The game is split up into two modes, Mission Flight and Free Flight. Mission Flight consists of several classes of tasks you must complete, ranging from flying through rings and shooting targets to popping huge balloons. Each main class has three missions for the three vehicle types in the game; the plane, the rocket belt, and the hang glider. They all control very well and are very distinct from each other. After reaching a certain few missions, you unlock different variations on these three vehicles for use in specific missions, the plane becomes the jet plane, the rocket belt becomes the super rocket belt, and the hang glider becomes the… pedal bike. With the exception of the pedal bike, these also control as well as the originals, though I wish they were used more throughout the missions. The missions are enjoyable, but can become a little monotonous during the middle missions when you are not completing creative goals or using the special vehicles.

Free Flight mode is a decidedly slower-paced take on Pilotwings, but that’s not to say it is not fun. The game gives you a brief time limit that can be increased as you collect balloons and sets you off on the whole of Wuhu Island to gather up various items. These include monument information bubbles, balloons, and vehicle-specific items. It can be very addicting and challenging to collect all of them, which you will want to do, as it unlocks dioramas for viewing. One aspect of Free Flight that has split many gamers is the time limit, but the time limit is actually beneficial to the game. If you did not have the limit, you could easily just collect as many objects as you could in 10 minutes and decide you never want to go back, but with the time limit the length is drastically increased. If you want to just absorb the sights and relax anyhow, you can do that.

Pilotwings Resort takes place on Wuhu Island, the same island you may have explored while playing Wii Sports Resort. While some Wii Sports Resort veterans may be put off by exploring the same areas again, it is large enough to have decent variation. A few more islands would have been nice, though.

The game is presented in a very clean way, along the lines of Nintendo’s “Wii Sports” or “Wii Play”  games on the Wii. From a graphical standpoint the game is very impressive and shows off the great capabilities of the 3DS. Sunsets and evenings in particular look very good. The 3D effect in this game is the best I’ve experienced so far on the 3DS; it is non-obtrusive and actually benefits the gameplay significantly! There were missions where the added depth provided by 3D was very nice in judging how far I had to go to make it through a ring and the like. It’s a great indicator of what’s to come 3D-wise on the system.

One last thing that must be addressed is the length. Three-staring all of the missions in Mission Flight will take you about 7-8 hours to complete, while Free Flight will take around 3-4 hours to find most of the items. There is encouragement to replay the missions for perfect scores, though for some reason high scores are not shared through different profiles on the cart, so if you were playing with your sibling or buddy their scores are not compared to yours. There are also no online leaderboards, so the length is cut a bit short.

In conclusion, Pilotwings Resort is a very fun romp. The two modes provided are both enjoyable and addicting, and the game is a great technical showpiece of the 3DS. The graphics are great and the 3D is utilized very effectively. Unfortunately, the game is brought down by its lack of mission diversity, obvious omissions like online leaderboards, and fairly short length. However, these minor bumps of turbulence do not bring down the plane that is Pilotwings Resort. If you have enjoyed the earlier Pilotwings games or if the game even slightly intrests you, I’d say give it a go.

I give it a 8 out of 10 on the Zippy Scale.

Graphics

Gran Turismo 5 has great graphics, in my opinion better than any game so far. Since it took 6 years for the company to make the game, they have spent a large portion of time adding details to the cars. The graphics from this game are set apart from others because they include fine details such as the design around the headlights. In my opinion I can not believe the car in the game is not real, that’s how great the graphics are.

What type of cars are you able to play with?

Gran Turismo has always had a variety of cars to select from, from luxury to Japanese racing cars. For example, you are able to use the Acura Integra Type R which is a car that is manufactured in Japan. On the contrary, you are able to play with the BMW Z4, which is also fast but more of a luxury automobile. If you’re interested in getting a full car list you can check out gran-turismo.com

What is the game play like?

