360: First Thoughts

It's been about a month now that the Microsoft machine is in my living room. What are my thoughts? How has the relationship evolved? Here is a quick recap of my experience: Over the course of the month, I have bought 3 games: EA Fight Night Round 3, Dead or Alive 4 and Rockstar Presents Table Tennis.

EA Fight Night Round 3: Clear winner in my case if you count the number of hours played with a 360 game. The graphics are supperb! The dual analog stick punch control is very well done and gives the player the impression that he is truly in control of his boxer. I have not yet ventured on Xbox Live as I feel that my skills are not yet up to the challenge. I have enjoyed the career mode as my boxer from Philly, Rocky Balboa climbs up in the ranks. All in all, a wonderful first game with lots of replay and a great game for showcasing the power of the 360's graphics. 8 Mini-Gates out of 10.

Dead or Alive 4: A classic fighter game - The players are smooth and the improvements are primarily the environments. The little streams, the shadows, the beautiful grass, etc. A fun game with a lot of replay. A cautionary note not to venture on Xbox live unless you are a master at controling your guys - I got wooped in less than 20 seconds on-line. 7 Mini-Gates out of 10.

Rockstar Presents Table Tennis: Beautiful game from the makers of GTA. Who would have thought that in 2006, a Pong remake would be so fun. It truly is. Easy to pick up and play with friends. Beautiful, yet simple graphics. I cannot see myself ever needing another table tennis game after this one unless the Wii comes out with one that uses the wiimote someday. I have not yet tested the Live feature of this game. 8.5 Mini-Gates out of 10

My other gaming time has been spent with the 360 Demos that are downloadable from Xbox Live. I must say that this is an amazing feature that has a lot of potential for sales. Strange that the 3 games I actually bought are not games that I tried via a demo though.

The Xbox Live arcade is easily where most of my time has been spent. I have yet to buy a game online but it's a matter of time before I do so. The selection is okay - no more. The games are good but there could be more in the catalog in my opinion after a year of development.

DS Lite Mini-Review

Well, it's been about a week now and all I can say is that the DS Lite is a nice little handheld console. If you have been on the fence about buying a DS, you have no reasons left not to buy one.

I must have over 30 games now and as I try these games in the new DS Lite, it's like rediscovering them all over. The vivid colours look amazing. It litterally is like day and night. there are 4 levels of screen brightness on the unit and the lowest one is about the same as the old DS brightness. Games like New Super Mario Bros. shine and look incredible on the unit.

Gameplay and sound are similar to the previous unit although the smaller frame makes for a more comfortable handle for those extended play times.

The good
- Brighter screen than the old DS (4 levels of brightness)
- Smaller, sleeker and cool iPod white look (some like that sort of thing)
- Stili is a little larger and more comfortable to the hand
- Better battery life
- Lighter and more comfortable to hold
- GBA dust cover is a nice add-on.
- Backward compatible with older GBA games
- Wi-Fi multiplayer capabilities
- Higher-resolution display than Game Boy Advance SP

The bad
- White item... may get dirty with fingerprints over time.
- They did not include a wrist strap with the units.
- On/Off power switch feels a little fragile.
- Small..errr. one might.. errr... lose it somewhere. Okay maybe not.

Cnet has a very nice review of the console. If you want to learn everything there is to know about the unit, I recommend listening to the Review that as done by Shane and Chris over at Dual Screen Radio (a redio show dedicated to the DS. They did a very thorough review. You can find it here.

What's left to say but go get one!! This is truly a gem of a video game unit. Compared to the PSP, the DS has loads of great titles to choose from.

Current rumours are that the DS will be able to download demos and new content from the Nintendo Wii. The units may also be usable as controllers for the new console.

Rating: 9 out of 10 Princesses in distress

DS Lite: a HUGE Git across America

136,500+ DS Lites Sold In North America In Two Days

"A number of retailers across the territory report sell outs as New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Training take two of the three top spots..."

Wii coolness!

A tinier piece of Wii coolness has just been revealed: built into the Wii OS is the ability to create a player portrait/cariacture. When you plug in a game, that game will then be able to use your cariacture: in Wii Sport Tennis for example, it will superimpose your caricature over your player's polygonal head.

It's tiny, it's cool, but it isn't earth shattering. Still, details count and the Wii is acing all the details even as companies like Sony flagrantly ignore them

NES Super Mario Brothers playable in 3D

Super Mario Bros 2.5D is a remake of the classic, Super Mario Bros… in 3D. How can you remake a 2D game in 3D? Add depth! Defeat enemies as Mario in a whole new way with 3D views and 3D graphics!” More screenshots, info, and where to download it after the jump.

XBox + Nintendo vs. Ps3?

In a rather odd bit of news, Microsoft seems to be suggesting that people should buy Nintendo's Wii console.
Nope, not a typo. Peter Moore, a vice president for Microsoft, said in a recent interview, "Tell me why you would buy a $600 PS3?" He went on to explain, "People are going to buy two [consoles]. They're going to buy an Xbox and they're going to buy a Wii ... for the price of one PS3."
It seems that Microsoft is doing everything in their power to gain market share from Sony in the battle for next-gen console supremacy, including promoting a rival product.
Nintendo seems content to just sit back in their niche market and let the two giants fight it out alone.

Gates on the PS3 Motion Controller

"There's room for innovation here, but moving that controller around -- it's something that's not mainstream for most games," he said. He recalled a Microsoft-made controller from several years ago that allowed 3-D movement. "It's tough because sometimes you move the controller, and you don't [mean] to fly into the ground. You just want to put the controller down," he said. "People aren't that good at totally standing still. Even pilots actually sit in a chair when they do their flying. So there's a lot to be learned about these controllers."
Gizmodo talks about this quote made by Gates to MTV as though he was speaking of the Wiimote but other sites put it in the context of the PS3. The war rages on...

New Super Mario DS Review

Mario is back and he's better than ever. Mario and friends are back in the first true sequel to the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World series. Mario 64 came along but was a third person game and very different from the original game. What makes us love the Mario Bros. series so much? It's the whole package wraped into one: full of secrets, multi endings to worlds, warp zones, cool mushroom effects, funny action and all around cool worlds.
How does this game stack up? New Super Mario Bros. is everything that one may want. The game has 8 Worlds, and give or take 10 levels per world. 80 Levels baby! How cool is that? Very cool. I'm not a Super Mario Genius (kudos to James who finished the game in a few days) so the difficulty level was perfect for me.
Power ups include 2 new cool modes: Super Giant mario and Mini Mario. Both have their strengths and are nice additions to the game play. Colours a vibrant as nice as ever. The music is a cool mixture of old and new. The bosses are not too hard (thus far - as I write this I am in the middle of the game). The fun for me is trying to get all from each levels - and man is this game packed.
I don't remeber ever finishing any of the original Mario games as a younger Artoo but I have it on my list of things to do before I die and this may be the one to achieve this.
My rating is 9/10 - best DS game thus far! Run and get it.

DS Humour

Duck Hunt with an attitude! (newgrounds.com)

You all remember the cute Nintendo game with the zapper gun Duck Hunt right? Here is a rendition of the classic where the cute pup fights back to protect his ducks!