Game:Disney Sing It: Party Hits Publisher: Disney Interactive Developer: Zoe Mode Genre:Music Release:Out Now Format: PS3
Disney Sing It: Party Hits is the 6th entry into the popular Sing It series and continues with the successful formula that Disney established in previous titles.
There are however, more than a few new touches throughout that give the game fresh appeal to new and old audiences alike. Disney Sing It: Party Hits still has the familiar, tried and tested interface with lyrics appearing onscreen alongside the pitch indicator. Players then attempt to sing in time and on key to earn a higher score and in-game trophies.
Disney Sing It: Party Hits offers a number of different game modes to keep players entertained, from singing solo to having full on sing-a-long with family or friends. Along with the standard playback option, there is also a full karaoke mode which removes the original vocal track from the song. The game supports up to 8 players with the game’s Party Mode including an option for duets – which enables you to sing with a partner- either as a team or against each other in a sing-off. Like the Sing It franchise the game includes the option to plug in a Playstation Eye so you can see yourself on screen in true Idol fashion.
After each song you can choose to review your performance by watching the tracks music video back but with your own audio on top. This encore mode will let you tweak your vocals during playback by adding affects such as re-verb to improve the quality of your performance. Alternately you can go in the opposite direction and use the chipmunk audio affect to make you sound making you sound just like Alvin! Sadly for those of us who are vocally challenged there is no Autotune option as yet!
Unique to the sing it franchise is the vocal coach feature which will gently guide you along the road to becoming the next sing-it superstar. Disney Sing It: Party hits also features teen sensation Demi Lovato from Disney’s Camp Rock.
If this is your first time playing, then Ms.Lovato will provide you with a step by step guide in vocal training which is a really nice touch and a great starting point.
At the moment the only potential downside to this fun and addictive game is the lack of a Downloadable content. The ability to add new songs – paid or otherwise, would help to extend the experience. That being said though, there is more than enough content to keep the target audience, potentially teenage girls and young adults, singing for some time to come.
Overall
Whilst he song selection of this particular title will not suite everyone’s taste, any fans of teen stalwarts such as Justin Bieber, The Jonas Brothers and Selena Gomez will love Disney’s latest line-up.
The HD music videos are visually impressive and graphically speaking the game could not be any better. With a great sound and a good track listing, this game should have lasting appeal for any teenagers that love a good sing song. So if you are after some top notch entertainment for a sleepover or party, then this is definitely the game for you – it’s certainly beats singing into the mirror with your hairbrush!
Game Name:WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 Platform(s): Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP Publisher(s):THQ Developer(s):Yukes Genre(s): Wrestling, Simulatation Release Date: October 26, 2010 (US), October 28, 2010 (AU) October 29, 2010 (EU) Price: $59.99 (US) PS3, 360, $39.99 (US), $49.99 (US) Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, $29.99 (US) Nintendo DS, $39.99 (US) PSP
Another year, another entry into the most popular series in gaming when it comes to the squared circle, WWE Smackdown vs Raw. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 promises to add a fresh new physics engine, a brand new Road to Wrestlemania mode, and many other new additions to keep the series fresh and relevant. How does this entry measure up? Here is my review for the Xbox 360 version of the game.
Story
For the story mode in this entry, look no further than the Road to Wrestlemania mode. With 5 different plots, one being the Undertaker storyline with the choice of four different superstars, there is plenty to keep you busy as you follow a certain superstars road to victory. Now a lot has changed in this mode, so I will go over what you can expect and how it plays out.
The first noticeable change is the new backstage mode. Before your matches you can walk around backstage, take part in interviews, and interact with certain superstars backstage. For instance, if you want to do a quick brawl with a superstar, simple “push” them a set number of times and you will be quickly drawn into a fight in that area. Now this doesn’t effect the main story at all, but the option was nice. My main complaint with the backstage mode is how robotic the movement was. It is such a small part in the overall game it shouldn’t be much of an issue, but in this day and age I just felt more should have been applied to make it feel like everything wasn’t so mandatory. In backstage mode, you can also adjust settings and check messages which is simple to do with your iPhone like device.
