If you haven’t picked up a DSi yet, now is your chance for a great deal.

Starting this Friday, November 27, 2009 (presumably lasting through the holidays), you can purchase a Metallic Blue or White Nintendo DSi systems that come pre-installed with more than $20 in software value at various retailers.

If you are looking for fun action games with Mario and friends, then Metallic Blue is your bundle. However, if you are looking for challenges and brain builders, then go with the White bundle.

All the games (based on the bundle) are installed directly into the system so there is no need to switch out game cartridges. You also have full access to tons of other games and apps on the Nintendo DSi Shop. Owners with wireless broadband Internet access can exchange Nintendo DSi Points for the various titles and wirelessly download them directly to their Nintendo DSi systems.

You can buy these Nintendo Point Cards online or from various retail locations including Game Stop and Best Buy.

Prices vary based on store and holiday deals and supplies are limited so don’t hesitate. Head to your nearest retail store to pick up these awesome bundles.

Here is a detailed breakdown of what comes with each bundle:

Metallic Blue:

• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again: Save Pauline from the huge ape with help from Mario and the mini Mario’s.
• Dr. Mario Express: Put on your lab coat and wipe out all the viruses in this classic Mario puzzle game.
• WarioWare: Snapped!: Use the built in camera to snap a pic of yourself, and you’re put right into the action of these intense mini games.
• Mario Calculator: Pretty self explanatory.
• Mario Clock: Choose from analog or digital, and set the clock yourself or let is use the internal clock in your DSi

White:

• Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters: Test your reading and spelling skills, and play a little piano.
• Brain Age Express: Sudoku: Play everyone’s favorite puzzle game with your touch screen.
• Brain Age Express: Math: Test and improve your math skills with fun games.
• Clubhouse Games Express: Card Classics: Play Blackjack and Five Card Draw, among others, and test your card skills and abilities.
• Photo Clock: Look at all your photos while keeping track of the time.

Site [Nintendo DS] Read [Go Nintendo]

Full Story » | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The goal in Atlus’ latest PSP release, Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, is to prove you are the ultimate high school bancho badass by beating up all of the other high schools’ banchos before the seven day school trip ends. But, you have to find the banchos before you can beat them up. This can be accomplished by beating up their underlings on the streets to collect school itineraries. Once you have an itinerary, you know exactly where you have to be to take the bosses down.

The thing is, itineraries can be quite difficult to find. You never know where you’ll find the right minions, and there’s a very real possibility that you’ll find the itinerary you need after the boss is no longer available in Kyouto.

That’s where Gamertell’s ultimate Kenka Bancho itinerary comes in. I’ve gone through and collected all the itineraries so you don’t have to. You’ll still have to actually be at the right place at the right time, but at least you don’t have to beat up meaningless minions first.

Day 1

Afternoon

• Aomori - City Hall
• Iwate - Yasaka
• Yamagata - Shinkyogoku

Day 2

Morning

• Aomori - Gion
• Chiba - Yasaka
• Ehime - Station
• Iwate - Arashiyama
• Kanagawa - Nijo Area
• Wakayama - Gyoen
• Yamagata - Kinkakuji Area

Afternoon

• Aomori - City Hall
• Chiba - Station
• Ehime - Shinkyogoku
• Iwate - Gyoen
• Kanagawa - Yasaka
• Wakayama - 2.5 Year Hill
• Yamagata - Kinkakuji

Day 3

Morning

• Akita - Kiyomizu
• Chiba - Jiki-Shian
• Ehime - Station
• Fukushima - Yasaka
• Hiroshima - City Hall
• Kanagawa - Tenmangu
• Kouchi - Kinkakuji Area
• Okayama - Gion
• Osaka - Nijo Castle
• Tokushima - Arashiyama
• Wakayama - Togetsubashi
• Yamaguchi - Gyoen

Afternoon

• Akita - Station
• Chiba - Togetsubashi
• Ehime - Gion
• Fukushima - Yasaka
• Hiroshima - Gyoen
• Kanagawa - Kamishichiken
• Kouchi - Kinkakuji
• Okayama - Nijo Castle
• Osaka - Arashiyama
• Tokushima - Kinkakuji Area
• Wakayama - Jiki-Shian
• Yamaguchi - Gosho

Day 4

Morning

• Aichi - Station
• Akita - Nijo Castle
• Fukushima - 2.5 Year Hill
• Ishikawa - Nijo Area
• Kagoshima - Kinkakuji Area
• Kouchi - Jiki-Shian
• Nagano - Gosho
• Okinawa - City Hall
• Osaka - Kamishichiken
• Shiga - Kinkakuji
• Shizuoka - Shinkyogoku
• Tokushima - Kiyomizu
• Tokyo - Togetsubashi
• Yamaguchi - Gion

Afternoon

• Aichi - Station
• Akita - Nijo Area
• Fukushima - Kiyomizu
• Ishikawa - Gyoen
• Kagoshima - Kamishichiken
• Kouchi - Jiki-Shian
• Nagano - Gosho
• Okinawa - Gion
• Osaka - Kinkakuji Area
• Shiga - Tenmangu
• Shizuoka - City Hall
• Tokushima - Kiyomizudera
• Tokyo - Arashiyama
• Yamaguchi - Yasaka

Day 5

Morning

• Aichi - Shinkyogoku
• Fukuoka - Kiyomizudera
• Gunma - Yasaka
• Ibaraki - Gion
• Ishikawa - Kinkakuji Area
• Kagoshima - Jiki-Shian
• Kumamoto - Station
• Nagasaki - City Hall
• Okinawa - Arashiyama
• Ooita - 2.5 Year Hill
• Saitama - Nijo Area
• Shizuoka - Tenmangu
• Tochigi - Gyoen
• Tokyo - Kiyomizu

Afternoon

• Aishi - City Hall
• Fukuoka - Station
• Gunma - Tenmangu
• Ibaraki - Gyoen
• Ishikawa - Gosho
• Kagoshima - Jiki-Shian
• Kumamoto - Gion
• Nagasaki - Shinkyogoku
• Ooita - Kinkakuji Area
• Saitama - Togetsubashi
• Shizuoka - Kamishichiken
• Tochigi - Arashiyama
• Tokyo - Kiyomizudera

Day 6

Morning

• Fukuoka - Yasaka
• Gifu - Tenmangu
• Gunma - City Hall
• Ibaraki - Gyoen
• Kumamoto - Kinkakuji
• Miyagi - Togetsubashi
• Nagasaki - Kamishichiken
• Niigata - 2.5 Year Hill
• Ooita - Shinkyogoku
• Saga - Kiyomizu
• Shimane - Arashiyama
• Tottori - Station
• Yamanashi - Gion

Afternoon

• Fukuoka - Gion
• Gifu - Kinkakuji Area
• Gunma - Station
• Ibaraki - Gosho
• Kumamoto - Kinkakuji
• Miyagi - Jiki-Shian
• Nagasaki - Temangu
• Nara - Kamishichiken
• Niigata - Kiyomizu
• Ooita - City Hall
• Saga - Kiyomizudera
• Shimane - Nijo Castle
• Tottori - Nijo Area
• Yamanashi - Shinkyogoku

Day 7

Morning

• Fukui - Kinkakuji
• Gifu - Gyoen
• Hokkaido - Kinkakuji Area
• Hyogo - Nijo Area
• Kagawa - Togetsubashi
• Kyoto - Arashiyama
• Mie - City Hall
• Miyagi - Yasaka
• Miyazaki - Gosho
• Nara - Jiki-Shian
• Niigata - Tenmangu
• Saga - Gion
• Tottori - Kiyomizu
• Toyama - Nijo Castle
• Yamanashi - Kamishichiken

Afternoon

• Fukui - Station
• Gifu - Nijo Castle
• Hokkaido - Kinkakuji Area
• Hyogo - Kamishichiken
• Kagawa - Togetsubashi
• Kyoto - Arashiyama
• Mie - Gion
• Miyagi - Shinkyogoku
• Miyazaki - Gyoen
• Nara - Jiki-Shian
• Niigata - Kinkakuji
• Saga - Yasaka
• Tottori - Kiyomizudera
• Toyama - Nijo Area
• Yamanashi - Tenmangu

A special thanks to Atlus, for their help in providing the Osaka, Miyazaki, Kouchi, Yamaguchi and Okayama itinerary information.

Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The January 2010 issue of Japanese gaming magazine B’s Log is sure to bring big smiles to fans of Konami’s popular dating simulation game Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side (TMGS).

Gracing the cover of this month’s current issue was one of the new characters coupled with the official title of the new addition scheduled for a tentative 2010 release on the Nintendo DS.

Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 3rd Story takes place seven years after the events of the first TMGS game at Habataki Gakuen. This new chapter in the series promises new locations, gameplay, delectable date-ables (of course) and even a new main character sporting a new hairstyle and school uniform. The main character will still have a sidekick who serves as a barometer for your crushes’ affection as well as important statistics, but no additional details have been released yet.

So far, only 3 character have been introduced: Ruka Sakurai, Arashi Fujiyama, and Tamao Konno.

Here are some stats and a short description for each of these fine young men:

Ruka Sakurai

• Birthdate: July 7
• Astrological Sign: Cancer
• Blood Type: O
• Height: 178cm
• Weight: 64kg

A first year high school student at Habataki Gakuen, he has a friendly atmosphere which has won him popularity among the girls of the school. However, sometimes, he’s also capable of having a sharp tongue. He often seems aloof and sometimes wears an expression of loneliness.

Arashi Fujiyama

• Birthdate: September 8
• Astrological Sign: Virgo
• Blood Type: AB
• Height: 177cm
• Weight: 70kg

Arashi is a first year student at Habataki Gakuen and described as an honest and good young Japanese who whenever he has free time, can be found practicing Judo. When you speak with him, you can’t help but feel fresh and lively.

Tamao Konno

• Birthdate: January 19
• Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
• Blood Type: O
• Height: 181cm
• Weight: 65kg

Tamao is the younger brother of Tamami Konno (one of the main character’s rivals/friends from the first TMGS), and is the bookworm of the bunch. Unlike the main character, he’s a second year high school student and is also the student council president. He’s described as a reliable person who’s peaceful smile rarely ever fades.

Site [Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side] Read [Gamertell] And [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Janine Dong for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Before Sony first threw down against Microsoft, before Nintendo first battled Sega, there was Mattel Electronics vs. Atari.

I was firmly entrenched in Intellivision’s corner and, when INTV Corp. went down swinging in 1991, I went down with them.

Content to play games on my Mac, I didn’t get seriously involved in console gaming again until the release of the Wii, which seemed as fresh and exciting upon its release as the Intellivision did in the late ‘70s.

But a group of Intellivision game developers (known as the Blue Sky Rangers) has kept the heart of the system beating. Its members still make appearances at gaming conventions, in documentaries, and even at health conventions, and they’re actively working with the games that helped to launch an industry longer than 30 years ago.

I recently spoke with Keith Robinson at Intellivision Lives about this group of developers and the state of the gaming industry, then and now.

Gamertell: Intellivision was the first to create (or at least popularize) many genres that are staples today: the city building sim with Utopia, the first-person shooter with Treasures of Tarmin, the drafting system in sports games in Slam Dunk: Super Pro Basketball. Any of these could’ve become franchises if Mattel Electronics had weathered the storm. Was there ever talk of moving these games to other systems as Nintendo and Sega started their rise at the end of the ‘80s?

Keith Robinson: In July 1983 as all the video game companies started posting losses, Mattel Electronics revamped its management team and focus. From then on, games would be “all flavors,” that is, for all platforms. If you look at our commercial for BurgerTime on YouTube, for example, you’ll see at the end it is advertised as available for Intellivision, Atari 2600, Apple II, IBM PC and Aquarius (the Mattel Electronics computer). We had games in development for all of these platforms (plus ColecoVision and were looking at Commodore 64) at the end of 1983. So had Mattel Electronics continued, I’m sure we would have developed for Nintendo and Sega as those consoles came out.

Mattel Electronics was closed in January 1984 and its assets sold in February. The company that rose from its ashes, INTV Corp., initially focused exclusively on supporting the 3 million Intellivision owners out there. As the Nintendo came out and grew in popularity, Intellivision sales shrank and it became obvious that for INTV to survive, it would have to start developing for the Nintendo. In 1988, INTV developed Monster Truck Rally for both Intellivision and Nintendo. This was planned to be the future model for INTV—develop games for both platforms—but it was too late. INTV didn’t have the money to distribute Monster Truck Rally, so they sold the Nintendo version to another distributor, who made INTV change the name of the Intellivision version to Stadium Mud Buggies, otherwise it’s the same game.

Stadium Mud Buggies came out for Christmas 1989. INTV filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 and closed its doors in 1991.

Gamertell: And that was a shame. I remember getting the catalogs in the mail, and seeing all these great new games in the works, and then they suddenly quit coming. What do you think would have been more fun, Grand Theft Auto on the Intellivision or Night Stalkers on the PlayStation 3?

Robinson: As funny as Grand Theft Auto on Intellivision is, I’d have to opt for Night Stalker on PS3. We did have an advantage in designing for Intellivision in that the graphics and sound were so limited, you had to spend your time on gameplay—making the game fun. So much of the time and budget today goes into creating an immersive cinematic experience, the gameplay itself is sometimes given short shrift. But if you had game designers given free reign like we were to create something fun with the technology available today—simple, addictive games but with limitless space and graphics potential—that’d be awesome.

Gamertell: I imagine it was easier to get free reign back then when there was a smaller up-front investment and there were maybe only one or two people on a project, as opposed to teams of dozens for today’s games. Even with the licensed games, you developed TRON Solar Sailer on your own. Was that all you, or was Disney looking over you shoulder all the while?

Robinson: Disney never looked at any of the TRON games before they were released, and possibly after. I was responsible for the entire Solar Sailer game and the graphics. A number of others helped out, threw in ideas, worked on optimizing the code, etc., but ultimately I was responsible and no one from Disney or Mattel was looking over my shoulder. Some of the licensors did take more of an interest; the Dungeon & Dragons people did review the games before putting the D&D trademark on them and Mattel Toys, our sister company, was very persnickety about the Masters of the Universe game, particularly the colors used in the Castle Grayskull graphic. But I don’t recall anyone from Disney taking any interest in the Solar Sailer game.

The marketing of the Intellivision games, aside from the sports titles which were “the closest thing to the real thing,” was to have games “like” the big hits. Lock ‘N’ Chase is like Pac-Man. Vectron is like Tempest. Buzz Bombers is like Centipede. As long as marketing could broadly show that our games were like the hit games, they didn’t worry about the details. And when it came to TRON or the Hanna Barbera games, they just used the licenses to sell them, not the game play.

[To learn where we’ll next be playing Intellivision games, head over to the Appletell half of the interview.]

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

This week is filled with announcements. First,RealArcade and GameHouse have joined forces. So now there’s just GameHouse. If you have a RealArcade account, don’t worry. It’s been transferred over to GameHouse and you can still use it.

Second, Cute Knight Kingdom and Gyromancer are out! Both are highly anticipated games. One’s a Princess Maker style simulation from independent developer Hanako Games, the other is a puzzle RPG collaboration between Square Enix and PopCap. Gamertell even reviewed Cute Knight Kingdom yesterday.

Third, there were more than just four or five hidden object games released this week! Still no new Mac games, but plenty of new PC games making their debut!

This week’s best bets are: Cute Knight Kingdom (PC), Gyromancer (PC, Xbox Live Arcade) and Delicious: Emily’s Holiday Season (PC)

Murder She Wrote
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: “Has there been a murder?” Sorry, after watching Craig Ferguson for years, I couldn’t resist. There has indeed been a murder, and in this hidden object game based on Murder, She Wrote, you help Jessica Fletcher solve it.
Demo Available: Yes

Cake Shop 2
Genre: Simulation (Time Management)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Run a roadside cafe that specializes in tasty cakes and try to become a success.
Demo Available: Yes

Cute Knight Kingdom
Genre: Simulation / RPG
Availability: Hanako Games, Harmonic Flow, Amaranth Games
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7
Premise: The sequel to Hanako Games’ insanely popular and successful Cute Knight is now available! If you liked the Princess Maker games and Spirited Heart, you’ll love the Cute Knight series. You help an orphan girl make her way through life, helping her decide what jobs to take, what classes to attend, whether to search dungeons or not, who to make friends with and so on. Depend on how her life goes, she’ll get one of many endings, maybe get married and perhaps even find out who she really is.
Demo Available: Yes

Asguaard
Genre: RPG
Availability: Aldorlea Games
Retail Price: $28.99
Platform: Windows PC (The site doesn’t give specific system requirements - test the demo to see.)
Premise: Asguaard is a relatively peaceful fantasy world. The only thing is, the Pandora Box has been opened and plagues are starting to overwhelm their world. The Asguaard fairies decide there is only one thing to do, summon a creature with something they don’t have to their world so it can be saved. Now a human has come to Asguaard, and will be tasked with saving it.
Demo Available: Yes

The Time Machine: Trapped in Time
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Professor Einwin created a time machine and used it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very careful when he did. He tampered with the past, with dire results. He destroyed the time machine, after seeing what he did. Now you must find the pieces, rebuild it and fix his mistakes.
Demo Available: Yes

Gyromancer
Genre: Puzzle RPG
Availability: Steam
Retail Price: $14.99 / 1200 Microsoft Points
Platform: Windows Vista and XP, Xbox 360
Premise: Help Rivel and Laska get through puzzle stages based on Bejeweled Twist as he searches through Aldemona Wood to try and track down his bounty, Qraist.
Demo Available: Yes

Escape the Museum 2
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: An earthquake has hit, separating David from his family. He must find a way to get back to his wife and daughter safely.
Demo Available: Yes

Delicious: Emily’s Holiday Season
Genre: Simulation (Time Management)
Availability: GameHouse, Harmonic Flow, Reflexive Arcade
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7
Premise: Emily has been hired to work at a lodge, planning parties and catering. She also gets to spend time with family, choose one of two men to become her boyfriend and take part in winter activities and games.
Demo Available: Yes

Natalie Brooks: Mystery at Hillcrest High
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows PC
Premise: The Black Cat Gamg are planning a massive heist, and its up to Natalie to find out what they’re up toand prevent it from happening by searching for hidden objects and playing minigames.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Title: DC-IE Import Enabler for Dreamcast
Price: $19.99
Rating: 10/10
Manufacturer: Two Thumbs Technologies
Pros: Well made. Includes list of import Dreamcast games. Works.
Cons: Box is DVD size, not CD size like other Dreamcast games. Hard to find.
Overall: If you don’t want to, or can’t, make your own boot disk, it is a great alternative. No website.

Moments after purchasing my Dreamcast at Goodwill, I began plotting which games I would import first. The Dreamcast had an adequate number of games released in North America, but there were more Japanese and European releases that were begging to be played.

Unfortunately, none of the boot disk programs seemed to work for me. I purchased 700mb, CD-Rs, tried burning a Utopia disk but found it was a futile endeavor. Even though my Dreamcast was one of the kinds that could read boot disks, I couldn’t get ones I made to work.

