There's a reason why I haven't done this in three weeks, you'll see why. Here's the release list for the last three weeks.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | | • Lord of the Rings: Conquest | • Lord of the Rings: Conquest | • Deal Or No Deal
• Fishing Master World Tour
• Hotel for Dogs
• Neighborhood Games
• Paws and Claws Pet Resort | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | NOTHING
PC
• Cartoon Network Universe: Fusion Fall
• Delta Force 10th Anniversary Collection
• Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• Mirror's Edge | • Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Elebits: The Adventures of Kai & Zero
• Hotel for Dogs
• Inkheart
• Jumble Madness
• Lord of the Rings: Conquest
• Moon
• Paws and Claws Pampered Pets
• Personal Trainer: Math | NOTHING |
 Very exciting for not doing it in such a long time, I know. First thing worth mentioning is Mirror's Edge on the PC. If you have a good gaming PC and haven't experienced the game yet, please do so. Mirror's Edge is easily one of the five best games of last year. Yeah, the game is technically "short", but it never feels short. The pacing and length feels perfect. After you beat the game, there's plenty more to do, such as speedruns on all the game's levels and trying to beat your friend's scores on the online leaderboards. Please, don't skip this game. Give EA your support by buying the game. Let them know that they are truly headed down the right direction with innovative, original titles like Mirror's Edge.
The other title worth talking about is Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero for the DS. In case you don't know, I'm like one of two people that actually bought and enjoyed the first Elebits game on the Wii, so I was intrigued when I heard there was a DS version coming. A few weeks ago, I downloaded the demo to my DS from the Nintendo Channel on the Wii and played through it. I thought it was pretty fun, but repetitive and nowhere near as good as the original. What's different about the DS version is that it's structured more like an RPG/Adventure rather than a puzzle game. I'm not really sure what else to say about it. It's merely a decent game that's kinda fun. I certainly wouldn't rush out and buy it right now, but maybe when it hits $10 or so in a few months.
Check back very soon for this week's releases!
Random Review: Dead Rising
My last review was a Famicom game, this one is 20 years newer and a totally different experience, but still a blast. Dead Rising was released August 8th 2006 for the Xbox 360 and at the time, was an exclusive for that system. It has since been announced that it will be coming to the Wii as "Dead Rising: Chop 'til You Drop". This game is huge and as my reviewing skills are not top notch yet, I probably will be excluding portions, but I'm trying more for a overall experience review anyway.
[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/PHP/watermark.php?type=bf;ID=U-115-S-00550-A&sizex=200[/img]
The Plot:
The plot of the game is essentially: you (an independent photojournalist, Frank West) come to a small isolated town via helicopter and after the US military forces your pilot to drop you off on the roof of the mall, you soon realize the town is infested with zombies. All you know is that you want to cover the story and the helicopter will return in 3 days. Through the game, you will uncover the mystery of the zombie outbreak if you do everything correctly, but if you don't finish a mission in time, the facts will be lost to you (and the rest of the world) forever. But, you can still finish the game and get a sub-par ending that inevitably ends in the destruction of the world. In addition to the regular missions, you can embark on numerous "side quests" rescuing survivors and killing psychopaths.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is simple; finish the missions and kill as many of the seemingly infinite zombies as you can before your 72 hours is up. But, there are a few aspects of the game that make it unique. The first is the RPG elements the game uses. As you gain "Prestige Points" in the game (by killing zombies, taking photos, killing psychopaths, rescuing survivors, or the other numerous ways) you gain abilities like increased health capacity, increased storage capacity and new fighting moves. These gained abilities are kept once you finish the game and start again, so you can go through the 72 hour mode as many times as you need to get the abilities to finish with the best ending.
The second feature that sets Dead Rising apart, is the weapons. Of course, there is the standard handgun, rifle and shotgun of any good zombie game, but there are also items like Molotov cocktails, katanas, swords and battle axes. But, that's not all, basically anything you can pick up is a weapon, whether it's a trash can, potted plant, 2' x 4', lead pipe or one of the other 250 items in the mall. Using everyday items to kill zombies is a blast, there's nothing like slicing a zombie down the middle with one fell swoop of your Katana or using a hole digger to skewer and zombie and use his spinning body to kill more zombies. This is definitely the best part of the game for me, on my first playthrough I didn't bother with the missions, I was having too much fun slamming faucets into zombies and watching them bleed out through it and cutting up hoards of them with chainsaws and lawn mowers.
