Video Games | Beyond Good & Evil 2 | GT Wish List XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii Direct link here

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GT Wish List - Beyond Good and Evil 2

Mario is back and ready to explore the galaxy in his search for stars in this much anticipated sequel to Super Mario Galaxy. Watch it

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Super Mario Galaxy 2 - New Trailer - Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Luigi Trailer

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle continues the tale of punk anti-hero Travis Touchdown, the Japanese anime Otaku, and pro wrestling-obsessed assassin. Watch it

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No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - New Trailer - No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - Trailer 1

Feels good to do another review. While I don’t have a specific review theme, I do have a new approach to the games I’ll review. I hope you enjoy the review, as I’ll be pumping out some more as the weeks roll on. No worries, D3stiny_Sm4sher is still the head-honcho on reviews! I’ll just interject from time to time. Feel free to have a read! I’ll catch you all in a few, short hours. I’ve struggled for years to find a review format that works for me, and keeps me interested. I’m always looking for the best way to take a review out of my mind, and get it onto the internet. I’ve yet to come across anything that really makes me happy, and thus, I continue to try new things. Thankfully we have D3stiny_Sm4sher handling reviews every week, which gives me time to come up with…something. D3stiny_Sm4sher will still be the main reviewer, but you’ll start to hear from me a bit more on the review side. Since I have yet to come up with a style that really feels right, I’m just going to go with a stream of consciousness. I guess we’ll all find out how well that works! __________________ Last week, I had the pleasure of checking out a handful of Nintendo’s first-party offerings in the pipeline. While you’ve already ready my Super Mario Galaxy 2 impressions, I didn’t mention that I had another chance to go hands-on with Picross 3D. Actually, I only went eyes-on with the game. Any sort of puzzle game requires a great deal of focus from me, and trying to wrap my head around the ins/outs of Picross 3D in a room with 6 people watching you play is a tad daunting. Since I had gone hands-on with the game in the past, I opted for a little visual run-through from the helpful Nintendo rep. I knew the real test would be once I got the final copy in my hands. Oddly enough, I sat down with Picross 3D while I was downloading the Halo Reach beta. I figured I would let that puppy download, and then I’d curl up on the couch with my DS and Picross 3D. The new warehouse is ridiculously quiet during the day, which is the perfect setting for a puzzle game! Well, that’s how I feel, at least! It was going to be me and Picross 3D, and we were going to come out friends in the end, whether we liked it or not! First thing’s first…I want to stress that Picross 3D is not a difficult game to play, by any means. As I said, I just need to really focus when it comes to puzzle games. If I don’t give them my full attention with no distractions, I’m going to quickly meet my match. When I have the time and place to dedicate to a puzzler, I usually become quickly addicted. Then, once I familiarize myself with the title, I can play in some less-than-optimal settings. Long story short, my first time needs to be a delicate one! Thankfully, Picross 3D has a wonderful training guide that takes you through the game step-by-step. You’ll learn the basics of how to play, test out the controls of each action, and then try a few test puzzles to put your new-found knowledge to the test. After the test puzzles, you’ll move onto the first round of real puzzle solving. After that, you’ll head back to another training session to learn more about the game. You might not