Thankfully, I happened upon the Dreamcast DC-IE Import Enabler at a local game store. $19.99 later, I was the proud owner of an unofficial boot disk that would hopefully work.

An orange and white disk in an oversized orange and white box.

The DC-IE packaging is very clear and straightforward. It proclaims that the user can turn a U.S. Dreamcast to a region-free console with the single disk. The back of the case offers a partial list of import games that could be played, and the inside cover provides an even longer list of games that you can play now that you own the disk. It’s pretty comprehensive, mentioning obscure titles like Dancing Blade, Sakura Kinamoto Haagumi Mail and Sentimental Graffiti 2. Surprisingly, it doesn’t mention Shenmue 2.

The insert on the left side provides clear instructions. Put the DC-IE when the system is off, turn the system on, remove the disk when the onscreen instructions say to do so, insert the game you want to play and finally press start. The only downside is the molding that holds the CD in place makes it difficult to read the line of instructions that says to remove the DC-IE and replace it with the game you wish to play, but since those instructions appear on the screen when you have it in your Dreamcast, it isn’t a big issue.

The only downside to the packaging is the size. While normal Dreamcast games are in cases that are the same size as a standard CD case, the DC-IE comes in case the size of a DVD box. It’s awkward when it comes to storage.

Pop it in, pop it out, pop in the import game.

I had three Japanese Dreamcast games to test with the DC-IE, Samba de Amigo, Princess Maker Collection and For Symphony: With All One’s Heart. I reasoned that if it worked three times with these three Japanese games, then I would know for sure if the DC-IE was a good product. The copies of Samba de Amigo and Princess Maker Collection were used, and the copy of For Symphony was new.

I decided to try Samba de Amigo first, since I had bought it from a game store and seen that it had worked on the system there. I popped in the DC-IE, and after a moment the DC-IE screen popped, stating that the DC-IE disk was in my Dreamcast and that I should pop it out and replace it with the import game. I did so and pressed start. Samba de Amigo immediately booted up and I had no trouble playing.

I did the same thing for both Princess Maker Collection and For Symphony. My Dreamcast had no problem booting the games, as long as I first used the DC-IE.

A great way to expand your Dreamcast’s horizon’s - provided you can find it.

The Dreamcast DC-IE Import Enabler is just a great product. It does exactly what it promises, and allows your Dreamcast to play games from other regions without any fuss or invasive system modding. The packaging may be a bit large and it can be difficult to find, but other than that it’s definitely worth picking up. Especially if you’ve had problems trying to burn your own boot disk.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables recommends import DS games in its first 2009 gift guide.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last weekImportant Importables provided an overview of the Shin Megami Tensei series.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Title: Cute Knight Kingdom
Price: $19.95
System(s): Windows PC
Release Date: November 13, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Hanako Games (Hanako Games)
ESRB Rating: N/A. I’d say ages 10+.
Pros: Gallery option, multiple marriage prospects, multiple endings, can skip the intro, interesting astrological sign substitution, can explore the villages, can use mouse or keyboard controls, can save story/ending text, lots of magic to learn, can control how well she does in class or at work, get goods at a discount if you do well at a job, beautiful art for the ending scenes.
Cons: Doesn’t give an option to make a desktop shortcut, game slows down in dungeon areas, changing clothing doesn’t change your character’s appearance, if you fall in battle, you lose stamina, hard to build up “dream,” if you run out of “dream” the game ends, failing at jobs/classes decrease “dream”.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 90/100, A-, * * * * out of 5

Hanako Games is an industrious, independent developer and publisher. It focuses on creating interesting, engaging and challenging girl-friendly games. Over the years it has created a number of successful titles like Cute Knight / Cute Knight Deluxe, Science Girls and Fatal Hearts. With Cute Knight Kingdom, Hanako returns to create a new life simulation game in the Cute Knight series.

Searching for the proper path.

Cute Knight Kingdom starts with the 18th birthday party for the heroine, a daughter of candle makers. At this party she discovers that she really isn’t their daughter. She was adopted by the candlemakers. Her mother found her outside as a baby, and a mysterious apparition in the sky asked her to watch over the little girl. It also said that it would return when she is 21, to see if she found her wings.

The young woman learns she has the potential to do whatever, and succeed at whatever, she tries. So she sets off to find a life for herself, and perhaps even find out her origins as well.

For someone so determined, she sure gives up on dreams easily.

Think of Cute Knight Kingdom as a more active, grown-up version of the Princess Maker games. You experience everything as the girl in question, and are helping her find her way after her parents have raised her to a happy and healthy young adult. Instead of dictating orders at an imaginary figure, you are the figure, choosing classes and jobs on your own, deciding how to handle each experience in order to get the most benefit out of them and making friends. You get to be the mysterious girl exploring the world and finding a place for herself.

I think the pacing and setting for Cute Knight Kingdom works well. Since you’re going day by day and week by week, four years is an appropriate and believable amount of time for the girl to find a path for herself. The week long jobs and classes move quickly and keep from being tedious thanks to the ability to make her exert herself or concentrate to ensure she gets the most out of her experiences. Plus it’s pretty easy to earn money so you won’t find your character destitute.

Tutorials are also well executed. You’ll typically see a brief explanation box pop-up when you’re experiencing something for the first time. It’ll tell you what you need to know, without being overbearing. You can also talk to the character’s father, or other characters, to find out what you need to know. There are times when a little more explanation would have been welcome, such as information on magic, crafting and cooking, but after a playthrough or two, you tend to figure things out.

I only had two issues with Cute Knight Kingdom. First, it can occasionally be difficult to tell the gender of other characters, based on their avatars, and sometimes even their character portraits. If someone gets lazy and decides to just work and never chat with people, they could miss a potential suitor. Second, the “dream” statistic can be quite troublesome. Think of it as a hidden HP bar. If it gets depleted, your game is over and you’re stuck as a candle maker for the rest of your life. The game doesn’t tell you that wearing your character out (down to 1 HP and/or 1 MP) or failing at jobs/classes can decrease it. You can unintentionally sabotage yourself, just because you wanted to try doing a new job or taking a new class.

If you put in effort and are willing to keep trying, Cute Knight Kingdom provides a great gaming experience.

Cute Knight Kingdom is an entertaining, though also incredibly challenging, life simulation game that fans of Princess Maker, Spirited Heart and the original Cute Knight will absolutely adore. General simulation game fans will also come to enjoy and relish the experience it presents. It’s a charming and endearing game with an addictive quality that will keep you coming back so you can see all of the possible endings and alternatives for the heroine.

If you do purchase it, I recommend visiting the Cute Knight Kingdom forum. Other players have come together to share their experience and knowledge, and it’s a valuable resource if you’re having trouble finding spell symbols, creating items or just managing the game.

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

• Facebook:
Almost everyone in the world is on Facebook; Now you can access it from your 360 console. Update your status, leave messages for your friends, play games and upload pictures, just like you would on your computer. You can also compare your Xbox Live and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on Xbox Live .


• Zune:
Listen to music and watch videos right from your 360 with instant-on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. You don’t even have to wait for buffering or downloading, the video or song is there as quickly as a button push. You can also share your music with up to six friends through Avatar integration and voice chat.


• Twitter:
Along with telling people what you are doing every second of the day, you can also view friend profiles, trends and conversations, and search to see if anyone is tweeting about your favorite game.


• Last.fm:
This feature allows you to listen to your own personal radio station right on your 360. You can skip, ban, or love a song is it seems fit; create your perfect mix. There are even now “gamer stations” with game related and styled music, picked just for the gaming community.

Full Story » | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

New Spaces and Places

Guitar Hero 5 VIP Room

For those fans of the Guitar Hero 5 franchise who have been testing the red ropes to the VIP room since this space first opened back in April 2009. The ropes have dropped and those who fill out a registration form are treated to a VIP lounge. Step inside this huge lounge to receive a free virtual t-shirt and then walk or run over to the bass drum area for a virtual guitar for your personal space.

HOME Theater

Full Metal Alchemist—This week at the Home space theater anime fans can enjoy a full second season episode of Full Metal Alchemist now until November 19, 2009. Just look for the sign above the door to find which room is playing this film. Those who enjoyed the film can find it at the PlayStation Network Store in the video section for more episodes.

Final Fantasy XIII—Also this week, an exclusive never-seen before look at the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII introducing new characters and giving players a glimpse of the game play and the shear awesomeness of all things Final Fantasy.

Steven Segal Lawman—Check out this sneak peek of A&E’s new reality series and receive a free virtual item this Wednesday. This new series features Steven Seagal joining Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in New Orleans taking his fans along for the ride through training and patrolling the streets as an actual law enforcement officer assisting the department with enforcing the law and keeping the streets of New Orleans safe in his new reality series on A&E December 2, 2009 at 10 p.m. Pacific Time or 9 p.m. Central Time.

Changes

This week players may notice a few changes at the mall this week. For example the paintings are no longer being sold at the mall and furniture designed for specific apartments are now being sold in the real estate store as bundles. For some reason or another those who won the Alcove from the Siren Ward of Despair game, the item is still missing from the inventory. I’m not sure how much longer it will take before the item is returned to the inventory list but Sony encourages HOME users to report any personal items still missing from your inventory in the PlayStation forums under Home technical support.

Shopping Mall

This week at the mall look out for the Assassin’s Creed II Live by the Creed bundle at Threads and help celebrate the game’s release this week. This week the stores have individual categories and bundle sections, unless listed next to the item in (parenthesis) all items are available for male and female avatars.

Real Estate Store located on the first and second floor of the mall

Pirate Galleon Apartment
For those who purchased the pirate outfit during the Pirates vs Ninja event last year, brush it off and get ready to set sail as you command your own pirate galleon in this new apartment space by nDreams for $5.99 at the Real Estate Store located in the Home Shopping Mall. This new space features a dock overlooking a peaceful cove, a musical tiki bar and a giant pirate galleon equipped with a cannon to blast away any enemy sailing too close. The mini-game pits players against an armada of galleons slowly sailing closer to your hide out and as they draw near they will launch bomber boats that can blast your ship away if you’re not quick enough to take them out first. You only have five lives so aim quick and time it just right to sink the ships. Don’t forget to blast the ghost ship for extra points. Prizes include furniture for your tiki bar and a lovable parrot. Check out the Pirate Galleon. (Please note the parrot doesn’t really snore or squawk, this is just a presentation by nDreams.):

Threads - located on the first floor of the mall.

The Original V-Shirt Section

• Fashion Pirate T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Female Only)
• Crazy Sexy Disco Party T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Goldie Chain T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Make Scores Not Wars T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Tux T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Virtually Skint T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Demon T-Shirt cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Bored Giraffe T-Shirt by Teetonic cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Robot Invasion T-Shirt by Teetonic cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Fatal Attraction T-Shirt by Teetonic cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Night Owl T-Shirt by Teetonic cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Scissors vs Rock vs Paper T-Shirt by Teetonic cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Crazy World, 1972 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Maalaea T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Skull, 1972 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Come Together, 1969 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 79 cents (Female Only)
• This Is Not Here, Oct 6th 1971 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 79 cents (Female Only)
• Texas Arcade Massacre T-Shirt by Joystick Junkies cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Big Al’s T-Shirt by Joystick Junkies cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Pirate Skull T-Shirt by Joystick Junkies cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Monkey Madness T-Shirt by Joystick Junkies cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Cheap Ninja Costume T-Shirt by 8Ball cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• FBI Logo T-Shirt by 8Ball cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Let’s hug it out T-Shirt by 8Ball cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Wingman T-Shirt by 8Ball cost 79 cents (Male Only)
• Island Records Logo T-Shirt by Island Records in choice of black or white cost 99 cents each
• Indiscriminate T-Shirt by Billabong in choice of White or Blue cost 99 cents each (Male Only)
• Gravity T-Shirt by Billabong in choice of Black or Blue cost 99 cents each (Male Only)
• Idolize T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Symphony T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Stutter T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Rogue T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Joyner T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Female Only)
• Wo’Mang T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Female Only)
• Hey, Hey, Hey T-Shirt by Billabong cost 99 cents (Female Only)
• Bermuda, December 1980 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• This Is Not Here, Oct 6th 1971 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Yoko Ono, 1980 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 99 cents (Female Only)
• Indian, 1967 T-Shirt by Worn Free cost 99 cents

Assassin’s Creed II Section

• Assassin’s Creed II Promotion Bundle cost $2.99
Individual Items:
• Assassin’s Creed II Logo Wrist Band cost 49 cents
• Animus Logo T-Shirt cost 79 cents
• Assassin’s Creed II Logo T-Shirt cost 79 cents
• Animus Logo Hat cost 79 cents
• Assassin’s Creed II Logo hat cost 79 cents
• Assassin’s Creed II Ezio Hoodie cost 99 cents

Where’s Waldo Section

• Wenda Costume Bundle cost $7.49 (Female Only)
Individual Items Include:
• Wenda’s Glasses, Hat and Shoes cost $1.49 each
• Wenda’s Shirt and Skirt cost $2.99 each
• Waldo Costume Bundle costs $8.49 (Male Only)
Individual Items Include:
• Waldo’s Cane, Glasses, Hat and Shoes cost $1.49 each
• Waldo’s Shirt and Pants cost $2.99 each
• Odlaw Costume Bundle costs $8.49 (Male Only)
Individual Items Include:
• Odlaw’s Mustache, Glasses, Hat and Shoes cost $1.49 each
• Odlaw’s Shirt and Pants cost $2.99 each

Threads Headgear Section

• Bucket Hats in choice of Black, Brown, Grey or White cost 49 cents each
• Camo Bucket Hat cost 49 cents (Male Only)
• Bucket Hats in choice of Khaki, White Floral, Red Floral or Blue Flora cost 49 cents each (Female Only)
• Headband Headset cost 49 cents (Male Only)
• Big Afro cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Tribal Cornrow cost 99 cents (Male Only)
• Wrap-around Headband in choice of Pink or Blue cost 99 cents each (Female Only)
• Side Pony-Tail cost 99 cents (Female Only)

Threads Hands Section

• Ring with Crystal Star in choice of Gold or Silver cost 25 cents (Male Only)
• Red Glitter Fingernails cost 25 cents (Female Only)
• Bangle with Ring in choice of Gold or Silver cost 49 cents each (Female Only)
• White Digital Watch cost 49 cents (Male Only)

Threads Top Section

• Peace Necklace with Tie-dye T-Shirt cost 49 cents
• Nerdy Neckwear cost 49 cents
• Zebra Print Dress Top cost 49 cents (Female Only)*
• Dot Print Dress Top cost 49 cents (Female Only)*
• Dress Shirt in choice of Brown with Brown Shaded Stripe, Black with Grey Shaded Stripe or Black with Lilac Shaded Stripe cost 49 cents each (Male Only)
• Rugby Top in choice of Pink and Grey, Black and Green, Brown and Grey or Red and Blue cost 49 cents each (Female Only)
• Turtleneck Long-Sleeved Shirt in choice of Black, Pink or Yellow cost 49 cents each (Female Only)
• Cyber Goth Top cost 49 cents (Male Only)
• Hoodie Top in choice of Green, Black, White, Navy, Pale Blue, Pink, Jungle Camo or Urban Camo cost 49 cents each (Male Only)
• 70’s Suit Jacket in choice of White or Black cost 99 cents each (Male Only)
• MDRXB700 T-Shirt with Headband Headphones around neck in choice of White, Yellow, Blue or Pink cost 99 cents each (Male Only)
• 70s Style Dress in choice of Pink or Blue cost 99 cents each (Female Only)

Threads Bottoms Section

• 70’s Suit Trousers in choice of Black or White cost 49 cents each (Male Only)
• White Hot Pants with choice of blue or pink tights cost 49 cents each (Female Only)
• Zebra Print Dress Skirt cost 49 cents (Female Only)*
• Dot Print Dress Skirt cost 49 cents (Female Only)*
• Chinos with Crown Buckle in choice of Beige or White cost 49 cents each (Male Only)
• 3/4-Length Trousers in choice of Khaki and Cream or Blue cost 49 cents each
• 3/4-Length Trousers in choice of Blue and Orange or White cost 49 cents each (Male Only)
• 3/4-Length Trousers in choice of Blue and Yellow, Pink and Red, Blue and Cream or Cream cost 49 cents each (Female Only)

Threads Feet Section

• Leather Sneakers in choice of White or Red cost 25 cents each (Male Only)
• Short Boots in choice of Black or Red cost 25 cents each (Female Only)
• Enamel Shoes in choice of White or Black cost 49 cents each (Male Only)
• White Knee-high Boots cost 99 cents (Female Only)

Threads Jewelry Section

• Small Silver Hoop Earrings cost 25 cents (Female Only)
• White Pearl Earrings cost 49 cents (Female Only)

Threads Accessories Section

• 70s-Style Sunglasses cost 49 cents (Female Only)
• Wide-Framed Sunglasses in choice of Pink or Blue cost 99 cents each (Female Only)
• B Sunglasses in choice of Red or Green cost 99 cents each (Male Only)

*Threads Dress Section

• Zebra Print Dress Bundle cost 99 cents (Female Only)
• Dot Print Dress Bundle cost 99 cents (Female Only)

Furniture Store - located on first floor of Mall

Burn Zombie Burn Section

• Character Statues in choice of Bruce, Daisy, Zombie or Zombie Rusher cost $2.99 each

Table Section

• Deco Table cost 99 cents

Ornament Section

• Human Plush cost 49 cents
• Stuffed Hamster cost 49 cents
• Gun Case Bundle cost $1.49
Individual Items Include:
• LRm-5960 Rifle cost 49 cents
• TxRm-20 Handgun cost 49 cents
• Revolver-6 cost 49 cents
• PsT-50 Pistol cost 49 cents
• Weapon Racks Bundle cost $2.49
Individual Items Include:
• Modern Bow Rack cost 49 cents
• Colonial Gun Rack cost 49 cents
• Contemporary Military Gun Rack cost 49 cents
• Pirate Sword Rack cost 49 cents
• Medieval Sword Rack cost 49 cents
• Future Gun Rack cost 49 cents
• Muk Yan Jong cost 99 cents

Light Section

• Stained Glass Lamp cost 99 cents
• Summer House Light cost 99 cents

Sofa Section

• Deco Bed cost $1.49

Site [PlayStation Blog] Site [A&E:Steven Seagal Lawman ]

Image Source: A&E Official Steven Seagal Lawman Site

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The holiday shopping season is drawing near as people are preparing to pick up Christmas and Hanukkah gifts for the 2009 holiday season. This year tons of fantastic DS games were released, and it may be difficult to pick out the perfect one for your favorite DS owner.

For Gamertell’s 2009 DS game gift guide, there are 30 DS games released in 2009 that could make fantastic holiday gifts. To make your search easier, Gamertell’s DS gift guide has been sorted by ESRB rating. Just go to the section that is appropriate for the age of person you’re shopping for, and hopefully you’ll find some good DS gift ideas. If Gamertell’s reviewed the game, click the game’s title to read and see what we thought about it.

