EA Sports: Wii All-Play
Electronic Arts (EA) has announced their 2008 lineup of family-friendly games for the Nintendo Wii under their All-Play label. All-Play sports games were designed to accommodate the needs of both the experienced gamer and the first-time gamer by including novice and advance control schemes.
The lineup consists of Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NCAA Football, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, and NBA Live. According to EA, NCAA Football ’09 will feature more than 200 schools and will be released mid-July. Madden NFL, scheduled to release mid-August, will feature a 5 vs. 5 big-head mode… and I love big-head mode :-) Tiger Woods PGA Tour, set to release towards the end of August, will feature enhanced motion-controlled swing modes and an online play with up to four players. NBA Live is still being configured to improve the Wiimote responsiveness compared to its previous release and will put the game on the shelves within the first two weeks of October. And last but not least, FIFA Soccer will incorporate your Mii’s and launch “Footii Party Games” for more to enjoy! This game is scheduled to release in mid-October.
For more Nintendo Wii news, be sure to check back here at GameSource!
[Review] Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Konami’s video game exclusive to the Playstation 3, hit the shelves two weeks ago and has boosted Sony’s profits even as the sale of PS3s has declined. This release has come ten years after the original release of the first Metal Gear Solid (MGS). MGS4 includes elaborate cut scenes which show flashbacks of the storyline in the older versions of MGS and intertwines it with the dramatic events of the new MGS game.
My personal favorite is the third-person view – but don’t worry all you FPS lovers! There’s also a first-person view, however, it seems a bit slower to maneuver (in my opinion). A specialty item that I would like to highlight is the new camouflage, “Octocamo,” which is introduced during the beginning of MGS4 in one of the cut scenes – replacing the MGS3 camo system. I don’t want to give it away, so let me just say that the concept of this camouflage is amazing. The online play is highly addictive and allows players to hide and climb various parts of the map that would normally be restricted in other video games that include items for visual effects only.
Although my fiancé is in love with the online play, I find it a tad bit difficult to take someone down because I feel like I use a whole clip… but it could be because I got accustomed to Call of Duty 4 where I don’t have to make a huge effort to kill someone. LOL. Another thing that’s cool though, is that you can still use your cardboard box to hide in during the game. I love that feature.
So what does it get in terms of rating? We give it a 10/10! It seems like other players agree – because as I browse the net, I’m seeing excellent ratings!
1Up = A- | IGN = 10/10 | PSM = 5/5 | GameSpot = 10/10
Game Informer = 10/10 | Game Trailers = 9.3/10
If you don’t have this game yet, I highly recommend you pick it up today and give it a try! Let us know how you feel about it!
GameSource Rating: 10 / 10
Avatar Pack
Hey Everyone!
I apologize for the break in updates! I recently relocated back to San Francisco after I started this blog and am still working on setting up the internet connection at home. Because of the intense delay, I decided to give you some downloadable content! I have worked on a few video game related icons / avatars that are 100 x 100 pixels in PNG format. Please comment to let me know which ones you are taking, so I know which style to choose when creating avatars again in the future. If you decide not to comment, please credit http://gamesource.today.com where applicable. These may be used on message boards/forums, blogs, and other miscellaneous social networking profiles. Please do not redistribute without permission.
[01-08] Gamer Icons
[09-13] Forza Motorsport 2
[14-17] Overlord
[18-24] Rainbow 6 Las Vegas
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LucasArts Job Market
LucasArts followed suit with many companies in the United States, laying off several of their employees late last week. While the number of layoffs is less significant than most companies, including specific companies within airline businesses, national laboratories, and movie companies, it still reveals the economy’s effect on the video gaming industry. Approximately 100 people received pink slips in LucasArts San Francisco.
LucasArts confirmed that none of the developers working on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Fracture were effected by the job slashes. However, the layoffs were company-wide and did not target any specific departments or projects. LucasArts would not describe any specific details on whether or not they would outsource development to third-party studios.
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This morning, Infinity Ward announced that 400 jobs were opened within their company’s section of LucasArts. All 400 are positions are based in San Francisco. For more info on available job openings, please see: https://jobs.lucasfilm.com
[Review] Grid
Grid is one of the newest releases in the video game racing world. This game puts you on the edge of your seat as a top race car driver that gets to travel the world and participate in international racing events. The venues are divided up into three locations with their own racing disciplines: America, Europe, and Japan. Like most racing games, the goal of the game is to boost your rep and climb the ladder to being the top international race car driver. To do this, you need to participate in increasingly difficult races, earn money to buy newer and better cars, get sponsored, and win the race! Typical to most games, you must choose from pre-selected vehicles – but they include the option to buy a second-hand car from eBay Motors. You don’t get to mechanically customize your vehicles either - you just pick a car and race!
With everything added up, this game is straight arcade-style with a bit of realism added – crazy crashes means you’re out of the game… and not just a few dents that’ll allow you to keep going. The graphics are amazing and the ability to pause and rewind to replay what you just did is a great implementation.
You have the ability to race others online and the lobby system is easy to use. However, not many game types are available. And one that really pokes me in the back is the lack of split-screen multiplayer support. But overall, this game is definitely worth picking up.
GameSource Rating: 8.5 / 10
