If you purchased Torchlight in either the weekend deal before the sale (like me!) or the Holiday Sale itself – sucks to be you! If not, awesome – do it now. At just $4.99, it’s probably not going to be cheaper for a long time yet. Or, if you like your RPGs to be bigger, longer, and more expensive, how about Dragon Age Origins at 25% off?

I can’t help but point out that when the sale launched, the Star Wars Premier Pack was listed as $9.99, and we were all very excited. Hm.

Dragon Age: Origins – $37.49 (25% off)
Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition – $48.74 (25% off)
LUMINES Base + Advance Pack – $2.99 (80% off)
Prototype – $19.99 (50% off)
Star Wars Premier Pack – $24.99 (33% off)
Torchlight – $4.99 (75% off)
Universe at War: Earth Assault – $4.99 (75% off)

[Steam]

The second reason for video game immersion is our mind and its incredible capacity for abstraction. This is the point games have in common with other art forms. Movies, music, literature, poetry, painting, all rely on the human mind to achieve immersion. But because we human beings have such a huge capacity of abstraction and imagination, most of these media still achieve immersion while offering vastly incomplete experiences. And that’s not a bad thing. A movie is very close to a full experience: it offers detailed visual and auditory stimuli. On the other hand, listening to a concert on an iPod offers nothing but audio and is still capable of moving us deeply. More impressive yet is abstract painting. Even with loose correlation to reality, it still makes us think and react. But perhaps the most impressive example is in literature. A romance offers nothing other than letters. Although it is not as interpretation heavy as an abstract painting, the feelings a book offers are completely created by the brain. The flat pages have no pictures, audio, smell or taste. But we are still capable of imagining all that from the otherwise meaningless letters and feel as if we were there, in a battle for Britain or in the middle of a rather funny version of the days preceding Armageddon (two of my favorite books by the way).

This is the immersion aspect that moves game technology the farthest. Graphics evolve at every new console or video card iteration in the search for immersion. But if you stop to think about it, isn’t this inconsistent with what I just said? If we can get immersion even from black letters on white paper, why struggle so much with graphics? Well, there’s a whole visual experience related to video games. It would be like asking Salvador Dali why he added so many details to his paintings. It is not just about activity immersion. Everything with a visual component can aim for a visual experience and for beauty. The same goes for all other senses. There are different types of immersion: you might love Assassin’s Creed II but still look at an individual screenshot and admire the beauty and level of detail in the 3D models and textures.

But that did not satisfy me either and I found the best answer from Richie Nieto, who helped me with my questions in the IGDA forums. Like he said, immersion depends on the suspension of disbelief. Which means our brain must fool us into believing the alternate reality the game offers (isn’t that the same thing we do with reality itself? Subject for another topic). The catch is that this depends on our experiences and our expectations. When a gamer plays a very abstract game, say Lumines, he’s taken to a weird world of falling blocks and intriguing sounds. We can, of course, admire the beauty of the graphics in combination with sound effects caused by gameplay. But in order for Lumines to be immersive, all it has to do is be consistent with itself. There’s no other world like it, our experiences and expectations are based on the game itself. Okami on the other hand also has a very unique art style, obviously non realistic. And while the lack of graphic realism does not stop us from getting involved, we have other aspects to consider. If gravity does not behave as expected, the player will notice. If the painted wolf’s head disappears behind a mountain due to a collision detection problem, it will bother us a bit. The experience is not ruined, but these details break the suspension of disbelief for a brief moment. It is even worse for a title like Metal Gear Solid 4. In this case, reality itself (well, at least as perceived by our senses) is the standard. That makes it so much harder to achieve immersion. Graphics matter a lot, as do sound, physics, movement, interactions.

So in short, the second reason for immersion is: the game must live up to its expectations and provide a consistent alternate reality. This alternate reality must not clash with itself or with the reality the player created in his mind, based on the game and on previous experiences.

Only one reason left. Keep on reading!

See you space cowboys…

Immersion is one of the greatest goals every game tries to achieve. It is more obvious in what I call character based games. When you play Gears of War, you feel you are in Marcus Fenix’s shoes. When you play MGS4 you feel the drama of the dying hero as if it were your own. In Modern Warfare 2, every drop of blood on the screen makes you worry and get cover.

But it is also true for impersonal games; that is, the ones whose focus is not on characters. It is easier to notice it when I replace the word immersion for involvement. When playing Lumines or Tower Bloxx for example, you feel involved in the game: frustrated after a mistake, excited when a new level is reached, defiant when the score of a friend is beaten. Note impersonal and casual games are not the same thing at all. Chess is impersonal as are, heroes aside, most RTSs: replace one Zealot for another, there’s no difference at all. All sports games are like that too, with the exception of modes like EA’s Be A Pro.

Now, there’s a multitude of factors that contribute to how immersive a game is. I recently mentioned one talking about Demon’s Souls: challenge. A challenged player is an involved player. There’s also the connection between player and game at the fundamental design level: some people like puzzles, some like shooters. I will not get in the merits of each one, but if you like a type of game, you will be more into it. Style also plays a big role: when graphics and sound suit the game and your mood, they also improve immersion. In fact, I would say immersion is the reason behind most graphical updates in the games industry. From polygon count and texture size to shaders, in the search for immersion graphics chips are always evolving to provide better and more artistic or realistic visuals.

From here we get to the other facet of immersion I want to talk about: controls. No matter what game you are playing, connecting to it requires controlling it without trouble. You only get into Tetris when you learn how to move and rotate the pieces the way you want, you only appreciate Geometry Wars after getting used to moving the ship with the analog stick, you only feel like Sam Fisher when pulling all his moves gets easy, you only enjoy Fifa 10 when passing, dribbling and shooting becomes second nature.

Over the years, games became more and more complex. And with game complexity came complex controls. The Atari had 1 button. The NES had 2. The Genesis had 3. In the current generation, both PS3 and 360 have 4 face buttons, 2 shoulder buttons, 2 shoulder triggers and 2 clickable analog sticks. And I am not counting dpads, select and start buttons.

Most gamers are used to it. Hell, controllers could have more buttons and that wouldn’t be a problem, not to me. But with the last generation of consoles, we saw a big move in the opposite direction coming from Nintendo. The Wii has less buttons and makes up for it trying to detect something everybody knows how to do: move and point. When I first heard about it, I was very interested, both as a gamer and as a robotic perception researcher. To me, that meant games would become even more immersive, shooters would feel even more realistic.

It is curious that while it is true the Wii controllers increased immersion, that change did not affect most hardcore games. Nintendo correctly (from a business perspective) focused on using the more approachable controls to bring a new crowd to the video games era. And it worked very well for them.

