Mirror's Edge Music Video

The new music video for the Mirror's Edge Theme, "Still Alive" By Lisa Miskovsky. I love this song.

If you want to see something cool though, download the theme on your Playstation 3 over the PSN and play it on your system. The cool Earth background really fits the song well.

Epic 8-Bit Art: Video Game Fan Jewelery by Wicked Orin

If you're looking for the perfect gift for the pretty girl gamer in your life this holiday season, then may I suggest some video game themed jewelery pieces custom made by Wicked Orin.

Whether you have a Legend of Zelda lover looking for a triforce necklace (pictured above) or perhaps a Final Fantasy fan looking for a Shinra necklace (below), then Wicked Orin has a bit of everything.


Check out their store for Final Fantasy materia earrings, pendants and bracelets or Kingdom Hearts themed charms and beads.

Ozzy Plays World of Warcraft

Ozzy Osbourne is now advertising World of Warcraft. The original Prince of Darkness goes up against the Lich King in this funny little commercial.

Ozzy has been taking an active role in other video games lately like Guitar Hero: World Tour with his excellent motion capture appearance. Good to see old media taking an interest in new media.

Review: NBA 2K9

NBA 2K9
2K Sports, Visual Concepts
Available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, PS2

The videogame sports season is in full gear again which means it’s time for me to learn how to put down my RPGs and RTSs, and pick up the NHLs, NBAs and NFLs. This week we’re heading back to the hardwood floors to play a little b-ball with NBA 2K9.

2K Sports has consistently held the title of king of NBA games, but with EA bringing a better game year after year, 2K Games had to step up their winning formula this year and remind the gamers why they hold the title for best NBA game franchise.

Hitting the hardwood in single player mode, you find some very solid gameplay that is a noticeable step up from last year’s game in many ways. Offensively, the AI has been much improved and seems to accurately force you to make good shots and run plays on the defence. Defensibly, it takes players speed and size more accurately into account now, so you have think about who you send to cover who on the court or you could end up losing large over and over again.

It was nice to see the player’s speeds were finally fixed, so they were running at a more natural pace this time around. In past games, they always seemed to barrel down the court like they were in a Sonic the Hedgehog game or something. Shooting in post is still a game of hit and miss though and hook shots are always a pain in the neck to make, but these little problems are made up by the great perimeter and midrange offence.



Online play allows you to play some 5 on 5 with each player being controlled by a different gamer online. The living roster feature also allows you to update all the players stats in the game based on how they’re really playing in the NBA that season. Pretty cool, huh?

In the Association 2.0 mode or GM mode, you have the ability to manage the team of your choice as GM, which allows you to pick your roster, manage who will play what position, encourage and inspire your players, and manage all the little details in order to bring home a winning team.

The graphics in this year’s game are fantastic and so realistic that this is probably the best it’s ever been. The crowd looks and reacts just like a real crowd does (drink throwing not included), and the court has that perfect glossy shine to it. The players, though a little ugly in the facial area, did come out looking quite real this year and mimic a real NBA player’s so much you’d think you were watching a game on TV instead of playing a videogame.



The highlight reels which saves all the footage from your gameplay and then splices them together to mimic a real playback montage on TV is pretty neat to watch and never once did I skip pass the replays, just for that reason. The on court animations, both offensive and defensive never repeated enough for you to notice them, but the off court animations need a little more work as they were a little choppy.

The sounds of the game are excellent from the cheering and booing of the crowds to the squeaking of the sneakers across the hardwood floors. Almost like you were there, but remember, no amount of screaming at the TV makes your team stop losing.

All in all, NBA 2K9 proved that it can still blow away anything EA can bring to the table for the NBA franchise and I think all basketball fans will be more than happy with the latest instalment in the franchise. So lace up your sneaker, grab your Gatorade and hit the court for some b-ball with NBA 2K9.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

CSI: New York: Overview Trailer

Yes, I am a huge fan of CSI: Las Vegas and New York. Not Miami though ... can't stand Horatio Kane and his stupid one liners. AND THOSE SUNGLASSES - ALWAYS TAKING OFF THE SUNGLASSES IN THE MIDDLE OF A SUPPOSED COOL LINE. GAHHHH!

Anyway, the new CSI: New York game is slated to hit store shelves end of December and I actually want to play this game. The first CSI game for the PC wasn't that bad and this new one has the actually actors from the show providing the voice-overs and its story lines are written by CSI script writers.

Not sure about the lack of moving characters in the game footage so far though. The first game had 3D characters in their scenes and I think they moved for at least they showed movement during the crimes.

Here's a trailer for the original game on the PC. Check it out if you're interested. I can't embed it on the site unfortunately.

Retro Final Fantasy VI Commercial

This is a retro commercial for Final Fantasy VI (FFIII in the commercial cause it was the first release in North America) where you see a Moogle taking auditions for monsters for the new Final Fantasy game.

Pretty cute for an old commercial.

Review: Buzz! Quiz TV

Buzz! Quiz TV
SCEE, Relentless
Available for Playstation 3

Sony has finally brought the game show world to the Playstation 3 with the release of their newest instalment of the Buzz! franchise, Buzz! Quiz TV which combines fun and wackiness with trivia on your home console. So grab your buzzers and your useless knowledge, cause its trivia time!

