So apart from updating you all on our lives, this whole house buying process has been quite a learning experience which brings me to video games.  Within most video games, buying a home is not really an option.  When you play a game like Call of Duty, Halo, or Gears of War, the idea of a place called home is an afterthought.  Of course these characters have some kind of place they call home but it’s a place that we will certainly not be invited to see.  Then you have other games like, most notably, The Sims, Animal Crossing, and Harvest Moon which revolve around the notion of getting a home and building a game pretty much around that.  Most recently, however, games like Fable, Fallout 3, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim feature homes as a large part of the game’s mechanics.

Now, while buying a home in real life has it’s obvious hoops and obstacles, the only real obstacle in video games lies in earning, making, or stealing enough money to buy the house outright.  Off hand, Animal Crossing is the only game that comes to mind that actually offers you a mortgage that you can pay off (at your absolute leisure).  This bank, however, doesn’t care that you have a piddly job at Tom Nook’s store or run a credit report.  Nor do they care that most of your significant income comes from digging holes all around the town, shaking trees, and doing odd jobs for your neighbors for cash under the table.  They also don’t care when you pay your mortgage and they don’t assess late fees if you don’t pay for three months.  They don’t have a minimum payment so you can pay as little as you want or you can pay the house off in full in one fell swoop.  At the same time, you don’t have monthly utility bills nor do you have the ability to max out any credit card bills – in Animal Crossing you can only buy things that you have the cash on hand for.  You do have the option to save money at the town’s bank.  This does not earn interest (nor do the real ones for that matter!) but you can put away some extra cash for, really, whatever you want.

In Fable, you can buy a house once you earn enough money as well as (sigh, if I remember correctly) once you satisfy certain conditions within the game.  From there you have a place that you can call home to sleep in, have sex in (lol), and even redecorate.  You can also rent out houses to earn more money.  The nicer your house is decorated, the higher amount of money the house is worth if for rent or for sale.  If you are evilly aligned, you can even raise the rent above market value to make more money.  In Albion, there is no mortgage. You have to earn the money, ALL of it before you can buy a place.  Houses in Albion even grant the owner certain bonuses that can help (or hinder) you in the game.  You can also switch the home you live in with, quite literally, the push of a button.  The “A” button to be exact.

In games like Fallout 3 and Skyrim, a home is also a place to store all the crap that you collect from dungeons, quests, and killing stuff.  You can decorate the house, you can cook in it, and you can even alchemize potions of all kinds in it.  Like in Fable, you have to earn the money to buy the house.  Earning money, in the beginning of the game, is really hard in both games yet no one has a problem doing so.  We stay late at work (killing anything we can find), we collect as much as we can hold (yah! this book is worth one piece of gold! I’ll take it to town with me and sell it), we even pick town’s people’s pockets or steal from their homes and stores just to earn enough money to buy a coveted home.

So that brings me to real life where we all have a hard time saving money (well, at least I do).  Keeping my eyes on the prize, in a video game, is really the whole mechanic to playing a video game.  Do this to get to that then to that to get to this.  Why is it so much harder to keep your eye on the prize in real life?   Why don’t I opt to stay at work longer and why don’t I find stuff and sell it?  Obviously, I can’t run and and kill shit to either loot the body or sell its pelt (I guess I could do the latter, but a hunter I am not).  I try to recycle but it’s almost more work to recycle than it would be to just stay at work an hour longer.  (I guess I do the recycling thing to get my CRV back, feel less guilty about how much I waste, and feel that much more superior to you assholes who don’t recycle. I’m kidding about that last bit).  With “Buying a Home” being a true real life achievement to unlock, you would think that, as a video game achievement whore, I would have been working harder and longer to unlock said achievement.  Well, the one thing that video games have over real life is accelerated time.  Time happens a lot faster in game than in real life and that makes it a hell of a lot easier to keep your eye on the prize.  That and there are probably a bunch of side quests that need to be done thus earning you even more cash to put towards your home or that new shiny armor you’ve been eyeing in the blacksmith’s shop.

Another thing that is virtually absent in video game home buying is the bank (except in Animal Crossing of course).  the stipulations and hoops that home buyers must jump through are ridiculous.  Of course, it’s somewhat necessary since we are just trying to bounce back from the housing crash that happened a few years ago.  It’s a great time to buy but you really have to make sure that all your ducks are in a row.  Minimize your credit card debt (have as little as possible), pay off your cars, and for Pete’s sake, pay your bills on time – all of them.   You want to have a good credit score basically so you won’t pay a higher interest rate.  Next, you want to have at the very minimum , $25,000 in the bank.  This number is dependent on a number of factors: the price of the home, the status of your credit, your income amount, your debt to income ratio, the type of loan you need, the type of sale, and the condition of the house.  We only had $11,000 saved up so we had to come up with a way to pay the closing costs that satisfied the bank and basically assured them that we can indeed afford the house.  The bank will need to verify where the down payment money comes from so you will need to be prepared to explain it by either making sure it’s obvious or writing a bunch of letters of explanation.  Then there are all the things you have to gather together to prove to the bank that you are worthy of getting their money to buy your home.  Your bank statements, your pay stubs, everything that proves that you make enough and have enough to purchase this house.  Then there is the waiting and oh yes, you will wait.  Even for a home that is bank owned.  A home that makes the bank absolutely no money for every day it stays unsold.  You would think that the banks would do their shit faster so they can stop losing money on it, but they don’t, they take their sweet time and take a process that is supposed to last 30 days into one that takes anywhere from 30 to 45 days and sometimes even longer.  This is assuming that the buyers as well as the sellers are on top of things…if both parties are lagging, the whole process does the same.  In our case, we had all of our ducks in a row and had satisfied all the requirements as early as possible but because the bank took so long to open escrow, we wait.  And wait some more.

