Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

Three years ago, Pac-Man Championship Edition took the classic Pac-Man formula and reinvigorated it with a new look, changing mazes, a ticking clock and a new emphasis on skillfully eating lots of ghosts in sequence to rack up huge points. But where Championship Edition felt like an evolution of Pac-Man, the new Championship Edition DX feels more like a reinvention. It introduces a number of elements that fundamentally change how Pac-Man is played, without losing any of the timeless appeal of speeding around mazes, gobbling up dots, and chomping ghosts. On the contrary, DX only makes the entire Pac-Man experience more thrilling and addictive than ever.
Even with the help of this slow motion, though, you may still find yourself on collision courses with ghosts that offer no chance for escape. That's when your bombs come in handy. You have a limited number of bombs that, when used, bounce all the ghosts on your trail back to the ghost house. Like the slow motion, the option to use a bomb is better than dying, but it comes at a cost. The downside of using one is that it cuts any point multiplier you've built up from eating dots in half, and it prevents you from waking up any additional sleeping ghosts for a short time. (Dying eliminates your multiplier and slows down the game's speed.) Both of these tools are integrated into the action in a way that makes them very useful, without taking the challenge and excitement out of the game.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX is the very definition of a game that's easy to learn and tough to master, but getting better doesn't feel like an uphill struggle. Gobbling pellets and chomping down ghosts is a great pleasure, thanks to the inherent appeal of the Pac-Man formula and to the very tight and responsive controls. So you find yourself absorbed and wanting to play again and again. And as you do, you naturally start playing smarter and earning higher scores as the patterns become clearer and you get into a groove. The imposed time limit means that, quite literally, every second counts, encouraging you to strive for perfection and avoid mistakes that cost you even a moment. In this endeavor, it's very easy to lose track of the hours as you play, whether you're aiming to knock friends down a peg on the leaderboards or just striving for a new personal best. And getting better and setting new high scores carries with it a feeling of accomplishment that then spurs you on to play still more and continue improving your performance.

Unfortunately, while numerous games like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and Pinball FX 2 have integrated friends' leaderboards in ways that fan the flames of competition, the leaderboards in DX are one step removed from the game itself. If you want to see just how you're doing compared to other players, you need to back out of the mode-select menu and enter a separate leaderboard menu where you have to select the specific mode and maze for the scores you want to view. And if you select the filter to view your friends' scores, your own score isn't listed among them. The leaderboards do have one great feature: viewable replays for all of the highest scoring players. If you want to know how the best of the best are getting those amazing scores, you can see how they did it. But it's surprising that a game that's all about high scores makes you go through a few unnecessary steps just to see how your score measures up.


New look. Same great Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.


The hottest competition is in the game's first and best mode, called Score Attack (five minutes). But DX offers plenty of opportunities for a change of pace. As you play, you unlock a 10-minute Score Attack mode, as well as a number of time trials that score you not on how many dots and ghosts you eat but on how rapidly you clear the mazes. In addition, you unlock a total of 10 mazes, so you won't soon get bored of retreading the same patterns over and over again. DX also gives you a number of ways to change the look of Pac-Man, with some options carrying on the attractive neonlike appearance of the original Championship Edition, and others that cast Pac-Man and the ghosts as three-dimensional characters in mazes made of building blocks, in a nod to the look of 1987's Pac-Mania. You're also given a number of musical selections, and thankfully, the original CE's excellent ambient track that subtly builds up as time runs out is among them.

Three difficulty levels mean that players of any skill level can start at a speed they're comfortable with, offering a terrific experience to both those driven by a competitive desire to dominate on the leaderboards and those just looking for a fun and accessible game with a retro arcade feel. The new elements fuse so seamlessly with the familiar ones that DX immediately feels like a thrilling new game and a timeless classic at once. Thirty years after Pac-Man first became an arcade sensation, it's exhilarating to see new concepts introduced that make the whole experience of playing completely fresh and compulsively playable all over again. The original arcade superstar is back, and this is one of his best performances yet.

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harry potter review (scores 5)

The most disappointing thing about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is that it fails to capture the essence of the story it's trying to tell. While the revamped third-person shooter gameplay stays engaging throughout most of the campaign, the context that it's framed around is paper-thin. There is no attempt to tie the onscreen action to the motivation of the hero performing it; nor is there a coherent and engaging narrative to complement the gameplay and inject some sense of purpose. Crude character models, bad voice acting, a fragmented storyline, and a variety of bugs transform the richly detailed and minutely imagined world of Harry Potter into an experience as colorless as one of Professor Snape's lessons.



