VII Days .... huh? Updated

Square Enix has been giving us a lot of games and surprises over the last year from the re-release of Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation Network to the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV Online coming to the Playstation 3 and PC.

But now they are killing us with a trailer countdown site that only shows a mysterious VII Days and a timer that right now is at 42 minutes and dropping. Beyond that there is no real indication of what the game is they are teasing.

The VII would have everyone creaming in their pants at the prospect that this could be a teaser for a remake of Final Fantasy VII, but Siliconera found some hidden art concepts that apparently have to do with the site and they seem to think this is a Lord of Vermillion teaser site due to the similarity in art style.

I guess we will know the truth behind this site in less than 42 minutes.

[UPDATED: Blurg! Instead of revealing something, the site just changed the number of days from VII to VI - I guess this means we have to wait another 6 days before we find out what this site is for. Still hoping the Final Fantasy VII remake.]>

Pixelated Creations - Highlighted Items From My Store

Not sure if a lot of my readers know about my store, Pixelated Creations but today I thought I would do a post highlighting some of my favorite pieces currently for sale in my Etsy store.

Above is Cloud from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - he's mounted on a foam/bistol board backing that measures 19 inches x 18 inches and is 0.4 inches thick. I'm selling this piece for $30 plus shipping which will be determine on a per person basis to keep the shipping price down. Interesting parties in this item can contact me at thegirlgamer.net@gmail.com


I am also selling a lot of Lucasarts character sets right now like Guybrush and LeChuck from Monkey Island 2, Sam & Max from Sam & Max: Hit the Road and Purple Tentacle from Day of the Tentacle. These sets range from $25 to $10 per item or set plus shipping.

On the smaller scale, I sell sets for Secret of Mana, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, and Super Mario World for roughly $12 to $10 plus shipping.

And finally on an even smaller scale, I make different keychains and bags tags like my Super Mario Mushroom keychains, my Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man & Ghost set keychains, my Loco Roco keychains or one of my Mario Power Up bag tags which range from $3 to $4 plus shipping. Though make note all bag tags and keychains are buy 1, get 1 free right now in my store.

I have tons of other items in my store too from Final Fantasy to Metroid that you can check out. Also feel free to contact me about custom pieces if there is something you want made that isn't in my store. I'm at thegirlgamer.net@gmail.com

Sin to Win: Win a Night With Some Booth Bears?

I love EA. You know why?

Because they are an open-minded company and they proved it today. Putting two and two together, I figured out one of the winners for the Dante's Inferno contest could be the owner and writer for GayGamer.net, Flynn "Fruite Brute" Marco, who trust me isn't interested in a night out on the town with two hot women.

He was another person not happy with the straight male targeted contest, but he decided to take some pictures with his favorite booth bears to see what EA thought. Apparently EA liked it because they are asking Flynn to following them on Twitter in order to be properly entered in the contest. Flynn was one of two people asked to follow EA's contest on Twitter which makes me think he could be one of two people that won this contest.

How cool would it be if Flynn won a night on the town with two booth bears or babes? (he plans to take either to a gay bar for the night) I guess all those people complaining that EA isn't thinking about their entire demographic would be wrong. The contest was open to people of all types, cause Flynn sure as heck didn't send pictures in with female promoters from Comic Con. EA definitely knew what Flynn liked and it wasn't a night out with two hot girls.

Sometimes people forget in all the finger pointing that EA is the company that has probably the most female targeted games on the market that don't insult our sex, not to mention a bunch of games with open sexuality choices. They aren't this evil corporation with no concept of who they market too. They just a company full of human beings that make bad choices sometimes and apparently they heard the people's cries and make up for it.

Girls Go Geek: Now This I Can Get Behind!

I hate to admit it, but I have a huge lack of girlfriends. It's probably because of my "hide behind my monitor" relationships with people but it also has to do with the fact that I fail to find normal women or women I can relate to. Even being connected to the internet I can't seem to connect with a lot of the female gaming community because I don't always see eye to eye with them on a lot of topics or I just know all the wrong female gamers, I don't know.

But for whatever reason, I don't have any close girlfriends in the tech industry nor do I have many out there that I hold in great regard. Too many of them burned me I guess.

This week I did hear some good news about a person I do respect in the biz and I have no problem promoting anything she does. Amber Mac or Amber MacArthur is a great Canadian and respected female tech geek. She worked on several projects in the past and present including working a co-host on Call for Help on G4TechTV and as a reporter on CityTV and CP24.

Now Amber has been chosen to host a new show for Xbox Live called Girls Go Geek and honestly if it was any other person than her, I would be worried about a show like this (Seen crap female gaming shows before), but Amber is a true techie and I can't wait to see the show when it premieres the first week of August.

Amber will be interviewing different female geeks in the biz each episode starting with The Guild star & creator, Felicia Day who is an awesome actress, comedian and writer.

I wish Amber the very best on her new show and I can't wait to check it out.

Comic Con 2009: Videogame Cos-play Highlights

Now that Comic Con 2009 has come and gone, the massive galleries of Cos-players are popping up all over the internet. I've been sorting through the weird and wonderful piles of picture to bring you my favorite videogame costume from the event.

