By: Michael Dao

Robot Entertainment proudly announces an update to their latest success on iOS, Hero Academy. With this update, players now have access to a third army, the Dwarves for the price of $1.99. For players that are a bit more thrifty, this update does have more to add. There’s a new map that’s Dwarf themed that includes squares that can teleport the player, plus Game Center achievements and leaderboard support.

There are some bugfixes as well, the most notable being that music now continues to play when you start the app, and there are enhancements to the game, such as a next game button when submitting a turn. Many precious minutes have been wasted refreshing game lists between games.

• Explosive New team available: Dwarves!
• New Dwarven-themed playfield featuring Teleportation squares – FREE to all players!
• Game Center achievements and leaderboards
• Less Waiting for Games to Load: New “Next Game” button goes right to your next active game
• German language support added, more languages coming soon
• Your music continues playing when entering the app
• Auto-forfeit if no turn is submitted – 7 days for random games, 14 for custom games.
• Double-tap items, units, and premium squares for help
• Balance changes to the Knight, Wizard, Necromancer, and Void Monk
• Various stability and functionality fixes
• BUG FIX: All chat bugs should be fixed with international character sets.
• BUG FIX: Submitting a Win at the end of a game, but getting a Loss instead because of bad network lag.

Read it in full from Robot here.

Here is a bonus for consumers – giant game rental services occasionally have to get rid of extra stock at extremely low prices. GameFly has some fantastic deals going right now, and subscribers can get these for as much as 10% off the already silly prices. Keep in mind these games are guaranteed to work. Check out the list of highlights:

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution – $12.99
• Crysis 2 – $9.99
• L.A. Noire – $7.99
• Catherine – $14.99
• Captain America: Super Soldier – $9.99
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $9.99
• Dungeon Siege III – $9.99
• X-Men: Destiny – $12.99
• Call of Juarez: The Cartel – $7.99
• SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs – $14.99
• Brink – $6.99

2k Games and Gearbox have finally announced the release date of their eagerly awaited sequel, Borderlands 2. Coming to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on September 18, gamers can expect more of what made the first game loved by many, only better. Also announced are the preorder bonuses and  in-game items. Promised, is the Gearbox gunpack, which contains a number of starter golden guns, and a special golden key used to unlock a special chest. The belle of the ball, however, is the Vault Hunter’s Relic, which improves the loot finding abilities of the player.

Also with todays announcement is a new trailer that features the best ironic use of dubstep in a game trailer yet.

You can catch our previous coverage of Borderlands 2 here.

Amazon currently has a 10 dollar credit if you preorder. You can do that here.

What is it?

The old school (it wasn’t that long ago) snowboarding series has undergone a reboot. Bright colorful snowboarders carve their own paths into some of the world’s most trecharous mountains to the tune of some phat beats and sick tricks.

What’s it about?

Players get access to two courses. One course for racing, and the other for performing tricks. A mirage of techno, dubstep and the requisite RUN D.M.C. sets a fun lighthearted tone for the game (a welcome change from the game’s initial reveal back in 2010). In the final build, it appears that were will be over 150 drops to snowboard down. Each drop either focuses on speed or high scores from tricks and combos. Low times and high scores appear to net you some form of currency that you can spend on gear and upgrades. Unfortunately, none of that is available in the demo.

Is it fun?

This vibrant (even in the dark) experience is pure joy. Tricks are easy to pull off with the new controls. Utilizing either the four face buttons or the right thumbstick, you’ll be pulling off multiple flips, spins, and grabs from a single jump. The game is by no means gritty and realistic. Instead, SSX sticks to the series’ roots of buoyant snowboarding.

How big is it/ how long is it?

The demo is 1.3 GB, a standard size. With it you only have access to two drops, one for racing and the other for pulling off as many tricks as possible. There are two videos that explain the online features. RiderNet is a recommendation system that allows you to show off your times and scores to your friends. You’l be able to race a ghost of your friends’ runs. Explore mode, the only mode available in the demo, will keep track of your high scores and fastest times while comparing you to your friends. As versatile as the online features are, there are still only two courses to play in this demo. Don’t expect this demo to satiate any hunger for the game. It will only whet your appetite for the release on February 28, 2012.

This preview is based on the Xbox 360 demo available now. A demo is also available on the PSN.

The Darkness was a first-person shooter developed by Starbreeze in 2007, and while it wasn’t a blockbuster hit, it definitely struck a chord with quite a few gamers. Though it took five years, but The Darkness is finally back and this time it has been developed by Digital Extremes. It isn’t surprising that this made fans of the series nervous.  Digital Extremes is mostly know for doing ports and the occasional clunker like Dark Sector. However, this anxiety was unfounded–The Darkness II is wonderful. 

If you didn’t play the first game, you should give it a shot. I played it recently, and while it is a bit rough in some areas, it still holds up. If you don’t have the time, The Darkness II has a “previously on” segment which will get you up to speed. We pick up the story of The Darkness two years after the events of the first game. Jackie Estacado has become a New York mob boss, and has managed to keep The Darkness sealed up inside himself. That all goes out the window when Jackie needs The Darkness to keep himself alive during an attempt on his life.

The Darkness manifests as two tentacles on the right and left of the screen, and are controlled with the right and left bumpers. The left tentacle can grab items and people as well as throw, smash and destroy at will. The right tentacle can slash horizontally and vertically when using the right stick along with the bumper. A good deal of your time will be spend grabbing enemies with the left tentacle and doing unspeakable things to them with the right. Meanwhile Jackie can hold rifles, or duel-wield pistols and machine guns with his own hands. Jackie tends to deal with enemies in the distance with gunplay, while using The Darkness up close. Essence can be used to upgrade or add new darkness powers to your arsenal.

Using Jackie’s Darkness powers has an advantage over shooting in that you will gain more experience, and eventually the choice of additional health, ammo or even a darkness shield after each execution. The Darkness II has a solid RPG style leveling system based on “essence” gained through combat and finding dark relics scattered through each level.

The gremlin-like darklings also make a return in The Darkness II. In the first game you could call on up to four darklings with various powers. In the sequel you have just one darkling, but he acts as more of a developed character, to the point that you actually start caring about the little bugger. At certain points in the game you inhabit the darkling who has his own gruesome execution animations.

Other darkness powers include the new “gun channeling” and “swarm” abilities as well as the ability to create black holes and even pick up your darkling and fling him at unsuspecting enemies. Gun channeling allows Jackie to have unlimited ammo and do additional damage for a short period of time. Swarm stuns nearby enemies allowing Jackie to get the drop on them. All of the abilities end up being very handy  and are utilized for most of the game. Nothing feels wasted or extraneous. You will be able to get enough essence to fill out one or two of the ability trees in your first play through, which is a nice incentive to go back and play through the New Game Plus mode.

The Darkness II has a gorgeous new aesthetic which is meant to resemble the comic book art that is the original source material for the game. Jackie’s darkness powers can only be used in the dark (go figure), which you would expect to make for a very dark game. The game ends up being surprisingly bright and colorful, with darkness powers taking on a purple glow. It’s as if the designers flipped light and dark on their head. You are perfectly comfortable in the dark, while you will be blinded if you find yourself in bright light.

The dialogue and voice acting is also top notch. Mike Patton returns to voice The Darkness in the weird and creepy way that only he can do. I can absolutely see Mr. Patton’s voice work being too over the top, or even goofy for some people. I’m a huge fan of his special brand of crazy, so I loved every minute of it. Another character, Johnny Powell steals the show as the premier expert on The Darkness (and absolute paranoid nut-bag). After you collect the relics scattered throughout the game, you can listen to Johnny explain their significance. What is typically a dull affair in many games turns into an absolute treat.

Beyond the single player campaign, you will find a co-op campaign called Vendettas. One of the main complaints about The Darkness II is that the single player is short, and it is, though I prefer to think of it as succinct. Either way you can burn through it in around six to eight hours. The Vendettas allow up to four players to take part in a side story that is running parallel to the single player. The characters you pick from could be described as stereotypes. There is a Japanese guy with a samurai sword, an African-American voodoo witch doctor, a Scottish soccer hooligan and a former member of the Israeli Intelligence Agency. Each character has the ability to use one of Jackie’s darkness powers, but with a little twist. This section has some of the best/silliest dialogue as you listen in on the stereotypical Italian mobsters interacting with these extreme characters. The mode ends up adding quite a bit more content to the otherwise short game.

The Darkness II is brutal, crass and probably not everyone’s cup of tea. It is also gorgeous, smart and a big improvement over the original in terms of game play. The narrative is constructed in a very interesting way that I don’t want to spoil for you, but it will keep you guessing right up to the end. This game takes what was interesting about the original, and builds upon it while also streamlining the experience. The Darkness II is going to hold a special place in my heart just like the original. I just hope that I don’t have to wait another five years for The Darkness III.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of The Darkness II provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3 and PC.

Amazon has matched the GameStop and Target sales currently going for PS Vita Games: Buy Two, Get One Free. Unlike GameStop, Amazon has a much better selection. Check out the list below:

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Rayman Origins
• Lumines: Electronic Symphony
• Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
• Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
• wipEout 2048
• EA Sports FIFA Soccer
• BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip
• Dungeon Hunter Alliance
• Little Deviants
• Asphalt: Injection
• F1 2011
• Michael Jackson The Experience
• Ben 10 Galactic Racing

Red and Blue had Yellow. Gold and Silver had Crystal. Black and White have…zebra? Gray? We really don’t know. What we do know is that there’s a rumor floating around that a successor to Pokémon Black and White will be announced this Sunday during the airing of a new episode of the Japanese show Pokémon Smash. During a Q&A session, Junichi Masuda of Game Freak suggested that Pokémon fans watch the new episode of Pokémon Smash, the Japanese Pokémon musical show, after he was questioned about a successor to Black and White. 

Whether you live in Japan or not, expect to hear some Poké related news this weekend.

Source: Youtube

Via: Andriasang

There is nothing worse than having a shiny new system, and nothing to play on that. GameStop has a solution for this problem. Buy two Playstation Vita games from a select group and you can get a third game for free. There are only five games to choose from, but the list is a good one.

Click here for this deal.

Available games:

• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip
• Hotshots Golf World Invitational
• Wipeout 2048
• Little Deviants – PS Vita

New Today

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West for $7.60

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a retelling of the classic 400-year old novel “Journey to the West” set in a post-apocalyptic world. One of the most cinematic games you will every play with characters that you actually care about. Andy Serkis is heavily featured, and his talents don’t go to waste.

Rayman Origins for $29.70

Michel Ancel has crafted an absolutely gorgeous platformer in Rayman Origins. I understand if you no longer have joy in your heart, but if your soul hasn’t completely left your body, you will be delighted by this title.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for $39.99

You may have heard of this little game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? One of the things CoD games are known for in thrifty circles is keeping their value. Last year’s game is still selling for around $50, so you may want to jump at this one will it is still being discounted.

Pre-Orders of Note

Diablo III Collector’s Editions [PC] $99.99

A fallen star burns across the sky, signaling the rebirth of a long-forgotten evil, and calling mortal heroes to arms once more. This limited edition collector’s set commemorates your return to the darkened world of Sanctuary. Inside, you’ll find a treasure trove of rare and legendary items to aid you in your apocalyptic battles at the End of Days.

PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle 

Are you in the market for a Vita? Our thrifty experts tell us the very best way to go is the PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle from Amazon. It comes with an 8GB Memory Card, DataConnect Session Pass, CTA Digital PS Vita Screen Protection Kit and PSN Game. You get everything you need for $299.99. Sure, we would like a larger Memory Card, but with the 16GB going for a ridiculous $60, you might as well use this free 8GB Card until the prices inevitably drop.

Mass Effect 3 with a $10 Pre-Order Credit

Mass Effect 3 is one of the most anticipated games of the year, and it is only a few short weeks from release! March 6 is the day and there is still time to pre-order and get the M55 Argus Assault Rifle and a $10 promotional credit at Amazon.com.

Ongoing Sales

Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack [3DS] for $45.27

Skylander’s is by far the hugest kids game out there, it is nothing short of a phenomenon. Probably because the game is fun for both kids and adults. Once you catch the fever, you will want to start collecting the figures… all the figures. The 3DS version is a different game than the console and PC versions, but it uses the same figures! It comes with it’s own portal, and even has a unique skylander that you can’t get anywhere else.

Dungeon Defenders [PC] for $2.99

Dungeon Defenders is absolutely chock-full of content, and really fun content as well. It is a deceptively deep RPG with the ability to find loot, upgrade your loot, character, pet and towers. It takes team work and some serious strategy as well. It has oodles of modes that can keep you busy for dozens and dozens of hours.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom for $6.58

Dear lord! Look at that price! For the same amount as you would pay for a value meal, you can get a very solid game that is bright and colorful and not just the same dreck you’ve been playing over and over. Give Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom a shot!

Once again with feeling:

• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - X360 – Amazon – $7.60
• Rayman Origins - X360 – GameStop – $19.99
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - X360 – Amazon – $39.99
• Diablo III – Limited Edition - PC – Amazon – $99.99
• PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle - Amazon – $299.99
• Mass Effect 3 - X360, PS3 – Amazon – $59.99
• Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack - 3DS – Amazon – $45.27
• Dungeon Defenders - PC – Amazon – $2.99
• Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom - X360 – Amazon – $6.58

Joystiq reports that Assassin’s Creed 3 received its release date of October 30, 2012. There’s been no word of the setting for the new installment.  Ubisoft has reported before that our  Italian assassino, Ezio, has completed his story. After all, Ezio was looking pretty aged in Revelations. That leaves us wondering where AC3 will take the franchise. Revolutionary France? Colonial America? Downton Abbey? We’d love to see Thomas get stabbed.

Source: Joystiq

You and your friends decide to go off the grid for a while. Just go and explore the wonderful world we live in. You get a boat, and find an island that doesn’t show up on the map. That’s cool. Go check it out. Oh, there’s people on this island. Awesome. These people carry automatic weapons everywhere they go. That’s cool. You’ve always been a supporter of the Second Amendment. It’s probably a good idea to just start taking shots with these friendly pirates/guerrillas. What’s that? Things have gone bad? Some dubstep should help. Cool.

That’s a synopsis of the new trailer for Far Cry 3. Not only are we promised dubstepped adventures, but we get a release date of September 4, 2012 for North America with some extra missions if you pre-order at GameStop.

Source: Ubisoft

New Today

Dungeon Defenders [PC] for $2.99

Dungeon Defenders is absolutely chock-full of content, and really fun content as well. It is a deceptively deep RPG with the ability to find loot, upgrade your loot, character, pet and towers. It takes team work and some serious strategy as well. It has oodles of modes that can keep you busy for dozens and dozens of hours.

Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack [3DS] for $45.27

Skylander’s is by far the hugest kids game out there, it is nothing short of a phenomenon. Probably because the game is fun for both kids and adults. Once you catch the fever, you will want to start collecting the figures… all the figures. The 3DS version is a different game than the console and PC versions, but it uses the same figures! It comes with it’s own portal, and even has a unique skylander that you can’t get anywhere else.

OCZ Technology Agility 3 SSD – 90GB for $99.99

Are you still using a hard drive with a spinning disc? Lulz. C’mon dude. Get the OCZ Technology Agility 3 SSD and Windows will load up in a blink. You know how loading screens in games are annoying? You will hardly notice them!

Pre-Orders of Note

PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle 

Are you in the market for a Vita? Our thrifty experts tell us the very best way to go is the PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle from Amazon. It comes with an 8GB Memory Card, DataConnect Session Pass, CTA Digital PS Vita Screen Protection Kit and PSN Game. You get everything you need for $299.99. Sure, we would like a larger Memory Card, but with the 16GB going for a ridiculous $60, you might as well use this free 8GB Card until the prices inevitably drop.

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for $29.99

Hot Shots Golf is typically a safe bet for any console or handheld (you really don’t need to be a golf fan to enjoy it), but Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for the PS Vita seems to be the way to go for when picking up an extra launch title for your new Vita. Amazon has it for $10 less than retail, and so far the reviews have been some of the best any Vita game has received so far.

Mass Effect 3 with a $10 Pre-Order Credit

Mass Effect 3 is one of the most anticipated games of the year, and it is only a few short weeks from release! March 6 is the day and there is still time to pre-order and get the M55 Argus Assault Rifle and a $10 promotional credit at Amazon.com.

Ongoing Sales

Star Wars: The Old Republic for $49.99

Okay, maybe Star Wars: The Old Republic hasn’t toppled the World of Warcraft juggernaut, but it is the first MMO that has given WoW a run for its money. If you are in the market for a solid MMO with tons of content, and an actual story, this game is worth a shot.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom for $6.58

Dear lord! Look at that price! For the same amount as you would pay for a value meal, you can get a very solid game that is bright and colorful and not just the same dreck you’ve been playing over and over. Give Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom a shot!

Rayman Origins for $29.70

Michel Ancel has crafted an absolutely gorgeous platformer in Rayman Origins. I understand if you no longer have joy in your heart, but if your soul hasn’t completely left your body, you will be delighted by this title.

Once again with feeling:

• Dungeon Defenders - PC – Amazon – $2.99
• Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack - 3DS – Amazon – $45.27
• OCZ Technology Agility 3 SSD – 90GB - Amazon – $99.99
• PlayStation Vita 3G Launch Bundle - Amazon – $299.99
• Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational - PS Vita – Amazon – $29.99
• Mass Effect 3 - X360, PS3 – Amazon – $59.99
• Star Wars: The Old Republic - PC – Amazon – $49.99
• Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom - X360 – Amazon – $6.58
• Rayman Origins - X360 – Amazon – $29.70

Having trouble playing classic arcade games on your iOS device? We all are. Touch controls simply aren’t the best option for many games. Sure, there’s the iCade, a cabinet built for an iPad, but what if you’re on the go and playing with your phone? Introducing iCade’s 8-Bitty controller, a wireless retro themed controller for your iOS device. It pairs with your phone and is compatible with a “growing list of hundreds of retro game apps.” The controller will have an open system interface, allowing any developer to utilize it for  either iOS or Android. The 8-Bitty controller is due later this year at the reasonable price of $24.99.

Source: Think Geek

Double Fine (Psychonauts, Iron Brigade) have reached out to their fans to help fund a new point and click adventure game along with a documentary about the game making process. The original goal of $400,000 was met within an astounding eight hours, and the funding just keeps climbing. Now at more than double the original goal, the Kickstarter program still has a month to go. Double Fine plans to use the excess money to make the game and documentary better, and the excess funds will allow the game to show up on more platforms. We’re not sure what the game will be about, but the age old equation of ((Tim Schafer + Point and Click)/Fan Base = Awesome Games ) reassures us that this is money well spent.

Source: Kickstarter

I do not consider myself a fighting game expert. I wouldn’t even say that I have a minor degree in fighting games. After a year of brutal defeats in Super Street Fighter IV, I have begun clawing my way to the occasional victory and a new appreciation for the fighting genre. If you are a tournament level fighter then there are other publications that will better suit your needs for a review for a fighting game. If you’re new to the genre then please, keep reading.

The SoulCalibur franchise has been a safe haven for me. It has always been an easily accessible franchise that let even the simplest minded players enjoy the occasional victory through a constant barrage of button mashing. That’s what SoulCalibur has been to me, the controlled art of button mashing. It worked with SoulCalibur II, and much to my delight, it still works today.

Right off the bat, you’ll notice some pretty dramatic changes to SoulCalibur V. Your favorite character may not be there. Classic characters don’t control the way they used to. You now have access to ultra moves. You’ll still notice some similarities too. You’re still able to make a comeback with a deadly combo. You still can guard break and use edge attacks. Voldo will still disturb you to the very core of your being. Is it a reboot? No, but it feels more methodical. You can still succeed with button mashing, but SoulCalibur V is more about honing your skills.

SoulCalibur has always had a myriad of single player content that could keep players occupied for hundreds of hours.That is what I need. When I fight a computer, I am the most skilled swordsman in the world. When I fight other human beings, I am a child with a stick. Where there was once a hundred hour campaign and various trials that altered the rules of the fight, there is now barely anything. Single player has been butchered into a short incoherent story. The main story mode follows the path of Patrokolos and Pyrrah, the children of Sophitia, as they are reunited to use Soul Calibur (good sword)  to destroy Soul Edge (bad sword). It only lasts roughly three hours. The story is told through a story board and some well produced cut scenes. Fighting games have never been renowned for their intricate storytelling or plots, but SCV makes no sense in almost a stereotypical fashion. There’s alternate planes of reality and characters who add nothing to the story besides their presence. By the end of the campaign, you’ll be scratching your head. There’s the criminally short Arcade Mode that pits you against six A.I. opponents and records your time to completion. That’s it. Other than one on one matches and training, that is all that there is to SCV’s single player modes.

With such a limited experience by myself, I took my blade online. There are the standard modes of ranked or player matches which pit multiple players against one another. Winner keeps playing, loser goes to the back of the line just like an arcade. Global Colleseo puts you into an enormous lobby with dozens of other players. There you can either be assigned a random opponent, set up your own lobby and await challengers, enter tournaments, or challenge other players to a fight right then and there. All the while, you are able to voice or text chat with other players in the lobby. The text chat, unfortunately, relies on an in game keyboard, so unless you have a USB keyboard hooked up to your console you won’t be using that feature too often. Global Colleseo is a great addition to the series, and I hope it is something that will be adopted by other fighting franchises. It vastly reduces the time between fights if you’re prone to losing like myself.

Just as it’s predecessors had, there’s an in depth character creator in SCV. All options in the creator are purely aesthetic. The only thing that effects how your players fights is the weapon set you give him. Certain weapons, like Ezio’s, are locked out of the creator. The aesthetic designs are quite in depth. Through my travels online I found a convincing Dante from Devil May Cry and some even more disturbing Voldos. In the end though, all you’re creating is a funny looking clone of another character. There’s no sense of ownership to the monster you may create.