Nintendo’s approach was so right that others have been following it ever since. After the success of the Wii, many game platforms started exploring new and more natural input methods. Touch screens and accelerometers became very popular.

But we will soon reach a new apex. Something I personally have been waiting for since I started studying computer vision. And Microsoft is the one about to pull it off: no controls. No buttons at all. If you haven’t heard of Project Natal before, go check it out. It is awesome.

The idea of a vision system in games is not new, the PS2 had the EyeToy. But there were many technical limitations: from sensor capability (one still eye won’t give proper perception of depth for example) to processing power, as robust computer vision algorithms require a whole lot of processing. Project Natal solves these problems in a very interesting way: a single camera is used for “texture” detection. And instead of stereo vision, they achieve 3D perception with a depth sensor. As for the processing power, Project Natal’s device features a custom processor, which is certainly there to reduce the load on the 360 hardware.

Like Nintendo did, Project Natal’s first efforts will probably aim the casual market and bring more gamers to the table. But that does not change the fact that immersion in video games will take a big leap. Imagine playing Lumines by grabbing the blocks and rotating them with your hands. Or simply using your empty hands to select your playlist. Wouldn’t it be cool? Heck, in Minority Report Tom Cruise needed cool glowing gloves to do what we are about to get with our bare hands. The future is here, my friends.

Anyway, as the number of buttons get close to the limit, after all we only have 10 fingers, new input methods are here to stay. I don’t have a Wii. But I will need a bigger living room when Project Natal becomes available.

See you space cowboys…

Καθυστερεί το Lumines για το PSN – Gameover.gr

Η Q Games ανακοίνωσε ότι η διάθεση του Lumines μέσω του PlayStation Store θα καθυστερήσει γιατί, όπως φαίνεται, στην πορεία προέκυψαν αρκετά σημαντικά εμπόδια. Ο developer δηλώνει πρόθυμος να προσφέρει τόσο το αρχικό Lumines, όσο και το sequel του μέσω της online υπηρεσίας της Sony, αλλά ορισμένα προβλήματα, που αφορούν τις άδειες των μουσικών κομματιών, καθώς και το γεγονός πως στο όλο θέμα εμπλέκεται και η Namco-Bandai, καθυστερούν το όλο εγχείρημα.[next]

Στις 13/11 το CM 2010 για Mac – Gameover.gr

Η Beautiful Game Studios ανακοίνωσε πως οι κάτοχοι Mac θα έχουν τη δυνατότητα να προμηθευτούν το Championship Manager 2010 από τις 13 Νοεμβρίου. To νέος μέλος της γνωστής σειράς εξομοίωσης προπονητικής ποδοσφαίρου διαθέτει -μεταξύ άλλων- 3D μηχανή αγώνα, το χαρακτηριστικό CM Season Live -που ενημερώνει τη βάση δεδομένων του παιχνιδιού με στοιχεία και στατιστικά από τους αγώνες που διεξάγονται στην πραγματικότητα- και ένα εργαλείο δημιουργίας στημένων φάσεων[next]

Δωρεάν νέο υλικό για το PES 2010 – Gameover.gr

Ακολουθώντας το ρεύμα της εποχής, που θέλει τους νέους τίτλους να υποδέχονται σε μικρό χρονικό διάστημα μετά την κυκλοφορία τους επιπλέον υλικό, στη λίστα αυτών των τίτλων έρχεται να προστεθεί και το Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, αλλά με μια μικρή ιδιαιτερότητα. Οι έξτρα προσθήκες της Konami θα είναι εντελώς δωρεάν, ωστόσο, η εταιρία δεν ανακοίνωσε τί σκοπεύει να προσφέρει στους φίλους της σειράς[next]

Λύση στα προβλήματα του Borderlands – Gameover.gr

Μπορεί το Borderlands να κυκλοφόρησε μόλις πριν από δύο ημέρες στην Αμερική αλλά τα πρώτα προβλήματα δεν έλειψαν. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, οι κάτοχοι PlayStation 3 διαμαρτυρήθηκαν ότι σε online περιβάλλον ήταν πολλές οι περιπτώσεις που δεν έβλεπαν τα ονόματα των υπολοίπων παικτών, ενώ συχνά δεν ήταν σε θέση να καλέσουν τους φίλους τους για συνεργατικό παιχνίδι.[next]

Blu-ray περιφερειακό για το Xbox 360; – Gameover.gr

Μιλώντας στο Gizmodo, ο Steve Ballmer -CEO της Microsoft- αποκάλυψε ότι δεν είναι ανάγκη να ενσωματωθεί ένα Blu-ray drive στο Xbox 360, μιας και οι κάτοχοι της κονσόλας θα έχουν τη δυνατότητα να το αγοράσουν ως περιφερειακό.[next]

Ετοιμαστείτε να πάρετε εκδίκηση με το νέο trailer του GTA: Chinatown Wars | Game 2.0

H Rockstar έδωσε στη δημοσιότητα ένα νέο trailer του GTA: Chinatown Wars, ενόψει της αυριανής κυκλοφορίας του παιχνιδιού.

Το GTA: Chinatown Wars για PSP είναι port της έκδοσης για DS που παίξαμε νωρίτερα φέτος και διαθέτει μεταξύ άλλων upscaled widescreen γραφικά, ανανεωμένους φωτισμούς και animation, καθώς και νέες αποστολές συγκριτικά με την έκδοση για φορητό της Nintendo.[next]

Τέλος οι third-party κάρτες μνήμης με το νέο update του Xbox 360 | Game 2.0

H Microsoft ανακοίνωσε ότι το επερχόμενο update του Xbox 360, αυτό που θα προσθέσει τα Twitter, Facebook και Last.fm δηλαδή, θα καταργήσει την συμβατότητα της κονσόλας με τις third-party κάρτες μνήμης.[next]

Hello again.

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted that we’d been taking some ‘personal time off’ (Read as: We’re busy with real life) and that we’d be posting more soon?

I might have lied.

Life is still playing havoc with our time. But, with all the cool stuff happening with my gaming world, I figured I’d bite the bullet and write something about what I’ve been up to in the last few months…

Played a ton of demos. Say what you want about PSN, the demos are flowing in like no one’s business. The good: Brutal Legend  is fun and very smart. Double Fine did a great job so far and it seems that this is going to be a big game for them. Jack Black is very tolerable and is really funny in his role as….himself. Looking to pick this up. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is also continuing the win streak of getting a better ninja game after the fact. Again, the demo unlocks more content with every play through, like the first demo for NGS. Making it a favorite of people that can’t buy games as often as they used to. The combat is more of the same smooth, cut your arms off, crazy crap that you should be used to by now. The boss fight towards the end of the demo is pretty crazy. I felt like buying the game after playing it a few times.