Setup like a crazy game show with a muppet-like host, Buzz! Quiz TV pits you against real or AI opponent in a test of knowledge through several unique and goofy multiple choice question rounds. Games can be played alone against the computer opponents, with 3 local friends or online with 3 complete strangers. The game bundle comes with 4 wireless buzzer pads, so everyone in the house can start playing right away without having to buy more controllers. Also the game does have a parental controls to keep the questions family friendly for the younger players too, if need be.



At the beginning of the game, you can choose from several interesting stereotype avatars to represent you during gameplay like the bubbly cheerleader, the super hottie spy chick or the rock star and then you get to choose their costume type and buzzer sound. These avatars represent you during the game, so when you’re losing they’ll freak out or cry and if you’re winning, they’ll jump for joy or dance. Each character has their own unique reactions to what’s going on to the game.

No matter what type of game you’re playing, they each have a series of rounds that have a unique set of rules that you must follow to win points. “Stop the Clock” for example, awards the most points to the players who answers the question right the fastest and “Pass the Bomb” has players passing a bomb back and forth as they get questions right until finally the bomb blows up in someone’s face.

Online multiplayer games have several rounds that end on the “High Stakes” round which have players betting their points against how well they know the question topic (think final jeopardy but with several questions), while local multiplayer games have several rounds that end on the “Final Countdown” which has players boosted on platforms which heights are based on their point amount. Everyone must answer questions correctly and quickly to avoid falling towards the stage and being tossed out of the game. Last player to hit the stage wins.

Probably the coolest part of Buzz! is the new user generated content which allows you to go online and create quizzes based on topics of your choosing, which can then be played and rated by other players online. No naughty content though because those quizzes will just be censored or can be reported by other players as inappropriate and removed.

While the questions barely ever repeat even after 20 games, the developers plan to release add on question packs on the Playstation Network, so gamers will be able to play with other categories besides the original few that came with the game. A horror trivia add on has already been released for download for only $5.99 CAN.



The level of difficulty in the trivia questions is pretty main stream, so as long as you haven’t been living under a rock for the last 50 years, you should be able to get most of these questions. The topics cover everything from movies, music and TV to nature, famous people and technology, so this game has a little bit of something for everyone.

The fun and wacky 3D avatar are a hoot to play with and often make you giggle. The mime character even had my boyfriend laughing with his stupid “running into the wall” gag. The whole game has this shiny, high gloss look to it, almost like someone dipped it in baby oil. Each character except for the host is a wacky 3D cartoon character trying to represent some human stereotype or character from a movie. The host, Buzz looks more like a creation from the Jim Henson Workshop, than any human being.

The host is cute but he really does repeat himself a lot after a few games and it does get boring. The only way to avoid the same sound bites is to change up your avatars to get different responses and gags throughout the rounds. I personality liked the Cave girl and the Spice girl wannabe.

With the hype of the Nintendo Wii as the new party game system, I love to see Sony grabbing amazing games like this that appeals to the older party crowd. This is the type of game I could see my family sitting down and playing at our next get-together as opposed to me biting my nails as my sister swings my Wii remote around my $1800 flat screen TV.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Buy it!

Prince of Persia goes Gold with Free Download

Ubisoft announced on Friday that Prince of Persia has gone gold and will be released to consoles on December 4, 2008 and in PC form on December 11, 2008. Included in this cool announcement was the new download "Altair Costume" that gamers will be able to download as a skin for their favorite Prince.

By signing up for Ubisoft.com account at www.princeofpersia.com now, players can unlock the free skin to upload to their PS3 or Xbox 360 gamertags on day one. Pretty sweet threads for the Prince

Gears of War 2 Commercial: Better than the Game.

How is it possible to love a game's marketing campaign so much but hate the game series itself?
Well, somehow that's the case with me and Gears of War. I really have no interest in the game and yet I love the commercials this game gets. Both the "Mad World" TV Spot and the new "How it Ends" Spot are great commercials, emotional and powerful stories told in such a short time span.
I'm going to try and play the new game but so far it sits on my shelf with only a few minutes put into the tutorial level. I suck ... I know.

The Warcraft Retrospective: Part III

Part III of Gametrailer's history on the Warcraft franchise has finally surfaced and if you've been watching along with me on my blog, you've already checked out the first and second part of the retrospective.

Though I never really got into the World of Warcraft aspect of the franchise, I loved the RTS games in the series and even got my groove on to the disco remix on the expansion disc for Warcraft 2. Who here remembers that?

Review: Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise

Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise
THQ, Rare
Available for Nintendo DS

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the newest Viva Piñata game for the Xbox 360 and found it to be a great game full of piñata collecting and garden tending. Well, Rare decided this time to create a handheld version of the Viva Piñata series to launch along side the new console sequel and joined up with the people at THQ to publish it. So I grab my Nintendo DS and took my piñata show on the road to test out Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise.

Not straying far from the basic idea of the main Viva Piñata game, Pocket Paradise has you creating and maintaining a small garden in order to attract and romance piñatas to send to Piñata central. With each level you achieve new items open up at the store to buy and new piñatas appear in your garden to attract. In the end, you still have to collect and romance them all.

The differences between the handheld and the console versions are really just small adjustments made to streamline the game for easier game play while out and about. Romancing no longer requires mini games to be successful at, but you also can’t just buy romance candy at the store to feed to your piñatas to get them in the mode though. You have to earn the candy by completing Piñata Central requests. Fertilizer also cannot be bought at the store anymore and has to be made by Tafflies.



