Xbox Reveal... Underwhelming

So the live-blog thing didn't quite go the way I wanted it to, primarily because the reveal is underwhelming. I am strongly considering just turning it off. There is far too much focus on turning the Xbox One into some kind of Hub-like One-stop-shop for everything in your living room. I wouldn't be having one in my living room! It's all been TV and sport so far. Very little mention of games.

We will bring you a complete update tomorrow at some point, after all the dust has settled but for now, I really cant bring myself to keep going with the One reveal.

Update: Tomorrow Will Be A Busy Day

We are sorry for a massive lapse in content again everyone, but honestly neither me nor Sean have found anything worth reporting, that hasn't already been reported on in a greater amount of detail in other places. There are big things on the horizon though, don't worry. From me there will be a Bioshock Infinite DLC review as soon as it comes out and I get my grubby little mitts on it and Sean has some plans that I'm not too sure on, you would have to ask him, I'm afraid.

But tomorrow, tomorrow is a big day for 360 players such as myself, the Next Box, Durango, 720, Xbox Infinity... whatever you want to call it is being announced all across the world on 360 and Xbox.com, and I for one will be watching on the 360's Live Events Player at 6pm GMT. I will also be live updating a special blog post as the conference goes on to try and keep you up to date with all the ins and outs.

We are too nice to you.

Scribblenauts Sued Over Cat Memes!?

Will the world never stop being absolutely and utterly stupid? As you may have guessed by the title, Scribblenauts creators, 5th Cell are being sued over the use of Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat by the people who created them. My brain can't even... WHAT IS THIS!?

Kotaku dug up the lawsuit, which I found on Rock, Paper, Shotgun and it reads as follows:

“Plaintiffs accuse Warner Bros and 5th Cell of including, without any licenses or authorizations, the Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat characters in their original Scribblenauts videogame released in 2009, the 2010 Super Scribblenauts, 2011 Scribblenauts Remix, and the 2012 Scribblenauts Unlimited.”

“Defendants are accused of shamelessly using identifying ‘Nyan Cat’ and ‘Keyboard Cat’ by name to promote and market their games. Plaintiffs claim that Warner Bros and 5th Cell’s trademark infringement was willful and intentional and are requesting an award of treble damages and requesting the case be deemed exception under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), thereby entitling Plaintiffs to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees.” 

Warner Bros. and 5th Cell are of yet to make a statement, but this lawsuit comes at a really strange time considering the memes in question have been Easter eggs in various Scribblenauts games for years. But maybe they weren't copy-written until recently? Who knows, not me. We will try to keep you posted as this story unfolds.

I, for one, hope nothing comes of this because I absolutely love Scribblenauts, and everyone else should!

Rusty Hearts Online - Weird Name, Great Game

Over the course of the last week I have gotten back into PC gaming and there is one game I found in the course of my searching for new games to play that has had me more hooked than any other. This game is the ludicrously titled "Rusty Hearts".

Developed by Stairway Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment, was released way back in 2011, with the first expansion Rusty Hearts: Reborn dropping in July 2012. Even though the game its self is a couple years old now I still felt compelled to review it and give it some exposure because this game is mind blowing.

Rusty Hearts is a free to play anime inspired hack and slash MMORPG, taking influence from games such as Castlevania, Persona and to a certain extent, Diablo. Personally I feel like the games biggest influences are the newer Castlevania games and the Stylish system from Devil May Cry, as each area you fight through is scored on a style rank from F to SSS.

I can only speak for one character, Frantz - The Vampire Knight, in this review so if you have played RH:O and think I am covering something wrong or with not enough depth, that's probably why. I should also note that I haven't been paying too much attention to the story but then again, I wasn't planning on writing this article and I was just enjoying the combat sections so much.

Controls: Movement is done with either the arrow keys or clicking with the mouse. I don't know if you can click to move in the dungeon sections as I haven't tried, but you can in the over world. Your combat skills are bound to A,S,D,F,G and H and X is standard attack. Z is guard and C is grab. Consumables such as potions are used with the number keys. The keys are fully configurable in case you fancy trying something different.

The Combat: I only really have one word for the combat in RH:O and that is "Yes." RH:O absolutely nails combat, it's fast and fluid and the combos you can pull of using the skills at your disposal are amazing. I'm not that great at it and I'm using a keyboard and mouse (partial game pad support is available) but I can still clear dungeons on the Very Hard setting pulling off 80 hit combos without even trying, and as the enemies level up and can withstand more damage that number will only get higher.

Rusty Hearts provides a reasonable challenge but there are some quests that have you retrace your steps. It never feels grindy and there is always something to do. If you like hitting things fast and lots with swords, scythes, gauntlets or guns then Rusty Hearts could very well be for you. Don't let the age put you off, it still looks gorgeous, as gorgeous as an anime game can be. The controls are tight and the combat is nearly perfect. What are you waiting for? Kick some ass.

Rusty Hearts can be found on Steam or here.