Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Black, White.

Whenever a conversation is brought up about Game Freak, these colors are used in sentences to specifically talk about the games that they’ve worked on, those games being Pokemon specifically.

And that’s about it, at least from what most people know, as they are a group specifically known for Pokemon, and nothing more.

I mean, who remembers Pulseman for the Sega‘s Mega Drive? Or 2005’s Drill Dozer for the GBA? (admittedly, these games were released in dying consoles in their respective times, so it‘s fair to say those wouldn‘t be remembered much).

But after some welcome changes in Game Freak’s internal structuring, employees were allowed to create new titles (while still working on Pokemon, mind you, that’s never going to change). And just like that, development began on this new game (surprisingly, this game was the brainchild of James Turner, who was the guy who created both Golurk, who is now loved by fans, and well… Vanille… But that’s besides the point).

That game, is called HarmoKnight.

Unlike anything previously created by the team, this title is a different breed altogether, not an RPG, not an action/adventure title, but instead; a rhythm/sort of platformer..

The story (yes, it has a story) put you in the control of Harmo, who after a meteor crashes on the planet, bringing along an evil entity known as Gargan that corrupts the planet, is send to deliver a note-shaped staff that has the ability to defeat this evil being to Symphony City, where someone who has the potential to become a HarmoKnight should be.

In all honesty thought, the story is forgettable, as are the characters, I applaud the effort to bring some sort of story telling, but it just falls flat and it just feels tacked on, then again, no one buys a rhythm game for the story.

The gameplay is where is at. You control Tempo, using only the A and B buttons, gameplay sometimes gets switched around every few stages to keep the game fresh, you are in control of a mine cart, other times you control an archer and fire away at far off enemies, and other times you use a drummer and a monkey… Yeah, don’t take this game seriously.

There are also boss stages sprinkled throughout the campaign, these stages are actually on the easy side, thanks to the fact that the game gives you the timing for each, another complain from these stages, is that you must always hit the last note, if you don’t, that means an automatic fail, which brought a frustrated grunt out of me more than once, since I had done it perfectly until then, fortunately, the stages aren’t overly long, so it’s not that much of a problem, although a skip for the first part of the track (EBA style) would have been nice.

(Don’t mind the German translation here)

The goal of each stage is to collect the most notes possible, this can be done by grabbing the notes floating around, hitting an enemy with the staff, as well as the instruments around the level, if enough are grabbed, a Royal Note that is needed to advance is received, this sounds easy enough, but this game is unforgiving in its rhythm and timing, if the hits are off by even a little bit, you will miss and will be damaged, or the target will bounce off completely missing the note, unlike past Nintendo rhythm games, this one can be a bit tough to master, even after I finished it, I still had trouble going through it.

How does the game look? It looks great! The graphics sport a cartoonish style that fit the lighthearted atmosphere of the game, even the enemies look silly for the most part, the models are well done and visible enough when they appear on-screen, allowing you enough time to react in order to hit them in the face while following the rhythm.

In the sound area? Well…  The sound cues are great, but the music itself is not the most catchy music ever created, I would go as far as to say it’s forgettable, I honestly cannot remember any of the tracks outside the Pokemon bonus tracks (which are a welcome addition to the game) and the Final Stage, which is only possible due to my repeated failure.

Another thing I noticed that other reviewers didn‘t address, was that the music in certain stages was recycled through each level, only being very minimally different, and the stages themselves being slightly altered, which is a lazy thing from the music department to do, seeing how the music was already forgettable enough, this is okay in games where platforming is key, but not in rhythm games, where music must definitely be good.

The game itself is also rather short, but for an eShop title, the length is to be expected, although the price tag of 15 bucks will surely put off some people.

But still, even with all of my complaints, I still can’t let this game go, using two buttons is simple enough, but mastering it has been a blast, I still think this franchise can do better, a sequel that deals with all of the issues this game has would be welcome, Game Freak, so when you are not working on Pokemon X and Y, that would be appreciated.

In conclusion, this is a game that I would only recommend to rhythm game fans, and for that matter, MAYBE Pokemon fans for the bonus tracks alone, although I don’t expect those guys to shell out 15 dollars for this game, it’s still a pretty solid entry that it wouldn’t hurt to have on your 3DS, but you really wouldn’t miss anything by waiting for the game to go on sale.