[img align=left]http://www.rfgeneration.com/PHP/watermark.php?type=bf;ID=E-115-S-00180-A&sizex=200[/img]
Sound and Graphics:
The sound effects of the game are top notch. Zombies groans and moans seem to be all around you and the screams of distant survivors make it seem more real. The weapons all have their own sounds and they all sound pretty realistic.
This was my first Xbox 360 game, so the graphics blew me away at first, but after playing more games on the system, the graphics are pretty standard. Nothing super awesome, but everything is smooth and I didn't notice any kind of glitches in the game. There are numerous zombies which is nice (especially if you compare it to a game like RE4 where it seems there are only 5 different "zombies") and at first you may think they are all unique, but after a few hours into the game you'll start recognizing zombies by their appearance.
In conclusion, this is a very, very fun game and is definitely worth a pick up. I got my copy for $20 and it was well worth it. For me, it got a little boring and redundant after my 2nd playthrough, but I can see myself coming back to the game after a while.
I'm giving this game a 95% as it really is worth the money and if you've got a 360, you really do need this game. It's not a game you'll devote your life to playing, but it's good for many hours of play time.
2008 is over, and has been now for almost three days. Is it sad? Nah, sure the economy hit the dump and many developers went belly up but that does not mean that there were not some great moments in gaming over the year. Sadly, there were also bound to be some disappointments as well. Being now 2009, it seems like the perfect opportunity to reflect on the previous year as it pertains to games. Let's all do that, shall we? I'll start.
Continue reading 2008 games. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Another awesome year has passed, another 12 hours or so and it will be 2009. This year, I obtained a ton of games, somewhere between 600-800 games. Not bad, not bad at all. But as most of you know, buying that many games isn't cheap, so I thought I would share what I've spent this year.
Continue reading My End Of Year Collection Stats
 In Cincinnati, Cornhole has an entirely different meaning than the one you are probably thinking of. See, in Cincinnati Cornhole is the name of Bean Bag Toss, a game where you throw bean bags towards a slanted board with a hole in top center. This game is great with friends and alcohol, and on Cincinnati's West Side where they watch grass grow to pass time this game is certainly a fun diversion. Some people say the game was created in the West Side, while others claim it came to be elsewhere. Either way, the game is stupidly popular, almost as popular as the mom and pop sports bars that dot the White Oak neighborhood in Cincinnati.
Well, knowing how stupidly popular the game is in Cincinnati and surrounding areas, some shovelware developer created Target Toss Pro, a game that was certain to get a few sales in the metro area. The game can be found in sports bars around Cincinnati, and, if you so desire, you can buy it off of the Wii Shop Channel, and that's where things get precious.
See, my Aunt and Uncle have a Wii, and prior to Christmas Eve had an impressive tie-in ratio of two. The question though is since Wii Sports is bundled with the Wii does that go into the Tie-In ratio? Anyways, I digress. During December, it generally is too cold to really enjoy playing Cornhole outside, and lots of Cincinnatians enjoy that activity, so they'd love to have some comparable activity to keep them occupied during the warm months.
Well, luckily for them, some shovelware developer released Target Toss Pro: Bags for the Wii, which means that they can play a really shitty game during the cold months. Clearly Cincinnatians are an intelligent bunch and wouldn't waste their money on a shoddy game? Right? RIGHT? Well, Christmas Eve has shown me otherwise. My Aunt and Uncle are proud owners of the WiiWare Version of Target Toss Pro: Bags, courtesy of a relative.
Congratulations Incredible Technologies, you've hit a localized gold mine. Thank god the production value of the game is about nil, you might have lost money otherwise. What obscure game that only appeals to a single city will they release next? Chunkin': Pumpkins? Whatever it is, I am sure it will be wonderful.
Not everyone was able to see the trailer leaked earlier this year for Mad World. With Platinum Games as the developer, Sega is not pulling any stops in this cell-shaded, black-and-white, highly stylized gorefest. Better yet, it's for the Nintendo Wii. It is refreshing seeing a bit more variety added to the console's lineup. With that having been said, we present the new trailer on behalf of the mature Wii gamers out there, who had empty Wii libraries until edgy titles like No More Heroes satiated our bloodlust.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43668.html
Not enough violence?
