Far Cry 2 - Make your old PC feel cutting edge

Posted by Tiberius Jonez

I think we'd all agree that good gameplay is what ultimately counts in making any great videogame, but there is no doubt that great graphics make any gaming experience that much more immersive. Unfortunately, modern games with directx 10 capabilities and all the bells and whistles are often unplayable for the average PC owner.

With Far Cry 2, the brainwizards at Ubisoft have somehow managed to make one of the most stunning graphics engines without requiring a $3,000 uber-rig to run the game.

The Far Cry 2 video below (recorded from my PC using FRAPS) features the game's opening sequence so you can see just how pretty this game is, even without maxing out every graphics option. While my PC is capable of running Far Cry 2 with maxed out settings, this video demonstrates that even if you don't have the latest tech in your PC, you can still enjoy beautiful graphics.

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Far Cry 2's manual recommends 2GB of ram to run the game with full settings, and as you can see, it runs well. My PC has 2 Gb of OCZ Platinum Rev 2 Ram (800mhz). The game's graphics settings are set to "very high" with 4x antialiasing, "ultra real" trees and lighting.

I am thoroughly impressed with this engine. It runs smoothly while making your eyes burn with glorious graphics splendor. The only downside is, if you weren't a graphics whore before playing this game, you will be after. You've been warned.

Enjoy the video.

Blogging with video - the basics

Posted by Tiberius Jonez

As an avid gamer and gaming journalist, I’ve always appreciated blogs that include original video with their stories. Unfortunately, until recently, the prospect of including videos here at GameJonez Blog just seemed like more effort than it was worth.

From capturing video, to editing it and compressing it to an acceptable size for blogging (100MB or less) while still retaining a high enough level of quality to make it worth viewing online, the prospect of learning the process was daunting to say the least.

As usual, we fear that which we don’t understand. After several hours of googling, downloading and trial and error, I can safely say I now have at least a functioning understanding of how to make this video blogging thing a reality.

The Gears of War video below was created using the steps outlined in this short article.



If you want to learn how to do this yourself, read on.

There are some basic steps to keep in mind when it comes to capturing, manipulating and uploading videos to the internet. First, you need a utility for capturing the video. For the purposes of this article, I am talking only about capturing PC video, not video from gaming consoles. By far, the best utility I found, and the highest rated around the net is FRAPS. You can buy the full version of FRAPS for $37, which is a steal when you see how powerful and easy it is to use. A trial version is also available and will work for this purpose.

Once installed, simply start FRAPS and then start whatever program you want to capture video from – a game, a browser, whatever. Basically whatever your video card is outputting at the time, FRAPS will capture it and save it. Simply hit the F9 key to begin capturing, and press it again to stop. FRAPS can also take and save screenshots in your preferred format by hitting the F10 key. Besides capturing video and screenshots, FRAPS has many functions as a benchmarking utility as well. For more info on FRAPS’ benchmarking capabilities, visit the FRAPS website.

Once you’ve captured some avi video with FRAPS, you will see the next problem to overcome – that video you captured is HUGE!!! The video below (which is under 5 minutes long) originally weighed in at over 2.5 GIGS! Most blogs and other sites like YouTube will limit you to uploading videos of 100MB or less.

Not to worry, our friends over at Adobe have the perfect solution – Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0. You can download the 30 day free trial for short term use, but if you have any interest in video editing from your camcorder or other source, you really can’t go wrong with Adobe Premiere Elements.

Now, Premiere Elements isn’t quite as simple as FRAPS, but it’s far from rocket science. For now, let’s keep it simple. All you’re going to do in Elements is open your saved avi file, edit it if you like, and then export it.

When you choose to export, you will be prompted to select your preferred codec. I recommend Windows Media Player simply because almost everyone has it and, more importantly, it does an excellent job of compressing video while maintaining a high level of visual quality. Once you’ve selected a codec, you can set several other parameters like aspect ration, etc. Otherwise, you can just click OK and go with the defaults.

