In the past we’ve been presented with numerous negative factors about video games. Still today, there are plenty of non-gamers that fall into the same stereotype regarding how bad video gamers are for our health. There is however, a lot of positive attributes that us gamers already recognize, such as it’s a good stress reliever to be able to kick back at the end of the day and virtually end someone’s life.

An aspect that is sometimes overlooked which I love is the learning factor about games. In that, I’m referring to the games that are based on historical events, even if it’s based on them loosely. When I was younger, I grasped the the entire event in a video game more than I do these days. Today it is more about the graphics for me and the mechanics of a game but ever so often, I will get sucked into a game and learn more about our past that I wasn’t taught while in school, or never bothered to further educate myself about it.

A game I recently played was Battlestations: Pacific. It was a huge milestone for me to invest so many hours into a game, only to walk away each time and realize I still don’t have a single achievement (I can’t help being such an achievement whore), but learning even slightly more about our history should be something we’re encouraged to do. For those that aren’t familiar with Battlestations series, the year is set between 1941-1945. The attacks are about Pearl Harbor and Battle of Okinawa (aka Operation Iceberg). You do have a chance to play as the Japanese and create the “what if” scenareo, though I never was interested in that aspect of the game so I have no opinion on that matter.

That being said, there are so may games out there that can teach us a lot about history or help us use our imagination and create a “what if” scenario, such as Company of Heroes, Age of Empires Series, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and Total War Series, which is only naming a few. In all obviousness, parents shouldn’t succumb to slanted opinions about how video games aren’t suitable for children since a few of the games I’ve mentioned above are turn based strategy games.

Being one of those people that play the “Microsofts rat race game at signing up for the new updates before everyone else”, my review on the fall 2009 update is as followed. There really are only 4 obvious new updates to the dashboard since we’ve already received the larger update prior.

Facebook
The mother of bulkiness and redundant features. I know the whole social networking phase is still pretty popular and everyone is all over it but I do think that Microsoft spent too much time programming this section whereas they should have focused more on the Last.FM section, where it is strongly needed.

There is a new blade for each persons status, mimicing the NXE style, as you will see in the images to follow. This makes the section seem quite big. It would have been a better idea to make each blade belong to one person with their wall posts included, considering most people have 50+ friends on facebook to begin with. I assume our friends list on facebook will eventually grow since we’ll be able to find our xbox mates on there as well. Since they’ve programmed it this bulky blade way (which is aethetically, very nice), they’ve excluded one main feature; viewing a friends wall and making a wall post.

After using facebook for many years, we all know that there are many of our friends that never update their status but we still post on our wall. It seems a little ridiculous that this feature has been left out complete. We are able to view our friends profiles, their status and even their photos but no option to leave messages on their wall. I know the facebook module is a work in process but surely they could have cut down on some other section, simplified facebook a little, like they have done with twitter, and given us one of the core features.

Twitter
This has to be the addition I’m most happy with since it basically includes most of the same features you recieve when you login to twitter on your computer. I’ve loved twitter for a while and now that I’ve got it on my xbox, I couldn’t be happier! One nice addition would be to allow us to update our twitter account through the guide, instead of makin us go through the dashboard. Even if you don’t allow us to view our twitter feed, at least let us update through the guide! It’s a simple application that we could get a lot of use out of.

Last.FM
I started using Last.FM about 3 years ago and thought it was a great audio scobbler. I loved how it would record how many times I listen to certain bands/songs, especially since I’ve always been guilty of reformatting my computer a handful of times every year and itunes resets the song count. So that is all I’ve ever used it for. Nothing more.

When it comes to the suggestion of new bands/music, I most definately prefer Pandora (U.S.A based only) and their gnome system. Even though Pandora has transformed into a paid service a few months back, I still prefer it much more over Last.FM. My main reason for saying that is that their programming to recognize the bands I really enjoy through the songs I’ve favoured is a huge plus. This is what Last.fm is lacking. When I start a new station based on a band and I get to hear the actual band play only a couple of times over a period of a few hours, it makes me doubt the system. Even when I’ve favoured a few songs within the station, I still barely get to hear them and continue getting more different selections.

