Club Nintendo has been a great way to score free swag since the launch a few years ago. With Mario’s 25th anniversary upon us, Nintendo has now added some new Mario-themed rewards to the catalog to celebrate. If you have never heard of the Club Nintendo rewards system, each first party game comes with a voucher with a unique code to be entered. Each voucher contains a set number of “coins” that can be used to redeem items such as Nintendo themed stationary, posters, and even the two Game & Watch collections for the Nintendo DS.
Here is a look at the official announcement:
Starting on Oct. 20, members will be able to redeem their Club Nintendo Coins for a special “Evolution of Mario” screen saver and four limited-edition pins commemorating 25 years of Super Mario Bros. fun.
The “Evolution of Mario” screen saver features game-play footage from Mario™ games throughout the history of the series, from 1985’s original Super Mario Bros. to this year’s acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy™ 2. Members will be able to download the screensaver for 10 Club Nintendo Coins. This is the first time an exclusive screen saver has been offered as a Club Nintendo reward. The four commemorative copper pins featuring original 2D Mario artwork will be available for 450 Club Nintendo Coins.
It is great to see some new items added as it isn’t often when the catalog gets an update. Additional details about these and other Club Nintendo rewards, as well as how to become a member of Club Nintendo, can be found at http://club.nintendo.com. For more information about the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., visit http://mario25.nintendo.com.
Bad dudes are screaming around the Seacrest city in their new sports cars. What is a police officer gonna do? Most likely he will bust out a car of his own, and then use special carSWAT maneuvers to bring it down. Do you have what it takes? You will be able to find out when the demo hits on October 26, 2010. The full game intercepts a release date of November 16, 2010 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Will you be the law, or the lawless? Whatever you decide, just don’t hit the Seacrest billboard. The one with that host of that show, ya know?
Your sibling is kidnapped, and it is up to you to find him/her. You are allowed to choose at the beginning which sibling you want to play as. Turns out, your sibling’s costume looked like a candy corn, and monsters have a thing for candy. Who knew?
I was expecting a corny story, but it was actually quite good. Sibling rivalry stars as the main depth to the story. But fighting monsters is the second act. Many various characters turn up to help you. Most of the lines that the characters say are pretty funny. However, don’t expect gut busters. Instead, expect some irony, subtlety and outright clean humor. They may make you chuckle or smile, but the charm the characters exude and not the lines they deliver is where the story really shines through.
Gameplay
Costume Quest is a fairly simple RPG. You lead your characters through various stages and battle monsters, solve puzzles and find neat items.
Combat is standard turn based quick time events. However, through the game you will collect various costumes. These range from Robots to Knights. Each costume has a unique power and special ability. Once a character is wearing that costume, he inherits the costume’s traits. For example, the knight costume has a shield. Similarly, when wearing the knight costume, your character can use a shield in the regular world to protect himself from waterfalls. In combat, the shield is self explanatory. The costumes are easily one of the strongest parts of the game. They all have awesomely original characteristics. Just wait until a certain green, patriotic statue is unleashed; you will be awestruck. Overall, the combat is fun. Timing each strike perfectly or deciding which enemy to attack next is addictive. Watching each costume’s animated attack is also really cool to see. It is quite time consuming to find the costumes though, and I ended up using only about 5 different costumes throughout the entirety of the game. It seemed strange that each attack animation only had one single animation. It eventually got boring watching all these over and over. Also, enemy variety is terribly lacking. Most of these enemies are really easy as well, eventually making combat merely a matter of mindlessly pressing buttons. At least until the last boss, which will require some grinding, and the finding of missed collectibles. Even though there is some some deep customization of the costumes, like stun moves or increased dodge, there is potential for much more.
Puzzles are super easy. Think Lego Star Wars, but easier. However, the game may have been better off adding more of these puzzles. Why? Combat seemed to take over the majority of the game, and more exploration or puzzle solving would have gone a long way in balancing the structure of the game.
All in all, the sheer idea and execution of the costume system saved the game. It is an incredibly creative idea that was fairly well implemented. Adding more depth to the system may have gone a long way though.
Graphics and Audio
The best way to describe the graphics is: simple. Only essential parts of the game are fleshed out. Even then, most areas are devoid of too much detail. And that is not a bad thing. Indeed, for the game that Costume Quest strives to be, simple environments are absolutely fine. Each environment has what it needs and nothing more, making the game not feel overwhelming. However, it was easy to get the characters stuck on certain pieces like bushes or blocks of concrete. Also, quite a few of the areas had pointless detours that added nothing to the game. To give an example, the “town” area had a three sided box of bushes that seemed like it had a point until you get to the end and found nothing. This may have been purposeful to throw gamers off the track, but it was irritating nonetheless.