View the uncensored European version of the video after the break.
Continue reading Mad World - Holiday 2008 trailer
[img align=right]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/treasure_chronicles/Club_Nintendo.png[/img]
Japan has know the sweet loyalty program known as "Club Nintendo" for years, Europe has had "Nintendo VIP 24:7" since the Gamecube launched over 6 years ago and "Club Nintendo" since the launch of the Wii. But, Nintendo wasn't nice enough to give North America a Club Nintendo just yet. In fact, even South Africa has had a Club Nintendo for six months already.
But, in October 2008, it was revealed that Club Nintendo was coming to North America. And to the instant relief of millions of Nintendo fans, was launched December 15. But, as anyone who tried to sign up already knows, the site was rather buggy, in fact it didn't really work at all. Many who tried to sign up for the first time couldn't get it to work and nearly everyone who tried transferring their "My Nintendo" information found that the system just wouldn't let them log in.
I know I was one of the first to be elated and aggravated with the system in the same 5 minutes. I tried at least twice a day to log in, but was always met with a "your username or password are incorrect" message. Finally, today I tried and was instantly logged in, and was given the opportunity for my first survey. I promptly gave "World of Goo" a glowing review and received my 10 coins.
So, now that I've mentioned "coins" you may be wondering what they are. Well, they're points that you use to "buy" stuff from Club Nintendo. Many people out there feel the prizes right now are terrible, but I think there are some very nice things to be had.
For 800 coins, you get the Game & Watch Collection for DS.
For 600, you get a White Nintendo DS Game Card Case.
For 800, you get Hanafuda Cards. The picture shows a huge stack, but it doesn't say how many you actually get.
500 coins get you Mario Party Playing Cards or Animal Crossing Playing Cards.
600 gets you a Mario Nintendo DS Game Rack.
600 gets you either a Black, Super Mario Bros. Theme, or Animal Crossing Theme Nintendo DS Game Card and Stylus Set.
400 gets you a Nintendo DS Lite Case (Silver).
And 300 will get you a Wii Remote Holder.
As you can see, the prizes are heavily geared towards the DS, with only one item for the Wii. Many users are complaining that Club Nintendo isn't giving North America the same awesome prizes that Japan gives away, such as a Super Famicom style Classic Controller for the Wii and unreleased games such as Tingle's Balloon Fight DS and Exclamation Warriors Sakeburein. But I feel the prizes they are offering are very good, for a program that has just started up. I know I really want three of the available items, and I'm confident Nintendo will be adding new stuff after not too long.
The only major drawback to the system I see is that only first party Nintendo games can be registered, and only new ones at that. So all the GameCube games you have won't get you any points. I think that is a big mistake for Nintendo because they should give their loyal customers something for their years of money, not just people jumping on the Wii/DS bandwagon. Wouldn't is be amazing if we could register our hundreds of NES, SNES, and N64 games 
So Nintendo fans, head on over to https://club.nintendo.com/ and sign up to start receiving your free stuff. A word of advice I noticed with the site, before you register games, it looks like you can add games to a "Intend to Buy" list first and then register them to receive 10 extra coins.
I'm not dead, I just took a week off to do my final exams and stuff like that. Plus, this time of year is dead anyways, so I figured it could wait. So, here's what came out last week and what's out this week.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | • Rise of the Argonauts
• Sonic Unleashed (get the Wii/PS2 version instead) | • Rise of the Argonauts | • Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• Rock Band 2
• Summer Sports 2: Island Sports Party
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Word Jong Party | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | • Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War
PC
• Band Manager
• Lost Secrets: Bermuda Triangle
• Hidden Expedition: Amazon
• Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge
• Prince of Persia
• Rise of the Argonauts
• RPG Fantasy Action Pack
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Zoo Tycoon 2 Ultimate Collection | • Animal Boxing
• Australia Zoo Quest
• Build-a-Lot
• Candace Kane's Candy Factory
• Cate West The Vanishing Files
• Driver's Ed Portable
• Dreamer: Horse Trainer
• Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
• Learn Math
• Left Brain Right Brain 2
• Mystery P.I.: Portrait of a Thief
• Slingo Quest
• The Tale of Despereaux | • Rock Band 2
• Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
• The Tale of Despereaux |
 Very boring, am I right? Get used to it. That's what the next few weeks are going to be like.
