Sauer Reviews

Updates coming soon

Raul Duke — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:56:00 GMT

Sauer's knee deep in his new PS3 and Metal Gear. Duke is newly single and struggling through a very dry season for games. Here's a couple super quick wrap ups:

Wii review Boom Blox:

Easily the most sensitive and well designed use of the Wii Remote yet. This game is the new go to party game for Wii owners, but single players should steer clear as the single player campaign isn't so hot. A huge amount of variation to the party modes will keep players busy for a long time to come.

Xbox 360 review Tomb Raider Anniversary:

I LOVED Tomb Raider Legend. It was fun, smartly designed and hard to put down. Anniversary falls well short of that for me. It just seemed uninspired, and honestly I got stuck on a couple levels because the puzzles just weren't intuitive. If you've got a hankering for Lara Croft, check out Anniversary or wait for the next one. Skip Anniversary.

More updates upcoming.

Duke

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Xbox 360 Review: CSI: Hard Evidence

Raul Duke — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:23:00 GMT

I was surprised by Bully. I wasn’t by CSI: Hard Evidence. It was exactly what I expected it to be, a barely mediocre game who’s stories were compelling enough to want to finish, and game play barely an afterthought in the design process. CSI: HE is a point and click game where you take the place of a nameless, faceless newbie at CSI’s Las Vegas offices who goes along on missions with 5 of the main characters from the show. You travel from crime scene to interrogation, moving your cursor around until it changes colors or asking EVERY SINGLE dialogue option until you can’t ask anything else. You also spend time in the lab, matching prints or DNA or piecing together broken things… but all this becomes moot when you realize you can’t lose. You can’t say anything or do anything to actually lose the game, and there are an unlimited number of “hints” which spell out exactly what to do at any time. Clearly, challenge wasn’t an issue for the designers.

It’s the easiest 1000 points I’ve gotten, and I would have felt kinda dirty getting them if the story wasn’t compelling…but it kinda was. It was a whole lot like watching 5 episodes of the story unfold…slowly and with lots of unnecessary looking around... I couldn’t help but get sucked into the whodunit plots, especially since they each last just over an hour. The game is rated M for good reason. The second case has you grabbing DNA samples off used condoms for instance.

Still, aside from the easy points or decent story there's not much reason to play CSI: Hard evidence. Come to think of it… just rent a DVD of the show. Save yourself the 5 hours unless you’re obsessed with the series or you gamerscore.

Grade : D

Duke

Oh and while I didn’t play it on the Wii, I’d imagine it would be easier to “play” with the wii remonte, and the graphics are PS2 quality as it is…

Boom Blox is on its way from Gamefly as is Tomb Raider Anniversary. Reviews forthcoming.

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Xbox 360 Review: Bully Scholarship Edition

Raul Duke — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:40:00 GMT

Having just finished GTA IV, I wasn’t exactly excited to see that Gamefly sent me Bully: Scholarship Edition, a title that was pretty far down my list, but happened to be immediately available. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed Bully, so much so that I found myself playing it for hours at a time each night until I finished the game. It’s one hell of a fun game, but is certainly a flawed experience.

Many of the reviews for this game spoke of crippling bugs, game freezing, achievement’s not unlocking and other problems like that. I’m happy to say the patch that Rockstar has released solved those problems. I had zero freezes and every achievement unlocked immediately when it should have.

The basic premise is this: You’re a misfit kid named Jimmy who has been expelled from school after school, comes from a broken home and loves to rumble. Your mother drops you off at Bullworth Academy, a sort of reform school, on her way to her 7^th honeymoon and you’re tasked with attending classes and completing all sorts of missions. These missions take place all over campus, as well as in the three surrounding areas of town. The game is not nearly as large as GTA games, but the level design is clever and varied from area to area, so much so that you’ll find yourself completely disregarding the map after a few hours because you know the best ways around town by sight.

The mission structure is similar to that of GTA, a yellow circle will appear somewhere on the map and once you step in the mission begins. A big difference is the fact that the missions are varied, much more so than in GTA games. You rarely repeat the same type of mission more than once (unless you count the optional errands, which still don’t really repeat) and find yourself doing something new and fun each time. Oh and another thing, there are MID-MISSION CHECKPOINTS! It’s hard to believe that Rockstar did this for Bully, but didn’t for GTA, but they certainly did… Anyway… An added layer of complexity is introduced depending on how you play the game. If you choose to take on missions during school time (9:00-11:00 am and 1:30-3:30 P.M), your “trouble meter” is partially filled as you are involved in truancy. If a teacher on campus sees you, they will chase after you and if they catch you, you’ll be dragged into whichever class is currently in session. Of course you can run away and hide in lockers, trashcans or other places and you can choose to mash on the Y button to punch the authority figure in the balls and run away. The more trouble you cause, the more your trouble meter fills and the harder it is to escape from authority figures. But the thing is it’s not a bad thing to get caught most times. You’re only punishment is losing some of the items you have in your inventory, but the items are so easily replenished, you’ll never bat an eye. Plus, going to class is a real treat.

There are a slew of different classes, ranging from English to Chemistry, Art to Shop, Music to Biology and more. Every class involves you playing a mini game of some sort in order to pass that particular level. Each class has 5 levels and you are rewarded greatly for completing classes. For instance passing Geography will cause your map to be filled with more and more helpful information, including the locations of every ‘hidden’ item in the game, making the 100% achievement much easier to get, and honestly a ton of fun. There aren’t an enormous amount of silly hidden packages (like finding 200 pigeons), only 75 rubber bands and 40 Grottos and Goblins cards, and just during the course of the game you’ll have found 75% of them by exploring a bit. Passing English class makes it easier to score with the ladies and increases the health bonus you get for kissing the girls (or boys). Each of the mini games is well designed (although very easy), with one notable exception. The Shop class is broken, you find yourself having to guess what the next motion will be because it will fail you before you even see what you’re supposed to do.

