Outrun Dreamin’

Sega's original Outrun game.

January. The coldest month of the year for the middle of the eastern half of the US. Living here nearly all of my life has made me expect a few things out of this month: snow, cold, ice, sunsets at 5:20, overcast skies, heavy coats, scarves, dead trees, dead grass, cars powdered with road salts, snow tires…

So, it’s much to my happy surprise to find that I’m shipped off to southern California for a couple of weeks in January.

Two things immediately stick out: The weather is great. And the traffic is horrible. View rest of article

Virtually There

February 9, 2011 - Out in California, on the opposite side of the US, and what do I happen across? Something I thought I may never see in person: an authentic Virtual On arcade cabinet.

Earthworm Jim HD

February 2, 2011 - Earthworm Jim arrives on the XBox 360 with enhanced graphics and extra play modes. After all of these years, how does the 16-bit platformer hold up? The Local Ditch finds out.

Perfect Dark

January 30, 2011 - Another trek down missed memory lane via XBOX Live gives me the chance to finally put some time into Perfect Dark. Do the high resolution graphics make up for the antiquated game structure?

Dead Space

January 28, 2011 - Dead Space, the 2008, third-person, sci-fi shooter, is a solid contribution its genre, but it continually reminds me of other games.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (Demo)

January 27, 2011 - After years of Sega announcing that Sonic has returned to his roots, it finally happens. Sonic's back in a solo 2D platforming adventure, but despite the appearance, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 seems lacking.

Rock Band 2

January 26, 2011 - In the world of plastic instrument games, there's Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero V, Band Hero, DJ Hero, and of course, the Rock Band series. The Local Ditch takes a look at what is special about Rock Band 2.

Older News