The tool menu has been streamlined to make selecting items quick and easy. A new map system allows you to find your piñatas quickly and see new piñatas on the edge of the garden as well. The duel screen allows for garden stats to show during the entire game which include facts about the selected piñata, your gardening level, the percentage of soil type in the garden, etc. Water planets like water lilies no longer need to be water as you now plant them directly into the water and ponds when dug have rocks to line the edges for a neat artsy effect.

My only two complaints about this game were how sensitive the stylus controls were when you tried to direct a piñata over to any object; I found I kept missing the object and selecting something else. I also found my small little garden got crowded real quick when I started romancing my piñatas. The number for a master romancer award should have been lower to a smaller number.

Though no online play is available, you can trade piñatas with friends via wifi connection which is a nice way to get those hard to find piñatas.

Fans of the TV Show will love this version of the series more than the console version because characters like Hudson Horstachio and Fergie Fudgehog are in the game to guide you through the tutorials with actual clips from the TV show. You can replay these clip any time too, just by using the episode mode.

For less experience players who just want to play around, there’s a playground mode which gives you unlimited access to all the piñata types and store items to create your perfect garden. You can’t check off any romance, variant or master romancer stats in this mode though.



Rare managed to stuff the entire colour and paper goodness of the console game into the Nintendo DS graphics with very little left behind. Sure you don’t get the flowing paper pieces on the piñatas bodies, but I can live with it. The video clips run pretty smooth on the DS and the sound is excellent. It has a strong and crisp tone which I can take anywhere I need my Viva Piñata theme song fix.

Rare had such a great task with trying to downside such a big game like Viva Piñata into such a small system without leaving any of the good stuff behind and they managed to pull it off. Pocket Paradise is the perfect way to have your piñatas and romance them too.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Mirror's Edge "Faith" Hotties

I wish these were actual fans that dressed up because they loved the game so much but sadly these lovely ladies are just models from the Mirror's Edge launch event held in Milan, Italy last week.

These Italian models were discovered by the MTV Multiplayer blog on the Getty Images' Database.

I hope to get me a nice Faith cosplay outfit. Pretty easy outfit to replicate and the tattoo is easily done with a bit of magic marker or ink. Love the whole black wig too. Sexy.

Review: James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace

James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Activision, Treyarch
Available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS & Playstation 2

I honestly feel sorry for the developers of James Bond video games. Past and present they have all tried to live up to the legacy of developer Rare’s 1997 GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64 which was not only the best Bond game ever but one of the greatest games of all time. EA tried for years to make as good a game coming close with their best effort in 2004’s Everything or Nothing but eventually gave up after several critically panned titles, relinquished the license to kill to Activision. They in turn tapped developer Treyarch to make the first 007 game for current generation systems to try and breathe life back into the franchise. The result is the newest 007 game, Quantum of Solace.

In Quantum of Solace you play the part of super suave secret agent 007 James Bond, the game is played mostly in first person perspective but occasionally jumps to third person allowing players to see real life Bond actor Daniel Craig who lends his likeness and voice to the game. It is mainly a first person shooter based on the successful engine of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Quantum uses the engine well and adds a cover system similar to Gears of War allowing players to dive behind cover during firefights.



The game’s plot combines the storylines of the current movie of the same name and the previous movie Casino Royale. Unfortunately the plots of both movies are not told well, especially Quantum’s which is interrupted part way through to have you flashback and play through the main highlights from Casino Royale. By the time you return to Quantum’s storyline you’ve forgotten about what was even going on. In between all the levels of shootouts much of the storyline is told through boring and incoherent cut scenes that feel completely detached. In fact it seems like the game was originally designed with the Casino Royale plot as the main focus with the Quantum of Solace plot parts tacked on later to cash in on the movie’s concurrent release.

In most of the game’s levels you’ll be told stealth movements such as avoiding cameras and using silenced weapons are the best approach to mission success but no matter how careful you move inevitably you’ll find yourself in a firefight with multiple converging enemies. While the AI does a good job of flanking you, its movements are repetitive and predictable. The game features a variety of typical weapons for gunplay but Bond can also perform up close takedowns that are too easy to accomplish and feature the same animation over and over again. It also wouldn’t be a Bond game without the prerequisite exploding containers such as barrels and fire extinguishers for you to shoot, in Quantum of Solace they are everywhere and out of place.

Quantum of Solace claims to provide the player with the experience of being Bond but in most of the game’s exciting situations such as chase sequences or boss battles (if you can call them that) it simply gives you too little to do but press a button and watch a cut scene play out. You wish you were more involved in what is happening. The third person perspective of watching Bond sneak around window ledges avoiding enemies gets old by the third time around and the lock picking mini game is simply unoriginal and too simple.



Aesthetically Quantum of Solace is also uninspired, at times I honestly felt like I was playing a last generation game on my Xbox 360. The environments and audio could have used some polishing though there were some nice lighting effects The waves of enemies all look the same, act the same and die the same and with all the exploding containers lying around haphazardly you’d think the developers would have designed better explosion animations.

Quantum’s multiplayer offers the standards with Bond themed versions. One includes a mode where everyone is playing as Organization members with one Bond on the map, basically everyone gangs up on Bond. Whichever game designer thought 6 against 1 would be a fun scenario should be fired. The classic Golden Gun mode makes a reappearance and then there is another mode where two teams each have a Bond VIP that must stay alive. For the most part the multiplayer just felt like a stripped down version of Call of Duty with less interesting maps.

