Follow the red brick road

In the future, all communication is tightly monitored and the government keeps a close watch on everyone and everything. Some accept this life; others rebel and become runners. Before you get too excited, I'm not talking about an adaptation of Blade Runner or Logan's Run, or even a remake of Genesis shooter Atomic Runner, but rather Mirror's Edge, EA's upcoming first person parkour title for 360, PS3, and PC. People have been excited about this game for a while, but I've been reserving my judgment until I had a chance to try it out. Well, today I had that opportunity, as a brand new demo just hit the XBM and PSN.

So what does the game involve? Well, it places you in the shoes of Faith, who as far as I can tell is a delivery girl for some kind of illegal underground movement. Although it takes place completely in first person, it's much more of a platformer than a shooter, and you will utilize Faith's wide variety of skills to navigate the rooftop environments. When the demo begins you are taught the basics of movement: You have a "upward" button for things like jumping, climbing, and vaulting, and a "downward" button for things like ducking, sliding, and rolling. Combining these two mechanics allows for more advanced techniques, which quickly become necessary as the demo progresses.

Throughout the level are various objects marked in red. These indicate the easiest path to follow, but other ways of getting around can be discovered. Unlike in Assassin's Creed, a game that also has your character free running around rooftops, this one doesn't do the work for you with the simple press of a button, but requires you to line up your jumps and get the timing just right. Although I fell to my death more than once it never felt cheap, and took no more than another try or two to get right.

There are also enemies chasing you. This adds a cool layer of tension, but unfortunately leads to situations where you must face them in combat. The demo only has one section like this, but it gives a rough indication of what we can expect in the final product. You have just one attack button, and using it in combination with jumping, ducking, and running will result in appropriate fighting moves. You can also use bullet time runner time to slow things down, making it easier to disarm and knock out an opponent. While this seems like the quickest way to get past bad guys, you can still use the gun in the same way you do in every other game. The one time I tried shooting at an enemy I found it to be a little imprecise, and I've heard that this is definitely the game's weakest mechanic. However, gunfights are not the main focus, and are best avoided whenever possible anyway.

The real thrill of Mirror's Edge comes from the running. The cell shaded visual style, combined with the fully first person perspective really make you feel like you're there. Every move Faith performs is seen from her point of view, even when it comes to climbing and rolling. When playing most FPS titles I feel like nothing more than a floating gun, but being able to see all of my character's limbs as she smoothly scaled the various obstacles made me feel like I was a real person, and her gymnastic skills are impressive but not overly unrealistic; I never imagined I was running around in the Matrix, or anything like that.

A game that sprang to mind while playing was Prince of Persia. Not the recent ones like Sands of Time, but rather the original (and the redone PoP: Classic). The reason is because part of the fun of that game was in memorizing the path through the levels so you could attempt them at full speed and hopefully get a score worth boasting about. Mirror's Edge seems like the perfect title for people who enjoy this kind of thing, and I'm sure we'll see some impressive speed runs once the full game is released. I played through the demo twice, and in some ways felt like I had more fun the second time, once I knew where I was going and could trying to get there as fast as possible. Finding shortcuts should be another aspect of fun, cutting valuable seconds off of your best times.

Overall I'm very impressed with the little I saw of Mirror's Edge. This game has now shot almost the top of my most anticipated games of 2008 list, and I'm looking forward to November 11th (14th in Europe) when the full product hits stores.

Not all bugs are bad

The fight over rhythm game dominance continues, only this time it's MTV and Harmonix who are throwing the punches. Activision may have secured the rights to Aerosmith and Metallica (and possibly Hendrix), but even these feel like sissy slaps when compared to the giant kick to the head that is........ The Beatles. Apple Corps, the rights holder to the band's catalog, have finally decided to spread the love by licensing out the music we all want to play (well, I know I sure as hell do).

According to the official press release, the game will be "an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles", but lets get this straight: It's not going to be Rock Band: The Beatles, but rather a whole new game, which I imagine will place you in the shoes of the Fab Four and allow you to live out the dream so many of us have wished for. Joystiq provide a few more details about the game, taken from a conference call:

• "This will not be a Rock Band title, this will be a custom title"
• Journey through The Beatles first album through their last -- "samples" from their whole catalog
• "A number of new dimensions" that you haven't seen from Harmonix before
• Just in time for the holidays ... in 2009
• Tracks are based on UK releases -- the idea is to play the songs through The Beatles career (not remixed or remastered tracks, we think)
• Is the imagery tied to the existing art from the songs and albums? The developers aren't prepared to talk about specifics, but "visual imagery" is a big part of the project
• Interoperability is not something that's being talked about yet
• "Very little" can be said about the game itself today. "MTV and Harmonix was clearly the innovator in this category of games" -- Apple Corps was really impressed with Harmonix's creative and musical approach
• "It's not a Rock Band game, it's a Beatles game. They deserve a fully dedicated title. [The game] takes advantage of the Rock Band platform in many ways ... [and it's] going to be compatible with existing Rock Band peripherals" -- we can assume that instruments from other music games (e.g., Guitar Hero) will also be supported
• No hardware platforms announced
• No comment on licensing Beatles tunes for other games -- this is an exclusive arrangement for Beatles music in video games (as for digital distribution of The Beatles catalog on music services (e.g., iTunes): Apple Corps is still working out details; no announcement to make nor date nor anything else!)

My first reaction upon hearing the news was to wonder why they didn't just release Beatles DLC in Rock Band, so I could play it with all the rest of my music. That was when I realized that it wouldn't be fair to all the Guitar Hero: World Tour players. Why should they be denied the right to play along to the greatest band ever, just because of corporate greed? This way, anyone can buy the game and use whatever instrument peripherals they have.

Now the big question is, what songs are going to feature in it? The Beatles have a very diverse library, but I admit that not all of their songs would be fun to play in a Rock Band type of game, at least not for all 4 players. There are so many to choose from, but if I had to pick just three right now, I think I'd go with Helter Skelter, Get Back, and Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey. These aren't my all-time favorite songs by the band, but I think they would work very well, assuming the game plays much like Rock Band. I'm also hoping we'll be able to play the virtual sitar in certain songs, and enjoy some trippy Yellow Submarine visuals.

So that's all we know for now. I will continue to follow the news, and post more info when it becomes available. That is, unless rhythm game saturation reaches critical level and everyone gets so pissed off at seeing them everywhere that they storm the headquarters of Harmonix and Activision and destroy everything, bringing the genre back down to a more manageable level. But lets hope that doesn't happen anytime soon.