For the stories themselves, most are original and loosely tied into the actual WWE programming. Voice acting for the Superstars is a mixed bag though as all the real voices are used, some just lack any character whatsoever and can quickly take you out of the spirit that they portray on screen. It is as if some were not very excited to do their roles in the game and some were. I can say some storylines are a bit out there, even for WWE standards, but many were fun and entertaining so I enjoyed them for the most part and had no problem wanting to progress. Overall, Road to Wrestlemania adding the backstage elements was a nice touch, but without much polish and depth, a menu system from the older games would have worked just as well.
Gameplay
Yes, the biggest part of any wrestling game is how it plays. The only problem with SvR 2011 is that it really doesn’t know if it wants to be casual or hardcore as the whole engine is a bit of a mixed bag.
The grappling system is the same for the most part but the button layout is much different than previous titles. Instead of having 12 strong grapples and 4 weak ones, it is now more or less down to 4 strong grapples and 12 weak grapples, so they flipped this up. Realistically, you don’t see much more than chops and headlocks through 80% of matches these days, so the systems works with the current product in comparison, yet much is to be desired as grapples are watered down a bit compared to usual standards.
What I mean with that statement is that many moves have been taken out, and I do mean a lot. Instead of giving superstars certain moves for each button combination, Yukes decided to just double up button combo for many of the pre-set superstars to the same move in many situations. This makes every single match feel about the same and I spent literally 4-5 hours alone fixing each superstars move-set to match the on-screen persona. This really bugged me as it felt lazy and the whole move pool is an absolute mess. Here are some examples to better clarify what I mean.
Undertaker has a boston crab instead of the “Hell’s Gate” which is in the game anyway, yet the move was not even assigned to his character so I had to manually change a move that he doesn’t even use to better reflect his on-screen persona. Now take someone like Mickie James, the corner hurricanrana is listed for all of her corner moves, and if you have watched any Mickie James match, you know that other moves are used by her character for that situation so I had to swap out the other copied hurricanranas to corner clotheslines and other in-game moves that have been assigned in previous entries just to get what felt like a full moveset. Another problem with the movesets is that so many moves have been taken out that are relevant for the superstars in the game, like Kelly Kelly’s corner flipping clothesline among many other familiar moves that in-game superstars still use in their matches. I had to edit just about everyone in game to make the roster feel complete and this should not have been needed in a franchise that has been around since 2000.
Now that my main gripe is out of the way, I want to talk about the best feature in the game, and that is the revamped physics engine. You can now do just about any move through tables, into ladders or about any weapon to full effect with animations to reflect the injuries. This works great for the most part and adds a lot of fun to any match where weapons involved. I detailed my problems with the moves already, but there is one new addition I rather like, and that is to move during certain attacks. For instance, you can now direct where you want the wrestler to fall when you are delivering a suplex or a powerbomb, which may be why so many moves were felt unnecessary by the developers, but this alone, while a nice addition, just doesn’t replace what is now gone. This does however blend into the new physics engine well and allows for better control to throw an opponent into a table, chair, or ladder.
Reversals are a bit different and rely on a more timed approach, but simple tapping can make anybody a master of this. With the new chain-grapples in play, this can make reversal-fests consume matches and take a lot of fun out of the game. Now chain grapples are a decent addition as you can mix up weak grapples into somewhat stronger moves adding a more realistic element to the gameplay but as I said, unless you are fighting the computer, the reversals just are too easy to pull off to balance this out correctly. AI is about the same, not brilliant but it gets the job done. Most of the CPU controlled superstars do what is needed to win the match and can add some competition, but the most fun is had in local or online multi-player.
The controls still feel like a Smackdown game and can lead to some fun matches, but the new features hurt the whole engine. Pinning is now more of a button mashing game to get out of now as well, which it has been for the last few games, but to get pinned off a simple punch can be frustrating. Royal Rumble/Over the top Battle royals are fun as well, but the whole mini game system applied to this make it a race for a finisher rather than a contest of skill.