Harry fights a couple of nasty Snatchers in the British countryside.
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The final journey facing Harry Potter is not an easy one. Darkness, loss, and death now fill the space once inhabited by classes, Quidditch, and dorm-room chitchat. There are no more schoolyard adventures, traipses through the forest, or twilight romances by the lake. Instead, Harry, Ron, and Hermione must venture past Hogwarts into the cold, wet English countryside, tracking down and destroying the remaining parts of Voldemort's soul. This is the picture painted so clearly and heartbreakingly by J.K. Rowling's final Harry Potter book and so unceremoniously represented here. Not only does the game's story take liberties with the canon (when did Harry, Ron, and Hermione ever venture inside an abandoned factory?), but those elements of the story that are reflected accurately are portrayed through short, fragmented cutscenes that look dire and are completely unconvincing, making the story confusing and unclear for those unfamiliar with the books.

Important plot points are glossed over in favour of combat, and the game does very little to explain what drives these characters to do what they do. What's more, cutscenes have the emotional range of a teaspoon, to use Hermione's own words. What is supposed to be one of the most touching moments of the final book is reduced to a cutscene so brief and so badly acted you can only laugh. The character models also leave a lot to the imagination and are plagued by awkward movements, a perpetual stiffness of the hair and clothes, and out-of-sync talking, not to mention extremely limited dialogue--Ron is particularly fond of shouting "We can't do this!" during every single combat sequence at regular intervals, which is annoying at first and completely soul-destroying by the time you finish the game.

Looking past the problematic storytelling elements, the gameplay itself is fun for the most part, especially if you can look past the fact that you won't be doing much else. The third-person shooter makeover sees you controlling Harry from an over-the-shoulder perspective, with a targeting system and cover mechanic also at his disposal. Most of the combat is free-flowing and rapid, however some camera issues stop it from being a completely rewarding experience. In some parts of the game, the camera becomes uncooperative and results in extreme close-ups, usually when you're moving in and out of cover or navigating within small spaces. This is something that almost always ends in disaster--it's impossible to determine the direction of killing curses when the whole screen is filled with the bottom left-hand corner of Harry's blue jumper. What Harry "shoots" are various spells; each spell's intensity increases over time, with Harry levelling up throughout the campaign and eventually unlocking 10 spells overall, including Expelliarmus, Expecto Patronum, and Petrificus Totalus. The spells are assigned to a spell wheel that you can either cycle through using the right bumper or bring up as a radial menu. The targeting system also works smoothly and is responsive throughout the whole game, activated by pressing the left trigger to lock on with the reticle, and the right trigger to shoot. The fact that the display features no health or magic bar (with health obtained from various potions dropped by defeated enemies) also helps to make the experience smoother and more immersive, at least during those parts when the camera isn't acting up.


Shooting enemy clones is fun, even if occasionally one will run into a tree for no reason.

Most of the game is composed of Harry, Ron, and Hermione moving from place to place, fighting hordes of Death Eaters (Voldemort's cronies), Inferi (dead people), and Snatchers (rudimentary bad dudes). Combat takes up the entirety of the gameplay, leaving no room for the more imaginative exploration and puzzle-solving that featured strongly in earlier Harry Potter games. To compensate for this, you're required to take part in four sets of mini challenges at certain points in the game--each set is made up of three short challenges that have no bearing on the story and involve Harry defeating a certain number of enemies or surviving an oncoming attack. These challenges are pointless and quickly become tedious, and there is no motivation to complete them other than that you cannot continue in the single-player campaign without doing so. Adding to this annoyance are occasional gameplay bugs found throughout the whole campaign, the more interesting of which include invisible walls and odd AI behaviour (hey, death eater, why do you keep bending over that desk at 30-second intervals?). There is also very little diversity in enemy non-player characters--there appear to be only three types of Death Eaters and three types of Snatchers, with absolutely no difference between the character models, which means you're often fighting an army of clones. Again, this doesn't help with the immersion aspect.

While shooting the place up like you're Yosemite Sam can be satisfying, it doesn't make for a very convincing Harry Potter game. Harry is a tortured, confused, and deeply anti-violent adolescent. It's true that these traits don't exactly make him the perfect video game character, but the game hardly even tries to represent the weight behind the choices he makes or the gravity of what he is facing. There are only two instances in the whole campaign when a certain kind of sensibility shines through. The first is during the first-person mode that's triggered when Harry puts on his invisibility cloak (accessible at any time by pressing the Y button). Someone put a lot of thought into this element--not only does the camera actually work smoothly in this part, but while Harry is wearing the cloak (encouraged in situations where it's prudent to be stealthy rather than go in guns blazing for fear of being overpowered), you can hear his slow, frightened breath in your ear, as if you were under the cloak with him. It's a wonderful touch. The second instance occurs during a Tim Burtonesque sequence that tells the story of the Deathly Hallows through shadow puppetry. While this is taken directly from the Deathly Hallows film, it is reproduced here with a softness and grace that is both visually stunning and emotionally arresting.