The Nintendo DS was an underrated system. Cue backlash, but hear me out for a moment: in an era with flashy onscreen graphics and multiplayer gameplay, the DS stood alone with its often “basic” displays and “restricted” single-player campaigns. And, predictably, there were a great many games that flew under the radar of gamers. This is the tale of one of those games, which appeared and vanished quickly, while still gathering praise and helping add to the prestige of the series with which it was aligned.

This is the tale of Devil Survivor.

Devil Survivor arrived on scene at the perfect time: early Summer 2009, right after the release of Pokemon Platinum (and at the time when the casual Poke-players would be seeking something new), near the beginning of a season perfectly suited for portable gaming. Part of the prolific Shin Megami Tensei series, this game was a solid representation of the visual novel/tactical battle system pioneered by Atlus throughout the previous decade or so. Mixing elements of strategy, foresight and “common sense,” it brought players into a world on the brink and asked “what would you do to survive?”

Devil Survivor was an apocalypse story in the truest sense of the word. Rather than portraying the downfall of society at the hands of zombies/aliens/communists/etc, the game chose to “pull back the veil,” and reveal to a select few the “reality” behind out world: angels are calling the shots and maintaining a semblance of order, while demons seek to rebel and overtake the masses using mankind as a nexus point for their plots. Humanity, caught in between their eternal war, is given seven days to comply with the angel’s commands, or the city of Tokyo will be completely destroyed.

While borrowing heavily from Christian symbolism and storytelling, the game manages to frame the topic in a context that leaves religion out of the debate. Rather than bear witness to the coming doom, a select few of those humans choose to do something. Cults devoted to the idea of human liberation preach the transcendental power of humanity as a whole and warn against both domination and depravity. Certain demons, despite their “unholy” origins, choose to work alongside humans to spare the destruction, while angels appear petty at times, reveling in their “power” while the world around them slowly decays. Long before Supernatural decided to “humanize” the warring factions of good and evil and throw shades of gray into the cosmic struggle, Devil Survivor was portraying both sides strengths and weaknesses as part of an expansive “morality play” and forcing the player to call the shots on how the story ended.

The concept of survival was a central point to the entire experience, as players were forced to deal with mobs of panicking humans, discovering shelter for the night, acquiring food and even looking for a power source at one point, all while society crumbles around them. The daily “countdown” towards impending doom added to the tension of the story, facilitating the need for “smart” decisions, rather than just reacting to the situation at hand, a tactic which would more than likely lead to death or derailment of plans/plots/initiatives. While not as urgent as a survival horror game, there was a distinct emphasis on consequences and foresight built into the plot, which rewarded astute gamers, and added stress to impulsive choices.

This emphasis on storytelling is one of the hallmarks of the Shin Megami Tensei series as a whole, and Devil Survivor expanded upon narrative and character interaction throughout the “seven days” of gameplay. There were numerous story lines in play, rooted around the game’s central characters, and even more around some of the “supporting cast.” Deciding which path the game took often required quick thinking, time management, and attention to detail, for some of the alternate stories hinged on how certain interactions proceeded, how often specific characters were used, what time of day it was, and how well the Protagonist sympathized and related to the individual stories of his friends. One slip up could close off an entire story line from that play through (especially those which were time-sensitive), and often that deciding moment would not be noticed until hours later. Finally, unlike its sequel, which forced the player to choose which side he was on, Devil Survivor elected instead to keep the main plot of the game static: the alterations to the plot rarely changed the outcome, just the path the story took to get to the outcome.

Mechanically, Devil Survivor was fantastically executed. I often called this game series “Pokemon with demons,” and for good reason. Unlike Persona games, which rely on luck and savvy fusing skills, or previous SMT games which needed negotiations to win demons over to your side, Devil Survivor tackled the issue by instituting an auction system. Money accrued during gameplay was used to enter into a “demon auction” against computer controlled AI “characters,” who would bid for the rights to contract with demons offering their services online. Quick bidding and successful manipulation of the system would net powerful demons at a low cost. Failure would mean loss of a potentially powerful ally forever.

While there was a buyout system which circumvented the bidding wars, it was often more cost-effective to analyze strategies and find ways to outbid the computer, thereby winning powerful new demons to your collection, which could then be fielded or fused within the Cathedral of Shadows to create more powerful fare. Players were encouraged to keep checking the auctions after each battle, since new demons would appear frequently, as older ones would eventually “experience out” of viability. This mix of fusion and “negotiation” proved to be as addictive to players as wandering the tall grass, because battles were often challenging and required a steady stream of “the best” demons to ensure victory.

