Crimson Map Pack DLC

If you've been playing Halo 4 as much as I have then you know about the Crimson Map Pack that came out last month. If you don’t, or if want a quick analysis on the maps, then I’m here to help you out and talk about the maps in this DLC!

Steambox, Steam Holiday Sale, Recalled Zombies and Other News

The Big Picture will be remembered as being simply the first step towards Valve's inevitable and unstoppable conquest of all media everywhere. 

As many of our readers already know, Valve's previously rumored "Steambox" was confirmed for a Q1 2013  release just last week. Though details still remain few and far between, gamers everywhere are rejoicing and/or groaning at this announcement for various reasons. While we here at GC happen to love Valve and Steam, I at least am both excited for and dreading this release. With almost 300 games in my Steam library I can't wait to see this "console" released; on the other hand, I have 300 games in my Steam library, so I have little money to afford such a release. With the highly anticipated Ouya console coming out in April, the Wii U out currently, and other next gen consoles looming on the horizon, I can tell that my wallet is going to be taking severe and regular beatings through most, in not all, of 2013.

More news after the jump, and even more coming over the weekend!

Halo 4 Double XP Giveaway!

Do you play Halo 4? Do you want two games of Double XP?  Then enter our Halo 4 Double XP Giveaway! All you have to do is go to our Facebook page, like it if you haven't, then like our trivia question post. Then all you have to do is answer the trivia question, and share the post on your own page!  Easy as pie!  We will pick a winner on Thursday at 12:00 pm Mountain Standard Time.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Gears of War Judgement Story Trailer

Are you excited for Gears of War Judgement next year? I know I am. As a huge fan of the entire Gears of War trilogy, I'm completely psyched out of my mind for Judgement, and it's brand new multiplayer additions,

Every North American Super Nintendo Game Ever Made for Sale!

Just like the old song states, "if you've got the money honey, he's got the
entire SNES library to sell you." Something like that anyway.  

A few hours ago a well known collector who goes by "Byuu" posted a series of pictures showing every Super Nintendo (SNES) game ever made to Reddit, and listed them all as being for sale. Consisting of "all 721 retail SNES games released in the US, Mexico and Canada; boxes for every single game; and 85% of all manuals...", this collection is reasonably priced at $20,000, and just in time for the holiday season as well! So if you've got the money, and you know a gamer that just has to have every North American SNES release ever, you now know where to find it.

Links to pictures of the entire collection, the original post, and a few more pics of the massive set after the jump.

Halo 4 2v2 Map - Forge Competition: Details Coming Soon

Do you love to forge maps in Halo 4? Do you think that your maps have a high enough quality to be a featured map in Gaming Cuisine's competitive league? Then this is the competition for you. While we do have many of the details to be worked out for this competition, we thought we'd give you the heads up so you could begin creating a map suitable for just about any two versus two game mode. All of the current details are on our "Cook Off's" page. Expect a mid January due date. In the mean time, if you have any questions about it, shoot us an e-mail at gamingcuisine@gmail.com!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

What Am I playing?

A lot of people I meet at midnight launches and tournaments ask me what game I am playing. Well I think the question should be what games am I playing. Currently I am juggling Assassin's Creed III, Halo 4, Hitman Absolution, and the amazing Mass Effect 3.

Each of these games are super unique, and I must say they are some of the most entertaining games I have had the chance to play. Not only are all of these games on several "Game of the Year Award" lists, but they are currently on my personal favorites list.

The Holidays, Gaming and You: Again

Super Mario Tree, while similar sounding in name to its NES brother,
was not nearly as popular as Super Mario 3. Source

First off, I'd like to say it's good to be back to posting here, as I had to take most of November off due to circumstances. For those that caught my false start, I apologize, but hey zombies make up for that don't they? Am I right, or am I right? Anyway, I'm happy to say Mike and I are looking forward to some big things coming up with Gaming Cuisine, and that we will continue to improve and update the site. Furthermore  we both want to throw out a big holiday welcome to all our new readers, as well as our new staff. We've been through a lot through the last year and a half, and we couldn't have done it without you.

As some of you may recall I wrote a small holiday buying and receiving guide last year, geared toward gamers and non-gamers alike. While I don't have much to add on to last years article, except to maybe update the named titles, I want to say that in the spirit of the holiday season I hope you're all doing well, and again thank you for your patronage of our site. While today's post is short, we'll have more tomorrow, or tonight as the case may now be, and we have a few announcements coming up this month that we think will be exciting for everybody involved. So keep your eyes peeled, and continue to expect greatness from us here at Gaming Cuisine, because if there is one way we're like Santa, it's that we aim to deliver.

Until next time, Keep on Gaming.

Taylor’s entrée

Being the newest member of the Gaming Cuisine I want to give a huge thanks to Mike, if it wasn’t him I wouldn’t even be writing this article and to everyone else who has helped and supported me.

I’m Taylor Lautalo; I was born in 1996, in the beautiful state of Hawaii, on a little island called Oahu, and recently moved here to Utah.

Halo 4 Locus Helmet Giveaway!

Head over to our Facebook page for the details on this awesome giveaway!!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Facebook Page - Come and Like Us!

Hey there fellow gamer's! I just wanted to take a second and explain that we do in fact have a Facebook page! We've had it up and running since we started up just over a year ago. Help us reach out to a ton more people by heading over to our page, and liking us! Spread the word! You can either click the "Like" link to the right, or you can use this convenient link to go straight to our page. We will be holding contests to give away free swag, so make sure to check back frequently for those contests! We like you, the gamer, so now like us at Gaming Cuisine!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Call of Duty: Black Ops II - 2v2 Tournament Recap (With Pics!)

We had an excellent turn out at our Black Ops II 2v2 Tournament on the 17th! With nine teams of two competing for the win, you can bet that it was an intense match up. Thanks to everyone who came out and competed, and a huge thanks for The Gamerz Funk for letting us come hang out in their digs. Here are the pictures from the awesome event!

