Jaga

Grand Slam Tennis 2

Laurent — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:22:20 +0000

I remember that I played a tennis game on my Gameboy ages ago. The crowd sounded like a waterfall. I was pretty addicted to it. Anyways. It never triggered me to watch the real deal. Not even an alpha male like Steffi Graf attracted my attention. 20 years later – not necessarily any wiser though – the crowd still sounds like a waterfall, tennis is still boring – or rather a game I can’t get into, even with flick-it controls. Ping Pong seems to have more street cred with artists like Anti Pop Consortium, Art Blakey, Swayzak, Ratatat and even Dolly Parton naming songs after this sport. So I’d rather stay in the back of the bus and stick to Rockstar’s notorious table tennis.
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Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PlayStation3, Xbox360,
Release: February 14th, 2012

Loma Prieta – IV

Laurent — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:22:52 +0000

I was not really hoping for a hurrah after their promising debut ‘Last City’. Being completely honest with every follow-up and every concert I went to they became more and more blurry to me and undecided where to head next. But if it all was a painful way to get to this record now, I’ll appreciate every second they confused me. ‘IV’ is finally the record I never expected, not only keeping up to their debut’s level, but easily surpassing it in any way ending with the fact that this may well be the best emo hardcore record I’ve heard in ages.

Label: Deathwish Inc.
Format: 12″ LP, Digital
Release: January 17th, 2012

A$AP Rocky – LiveLoveA$Ap

Laurent — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:19:32 +0000

A$AP Rocky’s MPC fogs the air in a spa where the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony are a long time in coming to soapfight the pulp out of you. If you’re not keen in hanging in thick moist air and sipping pimp juice until the magic happens, head directly to the Clams Casino stuff or put lyrical content heavy on smoking and selling drugs on some downpitched Mount Kimbie tunes. Ready is your hazy avant-garde swag: cloud rap!

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Label: self-released
Format: Digital
Release: October 31st, 2011

Tekken Hybrid

Laurent — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:02:34 +0000

Tekken Hybrid is clearly something for die hard fans as it only comes with a movie that’s dispensable for outsiders, an HD update to Tekken Tag Tournament that one can barely notice and a rudimentary demo for a new Tekken game which release is even after the apocalypse. It comes for a budget price and if you skip a meal you can get it pre-owned but still, it’s hardly recommendable in its minimalistic scale.

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Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Platforms: PlayStation3
Release: November 22th, 2011

Unlike U

Laurent — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:57:09 +0000

Granted, there are some wicked actions (bombing the Kanzlerbahn, 1UP crew tag) and some striking words (with plenty of scene talk) but in the end the documentary is coasting for a third of the time. There are just too many scrabbleloving scene dudes hyping Berlin that one loses focus for the actual art happening in the dark alleyways and trainyards. That’s probably why I liked Art inconsequence better. Still worth watching and spreading.
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Drear – We Will Use Your Blood For Fertilizer

Laurent — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:57:21 +0000

By now everyone should’ve noticed that our world is pretty much fucked up. When applying for a job means “…go on Google, and search for a job that involves heavy lifting” and our idea of life mainly involves capture, cultivate and consume then it’s time to listen to Drear, or join the 99%. Either way you won’t change anything. Chosing the first however won’t get you drenched with rain.

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Label: self-released
Format: Digital
Release: June 3rd 2011

Need for Speed: The Run

Laurent — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:39:00 +0000

Need for Speed: The Run is the game (PRESS O) reincarnation of a run-of-the-mill minimal (TRIGGER X) techno EP with only two to three tracks and (HOLD L2 & R2) unutterable audio cues of Microsoft (PRESS O) Sam telling (TRIGGER O) that this is a promo (HOLD L2 & R2) copy of said record. There are just so many so much better games than this antics that you’re rightly asking yourself why the hell one should bother.
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Developer: EA Black Box
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PlayStation3, Xbox360, PC, Wii
Release: November 18th, 2011