And that brings us to the present and possibly, the whole point of this article, in my mind.  Why can’t buying a home in real life be more like buying a home in a video game.  It’s a hell of a lot easier and we seem to enjoy the whole process that much more.  One more thing to note, moving homes in a video game is sooooo much easier than even thinking about moving in real life.  Hell, in Skyrim, I can carry like 350 lbs and all of it fits into my adventuring satchel or whatever it is I keep my loot in (a bag of holding?).  If I had that encumbrance and strength, for that matter, this would be a whole different story!  Anyways, Norm and I will be back soon, once we have completed our move and have settled in, and we will be able to come back and focus on what Married with Video Games is all about – video games, relationships, and more video games.  Thanks for reading!

Critical Gauge replaces the Soul Gauge and allows you to use the Critical Edge, Brave Edge, and Guard Impact mechanics dependent on how full your meter is.  The new Critical Gauge works in a similar fashion to Street Fighter IV’s Super and Ultra Combos.  Guard Impact has changed in SCV, now repelling attacks regardless of the attack attribute, if pulled off at the right moment.  This doesn’t help against unblockable attacks, throws, or Critical Edges however.  The most noticeable difference is that you are no longer able to parry attacks.  Just Impact is gone and has been replaced with Just Guard which, if timed right, will allow you to move faster than normal guard and you can use it against unblockable attacks.  Quick Step allows you to dodge vertical attacks as well as gain a better position to attack your opponent.  You will see your character get blurry with white speed lines when executed properly.  Stagger Recovery from SCIV seems to have disappeared as well.  Getting up after being knocked down can be a very difficult task here as your opponent will be relentless in attacking you once you are down.  Critical Finish and Soul Crush have been removed from SCV completely.  Equipment destruction is still a mechanic however there is no armor gauge indicator as to when it will happen.

There are plenty of game modes for online and offline play.  For local and single players, you can play the Story mode called Story ~ 1607 A.D. ~, Arcade, Quick Battle, Vs Battle, Legendary Souls (unlocks once you complete Story mode), and Training.  Online modes include Ranked and Player matches and the new Global Colosseo lobby.

The story mode is a little disappointing as you can only play through it using set characters like Patroklos, Pyrrha, and a few others to follow the game’s main story line unlike in previous games where you could play through with each character to follow their individual story and how they all come together.  Playing through the story mode will unlock characters, stages, and more. Story mode uses a mix of cut scenes and charcoal-styled drawings to push the story along.  While the charcoal drawings are nice, I was a little disappointed that there weren’t more cut scenes.  I just find that cut scenes keep me into the story more so than watching the camera pan across a drawing whilst dialog is being spoken.  Arcade mode consists of six stages of battle with four different routes: Standard, Europe, Asia, and Leaderboard.  You can set the difficulty before you start.  Quick Battle allows you to fight varying opponents and will unlock titles that you can set in your Player License.  You can choose from a list of opponents before play quick battle.  VS Battle allows you to select the stage and your opponent and allows you to play against the CPU, friends, or just watch a CPU vs CPU battle.  You can choose the settings like number of rounds and battle time prior to the match.  Once you complete the story mode, you will unlock Legendary Souls, which is a series of CPU battles on high difficulty.

Fighting over Xbox Live allows you to fight ranked games that will affect your Xbox Live ranking or you can play more casually with player matches or in the new Global Colosseo, a lobby that can accommodate up to 100 players where you can chat, battle, or spectate.

If you have played any of the Soul Calibur games, you shouldn’t have too much of an issue just picking up SCV and playing. However, you will notice that the changes to the battle system results in you getting your ass kicked…a lot.  I will admit that when it comes to fighting games I lie in between button masher and move learner.  I’ll learn a few key moves and then button mash my way through matches.  This has worked in the past but it seems that this new generation of fighting games has made button mashing a very limited mechanic.  I ended up spending a grip of time in the Training mode.  Training modes in most fighting games can be a frustrating experience.  No fighting game trainer has been better than the one in the Virtua Fighter series and it annoys me that none of the other fighters will use this system.  In the SCV trainer, you have to go to a Moves List in the pause menu.  From there you can sift through the TON of moves your character has as well as select a move and watch each one as they are supposed to look when executed correctly.  However, in order to practice said move, you have to back out of the menu to get back to training and then remember the move.  Easier said than done as some of these moves are quite complicated.  The player input is shown on the screen but that doesn’t help when you can’t remember the actual move.  At any rate, I have learned enough moves to help me complete a good portion of the game but not without wishing it was with Virtua Fighter training.

Timing is especially important in gaming and is one of the things that fighting games really focus on.  For the most part, I noticed that getting the timing just right is relatively easy in SCV.  Another thing to note is that you really have to be fast with your attacks.  If you aren’t, your opponent will hit you with a barrage of attacks that will leave you almost completely helpless.  I have played against the CPU where I wasn’t able to get one single hit in because the opponent simply never let up, ever.  I also found that once you start getting your ass handed to you, it doesn’t stop.  The more you lose, the harder they seem to get, to the point of having to quit the battle and restart it.  Honestly, I don’t know if this is because it is getting harder or if I am simply getting so frustrated and tired that I let up.  I noticed that when Norm played against the CPU, he experienced similar scenarios.  Character balance seems off as characters that wield much heavier weapons seems to be just as fast as those that use smaller, faster types of weapons.  Doesn’t seem very fair that a character like Nightmare can swing his sword as swift as a character like Natsu and her Ninja blades.

