Gamertell

Even though Tecmo’s in somewhat dire straits, and may even become part of the Square Enix family, it still isn’t hesitating when it comes to games. The company has just issued a press release announcing its upcoming titles for the 2008 holiday season. It doesn’t have that many coming out, only four, but hopefully those four DS and Wii titles will do well this season.

The four upcoming games are as follows…

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It seems that developer CryTek has gotten into the holiday spirit by delivering special Christmas-themed DLC to Crysis players. According to Ars Technica, five new multiplayer maps and a Christmas-y wallpaper have arrived and are available for download right now. The maps are Excavation and Terminal for InstantAction mode, and Training, Crossroads, and Desolation for PowerStruggle mode. All maps are available for play now on the title’s servers.

Crysis, of course, is an uber-ambitious PC first person shooter, originally released this past fall with steep system requirements and solid review scores.

So, if you’re savvy enough to have a PC rig capable of running this monster of an FPS, and you’re itching for new multiplayer action, this is a nice little “Merry Christmas” to you. It’s always positive to see developers supporting their titles with new DLC long after release (Rock Band is a frontrunner in this department as well), it’s a great way to keep a good game fresh for months.

Read [Ars Technica]

Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas and salutations for every seasonal celebration.

We’re planning to spend some extra time today (December 25, 2007) with our family and friends celebrating Christmas 2007 by playing extra videogames, drinking a moderate amount of egg nog and perhaps (accidentally) consuming fruitcake.

Well will return tomorrow (December 26, 2007) with plenty of groovy news, updates and other videogame goodness.

Thanks again for reading the site each day!

The holiday season not only bodes well for the sale of mainstream console and PC games but casual online games as well. Nexon America Inc. has decided to decorate its free (to download and play) online multiplayer game, KartRider, for Christmas.

With an eye on the lucrative holiday season, Shark’s Fin, Penguin Town and Ice Cave and will be decorated with candy cane poles, penguins in Santa’s attire and jingly bells etc. The publisher expects a bevy of new and returning gamers during the holiday season.

The festivities are never complete without the music, are the so the game will also feature Christmas carols as background music just to reassure you that it is indeed the festive season. Also, there are new online events with serious prizes – an icing on the KartRider Christmas cake. If you have the stamina then race in the KartRider Holiday Marathon and you could win a laptop or an iPod.

MySpace users can comment on the game’s MySpace page about their holiday wish list and if your comment is good enough you again will be in contention for some great prizes under the Holiday Wish List contest. Holiday Plate and Holiday Baton are the new holiday incentives inside the game. The plate can be bought through the item shop, while the baton can be pounced upon by winning races during a quest.You can also join in the fun and celebrate your Christmas with KartRider.

Read [GamingAngels] Read [GamezPlay]

“Today is all about video games. It used to be that teens were the focus of video games, but now they’re targeted at the whole family,” said reporter Rick Montañez of KIDK a northwest news station. “Tonight we show you interactive video games, plus a different way to shop on the budget.”

During the broadcast, Montañez interviewed several game store employees about the latest trends in shopping and explains why now is a good time to purchase these items versus waiting till the last minute to fill that wish list.

“Nintendo Wii, Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3, those are definitely the three big, in demand items as far as the gaming world goes,” said Jason Strawn of Best Buy in Idaho Falls. ”Rock Band is very interactive, Rock Band has a set of drums and guitar that it comes with so you actually play the drums. The Wii has really had a lot of popularity gained with older people, families, I think that’s why they’ve sold so many of them, is they’ve had some unexpected success with some of the people that they weren’t necessarily marketing the product to.”

Montañez explained why interactive games have become so popular. He said in the past video games required the use of a controller and now gamers can really get into their games using a hand held pointer, guitar or drums to play the game.

One of the topics brought up during the interviewed, Montañez asked CD World’s Matt Larsen for tips on shopping within a budget.

“If somebody was on a budget, they could bring the games in and trade ‘em and get different products, be it CD’s or DVD’s on videogames,” said Larsen. “If you’re tired of the games you own or your CDs or DVDs, you can trade that in and even put it toward a gift certificate if you wanted to.”

Montañez also asked about alternatives to violent video games and which would be better for the whole family to enjoy.

“Most of the time Nintendo puts out games that are gonna be for a little younger generation,” Strawn said and added that traveling games seem to be growing popularity had sales have spiked as the demand for hand held systems goes up. “The popularity of some of the travel games is increasing because the screens are getting larger, resolution is getting better.” According to Montañez, most games will cost anywhere from $100 to $300 and the closer to the holidays you get, the harder it will be able to find the items from your wish list. “A good way to find out when stores are getting items back in stock is by checking the Sunday sales papers,” Montañez said.