Star Craft II 1v1 Tournament Rules

Coming to compete in our Starcraft II 1v1 this weekend? Well, you'll need to know the rules first! So here they are. Please make sure you read over them carefully. If you have any questions, please  shoot us an e-mail at gamingcuisine@gmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! And A Happy Announcement!

It's belated, but we mean it. Happy Thanksgiving to all. What are we greatful for here at Gaming Cuisine? You!! We're glad that you check in with us on a regular basis, and we are so happy to continue to provide gaming news, updates, and our own view on the video game industry as a whole.

OOPS!

Due to circumstances today's article will be delayed until tomorrow! We apologize for the inconvenience, but leave you with this awesome, not-at-all-game-related trailer, for Warm Bodies, an upcoming zombie comedy, and this article about a few things everybody should know about zombies in Black Ops II. I post these in honor of all the misunderstood zombies being ruthlessly killed everyday (in Black Ops II, that is).

Enjoy, and we'll see you then!

Until then, Keep on Gaming!

Call of Duty: Black Ops II - 2v2 Tournament Rules!

We just posted the rules on the Cook Off's page for the Black Ops II - 2v2 Tournament for this Saturday, November 17, 2012. Head on over to check them out!

Black Ops II Midnight Launch Tournament Recap (With Pics!)

Holy Moses. That was insane. We had over 300 people in attendance at this particular midnight launch (It would have been more if it wasn't so cold!), and we hosted a 64 person tournament. We got to play Black Ops II early, for our tournament, and I must say it was a blast! We'd like to thank The Gamerz Funk for bringing out their awesome equipment for the tournament, and to everyone that participated.

Halo 4 2v2 Tournament Recap (with pics!)

The Halo 4 2v2 was a huge success! We had thirteen teams of very talented people enter, and two victorious individuals come out as our champions. After 26 incredible match's we had in first place, team P-Squared, in second place was 50 Shades of Pink (I know. The bracket says Pain. It's supposed to be Pink), and in third place we had Instant Blain.

Halo 4 Review

The date was November 15, 2001. The game was Halo: Combat Evolved. Nearly eleven years ago today, I played this incredible title, and it changed the way I look at video games forever.

Halo 4 Midnight Launch Tournament Recap (Pics Included!)

For those of you who didn't attend our awesome midnight launch on Monday night, and didn't play in our Halo 4 FFA Tournament, here is a little recap! With over 200 people in attendance, Gamestop of Jordan Landing, Gaming Cuisine, and The Gamerz Funk we psyched out of our minds upon our arrival. Weather you were there to experience Halo for the firs time, or had played every Halo title to ever hit Xbox 360, it was a total blast.

Halo 4 2v2 Tournament Reminder and Rules

Just a friendly reminder from us at Gaming Cuisine about the Halo 4 2v2 tournament we are hosting with The Gamerz Funk this Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 7:00 PM!! You are eligible to sign up for the remainder of the week, and the day of the tournament. You must sign up at The Gamerz Funk, and It's $10.00 per team right now, or $14.00 per team, the day of the tournament.

Here are the rules people. Make sure you read over them carefully!

HALO 4 MIDNIGHT LAUNCH TOURNAMENT TONIGHT!!!!

It's that time! Tonight Gaming Cuisine, The Gamerz Funk, and the Gamestop of Jordan Landing will be throwing an epic midnight launch tonight. Along with a bunch of prizes being raffled off, Us and The Gamerz Funk will be hosting a Free For All Halo Reach Tournament! If you want to sign up, please come to the Gamestop in Jordan Landing and sign up by 9:30 PM. We can't wait for this tournament, and most importantly, HALO 4!!!

Also don't forget about our Halo 4 2v2 tournament this Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 7:00 PM. It will be held at The Gamerz Funk, and in order for you to sign up, you'll need to arrive at The Gamerz Funk anytime this week, or the day of. For all further details, please visit our Cook Off's page.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Assassin's Creed III Limited Edition Un-Boxing

I had the opportunity to purchase the AC:III Limited Edition, and thought I would share with the world what the un-boxing looks like, and display all that comes with it. I absolutely love it! Enjoy!

Assassin's Creed III Midnight Launch Recap

If you weren't at the midnight launch of Assassin's Creed III on October 29, 2012, you certainly missed out on some fun! There were costumes worn by several people, and speaking of which, Rachel from Mask Costume Shop was attending and judged them at the end of the night. Ascension Props joined us, and gave away two of his custom made AC:III tomahawk's which retail at $150.00 each!   We were proud to be there working with such talented people, and can't wait for our next midnight launch event on November 5, 2012, for the release of Halo 4!! More details on that to come, but know that there will be prizes, an epic tournament, and much more! Below are the pictures from the release. Enjoy!

League of Legends 5v5 Tournament Recap

On October 20, 2012, Gaming Cuisine and The Gamerz Funk hosted a League Of Legends 5v5 tournament, and it was a success! We had three teams compete for the chance of winning cash prizes! I just want to thank The Gamerz Funk for helping set all of this up, and also a big thanks to those who competed, without you we wouldn't be able to hold tournaments! Below are pictures from the event.

Assassin's Creed III Midnight Launch & Halo 4 Tournament Flyers

First of all, we officially have 6 and a half hours until midnight (MST). What happens at midnight? Assassin's Creed III happens. What may become the best game in this franchise, ACIII looks absolutely stunning with it's completely re-vamped AnvilNext engine, deep story, large array of weapons, skins, and game modes. I for one am totally psyched out of my mind for this, and if you haven't played any of the AC titles to this date, now is your chance to start. Either jump into ACIII as your first title to see how you like the game, or start from the beginning with Assassin's Creed. Each game is highly brilliant, and you should definitely play them. We will be at the Jordan Landing Gamestop with Ascension Props to celebrate ACIII's midnight launch, so if you're in the area, please come, because our location has the most pre-orders in the State of Utah. It's going to be huge!

