Leave Your Thoughts

This game is a landmark. In years to come, we will look back at this game and see that this, along with Wii Fit, became the point where it all changed.
But for the life of me, I can't see what these changes are, positive or negative.

I have no doubt in my mind that both Rock Band and Wii Fit are fun. Let's not confuse my writing with that of a negative review of these games. For me these games are the catalyst for something much more.

For anyone who doesn't know, Rock Band has the same basic music concept as Guitar Hero. Coloured bars fall from the top of the screen in time with the music, and you have to hit the corresponding colour while strumming your guitar. Except Rock Back have also added a drum kit peripheral, and a singing part, which works much the same as Sing Star for the PS2. And Wii Fit is a series of mini games, all using the Balance Board peripheral, a flat quadrangle split into four pressure sensitive areas. This is all dressed up into a miracle fitness regime, in which you can have fun and lose weight.

I'm not entirely sure why these games cause such an unsettling feeling in my stomach, but they do.

For a minor history lesson, I can tell you firstly that these types of games have been around for a very long time. The guitar peripheral concept has been around in a franchise called Guitar Mania, and so too has the idea of a drum peripheral, in Drum Mania. These are not the only, and probably not the first examples, but they are the most well known after Guitar Hero. These games were limited mostly to arcades. Western arcades have all but died, whereas in Japan these machines still prevail (there's one being used in Lost in Translation), but that's another rant for another time. The Wii Balance Board is a relatively new idea, but having its roots in the Joyboard, a peripheral released in 1982. The peripherals on offer are not a new thing, so no, it's not that that's bothering me.

Large peripherals for controlling games have been around as long as games themselves. Nintendo's Robotic Operating Buddy for example. They have always had the major problem of costing an absolute bomb, especially in the light of regular priced games. 70 on Wii Fit, or 40 on GTA IV? A full Rock Band setup is going to set you back in the region of 150. That's a heavy hit for a video game, but you can buy the different parts separately, making your wallet take a slightly less insulting blow, but a blow nonetheless. But gamers do have a large disposable income, so I don't doubt for a minute that people will pay this price, even if it leaves a slightly bitter taste in their mouths, so no, it's not that that's bothering me, either.

I think, and this is a concept very deeply rooted within my brain, like a psychiatric disorder, that these games signal the next wave of novelty gaming (pejorative). I'm not sure I see myself as a "hard-core" gamer. I don't feel the need to play games' expert modes, for example. But I will strive for 100% completion, and I will attempt to play the best possible game of Halo/Super Smash Bros./Ikaruga/Guitar Hero that I can possibly play, ever motivated towards perfection. And what I see these novelty games as, is an influx of the casual gamer. We've already had a huge influx of the casual gamer in the DS and Wii, and we can already see the repercussions of that. Shelf after shelf of movie and TV tie-in games; poorly produced bilge in the attempt to make a quick buck out of the nave and gullible.

People had fun playing Wii Sports and Wii Play, so 3rd parties produce more compilations of sports and mini games. People enjoyed brain training, and so we have a catalogue of third party brain training software.

OK granted, it's going to be fairly hard for a third party company to create a clone of Rock Band that people will actually be stupid enough to buy; this game seems pretty contained in itself. But it will still bring a lot of new gamers to the fold, and these new gamers are eventually going to get bored of Rock Band and want another game. Off they pop down to Game (...don't get me started on Game) to buy another game, and what are they more likely to walk out with? The Orange Box? Bio Shock? No, Iron Man, or the Lost video game, because as a new gamer, the only concepts they have in their mind are from other media, and they feel more comfortable spending their cash on a concept they are aware of, than the "unheard of" Crackdown.

But I think more than this, the thing that is getting me the most exasperated, is that for video games to finally get the world-wide recognition that they have been denied for so long, we have had to rely on novelty: The Wii and DS, and games with crazy peripherals. Like a circus clown with a trumpet running up to you in the street, shouting "Video games are fun! You see, look! Su Doku!"

From the mouth of Fenton Bailey. Find his blog at http://fentonbailey.blogspot.com

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON - America has never seen anything quite like this: The president and president-elect acting like co-presidents, consulting and cooperating on the day's biggest crises.

Most Need For Speed fans will know what I'm talking about when I refer to the most wanted game of 2005. The Need For Speed franchise has been reborn with the release of Need For Speed Most Wanted (NFSMW) on the 15th of November this year in the U.S. Fans could not stop talking about all the fantastic features of this game and the Internet was swarmed with headlines about this great title. But what is the buzz all about? What makes this title so exceptional? Take a quick tour with me and you will find out.

