Would you believe that there are people who don't go to thrift stores? It's true! Seriously, there are some people who don't go to places like Goodwill, Salvation Army, pawn shops, and their local second-hand stores. They miss out on great deals you just can't get from the big-box chains. I'm hoping this blog will change that. Instead of doing my traditional pick-ups post, this blog will highlight my thrift/second-hand store finds from about the last month and a half or so. Everything is from various second-hand stores unless noted.




Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey(PS1) - $2: Goodwill find w/ O:AE, RRT4, MW2, HL.
Oddworld: Abe Exodus(PS1) - $2: Goodwill.
Syphon Filter 3 - Missing Manual(PS1) - $3
Ridge Racer Type 4(PS1) - $3: Goodwill. When I saw this, my eyes lit up. I remember playing the demo for this game well over ten years ago. This was the first time...

Orange Lounge Radio podcast co-host, Loki, has apparently uncovered the long-awaited sequel to Earth Defense Force 2017. According to his information, 'Earth Defense Force 2017: Insect Armageddon' for the Xbox 360 is being released sometime in February 2011 by D3 Publisher. Loki--who works for a game distributor and has a strong track-record on things such as unannounced games--tweeted the following.

Quote: Originally Posted by @LOKIOLR on Twitter Just saw this on my release list from D3: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 2017 INSECT ARMAGEDDON!!! coming February on XBOX 360. HOLY FUCKING AWESOME!!!

As someone who has invested over 80 hours into the original EDF2017, I would gladly welcome a sequel with open arms. EDF2017 had this Godzilla movie-like cheesy-goodness about it. It was far from being a technical masterpiece,...

Like DeathSmiles, a horizontal shooter by Cave being localized by Aksys Games, needed more win. Word from Siliconera is that the U.S. version of DeathSmiles includes the "Mega Black Label"(MSRP: 1200MSP/$15) and "Mega Black Label 1.1"(MSRP: 240MSP/$3) Japanese DLC included on the disc at no additional cost. MBL includes an extra level, Sakura as a playable character, and difficulty level 999(whatever that means). MBL 1.1 has an Arranged mode and easy access to Bloody Jitterbug(again, whatever that means). Here's a clip of DeathSmiles Mega Black Label 1.1 in action.

DeathSmiles comes out on June 29th for $49.99. The first run of the game is a limited edition that includes a soundtrack CD and an Xbox 360 faceplate. I'm definitely getting it on day 1!

Question: How does a company hurt the sales of its downloadable re-release of a 14-year-old game?

Answer: Price it at 400 points more than Perfect Dark, After Burner: Climax, Final Fight: Double Impact, and Tecmo Bowl: Throwback, four newly-released, upgraded ports.

This is exactly what Square-Enix has done with its HD-upgraded re-release of top-down vertical shooter, RayStorm, RayStorm HD. Announced last year, RayStorm HD has been flying under the radar for the last six months. The silent treatment finally ended this week with a brand new trailer announcing that the game would be released exclusively on the Xbox Live Arcade in America on May 5th for 1200 Microsoft Points/$15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUfKQYLv7vQ

Back in 1997, I bough my first PlayStation. With it came the forth version of their pack-in demo disc. This...

If you read my "Pick-Ups" post for last month, you might remember that I bought the Rock Band Stage Kit over at GameStop for $30. I really wasn't sure how happy I would be with the final product, but after putting the unit through its paces I can safely conclude that this is a must-buy at the $30 asking price.... As long as you have a "well-ventilated room".


The kit, which includes a fog machine & strobe light unit, a 4-color lighting unit that doubles as a controller for the singer, a connecting cable, a funnel & a small bottle of exclusive use fog juice, works by plugging the lighting rig/controller into the Xbox 360(no PS3 compatibility), connecting the fog unit to the light unit, turning everything on & playing a song in Rock Band or Rock Band 2(no Beetles:RB support). It's that simple.


The Stage Kit pulls the lighting data from the game itself and uses it to...

Remember my rant on Too Human a few weeks ago? Well it looks like the Dyack shit might be about to hit the fan again. 1UP.com has just posted their review for Too Human, Denis Dyack's 10 year "masterpiece". So what did they say in their review? 1UP's Giancarlo Varanini wrote that,


"Too Human is not a good role-playing game.


"The game is simply schizophrenic; it attempts to be all things to all people and never succeeds in executing any of them well."


"Methods for defeating enemies are largely the same for all classes because almost every single enemy attacks with the same rushing-horde mentality."


"Too Human is also not a good action game."


