Zune HD owners rejoice.  Crickets?  Microsoft has recently announced that a batch of new 3D games is now available at the Zune MarketPlace.  For Free.  That’s right, the following games are available now for free:  Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Audiosurf Tilt, Vans Sk8: Pool Service, Lucky Lanes Bowling, Piano, and Checkers.

Totally cool for free right!  Hopefully this will help Microsoft move some units this holiday season, but  having not yet seen an actual Zune HD in person, I’m interested in how good the gaming will be on this thing. If you are a Zune HD owner and download these free games and let me know just how 3D they actually are!

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Remember just a year ago, when Wiis were almost impossible to find in stores and you could make a pretty fair chunk of cash by selling one of these hot little properties on eBay?  Well, a year makes a pretty huge difference, and now, there’s a Wii in most every home that wants one.  Of course, this has posed a whole new problem for Nintendo.

The company that could do no wrong just this time last year, is now facing–get this–a forty percent drop in quarterly revenues, and no immediate indication that things will get better.

Admittedly, there were only so many units they could ever sell, period–who really needs TWO Wiis?–but Nintendo exec Satoru Iwata thinks he’s got the answer: it’s all about the games.  People are starting to realize that there aren’t a whole lot of good, high-demand games for their system.  After all, you can only play so many Wario Ware titles before you start to lose the point.

But I’m with him on that one–the Wii needs more games. And not just big mini-game collections, either, but actual GAMES.  They’ve got a great platform, if only they’d do something with it.

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Not too long ago we posted on the expensive but cool TouchScreen Rubik’s Cube and today we have the Classic Nintendo version.  Though I don’t recognize all of these icons, I’m sure there are fanboys out there that have these tattooed in special places.

Designed by deviantARTist r4r3truffle, this item is not for sale at this time.  I have never been that great at puzzles and I definitely have never completed a Rubik’s Cube.  I’m not so sure this version could get me interested.

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To help ease the potentially painful transition for those of you upgrading from the UMD PSP to the PSP Go, Sony is willing to throw you 3 free games for the trouble.  So far this deal is only going to be available in Europe and goes through October 1st to March 31st.

PSP Go upgraders will have their choice to pick 3 out of 17 games that they will be able to download from Sony’s PSN.  The games so far will be all Sony 1st-party titles that include: Killzone: Liberation, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3, WipEout Pure, Echochrome, LocoRoco, and Patapon.  I’m sure the full list will be disclosed soon.

According to Sony, you will have to log on to PSN with your old PSP in order to get the deal.  Is this a good enough effort by Sony to make you want to upgrade to a PSP Go?  Also, why the hell can’t the US get this offer??

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An interesting idea comes to us by way of the folks at Spawn Labs, who have basically introduced us to the equivalent of the Slingbox, but for games.

Basically, what the Spawn HD-720 does is give you access to your own games when you’re not in the house or near the gaming location of your choice.  You can connect the “input device of your choosing”, which is an interesting move in and of itself, meaning (if I read this right) you can use your choice of controller for all your games.  There’s one thing to remember, though–with this game system, you have to have your games loaded into system memory, otherwise, the only game you’ll be playing is the last thing you left in the CD tray.

They retail for a hundred and ninety nine dollars, and are apparently now available either from the Spawn Labs website or in stores.

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How do you attest your dieing passion for the video game Left 4 Dead? Simple. You request one of your friends to build a custom Xbox 360 in its image.  But as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.  FatalJapan, who received the custom art work on his video game console, free of charge, had no qualms with noting that his buddy left out some of the details, such as a Left4Dead logo, but at the very least appreciates that he fixed the E74 error message.

[via Technabob]

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How do you impress your friends and become a YouTube sensation? Okay, the latter might be a bit of a reach, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this kid reaches some level of stardom. Not only does he manage to solve a Rubik’s Cube while playing Ozzy Osbourne’s Mr. Crowly on Expert mode in Guitar Hero, but he does with his back to the TV, using a mirror of course.

Sure, the song doesn’t require an endless amount of strumming – which he does with his elbow – but I couldn’t even solve a Rubik’s Cube to save my life.

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Last weekend I got to try my hand, or should I say feet, at the latest Tony Hawk skateboard game, RIDE.  I think it’s pretty fair to say that there has been some skepticism floating around this version since iterations before seemed to be just slight or minor tweaks from previous installments.