realize how much there is to Picross 3D until you’ve spent a few hours with it, as new actions, methods, and tutorials keep popping up. You never feel like you’re being dragged down by all this information. Instead, the game feeds it to you at a very nice pace. For a player like me, it was the perfect way for me to get over my initial jitters. I am pretty sure most of you know how Picross works, but for those that are a bit clueless, I’ll give a basic rundown. Basically, you’ll be given a block that is made up of smaller cubes. These cubes will have numbers on them, which indicate how many cubes should be left in the row/column that they’re sitting in. A number on the top of a block indicates the column amount, while a number on the side will indicate the row. For instance, if a column has a zero on it, you know that you can destroy all the blocks in that column. The objective is to use those numbers to chip away cubes, and you’ll eventually be left with a work of art…in cubed form. Thing of it as being a sculpture that is absolutely obsessed with the cube shape! The puzzles may start off easy, but you’ll quickly learn how these challenges can become quite difficult. Working with 4 columns with 1 row on each is no hard task, but taking on 6 columns with 5 rows, going 4 cubes deep…now that can get tough. All the information you need is right there infront of you. It’s just up to you to interpolate the data, and make the right choices along the way. If you chip away at the wrong blocks too many times, it’ll be game over for you. Luckily, you’ll have tools that can help you separate the good cubes from the bad. The main tool you’ll be using is the paint tool. You can touch any cube on the screen while holding right on the d-pad, and you’ll paint a block. The color indicates that that particular block should be left intact. If you happen to notice that you’ve painted a block that should be chipped instead, you can just un-paint it. Once the paint is taken off, you can destroy it. It’s better to un-paint, as you don’t lose any chances for that. If you chip an incorrect block, you’ll be one step closer to losing! Just like any puzzle game, Picross 3D is very easy to play, but truly tough to master. There are hundreds of puzzles to take on, and you’ll be creating everything from cell phones to dogs, suitcases to fruit. All the puzzles you solve will let you get a good look at the items that were hidden within, and then those items are saved within a gallery. If you manage to complete a puzzle without chipping any incorrect blocks, you’ll get some stars for your work. Also, puzzles will also give you stars for wrapping things up within a certain time limit. The better you do on those two factors, the more stars you can gain. Those stars are used within levels to open up bonus stages. Right there is some added incentive to do your best! As if the data within the game wouldn’t keep you busy long enough, there’s also DLC in the works, as well as puzzles that are user-created. You can make your own puzzles and send them in via wifi, and then Nintendo will be choosing select creations to put up for download. In other words, this game is going to provide you with tons of content for a long time to come. I can’t wait to see what amazing creations gamers end up making! Picross 3D is another excellent puzzle game for the DS. There really aren’t too many Picross games in the states, and I can’t think of any others that take things into the 3d realm. Yes, the later puzzles can be a little daunting/confusing with their size, but all you have to do is stay focused and read the numbers one by one. You’ll be able to take on any puzzle the game throws at you, as long as you have the patience and time. Picross 3D is a must-have for any puzzle fan that owns a DS. It’s a new twist on an old classic, and should offer up even the most jaded gamer with quite a sense of satisfaction upon puzzle completion. I’m going to hang back from giving scores on my reviews. We’ll see how well that goes over!

