If you’re unfamiliar with Ace Attorney franchise they are essentially court-room adventure games where players take the role of defense attorney Phoenix Wright. It’s your job to talk to witnesses, follow clues and discover evidence which can presented in court to prove your clients innocence.

Other games in the series include Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice and the upcoming Ace Attorney Investigations, but as of now those titles remain DS exclusives.  As a huge, huge Ace Attorney fan I’m both excited and interested to see how well these games translate to the big screen but at this point I have nothing but faith in Capcom.

Hopefully announcements regarding the European release dates and an iPhone version are forthcoming.

Remember, these numbers are based solely on pre-orders so take them with a grain of salt until the NPD Group releases ACTUAL figures in just over 3 weeks. I’ll be very interested to see just how many people actually pick up Tony Hawk: Ride for $120.

Despite being over 20 years old, the core game design hasn’t changed. Once again Bowser has orchestrated the kidnapping of Princess Peach and it’s up to Mario to put put his plumbing duties aside and rescue her. His journey will take him through 8 distinctive worlds where he’ll have to traverse through jungles, tropical islands, deserts and even the beyond the clouds. With each new world comes new enemies and a new challenge but unfortunately none of the worlds feel as unique as say, the Giant World from Super Mario Bros. 3. Every world on Mario Bros. Wii feels like a rehash of locations from the previous games and you’ll probably be able to predict what several of the upcoming worlds are going to be like before you even reach them. The Ice World is still slippery, the Desert World still contains pits of quick sand and surprise, surprise the final world still features Lava and erupting volcanos. Nintendo played it very safe with the creation of this game and the overall experience suffers for it, the only significant new feature they’ve added is the brand new 2-4 player co-op and competitive modes.

Taking a page from LittleBigPlanet’s book, players now have the opportunity to play through the entire game with up to 3 friends as Luigi, Yellow Toad and/or Blue Toad who all control exactly the same as Mario. Unlike LittleBigPlanet you won’t find any level creation tools or online modes here but as an overall experience Mario Bros. Wii is leaps ahead of Media Molecule’s cash-cow. The best thing about multi-player Mario is you have the opportunity to both assist and screw over your fellow players at will. If you’re a genuinely nice person you can lift your buddy above your head to help them reach high areas, you can share objects with them and when they die and reappear on-screen inside of a bubble you can burst it to allow them to rejoin the game. However if you’re anything like me you could instead choose to throw them down pits, stomp on their heads to obstruct their jumps, collect all the items for yourself even If you don’t need them and when they die leave them to float around aimlessly inside of their bubble until you complete the level.

If you’re like me then you should jump straight in to the Coin Battle mode where you’re object is to collect more coins than your opponent(s), as long as you and the people you’re playing won’t get butt-hurt if someone throws you down a pit just to for a laugh you can’t help but have fun here. As you can imagine the more people you’re playing with, the more hectic the game becomes but it never gets hard to keep track of what’s going on. If players are too far away of each other the screen pans out to give you all a better view, If one person goes up a beanstalk or down a pipe you all end up there with them and the game doesn’t end unless each player has lost all of their lives or every one is in a bubble at the same time. The single player campaign can also be completed with up to 4 friends and there’s even a Free Play Mode where you can select a playlist of your favorite levels and play them in sequence.

As fun as multiplayer can be I think it’s safe to assume that most players won’t have a friend to play with for the majority of the game so the crux of this title has to it’s single player offering. Many gamers have expressed fears that the heavy emphasis on family-friendly multiplayer will somehow dilute the solo experience especially since each of the levels were designed to accommodate up to 4 players but I can honestly say that not once during my entire play-through did I feel that the solo campaign had been compromised in any way.

Don’t let the TV ads fool you, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is definitely hardcore and one of the most difficult Mario games to date. Thankfully 1up’s are easy to attain and the age-old 99 lives exploit still works. If you do happen to come across that one stage that you just can’t seem to beat you’ll be pleased to know that Nintendo have included a Super Guide feature which essentially plays the level for you. If you die 8 consecutive times on any level a green item block will appear in the game world, activating that block will run a video of Luigi playing through the level on your behalf after-which you can simply move on to the next one. The inclusion of this feature caused quiet an uproar amongst the Nintendo community as they felt it was yet another case of Nintendo games being dumbed down to cater for a more casual audience but I don’t see what any of the fuss is about. The feature is optional and it provides a way for everyone to finish and continually enjoy the game regardless of their age or skill-level.