The main attraction of Need For Speed Most Wanted, is the return of the high speed, police chases that was introduced in the very first instalment of the series and perfected in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. But the police chases is far more complicated that fans had become accustomed to in previous versions of the game. The cops are much more aggressive, more skilled and better equipped. Don't think you can tune your ride to be the fastest and beat the police with speed, they have some serious stuff under the hood and skilled drivers behind the wheel.

Damage models also make a return. You can completely destroy a cop's car while your own car can only be damaged visually by means of broken windows and damaged paint. Almost everything in the free roaming world can be destroyed and used to your advantage during a cop chase. Drive through a gas station, or remove the pillars of a shop's roof and see what happens to the cops. The traffic models have also been improved and they are still as annoying as in all the other Need For Speed titles, but the game will not be so much fun without this annoyance factor. The surrounding world detail has also received huge attention. HDRR (High Dynamic Range Rendering) pushes the graphics to new heights and that is one of the main reasons why the game plays off during the day and not at night like in the Underground series.

The speed-breaker is a nice innovation of EA to help players control their cars during the high-speed chases. The speed-breaker is much like the bullet-time feature of games like Max Payne and Total Overdose. One thing that may disappoint fans is the fact that the customisation of the cars is much more limited than in the Underground series. You can only modify your spoiler, hood, roof scoops and window tinting. You can purchase complete body kits that will adjust your muffler tips, headlights, etc. automatically to fit in with the specific kit you chose. You can still paint your car, add vinyls, put decals on your ride and paint your rims (but not your brake callipers). Painting your car and changing its visual appearance is vital to your success in the game. This will help you evade the cops by bringing your heat level down after each visual upgrade, or change you make to your ride.

All your performance upgrades are still available in the game and you unlock more powerful upgrades as you progress through the game. The only limitation with performance upgrades is that you no longer can choose the brands of your parts, they are pre-selected with each upgrade. EA also dropped the fairly complicated tuning of Underground 2 and brought back the simple slider tuning that was introduced in earlier titles. You only move the relevant slider to the left or right to modify your car's handling, steering speed, height, acceleration, down-force, top speed, braking, turbo and nitrous booster. This should be welcomed by gamers because they are no longer frustrated by hours complicated tuning to get the most out of their rides. The emphasis of this game is becoming the most notorious street racer and that is why EA shifted from the tuner theme to the cop-chase theme.

There are over 30 cars to choose from, including tuners, street-cars, muscle cars, sport models and exotics. Each and every car can be tuned and upgraded for maximum performance. You will find that cash is a limited resource and you need to upgrade and buy strategically. You also get the chance to win your rival's car by winning his pink slip after each challenge. But before you can challenge a blacklist member you first need to achieve a number of race wins and milestones to build respect among the racers and prove you are worthy of racing against them.

The music continues the Underground attitude, but the high-speed cop-chases introduce a brand new innovation: interactive music. The interactive music gives the game a cinematic feel. The closer the cops get, the more dramatic the music becomes. When you evade the cops the music reaches a climax but returns to a dramatic tone as soon as a cop spots you again. The changes in music are very accurate and EA has done a great job in creating the right atmosphere during these lightning-speed chases.

There are so many other great features in this game, but mentioning them all in one article is just not practical. Need For Speed Most Wanted is a blend of all the great features of previous titles and more. Great graphics, a great storyline with great actors like Josie Maran, great music and great cars. All these factors make the game the Most Wanted game of the year.

Born on 27 February 1982 in small town called Lichtenburg in the North West (Formerly known as Transvaal) province of South Africa. He graduated High school in 2000 and started doing computer programming on his own for 2 years using the C++ programming language. In 2003 he started a career in Accounting and he is currently studying BCompt at the University of South Africa.

The author is a very dedicated person in whatever he takes on in life and believes that success only comes from hard work and believing in your own abilities, the abilities God gave to you.

Coenraad is the Webmaster of LIAFIN. Pay them a visit and see what they have in store for you. LIAFIN - Your one stop Online Shop http://www.liafin.co.za

You can also visit his homepage at http://www.cplusplusgenius.wagoo2.com

AP - President Hugo Chavez's opponents made important gains in Venezuela's local elections, capturing the Caracas mayor's office and three of the most populous states, but his allies won a strong majority.