SoulCalibur V does a lot of things right, and several things wrong. You’ll see many new faces, and you’ll be missing even more. This iterations’ token character, Ezio, is a fine addition to the series compared to Darth Vader or Yoda. The online modes are functional, and they give the player something to do while they wait for the next fight. Combat has changed from the fast paced slash fest to a slower more methodical fight. The single player content is extremely lacking compared to previous games. In the end, you’ll still be clashing swords, juggling opponents and doing your best not to be knocked out of the ring. SoulCalibur V is, at heart, a SoulCalibur game, just not the one that I want to play for an eternity.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of SoulCalibur V provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3.

Inspired by one of the webs most charming comics, Scary Girl finally gets her own console game to show off all that beautiful art direction. Coming into this game, I had two questions. Is she a girl and is she scary?

Sadly, no, I don’t think either of those things are completely true. Well, she is a girl/monster (More monster than “girl”). She has been raised by a giant squid named blister her whole life. Now I see what you’re saying, that doesn’t make any freaking sense. Yes I know, but you see, she was adopted. So that makes it better. It actually doesn’t. Not a lot in this games makes sense. There are crazy things happening all around you, but its all part of its whacky charm.

As for the second question, is it scary? No, just no. It’s more odd than scary. The world is populated by monsters, but they are all fairly tame and artsy. They are colorful fantastical creatures. They look pretty great, with interesting art direction, but no, not scary.

So if she isn’t a girl and she isn’t scary, what is Scary Girl? Scary Girl is a very solid action platformer. The game features 3D worlds with the gameplay being mostly limited to a 2D plane. Travel consists of moving left to right with branching paths at multiple points. The levels are varied enough, but most of them feature a similar gothic ascetic. That isn’t to say they aren’t impressive. You travel to some unique looking locals. But the gameplay in each of them is pretty similar with some minor variations.

The gameplay is more of the action variety than the strong platforming kind. You have a heavy and light attack with multiple combo variations. As you play you collect gems allowing you to upgrade certain aspects and get new attacks. Scary Girl also has the ability to grab downed enemies with her hook arm and use them as projectiles. When jumping she can spin her hook arm around to hover or grab on to branches and swing.

None of this is terribly original which is the main downside to this game. It all feels samey. Every aspect of this game has been in other games before. Beyond that, the implementation isn’t very polished. Fighting can be extremely chaotic and frustrating at times. If I knock an enemy down and they fall on top of me, I shouldn’t start to get hit by them after an arbitrary amount of time because they are next to me. This fact alone limits your fighting choices. This is just one example of the odd quirks this game has that so many similar titles solved years ago.

So aside from the rather familiar gameplay, I also did not get sucked in by the story. The art direction is great, but the story never sucked me in. Scary girl is on a journey to find her destiny or something. Unfortunately I couldn’t care or not if she got there. That is the one requirement a story should have. Make the player want to see the end.

All and all though, the game is not bad. It is solid in most aspects. If you are a fan of Scary Girl, you will probably love this game. The unique art direction and style is translated very well and the action and upgrades do make it a worth while game to check out if you’re into action platforming.

This review is based on a retail copy of Scarygirl provided by the publisher. It is also available for PC and PSN.

The space combat genre is not an overly crowded scene. In fact, it is haunted by a few great games of the past while we, stuck in the present, have to contend with mediocre games that try to capture the nostalgia of Freespace or X-wing vs. Tie Fighter. I am a fan of flying around in space while maintaining my ship’s speed and shields, and, unfortunately, Sol: Exodus does not fulfill my needs. So like an unsatisfied lover, I dream of the past or maybe what the future will bring.

Sol: Exodus is a mix between Battlestar Galactica and basically any space combat game. Imagine that the main character’s name is Starbuck or Apollo and you will instantly feel at ease while piloting your starship through enemy space. Earth has become uninhabitable and it is up to your team to find a new Earth. Unfortunately, a militaristic cult has taken over the various colonies and space stations scattered throughout the Sol system (you knew we lived in the Sol system right? [Our Sun’s name is Sol]). The previously mentioned cult destroys your fleet and you must lead the resistance to victory. The whole experience is a bit of a letdown, but we will get to that later.

The space combat starts off fun but gets old quickly. Most missions task you with getting into dog fights with a handful of fighters and destroying them with either your machine guns or missiles. It controls tightly and offers controller support but I found the mouse and keyboard to be easier to manage. The UI gives a nice unobtrusive display of your ship’s stats (shields, speed, missiles and etc.) and also provides an “aiming ring” that shows where you should be shooting in order to hit your target. It was a nice touch that helps boost your accuracy while fitting within the game world.

There is some variety in the enemy’s ship design, but not much. You eventually fight elite versions of the standard fighters you were previously facing as well as bombers. The elite fighters fire missiles that hone in on your ship forcing you to shoot the missiles before you blow up. This actually added some variety to the missions since you would have to abandon whatever you were fighting to defend yourself from the oncoming projectiles. It was stressful and I like stressful.

Sol: Exodus also has a neat hacking minigame that you use to destroy large enemy ships. You target an exposed hacking node and input a series of “decrypted” letters to access the ships vulnerable bits. Just like the homing missiles mentioned above, the hacking portions made the combat more engaging. You have to watch the letters while avoiding enemy fighters and missiles.

After a few missions I had upgraded my ship enough to feel a difference. You can upgrade your ship’s guns, shields and engines. The guns and engines allow you to use them more before you overload, and the increase to shields allow you to, naturally, survive longer. Those are the only upgrades though…robbing me of my much desired vehicle customization, a feature sadly lacking from Sol: Exodus. When you have fully upgraded weapons you have more missiles and can hold down your machine guns for a longer time, but they aren’t any stronger and it is hard to see a difference between one level of upgrades and another.

I think it should be said that at the time of writing Sol: Exodus is $10. I don’t like to justify a game’s issues by its price, but I would have loved to see what a more fully featured Sol: Exodus would have looked like. They got the basics of space combat right but failed in whatever keeps you wanting to play more. Repetition mixed with a weak story and a lack of vehicle customization kept Sol: Exodus from being more than a somewhat entertaining distraction. Space combat fans will find a lot to enjoy, but others may be put off by the lack of polish. It turns out that in space no one can hear you scream for Freespace 3.

This review is based on a retail copy of SOL: Exodus provided by Seamless Entertainment. It is a PC exclusive.

If there’s one thing we believe in here at ThriftyNerd.com, it’s that people need to save money. It’s in our mission statement somewhere. The caveat of savings is that you usually have to buy games weeks or months after their release. Fortunately, Amazon has graced us with a ton of pre-order credits for several upcoming games. Most notable are the twenty dollar credits for Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Syndicate. There’s always the reliable fifty dollar credit for the 4GB Xbox 360 + Kinect Bundle, and even some exclusive DLC for Kid Icarus: Uprising and Lumines: Electronic Symphony.

• Final Fantasy XIII-2 – $59.99 + $20 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available NOW
• Syndicate – $59.99 + $20 Amazon Credit (Ps3, Xbox 360) Available 02/21/2012
• Mass Effect 3 – $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)  Available 03/06/2012
• SSX – $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available 02/28/2012
• Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D – $39.96 + $10 Amazon Credit (3DS) Available 02/21/2012
• The Darkness II - $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available 02/07/2012
• Borderlands II – $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available 06/30/2012
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 – $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Avaialble 03/27/2012
• Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon Future Soldier – $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available 05/22/2012
• Silent Hill: Downpour – $59.99 + $10 Amazon credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available 03/13/2012
• Grand Slam Tennis 2 – $49.99 + $10 Amazon credit (PS3, Xbox 360) Available 02/14/2012
• Inversion – $59.99 + $10 Amazon Credit (Ps3, Xbox 360) Available 06/30/2012
• Xbox 360 4GB + Kinect – $281.47 + $50 Amazon Credit
• Kid Icarus: Uprising – $39.99 + 3D Classics: Kid Icarus (3DS) Available 03/23/2012
• Lumines: Electronic Symphony – $39.99 + 3 Exclusive mp3s (Playstation Vita) Available 02/14/2012

Rockstar Games has released the official Max Payne 3 website, and with it this dandy video and interactive 3D rendering of the the 608 Bull revolver. Expect to see more of these highlighting Mr. Payne’s favorite weapons.

As a fan of Jurassic Park, the movie, I was thrilled to hear that Telltale Games was making a game adaptation. That is what Telltale does after all, they take things I loved from my childhood and turn them into fun and silly adventure games. The problem is that Jurassic Park needs to be a thrill-a-minute roller coaster ride in order to be faithful to the original material. While there is literally a roller coaster in the game, it serves as an unfortunate metaphor for the game. It just isn’t fun. 

The timeline of Jurassic Park: The Game begins right after the conclusion of the first film. One of the first scenes has a mysterious woman searching for a certain discarded can of shaving cream that happens to be full of dinosaur embryos. The story switches between her, a couple of mercenaries, a geneticist and a dinosaur veteranarian and his incredibly annoying 14 year old daughter. Everyone has different agendas: The mercenaries want the embryos, the hippie scientist wants to save the dinosaurs and the veteranarian and his daughter just want to get out alive.

Jurassic Park: The Game is built with Telltale’s gameplay engine, which means that at its core, it is an adventure game. Half of the game is solving puzzles. I’m not sure what happened here, but they are not the brilliant puzzles that we are used to seeing from Telltale. Most of them tend to have you hunting and clicking on objects in the scenery until some event plays out. There are a handful that you actually needed to use your brain for, and these were the highlights of the game.

The rest of the game is filled with cinematic action scenes. Very cinematic. Cinematic to that point that you have no direct control over the characters. What you actually do is press buttons and hope that you got the ones that will make good things happen instead of your character getting eaten by a tyrannosaurus rex. If that doesn’t sound particularly appealing to you, then this isn’t the game for you.

In the PC version of Jurassic Park: The Game, you are tasked with hitting different arrow keys at the appropriate time. In most instances the arrows will have two or three circles around them, which tells you how many arrows you will have to click to succeed. Frustration almost immediately sets in when you realize there is almost no rhyme or reason for the button you will need to click after the first one.

You might have to push up to jump over something, but then the game wants to you hit the left arrow to dodge when you could have needed to duck or dodge right. Not only is there is no way to divine the correct course of action, but you need to hit the next button so fast that it’s almost impossible to react to the prompt on the screen. The arrow presses are the same for each scenario, so when you end up failing you watch a quick scene of your character getting gobbled up and then you do the whole thing over again. Memorizing the pattern for the next try isn’t terribly hard, but it’s hardly my idea of fun.

There are plenty of games out there that use this style of gameplay (typically called quick-time events or QTEs). God of War uses them to show off over-the-top kill animations, but you have time to react to the button prompts. Heavy Rain managed to use them much more successfully because the button presses made logical sense, so when you failed it felt like it was your fault. On top of that, when you did fail, the game didn’t end. Typically you would get a stumble which would ratchet up the tension even further. Sure, I enjoy watching people getting eaten by dinosaurs as much as the next guy, especially when they are annoying as some of the characters in Jurassic Park: The Game, but having to repeat a failed set of QTEs was drudgery. The death scenes tended to be very tame, so they weren’t exactly a reward themselves. Eventually I started jamming on the arrows randomly and hoping dumb luck would prevail. I hate to say it, but I started having more success with this technique.

My return to Isla Nublar wasn’t without its moments. Jurassic Park: The Game does end well. The fourth and final chapter over all is pretty exciting, and the final action scene gives you a glimmer of what the game could have been. If you are a Jurassic Park fanatic, you will be able to wring some enjoyment out of the locations and the aesthetic. In the end, Jurassic Park: The Game feels like it is trying too hard to be cinematic. It isn’t a particularly good movie and it’s a failure as a game.

This review is based on a retail copy of the PC version of Jurassic Park: The Game provided by Telltale Games. It is also available for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

On the off chance that you aren’t excited for next week’s launch of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, take a gander at this trailer, it should do the trick. After playing the demo, I would describe Reckoning as a cross between Fable and World of Warcraft, but with better combat. Expect to see our review a week or two after release.

There is still time to snag release day delivery from Amazon and get the The Ultimate Treasure Hunter Pack which reveals all reagents (potion-making vegetation) on the map. You will also get the Fate Touched Weapons Pack. You can pre-order here.

via Kotaku

If you read my introduction last week, you may know a bit about where I’ve been, but I thought that by telling you a little a bit about what I carry with me everyday, you might get a little insight into what my favorite technology is. This is just my everyday bag, so it doesn’t have everything that I’d normally carry with me if I’m going to be out for more than a day. Once convention season starts, I’ll do another post with what I take with me to conventions and events. Without further delay, here is what I carry in my bag.

• Macbook Pro 13” (Early 2011) | 120GB SSD/1TB HDD

I bought my Macbook Pro in June and now I can’t imagine my daily life without it (which sounds weird now that I’ve actually said it). I originally went with the base model 13”, but I couldn’t resist the urge of the glorious speed that an SSD provides. I upgraded the HDD to a 1TB drive –that I pulled out of a external drive– and moved it to the optical bay with a 2nd HDD caddy that I got on Amazon for $16. I found an inexpensive 120GB Vertex Plus SSD online during Black Friday and put that in the HDD slot. I use this mainly for writing content, but it actually does just fine with editing photos and video.

• iPhone 4S 16GB Black (AT&T)

I’ve been a fan of iOS since getting an iPod Touch (Note: We will never call it an iTouch, because it’s not.) and I’ve kept with it throughout the revisions of the iPhone. I picked up the 4S a few months ago, after holding out for the 5, and I regret nothing. While the external changes between the 4 and the 4S might be minimal, the processor and camera changes are extreme and amazingly fast. Whether checking Tweetbot, taking photos, or playing a game of HeroAcademy with John, I’m always on my phone and consider it essential.

The poltergeist puzzler, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, is floating onto iOS devices tomorrow (2/2/2012). The first two chapters will be free. The rest of the game will be available for purchase in app, so you really don’t have an excuse for not trying it out. What’s that? You don’t have an iPhone? Don’t lie. Everyone has an iPhone (source: television).

Source: iTunes

Via: Joystiq

Pre rendered trailers are a double edged sword. On one hand, they’re gorgeous and set tones that the game itself probably couldn’t make. On the other hand, they are often unrepresentative of the game itself. Needless to say, we’re a bit conflicted about this new Aliens: Colonial Marines trailer. The Gearbox made game has an ominous Fall 2012 release date after a recent delay. We’re really hoping this isn’t just another bug hunt.

Source: SegaAmerica

The Playstation 3 and Vita versions of Street Fighter X Tekken have revealed some rather unorthodox exclusive fighters. While Cole, Toro and Kuro all make a semblance of sense for appearing exclusively in the Sony versions, Mega Man and Pacman are an absurdly wonderful addition to the cross fighter’s growing roster. Did you see Mega Man in that trailer above? How can you not be excited for the triumphant return of bad Mega Man Box Art?

Let’s face it, open world crime games have been done to death. Grand Theft Auto III blew everyone’s collective mind on the PS2, and immediately imitations filled the market. Hopping in the first car you see and driving around wreaking havoc was such a novel idea at first, but as time went on the experience became stale. Volition and THQ had their own imitator, Saints Row, that admittedly wasn’t that great. Its sequel, Saints Row 2, was over the top and offensive solely for the sake of being offensive. Saints Row: The Third found the line between hilarity and unnecessary fart jokes and tiptoed along it for ten hours. In short, Saints Row: The Third is ludicrous, outrageous and hilarious. It knows exactly what it wants to be and makes no apologies for what it does.

Saints Row: The Third, above all else, values the players’ time. While most games start off at around five to ten mph and eventually throttle up to full speed, The Third starts off by slamming the pedal to the metal and doesn’t even consider hitting the brakes. Even getting in a vehicle has been streamlined as your character dives through windshields and drives off in two seconds. In a genre typically filled with progression from the slums of the city to the high rise penthouses, The Third gives you everything you want within half an hour. The rest of the game is simply having fun.

If there’s one trending theme, it’s that the game plays things fast and loose. The story starts off explosively. The Third Row Saints have become international icons. Having become complacent in their roles in life, the three leading Saints are caught and arrested during a risky bank robbery. Some slower paced side missions (i.e. protect the drug dealer or caravan) regrettably follow the high octane opening. The handful of requisite side missions bring new twists to the typical missions you’d find in an open city. For example: you can get some extra cash with insurance fraud missions by throwing yourself into traffic and watching your character ragdoll between motor vehicles. These missions don’t last too long and there aren’t too many of them to begin with. They are hardly a major focus of the game.

The characters and story of Saints Row: The Third are, for a lack of a better term, redonkulous. I won’t go into any specifics, because the game suffers from what I like to call “Summer Comedy Blockbuster Syndrome.” You may have already heard some of the jokes and situations from other outlets or friends. Having heard some of the best parts of the game before actually playing it, I felt certain moments were dampened, and I have no desire to dampen your experience. I’ll just briefly mention some things within the game without spoiling as much as I can. Tigers, TRON, hover jets, zombies, luchadors, Bonnie Tyler and much much more. Does the story line seem realistic in the slightest? Absolutely not. Is it genuinely funny? Absolutely.

Saints Row: The Third isn’t simply about being crazy just to be crazy. There’s an art to tiptoeing along what is silly and what is downright stupid. The game is fun. It’s not outright offensive like its predecessor. It is entirely tongue in cheek throughout the entire game. Your character acknowledges that every situation he is in is preposterous, but he pushes forwards anyway. In the end, Saints Row: The Third isn’t the perfect game for everyone. However, if you have an open mind and an appreciation for silly humor then you will have an experience that will make you laugh out loud.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of Saints Row The Third provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3 and PC.

If you have been following along the last few day then you might now that the staff has developed a serious Hero Academy addiction. If you haven’t, then you should check out our review and interview with the lead designer. We figured if we are going to have this monkey on our back, why not try and hook as many of you as we so we don’t look so unproductive in comparison.

To achieve this we are giving away codes that unlock a handful of in-game goodies to help you take your game to the next level.

Each code unlocks
100 taunts
Dark Elves team
Uniform colors
Several avatar packs

To enter to win:

• Tweet, “Like @HeroAcademy? @ThriftyNerd is giving away code packs full of great stuff. RT and comment to win. http://thrif.de/y1Gsmy #ThriftyHero” You may enter once per day.
• Leave a comment telling us your what your favorite squad member is and your Twitter name below.

By: Michael Dao

Choplifter was the very first game I ever purchased for my first game console, the Sega Master System. I had a lot of fond memories playing Choplifter, both good and bad. Good memories of mastering the early levels of the game, and less than good memories at the frustration I experienced later on. Back then, much like now, I wasn’t exactly what one would call a highly skilled gamer. When I heard that an HD remake was coming, excitement quickly ramped up. If you are reading this review, you surely must have questions. Does this game harken back to the good old days? Have they improved upon the formula at all? Is it worth the fifteen dollars? About that… 

The premise to Choplifter HD is simple. You are a helicopter pilot, and it is your job to mostly rescue people at various locations and ferry them to your base. The helicopter is controlled with the left analog stick, aiming is done so with the right analog stick, and guns and your limited supply of rockets are fired with the left and right triggers respectively. The hook of the game is that action takes place on two planes, the background and foreground. The helicopter flies in the background, while certain enemies appear in the foreground. To attack enemies on the foreground, the pilot must face the helicopter towards the player, and this is done so using the left and right bumper buttons, a wrinkle also present in the first iteration of this game. Major changes between this and the original Choplifter include a damage bar, the original game was one hit and you were dead, the inclusion of rockets, and the addition of fuel. Fuel slowly decreases as you fly around, and decreases at an alarming rate should the pilot decide to use boost, increasing the speed of the helicopter dramatically. Run out of fuel, and the helicopter is forced to land.

The game plays simply enough, and throws in various other things for the player to do in order to keep this game being simply an airborne variant of Crazy Taxi. Each level has a hidden reporter to rescue for additional points, and some people to be rescued are wounded, and have a time limit. Some portions require the player to defend a specific location. Sometimes against zombies. Yes, zombies. It is after the first few missions that the excitement of playing a remade version of Choplifter starts to wane. The player starts to realize that the controls really just suck, the gameplay appears repetitive. Then comes the realization that this title feels and plays much more like an iOS game than a full fledged XBLA game, something that should have received the price point of 99 cents as opposed to fifteen dollars. At the end of each level, the player earns a number of stars which can then be used to unlock other helicopters with varying statistics.

The game is not, however, without its good points. The dialog of the chopper crew can elicit the occasional chuckle, and the graphics, while not mind-blowing, are competent. But the facets of the game that are done well, make the shortcomings of the game all the more obvious. The title is frustrating, and cameos from Super Meat Boy and Duke Nukem cannot save it. The mechanic of collecting stars to unlock things is straight out of iOS games such as Cut the Rope, and Run Roo Run, both games where I had more fun and a better experience playing than Choplifter HD.  

I wanted to enjoy Choplifter HD. I wanted to love it, and take it to bed. I wanted to cuddle with it, and love it forever. But a quarter of a century has passed, and in that time it changed. It did not age gracefully like Demi Moore or Diane Lane. Imagine Lindsay Lohan in ten years.

This review is based on a retail copy of the XBLA version of Choplifter HD provided by Konami. It is also available on the PSN and PC.

I recently had the opportunity to get a peek at Darksiders 2. As a seasoned gamer, I’m a huge Zelda fan and the first Darksiders game really seemed to fill that void on my Xbox 360. As I got deeper into Darksiders childhood memories of exploring the world of Hyrule came flooding back, I’m pretty sure my subconscious replaced the new item sound from the game with the unforgettable melody of the 1986 classic.

Darksiders 2’s story line takes place concurrently with the first game, with the Horseman Death attempting to uncover the truth behind his brother War’s involvement in the apocalypse that is currently happening on Earth.

Unlike his brother, Death doesn’t find his actions restricted by the likes of The Watcher and his actions and attitude are agile and cunning. Death’s arrogant attitude is quite apparent based on his fighting style, talks with other character and his refusal to even use his own hands to open doors or chest, instead conjuring a set of giant hands to handle those mundane tasks for him.

War’s lumbering movements and wings have been replaced by a speedy Death, whose movements through the world are akin to a parkour athlete. Death combines his wall running and fast feet with his ghost hand ability, which is reminiscent of Bionic Commando’s grapping hook. It allows him to swing through the environment as well as latch onto enemies and pull himself to them.