One thing fans can be happy about is the return of Yoshi, who makes an appearance in a select few levels. Yoshi has the ability to swallow enemies, float for a few seconds and save Mario from plummeting to his death by ejecting him off of his back. Unlike Super Mario World, Yoshi can only be used on the specific levels he’s found in and once that level has been completed he gets left behind. Mario should be just fine without him though because as well as the usual Mushrooms, Stars and Fire Flowers, Mario also has some all new items to see him through his quest. The most useful of which are Propeller Hats which, by shaking the Wii remote, rockets him up in to the air and allows him to float back down gently. Other new items include the enemy-freezing Ice Flowers and a Penguin Suits which are pretty much the same as Ice Flowers but also enables Mario to swim faster and slide on his stomach. Any of the items available in the game can be won and subsequently added to your Items List by entering red Toad Huts located on the map screen, once an item is in your Items List you can pre-select it before you enter any of the levels to give yourself an advantage right from the start.  As well as serving as a hub to all of the levels the map screen also hints to hidden paths and shortcuts which only become available once you find a secret exit in a near-by level.

Each of the worlds contain a Fortress and a Castle (placed mid-way through, and at the end of each world respectively) both of which cap-off with a boss flights against one of the 7 Koopa Kids who have been missing from the Nintendo universe for far too long. Some worlds also feature tricky Ghost Houses and Air Ships which are a welcome returns from previous Mario titles and enemies even patrol portions of the map screen forcing you to engage in a battle ala the Hammer Brothers in Super Mario Bros. 3. Playing the game with the Wii remote held sideways feels right as does tilting it to control moving platforms but I could have done without having to shake the remote to make Mario perform a spin jump or pick up items. You have the option to connect a nun-chuk if you crave inaccurate analog controls but no other peripherial is supported.

If you have nostalgia for the Mario games of yester-year there are plenty of things in Mario Bros. Wii that are guaranteed to make you smile. The music, the enemies, the flag posts, the Koopa Kids, Yoshi, air ships, the list goes on. The release of the New Super Mario Bros. on DS just a few ago dampens the excitement a new 2D Mario game should have Mario Bros. Wii is an excellent, excellent title with a tremendous ammount of replay value. The lack of originality, Classic Controller support, online play and a level editor are unfortunate oversights but hopefully Nintendo will address these issues and take cues from Media Molecule for a sequel. Regardless, as it stands this is an essential Wii purchase that will hopefully replace Wii Sports as the “must play” title during family gatherings. Buy. This. Now.

If you’re even a little curious as to how well the Wii version holds up against it’s HD counterparts the fine folks over at Eurogamer have released a video showing a side-by-side  comparison of Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare running on both the Wii and PS3. I must say, Trey-Arch has done a great job recreating MW graphically but after spending roughly 15 minutes with the game myself I just couldn’t vibe with it . Maybe it’s the inaccurate controls, or the fact that my character feels he’s constantly crouching or maybe I’m just not interesting in playing under-powered ports of games that I’ve already played and didn’t enjoy in the first play, who knows.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare – Reflex Edition is in stores now.

With the introduction of DJ Hero comes its own peripheral, the turntable and mixer. The turntable itself is fully rotatable for scratching and rewinds, and includes the three stream buttons right on top of the turntable. The button placement can be put on either the left or right side of the turntable, but having the buttons on the right makes it that much harder to play. Having the buttons themselves on top of the turntable might seem like a mistake initially, but as you develop your skill you’ll get used to it. The other half of the hardware is the mixer, which has the crossfader tab, effects dial, and the Euphoria (star power) button. Everything on the mixer works fine except the crossfader, which can take awhile to get used to. The crossfader tab doesn’t click in the middle making it difficult to know whether or not it’s actually in the middle. I’ve noticed while playing, the crossfade tab doesn’t necessarily have to be right in the middle for the game to recognize that. This also takes some getting used too. The entire piece of hardware itself is sturdy, well built, and no heavier than your Guitar Hero peripheral. It’s not a pretty design but it’ll get the job done.

DJ Hero returns to the simple roots of Guitar Hero single player, earn stars. As you earn stars for each song you complete, setlist, characters, turntables, clothing, and more will be awarded. There’s not really a career mode in DJ Hero. You simply play, do your best, and earn. Although, I would of enjoyed creating my own DJ, but I can’t complain when I get to play as Daft Punk. The only similarity DJ Hero’s gameplay has to Guitar Hero is that you push buttons. Things have changed with the addition of scratching and cross-fading. Scratching is easy enough to do. You simply hold the button, it shows on screen, and scratch on the turntable. Cross-fading for the most part is easy to learn but hard to master. When the fader shifts to the left, move the crossfader tab to the left. Same thing applies for the right side. DJ Hero uses a new and unique way to play and one that mimics what DJ’s do, somewhat. DJ Hero’s difficulty really all depends on which difficulty set you choose. The higher the difficulty the more the game requires you to do.

