THE FIRE WIRE

After more than 11 months of Xbox 360 exclusivity, Netflix will be making its way to the PlayStation 3 next month.  Starting in November, PS3 owners who have Netflix accounts will be able to stream “thousands of movies and TV episodes” right from their consoles.

You can head over to netflix.com/ps3 right now to sign up to be notified when the service is available, and to reserve a free “instant streaming disc.”  Yep, you heard that right: at least “initially,” Netflix on PS3 will require a Blu-ray Disc to be in the PS3 in order to stream content– probably due to the fact that Netflix on the Xbox 360 requires syncing a console with a code, maybe that’s what this disc is doing.

If you’re a PS3 owner looking to open up a Netflix account, the minimum monthly plan that allows for Instant Watch costs $8.99 a month. Not bad a bad deal — especially considering that Xbox Live Gold Members still need a fifty-dollar-a-year account to do it.

It’s also been rumored that Netflix will be available via the Nintendo Wii within a year, but there is nothing concrete to support this as of yet.

HERE is the Official Sony/Netflix Press Release. (Written by Nick Creature)

Attention Zombie fanatics, tonight is a big night for you.  The Left for Dead 2 downloadable demo goes live at 11pm.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a multi-player, first-person shooter that has players taking control of one of four survivors as they try to make it through a zombie-infested New Orleans.  The game focuses on cooperation and team play.  It is the sequel to Left 4 Dead, arguably considered to be one of the best multi-player games of 2008.

Those who’ve pre-purchased Left 4 Dead 2 for on PC via Steam, Valve Software’s incredible online digital distribution store, can already start pre-loading the demo.

Early access to the L4D2 demo is also available for Xbox 360 customers.  Those who stop by a Gamestop to pre-order it should be able to pick up an early access code and be ready to play tonight at 11pm when the demo launches on xbox live.

If you’re any kind of a zombie fan, then you’re probably already loading your shotgun in anticipation just like I am.  See you online tonight.  And remember, aim for the head and always save the last one for yourself just in case. (Written by Nick Creature)

Winter is for gamers what summer is to cinephiles.  Here at The Fire Wire, we’ll let you know what’s coming out on a weekly basis and what releases you should keep your eye on when it comes to getting the most play for your hard-earned buck.  It seems the holiday buying season is upon us once again.  Let the game deluge begin.

This week sees three huge releases.  DJ Hero does for hip-hop exactly what Guitar Hero did for Rock Music and a party full of drunks.  Release your inner Jam Master Jay by scratching and cross-fading along to the pretty lights.

Christmas arrives a little early for the gear-heads as Forza Motorsport 3 peels out this week exclusively on Xbox 360.  Probably the absolute best driving simulator to date, the game is fully customizable, has a die-hard community of car-tuners behind it, and comes complete with a second disc full of nothing but race tracks and cars.

And just in case you’ve got a die-hard itch to kick someone in the face this week, Tekken 6 has your back.  2009 has proved that old-school fighters are back with a vengeance and tougher than ever.     

Those uber-titles release alongside two other noteworthy contenders, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

This week’s total game count: 20 for DS; 19 for Wii; 10 for 360; 8 for PSP; 6 for PC; 5 for PS3; and 4 for PS2.  Ouch.  Can’t tell which is gonna hurt more; my fingers or my wallet? 

Monday (Oct. 26)

Are you Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Game Time (Wii, DS, 360)
The Backyardigans (DS)
Borderlands (PC)
Hasbro Family Game Night (DS)
Hasbro Family Game Night 2 (Wii)
Mytran Wars (PSP)
Nerf N-Strike Elite (Wii)
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day (Wii, PS2)
Spongebob: Truth or Square (Wii, PSP, DS, 360, )
World of Zoo (Wii, DS, PC)

Tuesday (Oct. 27)