Another good part of the game takes place in the new WWE Universe mode. Everything that happens in standard exhibition matches is reflected just as if you were in an episode of a TV show. Fueds get started, victories are interrupted with small cutscenes starting new storylines, titles can be defended, and it literally pours replay value and new found reason to play the game throughout the experience.
Now for some reason the main titles can not be defended without that superstar meeting the requirements, so you cannot go in like previous games and put the superstars in title matches and have them win the strap. You must earn it by battling enough for a match at a Pay-Per-View show. This in my opinion is just a matter of preference. If you liked the old way, you will be disappointed but some may find this new way of earning a title in exhibition to be more rewarding.
Creation mode is back as well and with a new coat of polish. The same system lies in place with a few new and missing elements. You can no longer have transparency on anything but tattoos, so that was a bit of a letdown. The creation tools given though still keep this system the most detailed creation tool on the market though. The create-a-move can add tons of new moves and now that more situations are involved, this is probably the best creation feature offered. It will be harder creating certain classic superstars in the CAS mode with some of the changes, but overall, much has thankfully stayed rather close to the same.
Graphics/Audio
SvR 2011 may be lacking in the gameplay area this year, but presentation is outstanding and everything looks superb. Each superstar is fully detailed and looks great, and with the new back-titantrons added, entrances look amazing and more realistic than ever before. Animations also look great for every move delivered and every taunt dished out. Blood is in, but you will need to turn it on first so keep that in mind when booting up the game. The audience still looks a bit cheaply made, but I didn’t dwell on that at all as the superstars look so sharp that everything else blends into the background and where the action matters is where the attention to detail was delivered. There are a few glitches in the game, in my playthrough I had a tag match where the opponents switched sides with my team as well as a few superstars AI freezing up at various times when the graphical engine was busy. Overall though, if you buy games based on visuals, this will be worth the money for sure.
Music is also outstanding as every superstars theme sounds clear and can easily get you fired up before a match. The announcers as expected are a bit repetitive, but do a somewhat better job of calling the matches. In the RTWM cutscenes, the speech doesn’t match up with the lips of the superstars though, many start talking before words are even spoken so that can take some players out of the whole experience, and besides a few bored voice-actors, everything is fitting and fluent.
Overall
If you can’t tell by now, the Smackdown series is special to me. I always seem to pick the next entry up every year, and while there is some things I don’t care for, most of the time I still love each title enough to play through it anyway and have fun. Sadly, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 is a huge step in the wrong direction in the series as there is so much that was in past games and worked well and were taken out such as the once organized movepool that is a huge mess in this entry and so many other noticeable things that have disappeared without warning, the the harcore following of the series will find a lot to be desired. The redeeming factors such as the new physics engine and WWE Universe mode are welcome additions and add a lot of replay value, but it is hard to base a game off new features alone when the core has been watered down for a more casual approach.
The heart and soul of a Smackdown game in my eyes is the variety of ways taking out your opponents and the intense match-ups you could pull off anytime, and the physics engine opened so many doors of possibility is somewhat of a shame to see that the gameplay can no longer stand up to the potential it once had to use all of these new elements correctly. The thrill is still there, and there is still a lot of fun to be had with features such as online royal rumbles and many other returning elements as well as the large and updated roster to keep you busy, but disappointment reared its head time after time as I scratched off the surface and dove into the main game just to find a more casual offering this time around and a more overall hollowed out gameplay engine. Honestly, I am not going to hold anyone back from purchasing 2011 as it is a good game, but next time around I would like to see a less rushed game with a bit more depth that we have seen in so many previous incarnations.
Game: Enslaved: Pigsy’s Perfect 10 DLC
Publisher/Developer: Namco Bandai/Ninja Theory
Platforms: Xbox 360 and PS3
Genre: Action/Adventure
Price: $9.99/800 MSP
Release Date: Later this year
Ninja Theory Developer of the new critically acclaimed action adventure Enslaved has released new screen shots of “Pigsy’s Perfect 10” the brand new DLC coming out later this year on the PSN and XBL.