Battles were both simple and complicated affairs. Borrowing from the tactical RPGs which Atlus is known for, combat removed the player from the interactive world and placed him on a massive grid system, facing off against wild demons or opposing summoners. Strategy took the form of choosing not only the appropriate demon, but also having a working knowledge of the demons skills and “specialties.” Certain demons had the ability to move quickly, or multiple times. Others could attach twice. Others could attack from long range. Some could heal, or fly, or teleport. It was very easy to lose sight of these special skills in the heat of combat, and thereby discover your party has been maneuvered into a tight spot from which escape was unlikely. There were many-a-battle where enemies with huge hit boxes could wipe out an unprepared party before they could move within range to strike.

Devil Survivor was a frustrating experience for the unprepared. While the learning curve was hardly an issue, the difficulty would abruptly ratchet up several levels in between encounters. Time-sensitive events would vanish swiftly, and frequently never pop up again in the “daily log,” thereby restricting (or even breaking) carefully planned course of action. Certain bosses were quirky and had merciless AI and “random number generators,” which could spell doom for even the best-prepared party. Even grinding was unpredictable and relentless in its encounters. And yet, it is a testament to the game’s appeal that one would not wish to stop playing. Even after losing a hard-fought, twenty-plus minute boss fight in the final moments due to an unanticipated sequence of strikes, the player would simply reload a save and go right back, taking what they learned and hopefully avoiding it the second (or third, or fourth) time around. Maybe a tweak to character abilities, or a swapping of demons/party members, and it was back into battle. It made the eventual victory both sweeter and more satisfying, knowing it was attained through strategy and effort, and not just overpowered steamrolling.

It might be a testament to the success of the game that you rarely see copies for sale. It sold fairly well, maybe not a hit in most people’s opinions, but certainly enough to warrant both a “fancy” 3DS upgrade, and “cult classic” status. It vanished from store shelves a few months after release, and even the used game sections rarely-if ever- see copies in them. Like many of the other SMT titles, this one served to satisfy the fan-base, but also made fans of many newcomers, myself included. While it’s a radical departure from the wildly popular Persona series that many casual gamers recognize, it was also familiar enough to have solid appeal. The replay value was extremely high: New Game + mode carried over demons and money, which made the followup game sessions ridiculously easy; the existence of multiple endings, “exclusive” fusions, and optional bosses prompted repeat plays just to see how strong one could become.

There was a sequel released in February of last year, also for the DS, which carried over many of the aspects that made this game such a success. And on it’s own, Devil Survivor 2 is as much a “Game You Slept On” as it’s precursor. But for this gamer, the first title will always be the special one. It opened the wide world of Shin Megami Tensei on a platform that seemed perfectly suited for casual play, while not losing any of the addictive nature that other SMT games hold. It was because of this game that I sampled Persona, which has become its own monster in my gaming life. And while I haven’t played it since those three hundred or so hours back in 2009, I can still recall vividly how much enjoyment the game carried with it. That’s a rarity these days.

Don’t be so Mainstream

Nintendo has been a household name for almost thirty years now. It is one of the most powerful brands in the world according to Forbes. They are KNOWN as one of the most innovative companies to date. They have been responsible for some of the most well known characters that children and adults recognize globally. These are all the reasons why the industry looks to Nintendo to bring back those qualities.

Today however, we have too many re-makes and not enough new ideas coming from Nintendo. When Nintendo produces it’s often a Golden Egg, but they need far more than a few 3DS titles to stay competitive.

Nintendo held the torch when it came to ushering in the casual & young market of gamers. People who haven’t picked up a video game since the original Pac-Man were comfortable buying the Nintendo Wii. It was a child friendly system that called for active movement. Games like Ghost Squad and House of the Dead brought back those “Arcade” memories, and titles like “Just Dance” got everyone moving with ease. Millions of people were excited for video games once again. Now six years later the flame has died down. The Wii-U is out, it’s selling at a decent pace and it needs time to grow, but will it be enough to leave the footprint that the Nintendo Wii did? Will they be able to convince the casual market to choose them over PlayStation, Xbox and the ever consistently growing mobile industry?