A high quality experience

We all have a lot to look forward to on November 19th, when the New Xbox Experience arrives. Well, as if there wasn't enough coming already, it's just been announced that Netflix will be streaming movies in HD through the service. Up until now all we were expecting was the standard def option offered for users on PC, but this will be the first place higher quality titles will be available. At first, only 300 HD movies will be on the service, but they have promised over 10,000 SD films and TV shows to go with them.

So what do you need to take part in all the fun? Well, an Xbox 360, Xbox Live gold membership, and a subscription to Netflix should do the trick, along with an HD TV if you want the best quality movies (obviously). Since I'm lucky enough to have all of these things, I'm really looking forward to this feature when the NXE arrives. I just hope they have enough bandwidth to stream all this data so we don't have to wait for our movies to buffer too much. All in all, it's just another confirmation that I was right to cancel my cable subscription a year ago. With all these ways to watch high quality programming, I don't imagine I'll ever go back!

Cloning can be good

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee checks out Saints Row 2, the recently released GTA-clone/Sandbox Game/FAG for 360 and PS3. The original came out in 2006 and was fairly well received by the public who were hungry for some GTA-style action. Since GTA4 was still over a year away it helped fill the gap, but people felt that it wouldn't stand up once Rockstar released the next instalment of their unstoppable franchise.

Now, 2 years later, how do people feel about the sequel, since we've had a proper next-gen Grand Theft Auto? Well, everyone seems to really like it. Most of the fun in those games comes from simply messing around and having fun in the world, something that Rockstar seem to have forgotten with GTA4. Saints Row 2 developer Volition clearly understand this though, and rather than go with a gritty, realistic style, they instead decided to go with over the top characters and gameplay, with fun, original mini-games, such as the one where you throw yourself at moving cars then sue the driver. I've heard from many places that it feels like a breath of fresh air after all the super-realistic (ie: gray and brown) titles of late, and Yahtzee seems to feel the same way. So, since many people prefer this game to GTA4, and that game scored perfect 10s from a lot of outlets, I guess that makes Saints Row 2 an 11, right?

Anyway, here's the review. As always it contains plenty of strong language so is NSFW.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Open for business

What's going on this console generation? It's been three years since the Xbox 360 launched, and two since the PS3 and Wii hit shelves, which should have been the official shift from last-gen to next-gen. However, as I sit here, the 8 year old PS2 is still selling. Why just last month it moved close to 200,000 units in the US alone, signalling that it isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Some argue that it's actually thanks to Nintendo that Sony's aging platform is still relevant. Since the Wii and PS2 are similar in power, many developers are choosing to port their Wii games over to the PS2 to get a few more sales. Considering there are over 140 million of them in the world, this isn't a bad idea. There is also the PSP to think about; It's another system with similar power, so multi-platform games can be released on all three consoles without too much hassle.

To make things even easier, Sony have announced that in Europe the PS2 is now an open platform, meaning that developers no longer have to submit games for content approval before release. This allows small companies to freely make software for the system without necessarily having to go through Sony. They still have to buy a development kit, but Sony is willing to lend these out in some cases, or allow people to use cheaper debug units for smaller titles. They are also allowing the developers to release games through a third-party publisher, something that's never been done up to this point.

I think this move will breath some fresh life into the aging system. In many poorer parts of the world the PS2 could still have quite a lot of life left in it, and even in the US big games like Guitar Hero: World Tour are continuing to be released. Sony always promised that the PS2 would last 10 years; this is almost starting to look like a conservative estimate. Even though the PS3 isn't leading this console generation, Sony are in the unique position of being the only company with three viable platforms on the market at the same time. If they keep selling units, and continue to make it easier for smaller developers to publish games, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the PS2 is still selling when the next generation of consoles comes around.

Overload!

Wow! Those of us who enjoy spending our time with electronic entertainment certainly have our pick this week! Much like the summer movie release schedule, many of the biggest video games of the year launch almost simultaneously. Unlike movies though, all of these games last considerably longer than 2 hours, cost many times more, and don't seem to worry about releasing the same week as major competitors. It's had to keep up with all of them, but here are the ones that catch my attention the most.

First we have Fable 2. I'm not sure if I'm too excited about this title, but I've heard good things about it. My girlfriend picked up a copy when it released last week and she's enjoying it, so I'll probably give it a go at some point. Now's not a good time to start it though, because there's another RPG I plan on playing: Fallout 3. This one comes out tomorrow and should keep me going for quite a while. With it's open-ended gameplay and huge number of ways to finish, it's one of my most anticipated titles this holiday season.

Yesterday saw the release of Guitar Hero: World Tour which I probably wont bother with, but I'm still following. It'll be interesting to see how well it fares against Rock Band, and whether or not Activision can keep up a regular schedule of downloadable content. We also get LittleBigPlanet today. After an unfortunate delay, it's finally on shelves. Unfortunately I don't have a PS3 so can't play it, but I'm sure many will be enjoying it's do-it-yourself gameplay for some time to come. Finally, since I'm done with Sonic Chronicles on DS I've decided to spend my handheld time with Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, which also hit stores last week. This is the third game in the series for DS and is supposedly the best one so far (some even say superior to Symphony of the Night). I haven't started it yet, but I'm sure to share my opinions when I do.

There are still plenty more big titles on the way, so if you want to play them all you had better get started! Have fun, and feel free to leave a comment telling us what you're playing this week.

Not what you wanted? Never mind

This week in Rock Band, Nirvana make an appearance, bringing us a 7 pack of songs from their album Nevermind. Great, so we finally have a chance to play Smells Like Teen Spirit, right? Wrong. Despite the fact that it was definitely the most well known track the band ever released, it's mysteriously absent. After all the full album releases of late, I'm not quite sure why they didn't just give us the whole thing (except for the two tracks already in the game). After all, they did promise it to us prior to the release of the original Rock Band, around the same time they promised us Who's Next. Oh well, I'm sure the missing tracks will turn up sooner or later.
Here's what's available this week:

Breed
Lounge Act
On a Plain
Polly
Something in the Way
Stay Away
Territorial Pissings
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

I feel like I'm getting a little lazy with these Rock Band releases, as I skipped them all again. I may have bought a couple of the tracks, but the ones I wanted aren't on offer. The songs they picked look like fun (except for Polly; does that song even have any drums?), but I guess I'm just not a big enough Nirvana fan to want to play them over and over again. However, in just a couple of weeks I'm going to have plenty of new stuff to play. As well as the 20 free bonus tracks planned for November 4th, it's also been announced that there will be a Presidents of the USA 3-pack on the same day! I'm so excited, and will most certainly be bringing you reviews of all of them as soon as possible. It looks as though November 4th may turn out to be quite an important day!

Oh yeah, and there's that whole US presidential election thing too.....

Last call for drinks

Wii owner may have noticed the blue pulsating light on their system has lit up again, indicating Nintendo has something for us. Turns out, it's a system update, bringing the firmware from version 3.3 to........ 3.3. No, it's not a typo; the update is seemingly so minor that it doesn't even warrant a slight change in numbering. So what does it add? Actually, it doesn't add anything; it takes something away.

As always happens with video game consoles, clever people quickly find a way of making them do things they aren't supposed to do. In the case of the Wii, hackers discovered a glitch within Zelda: Twilight Princess that allowed them to install the Homebrew Channel and play unlicenced homemade software, without the need for system modification. Now, thanks to the system update, this channel can no longer be installed.

Now, I haven't actually installed the channel but it's always interested me. People have come up with some clever games and software, including an aplication to run DVD movies. Why Nintendo didn't include this option to begin with is beyond me, as the system can clearly handle it, but it's nice to know someone is offering it. That's why I haven't updated yet; I don't want to miss the last opportunity I have to give my under-used Wii some extra functionality. The good thing is, people are claiming that if you already have channel installed, the update doesn't remove it. So any of you out there looking to sip on a tasty glass of homebrew, now's the time. It may be the last chance you have. Well, until the next hack, anyway.....

A commercial opportunity

You've just survived a particularly nasty boss fight; the hardest one so far in the game. Your energy's low; better check your pack. Uh oh, your flask of Mountain Dew Code Red is empty, and you've finished off all your packs of Spicy Nacho Doritos. Time to whip out that map and see if there's a store nearby. Oh no, your Maglite's running low; you can't read the map. Good thing you have those Duracell AAs in your pack. They're long lasting, for high drain devices. Looking at the map, you're pleased to see that there's a McDonalds nearby. A Big Mac and large fries should top up your health nicely. But wait! You spent all your gold before the boss fight, buying ammo for your Beretta 391 gas operated semi-automatic shotgun. Well, I guess it's a good thing you have your Visa card with you then. It's got an APR of only 8.9% for the first year!

Okay, so we haven't quite reached the point where advertising in games is this bad, but it looks as though it may be in our future. Even as we speak (metaphorically) Xbox Live gamers in many states are firing up their favorite titles, only to be subject to political campaign ads for Barack Obama. I guess it makes sense in games like NBA Live '08 and NFL Tour; after all, sports stadiums are covered in advertisements so it only fits that their virtual counterparts would be too. But what about titles like The Incredible Hulk and Guitar Hero 3, which also feature political commercials?

The companies involved have said that they must turn to video games, as so many young people are playing them instead of watching television. But there's a difference: Television is paid for by those commercials (or at least partially). Since the game companies are clearly making big bucks from selling ad space, shouldn't this offset the cost of production and lower the price at retail a bit? Especially in the case of dynamic ads, which are constantly updated via the internet, in order to stay fresh.

Some companies are using this money to offer games at lower prices. Services like GameTap have a selection of popular titles that are free to play, as long as you don't mind putting up with ads. What if they applied this model to other things, like downloadable content? A company could, in theory, sponsor a series of map packs in which all the health kits were replaced with Snickers bars, or all the characters were suddenly wearing Calvin Klein jeans. Not only would this mean that they could give us the DLC for free, but it could also lead to some very amusing scenarios, especially if the developers acknowledged the ridiculousness of it all.

Then there are the advertisers who go one step further and get in on the ground level. Old-school Sega fans may remember Mick and Mack: Global Gladiators, a platformer for the Genesis in which you jumped around collecting little golden Ms, and rendezvousing with Ronald McDonald at the end of each level. Virgin Interactive, who made the product, then went on to produce a very similar game called Cool Spot, in which they shilled 7up instead. Then there are the Wipeout games on Playstation, which featured banners for Red Bull all over the place. Of course, the most recent example is the Burger King games from 2006, which the fast food company offered for only $4 with the purchase of a value meal. Many people hated the idea of playing a commercial, but as far as I was concerned I got a few hours of entertainment and a handful of Achievement Points for less than the cost of a gallon of milk, so I didn't complain.

This leads to an interesting idea. Game advertisers have always stuck to methods that work in print and movies, ignoring the fact that they're dealing with an interactive medium. What if you bought a game for budget price, or maybe even nothing at all, and in between every chapter was a commercial break. Instead of just watching the commercials though, you actually played them. Each one could be a fun mini-game, in which you drove down a test track in a brand new Toyota Prius, or searched for a Red Bull in order to fly up and rescue the princess. I suppose the danger here though, is that if you fail these games it could imply that the product in question is crap, but I'm sure some clever marketing person could figure a way around that.

So what do you think about ads in games? Would you put up with more of them if they lowered the cost of the product, or do you think they should be gone altogether? Since the chances of them disappearing are slim-to-none, I think it's time for marketing companies to come up with some more creative ways of selling their products, or beliefs. Now, I may not have much of a political opinion myself, but I'm going to leave you with a campaign ad that I think would be a little more effective.

Picture this: You buy Fallout 3, which as we all know takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of a future. As you stumble through the broken remains of a once-great society, an old television set flickers to life. On it are two people discussing the breakdown of society and the nuclear wars that destroyed mankind. One remarks to the other, "And everything can be traced back to November 2008, when the American public voted John McCain into office. How could they know back then that this power-hungry, war-crazed man would be the one to start such a horrific chain of events, and end up being responsible for the deaths of more people than anyone in history?". You look at the charred, crumbling remains of what used to be the United States of America, and you say to yourself, "Uh oh! I better vote for Obama!".

Just a thought.

You can't go home again

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Silent Hill Homecoming, the 6th game in the popular horror franchise about a demonic town that people just can't seem to stay the hell away from! This series has seen a departure from it's original Japanese development, and given instead to a Western company, a fact that Yahtzee clearly takes very personally. See, as far as he's concerned, Westerners can't seem to get the idea of survival horror quite right, and don't understand that isolation can be the biggest terror, more than any monster.

