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GB Review: Midnight Club LA Remix (PSP)

Ryan Fulton — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:48:26 -0600

Midnight Club LA Remix is a competent racer with few niggling issues and annoyances. The portable version holds up well to its fully featured console cousins and for an arcade style racing game on the go you're unlikely to come across a better example of the genre at the moment, but it's far from a must have title if you're not really in the market for a portable racing game. It's worth a buy if you're interested in a racer that's not tethered to a television.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

Every once in a great while, in every field, in any genre, there is a title that exemplifies, redefines, and generally leaves everyone else involved in the business both gob-smacked and flabbergasted. Midnight Club LA Remix for the PlayStation Portable is not such a title, but it is a competent arcade racer spread across the cities of Los Angeles and Tokyo where you can pop parking brakes and bust nitrous boosts to your heart's desire. While it exhibits a few issues it ultimately proves itself to be a fun title.

Launch Gallery: Midnight Club LA Remix

(15 images)

As with any arcade style racer, realism takes a backseat to outlandish physics, over-the-top crashes, and general mayhem. The gameplay is flawed at times, but ultimately enjoyable. The game engages you by using the city as a glorified menu system allowing you to chose races and upgrade your car at your will once you unlock the features. While this is enjoyable to an extent, it feels like a chore after a while -- considering how you're forced to endure at least two healthy loading screens merely to accomplish any task. Once you arrive at your destination you can look forward to a one to five minute race followed by some more loading screens. Repetition of races is also a minor gripe that should be considered.

The racing itself is a blast, the sense of speed is very real, and the turning on most cars feels just right once you get a hang of how to handle each of your cars. The AI controlled races vary from laughably pathetic to fiendishly difficult. While this is not a bad thing it's difficult to find races where there is a definite sense of being in just the right spot for an exciting finish which is somewhat of a let down. On a related note, which explains the lack of exciting finishes to a degree, the AI does not resort of "rubber banding" their way back up to you when you're in the lead or vice-versa. The car modification system is exceptionally robust and the number of modifications available for each individual car is nothing short of astounding.

The game's sound is difficult to quantify. The racers and main character all feature voice acting that's subpar across to board, and the dialogue is beyond poorly written unless you consider 2 Fast 2 Furious to be the apex of screenwriting prowess. That being said, there is a certain campy value that the dialogue and voice acting adds that makes the game endearing or at least mildly amusing the first few times you hear the insults that are thrown about by the other racers. The music is a standard faire of rap, electronic, hip hop, and rock songs. Featuring nearly 100 musical tracks the selection is anything but constrained, and the long list of artists should almost guarantee that there is at least once act that you're interested in listening to. Unfortunately most of the races are shorter than the songs included in the game so the music is often cut short by the lack of a continuation feature.

The graphics are generally sharp with minimal pop up when moving. Upon closer inspection the textures are rather drab and lack much in the way of definition, but this is hardly a deal breaker since this is really only noticeable when you're stopped and looking directly at an object (which really isn't the point of a racing game, is it?) The cars themselves look as if they were recreated with care and the cities seem as if a great deal of forethought was put into their design. Each city has defined districts that differ in appearance from the rest of the city, and the streets seem to flow comfortably in such a manner that doesn't punish the player too badly for making a wrong turn. All things considered it's an attractive visual package for a portable racer.

Midnight Club LA Remix is a passable effort at an arcade racer that while falling short on a few points manages to create an enjoyable casual experience for a portable racing title. The loading screens sort of detract from the pickup-and-playability of the title, but if you've got an extra moment or two it may just be worth your while to put rubber to the streets of LA and Tokyo during your free time. Far from redefining the genre the game offers an experience that is generally pleasing and engaging.

GB Review: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (360)

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:42:24 -0600

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is Treyarch's first Spider-Man game not based on a movie. The gameplay, especially in combat, is a step up from previous Spidey titles but the story is short and unsatisfying. Too much emphasis is placed on a half-baked "choose your fate" branching storyline that quickly devolves into a non-stop series of boss fights. The ability to switch between red and blue Spider-Man and black-suited symbiote Spider-Man is novel, but wasted. People like me who pine for a game with Spider-Man 2's quality of web slinging with a decent game attached might be satisfied, but not impressed. This game is worth a rental for Spidey fans or any curious gamer, but at the end you wont be itching for more.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

Spider-Man is probably the perfect character for video games. He can jump higher than anyone; he can walk, run, and sit on walls; he can beat up multiple attackers with blinding speed and feline agility; and he can swing around town on webs he shoots from his wrists. If ever there was an entity better suited for virtual representation, I'd like to hear it.

He's had a spotted past in games. I have no qualms saying that Spider-Man 2 on the Xbox is one of my favorite games to play. Altogether, the game is a wreck, but it's the web swinging I love. I could sit in front of that game for hours doing nothing but swing around its digital Manhattan. It just felt right in that game. You could feel the weight of Spidey as he grabs a fresh webline, feel the G-forces as he reaches the apex of a swing, feel the wind sheer off his body as he pulls his legs in and kicks out at just the right moment to maximize airtime and distance. That game is the perfect Spider-Man webslinging simulator. Every game since then has tried to be a better game, cramming in more story or more combo attacks and celebrity voices, abandoning the web mechanics altogether. Spider-Man 3 was a complete waste. How couldn't it be? It was rushed to come out with the movie, which itself was a waste.

Launch Gallery: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

(15 images)

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is different. It's not based on a movie or a particular series of comics (like Ultimate Spider-Man). If I had to describe Web of Shadows as intrinsically as possible, I'd say that it is Treyarch and Shaba Games' attempt to create a Spider-Man game that perfectly captures not only the feeling of swinging like Spidey, but the feeling of being Spidey. Not being bound or hurried by the release date of some summer movie, this game actually stands a chance of accomplishing that.

The web swinging is simplified and made more efficient, for sure, but the the focus this time around seems to be on the combat. Previous Spider-Man games have always been heavy on combo-attacks, but never very much fun. You never got the feeling during combat that you could do everything Spider-Man could, only that you were playing a watered-down beat-em-up tacked onto a web-swinging game. This time around, it feels much better. Combat makes heavy use of Spider-Man's abilities, and allows (at last) to make use of Spidey's best advantages in combat: his speed and ability to stay airborn.

How silly is it for Spider-Man, a man who can walk on walls and lift himself or anything else into the air with ease, to be seen standing with two feet on the ground, throwing punches against enemies? In Web of Shadows, there's no need to stay on the ground for the sake of grounded baddies. Better to knock them up into the air, where you're free to mangle their helpless bodies. The most welcome addition is the ability to "web strike," or zip yourself up to an enemy from far away, get in a quick attack, and then bounce out before he knows what hit him. You can string together web strikes and clobber dozens of enemies, one at a time, bouncing from head to head, staying in constant motion the entire time.

Treyarch's previous Spider-Man games have all been so-called "sandbox games" like Grand Theft Auto where an entire city is under your control, and you can attempt story-based missions at your leisure. This time around, the game is much more linear, but built around a sandbox architecture. You can still go anywhere in the city, and you still start missions by approaching specific characters and starting them, but there are no real alternatives. There are no real side-missions, and the random crimes you'll encounter just by wandering around aren't very engaging.

No, the game sees itself as linear and story-based, and shouldn't be ashamed for it.

The story itself involves the return of Venom and the black symbiote, and its eventual attempt to spread its inky tentacles across the whole city. Early in the game, Spider-Man gets re-introduced to the symbiote and through much of the game is free to switch between normal (red and blue suit) Spider-Man and symbiote (black suit) Spider-Man. Herein lies the biggest bullet point in the game's sell-sheet.

The game insinuates that your actions as either red/blue Spidey or black Spidey affect how the story branches. This is partially true. There are several points during the story where you're given the option to follow either a "good" path (marked by a red/blue Spidey icon on screen) or a "bad" path (marked by black Spidey). Whether you chose to be red/blue or black Spider-Man within the game itself makes no difference, and is altogether pretty arbitrary. Each suit has its strengths and weaknesses as far as combat and agility go, but it really just comes down to your choice of outfit. The branching storyline is controlled by your selection of the good/bad path, and when you're playing a super hero does it make that much sense to ask the player if he wants to do something good, like save somebody, or something bad, like let them die? Sure, after playing through the game once as a goodie two-shoes you might go through again to see what lies on the dark side, but the so-called conflict between good ol' Spider-Man and his evil suit doesn't come across very well when you're basically given the options of "be good" or "be bad."

It would be better if the branching paths in the story were based on your actions and not simply your selection of them. If the black suit had a more noticeable advantage in-game, maybe I'd be more tempted to use it. Maybe the game could keep track of how often you use the black suit or how much damage you cause with it, and from that make it harder and harder to go without it. Then, based on which suit you've spent the most time with, the story can branch however it likes. This is what I thought was going to happen. This is how the marketing material makes it sound.

Altogether, the story mode is somewhat satisfying but brief. The intention is probably to let people try the various branches, but I can't imagine it being too enticing.