Even as an Old School Gamer, you need new content

The success of the Wii was because of the casual market’s support and Nintendo has done a poor job marketing their latest system to that market. The Wii-U launch on a financial basis isn’t doing a bad job. However the hardcore audience, (the very audience they wanted to sell this console to) is disappointed and starved for the new and innovative content they are known for. Re-imagining games for nostalgic appeal is a great sell in today’s industry. Older players love the feeling of familiar levels re-visited, and the old mechanics help usher in some younger gamers.
No-one is more guilty of reanimating their best franchises like Nintendo, and that is not necessarily a bad thing; they do it very well and always seem to breathe new life into the classics, but where are the truly “New” concepts? Now the competition has changed, the reason people play has changed, when and where people play has changed. The mobile games industry takes more and more attention from the Nintendo DS. Although Nintendo doesn’t have to fear tablet and phone gaming….yet; they are in a position to dominate once again. Nintendo needs new games and gamers want a damn good reason to play them.

We have already heard the griping about the launch line-up for the Wii-U, and the lack of games available for the console right now. Even with ports of titles like Assassins Creed III and Batman Arkham City that play in a unique way, gamers don’t care; they want the “Nintendo Experience”. They have to make people understand why they need a Wii-U after they have burned out their Wii. Nintendo has to convince the gamers that after they have spent their money that this is where they should be spending their time. Nintendo needs to take the gloves off and show everyone why their software can last for decades. Nintendo needs to convince that casual crowd that they can still entertain and provide a safe haven for the younger gamers. This next year Nintendo has to prove why they belong in your life.

1. This next generation, people will be asking themselves one thing: “What kind of experience can I get here and nowhere else”. Nintendo’s campaign should be focused on one phrase: “Only on Nintendo”

*Volunteer Positions* While evaluating the state of the Gaming Journalism scene, I noticed that we at Real Otaku Gamer has a unique approach when covering geek/otaku culture. As the site gets restructured and we go into our 3rd year, we are looking to create opportunities that will help the site become more robust and varied with coverage. Real Otaku Gamer has a global vision, we accept writers from all over the world.

These new job positions are going to help Real Otaku Gamer become more organized and develop a bigger community so we can grow as a brand. These positions are volunteer only as we are a small site. As we grow so will the sponsors and hopefully revenue.

IF HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSITIONS, Email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com

These New Positions are as follows:

1. Community Manager: You will be taking care of the daily running of the site. You will work along side the Editor in Chief and other Admins on the site with promoting the site and helping build a brand. You must have good communication skills.

2.Marketing and PR: You will be responsible for all Public Relations with companies and the community. You must have good communication skills and be able to relate to people of a number of levels. You will also run contests and giveaways.

3.Managing Editor: You will work closely with all staff to make sure the posts we produce, are up to our standards.

4.Social Media Manager: You will be in charge of growing our social networking presence. You will be working close to the senior staff.

5. Assistant to Editor in Chief: You will assist the E.I.C. in the daily running of the site.

6.Advertising and Promotion: contact us for more details.

7.Art Director: contact us for more details.

8.Podcast Producer/Editor: contact us for more details.

9.Video Producer/Editor :contact us for more details.

Now, the next few positions are for the Real Otaku Gamer Specialists. These positions are dedicated for people who want to cover a specific genre/category. This is where your inner Otaku can really shine.

1. PC

2. Mobile/Tablet

3. Tech

4. Anime

5. Manga

6. Comics

7. Nintendo

8. Sony

9. Microsoft

10. Movies/Television

11. Asian Cinema

12.Indie Games

13.Toys/models and Merchandise

14.Convention Coverage

15.Cosplay and Cosplay Culture

To apply for these positions, you must first submit a writing sample and once the sample is approved, submit an small essay telling us why we should pick you for the job you are interested in. An essay is not necessary for all positions. Deadline to have the samples submitted is May 20th, 2013. We must have all essays in my May 17th. Send the Essays and Samples to feedback@realotakugamer.com.

If you have any questions about any of the positions and their responsibilities, just email us at feedback@realotakugamer.com or go to the Twitter and Facebook pages. Thanks you for your time.

Andre Tipton

Founder/Editor in Chief

Warner Bros. Interactive have finally announced, what we all wanted to hear, Batman will be returning to a prequel to both Arkham Asylum & City, with Batman: Arkham Origins. The game will focus on a younger, a less sharp Batman and his initial encounters against various supervillains within the Batman & DC lore. Game Informer also says, “Developer WB Montreal is using Rocksteady’s custom modified Unreal engine to create the game.” Although Rocksteady isn’t helming the developing, Warner Bros. has enlisted Eric Holmes, as creative director on the game, and who has also worked on Prototype and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

Additionally, Warner Bros. has announced a handheld Arkham game, a spin off, titled Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Apparently, the game is styled after Metroid games, and takes place after Origins, on the consoles story. Blackgate is being developed by Armature Studios, who is behind the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Both games will hit shelves October 25th, Arkham Origins on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC, and Blackgate on Vita and 3DS.

