In his latest movie, The Woman In Black, Dan traded his Hogwarts uniform for a totally new role as a Dad.
Natalia brings you the latest news on Adele’s interview with Anderson Cooper, Kristen Bell’s interview on Ellen is auto tuned, Ladyhawke’s latest music video and much more!
Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks!
Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.
When The Kooks are in the studio they’re focused and most importantly, sober. Watch Hugh and Luke explain their reasoning below.
The Kooks released a new album called “Junk of the Heart,” and you would think Hugh and Luke would be very excited about it. Well, they seemed rather indifferent to be honest. We spoke about that and why they don’t care about critics.
Natalia dishes the latest in entertainment news on Joan Rivers, Lana Del Rey and a brand new trailer for the movie Hunger Games.
Natalia talks about how Snooki might be pregnant, Nicolas Cage’s Cage Rage, Elisabetta Canalis is dating Steve-O and more for Feb 1, 2012.
Natalia dishes the news on Miley Cyrus breaking her tailbone, a 100 year old woman who plays the Nintendo DS to stay young and Houston, Texas contemplating a statute of Beyonce.
David Beckham debuts a new line of underwear, the worst dressed celebrity – Shy’m and Matthew Broderick is back as Ferris Bueller with a brand new commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Feb 5th 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe is back with his new movie The Woman In Black. It’s a bone chilling remake of a film from the ’80s. Ironically, Daniel actually scares very easily but he’s not afraid of ghosts. In this interview he tells us what really gives him the creeps.
Next time you’re struggling to make conversation, try asking this question: “If you could invite anyone (living or dead) to the perfect house party, who would it be?”
Graffiti6 is starting to make their North American invasion, and they are hitting up the Tonight Show. Does this sound familiar? Well the Beatles made the exact same journey over 40 years ago. Naturally, @jordans_life had to make some comparisons.
Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he’s the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist.
During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number and took phone calls from his fans. These were real phone calls from real fans who we gave exclusive access to one of the biggest recording artists of our generation.
There were great questions about music, fitness, the backstreet boys but the most popular question, however, was about his underwear. In this clip Nick talks about his his ‘Haynes’ and covering his fans with glow in the dark paint.
When releasing new music today, half the battle is online promotion. However, contests, signed merch and giveaways aren’t always the best solutions. When working on their latest album, Hedley came up with a brilliant idea, they decided to make trailers.
It’s hard to prepare for an interview with Hedley. So in this interview, we threw caution to the wind, got a 24 of beer and broadcast the interview live on our USTREAM (andPOP.tv). Eventually Jacob, Dave and @jordans_life ended up talking about hairy legs, their newest music video and more.
Diamandis from Marina and The Diamonds talks to us about her very serious disease. It’s called synaesthetic. And we lied, it’s not a disease. More like a cool condition. Diamandis explains further.
Would you be embarrassed if someone scrolled through your iPod? We sit down with Spee and Brendan to talk about the diverse music on their playlist.
What an ego blow this must be. Although Lindsay Lohan was the star of “Mean Girls” she has been curiously left off the cover for the upcoming Nintendo DS game, reports popeater.com. Instead the cover just features Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried, who played the trio of super-popular girls known as “the plastics.”
According to a description of the game found onGameStop.com, ‘Mean Girls’ will “follow the misadventures of Cady from Jingle Bell Rock to the School Prom.”
Now all this begs the question, “Why was she left off the cover?” Do marketers see her image as so tarnished that she could potentially hinder sales of the game? Undoubtedly the recent stories in the tabloids about her out of control personal life have not helped the young Hollywood star. Additionally she has released only seven films to mass audiences since ‘Mean Girls,’ and nothing since the 2008 bomb ‘Chapter 27,’ which grossed a mere $56,215 according to Box Office Mojo.
So this recent event is only one more knock against Lindsay. At least she has nowhere else to go but up.
Band Hero™ invites music and video game fans of all ages to log onto BandHero.com and immortalize themselves and/or their band within a mosaic tribute to the newest game in the Guitar Hero® family. Submitted photos will populate the mosaic and enter the individual’s or group’s names into a weekly contest where randomly selected winners will score a Band Hero band kit for the platform of their choice and a Nintendo DS Lite band kit. Head over to BandHero.com to learn more. (more…)
Jenn and Josh take a romantic visit to E3 North where they learn about the next latest and greatest from Nintendo. They have a look at 4 player Mario, New DS games, Wii Sport Resort and more!