The only highlight here is Persona 4 for the PS2. I don't know much about it other than it's a weeaboo JRPG with an even more weeaboo translation that keeps all the honorifics and stuff on there. Also, you commit suicide to gain powers. Apparently it's good if you're into that kind of thing, but I'll stick to Fallout 3 thank you very much.
So, next week, I don't think anything is coming out. Literally, nothing.
Now, generally I do not like to review something until I have completely beat the game, and as such, this post is going to be impressions of the game, which to a certain extent is probably a review.
For those of you not in the know, I got the first disbursement of my sign-on bonus this week, and promptly splurged it on a PlayStation 3. Of course, the very first game that I bought was LittleBigPlanet. Why wouldn't I have bought that game first? Everything I've seen about it on the internet suggests that it oozes creativity. To a certain extent, it shows that this generation Sony and not Nintendo has the creativity wand when it comes to games. I had to buy this game, and by golly I did.
LittleBigPlanet is based around the concept that this world managed by Creator Curators is created by the combined imagination of the world and you, as Sackboy, get to explore it. On the surface of playing the game, LittleBigPlanet is a semi 2D platformer. You can only move left, right, or back and forth in the background. But, see, just because the game is in essence a 2D platformer does not take away from the fact that it oozes with creativity and fun.
This game is customizable, and not just a little customizable, but "HAVE AT IT WON'T YOU?" customizable. As you progress through the game you are gifted and obtain lots of stickers, objects, and doodads to fool around with. In story mode, these stickers can be placed wherever, and sometimes these stickers serve as triggers. But, the real beauty of collecting these customizations is the fact that the game allows you to create your own levels. These aren't some corny shallow level but often full fledged levels limited only by the imagination of the creator, and that's really neat. Theoretically you could never run out of levels to play because the community keeps pumping them out. It's really truly amazing.
That said, the Media Molecule (developer) levels are also very cool. Basically, each creator curator has a theme and mini storyline that ties in with the other curators, and levels get harder and harder as you progress through the story. Of course, once you beat a level there are plenty of reasons to go back. See, chances are you won't be able to get all 100% of the items on your first go, so there will always be that reason to come back to the level. Secondly, you could play the level by yourself, or you could play the level with someone online. The neat thing about that is that you sometimes have to have another Sackboy with you to get certain items and cause certain events to occur. Thing is though that I am so addicted to the game that I just want to beat it through before playing with someone online, so I don't know for sure how that works, but I imagine it's pretty cool.
From customizing your own levels to customizing your Sackboy, you have a lot of freedom in this game, and this freedom makes the game so damn enjoyable. I'd say I am about 70ish% through the story mode, and this game keeps calling me back. If you have a PS3 I don't think you have to buy the game, but you'd be doing yourself a great disservice if you didn't at least try it out. After all, Sackboy is so damn lovable. Forget Home's avatars, Sackboy should be our official Sony avatars. He's just so damn precious.
Have the game? Want the game? What are your impressions of LittleBigPlanet? Is it everything you thought it would be, or is it something that you hope it will be?
Sorry for being so late with this, but this is the last week of the semester for me before finals, so the professors have been dumping all sorts of homework on me. Yippie. So, I need to keep it short and sweet this week.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | • Prince of Persia
• SingStar ABBA | • Destroy All Humans 3: Path of Furon
• Prince of Persia | • Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• King of Fighters Orochi Saga
• Mushroom Men: Spore Wars
• My Fitness Coach
• Nancy Drew: The White Wolf
• Safecracker
• Ski & Shoot
• SPRay
• The Tale of Despereaux | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | NOTHING
PC
• Disney's Bolt
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• The Tale of Despereaux
• A Vampyre Story
• Zoo Tycoon 2 Ultimate | • Animal Boxing
• Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
• Emma at the Farm
• Emma in the Mountains
• Happy Cooking
• Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi
• My Fun Facts Coach
• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
• Slingo Quest
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Wordfish | • Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories
• SingStar ABBA
• The Tale of Despereaux |
 Yet another slow week, but there's some good stuff. Such as Prince of Persia. This installment in the long-running series has UbiSoft trying to reinvent the game with a new cel-shaded Okamiesque art style and open world gameplay...and apparently the results are good if early reviews are to be believed.
