reviews. previews. podcast. and more...

Join sisters NinJaSistah and Pandalicious and the rest of the ESH Crew each day as they discuss video games, tech gadgets, anime, manga... pretty much everything within the geek chic lifestyle.

From Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC game reviews, previews, news, and gushings to audience questions and rumor mill seeding galore you'll find it here at ESH!
First Nerdgasm of 2010: ESH@CES Las Vegas!
 

Goings On



Search through the goodness that is ESH. Want to see if we are writing and chit chatting about the crap you're interested in.

Twitterings

     

    Advertisements



    Archives

    CES Coverage

    We went to CES and here's what we saw and molested.

    E3 Coverages

    One stop shopping for all of the ESH E3 goodness.

    Xbox 360 Stuffs

    Check out crew rantings on the XB360 platform.

    PS3 Things

    Yeah, we've talked about Sony stuff too, check em out!

    Wii Little Bits

    Get your Nintendo bits and bobbles here.

    Oh Hai! Anime-niacs

    Peep the stuff we've written about on the anime tip.

    Manga Love

    We less than three manga as well, so peep the manga reviews.

    ESH Photo Galleries

    Check out the snapshots we've taken at events and more here...


    When Is an Assassin Not An Assassin?

    posted @ 11/23/2009 08:03:00 AM by Ninjasistah
    When it's a pirate dressed as an Assassin, or when it's a Monday bringing you a new episode of the ESH podcast.

    In this episode of our weekly podcast NinJaSistah kicks off the podcast talking about UbiSoft's latest release Assassin's Creed 2 and the things that are better in this new title as well as the things that still need a bit of tweaking. Then Pandalicious chimes in to the episode with her impressions of Warner Brothers new Lego Rock Band title which spurs a bit of a warm discussion about the evolution of the music game genre and audiences.

    Need a sample of what this episode is like, take a look at the titles we came up with but decided not to use.
    • Free Pony Rides Included
    • Someone Needs Her Ginkos Biloba'd
    • Don't Ever Tell Your Mom You Have Outlets
    • Uncharted 2 Would Look Gorgeous In Legos

    Now, when you make it to the end of the episode, make sure to hit us up at Questions@ESH.mobi with your suggestions for great games to get with your first PS3. We will add whichever game gets the most love to our "Get Me This Shit For the Holliday" episode. But until we tape and produce that one, kick back and enjoy Electric Sista Hood Podcast 173: Assassinate Creed? Where Do I Sign Up?

    Labels: , , , , , , ,

    Finish what you start...

    No Entendre Title Here

    posted @ 10/26/2009 08:13:00 AM by Ninjasistah
    Sure, it would be easy to make a double entendre title for this weeks new podcast episode but we take the high road here at Electric Sista Hood.

    Ok, actually we don't, but it was a fun way to start this podcast post. This podcast episode is ALL game, no anime, no gadgets. Pandalicious kicks off the hour with her final thoughts on the PSP game Obscure: The Aftermath by Playlogic, including a recommendation to play it on something soft. She says the game is scary, and you'll through your PSP around like a rag doll. Then she goes into a spiel about her first reactions to the new 2K Games title Borderlands and explores the parallels between it's gameplay elements and the PC title Diablo. We then have a spirited conversation about how to get PC gamers over to the console gaming side of the fence.

    Then I finish out the hour talking about my experience with the social stuff on the Xbox Live Preview including Twitter and FaceBook. Closing out the hour is NinJaSistah's review of the EA title Need for Speed: Shift on the PS3. It's a busy episode, here are some of the titles for it that we didn't use:

    • This One Made Me Sing to Barney 'Til Dawn
    • Beware Games With Boys Choirs
    • Skeeziest Line of the Year: "The Flower Inside Me Has Just Bloomed!"
    • There's a Monster That Will Snatch Your Attention
    • Ninja Likes to Mounth Things — CONFIRMED!
    • and finally

    • SixAxiS Is a Palindrome — So Is Dud.

    Grab a frosty beverage and enjoy Electric Sista Hood Podcast Episode 169: First Rule of Midnight Club: Forget the Name of Midnight Club

    Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Finish what you start...

    Podcast Ahoy

    posted @ 9/14/2009 08:00:00 AM by Ninjasistah
    A fresh Monday brings with it a fresh episode of the ElectricSistaHood podcast. Get your morning cuppa joe ready guys and gals, this one is wordy.

