GameStop, Drop and Roll

A blogger at the website Gaming Target has posted a little ditty called “7 Things GameStop Can Do to Stop Sucking.”

He makes some good points, especially when complaining about their markup on used games. GameStop has always paid entirely too little and charged entirely too much for used games, which is why I stopped doing trade-ins with them long ago and now sell my used games on eBay. Even using “no reserve” pricing on all my games, I’ve yet to get less from an eBay buyer than GameStop would have given me.  RZ

Rock Band

Previously I posted a game that was donwloadable. You can get a free trial, it was based upon Kudos etc… It was pretty fun, but ultimately it was more of a managerial game than a heart-of-a-rock star kinda game, if you know what I mean. This game “Rock Band” tries harder to encapsulate that feeling of actually being a rock n roll musician. Just look at all the add on’s you can buy such as the Fender controller and drumkit, not to mention the microphone. If you have a spare $300 i’m sure you will really enjoy this game to the fullest. The short video certainly looks like it’s a lot of fun. Personally, it seems a little out of my price range. Give me a simple controller and i’m happy. I don’t need a fake guitar to imagine myself playing guitar. I’d love to hear a review about this game from another gamer, and see if it will actually have any effect of stealing away the loyal guitar hero crowd.  

Wii Board

I remember just before the Nintendo Wii hit the shelves that there were many a snicker among people. Who is going to buy something called a “wee”? Well, it turns out a heck-of-a-lot of people want to buy it. Myself included. Just for…testing purposes only of course. And with the release of the Wii has followed many add-ons the latest (in my awareness) is the Wii board. It will be a flat piece of touch-sensitive board. You can use it for yoga, aerobics, muscle stretches..and best of all games! I Can see possibilities for more advanced dance games…perhaps a whack-a-mole game, oh and I guess some track and field games might also use this. It seems like the Wii is quickly becoming the exercise machine of choice. Take THAT bow-flex.

UK Gaming News: British Academy Video Games Awards

In the UK the British Academy Video Games Awards (BAVGA?) were announced with the Wii Sports package sweeping the awards. It picked up 6 honours including best sports game and best innovation. Was anyone surprised? Probably not. If anyone has spent the time playing the sports games then u’ll know how addictive and just how fun it is. It feels like you are playing a video game of the future. There are no leads on the controller and you don’t just sit on your butt playing. Bioshock also picked up an award for “best game”. That’s all I have to say about that until someone runs out to buy me a copy, and free Xbox 360 to boot. Sadly, Playstation 3 did not pick up ANY awards. I hope it acts a catalyst to Sony to get them to bring out some games worth playing on the PS3.

Gaming in the Social Network Field

I must be pretty far behind technologically speaking. Or perhaps I’m up to date with my peers. Either way, i’m haven’t yet subscribed to either of the major two social networking sites, which we all know are Myspace and Facebook. However, a very tempting aspect of both is the new inclusion of the ability to play games. Yes, now instead of just adding “friends” you can now whop virtual asses in a game of your choosing. Sounds like a great idea…until you play someone you manage to annoy and they steal your ID. What amuses me is that the games will probably be basic, early arcade games, or at least simple versions of those games. Which, if you asked a myspacer 6 months ago if they wanted to play “pong”, they would run a mile.

Computer Games Good..for Old People

It turns out that computer games ARE good for you! But before you go rushing back to your console check your driver’s license? Are you old? Well this article claims that playing games can actually help exercise the brain and keep it sharp. Great news for your granny who has just been waiting for an excuse to get a Wii. Seems to me though that the implications of this can be applied to everyone. I know that my brain certainly needs a workout, I just wonder how much good GTA is doing to my cognition.

Is that dust on your Wii?

A WIRED blogger gives us this news from a Japanese business newspaper: the Wii’s novelty may be wearing off.

Game developers are apparently worried because they’ve increased support for the popular Nintendo console yet their sales have not increased.

“The article also suggests that though many households now own a Wii, few of them are actually using it on a regular basis. As one developer quoted in the article put it, ‘People bought it out of curiosity, and it’s likely a lot of them haven’t used it.’”

My guess is the problem — if there is one — lies not with the Wii itself, but with the fact that the Wii’s cheap price and unique control scheme made it attractive to a lot of non-hardcore gamers. I would imagine any game console in those homes would collect dust after a while. RZ

Kudos – Rock Legend

I have been recently getting into downloading trial versions of games. One of the latest that has really stood out to me has been Kudos – Rock Legend. Apparently it’s a follow on to another sim-esque game called Kudos (which I’m yet to try) but even without playing this I think you will enjoy the Rock Legend game. That is if you like sim-esque kinda games. Basically, you are the lead singer in a band. You start from the very bottom, hiring some fellow band mates and analyzing their skills and personal qualities (which come in handy) and then you get to practising, writing songs (which is kinda weird) and improving your playing skills in a little mini-game. You can also record a demo CD to sell. The main function in the game is to play gigs to earn some money. You can then spend the money on new equipment, better rehearsal rooms, a van, t-shirt etc… it has a lot of depth. Whilst I struggled to get the band REALLY big I had fun playing it and it’s well worth the free download, at least just to name your own band and songs. Whilst there is no tv-through a hotel window option I’m sure every rocker at heart will find something to love about this game.

Goldeneye – N64

Just thinking about this game brings back some fond memories. This was a pretty much ground-breaking release for the N64 and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the sole reason for purchasing the console for the First Person Shooter gamer. Or for any gamer for that matter. That’s how good the game was. Firstly, you get to be James Bond. So that is always a bonus. But this game brought in recreations of scenes and location from the movie. The movement was slick, their was a wide range of weapon choices (including the double throwing knives hehe) and each level had some well planned objectives that took you along with the movie. The difficulty level was just about right. Some levels you would really struggle and have to plan out your whole sequence..like a secret agent I suppose. What really added to the game where the bonuses from completing the level under a certain time frame. This meant that suddenly the game had a longer gameplay. You HAD to go back and complete the game on the hardest setting just to unlock all the goodies. And of course, with the N64 you now had the chance to plug in 4 controllers and the death match game on Goldeneye was just plain fun. It even included a few memorable villains such as Jaws and Odd-Job and bonus levels. Miss Moneypenny would have certainly approved of this.

Check out the latest link

Anyone who began gaming in the last 20 year will no doubt be familiar with the “text adventure” games. Yes, long before sophisticated graphics where invented, people used their imagination, their logic skills and gosh-darn-it their keyboard to type their way through an adventure. Some of the greatest games were made by Infocom and the latest link on our Blogroll takes you back to a selection of Infocom’s games you can now play online. They are well worth visiting to sharpen up your brain power and also to improve your typing skills. Our best advice? Draw a map…and make it a good one.