Toy Soldiers is an action/strategy game of the tower defense variety (read our review of Toy Soldiers) that was released as part of a special event for March 2010 – the XBox Live Arcade Block Party!  The event showcases the excellent arcade style game offerings on the service and culminates in the release of the new Avatar-inclusive XBox Live Game Room hub.  The Block Party release schedule includes:

• Toy Soldiers (3 March) for 1200 Live Points ($15)
• Scrap Metal (10 March) for 1200 Live Points ($15)
• Perfect Dark (17 March) for 800 Live Points ($10)
• Game Room Hub (24 March) FREE!

The Game Room Hub

The XBox Live Arcade Game Room is a place for your Avatar to meet and play classic arcade games with your friends – if you are old enough to remember Game Rooms filled with coin-operated stand-up arcade machines than the virtual environment of the Game Room Hub will be perfectly

Your Avatar will be able to wander through a virtual game room with classic arcade game cabinets, playing the games that launched the video game industry!

familiar to you and perhaps a nostalgic experience.  Game Rooms were in the 1970’s and 1980’s the equivalent to the 1950’s Malt Shop – a place for teenagers and young adults to hang out and socialize, play together, and enjoy their favorite video games!   If you are too young to have experienced this most excellent environment, here is your chance to have the experience with your Avatar!

According to the most recent press release from Microsoft, the Game Room Hub will initially contain 30 classic arcade games, while future plans include more than 1,000 titles being added over the next few years.  Games like Centipede, Astroids, and Defender – classics that were the genesis of arcade play, and the games that stimulated the development of home video arcade play!

If you have purchased previously released versions of classic arcade games on Live those titles will not appear as part of the Game Room – but do not panic!  The reason for that exclusion is simple and makes sense – the Game Room version of these classic games are faithful ports of the original games – they have not been altered, changed, or edited!   There is no word yet whether or not the arcade games in the Game Room will include Achievements or Gamer Points – we will just have to wait and see, but the news that we will experience these games as they were originally released back in the day is good news indeed!

While the Hub itself is free to download and use, each individual game will cost 400 Live Points ($5) to purchase for the PC and  XBox 360, and 240 Live Points ($3) for the XBox 360 only version.  Each game will appear in its own stand-up cabinet in the Game Room, and if you want to try the games before you purchase them, you can play them for 40 Live Points ($.50) for a single play!

Toy Soldiers Contest

Ready to score your own DLC Code for Toy Soldiers?  If you are a regular reader of Game ON! you will be familiar with our trivia contest system – if you are not, please take a moment to read the rules:

• Winners will be the first three people to email the correct answers to today’s trivia questions.
• Winners will be determined by the time-stamp on our email server.
• Answers must be complete and correct.
• Entries should be emailed to chris@boots-faubert.com
• Winners will be notified by email, with the DLC Code attached to the email in the special certificate-like image provided by Microsoft/Signal Studios!

Sounds simple enough, right?  Well then, fire up your email program and send your entry right now!

Today’s Toy Soldiers Trivia Contest Questions

• In 1980 Williams Electronics released a shooter type video game in which the player is tasked with protecting the humanoids stranded on a planet from alien abduction.  Using a scanner, the player located the alien abductors and intervened, rescuing the humanoids.  What game was this?  This game is considered one of the two highest grossing video games of all time.  What is the other highest grossing video game of all time?
• In this famous arcade game released by Atari in 1985, four players can cooperate by playing characters with different powers and/or weapons to navigate a fantasy world full of mazes, monsters, and treasure.  What game is this?  What is the proper name of the female character?
• In this Gottlieb title released in 1982, the player plays a two-legged big-nosed orange creature who must avoid predators while altering the color of the game environment.  What game is this?  Two of the predators appear together in the game – what are their names?

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DLC Codes for this contest were provided by Microsoft Games Studios and Signal Studios

Winners: To claim your prize open the attached image in your winning notification email and write down the DLC Code on it.  On your XBox 360 click the guide button and use the D-Pad to select the Live Marketplace Menu (two left clicks) and then select ‘Redeem Code” and enter the code from the image in the box.  Codes are good for a single-use full game license for Toy Soldiers.  DRM license rules apply.

Claiming the game (redeeming the code) licenses the game for the console and gamertag that you use at the time of redemption.  License transfers are subject to the DRM license rules specified by Microsoft and the XBox Live Service.  Game ON, the Cape Cod Times, and CM Boots-Faubert have no control over DRM License terms and game play for this title.

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios / Signal Studios
Release Date: 3 March 2010
ESRB Rating: Teen 13+ (for Teens aged 13+)
Platforms: XBox 360 Arcade
Genre: Action / Strategy

My Rating: 9.0 – Excellent WW I Strategy with a Unique Theme

Introduction

A few months ago while I was preparing for a match in COD:MW2 one of my team members bemoaned the fact that there were no good games that were based upon the World War I time line.  The conversation expanded to all FPS, strategy and war games, and save for Blue Max, the Red Baron games, and a handful of titles from the early 1990’s there really were not any good games with a WW I story line!   WW2 was very broadly covered, and Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, even the Revolutionary War!  But no World War I…

When I saw the announcement for Toy Soldiers the first thought that I had after reading it was – great, a kids game of toy soldiers with a WWI theme!  It will be watered down, probably be educational I decided.  Isn’t it great to be totally wrong sometimes?

I am not sure if you can completely rule out that the game is educational – I mean after all, if you leave your left flank exposed, the Hun is going to pour in and annihilate you, so in that respect it is certainly educational – but strictly speaking what this game is without qualification is pure and unadulterated fun!  Picture in your mind a toy tank – complete with the wind-up key sticking out of the side – that you can control and foray across the battlefield in.  Now add a nice big main gun that can be used to barrage infantry, attack artillery emplacements, destroy structures and otherwise cause massive mayhem.  Add in a flame thrower or chlorine gas nozzle on each side and in the rear of the tank, and what you have mate is a death machine in tracks!

Even if that were all that the game offered it would be a great game, but it also includes biplane fighters and bombers, a variety of fixed gun emplacements that you can place, man, and upgrade, and a nice little chemical weapon platform that can be upgraded to shoot flames or alternate between flames and chlorine gas.  Did I mention that you can take control of these things and hose down the enemy with flaming death?  Yeah, you can!

While this game falls squarely in the tower defense slot, it has an interesting approach to the genre.  For one thing, you actually get paid for destroying objects and enemy units – that is where the money comes from to upgrade your defenses and install new weapons of somewhat mass destruction.  The single player campaign features you as the Brits fighting the Germans through 24 unique levels, and once you have completed the campaign mode you unlock a survival mode that pits you against an endless stream of enemy units!

Multi-player in this title includes online play via Live – you sort of expect that as a standard feature these days – but also includes LOCAL multi-player via split screen, which you do not see as often and is a very welcome feature indeed!  Each mode has different strategy requirements and presents its own unique set of problems for you, and the single player campaign mode features some unique boss mobs that will give even the most hard core war gamer some challenge!

Game Play

When you first start out, the process of learning is accomplished through scenarios that accentuate the weapons that you have available to you, and the tutorial portion of the game does not really feel like a tutorial because of that.  These well-designed early levels leave you feeling confident and even teach you basic defensive and offensive strategies without you realizing it!   As you progress further into the game a wider variety of units are unlocked, and as you succeed and start racking up victories, your successes unlock even more weapons through upgrades.

The game includes a variety of units that are accessed in different ways:

• Artillery – Cannons that you place and then upgrade once you have unlocked the upgrades through winning levels in the campaign!  Played by the A.I. these units are devastating to the enemy, but once you take over and shoot yourself their effectiveness nearly doubles, which should teach you that a little hands-on TLC is the way to go!
  

  The graphic level in this title is superb, adding a sense of toy soldier realism - but death is depicted as bits of plastic and not blood, so parents have no worries over gratuitous displays of blood or violence!

  Artillery Units in the game include:
  - 18 Pounder: Long range and high damage.  Ineffective at close range.
  - Mark VI: Greater range and more power!
  - The Mother: 800M with longer reload times.