Halo: Forward Unto Dawn Episode IV

The fourth episode of Halo: Forward Unto Dawn is up, and it is on the Daily Specials page.  The first appearance of the Master Chief nuff said check it out!

The Elder Scrolls Online - Hands on!!!

Do you love The Elder Scrolls series? Have you heard of The Elder Scrolls Online coming in 2013? If your answer was yes or no to either of these questions, or you're just flat out curious, head over to the Daily Special's page for your chance to read about RPGamer's hands on experience with the Alpha version of this game!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Halo Forward Unto Dawn Episode III

The third episode of Halo: Forward Unto Dawn is up, and it is on the Daily Specials page.  Big decisions and more in this episode, check it out!

Bioshock Infinite Preorder Minigame and Assassins Creed III Midnight Launch

It's a Plain Jane logo, but it gets the point across. 

Bioshock Infinite, while not releasing until February of next year, already has ways to earn in-game rewards. Preorders for BI will include access to a 60 level puzzle game titled: Bioshock Infinite: Industrial Revolution. Playing through the game will unlock rewards in the full title upon release. While this has been done before, I'm looking forward to playing through many of the puzzles, as well as discovering what they will unlock in the final game.

In other Bioshock Infinite news, a new trailer highlighting gameplay and the storyline was also released yesterday. Featuring the song Beast by Nico Vega, and a lot of new screens, this new trailer really gets the blood pumping, and has me very excited for the final product. While the game is set in an alternate early 20th century, it appears to be shaping up to have a lot of social commentary. While BI doesn't appear to be breaking any new ground as far as gaming is concerned, it does appear to be shaping up to be a fantastic title. All this is in addition to the recently released info on the Premium and Ultimate Songbird Collectors Edition sets; BI is looking to really please fans of the series and newcomers alike. For more info on Bioshock Infinite stop by Irrational Games official site and check out the latest news.

Realm of the Mad God - Free to Play Game

Co-op Fantasy MMO Shooter, a genre that caters to more people than you'd think.

Realm of the Mad God
PC, Free-to-Play

Realm of the Mad God (RotMG) is a pretty straight forward 8-bit styled co-op shooter wrapped up in a microtransaction based MMO. While free to play you can choose to spend real money on upgrades to your character, or even account (E.G. being able to keep more than one character available at a time), but really it's not necessary, as the game is just as fun without having to spend a dime.

Using the most basic of commands (W,A,S,D to move, mouse button 1 fires, and a few other buttons to chat, toggle sounds, etc.), Realm of the Mad God is easy to jump into. It's simple yet stylish graphics certainly get the job done, and then some, and its music really highlight the graphical style. However being easy to jump into and being an easy game are two completely different things.

League of Legends Tournament & Future Tournaments Update

Hello fellow gamers, I just wanted to remind people to sign up for the 5v5 League of Legends tournament we are hosting this weekend at The Gamerz Funk! I need to remind you that the $500.00 cash prizes is subject to eight teams signing up. The less teams we have sign up, the less money will go towards the final prize. All of the details are on our Cook Off's page! Also while you're in our Cook Off's page, be sure to check out our new details for the upcoming Halo 4, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II tournaments we'll be throwing next month. They're going to be epic!

-Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Assassin's Creed III Multiplayer Thoughts

Today Ubisoft released the trailer for the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed III: Multiplayer. I'm blown away. Ubisoft has done a really good job in the past couple of games by bringing the single player experience to the multiplayer realm. One example I can give that's in this trailer is that each map shows the weather, and day or night lighting system included in the single player of AC:III. From the trailer, it looks like that if a player gets into a game, it could be during the evening one time, and during the day the next time. Another example is that a player could play on a map during a rain storm one time, and a snow storm the next.

Halo: Forward Unto Dawn Episode II

The second episode of Halo: Forward Unto Dawn is up, and it is on the Daily Specials page.  Go check it out and see what is happening in the further story of UNSC Cadets lives.

Homestuck, Earthworm Jim, and Free or Cheap Continues!

Think of it as reading Proust; if Proust had focused on 13 year old interdimensional-time-travelling adventurers instead of a bunch of people you don't care about.

Image courtesy of: Know Your Meme 

Hey all, due to circumstances the Free or Cheap article will be posted tomorrow. Until then here are a few small tidbits of gaming news:

The Homestuck Adventure Game (title will probably change) was amazingly successful and brought in over $2.4 million dollars! For those familiar with Homestuck this is excellent news, for those that aren't familiar, you can read this explanation by the creator, or even better, just read Homestuck. Additionally, if you wanted to get some of the sweet Kickstarter exclusive swag, but missed the campaign, Andrew Hussie, the creator, is allowing donations through Paypal via the What Pumpkin Store for a limited time.

New DLC for Borderlands 2 Announced

Image Courtesy of: Gearbox

According to the Associated Press, the new DLC for Borderlands 2, "Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty", will release October 16th! It will focus on the one-eyed pirate Queen Captain Scarlett and is set in a desert landscape. It will introduce the new shanty filled town of Oasis and introduce a new vehicle as well as a new currency called seraph crystals. For more info check out the Associated Press article.

Our question for you: Is it too soon? It's not even a month after the September 18th release and we just barely got the Mechromancer on October 9th. We would love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time, good gaming!

Mechromancer Release Date!

 

Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software, has announced that the new Mechromancer Class for Borderlands 2 will be available to download on all platforms by the end of today, October 9th! So far the game has delivered a great experience with every class, so we're all stoked here at Gaming Cuisine to see what the Mechromancer, Gaige, will bring to the table. We'll keep you posted on our thoughts and would love to hear your opinions, so please comment! Good gaming y'all!

Halo 4: Mantis - The Game Changer?