The game play is very realistic, which I believe many gamers love. Throughout the race your car can become damaged, unlike some other racing games. In addition when you win a race you receive more money, and you can spend that new cash on another car. Additionally the games controls are flawless, when playing every time you move the joy stick the car follows with precision. Furthermore, Gran Turismo allows you to play the game with a driving wheel, which means the driving just got even more realistic.

Conclusion

Overall Gran Turismo 5 is an incredible game, and truly is one of a kind. It’s top of the line graphics truly shows the Playstation 3 at its finest. If you are thinking about purchasing Gran Turismo, my advice to you is buy it because you won’t find another game like this on the market.

Gran Turismo 5 earns 10 out of 10 zips!

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Author Bio: Cole is a blogger and writes for cash for cars San Diego, a cash 4 cars online specialist.

What Are They?

Their line of gaming optics, which consists of six different glasses models, is targeted specifically for those who engage in intense gaming sessions. The glasses come with several tint, shape and coating options, which the customer can choose according to their preferences. The models range in price from $79.99 going up to $99.99 and at these price points, we expect some serious benefits from the glasses.

Features

Gunnar Optiks claims that the main benefits of their line of gaming glasses are that they prevent eyestrain along with dryness and irritation caused by prolonged screen staring. Using their proprietary “i-AMP” technology, which they describe as technology which has been developed to protect the user’s eyes against harsh reflective glare and dryness, allows for more comfortable lengths of time when gaming. Their features listed include:

- increased visual resolution as well as contrast
- sharper, clearer vision
- reduction in harmful glare and irritating reflective light from screens
- less eye fatigue
- allows for humidity around the eye so as not to get dried out
- prevents eye dryness altogether

All lenses come with a 30-day guarantee. Their glasses also work with those who already wear prescription lenses and they can fit their specialized lenses onto frames of your choice through the use of their Gunnar RX program.

Are They Worth It?

Being such a new type of product, gaming glasses do not have a whole lot of consumer feedback when it comes to these types of products. Gunnar Optiks is by far the leading company behind the gaming glasses market, and if you are looking to get any type of gaming glasses it is doubtful that you should look anywhere else. However, as to whether they are worth the price premium or not is something you will have to decide for yourself.

Luckily, with their 30 day 100% money back guarantee you will be able to order a pair for yourself and test them out without worrying about throwing your money away. For those that find intense gaming sessions to dry their eyes out on a constant basis, these types of products may be something worth looking into and potentially something that may even help save your eye sight.

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Sara Roberts writes for Just Eyewear, a discount eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses online retailer.

I downloaded this humble demo and got right to work. Right off, you are prompted to create your avatar, which is, of course, the look and name of your character. Then, you’re tasked with picking an assortment of weapons. Your options are: Sword (1-handed), Mace, Battle Axe, Sword (2-handed), and then, something that looks like an axe, but is actually a ranged weapon. Each weapon has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. Although its damage is light, a one-handed sword will allow you to equip a shield and block, whereas a two-handed axe does NOT allow you to block, but with it’s sheer brute force, it won’t take too very long to dispense enemies.

The game starts with a brief cutscene which looks quite crisp. You are charged with a dungeon crawl where you will enter battles with an assortment of monsters. The game uses the “Break-Away” battle sequence akin to games like Star Ocean and the “Tales” games. In battle, you’ll find yourself in a very large, circular area where the bloody battle takes place. The battle area is marked by a red line. To try and escape a battle, you’ll hold the analog stick in whatever direction you are facing that you run against said red circle.

After your romp in the cave, you’ll find yourself in a bit of a camp town. Here, you can talk to characters and get quests from the guild. There are only two quests in the demo, but they seem to represent a fine game from Square-Enix.

Although I haven’t tried it, the game does support both Ad hoc and Infrastructure multiplayer.

All and all, I am pretty pleased with the demo. The game follows in the footsteps of games like Monster Hunter, only with the ability to level-up your character in RPG fashion. Best of all, by downloading the demo, you can feel free to play the two included quests over and over, leveling up as you see fit, as the demo does allow you to save your game and transition it over to the final game.