Quantum of Solace falls short as not only an interesting shooter compared to what else is available this season but also as a fun James Bond video game. The main storyline is short and can be completed within four or five hours and with a lackluster multiplayer experience even the biggest Bond buffs should make this game a rental.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Rent it!

Review: de Blob

de Blob
THQ, Blue Tongue
Available for Nintendo Wii

Not since Boom Blox has a third party title been so unique and fun on the Nintendo Wii as de Blob, the newest title from THQ and Blue Tongue. This “funky little title that could” got its start as a humble free pc download created by 9 Game Design students in Utrecht in the Netherlands. THQ loved the concept and acquired the rights to the game in order for Blue Tongue Entertainment to create a Wii version of the game.

Our game begins in city enslaved and drained of all joy and colour by the evil group known as I.N.K.T. and the Colour Revolutionists are trying to fight against the evil I.N.K.T. armies and restore colour to their home. Aiding them in their battle is de Blob, a ball of clear liquid that can bounce like a ball and absorb paint like a big sponge. As de Blob, you must use your skills and the helpful advice of the Colour Revolutionists to paint the city with colour, free the people and defeat the I.N.K.T.



Each level provides you with multiple challenges and achievements to complete in order to bring the city section back to life 100%. Challenges and achievements range from painting the entire city section, restoring all the parks, painting a block of building a certain colour scheme or recovering all the landmarks. While most of the game is spend just jumping and painting, the time trials and challenges keep the game play fresh as such the constant painting don’t seem so boring in the end. Really the game almost becomes addictive after a while and with such lengthy and involved levels, this game will consume a fair chuck of your life - much like a real blob would.

de Blob's movements are fairly simple to control with the nunchuk, but having to whip down on the Wii remote to jump which made jumping much more difficult to time and the time trials harder to complete with a gold medal. Jump would have been better suited to the A button but I understand they were trying to take full advance of the system’s Wii mechanics somehow.

The vinyl like graphics bring life to de Blob and his funky world that really only graphics like these could. THQ actual sent out a de Blob vinyl toy with each review copy of the game and it was a perfect fit because that's what you think of when you see the world of de Blob. You think of that smooth painted surface after de Blob has finished painting the whole city.



The audio really adds to the fun experience and addictive nature of the game. The funky tunes that you get to pick from before each level and unlock throughout seemed to get more upbeat, the faster you paint. This just makes you work de Blob harder and groove his little bounces to the music.

The great thing about games like this is that the characters, the environments and music are so unique and wild that they have "classic in the making" stamp all over them. I worry though that de Blob could fall by the wayside in a sea of over-hyped games much like other cult classics like Psychonauts or Beyond Good or Evil; only to be discover as a great game by the masses long after it has been tossed into the bargain bins at EB Games and Blockbuster.

Don’t let this happen to de Blob. The Nintendo Wii isn’t expecting a lot of great third party title this Christmas, so de Blob is pretty much the ultimate third party title this year. I have spend hours fighting my simulator sickness just to play this game (think motion sickness but in reverse), and if that’s not a stellar recommendation, then I don’t know what is. Yes, I love this so much and I chance being sick just to play it. It is just that good, so please go and buy it!

Rating: 9 out of 10
Buy it!

Epic 8-Bit Art: Custom Mario Bros. Figures

Custom figures are becoming another huge fad that's been popping up all over the internet and of course, gaming always finds its way into these fads, much to my delight. Custom figures, if you're not familiar with the practice, is when people take regular action figures and remodel them to look like somebody else with new parts, paint, sculpting clay, etc.

Created by Ekoala, an artist I've featured on my site before, these custom Mario Bros. figures were made to be a little more realistic, I guess. The artist label the figures as the "Mushroom Kingdom on Crack" and that pretty much sums it up though, Toad looks like he's been hitting the juice too.


Luigi was made previous by the artist too.

You can check out more custom pieces from EKoala aka Kody Koala on his website.

New Resident Evil: Degeneration Footage

Being that videogame movies tend to flop, I really hope since Capcom is overseeing the creation of Resident Evil: Degeneration that this movie will be awesome like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and not Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Review Wrap Up: Summer's Best Gaming Titles

Gamers rejoice as the holiday gaming season is now upon us and plenty of the year’s best game titles are at our fingers tips after the long drag of the summer gaming season. But was it really such a drag for great game titles this season?

As gamers we have come to expect the summer months to yield crappy game titles, but have game developers come around and started launching stellar titles while the world is green and happy? I can with great certainty say “yes”, they have and allow me to give you just a taste of some of the great titles I played this summer, but didn’t get a chance to review in full force for your reading consumption.

Overlord: Raising Hell
CodeMasters, Triumph Studios
Available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC

This expanded re-release title for the PS3 took the original Overlord game and added on the Xbox marketplace extended storyline which included new levels, enemies and weapons. The PS3 version also had exclusive weapons that you could forge inside the tower.

With so many games having you play the hero in some form trying to save the day, Overlord: Raising Hell puts you into the shoes of a dark overlord trying to rebuild an evil empire after the last dark lord was killed by a bunch of heroes. Using your minions much like evil little Pikmin, you must complete missions that help you gain power and take over the land.

