October 19, 2005

---

The much anticipated Civilization IV has just gone gold, and will be hitting store shelves soon.  According to a recent press release, the game is expected to ship to retailers on October 25th.  Civ 4 will be the first of the popular Civilization series to utilize a full 3-D engine.  The graphics changes, along with several new enhancements promise to entertain new Civ gamers, and die-hard fans alike.

October 19, 2005

---

Do you remember asking your parents for a puppy as a kid? You promised everything: you would feed it, bathe it, play with it, and take care of it no matter what. Or maybe you're just plain allergic to dog hair and just can't own one. Maybe you live in an apartment complex that doesn't allow pets. What's a kid to do? He can ask his parents to get him Nintendogs (and a DS, because there's an incredible library of games for it, but I digress). Nintendogs is the next best thing: your very own virtual puppy simulator. It's currently the ultimate tamagotchi in Japan, and from the first week's sales of Nintendogs in America, it looks like 1 out of 7 DS owners are happy cyberpup owners, and that's a pretty high adoption rate.

September 23, 2005

---

Now that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is finally back on the shelves, Rockstar Games has just announced another maneuver to pump some more sales out of the GTA franchise.  Coming in mid to late October, gamers will be able to purchase a special trilogy pack for the Xbox, containing Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.  This trilogy should boost the already astronomical number of total GTA sales well above the 45 million mark.  If you've only had the opportunity to play the three most recent GTA games in passing, the trilogy is certainly worth picking up.  Achieving 100% completion on all three games should take quite a while.

Read on for the full press release.

September 21, 2005

---

As the release date for Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood nears, a playable PC demo has been released by Ubisoft.  The demo is available at www.brothersinarmsgame.com, and features a solo map, a skirmish map, and some additional goodies such as historical documents and photos to entice players.  Most of the demo is only playable in single player mode, although the skirmish map can be played co-op, though only through LAN play.

September 14, 2005

---

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a stealth game.  You creep around, hide in the dark, and sneak up and knife people.  And you know what? It's a lot of fun.   The gameplay is much more open ended than I expected.  You can take the obligatory sneaking around, never killing anyone approach, the hybrid "I'll knife people who look at me funny" approach, the "We are now playing Quake; you are all going down in a shower of gunfire" approach, or a combo of all three.  Being a stealth game, you're obviously rewarded for taking the stealth approach.  Knocking out enemies instead of gutting them like fish raises your rating at the end of the level.  Raise too many alarms and the guards bust out the body armor and start to fortify strategic positions.

September 11, 2005

---

For a writer who has always wanted to use the term "swashbuckling good time" in a review, 2K Games' Sid Meier's Pirates! allows that dream to come true.  Although this Xbox version of Pirates is really just a remake of a 1987 classic, there is still much to be said about the quality of the game.  For all of those who have lusted after a chance to live the life of a pirate - sailing the high seas for fame and fortune - the chance is here with Sid Meier's Pirates!

September 9, 2005

---

Top video game manufacturer, Namco has just announce the creation of a website for the upcoming We Love Katamari title.  The website can be found at http://katamari.namco.com.  Included on the website will be the usual pre-release marketing information such as Katamari news, screenshots, and wallpaper.  More interesting to note, however, is that visitors can download a pint-sized Prince desktop buddy to roll a katamari around your screen.  In the days and weeks building up to the launch of We Love Katamari, new skins and outfits will be available for your desktop Prince.  Additionally, visitors can win prizes from Namco by submitting pictures of user-created Katamari themed inspirations.

Read on for the full press release.

August 29, 2005

---

Maxis just announced that the next installment in the Sims series, The Sims 2 Nightlife, has gone gold and will ship to retailers on September 15th.  Nightlife, which is to be released under the EA brand, is the second expansion pack to hit shelves since the release of the popular Sims 2 title.  The Sims 2 Nightlife will feature new downtown locations, over 125 new objects, a "pleasure" life aspiration, and a new attraction system.  Gamers will even be able to travel downtown in customized cars.  The Sims franchise has been booming, and the addition of Nightlife should help bolster support with the older demographic of Sims players.

August 28, 2005

---

Outlaw Tennis, Hypnotix's latest addition to the “Outlaw” sports series, is an interesting arcade-style tennis title for the PS2 and Xbox platforms.  To fully appreciate Outlaw Tennis, the game must be viewed for what it is, not for what reviewers would like for it to be.  The stick by which all tennis games are measured these days is Virtua Tennis, and  Outlaw Tennis is decidedly dissimilar.  In fact, Outlaw Tennis has more similarities with Mario Tennis, despite the obvious differences in audience targeting.  Although Outlaw Tennis suffers in many areas one would expect an arcade tennis game to suffer, such as having an uninspired A.I., over-the-top physics, and a complete disregard for on-court etiquette, for the price tag ($19.99) you sure are buying yourself a lot of entertainment.

August 24, 2005

---

Ubisoft just announced the release of a "making-of" trailer for Myst V: End of Ages.  Myst V is the latest installment in the widely popular Myst series, and is slated to be released for the PC on September 22nd of this year.  Supposedly, the trailer is only available from www.mystworlds.com.  Fans should keep in mind however, that this is simply the trailer for the making-of video.  The full video will only be available on the collector's bonus DVD, so don't be too disappointed when you find that all of the goodies aren't available through the trailer.

Read on for the full press release.