According to Mike Griffith, President and CEO, Activision Publishing, “We are committed to making Blur a great new racing franchise, and we are very encouraged by the game’s design. The additional time will allow the studio to fully optimize the vision they set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience.”

What do you think of game development timelines? Is it better to release a title at the advertised date in order to keep gamers happy, while releasing patches down the road in order to fix up all that is wrong slowly but surely? After all, the disadvantage of delaying a game’s release just to catch up with hardware innovations of the time might eventually leave the game’s release suspended – take a good look at Duke Nukem Forever which is forever doomed to be an infamous piece of vapor ware. Hopefully Activision will do gamers right by taking the additional time required to make sure the final product is as polished as possible without the need for any pesky patches or updates in the future.

Press Release

The game plot puts you in the role of Mr. ESC, a specialist in rescue situations. Whether it be a flooded mall or an explosion in a chemical factory, Mr. ESC will run in and save the day, with no specialist tools or equipment. Instead he will use things he finds in the levels in order to safely reach the level exit.

Aside from the early levels, you will need to rescue all the trapped people by first walking up to them, and then leading them to the exit. People come in four distinct types. The first two types are Young Adults, who have similar abilities to Mr. ESC, and Grown (Fat) Adults, who are able to push heavy items around that Mr. ESC can’t. Kids have to be helped over obstacles and can’t swim, but can crawl through narrow gaps that you won’t fit through. Finally there are Patients, people who are injured and must be carried to the exit. When carrying somebody you can no longer climb over obstacles, so you’ll often need to find a stretcher to help you out.

There are many different obstacles you’ll come across as you’ll play. There are the standard issue gaming crates which can be pushed around, as well as large safes which fulfill a similar role but can only be moved by a Grown Adult. Sometimes you’ll come across fires which can be put out by a fire extinguisher found elsewhere in the level, or by switching on the buildings sprinkler system, if you can locate the controls for it. Electrified floor sections have to be either jumped over or crossed when they aren’t sparking. You’ll also find planks which can be laid down to make bridges across gaps, and ladders and ropes which allow you to safely move from one level of the building to another. Locked doors are also present, and you’ll obviously need to find a key to unlock them.

Once you have found a trapped person, you can then instruct them to perform tasks for you. For example, an early puzzle is to get through a door activated by a pressure switch. You can make your companion stand on the switch whilst you proceed through the door to carry out another task.

As mentioned before, the game feels very much like a game from a 16-bit machine, with purely 2D gameplay rendered with 3D graphics. It reminds me a lot of Flashback, with the in-game characters being drawn in an almost silhouetted form. Just Mr. ESC’s red scarf and assorted hats are drawn in colour. The backgrounds are drawn in a stylish yet simplistic manner, with the whole package feeling like something from the 1940’s.

The game is quite slow paced, with Mr. ESC generally walking everywhere at a very sedate pace. He can run, but apart from making long jumps this is usually unnecessary. The game is really more a puzzle solving exercise, so whilst speed is of the essence in rescuing the stranded people as quickly as possible, it doesn’t prevent those with slower reaction times from playing. It can be quite annoying waiting for Mr. ESC to finish climbing a ladder or crawl through a gap when you just want to pick up a fire extinguisher to put out a fire on another part of the level.

There are 100 levels to play through, and there’s also a network option which allows you to download further levels to play. If you fancy a change of pace then give Exit a try. It’s a good diversion, with most levels taking no more than a few minutes to play (once you know how to solve them that is), but it’s slow pace could prove annoying if you like games with a bit more urgency.

Choppered to their last known location, a forest on the outskirts of the city, you’re immediately assailed by some extremely nasty canines. Naturally vicious dogs are too much of a match for elite soldiers so off you dash for the nearest available cover, which just happens to be in the form of a creepy old mansion. From here on in you’re given the option of playing as Jill, hot babe of the group (the games easy setting) or Chris, arse kicking macho guy (hard).

