QCF: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

 find it pretty funny that I’m writing this review mere weeks after the Dreamcast’s 24th Anniversary; I mean, not just that in that granular humor from a well-timed coincidence sort of way, but in that I’m still seeing one of my favorite consoles live on through a legacy that dwarfs its flash-in-the-pan lifespan. Even though it was released two years into the 128-Bit Machine’s reign, Jet Grind Radio left quite the impact in 2000, as it quickly became a must-have exclusive for the platform and yet another reason to attract anyone over to SEGA hardware instead of Nintendo’s or Sony’s offering.

After an underwhelming sequel and years of Fan-service cameos, SEGA’s frenetic Graffiti-racer has mostly lived on as a garnish for the repeated servings of nostalgia surrounding the Japanese brands’ peak years. Given that the property has undoubtedly had more of an impact than SEGA had accounted for, it was only inevitable that one studio would set out to tag the spot Jet Grind Radio had left untouched for twenty years.

Netherlands studio, Team Reptile, answered the call, & endeavored to produce a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast Cult favorite with Bomb Rush Cyber Funk, an improved open-world take over the middling attempt we saw out of Jet Set Radio Future, with a freestyle approach to progression. The end result isn’t just a fresh approach to a familiar classic but a practical reinvention that improves upon its source material in nearly every single way.

Click to read more ...

Life Through The Pixel Glass-05/09/2013

e’re nearing Press Pause Radio’s four year anniversary, yeah…we somehow have gotten away with doing what we do for four fucking years! Believe us when we say that we wouldn’t have traded it for the world, nor do we have any intention of stopping either! Therefore, while we’re doing more with video and other extracurricular content for PPR, we’re getting LTTPG back on course. Life through the Pixel Glass will press on (you missed it right?) and is here now to deliver some more cool shit around the web for y’all to enjoy.

Click to read more ...

Life Through The Pixel Glass - 04/18/2013

h man, you guys -- it’s been forever and then some since we’ve done a Life Through The Pixel Glass, hasn’t it? Well from all of the review games we’ve been catching up with on top of the Bioshock Infinite Game Club that rode the coat tails of GDC and PAX East, it’s needless to say that we’ve all been pretty busy. That’s why we’re going to go ALL OUT in this latest one. It’s going to be the biggest LTTPG feature we’ve done up to date.

Click to read more ...

Life Through The Pixel Glass-01/09/2013

elcome to the latest edition of Life Through The Pixel Glass. Wait, hold on; say what? I hear we’re going to see some proper Pokémon releases on the 3DS? Let’s hope that Nintendo does more than add some glossy visuals and transitive three-dimensional perspective, because if that’s the case then the franchise may start hammering nails in its own coffin. Don’t misunderstand, I am actually excited for this entry as opposed to the lack of interest I shared with the last generation, but imagine how amazing it would be if Nintendo implemented cross-platform play with the Wii U and released Pokémon X/Y on it as well. It would blow your mind and you know it. Anyway, on to the feature.

Click to read more ...

Life Through the Pixel Glass: Independent Art Look

Because she’s feeling a little under the weather, I’ll be covering LTTPG for Squiddy this time around. Since I had the reins behind the feature for this post, I decided to shed the spotlight on two artists I’ve discovered on the web that possess this innate vision in their portrayal of video game inspired art. Their art spoke to me on levels that moved me to share their work with everyone this week.

The first artist is Darick Maasen, a 30-year-old modern artist residing in Chicago. Darick creates several different Pop-influenced art pieces, from the nerdy side of things with canvas and sketch work, to crafted constructs using materials like wood and taxidermy animals! Darick’s work has been featured at the event I AM 8BIT, and is slowly taking the net by storm with his continue work on constructs and sketches. You guys and gals can find his work on his website here. Also, make sure to fan him on Facebook if you’re cool like that.

The next artist is a fellow by the name of Jed Henry, an author and illustrator of children’s books. Jed has recently taken it upon him on his personal Twitter to start a series of Ukiyo influenced Nintendo art depicting games and characters from the 8-bit and 16-bit era. As you can see, Jed’s already done Samus, Megaman, and Link. He plans to expand the his portfolio with a sneak peak at his next work based on Mario Kart. Mr. Henry plans to open a Kickstarter campaign soon to help fund the series, and plans on making the pieces more authentic with Kanji lettering and talk of actually doing traditional woodblock design from which Ukiyo originates. You can find his work on Tumblr, where he works to not only update his series as often as he can, but will also answer any questions you may have. 

Life Through The Pixel Glass: Pokemon Battle Royale

I'm really excited for this article, and not just because of the art I'm going to post but because it takes this article back to my roots -- the Pokemon kind.

Click to read more ...

PAX East 2012: Life Through The Pixel Glass: Cosplay Edition

So this has been the very first big gaming convention I have ever been to (barely counting Midwest Gaming Classic) and with all the excitement at PAX East, came the appearance of awesome and really elaborate Cosplay. This edition of Life Through The Pixel Glass chronicles the very best Cosplay PAX East had to offer right here at Press Pause Radio, Enjoy!