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Product A: IntelliScanner Mini
Price A: $179 (scanner), $249 (scanner plus all programs)
Product B: Opticon OPN-2001
Price B: $139.95 (scanner); $179 (plus one program)
Rating: Two thumbs up, 90/100; A-; * * * * out of five.
Pros: Easy to install, easy to use, wide beam and nice design. Very portable, stores a massive number of codes and works with most, if not all, barcode software.
Cons: The price. So small and light it might be easy to lose in a purse.
Overall: Worth the price if you have hundreds of items to scan, especially if you have more than one type of media collection.

This was originally going to a two separate reviews, one for the Opticon OPN-2100 handheld laser scanner and another the IntelliScanenr Mini handheld laser scanner. After using both with Collectorz Game Collector (and Movie Collector) software, however, I could not find any discernible differences in physical design or performance.

The only differences between the products are tiny cosmetics, the accompanying accessories and the prices.

Gettin’ Physical

Both weigh exactly 1 oz (30g) and measure 2 3/8 inches tall, 1 3/16 in. wide and 9/16 in. thick.

Coloring is the same: black plastic main body, action button and mini reset button with silver edging with identical size, shape and placement. The sticker on the back of each is the same shape and even the screws are identical.

The only physical difference is the printed logo on the front and the text on the back label.

The Opticon scanner ($139.95), sent from Collectorz, came with in a small, plain white box packed tightly with the basic necessities: Scanner, mini CD-Rom (manuals and basic software), a 6-foot long USB cable and a silver-gray lanyard to wear it around your neck.

The IntelliScanner Mini ($179) shipped in a larger box due to the cube-shaped tin (4 3/4 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 in) that the scanner was in. Items inside the tin include: Scanner, 6-foot USB cable, a silver-gray lanyard, quick start guide, 20 sample labels (10 blank and 10 pre-printed), On-The-Go Card (for quantity scans) and small pouch. The rest of the tin is black foam padding.

Nice Beams

Both scanners claim to store up to 10,000 UPC codes (sorry, there’s not enough time to test that limit) and have USB interface. The USB port, on the right side of the scanner(s), fits the standard USB plug found with most digital cameras although both scanner shipped with a cable. You can then plug the scanners into a PC (Windows or Mac) and use software to grab the codes.

The scanners are considered wireless as they do not need to be connected to a computer to scan although you can do that, too.

Both scanners project a red laser beam when the scan button is pressed, with the beam lasting 5 seconds or until it reads a UPC code. The button blinks green while scanning and red when the scan is over and unsuccessful. The beam can easily be seen six to eight feet away and will successfully scan UPCs on non-reflective surfaces up to 2 feet away from he device. When a scan is read, the devices give off a tone (a double “bee-beep” going from a higher pitch to lower pitch) and the scan button stays green for an extra second.

The scans are very accurate, grabbing any UPC code to toss the beam at and store it in order that it was acquired. Because of this you need to make certain you only scan the media you want to record, otherwise the codes will be mixed together and un-cataloged codes are usually deleted when extracting codes from the device. This may be the only real flaw of these scanners but also a current cost limitation since onboard media recognition would likely require another button or software inside the device.

The scanners performed equally well with no misread codes out of approximately 1000 scans each. I tested both scanners with two Collectorz applications: Game Collector and Movie Collector. I scanned a maximum of approximately 100 items at a time (from experience using scanners and losing track of where I left off scanning).

Issues only occurred when the UPC bars were obscured, cut or wrinkled plastic got in the way and those were not misread codes but, instead, unread codes. The scanners were precises enough that even a tiny sliver of the complete car code could be read and, in the case of annoying reflections, using an alternate angle - even turning the scanner up side down - resulted in a clean scan. In the case of the Collectorz applications, you can manually enter UPC codes or search the company’s database by media (game or movie) title.

Side Note: There is free software online that will allow you to simply regurgitate gathered UPCs into a flat text file or even Excel. The matter becomes translating those codes into useful date. A few web sites have UPC databases and a simple web search will often find your product but ready-to-use database-based software significantly cuts down the hunt-and-peck time.

The scanners have built-in rechargeable batteries that are charged whenever they are plugged into the computer via USB cable. Recharging takes little time (manual reports 2.5 hours) and works for a lot of scans 9manual claims 1000 but you will likely plug it in to download UPCs before then).

Scansalot

If you have a large collection of videos, books and games, either scanner will certainly save a lot of time and prove very useful. Both scanners, along with appropriate software, will save you a lot of time – often hours if not days – and are easy to use

The only downfall will be the price. If you plan to utilize more than one application or simply have a huge collection you need to organize, one of these hand scanners will be a blessing. That’s where you need to do you own time-to-cost evaluation.

As a loose guideline, if you have only a couple shelves of games, save the money and just get some organizational software. If, however, you have a couple shelving units filled with movies or games and don’t plan to stop buying physical media, consider this a useful investment.

The Opticon is less expensive scanner and comes with essentially the same accessories as the IntelliScanner. So if just buying the scanner, buy through Collectorz first. A scanner with software, however, you’ll need to figure out exactly what you need (and want).

Site [Intelliscanner Mini] Site [Opticon OPN-2001]

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Title: Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga
Price: $39.99
System: Wii
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Xseed Games (K2)
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for alcohol reference, blood, fantasy violence
Pros: Long adventure, numerous side quests, robust class and character system, online co-op multiplayer.
Cons: Bad graphics, horrible audio, terrible melee combat control, clumsy UI and dumb AI.
Overall Score: Two thumbs down; 58/100; F; 1/2 out of 5

Boy, Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga sure sounds impressive, doesn’t it? The title makes it sound like a game that shouldn’t just be played but conquered. There should be figures and books and a movie. It just sounds epic.

Sadly, it’s not.

This is a game that sucks the joy out of gaming and that’s too bad because there probably is something great buried under the many layers of muck.

Layer One: You’ve Been Here Before

The story is fine, if not typical. An ancient meteor shower awakened foul creatures in what becames the age of chaos until humans, elves, dwarves and halflings banded together to drive them back. That alliance fell apart and the races settled back into mistrust.

Things are getting wonky again, so, guess who gets to try and save the world?

Nearly everything about this adventure is typical of every role-playing game you’ve played before. Eldar Saga brings nothing new to the table and, normally, that’s fine. RPG fans want and expect certain things. There’s a decent mixture of story and combat. There’s plenty of “dungeon crawling.” There’s a massive world with plenty of non-player characters to engage and enemies to fight. There are swords and magic. There’s a robust character control system with plenty of options for leveling up, assigning your skills and choosing a class. There are dudes with ugly hair and women in thigh-high boots. What else could we possibly want?

Well, controls that work would be a nice start.

Layer Two: You’re Not Ready to Fight

There are two major problems with the controls. First, they’re sluggish to the point of slow motion. Your character moves so slowly that, without exaggeration, you’ll hit your action button three times before you can even tell he’s moving. That’s bad enough but combine that with combo attacks and you’re stuck swinging at nothing but air for three attacks while your enemy has jumped behind you, hit you and probably gotten in a few stabs at your partner as well. This is completely unforgivable. I tried to compensate by swinging early as my enemy charges but that doesn’t work. It seems that if the game can’t figure out who I’m attacking, it won’t let me attack.

Adding to that problem is that you can call up your menus while the battle is progressing. I think this is supposed to be a feature but it only gets in the way. Hit the wrong button, and you’ll find yourself shuffling through potions instead of attacking. Don’t back out far enough and guess what? You’re shuffling through potions instead of attacking.

Layer Three: Your Friends are Idiots

You can hire NPC mercenaries to help you on your adventures but they’re not much help. They’ll constantly get stuck behind walls or ledges and, when you think someone has your back, he doesn’t. He’s not smart enough to walk around a rock. So, you die. Or he dies. If he does, you can stand still for ten to fifteen minutes while waiting for his health meter to reach the point where he comes back into play. If you die, you can go back to the beginning of the level and try again but for half the reward. Whether you do that or just reset and start over, you’re stuck trudging through the same bland scenery and listening to those relentless footsteps and fighting the same respawning enemies.

Layers Four Through ?: Your Adventure Feels More Like Work

The graphics in this game are drab and without detail. When it rains or when it’s nighttime, the color palate doesn’t change or dim. Instead the details just disappear. It’s like you’re playing the game on a PC that can’t handle the graphics, so you’ve turned them down as far as they can do in order to get a playable frame rate.

As bad as the graphics are, the audio is worse. Something as basic as footsteps are so loud and fake sounding—like someone whacking a shopping bag with a tennis racket over and over—that it’s painful to even move in this game.

To make things even more difficult to take, enemies respawn. Considering how painful combat is, it’s almost unbearable to kill some goblins, orcs or whatever they are, run down a hallway, figure out you ran down the wrong hallway, turn around and fight the exact same enemies. Spend to long lining up your potions and the the enemy you killed only a minute or two ago gets retribution. You’d love to just keep running but you can’t because the sound of your footsteps is giving you a headache.

When you are lucky enough to kill an enemy, it’ll often drop an item for you to pick up. Let’s say it’s a pair of boots and you appraise them to find out they’re better boots than the one you have. Can you put them on? No. Because that would make sense. Rather, you’re stuck carrying them around until you get home because you can only change your armor and such when at one of your bases.

Layer Five: Just Stop Digging Already

I could go on but I won’t. I feel as guilty asking you to read about Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga as I would asking you to play it. Once you finish the game, you can play through it again as a female character but chances are great you won’t bother finishing it the first time unless you have to review it.

There’s a multiplayer component but don’t do that to your friends or to complete strangers. Just avoid this game. If you’re in desperate need of an action RPG to hold you over until The Crystal Bearers comes out then remain desperate.

Site [Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga]

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

**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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Title: Ju-On: The Grudge
Price: $29.99
System: Wii
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Xseed Games (Feelplus)
ESRB Rating: “Mature” for blood, violence
Pros: Some decent “scares,” jump right into the gameplay, quite immersive (for a while).
Cons: Rigid and awkward controls, ridiculously short, no checkpoints on levels, blocky graphics, linear, pointless battery system, no story to drive the game
Overall Score: One thumb sideways, one thumb down; 68/100; D+; * 1/2 out of 5

Ju-On: The Grudge is faulty on many levels - and I’ll discuss these below - but I’m willing to forgive many of them because of the subtitle “Haunted House Simulator” thrown across the box.

Have you been to any of the haunted houses that spring up in wooded areas and old schoolhouses at this time of the year? Ju-On gave me more scares than they do, so I at least have to give it credit for that.

Although, I want to clarify that being scared and being startled are two entirely different things. When a movie or game unexpectedly runs a cat in front of you with a really loud screech just to make you jump, that’s being startled. When a movie or game has you so frightened that you’re hiding under the afghan, barely able to peek out through the holes to look at the screen, that’s being scared.

Ju-On: The Grudge startled me on occasion. It never scared me.

When a Person Dies…

If you’ve seen the Ju-On movies (or it’s American counterpart titled The Grudge), you know the routine. If someone dies violently in a house or something, all who come into contact with its spirit will also die violently and the cycle continues. I’m not sure if that’s what happened in this game.

In each level, you play a character in a different location: abandoned factory, abandoned hospital, abandoned apartments, etc. Each level begins with a character name and most display the same family photo. Okay, so we assume these are all family members about to face the same terrible circumstances but that’s it on story. You don’t know why you’re there, you just are.

On each level you’re only usable object is a flashlight. This is permanently on and always frustrating because it uses batteries like a Hummer uses gas. Considering each level can be finished in under 25 minutes, that you have to find and replace four or five batteries per level is absolutely ridiculous. I get the sense of urgency that this creates, but why have that at all? The game is supposed to be about exploration, and if you’re forced to tear through each level for fear of being trapped in the dark (and promptly killed), you don’t have time to trigger all the frightening moments.

...With a Deep and Burning Grudge…

Even worse, in order to unlock the fifth and final level to complete the game, you’re going to have to play through the previous levels multiple times in order to find all the hidden objects, facing the same ghosts and dealing with the same bad batteries. I’m assuming this was done in an effort to prolong the game, which can easily be completed in two to three hours. Forcing you to replay levels can push it up to around 10, perhaps, but you won’t do that. It’s not worth it.

Making matters worse, the game crawls at a terribly slow pace and the flashlight control is horribly unresponsive. You use the WiiMote to point the flashlight at the screen and, to control direction, you press the B button. Hit down on the D-pad to back up. That’s easy enough to learn but annoying to use. The flashlight never seems to go where you want it to, making it cumbersome to even turn around or line up with a door so you can open it. This is acceptable when you’re exploring an area for the first time but it’s a game killer if you have to go through more than once.