The other big game I'm interested in this week is Mushroom Men for the Wii. Why is this shovelware sounding game so intriguing? First of all, the game's music was composed and performed by none other than Primus bassist, Les Claypool. However, what makes the game really interesting is that the entire game is synced to a metronome that runs at 120 beats per minute. The result is a very unique look and sound that I've never seen in a video game before. It really must be seen to be fully understood, so take a look at this trailer from GameVideos about the metronome system. IGN also has a great article about the system. Oh, I supposed I should probably mention what the gameplay is like. Well, it's basically your standard platformer, but with some neat MDK2/Fallout 3 like weapon creation elements. I just hope the gameplay is as brilliant as the metronome system, but even if it isn't, I know I'll like the game since it's a bold experiment in sound design. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy this game right away.  If anyone gets this game or hears anything about it, leave a comment, because I'm dying to know how this game turned out.
Oh yeah, there's some new Kingdom Hearts game out this week on the good ol PS2. It's a 3D remake of the GBA game, Chain of Memories entitled Re:Chain of Memories (clever). Since I don't know anything about Kingdom Hearts other than a lot of weeabos that don't normally like Disney love this game...probably for "kawaii" artwork and stuff. Never understood the appeal of this game.
If you missed out on the consoles, GTA IV will hit Windows this week in all it's SecuROM-protected "glory" (if you can call it that). Hooray DRM!
Anyways, check back next week when I'll be burned out by final exams. But then I'm done with school for a month. 
Here's the post that makes the weekly release list look like child's play. The black friday deals! For those of you in Euroland or where ever and don't know what Black Friday is, it is the day after Thanksgiving here in the US in which all the stores try to get people to come in and buy stuff for Christmas by offering insane deals. Of course, many stores entice gamers to come in and get stuff, so here's what's being offered this year. Before I get into it, I want to give props to cheapassgamer.com, bfads.net, and blackfriday.info for all the information found in this post.
Please note that the deals in bold are the ones I recommend most of all.
To get started, choose a store below to see what they have to offer.
External Link: Amazon.com deals from Cheap Ass Gamer
Best Buy
Circuit City
Costco
Game Crazy
GameStop
KB Toys
K-Mart
Meijer
Sam's Club
Target
Toys R Us
Wal-Mart
Continue reading 2008 Black Friday Deals
Gaming has changed. It's no longer about top-notch AAA blockbusters and quality games, it's an endless series of shovelware developed by guys in business suits and programmed by machines that follow their every command. Gaming has changed. ID tagged consumers carry ID tagged weapons, use ID tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their tastes. Hannah Montana. High School Musical. Imagine. The letter Z. Everything is monitored and kept under control. Gaming has changed. The age of innovation has become the age of shovelware. All in the name of making of quick buck from unsuspecting consumers. And he who controls the gaming battlefield...controls history. Gaming has changed. When the battlefield is under total control... shovelware becomes routine.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | | NOTHING! | • NPPL Championship Paintball 2009 | • AMF Bowling World Lanes
• Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree
• Cake Mania: In the Mix!
• Championship Foosball
• Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
• King of Fighters Orochi Saga
• Safecracker
• Skate City Heroes
• Ski & Shoot
• Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | NOTHING!
PC
• Band Manager
• Disney's Bolt
• Gothic 3 Collector's Edition
• Neopets
• Zoo Tycoon 2 Ultimate | • Age of Empire: Mythologies
• All Star Cheer Squad
• Chrono Trigger
• Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force
• Cradle of Rome
• Emma in the Mountains
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• Personal Trainer: Cooking
• Syberia
| NOTHING! |
 Looking through the ashes of the holiday season, I observe three beacons of hope for this week, even if they are all rereleases of things have have been out for at least ten years.
First among them is King of Fighters: Orochi Saga for the Wii. It's a compilation including the following games: King of Fighters '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, and '99. I don't have much experience with any of those games, but I know they're well liked by many people, so I thought I'd highlight it.
