Lone Shadow Gaming Community

Sega goes back to their roots with Sonic Unleashed

2008-03-23T05:14:00Z

The above video represents Sega’s new attempt to ‘fix’ the rather mediocre Sonic series. With Sonic Unleashed, Sega is going back to their roots by offering users a game that will feature side-scrolling gameplay that gamers have been wanting from a console Sonic game since the Sega Genesis era. While Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were not exactly horrible games, many Sonic fans simply were not satisfied with how well it played. Countless other Sonic games have been made and most people will agree that none of them have delivered the gameplay that Sonic fans want.

While not many details are known about this game we can easily see that the game will play like the original Sonic games, feature impressive cinematic quality visuals and will feature a wide variety of locales. A ton of screenshots have already been released for the screen in which you can check out here and some more here. There is some speculation that these screenshots and video could be a well orchestrated hoax but until then I would assume that this content is indeed the real deal. The game is listed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii and will likely be released sometime next year.

Review: Titan Quest Gold

2008-03-18T16:58:00Z

It’s not very often when you see an RPG come along that has the capability to one-up the Diablo series but Titan Quest happens to be one of those games. So it was a Monday evening and I knew that I had the next three days off of work so I decided to go check out the shrinking PC game section of GameStop to see if there was any cheap games that might catch my attention. I saw Titan Quest: Gold Edition which comes with the original Titan Quest, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, the soundtrack CD and a decent art book, all for $20. Sure it sounded like a good set for the price but I was a little reluctant to make the purchase. I usually find that I am pretty picky when it comes to RPG games. I have never been able to get into the Final Fantasy games with their somewhat boring control system. I had a similar problem with the Neverwinter Nights games. Besides the Diablo series, the only other RPG that I could truly get into was the Dungeon Siege series.

Well I decided to purchase Titan Quest anyways. I figured it would be worth the $20. After spending a few days with the game I can easily say that this is one of the best RPG I have ever played. One of the things I appreciate a lot in Titan Quest is how easy it is to get in and understand how to play the game. You don’t need to sit down and read a 200 page manual to try and figure out how to work everything. The game brings the same intuitive gameplay that made Diablo and Dungeon Siege such lovable series. If you know how to play those games then you will be able to master the controls of Titan Quest within minutes. The game offers all of the flexibility you would want from an RPG but without all of the confusion. Click below to continue reading.

It is a shame that the company behind the Titan Quest games, Iron Lore has recently shut its doors due to lack of sales. They were a new game developer who took a gamble with a couple games and ultimately filed Chapter 11 after the curse of PC gaming fell upon the company. THQ Creative Director, Michale Finch blamed PC piracy and Intel’s integrated chipsets in computers as the reason why Titan Quest sold so poorly causing Iron Lore to shut its doors:

In a post on the Quarter to Three forums, he writes,” If even a tiny fraction of the people who pirated the game had actually spent some god-damn money for their 40+ hours of entertainment, things could have been very different today.”

As it stands, the game’s reputation was marred by pirates who couldn’t properly crack the DRM on the game, dumping users back to the desktop after a play session. He also puts the blame on hardware vendors for making “integrated audio and video” cards that have “little or no driver support, marginal adherence to standards, and sometimes bizarre conflicts with other hardware.”

Fitch also blames the game reviewers for not paying attention to the game, as well as the audience, who can’t carry out “basic stuff”.

“Making PC products is not all fun and games. It’s an uphill slog, definitely. I’m a lifelong PC gamer, and hope to continue to work on PC games in the future, but man, they sure don’t make it easy,” he concluded.

[Via DigitalBattle]

Beyond the intuitive controls, Titan Quest offers up the best visuals anyone has seen in an RPG game. Titan Quest will push your computer’s graphics capabilities to its limits and that doesn’t happen often with RPG games. Some amazing effects are offered in Titan Quest and you will notice stuff like waving grass and other forms of vegetation, water ripples as you walk through it, footprints form in the sand, fog floats over swamps and other gloomy locales, birds and other animals roam around, shadows are cast down upon the ground from the sun shining on the trees, day and night cycle and at times you will find yourself looking over a high ledge, looking down at a busy city, perhaps boats floating in the sea, ruins of an old city and much more. Scenes like this really give the game an ‘awe’ effect. The levels, both inside and outside are so pretty that you may want to take a second to look around just to notice all the work that has gone into polishing the environments.

