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It seems like few games today are difficult enough to have the humbling experience of dying near the beginning of the game.  With the game I’ve been playing lately, they’ve taken it one step further.  The very first thing you see in the game is a shot of your corpse.  Like it or not, you’ve died, even before getting started. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is not about whether you can survive, but how you use the afterlife that is given to you.

It's Winter 2011! For some of us, that means freezing half to death and shoveling snow. It's also time to take a look at the new Anime offerings of the season. You can't watch every show that's out, so ESH is doing the dirty work for you. What's worth your time?

I remember seeing a trailer for Gosick, but I couldn't figure out what it's all about.

I didn't expect it to be quite so silly, nor did I expect it to be a show about crime solving. By crime solving, I don't mean actual deducing by a young detective like Jimmy Kudo from Detective Conan. I mean mystical, magical crime solving which requires no hard work at all.

I shouldn't be surprised that a show that calls itself Gosick (which is the broken English pronunciation of Gothic) to not play by normal rules. Gosick is all about this cute little girl (yes, ANOTHER anime with a cute little girl)  who can solve crimes like nobody's business. She is locked up in this estate, barred from the outside world, until a young man comes into her life.

I will tell you that I think having magical powers to solve crimes doesn't sit well with me. I think it's cheating! I do like how Gosick looks, and I appreciate its silliness. I was under the impression that this show was going to be about beautiful European architecture and super-serious subject matter. NOPE! It's about a little girl who rolls on the floor, a kid who has to walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, and a dude with a phallic hairdo.

Who is the ideal audience? People who say they'd like to travel, but haven't yet.

Watch more? MAYBE

Suction Cups FTW!

Another Monday, another episode of the ESH Podcast is ready for consumption... and this one is about the sistah' CES 2011 experience.

Curious? Of course you are.

Not very often do gamers bear witness to a game quite like ilomilo. On the surface it looks like a game aimed primarily at children, but once you get deep down into the aesthetics of it you realize that this SouthEnd Interactive title was made to bring the inner child out of all of us.

[caption id="attachment_3416" align="alignnone" width="540" caption="DC Universe Online subscription prices"][/caption] SO after taking a look at this price breakdown, would you go for a lifetime membership, or is it too wild to drop $200 all at once for a game you might

In my early childhood, my siblings had a lot to do with how my taste in movies was shaped.  One of my favorites, still to this day, is Back to the Future.  When Telltale announced they were going to make a new adventure game that extends the beloved series, I was understandably cautious, but still very excited.  When the game launched in late December, I took the plunge and now I’m in it for the long haul.  How do I feel about my purchase, being a long-time fan of the series?  Read on to find out.

Ah, Tuesday, we meet again. At least this time you brought a brand new episode of the ESH Podcast with you, so that's cool.

This episode has gadgets, and anime so get ready!

Was that an editorial comment our friends at MusicSkins were making about the fleeting nature of fame on this promotion for smartphone skins? I mean, why promote the removability of the skins so highly?

Of the hundreds of millions of designs of iPads and other popular mobile devices at this year's CES, the one that seemed most out of place was "Sky and Water I," drawn by Dutch artist M.C. Esher in 1938.

There it was, on the same table at the Lux Mobile booth as designs featuring Marilyn Monroe and a host of other movie stars and modern popular icons.

Then there was the Esher-designed iPad covered with 18,000 Swarovski crystals that had been dipped in 24 karat gold -- a limited edition case that sold for a cool $3,000.

As you can see, it's beautiful. I've got no problem with that. It's just that pairing Esher with the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Elvis and Hello Kitty seems, well, discongruous.


The actual Consumer Electronics Show for 2011 has barely gotten started and already a few things are very apparent.

One of those things is demonstrated in this photo of yet another proposed iPad killer, the Motion Tablet PC. Just read the hype line underneath the name of the product: "Meticulously designed, thoroughly developed and purposefully built for business." Personally, I find that overwordingly overwordy.

Here's some more observations: