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June Releases

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Once again, I missed a month of new releases. What better way to make it up than to get out June’s releases a day early!

Xbox 360 banner
Week of June 3rd
Ninja Gaiden II – Man, I’m torn on this one. I’ve heard mixed reviews so far and I’m not really one for punishingly hard games, so this may be a rental for me.
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy – The report from the brother-in-law on the Bourne demo was a meh, so I doubt I’ll get this one.
GRID – This one looks amazing but unfortunately will probably never make it to my 360. It’s a shame.
Incredible Hulk – I’ll see the movie, but I’ll probably pass on the game.
Kung Fu Panda – Ditto.

Week of June 10th
Deadiest Catch: Alaskan Storm – Seriously? A show about catching crabs? I don’t see how this can be a game, let alone a fun one.
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit
NASCAR 09
Don King Presents: Prize Fighter – I smell a GTA IV/Don King Boxing crossover here!

Week of June 17th
Supreme Commander – I thought this game already came out. Or maybe it has just been marketed like crazy or something. Not really sure.

Week of June 24th
Battlefield: Bad Company – I’ll be giving this one a try soon, thanks to Josh.
Guitar Hero Aerosmith – Where’s Guitar Hero Joe Satriani?
Top Spin 3
Alone in the Dark
Operation Darkness
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath
Hellboy: The Science of Evil – I’m a huge fan of Hellboy. I like science, a lot, too. I will not, however being seeing how the two mix.
Wall-E – Again: movie, yes. Game, not so much.
Hail to the Chimp – No comment.
Hei$t

Wii banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk
Cabela’s Trophy Bucks

Week of June 10th
Backyard Baseball 2009
Blast Works: Build, Trade & Destroy

Week of June 17th
Rock Band
Wacky Races: Crash and Dash

Week of June 24th
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Top Spin 3
Big Beach Sports
Alone in the Dark
WonderWorld Amusement Park
Wall-E
Monster Lab
Cocoto Kart Racer – My brain read “Coconut Racing”. I assume that would have been more exciting
Purr Pals – Kute Kittens! At least they didn’t spell it Purr Palz.

Nintendo DS banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Summon Night Twin Age
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk
Paws & Claws Pet Vet 2 – 2?! How did I miss the first one?

Week of June 10th
Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles
AMF Bowling Pinbusters – I’ve played a lot of bowling in my days, and I’ve never seen a pin bust. Those suckers are hard!
My Fashion Studio – Pre-ordered!
Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor

Week of June 17th
Guitar Hero: On Tour – This just really seems like a poorly thought-out idea. It does not look fun to play. At all.
Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard
Imagine Rock Star
Space Invaders Extreme – This one has been getting a lot of rave reviews. For 20 bucks, it seems like a good pick up.
Arkanoid – Same here. Seems like a lot of people are high on Arkanoid.
1 vs 100 – Words fail me.
Pocket Pets (Dogs, Cats, Hamsters more)
Tamagotchi Cornershop 3 – 3?! I missed the first Vet game, and now I learn I’ve missed the first two Cornershop games? I am ashamed.
Wacky Races: Crash and Dash
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
Petz Dogz Fashion – TOO MANY ZEES! Whatever you do, do not look at the box art for this game. It’s like staring into the portal leading to The Nothing.
Suzuki Super-bikes II: Riding Challenge
Pony Luv – Must… not… snark…

Week of June 24th
My Weight Loss Coach – We already have Wii Fit. Why do we need another Nintendo product to tell us what we already know — that we’re a bunch of fatty-fat-fats?
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 – Finally, a game that doesn’t make me ashamed to own a DS. I will most likely get this one to pass some lonely nights while I’m on business travel this summer.
Cake Mania 2 – I’m getting mixed signals. Should I be trying to lose weight or gorge on cake?
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Ninja – Can anyone keep these Mega Mans (Men?) straight?
Midnight Play Pack
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Saurian – I give up.
Wall-E
Gourmet Chef – Again, with the fattening cooking games. Where is the “South Beach Diet DS” game?
Top Spin 3
Monster Lab
Shining Stars: Super Starcade

PC banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
GRID
Alice Greenfingers – Hey, it’s compatible with Windows 98. That’s gotta count for something, right?
Game of Life – Path to Success
Club Vegas Casino – Windows
Immortals of Terra – Windows DVD