More good: picked up the first of the Fallout 3 DLC FINALLY on PS3, Broken Steel. It’s great, as you already know. The Broken Steel story is longer then I thought and at one point, got so hard, I thought I was going to throw my controller across the room. The subway fight is the worst, most frustrating sequence in a game that I’ve played in a long time. It was still worth getting to start back in to a game that really is deep and expansive.  Also, finding three different flamethrowers is awesome for someone like me that seems to enjoy setting people on fire alittle too much at times.

Finally bought Trash Panic and Shatter. Both awesome, addictive games with quirky gameplay and wonderful soundtrack. Even if Trash Panic is the hardest fucking game I’ve ever played, I still love playing it. Shatter is another way for companies to get my money. Keep making Arkaniod games, guys and I’ll keep buying them. Between Shatter and Magic Ball, I should be doing an all ball returning game weekend. I love that stuff.

Speaking of stuff I love, I got into the Uncharted 2 Beta, and later the public demo/beta. Both times, I really couldn’t believe that this game was getting so much love from the gaming press and other news outlets. It’s still Uncharted. The gun play and scaling are back along with multiplayer. I mean, I came from a time, 2007 to be exact, where the thought of a PS3 game being good was something of a internet punchline. Now Uncharted 2 seems to be, many people think, the hands down, game of the year. What a difference two years can make. Looking forward to the showdown of Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2 and ODST fighting for GotY honors.

Been replaying all of my old games since money is tight and there are so many games coming in the next three to four months that I’m not going to have money for. Replaying Uncharted, Bioshock, Lumines Supernova, Zen Pinball, Fallout 3, (this time as the evil guy) and Wipeout HD is reminding me how much I love gaming. Planning on busting out some more trophies on these games, as well as Shatter and Marvel Vs Capcom 2.

In other news, I just got Diablo 2 like it’s the year 2000. Always up with the times. More on this when I get started. All you need to know is that I’ve always wanted to play this game, but never had the computer processing power to run it and with my type of gaming personality, I was afraid of the game destroying my life. But with 134 hours in Fallout 3 (not including the times that I had to start over  due to being trapped somewhere or erasing my save to start over with trophies)  and a embarrassing 481 hours in Oblivion, I think I’ll be ok playing a 9 years old game. More when it develops.

That’s all for now. More soon. Really this time………mabye.

J.

Since the ubiquitous Tetris was released to massive success in 1989, there have been many games that have tried to use block-falling gameplay. Some have been simply poor imitations, whilst others like Dr Robotniks Mean Bean Machine on the Megadrive, have taken the idea and added their own twist resulting in a game that stands up in its own right. Originally released in Japan on the PSP in late 2004, Lumines has gone on to grace mobiles, PS2, XBLA, PC and now PS3.

In Lumines the object is to arrange the blocks so that four of the same colour, make a square. A bar that passes from left to right of the screen will erase the squares as it passes over them, then if position dictates, the remaining blocks will fall into a new position. Multiple squares can be created by moving the falling blocks into longer rectangle shapes. The difficulty of the level is affected by the speed of the falling blocks and the speed of the moving bar. You might encounter fast falling blocks and a slow moving bar, or vice-versa. Sometimes both are fast or slow.

One of the most celebrated features of the original Tetris was the music. The awful pop-dance record that was made out of the theme tune has thankfully been largely forgotten but this is perhaps where the Russian puzzler made its biggest influence on Lumines.

Music is a big part of this game and in fact features an almost ‘club-like’ experience. Playing the game unlocks ‘skins’, like the PS3 XMB Themes, these change the look and sounds of the game. The backgrounds never stay still and sometimes images can almost leap out, testing your concentration on the task at hand. The skins vary between metallic shapes, more leafy looking icons or the downright bizarre such as a background showing tilting peanuts being roasted over a fire. There are guest themes too, the most prominent of which is a LittleBigPlanet design. As you play the game Sackboy runs along behind the falling blocks and the music is taken from LBP too. Publishers are are keen to cross promote games these days so other guest skins will no doubt arrive in the near future.

In general the music is designed to fit the theme. If the blocks are metallic, then the music uses Industrial type noises, softer images rely on softer sounds. The overall Electronica style of each track fits with the overall theme of the skins. These sounds change on every movement of the blocks triggers a sound that somehow seems to fit with the music. Turning the blocks or dropping them, each has its own sound, whether it be a vocal sample, drum sound or synth noise. These, like the background, almost guarantees that every time you play the game, it will seem a little different.

There are many different modes included. Challenge mode is a continuous game to get the high scores. Simple. It’s in this mode that you collect the skins as you get further into it. Time attack mode gives you 60, 180, 300 or 600 seconds to clear as many blocks as you can. Dig Down mode asks you to clear two columns of blocks within 180 seconds on each level. Puzzle mode is perhaps the most difficult because you have to make patterns such as a cross by arranging the blocks. Mission mode features a list of tasks to carry out. One per level, such as ‘Erase all blocks’. There is also a 2 player split screen battle.

A skin editor is included. With this you can select what skins you want to play along with and also the order they occur. Also there is a sequencer which enables you to create your own music. This features loops from a sound-bank that you select the ones you like and arrange them on a grid to make a track.  Drums, bass, pads, effects and ‘others’ are present but due to the fact you can’t import your own sounds means that in practice the majority of what you create will sound very similar to what is already there.

Lumines is a good fun puzzler. If you’ve time to kill and are good at the game, the Challenge mode will provide hours of brain activity chasing those high scores. With no online mode, this is where you’ll spend most of your time. It’s tricky enough n places but a good player will find they can more or less go on indefinitely. This may or may not be a plus point. It depends if you enjoy consistent challenge and are just looking to fill up some time or are looking for something that pushes you every time you play it.

Of the other options, Mission mode is pretty much a once-only affair because even though you are timed, most of the tasks are performed as fast as you can possibly do it on the very first go. The rest of the modes are probably just occasional diversions.

Puzzle games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if they are yours, then this is one of the better ones.

Overall 4/5

Aqui vai uma lista dos games a serem jogados no portátil!

Muitos ainda acreditam que o PSP nada mais é que o depósito das versões menores dos consoles grandes, porém isso não significa que bons games não possam surgir nele, não é? Afinal a Sony tem parceiros poderosos e muito criativos trabalhando em games desde seu lançamento, além dela mesmo colocar seus estúdios para trabalhar na plataforma. A consequência disso é que eventualmente surgem games muito bons para a alegria daqueles que já o possuem.

