Brain Age Review

Have an old brain? Maybe you just need a little tune-up. Well now you can have it. With Brain Age! The simple once-a-day game that takes your brain and puts it into full physical form. All you need is this simple software which contains a scary man that tells you some tips to make your brain work better. How wonderful. And it's only $20!!! Call now and we'll throw in dinner with Princess Peach with a wonderful view of Bowser's castle. CALL NOW!!!

Ok, the real review. Brain Age is.....well.......training software. I really don't think you could classify this as much of a game. The "game", is based on the research of the Japanese neuroscientist Ryūta Kawashima, and in this game, he is a scary floating head that tells you many things. He will most likely give you bad dreams, but he's in there. His research shows that a person's brain is more active when solving a simple puzzle or math problem then apposed to an extremely hard and outrageous one. That's how this "game" was made.

Mr. Kawashima's floating head expects you to train everyday with the fun little mini-games on the training mode. There are a lot of mini games. You have Calculations x20 (20 problems), Calculations x100 (100 problems), Reading Aloud, Head Count, Syllable Count, Triangle Math,
Voice Calculation, and there might be a few others. The floating head would like you to play all of these games daily, but you don't have to. If you play one game, you get a stamp for that day. If you play three games on that day, you get a larger stamp for that day. Believe me, you can't play all of them everyday, it's way too boring and repetitive. Throughout the game, the more stamps you get, the more things you unlock. Usually a mini-game, or a "create your own stamp" feature, or a section where you can read all of the "brain tips" the floating head gives you.

One thing this "game" does is right when you are about to go to training or do a sudoku puzzle, it either asks you to draw a picture of an object it tells you, are answer a question along the lines of "What did you have for breakfast", or "What was the best thing you saw on t.v. yesterday". But usually when you get the questions, later on it asks you what you answered on that question. This can get annoying, but sort of improves your memory.

There is also something called a Brain Age which has its own different test. It contains Stroop Test, Calculations x20, Speed Counting, Connect Maze, and a few others. Once you play three of them, it totals up your Brain Age, best number being 20.

The "game" also has a sudoku section. There are only about 120 puzzles split into three different categories, 40 each. Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. 4 of the puzzles in each are weird training puzzles that require one number to be solved, so really, there are really 108 puzzles (wow, those math courses in school really payed off for this review.) We wish there were more, as you finish these very quickly. Hopefully in the sequel, they can make a random puzzle maker like that new PSP sudoku game.

The "game" takes complete advantage of the touch screen and microphone. You very rarely use any face buttons. All the touch screen. A weird characteristic of the "game" is that it's completely sideways. You must turn your DS to its side in order to play. It's pretty odd. Most of the games use the touch screen, but some of them use the microphone (usually the ones with Voice in its name.) This can be fun, but very annoying as the microphone sometimes doesn't pick up your voice and makes you repeat the same darn thing over and OVER AND OVER! (ok, im good now.) But I like how it uses the touch screen so much.

Overall, this "game" is......alright. It gets so repetitive that you end up only playing it for the first few weeks you have it, then throw it to the side and play the newest DS game. You would probably not make it to more than 3 months on this thing. Very boring. So, Brain Age gets 3 floating heads of a Japanese neuroscientist out of 5. Zam, out.

(Ok, we made that screenshot.)

Tetris DS

It’s time for a review of a remake of that really popular game that made the sky crap blocks on you. No, not Pokemon Dash. That game just was crap. I mean Tetris, duh! So yeah, they remade it on the Nintendo Dual Screen. I know most Tetris remakes suck King Kong’s toes, but this one doesn’t. So, you all know Tetris, and this one of course comes with the original mode, which is always fun. This one comes with a bunch of new modes though, and some of them are almost as much fun as the regular one.

The first 1 is Touch mode, and it basically gives you a bunch of Tetriminos stacked really high and you have to slide them with the stylus to get rid of all the rows. There’s also a puzzle mode with 200 different puzzles that you use the stylus with too and you have to do stuff like get rid of chains of six lines. The regular touch is way better then the puzzle, but definitely not as good as the original Tetris.

The second is just a plain Puzzle mode where they give you a bunch of Tetriminos on the top screen, and you have to use the 3 different Tetriminos you have on the bottom screen to clear the top screen. It’s pretty fun, and there are 200 just like the touch puzzle one so you won’t run out very soon.

And then there’s Mission mode, which fully sucks. You have to do stuff like get rid of 2 rows with a square Tetrimino. It gets really boring really fast, because you do the same stuff over and over. Worst of the 5 new modes.

Then you have Catch mode, which is my favorite of the new ones. You get a brick and there are Tetriminos falling down. You have to catch them and make blocks of 4x4, which explode after 10 seconds. If you take too long to make a block, then you run out of energy and lose. There are also Metroids falling which will eat a bunch of your Tetriminos if you hit one of them. This mode ROCKS BALLS! Definitely the most innovative spin on Tetris I’ve ever seen.

And last is Push mode, which is really good too. You play against an opponent and you have to force the glob of Tetriminos into either the top or the bottom of the shaft, depending on where you are. You do this by blowing up 2 or more lines of Tetriminos. Another great twist on the Tetris gameplay, and it’s really fun. One thing though, if you like monkeys, don’t play this mode. If you lose…. DONKEY KONG FALLS INTO THE FIRE!! Aww how sad. L Poor DK.

Then there’s the multiplayer stuff. And BOY is there a lot. You can play around with your friends with up to 10 people with 1 game card in regular Tetris. Or if you don’t happen to have friends because you play games like Fat Albert eats Twinkies, you can play on the Wi-Fi Connection. You can do 2 or 4 player regular, or 2 player Push mode. Really, really fun.