Including all of your podcast regulars and favourites, this special edition examines and scrutinises this years best and brightest in this opening heat of the Game of the Year awards! Will your favourite make the cut, or simply just be cut? Find out by downloading it NOW!

Download: Game of the Year: Nominations

CAMPAIGN

Halo: Reach is a prequel to the first Halo, and gives fans a deeper perspective on how things went down, even if you’re a reader of the Halo novels. The story follows a group of Spartans, the Noble Team, with you playing as the Spartan named “Noble Six”. As a rookie to the team who has a reputation for being a lone gunner, you’re quickly reminded to work well with your team. As the game progresses you will learn more about the Spartans, and although the story probably won’t win any awards, it fits well into the Halo universe and is interesting enough.

As I alluded to earlier, you won’t find many new surprising things if you’ve played the previous Halo game. The overall feel of the game is similar, though there have been some tweaks. Just as previous games, you’re usually teamed up with A.I., but they don’t really change much of anything. You are the main player who pushes the game forward. Bungie could have done more to focus on the teamwork aspect of the Noble Team, to make you feel like you really needed to stick with your team-mates, but overall this is what we’re used to. It’s Halo – not a squad shooter.

New to Halo: Reach is special armor abilities, activated by the Left Bumper button. In the campaign you’ll immediately be able to sprint, which is something Modern Warfare 2 fans will be grateful for. As expected, even a Spartan can get tired, so don’t expect to be Superman and run through the mission. Other armor abilities include a jetback to fly around (my personal favorite), the cloaking we’ve seen in previous games, an armor lock which paralyzes and prevents you from being damaged for a few moments, and the ability to shoot off a holographic image of yourself to confuse enemies.

The solo campaign lasts around 9 hours, on average. Depending on your skill level, you could finish it much faster. I highly recommend you grab some friends online and run through the campaign co-op style, which works very well in Halo: Reach and adds to the fun. For the first time, you can use the online matchmaking service to find team-mates, for when your friends aren’t online. The combat is very similar to other Halo games and the campaign is more of the same. You walk a bit, you find a group of enemies, you kill them, and then find walk to find more enemies. This is rinse and repeat gameplay, but at least it’s a good time.

The graphics are the best we’ve yet to see in a Halo game, but they’re nothing groundbreaking. The frame-rate is mostly smooth and things feel a bit more real, not only due to the graphics, but also the improved sounds and Spartan movement. Players are now able to earn points in the game to unlock more armor options and you’re able to select the gender of your Spartan too. I’ll be honest, the female Spartan has a nice butt.

MULTIPLAYER

For gamers like myself, the campaign is a fun distraction, but the main reason to play Halo has been the multiplayer. Reach gives us more options than we’ve seen in any other Halo game. You now have the ability to find matches in cooperative game types (Campaign and Firefight) in addition to competitive. Firefight was first introduced in Halo: ODST and pits you against as many waves of enemies as you can handle. Your goal is to rack up the highest score you can by surviving and killing aliens of increasing difficulty. Halo: Reach lets you set many custom options for Firefight, such as the type of enemies, how much health you have, the weapons you can use, how much damage the weapons do, and much more that we didn’t see in its last iteration. This adds longevity to the Firefight mode, which honestly could get a bit boring after a while in ODST.

Besides the new cooperative stuff, the classic online warfare we’ve enjoyed since the release of Halo 2 is back and has more options than ever. The idea of classes is new to the series, where you can specialize your Spartan or Elite with special abilities, though overall you’re still very similar in abilities to your opponents. This isn’t Team Fortress 2, so don’t expect any dedicated “sniper” or “medic” class.

Matchmaking searches have been expanded to allow you to vote on three or more choices of gametypes. This is a big improvement over Halo 3, which only let you veto one match and pray the randomly selected one that replaced it was better. Another new mode to the multiplayer is Invasion, an objective-based gametype that pits Spartans and Elites against each other, taking turns on offense and defense.