The cool thing here is any changes you make to the export settings can be saved as an export template, so you can use these same settings for future projects.

After the video finishes saving, open it up and prepare to be amazed. Our video which was once 2.5GB’s is now only 17.5MB’s (your numbers will vary based on the settings you chose). That’s an astounding level of compression. Of course, the higher quality video settings you select during the export process, the larger your final file will be. You may be surprised just how high a quality of video you can achieve while staying under 100MB’s.

Voila! That’s pretty much it. Your video is done. All you need to do now is upload it to Blogger or YouTube and that’s as easy as following their simple instructions. With Blogger, it’s as simple as adding a photo to a story.

So, let your inner video producer out and start posting your videos for the world to see today!

Gears of War 2: Flashback Map Pack

Posted by Tiberius Jonez

Tomorrow, one of the biggest titles of the year ships with a sizable bonus regardless of which version you pick up. In addition to the ten multiplayer maps included with Gears of War 2, Epic Games has added a download code within each new copy of the game to download five additional maps taken from the original Gears of War. The Flashback Map Pack not only adds a dose of nostalgia to the Gears of War 2 multiplayer experience but it freshens the "old" maps with new designs for each.

Some of the changes you can expect include the waters of Canals now being frozen, Gridlock's been overtaken by lush vegetation, Tyro Station seems to have had an upgrade in tech, Mansion appears more abandoned than ever and Subway has dried up and now rains pieces of ash from the ongoing war.

Check out the video to see the changes for yourself.

Mounting losses force EA to layoff 600 employees

Submitted by Tiberius Jonez

It seems noone is immune to the ill-effects of this Bush economy, and that includes industry giant Electronic Arts. The uber publisher announced its second quarter fiscal results and the news is not good. Coming off a first quarter loss of $95 million, EA announced a loss of $310 million for the period ending September 30. The loss comes despite the retail successes of Madden NFL 09 (4.5 million units sold), Spore (2 million units sold) and Warhammer Online (1.2 million units sold).

Due to the mounting losses, EA announced plans to eliminate roughly 600 employees, representing 6% of the company's total work force. While EA expects to make up some of the losses with upcoming holiday sales, we doubt that makes those 600 feel any better.

Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm, Are you serious?

By Melissa Melanson

So, I saw this review on Gamespot and just had to look further. I've watched all the Deadliest Catch shows this season and I couldn't believe it possible that they would make a video game? but nowadays they make videogames of just about anything so why not? This game has been out since mid June and this is the first I've heard of it. Why am I not surprised?

I can't imagine playing a game like this as I've watched the real life experience of being a fisherman on the Bering Sea and it seems terrifying. However, after I watched gamespot's review they did mention that you play most of the game as the captain barking orders, determining where to fish, etc... I like the idea that you in the safety of the cabin most of the time but that you still get to experience in some sense.

I think after about an hour or so I might be bored though because really how exciting can it be when all you see is the vast Bering Sea out your windows. Maybe the next time they want to create a game from a reality show and would like to do something with water they should try ICE ROAD TRUCKERS instead. That actually sounds like it might be fun.

I would recommend if you would like to play this game that you rent and not buy. I don't personally think its worth the $50 they are charging for it.
What do you guys think? Would you consider playing this game?

Cliff “Don’t call me Cliffy B” Bleszinski on Gears of War 2 fixes

By Tiberius Jonez

Gears of War was a great game – no doubt about it. The campaign was fun, and while the multiplayer was what really gave the game its long legs, it was far from perfect. Many players hated the grenade sticking (I loved it) and Epic addressed that issue with a patch that somehow made me even better at it. Others found the chainsaw randomness annoying. But without a doubt the biggest complaint I heard during online matches was about the host shotgun advantage. Basically, if the host of a match used a shotgun, that player could destroy the entire opposing team even when it seemed a certainty that he was out of shottie range or not even aiming at his victim. It could turn a mostly great online experience into a frustrating, cuss-laden, controller-throwing scream fest.

