To make something fresh, you don’t always have to start from scratch. Sometimes you can take something that’s very well established and simply put it in an entirely different context. Suddenly, what is old becomes new again.

This is something Aliens Infestation does in more ways than one. In it, you’ll find a combination of many things. While the most pronounced is its Metroid “Lite” structure, it also borrows elements from cover based shooters and even has a tinge of survival horror. Everything comes together to form a game with its own strong identity, never feeling like a clone of any of the games it takes inspiration from.

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Did you buy a used copy of the Limited Edition of Ys SEVEN only to find out it was missing the cloth map, artbook, or soundtrack CD? Rather than searching eBay, now you can order any of these bonus items right from the source for $5 a pop (including shipping).

XSEED just announced the grand opening of their online store. Aside from individual bonus items, you can also purchase copies of various XSEED games including Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, several Ys games (both in limited and standard editions), Little King’s Story, Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, and more.

Curiously, there’s no sign of either Retro Game Challenge or the recently released Solatorobo: Red the Hunter at this time, but given that the store just went live that could change. While shipping is already included in the prices, there is a $20 minimum per order. Of course, most of the games are $20 anyway, but if you were just looking to get one of those fancy schmancy cloth maps, you’ll have to throw something else onto the order.

Source: XSEED

"This is the face of your DOOM!"

“Tales From the Backlog” is a series of articles in which WingDamage Editor-in-Chief, Jonah Gregory, finally gets around to playing through the many games he has collected throughout the years.

It isn’t often when a game comes along that pushes all the right nostalgia buttons. Everything I had heard and seen about Retro Game Challenge should have made me run out and buy the game on day one. Jesse even gave it a good review. I know, I’m part of the problem in this case and not the solution.

As part of my attempt to catch up on the awesome games I’ve missed over the years, I knew I had to remedy this situation. Fortunately, Amazon still carried Retro Game Challenge, as it seems to have disappeared from most store shelves.

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I picked up Monster Tale because I’ve been getting tremendously annoyed at Jesse flaunting his progress in Monster Hunter Portable 3rd. As the guy probably most responsible for getting me into the series, it tears me up to hear about his stories of Ice Barroths and Poison Royal Ludroths. I keep seeing all the fancy new equipment and armor dancing around in my head at night. I had to do something, anything, to tear in and bash up some monsters. I had to get my fix.

It turns out Monster Tale has absolutely nothing to do with Monster Hunter, but it’s still a really good game.

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Much like the increase in digital distribution over physical media, the injection of smartphones into the portable gaming ecosystem has quickly caused many to declare dedicated portable game systems officially dead. But is that really so?

I believe that each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. They can… no, they SHOULD coexist. To get rid of dedicated portable game systems in favor of touch screen phones would be to force an unnecessary limitation on ourselves.

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It’s that time of year. You know, the time when your wallet begs you for mercy? Yes, as the last quarter of 2010 comes, so does the deluge of new releases. But have no fear, WingDamage is here to help you remember which games are coming out for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Let the insanity begin!

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Golden Sun is one of those series’ that, while I enjoyed what I played of it, I completely forgot it existed; that is until Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was announced for the DS at 2009′s E3. Then I quickly forgot about it again until I finally got my hands on the title at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo (PAX).

There were two demo’s available on the show floor. One concentrated on the adventure elements while the other focused on the battle system. I played the battle system demo to completion, so I will start there.

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I’m of the opinion that kids games shouldn’t be garbage.

Just because a game is licensed or made for kids, this should not be used as an excuse to shove shoddy, unfinished games out the door. More often than not, short development cycles thwart any attempt to make a licensed game good, because much of the sales come from hitting the shelves at the same time as the movie a game is based off of.

That’s why I was happy to see that Toy Story 3 felt like a real game.

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When Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies came out a few weekends ago, everyone in my household played their respective copies non-stop for the first two days. Everything was going great at first, but then I started to get a horrible headache.

I started to notice that my hands were killing me. I realized that I was squinting the entire time I was playing, and the small size of the console was increasingly uncomfortable in my hands.

It was time to give in, admit that I am an old man, and grab a Nintendo DSi XL.

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I’m sure you’ve already heard the Puzzle Quest games described as “Bejewelled with hit points”. It is a pretty base statement, but not entirely untrue. Puzzle Quest 2 continues the tradition of adding role playing elements to a match-3 puzzle game, but this newest version does a few things that make it more enjoyable than its predecessors.

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