Full Too Human Review Coverage At The Bottom


Looks like our pal Denis will be...

If you were afraid the XBLA game Castle Crashers was going to cost you about $22 you can breath a a happy sigh. Castle Crashers has been priced at 1200 Microsoft Points($15), the same price that the platformer/puzzler Braid hit for and launched a pricing backlash from people saying it was too much(Wombat being one of them). It seems like most XBLA devs are getting more brazen with their pricing because it's selling regardless.



The price of downloadable games just keeps on climbing. Remember $5 XBLA games? Then $5 was fazed out in favor of mostly $10 games, now it looks like $15 is the new sweet spot price for XBLA games. Does this mean $10 XBLA games are on their way out too? Are you guys happy about the price?

Alright guys, I'm having a problem. My day 1 Launch Xbox 360 just froze up again....hard. Were talking "hit the eject button and the screen stays the same" hard. I'll set the stage for you.


1. The system is a launch unit that only red ringed when the power went out during a storm and then came right back on. I turned the 360 off and then back on and there were no problems. It's worked fine.


2. The game in question, Star Trek Legacy, locked up on me once or twice while playing the demo for it.


3. The used copy I got at GameStop(yes, I know I ranted on them a few weeks ago, but the Mega Man Collection I got eased me into buying used games again) has also locked up on me twice as well. The second mission is where the used copy's lock ups have happened, not the skirmish mode which I've been playing a lot of.


I've been lucky with my launch unit, but this might be where it ends. The only things I can think...

The SPECIAL NEWS MEGA-PACK!!! returns bring some not-so-good news for Guilty Gear fans, some good news for those thinking about buying a Xbox 360, and perhaps the movie return of everyone's favorite Decepticon. And why was there no Mega Man after I reported it? To find the answer(though not much of one) we go....TO THE NEWS!!!



1. It appears that the developer of the Guilty Gear series, Arc System Works, will no longer be making the GG games. Guilty Gear as a series is not done, but ARC is moving on. I guess fans will be flocking to BlazeBlue now.



2. If your in the market for a 360(either first time or RRoD replacement), you might want to hold off until September 7th as it looks like it will be the date of the Arcade SKU's price drop down to $199.



3. Like zombies? Like bikinis? Then you might want to pick up Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad when it hits the Xbox 360 early nextyear. Or you can just play it on the Wii...

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REVIEW: Soul Calibur IV Premium Edition Content




The game package comes in a metal tin with a plastic slip over it. The plastic slip is just like the Halo 2 Limited Edition for the original Xbox. The slip has the SCIV logo on the front and some screenshots and game info on the back. It is clear in some parts allowing you to see part of the artwork on the tin. The metal tin opens on one end and features artwork on both the front and back covers. It feels pretty well made but I wouldn't try to test the durablity of it. All of the contents can be completely removed to make the tin a display piece or something to store stuff in. It comes packed with a sealed Soul Calibur IV game case inside, complete...

If, and thats a HUGE, this is true Ghostbusters fans will shit a brick. Activision has canned the GhostBusters game that they were showing off at Comic-Con. The rumor comes from a GamesIndustry.biz article titled bluntly "Activision Cans Ghostbusters Game".



"Activision Blizzard has submitted its latest release schedule with no mention of forthcoming title from Terminal Reality, Ghostbusters, or Double Fine's Brutal Legend. Additionally the company plans to "realign" staff at High Moon Studios and Radical Entertainment, while Massive Entertainment and Swordfish Studios are both under consideration for sale or closure."



I'm not 100% sure that it has been confirmed but if true would be a BIG slap in the face to fans of the series and gamers alike. I liked the Ghostbusters when I was little but I haven't...

Yoshinori Ono, in an interview with Siliconera, has hinted at not just a Wii version of Street Fighter IV, but also a return of Darkstalkers too. In the interview Ono said that "The more people that ask about it, the more likely we are to move in that direction." in regards to a Wii version of Street Fighter IV. Ono also left the door open for a "collaboration with the HD Remix or something" when asked about a special Wii Street Fighter game.







On the subject of a Rival Schools or Darkstalkers return Ono said "We have been hearing a lot of people asking about Darkstalkers lately, which is a good thing. My advice to you would be to keep asking about it and it would make it easier for us to push it through on the Japan...

Just found this. A guy is playing SCIV right now over on a live-stream. Someone must have gotten an early copy from a store with no respect for street date listings. The guy seems to be messing around in the training mode with Yoda. You better hurry. I'm not sure how much longer the guy will be doing it.



If you are interested, you can check the live-streaming going out over on justin.tv right here.

