On occasion, companies will send out rather nice press kits for the games they are promoting and publishing. I have received a few in the past, but I think the coolest one I’ve received was for Brain Age 2 for the Nintendo DS.

There’s a water bottle, a headband, totebag and a copy of the game, along with various press and fact sheets.

Some people think these things influence a game’s score and review. I don’t doubt that it can happen, but if it does, that person shouldn’t be reviewing games. Instead, he should be reviewing promotional materials and other fanfare and accompaniments that go along with a game.

Personally, I don’t let them influence me. Yes, I receive many of these games for free. I won’t deny that. But I know what it’s like to have to buy games on my own, and I still weigh that when reviewing a game. If writing a review for the newest Xbox 360 game to come out, I still think to myself, “Hmm, I just paid $60 for this game. Am I happy with it? Did I just get screwed, or am I in possession of a great game?”

If a game is crap, I’ll give it the score it deserves.

When Final Fantasy Tactics was first released, about nine years ago in North America, I ignored it for a few reasons. The first was because I didn’t have a PlayStation; I didn’t receive one until the last few months of its life.

The other reason, and the primary one, was because I felt the game was riding its success based purely on its pedigree. I assumed all Final Fantasy games had to be turn-based menu combat. Then along came Tactics had nothing in common with other games in the series, other than a few cameos from FF VII characters. I also assumed that a strategy RPG would have a weak plot.

Continue reading The tactical RPG →

The holidays are quickly approaching, and for those of you who love your videogames, you may soon find yourself unable to buy food, pay rent/mortgages, pay for gas… you get the point. But why is this? One of the largest holiday line-ups will be presented to gamers this shopping season.

According to IGN’s release date lists, Nov. 12 and 13, 2007, will present the following games:

Continue reading Have a happy (broke) holiday! →

It’s always exciting to wake up Monday morning in hopes of some good games making the “Wii-kly Update” for the Wii’s Virtual Console. This week we have Metroid (NES), Shining in the Darknes (Gen) and Cratermaze (TG-16). I’ve only played one of those, but it was always good fun.

I would spend hours upon hours venturing through the labyrinth of Planet SR388. The game used an at-the-time innovative password system and was an overall fun game. A challenging game like that is missed these days.
Continue reading Reminiscing: Metroid leads the way →