If you want to play that fifth and final level, I highly recommend using a walkthrough so you can find all those hidden objects the first time.

After a couple levels, you know what’s going to happen. The triggered events never really change much and they’re telegraphed by the sound of the game disc being read. “Oh, the Wii’s clicking, here comes and yep. There it is. Doll fell from the sky. Scary.”

I’m also not sure I get the “scare meter” at the end of the game. Sometimes it calls me a sissy, sometimes it tells me I have no emotions. I’m never sure why. The two-player mode, in which player two conjures up random “scare moments” with the press of a button is fun for a bit, but both you and player two will quickly get bored with it.

...A Curse is Born.

Some elements of Ju-On: The Grudge do work. First, by making the screen so dark, you have no choice but to play it at night with the lights off; there’s simply no way you can make it through this game with any sort of glare on your screen. I think I like that decision.

Second, it really can be pretty spooky, especially early on. The creepy girl from the movies is used throughout and, although you’ll likely get bored with her hair, the use of that guttural clicking noise in the WiiMote’s speaker is quite effective.

Also, I’ve learned that horror “movies” are much harder to get through when you’re the one holding the flashlight. I had my wife try it and she couldn’t deal with the tension. However, she enjoyed watching me play it for a while. Either she couldn’t handle being the one facing the threats or she hated the control/battery system. Either way, objective achieved, Xseed!

Or something like that.

There’s no way I can recommend someone purchase this game, at least not at $30. With only four short levels (five if you’re persistent), it would’ve made more sense as a 1,000-point WiiWare download or a $4.99 iPhone game.

I do, however, highly recommend you rent it. Ju-On: The Grudge is certainly more effective than the majority of the horror movies out there there today (I’m looking directly at you, Saw). You’ll get your money’s worth out of an evening rental, provided you pay attention to those three words on the box: Haunted House Simulator.

This is not a game. Like horror movies and haunted houses, it’s simply a way for a teenage boy to scare his girlfriend into sitting a little closer to him on the couch and hopefully lead to a little bit of lovin’ when it’s over and that deserves some respect.

Site [Ju-On: The Grudge] Read [Gamertell]

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

Title: Game Collector 3.2 Pro
Price: $29.95 (Standard), $39.99 (Pro with rebate)
System(s): Windows
Publisher (Developer): Collectorz
Pros: Very easy to input game names and UPCs, exhaustive and customizable fields, generates multiple exportable lists and included with access to game database to quickly import information and box art.
Cons: Database has some small gaps and is only as accurate as the person who submitted the information. Some menus are a little confusing. iPhone and iPod Touch app is an extra cost. Scanners can be expensive.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 87/100; B+; * * * 1/2 out of five.

If you’ve been gaming for longer than five years, you’ve likely amassed an impressive collection of games so large your friends and significant other complain about not being able to find that one game they always like to play.

That’s where Collectorz’s Game Collector application can come in rather handy.

The Basix

The whole concept behind Game Collector is to put your collection in order (thus the name). It’s a fairly simple database solution with a graphic interface that can operate with (or without) a UPC scanner and accesses an online database.

The software is available only as a download and installs quickly. After launching, you can then input game titles or UPCs through the menu system either by typing it in via scanner. Then you go online to download core information, box art and credits for a wide range of games to populate your local database. You can then go in and edit each entry - or groups of entries - with a combination of person information about the game including ratings where you bought it, how much you paid and personal notes.

Over the years the software has evolved to allow for more personalized fields and the ability to export the list as HTML files or, in truncated form, to various handheld devices including the iPod, iPhone and iPod Touch (the latter two require an additional purchase via iTunes). You can also upload your own box art and upload images and information to the common database for others to use.  Once you populate your collection, everything is stored locally so you can create HTML pages or various portable lists.

The interface is not entirely intuitive with a few of the fields not making sense until you have used the software for a while. Once you get the hang of it, it then becomes a speedy process to catalog your collection. You can then reorder it according to just about any criteria: genres, developer, release year, system, rating and even custom fields.

Game Face

The scanner interactivity is about as easy as plugging it in, syncing with the software and pressing a button. If you have ye olde QueCat (remember that PS/2-based scanner radio Shack gave away years ago?) you can download a Windows application that will make it work in no time. Otherwise, you can get scanners through Collectorz: a mini wireless USB laser Opticon ($140), a wired USB Opticon laser scanner (currently unavailable) or a USB CueCat scanner ($20). All three will work but the more pricey “wireless” version is the easiest to use.

The nice thing about the scanners is that they significantly cut down input time if you have numerous games and will immediately interface with other Collectorz software:  Music Collector, Movie Collector and Book Collector (except applications including Comic Collector that catalog products that do not have UPCs).

Unless you acquire a lot of products – DVDs, books and games – you may want to simply manually enter game titles or UPCs to save the extra dough. If you have several hundred – or thousand – products, a scanner is definitely the way to go. It can reduce days of typing to an hour or two of scanning. The only issue will be when a UPC is not found, then you have to manually enter data (and then you can submit it ti the Collectorz online database).

The Collectorz database as certainly improved in the past year, being more complete and up -to-date than before. The percentage of missing titles is probably less than 5% and even then the issue might be that someone misspelled a game title, you have a weird version of a game with an uncommon UPC or your internet connection timed out. Some of the box art is also not the best, although you can add your own to your personal, local database or even submit it to Collectorz and hope they update it with your superior image.

As for organizing, the ability to reorganize and display games as either text lists or image thumbnails makes it super easy to personalize your list for convenient printing, scanning and browsing.

The ability to sync the list with your iPhone or iPod Touch is also nice although that app will set you back another $10. It is rather nice to have a digital list in hand and many forms of your list - HTML and iPod Notes for non-Touch iPods – are bundled with the software. Those are limited to 1000 entries so, if you are a true collector, you may have to create an alternate list system.

Since the main software includes customizable fields, you can also use it for archives and even create a box number field. Those boxes of NES games, for example, can more easily be alphabetized using the software and then you can tag games according to the box they are stored in.

Downloadable?

This software is certainly helpful for the serious game collector. If you have hundreds of games, a scanner will certain be a time saver, especially if you acquire many games at a time (and have a lot to archive). The cost for the hardware won’t be nearly as justified when you have only a shelf or two of games.

Collectorz offers enough database information to give you a reason to browse your collection and enough customizable fields to add the information - box, shelf or other custom organization – to help you get truly organized. It even has a section for loaning so you can essentially become a library to your friends and not forget who has which game.

The portability interface is most helpful for those who plan to finish collection or simply cannot recall all the games they own. Otherwise, most people can save the cost of the Game Collector iPhone app (comic collectors getting Comic Collector, however, will find the iPhone/iPod Touch app be supremely useful).

If you are a collector, own seemingly countless of games and like to keep organized, Game Collector is a no-brainer investment. Likewise, anyone who loans out a lot games will benefit from the software’s library style recording system.

Check Gamertell later this week for a review of the Intelliscanner laser scanner used in this review and Collectorz Game Collector for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Site [Game Collector] Photo Gallery [Gamertell: Game Collector on iPhone/iPod Touch] Photo Gallery [Gamertell: Game Collector Pro]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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

Title:Zombie Apocalypse
Price:  800 Microsoft Points ($10 US)
System: Xbox Live Arcade,
Release Date: September 26, 2009
Publisher: Konami
ESRB Rating: Mature for Blood, Gore, Violence
Pros: Throwback to arcade style shoot ‘em ups, fun selection of weapons and special types of zombies, multiplayer is a blast
Cons: Only a few maps to play on, action becomes repetitive, single player becomes tough to slog through
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways, 75/100; C, *** 1/2 out of five.

If Smash TV and Left 4 Dead had a baby, Zombie Apocalypse would surely be the blister-inducing result.

The control scheme and general lay of the land will be instantly familiar to anyone raised on arcade classics like Robotron. Nihilistic Software’s effort is an unabashed love letter to those older games with some of the new twists on the zombie genre cribbed from Valve’s smash hit. 

The nod to Left 4 Dead comes from the integration of special zombie types such as the “Puker,” whose constant stream of vomit slips and slows down your character, and the “Big Boy.” While you can wriggle your way from the grasp of most zombies by wagging the left analog stick, the construction garb clad Big Boy’s grip is instant death.

MMMM, Brains

The zombie types get crazier from there. Later, you’ll face psycho prom queen with Aliens-style critters bursting from their chest and zombies that tote shotguns. Your weapons will include shotguns, flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails (also a staple weapon in Left 4 Dead.)  And I don’t really need to tell you that one of your staple weapons is a chainsaw, do I? The chainsaw will kill a zombie with one attack and increases your score multiplier, but the drawback is you can easily be chomped on from behind while you’re swinging it about. Environmental hazards you can toss zombies into including airplane engines and car crushers.

There are also survivors to save for huge point bonuses and the right to earn “Zombie Bait,”  which is a talking a teddy bear stuffed with “love and C4.”  Perhaps as more homage to the arcade shooters of yore, he has only a few phrases and you’ll quickly tire of them. But those games did have their flaws and it’s OK to correct a few of them along the way, even while paying tribute.

The game really is at its spew-inducing best when you and three friends fire it up and try to make it all the way to Level 55. There are only a handful of maps, though, and you’ll see them loop over and over through your adventure. There are other ways the game ramps up the difficulty, including a blackout mode that only allows you to see the heroes’ immediate field of vision and irradiated zombies that are more lethal to fight. By the time you reach day 55, you’ll have seen everything multiple times.

Even so, only the heartiest of the hearty may make it that far. You can continue levels after your death, with the only real penalty being unable to appear on the game’s leader boards.

Smoke ‘Em If Ya Got ‘Em

The four heroes you’ll use to to slay the mass of infected freaks get repetitive also. The collection of zombies is fun and unique and I wish the same amount of care had been taken to make the four heroes you can select more different as well. Each character has a cute little bio snippet that could have been used to expand on their characters although I realize that for this type of game it’s a little much to expect any kind of full-fledged story.

Still, there were interesting bits of stuff thrown in and it would have been nice to see them - dare I say - fleshed out in some way. More important is that the four characters, even the obligatory female, all play exactly alike. You can’t use the style of game as an excuse here as even ancient arcade side-scrollers such as Final Fight mastered the simple concept of “bigger guy hits harder, skinny guy moves faster.”

All-in-all, this little-arcade-shooter-that-could delivers enough fun, particularly as a multiplayer game, to warrant its 800 Microsoft Point purchase price.

If you’re the kind of zombie fan who can already quote all the rules for killing the undead laid out in the new flick Zombieland, this one likely warrants some space on your Xbox 360’s hard drive.

Site [Zombie Apocalypse]

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Title: LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias
Price: 1,000 Wii Points (US$10)
System: Wii
Release Date: October 19, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Frontier Developments Ltd. (Frontier Developments Ltd.)
ESRB Rating: “E” for mild fantasy violence
Pros: Gorgeous visuals, unique environmental puzzles, excellent use of Wii controls and a cute (and somewhat touching) story.
Cons: Too short and too easy.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 94/100; A; **** out of 5

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias is a charming little game. I hesitate to say that because it calls to mind singing mice or scruffy puppies with hearts of gold but that’s what Winter of the Melodias is: charming.

It’s also a gorgeous game with some good puzzles, a nice dose of adventure, and fairly unique combat that’ll appeal to gamers of all types.

The Wind Beneath My Toku

The game continues the adventure of the young boy Toku initiated in last year’s LostWinds. You don’t play entirely as Toku, however; you’re also Enril, a wind spirit charged with helping and protecting Toku. The two characters are effectively split across the two Wii input devices: move Toku directly with the Nunchuck, and flick the WiiMote as Enril to lift Toku, slow his descents, fend off enemies and manipulate the environment to his advantage. It’s a wonderful control scheme that pulls you right into the game…you feel like you’re part of the world of Mistralis, not just guiding people through it.

The story of Winter of the Melodias is light but effective. Toku’s mother, Magdi, has gone missing. Setting off to find her, Toku learns she has been cursed by a mysterious enemy who has applied the same curse to the people of Melodia City. Their kingdom has been plunged into an eternal winter and it’s up to Toku and Enril to lift the curse in time to save Toku’s mother.

The story is told through journal entries and conversations with the various characters Toku encounters along the way. These written-word scenes are fairly brief, but were still quite touching, especially those between Toku and his ailing mother. Never sappy or heavy-handed, mind you, just honest. You want Toku to do well, here. These are people worth saving.