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GoNintendo ‘End of Day’ thoughts - Picross 3D review by RMC

Mom Brain put wrestling action-figures all over our Christmas tree, and they actually stayed their for a few days. Now we have the traditional trimmed tree, with one lone Super Mario Galaxy ornament. I think the tree above is a bit more fun than mine. Link

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Anotther 8-bit Christmas tree

This review was kind of spur-of-the-moment, as a co-worker offered to let me borrow the title, so I’ve been playing it off and on over the past few days. I have Mario and Luigi 3 coming this week, so I may be able to squeeze through the game before next Sunday. For now, though, I figured you guys might like to see a review of this title. Do bear in mind that I didn’t complete the game in its entirety, so take this review with some more grains of salt than you otherwise might. As a side note, I’ve been playing Bowser’s Inside Story — I was glad to see that RMC was able to get his own review up a bit ago. We wanted to have two reviews of the game up, so I actually haven’t read RMC’s yet because I want to write my own first. That said, please leave some comments on how you’d like me to tackle the review: would you rather I write my own opinions independent of RMC’s review, allowing for more objective comparing/contrasting, or should I read his and point out what I agree/disagree with? If you have any feedback for dual reviews in that regard, add that to your comments on this review. Scribblenauts Review -The Sketch- Time Played: About 6-7 hours Completion: About 100 Missions Conditions: Played Challenge Mode levels, fiddled with level creation a little -Writing Anything- Scribblenauts offers, in concept, an experience unlike any other game out there: players can summon objects at will by typing in their name, allowing them to solve puzzles in open-ended freedom. A brilliant and original idea on paper, but when the scribblings are put into pixels, does the idea stand on its own? The short answer is that Scribblenauts achieves something worthwhile in its experience, but the technical aspects could have done with some more time on the drawing board. OK, yea, I’m getting as sick of the puns as you are, so let’s just move on. There’s not really a plot to speak of in Scribblenauts — players assume the role of Maxwell, that quirky-looking kid with the rooster hat and the headphones. Or whatever the heck is going on there. It’s kind of irrelevant, really, because as much as he may be the mascot of the game, he has no personality, and can be swapped out with a number of unlockable skins. But this game isn’t about a character, it’s about a concept, and that concept offers a lot of promise that is certainly worthy of playing around with. The premise here is that players are presented with puzzles of varying complexity, left to their own devices to figure them out. And this is quite literal, as players will need to create objects out of nothing but words. Type in a person, place, or thing, and chances are fairly likely it will appear before you in a puff of illogic, allowing you to manipulate and utilize it to your own will to accomplish your task and collect the shiny doodad to complete the level. What this means is that any two given players could easily tackle the same puzzle in completely different ways. A simple example: an object underwater needs to be collected and is guarded by a shark. You could use a fishing pole to try and pull it up to you. You could equip SCUBA gear and a spear and kill the shark guarding it. If you didn’t want to get your hands dirty you could summon a mythological beast to slaughter the carnivorous fish for you. And this is an extremely simple puzzle — as the game progresses, they get more and more complex and difficult, allowing for much more involved and widely different possibilities. Essentially, Scribblenauts relies on the creativity of the player to make the game. What this means is that if you aren’t particularly creative, then you’ll end up relying on the same things over and over again — something I admit to doing myself when I played for sessions longer than a few missions in a row. The game even forces you from time to time to do something with a special condition, like not hurting anything, or not damaging something. The game benefits from shorter play sessions, allowing your mind to kind of reset and have different ideas to use. More than once I would get so frustrated with some of the later puzzles that I’d literally stop playing, come back to it later, my brain refreshed, and end up solving it in a completely different means than I had originally thought of. The game also rewards you with some extra points for solving puzzles quickly and with the least number of objects, as well as fulfilling certain random objectives, like creating an item you never have before. So Scribblenauts does a good job at enabling one’s creativity to be the core catalyst in solving its puzzles, but what about the technicalities of it? This is a video game, after all. You can call upon thousands of objects, and while there are some really cool and unexpected things (such as LongCat of internet fame and other internet memes), don’t expect to be whipping out Indiana Jones or Godzilla or anything copyrighted. That said, who needs that stuff when you can summon fantasy beings like Cthulu and Zeus? Some of the fun of Scribblenauts is randomly getting an idea and seeing if the game actually allows you to create it and implement it, and I was pleased at how most anything I could think of I seemed able to create within the bounds the the game sets up initially (no drugs/alcohol, no copyrighted stuff, etc.). So as far as the possibilities are concerned, they’re most certainly there. The visual aesthetic is simple and sometimes kind of weird or cheesy looking, but it works just fine and falls in line with the game’s concept and tone. You can even switch to a mode where clicking on objects will tell you what they are, in case you want to summon something specific on your own later. The characters are expressionless but little bubbles appear around them to indicate whether they’re happy, sad, angry, or in the mood to kick the ass of anything that comes across them (especially helpful, since sometimes certain things will attack you and other times they won’t). It gets the job done, but there’s more often than not a weird lifeless feeling to the