Claro que existem aqueles que ainda não compraram o console e ainda estão avaliando se ainda o vão fazer. E é para isso que elaboramos esta lista, para aqueles que querem uma boa razão para adquirir o sistema. Essa lista também serve para os curiosos que querem saber quais os melhores games já lançados para ele.

Elaboramos uma lista com os dez melhores games de PSP até aqui, então se você tem um e não tenha jogado ainda um destes games não perca tempo e adquira-os rapidamente, pois são extremamente viciantes!!!

Lembrando que eles (os games da lista) são meramente um conselho para aqueles que ainda não jogaram, ou para aqueles que já jogaram e querem relembrá-los. Caso queiram os links, estão abaixo da descrição do game nos formatos torrentz. Caso discordem da lista, façam comentários moderados, pois esta é uma pequena lista com algumas sugestões (desde que gostem dos respectivos estilos). De qualquer forma, jogem este games ou morram tentando!

10 – Burnout Legends:

A fórmula é a mesma do clássico Burnout 3: Takedown do PS2. São corridas em alta velocidade recheadas com muita destruição e carros dos mais diversos estilos (inclusive carros de Fórmula 1 e caminhões de lixo). Os gráficos são muito semelhantes aos do PS2 com destaque nas batidas e explosões. Um game imperdível para quem gosta de corrida e muita destruição!

Link: aqui!

9 – Patapon 2

Games criativos não são muito frequentes , porém o estúdio da Sony remou contra a maré e trouxe um dos games mais criativos que já se teve notícia. No game você controla os batuques, que por sua vez definem quais as ações dos “Pons” em lutas com tribos rivais e cruzadas pelo deserto ou pelo oceano, ou ainda para caçar. Cada ação dos pequeninos é seguida pelas viciantes músicas deles. Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon….

Link: aqui!

8 – Loco Roco

Outro game da Sony que privilegia a música, porém diferente de Patapon, aqui você controla o cenário. Quem já viu sabe como funciona: L e R inclinam um pouco o cenário para os lados e os Locos saem rolando por aí. Apesar do conceito simples, o game vicia por suas minucias e é extremamente divertido assistir aos loopings que os Locos fazem nos ambientes. Depois de um tempo pode até ficar repetitivo, porém é só impressão, o game faz bem o papel de variar os cenários e as missões.

Link: aqui!

7 – Monster Hunter Freedom 2

Até pouco tempo atrás era consenso geral que o PSP carecia de RPGs e que os poucos que existiam não eram muito bons. Porém Monster Hunter Freedom 2 chegou ao ocidente arrebentando. Nele você encarna um caçador de monstros em um mundo belo e extenso. Os gráficos são muito bons e o som é no melhor estilo RPG épico. Os monstros do game são violentos e muitas vezes são enormes, nada que assuste quem já jogou Shadow of the Colossus, mas ainda assim grandes o bastante para impressionar.

Link: aqui!

6 – Lumines

Lumines foi o primeiro game a tentar uma abordagem diferente no PSP, o esquema é simples: montar quadrados paa ganhar pontos até que a velocidade fica absurda. Num estilo tetris. O que o difere de todos os outros games de montar bloquinhos é que enquanto você joga a música interage com suas ações, por exeplo: segure o direcional para a esquerda ou simplesmente rotacione o bloco e a música terá um efeito diferente. Isso e os cenários de fundo que vão variando conforme o progresso do jogo garantem horas e horas de jogatina, até que o jogador ganhe todos os extras. Outro game indispensável.

Link: aqui!

5 – Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Tag Force 3

Este é indicado para quem gosta de card game e principalmente de Yu-Gi-Oh!. Pois este é o melhor game da série até hoje já feito, são pelo menos 3500 cartas colecionáveis e a maior parte do elenco da temporada GX. O legal no game é a possibilidade de montar qualquer tipo de deck que se deseje, inclusive copiar os decks dos personagens do anime. Outro fator que o torna um dos melhores do PSP são as estratégias que podem ser elaboradas, por exemplo: no início do game você tem um deck miserável, porém pode derrotar muitos duelistas de elite com ele apenas fazendo upgrades ocasionais. Caso você tenha outros amigos que tenham PSP é possível organizar duelos com até quatro pessoas.

Link: aqui!

4 – Silent Hill Origins

Origins é um retorno a velha Silent Hill apresentada no 1º game da série. Os cenários são praticamente os mesmos: as ruas, o hospital Alchemila, a enfermeira Lisa, Alessa… As diferenças são puramente de justificativa, como o fato de que Travis chegou a cidade casualmente, diferente dos outros protagonistas que foram “escolhidos” pela cidade. Porém isso não quer dizer que o game não seja bom, o terror existe sim e os momentos de tensão também. Os monstros estão muito maiores e mais difíceis de serem combatidos, uma vez que as armas manuais de Travis se quebram após algum tempo de uso. Isto dá ainda mais tensão no game, felizmente o protagonista pode partir para o mano-a-mano com as criaturas. Hoje o game está disonível para o PS2, então se você ainda não possui o portátil pode escolher a versão caseira mesmo que é a mesma vista no pequeno notável.

Link: aqui!

3 – GTA: Vice City Stories

De volta a criminalidade de GTA, você poderá fazer tudo o que fazia antes no PS2, agora no bolso. Não é necessário falar muito de GTA, porque provavelmente você já o jogou. A história é sempre a mesma, uma descupa qualquer para matar, roubar ou apenas passear pelas ruas praianas de Vice City. As missões extras também estão lá, ou seja, voc~e pode ganhar a vida honestamente dirigindo taxis ou entregando pizzas. O que de fato coloca GTA como um dos melhores de PSP é porque ele é um autêntico GTA e a seu favor tem o mundo paradisíaco e movimentado do mesmo game do PS2.

Link: aqui!

2 – Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

Ambientado seis anos após Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, este mostra os atos de Naked Snake após a FOX tornar-se uma unidade renegada e a criação da FOX HOUND e dos Patriots e a inspiração que acabou originando o estado belicoso Outer Heaven. O que o torna diferenciado em relação aos outros Metal Gear do PSP é o fato que ele é o primeiro com a jogabilidade ao estilo ação tática. E sabemos que quando Hideo Kojima tem a oportunidade sempre dá seus toques nos games, no caso ele atuaou como produtor. Cenas impressionantes e lutas desafiadoras estam lá e provam que mesmo o PSP é um console capaz de suportar as técnicas nada convencionais e únicas de criação da Kojima Productions.