Character Creation is back and has some improvements.  You can edit character height and weight as well as edit separate parts of the body.  You can create a character from scratch or based upon an existing character and you can choose to make a male or female version.  You can even use male equipment on females and vice versa although not everything will be available.  You can change the color of the weapons as well as their visual affects like the weapon trail color and the effect the weapon has when landing an attack.  Items are unlock throughout gameplay, gone is the credit and store system as in previous game’s creation modes.  You can spend HOURS creating a custom character and you can save up to 50 of them, so have fun!  In SCV, however, the equipment is simply aesthetic and does not enhance your character in any way other than looks.

Since Soul Calibur II (skipping SCIII), each game has introduced a guest character.  A few have been console specific but in SCV both the Xbox and PS3 versions feature Ezio Auditore da Firenze from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series.  Another special character is Katsuhiro Harada, producer of both the Soul Calibur and Tekken series.  He appears in the Quick Battle mode as Harada TEKKEN and once defeated will unlock the Devil Jin style.  I have faced him once and was not able to defeat him…yet…however, it seems to be a random appearance as he has not shown up again since.  Dampierre is a returning character (from Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny (PSP)) however he is a pre-order bonus and requires a code to unlock.

Overall, Soul Calibur V is a great fighting game and is worthy of the series.  Barring some slight character balancing issues and a slight learning curve to adjust to the changes in the battle system, Soul Calibur V is a game you will likely spend hours on playing with friends online or locally or just fighting lone battles against the CPU.  The story mode in SCV is probably the weakest of the major console versions, but seriously, who really plays a fighting game just for the story?  The graphics are gorgeous, as usual, despite my disappointment in the lack of cut scenes in the story mode and I really found myself enjoying the music this time around.  The dialog is over the top ridiculous along with the voice acting, but again, who chooses a fighting game based on voice acting?  If you are a fan of the Soul Calibur series or fighting games in general, you won’t want miss this one!

Soul Calibur V is rated T for Teen and is available now for the Xbox 360 and PS3.  A review copy was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.

Before I do so, let me first just say that the game is great, and if you liked the first one, there is no reason not to get the second to complete the collection. I just wish that there was some sort of connection between each game; a way to import data to tell the second game what you have accomplished in the previous game(s). Any other issues you can read about in my review of the first game, as they are essentially the same.

The developers at Telltale Games continue to refine the gameplay, but that has become inconsequential because it doesn’t really matter if you fall off a cliff or lose all your hearts, and that’s really the worst thing that will happen to you in the game. There isn’t really a whole lot of new items and spells, most of them make a return from the first game. The cooperative play is as good/bad as ever, with easy drop in and out, the ability to switch characters on the fly, and an embarrassing wealth of hidden collectables to find and unlock.

And why change? The formula for these games is practically flawless for what it is: fans of the movies get to cooperatively play in an interactive playground with the characters they know and love. These games have evolved in such a way that gives them so much charm, that it becomes difficult to judge the game based on a system of pros and cons. I can only judge them based on how well they did the job of capturing the magic of the movies for me.

In one broad paint-stroke, I will say that Years 5-7 has done the best so far of all the series to convey the basic story of the movies to the players. Scenes are easily and readily recognizable, and played out through Lego characters that express themselves extremely well despite only being able to grunt and emote. I laughed several times at the genuinely creative way they recreated all the important scenes of the movies, whether in cut-scenes or within play. All the epic scenes in the movie are epically charming in the game, and this is strangely true for even the most dramatic moments.

It is clear that the creators spent less time trying to redefine the genre, and really focused on story telling, and that’s where I realized that this has become a genre of art; it’s own class of interactive story-telling; a way of extending the life of a great movie even beyond its own bounds. And it does so by appealing to the very core element that draws casual gamer to get sucked into Bejeweled or the hardcore gamer to WOW: the need to get everything.

It baits you with Lego studs that permeate the entire game with various alluring colors like blue and gold. The feeling you get when you wave your wand at a statue and watch it dance, sing, then explode with studs flying everywhere is similar to being in one of those cash booths with bills flying in your face: one part excitement, one part panic, and eight parts smiles.

You have to enjoy this exhibit with a friend, otherwise the experience is stifled. Getting immediate feedback on the effectiveness of a cut-scene, wandering off in separate directions without a clue as to what the other person is doing, and exiting an area while the other person is still exploring has become the joy that is the Lego games.

If you and a friend, significant other, or child enjoy the Harry Potter movies, then this exhibit is worth the price of admission. You will enjoy hours upon of casting fun spells to solve simple yet fun puzzles, collecting countless Lego studs and bricks, and unlocking a plethora of characters and costumes. It will make you laugh, it will never make you cry, and best of all, it’s fun for the whole family.

LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS, 3DS, and PC.

A review copy of the game was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Blizzcon 2011 – October 21-22, 2011
Anaheim Convention Center

Opening Announcements:

There were some big announcements at this year’s Blizzcon!  Diablo 3 is still on track for a Q3 2012 release with Beta testing wrapping up final details of the game.  During a Q&A session, JAy Wilson, Diablo 3 Game Director, announced that a new wave of Beta keys will be made available after the next patch.