The only thing Tetris fans might not like about this game is the changes they made to it. Like how they added a hold piece that you can switch with the one that’s falling by pressing one of the triggers. And how you can see up to 6 blocks ahead of what’s falling. Nothing much, but some Tetris addicts might be pissed.

Finally we have to get to the graphics and sound. Well, it’s Tetris, so the graphics are basic. But they added a bunch of retro themes like in Push mode you’re falling through a Metroid level and a spinning character that spins when you get rid of lines. Really, really cool. And then to the sound, it’s just old Nintendo music, but that’s ok.

Verdict: This game rocks. It’s a great puzzle game to go alongside Meteos, and a great twist on Tetris. You need to check this game out, because it gets 4.5 Marios getting dizzy when you pwn the Tetriminos out of 5. Buy it for sure.

What the eff dude #9? Bobo?

X-Men 3: The Last Stand Movie Review

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellan, Famke Janssen, Patrick Stewart, Kelsey Grammar, Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, Aaron Stanford, Ben Foster, Dania Ramirez, Daneil Cudmore, Cameron Bright, Vinne Jones, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn

SPOILER ALERT: THIS MOVIE IS FULL OF IMPORTANT SCENES THAT ARE HARD TO LEAVE OUT OF A REVIEW, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT THE MOVIE RUINED, SKIP THE PLOT SECTION OF THE REVIEW. THANK YOU.

Plot: The movie starts out 20 years ago. Charles Xavier, also called Professor X (Patrick Stewart), is with his very old friend Erik Lensherr, Magneto (Ian McKellan). They are in a small neighborhood going to the house of young Jean Grey. She is a very gifted girl. They go in to persuade her to attend Xavier's School For Gifted Children. They talk a bit and then the story goes 10 years back from the present day (10 years ago) where we join a young boy in a bathroom, hand on his back, crying. His father comes to the closed door and orders him to open it, but he won't. The boy was scraping his back which had wings on it. We then go a few years in the future from today (I know, a bit confusing, it means the near future) where Storm (Halle Berry) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) are in a virtual training course with three students, Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) who can make ice, Kitty Pride, also called ShadowCat (Ellen Page) who can walk through walls, and Colossus (Daniel Cudmore) who can turn into steel. These three are training to be X-Men. They are battling and stuff. Finally, Wolverine finishes the fight and Storm and he think the three students are ready to be X-Men. Just then we join Scott Summer, Cyclops (James Marsden) who is still grieving over Jean's death in the last film. He travels to the dam from the last movie where she died. There he hears voices and all of a sudden, Jean pops up out of the water. They kiss and hug and Cyclops discovers that Jean can now control Cyclops' eye beams. So they kiss a little more, and she opens her eyes scaringly, and next scene. Well anyway, we join the wonderful big blue guy Dr. Henry McCoy, Beast (Kelsey Grammar) who is a cabinet member to the president. The government has captured Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and they are trying to get the location of Magneto. She kills them of course and it taken on a truck. At the school, Storm and Professor X see Beast for a nice reunion. He tells them that a pharmecutical company has developed a mutant power antibody. What this means is is that it takes your mutant powers away if you get injected. Not all mutants are for this. Some mutants have a meeting about this "cure". Mageneto then tries to recruit these mutants for an army to battle the humans over this. Him and his sidekick, Pyro (Aaron Stanford) recruit one named Callisto (Dania Ramirez) who is fast, Arclight who creates shockwaves, Psylocke with telepathic powers, and Kid Omega which had the powers to cover his body in spikes. With these, he's made. They then try to find Mystique who is still on the truck along with a few other mutants. Magneto intercepts the truck and rescues her along with Juggernaut, who's strong, and Multiple Man, who can multiply. But then the guard shoots Mystique with his gun that has needles containing the mutant "cure" and Mystique loses her powers. Magneto leaves her there, nude.

Back at the school, Professor X senses something happened to Cyclops at that lake and sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate. They find Jean lying there in rocks and take her back to the school to treat her. There, Professor X tells Wolverine that Jean has a different personality known as "Dark Phoenix". Professor X is trying to control her so she doesn't wake up as Dark Phoenix. Then later, the professor leaves and puts her under a machine, Wolverine by her side. All of a sudden, she wakes up and almost has sex with Wolverine (go Logan!) Then Wolverine stops her and asks where Cyclops is. She tells him that she accidently killed him, but it wasn't her, it was Dark Phoenix. Then she escapes. She goes back to her old house. Magneto wants to recruit her now, her being so powerful. They both travel there to get her, and Professor X and Jean end up getting into a big mind battle. Jean kills Professor X. He explodes and Wolverine is witness.

Tons of mutants are protesting the mutant "cure". The first mutant vaccinated is planned to be Warren Worthington III, Angel (Ben Foster) who's father invented this vaccine. Angel refuses and flies away.

Back at the school, there is a funeral for Professor X. Everyone is sad. Especially Kitty. So Bobby (Iceman) goes into her room to try to cheer her up. He sees that she has ice skates and takes her to the fountain in front of the school. Rogue is watching out the window, jealous that Kitty is skating with Bobby. So Rogue decides that she wants the mutant vaccine. She wants to touch people.

Magneto takes his mutant army, including Jean Grey, to a forest area. The army discover this area, thanks to Mystique, and they travel there. They find out that all the people that they found on their radar were just copies of Multiple Man.

