture. Of course, if the news of the arrival of Greenhouse doesn’t set your world…

  • Where are the originals (on Live Arcade)?

    —

    by

    Michael Lee
    in

    It’s a grayscale world in N+ The past few days has seen a minor uproar over an interview with the guys at Metanet, the developers of N and N+. Being the sensitive ninnies that gamers are, their quotes disparaging Microsoft and their various policies with Xbox Live Arcade has lead to much thrashing of teeth,…