In addition to the new moves, there are now loot drops from enemies outside of the scripted boss and chest items. These items falls into one of three gear sets: necromancer, slayer and wander type items that give added perks, health leech, heavy armor and agility – respectively.

Death can acquire a large assortment of scythe weapons through his journey as well as claws that deal less damage, but have a higher attack rate. To further deal damage to the foul creatures littering the landscape, there is the addition of a branching skill tree system that allows you to focus on the harbinger or necromancer branches to make Death better fit your playing style.

Constructs, similar in size and grandeur to the gate keeps in the first game, serve as vehicles that allow Death to traverse impossible to reach areas as well as activate switches and devices. Horses also make an appearance this time around, providing Death the opportunity to engage in some mounted scythe-swinging combat.

The team at Vigil defiantly use the old “go big or go home” motto when crafting the world for the second installment in the series. According to the developers the world from the first game could fit in just one of Darksiders 2’s many dungeons. The team also added in side missions and smaller dungeons that reward you with unquie treasures to encourage players to wonder off the beaten path and explore.

Overall, Darksiders 2 looks to brings back the same action and game play that fans of the first game enjoyed, but with a faster, more polished feel. The addition of an expanded world, side quests, loot and skill trees should extend the overall game play and provide a reason to play through a second time for the completionists among us.

*THQ provided travel and hotel accommodations for us to attend this preview event.

It has been over a month since the last set of video gaming lightning deals on Amazon. Today they are back, and while they leave a little to be desired, the deal of the day – Dead Island [X360, PS3] for $25 – does a good job of making up for it. Check out the schedule and our educated guesses for the games on sale.

Click here for these deals

• 6 AM PST: Clue
• Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
• 8 AM PST: Clue - A multiplayer Dance-Fitness game for Wii that gives players a great full body workout in a fun dance class environment!
• Zumba Fitness
• 11 AM PST: Clue - Enjoy the biggest game release of all time
• Modern Warfare 3
• 3 PM PST: Clue - Enjoy this Wii fitness game with your entire family!
• Nickelodeon Fit?
• 6 PM PST: Clue - Rock out with your own guitar.
• Rocksmith
• 8 PM PST: Clue - ”I Gotta Feeling”…this game will make you move.
• The Black Eyed Peas Experience

New Today

Buy Two Pre-Owned Games, Get a Third Free at BestBuy

Personally, I didn’t get to play Dark Souls, Saints Row the Third and Deux Ex: Human Revolution last year, and I could knock out all three of those for less than $80. This Buy Two Pre-Owned Games, Get a Third Free sale is not good for my wallet. 

Saints Row: The Third for $39.99

Saints Row: The Third is one of the most surprising games of 2011. It starts out completely mental, and manages to escalate through the entire game. If you check this game out, you won’t be disappointed.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Amazon’s deal of the day is 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors for the Nintendo DS. Sure, it’s a weird name, but it is one of the best experiences you will have on the DS from 2011.

On going

Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack for $49.99

Get your copy of Skylander’s Spyro’s  Adventure, the Portal of Power and the starter pack of Spyro, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy on sale today at Amazon.

12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for $39.99

Having a subscription to Xbox Live Gold is one of the necessary evils of owning an Xbox. You can mitigate the evil by never, EVER paying the full price tag of $59.99. Right now you can get a 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for 33% off at Amazon. You don’t need to wait until your current subscription is up, when you enter the code, it will tack the 12 months onto the end of your current subscription. You can stack up to three years of service.

Batman Arkham City for $39.99

Batman Arkham City is a fantastic game and I loved every minute of it. It is just more of Arkham Asylum, sure. Combat, though more streamlined is, for the most part, the same. You’ll still find rooms with gargoyles that you swing between as you take out armed thugs. More of the same isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If someone asked if I wanted more bacon I would most assuredly say yes.

Once again with feeling:

• Buy Two Pre-Owned Games, Get a Third Free at Best Buy
• Saints Row: The Third - X360, PS3 – Amazon – $39.99
• 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors - DS
• Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack – X360, PS3, Wii – Amazon – $49.99
• 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card - X360 – Amazon – $39.99
• Batman Arkham City - X360, PS3 – Amazon – $39.99

New Today

HORI Ultimate Marvel VS. Capcom 3 Arcade Stick for $119.99

Any serious fan of fighting games know that you need an arcade stick to bring your A-game. HORI is renowned for their fight sticks. Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions are on sale today for $119.99. 

Bulletstorm for $6.99

Amazon continues with their daily PC Download deals of very good games for under $10. Today they haveBulletstorm [Download] for $6.99.

Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack for $49.99

Get your copy of Skylander’s Spyro’s  Adventure, the Portal of Power and the starter pack of Spyro, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy on sale today at Amazon.

On going

12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for $39.99

Having a subscription to Xbox Live Gold is one of the necessary evils of owning an Xbox. You can mitigate the evil by never, EVER paying the full price tag of $59.99. Right now you can get a 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for 33% off at Amazon. You don’t need to wait until your current subscription is up, when you enter the code, it will tack the 12 months onto the end of your current subscription. You can stack up to three years of service.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition for $99.99

There are only a few games that buying the Collector’s Edition makes any sense, but Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is absolutely one of them. The game itself is worth $100 being that you could spend 200 hours playing it, and still have content left to burn. On top of that you get a frickin’ 12 inch dragon statue, an art book and a making of DVD. This is available for both Xbox 360 and PS3 (though you may want to hold off on the PS3 version since it has a nasty bug that still needs patching).

Xbox 360 Wired Controller for $27.99

“Eww, wired controller”, and sure, I agree, except that you don’t want this Xbox 360 Wired Controller for your Xbox 360, you actually want it for your PC! With so many console games getting excellent PC ports, you really need to have a dedicated PC gamepad, and you won’t do better than this one. Dead Space 2 has been as low at $5 on PC, and you don’t want to use a mouse and keyboard for that, do you? How about Deus Ex: Human Revolution being as cheap as $9.99 recently? Again: gamepad.

Xbox 360 Game Sale at GameStop

GameStop has a bunch of this past year’s big releases on sale for $10 to $30 off. Okay Assassin’s Creed Revelations is $30 off, and everything else is $10 to $20. There are some excellent titles to choose from though, like Batman: Arkham City, Gears of War 3 and Need for Speed: The Run all for $39.99 each.

Once again with feeling:

• HORI Ultimate Marvel VS. Capcom 3 Arcade Stick - PS3, X360 – Amazon – $119.99
• Bulletstorm - PC – Amazon – $6.99
• Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack – X360, PS3, Wii – Amazon – $49.99
• GameStop Sale of $10 to $30 off Xbox 360 Games
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations - X360 – GameStop – $29.99
• Batman: Arkham City - X360 – GameStop – $39.99
• Gears of War 3 - X360 – GameStop – $39.99
• Need for Speed: The Run - X360 – GameStop – $39.99
• 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card - X360 – Amazon – $39.99
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition – X360, PS3 – Amazon – $99.99
• Xbox 360 Wired Controller - Xbox 360, PC – Amazon – $27.99

After brief rumors and speculations, Capcom announced that Resident Evil 6 is coming this year. From what we can piece together from the trailer above, it is going to be insane. It appears the campaign will follow Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, a new martial arts guy and a butt load of zombies. Leon is dealing with a Raccoon City like infection, and Chris has gone to China for “an all-out assault on the front lines.”  November 20, 2012 is the set release date. So it looks like we have the first fall blockbuster with a confirmed date.

Source: Capcom

With Twitter abuzz with taunts and challenges and the Thrifty Nerd staff’s productivity brought to a halt by the release of Hero Academy, we decided to take a look behind the scenes at Robot Entertainment to see what went into the crafting of our latest handheld, tactical addiction.

“I have always loved tactics games like Vandal Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Disgaea,” Marcin Szymanski, lead programmer and designer of Hero Academy commented. “When we at Robot started talking about potentially making a smaller game, I jumped at the chance and put together a pitch with a few other tactics fans here.”

Their primary focus was providing an entertaining multiplayer experience, with a level of polish found in games such as Plants vs Zombies and the WarCraft series, according to Szymanski. The possibility of reaching a new audience, one that may not have a console or gaming PC, but do have a smartphone really interested the team and made iOS the platform of choice.

With the platform chosen, the team set out to with the goal of making “a multiplayer tactics game that anyone can play,” despite the fact that PvP tactics game are traditionally far from simplistic, according to Szymanski.

This was by no means an easy task, he continued. The team spent a large amount of its initial resources on designing and refining the base gameplay, throwing out what didn’t fit the goal the team had set out to achieve. The fruits of their labor included the undo and replay systems that allow players to easily stay actively engaged in a dozen games simultaneously, a key component in any game that players may go hours or days between moves.

The next challenge the team had to tackle was balancing their ambitions with the technical limitations of the hardware and the limited screen real estate available on iPhones. “We needed our units to be a certain size so that you could read their animations and upgrades correctly, but not so big that you could only have a 2×2 grid filling up the screen,” he said. “So we were actually very constrained in our board dimensions; for example, four rows was too few for good strategy, and six rows have resulted in units that were probably too small.”

The game wasn’t the only thing scaled down for the Robot Entertainment team with this release. The team choose to limit the initial launch to Canada to iron out any unforeseen problems that they didn’t discover during in-house testing as well as test their servers under the load of the Great White North.

The team isn’t content to sit idling with the game released, more content and improvements already in the pipeline. They are currently working on an iPad version, exploring the possibility of releasing on other platforms and looking at the feedback from the community for additional functionality to add to the game in the coming months.

“We are almost done with the third team and have begun tech work on the fourth, and so far the playtest results have been very positive,” Szymanski said. “We want to be a little careful with how quickly we change up the formula for future teams, but we also want to make them feel very different from one another while remaining balanced.”

With everything the team still has planned for Hero Academy, office productivity won’t be returning to normal anytime in the near future.

By: Michael Dao

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is the last in the Assassin’s Creed 2 Trilogy from Ubisoft. This game brings players the conclusion of the story of the protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The one thing about this title which was jarring from the start would be that the Ezio that is playable, isn’t the Ezio that fans have remembered in the past two installments of this trilogy. The story of the Ezio shown here is that of an aged hero in his 50s. Although many years have passed, and the story now takes place in Turkey, Ezio is as sharp as ever and ready to deal out just oodles of violence, but gratuitous amounts of it. 

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is by no means revolutionary. The game plays identically to its predecessors, although Ezio does have some new tricks which make him more agile and able to navigate his surroundings with greater ease, something that was a bit jarring, considering how the character has aged. The entire game from beginning to end seems to simply expound on the game play that fans are now familiar with from its predecessors. However, the developers did attempt to make a few more additions to the genre which unfortunately, detract from the overall experience, rather than add to it. An example of this a wagon chase sequence in the very beginning of the game that a number of people had trouble clearing. However, the most annoying new feature added to the series was that of a tower defense minigame which is marginally entertaining at best. Just as in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Ezio has the ability to capture towers. The kink here is that when Ezio’s notoriety rises to a sufficient level, a meter that goes up whenever Ezio kills a guard or at certain scripted events, as in past titles, the Templars will launch an assault on an assassin den, and Ezio has to defend the den against attack through the tower defense game. This wouldn’t be so bad, only that now in Revelations, notoriety goes up every time Ezio purchases a building, the main way in which the player can earn cold hard cash, or in the parlance of our time, mad ducats. So unfortunately, the player spends an unnecessary amount of time looking for and bribing heralds, the simplest way to bring down their notoriety.

Graphically, Ezio has never looked better. Someone posted an image of Ezio during a cinematic sequence to a dating site and got actual responses. The poster answered in character. Google it if you haven’t as of yet, it’s worth a chuckle. The audio in the game remains as competent as previous editions. The sorest spot when it comes to the title, however is the multiplayer. Brotherhood was the first in the trilogy to support multiplayer, and many dismissed it thinking that it was a tacked on feature thrown in at the last minute to allow the publisher to check off another point on their list. But not so. It was inspired, offered a new gameplay experience, and had a deliberate pacing that was delightful. A good number of modes were offered with scenarios where the player had to evade or kill other players, or both at the same time. This would take place in a level populated with NPCs. It was sort of a reverse Turing Test. Your objective was to make yourself look like an NPC both to get close to your target and kill them, and to convince your hunter that you are a harmless computer player. Many friendships were created and destroyed in this game. And that brings us to the biggest complain that many will have with the multiplayer in Revelations. A player can’t actually play with their friends. Try playing with a party. Good luck with that.

All in all, only the true hard core Assassin’s Creed fan will love this game. It looks great, some of the set pieces are a sight to see, but there is no real innovation here. The quality of additions made to the game vary, with the best being middling, such as the hookblade, to the incredibly annoying, such as the addition of a tower defense mini game. The main quest can be completed in a relatively short period of time, and does bring a sufficient amount of closure to those who have grown to love Ezio and who have taken him from his brash years, and seen him grow into a man, and to finish his tale as an aging master assassin. But there are others of us still who do love Ezio, and would rather his story play out in the infinite recesses of our imaginations.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of Assassin’s Creed Revelations provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3 and PC.

Any elder gamer can look at games today and scoff in disgust. Many gamers have been coddled their whole lives. They’ve known the luxuries of check points and regenerating health. Take-Two says no more. Actually, they say that were will be a “1999 Mode” for the upcoming Bioshock Infinite. The press release states that “1999 Mode is a way of playing designed for gamers who long for the days of games that demanded more of the player.” There will be many “tweaks and features” that will span across all difficulties. Players will be forced to “pick specializations, and focus on them.” Frankly, we’re terrified.

Source: Take Two

New Today

Xbox 360 Game Sale at GameStop

GameStop has a bunch of this past year’s big releases on sale for $10 to $30 off. Okay Assassin’s Creed Revelations is $30 off, and everything else is $10 to $20. There are some excellent titles to choose from though, like Batman: Arkham City, Gears of War 3 and Need for Speed: The Run all for $39.99 each.

Crysis Maximum Edition for $7.49

Amazon continues with their daily PC Download deals of very good games for under $10. Today they have Crysis Maximum Edition [Download] for $7.49. Clearly Amazon wants to give Steam a run for its money. Regardless of their reasoning, PC gamers are the clear winners here.

Sherlock: Season One [Blu-ray] for $22.49

You should watch Sherlock on Netflix Streaming, but if you don’t have access, or if you really really need that Blu-ray quality, then here is Sherlock: Season One [Blu-ray] for you. You’re welcome.

On going

12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for $39.99

Having a subscription to Xbox Live Gold is one of the necessary evils of owning an Xbox. You can mitigate the evil by never, EVER paying the full price tag of $59.99. Right now you can get a 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for 33% off at Amazon. You don’t need to wait until your current subscription is up, when you enter the code, it will tack the 12 months onto the end of your current subscription. You can stack up to three years of service.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition for $99.99

There are only a few games that buying the Collector’s Edition makes any sense, but Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is absolutely one of them. The game itself is worth $100 being that you could spend 200 hours playing it, and still have content left to burn. On top of that you get a frickin’ 12 inch dragon statue, an art book and a making of DVD. This is available for both Xbox 360 and PS3 (though you may want to hold off on the PS3 version since it has a nasty bug that still needs patching).

Xbox 360 Wired Controller for $27.99

“Eww, wired controller”, and sure, I agree, except that you don’t want this Xbox 360 Wired Controller for your Xbox 360, you actually want it for your PC! With so many console games getting excellent PC ports, you really need to have a dedicated PC gamepad, and you won’t do better than this one. Dead Space 2 has been as low at $5 on PC, and you don’t want to use a mouse and keyboard for that, do you? How about Deus Ex: Human Revolution being as cheap as $9.99 recently? Again: gamepad.

Once again with feeling:

• GameStop Sale of $10 to $30 off Xbox 360 Games
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations - X360 – GameStop – $29.99
• Batman: Arkham City - X360 – GameStop – $39.99
• Gears of War 3 - X360 – GameStop – $39.99
• Need for Speed: The Run - X360 – GameStop – $39.99
• Crysis Maximum Edition [Download] - PC – Amazon – $7.49
• Sherlock: Season One [Blu-ray] - Blu-ray – Amazon – $22.49
• 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card - X360 – Amazon – $39.99
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition – X360, PS3 – Amazon – $99.99
• Xbox 360 Wired Controller - Xbox 360, PC – Amazon – $27.99

We were all a little sad when Max Payne 3 was pushed back to May 15, 2012. Then we watched this video, about Max’s “targeting, weapons, and tactical movement”, and we became downright depressed. Look at how slow that Bullet Time™ is! It’s so slow! It is strange to think of Rockstar making a game with amazing shooting, but it isn’t strange to imagine Rockstar owning the month of May once again.

Having an addictive personality is a challenge. Some days all you can do is just make it through the next hour. Occupying your mind with other tasks is one of the best ways to deal with withdrawal. Games can be great distractions for kicking certain habits. Unless the game itself is addictive, and you’ve now only made things worse. This is the case with Hero Academy. I am utterly lost within it. I have lost sleep just to get one more turn. It is too late for me. 

Hero Academy is a turn based strategy game. Two teams enter a nine by five grid and fight to destroy each others’ jewels while protecting their own. It’s decadently simple at first glance, but like any good parfait, Hero Academy has layers of strategy. Every turn gives players five action points that are spent on attacks, upgrades and movement. Select tiles on the grid power up offensive or defensive capabilities for units. So, careful positioning is more important than just having more units on the field. Variety in units is just as important as positioning. An archer, ninja and healer are far more formidable than four knights; doubly so if your limited upgrades are used to suit their strengths.

Gameplay is perfect for a mobile platform. Spending your five action points takes less than a minute. You submit your moves, and wait for your opponent’s response. It’s equally suitable for both quick on the go gaming for a few moves and long drawn out battles in which entire games are played.

Touch controls can be iffy on small screens. More often than not I will miss-tap and send my unit too far forward. These mistakes are easily remedied by the ability to reset your move. Anytime before you submit your move, you are able to reset your five action points. This lets you try multiple strategies and seeing their effectiveness in one turn before submitting your moves.  Every game can be played differently. Each game starts you out with six items, a mix of units and upgrades. As each item is used, it is replaced randomly for use in your upcoming turns. Hoarding of upgrades can be an effective strategy, but so is starting off with your strong foot.

What cements Hero Academy as a must play title is the simple yet deep strategy, and the high production value, especially for a free game. The well drawn characters, animations and sound effects are the whipped cream on top of the parfait of gameplay. The randomly selected items and the two different factions (soon to be three) makes every game of Hero Academy different. No strategy is foolproof. This will bring you back for another game, and another, and before you know it, you’ll have two dozen games going at once because the other players aren’t playing fast enough. Seriously guys, hurry up and make your move so I can win already.
 

This review is based on a retail copy of Hero Academy provided by the reviewer. It is an iOS exclusive.

Dead Island is game that is very near and dear to our hearts. It almost shuffled into our top ten list. Naturally, we’re excited to hear anything relating to the un-dead resort. New DLC, “Ryder White,” puts you in the shoes of antagonist, Ryder White, as his life gets turned upside down and as he becomes the villain. North America gets their hands on the ride January 31, for 800 Microsoft points or $9.99 on the PSN. Europe receives the DLC February 1 for £7.99. Along with the story, Ryder White comes with two new blueprints to forge some of the game’s unique zombie killing tools.

Source: Joystiq

You are probably thinking to yourself that nothing could be more adorable than the little pink puffball that is Kirby. That is exactly what I thought until I saw a troupe of ten tiny Kirbys on my DS in Kirby Mass Attack. Cuteness isn’t everything, which is why I am happy to report that Kirby Mass Attack is also a fantastic portable game. 

The typical Kirby gameplay is gone in Mass Attack in favor of controlling a little horde of Kirbys entirely with the DS touch screen – making for a game that could only be done on Nintendo’s handheld. Kirby has been split into ten little Kirbys by the evil skull guy Necrodeus.

You start each of the five worlds with just a single little Kirby. Fruit can be found everywhere in these worlds, which is good news for Kirby, since once he ingests 100 fruits a new Kirby will spawn, up to the full complement of ten Kirbys. Sadly, Kirbys can be lost as well. If a Kirby gets hit, he will turn blue. If he gets hit again he turns into an angelic ghost and starts floating off to Kirby heaven. Any remaining Kirbys can grab onto the ghost though and bring him back to earth and life.

You will want to take good care of your Kirbys. You will be awarded medals at the end of each level depending on whether any Kirbys were injured or lost. More importantly there are certain areas of the levels that will require the full weight or strength of ten Kirbys to gain access. Plus, the more Kirbys that swarm an enemy, the easier they will go down. Really there is nothing more enjoyable than seeing a Waddle Dee get mobbed and  pummeled by conflux of Kirbys. On the rare occasion that you lose all of your Kirbys, you will be forced to start the level over from the beginning, which is one of the few instances of frustration in this game.

The controls in Kirby Mass Attack are surprisingly elegant for a game that is touch-based. Tap on a spot on screen and all the kirbys will converge. Double-tap and the whole flock will come running. If you tap and hold, you can effectively gather up all your Kirbys, and draw a line which they will float on for a short distance. Individual Kirbys can be flicked to reach higher areas. There will be times where you need to attack multiple enemies at once, which is another time you will want to utilize the flick to divvy up your forces. Mostly the controls where a joy to use, but occasionally a Kirby could get stuck somewhere, or left behind when you have to move your troops very quickly. It was a minor frustration at worst.

Kirby Mass Attack works brilliantly as a portable game. Levels are easy to consume three to ten minute chunks. You can pick and choose what levels you tackle, so if you get stuck on one, most of the time you can just skip it. HAL Laboratory really explores the core game mechanic and introduces tons of variation on the main theme. Any time that I felt like I might be getting a little bored, or things felt like they might be getting repetitious, the next level would throw something completely crazy at you like having your whole herd of Kirbys jump into a giant Kirby tank, which, of course, shoots Kirbys. Not to mention the various bosses and mini-bosses you will encounter through out.