While the graphics were exactly updated to meet the next generation capabilities of the PS3, the storyline and humour of this game is really enough to keep you killing Halflings and burning villages, all in the name of evil. Finding missions did become a bit difficult at times as the story didn’t seem to direct you very well to your next action point. The controls were easy to use and the puzzles in the game are clever and very Pikmin-ish. Any one looking for a break from the everyday hero game will love this evil adventure game.

Rating 8 out of 10
Buy it

Enemy Territory: Quake War
Activison, Nerve Software
Available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC

Created as a prequel to Quake II, Enemy Territory: Quake War will have you jumping into the battlefield action before you can even ask, “So, Who are we killing today?” The quick pace and easy to pick up controls makes it a great match for FPS newbs. Basically the game has you choosing a character class and drops you and your team mates into a full on slaughter fest with an objective and only your gun to protect your butt in a mass multiplayer battle. The game has 12 different maps to choose from and a sweet garage full of vehicles to hit the battlefields in.

While this game does have a campaign mode where you take on the Strogg, it’s really all about the online play and ET: QW throws you into the action quickly and with ease. Any one who’s played a FPS in their life will be dominating the field in Quakes Wars. The vehicles were really the only disappointment in the game as they controlled horribly and made you want to walk more than run over people in a tank. That is not a good sign.

Rating 7 out of 10
Buy it!

Battlefield: Bad Company
EA Games, EA DICE
Available for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3

Playing as new recruit Preston Marlowe, Battlefield: Bad Company has you following a group of outcast army soldiers during a war as they fight against everyone in order to escape with a whole lot of mercenary gold. While this first person shooter’s humour may have you groaning at some points, the real draw of the game is the destructible environments which allow you to take out deadly snipers by just blowing up the building their camping in.

The multitude of weapons and vehicles at your disposal in this game really provides multiple ways you can finish a mission. You can take out enemies one by one in a building or just jump in a tank and mow the whole building down instead. Whatever floats your boat? The game has a sweet single player campaign but the multiple players allows you to jump into these amazing environments with up to 24 other players online. Taking out your sniper loving friends just got a whole lot more interesting.

Rating 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Final Fantasy IV
Square Enix, Matrix Software
Available on Nintendo DS

This classic title has already been ported to the Gameboy Advance for us to play all over again, but it sure didn’t look as pretty then as it does on new Nintendo DS version and that‘s enough for me to buy it all over again.

Totally recreated for the NDS release, Final Fantasy IV or II for those North America retro gamers out there, Square Enix has brought this classic RPG into the 3D realm with brand new graphics and beautiful new cut scenes. From the over world to the dungeons, this game retells Cecil’s struggle against the kingdom he once served and the friend he once trusted as he attempts to save the world.

Thankfully the developers left any attempt to stuff pointless stylus controls into the game alone and left it with its original D pad controls in tact. While I wasn’t too happy with the new and cutesy 3D in game models, I did love the new cut scenes created for the game. The remixed original score really added to the newer feel of the game without destroying the retro mood of the game. Fans will even love the fact that Square Enix added some voice acting into the game’s cut scenes. Very cool.

With so many remakes coming out of the Square Enix vault right now, I was happy to see this game come off just as fun as the first time I played it back on my Super Nintendo, though those the boss are still friggn’ hard as ever to defeat.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Jaw-Dropping Gaming Collection

Spotted over in the community blogs at Destructoid is probably one of the coolest gaming collections I've seen in a while. Sure there are people with probably bigger collections, but what gamer can say they own every edition of the Xbox 360 that's come out on the market from the Arcade Edition to the useless Halo Edition (Yeah, I said it).

Ecresto's gaming room is packed from wall to wall with games, consoles, collectibles and even his gaming entertainment unit setup which includes a nice flat screen TV. Ecresto estimates his collection at about 1500 games and 47 unique systems and handhelds. He must be a great bargain hunter or just rich to own all those items.

You can check out the full collection at his blog on the Dtoid community site.

Cliffy vs Peter vs Dennis: A Look at Internet Bullsh*t

Since mid-summer the internet has been full of interviews from famous game developers like Dennis Dyack, Peter Molyneux and Cliffy Bleszinski, all because they had epic games coming to the market.

What made these three game personalities stand out from all the rest is the fact that they all apparently put their foot in their mouth during an interview or on a forum at one point or another which stood out enough to warrant an article or two about it.

What I find funny though is that when the first two names on my list made their comments, they were practically burned at the stake by the fanboys and the internet trolls, but when Cliff Bleszinski made his comments his fans were right there to defend him. Today I read an article that called Cliffy B out for his apparent arrogant comments in recent interviews and the same type of people that ripped Peter and Dennis apart, defended him to their last breath with a barrage of either valid points or just a mixture of text and swear words.

My favorite comments where from the people who claimed he was just very passionate about his games and advised the writer that he should shut up because he never created a million dollar videogame and therefore knew nothing about videogames.

Guess what? Based on those defense statements both Dennis and Peter are off the hook too for their past internet hate creating comments too.

I'm not saying that any one of these game developers were right or wrong in what they said, that's not the point here. What I am saying is that fanboys will always defend based on their love of the game and not what is really said by the person in question.

If Too Human sold as many copies as Gears of War 2 did in the first day, I'm sure the internet would hold less articles and blog posts ripping Silicon Knights, Too Human and Dennis apart.