100 All-Time Favorites (DS)
Adventures To Go! (Gamestop Exclusive, PSP)
All Star Cheer Squad 2 (Wii)
Atelier Annie Alchemists of Sera Island (DS)
Barbie and the Three Musketeers (Wii, DS)
Ben 10: Alien Force Vilgax Attacks (360, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP)
Chronicles of Mystery:Curse of the Ancient Temple (DS)
CSI Deadly Intent (360, Wii, PC)
CSI Deadly Intent: The Hidden Cases (DS)
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 3 (Wii)
Dance Dance Revolution X2 (PS2)
Diner Dash: Flo on the Go (DS)
DJ Hero (360, PS3, PS2, Wii)
Drawn to Life: Next Chapter (Wii, DS)
Dream Salon (DS)
Fairytale Fights (360, PS3)
Forza Motorsport 3 (360)
Hidden Mysteries Titanic (Wii, DS)
Jewel Quest Mysteries (Wii)
Jurassic the Hunted (360, PS3, Wii, PS2)
League of Legends: Clash of Fates (PC)
Sim Animals: Africa (Wii, DS)
Tekken 6 (360, PS3)
Petz Dogz Family (PSP)
Petz Dolphinz Encounter (DS)
Petz Hamsterz Bunch (PSP)
Petz Saddle Club (PSP)
Press Your Luck 2010 Edition (Wii, DS, PC)
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3)
The Stronghold Collection (PC)
Sushi Academy (DS)
Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure (DS)

Wednesday (Oct. 28)

Inferno Pool (360)

Thursday (Oct. 29)

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (360)

Friday (Oct. 30)

Ghostbusters (PSP)
Remington North American Bord Hunter (Wii)

(Written by Nick Creature)

Borderlands chronicles a group of treasure hunters on a dusty slog across the planet Pandora as they seek out the legendary treasures of a mysterious place called the Vault.  From the moment the bus drops your player off at the deserted town of Fyrestonet, you best steel yourself because a lot of rootin-tootin’, lootin’ and shootin’ is about to be done.

In Borderlands, there are four characters to choose from: a burly, melee-skilled Berserker; a turret-spawning Soldier; a Siren, whose Phasewalking skill makes her fast and invisible; and a Hunter, who favors his sniper rifle and pet Bloodwing Falcon.  Each character comes armed with dozens of customizable skills and the game packs in over a hundred missions to play through.  Part first-person shooter, part role-playing game, a constant collection of Halo-esque recharging shields, stat-boosting artifacts, character class modifiers, grenade types, and “bazillions” of guns is much of Borderlands appeal.  But the real star is its four-player, cooperative multiplayer mode.

Co-op is what Borderlands does best.  Blasting off a jump in a vehicle when you’ve got a real-live partner in the gunner’s seat and two more that are clearing the road in front of you is just plain damn fun as hell.  It’s nice that the game rewards tightly focused, well-commanded squads.  When player skills and capabilities complement each other well, a good squad can churn through some of the games less interesting fetch quests, haul ass as a team to the next score, and power level each other in a blink.  And contrary to popular multi-player shooter belief, slogging through Borderlands with a novice isn’t such a bad thing either.  From personal experience, carrying the newbie quickly evolved into spot-on order taking and on the fly strategizing as the inexperienced player began to grasp the simple concept of team work/team reward versus wandering aimlessly and competing for loot drops.  And that’s what this game is really all about: loot, loot, and more loot.

Borderlands has a quickly addictive reward system- from randomized weapons with elemental ammo to big bonuses in cash and experience for completed quests.  This reward system kept the game going longer than I intended every single time I played.  If you’ve ever played World of Warcraft, then you definitely are no stranger to the phrase, “Just one more quest, and I swear I’ll turn it off.”  Borderlands elicits the same response.  New loot, new levels, and new areas to explore provide constant curiosity as to what’s coming next.  Tons of small quests with big rewards make it hard to put down.  But besides being fun, Borderlands looks damn good.