Magneto and his mutant army are trying to go to Alcatrez Island where the mutant "cure" was created. Magneto moves the Golden Gate Bridge over (AWESOME SCENE) and they are intercepted by the army. The army is now equipped with plastic weapons being that they know if their weapons are metal, then Magneto can take them. Magneto is on the island to capture Jimmy, also known as the Leech (Cameron Bright) who's mutant power is that if you go near him, your mutant power doesn't work. This is how they invented the mutant "cure". But the X-Men are ready. Wolverine, Storm, Beast (to replace Rogue), Kitty (ShadowCat), Iceman, and Colossus. They get on their ship and travel to the island. There, there is an epic battle between Magneto's army, and the army and the X-Men. Kitty needs to go inside to rescue Jimmy (Leech) but is chased by Juggernaut. She finally gets to Jimmy and defeats Juggernaut. Outside, Storm, Beast, and Wolverine find some of the mutant "cure" that were used in the army's guns. They decide the only way to stop Magneto is to give him the cure. They trick him, and he is vaccinated. No more Magneto. Jean Grey then takes over by using her amazing power to destroy everything. Wolverine has no choice, he has to kill her. He does. The war is over, and everyone is safe.

At the end, Beast is promoted in the government. Everyone else is happy and the school is better than ever, Storm taking Professor X's place. Then at the end, Magneto is sitting in a park with a chessboard with metal chess pieces. After being injected with the mutant "cure" the great Magneto is a normal person. He then puts his hand in front of a chess piece, it moves a bit, then credits.

IMPORTANT: When you see X-Men 3, make sure you stay after the credits. There is a special scene that hints a possible X-Men 4. But really, it's a crutial scene.

My View: This movie was great. There's eveything you want in an X-Men movie. It has great Wolverine fight scenes, awesome special effects, more emphasis on the Storm character, and a ton of mutants and their amazing powers. It's awesome to see these powers. Definitely a great movie worth seeing over and over again. Ton and I have been waiting for this one for years, and the wait was worth it. X-Men 3: The Last Stand gets 5 mutants that join Magneto to fight again the mutant "cure", out of 5. Zam, out.

Red Bull Gives You Wings

Mi:3 review

Just thought I'd tell you guys that my Mi:3 review it up on the Divine Opinion.
Check it out.

Thoughts on the Wii Price hints....

So yesterday Zam told you guys about how the Wii is going to be “under $250”. Well, I’ve been thinking, and there are some serious problems with that. They were acting like they were going to wow us with $200 or less, but $250 doesn’t do it. First of all, that’s $50 less then the XBOX 360’s Core System. And of course MS will give us a price drop around X-Mas, which could potentially put the 360 under $250. Not very good for Nintendo, because I think more casual gamers want 360s then Wiis. Also, the 360 has a much larger library already. So what I think we’re looking at is $200 or $150.

And if you think about it, it’s only a supercharged Gamecube, which costs $100. The Wii shouldn’t cost $150 more. Though, if they’re going to make it $250, they could be bundling in a second controller and a copy of Wii Sports. What they could also do is, release it at $250, because all of the people who buy it at launch wouldn’t mind that price, and then in a year when regular people can pick them up, drop it a bit.

The big thing I noticed is, they are aiming for non-gamers, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t see a non-gamer paying more then $150. Even $200 would probably get quite a few people. For some reason, $250 seems like a monstrous amount, but $200 seems okay. Probably because that’s half of the 360’s price and 1/3 of the PS3’s

What really matters for me is the price of the virtual console downloads. If they’re like $1 a game, then I don’t care about $250 for the console. I’m just going to wrap it up with a few final thoughts. I remember Peter Moore saying “You can buy a 360 and a Wii for the same price as a PS3”, so it sounds like if anything, Microsoft might want to work with Nintendo to get Sony out. Smart for MS, because the PS3 is their biggest competition. That’s also good for Nintendo, because it would mean MS wouldn’t be trying to undercut the Wii’s price from the get-go. Well, now I’ll tell you that Nintendo released the Japan price. 25,000 yen. That’s $220 US, and the US consoles are usually a little bit less then in Japan. That cuts out a $250 price. Halleluiah.

One other thing. People are beginning to wonder if the Wii will really be ready in November. I mean, they couldn't even ready a few real Wiis for E3. That could be proof that they're behind. Either that or they want to keep the real Wii firepower secret. If that's true, and it's more powerful then what we saw at E3, damn, the graphics will be great on the final product.

Ton, out.

M$ presents... Office 2007!

So, M$ has finally let us try Office ’07. It’s worth the 400 MB of bandwidth to download it because it’s reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally improved over since the last versions. Heck, even if you don’t care about a new version, you can pretty much get a full version of Office for free, at least for now. It’s a Beta though, so some things are missing, but it’s complete for the most part. Everything’s really shiny and they added tons of features. Also there are no more drop down menu things, just tabs. So, you can get Office 07’ for now for the cost of 400MB of bandwidth. I think it’s worth it. Get it here. You can also check out some other Betas when you sign up for the Office one, like the new Visio and Outlook. And some other good news is, you'll be able to get the 2nd beta of Vista in a couple of weeks. I can't wait.

Ton, out.

Red Steel On Your Wii (Ouch)

Nintendo has shown us plenty of games for their brand spankin' new console, the Wii, but so have some third-party companies. Such as the popular Tom Clancy licenscees Ubisoft with their brand new first person shooter/sword slashing/ fight/ a bunch of other interesting things game. This game looks interesting. We love interesting. Oooooooooh yeah.