The graphics are dated, clearly looking like spruced up PS2 graphics, and having just finished GTA IV, it was even more noticeable. The camera also gets stuck at times. These technical problems are bothersome, but I’ve come to expect them from Rockstar. Rockstar did a fine job with all of the voice acting. The cut-scenes are well done and the in game dialogue and comments you hear from other students and townfolk are hilarious. For some great laughs, dress in a silly outfit and just walk around, listening to the hundreds of comments and insults people will throw at you as you go about your business.

There is an amount of customization of your clothing is staggering, but a little shallow. You can dress yourself in thousands of combinations of clothing (everything imaginable) but the outfits will either be seen as “good” or “bad” by other people, which affects their comments to you on the streets and whether or not the gals and guys will make out with you.

There are a few ways to get around campus and town: on foot, skateboard, bicycles, Mopeds and eventually Go-Karts. Skateboarding is annoying since any time you try to turn, you get thrown off course and the camera goes a bit wonky and every time you touch a curb or go from one terrain to another, you get thrown off course again. Very frustrating, especially when you’re trying to get somewhere in a certain time limit.

The challenge level is also a bit disappointing. This game is EASY, so easy that I don’t think I failed more than 4 or 5 missions and 1 class during the entire game, and each of those were because of technical issues rather than difficulty. There’s a TON of stuff to do, but with it being so easy, it’s pretty easy to finish the game in 25 hours and get 100% completion in 30 or so, and that’s taking your sweet time (The Carnival can be a big time waster, as can the 4 different arcade games).

Bully is a wonderful way to spend a week or two. The missions are varied, the story is quite funny and there is a lot to do that’s actually worth doing. However the technical issues, dated look of the game and difficulty (or lack thereof) make it a rental rather than a purchase. I’d suggest not playing it back to back with GTA IV though, as too much open world gaming is bad for the brain. I’m craving a nice linear game. I’ve got CSI at the house for the little lady, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I timed out sending back Bully just enough that I’ll be rocking Ninja Gaiden II by week’s end.

Score: B-

Mahalo,

Duke

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XBLA Review: Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One

Raul Duke — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:59:00 GMT

Ever since Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One was announced, I’ve been waiting with bated breath to play it. I’m not a Penny Arcade fanatic, although I do take an hour or so a month to scroll through weeks and weeks of their strips, but knowing that a turn-based RPG with a sense of humor would be available got me excited. When it finally arrived, I downloaded it immediately and dove right in.

Right off the bat, the art style jumps off the screen, looking much like an animated version of their comic strip. A wonderful bonus is the fact that you start off creating a character (with a rather limited creation system), which is then fully integrated into the game’s cut-scenes. It’s a real treat to see your own creation so well represented in the story, and that explains why there aren’t a ton of options for customizing your character. The graphics are crisp and the animation is consistently fluid, making it really seem like you’re getting a polished game.

The gameplay is a mixture of active time battle and turn based RPG elements. Although that might turn off some gamers, rest assured the battles require precise timing and constant attention (especially if you’re trying for all the achievements). There are also special attacks which require a quick button pressing mini-game in order to be properly executed, adding a little more depth to the fighting system. The fighting system isn’t exactly deep, but for a turn based game, it keeps you engaged and doesn’t get tiring throughout the 3 major stages of the game.

One of the places the game suffers most is in the sound department. There is a narrator at the beginning of the game, but he disappears after the first stage, and that’s the end of the voice acting. There are very few sound effects, and this is most noticeable during battles, where you’ll hear the same 4 or 5 sounds over and over again. The soundtrack is impressive, and doesn’t grate on you, but it’s not enough to cover for the rest of the audio-deficiencies. Another negative aspect is the lack of any type of store to buy items. Instead, you are forced to break box after box after box to find items (although enemies drop them as well). Also, the level-up system is a little simplistic and totally automatic, there are no new weapons, only upgrades and there aren’t very many item types.

But the real selling point of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One is the story, and it’s a wonderful one. Although the creators don’t exactly break new ground with the overall plot, their unique sense of humor shines through in every aspect of the game, from the character designs, to the dialogue and item descriptions. This is probably the funniest game I’ve played since Psychonauts, and the humor doesn’t trail off at the end like in Psychonauts. You definitely do not need to be a fan of (or even have read) Penny Arcade to enjoy this game. There are certainly quite a few inside jokes, but they are normally relegated to signs in the background or lines the NPCs will state, so the uninitiated won’t feel left out.

At 1600 Microsoft Points ($20), PAAOTRSPODEO is the priciest XBLA game yet, and it’s the biggest stumbling block for most people I’ve talked to. Hearing that a 4-6 hour game is running twenty bucks seems to turn people off, but how many non-puzzle games are there on LIVE that have that much original content? Not many. And it’s a disappointment when the game is over, but not the kind of disappointment where you wish you could take your points back, it’s the kind where you wish you could play the next episode right away. There are only 3 main stages (with two smaller stages where very little happens aside from a tutorial) but they are each totally unique and allow for a good bit of exploration (especially for achievement whores like me) Bottom line, it’s definitely worth the money if you enjoy the humor (check out the demo to be sure), enjoy a good turn based RPG or like to try something different now and again. With so many people complaining about the amount of utter crap on XBLA, it’s nice to see a game like PAAOTRSPODEO come along and silence them (until the next Sudoku game shows up).

If you’re reading this blog, you’ll most likely enjoy the humor of PAAOTRSPODEO (not that we’re anywhere near as talented as they, just we tend to skew on the darker/more cynical side of humor) and shouldn’t hesitate downloading the game. It’s short, but not too short where you don’t get your money’s worth. I can’t wait till Episode Two.

Score: B+

Duke

Oh and an unrelated side comment: Rather than de-list underperforming games to de-clutter the system, isn’t it about time for a complete overhaul of the store system? It’s just too big to keep it like it is, having to scroll through hundreds of pages of stuff, not knowing what most of it is, and having to wait for a slow scroll on the right side of the screen to give you a poorly written description is not going to cut it anymore. It’s Time for a redesign Microsoft! I hear you’ve got a few guys that work on this kind of stuff, so how about putting it into the Fall Update?