proceedings — any characters there, including yourself, are just objects in the puzzle to be manipulated. Not that we needed any kind of story or characterization, I just wish that at least human characters had some kind of facial expressions, which could easily have been copied across the board. With just two beady eyes they end up feeling like lifeless dolls to me. Now granted, this is a pretty minor complaint, it’s just something that ended up bothering me over time. It became more apparent how lifeless the characters are when they seem inept at co-operating with you in many occasions or doing retarded things. For example, if I wanted to try and get someone across a gap, I might create something that enables me to fly and pass them a rope so they can hold on. In certain puzzles like this, for reasons I couldn’t determine, a person would just refuse to take a rope — or any other object. I found it baffling and the game has no indication as to why certain characters will co-operate and others won’t. In some cases this forces you to be more creative and come up with something new, but in others, it’s just frustrating. As for the aforementioned retarded things, why do witches do everything into frogs, and then eat them immediately thereafter? Why do some people drink jars of tranquilizing solution when I place them in their hands just because they’re hungry? All of these issues are more minor and can be generally overlooked in spite of the game’s scope and accomplishments. That said, there is unfortunately a very glaring issue that really holds this game back from being something special, and that would have to be the controls. Everything is operated via the stylus. This makes sense when you’re manipulating objects, but not as much with your character. Your character will move toward wherever you hold down the stylus. Words can only do so much to express how extremely imprecise and frustrating this can be. In puzzles that require you to take care to not fall down a pit, move too close toward an enemy, or anything like that, I repeatedly met this end: creating an object and trying to tap on it, only to result in my accidentally moving my character. This became such an issue I reset my system, recalibrated my touchpad, and tried again, with no change. Some of the objects are simply too small to grab easily, resulting in your character accidentally moving around. An extremely easy fix to this would have been allowing the D-pad for character movement — yes, it moves the camera, but so do the face buttons. Why not just let the face buttons alone control the camera and the D-pad to move the character? The character controls are loose and slippery as it is, but just this simple change would allow for the controls to be much more convenient. Between trying to grab and move small objects and your character’s controls being incredibly awkward, the game can be seriously hindered at times, and there were definitely some puzzles I’d just skip out on because I got so sick of feeling like my ideas couldn’t be put into motion because of crappy controls. When a game has me turning it off in frustration and stopping a play session short because of its inability to let me do what I should be able to do rather than genuine challenge, there’s a serious problem. When I need to reach something hanging over a pit of lava, I shouldn’t be accidentally falling into said pit over and over again because I’m trying to pick something up with the stylus. Situations like these happened often enough that I’d either turn the game off outright or skip to the next mission if I still had some patience in me. Speaking of skipping puzzles, this is something Scribblenauts handles pretty well. Every stage completed earns “Ollars,” money used to buy things. New worlds are purchased with Ollars, as are new player avatars and the like. Each world has ten puzzle oriented stages and ten action oriented stages. Of course, even the action ones are really puzzles, they just involve more platform-navigating or combat and obstacles. What’s great is that after you complete a few, you’ve opened up all of them in a given section, but you don’t need to complete them all to move on. So if you get really stumped or frustrated on certain puzzles, you can always ignore them and move on and come back later. If it weren’t for this function, the game would be much less user-friendly (on top of the other issues going on), but with this safety net in tact it makes it easier to overlook the problems and move on; enough, at least, to continue enjoying the positive traits it has to offer. There’s plenty of puzzles to undertake, as well. I played for about 6-7 hours and definitely had a lot of puzzles leftover I hadn’t completed, not just because of frustration but just lack of time to do so. Some puzzles I could complete in less than 10 seconds while others had me rattling around for upwards of a half hour at a time. Players can also create their own levels and share them online, but this was a function I wasn’t able to access at the time of review. -Solving Everything- Scribblenauts lives up to its potential of giving players power as far as their creativity will reach, utilizing a surprisingly high number of objects that generally function well given their sheer quantity. The game’s controls need some serious work, however, as they detract from the experience and physically make the game more frustrating than it needs to be if only because the D-pad can’t be used to control your character and the stylus ought only do one thing at a time and not two or three in this case. Overall, Scribblenauts offers up a lot of room for creativity and is totally worth looking into for what interesting things it does as a game, but its physical, practical elements took a hit as a consequence of its creativity, thus holding it back from being a must-play DS title. If a sequel can be made that fixes these technical issues and streamlines the interface, it’ll deserve a permanent spot in your DS library to pop in from time to time, but as is, I’d say a rental would be fit for most, and if you’re the sort who is less frustrated by its flaws, then you’ll get a lot of value out of it, certainly enough worthy of a purchase. -High Score- 6/10 (If there’s anything I failed to mention about the game that you’re curious about, do ask — I read all of the comments you guys leave and try to answer them, and I have even edited some of my reviews to fill in gaps I may have missed.)