Let me tell you a bit about this game. It is set in both the United States and Japan. Yay, overseas superslashin'. Well anyway, you use an ancient art of the katana and a modern arsenal of amazing guns. Great stuff.

Now the big thing is the controls. Of course it is going to use the wonderful Wii-Mote. You will get to swing and block with your sword and aim and shoot with your guns. You will be able to hide behind rocks and such just by a flick of your Wii-Mote. Great Controls.

The graphics are pretty cool. A ton of things in there are destructable and look great. Ubisoft is trying to put gore into the game, but doesn't know yet as it wants to stay to its T rating. Oh well, good either way.

This game looks great and we can't wait to get our hands on it. Look out for this one in November around the launch of the Wii. Zam, out.

No, Not Pokemon!!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Wii's Price Range

It has been confirmed that the Wii will be priced below $250. This is great. Finally a console that is worth buying and at such a reasonable cost. I'm definitely getting one. Well that's all for now as there is pretty much no more news on this subject. Zam, out.

Dun dun dun it's time for THE RETURN OF WEBSITE WEDNESDAYS!

Yeah it’s finally back. The super man of all segments, WEBSITE WEDNESDAYS! It’s been a few months, but WW is back to stay. So I got 3 cool sites for you this week. Yeah… So the first one is called Redferret.net and it’s this weird tech blog. When I say weird, I mean weird. They talk about everything from boot driers to remotes inside teddy bears. It’s weird, but it’s awesome at the same time. If you want another cool blog to check out, hit redferret.net. But don’t stop coming here. That would be bad.

Okay, next is a site that’s cooler then cool beans in a cooler. It’s that cool. It’s called the Divine Opinion. Another blog, and they do book and movie reviews. Doug from The Only Opinion That Counts runs it, and Me from This Blog does some reviews there as well. The reviews we do over there are pretty detailed, but not so much that they get boring like all the other places that do those kind of reviews. Make sure you check it out a few times this week, cuz I’m doing Poseidon, Mi:3, and Da Vinci Code reviews on there that I won’t be putting on GM2 (well, probably not).

So now that you’ve got some cool beans in a cooler, I’m going to wrap it up with a cool photo blog. It’s called “WVS” and they have some of the coolest pictures you’ll ever see over there. This dude by the name of Sam Javanrouh runs it, and he’s really creative when it comes to taking pictures and everything else. If you don’t believe me, try and figure out why he named it “WVS”. It’s SAM turned upside down. That’s pretty cool. He does about 1 pic a day and has about 500 in his archives. My favorite ones are the architecture, cityscapes, and landscapes, but all of them are pretty cool. They’re great pics for your computer’s background if you’re looking for something new. So, that’s all for my SUPER-DUPER Website Wednesdays this week.

Ton, out.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii, Gamecube)

After a year of “One more day” and “I’ll give it to you tomorrow”, Nintendo is finally releasing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. And I’m here to tell you about it… I think. So, this is just your average Zelda game, right? No, it’s on the Wii! Of course, if you’re cheap, you can still get it on the GC, but who would do that? Before I get into the Wii features though, you might want to listen to a story.

So the story seems to have Hyrule being engulfed in some kind of dark force that’s turning everything black and white. Link gets sucked in somehow and turns into a wolf. Yeah, a wolf. There’s also this weird person who rides him when he’s a wolf, but Nintendo hasn’t said who it is. Not much else is out about the story really… One interesting thing is that Nintendo released a picture of Zelda in a funeral dress (Yes, that's Zelda). They said that she’s mourning someone’s death. My only guess is Link, but I don’t think they’re going to kill Link. He makes them too much money. I guess we’ll see in November what happens.

So, yeah, it’s pretty much a regular Zelda adventure game with dungeons and crap like that. ON THE WII! That means you’ll be able to use your bow and arrow, sword fight, and even fish (!), with the Wii-mote. THAT’S SO COOL! But, like I said before… you can always get it on the GC and miss out on all this. Luckily, if you’re that cheap, you’ll only miss out on some graphic improvements and the special controls. That’s all. They’ve also added stuff like horseback fighting, which is really cool.

The graphics look great. Trust me, a dude in a tunic has never looked cooler. Even if you put Mario in a tunic, he wouldn’t look this cool. I’m guessing the sound will probably be just as good as usual too. There’s not much else I can say about TP yet, just that it’s coming sometime in November. Could 6 months pass any slower?

Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (YAY!)

That's right, the very addictive game that keeps you glued to your seat and brings you closer to your lego sets is back, and this time it's about classic movies from the 1970s that we all love. The original Lego Star Wars was a game that took you as Star Wars characters made out of Legos through lego the three Star Wars prequels (for more info on all of this, read my review here or here.) In the game, they had an unlockable that let you play about half of Star Wars Ep. IV, but it wasn't really much. Now they have a new game that takes you on a journey through the original three movies (IV, V, & VI)! This game brings so much more to the table from is predicesor though.

First off, the different movies. As I said, this game takes place through Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of The Jedi (or Revenge of the Jedi for you guys who are like that.) You will be traveling through every planet and play most of the characters from these movies. You now have Leia, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and all of the characters from these movies and over 100 of them are playable.

Speaking of the characters, there is a great new feature. Lego Free Play mode. You can take lego pieces and build your own or take pieces from excisting characters and put them together making characters such as, "Leia Wan Kenobi", "Yodabaca", and many others that you can all use. You can also build tons of pretty, legoey, vehicles that you can only dream of. Your Yoda could be driving in style in his Sith Death Star Escalade, or his Millenium Falconbird. Great new features.