Link: aqui!

1 – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

O game mais memorável do PS1 já ganhou tantos enfeites (todos merecidos) que é até possível perder as contas, mas se há uma coisa que a Square não deixa nenhum game da série perder é a qualidade. E em Crisis Core a qualidade foi levada aos mais altos graus possíveis. No game você encarna Zack, o mentor de Cloud, seis anos antes dos acontecimentos de FFVII. Isto faz com que o jogador presencie eventos históricos como a guerra entre Shinra e Wutai e a passagem da espada Buster Sword para as mãos de Cloud. A trilha sonora é fiel ao game do PS1 e os gráficos são um dos mais belos já vistos no portátil, com destaque para as CG’s que alcançaram níveis de nova geração dos consoles e podem ser pausadas.  É obrigatório para os fãs da série e mesmo para quem não jogou  o FFVII (afinal, pode-se inverter a ordem e jogá-lo antes). Legal também ver os consagrados personagens como Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie e “o anjo de uma asa só”.

Link: aqui!

E o game que tem de ser jogado definitivamente é:

God of War: Chains of Olympus

Não é possível deixar nenhum desses games de fora da lista, mas fazer um top 11 não combina. Então colocamos o top 10 e na sequência o game mais foda de todos que de tão foda descarta até numeração, então vamos lá.

Chains of Olympus é um game que conta acontecimentos antes do primeiro game da série do PS2. Na trama, Kratos está a serviço dos deuses e terá de ajudá-los, pois alguém lançou um expesso nevoeiro na Terra, que acaba matando os humanos e impedindo a luz de se proliferar. A deusa (momento spoiler) responsável por isso também almeja libertar o titã Atlas para destruir o Olimpo, cabe ao herói espartano impedir esses planos. Para isso ele terá de combater cíclopes, górgonas e monstros violentos inomináveis no perigoso Inferno.

Assim como os games para os consoles  grandes, em Chains os gráficos estão excelentes (os melhores do PSP) e a trilha sonora permanece com o estilo épico. A dificuldade não é insana como no primeiro game, mas em alguns pontos os produtores forçaram a paciência dos jogadores menos preparados. Os puzzles também estão lá e são muito bem elaborados, seguindo a fórmula abem sucedida . O game em si é perfeito e pode ter feito muitos jogadores optarem pelo PSP só para jogá-lo. Enfim, resta saber se o PSP receberá outro game da franquia, pois esta primeira empreitada foi muito bem sucedida.

Link: aqui!

Since the ubiquitous Tetris was released to massive success in 1989, there have been many games that have tried to use block-falling gameplay. Some have been simply poor imitations, whilst others like Dr Robotniks Mean Bean Machine on the Megadrive, have taken the idea and added their own twist resulting in a game that stands up in its own right. Originally released in Japan on the PSP in late 2004, Lumines has gone on to grace mobiles, PS2, XBLA, PC and now PS3.

In Lumines the object is to arrange the blocks so that four of the same colour, make a square. A bar that passes from left to right of the screen will erase the squares as it passes over them, then if position dictates, the remaining blocks will fall into a new position. Multiple squares can be created by moving the falling blocks into longer rectangle shapes. The difficulty of the level is affected by the speed of the falling blocks and the speed of the moving bar. You might encounter fast falling blocks and a slow moving bar, or vice-versa. Sometimes both are fast or slow.

Lumines with Sackboy 'skin'

One of the most celebrated features of the original Tetris was the music. The awful pop-dance record that was made out of the theme tune has thankfully been largely forgotten but this is perhaps where the Russian puzzler made its biggest influence on Lumines.

Music is a big part of this game and in fact features an almost ‘club-like’ experience. Playing the game unlocks ‘skins’, like the PS3 XMB Themes, these change the look and sounds of the game. The backgrounds never stay still and sometimes images can almost leap out, testing your concentration on the task at hand. The skins vary between metallic shapes, more leafy looking icons or the downright bizarre such as a background showing tilting peanuts being roasted over a fire. There are guest themes too, the most prominent of which is a LittleBigPlanet design. As you play the game Sackboy runs along behind the falling blocks and the music is taken from LBP too. Publishers are are keen to cross promote games these days so other guest skins will no doubt arrive in the near future.

In general the music is designed to fit the theme. If the blocks are metallic, then the music uses Industrial type noises, softer images rely on softer sounds. The overall Electronica style of each track fits with the overall theme of the skins. These sounds change on every movement of the blocks triggers a sound that somehow seems to fit with the music. Turning the blocks or dropping them, each has its own sound, whether it be a vocal sample, drum sound or synth noise. These, like the background, almost guarantees that every time you play the game, it will seem a little different.

There are many different modes included. Challenge mode is a continuous game to get the high scores. Simple. It’s in this mode that you collect the skins as you get further into it. Time attack mode gives you 60, 180, 300 or 600 seconds to clear as many blocks as you can. Dig Down mode asks you to clear two columns of blocks within 180 seconds on each level. Puzzle mode is perhaps the most difficult because you have to make patterns such as a cross by arranging the blocks. Mission mode features a list of tasks to carry out. One per level, such as ‘Erase all blocks’. There is also a 2 player split screen battle.

A skin editor is included. With this you can select what skins you want to play along with and also the order they occur. Also there is a sequencer which enables you to create your own music. This features loops from a sound-bank that you select the ones you like and arrange them on a grid to make a track.  Drums, bass, pads, effects and ‘others’ are present but due to the fact you can’t import your own sounds means that in practice the majority of what you create will sound very similar to what is already there.

Lumines is a good fun puzzler. If you’ve time to kill and are good at the game, the Challenge mode will provide hours of brain activity chasing those high scores. With no online mode, this is where you’ll spend most of your time. It’s tricky enough n places but a good player will find they can more or less go on indefinitely. This may or may not be a plus point. It depends if you enjoy consistent challenge and are just looking to fill up some time or are looking for something that pushes you every time you play it.

Of the other options, Mission mode is pretty much a once-only affair because even though you are timed, most of the tasks are performed as fast as you can possibly do it on the very first go. The rest of the modes are probably just occasional diversions.

Puzzle games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if they are yours, then this is one of the better ones.

Overall 4/5

Eri Nobuchika is a talented Japanese singer, who in my opinion doesn’t get nearly enough attention. If you’re a gaming aficionado, you may have heard Eri’s music before without even knowing it. Two of her songs, ”I Hear The Music In My Soul’ and a beautiful remix of ‘Lights’ appear in Lumines on the PSP. Read more about Eri and listen to some of her music after the jump.

