Review: Boogie

I really wanted this game to be good, but I was unfortunately short changed on this one.

Boogie is a dancing and singing game where you get to show off your talents and gain points for it. Using the wiimote and nunchuck, players move their hands around in time with the beat of the music to move their chosen character on screen. Players can also choose to sing along with the song using the included microphone.

Players can choose the background, music and characters for their music performance, and can even record and edit your performance. As you dance or sing, the game judges your performance and gives you points for a excellent moves and singing. You can even strike a pose with the nunchuck to gain more points or use boogie power to follow a set of moves for more points too.

The points earn you coins and the coins can be used to buy new songs, backgrounds and costume pieces for your characters.

The basic idea of the game is great, but poorly done. The beat is hard to follow and most songs you have to follow the clicking noise coming from the wiimote rather than the song beat to get points. Your moves never seem to change and even if you try to move differently like up and down, rather than side to side, the game responds badly and you lose.

The singing portion of the game is fun with lots of different songs to try like Don't Cha and Walking on Sunshine. Best of all, you can suck at singing and still do well on hard. Just move your voice up and down with the song at the appropriate time and you win. No talent required. I sing like a drunk cat and I still did well. Tone deaf people need not apply though.

The video editor feature allows you to edit your performances and add cuts, special effects and such, but it wasn't that much fun unless your ten and want to show your parents how cool you are singing to Brittany Spears songs.

The storyline mode allows you to follow the rise of the characters to super stardom as they sing and dance to the top. You can skip the singing part if you wish. You can choose from about five different characters - four guys and a girl. Some are weird looking creatures but there are two normal people to play as too. The dialog in the storyline was gibberish and annoying gibberish at that.



[Bonus points for the game: The above trailer plays on the Wii promo TV at work and I dance and sing along with it everytime I hear it. I do it just during the dead times though, so no one hears me sing.]

The graphics are cartoonish and I like them. I especially like the goofy looking characters you dance with. The one girl character was a like weird and vacant looking in her eyes. Kind of like a teenage girl at the mall after a long day of not thinking.

I really wanted to dance like an idiot with this game in my living room, while my boyfriend was at work and unable to hear my bad singing, but this game really wasn't made to play that way. I could have turned on my stereo and dancing around without the game and had more fun.

I really had high hopes for this game concept but EA needs to go back to the drawing board and rework this game for the sequel. I highly suggest everyone skip this title and try picking up Sing Star for the PS2 instead for karaoke sessions and just dancing around in their underwear for their lovers to gain real points.

Rating: 3 out of 10

Gamers, remember to love your parents.

Today I checked out a Destructoid tip email for a new YTMND and this one was a real tear jerker. The piece was a small cartoon slide show done by a gamer who wanted to honour the memory of his mother.

The creator had turned his mother, who was sick with multiple sclerosis onto the game Animal Crossing and in the piece he recalls how she became quite obsessed with playing the game. As time went on, her condition got worse and she eventually had to stop playing.

She passed away last year and recently the creator went back to play the saved game that his mother and him played together. To his surprise, the game mailbox was full of letters and presents from his mother. She has spent most of her time collecting and sending presents to her son's character in game.

The creator of the cartoon said and I agree, that everyone should remember to love the parents they've got, because you never know when they will pass away.

My father was a huge influence in my life as a gamer and last year when he passed away, we weren't on the best of terms. He stopped making an effort to be a Dad due to my life choices and I stopped trying to be a daughter when I realized he wasn't interested in my life any more.

In the end, I tried to be there for him, but he shut my sister and I out rather then spend the rest of his time on earth loving us. I wish he hadn't chose to shut me out because he probably was the greatest influence on my passions in life. I wish I could have told him that in the end.

So gamers ... love your parents and try to bring them into the hobby that you love so much. You may find those will be the best times of your life.

Rock Band hits stores tomorrow or does it?

