Gamertell

Last year (2007), Hallmark released the Player 1 Christmas ornament, which was a pretty cool mini game controller with sound effects.

This year (2008), Hallmark is again releasing a game-themed ornament, reaching a little further back in time and producing a mini Pac-Man arcade machine complete with sound effects. The ornament,  which stands approximately 4.5 in. tall, retails for $18.50, is battery operated (batteries included), lights up and plays classic Pac-Man sounds. Wakka-wakka!

The cabinet is…

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Ok, so there are games for cooking, having babies and losing weight - so its only natural that a cheer leading game should make its way to the Wii. Actually, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner - at least cheer leading does have a real rhythm/competition aspect that lends itself to more traditional gameplay than say, teaching children. But I digress - Namco-Bandai has just released the full track list for its upcoming cheer leading game We Cheer, set to drop on the Wii on September 30, 2008.

The set list is none too shabby, featuring bouncy tracks from famous artists like KC & The Sunshine Band, Moby and C+C Music Factory. Good stuff, really, even if you’d never want your friends to see you hopping and bopping to it. The gameplay sounds like a mix of traditional rhythm/action style hijinks and choreography, with multiplayer modes and fully customizable cheerleaders for maximum perky fun.

The full track list, via press release:

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Title: Mario Super Sluggers
Price: $49.99
System(s): Wii
Release Date: August 25, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Nintendo (Namco Bandai)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for comic mischief.
Pros: Plenty of enjoyable Mario Party-style baseball minigames. Great utilization of both the WiiMote and the Nunchuck attachment or the option to play sans Nunchuck. Can play many modes as your Mii.
Cons: Often irritating ferris-wheel style background music, sometimes touchy Wii controls and depth issues makes fielding unnecessarily difficult. Not the a pick-up-and-play game it promises to be.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways; 80/100; B-; * * * out of five. 

If you’ve played a Mario-themed sports game, you have about half of an idea of what to expect with Mario Super Sluggers. It’s far more wacky, cartoonish and fun than your standard baseball sim but not nearly as simplistic or arcade-y as most Mario sports-based games. Even so, a few important fundamentals have unfortunately been benched…

Click through for the full review.

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Making the bounding leap from screen to shelf, Soul Calibur 3‘s Ivy and Darkstalkers‘ Morrigan are being produced as fine quality PVC models of their polygonal counterparts. For such perfection, however, buyers should not only be willing to sell their souls to these sirens, but also relinquish some seriously hard earned moolah.

Click through for better look at these two lovely, well-sculpted ladies…

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A month after Ubisoft announced it had acquired the rights to the entire Tom Clancy universe, Ubisoft debuted a new independent Clancy game. Surprisingly, it isn’t a tactical shooter. It’s a flight simulator.

Titled Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X, (apparently thinking it is still cool to misspell words with an “X”) Ubisoft is hoping to take a chunk out of Namco’s popular flight simulation game, the Ace Combat Series. H.A.W.X will still be set in the Tom Clancy universe and will feature a number of notable characters from previous Clancy games including the Captain Mitchell and…

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Namco Networks has announced that its first collaboration with G-mode has resulted in a new, retooled version of the classic BurgerTime game. BurgerTime Delight, released 25 years after the original, is available only on select mobile phones. BurgerTime Delight includes the original 1982 version of BurgerTime in the classic mode, along with an all new enhanced mode that features new material. At the moment, BurgerTime Delight is only available on Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless phones.

The new material in BurgerTime Delight is designed to improve and add additional challenges to the original title, without changing any of the successful and memorable gameplay. In the enhanced mode you are still trying to create burgers while being chased by villainous food, but now the environment in certain levels can also hurt Chef Pepper. There are also two new villains who are stronger than the average ones, carrots who drill through floors and garlic bulbs that leave toxic trails. There are also letters to collect, and if you spell Peter, diner or burger then you’ll get extra lives and be sent to the next level.

BurgerTime is one of my all-time favorite games, and this latest incarnation looks spectacular. Sometimes the simplest games can end up being the most fun. It is nice to see classics resurrected on mobile platforms.

Read [Quickly Bored] Site [BurgerTime Delight]

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When you have a game which involves flying, you know that you can never have too many planes. Namco Bandai has announced that on November 21, 2007, five new planes for Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation will be available for download on Xbox Live.

The downloadable fighter planes won’t just be carbon copies of the ones already in the game though. Each of the five planes will have it’s own unique abilities and design. A price has not yet been announced for the downloadable packs, but Namco Bandai has said in it’s press announcement that one of the five planes will be a free download. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation was originally released October 23, 2007, and is only available on the Xbox 360.

All five new planes have distinct abilities which will change the way missions are handled in the game. The official press release presents a brief description of each one.

Su-33 Flanker - The Idolmaster Miki: Providing American gamers with a taste of the smash hit Idolmaster series, this variation gives the Su-33 added stability and an undeniable flair for the dramatic. F16C – Historic Windhover: Sacrificing stability and durability for unparalleled freedom of movement, this plane is the same as the one used by Emmerian freedom fighter and Garuda team member Daniel Pollini. Mirage 2000-5 – Experimental: This phenomenally fast aircraft is the culmination of exhaustive research on thrust refinement. This increase in speed comes at the cost of stability, making it suited to only the most skilled pilots. A-10A – Thunder Shark: This highly recognizable plane exchanges missiles for a devastatingly powerful Gatling gun, using its increased stability to hit its mark. F/A-18F – Scarface Emblem: Bearing the insignia of the heroes of Ace Combat 2, this aircraft’s armor has been reinforced at the expense of maneuverability.

It is nice to finally some downloadable content that is worth the money. Most of it all seems like small items which only affect the way the game looks. It is good to see a company release some downloads which can actually change the way in which the game is played. The new planes all look gorgeous as well.

Read [1Up] Site [Ace Combat 6]

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If the number of people who downloaded the demo of Namco Bandai’s Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace so far is any indication, the series’ first Xbox entry looks to be a lock-on for sales at retail when it takes off October 23, 2007. Namco Bandai announced that more than 500,000 downloads of the demo were recorded in its first week of availability and was also the top-loaded demo of the past week, even against lots of E3-related items. The demo has received favorable impressions from gamers and press members and continues to be downloaded at a rapid pace.

As for the full game, expect Ace Combat 6 to deliver ...

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Surely nothing could beat peanut butter and jelly, you say? Well, those crazy kids at Omega Force have decided that the snack-time favorite of young kids the world over has had its reign and now it must die. What better way to kill it than with a two-story battle machine armed with a laser sword? Say your prayers, PB&J. Your time has come.

This new joint venture by Koei and Namco Bandai is slated for a US release late this summer (2007) and, judging by the screenshots, it’s literally going to be a combination of the Dynasty Warriors hack ‘n’ slash goodness that we’ve all come to know and love and giant orbital frames…

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From our favorite Japanese import site, J-List/J-Box, comes a Dig Dug dot art toy that’s a lot like a mini Lite Brite (without the lights).

For $9.50 plus shipping, you get a kit with 520 small colored pegs, two small peg boards and a stand to display your finished bit of pixelated goodness. You can also join the two pieces together to make a cute little scene for your desk, bookshelf or simply or tack on the wall.

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