Read [KIDK Channel 3 News]

Nothing signifies Christmas better than that a tree, whether artificial or real. But for the gamers at heart, here’s one located in downtown Madrid, Spain, to brighten up anyone’s holiday—the Pac-Man-themed Christmas tree.

The video peeked my interest when I first came across it on YouTube because I don’t often associate video games with Christmas trees unless its wrapped in a box underneath it. Then I couldn’t help but wonder where in the world this tree really is until the reporter of Clipset starts speaking:

“We learned that in the area of Azca have a Christmas tree that is rather curious and geek, it might even make frighten our Christmas ball (ornaments),” she said. “So we went up there to see a tree whose lights imitate the famous Pac-Man video game.”

The tree is made of thousands of LED lights to animate Pac-Man in his traditional mazes. From what I can see in the video, Pac-Man doesn’t move, which is a bummer but still a very cool tree.

It inspires me to go buy that Mario Santa Hat and ornament and brush off all my little plastic Halo click-set characters and trick out my tree Halo- style this year.

Read [Geekologie] Read [Clipset (Spanish)]

It has always been challenging for parents to control the outside influences that might be warping the minds of their children. The game industry is no exception as media, parents and even the United States Senate have blacklisted a number of game titles over the years.

None of this has however stopped most children from getting their hands on the latest shooter or GTA style game as there are a number of outside sources for kids to test drive adult oriented games.

To better educate parents, the US non-partisan research and information group, National Institute on Media and the Family, has released its 12th Annual Media Wise Video Game Report Card, focusing on efforts to educate parents and retailers about M rated games, and why kids shouldn’t be playing them.

The top ten games that made their “Naughty” list this year are:

1. Assassin’s Creed
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Conan
4. The Darkness
5. Jericho
6. Kane and Lynch: Dead Men
7. Manhunt 2
8. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
9. Stranglehold
10. Time Shift

It should be noted, that some of the games on this list haven’t exactly flown off of store shelves nor received strong reviews, save for a few.

What made the group’s “Nice” list though are:

1. FIFA Soccer 08
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
3. Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour
4. Madden NFL 08
5. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
6. Need for Speed Pro Street
7. The Sims 2: Castaway
8. Super Mario Bros 3
9. Super Mario Galaxy
10. Viva Piñata

I guess it is a good thing that, apart from a few exceptions, this list doesn’t have much of an impact on the majority of us gamers. Otherwise, the industry might have floundered years ago.

Read [The Blog Guardian] Also Read [Media Wise]

Even though the list of original games for Sony this year was rather on the short side, there are some good games out there and especially for the little brother in the PlayStation family. There is a good mix of genres for the PSP here, including a couple of bargains at the end, so everyone will be able to find one they enjoy.

These will come very handy for people who are planning on travelling for the holidays, so be sure to grab some of these before that trip to grandma’s house.

Jeanne D’Arc: (Strategy RPG, Level-5, $29.99) This game comes as an answer to the former lack of RPGs on the system. It features an entertaining story loosely based on the historical events involving Joan of Arc but with a fantasy twist. The game offers a deep customization system, fast paced action and a solid battle and class system. This one is a must have for any Strategy RPG fan.

*Runner up: Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (Strategy RPG, Square Enix, $39.99)

Silent Hill: 0rigins (Action/Horror, Konami, $29.99) Any fan of this genre will recognize all the aspects that made the original Silent Hill such a great and scary game. Fortunately, all of those elements are present on the franchise’s first installment on the PSP. You return to the town of Silent Hill to uncover its mysteries as well as your own as you encounter abominations through the fog infested streets. With improved visuals and a new battle system, this is a great addition to the franchise and to any fan’s game collection

*Runner up: Manhunt 2 (Action, Rockstar, $29.99)

Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (Action, Sony, $39.99) Following on the footsteps of Dark Mirror, this title again offers an interesting and immersive story, great visuals and gameplay mechanics seldom found on PSP titles. You take the role of Gabe Logan as he fights his way to save the day once more against a plot against his country. This title features new and improved weapons, a deeper online match system and a refined control system. This is without doubt one of the best action titles on the PSP.