Well all I can say is that I really can't wait for this game. It's going to be great. I hope it is longer than the first one though. Definitely can't wait for this title, hitting the Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, GBA, PC, GameCube, and Nintendo DS this fall. Zam, out.

My Milkshake Brings All The Droids To The Yard

Super. Smash. Bros. Brawl!

I’ve got a great idea for a game…. I’ll call it Super Smash Bros…. I can see it now; you play as all these cool game characters like Solid Snake and Meta Knight and whack each other with big inflatable bats…. Yeah, that’s how it’ll work… Oh, crap, what? It’s already been done? Really? Damn I thought I had something there. Can I preview the new Wii one then? Okay, here goes.

It’s called Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and it’s looking hot. The first thing that’s cool is, it’s on the Wii, so you’ll have the motion control of the Wii-mote to control your dudes, lady dudes, and gelatinous pink balls of mush. Oh wait, what’s that? You won’t be able to? Well, Miyamoto said “don’t throw out your GC controllers yet”, then confirmed that the game will definitely use regular controls because trying to use motion sensing too much can get in the way of a game, which kind of makes this a whole lot less exciting.

But hey, you can get your Wii-mote in on the SSB action! Just go out in your back yard, get a few people, get some Wii-motes [or home-run bats…], and Smash away! And there’s SSB with a Wii-mote for you! So, now that you’ve got your Wii-mote all black and blue, let’s get back to the real game. So, after the disappointment of it not having motion sensing, Nintendo tried to bring the game back up.

First they announced at least 5 new characters: Solid Snake, Meta Knight, Samus without her suit, Wario, and Kid Icarus’ Pit. Wow, they put Solid Snake in. For some reason I don’t think any one saw that coming. I think the original roster is all intact too. Even cooler is the fact that they announced a definite possibility for other 3^rd party characters. That excites me. I mean, they could have Sonic, some of the X-Men, and hell, even Master Chief!

So… what else did they announce… Uhh… Nintendogs are going to be an item in the game. Yeah, you can throw puppies at your enemies. CALL THE FRICKIN’ SPCA! Now that that’s over, I guess I could talk about something else… Finally, they’re adding online to the series, along with a bigger single player. Online!! When this game comes out, I personally invite you all to get pwned by me, online. :-D That just about wraps up this Post E3 preview…. Oh, one last thing. Sadly, SSB Brawl is no longer a launch title, but a 2007 release. It doesn’t really matter though, as no one will have Wiis till ’07. All I have to say now is: Wii will, Wii will, ROCK YOU!

Ton, out.

Please, Sony, stop trying so hard to beat Nintendo and Microsoft

I don't know if any one else noticed, but Sony's stolen a bunch of ideas from the other two next-gen consoles. Sorry, but there's nothing else to post about. First of all, they took the motion sensor from Nintendo. Sure, the Wii's is definitely going to be better, but I don't think Sony should have even tried copying them. It was pretty obvious everyone that liked the idea would get a Wii. Then, they stole the triggers from the 360's controller. They were just like the ones they have on the PS2 one until this E3, where they were the triggers from the 360. I like them, but it isn't going to make me like the PS3 any more. Then last, they took the button from the center of the 360 controller. It's one of the coolest things about the 360's controller, and I don't think Sony has a right to take it. I mean, c'mon, Microsoft and Nintendo came up with the ideas, and they didn't give Sony the right to take them. Isn't that a little un-professional? Theoretically, I bet they could get sued, especially for the motion sensing. Sorry Sony, you're trying too hard, and frankly, you're losing my respect as a console maker.

Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console Preview

At last year's E3 when Nintendo revealed its Wii (then called the Revolution) it announced that you will be able to download classic Nintendo games to your Revolution (Wii). We all heard about this and are all excited. Nintendo has named this feature the Wii Virtual Console. E3 had a few preview shots of the online service and here they are:

E3 Preview Week

We were planning on having a DS week, but since it was just E3 and there were a ton of great games shown, we're going to have an E3 Preview Week first. We'll do at least 7 previews, probably a couple more. A few of them are going to be, Metroid Prime 3, Unreal Tournament 2007, and Gears of War. So, stay tuned this whole week for our Post-E3 party! E3 might be over, but we're just getting started!

Motion Control Mania!!

E3 has shown us the release of the new PS3 controller and some new features of the Wii controller, but they both have on thing in common, motion sensor features. The Wii-mote's sensor feature is used more than the PS3's one, but they are both intact. Let me tell you about them:

Wii-Mote
The Wii-Mote is the controller/remote control that is used to play games on Nintendo's 7th-gen system, the Wii. The controller is motion sensed and that is mainly how you use it. It has a nunchuku style version when you put it with the attachable analog stick. But you guys probably heard about all of this already. Also on the Wii-Mote there is a special speaker to give you double the sound experience. A great controller/remote with great features changing the gaming world forever and showing off Nintendo's orginiality which we all know and love.

PlayStation 3 Controller
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is the latest in the line of Sony's little babies that are making them rich. It is high tech with the latest in processing and graphical chips and the first ever game system to run on Blu-Ray disks. The controller used to be a boomerang design, but after further consideration from Sony execs, they decided to go with the basic, original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 controller style with a few tricks up its sleeve. But we are here to talk about the new motion sensing feature. This is a very limited feature that has only been demonstrated to be used for one game so far titled Warhawk. Warhawk is a remake of the original PlayStation 1 game. It is a 3rd-person shooter that also incorporates flying combat, hence the motion control. You fly the aircraft in the game using the motion control, YAY! This is the only use for the motion control so far, but we are sure there will be much more to compete with the Wii's motion control. But it might not help because of their outrageous prices!