MySims Agents was announced by EA today.
The game, for Wii and Nintendo DS, makes players the heroic agents called upon to stop a plot threatening an entire city.
“It’s mystery-meets-adventure theme allows players to hone their problem-solving skills while still enjoying all of the beloved MySims charm, characters, customization and humour.”
The game will be available in the fall and is yet to be rated.
I was the very best, like no one ever was. I caught them all, as my real test, I trained them as my cause. I had travelled across the land, I searched far and wide. Each Pokémon I did understand, the power that’s inside. The question is, since I already did this with Pokémon Red, Pokémon Gold, and Pokémon Diamond, is it really worth it to go another round with Pokémon Platinum? As it turns out, maybe not as much as I think. If you were to compare this newest addition to the over 5 series of Pokémon titles out there, Pokémon Diamond to Pokémon Platinum would be the same comparison to Pokémon Red to Pokémon Yellow. What I mean by this is that it is the same game, same characters, and same story line but with a few new additions and changes. For this reason I won’t go too deep into the game but rather discuss all there is to do (and believe me, there is A LOT to do) and the new additions to this title.
Developed by Game Freaks and published by Nintendo, you play the role of a young boy or girl (with different clothing than in Pokémon Diamond) in the world of Sinnoh, you and your friend decide to go get some Pokémon (which by the way are a variety of almost 500 little monsters you capture, befriend and train to battle for you), when you are stopped by a Pokémon researcher, he gives both of you a choice of three starting Pokémon and your off on your very own adventure of growth and life lessons.
The Nintendo DS with two screens and stylus touch option seems like it was almost made for the purpose of strategy gaming. Using one screen to plan and one screen to execute commands, and commander in training can get an overall feel for the battlefield easily and comfortably. This is why I have been waiting for a Fire Emblem title to hit the DS for some time now and why I am pleased to review Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (FESD) for the Nintendo DS.
Released February 17th developed by intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is more of a remake than a sequel. Yes, that is correct; through FESD you can relive the legend of Prince Marth (I only know of him through Super Smash Brothers titles) over and over again with updated graphics, two screens and online play. Actually this is the SECOND remake of the first Fire Emblem title. The overall story surrounds Marth having his family and kingdom taken from him by the evil Dohlr and backstabbing ex-ally Grust kingdoms, as he escapes with a few soldiers Marth is tasked with increasing his army numbers, gaining magical items, and rescuing villages along the way.
Guitar Hero: Decades is the second release from Activision for the distribution of portable guitar rocking goodness on the Nintendo DS. I wouldn’t really call this a sequel, but rather, an expansion to Guitar Hero: On Tour as some small aspects were improved, but really, it’s the exact same as On Tour with a new set list. The guitar grip that comes with Decades is the same as On Tour, the plectrum stylus is similar (longer touching point on the Decades one but doesn’t fit into grip container as well) and the layout is very similar to On Tour. All these aside, I felt Decades had a much stronger ‘story’ to it than any other past Guitar Hero title (aside from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith). Another extra added to Decades is the ability to play wirelessly with someone that has On Tour, allowing them to try the new songs as well as you to play the old songs.
For those that haven’t had a chance to check out the Guitar Hero: On Tour review on andPOP.com, the game plays the same as Activision’s past title, plug in the custom guitar grip into the GBA slot of your DS (with an expander if you’re using an older DS), strap it to your hand and play the keys using this grip while you strum and fiddle with the whammy bar on the touch screen and yell into the microphone to activate star power. Now, in On Tour, this sounded good on paper, but in practice, it never really worked out. The grip never felt right, the four buttons were too close together and didn’t line up with my fingers, the grip would constantly fall out of the DS (making you restart the entire system) and strumming isn’t always as precise as I would like. All these issues are still present in Decades as it seems they didn’t change their controls and peripherals at all.
The graphics are exactly the same as Guitar Hero: On Tour, decent for a DS, but not worth paying attention to.
Now onto the sound, the backbone of any music game. This game sounds fantastic, decent through the speakers, and amazing through a nice set of headphones. The set list is broken down into decades (hence the name) starting with the modern music set down to the groovy 70’s each set takes influential tracks (all original, no covers) from those sets of 10 years. My favourite part of this game is that because the game takes songs from different years, it ensures a variety of music types for all music fans.