    We have a bunch to cover in this one folks, there's The Beatles Rock Band, followed by the Guitar Hero 5 debacle between Courtney Love and Activision, and the pending DJ Hero title looming on the horizon. We tackle all these topics in the episode as well as a non complete spoiler review of the movie "Gamer" fresh on the heels of it's theatrical debut.

    For an idea of what this episode is like, here are the titles we didn't use:
    • Next: Kurt Cobain in Space Channel 5
    • Just to Make It Clear - It's Beatles Music
    • Come Together Means a Whole Different Thing to Pandalicious
    • Courtney Loves' Next Twitter Message: FML
    • It's Like Tron Meets the Running Man
    • The Only Message Gamers Understand Is "All Your Base Are Belong To Us"
    • and finally
    • And Roddy McDowell Doesn't Look Like a Chimpanzee

    Told you it was quite interesting. So kick back and enjoy ElectricSistaHood Podcast Episode 163: The Moral of This Show: Listen to The Bealtes, Play Games, and Curse Microsoft.

    Labels: , , , , , ,

    Finish what you start...

    The Dark Knight is back!

    posted @ 8/28/2009 08:03:00 PM by FreeLoader


    If you’ve ever played a Batman game before, then you may have just chosen to pass on Batman: Arkham Asylum. I’m here to help you realize exactly how big of a mistake that is. Little known company, Rocksteady Studios has a real hit in this new title, and you’ll regret not playing this game.

    I don’t even know where to start with this game. The amazing graphics? The impeccable voice acting? The extreme attention to detail? Or perhaps the innovative, smooth-flowing gameplay? It’s all just so good. Let’s begin with the engine, the game runs the Unreal engine – that just screams quality right there – and as such most everyone is buff to the max. Yes, even Commissioner Gordon. But it works for the set-up this game has. And the detail, oh the detail.

    Batman’s suit alone has an incredible amount. From the seams that hold it together, to the sound water makes when it hits your cowl and cape. As you progress through the game the suit and cape begin taking damage, tatters and slashes appear, showing how dangerous the situation is. Speaking of the cape, fans will be ecstatic to know that the developers spent so much time on the Dark Knight’s all-purpose fashion choice that they said it was basically treated as a character on its own. It shows too, most games with capes don’t pay any attention to cape details. As such, body parts and structures in the environment will all go through the cape as if it weren’t there. This causes the game to look unpolished and really detracts from the overall experience.

    Well down at Rocksteady, they realized how important the cape is to the Caped Crusader. So when you’re gliding with your cape and a wall comes up on your side, rather than disappearing into said wall, your cape will fold in to avoid hitting it. The cape is longer than Batman is, and this is represented by the cape folding onto the ground. Truly, the amount of detail place in just the cape speaks to how much this company wanted to get every detail down, so as to not upset any long time fans.

    You’d be hard pressed to find a better storyline too. The Joker has taken complete control of Arkham Asylum and has trapped you, Batman, inside it, as well as everyone who works there. Among the villains locked up in Arkham when Joker’s plan goes down are: Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr. Zsasz and Bane. All of which you should be ready to encounter in the worst way possible. And don’t forget the guest appearances and the huge amount of nods to other Batman villains. Riddler has challenges set up all across the island and when you find one that corresponds to a certain villain, it unlocks a bio for that villain. There were bios for villains I had never even heard of before (who the hell is Calendar Man?).

    To add to the great story, the voice actors in this game will please any Batman fans. Kevin Conroy is the most memorable Batman voice in the history of the franchise, but even more memorable than his Batman, is Mark Hamill’s Joker. Hearing these two voices face off against each other really adds just so much for fans of the old cartoon like me. I still say Mark Hamill should go down as the best Joker of all time. Fanboyism aside, the voices are great, and every minor character is fully voiced too which adds a cinematic feel to the entire game.

    Unfortunately you can’t expect more than 20 hours of gameplay if you know what you’re doing from the get go. In three days I have fully beaten the game on normal and have all the Riddler challenges found. For most of you this will be a rental, but for diehard Batman fans I will state that this game is a must own. A completely original story with a large cast of characters – this game feels a lot like a straight to DVD Batman movie, except you play it. I know I will replay this story many more times; I just can’t get enough of the CG movies and the conflict of Batman vs. some of his most powerful villains that seem to jump right off the screen. If the story mode isn’t enough to keep your attention, the challenge rooms surely are.

