UGO buys the 1Up Network & Electronic Gaming Monthly

As some of you may or may not know UGO entertainment, has purchased the 1up network, along with its other projects, including, gamevideos.com, and the magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, their magazine that has been in print for over 20 years covering all aspects of the video game industry. Along with UGO's purchase comes new changes to the 1up network including the end of Electronic Gaming Monthly and the laying off of 80% of the 1up staff. Many former members of the staff have created a new website focusing on video games and the industry called, http://www.eat-sleep-game.com in association with their podcast Rebel FM. A complete list of the recently layed off 1up staff members can be found here.

HA! First one, 2008 a retrospective...kinda

So ill admit I'm here at my computer a little nervous about what to write, but we'll all get some courage and get this started. Well 2008 has just ended and, despite the economic problems that have struck many aspects of society, we, as gamers had numerous reasons to be happy. One can truly say that 2008, in particular quarter 4 brought some of the best games we've seen in a while and so i decided to share some of my favorite games of the year, really in no particular order. I should warn you though....well..... I guess I don't have to warn you, I will not be discussing any Wii games, at least not right now. When Nintendo starts encouraging 3rd party developers to make solid games, worth playing and not just "shovelware" that does a half-ass job of utilizing the Wii's motion control for a quick buck, or I find a Wii game worth talking about then we'll get the Wii train rolling. Annnnnnnnd that's my Wii rant.



So First I wanted to talk about Soul Calibur 4, a continuation of the Namco Bandai Series released July of 2008. I had been anticipating this game since they day I found out it was coming out, and even, I'll admit, had dreams about dominating against my friends with the obvious, most kick-ass character in the game,Misurugi. Although at first glance it seemed much like the other games of the series, developer, Project Soul added a few aspects to the tried and true game play that made the game feel much more than just Soul Cal. 3.5. The character creation was expanded to add even more personality and customization than in previous installments. Now the player could add armor and clothes that did not only look good aesthetically but could also play a role in battle.Armaments had many aspects for the player to consider, such as, how fast, or slow it would make their character, which had a direct correlation to how weak or strong the armor was. This could all be carried on to the online versus arena where that player could choose as to whether or not they wanted to play a match in which these armor pros and cons would be considered or not. Along with this feature, created players were also able to be taken online, which made for some interesting and hilarious new faces to be added to the Soul Calibur character roster. And who doesn't love well put together user-created content?

Overall Soul Calibur 4 is a solid fighting game that works well with balancing issues and has an almost seamless, lag-free online component. With this being said it also possesses many problems that has not only plagued this series but most of the fighting game genre. Story mode, although it's there, is lacking greatly and though the game may want you to think each character has his/her own path, you'll find yourself viewing the same cut scenes, fighting the same succession of characters each story-mode play through with the character of choice "cut and pasted" in . Even though this is the case,who really buys a fighting game for its story anyway, and what Soul Calibur lacks in story it makes up for in the Tower of Souls mode. In this mode you will take a character or, in some battles two characters of your choice and continue to fight increasingly harder opponents while taking into consideration other challenges thrown at you. These challenges vary from defeating an opponent before time expires, defeating a certain amount of enemies, or things such as defeating an opponent by ringing them out or using a character specific Critical finish move.

This being said, I really enjoyed Soul Calibur 4 and it was my fighting game for 2008. The game has very interesting and peculiar characters, some you will hate and others you can't help but root for. In the new year and with Capcom's highly anticipated fighter, Street Fighter 4 coming out just around the corner with a Feb 17 release date, it is hard for me to recommend this game considering the fact that it is still a fully priced game at 59.99. I realize that these are obviously two different types of fighting games and know that although the amount of people playing it may take a hit after the release of Street Fighter 4 there will still be many people playing it for months and maybe years to come.

So this is the beginning! not to bad eh? Next time I'll talk about another one of my favorite games of 2008 and begin giving my take on industry news and what's up for the beginning of 2009.