(Please excuse the  one-day-later post but this couldn’t wait another whole week). *Ahem*. . . Hello there, fellow Dark Diamond readers and friends, and welcome back to another one of my very well-received coverages about events that gather our one similar trait; that what makes us wake up early on a cloudy Saturday to be ready just in time to assist the one event you’ve been waiting all year long: The -anime- Halloween Party (because most of the other parties . . .just don’t cut it).

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Read the rest of Soapbox Saturday – Halloween Anime Cosplay Party (930 words)

© Velcor for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anime , Cosplay , Soapbox , Videogames

Boasting an impressive 32 player experience, Section 8 would appear to be a shining light in the crowded multiplayer environments of tween squealing Halo or cheater saturated Call of Duty. However true to form, it leaves the single player campaign with something to be desired. It’s hard times when a videogamer can’t play with himself. (...)
Read the rest of Dark Diamond Review: Section 8 (904 words)

© Sol d-_-b for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: FPS , review , Section 8 , Videogames , Xbox-360

After being rescued from Mercy Hospital, our foursome crash lands into new DLC released September 29th. Free for PC owners and 560 MS points for the Xbox360, the new campaign features two chapters, original voice acting (which provides good laughs) and a reason to get back into playing Left4Dead. New superficial details such as an improved HUD (which will be utilized in the sequel) and aesthetics like the writing on the wall provide you with the same sense of the murderous infected living behind the corner. The new maps keep the same style and feel of the original, but seem harder.

In the original, you’d run into a weapons resupply once a chapter. In the DLC, they are everywhere and it helps. Playing on expert, the horde is seemingly never ending and rather than the occasional special zombie (smoker, boomer, or hunter), you can expect all three to appear at the same time with the witch or tank in the most inopportune spots during the chase.

While short in length the two chapters appear both in Versus and Survival modes giving the DLC high replay value. Crash Course gives you a chance to hone your zombie killing skills and should you have bought L4D at discount, the $7 worth of MS points you’d spend makes it even more attractive. For those of us that bought it at full price and love the game, it whets our appetite for the real deal in November.

*Also for achievement hunters Valve gave us 10 more to collect…

Related posts:

1. Fire Emblem goodness on the Wii.
2. Sonic Wild Fire is no more
3. Otaku Crash Course with Shoko-tan

© Sol d-_-b for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DLC , Horror , L4D , Rapid-Fire-Carats , review , Videogames , Xbox360

Time for a double review, this time is the turn of the epic storyline of the one and only, or at least the most remarkable, Afro Samurai.

A series and a movie with great animation, excellent storyline and, to please the fans even more, the voice of some all-time favorites, specially Samuel L. Jackson.

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Read the rest of Afro Samurai – An Overall Review - (533 words)

© Velcor for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Afro , Anime , review , Samurai

You know the story, girl meets boy, boy is a drooling idiot, a total cliché and tries too hard to make her like him. In the end, against all odds, the boy gets the girl. Well that’s also what happened with K-on and me, I hated the series on the first episode, absolutely despised it. It was the anime equivalent of Taco Bell: flavorless, cheap, an unintended parody of its genre.

So how is it that after only 3 episodes I’m a true believer?

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Read the rest of First Impressions Review: K-ON (739 words)

© Nahu for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anime , First impressions , moe , Slice of Life

It’s fair to say that Resident evil 5 was one of 2009’s most hyped and anticipated games, and that given Resident evil 4’s critical acclaim across the board – expectations for it’s sequel were running sky high. Trailers seemed to indicate the game would be everything and more, but unfortunately: the game comes up short. So where exactly did Capcom go wrong?

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Read the rest of Review: Resident evil 5 (2,198 words)

© Random J for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Whoa, a lot of things have been happening around happy ol’ Velcor here but even so I still manage to give you my most beloved internet babies: Well-thought, deeply analyzed, completely impartial, and last but not least, awesome reviews!

Even though Moetan isn’t to be taken seriously as a show, it still has a few remarkable things many of you will like; we’ve got lolis, cat ears, transformation scenes and even some self-flagellation by the staff itself on how bad this show gets as each episode is released.

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Read the rest of Moetan – An Overall Review (720 words)

© Velcor for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anime , Comedy , loli , moe , Moetan

Back in November we posted the first scene of this full-length CG animation. While previous Resident Evil films have drawn upon elements of the series, Degeneration is set in the game universe, centering around Leon Scott Kennedy and Claire Redfield doing what they do best, uncovering secrets and killing zombies.