Outside of the main campaign there's a Challenge mode and a Kinect mode that uses Microsoft's new motion-control system. Challenge mode includes 20 tasks based around survival, stealth, and time attack goals where you must survive attacks for a certain amount of time, or defeat all enemies using only one spell, and so on, in easy, medium, and hard difficulties. Although there are online and offline modes, the challenges are the same, with the only difference being that you are scored in online leaderboards after you complete a task if you choose the online mode before starting.


Ron is mad because he keeps saying the same line over and over.


Kinect mode includes 22 challenges: 12 single-player and 10 two-player offline co-op challenges. The theme is the same as in the other challenges: you must survive attacks for a certain amount of time, or defeat all enemies using only one spell, and so on. While the challenges start out being fun to play, it's not long before your right hand feels as heavy and limp as a dead fish. The gameplay in these challenges consists of an on-rails shooter-type scenario: you have a third-person view of Harry as he moves of his own accord on the screen, with his wand arm mimicing your right arm as you perform the movements that pop up. These are fairly basic: shooting requires a simple flicking of the right arm towards the onscreen target or swiping your right arm across your chest as if you were performing a backhand in tennis; charging spells require you to hold your right arm above your shoulder for a second before flicking it forward; protective spells require you to raise both arms in a stopping motion; and finally, throwing potions requires a simple ball-throw at the screen with the left arm (there doesn't seem to be any option for reversing these controls if you are left-handed). The challenges aren't very long, but don't expect to be able play more than three or four in a row. Dedicated Kinect leaderboards can be accessed through Xbox Live, and there are achievements linked to completing these challenges. You're only able to cast five different spells while using your hand as a wand in these challenges, and you never get more than two spells per challenge. The single-player campaign spell upgrades are also absent.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is an easy game to forget. Shooting bad guys with little context is enjoyable for a while, but soon enough it becomes impossible to ignore the same problematic aspects present in the last few Harry Potter games--occasionally bad camera, bugs, and a distinct lack of narrative cohesion--resulting in a barely there adventure that does little justice to the source material. The action is functional, but not particularly satisfying, and the elements that represent the core appeal--the story, characters and universe--fail to live up to the Harry Potter name.

fifa 11 review

FIFA is quickly becoming the hardest franchise to review in the entirety of the video game galaxy. Basically, it's been making us look like mugs ever since FIFA 09.

The revamped entry - which came after the slug-fest that was FIFA 08 - made critics stand up, applaud and declare console football back on track. FIFA 10 trotted out of the tunnels a year later, bringing the likes of 360 dribbling with it. It offered fluid, flexible play on the field - and lit up score boards everywhere.

"The definitive football game" we all called it. But we were premature. Along came FIFA World Cup, which would go on to brighten up our otherwise miserable summer of soccer with a flair-filled yet balanced take on the beautiful game. It managed to combine the weighty, authentic feel of FIFA and the screaming, pad-clenching moments of PES at its near best.

There are only so many times critics can say, "This is as good as it gets," before being shown something better the following year. It hurts our ego.

The other reason FIFA is a bitch to critique is because the footy sim has become so sophisticated that the annual improvements are more about subtle adjustments than big engine and feature updates. Somehow though, those slight changes seem to have a significant impact every time.

So what's the flagship tweak this year? It's called Personality+, a system where different player types are easily defined, thanks to certain traits and a mechanism that determines everything from a player's shot accuracy to his stamina.

It means that Sol Campbell should visibly play much differently to Aaron Lennon - and we should finally be able to lament a player's abilities on the pitch without getting the "well, you're controlling them" response.

When we first tested out FIFA 11, however, players still all seemed to have roughly the same feel to them. For a while we were wondering whether Personality+ had any real effect at all.

It was then that we witnessed Theo Walcott attempt to tackle Zat Knight - and bounce right off the big man. With our eyes opened, we started to look for more evidence; and noticed Lee Chung Yong (yeah, we were playing as Bolton, what of it?) flail his arms to keep balance as he scrambled around a left back on the wing.