Get your Microsoft space-bucks ready everybody, a video has hit showing both console exclusive fighters going at it in the training mode of Soul Calibur IV. As I'm sure most of you know, Vader is a PS3 exclusive and Yoda a Xbox 360 exclusive, so this video hitting seems to hint that there are at least some plans to make the other Star Wars fighter DLC on the other system.



The video, which comes from a site called GamersReports.com was uploaded to YouTube and is available right below...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt0YW....com/index.php



Real or fake? My space-bucks are on real. Soul Calibur IV comes out next week.

- Swim

In case all my posts about Street Fighter IV were not enough fighting game news, we have this, an entire post dedicated to Mortal Kombat news. The fighting game revival continues, Soul Calibur IV next week, Street Fighter IV next year, and MK Vs. DC in between make for a great fighter sandwich.


1. If you missed the three PS2 MK games you'll soon be able to pick them up as a bundle, the "Mortal Kombat: Kollection", this September for the small price of $30, or $10 a pop.



2. More fighters have been announced for MK Vs. DC as well, including The Joker, Green Lantern, Liu Kang, Kitana, and Jax to name a few. More fighters, as well as a Q&A recap here.



3. Mortal Kombat 8 was canned thanks to the deal with DC. I'm kinda happy MK Vs. DC is coming instead of MK8, MK-DC looks more interesting than MK8...

The people at OC ReMix are some incredible fans. They remake their favorite songs from games and release them for free as a fan project. From Sonic 2 to Chrono Trigger, the people at OC ReMix are quite awesome. And now you can add professional soundtrack performers to their resume. OC will be doing the soundtrack for the Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix, the XBLA and PSN remake of the final version of Street Fighter II.


If you have never heard of OC ReMix and your a Final Fantasy VII fan, you just have to check out their FREE epic remake of FF7's soundtrack, Voices Of The Lifestream, which spans 4-cds. They also have a Chrono Trigger remake album that kicks a ton of ass. Free to download and well worth the time.

- Swim

Kotaku posted an article containing a copy of the contract between Itagaki and Tecmo for Dead Or Alive 4 as well as a secret tape, both of which were translated. They later pulled the article as clicking on the link redirects you to the main page. Part of that article remains and is posted below just incase it gets pulled all together.


From Kotaku.com

"In the second round of oral arguments for the Itagaki vs. Tecmo suit, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki submitted evidence that included an affidavit from Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto, a contract from 2005 that seems to clearly state terms of the Dead or Alive 4 bonus and a voice recording of Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda. Itagaki is suing Tecmo over unpaid DoA4 wages. Kotaku obtained copies of both the secret recording and the contract and translated both for this story.
The contract, dated March 4th 2005, covers "special incentives" for Dead or Alive 4. The "special...

How hard is it to screw up a football game? I don't know myself so why don't you just go ask EA? Reports have surfaced saying that EA Sports' latest offering is flat out infested with bugs. Reports say CPU difficulty sliders do nothing to the A.I. while sliders for the player affect both teams. That little oversight is just one of many problems hammering NCAA Football 09. For the full list of bastardizations check out the link at the end of this post.



I'm not one for NCAA stuff as I have no "dog in the fight", but this is the kind of sloppy bullshit that should get people fired. I mean honestly, do these people actually play the crap they make? The answer seems to be a massive "NO"! Don't buy it, don't rent it, don't Gamefly it, nothing. Don't reward this trash. As paying customers we deserve better than this bullshit. Just go back...

Alright, you got your Dan, you got your Fei Long, NOW GIVE ME CAMMY DAMMIT!!! If you can read Japanese(which I can't) you can check out the site at the link below. I just can't wait for SFIV.

- Swim

Capcom Japan Link: http://www.capcom.co.jp/sf4/cs2.html

E3 was this week as you all know and with it come a shit-ton of announcements. So instead of posting blog after blog on news this week I'm just going to post a whole ton of little posts in one normal blog. I'll try to make it stuff you might have missed in all the AAA game coverage. So here we go......



1. Rune Factory Frontier's U.S. trailer hit this week and looks awesome. I blogged about it in my last post so check it out there.
Link: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=1442



2. Rune Factory 2 is shaping up to be a solid follow up to the first. IGN also played Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness and said that they would have much rather gone back and played more RF2 instead. Touch control only, no classic control unlike RF2.
HM:IoH Link: http://ds.ign.com/articles/891/891165p1.html
RF2 Link: http://ds.ign.com/articles/888/888761p1.html



3. Gameplay for Tomb Raider: Underworld looks...