There is an absolute mountain of content here. The worlds all have different themes, and each level has a number of coins that you will want to collect, as they unlock even more content in the form of mini games. Many of the levels have multiple pathways and shortcuts, and they just beg to be played over again to pick up any missed coins, or to go for a higher medal. The mini games vary in quality and depth, but some are shockingly fun. The RPG battle mini game sticks out in my mind, as it seems like it could spawn its own game (I would buy it).

As what will almost certainly be one of the last first party games created for the Nintendo DS, Kirby Mass Attack is a fitting tribute. It is effortlessly charming, deceptively simple, and absolutely adorable without going into the realm of cavity-causing sweetness. It allows you to choose your own level of engagement, whether that is to romp though without a care in the world, or to take on the challenge of getting every collectable and gold medal. Which ever way you go, you are sure to have a great time with Kirby Mass Attack.

This review is based on a retail copy of Kirby Mass Attack provided by the reviewer. It is a Nintendo DS exclusive.

New Today

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition for $99.99

There are only a few games that buying the Collector’s Edition makes any sense, but Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is absolutely one of them. The game itself is worth $100 being that you could spend 200 hours playing it, and still have content left to burn. On top of that you get a frickin’ 12 inch dragon statue, an art book and a making of DVD. This is available for both Xbox 360 and PS3 (though you may want to hold off on the PS3 version since it has a nasty bug that still needs patching).

L.A. Noire: Complete Edition for $29.99

L.A. Noire had one of the strongest stories of 2011. It plants you in the middle of the 1950s in a slice of pure Americana. Follow Detective Cole Phelps as he unravels a string of murders that someone is determined to sweep under the rug. L.A. Noire: Complete Edition is the one to have since it includes all of the DLC.

12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for $39.99

Having a subscription to Xbox Live Gold is one of the necessary evils of owning an Xbox. You can mitigate the evil by never, EVER paying the full price tag of $59.99. Right now you can get a 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card for 33% off at Amazon. You don’t need to wait until your current subscription is up, when you enter the code, it will tack the 12 months onto the end of your current subscription. You can stack up to three years of service.

Alice: Madness Returns [Download] for $7.49

Amazon continues to try to horn in on Steam’s business with another extremely low price on a downloadable PC game. Alice: Madness Returns is their deal of the day, so don’t expect it to hang around for too long.

Final Fantasy XIII for $9.99

Sure it isn’t the great Final Fantasy game ever, but if you are into JRPGs, at $9.99 Final Fantasy XIII is worth it just for the production values alone. If you can power through the first 15 hours or so, it is supposed to pay off (I made it about five hours myself). Clearly not a game for everyone, but at this price you aren’t taking a huge risk.

Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection for $9.99

Another FF deal from BestBuy today. Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection should keep your PSP busy until you are ready to retire it when the PS Vita rolls around in February. It includes a complete graphical overhaul for both Final Fantasy IV and The After Years. Commonly regarded as one of the best games OF ALL TIME.

On going

Dead Space and Dead Space 2 for $5 each

The PC downloadable versions of Dead Space and Dead Space 2 are on sale at Amazon for $5 each. Both games are chocked full of delicious tension and well worth a measly lincoln.

Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Headset for $69.99

Personally, I have endless issues with headsets. Either my cat chews through the cord, or the connection between the cable and the headset gets frayed, or the quality just stinks. This is why I recently picked up the Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Headset, and I am very happy with it so far. Since I don’t have a surround sound system, having the game audio piped through my headset is a bonus, and the Xbox Live chat works well. This item is currently on sale, so you may as well save those $30!

Xbox 360 Wired Controller for $27.99

“Eww, wired controller”, and sure, I agree, except that you don’t want this Xbox 360 Wired Controller for your Xbox 360, you actually want it for your PC! With so many console games getting excellent PC ports, you really need to have a dedicated PC gamepad, and you won’t do better than this one. Dead Space 2 has been as low at $5 on PC, and you don’t want to use a mouse and keyboard for that, do you? How about Deus Ex: Human Revolution being as cheap as $9.99 recently? Again: gamepad.

Once again with feeling:

• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition – X360, PS3 – Amazon – $99.99
• L.A. Noire: Complete Edition - X360, PS3 – BestBuy – $29.99
• 12 Month Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card - X360 – Amazon – $39.99
• Alice: Madness Returns - PC Download – Amazon – $7.49
• Final Fantasy XIII - X360, PS3 – $9.99
• Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection - PSP – $9.99
• Dead Space - PC Download – Amazon – $5
• Dead Space 2 - PC Download – Amazon – $5
• Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Headset - Xbox 360 – Amazon – $69.99
• Xbox 360 Wired Controller - Xbox 360, PC – Amazon – $27.99

Source: SoulCaliburTV

Via: Shoryuken

New Today

Dead Space and Dead Space 2 for $5 each

The PC downloadable versions of Dead Space and Dead Space 2 are on sale at Amazon for $5 each. Both games are chocked full of delicious tension and well worth a measly lincoln.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V or Sid Meiers Civilization IV: The Complete Edition for $8.99 each

Pick your poison, it is only $8.99 for the download versions of either Sid Meier’s Civilization V or Sid Meiers Civilization IV: The Complete Edition. Either one will make you forget to eat, bathe, walk the dog, feed the children and just generally ruin your life … but in a good way. If you don’t have either game, I would learn towards Civ V, because there are still hundreds of hours of gameplay to be had here, and it is prettier and more streamlined.

Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera for $399.99

I live in a Nikon household, but if you are ready to make the leap from taking snapshots to getting serious about photography then you could do a lot worse than today’s Amazon Goldbox, which is a Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens for $399.99. That is a savings of $250, and it is for today only.

Total Recall (Blu-ray) for $6

Walmart has the classic Total Recall (Blu-ray) on sale for $6. It is well worth it just to watch Schwarzenegger pull that ping pong ball out of his nose in high definition.

On going

Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Headset for $69.99

Personally, I have endless issues with headsets. Either my cat chews through the cord, or the connection between the cable and the headset gets frayed, or the quality just stinks. This is why I recently picked up the Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Headset, and I am very happy with it so far. Since I don’t have a surround sound system, having the game audio piped through my headset is a bonus, and the Xbox Live chat works well. This item is currently on sale, so you may as well save those $30!

Xbox 360 Wired Controller for $27.99

“Eww, wired controller”, and sure, I agree, except that you don’t want this Xbox 360 Wired Controller for your Xbox 360, you actually want it for your PC! With so many console games getting excellent PC ports, you really need to have a dedicated PC gamepad, and you won’t do better than this one. Dead Space 2 has been as low at $5 on PC, and you don’t want to use a mouse and keyboard for that, do you? How about Deus Ex: Human Revolution being as cheap as $9.99 recently? Again: gamepad.

Once again with feeling:

• Dead Space - PC Download – Amazon – $5
• Dead Space 2 - PC Download – Amazon – $5
• Sid Meier’s Civilization V - PC Download – Amazon – $8.99
• Sid Meiers Civilization IV: The Complete Edition  - PC Download – Amazon – $8.99
• Canon Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera - Amazon – $399.99
• Total Recall (Blu-ray) - Walmart – $6
• Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Headset - Xbox 360 – Amazon – $69.99
• Xbox 360 Wired Controller - Xbox 360, PC – Amazon – $27.99

Back to the reason for this post. Until now, Thrifty Nerd has been focused solely on gaming, which isn’t the only aspect of being a nerd. As nerds, we love games, but we also love phones, computers, applications, and even the latest wireless routers. We want to incorporate this aspect of our culture into our coverage here on TN and will be doing so over the next few months. We’ll be covering tech news, deals, product launches, and have everything you need to make an educated purchase with reviews and coverage of the things that you actually want to read about.

I look forward to getting to be a bigger part of the community and ushering in a whole new area of content for the site. We are going to be bringing in new forms of content but we’re not ready to share everything yet, as we still aren’t entirely sure ourselves. What I am ready to tell you is that we are putting our full force into this and fully committed to expanding our coverage to as many aspects of nerd culture as we can. I encourage you to engage with me on Twitter and ask any questions that you might have, I will do my best to answer them! Stick with me guys, the crew here has some awesome stuff coming this year.

Some of us here at ThriftyNerd are easily spooked. By some, I mean myself. So I’ll be avoiding the month of March as much as I can. Konami has announced that Silent Hill HD Collection will release March 6, 2012. Silent Hill: Downpour will be a week later on March 13, 2012. To make matters worse for the frightful the Vita exclusive Silent Hill: Book of Memories launches on March 27, 2012. So now we (me) have to fear both March and October. Thanks, Konami.

Via: Joystiq

Look to the future young thrifties! The gang gets together and talks about they think are the most interesting games of 2012. Parie is heavily medicated after having his back go out on him, and nonsense is ever-present.

This week’s hosts include Michael DiMauro (@thriftynerd), John Parie (@johnparie), Mike Dao (@mikedao), Nick Bristow (@rbristow) and Tim Lanning (@timlanning).

Music comes from Anamanaguchi.

Direct Download

The fall/winter rush of games has come to an end, but don’t put your wallet down just yet. Xbox Live Arcade’s “House Party 2012″ begins February 15, 2012. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, I Am Alive, Warp and Nexuiz will be included in the House Party. We don’t know which game will release when or how much each game will cost, but it was nice of Microsoft to give up a heads up so we can start hording our Microsoft Points for mid February.

Source: Major Nelson

VIA: Gamespot

AT&T has revealed their 3G pricing and data plans for the upcoming Playstation Vita. $14.99 will get you 250MB per month, or $25 for 2GB per month. These are month to month plans, so there’s no fear of long term commitment. Online functions that will launch with the Vita are communication applications (i.e. Facebook, Twitter), the ability to get the latest information on the game you’re playing with “LiveArea,” being able to see what nearby Vita users are playing and the ability to “gift” them in game items for select titles. AT&T also claims that upon 3G activation, users will be able to download a free game from a list of selected titles. No list has yet been provided.

Source: AT&T

Image Source: Playstation.com

The Holidays would not be complete without the release of a Call of Duty game. In fact, the economy may even have suffered without it. Fortunately for all of us Modern Warfare 3 will fill your heart with the familiar sounds of gunfire and explosions. For better or worse MW3 is extremely similar to past titles in the series. Some will find this comforting while others will be left wanting more innovation.

The single player story in the Modern Warfare series is pretty baffling. From my recollection there is some sort of world war happening between a group of “ultra-nationalists.” The story still doesn’t make a lot of sense in the current installment.  To make matters worse, the narrative jumps around to even more characters than the previous titles. Luckily, I didn’t find the story to be a hindrance to the action, and the action is the whole reason why I play Modern Warfare.

The gameplay for MW3 is just as fast-paced as its predecessors and is still a wild and crazy ride. It should be said that MW3 still manages to surprise the player by throwing some awesome set pieces. There are so many levels that have so much going on that it’s hard not to just stop and stare at the insanity. One of the early missions has you riding a boat through a naval battle outside of New York City. It is extremely impressive and fun to watch, but sometimes it feels like it’s only just that: watching. This has always been an issue with the Call of Duty franchise. If you stay on the critical path and do everything correctly the game looks amazing. If you don’t you’ll most likely die immediately. This made it feel more like an action movie rather than an action video game. It’s not that this style of gameplay isn’t fun – I just wish I didn’t feel like I was being pushed down a corridor filled with explosions.

The multiplayer is still really great. There have been a few tweaks here and there but it still feels like Call of Duty. You outfit your soldier with different weapons and gear and jump into one of the many multiplayer modes. The old favorites are still around, like team deathmatch, domination (where you fight to control three flags) and Search and Destroy. The newest mode is one of the best changes to MW3. Kill Confirmed played like team deathmatch but when you die you drop your dog tags and the only way to score points is to pick up your victim’s dog tags. You can pick up your team’s tags also, which creates a fun level of strategy for defense.

The Kill-Streak system has been broadened and in my opinion, vastly improved. You still have the option to use the old system of “get several kills in a row to earn Kill-Streaks” but you can choose to pick a different system of rewards. The Support package allows you to keep your streak through death but the rewards are not as deadly. You will get things like UAVs or a stack of ballistic vests that give your teammates some extra defense. The other new package is called The Specialist that as your kill streak increases you gain more perks added to your soldier. This means that if you stay alive long enough you can have multiple perks all working together making you some sort of super soldier. The added depth to the Kill-Streak system is a great change and one that should make the game more fun for those who are not as good at the game.

However, it is hard not to think that MW3 should be better. It had a huge budget and a massive team working on it. I am a fan of the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” but something has to change in this franchise before it is ruined. The sameness of each title robs any specialness that may have been in MW3, which actually made the single player boring at times. The multiplayer is still great, but even that is only slightly changed. For those who are new to the series it will still be great, but to those who have played every game will be met with a sense of déjà vu. There is definitely enough value contained within that I would suggest that everyone should at least play it and experience some of the insanity. If you didn’t like any of the previous games I would stay away, unless you think ramping a boat over a sinking aircraft carrier sounds awesome, because that happens.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3 and PC.

First off let’s get this out of the way – There are no late hits in NFL Blitz. I know this is shocking to some and it may sound like the heart of the game has been ripped out, but I assure you this one missing component is no reason to avoid this game.

NFL Blitz is everything that fans of the original game could want. The game brings back all of the hard-hitting, 1st and 30, 80-yard bombs action that made the series so much fun to play. The big win in this edition is the return of NFL license thanks to the acquisition of the game franchise from Midway. Sure the game maybe fun in its own right, but playing as your favorite team and taking it to your division rival is just so much more satisfying.

This latest installment of the franchise plays just like the original arcade version and uses the original offensive and defensive plays. This doesn’t mean that this game is just an prettied up version of the original. Where this one really shines is the addition of the different play modes to keep gamers busy when they aren’t pummeling their buddy sitting next to them on the couch.

The Blitz Gauntlet pits players against various official NFL teams as well as zombies, pirates and ninjas just to name a few. After beating each of these “boss” teams they are available to play as in the game. The Co-Op mode makes it really simple for a group to get together online and couch co-op or any combination of the two and play a 2 on 2 match. It is really nice to see that the ability to bring a couch co-op friend into the game was included, it is a feature that is often lacking in other XBLA and PSN games.

Blitz Battle mode is one of the standout ways to play the game and it really has an arcade feel to it. The first time you start a match you are prompted to select which state you are located in and start battling your way up the boards in your state, then to the regional level and finally the national stage.

The final mode is the Elite League. This mode lets you build your own fantasy team by buying card packs with the points earned in Co-op, Blitz Battle and Elite League modes. Once you collect an entire team, division or conference, you can trade that them in for Pro and Ultimate cards with improved stats and infinite contracts.

The only really disappointing part of this game is that fact that the cheat codes that were as iconic as the late hits and catching fire are locked and must be purchased one-by-one. At some point developers will realize the best way to extend game play is to just let players have fun, instead of make us for it.

In the end, NFL Blitz is still a great game to have around when a bunch of friends are over and create a number of those “remember that time” moments, while so simple to play that even the most novice player can have a good time without the worry of stepping offside or incurring a pass inference penalty.

This review is based on a retail copy of the XBLA version of NFL Blitz provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3.

Welcome to the first annual Thrifty Nerd Game of the Year awards! Our writing staff each came up with their own top 10 list, and through the power and magic of math, we have combined them into one super list. In the upcoming weeks, the games that didn’t quite make the cut will be addressed by each writer individually.

Sort of Not a Game (of the Year) – Minecraft

We really wanted to include Minecraft in these awards, but had a hard time putting in the group with the others since it is such a different kind of experience.

Tim Lanning says: Minecraft is a simple game with an incredible amount of depth. You start in a world with just your fists and no real idea about what you are supposed to do. With your fists you must punch trees to make wood. With the wood you must make a pick to mine stone. With this stone you realize it is three in the morning and you have built a lava castle.

#10 - Shadows of the Damned

Michael DiMauro says: Shadows of the Damned may not be the “best” game of the year, it may not even be a “great” game, but it was the game that was closest to my heart. Yes it is crass, yes there are dick jokes about every two minutes, but dammit this game is lovable. It’s silly, it’s referential, it’s fun, and will surprise you over and over. Suda 51′s normal insanity is in place, but he also worked with Shinji Mikami on this game, and the result was madness in a game that is actually fun to play. Top that off with a grindhouse aesthetic, and two of my favorite characters in games this year, Garcia Fucking Hotspur (yes, his actual middle name) and his endlessly charming corporal dick-joke of a sidekick, Johnson. Shadows of the Damned is a treat to play from beginning to end.

#9 - LA Noire

Doug Scott says: Despite the backlash from those who made the game and the over-hyped technology that powered facial animations, L.A. Noire has one of the strongest stories in games this year. It plants you in the middle of the 1950’s in a slice of pure Americana. Follow Detective Cole Phelps as he unravels a string of murders that someone is determined to sweep under the rug.

#8 - Forza 4

Nick Bristow says: This may be the forth entry in the Forza series, but it is still going strong. Mixing things up in this iteration is the amazing rivals mode. This brought new life to the racing genre for me. It finally allowed me to show my true prowess over Thrifty on the Top Gear track in a reasonably priced car [Editor's note: I hate you - MD]. Throw in some Top Gear commentary and some truly remarkable racing and you get one of the best games of the year.

#7 - You Don’t Know Jack

John Parie says: A wise man once said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and that’s exactly what the team at Jellyvision Games did. They took the tried and true model that fans of You Don’t Know Jack series have always loved, bumped the player count to four instead of the traditional three and focused on the real star of the series, the dialog. Each of the 73 handcrafted episodes are genuinely funny and the episodes build on each other with memes and inside jokes. You Don’t Know Jack is the perfect way to hang out with a few friends on the couch or online.

#6 - Star Wars: The Old Republic

Mike Dao says: Star Wars: The Old Republic has managed to do what many MMORPGs in the past have attempted to do and failed. It’s managed to combine an engaging if not innovative gameplay system with the storytelling and morality choices that gamers have come to expect from a Bioware title. For the first time in the MMO space, players are finding themselves truly making decisions, and enjoying a truly deep roleplaying experience. People who do not enjoy MMORPGs still will not care for the title, but those who do will be rewarded with an extensive and rich universe that will provide hundreds of hours of entertainment.

#5 - Uncharted 3

Michael DiMauro says: Uncharted 3 has taken criticism for being “just more Uncharted“. Personally, I loved having more of my favorite game of two years ago. Drake and the crew are back, and the dialog is just as snappy and wonderful as ever. The amazing set pieces are back as well, including some of the best moments in gaming of this year. Uncharted 3 is like a smart and funny summer blockbuster movie, and I adored every minute of it.

#4 - Bastion

Mike Dao says: Bastion, the first game from Supergiant Games was quite the surprise to everyone. On the surface it looks like a simple 3d action game, but once you started playing for a little bit, you quickly realize how special this title was. From its hand painted visuals to the dynamic narrator who delivers a story experience in a way people have never experienced video games before, to the incredible soundtrack, Bastion delivers. A successful game from a new developer generally has one element that shines. In Bastion, Supergiant Games seems to have nailed them all.

#3 - Battlefield 3

Tim Lanning says: Battlefield 3 is a squad based first person shooter and it is awesome. Just like many other games in the FPS genre you are a soldier with a gun and a dream of conquering your enemies, only this time you have tanks and jets! You can also play as a medic if you aren’t very good at shooting dudes or hop into a tank and roll through the warzone in style.

#2 - Portal 2

John Parie says: When Valve announced a sequel to Portal, fans of the cake teasing mega-hit wondered what the team would do to keep the series fresh and unique. Witty one-liners and an interesting story featuring Wheatley, Cave Johnson and a potato-powered GLaDOS were just the ticket to keep fans chuckling and wanting more from Portal 2. The co-op campaign was a great addition to the game and provided hours of enjoyment for friends to work together to solve GLaDOS puzzles or pull a light bridge out from under their feet.

#1 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Doug Scott says: Any game can give you an open world to explore, but only Skyrim can give you that plus endless quests and a metric ton of dragons to fight along the way. Simply put, it is the most massive and impressive experience you’ll have in a single player game until the next Elder Scrolls game comes out. Lose yourself in the world by going off the beaten path.

Amazon’s download deal of the day it to save up to 75% on Electronic Arts Games. There are a number of titles at absolutely silly prices. Check out the highlights below.

Click here to get this deal.

• Dead Space 2 – $4.99
• Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition – $8.99
• Dragon Age 2 – $5.99
• Mass Effect 2 – $4.99
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – $9.99
• Mirror’s Edge – $5.99
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 – $5.99

Skyrim is endless. I mean that quite literally. There are hundreds of unique side-quests and there are infinite fetch quests that will always give you something to do. The larger groups of side-quests like The Dark Brotherhood or the Mages College are as rich and intriguing as the main campaign itself, and they don’t even have the benefit of involving dragons.  You could play for a hundred hours and still not see everything within the world of Skyrim.

It is nearing the end of days for the world. The all powerful and everlasting dragon, Alduin, has returned and has begun reviving the dragon population (with magic not the gross way). You are the Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn. You are the most capable dragon slayer in existence, and you’ll be doing a lot of it. This is just the main quest line. Assassinating a king or stopping another world ending cataclysm are considered side quests. That’s how engaging Skyrim is. It doesn’t screw around.

Those familiar with the Elder Scrolls series will know right off the bat that there are countless choices to be made. What race is your character? How will they fight? Will they charge into battle headlong with a massive enchanted axe and lop off every head they see? Will they summon a being of massive might to fight for them? Will they simply throw fireballs at every problem before them? There are almost too many options. I for one was fond of sneaking through every encounter and loosing arrows into skulls from the safety of the shadows. Fortunately, Skyrim gives you ample time to re-adjust your character. There is no way to max out every skill, but with a level cap of 80, you are more than capable of switching from a magic based character to a profound archer like myself midway through your questing.