It’s now easier than ever to jump into a game with friends. If they’re already in a match, no problem. Just hop in their party and wait for them to finish. You no longer need to keep manually checking to see if they’re finished. The possibilities for an improved atmosphere are further increased by the concept of a Psych Profile. Fill in the details about yourself (are you nice or foul-mouth? Lone wolf or team player?) and Halo: Reach will attempt to match you up with others of similar interests. The verdict is still out on how well this works, but I appreciate Bungie taking a cue from eHarmony and matching us up with the type of people we want to play against.

In the end, this is Halo. It is more of the same. Many gamers are reporting enjoying this one more than they have enjoyed the previous two, so that’s a good sign. If you weren’t a big fan of Halo before, try giving it a go one last time. It may impress you. If not, there’s always Call of Duty…

I give it a 9 out of 10 on the Zippy Scale.

Without ruining anything (not that it can be ruined… you know what I’m just going to leave these side comments alone now) Passage is a game about life. There is a lot of depth here to what is essentially a 5 minute diversion. Literally 5 minutes. That is exactly how long this game is.

Basic graphics, deep themes. Click to download Passage

Why only five minutes? Well hopefully when you play it you’ll get it. It’s a top down 2d game with extremely basic controls, just 4 arrows and 4 directions to move. But to be honest in a game like this controls are almost a side note, a thing you point out so that you can play it, it controls neither good nor bad just… exactly how it should be.

The graphics are extremely basic but cute pixels reminiscent of the Atari era, but with a bit more color thrown on and perhaps a tiny bit more detail. The music is a chippy, 8 bit thing that loops. It is vaguely annoying but sets the right tone.

And really that is all I can say without spoiling it. Sorry to be so mysterious but with a game that is literally 5 minutes long there’s not much else I can say. Suffice to say it’s an interesting if slightly pretentious experience that depending on the way you look at it will either be extremely powerful or confusingly dull.

When I say this game is not for everyone, I mean it. As for value for money, on PC this game is technically free so knock yourself out, on iPhone it’s $0.99 or £0.59 and I’d say it was worth that if you want to fund crazy ideas like this (also the controls on iPhone are fine, no issues, don’t worry). Passage is unique and quite touching, but you have to be the right kind of person to like it.

Score: N/A. It’s an entirely personal thing.

First Thing’s First

Let me start by saying that I’m extremely impressed with the accuracy of the costumes and the fight scenes were really exciting. The fight between Jin and Brian Fury was pretty kick ass and Yoshimitsu’s armour was like something straight out of the games. Only criticism I have regarding those two aspects is that the flame on Jin’s trousers were blue not red (seems picky but it’s his signature freaking costume) and too many weapons were used leaving some scenes  feeling more like Soul Caliber.

Now for the main points of the film: casting, acting and plot. The cast were rather capable of pulling off the roles that were written for them; however, the characters are not at all like their original counterparts. For starters, all the back stories were totally wrong. Eddie and Christie didn’t know each other even though she is his student in the games, Kazuya was made out to be power hungry and more evil than Heihachi and other characters were little more then Cannon Fodder.

Story

For those of you that don’t know, the original plot for the first Tekken game is this:

“A worldwide martial arts tournament is nearing its final, with a large purse of prize money to the fighter who can defeat Heihachi Mishima in the final round of the competition. The contest is sponsored by the giant financial group, the Mishima Zaibatsu. There are eight fighters that remain after winning death matches all over the world. The winner of the tournament will receive The King of the Iron Fist title. Only one will have a chance at defeating Heihachi and taking home the prize money and fame.

