For those of you out there with Xbox Live 360, the demo for Smackdown vs Raw 2007 is now available on the Xbox Live marketplace.  Grab it. We’ll have first impressions here after I play it for a little bit.  If it hasn’t been posted all over your favorite gaming sitesalready, then you read it here first!

This little number came out nearly 2 years after the PS2 launch, when PS1 support was all but a joke. As a result, some really good games slipped by, including this. Gundam, one of the biggest franchises in anime, hasn’t had very many good games, making this a real stand out. In fact, I would go on to say that this 2-D fighting game is one of the best games to make use of the licence. You take control of over 30 mobile suits from each major period in Gundam; the one year war, Gundam Wing, and G Gundam. In the story mode, you select one of 8 characters and take them through an individualized storyline based on thier series, complete with mid-bosses and final bosses. Although the character selection and storylines for G Gundam is somewhat dissappointing, (no Sweede Gundam, Schwartz Bruder, or Shining Gundam, and Master Asia remains a good guy but at least there are no major spoilers for the people who haven’t seen the anime) Many of your favorites from UC and After Colony are here, including some really big ones like Dorezil’s big mech and the Neue Ziel. The animation is pretty unique, animating individual parts of the mobile suits rather than the whole. This is a fun game to check out for anyone who likes 2-d fighting games, especially Gundam fans.

Although this is available on the three formats I mentioned above for $20 or less, this is mainly focusing on the Xbox version of the game. Wolfenstein 3-D was the start of two big revolutions in gaming.  It was one of the first games that bought home the actual WW2 experience, complete with zombies, mutant dogs, and a cyborg Hitler.  This is a feat that would not be achieved until years later with EA’s Medal of Honor (albeit with no zombies or cyborgs).  Secondly,  it was the birth of the genre we know as “First Person Shooters” or FPS for short.  Although it had it’s set of issues, (limited weapons and enemy varieties, repetitive levels, etc) this would continue to hold a special place in the hearts of gamers everywhere.Fast forward to 2002.  ID decided to revive it’s top two franchises in the FPS genre, Wolfenstein and Doom.  Return to Castle Wolfeinstein was the first out the gate, with many receiving it better than Doom 3.  Ton console version was even better, packing in several new features such as squad-based Xbox Live play, offline co-op, new prequel levels, and the original Wolfenstein as an unlockable.  Eschewing the silliness of the  past games, ID offers up a deep plot drawing upon the occult history of the Third Reich.  As BJ Blazkowicz, you fight your way to Nazi Germany to stop the resurrection of an ancient scientist.  With several weapons at your disposal, you must fight past Nazis, undead creatures, and evenexperimental  super soldiers.  

For WW2 fans looking for an alternative from the usual “Call of the battlefield of Honor archetypes”, this is a fun game to pick up.

One of the most enduring subgenres of gaming is the Strategy-RPG, or SRPG as I’ll refer to it for the purposes of this write-up. Combining turn-based RPG conventions with grib-based strategy, these games are like a marriage of chess, Command and conquer, and Final Fantasy. From Shining Force on the Sega genesis to Final Fantasy Tatics, this subset of RPGS are easy to pick up and play, yet difficult to master. This week’s $20 GOTY and lost classics will take a look at two entries in this genre.

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This week’s $20 GOTY and lost classics segments focus on the eventual re-emergence of the brawler.  Ever since the golden age of titles such as Final Fight and Double Dragon, arcade and console gamers have enjoyed bashing thier way to the other side of the screen using an assortment of moves.  However, after the 16-bit generation, the popularity of true brawlers has waned, due in fact to developer’s instance of making games in 3-d, including our belover beat-em-ups.  In recent years however, there has been a resurgance of intrest in the brawler, mostly due to the fact that developers have managed to do it the right way.  Lets take a look at two such games, one you may have missed, and the other being more recent.  BTW, starting this week, or whenever I stop being lazy, I’m moving this back to the weekend.  (Will’s week-in gaming.  Get it?)

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Wow! I thought Grand Theft Auto 4 wasn’t supposed to be released until next fall! Nevertheless, I’m always ready to do some more random carjacking and pedestrian killing! But what’s with the name change though? And where is the Rockstar logo? All kidding aside, Saint’s Row certainly isn’t gonna win any awards for originality. However, we should be thankful that someone decided to copy GTA instead of something like ‘True Crime’ or ’25 to Life’ for once.
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From now on, instead of writing 2 different columns each week, my $20 GOTY and Buried Treasures sections will be combined into 1 big juicy post. This will ensure that you don’t miss anything, especially from the other writers. Also, this is important becuase this week will be extra big. You’ll know why as soon as you finish reading this sentence.

It’s the day after labor day, and while other news sites might chill out after the holidays, I double up! That means you get 2 articles this week. Oh waitaminute, it’s been 1 year since I started doing the $20 GOTY, so that means I gotta add in 1 more to celebrate. Two of these games you may have seen before, becuase they got lost when we switched to word press and they were so dope, I needed an excuse to look at them again. Besides, it will be a first time a lot of you will be seeing them anyhow, especially if you’re reading this on Area 4:51. So without further ado, come ride with me [to the bargin bin at your local gamestop]. [Read the rest of this entry…]

You know who I’m talking to. You went back and checked out the original “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” novel after playing the strategy game of the same name to read up on your favorite character. You compared notes to the in-game Dynasty Warriors encyclopedia to see if they got your favorite character right. You decided to major in history after playing Samurai Warriors gave you an intrest in feudal Japan. Yeah, I see ya hiding. Don’t make me call out your name. It’s all good, becuase I’m one of you.

Koei’s games sell like hotcakes in Japan, but they don’t get nearly enough love over here. Samurai Warriors is a spin off in Koei’s Dynasty Warriors hack and slash games. Samurai Warriors differs from Dynasty Warriors in that it’s set in ancient Japan. The original SW had a number of gameplay features that made it unique from DW, and after playing SW, I was disappointed to see that these features weren’t integrated into Dynasty Warriors 5.

Samurai Warriors 2 comming to Xbox 360 and PS2 later this month will take the series where it has never been before: online. Although it’s only for 2 players, it’s long overdue. Also, Xbox 360 users will notive that several special mounts and bodyguards are already available for purchase over the Xbox live market place. Beside conforming a Sony/Nintendo fanboy’s biggest criticism against the Xbox 360 (Charging people for a special item! GRRRRR!!), this opens up the possiblities for what Koei could have planned for future Xbox support. Unfortunantely though, it seems that just as in the 360 version of Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires, this new version will receive minimal graphics enhancements at best. If you don’t care too much for graphics though, get ready to sharpen your sword and head back to the battlefield this fall!