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Mantis.

Halo has always been known for it's vehicles, and recently, 343 put a cherry on top of the upcoming Halo 4 multiplayer by introducing the mech-warrior known as "The Mantis". A player is able to roam the battlefield inside this incredible beast, acting as the new threat. The trailer below clearly shows that the banshee, and warthog will no longer reign supreme, but I have a feeling that it being slower than either of them will make them easy targets for well placed rockets, and other power weapons.

Halo: Forward Unto Dawn - Episode I

 The first episode of Halo: Forward Unto Dawn is up, and we have it on the Daily Specials page! Go check it out!

Black Mesa: Half Life Becomes Beautiful (Free Game)

I've heard some people say that Black Mesa doesn't really look that great.
Seriously, have you seen this game?

Black Mesa

PC, Free-to-Play 

On September 14, 2012, at, and I quote, "exactly... 8:47 AM MDT" Black Mesa's single player game was released to the public. For those who are unaware Black Mesa is a complete overhaul of Half-Life done in the Source Engine (the engine that powers Half-Life 2 and other fine titles). Half-Life, if you're unfamiliar, is a First Person Shooter/Adventure game first released for PC in November, 1998, and would later be ported to the PS2 (released November, 2001), and Dreamcast (finished, but unreleased). 

Having sold over 9.3 million copies, Half-Life is one of the best selling PC games of all time, and one of the most well regarded first person adventures of all time. The story follows the adventures of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a man working at the Black Mesa Research Facility, located somewhere in the desert of New Mexico. Late for work Freeman (as he's often referred to) assists in an experiment, when suddenly everything goes wrong and he finds himself thrust into a nightmarish situation filled with monsters from another dimension. I won't give any "spoilers" away here, but know it's a great game, and has an intriguing storyline worth playing through. 

Free Halo Reach, Online, 1v1 Tournament

Feel like you're pretty awesome at Halo: Reach? Would you like to comete in a free online tournament hosted by our very own Team Tanacity? Well then you are in luck! Here's the details:

Free Skull Key Code On Borderlands 2!

Hey! Do you play Borderlands 2, and want a free skull key for the chest in Sanctuary? There are a couple of ways if you don't know. Go to the main menu and go to the extras tab. From there you'll click on the "SHIFT CODE" button. Sign up for a shift account and get your first free key!

The next way is to simply follow Randy Pitchford on Twitter. He'll be periodically giving away codes to redeem on the SHIFT code screen for more free skull keys! Happy Vault Hunting!

Until next time, keep on Gamin' on!

Heroes Call (Free Android Game)

Heroes Call
Android, (iPod/iPad/iPhone upcoming)
Free-to-Play


Heroes Call is a free Android (coming soon to iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone) adventure game with a decent RPG element. The player is able to choose from one free hero, and can pay U.S $1.99 each for up to three other heroes. Think of it as a Diablo type game, but on a much smaller and a little more repetitive scale. E.G. Most of the dungeons look the same, even though they are titled different.

Best of the Best: Cheap and/or Free Games

For a game about a cat trying to get milk, it sure doesn't feature many cats...

Hey all, we're going to try a little something new here over the next month, and we want your feedback to help us out with our new experiment.   Once a week, for the next month, we here at Gaming Cuisine are going to post a review of a game that we love that is cheap or free.  Since these games will mostly be free-to-play games, we won't go into too much depth on the details of each title, but will instead focus more about what audience they're aimed at.

Also the price of the game will reflect how long the reviews are.  The more expensive a game is, the more words the review will contain.  Any games we review that are bordering the $10 mark will have a fairly standard review, but most free-to-play titles will just be short, easy to get through synopses, essentially stating why you should be playing the game we've featured.

League Of Legends 5v5 tournament **UPDATED**

We are happy to announce the League Of Legends five versus five tournament. It will be on October 20, 2012 at 9:30 AM, and will be held at The Gamerz Funk. Please go to the Cook Off's page for all of the details!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

**Initially the date was October 13, 2012. This has now changed to October 20, 2012. Sorry for any inconveniences. See you then!

Borderlands 2 Review

I was introduced to the original Borderlands by a buddy of mine about a year before its release in 2009 and I immediately fell in love with the idea of a 4 player co-op game. After I picked up the game I spent countless hours with my family and friends traveling around Pandora, enjoying the humorous dialogue and killing anything that moved. Needless to say, when Borderlands 2 was announced I was as happy as a fat kid with a corn dog! It has become an obsession over the last few months and it was all I could do to avoid watching all the gameplay footage released by Gearbox. I wanted my first night with the game to be filled with surprises and it almost seemed like Gearbox wanted everyone to know everything about the new game before its release. I know there are people out there that enjoy a ton of prerelease info, but I enjoy the anticipation. It’s like Christmas, how fun is it Christmas morning if you already know everything you’re gonna get? I’ll step down off my soap box now, but you get my point.

Borderlands 2 Midnight Release, and Future Midnight Launches

We had around one hundred and fifty people attend the midnight launch at the GameStop in Jordan Landing last night. It was a pretty exciting night to say the least. Noodles and Company stayed open late so that people could eat some food while they waited, but also so people could show Noodles and Company their receipt from prepaying the game off and receive a free desert! So, Thank you Noodles and Company. We look forward to you staying open late again for the bigger releases in November. Through the night Gaming Cuisine provided a TV set up with a copy of the first Borderlands for two players to enjoy if they so desired. GameStop had two stations for gaming as well. One for Halo: Reach, and the other for the most recent Mortal Kombat. People were sure to not get bored with all we had set up for them. On top of that there was an epic raffle with a boatload of prizes.

