Well, I’m bored and whether you like it or not, I’m going to stream what I play today. Today I’m going to play only on my N64, bringing me back to the “golden age”, if you will, of gaming. A few of the games you will probably never have heard due to my niche interest in the cult classic “genre”, but rest assured, they are all great. Enough talk, scroll on down to the stream to see what gaming in the 90’s was like.
Recently, we told you about Cosmonaut’s latest game, Inkub, which is available now in the now in the AppStore. Inkhub was originally created for the WiiWare service though and Cosmonaut has released some of the first details on what to expect from the Wii version of the tower defense title.
Here is a full list of features for the WiiWare version, and while they look to be a lot like the features for the iPhone/iPad, the Wii’s motion controls will come into play to create a different experience for Wii owners.
As well as announcing the official WiiWare release, Cosmonaut has also released a new trailer which you can check out below. No official date has been given but I would expect to see Inkub debuting on the Wii by the end of the year. I still am very pumped to see this unique game in action and as soon as prices and the date is released for Inkub, we will be sure to let you know.
Unless your living under a rock, you are probably well aware that the new re-imagining of Goldeneye is now in stores. Yes, everyone is excited about the new gameplay engine and many more elements, but one thing Bond games and films have been known for is the high presentation value for the opening credits. In Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo Wii and DS, players will get to get their 007 experience started off right as Activision enlisted Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger to perform a cover of Tina Turner’s memorable theme from the Goldeneye movie for the new video game.
I personally like the new theme myself as it fits well and does Tina’s version justice, but you can judge for yourself by picking up game as it is now in stores in the U.S.. Activision also created a special behind the scenes look at the making of the opening credits. In the video, cameras follow Nicole and the crew as the song is remade for Goldeneye as well as a bit of insight on the Bond series as a whole music-wise. You can check the video out below but you might want to turn down your speakers as high notes hit may bust some eardrums out there.
Game Name: Crafting Mama
Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Publisher(s): Majesco
Developer(s): Cooking Mama Limited
Genre(s): Simulatation, Mini-game
Release Date: October 26, 2010 (US), November 11, 2010 (AU) November 12, 2010 (EU)
Price: $29.99 (US)
After spending time in the kitchen and the garden, Mama is back in a brand new title which lets player’s craft different items with Mama in the classic mini-game setup. While some may put this off as a more casual title, I was quite surprised to find out there is more that meets the eye with this one and I will go over all of these elements in a moment. Here is my review for Crafting Mama.
Story
Let’s face it, the Mama franchise has never been known for it’s story. This one is no different as the main plot of the game is to create various objects from scratch in short mini-games with Mama as your guide and judge. Mama hasn’t changed at all character wise, with the same trademark dialogue and appearance since the original Cooking Mama still in tact. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t fit with the game, as Crafting is right up Mama’s Alley as everything fits perfectly into place and the title does not lose a bit of it’s charm since from the last incarnation.
Gameplay
There are many different elements of gameplay in Crafting Mama. While it is made of of MANY types of mini-games, each one plays differently from the other and I was surprised just how much content was in the game. Getting started in the game you select the “Let’s Craft” mode to bring up different items you must help Mama create. From pinwheels, candles, origami, and many other items, there is a lot to create in this mode.
When you pick an item out to craft, you will be taken into a screen to select the first mini-game in your path to completion of the project. For instance, if your making a candle, the first will be to crush up a set number of rolling candles in a certain amount of time, then you must pick a color, melt the wax, and shape and add the wick so attention to detail is very present withing the game. Now mini-games like this may sound simple, and believe me, a lot of the mini-games just consist of doing simple things such as tapping on the screen, but over the course of the game these tasks can actually provide a bit of challenge as the game throws in mini-games that require fast thinking and precise stylus movement to complete the said game. Overall I found most of these to be fun and the game actually teaches you how to make these items pretty well so the whole family can take something from the overall experience.
That brings me to the controls. The whole game is controlled via the touch screen and as I mentioned, almost all of the mini-games take full advantage of this. I didn’t notice any problems with accuracy, but there is from time to time objectives in certain games that don’t make a lot of sense with the chore at hand. What I mean by this is that some games just make too much out of a simple task like cutting images out of paper where the slightest movement makes you completely restart the cut, and with a timer to back up this task as well, this becomes a bit more tedious than fun. I imagine since the main audience for the title are younger, this would be one that might make them lose interest in the mini-game and switch to one of the more fun projects in the game.
When you complete a task, Mama will judge you on your performance and award you a gold, silver, or bronze button depending on well the task was completed based on time and presentation. You can always go back and aim for a better score as well so if you completely screw up, no score is set in stone. With a practice option also available, you can easily master the mini-game in question before getting officially judged which is great for perfectionists out there.
Replay value should not be a problem whatsoever. As you complete crafts, you not only unlock paintings for your gallery, you unlock new ways to play with even more projects to complete and mini-games that let you take your creation and try them out for yourself. The best example for this is the ocarina you build from scratch. I thought just creating this item was enjoyable to start with, but the mini-game where you get to use it is one of the best in the whole game as you use rhythm-action cues to play a melody with your freshly made creation. Every craft has a “Play” feature like this, and while not all are interesting, most demand to be tried out and I spent hours just going through all the various options in this mode. Some crafts even have different variants you can you create with different colors, shapes and sizes. There is even a mystery mode which let’s players make an item they know nothing about going in and discover what exactly they are building as the mini-games play out. The game really can last as long as it can hold your attention, and with some addictive mini-games, going back shouldn’t be too hard for any gamer.