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40 hours in Liberty City.

sauer — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:20:00 GMT

By now most of you have read some of the extremely positive, perfect 10/10 GTA4 reviews by the gaming press. I'm not hear to tell you that GTA4 doesn't deserve high scores. It does, but is it really flawless? Not even close. The truth is GTA4 has plenty of faults that have haunted the series since the series first went 3D on the PS2. So instead of repeating every other review of the game, I've decided to focus on the problems with GTA4. Once again, GTA4 is an excellent and epic gaming experience, one that will definitely go down with the greatest, but there is always room for improvement.

To me, the bulk of the games problems can be summed up quite easily in the last mission of the game. It's the kind of mission that will force controllers to be thrown, and hair to be pulled out. Not because of it's difficulty, but because of game's various gameplay problems. When you finally finish it, you'll not only be glad it's over, you may never want to pick up the game again. Without going into spoilers here is a list of the problems with the last mission, that also happen to be the the weakest aspects of the GTA4 experience.

- No Checkpoints - This is a biggie. GTA4 now allows you to restart missions almost instantly if you have failed them, which is a huge plus over the older games. The problem? You'll be playing all of these missions from the beginning every time, and if you died, with less ammo, armor, and money. This isn't a huge issue in the earlier, shorter missions, but once you are further in the game and you start playing missions that can take up to 20 or 30 minutes it becomes a major annoyance. This is partly because of the chaos of the GTA open world universe. After gunning down 30 or so criminals, and making an escape for it, you may be forced to loose your police wanted level. This can be either extremely easy, or frustratingly difficult depending on a lot of factors. Playing through an entire mission only to fail because of a stupid random accident is maddening. Particularly if your mission involves one of....

- Too many scripted Chase Missions (lack of variety) - Ok, I understand that GTA4 is a bottom-line racing game. I mean Auto IS in the title. That doesn't change the fact that there are way too many chase missions. Sure there are some real stand outs, but in most cases these scripted events are too long and drawn out. In the past GTA games, most missions could be won by killing your target quickly. In GTA4 you are forced to continue the chase until a scripted event occurs. That means, if I am chasing some guy on a motorcycle and blast him with a rocket launcher, he will still get right up and keep riding until the game lets me kill him. This does give the game a more cinematic feel by allowing triggered events to happen, but if you do end up restarting the mission for the third time you won't be as excited to see a truck loose it's cargo in the street.

It's also fair to say that the game lacks variety in it's mission structure. Out of the 94 missions I completed, I would say only 20-30 of them were really memorable or different. Occasionally during a mission some cool and unique gameplay will pop up, but for some reason these are one-time only affairs. Why the developers didn't use these new gameplay ideas more often is baffling. Considering that the..

- Game is just TOO big for it's own good. - This could be debated by many, but 40 hours in GTA4 is about 20 hours too long. Of course, that's how long it took me to beat the game, there is still a good 10-20 hours of gameplay left to be had. The story may start really strong, when Nico is a sentimental stranger, but soon after the games first big event, the story flatlines. You'll stop making friends, and start working for scumbags. While you are encouraged to hang out with the old gang now and then, the lack of missions with them actually weakens the overall narrative. When you do hang out, you'll be forced to do the same 5 things, which gets boring in the first few hours. You'll end up dreading hanging out with your needy friends and girlfriends. Not to mention the city is so large, eventually you won't even bother driving to pick them up. Taxi's are the game's greatest salvation, in an time conscious, oversized city. Driving becomes too monotonous to be fun. Which is kind of sad when it's the main gameplay mechanic. When things finally come to a close you'll probably hate these "friends" more then love them. The story conclusion also lacks the emotion and promise set up by the introduction for this very reason.

I didn't even mention the overly complex controls, buggy cover system, and numerous technical glitches. Mainly because they are much improved over the previous generation's iterations. GTA4 may not be the best racing, shooting, boating, action,drunk driving, dating sim, bowling, and online game, but the sum of it's parts greatly outweigh the negatives. It really is the best open world game ever created.

So after 40 hours in Liberty City, I am officially ready to take a vacation. Maybe I'll be back for the promised DLC, maybe not. I'm sure my friends will miss me a little more then I'll miss them.

My score: 9.4/10.0 - An Epic journey, weakened by it's own enormity and dated gameplay mechanics. Still a must buy/play.

PS - If you want to read everything that GTA4 does right click HERE

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Wii Fit Review (Kinda)

Raul Duke — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:46:00 GMT

Now that the hype has settled a bit and it’s getting easier to find Wii-Fit in the stores, it’s about time to examine whether or not it’s worth the $90 to pick it up.

The short answer: No, at least not yet.

My biggest problem with Nintendo this generation is the fact that they’re selling everyone on potential, what the system might do or could do, not totally on what it’s currently doing. As far as I’m concerned, there are only about 5 games on the Wii that are totally worth owning: Mario Galaxy, Zelda, Metroid, Wii Sports and Zach & Wiki. That’s not a bad list at all, especially seeing the Wii isn’t very old, but for a system that’s selling so amazingly well to not have any AAA games on the horizon is pretty concerning. Smash Bros, Mario Kart (although to be honest I’ve yet to play for more than a few minutes) and now Wii Fit are all out now, and they’re all straddling the line between good and mediocre. I'll save the longer rant on unfulfilled potential for a later time, but try to remember all the things we've been told about the Wii: like how great it will be for FPS, how 1-1 movement will be possible, how hardcore fans won't be alienated and how shovel-ware won't make up the bulk of the games. It's still to early to come to conclusions about each of those things, but trends are starting to develop, and as the amount of Wii units sold (to, lets face it, more casual users) goes up... rant over, i'll continue it in another article

Let’s focus on Wii Fit now. First off, that balance board is AMAZING. It’s extraordinarily sensitive, works great on any surface I’ve tried (including thick carpet) and seems very well built. There is no doubt that Wii Fit is very entertaining. Each one of the balance games (like Ski Slalom, Soccer, Table Tilt, Penguin Slide and my personal favorite Ski Jump) is extremely fun, as are most of the aerobics exercises (Hula Hoop and Rhythm Boxing in particular). The strength training exercises are just that, things like push ups (with side planks), lunges, rowing squats, each with a balance component telling you if you’re doing the exercise properly and for the correct amount of time.