The Toku, My Friend, is Blowin’ in the Wind

Toku’s adventure takes him through some gorgeous environments, most of which he’ll visit numerous times, either to complete the game or simply to find all of the collectibles. Each screen is a puzzle of getting from point A to point B, which you must solve by flicking the WiiMote to create wind gusts to lift Toku over obstacles, tornadoes for higher lifts or to drill through dirt and rock and vortexes to trap and throw snowballs and rocks. Some are a simple matter of jumping to the right area, while others involve a complex combination of moving rocks onto levers, lighting torches to reach brush that must be burned away, and even changing the season to freeze rivers or thaw ice walls.

Along the way, you’ll also be fighting glorbs, which are exactly what they sound like: little masses of oil, more or less, that stick to you and drain your health. Your only defense is Enril, who can flick them away with wind gusts or burn them with torches. There is a variety of glorb incarnations—fire, ice, and even birds and crab-like creatures—that are more effectively dealt with when using the environment as opposed to just blowing them aside.

Toku’s Like the Wind Through the Trees

Of course, most of this was in the original LostWinds, so what’s changed? Well, first of all, nothing really needed to be improved. These are WiiWare games, after all, and are therefore quite short. Both entries can be complete in under five hours, so more of the same still wouldn’t be enough. But you do now get the ability to create the aforementioned tornados that are key to solving the game, as well as create storm clouds that can be used to move water from one location to another.

With these new capabilities come improved controls over the original. Although there will still be annoying moments where the gestures are unresponsive for no apparent reason, this happens far less often than in LostWinds.

The developers were also wise to add a map this time, making it much easier to find your way to your goals. The drawback to this is that it dramatically shortens the game, as you spend less time wandering around aimlessly. It’s also much less frustrating, however, so that’s a trade-off I’ll accept.

You Lived Your Life Like a Toku in the Wind

I can’t fault a $10 WiiWare game too much for being short but I will dock it a bit for being perhaps too simple. The puzzles are quite easy to figure out by just observing the screens for a bit although the developers did keep things fresh by starting the game out with a heavy reliance on heat and ending it with two-person puzzles as you guide the King of Melodia City back home. Also, there’s only one real boss battle of which to speak, although it’s certainly a good one. I did get stuck once or twice and I died once or twice, but was rarely challenged beyond that.

These complaints, however, didn’t in any way hamper my enthusiasm for the game. It’s a joy to play. The visuals are gorgeous and serenely animated, accented by some wonderful soundtrack music worthy of a CD release (I was reminded of Bruno Coulais wonderful score for Coraline throughout).

LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias offers a engaging trip into a wonderful little world that manages to be quite - I won’t say addictive - compelling. It’s light enough for casual or puzzle gamers but hard core gamers looking for a momentary diversion from the Metroid Trilogy or Dead Space Extraction won’t do much better.

I would say that I’d love to see what Frontier could do with a larger budget and a release for store shelves but I’m afraid that would pull them away from the simplistic charm and beauty of LostWinds and that’s not something I want to risk losing.

Site [ LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias]

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The Love

The Hate

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Title: The Big band Theory: The Complete Second Season (aka Big Bang Theory: Season 2)
Price: $44.98
Format: DVD
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Studio: Warner Bros.
Rating: Not Rated
Pros: Decent acting, complex scientific ideas are embedded in an approachable and funny way, breaks down several stereotypes and has fairly universal comedic appeal. Presented in widescreen.
Cons: A little weak on extra features. Not yet available on Blu-ray.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 95/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.

The Big Bang Theory celebrates all that is geeky, a lot that is nerdy and delivers just enough underdog romance to keep even the unsuspecting viewer interested.

The series breaks down and twists the typical setup of an intellectually floundering, often overweight male paired with the seemingly out-of-reach, wise, sassy and super sexy female costar into an unsuspecting blend of science, a wide range of humor and a smattering of sweetness. It’s a formula that’s worked from the beginning of the series and has nicely improved throughout the second season.

Hail to the Geek

The series is a surprisingly fantastic celebration of all things geek, featuring four university scientists who come together to share potstickers and ponder various social conundrums. Two of the main characters, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons), are roommates who live across from cute-waitress-waiting-to-become-an-actress Penny (Kaley Cuoco). There’s a nice slice of sexual tension between awkward yet down-to-Earth Leonard and Penny while the uber arrogant theoretical physics expert and UCLA professor, Sheldon, perpetually plops problems into their social lives.

Bringing in additional comic fodder is a buddy duo consisting living-with-mom frustrated horndog Howard (Simon Helberg) and Rajesh (Kunal Nayyar), a heavily accented Indian who would be the most socially smooth of the group except he needs to toss back a few drinks before he can even speak in the same room as a woman.

In the second season of Big Bang Theory, the cluster of super smarty geeks begins to show more heart than the previous season. We also get healthy dose of gaming references - nods to World of Warcraft, a Wii Sports Bowling night and even an entire episode dedicated to Age of Conan: Online - and plenty of charts.

Atomic Level Genius

The series certainly does not disappoint on any level. There is plenty of comedy created by the interplay of character, along with the continued romantic tensions and unsuspecting moments of sweetness involving Penny with each of her geeky neighbors.

It touches upon comic books, video games and even personal idiosyncrasies in a way that always feels fresh and, when it aims too high, makes certain to immediately bring things back down to a comprehensible, comedic level with completely pandering to crude humor (except when entirely inescapable). Stories typically focus on one pair of characters at a time yet always work the other characters to help keep pace and add bits of additional character development.

Because there is so much physics (and other sciences) in the show, the writers wisely defer to an expert (UCLA Prof. David Saltzberg) who also helps to pen many of the background diagrams. Some even make way into the show’s intros, offering unexpectedly comedic explanations for otherwise simplistic phenomena. How do you make friends? Perhaps a flow chart will help (or not). The writers even sneak in concepts from other sciences (especially Psychology) to help bring points back around from a seemingly distant idea.

The show seems to focus on Penny and Leonard’s relationship but, thanks to Parsons, Sheldon really comes through as this season’s strongest and most humorous character, developing a sense of “humor” and allowing Penny just enough wiggle room to bring down the pH of his often caustic personality. Likewise, Penny is subtly turning the corner from a socially normalized citizen to being able to pull out an appropriate Star Trek analogy when necessary.

A Few Extra Electrons

The DVD extras include a featurette which focuses on Saltzberg’s relationship with the show. In it he demonstrates a little of how he adds the charts to the set while and the series creators explain how his role is far more important that he might realize. When they come up with a comedic moment that involve science, they rely on Saltzberg to fill in some of the unknown variables (aka dialog) so that they are not only based in actual scientific theories but also add to the scene

There’s also a featurette that offers the usual montage and quote splices of castmembers’ favorite moments of the season, commenting on their characters and praising each other. Even so it offers a few insider comments that you might not find online.

Magnetic Personalities

Part of the show’s appeal is that it not only embraces geekdom, it also pokes fun at it much the same way as good friends teasing each other. Feelings might get momentarily bruised but the intention is always a love pat instead of the resulting awkward hand slap.

While I often joke that my wife enjoys the show because she relates to pretty Penny who must constantly deal with, yet somehow ends up loving, these seemingly unlikeable geeks, there is an element of truth to that.

Much like the expansion of the universe, the second season of The Big Bang Theory begins to so a more expansive look into these characters, offering more personality, more obsessive-compulsiveness and even more laughs from a broader area than before. This show is enjoyable for geeks, nerds and every supposedly normal person in between.

It’s time for you to embrace science.

Purchase [The Big Bang Theory Season 2 DVD]

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Title: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Price: $29.99 DS and PS2; $39.99 for PSP; $49.99 Wii; $59.99 PS3 and Xbox 360.
System(s): *DS, PSP (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Activision (n-Space)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for fantasy violence and mild language.
Pros: Fairly nice graphics, a nice range of attacks for each character, plenty of role-playing elements and a bit of button mashing, dungeon-crawling fun. Excellent use of the touchscreen.
Cons: A lot of technical glitches including object detection, stuck avatars and AI ignorance. Flipping, uncontrollable camera angles makes the in-game map more disorienting than useful.
Overall Score: Two thumbs sideways; 74/100; C; * * out of five.

The first Marvel Ultimate Alliance console game was a great combination of role-playing elements and dungeon crawling. The ability to mix and match Marvel characters help keep a potentially monotonous game interesting.

Capturing the same energy on the DS, however, is a rather tricky matter. The resolution drops the graphics down a significant amount and environments are a little more limited but, even if those aren’t an issue, glitches and poor camera or mapping (or both) can really drag down a game.

‘Nuff To Do

The game follows the same basic pattern of the console version. You get a bit of story and then a foursome of heroes are dropped into a level to cooperatively crawl through, defeating opponents, beating bosses and generally smashing crap.

Each hero has a basic attack and a serious of touchscreen-activated special attacks. Hulk, for example, has a few super smashes whereas Captain Marvel will toss his shield around the room, ricocheting off walls, opponents and destructible objects. There are some areas that require a combination of close and distant attacks.

The role-playing element is maintained pretty well, allowing you to either auto-upgrade playable character or to go in and divvy points and show a bit of favoritism to level up some heroes before others. Powerup absorption is automated in the team mode, so the hero who needs more health will get it first.

Semi Fantastic Foursomes

The game’s graphics are decent enough so that you can recognize each character. Certainly Hulk and Thing are more massive but the more subtle differences between female costumed characters, for example, are still unique enough to maintain each heroine’s identity. Powers are also unique enough to offer a nice variety with some favoring distant attacks, others like to keep things close (Wolverine) and a few offering a decent mix (Spider-man and Captain Marvel).

Despite how fun the game first seems, the annoyances quickly take over. The first is a two-pronged map and camera issue.

Being a DS game the maps are a bit more narrow and the camera will periodically reorient, making it hard to tell which direction you are facing on the in-game map. This becomes more irritating as areas increase in size and complexity as you progress through the game. You’ll spend a stupid amount of time backtracking just to get to the right intersection to spend a few minutes of trial-an-error movements to get to the next area.

Running back through identical looking areas for dozens of minutes at a time is simply tedious. Objects are also repeated to the point of silliness, with every car in an area being exactly the same with some being entirely destructible while, for no apparent reason, others simply explode into a twisted metal frame.

AI is usually decent enough to set your team in action and get through most areas. There isn’t the reactivity setting as there is in the console version so they’ll often act on their own, not attacking until attacked first (which means you’ll have to take few pot shots from unseen, off-screen opponents).

Of course, the AI is not infallible. Computer-controlled allies can also get stuck in weird spots or simply stand in one place, not coming to your aid when you’re being attacked by multiple laser-totin’ opponents. A few times there were some context-sensitive submissions that were either prematurely activated or incorrectly coded so that they appeared on the mission list but were impossible to get to (either because they were invisible or they were not supposed to be activated).

Finally, there are numerous object detection errors. Characters walk through walls or get stuck between a garbage can or on an indicator arrow or car until you flip to another character and the AI magically gets unsticks them all.

Nice Tights?

You can probably get through the game by button mashing but where is the fun in that? You’ll want to try every hero’s various attacks just to see them doing what they do best. And double tap that jump button (hint: not all heroes simply jump). The game pretty much forces you to use a semi-balanced team and the touchscreen controls for special attacks is easy to use and well executed. It’s rare that a DS game can take advantage of the touchscreen as well as this game has.

There is a fair amount of RPG and dungeon crawling fun to be had with this hero game but the technical glitches and other long-term annoyances keep it from being great. In other words, the short-term fun is certainly there while there isn’t much -long-term enjoyment.

As such, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 for DS just barely breaks average. Think twice at full price but get it as soon as it hits a discount bin.

Site [Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2]

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Title: Critter Crunch
Price: $6.99
System: PS3 (via PlaysStation Network)
Release Date: October 8, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Capybara Games (Capybara Games)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Pros: Cheap price, steady learning curve, stunning graphics and unpredictable puzzle patterns.
Cons: The music isn’t as dynamic as the rest of the game, multiplayer not beginner friendly.
Overall Score: Two Thumbs Up; 95/100; A; **** 1/2 out of 5

Critter Crunch was one of the first iPhone-iPod Touch games that showed how those devices were capable of delivering a worthwhile gaming experience. Now it’s the PS3’s turn to give Critter Crunch’s addictive charms a whirl.

