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LEGO Battles

            Remember the imaginary LEGO conflicts that once raged on your bedroom floor? LEGO Battles transplants that warfare from your inner child’s mind to the screens of the DS in a real-time strategy game that’s worth a try despite a couple of distressingly deep chinks in its plastic armor. LEGO Battles features themes drawn from the popular Castle, Pirates, and Space sets, giving each a distinct look and feel, from the bright green grasses of a medieval field and the rolling blue oceans of the tropics to the pitted orange-red surface of Mars. Though the names and graphics for the buildings and units change depending on which of the six campaigns you’re tackling, basic functions remain the same, whether you’re calling a powerful Hero unit like the King from his stone home or summoning skeletons from a mausoleum. While the top screen changes constantly between information screens and the map, the bottom screen always displays the battlefield, and it’s here that you select units with a tap or a dragged bounding box, tell builders where to start on new structures, and order attacks. A handful of color-coded command bricks line the left side of the screen, and touching each reveals a context-sensitive list of actions, buildings, upgrades, and magical spells. This arrangement is natural and intuitive. You can build a barracks, drop a lumber mill, and set workers about deforestation in seconds, and then focus on exploring large maps filled with obstacles, enemies, and hidden collectibles. It’s occasionally hard to fathom why you can’t build on a particular stretch of ground, and some buildings aren’t different enough from their neighbors to be immediately identifiable, but most basic outpost management tasks are easily accomplished.

Punch Out

            

Punch Out is not a short game. The Major, Minor, and World circuits include all the original fighters, a couple new ones, and even reintroduces some characters from the under-appreciated SNES game. But it may seem that it’s cleaving just a little too close to its source material. Beating the last guy and winning the championship is an accomplishment, to be sure, but it wouldn’t have been enough. Fortunately, that’s where the game really comes into its own.

Title Defense mode, unlocked upon completion of the original three circuits, isn’t just some kind of tacked-on bonus. In fact, it’s more than half of the game. Each of your opponents return; faster, tougher, and with whole new patterns that subvert your expectations. It’s kind of a shock when, after finally taking down Mr. Sandman and claiming the belt, you get your ass completely handed to you by Glass freaking Joe. The realization dawns that if he’s actually managed to become a credible threat, what is the last guy you narrowly scraped past going to be like when you finally make it that far? The original three circuits are practically an introduction.

 

 

Other additions, like an exhibition mode that adds specific challenges (e.g. knock down Glass Joe three times then let him win by decision, or defeat Great Tiger by TKO with just three punches), and the two-player vs. mode, are just gravy at this point. In fact, the only substantial complaint I have is that the 1-on-1 mode only allows players to control twin Little Macs, rather than providing the option of taking the reins of one of the other fighters. In the face of everything else, however, that’s mostly just a testament to how much Punch Out!! has been spoiling me.

So, yeah. Not only is Punch Out worth the 50 bucks, but lands on a very short list of Wii games people feel that way about. Even better, while Punch Out makes for an entertaining enough solitary experience, the back-seat driving aspect makes it positively shine as a party game. There’s nothing quite like having a few friends over, passing the controller around, shouting advice, and just generally bonding over some hilarious, bloodless violence.

DSI

 

            Here is a reveiw of the DSI by Nintindo:

Build and Feel
We really, really liked the DSi when we held it for the first time. It’s 12% thinner and ever so wider than the DS Lite, plus it feels more solid and features a grippy matte finish. All these tiny details translate to a device that feels infinitely more comfortable in adult hands. Even after hours upon hours of play, we always felt on the verge of dropping the DS Lite. Not so with the DSi.

The buttons are mostly the same to the naked eye, but they’re coated with a new texture we could appreciate, and both the D-Pad and XYAB face buttons are less mushy than the DS Lite. The Start and Select buttons are bigger and easier to press, plus the L and R shoulders click with all the obviousness you want in a button, even though they’re no longer flush with the body.
In terms of hardware specs, there are a few notable upgrades. The screens are 17% bigger than the last DS, each measuring 3.25-inches across (up from 3-inches flat), but their resolution is still a measly 256 x192. You get two .3MP cameras (one facing front, one back) that take shots to internal memory or newly-supported SD cards. (Note: SD cards work for media and game storage, but you can’t play games without copying them to internal memory first. Also, the cap on the SD slot feels like it might break off if opened too frequently.)