The next "good" game to come out this week is a DS remake of one of the most appreciated (and expensive to track down) games ever, Chrono Trigger. Originally released for the SNES in 1995, Chrono Trigger is yet another RPG from Square, and yet another game I've never had any desire to play. This new DS edition of the game has several all-new features including a couple of new dungeons, a new final boss with his own dungeon and ending that is unlocked after getting the original ending, two modes of play (DS and Classic), wireless play for 2-4 people, and arena mode, changes to the English script to more closely reelect the original Japanese game, no load times for the anime cutscenes (the same ones from the PS1 version included with Final Fantasy Chronicles), and improved sprites/music. But I honestly don't care. I've NEVER played Chrono Trigger, nor do I have much desire to since it looks like yet another generic JRPG grindfest. OH NO! I have sinned and tarnished the name of one of the "greatest games ever". So, RPG fans, why should I care about this game? What makes it different from other JRPGs? How does it innovate? Tell me why the hell I should play this game, and maybe I will.
However, the absolute highlight of the week is the long-awaited Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (aka: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Dub Edition Remix Gaiden: The Director's Cut: Deluxe Edition). In addition to being the newest member of the ridiculously long name club (along with Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars), it's a member of the awesome downloadable games from Capcom club. What makes this remake so great and worth getting? First off, the sprites have been upgraded, BIG TIME! Just check out this comparison of Ryu, this one of Ken, and this one of Akuma. Quite the difference if I must say so myself. These awesome sprites will be rendered in 1080p HD goodness along with plenty of new features including an optional "rebalanced" mode that changes around the balance of the characters, training mode, both widescreen and standard 4:3 aspect ratios, a remixed soundtrack created by people at OverClocked Remix (the original soundtrack is there too if you prefer to hear that, the ability to use either the new sprites or the old ones from the original, and, of course, online play with voice chat, matchmaking, stat tracking, and leaderboards. The best part is that this whole package is going to be selling for only $15 on both Xbox Live Arcade (out Wednesday) and Playstation Network (out Tuesday). In addition, PSN people will be getting a free Street Fighter Underground soundtrack with original songs by hip-hop artists like Redman, DJ Qbert, and Heiroglyphics. I don't know about you, but I am ultra pumped for this game because I haven't played Street Fighter II (or any fighter) in quite some time, and I really want to get back into the groove of things. In addition, the online modes sound awesome as well. So, anyone getting it for PS3? Wanna set up some matches? I bet I know the answer to that: no. Whatever. Hope you like not having fun.
That's all for this week. Hopefully you all enjoyed my pretentious as hell intro.
 Guess what? This last week or so has just been a plethora of birthdays for gaming related things. Well, 4 years ago from today Blizzard released the behemoth known as World of Warcraft upon the masses, and since that time it's been sucking productive members of society into the realm of the recluses.
Sure, WoW has made lots of money for Blizzard. Wildly successful is a good way to describe it. You know, a lot of people want to be a Nightelf Mohawk, or at least Mr. T wants to be a Nightelf Mohawk. He can be whatever he wants and I pity the fool who says otherwise. The truth is that lots of people play the game, and chances are that you might know someone who has been affected by this game. Maybe you have been affected by this game? Inquiring minds want to know.
Of course it's been successful, but it's because of many people unlike me. See, I refuse to even create an account because I've seen what it can do. Of course, right now I live in Maryland and know no one so it's not like I have a social life to lose, but when I did have a social life I sure as hell did not want it to succumb to WoW addiction. Perhaps you've thought differently.
Well, congrats Blizzard on four successful years of WoW, and for some reason I am sure you'll have at least four more years if not more of the same. Here's to you WoW, and to my friends currently dredging through Azeroth, it's been nice knowing you, but I understand your priorities lie with the Horde. It's cool. Someday the servers will go down, and when they do you'll either have moved on to an MMORPG or reintegrated into society. Here's to you.
 Three years for the 360! On November 22, 2005 the Xbox 360 was released in North America to a gaming mass waiting for the next iteration of Microsoft’s gaming console. Unlike its predecessor, the 360 was a stylish system that when it wasn’t greeting players with a red ring was rather sexy when compared to the black paperweight known as the Xbox. Surely, Microsoft was off to a better start from a design point with its system, and there were plenty of other things for 360 fans to be excited about.
I’d be lying if I told you I owned a 360 or desired one. The truth is that I have no desire for a 360. That said, the 360 does have several things that go great for the masses. If you were to ask me which system appeals most to true gamers right now, it sure as hell would not be the Wii. It depends on the avenue, but if you’re looking for games for adults that will make you say wow then the 360 is the system to have. From Halo to Dead Rising to Bioshock to GTA IV, there have been some heavy hitters for the 360 that would make the most hardcore gamers squeal with delight.