The side Story is based all around Pigsy if offers you a different perspective of the game which focuses on stealth, sniping and lots of grenades. During the side quest you get to meet a brand new character called truffles.
You both then embark on an adventure to create the perfect women using scrap from the junkyard hence the name “Perfect 10”
If you are a fan of the first game then this DLC is shaping up nicely, or have not yet had time to play this game yet then read the review here .
Furthermore it your are already a proud owner of a new 3D telly’s with the new update due out later this year you can play the game in stereoscopic 3D, but don’t worry folks it will also allow owners of regular 2D TVs to do the same thing as long as your purchase a pair of TriOviz inficolor 3D glasses.
(Also works with the 3D glasses that you get inside the Batman Arkham Asylum game too!)
This new update will be out sometime this year on XBL 800 Microsoft points and the PSN for $9.99/£9.99
Ready for some Pac Man fever? Then you are in luck because Namco Bandai has just announced that their newest collection of games called Namco Museum Megamix has just gone golden for the Wii. This means that one of the largest collections of old school arcade games and new games is confirmed for its release on the Wii.
Namco Museum Megamix brings together new games with the classics. There are a variety of old school games such as Pac Man, Galaga and New Rally, along with their remade versions like Galaga Remix and Rally-X Remix that have been revamped with Wii compatibility.
A small sample of what games will be included can be seen below:
RALLY-X REMIX – Burn rubber and collect the flags on each course. Up to four players can compete to see who can grab the most flags.
GAPLUS – Destroy a continuous swarm of enemy aliens in this prequel to the arcade hit, GALAGA.
DIG DUG II – The 1985 sequel to the arcade hit, DIG DUG. Players must defeat enemies by inflating them with an air pump, or causing sections of an island to fall into the sea by creating fault lines with a jack hammer.
PAC-MANIA – Guide PAC-MAN through four themed levels in this follow-up to the arcade phenomenon, PAC-MAN.
GALAGA REMIX – Galaga forces are attacking PAC-MAN! Players must use their Wii Remotes to blast away the dreaded space insects to ensure PAC-MAN’s safety.
The price for Namco Museum Megamix will be selling for a price of $19.99 and will be released on November 16th exclusively for the Wii.
There hasn’t been too much information about NeverDead ever since it was announced back in the summer from Konami. All we know is that it involves a main character that happens to be immortal and cannot die. He is more than willing enough to throw his own arm to the monsters simply to shoot them from the midst of their group, or roll around in pieces.
One thing we do know though is that we just got plenty of different screenshots involving the main character Bryce being dismembered, beaten up, and kicking demon butt. We also see the female investigator that will be supporting Bryce throughout the game. Curiously enough however, how does one lose a game that you are entirely immortal? Most likely game over will only happen if your partner dies, though we will find out at some point next year when the game releases on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Since releasing earlier this week, I have been spending a lot of time with the newest Smackdown vs Raw title (yes, our review is coming soon, so keep an eye out for that one), but a question I have been seeing a lot around the community is about Fan Axxcess, the first DLC on both the PSN & Xbox 360’s online shops. Now it costs around $10 either way, but what is in that package you ask?
The best way to describe it is a pre-order on DLC. THQ will be soon releasing superstar packs for SvR 2011 and purchasing this let’s you have around a discount on the DLC ahead. Instead of purchasing at the time of release, players can spend 800 points or $9.99 over their system of choice to get the packs for free in the future at a cheaper price overall. Now, you will be getting something of course at the time of purchase as downloading the pack will unlock everything in the game (except for Bret Hart), and the ability to edit superstars attributes which both of these features normally cost around a buck a piece to purchase anyway, so this deal isn’t bad at all.
I really don’t see Fan Axxcess being around too much longer, as when the DLC releases, it would be odd to have the discounted option still there, but that has not be confirmed so I would say to be safe, buy it now and save a couple bucks down the road. Like I said, I have a review coming up within the next couple of days, and as someone who has played the series from the days of the PSOne, there is A LOT to go over with this title, so keep an eye out for that soon.
