This Week's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, core, Sega' on The Great Games Experiment This Week's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, core, Sega' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg This Week's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'Windows, core, Sega' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Phantasy Star Online This Game Profile covers Phantasy Star Online and all subsequent re-releases. It does not contain information on Phantasy Star Online Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution.

Phantasy Star Online is an online, multiplayer RPG where players group into four-man teams to explore instanced areas of the mysterious planet Ragol. Players began by creating a unique character, first selecting one of three classes (Hunter, Range or Force) and then one of the four race/gender combinations available in that class. Races included Humans, Newmans - pointy-eared humans with an affinity for "techniques" - and Casts, which are essentially robots. Unlike modern MMORPGs, PSO featured a more action oriented combat system that varied depending on your class. Hunters specialized in melee weapons, Rangers in fire-arms and Forces in techniques, which were essentially spells. Another unique feature is the inclusion of an offline mode that allows players to explore the game's online areas and take on quests.

Originally released for DreamCast with a bugfix re-release subtitled Ver. 2, which was also released on Windows exclusively in the Asian market. Not long after, PSO was ported to the GameCube and Xbox with the inclusion of nearly an entire game's-worth of new content and was aptly titled Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II. Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution was later released for the GameCube, but with the action RPG gameplay traded in for card battling. In a return to the series' roots, and its original engine, Sonic Team ported the GameCube/Xbox Episode I & II on to the Windows platform with additional content dubbed Episode IV. This final version of the game was titled Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst and could be downloaded for free from the official website.
]]> 29 Jan 2007 07:04:27 Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors
"The Bad Boys of Magic" make sure their interactive multimedia debut is everything a video game isn't supposed to be (Including a game that you just can't win)

Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors was a 3D0, PC and Sega CD game that was never officially released. The Sega version is said to have been the only version completed, but even that was in doubt for many years until some back-up copies were given to website editor Frank Cifaldi, who received them from a reviewer of the original product who had kept them salted away for so many years.

Owing to this, over recent years a lot of cult enthusiasm has been generated, most particularly over the hilariously minimalist premise of "Desert Bus", one of the mini-games within the title. As some available links make apparent, the game, or at least parts of it, are being played as a result of file-sharing and emulation.

Essentially the game, as in their video of the time "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends", is farce and satire, and the minigames themselves are a series of pranks upon other gamers, or even the gamer himself, but all within the brand of "fun cruelty" that is a trademark of the pair.

Developer: Absolute Entertainment
Publisher: Originally intended for an April 1995 release, the game never reached publication. It's original release was planned by Absolute Entertainment and later EA Games.

"It's not that different from the spirit of our live shows," explains Penn Jillette, "except you won't be able to smell us."
]]> 07 Jan 2007 01:41:36 Wipeout Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd.
Developed by: Psygnosis Limited
Released: Sep, 1995
Genre: Action, Racing / Driving, Sports/ Sci-Fi / Futuristic
]]> 06 Feb 2007 10:35:19