Gears of War 3: 2v2 Tournament Recap (Picture Heavy)

We had an incredible turn out! Six teams of two signed up and competed in last Saturday's GOW3: 2v2 tournament. I want to thank everyone that participated, and I must say that each and every one of you are very talented. We also had several people spectating, and that made it even more legit than it already was! I'd also like to thank Mike and The Gamerz Funk crew for helping us throw the tournament, and for providing their incredible gaming space for the event. And a special thanks to Robby for coming to represent Gaming Cuisine and run the entire bracket for the tournament, and for Rusty for providing the second place prizes for the competition from GameStop in Jordan Landing. Couldn't have done it as smoothly with out any of you!

Update

We will be posting pictures and information from our Gears of War 3: 2v2 tournament later today. I apologize nothing was posted for yesterday, but it was all in good cause! I went to the midnight launch for Borderlands 2 last night and it was awesome! Details on that to come later tonight too!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Borderlands 2 Midnight Launch Giveaway

We will be at the midnight launch of Borderlands 2 on September 17, 2012. At this midnight launch we will have a raffle, and will be giving away a Borderlands 2 strategy guide to one lucky winner! This strategy guide will come with a bonus! A 15 month calendar themed after Borderlands 2! If you haven't reserved Borderlands 2, head over to the Gamestop in Jordan Landing and do, so that you don't miss out on the chance to win the awesome strategy guide, calendar, and the opportunity buy a game that will not disappoint!! See you there!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Gears of War 2v2 Tournament Rules, and Maps

The rules and maps for the Gears of War 2v2 tournament this weekend have been added to the Cook Off's page. Head over there now to see this list. We can't wait for Saturday! And remember to re-read the "Disclosure" so that you are aware of the time you are expected to show, and sign up by.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Star Wars: Battlefront meets Battlefield 3?

LucasArts has brought the videogame world and its huge Star Wars following some pretty incredible games, including the upcoming Star Wars: 1313. One of my absolute favorite adventure games from the world of SW is The Force Unleashed. It gives the player an amazing opportunity to feel what it would be like to have the force that a Jedi has, and from the dark side at that. The way the game ran, the story, the graphics, music, control, and several other things is what made this game good. One of the most fun SW games I have played would have to be Star Wars: Battlefront, and for some of the same reasons that made TFU excellent.

Gears of War 3 2v2 Tournament UPDATE, and Halo 4

It has come to my attention that one of the biggest rivalry games in the history of the NCAA is going to be happening only an hour after we are holding the Gears of War 3 tournament. In the interest of our attendance, and the BYU vs. Utah's attendance, we are moving the time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Please check out our Cook Off's page for further details.

It has also come to my attention that Halo 4 is quite possibly going to be the best title in the Halo franchise yet. When Halo: Combat Evolved was released the bar was set high for console FPS's. Halo 2 added to it with the addition of Xbox Live, duel wielding, better graphics, harder enemies, but the story sort of lacked. Halo 3 was an exciting ending to the war with the Covenant race, and added incredible multiplayer, much better graphics, customization, and several other things. Halo: Reach gave us insight on how the Halo story all began, added a new style of multiplayer, and was graphically enhanced.

Symphony: Gaming Dissonance

A demon is taking over your music in the hopes of, something...
It was apparently evil though, and involved music...

Symphony 
PC 


I'm not going to lie I was looking forward to this game, a lot. Perhaps that's why I felt so disappointed in it. Or perhaps it's just a truly awful game. I will say one thing, it was at least bad enough that I forgot to post my original review of it last week. That says something, that says, at the very least, that this game was bad enough that I purposefully tried to forget about it. It says this game was so bad I uninstalled it, and had to reinstall it to grab some screens from it. That statement says many, many things, but "good" is certainly not one of them. But I digress, Symphony, is a music based shooter. Similar to games like Beat Hazard, and Audiosurf, Symphony uses the music in your computers library to build the levels. Unlike Beat Hazard or Audiosurf, though, Symphony is not a railed button-pushing rhythm game or arena shooter. Symphony is an amalgamation of several genres we've seen before, including arena shooters, single-button shooters, music-rhythm shooters, railed shooters, etc. (See what I did there?). Shooting is the name of the game in Symphony, and while this should have been a real blast, and could be with the right tweeks, as is Symphony falls flat.

A Long Review of a Short Game: Thirty Flights of Loving

If I explained the events leading up to this point in the game,
well it'd be pretty much the entire game. Source

Thirty Flights of Loving
PC

Thirty Flights of Loving (TFoL) is a hard game to describe, in fact I'm not sure the term game is right for it, first-person interactive short story seems more appropriate. Coming from Blendo Games TFoL takes the adventure genre and puts it on its head. From the get-go the player has to figure out who and where you are, and what it is that you're trying to accomplish. However it quickly becomes clear where you need to head, and what you need to do. This clarity in design is not only functional, it's elegant. In neither TFoL, or in its precursor Gravity Bone (included with TFoL on Steam, or as a free download here), did I ever feel like I was lost, or couldn't quickly figure out where it was I needed to head. This straight forward level design could have been considered stale or boring in other titles, but in both TFoL and GB it came across as a refreshing change of pace from typical adventure games. In fact almost everything in TFoL came across as a breath of fresh air, considering that it only took me about ten minutes to run through the game in its entirety, that's saying something.

Thirty Flights of Loving Makes Me Sick... Literally

If you're into crime, not always the best idea to advertise it in large letters. 

Today's reviewing will be delayed until Tuesday, because I became violently ill while playing Thirty Flights of Loving. Turns out the refresh rate is slightly too slow for my eyes to handle. I will finish the second included episode tomorrow evening and finish my review. Also coming tomorrow a review of Symphony a music based shooter. (Ed. - Symphony delayed one more day due to the length of my TFoL review.)

For those that can't wait there are some screens after the jump, and just know that these are stylish, beautiful games.

Social Gaming, Our Dream, & Tournament Announcements!

