There was once I time where I wrote album reviews for Vice, earning shit-tons of hipster credits that I have yet to turn in to get my free fixie. Some shit ruled, some shit sucked. One time I reviewed an album and thought “Wow, they actually have to TRY to sound this bad. You can record it better on your phone.” It turns out that that band was friends of an editor, which is why I don’t write for Vice anymore. That got me thinking, how easy is it …

On Wednesday, February 20 Sony unveiled information about its new video game console simply entitled PS4. Along with information regarding new features, Sony showed off its upgrade to the almost 20 year old controller simply called the DualShock 4. Last of all Sony kind of threw in its updated motion control system simply titled Playstation 4 Eye. See a theme at all? What Sony did then took up over half the conference. They showed beautiful games. Not jaw dropping but definitely inspired with such new technology. Read on for the …

So, I hate bureaucracy. I hate the way it’s spelled, I hate the way it works and I hate the complete lack of common sense involved in its implementation. So, when I heard that the makers of Nanodots, those cool mini-magnetic-ball-thingies, were jumping through hoops to ensure that theirs was the safest mini-magnetic-ball-thingies on the market, I wanted to see what’s up.
Apparently, parents who buy the other brands can’t read warning labels that say HEY! DUMMY! THESE ARE NOT TOYS, DON’T GIVE THEM TO YOUR KIDS! and keep giving them …

The hit pay-what-you-like indie game phenomenon is back! After already raising over a million dollars for charity through the last two bundles, this year’s passed the $500K in donations mark in less than a day!  Humble Bundle is blind to social status, probation status, or platform. Rich, poor, Mac, and PC alike, all are welcome. But no DRM, and no Mexicans.
The Bundle helps give to needy causes in two ways; it brings awesome games to those deprived of quality indie-tastic entertainment, most likely small children and unemployed young men who …

Exciting news from Nintendo, according to multiple sources they are set to unveil plans for a new console at this year’s E3!

The pay-what-you-want phenomenon is back! Four games, all awesome.  Frozenbyte is offering a game collection worth almost $50, and is letting you name your own price. $1? A million dollars? You decide. The best part is all proceeds go directly to the developers and Charity!  The package includes Trine, Shadow Grounds, Shadow Grounds: Survivor, and a special pre-order bonus of Splot and Jackclaw. All games are DRM free and cross platform compatible for Mac, Windows, and Linux. What are you waiting for? Bundle up!
-By Laura Gaddy

This year’s E3 involved a whole lot of flailing around as everyone made a mad dash to grab their slice of the motion game controller market pie. There was one question on everyone’s collective minds- “Who’s going to pay for that broken lamp?”. Racket’s hot tip: Invest in living room furniture. Ikea is going to make a killing.

Tom Cruise prevents Kinect related accidents before they even happen.

Kinect- The most potential for  collateral damage of any motion controlled gaming device yet. Sure, getting to hand-wave through menus …

Split/Second
Disney Interactive Studios/Black Rock Studio
PS3/Xbox360
7/10
Disney made a racing game? And it’s set in… a reality television show set? I was skeptical but I have to admit, Split/Second is actually pretty darn fun. I was expecting whimsical vehicles that talk and Justin Bieber to be an unlockable driver, but if you came for that prepare to be pleasantly disappointed. Think Mario Kart with explosions. LOTS of explosions.
Disney admittedly is the master of mixing facades with charm so the massive rigged stage-settings being incorporated into the game play seems like a natural …

Ratchet and Clank
A Crack in Time
Insomniac Studios
8/10
The hardest working lombax in the galaxy is at it again, ready to take on a soap opera worth of cosmic drama with guns blazing. Shocking reveals, long lost relatives, and time travel hijinx keep you busy while jetting around on the heels of villainous madmen up to no good. Meanwhile your trusty companion Clank is off on a mystical mission, floating around tinkering with the fabric of time and space like it was a broken remote.  If you have played the series before, …

What do you mean you don’t get to fight a Kraken?!
Bio Shock 2
8 out of 10
2K Games
Daddy’s home! Rapture is looking a bit more strung out than usual this time around. 10 years of smelling like fish chum and being damp has made the residents a bit cranky it seems. This time around you play the beefy Big Daddy- part overzealous dentist, part salvage yard worker, topped off with a set of brass balls big enough to sink a tanker. You stumble to consciousness after a bad day at work …

Dante’s Inferno
EA Games
7/10
Based on Dante’s epic poem about descending through the 9 circles of Hell while being guided by Virgil, who you may remember as the owl-guy from Mighty Max. In an effort to bolster buzz EA Games launched a series of contrived promotion gimmicks, including trying to claim the game was being boycotted as “immoral” by staging fake protests with paid bible thumpers, and bribing reviewers with $200 checks, which we here at Racket are still waiting to receive. The only thing blasphemous about this game is the sacrilegious …

JoJo’s Fashion Show: World Tour
iWin Games
8/10
I’m not going to apologize for reviewing a children’s dress up game- deal with it. Jojo’s is my guilty pleasure. Where other fashion games are mostly empty fantasies in taffeta and bubblegum pink, Jojo’s  steps it up with style boot camp that pulls looks right off the hottest current day runways to make addicts out of even the toughest fashionistas. I’ve whiled away countless hours on the other two incarnations, sucking in friends along with me.  Jojo’s is more than a dress-up game, it is …

Time Gentlemen, Please! (PC) Zombie Cow Studios
9/10

Indie game designers Dan Marshal and Ben Ward have done it again with Time Gentlemen, Please!, their new time-traveling sequel to Ben There, Dan That!.
After returning home from their previous adventure and finding themselves the unquestioned rulers of the world the over-eager duo decide to celebrate with a global back to back Magnum PI marathon and in the process end up accidentally causing the death of everyone on earth when they forget to specify the need for snack breaks. After traveling back in time …

Katamari Forever
PS3
7/10
Get ready for more weird surreal fun and giant garbage balls then you can shake a tiny fist at.
Katamari Forever seems a bit self-aware, basking it its own strangeness and charm rather than working on retaining the feel of being something new and unique. However, those who liked the other games will still be thrilled to get back behind a Katamari ball and take it for yet another spin. Somehow, wreaking cheerfully animated havoc with impossibly sticky rolling mounds of death never seems to get old.
The picture book …

Scribblenauts
Nintendo DS
Warner Bros.
8/10
“So many nouns, so little time”
In Scribblenauts, you play a boy armed with a notebook that can make any object written in it magically appear, and spend your time running around solving puzzles in a colorful world of imagination, limitless exploration, and strategic destruction.
If you ever wanted to stage fantasy death matches Scribblenauts is a dream come true. Will they help you find an elusive Starite? Who cares, that werewolf just made Beggin’ Strips out of the Egyptian sun god! Junior cockfighting at its finest. Things …

Ghostbusters
Atari
(PS3/Xbox 360/Wii)
(5 out of 10)
I am a fan of the Ghostbusters films and was excited to see how the game was going to turn out. All of the original cast, minus one Rick Moranis, returned to voice the game. Seeing the cast in all their simulated preserved glory, spouting off quips and witty banter, does much to keep the dream of the iconic 80’s films alive while avoiding the unfortunate sight of the cast’s now aging sagging bodies stuffed into a set of tan overalls, and of course getting …