• Machine Guns – the basic MG unit is good against troops, but once you start upgrading them they can take out lightly armored vehicles, and even airplanes!  Strategic placement of MG nests can mean the difference between surrender and victory!MG Units in the game include:
  - Vickers Machine Gun: Vital anti-infantry but ineffective vs. armor.
  - 37mm MLE Infantry Gun: Faster firing with bigger bullets, effective vs. cavalry!
  - Mark II: Explosive crowd control, good vs. light vehicles!
• Gas/Flame Nests – Chlorine gas was a nasty weapon that was eventually outlawed by the Geneva Convention, but in the right location the gas nest is the most effective denial of access weapon in the game for preventing enemy troops from storming your toy box!  Upgrade it to flame and it does good damage against lightly armored vehicles, and if you max its upgrades your troopers can decide whether gas or flame is the best weapon and alternate between the two!Gas Units in the game include:
  - Red Star: Best vs. large groups of infantry.  Limited health.
  - Signet Flame Thrower: Fire with greater damage!
  - Livers Projector: Gas and fire with the range of a mortar!
• Anti-Aircraft – The Hun is pretty good with its airborne attacks, so a little Pom-Pom defensive strategy is the way to go.  Locate your AA centrally so that it can cover the entire front and you have blunted the threat of air attack!  Add a few strategically placed MG nests along the flanks and you have excellent protection from the enemy bombers!Anti-Aircraft Units in the game include:
  - The Pom-Pom: Effective vs. enemy air units.
  - The Seventy-Five: Greater range and damage!
  - Old Quick Flak: Flak impenetrable skies!
• Mortar Nests – The bane of infantry in the field, mortars can be instant death if they are positioned correctly, with overlapping fields of fire!  Your enemy will not know what hit them when they walk into the shadow of your killing zone – and when you upgrade these units they become very effective against armored vehicles as well!Mortar Units in the game include:
  - The Stokes: Effective vs. infantry and tanks with a limited range.
  - The Newton: Increased range and vehicle damage.
  - The Flying Pig: Decisive power and health.   Long firing arc.

In addition to the above weapon emplacements you can lay defensive lines of barbed wire to slow the enemy down and create opportunities for organized slaughter that will quickly see your kill multiplier bonus skyrocket!  When you have the strategies for these down cold, you can start using the spawned weapons, which include:

• Whippet Tank: Main gun and three gas nozzles.
• Big Willie Tank: Main dun and three flame nozzles plus extra intimidation factor.
• Sopwith Camel Biplane: MG plus five small bombs.
• Vickers Virny Bomber: MG plus seven large bombs.

The game includes four difficulty settings, Casual, Normal, Hard, and Elite – and the opportunity to earn medals when playing on Elite difficulty!  Regardless of the difficulty, each scenario includes specific goals, such as shooting down five enemy aircraft with your biplane in the Fort Vaux scenario – and your play is rated by rank, from Private to General based upon your final score for a level.  In addition to the challenges each level has hidden gold blocks that you must find and destroy!

A Leaderboard System has been included that permits you to see where you stand in the rankings for all of the people who play the game as well as a Friend’s Only High Score Board that appears in the setup screen for each level!  Your previous best score and rank is also tracked on the setup screen

Air units in the game include lighter-than-air ships on the German side as well as distinctive planes that are easy to fly and fun to play!

for each level, broken out by difficulty setting to allow you to evaluate your own performance to see what you need to improve to obtain some of the Achievements in the game.

Speaking of Achievements, there are 12 Achievements worth a total of 200 Gamerscore in the game at the time of its release, but of course any DLC expansion packs will likely increase the number of Achievements and their Gamerscore.  At press time the Achievements include:

• Brass Hat (25 gs) – Complete Campaign & earn all Ration Tickets.
• Coffin nails (30 gs) – Complete the Campaign.
• Fire in the Hole (10 gs) – Guided a shell to its destination.
• Flying Pig (20 gs) – Defeated Zeppelin.
• Foot Slogger (10 gs) – Earn General Rank on any Level.
• Jumped the Bags (10 gs) – Completed Level 1.
• Old Contemptible (20 gs) – Defeated Tsar Tank.
• Old Sweat (20 gs) – Defeated the Uber Tank.
• Pickled Monkey (15 gs) – Win a Multi-Player match on every Level.
• Pip, Squeak & Wilfred (5 gs) – Survive until Round Five.
• Sweet Fancy Adams (20 gs) – Earn General Rank on all Campaign Levels.
• Throw a Seven (15 gs) – Complete any Level in Elite difficulty.

Playing Toy Soldiers will probably remind you of the classic PS2 game Army Men – though its similarities are mostly genre only as the game play mechanism in this game differs significantly.  Game Play in this title is fresh, fun, and challenging, and the addition of difficulty levels means you will never be forced to play at a level below what you feel is personally challenging!

My Take

Toy Soldiers kicks off the XBox Live Arcade Block Party – a feature program on the Live Service intended to highlight Arcade gaming on the service, culminating in the release of the Live Game Room App that will add a 1980’s style virtual arcade space to the avatar area of the game, allowing you to take your avatar to the arcade and play classic games of the era, from Asteroids to Defender (they plan to release over 1,000 classic arcade games for play in the game room!).

Kicking off the celebration of Arcade gaming Month with Toy Soldiers was a stroke of genius on the part of the Live Crew, and of course props should be given to the folks at Signal Studios for putting out such an amazing title!

I gave Toy Solders a solid 9.0 out of 10 with a BUY rating – and from an evaluation point of view the achievements combined with the collectibles, the ration tickets (challenges) and the ranking system plus the online play gives this game an amazingly high re-play level.   After spending a week playing with Toy Soldiers I can say with confidence that this title will join Ticket to Ride and Zuma in my rotation of regular arcade games!

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A Review Code for this game for XBox Live Arcade was provided by Microsoft

This title is not eligible for participation in our Trivia Give-away

Nintendo Europe currently has a promotion active via Nintendo’s WFC  (Wi-Fi Club) that gives the Pikachu Colored Pichu Wonder Card to the owners of Pokemon Platinum, Pearl, and Diamond.  While this promotion is intended for European Pokefans, it is active for ALL ENGLISH SPEAKING REGIONS!  That means if you are in North America, Australia, New Zealand and any of the islands in the Commonwealth of Nations, you too can obtain this pokemon!

Why should you take the time to obtain this pokemon?  There are two reasons – the first is that it is rare ins several ways, being both a shiny pokemon and having special coloring.  The second is that this pokemon is required to unlock a secret in the new Pokemon games HeartGold and SoulSilver!  If you plan on getting and playing those titles, you will certainly want this pokemon so that you can add it into those games!  Also note that the Jirachi Wishmaker Gamestop giveaway also has a special application in the new games, opening a restricted route on the special Pokedevice that comes with the games!

The promotion will run from March 5th to March 25th so get yours while you can!  And remember that today is the LAST DAY that you can get Jirachi from any Gamestop Store – and Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver launch tomorrow!

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If you have not used the WFC or the Mystery Gift System before, here are the step-by-step instructions for you to use to obtain this free Pokemon!

How to get your Pikachu Colored Pichu

Part I – If you have never used the Mystery Gift System

• Obtain the first Gym Badge in Pokemon Platinum, Pearl, or Diamond
• Go to Jubalife City
• Enter the TV Station in Jubalife City
• Use the stairs to go to the 3rd floor (two floors up)
• Go south to the Producer (a man standing beside a woman at the bottom of the screen)
• Talk to the Producer and he will ask for your opinion.
  - In the first box select the word “Everyone”
  - In the second box select the word “Happy”
  - Confirm those choices and he will ask you a second question.
  - In the first box select the word “Wi-Fi”
  - In the second box select the word “Connection”
  - Confirm those choices and the conversation ends.
• Now save your game immediately, and once you have saved, turn off your DS and turn it back on.  Mystery Gift should now appear as an option on the main screen prior to entering the game.

Part II – Obtaining your Pikachu Colored Pichu

• Activate the Mystery Gift System (See Part I)
• Configure your WiFi connection so that your DS can connect to the Internet.
  - Note that this requires a wireless router in your home or access to a wireless router that is unprotected or one that you have a key for.
  - If you are using a DS, the encryption standard that you need is WEP.  If you are using a DSi, the encryption standard that you need is most likely WPA2.
• Confirm that you can connect to the Internet on your DS/DSi from your current location!
• Insert your game into your DS/DSi
• At the main screen select Mystery Gift
• In the Mystery Gift Menu select Nintendo WFC
• The game will now connect to the WFC server via your Wi-Fi router and you will be prompted to accept the current Wonder Card offering – and if it is between March 5 and March 25 that will be the Pikachu Colored Pichu – which also happens to be a Shiny Pokemon as well!
• Say Yes!  The Wonder Card will now download and when it is complete you can load your game.  Load your game now.
• Check your current Pokemon to make sure that you only have five (5) in your party.  You need a slot open in your party to collect your new Pokemon!  If there are six in your party already, go to the nearest Pokecenter, use the computer there, and transfer one of the Pokemon from your party to a storage box on the computer.
• Immediately go to the nearest Pokemart – inside by the counter will be a man dressed all in green.  Talk to him and receive your gift – the Pikachu Colored Pichu will now be a member in your party!
• SAVE THE GAME NOW!