Decades still has the same career mode feel (although with more of a story and character development than On Tour) and the ever fun duel mode but other than that, the only real addition was the dull rhythm/bass career mode option. Unlockables give players something to strive for, new venues, costumes, and guitars keep completionists busy but in the end this is still just a track pack. If you were a fan of the last Guitar Hero for the DS (which only came out less than half a year ago) go check Decades out, if you couldn’t handle the strain and pain of the first one, this is more of the same. Great set list for the most part as well.
Graphics: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 3.0/5
Sound: 4.0/5
Replay Value: 3.0/5
For those that say original ideas are dead in the world of video games, guess again as a new spin on an old aspect can revive an entire genre. Lock’s Quest, developed by 5th Cell and published by Play THQ (THQ’s new casual gaming label) is the next release from the creator (and first DS project) of the innovative and unique RPG, “Drawn to Life”. This yet again innovative Nintendo DS title was released September 8th, 2008 and promises more unique gameplay not found anywhere else. That being said, it seems a little odd that I tout it’s uniqueness, yet mention that it’s a take on an old feature, what I mean by this, is that Lock’s Quest reminded me a lot of the mini-game where you must defend the egg at fort Condor in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7.
Lock’s Quest begins by explaining archineers (architects / engineers), source (the resources used to build), and clockwork (evil soulless robots fighting for a period of time using source). You are told the tale of an epic past battle of good vs. evil, a good archineer king defending his kingdom against an evil force using clockworks to take over the world, an explosion occurs and everyone assumes the evil force is gone. If that were the case, would we be playing this game now? Of course you’re a young reckless farm boy with little archineer experience and just by chance you come across an archineer commander wounded in battle. Turns out the clockwork are back and heading right for your town! You send your little sister (which by the way, is an orphan being raised by your wise, strong grandfather just like you of course) to get help only to find out she was kidnapped by the evil forces and you must get her back. The game begins.
The game plays in certain stages, you’re given a grid, your battle field, sometimes you must defend a specific location from the oncoming forces and all you have to defend yourself are your fists and your archineering ability. Each round starts off with a build period in which you use source to build walls, traps, and turrets (which can be fortified with walls), each item costs a certain amount of source. The next stage is when you are being attacked by wave after wave of clockwork (soldiers, archers, berserkers, etc), as this happens you use your stylus to run around attacking the clockwork using special combo attacks, or running to your damaged defenses to repair them before they are destroyed. Every once in a while you find some scraps from fallen clockwork and use them to build new defenses, as well, every clockwork drops some source. Once the timer runs out, all the clockwork drop and you repeat the process until a storyline event happens.
The controls are pretty simple yet intuitive, you can use your stylus to do everything from moving around to setting up your to attacking. Tap on a clockwork to attack them and (initially) a set of numbers (in a random order) appear at the bottom of the screen, click them in the right order and you do extra damage. Tap on a damaged turret and a little wrench appears at the bottom, turn it back and forth the correct amount of times (there will be a number on the wrench) and you repair quicker. Simple and innovative controls to keep the action fast and stress-free.
Music within the game is orchestrated and epic feeling to the extent a DS game can please our ears. It’s not really anything exciting but you at least get a feel for the sense of urgency based on the type of music being played. Not really much else to discuss here, sound effects of clanks and whacks sound similar to that of Drawn to Life (5th Cell’s first DS game)
The graphics seem geared (pun intended) towards a younger audience but don’t let that sway your decision, simple animations and cartoon style still frames (during character interactions) may make some gamers decide against picking this title up, but I feel the simplicity of graphics in this title allowed the developer to focus on gameplay and depth. There is also a pretty sweet animated intro to the game that got me excited to play!
Once the story is over you can read the ten page mini-comic that came in the game case, OR you can check out the multiplayer option. Here two players (each with their own game cartridge) can play wirelessly in which they battle head on with a specific amount of source to spend both on offensive clockworks and defensive structures.