Of course, that’s not the only thing that appeals to true gamers. Of the three console manufacturers, Microsoft really does know how to best do an online product. Sony’s working on creating a good online product and Nintendo is being Nintendo, and while the bar has been set rather low by the competitors Microsoft has delivered a product that quite frankly trounces the competition. It’s really quite amazing and I give Microsoft kudos for their online platform. Their competitors could learn a thing or two from Live... they really could… especially Nintendo.
 Of course, Microsoft is not the market leader anymore this generation. While they were in the beginning, the behemoth known as the Wii has taken the title and ran with it. Is Microsoft going to sit there and just watch that happen? No! They decided they were going to revamp their dashboard and create a new experience that is enjoyable for all. It just launched, and as someone on the outside looking in I have to say that the avatars do look really cool. They offer customization that I only wish Nintendo had for their Miis. Did Rare rip off the Mii concept? Who the hell cares! Rare has created something with much more depth than the Miis of Nintendo, and I give them full credit for creating something much more interesting than the Mii Channel. Good job Microsoft and keep pushing along with the new experience.
Every console has its fair share of issues, and the same can definitely be said for the 360. Probably the most notable of these issues was the Curse of the Red Ring. Chances are you know someone who has suffered from the Red Ring of Death. In fact, you might know someone who has suffered from it multiple times. Truth be told, the initial batches of the 360 had some design issues. No one really knows what is it, but rather than screwing over consumers, Microsoft did a noble thing and extended everyone’s warranties. That’s pretty nice, and it suggests that perhaps Microsoft is not the cold hearted bastard that its Windows operation suggests that it is (and it is).
So sales have been down in recent history for the 360, and one has to wonder what the future holds for the console. I honestly don’t know if the console will see a rebound in sales, but I don’t know if that is necessarily a bad thing. 360 owners like to buy third party titles, so it’s an enticing console for those developers and publishers. So for developers, I don’t see as much as a risk for releasing games on the 360 that I do for releasing non casual games on the Wii. While casual gaming dominates the Wii, real games dominate the 360, and that’s a great selling point for the console. Why not capitalize on that, Microsoft? Push your strengths, and it might help you in the long run.
Three years for the 360. What do you think has been the good, the bad, and the ugly? What do you think the future holds for the 360? Does the four year lifespan still hold true for Microsoft? Well, in a year we might just know. What do you think?
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Again, more games.
| Playstation 3 | Xbox 360 | Nintendo Wii | •Alone In The Dark: Inferno
•Disney's Bolt
•Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore 2
•Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
•NCAA Basketball 2009
•Need for Speed Undercover
•NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
•Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2
•Shaun White Snowboarding
•Tomb Raider Underworld | •Disney's Bolt
•Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore 2
•The Last Remnant
•Left 4 Dead
•Lips (Oh, how far iNiS has fallen)
•Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
•Naruto: The Broken Bond
•NCAA Basketball 2009
•Need for Speed Undercover
•NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
•Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2
•Shaun White Snowboarding
•Tomb Raider Underworld
•You're In The Movies | •Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun
•AMF Bowling World Lanes
•Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo's hardcore game for this Fall!)
•Castlevania: Judgment (It's the crappy looking fighter, move on)
•Championship Foosball
•Cooking Mama World Kitchen
•Disney's Bolt
•Gallop and Ride (HAWT! Rated AO!)
•Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore 2
•Merv Griffin's Crosswords
•Need for Speed Undercover
•NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
•Petz Crazy Monkeyz (THIS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WII! Someone kill me now.)
•Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (For the love of God Ubisoft, make a REAL Rayman game again!)
•Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2
•Shaun White Snowboarding
•Skate City Heroes
•Skate It
•Sonic Unleashed
•Tomb Raider Underworld
•Ultimate Band | | PSP | Nintendo DS | Playstation 2 | •Need for Speed Undercover
•Shaun White Snowboarding
PC
•Chronicles of Mystery: Scorpio Ritual
•CSI: New York
•Disney's Bolt
•Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Left 4 Dead
•Left 4 Dead
•Legendary
•Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria
•Need for Speed Undercover
•Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
•The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff
•Tomb Raider Underworld
•Spore Comic Book Creator
•Spore Creepy and Cute Parts Pack | •Cradle of Rome
•Disney's Bolt
•Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams
•Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
•Imagine: Ballet Star
•Imagine: Movie Star
•Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
•Luminous Arc 2 (More FATlus RPG action. Go nuts fanboys.)
