"Poorly-Photoshopped Representation"

If you could put your ear to the tubes that make up this internet thing, you would hear thousands of people talking about digital distribution. There is no question that digital distribution is the future. You can already download your favorite songs, books, movies, and thousands of games. In the future, there might not even be discs or cartridges. Everything will just download out of the ether onto some crazy futuristic device.

I am a Steam weekend deal addict. My PSP memory sticks are full of PSP Minis and old PS1 games. I have so many Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, and Wii downloads that I am a little embarrassed. I have nothing against digital downloads, but it seems to me from looking into the muddy waters of the future that a war is coming between digital and physical goods. (more…)

On a very special fifty-ninth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, while shopping for some cans, the guys passed away, floated up towards heaven, but got lost along the way. Now, together, they form the Love-Matic Grandpa. They will fill your hearts with looooooove.

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We all have those games that we miss the first time around. With the busy release schedule of modern gaming, no one has time to play everything. That is why we at WingDamage present to you “Fashionably Late Reviews“. This is our series on games from the current generation of consoles that we may have missed on their initial release, but have gone back to experience now.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of those titles that I missed the first time around. I think a lot of it had to do with being burned out on Star Wars in general. There has certainly been an over-saturation of the franchise leading up to, and ever since, the prequel movies.

However, I am a long time fan of the original trilogy, as well as many of the “expanded universe” novels. It was always my plan to go back to The Force Unleashed and the Ultimate Sith Edition was the perfect excuse to do so.

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"Because there's always room for more Valkyria Chronicles."

It’s hard to believe it has been almost a full year since the last Valkyria Chronicles DLC was released. By this point, I had almost forgotten that more was on the way. But when it finally came, I was eager as ever to return to my “Game of the Year” of 2008.

The “Challenge of the Edy Detachment” DLC pack will cost five of your earth dollars and contains six new skirmish battles. Unlike the last DLC involving Edy, you will not be locked into using a specific set of characters. Instead, you’re free to select your own characters from your squad, complete with the levels and equipment set you left them at last time.

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"How awesome is Wipeout HD? So awesome!"

Anybody who has kept up with our podcast knows that we here at WingDamage really enjoy Wipeout HD. Before the Fury pack was announced, Jonah and I often discussed how great it would be if Wipeout HD were to get DLC, especially if it included more tracks. Thankfully, Studio Liverpool had hidden mics listening to our conversations and decided to grant our wishes at a ten dollar price point.

Though ten dollars might seem steep at first glance for a single DLC pack, a quick look at what Fury brings to the table will help put your mind at ease. The pack adds eight new tracks on top of the previous eight (not including reverse versions), thirteen new ship models, three new game modes, a new eighty-event campaign (the original campaign had eighty-seven events), revamped menus, and new trophies. This effectively doubles the content of what was originally a twenty-dollar game. To put it simply, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

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This may come off as grumpy old man complaining that “Back in my day, we only had Combat on Atari, and we liked it!”, but it is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I’m warning you now this is a full on opinion piece.

Do we, as gamers, complain too much? Do we take into consideration everything that goes into making the games we play in the first place? And do we, or should we, care?

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"Good thing this machine-gun/sniper rifle has a flamethrower on the end of it!"

It’s no secret that I love Valkyria Chronicles. Not only was it my favorite game of 2008, it was also my very first review here at Wing Damage. Long have I awaited for the promised downloadable content. Was it worth the wait and, more importantly, the price of admission?

Read on and decide for yourself!

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"Mario Tractors"

On a very special tenth episode of “Barrel Roll! – A Video Game Podcast”, we are once again joined by our good friend Wesley Johnson from InsulinFunk.net

We are also having a contest, the details of which are found at the end of the episode. More info is located after the break.

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"What have I become?"

In a very special fifth episode of “Barrel Roll! A Video Game Podcast”, we discuss the abomination that is “Sonic Unleashed”. Jesse shares his thoughts on “Gradius Rebirth”, while Jonah has been playing “Johnny Platform’s Biscuit Romp”. Luke tells us all about violence the game… I mean “Mad World” for the Wii.

In the news, we talk about the upcoming Chrono Cross Arrange Album coming out for the games 10th anniversary, and we even play a clip in the break. There is more Fable 2 DLC on the way? Good times! Also Bioshock 2 and more.

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"View the latest sections of your disc, now available for purchase!"

In our modern age of online-capable gaming consoles, downloadable content (DLC) is becoming increasingly common. There’s no denying this fact. But is this a positive trend? On the outside, it would appear so. DLC allows developers to continually provide their users with new content for games that might otherwise be put back on the shelf quickly after their release. In theory, it’s a wonderful system to potentially add a great deal of longevity to a game over time. Unfortunately, developers don’t always use this concept in a way that’s fair to their users. That’s right. DLC has a dark side.

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