Let’s take a look at some great DS game gift suggestions:

ESRB Rating: “Everyone”

Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
Genre: RPG
Price: $19.99
Release Date:
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes.
Target Audience: Chrono Trigger and classic RPG fans. Old school gamers.
Description: Kairu is the only man in Bel Lenora with no magic. The last person in Bel Lenora with no magic was a general who wreaked havoc. He also has a mysterious black mark on his hand. After he is banished from Bel Lenora to the outside world, he and his friends journey to perhaps help him find magic and save the world.

Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop
Genre: Casual / Action
Price: $29.99
Release Date: October 20, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Alcohol Reference
Target Audience: People who enjoy casual games, people who enjoy cooking and fans of the Cooking Mama series.
Description: Help Mama cook once again! This time a shopping mini-game has been added and there are 80 new recipes included.

Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands
Genre: Simulation / RPG
Price: $29.99
Release Date: November 10, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief and Use of Alcohol
Target Audience: Men and women, probably over the age of 10, who enjoy simulation games, play Farmville or Farm Town on Facebook and are patient.
Description: You play as a young man or woman who has come to the Sunshine Islands to start life as a farmer. You can tend to crops, raise animals and explore mines to make money. You can also befriend townspeople and local animals, and even raise a family. Oh, and you may want to collect the Sun Stones to restore the Sunshine Islands that have sunk into the ocean.
Note: If the person you’re thinking of buying this for already has Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, ask them if they’d like Sunshine Islands before buying it as a gift. They’re practically the same game.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
Genre: Action / Puzzle
Price: $19.99
Release Date: March 17, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Cartoon Violence
Target Audience: Fans of side-scrolling action games casual match-3 puzzle games.
Description: Henry Hatsworth is searching for treasure, and ends up on a massive adventure. When enemies are defeated in the side scrolling adventure, they fall to the bottom screen match-3 puzzle. Eliminating them in the match-3 puzzle powers up Henry. It’s a quirky combination that works.

Lego Rock Band
Genre: Music
Price: $29.99
Release Date: November 3, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief and Mild Lyrics
Target Audience: Anyone who likes portable music games.
Description: A DS music game that doesn’t require any peripherals, so DS lite and DSi owners alike can play. It’s essentially Rock Band, only with Lego characters, no peripherals and a more family friendly set list that includes rock songs and top-40 hits.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
Genre: RPG
Price: $34.99
Release Date: September 14, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief and Mild Cartoon Violence
Target Audience: Super Mario fans who want to play a funny RPG where the two characters, and Bowser, are the stars.
Description: Fawful fed Bowser a mushroom that made him inhale Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and the princess’ toad attendants and fed many of the Toads mushrooms which made them blow up to gigantic proportions. Then he decided to take over the kingdom. Mario, Luigi and Bowser join forces to stop Fawful’s reign of terror.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Genre: Sports /Mini game collection
Price: $34.99
Release Date: October 13, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Cartoon Violence
Target Audience: Gamers of all ages who like sports mini-games and Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog characters.
Description: Mario, Sonic and characters from both of their respective game series take part in multiple winter Olympic events.

Peggle Dual Shot
Genre: Puzzle
Price: $19.99
Release Date: February 27, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Target Audience: Casual game fans.
Description: It’s the PC Peggle game, only portable. It contains the two PC games Peggle and Peggle Nights.

Sim Animals Africa
Genre: Simulation
Price: $29.99
Release Date: October 27, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief
Target Audience: Children and fans of the original Sim Animals game.
Description: Interact with African animals and help keep them happy and healthy. You can also play as an animal.

Space Invaders Extreme 2
Genre: Shooter
Price: $19.99
Release Date: October 19, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Target Audience: Pretty much anyone. Specifically fans of shooters, Space Invaders and classic arcade games.
Description: Space Invaders Extreme only better. There are new power ups, Super Fever Time, Fever Time, Bingo Rounds, Time Attack modes and multiple difficulty levels. There’s also a new multiplayer battle mode where you face off against a friend, shooting aliens to see who’s best.

Style Savvy
Genre: Simulation
Price: $34.99
Release Date: November 2, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Target Audience: Primarily women of all ages, though men may appreciate this shop management simulation as well. I’d recommend it for ages eight and up, since younger children may have trouble attending to customers and managing the stock in their shops.
Description: Players are the newest employee at Primavera, the most popular boutique in the city. After a brief introduction and tutorial, your natural style, talent and business sense prompt Primavera’s owner, Dominic, to give you your own boutique to manage. Take care of customers, buy stock for your shop, enter fashion contests and dress up your character.

The Legendary Starfy
Genre: Action
Price: $34.99
Release Date: June 7, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Cartoon Violence.
Target Audience: Gamers of all ages and genders. Since it’s pretty easy to play, it would make a good first-platformer for children.
Description: Bunston the rabbit was chased into Pufftop Palace by unknown villains, and fell into the ocean. Starfy and his friend Moe the clam followed him, deciding to help. Once they find him, they discover Bunston has amnesia and has lost crystals. Starfy, Bunston and Moe travel the ocean trying to find the crystal fragments, defeat the people who were chasing Bunston and helping ocean residents in need.

Touchmaster 3
Genre: Mini-game collection / Casual
Price: $29.99
Release Date: October 23, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Cartoon Violence and Mild Language
Target Audience: People of all ages who want something they can play for a few minutes or a few hours.
Description: A collection of 20 assorted action, card, puzzle, sports and trivia mini-games.

Wire Way
Genre: Action / Puzzle
Price: $29.99
Release Date: November 3, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief
Target Audience: Players of all ages looking for a fun action/puzzle game.
Description: The alien Wiley Springer is on a quest to find his love, but to do so he’ll have to journey through all kinds of levels, moving along wires and propelling himself upwards towards the top of each level.

ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+”

Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island
Genre: Simulation / RPG
Price: $29.99
Release Date: October 27, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language and Suggestive Themes.
Target Audience: Men and women who enjoy games where the goal is to making items, explore areas and talk to townsfolk. People who like games with a sense of humor. I’d say it’s best for ages 13 and up, since younger gamers may not have the patience required to collect all the necessary ingredients.
Description: Annie is a lazy girl who dreams of marrying into money. So, her grandfather ships her off to Sera Island, which is in the process of being turned into a resort. Annie has three years to prove she is a capable and competant alchemist, and if she wins all the contests and successfully manages her resorts, she could end up marrying a prince.

Avalon Code
Genre: Action RPG
Price: $19.99
Release Date: March 10, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Fantasy Violence and Mild Language
Target Audience: RPG fans who like to tinker with the in-game world and build relationships with other characters.
Description: The world is ending, and only things that have been entered into the Book of Prophesy will be saved when the world is reborn. The player is the one who has been tasked with filling the Book of Prophesy with things that should be saved by smacking things with it. You can then alter the properties of items entered in the book with codes. You also will face off against the villain who is going to cause the world to end.

Bleach the 3rd Phantom
Genre: Strategic RPG
Price: $29.99
Release Date: September 15, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Alcohol Reference, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language and Suggestive Themes.
Target Audience: Anime fans. Strategic RPG fans who love Fire Emblem and Advance Wars style games.
Description: Two soul reapers from the past have suddenly found themselves in the present. You choose which one you’ll play as, Matsuri or Fujimaru, and their abilities, and then join with Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends to face off against Aizen, the Arrancars and hollows.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Genre: RPG
Price: $39.99
Release Date: February 16, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Alcohol Reference, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes and Simulated Gambling
Target Audience: Classic RPG fans and Square Enix fans.
Description: The most recent Zenithia Dragon Quest DS entry follows a hero through three generations - his adventures as a child as he journeyed with his father, his adventures traveling on his own and the journey he undertakes with his children. Together they attempt to save the world. The DS version adds in a new marriable character, Debora.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Genre: Action RPG
Price: $29.99
Release Date: March 24, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Fantasy Violence, Language and Mild Suggestive Themes
Target Audience: Action RPG fans who like to work and adventure with friends. People who don’t mind level grinding to collect materials. Square Enix fans.
Description: You are a 16 year old who has just taken part in a coming of age ceremony at a village in the woods. However, when you return, you discover that one of the village children has fallen ill with the Crystal Sickness. You must go to the outside world to search for a cure, which starts a chain of events that result in you restoring your village’s crystal. Also, you can play with people who own the DS or Wii version.
Note: If the person you’re buying this for doesn’t have Wi-Fi internet or friends with the game, then don’t buy it for them. Many of the storyline quests are unplayable without assistance from other Echoes of Time players.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Genre: Action RPG
Price: $34.99
Release Date: September 29, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Fantasy Violence
Target Audience: Fans of the Kingdom Hearts series. Disney fans who are too old for the childish Disney games. People looking for a solid action rpg to play.
Description: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days takes place during the time when Roxas was a member of Organization XIII, the villains in Kingdom Hearts II. Roxas takes missions for the organization and works along its members, all while trying to figure out who and what he is.

Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times
Genre: Simulation
Price: $29.99
Release Date: May 5, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Comic Mischief and Mild Suggestive Themes
Target Audience: Harry Potter fans. People who thought Animal Crossing was too slow and boring.
Description: Create a character and attend a virtual magic academy. Learn all kinds of magic spells you can use on neighbors, take weekly tests and interact with friends over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Phantasy Star Ø
Genre: RPG
Price: $34.99
Release Date: November 12, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes
Target Audience: People who want an MMO-like experience on their DS. Phantasy Star fans. RPG players.
Description: Players are mercenaries called Hunters, journeying on an alternate version of Earth taking missions and facing off against monsters in an attempt to protect and save people. You can customize your character. You can also play with others over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or play through the single player story mode.
Note: Again, if the person you’re buying it for doesn’t have Wi-Fi internet access, ask before you buy this game because the multiplayer experience is a big part of the game.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Genre: Puzzle
Price: $34.99
Release Date: August 24, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Alcohol Reference and Mild Violence
Target Audience: Men and women who like to solve puzzles and think critically. While it is suitable for ages 10 and up, the difficulty of some of the brain teasers and puzzles could frustrate younger games. It’s most suitable for ages 13 and up.
Description: The sequel to Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Professor Layton, his assistant Luke and his ward Flora have another mystery to solve. Layton’s mentor, Dr. Schrader, has died of unknown causes, and everyone think the Elysian Box is behind it. Supposedly, the Elysian Box has the power to kill anyone who dares to open it. It’s up the Layton to discover the truth.

Scribblenauts
Genre: Puzzle / Action
Price: $29.99
Release Date: September 15, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Cartoon Violence and Comic Mischief
Target Audience: Creative men and women who want to solve puzzles with a wide assortment of items.
Description: Scribblenauts tasks player with solving 220 action and puzzle levels by helping Maxwell overcome challenges and retrieve the Starites. The game recognizes over 20,000 words and allows players to create and share levels.

Suikoden Triekreis
Genre: RPG
Price: $34.99
Release Date: March 17, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Language and Mild Suggestive Themes
Target Audience: Pokemon fans who love collecting items, monsters or characters in games. Fans of the Suikoden series. People who would enjoy a fantasy RPG that explores the notion of parallel universes.
Description: The One King wants to alter the Million World universe so there is only one timeline and one universe, instead of many. This means that all the other universes will be destroyed. You must collect the 108 Stars of Destiny and strike back at the One King before he destroys the universe the characters are in as well.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Genre: Action RPG
Price: $34.99
Release Date: December 7, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Mild Fantasy Violence
Target Audience: RPG fans, Nintendo fans and Legend of Zelda fans
Description: Zelda has been turned into a phantom, and Link and her must journey around the world via train to save her and Hyrule. It’s also the first Zelda game where Link and Zelda travel and work together.

ESRB Rating: “Teen”

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Genre: Strategic RPG / Visual Novel
Price: $29.99
Release Date: June 23, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Blood and Partial Nudity
Target Audience: Men and women over the age of 13 who enjoy dramatic, challenging and thought-provoking games. Also, fans of other Shin Megami Tensei games.
Description: Shibuya, Japan has been locked down. All the power is out and there is no way in, or out. To make matters worse, demons are now roaming the street and a mysterious cult whose intentions are unknown is milling around the city. The main character and his friends are given COMPs, DS like devices, from his cousin Naoya, and find they now have the power to control demons and perhaps even end the lock down.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Genre: Strategic RPG
Price: $29.99
Release Date: Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Fantasy Violence, Mild Language and Mild Suggestive Themes.
Target Audience: Square Enix game fans, fans of the Valkyrie Profile series and people who are interested in a game where moral decisions effect the course of the story.
Description: After Wylfred’s father died, his family fell apart. He always blamed the Valkyrie Lenneth for his death, since after he died she left a feather signifying that she had chosen him as an Einherjar, one of her soldiers. Wylfred decides that he must kill Lenneth to make things right, and Hel gives him a plume that will allow him to become powerful enough to do so. But if he uses it, there will be a price.

ESRB Rating: “Mature 17+”

C.O.R.E.
Genre: FPS
Price: $29.99
Release Date: August 11, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Mature 17+” for Blood and Gore and Violence
Target Audience: Fans of first person shooter games.
Description: The year is 2028, and communication with the C.O.R.E. lab, where scientists were investigating a meteor that crashed to Earth, has been lost. Jason Crane and his fellow soldiers have been sent to figure out what has happened at C.O.R.E.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Genre: Action
Price: $29.99
Release Date: March 17, 2009
ESRB Rating: “Mature 17+” for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Sexual Content, Strong Language and Violence
Target Audience: Adult men and women, over the age of 17, who enjoyed going on virtual crime sprees in the console versions of Grand Theft Auto.
Description: After Huang Lee’s father is killed, he’s robbed of the sword he was supposed to take to his uncle and he’s beaten and left behind, Huang decides to strike back. He goes after the men who insulted him and destroyed his family to get revenge and power.

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Thanksgiving (and Black Friday!) and the December holidays are nearly upon us. You know what that means - it’s the time when gamers’ thoughts turn to their holiday wish lists, eager to play the very best and brightest that the previous year has brought. If you’re a Wii owner, or you’ll be shopping for one - check out this list for the goods.

For Everyone Who Likes Fun

New Super Mario Bros. Wii - This recent release has been reviewing through the roof (see our own take here at Gamertell) - and for good reason. It brings everything that was awesome about the old-school Mario games (excellent, challenging 2D levels, wacky characters and a boatload of charm) and mixed in some excellent 4-player action. Not to be missed.

Boom Blox Bash Party - The sequel to last year’s best party game, Bash Party trimmed everything superfluous from Spielberg’s ingenious physics-based puzzler and added a ton of new modes, new “toys” and new game types to the mix. This is the most fun I’ve ever had in mixed (gamer and non-gamer) company since Mario Kart back in the day.

For Gamers Who Like to Get Their Groove On

The Beatles: Rock Band - If you have any love for the Beatles, you should definitely pick up this bad boy, which allows you to sing, play drums, or play guitar (all on an assortment of lovely plastic instruments) right along with John, Paul, George and Ringo.

DJ Hero - For music fans who like more than rock, DJ Hero is an awesome, unconventional take on the Guitar Hero formula. Complete with a “turntable” controller and 80 mash-up-able tracks.

For the Action-Adventure Set

Metroid Prime: Trilogy - A set of three truly excellent games, enhanced with Wii controls, in one definitive package, Trilogy is the best deal in gaming (pound for pound) since The Orange Box in 2007.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - A gorgeous 2D action title with some light RPG elements, this is one of the most visually stunning games on the platform.

A Boy and His Blob - A successful “re-imagining” of the classic NES title, this platform/puzzler has amazing graphics and animation, satisfying old-school gameplay, and a metric ton of charm.

Pikmin - It’s not exactly action/adventure, its more RTS/Puzzle, but don’t even think about letting that stop you. Pikmin is a wildly entertaining, challenging game, made all the better by the Wii-fied new controls.

Klonoa - Another jaw-droppingly gorgeous 2D platformer, Klonoa is a beautifully re-done PS1 title with inventive levels and incredible character design.

For Athletes and Speed Demons:

EA Sports: Active - Forget about Wii Fit - if you’re serious about getting in shape with your Wii, try the “30-day Challenge” in EA Sports Active. It’ll blow your mind - and your quads.

Need For Speed: Nitro - It may not be quite as pretty as Need For Speed: Shift, but this racer is solid as they come - and about as “sim-y” as you’ll find on Nintendo’s system.

Excitebots: Trick Racing - Forget racing sims, this speedy little package is all about pulling off wacky tricks and completing in-race minigames. It’s ridiculously fun, and one of the smoothest online experiences on the Wii.

For The “Mature” Gamer

House of the Dead: Overkill - This is the funniest, goriest, most R-rated experience you can have on Wii. If you like zombie-blasting, you absolutely cannot go wrong here.

MadWorld - Does the idea of a violent comic book world come to life sound good to you? If so, you’ll enjoy the hell out of punishing baddies in Madworld‘s bloody fantasy playground.

Happy holidays everyone! And happy hunting - be sure to keep checking back with us for sales and deals throughout the holiday shopping season.

Read [Gamertell]

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Video games can often be used to build essential life skills, or to educate players. You can learn new languages, improve hand-eye coordination, find new recipes, study for exams, prepare for stressful situations or build your vocabulary.

So, this year, train for the Black Friday shopping rush by picking up a few games.

Gamertell’s ready to offer up five video game suggestions that may help you prepare for the busiest shopping weekend of the year. You’ll not only help improve your shopping skills but also become more patient, learn avoidance techniques and stress management techniques.

• Barbie: Game Girl (Game Boy): This incredibly frustrating game, set in a shopping mall, will help you learn to be patient. The controls are horrible, the levels are frustrating and Barbie doesn’t seem to ever jump or move as accurately as you want. If you can make it through this game, you can quietly, and perhaps even happily, endure anything Black Friday throws at you.
• Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop (DS): The Shop Mode is what you’ll want to focus on for your training. It’s a good way to train agility and strategic skills. The other shoppers don’t care about you, only their own paths and goals, a mindset that will be shared by Black Friday shoppers. It’ll help you learn to focus on number one.
• Dead Rising (Xbox 360, Wii): Think of the zombies as the endless and agitated crowds you’ll be fighting through at your local big box store or shopping mall and use it to practice surviving without being trampled or assaulted. Note: Refrain from using violence when dealing with the human crowds you’ll encounter on Black Friday.
• Style Savvy (DS): Catering to the needs of occasionally demanding and fussy customers will help hone your gift selection skills, ensuring that the items you bestow on others don’t find their way to the return counter of the stores you purchased them from.
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox): Finding your local Old Navy or Walmart should be simple after having to scour Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas for the stores so CJ can get the latest clothes.

If think of any additional games that could help people prepare and get in the proper mindset for Black Friday, please let us know in the comments below.

