NewNews - Kongregate back on Android, MNC/TF2 Crossover, and Magicka on Steam

Article Source: Gamasutra - Kongregate Android App Modified Slightly, Back On Marketplace

Last week, Kongregate had an application that acted as a portal to its 300+ free games for android phones and was taken off by google for violating rules of selling an app store in their app store.  After a little bit of modifying and clarification that it was a portal and not an app store, the app is back on the android market and 300+ free flash games are available to play.  Too bad I don't have an android phone:

Source: Youtube Channel Flashuploads

I found out about Kongregate through business and work and didn't try any of the games.  After hearing about Kongregate on the Gamestop channel in one of their shops, I went back home and tried it out.  It's actually pretty interesting having so many quality flash games in one area, and it's mainly due to the games being created by indie game developers.  On browsers on computer, there's over 1000+ games.  If you're bored and looking for some short term (or long term, depends on which game) entertainment, look no farther than Kongregate.

Article Source: Joystiq - Monday Night Combat PC launched; includes TF2 crossover, 'Juice Bot' 


Source: Youtube Channel UberEntChannel

Heh, I get all three references since I bought Team Fortress 2 a year ago, Monday Night Combat the day it was released on Steam PC, and I read Penny Arcade's comics.  I'm still not sure how strong the community for Monday Night Combat is since I barely see anyone playing Multiplayer, but hopefully this little update will bring some interest from the TF2 community.  I found this video and update to be awesome and humorous at the same time since a lot people ridiculed MNC for looking and playing too much like TF2 ever since its launch on Xbox Live Arcade.  This is obviously not true for those who watched gameplay videos and read descriptions on how it plays like DotA in a 3rd-person shooter format.  I honestly find it very interested and a good break from all the First-Person shooters I've been playing.  I only regret that I don't find the time to play it more often.  With the inclusion of these crossover items, it'll probably suck me back into playing some more TF2 (I never get sick of that game for some reason) and hopefully encourage me to take the time to play MNC more.  Good luck to Uber Entertainment and thank you for constantly updating the game.

Game Source: Magicka on Steampowered Store

So I did my usual check on Steam to see what the Mid-week madness sale was and saw that it was just Greed Corp.  I want to try it, but not really buy it and play it long term.  When I went back to the main screen, I saw a game called Magicka released today.  If it weren't for Steam, I don't think I would have heard a lot of these games that aren't talked about all that often.

Source: Youtube Channel GrowuPGaming

It looks interesting, and it even has a demo!  I'll probably check it out when I get the chance, but I'm not sure if I want to buy it right away.  If I buy it before Jan. 31st, there will be 3 DLC with it.  Is it worth it?  I was hoping to just wait for a $5 sale.  I guess I'll try out the demo first and decide then.  I did spend over $200 on steam last year, and it was all after I graduated from college too, haha.  So if you have a Steam account and have interest in magic, RPGs, and parody, go download the demo and check it out.

NewNews - MNC Beta goes live and new Contra game talk

I couldn't decide which of two topics to talk about today so I'm going to talk a little about both:
-http://kotaku.com/5714402/a-new-look-at-the-cartoon-contra-hard-corps-uprising/gallery/
-http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/16/monday-night-combats-steam-beta-live/

Both of these were just posted on their respective pages about 15 minutes ago.

Source: http://kotaku.com/5714402/a-new-look-at-the-cartoon-contra-hard-corps-uprising/gallery/

 So Konami and Arc System Works are developing/recreating "Contra: Hard Corps" as "Hard Corps: Uprising" in a more animé-ish art style.  Knowing and loving both companies, I can expect fast-action challenges with flashy and stylish gameplay.  If any of you have played "Contra: Hard Corps" on the Sega Genesis, you'd remember that it was a monster of a game and that it was very VERY easy to die resulting in a continue or game over.  From the looks of the picture, it seems as though they added a health bar that looks similar to the one in "Castle of Shikigami 3".  More than likely, it's going to be digitally sold.  I haven't bought anything digital other than on Steam for PC.  It makes me feel uneasy buying a game that isn't tangible and relies on accounts and the services of the developers/publisher (especially online exclusive games).  I sunk into using Steam religiously now because of the Christmas gift my friend got me last year (Team Fortress 2).  I now have 128 hours on that game, which is a LOT for me.  Maybe I'll eventually go to a GameStop and buy one of those prepaid card points and start playing these digi-downloads.  There are quite a few I want to play other than "Hard Corps: Uprising".

Source: Youtube Channel UberEntChannel

I was kinda sad to see that I couldn't play the beta when I pre-purchased it 2 days ago, but behold!  It's now available for beta testing and I'm going to download it right now.  I find the concept of a 3rd person action shooter mixed with a MOBA gameplay structure to be an interesting one to experiment.  If it was popular enough on Xbox Live Arcade for the developers to create a port for the PC, then it must hold some merit of genuine entertainment.  So as far as I can tell, it's a mix between Team Fortress 2 and DotA (or League of Legends/Heroes of Newerth) in a 3rd person perspective.  It's a 6 on 6 versus battle with class based characters and MOBA leveling system.  I've played all 4 games referenced and have enjoyed each one for their unique aspects (TF2, DotA, LoL and HoN are all hybrid genre games too!) and am glad that developers of the gaming industry continues to further that experiment by mixing and matching.  It's only $13.49, so log onto steam and pre-purchase it now so that you can participate in the beta!

NewNews - Monday Night Combat...ON PC!!!

Haha, I was about to talk about another re-release of Final Fantasy IV (you can still read it on Joystiq) as I was starting up steam.  Then the Steam "Update News" shows up and displays "Monday Night Combat" Pre-purchase!  What's Monday Night Combat?  Well, I didn't know too much about it a while ago but ran into the name one day and saw this video:

Source: Youtube Channel UberEntChannel

I guess it's supposed to present itself like a futuristic sport in how we have Monday Night Football right now.  The gameplay is an inspiration of Team Fortress 2's class based action with the rules, goals, and strategy of Defense of the Ancients - DotA (at least from what I read and see).  It was released for Xbox 360 and had no announcement of it coming to PC.  I was thinking this to myself when I saw the video above: "Wow, this looks like a fun hybrid of a game.  I'd probably buy and play it if it released on PC."  And *BOOM* there it is!  Pre-purchase gets players into early beta to test out the game and its release date is set to January 17th of 2011.  I think I'd be willing to pay $13.49 for early beta and some Action/Strategy gameplay.  It's also considered an Indie game, and I'm always trying to learn more about the indie scene lately.  My wallet suffers because of Steam's awesome deals.  Be sure to listen to news and videos of gameplay to decide whether you'd like to give this game a try.