Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2003
The X-Box Music Mixer is undoubtedly one of the most innovative ideas that has come out in the last few years. The emphasis is to turn your X-Box into a multimedia machine that will allow you to turn your living room into a dance club, karaoke bar or a homey environment in which flipping through traditional photo albums is passé because you can display all of your digital photos on your TV accompanied with music of your choosing to set the mood.
It comes packaged with a microphone to allow you to have a tr...e Karaoke experience. The disc itself has 15 Karaoke tracks that range from standard Karaoke fare – Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York to current classics – Lifehouse’s Hanging By A Moment and Len’s Steal My Sunshine. The microphone takes some getting used to as you have to hold it quite close to your mouth to get any sound out of it. That being said, once you get the hang of it, it works really well. The lyrics are displayed on the screen and light up in time to indicate when you are to start demonstrating your vocal expertise. To make the experience better, you can ever record your performances and share them with your fans. You can also import your favorite songs and remove the vocals so that you can improve on the original – but you have to provide your own lyrics. The problem is the vocals really aren’t removed but rather some of the dynamic range is removed to tone down the vocals. However, this also changes the sound of the song itself. To get the true Karaoke experience you can download new songs, at a price, from the Internet. I tried to browse what was offered through X-Box live but consistently got a message that stated “No new content available.” That might be because I’m in Canada and there may be copyright laws or something which precludes me from downloading from the Internet (this is apparently the reason why one can’t download songs from the popular iTunes store from Apple). So I checked out the website – www.xboxkaraoke.com and found to my surprise a huge amount of songs to download. However, be aware that it will cost $2 per song download. As far as karaoke goes despite these setbacks it is still pretty fun.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on July 10th, 2003
Written by Jason Franz
I can't remember the last time I've installed a game on my PC that had so many entertaining qualities matched with such brilliant gameplay. All too often PC developers focus on the eye candy and give gameplay little thought. WithGTA: Vice City, Rockstar not only avoided that problem, but they take us back to the glory days of fun PC gaming.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on June 23rd, 2003
Gamers looking for a First Person Shooter on the Nintendo GameCube have never had a better game to check out than Metroid Prime--a classic FPS with some of the best visuals seen to date on the console outside of the Resident Evil series.
The story follows a brave warrior by the name of Samus Aran as she infiltrates the depths of Tallon IV in an attempt to uncover a mystery surrounding Phazon and it’s effects on life forms. Using a specially designed battle suit, which is e...uipped with several weapons, Samus begins the adventure to Tallon IV by boarding an orbiting outpost around that planet once used by the Space Pirates to conduct zero-G experiments on Phazon.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on June 18th, 2003
Few titles have the ability to be both cute and popular amongst all types of players, yet with Animal Crossing, this is exactly what one gets. The game has such great playability to it, that everyday brings something new and refreshing to the table. The character and town designs are almost unbearably cute--but in a good way that adds feel and depth to the overall game. Are you ready to be wowed by a classic Nintendo title? Then pack your bags--you’re moving to Animal Crossing !
Graphics
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on June 12th, 2003
When I first saw Primal at the last E3 expo, I wasn’t particularly impressed with what I saw. A clunky battle system, jerky movements from the main characters, and visuals which could arguably be called mediocre.
Then Sony sent me a demo version of this game last month and I actually had some fun playing it. Imagine my disappointment when the full version arrived here and the game left me somewhere between boredom and frustration. Indeed, Primal will undoubtedly leave many gamers in the same ...osition once they start playing this title.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 30th, 2003
Thank you, Rockstar Games.
Thank you for creating the masterpiece of video gaming known as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In doing so, you guys gave the finger to every special interest group and soccer mom clan in this country that likes to blame shoddy parenting on mature video games. Thanking Rockstar is a good thing in the aspect that we are lucky that there are still studios--like Rockstar--out there that will create mature games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for us to play. With...that being said, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is not really a game to be played, but an experience to be lived.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2003
Even though Final Fantasy X-2 is releasing in Japan this month, and some RPG fans might be going ga-ga over an import of that game, other players who may love the Role Playing Game genre should not overlook Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht from Namco--a game with a decidedly complex storyline and polished in game visuals and cutscenes.
Based on the original game Xenogears, this new title is heavily based on sci-fi themes and an intricate, multi-layered plot. The story starts out ...ith a young researcher named Shion, whom is aboard a starship returning from a mission in deep space where it retrieved a mysterious artifact amid a war with a strange race of creatures known as the Gnosis.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2003
London is known for several popular things: Fish and Chips, Big Ben, the river Thames, but one thing it will probably never be credited for is being the centerpiece of an engaging, fun videogame--at least if one only looks as far as The Getaway. It’s a guarantee that nothing will confuse and frustrate players quicker than a game that can’t make up its mind what it is. Is it a movie? Is it a game? Well, whatever it is, it should choose a path early and then stick with it.
The plot...behind The Getaway revolves around three main characters: Mark Hammond, an ex-criminal on the run for the alleged murder of his wife, Frank Carter, a vigilante cop suspended from the police force for unorthodox methods, and Charlie Jolson, a larger than life crime boss who pulls the strings of these two men to get what he wants out of the London crime scene.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 29th, 2003
Sony seems to be on a roll this season with the release of another fun Role Playing Game that is quite a sight to see. Dark Cloud 2, the sequel to the popular title Dark Cloud which released during the first year of the Playstation 2, is the game we are reviewing here today.
The story follows a young man by the name of Maximilian, or Max, and a girl named Monica. Max is an inventor who likes to tinker with things--hence he carries around a large wrench which also doubles a... a weapon. The story begins with Max discovering that there is a horrible secret involving his town, and having never ventured beyond the gates of his enclosed city, decides that he will travel beyond the city limits to unravel the truth behind the secret.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Archive Authors on May 21st, 2003
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is by all intents and purposes is a platform game, but video gamers should not just assume they have another plain-vanilla platformer on their hands. On the contrary, although Rayman 3 is another platform title, the slick graphics, neat music, and top notch voice acting make it a game worth checking out.
Most Playstation owners have undoubtedly come across Rayman at some point in their gaming lives whether it was the original Rayman on the PSOne or those e...isodes that followed onto the PS2. Rayman is, of course, the little fellow with no arms and legs that runs around the levels doing justice to the bad guys. He is joined by Murfy, a tough talking fly who is filled with info, and Globox, a chubby goof-off who has accidentally swallowed an evil thing--the Chief of Dark Lums.