Once you’ve chosen it’s off to explore said stately house and unravel its many secrets whilst avoiding some ‘very’ unpleasant characters along the way. Multiple endings are available for each character depending on how you complete the mission and there are also several unlockable characters for use in the games multiplayer mode too. These all add to the games replay value ensuring that you’ll see a lot of hour’s gameplay if you want to clock the lot.

Did you say the Z word?
Yes, at this point (and in case you don’t know what the bald bloke above is) I don’t think I’ll be spoiling anything by saying ZOMBIES very loudly. This game is chock full of the blighters and not only that but also some distinctly odd wildlife too.

Throughout the game you will be required to maim and generally blow away lots of nasty critters with a variety of heavy and not so heavy weaponry. However, don’t be fooled into thinking this is an out and out action game because it’s not. It’s more an adventure/exploring/puzzle game with action’y bits tagged on, an explore-em-up™ if you will.

A typical example of the games mechanics would be; you’ve found 2 gems (as you do) that have been burning a hole in your pockets for ages. All of a sudden you come across a room with a tiger head statue in it and a zombie to be slashed, shot, decapitated or burnt etc. Upon further investigation the statue has two indentations for eyes. Hmmm I wonder what that’s all about…? Right well, you get the idea but trust me things do get more complicated later!

So what the hells the difference?
So far so normal Resident Evil but what new features does the DS edition bring? Well most obviously Capcom have included a sort of remixed RE of which more on later, firstly however there are a number of minor additions to the original game that deserve mention. Foremost amongst these is a lovely, constantly displayed map on the top screen. Hark I hear you scream, further evidence of the DS’s so called gimmicky features! Well for deluded souls such as yourself I’d suggest you go and play the original RE after playing the DS version and then tell me its gimmicky.

Quite frankly having a constantly displayed map is a major asset for a game such as this. No longer do you need to constantly switch between the 2 views because you’re lost… again. Other more minor additions are your characters 180 degree turn (very useful in the heat of combat) and your ability to initiate knife attacks via the shoulder button.

I ain’t scared of no Zombie.
Graphics wise things look pretty good. Players who remember the original will be greeted by all the familiar FMV’s and rendered backdrops including some solid 3D characters, which are in fact considerably better then the originals. The backgrounds however do suffer slightly from some loss of colours, presumably down to having to compress everything onto a DS cart. That being said it’s a credit to Capcom that they’ve managed to cram everything in and that includes all the familiar cheesy speech and music. Speaking of which, the soundtrack and effects are an essential part of the games experience as without them you can throw all thoughts of being scared out the window. Well unless that is you are of an unusually high nervous disposition?

Part of the originals appeal was the atmosphere it created and its genuinely scary moments. Given this, many were doubtful of a portables ability to deliver these crucial qualities and in particular the DS’s. I can safely say though that most of the games scares will still make you jump, sometimes even when you know they’re coming. Of course, if you choose to play the game on a crowded number 134 bus then you’re expecting slightly too much. But when played in a more reasonable quieter location, you’ll be surprised how many scares a small screen can deliver. Just make sure you have the sound turned up!

Recycled?
And so to the games remixed version subtitled REbirth. This is basically the classic version with a higher action quotient via its implementation of the DS’s touch screen. Basically, at random points the game switches to a first person view and tasks you with having to fend off enemies as they lurch towards you. Using the touch screen you can ’slash’ away with your knife dealing out lots of pointy metal justice.

The touch screen is further employed to solve simple colour based puzzles usually resulting in a reward of ammo or health packs. Even the DS’s built in microphone sees a few nice uses. These additions, while not offering huge gameplay innovations do provide a significant shot of action and diversity that many newcomers to the franchise may appreciate, especially those coming off the back of RE4’s more action orientated direction.