Once you've beaten the game, you can't re-load your saved game and freely roam the town with all of your upgraded and unlocked abilities, nor can you start a new game with your earned abilities. This is a huge, huge problem for me. You spend the whole game unlocking and upgrading attacks and combos, and then after a boss fight wherein you can't even use them, they're completely wasted. I feel like I wasted all that time.

As I said, I can spend hours inside Spider-Man 2 ignoring the missions and just swinging around, looking for collectible items, earning points, unlocking new combos. Spider-Man: Web of Shadows doesn't really allow for this. It's a shame, really, because the swinging sure is fun.

I'm left at an impasse. I can't recommend this game for fans of Spider-Man video games. For people who don't really care, the more refined package and far fewer bugs compared to previous Treyarch Spidey games, as well as it being the first one truly designed for next-gen (although from the graphics you might not know it), it might be worth a rental.

They've finally made a game that feels like being Spider-Man, now they just need to make one with a satisfying game on top of it.

Maxis releases third Spore patch, includes 24 new limbs

Zach Lott — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:40:31 -0600

Over at the official Spore website there's news that the third patch for the game is now available, offering twenty-four new limbs for your creatures. The limbs are intended to be used with the Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, which was released today. Imagine how much freakier your creatures will be now.

There's also a few patch fixes:

Fix for esc key not bringing up Options in Galaxy Game Entry
Fix for creator backgrounds appearing on small sporepedia cards
Update to help keep achievements on the server in sync with achievements in the game

The patch is available for both PC and Mac.

World of Warcraft: WotLK Prepares For Invasion Tonight

Tim Grube — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:08:03 -0600

It's here. Well, technically a couple more hours you will be able to purchase World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King in stores. Several stores will be opening up at midnight this evening, so check with your local retailers.

Resident Evil 5 Coming To PC?

Tim Grube — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:34:02 -0600

Resident Evil 5 is approaching quite rapidly and today the folks over at MCV have found something deep within a Capcom Q1 2009 release schedule. It states the RE5 is scheduled to be coming out on the PC as well as the previously announce PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

This is big news for PC fans because many RE fans have been asking for a PC port and now it is here! The game is scheduled for release on March 12, 2009 in Japan, and March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe.

Gears of War 2 Sweepstakes Details

Tim Grube — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:43:00 -0600

On behalf of Lionsgate, you can now win some cool Gears of War 2 swag thanks to the movie Transporter 3.

How to enter:

Register your gamertag now and get ready for a whole weekend of fun and competition! From 12:01 A.M. (ET) on Friday, November 7 until 11:59 P.M. (ET) on Sunday November 9, you'll get an entry into the sweepstakes when you play a multiplayer Gears of War 2 match.

Prize Information
After the entry period, will conduct a prize drawing for the following nine winners from among all eligible entries:

Two Grand Prizes: A custom Gears of War 2 Xbox 360 console
Two Second Prizes: A Gears of War 2 Special Edition Zune 120 GB digital media player
Five Third Prizes: A Gears of War 2 Limited Edition game

Get more details on the Play & Win Sweepstakes.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to legal residents of the 50 United States (includes the District of Columbia) 18+. Game ends November 9, 2008. For details including free, alternate method of entry, see the Official Rules.

NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM Ships

Tim Grube — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:33:03 -0600

Namco Bandai Games America Inc., today shipped NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM to retailers across North America exclusively for the PlayStation 3 console.

The Ultimate Ninja series is recognized by Naruto fans and gamers alike as the video game franchise that best captures the high-energy ninja action of the hit animated series, said Todd Thorson, director of marketing and public relations at Namco Bandai Games America, Inc. NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM represents an incredible leap forward for the franchise as we make our debut on the PLAYSTATION 3 system with an all-new battle system, free-roaming gameplay and undeniably stunning graphics.

Developed by CyberConnect2, NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM is rated T for Teen by the ESRB and carries a suggested retail price of $59.99.

World of Warcraft Patch 3.0.3 Released

Tim Grube — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:59:29 -0600

Blizzard is getting things ready for the big expansion launch next week and today they released a new patch that updates World of Warcraft to 3.0.3. The patch comes in at 21MB. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King launches on November 13.

General

* Removed "A Mask for All Occassions" as criteria for the "Hallowed Be thy Name" meta achievement.
* Replenishment: Players below level 50 can now benefit from this effect.

Racial

* Blood Fury: No longer triggers global cooldown.
* Shadowmeld: The cooldown will now start on use instead of on break.

Hit the jump for the entire patch list.

General

* Removed "A Mask for All Occassions" as criteria for the "Hallowed Be thy Name" meta achievement.
* Replenishment: Players below level 50 can now benefit from this effect.

Racial

* Blood Fury: No longer triggers global cooldown.
* Shadowmeld: The cooldown will now start on use instead of on break.

Druids

* Druid talents points have been refunded. Players will need to visit a class trainer to relearn spells and abilities.
* The Swift Flight Form is now available on the trainer at level 71, requiring 300 riding skill, and Flight Form learned.
* Bash: The interrupt from this ability will now work on targets who are immune to the stun.
* Berserk: Now clears the cooldown on Mangle Bear.
* Earth and Moon and Moonfury (Balance) reduced from 5 ranks each to 3 ranks each.
* Eclipse: Buff duration extended to 15 sec and bonuses doubled. The cooldown has been increased to 40 seconds.
* Growl: Cooldown changed to 8 sec.
* Insect Swarm: Tooltip corrected to indicate it does not affect hit chance with spells.
* Nature's Swiftness: This ability will no longer give chances to trigger Omen of Clarity.
* Omen of Clarity: Will no longer be triggered by the Honorless Target buff gained when entering the world.
* Survival Instincts will no longer be on the Global Cooldown.
* Swiftmend: now benefits correctly from Genesis talent.

Hunters

* Aimed Shot: Added to Barrage and Improved Barrage talent.
* Animal Handler: Now increases your pet's expertise by 5/10. (No longer increases the pet's chance to hit.)
* Aspects now have a shared cooldown category of 1 sec and no longer have a start cooldown.
* Aspect of the Dragonhawk: New aspect added that combines the benefit of Aspect of the Monkey and Aspect of the Hawk, available at level 75 and 80.
* Aspect of the Monkey: The Dodge chance has been increased from 8% to 18%.
* Aspect of the Viper: The per attack mana regeneration has been reduced by 50% but this ability now generates 4% of maximum mana every 3 sec. In addition, the per attack regeneration now also works on melee attacks.
* Disengage now fails if you're rooted and is no longer on the global cooldown.
* Hunter vs. Wild: The attack power bonus from this talent now applies properly to Hunter pets. In addition, the bonus attack power will now be recalculated properly from equipping items.
* Improved Aspect of the Hawk: This talent no longer causes incorrect mana costs when interacting with the Rapid Recuperation and Improved Steady Shot talents.
* Mana cost of Disengage has been lowered to 5% of base mana, down from 14%.
* Pets
o Rake (Cat), Scorpid Poison (Scorpid): Lowered damage of all ranks.
o Stampede (Rhino): Lowered the knockback to 10 yards.
o Raised the damage of exotic attacks: Spirit Strike, Lava Breath, Froststorm Breath, Acid Spit, and Stampede.
o Lowered the cost of pet specials from 25 to 20.
â€¢ Thrill of the Hunt: The mana gained from using this talent with Explosive Shot is now 1/3 of the normal amount per critical strike (but gets 3 opportunities per cast.) â€¢ T.N.T.: Explosive Shot can now only trigger this talent when it is initially fired.

Mages

* Arcane Potency: The additional crit bonus is now consumed immediately on cast of a travel time spell, so it is no longer possible to make two spells benefit from one charge. (Ex. Fireball followed by Fireblast.)
* Blast Wave: no longer receives double the intended critical strike bonus from Combustion.
* Burnout: Now consumes extra mana as intended when livming Bomb gets a critical strike.
* Deep Freeze: Now consumes a charge of Fingers of Frost when used.
* Focus Magic: Now works properly when mages with this talent use the ability on each other.
* Frostfire Bolt: The periodic damage effect from Rank 2 of this spell now benefits from spell power gans.
* Living Bomb: Mana cost reduced to be the same as Arcane Explosion.. It no longer causes the caster to stand up when the final explosion occurs and it is now possible for each mage to have Living Bomb active on a target.
* Master of Elements: Now works with Living Bomb.
* Molten Fury: This talent no longer prevents Ice Lance ranks 2 and 3 from dealing triple damage against frozen targets.
* Reduced the mana cost of Fireball, Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Explosion.
* Torment the Weak: Now works correctly when the Mage also knows the Molten Fury Talent.