We both feel very sorry for the Xbox 360 for not waiting a little while to find out about the motion control and jump on that bandwagon. Now it's going to be hard to compete with the new consoles for Microsoft with their less technilogically advanced machine and its lack of really cool features and completely free online game play instead of two versions. But they still have time being that the real challenge doesn't start to this November.

So this motion control is definitely going to change gaming as we know it. Ton and I can't wait. Zam, out.

Game Boy, Discontinued?

Is Nintendo discontinuing the world famous "handheld market owner" the Game Boy? It is not sure, but it is sure hinted. In a Reuters interview with Nintendo's Big Plumber Satoru Iwata this past Monday, Iwata had this to say:

I would have a second thought about using our resources on what would be the next generation of Game Boy Advance, considering the strong support DS is now enjoying.

People are thinking they are completely turning the emphasis to the DS and keeping the Game Boy in the background. Especially due to the fact the Game Boy was a no show at the Nintendo booth at E3. Although the discontinuation doubtful because so many games are still being released for it, it is still possible. Zam reporting.

Hands-On with Test Drive Unlimited (PC, 360, PS2, XBOX, PSP.. I think)

When I heard the idea, it sounded awesome. Make a racing game that was Massively Multiplayer. They called it Test Drive Unlimited, and I finally got to play the 360 version. Sadly, I'm a little disappointed. First thing you notice is that the graphics aren't very next gen. The cars look great, but the environments don't. Sure, it's a MMO, but I think they could have made it look a little better. The good thing is there's still a little while to go for it to be done. Once you get past that, you notice a bunch of small things. The fact that you can open the doors on your car, roll down the windows, and own a house is pretty cool. You then pick a car, and you head out. The setting is Hawaii, and frankly, it gets a little bit boring. Everything looks remotely the same. I wish they'd have spread it out a little bit. Maybe one area in Alaska, one in Hawaii, one in France or someplace like that, and one in New York. Anyway. Even though the graphics aren't great, the damage is. It's really fun plowing into other cars and seeing them tear apart. Hmm.. what else? Well, the cars could control a bit better, but they're not horrible. Another thing that pisses me off is the police. Any time you hit a car, even if you graze them by accident, the police radio comes on. And BOY is it annoying as hell. They say the same things about 1,000 times an hour. When they finally decide to come get you, if you hit them and stop to get around a tree, you get caught. Even if their car is off the side of a cliff, a video plays of you getting captured and having to pay a fine. Sadly, there weren't many races available in the version I played. However, there were a few other players on, and I drove along with them, but it wouldn't let me challenge them. So, right now, it's not looking good. However, I have enough hope that the MOOR idea might be awesome, so I'll still give it another chance. I'd love to have a car club with motorcycles and all sorts of cars that cruise around together. So, keep your eyes out if you really like racers, but otherwise, I think you can pass TDU.
Ton, out.

The Wii-motes have speakers. Woot.

Just a small post with some more Wii news. Nintendo announced that their Wii will have a speaker in the remote, which is a cool little touch. What the point is is that in games like shooters or games with bows and arrows, you'll hear the shot fired from the remote then the TV so it sounds like it's moving. I think it's a pretty good idea to make an already cool console even cooler. That's all for now.
Ton, out.

The Wii-mote's breaking out its big guns

IGN predicted it in slightly different form, and it's finally here. THE WII PISTOL! You have no idea how excited I am about this. I mean, c'mon, making a gun attachment for a controller like the Wii's with how many shooters there are now, isn't it a duh kind of thing? Anyway, it's this thing you just slide your Wii controller into that looks like a pistol. It has an analog stick on the back for movement and all the buttons on the Wii controller on top. It's codenamed the Zapper by the way. I was hoping and praying that they'd be smart and make something like this, and well, Nintendo ain't stupid.

Wii Games, Sounds Like Fun

Now with every E3 comes new games and game announcements. The Wii finally revealed some great new games that incorporate its great new sensor controller. In this post, I will tell you about them and some other aspects of the Wii that has to do with the games. Enjoy Wii Mania!

Wii Sports
Ever wanted to play golf or baseball with a small white remote that has a word on it that sounds fun yet wrong at the same time. Well now there is Wii Sports. Wii Sports is a new series of sports games that you do by swinging your Wii remote. The games announced so far are golf, baseball, and tennis. With the Wii remote, this is going to feel awesome and real at the same time. You play the games same as you would if you were really playing, by swinging the remote to represent the racket, or club, or bat. Now the graphics of these games are a bit cartoony and remind me of those Backyard sports games that features those kids playing. But still, this is gonna put a whole new twist on sports games.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Mini-games, the things that make the gaming world go round. If you ask any gamer what the best game for mini-games is, they would have to say any of the WarioWare games, and guess what, they're getting better. WarioWare: Smooth Moves for the Wii is a new edition of the popular mini-game series. This game is going to be based on remote movement. That is how you play the game, of course. From the current screen shots, they look like some classic games mixed with new ones. Over 300 fast-paced games and all you need is a remote. Nintendo is saying it is as fun to watch someone play it than playing it yourself. This is definitely one to check out when the Wii is coming out. Wiiiiiiiiii!

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Hey, wanna save a beautiful princess using a sword that is controlled by a remote? Well here's your chance. I know Ton has been waiting for months and months to find the outcome of this new edition to the series, and today it has been reported. It will be released on the Wii's release date along with a Gamecube edition. The story is the same, if you want to hear about it, check our archives.