In addition, a surprise announcement was made for all you World of Warcraft (WoW) fans:  if you sign up for an annual WoW account, Blizzard will give you Diablo 3 for free, in addition to a new in-game mount.  So come midnight of the Diablo 3 release, you will have access to download the game for FREE!  You must keep that account active for a year but WoW fans shouldn’t have a problem with that.

Also, a new expansion is being released for Starcraft 2 called Heart of the Swarm.  The expansion features new and changed units with some new abilities as well as retiring ones.

The first expansion for WoW Cataclysm, Mists of Panderia, was announced and features a new class – Monk – and a level cap increase to 90. The expansion also features a new playable race called the Pandaren and a new continent called Pandaria.  It will also feature challenge mode dungeons, new PVE scenarios, pet battle system, and a new talent system.

Convention Floor:

The layout of the convention was really well done.  There was one hall was dedicated to Diablo 3, another hall dedicated to Starcraft 2, and another to World of Warcraft.  Playable demos of all three games were available in each hall.

There were several vendors representing their products as well. LG had a great display setup showing off some amazing 3D monitors.  Steelseries had a display with some cool gaming mice including the new Diablo 3 mouse.  Big screens were draped all over the place so no matter where you were there was a screen to watch interviews or matches in WoW and Starcraft 2.  The costume contest and dance contest were great!  People got down this year and came up with some ornate costumes!

The Diablo 3 demo was awesome!  The graphics were amazing with great lighting effects.  The controls were easy to get accustomed to – right and left click.  The sound effects were great!  The old school feel of Diablo 1 and 2 is still there with the red life blood bowl on one side and the blue mana bowl on the other.  I played the Demon Hunter and really liked the strong beefy sound of the crossbow.  My girlfriend had a blast with the barbarian!

Amidst all the announcements and the excitement of Blizzcon, my girlfriend and I are really excited for what’s coming up in the next year or so.

The call for entries left editor, Daniel Wade, more than 2600 pieces to sift though and this year, we get 358 new characters to appreciate and drool over.  You may recognize a few gaming characters like Reiko Nagas from the Ridge Racer series, Sarah from Tabula Rasa, characters from and inspired by The Legend of Norrath, Magic: The Gathering, and even fanart of Marvel comics character, Ms. Marvel.  The programs used for each piece varies.  Most have been created using Photoshop and Painter with a complete listing of the programs used featured in the book’s index.  The index also features a list of artists with email addresses, websites, and page numbers of their featured artwork.

I’m always so impressed with not only the artist’s skill with the digital paint programs but their unbridled imaginations as well.  One of my favorite pieces featured in this collection is entitled “Sakura” by ScarletGothica from Italy.  It features a beautiful Geisha with Sakura branches growing painfully from her back with a big red sun, cherry blossoms, and koi fish in the background.  The background also features the famous wave from the Hokusai woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.  While I say that this piece is one of my favorites, with so many wonderful pieces, it’s very difficult to narrow it down.

Exotique 7 is a must have for people who love and appreciate digital character art.  Use it to inspire your own artwork or just to enjoy some of the hard work and endless imagination that these artists have shared with the world.

Exotique 7 is available for pre-order now though Ballistic Pulbisher’s website in a standard soft cover edition for $59.00 and a hardcover edition for $115.00. The hardcover edition is bound in black leather and features gold metallic embossing.  The first 100 customers to purchase Exotique 7 will also receive a  free A3 poster print of “Nimhue” by Omar Diaz which is featured in the collection and will be sent separately in a flatpack mailer to keep the print fold-free.

Related Links:

However, Ben 10 Galactic Racing marks the first racing themed video game for the series.  The game is a pretty straight forward kart racing game.  The gameplay is very similar to Mario Kart, where the race to the finish line is about disabling your opponents using power ups and special attacks and coming in first place.  The game features about 15 playable characters, including Ben Tennyson and Kevin Levin, as well as 13 fan-favorite aliens from the shows.  A new alien, Fasttrack, is introduced to the series and the Ben 10 classic Diamondhead makes their first appearance in this game.

There are several game modes starting with the Galactic Grand Prix where you race a series of circuits.  In order to unlock additional circuits, you will need to place at least third or better and as you advance to newer circuits, you will have to place 2nd or 1st in order to unlock them.  You can also race in the Short Circuit which will allow you to make custom circuits from any of the unlocked tracks.  Along with just racing, there is the Single Race, Time Trials, and the Showdown modes.  The Showdown mode is more than just a race to the finish line.  There are three modes in Showdown – Ultimate Alienation, Omni-Tag, and Ultimate Elimination.  Each mode offers a different challenge other than crossing the finish line first.

The game features over 25 racetracks,  15 characters, and up to 30 karts to play with.  While you have to unlock most of them, there is a pretty robust character line up to start.  Once you choose a mode to play, you can choose your character and a kart – either light or heavy – then start your race.  Each race consists of about 3 laps and is loaded with several power ups, speed boost tracks, shortcuts, and hazards.  The karts you drive are not very fast and other than steering, drifting, and the ability to move forward, you are pretty limited.  You will have to pick up power ups and use the speed boost tracks to gain an edge on your opponents.  The power ups range from offensive to defensive and some will even give you a temporary speed boost.