The Nintendo Gamecube released around 12 years ago, one chilly November day, and it came with quite a few games that have by now become well known classics; Super Monkey Ball, Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2, and Wave Race: Blue Storm, these are but a few examples of the launch lineup, but there was another game that caught the attention of the media.

Luigi’s Mansion.

It was a rather odd move from Nintendo, releasing a game not starring Mario, but instead starring his lesser known brother Luigi? What madness is this? So focused was this mindset, that the game received average reviews for the most part, something that was strange for a series made by Nintendo, bringing the series to an untimely demise.

But the real question is, why were the responses on this game mixed? Well, the answer is simple; the game was too different, it was something that many gamers  and critics could not comprehend at the time, the usual Mario staple was so engraved into everyone’s minds, that the sheer oddity of this game was just… Unprecedented? I think that is the correct word to explain that reaction.

Another such example of oddness would be another tittle from Nintendo: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which was heavily criticized back then over its graphical style.

But still, many gamers embraced it (Wind Waker received a similar response), and they found something special in this title, and slowly, more were able to see how strangely appealing this game actually is, and so, after 12 years of waiting, we have a sequel at last; Luigi’s Mansion 2, or Dark Moon, the “edgy” and unnecessary subtitle given to the game here in the states, is finally out for the Nintendo 3DS.

The game begins with Professor E. Gadd, the scientist from the previous game that helped by giving Luigi the original Poltergust and the Game Boy Horror, now he occupies himself with studying ghosts, and everything is fine and dandy. That is until the Dark Moon (a mysterious crystal that hangs in the sky) is “mysteriously” shattered, the ghosts lose control, quickly wrecking havoc, and causing the good doctor to hide in a bunker. Unable to find answers, he unceremoniously calls on Luigi once more, who hesitantly agrees to go into not one, not two, but 5 mansions, and perhaps, find some answers.

Unlike the previous game in which you could explore one giant mansion at your own pace, this one uses more of a mission structure, basically treating each mansion as a world of sorts, and each mission as a level. Fans of the original will be turned off by this, but I feel like the straight path approach is more to the game’s strength. In any case, there are many secrets spread in each mission, allowing those who want to put the time to find them do so.

As Luigi, you can do a few different things in order to find secrets, as well as ghosts to capture; you can of course, suck and blow away things with your vacuum, you now also have 2 types of flashlights, the usual that allows you to frighten ghosts by flashing them with it, and the new Dark-Light flashlight, which allows you to reveal hidden objects in the environment. To those unfamiliar with this series, unlike pretty much every game with a Mario character in it, Luigi cannot use his supreme jumping skills, of course, the skill is unnecessary, you’ll be surprised how much you can do with the vacuum alone.

How does the game look? Pretty good, not the best, but it manages to do what it’s supposed to do, still, it looks great with and without the 3D, environments look detailed, and things like lighting effects and slight details like Luigi’s shadow help immerse you more into the mansions, which hold a rather eerie feel that in occasion, can be legitimately unnerving. The game runs smoothly for the most part, but when there is too much on-screen or there is a particularly crowded cut-scene, you notice a slight drop in the frame rate, it’s not game breaking, but it’s something to note. The ghosts themselves are very basic in looks, simply being different colored blobs of goo (minus a few exceptions and the Boos themselves), but each has different patterns and ways to attack, and the game introduces new variations of them, that spices up the gameplay as the difficulty appropriately ramps up.

The sound of this game is nothing to brag about, still, the music fits the style of the game, being more fitting to show the atmosphere than just to sound good, which it still does to some extent. Another thing to note is the sound effects, which sometimes go unnoticed, such as the sound of an object falling, or Luigi’s own footsteps, and maybe even the Toad’s squeaking sound whenever they move, it’s small details like this that do to the game’s favor.

The best thing in this game? I’m going to go with Luigi himself, of course. Luigi’s over the top reactions to everything, the short burst of slapstick humor thrown in (much to our hero’s chagrin) and the way he hums along with the music, I must admit, he oozes personality, something that his brother Mario has never had in any of his games, and something that Luigi proudly triumphs over in this one, it adds to the game’s charm.

