WHAT: Astro A30
PRICE: $150 ($230 bundled with mixamp)
COMPARE TO: Tritton AX 720, Turtle Beach Ear Force X41
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING: Astro is already known for its hardware design (they’re the firm behind the Xbox 360 and Alienware rigs) and its headphones (the A40 is at the top of the heap for MLG gaming cans), but with this “cross-gaming” unit they take aim at the casual/commuter market. The result? +10 for headshot…
TITLE: God of War III
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER/PLATFORM: Sony Santa Monica/Sony/Playstation 3
FUN FACT: 7-Eleven’s limited-edition “Kratos Fury” Slurpee (ayo!) is a combination of blackberry and lime flavors. Actually, it’s “blackberry lime blended with chaos.” Seriously.
WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Because as much the franchise’s first two games stand as truly epochal experiences of the Playstation’s previous iterations, this one ups the ante by squeezing every last dark drop out of the PS3’s processing power. In the form of ichor. It’s hugely violent, hugely entertaining, and hugely fucking huge. By now you’ve seen clips of the opening sequence, with Kratos scaling Mount Olympus on Gaia’s titanic self, but believe us when we say it somehow gets bigger from there—not always in scale (that’d be impossible), but in scope. If you’re going to spend $44 million on a game, this is how it should be done. Plus, we could never pass on a game that has Kyle from Living Single as the lead character…
Damn it! Just as we were all set to propagate some unsubstantiated rumors about the forthcoming Modern Warfare 2 map pack—specifically, that there was a map called Complex and we were going to demand having images of our issues programmed in—Infinity Ward had to come along and ruin our fun. IW’s community manager Robert Bowling, aka “the only way to find out anything about Infinity Ward especially since people got fired,” went on Major Nelson’s podcast this morning to talk about the “cure for mapathy” that the company started touting heavy last week.
Here’s what now know: It’ll be 1200 Microsoft points ($14.99, because that extra penny is what makes it a “must-buy” for you!). It’ll be out March 30, which we already knew. Two of them are favorite maps from Call of Duty 4. Oh, and we’ve got names, descriptions, and some journalistically questionable screenshots that we shamelessly grabbed from the intertubes ALLEGEDLY depict the various levels. Check it all after the jump….
If we can learn anything from the success of the Nintendo Wii, the 3D movie resurgence, and Japanese dudes marrying their pillows, it’s that regular interaction with life, movies and games will no longer cut it. Everyone is trying to take it to the next level—and if you don’t, you’re going to get left. So it comes as no surprise that, at a time when the music gaming industry is leveling out, Seven45 Studios would make their move. Their upcoming game Power Gig: The Sixth String doesn’t have a whole band set and it doesn’t have a track list out yet, but it does have one thing: A guitar controller with strings. It’s probably the closest thing to a real guitar gaming is ever going to see, but we couldn’t help to think: will it work?
Many pieces of gaming hardware promise fun through realism and cool technology but they don’t all succeed (i.e. Tony Hawk practically begging people to play his game). Ambition: an attribute and a flaw. Don’t believe us? Peep our history of gaming’s most ambitious hardware…
Look, it’s raining. It’s raining, and it’s gray, and it’s doing that horrible fucking low air pressure thing that makes your bones ache almost as much as your soul. Which is why you need to take control of a “droplet” that looks a bit like Cartman wearing a Hershey Kiss helmet, and then rely on three buttons (left, right, up/jump) to…fall. That’s it. All you gotta do is fall, and collect hearts, and don’t land on spikes or in water. And don’t rest on any surfaces for too long, or else you’ll die. God of War 3 it ain’t, but that’s not the point, is it? Mute the game, turn on some decent music, and get thee to the weekend with our droplety blessing.
All week, Complex fam Nick Marroni is at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, soaking up game and putting us on it. Read on for his summation of Day Three…
Welcome back to Mobile Check-In, where every week we present the latest and greatest in mobile handset gaming. When we last showed you the hottest games for the iPhone, Assassin’s Creed lead the pack as the best new game for the Apple device. This time around we have a five new games that solidify the iPhones spot as the best gaming phone on the market. On deck this week is Street Fighter IV, the next Doodle Jump, and a familiar character that’s pretty good with his hands (ayo!). Hit the jump to see which games made the cut along with download links and gameplay footage.
All week, Complex fam Nick Marroni is at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, soaking up game and putting us on it. Read on for his summation of Day Two…
Just wanted to let you know that starting right now, you can friend us on Xbox Live through the gamertag ComplexMag. This doesn’t mean that you can play WITH the magazine, exactly, but that it’ll serve as a place for like-minded (i.e., Complex-loving) gamers to connect for online play. Say you feel like jumping on for some Modern Warfare 2 or Borderlands, but none of your other friends are online—if you’ve friended ComplexMag, you can see what other friends of the ’plex are online and playing your game, and shoot ’em a game invite.