Well, in a recent interview with GamePro, Gears creator Cliff Bleszinski says Epic has addressed all those bugs, and that Gears 2 will best its predecessor in every way. From an improved cover system and chainsaw duels to more players online, a more stylized lighting engine and much more, Gears of War 2 appears to be well on its way to taking the franchise to all new heights of bloody goodness.

He Said, “Lego Indiana Jones, The Original Adventures” is a pleasant surprise

By Tiberius Jonez

Well, as you can see below, my better half has really enjoyed playing the new Lego Indiana Jones game. Well, why not, with a name like Jones – it has to be good, right?

Well, when I asked for the game for Father’s Day, it was more an excuse to have something we could play together than an outright desire to play it myself. Sure, I had read reviews of the previous Lego games and figured they must at least be decent, but I honestly thought they’d be too simple for an uber-gamer like me. However, I am pleasantly surprised to report, Lego Indiana Jones,The Original Adventures is a really fun game – and it’s challenging to boot.

The graphics are very cute and quite eye-pleasing aside from some noticeable vertical tearing. The camera angle isn’t always conducive to making the platforming aspects of the game as easy as they could be – which is somewhat surprising considering this is the latest of several such Lego games. While it is somewhat disappointing that Traveler’s Tales, the developer responsible for the game hasn’t solved the game’s camera issues – it is not a huge detractor from the game’s overall fun factor.

While I was expecting simple puzzles from the title, I can attest to the fiendish difficulty of some of the game’s puzzles portions. We’ve had to consult YouTube on more than one occasion to figure out what step we were missing to get past different challenges the game presented for us.

As far as the way Traveler's Tales handles the Indiana Jones franchise – they do a remarkable job of remaining true to the movies while adding their own unique comic twists here and there. A sense of fun and light-hearted humor pervades the entire production and adds nicely to the title’s overall appeal. Any fan of the man in the hat will enjoy the Lego treatment he receives.

Overall, I would highly recommend Lego Indiana Jones, The Original Adventures to anyone who either loves good action-platforming-puzzle games, or to any fan of the Indiana Jones movies.

Indy is a winner on the big and small screens!

She Said "Lego Indiana Jones, the original adventure" is awesome!!

by Melissa Melanson

So who am I? I am Tiberius Jonez' wife. I endure the night after night of game playing in our house. To be honest, I am a sims2 fan so as you can see I don't have much gaming experience myself however, I can tell a psp from a ps3. I can talk a big "game", I just don't play them a lot until my husband asked for this game for Father's day. I thought "great another game", Sigh, but this one was different. Tiberius asked me if I wanted to play and I thought why not? Couldn't hurt I guess.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was. I've seen all the movies but my memory isn't the best so I didn't remember half as much as my husband did about what comes next so for me it was a surprise around every corner which made it even more exciting. I always played the sidekick and he played Indie. We made a great team.



Even our 2 year old son who loves Video Games (what a shock!!) liked watching. It was exciting, challenging and the puzzles were quite difficult. A few times we had to even look for help as neither of us could figure out the next step. I like games that make you think and just aren't a shootem up game with really no point but to shoot the enemy. I would highly recommend this game to young and old. The lego style is really quite unique and fun. I think that is what I liked about it the most. If the style was geared more towards a lara croft look, more realistic I don't know if I would have been so inclined to play, but this style almost seemed silly and once I started playing it sucked me in. I can't wait until my husband gets home every night so we can play. We've played a total of 3 nights now and have maybe completed 1/5th of the game thus far. I suspect there will be many more nights of fun to come.

Sony working on “wii-mote” for PS3

By Tiberius Jonez

Sony’s PS3 is slowly starting to outsell the Xbox 360 and now they are aiming to steal some of Nintendo’s thunder by creating a new motion-sensing controller that will break apart into two pieces similar to the Wii-Mote.

While Sony declined comment, it is rumored that the new controller has already been shipped to developers who are working on some Wii-like titles.

