Ripper, Take-Two’s 1996 FMV adventure chronicling the crimes of a Jack the Ripper copycat, was an engrossing adventure. Depending on how you played, the killer could be any one of four acquaintances you’d make throughout the game. Interestingly enough, it featured Christopher Walken in the lead role. It may have been a bit of a failed venture and it was tough to get running (at least for me), but it was at least somewhat related to the infamous crimes of Jack the Ripper, and that was enough for me.

It was with morbid curiosity that I checked into Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper, a game I had hoped could stand up to the former, even just a smidgeon. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed. While this title aims to deliver a more historically accurate (read: stuffy) account of the infamous disemboweling harlot-killer, it succeeds only in being completely and utterly dull. Yes, it manages to turn gruesome murders into a subject that can’t even trump homework as a viable entertainment option. That, my friends, is a travesty.

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Throughout those shining years of my childhood, purchasing a new game often meant thumbing through the pages of a mammoth tome detailing impending gameplay down to the letter. If I were stuck on a long car trip with a recently-purchased title, digging into that precious parcel and retrieving the manual was the first thing on my mind.  It was a way to game vicariously through a few simple, innocent pages, and one of the first ties I established to any game I had my heart set on playing through. Unfortunately, it’s also a familiar constant that gamers new and old can kiss goodbye with the decision to downsize the distribution of manuals entirely, spearheaded by Ubisoft, and perhaps many more companies to follow.

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New York, New York! It’s the city that never sleeps. According to Japan, it’s also plagued by malevolent demons. But not to worry — the theater troupe of Little Lip Theater is always on call. Yes, they can put on a magnificent show, but they’re also tasked with keeping the citizens of the Big Apple safe. Unfortunately, their newest member isn’t quite who they were expecting: the nephew instead of his respected uncle Ogami! How are they supposed to put on mindblowing performances and keep the peace with this mousy greenhorn tagging along? It’s up to the player to see that Ogami’s successor, Lt. Shinjiro Taiga, rises to the occasion in Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love, for both the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2.

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The power button on a console is a beautiful thing. Ready to get out of your game? Get up and hit that button. And really, you don’t even have to do that. All three of our current systems allow you to unplug from the Matrix from the comfort of your couch. But of course, you might want to shut that baby down for other, more…dire reasons. Reasons like starting a brand new game.  And that’s okay! Sometimes you just need a fresh start. There’s nothing wrong with that. But what compels us to begin from a blank slate? Here are the top five reasons I’ve found that inspire us to put our current game to pasture and start anew!

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Have you ever wanted to sit back and let another gamer breeze through your pile of shame while you watch? Well, now you can! Er, you could before via several industrious players out there. But this phenomena has made its way to Spawn Kill, and we’re happy to bring you Play With Spawn Kill, a series of videos where we play the games so you don’t have to, complete with commentary.

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Felicia Day is a multitalented and industrious woman. Not only is she responsible for the smash hit  sitcom The Guild, but she has other equally impressive credits under her belt. She acts, she writes, she produces, and she’s setting the world of geek ablaze. As if all of that weren’t enough, she’s taken her self-described “baby” The Guild to the next level. Back in March, the first issue of the companion comic series to the online show was released, delighting current fans and bringing in several new ones with its all-new prequel to the established narrative. While darker in tone and aesthetic than its real-life counterpart, it presents itself as a pleasing complement that acts a perfect companion to old fans and a great starting point for new ones. It will act as a three-part origin story for The Guildies, and personally I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

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Every so often popular games  are utilized in some of the most quizzical ways. Nintendo’s Miis are used in the paper promoting a service. Let’s not even delve into what Pokemon has been used to promote, which is darn near everything. However, most of said endorsements can usually connect somewhat cohesively to the product or service at hand. And if Mountain Dew and Halo seemed like a match made in heaven, wait til you see which infamous shooter answered the call, to a higher power, that is.

