If you haven’t heard of it yet, then it’s about time that you did! The PlayStation store has a lot of goodies for their customers. I can just imagine the reactions of most gamers visiting the store for the first time since they launched their holiday update – I am sure they would be like little kids on Christmas morning.

So what makes this Christmas merry for PlayStation enthusiasts? There are tons of new stuff available at the PlayStation store but the best thing – at least for me – is that they are giving away so much free stuff. I could go on and on about how great and exciting it is but here’s a list of what you can find there:

Games
Toy Home ($9.99)
Snakeball ($9.99)
Snakeball Demo (free)
Trials of Topoq ($4.99) - requires the PlayStation Eye
Mesmerize: Distort ($1.99)
BlackSite: Area 51 Demo (free)

Expansions and Add-ons
Warhawk: Omega Dawn ($7.99)
Folklore Holiday Add-On (free)
MotorStorm Holiday Skin (free)
Guitar Hero III Add-On (free) - Contains “We Three Kings”
High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition Add-On 1 (free) - Adds three game types: Omaha, Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple
High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition Add-On 2 (free) - Adds two game types: 5 Card Draw and 7 Card Stud
Rock Band Add-Ons ($1.99 each) - “Brass in Pocket” by The Pretenders, “Buddy Holly” by Weezer” and “My Iron Lung” by Radiohead

Game Videos
Devil May Cry 4 “Final” Trailer
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Trailer
PlayStation 3 “Universe of Entertainment”
PlayStation 3 “Only On”
PSP “Features”
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground “Mike V’s Skater Story” Trailer
Turok - Gameplay Vignette #3 Dino Mauling
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune “Facial Animation”
Warhawk Omega Dawn Trailer

Movie Trailers
Strange Wilderness
Shakira Oral Fixation Tour (Blu-ray)
Themes and Wallpapers
Warhawk Theme
PAIN Cookie Theme
PAIN Santa Theme
High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition Wallpaper

Here are the last couple of PS3 games that you may want to check out before Christmas.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Who has not heard of Call of Duty? It is practically a legend in the world of gaming. Any decent person who calls himself a gamer should at least try this latest in the Call of Duty series. It gets a rating of 9 from Gamespot. The good:

• High-quality story mode packs in a lot of thrilling and unexpected moments
• Well-designed multiplayer progression gives you something to shoot for online
• Terrific audiovisual presentation.

The downside:

• Campaign mode is much shorter than those of the average shooter.

Now that really sucks – having a great game with a campaign that leaves you begging for more.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Though I have heard nothing but good about this game, I am still undecided about whether to get a copy for myself. I was just talking to a friend this morning and he was raving about the game. Gamespot seems to tone down a bit with a rating of 8. They do detail the following pros:

• The best tracklist of any Guitar Hero game to date
• Lots of master tracks from the original bands and artists
• Online play is a fantastic addition
• Higher difficulty level ensures experienced players won’t get bored quickly.

The downside:

• Higher difficulty level ensures most people’s arms will fall off halfway through the expert career
• Battle mode and boss battles aren’t interesting additions
• A heavy dose of in-game advertising
• Some frame-rate issues .

I still can’t decide but it seems a lot of people out there are convinced.

Here are the next couple of great PS3 games for the year.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
This game got an almost perfect score from Gamespot – a 9.5! I am sure you know that this game made it big on the PC and the Xbox 360 before it came to the PS3 but it seems to be just as good – maybe even better because of the platform. Gamespot says:

• A massive and gorgeous world to explore
• an engaging story and dozens of hours’ worth of intriguing and exciting side quests
• core role-playing mechanics like combat and magic are as adaptable as they are enjoyable
• excellent music and hours of good voice acting.

The only negative point to it is that there are slight performance issues – but don’t they all have that?

The Orange Box
This is a compilation of some of the best loved games in video gaming history. Overcoming the negative perception that many have when it comes to game compilations, The Orange Box offers the following: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the puzzle game Portal, and the colorful multiplayer action game Team Fortress 2.

What does Gamespot have to say? They gave it a 9 and following points:

• The Half-Life 2 saga represents some of the greatest shooter gameplay ever made
• Portal is a brilliant and humorous puzzle game
• Outstanding visual and audio design
• An unprecedented value.

