17 October 2009

Super Mario Galaxy

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The ultimate Nintendo hero is taking the ultimate step... out into space. Join Mario as he ushers in a new era of video games, defying gravity across all the planets in the galaxy. When some creature escapes into space with Princess Peach, Mario gives chase, exploring bizarre planets all across the galaxy. Players run, jump and battle enemies as they explore the many planets. For Mario to succeed, gamers will press buttons, swing the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers and even use the Wii Remote to point at and drag things on-screen.

Game storyline:
When some creature escapes into space with Princess Peach, Mario gives chase, exploring bizarre planets all across the galaxy.

Characters:
Mario, Peach and enemies new and old.

How to progress through the game:
Players run, jump and battle enemies as they explore all the planets in the galaxy. Since this game makes full use of all the features of the Wii Remote, players have to do all kinds of things to succeed: pressing buttons, swinging the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk, and even pointing at and dragging things with the pointer.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features:
Since he's in space, Mario can perform mind-bending jumps unlike anything he's done before. He'll also have a wealth of new moves that are all based around tilting, pointing and shaking the Wii Remote.
  • Shake, Tilt and Point! Mario takes advantage of all the unique aspects of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers, unleashing new moves as players shake the controllers and even point at and drag items with the Remote.
  •  Redefining Platformers: Mario essentially defined the 3-D platforming genre with Super Mario 64, and this game proves once again that he is king. Players perform mind-bending, low-gravity jumps across wild alien terrain as they experience platforming for a new generation.
by Gamer

FIFA Soccer 2010

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Pre-order FIFA Soccer 2010 by October 19th at 11am CST with overnight shipping and get guaranteed delivery on the street date of October 20th! If your product does not arrive on the street date, we will fully refund your shipping charge. Continental United States only. Must have Overnight Service available in your area. Offer void if you are unable to accept a delivery that was attempted. Not responsible for orders delayed due to inclement weather, incorrect address, credit card information, or for your postman practicing his Ace Venture 360 degree dribbling with your game.

FIFA 10 delivers a true soccer experience to you with authentic club and leagues licenses as well as new tailored gameplay enhancements and innovations that combine to create the complete soccer simulation. On the heels of FIFA 09, the world’s top-selling soccer franchise, EA SPORTS™ invites fans to experience a truly tailored gameplay experience with FIFA 10 for Playstation® 2.

  • More Responsive Gameplay – various areas of the game have been enhanced to allow for a more fluid experience. Heading and crossing have been improved, player switching is now more effective, skill moves are now easier to pull off, players now have the ability to auto-evade slide tackles in certain scenarios, and quick free kicks have been added so the user can keep the game tempo going.
  • Individual Team Styles – New Team Styles will allow you to change your style of play based on your opposition to create a more dynamic experience while exploiting weaknesses in their game, and building on your own teams strengths. There are 9 attacking and 5 defensive general styles, as well as 13 special case teams with their own unique style of play, based on the real world.
  • Pre-match scouting reports – Learning to play professional soccer the correct way is even easier now with insight from your manager. Scout Reports will provide a pre-match scouting report helping plan your attack against every opponent, highlighting their team style and key players to watch out for, giving you tactical advice on how to beat them.
  • Be A Pro: Club and Country – Take your player from the beginning of his career to the peak of international stardom in the new revamped Be A Pro mode. Grow your professional player at the club level and work your way into your national team in one of the most grueling challenges of any professional players career.
  • Season Mode – Similar to Manager Mode, but without some of the complexities such as player transfers and salaries, Season Mode provides a more accessible option of guiding your favourite team to glory. Take your club through the most in-depth Season Mode to date and compete in official league fixtures, cup and continental competitions. This mode allows you to focus on playing matches with the current crop of players available in your club, making it a lighter, faster way to take your team to the top.
  • Updated collision system – New collision avoidance system means that players are less likely to get in the way and collide with team mates. Improved teammates support – Team mates are now more intelligent, providing a greater level of support. Support runs are now more effective, and there are increased passing and crossing options as a result.
  • Improved goalkeepers – Goalkeeper AI intelligence has been improved, so that keepers now make more authentic decisions, with improved variation in shot stopping and deflections. They are quicker off their line in 1 on 1 situation, and behave in line with their overall team styles.
 by Gamer

Super Monkey Ball Adventure (Cube)

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Adventurers will discover that in Super Monkey Ball Adventure they can make their balls bigger, better and even more useful thanks to a whole host of new abilities, including sticking to walls, hovering and the ability to become invisible.

    * Developer: Traveller's Tales
    * Publisher: Sega

Adventurers will discover that in Super Monkey Ball Adventure they can make their balls bigger, better and even more useful thanks to a whole host of new abilities, including sticking to walls, hovering and the ability to become invisible. Super Monkey Ball Adventure also contains fifty new puzzle trays and six new party games to challenge gamers of all ages. Players can select Aiai, Meemee, Gongon, or Baby to adventure their way through five different Monkey Ball Kingdoms to complete quests by solving puzzles.

A host of new friends join the team, including Princess Deedee of Monkitropolis and Prince Abeabe of Kongri-la, lovers who are being kept apart by a feud between their kingdoms. The couple elope to Jungle Island where they enlist the help of the Super Monkey Ball gang, to unite the feuding Monkey Kingdoms and defeat the Naysayers who have sucked all the joy from the Monkey Ball world.

Features:

    * All-new platform adventure style of Super Monkey Ball game
    * Five Monkey Ball kingdoms each with their own quests
    * Fifty new and original puzzle trays
    * New characters to meet and help
    * Three brand new party games and three classic favourites
    * New Monkey Ball abilities including - sticky, wood, hovering, boxing and invisible

by Gamer

FIFA 10 (Xbox 360)

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On the heels of winning 25 international gaming awards with FIFA 09, the top-selling football franchise from EA SPORTS™ is surpassed with FIFA 10, refining an already potent game of football by focusing on what matter most to fans.

On the pitch, FIFA 10 mirrors real-world football even more than before, providing more sophisticated ball control, and physical interaction. On attack, players now analyze space more effectively, curve their runs in an attempt to stay onside, create passing lanes naturally, and drive for more variety in attacking options. On defense, defenders to multitask so dangerous spaces are covered.

Off the pitch, enhancements to Manager Mode, a new Set Piece Editor, and further tuning of Be A Pro and 10v10 online play all ensure that FIFA 10 is the finest footy videogame money can buy.

    * Developer: EA Sports
    * Publisher: EA Games

On the heels of winning 25 international gaming awards with FIFA 09, the top-selling football franchise from EA SPORTS™ is surpassed with FIFA 10. Responding to consumer feedback from more than 275 million online games played, FIFA 10 refines an already potent game engine, focusing on what matter most to fans.

On the pitch, critical gameplay fundamentals have been enhanced to ensure that FIFA 10 mirrors real-world football, providing more sophisticated ball control, and physical interaction. On attack, players now analyze space more effectively, curve their runs in an attempt to stay onside, create passing lanes naturally, and drive for more variety in attacking options. On defense, new concepts like position priority enable defenders to multitask so dangerous spaces left open by teammates out of position are covered. Plus, slide tackle targeting, press marking, and better urgency clearance logic provide new options that make defending a tactical skill in FIFA 10.

Three new innovations change the player control experience in FIFA 10. The first-ever true 360° dribbling system gives players finer control of the ball, enabling them to find spaces between defenders that previously were not possible. Using an all-new animation technology, skilled dribblers now have the ability to face the defender and use highly responsive lateral dribbling to skip past him. An innovative concept called Freedom in Physical Play enables players to perform wider dribble touches and new collision sharing creates a varied, less predictable, and extended fight for possession between the dribbler and a defender.

A deeper iteration of the ever-popular Manager Mode features more than 50 major improvements, including new match realism, ultra-realistic player transfers based on multiple decision points, and true-to-life player growth curves.

New game modes, and innovations to popular features like Be A Pro, will be revealed in the upcoming months.

Features of FIFA 2010 include:
  • 360° Dribbling - The first-ever true 360° dribbling system in a football game provides finer dribbling control, enabling players to find spaces between defenders that previously were not possible.
  • Skilled Dribbling - All-new animation warping technology provides unprecedented control. Skilled players now have the ability to face a defender and use highly-responsive lateral dribbling to skip past him.
  • Freedom in Physical Play - Wider dribble touches and new collision sharing creates a varied, less predictable, and extended fight for possession between the dribbler and a defender.
  • Player Urgency - Improved urgency AI logic, with over 50 new movement cycles, delivers more responsive positioning so your players stay focused on the ball and move at a speed appropriate to the action.
  • Improved Trapping Intelligence - Players now have a better awareness of where the easiest, most natural trapping position is so they can get the ball on the ground and under control easier and earlier.
  •  Advanced Positioning - Defenders multi-task and play the pitch more intelligently by covering dangerous spaces left by out-of-position teammates. In attack, players analyze space more effectively, curve their runs to stay onside, create passing lanes and vary attacking options.
  •  More Accurate Passing - Players better analyze space resulting in pinpoint passes that give their receivers more options and time to outrun defensive pressure.
  • Authentic Shooting - Refinements to the shooting system and modifications of the ball physics create a wider, more realistic variety of shots that enhance the exhilaration of scoring.
  • Varied Defending Options - Slide Tackle targeting has been enhanced so skilled players have more reach and avoid tackling through the dribbler. Better effort clearance logic gives defenders more options when attempting to get a foot on the ball before an attacker. Effort, such as sliding to block crosses and overhead kick clearances, give defenders more tools to prevent goal-scoring opportunities.
  •  Refined Goalkeeper Intelligence - numerous improvements mean that goalkeepers now have more urgency and better perception of where to intercept loose balls, resulting in a more responsive and powerful rushing system. New animation warping technology provides game-realistic goalkeeper positioning and momentum, resulting in more varied scoring opportunities.
  • Manager Mode Authenticity - More than 50 major improvements were designed to create an authentic experience to mimic the real-world game. Match results are based on team and player strengths and weaknesses. Player transfers are determined by multiple decision points, including club finance and prestige, availability of similar players, and competition from AI-controlled clubs. Player development is more realistic with true-to-life growth curves based on factors such as age and environment.
  • Continuous Gameplay - Maintain the atmosphere, pace, and intensity of a match with quick free kicks and referee carding.
  • New Practice Arena - Work on individual skills in a fully featured practice mode before stepping on the pitch.
by Gamer

Sony Announces 250GB PS3 for $349 on November 3

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Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today confirmed their plans to launch a new 250GB PS3. The new PS3 will have the same slim form factor as the recently introduced 120GB model, which retails for $299 and has sold 1 million units worldwide in the three weeks since its launch on September 1. The 250GB model becomes available on November 3 for the price of $349.99.

“The PS3 platform is poised for a tremendous holiday season,” said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president, product marketing, SCEA. “We kicked things off early with the new price point and sleek form factor and have continued the momentum with this week’s launch of the universally acclaimed exclusive, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The new 250GB PS3 provides consumers with another compelling hardware option and speaks to the growing consumer appetite for digital content from the PlayStation Network – particularly high-def content that showcases the power of the PS3 system.”

Speaking of PSN, Sony noted that over 600 million pieces of content have been downloaded as of September, and the platform will continue to expand its downloadable games and movie offerings. PSN currently has 2,300 movies (one-third of those are in HD) as well as 13,300+ TV episodes.   by Shirley

Elements (Updated)



Finally, a matching puzzler with a twist – match elements of the same size to fuse them into larger elements! Harness the power of nature’s greatest forces in this addictive swap-and-match game. Follow the clues from the Book of Elements and Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest confidante to conquer all 50 levels and unlock the Elixir of Life!

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11 October 2009

DiRT 2 Review

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 If you have any interest whatsoever in off-road racing you'd do well to take this beautiful and thrilling game for a spin.
In Dirt 2, you assume the role of an up-and-coming race driver who's competing on the off-road circuit against such pros as Ken Block and Travis Pastrana for the first time. That's a daunting prospect, but one of the many great things about Codemasters' latest racer is that you can have a lot of fun with it and end the lengthy Dirt Tour career mode a champion regardless of your skill level. Your opponents aren't pushovers; in fact, they put up a believable fight from start to finish, but the vehicle handling and damage is forgiving, the difficulty level can be altered before every event, and a slick flashback feature gives you the option to instantly replay portions of a race if you make a mess of it. Dirt 2 isn't as realistic as some of the other excellent off-road racers that have come before it, but it's as accessible and exciting as any of them. 

Your career gets off to an auspicious start when you're presented with your first car: a Subaru Impreza that belonged to the late, great Colin McRae. Like all of the 35-plus cars in the game, its performance is measured in ratings from one to 10 for acceleration, top speed, and handling. Your rides are relatively slow as your career gets underway, but as you move up through the ranks, you get to upgrade them; not one part at a time, but with the purchase of kits designed for different event types. Those upgrades are mandatory, but you also have the option to tinker with settings before each race, and the good news is that even if you don't know your downforce from your differential, there's a good chance that you can do so with some success. That's because there are only seven variables, which are all clearly explained to you, and there are only five different settings for each. It's not deep, but it's fun to play around with, and any changes that you make are immediately noticeable once you get behind the wheel.
Regardless of whether you're driving a rally car, a trophy truck, or a buggy, Dirt 2's responsive controls are up to the job of keeping your wheels where you need them to be as you navigate tight corners, big jumps, expanses of shallow water, and transitions between loose surfaces and tarmac. Every vehicle in your ever-expanding garage handles differently, but not so much so that climbing out of one and into another is ever jarring. All of the vehicles look great (both inside and out), can be customized with different unlockable liveries and interior decorations, get covered in great-looking dust and mud as you drive them, and can be damaged and deformed beyond recognition if you lose control even for a second. You can choose to play with damage that's purely cosmetic or that'll have an impact on your car's performance, though it's worth mentioning that even if you opt for the latter, the adverse effects are quite minimal. Sure, a wobbly wheel or a damaged engine will slow you down a bit, but you're never going to be limping around the track and fighting to keep yourself moving in something resembling a straight line. It's possible to total your car if you crash headlong into something at high speed, but even that doesn't necessarily have to mark the end of your race if you haven't used all of your flashbacks already.
Depending on which of the six difficulty levels you're racing at, you have up to five flashbacks at your disposal that you're free to use at any point during a race. Using them could hardly be simpler; you pause the game, initiate an instant replay of the last 10 to 15 seconds, and then resume playing from any point. While not entirely original, it's a great system because even minor mistakes can be extremely costly when you're racing at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour with your tires clinging to the very edge of traction. Having to start one of the lengthier eight-lap races over because of a small error would be frustrating, and while the flashbacks might seem like cheating, knowing that you have them at your disposal encourages you to push yourself rather than just get to the front of the field and then drive more cautiously to the finish.

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Because your opponents in Dirt 2 want to get to the front of the field just as badly as you and they drive in an impressively believable fashion, you might even use flashbacks as a result of their errors from time to time. Sometimes the AI drivers will collide with you or impede your progress just by getting in your way; at other times, they'll have their own spectacular crashes and you'll have to act quickly to swerve around them. Opponents are less of an immediate concern in the staggered start rally stages, but in just about every other event type, you're going head-to-head with up to seven other drivers whose attitudes toward you (and comments during races) become increasingly respectful as your career progresses. The concept of you having relationships with the other drivers on the tour is an interesting one, but it feels a little tacked on because their development is linked only to your results rather than to how you drive. Forcing opponents off a track into the side of a building should at least be grounds for them to get angry, but once you've befriended them, their only response to your blatant disregard for their safety during an overtaking maneuver is to ask if you're OK.

A more successful element of the Dirt Tour career mode is the way that all menu navigation is handled from within your RV and in the area immediately outside it. This first-person menu system not only adds to the feeling that you're a pro race driver taking part in a world tour, but it also lets you seamlessly navigate both the single-player and multiplayer modes without ever breaking that immersion. For example, the desk in your RV is where you pick your next event on a world map. If you turn to your right, you can step out of the RV to look at the vehicles in your garage, purchase new ones, and check magazine covers for news on the progress that you and any of your friends with a copy of the game have made. If you turn to your left, you find a notice board on the wall where all of the multiplayer options are listed. Sadly there's no split-screen functionality, but the online options are impressive to say the least.


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Every event type, track, and vehicle that appears in the Dirt Tour can also be selected online. Point-to-point and circuit-based races, as well as staggered start rally stages, are joined by a couple of more inventive modes that, while relatively rare occurrences in single-player, could well end up being the most popular online. The best of these is Domination; in this race, points are awarded not only for your finishing position but also for recording the fastest times in any of the four sectors into which every track is divided. The same number of points (10 for a win, eight for second place, and so on) is available for each sector and for the end result, which makes it entirely possible to win a Domination event without even placing on the podium. That's great because, unlike regular races, it gives you an incentive to keep trying even if you wipe out (or get taken out) on the first corner and have little hope of catching the rest of the field. Last Man Standing is a fun event as well, though because the driver in last place is excluded every 20 seconds after the first minute has passed, finding yourself at the back means you subsequently have to spend a couple of minutes watching your opposition in spectator mode.

Given how superb both the cars and the various environments they race through look, it's impressive that the frame rate rarely falters online or offline. The sense of speed is great, whether you're racing through a jungle in Malaysia, across the Utah desert, on the streets of London, or inside a Los Angeles stadium. The attention to detail at all of these locations borders on excessive given how little time you have to take in the scenery, but it makes watching the action replays all the more satisfying--even if there's no option to save them. Dirt 2's audio design is also worthy of praise because while much of your time is spent listening to the awesome revving of your engine and the energetic soundtrack that plays anytime you're not racing, there are also ambient noises to listen out for at every location and the cheer of spectators as you pass them. Perhaps the most impressive audio of all, though, comes courtesy of your codriver who, anytime you take part in a rally stage, does an excellent job of telling you what turns and hazards you're approaching. He or she (you get to choose) does so well that, unlike during other events held at the same locations, you hardly ever feel the need to glance up at the minimap of the course. Furthermore, your codriver will react believably to your driving, so if you slam sideways into a wall, you might hear a scream, while after brushing against a tree, you might be reassured that your car suffered only a scratch. 


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It's not details like these that make Dirt 2 such a superb racing game though. What makes Dirt 2 so special is the fact that its multiple difficulty levels and forgiving gameplay mechanics make it accessible to newcomers while offering a significant challenge for veterans of Codemasters' Colin McRae Rally series and other off-road racers. There's also the single-player mode that spans no fewer than 100 events (often comprising multiple races), a suite of multiplayer options that includes plenty of different modes and leaderboards, and, of course, your sweet RV, which fills with souvenirs from all of the locations that you race at as your career progresses. If you have even a passing interest in off-road racing, you won't regret a second spent behind the wheel of Dirt 2.
By Justin Calvert

Resident Evil 5 Review

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Resident Evil 5 is a fun and frantic evolution of RE4's breakthrough gameplay and the series' horror themes.
Thirteen years ago, Capcom helped revolutionize the action adventure world with Resident Evil, a game that would define an entirely new genre dubbed "survival horror." In the years that followed, the series continued to build upon the standards set by the first game, Then, in 2005, Resident Evil 4 radically departed from its predecessors and broke new ground as a more action-oriented game. Resident Evil 5, the latest offering in the long-running series, expands on the action-heavy formula of its forerunner and is built from the ground up to support cooperative gameplay. Though it can no longer be considered a survival horror game, Resident Evil 5 manages to retain and effectively translate the most important aspect of that genre--tension--into its new mechanics. It crafts a fun, collaborative experience that will keep you on your toes the entire time.

