Thanks to some good timing, a store that didn’t quite realize what the release dates are, and Daedalus for pointing out the news to me, I’ve picked up the Nintendo DS Lite almost two weeks before it’s supposed to start selling. Woohoo! This picture is of the US version, obviously. Now it’s time to start picking up a few games for it, I have Super Mario Bros, but I’d like to get Brain Age, Mario Kart, Metroid, Tetris, the list goes on and on…
Goodbye, very pretty place.
Adventure games, FEAR ME! I have been spoonfeeding the bomb to Myst 3: Exile for months and it has finally come to a close. Exile’s visuals are a departure from the slideshow stylings of the original Myst and Riven as the camera can be moved around in 360 degrees to take in the entire landscape. And the landscapes are in line with the amazingly photorealistic visuals in Riven. The worlds are beautifully crafted and the puzzles are some of the best I’ve played. They are definitely not for the weak of heart (or mind). Jack Wall’s soundtrack provides excellent accompaniment, though it does get a little in-your-face towards the end when it really needed to be pulled back to let the story take over. Overall, a fantastic adventure game. Sadly, Presto Studios is gone but UbiSoft has picked up the Myst franchise where Exile left off. On to Myst IV!
Rating: BUY
Open wide, Ferdinand!
This week I reluctantly fed the bomb to God of War. I say reluctantly because part of me didn’t want the game to end. I won’t bother rehashing the game’s premise as Ruckus has already done a nice writeup. But I will take a moment to say that God of War has secured a spot in my Top 10. First off, God of War makes my Playstation 2 do things graphically that I did not think possible. The gameplay is damn near perfect and the polish is blinding.
Most importantly, God of War gives the player that feeling of being the baddest motherf**ker alive, something that few games manage to execute properly. The character design of Kratos, the weapons, and fighting combos are perfectly designed to attach the player to the action on-screen. Kudos to you, SCE Santa Monica. You have achieved video gaming greatness and I look foward to the sequel.
The gun is in his mouth
Crysis is the first game in a long time to stun me with its screenshots. Hopefully this technology will be used for more than the same old “soldiers in camo running through the jungle” scenarios that occupy most of the pictures so far. Since this is being made by the creators of Far Cry. I suspect the gameplay will be just as impressive as the visuals.
Sadly, my PC is so out of date that it couldn’t even play this cool Hi-Res trailer video without studdering.
Cease your tomfoolery and listen to me tale of high-seas adventure! Yarr.
Brixtone talked me into playing “Sid Meier’s Pirates!” and I’ve gotta say, I’m digging every minute of it. There’s really nothing more satisfying than pulling up along side a treasure galleon, giving it the broadside, then boarding the ship to plunder and loot. It’s been a while since I’ve missed sleep and showed up late to work late because of a game, but this one did just that to me last night.
Time to plunder booty.
The gameplay is pretty varied. All the aspects of a pirating life are represented in this game (at least, what we wished pirating could be), so you’ll find yourself in ship-to-ship combat, fencing duels, city raiding, and even seduction. Find an attractive governers daughter and you can use your rakish charm to sweep her off her feet.
Still time to plunder booty.
I will admit to being a fan of pirates. In the epic battle of pirates versus ninjas I come down firmly in the pirate camp, but I’ll go out on a limb and say this game is fun even for ninja fans. At $20 it’s a great price as well.
My name is Inigo Montoya.
OK guys, here is your chance to be a Beta-Tester for one of the projects here at the ETC-CMU.
http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/skyrates/
It is an experimental keyhole game play project. By that, it is supposed to be a game, which you play all day, but you don’t pay attention to it all the time. Basically you set things up, and only check in on how you are doing in the game when you want to.
Sort of like Progress Quest [http://www.progressquest.com/], or 1D Tetris [http://www.tetris1d.org/] but with a little more interactivity.
For Sign Up– http://skyserver.etc.cmu.edu/skyrates/info/signup.php
You can also go to:
http://beta.skyrates.net - to play
http://info.skyrates.net - for instructions
http://stats.skyrates.net - for player stats
As always please email b e t a A@T s k y r a t e s . n e t with any bugs, questions, or suggestions:
So load up before the openings fill up.
Enjoy.
Nintendo has videos of Super Mario Bros. up on their site now. Check out the power-up you can get on the first video–you become large enough to tear up everything in your path, blocks, pipes, and all. If anything drives me to the DS, this will be it.
It’s too bad Nintendo never came out with a true Super Mario Bros. game for the GameCube. But perhaps they’ll redeem themselves with this DS release.
Mario angry! Mario smash!
Just two weeks until the release of a brand new Super Mario Bros! This isn’t your modern day Mario RPG or 3D adventure game, New Super Mario Bros. will be classic Super Mario in all his two dimensional, side scrolling glory!
Unfortunately I do not own a Nintendo DS, nor do I plan on purchasing one. I work at home and thus mobile gaming is next to useless to me so until I get a Nintendo DS emulator for my Xbox, I’ll have to dig a bit deeper for my 2D platforming goodness.