I'm not sure if I completely agree with this statement though. Yes, I agree that the loneliness and quiet are what make the series scary, but I think we've seen some Western developed games in the last few years that manage to convey this quite well. Bioshock is a great example; Doom 3 is another. Although Doom 3 may not be remembered as fondly as the original, I think it really managed to be scary simply through it's atmosphere. Sure, monsters would jump out at you, but it was the anxiety of waiting for that moment that really sent shivers up your spine.

So here's the review. As always it contains strong language and is NSFW. Oh, and keep watching past the end for a few bonus laughs!

Check out the rest of his videos here.

A nice score

With a selection of 84 songs on the disc, 55 from the original game, and over 250 available for download, there's certainly no shortage of music available for Rock Band 2. Some of you may remember though, that Harmonix promised 20 bonus songs for those who purchase the game and redeem the code found on the the instruction manual. Well, it's finally been revealed what tracks we will be getting, and when they will be ready.

According to IGN, the free songs will be available on November 4th for Xbox 360 and PS3, and on Wii in December, when the game ships. As far as selection goes, well, you may end up being a little disappointed as they are all from up-and-coming bands, most of which you've probably never heard of (I know I haven't). Here's the list of songs:

• The 88 - "Sons and Daughters"
• Authority Zero - "No Regrets"
• Between the Buried and Me - "Prequel To The Sequel"
• The Cab - "Bounce"
• The Chevelles - "Get It On"
• The Cocktail Slippers - "Give It To Me"
• Dealership - "Database Corrupted"
• Endeverafter - "I Wanna Be Your Man"
• The Ghost Hounds - "Ashes To Fire"
• Hollywood Undead - "Young"
• Kutless - "The Feeling"
• The Len Price 3 - "If I Ain't Got You"
• Lesley Roy - "I'm Gone, I'm Going"
• Opiate for the Masses - "Burn You Down"
• Semi-Precious Weapons - "Magnetic Baby"
• Shaimus - "Like a Fool"
• Thenewno2" - Crazy Tuesday"
• Tickle Me Pink - "The Time Is Wrong"
• Underoath - "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures"
• X Japan - "I.V."

Looking at them, I think it's obvious what Harmonix have done. Ever since the first Guitar Hero, their rhythm games have always included a selection of "bonus tracks", which were often from bands composed of members of the development team. In Rock Band 2 though, these tracks were mysteriously absent, probably in order to have a larger selection of commercial music on the disc. Now they have an opportunity to add those missing bonus songs back in, bringing the total number of tracks in the game up to 104, not including any RB1 songs or DLC.

Unfortunately for Harmonix fans, Freezepop are not making an appearance. However, I'm very excited to hear the song from Shaimus, who fans may remember from Guitar Hero 1, where they delivered a very catchy and fun-to-play song called All of This. I've been eagerly awaiting another opportunity to play along to their music, and I'm glad I finally have that chance. So all of you out there with Rock Band 2, click here to register your code, then just wait for November 4th for the rockin' to begin.

Oh, and for those over at Activision, who decided to wait until Rock Band 2 was finalized before announcing that Guitar Hero: World Tour would ship with 85 songs (that's one more than RB2), I've got one thing to say to you: You just got served!

An incomplete experience

We're all very excited about the New Xbox Experience which arrives on November 19th and brings a whole host of features to our favorite little white box (or black; we don't discriminate). Now it seems as though we have one less thing to look forward to, as Microsoft just announced that the Primetime Channel won't be ready for launch.

For those unaware, the Primetime Channel will be place for people to gather and play game shows over Live. There will be scheduled times when the shows begin, and even those who don't take part can watch. Microsoft has even promised that real prizes would be winnable, although they haven't given any details as to what those might be. The first game/show to appear will be an adaptation of the popular TV series, 1 vs 100, in which contestants can be the one or part of the one hundred. Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait until Spring to try this fun-sounding time waster.

One good thing about this delay is that it tells us Microsoft are still planning a Spring update. They recently announced that they didn't want to tie themseves into a regular 6 month schedule, as they "like staying focused on bigger and more impactful releases". At least we now know that we will be getting something come Spring. But now's not really the time to start thinking about future updates; we still have plenty to look forward to this November, assuming Microsoft don't make any more cuts before launch.

Back in Blue

As a child, I played Super Mario Brothers. Who didn't? To many, Mario is gaming, and his influence lives on to this day. However, there was a time when the famous plumber had a rival in the form of a blue hedgehog. To me, Sonic the Hedgehog represented the next generation of platforming. It was faster, with better graphics, and more varied level design. I used to have debates with Ed about which series was better. Looking back over the history of the two franchises, I think I can safely say I lost that argument; after the first couple of Sonic games it was all downhill, and where as Mario made the jump into 3D better than any other game, Sonic's attempts to breach the 3rd dimension have always ended in tragedy. It really felt like Sega's spiky-haired mascot had out-lived his usefulness, and only those who were around at the beginning would remember how great things once were. That's why, when I heard Sonic was due to star in an RPG by the creators of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, I got very excited. Could this be the title that re-invigorated my love of the classic character, or would it just be another nail in the coffin? Well, that's what I'm here to tell you.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was released a few weeks ago, on the DS. Because of the length of RPGs, I usually just give my hands-on impressions after a week or so, in order to have some opinions up while they still feel relevant. However, after playing this one for a few days and realizing that I was making progress at a decent pace, I decided to play all the way through and offer up a full review instead.

So as I said before, Sonic Chronicles comes to us from Bioware, the creators of the critically-acclaimed Star Wars: KOTOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect. However, it plays nothing like any of those games, and draws a lot more influence from Japanese RPGs. The obvious comparison is to Mario RPG, the SNES title from Squresoft and Nintendo. This is fair considering that they are both story-light, but combat-heavy RPGs, staring a beloved mascot, and adding real-time elements into turn-based combat. The similarities don't end there, but this is not to say SC is a direct rip-off; it adds plenty of it's own elements too.

The game begins a lot like any other Sonic adventure before: The Chaos Emeralds go missing, and it's up to you to find them. Along the way you discover things, such as who stole them and what they're being used for, but generally the plot is fairly generic and is far out-paced by the exploration and combat. The levels are 3/4 view 2D, with 3D character models, and as others join you on your quest, their icons appear along the top of the screen and can be selected between at any point. Your fellow adventurers have appeared in various Sonic titles over the years, but apart from Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow, they're all pretty much new to me as I haven't kept up to date with Sonic lore. As your party can't exceed four members, you soon get to the point where you must begin selecting your team based on the challenges ahead and leaving the rest behind, much like in many other RPGs.