Super Mario Brothers Galaxy
Mario has been everywhere and done everything. From playing sports, to battling koopas, to kicking Bowsers a**. Now he's in a new area, outer space!! Yes, Mario is in space and he wants you to control him with your remote. Now I don't want to tell you much about this now because Ton will have a whole post in its own about this title, but it's probably going to be good. We will see.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
This is the latest in the Metroid Prime series. This game is pretty much the same as the other ones, but it is a whole new take on 1st person shooting. We might have a post on this in the future, but for now, it seems to be Metroid Prime: Hunters with a remote. Probably good though.

Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
In the future, robots are destorying the United States. Only one thing can save them, a cyborg, carrying a giant hammer! Project H.A.M.M.E.R. is a game that has you playing a cyborg with a giant hammer. You, of course, control this hammer with your remote and smash all of the enemies you can. Sounds great and takes complete advantage of the remote.

Disaster: Day of Crisis
Natural disasters, such horrible things, but what about when a ton of them all attack the United States at once, and you need to survive. You get Disaster: Day of Crisis for the Wii. You have to swim, drive, run, and other things to get away from these, all using the remote. Can you survive?

Excite Truck
Liked ExciteBike? Then you're gonna love ExciteTruck. It's pretty much the same thing but with a truck. You control the truck with your remote and drive on jumps on mud paths. Sounds like fun and with this remote control system, it ought to be.



And the disk will look somewhat like this:

Well, that's all from Wii Game News, stay tuned for more Wii Mania.

New poll about E3

Well, we had the design poll up for a week, and it looks like we'll be keeping the logo on the sidebar. That means it's time for a new poll. Since we're pretty much done with the hardware news from E3, the question this week is "What system are you most excited about after seeing all the news from E3?" Hit it up down below the Links section on the sidebar.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!! A SNES Style Wii Controller!

Wiiiiiii, Nintendo has decided to give a tribute to (one of my favorite consoles) their old console the Super Nintendo (also called the SNES, Super NES, and Super Mario Playing Machine 2.) This controller is sweet. It's sleek and white and takes you back to the old-school gamer days. Yes, those days when games were just starting to look awesome and there were mostly 2D games. Back when people had to stock up thinking Earth was going to explode in 2000. Well people, the Earth didn't explode, but Nintendo's popularity has. This controller will mostly be used for the games downloaded from The Wii's "download 20 years of Nintendo games" internet thing (yeah I know, I almost forgot too.) But it is also for gamers that don't want to move their hands everywhere to move a camera, they just want the old analog stick style. They're calling it the Wii Classic Controller. No sensors, but it has pretty buttons. So it is a bit classic. And it is a bit overcrowded, but awesome. And it says Wii!! So that's all from the Wii now, stay tuned for more Wii News.

PS3 Online, IT'S FREE!

After the PS3 price announcement that made you sell your car and your sofa [*sniffle* I loved that sofa], they're trying to get forgiveness. It could possibly work too, because they're giving you their XBOX Live clone for free! Sure, if you don't use online, this is lima beans to you, but if you do, this could make up for the price of the PS3. Think about it. They're saying 5 years for the 360 and PS3, so instead of buying 5 years of XBOX Live, you pay $600 and get free internet. I guess that'll make up for the high price. Though, not everyone uses online.... Ah well, good move Sony.

Note: Yeah, the pic sucks. Couldn't find a better one with the new controller though. Sorry.

E3 Mania: Halo 3 Announced!!! And A Teaser Trailer!!

That's right, the long rumored game has been announced and a trailer has been released. This game was rumored so many times saying it wasn't going to be made, but we knew it was. The graphics have been revamped and look incredible. The short teaser trailer hints that this is the end of the world (oh, like we haven't heard that before.) But seriously, if anyone can make the topic of the world exploding, its the Halo series. At the end the little hologram girl says, "This is how the world ends." So, its gonna happen. The game is gonna be the best seller of 2007, definitely. Halo 2 blew everyone's mind away, now imagine Halo 3. This is going to be awesome. This game just deserved its own post.

Watch Trailer : Download Trailer

News will be coming in and we will post all day, so stay tuned to GM2.

Nintendo's DS press conference

Nintendo had their DS press release today, but nothing much came out of it except the games though. So I’ll hit on the big games right now:

First we got Diddy Kong Racing DS. Didn’t get much out on this one yet, but it’ll probably hit the floor tomorrow. Judging by how good Mario Kart DS was, and the fact that this will probably be somewhat like it, I bet we got something good headed our way.

Then there’s DK: King of Swing DS, which is a sequel to the GBA game that had the motion sensors. Could be cool, I don’t know.

Now, DS Air looks interesting, but not in a good way. It’s a flight sim for the DS, which knowing flight sims, would be even more complicated then the DS racing games, which have all sucked. I’d just like to see how they’re planning on doing the controls.

Then there’s a new Kirby game that doesn’t have a name yet. It’s going to give Kirby a ton of new copy abilities. And there will be a bunch of minigames. Not much else known, but something to keep our eyes on.

And of course we have Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Apart from what was already known, they announced that almost all of it will be stylus driven, which pwns. They also said it will have a 2-player race kind of game.

Next up is Mario Hoops 3-on-3 coming on September 11^th. Pretty obvious what it is, the question is, how will it control?

Just a few more left. Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is action-puzzle hitting September 25th. Not much on it, except that you’ll be able to make your own maps and use them on Nintendo Wi-Fi, which is a nice addition.

I see something about a Yoshi’s Island 2, but no details, which sucks. Stay tuned to see if anything comes out on that one.