Sure, it sounds like a big sparkly new feature, and we're sure EA Sports will plaster it all over the box. But the truth is, Personality+ is a classic subtle tweak, rather than an in-your-face overhaul.

You'll find Rooney often wants to be deep in the field, getting stuck into middle of the park; Lampard and Gerrard can fire rockets at the net; we nearly lost control with Aaron Lennon when we burst past a defender; and you're far more likely to score a header with the likes of John Carew or Kevin Davies (come on you Whites) than Darren Bent.

In terms of most players, Personality+ won't have a massive effect on your game. That could be a criticism; but, then again, how much worth really is there, for example, in studying how John O'Shea moves?

Elsewhere, the basic feel of FIFA 11 will be pretty familiar to those who played World Cup - but will be a big step up if you've been hanging on since FIFA 10. Players are much more nimble, meaning that 360 dribbling can be properly taken advantage of with tighter turns and intricate dribbling routes.

In moments of inspired stick skill, you'll surprise yourself as you knock the ball around defenders with a number of deft touches in a small space.

LOOKING GOOD

In terms of what you can see on the surface, FIFA's visual presentation has never been an issue - but now EA's stepped it up a notch with new animations.

We were absolutely delighted to see a player bend down slightly to control a lofted ball with his shoulder. Even better, colliding with our fellow team mates during a celebration triggered a context-sensitive and enthusiastic shirt tug, hug or pile on.

Player likeness is still, somehow, improving as well - although it's far more impressive when it comes to the world's finest than it is with lesser known players. The England team line-up for the national anthem, for example, is almost a gallery of graphical achievement. It's the kind of thing you drag other people into the room to see.

Meanwhile, the commentary from Tyler and Gray is still top-notch. Although much of it is recycled from last year, now the pair comment on match stats that appear on the screen periodically in true broadcast fashion, which is a nice addition for number bods.

In the stands the crowd sounds great with specific and authentic chants for the Premier League teams, at least (excuse us for not having an encyclopedic knowledge of Danish terrace singalongs). Fans still look a bit odd, however; like 80,000 cardboard cut-outs rigged to stand in block sections.

EA Sports has recognised its failing in the area - and done something pretty smart: It's opted to focus on a particular player before substitution cut-scenes, rather than supporters in the stands.

It seems like such an obvious tactic and we wonder why it took this long for someone on the team to say "You know during substitutions? Why don't we show off our ridiculously good looking players rather than our crappy crowd?".

Referees have been superficially upgraded, in a way, from faceless hammers of authority to named characters - complete with places of origin. We're pretty sure they're still works of fiction (we've not spotted Howard Webb yet, but we've seen plenty of Mr. Pennyfeather) - but Martin Tyler will actually announce them and use their name throughout the match. It's a nice touch if nothing else.

Speaking of referees, raise your hands to the skies and rejoice! Penalties can once again be conceded with a poor standing tackle from behind - rather than just vicious sliding errors.

It sounds like a pedantic point but, in FIFA 10, having a defender clip our heels when we were one-on-one with the keeper, only to see the ref look on as if nothing had happened, was absolute madness.

The AI is actually much stronger in defence than in previous editions - but not always too tasty when it comes to moving forward. It could just be that we're cast-iron tackle-masters at the back, but computer opposition does sometimes seem oblivious to the threat of a slide tackle, and we've played more minutes of extra-time than we'd like.

Good news between the sticks, too: Keepers have been given, well, a brain, to be honest. Gone are the days where the goalie would make a half-arsed save and then slowly, almost apathetically, crawl back to his feet while a second striker smashed the ball into an open net.

Now keepers will parry a shot and leap from the floor to another finger-tip save on the rebound - as if the goal-line is a motion sensing detonator. It makes for some awesome box scrambles - that only get screechier and more breathless in multiplayer.

SAFE HANDS

In terms of actual menu-based features, Be a Goalkeeper is probably the most intriguing. Guess what it allows you to do.

That's right, now 11-on-11 Be A Pro matches are on the cards - and taking control of the keeper is the final step. It's a basic system of positioning and timing, using the the left analogue stick to move to the best spot for a save and then the right analogue stick to dive.

There are different levels of assistance, which offer all kind of indicators and varieties of auto-diving if you're close enough to the ball. Even with these switched on, though, Be A Goalkeeper is tough - and takes some getting used to. Panic is all-too-often the overriding reaction to a one-on-one.

Penalty taking gets a brand new mechanism, too - which also brings more panic and wayward slip-ups than anything else at first. It combines composure, power and placement all in one. Stopping a sliding bar in a green zone on a small metre determines your players focus, the usual power bar dictates... power, and an invisible target controlled with the left stick determines placement.

