Developed by: Monster Games, Inc.
Genre: Racing
Players: up to 2 players
Release Date: November 19, 2006
ESRB Content Rated: E - Mild Violence

The Introduction from Nintendo:

In the grand racing tradition of Excitebike, get ready for a big-air experience like no other! Players rocket their trucks across dynamically changing terrain in this nitrous-injected, high-flying racer for speed junkies. Showing the Wii Remote controller’s versatility, players tilt the controller on its side to turn it into a wireless steering wheel!

Excite Truck:

Excite Truck is the first of the launch titles from Nintendo that will require you to sit in order to truly enjoy the experience. There is no need to think of Excite Truck as a traditional racing game, as it’s quite the opposite. As it’s greatly influenced by Nintendo’s Excitebike for the NES, Excite Truck is an arcade styled racing game. Simply finishing first is not you only way of winning.

Game Play:

One of the first things that you notice about Excite Truck is its incredibly fast paced action. The game play of the races is insanely fast and will require you to stay on your toes. Having one false turn and you’re toast. In single-player mode the game is not as exciting and can be quite short. In fact, there are only really about twelve playable tracks. This does ultimately provide a somewhat unsatisfying experience. The multi-player mode on the other hand, does try to improve things, but doesn’t help quite enough to keep you satisfied.

In the main multi-player mode the screen is split for a 2-player race. Although this is a much appreciated addition, I feel that having a 4 player would have been a much more interested experience. With the option of only a 2-play multi-player mode, as well as only having 12 tracks to race on, makes Excite Truck replay ability rather low.

Once you’ve completed the single-player experience, there is not really much to tempt you back for a second time. One benefit to the game play is how Excite Truck enables you to import your own music into the game. The is allowed via a SD Card. The handling in the game is also rather remarkable. It does take a little time to get the hang of things, however once you have completely mastered the controls, you’ll never want to return to a regular remote again.

Using the Controls:

Excite Truck does really display how versatile the Wii remote can be. You simply hold the remote on its side and use it as a steering wheel. The control and accuracy are really fantastic. Although the control will at first take a little bit of getting used to, simply because you’ve never really played a game in this way. You also have the option a use a steering wheel attachment that is available but not entirely necessary to play. It does retail as a separate item.

Look and Appearance:

The graphics in Excite Truck are actually rather beautiful, although with the fast pace of the action you’ll never have any time to actually stop and look at them. The game does feature great textures and visual effects, as well as some excellent level design.

Sound Effects:

If you start out using the default soundtrack for the races it will rather quickly seem quite sub-par. However, as Excite Truck will allow you to import your own tunes via an SD Card. This is an excellent addition that adds that much appreciated personal touch to the game.

And the Pros Are:

+ Excellent graphics
+ Ability to import your own music into the game
+ Intuitive and accurate controls

And the Cons Are:

- Limited replay value
- Lack of multi-player support
- Low number of tracks

Overall: 7.5 / 10

Published by Darren Lintern

Published by: Nintendo
Genre: Sports
Players: up to 4 players
Release Date: November 19, 2006
ESRB Content Rated: E - Mild Violence
The Introduction from Nintendo:

This is what video games should be: fun for everyone. Wii Sports offers five distinct sports experiences, each using the Wii Remote controller to provide a natural, intuitive and realistic feel. To play a Wii Sports game, all you need to do is pick up a controller and get ready for the pitch, serve or that right hook. If you’ve played any of these sports before, you’re ready for fun!

Wii Sports:

Wii Sports is the first game that has been packed with a Nintendo console since Super Mario World was released with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a compilation pack of 5 different sports events: baseball, boxing, bowling, golf, and tennis.
Game Play:

Each of the five sports games does it’s best to represent the sport; however they are all simplified versions. If you take tennis for example, all you are required to do is control the movement of your tennis racket. The players are automatically controlled and run where ever they are supposed to. Although these simplifications to take away some of the game play from each sport, there are still quite a few of options for each sporting event.

The most exciting of the five games in Wii Sports is the bowling game. Getting the hang of using the Wii remote can take some time, as it is very precise, even too precise for some games. Golf tends to be the game that suffers from the over-precision of the Wii remote. The least entertaining game out the compilation is the baseball. As all the fielding is taken care of for you, it is only necessary to concentrate on throwing the ball, and hitting the ball. For many this may just seem too dull. This game does however shine is in the multiplayer mode.

With the option to play some of the games simultaneously it will be necessary for more than just one Wii remote. Other games, such as bowling, are played in turn. Each player takes their own turn and then passes the remote to the next player.