There are ramps throughout the tracks where you can get some air and perform mid-air jump tricks.  Performing these tricks is key to filling up your Ultimate meter.  Once the meter is filled, you can unleash an offensive or defensive move by utilizing a special ability or in Ben’s case, transforming into an Ultimate Alien form.

The karts control moderately well although you really need to master drifting to give yourself an edge.  The game is designed for gamers of all skill levels so younger kids and parents will be able to join in on the fun.

Ben 10 Galactic Racing is missing online multiplayer action but makes up for it by putting in a robust local multiplayer option for each mode.  You can play with up to 4 people on one screen and wreak havoc on each other in your battle to be the first to cross the finish line.

While the game is extremely reminiscent of the Mario Kart series, Ben 10 Galactic Racing features some very unique and mind-bending race tracks, which was one of the things I really enjoyed about the game.  Fans of the Ben 10 series will enjoy racing as their favorite characters, whether they play the game solo or with a few friends.

Ben 10 Galactic Racing is rated E for Everyone and is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.  The game will come out for the Nintendo 3DS in November.

A review copy of the game was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.

Disney Universe is a virtual world containing six different Disney and Pixar lands.  Your guide is an AI cube named VIC and has been “hacked” by his evil alter ego named HEX, who loves chaos and destruction.  HEX has hacked into the Disney Universe and summoned evil programs to wreak havoc.  It is your job to rid the Universe of his evil doings.  You play as a funny, little, big-headed being who dons a suit of one of over 40 different Disney and Pixar characters.  Only a handful of the suits are unlocked to start, the rest to be unlocked whilst progressing through the game.  Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland are two of the six worlds are available to you at the start.  You must collect Golden Mickeys in order to open up the other worlds.

The Pirates world is based on the most recent film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  The areas within the levels are pretty small and claustrophobic however they are filled with puzzles that need to be solved in order for you to advance.  The game defaults with guide arrows to help you along, great for just casual, fun play or for young and inexperienced gamers.  You have the option to turn these off if you want a little more of a challenge.  You collect golden Mickey’s that will allow you to unlock worlds and purchase costumes.  These can be found throughout the levels as well as dropped by enemies and appear when items get destroyed.  Each level also has a collection item specific to that world that will unlock either character art, music, or a new costume.  Once you get to a certain point in a level, a challenge arcade will open.  The challenges are optional and range from running from explosions to defeating a set amount of enemies.  Completing challenges will win you gold.

Each character suit can be leveled up to four stars and they do get stronger with each advancement.  I played through with the Cheshire Cat suit for a while before I realized that no matter how many level up stars I collected, it didn’t do anything so when I unlocked the Alice suit, I changed over to her.  It’s a nice way to get you to play with all the different characters.  There didn’t seem to be any difference with any of the characters other than the look so choosing a character is really just player preference.  There are a lot of costumes, art, and music to unlock and, for added replay value, certain things can only be obtained by replaying levels so multiple playthroughs will be required for completionists.  Other costumes will be available as DLC for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

The game also allows for up to four players in local co-op to battle it out against the evil bots or against each other.  While the game is mostly aimed to be co-operative, you can mix it up by messing with your friends in the game.  The game can be played in single player mode as easily as it can be played in multiplayer mode.  At the end of each level, the game tallies up your experience which is determined by how many enemies you kill, how much gold you collect, and how many times you respawn.  You can respawn an infinite amount of times in a level but the more you die the less experience you will earn.

This review is based on the Nintendo Wii version and graphically, the game looks decent.  The worlds are more reminiscent of the films as opposed to exact replicas as is the music.  I was a little disappointed to see that the Alice in Wonderland world was based on the recent Tim Burton film, but that’s because I am a die hard fan of the original animated film.  The music is also more reminiscent of the themes from the film.  They are definitely recognizable but are more based on the music than the actual pieces themselves. The games controls pretty well.  There were no Wii specific controls.  Nothing about the game is super difficult, although I had some issues with platform jumping but I seem to have this issue with all games of this type.

Gamers that have played any of the LEGO series games and/or Little Big Planet will feel right at home with Disney Universe.  Overall, Disney Universe is a great game for players of all ages and skill level and can serve as a fun game to pass the time in single player mode as well as a fun party game with multiple players.  You may not blow hours and hours of your time at once, but it’s a great game to pop in and play for a bit either by yourself or with a friend or two.

Disney Universe is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 years and up and is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC.  A Mac version will be available but no release date has been announced yet.

A review copy of the game was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Wii version of the game.

Of course, I have heard of The Sims, but I have never really played the game.  I think I toyed around with the PS2 version but not enough to have any lasting memories of it so this is my first time actually playing a Sims game.  As a relative newcomer to the series,  I can tell you that this game is a lot to take in.  I love to play Role Playing Games like Oblivion and Fallout 3 but the amount of customization and freedom that you have in a Sims game is infinite.

First of all, in The Sims 3 Pets, not only can you create a human Sim, but now you can create AND play a Cat or Dog Sim.  Certain things can only be done with the pets as well and there are specific quests for cats as well as dogs.  The pets have just about equal access to the world as the human Sims do and it’s kind of hilarious to see a taxi pull up and a cat jump out.  It happens, I swear.