Paladins
* Art of War: No longer increases critical strike damage on Judgements, Crusader Strike, and Divine Storm, instead increases all damage done by those abilities by a smaller amount.
* The Avenger's Shield bounce distance has been reduced to 10 yards (from 15).
* The epic ground mount is now available on the trainer at level 61, requiring 150 riding skill, and the non-epic mount learned.
* Blessing of Might: Rank 8 points increased slightly to prevent from being overwritten by BattleShout 8 that has a shorter duration (also applies to Greater Blessing of Might 3.)
* Blessing of Sanctuary: It is no longer possible to have both Blessing of Sanctuary and Greater Blessing of Sanctuary active on a target at the same time.
* Crusade: No longer applies damage bonus twice to critical strikes.
* Divine Plea: This spell's duration is no longer affected by haste.
* Divine Purpose: Rank 1 of this ability will now correctly determine its chance of remove stun.
* Enlightened Judgments now increases range by 15/30 (was 10/20).
* Eye for an Eye: No longer breaks crowd control effects.
* Hammer of Justice: The interrupt from this ability will also be redirected when the stun is redirected. In addition, the interrupt will now work on targets immune to stun.
* Hammer of the Righteous: Tooltip corrected to indicate it does 4 times weapon dps instead of 3.
* Infusion of Light (Holy) now affects Flash of Light too, reducing its cast time down to zero and can be used while moving.
* Judgements: The debuffs from Judgement of Light, Judgement of Wisdom, and Judgement of Justice will no longer be applied if the Judgement spell itself misses.
* Judgements of the Pure: Haste increased to 3/6/9/12/15%.
* Repentance PvP duration reduced to 6 sec.
* Righteous Defense cooldown has been lowered to 8 sec (was 15 sec).
* Righteous Vengeance: No longer increases critical strike damage on Judgements and Divine Storm, instead applies a DoT effect similar to Deep Wounds.
* Seal of the Martyr: Tooltip for Judgement damage was incorrect and has been fixed.
* Sheath of Light: Now correctly benefits Judgements of Command, Blood, and The Martyr.
* Shield of the Templar now also reduces all damage taken by 1/2/3%.

Priests

* Binding Heal: Now only consumes one charge of Holy Concentration per cast.
* Borrowed Time: Charge no longer consumed by spells with a base cast time that is instant.
* Devouring Plague: The bonus coefficient has been increased to be on par with other DoT spells. Base damage on ranks 7,8, and 9 decreased to partially compensate for better scaling.
* Divine Providence: This talent now also reduces the cooldown of your Prayer of Mending spell by 6/12/18/24/30%. With 5 points applied, it takes Prayer of Mending's cooldown from 10 sec to 7 sec.
* Divine Spirit: Now can be refreshed properly on self after logging in and out or zoning. (Also applies to Prayer of Spirit.)
* Guardian Spirit: A target may now have only one Guardian Spirit active.
* Healing Focus: Now works properly with Penance.
* Improved Divine Spirit: No longer improves Divine Spirit after untalenting sometimes.
* Inner Focus: Now works properly with Mind Flay, Mind Sear, and Penance.
* Prayer of Spirit: Will no longer stack with other raid spell power buffs.
* Shadowform: Devouring Plague, Shadow Word:Pain, and Vampiric Touch cast in Shadowform deal increased damage percentage equal to the player's chance to get a spell crit on their target.
* Shadow Word eath: The self-damage from this spell can no longer be reflected or redirected.
* Vampiric Touch: The Spell power coefficient has been doubled and no longer triggers Replenishment when other priests cast Mind Blast.

Rogues

* Combat Potency: Now only works with autoattacks (no more Shiv.)
* Fan of Knives changed to be castable with no targets, further improved the visual affect and it no longer plays an impact on the caster. Now benefits correctly from the Find Weakness talent.
* Killing Spree: The rogue is now untargetable during the duration of the spree. In addition, no longer sometimes selects dead targets and no longer breaks stealth on nearby targets.
* Riposte: Duration of this effect no longer reduced by other effects that reduce disarm duration.
* Shadow Dance: The cooldowns on Sap, Garrotte, Ambush, Cheap Shot, Premeditation, Pickpocket, and Disarm Trap are no longer increased while this ability is activated.

Shaman

* Flurry: Now grants the proper number of charges when it triggers.
* Improved Fire Nova Totem: Increases the damage done by your Fire Nova Totem by 10/20% and your Fire Nova totem has a 50/100% chance to stun all targets damaged by your Fire nova Totem for 2 sec.
* Lava Burst: The base damage has been increased by approx. 10%.
* Maelstrom Weapon: Tooltips corrected to correctly describe the chance for this talent to be triggered.
* Riptide: The initial heal amount has been increased on ranks 3 and 4 and periodic healing has been increased on all ranks.
* Stormstrike: Other shamans can no longer consume charges of your Stormstrike, and each shaman can have their own stormstrike on the victim.
* Storm Reach is now called "Elemental Reach" and now includes Lava Burst.
* Thunderstorm: Mana gain has been increased to 8%.
* Tidal Mastery: Now correctly applies its critical strike bonus to Earth Shield.
* Tidal Waves will now also proc with Riptide.

Warlocks

* The epic ground mount is now available on the trainer at level 61, requiring 150 riding skill, and the non-epic mount learned.
* Demonic Sacrifice: The buffs from this ability will now be retained properly when logging out or zoning.
* Demonic Empowerment: This talent no longer gives excessive threat to the Warlock's Voidwalker.
* Destructive Reach: Now properly reduces threat on Chaos Bolt and Shadowflame.
* Drain Soul: Rank 6 now properly deals additional damage ot targets below 25% health.
* Haunt: The cooldown has been changed to 8 sec, and refreshing the Haunt will trigger the heal from the existing Haunt.This ability will no longer heal for incorrect amounts or fail to heal when the Huaunt damage was the killing blow.
* Inferno: The Infernal is now useable indoors and the tooltip has been updated.
* Master Demonologist (Felhunter) will now also reduce damage taken by Holy.
* Ritual of Doom: Now works correctly even when the Warlock already has a pet (dismissed the existing pet.)
* Shadowflame: Damaged increased approx. 75%. Coefficients unchanged.
* Shadow Embrace: Now works on ranks 1-4 and stacks properly with multiple applications.
* Soul Link (Demonology): Increased from 15% to 20%.

Warriors

* Armored to the Teeth: Grants only attack power( as intended) and recalculates the bonus immediately upon learning any rank of the talent.
* Bladestorm: Now breaks all snares and roots on the warrior when activated.
* Bloodthirst: Cooldown reduced to 5 sec.
* Deep Wounds: Now works properly with Heroic Throw.
* Heroic Throw: No longer gains increased damage from the warrior's agility.
* Improved Rend changed to 10/20%.
* Rampage: Can now be triggered by off-hand Whirlwind damage.
* Rend: Damage has been adjusted to be less base and more weapon based.
* Rend: Ranks 9 and 10 now do 35% more damage when the target is above 75% health instead of 4 times damage when the target is enraged. Sudden Death: Now has 3/6/9% chance on hit instead of 10/20/30% chance on crit.
* Titan's Grip: Changed to 12% penalty instead of 15%.
* Vigilance: Now properly transfers threat generated by heals.

Professions

* The level requirements required to train gathering skills have been removed.
* Alchemy
o Reduced the effect of Elixir of Mongoose and Elixir of Major Agility.
* Inscription
o Glyph of Crusader Strike: Now reduces mana cost by 20% instead of increase damage on stunned and incapacitated targets.
o Glyph of Flame Shock: Now extends duration by 6 sec and prevents Flame Shock from being consumed by Lava Burst.
o Glyph of Lava: Glyph of Earth Elemental removed and replaced with this glyph. This glyph increases coefficient on Lava Burst by 0.1.
o Glyph of Mind Flay: Now sets snare to 10% instead of removing it.
o Glyph of Rejuvenation: Now works correctly when the target is not self.
o Glyph of Shiv: Replaced with Glyph of Vigor, which increases maximum energy by an additional 10 for those with the Vigor talent.
o Glyph of Shadow: Glyph of Mind Soothe removed and replaced with this glyph. This glyph increases spell power by 10% of spirit for 10 sec after critting while in Shadowform.
o Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain: Increases damage done by Mind Flay when SW:P is present by 10%.
o Glyph of Sinister Strike: Chance increased to 50%.
o Glyph of Souls no longer removes soul shard cost. It instead reduces the mana cost of your Ritual of Souls spell by 70%.
o Glyph of Spirit of Redemption: Tooltip corrected to 4 sec. extra when the glyph triggers.
o Glyph of Strength of Earth: Replaced with Glyph of Lava Lash which increases the bonus from having Flametongue Weapon by 10%.
o Glyph of Trueshot Aura: Now increases Aimed Shot crit chance instead of increasing attack power bonus.
o Glyph of Totem of Wrath: Replaced with Glyph of Elemental Mastery, which decreases the cooldown on Elemental Mastery by 30 sec.

User Interface

* For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros forum.