The one thing DJ Hero was expected to do right was the music and FreeStyleGames succeeds in offering a great soundtrack. The 93 mixes in DJ Hero are made up of 2 songs ranging from several genres of music like hip-hop, dance, pop, r&b, rock, and more. There’s so much variety in the music that it’ll be really easy to find something you like. Even the in-house DJ’s at FreeStyleGames did a great job with their mixes, as well as the more well known faces like Z-trip, Cut Chemist, DJ AM, etc. The only fault some of the music has is that there’s a couple of overused songs such as “Disturbia” by Rihanna and “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani. It really gets old when you have to hear Gwen Stefani proclaim that “This shit is bananas” in every mix that the track is featured on. If anything songs should be used only twice, once for the beat and once for the vocals.

One of the great things about rhythm based games is the fact that you can play with a group of friends. DJ Hero will catch your friends eyes, but you won’t find the same amount of fun like you do in other rhythm based games since DJ Hero is essentially a single player game. You can do local two player battles, but the only way to get another turntable peripheral at the time being is to buy another $120 set. You can also play 10 mixes by using your guitar. It works identical to Guitar Hero, but it really feels out of place for this game. If none of that interest you then you can battle it out online, although the game lacks multiplayer modes. All it has now is DJ Vs. DJ, who can get the better score. I don’t have any suggestions though, so for now DJ Vs. DJ is all I need.

DJ Hero probably won’t make you want to become real DJ, but playing one is fun. The $120 price tag might be something to consider if you’re low on cash, but if you’re even remotely interested in the DJ Hero experience the price point is an afterthought. DJ Hero lacks a few modes here and there, but the music and the new gameplay experience overshadows the negative. Activision, you have something great here with potential to grow, but I don’t want to see DJ Hero 2 in a couple months. Overall, the video game and hip-hop authority approves DJ Hero. Go buy it if your money is straight. Hell, Wii might even hook you up. *wink*

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT DEBUTS FOR THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED DJ HERO^TM

Two Downloadable Mixes Feature Chart-Topping Hits From 50 Cent Featuring Mary J. Blige, Hall of Fame Inductee Queen, Gorillaz and Public Enemy

Friday 30th October/… Living room legends and budding superstar DJs alike who have already started the party in what Time says “delivers in every way” and IGN.com has hailed as “exhilarating” and “a new beginning for the music genre, “ can now add to the 93 mixes available in DJ Hero™ with two party rockin’ grooves: 50 Cent featuring Mary J. Blige “All Of Me” mixed with Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga” and “DARE” by Gorillaz vs. Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It.”

Also joining the mix, on November 24th, will be a three Mix Pack from one of the hottest house DJ’s in the world, David Guetta. David Guetta Mix Pack 01 will contain remixes of his tracks, currently tearing up the airwaves and dance floors both domestically and internationally, “When Love Takes Over” featuring Kelly Rowland, the chart-topping “Sexy Chick” featuring Akon and “On The Dance Floor” featuring will.i.am and apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas.

DJ Hero Extended Mix Pack 01 features the following mixes:

“All Of Me” by 50 Cent featuring Mary J. Blige vs. “Radio Ga Ga” by Queen
“DARE” by Gorillaz vs. “Can’t Truss It” Performed by Public Enemy

DJ Hero Extended Mix Pack 01 is available now on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and on the PlayStation®Store for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. All mixes in the Mix Packs will be released on November 24th as downloadable singles for Wii™.

P.S…. Sorry to my UK people who can’t get in on this, you did get SKY on the 360 though.

amazon.com

bestbuy.com

At first glance it’s hard not to be amazed by the Wii version of A Boy And His Blob, the hand-drawn art style looks absolutely gorgeous and the game retains a charming and colorful European aesthetic through-out. Wii owners already saw just how graphically competent the Wii really is with the release of Muramasa: The Demon Blade last month and now A Boy And His Blob has added further confirmation that the Wii is capable of producing truly stunning visuals. This is easily one of the best looking games ever to appear on a Nintendo Platform so if you’re one of those multi-console owners who neglects their Wii because its an embarrassment to their huge HD TV’s this might be the game for you.