Read [Gamertell] Site [TheBlackFriday.com] Site [BlackFriday.info]

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Got the game today and, since I couldn’t put much more than a day into it (and the game comes out November 15, 2009), I wanted to provide you with some quick tidbits. Here’s an easy-to-read but not necessarily easy-to-comprehend bullet-point preview of Nintendo’s multiplayer platformer, New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Here weeee goes:

• Red is the new White.
• Software update required.
• Mario says “Wii” exactly the way you’d expect him to.
• Sixty-eight page manual (22 pages are English). Read it.
• Sideways WiiMote for retro control scheme but not the Classic Controller?
• Multiplayer means lots of lovely leaping (and plenty of extra death).
• Bursting bubbles is a good thing.
• Mapping a la Super Mario III?
• Sorry, the princess is not here.
• Yoshi is a Chocobo wannabe. Fruit is Yummy
• Ice balls and fire.
• Nice beanie.
• Beware of moving floors.
• Big red rings and little red coins
• Big gold coins.
• Infinite Lives hint!?
• Nunchuck is optional.
• Drop players and Quicksave.
• Save Toad’s friends!
• Butt slide, ground pound, wall grab, spin jump, super jump and then some.
• Suits galore.
• What’s with the gravity?
• Everything but the kitchen kart.
• Grab the flag as high as you can.

Site [New Super Mario Bros. Wii]

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If you don’t like hidden object games, then you might want to skip this week’s edition of Casual Friday. Seriously, the whole update is pretty much hidden object games. Okay, there’s a new match-3 game, but other than that - all hidden object.

If you are okay with only hidden object goodness, then there are three new games waiting for you. You can explore Turkey and Babylon in Lost Realms: The Curse of Babylon, search Hollywood in HdO Adventure: Hollywood - The Director’s Cut or hunt for clues in Japan in Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders.

Also, sadly, no new Mac games this week. Let’s hope there’s something for all you Mac users next week!

This week’s best bet is: Lost Realms: The Curse of Babylon (PC)

Lost Realms: The Curse of Babylon
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Alexia’s friend Ogan is falling victim to a debilitating family curse called the Curse of Babylon, and she must travel searching through temples to find a way to save him.
Demo Available: Yes

HdO Adventure: Hollywood - The Director’s Cut
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows
Premise: Start as an art director assistant, and find hidden objects and solve trivia questions to work your way up to director.
Demo Available: Yes

Treasures of the Serengeti
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: I-Play
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP, Vista, 7
Premise: You must help rebuild an African village which has fallen into ruin by playing through match-3 puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Soon after Richard and Irene Pemberton move to Japan, Richard is inexplicably found dead in his office. The authorities claim it was suicide, but its up to you to help Irene find the real reasons for his untimely demise.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

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When people think of the Shin Megami Tensei series started by Atlus, they probably first think of the PlayStation versions of Revelations: Persona or Persona 2 as the start of the series. It isn’t their fault, really. After all, for people in North America, that was probably their first encounter with Shin Megami Tensei.

However, the series has been along for much longer than that. It all began with Megami Tensei, which eventually underwent a slight title change and became Shin Megami Tensei. There are entries in the series going back as far as the Famicom, and in Japan the series considered as mainstream as Final Fantasy. Unfortunately, people outside of Japan will never get the opportunity to play through the older entries, unless there’s some sort of port or remake, which is unlikely due to the age of some of the older entries.

Today in Important Importables, we’ll look back at the surprisingly long history of the Shin Megami Tensei games, taking a brief overview of all of the entries in the series. Please bear in mind though, that more recent entries will probably have more detailed descriptions than the older ones.

Megami Tensei / Shin Megami Tensei

While all of the Shin Megami Tensei series and its offshoots tend to get tagged with the Shin Megami Tensei moniker in North America, in Japan only the main series and the miscellaneous offshoots are branded with it.

The earliest games were first person dungeon crawlers and, of course, had the trademark demon partnering system that has appeared in some shape or form in all Shin Megami Tensei games. They also tend to take into account player’s choices to shape the course of the game, take place in either modern times or the future and often have a plot that involves saving the world.

The first Megami Tensei games were made by Namco, and not Atlus. Atlus took over the series with Shin Megami Tensei. Also Shin Megami Tensei: If… is the predecessor to the Persona spinoff series.

These are the main Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei games that have been released:

• Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei (Famicom)
• Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II (Famicom)
• Shin Megami Tensei (Super Famicom, Sega CD, PlayStation, GBA)
• Shin Megami Tensei II (Super Famicom, PlayStation, GBA)
• Shin Megami Tensei: If… (Super Famicom, PlayStation) Note: It is the predecessor to the Persona series.
• Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (PS2) Note: It was the first entry in the Shin Megami Tensei line released in North America and had Devil May Cry‘s Dante cameo appearance.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS) Note: A US release has just been confirmed.

Persona

The Persona is probably the Shin Megami Tensei branch best known outside of Japan. There have been five entries in this series, and while they the originals featured the first person dungeon crawling and demon negotiation, the series has progressed to focus on high schoolers who suddenly develop the ability to use Personas, who resemble many of the demons from the other games, to save the world.

North America has actually seen releases of all the Persona games so far, with the exception of one, Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Given the popularity of the franchise, perhaps we’ll one day see that game in English as well.

These are the Persona games that have been released:

• Revelations: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PlayStation, PSP)
• Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PlayStation) Note: This is the only Persona game to never receive an English release.
• Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PlayStation)
• Persona 3 (PS2, PSP)
• Persona 4 (PS2)

Devil Summoner

The Devil Summoner Shin Megami Tensei spinoff series has seen a North American release as well, but hasn’t achieved the same level of fame. It technically began life as an official part of the main Shin Megami Tensei series, but then developed into its own spin-off series.

The Devil Summoner games all share some common themes - they’re set in modern, or close to modern, Japan and typically follow the adventures of a main detective protagonist with the ability to summon and talk to demons, who’s investigating some kind of dire misuse of demons. The first two games didn’t get released outside of Japan, and the second two games did.

These are the Devil Summoner games that have been released:

• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (Sega Saturn, PSP)
• Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (Sega Saturn, PlayStation)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army (PS2) Note: This was the first Devil Summoner game to be released in English.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (PS2)

Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible

The Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible series are the most distantly related to the other games in the Shin Megami Tensei family. They are RPGs, but typically take place in a fantasy setting, have players recruiting and fusing monsters instead of demons and are created for a wider audience that includes children. Basically, they’re toned down versions of the main series of games.

Here’s a list of all the Last Bible games released.

• Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible/Revelations: The Demon Slayer (Game Boy, GBC, Game Gear) Note: It is the only Last Bible game that was released in English.
• Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II (Game Boy, GBC)
• Another Bible (Game Boy)
• Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible III (Super Famicom)
• Last Bible Special (Game Gear)

Majin Tensei

This Japan-only Shin Megami Tensei series spin-off is basically a look at what would happen if Fire Emblem combined with Shin Megami Tensei. It’s a strategic RPG that involves the player hiring, fusing and battling with demons instead of typical strategic RPG units. None of the games ever received an English-language release, but both recently had PC versions released.

There are the Majin Tensei games available:

• Majin Tensei (Super Famicom, Windows PC)
• Majin Tensei: Spiral Nemesis (Super Famicom, Windows PC)

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children

Similar to the Last Bible series, Devil Children is another all ages spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei. The main entries in the series are very similar to Pokemon and Digimon, revolving around heroes and heroines who are half human, half demon and recruit, raise and battle monsters. Also, like Digimon and Pokemon, there are multiple variations of the same game.

The series is so popular in Japan that inspired two anime and two manga series.

Here are the Devil Children games you can find:

• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Black Book, White Book and Red Book (GBC, PlayStation)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Light Book and Dark Book/DemiKids: Light and Dark (GBA) Note: This is the only entry in the Devil Children series to be released in English.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children: Puzzle de Call! (GBA) Note: Unlike the other Devil Children games, this is a puzzle game.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Fire Book and Ice Book (GBA)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children: Messiah Riser (GBA) Note: This entry is a strategic RPG.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga

The Digital Devil Saga games are RPGs like the majority of Shin Megami Tensei games, but this spin-off series has some unique hallmarks. Characters transform into a demon form, rather than being able to have demons fight at their side and be fused. The game also takes place far in the future, after the apocolyse, and focuses on the battle among tribes fighting to try and reach Nirvana.

There are two Digital Devil Saga games available, and both received US releases:

• Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (PS2)

Miscellaneous spin-offs

There have been many Shin Megami Tensei spin-offs, but most of them have ended up as one-shot deals and didn’t spawn a series like Persona or Devil Summoner. Since they don’t really fit into the other three categories all that well, it’s easier to just place them here. Most are RPGs of some sort, like the Shin Megami Tensei staples, but occasionally there will be one that slips into another genre, like strategic RPG or action.

These are the rest of the Shin Megami Tensei games that have been released:

• Jack Bros. no Meiro de Hiho/Jack Bros. (Virtual Boy)
• Shin Megami Tensei: NINE (Xbox)
• Megami Tensei Online Imagine/Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine (Windows PC)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS)

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables reviews the DC-IE Import Enabler for the Dreamcast.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last weekImportant Importables listed 100 interesting games you can only play if you import in honor of its 100th column.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

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Title: Nostalgia
Price: $34.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: October 23, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Ignition Entertainment (Matrix Software and Red Entertainment)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Mild Fantasy Violence
Pros: Fantastic graphics, easy to navigate, controls well, there’s a combat order bar to help plot the course of battle, love the notion of air battles, interesting steampunk setting, can keep playing after the main game is finished, side stories for each of the main characters, 50 world treasures to discover, quite a few Adventurer’s Association missions to take, and makes a great game for beginners interested in the RPG genre.
Cons: Filled with RPG stereotypes, translation is stiff with no localization and the soundtrack is forgetable.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways; 85/100; B; * * * 1/2 out of 5

Nostalgia is the work of a lot of well known developers, producers and publishers. It was developed by Matrix Software, known for Final Fantasy III and IV DS remakes, Avalon CodeDS,  both Alundra PlayStation games, and Red Entertainment, which worked on Fossil Fighters DS, Thousand Arms PS1 and the Sakura Wars series. Tecmo produced and published the game in Japan. Now Ignition, which is fast becoming known for highly anticipated niche games, has brought it to North America.

A group of young people set off to save the world

Nostalgia begins with the famous adventurer Dr. Gilbert Brown uncovered a suspicious plot where a mysterious young girl was going to be forced against her will to do the biddings of an unknown, villainous man and his cult of followers. He saved her from her fate, but in the escape he fell, possibly to his doom, and she found herself floating aimlessly on his ship.

Eddie Brown is the son of Gilbert, and he has just learned his father has gone missing. Since times are treacherous, what with sky pirates and monsters always around, Eddie announces that he is going to become an adventurer and find his father. Shortly after, he joins forces with the orphan thief Pad, a precocious witch named Melody and Fiona, the enigmatic girl with strange powers whom his father was trying to save. He and his friends will not only search for Gilbert Brown, but also work to stop the cabal that is trying to use Fiona and make all kinds of discoveries around the world.

An homage to classic, turn-based JRPGs

Nostalgia familiar feel is intentional. The party members all represent classic RPG archetypes - the warrior youth whose father was a hero, the orphan thief whose parents may be more than you expect, the mysterious young woman with extraordinary powers and the talented, though occasionally snotty, mage. The story starts with a simple search for a missing person and branches out in an endeavor to save the world. The monsters are fantastic, sidequests abound and even the artwork is a throwback to classic JRPGs. In games where it isn’t intentional, such abundant use of stereotypes and formulaic situations detracts from the game. In Nostalgia, it helps make the game stronger.

While Nostalgia is clearly designed as an homage to classic games, it also includes a number of additional concepts which individualize it. Nostaglia takes place in an alternate, Steampunk version of Earth. Everyone wears Victorian style clothing and airships are the primary means of transportation. This means that you start the game with your own airship, and you take part in airship battles against monsters and pirates from traveling to one location to another and must customize it to make it most effective. Additional special features include rankings after battle, which may award you more spoils if you did well, and the ability to take on extra missions and keep playing in an epilogue after the main storyline is completed.

The only flaw in Nostalgia is the script. While the translation is fine, free of grammar and spelling errors and easy to read, it has no personality. Talking to NPCs is pointless, as they’ll never have interesting to say unless their input is required to advance the story. You can press Y during the game to watch the party members talk among themselves, a nod to the Dragon Quest and Tales of series, but that dialogue is dull and pointless. There’s no need to use that feature unless you haven’t played in a few days and need to catch up.

The translation may feel stiff, but the gameplay and graphics make up for it

Nostalgia feels like what would happen when you take all of the elements and things you loved from classic RPGs and jam it into a single game. While the localization could use a lot of work, the direct translation makes it easy to understand and play. It’s a great release for the holiday season, and fans of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Skies of Arcadia and even the Tales of series should consider giving it a try. Besides, it’s not every day that an RPG with what could be considered PlayStation or GameCube quality graphics appears on the DS.

Site [Nostalgia]

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Video games are often berated for the lack of educational content found in them. They’re often considered a waste of time. But, if you look closely, even games that aren’t slapped with the edutainment label or feature educational material can be teaching valuable skills to the people playing them.

Gamertell’s put together a brief list of some video games that weren’t created with the developers aiming to educate the masses, but can end up helping players build some valuable skills. With some, the educational value is pretty obvious, but with others you probably could spend hours playing without even realizing you’ve learned something from it.

1. Bookworm Adventures & Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 (PC): You have to create words from letter tiles in your possession to defeat opponents. As you get further into the game, more difficult letters tend to pop up. It boosts you vocabulary, and helps better your spelling skills, without you even knowing it.
2. Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village & Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS): Both Professor Layton games get players thinking critically. They help boost math and reasoning skills, and also encourage creativity. Unless, of course, you visit a blog like Professor Layton and the Curious Village Walkthrough.
3. Scribblenauts (DS): Here’s another vocabulary booster. When you know the game is capable of recognizing, and creating, objects for over 20,000 words, it makes you want to plug in as many as you can to see if the game will recognize it and what kind of items the words will spawn.
4. Pokemon (DS): An unusual series you probably didn’t expect to see here. However, Pokemon is a great way to get kids reading without them realizing it, and also is a good way to help develop patience and reasoning skills. After all, players have to know the weaknesses and strengths of each kind of pokemon.
5. Wii Sports (Wii): Its a great way of developing good hand-eye coordination.
6. Line Rider (PC, DS, Wii): While many people probably just tinker around with Line Rider for fun, or to see the little sledder crash, it also can teach some physics lessons along the way.
7. Final Fantasy (NES, SNES, GBA, PC, PS1, PS2, DS, Wii, PS3, Xbox 360): Like Pokemon, it gets players reading. Plus, the language typically isn’t dumbed down in the games, so players could be building their vocabulary as well. Critical thinking and reasoning skills can also come into play when players need to figure out how to defeat tricky bosses or overcome the occasional challenging mission.
8. Half-Minute Hero (PSP): It’s a surprisingly good way to teach players about proper time management. While you can usually pay an in-game character to extend the 30 second deadline in each mission, you also have to figure in how to raise money to extend the deadline or reach that character in time.
9. Space Channel 5 & Space Channel 5 Part 2 (Dreamcast, PS2): It’s a great way to learn to accurately follow directions and boost memory skills. After all, you have to repeat the motions back exactly the way you heard them if you want to succeed.
10. Patapon & Patapon 2 (PSP): Both games help players learn to stick to and follow a rhythmic pattern and memorize patterns. If you don’t memorize the correct patterns and follow the beat, your Patapon warriors won’t do anything.

If you can think of any other games that could be unintentionally educational, let us know in the comments!

Read [The New York Times] Also Read [Gamertell]

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This is probably the sparcest Casual Friday since Gamertell started running it’s weekly Casual Friday casual game update. Only four new casual games made their debut this week, and of the four all but one are hidden object games. Plus, there are no Mac games this time around, only Windows titles. So if you’re not a hidden object fan, you may want to check a previous Casual Friday for a new game to play.

The only big news this week is that Big Fish Games is once again running its Novemberfest promotion. If you purchase six games from the site by November 30, 2009, you’ll get one free game. If you purchase nine games, you’ll get two free games. The free game credits will be awarded after December 1, 2009.

This week’s best bet is: Tropical Farm (PC)

Hidden Magic
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Pick a mage to play as, and then go on to search for your love who has been kidnapped and taken away to an undisclosed location in a forboding forest.
Demo Available: Yes

Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow, PlayFirst
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Valerie Porter is one of the few female journalists in the 1920’s, and she’s just stumbled upon an amazing story where an innocent man is being framed. You must help her find the truth behind the story and make a name for herself.
Demo Available: Yes

Tropical Farm
Genre: Simulation (Time Management)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows
Premise: Help revitalize a hurricane ravaged island by running a successful farm.
Demo Available: Yes

The Return of Monte Cristo
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Help Edmond Dante discover who killed his lover Mercedes in a game that acts as the sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

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Title: Half-Minute Hero
Price: $29.99
System(s): PSP
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Publisher (Developer): XSEED (Opus)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Animated Blood, Language, Mild Fantasy Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes.
Pros: Four game modes which each represent a different game genre. Branching paths in Hero 30. A gallery and collection mode to see what you’ve unlocked in Hero 30. Unique art style. Very easy controls. Pretty simple to play, once you figure out the basic formula. Can submit your scores/rankings online to see how great a hero you are. Multiplayer lets you play Hero 30 against friends to see who’s the best.
Cons: You have to unlock Knight 30, Hero 300 and Hero 3. Even though the box claims 20 hours of gameplay, the modes other than Hero 30 are pretty short. Can be overly easy at times. Princess 30 is disappointing.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 90, A-, * * * * out of 5

Half-Minute Hero has rather humble beginnings. It began life as a brief, 1mb freeware game by developer UUE. Marvelous Entertainment saw the potential for a full game there, expanded it and turned it into Yuusha 30. The Hero 30 mode is nearly identical to the original game, and additional Evil Lord 30, Princess 30 and Knight 30 modes have been added in to flesh out the story and make the overall game more substantial. Now XSEED has picked up this quirky game for a North American release.

Only thirty seconds to complete your quests.

An ultimate evil lord by the name of Noire has been tormenting the land for hundreds of years. With the help of the Time Goddess, a series of heroes will face off against Noire throughout time in the hopes of destroying him and bringing peace.

Chronologically, the game begins with Hero 30, an RPG where a hero must face off against numerous evil lords who have been given a spell that will destroy the world in 30 seconds. It continues with Evil Lord 30, a real time strategy game where a vile man called Noire has placed a curse on the evil lord’s love Millenia and is placing Noire statues that warp the mind around the country. After that comes the shoot-em-up Princess 30, where the princess must retrieve medicines that could heal her father, who has mysteriously fallen ill. The next chapter is Knight 30, an action game where a lone knight must protect a sage with the power to save the world. Finally, it all ties together in Hero 300.

Not all game modes are created equal - Hero 30 steals the show.

Half-Minute Hero is probably one of the better on-the-go PSP games available. Since there are six game modes available (once you unlock everything) that cover four different game genres and typically take only a minute or two for each mission, it offers a lot of variety and a perfect portable game experience. It also has wonderfully retro graphics and a clever script filled with little jokes to make you laugh.

The title is a little misleading though. While it is true that at the start of every mission or adventure in each of the modes you are given 30 seconds to complete it, you can get more time. In Hero 30 or Evil Lord 30, the Time Goddess can grant you more time in exchange for money. In Princess 30, you can ride on a special carpet to slow down time and speed up. In Knight 30, you can put the sage on a spot where he casts faster.