Items

* The war against spelling errors continues: many items have had typos removed or their functionality clarified.
* The item quality on several quest rewards was incorrect and has been altered.
* The phoenix summoned by Ashes of Al'ar has had his flame trains restored.
* Guardian's Band of Subjugation now correctly grants universal haste.
* Girdle of the Warrior Magi now has a socket bonus.
* Some one-hand spell power weapons are now main hand only.
* Heart of the Dragon should now provide a consistent amount of Ranged Attack Power.
* Loatheb's Shadow should now provide a consistent amount of Ranged Attack Power.
* Spirit-World Glass now correctly has a cooldown.
* Discerning Eye of the Besat procs should now be more obvious.
* Focusing Lenses now have a cooldown.
* The Horseman's Reings should again function in Dalaran.
* Haute Club Membership Card no longer prompts players to open it.
* The buff granted by Frenzyheart Insingia of Fury now has a correct tooltip.
* Harness of Carnal Instinct no longer has bonus armor.
* Boots of the Protector have been brought in line with protection paladin itemization changes.
* A tootip error in the Glyph of Spint has been corrected.
* Grilled Sculpin now correctly grants Ranged Attack Power.
* Libram of Souls Redeemed should now only affect Holy Light.
* Legacy items that had both melee and spell critical strike rating have been integrated to the unified rating.
* Held in hand books created by Inscription are now Bind on Equip rather than Bind on Pickup.

Bug Fixes

* Fixed an issue that was affecting terrain rendering on GeForce 3 and 4 Ti cards. Those that added the command Set fixedfunction 1 to their config.wtf file should remove it to avoid a decrease in performance.
* Glyph of Rupture: The tooltip has been corrected.
* Hunter: Ferocious Inspiration will now apply raid-wide, as intended.
* Hunter Pets
o Sonic Blast (Bat): Will no longer ignore LoS.
o Bad Attitude (Croc): Will no longer ignore the Longevity buff.
o Thunderstomp (Gorilla): Will no longer have a physical coefficient instead of a magical one.
o Gore (Bore): Fixed an issue where a wrong value was being applied.
o Savage Rend: Corrected typos in the tooltip.
* Mage: Burning Determination will now work properly.
* Mage: Living Bomb's "explosion effect" will now be properly classified.
* Priest: Holy Reach (Rank 2) will now increase the radius of Divine Hymn properly.
* Priest: Inner Focus will now properly increase the critical strike chance of the talent Penance.
* Shaman: Totem of Wrath tooltip updated to reflect that it affects all crit chance and indicate that it increases Spell Power (instead of just damage).

Metal Gear Online Reaches One Million Mark

Tim Grube — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:02:57 -0600

With all the mass voting going on here in the states, Konami was able to sneak in some good news surrounding Metal Gear Online. The company revealed that Metal Gear Online has established over one million members since the service launched back in June.

To go along with this great news, Konami will launch a special campaign Metal Gear Online: Commemorative Campaign, which will officially begin on November 25, 2008, awarding reward points to gamers who access Metal Gear Online during the promotion. The 10,000 reward points will be updated to account owners on the last day of the campaign, December 9, 2008.

These reward points can be used to purchase new online gear from the in-game reward shop.

Warhammer Online Exceeds 800,000 Subscribers

Tim Grube — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:18:14 -0600

Mythic's MMO, Warhammer Online, published by Electronic Arts unveiled that the game has exceeded 800,000 subscribers, according to recently released Electronic Arts financial documents. Within the document it states, 1.2 million copies of WAR has been sold since its release in September.

Battle of Giants Dinosaurs Pounds Into Stores

Tim Grube — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:13:15 -0600

Ubisoft announced today that Battle of Giants Dinosaurs has shipped to retailers nationwide and is available exclusively for the Nintendo DS. Developed by Ubisoft Quebec, Battle of Giants Dinosaurs will allow players to choose from 25 unique dinosaur species, explore and conquer a variety of terrain maps and fight against other dinosaurs.

Key features:

Choose your dinosaur
Select between 25 different species including ravenous predators, cunning scavengers, horned territorials, mighty tanks and peaceful herbivores.
Challenge other dinosaurs!
Experience an exciting and accessible combat system based on dexterity that rewards speed and accuracy, not luck, in battle.
Fully customizable dinosaurs
Unlock and equip your dinosaur with special attack and defense features.
Add spikes, feathers and bones to your dinosaur and then change their color and stripe patterns!
Three exciting game modes!
Play solo in Adventure and Quickmatch or take on up to six of your friends in Multiplayer Tournament!

Battle of Giants Dinosaurs is rated "E for Everyone and has an MSRP of $29.99.

Valve Unleashes Left 4 Dead Intro

Tim Grube — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:18:14 -0500

Valve has released the introduction video for its zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead will is expected to hit the Xbox 360 and PC on November 18.

The demo is scheduled for release on November 11. Expect more soon...

EA Announces More Burnout

Tim Grube — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:29:48 -0500

Criterion Games and Electronic Arts announced today Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box. This "box" will include the Burnout Paradise game plus the previously-released Burnou Paradise Cagney and Burnout Paradise Bikes content updates, and the brand new Burnout Paradise Party content.

Whether youre an experienced player or a gaming novice, Burnout Paradise is a game that anyone can enjoy, says Pete Lake, Senior Producer at Criterion Games. With The Ultimate Box, we aimed to deliver the most fun, high quality and high value experience possible to players both online and in the living room.

Burnout Paradise Party will be on display and available for free play at EAs booth during the London Games Festival in Trafalgar Square from Oct 31 Nov 1, 2008.

Now for the players that already own Burnout Paradise, Burnout Paradise Party will be sold separately as downloadable content.

Happy Halloween To All - Now Go Play Fallout 3!

Tim Grube — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:19:33 -0500

Shameless plug incoming...I have been locked into Bethesda's Fallout 3 on the PC for a couple days now and I have to admit that this game is almost my game of the year. Well, the World of Warcraft expansion is due out on November 13, so that might consume most of my time--but as of right now, Fallout 3 is an exceptional game and you must purchase it today!

Game reviews:

GameRevolution
Gaming Nexus
GameTrailers
Atomic Gamer
Total Video Games
GoodGearGuide
Spillmagasinet Norway
Vandal
Hardgame2
Gamesurf.it
PS3Italia
Spaziogames
Big Download
Spike
Fox News
MSN
Empire Online,

Nintendo DSi Announced, 2009 North America Release

Tim Grube — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:07:34 -0500

It was promised to be announced and it is finally here. Nintendo unveiled the next unit in the DS line, entitled Nintendo DSi, via a press conference in Japan this morning.

It will feature a three megapixel camera positioned on the back bottom left side as well as a camera centered on the front, a slimmer body, and a new interface.

Nintendo also revealed that the unit will not integrate any GameBoy Advance slot into the Nintendo DSi - a fact that should not surprise those who have fantasized about possible DS redesigns. Instead, the company will insert an SD Memory Card slot so gamers can easily bring in their videos and music, as well as a place to store their downloaded items. The company will also introduce the first DS Internet browser, which you can use to purchase items directly from the new DSi store utilizing Nintendo Points (formerly Wii Points).

The Nintendo DSi will launch in Japan on November 1 for ¥18,900 ($178) with both white and black finishes as well as 1000 free Nintendo Points until March 2010. Other releases are set for a 2009 release. Expect a more "exact" date very soon here in North America. Pictures at the jump.

Additional Content Coming to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

GB News — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:28:02 -0500

LucasArts today announced that it is preparing two rounds of additional content for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed this Fall. This new content will be available for Xbox 360 owners through Xbox Live Marketplace and for PlayStation 3 owners through the PlayStation Network.

The first piece of downloadable content will be comprised of additional costumes and character models that can used while playing through the single-player campaign, including Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto.

The second round of downloadable content, due later this year, will feature an entirely new single-player mission, set in the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant. Darth Vaders Secret Apprentice turns to the Jedi Temple to learn more about his father, and while searching through the rubble of the destroyed building he must confront his inner demons.

Pricing and availability for these downloadable items will be announced at a later date.

GB Review: Infinite Undiscovery (360)

Solomon Lee — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:48:45 -0500

Infinite Undiscovery is an action RPG from tri-Ace, the folks behind Valkryie Profile and the Star Ocean series. The game employs an interactive real-time combat system. Teamwork is a vital part of the game as the game has its fair share of puzzles that can only be solved with the aid of a party member. While the visuals and sound design are decent, the game fails to achieve its potential. It's overcomplicated and unresponsive, and altogether feels like an incomplete package. Fans of tri-Ace and RPGs in general might get a kick out of the 30-or-so hour game, but it's nothing for casual gamers to get excited about.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

Infinite Undiscovery is the latest title developed by tri-Ace, the development powerhouse behind the Valkryie Profile and the Star Ocean series. At its core, it's an action RPG that blends situational battles with open exploration. These battles are influenced by conditions and choices made by players resulting in, as the name implies, new discoveries that affect the world around you. The first of three highly anticipated Square Enix RPGs (The Last Remnant, Star Ocean: The Last Hope), Infinite Undiscovery marks tri-Ace's return to the RPG limelight.

