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Pinball Hall of Fame -- The Williams Collection
Review by: Cyril Lachel
Cyril finds a gem amongst the clatter of crap Wii mini-games READ FULL REVIEW...
Super Smash Brawl
Review by: Sean Colleli
The Wii gets their Brawl but does Sean like what Nintendo's done with this one? READ FULL REVIEW...
Battle of the Bands
Review by: Dave Gamble
What if you were to combine the musical elements of Guitar Hero with the combative aspects of Mario Kart and throw in the fun of wiggling... READ FULL REVIEW...

Gaming Gibs for 5/16/98

by: Chuck - - Comments (0)
Here are a few things I missed while reading the Foo Fighter's awesome tour rider:
  • Microsoft explains their policy on the word Gay in gamertags
  • Gory games cut crime?  Expect new lows of real world violence when Ninja Gaiden II hits
  • CBS buys C|Net (owner of Gamespot) for way more than it's worth
  • Is Call of Duty 4 a MMO?  I guess I missed the Morloc mission
  • Lucasarts gets pithy about the lack of multiplayer in Force Unleashed
  • Ars Technica takes Microsoft down a peg or two about the Xbox 360 numbers
  • New racing rig is totally awesome, Dave might have to sell the plane to get it though
  • Capcom wants to know which Street Fighter IV figure you want, no Stretch Armstrong Dhalsim available
  • Haze questions answered, I guess we find out next week if the game was worth the wait

News Roundup: Nuts & Bolts Gears of PixelJunk

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
Demos
Articles
Videos
Screenshots
Thanks to Xbox America, Techgage, TheTechLounge, Cryptic Studios, Digit-Life, and Strategy Informer for today's news roundup.

[Pictured: Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals]

We Ski challenges Wiikly Wiileases Wiivealed for sequential vowel sounds

by: Sean Colleli - - Comments (0)
Namco Bandai isn't content to let Nintendo have all of the Wii sports pie, so they jumped on a sport Nintendo hasn't gotten to yet.  We Ski is shipping to stores and allows for control with the Wii remote or the brand new balance board bundled with Wii Fit.  Namco Bandai also smartly stamped We Ski with a very reasonable $29.99 price, putting it squarely in the impulse buy range.  I'm curious to see how the balance board works--it's rare to see a game get released before one of its peripherals launches, especially a first party one. [READ MORE]

Rock around the clock

by: Sean Colleli - - Comments (1)
Blockbuster is hosting a 24 hour Guitar Hero 3 tournament at one of their Dallas, Texas stores.  It goes from Friday the 16th to Saturday the 17th, with Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert starting the ceremonies.  A donation of $5 will get you unlimited playtime, and even better, your donations go to improve children's education in Dallas.  Oh, and there are some cool prizes for the winners too.  I wish they were doing one of these in Columbus, although I probably wouldn't make it out of the medium bracket. [READ MORE]

Upcoming Rock Band downloadable content is nothing if not Disturbed

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
We know exactly why you and your Xbox 360 may be feeling increasingly disturbed in the coming weeks.  Individuals that pre-order Disturbed's upcoming (June 3rd) album, Indestructible, from Best Buy will receive two free downloadable Rock Band tracks from the album:  The titular "Indestructible" and "Inside the Fire."  Disturbed will be featured as Xbox LIVE's Artist of the Month for June. [READ MORE]

LEGO Indiana Jones PC Demo available now

by: Chuck - - Comments (0)
Traveller's Tales has released a demo of the PC version of LEGO Indiana Jones.  Since LucasArts's Indiana Jones game has been delayed this will be serving as your quasi-movie tie in game for the upcoming film.  I'm interested to see how this one plays as Traveler's Tales did such a good job with the LEGO Star Wars games.

New Alone in the Dark trailer starts to shed light on the game

by: Chuck - - Comments (1)
Here's the new Alone in the Dark trailer that finally starts to provide something other than pretty shots of central park at night with stuff on fire. 

Gaming Gibs for 5/13/08

by: Chuck - - Comments (0)
Sorry about missing yesterday's Gibs but real life intervened.  That said here are a few things I missed while rocking out to a song composed of nothing but gun sounds from Call of Duty 4:
  • Gamerscore whores will be happy to know that their gamerscores will probably carry over to the next-gen Xbox 360
  • Destrucoid comes up with three reasons to care about the well being of the ESA
  • Joystiq talks to GameTrailers about their GRiD Snafu
  • I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't really care about Doom 4
  • Is it time to wonder why Ubisoft de-featured the PC version of Assassin's Creed in the last patch?
  • RockStar big wig is cool with an EA takeover, maybe the only one in the Take Two empire
  • Getting old sucks, getting old and being a gamer...still sucks

News Roundup: Uranus LostWinds, Mister Slime

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
Articles
Videos, Screens
Thanks to AtomicGamer, Strategy Informer, Legit Reviews, WarCry, and TheTechLounge for today's news roundup.

[Pictured: Gothic 4]
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Majesco plays pat-a-cake with Cake Mania: In the Mix!