Tomorrow Rock Band hits the shelves for gamers everywhere ... except in Canada. Due to the lack of units, Rock Band has been delayed in Canada until December 14th.

Thanks to the supply and demand factor, I will be adding "Do you have Rock Band?" to my "never ending horde of annoying questions at work" list. Thanks a lot!

Review: Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

I've been a fan of the Resident Evil games for a long time. It's the only franchise that I'm willing to sit scared out of my wits through that involves Zombies. I hate Zombies.

I picked up Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles on Friday and it was and wasn't what I expected. I love arcade light gun games like House of the Dead and when I heard that Resident Evil Zero through three was getting the light gun treatment, I was excited. I tend to play better with a light gun than a controller, so that's why I love these games.

As I figured the game was like a light gun shooter with the "on the rails" type of camera angle and movement, but little did I know how much like the Resident Evil games this game was. Most RE games provide you with little ammo and health items which is fine because you don't have a horde of zombies and monsters chasing you for the entire game. This allows for a good allocation of your items over time.

In RE:UC, you have the same amount of items as in previous games, but you have hordes of zombies tailing your butt through the entire game. This makes it damn near impossible to survive each level. Thank God for the unlimited hand gun ammo or I'd really be screwed.

The difficulty setting were based on a sharp shooter's capabilities or something, because I died ten times on the first boss on normal difficulty setting, before I started the game over on easy. But even on easy, I'm running through by the skin of my teeth.

The game claims that each enemy has a weak point that will light up red on your cross hairs and if shot, the enemy will fall easier, but that just doesn't seem the case. A head shot to a normal zombie with the hand gun and he still needs another shot to go down. I figure one bullet to the brain should kill anyone, even a zombie.

The game lacks the real creepiness of the original RE games. Zombies don't really jump out at you like they did before and the music that constantly plays during the game, makes everything less on edge. The silence of RE is what helps you freak out at the appropriate times. Nothing like a zombie dog jumping through a glass window to break the silence and cause you to jump in your seat.

The "on rails" movement and view point tend to make it difficult in some areas to pick up items. You can only hope that the camera turns back to that area, if you miss a item that runs by your view point too quickly. It really sucks to miss key files, ammo or health, especially when you are about to die.

I like the whole new information aspect of the game. Not that I've gotta that far yet, but I'm looking forward to learning the secrets of the umbrella corporation later in the stages. Wesker narrates the story from a third person view which is really cool and I can't wait to play him as a character later on.

Every level has a small cinematic from the original RE games to help move the story long, but the in game mode has you stuck to the path of the mission. You can't go back, you can only go forward, unless the camera decides to turn you around. You can slightly look around, but not behind you; only to the left and right of your view.

Each stage gives you a character or two to pick from to play and their starting weapons. You can even modify each weapons after each stage completion. You can do this with points you gain from your level grades. The grades are like previous RE games.

The game controls are pretty easy. I had trouble with grenade throwing at first, but figured it out finally when I tried the easy level. You can use the remote for shooting, knife defense and throwing grenades and the nunchuk for switching your weapons and camera angle. Health items are automatic. Herbs are instant and first aid sprays save you after you die.

The graphics are about as good as previous last generation consoles, but considering how nice those were, I can't complain about them. I could but no one would hear me anyway.

All and all, I wouldn't recommend this game as a buy, more as a rental. The game isn't worth the price tag and it doesn't even come with the Wii Zapper which you can play it with. You have to buy it separate with Link's Crossbow Training.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Best Half Time Show Evar!!

Cal Vs Washington State Game Half Time Show - Featuring videogames!

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles Gameplay Footage

I'm not a huge fan of first person shooters as everyone should know by now, but secretly I do love to play arcade shooters like House of the Dead or Carnival King. Give me a light gun and I'll kill monsters from sunrise to sunset. I love using light guns because I can aim much better than I can with a controller.



With Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles coming out soon for the Wii, I'm so exciting at having a "House of the Dead" type rail shooter to play. I love the Resident Evil series and the trailers look so good. The bonus will be me being able to play the old Resident Evil 2 & 3 because I never got to before. Looking forward to picking this wicked looking game next Tuesday.