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GoNintendo review: Scribblenauts by D3stiny_Sm4sher

D3stiny_Sm4sher has been waiting a couple days to get this one up on the site. Due to some technical issues (completely on my part), we couldn’t get it posted until now. Now he doesn’t have to wait any longer, and you can see what D3stiny_Sm4sher has to say about the game! You guys enjoy that piece as I sneak off to bed. Make sure to leave your comments! See you all in a few, short hours. Hey, all. Sorry this one took a while — two weeks and I really marathon-played this weekend out. I must say, the game surprised me in a number of ways, both in its plot reveals and its gameplay choices. Let’s dig in, shall we? Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days The Black Coat: Obtained: Rented via GameFly Time Played: 27 Hours Completion: Completed the Story Mode, completed a few Challenges and played Mission Mode single player for a while, too. No multiplayer, unfortunately. Difficulty: Proud Mode (Hard) Note: I will be trying to make story references vague but do be aware that there could be spoilers of some kind or another. The Organization: Ever since the initial trailers for Kingdom Hearts 2 were released, the infamous black coats of Organization XIII have become a staple of cosplay gatherings and a source of mystery, whether during the course of the GBA title Chain of Memories or the full sequel on the PS2. Even if you played both, there were still many questions left unanswered. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days has two goals in mind: to bring the proper KH battle system to the DS in 3D, and to fill in most of the gaps that take place between Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 that Chain of Memories left wide open, as well as set up the story of quasi-protagonist Roxas that we never really had explained. The short of it is that KH:358/2 Days fulfills both of these goals, but it, like the previous portable Kingdom Hearts title, has a lot of strange and unexpected design choices. Players assume the role of Roxas for the entirety of the game, who plays very similar to Sora from the other titles. Combat, fortunately, is pretty faithful to what you would expect in a KH game, with full-on 3D action, combos, magic, and the like. Granted, it feels not quite as polished as it does on the main consoles, but it’s still a pretty satisfying feat for the DS. However, while the combat is by and large the same, this title brings its own entirely unique and brilliant twist: a panel system. Every time Roxas completes a mission, he will gain a new Panel. Panels end up functioning a lot like the Badge Points in the first two Paper Mario titles — all of Roxas’ abilities and stats are tied to these Panels, even his level. Instead of leveling up stats permanently, players are given a Level Up Panel, which upgrades stats accordingly when equipped. Items, Spells, Abilities, EVERYTHING is tied to the Panel system. This will make you feel very constrained at first, but once the game opens up you will realize how interesting the system is, allowing for complete flexibility in allowing you to completely change up your fighting style at any time. As you progess you’ll collect and synthesize Panels that allow other items to be “Linked.” For example, some Weapon Panels will have more or less space to “Link” extra abilities to them. Some things, like Level Doublers or Triplers, etc., allow the Level-Up Panels you link to them to multiply. Of course, you need to fit these different grid-shapes into your gradually growing Panel chart. Want to go all out with Attack? Equip abilities and a weapon that maximizes physical combat. Want to go crazy with Magic? Switch it all out for spells galore. Because even Roxas’ stats can be altered by what Panels are equipped, you can effectively be an all-out airborne fighter in one mission, an item-using fiend in another, and a mage-style warrior in the next. This element of strategy is a great idea that really feels like an evolution of the character growth in every KH game up until now and, gameplay wise, is easily the highlight. Later on, not having the right style of Panels equipped can make or break your success. Considering how pathetically easy KH2 was, the fact that this strategizing allows for the game to have a bigger kick in the challenge department is more than welcome. The types of Weapons your have equipped also can completely change your combo flow, not to mention the way that abilities like gliding, rolling, and blocking can all be Linked up with other abilities to increase or alter their effects. There’s also a much more fleshed out and important synthesizing element to this game. Like I said, the combat is pretty faithful, but it’s also fairly noticeable that it’s not as solid as the PS2 titles. Hit detection can sometimes be a bit spotty, which I found to be very frustrating in a few boss fights in which the target I needed to hit was kind of small. There are a few other minor elements which could’ve used some more tweaking, as well, but overall, it’s all-around a good representation of KH combat — complete with bouts of absolute repetition and button mashing, unfortunately. Perhaps it’s because I was playing in Proud Mode, but more often than I would have liked did I feel like the answer to killing the more difficult enemies was to simply button mash over and over, some of them taking entirely too long to slay until I was stronger. Now that I’ve gone over the main components of the gameplay, let’s sort out a couple of strange oddities. For starters, the game is played in Missions. There is no free exploring. You start your day in the Organization’s HQ, prepare for your next Mission, and go out to a world to complete the mission. Rinse, repeat. Through the whole game. At first it’s really tedious and slow, but the game eventually picks up and gives you some more variety. Still, there’s never any point when you feel free to just explore — most of the time, certain non-relevant sections of a world are cut off from you because you ought not be “dawdling” in your missions. It works for the portable nature of the game, but there really could have been more variety in the missions and some better kind of indication as to which missions would only take 5 minutes and which ones take more like 20. You CAN replay