One of the biggest problems is the fact that each exercise must be selected individually. The lack of a play list or workout plan is really crippling for a game which is supposed to help people get more active and lose weight. Each exercise takes a certain amount of time (depending on the difficulty), then you’re forced to stand around for a few minutes and select the next one. Not exactly ideal conditions for most people trying to get into shape; get your heart rate up for 5 minutes, then stand around for 2 or 3 trying to get the next exercise started. There are a few other problems, but they’re mostly nitpicky, like the trainers’ voices being extremely grating, their lips not moving and the constant use of BMI to measure progress.

The thing Wii-Fit is probably best at is Yoga. Yoga exercises are all about balance, and the incredibly sensitive balance board really helps you get into the proper positions and keep them. Short of having a personal trainer in your house to check out your posture, it’s the best thing for yoga, and the Wii-Fit is certainly worth it for avid Yoga-philes.

While most of the exercises will certainly make you sweat, it’s hard to imagine it’s enough to get kids to get off the couch and lose weight. But, being the avid gamer who can certainly lose a few (read about 30) pounds; I’m going to give it a shot and report back to the site with weekly updates. Starting June 1, I’ll be using the Wii Fit for 30-45 minutes a day, switching back and forth between balance, aerobics, strength and yoga to see if it truly can make any difference.

Until then though, I can’t really recommend dropping $90 on this thing. Resist the temptations of “This future game is going to be balance board compatible” and “Wouldn’t it be awesome to see this game become compatible with the Balance Board?” because truth is, it’s highly unlikely that any games will require the Balance Board (why limit your audience) and those controls will be tacked on. I hope to god I’m wrong about that, because there truly is potential behind the balance board (Ski, Snowboard, Surfing, Skating, Time Crisis, etc) there’s just not enough right now to justify spending nearly half of what the system cost you in the first place to get a game which will, most likely, be put aside after a month or so. I’m keeping optimistic that I’m wrong about this (especially since I own it) and I’ll certainly know more in a month or two. Hell, if this thing can help me drop 6-10 lbs in a month, I’ll reverse my whole thinking.

Preliminary Grade: C +

Mahalo,

Duke

Coming up soon: Penny Arcade XBLA Review (Hint: Buy it)

SAUER's Thoughts: I find it extremely ironic that my Nintendo called me fat yesterday. Not that it's lying, I've probably put on about 30lbs since my wedding four years ago. I just think that it's funny that the machine that causes me to sit on my ass for hours looking for every last star in Mario Galaxy or heart container in Zelda has the nerve to tell me I'm borderline obese. Not only that, but they made my cute little Mii that took an hour to create look like Chunk from the Goonies. How dare they!!

Really though, the most upsetting thing about getting called overweight by WiiFit is the lack of realistic exercise activities to actually loose it. I'm not sure if I was just doing something wrong, but after almost an hour of Wii Fit game time (which is almost an hour and a half of real time selecting menus) I barely worked up a sweat. What Nintendo has done right, is create a new gimmick for us fanboys and soccer moms to salivate over. Will it really work? Definitely not on it's own. If I spent the same time at a gym working out as I did with Wii Fit I probably would have gotten a much better workout.

Still, Wii Fit is fun, and is still a game. Something that is much more appealing to me then walking on a treadmill for 45 minutes. Yoga and Strength training are the real workouts here, and work well as long as you don't cheat. The Aerobic and Balance games do very little, that couldn't be done somewhere else with more benefits. Of course, they are also the activities that are the most fun. Running in place for 10 minutes is made entertaining with the help of various Mii's running beside you. It's nice to see even Cookie Monster enjoys a good jog in the park.

Is it worth $90? That's hard to say. Potentially, yes. Right now, Im not so sure. What you should come to realize is just how expensive work out gimmicks actually cost. my wife recently bought a set of workout tapes that were $140, so in that instance this is a bargain. If you don't count the $250 system you have to play it on, and that it probably won't warrant the same results. In a year from now the balance board will either be downstairs with the rest of my game controllers or collecting dust in a closet. Let's hope developers can figure out just how to use this new and cool Nintendo gadget to it's fullest potential.

SAUER

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Geeks, Soccer Moms and Wii Fit

Raul Duke — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:23:00 GMT

Just a quick story/update for the site (more coming very soon, we PROMISE). Sauer and I are admitted Nintendo fanboys (One a little more so than the other) and of course got swept up into the Wii Fit hype. The problem is, we didn't get excited about it until very recently, thus neither of us pre-ordered it. Of course, that didn't stop us from wanting it day one, so I woke up at the crack of 9 or so and began my foray into the wild and wonderful world of soccer moms that is the Wii Fit launch day.

Got to a Toys R Us at 9:30 (which was when they opened according to an out of date website listing) and saw a line of 20 people in line, each and every one a middle aged woman with a wedding ring, most speaking of their excitement over Nintendo getting their horrible little children off the couch and moving for once. I kept quite for a while, listening to the crazy amounts of strange misinformation being tossed around about the current state of video games. I wasn't here to flex my geek cred to a group of bored housewives and would have been perfectly fine with remaining silent and firing beams of hate in their general directions. Then one insanely attractive housewife spoke up, taking on the silly claims of over the top nudity in games like Mass Effect, dispelling that old Laura Croft nude code myth and even talking about gaming sites like Kotaku. My icy cold heart melted a little when she admitted she was an avid gamer in line for herself, not her hell-spawn of a child, and we exchanged gamertags like the mega geeks we are, promising to murder one another in Call of Duty 4 at some point in the near future.

A few minutes later a zombified store employee came out and said they only had 12 units to sell to those without pre-orders so the hunt was on for the rest of us. Gamer Mom let me know she'd already been to 3 Target stores which were sold out, so I drove around to about 5 different stores finding out that I was just a little to late at each and every one of them. Wii Fit mania is in full effect and I found myself hating bored housewives more and more by the second. Just as I was going to give up, I stopped in a Walmart store and managed to grab the last two copies (one for myself, one for Lt. Sauer) much to the chagrin of the middle aged boar standing behind me.

