June 25th 2008
Nintendo has announced three new titles with E3 around the corner. “Wario Land: Shake It!” is for the Wii while “Kirby Super Star Ultra” and “Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir” are for the DS. All three will be shown at E3. “Wario Land: Shake It!” is a “classic side-scroller” according to Nintendo and should street on September 25. “Kirby Super Star Ultra” will arrive on September 29 and “Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir” is due on September 8.
June 24th 2008
The best real-time strategy game of all time’s sequel might arrive on December 3, 2008. Several retail chains have listed that as the release date, from Best Buy to Game Stop. However, Walmart and Amazon.com have currently listed no date and the December 3 listing could just be a place marker.
June 22nd 2008
EA recently release the Spore Creature Creator. While this isn’t the full release of Spore it does allow you to create the creatures that you are going to use in the game. Since it is only a creature creator I didn’t expect much out of it. I would have to say that creating creatures for the game is much funner than I ever imagined. It is also really easy to create your own creatures as well. After creating multiple creatures all I can say is that I can’t wait till Spore is released on September 7th. I would suggest everyone that has a strong enough computer to at least download the demo of Spore Creator. The only difference between the retail version and the demo version is that you get more parts for your creature in the retail version (the demo has only 25% of the pieces). Even if you weren’t planning on buying the game you might change your mind after trying out the Creature Creator. (If you are using an HP Laptop you might have problems with the game starting properly. See this link to find out how to fix the problem if you encounter it.) Since I enjoyed creating my creatures so much I decided to show off some of my creations.
If you have already tried out the Spore Creature Creator what do you think of itand are you planning on purchasing Spore when it is released? Also if you would like to share pictures of your own creatures feel free to leave a link to a picture of your creatures.
March 31st 2008
If you work on any of the projects listed below (or any upcoming releases) and would like to see us review it, send us an e-mail. If you are interested in purchasing any of these items, simply click the box art to go to the product’s Amazon.com page where you can buy it for a very low price. Buying from the links provided in this column help support The Couch Potato.
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March 24th 2008
If you work on any of the projects listed below (or any upcoming releases) and would like to see us review it, send us an e-mail. If you are interested in purchasing any of these items, simply click the box art to go to the product’s Amazon.com page where you can buy it for a very low price. Buying from the links provided in this column help support The Couch Potato.
DVD:
The Best of The Price Is Right-26 episodes of the #1 daytime show make the jump to DVD. Included are some of the most memorable episodes as well as a few shows with original host Bill Cullen.
Day Break: The Complete Series-In this short-lived series, detective Brett Hopper experiences the “Groundhog Day” from hell. He has been framed for the murder of the assistant DA and keeps reliving the same day over and over again. To stop the cycle, he must figure out who framed him. While the show is obviously a bit repetitive, I would still recommend it to fans of thrillers.
Paranormal State: Season 1 (A&E Store Only)-To get this a month early you have to purchase it from A&E’s store (it streets April 29 at other stores). As a fan of paranormal shows like “Ghost Hunters,” I was entertained by “Paranormal State” even though it is fairly obvious that most of the “evidence” is staged.
Sliders: The Fourth Season-After three and a half years of waiting, “Sliders” fans can finally pick up the penultimate season.
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March 17th 2008
If you work on any of the projects listed below (or any upcoming releases) and would like to see us review it, send us an e-mail. If you are interested in purchasing any of these items, simply click the box art to go to the product’s Amazon.com page where you can buy it for a very low price. Buying from the links provided in this column help support The Couch Potato.
Blu-Ray:
“I Am Legend” tells the story of the last man alive in New York City. When I watched it on theater, I was a bit freaked out (I’m not a huge fan of the horror genre) but I still enjoyed the film. Will Smith does a great job as usual even though he is the only star on the screen throughout 95% of the movie. The visuals were impressive on theater so I can’t wait to see how they look on Blu-ray.
I’m going to come right out and say it; I’m a huge fan of musicals. As a fully grown adult I couldn’t possibly be seen watching this on theater so I can’t wait to get this from Netflix.
DVD:
“Battlestar Galactica: Season Three”-After 18 months of waiting, the next season is finally out on DVD. As usual, the DVD is chock full of extras as if the episodes weren’t enough to make this a must-buy.
“Greek: Chapter One”-After watching the pilot, I was not at all impressed. I was about to drop the show but gave it a second chance. I’m glad I did because the series really started to find its rhythm near the end of the “chapter.” Cappie (Scott Foster) is the heart and soul of this show. Without him, this would just be another below average teen dramady.
Video Games:
3/18-Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (PS3)-The “Hot Shots Golf” series finally hits the links on the Playstation 3 with “Out of Bounds.” The biggest addition is a new shot system which offers players the chance to take a risk in order to possibly hit the ball farther and straighter (or weaker if the shot isn’t timed well).