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Read the rest of Resident Evil Degeneration Review (933 words)

© Sol d-_-b for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: animated-movie , Resident-Evil , review , zombies

It is safe to say that Ultimate Shooting Collection from UFO Interactive is far from the Ultimate Shooting Collection that most shoot ‘em up (shmup) fans dream of (a compilation disc that features Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga and Mars Matrix to name only a select few). However, in a time where most shmups seem to be XBLA or PSN bound it is nice to see a publisher paying some respect to the genre starved Wii. Even if those shmups just so happen to have been previously released on last generation consoles.

Ultimate Shooting Collection for the Nintendo Wii features three top-down shmups from Japan-based developer Milestone: Radio Allergy, Karous and Chaos Field. Chaos Field as some may recall was previously released a few years back on the Nintendo GameCube, whereas Radio Allergy and Karous; this is the first time they are setting foot on US soil…’er flying around in US air space. But like Chaos Field, all three have been previously released in Asian territories on the Sega Dreamcast. So in essence, it really should be called Milestone Shooting Collection. At any rate it is what it is so let’s move on and take a deeper look into the depths of bullet hell.

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Read the rest of Ultimate Shooting Collection Review (2,154 words)

© KidKobun for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bullet Hell , Chaos Field , Karous , Radio Allergy , Reviews , shmup , Shoot-em-up , Shooters , UFO Interactive , Videogames , Wii

Coming to that weird friend near you! It’s Inda no Himekishi, that Hentai anime you thought you would dislike because it didn’t fit your fetishes but you keep watching nonetheless!

Approach the experience of that which you thought impossible: Finding an OVA of a game that doesn’t suck at all!

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Read the rest of Inda no Himekishi Janne (H) – An Overall Review (350 words)

© Velcor for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anime , Hentai

Yes, I’m a bit late to the show, but I got a chance to watch Five Centimeters per Second, the latest film from famous director Makoto Shinkai. Hit the jump to see how it rates.

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Read the rest of Review: Five Centimeters per Second (411 words)

© Vekter for Dark Diamond, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Five-Centimeters-Per-Second , review

I actually got a chance to play this game back in October at an expo in the UK. But having gone to Japan last month, I got several chances to get hands on with Street Fighter IV and kick some challengers arses in the process, which was largely gratifying.

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Read the rest of 1st Impressions: Street Fighter IV (700 words)

© Random J for Dark Diamond, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: arcade , Beat-em-ups , Capcom , First impressions , Street-Fighter-IV

Over the years, many game series involving the living dead have hit it big; Resident Evil, Stubbs the Zombie, and Dead Rising to name a few. It would just seem that we have some obsession with blowing the crap out of what was once dead. But, as with what they did to first-person shooters with Half-Life, Valve came along and blew that all out of the effing water. Hit the jump for my full review.

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Read the rest of Left 4 Dead (Review) (1,214 words)

© Vekter for Dark Diamond, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Left-4-dead , Reviews , Video-Games

This one really brings back some fond memories of my youth: Penny Racers! I must have owned at least two dozen of these cute little super deformed vehicles. The premise was simple: place a penny in a slot located on the back of the vehicle, wind its motor up by pulling it backwards along the floor and let it go. Now they were said to perform numerous different tricks, but for some reason I could only get the darn things to pop wheelies. In retrospect perhaps it was all about the placement of the penny.

At any rate, no longer are the days where I need worry about penny placement. No longer shall I plant my face on the living room floor, with a flashlight in one hand and a ruler in the other, as I attempt to recover my racer from underneath the couch. Those days are all but a memory. I have since moved on from playing with toys (instead I collect them), and have found an enjoyable alternative that doesn’t necessarily require the use of a penny and most likely won’t end up lost underneath my couch. That alternative is Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway for the Nintendo Wii.

Hit the jump to join me as I rekindle the flame of my youth and to read my review of Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway.

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Read the rest of Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway (Review) (1,000 words)

© KidKobun for Dark Diamond, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barnhouse Effects , Cars , Choro-Q , Customization , Mini-Games , Multiplayer , Nintendo , Penny Racers , Super Deformed , TOMY , Wii

Ohh boy, do I have words to say about this. So before you get all excited, this ISN’T the Sonic Unleashed in all the trailers and stuff. This version was made for the Wii and PS2 by DIMPS, creator of the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games, and not to put too fine a point on it, it’s a sloppy port that entirely lives up to the infamous Sonic Cycle.

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Read the rest of Review: Sonic Unleashed (Playstation 2/Wii) (827 words)

© Amy Fairchild for Dark Diamond, 2008. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Reviews , Sonic Unleashed , Sonic-the-hedgehog