The real problem with Half Minute Hero is that the game modes aren’t all at the same level of quality. If you play two adventures/missions of each of the four main modes, you’ll find that Hero 30 is easily the shining star of the bunch, Evil Lord 30 and Knight 30 are the passable mid-tier modes and Princess 30 lags behind and is formulaic, button mashing and repetitive. The unfortunate part is, you must finish the worst mode, Princess 30, if you want to unlock Knight 30, Hero 300 and Hero 3. Its understandable why the unlocking feature is there, given that the stories in all the modes culminates in Hero 300, but that doesn’t make the unlocking any less tedious.

One of the PSP’s most unique games.

Half-Minute Hero is certainly innovative, funny, unique and great to play on the go. It does have its faults, like how the game can be too easy and some modes (Hero 30 and Evil Lord 30), are better than others (Princess 30 and Knight 30). It’s a great game, but also one of those that could end up being a hit or miss, depending on the personal preferences of the person playing it.

The best advice I can give is go to the PlayStation Store and download the demos. Demos for the Hero 30 and Evil Lord 30 segments are both available immediately. Test both out. If you like them, then chances are you’ll love the full game. Be advised though that the Normal difficulty level of the full game is much easier than both of the demos available. An even better suggestion is to make a Japanese PlayStation Store account - there are demos for each mode of the game available there.

Site [Half-Minute Hero]

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**Fair Warning: This will be VERY SPOILER HEAVY. Read of your volition!!!**

The Human mind is very interesting piece of biological equipment. The way we think, interpret, and create. How our brains use electrical impulses to make it all happen. And yet, the Human mind is also one of the most terrifying things in existence. The way our mental psyche can succumb to an emotion, creating fantastic and frightening events, manipulated by memories and nightmares, an inescapable fear.

Silent Hill 2 isn’t a horror game in the classic sense of the genre; sure it has demons and plays our fears of the dark, but it goes beyond that by becoming truly scary through its playing with the mind. It’s a haunting video game twist on the plot device used in many works such as the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Bridge Creek , and the Adrian Lyne film, Jacob’s Ladder.

The inescapable fear described in the beginning paragraph has pulled in a widower named James Sunderland (who looks an awful lot like Keifer Sutherland’s character from the movie, The Vanishing, which I might is also about a man relentlessly looking for his wife). His wife, Mary, succumbed to unknown disease or so he thought. He received a letter from her telling him to meet her in their “special place”.

Silent Hill.

It was there that the two shared the last special moments together before Mary became hospitalized and pass on. It now is the place where James will confront Mary… and himself.

Silent Hill 2 isn’t a particularly good “game”, it instead is carried fully by its story, one that, to myself, remains good enough to go back through over and over again despite the horrible design choices the game’s designers made. Having to open the menu whenever you wanted to use items or view the map and notes was the most notable pain, though if you imagine Resident Evil controls plastered on a PlayStation 2 game that gives you a better idea of what your dealing with. The graphics weren’t anything spectacular either, even though the rough, grey and grainy visuals helped with the game’s atmosphere. Still, I love every bit of it. If Team Silent would ever get off their behinds to remake this game, I would only demand better sound quality.

Akria Yamaoka was at the top of his game when creating the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack. It’s something that any lover of video game music needs to experience. Promise’s guitar work is haunting and the piano work on it’s reprise is equally matching. Laura’s Theme is the standout track with its heavy rhythmical use of electric guitar.  Even its reprise does a fantastic job with a fusion of a piano and violin dancing a duet. Laura’s Theme is the track that just sucks you into the entire story. Too bad the original version never got released. For our protagonist James however, too bad a lot of things never got released.

After washing his face in a public bathroom that confirms why I’ll never use one, James sets off down a long pathway into a fog-covered, seemingly deserted Silent Hill. He meets his first encounter, Angela, in the graveyard just before the entrance to town.

Angela is mentally ill and is searching for her mother. She was abused by her father and has a fear of men. Further along James finds Eddie, a obese man who also is mentally ill but only wants to have a friend. Eddie killed someone and is on the run from the law. There’s also the little girl Laura, who was in the same hospital as James’ wife Mary. Finally there’s Maria who looks exactly like Mary but doesn’t share the same attitude.

If you play the prelude story on the Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams re-release, Born From a Wish, you find out that James is a “bad man”.

You see; James Sunderland did something terrible. His visit to Silent Hill isn’t to find his wife, but to confront what he has done. His journey through the town is merely a creation of his own guilt, the people he meets are figments of his own desires and misdeeds. His sins. The monsters are his aggressions and his own fear fighting back, trying to keep him from realizing what he did. The legendary Pyramid Head, James’ personal punisher.

As James puts the pieces together the town and its inhabitants go mad, falling apart, crushed under the power of realization.

Angela representing the way James treated Mary, with disdain over her illness, walks up through a burning staircase after James comes to terms with his hatred of Mary for burdening his life. Eddie is killed by James in a shootout, confirming James to be a murderer and a glutton. In contrast, Laura is James’ remaining innocence. She has committed no sin and therefore isn’t haunted by the demons. She is the little girl that Mary asks James to adopt, his only unselfish link to Mary. Maria, much like Angela and Eddie, is a representation of everything James wanted from Mary. James wanted to be with another woman, someone more outgoing, sexual, and not burdened by an illness.

That’s why James Sunderland killed his wife. James killed Mary. His guilt blocked the horrific event from his mind for years. He smothered her with a hospital pillow to free himself from her burden.

How it all ends after the final realization is a mystery. Future Silent Hill games would only make reference to James going into town and disappearing, his fate unknown to the outside world. Did he kill himself by driving into Tuluca Lake? Did he come to terms with what he did only to repeat the cycle with his imaginary girlfriend Maria? Did he adopt Laura? Does he ever get Mary’s forgiveness? Was it a dog all along? Or did James get abducted by aliens like Henry Mason (the protagonist from the first Silent Hill) before him? We will never know for sure. But what we do know is that no matter the official outcome, Silent Hill 2 remains the best in the series and a game that should definitely be our your Halloween gaming list.

Purchase [Gamestop / Amazon]

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Looking for something to play while you’re out tricking and treating this Halloween? Then we have just the list for you, because who says the iPhone and iPod Touch can’t get in on the Halloween fun? There are plenty of Halloween apps out there but below are our top 5 gaming apps to download that are sure to raise some hairs or at the very least raise your Halloween spirits. Have better options? Then list them below!

1. Silent Hill
What’s a Halloween list without a Silent Hill game? Unfortunately, this entry into the series doesn’t present a gripping story but instead offers a first-person view of a exploratory frustration. So why is it on the list? Because it’s still creepy hearing sounds in the distance as you clamor to find the exit to your flashlight lit dungeon. At $4.99 it is a bit pricey but then again you should be fully aware of what you are buying with a Silent HIll game.
2. Inkvaders
This just in, aliens are invading!!! No this isn’t Orsen Wells reading War of the Worlds, it really is a war of the worlds!!! It’s up to you Generic Marine (literally the guy’s name) to fight them from the moon to the earth and save what you can of humanity. Seriously though, Inkvaders is a lot of fun and very challenging if you want it to be. It’s kinda like a poor man’s Metal Slug without the POWs or crazy Independence Day references, instead just simply being a trial to see how many aliens you can cap before either reaching the end of the stage or death. This one’s $0.99 and well worth it.

3. Crush the Zombies
What do you do when an alien virus turns your fellow human friends into zombies? That’s right, you jump onto your nearest road roller and start crushing some zombies! Of course, you should also search for non-zombies and lead them to safety, but you know, doing donuts while making zombie mash is both fun and important too! Fair warning, the controls are a little loose but for $0.99 how can you not afford not to go for a ride?
4. Resident Evil Degeneration
Much like Silent Hill what’s a Halloween list without a Resident Evil game? The decision to go with Degeneration is based purely on the fact that you are probably burnt out on Resident Evil 4 because you know, it’s on EVERYTHING! Zombies, assisted laser tarting, PDAs, and full-fledged 3D models, all for $4.99 coupled with the fact that Capcom has yet to release Resident Evil 2 on the PlayStation Network Store and I’d say this is about the best you are going to do for a portable Claire and Leon tale.

5. DOOM Resurrection

Last but not least, especially in price, is DOOM Resurrection. I’m sure what else to write here other than it’s DOOM. Howabout, it’s an on-rails, first-person shooter, with lots of guns and exploding demons, set in the DOOM universe? It’s $6.99 and an all new chapter in the DOOM saga? Wait, there’s a DOOM saga? Nevermind, if you like crazy mayhem on Mars with demons from Hell, DOOM is well worth your money. 

Full Story » | Written by Kris Rosado for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Halloween is almost over and soon everyone will be preparing for the following holiday season. More and more children will begin begging their parents for pet-related games and toys for the holidays, then eventually beg for a real pet. A pet based on their virtual or toy pets that turn into more responsibility than they can handle or become aggravated with because the pet is nothing like their virtual ones, leaving the animal’s fate in their parent’s hands.

But one game company, Spil Games, created a game to help educate young girls about the importance of caring for a pet through their free online game Animal Shelter at GirlsGoGames.com.

It’s not as simple as pointing at the readily available food and toys on a screen or playing with a virtual pet that is always happy and healthy. Real pets can get hurt or sick and need attention that can’t be clicked on with a tap of a stylus or finger.

I was given an opportunity to interview Peter Hofstede, Games Director for Spil Games, about Animal Shelter and what he shared was his hope to educate girls that pets are not toys that you can just toss aside when you’re bored. A pet owner, it takes a lot more responsibilities to raise an animal than giving hugs and petting them on the head and I think this game expresses that responsibility.

I asked Hofstede what he hopes young girls learn from this cute game.

“We hope to increase our players’ awareness of the important fact that animals need good care. Unlike toys — which you can throw out or give away if you get fed up with them,” he said. “Animals need a lot of time and attention, and lots of TLC. We also hope that our players learn about the hard work involved in running an animal shelter. That’s something many people take for granted.”

And he’s not joking.

When you first play the game you’re given a list of tasks you must perform on top of making sure the animals in your care are given proper medical attention, fed a nutritional meal and exercised daily based on their health charts. For example, in my care I have a few dogs, cats, bunnies, turtles and even a hamster in my adoption center (see image on right). Each animal has its own needs much like a real pet. I have a turtle that is sick most of the time and requires more medical attention than the rest as well as a dog that’s often bored and hungry.

You also have to keep the areas clean to prevent their conditions from worsening and to keep your center from being closed.

Hofstede added that animal care alone just isn’t enough when they created this game so I asked what was the inspiration behind this game and what makes this virtual pet game different from the rest already out for handheld and console gaming systems.

“We know that cute animal games are very popular with our GirlsGoGames audience, so the idea of making a game about an animal shelter came up pretty quickly. However, it took some time to figure out the game’s core design and how to make it stand out from similar games,” he said. “Animal care by itself wouldn’t have been enough. That had already been done. But the advertising and ‘photography aspects hadn’t been done in other animal care games, so we added those two popular elements. We decided it was important for players to learn about the importance of keeping to a budget, so we added that element too. Lastly, we added movie events to build awareness about how commercials and movies can trigger people to get a pet, something our players may not have considered before. By combining these fresh and informative features, we ended up with a fun, successful, and unique game with an educational twist.”

Photographing the animals is not as easy as it seems. The camera moves and so does the animal. You have to take the right photograph of a pet and find the right words to use in your advertisement that will draw potential pet owners to your shelter. Patience is a virtue here because the animal moves around, looks away and even growls at the camera. If you’re patient enough you may be able photograph an adorable pose to post in the newspaper, fliers or even a television ad. Once the right photo is captured, then you must provide a decent description about animal you want to advertise for adoption.

Based on your success of getting the animals adopted as well as keeping the animals and the center in good condition, you are given donations that can be used to upgrade the food, medical care and toys for your animals. Just watch your budget because you don’t know when the next animal will be adopted or when the center will receive the next donation.

The game is adorable but takes strategy to get all the animals adopted and raise the donations needed to keep the animals fed, clean and healthy.

I asked if this game would eventually be made for a console or if there were any other educational games they are about to launch.

“We launch new games every single week but it’s really heart-warming when we can also take part in spreading awareness and educating our players with games like Animal Shelter,” Hofstede said. “We hope our players will enjoy the gameplay, of course, but we also hope that they enjoy learning about proper animal care and the process involved in animal adoption. Also, we want to let your readers know that they can expect a lot of new, exciting features and content in the near future. Our team here at Spil Games is working hard to develop ever richer and ever more entertaining online gaming experiences!”

Site [Spil Games] Site [GirlsgoGames.com]

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When your friendly neighborhood delivery person (hey Tim) comes to your door with a wooden crate in tow and you didn’t order anything, you know it’s going to be fun.

It’s been a while since I’ve received notable swag from a game company - I blame the economy - but this one proved to be especially interesting.

Prying open the nailed down wood lid to the small wooden crate revealed a dozen plush (read: stuffed) SqueeBalls Party creatures. Each is about 6 to 8 inches tall and variable widths. They feature large eyes and, as my almost-3-year-old can attest, they are “so cute.”

SqueeBalls Party by Aksys Games and PDP is a family party game that stars twelve wacky toys. You control the cute and creepy SqueeBalls in minigames including bowling, golf, cooking and a bunch of other button-mashing tasks. It’s rated “Everyone” with cartoon violence and is currently available for Wii, DS, Xbox 360, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Site [SqueeBalls]

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Halloween is only a day away, and what better time to continue thinking about how the spooky and extraordinary can tie into our daily lives. Monstrous creatures are a mainstay of the holiday, whether people watch horror movies starring them or dress up as said characters to frighten and impress. If you think about it, some of those monsters have quite a bit in common with some well known, established and perhaps even loved video games.

To help you all get in the holiday spirit, Gamertell’s gone through the massive library of games available to see what they would be if they were monsters.

Imagine/Ener-G/Dreamer/Charm Girls Club/Petz = Zombies

It started out with just one game line, Imagine, and now look what it has become. Step into a DS game section and you’ll be overwhelmed by a sea of pastel, substandard games for girls. And, even though you may never actually see anyone buying them, they keep appearing! The section grows larger and larger. I wouldn’t be surprised if those games even rotted your brains. Just like zombies!

World of Warcraft/Everquest/Warhammer Online = Vampires

Frankly, it’s easy to compare any MMO game to a vampire. With an MMO, people get drawn into a whole other world and environment. Slowly but surely, playing that game becomes their sole motivation in life. They can’t live without it. Then, they recruit their friends! So not only are the MMOs time vampires, they turn the people playing into them as well.

Pokemon/Mario Party/Dokapon/Soul Calibur = Wolfman

Think about it, Pokemon, Mario Party and Soul Calibur games have the ability to turn people into something that they’re not. A normally respected and intelligent man can suddenly be transformed into a person with an uncontrollable urge to “get ‘em all,” even if it means skipping work to get to a special Toys ‘R Us event for a rare pokemon. Mario Party and Dokapon, two adorable-looking board games, can quickly and easily turn friends against one another - often resulting in a violent debacle. The same can be said for Soul Calibur - the most unexpected people can turn out to be harbingers of doom.

Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad/Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers/Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball/Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 = Witches

Witches are supposedly able to seduce, charm and allure - casting spells on people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Sounds a lot like video games where companies purposely insert a lot of unrealistic, scantily clad women to try and get men to play, doesn’t it? And normally, those games are the kind people would probably overlook, but because the women are half-dressed, guys will flock to play and buy them.

101-in-1 Explosive Megamix/WarioWare/Rayman Raving Rabbids = Frankensteins

Any mini-game collection can be considered a Frankenstein monster of sorts. All kinds of short games are tossed in, that wouldn’t work on their own. Many times, the games will be based on old classics which haven’t been popular in years. Yet all together, the collection of games work. Sometimes they come out good, sometimes bad. All in all, they’re strange amalgamations - just like a Frankenstein monster.

A.S.H.: Archaic Sealed Heat (DS)/Dirty Harry (Xbox 360)/Winter (Wii)/Eight Days (PS3)/Earthworm Jim PSP/Mother 3 (GBA) = Ghosts

Ah, the poor games trapped trapped in limbo or cancelled altogether. People may have had high hopes and expecations for them, especially for games like Earthworm Jim PSP, A.S.H. and Winter, but it wasn’t to be. Now, the gamers are haunted by the wonderful games that they will never get to play.

Read [Gamertell]

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Somehow I expected more scary and spooky casual games to be released this week, since Halloween is Saturday. Four isn’t too bad - Fort Zombie, Trapped: The Abduction, Night of the Scarecrows and Sters all debuted but somehow I expected more than that. Of course, when you combine those with the other Halloween-esque casual games that were released throughout October 2009, there’s a nice assortment to choose from.

This was definitely a week where puzzles ruled among the new releases. If you’re a fan of hidden object, match-3 or picross puzzles, you’ll be set. If you’re not, there’s a shooter and action RPG you can play instead. 

This week’s best bets are: Trapped: The Abduction (PC, Mac) and The Tudors (PC).

Hidden Expedition: Devil’s Triangle
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: You and your team are trapped in the Bermuda Triangle on a strange island while searching for one of your missing members. Your goal is to find out where you are, what’s going on and then how to escape.
Demo Available: Yes

World Riddles: Animals
Genre: Puzzle
Availability: Funny Bear Studio
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista and 7
Premise: It’s a collection of over 120 nonogram (picross) puzzles with an animal theme. There are also some mini-games tossed in, and some informative facts about the animals that appear in the game
Demo Available: Yes

Fort Zombie
Genre: Action RPG
Availability: Fort Zombie
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows PC
Premise: You have to survive the zombie outbreak. You must travel towards a safe stronghold, while also saving other survivors, collecting supplies and hunting down zombies along the way.
Demo Available: Yes

Trapped: The Abduction
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows Vista and XP and Mac 10.5
Premise: A young woman has been abducted by a serial killer, and you must carefully look for clues and play mini-games to survive.
Editor’s Note: Due to the premise and dark tone of the game, I’d say it’s best for ages 16+.
Demo Available: Yes

Night of the Scarecrows
Genre: Puzzle (Match-3)
Availability: GameHouse
Retail Price: $5.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Living scarecrows are lumbering towards the village, bent on destruction, and the only way to stop them is to play match-3 puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

Sters
Genre: Shooter
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Sters, little ghosts, goblins and monsters, are causing trouble around the world. It’s up to you to use your cannon launcher to dispatch them.
Demo Available: Yes

The Treasures of Montezuma 2
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Match tokens to make then disappear and earn points. This time around, there are three levels of difficulty to make the game more enjoyable.
Demo Available: Yes

The Tudors
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: The game based on the Showtime series The Tudors. Here, you play as a spy for King Henry VIII, revealing and preventing all kinds of threats to England’s safety.
Demo Available: Yes

Big City Adventure: New York
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Go on a virtual vacation, exploring New York City. Search hidden object puzzles to find items and souveniers, collect postcards, play mini-games and learn more about New York.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

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Hey everyone! This is a momentous day for Important Importables. Today marks the 100th column. Who’d have thought, right?

Anyways, to celebrate today, I’m listing my 100 all time favorite games that you can only get by importing. These are titles that aren’t available in North America, and you have to import from either Japan or Europe if you want to play them.