Critter Crunch was released exclusively on the PlayStation Network on October 8, 2009, for the reasonably low price of $6.99. It shares the same concept as its iPhone-iPod Touch counterpart but gets a considerable upgrade in the graphics department. Capybara Games hand drew all the animations in Critter Crunch and the result is nothing short of beautiful. Once you throw in multiplayer, Trophy support and leaderboards you’ve got a game that deserves to live on your hard drive.

Critter Crunch is a puzzle game at its core but that doesn’t stop it from trying to include a story to run alongside the gameplay. You control a chubby and jolly looking critter named Biggs who is the center of attention for a nature documentary. Quick, unvoiced cut scenes featuring the documentaries host are sprinkled in between levels and provide a mildly amusing take on Biggs’ exploits. However, you don’t come into Critter Crunch expecting a story. The jewel here is how the game works (which is very well).

Critter Crunch appears to be a simple match-three game but it’s slightly more complex than that.

The object of the game is to feed small creatures to larger creatures until they literally explode. If more than one creature of the same color happens to be near the exploding one, they will all explode. Exploding critters leave behind jewels that Biggs can consume for extra points. These points go on to fill the hunger meter on the left side of the screen. The level ends once the meter is full. The game wants you to chain combos together for three reasons: 1) You clear the level faster, 2) you bump up your rankings in the leaderboards and 3) you can vomit rainbows into your son’s named Smalls mouth for even more points and a good laugh.

Yes, vomiting rainbows into Smalls mouth is a huge part of maximizing points.You gain this ability by chaining together a chain of eight or more exploding critters. Racking up these combos isn’t necessary to clear the level, but it does give a considerable amount of bragging rights.

Critter Crunch is spread out across many areas with unique looks in each one. In many of these areas new types of critters are introduced. Once such creature is a bomb that clears everything caught in its blast radius. Another special critter type is made of rock. He cannot be fed or moved around by Biggs. Instead he must be dispatched by exploding critters above him (causing him to drop off his vine) or by using a power foods.

Power foods are earned by exploding random glowing critters. This causes them to drop food such as watermelons. Biggs can use the seeds from the watermelon to instantly pop any critter. Midway through the game all the critters, tricks and abilities you’ve learned are lumped together. The critters even start to descend down the vines more quickly that before, making fast thinking essential.

Multiplayer mode is split between cooperative and competitive modes. Cooperative mode tests how long you and a friend can last through the continuous onslaught of critters and competitive mode is a one on one puzzle fight to the death. It works similar to the Puzzle Fighter philosophy by giving you special powers to temporarily make things more difficult for your opponent. I’ve been on the receiving in of a stunning lightning bolt attack on more than a few occasions.

Even though multiplayer is fun, it’s near impossible to play it to your full potential without through most of the adventure mode. There are some unique critter types that can only be popped in specific ways and multiplayer isn’t the place to try and learn the trick.

Critter Crunch is an excellent edition to anyone’s PSN library. There’s no other game on the network with a hand drawn art style as gorgeous as this. New elements are introduced at a steady pace which stops things from ever getting too repetitive. If puzzler’s are your thing then Critter Crunch is a safe bet.

Site [Critter Crunch]

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Companies like to brag about good sales figures. When a new system - or new iteration of an existing system - is released on the market, companies want consumers to know how successful it is. It isn’t a bad idea, really. If people see a system or a console is a winner, then they’ll be more likely to jump on the bandwagon as well.

The thing is, we aren’t seeing that with Sony’s PSPgo.

The PSPgo debuted October 1, 2009. It’s been out for nearly two weeks and Sony has yet to start gloating about the system’s sales. There were no first two- or three-day sales figures reported. Sony hasn’t even released first-week sales figures. This leaves consumers to wonder whether or not the PSPgo is really doing all that well.

The first statement was one given to Gamasutra by Sony Computer Entertainment America on October 7, 2009, six days after the PSPgo’s debut. Sony indicated that PSP sales, in general, were up 300% and purchases from the PlayStation Store were up 200%. However, Sony did not mention any PSPgo-specific figures (at best they bundled it with the non-go PSP numbers). It’s odd, considering the handheld is new and one would think Sony would want to take any opportunity to build it up in the eyes of consumers.

Here’s what probably happened. PSP-3000 sales probably rose because people saw it as a better deal than the PSPgo which costs $249.99 and only plays downloadable games. A PSP-3000 Rock Band Unplugged or Gran Turismo bundle is $199.99, comes with a game, voucher and memory sticks, plays all existing UMD games and can play the downloadable games. The PSPgo suddenly made the existing PSP deals much more appealing.

As for the PlayStation Store’s sudden surge of popularity, it likely rose not because of new PSPgo owners, but because of existing PSP owners. 100 PSP games were added on September 30, 2009, and people who already owned a PSP most likely saw games that appealed to them and went on a buying spree.

A statement issued to GamesIndustry by Chart-Track, a European company that monitors the sales of music, videos, hardware, peripherals and software sales, also gives readers pause. When GamesIndustry asked Chart-Track for PSPgo sales figures, Chart-Track claimed that it wouldn’t reveal any information since “it’s a new format”.

A funny response, because it isn’t. The PlayStation Store has been offering PSP owners downloadable games for years and the PSP has been around since December 2004. And, even if one did attempt to claim that it’s a new format as a means to hide data, it seems like all the more reason to release sales data on it. That way, people can see how consumers are reacting. Sales data could even tell the world if a download-only handheld is ready to be accepted by the masses. It seems a bit suspicious that Chart-Track isn’t revealing the PSPgo sales data it has collected to the public, and perhaps a bit telling.

Then, there are the PSPgo sales figures that have managed to come to light. For example, there’s the information that Jeux Video Network dug up. In a recent story, the site proclaimed 8,000 PSPgos were sold in France in the three days after the system launched. The news from VGChartz is slightly better, as it reported the sale of around 30,000 PSPgos in America during the system’s first three days on the market.

Let’s compare that to the DS Lite. A GameSpot story from June 14, 2006 states that over 136,500 DS Lites were sold in the first two days after the system launched in the US. Of course, it’d probably be more appropriate to compare the PSPgo to the DSi, since both are fresh takes on existing systems. Edge Online reported 435,000 DSis were sold in the US in the first week the system was on the market. Quite a difference.

All of this information, put together, suggests that the PSPgo may not by the superstar Sony expected. What Sony isn’t the world about the PSPgo’s exact sales figures is the most damning evidence of all.

Read [Jeux Video Network (French)] Also Read [Gamasutra] Also Read [GamesIndustry]

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Title: Ion Assault
Price: $8.00
System(s): Xbox Live
Release Date: September, 23, 2009
Publisher (Developer):Coreplay (Black Inc.)
ESRB Rating: Everyone +10 animated blood, fantasy violence
Pros: awesome music, fun game play, reminiscing of that old Asteroids computer game.
Cons: difficulty goes up too quickly, hard to figure out power ups.
Overall Score: One thumb up, on sideways; 89/100; B+; * * * 1/2 out of five.

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Title: Cursed Mountain
Price: $49.99
System: Wii
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Deep Silver (Deep Silver)
ESRB Rating: “Mature” for blood, sexual themes, violence
Pros: Effectively creepy, unique settings with nice visuals, decent level flow, nice cut-scenes with good acting
Cons: Slowly paced, stiff and sometimes jumpy character animation, exceptionally linear, the scares wear off quickly
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 80/100; B-; *** out of 5

I’ll start off by saying that Deep Silver got the name of this one right. That mountain sure is cursed.

I’m quite fond of both my brothers but, if either of them disappears on a mountain that’s haunted by dead monks who are all the time floating around and jumping out at me and opening their mouth too wide, I’m leaving my brothers up there.

I guess that Eric Simmons is a better man than I and why not? He’s a mountain climber, after all. He’s rugged. He has a cool accent. He ain’t afraid a’ no ghost. His brother Frank disappeared while climbing the Himalayan mountains to retrieve an ancient artifact at the request of, eh, I’ll let you discover all of that on your own. The story, which is revealed in partially animated cut scenes and journal entries you find along the way, is a bit sparse. There was nothing in the plot to keep me moving through this game, as I had absolutely no interest in learning the fate of Eric’s brother. But the game did hold my attention for other reasons.

There’s a Mountain

That’s important, because most of this game’s personality comes from the mountain. It’s oppressive in some ways but rewarding. As you stand at the bottom and look up at the peaks, you can’t help but feel like you’re not getting anywhere. But as you make your way up and look back down at the villages you’ve been through, you’ll know you’ve accomplished something. I’ve never played a game that allowed you to visually monitor your progress in this way and it’s quite cool.

You’ll have to develop this connection with the mountain because, quite often, that’s all there is. Much of Cursed Mountain is spent simply walking along paths, seeking the ending point for that level (hint; keep going up). The various villages add some personality, and you’ll occasionally run into living characters who will impart some wisdom, let you know what’s going on, or simply try to freak you out, but aside from that, it’s just you, the mountain, the weather, and the ghosts.

The Mountain is Cursed

Your brother did something pretty bad, you see. Without ruining any of the story, I’ll just say he had no respect for the mountain (they’ll hammer that notion home early and often), and that’s apparently a very bad thing. We’ve learned from games and movies that seeking ancient artifacts is often a poor decision—especially when you show that decidedly western lack of respect for the object you’re stealing—and here it released countless dark spirits who have driven away the villagers and who have no love for you and mountain climbing ways. They float around in the distance, they jump out from behind doors, they fade in and out of sight…anything to freak you out. Your only weapon against them is your pick axe. Up front, you’ll just be able to swing it at them. As you progress, it’s imbued with various magical weapons with which you can launch ranged attacks and do more signifcant damage.

For health, you’re given incense sticks which you light at shrines scattered across the mountain. Progress is saved automatically, which is both good and bad. Good, in that it happens often enough that you never have to trek to far back aftering dying. Bad, in that an autosave means something’s about to happen, and that kills the scare.

Your only other weapon is the “third eye,” which allows you to see into the spirit realm to discover items hidden to the real world. More importantly, it’s used for my favorite aspect of combat. After landing a few hits on a spirit, activating the third eye will unveil a red medallion on its chest. Click on this medallion, and a series of WiiMote and Nunchuck gestures will show up. Executing these gestures not only finishes off the enemy but also increases your health. It’s very cool, although often frustrating, as one gesture in particular (raising the WiiMote up or pushing it forward or doing whatever happens to work at the time) is wildly unreliable.

It is Still Cursed

Unfortunately, some development decisions prove to be your real obstacle to discovering your brother’s fate. First, although the game is generally quite attractive, certain sections are too washed out by the visual effects. The game is often hazy and dark, making it almost impossible to play in the daytime.

Second, there are long stretches were absolutely nothing is happening. At the beginning, this is fine, as you spend those moments anticipating scares. After a while, however, you’ll realize those scares aren’t coming and you’ll just get antsy.

Third, the scares don’t change. I was totally creeped out by Cursed Mountain for the first few levels, but then it becomes predictable, and that means it’s no longer scary. Still creepy (dig those arms reaching out from the rocks, the distant crying, and the way the screen tilts and fades to grayscale), but not scary.

And, finally, although there are a couple decent boss battles, most simply involve fighting more spirits than you normally face at a given time. I had a similar complaint with Deadly Creatures, in which there are two fantastic boss battles, and a bunch that were completely uninspired.

Did I Mention this Mountain is Cursed?

And actually, the comparison to Deadly Creatures carries beyond that. Both games are very unique in setting and story, but are hampered by execution that doesn’t quite deliver on a fantastic premise. Action comes in spurts, so if you’re not sucked into the game’s world, you’ll likely hit that wall about midway through and just bail on it. As I mentioned, I had little interest in Cursed Mountain’s contrived story (how many ghosts does a man have to kill before he starts to, you know, believe in ghosts?), but I shared Eric’s connection with that mountain, and was creeped out enough to stay involved in what was happening around me.

Cursed Mountain is a unique game that serves as a nice vacation from slaughtering countless Nazis and zombies. It’s easy to lose yourself amongst the mountain’s villages and cliffs, and the game will be ultimately satisfying if you let that happen. But if you demand more action or deeper stories from your adventure games, you’re better off staying closer to sea level.

Site [Cursed Mountain]

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

Title: Spore Hero Original Videogame Score
Price: $8.99
Rating: Two Thumbs Up; 95/100; A; **** out of 5.
Pros: Identity of the soundtrack is introduced in the first track and sprinkled throughout the whole album in various forms. Length is just right.
Cons: Too few high-energy and up-tempo songs
Overall: Spore Hero Original Videogame Score is a superb collection of music. It features professionally crafted musical themes and sets a high bar that other videogame composers should aspire to reach.