Nobuchika Eri was discovered by producer Shinichi Osawa (aka Mondo Grosso) at a Sony Music audition and her first album was released December 2005.  In 2006, Shinichi Osawa moved to another label leaving Eri high and dry.  She has however appeared as guest vocalist on Delofamilia’s album, Quiet Life in 2007.

A major comeback is planned this year  by releasing a new album and performing a concert on the same day, June 3rd 2009. The album is called ‘Hands’ and I absolutely can’t wait to hear it. June will be a massive musical month for me, with Kaela Kimura and Shiina Ringo also releasing albums later that month. Samples of the new album can be found on her official Myspace page.

Eri has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard, sweet yet powerful and versatile. The best demonstration of this is in her live recordings, where you can’t disguise a mediocre voice. Here are some amazing live renditions of ‘Sketch for Summer’ and ‘Voice’.

My favourite song on the Nobuchikaeri album is Yume no Kakera, it’s just so beautiful, multi-layered and soaring. The entire album is excellent and flows from one song to the next, I wholeheartedly urge you to try it then buy it. ^_^

Links to more information:
Eri Nobuchika’s personal blog
Her official site
Excellent Eri news-blog in English

Please join me soon for a look at Delofamila and eventually the new album, Hands.

As a bonus, here’s the gorgeous video for the song Voice.

[youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYyzn5D5GU8]

Originally posted 18th Aug 2008, updated 7th May 2009

I painted Pip Boy's face on with a toothpick and Nutella. How tragic.

Those who know me may or may not know that I bake a lot. Well, I used to bake a lot. I haven’t made anything worthy of writing home about since last Christmas when I baked Lumines cupcakes (picture above) for a “games industry” drinking event. They were the most time-consuming cupcakes I’d ever made, and it was the first time I’d had fun with fondant as well. [I've been meaning to put that recipe up, but I only documented half of it. I stopped taking photos as soon as I started using food colouring.]  At the event, I overheard someone say that the cakes were “too dry”,  that hurt my feelings; I cried for days and vowed to never bake again, so I stopped baking for a while.

Anyway, I’m undertaking another baking adventure over the next few days. The journalism society at my university is holding a tea party fundraiser so that we can fund our own drunken shenanigans various journalistic events that all students on campus can enjoy. Not that I particularly care about other students — I just don’t like seeing a society that I’m an executive member of being in the red.  I’ve volunteered to make cupcakes, brownies, and shortbread, but I’m not sure what gaming theme I should use. So I’m taking requests!

What kind of videogame cupcake/shortbread/chocolate brownie thing would you like to see me make? I’m ready to take suggestions on board. Keep in mind that if you suggest something to the effect of “bake the final cut-scene in Metal Gear Solid 4!” I will not even bother because, well, I’m a journalist, not a cakist*.

So yeah… GO GO GO!

• Does this word even exist? I’ve been told by someone, I don’t remember who, that it is a real word, but I’m skeptical.

Dingoo, a new device is ready with funny name to bring a guaranteed entertainment for you. This is an all in one multimedia device to fulfill our needs of multimedia. The design of this Dingoo A320 comes with a premium fashionable design in slim and portable size as well as a comfortable handgrip, which lets us enjoy games in 8bit /16bit/32bit. Moreover, it is not just a portable game device but it can work as a video player, audio player and it can be used to view picture files, record voice, play FM radio and to read e-Book.

Click to know Magic Lines Game

In additional you can use this on TV through its AV-Out technology giving you a DVD output quality. The price of this device is ¥ 11,050.00 and it will take 5 to 10 days for shipping.

[ More ]

Takagi Masakatsu – Girls

Yesterday’s post was a short-form article that was a tryout for a lead writer position that I was applying on a forum I visit.  Here is the long-form piece.  It’s a game review of a new version of one of my favorite games, Lumines.  Enjoy!

Lumines Supernova for the PSN

I have been addicted to Lumines ever since I got my Playstation Portable in 2005, and have played most versions of the game since its release, except for the Lumines Plus for the Playstation 2. I have sucked hours into playing the game on the PSP and on Lumines Live! on the XBOX360 Live Arcade. I am glad to have Lumines Supernova for the Playstation Network to add to my repertoire. As with each iteration of the game, Lumines Supernova offers new skins and new features, but, sadly, excludes a few that I miss.

As for the basic details, Lumines Supernova was released on December 23, 2008 on the PSN. It features Dolby Digital surround sound and is published by Q Entertainment.

The general premise of Lumines is to create solid color squares from falling blocks. Blocks come in different patterns and colors and you have to match them up. If the screen fills up too much with those blocks, the game ends. A line move across the screen clear the solid square as it passes over them.

The game’s strongest features is how well it flows with the beat of the music ands its beautiful visual effects.

Lumines Supernova has some unique improvements, and disappointments, than its previous versions. The fantastic music that Lumines is known for is present, as well as eye-popping colors. And improved Sequencer Mode has been added, as well as a Dig Down Mode that is pretty fun to play. What is missing, though, is the VS. the CPU mode, and that makes me a sad panda. Coming in at $14.99 on the PSN, Lumines Supernova is a decent deal, with all modes immediately available to the player, unlike XBLA’s nickel-and-dime approach to weaseling more money of the player for more content and modes. Perhaps there will be more pay add-ons later, but right now the basic content is all there.

Here are the basic details about Lumines Supernova.:

• 40 unlockable skins

• Challenge Mode includes both Basic and Advanced sets.

• Skin Edit mode, which allows you to make your own playlist

• Time Attack mode: Clear as many blocks as you can within the time limit.

• Puzzle Mode: Make the shapes with the blocks

• Mission Mode: Reach a goal by clearing blocks

• Offline Player v. Player

• New Dig Down mode: Clear a column with a certain amount of time.

• Make your own music to play to with the Sequencer Mode.

• The free Holiday Skin pack adds 20 more skins to unlock.

What’s missing from the game is disappointing. :

• No online Player v. Player

• No VS. the CPU mode

• Again, where are the tunes by Mondo Grosso?

What can be good or bad: The difficulty is ramped up.

There are lots of great new skins to unlock in both Challenge Modes. Player beware, though, if a skin was in the XBLA version, it may behave completely different in Supernova. One example is the Aoi skin in Basic, which is much more difficult and fast than it was in the XBLA Challenge set. Don’t let familiar skins trick you!

Skin Edit Mode is pretty explanatory, make your own list from skins you’ve unlocked, play the list, be happy.

Time Attack Mode is still the same as it was in the previous versions. In each option in Time Attack mode, you can unlock different characters when you reach certain goals. No new content here, really, but it’s good to play when you only have a few minutes. And easy to caught up playing over and over again if you do have the time.