The next problem with the Last.FM addition is, I can’t play my set stations while I’m gaming! I don’t know what they were thinking when they didn’t program it so we could listening to music while doing other stuff on my xbox. Music is something we all have on IN THE BACKGROUND, what was Microsoft thinking when they thought we’d only be interested in listening to music throught the Last.FM screen? Though it is useful when I’m cleaning the house!

The last problem I’ve noticed is, they should give us the option to display what band & song we’re playing while other’s view our profile. They’ve included this for Netflix and we have it while we’re on our computer using MSN Messenger. It should be known that we expect this feature! And no, I have no problem letting people see that i’m listening to some more emo music!

The positive side to Last.FM is the quality of music is crisp and I’ve seldom noticed songs being jumpy. There is a small tool bar for the song being played which scrolls the band name as well. It’s a decent size and would be superb if they implemented that to be visible ontop of whatever game we choose to play, or include it within the guide.

Overall, this can turn out to be a gamers dream component if they make some more adjustments.

Zune
I’ve got the least experiance with the Zune’s full functions since I’m an iPod gal (though that’s all I’ll limit myself to purchase from Apple). Zune section has replaced the movie section completely but the best part of this is they finally have given us the option to search for movies/tv shows by typing the name, instead of making me search manually.

Even though we can download full movies for a wooping 1200 MSP (SD), I doubt I’d EVER pay that much for a movie when I’d prefer a hard copy of it on DVD and save the room on my HD for game and not add to clutter. I’m pretty sure most people will agree with me there, unless they can offer us a really good deal on downloading them instead of going to a retail store. Some movies cost 1200 MSP (SD) to rent while others you can buy for the same amount. Not sure if this is a glitch yet. There is also no option to download music in mp3 format at this time.

(Images courtesy of gearlive.com)

Last night there was a world premier sneak peak at the big sisters from BioShock 2, as well as some gameplay.

It will spoil the game a little if you watch it, so be warned! I’ve already noticed improvements with weapons along with new weapons I must get my hands on. It is the same great atmosphere we grew to love though.

One thing that is a little bothersome to me about the trailer was the voice of the big sister. Yes I realize she’s a few years older now but it sounds like they used voice rendering software to change the tone from male to female. I hope I’m not alone with that assumption.

After a long hiatus, I thought a review was due. Thanks to a friend, I’ve started playing some PC games once again. The last time I played PC games was back in the Quake days, which seem like forever ago. Once I got a xbox, I was quick to dismiss any PC game… until now.

Though there are two other games that I play more (and prefer more) on the PC, a lengthy review on those will come in the near future.

The World of Goo seems like a cute game, it’s basically why I tried the demo. I thought it would be easy to completely and it looked equivalent to arcade games on xbox. I was far from wrong. After 4 hours of playing with the demo, I gave in a bought the game.

This game relies heavily on physics. The point is to use the provided blobs (Goo) to build a structure, through obstacles, and get a certain amount of them safely into their bottle. After each level, the Goo Balls you save, going into an additional level, where you aim to build a solid structure that is high enough to get an online ranking for.

There’s a lot of replay value when (IF!) you ever finish the five provided chapters available. One option is to play OCD mode. You basically use the minimum possible amount of Goo’s to create a structure to lead them home. I’ve only managed to get OCD twice even after lengthy periods of trying. If you enjoyed portal, you’d most definitely enjoy this game.

It’s only available on the PC and Wii. I’m unsure about the Wii version, but it would have been a good idea to have a face-off multiplayer mode. Compared to a lot of games we have available in the xbox marketplace, this game would have been a good seller if they chose to release it on there.