I sometimes think I miss out on the how cosplay side of conventions, but I feel it might be too weird or unprofessional to hit the convention floor in a costume if I'm going to be going as a member of the media. Anyone have a view on that?

If I did go in a costume to the Fan Expo in August, I already know what costume I would go in. I love this little female Ghostbuster's outfit and would probably wear this.

There were alot of cool costumes at the Comic Con this year from sexy little numbers to unique ideas like The Sims diamonds. I love how creative people get with their ideas and wish more people would come in costume to our Fan Expo.

Amazing how sexy pikachu can be when you add boobs.

Max was there but so was Sam. Sam just chose to bring his own Max - the non-speaking, stuffed kind.

There were tons more great costumes but my blog is only so big, so head over to Maximum PC to check out their gallery of 600 pictures for the full coverage of Comic Con 2009's cos-players.

Future Gamer and Perhaps Anime Character?

This weekend I went to my nephew, Evan's 4th birthday party and I got to spend some time with my newest nephew, Logan. As you can see from the picture above, this kid has got some crazy spiked hair that honestly reminds me of an anime character's hair.

I hope to teach him his first word, "Hadouken!" and maybe a cool, little baby kick to go with it. His parents got the idea for his name because the movie, Wolverine: X-Men Origins that was in theaters when he was still waiting to be born, but I'm starting to think this kid is more Street Fighter than X-Men with that hair. He needs more side burns to be Wolverine.

Sin to Win: Did EA do a bad thing?

During Comic Con this year, EA was promoting their upcoming game, Dante's Inferno with the first of many contests based on the 7 deadly sins. This first "Sin to Win" contest focused on lust, asking contestants to commit acts of lust with either the booth babes at the Dante's booth or ones from convention floor and document the act with a picture. The winner would receive a sinful night on the town with two hot ladies, limo service, paparazzi and a chest full of booty.

Quite a few different sites have been reacting badly to this poorly worded contest (bad EA) because obviously it looks like the company is telling people to go out and practically rape girls in order to win a night out with a couple of hookers. Not a swift PR move, I admit, but I also understand that EA was trying to make the contest fit with the idea of sin and make it sound lustful, even though it really wasn't. They can't really offer up a lust filled night or tell people that it's okay to grope the booth babes. They know that, I know that and everyone else with a brain should know that, but apparently that's not the case, but people seem to be concerned that there will be idiots out there that will take the contest to be literal and will grab the promoters, or think their getting a night with hookers.

Again, we lay the blame on someone else because someone might be too stupid to think morally and with some common sense. Do I need to bring up the whole violence and videogames arguement?

In EA's official statement, they clarified the common sense answer to why they worded the contest they way they did. The real "acts of lust" they meant were only to be pictures with the booth babes and not actual dirty deeds with them in any way. And of course, the main prize was really a night on the town with the Dante's Inferno's reps, all expenses paid, plus some money, coverage of the event and limo service.

I admit they could have worded things better but claiming that EA's PR reps would suggest that fans sexual harass the promoters is just going to far. Bias opinions aside, I know a couple people that work for EA on the promotion side and they would never promote violence or sexual harassment towards women. They are good guys and I know this was all just a bad choice of words.

I understand that bad things do happen to the promoters at these events and there should be security measures put in place to make theses people safer, but in the long run, if anyone was stupid enough to cause any harm to one of the promoters at Comic Con over this contest, then he or she is just a complete idiot because nothing, not a contest nor a prize, gives anyone the right to treat another human being like less than a person. That's just common sense and no one can hold EA responsible for some pervert's stupid actions.

Bruce Campcall on World of Warcraft: the Movie

By now, most of us know that Director Sam Raimi has been officially announced as the director for the big screen version of Blizzard's World of Warcraft which should mean that the movie will rock. (As long as Sam doesn't let WoW become another Spiderman 3).

But what this gamer wants to know is, what part will Bruce Campbell play in it? Apparently great minds think alike because IGN.com found the famous Burn Notice and Army of Darkness actor at Comic Con this year and asked the very same question. Bruce, who only recently found out about Sam's job as the new WoW movie director, knew exactly what kind of role he would play in the movie.

Raimi imagined his old friend will tell him, "You play some schmuck. Some idiot guy. Some garbage man."

Fans are already coming up with their own dream roles for Bruce which include ideas like Leroy Jekins, a drunken bar patron or anything that would include an Ash Williams reference. World of Warcraft already has an Army of Darkness reference, so including Ash in the movie would be cool but somehow I don't see Sam or Bruce doing it. So drunken bar patron #1, it is!

Bruce or no Bruce, I personally am looking forward to checking out this movie when it does hit theaters in the future. I'm also looking forward to meeting Bruce "Don't Call Me Ash" Campbell in just a few weeks at the Fan Expo in Toronto. *GIRL SCREAM*

Epic 8-Bit Art: Nuka Cola Bottle Caps

Nuka cola bottlecaps, originally uploaded by chrisfurniss.

Just in case you have to barter with raiders ...

Chris Furniss of the Weekly Geek has a real talent for crafts. I've posted his cute videogame munnies before and I just had to show off these neat little Nuka Cola bottle caps he made.

Too cool! Makes me want to start playing Fallout 3 again.

Chris also made a Vault Boy Munny which will go nicely with his new bottle caps.