Notes: If you already have three Wonder Cards in the Mystery Gifts storage menu, you will no be able to claim a new one either via the WFC, at a Mystery Spot (Gamestop) or from a friend via Wireless.  You must delete one or more of the Wonder Cards you already have to receive a new one at this point.

If you need to delete a Wonder Card, check the nearest Pokemart FIRST to be sure that you actually claimed the last Mystery Gift – if the man in green is standing there you did not, so you need to do that now, and then SAVE.  Once you have saved – or verified that the man in green is not present, reset the game and go to the Mystery Gift Menu.  Select your card and delete one or more of the Wonder Cards stored on it.  This will NOT delete the items previously associated with those Wonder Cards because you have already claimed them and they are now in your inventory/Party/Box.

Once you have freed up space (you are only allowed to have three Wonder Cards at any one time) go ahead and claim your newest card – a Shiny Pikachu Colored Pichu!  Good on ya mate!

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Rumors abound in the world of Pokemon – and rumor has it that there will be a Mew WFC Wonder Card give away and a Darkrai WFC Wonder Card giveaway this Summer!  When concrete details are available we will post the news here, so check back often!

Publisher: Konami
Release Date: September 2009
ESRB Rating: E (for Everyone)
Platforms: XBox 360 / PS3 / PS2 / PSP / Wii / Windows
Genre: Sports / Soccer

My Rating: 8.0 – Intense soccer action!
LR Rating: 8 to 8.5 – Solid with staying value!

I want to point out that as a rule I try hard to resist comparing games, especially when I am writing a review.  Having said that, doing this review makes sticking to that policy very difficult, because in this case comparisons make the process more meaningful.  You are going to see some comparisons being made here between PES and FIFA, so I want to stress that these are two very different games despite the fact that they occupy the same genre.  Which is better than the other is not the purpose of this review.

Introduction

Hard core soccer game fans approach their games the same way that console fans proclaim their loyalty to a particular game console – with emotion, strong voice, and an unwavering loyalty that includes willingly downplaying faults and expounding upon virtues.  It is the nature of the thing I suppose, but the soccer community seems to be split evenly between the PES and FIFA games, and despite the fact that these are very similar in their basic structure, once you start playing you will quickly realize that they are not the same game at all!

Despite the assumption that the arcade-centric style of PES 2009 would carry forward into the 2010 version, the facts are simple – 2010 is more of a simulation game, and it is exactly what the players have been asking for!   The Leagues add to the depth of play, and the major improvements in the graphics engine make player likeness a stand-out feature this year.  When you see a famous player in the game you will have no doubts as to who it is – they look life-like and accurate, and in places the coverage in the game blurs the line between TV and gaming!  If it sounds like I am excited by the game, well, that is because I am!  The fun-factor alone and the lack of a need to learn complex button sequences has earned this title a place in my rotation, no question about it!

Game Play

When a FIFA producer referred to PES as “an arcade game” at the Leipzig Game Con FIFA fans quickly jumped upon the proclamation, declaring it both accurate and the defining difference between the two games.  The truth is not so clear, because both games have elements of arcade style play to them, and finding the mid-ground difference to define these games in a manner that is acceptable to both groups is no simple task.  When I sat down to discuss these games with my Lab Rat however, we were able to quickly find the key point that differentiates the two – FIFA is a more technical game, with a much more complex system of control, while PES is a more fluid and dynamic game with intuitive controls that permit you to quickly smash the learning curve and dive into the fun.  If that is what they mean when they say “arcade style game” than the label is far from an insult to PES!

This year PES includes sliders and cards that are used to manipulate the control and abilities for match play – something that die hard FIFA fans will point at and cry foul!  Yes, similar features existed in FIFA 08, but the implementation in PES is more for function than form.  Despite the inclusion of these features, the player can enjoy the game and play through it without ever touching them.  The fast pace of the game is not connected to them and the excellent camera and following system make tweaking game play purely optional.

Most of the game play modes remain largely unchanged from last year’s game – including Manager Mode, Become a Legend Mode, and commentary.  The season play and match play remain consistent with the previous year, though each has benefited from small tweaks and improvements throughout the game.   The stand-out improvements this year focus on graphics, animation, and the musical score, the later being a major improvement over previous games in the series, and includes licensed songs that you will certainly recognize.

Lab Rat’s Take

I give it high grades for playability and it has staying power.  The controls seem to be well mapped out; they are pretty intuitive.  It has a good career mode where you can create your own player and edit appearance, and have him start out as an amateur and have him get scouted, then picked up by one of the European teams.  Starting off you end up on a team that is sort of second-level, and from there if you do well you get transferred to bigger and better teams.  That is a lot of fun – you score goals, you can win match honors, and there is a whole trophy case that you can fill.

The other thing that is really good about it is that the default camera makes it very easy to follow the action.  There are times when the ball will not be visible – the ball will be ahead of you or off to the side – but it is still very easy to follow.  It has the UEFA Champions League so I think it is a UEFA licensed product.  You can play the Champion’s League as part of your career mode or as separate games.  You can practice and have individual matches outside of the career mode.

The graphics are nice – there are probably about a dozen different stadiums and some of them are modeled after real stadiums, while some just have more generic names – so it gives you decent backdrops for when you are playing matches.  The oddity with that is that the Bundes Liga in the German league is completely absent – the other oddity is that the English teams are – with the exception of the ones that are in the Champions League – the other teams all have euphemistic names.  If you know the teams you can figure out what they are – for instance North London is Arsenal and you can figure that out.  The player names are accurate, but the team names are euphemisms so they must not have had the license to use the team names in the game.

I rate the game an 8 to 8.5 deducting points for not having the teams that are not there.  It is really solid and has staying value, and you are going to want to keep playing your career mode if nothing else until you reach the retirement age.  From the tutorial mode to the game play and graphics and the physics all come together to make this a good game.  Even though it has a limited number of leagues that you can play, it has a broader range of countries that you can play, and that adds to the enjoyment.

My Take

The three most important questions that any game reviewer can answer when they review a game is (1) Is this game fun?  (2) Will I like it?  And (3) Is it worth the price of admission?  There are other questions that most readers like to see answered in a review, like weaknesses, strengths, and bugs, but by and large with the cost of game these days, knowing if it is worth buying is a top concern.

Answering those questions for PES 2010 is is an easy task!

Is this game fun?  Yes indeed – it is fast paced, the controls are easy to learn, and once you have them down cold, play against the A.I. or a human is almost as good as the real game!

Will I like it?  Another easy to answer question – if you liked the previous games in the series, you will like this one of course, but the large number of small tweaks and fixes combined with the marked improvements to the interface and experience easily double the fun, intensity, and entertainment factors.

Is it worth the price of admission?  Clearly it is – and the various modes and a solid fan base online means that this title has the longevity and solid re-play potential necessary to bump it up into one of the games that occupies a slot in your regular rotation of play!

I rated PES 2010 a solid 8.0 and give it a BUY not Rent rating as well.  This is high intensity soccer at its best!  If you prefer action over technique than PES 2010 should be your soccer choice for 2010!

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A Review Copy of this game for the XBox 360 was provided by Konami

This title was claimed by a Lab Rat!

Publisher: EA Sports
Release Date: October 2009
ESRB Rating: E (for Everyone)
Platforms: XBox 360 / PS3 / PS2 / PSP / Wii / NDS / Windows / iPhone
Genre: Sports / Soccer

My Rating: 7.5 Solid play but tough controls!
LR Rating: 7.5 to 8.0 A great technical game!

Introduction

FIFA Soccer 10 is the 18th title in Electronic Art’s FIFA series, and FIFA 10 is the second title in the series to sponsor a real life football team, as it is the co-sponsor of English League One’s team, Swindon Town.  This sequel has been largely improved over previous titles, with a definite sense that the developer paid attention to fan criticism – in particular with respect to the Manager mode and the overall environment.  EA states that over fifty improvements were made to the XBox 360 and PS3 versions, from a complete revamping of the Manager Mode to the inclusion of the “Total Football Experience” that integrates news from the entire Manager Mode world including player transfers, fixtures, and the results from foreign leagues.