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Okay, I admit it. Sometimes, flooring it and dragging along a human speedbump beneath my stolen car gets to be a little old. It’s dizzying having all that freedom. I suppose that’s why I’m such trash at sandbox and open-world games. There’s so much to do at one given time that my mind, moving at a breakneck pace, simply can’t focus on one task at a time. Should I be doing this mission first? Or maybe that one? It’s tough to get myself to focus on one piece of the larger puzzle, which is why I shelved Grand Theft Auto IV not too long after receiving it. The original Just Cause was much the same in my eyes. While I enjoyed roaming the lush island paradise and wreaking havoc, it felt much too disjointed for me to be able to get much of anything done. Fortunately, the entire aesthetic, mood, and overall attitude of Just Cause 2 have been vastly improved, making it an adrenaline-laced chaotic adventure for those of us who need that extra push to be able to enjoy a game where anything goes.

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Have you ever wanted to sit back and let another gamer breeze through your pile of shame while you watch? Well, now you can! Er, you could before via several industrious players out there. But this phenomena has made its way to Spawn Kill, and we’re happy to bring you Play With Spawn Kill, a series of videos where we play the games so you don’t have to, complete with commentary.

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I’ve grown up — rather fondly, I might add — with Pokémon. Over the years the several different hundreds of pocket monsters have become my dear friends. Simply settling into a new game (like I’ve recently done with Heart Gold) is a comfort to me. In a tumultuous, changing world, I find solace in the fact that while the games have metamorphosed over the years, whittling down a health bar or throwing a Poké Ball haven’t changed. When so many things I can’t control refuse to stay the same, these smaller precious memories become infinitely more dear to me.

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Have you ever wanted to sit back and let another gamer breeze through your pile of shame while you watch? Well, now you can! Er, you could before via several industrious players out there. But this phenomena has made its way to Spawn Kill, and we’re happy to bring you Play With Spawn Kill, a series of videos where we play the games so you don’t have to, complete with commentary.

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We all know the Wii’s motion controls encourage us to shake it. Fugazo’s Andrew Lum (whom you may know as the “Nintendo Fanboy”) kicked that notion up a notch and created a video game that’s based entirely on a robot with an affinity for getting funky. Frobot, starring a glammed-up, Afro-sporting, smooooooth mutha-robot who’s on a mission to reclaim his five (yes, five — he gets more action than you) ladybots from the clutches of certain evil, is just as zany as it sounds. Frobot’s crisp white leisure suit metal body, his foxy red shades, and his smarmy disco-bot attitude are certainly unique. I’m not sure I can say I’ve ever seen a character quite like him. Fro-bot-miiiiite!

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Rather than a simple re-release, XSeed Games went the extra mile and brought us a complete retooling of Lunar: The Silver Star that improves upon one of my personal favorite PlayStation releases, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. I felt it would be quite appropriate to do the same to my review. Originally I had penned it like any other of my reviews you see here, but halfway through I decided to honor the game with an “update” of my own to what would otherwise be a regular review. I crafted Spawn Kill’s very first video review.

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Did the Spirited Green PSP bundle not tickle your fancy, fellow Peace Walker fan? Me either. Luckily, we’ve got something much better to look forward to! For a measly $200, you can obtain the “Big Boss Bundle,” exclusive only to GameStop. That pretty penny will get you a copy of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, a camouflage-riddled PSP-3000, a 4GB memory stick, as well as a carrying case and a copy of the apocalyptic epic 2012.

Curiously enough, the previously announced Peace Walker bundle is also priced at $200, which makes the decision to pick this special edition up a no-brainer. Unless, that is, you’re really diggin’ that Spirited Green. More stuff for the same price? You bet I’m there. But I still have my eye on the cherry red Kratos PSP, so I’ll likely pass on this sweet deal.

You can snap up this gorgeous camo PSP as well as Kojima’s latest on June 8th.

If there’s anything I love to see combined, it’s flashy animation and gratuitous violence. Happy Tree Friends makes me giggle like a schoolgirl. There’s nothing quite like the juxtaposition of kid-friendly caricatures rife with color and oozing style, wacky personalities, and copious amounts of blood. Entrails do an animated character good. The upcoming 2D side-scrolling Xbox Live Arcade/PSN/PC title Shank, brought to us by the good fellows at Klei Entertainment, delivers all of this and more in full force. If Quentin Tarantino, Penny Arcade, and slasher film junkies had a meeting of the minds, they’d likely submit this game for our gaming pleasure. Forget the delicate worlds of Braid or P.B. Winterbottom. Shank is hardcore. And if you don’t believe it, he’s got a Head-On chainsaw — to be applied directly to your forehead.

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