Problem is, these all have to be controlled at the same time within a few seconds. It's as hard as Duncan Ferguson after four scotches at first - but once you get to grips with it, it starts to feel more natural. At least it means there's some level of skill going into spot kicks - making them a more legitimate way to settled a tied game.

The all-new Career Mode encompasses Manager Modes of old - by allowing players to either start their footballing journey as a player, manager or player-manager. It all plays pretty much the same as previous FIFA editions - but the three different footballing roles are neatly combined so that you can build yourself as a player before moving into management or a combination of the two.

It probably isn't enough to tear people away from Pro Evo's much-loved Master League - especially if PES 2011's online features manage to recreate the mode's magic with friends worldwide - but the merging of roles to represent a full football career on and off the pitch is a great idea.

TOUGH OPPOSITION

We haven't yet got our greasy mitts on the final version of PES 2011, but when it comes to on-pitch action, Konami's going to have to pull something pretty special if it's going to regain the top spot this year. It really is hard to criticise FIFA 11 in any truly significant way at all.

If we wrack our brains in the interest of good professional balance, we'd point out that Be A Goalkeeper is actually pretty boring - which we kind of guessed it might be. Playing with 28 AI players seems to cancel out more or less any real goal threat - and you ended up kicking your heels between the sticks, or running up for corner kicks in the 51st minute just to get in on the action.

But to have a pop at a brand new feature that works fine - aside from a few balancing issues - seems unfair, especially since it's something no-one else has done before.

We're sure by FIFA 12 the goalie's life will be much more exciting. Plus the mode is really built for 22 human-controlled players, which could make it a completely different experience.

The only qualms we can see cropping up for FIFA 11 will be from the hardcore PES faithful, which is fair enough. This is, after all, still FIFA in tone and feel - and that's something that doesn't sit with some gamers due to little more than personal preference.

It still has some of the quirks that Pro Evo fans may not feel at home with. There's still not quite so much over-the-top frenzy as FIFA's rival had at its best, and the FIFA pass - pulling a ball back across the net to your fellow striker in a one-on-one, leaving the keeper stranded and crying - is still the easiest and an all-too-common way of scoring.

One more? Oh, God, Erm... hitting the woodwork sounds like smacking a metal box with a baseball bat. Can you see we're getting desperate here?

Let's slip into football cliche to direct you towards our conclusion: When all's said and done, FIFA 11 is the best football game that's ever been slid into a disc-drive. It mixes slow build-up play with quick, killer through-balls. It combines big, meaty defenders with slight, nippy speedsters - and smartly recognises the difference between the two.

You can score headers from the top of towering jumps or cheeky, low nods at the far post. Players can pea-roll a fluky long range bobbler or curl a graceful effort into the top corner. The ball can bounce off glove, boot, shin or shoulder before it hits the net - and all of this means that FIFA 11 will keep on surprising you.

Apart from a few incredibly minor tweaks, we can't think of anything anything else EA Sports can do to improve their game on the pitch.

We'll feel like right mugs when they reveal all next year.

take that progress

Spirits for iPad

'Spirits for iPad' Review – A Charming Platform Puzzler

Indie development house Spaces of Play has just released their platform puzzle game Spirits for iPad [App Store. Spirits, which won the Best Aesthetics award at this year's IndieCade, is a lovely title featuring Lemmings-like gameplay, but with some notably different elements that help the game deliver a unique experience all its own.

In Spirits, you are faced with a series of hand-drawn platform levels, most of them larger than the iPad's screen (pinch, zoom, swipe to scroll). There are 40 in all. Into each of these environments march a crowd of cute, little spirits who want nothing more than to make it into the swirl found at the far end of each level. But that journey is quite a rocky road.

The landscapes in question are filled with drops, blocks, spikes, and other such dangers. To negotiate the landscapes, you must tap on a spirit to command it to perform an action -- just like in Lemmings. You can dig and climb -- just like in Lemmings. But, you can also blow and block wind -- not at all like in Lemmings. You see, the swirl that your spirits must reach hangs in mid air. To bridge this gap, and to add complexity to the maps in general, there is a strong wind blowing along a particular course through each landscape, indicated by a lazily flowing swarm of particle effects. Part of getting through each level is tapping into this passing breeze -- or creating your own, where needed. It's a mechanic that adds a whole new dimension to the Lemmings formula and is a big part of what makes Spirits special.

