Time fer 8 Bits O' Nevsky!

That's right, my new semi-regular feature where I blog about my videogame habit! It's fresh! It's hip! It's in your face with a moderate whiff of desperation!

* Via Kotaku, the remake of Haunted House impresses me more for its reinvention of a retro property than any real desire to play the games. The article is more nifty for me for the comments it inspired about the old videogames that used to scare the sh*t out of its players. What I always found odd was the game Adventure, where, if you got killed, you didn't get a "game over" screen, you just festered in the belly of a dragon, now stationary and presumably satiated. If you waited long enough, the black bat would invariably pick you up and take you on a tour of the world, allowing you to see beyond the barriers you came across in the game (and of course, there was the special "dot" Easter egg). Then, just as dispassionately, it would drop you off in a new area, leaving you to slowly digest as time passed...and passed...

* I don't know why I insist on buying fighting games; I stink at them and clearly lack the reflexes of the masters, now one-third my age and quick to pwn me online. Witness this championship video of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. It's good to be robbed of all illusions that I will ever, ever, be any good at this game, my online "Ace" rating notwithstanding. LOVE the commentators as well...



* I'm vacillating between Joe Danger and Deathspank as a new PSN purchase. Danger's been getting the better reviews, but the game seems to be the most fun in multiplayer, while my preferred method of play is usually single. Deathspank looks to be goofy in that Castle Crashers/'Splosion Man sort of play, but a 2D hack'n'slasher with light puzzle and RPG elements seems right up my alley. Still, I'm loathe to invest in a new PS3 game until I get through the four sticking points in Demon's Souls that have consumed the last fifteen hours of playtime.