Story is not relevant here and the game does little to conjure one up but the basic premise is; Blob crash lands outside of Boy’s house, Boy instantly takes a liking to Blob and enlists Blobs help to overthrow the evil emperor who has taken over his home planet of Blobonia. The game takes place across 4 unique areas and 40 levels overall all of which look stunning. Despite having the cutest voice in a video game ever! Boy is pretty much useless by himself. Falling too far off of a ledge or bumping into an enemy results in instant death which can be frustrating as Boy can just barely jump over small gaps and/or enemies. Thankfully Blob has more tools than a Swiss Army Knife and feeding him different colored Jelly Beans allows him to shape shift and become handy objects such as a Ladder, Umbrella and a Giant Bubble. As the game progresses so does Blob’s abilities and eventually he’ll be able to transform into more robust objects such as a Cannon and miniature Space Ship which Boy can sit atop of and ride.

Unlike a typical platformer A Boy His Blob is much more puzzle orientated and you’ll definitely have to keep your brain turned on when traversing through each level. Despite starring a little boy and looking extremely cartoony, this game may be too difficult for most kids to get handle especially if they’re use to more simplistic platformers like the New Super Mario Bros. On the other hand, gamers who enjoy hardcore platformers like Braid will probably find taking down the emperor a tad too easy so WayForward has cleverly added 40 challenge room which become available as you complete story missions and collect hidden treasure chests. Completing these challanges room also unlocks bonus pieces of content as a nice incentive.

Despite all its accomplishments A Boy And His Blob is not a game without flaws, the most prevalent of which is the games control scheme. For whatever reason WayForward choose to make the game require the use of the Wii’s nun-chuk resulting in imprecise analog movement and to make matters worse they then thew in some baffling control decisions. I would have preferred to play using the Wii Remote held sideways or with the Classic Controller using the D-Pad rather than the analog stick and I’m disappointed that WayForward didn’t even allow the option. Even a simple task such as getting your Blob to eat Jelly Beans is far more complicated than it needs to be and involves a handful of steps. Another annoyance is the fact that the placement of the Jelly Beans in your item scroll wheel changes depending on what level you are currently playing, meaning on each new level you’ll waste time searching for your desired Bean because its no longer in the same position that it was in on the previous level. Eventually you’ll get the hang of the controls but it never becomes ideal and you’ll spend the entire game wishing that things were better.

Control issues aside A Boy And His Blob is a fantastic game that will both satisfy and challenge even hardcore Wii owners. If you’re little white console is currently gathering dust under you TV this is definitely a game you should at least consider picking up. However with New Super Mario Wii hot in its heels there is a huge possibility that this intelligent, beautiful and charming title may get underlooked by the masses.

amazon.com

DJ Hero will hit store shelves on October 27th, for Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 and PS2.

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

Cop or Flop: Cop …
What more can I say about this. The Lebron James of video games. Now we can all witness greatness.

Brutal Legend

Cop or Flop: Cop …
Make no doubt about, this game can get tedious and you may not want to play it for long periods of time in one sitting, but it is a great experience and a great game. Jack Black delivers with his voice acting, the cutscenes are funny, and the weapons/upgrades are nice. In a era dominated by first person shooters, this game will stand out if you have it in your collection.

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition

Cop or Flop: Cop …
Even though I have a strong dislike for Fallout 3, seeing this bundle makes me want to try it one more time. The game of the year edition includes Fallout 3 with all five DLC’s that are price at $10 a piece if bout separately. This should particularly catch the eye of PS3 owners because DLC for this game just started to come out last month on the PSN.

“I have the utmost respect for all our competitors”

go on..

“But it’s interesting to try and answer the consumer question of ‘what’s in it for me?’ in that product.”

He feels as if the consumer wont see any value in the PSP Go. You agree Or Disagree? He also threw a few shots at Sony’s marketing of the machine.

He added the device may have a “fundamental concept problem in terms of ‘who it’s for’ and ‘what’s the benefit?’”

Props to GI.biz

“I’d like to get involved in video games, since I really love Wii Fit,” the diva recently said. “I think it would be a great idea to incorporate choreography, because, for me, my workout is way more fun when it involves dancing, as opposed to running on a boring treadmill.”

I can see the commercial already. A typical modern day family set up in front of the television doing a “Single Ladies” rendition. That’s not a good look. Oh shit, somebody already did one here. (give me a minute to throw up)

The game would be based around fitness and choreography, because she feels regular workouts have become boring. What do you guys think? Leave your thoughts.

props to Kotaku for the heads up