Fantage.com: A Success Story

America has been gripped by the firm hand of economic instability, Fantage.com seems to be defying the odds and growing in the face of adversity. So what’s their secret?

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Review: Limbo

I’ve never been afraid of a game before. Afraid of something in the game, sure – I remember having lost the Resident Evil 2 N64 cartridge for about a month, having thrown it across the room after a particularly shocking Licker assault. But to be afraid of the actual game, what it could be about, what the game play will be like, what horrors await in the shadows… that’s new. Limbo is that kind of scary.

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Interview: Seattle Girl Gamer – Kimberly Lindner

Some people have said that the greatest place for a gamer to live is the Great Northwest. With the Emerald City and neighbors being the epicenter for some of the business’s most recognizable developers and most passionate fans of the subculture, it’s no surprise to find people being drawn to the area from all over the world. Seattle Girl Gamer Examiner, Kimberly Lindner found herself here after a brief stint with EA Sweden. I caught up with her after hearing about a project she was doing where she was trying to get in touch with local Seattle gamers. She writes for the Examiner on a regular basis, and she’ll probably make an appearance at PAX Prime this year. While finding fellow gamers in this area is no feat, finding one as dedicated as Kimberly is a real gem. GA: What led to your current interest in games? Kimberly: It was

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E3 2010: Silent Hill 6

As an eternal worshipper of anything that takes place in the sleepy town of Silent Hill, I was absolutely elated to hear that a trailer for Silent Hill 6 (or Silent Hill 8, depending on whether or not you count PSP releases) was shown at E3. Having been burned by the town more than once, I viewed the trailer with cautious optimism. Despite my open mind, I’m still conflicted as to how I actually feel about it. Perhaps breaking the trailer down into individual elements will help calm these seas… Environment/Atmosphere: The Silent Hill staple is fog, fog, and then a little bit more fog. While I’ll admit that graphically the fog looks more realistic, in that they seem to be holding themselves back from going overboard, part of what makes Silent Hill scary is just how overboard they do go with the fog. The misty nothingness could almost be

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Review – Fiction Fixers: Adventures in Wonderland

With stories that were once covered by Disney, it’s hard for iterations to sometimes distinguish themselves from that goliath. However, the Mouse never seems to be a problem in Fiction Fixers, and a couple seek & find games into it I completely forgot it was once a movie. Rating: E (for Everyone) Players: 1 Genre: Casual Developers: Fugazo, Inc. Website: www.Fugazo.com BUY While not a PC gamer, ever so often I find myself on the search for a new casual PC game that I can play… casually. It’s usually a pain wading through all of the casual gaming garbage for that rare gem (yeah, Bookworm Adventures!), but I was referred to Fiction Fixers: Adventures in Wonderland and I thought, “what the heck”. The story starts when a member of the secret society “The Illterati” steals a copy of Alice in Wonderland from the Fiction Fixers headquarters. The Fiction Fixers sure

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Interview: Strawdog Studios – Space Ark!

Fans of color and fun may remember XBLA game Geon, the spatially crazy grid game where you collect pellets and power-ups and try to sabotage your friend. It’s fun and addictive, and anyone owning an Xbox (or Playstation or Wii) should already have it in their collection. Geon was brought to your console by Strawdog Studios, “an innovative and modern video game development company” from the UK. Since they have a new game on the way, the ridiculously adorable Space Ark. Dan Marchant, Business Development Director from Strawdog Studios was kind enough to let me ask him about Strawdog and Space Ark, due out this spring. What was the idea behind the really interesting (and colorful) story? A very odd mixture indeed – Space Ark was inspired by many of the early Arcade games, such as Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands - with a pinch of The Hulk. The designer was watching his kids

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Review: Risen

If this were the time and the place for bad puns, I could replace my entire review with something along the lines of “they should have called it ‘Fallen (Asleep)’”, or even “Risen should only be spelled with a P and a C”. Fortunately for the readers, Gaming Angels is not the internet leader in bad puns, so I will say instead that not every game is for every player. Rating: M Genre: RPG Publisher: Deep Silver Developer: Piranha Bytes Release Date: February 23, 2010 PASS Let me start you off with a Risen anecdote to give you a feeling of what a player is up against: The first NPC you encounter (who isn’t a goblin), is a burly redheaded fellow. He says that you need to find a weapon and then return to show it to him. “Huzzah!” I thought, “I already have a weapon! I stole it off

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The Art of Emerald City Comic Con

Somewhere along the way, Comic Cons (short for ‘Comic Book Conventions’) became something more than comics. The comics are still very much a part of every Con, but people like myself find themselves there for other reasons. Every year, the Emerald City Comic Con serves a need for art, and there’s no better place to find the best selection than there. My best friend and I usually come away with too much swag to carry comfortably, and this is just a sampling of our haul this year. The TopatoCo booth + beards Right through the main entrance is what we came to see first: the TopatoCo booth. Though more of a fortress or small city than a booth, and severely lacking in Nedroid, TopatoCo was overflowing with amazing webcomics, including Kris Straub, Jeff Jaques, and Kate Beaton. After this landmark was seen, it was time to find art we didn’t know we wanted yet. One of

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Immortal Empire

If you’ve seen me online lately, I’ve probably been too busy playing Bioshock 2′s multiplayer to notice any other games (I wish this was an exaggeration). Really, you should try it – it’s a satisfying gaming experience. Fortunately, I was able to unglue myself from the screen long enough to notice that I had been given the opportunity to play a new game from Bioshock 2′s Lead Programmer, Jesse Attard (you may remember his name from the Bioshock 2 developer conference call I sat in on before the release). Turns out, Jesse has taken his talent and experience and started his own company, Tactic Studios. Their new game is called Immortal Empire, a foray into the brower-based RPG world. Check out my interview with Jesse below, and then go to his site and download Immortal Empire. Q: What was the decision behind going from something like the Bioshock 2 multiplayer to

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Review – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

As Resident Evil before it, Silent Hill has gone through some serious ups and downs (though it may be hard mining for material to work with in a location known for absolute nothingness, there is no excuse for Silent Hill 4 : The Room). Developer: Climax Studios Genre: Survival Horror ESRB: M Number of players: 1 Publisher: Konami Release Date: January 19th, 2010 BUY To fans of the series, one bad installment after another seemed like the direction this sleepy town’s story was headed. Like Weezer’s Blue Album, Silent Hill 2 was regarded by most as this sub-genre’s pinnacle of human achievement that has yet to be matched. With the bar set so unbelievably high, it shouldn’t be a surprise that nothing has really compared to the “I can’t sleep without the lights on” horror of James Sunderland’s last trip through small town hell. With that said, Silent Hill has really blossomed

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