Remember those not-so-cute ninja turtles that were so popular back in the 80s and 90s? Even though we have not heard from them in a long time, they have not gone into total oblivion. They are coming back, this time in the form of a promising video game, courtesy of Ubisoft.

The video game company recently announced a new game based on the four characters. The game is supposedly the first that will not be based on a movie. AWN Headline News has this story:

Ubisoft will launch an all-new, original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) videogame — the first that is not tied to a TMNT movie, television show or comic book — which will be a four-player action fighting title.

The game is being developed by Game Arts, noted for working on the critically acclaimed Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii. Scheduled for release in fall 2009, the video game will be a key event in the year-long “Shell-ebration” of the 25th anniversary of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES which, in addition to the video game launch, will include new and exciting products and experiences for TMNT fans in the U.S. and around the world.

Ubisoft and Game Arts together – this should be good. Unfortunately for you TMNT fans out there, you have to wait several months before you can get a piece of the action. Oh, that is if there are no delays in the release, which I seriously doubt will be the case.

I recently got my hands on a new toy – a Nokia E63 mobile phone. Though I primarily got it for PDA purposes, I found out to my delight that I could use it for another, more fun purpose: gaming. Did you know that there are a lot of third party applications available for download for Symbian phones? You probably did but silly me, a first timer when it comes to actually owning a Symbian phone…

Anyhow, one game that I found was God of War. Remember that hunk of a dude, Kratos? His PlayStation games are among the best that I have ever played. They were quite hard and yet they were easy enough to finish with persistence. And you won’t find yourself getting bored.

Well, God of War for Symbian phones cannot really measure up to the experience of actually playing GOW on the PS3 or even the PS2. I think it is unreasonable to actually expect something like that on a phone anyway. The mobile version of the game is enjoyable enough to keep you busy while on the train or even when you simply have nothing to do.

Kratos is still Kratos and he uses the same weapons. He’s got a few new enemies – all of which are still fun to kill. I haven’t gotten far in the game as I can’t seem to kill the first boss. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am still a bit unfamiliar with the controls. All in all, for a free app, it is a good game to play.

We’ve been hearing rumors about a Metallica version of Guitar Hero for quite some time now and the latest that I heard is that it should be out in the first quarter of this year. That means we have about a month or so of waiting! To be more specific, though, GameStop has told us that it should be out in the United States on the 29th of March while Europe has to wait till May.

Having gotten my hands on Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, I know that a Metallica version should be just as fun – if not more. Come to think of it, I cannot say for certain which band I like better!

Anyhow, what is in store for us with the GH: Metallica release? Softpedia recently published some songs included in the game:

So far, we know that the following songs will be part of the tracklist: Enter Sandman, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Fuel, Hit The Lights, King Nothing, Master of Puppets, No Leaf Clover, Nothing Else Matters, Sad But True, The Unforgiven, Where I May Roam, No Excuses from Alice in Chains, Turn The Page from Bob Seger, Hell Bent For Leather from Judas Priest, Demon Cleaner by Kyuss, Tuesdays Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blood and Thunder created by Mastodon, Armed and Ready from the Michael Schenker Group, Mother of Mercy by Samhain and Black River from The Sword.

I am glad to see favorites in the list – I was really disappointed in the track list of GH: Aerosmith, to be honest. So we’ll see, come March, if these things are true.

What’s great when you have preschool-aged kids is that you can experiment with kid-friendly games and get away with it. Our latest addiction to date is World of Goo, which is a physics-based game that is somewhat a cross between Worms and The Incredible Machine–games I loved to play when I was younger (and when computers were much, much slower).

The main objective of the game is to get a requisite number of goo balls to the pipe representing the exit. In order to do so, the player must use their various abilities to build bridges, towers and other structures to overcome gravity and various terrain difficulties such as chasms, hills, spikes or cliffs. Extra Goos recovered in the pipe are pumped through to the World of Goo Corporation, a sandbox area where the objective is to compete with other players worldwide by building the tallest tower possible.[9] Players can also try to achieve the “Obsessive Completion Distinction (OCD) Flag” for each level by completing the level under more stringent criteria,[10] such as collecting a larger number of Goo balls, finishing under a set amount of time or using as few moves as possible.

For small kids, the enjoyment here is seeing all those goo-balls move around in their, well, gooey glory. For us adults, the novelty here is how physics can be so fun. That’s something you don’t see everyday, not unless you’re a physicist perhaps.

The game even has an online aspect to it, where you can submit your scores and pit yourself against other World of Goo players around the world.

World of Goo is originally a Wii release, but it is also available for Windows and Mac. You can download a demo version and get yourself some good ol’ physics fun. Just be sure to wash all that goo off your hands after playing! This game sure results in sweaty palms from all the fun.

Tags: building, goo, physics