(Please note this is not a picture of either of us. We only wish we were this awesome)

Expect our impressions pretty soon, as well as a couple GTA IV reviews (now that we've both finished the game), some Live Arcade reviews (Assault Heroes 2, Pinball FX, and Penny Arcade) and probably more pointless stories like this one.

Mahalo,

Duke

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Radiohead 05/05/08 - setlist with some quick thoughts.

sauer — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:24:00 GMT

WOWOWOW

Some thoughts..

Radiohead, wow. Thom is a god. Greenwood a genius. Stage was filled with lots of shards that projected various colors of the rainbow, while several small video images of the band performing played in the background. They played for exactly 2 hours. I, like most folks, did not want it to end.

setlist
01 All I Need - We start a little slow, a theme throughout the night.

02 bodysnatchers - a fun track.

03 there there - Wasn't all that excited to hear this, but Greenwood made it all better.

04 reckoner - What can I say, Thom hit all the right notes.

05 the gloaming - Thom started dancing like a mad man, this was better live then I remembered from the HTTT tour.

06 morning bell - MORNING BELL, MORNING BELL.

07 nude - Easily the biggest surprise, Thom absolutely nailed this song. His voice crystal clear put the audience in a trance. One of the best songs of the show.

08 how to disappear completely - ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL

09 15 step (very, very subdued. I was actually a little disappointed. Was expecting this to be a real rocker. Still double drums is always fun.

10 arpeggi - My favorite song on IR, was gimped when Johnny's Guitar stopped working. Thankfully, they stopped and replayed the end of the song to compensate.

11 idioteque - time to dance, just like all the KID A stuff, this is great Live music.

12 bulletproof - WOW!!!!!!, thank you so much for playing this instead of Fake Plastic Trees.

13 where I end and you begin - Another moment where my heart swelled.

14 airbag - You got to love anything off of OK Computer.

15 everything in its right place - Time to dance again, this track was lots of fun. Handclaps all around.

16 the national anthem - keeping with the upbeat, Thom really blew up the crowd here.

17 videotape - knew they would initially close with this. The song is still a little too simple, but sounded much more layered LIVE, then on record.

encore

18 optimistic - They're Back!!! with Optimistic? Kind of a buzz kill, but still a great rendition.

19 just - FKKING AMAZING!!!!!!

20 Faust Arp - Thom and John playing acoustic together, similar to the "sunrise" video from the WebCast. Brilliant.

21 exit music - THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Thom hit this one out of the park, full of emotion and sincerity..

22 bangers and mash - Thom beats those drums, and still sings like an angel

encore 2
23 house of cards - A bit mid tempo, but the crowd seemed really into it. Lots of folks love this song, probably a little more then I do.

24 street spirit - one of the best songs on the Bends, is still one of the best closers of all time.

10/10

After Thoughts?
Hate me, but I wanted Paranoid Android.
No Jigsaw?
T-shirts were Super Ugly. Basically lots of faded lyrics in giant multi-colored letters (In Rainbows Font).

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Impressions: GTA4 is totally awesome

sauer — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:26:00 GMT

So I stayed home sick yesterday from work, and devoted most of my day to GTA4. The game is extremely addicting. I'm having a very hard time putting it down. At about 10 hours I'm 20% finished, it's definitely a game that will keep me busy for awhile.

It's the first GTA that Im actually interested in finishing. It's also the first GTA, where I actually try to obey the laws, and look out for cops when I steal/shoot something. Not because it's difficult to get rid of the cops, more because there is so much to do, I just don't want to be bothered by them. Who has time for total chaos? The cops will take your weapons away if you get busted too, which gives you more incentive not to get caught.

The story is actually interesting, and the main character Nico has a lot more complexity then we're used to seeing in most videogames, especially GTA games. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say I was pleasantly surprised with how the story twists and changes based on your actions. For the first time in a game like this, there is actually some morality to your actions.

Besides the story quests, you have to keep up relationships with your friends. I hear it's optional, but it's almost always beneficial. The characters in this game actually feel genuine even if they are a little clichÃ©d (more for humor then seriousness), making spending time with them a pleasure rather then a hassle. Girls you date will notice if you've worn the same outfit more then once, and will comment on whether they like your new stolen car. Take them out enough, and you may get lucky. Or you could just go to the strip club, and pay for a few lap dances. Haven't met any prostitutes yet.

Getting drunk in this game is hilarious, not only are you stumbling, but when you yell to call for a cab you're voice is actually slurred. Just make sure your buddy likes to drink, its much more fun when they are drunk too. You can stumble around the streets together running into garbage cans full of trash and scaring pedestrians. One passerby I accidentally ran into told me "you smell like cheap vodka" great stuff.

While the graphics engine may be a little rough around the edges, it's still quite an accomplishment for such a huge city. The most impressive being the lighting. Driving across a suspension bridge at sunset will result in a shadow for every cable you pass. It's really great looking, and very realistic. It took me a few good hours to really open my eyes and see just how immense and detailed the city is. I've only unlocked the first 2 out of 5 islands. Still haven't made it to the BIG part of the city. Really looking forward to driving around Time Square or Central Park.

Who ever mapped the city streets in this game could probably get a job as a city planner. It's just so well done and detailed. If it wasn't for the GPS (nicer cars even have voice acted GPS) units in each car, it would be really easy to get lost. It's a good thing that it's easy to hail a cab to get where you're going, because some missions will put you on the other end of the city. With all the driving you do in GTA4, you'll be happy to take a cab every once in awhile.

Driving is still a lot of fun though, with a huge assortment of cars on the road, I don't think I've driven the same car more then once (besides one of the cars you start with). This is saying a lot considering I have seen plenty of cars I haven't even driven yet. Including Limos, Hummers, etc. Even similar car models will have something to make them unique. For instance I was driving around an old mustang for a bit that had a fish-tail spoiler on it. I haven't seen that car since, but I have driven a similar mustang model. The other important fact is that every car drives a little different, and realistically. Don't even try to make a sharp turn at full speed, you will wipe out.