In the end, this game was a fun title to pick up and play on the subway or bus, allowing players to create their scenarios and use a little planning in the process, but a couple of little things annoyed me. First is the layout of menus, you aren’t given a main menu off the bat and only two save files to work with, both of which rotate auto-saves and I haven’t noticed an option to turn off, small little annoyances like this here and there. Secondly is the story, or holes within the story at least. An example of what I mean is you send your sister for help at the beginning, she just had to run one screen over to the village, but she never makes it, you tell your grandpa you have to go look for her, he says instead that you should stay and fight the army (without any training) while everyone runs away. Now don’t get me wrong, but if you have a village filled with experienced, strong men, why send a weak kid to the front line while everyone runs away? That’s just bad parenting. Another point in the story that annoyed me was also near the beginning. You’re walking with your new archineer friend you just saved and your grandfather when you spot your missing sister’s teddy bear (which she wasn’t carrying before). You see this bear and immediately assume she was kidnapped by the bad guys, even though right beside the bear is a friendly army fortress… it just doesn’t make sense to me.
Gripes aside, this unique yet simple game was quite fun if you take it with a grain of salt. Let your planning skills guide you and save the world while your at it. Grab a buddy that has this game as well and see who the better archineer is. P.S. Lock also has super powers.
Enjoy
Gameplay: 4.5/5
Graphics: 3.5/5
Sound: 4/5
Replay Value: 3.5/5
Majesco Entertainment Company announced yesterday the release of Math Blaster in the Prime Adventure for Nintendo DS. The game, developed by Knowledge Adventure and inspired by the original PC game, features a variety of adventure-based learning games with mathematics problems.
In the game, players armed with an experimental spaceship must use their math smarts to blast through space to defeat robots that have come to control the galaxy. Players must solve problems using addition, subtraction and multiplication. The game features a Four Player Battle Mode, a Challenge and Adventure modes in three levels of difficulty.
Math Blaster in the Prime Adventure for Nintendo DS is expected to be released this fall.
On September 7, Nintendo will release a new colour to their line popular line of portable gaming consoles, the Nintendo DS. The new Metallic Silver version of the Nintendo DS will be featured in the new upcoming Nintendo DS print ad featuring actress Liv Tyler.
Ignition Entertainment, a UTV Enterprise and worldwide publisher and developer of videogames, announced today the launch of the official game demo for the upcoming puzzle-strategy title Red Bull BC One for Nintendo DS™.
The Red Bull BC One is the most important B-Boy competitions in the world, and hosts 16 of the world’s best B-Boys in a series of one-on-one battles to determine the winner (The One). The Red Bull One allows players to control the fate of their B-Boy character by solving puzzling breaking combos under increasingly difficult time limits. Once a player achieves a high enough score, they will advance onto the next round. The game features 35 original musical racks, a variety of mini-games, 3D backgrounds and a wireless multiplayer mode. Red Bull DC One will be in stores on September 16, 2008
First impressions only come once, and while they are always the longest lasting thoughts on something, they can always be altered after a little time. This is true for Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS. Published by Red Octane and developed by Vicarious Visions, this late June released portable title is definitely anything but an impression.
Nintendo has always been the king of peripherals on their systems, from the Power glove, fishing rods, and the Balance board to this next step in unique control, the Guitar Hero: On Tour guitar grip. Perhaps GH:OT could have just been played with the stylus and buttons, but where’s the fun in that? With this $50 DS game, you get the software, a stylus pick, an adapter (in case you still have an older DS unit), some stickers, and the new guitar grip you plug into the GBA slot and strap to your hand. It’s kind of hard to explain but imagine having four of the five guitar hero fret buttons sticking out of the bottom of your DS.
Now, I mentioned earlier about first impressions, when I got GH:OT to review, I popped it into my DS and went to a party without even turning the system on. Conversation turned to gaming and I mentioned I had Guitar Hero in my back pocket. The crowd went silent as I whipped my unit out of my pants and showed them the goods (alright, minds out of the gutter, please). One after another they took turns playing it and for this reason, before I even played the game myself, I had an outsider’s perspective. Five people tried the game and they all came out with the same verdict. Everything was cool, graphics, sound, control, song choice, everyone was having a blast. But at a certain point, almost like clockwork they all succumbed to the same fate; it began with a cramp in their hand, then a bunch of songs they didn’t like, then the guitar grip would begin to pull itself out of the DS, then they pretty much just fall apart and pass it to the next person. Within an hour, five people had grown tired of Guitar Hero: On tour… and these are people that love guitar hero’s past games.