The music in the game is also pretty well done. Nothing remarkable but definitely gets the job done. So how about length? Thankfully this game is huge. The first game will take an average of 40 hours to complete and an additional 30 for the expansion which is automatically combined into the first game. This game is huge. I probably clocked in 7 hours and I am still on Act 1 and there are four acts when you include the expansion pack. The game also focuses multiplayer both online and over LAN so you can have a friend join you in the adventure. The story for the game is pretty run of the mill. The story focuses on the ancient Greeks and the gods. The lands are attacked by evil vile creatures and basically you need to save the world. You will be greeted by a short intro video and like Diablo and Dungeon Siege, characters will further help push the story out there. Each NPC in the game speaks so you won’t have to read everything to get the story tidbits. You will find enough content to satisfy your needs if you are someone who is interested in storytelling.

So is there anything bad about the game? Well nothing big. One can nitpick but generally the game is awesome. Sadly you will notice that many weapons, armors, etc. all look the same much as it did in the Diablo games. So you will see many weapons that look the same but will offer different attributes. The Diablo series did the same while the Dungeon Siege series actually had unique items that were all different looking. It’s nothing thats going to ruin the game but it may bother you at least a little after playing for countless hours. Obviously things do eventually change and you do see different stuff but you will still see a lot of items that look the same. You will also find yourself stuck using the same weapon you may have got in one town, like four hours later, many levels more into the game and it seems like the stores in the towns you reach end up selling older stuff then you have most likely found simply from killing random enemies. This area of the game could have used some more polish. Some people might think that the game can get repetitive after awhile since generally it is a hack and slash game where you need to get from point A to point B but I don’t really consider it that big of a problem. There are a lot of side quests in the game where you will be able, as an option, do favors for towns folks in which they will give you money for. For example, help defend their cargo, go kill something for them, go look for something they lost, etc.

Titan Quest is a game that I can recommend to almost any gamer with a beefy computer looking for an awesome new RPG game. You may not have heard of the game and that is truly unfortunately but don’t let that sway your interest in picking this game up. Had I not made a purchase of this game then I would have missed out on a truly great game. Titan Quest is now one of my favorite RPG game and takes everything that Diablo did and improved upon it. Titan Quest is the spiritual successor to the Diablo series. If you want a cheap $20 game that offers a ton of value then Titan Quest: Gold Edition is that game. For those interested, you can check out the trailer above to get a glimpse of what the game looks like and what other aspects of the game that you can look forward to.

Pros:

- Amazing graphics and art style.
- Intuitive controls.
- Lengthy game that will take several days to complete.

Cons:

- Not much variety in the designs of the items you get. Same with enemies.
- To big of a gap between getting a weapon and finding one that is better.
- Some poor voice acting.
- Cookie cutter storyline, game may get repetitive to some after awhile.

Score:

8.5

Intel may be working graphics hardware to compete with AMD and Nvidia?

2008-03-18T16:02:01Z

Just like that I have come up with what I consider to be a brilliant strategy. That Intel might be working on which may possibly destroy both Nvida and ATI/AMD in the graphics marketplace. Intel is the world’s leading computer processor manufacturer. Many people have been speculating that Intel, with their integrated graphics chipsets, may end up killing PC gaming. However recent events have lead me to believe that Intel is working on a massive plan that will for sure revive the pc gaming market for years to come if executed properly.

Nvidia may be secretly working on developing integrated graphics that are much superior to the highly prices Nvidia cards today and by integrating them into their motherboards along with combining their multi-core processing technology, Nvidia could develop a GPU that would blow away anything offered by the competition and at an affordable (easy and cheap to develop) price. Imagine being able to get a killer PC gaming system that could run all games on max settings for less then half the price of a current gaming PC today. I believe Nvidia might just be working on. Click below to continue reading.