Week of June 10th
Backyard Baseball 2009
Crazy Machines 2
Belief & Betrayal
Solitaire 1,000,000 – AKA Microsoft Windows ever since 3.1
Belle’s Beauty Boutique
Puzzle City
Bubble Burst
Purrfect Pet Shop
Strike Force Red Cell
Teddy Factory

Week of June 17th
Spore Creature Creator – Try as I might, I can’t get excited about Spore.
Supreme Ruler
Incredible Hulk
Hawaiian Explorer Lost Island
History Channel: Monster Quest – I can’t even imagine…
My Electric Guitar

Week of June 24th
Dungeon Runners – Here’s another one I thought came out months ago.
The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff
The SimCity Box
Alone in the Dark
Wall-E
Elements
Hei$t

PS3 banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
GRID
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk

Week of June 10th
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – The first game that makes me wish I had a PS3.
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit
NASCAR 09

Week of June 24th
Battlefield: Bad Company
Top Spin 3
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Overlord: Raising Hell
Wall-E
Hellboy: The Science of Evil
Hail to the Chimp
Hei$t

PSP banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2

Week of June 17th
Secret Agent Clank
Space Invaders Extreme
Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity

Week of June 24th
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress
Hellboy: The Science of Evil
Wall-E
Pipemania

Looks like another pretty decent month. I’m not sure what I’ll pick up, outside of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 but there look to be a few solid offerings.

Are you planning on picking anything up this month?

Kids say the darnedst things

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While we were playing Mario Kart on the Wii this evening, my brother-in-law mentioned how he really liked the SNES version of Mario Kart, or as he called it, “old Mario Kart.” My daughter asked how you played the “old Mario Kart.” We explained that you played it pretty much the same way you play Mario Kart on the Wii, only with a different controller.

Then she asked what it looked like. Again, we said it looked a lot like Mario Kart on the Wii. She followed that question up with, “was it in black and white?”

How old does she think I am?!

[Gamer Responsibility] Growing Another Hand

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Wii Fit comes out this week.

Nintendo, please…stop.

Actually, my wife and I were excited about the possibility of Wii Fit—more so about the possibility of using Wii Fit. We’re not getting it now. For having the cheapest selling (more on that in a minute), fastest selling, and most unique console, Nintendo kills you when it comes to peripherals. I would assume that most readers here who have a Wii don’t just have the basic remote and nunchuk.

How many other games are going to use the Wii Fit peripheral? Looking back, how many used the drums, dance pads, guitar(s), microphones, wheels, etc. other than their bundled games?

Since the release of the console, it appears that almost every AAA first-party title on the system has needed more than just the Wiimote. Sure, many titles can be played with just the included controller, but many of those same titles play better with the nunchuk (also included). Let us see: Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers Charged, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Kart Wii, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Super Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit. Yep, it seems as if every title needs a controller add-on. Excite Truck may be the only other major title that can be played with just the remote. It looks like the good ol’ ‘chuck needs to be used on most of them. What happens when you add a player? That $250 console just became a $310 console (another controller plus nunchuk). Now add two more players.

Ouch. We’re in Sony and Microsoft territory now. Their better online play exempts buying another controller for me. I have two 360 controllers. Interestingly, most third party titles get away with just using the standard remote. Of course, they don’t have a need to sell an add-on either.

We won’t even discuss the “classic” controller which is not really all that classic in look, style, or feel. (another $20). And the Wii Zapper? Terrific.

A couple of the games listed earlier let you use the Gamecube controller to play, and ironically it’s even preferred by most gamers on one title. Speaking of Gamecube, I own three drums and two dance pads. Ask me how much we use them.

Why do we need all these extra controllers? Why? I’ve not even touched on all the guitars and instruments that usually work for one game or their sequels…maybe. It appears that the next Guitar Hero is going to have it’s own instrument set. My guess is that it’ll even be exclusive. I really don’t know. I could care less about the music games—Boom Boom Rocket is my level of video game music depth, oh, and Audiosurf—a music game that doesn’t need an extra device to play. In the end, some gamers are going to have more instruments than most real bands.

When I saw the Wii remote for the first time, I was pretty excited about the possibility of playing games with as few buttons as possible. Control simplicity seemed like it was back in our grasp, so to speak. Pointless thinking. (Pun gloriously intended—both times). I will admit, however, that the Wiimote/nunchuk setup for some games is rather intuitive. Excellent, even. I cannot imagine Metroid Prime without it. Keep the gaming design there. Stop. No more add-ons—by anybody. Nintendo is certainly the leader, but, terrifyingly, it appears that the big money is in peripheral bundles.