It's Official: Albert Wesker is Dead.

No much in the gaming world can cause this player to cry. Sure I cried when Aeris died and I even cried at the beginning of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, but other then that solid as a rock when I'm killing fluffy little creatures in my games.

Today I heard the worst news that moved me to tears though. I may have held back my tears at the end of Resident Evil 5 but not now, because now I know the worst is true ... Albert Wesker is dead.

Siliconera is reporting from a Comic Con 2009 Capcom panel that Masachika Kawata, Producer for Resident Evil games that Albert Wesker will not be returning for the next Resident Evil game.

Kawata stated to a panel attendee, “Even if you want Albert Wesker to come back there is no chance of that happening.”

This probably means that Wesker won't be appearing in Resident Evil 6 or other sequel games that continue on the storyline from RE5. However that doesn't mean Wesker won't be appearing in RE: The Darkside Chronicles which is currently in the works and any other prequels, ports or remakes.

So while Albert may still return in spirit to replay his evil deeds of the past, it seems all future "take over the world" plots are out of the question for our sweet, departed Wesker. Farewell, you evil, sexy bastard, you. *cries*

Hello, Sexy Goodness! Guybrush vs. LeChuck Statue

Right now I wish I had a spare $90 plus shipping laying around because the Star Wars Shop has just opened up pre-orders for a wicked looking statue of Guybrush Threepwood fighting LeChuck the Ghost Pirate from the re-vamped version of The Secret of Monkey Island.

It's pretty damn sexy looking, though I would have preferred zombie pirate LeChuck to ghost pirate LeChuck. Zombies are just all the rage nowadays, you know.

The statue will set you back $89.99 if you pre-order now and it will ship September 10th. Don't wait either cause there's only 1000 of these puppies to go around. Grab the statue at StarWarsShop.com now or suffer the curse of LeChuck, ya scurvy dogs!

The Gameboys are Taking Over

Gameboy Collection, originally uploaded by Doctor Octoroc.

I just wanted to post this cool picture from my buddy, Doctor Octoroc's flickr account. He has a wicked cool collection of Gameboys and it makes me wish I still had my cool see-through purple Gameboy, but alas I sold it. Boo.

Still working on building up my own retro gaming collection though. I have the NES and Atari 2600 with multiple games:

NES: Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, Little Nemo Dream Master, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Friday the 13th, Dragon Warrior and The Legend of Zelda.

Atari Games: Frost Bite, Pressure Cooker, Space Invaders, Plaque Attack, Keystone Kapers, SeaQuest, and River Raid.

I still hope to get a Cole-vision and SNES soon.

Epic 8-Bit Art: The Lost Racers

The Lost Racers - Collectable Card, originally uploaded by Arcade Art.

Though I was never a huge fan of Mario Kart growing up, my 4-year-old nephew has been getting me into the game with his gamecube version. He always begs me to play with him when I come over and I'm not sure if I'm good or not, but I know at least I can beat a toddler.

These neat art piece is from Arcade Artist to go with her Lost Racer Custom Bead Sprites. I love the addition of Robbie the Robot and I love her description of the piece.

"In 1992, a crack racing unit was snubbed by Super Mario Kart for a bunch of crimes they definitely did commit. Undetered, these bad boys of racing promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Mushroom Kingdom underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as lost racers of fortune. If you have a 16-bit problem, if no one else can help, and if you can control them, maybe you can buy... The B-Team."

Check out her Etsy Store to see all her amazing work.

Worst Baby Names for Gamers

It seems silly now to think that I was worried about my sister naming my newest nephew, Logan, other yuppy names like Brody or Mason (I guess she hoped to one day have him audition for 90210), when retarded authors like Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz are suggesting the worst baby names in the world in their book, Cool Names for Babies.

This book has categories for parents to look through like celebrity baby names or celebrity names, but for us geek parents, they have a videogame name category which is too funny. Check out some of the girl and boy names they listed under videogame names:

Girl Names

Aerith
Aoi
Astaroth
Bloodrayne
Cortana
Jaheira
Kairi
Lara
Pai
Paine
Quistis
Rikku
Rinoa
Rynn
Samus
Selphie
Shion
Shodan
Sora
Taki
Tifa
Yuna

Boy Names

Aidyn
Akuji
Alucard
Arc
Banjo
Cloud
Crash
Daxter
Ding
Goemon
Goku
Ico
Jak
Jojo
Kage
Kain
Kazooie
Kialos
Klonoa
Link
Majora
Maximo
Munch
Parappa
Raiden
Rygar
Ryu
Spyro
Squall
Tidus
Toan
Vyse
Yoshi
Zell
Zidan

Some of the names aren't so bad, but honestly who's going to name their baby girl, Bloodrayne? You pretty much doom her to a life of being a nasty bloody sucking vixen who has a hate-on for Nazis.

Also Paine? Yoshi? Spyro? Parappa? Kazooie? Alucard?! Come on, don't they know that's just Dracula spelled differently? What the frig is wrong with these women? Did they just randomly pick names from the internet just to fill a space in their book? Heck, Sora isn't even a girl's name, its a boy from the Kingdom Hearts series, you dumb broads!