With Blu-Ray now the standard High Definition DVD format, the slow roll-out of HOME expected later this year and this move designed to target the casual or non-gamer, Sony is hoping to position the PS3 as the best value for a home entertainment system currently available.

When Sony will officially announce the new controller is unknown, but you can be sure they will make it public at this year’s E3 expo, if not sooner.

Gamefly Reviewed – Should you be renting games?

by Tiberius Jonez

This is a story I originally posted in Feb. 07. I wanted to bring it back and ask you, the reader what you think? Do you use gamefly? If not, tell me do you rent or buy and why?

I recently became a member of Gamefly. For the uninitiated, Gamefly is the Netflix of video games. A monthly subscription fee of $21.95 allows you to rent two games at a time ($28.95 for three) for as long as you like with no late fees. You can also opt to buy the game if you like it, and they will send you the original case and manual. They offer a huge library of games from every console manufacturer including the Next-Gen offerings and handhelds.

I have found Gamefly to be a huge money saver in my household. As a father with a 6 month old son, money is at a premium, and cutting costs is a very real factor in our every day lives.

As someone who used to spend $60 to $180 every month on games, often returning them after a week because of dissatisfaction and only getting a fraction of the purchase value in in-store credit, Gamefly has been a welcome way to increase entertainment while reducing costs.

Gamefly is very convenient; you simply make your game choices in order of desire on their website, and the games arrive in the mail 2 to 4 business days later. The envelope converts to a postage paid return envelope. By using "Fastscan" technology, when a returned game is scanned at your local post office, Gamefly receives the information instantly and ships out the next game on your list before the last one is even received back at the warehouse. Pretty slick! (note: the Fastscan feature isn’t available in some rural areas where electronic scanning technology is still not used).

In the 3 months that I've been a member, I've rented 12 games. Had I purchased those games, I would have spent roughly $700. That’s a savings of $635 for me and my family. Every game I've rented so far has been free of defects, and it’s been a great way to catch up on some of the games I've missed out on over the past year.

One of the best features of Gamefly is the prices for games you choose to purchase. They are significantly less than used prices offered at regular game retailers.

The greatest benefit I've personally received is the improved attitude of my wife towards my gaming. She used to constantly drop not-so-subtle hints about the costs of my gaming. Now, she doesn't mind me playing nearly as much because of the huge reduction is money spent for gaming each month. In fact, she has rented a couple DS games herself and we bought Mariokart DS after renting it and we play it together. Now, that’s a win-win situation!

All in all, I whole-heartedly recommend Gamefly as a great way to both save money and to try out the games you are interested in to see if they are worthy of a purchase.

Gamefly Netflix

Video Game Writers Wanted

by Tiberius Jonez
email tiberiusjonez@gmail.com

Do you think you have what it takes to write about the Video Game Industry for GameJonez?

We are currently in the process of filling our writing staff. For now, these are unpaid positions. We are looking for sharp, knowledgeable and interesting personalities who have an innate love of Video Games and a desire to share their passion with the world.

If you think you have the desire and ability to add something of value to our vision, feel free to email a brief explanation of what you think you would bring to the table as a staff writer for GameJonez along with a sample of your writing to GameJonez. All writing samples should be between 250 - 1000 words. Samples can be reviews, news stories, opinion pieces or interviews. Pretty much anything, as long as it is about Video Games or the Industry. Sources must be cited and spelling and grammar definitely do count.

We will contact those that warrant it via email with further instructions.

Good luck!!

Anti-gaming Attorney Jack Thompson facing ten-year disbarment

By Tiberius Jonez

This week’s proof that our society may not be on the brink of destruction after all is the news that the Florida Bar Association has requested embattled anti-gaming attorney Jack Thompson be disbarred for ten years based on the 27 misconduct charges he was found guilty of last month.

According to gamepolitics, Thompson reportedly stormed out of the hearing after Judge Dava Tunis refused to let him read a lengthy objection aloud. Tunis, acting as referee on behalf of the Florida Supreme Court, did permit Thompson to submit a copy of his objection for the record, but by leaving the courtroom, Thompson missed the opportunity to argue any mitigating factors to the Bar's recommendation for harsh punishment. A request for disbarment is not an official punishment – that decision is left squarely in the hands of Judge Tunis.