Kazuya Mishima is the main character. Heihachi’s biological son, he was thrown into a ravine by his tyrannical father when he was five years old. Heihachi, believing his son was too weak to ever inherit his conglomerate, decided that if he were truly strong enough, he would be able to survive the fall and climb back up. Kazuya barely survived the fall that left him with the scar prominently visible on his chest. Fueled by hatred for his father, he enters the tournament to exact his revenge. “

Now the plot for the movie is this:

“Set in the distant year of 2039, war has ravaged much of the planet. Corporations have moved in where governments once stood. Brutal, physical combat is the primary form of entertainment and source of income for many. For some, though it’s about the glory. It’s about becoming a legend amongst men. For the champions, the grand ball is the Tekken company sponsored Iron Fist Tournament, where the greatest fighters throughout the world come to compete, bringing everything they can muster (skills, magic) (There is no magic lol), weapons, etc.) to become the undisputed champion of the world and a lifetime’s worth of fame and wealth.

The film follows Jin Kazama in his attempts to enter the Iron Fist Tournament in order to avenge the loss of his mother, Jun Kazama, by confronting his father, Kazuya Mishima and his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima, the latter of whom he thought was responsible for her death.”

See the huge difference? Now I understand that it is based on the story of Tekken 3, but it doesn’t even follow the plot for that game either. It’s as though they mixed random parts of the plot for the entire series just in case they don’t make a sequel….which I highly doubt will happen. [Like most movie adaptations,] they screwed the story up but they also had a severe lack of characters that were CONFIRMED to be in the film. My favourite character throughout the series is Hwoarang. His rivalry with Jin is a strong plot point for both characters in the series and could have made for some nice onscreen chemistry. Now as to why Hwoarang was left out of the film but Sergei BLOODY Dragunov is included (and barely used) I will have no idea. Other characters that have played a big part in the games that were left out and would’ve been great onscreen are  Jack (The Tekken security are called Jackhammers but they aren’t giant robots), King, Lei, Lee and Paul Phoenix. No sign of the Devil Gene either,  just a little bit of anger management issues. But I digress. The worst thing is the oversexed nature of the film. A couple of sex scenes and club scenes ruined the feel of the film as Tekken should be a revenge story with a nice touch of comedy with some characters.

Finally

BUT, in terms of being  a watchable film it isn’t too shabby. As I said, the cast are pretty good and the fights keep you entertained. The plot isn’t terrible although the dialogue isn’t great, but it’s a very watchable film and definitely a better live action adaptation of a Beat-em up than the likes of either of the Street Fighter movies, DOA or any of the Mortal Kombats (I only compared it to those as Beat-em ups are harder to adapt than a film like Tomb Raider, because as a writer you have to fill in some elements of plot yourself and come up with interesting pair ups for fights.)

If you’re a fan of the games, it’s worth a watch. But don’t expect a faithful adaptation. If you want that, watch the animated movie which is a spot on Tekken movie. If you don’t know the games but like bloody martial arts movies, then it’s definitely your kind of film.

In short: A watchable, by the numbers, martial arts film that succeeds previous video game adaptations by far.

M-X Rating: I give it a 7 on the Zippy Scale.

So does Disney Quest bring back that old fun feeling of arcades? Somewhat. Read on for my full review.

The Land of Games

DisneyQuest has a good amount of games available across its five floors. I saw around 4 air hockey machines, 6 Skee-Ball lanes, 6 to 8 pinball machines, dozens of driving games (such as Star Wars Pod Racer and Mario Kart GP), Guitar Hero and dozens of classic games like Pacman and Frogger.

Flamin’ Finger is the most frustrating game of all time.

Besides arcade units, Disney Quest offers many virtual reality experiences, such as water rafting, Aladdin’s magic carpet ride, ride your own virtual roller coaster and more.

There are also interactive rides. Two of the most popular are Buzz Lightyear and Pirates. In Buzz Lightyear, you team up with a partner inside a vehicle that resembles a tall bumper car. One of you is the driver, the other controls the cannon. You shoot at other players to score points. It’s a fun experience, similar to bumper cars itself.

In Pirates, you team up with a group of people on a virtual pirate ship. While one of you steers, the rest of you control the cannons. Your goal is to capture gold from other pirate ships.