The simulated match system has been overhauled, and improvements to that mode include a less random outcome than in previous years.  This results in a more realistic performance across all of the leagues as the finer points of a teams composition and performance are factored in.  Things like fatigue, player form, and the relative significance of a match are calculated, and the non-player clubs now rotate characters more often to make the process better approximate real life play.

A collectible aspect was added into the game – though likely unintentional – due to the fact that each geographical region features a different player on the game cover, causing a brisker trade for out of region games on EBay.   For example, the UK and ROI game features Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard, and Wayne Rooney on its cover, while the Australian game features Wayne Rooney and Tim Cahill.   The version released in North America features Frank Lampard, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and Sacha Kljestan on its cover.

Game Play

The game includes Manager Mode, with the Total Football Experience integrated into it, as well as Kick-off, Virtual Pro, Tournament, Lounge, and Season Modes.

The Virtual Pro mode allows the player to create their character – customizing virtually every aspect from appearance to attributes, and even allows the player to upload their own face (photo) to be used on the character if they like.  They can then play their virtual pro through four seasons, and it adds a level to play that sets the bar pretty high, as it works better than any previous version across all of the games that EA has used it in.   Unlike the previous version called Be A Pro, the Virtual Pro mode allows a much broader play in the game, permitting the player to use their pro on the practice pitch, in Manager Mode, and in Play Now games.  The player can even take their Virtual Pro online and play in Pro Club Championship matches against other Virtual Pro’s – but the significant difference here is that all play across all modes can be used to improve your players stats and experience!

Manager Mode has been revamped for this release, and even if you are not a fan of a more statistical approach to the game, using the tutorial and a bit of online research you can quickly master play in this mode, and come to enjoy it.   The mode is a reasonable recreation of the job, allowing the player to use the funds earned in ticket sales to shape the future of the team by scouting players, making strategic trades, and upgrading the team’s staff, all the while keeping the investors and the team’s controlling board happy.

FIFA 10 includes solid commentary and a robust single player mode that is as much fun as online play, which includes the option of joining nine other real players and forming your own club for online play against other virtual clubs of Virtual Pro’s!  EA Sports has scheduled an aggressive series of online tournaments – both regional and worldwide – which adds an extra element to online play that will have you appreciating the re-play and solid base play potential of the game.

Lab Rat’s Take

This is sort of a big sprawling soccer title – there are over a dozen leagues and it has most of the major leagues from Europe, and the Americas as well as the Korean and Australian Leagues.  If you want to play a team that is not one of the more mainstream reknown European teams than this is the game that you want to play.  You can play the Czech League, the Danish league, the Irish League – and you can play them in career mode as well.

The controls are rather complicated – and when I say that I mean maddingly complicated – there are a lot of different moves that you can make that invlove having at least three thumbs.  If you do not have three thumbs than you won’t really be able to do some of the things that the game can do, but who has three thumbs?  That gets frustrating.  Changing the camera helps – the default camera shot tends to be more distant but at the same time a little harder to follow the action.  It has a built-in nag to get you back into position – if you are out of poistion an arrow shows up to direct you to where you need to be on the field.

It has a Manager Mode that compliments the Career Mode, where you take over almost every aspect of your team – line up, players, match play, it is all there for you.  When you first start up it puts you straight into practice – you do not have to find your way on to the pitch, you are right there lined up with the goal keeper, so you can begin playing right away.  That is convenient because at first you really want to get some practice in to get the controls down.  When you go into career mode and you start up a match, you can set your player to be anybody – or the player you create – in which case it shows up wearing the right uniform.  As soon as you get into a match with your pro, the scenery switches over to the stadium where you will play the match, so you can still get in some practice mode before you start the match.

The game is very flexible, allowing you to change teams and leagues quickly, change stadiums, and there are a variety of practice fields based upon geographic location.  The practice fields and stadiums are mostly eye candy but there is a pretty rich variety so you are not playing the same scenes over and over.  You can download additional stadiums – the Bernabeu Stadium, which is a pretty famous stadium in Madrid, is available as a free download when you get a copy of the game.

There is a lot going on there – you can play for a very wide array of teams, and there is also an International option where you can play for a national team – it is not every team in the world, but there is a broad range of teams that you can play for.  One of the things that was not so good was the graphics – on an older TV the text in the graphics was often hard to read because they are small.  And likewise the game play was kind of limited too because the players were smaller, so in a way it was sort of like a table soccer game, it seemed like that at times.

I rate this a 7.5 to 8 – comparatively it is a little behind PES.  It seemed to be more complex than it needed to be.  The graphics are good, and at times it almost feels like you are watching a match on TV, but it is not as polished as PES.  The voice of the announcer is one you will recognize right away if you watch soccer, and it has a solid announcer, well written dialogue.

It’s a comparative thing – if you have both PES and FIFA, at first you are going to think that the graphics in FIFA are better, but as you get into it PES has better graphics and camera angles – in FIFA when you are sprinting down the field the camera zooms in on you, which gives you less awareness of what is happening on the field…

If you change away from the dynamic camera in the options you can correct that but the settings for that are buried in the menu so a lot of people will have a hard time locating them.  FIFA has more depth to its play though, and is a better game for fans of a more technical play.  If you want to be Pele though, you are going to want to have three thumbs.

My Take

First I should admit that I am a big fan of football (soccer to the Yanks) so this is a natural game for me to want to play.   I spent a solid week playing this before passing it on to my Lab Rat, and during that week I discovered that as I age, my hand-eye coordination has suffered.  I am just not as good at this sort of game as I once was, but that handicap aside, it certainly does not detract from the enjoyment of this title or its entertainment potential.

One small complaint that I have is that the tutorials were exclusively featured as videos in the game, which while it may make learning the moves easier, caused me some problems because I missed a few and did not realize it.  As a result I did not learn how to put spin on and control the ball until the second day of game play – which added a bit of frustration at the start.

My Lab Rat touched on the overly complex control system and I have to agree that I too found that a bit frustrating.  Clearly I was not getting the utmost from the game because I could not master the more complex moves – they just were not accessible to me.  The graphics however more than made up for the control frustration, and I have to admit that at times while I was playing this title, I became confused as to whether I was watching a game on TV or playing a video game – which I believe is the best compliment that you can give to a sports title!

I rated FIFA 10 a solid 7.5, deducting a big chunk of points for the control issues and the confusion surrounding the tutorial system.  I rate this title a BUY, not Rent, adding that the re-play factor and entertainment as well as play longevity make this one well worth the price of admission!

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A Review Copy of this title for the XBox 360 was provided by EA Sports

This title was claimed by a Lab Rat!

Publisher: 2K Sports
Release Date: September 2009
ESRB Rating: E+10 (for Everyone aged 10 and over)
Platforms: XBox 360 / PS3 / PS2 / Wii
Genre: Sports / Hockey

My Rating: ** – Great fun but requires knowledge I lack.
LR Rating: 8.0 – Excellent visual but light on serious hockey.

Introduction

Strictly from a sporting perspective for me games like NHL 2K10 represent both fun and a learning experience.  Prior to playing this game I had never actually seen a hockey game, or played one for that matter.  I knew what hockey was and I understood the basic mechanics of it from seeing it in movies and on TV shows as a plot element, but that was the limit of my working knowledge and experience.  I also had the usual cultural references stored away in my head – these three guys went to a fight and a Hockey match broke out – but for the most part I was a Hockey virgin!

The thing is, with sports games it really helps to have better than just an average notion of how the game is played – so prior to playing I spent some time on the web, reading pages that are designed to teach the novice about hockey from a spectator perspective – basically they were intended to teach you everything that you needed to know to attend or view a hockey game and not only grasp what is happening, but not look like a dork for not cheering when everybody else is!  Unfortunately that turned out to be too little knowledge for me to properly review this title, and so it became obvious that this one required a Lab Rat!  For that reason I am not giving this game a rating, instead I am relying exclusively on my Lab Rat.

While my Lab Rat will give you an expert opinion on the game, by way of an introduction I can tell you this: NHL 2K10 includes noticeable improvements in its graphics and interface compared to last year, and includes the integration of real-world statistics and data for the teams that adds to the realism of play.   It includes an improved multi-player mode that makes dropping in and out of the game very easy, and provides a level of hands-on fun that, while it may be considered simpler by hard core hockey fans, works out just right for casual sports gamers.