Spore was one of the most ambitious video games in recent memory. Will Wright’s vision of a universe of different creatures inside a video game made Spore the most talked about PC game in the later half of 2008.

From the success of the original incarnation of Spore comes a sort of spin-off for the Wii called Spore Hero. Spore Hero leaves the concept of growth and evolution behind in favor of light quests suitable for the youngest of gamers. Backing up the gameplay to Spore Hero is an original score composed by Winifred Phillips who is also responsible for creating music for other games including SimAnimals, The Maw and God of War.

Phillips’ music has always done a wonderful job of matching the vibe of a game whether the character is walking carefree through lush fields of vegetation or dealing a decisive blow to the final boss. With a game such as Spore Hero and the audience it caters to, you would imagine the soundtrack would consist of quirky or blatantly jolly songs, but Spore Hero’s soundtrack totally outdoes those expectations. The entire soundtrack is orchestral in nature and drips of complexity and style. It’s entirely possible to view Spore Hero’s music as that of a feature animated film and not that of a video game.

In The Beginning

Spore Hero The Original Videogame Score was released on October 6, 2009, by Electronic Arts Music. It can be purchased as a digital album for $8.99 from Amazon. Unlike the soundtrack to SimAnimals which lasted for about 36 minutes, Spore Hero‘s collection of songs clocks in at a little longer one hour. There are a total of 18 tracks with most songs lasting for about 3 minutes on average. This is a very impressive length for a game comprised of relatively short quests such as Spore Hero. You can be pretty much guaranteed that you won’t hear the same old musical score every time you enter a new area.

Natural Selection

One of the most interesting things I noticed in this score is how its identity established in the main theme is carried throughout multiple songs. For example, 15 seconds into the first song a short piece of music is introduced that serves as a calling card for Spore Hero. (You can hear what I’m referring to by clicking on “Spore Hero Main Theme” in the Amazon music player below. About seven seconds into the sample you hear what I’m referring to as Spore Hero’s calling card.)

In later songs such as “Sporeward,” “Sporeable” and “Hero Theme,” variations of that signature sound are repeated to match the vibe of the song. This helps to glue together the varied musical stylings of the soundtrack. Sure there are songs like “Haven” that produce a feel good mood, but there are plenty of aggressive and brooding tracks such as “Monster Mayhem” that spring your eyes open just when you thought it was safe to drift away.

A couple songs on the album stood out over the rest. The first is “Spore War” which is the heaviest song on the soundtrack. It has a mixture of electronica, drums, guitar and choir voices that reminded me of God of War. If I could compare this song to anything I’d say it’s on par with a section from a rock opera. This is exactly the kind of song I would want to be playing in the background as a game is reaching its conclusion.

The other noteworthy song is “Sporexplore.” This track has a very tribal feel to it and fits in well with Spore’s basic philosophy of creating life and guiding it through unfamiliar territories. I admire the different percussion effects that surround the before mentioned Spore Hero calling card in the middle of the song. I was taken back to the time I listened to music from Donkey Kong Country while this song played (which is a huge compliment).

Evolution

If all music from video games were crafted such as this, the industry would be propelled to new heights of style and originality.

Spore Hero Original Videogame Score does a great job of asserting an identity and constantly reaffirming itself throughout the length of the soundtrack. Winifred Phillips and Spore Hero’s music producer Winnie Waldron are a couple of the industries best creative minds. I recommend this soundtrack to fans of gamers and music buffs alike. The quality is nothing short of superb.

Below are some samples from Spore Hero Original Videogame Score. Feel free to click through and hear for yourself why this soundtrack is worth purchasing.

Site [Winifred Phillips] Purchase [Amazon]

Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Product: PSPgo
Price: $249.99
Rating: Two thumbs sideways; 70/100; C-; * * out of five.
Pros: Gorgeous design, comfortable controls, convenience.
Cons: High price, no real improvements, 802.11b wireless for a download-only device is not fast enough.
Overall: Designed with a specific consumer in mind, not the average gamer.

Some of the reviews of Sony’s PSPgo may leave you with the impression that the system is actively killing puppies, ponies and everything nice in the world. The venom that pours from the words of some of these reviews bewilders me and yet, at the same time, I can sort of understand way someone might be so negative about the device.

At the asking price of $249, the PSPgo is a Siren of game devices, offering a lot of sexy style without a lot of substance. There’s no UMD backwards compatibility at this time, leaving anyone with a large collection out in the cold or having to be re-charged admission.

There’s no second analog stick, which is something we have been asking Sony for a long time to include. Finally, Sony is asking consumers to give up physical retail shopping for the convenience of only using the Playstation Store at retail prices

It’s very clear that the PSPgo is aimed at a certain type of consumer and I just so happen to be one of those consumers. I don’t have a UMD collection to speak of, I dislike the UMD format and I’m attracted to new, shiny gadgets.

Design

Opening the box of the PSPgo almost feels like unboxing a cell phone especially since the device is much smaller than the previous PSPs and is about the size of an iPod Touch. You flip open the top and there the device is, looking back at you in all it’s $249 glory. Truth be told, love it or loath it, the PSPgo is one sexy piece of hardware and you definitely get that feeling the first time you set eyes on it.

I went with the piano black model which, like the original Playstation 3 and iPhone, is super shiny and heavily prone to finger prints. In only a couple days my fingers have subdued the plastic sheen and trying to wipe them away has proven futile.

Sliding the screen upward reveals the device’s controls. It is a smooth glide and securely locks in place. To enable such motion, the buttons have all been recessed into the device but they all still feel comfortable and responsive without having to mash them down.

The single analog stick has been moved from the awkward corner of the PSP-3000 to the just right of the D-pad, which makes more ergonomic sense. Despite the stick being smaller, I never felt that my thumb was going to slide off during hours of play. I prefer it since the PSP-3000’s analog stick cramped my thumb up whereas the PSPgo doesn’t. 

The L and R, volume and display buttons have been moved to the top of the back of the device, which is initially a bit awkward to control. These buttons are recessed as well, making it somewhat difficult to press. However, after training my fingers to find them, it became an easier feat. The Home button remains up front for easy access.

The PSPgo’s smaller form also shrinks the screen down to 3.8 inches (roughly iPod Touch territory) from the PSP-3000’s 4.3 inches. The PSP bezel could’ve been left out to give more screen real estate but whatever Sony. The combination of the downgrade in screen size and retaining the 480x272 screen resolution actually makes things look better on the PSPgo than the PSP-3000, especially since Sony fixed the ghosting issues. 

Features

The removal of the UMD drive and the missing removable battery is what really allows the PSPgo to have a similar size of an iPod Touch, though I would have preferred some bulk if I could change the battery, especially on long trips. The current battery inside the Go has given me roughly 4 and a half hours of battery life before the green power light started blinking. This is in line with the PSP-3000’s battery life, which features a removable battery. The PSPgo’s battery also takes a little longer than an hour to fully charge which you will discover when you try to install your first firmware upgrade out of the box (it requires a fully charged battery).

Also missing is a stronger wireless signal. The PSPgo still features a 802.11b wireless, which is the same as the PSP-3000’s. To put that into perspective, your iPod Touch has a wireless-G, which can download media much faster. For a digital download-only device at this price to feature what is pretty much a dinosaur of a wireless radio is mind-boggling. Even the knock offs include wireless-G.

Further putting this issue into perspective is trying to download a 836MB game onto the PSPgo. Total time: 60-120 minutes. That’s an hour to two hours that you can’t use your device.

Luckily, Sony offers a few solutions to this problem. The PSPgo comes packed in with Media Go software, which is Windows compatible (no Mac support). From there, you can download what you want to your PC and copy it over to your PSPgo. You can likewise do this from your PS3 if you own one. You can also theoretically tether your PSPgo to your cell phone thanks to the addition of Bluetooth.

Speaking of Bluetooth, the PSPgo has new feature that allows PS3 owners the opportunity to sync controllers up with the handheld device. This comes in handy when playing for a longer period of time or simply when the device is hooked up to the television. The process takes about a minute but because this takes away the sync to the PS3. I suggest using a back up controller.

As for hooking up your PSPgo to the television, you remember all those fancy cords and accessories the PSP-3000 offered? Those are now useless (thanks Sony) since the PSPgo used proprietary cables. There’s no backwards compatibility with accessories either. That’s a real shot in the foot for potential upgraders. In fact, Sony has made things more complicated by increasing the number of cables to charge your PSPgo from the two it took to charge the PSP-3000 to three. Lose a part and you are screwed.

Bottom Line

The PSP Go is clearly a device that was never intended to replace the PSP-3000 but instead offers consumers another option – UMDs or digital distribution. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has listened to Sony speak in the last three years, they are big proponents of the digital distribution model and my hat’s off to them for making the ballsy move to be the first to offer such a device for mainstream gaming. However the execution was badly flawed, even if it is gorgeous, and that can’t be ignored.

It’s not so much that it takes the benefits of shopping for physical media out of the equation (I picked up Prinny for $10 bucks on PSN as opposed to $40 at GameStop), it’s offering a device with no real change in functionality for a much higher price that is a bit ludicrous even if you can justify the extra hundred dollars for 16GBs of memory – the iPod Touch is $299 for 32GBs in comparison.

If nothing else, Sony did at least get the PSP word of mouth spreading if the 300 percent increase in sales says anything.

If you already own a PSP-3000, I highly suggest sticking with that. If you are really thinking about purchasing a PSPgo, then I implore you to actively seek out discounts such as the one Dell was offering because $249 is a bit hard to swallow. Well, at least you get a pre-loaded demo of Patapon 2 and a voucher for Rock Band Unplugged. That’s worth something, right?

Site [SonyStyle] Read [Joystiq] Also Read [Gamertell] Photo Gallery [Gamertell: PSPgo]

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

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]]> Reviews, Originals, Features, Opinions, Handhelds, PSP, Gear, Hardware, Updates, Playstation-Store 2009-10-09T15:21:15+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/drug-wars-for-pc-review/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/drug-wars-for-pc-review/ Section: Reviews, Features, Opinions, PCs, Windows, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, 3D, Action, Adventure, FPS, Shooter

Title: Drug Wars
Price: $9.99
System(s): PC
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Paleo Entertainment
ESRB Rating: “Mature” for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Partial Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol.
Pros: Looks good and the story is interesting.
Cons: Controls are occasionally unresponsive, the game is overly demanding for resources, underpopulated multiplayer component.
Overall Score: One thumb sideways one thumb down; 65/100; D; * 1/2 out of five.

Paleo Entertainment shot itself the foot with the original version of Drug Wars, Merchants Of Brooklyn (MOB), by releasing it uncompleted. After changing the name to Drug Wars and implementing several fixes, the company hoped to have a worthwhile final product.

The story’s the same, a multiplayer component has been added and there were several invisible fixes. The question is whether or not these changes make it worthwhile.

What’s Worthwhile

There is some good stuff about this game. The story is really cool and that was pretty much the good part of the original. It features a stereotypical dystopian story as the world’s been flooded due to global warming. A multinational corporation started working with genetic engineering to clone slave builders. The company needed a particularly hardy type so it started cloning neanderthals and eventually created too many clones. Many of the excess builders are purchased by the mob to be used as bodyguards, foot soldiers or entertainment doing gladiator battles (often to the death).

The game’s animation looks really good. Sure, until fixes were put in the physics weren’t all that believable, partially due to glitches but new they are a bit more believable. The world also looks more realistic while retaining somewhat cartoony graphics from the original.

One of the most worthwhile elements of the game is the multiplayer mode. It looks better than the single-player mode and is not as demanding. Even if you’re not playing against anyone in particular, you’ll enjoy it.

Beef Up Your PC

Even so, the best and only truly good thing about the game is the story even though it is a bit formulaic. Also, the characters - especially your own- don’t feel like they belong in an essentially plotless story filled with mindless action.

Yes, it looks beautiful if you’ve got a really powerful computer. Even with a top-of-the-line computer you might run into a heavy lag while processing the surroundings, enemies and explosion. Strangely enough, the single-player campaign is even more demanding on your system. I was getting lag with half of the settings at medium and the rest at low on a computer that has a fairly quick dual-core processor, 4 GB of RAM and an HD Radeon 3470 with a lot of VRAM.

So, unless you’ve got a stronger computer, you’re still going to get a lot of lag unless you’ve got everything set at low.

Then there also is the issue of a heavily underpopulated multiplayer component. One of my complaints with the multiplayer mode is that it was hard to fine even one other person playing. If, instead, you get a group of people together with copies of the game, you’ll be able to make the multiplayer worthwhile.

