Entries Tagged 'Games' ↓

Those who enjoy video gaming experience immensely can find the new Xbox Kinect to be the perfect choice. Because of its ability to allow players to really be a part of the game, Kinect game from Xbox has become very popular.

Xbox Kinect helps users to actively participate in the video game by making them the main characters of the imaginary world. They can play the Kinect games without any need for practice or use of controller gadgets. They can control the movement of the character in the game by controlling the movement of their own bodies. The games also allows them to lend their voice and facial expression which can become an integral part of game play.

The Xbox Kinect is rightly called the game of the future because it lets users to control the movements of characters without the use of any gadgets such as mouse or joysticks. Users can find the game to be very exciting and fun because every single movement of the character can be controlled by their body movement. Users can select from several types of options when it comes to playing games that are compatible with the Xbox Kinect. They can select from shooting games, racing games, adventure or dressing up games. They can enjoy playing with this creative gadget immensely. The Xbox Kinect also enables them to watch movies and listen to music easily. They can also get a chance to browse the social networking sites of their choice using this device.

The best advantage of using this device is that it enables users to engage in active play. It makes them to get off the couch and have their daily dose of exercise and fun. The device is also versatile in that it enables users to play several types of games. The games are designed in such a way that it allows players to progress from one level to the next. For instance, there are almost 20 adventures offered under the adventure game category. These games let users to travel to exotic locales and go through several obstacles without any type of controller or balance board. The other types of games such as Kinect sports and Kinectimals allow users and their families to have unlimited entertainment from the comfort of their homes.

The Xbox Kinect has lent an entirely new dimension to the arena of video gaming. It involves and connects users to the game by sensing their movements. They can know more about the games compatible with the device by taking up research online.

We’ve said it time and again: movie games, in general, just don’t make the grade. In recent times we have seen a definite upswing in the quality of these kinds of titles but, for the most part, they still leave the player wanting at the end of the experience.

There are some exceptions to this general rule, though, and Clash of the Titans tries hard to rise above the stigma attached to games released alongside movies.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t pull this trick off.

As you might have guessed, the player takes on the role of Perseus, who is on a journey to take on the Gods of Olympus. The potential for game dynamics and new ideas that this idea lone brings up is astounding… just looks at God of War III, which featured a very similar idea. Clash, however, does away with originality and variation. The only thing you need to do to get through a quest is bash stuff. A lot.

No matter what the mission, in fact, it all comes down to repeatedly hammering your light or heavy attack buttons to dispense with a number of foes. And what a number it is. Enemies just keep coming in this game. The problem is that they’re just the same guys repeated over and over again. Sure, you’ll get different enemies in different areas, but if you see more than three foe variations in a given mission, you’re in for a treat.

The missions themselves have an uninspired structure that requires the player to bash his way through tons of enemies in order to find something, rescue someone or the like. The only puzzle element that enters quests is in trying to find out what you’re supposed to do; the mission briefs are often extremely vague, meaning that the player fumbles around locked areas, beating off endlessly respawning enemies in an effort to try and stumble across what exactly it is that they’re supposed to do. The game proclaims that you will get to slay over 100 mythological creatures… it doesn’t tell you that you will have to kill each one a billion times. Nothing wrong with tons of combat, of course, but there is no structure or creativity here… just thumb strain.

This is further exacerbated by nasty controls. The camera is finicky, and the locking system is deeply flawed.

The player may lose his enemy lock if the enemy changes altitude, and there is no way to change between locked opponents. When locked, the enemy’s health state is denoted by the colour of the enemy model. At certain times, (when they are weak enough) Perseus can drain energy from them (which was apparently common in Ancient Greece, because he gets the ability with no explanation, and no questions asked.) There are also options to perform killing blows, which will show the same animation (every time) and often give the player an extra weapon. These moves are governed by quicktime sequences but, instead of demanding that the player hits specific buttons at dictated times, it kind of lets you hit any button during the sequence. Bye-bye challenge…

Speaking of weapons, the game offers a large variety of upgradeable tools of destruction. The thing is, the upgrade process is clunky, and the use of the weapons is unclear.

The player can carry four at a time, but the amount of experimentation required to find the right tool for the job gets tedious. The game will also present the player with boss battles.

These are generally far too easy, and bosses may be repeated in subsequent boss battles.
There is also a multiplayer co-op mode, which allows another player to join in a supporting role. And we mean supporting… the guy using Perseus will still do the lion’s share of the work.
At around 20 hours for a smooth play-through, Clash of the Titans is a long game. This would have been fine if the title wasn’t quite so bland and repetitive. As it stands, though, it gets torturous after around two hours.

This game is a blatant exploitation of a big movie franchise. The attempts that the developers made to keep it accessible to less experienced players are insulting to those gamers. Worst of all is that a little creativity injected into the title would have resulted in a very fine game. This is a squandered opportunity.

