October 2008 games guaranteed to make your wallet cry
Well my fellow gamers, October 2008 has finally come. This month will feature must-have titles that are highly anticipated to say the least. Use this list as a guideline for this pre-holiday season so you’ll know what to look for while you fight through zombie-like hordes in the mall. There are more than 200 titles coming out in this month including cross-platform releases but I’ll focus on the cream o’ the crop.
Click through for a big ol’ list of the best games coming out October 2008 for every major platform…
Nintendo announces a ton of Wii games for 2008, 2009
Nintendo is having a huge day thanks to its press conference in Japan today (October 2, 2008). Fans have been wondering what Nintendo has up its collective sleeve for this holiday season as well as 2009. Well Nintendo has delivered in spades with about forty new titles for the Wii alone to add to its extensive library. Some stand outs include a new Punch Out! title and Sin and Punishment 2.
Click through for the complete list games announced for the Wii at Nintendo’s press conference…
Lego Cross Town Craze ready to race
If you can’t afford Lego Batman, then there’s another, free, option for you. Blockdot has just teamed up with Lego to create Cross Town Craze, a free-to-play browser game that lets you race Lego cars. It may not have the same sparkle and polish as Lego Batman, but its a fun way to spend a few spare minutes.
Cross Town Craze is also simple to play, with a surprising variety of cars to choose from. (In fact, if you have codes from Lego products, you can unlock extra cars.) You pick a car, then race three races. If you win, you’re declared a master racer and the winner! Its pretty easy to win, but still fun…
Gamertell Review: Shaun the Sheep for DS
Title: Shaun the Sheep
Price: $29.99
System(s): Nintendo DS
Release Date: September 23, 2008
Publisher (Developer): D3 Publisher (Art)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief
Pros: Good game for kids. Mini-games are moderately challenging. A few nice extras. Decent graphics.
Cons: Mini-game graphics can be subpar at times. The story mode is a bit short.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 80/100; B-; *** out of 5.
Shaun the Sheep is a children’s game based on the stop-motion animated series by Aardman Animations, the same people who brought us Wallace and Gromit. (Shaun first appeared in the Wallace and Gromit movie A Close Shave). The original series follows Shaun, a smart little sheep, engaging in short, seven minute, silent comedic episodes on a farm.
The game stays true to the original formula and, as such, perfectly reaches its…
Video games may help fight obesity
Just when you thought the world was turning an evil eye towards video games, accusing it of converting children into violent thugs, rotting their brains and making them fat. Consoles like the Nintendo Wii have opened up a new way for the medical field to use the games to their advantage. With games being integrated into physical therapies that can not only improve a person’s hand-eye-coordination it may just help shed some pounds in childhood obesity.
According to an article published by the UK Press Association video games that engage children in any form of physical activity “may be an effective answer to childhood obesity...”
Gamertell Review: LeapFrog’s Leapster2 handheld game system for kids
Product: Leapster2
Price: $69.99 (games MSRP $19.99 each)
Rating: One thumb up, on thumb sideways; 85/100; B; * * * 1/2
Pros: Rugged construction, easy to use, PC (Windows and Mac) connectivity and backwards compatibility.
Cons: Some lag and touchscreen issues during motion graphics, stylus cord a bit short and system a bit fat.
Overall: A great buy for parents who want to make sure their kids are playing educational games on a system that will stand up to the occasional (even if accidental) beating.
One way to help satiate your kid’s electronics curiosities is to give them their own, kid-friendly handheld game system. A Nintendo DS is a nice choice but, face it, it’s a little too expensive and not sturdy enough to just give a 3-year-old to play with (well, maybe it’s OK for some kids). And those little brightly colored toys with buttons that make noises are too simplistic.
That’s where the Leapster2 game system comes in…
Three incredibly girly games headed to, you guessed it, the DS
O-Games (as in “Oh no!") is going to be bringing three potentially patronizing games for girls to the Nintendo DS. It has announced that it will be releasing My Make-Up, My Dress-Up and My Secret Diary simultaneously on October 21, 2008. I don’t know if the game wall at GameStop can handle this.
The press release says the following about the three games:
“Make Over and Pamper Yourself and Friends with My Make-Up! Trade Beauty Secrets and Find Your Fashion Niche with My Dress-Up! Keep Track of Top Secret Gossip and Quiz Friends with My Secret Diary!”
It sounds like it’s talking about fashion magazines - not video games. The abuse of capital letters makes me feel like I’m standing in a grocery aisle, looking at Cosmopolitan, Glamour or Life & Style. Maybe even the Enquirer. Definitely not appealing. If anything, its embarrassing. These titles make the Imagine line of games sound intelligent…
Gamertell Review: Imagine Teacher for DS
Title: Imagine Teacher
Price: $29.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Ubisoft (Magic Pockets)
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Pros: Interesting concept, nice blend of educational gaming and simulation, multiplayer option
Cons: Incredibly easy, auto save only, short main adventure, no real replay value.
Overall Score: Two thumbs sideways, 70/100, C-, ** out of 5
Occasionally, Ubisoft’s Imagine line of games for girls will result in a game that isn’t half bad. Imagine Chef and Imagine Figure Skater are two of these titles and Imagine Teacher easily joins their ranks. It’s a decent game and, if more effort had been put in, it could have become a solid title that helped redeem the Imagine line of games.
Instead, Ubisoft and Magic Pocket copped-out with Imagine Teacher. It created an admirable classroom simulation, with an inventive presentation, then decided to slack off when it came to the storyline and replay value. Instead of being a game to buy, Imagine Teacher is an adequate game to rent…
Game Critics Awards announces its Best of E3 2008 winners
The Game Critics Awards list of the best games of 2008 has just been announced and the winners for the Best of E3 2008 include Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, Spore, Gears of War 2 and Madden NFL 09.
Click through for the complete list of winners…
Dr. Who gets kid-friendly spinoff series starring K9
In browsing the web, I stumbled upon a mention of the latest Dr. Who spinoff on the Who’s Who section of Hartbreak Films web site. Hartbreak is the production company created and run by Paula Hart and her daughter, Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clarissa Explains it All fame.
From the site:
Hartbreak is also involved in the development of a live action kids series K9 featuring based on the character from Dr. Who written by Bob Baker (Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit).
According to the site Adventures in Time and Space, K-9 should already be…
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