Now, if you wanted to know some good videogame names, try some real names that real people might name their kids like these girl names, Zelda from Legend of Zelda, Alyx from Half Life, Lara from Tomb Raider or Jade from Beyond Good and Evil. For boys, Mario from Super Mario Bros., Gordon from Half-Life, Chris or Leon from Resident Evil or Cid from any Final Fantasy game. Those are videogame names that won't get your kid's ass kicked at school.

Next time, ladies do your research and don't ever suggest that list again as cool.

[Via Ottsel's IGN Blog]

Dead Fantasy III & IV

Not only were we treated to one new Dead Fantasy movie video this month but we got two! Dead Fantasy, the creation of Monty Oum which features the ladies of Final Fantasy and Dead or Alive battling it out in glorious digital 3D, received two sequel videos this month: Dead Fantasy III & IV. Dead Fantasy III features Tifa and Hitomi.

Dead Fantasy IV features Kasumi and Yuna.

Check out Dead Fantasy I & Dead Fantasy II if you haven't already.

Epic 8 Bit Art: Team Fortress 2D Mock-up

I found this awesome mock-up of a 2D version of Team Fortress by Gas 13 on Pixel Joint.com. I love finding these cool "what ifs" art pieces on Pixel Joint.

Power Up!

Power Up!, originally uploaded by L5LiNks.

"The most prominent of these Mushrooms is the "Super Mushroom", which allows Mario to grow to twice his size, becoming the eponymous "Super Mario", and can sustain damage before shrinking back down to "regular" Mario. "

Got No Halo: Photos by David Bothe

Not really sure who Julia is, but I suddenly a huge fan of this lovely lady and her sexy fishnet stockings. I think Master Chief might be a fan too.

From the pages of Flickr, I found a very talent photographer named David Bothe who posted these two fantastic photos of a lady named Julia. Again, I'm not sure who she is but she has great taste.

Check out more photos for David's flickr account.

Epic 8-Bit Bead Art: Fire Wall

Fire Wall (8-Bit & Beyond), originally uploaded by Doctor Octoroc.

Another Doctor Octoroc original!

A custom, framed, solid bead sprite depicting an RPG style battle between Nintendo's three main mascots (Samus, Link and Mario) and a giant XBox 360 posessed by the head of Microsoft's Bill Gates. This scene parallels the battle with the Evil Wall in Final Fantasy 4 for SNES.

Final piece can be seen at the 8-Bit and Beyond art show at Brave New World comics on 2nd St. in Philadelpia on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 6pm.

Epic 8-Bit Art: The Mario Generation

This is my newest creation: Mario through the 2D generations on canvas. I created all the small marios, power-up mushrooms and big marios from Super Mario Bros. 1-3 and Super Mario World and fixed them to painted canvases.

Okay, so I am selling it - $40 plus shipping - its available on Etsy now.

Epic 8-Bit Bead Art: 8-Bit Keyboard Cat

By now everyone knows about the internet meme, keyboard cat and perhaps the 8-bit version created by artists, Jude Buffum & Doctor Octoroc. Well I decided to bead the 8 bit version of keyboard cat for my boyfriend's birthday.

The piece came out pretty big, so big in fact that I'm going to mount and frame it to hang in the house. Keyboard cat is art!

If you haven't seen the 8-bit version of keyboard cat, please check out the video.

Review: Patapon 2

Patapon 2
SCEA, SCEJ
Available for download via Playstation Network for the PSP

Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon! Yes, those unforgettable rhythms are back along with the cute and enduring little Patapons in Patapon 2. After spending several months attempting to remove those words out of my head, they are now again lodged perfectly in there day and night ... repeating over and over again. God, I love this game!

Patapon 2 picks up where the original game left off with voyage of the Patapons’ boat towards new lands. On the way there, the boat is attacked by a kraken that destroys the boat and causes the Patapon to wash ashore on a strange new world. There they are attacked by the Karmens, demons and other horrible creatures but they also discover a masked hero who has lost his memory. From here, the Patapon journey to discover the truth behind the masked hero and the faith of their people.

Like the previous Patapon game, your army of Patapons are controlled not by normal means, but rather by musical rhythms. You as their Tribal God have different drum beats (the shape buttons on the PSP pads) that you can use to drum out a specific rhythm or command to your army. The flag carrying Patapon understands your rhythms and will help the other Patapons to carry it out. You know that you’ve done a rhythm correctly when the Patapons repeat the rhythm back to you. In order to earn bonuses that strengthen your Patapons, you must keep the beat going without pause. Lose this beat and your Patapons will stop and you will have to find the beat all over again.

Your little army will have a diverse range of warriors from archers to spear throwers, and you can even find hero units along the way to lead this specific warrior types. Ultimately it is your flag carrier that is your most important unit though because if he dies, the unit will no longer follow you and its game over. Units can be upgraded and even born from a tree in Patapon camp, but you must collect items from enemies in stages in order to do this. The tree gives you access to a bunch of new Patapon types including a Patapon with a bird mount and a Patapon with giant fists.

This time around there is a multi-player mode available where up to 4 players must defend an egg against a bunch of enemies until they can bring it to an altar at the end of the stage. The egg usually contains a new item or character.

The music in this game is just a fun as the first time around. The jungle beats will have you singing them in the office and probably scaring your co-workers. The use of light and shadow in the graphics still makes this a very beautiful and artistic game and I love the newly designed Patapons.