All this and I haven't even touched the mutli-player, and at this point, why would I? The single player is so good, its almost impossible to put down. I saw a few new friends got the game last night, I didn't even bother asking them to play. I figured they needed to enjoy this game on its own for awhile. I didn't want to interrupt that. Not to mention, I couldn't tear myself away from whatever I was doing at the time.

The moral of this story is that GTA4 is all that and a bag of chips. Worth all the hype it's been receiving, and finally good enough to be taken seriously.

-Sauer (self-proclaimed GTA hater)

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Movies 04/18/08

sauer — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:06:00 GMT

85% Forgetting Sarah Marshall - It's hard to forget that this film is being released this week. I think I started seeing previews for it last December. I thought it was already out on DVD.

58% The Forbidden Kingdom - Jackie Chan and Jet Li in a movie together? Brilliant, if this would been filmed about 10-15 years ago.

11% 88 Minutes - Not sure what happened here, but it looks like critics hate the new Al Pacino movie. Wait..there is a new Al Pacino movie?

What a lousy year for movies so far, I dont think even Iron Man or Indy can save 2008 at this point.

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week in games 04/18/08

sauer — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:44:00 GMT

Hi..

WTF?

Mortal Kombat 8 will have some sort of DC crossover. Why? It's also rumored that the only thing that made the MK series popular, (blood) will be removed. So sorry Marvel fanboys, you won't be able to rip out Batman's spleen and feed it to him. This call for one more WTF?.

Xmas in March:

Despite being March, Nintendo is selling consoles like it's Christmas. The console is still sold out everywhere, and people are buying their games. Lots of them. With the always popular Mario Kart franchise releasing this month, and the possible Goliath known as WiiFit launching in May will they ever be stopped? Let's hope they use this money to fix the awful online experience known as Super Smash Bros. Brawl

01. Nintendo Wii - 721,000
02. Nintendo DS - 698,000
03. PlayStation Portable - 297,000
04. Xbox 360 - 262,000
05. PlayStation 3 - 257,000
06. PlayStation 2 - 216,000

01. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 2,700,000
02. Rainbow Six Vegas (360) - 752,300
03. Army of Two (360) - 606,100
04. Wii Play/w Remote (Wii) - 409,800
05. God Of War: Chains Of Olympus (PSP) - 340,500
06. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) - 301,600
07. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 264,100
08. MLB2K8 (360) - 237,100
09. Call Of Duty 4 (360) - 237,000
10. Army Of Two (PS3) - 224,900

Ricky Gervais in Grand Theft Auto 4 as himself

So, it looks like the original Office boss will be making an appearance in the new Grand Theft Auto game. Actually playing as himself. I'm pretty surprised considering the average 15 year old who will play it has no idea who he is. Dane Cook not available?

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Xbox 360 Review: Conan

Raul Duke — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:59:00 GMT

If you’ve already played God of War or GOW II, you can stop reading this review now, since Conan is simply a mediocre rip-off of the God Of War series that’s probably not worth your time (unless you’re utterly obsessed with seeing digital boobies, which Conan has in spades). If you missed the God of War boat, Conan is a solid if unspectacular beat-em up game.

The story behind Conan is shallow: Conan kills lots of people in order to get his armor back piece by piece. Along the way, he saves a bunch of topless girls randomly chained to rocks who immediately offer you sex in exchange for saving them. Unlike God of War, you can’t make good on their offer, nor can you kill them. They just bend over and grab their ankles, shake their boob and stand there as Conan chops of hundred of limbs in spectacular fashion.

The fighting system in Conan is one of its strongest suits. There are tons of different combos for you to learn and use, and three different types of weapons which each have their own moves, one handed weapons, dual wielded weapons and two handed weapons. In order to learn new moves, you just have to slaughter enemies and gather colored orbs. You can spend these orbs to buy new combos, and using them produces even more orbs to help build up your arsenal of combos. There is also a magic system which is underutilized (only 4 magic moves) and doesn’t add much to the game.

The boss fights are another strong suit of the game. Most bosses are enormous and put up quite a fight. Unfortunately, the overused “Press a button at the right time” events end each boss fight, but it doesn’t detract too much from the fights. I really wish developers would figure out a new way to finish boss fights off, but creativity isn’t a strong-suit of this game as it is.

Overall, Conan is strictly for people who either haven’t played God of War or are desperate for a God of War/Heavenly Sword type beat-em up game. Or people who really love digital boobies.

Oh and I’m going to take a page from 1up and move away from the number rating system and instead give letter grades. For some reason 5.0/10 is so often seen as god awful instead of middle of the road.

Grade: C – (Nothing more than a rental)

Mahalo,

Duke

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Weekend Movies 02/29/08

sauer — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:29:00 GMT

56% Penelope - Not quite feeling this one, It's nice to see Ricci doing family films, but I kind of excpected a little more from her.

42% The Other Boleyn Girl - Scarlet and Natalie in a film together? How could they screw this up? Strike 1: rate it PG-13. Seriouly why couldn't they have just made Wild Things 3 instead?

25% Semi-Pro - It's another movie starring Will Ferral in tight clothing and bad hair. It's really becoming his trademark. He's slowly becoming the next Adam Sandler.

or if you're lucky...

84%

City of Men

- A sequel of sorts to City of God, (or one of the best films of all time). I have a feeling it will be pretty good.

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Announcement: Free Sauer Reviews Mix CD.

sauer — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:54:00 GMT

Greetings loyal readers, every year I like to make a mix of my favorite songs. I then mail out copies to my closet friends. This year, I have made a few extra copies for the readers out there. To get a copy, please email your mailing address to rhino4evr@yahoo.com and I'll send you out my annual mix free of charge. Act fast, supplies are EXTREMELY limited. I will update this post once I have run out of CDs. Thanks for reading!

- Sauer

PS - If you're wondering what's on it, well that's a surprise, but my Top 25 should give you a few hints.

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Week in Geek 02/22/08

sauer — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:03:00 GMT

Lots of announcements this week thanks to GDC. Let's get them out of the way.

Gears of War 2 announced, surprises no one.

Bionic Commando Rearmed gimped for 360.

What a bummer, I think it's time for Microsoft to drop that stupid download cap, and let developers free. Screw those folks without a hardrive, they are stupid, stupid people and don't deserve the yummy games.