Puzzle Mode. I hate Puzzle Mode, but that is purely my opinion. I’ve always have had a difficult time with it and avoid it. Games are supposed to be fun, and that part is not fun for me.

Mission Mode is a different story. Another addition from Lumines 2, Mission Mode is pretty cool. You are giving a certain number blocks and steps that you have to clear them in. It makes you try to think visually and can help you improve your game in Challenge Mode, too, by realizing there is more than just a couple ways to make blocks.

Dig Down Mode is new to Lumines Supernova. This mode gives you 180 seconds to clear a column in the lines of blocks that are set up in the beginning. As you progress, it gets more challenging to clear that column, but it’s great to play when you only have a few minutes.

Offline Player v. Player is something that I haven’t had a chance to play yet because I only have on PS3 controller.

Sequencer Mode is pretty cool. You can pick from a variety of music options to make your music to play to. The skin you play on just loops around and around and can get a little tiresome after a bit.

The Holiday Skin pack is exactly like the one on XBLA. Still, it’s worth the download because it’s free, and you do get 20 more skins.

There are somethings missing from Supernova. Since PSN is an online network, why no online play? It just doesn’t make sense to leave that out, unless it’s going to be an add-on later.

I also miss the VS. the CPU Mode. That gave you more opportunity to work faster, harder, and improve at the game, as well the opportunity to unlock more skins. Again, maybe this will be a future add-on, but I haven’t heard anything yet.

Those of us who played that first the original Lumines on the PSP sigh with nostalgia when we first started the game and “Shinin” by the Japanese band Mondo Grosso came on as our first skin. As the lights pulsed and blocks shone, it was pure joy. If only that skin were to reprise again on a new version of the game just like other recycled skins.

One fun new skin that is added is the Little Big Planet skin. It’s fun to play with Sackboy running in the background while the music is sound effects play from the game.

There are two noted improvements over the XBLA version that I do want to mention. First, the PS3’s D-pad is less sucky for playing Supernova. It’s very nice, in fact. And second, it’s much nicer to have the combo alert-thinger pop up at the bottom of the screen, rather than the top over the skin as the XBLA one does.

And yes there are achiev…I mean trophies for Lumines Supernova.

If you like puzzle games, bright colors, shiny things, and good music, Lumines Supernova would be a welcome choice to your PSN collections. It’s addicting and you will definitely get your money’s worth. Crank up the music and play!

Go check out the forum at 360Arcadians!

“All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone… the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.” - Marcel Duchamp

A few years ago, an art teacher and mentor of mine walked into class one afternoon with a stool, a bicycle wheel, and nothing else. He proceeded to place the stool on top of a desk, and the wheel on top of the stool, before asking us a simple question: “Is this art?”

Most of my classmates thought he was nuts. “Of course not. How the hell is that art?”, I heard a few students say. Most just looked confused. At the time, I remembered I said “Yes”, without really knowing why. In all likelihood, I was just being a wanker without a clue, wanting to show off my supposed open-mindedness. I think we sat there for a good ten minutes; the students growing more and more confused, while my teacher just smiled at us, as though he was in on some kind of a secret.

“It is art if it is intended to be art,” he finally said.

Again, confusion ensued.

“So if I scribble on a piece of paper and say it’s art, then it’s art?” replied one smart-arse from across the room. “Or if I take off my shoe and place it on the table and call it art, then it’s art? What a load of crap.”

My teacher went on to explain Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel, where the artist famously attached a bicycle wheel to a stool and had it exhibited in a gallery. He also discussed the Urinal at length. While most of my classmates eschewed Duchamp’s work, claiming that it was a pile of rubbish and definitely not art, it got me thinking. First, who were we to judge what was and wasn’t ‘art’? Who, if anyone, was in a position to make that call? If an artist created a work with the intention of it being art, then who were we to shut them down, just because we didn’t like what they made? It would have been incredibly narrow-minded and elitist of us, and needlessly so. Second, why were people getting so offended by the idea of calling everyday objects ‘art’? When did art become something sacred and untouchable by ordinary people? Since when did it become elevated to the exclusive confines of the grandmasters of the Renaissance? Who made the rules and where are they now? Indeed, why did my fellow students even think there were rules?

I’m a big believer that anything can be art – the big, the small, the beautiful, the ugly, the tangible and the intangible – we just need to take a moment to recognise it. Whether or not it is any good is a different story, and the quality of an artwork is determined by anyone who interacts with it. Art is subjective; everyone will have a different experience with it, and everyone will place a different value on it.

I agreed and still do agree with my teacher to a certain extent. If an artist created a work with the intention of it being art, then no one has a right to discount what they do as not being worthy of being art, nor does anyone have the ability to take that intent away from the artist. So I guess this leads to the question of what if there was no artistic intent behind the artwork? What if the artist merely slapped together a painting for the sake of making some money? What if there was no passion, no grand idea, and no intent to make art? I guess that’s the issue I have with my teacher’s definition of what constitutes as art; it puts all the weight on the artist’s shoulders to determine whether or not something is art, and excludes the audience from the creative process.

I thought about Roland Barthes’ The Death of the Author and how it applies to this because even if the composer of a text had intended for a text to be read in a certain way, it doesn’t necessarily mean that audiences will get that reading when they engage with it.

I can’t imagine that any of the developers at Ubisoft were setting out to make art when they created the mind-numbing Imagine series and, in all likelihood, there was no artistic intent behind it. I could be wrong, but I can’t help but think that it was a contrived attempt to tap into the female tween market. But just because the artist had no artistic intent does not necessarily mean that the audience can’t interpret the text for themselves. As Duchamp said earlier, “…the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.” We all engage with texts differently, we all have different experiences with games, and videogames mean different thingsto different people.

It really is a tricky topic. On the one hand, I strongly believe that what my teacher said is true, but I also support Barthes’ theory of the death of the author; that once a game – or any text for that matter – has been released into the world, the author has no control over how the game is played or what meaning players will derive from it. For all I know, there could be a tween out there who thinks the Imagine series is amazing, in the same way that I find Lumines amazing.

I don’t think I can provide a clear definition of art, nor do I think that there is a universal definition that we can all agree on. The whole “are videogames art” debate keeps going around in circles because no one is really establishing boundaries in which to define art. “Are videogames art?” Well, we’d need to figure out what art, first, don’t we? At the moment, asking such a question is like asking “are videogames your mother’s face?” Umm…what? Yeah, exactly. I’m not sure if such boundaries should even be established but, if they were, at least we’d have a starting point so that writers can justify why they do or don’t think that videogames are art.

