If you find that you are getting a little sick of the songs on Guitar Hero II, you’re probably eagerly awaiting Guitar Hero III or Guitar Hero 80’s that are coming soon. In the distance, however, Rock Band is there, enticing you.
They have released a photo for the Rock Band drum kit, so now you can know which sofa needs to go to the Salvation Army so you can fit it in the living room.
Konami and their DDR series has kind of tapered off in popularity, but it looks like the people at the University of Udine are still working on ways to make exercise and video games work together.
You can see how the game works here:
It looks like a simplistic version of breakout, which typically isn’t a very exciting game. What I would like to see is DDR with a heart rate monitor. The dance steps increase or decrease depending on customizable heart rates. Why hasn’t Konami done this?
Via: Video game follows your movements, adapts to your heart rate – Engadget
If you like to play puzzle games like Tetris, Bejeweled or Pop-It, then you MUST get Planet Puzzle League. Right now. If you don’t own a Nintendo DS yet, buy yourself one because Planet Puzzle League is the game that you’re going to carry around with you and play when you’re stuck in a line at the DMV or waiting for people to show up. You can play a game quickly or play many games if you have the time.
I already had Puzzle League on a GameBoy Advance game bundled with Dr. Mario. I bought Planet Puzzle League because I thought it would be fun and I wouldn’t have to use that huge GBA game that sticks out of the bottom of my DS. All I was expecting was the same game, but I got a whole lot more.
If you were thinking of selling off your Playstation 2 because you’ve been playing with your Wii so much, hold on to it. Guitar Hero is releasing another episode in their series of games: Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s. This one is for all of you who were teenagers in the 80’s. Here’s the song lineup:
If you missed the 80’s the first time around, make sure you study these videos and stock up on lip gloss.
Via: Eight more tracks from Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s – Joystiq
I picked up Games ‘n Music up at Walmart for about $35. It was just inexpensive enough to try out for fun. It is a game card that allows you to play videos, music and homebrew games on your Nintendo DS. It came with a 128 MB Micro SD card loaded with 25 games. The included card was enough to hold two hours worth of video, but I bought a 2 GB card and now I can play almost 11 hours of video on Nintendo.
You can see a video demonstrating Games n’ Music here:
As you can see, the video looks really good. Their software to convert video is amazingly fast. I used the lowest quality conversion and it still looks really good on the screen. Sadly, the video player leaves something to be desired. You can’t fast forward or reverse the video. If you go out of the video you’re watching and then go back in, it will restart you at the beginning of the video instead of where you were last and there is no way to fast forward to where you were before.
The MP3 player is a little better because it allows you to scan through the song. It also allows you to skip to the next song. Unfortunately, there is no good organization for the music and it doesn’t read song title from the MP3 data.
The games that come with it are utter crap. Sorry, but there is no nice way to say it. They are not worth the small storage space that they take on your card. They don’t use any of the buttons on the DS, even if the game would be better played with the button controls than a touch screen. There is no way to get out of the games without turning off your Nintendo. You can’t reset or hold down the start button to escape them.
I have been able to run some homebrew software using this card, but honestly, I haven’t been able to find anything good out there. I don’t know if this card is making them crash or if they are just substandard and crash all the time. I guess when it comes to online software available for free, you get what you pay for.
I compared the video quality of the Nintendo DS running Games n’ Music with the Video iPod and the Samsung U-740. You can see how each of them handled this Galaticast video.
The Games n’ Music conversion “squishes” wide videos to make them fit on the DS screen instead of letterboxing them like the iPod and the Samsung U-740 did. I feel like that should bother me, but honestly it doesn’t. My standards for video go way down when I’m watching it on a tiny screen. The cool thing is I can load up my card, keep my DS in my purse and pull it out to watch a video whenever I want. I could do the same thing with my Treo, but it is SO difficult and time consuming to get video to work on my Treo. It’s as easy with Games n’ Music as it is with the iPod. I just wish they would let me download a fix for the video player.