Infinite Undiscovery puts you in the role of Capell, a young lad who is imprisoned and mistaken for the leader of a Liberation force. The Liberation force is a band of resistance warriors rebelling against the Dreadknight and the Order of Chains -- an evil force that has bound the moon with chains and brought chaos to the surrounding lands. After a period of three days, he is rescued by Aya, a brave girl who is shocked to learn Capell is, in fact, a cowardly flutist. Against his own wishes, he reluctantly joins Aya to regroup with the Liberation force in their efforts to stop the Order's sinister plans. On his journey, Capell meets the real Liberation leader, Sigmund, to whom he bears a striking resemblance. Further in the game, he teams up with various allies like Edmund, a loyal swordsman; Balbagan, a brash warrior and the conniving twins, Rico and Rucha.

The game employs an interactive real-time combat system. Both standard and power attacks are used to perform combos and special attacks. Though Capell lacks the ability to cast magic, his flute is used in place of it to cast special status effects on his party members. In the thick of battle, the A.I. is quite receptive to the tactics you assign to them that range from "Spread out" to "Focus on single target". You are also able to sneak up from afar or behind your enemy directly for a higher chance to acquire rare items -- thus giving you the "Player's Advantage." After a chain of successful attacks and combos, the AP sword gauge will gradually rise; boosting the power of your special attacks that can be used to devastate your enemies. In addition, you can issue healing requests from your party members to reduce the extra time spent scrolling the menu for healing items.

Teamwork is a vital part of the game as the game has its fair share of puzzles that can only be solved with the aid of a party member. This is done by "connecting" with a team member that allows you to use their battle skills that are mapped to two buttons. The ability to use a team member's skills only works some of the time as they tend to be slow in responding; which is frustrating. Outside of combat, the team member acts on your behalf by opening treasure boxes, inspecting items and talking with others. Consequently, Capell can only connect with one party member at a time. Notable skills include Sigmund's Observant skill that allows you to view enemy stats and Rico's Beastmaster skill to speak directly with animals.

Party members will automatically split up upon entry to towns and villages. You can connect with them to discuss the party's current affairs or to chat with the locals. Specific team members are handy as they can draw out different responses from the townspeople and help with mini-quests. However, the towns differ so greatly in size from one another that simply searching around for your comrade is tiring enough. Granted, the ability to connect and to collaborate with your team members is a promising feature that should have been better implemented in this game. What's more, Capell will recruit up to 17 allies over the course of the game that is quite a hassle to manage. Assigning weapons, armor and accessories to all of your respective team members is a very cumbersome task.

Certain missions throughout the game require you to divide the party members into separate groups. Your choice of team members ultimately dictates the items, Fol (currency) and the experience gained. All items and spoils found by the other party will be added to the inventory list. With respect to Item Creation skills, Aya and Rucha are bestowed with cooking abilities, Rico is a composer, and Capell has the enchantment skills as a flute player. During the missions, food that is acquired is useful for curing negative status effects and healing party members. Each character has their own food preferences as the item's effects are more effective when they eat their choice foods.

Infinite Undiscovery's visuals are decent. The character designs are average and the surrounding environments respectable. One particular note: the game's graphics are not bad by any means. It's just that the game does not sport the imagery or gorgeous visuals of other Square Enix titles like the Final Fantasy series. The voice acting is standard -- but it's odd how many cut-scenes have no voiceovers at all. Fortunately, the voice behind Aya and a few other characters was performed well and was very believable. As for the soundtrack, composed by Motoi Sakuraba, the music fits the game accordingly and provides acceptable accompaniment.

Overall, the game fails to achieve its potential. It's hindered by the number of party members falling under its management system. It could have been enjoyable with half as many characters; demonstrating in this case that less is more. On top of this, the connecting feature in battle feels sluggish as the A.I. reaction times are slow at best. While the game is short and can be completed by most players in less than thirty hours, Infinite Undiscovery is still worth checking out for tri-Ace fans and RPG enthusiasts.

World of Warcraft = $200 Million Since 2004

Tim Grube — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:40:56 -0500

We all knew Blizzard was making a fortune off of World of Warcraft, but did you know it cost them $200 million dollars to run the entire game since 2004 up until now? Does that include the employees? Or the hundreds of servers, heck even the buildings just to store everything? Yup it sure does. $200 million since November 2004 and now they have over 10 million subscribers. To put it bluntly, they STILL make out in the end with estimating at over or close to $140 million dollars made every month from WoW addicts.

Below is an excerpt from the 1UP article:

Okay, so let's do a conservative estimate, and say even 1 million of these counted subscribers are still in their free month. That leaves 9 million paying subscribers who, at the $15 fee, are generating $135 million every month. Hell, even if you adjust that to, say, $120 million (since many subscribers may be paying for slightly discounted 3- or 6-month subscriptions), that still means Blizzard more than recouped their entire upkeep costs over a four-year period in just two months."

Get ready, the expansion (World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King) is due out in stores on November 13, 2008.

New Dark Horizon Screenshots

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:59:15 -0500

Paradox Interactive is gearing up to release Dark Horizon on September 23 for the PC and today they released three new shots for your viewing pleasure. Check them out below.

Launch Gallery: Dark Horizon

(3 images)

They are in! GTA IV PC Specs Unveiled

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:54:16 -0500

For those of you who have been waiting for the PC specs on Grand Theft Auto IV--well, they are now in!

Windows XP SP2
Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or above)
2GB of RAM
18GB of hard drive space
512MB Direct 3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card
DVD dual-layer drive

It appears the staff who handle the Games for Windows website jumped the gun today because they posted the PC specifications, but were removed soon after. No word from Rockstar Games regarding as to why it was taken down.

Monster Jam: Urban Assault Debut Trailer

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:35:39 -0500

Activision is almost set to release Monster Jam: Urban Assault and today they released the debut trailer showing off some of the visuals and gameplay. The game is due out in stores October 28 for the Wii, PSP, DS, and PS2.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Out Nov 13

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:20:01 -0500

It's finally announced! We all knew it'd be November, but we now have the official date! Today, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King,will arrive in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

"We're looking forward to launching Wrath of the Lich King and finally giving World of Warcraft players a chance to take on Arthas and his minions," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Until then, we'll continue to refine and playtest the expansion content to make sure it provides a highly polished and entertaining experience."

The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will be available on DVD-ROM for Windows XP/Windows Vista and Macintosh in two packages: a standard edition, which will sell for a suggested retail price of $39.99, and a special Collector's Edition (in select regions) priced at $69.99. The limited Collector's Edition package will contain:

The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with directors commentary, and more.
The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collectors Edition.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) Ships To Stores

Tim Grube — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:34:50 -0500

Mythic Entertainment and Electronic Arts today announced that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), will ship tomorrow to retail stores across North America, Europe, and Oceania in preparation for launch on September 18th.

This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched MMORPG in North America and Europe. Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us - they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them, said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. In three days the real battle begins we have declared September 18th the Day of Reckoning, and WAR will soon be upon us!

WAR set a company record for the most retail pre-orders placed by consumers for a PC title in EAs 26 year history. Overall, the company has sold 1.5 million units of WAR to retailers.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Announced

Tim Grube — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:48:35 -0500

Finally it has been announced! Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today the new name - F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin for the sequel to the hit videogame F.E.A.R. The game is being developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The name addition builds upon the strong game recognition, which we will extend as we move forward reinventing the F.E.A.R. brand, said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will continue the legacy of the original F.E.A.R. game with story and combat while adding new twists, gameplay and graphics to expand the players experience.

The game is due out in stores on February 10, 2009 in North America and February 13, 2009 in Europ. Hit the jump for the official boxart!

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI Available Now

Tim Grube — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:43:51 -0500

KOEI announced today that Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (RTKXI) is out now for PC. The latest edition of KOEI's classic historical simulation series is available exclusively through digital download at Trygames.com and Direct2Drive.com for customers in North America and Brazil.

To watch the official trailer, download a free demo of the game, and view system specifications---visit the website by clicking the link below.

GB Review: Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3)

Brian Mohr — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:07:13 -0500

Battlefield: Bad Company may not completely revamp the war game experience, but it does modify it enough to keep you interested throughout both on and offline. The biggest new feature clearly is the ability to blow buildings apart -- and visuals are spectacular, but the game features more than just that. For once, it features an entertaining single-player experience with a meaningful storyline. Of course, it brings a quality online experience as well to keep you playing for some time.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

War games are so common today that in order to stand out from the crowd, the game really has to do something different. Battlefield: Bad Company may not revolutionize the genre by any means, but it does add some nice improvements to the next-generation experience to make it fun and interesting.

Easily the biggest new improvement to the series is the impressive visuals. Worth noting is that it is in first-person. Running through the levels, your player shakes and vibrates. The visuals of guns and various weapons on screen are very realistic.

Those are all well and good, but what really catches your eye the most is the incredible detail of the environments with fires, special effects and more. Even more notable than that are the destructible environments, explosions look incredibly real with chunks of rubble exploding around you. Hiding in a building is far from safe anymore, and can be a bit nerve-racking, as a tank can blow the roof off, literally.