The new simplified leveling system was irksome at first. Being accustomed to Oblivion’s (Skyrim’s predecessor) leveling system I was anticipating being able to give myself specific stats. In Oblivion, one could perfect their character through a dozen pages of statistics. You’d have to put points into dozens of stats like strength, agility, dexterity to improve your character. Rather than bog players down with pages and pages of point options, Skyrim has taken a simpler choice. When you level up you are able to increase either your magicka, health or stamina by ten points. You are also rewarded a point to be spent on one of the skill trees. One-handed combat, two-handed combat, archery, light armor, heavy armor, pick pocketing, sneak, lock picking, destruction magic, conjuration, restoration, speech and illusion are all skills that you can master. Each class has its own tree of a dozen or so skills that can be unlocked. For example, at a level five archery I can increase my arrows’ damage. At level fifteen I can zoom in a bit as I aim. By the time I max out my archery at one hundred I could zoom in, slow down time a bit to aim more easily, move faster with a drawn arrow and draw my next arrow more quickly. In betwen unlocking these skills I would put other points into my light armor and sneaking skills. Before too long, I was what I considered to be a master assassin.

With so many quests and possibilities for combat, Skyrim must be pretty big, right? It’s enormous. It’s even larger when you consider the fact that there are so many caves, forts, and camps to explore in between each major city. How can you not check out that cave when you’re on your way to your destination? You can’t. You have to go into that cave and snipe everyone inside with arrows. Its certainly not mandatory. In fact, nothing is mandatory in Skyrim. There’s so much freedom that you can ignore the main story line and still come away with a hundred hours of gameplay. Skyrim has the benefit of having no strings attached to it. In a time when every major blockbuster sends you on a roller coaster ride, Skyrim gives you the entire amusement park. Want to quickly destroy all of the dragons? Go for it. Want to take your time and collect every type of flower? You’re free to do that as well. It breaks the shackles of modern gaming and really gives you a sandbox experience. You have a massive world to explore and you can explore 99% of the world immediately after the initial scene. You may not survive in the majority of places since you’re so weak, but you are still able to ignore any duties you may have and explore at your liesure.

Now you may have heard that there are dragons in Skyrim. There are. Like quests, there are infinite dragons. What’s even better is that they appear randomly. There are a handful of scripted dragon encounters, but the majority of your dragon on dragonborn combat will occur as they ambush you just about anywhere you could imagine. Fighting a dragon is epic. It is easily the highlight of the already stunning game. What’s even better is once you’ve defeated your draconian foe you will absorb its soul. You’re basically the Shao Kahn of dragons. These souls can be used to unlock shouts that you discover throughout your journey. Simply put, shouts are amazing. They are your dragon powers. Fire shouts and ice shouts are just a few example of what you can do simply with your voice. Every shout has three words, and you find one word at a time. They’re practically magic powers that don’t use up magicka and have a set cool down time. Each shout has three levels of power. Your first shout “Fus” will cause enemies to stagger a bit. Once you learn the second word, “Ro,” your foes will stagger back a few feet. The third word, “Dah,” completes the full phrase and truly is an unrelenting force. Do yourself a favor. Once you have learned the entire shout, start to climb a mountain and find something to kill (preferably a bear). Calmly walk up to this enemy without any weapons drawn. Maneuver so that you have the high ground. Shout at them and watch as they fly off the side of the mountain. It simply is the best thing in games for 2011.

The world is beautifully crafted, but with such a large world there are bound to be some bugs. Occasionally there will be some floating objects or missing textures here and there, but game breaking bugs are not too common. With such a large world and an excruciating number of variables it is impossible to test for each bug. Apart from the occasional fork or arrow floating in the air, or a person sitting in an invisible chair, Skyrim is a solid experience.

Individual aspects of Skyrim aren’t too stellar. Animations still look clunky and wooden by today’s standards. You’ll run into multiple characters who were obviously voiced by the same actor. Guards have only a handful of voices and are nearly identical. These minute details are unnoticeable if you sit back and enjoy the game. Skyrim as a whole is an amazing experience that every gamer should experience. Where many games out there are a tasty snack, Skyrim is a full course meal. Take your time with your character and his/her journey. Don’t be afraid to move off the beaten path both literally and figuratively. Make your character your own, and enjoy your own adventure.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3 and PC.

Many have already sold out, but at the time of this writing these are still available:

• F.E.A.R. 3 [X360] – $4.99
• Alpha Protocol [X360] – $4.99
• Marvel Superhero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet [X360] - $4.99
• Singularity [X360] - $4.99
• Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies [DS] - $4.99

Welcome to our first annual Game of the Year podcast! Through an elaborate system of voting, we have come up with our top 10 games. Well sort of. We have some ties that we need to sort out and you can listen in as we do it.

This week’s hosts include Michael DiMauro (@thriftynerd), John Parie (@johnparie), Mike Dao (@mikedao), Nick Bristow (@rbristow), Doug Scott (@thedougscott) and Tim Lanning (@timlanning).

Music comes from Anamanaguchi.

Click here for direct download.

Once again it’s time to bust out those shells, peel those bananas, and recklessly disregard proper safety gear. Mario Kart is back and has become a staple for Nintendo. The series is consistently fantastic and this is no exception. I believe Mario Kart 7 is the… 6th game in the series and is also the most uniquely named… Stupid jokes aside, how does Mario Kart hold up after seven games and is it still worth playing?

Mario Kart is holding up quite well and that’s not surprising since it is the same game it’s always been. You’re still driving karts around a track and collecting power ups. The controls are finely tuned and driving with the 3DS’s slide pad works great. After one short race I was power sliding my way to victory almost every time out.

If you’ve played any Mario Kart game before, you’ll find the 50 and 100cc difficulty extremely easy. I was able to get first place on almost every race with one try. Bumping the difficulty up to 150cc just makes the enemy AI cheaper. They seem to get better items when you are about to finish first.

This is, and always has been, the biggest downside to the Mario Kart series. Their form of rubber banding is giving the person in last place a blue shell. This however, only screws up the person in first, meaning they still don’t have a chance of winning. So playing a race perfectly is rewarded with a blue explosiony death.

Even though I was sad to see the inclusion of the “blue shell of game breaking”, there are some new power ups in the mix. There is the “tanooki tail.” This sprouts a tail on your kart and allows you to swat enemies. Then there is the Fire Flower that lets you shoot fire balls at opponents. And lastly is the lucky 7. This is just seven power ups that spin around you that can be shot one at a time. I really don’t count this as a “new” power up as it’s just a lot of power ups at once.

The other new addition to the game is the hang glider and propeller mods to your karts. The hang glider pops out on jumps and gives you something to do in the air. In previous Mario Kart games, you would hit a huge jump and wait for the game to put you on the other side with little control. Now you can glide left, right, up and down to take shortcuts and avoid obstacles. The propeller allows your kart to drive under water. These sections play like low gravity areas. Both of these are fun at first, but don’t change up the gameplay as much as I’d have liked. They do however add a little extra fun to the classic courses, which is a good thing, seeing how half the courses are just rehashes from old games.

There are 32 courses total in the game, but with only 16 are actual new, so it feels a little short. The new courses are all great and unique, but I still would have liked to see more.

Then there’s the multiplayer. This is the first Nintendo game I’ve had fun with online. Playing online is as simple as selecting the online multiplayer option. That’s it. You’re online. Everyone gets to vote on a track and one is randomly selected. This is the best way to play Mario Kart 7. You get less cheap AI and better racing. The online multiplayer really sets apart 7 from the rest.

Still, my biggest complaint is that there isn’t enough new to the experience. The gameplay is basically the same as the previous titles, including the glaring problems that better kart games like mod nation racers fixed years ago. Even with that said, getting together and racing with friends is just as good as it used to be.

This review is based on a retail copy of Mario Kart 7 provided by the reviewer. It is a Nintendo 3DS exclusive.

It’s possible that you don’t need a review to work this out on your own, but Disney Universe is a kids game. If you are hoping for something with the depth of Kingdom Hearts then you will be disappointed. If you are looking for something along the lines of the LEGO games, but with some Disney flavor, then you are in luck.

Disney Universe takes place in a sort of Disney virtual world theme park that represents six films, but things goes astray when the virtual villain Hex shows up and infects the worlds with enemies. The first world that you have access to is that of the Pirates of the Caribbean, but from there you can unlock the worlds in any order with coins found in the game. This is a nice touch since most people will likely have favorites out of the remaining worlds. I unlocked WALL-E first, but there is also Monsters, Inc., Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland and The Lion King. Each of the six worlds has three stages.

You play as … hmm. You play as these weird little guys. It’s a strange choice. The idea is that you wear the costumes of your favorite Disney characters, which makes sense. The developer, Eurocom, created reasonably cute little blank slates for you to stick the costumes on. I get it, but it seems like they could have come up with a better device, or just let you play as the characters themselves. Each costume can be upgraded which will give you an improved weapon and let you take more damage. You start with a limited choice of costumes, but you will be able to unlock more costumes with in-game currency as you go.

Disney Universe is a brawler at its core with some light platforming. You will also need to solve puzzles, but these mostly consist of things like dragging a cannon to a different area. While the game mostly feels repetitive, there are some nice moments of diversity. For instance, you will need to walk across ceilings in the Monsters Inc. world, or do something that resembles a 2D side-scroller in the The Lion King world. There are even some nice set pieces like in the Pirates of the Caribbean world when the back of the boat you are on gets blown away. Each level tends to have an optional challenge as well, but these get very repetitive. The only real joy comes when you are competing against a co-op partner.

One of the biggest draws of the game is the four player co-op. Disney Universe is at its best when played with a friend or sibling or in my case with my kid. There is no online multiplayer which is disappointing, but understandable when you realize that the audience for this game are young gamers.

Multiplayer in Disney Universe is competitive. You work together to get to the end of the level, but other than that, the game does everything in its power to pit you against your friends and loved ones. Have you ever seen Mickey Mouse beaten to death with a row boat oar? I have. Luckily the penalties for death are minimal. You drop some coins and immediately respawn. At the end of a level the player who did the best is placed on the highest pedestal, but no worries, you can jump right up there and beat him down.

Disney Universe is competent if nothing else. It isn’t going to change your life, but if you are into Disney and you have a young gamer or two in your life, then there is definitely a lot to like with this title.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of Disney Universe provided by Disney Interactive Studios. It is also available for the PS3, Wii, PC and Mac.

We are taking a little different approach to this week’s Thrifty Thumbs and are giving the power to the community to choose which game we play. Head on over to the Facebook poll and cast your vote for what game the Thrifty Crew and the community play Wednesday night.

If you would like join in the fun send me a message with your gamertag on Twitter (@JohnParie) or on Xbox Live (Parie Dawg). Things will kick off at 9 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. PST.

Facebook Poll

I’ve been told that laziest thing a writer, or more specifically a reviewer, can say is “if you liked X then you’ll like Y.” It’s difficult to discuss  Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword without comparing it to its predecessors. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Zelda franchise and the umpteenth Zelda game. Most Zelda games are formulaic to the core. Zelda gets kidnapped and Link goes into dungeons, acquires the same equipment and saves her. That’s what Skyward Sword is. The story itself shouldn’t shock you. The puzzles, rupees, and every tool shouldn’t come as a surprise to any veteran Zelda player. So I’m going to start this off not to be lazy, but because its the only thing to say. If you like any Zelda game (except Zelda II and the CDI knockoffs) you will find something to enjoy about Skyward Sword.

Skyward Sword starts off in the city of Skyloft, the last human inhabited location in this world. The humans of Skyloft are completely oblivious to the world beneath them since they float above a thick line of clouds. Zelda and Link are celebrating some festival, and (surprising no one) Zelda gets into trouble as she’s knocked to the surface world. Link must now fly to the surface, go through several dungeons, pass tests and trials and power up his sword. It’s everything you’ve done in a Zelda game before. What sets this Zelda apart from say, Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker is the world it’s in. Skyloft is beautiful. In fact, the entire world is beautiful. The Wii certainly isn’t the most powerful machine to play games, but Skyward Sword makes an impressively strong argument on aesthetics vs. graphical prowess. Thanks to some light cell shading, depth of field tricks and an unique art style Skyward Sword looks more like a moving painting than your typical adventure game.

Link has often been accompanied by some form of sidekick. We’ve had Navi, Midna, a talking boat and even talking hat. This time we have Fi, the living essence of Link’s sword crafted by the Goddess Hylia. Fi is…unusual. She’s not necessarily as annoying as Navi’s constant barage of  ”HEY! LISTEN!” She is however a computer. Something we’ve never seen in a Zelda game before. Skyward Sword has some advanced technology not typically seen in the fantasy setting. Fi will give you percentages on your odds of survival or the chance that the direction you’re heading is correct. She certainly isn’t as lively as Navi or Midna, but she comes with some of her own tricks. Fi is your sword. She is your guide. She keeps all the knowledge at hand and gives you hints whenever you’re stuck. Essentially, she’s the 1-800-NINTENDO number you used to call when you were stumped by a difficult puzzle. Her most useful talent is dowsing. She can tune the sword to a specific frequency which allows you to find your destinations more easily. For example, at one stage you must find the missing pieces of a broken key. By switching to a first person view, you are able to able to find the pieces depending on the sword’s flashing and beeping. It’s a big game of hot or cold as you search for hidden items. At first, dowsing is mission specific as you follow Zelda’s trail. As the game expands, you’ll be able to dowse a number of things including treasure and hearts.

Treasure can be used to upgrade your gear. All of your equipment, apart from your sword, can be upgraded to be faster, more powerful or more durable. Since shields can be broken it is important to repair and upgrade them as often as possible. Potions can be upgraded by catching certain bugs. These upgrades are certainly not necessary, but they are an enjoyable side quest as you hunt down the specific materials for the upgrades.

New to the series is something called the Adventure Pack. Link’s tools and other weapons are always available, but there’s a new limited size inventory called the Adventure Pack. Here is where your potions and shields are stored. Originally you can only carry four items but that can be upgraded to eight by the end of the game. Medallions are a new function that can be stored within your pack. There is a heart medallion that makes more hearts appear when you break a box or cut some grass, or the rupee and treasure medallions that act similarly. There’s even a medallion which gives you an extra heart in your life bar if you let it occupy precious space in your inventory. Fi has the ability to scan your pack and let you know what you’re well suited for. I often had a survival pack.

The defining characteristic of Skyward Sword is its utilization of the Wii Motion Plus technology. With Twilight Princess, swinging the sword was just waggling your controller in any way. In Skyward Sword, there is a much higher level of fidelity with the controls. Your sword swings depending on the direction you swing your remote. This works well. In fact, it works too well at times. Holding the controller perfectly level, you are able to swing left, right, up, down, outward, and diagonally with great ease. Being a lazy gamer, I am often slouched in my chair and holding the control at a bit of an angle which often had me swinging diagonally when I meant to swing horizontally. That’s not really knock on the game itself just a comment on my own ineptitude. The directional swings are incorporated in puzzles and combat. Enemies prepare themselves by blocking in multiple directions causing you to slow down from your normal assault of swipes and carefully assess which direction you need to swing in before they attack you. It makes for an enjoyable experience compared to the button mashing of previous games.

Getting around the world of Skyward Sword is pretty awkward. Rather than simply teleporting with a song, you now go back up to Skyloft and fly to your destination. The surface world is comprised of three regions; a forest, a desert, and a volcano. In each of these regions are several bird statues which you use to save and to return to Skyloft. Flying between destinations is an incredible experience. To fly, you jump off one of the floating islands and plummet to the ground. On your way down you whistle for your loftwing, your enormous bird, and it will swoop in and catch you before you reach the cloud line. The music that swells as you soar around the floating islands is easily the most energetic and enjoyable of the entire soundtrack. The controls for flying, however, are an unnecessary use of motion controls. You control your direction and pitch by tilting your remote. It works, but it isn’t more immersive or enjoyable than using an analog stick would be. The same goes for swimming. Combat motion controls make sense and should be experienced. Flying and swimming by tilting your remote simply feels tacked on. Despite the rough flying controls, jumping off a floating island and being caught by your bird is cool even after the fiftieth time you’ve done it.

Skyward Sword is certainly the most ambitious Zelda game made to date. The world is huge. The land actually feels inhabited. The writers went out of their way to make more characters than just Zelda and Link. Skyloft has its own Biff Tannen, Groose, who has easily become the greatest side character in any Zelda game ever. I will forever wait for the spin off, The Legend of Groose.

Between the dungeons and some dark world challenge, Skyward Sword makes a great twenty to twenty five hour experience. That’s without the filler. The filler is bad. Filling usually is cream or jelly based and goes inside of something that is already tasty. The fluffy, buttery fundamentals that surround this game are stuffed with packing foam. There has to be at least ten hours of filler, and that is if you do it correctly the first time. Since there’s only three regions of the surface  you will be revisiting them again and again to track down new things. Somewhere along the development line someone must have seen that the dungeon designs were done, but he wanted to elongate the game regardless.

Dungeons are great and are meticulously crafted to be difficult, but not “Google the puzzle” difficult. Getting into a dungeons is, however, a chore. In between every dungeon is about two hours of filler fetch quests that are mandatory. There’s nothing wrong with making some sidequests like the Big Goron’s Sword from Ocarina of Time, but that was completely optional. The filler in Skyward Sword has you revisiting the same places and fighting the same miniboss again and again to expand the tight enjoyable 20 hour experience into a 35 hour experience filled with monotony that honestly made me put down the controller.

Despite the filler, Skyward Sword still has the magic you’d find in any Zelda game. The music will be ingrained in your head for weeks. Certain switch locations will plague you. You will laugh. You will worry about Zelda’s well being. You will feel like a total badass as you strike down a legion of moblins. You will shove blocks. You will shoot arrows at switches. You will undoubtedly have to cut grass to save up for that bigger quiver of arrows. You will have a fun time. Zelda is really about the retelling of a timeless story. A story of good vs. evil, and no matter how big that final boss looks, the young lad in the green tunic will prevail because of his power, wisdom, and most importantly his courage. It just takes some perserverance to get to that magic.

This review is based on a retail copy of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword provided by the reviewer. A Wii Motion Plus Dongle was used. It is a Wii exclusive.

With Christmas fast upon us, today’s set of video gaming lightning deals are a great place to grab a last minute gift for that gamer in your life or to just get yourself something nice.

Click here for these deals

• 6 AM PST: Clue
• 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
• 7 APM PST: Clue - Bigger, funnier, and more tactical than ever before, the grandfather of the strategy RPG genre returns with its best HD entry yet!
• Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
• 8 AM PST: Clue - Step onto the pitch with your favorite soccer players!
• FIFA Soccer 12
• 10 AM PST: Clue - This headset is the ultimate “secret weapon” for serious gamers seeking unmatched audio quality and immersion, sonic control and a combative advantage.
• Turtle Beach Call of Duty: MW3 Ear Force Delta: Limited Edition Programmable Wireless 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset
• 12 PM PST: Clue - This Nintendo DS game is the next evolution of virtual pets!
• Wappy Dog
• 2 PM PST: Clue - Harness the controller-free magic of Kinect for Xbox 360 to explore Disneyland park, enjoy immersive adventures based on popular attractions, engage in challenging quests, and interact with beloved Disney characters!
• Our research suggests - Disneyland Adventures
• 3 PM PST: Clue - Enter a dark world filled with despair and threaded by hope where your ability to creatively strategize, learn and overcome unpredictible and unqiue challenges determines your fate.
• Our research suggests - Dark Souls
• 4 PM PST: Clue - Bring the NFL straight to your video game console!
• Our research suggests - Madden 12
• 6 PM PST: Clue - A Nintendo DS action adventure game that brings the Pirates of the Caribbean world and all its colorful characters to life in LEGO Brick form.
• Our research suggests - Pirates Of Caribbean Lego
• 8 PM PST: Clue - Raise your fists and get ready to fight to the finish!
• Our research suggests - Tekken 6

After nine days are flubs, we finally have something on the tenth day of Amazon’s 19 Days of Video Game Sales. They are calling it Long Live Play Day, but really it is Playstation Day! Almost all of the picks are winners, but check out some highlights below.

Click here for this deal.

• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – $39.99
• Resistance 3 – $29.99
• inFAMOUS 2 – $29.99
• Killzone 3 – $19.99
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep – $14.99
• God of War: Origins Collection – $19.99

Sony’s brand new hardware is coming shortly after the holidays, but if you’re lucky, you may be able to check one out at your local mall like I did.

The Hardware

The first thing you will notice about the PS Vita is it’s size. This thing is not small. It’s taller and wider than a PSP but a little bit thinner thanks to the lack of a UMD drive. The screen takes up most of the front with the buttons being smaller than expected.

It has a really nice feel in your hands. Its tall enough to wrap your hands around it comfortably, but this is coming from someone with large man hands. It is extremely light for its size. The Vita looks like a high end solid brick of electronic goodness, but in your hands it is a really nice weight. It doesn’t feel cheap or hollow either – it is very solid. Everything on the system feels durable. The triggers were responsive and had plenty of give to them, the buttons felt more clicky than the mushy psp ones, and then there are the sticks. Most people who’ve seen the PS Vita online want to know how the sticks are. The sticks are quite small, about a quarter of the size of a PS3 stick and about 1/5th the height. They have very little travel. I wasn’t able to finesse the stick like you can on a console, pressing slightly to walk etc. When you press the stick in a direction, you reach the side rather quickly. That being said, after playing with it for a couple of minutes, its a huge improvement over the slide pad solution of the last generation. I was head shoting people in no time

Then there’s the screen. The screen is unbelievable. If you’ve seen any crappy tv show where they green screen their tv’s and overlay an image on it, think about that in real life. The screen has an unreal quality to it. It’s that good. Unfortunately pictures of the Vita don’t do it justice. It’s huge and vibrant with unbelievable contrast. This really puts the 3DS to shame. Shame on you Nintendo! I will take this beautiful screen over a small 3d screen any day.

The touch controls on the back and front where very responsive. There didn’t appear to be any lag with the controls. When you start up the system you have to peal down a corner of the screen to get started. Once in a game, all the menus were controlled through the touch screen. It seemed odd that you couldn’t actually use the buttons to control menus and this was the case for all the games I played.