A week ago a mate of mine told me I needed to check out that weeks XLA release called, The Maw. Even though I only saw a short clip about it in the the Dashboard (which I don’t think did the game any justice), I brought it without bothering with the demo (which I almost always do bother with. I tend to wait for the demo to tell me I could have unlocked an achievement, before I cave in).

In The Maw, you play as an alien character named Frank. Frank has a pet named The Maw which can attach to a plasma leash when Frank wants to control him. The Maw basically eats anything and everything in it’s way. As this little gluttonous blob continues eating, it grows in size. He does have numerous options to pertain some abilities from the animals or items he consumes.


The gameplay and cut-scenes are all in 3D. It was nice to be able to explore each stage in an innovative new way after the Maw evolves with some new trait.  The colour scheme was vibrant. Your tasks are straight forward and simple. You never die in the game, similar to the Lego games. The transformation reminded me a lot of Kameo.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, I strongly suggest you at least try the demo. It’s probably one of the best XLA games I’ve played in a long time. Make sure you let The Maw burn his mouth in the first stage and leave your controller idle for a few moments so he can give you evils.

The huge, and I mean HUGE downfall of this game is that the game is extremely short. I managed to finish it after playing for about 4 hours. When it was all over, I wanted MORE!!! I wasn’t bothered that it was a single player game, due to the length. On the plus side, we’ll soon have some new DLC that will cost 100 MS points per level.

A while back I made a post about an online animation service called GoAnimate. Recently one of my mates on xbox, AlmightySeraph, told me that he entered a contest on their site and came in first place. So I’d like to share the good news and the clip that won it for him.

So as I was sitting at Chicago O’hare Airport, waiting for my flight back to Australia, I thought this post was long overdue!

This post isn’t about the guys behind the scene in the gaming industry like Cliffy B (yes, I refuse to call him by the name he demands people call him), although I’m sure a lot can & has been said about this sexy man. I’m talking about the males in the games. I mentally have a list of the males I am drawn closest to and enjoy playing the game because I think they’re perfect in some way, and probably would want to be zapped into a game to live by them if the chance was given.

#6: Baird – Gears of War



Apparently, he reminds a lot of people of Ryan Seacrest, but I see no resemblance. The sexy blondey from Gears of War, that isn’t as disgustingly overbuild like Marcus. The only problem why he was dropped to 6 from 5 was due to his height and haircolour. He looks way to short which is quite a turn off, especially since he’s built.


#5: Sander Cohen – BioShock



Sander Cohen may be a little nutty, but he’s awfully artistic, and that makes him such a special character in gaming. His creativity and personality makes him that much more special and not as mainstream as many other characters we encounter in gaming. If you don’t remember his poem The Wild Bunny, you should check it out!


#4: Hayden – Dark Sector



Hayden is the main character in Dark Sector that suffers from called congenital analgia. His main weapon is the glaive. He’s mutilated to the point that the glaive is apart of his hand, a progress that takes place while playing the chapters. I did have doubts about his facial features in the beginning, I thought he looked too square-ish around the jaw line. His voice is done by none other than, Michael Rosenbaum (for those that aren’t fan’s of Smallville, he played Lex Luther). So overall, Hayden’s voice and the fact that he run around in a leather tight outfit has given him his position.


#3: Dante – Devil May Cry 4



Where to start with Dante? Well it’s simple. He’s a cocky man that is full of himself, so it’s all personality! Unlike emo Nero, he doesn’t cry his little eyes out and even though I really disliked his hair colour/style, I had to look beyond that. In my opinion, he’s egotistical charming.


#2: Master Chief – Halo


Our beloved and most recognized Spartan, John 117. Without this tall armored man, xbox wouldn’t be what it is these days. Born human but genetically altered. A man with a hard hat that won’t reveal his face. His companion exists in his head (for the most part). It doesn’t get more intimate than that.


#1: Altair – Assassin’s Creed



Altair’s movements are like a flawless dance. So is his use of weaponry. Yes he can be attacked on top of buildings and fall to his death, and it gets highly annoying when he’s constantly being watched. However, he is mysterious, and limiting the appearance of his face makes him look sexy. So overall, I’d rather be with Altair over any other guy in a game!