Outside of combat, all the characters have movement skills that are used for navigating the environments. There are various obstacles that require the use of these skills to get past. Think Pokémon. However, unlike in that game where you can teach these abilities to various party members, the characters in Sonic Chronicles have set skills that are unique to them: Sonic has speed, Tails can fly, Amy can bash etc.... Some of them can be used by multiple people, others can be mastered by only one. While this adds variety by ensuring that you can't keep the same party all the time, it unfortunately leads to situations where you must bring along a member you don't like, just to use their movement skill somewhere in the level. Also, because of the positioning of the camera it's not always obvious why you can't reach a certain platform, and you must sometimes search around a level for that one specific ledge where you can use Tails' fly ability to proceed.

Scattered around are collectibles in the form of rings (which can be used to buy things from shops), and Chao Eggs (more on those later). Thankfully, the number of each within a zone is displayed on screen at all times so you always know when you're missing some. Also, they're usually in fairly obvious places so most will be found during the normal course of play. As you run around the levels you will also encounter enemies. This is another aspect drawn from Mario RPG, as the enemies are not random; you can see them wandering around, and bumping into them will initiate combat. I like this method far more than random battles, as you can choose to avoid them instead of fighting them, if you're not in the mood.

So lets talk about combat for a minute, as this is definitely one of the title's strong points. At first it looks like any other JRPG: Your party on one side, and the enemies on the other. However, unlike many other turn-based games, most of the characters have multiple attacks per round: The fastest ones have three, the middle ones have two, and the slowest have only one. The order of all these attacks is shown along the top screen, so you can plan out which moves you want in which order. As well as the usual Attack, Defend, and Items options, every character has Pow Moves that deplete their store of Pow Points (yet another game with PP in it). This is where the fun lies: Every Pow move requires following along to Quick Time Events on screen. However, unlike in God of War, they aren't simple button presses, but are lifted straight out of Elite Beat Agents (or more accurately, Ouendan), as they have you tapping circles as they appear, and following icons as they move across the screen. Successfully hit every one and your move will be at it's most powerful; miss a few and it will be weaker, or may not hit at all.

The enemies also have Pow moves that they will use on you, and you defend against them in much the same way. If you can successfully hit all the QTE icons then the move will miss you altogether. This keeps combat feeling very interactive, as spacing out for even a moment can lead to messing up your attacks, or allowing the enemy to hit you hard. Sometimes the bad guys may try to run, and this initiates a little mini-game in which you are chasing after them and must tap your characters to make them jump over obstacles. Overall, the combat is really fun, but there are still a couple of things that aren't so great. For instance, a lot of characters have team-up Pow moves that take up multiple party members' attacks, and are generally fairly strong. However, they all require specific combinations of characters, many of which I never used, so I never got to see those Pow moves at all. Also, none of the items or moves have a description next to them in combat so you must remember exactly what does what, which isn't always easy.

As far as control goes, everything is handled via the touch screen. The only buttons used are the shoulder buttons, either of which will advance dialog and interact with things in the environment. Unfortunately, the d-pad and face buttons do nothing at all, which is a shame as they would be useful for choosing between dialog options, or switching between characters in combat. It would even be nice to have some shortcuts to menu options, but I guess they didn't want to make the controls too confusing. Speaking of dialog, the game does indeed have multiple choices but, unlike in previous Bioware titles, there is no "evil" option. Sonic often has a snarky or sarcastic line to choose from, but it doesn't seem to have any bearing on the overall story. Because Sonic and his pals are inherently good there is only one path through the game, and you won't find yourself as a Sith Lord taking over the Galaxy, no matter how many sarcastic comments you say to people.

A lot of the rest of the game is typical RPG stuff: Some minor fetch-quests, and shops to buy items. While you can equip characters with stuff, there are no weapons in the game; only armor. However, to boost your stats you can equip each member with a Chao (which hatch from the eggs you collect around the level). The Chaos all do different things, from adding an element to your attacks, to increasing the EXP or item drops you get from battle. The more Chao you collect, the faster they will multiply, and they can even be traded with a friend to increase their power. This was another aspect I couldn't test, as I didn't know anyone else who was playing the game. It's a shame there isn't a way of beefing them up on your own.

There is really something else I should mention while I'm here: The difficulty. Sonic Chronicles is not a hard game by any stretch of the imagination. I may have lost the occasional party member in combat, but never once came close to losing my whole group, even in the later boss battles. If you can master the QTEs, you will avoid all the enemies' Pow moves, and should be able to wipe the floor with just about anyone. It's only when you are required to use some of your less favorable characters that combat becomes a little tougher (but still easy). The difficulty is also apparent in the puzzles. Once per zone you will be required to take control of your four members individually in order to accomplish a task, usually involving switches. None of these challenges took me more than a couple of minutes, and some I would barely even call "puzzles" - they were just that easy.

In the end, I had a lot of fun playing Sonic Chronicles. It may be very light on story, but this is probably a good thing for a handheld RPG. The levels and combat were certainly fun enough to keep me interested, and I may even start again with the New Game+ option, just to check out some of the combat moves I missed the first time through. So would I recommend it then? Yes, but not to everyone. Hardcore RPG fans will probably find it a bit too easy, and those looking for a deep narrative will certainly be disappointed. However, this year has been a fantastic one for handheld RPGs, so those people can check out The World Ends With You (for hardcore combat), or FF: Crisis Core (for deep story). Anyone who jut wants some fun gameplay should check it out though, especially fans of Mario RPG. In my opinion, it's by far the best Sonic title in a long time, and leaves me excited to see what the blue hedgehog will be up to next. I just hope I don't have to wait 16 years for a decent game next time!

Duo of The Dead

Hello Hello Hello! I won't labour over a long introduction, but I would like to quickly give my thanks to Oscar for his kind introduction.

Anyway - on with the show!

Just a few days ago, my housemate and I skipped gaily to the local interactive videogram emporium and traded in a couple of games for that most wondrous of all things, store credit.

Clutching these intangible notes to my fluttering bosom, I examined the latest offerings for the Wii, and, unable to find anything truly awe-inspiring (not an unusual scenario, given the foul stench of mediocrity that wafts from most 3rd party Wii software), settled for Worms: A Space Oddity and The Return of House of the Dead 2 & 3.

