Welcome to the latest and greatest edition of those ever-elusive phantom Thumbs. You just never know when they are going to sneak up on you next. Really, you don’t. They are so sporadic! Get it together, Thumbs! You are ruining all of our combined credibility!
…Thankfully, I did not have much to begin with. On to the show!
Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition (DS)
This…is a thing? A real thing that is happening?? Pokémon are going to battle samurai in a videogame? WHAT??
It just seems amazing to me. Completely awesome. Yet I am still completely confused by it. I have zero clue as to what is going on in the trailer. It definitely has Pokémon, and it definitely has battling. A true recipe for success! I have never heard of Nobunaga as an IP before, however, so who knows if we will even see it over here. But if we did, I would love to try out this crazy ball of insanity. That one thing is certain.
Captain Eric’s Psychic Thumbs say… Thumbs Up!
Command & Conquer Generals 2 (PC)
So few RTS’s are made nowadays—I wonder if this game is EA’s attempt at riding the coattails of Starcraft II’s success… Well, OK, probably not. I don’t think the Command & Conquer series was ever nearly as popular as Starcraft. Still, it is a interesting thing to think about.
There is not much information out there about Command & Conquer Generals 2, but I assume it’s going to be a PC game, since that’s the only platform that really lends itself to RTS’s, and it’s what the C&C series is known for. The game’s being developed by BioWare, so that means this could be truly awesome. Right guys?? I have to wonder if this is the real BioWare, though, or the “BioWare” behind Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes. It is a prestigious brand that is quickly becoming diluted.
We will have to wait and see! Generals 2 could in fact be truly magical. But I doubt it will be.
Captain Eric’s Psychic Thumbs say… Thumbs Down.
SimCity 5 (PC)
Like many a child, SimCity was one of my very first computer games. Well…many children played much cooler first computer games…but still! It will always be a landmark game to me. It could suck hours and hours away in the blink of an eye. A game you could talk about with any large group of people because of its mass appeal. How can you say no to that?!
Perhaps it won’t still appeal to me anymore. I haven’t really played anything like in it ages. The Sims took the experience of such a game to an entirely different place. With so many social games borrowing so heavily from the simulation games of yore, it will be interesting to see if SimCity 5 can grab any of those people back into actual videogames! …This is going to be an actual videogame, right??
Captain Eric’s Psychic Thumbs say… Thumbs Up!
Nightmare Busters (SNES)
Wow, so apparently we aren’t all reading that wrong. This is a game for the SUPER Nintendo Entertainment System: undoubtedly the greatest invention in the history of our species.
It’s an interesting little idea, making a new SNES game. I mean, so many indie and downloadable titles hearken back to that gaming past and are quiet successful. A side-scrolling shooter is something most of us can get into. Who wouldn’t want to bust out that old system and add a bit of newness to it?! …Well if you still have it, of course. This is an idea I could get behind.
However…it’s going to cost $68! I just don’t see how most people would go for that. Especially with all the cheap, cheap, cheap indie and downloadable games I mentioned before! Sure, it is a niche market that probably does have enough willing customers…why else would they be making it? But for the rest of us, I think it will probably just remain a fun little story that we can tell people about the NEW SNES game.
Captain Eric’s Psychic Thumbs say… Thumbs Down.
Awesomenauts (PSN/XBLA)
Now this is one of those indie games I mentioned above. Boy does it look fun! The developers really seem to be pushing this game’s split-screen multiplayer, even giving it its own trailer. However, upon further inspection (or, “reading of their website”), I discovered that it will also include many online multiplayer options! Woohoo. I love me some online co-op!
Awesomenauts has a very fun-looking art style to go with its fast-paced side-scrolling action on top of EXPLOOOOSIONS abounds. It is touting itself as a MOBA, which is odd because it is nothing like any MOBA I’ve ever seen (League of Legends, Defense of the Ancients, etc.), but does seem quite similar to a Crash Commando style of game. I see good things ahead for this title!
Captain Eric’s Psychic Thumbs say… Thumbs Up!
That does it for this edition of the Thumbs that can see it all. Just like Santa, only the gifts here are thousands upon thousands times more rewarding! You need not thank me for such amazing wisdom and insight. I bestow it upon you all out of the kindness of my heart! Just promise to come back next time and awe in the splendor of the next set of Thumbs.
Oh, who am I kidding! Of course you wouldn’t miss that opportunity.
I kinda gave up on SimCity proper after 2000; that game was way beyond the complexity of the original, and my poor puny Paul brain couldn’t take it. Maybe I should give it another shot, though…
SC2000 remains one of my all-time favorite games, though to be fair, it’s the first one in the series I played. The original seemed incredibly boring afterwards with so little to do, and SC3000 was cool but pushing the boundaries of how much complexity I could handle. SC4 pushed too far, and I’ve been reluctant to try it again.
SC2000 is just pure fun–I’d recommend using an endless money cheat code so that you can play around with all the options and get a feel for what everything does and how it all works.
I might just play SimCity instead of a blind adventure game for my next YouTube video…
I’m in the same boat. I love Sim City for SNES, but I felt put out even when I had to set up city blocks with power in that game, then SC2000 came around and had me running water pipes to every house. I didn’t have the patience. I tend to be more patient in my old age now, though. Maybe I’d like it.