Patapon 2 is another wonderful hit and a great reason to own a PSP, if you don’t already. Not only was I amused with this game but I had my 4-year-old nephew sitting quietly beside me watching me play with game on multiple occasions and he doesn’t sit still for much. Currently, Patapon 2 will available in stores as a download voucher or as a direct download on the Playstation store for $19.99, but however you purchase it, you must purchase it because this is an amazing buy for the price and I can’t see any reason for not buying it.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy it!

Video: How to Remove Stickers From Your Game Cases

Looking for a quick and mess-free way to remove all those annoying stickers that EB Games and other videogame stores stick all over your game cases. Well, check out this informative video for the best way to remove any and all stickers without leaving any residue behind.

Epic 8 Bit Bead Art: Hey! It's Link and Navi

Serena has managed to impress me again with her incredible ironing skills and perfect bead art selection. Her latest bead art piece was originally created by Deviant Artist, Optimal Protocol but Serena has managed to bring this pixel art to life with her incredible beading skills.

I still can't believe she figured out how to iron the little Navi sparkles without losing them in the process. I always have to modify my sprites to include a few more pixels or suffer the loss of a pixel or two in the end.

You can check out Serena's flickr page to see more of her amazing artwork and as well as her Etsy store.

[Via Pixelgasm Forums]

Papercraft Armor to the Extreme

This was posted along with the video on Facebook which just confused me when I read it, so I just had to post it here. Enjoy!

What is this? Is that a boy or a girl?
Noooo, it's Final Fantasy!
Nobody should have that many zippers...no matter what fantasy it is...

[Via Twisted Imp on Facebook]

Final Fantasy VII Meets Scribblenauts

The new game, Scribblenauts is shaping up to be a promising title and game artist, Edison Yan is not only providing us with fantastic art for the game but also some amazing Scribblenaut versions of Final Fantasy VII characters and Street Fighter characters. You can check out the Scribblenaut versions of Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter III and normal Street Fighter on Edison's blog, Egg Doodles.

July’s Downloadable Game Reviews

Kingdom for Keflings
Microsoft Game Studios, Ninja Bee
Available for download via Xbox Live Arcade

Give me the chance to build mini cities or control little tiny people in your game and you’ll have me addicted to it for hours. Kingdom for Keflings not only gives you the opportunity to control mini people in order to build a little kingdom but you can also kick them around while you do it. Bonus!

Playing as a giant or as your XBLA avatar, KfK has you controlling a kingdom of mini people called keflings in order to build their small village into a giant kingdom with a castle. You give these little people orders to collect resources or run buildings as you control the building of structure pieces and building completion. The game does offer a multi-player mode that allows up to 4 players to build the kingdom together.

This game can become mindlessly addicting, almost taunting you to keep going with its promise of another blue print and another building erected, but as you get into the later hours of this game, the process slows down and I found it all to be very empty. The building process became too lengthy and the management of all my keflings became so annoying that I soon tuned out. While the game does have some cute traits, I would honestly suggest that simulator fans stick to games like Sim City or The Sims to feed their sim addictions.

Pass on it!

Trash Panic
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan
Available for download via Playstation Network

If you’re like me when it comes to garbage maintenance, then you probably fill your trash can to the very brim before you finally cave and toss it outside. If so, then you will be an expert at playing Trash Panic, a new game on the Playstation Network that has you compacting trash into a bin much like Tetris pieces.

In Trash Panic, trash pieces like brooms, coffee cups, computer screens and even buildings are moved down a conveyor belt towards a large trash bin and you must move and rotate the pieces into the bin in order to fit them as compact as possible. Using techniques or items, you can break, burn, decompose or even blow up the trash to reduce its size in the bin. There are 6 level s to complete in main mode and 3 difficulty levels to complete them on. You also get an unlimited mode, a versus mode and a mission mode for extra game play, but the main mode is pretty hard even on easy to finish so expect to spend some time it.

I love that this game is fun and environmentally responsible. At the end of each level, you get a score based on how environmental responsible you were disposing of the trash. Plus the added stress relief of smashing pieces of garage is nice too. On the other hand though, some of the boss battles were incredible hard and if you didn’t prep your bin before hand, you were doomed to fail against them. Ultimately though, this is a unique and challenging game and I highly recommend it.

Buy it!

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Square Enix
Available for download via Nintendo WiiWare

Fans of the Final Fantasy series are about take a trip back to their childhood with the newest WiiWare release from Square Enix, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Using 16 bit graphics and the original ATB battle system, FFIV: The After Years will probably have anyone who played FFIV or FFVI instantly in love with it after the first 5 minutes of playing it. I know I wanted to propose to it.

FFIV: The After Years follows the story of Ceodore, the son of Cecil and Rosa as he tries to restore peace to his world after the second moon returns and bring the reign of monster terror back with it. During his journey, he is helped by familiar faces from the FFIV story like Palom, Porom, Rydia and many more.

The main WiiWare game will set you back 800 points which will get you three chapters of the story to play through. Now these are lengthy chapters and they will have you busy for quite a few hours as you transverse through them, but in order to finish the whole story you will have to purchase 8 more add-on storylines. The 7 character based storylines will cost you 300 points each and the final add-on will cost you another 800 points. These add-ons will be released over the next 3 months and can be purchased via the in-game download menu.

