ALTERED CONFUSION MOVES

Altered Confusion has now officially moved. If you are arriving here from www.alteredconfusion.wordpress.com and would like to continue to view the updates from the site please go to www.alteredconfusion.com.

If you are using the RSS feed for the WordPress site, please go to the above address and get the new RSS feed so that you can be kept up to date with the happenings.

Its been a long couple of days but we finally have the site up and running, there’s still work to be done, but we feel confident enough for the public to see it. So go on over and check it out. We also have the first podcast up.

Speaking of Podcasts you can also check us out on I-tunes, that’s right, we’ve got an approved podcast that you can download for free. The first podcast is basically me (Charlie, Altered Confusion, etc) talking with the prolific commenter, Zealeus.

The RSS Feeds are broken down on the new site in the following way:

- News
- Reviews
- Comics
- Podcasts

Hope to see you on the new site, and thanks for the support WordPress, but it is time to move on to another site.

- Charlie

PS: Depending on how fast it goes the URL may or may not work immediately, but soon you’ll be connected to the new site, and all of its features.

Altered Confusion Update

As some of you might have notice, there’s been a lack of posts over the last 4 days, and its probably going to continue with the exception being the comics. That is because Altered Confusion is about to  move to a bigger site which will feature separate Comic, Review, and even Podcast sections. We are hard at work trying to get this thing ready to move, so please bare with us. 

We will be reviewing the following games really soon:

Gears of War 2

Mario Super Sluggers

Ticket to Ride

Magic Ball

 

If you really want to hear our first podcast, which is a bit rough, as I work out how to get my equipment to do what I want you can download it at this location.

Hopefully everyone will like the new experience, and we’ll post later. BTW if you haven’t signed up for the Street Fighter 4 tournament I’d check to see where there are some spots available. I personally am registered already, and hope to get extremely lucky and win a match.

Bethesda Softworks’ next project goes to the I-Phone

Reveal at New York Comic Con was the announcement of one of Bethesda Softworks’ next projects, an Apple I-Phone game. Bethesda is the latest in the ever growing laundry list of big name developers to try their hand at creating a game for the latest and greatest platform from Apple.

There was no word of exactly what the game would be or when to expect it, but apparently the game is getting created. This won’t be Bethesda’s first attempt at creating a mobile game, as they have already created an Elder Scrolls game for Java-enabled phones, as well as the ever never so popular Nokia N-gage.

When more information comes available we’ll be sure to give you, the reader, the update.

Interested in more gaming news, then follow the link to the new site.

Street Fighter players get a Chance to Strut their Stuff

If you are a Street Fighter enthusiast and want to show off your skills GameStop and Capcom are going to help you make that a reality. In one of the US’s biggest tournaments you will be facing off in 3 rounds of competition to see who will bring home the prize. The prize of course being a Street Fighter Arcade Cabinet, and if you are a gamer out there, who would not want that rocking out in your house, where you can be the envy of all your friends. This being especially important seeing the strength of the actual Arcade is definitely in the decline in the states.

So here’s the deal, there are 2,419 participating GameStop locations in which these things will take place (list). You’ll be playing the XBOX360 version, I’m not sure how many rounds you’ll get to play or if it will be single elimination. The winner and runner up from your location will get a chance to move on to the next round. From there you’ll have to do it again, and then you’ll be going to the finals, win that and the cabinet is yours. Afraid you might fall short, well according to GameStop it looks like you’ll be able to get some sort of shwag just for showing up.

I personally will be in attendence at one of the locations (Perimeter Mall), so maybe I’ll see some of you out there. Just look for the Altered Confusion t-shirt.

The competition will start Feb. 21 @ 2 PM, the second round will be Feb 28 @ 2 PM, and the Final round March 14 @ 2 PM.

For all the details listed and more go to the GameStop site.

AudiBall Review

Audiball comes to the XBOX Live Community Games section courtesy of Indiecisive Games. It is a game that is meant to be played with a guitar peripheral, but you can play it with the regular XBOX360 controller as well.

The graphics are very simplistic for this game, you’ve got some pac-man-esque looking objects that are color coded, and you will experience different obstacles that don’t really scream at you. The controls as stated before are based around the guitar, so you’re going to be holding the colored button and then strumming. If you use the controller you’re going to be pressing the corresponding colored button and then using the analog stick to do the part of the “strum”.The music and sound are really simplistic and once again just like the graphics aren’t really going to wow you.

Basically this game is all about timing and in some cases getting lucky. What you are trying to do is get these balls from this grey pac-man-esque shape to the first color, you will then have a timer showing how much longer the balls will stay on that colored shape. You will have to press the color and then strum to release the balls to the next colored shape. If you press the wrong color and strum that color goes grey and it won’t catch the balls ( This is not always a bad thing). You will have a limited amount of time to get all the balls from the starting place to this vortex/black hole looking thing. Get enough in and you will advance in level.