Last game we got is Starfox DS. Pretty much the 3D shooter that Metroid Hunters is, but with Starfox and the ability to fly Arwings. Just like most of the other games announced, it’s got the Wi-fi connection. Sadly, if it’s got the same controls as Metroid, I won’t be getting it.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Brothers in Arms is a great WW2 series, and they’re headed next-gen. Now, if you’ve ever played one of the BiA games, you know they’re all tactical, and Hell’s Highway isn’t changing that. It sure as hell is changing a lot though. And let me tell you. It's all good. The setting is Market Garden, which if you don’t know, is in the middle of the Normandy invasion.

The setting isn’t what’s so cool though. The graphics and gameplay are. You can check the screens for the graphics. Amazing, eh? I know. Not only are they focusing on the actual people and gun graphics, but they’re working on shadows and other small things, that when brought together, make an amazing sense of realism.

They’re also adding something called “Bro-mo moments”. I guess it’s like slow-mo….. but bro… what exactly is “bro” speed anyway? Ohhhh!!!! “Bro-mo” is when you see little videos while you’re in the game, like in the trailer when you catch the soldier who gets shot. They’re redesigning the online as well, doing things like making more people be able to play in a single game. Not much else is known yet. Now I’ll explain the trailer if you don’t’ feel like dl-ing it.

It opens with a little WW2 footage about Market Garden, then goes smoothly into gameplay. The coolest part is when you advance into a street and these Germans attack from in a shop. One of your team-mates gets shot, and you catch him (Bro-mo). You then tell your team to lay fire down on the store, yell “SON OF A BITCH”, throw a grenade in, and watch the building explode. Yeah, the building almost comes apart. Brick, wood, and dust all fly out, which looks great. The same thing happens later when you’re going through a field. You shoot some clothes on a clothes-line and the bullets go through, killing a german. It also shows someone shooting up a shed, with all of the boards falling off, one… by one. It’s 1000 kinds of beautiful. Just like when the tank rolls over a jeep, making a screeching noise and slowly crunching it in.

You should really just dl the trailer actually. The cool thing is, the studio says that’s at least what the game will look like, maybe even better. I bet you want to after what I just told you about it. It’s coming in Q4, so keep watching.

Trailer - "BiA: Hell's Highway Official Trailer 1" is the one I watched

Guess what? Sony didn't tell us what's really going on with the different PS3s

After getting some people happy that they're releasing a $500 PS3 with only 40GB less storage, they've just pissed those people off too. I mean, 40GB of storage doesn't cost $100. So, Engadget happened to stumble upon the real specs. Guess what? You miss a hell of a lot for $100 less. First, you don't get Wifi internet. Second, no memory card reader. And probably the most rage-inducing thing, no HDMI cables. That means that you're paying for the Blu-Ray player but you won't be able to get HD out of it. If that isn't a rip off, I don't know what is. Considering they didn't announce this in the press conference, I bet this will spawn some lawsuits. More trouble for Sony. And you know what? For not telling everyone this, they deserve it.
I mean, come on, if you're not going to make the Blu-Ray HD usable, then why bother? Make a version for $350-400 without Blu-Ray and one for $600 with it.
Also, another disappointment, the new PS3 controller won't have vibration because it "messes up the motion sensor". If that's what it does, how does the Wii have it?
If I don't buy a PS3 now, it'll probably be because Sony lied about this. And this basically means you have to get the $600 one to really use the PS3 for what it's supposed to be. Microsoft did it right, they released a lesser version, then they released a better one with some add-ons. Unlike the 360's Hard drive, Sony is making a lesser one without something that can't be added later, an HDMI port.
And Microsoft didn't lie.
So many questions, and I don't think Sony will be answering them.
I just have to say, Goodbye Sony.

Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3, 360)

Why is Sonic the first game we preview from E3? Because he's blue, furry, and as of today, very, very shiny. This year is Sonic's 15th anniversary and Sega's celebrating with a next-gen Sonic game. Slated for release around the PS3's launch, it'll hit you on PS3 and 360. I don't have to tell you that it's going to look good, because you can tell from the screenshot. See? Sonic's shiny! It looks like he had a growth spurt too. He is turning 15 though, so it makes sense.

First of all, you need to watch this video if you like Sonic. Me telling you or showing you screens doesn't do it justice. Either dl it on your 360 from Live or get it off the net. But if you're too ignorant do that..... In the video released, they also show a princess and a white hedgehog. No, they're not Princess Peach and Frosty the Snowman. The princess's name is Elise, and she's the protector of the seaside town of Soleanna, where the game is based. Eggman then starts this big really stupid and evil plan and kidnaps Elise, and of course Sonic goes after her. That's as far as Sega's going to tell us for now, except that the albino hedgehog is out to kill Sonic.

To the gameplay part, Sonic's got his pimpin' moves from the other games, along with some new ones like being able to ride eagles, and a skid attack. Also, like the old 2D Sonic games, there will be a couple of paths through each level, which is definitely good to hear. They also added the ability to do sort of chores for people around the town, and travel to different towns. Somehow this reminds me of Sonic Adventure.... and it didn't work too well in that game. They pointed out that it will be much better then Sonic Adventure. Damn! I thought I had something I could laugh at them about. Ah well.

More good news is that you'll be able to play as the albino hedgehog, which sure as hell sounds fun. And before I close, Sega had one last trick up their sleeve. Online play! If they come through on it, I can't imagine how awesome that would be. Now it's time to wait until later in E3 to see more on it. My only thing is that like the last 3D Sonic games, there's a big chance that this one will suck. Let's hope not.

Gameplay trailers on Gamespot