While I’m not impressed about forking out another 2900 Wii points on top of the 800 I already spent to download the first game, I can’t help but defend this amazing game. Too be completely frank, Square Enix has been putting out some God awful remakes and sequels lately and this is the first throwback to the retro stuff that I have not only loved how great it looks and plays, but can’t help but smile while playing. This game is like the old Square Soft games I grew up with but new. If I have only one download to suggest this month and for the next 3 months, then I suggest you spend your money on this.

Buy it!


Hasbro Family Game Night
Electronic Arts
Available for download via Xbox Live Arcade

If you lived through the 80s, then there’s a chance you played at least one game of Battleship or Scrabble with your annoying parents or siblings. I remember many childhood fights that started over Scrabble and whether or not something was really a word. The problem with board games is that pieces go missing and the newer generation could care less about them when they have videogame and iPods to keep them entertained.

That’s where Hasbro Family Game Night comes in! Sporting the games you loved as child but now in a shiner videogame form for those easily distracted generation of kids. Hosting by everyone’s favourite spud, Mr. Potato Head, HFGN allows you to download 6 different board games: Scrabble, Battleship, Boggle, Yahtzee, Connect 4, Sorry and Sorry Slider, all which cost 800 marketplace points. Each game comes with various modes that allow you to experience the game the classic way or in new, advanced ways. There are also multiplayer modes, both local and online so you can play with friends and family.

While I was more of a Clue fan growing up, I definitely played most of these games and this is a great trip down memory lane. Mr. Potato Head is quite the little joker in the background during each game and free customizable background themes are a nice touch to your HFGN game lounge. Honestly though, spending 800 points per game is a bit much and I think EA could have dropped the price to maybe 400 instead. I know this game was released on Nintendo Wii as a full priced game in stores, but still it just seems a lot for board games you could pick up at garage sales for 25 cents.

I would suggest as a purchase only if you really like one specific board game and want to play it with your family and friends. Beyond that wait to see if the point price comes down on this before you consider this a purchase.

Pass on it!

Ubisoft to Setup New Studio in Toronto - UPDATED

Ubisoft announced on Monday in an official press conference that they will be opening a new studio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as part of a program to bring new jobs to Ontario.

Ubisoft, which has a studio already in Montreal which employs 2000 people, also setup a new studio in Vancouver early this year.

The CEO of Ubisoft, Yannis Mallet and the Premiere of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty appeared together to make the official announcement about the new studio.

UPDATE: Ubisoft has posted a highlight video from the press conference on Monday.

[Via CBC News]

Review: Tales of Monkey Island: Ep.1 - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1 – Launch of the Screaming Narwhal
Telltales Games
Available via PC download at the Official Telltale Games Website

Good news, all my plunder bunnies! The newest adventure in the life of Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate has finally arrived from the wonderful people at Telltale Games, the developers who brought us the new episodic adventures of Sam & Max, freelance police. Tales of Monkey Island, another episodic game series launched its first of 5 episodes on July 7th to the joyful tears of millions of old school LucasArts adventure game fans and this reviewer got the chance to check out an early press copy 5 days before actual release date. To think it wasn’t even my birthday.

In the first episode, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, we are introduced to our favourite hero again, Guybrush Threepwood as she attempts to save his beloved wife, Elaine from LeChuck, the Zombie Pirate for 5th time I think. At this point, I’ve lose count how many times that woman has been kidnapped by LeChuck. Anyway, Guybrush uses a magical recipe on a sword to kill LeChuck but something goes wrong, and LeChuck is turned human, the boat blows up and Guybrush wakes up on an island only to find his hand has a mind of its mind. A nasty mind at that.
From here out, you must help Guybrush find a way off the island and back to his sweet Elaine. Much like previous adventure games, you must help Guybrush through his journey by talking to people, collecting items and solving his problems. Talking to people is done though dialog trees which give you a series of responses or questions to ask each person you talk to. Most responses are quite humorous which is what these games are famous for, that and three-headed monkeys.

Problem solving is usually complete with the aid of your item inventory, but you must remember not to use your item logically because that’s not how the game works. For example, in the beginning Guybrush drops his bottle of root beer, so you must replace the ingredient. Instead of finding for root bear, you instead find a plant with large roots and a barrel of grog which when combined together becomes root beer. See you have to think outside the box. Fans will love to hear that the plant is Chuck the Plant.

Fans of the previous MI series will be happy to know that former LucasArts employees worked on this game like Dave Grossman and Michael Stemmle and even MI series creator, Ron Gilbert helped brainstorm the initial project. Honestly you can tell these guys had a hand in the process because the game feels like series picked up right after Curse of Monkey Island and everyone forgot that horrible 3D version on the PS2 never even existed.

Graphically, Telltale Games decided to stay away from the original 2D graphics found in the first 3 Monkey Island games, despite cries from the fans and went with their successful 3D engine used on games like Sam & Max. The 3D cartoon graphics look spectacular and make each character really pop on screen. The control scheme is pretty decent with the use of either keyboard or mouse to move Guybrush around.