I'd like to talk about Worms: ASO, as it's great great granddaddy (and then some, how many worms titles have there been now?) was something of a PC gaming phenomenon back in 1995, and this latest offering has many good, and not so good points, but that'll have to wait for another time as right now my housemate and I have a bad case of zombie fever!

HoTD 2&3 was a bit of an impulse purchase, to be honest. After all, how good could a console port of some fairly aged arcade shooters be? Well, if you paid full asking price –30 quid here in blighty and $30 in the states, the answer would probably be not nearly good enough, but since we financed the purchase using the corpses of old videogames, we ended up only paying around 3 pounds of real money for the thing.

House of the Dead 2 is definitely the less compelling of the two bundled games, as the graphics have not aged particularly well and it features some of the most ear-wateringly dire voice acting in the whole history of people speaking into microphones for money, but it's still a solid shooter with a campy horror style that's fun to play through at least once.

House of the Dead 3, on the other hand, still actually looks pretty darn good, with early Xbox-level visuals and an inane but adequate story threaded between half a dozen distinct stages, three of which can be played in any order. I think it's pretty much a requirement to play with two people for the game's funitude to reach it's full potential, but when you do have the requisite number of players it rapidly ascends from a mere linear traipse through cliché into a frenzied fight for survival. Within moments of the first level loading, our living room fills with grunts and screams, challenges are issued and obscenities are bellowed as mutant zombie heads explode like offal piñatas. Communication and teamwork have become our watchwords (well, that and a few other phrases I daren't mention), as credits are shared, and a carefully coordinated fire is needed to effectively deal with some of the tougher monsters.

One nice touch is the way that every time you reach Game Over, you are offered some small consolation in the form of additional lives or credits (up to 5 and 9, respectively), which allows you to get a little further every time. My friend and I are now within mere yards of the game's finale, but mastery of the earlier stages is required in order to have enough credits for that final push to victory. Currently we're working on taking out the giant mutant zombie sloth boss with as little loss of life as possible, but that's easier said than done, and to be honest, it's really not that easily said.

Brief mention should also be given to how it controls on the Wii. Inevitably there are differences between the feel of a lightgun's absolute aim compared to the wiimote's relative positioning, but in practise the wii controls work brilliantly and switching between targets rapidly becomes almost instinctive.

Frankly, I wouldn't advise anyone to pay full RRP for HoTD 2&3, as there simply isn't enough content to justify the price, but if you can get your hands on a discounted or second-hand copy, my recommendation is to pick it up and start blasting!

Anyway, must shoot off. Decapitate ya later!

And then there were two....

Rejoice! I'm moving on up! That's right, I Game You Game is evolving from a one-man band into a glorious power duo. From now on I won't be going solo, as I welcome a good friend I've known for a long time: Mr Edward Mullins. He will be offering his own unique opinions on the current state of gaming, along with impressions of recent titles. Basically the same kind of stuff you've become used to. However, he spends a lot more time playing Wii games than I do, and is the lucky owner of a PS3, so we should be getting some stories you otherwise wouldn't hear.

Since Ed lives in the UK, we should also be hearing about things from a more international perspective. From now on, I'll try and make sure listed prices are in English and American currency for the benefit of those overseas. I'm also going to be implementing a few changes into the layout of the site, in order to accommodate another writer. One important thing I want is the author's name listed right under the post title, which is an option offered in Blogger's setup. However, I haven't been able to get anything to change so far, no matter how many times I try. Apparently I'm not the only one encountering this problem, but I'll do what I can do to rectify it.

Sometime in the next few days we should be getting our first post from Ed, so check the author's name to see who's writing what. Also, feel free to leave feedback telling me what you think of our new scribe; I'm sure you'll grow to love him as much as I do. So Edward Mullins, on behalf of all those at I Game You Game, welcome aboard!

NXE + XNA = DIY

The excitement over the New Xbox Experience continues, with the release of another video. This one highlights an aspect that hasn't been talked about much: The Community Games Channel. This is the place where people can submit their very own games and offer them up to their fellow players.

The idea of implementing a user-made games channel has clearly been on Microsoft's mind for a while. It's been a couple of years since they released the XNA Creators Club software, which contains all the tools necessary to create your own unique titles. They hope that there will be many ready by the time the Community Games Channel goes live, so customers can get a good idea of what the service offers.

So how does one go about creating a game then? Well, I'm sure a good deal of design and programming skills are necessary, along with a copy of XNA Creators Club. The software itself is free, but releasing games made with it requires purchasing a license (which only costs $100 a year, as far as I can tell). Once you've completed a project, you submit it to Microsoft and wait for approval, which could be as quick as 48 hours. At this point, you can start selling it to other players. They haven't made it clear how much you can charge, but you won't get paid until you reach the "minimum payout limit", bearing in mind that MS will be skimming a little off the top of every sale.

It's certainly an original and exciting sounding concept, and could lead to the discovery of many talented game designers. Just one more thing to get excited about when the NXE launches on November 19th. For now, here's the video explaining the Community Games Channel:

September NPD - A force to be reckoned with

Yey! It's time for another month of hardware and software sales, courtesy of NPD Group. Console totals are up from last month, with every system seeing a jump in numbers except for the PSP (which only sees a minor drop). Since the 360 received a price cut last month I was expecting to see an even larger jump, but it is once again far outpaced by the Wii which has never had a price cut at all!

Here are the figures for September:
Wii - 687,000
Nintendo DS - 536,800
Xbox 360 - 347,200
PSP - 238,100
PlayStation 3 - 232,400
PlayStation 2 - 173,500

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed takes the top spot in software sales, on Xbox 360, with an impressive debut. Rock Band 2 comes in at number 3, which isn't quite as high as I was hoping, but still higher than I was expecting. The rest of the numbers provide few surprises: The usual Wii games make an appearance, along with some late sales of Madden, and Mercenaries 2 makes it's debut but doesn't move enough units to break the top 5.

Here are the numbers:
01. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Xbox 360) - 610,000
02. Wii Fit (Wii) - 518,000
03. Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360) - 363,000
04. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 353,000
05. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS3) - 325,000
06. Mercenaries 2: World In Flames (Xbox 360) - 297,000
07. Wii Play (Wii) - 243,000
08. Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360) - 224,000
09. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii) - 223,000
10. Madden NFL 09 (PS2) - 158,000

All the sales are sure to increase over the next couple of months, as we approach the holiday shopping season. There are also plenty of big games coming out soon, so it'll be interesting to see what the charts look for the remainder of the year.