The game’s “concept art” cell-shading adds personality to what otherwise might have been flat, barren stretches of desert land.   A thick-lined, cartoon style makes the game look like a living graphic novel.  Player characters and enemy designs are sharp.  Awesome texture work makes a been-done-to-death, post-apocalyptic environment really eye catching.  Effects, such as the way an enemy burns when dying from a fire attack, are also really cool to see… and hear.  The game’s voice-acting is also really well-done.  And while the game’s story may be nothing special to write home about, some of the things that the whacked-out characters of the wasteland say and the conviction with which they deliver them could be considered comic gold.

In short, Borderlands gets lots of things right.  Balance is one of them.  The shooting mechanics are sound, as are many of the role-playing aspects.  But where Borderlands excels is in offering a functional four-player cooperative, loot-hoarding experience, with gorgeous environments to adventure in.  The game feels like a Massively Multiplayer Online game that doesn’t require large groups of other players to enjoy.  Borderlands is also one of those games that is so strong in certain parts that its shortcomings- barebones story, lackluster AI- can be overlooked without a second glance.  When you’re with a couple good friends frantically trying to stay alive as your being swarmed by angry hordes of midget-psycho mutants, giant spider-ants, and three-balled hillbillies from another planet, you probably won’t care too much about that other stuff.  Borderlands strongly succeeds where plenty of others have failed miserably. (Review written by Nick Creature)

The Fire Wire is expanding into a new arena today…gaming.  We will post interesting reviews, upcoming release announcements and other related news. Here is a review of the recently released game Brutal Legend written by our new gaming correspondent, Nick.

Brutal Legend is the latest game from the mind of Tim Schafer (Double Fine Productions), the man behind such classic games as Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, and the critically acclaimed Psychonauts.

In Brutal Legend, you play as Eddie Riggs, a roadie for the band Kabbage Boy, the nu-metal teen idols whose number one hit-song confirms Riggs’s worst nightmare that heavy metal music is officially dead.  After a freak stage accident causes some of Riggs’s blood to spill onto his belt buckle, which was actually forged from a piece of the metal skeleton of Ormagöden, the ancient Fire Beast god of a mystical alternate heavy metal universe, Riggs awakens in a strange world where heavy metal suffers under the tyrannical thumb of the evil, cloven-footed Lord Doviculus.  Using every skill he’s learned from a life spent on the road and in the shadows of rock gods, Eddie must free this oppressed world from the demon reign. To do this he needs three things: a bad-ass car, an army of metal-heads, and the true power of rock and roll.

Brutal Legend is a game that can’t be classified by genre.  It mixes several different several styles of gameplay, from open-world action-adventure to real-time strategy to vehicle combat, and it borrows from every genre you can think of, simplifying each core mechanic so that it is not cumbersome to the player.  The game starts off by teaching you basic guitar and axe button-mashing combat, then eases into some simple driving and shooting.  Before long, Brutal Legend plunges players into “Stage Battles,” which are watered-down, real-time strategy skirmishes to attack and defend rock concerts where headbangers and groupies are the meat for the heavy metal grinder.  It’s an odd mixing of gameplay styles that really shouldn’t mesh together but do in the context of the crazy lore in which they are steeped.

And that’s where Brutal Legend really shines like a rainbow in the dark.  It is hilariously scripted and brilliantly imaginative.  The story is deep, the characters and struggles are real, and there is heartfelt emotion behind a ton of laugh-out-loud moments.  It is clear from the game’s cold opening that the intention was not only to point out the absurdity of the connotation that comes with the label of heavy metal, but also to treat that source material with the love and reverence it clearly deserves.  The album cover menus are the absolute best in any game to date.    

Non-lovers of metal music will have a fun time with the game thanks to its visually striking look, its fun core gameplay, its truly funny script, and its A-list voice talent headlined by Jack Black, but true metal heads should immediately get hell bent for leather to find a copy of Brutal Legend.  The inside jokes, cameos, and a soundtrack that may as well be a retrospective heavy metal history lesson make this a game a must own.

With two devil horns raised enthusiastically high for Brutal Legend, Shafer and his Double Fine team have masterfully tuned different gameplay strings into a completely satisfying experience that no lover of rock and roll will want to miss out on.  

Review written by Nick Creature