But the game is not without its small flaws, as I noted earlier, the frame rate drops when action gets too chaotic on-screen, another thing is using the gyroscope to look around, it’s not quite as intuitive as it was in Ocarina of Time 3D, in which I actually PREFERRED to use it, another problem with it is that it’s also used to cross chasms by using wires, and this honestly, brings the game to a halt, as you have to accommodate yourself properly to do it correctly, or you will fall… A lot. Thankfully, these moments are few and far between.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon has a fantastic single player, but Next Level Games went the extra mile to give it an extra inclusion; the ScareScraper.

In this multiplayer mode (which you can play local, as well as online) you can play 3 different modes; Hunter in which you catch all of the ghosts on each floor. Rush, a mode where you need to find the exit before time runs out, and Polterpup; in which you need to find the ghosts dogs and catch them before time runs out.

It has some competitive aspects as well, as capturing more ghosts, getting more loot, and not fainting, net you a bonus reward of Gold at the end of the match, which goes into your vault. But as entertaining as this can be, it is nothing more than a small distraction at best, as it becomes repetitive quite quickly, it really depends on the player finding entertainment on the same environments each time, still, I would recommend to play this in small doses.

Overall, this game is excellent, it brings something rather different to the table, it’s entertaining, and like I said, it can be quite spooky at times, no joke. Next Level Games did a fantastic job by developing this one, they put effort, and it shows, as it feels like a game MADE by Nintendo themselves. I highly recommend this one, but not only for you Nintendo fanatics, but also for those who want a different experience.

Talk at the Game Developers Conference is suggesting that Miiverse for Smartphones and web browsers will become available in May. When released, Miiverse on web browsers and smartphones will provide basic functionality, including posting comments, drawing, viewing posts and participating in communities. It was also confirmed that Miiverse is still coming to Nintendo 3DS. No release date on that yet.

Nintendo has also announced that it’s planning a large number of improvements to Miiverse over the coming months. Here’s a summary of the changes.

Players will be able to send and receive comments in-game.
Players will be able to see ‘Yeahs’ in-game.
Players can also follow users, and see who users are following in-game.
Users will be able to launch games from Miiverse Posts.
Launch buttons on Miiverse posts can contain program arguments, so it will be possible to boot directly to a certain level or menu in a game.
Can work with online data store for additional functionality.
User Sub-Communities (like Mario Kart 7?s) are coming to Miiverse,
Can be used to organize and hold tournaments.
First game to use them is Wii Fit U.

It’s exciting to see that Nintendo is hard at work at polishing the Wii U. With time we should have a solid console with block buster hit games.

As the fans file into the stadium, players are warming up, the coaches talk to various players, trainers giving last minute treatment to players, and then everything settles in, and in a few moments, the umpire will yell, “PLAY BALL” and the first pitch will be thrown! I give you Sony’s exclusive Major League seasonal game, MLB 13: The Show. I’ll preface this review as; I haven’t played a baseball game since MLB All-Star on the N64 back in 99 or 2000. So I can say, without a doubt, definitely a fresh look on it. And I can say I love this game, and all its 9 innings of glory. I don’t exactly enjoy watching baseball, unless its in-person, but this game makes playing, whatever position you fancy, as simply just down right fun.

I’ll start off with what everybody wants to do, play baseball. Be it defense or swinging the lumber. The game makes each experience, be it, in the regular season for the majors in a franchise or minors with Road to the Show, or playing with a RTTS player in the majors, a fluid and seamless experience. The game just makes everything fun. For playing a team versus team game, pitching, if you haven’t played any of the previous The Show games, it takes some getting use to. But once you find the one that suits you, you’ll love it. I’ll say this, Pulse pitching, which entails, a circle around a smaller one, that pulsates, and its fun, but it can be annoying to get the mechanics down, especially with the lower rated pitchers. Fielding is easy, with various indicators for the ball while it’s in the air, and easy to use controls for getting the ball to the necessary cutoff man or base. And also, controlling multiple runners on base is simple and easy. Also, a great note you can customize the game to all the mechanics of gameplay, to fit our style and need. Going along with that, you can run an franchise controlling every aspect from bring guys up from AAA to postseason runs, the game will have you playing hours, and potentially years if you choose.