The first thing you do is create your Sim and any pets.  You can have up to six Sims in a household that you can play.  I started with three only because I didn’t actually realize at the start that I’d be playing all three of them.  The Sims is really the ultimate RPG.  Not only do you control what your Sim looks like, you control all aspects of their lives.  You have to feed, bathe, and relieve them (yes, they go potty).  First you create your Sims.  Everything is customizable although for some reason the Sim I choose has crazy face paint on and I can’t seem to get it off and her legs are green.  Maybe I missed something but that’s her – face paint with green legs.  Hey, she’s MY Sim and she WANTS to look like that!  With pets you can choose the breed and still alter them from there.  You can assign Traits and Lifetime Wishes to your SIM and for the first time in the series, you can choose Traits and Lifetime Wishes for your pets as well.  There are five new Traits for Sims and five new Life time Wishes.

Next, you choose where in Sugar Maple Coast you want to live.  You start out with some money but you will have to start out modest.  What’s nice is that you can buy a home completely furnished and as you make more and more money, you can buy newer (and better) furniture.  Once you have chosen where to live, you will need to find a job because, yes, even a Sim must pay the bills each month or get a visit from the Repo Man.  There are plenty of jobs in the town to choose from from law enforcement to running a book store.  As you progress, you will fulfill wishes and want more.  You will also be presented with opportunities that will earn you cash prizes.

Karma Powers are back in the game.  You can use Karma Points to mess with your Sims’ lives either by using good Karma or bad Karma, but beware of the consequences!  There are seven unique Karma Powers available in The Sims 3 Pets.  AS you fulfill wishes, you will earn Karma Points and as you complete challenges, you unlock new Karma Powers.  You can spend your Karma points and use the powers to either boost or mess with your Sims.

There are five mysteries to solve in the town which serve as the main storyline of the game, however, you can get hours and hours of gameplay without touching a mystery.  Mysteries will unlock locations, allow you to earn more rewards, and you can find relics that you can donate to the museum or sell for profit.

The Sims 3 Pets really focuses on what you want to do in your game.  With so much to do, the possibilities are endless.  As a newcomer to the franchise, it took me a few hours of game time to really get used to just how open the game really is.  Once I settled in with the controls and how things worked, I was able to focus on each of my different Sims, splitting time almost equally between them.  Using the nights for my human Sim to sleep, I was able to focus on honing my cat’s hunting skills and slowly start working on my dog’s skills.   Dog’s require a little more interaction with other pet or human Sims to teach them tricks and such but eventually, your dog can become more independent and take on jobs.

Each version of the game offers something unique.  On the Xbox 360 version, Kinect owners can use voice controls to control Sims and their pets.  I tried out the voice commands briefly and it is quite an extensive list of things that you can do.  Voice commands may be more useful to veterans of the series as it mostly overwhelmed me.  The voice commands are available all the time – as long as your Kinect is plugged in – and there is a mic indicator on screen.  The mic is quite sensitive and will actually pick up other voices in the room as well.  I was playing while other people were talking and suddenly, my Sim was commanded to be mean to someone.

The Nintendo 3DS uses the pedometer and pets to collect Play Coins that you can spend on making you  Sims happy or miserable.  You can use StreetPass to trade your Sims pet with others.  You can also have a household of up to three Sims and an entire family of pets to control.

The PC/Mac version will allow you to create, customize, and adopt horses in addition to dogs and cats.  Unicorns can be encountered (UNICORNS!?!) as well as smaller pets like birds, rodents, lizards, and snakes that your Sim can interact with.

I really only had issues with the in-game camera.  Sometimes it would allow me to go into and see inside buildings and other times it would feel like it would get stuck on one axis and not move as freely as before.  I did encounter one glitch where my Sim got out of a taxi to get to work and she got stuck inside a square area surrounded by hedges.  Every time I told her to go somewhere, she would just shrug, say some gibberish, and give up.  I eventually had to just quit my game and reload it.

The Sims 3 Pets has a lot to offer gamers of all levels.  You can play the game as casual as you want or you can go hardcore and try to complete as many (or all) the challenges and achievements in the game.  Sims veterans will probably enjoy the ability to control the pets as well as the human Sim as well as all the new additions to the game.  Newcomers may feel overwhelmed by all the game has to offer, but with a little time and effort, they will be addicted to the Sims.

The Sims 3 Pets is rated T for Teen and is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo 3DS, and PC/Mac.

A review copy was provided but did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Normally, I would wander around and check out the world. I may not even talk to anyone before I kill someone or something. When I played Oblivion, I wandered into some random dungeon through what probably was a back door. I killed a bunch of guys I didn’t even know (they attacked me first, by the way), and ended up with some pretty cool equipment. Then I discovered there was a story.

With only three hours to play, I wanted to explore the story. If you have played Oblivion, wandering around the landscape is largely the same, except the graphics are pretty stunning…and oh, you can collect bugs along with the normal foraging for herbs and spices. However, it’s the story that sometimes gets lost in the mix of wandering around taking on side-quests in such a huge, open world.

It would seem that the first 45 minutes of the game is where you will be learning the ropes and building up your character a bit before you are turned loose into the open world. There is a story there, something about a dragon, but it was hard to catch on in such a limited time. I know there are dragons in the game, so nothing new there. After wandering around for a while running from wolves, seemingly weaponless, I bumped into some NPCs at a little cottage. Apparently I know one of the guys there, and he tells me to go to Riverwood to meet the Jarl.

So without a thought to check for a menu system (with a card in front of me that shows me what all the buttons do), I wandered around until I found Riverwood. In Riverwood, I bought a sword and found the Jarl; pretty easily actually. He tells me that one of his wizards is looking for a Dragon Stone, whatever that is. They need me to get it, and that’s good enough for me. So I set off on my way to retrieve the stone, which wasn’t far away. My sword didn’t auto-equip, so I opened the menu for the first time, and lo and behold, I already had a sword…and armor…and magick. So, I wasted my money, but at least I got to see how purchasing an item worked.