Audio in Costume Quest is also very simple. Although the soundtrack is good, the only places you are going to notice it is during or after battle. Sound effects are also present, but don’t really add anything to the feel of the game. Even the characters have no voice acting. While the lack of voice acting adds to the feeling of game, it still sucks to have to read in a video game.
Overview
For the price of $15, Costume Quest is an interesting buy. The story was oddly emotional, and I am not really sure why. It wasn’t really meant to be read into a lot, but it still had protagonists that I cared about. Charm, wit and personality are the words to sum it up. Gameplay may be lacking in a few areas, but the enjoyable length of the game counterbalances feelings of tedium. A lazy afternoon or a case of the RPG munchies is the perfect time to play Costume Quest.
I should probably change the image from Rockband 2 to Rockband 3. For now that in game image will have to do until I’m not feeling lazy, which may never happen. Anyway, you should keep a special lookout next week as free DLC is coming your way, or at least towards anyone who plans to buy Rockband 3.
The Doors RB3 FREE Launch Pack – Free
“Light My Fire” X (Free from Oct. 26 – Nov. 1 in game, features Pro Guitar and Pro Bass)
“Riders on the Storm” X (Free from Oct. 26 – Nov. 1 in game, features Pro Guitar and Pro Bass)
“Touch Me” X (Free from Oct. 26 – Nov. 1 in game, features Pro Guitar and Pro Bass)
The Doors Greatest Hits Special Edition – £7.49/€10.99/$14.99
“Hello, I Love You”
“L.A. Woman”
“Love Her Madly”
“Love Me Two Times”
“Peace Frog”
“People Are Strange”
“Roadhouse Blues”
“Soul Kitchen”
“The Crystal Ship”
Remember, those three songs are free within the game, so if you buy the game be sure to download them while you can. They will only be available for a short time; so pick them up while you can.
Ok, I lied. You have technically already met him. The mercenary has popped up in previous character videos and he isn’t exactly new. On the other hand, in this video you get to see him in action. You get to see him in all his Renaissance glory! You get to see him completely own three guys, one after the other.
Enjoy the video, and be ready to stab your friends in the back on November 16th in the US and November 19th in the UK and Europe.
Loco is quite a good word to use while describing this game. Take guns and combine it with Lunatics, and you create “Gun Loco”. The most recent video for the game introduces another character by the name of Mifune. This guy is flat out psychotic. He runs around in nothing but a bunny head, bow tie, and suspenders. Check out the video, and try to keep your insanity intact while you wait for the release of the game somewhere in 2011.
I’m currently streaming some Monster Hunter Tri with my good friend Shawn Baxter (Snow from the Capcom forums). Come join us if you want/can, otherwise stay tuned to see how a true Monster Hunter kills some giant beasts. As always, check here if you want a request done, I’ll see what I can do.
The Jamaican Bobsled Team is looking for a special individual that has what it takes to join the slopes and take the world by storm. In this unique title, Sled Shred featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team is a racing game at heart with a surprising amount of content at a budget game price. So how is the game and how does it play out when it comes to sled racing? Here is my review.
Story
The main story mode starts with three kids sledding down a hill and into the path of Coach Mon. Coach Mon is looking for someone with serious skills to participate in the Winter World Games with the Jamaican Bobsled Team.
The story is quirky, a bit stereotypical, but honestly fun for the most part. In the few cutscenes that come between races, Coach Mon will drill you on what to expect for the next set of events and your off. Not too much to it, but the characters all have some charm with their personalities and while a bit cheesey, they keep the game interesting and add some life to Sled Shred throughout the experience.
Gameplay
Downhill sledding has not been approached too many times in gaming, and the best comparison to Sled Shred in this area that I can think of is the penguin race from Mario 64. There are 4 different sleds you can use in the game which each play very differently. I will get to those in a minute though. First let’s talk about the races themselves.
Story Mode is the mode you need to start with and due to nothing, not even power-ups being unlocked for other modes from the start, this mode was the first I jumped into. The main objective in story mode is to get 1st or 2nd place out of the 4 racers or teams you are up against while traveling to new maps as your progresss . Using the WiiMote, Classic Controller, or Balance Board, you slide downhill and avoid obstacles to cross the finish line. I will say that the first half of the game is extremely simple. Most races can be won with little effort but the game was still fun to play regardless as each sled was a different experience from the next.