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Ten years after the destruction of Raccoon City, former S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team member Chris Redfield is an agent of the B.S.A.A. This paramilitary anti-bio-organic weapons organization travels the globe to seek out and destroy Umbrella Corporation's creations, which have fallen into the hands of terrorists following the collapse of the multinational pharmaceutical company. When Chris gets a tip that a known weapons dealer will be making a big deal in the remote African nation of Kijuju, he heads there to put a stop to it and learn what he can about the mysterious doomsday project known only as Uroboros. Chris is joined by Sheva Alomar, a local B.S.A.A. agent, and together they battle wave after wave of infected villagers, horribly mutated monsters, and even series archnemesis, Albert Wesker.

The core combat mechanics haven't fundamentally changed since Resident Evil 4. The action still unfolds from an over-the-shoulder perspective, certain battles or cutscenes are accompanied by brief quick-time events, and you still have to stop moving to fire your weapon (though you gain a bit more mobility thanks to your newfound ability to walk sideways). Resident Evil 5's slow movement and gunplay take some time to get used to, and folks expecting a run-and-gun game may find the action too sluggish for their tastes. Fortunately, this slowness isn't really an issue within the game, because enemies are deliberate with their attacks and are better handled with a cool head and steady aim. Though the Xbox 360 controller is fully supported, the standard keyboard/mouse combo offers vastly superior aiming precision and control, which makes it by far the better option.

Regardless of how similar the combat in Resident Evil 5 is to its predecessor, the addition of a second character makes encounters feel quite different. Teamwork is necessary to take down more powerful enemies and bosses, and having someone to watch your back goes a long way toward keeping you alive. Furthermore, there have been radical changes made to the inventory management system. The immersion-breaking briefcase from the previous game is gone, and enemies no longer politely wait for you to rummage through your things because bringing up your armory doesn't pause the action. Each character can store up to nine items, and as long as you properly organize your inventory using the simple click-and-drag interface, all of your items are only a single keystroke away, which offers an unprecedented level of accessibility to your gear. It's often necessary to trade items with your partner, and keeping track of who has what at all times is crucial, especially during boss encounters. 


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Sheva's artificial intelligence makes her a competent companion, though her degree of skill seems to rely more on her armaments than anything else. She is extremely good at using burst fire with a machine gun, for example, but she tends to waste ammo when equipped with a handgun. That said, at no point does she feel like extra baggage that needs babysitting (unlike some of the series' previous companions), and she can hold her own in a fight. Sheva really shines when there's someone else controlling her. Resident Evil 5 supports online co-op play through Games for Windows Live, and exploring Kijuju with a friend greatly enhances both the experience and the fun factor. Every game has the potential to go multiplayer, since other online players can join in on a free-for-all or invite-only basis if your game session is set up to allow this from the get-go. 

Despite these conveniences, there are some frustrating hurdles that need to be leaped over before a partner can begin playing. Co-op isn't drop-in, so if someone joins, gameplay is interrupted and immersion is broken to some degree because the player who joined has to sit on the sidelines until the host either restarts or continues on to the next checkpoint. Another major problem is that players' main inventories are isolated from one another, and though you can trade healing items and ammunition, weapons are off-limits for exchange, making some battles more difficult if you're playing with a partner who is not as well equipped as you.


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Resident Evil 5 isn't a survival horror game, but that doesn't mean it hasn't learned a great deal from the genre. Tension is the central element of survival horror games, and in the past, tension has been conveyed by the gloomy settings, the sense of isolation, and the frustratingly clunky camera angles and controls. All RE5 does differently is convey this feeling through other outlets. Having a partner introduces new types of tension, because you're forced to rely on each other's support, find ways to manage both of your inventories during battles, and cover larger areas since enemies can appear from almost anywhere. Waves of enemies wax and wane with just the right frequency, and while the brightly lit environments make them less scary, they can be tough to deal with because they attack in large numbers and are smarter, faster, and stronger than their counterparts in previous games. Major encounters and boss fights are doled out with excellent pacing, and since you're never sure what to expect around the corner, you have to remain vigilant.

RE5 is one of the most visually stunning games available, and its huge variety of environments is meticulously detailed in every way. There are lots of large, open areas, and you'll constantly be on the move through them since there are usually so many enemies. In-game cutscenes are top-notch (though sometimes a bit over-the-top), and Chris and Sheva are incredibly well animated, especially their faces. If you happen to have the right collection of equipment, you can also take advantage of Nvidia's 3D Vision technology to experience Resident Evil 5 in stereoscopic 3D. The dialogue is often full of the trademark goofiness found in the series. The voice acting is competent, and when paired with the excellent facial expressions, it breathes a great deal of realism into the characters. Likewise, the fantastic orchestral soundtrack heightens the gameplay with everything from the low-key, ambient tracks that play during downtimes to the frantic, upbeat songs that accompany the massive boss battles.