Incidentally, anyone hoping for RE4’s updated control scheme (in either mode) making an appearance are going to be disappointed. This is classic RE action all the way baby, the d-pads up/down control movement forward and backward while left/right rotates your character. The similarity doesn’t stop there either and also includes the originals limit on the amount of items your characters can carry at a time. Hence lots of (on first play) awkward rotating on the spot while fighting and mucho backtracking to safe rooms for that important item you stored. It has to be said though, these ‘quirks’ were in the original and they’re as much part of the titles gameplay as they are annoying. Plus, once you get your head round the controls their fairly easily mastered and even the number of items you can carry is part and parcel of the games puzzle element. None the less, newer gamers may find these aspects of the game rather cumbersome.

But I’m not a lonely DS geek… I have friends
Deadly Silence also includes a multiplayer local wifi mode that enables you to link up with other DS owning mates. Unfortunately Capcom have seen fit not to include this via a download, meaning all players will have to own a copy of the game. Bah naughty, stupid, tight Capcom! During multiplayer, players can either cooperate or compete against one another over a series of short levels.

It’s quite fun but isn’t really anything other then a nice diversion from the main single player. And it’s also worth pointing out that during multiplayer games your companion (or opponent) appear as simple stars on screen. This ‘feature’ does detract somewhat from the atmosphere and camaraderie garnered from playing with mates; especially considering you cannot interact with another player’s characters either.

The final countdown.
Capcoms intention when they started this conversion was to mark the originals 10th anniversary with a faithful portable version and in that they have clearly succeeded. Resident Evil: Deadly Silence manages to recreate the thrills and spills of the original while including some genuinely useful and entertaining additions. Whether these warrant buying the game again if you’re already played the original to death is debatable, I would say not. But for newcomers to the franchise it offers an accessible portable introduction to the RE universe. Plus did I mention you can finally skip the door animations? Whoopee!

Game Addict Rating: 7 out of 10.

Writer: James Duncan.

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is out on March 31st.

You start the game washed up on a sandy beach, and are immediately faced with three big problems. Where do you find food, where can you find shelter, and how are you going to make a fire to dry out your clothes. Your character has four life attributes, which are indicated as a percentage. These are strength, water level, food level, and health condition. As the first three attributes decrease to dangerous levels your health will also start to be affected and if it reaches zero then you will die.

Control of your character is provided by a mixture of the D-Pad and the stylus. The D-Pad walks him around the island on the lower screen, and you press the A button to check the ground for items. The top screen can be switched between a statistics screen showing your health status, a map, and a view of the island covered by clouds which gradually disappear as you explore the island.

The stylus is used when it comes to foraging for food and the like. To begin with the main source of food is coconuts that have fallen from trees and clams which are found on the beach. Clams are indicated by little clumps of sand, the stylus being used to brush the sand away to reveal them. It is also possible to shake trees using the stylus in order to encourage more coconuts to drop.

As you explore you’ll soon discover you have a companion, a girl named Skye, who unfortunately loses her glasses and can’t see very well. You must guide her around the level by taking hold of her hand and leading her around in a similar manner to Ico on the PS2. The fact that you now have to discover food for two mouths is offset by the fact that Skye can cook (although it takes her a while to actually become any good at it) which allows food which cannot be consumed raw to now be eaten.

As the game progresses you’ll learn how to fish using first a spear and later a fishing rod, how to trap animals and shoot them with a bow and arrow, and can even domesticate animals such as goats for milk as well as meat. You set up home in a small cave, which allows you to make a fire to keep warm. This is done by alternating the shoulder buttons to rub sticks together. When they start to smoulder you must blow into the microphone to get the fire going.

You can also make the cave more comfortable by building furniture such as beds and shelves. Building furniture involves another mini-game where a series of instructions move across the screen which you must carry out by drawing a symbol using the stylus.

The biggest dilemma with this game is whether to love it or hate it, and you’ll find yourself alternating between these two extremes quite regularly. Your energy, food and water levels all deplete at what feels like too fast a rate, meaning you end up spending entire game days just searching for food, water and sticks to fuel your fire. Whilst this is probably quite a realistic impression of what being stranded on a desert island would actually be like, it does make for a rather infuriating game. Such a relatively simple tweak would have endeared the game to far more people, since most players will have a hard time just surviving the first day of being stranded to begin with.