The layout of this pint-sized Guitar Hero offers much more than one would expect in a portable port. To begin with, there are all the options found in an average Guitar Hero game. Players have the option to make a lefty flip turning the entire DS around and playing with your left hand, we also have the option of flipping the colours when in lefty mode if we want it that way. Microphone sensitivity and volume adjustments are also available (you can turn the volume up to 11, that’s 1 higher than 10!). On the upper screen (which, when playing Guitar Hero would be your left screen) you see the band rocking in the background (same singers as Guitar Hero 3 and a hairy chested monster drummer), the guitar neck complete with scrolling fret buttons are prominently placed in the foreground. On the bottom screen (touch screen / right screen when playing this game) we have everything else included in your average Guitar Hero game: the body of the guitar where you strum your pick stylus to make your music, as well, here we find the whammy bar, your score multiplier, star power indicator and your overall score. This seems like a bit much as your eyes will almost always be focused on the top screen, you rarely see your multiplier or score. It actually took me 30 minutes of playing the game before I even noticed they were on the screen the whole time.
Guitar Hero is all about one thing, the music, and with such small speakers, people were afraid the audio aspect of this game would be hurt much like the cell phone Guitar Hero game. Fortunately though, and I’m not quite sure how they did it, Guitar Hero: On Tour sounds fantastic through those tiny DS speakers, and even better through some nice headphones. The songs are crisp, the vocals and guitar clear and while the whammy bar feels like it doesn’t actually vary between ‘on’ and ‘off’, the guitar effects are still pretty nice for what it is. In terms of song lists, I must admit, Guitar Hero didn’t leave a lot of genres out of the mix. While this rendition of Guitar Hero had my least favourite play list so far in the series, I enjoyed the new songs never played in a GH title before.
Graphically, it IS a portable game, and we can’t really expect much, basically the same models and graphics are used in this as the PS2 version… just DS-atized. This game has a lot of the same vibe and feel, quick movements and fluid motions with minimal detail. Think more along the lines of Nintendo 64 or Playstation graphics, crammed into a smaller set of screens and you get the idea.
Now onto what most of you are probably the most curious about, the controls. Needless to say, this is one of the more bizarre accessories to grace the Nintendo world, but it definitely enhances the overall feel of the game. Holding the system and add-on with your left hand gripping the bottom half of the DS and having your fingers resting on the buttons sticking out the bottom of the system, you use your right hand to strum up and down on the touch screen while pressing buttons as they come across the neck on the top screen. While this may sound confusing, once you try it out, you will understand what I mean and agree when I say this feels like Guitar Hero through and through. To activate star power, you can yell into the microphone, or if you’re in public and feel a little insecure (which you probably wouldn’t if you’re playing this game in public in the first place), you can push any of the face buttons to activate your star power. While this is all good and fun, I had a few issues with the controls. Like most other people, I got the cramps. After about an hour of play either my thumb or my pinky would cramp up and make it harder and more painful to play, usually a ten minute break would take care of this. Secondly, what really annoyed me was that the game requires you to have the Guitar Hero guitar grip add-on plugged in to play, with past Guitar Hero games, you had the option of playing using your controller instead of the guitar (aside from the Wii version). In this one, if the grip is not plugged in, you cannot even access the menu, with Jam Sessions (another guitar based game on the DS) you were able to use the D-pad to play notes while strumming, why can’t you do the same here? As well, with my DS unit, every once in a while the add-on would just pop itself off, especially during the tougher solos in which I may rock out a little too hard.
To keep us busy, Guitar Hero: On Tour offers plenty to do. To begin with we have 25 songs in the game, plus a bonus unlockable song after you beat the guitar dual career mode. This dual career mode, aside from the normal career mode included in this game, is pretty much a single player battle series with new attacks. These attacks use the DS in new ways, if your string is cut, re string your guitar with the stylus, if your guitar’s on fire, blow it out with the microphone, things of that nature. Think Career mode meets multiplayer battle mode… but alone. There are also six characters to choose from including new Memphis Belle and Gunner Jackson. While all these characters play the same, it’s for visual appeal that you might choose one character over another. The characters also have alternative costumes to unlock and purchase in game. Players have the option to unlock new guitars and new skins for those guitars to give a little more customization to the mix. Finally if all these extras aren’t enough to satisfy you, there is also a wireless LAN multiplayer option, giving you the opportunity to have a guitar duel against your friend (or rock enemy) in any song you’ve already unlocked.
