The House of the Dead… Ahh, what (almost criminal) memories this title brings back. A marvel of technology it was, and one you had to constantly feed coins into, only to be deemed too primitive for today’s Wii gaming kids. Oh well, can’t have it all I guess and time will always fly, but, heck, I’d have loved blasting those ancient blocky zombies of the original HotD in the comfort of my home. Not that I’m complaining about Sega’s House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, mind you, but it could have been better. More polished. With more content and at least two more House of the Dead games.

Still, what you get for the price asked is more than fair really, as both House of the Dead 2 and 3 have been excellently ported, and the Wii remote is as great a lightgun as you can find outside the arcades. Oh, and fun as the single player game is, the two-player option is where HotD 2 & 3 really shines. Now, in case you were wondering how the thing plays or don’t remember the games, well, I guess this offering is not for you. Unless you’d rather be a video gaming historian or already are a completist.

I understand that some people didn’t like Locoroco enough. Some even muttered something about it being uncontrollable or even too simple. Of course they were wrong and probably sad at the time, but I’m convinced that even they wont dare say anything nasty about Locoroco’s shiny spiritual sequel: Patapon for the PSP. It is, you see, an absolutely excellent, refreshing, fun, smart, innovative and beautiful game, that’s actually worth buying a PSP for. Oh, yes, and it sports some fantastic tunes too.

Patapon, after all, is a unique combination of some almost proper RTS strategic gaming with some rather traditional rythm gaming, that also incorporates RPG bits and a hefty dose of God-sim elemnts. The player assumes the humble role of Patapon-God and helps the Patapon conquer 30 odd levels (divided into hunts, battles and boss battles), mainly by tapping his/her drums the appropriate way. Each rhythm you play is an order your Patapons will follow and covers everything that has to do with attacking, defending, moving and so on. Being a God you can also help them Patapons in a less intellectual way by performing miracles of the sort you would expect in Populous, though they’d probay have more survival chances if you manage to pull off a combo or too.

But, really, words can’t do justice to Patapon. You have to play it and experience its addictively hypnotic gameplay to appreciate it. Happily, googling around should lead you to a demo.

Generic as it might originally seem, Mass Effect must be the only game I haven’t played yet, that I’m truly interested in. The thing -according to the vast majority of reviews- is a decently written sci-fi RPG, that’s almost mature in tone, graphically impressive, obviously playable, probably addictive, definitely polished and allegedly vast in scope. It also seems that the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect, in all its radiant glory, is one of the few true reasons (besides some truly shiny Xbox Live offerings, that is) hardcore PC gamers should be interested in Microsoft’s console. Well, until Mass Effect hits the PC at least, which apparently will be happening very very soon.

Happily, the XP/Vista version will be an above average port too, and one I’ll be definitely grabbing as soon as possible. It will -according to the recently published official fact sheet- include the same innovative -nay, ground breaking- dialog system, the Bring Down the Sky expansion, a new vastly improved tactical Heads-Up Display (HUD), new higher resolution visuals, a refined control scheme, proper save functionality, widescreen support, faster loading times and a brand new decryption mini-game, that reflects the shape and methodology of the Omni Decryption Tool. It will in a nutshell be a truly excellent port. Or so it seems…

Not everyone has an up-to-date PC, many people seem to prefer modestly powered laptops, DnD is very much alive, and -rather shockingly- not everyone has experienced those classic RPGs (or is it CRPGs?) from the late 90s and early 2000s. Obviously noticing said situation and by being the cunning lot that they are, Atari spotted the relevant, err, spot in the market and released the aptly named and incredibly well-priced Forgoten Realms: Deluxe Edition. It’s an impressive collection of AD&D and D&D 3rd edition epic games set on the popular Forgotten Realms world, generally sporting interesting plots, huge areas to explore, intricate character creation/progression systems, lovely graphics, thousands of goblins and kobolds to slay, impressive production values and very addictive gameplay. Actually, make that life-shattering addictive gameplay, as playing through what’s on offer here should easily last you more than 100 hours. And no, that’s not an exaggeration. Anyway. The games and expansions included are:

- Neverwinter Nights
- Neverwinter Nights Expansion Pack: The Shadows of the Undrentide
- Neverwinter Nights Expansion Pack: The Hordes of the Underdark
- Baldur’s Gate
- Baldur’s Gate Expansion Pack: Tales of the Sword Coast
- Baldur’s Gate 2
- Baldur’s Gate 2 Expansion Pack: Throne of Baal
- Icewind Dale
- Icewind Dale Expansion Pack: Heart of Winter
- Icewind Dale 2

Seems those latest current-gen consoles -besides a few games on the Wii and another one or two offerings, that is- haven’t yet managed to come up with a truly unique, truly groundbreaking, truly unique, must-have game. Well, not in my eyes at least they haven’t, though, I have to admit there are some very promising projects just around the corner. Virtua Tennis 3 for the Sony PS3 on the other hand is not. Neither around the corner, nor groundbreaking or particularly innovative. It’s just here, it offers pretty classic multiplayer thrills and it’s actually comparable to the Sega Dreamcast original. Ok, might be a bit better too. Oh, yes, and it’s absolutely brilliant fun. And a visual stunner with what seems like a thousand gameplay options. Now, as I’ve only played the thing at a friend’s house and quite obviously with an assortment of semi-drunk friends, I can’t really offer deep insight, but do trust me on this: the game is a great multiplayer offering and plays a fantastic, quite arcade-y game of tennis. Happily, Virtua Tennis 3 is very well priced too and you’ll get some very interesting mini games to go with it. Mind you, this one is on par with Wii Tennis… Either that, or I was really confused. Heh.

I can’t say I rushed off to buy Nintendo’s all conquering Wii Fit, but when I saw it on display, well, it seemed like a decent alternative to joining a gym, starting Yoga lessons or even hopelessly searching downtown Athens for a free basketball court. So, I bought the thing, appropriately walked it home and impressively have been using it ever since. Daily, that is, and despite starting our relationship in the wrong way (it called me overweight! Moi? Oh, dear).

Now, before I actually begin with this review of sorts and in case you’ve been living under a rock or something and have somehow missed the publicity the thing has been getting, let me first explain what Wii Fit is. Well, it’s a piece of Wii software obviously, albeit one that comes complete with a balance board, and is supposedly designed to measure and improve your weight, posture, overall fitness and health, while simultaneously promising to make exercising fun. Impressively and as long as you don’t expect Super Mario Galaxy levels of fun it actually delivers. And as it can also vaguely guess the state of your body, it is one of them rare products actually doing what it says on the tin. Nice.

Admittedly, measuring your daily progress and weight loss is what will mainly draw you back to exercising with your Wii, though most of the included mini-games are above passable and a few (Skiing and Snowboarding do come to mind) are downright addictive. Then again, most of the available training programs are not supposed to be fun. They are instead focused on making boring, tiring and repetitive activities such as jogging or doing sit-ups and push-ups seem less atrocious, for -don’t get me wrong- Wii-ish as Wii Fit may be, it still is a bastard. The average training session will leave you breathless, sweaty, aching and quite frankly exhausted. Thus, yes, it works and unless you’re an athlete or live somewhere without cars/with trees (Berlin, is it?) you’re probably in need of it.

As for Wii Fit’s production values, fear not. This is standard Nintendo quality with lots of content, a nice Wii Fit channel, full Mii support, many unlockables and an overall polish. Oh, and the balance board itself is as sturdy as they get.