Let me start by putting any of those apprehensions to bed.  As far as I’m concerned Activision and Tony Hawk have created a game changing (pardon the pun) experience.  I really only got to play part of a level, which equated to about 2 minutes of gameplay, but the RIDE board really brings something else to the table.  I won’t lie, my legs were shaking a bit since my muscles were constantly adjusting, trying to find the center of gravity of the board – it sits on a bump, a sort of axis which enables you to lean left or right – but that’s what will make the experience so thrilling and exciting.  As soon as you begin to master the balance on the board you’ll be able to engage in many more tricks.  And for those of you out there that already skate, I honestly believe that the RIDE game will complement your preexisting abilities, unlike the Guitar Hero games which I’ve heard many musician complain about.

Trick wise I was only able to complete an ollie and manual.  Both of those moves are carbon copies of the real thing (almost), while the other moves, based on my limited experience, seem to involve the 4 sensors located at the ends and sides of the board.  So for instance, you’ll be able to lean down and grab the board (covering the sensor) and perform grab tricks as well as swing your foot over the other sensor to perform a variety of moves.

There are 3 settings – beginner, intermediate and experienced – and while I only got to try out the beginner level, which puts you on a sort of wire so you don’t have to concentrate on steering, I actually can’t wait to try the other settings since I think it will be a more difficult but engaging experience to keep my character and board on the right track.  With that said, gone are the days of the Tony Hawk open world levels, but in all fairness I think it’s a good price to pay for the far more immersive experience.

Outside of the above, I really don’t know what else to expect from the game.  It’s great to see video games getting closer and closer to virtual reality, although it maybe a ways off, and if you think Microsoft’s Natal experience will replace controllers of this type any time soon, think again.

So despite the fact that RIDE is a $120 video game, it’s painfully obvious that those willing to plunk down the cold hard cash will get paid dividends on their investment.

You can pre-order the Tony Hawk RIDE game here

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Diogo from Spawn Studios has been kind enough to give us redemption codes for 10 free copies of the iPhone game MagnetRox.  That’s a $1.99 value, and to make things super simple I’m posting the codes on a ‘hidden’ page on GadgetReview.  Just go here to grab the code and leave a comment on the post when you’ve used it.

Paid version here

If the codes run out, you can grab a free version here

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I totally didn’t see this one coming, but GameFly is trying their hand at kiosk video game rentals by installing touchscreen boxes at select 7-Elevens throughout Southern California.  Unlike their core business, which requires a membership, the G-Box kiosk just requires a credit card and a burning desire for a video game at any given moment since rentals cost $2 a day; that’s twice the price of their intro membership.  The G-Boxes – don’t even get me started on the name – will contains classics as well as recent releases for the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3.

Right now there are two locations that are ‘near me’, but I’m betting these are the only two in existence since this is probably a test run.  If you happen to be near either one and would like to try it out, enter the following promo code for a free one day rental: ‘GBOXSEVEN’.

Locations:

• 6077 West Third St, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Map
• 11656 Wilshire Blvd, W. Los Angeles, CA 90025 Map

Update: It looks like they started rolling these out to college campuses in March.

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Batman fans are you ready?  Come Friday, yes this Friday the 7th, the demo for ‘Arkham Asylum‘ on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will hit.  According to Game Informer it will not only set the stage (i.e. plot) for the impending game, but show off the the FreeFlow combat system, Invisible Predator mode and Batman’s sleuthing skills. The game will officially launch on August 25th.

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At this point it’s pretty clear that Activision has plans to go big this holiday, and by big I mean hefty price tags.  First they outed the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2 that will cost $150 and now they’ve got plans for a collector’s edition DJ Hero bundle that will probably (price has yet to be announced) set you back $200.

The DJ Hero Renegage Edition will include a JAY-Z and EMINEM 2-CD pack featuring unreleased tracks, a carrying case, a stand with retractable legs and a special edition turntable with premium metal controls and finish.

Based on the current Amazon page (the price is mising) it looks like the DJ Hero Renegade Edition will only be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

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Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an epic RPG game that provides gamers with an almost endless amount of gameplay in a fantasy land that is tarnished by greed and battle. Using very similar mechanics found in the first Sacred game, the second installment of the game actually serves as a prequel to the original. Unfortunately, this iteration doesn’t feel like a step forward but rather a step backwards in the evolution of the series as the game is hampered by choppy graphics and a set of menus that are more of a carbon copy of the PC version than a translation.

Plot:

In the land of Ancaria T-Energy is oil and whoever controls it rules the world with maniacal laughter.  Sounds like oil right?  Basically T-Energy is the lifeblood of magic and all things living.  No one can share it, and those that consumer or use it have to fight over it.  ‘It reminds me of the saying, ‘Without struggle there is no progress’, and that holds quite true for Sacred 2.

The major power players are the High Elves, all the other races in Ancaria seek to obtain the power of T-Energy for their own domineering purposes.  While approaching somewhat of a generic and uninspired synopsis, the intro cut scene really seals the deal and leaves you wondering who made these creative green lights.  Anyway, Sacred 2 is less about plot and storyline than it is about raw plunder and pillaging.