    The challenge rooms are the perfect place to showcase the gameplay of this title. There are fight rooms and “silent predator” rooms. Fight rooms showcase the beautiful combat of this game by pitting you against 4 rounds of enemies, increasing in difficulty for each round. Enemies range from your basic thugs, to knife-wielding inmates, stun rod toting baddies, titan-infected henchmen and even Zsasz. Now I’ll admit, I thought that the game’s combat system was going to get really old, really fast. I was wrong. Everything is so fluid, you take out thugs the way Batman should, with a variety of powerful attacks, throws and takedowns. Combat is only half the fun though; you can’t truly be Batman unless you prey on your enemies from the shadows.

    With detective vision giving you a layout of the room and the locations of all armed thugs, you use all your gadgets to move around the room silently and take out baddies one by one. As you dwindle their numbers some enemies get smart and pair up, while others become scared for their lives, shooting anything that makes noise and making them easy to pick off. Batman preys on his enemies’ fear of him, and predator mode really brings this aspect of the Dark Knight to life.

    So while fighting your basic thug is fun, the boss battles are severely lacking. Some of the biggest enemies are the easiest to beat, and the only fight that even remotely seems like a boss battle is the one against Poison Ivy (though the Scarecrow fights are very cool, and a total mind freak). Even the final battle with the Joker ends up being a bit anti-climactic, though the final hit will forever go down in my mind as epic. But I guess that’s how it is with Batman, whether you’re a petty henchmen or an 11-foot crocodile-humanoid, you’ll be going down with relative ease.

    As a PS3 owner, I was able to try out the Joker challenge maps. Basically you play as Joker on the normal versions of all of Batman’s challenge maps. Now I was looking forward to this, but you basically play just like Batman but with less gadgets and funnier takedowns. I will admit that it’s not a total loss. I do like the Joker mode, and it adds a new element of strategy to the predator maps since you cannot disappear into the shadows with your grappling hook. But honestly, it could have just as easily not been included; it doesn’t make the game by any means.

    The music is cool too, remixes of classic Batman tunes, and some catchy ones at that. The music fits with the eerie architecture of the asylum, and adds to the spooky mood of being locked in a box with all your worst enemies.

    I’ve got to give Batman: Arkham Asylum a 9/10. The only thing that could have made it a full 10 would be better boss battles, a few more of Batman’s sleek gadgets and some type of multiplayer would have been awesome – Batman/Nightwing co-op mode? A gamer can dream. This may only be Rocksteady Studios second game ever, but you can bet that I’ll be keeping a close eye on this company, because I see good things in their future. So long as they don’t try to force out a sequel.

    Written by: Bramimond

    Labels: , , , ,

    Finish what you start...

    Wasting time: Red Remover

    posted @ 8/11/2009 06:11:00 PM by Vichus Smith



    My favorite color is red, so it saddens me that this fun little PC Flash game tasks you with getting rid of all the red you see. Getting rid of red involves removing whatever you are allowed to, leaving only the good colors.




    There are four colors: green, blue, light red and dark red. Dark red is the only color that cannot be removed. So your strategies are to either click on a color to pop it out of existence, or somehow get a color off of the screen.





    All the while, these colored shapes are looking at you with their cute little faces. You'll be very sad if you let one of them down!




    You will know that all the brain juice you pumped out thinking of a solution has payed off when the good colored shapes let out a "Yay!" If you fail those poor green guys, you will hear a fart noise. Mm-hmm. If you fail enough, anyone within earshot of your computer might think you're battling a wicked case of flatulence.

    The first few levels are easy, but then some more physics are thrown in, forcing you to think even harder!Even if you consider yourself a brainy lad or lass, you'll still have to go through a bit of trial and error.

    Red Remover, even with its crafty physics puzzles, will not take you that much time to complete, so its perfect for goofing off at work. If you decide to play at home, you can extend the fun with the more difficult modes. I wish the game had more levels, but maybe the developers are saving their other ideas for a Red Remover 2!< You can play Red Remover on the Silver Games website.

    Labels: , , ,

    Finish what you start...