Over all there is enough in this title to keep you happy on long road trips or when the power goes out, with a decent sized play list, a variety of genres represented, multiple difficulties, unlockables, and a multiplayer option, you are definitely going to be having a cramped hand for a long time to come. While some songs have appeared in past Guitar Hero games, I forgive them, after all, it’s not like they’re all repeats or that bad anyways. Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS is as close as we are going to get to a true portable representation of Guitar Hero for a long time to come, so enjoy, and who knows, maybe new set lists will be released in the future, with or without the guitar grip.
Graphics: 2.5 / 5.0
Game play: 3.5 / 5.0
Sound: 4.5 / 5.0
Replay value: 3.0 / 5.0
Activision and Nintendo have just announced details on the upcoming Quantum of Solace video game for the Nintendo DS, slated for a Fall 2008 release.
The Quantum of Solace game will be based on the upcoming latest installment of the Bond move franchise, and will be the first time players can use a character modeled after Daniel Craig’s portray of the famous spy. The game for the Nintendo DS console will allow players to control the Bond character entirely by using the touch screen, and will provide players with a variety of combat options.
The game narrative will accentuate key movie moments from the ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’ movies. Players will be able to control Bond through in-game conversations with multiple narrative options.
Activision Inc. announced today the Fall 2008 release of Dancing with the Stars: Get Your Dance On! The game is a sequel to last year’s Dancing with the Stars video game. The game will be available for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS consoles.
“‘Dancing with the Stars’ is an ongoing cultural phenomenon that appeals to people of all ages. It is mainstream entertainment at its best,” said Dave Oxford from Activision Publishing, according to a press release from the company. “We feel the game is the perfect opportunity to evolve the idea of ‘active family fun’.”
The newest version of the Dancing with the Stars video game with feature new stars such as Mel B, Apolo Anton Ohno, Joey Fatone and Jennie Garth. The Wii version of the game makes the dancing more realistic, with players using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controls to enact dance moves. The version of the game for the hand-held Nintendo DS will give players the ability to change character’s outfits and change dance partners at any time. For more information on the game, please visit www.activision.com.
Nintendo has just announced that it will be releasing new bundle pack for its Nintendo DS portable gaming system. The new Silver/Black Nintendo DS will be branded with the Guitar Hero logo, and will come bundled with Guitar Hero: On Tour. The bundle pack will be available for the first time on June 22, 2008.
The hugely popular video game can now be available on a portable gaming system thanks to Nintendo’s development of the Guitar Grip peripheral. This version of the Nintendo DS also comes with a custom-designed Guitar Hero pick-stylus, in order to bring the full experience of the Guitar Hero video game to a hand-held consol. This version of Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS comes with a wide variety of music, including No Doubt, Bloc Party, Jet and Nirvana. Guitar Hero: On Tour also offers a unique battle platform in which players can duel against other users of the game. For more information on the game, and to see animations of what the Guitar peripheral looks like, visit www.GuitarHeroOnTour.com.
Based on the cartoon of the same name, Di-Gata defenders brings players into the world of Rados. Charged with the feat of stopping the evil Lord Nazmul and his Order of Infinis, you must use your Di-Gata stones and guardians to protect the four pure stones. Now, I’m not too familiar with the Di-Gata franchise, and as an outsider to the world of Rados, I found myself completely confused as to what I was doing, how I was doing it and why it was happening. No where in the game do they explain what a Di-Gata is, why these stones shoot out electricity, heal you or release a big monster, or why this Nazmul has such a grudge against the world. I tried to watch the cartoon to get caught up on this universe, but in the end I became even more confused than I was entering into this universe.
The game itself, developed by Mystic software is an RPG in the sense, that the game is story driven in a full land and you gain levels and can customize your character. But how deep each of these facets are really hurts the title as a whole. You begin the game by customizing your character’s look with a few options, and throwing him, complete with name into a fully 3-D world. The game itself is 100% 3-D unfortunately everything is very polygonal and not detailed in the slightest. I found it very hard to compare bad guys to good guys and found myself walking up to someone to ask them a question only to be thrown into a battle. To push this little problem of unintentional battles one step further, the camera angle is always a 3/4th top down angle which, while it can be manipulated, still doesn’t allow you to see what is directly in front of you. The game sounds fine, with no voices or spectacular splitting effects, it gets the job done in the same way an older Game boy game would have. The musical score is decent enough as well, but nothing memorable or worth talking about further.