If Fable turned out to be the role-playing game that we all wanted it to be, I'm pretty sure PS3 fanboys would be Xbox 360 fanboys and drooling at the idea of Fable 2, instead of freaking out about Peter's love for Xbox Live and demanding his first born's blood.

I have my own opinions about each of these personalities and their comments but what kills me most about all of this, is that one person can be called "passionate about gaming" and another "a douchebag" when they both said something arrogant about their game or someone else's gaming product. Only diff: A successful game on the market at the time.

Gadget Review Week: Rapala's Fishing Frenzy for the Nintendo Wii

Rapala’s Fishing Frenzy for the Nintendo Wii

Though the fishing season maybe coming to an end, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep your fishing skills finely tuned until the spring. Activision and Rapala’s Fishing Frenzy combines the use of the Wii remote & nunchuk with their new rod and reel adapter to bring realistic fishing into your living room. Packaged together with in a kit, the fishing game and adapter allow you to fish in 100 of the world’s best fishing hotspots. You can catch bass, walleye, catfish and more with a selection of 30 lures.
The rod adapter for your Wii remote and nunchuk allow you to fish as if you were really holding a fishing rod and you have to secure each catch from first line cast to the final pull of the line out of the water. While most fishing fans and gamers would expect a budget title here, I can assure you that this is about a good as the Rapala series gets and casual fans will easily be able to pick up this game and play.

Available where all videogames are sold for $49.99 CAN

More Sumo Omni Chair Puppy Pictures

I already posted my review of the Omni Sumo Chair but I wanted to post all the cute pictures I took of my dog sneaking his own time with the comfy gamer chair.

I think this means he wants his own now. I might have to buy one of the little "Fido" dog beds off the website for him.

The Warcraft Retrospective: Part Two

Warcraft II was the game that made me love real time strategy games and though I know I will have millions hate me for saying this, but I want a new Warcraft RTS game!! Blizzard is giving us a new Diablo, so how about a new Warcraft that isn't an MMO for once.

If you missed the first part of Warcraft Retrospective, you can watch it here.

Paradox Interactive Announces Majesty 2 for PC

Back in my PC gaming days, I picked up a sim title called Majesty which had you running a kingdom. You had to build guilds, hire heroes and set quests, all in order to save your kingdom from whatever threat was attempting to bring down your people that day.

It was a very unique experience because you couldn't control your heroes directly and instead had to buy their loyalty by setting rewards for quests. The whole game ran on money management and was hard as hell.


Paradox Interactive has announced that they are now working on a sequel for Majesty and will be chronicling the development of the game over at IGN. There will be a new entry every two weeks and you can check out the first entry which talks about the change in hero control structure.

Gadget Review Week: Playstation 3 Charge Base & Media Hub +

Playstation 3 Charge Base 2

Nyko also has two must have items for the Sony fans this holiday season with their Playstation 3 Charge Base 2 and the Nyko Media Hub The charging station allows you to charge two Duel shock 3 or SIXAXIS controllers simultaneously via USB adapters and best of all, the charger plugs into any wall outlet so you don’t have to tie your system up with wires or leave it on while charging. Controllers also charge quickly within a couple of hours which is faster than the system charge time.

Available at Toys R Us and EB Games for $29.99 CAN

Nyko Media Hub + for the Playstation 3

The Nyko Media Hub is an excellent item to have if you have one of the downgraded Playstation 3 consoles like the 40 GB that are lacking the 2 extra USB ports and the memory stick slot. This little adapter plugs into the front USB port to provide you with 3 new USB ports for a total of 4 and a SD card/memory stick reader. Having this adapter is great when you need to hook up all 4 instruments for Rock Band or transfer videos, music or photos to your system when you don’t have a wireless internet connection.

While the adapter originally made for the 40 GB Playstation 3 systems, there is an included adapter piece that will allow you to hook the media hub up to the 20, 60 and 80 GB systems as well. The adapter works will all USB devices, all SD cards and all memory sticks. The adapter works in either vertical or horizontal position and there’s no batteries required, so really there’s no reason not to pick this device up

Available at Toys R Us and EB Games for $19.99 CAN

November's Downloadable Game Reviews

Jeopardy
Sony Online Entertainment
Available on the Playstation Network

Game shows on the Playstation 3 are not in short supply this month with the Buzz Quiz series and now Sony Online’s newest version of Jeopardy. This classic game show has been keeping old people company for years and years with its familiar theme song and charismatic host, Alex Trebek, but now this trivia fest is available for download on the Playstation Network for you to challenge Grandma to a round or two.

You can play this game by yourself against the computer AI or you can play against 2 players at home or online. Each game has 3 rounds: normal jeopardy, double jeopardy and final jeopardy and each round has several topics with 5 questions each. Each questions is actual any answer which must be answered with a question. So basically if you watched Jeopardy on TV, there is no difference on how the games are played.

Always a fan of the Jeopardy show, this trivia game is a cheap and quick download to keep your brain gerbil running in his wheel and also a great game to play with gamers and non-gamers alike. The questions are varied in subjects so anyone will have a chance to get a few answers right even if they only watch reality TV and listen to Britney Spears music.

While the set and the theme from the TV show are present, I was disappointed to see Alex Trebek missing from the game. Actually there wasn’t even an actual announcer or host throughout the whole game, so expect to read your own questions and categories. The categories did repeat themselves sometimes which is good for the person whose plays all the time and wants to kick their friend’s butts, but bad if you want the game to remain fresh.