See! I got a new image, I knew I could do it. On the actual related note, that has to do with next weeks songs; they are located below. Since Rock Band 3 has Pro mode, which costs extra for the Guitar the setup is a little different. But I am sure you can all figure it out, I believe in you all! Keep in mind, that pro guitar isn’t available on every song, in this case it is only available on four, the ones with the asterisk next to them.
The Doors Greatest Hits: Special Edition – 1600 Microsoft Points (160 Microsoft Points each.) *80 Microsoft Points extra per track, for the Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade
The Doors – “Light My Fire” *
The Doors – “Riders on the Storm” *
The Doors – “Touch Me” *
The Doors – “Hello, I Love You”
The Doors – “L.A. Woman”
The Doors – “Love Her Madly”
The Doors – “Love Me Two Times”
The Doors – “Peace Frog”
The Doors – “People Are Strange”
The Doors – “Roadhouse Blues”
The Doors – “Soul Kitchen”
The Doors – “The Crystal Ship”
Rush single track – 160 Microsoft Points.
*80 Microsoft Points extra per track, for the Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade
Rush – “Subdivisions” *
Keep in mind, that future track list updates will have the Asterisk Information displayed once on the bottom. Kind of like this:
*80 Microsoft Points extra per track, for the Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade
Many of you probably already know that there are tons of easter eggs hidden through the Trials HD game. I mean A LOT!! There are literally tons, and it would actually be rare to play the entire game without finding at least one of them. If you managed it, congrats.
Red Lynx released a video for the holloween weekend that points out some Easter Eggs and basically shoves the fact in your face that there are easter eggs in the game, for the few of you who are still unaware of the fact. There are also Squirrels!! Yes! SQUIRRELS!!
Check out the Video Below, for the Redlynx Created “Secrets” video.
Want to see more of the secrets located in the game? Check out this video below for an extremely extensive lowdown of a huge chunk of the secrets. This video is fan made, and may remove some of the fun of finding them yourself. You have been warned. These are also not all of them, believe it or not.
So, Fable 3 hit stores this week. I’m just going to get down to the nitty-gritty, and just as a forewarning, there may/may not be spoilers in here. Read at your own risk, some may not care, but I know a handful of people who want to know absolutely nothing about this game before they play it so as to not ruin the experience. If you are one of these people, look away.
A few basic tidbits of knowledge,
– There are things in this game that have been left purposefully out until later added as DLC. An example is the dye’s, there are 4 dyes that are not in the game yet but will be released later for 80 MS points, there are several other things in the game that aren’t in yet. So, if you see a door that needs a key but have already 100% the game, fret not, that is for future DLC.
– You CANNOT get all of the weapons by yourself, in fact you can’t even open a demon door by your lonesome. Fable 3 sports a new and improved coop system this time around. As such, they want you to use this feature. Each player has different assortments of weapons available in their game. Because of this mechanic, most chests are randomized as to what you will obtain. If you and your friend are both at the same spot in your games and you get weapon X from a chest, they may get weapon Y.
– Tiered loot. The concept of tiered loot in this game means that certain chests, while still random, have certain weapons. For example, the chest in your sanctuary at the back end of you treasury contains the highest tier. Regardless of the weapon you get, that weapon will be the most powerful of its class (hammer/sword/pistol/rifle)
– Money is VERY important. If you played Fable 2 extensively, you likely know about the money exploit. The game had it so that you earned money based on your real estate every 5 minutes or so, even if the console is turned off. You could simply disconnect from XBL, adjust the date to your choosing and rake in the cash. This is not so this go around, as money plays a much bigger role in the game and its story. Make sure you start buying real estate as early as possible to start amassing your fortune. *Spoiler alert* by the end of the game, you will require several million (I think about 10 million, am probably wrong though)
Now for the tips/tricks part,
– Duping to amass your millions. Now, the more devious of you may scoff at the fact that Lionhead took out the easily exploitable money trick from Fable 2 and just figure you can “dupe” your gold by trading with a friend and then disconnecting without saving. Normally, yes, this is how dupes are done with any game that allows trading between players. HOWEVER, after each trade the game automatically saves, effectively stopping this little endeavor of yours. Let me tell you that if you intend on being fully good, it is VERY hard and time consuming to get the required amount of gold by the end of the game, unless you don’t mind failure and getting the bad ending.