The biggest upgrade, however, is one that few people will see. The console now boasts an ARM9E CPU clocked at 133 MHz (in place of the original ARM9/66MHz) and has 16 MB of RAM. The biggest downgrade? Other than the missing GBA slot, the DSi uses a different charger than the DS Lite.

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OS/Interface
Aside from a new body, the DSi’s interface has been redesigned for the better. It’s actually a bit like Sony’s XMB, with navigation occurring through a single row of icons. Moving between programs is fairly snappy, and most icons are big enough on the new touchscreen to allow for stylus-less navigation. In other words, we used our fingers most of the time.

The first time you load the DSi, it snaps a shot of your face. Your face then fills the entire top screen whenever you’re in the main menu screen. If you are pretty, this is an obvious plus. If you are not, maybe you know someone attractive who might fill in for you.
From the mainscreen, you can take a picture at any time by pressing the L or R shoulder buttons. You can toggle which camera you’d like to use, too. From within programs, the power button doubles as a Home button, bringing you back to the mainscreen with a soft reset. (It’s useful, until you realize that this poorly-placed button can be hit easily mid-game, resetting the system without saving.)

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DSi Camera
If you want to do more than just snap shots, you go into DSi Camera. It has all sorts of zany, realtime filters for you to put on photos to squish heads or whatever the kids are into these days (Jason Chen is serving as our freakishly mutated model here). Sadly, the .3MP camera limitation means that you’ll never want to see these images anywhere other than on the DSi’s low rez screen. Additionally, the program cannot recognize shots you’ve taken on other digital cameras for editing.

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DSi Sound
DSi Sound is thematically similar to DSi Camera, serving as a sound recorder and editor (along with an low bitrate AAC music player). There are some clever ideas here, like Excitebike and Starfox-themed equalizers, and modulators that make your voice sound like a robot or parakeet.

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Neither DSi Sound or Camera is at all bad. It’s just that this is stuff that will probably only be appealing for 5 minutes or so to anyone over 10. We could see children loving these apps, but everyone else will probably grow bored quickly.

DSi Shop
All those fancy new DSiWare titles are purchasable through the (now WPA2 Wi-Fi accessible) DSi shop. If you’ve used the Wii, the cute music and blocky interface will be at least thematically familiar. Everything works, and we appreciated that you can permanently login with your Club Nintendo account to track purchase rewards. But the DSi has not escaped Nintendo’s typically sluggish online implementation. It’s just too damn slow. Another point for improvement is that the shop mostly utilizes the bottom screen for information, making the experience needlessly cramped. We’d love to scroll through selections with both screens firing away, providing a medieval scroll’s worth of content to view at once.

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Opera Browser
Browsing the web on the DS or PSP has never been a pleasant experience, and the DSi’s new (free!) Opera browser doesn’t manage to break this trend. There are a slew of reasons why, of course. The DSi adopts the DS’s browser interface, giving you a wide view on the top screen and a zoomed view on the bottom. But due to the low rez screen, neither view is very readable with pixelated font. (Really, what’s the last device you’ve seen NOT made by Nintendo in the last 10 years with pixelated fonts? It screams early 90s electronics.) There’s no Flash support, but that’s basically expected. Even ignoring these issues, scrolling down Gizmodo quickly depletes the system’s memory. You’re left with a blank webpage and an error screen, the browser rendered unusable.

But you know the real crime of the DSi’s Opera browser? Some kid will have his first foray with internet porn on this thing. And the experience will be far more traumatizing than the day he loses his virginity.

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Oh Right, Playing VIDEO GAMES
As for the DSi’s actual gaming experience, loading DS titles is not noticeably faster, despite an internal processor that’s almost twice as fast.

We tried out two DSiWare titles, however, and there’s at least a bit of promise in the new platform.

WarioWare Snapped is a like any typical WarioWare game (meaning that it’s really a collection of frantically paced minigames) but you use the DSi’s camera for motion control. When things worked, it was fun to reposition your head to catch a dropping hat, or grab at coins before the buzzer ran out. But it also stresses the limitations of the DSi camera. Often, in a variety of lighting situations, we simply could not get the camera/game to recognize faces/hands. And in these cases, the game is nothing more than contortionist torture as you try to line yourself up with the DSi’s camera and a lighting source. Spoiler: The game does use a trick that we’re positive others will follow. It takes shots of you midgame and replays them upon completion. The idea is both brilliant and funny, and we’re guessing it’s too resource intensive to be possible on the old DS, even if it had a camera. Oh, and you can play through much of the game in a few minutes.

Brain Age Express: Math ($8) is essentially the math sections of Brain Age 1 and Brain Age 2 broken out into its own game. A good deal if you were only looking to improve on the math section of your Brain without regard to your ling…ui…stic…areas. There are also mini-games inside this that have you act and make faces for the DSi’s camera. We have no idea what part of your brain this trains.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these games, but keep in mind that these are essentially mini games within a system that’s already founded on mini games. The DSi could could make DS gaming into something frighteningly granular. Then again, $2-$5 DSiWare quality already looks to outpace the games you get on the iPhone for the same amount.

Why You’d Want to Upgrade

• You want access to DSiWare (downloadable mini games/apps)
• The DS Lite feels too narrow for your hands
• You’re a screen real estate whore
• Nintendo will release full games that have DSi-specific functionality
• You like new things

Why You’d Want to Stick with the DS Lite

• The DS Lite is $130 ($40 cheaper than the DSi)
• It accepts old R4 cards and other ROM loaders
• Longer battery life (19 hour max vs. 14 hour max)
• You’re racist and only want to play on a white console

Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games

SEGA of America finally announced thatMario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, for the Wii home video game system, has gone gold and it will ship to retail in North America on November 3, 2007, two weeks earlier than originally anticipated. With the impressive list of Olympic events, the game is equipped with exciting sports action. The gamers would be able to compete as or against a range of familiar characters, including Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi and Tails. One can select his favorite character and race with the likes of Mario and Sonic down the 100m track, leap over the high jump or churn water in a swimming heat. Players can use one of 16 characters; 8 from the world of Mario and 8 from the world of Sonic. The Wii controls are specifically created to replicate the actions. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is only a full lineup of real life Olympic events but there is also unique series of exclusive “Dream Events”, which is a single as well as multiplayer game. The Dream Event includes wide range of color games like universes that include objects and power-ups that will either improve players’ game or bring down their opponent.

Lego Island

            It’s a brand new day in on Lego Island. The water is shimmering in the digital sun, fresh pizza is baking in the oven, the cops are probably eating donuts, and the Infomaniac has woken up to greet you as the first human visitor to his humble abode. This old timer will give you some basic information about the tiny island, citing various locales and features. There’s the gas station down the road, the police headquarters by the bay, the hospital further up the road, and the pizzeria that provides the only sustenance for the entire town. You’ll be able to play as five Lego characters, such as Mama or Papa Brickolini, Laura or Nick Brick, and Pepper Roni, pizza delivery boy extraordinaire. You must assume the role of these characters as they go about their daily business, thus keeping Lego Island running smoothly. That’s right, you get to handle everyone’s chores, living the life of a full-fledged Lego Islander! If you choose little Pepper Roni, you’ll be burdened with the task of delivering pizzas all over the island. If you choose some of the other characters, you’ll get to work with an ambulance, drive a tow truck and burn rubber and deface asphalt in a Lego racecar. After you’ve completed your objectives, you’ll be rated on your performance and given an appropriately colored grade. Gaming perfectionists, fear not; this game is far too easy to get anything but a high score. While you’re off doing everyone else’s chores, a dark evil lurks within the heart of Lego Island. Sitting in the dank, bricked dungeon by the police station, a madman named the Brickster sits and awaits his eventual demise. But for all his failings, one thing is for certain: He loves delivered pizzas. No, he doesn’t just love them; he craves them. When you roll on past the jail on Pepper’s nifty little skateboard, he’ll cry out in anguish and desire, beckoning the innocent child with his kind words and incredibly corny accent. Like a complete sap, Pepper hands the convict a pizza, thus sealing Lego Island’s ultimate fate. Going into a frothing frenzy, the Brickster breaks out the jail and proceeds to ravage the town, taking it apart brick by Lego brick. Thus, it’s left up to Lego Island’s youngest inhabitant to catch the crook and save his home from eternal damnation. Okay, so maybe it’s not that serious. But at least it alleviates some of the boredom that the rest of the game inflicts.