Another motley selection of DLC

This week in Rock Band, we get another full album: Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe, the 1989 classic. At least, I think it's a classic. To be honest, I know nothing about the band, and the only songs of theirs I'm familiar with are ones previously released in Rock Band. Looking at their album covers, I can't help but notice all the hair. I mean, lots of it. I know I shouldn't let outdated fashion sense influence my tastes, but I swear you can hear all that hair in the music. While the tracks are the usual price of $2 each, you can acquire the entire album for the bargain price of $16, saving you a little bit.
Here are the songs for this week:

Dr. Feelgood
Slice of the Pie
Rattlesnake Shake
Kickstart my Heart
Without You
Same Ol' Situation
Sticky Sweet
She Goes Down
Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Time for Change
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So, as you might have guessed, I didn't buy any of them. I've still got plenty of new stuff to last me a while, so I'll probably be okay for the time being. That is, unless something I really want to play is released. Once I start to get bored of the Rock Band 2 songs, I'm sure I'll start purchasing more DLC on a regular basis again.

In other news, tomorrow marks the day the Rock Band 2 Special Edition is released. This is the set complete with all the instruments, and will be available on both Xbox 360 and PS3. While PS3 fans finally get the chance to rock out, Wii and PS2 owners aren't so lucky; no release date has been given yet, only a promise of sometime in December. However, Wii fans will be pleased to know that when the game ships, all the DLC from Rock Band 1 and 2 will be instantly available, giving them access to all the excellent tracks released over the last year. It's also been confirmed that the Guitar Hero 3 guitar will work fine with the game, so full bands of four will be possible from day one, without buying additional instruments.

Play it again, Jon

The DS has become home to a number of point-and-click adventures in recent years. Once thought to be dead, the genre has found new life on Nintendo's touch screen handheld, with titles like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Hotel Dusk: Room 215. The latest adventure to be announced is Again: Eye of Providence, from the developer of Hotel Dusk (do all modern adventure games have double-barreled names?).

This title puts you in the shoes of special agent Jonathan Weaver, who is investigating a series of murders that occurred 18 years earlier. What gives you an advantage is your ability to see into the past and witness things as they happened back then. The DS is held sideways, and during investigation sections the right screen shows the present and the left screen shows the past. Move you character and both points of view shift, allowing you to compare things from both times. Clicking on objects in the present will sometimes trigger flashbacks in the past, giving you a clue as to what you should be looking for next. The other portion of the game should be more familiar to fans of the genre: Travelling around, talking to people, and gathering evidence for your next investigation.

Now, I never got into Hotel Dusk. I started it a few times, and really wanted to like it, but found myself growing bored of all the endless talking. Hopefully, the time mechanic in Again will make it a little more interesting. Not much more is known right now, but we should be getting more info as it nears release in Spring 2009. Will this unique adventure be another Hotel Dusk, or will it turn out as cool as it sounds? I really hope for the latter, because I'd sure hate to be disappointed. Again.

A brand new mode(m)

We've known for some time now that the Playstation Store would be heading to PSP, allowing users to purchase PSN titles without the use of a PS3 or PC (boy, that's an awful lot of "P"s). Last month, Sony announced that the service would begin in Japan this fall. Alongside this, they revealed another interesting feature that's only just come to my attention.

Once the Store is in place, PSP users will also have the ability to connect to their PS3 (wirelessly), and have it act as a sort of modem for online play. But wait! Doesn't the PSP already have this ability built in? Well yes, but this mode allows non-online games to be played over the internet too. Of course, the titles still have to have local multiplayer to work; it then fools your system into thinking it's connecting to another console in the same room. Sony have stated that it will work for Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, but haven't clarified if all ad-hoc ready titles will work. They also announced that features such as text and voice chat could easily be added to the service.

People have been doing similar things for years, via PCs. So-called "tunneling" programs have allowed non-online games to played online, on a variety of consoles. It's nice to see a major company finally taking notice of this though, as connecting to your PS3 will no doubt be far simpler than messing around with router settings. It's also a function that Sony can claim exclusivity to, which is something they desperately need in their ongoing effort to catch up with Xbox Live. Now the only question is, why the hell would I want to play my PSP online if my PS3 is sitting right there?

Gamestop, are you scared yet?

In the future, buying video games will be very different from today. Rather than walk to a store and browse through the shelves, searching for that lone copy of a hard-to-find title, we'll simply turn on our systems and, with the click of a button, have our favorite form of entertainment delivered directly to our hard drive.

Digital distribution is nothing new. In fact, I wrote a post a while back explaining my feelings on the subject. It seems as though some companies are eager to usher in the future as quickly as possible though, so a little more discussion is required. The company to take the next step into our fully digital world is Sony, who recently announced that, going forward, all first-party PSP titles would be released on UMD and over the PSN store for download. This is only in Japan for now, as the Playstation Store for PSP was just released there yesterday, giving PSP users the option of downloading titles directly to their system (up until now, PSN games had to be bought via PS3 or PC, then transferred).

There are many reasons why a company such as Sony would want to ease away from physical, boxed copies of games. There is the cost of production for one: Underproduction can lead to missed sales, and overproduction can lead to unsold titles taking up valuable shelf space. Then there are used game sales: Every time someone chooses to save $5 by buying a previously owned copy of a game (which most retailers are encouraged to push), the developer and publisher make nothing, and the retailer walks away with all the profit. Piracy is another issue, although this probably isn't as much a concern as used sales.

Companies have been testing the waters of digital distribution with things like the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network delivering small, inexpensive titles that are unavailable anywhere else. Sony have even started offering full games, with titles such as Warhawk and Burnout Paradise available for download on PS3. This will be the first time a company has committed to delivering all of their titles digitally though.

Nintendo are also looking to the future. With the announcement of the DSi, it was also revealed that the DSi Shop would be opening soon, allowing direct-to-system versions of previously-released titles, such as Brain Age. It makes sense that digital distribution would first be utilized in handhelds. After all, who wants to carry around a pocket full of games along with your system of choice? While boxed copies are certainly a nice thing to have at home, this isn't always the case when carrying your console with you, so having everything stored on one SD card could make portable gaming far easier.