This is why I love the people at Destructoid ... FURRIES!!!!!

Look Ron drinks ... alot and that tends to led to crazy ideas and videos. The incredible Joe "Buck Fitches" Burling and Ryan "Cosbytorn" teamed up with Ron NSFWorkman to create the very first furry Guitar Hero band. Check out the video above and prepare to laugh your butt off.

Send it to your friends and family. Spam the people at work with it. Put it in your favorites section on You Tube. Do whatever it takes to get this video on the most viewed video page on You Tube.

Check out the original post on Destructoid too - Ron always has a few words of wisdom to go with his videos.

Review: Front Mission

I think this is the first time I ever realized that Square Enix makes role-playing and tactics games that don't involved magic somehow. And honestly, I don't care for such games ...

But I'm a professional and I'll give anything that Square Enix makes a good once over but I judge. Front Mission was original release for the Super Nintendo in 1995 but was only released in Japan. The game was remade for the Playstation in 2003 for the Japanese market again, but was then remade again for the Nintendo DS in 2006 for release in Japan and in 2007 for North American.

Front Mission has spawned 5 sequels, 6 spin offs and several remakes.

Set as a tactics game, Front Mission has you controlling giant mechs called "Wanzers" in a battle against feuding nations. The main storyline is set in the 21th and 22the century where 2 nations begin fighting over a small island in the Pacific.

Wanzers are deployed by the Oceana Community Union, against the peace treaty to one of the United States of the New Continent's weapons facility where UNC troops are ambushed and the facility destroyed. Roid, a member of the OCU, loses his fiance in the battle and the whole event soon leads to war, as the OCU denies any involved.

Roid is discharged his unit, but is later asked to join a special unit for the OCU with the lure of revenge against the man who killed his fiance.

Each battle is played out by the Wanzer units. Each unit has a long range attack and a short range attack. Each unit has a certain amount of moves that are calculated based on the terrain around them and each Wanzer has a certain amount of hit points for their body, left arm, right arm and legs.

Each attack takes out a certain amount of each hit point for each part of the mech and mech can also attempt to dodge the attack. Much like Final Fantasy tactics, when the board is clear of enemies and the object is complete, the battle is complete and the player moves onto the next level.



I was a little disappointed in the graphics for this game. I never played the first Front Mission for the Super Nintendo but playing this game made me feel like I was. I was hoping for maybe an updated cinematic or two, but everything was your basic SNES looking graphics.

The music is classic Square Enix. Even with a midi sound to it, Square always seemed to bring a real full orchestra feel to its games. Very well done soundtrack, even if this is the original music from the first version. (Not sure, didn't play the first game)

The storyline was a little bland for me. Honestly, if the storyline talks about futuristic wars then it better have a lightsaber or some photon torpedoes, or I'm not interested. I know there are people out there who enjoy mech games like Mechwarrior and to them I would recommend this game because it has a lot of mechs to play with.

The game play was pretty easy to understand, even with the long and draw out storyline causing your mind to wander to other things like your laundry. You use the stylus to move, attack and choose your attack methods. There aren't a bunch of command buttons or screen getting in the way of your tapping and I figured out the basic game play within minutes of picking the game up, so its pretty easy for anyone to pick up.

Honestly, I wouldn't normally play a game like this and the storyline went way over my head with its futuristic mumbo-jumbo, but if your a fan of Square Enix, love their tactics games and love stomping around in mechs, then this is your game. It just didn't float my boat in the end.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

Dragon Quest: Joker hits stores tomorrow!!!

Exclusive TV Spot for Dragon Quest: Joker.

The newest game in the Dragon Quest series hits stores tomorrow for the Nintendo DS and I can't wait to get my copy. Dragon Quest: Joker allows players to scout the world for monsters to join their ever growing army of monster teams. Much like Pokemon but with cool monsters and a kid with weird hair.