So, with my weapon in hand and donning my armor, I used the map to try to find the area the stone was hidden. It seemed I couldn’t find my way up there head on, so I wandered around the mountain where it seemed to be located. Along the way, I bumped into a giant. It killed me with one swing of his hammer, but he looked good doing it. My second attempt at finding the stone took me up a mountain trail. Soon I was in an amazing snow storm. I could see individual snowflakes! Truly stunning. Good thing I picked a Nord, because Nords have resistance to cold, and it was cold! Before I knew it, I arrived at my destination and facing off with some bandits. I dispatched them quickly and headed indoors.

Inside, I made my way through dungeon corridors. Bumping into some more bandits, I snuck up on one and laid an amazing shot on him. There was a cut-scene that showed me slicing the guy in half! Very cool stuff. I continued forward and at one turn, I saw a guy with his back to me. I tried to sneak up on him too, but as I did, he walked up to a lever on the floor and pulled it. Arrows shot out of the walls at him, killing him instantly. Poor sucker set off a trap! I figured out the puzzle that would keep me from getting pelted by the arrow trap and forged ahead. A deadly spider forced me to to use my magick.

The magick system is a little different from previous titles. For example, healing is not a one-shot casting. You cast it and you heal over time while casting it. You can heal more by continuing to hold down the magick button. After fishing around the menu a bit, I found that I not only had a healing spell, but a destructive spell too. I could cast fire, which should work great against a spider and his webs. Sadly, he killed me as I was setting to blast him away. On my second try, I realized that I was ready to level up! OK, so I missed that initially, but I was happy to get more powerful.

To level up, it asked me if I wanted more health, stamina or magick. After I chose stamina, I was taken to this screen with a circle of constellations, each one representing a perk I could upgrade. My flame magick was one of the choices, so I bumped that up a notch. My second try with the spider proved more fruitful, as I set the bad boy on fire and slashed at him with a sword I picked up off one of the bandits.

An NPC that was trapped by the spider forced me to make a moral decision. I won’t go into detail about that, but soon after, I was ambushed by some skeletal warriors. These weren’t random skeletal warriors, I had wandered into their crypt! Oops, sorry guys! Oh well, they didn’t accept my apology, and after several tries I finally destroyed them. One of them had a very nice axe that I procured. Another had a pretty sweet bow and some arrows. Soon, I was a walking armory and I leveled up again. I chose more stamina and more fire. Now I could cast fire with two hands if I wanted, and I did.

A little deeper into the dungeon I faced off with a skeletal mage. He was sucking my life force away, so I sent a fireball at him. I must say that the fireball spell kicks butt! It was simple and small ball of flame that flew to its target and exposed. Awesome. I pressed forward until I found the stone I was looking for. I went up to it and it said that I learned some strange word and it seemed like I had completed my task. After another no-so-surprising ambush, I pushed on.

It seemed I was now moving upwards towards the surface. After a few more battles, all of them pretty fun and tense, I found a large door with a puzzle. The puzzle was fairly easy and I had solved it as a Bethesda representative tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I needed help, and that there was a clue in my inventory. He realized I had just solved the puzzle and let me continue on my journey.

Soon I was on the surface again, and I quick-traveled back to Riverwood. After finding the Jarl again, and receiving some praise in the process, I was asked to defend the west tower from a dragon. Apparently my character has some limited experience in this sort of thing. Well, this sounded pretty intriguing, so I went off in search of the west tower. I didn’t actually have to search at all, as I was led there by a humble little unit of soldiers that seemed ready to fight a dragon.

Good thing they were ready, because as soon as we found the tower, we were attacked. The dragon was big, beautiful, and powerful. However, with my new bow and arrow that I had snagged from the newly re-dead skeleton in the dungeon, I plucked at it from above as my companions sniped and stabbed it from below. Soon it was slain and I leveled up again. After snagging some body parts from the dragon, the representative returned and said that I should just wander around some more as my time was running out.

So I did, and that concluded my three hours of play. Now to back-track a touch, I wanted to talk about the character creation process. As it turns out, you do not pick a class. This is not a bad thing, as you are going to shape your character by the way you play anyway. You can pick your race, and if you have played Oblivion, you will notice that there is nothing new here except how detailed each of the races are now. It’s hard to believe that this is the same system that released Oblivion. You will get to tweak your character’s facial features a bunch, so you can basically make your character look just about anyway you want. It’s slick, easy, a beautiful.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is every bit a sequel to Oblivion as it is a spiritual successor to Fallout 3. The combination is astounding and if my very limited time with the game is any indication, this is going to be one hell of a game.  The two greatest games this year are fixing to come out in November and they both have Sky in the title. Can you guess the other title? I thought so.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is due out on November 11, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Our demo began about 45 minutes into the game, akin to leaving the sewers in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Vault 101 in Fallout 3.  You are able to create and customize your character during this time but we were able to create our character right at the beginning of our demo.  Not much has changed in the character creation – you can choose your race, gender, and name – and from there, you can customize the look of your character as you could in previous games.  There are ten races to choose from – all the same races from Oblivion – and they look a lot more realistic than before.  One of the biggest differences in the character creation is that you will not have to choose a character class as you did in Oblivion.  In Skyrim, you can choose to mold and shape your character depending on how you want to play your game.  As you level up, you can focus on skills that you want to build up and ignore the ones you don’t. The choice is ultimately up to you.  I didn’t spend too much time on creating my character as I only had three hours to play the demo and I wanted to try and experience as much of the game as I possibly could during that timeframe.  I chose to be a female Nord (I played a Nord in Oblivion as well) and I started from there.