Buy it!

Age of Booty
Capcom, Certain Affinity
Available for Xbox 360 and PC

Age of Booty sounds like a bad porn name, but really it’s the latest downloadable game release from Capcom that promises lots of high seas mayhem. Pirates always mean fun so when you combined them with cartoon goodness then you know you’re in for a treat. This real time strategy game was honestly inspired by a running gag at Bungie Studios known as “Pimps at Sea”, so how could you not want to check it out?

Gameplay largely revolves around the manoeuvring of your boat around a sea. The player controls their boat by selecting a space on the map to travel to and if the ship becomes adjacent to a space containing an enemy like a ship or town, it will automatically fire upon it. If more than one enemy is adjacent, the ship will split its fire, firing at a different enemy every time. While each storyline game has a different goal, the main objectives always include capturing a certain number of towns.

To capture a town it must be bombarded until it has no health left. A bar then appears and the percentage the town is "captured" rises. The only way capturing can be halted is for an enemy ship to move next to the town, but capturing can be resumed if the enemy ship is destroyed. Resources found around the map or earned from towns in your possessions will help you upgrade your ship and even your towns.

This game addictive nature will keep you roaming the high seas for hours on end. The cute cartoon style graphics make it stand out from most strategy games and the price is great if you’re looking for some quick and skill-testing fun. Game does have a pirate storyline to put some purpose to your chaos but there’s really no Oscar winning tale here, so come for the game play. Online battling is what we keep you entertained long after the main quests are complete, so don’t be afraid to sink a few friends’ ships over the internets.

The sound effects were a bit annoying after you heard the same pirate voice say the same line for the 100th time, but at least they sound like real swatch-buckling pirates and not like the developers did the voice themselves or something. The game play isn’t anything complex, so don’t go in there expecting Age of Empire or Command and Conquer like graphics or details. This is simple high seas fun at its best though.

Buy it!

Mega Man 9
Capcom
Available for Wii Ware, Xbox Live and Playstation Network

I can only imagine how many piles of letters from original NES style Mega Man fans crying about how much they miss the old style games that Capcom's Keiji Inafune must have seen before he decided to create the new retro inspired, Mega Man 9. Of course, having digital distribution through the 3 major consoles now probably helped tipped the scales in Keiji's favour to push such a simple 8-bit game concept through the approval process of company that usually produces huge gaming titles like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry.

This ninth instalment in the Mega Man series has you playing as the famed Blue Bomber as he tries to clear Dr. Light’s name after the evil Dr. Wily frames him for turning the world’s helper robots evil in a plot to take over the world. Mega Man must face 8 robots in order to absorb their power and finally take on the evil Dr. Wily to stop his plan.

This is the first game in the series to include a female boss robot, Splash Woman which is a nice touch. The game features old favourites like Proto Man and Rush and the whole game is like one big trip down Mega Man 1 & 2 memory lane from the stage setups to the game play controls. Aside from the single player story mode, there are several challenge modes like time attack and endurance mode where you must meet certain requirements to complete the stages.

Along with the reminiscent 8-bit soundtracks, Capcom has brought back the tough as nails enemies and the monstrous level designs that will have you tearing your hair out as you die over and over again. I never touched a Mega Man game before I played this instalment in the series and so I was not ready for the demanding level challenges ahead.

Well I do believe fans of the series will love this game to death but also know that most newcomers like me will be overwhelmed with the high difficulty of the game play. What can I say, I guess the newer generation of games have made me soft with their save points, difficulty modes and check points. Controls on the Wii version were extremely difficult to work with unless you purchase a classic controller to play the game with, so unless you have one I suggest the PSN or XBLA versions of the game.

I wouldn’t suggest this game as a buy unless you love Mega Man games from the NES era or like throwing your controller a lot.

Forget it!


Siren: Blood Curse
Sony Computer Entertainment, SCE Japan Studio
Available for the Playstation Network

Back in 2003 Sony released a little know Japanese horror survivor game called Siren on the Playstation 2 and the game received little hype which caused it to fade into the background that is until recently when Sony released the remake of the game, Siren: Blood Curse to the Playstation Network in 12 episodic downloads.

The story begins on August 3, 2007 and focuses on an American television crew that arrives in Japan to investigate and document the legend of Hanuda, a "vanished village" where human sacrifices are said to have taken place thirty years prior. From here, a basic survivor horror game storyline carries out where you must fight for your life in a twisted and gory Japanese tale full of evil gods and maggot creatures.

Made in a perfect Japanese horror flick fashion, Siren: Blood Curse brings you into this hideous world of death and decay along with its characters to suffer the same confuse and fear that they must endure. The Silent Hill like environments and grainy movie film graphics like game looks fantastic and will have you playing it with the lights on.

Unfortunately the controls in this game were horrendous which made the surviving part in survival horror extremely hard. Characters took forever to move around and it was almost painful to watch them. The dark environments though great for the game’s atmosphere, made it hard to know where to go next and though you have the use of the “sight-jacking” system to look through the eyes of the nearby monsters, this was more dizzying than helpful.

Finally the biggest pain of this game is the download and installation process which took forever and a day. Each episode took about 10 to 20 minutes to download and then another 10 minutes to install. If you decide to check the game out, I suggest you download and play each episode one at a time instead of getting them all at once like me. Pausing the downloads will allow you to take a break in between each episode.