This game also allows for the use of “Miis”, which are caricatures that can be created with the Wii console. Nintendo intention for this game was not for it to win Game of the Year awards; it was to offer an exciting and fun experience for the casual gamers as well as the non-gamers. They have ultimately reached their goal, as the Wii Sports is a great deal of fun, even for the core gamers.
Using the Controls:

The controls for each of the five sports are exactly what you would hope for; a throwing motion to throw a ball, a rolling motion for bowling, a swinging motion for swinging a baseball bat or tennis racket, etc. Only with the exception of golf, the controls are very user-friendly and intuitive.

Look and Appearance:

The graphics in Wii Sports are not what you could call amazing; some are referring to them as terrible. In fact, they are probably worse than terrible. However, this was intentional on Nintendo’s behalf. They wanted to create a game that had basic graphics and absolutely fantastic game play.
Sound Effects:

The sound is similar to the graphics, nothing really to get excited about. Simple music and sound effects are used throughout these games.

And the Pros are:

+ It’s FREE!
+ Fantastic for multi-player
+ Mostly intuitive controls
+ Infinite replay value
And the Cons are:

- Terrible graphics
- Some games are too simple

Overall: 8 / 10

Published By Darren Lintern

The Xbox 360 had the luxury of a year’s head start over its competition, the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, and that served Microsoft well. For any serious gamer the thought of waiting a year may be just too damn long, and they certainly gained market share in view of this, at least in North America and Europe. But now that all the shiny new consoles are out, is the Xbox 360 starting to show its age and look a bit shabby?

To start with, each of the three consoles – the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii all has their own dedicated fan base that won’t change their minds for anything. These diehard fans do matter, simply for the fact that their spend on gaming is probably worth a fair few families of the casual gamers. And without doubt all these consoles significantly outperform their predecessors.

The two games consoles that are the easiest the do a straight comparison with is the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. They are both intended to function as more than simply a games console – they play DVD’s and music, connect with the internet, display photos, and allow chat. Sony will however be in major trouble if Blu-Ray loses out in the high-density DVD war with HD-DVD. Microsoft has also an edge with their online content, having had the ability to build up a considerable and frequently-updated stock over the last year. They’re now providing movies for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace. It is likely that Sony will eventually catch up with this, but for now, Microsoft holds the edge.

The start with, if you put aside what’s actually inside the consoles for a moment and look at how the consoles perform instead of how they should, the PlayStation 3 isn’t really a year ahead of the Xbox 360. If you do a side by side comparison of cross-platform games this will tend to favour the Xbox 360, which has the ability to offer better lighting effects and less of a tendency to flatten and blur textures. Although, having taken this into account, the PlayStation 3 still has longer loading times.

The Xbox 360 is well and truly a Microsoft product. In the attempt to get the console out quickly wasn’t the best way to ensure reliability, and as widely reported a small but still significant number of the original releases crashed to ‘blue screen of death’. Also, during the recent Fall update, where Xbox Live use were required to download to access the service, causing about one percent of consoles to brick.

The PlayStation 3 console has offered the Sixaxis controller, Sony’s half-assed attempt to respond to the Wii-mote. Whilst this will enable your to tilt the controller to affect your on-screen movements in games such as Tony Hanks, you still get much better control from using the conventional D-pad. If you compare the Sixaxis to the Wii-mote there is a simply object lesson in the difference between a rushed gimmick and an innovation.

So on to Nintendo’s Wii, starting with its bad points. It doesn’t support HD-TV display, and not equipped to play DVDs. If you only looking for your game console to play games, than this should not really be much to worry about. It’s just a game console and that’s that. It’s not by any means as graphically impressive as its rivals. The wireless controller needs to run on batteries rather than being rechargeable.

But hold on. Nintendo have attempted to attract the family and non-gaming market with the impressive play abilities with the Wii-mote. Yet still be able to keep the hardened gamers in view of its difference in game play. Even though being different, Nintendo are also better at being the same – the Wii has been designed to be backwards compatible with more of the old console games than with either the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360. This is particularly appealing at that, offering software emulation for a impressive 30% of Xbox games.

It’s always going to be a hard call to make, which is the best console. But if you word the question differently, will the Xbox 360 sink without a trace since the release of its newer and shinier cousins, the answer is NO. If you preference is serious, mature-rated games with lots of online content, your choice will have to be between the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and then to go with your preferred choice, usually whatever you had before, Sony or Microsoft. But if you now looking for family gaming, or something to play with a bunch of mates, then the Nintendo Wii should definitely be your new best friend.