The Games

The mall tour seemed to have a really good selection of games. I was told everything there would be a launch title with about 15 more games coming about a month after launch. They had four sections of games. One of the sections was a roped off play area for VR games. In this section you had to remove your shoes. I was told this was a theft prevention method. “Who’s going to run off with a system without shoes?” Good point, you showed them Sony. This was apparently better than their original theft prevention plan which involved chaining the systems to life jackets and making you where them while playing.

If you played all the games in the Vita Experience you got a card that let you enter for a prize. I unfortunately did not win.

Uncharted Golden Abyss

The Uncharted Golden Abyss demo was a pretty standard Uncharted affair. You woke up in a burning building and you had to escape. I made my way through the level using my unparrelled Uncharted platforming skills. I was then trapped at the edge of the building by an impassible sheet. Luckily I found a machete that let me try out some of the touch screen controls. I sliced the predetermined pattern and made my way outside for the shooting segment. Having two sticks in a shoot0out is a welcome change on a handheld. Shooting felt really good. It honestly felt better than Uncharted 3 pre-patch. Overall, this is more Uncharted and I am definitely looking forward to this at launch.

Mod Nation Racers: Road Trip

If you’re not familiar with Mod Nation Racers, you should be. The Vita version is the perfect excuse to get into this game if you haven’t already. Mod Nation Racers is where Mario Kart should have evolved to years ago.  The Vita version is practically identical to the PS3 version. So much in fact, you can use the same courses people have made online in the Vita version. Sony is advertising +500,000 user-made courses. Sure most of them are crap, but they have a good filtering system to get you the best ones. One of the biggest issues with the PS3 version of the game was the load times. They were awful. I didn’t notice unreasonable load times in Road Trip. If I can spend more time racing and less time loading, I’m all in.

Sound Shapes

Sound shapes is an odd game to explain. Its basically a side-scrolling platformer where you play as a ball. You move through the levels triggering sounds to a beat. Doing this makes music. Unfortunately the headphone slot on the Vita was covered so I couldn’t enjoy the full effect, but nonetheless, it was still a good time. Your little ball guy has suction cups. You stick to certain objects and roll around them. This was used numerous times to roll around a platform as it moved through the level. The game was fun, but I’m going to hold out on this one until I can find out how varied the game gets.

Little Deviants

Little Deviants is a party game and it is the only game you can get if you want the special week early bundle Sony is offering. This is your standard mini game affair. All the games are designed to show off the Vita’s special features. As with most system launch titles, they all feel like tech demos. I spun around with the camera shooting bad guys in virtual space. A concept done for free on the 3ds. Then I used the back panel in a sort of reverse whack-a-mole to knock deviants out of their houses. Those were the only two mini games I played and I’m not really looking forward to playing more based on them.

Reality Fighters

Reality Fighters lets you fight with your face. You can use the Vita’s forward facing camera to take a snapshot of your face and throw it on a fighter. You then take your new avatar and battle him in a virtual space. Using the back camera the vita sets your fighters on the nearest surface. You then get to enjoy a mediocre fighting experience on your coffee table. The table my guys where fighting on was quite small so I was hoping they would fall off. But they didn’t. It was just a fake surface for them to fight on with a table for a backdrop. The only neat thing was that you could move the system around to get a different view on the action.

Wrap Up

I really enjoyed this event. If there is one near you, definitely go check it out. They had a ton of games to show off and there were plenty of units set up to play. I had already pre-ordered a Vita months ago and this event just validated that decision. February 22nd can’t come fast enough.

At a recent Sony Vita event, a spokesperson for Sony claimed Vita PSN games would be around 40% cheaper than their retail counterparts.  According to the rep, the lack of hardware and packaging can be thanked for the price drop.

I was told that games would be capped at $39.99 retail. While the same game would go for around $23 if you downloaded it. A price drop for downloadable games was already confirmed for the Japanese market, but it’s not as significant as the US. In Japan, retail titles are reported to go for as high as $50 with a PSN equivalent of $40. This is only a 20% drop where the US would be 40%.

If this is true, it makes the ridiculous prices for Vita memory cards a little more tolerable. (4GB: $30, 8GB: $45, 16GB: $70, 32GB: $120) If you’re saving around $15 a game, you only need to buy 8 games from the PSN to have that 32GB card paid for.

Take all this with a grain of salt though, as this has not been confirmed by Sony corporate. Also, with a price drop this significant, I can foresee retailers having an issue with this as it gives consumers a reason not to buy from the store. We’ll find out more as we get closer to launch. If this does hold up, I will definitely be picking a larger than anticipated memory card.

When Microsoft launched the Kinect last year, Dance Central was consider by many as the “must have” game that really made the new motion tracking hardware shine. Fast forward a year later and Harmonix has released a sequel in hopes of rising above the currently crowded dance game market.

Dance Central 2 at its heart feels very much like it’s predecessor, that isn’t to say that it’s a cash grab rehashing of the first game, but instead that it is an iteration with notable improvements. Where the newest game shines is all of the new features that the team has built on the first solid foundation. Joining the mix is Fitness mode, Crew Challenges, voice commands and simultaneous two-player game play.

In the spirit of Hamonix’s other rhythm games, Dance Central 2 feels very intuitive from the moment you start the game. Beginning with the menu interface, the player is met with a very easy to use, Minority Report style control scheme that allows players to move through the menus with a simple flick of the left or right hand. These natural feeling controls coupled with the ability to call up any song in the library by simply saying its name makes this game feel like a vast upgrade above the typical hover-hand-above-icon-for-15-seconds mechanism found in many current Kinect games.

The ability for two players to play at one time is by far the biggest improvement to the game. This addition, brings the game one step closer to becoming the party game of choice that Rockband once was. The Kinect seems to have no problem tracking both players at the same time. The only limitation seems to be the required space for both players to be able to dance comfortably, without putting out an eye with an ill-timed failing arm.

The Crew Challenge mode provides an enjoyable alternative to just aimlessly playing through the giant list of songs from least to most difficult. The Crew Challenge mode can be played solo or with a friend and requires players to complete a diverse mix of songs in each grouping. These groupings force players to take on songs outside their comfort zones and highlights songs that players maybe unfamiliar with.

The other mode added, Fitness Mode, may be one of the most requested features request following the original game’s release. Fitness Mode lets players use the game as an exercise tool. The game has nine different routes ranging in duration of between 10 minutes to 50 minutes and each one is designed for a different workout type, whether it be an easy warm up or a marathon cardio session. Each workout has songs specially selected to match the routine’s intensity and duration.

Outside of a party setting, the Fitness Mode maybe the thing that really keeps this game from collecting dust on the average players’ shelf. The constant feedback from the game between songs informing you of how long you have been working out and calories burned seems like the perfect carrot and stick approach to keep gamers chasing high scores, while shedding pounds.

In the end, the Dance Central series continues to be a cornerstone for Microsoft’s motion controlled platform, by providing a unique experience that can only be achieved using the Kinect. The additional features and modes added warrant the purchase for any dance game fan or anyone that likes to gather friends around the Kinect at a party.

This review is based on a retail copy of Dance Central 2 provided by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. It is an Xbox 360 exclusive.

By: Michael Dao

Every once in a while, there is a title that a gamer doesn’t expect that they will like, a title that will grab your attention almost accidentally, and just never lets go until it has absolutely had its way with you and leaves your empty husk behind, looking for its next victim. Jetpack Joyride, from Halfbrick, is the best casual game on the iOS platform to date. 

There is much to like about Jetpack Joyride. The story is as such. The protagonist is Barry, a down on his luck door to door salesman with plummeting sales and even gloomier career prospects. But the next stop on his sales route is a secret laboratory. The kind that has neon signs out front. Barry, upon his arrival, notes that they are working on a prototype jetpack. The kind that propels the user upwards not with jets, but with… bullets. Immediately, visions of riches and adventure and glory fill Barry’s head, and he breaks into the secret laboratory, stealing the machine gun jetpack for himself.

Jetpack Joyride plays simply enough. Barry automatically runs from left to right, and by touching the screen, the player activates the jetpack, sending Barry into the air. Scientists are scurrying around on the ground, and Barry has to do his best to avoid obstacles, lasers and missiles, all of which are looking to stop his joyride. The physics and control are both spot on and Barry controls exactly as one would expect him to, making this game very easy to pick up and play. There has been scholarly work done on the popularity of Angry Birds, and one reason they cite for its success is it’s simple physics based gameplay. Things move in a parabolic fashion, both here in Jetpack Joyride as well as in Angry Birds. It’s something that is ingrained in humans and something that both Rovio and Halfbrick have used to their advantage.

No matter how well the game controls, if just avoiding obstacles and dodging attacks was the core of the gameplay, Jetpack Joyride would indeed be a one trick pony. A game that a person would download onto their phone, play once and then delete. The thing is, Halfbrick has added a lot to keep people coming back. It’s almost as if they have taken a look at what makes games addictive, created a checklist, and made sure that the game included each element in a way that felt both natural and that also made sense. First up is the Game Center and Open Feint integration. Right on the start menu of the screen, there is a leaderboard with the high scores of all your games, and of course you can’t truly brag about how well you are doing in the game if you can’t post it on Twitter and Facebook from right in the game. On top of that, the game includes missions – so the player has set short term goals on hand as well as the long term one of getting the highest score possible. The harder the mission, the more stars the player earns. These missions vary from the mundane, like dying right at a certain score range, to the more exciting, such as going a certain distance in a certain kind of vehicle. Yes, there are vehicles. And yes, they are all pretty awesome. After certain set amounts of stars, the player also levels up and gets titles.

And then there are coins! While flying through the levels, coins can be picked up which can then be redeemed for a large number of bonuses including different kinds of jetpacks, to consumable items to help you with your score all the way to vehicle upgrades. The player can even buy additional coins with in-app purchasing. This feature is particularly well balanced because someone that wants to spend real money doesn’t have a permanent edge over someone that collects their coins the old fashioned way. There isn’t anything that can be achieved by spending money that cannot be earned on one’s own.

There is a lot to experience in Jetpack Joyride. The music is fun, but not overbearing, and the game is just full of the small touches that sets a true masterpiece apart from a pedestrian contemporary. Even when dying, starting a new game takes half a second, it feels just slightly slower than dying in Super Meat Boy. The team at Halfbrick is involved in a great conspiracy. A conspiracy to make you play their game and NEVER STOP.

This review is based on a retail copy of Jetpack Joyride provided by the reviewer. It is an iOS exclusive.

Jetpack Joyride is compatible with any iOS device running iOS 3.1.3 or better.

You can purchase Jetpack Joyride here.

Christmas is rapidly approaching and that means it’s time once again for the annual Thrifty Nerd Gift Guide. To help celebrate the release of our guide and to ensure it makes its way in to as many peoples hands as possible, we are giving our readers a chance to go on a mini shopping spree at Amazon on us.

Our guide is the perfect thing when you’re not sure what to get that geeky someone on your list or you just want to give your friends and family shopping for your this year a nudge in the right direction.

Follow these simple steps and the $50 shopping trip, courtesy of Thrifty Nerd, could be all yours.

• Click the Facebook Recommend button on the Gift Guide. (There is one on each page.)
• Tweet, “To celebrate @ThriftyNerd’s 2011 Gift Guide they are giving away a $50 Amazon gift card. http://thrif.de/sfAblg #ThriftyGift.” (Once per day)
• Leave a comment on this post about what you would buy with the gift card.

Here is our quick and dirty list of the major retailers Cyber Monday pages. Let us know if you find anything amazing!

Amazon: Cyber Monday Deals Week in Video Games

Best Buy: Cyber Sale, 2 Days Only, Sunday-Monday. Online Only.

Walmart: Cyber Week Online Specials

Kmart: Online Only Cyber Monday Sale!

Target: Cyber Sale – It’s Like Cyber Monday All Week Long at Target.com

GameStop: Cyber Monday Sale

Buy.com: Cyber Monday

Newegg: Cyber Monday Hottest Deals

Microsoft Store: Save big on select PCs, Xbox Bundles and more

Origin: Cyber Monday Sale

Barnes and Noble: Cyber Monday Sale! Up to 50% Off at BarnesandNoble.com!

CowBoom: Cyber Monday Sale

GoHastings: Cyber Monday

Tiger Direct: Full List of Cyber Monday Deals

SiriusXM: SiriusXM Cyber Week Savings

Cyber Monday has arrived, and with it is more Lightning Deals than any sane person wants or needs. Check out the list below to see the schedule and our best stab at what the games will be.

Click here for these deals.

• 1:15 PM PST: Clue - Rayman is back!
• Rayman Origins
• 1:15 PM PST: Clue - Rayman, for the first time in 3D.
• Rayman 3D
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - Uncover the latest antics of Herbert P. Bear
• Club Penguin
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - Miss the Sponge?
• A Sponge Bob game?
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - Protect your DS with this set
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - A great DS case for Club Penguin fans.
• DS Lite/DSi Club Penguin Case
• 4:14 PM PST: Clue - They’re Ninjas! They’re Legos!
• LEGO Battles Ninjago
• 4:14 PM PST: Clue - Get ready to get active.
• Active Life: Extreme Challenge Bundle with Mat
• 4:15 PM PST: Toy Story 3 [PSP]
• 4:45 PM PST: Logitech Gaming Headset
• 5:15 PM PST: Steel Divers
  
• 5:15 PM PST: Asphalt 3D
• 5:15 PM PST: Combat of Giants Dinosaurs
• 5:15 PM PST: Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle and New Friends
• 5:15 PM PST: Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever and New Friends
• 5:15 PM PST: Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog and New Friends
• 5:15 PM PST: Pilotwings Resort
• 5:15 PM PST: Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
• 7:14 PM PST: Clue - Cole is back
• inFAMOUS 2
• 7:14 PM PST: Clue - This mobile gaming environment lets you stay in the action when you’re on the move.
• G155-Gaming and Entertainment Mobile System
• 7:14 PM PST: Clue - Meet Cole, everyman turned super-hero
• inFAMOUS 
• 8:14 PM PST: Clue - Wield the lethal skills of a wiser, more efficient and deadlier Ezio.
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations
• 8:14 PM PST: Clue - Embark on a galactic adventure with a gadget-building hero and his brainy robotic sidekick.
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
• 8:15 PM PST: Club Penguin: Game Day!
• 9:14 PM PST: Clue - Assume the first-person perspective of special forces soldier Sev in the assault on Helghan.
• Killzone 2
• 9:14 PM PST: Clue - The second chapter of Drake’s adventures
• UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves
• 10:00 PM PST: Clue - Turtle Beach’s top-of-the-line XBOX 360 headset
• Ear Force X41
• 10:14 PM PST: Clue - It’s just you and the Terror Mask
• Splatterhouse
• 10:14 PM PST: Clue - This is the last opus for Sgt. Nathan Hale.
  
• Resistance 3

After a long absence, it’s time to get back into the normal routine. This week I’ve taken it upon myself to select a holiday classic, Die Hard. While their is no voting this week, feel free to head over to Facebook vote for you favorite unusual holiday movie. Be sure to join the  Thrifty Crew Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. ET.

To reserve your spot in the theater, shoot me a message to @JohnParie on Twitter or to Parie Dawg on Xbox Live.

Join in the forum discusion here.

I thought we were getting a day off from Lightning Deals. Silly me! They aren’t showing in the regular place, but if you go to the main lightning deal page and sort by “video games” you will find them

Click here to get these deals.

• 9:15 AM PST: Clue - Dance to the official music videos from 40 of your favorite pop, hip-hop and club hits
• Everybody Dance
• 9:15 AM PST: Clue - This Move game combines sword fighting, archery and throwing weapons into a progressive action-adventure.
• Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest [PS3 Move]
• 9:15 AM PST: Clue - Complete challenges in 35 carnival games and attractions.
• Carnival Island [PS3 Move]
• 9:15 AM PST: Clue - Engage in a head-to-head race to build the greatest city and accumulate the most wealth.
• Monopoly Streets
• 9:15 AM PST: Clue - Charge these Move controllers in no time!
• PlayStation Move Charging Station
• 1o:15 AM PST: Clue - If life were an endless vacation, what would you do?
• Animal Crossing City Folk [Wii]
• 11:15 AM PST: Clue - Defeat Morcubus and drones in epic boss battles on your DS.
• MySims Sky Heroes [DS]
• 11:15 AM PST: Clue - Explore Jellystone Park!
• Yogi Bear: The Video Game
• 12:15 PM PST: Clue - Get ready to get active.
• Active Life: Extreme Challenge Bundle with Mat
• 12:15 PM PST: Clue – Join Sonic in a colorful adventure!
• Sonic Colors
• 12:15 PM PST: Clue - A must have for your Wii
• Guess: Wii Remote Plus?
• 1:15 PM PST: Clue - Bring intense WWI aerial-combat to your computer.
• Rise of Flight, Iron Cross Edition
• 1:15 PM PST: Clue - For the train lover
• Railworks I guess?
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - The perfect gift for Nancy Drew fans.
• Nancy Drew Collector’s Edition Fan Favorites
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - Guardian or Defiant? The choice is yours.
• Rift
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - Go back to Albion – on your PC
• Fable 3
• 3:15 PM PST: Clue - The ultimate powered-up racing experience for your PC.
• Blur
• 3:15 PM PST: Clue - The most popular turn-based PC strategy game.
• Civilization V I hope.
• 4:14 PM PST: Clue - The complete adventures of CommanderVideo for your Wii
• Bit.Trip Complete
• 4:14 PM PST: Clue - The complete adventures of CommanderVideo for your 3DS
• Bit.Trip Saga 3DS
• 4:14 PM PST: Clue - Save Altago from long-forgotten ancient forces.
• Ys Seven
• 5:14 PM PST: Clue - Bring this classic fighting franchise to your PC.
• Street Fighter IV
• 5:14 PM PST: Clue - Frank West is back – on your PC
• Dead Rising 2: Off The Record
• 7:00 PM PST: Clue - “Where’d my stylus go?”
• Maybe a spare stylus pack?

Sure PCs cost a ton of money, but dear lord, PC gamers get the best deals. Amazon has over 150 Downloadable games for at least 50%. On top of that, if you buy any of these games, you will get a $5 credit on Amazon’s best selling games of 2011 - many of which are also on sale. A bunch of these games are already only $5, so if you buy one of the best seller, you can basically get a game for free.

Click here to get these deals.

Here are some of the highlights:

• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Digital Premium Edition - $16.00
• Metro 2033 – $4.99
• Amnesia - $4.99
• Dungeon Defenders  - $7.49
• Darksiders - $4.99
• Tropico 4 – $15.99
• Grand Theft Auto Vice City [Mac] - $4.99
• Driver San Francisco – Deluxe Edition - $27.49
• Cryostasis - $5.76
• Mount & Blade - $7.04

These look familiar, oh hey, they are pretty much exactly the same as the Black Friday deals! We will take it though, there are some good prices in there and over 300 games to choose from. See below for our favorites. On Cyber Monday, Amazon will be running Lightning Deals every hour, so stay tuned!

Click here to get these deals.

• Two of the individual Skylanders character packs for just $10 (click here)
• L.A. Noire - $19.99
• Dark Souls - $34.99
• Kinect Sensor with Kinect Adventures and Gunstringer Token Code – $99.99
• Kinect Sports Season Two - $29.99
• Dance Central 2 - $29.99
• Battlefield 3 - $39.99
• Gears of War 3 - $39.99
• Need for Speed: The Run - $39.99
• Rage – $29.99
• Rise of Nightmares – $29.99
• inFAMOUS 2 - $39.99
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron [PS3] - $29.99
• Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition - $14.99
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together $11.99

If you thought your wallet would get a couple days off between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, well you were wrong.

Click here to get these deals!

• 12:15 PM PST: Clue - So many tanks, so little time…
• World in Conflict?
• 12:15 PM PST: Clue - Sail away, sail away, sail away…
• Apparently Enya made a game we don’t know about.
• 1:15 PM PST: Clue - Travis Touchdown now on your PS3!
• No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - A full-fledged Dragon Quest adventure comes to Nintendo DS for the first time.
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
• 2:15 PM PST: Clue - Master the power of the legendary Dragon Blade
• Naruto Shippuden: Dragon Blade Chronicles

Click here for Cyber Monday Deals! 

Please note, this is not a complete listing, Amazon will be sneaking in additional deals all day. We will do our best to keep this page up to date, but for the latest scoop, follow @thriftynerd on Twitter.

Click here to go to the Lightning Deals.