*Runner up: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike (Action, Rockstar, $39.99)

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters (Action/Platformer, Sony, $39.99) Another must have for the PSP, this game features all that made the original such a fun game. You take on the role of Ratchet and his robot friend Clank as they battle their way through the galaxy using all kind of wacky weapons. With a great visual presentation, one that rivals previous incarnations on the PS2, entertaining mini-games and solid gameplay mechanics, this game sure has something to attract everybody.

*Runner up: Sid Meier’s Pirates (Action/Adventure, Take Two Interactive, $19.99)

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops + (Action, Konami, $19.99) This game utilizes the engine of last year’s hit Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops so if you missed on that one, this is your chance to experience it for only 20 bucks. While you don’t get the whole story, you get the chance to face off against the bosses and experience the intensity along with new characters and new multiplayer features. The original was a great addition to the Metal Gear franchise and although this version does not expand on the story, it does offer new challenges and options

*Runner up: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (Puzzle/RPG, D3, $19.99)

Site [PSP]

Black Friday might be over but the Holiday sales continue. I just received a print ad in the mail for a two-day Holiday sale at Meijer Stores. On the last page is a spot advertising, “Buy any Wii game priced $29.99 or less, get one of equal or lesser value FREE.”

The sale is taking place starting 6 a.m. November 28 until close on November 29, 2007, at all Meijer store locations in Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.

The ad shows eight titles and indicates more are available in the store. At least a couple of the games look to be worthwhile but they are all releases from earlier this year. Most new titles will be more expensive than the $29.99 cutoff.

The caveat, besides the sale dates, is that the offer is good, “While at least 100 last per store,” whatever the heck that means. The store is also not taking rainchecks or substitutions, so get there early.

The eight Wii games shown on the ad are: Spider-man 3 DragonballZ: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 Shrek the Third Redsteel Surf’s Up The Sims 2: Pets Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Meijer is also offering free shipping on all order of $100 or more from its web site with the promo code “freeship 100”. The Wii sale does not appear to be taking place online but the shipping deal will work for games and gear.

Site [Meijer Store]

Product: Mass Effect
Price: $59.99
System(s): Xbox 360
Rating: 9/10
Publisher (Developer): Microsoft (Bioware)
ESRB Rating: “Mature”
Pros: Amazing story, solid shooter action, great custom character creator, great new franchise.
Cons: To short for a true RPG, graphics aren’t quite up to Unreal Engine 3 standards, a number of noticeable technical problems and worst of all, this game has to end.
Overall: Mass Effect is a game that can’t be missed by any true RPG fan or gamer in general.

To put it bluntly, Mass Effect is by far the strongest and most outstanding game that has been released to date on the Xbox 360.

July 2003, acclaimed Canada-based developer Bioware brought to the Xbox one of the most original and deepest Role Playing Games to have come along in the past decade. The game I am referring to is of course, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic which would go on to become one of the original Xbox’s most successful games with more than a million units sold and winning of a number of high-profile Game of the Year awards.

As many of you already know, KOTOR created a new vision of the already iconic Star Wars universe. Set four thousand years before the setting of the current Star Wars saga, KOTOR introduced a new playing system that truly allowed gamers to control the story and develop their character to their liking. The main attraction of course was the ability to become the perfect Jedi Knight who was selfless and only concern with the safety of the galaxy. Or the player could become a Sith Lord who was bent on total galactic conquest.

Jump ahead and slightly back to November 2007 when Bioware managed to outdo itself once again with the release of Mass Effect as an exclusive Xbox 360 Action/RPG game in time for the Christmas 2007 shopping season.

Design: 8/10

Probably the only real weakness to Mass Effect has to be its overall design. While this game is certainly cutting edge, I honestly can’t say that Mass Effect uses the Unreal Engine 3 to its full capability - not like we have seen in other games that have used the engine, including Gears of War. The graphics are nice and occasionally very nice. Primarily during the final climatic showdown in the end of the game, the in-game cinematics don’t seem as impressive as what we saw at the beginning of the game. Whether this was because the developers were running out of time or simply what we see was attended as the final vision, there are still numerous points that the visual quality of this game just let me down. I would have preferred Bioware using CG cut scenes instead of the in-game engine.

The rest of the game design is really hit or miss. While the story-based levels are all designed well, the side quest missions (where the player has to explore uncharted worlds) all tend to look and feel very much the same. A snow world, lava world, or lush green world, are all built in a generic fashion and set in a large square. There is no sense of life or wonder in these environments beyond a few sparse wildlife walking around.

Strangely too, while humanity is new to the universe of Mass Effect, only venturing out from our own solar system some thirty years prior, not much about the worlds or environments of this game felt very alien, as if the various planets and locations could have all been built by human hands and not alien.