Awww… it’s so lovely finding out that classic games are still available to the casual shopper -let alone in a most suitable Win XP compatible format- and we (mainly) PC gamers don’t have to stick to them boring FPSs. Take Theme Hospital for example. Thanks to Sold Out, the only quality budget label I can think of, this almost retro treasure by the legendary Bullfrog can now be bought for under a fiver and remind everyone just how brilliant gaming back in 1997 was. Brilliant, beautiful, taxing, funny and original actually…

Anyway. If you were around back then and were even vaguely interested in gaming, I’m pretty sure you’re already off buying the thing or reaching for your sadly misplaced copy. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, well, learn that Theme Hospital was -and is- a fantastic and quite hilarious business management sim that had you running a whole hospital. Not very exciting, eh? Well then, guess I’d let you know that your hospital was financially competing against the fine institutions of Deep Thought, Akira, HAL and Zen, and trying to prove it was the best when it came around to curing the horrible afflictions of sheer invisibility, the uncommon cold and the horrible bloaty head disease. Now, hopefully, you know you have to at least give it a try.

When EA decided to adapt its lucrative Sims franchise for what they believed to be the core Nintendo demographic, they apparently did rather well. Not exceptionally well mind, but both MySims Wii and MySims DS are above average cute little games with lovely visuals and the trademarked doll-house gameplay. Sold decently too. Obviously though, that was not good enough, and that must be the reason behind the creation of MySims Kingdom, the latest installment in the MySims series that should appear some time during the autumn of 2008 for both the Wii and the DS.

MySims Kingdom (by the way, do bother looking at the screens posted above, they are quite nice and rather appropriately from the game) seems like a new direction to the series, as -according to EA- players will get to embark on adventures, explore stuff and generally try to bring joy and happiness to a whole bloody Kingdom. This of course involves quite a lot of journeying, talking to characters (even wizards), solving puzzles, tending to pigs, building houses, collecting… err… collectibles and at times fixing bridges. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the tried and tested gameplay of The Sims shouldn’t be lacking either… just given more substance really.

When Myst first hit the Mac and PC gaming scenes back in the early 90s, nobody expected it to be such a ridiculously grand mega-hit, but, well, quite obviously it was. The thing sold millions of copies. Millions! Must have been due to the MPC/CD fad it seems and the fact that adventures were having sort of a golden era did help quite a bit methinks, but oddly this weird first person point-and-click offering seems to still be selling and has already managed to make it into a Simpsons episode. Besides, it’s got legions of fans still waiting for another sequel and even craving for the URU experience. Impressive, really, and very very mainstream.

If you ask me, on the other hand, Myst with its static but breathtaking graphics, flick-screen progression, obscure mechanical puzzles, weird ambient sounds, lack of plot and huge success, was the worst thing to ever happen to adventures. It did away with story, became a hit despite that and went on to spawn a thousand sequels and rip-offs that quite literally drowned the scene. Then again it does remain -even to this day- a highly playable, highly atmospheric game. A good game.

And now, Myst made it to the Nintendo DS in the guise of the aptly named Myst DS and it still is as great an adventure as it used to. The graphics have been slightly compressed mind you, the controls do feel archaic and the small screens don’t really help with the immersion, but it still is the original Myst in your palm, which does feel kinda impressive. Just don’t expect anything new or any bonus content…

Gotta love successful consoles really. Everyone tries to make something to add on to them, in the vain hope you (among others) dear readers will go on and buy it. The Wii of course is no exception and has already been flooded with a ton of first and third party add-ons. ButtonSmasher presents you with the ones you might actually need (besides the extra Wii Remote or Nunchuck, that is):

Nintendo Classic Controller
A twin analog solution mainly focused at retro gamers and a must-have accessory for N64 lovers. Also supported by quite a few proper games one of which happens to be Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Mad Catz Component Cable
You know, just like the Nintendo offering, though easier to find and slightly cheaper. Besides, a component cable is the cheapest/fastest way to upgrade the graphics quality of the Wii, provided of course your TV is up to it.

Nintendo LAN Adapter
For the poor souls craving net connectivity but lacking a WiFi router. Obvious.

San Disk Memory Card
Of the 1GB variety. Quite handy though we’d rather have a hard disk. WiiWare is just around the corner, seems more than intriguing, so how about it Nintendo?

Joyteck Power Station
Think of the environment. Think of the hassle of leaving your comfy place to go out and buy batteries. Think of the cost. Think of way to recharge your Wii Remotes. Now grab a Power Station. Good.