Graphics/Audio
Everything in Crafting Mama is bright and colorful from the menus to the crafts themselves. Mama looks exactly the same, angry flaming eyes and all and each craft looks like the real-life counterpart. Even little details are easy to spot and a lot of the visual charm applied should easily capture the core audience’s attention throughout the whole experience of playing.
The music in the game in nothing too memorable when it comes to the melodies played while creating, but fits with the overall feel of the game. Mama sounds a bit like a Japanese woman who just learned how to speak English but if you have played the series you should be used to that by now. The sound effects are on key with every action as well, from slicing, playing tunes from handmade instruments and sawing through woodwork. Overall, the sound blends in to the charm filled world perfectly and keeps the mini-games upbeat and entertaining.
Overall
While Crafting Mama may have been created for kids, this game has one huge thing that a lot of educational and casual games on the market do not, and that is a pleasant experience that can easily be picked up by someone of any age. Not only are the projects within the game interesting with fun mini-games, I actually started getting nostalgic of the homemade crafts I used to make in class when I was younger, and for a game to be able to achieve this feeling says quite a lot about the title itself. While some of the mini-games are overly simple and even tedious at times, Crafting Mama is packed full to provide something for every kind of gamer out there and is easily worth the price-tag as it is captures it’s whole premise and does everything advertised and so much more.
I Give Crafting Mama:
Anticipating your favorite Anime and Manga based fighting game after playing the demos available on the PSN and the XBLM? Then you are in luck because today Namco Bandai has released Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 onto store shelves. After being developed by Spike, this newest Raging Blast game will bring the fight even closer to what fans have come to expect from the fast paced Dragon Ball Z.
Raging Blast 2 is going to feature all of the same gameplay elements that fans of the series love and adore, such as destructible environments, the trademark attacks and transformations of different characters and a brand new Raging Soul System which brings characters to a special state of battle frenzy, increasing their combat abilities and boosting them to an all new level of power.
Not only that but for the first time ever, there will be an exclusive half-hour Dragon Ball Anime episode named Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans. This newest chapter will be available on both console versions, but you will be unable to find them anywhere else so it will be a must buy for fans of the series.
So how does NBA Elite 11 go from a release date of October 5th, to being delayed all the way until March 31st of next year, to being thrown away completely? Well the issues with the game needing polish and gameplay revamps could explain a small delay, maybe even the large delay it received but not the fact of a full canceling.
This unfortunate news comes from EA’s Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown stated during the financial meeting that all development work on NBA Elite 11 is to be canceled. With EA COO John Schappert reporting that any further development on the series itself has been handed over to EA Tiburon.
Sad news for fans of EA’s basketball series, though they still have NBA 2K11 to tide themselves over with until next year. But still it is curious that the entire game was canned for perhaps financial reasons considering where it was announced from? Or that the delay itself would push it to far into the 2012 sports series’?
You may have read in our review of Fable 3 that bugs are a severe issue in the game (which seems to be the case lately). But all is not yet lost in the land of Albion as Lionhead has updated their official blog with some information regarding these bugs. Developers are working on a patch for the issues that they already know about for Fable 3, but are also asking the fans to help out.
You can now fill out a bug submission form on their website detailing your experience with the bug that you encountered and hopefully your bug will be patched as well during future updates. There is even an update that involves the problem with the Kingmaker App that has not allowed players to transfer money earned from Kingmaker into Fable 3.
Sony has taken quite an investment in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, they had an exclusive multiplayer beta, and now they are even issuing out free exclusive DLC. If somebody has both consoles there is no reason for them not to pick up the PS3 version due to this DLC expansion.
The DLC is being called the “Copernicus Conspiracy” and looks to center around Nicolaus Copernicus and will be available November 16th, which just so happens to be the same day the game is released. There will be a variety of new missions added on to help establish the story and provide Ezio with information for his assassination target, Copernicus.
Now I don’t know about the rest of you, but free DLC is always a good thing. But when it comes at the cost of leaving half of the fan base that only has a Xbox 360 in the dark it really only hurts the fans in the end. Either way though it is looking like the PS3 is the way to go.
The Pre-order Bonuses did not stay exclusive for long. Capcom is slowly releasing all of the costumes at 160MSP each. The most recent for them to release is the Ninja Costume.
The Ninja Skills Pack not only grants him a cool ninja costume, but also comes with some useful new moves and upgrades.
With the Ninja Skills Pack, Chuck will be able to evade zombies using stealth, he’ll be harder to grab and will be able to deal even more lethal sword attacks with any of Dead Rising 2’s blades.
Finally, Chuck’s throwing speed and power is faster and deadlier than before making thrown weapons much more effective.
Check out the video below to see it all yourself… Kind of…
[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIWQhw06TxM&feature=player_embedded[/pro-player]
Crackdown 2 has its second add on pack coming later this month. The next Add on is called ‘Deluge’ and it has a new co-op multiplayer mode in which up to four players cam join forces on the streets of Pacific City to tackle waves of increasingly difficult Freaks, (Horde Mode basically). T he Deluge Pack also chucks in the competitive ‘Capture the Orb’ game type (capture the flag basically).
Just like the previous pack, the Deluge Pack will be available as both a trial and premium version.The free version includes the full 16-player Capture the Orb mode for multiplayer and a single-player only sample version of the Deluge co-op mode.
The full version of the Deluge pack comes complete with new achievements and Avatar awards, but it’ll cost you 560 Microsoft Points. Crackdown 2 Deluge Pack will be available from the Xbox Live Marketplace on November 16th.