The music in the game is classic Monkey Island calypso with a hint of a jaunty pirate tune. The voice of Guybrush is provided by veteran voice actor, Dominic Armato, who provided his voice in Curse of Monkey Island and we also see the return of Alexandra Boyd, who voiced Elaine. Kudos to the developers for an excellent job on the voice sync, though I found it odd that text dialog picks didn’t come out the same vocally. The idea was the same but not the wording. They were still funny either way.

Now I did find a couple of glitches in the game but I had an early press copy that hadn’t been completely debugged yet. I found that the maps I found in the game when examined would be blank sometimes and I would have to re-examine them to fix the glitch. Also I had one spot where my inventory refused to open and I had to restart the game, but only happened once. Again though, I was playing an early build of the game and they always have a bug or two. The main game I’m sure with not have these issues, so honestly I can’t factor these in on final opinion of this game.

Now that I’m done reviewing the first episode of Tale of Monkey Island, the only thing I regret is that I have to wait another month to play the next episode. Obviously the purchase of this game should be a no-brainer for fans of the Monkey Island series, especially since there are so many long lost friends showing up to help Guybrush along the way and so many tributes to the franchise hidden in the game, but for the newbies uncertain about this game, I can only say this: Play this game and not only will you finally understand all the strange inside jokes your older PC gaming friends are making finally but you will open your mind to one of the greatest franchises that LucasArts has ever made. Well, besides Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Note: This game will be available in the future on Nintendo Wii via Wii Ware download.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy it!

LucasArts Launches Old School Games Via Steam

So LucasArts finally told us their big secret and I was part right. They did give us the release date for Secret of Monkey Island: SE which hit Xbox Live Arcade on July 15 for 800 MS Points and PC via Steam for $9.99. Yay!

But they also made the announcement that they are making available a bunch of other LucasArts games from the libray via Steam on July 8th, 2009.

* Armed and Dangerous
* Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
* Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
* LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure
* LOOM
* Star Wars Battlefront II
* Star Wars Republic Commando
* Star Wars Starfighter
* The Dig
* Thrillville: Off the Rails

Apparently this only part one of the list of the games they plan to release and will be giving us more titles in the future. I am happy to hear more games will be release because honestly I never played any of these games and don't really care to now. I still want my Sam & Max: Hit the Road, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle and Maniac Mansion. Maybe even the sequels to Monkey Island would be nice too.

49% of Canadian Gamers are Female

At the Ubisoft Press conference today, Ontario Premiere Dalton McGuinty stated that over 49% of Canadian Gamers are female. Okay, so I'm one of them, so who's the other chick? Just kidding.

That's great to know that the gaming population in Canada has finally become 50/50 men and women. Must be all those long cold winters with nothing better to do than play videogames.

[Via VG247]

Respect to the LARP - The LARP Rap

This video goes out to all my old school LARP homies from back in the day. I remember playing Vampire: the Masquerade LARP at that banquet hall while the close-minded citizens of Milton thought we were burning crosses and biting each other. Those were the days.

Song: Chase Da Gold by Vacant Manifesto.

LucasArts Teases Big News Tomorrow

The LucasArts Twitter account is teasing a big announcement for tomorrow. They're saying it will please the old school fans but it doesn't have anything to do with a new IP.

At first I was thinking made they were dusting off another sweet old adventure title from the golden days of LucasArts. Perhaps Day of the Tentacle, Maniac Mansion or Sax & Max: Hit the Road, but after reading something on the forums over at LucasArts official website, I now realize the buggers are probably just giving us the release date for Secret of Monkey Island: SE on Xbox Live Arcade.

If this is the case, I will be happy as I am dying to play this game already but honestly I think all old school fans were hoping for something bigger than this.

[Picture by FDisk via Telltales Game Forum]

Girls Gone Geeky? - Article Gone Bad

So a while back I received an email from a fellow female gamer about a recent article in the July issue of Marie Claire which is a woman's magazine. They had posted a small article that month about the Frag Dolls and their careers in the pro gaming world which didn't paint the Dolls or a female pro gamers’ career in a pretty light.

The female gamer that sent me the email had sent a letter to the editor about the article a while back but I hadn't responded to her angry letter because she hadn't given me a copy of the article to look at. I finally found a copy of it today and this is honestly what I think of this bone-headed view. (I linked the article above, so please do read it first)

Though I've never been a big fan of the Frag Dolls because they do look like the Spice Girls of the Gaming World, I do understand unlike this Marie Claire writer that Ubisoft uses them to as a promotional tool to sell their products, so you need them to be pretty. I also understand that these girls are definitely better FPS players than me (I get sick when I play FPS) and I have to respect the talent behind their careers.

Looking at the entirety of this article, why is this writer even questioning whether or not, it is necessary for women to be a part of the professional gaming circuit? Should a woman's magazine that is meant to boost our self esteem and encourage us to pursue our dreams in any field, be supporting these female pro gamers instead of making them sound like a bunch of Pussycat Dolls with controllers in their hands.

I personally love how the writer brings up how one of the girls burned down her Mother's house while attempting to cook. Why don't you just include some other horrible details about these girls’ lives while you're at it? I'm sure one of them cheated on a boyfriend or got their period in front of their gym class one day. Are you trying to make her sound bad? A depressed high-school student? This writer is an ass.