Uncharted 3 – Drakes Deception

Laurent — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:47:15 +0000

This game has it all, shooting people in the face, pub brawls and climbing abysses, at day and at night, in old Europe and in Africa, on foot and by horse, offshore and ashore, alone and with your sidekicks. There’s so much stuffing in this turkey that oversaturation is always just an inch away. It’s brilliantly orchestrated and directed for what it is. But still one can find a hair in the soup. Drake seems to have a fetish for things that it’s almost disturbing how erotically he touches, strokes and ensnares inanimate objects such as walls, stairs or stolen goods. I mean he has two hotties at disposition. But Drake seems to be more interested in stuff (and hunting down grannies or german footballer Serdar Tasci) than in girls. Maybe he wants to spare all the drama. I’m prone to drama though.
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Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Release: November 2nd, 2011

Battlefield 3

Laurent — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:27:04 +0000

I won’t lose a word over the singleplayer campaign as it is an insult to any gamer. The game is meant to be played in multiplayer. And there it shows that the Battlefield (not Bad Company) franchise feels at home on a PC rather than on the stripped-down battlefields which a console can render. I mean navigating a battle jet on a coin is not just fiddly but plain stupid. Even Tom Cruise wouldn’t fly these things. New features as the torchlights which even blind you in broad daylight as if you were a vampire and the absence of a respawn protection getting you killed by campers when you’ve barely opened your eyes, along with several bugs (graphics, disappearing debris and sound) and glitches (super funny ragdolling) make me go back to the Bad Company 2 playground. A game where I found my peace.
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Developer: DICE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PlayStation3, Xbox360, PC
Release: October 27th, 2011

Catherine

Laurent — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:11:54 +0000

So what to expect from a self-proclaimed erotic (rather romantic) horror (rather thriller) puzzle-platformer adventure game? Sounds like a quarter pounder with cheese, to good to be true. And indeed, the game is good. Although the themes of commitment, relationships, infidelity, maturity and love are at times tackled a bit too naive and somewhat oversimplified the game is surprisingly deep. And once you’re over the fact that antihero Vincent Brooks wears the same boxers for over a week you’ll find in Catherine an intense and challenging game with plenty of replay value (the game has 8 possible endings) – choosing between coquettish yet manic Catherine who has a tendency to give violent love bites and unaffectionate by-the-book Type A top achiever Katherine who has a severe addiction to cake. Apart from the positive critical acclaim seeing that Catherine already sold over 500k copies (with the game not being released in the EU yet) is more than satisfying. But not nearly as satisfying as getting your girl back.
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Developer: Atlus Persona Team
Publisher: Atlus
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release: February 17 2011 (JP), July 26 2011 (US), Europe tba.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Laurent — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:07:30 +0000

Ah, the times. You remember Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer in Top Gun, that was in ’86. Then a decade later there was AeroFighters Assault (OMG, this sky is TOAST!!!) on my beloved N64 which was equally bad. That pretty much sums up my experience with fighter jets. As you can tell I’m not a Tomcat in air assault stuff. Thus I can’t really tell if this is a gutshot for the AC series or not. For me however this polished Medal of Warfare in mid-air sure is an adrenaline-laden and silly (the rail shooting parts in the helcoes are a bad joke) intermezzo with frustratingly bad game design choices (Markov anyone?) and a story that’s like a blunt knife. Am I too old for this? I doubt anyone would notice if the game was actually called Allied Assault or Assault Heaven. And besides, where’s Steven Seagal when you need him?
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Developer: Project Aces
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release: October 14th, 2011

Revival Hymns – Feathers

Laurent — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:42:17 +0000

I can’t say much about the music. It’s surely well-thought-out and meticulously well crafted but it can’t hide the fact that it’s pretty moldy lost in reverie stuff to impress indie girls. This is why I rather talk about their homebase Tampere. I travelled there last winter and went skinny dipping in the frozen Näsijärvi lake. That was awesome.

Did I mention that they only have about 2000 scrobbles on last.fm!? O_o

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Label: I.Corrupt.Records
Format: Vinyl, Digital (for free)
Release: October 17th, 2011