Power ups consist of different items found on the track which can help during gameplay. Most prominent are the snowballs, which can be gained by getting the snowflake icon in various locations on each map. Tossing a snowball is as simple as it sounds and doesn’t require much aim at all for a successful smash. By gaining three on certain levels, you can use a super move with certain sleds which is also a bit rewarding. There are also Sun icons which boost your time for landing tricks, and a few other random power-ups such as speed boost tunnels are also present to assist in speed. Keep in mind though that even these must be unlocked, but it really isn’t too hard as every race you complete in story mode give you something new and most power-ups are given near the beginning of the story.
Now for the vehicles, or sleds, you have to alternate between an intertube, disc, two-man toboggan, and of course a four man bobsled. The intertube is the easiest to use as it controls very well. Players can jump over obstacles and braking and speeding up by leaning forward or backwards is accurate and doesn’t slow down the matches at all. The next sled is the disc, which has a special power you can activate which whips up a tornado quickly, delaying all those behind you for an advantage. The disc also makes jumping and landing much more simple and speed is increased quite a bit over the standard intertube. With the toboggan, the game puts you with an AI player, and the two of you must race down together. With this sled being a bit slower, you must work together to lean with your partner to gain speeds.
The last and most important sled is the bobsled. This was my favorite in the game as it controls without gimmicks or power-ups and is by far the fastest in the game. There is a huge amount of challenge when you get up to the bobsled races and it can come down to making a proper start-off by rapidly shaking the remote at the beginning of a match. Bobsleds travel fast and the races are more enjoyable, but the game seems to have hiccups from time to time frame-rate wise as if it were having trouble keeping up.
When you complete the game, replay value will not be hard to find as with the in-game achievements to unlock as well as multi-player and many other challenges to keep you busy, there is a reason to return to the tropical iced world many times over.
Graphics/Audio
As far as the characters go, think of the Miis, add a bit of height and add floating hands and you have the racers in Sled Shred. Each character is detailed differently and the game adds a bit of personality to the title. The environments you race in are bright and with the characters make the game stand out on its own which was a plus for me. From giant gators to sandy beaches, each area brings a new feel to the game. Besides a few bobsledding framerate issues, everything plays smooth and looks just as good.
The music is pretty solid, but nothing too memorable. With this genre of game though, music isn’t too big of an issue to start with. There is a voice-over for Coach Mon which is borderline Sim-lish and added subtitles used to translate. Even with the odd language, personality is still present in the small bit of voice work though, and it was a plus to hear some of the sounds made by the characters coming from the Wii-Mote, even if some sounded more like squeaks than anything else.
Overall
Sled Shred is a lot of fun to play and with all of the the various races and wacky costumes and characters, it thrives with personality and charm. The game does have it’s small issues such as framerate trouble and some unlockables that shouldn’t really be an unlockable rather than part of the main game to start with. Overall, with the price and the fun factor in mind, Sled Shred is one of the better racers on the Wii and adds a unique twist on racing games making it stand out in a crowded market and definitely gets a recommendation to anyone looking for a fresh, off-beat experience on the console.
I Give Sled Shred featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team:
Wii Party Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Genre: Party/Mini-games Released: 8 October (Out Now) BUY NOW
From the people who brought you Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Fit, Wii Party is Nintendo’s latest offering in the ‘Wii’ range. In short, it’s an assortment of mini-games, over 80 as it boasts on the box to be a bit more precise. But the game does have slightly more depth to it that this, although it’s not the most structured game you will ever come across. Essentially, it is just Mario Party (even the voice-over guy who exclaims “Finish!” is exactly the same person), but Nintendo have decided, in the hope of achieving higher cales, to drop the Mario characters and put ‘Mii’s in their place. However, it’s not a simple straight-swap, as the entire game has been sculpted to the style of the Mii character models, and where Mario Party has different game boards, Wii Party gives more variation with completely different separate game modes.
These modes come in all shapes and sizes, with some pitting all 4 players against each other with the CPU players filling any gaps, some designed for two players to go head-to-head, and others which have you working together. There is even a compatibility test mode which is interesting to play with a friend, partner or sibling to see what score you get, especially when it comes to the questions round, whereupon you answer a series of questions and compare answers. I found this mode to be particularly enjoyable simply because of this quiz part.
