Gamertell

This week, Nintendo and Incredible Technologies are proud to present you with Target Toss Pro: Bags, what I believe may just be the world’s very first “professional” bean bag tossing game. I don’t know if it’ll hold up to that bean bag minigame in Donkey Kong Country 3, but hey, it’s based on “the nation’s hottest backyard and tailgate sensation”.

Moving on to games you all probably care about, we have the latest from Strong Bad‘s adventure series - Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3, the Super NES version of Space Invaders and Genesis shooter FORGOTTEN WORLDS. As usual, the titles are available on the Wii Shop channel, with a fresh batch arriving every Monday at 9 AM Pacific time. Wii points can be purchased at a rate of $1 for 100 points.

MORE »

Patapon 2: Donchaka drops in Japan on November 27, 2008, Thanksgiving! What perfect timing - give PSP owners something to be thankful for. So it is no surprise that a demo of the game has appeared on the Japanese PlayStation store, ready to be downloaded with anyone who has a Japanese PlayStation store account.

I downloaded Patapon 2: Donchaka last night, using my Japanese PlayStation account and my faithful PSP. Its a fairly substantial download, coming in at 87mb, but it only took between 10~15 minutes to download and install the demo on my system.

The demo begins with a bit of exposition, showing the Patapons and Zigoton building a ship and crossing the ocean in search of “IT”...

MORE »

When gamers think of electronics and video game shopping in Japan, most people name Tokyo’s Akihabara as its epitome. However, not many may know that Osaka, Japan, has an Akihabara equivalent named Den-Den Town.

Much like Akihabara, Den-Den Town is chock full of otaku goodness. Just a few years ago, one could actually count the number of video game and figure specialty shops on one hand but now it seems to have experienced a growth explosion.

Den-Den Town (Nipponbashi) is short for Denki no Machi (which means Electric Town in Japanese) and as a place that was once famous for its variety of…

MORE »

Title: The Ultimate Matrix Collection
Price: $129.95
System(s): Blu-ray (and DVD)
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Publisher: Warner Home Video, Inc
Rating: “Restricted” for sci-fi violence, language and sexuality; “PG-13” for sci-fi violence and language.
Pros: High-def goodness, lots of extra content and amazing transfer. Includes iPod/Windows Media version of The Matrix.
Cons: It’s so clear some character in CG fights scenes look extra rubbery. The price. Dupe of the 2003 collection.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 90/100; A-; * * * * out of five.

The Ultimate Matrix Collection will quite simply amplify your feelings about The Matrix movies.

If you love them, you’ll enjoy them even more and happily gorge yourself on the multitude of extra content. If you hated them, you’ll now be able to pinpoint the tiniest flaws and laugh at them in glorious high-def…

MORE »

Well, it’s happened. Important Importables has reached a hallmark - 50 columns. After running for almost a year, I decided a bit of a celebration was in order. So I asked Gamertell’s editor what would be a good way to celebrate the occasion. His answer was simple - compile a list of 50 reasons why gamers love Japan.

I’ve been poring over everything I know about Japanese culture. The result is a massive list of 50 things gamers love about Japan. I’m certian you’ll find a few things on here you love. If you think I’ve missed something, be sure to hit the “comments” link below and let us know.

Without further ado, 50 reasons gamers love Japan…

MORE »

Yesterday, Gamertell started our look back at the 10 cutest games Nintendo has helped develop and produce. Today we’re going to continue that list starting with number five and ending with what, in our opinion, is the cutest Nintendo title.

We last left off at #6 - Pikmin 2 for the GameCube. Today, we’ll pick up with #5 - Yoshi’s Story. So join us for our look back and see if one of your favorite games made our list…

MORE »

Every so often a video game comes alone that changes the way its genre is seen forever. We often the words “innovative,“ “immersive” and “groundbreaking” to describe the games’ merits, putting them clearly above all others. However, there’s only a small number of titles that can be seen as redefining the genre.

We know these games when we see them because it’s usually imitated over and over again. A game that redefines a genre doesn’t have to be an entirely brand new idea because, truth be told, very few ideas are 100% original. Instead, a genre-defining title is one that grabs the attention of people who never would play that type of game otherwise…

MORE »

We often hear “Don’t judge a book by its cover,“ and it is a nice philosophy to have, but often times, we can’t do it - even if we know its right. Human beings can be incredibly superficial creatures, and this superficiality gives items and people with beautiful appearances an edge. After all, are you going to buy a game that doesn’t look good? Probably not.

Nintendo’s smart - the company didn’t get to be one of the top three video game players by ignoring its potential consumers. The result of this is the company developing and producing incredibly adorable games. Now, the adorability isn’t the main selling point, but some titles just end up being cuter than others.

So Gamertell has decided to look back over Nintendo’s extensive video game release history to pick out the 10 sweetest titles Nintendo’s ever had a hand in. I’d recommend not eating candy while reading - you don’t want to go into diabetic shock or something…

MORE »

I just read a lovely piece over at Destructoid about the absolute awesomeness of the original Banjo-Kazooie, and I just had to put my virtual 2 cents in. Writer Chad Concelmo described his trepidation over the new Xbox 360 BK, citing the perfection (yes, he goes there) of the original game, and lists the reasons why Banjo was a better overall game than Super Mario 64.

MORE »

Product: Peak’s Starpex wireless guitar controller
Systems: PS2, PS3
Price: $189.99
Rating: Two thumbs up; 98/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.
Pros: Feels great, works perfectly and looks amazing. Easy to connect and great action on the buttons.
Cons: A little pricey and could use a better neck strap.
Overall: The perfect gift for a Guitar Hero or Rock Band fanatic. If you want to feel even more like a real virtual video game rock star, this is the guitar controller to own.

Screw those mamby pamby plastic guitar controllers with wood grain stickers. Those are for wimps and wussies.

Peak has released the first full size, wood body guitar game controller. It’s essentially a real electric guitar (ever touch one of those?) with the electric components swapped for plastic controller parts.

It looks great, feels great and plays great, making it one truly ass-kicking game controller…

MORE »

Check out the gallery: Peak's Starpex PS2/PS3 Guitar Controller