Not Quite Magical

All of this sounds cool but there are some problems. The virtual reality machines are outdated with graphics from the Nintendo 64 era. Although they can be somewhat interesting, especially to the younger crowds, the overall effect seems a bit cheesy.

You’d get more of an immersive experience by playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with a surround sound system in the dark. I respect these machines for the roles they played in their time, but if I’m paying $40 in today’s world then it seems to be a poor value for me.

The driving games are one of the best parts of the arcade. Unfortunately, these can be hard to get any time on. There were no staff to make sure kids didn’t hog the machines and there were so many people there that you’d have to wait 10 minutes for one game regardless if the machines were shared correctly. Some of the popular games, like the 8-player Nascar racing, even had a queue setup to wait in.

The Guitar Hero machines are fun but it’s no different from playing at home — with the exception that you can actually hear your music when playing at home. Everything was so loud at Disney Quest that I could barely hear “Rock you like a hurricane!”

If you love retro games then this is a good place for you. Disney Quest has them scattered throughout, as well as having a whole floor dedicated to them. I smiled when I saw Karate Champ, a game I haven’t seen in many years. You could easily spend hours up here playing it up classic style.

When I visited, all the machines were in good working condition, which is quite rare in many arcades. I’ve gotten used to seeing at least one broken machine in today’s arcades, but everything was working fine at Disney Quest.

Yay or Nay?

Overall, I feel Disney Quest is a good place to visit once if you’re a gamer, but I don’t plan to ever go back. I went later at night and got a 50% discount (since they were closing in a few hours) so for $20, it was worth it for me and gave me enough time to experience most of what it has to offer.

Kudos to Disney for keeping the arcade scene alive, but the experience is missing the magic.

I give Disney Quest 6 out of 10 zips.

Image Attributions: Banner, Flamin’ Finger, Dig Dug, Buzz Lightyear

Overall, I feel the beta is good. The beta is nothing amazing, no big surprises. It’s just another version of my favorite gaming series. To me, this feels like a mix of Halo 2 and 3, with the concept of classes thrown in.

I’ve been a big Halo player since the release of Halo 2 years ago. Reach still feels like Halo to me. After getting used to the slightly new controls, I felt like I was playing Halo 3 again and my decent Kill/Death ratio proved it. If you didn’t like Halo before, this game won’t change your mind.

New Abilities

I like the new abilities, though I feel that Airborne and Stealth are the only worthwhile ones about 95% of the time. Guard can be useful in certain situations though, especially if you know your opponent has a rocket launcher. Just throw up your shield when they fire and watch the rocket reflect right back at them. It’s pretty funny!

Airborne is my favorite new ability. I like the feel of the jetpacks and being able to easily get to high points on the maps.

New Weapons & Attacks

The replacement for BR (the DMR) seems okay to me. I didn’t realize until recently that you’re not supposed to shoot it like a BR. Even still, I did shoot it like a BR, and it worked okay for me. I look forward to shooting it correctly. I’ve heard that you need to aim more carefully and shoot it slower than you would a BR from Halo 2 or 3.

The melee system is weird. I basically just try to avoid melee now unless I absolutely know that I’ve shot my opponent to hell and a melee attack will finish them off. The special assassin attack is amusing, though I have to resist the temptation to do it since it leaves me vulnerable.

Invasion Mode

My girlfriend and I played some Invasion last night and I think it’s alright. Part of the reason I’m not a big fan is because we were teamed up with awful teammates. I don’t mind if you suck as long as I can tell you’re trying your best. If you just stand still half the time, why are you even playing? It would be a fun mode with a good group of friends, but unfortunately your party will be split up in the Invasion mode. Bungie should correct this in a future release.

Bungie has some kinks to work out but overall it’s Halo! Sure, the grenades are a little too strong. Sure, you can’t just depend on one weapon (the BR) anymore. But I like some of these changes and the beta is promising. It looks like I’ll pickup Halo Reach for sure.

Looking for more? Check out our Halo Reach wallpaper gallery.