| Games Asylum » The Simpsons Game
EA recently said that they were going to pull their socks up when it comes to DS development, and you can't argue with the effort they've put into this. It comes on the largest DS cart available, contains over twenty minutes of FMV, some 3,000 speech samples, a virtual Homer to play with and a handful of retro game parodies including Frogger, Space Invaders and Gauntlet. The thing is that EA themselves aren't responsible for the effort - Amaze did all the work. Oddly their company logo has been emitted from the start up sequence and isn't shown until the end credits. Bad show, EA. Although now in 2D, it follows the same story as the bigger console versions, right down to each Simpson having their own special skills. That story being that the yellow fellows know that they're in a videogame and eventually discover that they have to face their creator if they want to escape.
Holiday shoppers storm local stores seeking deals on nation's busiest retail day
Bundled up in coats and giggling, Mary Ann Schewe and her sister Louise Harris tried their best Friday mornng to squeeze a luggage set and two buggies full of holiday presents into the back of her Mercury Grand Marquis. "I can't buy anything else," Harris said, standing in the Target parking lot. "My son was supposed to meet us in his truck." Like thousands of other shoppers across Middle Georgia, the sisters left their homes in Jones County before dawn to take advantage of Black Friday sales. Schewe said they started at Wal-Mart at 4 a.m. and had marked items off their lists at Goody's and Old Navy in hopes that the line outside Target would get shorter as the morning wore on. She said the line of shoppers waiting to get into Target stretched all the way to Dick's Sporting Goods on the other end of Eisenhower Crossing when they first arrived.
Virtual world becoming kids' play
Webkinz is the latest "must-have" plaything for children across the United States and Canada - a cuddly soft toy which has a virtual website twin. Buying the toy, sold for $10 (about R65) and up, gains the proud owner access onto the website ( www.webkinz.com) where they have to care for, dress, entertain and generally pamper their virtual pet. .
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You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll pray for a sequel. Best. Simpsons. Game. Ever. OK, that isn't really saying that much (Springfield's first family hasn't really had much luck in video-game adaptations). Still, EA's "The Simpsons Game" manages to nail the humor, tone and pacing of the hit animated television series. Of course, it helps that the writers of the series actually wrote the game and all of the voice actors reprise their roles. The game allows you to play as all of the Simpsons except Grampa. Little Maggie even gets in on the act in a few levels. All of the Simpsons have their own unique abilities. Homer can burp (temporarily stunning an enemy), turn into a large ball of fat to role over objects and enemies (a la Konami's "Katamari Damacy") as well as a few other moves.
Holiday shoppers storm local stores seeking deals on nation's busiest retail day
Bundled up in coats and giggling, Mary Ann Schewe and her sister Louise Harris tried their best Friday mornng to squeeze a luggage set and two buggies full of holiday presents into the back of her Mercury Grand Marquis. "I can't buy anything else," Harris said, standing in the Target parking lot. "My son was supposed to meet us in his truck." Like thousands of other shoppers across Middle Georgia, the sisters left their homes in Jones County before dawn to take advantage of Black Friday sales. Schewe said they started at Wal-Mart at 4 a.m. and had marked items off their lists at Goody's and Old Navy in hopes that the line outside Target would get shorter as the morning wore on. She said the line of shoppers waiting to get into Target stretched all the way to Dick's Sporting Goods on the other end of Eisenhower Crossing when they first arrived.
Have yourself a sarcastic Christmas
The people at Yellow Tape Construction Company — which is a theater collective, not an actual construction company — really do take the spirit of the holidays seriously. Yeah, believing in the spirit of belief is a warm and lovely thing. Really. "We just wanted to have a little fun with it," says Yellow Tape co-founder Jonathan Morgan. .
Video Game Delays Are A Slap In The Face
Game delays are like the physical equivalent to being slapped in the face and being offered an ice pack two months after the fact. Well not a slap to the face, maybe just a punch to the stomach. Game developers in their infinite wisdom and kindly nature find it in their best interest to get the gaming public overwhelmingly excited about an upcoming game and then move the date of its release so far-off in the future that you lose any hope of playing that game before your next birthday.
Developers may even postpone a title's release so far in the future that you might not see yourself playing video games at that time, but rather raising your grandchildren. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but different developers have a variety of different reasons for delaying games - some of them are good reasons, some are bad reasons and some are reasons the public at large may never understand.
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