Eric Layman

It's hard not to like Ratchet and Clank.  Since reviewing Size Matters last year, I've not only played through every game in the series, but have actually taken the time to pick up every titanium bolt, (almost!) every skill point, and run through each title again in challenge mode.  Hell, Tools of Destruction was my most anticipated game amidst Halo 3, Mass Effect, Mario Galaxy, and CoD 4 last fal...[Read More]

Back in the day, Sony's first system was solely responsible for ushering RPGs into mainstream gaming.  Sure, this genre had enjoyed moderate success on the Super Nintendo, but the commercial behemoth known as Final Fantasy VII broke through to American gamers in a way no other title had; all of a sudden RPG's shed their nerd stigma and actually became cool.  The PSX was the system to have for both...[Read More]

Shifting blocks are to puzzle games as frat boys are to Madden; it's a symbiotic relationship worthy of defining a genre.  Sure, a host of different puzzlers exist that use other means of delivery to tax your brain, but those infinitely descending stones/jewels/tetri often comprise the bulk of puzzle titles.  Gunpey, Bust a Move, and Lumines all offer variations of this formula for your PSP dollar...[Read More]

PSP puzzle games are a real catch-22.  On one hand you have a genre perfectly suited to pick up and go gameplay, but on the other hand, with it comes an enormous amount of competition.  Puzzlers have saturated the PSP library, second only to sports games in terms of individual titles.  Today, a remarkably distinctive experience is just as important as the depth of the gameplay behind it.  The much...[Read More]

Bomberman has definitely received the short end of the videogame mascot stick.  Yeah, he's been around since the 80's, but he's never been able to compete with Mario, or (even with his recent crapfest) Sonic.  Despite climaxing nearly ten years ago in Saturn Bomberman, the core multiplayer battle gameplay is still the best and most fun place to commit dastardly acts of sabotage upon your fellow ma...[Read More]

There comes a time in every person’s life when he or she no longer understands children oriented television shows.  The Pokémon boom occurred during my high school years, and, while I didn't watch the show with any degree of regularity, I acknowledged it had a rational reason for existing; the games were genuinely fun and it was moderately entertaining to see your favorite Pokémon running around o...[Read More]

Pocket Pool.  Now one could argue this is an appropriate title for a billiards game on a handheld.  Still, others might accept the modern interpretation, which urban dictionary defines as "to indescretely play with your balls."  Half naked women everywhere and a Mature rating from the ESRB seem to suggest this is slightly more than your standard pool title.  Indeed, it appears as if the developers...[Read More]

Back in the late 90's, before the rise of broadband internet, Sony's preferred method of interactive promotional media arrived via their quarterly, cd-magazine, Playstation Underground.  Each "issue" offered a host of playable demos, developers interviews, loaded save files, and other assorted PSX knickknacks.  While it happened to showcase a lot of crap, PSU was also the first time a lot of us go...[Read More]

By the mid 90's, side scrolling run and gun games appeared to be on their last legs.  Contra, which had been synonymous with the genre since its inception in the late 80's, jumped shark and decided to gamble with full blown 3D.  Extensive side scrolling, pixel blasting mayhem was dropped in favor of newfangled polygons.  It looked good on paper, but the dream of 3D run and gun turned into a nightm...[Read More]

I love Hideo Kojima and his Metal Gear series in the most heterosexual way possible.  No other franchise has combined ridiculously intriguing story telling (pretentions as it may seem) with such fresh and bulletproof gameplay every time around.  Hell, Metal Gear Solid 4 could be Snake and a monkey doing nothing but sitting in a tree, throwing their own excrement at each other and I would still be,...[Read More]