The game features more than just visuals though. The sound is very good with impressive war sounds, the guns are very realistic and explosions are incredible too. The musical score works with the various environments and moods and the single-player experience actually has some good dialogue with character.

Did I do that?

Speaking of the single-player experience, it puts you in the role of the new player in Bad Company. A group of problem soldiers who take on the worst of assignments in order to score money in the form of gold bars. Although youre not able to command your teammates, the action is exciting and the missions are interesting. The game features a number of weapons to play with as well as explosives and health injectors to gain life. There are side goals as well as numerous vehicles including helicopters, boats, trucks and more in the seven-level offline campaign.

As for the control scheme, its very user friendly with the use of the triggers and sticks. If youve played a first-person shooter before it will take little time to adjust. The only difficulty was flying helicopters, which takes some getting used to.

Not to be forgotten from any Battlefield experience is the online component which is once again solid. It features up to 24 players per map, all vehicles in the single-player mode including tanks, jeeps, boats, helicopters and hummers, a variety of weapons including turrets, cannons and rockets on the field as well as five arm sets to choose from, each group features unlockable bonuses too. While the conquest mode that Battlefield is known for isnt featured yet, the online option is solid nonetheless.

GB Review: Soul Calibur IV (PS3)

Shiva Stella — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:26:28 -0500

For those of you unfamiliar with Namco's Soul Calibur series, it's the one with the slew of weird characters vying for two powerful swords--soul calibur and soul edge--to rule, destroy, or save the world, and most of the time they look exceptionally good while doing it. Soul Calibur IV continues that trend with 33 characters seeking to use the swords to accomplish their own (often selfish) desires, including two bonus "guest" characters from the Star Wars universe: the legendary Darth Vader and the mysterious "apprentice" from the upcoming Force Unleashed. Though the game clearly fails to revolutionize the genre, it accomplishes everything it sets out to do quite well, and the addition of online play and a very robust character creation system keep the game addictive.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

As with any fighting game, Soul Calibur IV pits you against an onslaught of characters that you must take down by lowering their health bar with flashy moves and powerful combos. Namco also included a soul gauge feature that changes color depending on your performance; block too often or receive too many strong attacks and the gauge will start flashing red, entering a "soul crush" state, at which point you're vulnerable to a one-hit KO attack called a critical finish. To keep things fresh (and because it's mildly entertaining to witness characters fighting in customizable undergarments), equipment destruction is a vital component of any fight; equipment condition is displayed in a three slot vertical bar designating head, upper body, and lower body gear, and enough attacks to the same area will break the equipment.

The soul gauge modifications manage to prevent players from over-blocking, but this is mostly because they're afraid of having their equipment destroyed--not because they fear any elite finishing moves; the critical finish attacks have to be performed a half-second or so after the opponent's gauge flashes red, and because there's a lot of action on-screen it's difficult to pay attention to both the guy that's beating your brains out as well as his gauge.

Soul Calibur IV offers up a sufficient variety of the standard modes included in nearly all of its competitors, highlighted by a disjointed, loosely named five stage story mode, a training session convenient for those new to the series, an eight stage arcade mode, and the tower of lost souls, which is a survival mode that rewards you with new equipment for completing secret objectives as you clear floors; this is a significantly less boring and time-consuming procedure than the "adventure" mode of previous games in the series, however you cannot adjust the tower's difficulty level. A versus mode is included for local multiplayer and features either a standard or special setting to determine whether skills and weapon effects are active, but sadly is limited to two players, as is online play via the PlayStation Network. What's upsetting is that you're often stuck in a room watching matches before you're able to take the winner, though the fights are usually quick and you always have the option of creating your own room and inviting a friend to eliminate the wait.

The character creation feature is extremely impressive, enabling you to modify any character's template and save up to 48 different versions of each character. You're also given the option to design your own character from scratch, modifying everything from equipment color and model physique to voice, skill set, eye color, and fighting style. When you're satisfied with your unique creation you can take it through the story mode, where it'll perform in cutscenes, or hop online to show off your creativity to the community. Though the character creation system is highly robust, unfortunately your gear options determine your character's stats and your ability to set decent skills. This gets especially frustrating when you're trying to churn out a ferocious Solid Snake or Harry Potter because characters designed with the "best" equipment will therefore have the best stats and a great battle advantage, however you can play with weaker characters in standard versus or online mode, where skills and weapon effects are inactive.

Soul Calibur IV's presentation is nothing short of stunning, with gorgeous, highly detailed environments featuring some interactivity in the form of breakable stuff; the visuals are absolutely breath-taking, with most stages featuring moving objects (space ships, animals, etc) in the background and appropriate ambient noises that change depending on the stage. The striking characters move fluidly and are detailed down to the fine texture of their clothing and every strand of hair that blows in the wind--Soul Calibur IV easily ranks as one of the most visually impressive games in its genre.

Given the game's convenient 2.6GB install option that significantly shortens loading times and unbelievable amount of unlockables it's a shame to see Namco limiting customization in other aspects of the game. For example, you can set your own stage music as an audio alternative, but only if your music consists of Soul Calibur themes purchased from the PlayStation Store, which is infuriating. You're also currently stuck with the two bonus Star Wars characters given (Vader and his apprentice), but expect to download the 360 version's bonus characters in a "fresh" and overly priced variety pack--the opportunity for Namco to make money on this feature is simply too good for them to pass up. Don't be surprised if Namco also releases downloadable equipment, stages, or other characters and bonus content.

Soul Calibur IV's only real flaw is that its modes are a tad shallow due its lack of 4-player play both online and locally, but its character creation system and even standard online play more than make up for it. The game should rank very highly on the list of anyone who enjoys a good, heavily customizable fighter--even casual players.

Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty Out Soon

Tim Grube — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:15:27 -0500

According to GameSpot, Insomniac Games is hard at work finishing up the first downloadable Ratchet & Clank game entitled, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty.

Picking up after the events of Ratchet & Clank Future, Quest for Booty will put a greater emphasis on puzzle-solving and platforming elements.

The game will be released on August 21 with a price of $14.99

E3 2008: Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars Announced

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:05:20 -0500

The folks over at Rockstar Games today announced the development of Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS.

"This is a game that will deliver a rich, fast-paced and intense 'Grand Theft Auto' experience that will be truly unique to Nintendo's handheld platform," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Rockstar Leeds, along with the team at Rockstar North, has built upon a decade of progressive design on Grand Theft Auto, and has created something fundamentally fresh and immersive."

The game is set to be released in Winter of this year.

E3 2008: SCRABBLE For iPhone Screenshots

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:47:27 -0500

SCRABBLE screenshots for mobile platforms including iPhone.

Launch Gallery: SCRABBLE

(32 images)

E3 2008: The Sims 2 Apartment Pets Screenshots

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:22:43 -0500

Launch Gallery: The Sims 2 Apartment Pets

(5 images)

E3 2008: Dead Space Screenshots

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:20:03 -0500

Launch Gallery: Dead Space

(4 images)

E3 2008: Crysis Warhead Screenshots

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:11:21 -0500

Launch Gallery: Crysis Warhead

(5 images)

E3 2008: Duke Nukem Trilogy Announced

Tim Grube — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:01:14 -0500

Deep Silver and Apogee Software today announced an agreement to co-publish the Duke Nukem Trilogy episodes for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP in North America and Europe.

"We were seeking a strong global publishing partner to herald the eagerly-anticipated return of Duke Nukem," said Terry Nagy, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Apogee. "We have indeed found that partner in Deep Silver."

"Since we launched the Deep Silver label, we've aggressively pursued the best properties to bring to market," said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media. "Apogee has produced some of the greatest franchises in the history of gaming, none of them more popular than Duke Nukem."

Deep Silver is exhibiting at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit on July 14 - 17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in the Showcase Pavilion, Booth #401.

E3 2008: Unreal Tournament 3 Trailer

Tim Grube — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:13:39 -0500

Unreal Tournament 3 for the Xbox 360 just recently came out, but Midway wanted to show off a new trailer just for E3. Check it out below.

E3 2008: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Announced

Tim Grube — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:02:54 -0500

Activision and Microsoft announced today the development of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 for Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360.

The game is developed by Bizarre Creations, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 takes players on an all new ride through six different action-packed gameplay modes. With all the signature vibrant visuals and heart-pumping battles of the original, the game also features a new electrifying soundtrack and exhilarating local multiplayer modes in either versus or co-op for up to four players.

The title is scheduled for release this summer via download and has been rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

Double Fusion Provides PS3 In-Game Advertising

Tim Grube — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:13:40 -0500

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced a partnership with Double Fusion to deliver dynamic in-game advertising on the PlayStation 3 console.

Double Fusion will leverage its expertise, technology and sales force, working with publishers and advertisers to create effective marketing programs for brands targeting PS3's coveted gamer demographic.

The worldwide in-game advertising industry is expected to grow 1,150 percent to $971.3 million between 2006 and 2011 according to the Yankee Group.