We already have a Rubbermaid box by our couch that holds all our system controllers and add-ons for a 360 and a Wii. It’s full—a five gallon tote. No more room for another device will use for a period and it’ll sit in the box not to be used for anything else.

The game we keep coming back to: Excite Truck.

Mario Kart Wii First Impressions

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This picture says it all:

Corinne meets Wii MarioKart

When a game can produce “the smile” (parents of young kids will know what I mean by “the smile”), it is okay in my book.

A lot of Mario Kart was played this weekend. It was played by kids 5 years old and 65 years old. Everyone had a great time. They say Nintendo has “dumbed down” Mario Kart for the Wii. They’re wrong. They didn’t dumb anything down. They distilled an already great game to its essence and made it accessible to the masses.

This is not a bad thing.

Nat and I will have more Mario Kart thoughts later.

(Look how much concentration this game takes!)

In my hands

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GTA and MK in the house

Impressions and Mario Kart friend code to be posted soon. Post yours so we can throw red shells at each other!

Update
Mario Kart Wii is that awesome. Here’s my friend code:

2750-1585-9944

…Nat cutting in. Here’s mine:

1762-3222-0503

back to Tony…

I’m throwing GTA IV in now that the kids are in bed, so I won’t be going back to Mario Kart for a bit.

In [Nat’s] Hands: FFVII:Crisis Core and Okami

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I am torn. As hard as I try, I cannot play two games at once.

I’ve only played one Final Fantasy game all the way through. In fact, I played it to almost 100% completion. That’s not entirely true. In college, my PSOne was powered on for a single semester. It played one game the entire time: Final Fantasy VII. There were six of us who would play off the same saved game file. We did everything. Everything. It’s probably one of the fondest gaming memories I’ll ever have. Sometimes, we’ll still chat about it through email.

I’m not a big Final Fantasy fan. I’ve played the aforementioned title and I’ve played FFIX. See, it’s never really a final fantasy. They just keep making more. Actually, I’m more of a chrono-guy.

That’s my setup. Here’s my reveal.

On a whim (I allow myself two “whims” a year) I picked up FFVII: Crisis Core for the PSP. Simply put, this title is currently my PSP Game of the Year. I cannot get enough of it. It’s one of those titles that just hooks you and you never really know why. Maybe it’s the excellent story and presentation, maybe it’s the best cinematic cutscenes of any game I’ve seen, or maybe it’s all the great references to the original game? (Better yet, this game is a prequel and it still has future references).

FFVII:Crisis Core

This game has enveloped me so deep that I want Zack to be Cloud in the FFVII game. The character progression and growth is written in such a way that you don’t even realize it’s happening until you go remember back to where you started.

Now there is a fault. I hate, HATE, HATE the DMW. It’s basically a slot machine that you have no control over that interrupts combat sequences. It’ll occasionally level your character up and toss some bonuses your way. It’ll constantly break the flow of excitement during battle. Necessary? No.

If I was to rate this game, I’d give it a 10. The DMW (I keep wanting to say DMV) makes it an 8. Harsh? Yes. However, Square Enix have been making excellent games for almost 20 years. They should know better.

Okami

A week ago I picked up Okami for the Wii. Roger Ebert knows nothing when it comes to games—maybe even art. This game is art in motion, a moving picture worth ten thousand words, a watercolor that doesn’t fade, a…well, you get the idea. Be ready to read as well. A lot. However, it’s all excellent.

I’m only one hour in to the game and it’s been the most unique hour of gaming I’ve ever experienced. How do I describe it? You’re a goddess who has been reincarnated as a white wolf. You mist rid the land of darkness and bring it back to life. Your weapon: a brush.

Yep. You solve problems, rejuvenate nature, experience combat, and paint the town red with your trusty brush. It’s wonderful. This game was made for the Wiimote. The execs at Capcom must be prophets considering the game was made in 2006.

I’m told this game could net a person 40 hours of playtime. Excellent. This may be a game where I do it all. I really don’t have the patience for RPGs, but this may be my exception.

I just find it interesting that the only two games I’m playing right now are RPGs.

Oh, and Ikaruga.

Weekend Gaming, at last!

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I have been swamped (SWAMPED!) at work the past couple of weeks on a project that has sucked up a large portion of my free time. When I finally to get a free moment, I’m so spent from my other duties that I haven’t had a desire to do much gaming. I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel at work and my mood is already lifting. I’m ready to pick up the familiar controller and get back in the game.