•Metal Slug 7
•Need for Speed Undercover
•Robocalypse
•Petz Catz Clan
•Petz Monkeyz House
•Petz Rescue Endangered Paradise
•Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
•Rune Factory 2: Fantasy Harvest Moon
•Shaun White Snowboarding
•Skate It
•Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff
•Tomb Raider Underworld
•Tony Hawk's Motion
•Ultimate Band | •Burnout Anthology
•Disney's Bolt
•Dynasty Warriors 6
•NCAA Basketball 2009
•Need for Speed Undercover
•NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
•Pop Star Guitar
•Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2
•Shaun White Snowboarding
•Sonic Unleashed |
 Things are starting to slow down as we approach the holidays, in fact, next week there will be next to nothing released, but it's not next week, so we have an insane amount of games to deal with.
First among them is Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which is getting surprisingly great reviews, a 79 on MetaCritic at the moment. As you can figure out from the title, it's a new Mortal Kombat game, but featuring characters from DC Comics. For those of you not well-versed in your comic knowledge, DC includes Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. Oh, and get this, the story is apparently pretty damn good, especially for a fighting game! But all is not rosy, because the American version is censored in order to maintain a Teen rating.
Don't want a fighting game? Then maybe Tomb Raider Underworld would be a good choice. Underworld is the latest installment in the long-running series with gaming's best-known female star. This time, it looks like they're trying to follow in the footsteps of Naughty Dog's incredible PS3 exclusive from last year, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Interesting that a franchise that inspired a game is getting inspiration from that same game, but such is life. However, one that that Underworld innovates on is truly adjustable difficulty, which allows you to change all sorts of settings including enemy damage, damage you take, ammo capacity, and more. To find out more about the innovative approach Crystal Dynamics took to the game's difficulty, check out MTV Multiplayer. I've not played the game, but I hope others take a hint from Underworld and give us settings like Underworld has.
And because we need more installments in long-running franchises, Sonic Unleashed comes out this week (at least for PS2 and Wii, the 360 version has apparently been delayed to next week, and the ps3 edition isn't coming until next month). So far, only the Wii version has been reviewed, and it's been scoring decently. Everyone seems to say that the daytime speed levels are awesome ane a throwback to the glory days of Sonic, but the nighttime levels are slow and tedious. Why does it seem like for every good idea in a new Sonic game, there has to be something that totally screws up the rest of the experience? No clue. I honestly think Sega needs to take a good look at Bionic Commando Rearmed and Mega Man 9 and see what they are doing and apply those lessons to Sonic.
Yet another entry in a long-running series comes out this week. Metal Slug 7 for the DS. It's pretty much what you expect, Metal Slug, but on the DS. There's really nothing else to say about it. It's Metal Slug...in your pocket. Speaking of more of the same, Animal Crossing: City Folk comes out this week and according to reviews, it's pretty much the same thing as the GameCube edition, but now with online play.
Perhaps the most surprising game of the week has got to be Skate It for the Wii. I thought it had the potential to be as good as the PS360 version of the game, but figured it would suck. However, IGN gave it a GLOWING reivew that really piqued my interest. In case you don't know, Skate It is a toned down version of one of this generation's best games, skate., but with added Wiimote and Balance Board controls. I don't know that I want this game right now considering skate 2 is coming out in January, but I'm so happy to know it doesn't suck.
But the biggest game of the week is undoubtedly Valve's co-op zombie shooter Left 4 Dead. Based on the demo, this game is DEFINITELY one to get! I'll be getting it very soon, probably for Christmas. Who's up for some online action (on the PC)?! I really don't have much to say that hasn't already been said about the game. So go look up one of the many other previews. 
Also out this week is The Last Remnant, some Square RPG I don't care about, and a track pack for Rock Band for those of you who hate downloadable content (most of you here, unfortunately).
Check back next week for a rather subdued list...and the return of RF Generation's most-read blog article EVAR!
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