A Salt Lake Tribue article reports there will soon be a website called, “bringit.com” providing a venu for gamers to win money playing against each other online.  The website will shortly be moving out of beta stage and moving in to charge people 10% of their entry fee.

The site, which lets players challenge other gamers for money, says it is different from online poker and other games of chance because video games are considered a game of skill.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to wager $25 to have some Japanese kid whoop my ass.  BringIt.com says that it’s got that worked out though:

To attract players of a broad range of skill sets, BringIt has separate tournaments meant for novice players and expert gamers.

That still doesn’t instill me with confidence. I suck at video games and I certainly don’t have any patience for trying to beat someone online with ping variables, cheat possibilities and later small claims court battles. This idea sounds like a pile of problems to me. But wait! There’s more! If you order now you’ll also get leader board integration with Facebook to let your family and friends how irresponsible you are with your money! Act now before it’s too late! Anyone else have an opinion?

Full article.

Wired reports that a 27-Year-Old man was just arrested for making it possible to play ‘legal backups’ on several of his patrons consoles of choice. Apparently not all of the several of 10s of 100s of people who solicited his help to unlock their consoles were so discrete to hide this was done. He’s probably one of those guys who advertises on craigslist.com to ‘unlock your Xbox’ for you. He faces up to 10 years in prison. A little harsh I’d say.

[Full Story Here.]

Bomberman ULTRA
Hudson Soft Co., Ltd.

Yet another version of the popular Bomberman series by Hudson Soft. If it were not for this franchise I don’t know that Hudson Soft would still be around. They do make great games though and this version of Bomberman is a great addition to the franchise and probably one of the best ways to play the game ever made. Highlights include:

• Classic and new power ups
• The ability to NOT use the skull if you so desire.
• The ability to skip watching the CPU finish the game in the event live players perish.
• 100s of Customizable characters.
• Brand New Playing Modes. (Including a new group favorite: A sort of “painting the tiles” mode.)

I liked the differences in the demo enough to buy the title.  It’s the classic formula in a party situation so this game will not let you down.  I suggest next time I host a shindig, we give it a whirl.  Minus one for unoriginality.

Madaracs’ Game Rating:  4/5 Stars

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Trash Panic™
Trash Panic™ Demo
Sony Computer Entertainment America

At first glance you might mistake this puzzle game for a Tetris clone.  On some levels it is similar to Tetris but the big difference here is that you do not neatly stack bricks in a row to eliminate them.  Instead the platform is a large garbage can into which you throw every day household items like violins, UK mailboxes, toilets, mattresses and other non-sanitary items that must be disposed of.  The fun part is that you need to try and keep your trash can as empty as possible as you fill it.  This means you have to SMASH things down into the can in an attempt to break items down and make more room.  For instance, if you throw a violin away a barrel coming down on top of it will likely smash it to pieces.  You get points for smashes and combos.  There is also a couple of other cool things like erosion and fires that contribute to the destruction of items in your trash can making room for more mayhem.

Although not entirely original, I enjoyed the demo and I will likely purchase this title at some point as it is quite addicting to smash the trash.  Minus one for repetition in a genre.

Madaracs’ Demo Rating:  4/5 Stars

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Hail to the Chimp
Hail to the Chimp Playable Demo
Gamecock Media Group

As I read the description for this game, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun.  What I got when I downloaded and played the demo was not up my alley.  There is a long dissertation by a cartoon news reporter that seems almost witty at times but ends up dulling me into just pressing start soon after.  The game play is frantic and useless.  Imagine “Hungry Hippos” meets arena wrestling… with zoo animals–and I’m not sure where the monkey comes into the picture.  Anyway, I gave it the old college try and after 20 minutes of gameplay I was still no closer to understanding what was supposed to be fun about the game.  You start with a zoo character of your choice that look a lot like a mash-up between your favorite Disney zoo animals and Dreamwork’s team of wacky, sideways-smiling mammals.  The object in the firs match is to collect as many clams as possible.  Not money.  Clams.  As you’re running around frantically to collect said clams, the floor is moving around and collapsing out from underneath you.  If you fall in the water you lose all of your clams.  If another computer player attacks you and you are unable to defend sufficiently, you lose all of your clams.  You can repeatedly hit the square button to attack the other animals of course and then you can steal their clams.  Ultimately you end up never collecting more than about 20 clams before someone catches you and starts to beat the crap out of your mammal.  All the while you’re treated to frantic music with colorful VO talent razzing you about losing your clams.