I know you are wondering, what kind of evidence do I have to suggest such a radical plan. Starting last year, Intel purchased physics based company, Havok. Earlier this year they purchased a game development studio that was both cheap but also was working on some rather impressive graphics technology. It’s the company behind Project Offset. Beyond that they announced that they would help with the PC Gaming Alliance and finally Intel has been heavily pushing and promoting the use of raytracing in future game development. NVIDIA has mentioned how difficult it would be to work on ray tracing in their graphics cards but Intel, combining their integrated graphics chips with their multi-core CPU architecture might just be able to pull off ray tracing in gaming.

Intel isn’t dumb. If they could some how take control of the graphics industry and integrate it into their CPU industry then they might have the ability to completely destroy ATI and Nvidia while actually being able to revive the PC gaming market by making the prices of gaming computers cheaper. It would be my guess that Intel would want to sell as much of this stuff as they could so generally you might see at least some form of affordable computer that is still capable of running games.

While no one knows for sure what Intel’s plans are, I am willing to bet that they are indeed working on some new hardware in which may really hurt Nvidia and ATI. Intel is in a perfect position to take control of the market. Especially considering how behind AMD is in terms of processors and video cards and Intel can see how much Nvidia is breaking the industry by continually raising the prices of their high-end GPUs and offering fewer speed increases. It’s been nearly a year and a half since Nvidia has released a high end graphics card and their new card, the 9800 GX2 will cost $600 and only offer approximately 40% speed improvements over the aging 8800 GTX cards. It just goes to show that since ATI is no longer able to keep up, they don’t to continue to compete and thus we only get marginally improved graphics cards at ridiculously high prices.

Intel is really pushing the boundary when it comes to processing power and you might just have to wonder why considering Crysis doesn’t even fully tap my low end quad core 2.4 GHz chip that I have according to the benchmarks to ran. Intel might want to get into gaming simply to help ensure that they can convince people to keep buying their processors in order to play the faster games.

I believe that sometime this year or next year, Intel will unveil something gaming related and it very well could be Intel branded graphics cards with possible ray tracing capabilities. However, if Intel is indeed working on potentially revolutionary hardware that will be more affordable and accessible to more people then those pricey Nvidia cards, such undertakings may take awhile to complete. We may not even hear anything about Intel’s plans until sometime next year or beyond. Either way, I believe that Intel is working on something and that ‘something’ may very well finally help revive PC gaming. Also for anyone interested, PC Respective has released a lengthy interview with John Carmack regarding the future of gaming graphics, ray tracing, id Software’s Tech 6 engine and more. You can read the interview here.

What do you guys think?

Electronic Arts engages in hostile takeover of Take Two Interactive

2008-03-13T21:30:00Z

In a not so surprising move, Electronic Arts has engaged in an attempted hostile takeover of Take Two Interactive. EA went directly to the shareholders and offered $26 a share in an attempt to buyout Take Two Interactive without their willingness. The Wall Street Journal has also published an article regarding EA’s move:

Following the rejection of its unsolicited bid to acquire Take-Two, EA launched a tender offer to acquire all of Take-Two’s outstanding shares for $26 each, the price it offered the company last month. The move signals that EA’s attempt to gain control of Take-Two, publisher of the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto game, is turning hostile.

In response to the move, Take-Two’s board recommended Thursday that its shareholders take no action at this time, saying it would advise investors on its position within 10 business days.

The EA bid places a value of about $2 billion on Take-Two, which temporarily traded above the $26 a share that EA offered, but later sunk below the offer price. The stock traded at 4 p.m. yesterday at $24.91, up 26 cents, on Nasdaq.

“This is a great opportunity for Take-Two shareholders,” said EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello. “We believe Take-Two investors will see our tender offer as the best way to maximize the value of their investment in Take-Two.”

If Electronic Arts succeeds in acquiring Take Two Interactive, EA will then control much of the gaming industry. EA has a reputation of milking franchises and preventing innovation. If EA ends up controlling most of the game industry (which it looks like they may end up doing) will this severely hurt the gaming market and creativity?

[Via The Wall Street Journal]

Head of Activision considering Call of Duty MMO

2008-03-05T03:59:00Z

During the first few months of working on integrating Activision into Vivendi studios, head of Activision, Bobby Kotick mentioned the possibility of working on a massive multi player game that would potentially cost one billion dollars to create in order to compete with the successful World of Warcraft.

Talking with the investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, Kotick specifically mentioned Call of Duty:

What would be the natural evolution of a property like Call of Duty into a massively-multiplayer environment and how do you monetize that?