Let’s move onto the gameplay of the mainstay and titular of the game, Road to the Show. This is the bread and the butter, super fun, and amazing. You start with creating a baseball player, with all the sliders to your content. And then you can either choose, to get put onto a MLB teams AA or AAA, or allow yourself be drafted. As I said, up above, you have settings that you can change to fit your play style. As you progress in your career, you get monthly goals, experience for playing and various correspondences between you and your management. But the gameplay remains the same, as if you were playing a team versus team, but you’re locked into a single player, your player. As you play, the game allows you to fast forward through games, and only playing in plays that you can directly affect or while batting. This cuts down on the time of watching or playing 9 whole innings. The base running is simplified with an up or right to advance running, and down or left, to return to previous base. As you play, you’ll learn nuances and baseball related skills to continue to progress. Its solid, and minus a few camera problems, like when you’re running to snag a fly ball in the outfield, and its over your head, the camera naturally, get closer to your player, but sometimes, when you’re running, the camera will have a slight seizure and cause you to miss an easy out.

The presentation and the sounds of the game are simply astounding and full encompassing. Three of the best instances, when you play RTTS as a Minor League player, the stadiums aren’t full, the atmosphere isn’t all encompassing as I said before, but you get the feel of being, in the start of your career. While when you get to the “Show” it’s simply loud, you hear the crowd, and when you make a play or an amazing stand as a team, you’ll hear the roar of the crowd. And when you’re playing team game, you can hear that same in a team versus team game. The commentators:  Matt Vasgersian, Eric Karros, and Steve Lyons are great and talk about the action, either in RTTS for just you, or end of inning recap or during your full game, but they tend to get dry rather quick. But as you play, in whatever mode, you get the atmosphere of being at the park, from the sounds of the ball being hit, the glove catching the ball, the umpire making a call, and the roar of the crowd after a bad call.

The game’s graphics are great, and look amazing, minus the grass, which looks like a weird version of astro-turf for gaming. But player’s faces, those of the professionals look like they’re real counterparts. I’ll admit, if they could add in the ability to see uniforms ruffling from movement, and also, the crowd… the day I see a crowd, that actually look like people and not some weird, graphical code dump for the crowd, it’ll be the day. But the game and its graphics, to its gameplay and its fun, to climbing your way up either in a Franchise or RTTS, MLB 13: The Show is worth the price tag and just simply fun and amazing. And I’m happy I picked it up!

It’s been 3 weeks since the release of the Nintendo Gamecube, it’s one of those winter nights where you stay inside and decide to play a few rounds of Super Smash Bros. Melee by yourself, because face it; your social life has been corrupted by this game, and you finally have a legit excuse to stay inside.

You finish Classic mode for around the 20th time, and after the credits roll, you find yourself challenged by a new character, you become excited and want to find out what sort of famous Nintendo star you will square off against.

The match starts, and you find yourself fighting what seems to be a swordsman, you pause the game and stare at the screen puzzled, but you carry on. You defeat him, and you get that message: “Direct from Fire Emblem, it’s Marth, the swordsman supreme!”

You put the controller down and read the message a few times, trying to get what it all means, until you finally ask yourself.

“What the hell is a Fire Emblem?”

This question plagued more than a few gamers minds back in the day, some found the answer, some didn’t, and in fact, most didn’t know what Fire Emblem was… At least until 2003, when the first game (or so we were told) in the series was released.

The game hit store shelves and received positive reviews, but it did not succeed in the sales department, still,  it did well enough, guarantying a sequel by the name of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (which sold quite a bit less I must say) a game in which we’ll focus today.

Released in 2005, this game wasn’t as highly praised as its first international outing, but it continued selling well enough, getting even more games out for the international market.

Without getting into any intricacies of the complicated plot, you control main character Eirika, a princess whose kingdom is suddenly attacked by a neighboring ally kingdom, after quickly running out of options, she flees her homeland along with a few of her knights, with the intent to seek help from their allies in the land of Frelia.

The game is an Strategy/RPG affair, you move characters on a grid based field, taking them closer to the enemy where you then can proceed to eliminate them using a variety of weapons such as swords, lances, axes, and even bows, there are a few extras such as healers, but normally, each item has a certain advantage over other weapons, adding more strategy to this already tense game.

Why tense you ask? Because you have to be careful and not rush in, or you are very likely to get yourself killed. This wouldn’t normally be a concern, but if Fire Emblem is notorious for something, that certain something can certainly be the infamous “permadeath” which basically means that if one of your characters dies in battle; they stay dead for the rest of the game. There is no revive items here for you to use.

This is both a good, and a bad point for the game, and the series in general.