Darren Lintern

Password Mode:
Go to multiplayer and then online multiplayer. Select soldier load out and press start to open the password screen.Cloven Bandana:
8cba 3462 6595 14d4

Cloven Bearded Head:
d708 6b08 0f1c b5f6

Cloven Bearded Head:
fa3e f1f4 61e1 f6e0

Cloven Helmet w/ Bandana:
a7f6 6e7c 05ec 1728

Cloven Skin:
a8f4 d189 68f8 559e

You can acquire rewards after getting a certain amount of skill points:

Clank Backpacks:
Acquire 100 skill points.

Concept Art Pack 1:
Acquire 10 skill points.

Concept Art Pack 2:
Acquire 20 skill points.

Flip Levels:
Acquire 70 skill points.

Movie Player:
Finish the game.

MP Mechanic Skin:
Acquire 126 skill points.

The Mighty Wrench:
Acquire 40 skill points.

Superhuman Difficulty Level:
Beat the game on hard.

MP Soldier Skin:
Finish the game under the Super-human difficulty.

Bonus weapons that will come in handy:
Successfully finish the game on Medium difficulty level to unlock the Reaper and Splitter. The Reaper can be found near the start of the first level. The Splitter fires a salvo of large rockets.

Published by Darren Lintern

The successor to Microsoft’s Xbox, the X360 was the first to arrive of the seventh generation consoles. It has been designed to offer a considerable increase in performance over its predecessors, with an emphasis now on convergence – meaning the intention to move towards being a complete home entertainment system, not simply a games console.

Convergence can sometimes be a bad thing. An example being Nintendo’s Wii, which is only intended to do one thing and does that very well. That doesn’t by any way mean that the Xbox 360 is the gaming equivalent of a combination toaster / digital camera / MP3 player. As well as offered a quality gaming experience, a top of the range Xbox 360 incorporates a DVD player, a web browser, a webcam, a chat-room, a digital camera, and a MP3 player.

In respect of the specifications – The Xbox 360 is fitted with a Xenon CPU that clocks at 3.2 gigahertz and has a reported top performance of 115.2 gigaflops. The GPU is an ATI-chip named Xenos. The installation includes two separate silicon dies, each on it own chip capable of 500 MHz. The CPU and GPU both share 512 MEG of 700 megahertz GDDR3 RAM. The DVD drive is 12x and can read at sixteen MB a second, which leaves Sony’s PlayStation 3 4.5 in the dust. So it all seems pretty impressive. In practical terms, the Xbox 360 is great at blurring, lighting, and particle effects. In no way is it being outperformed in graphic quality or speed by the PlayStation 3.

The Xbox 360 is capable of supporting up to four wireless controllers at once, as well as the options to add headsets, which allow free roam within thirty feet of the console. It is able to support HDTV and six-channel Dolby Surround sound. Using the enhance picture and sound qualities will have a great benefit on the games.

When you purchase an Xbox 360 console you automatically gain silver-level membership to Xbox Live. If you choose to upgrade to gold-level this costs about $50 a year which will entitle you to access to online-only content, game downloads at the Arcade, worldwide tournaments, live chat and networking – a complete social experience. In view of the extreme popularity of MMORPG style online gaming over the last several years, it’s not really any surprise that Microsoft decided to put so much effort into their online content. As Xbox Live has been around for so much longer than its competitor’s equivalents, it makes it a much richer experience.

With Microsoft continually adding new downloads and releasing new accessories, it’s no surprise that they have promised to take Xbox Live one step further with Live Anywhere. As demonstrated at the last E3 show, this will enable Xbox gaming cross-platform, onto PC’s and mobile phones. Microsoft has promised that both Shadow Run and Halo 2: Vista will be Live Anywhere enabled. What that does actually mean in practical terms remains to be seen.

The Xbox 360 is still in many ways a typical Microsoft product – It’s generally solid, but still unexciting. It is able to deliver a competent and rewarding experience, but there wasn’t any of the innovative risk-taking that was seen with Nintendo’s Wii. It’s had it own share of widely publicised technical problems, and Microsoft’s service and public relations for the Xbox tends to be on par with that for their PC products. Many people may have been surprised that Microsoft had not put more effort into enabling a backward compatible system with more of the original Xbox games. However, there is a rumour that Microsoft sent out the compulsory Fall Update to intentionally brick modded consoles. If that is really true or not, it still seems to have a horrible believability about it.

Still, none of these things have had any effect on people using Windows. The Xbox 360 console, is still pretty reliable, as long as it does not blue-screen, or over-heat with protracted use, which it has a slight tendency to do. The peripherals available are all extremely well built. There’s already a huge catalogue or good-quality games, and a year after release, the Xbox 360 still looks impressive and runs well.