Graphics:

One word: dated.  While the cut scenes were decent looking, the game itself could easily have been done on the original Xbox or less.  And although there’s an enormous amount of attention given to the details of the land at hand, screen tear was abound like an itchy rash.  Anytime you rotate the camera while moving the the graphics would hiccup and look jagged and fragmented.  The character design looks like art school mock ups and the animations aren’t anything to speak fondly of.  Granted the top down view can be zoomed back and forth from close to far, all you really want to do is tilt the camera so you can see what’s in front of you. For instance, I wanted to see some vistas of Ancaria beyond my immediate perimeter of 50 yards or so and found it a challenge.  So while the top down Diablo style is what this game is all about I just feel that is was too limiting given the overall scope and breadth of the game and the Ancarian landscape.

But beyond that the game features day and night cycles and the colors were bright and vivid and did a good job of conveying “fantasy” while you explore the vast lands of Ancaria.  Overall,  the graphics were wholly unimpressive but I felt like they actually worked for what the game was trying to accomplish.

Sound:

Another word.  Stock, but funny at times.  The characters give themselves “dap” and proclaim their destiny at interesting times and I was often amused at what my character would say.  Protective footwear on cobblestone never sounded so crunchy and neither did grass!  Everything else sounded as it should minus varying degrees of detail.

The voice acting seemed competent but not as “old world” as I thought it needed to be.  Not in dialog but in the delivery from the voice actors.  Most of the dialog is actually text based, but again I did really like the character quips when they were said.  That said, the mild humor saves the sound design from being whatever.

Gameplay:

The gameplay did not lend itself that well to console play.  There are way too many menus to filter through and it was too daunting to really care about.  You can tell that that aspect of the game was straight PC style and that it is just too much for the Xbox 360.  In it’s defense, the world of Ancaria is so behemoth that there might not have been any way to actually streamline it.

Combat is a mishmash of button pounding and gear allocation.  You can assign multiple items for use at anytime and you can switch between firing an arrow and stabbing someone with only two button presses.  However,  there are so many items, spells, gear that it is just crazy and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

While I myself could not find the inner passion to care about all the item hoarding, I feel like this is Sacred 2’s best aspect.  If you like killing things and vulturing their remains for gear of all types, then this could be the game for you.

Character development and customization seemed robust and you could spend hours retooling your character in a variety of ways.  You must care though, as time will be spent in order to gain something valuable from this game.  So while gameplay is slightly marred by its PC constructs, it is saved by its wealth of loot and customization.

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer is a cool concept here actually.  Letting you use your character in someone else’s multiplayer realm while retaining all your statistics once your back in your single player campaign is really novel.  More games should feature that.  Riding beasts and clobbering fools with peoples online really brought me back to playing Gauntlet with kids at Round Table Pizza and it felt quite nostalgic.  There isn’t much more to say except that multiplayer is not essential to Sacred 2’s allure, but it is a great ancillary feature that adds a fair bit of replay value.

Replay Value:

Endless!  Provided that you don’t get bored.  From the mountains of gear to collect, to all the different character classes, the 22 square miles of territory to explore, Sacred 2 would be a great game to play in jail.  While not that compelling as a complete package, it really does have some cool things going for it.  If you had some dedicated multiplayer friends it could last for a very long time, and the open ended nature of choosing the “light or shadow” path has great value as well.

Final Endings:

Like I mentioned, Sacred 2 is more of a PC gamer’s game but that doesn’t mean console devotees can’t enjoy all that it has to offer.  I honestly think I would play this more if it was on the PSP or the DS.  All the meandering would do me much better on an airplane or during times of travel as I feel like I have better games to play at home.  If you love Role Playing Games and have a basement full of stuff you’ll never throw away, Sacred 2 might be what you looking for.

Pros:

• Tons to do, collect, and customize
• Multiplayer is worthy of attention
• Replay value is unheralded, if you can withstand the repetition

Cons:

• Last gen, glitchy graphics and lackluster character and sound design
• Too many menus to navigate!
• Can be overwhelming for a newbie

Buy it here for $56!

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Word is that the black Nintendo Wii will never make it US shores.  A sad and sore disappointment for many, but perhaps Nintendo felt that having a black and white offering was just too Xbox or that they didn’t wanna mess with a good thing.

Well, if you’re still lusting after some color variation in your social gaming life, Nyko announced a slew (9 to be exact) of new colors for their Wand device (a Wiimote alternative), which are to be released later this month in Japan.  Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the color variations will be coming to the States or UK, but at least the export door hasn’t been shut on this one.

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