According to 1UP, the highly anticipated shooter, Ikaruga, in addition to downloadable Poker Smash content, is finally making its way to Xbox Live Arcade this week.

Ikaruga will be available this Wednesday for 800 Microsoft Points whereas the Poker Smash DLC Packs will cost 100 Points each respectively.

Joystiq has reported that Poker Smash will be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade this week. The game will be available on February 6 at 9 am (GMT) for 800 Microsoft Points.

In addition, a free update will arrive on Xbox Live for the classic title, Crystal Quest that features a score multiplier that allows you to accumulate higher scores in the game.

World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer - All In is the third iteration of the World Championship Poker series. The game features plenty of card sharks to battle it out with along with some nice features and improvements, but in the end it’s still just another poker game on the market.

First and foremost, the game does feature a nice career mode that allows you to create your own player from a wide variety of unusual creation options. My personal favorite is the bag on my head. After that is over, you’ll battle through game after game of poker and work your way from a lowly apartment to a lavish one. While you do that, you’ll move up the pro circuit and finally end up on televised matches in Vegas casinos. The career mode goes much further than just playing cards as you will earn respect amongst your competition and attributes like an ability to read bluffs. Overall the career mode is pretty deep and is solid for a card title.

To go along with that, there is a nice variety of poker games featured in WCP, 18 in all including Texas hold’em, Omaha, Pineapple, five card draw, seven card draw and more. Even better than that, the game allows you to fluctuate between various game types in a poker match. If you haven’t played the various games of poker before, the game does give you some nice tips and a solid tutorial mode too. Another nice feature in the game is the inclusion of some of the world’s best poker players like Lederer, Annie Duke, Greg Raymer, Erin Ness, Marcel Luske and Paul Darden.

Aside from that, there is online play too. You’ll be able to play with up to seven online players or hook up with ones via the PSP although you may find it hard to find someone playing online. Nevertheless, there is a nice feature included here as your player will be able to take their accumulated bankroll into the online universe. There is also the ability to actually watch your competition with the EyeToy.

Finally, one nice feature in WCP is the ability to play a quicker game with turbo mode. The game really speeds up and allows you to play a lot faster and not waste nearly as much time waiting for your competition to make a move.

The real problem with All In comes from its AI. The computer in the game is dumb as a door and will hold poor or even miserable hands and continue to bet high. I found myself often betting every maximum raise and the computer follows me every step of the way when it has no hand at all. Just when I started playing the game, I quickly took a large majority of the computer’s money. Not to say it isn’t satisfying still, but it isn’t very realistic.

On top of that, the graphics in WCP are still pretty poor by today’s standards. There is a nice diversity of environments to play in including my personal favorite a dark room with glow in the dark chips. Meanwhile, the characters you play with and face are decent, but the animations and movements are terrible. They are way too jerky and hardly reactive enough. The one thing I did like in this regard though is the caricature style menus, for me it worked in the game.

Even worse of a problem than the graphics, is the audio in the game or should I say lack thereof. The music when present is bad and the voiceover in the matches seems unnecessary. I usually believe the commentary should do with the hands on the table, not to announce checks and folds. To go along with that, the voice acting is pretty bad too as it is very repetitive.

Finally and most important of all, this game is still just poker. You can easily find much cheaper games of poker on the internet and actually play with real people.

World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer - All In gets the job done if you’re a poker fan. It does feature a nice variety of games, a solid career mode and online play, but struggles in the graphics, audio and artificial intelligence which take the title down. Unless you’re a diehard poker fan, All In just doesn’t have enough to make you go out and buy it.

AI is pretty poor in the game, but there is a good tutorial mode and playing cards is well done

The characters and environments are solid and diverse, but animations and movements are poor.

The music is terrible and the voiceover work seems unnecessary. Voice acting is mediocre.

All In is one of the better poker games on the market and does what it intends to.

There is a deep career mode and a wide variety of poker on top of the online option.

]]> Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:49:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/world_poker_tour_ships_to_stores http://www.gamebump.com/go/world_poker_tour_ships_to_stores http://www.gamebump.com/go/world_poker_tour_ships_to_stores#

"Poker has become a cultural phenomenon as shown by the increasing popularity of the World Poker Tour television series," said Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts, a 2K Sports studio. "The World Poker Tour brand is an integral part of our game as it brings unmatched credibility and familiarity to millions of poker fans. With the integration of World Poker Tour pros, commentators and presentation elements, the World Poker Tour video game delivers the most authentic poker experience found on any gaming platform."

The World Poker Tour video game is rated "E" for Everyone and has a retail price of $19.99. The game is available for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance.

The game has signed on players including Howard Lederer, who's won 13 major poker titles. Greg Raymer who was the 2004 World Series of Poker Champion. Clonie Gowen, a rising female player who placed 10th in the World Poker Tour in Costa Rica. Amir Vahidi who was ranked first in 2003 as tournament player of the year. Paul Darden who won World Poker Tour title and the World Series of Poker Bracelet. Robert Williamson III who won a World Series of Poker bracelet. Matt Savage who is tournament director of the Bay 101 Casino for World Series of Poker and finally Annie Duke who is perhaps the best female poker player in the world and the top female World Series of Poker money winner in history.

Crave president and COO Rob Dyer said, "The World Championship Poker franchise has been phenomenally successful for Crave. We've locked up some of the world's top poker players, so they'll only be featured in World Championship Poker 2."

The game will include a detailed one player game which allows you to work your way up the ranks starting from your mom's basement and as you win, you move from their and purchase new homes and furnishings. On the other hand, if you lose you'll have to start giving up your stuff. World Championship Poker will include 14 styles of poker including Texas Hold 'Em, Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud among others.

The PlayStation 2 version of World Championship Poker 2 will also support the EyeToy which will be used for online play to see your opponents. The Xbox version will also support online play with voice chat and scoreboards. The game is scheduled to release Fall 2005 for $19.99.