SUMODOWNLOAD

See that Jack Thompson? Your biased assumption blaming it on Video Games is all wrong.  According to the Virginia Tech Review Panel he never played Counter Strike which was originally said to have been the cause of his insanity.

“None of the video games were war games or had violent themes.”

“He was enrolled in a Tae Kwon Do program for awhile, watched TV, and played video games like Sonic the Hedgehog.“

Repent Jack Thomspon! There is still hope for you! (NOT!)

[Source: GamePolitics, Virgina Tech Review Panel]

Well, EA Sports is at it again with a new helping of the NBA Live series. Expectations are high for this new installment because unlike its predecessor, NBA Live 08 shifts its focus on team play unlike the “players with superpowers which then made the game look like NBA Jam rip-off” NBA Live 07. The series is taking a back-to-basics approach before pouring it with some hot gravy of goodies and extras.

This time, NBA live 08 has a new “own the paint” moves which give you great control once you start to back down your opponent in the paint. By pressing the L2 button, you plant your back on your opponent and you can start unloading a barrage of moves on your opponent. Tapping the shoot button will make your player fake and obviously, if you press on it, you will take a jumper. However, if you tap then press it again, you will make a counter shot. Flicking the right analog stick will give you access to a variety of spins and other moves to make a fool out of your opponent.

Destroy your opponent and own the paint, boy!

If you’d rather humiliate your opponent outside the paint, then quick strike ball-handling moves are for you. These moves are tied to the right analog stick and certain movements and rotations will make your player spin, crossover and stutter and stringing all these weapons together is a piece of cake (you still have to practice though if you plan on rolling with the big dogs). Quick mastery of the quick-strike moves will leave make your enemy eat your dust and nursing broken ankles.

As for defense, pressing the L2 button while facing a ball-handler will make your player match moves and you can force him out of position by shadowing the ball. This is not foolproof though because defensive stats are important as well so don’t expect a player like Anthony Peeler match up with a Kobe Bryant well enough.

 Gilbert Arenas casts a spell on his defender

Of course, there’s still the usual helping of all-star games (with corresponding mini games), quick play, dynasty mode but the chance to play with FIBA teams is a nice touch so in case you’re wondering how the new, smoldering line up of the Boston Celtics would fare against China or Argentina.

Hopes are high for this game but let’s not forget 2k sports to back down. So until then, I’m holding out my vote.

Source: www.gamespot.com

Technorati tags: nba live, live 08, sports games, basketball games

Anet and NCSoft entered the never ending MMORPG war (which is currently being dominated by World of Warcraft)  with the release of Guild Wars: Prophecies in 2005. Now, after adding two chapters, namely Guild Wars: Factions and Guild Wars: Nightfall, the boys from Anet and NCSoft will release Guild Wars: Eye of the North - the first ”true” expansion of the series. Take a look  at this juicy trailer:

If you’re a true fan of the game, then you’ve probably conquered at least one of the the series’ three continents: Tyria (Prophecies), Cantha (Factions), or Elona (Nightfall). GW:EN, which by no coincidence is also the name of the narrator (Gwen is an NPC you run into in Prophecies but she was a child back then which gives you a “fetch me” quest. She’s all grown up now, though) in the video above, is set 6 years after Nightfall and this time, you’re brought back to the far northern part of Tyria, namely the Frozen Shiverpeaks, to fight a beast called the Great Destroyer and ultimately bring peace to the land. GW:EN adds more than 50 new skills for each class, a whole squidload of new maps, items, monsters and quests (which is ALWAYS good).

This past weekend, Anet hosted a preview event to give the players a chance to sink their teeth into the upcoming expansion. Player reaction was a resounding “YES YES YES YES YES YES WE WANTS MORE!!!!!!!!!”

GW:EN is set to ship to US stores on Aug. 31 and it will probably hit Philippine shores a VERY SHORT while after so get your leet-speak on and practice your pvp skills coz it’s on like donkey kong. Expect this game to get a “GGG” rating.

GROIN.

GRABBINGLY. 

GOOD.

Leipzig, Germany - Hello Kitty, the world’s most loved purring creature, graced the Game Conference with her presence last week and led the launching of the Sanriotown Europe website in front of 220,000 spectators, wowing her fans of all ages with what she has in stored.

Burda Interactive Communities, the company in charge of the Sanriotown Europe, made success possible in the conference with their cool gimicks and neat presentations. The Sanriotown booth there had an event called the “Hello Kitty Lucky Draw” where visitors who had the best picture taken with Hello Kitty wins some neat prizes. The best picture wins a pink iPod while the other prizes include t-shirts, handbags and keychains.

Aside from the introductions and speeches that were given by the moderation team of Sanriotown Europe defining the site to Sanrio fans, the much awaited Hello Kitty Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game’s trailer was also shown in the booth. The Hello Kitty MMORPG is anticipated to have a different type of game play compared to mainstream MMORPGs by focusing on communities and blogs. However nothing is finalized yet, and it is yet unknown if the game will be delivered that way in the future.

The European based Sanriotown website will showcase the same features with the current Sanriotown.com website. The difference of this site with its international counterpart is that the site’s content will support the different languages used in Europe such as French, German, Italian, Turkish, Spanish and English (UK). That means Europeans can now enjoy Sanriotown style games, forums, blogs, and other cool features in their local language.

Burda Interactive Solutions is in partnership with Outblaze Limited, one of the world’s largest providers of messaging solutions such as email, forums and chat.

Technorati tags: Hello, Kitty, Leipzig, Germany, Europe, Sanriotown, GC, Game, Conference

Another one of those far-fetched rumors. But is it? Pocket Gamer originally tried to uncover any plans for a PlayStation-branded phone and got very little information about it. This time around in Leipzig, they might have gotten more.

Well, why not? Sony Ericsson has already ported the Walkman and Cybershot brands so why not the PlayStation?

[Source: Pocket Gamer]

The votes are out and the best of show may seem puzzling to most gamers. Hey! This is Europe we’re talking about so they’ve got different cultural tastes.

Best PC Game - Crysis

Best Xbox 360 Game - Bioshock

Best PSP Game - God of War: Chains of Olympus

Best PS2 Game - Pro Evo 2008

Best PS3 Game - Pro Evo 2008

Best Wii Game - Mario and Sonic at the Olympics

Best DS Game - Eye Training

Best Online Game - Age of Conan

Best Hardware / Accessory - Wii Balance Board

Best Mobile Game - None

I’ll tell you one thing. I thought that Bioshock was only a US hit but seems that the Europeans like it as well. As for me, I give it a “meh”, but I’ll gladly play it when it becomes available in my area.

[Source: Kotaku]