Game Previews

Fans of fashion are often a passionate lot as evident by the way they express themselves quite unlike ordinary folk who prefer to be more reserved in their mannerisms. With a slew of casual games that are already available and heading toward the Nintendo DS, it is no surprise to see Fashion Designer: Style Icon hit the news. After all, you already have games that train your brain with Brain Age and Big Brain Academy, while Cooking Mama ensures you cook perfect steaks every time without fail after much practice. Fashion Designer: Style Icon is pretty self explanatory, putting you in the shows of a fashion designer.

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XCom is one turn-based game on the computer that is thoroughly engaging right from the very beginning, and it spawned a whole legion of gamers who loved the turn-based genre. Unfortunately, the game did not make it a few iterations later down the DirectX line despite having a solid storyline and plenty of room for more challenges. Thankfully, we have XCom fans who have taken their programming expertise and translated it into a clone for the humble Nintendo DS. While it is not the original game in any sense (since the programmer did not use the original source code), the programmer has included most of the original game data.

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Matt Casamassina from IGN stirred the hornet’s nest quite a whole back when he mentioned that he actually had some hands-on experience with Halo on the DS. Of course, what he claimed was strictly debunked as a rumor, pushing Halo DS to the hallowed halls of vaporware. Casamassina isn’t one to sit back and let others do his talking for him though, as he brought this issue up again at IGN’s recent Wii-k in Review podcast, and I quote, “It’s a real game… we’re going to lay down some ownage next week or soon afterward by showing you guys that it is a real game.”

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Remember Myst when the game was first released in the last decade? It had everyone drooling, and was one of the “must have” titles if you owned a CD-ROM on your PC. Who could forget the (then) gorgeous graphics, never mind the gameplay? For those who were too young to experience Myst, you can now have a look at what all the hoo haa was about back then as this game will be making its way to the Nintendo DS. It won’t be a bit-for-bit port though, as the game will come with new sounds, special effects, and video clips thrown in for good measure, in addition to a new Rime Age to explore. Hold on to your seats as the DS version of Myst will be released this November. Read on below for excerpts from the press release.

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If you’re a stickler for retro games, then the Pac-Man Championship Edition ought to whet your appetites. This retro inspired game will be available to all Xbox 360 owners, and is touted to be the honest to goodness sequel of the original Pac-Man that saw action more than two and a half decades ago. Are there actually ways to make that classic game better? Apparently, the answer is in the affirmative as the Joystiq crew check out the game. There are several interesting additions to the classic arcade gameplay that warrant more than a passing mention, and we’ll check those out after the jump.

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The highly anticipated PC version of the Black Box bundle of Half Life 2: Episode 2 which includes both Portal and Team Fortress 2 as well has been nixed. This bad news means gamers will only have the Orange Box version to choose from, where it contains the original Half Life 2 as well as Half Life 2: Episode 1 in addition to Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. For those who have no inkling of what the Half Life sequel ensues, now would be a good time to pick up the Orange Box when it is released. For those who already have Half Life 2 and Episode 1, the inclusion means you have a couple of Christmas presents to give away later this year to the less fortunate.

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Location based gaming - now that is definitely a novel idea instead of reliving the same old formulas found across the numerous genres today. Boktai on the GBA with it’s sun-loving chemistry definitely introduced something new to mainstream gaming, but Plundr: Dangerous Shores is a homebrew NDS game that enables you to transform the city around you into a totally different environment, where you then interact and explore it. Playing the protagonist’s role as the captain of a pirate ship, you set sail to pillage and swashbuckle your way to being the lord of all pirates.

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Ever wonder why people tend to find plenty of pleasure when it comes to simulation games? Take the Tamagotchi craze that caught the world offguard in the last decade. Millions upon millions of these virtual pets were literally flying off the shelves as children worldwide begged, borrowed, and stole to own one of these elusive toys. I suspect even those with real pet dogs and cats at home neglected them with a Tamagotchi in the pocket, and this presumably stems from the novelty factor complete with the ability to start over or reset should you make a mistake - something the real world doesn’t allow. This form of escapism then fueled games like the Sims and with Second Life in full swing, and you see more and more people jump into a virtual cocoon in order to remain detached from the real world. The Nintendo DS Lite is platform to yet another Tamagotchi style simulator, replacing the standard dog/cat setup with a seal. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you read that right - a seal.

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Remember those shoot ‘em ups of yore? Games where you get level bosses that fill up at least half a screen, spitting out fiery fireballs of death that seem to encompass the remaining half while you attempt to maneuver your tiny little spaceship around tight angles, only to fail again and again. Those games were certainly a challenge to the reflexes of gamers, and I, for one, certainly failed to overcome this physical shortcoming in my premature gaming career as I was always more of a FPS guy than anything else. Normally, I tend to forget using my bombs as well whenever the enemies’ hail of fire get too close for comfort, resulting in the loss of yet another ship (and quarter). For those gaming gods who have memorized the various bullet patterns of numerous shooting games over the years, why not take a trip down memory lane with Takayama Fumihiko’s recently updated BulletGBA?

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The Nintendo DS Lite is certainly looking good to take top spot in terms of hardware sales across the whole world for this generation of consoles, be it handheld or otherwise. This phenomenal success is certainly unprecedented despite the inferior hardware when placed side by side with its nearest (and only) competitor, the Sony PSP. Sales were also helped by a slew of interesting non-games such as Brain Age as well as dependable franchises from Nintendo (Mario et al), and not forgetting new, quality titles such as Phoenix Wright and remakes of Final Fantasy from Square Enix. Here is yet another non-game that will be released in Japan, and I predict it will definitely help push more sales as the Japanese public lap it up eagerly.

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