Rick Poulin
One of Nintendo's best known franchises is making a comeback on the Wii in a true side-scrolling platformer. The latest iteration, Donkey Kong Country Returns, is very much an homage to the classic from the now-ancient SNES console, and looks incredibly similar at first glance. Read More.
Many people are familiar with THQ's longstanding wrestling series, WWE Smackdown vs Raw, and a portion of those have been alienated by the increasing complexity of the control scheme. While attempting to please die-hard fans looking for ever-increasing variety in the game, developer Yuke's seems to have ended up with a game manual worthy of modern PC flight simulators. Read More.
I've largely given up on shooters in recent years. I've lost count of WWII shooters on store shelves. There was a bit of novelty to be found in the horror angle for a while, but that's rapidly getting polluted too. The futuristic flavour taunted variety by introducing all sorts of weapons and ammo, but in the end, if it expels a lot of stuff, packs a punch and is only good at short range, it's still a bloody shotgun. Read More.
The Need for Speed franchise has had its share of criticism over the years, largely because of its lack of consistency from one title to the next. From the uber-arcade racer NFS: Nitro to the realistic driving simulator NFS: ProStreet, the franchise has been all over the racing spectrum and won't sit still long enough to form a dedicated fan base. Read More.
One surprising addition to the show this year was a massive booth by E3 newbie Trion Worlds. I'd normally take a crack at their otherwise obvious attempt to compensate for something, but they really weren't. Though only showcasing two games, much of E3's PC chatter was centered on one of them: End of Nations. Read More.
The spy MMO shooter is now in its third year showing at the Sony Online booth, but we were finally treated to a hands-on demo. While last year's demo showcased the spying and storyline aspects of the PvE side of the game, this round highlights the PvP multiplayer that made the Unreal Engine such a contender. Read More.
One of the surprises at the Eidos booth this year was an entrancing game by the name of Mini Ninjas, developed by IO Interactive. It's not so much the storyline or the characters that draws you in as much as the very essence of the game. The feel of the universe presented is quite simply captivating, and will have you hooked from the moment you dive into the world of ancient shrines and ninja warriors. Read More.
We were delighted to hear the announcement at Nintendo's briefing Tuesday morning that a playable demo of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks would be on the show floor at E3 2009. The massive lineup for the game seemed to indicate that our enthusiasm was well shared across the gaming community. Read More.
Sony recently offered us the chance to jump into the beta for its new PSN title Fat Princess. After reading the short description, we couldn't resist: "Fat Princess pits two hordes of players against each other in a comic medieval battle royale. Your goal is to rescue your beloved princess from the enemy dungeon. Read More.
World Wrestling Entertainment is set to make another appearance on next-gen consoles this month with the release of THQ's WWE Legends of WrestleMania. The latest title in THQ's WWE franchise comes packed with superstars selected from the first fifteen WrestleMania events, and is a new take on the early years of the sport. Read More.
Get your Omni Wrenches ready folks, there's very little time left until the release of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Insomniac Games' dynamic duo is back for the sixth installment of the series on PlayStation systems as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Read More.