It seems like social gaming is becoming a thing of the past. To give you an example, there use to be five LAN shops around Utah. Now there is one. It's called The Gamerz Funk, and it's an incredible shop. You can go there, and pay very few dollars to play one, or many of the games contained in their library (Trust me... They have all the big titles, and on over 20 PC's, and 4 Xbox 360's) on their blazing fast internet, or LAN. I've mentioned in several articles that I am a huge Halo fan. I use to throw a Halo LAN party once a month, and before that, almost every weekend. Ever since Xbox Live, and  the PSN surfaced in the console world, social gaming is dying. I love to hop online and play a few games of my favorite shooter, but there is just something so much better about getting together with a group of people and having some friendly competition.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive - Cinematic Trailer

BLAM! The wait is almost over. It's been just over a year since the world was told that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive would be released tomorrow. Yes, you heard me, tomorrow, August 21, 2012. And what's even better than this awesome title being released tomorrow is that it's only going to cost you $14.99! To keep you occupied, Valve has released this amazing cinematic trailer. Sink your teeth into this one, because it's delicious. Take it from me, the chef!

Where's Gaming Gourmands Episode 3 you ask? We'll be recording it tonight, actually. Ryan, our guest Robby, Eric the sound guy, and I will be recording it tonight. We didn't actually record last I told you because Gamescom was last week, and I figured it'd be best to wait until it was over so we could provide some juicy information from it's awesomeness. So stay tuned!

-Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

MANN Vs. Machine: TF2 Getting an Update, This Week!

For those of you who haven't heard Valve is releasing a team co-op mode for Team Fortress 2 called Mann Vs. Machine Wednesday, August 15! Exciting news for TF2 and PC gamers alike. The premise is that a team of up to six players will fight off wave after wave of machines (from the "Mann Corporation"), playing until your team is dead. With several different types of robots and several new maps, this is quite the release. For more information check out the official site Here. I'll look forward to killing robots with the rest of you.

Until then, Keep on Gaming.

Gaming Gourmands Episode III Update

We will be recording our third episode of Gaming Gourmands tomorrow night. I can't wait to discuss Gamescom, Our up coming tournament and tournament plans with The Gamerz Funk, and many other video game topics. Make sure to check back in a couple of weeks for this podcast, and obviously, check back frequently for new articles, news, and gaming updates!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

A Belated Birthday: Gaming Cuisine Turns One, and a big announcement

Though we're a bit belated in announcing it Gaming Cuisine's first year has been something Mike and I have been celebrating for a while. On August 1, 2011, Gaming Cuisine's first two posts introducing Mike and I (Ryan) were published, followed shortly by other editors, a couple podcasts (with more to come), and many, many articles. We've done our best to stay true to a twice-a-week posting formula, and have mostly succeeded in doing so. And on that note we want to thank all of you for sticking around for the times we missed our self-appointed deadlines. If it wasn't for you, our audience, we probably wouldn't still be regularly posting a year later. While it's certainly possible that Mike and I might have still been posting regardless of readership,  I can tell you for certain our hearts wouldn't be in it. You have all made Gaming Cuisine a very valuable part of our lives, and one we talk about on a regular basis. From excitement about reader comments and numbers, to ways to improve the site, Gaming Cuisine has been a regular topic of discussion between us for over a year now (some of you may remember this all started with Mike's previous blog "Hunter Zero Gaming").

Warframe Gameplay Video, and Closed Beta

Digital Extremes has just released this awesome first look at the upcoming PC third person shooter simply titled, Warframe. This game is capable of four player co-op, and looks to be extremely competitive with the powers and weapons the player is able to use.

Along with this epic trailer, Digital Extremes is making a closed beta available to sign up for. All you need to do is go to their official website, input your e-mail, Alias, and hit send. It's that simple!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Darksiders: Old and New

“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” - Rev 6:3-4

Those who are well versed in the bible, and even those who aren’t, may recognize these verses. No, this isn’t a bible lesson. Revelations 6:1-8, as found in the Holy Bible, served as the inspiration for the 2010 Vigil Games and THQ title Darksiders (originally titled Darksiders:Wrath of War) and they’ve recently announced the release of the upcoming sequel Darksiders II!

Gamescom 2012 Wish List

Well, it's that time of the year again! For those of you who aren't sure what I'm talking about, Gamescom is held in Cologne Germany every year. What is it, you ask? It's "the world's largest trade fair and event highlight for interactive games and entertainment". Each year this expo gets bigger and better, and has proven to be one of the most reliable trade shows around.

If you haven't listened to Gaming Gourmand's Episode 2, go check it out. Ryan and I discuss why we think E3 is getting worse, and why Gamescom is getting better. Every year I will have a wishlist of things I'd like to see shown at Gamescom. Last year, I had a pretty sweet wish list, and just about everything on it came true. It's my pleasure to share with you my Gamescom 2012 wish list. In no particular order:

Zombies, Monkeys, Maniacs and Other Adventures

A fine example of gentlemanly behavior.  Image source    

Recently I was given a copy of The Walking Dead video game series through Steam (Valve's online distribution channel for games). For those of you who are unaware The Walking Dead is an adventure game, in that it is a point-and-click adventure (sort of). This was quite a surprise to me, as I'd expected a much more action packed title, however, as I've been playing through TWD I feel that this was a really good choice and style for this game. It's also made me notice that there has been a small but sure resurgence of the adventure game genre over the past several years.

From remakes of The Secret of Monkey Island series to the first two volumes of Penny Arcade's On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness, adventure games have been slowly making a return.

To the Vicitms of the Dark Knight Rises Colorado Midnight Showing Tragedy - Our Hearts go out to you

I want to take a moment to express my heartache for what happened at the midnight showing of Dark Knight Rises in an Aurora, Colorado theater. For those of you who haven't heard, you can read more here. No words can truly show how deeply I feel for the victims and their families. It's sad that this had to happen. I will say I am impressed with the response time of the local police, and SWAT teams, and I am grateful for the men and women who sacrifice every day to keep us all a little more safe. Again, take a moment to remember those who died at this shooting, the injured recovering, and their families. For those of you in Aurora reading this, please know that we feel for you, and you are in our thoughts and prayers.