In Di-Gata the stylus is your friend, while some aspects of the game can be controlled with buttons, the entire thing can be played with just the stylus, while there is minimal actual required use of the stylus overall (throwing a guardian dice), you basically point where you want your player to move by holding the stick there, and tap the options you wish to activate. In fact, the only time you ever really have to push a button in this entire game is to access the menu. While the controls, graphics and sound are all DS quality, the gameplay is lacking. While this is an RPG and at least not too short a title, you just get bored way too quickly while playing it. The missions are repetitive, go to this town, pick up the item, come back to base, go to next town, pick up another item, go back to the first town, give the item then go back to base. At times the game is kind enough to bring you back automatically, but more often than not, the game’s a jerk and makes you hoof it. Adding to the annoyance of this type of game play, most of the time they give you just the name of the town and no direction as to where the town is located, sure you’ve been there before, but all the towns look and feel the same, and with no over-world map, it gets tedious walking and fighting for an hour only to find out you went the wrong way.
The game works in a simple walk around manner. See a monster, walk into monster, turn based fight, with energy and hit points, spells that have a percentage of failing (which decreases as you gain levels), a summon command (which never affects you negatively), a healing option and a super dice option (which from experience doesn’t really feel all that super). The problem I have is that after every battle, you gain all your health and energy back, and your summon never really takes anything away from you. There is no real sense of stock, no potions and herbs to save, you can just go all out every battle and be perfectly fine the moment later. Along the lines of lacking potions, the game doesn’t have a currency system either, its basically trading 10 pairs of boots for one pair of pants and so forth, how often would a defender of the Di-Gata be carrying 25 shirts and looking to unload them for a hat? Pretty often. The whole economy system seems way off and awkward as the traders will only trade one set of items for what they have in their stores. This title provides players with eight different guardians you gain throughout the game to choose from, with each doing something different, they feel like summons but you don’t really care if and when you get them as they all pretty much cover the same basis of protecting you, and doing damage.
You may be asking yourself, is this a long lasting portable RPG? Well, the game isn’t as short as I wished it would be, and there are over 10 side quests to keep you occupied a little longer. These side quests give you a special reward like an ability you may never notice; if you do end up getting this game, don’t even bother unless you’re a perfectionist when gaming. There really isn’t a reason to replay this title, which feels like it ended way too abruptly when it did. I didn’t expect the end when it came, after all.
All in all, it could just be me, I tried watching an episode of this show to get some background information on the title and I just walked away more confused then when I started. Even after playing through the game, I’m still not really sure what the plot is or what the bad guy’s goal was in the end. The game did come with a behind-the-scenes DVD though for extra entertainment, bonus points there!
Graphics: 2.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 1.5 / 5.0
Sound 2.5 / 5.0
Replay value 0.5 / 5.0
The Simpsons is a franchise familiar to well just about everyone so is it any wonder that EA has finally stepped up to the plate to deliver a truly next-gen Simpsons experience?
The game has everything you’d come to expect from a Simpsons game- the sound bytes recorded by the voice talent from the show and an accurate representation of Springfield and it’s diverse inhabitants.
Having played the demo on Xbox Live I can say that this game is a VAST improvement from the previous mediocre Simpsons games we’ve had to deal with Using a tag-team system you either control Homer or Bart who each have a special power. With EA poking fun at all their hit games (Medal Of Homer, Neverquest) this Simpsons game looks to be a mile above previous incarnations. Although I’ll always have a soft spot for Bart Vs. The World.
The Simpsons Game is out October 30th for all major consoles.
$59.99 for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3, $49.99 for Wii, $39.99 for PlayStation 2 and PSP, $29.99 for Nintendo DS
Rated T for Teen
SEGA® of America, Inc., SEGA® Europe, Ltd., and Canada-based developer studio BioWare® Corp. today announced a partnership to create a new video game based on the classic SEGA flagship icon Sonic The Hedgehog. The exact name of the game is undetermined, and it will ship in 2008.
We’re thrilled to be working with SEGA on Sonic, one of the industry’s most enduring and compelling icons,” said Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare. “As huge fans of Sonic ourselves, we’re committed to delivering a truly amazing story-driven experience within the Sonic universe, focusing on capturing the character’s broad appeal and placing him in a completely original adventure,” added Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer of BioWare.