Mariokart, WiiFit, and Wiiware this spring. The rest of the year? Dusty Wii's.

Portal 2 announced: There is a god, and he wants cake.

HD-DVD Vs Blu-Ray officially over. Hooray, now who wants to re-buy their entire DVD collection?

Smash Brothers Brawl sells more then WiiFit in Japan. Gaming not dead afterall?

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Best Concert Ever?

sauer — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:36:00 GMT

thanks pitchfork.

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Da Oscars

sauer — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:55:00 GMT

Yeah, it's that time of year again. The time of year when Hollywood gets one huge ass kiss from all sides. Did you really think the writer's would want to prevent something like this? Despite the denial, these actors love to get dressed up and covered with butter for the American public to salivate over. Never mind that 90% general public will never even watch the films that are nominated, it's all about the red carpet!!

Anyway, here are my picks on who will win, and what I think should win. Of course, I haven't seen 90% of the films nominated, but this is strictly based on all that famous Oscar Buzz being jizzed about. Really the majority of the awards will be a close race between "No Country" and "Blood", but I'm sure you already knew that.

Best Picture

What will win:

"No Country for Old Men" - This was a pretty amazing movie, with a rather drawn out ending. However the critics love this new twist on the old fashioned western.

What should win:

"There Will Be Blood" - Really, out of all the films I saw this year (5 or 6?) this one was the most memorable, and will be for years to come. Unlike "Old Men", I found the ending extremely powerful and intense. It was probably the boldest movie I've seen in years.

Actor - "Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood - No Contest, if Day-Lewis doesn't win there is no hope for Hollywood.

Actress - Ellen Page, "Juno" A lot of folks think Julie Christie will win this. My bet is on Ellen Page. The stereotypical "up an coming actress" award that Oscar throws out year after year.

Supporting Actor -Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men - Just like Lewis, Bardem is sitting on an extremely high pedestal for his performance as a serial killer.

Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There" - I'm going with the chick that dresses as a dude and a folk rock legend. Seems like a fair bet.

Director -

Will: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" - Hollywood loves comeback stories. If you are a good director and want an Oscar consider making 2 or 3 boring films, and then come back and knock everyone's expectations out of the water, that should stun them. Really though, they'll win because "Old Men" takes a lot of chances, something rare for a duo that's been in the business for so long.

Should: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood" - the new blood is still a little too fresh for Anderson, but he'll make it back here eventually. Maybe he should make a bunch of boring films for awhile.

Adapted Screenplay - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" will edge blood on this one.

Original Screenplay - "Michael Clayton" or maybe "Juno" would be my guess.

Animated Feature Film "Ratatouille" - always bet on Pixar, even if more artistic films like "Persepolis" are nominated.

Art Direction - "Atonement" Only because I think most people are tired of the Burton Scissor hands look.

Cinematography "There Will Be Blood" - While Old Men had it's moments, it's hard to compete with the visual splendor of Blood's Oil rigs.

Sound Mixing" No Country for Old Men"

Sound Editing ""There Will Be Blood"

Original Score Lack of There Will Be Blood nomination has forced me to boycott this category all together.

Original Song "Falling Slowly" from "Once,"

Costume "Atonement"

Film Editing "No Country for Old Men"

Visual Effects "Transformers"

Well there you have it, I left out a few categories I have no clue about. Enjoy the show.

Your predictions/Comments?

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Weekend Movies 02/08/08

sauer — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:52:00 GMT

Ughh. and I thought last week was bad...so bad I didn't even post about it. Well no teen idols or cheap Japanese horror remakes this week. Just plain old boring crap.

57% Wild West Comedy Show:... - So, let me get this straight. This is a stand up movie about Vince Vaughn?. No clue he was actually supposed to be funny, I always assumed it was just decent screenwriters. Good for him I guess, but who would really pay to see this? Not those morons that paid to see Meet the Spartans, that's for sure.

35% Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins - A homecoming movie starring Martin Lawrence. I'm sure there will be some zany stereotypes in this house!

07% Fool's Gold - Uh, so..um.. well.. hmm.. oh forget it. This is just doomed to be awful. When a film preview makes you want to see the movie less, you know you're in trouble. It might have been a good idea to just show a black screen with the words "Romantic Comedy with Action and Adventure!" At least then I wouldn't have to watch Kate Hudson flushing her once-interesting career down the toilet during commercial breaks. Didn't they already make this movie? Oh yeah, and that one sucked also. Time for round two. Guys, if you are going to the movies on Valentines Day, and your date wants to see this film. Just leave her there in the parking lot. Trust me it's not worth the goodnight kiss on the cheek

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January Music

sauer — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:57:00 GMT

It's been a while since I did any music reviews. Here are two decent albums that came out this past month.

Vampire Weekend - S/T

If you follow the indie blogosphere, Vampire Weekend should already seem like old hat. The band has been buzzed about for months since their self-released EP a few months back. What you may not know is that their debut full length is leaps and bounds better then their previous disc. Production has been considerably improved, and the newer tracks are just as catchy and enjoyable as the older ones.

If you are still in the dark, let me describe them. Despite the awful goth-emo band name, Vampire Weekend are an enjoyable indie-pop troop with a slight influence of afro-pop. Think Paul Simon's Graceland meets the Shins. While it won't blow any minds, the album is still incredibly charming from start to finish. Making it one of the most listenable records in the past few years. It's incredibly clean and inoffensive, the kind of record that makes creating pop music look simple.

8.2

Black Mountain - In the Future

If you were a fan of Black Mountain's thunderous Sabbath-influenced riffs on their debut, you'll find more to enjoy here. Almost a little too much to enjoy actually. While the debut album showed the band switching from stoner-rock to indie-rock, Mountain only focuses on one genre this time. Which takes away some of originality unfortunately. They also lay down a few pretentiously long tracks like the 16 minute track Bright Lights which bored me within the first 2. I couldn't help but think of the Lite Bright commercial as the words "bright light" are repeated obnoxiously. Despite these occurrences, In the Future will please many fans of retro rock and pysch-rock.