Published By Darren Lintern

So which of these two games systems is better? It has been a much anticipated wait, but finally both of these consoles have arrived. The Sony PlayStation 3 was the first to arrive on November 17th, with the Nintendo Wii only two days later, on the 19th. Which one should you buy? Who had the most successful launch? Read on to discover the answers!

Units available at Launch -
Sony PlayStation 3:

After many notable delays and production problems, Sony was finally able to release its PlayStation 3 console in order to meet the Christmas rush… Well not quite. Sony was indeed able to release its system; however this shipment numbers were nowhere near what was expected. It was estimated that only 500,000 units arrived up to the end of the year. This made it very difficult for anyone hoping to get their hands on a PS3 for Christmas this year.

Nintendo Wii:

In view of the extremely popularity of the Wii, it has still been difficult to get your hands on one at the moment. However, Nintendo planned to ship over four million units worldwide by the end of 2006. This was easily able to dwarfs the efforts of Sony with it Playstation 3 numbering at 500,000 units. A continues supply of Wii consoles are being shipped on a weekly basis to retailers in order to make it easier to get a Wii with each passing week.

This Topics Winner: Wii

Games to Play -

Sony PlayStation 3:

When it comes to the current crop of games for the PS3, it is generally thought that there are not really any special games worth getting at the moment. I have had the pleasure of playing the PS3 and most if its games. The most impressive games at presents seems to be Resistance: Fall of Man. There is no doubt that better games will be making their way onto the system, but there is no point in holding your breath for them. Games such as Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13 are not expected to arrive until late 2007 or early 2008

Nintendo Wii:

For the first time in its history, Nintendo released a Zelda game at the consoles launch. There is not doubt that this launch title is the best game available on the Wii. In fact, it is widely believed to be the best ever Zelda game. Another point to take into consideration is the variety of games that are available. Nintendo and its third-party developers have covered all the bases. No matter your preference, sports games or shooting games, there is plenty to choose from.

This Topics Winner: Wii
Graphics:

Sony PlayStation 3:

There is not really any doubt as to who is going to win this contest. Although, the first crop of games to arrive doesn’t even come close to realizing the full potential of the Playstation 3 in terms of graphics, the current games are still much prettier than those of the Wii.

Nintendo Wii:

As Nintendo has now taken a different approach for this generation console, it is less concerned about graphics. Although this certainly does not mean that the games look bad. You certainly won’t get anyway near the same level of realism that you would get on the PS3 or Xbox 360. To get an ideal of its capabilities, the graphical power of the Wii is a little stronger than that of the original Xbox.

This Topics Winner: PlayStation 3

Retail Price:

Sony PlayStation 3:

There is two different version of the PlayStation 3. You have the choice of the $499.99 version or the $599.99 version. No, I did not make any typos with the prices. Although both systems are similar, the more expensive version comes with, among other things, a larger hard drive. It is expected that over 80% of the PlayStation 3 consoles delivered will be the $599.99 version. All this tends to make the $499.99 version fairly obsolete. Both versions have the ability to play Blu-Ray DVD discs. One remote and all necessary cable are included within the box.

Nintendo Wii:

The current retail price of the Nintendo Wii stands at $249.99. Included in the box are: the Wii games console, Wii Sports (a game featuring 5 different sports), the regular Wii-remote, as well as the nun-chuk attachment, and all necessary cables and adapters.

This Topics Winner:  Wii
Overall Final Score: Nintendo Wii – 3 vs. Sony PlayStation 3 – 1

The Final Verdict:

At the present time the Wii is the obvious choice for all gamers right now. The cheap price, excellent launch games, and fantastic innovation make it the console of choice right now.

Instead of focusing all their attentions and resources on graphics, Nintendo has instead decided to focus on game play. This is a risky move by Nintendo, and a completely different direction to that of Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Nintendo’s intent is not only to reach out to the gaming core audience, but also to capture the casual and non-gamers out there. So how are they attempting to accomplish this? Simply by creating an innovative way to control and interact with games.

If you have not already seen it, this is not your typical gaming controller. Nintendo’s new control scheme starts with its remote or, as it’s been dubbed in the gaming industry, the “Wii-mote”. It only has a handful of buttons, instead of having a plethora of different buttons, as most controllers have nowadays. How exactly does a game controller with so few buttons actually work you may be wondering. That is exactly where the beauty and innovation part comes in. The Wii Remote Controller is intended to work in a similar way to a computer mouse. You simply stand in front of the screen and wave it to control various objects.

