Gamertell

Reflexive Entertainment has released a downloadable version of its music flash game, Music Catch, for Mac and PC users. Originally, Reflexive released the online game in June 2008. After achieving quite a bit of success and fame, Reflexive decided to tweak the title, which resulted in the downloadable version released yesterday (August 26, 2008).

Music Catch can really be a very relaxing game. The point is to collect shapes, which are released in time with the music. Certain colors have different properties, like yellow ones are worth more points and boost your combo, red shapes make you lose points and decrease your combo and purple shapes cause your pointer to become a mini blackhole that suck in any shapes released. There are no lives to worry about or goals to achieve, you just play for fun.

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Remember So Blonde? I don’t blame you if you don’t - its been about seven months since Gamertell reported on the point-and-click PC game called So Blonde, starring shipwrecked, teenage socialite Sunny Blonde. Well, there’s a new development, actually a new game. Dtp Entertainment and Wizarbox are bringing So Blonde to the Wii and DS in Europe in 2009. A US release hasn’t been confirmed, but it could happen.

It isn’t the exact same So Blonde that we all remember. The Wii and DS versions follow an alternative, “what-if” storyline, where Sunny Blonde didn’t land on the shiny, happy side of Forgotten Island. Instead, she landed on the dark side. So some of the story will be the same, but some will be new. The game will also feature new party mini-games that weren’t in the original title…

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Koei has just released a free PC demo of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (RTKXI). The full game comes out September 9, 2008, and will only be available through direct download. Originally, RTKXI was scheduled to be released July 29, 2008, but I guess things changed.

Stopping by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI site will allow you access to a game trailer, screen shots and the demo. Well, FilePlanet is actually hosting the 280.4MB demo, so the site will direct you there. You have to have a Windows XP or higher PC with DirectX 9.0c…

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It was obvious that Square Enix’s 2008 DKΣ3713 event would bring news concerning Final Fantasy XIII - the event even had a “13” in the title to refer to the compilation of titles. The company didn’t disappoint, and the event showed off trailers, gameplay footage and announced a demo release date.

The FFXIII demo will come with Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete when it is released on Blu-ray in March, 2009 in Japan. As The Washington Post points out, Japan and the US have the same Blu-ray disc region code and the PS3 isn’t region-locked. So importers could purchase the Japanese version Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete and play it. Trailers for FFVersusXIII and FFAgitoXIII will also be on the Blu-ray FFACC release.

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Since Nintendo has been lax in providing a portable version of its legendary fighting game Smash Brothers, fans are taking the matter in their own hands. A German man known as Fuzzy is working on Super Smash Bros Rumble. The first demo of the game was released July 1, 2008 and is 873kb.

The YouTube video of Super Smash Bros Rumble gameplay gives an idea of how the demo of the game works. A user boots up the game, chooses the single player Solo mode and then begins fighting as Mario against another Mario. Everything looks very polished and the characters look good so far. The menu screen also shows a Wi-Fi button, indicating that future updates of the game may include either local Wi-Fi or maybe even Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support.

Click through to watch the YouTube video of the demo…

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I don’t know about people in other parts of the US, but Chicago’s already seen quite a few days in the upper 80s. It looks like a blazing summer is coming, which makes a game like Venture Arctic all the more welcome. Brighter Minds Media, who brought us Pocketwatch Games’ Venture Africa, is now bringing us Pocketwatch’s next game, Venture Arctic.

Players of Venture Arctic get to create an arctic, Alaskan tundra ecosystem populated with 22 species of animals. They will also have to carefully protect their tundras, determining the amounts of snow and ice, the condition of the areas and the health of their creatures. 

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I suppose it was bound to happen. Puzzle Quest‘s success was not going to go unnoticed, and the copycats are coming out. At least Genimo Interactive LLC’s Puzzle Hero doesn’t look like it was just slapped together.

In Puzzle Hero, you play a hero whose little brother Tristan’s been kidnapped by a Zalock and his henchmen. Players go through match-ups on the map (like in Bust a Move or Puyo Pop‘s story modes) until they reach Zalock. Each match features the grid of icons on the bottom, and the hero and stage’s villain on the top. You then must match up similar icons in groups of three to deal damage. Sound familiar? You can also purchase equipment for your character between fights.

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Exit DS will be coming stateside, thanks to Square Enix. The Taito developed game was previously release in Japan in January 2008, but a NA release has only just been announced. Square Enix hasn’t made an official announcement, but the ESRB has given Exit DS a rating of “Everyone.”

It is practically the same Exit that appeared on the PSP, only with touch screen controls and Wi-Fi capabilities. Players, as Mr. Esc, have to save people from buildings that are about to fall apart. There are 100 levels to conquer, so it should keep you busy for quite a while. Players can also upload their times to an online scoreboard to see who is the best savior.

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If you’re psyched about the upcoming Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, which won’t be out for the PS3 until Fall 2008, then there are some ways to get ninja fixes for free.  Namco Bandai is going to be showing off the fighting game at some special events and will be releasing a free demo of the game through the Playstation Network.

People who happen to live in California may be fortunate enough to attend events where Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm will be appearing. The game will be at the July 3-6, 2008 Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center and at the July 23-27 Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center. The game will be available for play there, and a tournament will be held where players can face-off for the chance to win stuff.

Click through for information on the free demo…

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Oh, I was so, so ready to write a jaded story on Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso. The second I saw that press release with that title. I was excited too. Then I saw the screen shot pictured above and was charmed. I also went and visited the Mr. Smoozles web-comic, created by Steve Ince and Stefano Collavini, and played the free demo - that helped. Mr. Smoozles Goes Nuts is developed by Juniper Games and published by Merscom.

So in Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso, Mr. Smoozles has been zapped by the alien Goragons’ mind control ray and has basically gone nuts. He’s attacking everyone and everything with a machine gun. So one of his friends, Ed (the grey cat with glasses above), has to solve puzzles, rescue Mr. Smoozles, defeat the Goragons and save the day. 

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