If you’re looking for an original game it’s worth a try, as it really is quite a unique gaming idea, but be warned you’ll have to be prepared to do far more housekeeping than exploring in this game. It certainly doesn’t lack depth, but it’s doubtful many players will have the patience to fully explore all the game has to offer.

When World of Warcraft was initially released, the game became an overnight success. Blizzard was ill-prepared for such a rapid influx of gamers, and as a result, gamers experience frequent server crashes and problems with severe lax. The servers hosting the game were simply overtaxed. In an attempt to combat these problems, more servers were added for the WOW community and hardware upgrades occurred to bring the servers up to speed. Blizzard also instituted weekly server downtimes to allow for necessary server maintenance. And yet, well over a year after the game’s initial release, gamers are still plagued with regular system crashes, long server queue lines, and lag problems that are often so severe as to make the game completely unplayable.

This week taxed my patience with Blizzard Entertainment and World of Warcraft beyond any point of reason. It was bad enough that the Firetree server crashed right as my 5-man party prepared to deliver the final blow to a high-level instance boss. After hours of battling our way through countless mobs and mini-bosses, we were finally ready to take on the ultimate boss himself. We had him down to about 20% life, yet right as we prepared the final onslaught to finish him off, my game locked up. The next thing I know, I get a “Disconnected from Server” message on my screen. WHAT?! Could the timing have been any worse? When I attempted to log back on, I suddenly found myself waiting in a long queue of other gamers. It seems, you see, that due to the crash everyone had been booted from the server, causing a massive bottleneck as we all attempted to log back into the game. By the time, I was able to log in, my entire party was dead – the boss obviously didn’t realize that we had been disconnected and had continued to pummel our characters in our absence. We just had no drive left in us to fight our way through the instance again for a second attempt.

Equally frustrating has logging into a number of servers recently, only to find I am number five hundred and something in a long queue of people waiting to log into the same server. Who has the patience to sit for 30+ minutes to log into a game? I have missed guild runs, meetings with online friends, and countless other events due to being stuck in queue. And the problem seems to be getting worse with time, not better, even though Blizzard is well aware of this issue. A few months ago, I could log into my main character on the Lightning’s Blade server and get in within a few minutes. Now I am lucky if the queue line is under 200 people with a wait time of 10 or more minutes.

The last straw was this week’s brand new Ahn’Qiraj world event on one of the servers. I have been anxiously waiting to see the new Ahn’Qiraj gate open for several weeks now, but have not yet been able to catch it on any of my servers. This week, on Monday, would finally be my opportunity – or so I thought. As it turns out, the event, or what I saw of it, was amazing and looked like great fun. But my server just couldn’t support the sheer number of people rushing into the area to witness and participate in the opening of the gate. As the gate was unlocked, huge numbers of enemy monsters spawn around the gate and in other regions throughout the WOW continents. This greatly taxes the server, as do the massive number of spectators milling about, causing the server to crash again and again. It didn’t seem to matter that it was the middle of the night when the event started – it might has well been in the middle of prime playing time. I finally gave up after 30 minutes, having seen flashes of greatness – mostly in a static form due to terrible problems with game lag.

So what will it take to resolve these problems with World of Warcraft? Well, for starters, Blizzard needs to take a much more proactive stance towards regulating server populations and improving server stability. Restricting new character creation on high-population servers has stemmed the influx of new characters, but has done little to manage those servers that are already overtaxed. Similarly, player queue lines also attempt to regulate the number of players on a server at any given time, but again, this measure does little to resolve a problem already well under way – it just prevents it from getting worse.

What Blizzard needs to do to put measures into place to control server stress before it becomes an issue and causes problems for gamers. As it is now, I am frequently forced to log into the game at least a half an hour before I had planned on playing, since I need to allow for long queue lines. My guilds often feel pressured to coordinate raids and large instance runs with other large guilds so that we do not collectively overtax the server and make the experience miserable for everyone. And I am left to pray that fellow party members do not get disconnected in the middle of an instance run during prime playing hours – otherwise, the party is left to either wait for upwards of 20 minutes for the missing gamer to make it back through the queue to log into the game, or find an alternate member to take his or her place in the instance.