-Mike Clark
Editor-In-Chief, Co-Founder
Gaming Cuisine


Mike has summed up my feelings and emotions of this tragic event very well, and I have little to add. It is tragedies and incidents like this that make us all remember how precious human life is, and how easily it can be lost. I only hope that all of those out there who are suffering from this needless incident, and others like it, find what peace they can.

- Ryan Huff
Chief Editor, Co-Founder
Gaming Cuisine

Flood the Sudds!

Remember how we throw tournaments? Well, we also sponsor a local Halo team called "GC Tenacity". Each of these players has some excellent skills in the art of Halo, and mean business about it. To show the world that Gaming Cuisine will become the best venue for video game tournaments in Utah, we would like to recruit all of you to help us, and Tenacity out. They will be competing against a very well known, and skilled team called Reality Check, who happen to have two players on the team called Suddoth 1, and Suddoth 2. We want you to flood each of their player's chat boxes with Team Tenacity chants, and Gaming Cuisine links so that we can start to let them, and other competition know that it's on like Donkey Kong... Or Halo... You get my point, right? In no way, shape, or form is this an attempt to interrupt the gameplay of either team. It's simply an attempt at getting our name, and Tenacity's name out there. We wish both teams good luck, and good gaming! For all of the details on this exciting adventure, follow this link! The game starts at 7:00 P.M. Mountain Standard Time.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Gaming Gourmands Podcast - Episode 2!!

We are so happy to finally release Episode 2 of the Gaming Gourmands podcast. All you need to do is click, and enjoy! In this episode Ryan and I discuss our thoughts and feelings on E3, What's cooking, and several other awesome topics. Give it a listen and please, if you have any comments or recommendations, e-mail us! gamingcuisine@gmail.com

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Gaming Gourmands: Episode II & Atomic Arcade

Eric our sound guy, is currently in the final stages of making sure Episode II of Gaming Gourmands is as brilliant as it can be. Thank you so much for your patience! It will be posted VERY soon, I promise! 

Also, please forgive us for our absence on Friday. It was a crazy weekend for all of us. For those of you who are local here in Salt Lake City, go check out The Atomic Arcade shop on 3939 S. Highland Drive. Chris Wright is the owner, and recently opened it in March. They are open really late, so if you are a night owl like me, you'll be there until they close at midnight during the week, and one a.m. on the weekends! This shop has original arcade machines from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. If you have a favorite from when you were a kid, then you'll probably find it there for your personal enjoyment. If you are someone who hasn't played games from those years, then head over there anyway and discover something new! I talked to Chris today, and he will be interviewing with us very soon, so be sure to check back for that, and tell them Gaming Cuisine sent ya!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Halo 4: E3 2012 Multiplayer - MLG Player Comments

As many of our steady readers know, I am a massive Halo fan. I've been on board with Halo since it's debut on the original Xbox. I can't even count how many LAN parties I have hosted, and attended, and how many incredible moments happened in it's beautiful multiplayer. There are less than 4 months left until Halo 4 graces us with it's presence. If you have not played Halo for ANY reason, this would be the time to jump aboard it's massive train.

Dreams Come True: NiGHTS Into Dreams HD

If you don't know why NiGHTS Into Dreams HD is a big deal,
then do yourself a favor and find the Saturn or Wii version now.
And yes, the "i" is not capitalized for a reason. Source

Earlier today Sega of America announced an HD remake of the Sega Saturn classic NiGHTS Into Dreams for the Playstation Network (PSN), Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and PC digital download (likely via Steam, etc.). The remake will feature all of the original levels in HD, as well as online leaderboards, trophies, achievements, and a "Saturn Mode" which will let the players experience the original graphics.

It was sixteen years ago today, July 5, 1996, that the original NiGHTS was released, setting the Sega gaming community, and others, on fire. A 3D platformer unlike anything previously seen, NiGHTS showcased what the Sega Saturn was capable of, and gave Sega's fans something to talk about. While there were plenty of "2.5D" platformers on the market at this point, most true 3D platformers, such as Super Mario 64, Spyro, and Crash Bandicoot, were still months, if not years, away from US release. While it could be argued that NiGHTS also falls into the 2.5D category, it's easy to point out there were parts of the game where you roamed free around the ground in true 3D fashion, and not just looping through "railed" sections of gameplay. A key point in separating 2D from 3D.

Gaming Gourmands Episode 2 - Coming soon & Assassin's Creed: III Limited edition

Ryan and I just got done recording episode 2 of Gaming Gourmands. Included this time around will be topics that are sure to wet your lips with the sweet nectar of what we are excited to see, including Skyrim Dawnguard, Resident Evil 6, and much more. This should be released for your listening pleasure within the next couple of weeks. We recorded in the Cove Studio, at Dutch Apple, with Sound Engineer and Mixer, Eric Limburg. He has an awesome amount of recording capability, and would surely satisfy anyone's aching for Audio assistance. Please contact him by shooting him an e-mail to ericsoundguy@gmail.com with any inquiries.

The Death of Consoles: End of an Era or Just The Same Old Story?

Not actually my car, but this did happen to me recently.
It was a lot cooler looking than I expected.  

Thanks to cars catching on fire (me), or breaking down (Mike), and life being generally insanely, we've gotten a little off schedule here recently, but now we're back on top of things. So welcome back, and we're glad to still be here safe and sound.

And now on to the article!