Quite a few players enjoy the excitement that comes with risk, and of course the satisfaction of surviving with all of your troops, it gives you a sense of triumph. But it’s also a double-edged sword, as many will despise repeating a Chapter because they lost a member. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was only a random member, but the game makes it so that you care for them enough by giving them a personality and slight backstory, not to mention including a few of each class, making them nearly invaluable, so you more than likely feel bad when you lose a certain member of your army.

The game knows this well and it will use it against you, as you may just restart the whole battle just to finish it with your team complete. It can be rather intense affair if you don’t know what you are doing, and you will probably regret going on the offensive carelessly.

The game’s graphics aren’t’t expectacular by any means, the sprites outside main characters are all generic, looking the same for every member of the class (fighters all look the same) static character portraits are different though, at least giving them each some sort of difference of their own.

The areas where the battles happen have a look of an over the top view map, showing the different areas in the field such as grassy fields (which can give you advantages) it is laid out a lot like a more complicated chess game where you have to find the best spot to move to, which is basically what it is:

A huge game of chess, where strategy is needed to survive.

There isn’t much more to say about this game, and honestly, I can’t really recommend it to players nowadays, what with the superior Fire Emblem: Awakening being out for the 3DS (which has a difficulty mode for novices, so anyone can get into it). This game is worth a shot if you want to check out the Fire Emblem experience back then, but if you had to make the choice, the 3DS game is your best bet.

For a while now we’ve heard about this new gaming tablet coming out, the Wikipad Android gaming tablet. Now when we first heard about the tablet it was going to have a 10 inch screen which some people were not too kin on, so what did the company do? They did a couple of changes to enhance the Wikipad

The refinement came from a “technical issue with the controller,” said Wikipad managing director Fraser Townley, which the company was afraid might lead to returned units. The delay for the controller retooling then pushed the timing of the Wikipad’s launch up against the end-of-life cycle for the 10-inch panel. That prompted the switch to the 7-inch screen. The company says that a 10-inch model is still forthcoming, although the timing and price are both to be determined. Why don’t we take a look and what’s new to the Gaming tablet

Design

Just over four months later, the company is once again preparing to release the Wikipad. Since then we see a major design difference, from a 10-inch screen to a 7-inch version. The smaller screen also brings a new price tag, dropping the launch Wikipad to $249 from $499 big difference. The Wikipad is the only tablet to possess the unique combination of truly show off video game experiences found in consoles with the functionality and portability of a tablet. How is this possible? The attachable dual-analog controller gives that feeling like you are playing on your console.

Specs

You want to talk about power. The tablet offers a premium 7″ IPS screen small enough to game comfortable with out the bulky and clunky feeling you would get with a 10 inch screen, 16 GB memory with micro SD slot to support an additional 32 GB of storage so you won’t be limited to the games you would like to download, ultra-light and thin chassis, is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core mobile processor will give you graphics of a console system on the go and it gets better the Wikipad also has cloud gaming. With an aspect ratio of 16:10, the Wikipad tablet offers true widescreen HD display.

Android

This is not like any other gaming tablet, not only can you game, but you can also enjoy watching your favorite films, listen to music. Just like any other Android Tablet you will have Google Play, which gives you all your favorite apps (Facebook, Skype, and Twitter) you come a custom to. The tablet will be shipped with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Not bad at all.

Gaming Apps

I’m sure you haven’t seen apps like this on any tablet before. Big Fish games has teamed up the Wikipad to give you guys will allow Wikipad customers to instantly play hundreds of Big Fish’s high-quality casual
games anytime, anywhere. Big Fish Unlimited is a streaming service that features a growing catalog of games 150 today with new games added every week. Not into the hard core gaming? Well don’t worry they also have a section for casual gaming, these games included Hidden Object, Puzzle Adventure, Match 3, Time Management, and more. Because games are streamed, progress is saved in the cloud, allowing you to easily pick up your game session on any supported device. PlayStation Mobile and Onlive have been added as well. Now you have every game in reach.

Best of Both Worlds

Not only can you game, but do work as well. Just detached from the controller, and the Wikipad becomes an enterprise tablet with the blazing power of a Quad core CPU and 12 core GPU. Need business apps? Look no further you have access to DocumentsToGo, OfficeSuite Pro, GoTo Meeting, and Splashtop Remote Desktop. Checking emails will be a snap Wikipad is Microsoft Exchange account ready, with secure out-of-the-box access to your email and attachments, calendars, along with your contacts, it’s like you never left the office. Thw Wikipad will be released this Spring.