Blizzard claims that the World of Warcraft community had grown to over 5 million gamers, and each of these gamers plays $15 a month for online access to the game. This means that Blizzard grosses a cool $75 million a month for the game, or the equivalent of nearly a billion dollars a year. And that doesn’t count the money brought in by the initial purchase of the game software (I paid $49.99 in November 2004, but the price has since dropped). Is it too much to ask the developer to spend just some of this money to fixing the persistent problems playing gamers? Personally, as much as I love seeing new content added to the game, I’d enjoy my online experience much more if I could get through a playing session with no technical issues.

What do you think Blizzard? Is it worth my longtime loyalty, and others, to improve our gaming experience? Or will you keep focusing on churning out new content in the hopes that all of us WOW addicts grin and bear it just a little bit longer?

The ball’s in your court.

Entrepreneurial Sims can start up their very own business, either right out of their homes or buy setting up shop downtown in a new shopping center, and start earning pocketfuls of simoleons as soon as they decide exactly what business they want to pursue. Open for Business allows Sims to start up one of three different types of businesses. Sims can open a product retail store, where they produce and sell goods. Another option is a pay-per-use business in which Sims charge fees for a service that they provide for other Sims. The last option is a pay-per-time business offering ongoing services – your Sim then charges other Sims just for using your space. With so many options and such flexibility, Sims can start up virtually any type of business they desire. Pet shops, internet cafes, floral boutiques, art galleries, toy stores, and clothing retailers are just a few of the unique businesses your Sim can start up.

The more practice you Sim gets with running his own business, the more savvy and successful he’ll become in the game. Open for Business introduces a new set of learnable skills, called the talent system, which will impact your Sims salesmanship abilities. Seven different talents can be improved through practice, including the ability to pitch sales to customers, operate a cash register, and to craft individual products. The more practice your Sim gets in a particular skill, the more talented he will become in that area. And since talented Sims can produce higher quality items, and produce more of them, than unskilled Sims, it pays to spend the time honing your skills. Once you Sim has established himself as a successful entrepreneur, he will have access to the real estate market. Speculative real estate in Simville, just as it is in real life, is a gamble, but the payoff can be huge if your Sim plays it smart. Sims will be able to purchase empty lots or fixer-upper homes, improve upon them, and resell them at a higher price.

Open for Business will also test your Sim’s ability to manage other Sims, since you’ll need employees to help you run your business Hiring and firing staff is an important part of running a business, so your Sim will need to become skilled at giving motivational speeches, recruiting new talent, and directing the activities of your staff. And having a strong team of employees is important, since they directly service your customers. Open for Business has added a new relationship system called customer loyalty, which is governed by Sims’ personal experiences in your business. Sims’ loyalty to you (and your business) will increase if you provide them with good customer service. Loyalty can decrease if you fail to wait on shoppers, improperly train new employees, or try to hard sell a customer. As your business draws in more and more loyal customers, it will increase in rank. High ranked businesses have the ability to tap into the social network of your Sim’s friends, allowing your Sim to connect with more and more people in the community.

If your Sim ready to take matters into his own hands and go into business for himself? If so, have him pencil in March 2nd on his calendar – that’s when Sims 2: Open for Business hits stores shelves.

For many people the highlight will undoubtedly be OutRun, the racer which when it first appeared in the arcades in 1986 ushered in a new generation of driving games. Also present is Virtua Racer, one of the early games to start using 3D polygons to show the game world rather than 2D bitmapped images, and Monaco GP, a top down viewed racing game.

If beat ‘em ups are more your thing then Golden Axe is for you. This was a great fantasy hack and slash game which I know swallowed a fair bit of my pocket change. You can play as Warrior, Dwarf or Maiden (bit soft sounding considering she’s got a massive sword!) and can ride on weird creatures and use magic potions to aid you on your quest.