Again, the downside has to do with slight performance issues. For 5 games in one, I’d say it is a very good deal.

You can have the best console in the world but that does not mean that all the games made for it would be fun. The Playstation3 has suffered from its own setbacks in the past year but it seems that there are some games out there that just can’t be resisted by avid video gamers. Here are some of the best PS3 games that you can get for Christmas.

Assassin’s Creed
Gamespot gave this game a 9 – pretty impressive, I should say. Good points include:

• Huge, gorgeous world that feels wholly alive
• Fluid controls make it fun to run across city rooftops
• Joyous mix of stealth, action, and platforming
• Stunning sound design features fantastic voice acting and a beautiful musical score
• Tons of small details will constantly amaze you.

The downside:

• Confusing ending
• A few small visual glitches.

My copy is on the way.

Rock Band
MTV is making headway into the video game scene with this game, given a 9 by Gamespot. I haven’t tried it but according to Gamespot, here are the good points:

• As party games go, this one tops the charts
• Included hardware is a lot of fun to play with
• Band world tour mode is severely addictive
• Fantastic presentation
• This game will probably make you a better drummer.

The bad?

• $170 price is a lot of money
• Band world tour can’t be played online
• Some hardware reliability concerns.

(to be continued)

Are you ready for the second half of this list? Here goes…

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal
This one’s for the Wii. We all love Looney Tunes – who does not? Yet the game released for the Wii just ruined everything. Check out what 1UP has to say about this game:

It’s painful watching Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal strive for mediocrity. With such a creatively flexible license (evident in Duck Amuck for the DS, releasing the same day), it’s even more disappointing to see it abused so haphazardly in an uninspired, glitchy, sometimes broken action-platformer. Calling Arsenal a hack-n-slash would be overcomplicating matters — it’s really just hack, at best. It’s too simplistic and childish for any passing intellectual enjoyment (even the classic Looney Tunes humor is put to poor use), and far too difficult in practice for anyone young enough to enjoy it to actually play it.

It’s sad.

Deal or No Deal
The game for the DS does not do the real game show any justice at all. I know how exciting watching the TV show can be. I couldn’t wait to play the video game. I wish I had saved that money for something else. The guys at Gamespot hit the nail right on the head:

By all accounts, making a game based on NBC’s hit game show Deal or No Deal should be the most idiot-proof concept in the world…It might not make for an especially interesting video game (it certainly didn’t in the PC version released earlier this year), but if the template is followed correctly, it should be, if nothing else, functional. However, Deal or No Deal for the DS somehow manages to screw it up, turning in a completely broken translation of the game.

Every year, when it draws to an end, people feel this urge to make lists about various things that happened in the past year. For us gamers, it would be great to come up with a list of the best and the worst games of 2007, don’t you think? Let’s start with the “bad” first. Do bear in mind that this list is based on opinion and should not be misconstrued as factual – each one is entitled to his own list.

Wii Pool Party
According to IGN, it is merely a step below the Wii Play pool mini game. Here’s what else they had to say:

With the recent success of Wii, fans of Nintendo’s new motion-based system will simply have to get used to the fact that big sales bring huge libraries, and not everything is going to be worth the time or money. Pool Party is just one of those titles.

I like the Wii – who does not? Yet I have to agree with IGN on this one.

F24: Stealth Fighter

Take this from Gamespot:

• Not much variety in mission goals or enemy vehicles
• guns are worthless thanks to jumpy controls
• planes are tiny and 2D backgrounds are weak
• bland graphics make it tough to stay oriented.

On the bright side, it does remind one of classic combat video games, doesn’t it?

The Shield
IGN rates this game as “hide your money.” I am glad I never bought this game but I have heard enough about it so I don’t really care much.

(to be continued)

There is no doubt about it – countless GTA fans have been disappointed time and again because of the numerous delays that the release has encountered. I don’t know about you but despite the frustration and impatience that we have all experienced, I am quite sure that you couldn’t wait to get your hands on the latest trailer and screen shots that Rockstar Games released last week. There is just no denying it – we want the game and even a mere peep at it is enough to get our interests once again.

Rockstar Games did not really release much by way of information. There have been some rumors that Seth Green is the voice behind the tattooed skin head in the game. Other information that one can glean from the video comes from the snippets of conversation and car chases in Liberty City. Other than that we have nothing. Were you satisfied? I need the game – that is all that I can say.