In other Thompson-related news, a federal lawsuit filed by Thompson against the Florida Supreme Court has been dismissed with prejudice, meaning that he cannot file it again. Thompson still has two other lawsuits pending related to his ongoing Bar trial.

If you’ve followed the saga of Jack Thompson at all, you know the guy is clearly off his rocker – using his license to practice law (if that’s what you can call it) to slander an entire industry. He is most famous for his zealous attacks on Grand Theft Auto developer Take Two/Rockstar.

Thankfully, it is beginning to appear cooler heads are going to prevail and Mr. Thompson will soon be harassing noone (at least not in the legal sense) for at least a decade.

>golf clapping all around<

Ninja Gaiden’s Itagaki leaving and suing Tecmo

By Tiberius Jonez

Team Ninja head and the creator of acclaimed fighting series Dead or Alive, Tomonobu Itagaki has announced his resignation from Tecmo as well as his intent to sue the company. The news comes just as his latest game, Ninja Gaiden 2 is about to be released to U.S. retailers.

In addition to resigning his position at the company – where he had a seat on the board of directors – Itagaki has announced his intention to sue Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda for 148 million yen (US$1.5m) in damages. Among the grievances listed in the statement are Yasuda's unwillingness to pay him bonuses promised for work on titles including Dead or Alive 4, and allegations that Yasuda "made demeaning remarks" about him to other Tecmo employees, which resulted in "significant emotional distress" and "worsening [of his] personal relationships and work environment."

Itagaki gained some notoriety as the graphics programmer on Tecmo Super Bowl for the SNES in 1993. He later gained fame as the creator of Dead or Alive, the critically acclaimed fighting series which was eventually secured as an exclusive by Microsoft for the release of Dead or Alive 3 on the original Xbox. Dead or Alive 4 was also a Microsoft exclusive for the Xbox 360.

In his statement, Itagaki confirmed that he will have no involvement in future Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden games. This news has to be concerning for both gamers and Tecmo as it is unknown what affect his departure will have on either franchise.

Call of Duty 4 passes 10 million units sold

By Tiberius Jonez

Infinity Ward’s smash hit and multiple Game of the Year award winner, Call of Duty 4 has surpassed 10 million units sold. According to studio head Vince Zampella, COD4 is one of less than ten titles to reach that milestone since 2000. While he didn’t list the other titles to reach the 10 mil mark, Halo 3 by comparison had sold 8.1 million copies as of January ’08 – an equally impressive feat considering it is only available on the Xbox 360.

In an interview with CNET yesterday, Zampella didn’t offer a platform by platform breakdown of sales, but he did say the game has been the most successful on the Xbox 360.

It’s impossible to say how many more copies COD4 would have sold had it been available on the Wii. But it’s a moot point as Zampella said that Infinity Ward decided not to make the game for that console because "it just doesn't fit on the Wii. We thought it would be compromised to be on (that) platform."

COD4 is the only game this writer has ever owned for three different platforms. Yes, it’s sad but true, I own the 360, PS3 and PC versions of COD4. It gets the most play on the 360 – by a wide margin, but if I am relegated to other rooms of the house for whatever reason, I can still play what I consider to be the greatest shooter of all time.

Sadly, Call of Duty 5 is being developed by Treyarch, the studio responsible for the underwhelming Call of Duty 3. Activision has decided to maintain an every-other-game development cycle between Treyarch and Infinity Ward to facilitate shorter gaps between releases. Unfortunately, Treyarch has yet to prove themselves in the same class as Infinity Ward, so I have less than high expectations for COD5. Hopefully Treyarch will prove me wrong this time around and take some lessons from their uber-talented brethren from IW. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it fellas.

Time Warner plans metered internet rates for broadband users

by Tiberius Jonez

In a move sure to outrage the gaming community and many broadband users in general, Time Warner Cable Inc on Thursday will begin testing a service that charges consumers of high-speed Internet service based on their usage.