The Bottom Line

As you can tell from the overall score, this is essentially the same bad game with slightly better packaging.

If you’re getting it for the multiplayer mode, find a few friends will to buy the game. At least then you’ll have someone to play with.

If you’re looking for a worthwhile single-player experience, save your money. There are few games worse than the Merchants of Brooklyn single-player half of Drug Wars.

Site [Drug Wars]

Full Story » | Written by Jonathan Gronli for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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]]> Reviews, Features, Opinions, PCs, Windows, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, 3D, Action, Adventure, FPS, Shooter 2009-10-07T13:33:31+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/review-of-cricuit-strike-one-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/review-of-cricuit-strike-one-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch/ Section: Reviews, Features, Opinions, Handhelds, iPhone & iPod Touch, Updates, Apple App Store

Title: Circuit Strike One
Price: $0.99
System(s): iPhone, iPod Touch
Release Date: July 23, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Chllingo (h.grenade)
Rating: “9+” for mild profanity and crude humor.
Pros: Fun, interesting and challenging shooter.
Cons: Plagued with crashes on the iPhone 3G.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 80/100; B-; * * * out of five.

These past few weeks I have developed a love/hate relationship with both Circuit Strike One and my iPhone 3G. On one hand you have a very interesting and experimental shooter with CS One. On the other hand you have the crippling problems consistently exposed with the iPhone.

Take Two Games, Add One Movie and Stir

Circuit Strike One presents a mix of Geometry Wars and Asteroids with a touch of the movie Hackers. The game’s premise pits you as hacker fighting your way through the defenses of the system administrators. Doing so requires you to carefully guide your craft while launching a strike on attack ships and cannons and while trying to complete level objectives.

Circuit Strike One provides neon colors, various computer-related sound effects and simple visuals mixed with an electronica soundtrack. The best thing about the sounds and visuals of the game is the Utility engine which syncs up what you do in-game, reacting to your actions. For example, fired shots are mixed into the soundtrack. Imagine mixing a record by playing a shooter. 

Positive, Meet Negative

Controlling your craft in this game feels just like controlling the craft in Asteroids complete with directional shooting. That said, Circuit Strike One also moves much faster than your classic Asteroids game, which caused me to die several times before I actually figured out the precision controlling and not speed and rapid fire would give me the most success, especially since the game takes place in “zero gravity.” Of course, precision controls are only acquired from a comfortable control scheme of which Circuit Strike One offers three (I prefer the “twin stick” setting).

One thing to keep in mind before purchasing CS One is that the game is relentlessly difficult. Not only can you expect to die multiple times in a matter of seconds but you can also expect to be insulted in leet speak as you watch your lives quickly tick away. However, if you can master the game you should be able to collect high scores that you will be more than proud to compare to the global leader boards.

The game also relentlessly crashed on me. Now, I can’t say for sure if either my iPhone’s memory was maxed out or that Circuit Strike One maxed the memory out, all I can confirm is that on multiple occasions, even after various system restarts, I was kicked out of the game after waiting for a two-minute freeze. I also can’t confirm that the iPhone 3GS or the iPod Touch will have this problem, however my iPhone 3G did.

Short Circuit?

Circuit Strike One is a fun, ingenious shooter with touch of Asteroids and Geometry Wars and is offered at fair price although the experience may be plagued with system crashes.

Purchase [Circuit Strike One]

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

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]]> Reviews, Features, Opinions, Handhelds, iPhone & iPod Touch, Updates, Apple App Store 2009-10-06T14:04:08+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/sonys-motion-controller-promotes-teamwork-with-videos/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/sonys-motion-controller-promotes-teamwork-with-videos/ Section: Originals, Features, Opinions, Consoles, PS3, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, 3D, Action, Adventure, Casual, Shooter, Conventions, Tokyo Game Show

Sony was really showing off its new wand-like motion controller at the Tokyo Game Show 2009. It still doesn’t have an official name but the implications of what the controller will bring to gaming on the PS3 are impressive.

One of the selling points of Sony’s motion controller is its one-to-one motion capabilities. This means no matter how the player moves the controller, either in a 2D or 3D space, the actions will be represented with perfect accuracy on screen. It’s more than likely superior to the Wii Motion Plus peripheral and provides vastly superior graphics and other technical improvements while paired with the PS3. However, one of the most interesting things about this new motion controller is the two-person interactivity it can bring to the PS3.

It’s already been revealed that a few games including Resident Evil 5 and LittleBigPlanet will include updates to add future motion controls. Videos from the TGS demonstrate that this new functionality can be done by one or two people.

If you decide to play RE5 with the new controller, the DualShock 3 will be used for movement and the wand will be used for shooting. Watching a single person play RE5 like this looks overly complicated and silly. The DualShock 3 isn’t meant to be held with one hand and could produce some cramping if done over a long period of time. However, when one person controls the character while the other is tasked with aiming and shooting, a whole new element of fun is created. This promotes that side-by-side teamwork that the Wii has been so good at implementing. This is also a good way to get non gamers the chance to see what makes a game like RE5 such a big deal.

The video below shows RE5 in action with Sony’s motion controller.

In LittleBigPlanet the wand is used to control obstacles in the environment. For example, in the video below, Sackboy needs to get past some pillars and the only way to raise them is by placing the reticule over a circle on the pillars and raising the controller up. The wand controller is also used to rotate platforms and spring Sackboy to new heights.

This technology could help attract a whole new audience to the PS3 as well as give existing games additional shelf live. Sony’s motion peripheral is expected to become available Spring 2010.

Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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]]> Originals, Features, Opinions, Consoles, PS3, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, 3D, Action, Adventure, Casual, Shooter, Conventions, Tokyo Game Show 2009-10-05T17:09:40+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-review-tales-on-monkey-island-lair-of-the-leviathan/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-review-tales-on-monkey-island-lair-of-the-leviathan/ Section: Gaming News, Reviews, Originals, Features, Opinions, Consoles, Wii, PCs

Title: Tales of Monkey Island: Lair of Leviathan!
Price: $8.99 or $34.95 for the full series; $10 for the Wii episode
System(s): *PC, Wii
Release Date: September, 29 2009
Publisher (Developer): Telltale (LucasArts)
ESRB Rating: "Everyone" for comic mischief.
Pros: Very fun and hilarious game play. You get to create a unique pirate face and explore the inside of a manatee (and the return of Murray).
Cons: No more Island exploring, possibly too much manatee exploring.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 98/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.

What do huge manatees, mutinous crews and voodoo curses all have in common? The third installment of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island: Lair of Leviathan.

In the previous episode, our hero Guybrush Threepwood and his ship were swallowed whole by an insanely large manatee. Once inside, Guybrush learned that the explorer (who is now a bit loopy) he was looking for was also swallowed by the beast so that hew could control the beast from the inside, and steer it towards La Esponja Grande, which happens to be at the manatee mating ground.

Guybrush will need the help of the explorer's mutinous crew (who would prefer to just live in the manatee forever), to escape the beast and eventually get to the sponge. But that’s not all; you also have to learn to speak manatee to seduce the rather vicious Leviathan: a large, angry, female manatee that guards La Esponja Grande.

Manatees Make Great Summer Homes

This episode was quite interesting and a bit different. Instead of exploring islands and talking to the locals, you are stuck inside a huge manatee. Not only do you have to interact with the manatee’s innards to get out, but you also have to find his missing ear canal which has been swiped by the crew of the explorers ship. You find out later that they think the old coot has lost his mind in wanting to find a large sponge and are much happier living in the manatee’s stomach.

Your first goal is to get each of the three crew members to like you and therefore want to give you back the ear canal. This is not going to be an easy task, since they are pirates and don’t trust outsiders. You can jump through canals throughout the beast to travel to different parts of the manatee, which is pretty gross when you think about it, but also the best form of travel.

You also meet an old friend in this episode, by old friend I mean a character that any veteran of the Monkey Island games will know: Murray. Murray is a dead pirate who loves to cause misery and despair to those who cross him. Fortunately, he is now only a yakking skull, which is quite hilarious. As long as you have him in your inventory, he will talk to you and makes idle threats until you find him a body so he can get his revenge on the world.

Other than that, the game play is the same as the other episodes. You have to find items and use and combine them to solve puzzles. You also learn a new technique, the “Arrr” face, where you pick different combination's of facial expressions to create an awesome pirate face. You need this technique to impress one of the crew members and to intimidate another. I assume they will also incorporate this in the upcoming episodes too, but I don’t know, I also hope that it is not intended to replace insult sword fighting!

Mutiny Has Its Downsides

There is not as much fun scenery as there was in previous games because you mainly spend your time inside the manatee. You also venture around underwater (since we all know Guybrush can hold his breath for 10 minutes!) talking to manatees, which is exciting. Despite that, I do miss the island exploring. You can only spend so much time inside a manatee before you go stir crazy!

Getting the crew members to accept you into their crew takes much trial-and-error. One member will easily accept if you can get him a date with Morgan, the bounty hunter you are traveling with, but you have to know what he likes on a first date (and he won’t give you any clues). Basically you just keep trying different things and see what he approves of. Then, when he is happy with the way Morgan approaches him, he will agree to accept you. It would have been nice if he dropped a few hints like, “boy I like holding hands with a girl,” or “I hate pushy types!”

Another crew member won’t accept you unless you can impress him with your pirate face (Arrr face). This involves having to search around the manatee and find pictures or people making facing, then adapting them. It is fun to see the different variations you can come up with. The third one only listens to his friend Santino, who happens to be a dead skeleton that can’t talk. So good luck with that one!

Be Gettin' Yar Hooks on this Booty

The game keeps getting more and more interesting as the new episodes come out. First Guybrush was infected with a crazy voodoo plague, then Guybrush encountered a crazy scientist that stole his hand, then Guybrush was attacked by crazy pirates who want your gold artifacts, and now Guybrush has been swallowed by a huge manatee and forced to work alongside a explorer who’s long years of exploring the unusual have made him a bit crazy.

This game is worth playing just to see the return of Murray. After all, it’s always nice to see things brought back from the archives.

So pick up this fantastic adventure game at Telltale Games. And if you still haven’t checked out the previous two tales, you better get to those quick!

Site [Telltale Games]

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

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]]> Gaming News, Reviews, Originals, Features, Opinions, Consoles, Wii, PCs 2009-10-01T03:45:05+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/opinion-rock-stars-should-embrace-music-games/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/opinion-rock-stars-should-embrace-music-games/ Section: Originals, Features, Opinions, Ads & Media, Print, TV, Game-Companies, Publishers, Genres, Music

Looks as if a growing number of musicians just don’t “get” the Guitar Hero game series. Prince told Tavis Smiley he turned Activision down because it’s more important for kids to learn how to play the guitar. Jack White and Jimmy Page have expressed similar sentiments.

Then there’s the bewildering fiasco of Courtney Love, who’s suing Activision concerning the use of Kurt Cobain’s avatar even though she signed over the rights for them to do so.

You know, it’s probably a good idea for anyone considering signing over rights to appear in a video game to actually play the game in question for a few minutes.

Love would have been able to see that Guitar Hero avatars - gasp! -  cover other people’s songs. I’m going to go out on a limb and say at some point before Kurt Cobain became the Kurt Cobain, he covered some other people’s songs. The Guitar Hero franchise does a good job of covering the travels from backwater bars to sold out arenas.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr gave their input for The Beatles: Rock Band so they could be pleased with the finished product.

PS: If perhaps the greatest band of all time has no problem being in a video game, some of these other musicians should probably check their egos. How does it really sound to in effect be saying, “Yeah, Sir Paul McCartney can be in a game if he wants to but my music is way more important than his.” Pretentious, no?

I think musicians should want young people to experience their music in any way possible. There are millions of kids that would never tune in a classic rock station or listen to any music that predates Britney Spears. They may pick up a Guitar Hero game and be exposed to music they would never hear any other way. Would these same musicians deny a film company that wanted to use their music in a blockbuster film? Doubtful.

Whatever their reason, it’s trendy to bash video games for society’s ills. No need to go after the politicians who don’t give schools enough money to fund fine arts programs when Activision’s there as a ready scapegoat. Don’t you love when adults blame the lazy, good-for-nothing kids for problems that us grown-ups created? I know I do.