missions whenever you like and even can unlock special challenges to really test your skills (and unlock extra items/Panels), which can add loads of replay value if you want to sink yourself into it. Seriously, I’m pretty sure I could have easily invested 40 hours into the game if I actually went to try and complete everything. There’s even a Multiplayer Mode, the main draw of which (besides playing with friends) is that you cna play as a wide variety of characters, including some unlockable ones, most of whom have their own style of combat. This means that one Panel configuration can come up with completely different tactics if you use it with a different character, and you CAN play this Mode on your own if you just want to unlock extra abilities and items. While the Mission structure ends up working well enough, the real hard-hitting disappointment is the lack of variety, not just in the Missions but in the worlds. I hope you like Twilight Town, because you’ll be spending more time there than anywhere else, hands-down. Beast’s Castle, Agrabah, Wonderland, Halloween Town, Olympus, and Neverland were the only other worlds I visited (pretty sure that’s it), with no indication of any other potential places to explore. That’s right, that’s IT. And granted, you do end up exploring some familiar territory and some new, but even so, all of it ends up getting rehashed a pretty fair amount, just with a different set of objectives tacked on. It gets pretty tiresome until the game picks up a bit. Speaking of which, this game is a prime example of the snowball effect in game pacing. If you found KH2’s intro sequence of 3 hours or so to be frustrating, prepare to be even more aggravated. The first five hours were grueling and painfully slow, it picked up at a gradually faster and faster pace, unti the last hour or two when I couldn’t put the thing down because of all of the plot revelations going on and all of the abilities I had acquired. I really need to touch on plot here, specifically: as a major Kingdom Hearts fan, I found the game to be extremely lousy in the Disney department — you hardly really see any Disney characters at all and when you do they’re pretty much just off to the side. The real plot here is about Roxas, Axel, and the 14th member of Organization XIII, Xion [Shee-ohn]. If you’ve played KH2, you already know the fate of at least the prior two characters, and finding out their story, as well as the unknown element of Xion makes a lot of things in KH2 make a lot more sense. Not only does this game explain the background of Chain of Memories, but it also really fills in some of the confusing gaps KH2 left in its plot. The game expects that you have already played the other two titles, and feeds you tons of subtle and more obvious references that really connect a lot of disjointed dots. As a KH fan, you owe it to yourself to at least experience this for the plot points it reveals that tie some loose ends up. I especially appreciated how a lot of the explaining that goes on is shown to you rather than told. Especially in the last few hours of the game, I found myself going, “OHHHH, so THAT’S why–” etc. One of my major issues with KH2 was how much of the plot made no sense at times. Now most of it makes more sense to me. It’s a good example of setting up a mythos and feeding the player the whole story in pieces across different experiences. That said, if you haven’t played any of the KH games past KH1 yet, don’t hold back on trying this out. You’ll just end up experiencing the story’s pieces in a different order — if anything, I actually would recommend players play this after Chain of Memories but before KH2 if they haven’t yet experienced the main sequel. Don’t expect EVERY mystery to be solved here, (Mickey is as enigmatic as ever) but you will walk away pretty satisfied with what gets explained here, and by the end it will likely be the driving force behind completing the title, with the challenges and mission completion rewards being leftover for hours and hours of replay time. The presentation is kind of a mixed bag. For the DS, it looks pretty great and sounds pretty good, but by comparison to the PS2 titles, it’s pretty pixelated and fuzzy (especially anything up close), most of the music tracks are borrowed from KH1 and 2, and much of the level design is, as well. It really feels more like their goal was to port over KH gameplay to a portable while filling in story gaps. Sometimes the pixelation of a lot of objects could get a little disappointing, but given Square’s ability on the platform it really is likely more to do with the system’s limitations. After all, Phantom Hourglass looked great for a DS game and that one also showed lots of pixelation when you got up close. Still, noticing that the Keyblades during story sequences are actually 2D is a bit weird. The full CG cutscenes are a nice change of pace and allow for actual voice acting (which can sometimes feel a little stilted), but even these are a little fuzzy or blurry in their video quality. Overall, it’s a good effort but I’m sure Square can do better, as well. A lot of animations (and voice quips) are repeated way too much, and believe me, if you thought that sitting on the Clock Tower eating Sea Salt Ice Cream was novel in KH2, you will be damned sick and tired of it by the end of this game, because it happens at about the end of every mission. The Memory: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days really brings the KH gameplay experience to a portable platform and, overall, does a good job. If you come in expecting an all-star Disney cast and a free world to explore, you will be sorely disappointed. Go in expecting an interesting character growth system, generally accurate KH combat, and a story entirely focused on Organization XIII, and a hunger for some mysteries to be solved, and you will have a good time. If there were more variety in missions, more Disney worlds to explore, and more even pacing, the game would be a must-have on the DS. As it stands, these issues prevent it from being a true classic, but if you’re a KH fan who wants more of the same gameplay with a lot more plot development on the Square end of the Square-Disney universe, definitely look this one up. High Score: 8/10 And in case you’re wondering, yes, the title of the game ends up making sense by the end, if you’re observant.

