Dare to Play the Game

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. In addition to redheads, I realized this week I have a thing for Eastern European accents. My mom was born in Poland but to be truthful, her accent is rather Americanized. My grandmother (bless her soul, may she rest in …eace) had a beautiful voice but authentic of the region. There was this girl that they hired at work here, 100% Russian with old world accent to watch. Seriously, I know most of the people in the meetings we have attended together have had trouble understanding her, but I think it’s like listening to poetry. I really could listen to her for hours. (it only sucks because she is married). Anyhow; shout out to anybody who reads this sucker and really knows me as a friend, thanks I appreciate you supporting my work. (and my emotions at this pivotal point in my life)

Not that I just realized it, but I figured I would bring it up. I don’t like normal cookie cutter women. Even like the celebrities I would most like to be with aren’t even close to normal. Consider; Drew Barrymore, ex drug addict, married Tom Green at one point(this is the same man who did the movie Freddy got Fingered!), but is super hot. Alyssa Milano, did a bunch of super hot B-Movies, has a thing for Italian baseball pitchers and also super hot. Finally we got Morgan Webb, gamer (supposedly), changes her hair color at the drop of a hat but just awesomely hot. Alyssa and Drew also did Playboy at one point; just thinking Morgan, come on…*hears door slam and footsteps walking away*…Morgan, come back…I was just kidding! *sigh*

XBOX titles added:
Tenku (Japan only)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Legend of Aang (EMEA/ANZ)
Breakdown
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Call of Duty 3
Cars
Crash Bandicoot 5: Wrath of Cortex
Daisenryaku VII
FIFA Soccer 2007
Full Spectrum Warrior
Guilty Gear Isuka
Innocent Tears (Japan only)
Jet Set Radio Future
King of Fighters 2002
King of Fighters: Neowave
Mad Dash Racing (Japan only)
Mech Assault 2
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Nascar 2006: Total Team Control
NFL Fever 2004
Oddworld Munch’s Oddysee
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Petit Copter (Japan only)
Phantom Dust
Reservoir Dogs
Return To Castle Wolfenstein
Rugby League 2
Sengoku Warriors (Japan only)
Sonic Riders
Soul Calibur 2 UPDATED
Spider-Man 2
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
Tony Hawk’s Underground
Ultra Bust a Move /ULTRA Pazzle Bobble
Unreal Championship 2

Yeahie, I’m so pleased that Microsoft is still supporting this venture. Especially with the focus that has been on the Elite lately. Highlights include Guilty Gear Isuka, Mercenaries, Phantom Dust, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, & Unreal Championship 2. But the giant stand out has to be Panzer Dragoon Orta, this is a fantastic game and unfortunately according to Ebay is being now grabbed rather quickly (it was a cheapie, now it is going for $25 to $30 a copy). I’ll wait for that to calm down some but I do want it. Interesting note that Street Fighter Anniversary Collection is one of the titles when they have SF2CE Hyper Fighting (and SSF2 soon) on XBOX Live Arcade. You would think that might hurt sales of those two. The same could be said of Tiger Woods 07 & the Call of Duties. However, I do have a few requests for the next update which will probably be in July. (Listen up Microsoft!). I would like to see Chronicles of Riddick, Spy vs Spy, Capcom Classics Volume 2, Dungeons & Dragons Heroes, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, and on request from a close friend: the Guy Game. (The Guy Game, are you flipping serious; okay that’s the last time I let my friend Patrick get any input on my column).

Jack Thompson and Take-Two Bury the Hatchet (from ign.com)

GamePolitics is reporting that Florida lawyer and anti-videogame crusader, Jack Thompson has reached a settlement with Take-Two. Under the terms of the agreement, Thompson would refrain from pestering the publisher regarding itsfuture releases.

Take-Two has agreed to dismiss its federal lawsuit against JackThompson for his threats to block the future sales of the upcomingRockstar titles, Grand Theft Auto IV and Manhunt 2. The publisher isalso agreeing to drop its contempt of court lawsuit against Thompsonregarding alleged improper conduct during the Bully court hearings inFlorida. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for tomorrow morning,which might have possibly resulted in the jailing of Jack Thompson hadhe been found in contempt.