Each level has a set number of spirits that must be saved in order to call the round a success. Several sleeping flowers are arranged about each level, and must be brought to life by direct contact or a tap on a spirit flying by, overhead. The game has a kind of "zen" feel about it that the developer calls "poetic," which is enhanced by the orchestral audio tracks that accompany the gameplay. It's, at the same time, engrossing, relaxing, and a bit hectic.

Your success in the game is tracked on a global ranking board that keeps you aware of where you stand, as compared to the other Spirits jockeys around the world.

While there are already a few Lemmings clones in the App Store, Spirits for iPad stands apart. The overall design -- g

call of duty black ops review

Everyone is really excited to get their hands on the new Call of Duty game black ops . You can get this game on DS, PS3, Wii, PC and Xbox 360.

It’s based on the cold war between the USSR and the USA.

Call of duty – black ops has been predicted to be the worlds biggest seller of a video game for 2010 !

Call of duty black ops can also be used on 3d TVs if your lucky enough to have one. Call of Duty is the Goliath of the video game world. The series has sold millions of copies and catapulted itself from a solid, World War II shooter to the sprawling multiplayer playground and Hollywood-style campaign that we know today. Call of Duty: Black Ops takes much of what made Modern Warfare 2 great and slightly expands and modifies it. That's not to say that there aren't mistakes to be found within Black Ops, but I think Call of Duty fans are going to be happy with Treyarch's latest effort.

SIMS 2 DS REVIEW

Sims 2 on DS is different to other sims because you own a hotel and basically run around doing missions i would advise this game to anyone who likes playing mission games and adventure games. the cheapest price on ebay was £4.20 plus £1.95 for post and packaging. You are limited to what you can do, for example you can only buy furniture not wall-paper and floors and stuff. It is really tricky becoming friends with other people because the other sim would do one of three actions and you have to learn what they all mean. It is a type of game you would play at night in bed before going to sleep. 

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3DS REVIEW

The official Nintendo 3DS announcement was bizarrely unbrazen - merely a matter-of-fact detailing.

Oddly, it didn't warrant an explosive E3 reveal - nor a triumphalist gathering of the world's media. Just some plain, unexciting words - and a meat-and-potatoes press release.

The lack of fanfare was more resonant of a new coloured console - or even a revised Stock Keeping Unit. Nintendo may be the ever respectful Japanese company (even when others are pilfering their motion control innovations) - and aren't prone to bombast. But even for Miyamoto et al, this was alarmingly subdued.


Whispers arose that this was Iwata backed into a corner; thinking on his feet to appease shareholders, whilst battling with the spectre of market saturation and a full-blown recession.

Other evidence also pointed to a rush job. The tech behind the device was supposedly a last-minute buy from Sharp; a smash and grab for the mantle of Interactive Innovator as Microsoft and Sony's vultures begun to circle.

And then there was Miyamoto-san. Or wasn't, more to the point. Nintendo's universally loved talisman - whose endorsement is all we need to know there's something special on our hands - was nowhere to be seen.

Today, the smoke finally cleared - and CVG is able to share the truth: 3DS has no chance of emulating the impact big brother Wii had on the video games market four years ago.

It's much more important than that.

For what it represents, for its potential to wow the non-gadget freak while leaving the hardcore open-mouthed - and for being far more than a novelty - Nintendo has pulled out its trump card just when it needed it most.

Five years ago with the original DS, the firm promised us a 'new way to play' video games. Now they've given us an entirely new way to see them, too.

Whilst Sony blares out that it's ushering in the 3D revolution - slapping weighty, £100 glasses on the bridges of our noses to make it happen - Nintendo may have just created the most important piece of entertainment technology in decades.

Attractive, lightweight, (no doubt) affordable, it's a marvel. Those who previously scoffed at the Nintendo 3DS as a 'mere' hardware update will be left dumbfounded.

It may be backwards-compatible with old DS games, but this is a new console - and one that well and truly sparkles with the ageless magic we'd started to worry had deserted Nintendo.


The first thing that hits you is the screen. 3.5 inches wide, it fills you vision in a magnificent way. Make no mistake: Any bigger would be a distraction. We've just seen a special Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater demo, and we're blown away.

A slider on the right-hand side of the machine allows you to adjust the depth of perspective that you require. We begun in Metal Gear in a jungle area - and it took some customising to correct our field of vision. But once we did, the super-sharp splendour that fell out in front of us really was something to behold.

Robust, spiky foliage poked out of the ground and seemed to tickle the back of the DS screen. Meanwhile, arrows flung in our direction soared through the air towards us - from what seemed like 50 metres away.

The neatest touch was some searing orange butterflies, which at one point (in our peripheral vision), we would have sworn actually flew out of the machine. Yes, we ducked.