Remember, this isn’t a comprehensive list and is based on my personal picks. It’s a general guide to some great games you should be aware of. It’s also a bit biased in terms of systems, because it was formed based on games that I’ve either played or taken an interest in over the years. So, since I’ve imported quite a few DS games and that’s one of my favorite systems, there’ll naturally be more DS games represented.

If there’s a great import game you know that isn’t on the list and should be, tell the world in the comments. Also remember, many consoles have region protection! If you have a Game Boy, Game Boy Color, DS, PSP or PS3 you should be region-free, and if you have a Dreamcast you can buy or make a special boot-disk which makes your console region-free.

Dreamcast

• Bomber HehHe: It’s a puzzle game with some action elements. The goal is to place bombs to take down buildings.
• Capcom vs SNK 2: A fighting game, of course. The first one did get a US release, but this one didn’t.
• Cosmic Smash: It’s sort of like Arkanoid/Alleyway, in that you have to destroy blocks. Except you’re playing as a human trying to smash them with a ball, and racing against the clock.
• DUX: A side scrolling shoot-em-up (the Dreamcast was known for them) that has the distinction of being one of the most recent DC releases. It came out in 2009.
• Last Hope: Pink Bullets: Again, one of the more recent DC releases and shoot-em-up. It’s an updated and adjusted version of the Neo Geo game Last Hope.
• Napple Tale: Arisia in Daydream: A platformer where a girl named Arisia is tasked with returning the lost seasons to Napple Town.
• Pop’n Music: A fun, bright and colorful music game.
• Princess Maker Collection: You get Princess Maker 2 and Princess Maker 3 in one game.
• Rainbow Cotton: A shoot-em-up (cute-em-up) that’s the first 3D entry in the Cotton series.
• Puyo Pop Fever: It was the last Sonic Team DC game, but was never released outside of Japan.
• Any Sakura Taisen game: They’re all fun blends of visual novel, strategic rpg and dating sim games.
• Shenmue II: Only Europe and Japan got the sequel to Shenmue. I recommend importing the European version, since it’ll be in English.
• Shinseiki Evangelion: Ayanami Rei Ikusei Keikaku: Think Princess Maker, only with Rei Ayanami from Evangelion as the potential princess. Its also available on the DS, PC and PS2.
• Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles: A recent Dreamcast puzzle release.

DS

• 100 Classic Book Collection: Basically an e-reader program with 100 classic books built in and an additional 10 that can be downloaded. It’s available in Europe, but not North America.
• Arabian’s Lost: An otome/RPG where the main character is an Arabian princess of a land filled with thieves, gamblers, assassins and crooks who must earn 10 million in 30 days to keep from being trapped in an arranged marriage. Its also available for the PS2.
• A.S.H.: Archaic Sealed Heat: A strategic RPG from Nintendo that was supposed to come to North America, but never did.
• Daigasso Band Brothers / Daigasso Band Bros. DX: A music game where you play songs using the DS face buttons. You can also create your own songs in both games and download songs in the sequel.
• Dokidoki Majo Shinpan!: A somewhat-perverted game which has gained fame and notoriety for the fact that players touch girls on the touch screen to determine if they’re witches.
• Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland: An RPG starring Tingle from the Legend of Zelda series and revolves around his quest to get money and get to Rupeeland. It received a Japanese and European release, but never appeared in North America.
• Game & Watch Collection 2: A Japanese Club Nintendo promotion that includes the Game & Watch titles Parachute and Octopus.
• Game Center CX: Arino no Chousenjou 2: The sequel to Retro Game Challenge. Since the first game wasn’t a huge seller in North America, we probably will never see an English version of the sequel.
• Hirameki Action: Chibikko Wagyan no Daiki na Bouken: This is a side-scrolling action game where players guide a little dinosaur with a mighty roar through levels.
• Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars: The first Idolm@ster game where players act as the idols instead of a faceless producer. It’s also the first game in the series with a male idol (though he’s in disguise as a girl).
• Itadaki Street DS: A monopoly-esque board game from Square Enix starring characters from Super Mario and Dragon Quest. It also has Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support so you can play online.
• Jump Ultimate Stars: A Smash Bros style fighting game with 300 characters from 41 Shonen Jump mangas. Unfortunately, it’ll never get a worldwide release due to licensing issues.
• Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten: A Japanese-English dictionary that’s perfect for people studying Japanese. A few Game&Watch games are also hidden in it.
• Katekyoo Hitman Reborn DS Flame Rumble X: Mirai Chou-Bakuhatsu!!: A 2D fighting game starring the characters from the manga/anime Katekyoo Hitman Reborn.
• Ketsui Death Label: An impressive shoot-em-up from Cave.
• Love Plus: A Japanese dating sim that’s gained a massive following in a short period of time. It takes place in real time and players are actually able to date, then marry, one of three girls they choose.
• Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken: A Taiko no Tatsujin drum game that even has an adventure/story mode.
• NANA: Live Staff Daiboshuu! Shoshinsha Kangei: A life sim based on the Nana manga/anime/movie where the player can make a life in Tokyo and try to get a job with one of the two bands from the series.
• Ochaken no Daibouken: An adorable and enjoyable platformer starring the Ochaken dog and Ochaneko cat characters.
• Otometeki Koi Kakumei Love Revo DS!!: A hilarious and occasionally touching otome simulation where the main character is a fat girl trying to lose weight so she can get a boyfriend.
• Any Ouendan game: They’re like the Elite Beat Agents game, only better.
• Sigma Harmonics: A Square Enix adventure RPG where players must time travel to prevent murders and preserve the present.
• Slide Adventure: Mag Kid: An action/puzzle game where players attach a peripheral and slide the DS around to make the main character, Mag Kid, move.
• Soma Bringer: A gorgeous action RPG from Nintendo that may never get a worldwide release.
• Tales of Innocence: A good DS entry in the Tales of series that Namco Bandai never released outside of Japan.
• Tales of Hearts: Again, another good DS Tales of entry. It’s available in two versions - one with CG cutscenes and one with animated ones.
• Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 1st Love and 2nd Season: These two DS games are otome life sims where players guide a girl through high school and hopefully help her find a boyfriend.
• Vampire Knight DS: A DS otome simulation with visual novel elements that is based on the Vampire Knight manga/anime.
• Xenosaga I + II: A DS adaptation of the first two Xenosaga games.

GameCube

• Doshin the Giant: a god/life simulation where players determine how Doshin interacts with island natives. It was available in Japan and Europe.
• Kururin Squash: An action/puzzle game where players must navigate through mazes.

GBA

• Any bit Generations game: They’re a nice variety of stylish, simple puzzle and action games.
• Densetsu no Starfy: The first game in the Legendary Starfy series.
• Densetsu no Starfy 3: The last Starfy GBA game and the first where Starpy is a major character.
• Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi: The only GBA Fire Emblem game not released in English. It’s the first GBA Fire Emblem, but the sequel to the Fire Emblem GBA game released in North America.
• Genso Suikoden: Card Stories: Suikoden II with card battles.
• Mother + Mother 2: The original Mother and Mother 2/Earthbound in one cartridge.
• Mother 3: The RPG Earthbound sequel. It’s main character, Lucas, appeared in Smash Bros Brawl.
• Rhythm Tengoku: A music game and the prequel to Rhythm Heaven.
• Super Mario Ball: A Super Mario pinball game.
• Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2: A Tales of mash-up action-RPG. It’s mainly about fetch quests and quick missions.
• Tomato Adventure: An adorable Nintendo RPG designed for beginners. It has some elements found in the Mario & Luigi RPGs.

PC

• Any and every Touhou game ever released: They’re fantastic shoot-em-up (cute-em-up) games.

PS2

• beatmania IIDX 16 Empress: A fantastic music and rhythm game.
• Bleach: Blade Battles 2nd: A fighting game with the Bleach characters.
• Espgaluda: A Cave shooter that’s a prequel to ESP Ra.De..
• Fate/stay Night: Realta Nua: An all ages version of the popular visual novel Fate/stay night.
• GuitarFreaks & DrumMania Masterpiece Gold: The original guitar and drum music video game. This is one of the best entries in the series.
• Melty Blood: Actress Again: A fighting game starring characters from the visual novel Tsukihime.
• Namco x Capcom: An RPG with action and strategic elements that has characters Namco and Capcom games making cameos as either allies or opponents.
• Nana: A life simulation game based on the Nana anime/manga where the player moves to Tokyo and gets to interact with characters from the series.
• Tales of Destiny Director’s Cut: A PS2 remake of the PS1 classic Tales of Destiny, with additional content.
• Tales of Symphonia: A PS2 port of the GameCube game with additional content.
• Tian Xing: Sword of Destiny: A hack-and-slash game Devil May Cry fans would love.

PSP

• Audition Portable: A portable version of the PC MMO. The gameplay is similar to the Bust-a-Groove games.
• Any Bleach Heat the Soul game: Great PSP fighters starring Bleach characters.
• Breath of Fire III: A PSP port. It was released in Europe, so you can import it and play it in English.
• Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable: A PSP port of a PS2 game with extra characters. It’s a monopoly-esque board game with characters from Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
• Hatsune Miku Project Diva: A Sega music game starring the Vocaloid Miku Hatsune that lets you import your own .mp3s and create your own songs and music videos.
• Idolmaster SP: Available in three versions, Perfect Sun, Missing Moon and Wandering Star, it was the first portable version of Idolm@ster.
• La Corda d’Oro: A PSP port of the PS2 and PC otome/simulation where players attempt to become a great violin player and win competitions while also making friends or possibly finding a boyfriend.
• Macross Ultimate Frontier: An action game that lets players fight pretty much every battle in the Macross anime series.
• Maplus: Portable Navi and GPS Receiver: turns your PSP into a GPS.
• Parodius Portable: A port of the side-scrolling shooter.
• Persona 3 Portable: A port of the PS2 game Persona 3 with a second storyline where the main character is a girl. It’ll probably get a US release, but for now it’s Japan-only.
• Princess Crown: A port of the VanillaWare Saturn game that’s the spiritual successor and prequel to Odin Sphere.
• Princess Maker 4 Portable: A port of a Princess Maker game that’s very similar to the cult classic Princess Maker 2.
• Suikoden I + II: The PS1 games on one UMD.
• Tales of Eternia: A port of Tales of Eternia/Tales of Destiny II. It’s available in English in Europe.
• Tales of Rebirth: A port of the PS2 Tales of game that never made it outside of Japan. It isn’t available in English.
• Tales of VS.: A fighting game featuring characters from the Tales of games.
• Twinbee Portable: A port of the classic shoot-em-up.
• Ys VII: The latest entry in the Ys action-RPG series. It may see a US release, but for now it’s Japan-only.

SNES

• Der Langrisser: A strategic RPG with multiple endings based on decisions the player makes.
• Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu: The fourth Fire Emblem game and regarded as one of the best. It introduced the romance/relationship element into the series and is multigenerational - if two characters get together in the first part, their child will appear in the second.
• Live a Live: A Square Enix RPG with seven storylines that unexpectedly all end up being connected.
• Sailor Moon: Another Story: An RPG inspired by Sailor Moon with an original storyline that has become a cult classic and is unexpectedly spectacular.
• Seiken Densetsu 3: An entry in the Square Enix Mana series that was never released outside of Japan.

Wii

• 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de / 428: In a Blockaded Shibuya: A highly acclaimed visual novel. It’s been ported to the PS3 and PSP.
• Captain Rainbow: It’s an action/adventure game from Nintendo where a character named Nick, aka Captain Rainbow, goes around helping people on Mimin Island trying to either grant his wish or the wishes of islanders. It features many little known or forgotten Nintendo characters.
• Disaster: Day of Crisis: An action/adventure game released only in Australia, Europe and Japan. Players help Raymond Bryce, who works for the government, survive and save people during natural disasters and stop a terrorist group called SURGE. It will likely never receive a US release.
• Sukeban Shachou Rena: A mini-game collection featuring cats working at Cat Queen, Inc. Your goal is to start out as an entry level cat. You work your way up to the head of the company and earn respect of the CEO, Nekopunch mascot Rena.
• Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: The Taiko drum game series comes to the Wii.
• Zero:Tsukihami no Kamen / Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse: The fourth entry in the Fatal Frame series.

Xbox 360

• Idolm@ster: The original Idolm@ster game, where players help an idol, or group of idols, become a success.
• Death Smiles: A new Cave shoot-em-up with a gothic theme.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables takes a one-week break, but will return November 13, 2009 to talk about Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei series.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last weekImportant Importables looked at six Japanese gadgets that exist only to be adorable.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

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Bundles include:

• 2 Samurai Swords


• 2 Table Tennis Paddles
  
• 1 Golf Club
  
• 2 Remote Bases
  
• Port access allowing for Nunchuck and MotionPlus Adapter
  
• Safety lock
  
• Compatible with: All Sword, Tennis and Golf titles for Wii

• 2 Samurai Swords


• 2 Remote Bases


• Compatible with: Wii Sports ResortTM, Red Steel 2, No More HerosTM2, and any other sword title

• 2 Tennis Rackets (1 red, 1 blue)


• 2 Remotes Bases


• Port access allows for Nunchuck and MotionPlus Adapter


• Safety lock


• Compatible with: Grand Slam Tennis, Virtual TennisTM2009, Wii SportsTM Tennis, Mario PowerTM Tennis

Full Story » | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Title: Avenue Flo
Price: $19.95
System(s): PC (Also available on Macs)
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Play First (PlayFirst)
ESRB Rating: N/A. I’d say it is appropriate for all ages.
Pros: Nice assortment of mini-games. Familiar characters from the PlayFirst Dash series. Colorful and clear environments.
Cons: For the most part, very easy. Lots of tutorials. Game often tells you what to do instead of letting you do it yourself. Set off alerts and had registration issues with Kaspersky Internet Security 2009.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways; 85/100; B; * * * 1/2 out of 5

PlayFirst’s Avenue Flo is unquestionably a good and interesting addition to the Dash series of games. Thanks to titles like Diner Dash, Wedding Dash, Diaper Dash, DinerTown Detective Agency and DinerTown Tycoon, fans have been able to enjoy classic casual game genres like time management, hidden object and stategic simulation. With Avenue Flo, the Dash series moves into the realm of point-and-click adventures.

Quinn’s the wedding planner, but Flo’s the only one who can save the wedding.

Quinn, star of the Wedding Dash games, is having an absolutely horrible day. She’s working on a huge wedding that’s supposed to be happening today. Supposed is the key word. The problem is, absolutely everything is going wrong, and it’s too much for her to handle alone. Thankfully Flo, star of the Diner Dash games, is her best friend and willing to help out so Quinn isn’t humiliated and the wedding can go on.

So, players must assist Flo in her endeavor to set things right. Basically, she’s an errand girl. She has to find lost items, or even animals in the case of Snookums the poodle, the bride Ms. Big’s errant dog. She’ll also have to replace damaged items and cater to the needs of others. Along the way, she develops the suspicion that all the mishaps aren’t coincidental - someone in DinerTown is sabotaging the event - and she also has to talk to residents, all familiar characters from Dash or DinerTown games, to find out what exactly is going on.

Quit telling me what to do!

Avenue Flo is bright, colorful and welcoming. The characters are voiced, a first for a DinerTown or Dash game, practically every character from the series makes an appearance and players get to explore most of DinerTown while attempting to save the wedding. It sort of feels like it’s designed to be an adventure game for beginners, which is great if people haven’t ever played a point-and-click adventure. The tutorials are comprehensive, a map is available to see where you are and who you have, or haven’t talked to, you can constantly consult a task list in case you think you’ve missed something and, to break up monotony, puzzle mini-games like matching items, finding hidden objects or taking part in an aerobics class.

However, Avenue Flo can also be compared to an overprotective parent. It is constantly holding the hand of the player and never letting go. While there was never a moment where I was left wondering what I was supposed to do next, there also never seemed to be a moment where I actually had to think and figure something out for myself. If Flo needed to find an item, or go to a different area, she’d often say to herself (and the player) that she should visit x location to get y item. The whole point of an adventure game is to use your brain to find solutions to troublesome situations. Avenue Flo never gives the player the opportunity to do that - it’s constantly doing it for you.

Also, if you’re running Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 on a Windows Vista computer, you may encounter conflicts with Avenue Flo. When I installed it, it labeled the game as a high risk. Normally, that’s no big deal. I’ll just install the game and let Kaspersky label it as such and enable its precautions. But with Avenue Flo it ended up giving off a stream of alerts and I found myself unable to register the game. I had no problem installing, registering and playing Avenue Flo on a Windows XP computer with no anti-virus program.

A better title would be, My First Point-and-Click Adventure: Avenue Flo.

Avenue Flo is cute. Very cute. It’s well executed, filled with familiar Dash series characters and incredibly easy to play. The problem is, it’s far too easy. The only real challenge comes from the mini-games, and even some of those are pretty easy. So the people who’d be most interested in the game, adventure fans, could very likely be turned off by the fact that the game is constantly holding your hand and even telling you what to do.

If you’ve never played an adventure game before, want a game you where you don’t really have to think to play or are a child, Avenue Flo is the perfect pick. If you’re someone who enjoys a challenge or is an older gamer, then look elsewhere.

Site [Avenue Flo]

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Title: Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
Price: $39.99
System(s): PSP
Release Date: November 10, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Atlus (Spike)
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Animated Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes and Violence
Pros: Fantastic script, translation and localization. Simple controls. Lots of clothing and character customization options. Funny storyline. Night Out option allows you to play with friends or build up your character’s stats and funds. You can dress the main character as a giant banana.
Cons: Loading times are too short (not enough time to read the awesome definitions). Game is somewhat short.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 98/100, A, * * * * 1/2 out of 5

I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been captivated by Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble ever since I had the opportunity to play it for a hands-on preview. It is by far the quirkiest hack-and-slash style game I’ve ever played, and I never expected it to provide players with such freedom over their banchos’ actions. This has been a banner year for Atlus PSP games, and the amazing Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble easily belongs among great releases like Shin Megami Tensei: Persona,  Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament, Class of Heroes and Crimson Gem Saga.

Surviving school trip banalities by becoming the ultimate high school badass.

Takashi Sakamoto’s on a school trip. Not by choice, mind you. A school trip to Kyouto’s the last thing he’s interested in experiencing. But his teacher threatened horrible things if he didn’t go, so he’s trapped.

Once he arrives in Kyouto, he learns something that may make the whole trip worthwhile. 47 high schools are all on their high school trip in Kyouto at the same time. It turns out this happens every year, and every year the banchos (top badasses) of each school battle it out to see who’s the best. Takashi decides he’s in, and declares he will be the ultimate bancho.

Players have seven days to help Takashi beat all 46 other banchos. He has to beat up their minions to find school schedules, then make sure he’s at the appropriate location at the right time to take down their leaders. If he manages to prove himself, he’ll be challenged by the Kyouto bancho, the reigning ultimate bancho, before he leaves. There’s more to do than fight though, Takashi’s father’s tasked him with collecting souvenirs, there are class trip activities and there are a few possible girlfriends for Takashi to woo.

You know a game’s great when even the loading screens exude awesomeness.