On the first play-through, Resident Evil 5 lasts about 12 hours, which is considerably shorter than its predecessor. Once you're finished, though, there's still plenty to see and do. There are hidden B.S.A.A. badges scattered throughout most levels to find; you can strive to get better scores or times in each chapter to show off on the online leaderboards; and there are three initial difficulties available with a fourth unlockable. In-game points can be spent on collectible trophies of various characters and enemies, on additional costumes and graphics filters, and on special infinite-ammo versions of guns that you've fully upgraded. The Mercenaries minigame also returns in a format that is very similar to its last incarnation but with support for co-op. While it's disappointing that the Versus multiplayer mode available as downloadable content on the console releases is nowhere to be seen, a new PC-exclusive mode called No-Limit is included. No-Limit pits you against ridiculously huge mobs of enemies but is otherwise identical to the standard Mercenaries mode. 


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Resident Evil 5 successfully builds on the foundation of its predecessor while taking a drastically different direction. Having a partner introduces new degrees of gameplay depth and dramatic tension that make the game much more exciting to play. Though the slower, more deliberate movement and shooting may not appeal to everyone, this sequel's frequent large-scale battles and co-op play still offer a fun and exciting adventure.
By Lark Anderson

Street Fighter IV Review

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Robust and challenging single-player modes, strong online multiplayer, and gorgeous visuals make this a must-have for any fighter fan.

It's obvious that each iteration of the long-running Street Fighter series has been carefully tuned and tweaked to the finest degree, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Street Fighter IV. The lessons learned in the franchise's 20-plus years have been used to prune back the core fighting experience to create something truly special.Street Fighter IV is a resounding success not only because it's one of the most technically complex 2D fighters ever made, but also because it's also wrapped inside a layer of absolute accessibility. Never has the old "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master" adage been truer than it is here.

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The Street Fighter fundamentals have remained consistent over the years; your job is to knock out the other guy or gal. All 12 of the classic world warriors--Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Guile, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison--are back and playable from the outset, and they're joined by six brand-new and diverse characters. Abel, a mixed martial arts grapple-style character; Crimson Viper a female fighter with sweeping, airborne fire attacks; Rufus, a rotund fighter whose body makes him a bit of a sight gag despite his deceptive speed; and El Fuerte, a pro wrestler whose rushes and air throws make him a slippery foe. Ryu and Ken's sensei, Gouken, also makes his playable-character debut in Street Fighter IV. Naturally, he didn't teach the boys everything he knows, so when they meet again he has a few tricks up his sleeves, including a horizontal and vertical fireball EX move. The game's new end boss, Seth, fills the last spot and joins the list once you've unlocked everyone else. Character balance is spot-on across the roster, and as a result, you should never feel that you can't compete simply because you've chosen one character over another.

You'll need to finish the game multiple times and in special ways to unlock the complete character list. Doing so will make fan favourites Cammy, Sakura, Akuma, Fei Long, Rose, Gen, and Dan playable. Like previous games in the series, Street Fighter IV lets you perform powerful super combos, but it has removed air blocking and parrying completely. Developers Capcom and Dimps have added a completely new gameplay system: focus attacks, a new multipurpose offensive and defensive ability that can be charged to one of three levels by pressing and holding the medium punch and kick buttons simultaneously. There's no onscreen bar to show how charged your attack is, so you'll need to rely on the progressively darkening ink splashes surrounding your character model. Each character features a unique focus animation, so you shouldn't have any trouble working it out after a few rounds with each. Focus attacks make you vulnerable to damage because you need to be standing still to charge them (though you can dash forward or backward to cancel them), but the trade-off is that you'll absorb the first hit without the penalty of an animation reset, allowing for an instant counterattack if you land it. They can also act as armour-breaking moves, shutting down more-powerful attacks. Successfully landing a fully charged focus attack will deal damage and crumple your opponent to the ground, giving you the chance to follow up with an unblockable hit as he or she falls.

The new mechanic also lets you use part of your EX power-meter charge to exit animations early and chain bigger combos together. They take a little getting used to and some serious thumb dexterity, but once they're mastered, you can perform moves such as dragon-punch stalls directly into super moves or use them to juggle players in midair with multiple hits. Your revenge meter builds as you take damage, whereas the EX meter fills as you dish it out. EX power rolls over to the next round, but revenge must be built from scratch each time. This becomes a crucial risk-versus-reward mechanic. Do you take hits to build revenge and power up an ultra attack, or do you deal damage to burn your EX on improved moves, cancels, or save it for a super finisher? The flexibility of this system means that you're free to play according to your strengths and style. But just like reversals, EX power-ups, and ultra combo attacks, focus attacks serve to mix up the experience only for veteran players; such is the game's balance that they have never been required to win a match, and they act more as an additional weapon in the arsenal of a skilled player. They're waiting for you when you want to take a step up and learn how they work, but well-timed basic punches and kicks are just as effective. 