Game Play

The control system in the game is fairly easy to master, though it does require some effort to learn the finer points.  The A.I. is usually a significant factor in the challenge to master the controls, but in this title the difficulty settings do not have as broad an impact on game play, especially on the controls and shooting, as they might have had, which makes the curve slightly shallower for most gamers.

Modes for play include Season, Franchise, and Play-Off, with the additional modes of Pond Hockey, Shootout, and Mini-Rink giving the feel of mini-games added into the title rather than naturally part of it.  Online play for Season and Franchise modes is fluid but works best when you are playing with friends as willing pick-up partners are not always available in the lobbies, and when they are you frequently encounter players who are not serious about the game, which can impact your play and enjoyment.

Perhaps the greatest strength to the title is the near complete integration of online play.  That may not sound like a big deal considering that most games try to include some element of online play, but in this case the game allows you to play all modes online, which means playing the A.I. is not your only – and for most players your first – choice!  Playing against a human opponent adds an element of excitement and enjoyment to the game that the A.I. cannot deliver, so having a large group of friends who like to play with you is an obvious priority this year!

Lab Rat’s Take

The first question that will be on your mind is where does NHL 2K10 stack up to EA’s NHL Title?  The answer is nowhere – and everywhere.  It does not really compare because they are not the same game, and when I say that I mean that they are not the same game of hockey!  This game offers something that the other does not – casual fun, simplicity, and the ability to just play your own game of hockey without being forced into a one up one down play style.

In many ways playing this game reminds me of arcade style hockey games, but that is not a bad thing.  Certainly there is room for that in the hockey genre, so if you are an arcade player you will be more than satisfied with this game.  The graphics are awesome, the voice work is good too, though the music selections for the game are sort of predictable which is to say that there is nothing brave or unusual here music-wise.

The biggest strength for this game is the ability to play with your friends or pick-up players online in every mode, without over complication, making it easy to play and enjoy together.  Online play is really smooth, without gaps or frame dropping, and I have never had a game disconnect or drop and that alone says a lot!

From a game play perspective there are some issues – most notably the slow pace of the game as far as skating and puck action.  Maybe it is not really slow but it feels slow to me unless I am using the turbo mode, but you should not have to be holding down a button to get the feel of speed in a game that is built around it.  Another issue is puck handling differences between the A.I. and human opponents.  The A.I. seems to be using sticky sticks – what I mean is that the puck seems almost attracted to their sticks so that they handle it closer.  You can still interact, check and grab but it doesn’t feel as loose as when you are playing a human opponent.

The move animations in the game give a realistic feel and look to it, but they are also one of the major drawbacks to the game in that you cannot break out of the animation once it starts, which sort of makes quick-reaction change-ups impossible.   The other animations though add to your enjoyment of the game, like the crowds which have really been improved over previous year’s games, and the half-time stuff.  The rink environment is much more realistic, as are the players and the over-all visual impact of play.

Having played this game a lot over the last month I feel like the bulk of the effort on the part of 2K for this game was on the visual side, and they did an amazing job with it.  If that was all that there was to consider this would easily be the perfect hockey game.  But it is not all that there is to consider, and even so the game itself is good, the play is challenging and most important of all satisfying.  I have no problem giving this game an 8.0 and I have no reservations in recommending it to my family and friends who like hockey games, and I have.

The one thing that I want to say though is that if you are looking for a hard-edged rough game this may not be the title you want to go for first.  If on the other hand what you want is a fun game of hockey that you can enjoy with your friends, this would be the game you go for first!  Getting pick-up games has not been a problem, and I have actually made a group of new online friends through playing this game, and that says something as well about it that is worthy of notice.

My Take

When it comes to sports games I am fairly easy to please – as long as the controls are not overly complicated and the game has a clearly defined point to it, I am there.  I admit though that I prefer to play the A.I. in sports games – probably because if  I am being honest I would have to disclose that whenever I play human opponents in games other than cricket, soccer, and tennis, I tend to get my butt kicked

NHL 2K10 is one of a half-dozen sports titles that I have played in the past 6 months, and like MLB 2K10 it took some learning and some effort on my part to learn enough so that the game made sense to me – and like MLB 2K10 I can honestly say that I am happy that I took the effort!

I enjoyed this title – and though I am not giving it a rating it is not because it is a bad game, but rather because I admit my ignorance and believe that offering a rating on a game that I do not fully understand would be a disservice to you.

My Lab Rat is a serious hockey game fan and player, and he says that this is a BUY not Rent, and I have to agree that it is a game that I could easily add into my game rotation and play a lot!

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A Review Copy of this game for the PS3 was provided by 2K Sports

This game was claimed by a Lab Rat!

Publisher: Codemasters / Asobo Studios
Release Date: June 2009
ESRB Rating: E (for Everyone)
Platforms: XBox 360 / PS3 / Windows
Genre: Racing

My Rating: 7.5 Great Open-World Racing!
LR Rating: 8.0 – Great Free Roam Play!

Introduction

Set in a post-apocalyptic world that has been ravaged by Global Warming and all of the ill effects that result from that – fuel scarcity, crazy weather patterns, and roving bands of nomads who threaten your very existence, Fuel takes place in an incredibly huge open-world format.   The game defies any concrete categorization -  it combines on-road and off-road racing with elements of Rally Cross and Baja, using a diverse selection of vehicle types from rail buggies to cars to ATV’s and everything in between.  While it has a confrontational aspect to it, it is not a combat game, and although there are mission-like objectives, it is not an RPG.  What it is during the actual racing portions, to be clear, is fifty pounds of racing fun packed into a ten pound bag so that it is just bursting to get out!  During the non-racing portions though, it is a game where you really have to make your own fun.

Creating such a huge world is always a risk in racing games, because you then have to fill that world with things to do.  A lot of the races in this game basically benefit from having all of that space to drive in, and while it seems pretty clear that the developer understood that and took good advantage of it in laying out the courses, perhaps the huge world was still a bit more ambitious than successful with respect to how it was used outside of racing.

Game Play

There are roads, tracks, trails, and off-road rides in an open-world that consists of 5,000 square miles – and a free roam mode that allows you to cover all of that without ever having to wait for a load screen!   As you can probably imagine with such a large world driving from one area to another -

A wide variety of vehicle types including motorcycles and ATV's add to the fun!

especially when they are on opposite sides of the map – can take quite a while, which is why the game includes a helicopter-based quick transit system that you unlock, one heliport at a time as you unlock new areas of the map.

Any game made in the later half of the 00’s is going to have certain aspects to it that you can count on – collectibles, a story mode, and a multi-player mode – and Fuel is no exception to this rule.  The multi-player mode allows you to play with 15 of your friends, and the story mode is packed with challenges – some time-based, some route-based, that will keep you well occupied as you play!

In story mode the races are between you and the A.I. and as the timer kicks off, you accelerate and try to spot the markers that will indicate where you need to go.  The tracks or routes can be complex, and it is not always easy to stay right on the path – in fact you might just find yourself hanging back a bit at the start to let the other racers show you the way, and making your move later in the race to ensure a victory without too much getting lost.  Surprisingly while that aspect has frustration possibilities, in play it actually serves to make things more interesting and, dare I say it?  Challenging as well!  Of course you can turn on the GPS mode – a feature that adds a honking huge yellow arrow to the screen to show you where to go – but I found that this had an undesirable impact on game play that prevented me from really getting into the moment…  YMMV

While most of the races are laid out with a defined path and contain checkpoints and gates, the trick to winning them easily is to seek out shortcuts that you can use that still allow you to touch the required points.  Finding these shortcuts is part of the challenge and attraction, but be careful not to be too reckless in the process, because damage adds up in this game, and your ride will only take so much before it becomes a rolling fire ball.

The wrecks in this game are not all that cinematic, and the collectibles in the game – cars strategically located throughout the map, and icons marked as Vista Views – require you to get pretty close to them before you get a visual indicator on the map – but the glowing laser pointer of the Gods will turn you on to those locations way before your map will, so worry not!

The weather effects and very dark darkness of night are two elements that ramp up the challenge in this game – but I should comment more on the darkness thing…  When it gets dark in the game – and it does that more frequently and quicker than it did before Global Warming ruined the world – it really gets dark.  We are talking inky serious cut-it-with-a-knife darkness of the sort that makes your headlights feel like pen lights barely slicing away

The landscape includes a wide variety of racing surfaces, and the A.I. offers some unpredictable challenges!

the darkness.  This can make finding the third collectible item in the game – the signature orange-red Fuel drums upon which several unlock-able elements in the game depend – something of a challenge in itself.  If you find yourself waiting around for the sun to rise before you go off-road in search of drums, do not feel bad.  I suspect that a lot of players do that – myself included.