First, I must mention how incredibly cool the Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble loading screens are. After all, they’re the first thing you’ll see when you start the game. Each loading screen offers a definition of a term that you’ll find in the game, or a brief description of one of the game’s locations or more unique characters. They’re usually quite quirky, often funny and even informative. This is the only game where I think I’ve anticipated loading screens. The only bad part is that the loading times are too short, meaning you might not get enough time to read them.

The loading screens also set the tone for the writing of the entire game. Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is often silly, funny and clever, all at once. The quips exchanged before and after fights are always different. It’s a very well translated and localized affair. Moreover, it succeeds in making even the strangest characters likable.

The whole fight structure is interesting as well. You’re given complete freedom over how to make Takashi the top bancho, but there is a general and accepted way of fighting. First, you unleash your menchi beams with your opponent. (Note: A real bancho only fights other banchos.) Once he accepts, you start a trash talking duel. You’ll see a phrase flash in front of you, then you must push the correct buttons to recreate that phrase. If you do so correctly, you’ll get the first hit in. Then, you fight. Bare hands only - only a shabazo (lowlife) fights with weapons. If you proceed like this, you’ll end up respected and revered.

Of course, it’s also fun to break those rules. I dedicated a whole playthrough to making Takashi a shabazo king. He’d use his menchi beams to steal from innocent passersby. He’d go into a fight carrying wooden swords or lead pipes. He’d ambush opponents, going in swinging.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is short, but even that’s a good thing. There’s no possible way to do everything in the game - complete the journal, unlock titles, get girlfriends, find items, on the first playthrough. You have to replay it to experience everything. Also, since there are quite a few little side stories and paths to see, depending on where Takashi is at certain times during the week, the story will also be slightly different each time you play.

Quite possibly the funniest, quirkiest and most entertaining PSP game of 2009.

The moment I saw Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble‘s protagonist beating up opponents while dressed as a giant banana, I was sold. Hack-and-slash action games can often get repetitive or seem lifeless after a while, because all you’re really doing is just endlessly attacking enemies. Kenka Bancho never feels repetitive or lifeless. There’s always something to do, whether you’re trying to complete the school trip storyline, get a girlfriend for Takashi, become the ultimate bancho or even just collect all the game’s souvenirs. In addition, the script is fantastic and the characters are interesting.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble may look like a niche game, but any PSP owner would love it if they gave it a chance. It’s a pleasant surprise.

Read [Gamertell] Site [Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble]

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Hey Gamertell readers. The weekly Nintendo Downloads update has been absent for a while. Did you miss it? Well, its back!

This week, if you own a Wii, you can get into the Halloween spirit! Two of the four games released are guaranteed to get you in the holiday mood. I’m talking about Ghost Mansion Party and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. If you’re going to get one, go for Zombies Ate My Neighbors, its one of my personal favorites.

No Halloween-y games on the DSiWare store though. You’ll have to make do with last week’s Domo games.

Gamertell’s Nintendo Download picks for the week are Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

WiiWare

Ghost Mansion Party
Price: 1,000 Nintendo Points / $10
Publisher: Gameloft
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Mild Cartoon Violence
Players: 1-4
Description: It’s a board game that will most likely be appreciated by younger children. The goal is to completely explore a haunted mansion, exorcising the ghosts. You can work with the people you’re playing with, or against, it doesn’t matter. As long as you manage to clear out the house for the original ghostly resident, Fazzy.

Tales of Monkey Island - Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan
Price: 1,000 Nintendo Points / $10
Publisher: Telltale Games
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Comic Mischief, Language and Mild Suggestive Themes
Players: 1
Description: Actually, Gamertell has a review of this episode! It’s for the PC version, but the differences are negligible. This chapter continues the Tales of Monkey Island adventure, where Guybrush Threepwood has been swallowed by a gigantic manatee while searching for La Esponge Grande so he can save Elaine from LeChuck’s Pox. It’s a point and click adventure game that relies solely on the remote.

Virtual Console

Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Price: 800 Nintendo Points / $8
Original Appeared On: SNES
Publisher: LucasArts
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Cartoon Violence
Players: 1-2
Description: This is my personal recommendation. If you’re going to get one Nintendo download this week, this is the one to get. It’s essentially a run-and-gun game, not unlike the Contra titles, presented from an overhead view. You play as one of two teenagers named Zeke or Julie, and must rescue your neighbors from all sorts of monsters (zombies included). Thankfully, the monsters seem to be weak against water pistols. There are 48 stages and six bonus levels. Save all 10 of your neighbors in each level and stay alive if you want to progress and survive!

Golden Axe
Price: 900 Nintendo Points / $9
Original Appeared On: Arcade
Publisher: Sega
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for Blood and Fantasy Violence
Players: 1-2
Description: We’ve had run-and-gun today, now it’s time for hack-and-slash. This game may look familiar, but it’s not. See, the Sega Genesis version of Golden Axe is on Virtual Console already. This is the arcade version, which actually came first. The story’s the same though. You choose the warrior, amazon or dwarf to try and cut through tons of enemies to reach Death Adder and bring him down. There’s also co-op multiplayer, if you’re having difficulty doing that alone. Quick tip: The Genesis version of Golden Axe is 100 points / $1 cheaper and basically the same thing.

DSiWare

PictureBook Games: The Royal Bluff
Price: 500 Nintendo Points / $5
Publisher: Nintendo
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Players: 1-4
Description: A strategic board game on your DS. You basically try to decide the number of colored chips your opponents have laid out, and call them on it. The goal is to try and earn the most points.

Sudoku
Price: 200 Nintendo Points / $2
Publisher: EA
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Players: 1
Description: It’s the number puzzle Sudoku on your DS. Can’t get any more descriptive than that. There are five levels, plus you can add in your own puzzles you’ve found in newspapers, magazines and books to boost the number you can do on the go.

Image Source for Zombies Ate My Neighbors screenshot: GamePro

Site [Nintendo]

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While watching horror movies on Halloween is a perfectly acceptable way to celebrate the holiday, it’s also a hands off approach. You’re a spectator, not an active participant in the action. You could always go out to a good haunted house, but those can be far away and quite expensive. Perhaps the best approach would be to gather a handful of your closest friends and have a horrific video game marathon. The beauty with the horror game marathon is that it has the thrills and occasional scares of a horror movie marathon, but also the excitement and personal involvement of a haunted house.

Here’s how to set it up right. Invite only a handful of people over. A number between three and five is perfect, but anymore than seven and it may not be as frightening. Where ever you’ll all be playing the games will have to be dark, save for the light of the television screen. A few candles wouldn’t hurt as well, but make sure they’re set up so they don’t drip, cause a mess or perhaps burn your place down. If anyone has to leave the room, set it up where there are no other lights on, and they have to take a flickering, ready to burn out flashlight, to light their way.

If you have enough time, you can also set up some optional decorations. I’m not talking about the stuff you can find at Walmart or your local dollar store. Try to purposely arrange things in your home or room that look otherworldly or out of the ordinary. Make sure a coat rank has a sufficient number of coats so it looks like a menacing individual in the moonlight. If there’s a scary tree outside your window, leave the shades open. If you ever had a furby or incredibly creepy American Girl doll, now’s the time to leave it in a shadowy corner, watching. Another tip - if there are creepy household noises that you can amplify, do so. Or, claim that you’ve never heard that sound before.

Now, for the games. I’d recommend going with a five hour, five game marathon. From 9pm to 2am works well. You can adjust the schedule as you like though. Also, if you don’t have five games, perhaps just one or two really good, scary ones, then focus on the games you do have and use the marathon to try and complete them in a single night. In case you’re wondering how to proceed, here’s four schedules PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii owners could use.

PS2 owners

9pm - 10pm: Clock Tower 3
10pm - 11pm: Silent Hill 3
11pm - 12am: Rule of Rose
12am - 1am: Fatal Frame
1am - 2am: Fatal Frame 2

Note: The PS2 had a wide selection of horror games. If you don’t think the schedule above would work for you, some good games you can substitute in are Haunting Ground, one of the other Silent Hill games, Siren, Fatal Frame 3 or a Resident Evil game.

PS3 owners

9pm - 10pm: F.E.A.R.
10pm - 11pm: Resident Evil 5
11pm - 12am: Siren: Blood Curse
12am - 1am: Silent Hill: Homecoming
1am - 2am: Dead Space

Xbox 360 owners

9pm - 10pm: Left 4 Dead
10pm - 11pm: Clive Barker’s Jericho
11pm - 12am: Silent Hill: Homecoming
12am - 1am: Condemned: Criminal Origins
1am - 2am: Dead Space

Wii owners

9pm - 10pm: LIT
10pm - 11pm: House of the Dead: Overkill
11pm - 12am: Resident Evil 4
12am - 1am: Dead Space: Extraction
1am - 2am: Ju-on: The Grudge

One final note, should you make your own schedule, try to arrange the games in order of scariness. Leave the most unnerving and frightening game for last. And also, bear in mind, that the schedules above are just suggestions, and don’t cover all horror games available for those systems.

Also Read [Gamertell]

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There’s a pretty nice selection of casual games making their debut this week. For probably the first time every in a Casual Friday update, hidden object games don’t completely overwhelm the other genres!

If you’re a Big Fish Game Club member or have a PlayFirst PlayPass, you’ll be a little disappointed this week. Both sites really didn’t have any new games making their debut. A few old favorites were added to those sites though, so there may be some games that are new to you. Some independent game developers are picking up the slack.

There are also quite a few holiday themed games. Notice I said holiday, and not Halloween. There are two Halloween games, Zombie Bowl-O-Rama and The Dracula Files, which is completely natural, given Halloween is only about a week away. However, this week marks the first appearance of a Thanksgiving-themed casual game - Fishdom: Harvest Splash.

This week’s best bets is: Picket Fences (PC)

The Three Musketeers: The Game
Genre: Action RPG
Availability: Dingo Games
Retail Price: $24.98
Platform: Windows and Mac (Requirements aren’t specified at the site, so try the demo before buying.)
Premise: Help d’Artagnan become a Musketeer, then join the Musketeers as they endeavor to protect the king, the queen and the country.
Demo Available: Yes

Grappling Hook
Genre: Action and Puzzle
Availability: Speed Run Games
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows and Mac. OSes aren’t specified, so download the demo and test before playing.
Premise: You must get through 22 levels using only a grappling hook to progress and solve puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

The Dracula Files
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: eGames.com
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Premise: Dracula has returned, and Michael and Quinn Harker must find a way to vanquish him forever, saving the world and their friend. You have to look around the world to find clues and items to dispatch him for good.
Demo Available: Yes

Fishdom: Harvest Splash
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: Playrix Entertainment
Retail Price: $19.95
Note: It is on sale at Playrix for $9.98 until November 30, 2009
Platform: Windows NT, 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Solve match 3 puzzles to put together a Thanksgiving themed aquarium.
Demo Available: Yes

Danger Next Door: Miss Teri Tale’s Adventure
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Miss Teri Tale has to search to find clues and learn who killed her neighbor, Monty.
Demo Available: Yes

Picket Fences
Genre: Card/Board game
Availability: GameHouse, RealArcade
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows 2000, Vista and XP
Premise: A card game where you try to acquire cards to make sets to make your home the best, biggest and most beautiful.
Demo Available: Yes

Zombie Bowl-O-Rama
Genre: Sports (Bowling)
Availability: Harmonic Flow, Reflexive Arcade
Retail Price: $7.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Attack and dispatch zombies by bowling them over. It’s essentially a bowling game where zombies are the pins.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

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One of the best things about Japan are the unexpected gadgets that find life there. You know what I’m talking about, the cute, tiny things whose sole reason for existance seems to be that they’re utterly adorable. These kinds of treats typically don’t fufill any necessary need, but they do make our lives a bit brighter.

Thankfully, you don’t have to live in Japan to have access to these items. Many online retailers stock some of the cute and unusual gems, so you can own one no matter where you live. And even if you don’t really feel like spending money on one of these charming items, it’s always fun to window shop.

The USB Robot Owl

It’s an owl. An adorable, tiny, owl that is powered by being plugged into a USB slot on your computer or game system. Once plugged in, it sits there and stares it you. Occasionally it will tilt its head, as if it’s judging you to see if you are truly worthy of owning its cute self. It comes in four colors - white, brown, gray and pink. Thanks to fellow Gamertell writer Lucy (who’s fortunate enough to actually own one) for the heads up on this sweetheart. The image you see at the right is a picture of her USB owl that she took.

Available at ThinkGeek for $19.99

Robo-Q Tiny R/C Robot

They’re remote controlled little robots, only much, much, much smaller. Think about the size of a child’s pinky. You get a little robot, its remote control and its toy soccer ball. You can then control the robot yourself with the controller, or let it run on its own, chasing after the ball. It’s batteries are rechargeable, which makes things easier. There are two different styles of robot, future or retro, and each style comes in two different colors.

Available at ThinkGeek for $39.99

Edamame, Bubble Wrap and Beer/Soda Can Pull Keychains

There are few things so simple, fun and satisfying than popping bubble wrap, pushing soybeans out of their casing or pulling the opener of a can. And yet, these are all fleeting pleasures. One you perform the action, it’s all over. That’s where these keychains come in! The Electronic Popping Bubble Wrap feels and sounds like popping bubbles, the Edamame soybean pod feels like popping out beans and the Electronic Beer/Soda Can Pull feels and sounds like opening an aluminum can of soda or beer.

Available at Strapya World, The beer can pull is $8.68, the edamame is $6.92 and the bubble wrap is either $8.57 or $5.33, depending on the model you choose.

Sega Toys Almost Living Cutest Twitter Chick

What’s the perfect gift for someone who can’t have a pet in their apartment and loves adorable things? A robotic chick! This toy is the size of a real chick and looks a lot like one too. It’s covered in soft yellow or blue fur. It will peep and flap its little wings. How cute is that? If you prefer, Sega Toys also makes Robotic Rabbits and Yume Hamsters.

Available at Strapya World for $28.02

Nohohon Zoku Hinatabokko Pochama

Nohohon Zoku are fairly well known, solar powered bobble heads created by Tomy and sold mainly in Japan. One of the latest designs is the pokemon Piplup, the water starter pokemon in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. The Piplup sits happily on a tree stump, and if you place the solar panel in direct light, its head will glide back and forth. I don’t actually own this exact Nohohon, but I have a similar one with a lucky cat design that moves its head and paw. It’s sort of soothing to watch, like a lava lamp.

Available at Play-Asia for $9.90

Pecha Kucha Ku Cha

With a Pecha Kucha Ku Cha, you’ll never be lonely. It’s a brightly colored, wide-eyed, electronic bear sitting in a chair. It recognizes your voice and is happy to engage in small talk with you. It’ll greet you, tell you the time and even tells you what your horoscope looks like for the day. It’s available in four varieties/color schemes - a blue bear in a yellow chair, a yellow bear in a green chair, a pink bear in a blue chair and a brown bear in a pink chair.

Available at Japan Trend Shop for $67.00

Important Importables is coming up on its 100th column! If you have any suggestions as to what you’d like to see the 100th column cover, let me know in the comments!

COMING NEXT WEEK: It’s Important Importables 100th column!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables talked about the Haruhi Suzumiya phenomenon.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

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Halloween is swiftly barreling down on us but, due to monetary situations, creating an elaborate costume is probably out of the question. A more practical, inexpensive and easy alternative is probably best.

The thing is, video game fans can still show their allegiance to their favorite games without breaking their budgets. It isn’t too difficult to dress up as some of the more famous characters out there and, with a little creativity and common sense, come up with a pretty decent costume. Even if it doesn’t turn out well, who cares. Halloween is all about having fun.

So, for budget-conscious individuals, Gamertell has 15 video game costume suggestions for you.

For Men:

• Mario: Blue overalls, red shirt, gloves and hat, construction paper and double-sided tape. The construction paper is to make a moustache and the M insignia for the hat and I’m pretty sure you can figure out what the double-sided tape is for.
• Luigi: See Mario. Substitute the word “green” where ever you see the word “red”. Make sure the hat insignia says “L.”
• Disguised Solid Snake: Here’s one where you could go one of two ways. You could just grab a cardboard box and crawl around under it all night. Or, grab some cheap fatigues from Goodwill or an Army surplus store and a mullet wig to go with your cardboard box.
• Ryu: Head to Goodwill and search for a Karate outfit. You’ll probably actually find one. If anything, settle for the shirt and a pair of white pants. Grab a long, red ribbon or strip of fabric and tie it around your head and you’re all set. If you can find the outfit in red, you could go as Ken.

For Women:

• Princess Peach: Pick up a floor length pink dress. Again, Goodwill is great for this and they usually have a special Halloween section. Also, grab some costume jewelry and one of the Burger King free gold crowns (add spray paint if you want to avoid promoting any one company). If you’re not blonde, you’ll need a wig or can of cheapie, temporary hair color as well.
• Princess Daisy: See Princess Peach, and substitute “yellow” for “pink.” If your hair isn’t brown, pick up a brunette wig or spray color as well.
• Terra or Rydia (FFVI or FFIV: Here’s one that could go either way. Both need a green wig. Both also need a strapless swimsuit - go magenta if you want to be Terra, or green if you want to be Rydia. Pick up some patterned tights as well. Again, green for Rydia, and paisley for Terra. You have some freedom with footwear, matching boots would be best, but you can get by with green or magenta shoes. If you want a cape as well, get some red (Terra) or green (Rydia) fabric and string. Costume jewelry is optional. You could also pick up a magenta (Terra) or green (Rydia) skirt, or a sword/staff if you’d like.
• Lara Croft: Green or black tank top, khaki shorts, wig (if necessary), scrunchi, cheap glasses (frames only) and two water pistols. Boots would be best, but black sneakers could work as well.

Gender Neutral:

• Red Ring of Death: Sure to strike terror into the heart of any Xbox 360 owner. You can do this two ways - the really cheap way, or the sorta cheap way. For the cheap way, grab a white T-shirt and a red sharpie. Draw an oversized RROD symbol on the shirt with markers. If you want to class it up, get a narrow, flat piece of cardboard, white paint, some appropriate colored sharpies and some string. Make the cardboard look like the front of an Xbox 360. Draw the RROD on it. Attach string and wear it.
• Harvest Moon Farmer: You have a bit of freedom here. All you really need is a backpack and some kind of hat. Baseball hat for guys, bandanna for girls. Overalls are a nice touch, but optional. Jeans work just as well.  If there’s a particular entry in the series you’re fond of, use that farmer’s look as your model.
• Pokemon Trainer: Normal clothes and a stuffed Pokemon toy (check Walmart or Goodwill). If you really want to go all out, stop by Michaels or your local craft store. Pick up some small, styrofoam balls and a red sharpie. Make them look like pokeballs, and tape them to an old belt.
• A Sims 2 or Sims 3 person: Get a headband with a spring already attached to it. These antenna headbands are everywhere around Halloween. Get one in a color you like. Also, pick up a black sharpie and green construction paper. Make two large, green diamonds out of the construction paper. Glue or tape them to the antenna, so that you don’t see what was on there before, just the diamond on the front and back. Use the sharpee to add accents to the diamond. Put it on, and you’re set.
• Lost in Blue survivor: Take some old clothes and tatter/fray the edges a bit. Put on a pair of old, comfortable gym shoes. Grab a stuffed monkey, backpack and a large stick from outside. Now you’re a shipwreck survivor, trying to find a way back home.
• Pac Man ghost: Buy a red, pink, teal or orange sheet. Cut holes for your eyes. Follow around your friends. I’m pretty sure Pinky is the only girl but, really, they’re ghosts. Does gender really matter?
• Animal Crossing avatar: Grab a cheap watering can or slingshot, some gold paint, a brown paper bag and a darker brown marker. If you’re a girl, you’ll have to wear a dress. Paint the watering can or slingshot gold. Decorate the brown paper bag with the bells symbol.