7.0

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Mass Effect is a Sci-Fi classic.

sauer — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:40:00 GMT

I recently read an article in EW claiming that the Sci-Fi genre was out of ideas. Remakes, rip-offs, and sequels seem to be the general consensus in Hollywood. While I agree the genre could use a good boost, I refuse to believe that the genre was "an endangered species". Originality is out there, maybe the execs are looking in the wrong place?

Which brings me to Mass Effect, a game that has it's share of technical problems and gameplay annoyances, but has to be one of the most original and compelling pieces of science fiction in the last few years. Developer BioWare has created a universe filled with so much detail, it's easy to get lost. I found myself anxious to learn about each species of alien, and the conflicts they had been through. The story is filled with several twists and turns that actually surprised me. A rare feat in a genre with so much source material.

The narrative is extremely well written, which is complimented even more by the game's excellent voice acting. It's true. Conversations, not action or strategy, are the highlights of Mass Effect. With the help of the "dialog wheel" you'll be able to mold your adventure the way you please. Deciding to be a goody-too shoes or a complete bastard will result in much different responses. Instead of picking exactly what you'll say, the developers instead give you general suggestions to pick. This gameplay enhancement forces you to listen to your conversations. You'll believe in these characters, and will actually be interested to hear what they have to say.

So besides doing a lot of talking, Mass Effect also has one of the best Action/RPG battle systems yet. Combining the feeling of run and gun shooting, and selection based magic attacks, battles are fun and feel fresh. A better gambit system (FFXII) may have made a few custom-junkies a little happier, but would have also over complicated the situation. It turns out to be Mass Effect's second strong point, despite the game's overall low difficulty on Normal mode.

When it comes to low points, Mass Effect actually has quite a few. While the main quest is full of great locations, characters, and story. The sidequets are generally lacking in all of these things. Exploring the numerous galaxies seems impressive at first, but once you realize you'll be doing the same thing on every sidequest it's gets a little boring. You'll land on an empty planet, drive around in a tank, go to a base and kill everyone, and return to your ship. The planet's barren, the driving controls just manageable, and the bases consist of the same 4 blueprints. I guess in the future the settlers all live in similar houses? It's disappointing considering the amount of side quests present in the game. It made me wish for more main story missions (only about 4 or 5) to make up more of the play time (about 40 hours with everything, 15 without)

The game also has it's share of technical problems. Clipping, frame cuts, slowdown, glitches, all occur on a regular basis. It won't really ruin your time with the game, but it will make you wish they kept this one in the oven a little longer. In contrast, sound effects and music are top notch. Your house may shake when entering hyperspace, or when firing rockets from your tank.

It really is hard to come down on Mass Effect in the long run. Sure, it's got it's problems, but the experience is so rewarding you'll look past most of it. Luckily, the game has sold really well and a trilogy has already been talked about. It's a good thing, with the amount of hard work Bioware has done to create this galaxy, it would be a shame for it not to reach it's full potential. Here's to hoping the sequel fixes the minor issues. As of now, Mass Effect is truly the best RPG to come out this generation, and one that science fiction fans should not miss. Hollywood should take note.

9.4

SAUER

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Weekend Movies 01/25/08

sauer — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:09:00 GMT

94% U2 3D - Do you really love U2 that much to see them on Imax in 3D? U2 have released several live concerts, all of them from better albums. I don't think you need to hear beautiful day live to remember why you stopped listening to this band in the late eighties. If you didn't stop. well... have fun I guess.

67% How She Move - In the future all movie titles will be in slang. Can't wait for the Gone wit Wind remake

31% Rambo - WHO CARES

13% Untraceable - The internet is out to get you!!! Run away from the keyboard with the candy!!

Meet the Spartans - I'm a sucker for slapstick films like Airplane! and Naked Gun, but these recent pop-culture comedies are as stale as the subject they lampoon. Watch The Soup instead.

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The Week in Geek 01/18/08

sauer — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:03:00 GMT

VideoGame Industry Makes MAD MONEY. (Thanks to Nintendo)

The new NPD numbers are in and they are insane. This year the videogame industry scored approx. 18 Billion in revenue in the US alone. While all the console makers had a decent holiday, Nintendo stood out with the top selling consoles of the year. Over 52% of the total market. Impressive considering the Wii was almost impossible to find throughout the entire year. In a way Nintendo blew a huge oppertunity to make even more money, but they can't be too upset. Hardware and software numbers below (taken from GAMELIFE).

Hardware

Console December 2007 Annual 2007 Life-to-Date

PlayStation 2 1.1 million 3.97 million 41.12 million
PlayStation 3 797.6 K 2.56 million 3.25 million
PSP 1.06 million 3.82 million 10.47 million
Xbox 360 1.26 million 4.62 million 9.15 million
Wii 1.35 million 6.29 million 7.38 million
Nintendo DS 2.47 million 8.50 million 17.65 million
YEAH, that's 2.47 million DS systems in December alone.

Top Selling Games, Annual 2007

360 HALO 3 4.82 million
WII PLAY 4.12 million
360 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE 3.04 million
PS2 GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK 2.72 million
WII SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2.52 million
NDS POKEMON DIAMOND VERSION 2.48 million
PS2 MADDEN NFL 08 1.90 million
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 1.89 million
360 ASSASSIN'S CREED 1.87 million
WII MARIO PARTY 8 1.82 million

Bionic Commando Remake announced!

It's a good week when one of your favorite NES games of all time gets remade for next-gen consoles. This has quickly become one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Still need convincing? Check out the trailer below..

Smash Bros. Delayed...AGAIN

It seems Nintendo fans will have to wait a little bit longer to play Smash Brothers. The new release date is March 9th (A sunday?). Thankfully, there have been more then a few positive Smash announcements this week to help heal the burn. For one, Japanese review mag Famitsu has rated Smash a perfect 40/40. A rare feat indeed. The samsh bros blog also revealed a ton of good updates this week. Including the return of Sheik (an old favorite), a new character (Captin Olimar from Pikmin) and the inclusion of stat upgrades, introducing Smash to RPG elements. The wait just seems to get harder with each update.

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