Here are some screen shots for eye candy:

This piece of news has been circulating in the world of gaming for the past few days and it has been causing quite a buzz. According to US Prosecutor Kym Worthy, there are some games that are simply not for children. She spoke to the Detroit News about her views and gave interesting summaries about each game. Here is the list in her own words:

1. Grand Theft Auto
“Allows to players to act out crimes and rewards players for doing so.”

2. Manhunt
“Revolves around the making of a snuff film.”

3. Scarface
“Involves buying and selling drugs and killing hundreds of people.”

4. 50 Cent: Bulletproof
“Rapper 50 cent is involved in a web of corruption, double crosses and shady deals that lead him on a bloody path through New York’s drug underworld.”

5. 300: The Video Game
“Invites game room gladiators to slice their way through the Persian army.”

6. The Godfather
“Opens with a ‘child’s version’ of the player witnessing the murder of his father.”

7. Killer-7
“Experienced adult gamers call this the most violent and twisted game ever played.”

8. Resident Evil 4
“Shoot outs involving massive crowds of enemies in large open areas. A typical play-through can result in the killing of up to 900 enemies.”

9. God of War
“A sea of unrelenting violence”

10. Hitman: Blood Money
“Self-proclaimed ‘most violent’ game of a series. This game glamorizes killing.”

Admittedly, I haven’t played some of the games on this list. There is one thing I have to say, though. I am all for video games – violence and all – if they reach their target audience. I am not bashing the gaming world. All I am saying is that parents indeed need to know what they are buying for their kids. However, maybe it would be better if they visited the sites of these games for more in depth information instead of relying on a single person’s point of view. What do you think?

The Wii has been outselling the other gaming consoles for the past year, right? This revolutionary gaming console has converted a lot of video gamers with its unique way of playing and fun games – much to the dismay of some hardcore console gamers. Well here’s more news for all of us – a Ghostbusters game is coming out for the Wii.

I see this working both ways – Wii fans would he holding their breaths till the game actually comes out and they can get to play it. On the other hand, fans of other consoles (who are Ghostbuster fans as well – I am sure there are quite a lot) would rather have the game come out for their preferred console.

In any case, there is nothing to be done about it right now. Ghostbusters is coming out and it is coming out for the Wii. What can Wii lovers expect?

For one, the setting is quite authentic – way back in 1991. This would be enough to negate any fears that the Ghostbusters in the game would be aging and unable to perform like they did way back then. Those who remember the Stay Puft marshmallow man and the creepy librarian from the first movie will also be thrilled to know that they will be featured in the game.

Then again, for a game which has a lot of potential, the Wii might be limiting it to a certain extent. Rumor has it that the game is mostly focused on multiplayer game play wherein players have to beat each other in terms of busting the most number of furniture, ghost catching races, and the like. I am sure PS3 and Xbox360 fans would prefer something else.

Just a couple more days and owners of the Xbox 360 will be able to download the latest dashboard update from Microsoft. Rumors about this latest update have been circulating in the past month and it seems that, finally, there is something solid to wait for.

The latest dashboard update is set to be released on the 4th of December and is supposed to allow Xbox 360 owners to download original Xbox titles – among other things. Xbox 360 owners know that dashboard updates are only released twice a year and that makes them really excited about all the changes that come with each update.

So what else can you expect from this update? According to CNET, here are a few:

• Xbox LIVE Arcade hits: Best-selling Xbox LIVE Arcade games like Marble Blast Ultra and Lumines LIVE will be available at permanently discounted prices.
• New video features: Support for full-screen video previews and, more importantly, support for the DivX video codec (version 5.0 and higher).
• Inside Xbox: A direct newsfeed from Microsoft outlining up-to-the-minute information regarding Xbox LIVE and the Marketplace.
• Enhanced parental controls: New features include a timer that can limit the amount of time a child can play per day or week.
• Enhanced online profile: Allows members to add more information about themselves and limit who can see it on Xbox LIVE.
• Enchanced friends list access: Gamers can now see the friends list of other members of Xbox LIVE.
• Improved navigation: Game Store and Video Store buttons will be added to the interface, further simplifying navigation.