Right now, the DS is pretty much on top of the console heap, outselling every other gaming device out there. But wait, could there be another device on the horizon ready to de-throne Nintendo’s handheld? And could that device come from Apple? My answer to both these questions would be a flat “No,” followed by some uproarious laughter. Apparently though, Forbes doesn’t quite share my opinion. A recent article on the magazine’s website makes a thorough argument for why the iPhone and the iPod Touch could make its way to the front of the pack. Monday marks the day when the “App Store,” is set to open its online doors for third-party developers to to pump their software — games included — onto Apple’s gadgets. For this reason, some people believe that Apple stands a chance to overtake the DS

I have to say, this is one of the strangest comparisons I’ve read in recent memory. To me, comparing the iPhone to the DS is like comparing an orange to a pencil: you kind of have to dig for similarities, and in the end, who cares? I can see where the author of the article, Brian Caulfield, is coming from, but he seems to be conveniently forgetting a few points (listed after the break in a handy point format). Read the full article »

Yes, XBLA Hors D’oeurvres are back. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re a weekly feature where I play the latest Xbox Live Arcade game – in trial form – for no more than 10 minutes, and then summarize my impressions of the game based only upon that.

I was set to break my own rule of playing no more than ten minutes of an Arcade game for this here feature. You start off by playing the tutorial, and six minutes in, I had seemingly gotten no closer to the actual game. I didn’t want to write my impressions based on nothing more than the game’s tutorial, but it worked out where the trial actually cut me off a few minutes later — so I guess that’s all they want you to experience with the trial version of Roogoo. Suffice it to say, that’s not a promising thought.

To put it simply, you basically are playing a videogame iteration of that toy you had as a kid where you had to match a shape with its outline and you could push it on through. In Roogoo, that’s the fundamental gameplay mechanic, where you want to push a shape through its respective hole(s) as quickly as possible in order to save the meteors from the evil Meemoo, blah blah blah. Playing this game for its story is like watching Baywatch to become a better lifeguard.

Read the full article »

Yes, XBLA Hors D’oeurvres are back. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re simply a weekly feature where I play the latest Xbox Live Arcade game – in trial form – for no more than 10 minutes, and then summarize my impressions of the game based only upon that.

Right off the bat, I wasn’t particularly enamored with Aces of the Galaxy. It’s an on-rails space shooter that seems to have about as much strategy as those web games where you see how many times you can click your left mouse button in ten seconds. The trial lets you try the game’s first two levels; after I was through with the first (which took around four or five minutes), I was dreading another level.

But around halfway through the second level, I found myself genuinely enjoying the game. It wasn’t like the game suddenly become more sophisticated; it was more that I had let go the expectation of something more sophisticated and was able to enjoy the game for what it was.

Read the full article »

Yes, XBLA Hors D’oeurvres are back. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re simply a weekly feature where I play the latest Xbox Live Arcade game – in trial form – for no more than 10 minutes, and then summarize my impressions of the game based only upon that.

I think the most telling part about Buku Sudoku is that I really had a hard time putting my controller down after 10 minutes. (I actually ran over and play for 11:36, according to the handy in-game clock.) If you’ve ever played a Sudoku puzzle before, then you’ll know precisely what you’re getting into. I’m far from an expert on this particular genre of logic puzzle, but I do enjoy the occasional Sudoku.

When I wrote this week’s XBLA Wednesday story, I said, “As much as I like Sudoku, though, I can’t imagine buying this. When I first heard about it I was excited, but then I realized: Do I really want to stare at numbers on my TV screen?”

As it turns out, I really do.

Read the full article »

Developer: Stardock
Publisher: Stardock
Price: $29.95
Platform: PC
Category: Turn-based Strategy
ESRB: “RP” for Rating Pending
Release Date: April 30, 2008 (Digital Download through Stardock’s Total Gaming.net)

The fate of the universe is in your hands yet again thanks to the latest expansion in the Galactic Civilizations II series. Twilight of the Arnor continues the excellent tradition established by great turn-based 4X strategy titles like Master of Orion and its predecessor Galactic Civilizations by expanding the options and finishing the story of the Dread Lords.

The addition of a star destroying mobile battle station has nothing to do with just how much fun it is to wipe out your enemies though, nothing at all. (OK, I lie) Especially when the Death Star-like Terror Stars become the key to freeing the galaxy from the influence of the Dread Lords in the game’s lengthy single-player campaign.

It’s hard to top the original Galactic Civilizations II for all the features and options but after two expansions, when considered together Stardock may have single handedly ended the need for any further space strategy games – ever. I’m not one to feel a game is ever absolutely perfect but Stardock’s latest expansion makes the already amazingly comprehensive series about as good as I could ever imagine a turn-based strategy game as good as it can ever hope to be. Why, you might wonder, would I say that? Well Twilight of the Arnor has everything I could possibly want in a game of this type.
Read the full article »

Viking: Battle for Asgard
Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: SEGA
Price: $59.99
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360
Category: Action/Adventure
ESRB: “M” for Mature
Release Date: March 25, 2008

I have always been enthralled with Nordic legends, and anything Viking related. Far be it to call myself a Nordiphile, I am hardly that – I just like mythology of all sorts. I have also thought that Vikings were too often ignored in video games, and I have never understood why they have been largely shunned by the industry, This is why I was so excited about Beowulf until it was announced that it would be a movie tie-in – and in my opinion, both sucked equally.