• 1:15 PM PST - Clue: The mount your kinect needs
• Xbox 360 Kinect TV Mount $17.42
• 1:15 PM PST - Clue: What comes after X11?
• Ear Force X12 Gaming Headset and Amplified Stereo Sound – 39.99
• 1:45 PM PST – Razer Naga Special Edition – Molten
• 2:15 PM PST - Clue: Back for a second season
• Kinect Sports Season Two – $24.99
• 2:15 PM PST - Clue: Get off the couch and on the dance floor
• Dance Central 2 – $24.99
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: The great Soccer franchise is now on your 3DS
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Your Poodle has some new (3D) friends!
• Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle and New Friends
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Dive in 3D
• Steel Diver
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: What’s better than two dinosaurs fighting? Two dinosaurs fighting in 3D!
• Combat of Giants Dinosaurs
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Burn the asphalt in 3D
• Asphalt 3D
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Tom Clancy’s latest – in 3D
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Fighting in the Street (in 3D)
• Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Your Golden Retriever has some new (3D) friends!
• Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever and New Friends
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Your Bulldog has some new (3D) friends!
• Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog and New Friends
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Lego Battles for Nintendo DS
• LEGO Battles Ninjago – $9.99
• 3:15 PM PST - Clue: Fly around this resort in 3D
• Pilotwings Resort
  
• 4:15 PM PST - Clue: Mischief, magic and mayhem reign as players explore 6 different worlds inspired by Disney and Pixar films.
• Disney Universe [Wii, X360, PS3] $27, $29.99
• 4:15 PM PST - Clue: Great stocking stuffer: an assortment of DS mini-games for girls
• Smart Girls: Playhouse – $9.99
• 4:15 PM PST - The Sims 3: Pets [X360] - $24.99
• 4:15 PM PST - Clue: Learn to play guitar.
• Rocksmith - $49.99
• 5:15 PM PST - Clue: Hit the gridiron with this storied football franchise.
• Madden NFL 12 - $28.00
• 5:15 PM PST - Clue: Latest installment in EA’s popular video game soccer series.
• FIFA Soccer 12 - $28.00
• 5:15 PM PST - Clue: Ready for some hoops?
• NBA 2K12 – $34.99
• 5:15 PM PST - Clue: Dirt 3 is a popular rally racing game
• Dirt 3 - $14.99
• 6:15 PM PST - Clue: Become the Dark Knight in a genuinely authentic Batman experience.
• Batman: Arkham City - $28.00
• 6:15 PM PST – Clue: This racing game delivers mud, sweat and gears the world over: from the intense weather-beaten rally stages of Europe, Africa and the US
• 7:15 PM PST - Clue: Take command of a team of elite US Marines as they experience heart-pounding misson-based gameplay.
• Battlefield 3 - $28.00
• 7:15 PM PST - Clue: Chase down crime lord Charles Jericho.
• Driver San Francisco – $19.99
• 8:15 PM PST - Clue: Explore the deadly, shadowed world of the assassin with new assassin Ezio.
• Assassin’s Creed 2 - $9.99
• 8:15 PM PST - Clue: Wield the lethal skills of a wiser, more efficient and deadlier Ezio.
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations - $34.99
• 8:15 PM PST - Clue: Augment your gaming library with the latest installment of this award winning franchise
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution - $29.99
• 9:15 PM PST - Clue: Drake is back!
• Uncharted 2 or 3
• 9:15 PM PST - Clue: Sackboy is at it again
• LittleBigPlanet – Game of the Year Edition Playstation 3 – $14.99
• 10:00 PM PST - Xbox 360 4GB Console - $139.99
• 10:15 PM PST - Clue: Set in a futuristic utopia, an elite peacekeeping force thwarts the rumblings of civil war.
• Bulletstorm – $17.99

Best Buy has some ridiculous deals for your Black Friday entertainment. But don’t be one of those chumps camped out in the cold not eating turkey, drinking beer and watching football. ONLINE GET.

Here’s some of what you can snag right now online. Get that holiday shopping done before you even start the turkey.

XBox 360 Holiday Bundle with Halo:Reach and Fable 3 – $199.99

XBox 360 Wireless Controller – $38.99

Bioshock 2 Limited Edition – XBox 360 – $9.50

Assassins Creed Revelations XBox 360/PS3 – $34.99

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception PS3 – $29.99

Batman: Arkham City XBox/PS3 – $29.99

Battlefield 3 XBox 360/PS3 – $29.99

And a lot more. These are titles that were JUST released weeks ago and to see them discounted so deeply is amazing.

Get these deals and a ton more here.

Black Friday is just a day away, and Amazon isn’t fooling around with today’s lightning deals. Expect all of them to go fast, but you better be waiting by the computer if you want to get in on Batman: Arkham City or Battlefield 3.

The deal of the day isn’t too shabby either: For a limited time and while supplies last, order an Xbox 360 4GB Console and get Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360 and an Xbox LIVE 3 Month Gold Membership for free.

Click here to get these deals.

• 6:15 PM PST – Clue: The war against the Locust rages on
• Gears of War 3
• 6:15 PM PST – Clue: A must have for your Xbox 360 console
• 6:15 PM PST – Clue: Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect for $199.99
• 7:15 PM PST – Clue: Get in the zone with this exciting first person shooter
• Killzone 3
• 8:15 PM PST – Clue: Become the Dark Knight in a genuinely authentic Batman experience.
• Batman: Arkham City
• 9:15 PM PST – Clue: Take command of a team of elite US Marines as they experience heart-pounding misson-based gameplay.
• Battlefield 3
• 10:15 PM PST – Clue: Hit the gridiron with this storied football franchise.
• Madden NFL 12
• 10:15 PM PST – Clue: Latest installment in EA’s popular video game soccer series.
• FIFA Soccer 12

This day was coming, we have had RPGs and action games but today is all about family friendly Wii shovelware. There are no less than three Chuck E Cheese games on sale. Thankfully Amazon also added Commander Video’s adventures on both Wii and 3DS.

Click here to get the deals.

• 10:00 AM PST - Clue: This Wii game pairs red-hot international dance steps with sexy Latin music to create a fun yet challenging exercise party
• Zumba Fitness [Wii] 
• 10:00 AM PST - Clue: Power your Wii experience with this power adaptor for Wii.
• 10:00 AM PST – Clue: The perfect accessory kit to accommodate any Wii Fit workout session. T
• Wii 5-In-1 Fitness Bundle
• 11:00 AM PST – Clue: Challenge your friends and play with the King of Cool himself and his international group of friends.
• Chuck E Cheese’s Party Games
• 11:00 AM PST – Clue: This diverse title is filled with fun, creative, and skill building games.
• Chuck E Cheese’s Playhouse
• 11:00 AM PST – Clue: Cheese-themed games for young minds.
• Chuck E Cheese’s Gameroom
• 12:00 PM PST - Clue: This game is based on the wildly popular and Emmy-awarding winning TV game show of the same name.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
• 12:00 PM PST - Clue: Discover endless family fun at the Family Game Night Theme Park!
• Hasbro Family Game Night 3
• 12:00 PM PST - Clue: A classic board game comes to life through a living, breathing city that you can build, own, and monopolize.
• Monopoly Streets
• 1:00 PM PST - Clue: Go head to head with your friends in six sporting events playing this popular PS3 Move game.
• Sports Champions [PS3]
• 1:00 PM PST - Clue: This PS3 Move game pairs red-hot international dance steps with sexy Latin music.
• Zumba Fitness [PS3] 
• 1:00 PM PST - Clue: This PlayStation Move game brings three iconic franchises together for the first time in an out of this world intergalactic adventure.
• PlayStation Move Heroes
• 1:00 PM PST - Clue: Display and charge up to 4 PlayStation Move controllers with ease .
• NYKO PS3 Move Charge Station Quad Port Charging Dock
• 2:00 PM PST - Clue: Experience the crushing difficulty of arcade-style action on your Wii and follow Commander Video’s journey home.
• Bit.Trip Complete [Wii]
• 2:00 PM PST - Clue: Experience the crushing difficulty of arcade-style action in 3D and follow Commander Video’s journey home.
• Bit.Trip Saga [3DS]
• 3:00 PM PST - Clue: In the fight to become the top predator, only the most powerful dinosaurs will survive.
• Combat of Giants Dinosaurs [3DS]
• 3:00 PM PST - Clue: Embark on a thrilling journey with the 4 Elements through a magical fairy-tale world.
• Gem Quest: 4 Elements [DS]
• 3:00 PM PST - Clue: Will the Goddess of Wisdom be merciful to you?
• Jewel Master: Cradle of Athena [DS]

[Update] – Amazon has added two additional games to today’s lightning deals. Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 and MLB 11: The Show. The Castlevania: Lords of Shadow deal early today sold out in under a minute, so stay on your toes.

Today’s theme is “action games and accessories”, but Amazon isn’t limiting themselves to that criteria. You will also find fighting games, racing games and even exercise “games”. There are also a set of interesting lightning deals which are sending a mixed signal. There are four PS3 exclusives and an Xbox 360. One of the exclusives is the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, so you won’t hear too much complaining.

Click here to go directly to the deals.

• 11:00 AM PST – Clue: This game combines magic based combat against otherworldly enemies with platforming and puzzle-solving gameplay.
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
• 11:00 AM PST – Clue: Xbox 360 Kinect 4GB Bundle with $100 Credit
• I’m going with: Xbox 360 Kinect 4GB Bundle with $100 Credit
• 12:00 PM PST – Clue: These two award-winning classics are now available for the PlayStation 3 remastered in HD with full stereoscopic 3D support.
• The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection [PS3]
• 1:00 PM PST – Clue: This title gives global football fans a truly realistic, immersive and a delightfully playable take on the beautiful game.
  
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2012
• 2:00 PM PST - Clue: Single-handedly destroy an army of monsters and evil spirits with lightning-fast swordfighting action.
• Bleach: Soul Resurreccion [PS3]
• 3:00 PM PST - Clue: Grab your PlayStation Move motion controllers and step into the dark and gritty underground of bare knuckle brawling.
• The Fight: Lights Out [PS3]
• 4:00 PM PST - Clue: You have six days to rescue an entire country plunged into chaos by a brutal revolution.
• SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals [PS3]
• 5:00 PM PST - Clue: This multiplayer baseball game delivers a true Major League Baseball experience for gamers on the PlayStation 3 platform.
  
• MLB 11: The Show [PS3]

There are also a set of less interesting non-lightning deals, check out the highlights:

• No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise [PS3] – $19.99
• Bulletstorm [PS3] – $17.99
• TRON: Evolution [PS3, X360, PC] – $12.99
• Split / Second [X360] – $12.99
• Warhammer 40k: Space Marine [PC] – $24.99
• Tropico 4 [PC] – $15.99
• Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition [3DS] – $17.99

Mario has been around since the 1980’s. The target audience wasn’t even alive for some of his greatest adventures. This makes you wonder, after all this time, is there anything new he can bring to the table?

The short answer to that question is, yes. The most amazing thing about Super Mario 3D Land isn’t the fantastic level design or the addicting gameplay. The most amazing thing is that after 30 years, there are still new and exciting things to do in this series.

Super Mario 3D Land is a mix between Mario Galaxy and Super Mario World. The levels are linear; you travel from the starting position to the end flag. There really isn’t much exploring to do, but there are multiple paths to the end of the level. The camera is fixed so it is always showing you the most important sections of the course. This is a good thing, with only one directional pad, camera controls are usually a problem. The camera is set at an isometric view, giving you a look inside the box Mario is playing in. This really makes the 3D pop.

Playing the game with 3D is something you will want to do in this game.  It makes the game easier and they even throw in some clever design to make it worthwhile. With the 3D turned off, a stack of bricks may look like a flat pyramid, turn the 3D on and you see that the bricks are separated. This is a very cool effect, but I know some people have issues seeing 3D. If you’re worried this will ruin your experience, don’t, the 3D is really nice but not necessary and puzzles like this aren’t extremely common.  If you can play with 3D, do it, everything looks better and it is a more enjoyable experience.

Every level in the game is different, even in the same world of levels. There are eight worlds with around five courses in each. Even though they are “worlds”, the courses themselves have almost nothing to do with each other. This keeps things varied. Each course will take you around 2 minutes to complete, but collecting the three star coins will keep you coming back. I still haven’t found all of them in the first damn level.  These coins are required to advance through the game. Certain courses require you to have collected a certain amount before proceeding and they also unlock bonus courses.

The tanooki suit is back. Unlike Super Mario 3, you can’t run off flying through the level. It is the most common power up in the game and grants Mario the ability to hover. This is extremely helpful in making some difficult jumps. The other classic power ups are back as well as some from the recent New Super Mario Brothers games.  You can store an extra power up on the touch screen for those hard to get through levels and they are all unique and fun to play with.

Getting through the first four worlds will be a piece of cake for most gamers, but don’t let that fool you. The game ramps up in difficulty fast. Getting through the last world is extremely tough. If you die too many times, the game does help you out with some super power ups. So if you can’t get through on your own, you can still make it to the end.

This game gets so much right. It is the pure essence of fun. There is something new and exciting around every corner. The developers at Nintendo must sit in a locked room for days coming up with all the new obstacles to put Mario through. If you were holding out on getting a 3DS or disappointed you bought one in the first place, don’t worry, Mario is here to save the day and that damn princess.

This review is based on a retail copy of Super Mario 3D Land provided by the reviewer. It is a 3DS exclusive.

Sneaky Amazon! You are supposed to warn me when you are doing lightning deals. Sadly the $99 PSP deal has already come and gone, but there are still a quartet of deals coming for the next few hours. These are already priced on the low side, so it will be interesting to see how far they drop at Lightning Time.

Click here to be taken to the Lightning Deals.

• 3PM Eastern: Clue – Will you become the next Dragonmaster in this classic RPG reborn on the PSP?
• Lunar: Silver Star Harmony PSP
• 4PM Eastern: Clue - In this PSP game, save Altago from long-forgotten ancient forces, and reunite the estranged five tribes who serve and protect the Five Great Dragons
• Ys Seven
• 5PM Eastern: Clue - The City is your weapon in this PSP racing game – trigger explosive, devastating events lined throughout the track that drastically alter the d…
• Split / Second PSP
• 6PM Eastern: Clue - Compete in a series of action-packed game grid challenges, in your quest to become the ultimate Grid Games champion.
• TRON: Evolution

Amazon

Amazon doesn’t have physical stores, so they don’t have to print Black Friday circular ads that will inevitably get leaked onto the internet. As a result, we don’t have any early intel for you just yet. Amazon has already been running pre-Black Friday specials, and will be running even more special specials starting the Monday before Thanksgiving.

If you take previous years into account, Amazon tends to pick all of the best deals from their rival retailers and match them. So if you see something you like below, there is a good chance that Amazon will be doing it as well.

Walmart

Early indicators are that Walmart has the best all around deals this year (if you ignore the fact that Amazon will likely match them all). My favorites are the series of ridiculously good brand new games that are 28 stinking dollars each. Walmart is opening their door for Black Friday on Thursday at 10pm which would seem to be a violation of the rules of the Gregorian calendar.

• Xbox 360 4GB Console w/ Gears of War 3, Xbox LIVE 3 Month Gold Membership + $50 eGift Card - $199 (online only, starting at Midnight)
• Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect – $199.96 + $50 eGift card
• Playstation 3 160GB Console Bundle w/ LittleBigPlanet 2 & Ratchet & Clank All 4 One - $199.96
• Wii Limited Edition Blue Console – $99.96
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Limited Edition with Music CD & Gold Remote Plus – $59.96
• Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack [Wii] – $49.96
• Batman: Arkham City [X360] – $28
• FIFA Soccer 12 [X360] - $28
• Madden NFL 12 [PS3] - $28
• Playstation 3 Infamous 2 [PS3] - $28
• Forza Motorsport 4 [X360] - $28
• Gears of War 3 [X360] - $28
• Battlefield 3  [X360] - $28
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: Game of the Year Edition [PS3] -  $15
• Dance Central 2 [X360] - $15
• Little Big Planet: Game of the Year Edition [PS3] - $15
• God of War III [PS3] - $15
• Heavy Rain: Director’s Cut [PS3] - $15
• Yakuza 4 [PS3] - $10

Best Buy

• Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Bundle w/ Fable III & Halo Reach & Xbox LIVE 3 Month Gold Membership  – $199.99
• Playstation 3 160GB Console Bundle w/ LittleBigPlanet 2 & Ratchet & Clank All 4 One – $199.99
• Flame Red 3DS Bundle w/ Super Mario 3D Land – $179.99
• Cosmo Black 3DS Bundle w/ Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – $179.99
• Turtle Beach X12 Wired Headset [X360] – $39.99
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations [X360, PS3] - $34.99
• NBA 2K12 [X360, PS3] - $34.99
  
• Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception [PS3] – $29.99
• Gears of War 3 [X360] - $29.99
• Rage [X360, PS3] – $29.99
• Disney Universe [X360, PS3] - $29.99
• Need for Speed The Run [X360, PS3] – $29.99
• Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster [X360] - $24.99
• Xbox LIVE 3 Month Gold Membership – $7.99

Gamestop

• Playstation 3 160GB Console Bundle w/ LittleBigPlanet 2 & Ratchet & Clank All 4 One – $199.99
• 3DS Zelda Edition with Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – $199.99
• Xbox 360 4GB Console $149.99
• Rayman Origins [X360, PS3] – $39.99
• Rayman Origins [Wii] – $29.99
• Rage [X360, PS3, PC] – $29.99
• Sonic Generations [X360, PS3] – $29.99
• Driver: San Francisco [X360, PS3] – $19.99
• Borderlands: GOTY [X360, PS3] $19.99
• God of War III [PS3] – $14.99
• Uncharted 2 GOTY [PS3] – $14.99
• Heavy Rain [PS3] – $14.99

Kmart

If you want to get down with Kmart, you need to be a Shop Your Way Rewards member. Click here to join up.

Also, please note that some of these deals are on Thursday  6AM – 9PM. You know, Thanksgiving.

• Playstation 3 160GB Console Bundle w/ LittleBigPlanet 2 & Ratchet & Clank All 4 One - $199.99
• Xbox 360 4GB Console and  Modern Warfare 3 – $199.99 (Thursday)
• Flame Red 3DS with Super Mario 3D Land – $199 + $25 gaming coupon
• 3DS – $169.99 + $25 gaming coupon
• DSi XL - $169.99 + $25 gaming coupon
• Xbox 360 4GB Console – $149.99
• Wii Console – $149.99 + $35 gaming coupon
• Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack [X360, PS3] - $49.99  (Thursday)
• Dark Souls [X360, PS3] – $39.99  (Thursday)
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection [X360, PS3] - $34.99
• Rage [X360, PS3] – $29.99  (Thursday)

Target

• Playstation 3 160GB Console Bundle w/ LittleBigPlanet 2 & Ratchet & Clank All 4 One - $199.96
• Flame Red 3DS w/ Super Mario 3D Land – $179.99
• Xbox 360 4GB Console – $139.99
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [X360, PS3, PC] – $59.99 + $10 gift card
• Forza Motorsport 4 [X360] – $27

It has begun.

Amazon will have a new promo every day this week leading up to Black Friday. Today they are focusing on Role Playing Games.

Click here to go directly to the deals.

Some highlights from the sale:

• LA Noire [X360, PS3] – $19.99
• Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition [X360, PS3] – $29.99
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron [X360, PS3] – $29.99
• 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors [DS] – $15.99
• Dragon Age 2 [X360, PS3] – $14.99
• Kingdom Hearts Re:coded [DS] – $18.99
• YS: The Oath In Felghana [PSP] – $12.99
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen [DS] – $11.99
• Dragon Age: Origins Awakening [PC] – $14.99
• Nintendo DS Dragon Quest Slime Speaker Stand – $19.99

Listen, I find Daniel Craig just as attractive as every other twenty-something male in my heavily targeted market, but did he really need to reboot Goldeneye? I know things didn’t quite shape up with his last Bond movie, and that makes me sad, but Goldeneye? That is a classic from my youth. Well, an HD remake was bound to happen at some point, so I assumed Craig’s steely eyes would work just as well as that guy from “Mrs. Doubtfire” back in 1997. Oh boy was I wrong. 

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded is the most recent in a string of studio remakes designed to use a license to sell a game. It is actually based on the Wii version that came out last year – making it an update of a reboot. I never played the Wii version so I cannot compare the two versions. In a world where Batman: Arkham City exists the failure of a licensed game to honor its source material is inexcusable. Reloaded does tell an updated story to fit with its shiny new graphics but everything feels lazy. And this game still costs $60 like the year’s two biggest first person shooters.

To the uninitiated, Goldeneye 007: Reloaded follows the story of James Bond trying to stop some Russian Para-Military folks from attacking London with an orbiting satellite EMP weapon called “Goldeneye”. It is still a cool story, but it was not handled very well. You essentially hop around the globe trying to find out who is behind this evil plan and stop them. The story bits are told to you from voice overs between James and his Mi6 coworkers who speak through his high tech phone. I often said to myself “Why am I here? This seems like a bad idea. Am I supposed to shoot all of these cops?”

Since the story is handled slightly sloppily I hoped that the gameplay would make up for it. I play tons of FPSs that have worse stories, so a bad story would not ruin the experience. However, the same care for the story elements were paid to the combat. The guns feel weak and sound like muffled laser guns. There are several weapons you can play around with, but most are too similar to make a difference. You will remember more about the useless weapon than you will about the good ones. I mostly just used shotguns since Goldeneye features a strong auto aim assist. Just pull the left trigger and your reticule snaps to your enemy allowing you to quickly kill them.

The enemies are also really dumb. I thought they were smart for a few seconds as they ran past me into what looked like a flanking position. What was really happening was that their AI got confused and told them to run across the entire room to take cover. Remember agents; do not turn your back to an enemy for several seconds for fear of instant death. Instead of being smart or something interesting the game just tries to overwhelm you (the last mission suffers heavily from this) or spawn enemies behind you, which can happen if you set off an alarm.

Most levels want you to use stealth to get to your objective; employing silent weapons and melee take downs against your foes. The stealth is actually pretty neat. The main issue is that it is inconsistent, since you can be spotted when there was no way you were seen. Eventually stealth became frustrating so I just shot everyone loudly so that I could beat the level quickly.

During each level you can try to accomplish additional objectives, but I never saw any benefit of doing so. Mi6 even told me they would send reinforcements once, and they never came. The actual locations are varied and look great. I have no real complaint about the level aesthetics. Yes, the game tries to make you think they are non-linear, but they are mostly hallways.

Outside of the main campaign there is an Mi6 mode which is essentially a training/ challenge room. Nothing too revolutionary here, especially since it is similar to the main campaign. It is mostly just a bullet point on the back of the box to justify the game’s price. The enemies are still bad in this mode and the guns are the same basic ones you get in the campaign.

If you were anything like my friends and I, then the single player of 1997’s Goldeneye was not the mode that gave you thumb blisters – it was the multiplayer. I hope you are sitting down because the multiplayer is bad. Well, bad may be too harsh of a word. Perhaps “dated” or “Old-school” would be more appropriate. I wouldn’t call it fun, but if you yearn for something different than the other modern day military shooters then you may enjoy it more than I did. It is updated with a slew of new modes to differentiate the experience but I doubt this game will support a thriving multiplayer community. It still has the same boring gunplay from the single player but with smarter (human) enemies.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded doesn’t ever justify its existence in our modern world. It tries injecting some modern flavor into a fourteen year old game by changing its setting and lead characters. These story tweaks, while somewhat interesting, fail to make up for the lazy gameplay. Most parts of the game are functional and relatively bug free, but that does not make a great game. The multiplayer failings stand out particularly since most people that played the original’s multiplayer played it obsessively. Goldeneye just seems empty of both content and direction. This copy of a copy should be avoided. Be sure to be extra super clear on your wish list this holiday season to avoid getting this game under your tree chosen faith’s present area.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of Goldeneye 007: Reloaded provided by Activision. It is also available for the PS3.

