On June 12th, Playstation 3 owners fled from their houses to the nearest GameStops, Best Buys, and Walmarts to get their hands on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Well, okay, maybe not all of them—but if you didn’t, you should have.

Fresh from Kojima Productions, MGS4 marks the end of an era. It’s the final installment in the Metal Gear series to star Solid Snake, the suave protagonist fans know and love. As a PS3 exclusive, the game earned itself quite a bit of hype and lives up to every bit.

(more…)

There was a period of time that I was addicted to tactical games. I would stay up until 4am, bleary eyed and waiting for my turn in the battle to come. When it finally did, I would smirk to myself and think: checkmate. Then I’d send out whatever most powerful move or character I had in my arsenal. Except it wasn’t always a checkmate. The beauty of the situation was that my supposed victory move was not always a game winner. Like all games of chess, a smart opponent has something waiting in the wings to throw out in case of an emergency. The game is never over when you expect it.

It’s this ongoing struggle of stratagem that keeps me replaying these games and keeps me addicted.

(more…)

This week, there’s one game licking at the edges of every player’s conversation, flying off the shelves and dominating entertainment news as a source of infinite controversy. Grand Theft Auto IV, the newest in the family of Rockstar’s questionable line-up arrived on shelves this past Tuesday much to the glee of fervently waiting gamers. GTA is well known to many, including non-gamers, for the flak GTA III drew for ultra-violence against the police and innocents, strong language, nudity, drug & alcohol use and adult situations (that often included prostitutes or strip clubs).

Despite the game already being rated M for “Mature”, conservative groups all over the country continue to demonize the franchise for capitalizing off of filth and allegedly encouraging deviant, delinquent behavior in children. While gamers expected to hear the predictable off-kilter spin from the ever-splenic Jack Thompson (who, naturally, has been demanding that lawmakers indict Take-Two for “providing pornographic material to minors” and planting “viruses” in this country’s youth), the generally well-respected group MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has also come down hard on GTAIV. After formally requesting Rockstar halt distribution, it became clear that their issue stems from the fact that drunk driving is allowable in game. It is pertinent, however, to note that the player can choose to decide whether or not the character will drive home, hail a cab or walk it off. That right there is what makes the game interesting to me—choice.

(more…)

While home for break I find myself becoming a lot closer with my Nintendo DS since my consoles are a hundred miles away and locked in a closet. Since it’s been out since 2004, I’ll assume most people reading this have likely played a DS once or twice. If you haven’t, the selling point of the device is the fact that it has two screens. The bottom screen is a touch pad. That’s the most basic of basic explanations, but I find the best way to learn about a gaming system is to actually try it out yourself.

The touch screen makes for some interesting game ideas. But how much is too much? When does innovation turn into, ’stop, just stop, seriously’? After sitting down and thinking about the DS games I’ve played over the last few years, I was able to piece together what I think about the DS and some of its games.

(more…)

Orcs and Elves for the Nintendo DS probably would have sold more copies if it had a better name.

When I found my copy a few days ago, it was sitting in the back of Gamestop on a shelf by itself gathering dust. I hadn’t heard of the game before, but for under ten dollars, it promised me dark, dank dungeons, epic quests and–of course–orcs. For some reason, even though I’m not a D&D nerd, I was sold. I took it to the counter and forked over the cash to the Gamestop employee who was covered in World of Warcraft promo-buttons.

The rest, as it were, was history.

(more…)

Not so much a remember when as a remember ugh. And I say UGH in the most loving way possible. The way a mother says it when she catches her child playing in the mud, but then quickly goes to fetch her camera for a picture to send to the grandparents. The following games are what I would consider my top seven most bizarre games. Some of these you may know, the others you may not. It’s a learning experience for all of us. Just remember that these games are all special and fun in their own way, and we wouldn’t ask them to change, would we? Of course not.

Why seven and not five or ten? Seven is my lucky number. So on with the list.

(more…)