Note: This is part III of my write-up of EA Sims Bloggers Day. You can read Part I, Part II and Part III here.

MySims. You play as a wide-eyed chibi, thrust into a run down town and given a goal: attract citizens. You do this by building furniture, houses, and unlocking super-computers and pin-ball machines. Once you’ve got what people want, you’ve convined them to return home.

When we saw this game demoed, it was hard not to notice the gap between this and MySims Kingdom. In MySims Kingdom, the producers talked about how they’d elimiated the annoying loading screens. Moving from that into MySims PC, you see the loading screens first hand. Everytime you switch between building mode and town mode, in fact. Where the PC port does come into its own though, is the online arena.

Each player gets given a little social zone to invite their friends to. You can build there, so you can each get your own ‘hangout’, there are the usual chat-programs and minigames - tag being the version we saw - and the whole thing is like a slicker, cuter, smaller, faster-loading Second Life.
Read the rest of this entry »

Every gamer has their problems. Some are exceptionally loud, others don’t like to share their controllers. These quirks aren’t necessarily bad, but sometimes they just get in the way. I’ve had friends who could only play while eating. When I was littler I was really horrible about giving my controller up to someone if we were taking turns on a game. Yes, I was one of those: “No you gave your turn to me…again” people. Also, my friend and I used to lean to the side we were turning whenever we played Mario Kart on the SNES. I think we thought that if we leaned in real life, we’d turn corners better in the game.

My problems have changed over the years, but I’m here to admit my latest issue. Gaming puts me to sleep. And I don’t mean this in the negative sense that the games are boring or whatever. No, gaming is like the warm milk and blanket to my inner child. It’s perplexing.

Read the rest of this entry »

After finally obtaining my Xbox 360 this past May, I was instantly entranced by the achievement system put in place. Having witnessed friends racking up points for their gamerscore, I always knew it was something I’d be quite interested in. With every new game purchase, a door was opened to the potential of a usual 1k of gamerscore to be added to my online persona.

Points? Milestones for completing certain objectives in-game? Genius. However, as time marched on I was introduced to the more ugly, cheap world of the in-game reward system, and the people that inhabited it. As I struggled to complete a game by Xbox Live’s standards, I realized that this would be impossible in a number of ways.

So, achievements–the bane of some gamers’ existence, and the reason some load up the disc tray and even bother signing in. How do I feel about them? Read on to find out, and earn 50 points of gamerscore.

Read the rest of this entry »

Note: This is part III of my write-up of EA Sims Bloggers Day. You can read Part I and Part II here.

We all love animals, right? Sure we do. Witness the success of all the various animal games out there. Neopets. Catz and Dogz. Nintendogs. Tamagotchis. Pokemon. If it’s cute and furry, then we want it. End of story.

So, the Sim franchise is the best selling franchise that EA have. It’s not that surprising. In the Sim world, you’re God. You can build - and you can destroy. That’s something that appears in every Sim game, from Sim City (unleash Godzilla, anyone?) to The Sims (I know you set one of your Sims on fire. Don’t lie to me.)

So what happens when you mix the Sims and animals together? You get SimAnimals, an upcoming EA game for the wii and DS that enables you to explore “the backyard and beyond”. Basically, you get given a plot of land and you’re supposed to get animals to move in and make friends with you. You manage to befriend the wildlife by treating them nicely - giving them food, shelter, water and all the rest of it, until they trust you. You can then use this trust to make them become friends with each other, leading to the unlikely scenerio of wolf cubs buddying up with squirrels. Eventually you get given more plots of land, each yours to look after.
Read the rest of this entry »

When I was a kid I actually hated piñatas. I considered them yet another adult-conceived contraption purely meant for the taunting of children. Think about it - they make you wear a blindfold and then as if that wasn’t enough, they spin you around to the point of nearly vomiting. After handing you a large blunt object, they face you vaguely in the direction of the piñata and laugh as you wobble and swing violently at anything in your path. Eventually you may hit the piñata and be rewarded with candy; except you have to fight off all the other kids that swarm over to get their hands on it. Thankfully Rare’s versions of piñata related games are drastically more reasonable and fun.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the economy in the shape it’s in, some of us simply can’t afford to pre-order every single release coming out later this year (and boy, are there a lot!), pay them off in full, then have money left over to buy everyone in the family a new car. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. As long as there’s enough money to pay the bills, that’s fine.

But how do you support a healthy gaming habit when some of your wardrobe is second-hand and ketchup and water (tomato soup) is part of your regular diet? Okay, so maybe most of us aren’t that downtrodden. But feeding your gaming habit can get ridiculously expensive. That’s why I’ve decided to do a monthly series of posts concerning great games on the cheap! Break out your wallets and let’s get started!

Read the rest of this entry »