Kotick also mentioned the possibility of using in-game advertising as one of the sources of income from such a massive project. While Activision may only be considering a Call of Duty MMO at this time, they company is at the very least considering the possibilities of such a game. One thing is for sure, if we every do see a Call of Duty MMO, it won’t be for at least three or four years.

[Via Kotaku]

Rare to take slightly different approach to Banjo Kazooie 3?

2008-03-01T09:26:00Z

When you think of Banjo-Kazooie, you generally think of single-player story based platforming. At Microsoft’s X06 event a couple of years ago, Rareware had announced the third console incarnation of what has become a rather popular franchise character for the company. Since the project was still in early development, they did not release any details regarding what the game would look or play like. However, recently Rareware has finally spoken out with a few cryptic hints regarding the status of Banjo-Kazooie 3 and what fans can expect from the highly anticipated game through the Scribes section of their website. The company originally had plans to do a simple remake of the original game utilizing the new graphics power of the Xbox 360 console:

I don’t think that’s what we said. We said there was a possibility of Banjo DS at some point, and we said that preliminary work on a Banjo-Kazooie remake for Xbox 360 was started before the team decided to build a brand new game instead.

The company has since scrapped those plans for new plans in which they shared a few hints at what those plans might entail:

Banjo won’t be a shooter (unless we sell no copies like Ghoulies and out of desperation give him a gun for the next game) but it also won’t be a traditional platformer…

...your multiplayer hopes will be answered. The ‘new direction’ that Banjo is taking should offer a multiplayer experience unique to anything currently available.

Click below to continue reading.

As you can gather from the above comment, Rare plans to go in a slightly new direction with the game. While the details really are not clear at this point, their comments suggest the possibility of an online co-op based game with slightly different gameplay elements from the original two games in the series. This is of course, my personal guess at what the above comment means. On Rare’s Scribe page was also another comment discussing the return of favorite characters and levels that we all know in love from the original game:

Clanker fans worldwide will be pleased to know that Clanker is making his comeback in the new Banjo game (in fact, I think that’s what we’ll call it – New Banjo Game). Also making a welcome return is the snowman from Freezeezy Peak, the Mad Monster Mansion and of course videogames’ premier toilet – Loggo. Hang on, what’s this? More information than was strictly requested? When did we start doing that? Who drafted this crazy policy?

But it is very possible that these comments were made before they decided to scrap the remake and work on an entirely new Banjo game altogether. While not many details are known about Banjo-Kazooie 3, you can check out Rare’s Scribe page for February 13th to continue to reading about Banjo-Kazooie and other topics. Click here and take a look.

Sony announces MGS4 PS3 bundle, DualShock 3 release info, and GoW PSP

2008-02-27T06:28:00Z

Sony says in late Q2 2008 a Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bundle will be available. I don’t have a PS3 yet, and I totally plan on picking this up...but not just for any reason, it’s actually quite a deal. Blu-ray recently became the standard in HD movies, which of course you get with your PS3. However, we already knew that, what else makes it so special? Well, the new DualShock 3 controller is included in this bundle, as well as Metal Gear Solid 4, and this is the 80GB version with backward compatibility, all for only $499. Sure that’s a lot of money, but when we’re talking about the PS3 here, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. If you bought an 80GB PS3 right now you’d be getting no rumble and no MGS4, for the same price…

Note that if you already have a PS3, pre-ordering MGS4 will get you a spot in the multiplayer beta before the game is released. Now that’s a sweet deal...too bad I won’t have my PS3 until the game is actually released. The famous DualShock 3 that you’re hearing so much about will be available separately in April for $54.95. Apparently Sony’s decision to remove rumble was quite the unpopular one. I’m a big fan of rumble myself so it’s good to see it make a return. Sony also announced that you can get an ugly, “limited-edition Deep Red” God of War PSP. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

Click below to see the full press release.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Introduces Metal Gear Solid® 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 Bundle Available in Late Q2 2008 in North America
Company Also Announces Limited-Edition God of War® PSP®…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., February 26, 2008 – At its annual retail and publisher conference Destination PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced details of upcoming PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) and PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) (PSP-2000) hardware bundles with two of the most highly anticipated 2008 titles. The company also announced the April 2008 availability of DUALSHOCK®3 wireless controller in North America.

