"Don King Presents: Prizefighter"
In 2028, when 3D holodecks are in every strip mall and we'll be able to have games downloaded directly into our brains, we'll look back wistfully on the hits of 2008. Wasn't "Grand Theft Auto IV" quaint, we'll muse. Aren't our alien overlords much nicer than that nasty Locust Horde in "Gears of War 2"?
The following games are scheduled for release this week, according to www.GameSpot.com.
The word "Extreme" in a video-game title tends to trigger a reflexive cringe in most gamers, especially when applied to a remake of a genre classic.
COMMAND & CONQUER 3: KANE'S WRATH
Wii Fit Batteries
"Guitar Hero: Aerosmith"
The editors of Game Informer rank the top 10 handheld games for July:
Can Sen. Barack Obama beat out Sen. John McCain for the White House? Would Hillary Clinton have fared better against McCain in November? You might find the answers by firing up "The Political Machine 2008," a new strategy game for PC from Stardock ("Galactic Civilizations II," "Sins of a Solar Empire").
"Midnight Club: Los Angeles"
The following games are slated for release this week, according to GameSpot.com.
"Rock Band" is ready for an encore.
VIDEO GAME REVIEW
Someone sure enjoyed Hulk: Ultimate Destruction when it was released three years ago. Edge of Reality, which delivers a product that, depending on your level of cynicism, either pays major homage to Destruction or rips it off wholesale.
"Boom Blox" could be called Knocking Things Over: The Game.
Young people are being tragically corrupted by a seductive new form of popular entertainment. Oddly enough, this seems to happen in every generation.
Most "Pokemon" games are basic RPGs in the "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest" style, with the player controlling a Pokemon trainer and sending his little pets into battle.
The Nintendo DS isn't just fun and games anymore for English students at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girls junior high school. The portable video game console is now being used as a key teaching tool, breaking with traditional Japanese academic methods.
"Battlefield: Bad Company"
The editors of Game Informer rank the top 10 Xbox 360 titles for July:
It's been a long wait since "Battlefield: Bad Company" was first announced back in mid-2006, but the extreme polish evident in the final product makes it all worthwhile. Both single- and multiplayer shine - at long last redeeming DICE for the crappy bot-fests offline players had to endure in previous games in the series.
CHILD'S PLAY
Sesame Street has some new computer programs designed for children to learn and interact with their parents. The programs, Sesame Street First Steps and Sesame Street Learn, Play & Grow (PC and MAC) include Elmo, Ernie, Big Bird and Zoe helping kids to sing songs, play games and learn the beginnings of language in various activities.
The truly great action films of our time -- Die Hard, The Road Warrior, Aliens, say -- can be summed up in one word: relentless. Once they get in gear, they put the pedal to the metal and don't slow down. If only Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Whatever had such single-minded drive.
VIDEO GAMES
I don't envy video game designers who have to work on movie tie-ins. Artists have to duplicate the look of a film with a much smaller budget. Writers have to stick pretty closely to someone else's script, even as they stretch a two-hour story into an eight-hour game. There's not much room for creativity.
The Nintendo Wii has already done what video game naysayers said couldn't be done -- get children and adults off the couch with active games such as Wii Sports. The innovative Wii Fit takes it a step farther by creating a virtual gym in your living room that helps families incorporate fitness, as well as the escapist fun of video games, into their daily routine.
The long-awaited follow-up to the 2005 hit driving simulation game "Gran Turismo 4" is teased with an extended demo that serves a lot of flash but little bang.
VIDEO GAME REVIEW
Grand Theft Auto IV is all about the American Dream. An immigrant comes to this country with dreams of escaping his past and building his fortunes. But instead of finding streets paved in gold, he finds a city where hookers and hustlers work the streets and crime is a way of life and the only way to survive.
VIDEO GAME REVIEWS
How will you survive the inevitable zombie apocalypse? After 40 years of zombie movies, from Night of the Living Dead to 28 Days Later, your first line of defense should be clear: Don't get infected. Then run.
The gamers stood in line for hours, from Los Angeles to Miami. Three years without a Halo fix and the day finally arrived. At 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, thousands of fans rushed inside stores across the nation to reach the holy grail of video games - a copy of Halo 3. Was it worth the wait?