This game is interesting, I wouldn’t say it bowls me over with uniqueness, but it could definitely be something to do if I want to play for just a bit and then go play something else. All the levels aren’t all that long (time wise), I highly recommend using the guitar and trying to get 5 balls at least each time you move from one color to another. Being a community game this game isn’t going to see much of a spotlight, but I would recommend it to those looking for something slightly different, and interesting. This game gets a 7.3 out of 10.

Halo Wars Demo Available for Some

For those out there who want a taste of Ensemble’s last game, Halo Wars, the demo has finally arrived. The demo weighs in at 1.4 GB. Now as it stands right now it appears that only Gold XBOX Live Members have the ability to download the demo, but I’m sure within the week the Silver Members will be getting their hands on it as well.

To me this RTS for the XBOX360 looks interesting. I’ve never been a HUGE Halo fan, I like most of the games that came out under the name of Halo, but I just don’t know if the transition over to other genre will have the same effect. I’m a huge fan of games succeeding, as long as they are given enough of a chance to be built soundly, and it would appear that this is the case for this game.

So if you own an XBOX360, are a Gold XBOX Live Member, have 1.4 GB free on your hard drive, and have an active internet connection, go download this game and see how a RTS in the Halo Universe looks and feels.

** UPDATE **

Thanks to Bobmoo79 for clearing up the confusion the demo is out for everyone.

Free Radical may have a New Owner

Is it possible that Free Radical, the group that brought us the TimeSplitter series, may have just been scooped up by another company. The rumor is that Crytek, the company that brings you Crysis and FarCry, may have decided to take on Free Radical.

No official announcement has been made, so this may all be simply speculation, but it would be great to see the TimeSplitters series continued. As well as, it would be interesting to see what happens to the other IPs that Free Radical has. I’m sure something more concrete will come out as the day goes along so be sure to check back, as when we here something new we’ll post it.

** UPDATE  **

It would appear that the story is breaking everywhere which leads me to believe that it truly is happening. It is also reported that 40 jobs were saved by this purchase. So here’s to TimeSplitters 4.

Atlus excited to create Atlus Online

Being an Atlus Fanboy since PS1’s Kartia, I’m happy to hear that Atlus is about to launch community portal called Atlus Online.

Now this is a place where you can hang with people of the same mind as you, but there apparently is also going to be a yet to be announced game that you’ll be able to play.

I’m not exactly sure what the extent of this will be, but here’s a direct quote from the Atlus man in charge.

“Atlus has long wanted to create an online portal that would become the daily destination for anyone looking for a fresh and engaging online entertainment experience,” said Shinichi Suzuki, president and CEO, Atlus. “Atlus Online will emerge as an extremely user-focused destination that is fully accessible to each and every one of its members. From amazing games to play to exciting contests, exceptional content and great community interaction, we are convinced that Atlus Online will be a premiere interactive entertainment destination for online gamers and anime fans alike.”

So go over to the site and pre-register for the site, and gain the ability to have early access to the unannounced title.

Amazon to get into the Digital Distribution Ring

It would appear that Amazon has decided to throw their hat into yet another ring, this time its all about digital distribution gaming market. They are now showing an open-beta, and they’re showing lots of casual games, for now.

There will be a client that will need to be downloaded prior to starting the downloads to the computer, but it is reportedly only 3 megabytes.

As of now the only type of game they feature is casual, and it would appear that they are trying to keep the pricing model to $10 and under, for now. The Vice President of Video Games and Software at Amazon has stated that there could be an expansion of genres for the service, but that Amazon is interested to see the reaction from the current library.

I’ll be interested to see if this takes off, could this be STEAM’s competitor, or is it just a service that will be used by those not so hardcore. I guess we’ll find out once this beta is done.

Check it out

Sega desires to see Phantasy Star Portable in the US Sooner

Sega has decided that the amount of time they have until the release of Phantasy Star Portable, for the PSP, is just too long, so instead of the gamers demanding an earlier release its the company demanding it, and of course that means it is going to happen.

If you were excited to get this game on the original release date, you’re going to be really happy when you’re able to pick it up on March 3rd.

According to sales charts this game has already racked up 700k+ worth of units sold, and Sega hopes the demand is equal once it arrives in the US.

Remember that there’s another Phantasy Star coming soon to the DS, Phantasy Star 0. This will take care of the portable systems, I wonder if this is a hint at something on a bigger stage coming soon. The PS3 could sure use the help.

Interested in more gaming news, then follow the link to the new site.