The single-player mode is robust and has a lot to offer across several components. Arcade mode pits you against a set number of fighters from your unlocked-character roster and culminates in a showdown with Seth. Along the way to your goal, you'll always encounter a rival fight. These are regular fights accompanied by an in-engine exchange with your opponent. They're a welcome mix-up but often add nothing to the character's storyline because some fighters clearly don't even know why they hate one another. Each character's adventure is bookended by an anime-style cinematic movie that explains his or her motivations for attending the tournament. They're quite short and keep story to an absolute minimum, but they get the message across and do a reasonable-enough job of filling in the gaps. Given the amount of additional content shoehorned into this game, we were slightly disappointed to find that no bonus levels have been included, especially since we had high hopes of reliving our car and barrel smashing from Street Fighter II.

Regardless of whether you're down with busting out a tatsumaki senpukyaku at will or think it's some kind of egg-noodle dish, there's a difficulty mode here for you. Eight levels ranging from very easy to hardest are available, so you're sure to find one appropriate for your skill level. That said, even at the gentler difficulties, Street Fighter IV is no cakewalk because your opponents will occasionally mix things up with surprise super and ultra combos. First-timers will have no trouble picking up, playing, and learning as they go. Playing on the medium or above difficulty will also enable score tracking, letting you submit and compare to other players on the game's online leaderboards.

Street Fighter IV's training mode will challenge even experienced brawlers to improve. Given that SFIV straddles the line between classic SFII and SFIII gameplay, there's bound to be some confusion about which of your old mainstay combos work and the timing that you'll need to pull them off. The training mode is an excellent resource and is one of the biggest jewels in the SFIV crown. Once you've chosen your character and your sparring partner, you'll be able to pose them in various positions, toggle CPU control (and adjust its intensity), or give player two control of the action. There's even the ability to switch to your opponent's character, record up to 10 seconds of custom moves, and loop their replay. It's a great way to practice your evasion, attack timing, and counters without requiring another player or needing to search for online games. There are plenty of switches to fiddle with here, including changing your target's block mode, stun frequency, ultra and super power-bar start, and regeneration levels. Live attack data can be enabled to show how much damage your moves are dealing, whereas input display can show you which way you're pushing the sticks and mashing the buttons.


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Training mode aside, one of the single best features of Street Fighter IV is the Challenge mode, which is made up of several sub-modes. Old faithfuls such as Time Attack and Survival mode make an appearance and see you completing fight after fight to best your rival before the timer runs out or you empty your vitality bar. The new addition to Challenge mode is Trial mode, a multitiered training tool that will teach you not only how to perform moves, but also how to string them together to best deal damage. Although the Training mode gives you the full arsenal and space to try it out, in Trial mode you'll need to perform a specific manoeuvre or combo to continue. The five normal difficulty levels cover basic character-specific moves such as dragon punches, charge moves, and throws, but they get significantly tougher as you progress to cover specials, cancelling attacks with focus, and stringing multipart combinations together. If you can get through these and feel up to the challenge, there are an extra five levels of bone-crushing general-purpose moves designed to help you improve your competitive play.

Street Fighter IV supports both online and offline multiplayer modes, though cross-platform play with consoles is not available. In offline play, you'll be able to go head-to-head with a second player using your unlocked characters. Online is handled through the Games For Windows LIVE service and registers and runs without a hitch. For matches you'll be given the choice between friendly player matches, ranked games, or Championship mode. Winning ranked matches awards you battle points, which are used to both show off your prowess and help with the matchmaking process. Patched in after the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Street Fighter IV shipped (and also available on those platforms), Championship mode adds online play with a tournament-style knockout system. The ranking system means you'll only fight against players of roughly the same skill level as you accrue points and progress through a mock round system on the way to a final showdown.

If you're after the true arcade experience, you can toggle online competitive challenge mode on and off to work with single-player. Just as you would expect in an arcade, if you're battling the CPU and someone issues a challenge, your game will pause and you'll automatically accept the invitation. Once the game has finished and you leave the multiplayer lobby, you'll restart your offline game where you were. You can set it to Player, Ranked or Championship matches as per your preference. We played online against opponents with both strong and weak connections, and even at slightly less than full connection strength, you'll receive an offline-like, seamless fighting experience. Poorer connections are more akin to a slide show, although we did manage to find games with supposedly poor connections that played quite well.

Street Fighter IV's visual presentation is outstanding. The art style appears a lot more adult this time around, swapping the bright Saturday-morning kids' cartoon looks of previous games for large, menacing characters with bulging muscles and environments with more muted colour palettes. The game's pseudo-cel-shaded character-art style uses thick black borders and splattered ink to great effect, while fast, fluid animation sees your favourite fighters dance across the screen with grace. Long hair flows and trails, facial expressions contort and grimace as you deal blows, and eyes bulge as opponents see an ultra attack successfully executed. We observed a few minor character-model clipping errors during play, such as legs passing through each other and the odd missed sweep when we were sure that we should have landed a hit, but these are small quibbles because they appeared few and far between. Battle environments are a mix of old and new, reinventing favourites such as Guile's airbase tarmac (complete with destructible plane wings), Blanka's jungle walkways, and Chun-Li's marketplace alleyway. New environments include a secret science laboratory, a highway underpass, a classic martial-arts dojo, and the rim of an active volcano.