Lego Star Wars Cheats

Cheats: Character Codes

Enter the following codes in Dexter’s Shop.

987UYR = Battle Droid
EN11K5 = Battle Droid (Commander)
LK42U6 = Battle Droid (Geonosis)
KF999A = Battle Droid (Security)
LA811Y = Boba Fett
F8B4L6 = Clone
ER33JN = Clone (Episode III)
BHU72T = Clone (Episode III Pilot)
N3T6P8 = Clone (Episode III Swamp)
RS6E25 = Clone (Episode III Walker)
14PGMN = Count Dooku
H35TUX = Darth Maul
A32CAM = Darth Sidious
VR832U = Disguised Clone
DH382U = Droideka
SF321Y = General Grievous
19D7NB = Geonosian
ZTY392 = Grievous’ Bodyguard
U63B2A = Gonk Droid
PL47NH = Jango Fett
DP55MV = Ki-Adi Hundi
CBR954 = Kit Fisto
A725X4 = Luminara
MS952L = Mace Windu (Episode III)
92UJ7D = Padme
R840JU = PK Droid
BEQ82H = Princess Leia
L54YUK = Rebel Trooper
PP43JX = Royal Guard
EUW862 = Shaak Ti
XZNR21 = Super Battle Droid

Cheats: Extras (Cheat) Codes

Enter these codes while in Dexter’s Shop:

NR37W1 = Silly Blasters
L449HD = Classic Blasters
IG72X4 = Big Blasters
SHRUB1 = Brushes
PUCEAT = Tea Cups
LD116B = Minikit Detector
RP924W = Moustaches
YD77GC = Purple
MS999Q = Silhouettes
4PR28U = Invincible

Mario Kart Tips & Tricks

Bonus Cups: Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding Cup: Star Cup: Successfully complete the Flower and Mushroom Cup with a trophy. Special Cup: Successfully complete the Star Cup with a trophy. Leaf Cup: Successfully complete the Banana and Shell Cup with a trophy. Lightning Cup: Successfully complete the Leaf Cup with a trophy.

Age Of Empire Three Cheats

            X marks the spot Reveals map (fog of war still there) Medium Rare Please Gives 10,000 food Give me liberty or give me coin Gives 10,000 coin Nova & Orion Gives 10,000 XP A recent study indicated that 100% of herdables are obese Fattens all animals on map Speed always wins Turns on 100x gather/build rates Sooo Good Turn on “Musketeer’ed!” when you get killed by Musketeers Ya gotta make do with what ya got Spawns the Mediocre Bombard at your Home City gather point Gives 10,000 wood this is too hard Win in singleplayer tuck tuck tuck Spawns a big red monster truck that can run over anything Shiver me Timpers! Destroys all the enemy boats on the map Where’s that axe? George Crushington

Lord Of The Rings Conquest

            Pandemic Studios has just released a trailer video on their new game Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Not only does it look cool, but it makes me want to actually buy it. I’m not a huge fan of the Lord of the Ring games, but I love the movies. The goal of the game is to mimic the movie by recreating the massive battles taking place within the movies. Pandemic also insists they can run up to 150 characters in offline mode at a time and only a mere 16 online. The game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms. I can see them raking in many millions on this game.