Could have just wrote that she was a shy teen in high-school and dolls broke her out of her shell, without the rest of the crap?

Finally the articles takes about how some males pro gamers want to see no female gamers in the field, while others dig it. The writer makes it sound like while some guys are sexist jerks, the rest are just pigs looking to drool on them.

I mean the whole article paints the girls badly and makes it sound like being a pro female gamer is the worst career choice ever. Heck, even the intro line under the title makes pro gaming sound like it’s the worst career choice for anyone.

Honestly I don't know who this writer is, but he needs to work his google a little more. There are tons of female pro gamers out there, some that look nothing like the Frag dolls and some that do, but they are all great gamers who make money playing games. In the long run, who cares if these pro female gamers do look hot? They're women and should be allowed to look good and as long as their gaming skills are on par to be in these tournaments, then again who cares?

And another thing, if this writer really did any research he would realized that the lady gamers aren't the only ones getting all the attention. In Korea, professional male Starcraft players are treated like rock stars from the sexy product ads and teen magazine photos they do, to the hordes of female groupies they incur. Perhaps it is our culture that is behind in thinking that all gamers should be non-sexual creatures bound to their parent's basement and never to be worshiped by another human being ever.

But if anyone has a problem with chicks kicking their ass at videogames: this writer or anyone else, then too bad cause we've been doing it since the days of the first videogame systems and we're not stopping now.

Now this is how you write an article about a female gamer. It lists all Lanai Gara, a.k.a. Fidget's achievements in the gaming world, talks about how she joined the Frag Dolls and has her in tasteful photographs for the interview. No bull, no sex.

[Thanks Jessica for pointing me to this article]

In Arcade Games There are No Winners

Only people who keep popping tokens into the machine. So really its the arcade owner that wins.

I'm sure most of my readers know by now that I write a weekly gaming review article for the Pulse Niagara, which is a local paper in my area. In this week's issue of the Pulse Niagara, a Finnish artist, Maija Tammi had her photo piece featured which was a collection of pinball and arcade machines from Clinton Hill in Niagara Falls and Union Station in Toronto.

I've posted the photo above but forgive the bad quality as it is a scan and it is pieced together from two parts. I wish I could have gotten a better copy but the Pulse Niagara website didn't have a copy of the photo on there. I did manage to find one photo from this mix online.

Click the photo for a bigger version.

Monkey Island Custom Guitar Playing Monkey Island Music

Created by the same artist, Maya Plisetskaya, who created the Monkey Island shoes, this amazing guitar features Guybrush Threepwood from the Monkey Island series.

The video above features the new owner of the guitar playing the theme song from Curse of Monkey Island, which just so happens to be the one and only MI game that I have played and finished in the series. Now you know why I want to play the remake on Xbox Live so badly, cause I have unfinished business with that game. Yes, sir.

Also, I found an awesome version of the full Monkey Island theme.

New Tales of Monkey Island Game Play Footage

Tales of Monkey Island will launch its first episode, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal on July 7th and I am so excited. The game will be available for PC via the official site.

If you want a really good deal on this episodic game, I suggest fans grab the $34.95 pre-order deal now while its still available. It includes:

- All 5 episodes delivered to you monthly
- A collector's DVD available at the end of season (you must pay shipping)
- Access to exclusive Monkey Island content on the site
- An exclusive DVD case slip painted by Steve Purcell
- A free Telltale episode of your choice

Until then here's some game play footage to tide us all over.

Blizzard Studios: Home to Some Pixelated Creations

After my bead creations leave the nest, not much is known on where they end up. Sure, I know who I send them to, but I never really get much of a follow-up report on whether they find a home on a person's fridge, cubicle at work or in their prison cell. I tend to wonder about these things, ya know?

Today I got the coolest follow-up email from a previous client about the whereabouts of some of the items I made for them. Brian, who has purchased Earthbound, Lucasarts and Blizzard characters from me in the past has apparently put some of the pieces he purchased at work(?) which is Blizzard Studios.

If knowing that my creations have a home at a game studio wasn't cool enough, apparently some gaming sites have found my pieces fascinating too, cause they have popped up in pictures of the Blizzard Studios. Check out Joystiq's Blizzard Tour Gallery for picture 1 and picture 2 that featuring my creations, plus IGN's Blizzard Studio Tour Gallery which features two of my creations.

I would just like to take this opportunity to let other Pixelated Creations art piece owners know that I would love to see pictures of your purchases posted in your house, work places and more. Once my babies leave the nest, I still care about where they ended up.

Retro NES Lost Cover

A-B-Up-Down-Left-Right-Select-Start, originally uploaded by Hot Meteor.

This is a pretty cool take on what Lost: The Game would look like had it come out out in the NES generation.

I discovered this in Hot Meteor's flickr pictures and he apparently "found" amongst old NES cartridges at a garage sale. Sure, he did. *wink, wink*

I wonder what kind of cool levels would be in this game. Perhaps a mission where you find all the Dharma stations? Would there be moments where you would have to pick from a list of nicknames for Sawyer to give to a new member of the island, or maybe there would even be a level where you have to run through the jungle from the smoke monster?

Either way, it would probably be cooler than what Ubisoft put out.