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GoNintendo End of Day Thoughts: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days Review by D3stiny_Sm4sher

There was a Pro Evolution Soccer in 2008. 2007, too. And 2006. And so on, and so on. So it will be again in 2009, with the release of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 . Last year’s edition was a crushing disappointment. For the first time in recent memory, the series yielded its crown as the best football game on the market to EA’s FIFA, primarily because Konami seems intent on releasing the same game over and over and over, with tweaks, rather than really adding anything new . So what’s in store this year? Judging from this first press release for the 2009 edition of the game, sadly, it doesn’t sound like much. Because while there’s lots of talk about a little nip here and a little tuck there (with lots of vague marketing speak in between) there’s no mention of real improvements or additions to the game’s two fundamental flaws: an ageing game engine and a lack of licensed real-world teams. Instead of a new engine, Konami are boasting of “live player expressions to be depicted with an improved lighting system”, along with “grass and other in-stadium elements [that are] finely depicted”. That sounds a lot less like a new engine and a lot more like incremental improvements to an engine that’s showing more of its last-gen roots with each passing year. And instead of promises of an increase in the number of officially licensed teams, particularly in the Premier League, Konami can only proclaim that, along with the Champions League license from last year, they’ve added the new Euro League. As in, the UEFA Cup. As in, something nobody cares about. In fact, the only thing I can really see that’s a significant improvement is the promise to get an entire team working on online multiplayer. Then again, fixing something that was broken in last year’s version isn’t really an improvement . Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s plenty of time for these things, and more, to be announced in the coming months. But if there was an all-new engine, as we saw with FIFA a few years back, wouldn’t it have been announced in big letters in the game’s first press release? And if there had been big improvements made in the number of licensed teams, wouldn’t that also be something to crow about? Let’s hope Konami are keeping a few things under their hat, and that Pro Evo 2010 doesn’t follow the precedent set by the last couple of current-gen versions and try and pass off a tarted-up PS2 game as a modern football title. For those interested, here’s the full list of promises made in that press release. • Gameplay: PES 2010 focuses on enhancing the excitement of matches between players, making for a truly challenging experience that will constantly test the player. Intuitive zonal defending will cover spaces and players need to look constantly for new ways to attack. PES 2010 focuses on being a real football simulation, as it requires both strategic play and quick reactions, as in real life. In addition to key out-field elements, goalkeepers are more versatile and with abilities matching those of modern shot-stoppers. The game’s referees have also been reworked, with smarter AI elements allowing them to make more balanced calls during matches. • Improved Visuals: PES 2010 has undergone a major visual revamp, with its celebrated player likenesses and animations now even closer to those of real-life players – including live player expressions to be depicted with an improved lighting system which differentiates between various conditions! Stadium detail is also massively improved, with the grass and other in-stadium elements finely depicted. • All-new animation and moves: Animations now dovetail into each other seamlessly, with dribbling and shots on goals worked into dribbling animations. More individual skills are also on show, including new flicks and tricks that have a definite showing on the way a game flows. Several elements have been completely reworked, with the dribbling, turning and kicking animations greatly enhanced, while there is a noticeable change in pace when a player passes a ball from a standing position than from within a run. • Match-Day Atmosphere: Crowd reactions to the on-field action are now more varied, with all new chants and cheers. The subtle difference between Home and Away matches will be reproduced, and the crowd will react spontaneously to specific situations in a game, showing their disdain or pleasure as fouls are committed and goals scored. Likewise, the commentary has been altered to offer a fresher, more concise overview of the game. • Enhanced Master League: Master League has been thoroughly renewed with the enhancement of managerial aspects, which enables users to enjoy managing a team for a longer career lifespan. Seen by many as a key contributor to the series’ success, the Master League elements in PES 2010 have been bolstered by far-ranging and vital new additions, dedicated to enriching the mode. Further details will be announced shortly. • AI: The Tokyo team has worked to improve the AI of the game, with Teamvision 2.0 implemented. Midfielders and defenders now work together to cover open space and close down attacks, meaning that cover can be provided for lower-ranked defenders. This also has the additional effect of removing soft goals, thus returning PES 2010 to its simulation roots. In terms of attacking, players can also now move several players once, sending them into different areas, opening up more goal-scoring possibilities than ever before. As such, PES 2010 necessitates a new level of control from the player. Strategic thinking is as important as quick passing, but the new system greatly opens the way the player oversees control of the team. In free kick scenarios, for instance, players can now instigate the runs of the players awaiting the ball in the penalty area. • Individual Play Characteristics: In previous PES games, the team formation has determined the movements of the players. PES 2010 introduces a new system wherein the individual attacking and defending nature of the players is integral to the way they play. Each player enjoys unique AI tied into their best abilities, and is reflected in the actions of their team mates – i.e. if a player who is known to be a good crosser of the ball is in possession, more players will flood the penalty area to receive it. Similarly, if a player is known to be good with close control, defenders will work to cover their stronger side, while lone strikers will be automatically supported by midfielders on receipt of the ball. • Strategy Use: A new power gauge system allows users to balance their strategy in a quick, but wide-ranging way before a match. Every element – pass frequency, movement, the line of defence, width of play, or the position of the front line – can be altered to match those of a favoured club: Juventus Turin are a dangerous side on the counter-attack, for instance, while FC Barcelona use width in their attack. These formulations can be altered at any point, too, with Home and Away matches forcing different circumstances on the user, as does the rigours of a Master League season. • Penalties: An all-new system has been implemented, offering greater control, placing and accuracy. • Enhanced Online: A new dedicated section of the Tokyo team is committed to improving the online side of PES 2010. More downloadable content is also planned. Konami has supported PES 2009 with the release of new licensed teams, transfer updates, etc, and this support will grow for PES 2010. Team and content updates are planned throughout the game’s lifespan. These will make the game even more bespoke to the player’s match day needs. Konami has strengthend its relationship with UEFA and can announce it has secured the exclusive video game rights for the Europa League Licence (formerly known as the UEFA Cup). In addition Konami will be enhancing and developing the use of the UEFA Champions League within PES 2010 to make even better use of the best club football competition in the world. Pro Evo will be out later this year on 360, PS3, PC, PS2 & PSP (the Wii version now being a separate title in the series)