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
Getting the jump on advertising for Wii holiday season releases, Cake Mania: In the Mix! is putting more icing on its layered PC/Nintendo DS series.  Take Jill through nine new bakeries filled with baking and frosting "mania" with 10 new customer-friendly bakery add-ons (fish tank, bench, table, table game, promotional decorations, and more); a phone system -- to rival GTA IV's, no doubt -- in order to accept catering orders; all while serving customers ranging from preggo mothers, to (apparently) cake-hungry ninjas, to leprechauns. [READ MORE]

Wiikly wiileases wiivealed - No virtual console titles this week

by: Chuck - - Comments (1)
Nintendo is not releasing any Virtual Console titles this week to clear space the launch of WiiWare.  While this is a bit disappointing I'm hoping that the respite gives Nintendo some time to dig up some decent games for next week.

WiiWare Launches today

by: Chuck - - Comments (4)
Nintendo has finally pushed WiiWare out of dry dock and you'll now be able to download new games directly to your Wii assuming you have an internet connection and room left on your Wii/Storage card.  I'm interested to see how WiiWare pans out as it's a direct shot at Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.  Can smaller developers figure out how to use the Wii remote better than the larger devs?  Will we continue to get more crap shovelware games shoved down our throat?  Time will tell.

Here's the launch list for this week:
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King (1500 Wii points)
Lostwinds (1000 Wii points)
Defend your Castle (500 Wii points)
Pop (700 Wii poins)
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (1000 Wii points)
TV Show King (1000 Wii points) [READ MORE]

News Roundup: LittleBigBusSimulator

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
Demo
Videos, Screens
Articles
Thanks to Pi Studios, AtomicGamer, and Digit-Life for today's news roundup.

Pictured: The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar [Book 13 Epic Quest]
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New Alone in the Dark website is very dark, you are likely to be eaten by a grue

by: Chuck - - Comments (3)
Atari has launched a new website for Alone in the Dark which allows you to explore the world of the game before it hits shelves.  With the company being delisted this from the NASDAQ this week it's hard to underestimate how important this game is to the company.  What I've seen looks really good but it remains to be seen if the final product will be enough to help turn the company around.

Gaming Gibs for 5/9/2008

by: Chuck - - Comments (1)
Here are a few things I missed while watching the first seven minutes of Speed Racer:
  • Law of the land talks about how to create real video game legislation
  • Activision is shelving the Tony Hawk series for this year, it's amazing what competition can do
  • No video game tie-ins for Indiana Jones or Batman, this isn't necessarily a bad thing
  • Aaron Goldberg trashes the PS3, RROD of irony escapes without notice
  • Silicon Knights talks about the Mana system in Too Human
  • Bizzare Creations is no longer doing DLC for Project Gotham Racing 4, up to Microsoft for new content

MLB Power Pros 2008 coming to Wii, PS2, and DS

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
2K Sports is continuing with their light-hearted tribute to America's favorite pastime, MLB Power Pros 2008.  In addition to the series' traditional Practice, Exhibition, League, and Home Run Challenge modes, this year gets even more up-close and personal as players act as general manager in Season mode, and engage in the Success and MLB Life roleplaying modes.  MLB Power Pros 2008 is coming to the Wii and PS2 this July, and to Nintendo DS later this fall. [READ MORE]

News Roundup: The Ninja Mask of Elefunk

by: Randy - - Comments (2)
Articles
Videos, Screens
Thanks to WarCry, AtomicGamer, and Techgage for today's news roundup.

[Pictured: The Lord of the Rings: Conquest]
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Recharge that balance board

by: John - - Comments (0)
The Wii Fit Balance Board is coming to the US soon and like the WiiMote, it takes batteries to operate. Nyko's got a solution for you if you don't want to buy batteries. The Energy Pak for the Wii Balance Board installs on the underside of the board and will let you play and charge at the same time. They claim you can play for 20 hours on one charge and is expected in stores on May 19th for $20. I'm surprised Nintendo doesn't just create these products with rechargeable options in mind but hey, it's nice that Nyko's around to help out. [READ MORE]

Gaming Gibs for 5/8/2008

by: Chuck - - Comments (0)
Here are a few things I missed while checking if my ISP was throttling my bandwidh:
  • The Analog Gamer is back with a D&D Bar Fighting game...I'd kick ass my with +4 Tankard of ass kicking brew
  • Totilo wonders if reviewers needs to finish games, the overhype of Bioshock comes to mind
  • GameSetWatch looks at the good, the bad, and the kind of ugly of the PlayStation Network.
  • The NES re-imagined
  • Ars Technica examines how Activision will still be milking the ESA even though it's not paying dues anymore

Come talk video games tonight in Columbus

by: Chuck - - Comments (5)
If you live in Columbus and can pry yourself away from Grand Theft Auto IV for 90 minutes you might want to head down to Columbus State's Nestor Hall Auditorium from 6-7:30 to listen to a panel talking about video games as the Convergence of Art and Technology.  The Q&A panel will feature several smart people as well as one idiot from a local video game website (me).  The topics will range from the morals and ethics of video games to ARG's and more.  The panel will open up to the public at some point so you can ask me fun pointed questions that I will answer with vague yet satisfying answers.

There's also the Downtown Digital Arts festival going on which will be open before and during the panel.  Thanks to the Fuse Factory for inviting me to participate.

News Roundup: A Million Billion Strokes of Fate

by: Randy - - Comments (0)
Demo
Articles
Videos, Screens