But how will brick-and-mortar stores feel about this change? Well, as I mentioned before, the relationship between game makers and game sellers is a weird one. Since the stores are necessary to move the hardware, publishers can't cut them out altogether. After all, it's all well and good to have your games available online, but people still have to go somewhere to buy the console (as well as cables and accessories), and if a retailer feels like they are being screwed over, they may simply choose to stop selling that company's products, which works out well for no one. I still think that specialty stores such as Gamestop will be unable to survive in the future, as used sales lessen, and it will be up to places like Best Buy and Walmart to pick up the slack. Since these shops sell a wide variety of products, the loss of a few disc sales probably wont faze them as much.

Before we move completely to digital distribution though, the infrastructure has to be in place for delivery. Basically, this means that everyone has to have high speed internet, something that's happening in other countries faster than in the US. I think it will take a long time here, considering there are still people with no internet at all (although these probably aren't the ones looking to purchase video games). We also have to deal with download caps issued by internet providers. Right now, Comcast limits users to 250GB of data a month. This may sound like a lot, but when we are constantly downloading music, movies, and video games (legitimately), we may find ourselves being cut off, or charged a premium for going over (such as with cell phones). For the moment though, downloading a few PSP games shouldn't be an issue, but this topic will certainly come up again in the future.

We will no doubt be hearing more about Sony and Nintendo's digital distribution plans soon, including possible US release dates for the services. And for all those retailers out there reaping the profit from used game sales, enjoy it while you can because those days may be numbered.

Is it the prequel to R.A.P.I.S.T.?

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, proving to us that you don't need a crime as serious as say, Grand Theft Auto, to form the basis of a game. Actually, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has nothing to do with stalking, and instead sounds like a traditional PC First Person Shooter.

We see so many games in this genre these days, but it still surprises me that companies keep putting them out, and people keep buying them. Not that there's anything wrong with them in general; they just seem so formulaic that something as small as a change in the health system can be a major focus when discussing upcoming titles. It kind of reminds me of certain movie genres, such as romantic comedies, where the same premise has been used and re-used over and over again. I guess it just takes a certain type of individual to keep these products being made; one who likes things to be nice and familiar, and who fears change and surprises. Personally, I prefer it when companies take what we know and mix it up a bit, resulting in games like Half Life, and Bioshock, where the first person view is used for something other than just constant, mindless alien fragging. Oh well. I don't even play PC games, so I guess it doesn't really matter what's released. That is, until they start porting them all to Xbox 360......

Here's the review. As always, it contains plenty of strong language so is definitely NSFW:

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Podcastaway

Keeping up to date with all the latest video game news can be hard. There just isn't always the time to sit down and read all the stories posted on the major sites, in order to get a nice balanced view of current events in the industry. That's why I turn to internet radio, or podcasts as they are commonly known. They've been around for quite some time, but have really caught on in the last few years thanks to faster internet connections and an abundance of cheap, digital music players.

While there are many video podcasts out there, it's the audio ones that I listen to most regularly. It's just nice to be able to listen while doing other things: Working round the house, driving, even playing video games (not story-heavy ones). However, I'm sure there are many of you who have never listened to a single podcast, and with the large number of them available, where would you even begin? Well, that's what I'm here for. I'm going to share with you a handful of the shows I listen to every week (or whenever they're released). Most of them are fairly well known and originate from popular sites, so you're not going to find anything too obscure. Besides, the major sites are the ones getting early copies of games, so can always offer hands-on impressions of tomorrow's big hits.

Another great aspect of them is that they offer a unique opportunity to get to know the writers of the various sites. Since gaming is very subjective, and not everyone has the same opinions, it's good to get an idea of the likes and dislikes of those whose previews and reviews we turn to for guidance. I feel like I know these writers a lot more than if I had simply read their articles, and this gives me a better idea of who to trust when looking for info on a new title.

So here are a handful of shows that I would recommend. Most of them are about current events in the gaming world, but a few of them mix up the formula a bit and offer something a little different. I'll give a brief description of each one, so you can see if any of them tickle your fancy.

1up Yours - A fairly long running show, brought to us by the folks at 1up. Despite the loss of some of their original members (to other companies, not death), this one has managed to stay consistently funny and informative as the cast offer opinions on current gaming events and news.

1up FM - Another show from 1up, this one a lot newer. The cast usually takes one of the stories from the past week and delves into a little more detail, offering opinions too lengthy to write on the main site. They also have a segment called "Backlog", in which they play through a classic, but under-appreciated title, and discuss it over a number of shows.

Retronauts - The final one from 1up, this one a little different: If most podcasts are like a class in current events, think of this one as more of a history lesson. As well as offering retro news (like this week's Virtual Console titles), they always pick one old series or console, and spend time discussing it, and how it relates to modern gaming.

Joystiq Podcast - Coming to us from gaming blog Joystiq, this show tackles current news and events. It's nicely tied into the site though, and the crew will often go into more detail about the biggest posts of the week, and the best tips that were sent to them.

The Hotspot - This one is brought to us from Gamespot, and is another news and opinions show. Usually rather interesting and funny, and with an amusing 'question of the week' segment that often results in some entertaining answers from the listeners.

Sarcastic Gamer Podcast - Coming to us from Sarcastic Gamer, this is actually three shows in one. They have the regular weekly episode, a short mid-week show, and a separate Playstaion one on Fridays. Their focus is more on humor and community events as they discuss modern gaming.

Ripcast - A very new show from gaming blog Ripten. As an independently run site, they may not have all the latest inside news and info, but still seem to have well thought out and informed views on current events in the gaming world.

The Video Games Show - The longest running of all the shows here. Don't let the episode numbering fool you; they re-started the counter at some point due to a change in site hosting. The format was recently changed from one hour to two, so they have plenty of time for discussion, also offering up short reviews of recently released titles.

Duel Screen Radio - This show deserves a mention, despite the fact that it's not released on a regular basis. Focusing solely on the DS, the hosts are clearly fans of small, obscure titles, and offer lengthy reviews of games, some of which I'd never even heard of before! Worth a listen, even though they only get around to recording one every few months.

So those are the shows that grace my ears on a regular basis. New ones are being added as I discover them, and old ones sometimes removed because they aren't all good forever. So if you're looking for a way of keeping up-to-date, but don't want to spend all that time sitting at your desk, check one or two out. They're all completely free and many can be streamed directly from the sites, so have a listen if you get a chance, even if you don't own an mp3 player to transfer them onto. I'll keep you informed of any other good ones I discover, and hey, I may even start my own at some point, in which case you can all say you were fans from day one. You know, before it was cool.