One interesting aspect of the drum collection is that they can appear almost anywhere – and they do!  I found several on top of barns, buildings, and hills, while mostly they are in the landscape – so do not roll past a farmers field without giving it a serious once-over for drums, and the same advice holds true for any forests you happen to pass that are near the highway!

Lab Rat’s Take

First I have to say that this is a cool game!  It is not a lot like Burnout Paradise, though a lot of people try to say that it is.  I mean there are some aspects that are similar but this has more of a rougher feel to the world because you are not in big cities, and even though Burnout had like countryside, it did not have wilderness and this game really does have that.  You get the definite sense that you are out in dangerous areas, and the roads and the traffic are not predictable, do you can easily wreck if you do not pay attention, which again is different than Burnout.

The game has a story mode sort of, well maybe a career mode is a better way to say it, and I did play that and enjoy it, but mostly I played in free-roam mode because that is where the fun is!  You can really get into whatever you want, play on a variety of surfaces, and just cut loose in free roam in a way that you cannot really do in career mode.  One big reason that you will want to do free roam a lot is that there are no loading screens in free roam, where in the other modes practically everything that you do there are, and they can be long.

I got frustrated with wrecking during races because every time you wreck you get a load screen, and by the time you get back on to the track even though your ride is no longer smoking, pretty much all of the other drivers are now so far ahead of you that you can’t catch up, and you can’t take short cuts or anything because you have to go through the gate markers to advance the race, so that part is maybe not so good.

I like this game and especially the free roam, so I give it an 8 out of 10.  If the load screens had been quicker or maybe not as often I would have given it a 9 out of 10, and I think it is definitely worth renting and if you really like racing games, it is worth buying probably.

My Take

I suppose that creating the plot and environment for video games is a specialty unto itself, much like that of writing the environments for TV and movies.  When I was a kid growing up, Nazi’s and Bikers were the usual villains, and when I was a teenager it was Russians, Cubans, and Drug Dealers.  When I was in my 20’s Nazi’s had come back into fashion, but more often than not the villain would be a gangster of some sort – Italian, Asian, or Hispanic, because that was the trend.   These days the trend for video games seems to be post-apocalyptic landscapes dotted with environmental threats, roving bands of dangerous survivors, and shattered social structures.

Some games take that environment and make it their own to great success – Fallout 3 for example, and Bioshock to a lesser extent show how you can really make that environment a major element in the story.  Does Fuel snag that lightning in a bottle and make it sing?  Not so much, really.  But that is okay, because we are not playing this gale for the plot elements or the back story – we are playing it for extreme racing in a huge open world that has a

Between weather effects and some stunning scenery there is a lot to look at in the game world

variety of landscapes from desolate to forested, and even includes sandy beaches and an area of dunes that just beg to be jumped!  In fact when I was racing through the dunes the theme song to Rat Patrol was banging in my head – yeah, you never heard of that show, I know – that is just me showing my age.  And yes, before you ask, I do know that the guitar is just in my head

So excusing the over-used scenario, what we end up with in Fuel is extreme racing that while maybe not at its best, certainly offers a change from the usual games in this genre.  A really nice touch if you ask me is the collective damage system that can – and should – leave your ride smoking and chugging when you drop it off of a 30-foot sheer cliff onto concrete.

I rated this game a 7.5 BUY not rent, deducting points for overly long load times – especially when you wreck during a race, something you will come to dread and so work hard at getting good enough so that you do not have to experience it on a regular basis.  Another issue that falls squarly into the “should have been fixed” bucket is the graphical indication of speed – which there is not really any of.  I honestly could not tell the difference between driving at 30 MPH and 60 MPH, and it would have added to the intensity and the fun if I could have had a sense of high speed when I was traveling at high speed…  I deducted points for the lack of mission/race to space ratio – you can and do find yourself doing a lot of driving just to get to an event you cannot get to any other way due to not having unlocked a nearby transit point, and the driving delays in the game do start to get on your nerves.

Having said that, do not think that those drawbacks make this game any less desirable!  I am willing to put up with that sort of thing to get to the good parts, and the good parts in this game include some mad racing routes and some interesting vehicles.  Having given the game a huge chunk of time and having enjoyed if for the most part, I really do not have many regrets, and this is clearly a title that I will return to again, giving it a medium-to-high re-play rating.

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A Review Copy of this game for the XBox 360 was provided by Codemasters

This game has been claimed by a Lab Rat!

SUPREME COMMANDER 2 RELEASED

Square Enix announced today the release of Supreme Commander 2 for the PC.  This next installment in the established series takes place 25 years after the previous game, and features enhanced graphics and story line as well as a robust multi-player mode.

Take on the role of three enigmatic commanders; former friends from each of the unique factions — The United Earth Federation (UEF), The Illuminate and the Cybran Nation — who get dragged into a conflict of galactic consequences

Some of the game features highlighted in the news include:

• Explore a rich, character-driven single-player game which spans over 18 missions and delivers a new level of emotional connection to the RTS genre, or take the battle online for an exhilarating multi-player experience
• Fight action-packed battles on a massive scale, waging war with enormous land, air and naval units in visually spectacular environments, brought to life by all-new rendering technology and a true evolution of RTS controls on both platforms
• Upgrade and customize armies with new weapons and technology and deploy them instantly on the battlefield, turning a base-level tank into a high-powered, multi-barreled, anti-aircraft-sporting multipurpose battle unit
• Deploy wild experimental war machines that can change the balance of power at any given moment. Experience a streamlined economy and redesigned UI that put the focus squarely on combat, battlefield tactics and high-level strategic decision making, and give improved player feedback in Strategic Zoom view

Supreme Commander 2 has received an ESRB Rating of E+10 (E for Everyone ten and older) and retails for $49.99.

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Mega Man 10 Release adds Bass as a Playable Character

The folks over at Capcom dropped me an email to let me know that there is an additional player – Bass – that gamers can play as in their new release, Mega Man 10!  Begining 15 April 2010 players can download (unlock) Bass as a playable character in the game for 200 Wii Points on the Wii Marketplace.

According to the email: “Bass uses a weapon called the Bass Buster, which is a lot like the Mega Buster except that it fires faster and can fire upwards and diagonally (7 directions in all). He can also use the Bass Buster to shoot-down enemy attacks! He uses dash to avoid enemy advances. He can also copy the weapons of the bosses in the game after defeating them, just like Mega Man can.  When he combines with his robotic canine pal Treble, he can fly and shoot more powerful projectiles with his buster.”

Mega Man 10 is a title that I plan to review, so look for that in our review section soon!

Resident Evil 5 DLC Release set for 4th March

In addition to the release of Mega Man 10, Capcom announced that the second DLC for its smash title Resident Evil 5 – entitled Desperate Escape -  will become available on the Playstation Network on March 4th – it is already available on the XBox Live marketplace.

According to the email: “This, the second major story pack for Resident Evil 5, pairs Jill Valentine and Josh Stone in another harrowing lost chapter of the Resident Evil 5 story. Freed of a mind control device, a fatigued Jill Valentine finds herself awakened by BSAA agent Josh Stone. Jill and Josh must work together to escape from the Tricell facility under the darkness of night.. Players will fight-off unrelenting waves of enemies in heart pumping blockbuster action, guiding Jill and Josh as they race to assist Chris and Sheva in their final showdown with Albert Wesker.”

A few additional notes – the DLC includes two new costumes for use in the campaign mode, and if you purchase the Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5 (set to release on March 9th), a token is included in with the game for all of the DLC presently released!

MotoGP 09/10 Demo release set for March 4th

If you are a fan of Capcom’s MotoGP series you may want to check out the demo for MotoGP 09/10 that will be available on XBox Live and the Playstation Network starting tomorrow, March 4th.  The new Moto title features time trial and arcade style racing, and the release of the full game is set for March 16th for both platforms.

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Nintendo announces pre-sale rewards for new Pokemon Games!

REDMOND, Wash.– For Pokémon fans, good things come to those who don’t wait. The new Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version games for the portable Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems will launch across North America on March 14, but consumers will have the chance to receive a reward for pre-ordering the games beginning Feb. 1. Those who take advantage of this pre-sale opportunity can receive a Legendary Pokémon figure crafted by Kaiyodo, an internationally renowned figure-making company, while supplies last at major retailers, giving fans of the blockbuster series yet another way to enjoy its vast and imaginative cast of Pokémon characters.