Do you have an idea for a cheap and easy to make video game costume? Let us know in the comments below!

Read [Nothing Corporate] Also Read [Gamertell]

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Title: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
Price: $34.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: September 14, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Nintendo (Alphadream Corporation)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Comic Mischief and Mild Cartoon Violence
Pros: Clear and bright worlds and characters, funny script, could be a good first RPG for people, interesting gameplay, lots of areas to explore, can see the map at any time and makes great use of the top and bottom screens.
Cons: No save anywhere. Bros items are gone. Not a lot of side quests.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up, 98/100, A, * * * * 1/2 out of 5

Nintendo’s Mario RPGs never seem to get the attention they deserve. While they are popular games, they always seem to be overshadowed by other entries in the series, like the platformers, sports or party games. It’s a shame, because they tend to always surpass players expectations.

The Mario & Luigi series of portable RPGs has already received quite a bit of support from Nintendo. The spectacular GBA entry, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and equally awesome DS entry Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time were critically acclaimed, and rightfully so. Surprisingly, DS owners didn’t have to wait until the next Nintendo handheld for a new entry. Nintendo has recently released the third entry, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. Don’t let the unremarkable box art fool you, it’s just as entertaining and perhaps even better than the preceding entries.

An unlikely alliance and the exploration of Bowser and the Mushroom Kingdom

An awful plague is spreading throughout the Mushroom Kingdom and infecting Toads. Strange Blorb Shrooms are being distributed by an unknown individual, and anyone who eats a Blorb Shroom develops the Blorbs. They essentially puff up and expand. Remember that part of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Violet Beauregarde grows into a giant blueberry? It’s like that, only the Toads don’t turn blue.

During a conference being held at the Mushroom Castle, where Peach, Mario, Luigi, the Star Sprite Starlow and a number of influencial Toads are discussing the Blorbs and a way to find a cure and save the kingdom, Bowser storms in. He declares he is going to kidnap Peach. Mario trounces him thoroughly.

After that, Bowser wakes up in a nearby forest and isn’t in a very good mood, as you can probably guess. While finding his way out with Kamek, he runs into a mysterious figure who gives him a Lucky Mushroom. Said mushroom makes Bowser inhale everything in sight. The figure, who turns out to be Fawful, sends Bowser back to the castle, where he then inhales everybody. When it’s all over, Bowser awakes in a cave with no memory of what happened, Mario, Luigi and Starlow find themselves journeying through Bowser’s body to find the Toads and Princess Peach and everyone’s trying to find a way to stop Fawful.

An example of a handheld RPG at its finest.

A consistant hallmark of the Mario & Luigi series of RPGs are clever, imaginative and genuinely funny story and script. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story doesn’t disappoint. It’s laugh out loud funny in parts. Even better, it’s funny for players of all ages and skill levels, no matter how familiar they are with the Super Mario universe. Crafting a game which can appeal, entertain and reach all audiences so perfectly is an extraordinary challenge, and Alphadream and Nintendo should be applauded for their effort and hard work that resulted in this wonderful title.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is also just a beautiful game, in terms of graphics, soundtrack and overall presentation. The Mushroom Kingdom is presented in a way where depth is hinted at, based on the way things are laid out and organized, even though the world is essentially still presented in 2D. The world inside Bowser is presented in true, straightforward 2D. In battle, Bowser can inhale enemies, and then Mario and Luigi can deal additional damage from the inside. Sometimes, Bowser can even power up, so the DS is held sideways in book-fashion to look at the battle in a whole new way. It’s just presented in a very innovative, colorful and inventive manner, something you don’t expect in a standard RPG.

Not only that, it’s very easy to play. The controls are intuitive, and every action performed feels comfortable. Plus, there are multiple short tutorials, most of which can be skipped in case you’ve played a Mario & Luigi game before, that ensure no one gets lost along the way. Another nice feature is, when you go to load up a save, there’s a brief description helping you catch up on where the story left off in case you haven’t played in a while.

There’s only one thing wrong with the Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, and it involves saving. You can only save at designated save points. While there are quite a few save points scattered throughout the game, you can often find yourself at a point in the story where you’re five to ten minutes away from a spot where you can save. If this were a console RPG, it wouldn’t matter. But this isn’t. When you’re playing on the go, you may unexpectedly have to stop playing. If that happens while playing Bowser’s Inside Story, you either have to abandon your progress, or close the DS lid to put it in sleep mode and hope the battery doesn’t run out or the power switch doesn’t get nudged.

The Mario & Luigi RPG series remains fresh and strong.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is nearly the perfect portable RPG. The characters are iconic and identifiable, the script is funny and well written, the soundtrack is a joy to listen to, it looks bright and clear and it is easy to get immersed in the tale. Even better, it manages to be the kind of game that beginners and veterans can get into and enjoy, the tutorials are clear and gameplay is intuitive, but there isn’t any overbearing hand-holding. It also offers unique perspectives and viewpoints as well. It’s probably one of the best games available for the DS.

Even if you’ve never played a Mario & Luigi RPG, don’t worry. As long as you’re familiar with the characters, you’ll be fine. While I wholeheartedly recommend the other entries in the series, you won’t miss anything or be left out if you decide to start with, or only play, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. If you have played a Mario & Luigi RPG before, get ready for more of the same, high quality gaming experience.

Site [Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story]

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Today marks yet another week where hidden object puzzles are king. This is also the second week in a row where PlayFirst is kind of letting down its regular customers. Only two brand new game made its debut there, Avenue Flo, an adventure/hidden object game starring the characters from the famous DinerTown series, and Agatha Christie: Dead Man’s Folly, a hidden object game where you have to solve a murder. Hopefully, things will pick up next week.

There are also two new spooky casual games to help people prepare for Halloween. Both are hidden object games, Ghost Town Mysteries: Bodie and Campfire Legends: The Hookman.

In other big casual news, the PC version of the WiiWare and iPhone/iPod Touch game Equilibrio has been released as a free download this week. You can pick up it and a level editor to make your own mazes! It’s a welcome surprise.

This week’s best bets are: Avenue Flo (PC, Mac) and Equilibrio (PC).

Reincarnations: Awakening
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Jane has been tasked with writing an article for a famous magazine on reincarnation. So now she has to do the research for it. Help her explore hidden object puzzles to learn more about her past lives.
Demo Available: Yes

Millenium Episode 1: A New Hope
Genre: RPG
Availability: Big Fish Games, Millenium - The Official Website
Retail Price: $13.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: There is no equality in the city of Myst, where the rich hold all the power. So Marine decides to aid her father in his effort to change things for the better after he’s been seriously injured. She starts out on her quest to find 12 companiosn to help her take down Mystrock’s 13 legendary warriors. Episode 2 will be out in December, 2009 and Episode 3 will be out in March, 2010.
Demo Available: Yes

Avenue Flo
Genre: Adventure and Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista and Mac 10.5
Premise: There could be a wedding disaster in DinerTown, if Flo doesn’t do something to prevent it. Quinn’s wedding isn’t going as planned, and Flo will have to talk to everyone, collect everything and complete challenges to set things right.
Note: If you buy it at PlayFirst with PlayPass, you’ll also get Dairy Dash.
Demo Available: Yes

Ghost Town Mysteries: Bodie
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: The ghost of Evelyn Byers has been appearing in Bodie, and the gravestones of the 12 witnesses to her murder have disappeared. You must solve the mystery behind the murder of this little girl and hopefully give the ghosts peace.
Note: This game is for mature audiences.
Demo Available: Yes

Jojo’s Fashion Show 3: World Tour
Genre: Simulation (Time Management)
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Help Jojo Cruz with her Las Cruces fashion line as she goes around the world showing off and designing the latest clothes. Also, help her find a new partner, as her daughter Rosalind has decided to set off on her own.
Demo Available: Yes

Evoly
Genre: Puzzle and Simulation
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Make matches to make money. Once you’ve completed levels, you can create unique planets and bring them to live by purchasing foliage and creatures.
Demo Available: Yes

Little Things
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: You search through the items making up collages with a magnifying glass, looking for specific items.
Demo Available: Yes

Equalibrio
Genre: Puzzle
Availability: DK Games
Retail Price: Free
Platform: Windows
Premise: You guide balls through maze levels by rotating the environment. It’s a PC version of the WiiWare and iPhone/iPod Touch games of the same name. A level editor, which allows you to create and share your own levels, is also available to download.
Demo Available: No

Campfire Legends: The Hookman
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: GameHouse, RealArcade, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista, Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: A scary puzzle game where players must help Christine survive in the wilderness while the rban legend, the hookman, may be lurking in the woods waiting for her.
Demo Available: Yes

Insider Tales: The Secret of Casanova
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Search through hidden object puzzles to learn all about Giacomo Casanova.
Demo Available: Yes

Hostile Makeover
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: GameHouse, RealArcade
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Ellen Byerrum’s Hostile Makeover: Crime of Fashion Mystery has been turned into a casual game. Find out who’s killed the famous supermodel Amanda Manville by inspecting scenes and investigating suspects.
Demo Available: Yes

Agatha Christie: Dead Man’s Folly
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP, Vista and 7
Premise: Hercule Poirot has been invited to take part in a Murder Hunt game, only to discover that there could be a real murder instead of a fake one. Search hidden object puzzles to find the truth behind what’s going on and discover a murderer.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]

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One of the most popular icons and characters in Japan is a brown haired girl with yellow ribbons in her hair named Haruhi Suzumiya. People mimic the opening dance from her anime, dress up like her, collect toys that look like her character, read about her and even play video games where she is the star.

Thanks to companies like Bandai Entertainment, Little Brown Books and Yen Press, people in North America can start to read and watch Haruhi Suzumiya’s adventures. However, no video game publisher has taken a chance on her eclectic games.

Before we look at five video game adventures, lets take a brief look at what Haruhism is all about.

Who’s Haruhi Suzumiya?

Haruhi Suzumiya’s the star of a series of light novels, manga volumes, anime, movie and video games. The series began in June, 2003 with the light novel The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Pay close attention to the title, because it’s the start of a trend. All the Haruhi Suzumiya media are titled in a similar manner. Two manga series followed shortly after in the spring of 2004 and winter of 2005. The anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ran in 2006, and was expanded and rerun in 2009.  Another manga series began in 2007.

Right now, the new run of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is going on with additional episodes, there’s a new spin-off manga called The Vanishing of Yuki-chan Nagato and a movie, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya is being prepared for a 2010 release.

Haruhi Suzumiya is an etcentric high school girl with an interest in the extraordinary. In order to find these strange phenomena, like espers, aliens, robots and the like, she creates a school club called the Spreading Excitement All Over the World with the Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade, or SOS Brigade. She convinces/badgers/drags her classmate Kyon, the only person she talks to, into joining. Three other people, Yuki Nagato, Mikuru Asahina and Itsuki Koizumi, also end up joining as well. It turns out that the three other people didn’t join because they’re interested in the supernatural.

Instead, Yuki, Mikuru and Itsuki join because they are supernatural. Apparently, Haruhi somehow holds, or developed, the ability to change reality at her will, and the three of them have been sent by different organizations to monitor her and sort-of keep her in check. So, out of everyone, Kyon’s the only normal person. He also tends to be narrator for the events.

So, each form of media deals with a new adventure that Haruhi and the SOS Brigade gets into. Currently, the following Haruhi Suzumiya media is available in English in the U.S.:

• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: Complete Collection DVDs of the anime series.
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya manga volumes 1-4 by Nagaru Tanigawa.
• Haruhi Suzumiya Yearkbook: A Guide to the Many Moods of Haruhi Suzumiya fanbook by Kazuhisa Fujie
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya, the first two volumes in the original light novel series by Nagaru Tanigawa.

The video games of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Not surprisingly, the success of the Haruhi Suzumiya series has spawned a number of video games. Here’s a brief overview of what’s available, in chronological order. Keep in mind, the games all contain quite a bit of fanservice.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku aka The Promise of Haruhi Suzumiya (PSP)
This is essentially a visual novel/adventure game with occasional mini-games thrown in. This game follows the part of the light novel/manga/anime where the SOS Brigade is creating The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina. It’s the only Haruhi Suzumiya video game to not have an original storyline. Mainly it’s a visual novel, but there are some mini-games. Warning to importers: Text heavy!

Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi aka The Perplexity of Haruhi Suzumiya (PS2)
This is essentially a visual novel/adventure game with occasional mini-games thrown in. Haruhi wants to make a video game, and gets the SOS Brigade involved. There are quite a few different games you can make, like an RPG, card game or Princess Maker clone. Warning to importers: Text heavy! Also, the PS2 isn’t region-free, so this only works on Japanese PS2s.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekidou aka The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya (Wii)
Dance along with Haruhi Suzumiya and the SOS Brigade. Haruhi’s found a flier for the dance competition, and has decided that she and the SOS Brigade are entering. There are Story and Free Play Modes. Remember, the Wii isn’t region-free so don’t buy it unless you have a Japanese Wii.

Suzumiya no Heiretsu aka The Parallel of Haruhi Suzumiya (Wii)
Yet another visual novel adventure game. Haruhi’s won a cruise trip, and she’s bringing the SOS Brigade with her. Once they set sail, a number of improbable and unusual adventures take place. Warning to importers: Text heavy! Also, like I mentioned before, the Wii isn’t region-free.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Chokuretsu aka The Series of Haruhi Suzumiya (DS)
This is an adventure game, along the lines of Lux Pain or Phoenix Wright. Haruhi, Kyou and the SOS Brigade use the summer to investigate the school’s seven, unexplained mysteries. Warning to importers: Text heavy!

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables looks at five Japanese gadgets which exist for no other reason than to be absurdly adorable.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables suggested 35 video games you could play on Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversary.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

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Title: Obscure: The Aftermath
Price: $29.99
System(s): PSP
Release Date: PSN Download: October 1, 2009, UMD: September 29, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Playlogic (Hydravision)
ESRB Rating: “Mature” for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Mild Suggestive Themes and Violence
Pros: Characters and environments look good. Is sufficiently scary and unnerving. Fantastic and appropriate soundtrack. Controls are comfortable. Storyline and presentation is reminiscent of a B-movie. Loading times aren’t that bad with downloadable version. Can have a friend join in to help at any time.
Cons: Costs more than the PC, PS2 and Wii versions. Doesn’t really matter which two characters you choose to play as. Loading times can be annoying with the UMD version. Never seem to have enough ammo to fight enemies. Aiming to attack mutants is difficult. Camera is annoying and often fixed into awkward and unhelpful positions. The downloadable copy that I had froze twice while playing.
Overall Score: Two thumbs sideways, 70/100, C-, * * out of 5

There aren’t that many horror games on the PSP. There’s Silent Hill: Origins. Manhunt 2 and Undead Knights cound technically be counted as well, though they aren’t really scary. Resident Evil Portable is in development, but we probably won’t be seeing that until sometime in 2010. So, in the meantime, we have to appreciate the few horror games there are on the handheld. Fortunately, the port of Obscure: The Aftermath should offer an additional alternative looking for a portable scare.

Some young adults lead normal lives, others become unintentional targets for unexplained, scary phenomena.

Stanley Jones, Kenny Matthews and Shannon Matthews, the stars of Obscure: The Aftermath, have the worst luck. In the original Obscure, they happened about strange and unnatural experiments being carried out in their high school’s lab, and then have to save themselves and their classmates from the infection and mutated students. Compared to that, college should have been easy.

Kenny and Shannon both attend Fallcreek University now, while Kenny delivers pizzas. Things aren’t quite right on campus though. Black flowers have been appearing at the school, and the students have been using them as drugs because they cause incredibly lucid, yet strange, dreams. As you can probably expect, things take a turn for the worse. Mutants pop up again, and new friends Corey, Sven, Amy, Mei and Jun join Stan, Kenny and Shannon in the fight to survive.

You can’t make it on your own. Well, you can, but it’s easier with a friend.

Obscure: The Aftermath‘s defining features are the ability to play as two characters and co-operate with another player to make your way through the game. It reminded me a bit of Maniac Mansion. There are six playable characters, and you get to choose two to work with. Each have special talents and abilities that make certain tasks easier. Then, while playing, you can turn on ad-hoc multiplayer at any time to have a friend control one of the characters. It’s an interesting concept which you don’t see implemented in many PSP games.

I did notice that if two people are playing together over ad-hoc wireless, the game will drag a bit. So it’s a toss up - work alone and get things done at a fast, consistent pace, or work with someone else and see a noticeable drag. Also, if you’re playing with someone, you don’t have to worry about the extra character roaming around and getting in your way when you aren’t directly controlling him or her.

Obscure: The Aftermath is also a bit of an homage to B-movies. The plot is kind of ridiculous, and the dialogue is occasionally as well. The acting by the voice actors seems to purposely be done in a manner that borders on melodramatic and is occasionally stilted or ill suited to the situation at hand. Players will either enjoy and find the presentation entertaining, or think its annoying. It all depends on your personal preference. Most likely the fantastic graphics and soundtrack will help make acting or script issues seem like a small price to pay.

There can also be loading issues. If you’re playing the UMD version of the game, the load times seem longer than the downloadable version, and can disrupt the flow of the game. So this may be one of those cases where the PlayStation Store version is supearior to the UMD. There’s still loading, but the times are brief.

A good game for B-movie fans looking for a new horror game for Halloween ‘09.

Obscure: The Aftermath isn’t the best PSP game, or even the best PSP port, ever made, but it still can be fun. If you’re a horror fan and you’re looking for something scary to play on the go, it’s worth the investment. I’d also recommend it to people who enjoy playing with their friends, as the co-op is pretty well executed. It’s a game that has its issues, like UMD loading times, multiplayer lag, camera issues, aiming malfunctions, but also has redeeming factors like realistic graphics, a soundtrack you’d even want to listen to in your spare time, pretty well implemented co-op, a few great scares and B-movie goodness.

There is one other thing to note. If you have a PSPgo, or decide you’d rather directly download Obscure: The Aftermath from the PlayStation Store, there are a few things you’ll need. First, older PSP owners may need a larger memory card, since it’s a 828mb game file. Second, you’ll need a speedy and stable internet connection. Otherwise it could take you an hour or two to download the game or, heaven forbid, there could be a problem with the connection which would require you to start downloading the game all over again from the beginning. I have an internet connection that is typically fast, and it took over 137 minutes to completely download Obscure: The Aftermath.

Site [Obscure: The Aftermath]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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