Space Harrier will surely need no introduction either, although without the crazy tilting seat of the original arcade version it’s never going to quite feel the same. Still a great game, which was graphically astounding in it’s day. Alien Syndrome was a multiplayer Gauntlet style game, though as the name suggests it was set in an alien infested space ship. I liked Alien Syndrome at the time, but I could never figure out how you were supposed to kill the first end of level boss…

The puzzle game Columns, odd looking shooter Fantasy Zone and the bizarre Tant R & Bonanza Bros, a collection of mini-games complete the set, which is available now.

The game is based on the time span between episode III and IV. Wars are being fought to gain control over the galaxy, after the clone wars devastation, and nearing of the Jedi massacre which corrupts the force. Game play within Star Wars Empire at War is filled with tactical fighting and strategy, and weather you’re playing the demo or the full version, you’re bound to have fun.

You can download the free trial version (741MB) from GameDaily right here. Yea, I know, 741MB, but you get a lot for the 3 days you’ll spend downloading it!

This game puts you in the jungles of Vietnam with a sidearm, a main weapon, a melee weapon and a few other weapons such as grenades, the difference between this Battlefield Vietnam and others is that you will have four classes to choose from which include heavy assault, assault, and recon. There is no medic classification in this game but some of the classes can carry health kits. Just as it is in real life, the type of weapons you choose to carry does effect your speed. If you decide to be in a heavy assault troop and you have a M60 on your back you are not going to move as fast as a soldier with just a sidearm or a sniper rifle.

According to which map you wish to play you can choose form four different United States soldiers, which include the United States Army, Marines, and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam or the Viet Cong You can even customize your soldier to your own preference to a certain degree. You can choose from two heads and two different bodies.

The different classes are what make this game so interesting. The assault class puts in of course an assault troop. In this class, you will be able to carry all weapons such as Mossberg 500 shotgun, M16, or a XM148 assault-rifle-with-grenade-launcher. The engineer class is similar to the engineers in Battlefield 1942. If you are an engineer, you will be of course expected to repair vehicles that are damaged during the battles. However, you will also be an expert in the field of demolition. You will be able to use mortars, static charge and log traps on enemy vehicles or bases. This will give your status a much more interesting and involved character on the field. The heavy assault class of course is going to be carrying those larger than life weapons. You will be able to tote around heavy infantry weapons as well as anti-vehicle weapons.

Get ready to play online against other players and find out if you have what it takes to win the war in the jungles of Vietnam.

This game was first released in Japan under the name of Caduceus: Surgical Operation. If you have ever wanted to play doctor then this is your chance. You are the doctor and must be prepared for surgery. You must make decisions on solving complex surgical puzzles and make sure you do not make any dire mistakes.

While you are playing surgeon you will experience a convincing story with unique characters. You may have an ordinary day or a mysterious illness begins to sweep your area and the patient’s existence is placed in your hands.

This cool game for Nintendo DS has unique gameplay options, touchscreen input and other innovations that will give you a whole meaning in the words “playing doctor”.

When you are not performing miraculous surgeries you will find yourself roaming around Hope Hospital and other areas in Japanese style text sequences, you will converse with doctors and nurses, prepare yourself for surgeries, and learn more about a strange illness that has the waiting room filled to capacity.

In the game, you are Derek Stiles an inexperienced new doctor of the age of 26. You are no longer a resident but a full-fledged doctor. You will have a bit of training with a nurse before the game gets exciting.

In the beginning, your surgeries will have an experienced nurse at your side, but as the game goes along you must do it on your own, so pay close attention in the beginning or you may not know the difference between a scalpel and a suture. You will need to learn that every instrument in your surgical kit has a different touch control. You should pay close attention when using the instruments such as the ultrasound, the scalpel, and the needle. You must learn to use each one with precise accuracy if you are to help those that are ill.

Enjoy playing doctor like never before with Trauma Center: Under the Knife for Nintendo DS.