Well good, it is nice to see the two companies playing nice (sort of). Basically, it’s so Jack doesn’t completely annoy Take-Two with his usual BS and conducts himself in a civil manner. Manhunt 2; I could care less about. In my opinion, it is crossing the line to some extent, but with the same token I do support free speech and in such I don’t want to see it or any other game censored. Though I do think that is the sign of apocalypse; with Manhunt 2 and that it will be making it to the Wii. (or so last reports would indicate). Somehow the family friendly system will take a freaky turn if it uses the Wii Remote as part of its homicidal rage. But GTA IV should be quite the fun game and be free of at least some Jack Thompson and his censoring type efforts.

Nice to see the Live arcade getting the double dip treatment for the second week in a row. However, the two titles last week while not fantastic were certainly pretty cool to see. This week is a little bit underwhelming. Eets Chowdown is a redo of the pc title of the same name. It’s a puzzle game with platforming twists, and a cell shading design. 120 levels and the Marsho Madness mini game are also included. To be honest and perhaps I’m naïve; but I’ve never even heard of this game…so at 800 points you’ll get a meh from me.

Pinball FX is included next. I like Pinball games, quite a lot; a favorite of mine console wise has to be Alien Crush for the original Turbo Graphix system (which would be an awesome live game). This one sports some good graphics as you can see and you can use the XBOX Live Camera to control the flippers with your hands and arms. Thankfully for those of us who are not coordinated we can use the controller. To be honest, this would be a slam dunk for me @ 400 points but they are trying to pass it off as an 800 point title. It’s pinball people and it’s not Alien Crush. Can I get another meh? 🙂

Ah, a game very near and dear to my heart. The original arcade had you playing the role of a mini green haired boxer (I wonder if this is how the Incredible Hulk got his start :)) as he takes on 6 opponents in order to capture the boxing championship. It was innovative for its time due to its digitized speech and well drawn and unique characters. Characters taunting you to get back up or chip in another quarter. (Come on, stand up and fight!) The upright also required the use of two monitors (top was used to handle statistics while the bottom handled gameplay). In-game play was fast where you had to land punches in succession; after which you could throw uppercuts to floor your opponent. (MIGHTY BLOW, MIGHTY BLOW!) You only had one round to accomplish the task of flooring your opponent for the KO which usually required 2 or 3 knockdowns. There was no decision and only one continue. Sequels appeared on both the arcade and console systems, most notably Mike Tyson’s Punch Out for the NES. However, the original set the precedent that Boxing games could succeed in the video game world. (the best of the boxing games genre until Foes of Ali came out for 3do) (which was the original engine that would later evolve into Knockout Kings and Fight Night)

PS2

Eureka Seven Vol 2 New Vision
Red Star
The Plan
Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2

PSP

7 Wonders
Fast & The Furious
Generation of Chaos: Aedis Eclipse
Hard Rock Casino
The Cube

XBox 360

Rayman Raving Rabbids

PS3

FEAR

Wii

Bioncle Heroes

DS

Pokemon Pearl
Pokemon Diamond
Devilish
SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters

Well it’s Pokemon in full force this week. We get two more brand new titles for those of us who partake in this gaming manifesto. What are they going to name Pokemon when they run out of rare gems to name it after? Perhaps some more simplistic elements or materials. Like Carbon, oh wait taken…ummm how about Pokemon Aluminum or Pokemon Boron? Okay, doesn’t have the same right to it but it could work! XBOX 360 gets a nich title sure to delight some in Rayman Raving Rabbids which has been coming soon for a while now. Platforming fun. FEAR is the other big title this week out of the PS3 camp. Good creepy shooter, to be honest a whole lot better than that Resistance crap they tried to debut the system with. Oh wait, I just po’ed the few dozen fans still left for Sony Playstation, so sorry. Speaking as a former Sony diehard, I’m still honestly wishing they wake up and smell the microchips (and sales data). I’ll say it again, I will most likely buy another PS2 before I buy a PS3.

Gaming this week is pretty slow, I’m still slamming away in Guitar Hero 2. I know I’m hitting a wall pretty quick though. I’ve maxed out all of the songs in medium about as much as they will go (42 of the 48 5 stars) and hard I can get about 8 songs (all in the 3 star range save for Mother by Danzig). There is one song I want 5 stars in that I know I’m close on and that is Hangar 18 by Megadeth. It’s frustrating because I know I’m in range. There are some bonus songs that I know I can be better in, but out of the 26 I think there is; I like maybe half a dozen. Truth be told, I would really like to get the bonus songs, but at 500 points per pack of 3, I think its ludicrous. Yes I would like the RHCP and Donnas songs but come on guys give us a break! Anyhow, I’m sure I’ll be at EB this week buying a few used XBOX titles since there is the new compatibility list out. Have fun kiddoes.

As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)