To conclude, guys aren’t the only one’s checking out the opposite gender in gaming, I’m pretty sure I don’t stand alone and many females do the same thing too.

Note: The above is Doll of War’s opinion. This is not a collaborated post by the entire Girls & Gaming team.

Update: FF characters didn’t get a mention since I am not a fan of the game and think they look too emo to begin with. I’d likely mention Sam Fisher, Logan Keller, Agent 47 before mention FF characters.

Finally some great footage of all the weapons from Gears of War 2. This is my second post in a row about GoW 2 but you could hardly blame me. I can’t wait to get my dirty hands on these weapons and try it out for myself.

I think the flame thrower looks pretty sweet. It doesn’t seem bulky like on Halo 3. It would be cool to be able to run away from it and heal, if the chance does arise.

On another note, if you haven’t checked it out already, Spike TV is looking for the biggest Gears of War fan to get the chance to play the entire game before anyone else does. The deadline is tomorrow (Friday 18th), details are on their official site

[ Source ]

It seems like the release of GoW2 can’t come soon enough. We have another 54 days left until it hits the shelves. It’s a good thing that it’s going to be released on a Friday, perfect time to call in sick and have a nice long weekend.

New footage now though, from the Gamestop Convention. It’s not like we’re not hyped up enough but this new clip does look bloody sweet! The sniper looks improved, so maybe someone else other than host will have a chance and using it.

Once again i’m caught up with animation. GoAnimate is a simple to use, drag and drop animation site. I’ve been fooling around with it for the last 20mins and i’m pretty sure anyone can use it. You have the option to cut off the heads and replace it with your own or any other head for that matter. Unlike PlayCrafter, it’s features are much more limited and targeted towards people that aren’t too serious about their animation.

I’m lacking creativity, so here is a tribute to Doug from PurePwnage

Lately, I’ve been reading up on some of the outcry’s of issues feminists are having with characters within games. The latest outcry is about the PlayStation game; Fat Princess. From what i found out, two feminists are having their 5 mins of fame by their petty outcry’s. So I will do my part and by extending their 5 mins to 6.
 
 
Let’s start with a quote from Liss’ post:

Anyway, congrats on your awesome new game, Sony. I’m positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative assholes. It’s not often I have the opportunity to congratulate a cutting-edge tech company on such splendiferous retrofuck jackholery. Way to go! The Fat Princess of Shakes Manor salutes you.

Regarding her problem, she isn’t doing any justice by the way she is trying to address her concerns. She is acting like a belligerent feminist, which I don’t think should exist in this period of time, along with acting like a 10 year old that, for the first time in their life, figured out what it meant to use the middle finger.

The second feminist with her outcry is Mighty Ponygirl. Unlike the former egotistical feminist, Ponygirl does have other suggestions and doesn’t attribute to the stereotypical feminist.

Instead of running out into the forest to find cake to fatten up the princess with, why not go out and find gold (which is a lot heavier than cake) to stuff into a treasure chest. The more gold in the chest, the heavier it would be, and the harder it would be to carry.

Oh, but that’s not as “cute” as cake and fat chicks. Right.

Her suggestion does seem realistic and addressed in a suitable manner.

My concern with their outcry’s are, why are they against the concept of this game? America already has a huge problem with people being overweight. This game is showing you exactly what happens when you eat a lot of junk food; you get fat, which means that you will be unhealthy. This game should be an awareness game for kids and grown ups.

They have tackled the overweight issue in a cute and unique way. If they were to switch the princess out for a chess, as Ponygirl suggests, it wouldn’t bring any awareness to the issue’s of reality, therefore it would be a typical CTF type of game, which even I wouldn’t be interested in.

Prior to Fat Princess, they were complaining about some of the characters in Soul Calibur IV. It’s pretty obvious that game is targeted towards males to begin with, I suppose this is why their issues weren’t as well known.