The innovation does not end there in anyway. The Wii-mote has built in motion sensing technology. Any movements that you make are recorded and translated on screen in the game. A great example for this would be a game of tennis; you simply wave the remote as if you were actually playing tennis to hit the ball. The sensors are able to determine on your timing, speed of your swing, etc. Tennis games have now become that more exciting. The Wii-mote puts you directly in control. Imagine all the games that you can now take complete control, such as golf, fighting games, and boxing, all of these games will be so much more fun to play.

If you are still wondering how the Wii controller can be used for the more complex game, don’t worry. Although the controller is innovative and has many uses, it does lack some functionality. This has been taken care of by Nintendo with the option to add a special attachment of its Wii Nunchuck Controller , called the “nun-chuk”. This is a simple attachment that plugs right into the bottom of the main controller. The nun-chuk is equipped with the same motion sensing technology as the Wii-mote. It will instantly transform you controller to include two trigger buttons and an analogue stick. With these two options, the remote has the potential for different combination that will far surpass any other games controller available.

As if two remote weren’t enough to keep you happy, Nintendo have also released a special controller to be used for games on its Virtual Console. Although most of these games can be played with a Nintendo GameCube controller, the Wii Classic Controlleror Retro controller is necessary for anyone that does not have a GameCube remote. It was not necessary to equip this controller with any motion sensing technology, and is only intended to be used for games on the Virtual Console.

With the case of any new technology, there are always some small kinks and adjustments that will need to be taken care of. It is likely that some games may not make full use of the remotes to their full potential. This may give the impression that the remotes lack in functionality; however this is certainly not the fault of Nintendo. It is ultimately down to the responsibility of the third-party game developers. All the titles at launch released by Nintendo have no control issues whatsoever. It is simply a matter of the game developers getting familiar with how the new control works best.

The Wii-remote and nun-chuk attachment are both included in the box when you buy a Wii. The Classic controller would need to be purchased separately and currently retails for $19.99. If required, an additional Wii-remote will retail for $39.99 and the nun-chuk attachments are also sold individually for $19.99

Nintendo Wii controllers all appear very impressive. After the third-party developers have got the hang of things in order to make control adjustments for future games, there will be nothing to complain about!
Published By Darren Lintern

PLATFORM: PS3
GENRES: FIRST PERSON, SHOOTER
RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 15, 2006

This new Playstation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man is a first person, shooter type of war game. It revolves around the United States joining forces with the United Kingdom to save Europe and Asia. There are evil forces at work that are known as Chimera. They are able to create a virus that will turn any life forms into chimera. The ultimate battle of survival rages on. You goal in the game is to save the world, which you will soon notice is no small accomplishment in this game of skill once you get started.

This great game offers some excellent history that is real and even black and white clips. The narrative provided for this portion of the game has been well done, and will entertain player with some interesting background information. In the game, World War II never actually happened. The invasion in this game takes its place in history. Your character is a military man by the last name of Hale, a US ranger. Your task to complete is to do whatever is necessary to kill the Chimera.

The game Resistance: Fall of Man allows play as either solo mode or with a group of up to four players. The game also benefits from the online interaction option that will enable players from around the world to join in the fun and play together. There is no doubt that gamers will be blown away by the great detail in graphics of this game. It is so detailed that you will even be able to identify with the facial expression of the animated characters during the game play. There is some very gory stuff in there though, so if that’s not your taste, it may be wise to leave this game alone. The soundtrack for the game is truly awesome as well.

The game has a futuristic style to it. During the game play it will be necessary to spend some time creating futuristic type weapons and various types of vehicles to engage in all out battle against the alien Chimera. The futuristic elements of the game blend in well with the early history setting of the game. It is an idea that doesn’t always mix well, but in Resistance: Fall of Man it is a perfect fit. When using the weapons and vehicles you will experience excellent sound effects as well. It is a game that players will immediately find to be well designed. This game really flows well and moves quickly.

There are many directions that you can take throughout the game of Resistance: Fall of Man. This does ultimate extend the game enjoyment, as you wont be getting bored with the same old thing over and over again. This is a game with a great story to tell, with the well written narrative, you will be completely enthralled with the game all the way through. Game play can last between 10 to 12 hours from start to finish. It is a great benefit that the Playstation 3 comes with the new controller that is lighter and fits in the hand well, as you will be getting a great deal of use from it will this game.

It is expected that Resistance: Fall of Man will be one of the tops selling Playstation 3 games out there. It retails for $60 at the moment, but you should be able to find it cheaper if you look around, eBay may be an option. This game is truly addictive and will hold you captive for a long time to come. This is a very challenging game, that offered games the enjoyment of excellent graphics combined with a great deal of activity, this will be a perfect choice to try out your new Playstation 3 console. This game will take a great deal of time to master, but you enjoy the challenge along the way.

Published By Darren Lintern