Payday: The Heist is, as you’ve probably guessed, a game focused on the art of heists. Dallas, Chains, Hoxton and Wolf are four characterless personalities who work together to steal as much money as possible. They visit exotic locales such as a bank, a jewelry store and even a meth lab. They have six missions total that involve: getting in, getting the cash and getting out. Getting in and out is the easy part. It’s getting the cash that’s the most time consuming. 

Whoever planned these heists has very little imagination. Sure, setting up saws to drop an entire panic room through a floor and then carrying it and all of its contents out on a chopper is fantastic, but the execution is sloppy and messy. All these heists are smash and grab scenarios. Get in, find your equipment, shoot every armed person and get out.

Each mission has an inevitable delay. In the opening bank heist, someone must obtain a drill to get through the gates to the vault. Setting up the drill takes several seconds. It takes several minutes for the drill to get through the gates. During this time your teammates must corral hostages, eliminate video evidence and acquire supplies for later all while holding off the never ending waves of police. Someone must stay with the drill and reset it if it gets jammed. The police, or their equivalant depending on the level, come from everywhere. There are very few safe rooms that you can back yourself into a corner in. They’ll be dropped off by helicopters, they’ll burst through windows and they won’t stop coming.

You can immobilize hostages with zip ties, but there’s no real purpose for doing so. Hostages don’t slow down the police. In fact since you’re penalized for killing hostages they really serve no purpose. I’m not a psychopath who wants to kill innocent civilians. OK, I’m not always a psychopath who wants to kill innocent civilians, but they should serve a purpose other than getting in the way of your bullets. Hostages usually mean leverage and you have a cease fire. The hostage lives and the police don’t come in. Apparently that’s not how things work in this world.

At first I was upset that there was very little tact or style to these heists. Everything boiled down to setting up the drill, saws or other equipment to access your loot and then holding off cops until you can actually get your loot and get out. Eventually, I grew to love the missions. Having four people wait in a room while they watch police circle them would be boring. All you would do is reset a drill or a saw. These missions force conflict on players. The best part of a bank robbery scene is when something inevitably goes wrong. It forces the characters to adapt to the change. Payday is about constantly adapting to all of the change.

Like any co-operative game, your experience with Payday will be determined by who you play with. Single player is dreadful since the A.I. will not grab or use equipment at all. With a cohesive team, Payday is very similar to the Left 4 Dead series. They both have four protagonists, they both have stand off scenes where you must hold off attackers until you can progress, and they both have never ending waves of mindless enemies. I wish the characters in Payday were a bit more developed. It is impossible to differentiate them. They all just sound and act the same, and it really forces you to put your own character into play.

Payday certainly gives you reasons to come back. More powerful guns and upgrades can be unlocked as you complete more missions. Overall, Payday is a fun game and I enjoyed my time with it, but in the end it doesn’t offer too much. There is a rich upgrade system that lets you craft your character’s abilities to your liking. It’s just that there’s no real sense to who you are and why you are doing these heists. For all intents and purposes you are a nameless thug and you just want money. For a new multiplayer experience you can’t go wrong with Payday, but if you’re looking for a rich character driven heist scenario you’ll have to keep looking.

This review is based on a retail copy of the PSN version of Payday: The Heist provided by Sony Online Entertainment. It is also available for the PC.

2011 has seen a lot of sequels. In fact, nearly every major release this year has been a sequel. A new Portal, Uncharted, Battlefield, Call of Duty…the list goes on. Batman: Arkham City is no exception to that list. It is a triple A game experience, but when you boil it down, it is just more of Arkham Asylum and I have absolutely no problem with that.

Things are shaky in Gotham. After The Joker took control of Arkham Asylum which resulted in some mighty big explosions and a need for a new prison, the people of Gotham, sacrificed one of their Manhattan like islands and turned it into a free range prison. It’s a lot like “Escape from New York” where the criminals are confined to a city and left to govern themselves. Actually, forget the Kurt Russell movie, Arkham City is like Australia for Gotham. The how and why Batman is in the prison city and has decided to stay there is up to you to discover for yourself.

The cast of AC is just as large as its predecessor. Villains have so many thugs working for them it feels like a quarter of Gotham’s actual population are lackeys for super villains. Gotham must really be in a poor economic state where the only job a guy can get is working for a maniacal clown, but not everyone wants to work at McDonald’s so they’ll settle with The Joker.

Arkham City is a surprisingly expansive open world filled with desolate streets, abandoned cars and dark alleyways. On foot it could take maybe twenty minutes to get from one end of the map to another, but you’re Batman and walking is beneath you. With your grappling hook and cape you are given a form of locomotion that is very Batman-esque. Launching yourself into the air with your grappling hook followed by leaping from a rooftop and gliding can get you anywhere in the city in just a few minutes. Gliding covers enormous distances since you can dive bomb and pull up to gain more momentum ala Super Mario World minus the cute sound effect.

Apart from the open-world setting, combat is the biggest change from Arkham Asylum. Asylum had a near perfect combat system that allowed Batman to dynamically punch, kick and counter his way through a crowd of thugs. Rocksteady has taken that near perfect combat system and dipped it in gold and then dipped that into diamonds. The dynamic fighting engine is still there. What’s new is that Batman now has access to a lot more gadgets as he fights. Gadgets are mapped to the L-trigger followed by a corresponding button. In Asylum all you could do was shoot your bat-hook or throw a batarang at someone during a fist fight. Now you can shoot them with a stun gun, drop some explosive gel, freeze a nearby thug and drop a smoke pellet in a matter of seconds as you shock and awe the room filled with mindless thugs and keep your combo going.

Without spoiling too much, the main story is intriguing and fits the bill for a Batman story. The word’s greatest detective has to fight all the villains and save the day for Gotham. Where Arkham City really shines though is with its side missions. The Riddler trophies and puzzles are EVERYWHERE. There’s over four hundred of them. How The Riddler had the time to plant his puzzles throughout the prison and other villains’ lairs is beyond me, but he really is the craziest Batman villain. The Joker seems almost sane compared to the efforts The Riddler has gone through.  In other open-world games, side-missions are often ignored since they really don’t meld well with the characters. In Red Dead Redemption John Marsten shouldn’t spend days picking flowers for an achievement. Batman should however find ringing payphones to track down Zsasz and prevent him from murdering some unsuspecting victims. Side missions give you more interactions with more characters that you won’t get in the main campaign.

What Arkham City truly nails is the feeling of being Batman. You’re a superhero without super powers. You have an endless supply of gadgets. You have the martial arts training to take out over thirty thugs at once. You’re stuck in a prison filled with hundreds of people who want you dead, and you’re more comfortable there than at Wayne Manor. I am Batman in this game. I grapple up to the tallest tower and survey the world that is mine to protect. I demand justice, and I will deliver it how I see fit.

What makes things even better is the world that I’m in. This really is a chunk of Gotham. The character voices are life like. I feel like the people really do hate and fear me. Mark Hamill knocks another Joker performance out of the park. I’m sad to hear that this is his last Batman related project. What’s even more impressive is that Batman isn’t alone. Cameos from…well I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, but lets assume that you already know about the Catwoman missions. She is the the box art after all. I found Catwoman more fun the beat up thugs with than Batman. Sure she does’t have all the toys, but she’s just as equally impressive in combat.

Arkham City is a fantastic game, and I loved every minute of it. Sure, you can argue that it is just more of Arkham Asylum. Combat, though more streamlined, is for the most part the same. You’ll still find rooms with gargoyles that you swing between as you take out armed thugs. More of the same isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If someone asked if I wanted more bacon I would most assuredly say yes. If an Arkham game were released every year then it might become a problem as the experiences become diluted, but since there has been a two year gap between these Batman adventures Arkham City deserves some slack. If you loved Arkahm Asylum and need more Batman in your life then Arkham City will fit that bill perfectly.

This review is based on a retail copy of the Xbox 360 version of Batman: Arkham City provided by the reviewer. It is also available for the PS3 and PC. 

The march to Black Friday (and full scale assault on your wallet) continues. Today Amazon is discounting video game collector’s editions. Most of the games involved at are the type that deserve collector’s editions, with one notable exception (we will let you work that out yourself). Another interesting bit is that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Dark Souls are included on the list despite being full price.

Click here for this deal.

Some examples:

• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Collector’s Edition
• Saints Row: The Third Platinum Pack Collector’s Edition
• Fallout: New Vegas Collector’s Edition
• Catherine “Love Is Over” Deluxe Edition, PlayStation 3
• Deal or No Deal: Special Edition
• Deus Ex Human Revolution – Augmented Edition

Best Buy has an outstanding deal for Gears of War 3 going. The price tag of $34.99 on its own is plenty to get excited about, but then throw in 800 MSFT points ($10) for free, and you are talking about Epic savings (terrible pun intended).

Shipping is also free, or you can choose to pick up the game at your local BestBuy.

Click here for this deal.

Amazon is currently running a pretty snazzy video game promo. It’s Buy One, Get One 50% Off sale, but the key is the games involved. They are amazing. See below for some examples. Click here to get this deal.

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [X360, PS3]
• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception [PS3]
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [X360, PS3, PC]
• Batman: Arkham City [X360, PS3]
• Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One [PS3]
• Rage  [X360, PS3, PC]
• Just Dance 3 [Wii]
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 [Wii]

This week your intrepid hosts try really hard to talk about some stuff, but the conversation just naturally devolves into a Skyrim lovefest. We do have brief discussions about Uncharted 3, Heroes of Might and Magic VI, Battlefield 3 and MGS HD Collection. But seriously, guys: Skyrim. 

This week’s hosts include Michael DiMauro (@thriftynerd), John Parie (@johnparie), Mike Dao (@mikedao) and Nick Bristow (@rbristow). Tim Lanning (@timlanning) was on assignment this week.

Music comes from Anamanaguchi.

iTunes: Click here.

House of the Dead: Overkill began its ultra-violent and foul-mouthed life as a light gun shooter for the Wii. It was a strange combo, but at the time, the family-friendly Wii was the only system that made sense for a light gun shooter. Times have changed, and now we have the Move controller for the PS3. It is possible to use a DualShock to play House of the Dead: Overkill, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The Move controller is a good deal more accurate than the Wii Remote, and makes it very easy to get lost in the zombie-maiming moment especially when paired with a Sharp Shooter add-on. 

Rail shooters are a bit of a relic from the arcade days, and there is a reason you don’t see many of them any more. It is difficult to find depth in these sorts of games. What is there to do beyond trying for headshots and looking for the odd collectable or power up? House of the Dead: Overkill has as much depth as you could hope for in a light gun game, but they keep things interesting by wrapping the game in a filthy filthy coating. The grindhouse aesthetic is unmistakeable from the start. Each of the eight chapters is set up as its own mini exploitation movie. The narrator sets the scene as each chapter begins with a cut scene. The writing is fantastic and you will find yourself at least chuckling at the dialog between protagonists Agent G and Isaac Washington.

For those not intimate with the genre, you have no control over your movement, only over shooting and reloading your weapon. You will make your way through each level on a set path with enemies (zombies in this case) popping out everywhere you look. If the enemies can get close enough to you, they will cause damage, and eventually your death. Normally this is when you would pop in another quarter, but since arcades are a thing of the past, you now have a point total that will get cut in half each time you die. The game becomes a lot less mindless when you pay attention to the combo system. Getting hurt or missing a shot will break your combo, so you will want to be extremely accurate and try for headshots to maximize your score.

There are also power ups which might give you more health or slow down time and collectables like gold records and posters to shoot (which is sort of like collecting, I guess). A playthrough of the story will only take you three or four hours, so finding all of the collectables and trying for high scores will help make things interesting if you want to play through again. You will also be earning cash which you can use to buy different weapons or upgrade the ones you have.

New two this iteration of the game are two scenes by female protagonists Varla Guns and Candy Stryper and it is easy to see why they were left out of the first game. The action is fun and the bosses are up there with some of the best in the game, but the female characters lack the appeal of their male counterparts. The vapid bordering on mentally challenged Candy makes sense in the exploitation genre, but she seems to lack any redeeming qualities at all. Also, both female voice actors deliver their lines in such a wooden fashion it’s hard not to roll your eyes when they start talking.

Beyond the two extra levels, you will also find three lackluster mini games. If you are competing with a friend you might find some fun here, but there isn’t much reason to play them solo. After your first playthrough you will unlock the Director’s Cut which adds a new longer route through each level and a series of challenges like finding all of the collectables or making it through the level without getting hurt. This version is also 3D enabled which is good news for 3D TV owners desperate for content.

House of the Dead: Overkill – Extended Cut is certainly the best version of an already fun game. Not because of the additional content, but because of accuracy of the Move Controller and the power and resolution of the PS3. For Move owners, It probably isn’t enough of a game to recommend you run out and by a pricey Move Controller just to play this, but if you already own one, then this is a game you should absolutely have. Paired with a buddy and a few beers, House of the Dead: Overkill makes for a night of dumb fun that can’t be beat.

This review is based on a retail copy of House of the Dead: Overkill – Extended Cut provided by Sega. It is a PS3 exclusive.

Look, these games aren’t great, but at least they are cheap. So says Amazon. There are a 159 games to choose from, and some on them are seriously reaching for their four stars. Army of Two: The 40th Day? Dante’s Inferno?

Click here to see the deals.

Luckily, there are some pretty good ones as well:

• Bioshock 2
• Assassin’s Creed II
• Halo 3
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Mass Effect 2
• The Orange Box
• Dead Rising 2
• Left 4 Dead – Game of the Year Edition
• Dead Space Platinum Hits Edition
• Deadly Premonition
• Fable 2 Platinum Hits
• Super Street Fighter IV
• Enslaved: Odyssey To The West
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 – Platinum Hits
• Rabbids Go Home [Wii]
• The World Ends With You [DS]
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor [DS]

By: Michael Dao

With Assassin’s Creed: Revelations on the horizon, we thought that we would look at an Assassins Creed title for iOS titled, Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer Rearmed. Billed as providing the same multiplayer experience as found in Assassin’s Creed 2: Brotherhood, excitement was building. But does ACMR live up to the extremely pleasant surprise that AC2: Brotherhood delivered? Sadly, no. Not even close. 

Brotherhood brought multiplayer to the Assassin’s Creed franchise for the first time, and many were skeptical. Too many times shoddy multiplayer is added to a game as an afterthought, and seemingly to only serve the purpose of filling some check box on a marketing drone’s list in some corporate office. Many assumed that this would indeed be the case with Brotherhood. Fortunately, the experience provided to gamers by Brotherhood was not only good, but many would even call it inspired.

The basic gameplay was that the player would be roaming around in a city filled with NPCs and other players. The point was to kill your target without being detected by them, and avoid being killed by the people who were hunting you. Forcing the player to pretend to be an NPC and take their time stalking the target was a wholly different experience than say the multiplayer in a first person shooter such as Call of Duty. The pacing was intense, deliberate, and incredibly fun. Many hours were spent playing, earning new special abilities and weapons.

It is this experience that Ubisoft is trying to recreate with ACMR, and as much of a delight as it would be to have a version of this for the small screen, the execution falls far short of the vision. The game plays from a top down view, and controlling your character is as simple as tapping where you want to go. A single tap to walk, a double tap to run. Around the character is an action circle, inside of which the player can attack. There’s an arrow around the circle which points to the location of the target and that slowly fades out of view the quicker one gets to their intended target. Once the arrow is gone, you have to maneuver what your best guess as to what the target is into the circle and then tap it in order to take them out. The problem here is that this takes a great deal of precision on the small screen that one gets on an iPhone or iPod Touch it is quite easy to miss your mark.

What made the console version of the multiplayer a success was how easy it was to impersonate an NPC. The control scheme allowed for smooth movements, and any erratic movements or actions would signal to the watchful eye that the model on the screen was not an NPC, but a human being. On a screen this small, where the player has to tap to where they want to move, pretending to be an NPC is infinitely more difficult. It is quite easy to determine which set of pixels on the screen is not a computer controlled character, and at that point, it simply becomes a game of who can hit the opposing player’s character first.

There are some good things about the game, finding a game online and finding other players is an easy task, and the matchmaking system seems to perform admirably. Never was the wait for a new game more than ten seconds. There are also options for “local” multiplayer using a bluetooth connection. The game is free to play, and is funded through microtransactions – a player can purchase upgrades and weapons and skins through the app itself.

The gameplay ends up being incredibly shallow because of the lackluster controls. There is so much potential in a game like this on a handheld, that the failure of ACMR makes it all so much more bitter. This experience is a mere shadow of the one in Brotherhood, and it is a game that will only provide minutes of entertainment. Only because it is free would this game be recommended to the most die-hard Assassin’s Creed fan.

This game is free, and requires an iPhone 3GS or newer, iPod Touch 2nd Generation or newer and iOS 4.3 or later.

You can download Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer Rearmed here.

Usually Amazon gives us a day or two so that we can prepare ourselves mentally for days filled with lightning deals. Not this time though! They have sprung 11 games on us for under $11 each. The first one is already going, which is Bioshock 2 for $9.99.

To get these deals, click here.

Here are the rest of the deals:

• 3PM Eastern
• Xbox 360 Kinect 4GB Bundle with $100 Credit
• mystery game for under $11
• 4PM Eastern
• mystery game for under $11
• 5PM Eastern
• mystery game for under $11
• 6PM Eastern
• Cyberbike Magnetic Edition
• mystery game for under $11
• 7PM Eastern
• mystery game for under $11
• 8PM Eastern
• mystery game for under $11
• 9PM Eastern
• Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
• mystery game for under $11

This review is based on a retail copy of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception provided by the reviewer. It is a PS3 exclusive.

With all these hot new games hitting this month I know many of you may be wondering how you will ever make room on your gaming shelves that are already buckling under the building weight; how about donating to a really great group of people that work day in and day out to ensure our biggest concerns can be which game is the superior first person shooter, Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3.

The crew at OperationSupplyDrop.org  are rallying the troops once again to help gather gaming goodies to send to our military service members currently stationed overseas supporting the efforts of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Typically, they attempt to send one care package a month, but with November being their one year anniversary and host of Veterans Day they thought sending a package a week would be a great way to say thank you to the men and women that make our day-to-day lives possible.

For those unaware of Operation Supply Drop, they work with the gaming community to provide game consoles, games and other gaming related items to military units and squadrons in need. These units range from forward operators to medical stations that use the games as a way to blow off some steam in their limited down time.

There are a number of ways to contribute to their cause. They have setup a tax-deductible donation account with ChipIn.com for monetary contributions or people can donate new or used games and equipment. They are currently running a promotion where people that donate $40 or more receive a 1600 Microsoft Points card.

Complete donations and shipping details are available on their site.

FIFA Soccer 12 ($39.99) is the Goldbox today, and is headlining a day full of video game lightning deals. The line up has some misses (Puzzler World?), but there are also quite a few winners here, especially Ace Combat: Assault Horizon and No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise.

Click here to go directly to the deals.

• 6AM PST – Clue: Take on intriguing, unusual cases and use your courtroom skills to unravel some of the most outrageous and funniest trials you’ve ever seen.
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney [DS]
• 8AM PST – Clue: A third-person, single player Hack ‘N’ Slash Action-Adventure game where you fight to become the world’s #1 Assassin!
• No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise [PS3]
• 10AM PST – Clue: A full-motion body control game on Kinect allowing you to twist and turn your way through a range of visually stunning courses in an action-packed Sonic experience unlike any other!
• Sonic Free Riders [X360 Kinect]
• 1PM PST – Clue: Engage in combat across the globe, dodging skyscrapers, and turning their enemies into fiery supersonic debris – never before has combat been so fast and in-your-face!
• Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
• 3PM PST – Clue: Prepare to compete in the Olympic Winter Games with your friends and family like you never thought possible!
• Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games [Wii]
• 6PM PST – Clue: A collection of single player puzzle games designed to provide puzzle fans and fanatics over 500 hours of play time spread across over 1,000 addictive games
• Puzzler World [DS]
• 8PM PST – Clue: Kill Zombie’s on your PC!
• Dead Rising 2: Off The Record [PC]

What an incredible week for games. We have a new LEGO Harry Potter game, which might not excite the more hardcore gamers out there, but it’s still going to sell gangbusters. We have Mario’s long awaited debut on the 3DS which takes the 3DS a step closer to being a must-own system. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming out, which is very likely to break sales records. Finally, the game that I personally have been waiting for since I put down Oblivion, which is Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. With all of these amazing games coming out, you have to wonder where the best place to buy them is. Read on! 

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

X360, PS3, PC

• Amazon: Premium physical map, $10 Amazon credit – Buy Online
• Target: $10 Gift Card – In store only
• Kmart: $15 gaming coupon – In store only
• GameStop: Premium Physical Map – Buy Online
• Walmart: Premium Physical Map & $10 eGift Card – Buy Online

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

X360, PS3, PC

• Amazon: American Special Forces Xbox avatar, exclusive MW3 Wallpaper, $25 credit for an Xbox LIVE 12 Month Gold code – Buy Online
• Kmart: get a year of Xbox Live for $39.99 or an Xbox Live 4000 Microsoft Point card for $29.99, $15 gaming coupon – In store only
• Target: get a year of Xbox Live for $39.99 – In story only

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

Everything

• Amazon: $10 promotional credit – Buy Online
• Target: $10 Gift Card – In store only
• Kmart: $15 gaming coupon – In store only
• GameStop: Exclusive Dumbledore’s Army T-Shirt – Buy Online

Super Mario 3D Land

• GameStop: Tanooki Mario Keychain – Buy Online

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection

X360, PS3

• Amazon: $5 Credit Pre-order Bonus for Metal Gear Solid: Rising – Buy Online
• Kmart: $15 gaming coupon – In store only

Rabbids: Alive & Kicking

X360 Kinect

• Amazon: 5 Amazon-exclusive unlockable levels of mini-game “mayhem” – Buy Online
• Kmart: $15 gaming coupon – In store only