As feminists, they should probably stick to issues that portray females as sexual objects instead of focusing on a game that could help bring more awareness of being unhealthy beings.

So here is another one of those “build your own game” sites. This one is fairly easy to use. It’s basically drag and drop customization using flash.

I’m still creating my own game, but if any of you guys create a game, be sure to mention it!

Here’s a mini tutorial on creating a game:

http://www.playcrafter.com/

It’s that time again. Congratulation Advent!! (I even spelt your name correctly). You’re July’s winner. Please forward me your details and what game you’re interested in!

Hey guys. To help keep articles on topic, we’ve put up a forum. You can find the link up top. To help encourage people to post offtopic things on there, we’re going to include two regular posters from the forum to be dumped into the monthly game draw.

I should be shot for making this post sooooooo late! The winner for June was Smiles MD. The Game she chose was Mercenaries 2:World in Flames. I don’t think it has come out yet though. What happened to UT3 or Soul Calibur 4 Smiles??

Our July cycle started 10 days ago and i see Wulf and Smiles are still at it!

I wasn’t originally going to post about this since I’m quite against females that like to strut their stuff in such a provocative way and use their “hardcore gaming” as a means to get recognition.

I did however receive an email from Jared over at Playboy regarding Jo Garcia. She’s apparently the winner of the 2008 Cyber Girl of the Year. Unlike other females that have used their sexuality to gain status from the media or the opposite sex, Jo didn’t do it in the same manner.

I’m giving her some recognition since she is first and foremost a playboy model that does seem to game a lot (according to her interview with Kotaku).

Thank you all for supporting us girls with getting Girls & Gaming up and running. For the month of May, we’re pleased to announce Ravenous Wulf as our winner. Congrats Wulf! I hope everyone continues to support us.

Our next cycle starts April the 1st.

I came across “Ask a Ninja” today in the marketplace (it’s found under Ninja Gaiden 2). I am sad to say that I’ve lost 10 mins of my life that I’ll never get back. I don’t know why I even sat and watched the entire two segment. It seems like this “ninja wannabe” actually thinks he’s funny. I, on the other hand, think this guy is a loser. How did he even make it into the marketplace is beyond me. The tone and accent of his voice seems like he’s trying trying to sound like Jack Black or Esqueleto (sorry, I don’t know his real name!) from Nach Libre.

This brings me to a question that has been bugging me for a while. What is this huge obsession people have with Ninja’s and Pirates? I remember in my PMS clan days they’d be debating between the two and who ever didn’t go along with the majority were told to go away (surely in a joking manner).

After listening to WKTT endlessly, I thought I’d give another station a go on GTA IV. It took me a while to find out who sung what but to my surprise, Amazon had the music from Vladivostok FM available. I’ve downloaded my favourite three four and linked them up if anyone wants to listen to a copy on the chunes.

The rest you can buy through this link.

1. Liberty City. The Invasion – Seryoga
2. RAP – dolphin
3. Mama – Basta
4. Nikogo ne zhalko – Leningrad
5. Gruppa krovi – Gruppa Kino
6. King ring – Seryoga
7. Jdat – Marakesh
8. O tebe – Ranetki
9. Oda Lyubvi – T9
10. Shoju s uma – Max Lorens
11. Zelenoglazoe Taksi (Club Remix) – Oleg Kvasha
12. Schweine – Glukoza
13. Mama – Quest Pistols
14. Wild Dances – Ruslana
15. Vzglyani Na Nebo – Dyshi
16. Liberty City. The Invasion (Instrumental) – Seryoga

I finished watching a video about a system for regular people that have no programming experience, to create their own game. The video it’s self it quite long, but gives you a full understanding, somewhat like a tutorial. Testing your game is in real time so you don’t need to compile your game after each action, you’ll be able to instantly test it out. It uses Microsoft Sliverlight, which is similar to Flash and PC based.

Watch the Tutorial
Create Your Game at PopyFly