Guitar Hero, Rock Band and other such music games address a basic reality. It’s fun to pretend to be a rock star, but 99.9 percent of us will never play well enough to do so, even if we practiced from infancy to our deathbed. I won’t even start on how hard it is to succeed in the mainstream music industry if you don’t have “the look.” No, the games are as close as most of us will come to selling out arenas. I suppose next they’ll tell us that kids shouldn’t play Madden because if they spend all day outside, they will all make National Football League rosters. The fact is, the majority of us have about as much chance to be Sonic the Hedgehog as we do to lead the life of a rock star or NFL player.

Walk in any game or electronics store and you’ll see 100 video games people can take home with them. Musicians should be encouraging the growth of music games rather than bashing them.

Read [Tavis Smiley] Also Read [Wired]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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]]> Originals, Features, Opinions, Ads & Media, Print, TV, Game-Companies, Publishers, Genres, Music 2009-10-01T02:32:59+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-review-metroid-prime-trilogy-collectors-edition-for-wii/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-review-metroid-prime-trilogy-collectors-edition-for-wii/ Section: Reviews, Features, Nostalgia, Opinions, Consoles, Wii, Genres, 3D, Action, Shooter

Title: Metroid Prime Trilogy Collector’s Edition
Price: $49.99
System: Wii
Release Date: August 24, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Nintendo (Retro Studios, Inc.)
ESRB Rating: “Teen” for animated blood and violence.
Pros: Quintessential use of Wii controls, outstanding visuals and level design, fantastic and unique boss battles, good balance of exploration and action. Three games for the price of one
Cons: Basically the same game three times with plenty of repetition in each
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 97/100; A; ****1/2 out of 5

The first Metroid game I ever completed was Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on the Wii. I’d tried Metroid Prime on the Game Cube, and enjoyed it, but never enough to stick with it when something else came along. I wanted to go back and finish it up after completing Corruption but suddenly that Game Cube controller seemed so, primitive. It felt clunky. It wasn’t sleek and intuitive like, well, like Samus.

Now, that’s no longer a concern. The Game Cube games Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes have been updated for the Wii. They’ve been touched up here and there, they’ve been converted to widescreen and they’ve been blessed with the WiiMote-Nunchuck combo. To top it off, they’ve been bundled with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, placed on one dual-layer disc and given perhaps the best packaging yet seen in the US With all this, Nintendo and and Retro Studios have given us the best deal available on the Wii.

Even if you’ve played all these games before, it’s a package all Wii gamers should own.

Wait, This Robot’s a Girl!? Awesome!

Metroid is a first-person shooter set on distant, largely uninhabited planets and, in some cases, spaceships. You play as Samus, bounty hunter extraordinaire in her sleek robot suit with the illogically puffy shoulders. Samus’ suit can acquire various upgrades and will throughout the course of all three games. Why all three? Because at the beginning of each, she seems to lose them and has to spend the adventure getting them back. Samus really needs to see a mechanic. If I lost my brakes every morning on the way to work, I’d start taking the car to a different shop.

Samus’ suit does, in fact, have a personality of its own, especially considering its ability to turn into a into a ball to roll through various tunnels and puzzles. The ball mechanic is a lot of fun but is also very useful in many of the combat situations (it is easier to roll away from trouble than to run). In addition, she’s eventually equipped with four types of laser fire with specific weapons needed against certain enemies and doors (and you spend more time shooting doors than anything else). She also gets visor upgrades, which allow her to see in the dark, to see invisible objects, etc. And, finally, there are countless missile, bomb and energy upgrades to be found. The more you acquire, the more equipped you’ll be to tackle the numerous, complicated and awesome bosses.

It’s Three, Three, Three (Largely Similar) Games In One!

Yes, the description above does apply to all three games because all three are basically the exact same thing. That’s not a big deal when the games were released a couple years apart but, when you get all three at once, it becomes Metroid overload.

All three require plenty of backtracking, as accessing certain areas can’t be done until you’ve got the proper suit upgrade. You can run through certain areas more than a dozen times, fighting the same opponents each time (who’s repairing those security lasers?) and that gets tiresome. The Metroid worlds are huge, so you really will spend more time running back and forth than you will encountering new enemies and cracking open new puzzles.

But this is all worth it because the action is fast and furious when it has to be and the puzzles are fun. The balance between fighting and exploring is well handled and it doesn’t hurt that the locations are gorgeous. You’ve got lava flows deep underground, snowy cliffs, cities in the sky, derelict spaceships and more.

The core gameplay may remain the same throughout all three games but the locations keep things feeling fresh.

Play It Again For the First Time.

Want more detail? You don’t really need it. Any Nintendo owner who takes gaming at all seriously has played through at least one - and likely all three - of these games. If you’ve played all three, whether you go for this package depends upon how much you enjoyed them.

Are they worth playing again? Yes, if only for the ability to use the fantastic WiiMote and Nunchuck control system. It’s easily the best of any component system and the Metroid developers certainly know how to use it to its greatest potential. All developers of first-person shooters should be taking notes. In addition, the widescreen presentation is great and the various other tweaks certainly don’t hurt.

This is a fantastic package. As if getting three A-quality games for the price of one wasn’t enough, it’s packaged in a shiny tin with with great artwork. All three games come on one dual layer disc, so there’s no need to manage multiple discs (which would also add extra bulk to the packaging).

A trilogy worth trying

What we have here are three extraordinary games in one fantastic box at one amazing price. It’s perfect for gamers like me who started on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Wii and just couldn’t go backwards in time or technology to play Metroids Prime 1 and 2 without widescreen and Wii controls. I’ve now been able to work up to Corruption and had a blast doing it. If time permits, I may even play Corruption again (after a break). This is a lot of Metroid to tackle at once, so make sure you get some other games to play between chapters.

When buying another game, though, don’t argue with the salespeople that $50 for only one game in a cheap plastic box sure seems like a rip-off. You don’t want to look like a spoiled Wii owner.

Site [Metroid Prime Trilogy] Read [Gamertell]

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]]> Reviews, Features, Nostalgia, Opinions, Consoles, Wii, Genres, 3D, Action, Shooter 2009-09-30T13:09:33+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/the-deepening-a-modern-choose-your-own-adventure-web-game/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/the-deepening-a-modern-choose-your-own-adventure-web-game/ Section: Gaming News, Originals, Features, Opinions, PCs, Linux, Mac, Windows, PCs-Other, Genres, 2D, Adventure, Web

A couple guys named Ian and Brant Duncan have taken choose-your-own-adventures games to the next step and created one of the first live-action choose-your-own-adventure games called The Deepening.

In the game, a terrorist group has broken into a bank, is holding everyone hostage and has planted a bomb in the basement of the bank. You control the fates of the two officers set out to save the day; the by-the-book rookie, Stevenson, and the rebel, Bukowski. You make the choice between what they do and how they go about doing it, with each choice effecting whether or not they save the hostages or blow up in a huge fiery explosion.

The game is not very long with only four chances to make a choice but there are several choices for each path you take, so you will definitely want to play over again to try out the other outcomes. What makes it more interesting is, depending on who you choose, you get to see similar scenarios from different points of view. For instance, if you choose Stevenson, you get to see what’s going on at his end, and at times what’s going on on Bukowski’s side through Stevenson’s eyes.

And it’s all live action! The Duncan Brothers filmed clips of themselves acting out the action, and you see a different clip depending on how you play.

Everyone can play this game on their computer, Mac or Windows alike. It's not really a game but more of an interactive video so as long as your computer can show videos, you should be OK. You don't even have to download anything. So check it out, it’s fun little game to try out, and it’s free so you can’t lose.

The game is available on Atom, a website dedicated to funny videos and other media. Maybe we’ll see others like it soon.

Site [Atom] Also Read [FunnyOrDie]

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]]> Gaming News, Originals, Features, Opinions, PCs, Linux, Mac, Windows, PCs-Other, Genres, 2D, Adventure, Web 2009-09-29T13:30:58+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/appletell-review-the-moves-superstar-edition-for-mac/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/appletell-review-the-moves-superstar-edition-for-mac/ FROM APPLETELL - Here’s an instance where a late repackaging of a fairly old game (even by Mac release standards) really does improve upon the value of the original.
MORE »

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]]> Reviews, Features, Opinions, PCs, Mac 2009-09-28T11:13:25+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/madden-curse-update-larry-fitzgerald-battling-dangerous-precedent/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/madden-curse-update-larry-fitzgerald-battling-dangerous-precedent/ Section: Gaming News, Features, Opinions, Rumors, Genres, Sports

This is the first time Electronic Arts’ popular Madden series of football games has had two athletes share the cover. Does that mean both Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu are doomed ? The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive standout has already gotten shelved.

Will Fitz get spared since the Madden cover has already claimed one athlete? Or will it take two NFL superstars to satiate the curse’s eternal hunger?

It’s also worth noting that the Arizona Cardinals wideout is carrying not one but two curses on his considerable shoulders. When the Arizona Cardinals lost the Super Bowl, they picked up another superstition whammy. Since 1997, only two Super Bowl losers have even made the playoffs the following year. Those two teams, the 2006 Seattle Seahawks and 1998 Green Bay Packers had key players get injured.

Longtime Madden players already know where I’m going with this.

The Seattle Seahawks went from super to so-so largely because Shaun Alexander, who graced the cover of Madden 2007, broke a bone in his left foot. Alexander had an amazing 2005 season scoring 28 touchdowns, the single season TD record. The curse hit him harder than most. He slumped to 182 yards gained in his first three games (his lowest career total over a three-game stretch in five years) before breaking the bone in his foot. Alexander was one of the healthiest players in the league before appearing on the game cover. He was eventually released by the Seahawks and is no longer in the league.

So far, Fitzgerald is healthy and has decent but not exceptional statistics, 105 yards and two touchdowns through two games.

Gamertell is pulling for you, Larry (although probably not as hard as EA Sports).

Read [Gamertell] Also Read [] Also Read [NFL.com]

Full Story » | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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]]> Gaming News, Features, Opinions, Rumors, Genres, Sports 2009-09-24T14:09:05+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-review-gamer-the-movie/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/gamertell-review-gamer-the-movie/ Section: Reviews, Features, Opinions, Ads & Media, Movies, Genres, Action

Gamer Gamer
Release Date: September 4, 2009
Length 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
Pros: The directors of the Crank film series exercise their “all-action” pedigree on this project. The result is a film that has mayhem at every turn and will assuredly keep movie-goers in their seats until the credits roll.
Cons: Though there is a great deal of action, other elements, particularly character development, are sacrificed. Also, the film suffers when the focus is taken off of Butler’s heroic exploits.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb down; 79/100; C+; * * 1/2 out of five.

When I saw the initial unveiling of Project Natal at this year’s E3, I was impressed at Microsoft’s ability to harness the motion-control technology of Nintendo’s Wii and amplify it to include the human body.  In watching that demonstration, I wondered aloud, “What would happen if that technology became the de facto means of playing video games?”

Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor attempt to offer some insight into this query with the film Gamer.

All Action, All the Time

Headlined by notable actors including Gerard Butler, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Michael C. Hall and Kyra Sedgwick, Gamer has a premise that draws strong comparisons to Running Man.

Butler plays Kable, a reluctant participant in the game Slayers, run by Ken Castle, a reclusive millionaire. Inmates in Slayers have the opportunity to be set free if they are able to stay alive for 30 sessions. Kable appears to have the best chance for escape because he has participated in Slayers for as long as he can remember and has won 27 consecutive battles. However, Castle has other ideas for his perfect soldier and getting out is not one of them.

Being that Neveldine and Taylor have distinguished themselves through their roles in directing the Crank films, I was expecting a production that was long on action and short on subtlety. Gamer delivers by providing more than enough mayhem to fill its 95-minute running time. Whether Kable is shooting his way through Slayers or doing his best to muscle his way through Castle’s goons, the film provides enough action to make sure that individuals who choose to watch this film will be unable to take their eyes away from the screen. 

This strong emphasis on action is also made apparent when Kable is forced to save his wife, who is a staple of Castle’s other hit game called Society. The best way to describe this game is a combination of what would happen if erotic settings were allowed in Playstation Home. When Kable enters this game, he has to protect his wife from Castle’s super soldier, who is unrestrained and has designs on Kable’s destruction. The scenes where Kable has to fight through the party scenes in Society where the blood turns different colors due to the flashing lights are extremely well-executed.

Positive Action, Negative Developments

The movie’s strong emphasis on action frequently results in other parts of the film being limited including character development.

With the exception of Gerard Butler’s Kable, who does an adequate job of portraying both a grizzled soldier and a wounded family man, there is very little reason to care about the other persons in this production beyond their basic archetypes. One example where this is apparent is the actor who plays Simon. While most of the production warranted him acting like a cocksure gamer, scenes where he is required to use his head rather than his thumbs - such as when he was held by the police and had his computer confiscated - failed to portray an adequate sense of concern. He may as well have had the same emotions from the beginning of the film to the end.