According to the story from Reuters, the test will take place in Beaumont, Texas, where broadband subscribers will be charged $1 per gigabyte above monthly allowances. The new policy is intended to address the top 5 percent of users, who have spent a "disproportionate" amount of time on Time Warner Cable's network, a company spokesman said.

Such usage is "taxing the infrastructure," according to a spokesman for Time Warner. "In order to make investments in the infrastructure, we have to find the revenue to pay for it."

Consumers in the test region will be offered several levels of service. A $29.95 per month plan for slower speeds of 768 kilobits per second and a 5 gigabyte limit would let users send and receive about 349,525 e-mails, play 170 hours of online games, or download 1,383 digital songs per month.

At the high end, a $54.90 monthly fee for a 15-megabit-per-second service and a 40 gigabyte monthly limit would allow subscribers to watch 124 hours of standard-definition videos or download 11,070 songs.

Metered rates could definitely have an impact on gamers who play several hours a week of multiplayer games on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. Imagine the poor World of Worldcraft crowd - ZOMG!

I am not happy about this at all. I don’t know what it would mean for my family’s monthly cable bill – but I can tell you this much; if it means an increase for my service we will be looking long and hard at switching to satellite internet and T.V. service. Our cable bill is already over $200 a month and any more is just not acceptable.

Time Warner is also missing the point that the top 5% of users are the ones that get the most new users to come on board to broadband because they are the ones that are the best source of viral marketing for broadband companies. By alienating them like this, Time Warner could suffer a serious backlash that they have not anticipated.

For Time Warner to justify the metered rates as the only way to cover infrastructure costs rings hollow to me. In 2005, on top of his $12.2 million in pay and stocks, the company provided CEO Richard Parsons $100,000 for financial services, $321,127 for travel expenses and $52,800 to rent a Los Angeles apartment. Apparently, they are not exactly living paycheck to paycheck like most of us.

If Time Warner goes to metered rates and you’re a TW customer, would you cut your internet usage to pay less, pay more to stay the same, or pay substantially more to have greater capacity? Or would you try to switch away from them entirely? Comment and let us know.

Wii Fit impressions

by Tiberius Jonez

I've had a few days with Wii Fit and I'm ready to give you my impressions of this highly anticipated Wii title.

The first thing I'll say is we were lucky to even get a copy of the game as it's been sold out everywhere around the greater Minneapolis area since its release. We just happened to be in Walmart this weekend and decided to check for it on a whim, and lo and behold, there were two copies that must have just come in so we grabbed one.

When we got it home and set it up the first thing we (the wife and I) noticed was the quality of the balance board - this thing is sturdy. I weigh about 250lbs and it didn't even flinch at me when I stood on it. Conversely, it was accurate reading the inputs of my 2 year old son who weighs less than 30 lbs.

When you first boot up the game it does an overall assessment of your Body Mass Index (BMI) and gauges your balance. The balance part of it seemed a little strange to both my wife and myself as it seems like you have to lean forward a bit to achieve a "center" of balance. Perhaps this is accurate and we both have poor posture but it felt a bit odd. Once the initial assessment is complete, you are asked to set a goal for future sessions. You can set a goal to lose, maintain or gain weight over a period of time ranging from two weeks to 6 months.

Once the assessment was done, we dove into some of the "games" included with Wii Fit. Initially, only some of the mini-games are available to try. As you progress and spend time with Wii Fit, you are rewarded with more game variations based on the number of minutes you spend "working out". I haven't tried all the available options, but I can say of the ones I've tried - stepping, hula hooping, soccer, tight rope walking, slalom skiing and ski jumping - the skiing games are my favorite by far.

The Ski jumping requires you to maintain a squatting, forward leaning center of balance during the run down the ramp and then when you reach the end of the ramp you thrust up into an extended standing position, leaning forward with a good center of balance to achieve and maintain a good jump.