"PS3 is open for the ad business," said Phil Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, SCEA. "We are very excited about hosting contextually relevant and well-crafted creative advertising on PS3. PlayStation is taking a major role in enabling this fast-developing sector that is both positive and inevitable for the games medium."

"We have already received tremendous support from publishers who want to incorporate ads into their PS3 games, across all of the regions of the world," Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO, Double Fusion, said. "We are very excited to work with SCE on this and PS3 will add a vast number of players to our already robust network. SCE's participation strengthens the in-game advertising ecosystem."

Advertisers interested in opportunities within the Double Fusion Network; and developers and publishers interested in increasing their per-title revenues through integrated and dynamic ad placement opportunities should visit http://www.AdvertisingInPlay.com

iPhone 3G Release Tomorrow At 8AM

Tim Grube — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:56:34 -0500

Its almost time. In one day, Apple will release the iPhone 3G (July 11) for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 8GB model and $299 (US) for the 16GB model in both Apple and AT&T's retail stores and requires a new two-year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers.

The App Store will be available beginning today via iTunes 7.7 and part of the free iPhone 2.0 software update for all iPhone customers on July 11. iPhone 2.0 is also available for iPod touch users for $9.95. Apple also announced today that more than 500 native applications will be available on the iPhone's App Store when Apple's iPhone 3G goes on sale tomorrow.

"iPhone enables The Associated Press to deliver news in a way that simply wasn't possible before," said Benjamin Mosse, director of Mobile Products, The Associated Press. "Taking advantage of iPhone's revolutionary location-based services, our Mobile News network can capture and store local news stories that can be read by users even when they're offline and our award winning photography and AP video are displayed in stunning clarity on its high resolution screen."

Yes, we know this is a gaming blog but many of our fans use or are interested in the iPhone. Heck, we even may be covering user-created games for the device in the future!

PlayStation 3 Firmware 2.40 Available

Tim Grube — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:28:10 -0500

Sony Computer Entertainment America has promised over the past few weeks that we would see the next firmware very soon for the PlayStation 3 console. Today, the company introduced firmware 2.4. Many features include customized soundtracks, the in-game XMB, on-screen clock, a quick shutdown icon, and a shortcut to Google.

The trophies system unfortunately isn't supported in all games as of yet.

Sony does say their biggest titles,Burnout Paradise and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune will soon get the trophie treatment. To obtain this update, turn on your PlayStation 3 and check for updates! We will keep you updated on further developments regarding the new XMB interface and trophie system

Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm Boxart, Sails Into Stores

Tim Grube — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:14:13 -0500

They do say it's one of the dangerous jobs in the world because every season at least one person dies to the horrible environment they get placed in trying to obtain these delicious crabs. So with that "insider tip" of the day, we just received word that Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm has shipped to stores nationwide for the Xbox 360.

Features:

Career Mode (Extremely realistic and challenging simulation for gamers and Deadliest Catch fans
Missions (Includes United States Coast Guard missions, ice flow navigation)
Mini-Games (Allows casual gamers to enjoy fun crab boat challenges, including crab boat races and skiff races)
Five Authentic Crab Boats (including Northwestern and Cornelia Marie)
Customize Your Own Boat
20 Real Fishermen (including Edgar and Norman Hansen, Josh and Jake Harris)
Five Authentic Captains (including Captains Sig Hansen, Phil Harris and Larry Hendricks)
4,500 lines of recorded character dialogue
1st Time United States Coast Guard in Video Game
Captain the 370ft. USCG Cutter Mellon
Throw-the-Hook Mini-Game
Skiff Racing Mini-Game
34,000 Miles Actual Coastline
Four real Bering Sea harbors (Akutan, Dutch Harbor, King Cove and St. Paul)
Virtual tour of the Northwestern crab boat
100 exclusive crew videos
Xbox Live multiplayer for up to eight players

The game is rated T and is $59.99 on Xbox 360 and $39.99 for PC. The PC version is expected soon. Hit the jump for the box art.

GameStop To Offer FREE Rare Pokemon Download

Zach Lott — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:56:34 -0500

If you've been waiting for a chance to snag a rare, event-only Pokemon for your copy of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl, now is your chance, as GameStop is going to offer a free download of the legendary Pokemon Deoxys.

Those interested in downloading Deoxys can bring their DS with a copy of Diamond or Pearl to GameStop from June 20-22 and June 27-29.

Secret Agent Clank Released For PSP

Tim Grube — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:40:00 -0500

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the North American release of Secret Agent Clank for the PSP. The time around, Clank's gameplay will be more like Ratchet's. In past titles, playing him was more about solving puzzles; now, he is a full on action character with weapons and gadgets of his own.

"Ratchet and Clank has proven to be a witty, well produced franchise with a long lasting legacy of action packed gameplay, out-of-this world weapons, and family friendly humor," said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. "Developer High Impact Games bolsters that legacy with Secret Agent Clank, again bringing innovation to the platform while poking fun at the spy movies we all know and love."

The title is rated "E" for Everyone by the ESRB.

Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 Ships!

Tim Grube — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:20:01 -0500

Namco Bandai Games announced today that Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 has been shipped to North American retailers for Nintendo DS.

Based on the popular virtual pets, gamers can run over a dozen shops with adorable Tamagotchi pals. Team up with fan-favorite Tamagotchis: Violetchi, Mametchi, Memetchi or Kuchipatchi, and get behind the counter of more than 12 different stores.

Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 is a great way to teach the responsibility of running a business in a way that everyone can enjoy, said Todd Thorson, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at NAMCO BANDAI Games America. Its fun mini-games, distinct art style and atmosphere will bring a smile to anyones face.

Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3 is rated E for everyone by the ESRB and carries a suggested retail price of $29.99.

Gears of War Movie In Full Effect

Tim Grube — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:34:49 -0500

It's about time all of these rumors get laid to rest. Len Wiseman, the director behind Die Hard 4 and Underworld will now take on the role of directing Gears of War based upon the popular videogame for Xbox 360.

According to Variety, Chris Morgan will be assisting Wiseman on creating the script. Previously, Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean) first wrote the original script. But we are told that this script will be discarded.

Cliffy B, or should we say, Cliff Bleszinski, will have much involvement in the movie. He is said to be the executive producer on the movie. Movie distributor, New Line, is trying to push out the film in late 2009. Expect more details as it is uncovered.

Len Wiseman

Spore System Specifications Released

Tim Grube — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:01:37 -0500

Electronic Arts today released the system requirements for the upcoming title, Spore. Look for it in stores on September 11.

WINDOWS XP

2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
512 MB RAM
A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
At least 6 GB of hard drive space

WINDOWS VISTA

2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
768 MB RAM
A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
At least 6 GB of hard drive space

Hit the jump for more specs.

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:

Intel Integrated Chipset, 945GM or above.
2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.
768 MB RAM

Supported Video Cards

ATI Radeon series
- 9500, 9600, 9800
- X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
- X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
- 2400, 2600, 2900,
- 3650, 3850
NVIDIA GeForce series
- FX 5900, FX 5950
- 6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
- 7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
- 8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
Intel Extreme Graphics
- GMA 950, GMA X3000, GMA X3100

GB Review: Persona 3 FES

Eric Jonathan Smith — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:44:26 -0500

Thank you, Atlus.

It's not often that a game is worth buying twice, but Atlus has made a second bite easier to swallow with Persona 3: FES. A special edition of last year's hybrid RPG, Persona 3, FES contains a dearth of new content and the entire original game with new elements and all for an easy $30. While some of the new content doesn't quite live up to the impact of the original release, FES represents a great value and is a must-play for RPG fans who looked it over the first time.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

The bulk of the content on the disc is the original 80+ hour Persona 3 game, dubbed "The Journey" in FES. You play as a transfer student who quickly discovers that his school is the epicenter of a phenomenon known as the Dark Hour, a "25th hour" during the day where time stops for the unaware and a huge tower named Tartarus erupts from the school, the source of an evil plague of beings known as Shadows. Only once you realize you harness the ability to wield the titular entities called personas do you join a crew of your fellow persona-wielding classmates to climb Tartarus and cleanse it of the Shadows over the course of a school year.

It's Japanese, but you get the idea.

P3's combat may at first glance look like a typical turn-based RPG, but it has a few key differences that make it unique. First, you only directly control your character in the four-person battle party. You can give them general commands to focus on healing or attacking a specific enemy and while it works most of the time there will be instances where they don't quite do what you wanted. Also given that you and your members are made up of high school students that still have studying on their minds, tiredness can set in, which puts the character at a significant disadvantage. This is bad news because many of the fights in P3 boss or otherwise are rather brutal and require both adept strategies and focused, healthy party members to win.

The most significantly unique trait of Persona 3 is of course in its titular persona system. Personas come in the form of characters from myth and legend and when equipped on your character give him specific weaknesses, strengths, and special moves. Your character is the only one who can choose from well over one hundred personas and choosing the right one for specific situations is a key part of the battle strategy due to the system of strengths and weaknesses. Hitting an enemy's weakness gives you an extra turn and knocks the enemy to the floor knock them all down and your party can perform a devastating and satisfying "all-out-attack" that cannot be blocked. Of course, if you get hit by your own persona's weakness you too will fall down and waste a turn, leaving you wide open for attack - the pendulum can swing the other way at any moment in P3, which keeps battles tense.