Official Website: Datel Design & Development Ltd – Games N Music
It is called the Playstation 3 Eye. It is no longer called EyeToy. “I am not a toy!” it screams. Actually, it still looks a little bit like a toy. Like a hacked webcam with a speaker. Personally, I don’t care how it looks as long as it WORKS. The EyeToy did NOT work. You can see a full review here:
The PS3 Eye, however, is supposed to work better in low light situations. That’s good to hear, but the proof is in the pudding. I’m not going to be the first to spend money on it. Sony has burned me before, so I don’t really trust them.
Here is the official press release from Sony:
Here are a couple of reviews from people who aren’t quite as bitter as I am:
Hey, all you people who think video games are just a bunch of people shooting each other and driving cars really fast, try Sims 2 for Nintendo DS. I know, I know… I tried The Sims back when they came out and hated them too. I had one of those zen moments when I was making my Sim wash the dishes and I could see the dirty dishes in my own sink from the computer. I never played that game again. Sims 2 for Nintendo DS is different, I promise.
Firstly, there is a lot less dish washing, showering and sleeping in this game than in the original Sims version. I don’t know if it’s because they had to simplify it for the DS system or if they realized that watching your Sim wash her dishes isn’t all that fun. Either way, the Sim maintenance is still part of the game, but it usually happens when I have to go to the bathroom, so it’s just fine with me.
Secondly, they have added a simple story line to the game. In Sims 2 for the DS, I have to run a hotel and get its score higher by building guest rooms and other attractions. I have to deal with a mobster in my Penthouse. I have to deal with invasions of aliens and robots (I’m building a Rat Cave next so I can create weapons to fight off those meanies). Strictly open game play like the original Sims was just not fun for me, but I love having a list of little tasks to achieve.
Now, Sims 2 DS is not perfect. I am particularly disturbed by the angry and loopy Sims. It’s my responsibility to calm them down. If I don’t do it right, they take a swing at me. I really don’t like that the only way to stop them from punching me is to “beg” them. It is even more disturbing to me when the Sim is male. In “real” life if a man acted like that around me, he would be evicted from my hotel and barred from ever coming back in. That’s not an option in this game, so several times a day, I have to beg Sims not to punch me. I took a video of an interaction so you could see what I mean:
The angry Sim apologizes and gives you a gift after you calm him down, but I am disturbed by the punching. I know people get angry in real life, but begging them isn’t the way to stop them from punching you. I think it bothers me because it’s my job to make people happy, calm or stop acting so drunk. In real life, I have found that I can’t really change other people’s emotions. Their emotions are strictly under their own control. I like how Animal Crossing does it instead. When my animal friends are angry or sad, they tell me to leave them alone for a little while while they work through their feelings. That seems a little more realistic to me.
I was also bothered by the fact that the first thing you need to do to revitalize your hotel is to build a casino, but I haven’t seen the entire story arc. I have purposely stayed away from walkthroughs and spoilers as much as I can because I want the game to surprise me. I don’t want to know everything about the game before I even get to play it.
On the whole, this is a great game for adults. If you kept hearing about how The Sims is a wonderful game, but couldn’t understand what everyone was so excited about, try Sims 2 for the Nintendo DS. It’s almost good enough to draw my attention away from Animal Crossing.
If you have enjoyed being a rock god with Guitar Hero, you will be happy to know that they are taking it one step further: Rock Band. Four players, four instruments: bass guitar, lead guitar, drums and lead vocals. Now you and your three favorite friends can join a rock band and become rock legends instead of just rock gods!
There is more information here:
Here is the most important feature:
Online connectivity is a key to the game. The developers envision additional songs for online purchase beyond those in the retail version. And players need not be together to jam. “You could have one guitarist in Germany and another one in Texas, a drummer in New York and a singer from somewhere else, and they can play together online,” EA’s David DeMartini says.
It seems the Guitar Hero folks have been a busy bunch because they also announced plans for a mobile version of the game:
A special thank you to Nicole Lee for giving me the heads up yesterday! Thanks Nicole, I would have missed this if it wasn’t for you!
Via: Nicolelee on Twitter