Kyra Sedgwick, who plays a reporter, also has little depth to her character and moviegoers are given little reason to be concerned for her other than the overall affection that is expected to be had by her being a part of the film. Ludacris, who portrays a character that is part of an underground resistance with aims to expose Castle’s treachery, has no development to his character at all; he merely exists to spout off monotone lines including, “This is not something you can control,” and act mysterious.

As action proves to be the key factor driving this production, the times that it veers off course are often met with disastrous results. This is most apparent in the scene where Castle does a strange Sammy Davis-esque dance number while attacking Kable with henchmen. This scene proves an odd choice for the film, and along with the paper-thin character moments, is one of the times where people seeing this film will scratch their heads in disappointment.

Thrills and Chills

Whether you will enjoy Gamer will strongly depend on your tastes; if you are someone who values action and the strides made by the video game medium, you will glean the most enjoyment out of this film. However, if you desire deep storytelling along with your thrills, you may want to spend your money elsewhere.

Site [Gamer: The Movie]

Full Story » | Written by Jason Townsend-Rogers for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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]]> Reviews, Features, Opinions, Ads & Media, Movies, Genres, Action 2009-09-22T12:34:58+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/alternate-disc-tractions-battlestar-galactica-season-4.5-dvd-review/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/alternate-disc-tractions-battlestar-galactica-season-4.5-dvd-review/ Section: Reviews, Originals, Features, Columns, Nostalgia, Opinions, Ads & Media, TV, Other Media

Title: Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5
Price: $49.98
Format: DVD
Release Date: July 28, 2009
Publisher (Distributor): Universal Studios
Rating: Not Rated
Pros: The same great story, acting and effects we’ve come to expect and appreciate throughout the series. Most everything is nicely wrapped up without a dumb, dangling sequel-generating element.
Cons: Purely subjective dislikes that might include unusually paced scenes, the enigmatic Starbuck, the last few scenes and intentionally unanswered phenomena.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 95/100; A; * * * * 1/2 out of five.

The final half season of the groundbreaking revamp TV series, Battlestar Galactica, wraps up all of the mysteries, visions and even relationships that had been developing throughout the series. Even with all the bonus footage, extended episodes and commentary tracks, that doesn’t mean the ending will make any more sense.

But do not despair. This is the perfect followup to the amazing first half of the final season and a beautiful, even if somewhat intentionally enigmatic conclusion to the series.

So Watched We All

Caveat Emptor: Small spoilers ahead.

The story picks up with the disappointing discovery of a charred Earth which exasperates existing frustrations, causing bigger rifts and inciting dual civil wars. You’ll see surprising defections, lead characters being killed, at least one character unexpectedly returning and a lot of action. As for the Fab Five Cylcons, they eventually learn more about their past with seemingly random and uncontrollable events colliding into a grand climax even for them.

Baltar continues his twisty existence as a religious (and scientific) leader, resulting in the outing of a main characters’ resurrection. Adama gets a little more nookie and gets to fire off many shots. Starbuck, even though she finds herself, her strange past continue to haunt her as do musical echoes that will, of course, become very important later. And Tyrol continues to get crapped on, which, of course, makes him even more cranky.

Eventually Adama leads the crew and a deteriorating Galactica into one final mission which ultimately brings the series to a rather finite end. The series definitely goes in unexpected directions and, at every turn, it’s a joy to watch.

The pace of the final season swings between intense action, suspense and long, thoughty pauses, which is rather unusual compared to the previous seasons. Some of it is rather intentional, especially with the final episode, may annoyingly slow down the pace for some viewers down but, overall, even those moments offer slight respites and moments of profound background.

And, yes, the theme song from the original series does get its own moment in the final episode. Aside from that, the nods to the original series are almost completely gone save the re-emergence of an old foe for only a few brief moments.

Don’t Lose an Eye

For those of you looking for hard answers to those little mysteries, forget it. What you see on screen is essentially what you get in terms of deeper meanings although they do bring together a lot of the series’ images (the Opera House), resolve those little things that have been developing (Starbuck and her childhood childhood visions and recent musical interests) get couples together for good and even put the Galactica to rest. Even with all that, the series’ creators have intentionally left a lot up to be interpreted in many ways.

That means the commentary tracks will ultimately prove useless to those who need something more solid to help them come to grips with the end of the series. Instead, the writer, director and others talk about off screen experiences, hardly relating to whatever is happening on screen. When you see that key moment or two you’ve been waiting an hour to have explained you will instead be listening to the middle of some tangent about filming or set design. In terms of film education, that’s all useful information but, for fans that’s not necessarily what you want to hear right at that moment.

Deleted scenes also don’t add much to the overall experience (although I almost always enjoy seeing what was left out). The extended versions include footage that is blended well enough that it’s hard to recall exactly what you didn’t see when the episodes aired. It is nice to have the podcasts collected in one place.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation in the bonus features is that much of the success is due to a “manifesto” written by series’ developer, writer and producer Ron Moore (who gets a big ol’ cameo in the final scenes). Interestingly, it was meant for the sales team to use and was instead copied and accidentally sent out with copies of the script. As fate would have it, that page, called a “manifesto” by everyone except Moore, proved to be vital to the series being picked up, developed and getting a great cast. It’s hard to think that didn’t play into the series story lines, even if unconsciously. Even more interesting is that they did not want the series to become a “space opera,” though it certainly had operatic imagery, undertones and even tragedies.

I’ll Buy That for a Starbuck

If you get this set expecting to watch all of the bonus footage and listening to hours of commentaries to get all of your questions answered, you will be massively disappointed. That should not, however, deter you in any way from getting the final episodes to this amazing series. It’s worth a watch for anyone, even if only once.

The only reason not to get this and the previous seasons might be to save up and buy the pricey Blu-ray complete series set (MSRP $349.99). In any case, I cannot imagine why you would not (or not have already) complete(d) your Battlestar Galactica home video collection.

Read [Gamertell] Site [Battlestar Galactica DVD]

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]]> Reviews, Originals, Features, Columns, Nostalgia, Opinions, Ads & Media, TV, Other Media 2009-09-18T19:46:17+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/my-name-is-brian-and-im-addicted-to-achievement-points/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/my-name-is-brian-and-im-addicted-to-achievement-points/ Section: Originals, Features, Columns, Opinions, Game-Companies, Publishers

I can’t deny it any longer.

I have all the telltale signs.

I have Avatar: The Last Airbender on my Gamefly queue.

I’m working on mathematical equations as to how to kill 53,000 zombies on Dead Rising and 53,000 infected on Prototype.

For Mario’s sake, stop making that an achievement. You taunt us addicts and completionists. I’m not doing that one anymore, especially not for 30 gamer points.

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that are oh-so satisfying. I don’t even know why that little “plink” noise and the words “Achievement Unlocked!” make my heart sing, I just know that they do. High scores have been around as long as gaming has but Microsoft has come up with a unique way to put them front and center.

Technically, these aren’t even all high scores. Some of them are low moments. Madden NFL 10 has one for throwing the ball away on fourth down titled “Well Played, Really.” 50 Cent: Blood on The Sand offers one for getting killed on Easy level called “Not Bulletproof.” If you need any proof of the success of Xbox Achievements, look at how quickly Sony adopted its own version with Trophies. Other companies don’t borrow concepts that don’t work right. One of the first things I do when a game I’m interested in buying comes out, even before checking reviews, is seeing what the achievements are and how easy or difficult they are to get.

The question comes up and is valid: “What have you earned here, B?”

In the grand scheme of things, nothing tangible.

I can’t spend these points to buy a shiny new pony or anything. But the same applies to when I beat any game or accomplish any in-game task. Perhaps, as a writer, what I really enjoy is the running chronicle of my game triumphs, tragedies and yes, even games I shudder to remember playing.

Achievements add replay value to the great games and give you a reason of some kind to play the horrible ones. Part of the fun among us “achievement point whores” is finding ways to trick the system. Not only are there achievements that aren’t disabled by cheats, there are games where entering a cheat code unlocks an achievement.

Naysayers complain that achievements are ruining gaming. Much of this hubbub comes from the new custom of “boosting” where gamers get together and play exclusively to get achievements that would be nearly impossible solo. I fail to see how gamers reaching out to each other and working together in admittedly unorthodox ways is a bad thing.

And I would tell anyone that the number one rule of achievement point whoring is that if it’s becoming work, just stop. The points really are supposed to be for fun. If tomorrow they told me that Bioshock 2  or Modern Warfare 2 was having all of its achievement points removed, I would still be looking forward to playing both those games. If you’re turning your nose up at a potential Game of the Year because it has online achievements you’ll never get, you are taking them way too seriously.

There’s a support group for that, too. Meet us on Xbox Live tonight but not too early, we’re boosting Gears of War.

Read [1UP] Also Read [Examiner]

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]]> Originals, Features, Columns, Opinions, Game-Companies, Publishers 2009-09-17T21:57:10+00:00 http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/opinion-the-grammar-of-madden-game-name-makes-for-unnecessary-brain-pain/ http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/opinion-the-grammar-of-madden-game-name-makes-for-unnecessary-brain-pain/ Section: Originals, Features, Opinions, Consoles, PS3, Wii, Xbox-360, PCs, Mac, Windows, Handhelds, DS, PSP, Genres, Sports

Madden NFL 10. That’s the official name of this year’s edition of the now ubiquitous football game. For grammar snobs, professional media and a lot of uninitiated game-purchasing parents, it’s also a point of grand annoyance.

First, consider the grammatical aspects of the name. To properly abbreviate a year you place an apostrophe where numbers are missing. That’d be the “20” portion of 2010, making it ‘10 (instead of 10’ as many people seem to prefer). Otherwise, sans apostrophe, it’s the number after 9 and before 11, not after 2009 and before 2011. That’s a huge difference (by 2000 years). This is also the point that frustrates the bejesus out of non-gaming professional copy editors who either want to extend it to the full year or add the apostrophe. (Just ask any copy editor the endless annoyance and internal agita they experienced when the film title 40-Year Old Virgin was used sans a hyphen).

You could also argue that “NFL” requires periods after each letter because it is an abbreviation. The nice part about AP (Associated Press) style is that it does allow popular abbreviations to be used sans periods. English grammar snobs, however, would still cringe in terror and demand the dots. So, for journalistic circumstances, we can leave the “NFL” as is.

Next is the year. I suppose it’s much the same as automobiles where the 2010 models are available for purchase in 2009. I’ve always thought that was a bit silly but I don’t make the rules. That’s even stranger when you consider that the game begins with last year’s players and stats. Granted, updates now make that point a little shaky but there is no denying that, unless you know the numbering scheme, that 10 may appear to be the tenth Madden game, not the game for the year 2010 (that are probably being purchased in 2009).

This might cause parents who don’t know that this game follows a next-year naming scheme to become a bit confused and buy a less-than-recent version of the game.

We can hope that the person at the counter or the signage in the store will help prevent this problem.  If they are buying online, however, the price may be the only hint at the game’s recent release.

Finally, there’s the name in the game name.

Because “Madden” is referring to an actual person and the game is based on his input, the name of the game should be possessive. This would be in line with other games including Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon. Even better would be to include his first name but, much like Madonna, Elvis, Disney and Moses, some people are famous enough to be just one name. When you also consider that he doesn’t necessarily own the franchise, this one is a little forgivable.

So, to make everyone happy, the game title should really be John Madden’s N.F.L. 2010.

But, if you want to be a bit more journalistic, John Madden’s NFL ‘10 would suffice.

Considering the popularity of the game, only one letter and two properly placed apostrophes would really be enough, making the name the still short and much more correct than the actual name, Madden’s NFL ‘10.

Of course, as some more spiritual and less literal grammar snobs will point out, the name of any work is the name in itself and should be treated as such, making Madden NFL 10 the correct title of the game no matter how I dissect it.

So, becasue that is what is printed on the cover, no matter how grammatically or stylistically incorrect it is, Madden NFL 10 is how I use it regardless of how much it pains that little red-penned copy editor within me.

Site [Video Game Name Gernator] Site [AP Style]

Editor’s Note: it’s been years since I used actual paper copy editing marks so if I got it wrong, please let me know.

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]]> Originals, Features, Opinions, Consoles, PS3, Wii, Xbox-360, PCs, Mac, Windows, Handhelds, DS, PSP, Genres, Sports 2009-09-17T12:30:48+00:00