Keeps your friends list intact while adding a whole new social group…because we all know smack talk is more fun when people get your rap references. Soon we’ll also be using this to organize gaming nights with Complex staff and celebrities, but for now just shoot ComplexMag a friend request on Xbox Live and we’ll get this started off right…
All week, Complex fam Nick Marroni is at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, soaking up game and putting us on it. Read on for his summation of Day One…
Yes, Battlefield 2 Bad Company is finally out, and with more games on the way, we may finally see people beginning to leave the overcrowded abusive lobbies of Modern Warfare 2. But that doesn’t mean there’s not still time to play like a complete a-hole! Yes, with the judicious use of certain perks, weapons, and behaviors, you too can pad your own kill/death ratio while still actually being shitty at the game. And we’re here to tell you how!
And don’t worry—MW2 may have the highest a-hole/non-a-hole ratio in gaming right now, but we’re confident that each new robust multiplayer experience will bring us a whole new breed of a-hole…or at least the same a-holes who have simply adapted to find the loopholes in every game that comes out. Because that’s what a-holes do. But enough about OTHER a-holes—become your own a-hole today! And if we’ve missed out on a species of a-hole, just call ’em out in the comments. Aloha!
Today marks the official beginning (last night’s Final Fantasy XIII Launch Party doesn’t really count) of the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, aka “The Only Place Your Weird Cousin Would Rather Go Than Hedonism.” The annual event is possibly the most significant gaming get-together in the U.S.—every developer worth their chips is there, and this year’s includes addresses from Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamato (yes, there’s a Yoshi who works at the Home of Mario) and Civilization O.G. Sid Meier. It’s paradise for gamers, so you know we had to be there: Our dude Nick Marroni, esteemed freelancer and official Friend of Complex, will be out there all week, tweeting what he sees and summing up his thoughts each day. Until then, though, we’ll let Nick entice you…
Read the rest of the story »
With all the pandemonium surrounding recent AAA releases—whether Bioshock 2, Heavy Rain, or Battlefield Bad Company 2—people seem to have forgotten that there’s a little indie title coming out tomorrow called… Ah, gee, what was it again? Oh, yes: FINAL FUCKING FANTASY XIII. Which isn’t the legal title, but is surely how it’s thought of by its global legion of hardcore fans and housebound otakus who have happily been sinking months of their life into each title for the past…23 years?! Yes, hard to believe, but the very original Final Fantasy came out in 1987. And if this is your first time considering a FF title, you may want to take a moment to peruse the game’s previous iterations—after all, this has historically been one of the most sprawling and addictive franchises in gaming history (no shots, Elder Scrolls!), not to mention having more titles than the Sweet Valley High universe. So read on, because you can’t know your future if you don’t know your oddly compelling quasi-elfin past…
The Oscars might be looming closer and closer, but we find ourselves caring less and less. Sure, we’re down to give credit where credit is due, but we’re just not in the mood to watch 13 James Cameron bombastic speeches. Or Alec Baldwin’s “I’m lampooning Hollywood because it’s ridiculous WAIT WAIT PLEASE HIRE ME” schtick. Or Monique’s stubble. So instead, we’ll be avoiding Billy Bush’s vagina stupidity by firing up some Battlefield Bad Company 2, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still mock the Academy Awards, does it?
So in the interest of actual entertainment, we cooked up the Throaties, our own Complex-approved award bestowed on your mom all those voice actors who bring us so many memorable cut scenes, jokes, and cartoonish accents. They might not be able to thank the little people, but they’ll be able to thank us—and that’s all that matters. And fuck a Price Waterhouse Cooper, we’re announcing the winners early! Read on to see who’s taking home some real hardware…
In case you haven’t figured it out, Casual Fridays aren’t about tower defense games, or RPGs, or zombie shit. When you’re whiling away the afternoon during the last work day of the week, do you really want to think about what you need to do? No, you want something that’s doable in your state of stultifying workday ennui.
Enter Primary, which is possibly the sublime realization of that very nonchallenging ideal. Play as Hueman, a blue (or red, or yellow) Keith Haring-esque figure platforming his way through the many floors of a skyscraper. The music is techno-lullaby, the graphics are suitable for a child/stoner/braindead cubicle drone (or, in our case, all three), and—fuck it, it’s just fun. Long, too, so if you don’t finish it today, there’s always next week…
| Nintendo Wii
Shop Low Prices on: Nintendo Wii Console w/ Wii Sports at Wal-Mart |