But, as aforementioned, there are other modes too; Globe Trot, Balance Boat and Board Game Island just to name a few. All games are easily accessible from the main page and there is even the option to play mini-games on their own in the mini-game mode, ousting the structured play seen in the main game modes and all motivation behind the mini-games that accompanies them. Basically, playing for fun and to win each individual mini-game, rather than winning them to help propel you forward as part of the bigger picture. This is a nice addition because it allows you to jump into the game quickly for short, sharp bursts of play, rather than feeling forced to start up a long, drawn-out main game mode. It’s also ideal for those mini-games which you fall in love with, as with the help of mini-game mode, you can play them over and over again as much as you like, something that’s unlikely to occur in the main game modes.
Linking in with the nature of the game -a party game designed to be accessible for all and straight-forward enough for anyone to pick up and play- Wii Party has a well thought-out and unrivalled user interface. Honestly, the start menu screen is one of the best I’ve seen in a long while, with many thoughtful, helpful integrations which I wish some other games would think of implementing. Such as the approximate game-duration estimations underneath each mode, which are extremely helpful as it means instead of having to play through the games once for yourself to figure out how long each game lasts, you can easily access this information when selecting a game, aiding your choice with highly accurate estimated durations.
It must be said, nearly all the main games and mini-games in Wii Party are of a high standard. While there are a few exceptions like Globe Trot as well as a hanful of mini-games that don’t work so well, for the most part they are all highly entertaining, especially when played with friends. Playing solo isn’t as great because the AI is poor, even when turned up to the unlockable ‘Master’ difficulty mode, and with the social interaction gone, many of the games lose their fun-factor and charm. As hinted on above, some games are no fun even with a group for multiplayer. For example, Globe Trot, one of the larger main games, is just flawed. While it is a near carbon-copy of the Mario party style of game board, there are too many event spaces which have you constantly changing position on the map, rendering it impossible to be considered ‘fun’. Then, as for the less enjoyable mini-games, these are few and far between and come about usually from badly mapped control schemes which are generally pone to inducing RSI among the players.
However, these negative aspects shouldn’t be dwelled on too much, because as with all mini-game compilations, there is bound to be a couple of bad ones: it is pretty much a cemented fact thanks to the laws of probability. Just to reiterate, of the 80+ mini-games, at least 70-75 of them are quality, and are sure to provide a great deal of laughter when played in a group. Seeing other peoples Mii’s (who aren’t necessarily involved in the game directly, but still make an appearance) in odd circumstances is surprisingly amusing, such as in one mini-game where if you open the wrong door you walk-in on an unsuspecting Mii sitting on the toilet. Plus, with the added bonus of a Wii remote bundled with the disc, in similar fashion to Wii Play, the package is great value for money, especially if you were planning on getting another Wii remote soon anyway.
Overall, Wii Party is another solid Nintendo offering in the official ‘Wii’ range, mirroring the casual appeal of games previous titles like Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Play, Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus. This party game provides a high quality selection of mini-games and unparalleled accessibility. Not only are the menu screens well-designed, but there is a cutesy character to guide you through the game, and the simple yet fun mini-games make it appealing for anyone to play. In groups it’s an absolute joy to play. Bearing this in mind, if you don’t have people around willing to play with you, your experience will be somewhat prohibited, as the game is much less fun on your lonesome. But if you do have people to play with, it couldn’t be recommended more, and it looks like it could be the ideal Christmas party game this Winter, with all the relatives around to play, The added controller in the package is just the icing on the cake.
Enough time has past for the new Power up rewards to roll out all over the world. Since I also work for Gamestop why not I explain it to the people who are still on the fence or are still confused about it. This new card replaces the edge card whether you have the 14.99$ version or a free card with store credit on it. The only main difference is that now everyone who uses the card can get points for doing pretty much everything Gamestop related. There are now two tiers you can can sign up for at your local Gamestop.
-Power up card-
Price: free
20 Points for every dollar spent on pre owned games and accessories
10 points for every dollar spent on new games and accessories
points for doing the store survey on receipt
one enty into the epic givaway
-Power up pro card-
price: 14.99
23 points for every dollar spent on pre owned games and accesories
11 points for every dollar spent on new games and accessories
points for doing the store survey
10% off used games and accessories
10% extra on trade in games for store credit
Game Informer magazine subscription for a whole year
2 entries into the epic givaway
-Activating rewards ( pro only)-
buy 2 get 1 free on pre owned games coupon
birthday gift
Basically what the new Power up and Power up pro cards are all about. You will need a valid email address unlike the old edge cards. If you do not have one go out and get one its free. Want more information? Go to www.poweruprewards.com or visit your local Gamestop.