At A Glance

A squandered opportunity, this is a mindless hack and slash title.

Developer: Game Republic
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Distributor: Megarom

Platform:

Xbox 360
PS3

The Nintendo Wii is currently the most popular games console in the world. The reasons for this are all down to the constant new releases and the interaction involved. Wii boxing for example is a part of the sports and fitness games that the fans love. To box with your game you need to become familiar with the Nunchuck. To guard yourself you need to tilt your device vertically and then hold them inwards towards your face to protect yourself. Just like you would if you are really in a boxing ring. The whole experience is virtual and enjoyable.

A left dodge is done by holding your remote and Nunchuck vertically, then you tilt your controls to the left. The same method is used for a right dodge, except of course you tilt to the right instead of left. Wii boxing is very easy to use once you familiarize yourself with the controls. To become a master of this game you need to practice. It really is all about skill and moving quickly. This console is based on speed in order to make the virtual reality exciting. There are other Wii accessories which can be purchased to accompany this game.

Nintendo is constantly producing new materials to keep the fan base happy and gain many new ones. The difference with this machine and others is that you really take part in the game. When you are playing boxing you will be moving around and striking as if you where really in the ring. It can be a good source of exercise plus its the perfect game to play when you are training for the real thing. Many budding athletes and sports are known to train with their Wii before they go of and play the real thing. It really works out well.

Amazon’s CreateSpace service offers a wide range of printing services for writers, musicians, and filmmakers. These services make it possible to self produce books, DVDs, and CDs at an affordable price. Amazon’s CreateSpace will also handle some of the more tedious aspects of media production such as editing, press release, design, and marketing. These service provide a unique opportunity for unpublished or unsigned media producers to make money off of their creations.

CreateSpace by Amazon offers a wide range of editing services which are tailored to writers needs. Editorial evaluations are also available and can give you some great insight on how well your book will market. Having an Editorial evaluation by an expert in the field is an extremely hard to find service unless you are already a published author. Packages for grammar, spelling, and punctuation editing at varying degrees is also very handy to have. Promotional text copywriters can also be employed to create promotional text based on your needs.

Aside from the editing of your project design is also something to consider when producing media. CreateSpace offers several packages for design. Depending on weather you want a children’s book published or a DVD the design services are tailored to your needs. If you do not have your own illustrator CreateSpace can provide one for you. Whether you just want a unique hand illustrated cover or illustrations for every page CrateSpace has a package for you. If you already have a published book that is out of print you can scan the book in with another part of the vast design services offered.

Now that you’ve published your media how do you market it? It’s not surprise that Amazon’s CreateSpace has thought of this aspect too. Their services range from press release kits to paid reviews from top book sites. You can choose to have business cards, posters, or even postcards printed for your promotional material.

CreateSpace is truly a unique website which offers a vast amount of support and services to self media publishers around the world. You are sure to find everything you need for publishing on CreateSpace.

2010 is shaping up to be another stellar year of innovation and action on the XBox. It started off with a bomb dropped in late January in the form of Mass Effect 2. The sprawling sequel to the Bioware classic sees the player able to import their character from the previous game and continue the second part of this trilogy using all the relationships and karma built up in the first. With amazing graphics, refined gameplay, and the usual outstanding Bioware story telling, Mass Effect 2 is already being considered a classic.

February brought us another sequel to an XBOX favorite, Bioshock 2. Taking place years after the events of the original, this game offers players the chance to play as a Big Daddy on a mission of mercy through the dystopian underworld of Rapture. With the ability to dual wield weapons, including the iconic arm drill, the action never stops and the mutated humans still populating Rapture can’t wait to jump out at you.

Game Room recently released on Xbox Live with prices only around three bucks a game and the ability to demo them once before buying. Game Room can let you reminisce with Centipede and Lunar Lander or let the younger crowd bone up on where games today originated.

June brought us the XBox Kinect, previously known as project natal. This new motion detecting and hands-free technology has a number of great games coming out with it in November including Kinect Adventures which is designed to showcase the abilities of the new motion control peripheral device and Kinectimals, a game that lets you play with baby animals by moving your hands and arms and legs. We’ll see how much of a splash the Kinect makes.

Later this year we’ll be treated to the release of a classic character with a whole new image, or rather three new images. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will give the player the chance to use the classic red and blue Spidey, but will also throw us into the stark black and white world of Noir Spider-Man: a bit of steam punk and stealth and a whole new way to look at the web-slinger. Two other dimensions of Spider-Man have yet to be announced, though recent rumors peg one of them as the future Spider-Man, 2099 to be exact.

XBOX 360 will turn five years old this November and with age comes experience. The games this year are exemplary cases of developers learning to perfect their ability to use the hardware to the limit. Anyone of these games will prove it.