This game left my hands cold and clammy.  I wouldn’t pick it up again if PSN was giving it away.   I would not play it again if Gamecock Media Group paid me to.  It just isn’t fun to me.  It’s an exercise in randomness that is only rivaled by shaking one of those small plastic cubes that have the BBs in it.  You know, you try and get them to land in the little holes by shaking the cube repeatedly?  Yeah, it’s fun for about 10 minutes and then it’s time to move on to something else or get out of the car.  Minus one for a boring intro.  Minus one for terrible gameplay.  Minus one for dopey cartoon voices.  Plus one for trying to be original.  Plus one for having some witty dialogue by the newscaster.  Oh and I’m not sure what the politics in the game are either.  Maybe I missed the mark.

Madaracs’ Demo Rating:  2/5 Stars

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Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII
Blazing Angels® 2 Demo
Ubisoft Entertainment

Wow!  A breath of fresh air–air that moves by your wings at mach 1.  You are a fighter pilot engaged in the Secret Missions of WWII.  You get to choose prototype aircraft conceived during but never used in WWII… until now.  The game has a unique aesthetic that a lot of flying games lack today.  For instance, in one particular battle you’re flying around destroying German outposts while you are constantly bombarded by enemy fire.  Oh yeah, that’s all normal but then add lightning strikes and weather along with searchlights that scan the skies with a watchful eye and some awesome flight effects and explosions and now you’re on to something.  I had a blast playing this in both the single player and online modes.  There is also a LAN mode as well.  PS3 LAN Party anyone?

Not only was it a pleasure to fly these new vehicles but they made the game in the vein of arcade racers.  That is to say, there are airplane physics but most of the normal laws don’t apply here.  You get to concentrate on your 12, your six and which weapon you’re about to use next.  The speed of the experimental aircraft is awesome too.  It allows you to chase rockets, catch up with enemy planes and dive bomb targets at ridiculous speeds.  I’ve not had this much fun with a flight-combat-simulator since X-Wing Vs. Tie-Fighter.  It’s fast-paced adventure at it’s best.  Plus 5 for being the most fun I’ve had recently with a video game since Ghostbusters and/or Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars.

Madaracs’ Demo Rating:  5/5 Stars

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Namco Museum Essentials
NAMCO MUSEUM™ ESSENTIALS Demo
Namco Bandai Games America Inc.

There is not much to say here that isn’t disappointing.   Namco needs to stop trying to bleed these titles for everything they’re worth on every console.  “WHAT?! You, who buys every Namco Museum title repeatedly for every console?”  Well, that may be somewhat true.  I do own a lot of duplicate arcade titles for consoles but I do that for two reasons really:

1. They’re used and they’re cheap.
2. They come in handy for retro gaming parties.

This collection is $9.99 and include the following games:

• Dragon Spirit: A classic 1942-style, top-scrolling, arcade-shooter that seems to have not been played by any of us as children or young adults, yet seems to be included on every museum title ever released.  It’s alright but there are other gems that are much more worth while.
• Xevious:  The name sounds cool.  Arguably one of the first in its genre of top-down-scroller shootem-ups.  Boring to me as there are no power ups and it seems like it takes forever-and-a-day to ever reach anything interesting.  I do, however, enjoy the music in this game which was used repeatedly on the California-based television game show:  Starcade.
• Galaga:  Namco says, “Do what sells.”  This title is probably the third most recognizable Namco title next to Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.  But what we’d really like here is something like Super Pac-Man and/or Gaplus.
• Dig Dug:  The classic digging platformer where you try to pump all of your enemies with air before they get you.  I don’t know who thought up this concept but it’s easily one of the best titles in this offering.
• Pac-Man:  Because it’s cheap to put it on the collection.
• Xevious Resurrection:  A revamped version of Xevious.