Consumers who pre-order Pokémon HeartGold Version will receive a figure of Ho-Oh, a Legendary Pokémon that circles the skies of the Johto region on rainbow-colored wings. Those who pre-order Pokémon SoulSilver Version will get a figure of Lugia, a Legendary Pokémon that dwells deep in the seas and has the power to create massive storms. Ho-Oh and Lugia are featured on the packages of the Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Version games, and these premiums will be offered at participating retailers nationwide while supplies last.

“These unique figures are our way of thanking Pokémon fans of all ages for the enthusiasm and support they have shown for the series,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions include new features and enhancements that players will instantly appreciate, and we think these terrific figures will help to get fans even more excited about what is in store for them on March 14.”

Created exclusively for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions return players to the scenic Johto region first introduced in the popular Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver Version games for the portable Game Boy system a decade ago. Both games have been fully updated with enhanced graphics and sound, plus new touch-screen features. The games are also bundled with the new Pokéwalker accessory, a portable device that players can use to take their favorite Pokémon from the Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Version games wherever they go, catch wild Pokémon and even find hidden items.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions each carry a suggested retail price of $39.99. For more information about Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version, visit www.pokemon.com.

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PoxNora^® Debuts Enhanced Gameplay Experience

Game Update Introduces New UI, Rune Manager, Redesigned Maps, Midterm Expansion and More

Today, Sony Online Entertainment’s Tucson studio released the latest PoxNora^® game update to better meet the needs of the online strategy gamer. Improvements have made PoxNora sleeker and more accessible, while still holding true to the incredible turn-based fantasy gameplay that originally captivated its dedicated player base.  With enhancements to the user interface and a streamlined player experience, PoxNora also introduces the fifth midterm expansion, Heirs to Legend, where eight new champions add to the 800 iconic pieces already available in game.

PoxNora game update features:

• New Rune Manager – A new, easier to use rune manager simplifies staying organized and managing collections
• New User Interface – Includes a sleek, streamlined rune dock, iconic ability buttons and a separate cool-down location
• New and Redesigned Maps – Over 20 new and redesigned maps provide uber replayability
• Updated Attack and Defense System – Efficient attack and defense system provides a clearer understanding of damage and statistics
• Restructured Leveling System – Updated leveling system makes customization easier and straightforward
• New and Improved Tutorial – New players can jump right into the action with the new and improved tutorial
• Redesigned Web Site – Players will see improved functionality with the completely revamped PoxNora.com

WHEN: The PoxNora game update and Heirs to Legend is now live.

For more information, visit www.PoxNora.com

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2K Sports Takes the Field with Major League Baseball^® 2K10

Launch of the game marks the start of $1,000,000 contest to pitch a perfect game

New York, NY – March 2, 2010 – 2K Sports announced today that Major League Baseball^® 2K10, the next iteration of the popular Major League Baseball® 2K series, is now available in retail stores nationwide.  Marking the 10^th anniversary of the franchise and featuring cover athlete and All-Star third baseman, Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, Major League Baseball 2K10 will highlight the intense battle between pitchers and hitters like never before.

“We have supreme confidence in the vast improvement of Major League Baseball 2K10 this season,” said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development for 2K. “With the all-new My Player career mode and integration of MLB Today, along with our retooled pitching and hitting mechanics, we aren’t holding anything back.  We’re also incredibly excited about rewarding one lucky fan with a million dollars for pitching a perfect game.”

From the mound to the plate, Major League Baseball 2K10 will give fans the ability to paint the corners with Total Control Pitching, and to work the count with Total Control Hitting, featuring an all-new defensive swing mechanic to foul off pitches.  With the integration of MLB Today, gamers will now be delivered real-time results, standings, news and stats to ensure timely commentary that reflects what’s actually going on in Major League Baseball.  Fans can also become a living legend with the all-new My Player career mode by creating a player, choosing a team and playing their way from a Double-A Minor League^TM team into the Hall of Fame^®.  Additionally, popular baseball analyst John Kruk will join the team to provide more in-depth commentary, giving Major League Baseball 2K10 the first ever three-man broadcast booth in a baseball video game.

2K Sports will also offer fans the thrilling opportunity this season to win an unprecedented cash prize in the amount of $1,000,000 for being the first person to throw a verified perfect game in Major League Baseball 2K10. In order to accomplish this rare feat, contestants will need to master all facets of this year’s improved pitching and hitting controls, while documenting the action. Fans will be able to participate in the contest beginning on March 2, 2010 at 12:01 AM PST and ending on May 1, 2010 at 11:59 PM PDT. This special contest, sponsored by 2K Sports, is available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft through the Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network* and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system through the PlayStation®Network*.

For more information about the $1,000,000 Major League Baseball 2K10 contest, please visit: www.2ksports.com/perfectgame.

* Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment America take no responsibility for this offer

Abbreviated Rules

Game must be played on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.  Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (D.C.), who are 18 or older (excluding residents of AZ, CT, MD, ND, and VT).  Void in AZ, CT, MD, ND, VT and where prohibited.  Begins on 3/2/2010 at 12:01 AM PST and ends at 11:59 PM PDT on 5/1/2010.  Contest subject to, and entrants agree to be bound by, the official rules published at www.2ksports.com/perfectgame.  Grand prize is subject to winner verification.  Grand prize will be awarded only if an entrant throws a perfect game by 5/2/2010 in accordance with the official rules.  Official Rules will be posted prior to contest start.

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This month is shaping up to be an interesting month for gaming – I am in the process of playing and evaluating the new MMO Star Trek Online and so far it is pretty amazing – especially if you are a Trek Fan!  Look for a review on this new MMO soon!

Publisher: 2K Sports / Visual Concepts
Release Date: 2 March 2010
Rating: E (for Everyone)
Platforms: ALL
Genre: Sports / Baseball

My Rating: 9.0 – Stunning!

Introduction

Last week a review copy of MLB 2K10 landed on my desk – 8 days before the declared street date for the release.  I will not tell you that I do not like it when that happens, because I do, though I am usually pretty careful about slotting games that arrive early on my Gamertag for obvious reasons.  This one I had no choice about, because the online multi-player bits is a major part of the attraction – and it is awesome, but more on that in a bit.

Last year’s title in the franchise did not receive a lot of love from reviewers or players; it had problems, there were issues, people were disappointed.   That happens every now and then in the games industry – with development times as short as 6 to 8 months, sometimes you just cannot kill all of the bugs before you release – but I am very happy to be able to say that this is not the case here!  2K10 was given an 11-month development cycle, and while that is a bit unusual, considering the results, I have to say that I wish all games were given that sort of treatment.

This title celebrates the Tenth Anniversary of the series, and it features as part of its core the battle between batter and pitcher using an improved set of controls, as well as a revamped graphical display that allows you to set up your pitches – and identify the  throw before it reaches the plate.  That is a

The graphics are superb and often blur the line between game and TV

major deal, a significant improvement, and adds a level of play value to the title that I was not expecting.  In addition to this, real-world statistics have been carefully integrated into the game, so the schedules are bang-on, the player data is impressive, and the abilities and even the quirks for a given player are just perfect!

If you are a fan of baseball – and in particular Major League Baseball – well then I do not have to explain the attraction that this title holds for you as a player.  If you are not a fan, this is your chance to really understand why these games are as popular as they are – your chance to experience what it is like to feel the pressure and be in the game.  No, it is not a true-to-life experience and the sweat will not roll off of the end of your nose as you check first base to make sure that the runner is not taking too big a lead – in case you need to pick him off.  But that is okay, that sort of realism belongs in the holodeck, not in a video game!

When I slotted this game for the first time I was still gathering the usual tools for a review, so the game went from the start screen to a demo mode and that immediately caught my attention.  Having watched more than a few baseball games – but having only attended three in my entire life – it was spooky how this game so perfectly delivered the experience of watching an MLB game on TV.

Being originally from Australia, when I think of a sporting activity to watch the first that come to mind are cricket, soccer, and Aussie Rules football – happily I have acquired a liking for baseball that has a tacit connection to the season – baseball is for warm Spring and hot Summer days.  This may

Batting is technical and simple at the same time, allowing any skill level to enjoy the game.

sound odd, but hearing that demo made me feel good, and convinced me that Spring is very close indeed!