When Viking: Battle for Asgard was announced a few moths after Beowulf, my love of Nordic mythology took a back seat to the wariness in my brain. I decided it would be rented instead of purchased and while the waiting list for the game was long at my local Blockbuster – I am glad I waited. Whether Viking: Battle for Asgard was worth the wait or not is open to interpretation. On the one hand, I liked the visuals and some of the executions you could pull off, but the game had so many things wrong with it. It was repetitive, contained shallow swordplay, choppy framerates galore and so many other things wrong with it that by the time I was a quarter of the way finished with the game, I wanted my rental fee back. Of course, Blockbuster does not give refunds for unsatisfactory rental purchases.

In Viking: Battle for Asgard, you are Skarin – a warrior on the edge of death who is brought back from the brink by the Goddess Freya. In exchange for this life saving turn of events, you must do her bidding – and no, there are no sexual undertones to this despite the fact that she is a hottie. Her desire for you is only for you to prevent Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld from taking over Midgard. The plotline gives you the impression that the game would be full of hack and slash potential, and that is indeed true. The game was oozing with potential, and when playing I kept waiting for the goods to come to fruition but, alas, they never surfaced – probably because none were present to being with.

Read the full article »

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo
Price: $34.99
Platform: Nintendo DS
Category: Action, Adventure
ESRB: “T” for Teen
Release Date: March 25, 2008

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is the first title in the series to appear on the Nintendo DS, and if you think about it, the warning bells should go off in your head. Compound these warning bells with the screeching siren that is the plotline taking place between the game for the original Xbox and the sequel on the 360; most gamers would be pretty wary of playing Team Ninja’s latest foray into one of the most lauded gaming series ever.

I can happily report to you that any feelings of trepidation you may feel when contemplating giving Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword a try is completely unfounded. As a matter of fact, this game made me happy that I actually own a DS – prior to that it has sat on my bookshelf since Phantom Hourglass collecting dust. So, when I received this blessing in the mail, I excitedly recharged the battery and commenced to play.

While fans of the series may notice some of the same characters and locations in Dragon Sword, it merely gives you a since of familiarity instead of receptiveness. The storyline is very interesting as it tells the tale of a time when Dragons and Humans coexisted in harmony until the Dark Dragon decided to take over the world. The dragons that sided with the humans forged a sword from their fangs and bestowed what became known as the Dragon Sword upon them. While the name of the sword may seem a bit unoriginal, it does not matter – they could have called it the “pointy thing made of teeth” and it would still have the same effect because that awesome sword slew the Dark Dragon and restored peace to the land.
Read the full article »

Sam and Max Season Two
Developer: TellTale Games
Publisher: TellTale Games, GameTap
Price: $34.95 (free for GameTap subscribers)
Platform: PC
Category: Adventure
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Release Date: April 11, 2008

I actually wrote up my impressions of the first two episodes of Sam and Max Season Two when the games first started coming out regularly again. Eventually though, I realized that there were only so many ways I could say “if you liked the previous games, you’ll like this one.” So I decided to wait until the full second season was out and give it a full rundown then. The fifth and final episode in Sam and Max Season Two was released last week to a hungry audience, so how does the second season stack up to the first? Well, er, if you liked the previous Sam and Max games, you’ll definitely like these. Read the full article »

Dark Sector
Developer: Digital Extremes
Publisher: D3 Publisher of America
Price: $59.99
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Category: Action
ESRB Rating: M for Mature (Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Intense Violence)
Release Date: March 25, 2008

Dark Sector unfortunately suffers from a gaming ailment that I’ve begun referring to as “Gears of War Syndrome.” You see, Gears of War really nailed the whole “third-person, cover-based shooter” genre over a year ago; so much so that any title with similar gameplay since can be labeled as being “good…but not as good as Gears of War.” Army of Two has this problem, Kane and Lynch has this problem (among many others), and Dark Sector also has this problem. Even while playing the game, I found myself trying to pull off some moves from Gears of War — like blind fire — and was disappointed when I couldn’t. That’s not to say Dark sector is a bad game; it’s just mostly all been done before and better.

Read the full article »

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

Developer: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

Price: $39.99

Platform: PSP

Category: Action RPG

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence)

Release Date: March 25

Of all the people that have written about Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, I think I’m one of the few with a very unique perspective on it: I’ve never played the original FFVII. I was never much of a Final Fantasy fan up until last year when I began trucking through the old games that had been ported to PSP, and as Crisis Core is a prequel, I’m getting to enjoy a fantastic game that simultaneously holds up well as a standalone game and also manages to flesh out the story of the classic PlayStation RPG. (Or so I’m told.)

Crisis Core is in almost every way unlike any Final Fantasy game you’ve ever played. There’s no party, the action isn’t the strictly turn-based affair you normally get, and the cutscenes rarely run on for too long. In other words, it’s a game perfectly adapted to the platform it’s on. Among its many achievements, that is perhaps one of its greatest accomplishments.

Read the full article »