The one slight letdown of 3DS is that nothing actually 'jumps out' of the screen in your direct line of sight. This is much more about what's going on in the background.

But occasionally, just when you're not looking, something tricks your eye by poking out just to the side of your glance. It's a pleasure to be fooled.

This all has to be taken, of course, in the context of not wearing any glasses at all.

These visuals aren't filtered through clever technology in front of your eye. It's an immediate, comfortable experience - one which it's little wonder third party publishers are flocking towards.

Playing Snake Eater, we also got to test out the new 360-degree stick control, which allowed full command of our vision - something very useful when there's a complete, breathing world in front of your eyes.


It's a comfortable, instinctive control that is less 'clicky' than the equivalents seen on Sixaxis etc., and responds better to a gentle rub in any direction.

We also got to test out the camera - yet another major step forward from anything we've seen before. Considering 3DS is effectively a knockabout, playground machine for all ages - and its camera is a tertiary function - it's astounding.

Two cameras on the back of the device take a snap of your mug, which is then displayed in super-blurry mode on the 3DS's top screen.

Using the analogue control, you then slide the images together until you hit the sweet spot; that perfect blend that shows off the differentiation between you and your background.

No disrespect to Nintendo - they're the first games company to this tech, after all - but when a 'proper' mainstream camera firm gets hold of this and runs with it at an affordable price, it will will change everything.

There's even less in the way of 'protruding' elements - the sort of thing that wowed when you went to see Avatar - with the resultant photos, which rely heavily on a sense of depth from the background of the image. But it's still a stimulating moment to take in your first 3D portrait - all due to a games console previously considered cheap and cheerful.

The final thing we witness is a movie demo: Disney's How To Train Your Dragon. The 3D mixer is all-important again here; the movie made us blink quite wildly until we achieved the right mix.

However, after we'd done so, we didn't need to touch it again - a good sign for those that don't want to be constantly tweaking their entertainment. Tilting the device had a negative - if not catastrophic - effect, and to be fair, the 3D image can put up with a normal bumpy Tube journey's-worth of movement without being greatly affected.

The movie - like the photos - wasn't as revolutionary as Kojima-san's demo, and seemed more like a layered 2D experience.

However, the sensation of - once again - not wearing any filter device and yet experiencing such a thrilling immersion is something we're sure won't wear thin easy. And once the Kojimas of the movie world (hello, Mr Cameron?) get involved, this could really become something special.

Sound was rich and cinematic - helped by Nintendo's investment in pricey BOSE headphones, mind - and certainly as good as anything we've heard through PSP. The image is bright as a button and colours are convincingly high-def.

At this stage, we can't judge the software of the system with any sense of true perspective - but with 73 games in development (including a bunch of classic Nintendo remakes) we reckon there's no real worries on this front.

In fact, we're fully confident that the new software from Miyamoto and Kojima alone is capable of causing revolution. 3D Kid Icarus cannot come quickly enough.

We didn't see the improved WiFi functions - which download extra applications and software 'as you sleep', a la Wii - but connectivity is subscription free: Another big plus point.

In addition, the glossy, dual-coloured shell makes this the sexiest-looking DS yet.

"The best thing I've ever worked with". They were the words of the source who revealed to CVG earlier this year that Nintendo was beavering away on a new DS.

Back then, he couldn't tell us what was quite so special about this beautiful machine - for fear of being rumbled. But today we realise why we'd be fools to argue.

No wonder Nintendo didn't shout about it from the rooftops back in March. Gamers everywhere are about to do that job for them.

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Bloody Redemption in 9 violent video games

Members of the Supreme Court talked free speech this week when they debated a California law that would ban the sale of violent videogames to minors. The justices made some bloody good points — both for and against the law — that could hint at their final decision, which is expected before June.

Justice Antonin Scalia's remarks were particularly clever and entertaining, even as he pondered the serious issue of whether upholding Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association might lead down the slippery slope of censorship.

"You are asking us to create a whole new prohibition which the American people never ratified when they ratified the First Amendment," Scalia said. "What's next after violence? Drinking? Smoking? Movies that show smoking can't be shown to children?"

Here at Wired.com, we don't understand what the fuss is all about. In order for a game to be regulated, the law would require it to have no redeeming social, political or cultural value. We did some brainstorming and found that even the most violent videogames are simply bursting with redeeming values, so none of them can be banned. Here's the proof.

Above:

Fallout 3

What it is: An action/role-playing game set in a nasty, post-nuke apocalypse.