After watching the demo for a while, I hit the start button and was immediately presented with the Baseball Today screen – all set up with the opening game for the season in April between New York and Boston.  Being a Sox fan, well, it should be obvious which team I chose to play…  And first at bat was a certain Mr. Jeter (grr) who I promptly struck out with the wizardly skills of Daisuke Matsuzaka – can you tell I was enjoying this immensely?

As the game played out and I learned the controls (which required more than a few pauses while I consulted the manual) I began to understand why this game is different than previous titles in the series.  It is not that the approach to play us unique – though it is – but rather that the process of playing the game clearly was devised to be intuitive, and rely heavily upon the players own reactions.  There is a lot when it comes to options here making this the most technical baseball game I have ever played, but at the same time retaining a simplistic enough approach so that players of every skill range can play and enjoy it.  Good on you 2k Sports!

Game Play

The content in this title is evenly split between the “story mode” (called My Player Mode), Season Play, and of course, online PvP where you can challenge friends or basically anyone willing to play you.  There is a bit more to the online mode – for instance you can create a regular league in which

The third-strike rule threw me for a loop - as did the infield pop-up rule.

the same people play together – an option that I am certain will be a popular one for online play.   After spending a week with this title, the only thing I am absolutely certain of is that a week is not enough.  The re-playability score is very high, and it looks like one of the games that is going to factor in your game rotation for quite a while as it has a lot of variety and challenge.

Season play and Today play have you pitching and batting, with both positions requiring a sliding degree of skill, but thankfully if you are good at pitching you can mediate your mistakes at bat…  Holding off the opposing team while you find your groove at the plate means developing a good understanding of the pitching system in the game – there are a variety of pitches available but you will probably want to concentrate on your fast ball and sliders until you grasp the finer points of the other options.

The controls are pretty straight forward and intuitive, though remembering to strategically advance your runners can be tricky at first – perhaps more so for me than for a gamer who is very familiar with the game of baseball.  A good example of that is the third-strike rule wherein if the catcher fumbles the ball, the batter can advance to first base on the third strike…  I had never encountered that in any of the games that I watched, so I had to give my editor a call to get the facts on what I at first thought was a game bug!

As you play through the My Player mode you will notice that the controls and the focus are a bit different now that your point-of-view is your player and not the game in whole, which means learning a different control configuration.  That makes sense though, since you are basically hitting and running rather than pitching and hitting.  As you play in this mode your interaction in the game is limited to what your player would actually be doing, so you do not sit through the opposing team batting, which makes for a brisk game.

As I played my first My Player game I had to quickly adjust to the new control layout and focus – I managed to get a base hit and was ready to advance when the next batter popped the ball deep into center field, but advance I did not – because I did not realize that I needed to hold the run button   Yes, I got tagged out about 12 feet from first base, but I will never make that error again!

My Take

This is an easy game to like and the inclusion of real-world statistics and data combined with the superb announcer overlays and commentary often blurred the line between game and TV – meaning that every now and then I would forget that I was playing a video game and think I was watching a game on TV!  Of course the inclusion of advertisers and the remarkable similarity between onscreen overlays with those used on MLB games and the familiar pitch and tone of the announcer’s voice helps to trigger that phenomenon.

After I played with the My Player, Today, and Season play modes, I went online to evaluate that side of the game, only to discover that the online

MLB2K10 has got game - and offers great re-play potential!

servers either had not been activated yet, or were just not online.  I had to wait a few days, but happily the wait was worth it!  The first person that I encountered online was a colleague from the Boston Herald, and as we played I began to understand why online play will likely be the strength of this title.  It was fun!  But more important than that, it was fluid and bug-free and a pleasure to play.

I gave this title a solid 9.0 out of 10, deducting a point for minor control issues – while pitching, after selecting the pitch the target reticule for where the ball will cross through the box can get jinky (wiggles around a bit) and sometimes will end up delivered to an area of the box – or outside it – that is not even close to where you were targeting.  Another minor issue is the power control – which while it works flawlessly 99% of the time can sometimes result in a wild pitch when it should not.

All in all this game is more than worth the price of admission, offers good re-play value, and will quickly earn a prominent position in your regular game roster.  There are a few surprises and more than a few impressive moments, and the Achievement and Trophy system focus on attainable goals that are part of play – unusual these days – and add to the pleasure of this title!

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A Review Copy of this game for the XBox 360 was provided by 2K Sports

This game has been claimed!

Publisher: Codemasters / Sumo Digital
Release Date: November 2009
ESRB Rating: E (for Everyone)
Platforms: Wii / PSP /iPhone
Genre: Racing

My Rating: 8.0 – Quick fun with a Wii Wheel!

Introduction

You may be a bit confused to see this title released on the Wii as its primary and only Console – that is understandable considering that the previous releases in this ’series’ included games made by Sony for their platforms – the PS2 and PSP.  This newest release in the F1 franchise comes from the Codemasters Studio, and while it may not seem logical that the Wii was the chosen vehicle for its release, as it turns out it makes perfect sense once you play the game!  But then Codemasters has more than a little experience with racing games – and in fact you may get a familiar feel when you play this title, because it uses the same graphics engine as Dirt 2, another great racing game from this studio.

In the racing genre there are a handful of titles that somehow nail it – the Dirt Series for Rally Racing, and of course for street racing there is the Burnout Series and Midnight Club.  When you want to go very fast, you are talking about Forza and Project Gotham, and now when you want to go very fast in a Formula-1 racer, we have F1 2009!   The quality of the games has more to do with the understanding and skill applied by their creators than it does the reality of the sport – a car is a car, a track is a track – but it takes a special eye and keen understanding of gamers to turn that simple fact into a great racing experience – and happily if you are a racing game fan, this title promises to be a good start to a revived series!

Game Play

The game closely follows the real 2009 Formula-1 Racing Series, featuring all of the circuits for the year and the top twenty drivers, and a surprising selection of drivers aids can be added – or disabled – to kick up the challenge and realism.  Add in the variety of racing modes offered in this title – from

Each car can be kitted out for a unique driving experience

Quick Race to Time Trial, and a limited multi-player option on the Wii (the PSP version allows an additional two players to play together for a total of four players) and there is potential for shared fun here.

The structure of the game includes a career mode that covers three full seasons and the World Championships, as well as season play and Grand Prix Weekend races for fun in bite-sized chunks.  A practice mode is also included that will both allow you to learn the game and controls and experiment with car configuration – a good thing since the game allows you to tinker with the car setups the same way that they do in real life.  Once thing about that – all of the cars no matter what sub-type can have all of the upgrades and kit, so you could end up kitting out a car in a way that the real car never was in the F1 races!

A limited number of games bundled with a racing wheel that you could slot your Wii mote into were released – I did not get one of those – but as the controller for this is the Wii mote, you can use it, or any other racing wheel as well so my Nerf Wheel worked just fine

My Take

First I should point out that I am something of a racing game fan – I really enjoy racing games in their every variety, from street to off-road, and even circuit racing like in this game.  My idea of a relaxing afternoon is to slot a good racing game in my console and spend a few hours taking don the competition or running from the cops – good clean fun that will not impact the bill I get from my insurance company in real life

I liked F1 but there were aspects of it that I was not so fond of…  I rated this title an 8.0 which is a respectable rating, but I had to deduct points for several elements in the game that could easily have been done better – starting with the graphics, which were fuzzy and washed out, and lacked the

Fast pace and challenging tracks helps offset the weak A.I.

vivid eye-impact that we saw in Dirt 2, which uses the same game engine.  Another flaw that cost the game an entire point was the A.I. for the other drivers – and while I am trying to be kind when I say this – I got the definite impression that outside of their car, none of these computer-controlled drivers can walk and chew gum at the same time…

Now that you have heard what I found lacking, let me just say that this is actually a fun game – perhaps not the hard core Formula-1 simulator that we might have hoped for, but fun nonetheless!  And that is why I rate this a BUY, not rent, and willingly recommend it to my gaming friends.  This game has a lot of entertainment to offer, gives an excellent feel for high-speed racing, and is packed with enough options to make its re-play potential quite high.  If you enjoy going fast, racing circuit, and tinkering with the kit-side of racing, you are going to like this game.  I wish that it has come out for the XBox 360 or PS3, but rumor has it that the sequel, F1 2010 is going to release on those consoles as well as the Wii, so perhaps we will have an even better experience later this year?

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A Review Copy of this title for the Wii was provided by Codemasters.

This Game has been Claimed!