3/18-Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox 360)-The first “Rainbow Six Vegas” offered challenging but fun gameplay and I see no reason why the sequel won’t as well. I also appreciate the great co-op mode, which is sadly missing from many games.
TV Premieres:
3/17-How I Met Your Mother (returns from hiatus, CBS, 8:30/7:30 PM)-The best comedy on television returns with a St. Patrick’s Day episode where Ted decides to act more like Barney.
3/18-Miss/Guided (series premiere, ABC, 10:32/9:32 PM)-I unfortunately haven’t had a chance to screen this new comedy but the promos look pretty funny. Judy Greer showed great comedy skills as secretary Kitty on Arrested Development and I expect her to give another great performance on this show.
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March 12th 2008
Arguably the best multiplayer series of all-time makes its debut on the Nintendo Wii with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. What it lacks in graphical enhancements it makes up for with great, balanced gameplay.
Brawl doesn’t really use the Wii’s capabilities to its fullest but when a game is this fun to play, it really doesn’t matter. The Wii controls are nothing special. Most players will probably switch to the simple Gamecube controller after their first match. The graphics have been updated a bit but Brawl definitely isn’t one of the prettier games you’ll see on the Wii.
Now that the bad stuff is out of the way, I can start to rave about what Brawl does well. The gameplay is much more balanced than previous installments where some of the characters were almost unusable in competitive matches. Every character stands a fighting chance with new and tweaked abilities making things fairer than ever. Lots of new characters have been added (I believe only one or two were subtracted) including Sonic and Snake, the first non-Nintendo characters. As usual, most of these added characters have to be unlocked by beating single-player mode, playing x amount of matches, etc. New maps and items have also been added and many are very original. There is a WarioWare map where in addition to fighting, you can play minigames to get extra items.
Obviously, the multiplayer aspect is what makes the Smash Bros. series so fun but new single player have been added in Brawl. The story mode (called the Subspace Emissary) is a decent addition. While the cutscenes are bizarre, the missions can hold your attention if you have nobody else to play with. However, I’d advice you to find some friends or head online for the real action. Online mode is another new addition. It’s definitely not as involved as Xbox Live, you just play a match against a random and anonymous opponent. While some of these matches can be quite fun, you’ll also be forced to play insanely tough or very easy opponents.
Overall, Brawl is a worthy addition to the Smash Bros. franchise. Highly recommended.
February 5th 2008
Did you ever want to hit a 400-foot home run with a pitcher? Did you ever want to purposely bean your rival’s best hitter in the face with a 105 mile-per-hour fastball? Did you ever want to hit a line drive so hard that it bounces off the defender’s glove all the way into the upper deck of the crowd? Did you ever want to leg out an inside-the-park home run with a hefty 200-pound slugger? In the MLB these things would never happen but in The Bigs, all these fantasies can come true.
Obviously, The Bigs should not be mistaken for a sim. If you are more into realistic action, the MLB 2K series, also made by 2K Sports, is a much better choice. If you aren’t a huge baseball fan or prefer to see the boring parts go away, The Bigs might just be your cup of tea. While much more restrained than the MLB Slugfest brand, that franchise is a good example of what you just expect from “The Bigs.” The main rules of the game are exactly the same as in the MLB but every hit, strikeout pitched, or great defensive play made scores you points. When you have accumulated enough points, you can unlock a gamebreaker that can be used for either a nearly automatic home run (you just have to make contact) or an easy strikeout.
Gameplay is simple and easy to pick up, even for the non-baseball fans. In just a game or two, you should be able to get the gist of the game. Batting and pitching controls are good but defense and running are a bit frustrating. Since the game is so fast-paced, it is very hard to play even decent defensively. The running controls make absolutely no sense to me and are too hard to control. You have to select the runner you want with one of the four main buttons then tell them where to go by pushing the left thumbstick. This could definitely have been simplified.
The Bigs comes with four game modes. The traditional exhibition mode is accompanied by a mini-game called Home Run Pinball where you use a slugger to try to hit as many windows, taxis, etc. as you can in an effort to score as many points as possible. The Home Run Derby is the same as usual in single-player mode but the publisher smartly allowed both players to play at the same time in multiplayer mode. The Rookie Challenge, where you create a rookie and play challenges and games to improve him, is the real gem. While some of the challenges are a bit frustrating, it is a very fun mode in general.
The graphics and sound are both good but not great. The player models are supposed to be a bit exaggerated but I wasn’t so happy with the look of some of the player’s faces. Some are quite good and easily recognizable but others are downright awful.
Overall, I definitely wouldn’t pay full price for this game but if you are a baseball fan and find it for under $20, you can’t go wrong. It’s a solid game that is definitely worth playing at the right price. Non-baseball fans who like arcade action might want to give it a try as well.
Recommended For: Baseball fans, non-baseball fans who like arcade games
Recommended Price: Under $20
February 1st 2008
If you notice that we have missed a release, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll put it up. If you work on any of the projects listed below and would like to see us review it, send us an e-mail.
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