Forget it!

Gadget Review Week: Halo Interactive Strategy Game

Halo Interactive Strategy Game

If you’re looking for a break from your controller, the Halo Interactive Strategy Game is the newest board game to combine the most popular videogame series out there and simple board game fun. Made by Genius Products and B1 Games, the Halo Interactive Game combines conventional board game play with audible and visual aids via an included DVD. The 3-D board can be constructed into several different stages, or users can create their own. Two or more players can form teams with 15 sculpted characters direct from the Halo series including the Arbitor and Master Chief.

Teams move around the board engaging in turn-based combat, which is aided by the included interactive DVD. The DVD features rendered action sequences to add further realism to the game and help the players along. Additionally, the Halo Interactive Strategy Game can be played in a variety of modes and levels for extended playability. Players can go toe-to-toe in some of their favourite modes from the game series; such as Capture the Flag and Slayer. While I found the rules a bit hard to follow at times, I think experienced Halo players will love this game and find it easy to play.

Available at Walmart and Toys R Us for $49.99 CAN

Gadget Review Week: Sumo Omni Chair

Sumo Omni Chair

If you’re looking to decorate your gaming room on a decent budget and are looking for that perfect comfortable chair then Sumo Urban Lounge Gear may have the chair you’ve been looking for. Starting at only $149.99 US shipping included, the Sumo Omni chair is the next generation in bean bag chair and perfect for parking your butt in while killing zombies or saving the princess. Made from a space age, rip proof PVC coated nylon, these chairs come filled with virgin polystyrene foam beads that allow you to space and mould your chair into any shape you want. You can use it as a crash mat, a lounge chair, a floor pillow or a little love seat. I found that even my dog was sneaking a nap or two on it.

The nylon is easy to clean with just a damp cloth and some soapy water. The chair is so comfortable to sit in and my only complaint was that when I did get up, the shape of the chair was lost and I had to remould it each time. Now the Omni is 4.5' x 5.5' and it only weighs 18 lbs, but if you need a bigger size chair, Sumo Urban Lounge Gear offers multiple chair styles and sizes. They even offer an ottoman, a couple of different dog beds and different size memory foam beds.

Available at Sumo Lounge.com for $149.99 US
Free shipping available to Canadian addresses

Winners of the Time Trial Codes for Mirror's Edge Demo: PLUS MORE CODES!

I'm a little late posting this, but here's the list of winners of the Time Trial Unlock Codes for the PS3 Mirror's Edge Demo.

Josh
Jared
Nathan

All three of the winners have been sent their codes already.

[UPDATE: Thanks to the Lucky 7 who sent me off an email so quickly. Check your email for a code. The contest is now closed, so please don't send any more emails]

As luck may have it though I have one code still left from the old contest and 6 new codes from EA now available, so I'll send them to the first 7 people to email me @ thegirlgamer.net@gmail.com

Mirror's Edge hit store shelves today, so check out the demo and time trial soon if you haven't already.

Square Enix Announces 2009 Q1 Lineup

Today Square Enix announced their gaming lineup for 2009 Q1 and there isn't a Final Fantasy title in the list amazingly.

The titles that were in the list:


Star Ocean: The Last Hope - March 3, 2009
For Xbox 360
Developer: tri-Ace Inc.


Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume - March 17, 2009
For Nintendo DS
Developer: tri-Ace Inc.


Dragon Quest: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - February 17, 2008
For the Nintendo DS
Developer: ArtePiazza


Star Ocean: Second Evolution - January 6, 2009
For PSP
Developer: SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.

Epic 8-Bit Art: Family Guy Perler Bead Art

Nothing says "Home" quite like having Peter Griffin and his family from the Family Guy hanging on your wall. And nothing says geek more than to have Peter and his family made entirely out of Perler Beads.

Fashion, a member of the new bead sprite haunt I found, "Pixelgasm", created a giant wall mural of the primetime family hanging out on the couch from the Family Guy videogame to post on her wall.

I absolutely love these giant pieces because you know the artist had to put a lot of hand crippling hours into creating them.

Gadget Review Week: Rock Band Stage Kit for Xbox 360

Rock Band Stage Kit

For the Rock Band fan in your home, PDP has come up with the perfect gift idea for your wannabe rockstar with the Rock Band Stage Kit. This kit comes with an adjustable LED floor light and combination strobe light and fog machine to turn your rock session up a notch. Using USB cables, the floor light and fog machine connect together to plug directly into the Xbox 360 USB ports and also into a power outlet, so both devices share one power source and one USB connection.

Once connected, gamers only need to pick a song and start playing to watch as the LED light, fog machine and strobe machine start working in sync with the music to create a wicked special effects show. While I found the whole kit to be pretty darn cool, the fog did go off a bit too much for my tiny living room which soon filled up with so much fog I couldn’t even see my TV screen. Happily the fog machine does have an individual off switch so you can still use the strobe light.

For clean freaks worried about their floors and carpets, the fog juice is made from a water solution so you don’t have to worry about a giant mess. The kit works with both Rock Band 1 & 2, but is only available for the Xbox 360 so far. Despite a little too much fog to contend with in my tiny living room after 2 or 3 songs, the Rock Band Stage Kit is fabulous addition to any Rock Band fan’s wish list this holiday season.

Available at EB Games.com for $99.99 US
Shipping available to Canadian addresses