One of the best things about owning a PS3 it that there is such an amazing choice of games out or coming out for the console. Although so heavy weight games are already out like God of War 3, many great games are still to come in 2010. If a PS3 owner likes first third person shooters, sports, action or RPG there are games coming out that will make them happy.

Next week starts the amazing trend of good games coming out for the PS3. Grand Theft Auto has always had good sells and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City which actually includes two games on one disk give you plenty to choose from. Play as either businessman Johnny of a biker gang or Luis Lopez a part time hoodlum. Expect this game to hit the shelves on April 13th.

April 27th gives us a beautifully graphic action game called Nier. Play as Nier who is out to find help for his daughter who has a dreadful virus. Anyone who enjoyed the InFamous game as well as Prototype will certainly want to pre-order Neir.

Also out on the 27th is the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. If you enjoy great sports games or just love soccer this is a game for you. If sports games are not your style then check out Dead to Rights: Retribution. This is a excellent choice if you want brutal violence from a 3rd person shooter.

The beginning of May offers more superb games. The first being a movie related game for Iron Man 2. Just as it sounds you play as Iron Man in his world of criminals and bad guys. The next week gives us Skate 3 which is a great sports game for anyone who has liked the former Skate games or Tony Hawk games.

Finally in the same week that Skate 3 comes out is 3D Dot Game Heroes. A sure bet to win the hearts of anyone who has every played the first RPGs and action games. This game plays inside jokes and offers a great gameplay.

As an Xbox gamer and enthusiast I was obviously intrigued by Microsoft’s introduction of a motion-control peripheral device for gaming introduced over a year ago at EE Expo as Project Natal. It interested me to see how MS would counter the Wii in an attempt to attract casual gamers to the Xbox. And as this years E3 approached I actually began to get excited to see how far the technology had progressed.

Sure enough Microsoft did a huge unveiling with tons of demos for the now named Kinect and the new Kinect games. Some of the demos were impressive, some not so much, but it was clear that they had put a ton of effort into the system (and a ton of money I am sure). I left E3 feeling impressed and excited about Kinect even though as a fairly hardcore gamer I doubt I would use it much after the initial playing around with the system (oh yes… I will be getting Kinect). I just suspect that like the Wii before it, it will impress to an extent, but fail to hold the attention of many people, hard core gamers or not, long term.

My main concern however is for the Xbox if this thing flops. I have no doubt that Microsoft will sell a bunch of stand-alone Kinect 360 devices for Christmas and a bunch more Xbox 360 systems with the Kinect included. But, I am starting to get a sinking feeling in the stomach about how much people will enjoy jumping around in front of the television. Sure, you can jump around with the Wii remote if you want, but you can also lay on the couch and use minimal wrist movements. And ultimately my feeling is that this gadget and the games that go with it are going to really be just for young kids. Or at least that will be the demographic that drives game sales. And if that is the case, I think that the Kinect is going to have a tough time attracting lots of new titles from the big game makers like Activision, who, notably, will not have any titles for either XBox Kinect or the new Playstation Move available by launch in November.

Add to these fears the cost at $149 of the Kinect device and I think this is going to be an uphill battle for the Xbox Kinect after the initial splash this fall and the Christmas season. We’ll see. Maybe Microsoft will knock it out of the park with some great Kinect game titles and overcome these obstacles. I sure hope so… for the Xbox.

Although the Nintendo and Super Nintendo gaming systems have been out of production for quite a while, there are still a large number of game enthusiasts interested in collectible Nintendo games.
Nintendo games that are popular with collectors include:

Stadium Events
Nintendo recalled this game shortly after its release and it is believed that no more than 200 copies were actually distributed.

Bubble Bobble Part 2
This cartridge was released for Nintendo two years after the introduction of the SNES so it never sold well.

Little Samson
This platforming game never received much marketing and is now difficult to find.

California Raisins
This Claymation adventure was never sold in stores, though it does show up now and again on auction sites.

Dragon Warrior IV
This was the final installment in the Dragon Warrior series. It was released towards the end of the NES era and even though it received much popular praise, it never did sell very well.

SNES games that are sought after include:

Earthbound
This non-traditional RPG was never all that rare, but its cult-like following has made this game difficult to find.

Ogre Battle The March of the Black Queen
This game was had a limited production of only 25,000 and is much sought after by RPG fans.

Ninja Gaiden Trilogy
This cartridge combined all three games of the Ninja Gaiden series, which was not all that popular to begin with so it is among the more difficult to find SNES games.

Castlevania Dracula X
The final game in this series, it never sold well but there it has a devoted, if small, following.

Harvest Moon
The first in the series, Harvest Moon also has a cult following that keeps the price of the game high.

This list represents some of the more collectible Nintendo games but it is by no means exhaustive. Collectors also seek after many other NES and SNES games.