By far the worst and most noticeable problem with the design has to be the frequent texture issues. None of this effects the player’s game play, but having to wait a few seconds for textures to load after a cinematic or mission begins, can get quite annoying and distracting.

With all of that said, the universe of Mass Effect is a truly well thought out and a completely developed continuum. You can get lost for hours just going through the various menus that give the player a deep and detailed history lesion on just about anything you might want to know about the worlds, races, technologies and threats of Mass Effect.

Features: 10/10

Mass Effect hits the player with so much plot, side quest, main missions, characters, races, events, challenges etc, that gamers will restart this game numerous times as they struggle to develop the perfect hero or villain. In fact, there are way too many general features to mention in just a single review. What everything mainly boils down to is, players create their avatar’s profile such as birth and general background, all of which plays into some of the major story events. From there players can choose either a male or female were you can either use the default faces, or create your own. Similar to Elders Scroll IV, you can change just about any feature on the face. If you are creative enough, it is possible to create an avatar that could even look like your self.

The dialog system is by far the most impressive and improved aspect to Mass Effect. Instead of just having a couple of choices of what your character will say, this time around you pick from up to a list of six choices at any giving time words that represent what your character is thinking. Then, the character actually speaks using dialog different from what you chose, but meaning the same thing. Needless to say, this new system gives the player the chance to develop his or her own characters to degrees never before seen in any other RPG’s, even KOTOR.

Combat and targeting boils down to a simple duck-and-cover strategy. This system can best be compared to Gears of War or Ghost Recon. While this system isn’t as perfected as those titles, Mass Effect still manages to create some really intense gunfights where duck-and-cover is the only way to survive some of the game’s more heated battles. Still, from beginning to end, you will be doing the same thing time and time again. Once you get the hang of this system, battles will get easier, especially once your character’s level reaches the high 40s or 50s.

The character building system is pretty deep. Players will level up frequently as you earn experience points for just about everything you do. Spending your points is key to victory. Each character is unique and important to the story. You will find you’re self-switching back and forth between the six playable character (not including your own) frequently.

The main story quest is pretty short. If the player chooses to avoid the side quests, Mass Effect will take roughly 12 to 15 hours to finish. With all the side quests, each of which can be accessed through a number of ways, the total game time can reach up to 25 to 30 hours. Most of these side quest are actually worth the effort, even if it seems they are below the social status of your character.

Performance: 9/10

Mass Effect has a lot of technical issues, and I mean a lot. From general frame rate issues, frequent crashing, characters getting stuck for no reason, to the horrible texture loading times, all of these are problems that could have been worked out if Bioware had put a couple extra months into polishing the game before release. I am sure though that most of these issues can and will be resolved through downloadable content through Xbox Live in the near future. Despite these issues and a few smaller details, all of these problems can easily be over looked. It is more likely that gamers will be to deeply invested in the overall design and story to really care about these hip-cups. At worse, you might have to restart your 360 from a few crashes.

Mechanics wise, Mass Effect works perfectly. While it might take a couple of hours to get use to the various interfaces and setups, players in no time should have the game mastered. Regardless, it is more then likely that you will restart your quest several times before commenting to the whole game. I know I redesigned my character 4 times before I was settled on my final avatar.

Overall: 9/10

While it might seem like Mass Effect has too many technical issues (and there is a lot of them), it is by far the best game on the 360 to date. The game is a masterful fusion of story telling and art.

With a universe that is as developed and focused as Star Wars or Star Trek, Mass Effect is a universe that has plenty of room, if not unlimited space to grow into a welcome franchise that transcends beyond just games. Few, if any, games give players so much freedom to not only determine the story’s outcome, but to truly create a unique character based from the choices made through the short 30 hours of game play (which really just isn’t enough game time for a such a deep RPG).

By the end of the game, I no longer remembered that my hot-redhead hero was a creation of my own, but could have believed she was built, designed and writing for this game as a original creation. I was sad to actually see her go once the end credits had rolled. With the amazing character details and graphics for your avatar and the game’s NPC’s, I challenge gamers to not develop an emotional connection with their creation.

Now comes the saddest and most difficult part, and that is the long wait before Mass Effect 2.

As a side note for those of you who need more Mass Effect, then make sure to check out the official Mass Effect Prequel novel, Mass Effect: Revelation. Written by Drew Karpyshyn, this story is set some twenty odd years before then events of the game. There is a lot more insight to the universe of Mass Effect and hints at thing to come.

Site [Bioware] Site [Mass Effect]