Tuesday, June 18, 2013

MadCap's Mad Ranting - "Microsoft Confesses that Xbox One is a Flop"

I honestly didn't think it would happen. I take back everything I have said. CLEARLY Microsoft can learn from their mistakes and move on to do things that are not sales suicide.

Thanks to "thetastyduckbutter" for the video to link.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

MadCap's E3 Rantings (So Far)

Well, E3 certainly gave us quite a bit to work with, didn't it? More Xbox One bashing (a stupid title for a stupid console), and the pricing of both that system and the Playstation 4 (no guesses as to what side of the next console wars I'm on), Kingdom Hearts 3, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Destiny all revealed. Looks really neat!

This has nothing to do with my point, I just found it funny.
Oh, and of course Halo 5, but I've already mentioned my almost disdainful attitude towards the Halo series at this point.  Yes, Microsoft, you've had a great cash cow of a series.  But when you really get down to it, it hasn't been good since the first one.  Not to sound like an aged Hipster or anything of the kind, but really, the original Halo was pretty much the high point of that series.  And when Bungie left after Halo 3, just forget it.  Halo 2 suffered the problem of splitting up my time to a protagonist that I don't care about - whether or not he's voiced by Goliath - and a cliffhanger ending that was completely unecessary.  Halo 3 suffered from "Oh, no, really, you should have read all the extra source material" syndrome.

No thank you, Halo 3, now please go sit in the corner on your piles of money and think about what you've done.

However, that does bring me Destiny, something I do actually care to talk about.  The newest project of Bungie, it's an ambitious little thing.

Not even gonna lie, it looks good. Then again, it's Bungie, so I'm not expecting it to look anything but good. Though I'm far more hesitant about how a game looks after certain games with their trailers that tell us sweet, sweet lies before giving us a monster turd. Still, this one will definitely be on my list for ones to get, though likely on the PS4 if that'll even be possible.

And speaking of things to come that will probably disappoint me...
Eh...good to see Morrigan again (at least I'm assuming that's her what with the look at the Claudia Black voice), but I don't know. Don't get me wrong, Dragon Age II notwithstanding, the Dragon Age series has been relatively fun and interesting. Maybe this will be their glorious redemption after the fiasco of that second game.  Maybe they will do everything right and it will be a wonderful sequel that will live up to the original.

Also, maybe Joe Quesada will publicly apologize for his crimes against Spider-Man fans. Anything could happen.

Apart from that, the only other comment I have to make on E3 in general.

You want me to pay five hundred dollars for a system that has always on Kinect, has to be checked in online every twenty-four hours, and that restricts the use of used games?

Get real, Microsoft!

And yeah, E3's not over yet. But if anything else comes to light, I'll keep you all updated.

But until then, lemme close with this...

Friday, June 7, 2013

MadCap Reviews - "Fancy Pants Adventures"

Oh, goodie, more Flash Games! This time a bit of an older title comes to my attention, Fancy Pants Adventures available on Armor Games, and more recently (by the game's own admission) on the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network. Developed by one Brad Borne and a Ts7, this game is now pushing seven years old.  Does it still hold up? Is it worth it to even give it a shot? Will I ever get back to reviewing actual game releases?

 Well, if you have to ask, then you don't know.  Thankfully I'm going to answer those questions...most of them, anyway.

In this world, the player is given control of a stick man with wicked hair and a pair of brightly colored - one might argue fancy - pants, who traverses the world to...well, there is no real plot to this one. There's a bit with a penguin near the end, but that's not so much a plot as a final boss fight.  The controls for moving around Fancy Pants Man are pretty much what you'd expect for a platformer like this, the arrow keys move you, the 'S' Key allows you to jump and that's really all you need.  Like Mario if he had awesome pants and some killer hair, F.P. Man can leap on the heads of his enemies, sending them into a daze before punting them off into the air with a strong running kick.

There's also collectables available that are Easter eggs, little nods to other Newgrounders and various others who aided in the development of the game, as well as the ability to change the color of your Fancy Pants from orange into a variety of other colors.

And that, so far as it goes, is pretty much it for Fancy Pants Adventures...well, the first one at least. I'd recommend it, just don't be looking for anything of real substance.  It's a platformer, and it's fun, but there's really not that much to it.  Luckily, I've played the second one, which has far more complexity, and I've heard that 3 increases the complexity of it even further. Who knows? There are plenty of Fridays left in the world.

Fancy Pants Adventures is now available on the internet.  Seriously, the link is above.