In order to gear up for a great week of gaming when GTA IV and Mario Kart Wii are released, I figure I should knock out another game in my queue before everything gets pushed back to make room for the newcomers. I got very close to finishing Bioshock last year, so I figure now would be a good time to get back to that and finish it up. I really want to see how it ends.

I’m also making my way through Super Mario Galaxy, which I am still thoroughly enjoying. The kids love to watch me play it, so that’s our bonding game. I can’t get over how much fun platforming is again.

I’m also eying a couple DS games, but I’ll probably hold off on those until the real gaming lull hits this summer. I’ve got enough on my plate.

What are you guys playing? Planning on picking up either Mario Kart Wii or GTA IV?

What we’re playing (Weekend Edition)

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It’s the weekend and it’s time to get geared up for a great weekend of gaming! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these so I’ve got some catching up to do. I know Nat hasn’t been feeling well, so I’ll let him fill us in on what he’s been playing whenever he feels like it.

As for me, I’ve been pretty busy. After reading Nat’s (and everyone else’s) attempts to actually finish a few games, I took it to heart and placed a self-imposed rule that I had to finish something, anything, before I picked up a new game. I really wanted to get Burnout Paradise, so I gave it the college try and decided to wrap up some loose ends.

Even though you never really “finish” Pokemon Diamond, per se, there is an end to the game, which after consulting GameFAQs once or twice, I finally made it to. I found and finally finished off the last bad guys. It was fairly easy and quite anticlimatic. But it is the first Pokemon game I’ve “finished” so there’s that. I think my Pokedex was more than half full which flies in the face of the mantra of collect them all, but I’m only human. I’m not waiting around for a convenient Friday just to catch a pocket monster.

I also managed to finish the single player campaign in Halo 3 (On Heroic, mind you). I hated the sphincter level, but the last level was most enjoyable. A true homage to the Halo series. The ending was infinity times better than Halo 2’s ending.

Halo 3

Yes it was.

But now I’m done with those two games. Sure, I still play Halo 3 multiplayer like it’s my job, but I doubt I’ll be doing the single player much more except to find the skulls. Maybe I’ll do co-op with someone to get the achievements, but that’s about it.

So here’s what I’m playing:

Burnout ParadiseBurnout Paradise: I’m a few months behind the curve on this one, but I am loving Burnout Paradise. Burnout’s trademark speed and pedal-to-the-metal is still there, with the added open world. I haven’t stopped grinning since I started playing this one. I haven’t played with anyone online yet, but I can definitely see that being a blast. I miss crash mode but showtime mode is a decent replacement.

Super Mario Galaxy and NSMB: Again, I’m a few months behind the curve with SMG, but I can’t get enough of this. A little while ago, my 3 year-old started watching me play NSMB on the DS and wanted to try it. He isn’t bad (for a 3 y/o) and he really likes the Mario character. My daughter loves Princess Peach (duh) so our new past time is to play Super Mario Galaxy. This is another one of those games that are just plain fun. The platforming has been taken to another level with the galaxy concept. I love it. Being able to have my daughter join in the fun with the other Wii-mote is perfect. I’ve gathered 22 stars so far and I don’t want to stop any time soon.

I’ve also been playing a handful of web-based flash games (a few I’m too ashamed to admit to playing, others I’m saving for future blog posts) all in the name of “research”. And of course I can’t go to bed until I get in a game of Spider Solitaire and Tetris.

This weekend I’ll be playing Burnout and SMG, and hopefully getting back to my Mass Effect save. Should be a busy weekend.

NAT: I’ve been playing the “stay hydrated and gain my weight back” game (PSA: wash your hands). Actually, two nights ago, I finally took the cellophane off my copy of Mass Effect. My initial impression is that it’s cinematic. Even though we purchased Brawl, we must be the only home in America that’s just not sucked in by it. We’ve played it a total of two nights. My son has been keeping me busy with a few racing games: Cars, Cars:Maternational, Forza 2, and a couple of the Burnouts. However, mostly, I’ve been playing Bully: Scholarship Edition. It’s been a hoot. Last night, I popped Geometry Wars Galaxies into the Wii and now I have an itch to play a lot of that. This may seem like a lot of titles, but for me, it’s only been 5-15 minutes at a time.

What are you playing?

In my hands

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Super Mario Galaxy

That’s right! It’s Mario time! Yeah, I don’t have a Wii yet, Santa screwed it up and left it at my parents’ house (he still thinks I’m twelve years old, I guess) but it will be in house this weekend. Can’t wait!