Games

Madden NFL 13 Review for PlayStation Vita

Game Diary, Reviews

Madden NFL 13 Review for PlayStation Vita

Football fans can now “win on the road” with the best portable Madden NFL football video game yet. Last year Madden debuted on the Nintendo 3DS with Madden NFL Football and now this year Madden NFL 13 debuts on the PlayStation Vita. Madden NFL 13 on the handheld PlayStation Vita console offers a nice broadcast style presentation, familiar game modes, simple controls/functions, and special action exclusive only on the Vita console. The Hype Madden NFL 13 debuts on the PlayStation Vita, delivering the ultimate NFL experience on a handheld. Become an NFL Superstar or build the league’s next Dynasty utilizing…

Masters of Mystery Crime of Fashion HD for iPad Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Masters of Mystery Crime of Fashion HD for iPad Review

Since two of my favorite hidden object games (HOG) for the iPad involve solving mysteries (Special Enquiry Detail and Letters from Nowhere), as soon as I heard about Masters of Mystery: Crime of Fashion I was intrigued. Murder, intrigue, mystery, finding objects and solving puzzles – it all sounded great. So let’s dive right in and see how it went! The Hype: Step into the world of glamor in Masters of Mystery: Crime of Fashion. The brutal murder of a famous designer shakes the high-stakes world of New York fashion. Join Detective Carrie Chase and use interactive forensic tools to…

Jane's Zoo HD for iPad Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Jane’s Zoo HD for iPad Review

Jane is back, and apparently while on vacation in Africa she saw the plight of the animals and needed to step in and intervene! So she create’s … Jane’s Zoo! Another in the line of time management games from G5, Jane’s Zoo has been out for a while on iPhone, but has just now crossed to the iPad. Let’s see what it offers! The Hype: Help Jane feed and care for wild animals in this Time Management hit with millions of fans! Jane is trying to save extinct animals and keep them thriving across 3 continents. You will travel to…

Jane’s Hotel 2 Family Hero HD for iPad Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Jane’s Hotel 2 Family Hero HD for iPad Review

Time management games are a love/hate proposition for many – the frantic pacing, the evolutionary gameplay mechanics, and the basic scenarios mean that aside from the core challenge there isn’t much to hang on. Yet for other G5 games like Stand of Food Supermarket Management it works perfectly well and provides loads of fun. Jane’s Hotel was a rather basic entry into the franchise, which I didn’t find lived up to the other games I just mentioned. Will the sequel impress? Let’s take a look. The Hype: Restore your family chain of hotels in this sequel to the famous strategy…

When Compared to Zynga, Suddenly EA is the GOOD Guy!

Editorials, Game Diary

When Compared to Zynga, Suddenly EA is the GOOD Guy!

I think it is accurate to say that I have shown Electronic Arts VERY little kindness in my posts about them. I think they are greedy, petty, and petulant megalomaniacs as a corporate personality, and have a well-established history of buying properties, destroying studios, and running game franchises into the ground while extracting maximum financial gain from the ashes of former greatness. That said, they are not always wrong. They have stood up for marriage equality, have corrected many of the worker issues to the point where they are now a good place to work, and they put out loads…

Madden NFL 13 Review for PlayStation 3

Game Diary, Reviews

Madden NFL 13 Review for PlayStation 3

Electronic Arts expands their annual U.S. pro football video game with several new features while raising the replay value to new levels in their latest football simulation game Madden NFL 13. The Hype Developed around the powerful, all-new Infinity game engine, Madden NFL 13 delivers a more engrossing, complete and realistic gridiron experience than any game before it. Key game features include: graphical presentation reminiscent of national television broadcasts, gameplay improvements such as a new pass-ready system, improved play action, and the all-new read and react defensive AI system, Madden social/play functionality, multiplayer support online and offline, and the ability…

Tales from the Dragon Mountain: the Strix HD for iPad Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Tales from the Dragon Mountain: the Strix HD for iPad Review

Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix is the latest hidden object adventure from G5 Entertainment, but it has a bit of a twist. Rather than static puzzles and object screens, we have a game that plays very much like a open-ended fantasy adventure. The opening cutscene is one of the longest and most involved in the genre, with an involved introduction that introduces Mina and her grandmother and the link between the two. The question is, do they deliver on the promise set forth in the opening? The Hype: Mina’s dreams about her grandmother Kate have become unbearable nightmares….

You Should REALLY Be Watching Wil Wheaton's 'TableTop' Series!

Game Diary, Gear Bits

You Should REALLY Be Watching Wil Wheaton’s ‘TableTop’ Series!

