Zen Pinball 2 - "Portal Pinball" (PS3/PS4/PS VITA)

Working in collaboration with the development team at Valve, Zen Studios has designed a pinball table that is more or less a tribute to the events that occurred in "Portal 2". For those of you who are unaware of the events that happened in said plot you'll find that the main protagonist, 'Chell' (a female Aperture Science Lab employee) awoke from a deeply induced sleep only to find Aperture labs abandoned, and in disrepair. Realizing that Chell was now awake the resident A.I., 'GLaDOS' ran Chell through the virtual ringer like a lab rat in order to test her logic skills. In order to escape, and make it to the surface Chell had to solve a series of mind bending puzzles using a portal gun which functioned as it's name suggests. The portal gun effectively opened up portals of a blue, and orange color allowing entry, and exit points through walls and other structures. With this tool Chell was ultimately able to trip switches, and guide lasers to activate once useless mechanisms as well as pass through said portals herself. In the midst of her trials Chell also met a seemingly friendly A.I. bot known as Wheatley who intervened trying to help her through the massive maze by giving her hints, and assisting her with some problem solving. Eventually though Wheatley became an opposing force himself, and posed threat alongside GLaDOS. Chell eventually made it to the surface only to find herself in a vast desert-like environment with only a companion cube to accompany her. Thus ending the sequel to the stellar first game.

The String Arcade (CD)

It has been a very long time since I've covered music of any kind on this blog. Between game reviews, and dvd reviews it just hasn't been possible for me to seek out new artists like I hoped I could. Thankfully though a certain PR contact came to the rescue recently, and brought to my attention a new CD release that incorporates two things that I'm very passionate about. These two things include both the gaming genre, and the classical music genre. The CD in question which is appropriately titled, "The String Arcade" began as a kickstarter campaign by Dren McDonald in order to support a cause he's passionate about himself. Unlike most kickstarter developers though this guy doesn't want to make a profit for himself, but instead aims to do something very noble with the money that is gained from sales. All of the funds gathered from the sale of this special CD soundtrack will go to the "Alameda Music Project" in order to get children to start participating more in the music field. If that isn't awesome I honestly don't know what is. That's why I'm here today to share the details of this CD, and hopefully get you to join in on supporting this noteworthy cause.