Being such snappy dressers, I can see why people would listen to predictions by
 Ben Cousins (Ngmoco), Richard Garriott (Ultima), and Cevat Yerli (Crytek) 

A lot of people have been speculating on the death of home consoles recently, however this really isn't a new trend. The death of the console has been predicted for years, and while some predictions have come true, such as Sega pulling out of the hardware market (in 1999 that seemed far fetched), most have not. One great example of this that I've been hearing since the nineties is "Nintendo is sure to pull out of the market next year"; as people have perceived the Nintendo 64 (N64), the Gamecube (GCN), and even the Wii as market failures. Fact is though Nintendo is not only doing fine, but has led the market in system sales for some time. Going by the numbers, they're not going anywhere soon.

The Sports Genre: A Bad Case Of Déjà vu

In 1988 football games, and quite possibly all sports games, were revolutionized. At the time it was known as John Madden Football, and was the most realistic football game to be released. In 1990 an updated version of John Madden Football was released, and in 1993 EA changed the name to Madden NFL after aquiring the rights for the game. Since then, there has been a Madden NFL annually. Releasing a game annually can be very beneficial to a company, but it can also be a bad thing.

Article Preview - The Sport's Genre: A Bad Case Of "Déjà vu"

Join me in a few days as I discuss how the sports genre has a bad case of "Déjà vu", and why I think it's a bad idea to have a new sports title such as Madden NFL every single year. I want to make sure it's all nice and shiny before I let you feast your eyes upon it!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

E3: Sexism and Meh

Dashing your hopes and dreams since 1995

There was an especially large amount of disappointment in E3 this year, and while I hate to say it, it's been a long time coming (Link has strong language). One of the oldest trade shows in the game industry, E3 simply hasn't grown with it's audience, leading it to be a continual letdown, and become nothing more than a place for big companies to show off their repeats or sequels to last years "Triple-A" titles. There are multiple factors for why this has happened, but ultimately it comes down to the fact that many of the developers who show at E3, and the organizers of the show themselves, are growing increasingly out of touch with the market.

Halo Reach Tournament Update

We will be holding the Halo Reach tournament on June 23, 2012 at 10:30 AM. For more details, check out our Cook Off's page!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Introducing a Returning Writer

For those of you who don't know me, which is most likely the vast majority, I'd like to re-introduce myself, my name is Austin and I’m a gamer. I wrote a few articles when Gaming Cuisine was first starting out, but had to take a break due to some personal matters. I figured that getting married might require a little more attention at the time, but now that things have calmed down a bit I told Mike and Ryan I’d be more than willing to write a few articles here and there. I consider myself a casual gamer, but compared to Mike and Ryan I’m probably considered super casual. Everyone knows that life sometimes decides to get hectic, and between work, school, and family life, there isn’t much time left over for some much needed nerding (as my family likes to call it). So when I get a few minutes I like to play games that have the “jump in, jump out” or "pick-up-and-play" style. Needless to say, I don’t play many online multiplayer games, which is fine by me because I’m a really sore loser, but there are a few games that I do play online on rare occasions, such as Battlefield and Borderlands. Mostly I like to play games where you can work as a team to accomplish goals, like Castle Crashers or Minecraft (which recently entered the console realm), the Portal series, old school classics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Contra, and arcade style games like Trials HD, and Age of Booty (It’s about pirates …) are just few that I’ve really enjoyed.

Mostly I'll focus on games the casual gamer like myself will enjoy, but you never know, I may find opportunities to branch out and give a casual gamers perspective on some of the bigger titles. Overall my goal is to write articles that can be enjoyed by the casual and hardcore gamers alike, so we can all enjoy the beauty and magnificence of getting our nerd on. Until next time, good gaming!

E3 2012 Page

Want a fresh view on this year's E3? Look no further. We have created an "E3 2012" page for your convenience. Just click the tab above to get your fill of insane news, trailers, and gameplay debuts from E3 2012.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Halo Reach Tournament Delayed, and Apology

Today at 8:30 AM, I woke up with the stomach flu. I just wanted to personally apologize for any inconveniences that I caused by not getting the word out quick enough. I hope that those who did and didn't sign up will attend the continued tournament with in the next couple of weeks. As soon as a date is decided upon with Gamestop, then I will make an announcement. Again, I'm very sorry for any inconveniences I may have caused today, and I hope you can accept my apology.

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Dawnguard DLC Trailer

What better way to get us all amped up for the upcoming Skyrim DLC than a beautiful, but dark, trailer. Follow the link to fill up your canteen until it's unknown release date of "Summer 2012". Be sure to check back soon for my "E3 2012 wishlist" article!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Gaming Gourmands, Better Late Than Never

Episode 1: It's about games and gaming. Promise.

Hey everybody, we're excited to finally release our first podcast. Due to some insane delays and unexpected happenings in life it's a bit late, and we apologize for that delay. This first episode is an intro to who we are, and a general discussion on games, their difficulty, and a few other things, but I won't spoil it all here. From here on out we plan on having better production values, more focused discussions, as well as guests. Think of this first episode as our introductory statement.

Also I personally wanted to note that as I (Ryan Huff) mention Hexxen, Exhumed, etc., I was totally wrong, going back and giving them a run it seems nostalgia tricked me, they really don't have much in the way of storyline. Same for Conkers BFD, it honestly wasn't that difficult, I was just racking my brain trying to come up with an N64 game that challenged me. If you're curious as to what I mean by all that, just listen to the podcast, it'll be worth your time.

To download and listen to Gaming Gourmands just click here, and enjoy!

Until next time,

Keep on gaming.

Mass Effect Series Review: Part III

My exhilarating journey with Mass Effect began a little before ME3 was released. Out of the three games, ME3 provides one of the most emotional, and epic rides that an RPG has to offer. Before I began Mass Effect, I was pretty new to the RPG world, and because of this series, I now know what "Role Playing Game" actually means. ME3 provides the player with such an immersive universe, that they'll have to pinch themselves to make sure it's not a dream. With new worlds, mass relay's to jump, parts of the Normandy to explore, main and side quests, friendships, and relationships to continue, ME3 is bound to keep you entertained for a large number of hours.