Look for a review of this game in the near future.

Review: My Sims for the Nintendo Wii

Combining the cuteness of the Mii and The Sims franchise, Nintendo and EA have come up with My Sims for the Nintendo DS and the Wii. Today I got the Wii version and popped it in for some long needed Sims play.

I've loved The Sims franchise since its release over 8 years ago. I picked the game up after an ex-boyfriend of mine came into Radio Shack, where I was working and told me all about playing it. So I caved and bought it too. I spent hours upon hours playing that game. When the expansions came out. I grabbed Living Large and then Hot Date, but after that my computer couldn't keep up with the new expansion's requirements.

I was left without any new Sims games to play for my PC. I tried the console versions and found they just weren't as fun as the PC games. Sure, you have goals for once, but no freedom and no cheat codes. *grrr* I need a good Sims game to fill the simulation game void in my life.

And in walks The Sims for the Wii ... who needs a mouse, when you have a wii remote?

The Sims has you creating a unique, advanced Mii of your own to help revived a once happy town. You can pick your Mii's hair style and colour, it's eyes, face paint, glasses and outfit. Once you create your Mii, you are brought to town to meet the Mayor. She tells you that you must help renovate town and bring new people to live there.

The Mayor gives you your own house to live in and decorate. You must build your house first and then afterwards you can decorate it anyway you want. But first you have to build your furniture.

Your Mii has the ability to create buildings and furniture with the help of your workshop, building supplies and essences. Essences are items that you find around town to paint your buildings and furniture with. You can dig them up, shake them down from a tree, receive them as gifts or pick them up at random. Village people will give you tasks to building pieces for them with certain number of essence paint on them. Essences also add a personality to your piece like spooky, tasty or geeky.



As you perform tasks and add buildings and plants to your town, your town rating will go up as will your tourist rate. Tourists will come to town and you will be required to chat with them and invite to move into town. When they agree, you find a vacant lot and build them a home or store.

The graphics are very bright and colourful. I love the cute, advanced looking Miis. Their doll like appearance is different than normal Sims games and it make this game stand out. Don't let the cute Miis appearance trick you into thinking this is just a kids game, because its fun for adults too. The building process allows for true artists to express themselves in game.

The music is very cartoonish and whimsical. Cute, but a little repetitive in some areas and frankly I wouldn't want to play this game with a headache. I would probably break the disc. Better to mute the sound on those days.

Loading screens were a little long in some areas and the game does sport some animated glitches. Nothing that kept me from playing though. Just little ones like the loading screens skipping frames or characters moving around the screen without actual walking there.

The gameplay is pretty simple to figure out but there could have been clearer instructions on building furniture and digging up items. It took me three pieces of furniture to figure out there were more than one set of wood pieces to use and I still haven't figured out the prospecting feature.



I did like how this Sims version doesn't have you running to the bathroom every five minutes or having to deal with a depressed Mii. The game focuses more on the design aspect of the Sims franchise, rather than the daily care of your Mii. In this game, you don't have to do anything to keep your Mii going, but you still have to kiss your neighbours' butts to get things from them like tasks or Happy essences.

I like how you actually have to be mean to your neighbours too just to get sad and angry essences. How fun is throwing a water balloon at your friendly neighbour, Goth.

The in game reference to Vincent Price with a creepy scholar named Sir Vincent Skullfinder that moves into town is great. EA sure knows their classics.

I wish this game could have been online or something that allowed your Mii for visit friend's towns. Animal Crossing gave gamers the ability to travel to friend's towns with memory cards and that made it more fun. The Sims needs an online feature to do the same.
All in all, this game is fun. I love Animal Crossing and The Sims has the same fun and cute gameplay. If you like Animal Crossing and The Sims, then pick this game up.

Rating: 7 out of 10

[Update: I figure out the prospecting. You just have to keep moving until the game prompts you to digg. I am such an idiot.]