Don't mind if I do.

Your personas are tended to in an ethereal place known as the Velvet Room and if you want to succeed you'll be spending a lot of time within its indigo walls. The most important aspect of the Velvet Room is that you can fuse two or more personas together to make a new one. Fusion is a key holdover from Persona 3's parent series Shin Megami Tensei and the depth and options from which you can pool your personas is addictive and entertaining in and of itself. Though you lose the ones fused away, the resulting persona will almost always be of a higher level than the parents, in addition to carrying over some of their skills. Shortly into the game you are also given access to a persona compendium where you can buy back personas you've fused, so experimentation with personas is encouraged. Personas carry their own levels, blocking some of their skills from being available due to level caps, but that's where the game's system of S. Links comes in.

P3 does not forget that you are cast in the role of a high school student and the social aspect of which is simulated in its Social Links system. Akin to a dating simulator, the Social Links or S. Links allow you to hang out with your fellow classmates and other dubious characters in amusing cutscene sequences. How you react to their problems is key to how you grow in these relationships and as the S. Links level up, so does the arcana or class of persona they represent, which will give your corresponding personas an experience boost when you fuse them in the Velvet Room. Seeing your friends to the end is encouraged as not only will personas of their same arcana know all of their abilities right off the bat, you'll also have access to fuse a special high level persona that you wouldn't be able to otherwise. When you don't feel like hanging out, you can always study, sing karaoke, or watch a movie all designed to increase your personal attributes which will allow you access to more S. Links. Everything you do outside of Tartarus has an effect inside of Tartarus, so there is plenty of incentive to keep yourself occupied.

While the bulk of the content in The Journey is the same as the original release including the superb-to-adequate voice acting and strangely infectious soundtrack, this FES edition contains a new S. Link in the form of a particular character from the original, makes certain other S. Links easier to complete, adds a number of new personas, and other things like new cutscenes and costumes. Additionally, you can carry over your save data from the original game and import your personal statistics/persona compendium for a new round in FES, which is a wonderful bonus for those of you who spent hours mastering the fusion system and collecting your favorite personas.

Look after him - he's your baby.

The biggest amount of new content in FES is the new episode dubbed "The Answer." Taking place directly after the ending of The Journey, The Answer tries to address questions left open by the original's ending. However, much of the story falls flat and doesn't quite create the same impact as the original. The Answer retains the random dungeon gameplay, which still works well, and is set at a difficulty more intense than the original, and at some parts is a real challenge. It can be made even more of a challenge due to the lack of a persona compendium in this chapter, which makes fusion less enjoyable because you have to be conservative with what you give up. However, the continuation of where the story left off from the original is the real draw of The Answer, and fans die-hard enough to want to know what happens are the only ones who would get anything out of it anyway.

Despite some setbacks in its new content, FES is still a worthwhile experience for those who have already played Persona 3 to death. Its $30 price point is chump change to experience a 80+ hour main game with a dearth of new content and a flawed but playable 30+ hour extra chapter. Persona 3 is easily one of the best RPGs to come out of Japan in years and FES is without a doubt its definitive form.

GTA IV Smashes World Records, Nearly Doubles Halo 3 Sales

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:57:25 -0500

Just in time to render the new Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition outdated, the Guinness people have announced that Grand Theft Auto IV has practically destroyed currently held records for fastest-selling game and most-profitable entertainment product.

In the first 24 hours, GTA IV sold 3.6 million copies and earned $310 million dollars.

Prior to GTA IV's record-setting releases, the record-holder for the most-selling game was Halo 3 with $170 million in 24 hours. Compare that to the record-holding movie and book with Spider-Man 3 making $60 million and the latest Harry Potter book making $220 million in 24 hours.

Consider how ubiquitous Halo 3's advertising was compared the the relatively tame promotion for GTA IV. Halo 3 had its own soda and viral videos and ARGs and commercial coverage on practically every network. Then there's GTA IV, with just a few simple commercials and lots of talking heads on the news hallooing about dead hookers and it nearly doubles Halo 3's first-day earnings.

GB Review: Plushees (DS)

Eric Jonathan Smith — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:23:16 -0500

Plushees: cute but deadly... fun?

A simple glance at the cute-yet-frightening boxart of Plushees for the Nintendo DS and you might be tempted to group it with the multitude of low quality kids' games that have suffocated Nintendo handhelds for years. However, despite its appearance as a stuffed animal themed minigame collection, it manages to overturn poor expectations with simple and light goal-oriented gameplay. Plushees, despite its inadvertently unsettling exterior, is actually a solid choice for the right age group and may very well captivate budding gamers of the eight-and-below set.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

Plushees' premise is simple: through the power of imagination or dark magic, stuffed animals have come alive and are naturally in need of love and companionship that only you can provide. To do this you must purchase plushees carnival-style with tickets earned from the game's two main modes, Arcade and Plushee Play. It will take a lot of play, as the 25 plushees you can purchase in the Plushee Store cost anywhere between 200 and 1000 tickets and run the gamut from monkeys to dragons.

Arcade mode consists of four games, Alley Ball, Ka-Plinko, Pop-A-Loon, and Whack'a Troll. These easy-to-understand pick up and play games are generally accessible to anyone and will be effortlessly consumed by the younger crowd due to their uncomplicated stylus control. Kids should have no trouble flicking the ball for points in Alley Ball, placing the disc to drop through the pins in Ka-Plinko, or tapping the screen with the stylus to pop balloons in Pop-a-Loon or fend off Shrek look-alikes in Whack'a Troll. Though none of these games complex, you will earn a couple dozen tickets or so in each session so even in short bursts you get a sense of progress and accomplishment towards buying new plushees.

Once you earn the plushee of your dreams you can use it in the game's other major mode, Plushee Play. Plushee Play includes four games: Simon Says, Jump Rope, Hide-n-Seek, and Butterfly Catch. Simon Says is like the memorization game of its namesake, only in this iteration you select which plushee acted out the correct command that either you or the computer selected. In Jump Rope you can make your plushee hop in time in two ways, either by tapping it in time or by drawing prompted patterns on the touchscreen, the latter of which is more frantic and fun. Hide-n-Seek might be more accurately likened to a game of tag and features your plushee as it runs around trying to hug other plushees by choosing the correct icon of the other plushee on the touch screen. Butterfly Catch is somewhat broken, as it is very difficult to perceive the depth of the butterflies your plushee is chasing around the screen; luckily, the game is lenient and you don't have to be too close to catch them. You earn points instead of tickets in this mode, but earned points can be converted into tickets, so these games still have incentive to be played. While the games in Plushee Play are a bit deeper than the arcade games, the arcade games still have a simple, general appeal that these lack.

Plushees' presentation is adequately cute. The stuffed animal cast isn't overly sweet, but certainly sport a classic soft, rotund look. When the game uses 3D environments, such as the one used in Hide-n-Seek, it's very simplistic but adequate. Special mention must be made of the techno track in the music selections: this trance-like tune is catchy but seems hilariously out of place given the game's context. The game also features a multiplayer option should you find another player with a Plushees game card.

Of course, given that Plushees is about earning stuffed animals and playing games with them, it certainly won't be appropriate for an older child who has already been introduced to a franchise like Pokemon. While some of the games are generally fun and somewhat addictive, such as Alley Ball or Ka-Plinko, the subject matter of the other modes might only be appropriate for children age eight or younger. But, given the straightforward goal-based nature of the game, Plushees still manages to stand out in a kids' market overcrowded with licensed games of questionable quality - and at only $20, Plushees is even easier to recommend to parents confused by the overwhelming mediocre choices available to young gamers.

Grand Theft Auto 4 Passes $500 Million

Tim Grube — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:25:21 -0500

Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games announced early this morning that Grand Theft Auto 4 has sold 6 million units of its criminal action game in its first week, with estimated retail sales exceeding $500 million.

Rockstar Games put $100 million dollars into the development process and quickly made all that money back and then some. Quite crazy how much game development is nowadays. It's pretty much the same amount of money to develop a hollywood movie.

The game is still selling at a whopping $60 a pop.

50 Cent: Blood On The Sand Trailer Shows Up

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:04:38 -0500

Never one to support the rumor that rap stars are at all diluted as to their own self importance, 50 Cent is back for more gun-slinging and to engage in the cappin' of various mofo's. Folks, may I introduce: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

This time, for some reason, he's shooting up terrist types in the Middle East. Valuable combat strategies that can be gleaned from a quick viewing of this trailer include: always abandon cover and run toward the bullets, drop your weapon if you have an opportunity to engage in flashy hand-to-hand combat, and never worry about your own wake of destruction -- it'll only hurt everybody but you.

50 Cent: BOTS is looking at a Fall 2008 release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.