Luckily though, there is a way to dupe that Lionhead either didn’t anticipate or simply can’t stop. This requires two people (obviously) and at least one flash drive or external memory. Transfer your Fable 3 save data (should be called Hero 1 or something like that) to the external memory. When you boot up the game, choose to save to the external memory, obviously. Go initiate a trade with somebody so it brings up the sanctuary trading room, and then unplug your external memory unit. The game will pause for a second and ask you if you want to quit or continue without saving, you are going to select continue without saving. Then proceed to trade away all of your cash to your friend. Once you are done, simply quit out to the dashboard without saving or anything. Your friend now has the equivalent of all of your money, and you still get to keep your stash because your save is on the external memory that you unplugged. There you have it, duping in Fable 3.
– Getting Elise as your girlfriend. Save your Elise in the beginning of the game, your decision has no real moral consequence on the game and if you sacrifice her, you lose out on being able to have her as a wife. (some may care because she is a unique character as opposed to any generic character you may find throughout the game for your wife)
– Save your seals for the big three. Don’t waste your seals on the jobs or spells (spells, not so much because everybody has their own preference). Get the expression/dye packs because they only cost 5/10 seals which is nothing, but definitely don’t buy every job as you come across it. You can just buy the last level of the job later on, saving you hundreds of seals by not having purchased the previous iterations first. Doing this will leave you some wiggle room in being able to afford leveling up your melee/ranged/magic. The jobs are only a quick way of making a LITTLE money. The vast amount of the money you make will be from real estate.
– Do sidequests early. Some sidequests open up other quests or have follow up quests. One area even evolves and grows based on the amount of time that passes after you open it up, so do your sidequests early to make sure you don’t inadvertently miss out on seals you could have gotten earlier.
So, there you have it. I hope this aids some of you in your never ending quests to raise an imaginary number next to your gamertags. Happy questing. 🙂
The Gobliiins are COMING BACK !!! For anyone that doesn’t know here is a brief rundown of Gobliins history :
The Gobliiins series consists of four puzzle adventure games developed and released by Coktel Vision (and later Sierra On-Line) in the early 1990s for the Amiga, Atari ST, PC and Mac platforms. The unique visual look of the series and its characters was contributed by Pierre Gilhodes, a French artist who gave his famous signature style to many of Coktel Vision’s other games. The original is slated for an upcoming iOS debut, brought by publisher Bulkypix.
One of the best ever played Point & Click games is back! Relive all these adventures in their original concept with a gameplay totally readapted to the iPhone and the iPod Touch. I remember playing this on my Amiga 500 back in the day. I still have it on disk and it works perfectly, but now I don’t need to power up my Amiga anymore as Bulkypix are bringing this amazing puzzle adventure game back to the Apple iPhone !!
Check out the details below and then the video trailer. If your a fan of the puzzle games with a pinch of adventure thrown in and some great humor on the side Gobliiins is the perfect game to fill that hole you might be missing. For the rest of you that have loved it and missed it and wanted it back, well nows your chance to own it, play ig and enjoy it all over again !!
Original screenplay : the 22 levels will carry you through this fabulous kingdom. Enjoy the gobliiins jokes like the young generation of gamers did. (MasterAbbott .. falls into this group) 😉
Original soundtrack : take pleasure in listening to the mystical musics of these lands.
Gameplay : 2 control modes will be available throughout your quest. The « Touch » mode will allow you to move or execute an action with just one click. As for the standard control, it will display a pointer to help you be more precise and to bring you back in your youth!
Hints : use them to guide you through your missions. You will be able to refer to the original hints immediately in game. (Trust me you WILL need them)
Hotspots : search the screen with your finger. When you will be close to an object you can interact with, an exclamation mark will be displayed at its position.
Let us know what you’re also one of those young generation gamers that played this