To coincide with the much-anticipated North American launch of Metal Gear Solid®4: Guns of the Patriots in late Q2 2008, SCEA will introduce a PS3 bundle, which will includean 80GB PS3, the upcoming blockbuster Metal Gear Solid®4: Guns of the Patriots and a DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller for $499 (MSRP).

SCEA also announced the June 2008 availability of the limited-edition God of War® PSP Entertainment Pack for $199.99 (MSRP). The God of War Entertainment Pack will include a “Deep Red” PSP with God of War himself, Kratos, silk-screened on the back of the unit, a copy of the highly anticipated upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus game for PSP, the hit comedy movie from Columbia Pictures, “Superbad™,” on UMD™ (Universal Media Disc), and a PLAYSTATION®Network voucher to download Syphon Filter®: Combat Ops from PLAYSTATION®Store. The stand-alone version of God of War: Chains of Olympus launches on March 4, 2008.

“Working closely with our retail and publishing partners and sharing our hardware and software roadmaps at Destination PlayStation gives us a great opportunity to outline some key milestones for the year. In response to incredible demand, we will be manufacturing more 80GB PS3s for North America and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 80GB PS3 bundle is an ideal way to offer that continued value to our consumers,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO, SCEA. “With Blu-ray having won the format war, our stellar software line-up and a broad product portfolio, we will continue to drive the incredible momentum we’ve been generating since last fall.”

SCEA will introduce the DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller for the first time in North America in April 2008 for $54.95 (MSRP). DUALSHOCK 3, which incorporates both rumble and motion sensing SIXAXIS™ technologies, maintains the award-winning design and precise, responsive features of PlayStation controllers. The added rumble feature, combined with the SIXAXIS system, enhances the gamer experience with more interactive, intuitive and immersive game play experience and will work with more than 100 current PS3 titles.

In additional news coming from Destination PlayStation, SCEA announced Metal Gear Solid®4: Guns of the Patriots will be available in North America in late Q2 2008. A Metal Gear Online “Starter Pack” will also be launched to support online game play. Gamers can select a single player experience or take the action online with up to 16 players and battle it out using the latest weapons and stealth techniques. For those eager to take on Solid Snake’s nemesis, Liquid Ocelot, a nationwide pre-sell promotion will enable gamers to pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and be guaranteed access to a multiplayer beta test for Metal Gear Online scheduled for late April.

Rumor: Dead Rising sequel in the hands of a US developer

2008-02-27T06:06:00Z

Kotaku has heard rumors from multiple sources that a sequel is in production for Dead Rising, which is fantastic news. However, it appears a new developer will be handling it. I find that worrisome to say the least. Let’s try and remain optimistic though...things don’t always go wrong when development responsibilities change hands. The current name being tossed around is Blue Castle Games, who recently released The Bigs...a baseball game. Though it’s unlikely Capcom would hand their successful (and well reviewed) franchise over to just anyone. Hopefully they can do this fantastic series justice.

[Via Kotaku]

Portal sequel may already be in production

2008-02-22T03:32:00Z

At the Game Developers Conference, Portal project lead Kim Swift brought up the fact that a full sequel to Portal was recently announced. The only problem? A sequel hasn’t been announced. She was under the impression that Doug Lombardi already revealed it, when in actuality he made a vague statement about more Portal coming in one form or another. So did Kim just accidentally slip the official word that a new Portal is on its way, or did she just confuse Doug’s original words? Considering Kim was such a huge part of the original Portal, I highly doubt that she made a mistake here. Either way we’re getting more Portal, and I’m pretty excited at the possibility of a real sequel rather than a small expansion pack of new puzzles. The community can provide us with those. The only question I have is what do they plan on doing without GLaDOS, or will she make a return? GLaDOS was a large part of Portal’s appeal and I can’t imagine the game without her.