As soon as I entered the world of Skyrim, I was just completely sucked in.  I paused for a moment to just take a look around at my surroundings.  The graphics are amazing and the detail in the world makes it pop with life.  I immediately began collecting herbs and flowers – you can even collect bugs – as I knew I wanted to try out the alchemy system as soon as possible.    I had no active quests yet so I went to the world map and found the town of Riverwood nearby and set my destination marker.  I made my way, on foot, to the town and got there relatively unscathed.  I ran into a small pack of wolves and realized I didn’t have any weapons (I actually did, I just assumed that I didn’t have any).  I tried to fight them off with my fists but quickly took off running.  The town was pretty close by so I was safe from any danger at that point.

As in the previous Elder Scrolls games, you can interact with just about everything and you can take what you want.  Of course, be careful not to take what’s not yours or you could get yourself into a spot of trouble with the law.  Lock picking is a lot more like it is in Fallout 3, which is not the first time you will make the comparison between the two games.  Even though I picked a few locks and got threatened by the home owners, I refrained from stealing any items.  I did however, take almost everything else that I could get my grubby little hands on.  Upon finding an alchemy set, I tried out my potion making skills.  Each item has four properties which will be discovered as you alchemize things.  I created a few potions via trail and error – I also failed at making some potions as well.

Talking to the NPCs in the area will get you more familiar with the world and what is going on in it.  Some will offer you quests so it is beneficial to talk to pretty much everyone.  I was in search of weapons and armor (since I was too lame to realize that I actually had some already) so I found the blacksmith and immediately started talking to him.  He offered a few small tasks that basically introduce you to the blacksmithing processes in the game.  At a Blacksmith, you are able to forge your own weapons, armor, and jewelry (providing you have the right materials and the appropriate skill level) as well as improve your items.  As you go on, you will level up in smithing which will allow you to craft and improve more items as you achieve more experience.  After that, I roamed around some more – picking locks and talking to more people until I took on a quest that led me to another town called Whiterun.

Fully equipped with armor and weapons that I crafted and improved, I headed to the town of Whiterun.  On my way, I continued to collect more items for alchemy but now I was on the lookout for things to kill.  It wasn’t long until I was found by a small pack of wolves so I fought them off rather skillfully.  New to combat in Skyrim are finishing moves similar to those in Fallout 3.  I’m not sure what triggers these offhand as it didn’t happen every time I killed something (or someone) but nonetheless, they looked awesome.  Combat is relatively simple and you can pretty much customize the way your character will fight.  Use a shield and sword, use a two-handed weapon, dual wield swords, use a spell in one hand with a sword in the other, and once you gain the skill (or perk as they are called), you can even dual wield spells.  The combinations are almost endless.  Ranged combat seems to have gotten better as well.  I remember not really using the bows and arrows in Oblivion as often as it felt very clunky to me.  However, this is not the case in Skyrim.  I was able to kill a few enemies using ranged weapons and just in the few hours of playing, it will be something that you will need to learn to use effectively.  You can still choose to play the game in first-person or third- person with the click of a button and the game will allow you to customize your controls.  You can even hot-key your weapons for faster access.  During combat, I kept pressing down on the left thumbstick, which puts your character into stealth mode.   This is where the ability to customize the controls will come in most handy.

In Whiterun, I followed a side questline that led me to a group called the Companions and after completing a few quests, I was allowed to join their group.  Joining groups is a great help to your character as members of the group will offer to train you for a small price allowing you to level up certain skills a little faster than by traditionally leveling up.

The leveling up system has gotten quite an overhaul.  Since you no longer choose a character class, you are able to level up according to your play style.  You can choose your perks based on what kinds of weapons and armor you use down to the spells or schools of magic you want to use.  You will eventually cap out at level 50 but in Skyrim, you will level up faster in the beginning and slower as you gain higher levels.  Bethesda has been doing a lot to balance out the game so that while enemies will level up with you, facing a pack of rats at level 32 won’t mean certain death as it may have felt in previous games.  During the three hour demo, I managed to almost hit level 7 so you can see how fast your character will level up in a short amount of time.

The talent tree-styled level system is represented by a series of constellations.  Each proficiency within a perk is a star within the constellation shaded by ability for quicker identification.  They all require a certain amount of points to open up so you will want to explore the options in the tree if you want to plan out your character’s path.  I wanted to get the ability to dual cast (cast a spell from each hand at the same time) a destruction spell but I had to take the Destruction perk first, then take on the spell – Burning Touch.  I had to use that spell enough to level up my skill in Destruction Spells and then I would be able to take on the dual casting skill.

My three hour demo pretty much ended there and it left me hungry for more.  I didn’t touch on the main quest at all but I was able to do a little dungeon crawling in my Companion quests.  If you are at all familiar with the Elder Scrolls series, you will see that a lot of care has gone into the making of this game.  Bethesda took a lot of elements from Fallout 3 and Oblivion to create what is going to be a fantastic game that will keep you quite busy throughout this holiday season and for quite sometime after that.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be out on November 11, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.