Yesterday afternoon I had some time before taking Chris to his piano lesson, and I fired up the latest edition of Wil Wheaton’s TableTop, this week featuring the game ‘Say Anything’ (Amazon link). Soon I had both boys pulling up chairs and thoroughly enjoying watch someone else play a board game. Here is the basis of the show: My ulterior motive with Tabletop is to show by example how much fun it is to play boardgames. I want to show that Gamers aren’t all a bunch of weirdoes who can’t make eye contact when they talk to you, and that…

Catapult King for iPhone Review; It Brings Tons of Fun

Reviews

Catapult King for iPhone Review; It Brings Tons of Fun

Many iPhone users have spent countless hours tossing birds at various structures in an attempt to defeat the pigs. While I do fall into this group, I have also taken a hiatus from the game series and have been searching for something fresh. Despite the change, the idea of tossing items to knock down things is still an enjoyable task. I recently found a new game that requires structures to be destroyed by flying objects and I am totally addicted. Catapult King allows users to go medieval on some castles in a fun, destructive game. Let’s take a look. Become…

Failure of Playstation Vita is Lowlight of Dismal Sony Earnings Report

Editorials, Game Diary

Failure of Playstation Vita is Lowlight of Dismal Sony Earnings Report

Sony was another business to report quarterly earnings, and once again the results were pretty dismal for the Playstation division. Here are the basics as noted at GI.biz: Sony’s Game division posted an operating loss of $45 million as sales of its PlayStation hardware line continue to fall. In the first fiscal quarter – ending June 30 2012 – the company’s Game segment posted revenues of ¥118 billion ($1.49b/£967m), down 14.5 per cent year-on-year. The decline was partially aggravated by the strength of the Yen, but overall sales were still down 10 per cent on a constant currency basis. The…

Sinister City Vampire Adventure HD for iPad Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Sinister City Vampire Adventure HD for iPad Review

Between the latest Twilight movie and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the vampire craze shows no sign of slowing. And that is a good thing, as the mythos provides plenty of room to explore in all realms of entertainment. The most recent addition is a new hidden object game called Sinister City: Vampire Adventure HD for the iPhone and iPad. The big news – aside from the focus on vampires – is that this is a first person game, so let’s take a look at how all of it works! The Hype: Travel to the astral plane and save your love…

'Lost Souls: The Enchanted' Paintings HD for iPad Review

Game Diary, Reviews

‘Lost Souls: The Enchanted’ Paintings HD for iPad Review

Imagine receiving a mysterious package with a pleasant painting inside that your child finds captivating. He asks to hang it in his room, but then the next day you awake to find you child gone. It is the nightmare for any parent, and it is the opening scene of the newly released Lost Souls: Enchanted Paintings HD from G5 Entertainment. Let’s take a look and see how this hidden object game plays out! The Hype: Rescue a missing boy and immerse yourself in this breathtaking adventure! Get new G5 games for up to 40% off! Sign up for the G5…

Letters From Nowhere 2 iPad Game Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Letters From Nowhere 2 iPad Game Review

How much did I like the iOS game ‘Letters from Nowhere’ from G5 Games? Enough that after the cliff-hanger ending I immediately went to Big Fish games and grabbed the Mac version of Letters From Nowhere 2! When I heard from G5 they were bringing it to iOS as well, I stopped playing the Mac version and waited … and now I have finished the iPad game. Let’s dig right in! The Hype: Travel to the town of Nowhere and search for clues to remove the terrifying curse in this thrilling and spooky sequel! Audrey collected all the letters with…

PSP Minis Reviews of SNK Arcade Classics Gang Wars and Time Soldiers

Game Diary, Reviews

PSP Minis Reviews of SNK Arcade Classics Gang Wars and Time Soldiers

SNK Playmore has been releasing a number of pre-NEOGEO Arcade classics as PSP Minis that are playable on the PSP and PS3 systems over the last couple of years. The selection has ranged from popular classics to lesser known games. The two newest additions – the side-scrolling brawler Gang Wars and the top down shooter Time Soldiers – definitely fall into the latter category. Let’s take a quick look and then I go hands-on so you can get a feel for how they play on my PSP Go! The Hype: The SNK minis titles are a commemorative “retro-arcade emulation” project…

New 'Active Gaming' Doesn't Change Reality of Couch-Bound Stereotype; also, 'Brain Games' Doesn't Work

Editorials, Game Diary

New ‘Active Gaming’ Doesn’t Change Reality of Couch-Bound Stereotype; also, ‘Brain Games’ Doesn’t Work

There are a number of stereotypes surrounding gamers: such as that of the male anti-social, under-hygenic basement dweller toiling away the hours on Dungeons & Dragons fantasy games; or the ultraviolent shooter player who is a bit ‘off’, also an outsider, one round of Doom/Halo/Call of Duty from wiping out his high school/college/post office; and even in the more enlightened recent years there is the image of a few somewhat unkempt and overweight friends on a couch (or couches in different locations connected by the internet) playing a bunch of games. If you look at the LAST console generation –…

Hands-On Video Review of Google Nexus 7 Gaming Experience

Game Diary, Reviews

Hands-On Video Review of Google Nexus 7 Gaming Experience

When it was announced that the Google Nexus 7 was going to have the nVidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a multi-core high-performance GPU, I had a very simple thought go through my mind: mmmmmmmm Games … Now that I have the Nexus 7, I was able to put it through the gaming paces – and within a few hours I noted performance good enough that I decided to do a separate look at several games rather than just embed it into my overall review. Here are the games I looked at along with links to Google Play: – ShadowGun…

Brave: the Video Game Review on PlayStation 3

Game Diary, Reviews

Brave: the Video Game Review on PlayStation 3

The action-adventure Brave: The Video Game features single player, co-op, puzzle play and special bear modes in a third person perspective concentrating on the main character Merida. This game also expands the tale beyond the movie’s storyline and continues Disney Interactive’s impressive streak of quality game adaptations of their films.