I downloaded the demo hoping to play the last title.  It’s isn’t available in the demo.  So I was stuck playing the first two levels of the other classic games.  Which I played just to see how they emulated.  They were all arcade perfect and displayed in their original aspect ratios.  However, 2/3 of the screen isn’t utilized during game play so it’s kind of a waste.  It would have been awesome to see something original like two of the games being emulated side by side… or even 3!  Allow your friends to play the games next to you in an Arcade-Like setting!  That would be sweet!  But no.  It’s just a big waste of space.  If Namco really wants us to buy a bunch of these games again they should demo the show-cased item and not make you unlock it or buy it to play it.  As a collector, I have many copies of these games that all still work GREAT on my PS3.  Namco, you’re gonna have to do something more interesting that offer me 5 games I already own for 10 bucks before I shell out anymore cash to play an ‘upgraded’ version of Xevious. Minus 1 for insulting me with this weak offering–this collection could have had 10 games in it for $9.99.   Minus one for offering the same 5 titles we always get on a premier offering by Namco, Minus one for not letting us try Xevious Resurrection in the demo, Minus one for pissing me off.

Madaracs’ Demo Rating:  1/5 Stars

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Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars
Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars
Psyonix Inc

An Add-On game built on the Unreal Engine, this gem has been hours of fun for me already.  I read the name which although not entirely original was extremely humorous, catchy and screamed FUN at the top of it’s lungs.  You race and defend your goal in a RC-Car style Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Car in varying arenas while trying to obliterate your opponents and score by nudging a large metal ball into a goal.  This game has it all, party mode, up to 4 players, online play, mini-games and more.

After downloading and playing the demo for a week, I ponied up for the full version and have enjoyed it ever since.  The game isn’t easy when you first pick it up but after running through 3-4 of the mini-games you get familiar with the controls and the fun takes off with a boost.  Plus 5 for overall originality, simplicity in objectives with complexity of options, fast-paced, action-packed, ball-smackin’ fun.

Madaracs’ Demo Rating:  5/5 Stars

After fighting through the final scenes last night, I was able to finally beat the end boss on the Ghosbusters game. First, I’d like to say, “What a great game!” Despite its shortcomings, Ghostbusters: The Game managed to keep me interested enough to finish the entire game. The story was well executed and so well suited for the video game genre. Enemies old and new were frequent in the game. It was funny, suspenseful and at times even a little scary; all of the things you’d hope to see in a Ghostbusters feature film. The finale was executed in typical Ghostbusters style, though I’d say it was a better executed story than Ghosbusters II.

The script worked brilliantly on most levels.   I’m sure had it been a feature much would have been omitted while other elements might have been expanded.  For instance, the roles of Walter Peck (reprised by William Atherton) and Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn (Alyssa Milano) would probably have had slightly more screen time.  For the game, this didn’t have to work–those characters didn’t need expansive roles. They served a purpose.  For the game it was all about the “new recruit”…  It was all about you.

There is little to complain about with this game. It gave me a chance to do something I’ve always thought would be fun to do: Bust ghosts. It furthered that by dropping you in with the characters we all came to know and love when they first burst onto the silver screen in 1984. With such an original sci-fi comedy formula and the right developers behind it–they made something extremely fun to play.

Having had a chance to let the hype die down–including my own overzealous fondness for the title, I’d have to rate it a solid 8 out of 10. First it loses a point for the obvious reason that no game of this caliber should be released with such major glitches. The library bug in this game on the PS3 is enough to drive you mad when you first encounter it. But the real tragedy is that there is no planned bug fix. For that I knock another point off. Overall, I’d highly recommend this title to anyone who has the curiosity to find out what it’s like to hold a positron glider and kick butt on some Free-Floating, Full-Torso, Vaporous Apparitions.

Ghostbusters: The Game 8/10 ~Madaracs

P.S. Until the end of the game I had no idea that Alyssa Milano or Erin Gray had done voices.  Erin’s voice is listed as having done “other voices”–I’ve been in love with her since 1979 when she donned the jumpsuit for Buck Rogers.
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