From what I’ve written so far, I’ve made my stance on the issue fairly clear. Videogames are an escape – you enter a different world when you play them, in the same way that art is used as an escape. People can become lost in the worlds created by artworks; gamers often become lost in the videogames they play.

Take Lumines as an example. It doesn’t have a conventional world as such – there’s no plot, no characters, no real ’setting’ or context – but it’s still a world of abstraction that you can lose yourself in.

On a visual level, Lumines is aesthetically pleasing. But it takes the aesthetics a step further by making the player responsible for how good the game looks – if you’re slow and your judgment is poor, you will not get the desired visual effect on your screen. If you’re good, fast, and understand the idea behind the game, then you will be rewarded with level advancement and new skins that are more visually stimulating than the previous ones.

The link between this and conventional artworks such as paintings is really strong. When you understand a painting, when you ‘get’ what the artist was trying to do and when you establish a relationship of understanding with an artwork, you appreciate it more and your overall experience with it is heightened.

Lumines, like any artwork, throws challenges at you, and these obstacles must be overcome for you to truly appreciate it. Where a painting or installation might make you think harder about the artist’s intentions or the concept behind the work before rewarding you with the ‘a-ha’ moment, Lumines utilises pattern recognition. Understand the patterns, understand the way in which the tiles fall, and you will be rewarded. But at the same time, it’s more than just recognising patterns. It’s repetitive and the pace remains the same, which makes it a familiar world every time you enter it. But as the player engages with the game and changes over time, so too do their views of the game. Every time I play Lumines, it feels like a new and different experience because, while the game is still the same and I’m still playing the same levels over and over again, I’ve changed. My mood, location, and energy levels will influence how I play the game and, because I’m playing it differently all the time with a different mindset, it feels like the game is changing with me. It responds to my actions and the meaning of the game changes as I change.

In many ways, videogames are the best kind of art, just in terms of the way they encourage audience interaction and the way in which they engage us. You can stand in front of a painting or sculpture and watch the art play out in front of you, or you can fire up a videogame and become a part of the artwork; you can experience the story, the setting, and become immersed in the world the artist has created. Think about your favourite artwork of all time – how it makes you feel, the thoughts that go through your mind when you view/hear/feel it, and the way in which it challenges you and impacts on your life. Then, think about your favourite videogame of all time and how it makes you feel, what it makes you think, how it challenges you, and how it has changed your life.

Is there really that big a difference? I’d like to know your thoughts.

Tomorrow I will be on a bus for quite a while so I thought I should use it as an opportunity to get another game completed for a review. I’ll take my PSP and I’ll play a game that I have finished before and I think I can finish on the bus or at least get a decent way through. I’ll either take Lumines, Tekken: Dark Resurrection or Killzone: Liberation. I think I will download the demo of Resistance: Retribution too and see what it is like. It’s a shame I didn’t pre order Patapon 2, which I planned to do but needed to keep the cash, as I could have played it.

     With the rumors now gaining more credibility about the next sony PSP, the big questions will be soon asked. We can all already guess when we will get our first real look of the new system E3. Now for all it’s faults it’s still the place for the big three to show the big guns for maximum exposure.

    So what are they going to do? Well the slide design making the rounds on the internet looks like a good start. yet the big issue is and always been the battery life. Now another interesting rumor is that the system will go digital via the PlayStation store. Without the having to power the umd that should be able to bring the PsP to DS Lite level in battery. Which would make anyone happy.

   the other thing going around is that Sony is telling developers that with the next redesign they would like to make this the handheld system that plays handhelds. So think less God of War and more Lumines. Also with digital distro and smaller games prices should begin to reflect the fact that the PsP is not a Ps2P (PlayStation 2 portable)  

  Along with a price drop to the current DS Lite price and Sony has silenced all the critics within reason. As long as they are able to drop the price, make actual portable games and up that battery life. Parents may begin to see a real choice and this could be the first step in Sony shaking off that high price association that has hounded them even before the Ps3 launched.

Do you find yourself looking for the next great puzzle challenge?  Have you been known to spend hours and hours dropping shaped blocks into rows in an effort to clear away the lines faster than they can build to the top of the screen?   Then this may be the next game for you… More inside…

The object of this game is of course to maneuver the constantly dropping blocks so that you can clear away the blocks on the screen, faster than they can build up, in order to keep playing as long as possible.  Each phase of this game gives you two distinct colors patterns at a time.  The blocks drop in four square that you turn and move side to side in an effort to place them in a manner that will allow you to clear away other blocks like them… sound familiar?  Well that is where the familiarity ends.  The two dimensional board your working with is wider and shorter than most of these style games.  The blocks, rather than remaining stationary when you drop them  them leaving holes, will come apart to fill in any open space below them. As you get the blocks into the desired position for removal a constantly roving vertical line moving from the left of the screen to the right of the screen will clear away any groupings completed as it passes over them. The desired grouping for removal begins as four square of the same color but this can be expanded by two squares on any side or by surrounding the corner of one grouping by another three blocks of the same color.  Beware, if you complete a grouping at the same time as the clearing line passes over it, only the part on the right side of the line will disappear.  

There are extra bonus points for clearing all of one color from the screen or for clearing all of the blocks from the screen.  After playing for a time the theme changes and you have unlocked a new “skin.”  This changes the colors of the blocks, the music, the background, speed of blocks dropping, and the speed of the clearing line.  There are six different single player modes to add some variety to the game and a two player battle if you like the direct challenge. 

The only thing I really didn’t like about this game is that after a while the synthesized music gets on my nerves and I found my self playing with the sound off entirely.  While playing in the menu recently I discovered the “Sequencer” where a total of 96 different sound segments are available for you to build your own music to play to.  If you enjoy a good puzzle game then this is worth the $14.99 and can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store.

Trophy List   (6 Bronze, 4 Silver, 1 Gold)

Basic 3 – Unlock 3 skins in Challenge Mode “Basic”

Basic 10 – Unlock 10 skins in Challenge Mode “Basic”

Advance 10 – Unlock 10 skins in Challenge Mode “Advance”

Time Attack 50 – Score 50 points in Time Attack Mode 60 sec.

Mission Beginner – Clear Mission Mode Easy

Puzzle Beginner – Clear Puzzle Mode Easy

Time Attack 210 – Score 210 points in Time Attack Mode 180 sec.

Dig Down Master – Clear all stages in Dig down Mode

Mission Master – Clear Mission Mode Hard

Puzzle Master – Clear Puzzle Mode Hard

Skin Master – Unlock all skins