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The Pro Evolution Soccer Carousel Spins Around To 2010

As teased last week, developer tri-Ace’s new role-playing-game is End of Eternity , a collaboration between tri-Ace and SEGA. Set in futuristic towering megapolis Bazel, EoE ’s main characters are 17-year-old Private Military Firm (PMF) mercenary Zefa, 26-year-old ex-solider Vashron and 19-year-old young woman Test Subject No. 20. She’s escaped from a research facility where she was housed. All this set against the background of Bazel, which acts as an environment purifier to cleanse the pollution surrounding the Earth. The game’s a multi-platform title ( Xbox 360 and PS3) and is slated for this winter. It’s currently 65 percent complete. Famitsu 20090410 [Wii@Everyday Thanks Weils and GAF !]

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This Is The New Multi-Platform tri-Ace RPG

Nintendo’s video on demand service, planned to launch in Japan sometime this year, might not just be limited to the Wii. According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata , it may also come to the Nintendo DS . Iwata tells the Wall Street Journal that the advertising-based video service— currently announced for availability in Japan this year , but reportedly coming to other territories “later”—may go portable. He also hints that the video service, born of a partnership with Japanese ad agency Dentsu, will be different “in a Nintendo-like way.” “If the Wii and the DS are connected, it should be possible to download video through the Wii and take it with you on the DS,” Iwata tells the Journal. The Wii already allows DS owners to download game demos via the internet. “When the service begins, you’ll see how we’re going to do it differently in a Nintendo-like way,” he adds. “There are a lot of on-demand video services, so there’s no reason to do the same thing, so we’re going to do something different. We’ll start the service in Japan, and if it does well, we’d like to take it overseas.” Iwata also tells the Wall Street Journal one of his goals for the Wii is to make the console “something that people will turn on even if they don’t have a purpose in mind.” “We’re not there yet though, and there are a lot of things we have to do to achieve that,” Iwata said. We’ll leave it to you to fill in the rest. Q&A With Nintendo’s President [WSJ]

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Iwata: Wii Video Download Service May Transfer To DS