[Via Joystiq]

XNA Creators Club Game Launcher with demos now available

2008-02-21T04:05:00Z

Microsoft’s XNA tools have been giving indie developers access to powerful game design tools for a few years now. We’re finally beginning to see the fruits of their labor. Microsoft has released the XNA Creators Club Game Launcher as well as quite a few demos for some independently developed games. Above is a trailer showing off some of the games coming out. Little Gamers, Dishwasher, and Jellycar were the ones that particularly caught my eye. Microsoft claims there will be a large number of community games released and I’m looking forward to playing them all. Sometimes the best ideas are the ones the big companies won’t take on. If my 360 wasn’t in for repairs (again) I’d be downloading everything that’s currently available. When you get a chance to try them, please post your impression, whether they’re good or bad.

American McGee’s Grimm trailer

2008-02-21T03:49:00Z

American McGee is best known for his twisted tale Alice. His spin on the classic story was an imperfect game, yet was creative and enjoyable enough to be more than worth playing. Since then, McGee hasn’t made a game nearly as good as Alice. I was thinking this game would be a return to form for him, but...it’s a little too happy looking for my tastes. Hopefully the game itself will be more fun to play than his latest releases. I’ll definitely give this GameTap exclusive a shot when it comes out. It may be released in other forms after a period of exclusivity but nothing has been announced yet.

Interesting looking WiiWare title LostWinds debuts

2008-02-21T03:31:00Z

With WiiWare’s impending release, more and more titles are being revealed all the time. Personally, the idea of having an XBLA system combined with the unique controls the Wii offers really gets me going. LostWinds is a 2D platforming game that plans to take full advantage of the interest in such a title. Here’s how the developers describe it:

LostWinds is an enchanting adventure bursting with new gameplay ideas that embrace the innovative controller of the Wii - it puts “the power of the wind in the palm of your hand”.

You wield the awesome powers of Enril the wind spirit - from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze – to guide and protect Toku, a young boy who is the only one who can help you release the curse placed upon the world of Mistralis by evil Balasar. Mistralis is a stunningly presented, magical land full of wonder and intrigue that bursts to life with your every action and exploration.

The game’s novel, playful control mechanism lets you use Enril’s elemental powers to help Toku in your quest to overcome Balasar – powering his jumps and glides through Mistralis’ different regions, buffeting and smashing enemies, and solving puzzles.

Whether the game is fun or not we have yet to see, but it’s nice seeing some fresh ideas.

Gears of War 2 announced

2008-02-21T03:19:00Z

The GDC has been particularly interesting for Microsoft fans with some great Xbox 360 news. November 2008 will allegedly be bring Gears of War 2 exclusively to your Xbox 360. Considering they released an uninteresting teaser trailer with no gameplay footage, I hope the game can make the release date. I don’t see why they’d be so secretive about the game when people pretty much know what to expect from it. I’ll definitely be getting this game right when it comes out, and I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with the already fun multiplayer.

Nintendo launches US WiiWare May 12, Wii Fit May 19

2008-02-20T17:09:01Z

The Game Developers Conference has been shedding some light on some of Nintendo’s long anticipated products. WiiWare is definitely the most exciting for me, considering we’ll be getting original games similar to XBLA. Wii Fit functions as a weight monitoring program of sorts...trying to keep you active but not necessarily designed for losing weight. I’m really pleased to hear about WiiWare but I’m curious why we haven’t heard anything on the Everybody’s Nintendo Channel. Japan has had this channel for months now which offers DS demos, patches, game trailers, and more.

Alone in the Dark allows you to skip the difficult parts

2008-02-19T17:04:00Z

Nour Polloni, a designer working on Alone in the Dark has revealed that you’ll be able to skip some of the more difficult sequences in the game. They decided to implement this feature so that everyone has a shot at beating the game. Here’s what she said about it in the latest OXM:

Another achievement is linked to whether or not the player skips. We want everybody to be able to finish our game, so one of the other new features we’ve added is the ability to skip sections using a DVD-style menu if you get stuck, but always at a cost, and achievements is one way to reward players who don’t skip.

I have to say this is a fantastic feature. Will I ever use it? No way. The challenges that games provide is a large portion of the fun for me, but not everyone feels that way. Many people come across a difficult section in a game, then end up never finishing it because they were never able to overcome that particular sequence. This is a much better solution than making games easier, since that then takes away from people looking for a challenge. The best part is if you don’t like the feature, you don’t have to use it. Everybody wins.

[Via Destructoid]