This game is quite fun and it replicated the feeling (or what I would guess the feeling is like) quite nicely. It was a satisfying experience and one I wanted to repeat over and over again.

My other favorite was the slalom skiing. The controls of this were simple to learn, but difficult to master. Essentially, you lean forward on your tip toes to get maximum speed and lean your body weight left or right to steer. It sounds simple, but is much more difficult than it sounds. Even on novice (the only level available initially) the balance board is quite sensitive to your inputs and requires small adjustments to keep from veering off course. If you run the slalom three or four times in a row, you can really feel it in your ankles, calves and hamstrings.

When I got my best time of 30.5 seconds I was very pleased with myself - even though I'm sure that is probably a lame time in the grand scheme of things.

The soccer game has you leaning left and right to stop incoming "shots" of soccer balls while dodging shoes and other non-ball objects. I found this quite challenging, mainly because it is very difficult to recover from a wrong move if you incorrectly anticipate an incoming object.

The tight rope walking game has you walking and maintaining your center of balance while occasionally "jumping" over an obstacle. I thought this was a bit boring.

I haven't delved into the strength exercises or yoga bits of the game yet, but what I've seen so far has been quite positive and I'm sure for those of you who are in less than great shape, you can indeed get a bit of a workout. Wii Fit won't replace your gym membership as an overall fitness regimen, but it will get you moving and can certainly help you improve your balance.

While I was unhappy with the fact that you have to unlock activities by putting time into the Wii Fit activities, my wife thought that was a good thing and an added incentive to get the most out of the title's fitness offering by making you commit some time and effort into the exercise regimen the game offers.

Overall, my impressions of Wii Fit are positive. The balance board is a quality peice of equipment and if the future activities are as interesting and fun as the skiing aspects then I will certainly have a good time playing it. Regardless, at the very least, I know it will be an excuse to spend some quality time with my wife doing something that we will both enjoy.

The possibilities for future games using the balance board are endless and I look forward to seeing what comes of it. A skiing or snowboarding game using it could be quite successful.

In short, if you have any interest in such an offering, I would suggest picking up Wii Fit, that is if you can find one in stock at a retailer near you.

MGS4 first reviews hit the web – opinions vary

By Tiberius Jonez

The first reviews are out for Metal Gear Solid 4: Sons of the Patriots, and it appears Hideo Kojima’s latest MGS creation is as stunning as its fans were hoping – and as frustrating and tedious as its detractors remember.

IGN UK says, “MGS 4 is simply a game that you have to experience for yourself. Because the one thing that can certainly be said, prohibited topics or not, is that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is, without question, the ultimate Metal Gear game. It represents the pinnacle of Hideo Kojima's achievement, and it's undoubtedly one of the games of the year.”

The IGN UK author does acknowledge the (over?) abundance of cinematic cut-scenes in the game, a staple of MGS games, noting, “well, yes, you could argue that there are too many of them, that they're too long, and that the dialogue is occasionally leaden. Indeed many of the most dramatic cut-scenes might make you crave action, or wonder why they couldn't have been turned into interactive sequences. But that's because they're the work of an auteur, and if you're going to enjoy the high points of Hideo Kojima's vision, there has to be an acceptance of his excesses, too.”

On the other hand is the review from Eurogamer, which wraps up with the following conclusion, by the end “You're sorry to see Snake go. But should you be? Guns of the Patriots is a frustrating, fractured game that turns Metal Gear Solid's world upside down several times over, but never changes it. It just burrows deeper into what fans love and detractors hate than ever before, and it will make few converts. It's a crying shame, given how many genuinely classic gaming moments there are here, given the countless exquisite creative touches, but Metal Gear Solid 4 is its own worst enemy. You could not ask for a funnier, cleverer, more ambitious or inspired or over-the-top conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid series, but it's definitely time to move on.

We love you, Snake. Don't come back."

Two very divergent opinions there.

MGS4 drops in North America on June 12th. I’ll have it on day one and will give my own impressions after I’ve spent a couple days with it.