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The PC version of SFIV manages to ratchet up the already-gorgeous visuals a couple of notches over its console counterparts by offering resolutions up to 1920x1200, as well as selectable shader and antialiasing options to suit your PC's capabilities. Three new "extra touch" visuals--ink, watercolour, and posterization--add visual effects to your character and the environment. This includes the ability to add thicker borders, though it's purely cosmetic and doesn't alter gameplay. These settings aside, the visuals are almost indistinguishable from those on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, and the frame rate is solid even during the most frenetic battles.

Audio is a particular high point in SFIV, and though the J-pop soundtrack and cheesy intro theme will be driven into your head within minutes, it's also worth mentioning the subtle environmental effects that go otherwise unheard in the heat of battle. The cheers of crowds, the rattle of old trains, and the barking of dogs in alleys all help create a genuine sense of immersion. Purists are even given the option to choose between Japanese and English voice-overs during cutscenes and as characters enter the ring.

Unsurprisingly, the PC game includes support for Microsoft's Xbox 360 controllers and handles identically to its console brethren. The analog sticks are easy to use for performing ultra moves, though the Microsoft controller's D pad leaves plenty to be desired. Keyboard play or a mixture of keyboard and pad are supported, and while serviceable in a pinch, it's certainly not our preference for serious play. Button layouts for pad and keyboard can both be mapped to your tastes. Your best bet, of course, is to invest in a good arcade stick or one of the controllers designed specifically for this game. While not available in all territories, bundles with gamepads and a copy of the game are available from many retailers.

Street Fighter IV will welcome you with open arms, whether you're a lapsed fan concerned that you've been out of the loop for too long or you're dipping your toes for the first time. Amazing presentation, intricate and enjoyable fighting gameplay, and long-term appeal with online play make this a must-have. Street Fighter IV is undoubtedly one of the finest examples of the fighting genre in this generation.

Sony to unveil new PS3 game in theaters

Gamers will be able to play ‘Uncharted 2’ on movie screens


LOS ANGELES - Video gaming will hit the big screen next month when Sony Corp unveils a new game title for its Playstation3 game console at movie theaters.

On Oct. 5 and 6, four theaters in San Francisco and Thousand Oaks, Calif., Rosemont, Ill., and Bellevue, Wash., will give viewers a chance to play the upcoming action game "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" title — on movie screens equipped with Sony digital-projection technology.

Those theaters will provide viewers with PS3s connected to Sony's 4K digital cinema technology, which is in about 500 theaters nationwide and which Sony says provides better image resolution than traditional projectors.



Mike Fidler, senior vice president of Sony Electronics' Digital Cinema Solutions and Services Group, hopes events like this can eventually drive revenues for Sony, video-game makers as well as theater operators.

"This is the first time we're doing it in a theater. We think it's a start of something for us, and hope we can build this into a standard element in the movie-going experience," he said. "Our goal in converting theaters to digital is to go beyond the traditional movie-going experience and focus on helping exhibitors find ways to fill seats."

"Gaming will be an important part of that equation."

The first night will be a private invitation-only event, while the second event will be open to the public, to be publicized through radio and social networking sites.

Theater chains have struggled to sustain revenue growth as home entertainment and the recession entices some moviegoers to stay home. And Sony, like other game console makers, is hoping for a hit title this holiday season to drive platform sales as the industry grapples with a protracted decline.

Both Sony and Microsoft Corp., the maker of the rival XBox 360, have recently slashed prices on their consoles. Sales of video game equipment and software in the United States fell 16 percent in August to $908.7 million, the industry's sixth consecutive monthly decline, research group NPD reported.

06 October 2009

Forum down #3

So a 'backup' forum is free for use again, while we wait for filesystem recovery results (the download of the fs has finished so 'repairs' begin now)..



Meanwhile jClassicRPG created a new forum. Make your choice ;)

05 October 2009

Forum down #2

Permission to panic given.



We didn't lose the databse, but it might be that we lost the files. Unfortunately the messages of the forum are saved as files. Check this out (but don't post) to see how a 'full' forum without messages looks like.



So this is the 'message-only backup' I was talking about in previous post.



We still might be lucky and the filesystem can be recovered. It's 400GB big and it takes a week to download that, so expect having to wait...



Waiting is the magical word here.



:(



I'm very unhappy about the forum and how not having it around might affect the community members and especially the projects that use it as part of their infrastructure..

04 October 2009

Forum down

Due to a filesystem error (apparently) the FreeGameDev forum is down. The post data (MySQL table) is safe and will be likely restored in a day or two. It's not clear yet if file attachments can be restored. We will keep you updated.


You can use this phpBB forum as a short-term temporary solution.

 
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