Most violent moment: Thanks to Fallout 3's Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or VATS, players can target and shoot specific parts of enemies' bodies. These attacks are rendered in slow motion, leading to some strikingly graphic cases of blood spattering, particularly when people get shot in the head.

Why it has redeeming value: Fallout 3 tells a story of war. How it affects us as people. How it never changes. How even after a nuclear catastrophe that devastates the world, humankind is still fighting for religion and territory and belief systems that are all ultimately irrelevant, but drive peoples' decisions nonetheless. What's particularly interesting about Fallout's violence is that it's not necessary — players can feasibly go through the whole game without shooting all that many people. You might have to kill some mutated animals, but peoples' conflicts and quests can usually be resolved through peaceful dialog, computer hacking or mental manipulation. By choosing to blow peoples' brains out — which usually looks disgusting if not downright disturbing — the player is picking the easy way out. You can choose violence, Fallout 3 says to players, but the results might be messy. —Jason Schreier

top 10 i pad games

After spending all our money on our new, sparkly iPads, we're all feeling a little skint.

Fortunately, the App Store plays host to a variety of free iPad games, ripe for the picking.

Of course, they don't all smell of roses - some are good, some are bad, and some are downright ugly. You need some help sifting through them.

Here's our top ten free iPad games, available for your downloading consumption. Note that this list does not include Lite versions of paid apps.




Compression HD 







Remember in Star Wars when Luke and Leia nearly get turned into pancakes in the garbage crusher, and R2-D2 saves the day just in the nick of time?

Compression HD is a Tetris-style puzzler in which the blocks are the Skywalkers, and you're the R2. As pieces fall, the walls and floor cave in, and you need to match-three as fast as possible to avoid a messy pile-up.

With constant tension, OpenFeint achievements, and randomly generated levels, Compression HD is free puzzling bliss.


GodFinger

Playing God is always good fun, and GodFinger is no exception. You're presented with your own planet and followers, and it's all about money, money, money.

Grab the sun and clouds out of the sky and prepare the land, then pick up minions with your finger and dump them in a farm, ready to plow the earth for your cause.

Awe can be bought with real cash to speed up the process, but it's not necessary - the entire game can be played to completion for free.




Tap Tap Radiation


















The long running Tap Tap rhythm series has received huge praise on the iPhone. Tap Tap Radiation continues the tradition on iPad, bringing musical-tapping goodness to the masses for free.

The game comes with a selection of more than 30 songs for free, although you'll have to pay to download the premium tracks.

Still, the free tracks include the likes of Mos Def and Serge Devant, so there's plenty of offer for the cheapskates like us.




Dizzypad HD


















Simple yet addictive, Dizzypad for iPhone saw a frog jumping for lilypad to lilypad, spinning around at each stop.

Dizzypad HD takes the original and blows it up for crisp, high resolution. There's plenty more space to play with now, and all the Plus+ enabled scoreboards and achievements are there.

A few special modes can be purchased for $1.99 / £1.19 each, but the free Classic mode is enough to make this worthy of a download.




Harbor Master HD




















Harbor Master was a big hit on iPhone, so it's no surprise that an iPad version was developed. Harbor Master HD brings the boat-docking management game to the big screen for free.

There's only one map available, with extra harbours costing 99c / 59p each, but it's still worth downloading to see the difference the high resolution makes.

With so many ships on screen at once, chaos is assured.




We Rule

Who rules? We Rule, that's who. Originally a big freemium release on iPhone, the kingdom farming experience is also available in high resolution form on iPad.

Plant crops, harvest the results, build stuff with the money, rinse, repeat. Then make some friends to speed up the whole process.

As with GodFinger, real world money can be spent in growing and building faster, but there's not much point, and the whole thing can be played through without spending a penny.




Aurora Feint 3

The Aurora Feint series has done a decent job of mixing the match-three genre with RPG elements. Aurora Feint 3 continues the concept on iPad.

Battle bandits and thieves by joining three identical blocks together in standard match-three fashion. OpenFeint achievements and leaderboards enhance the experience.

There's only one chapter to play through, with more features promised with future updates.




Pocket Legends

The first MMORPG for iPad, Pocket Legends is a huge-world battling romp for a gorgeous price tag of zero.

Along with fighting beasts and upgrading your character, there are tons of community features to allow you and your friends to share items, message each other and the like.

There are premium items and packages available to buy for money, but there really is no need if you'd rather not.




The Solitaire

Where would a gaming device be without a free solitaire app? The classic card game is in full, free force on iPad in the form of The Solitaire.

Features include unlimited undo, stats tracking, and global high scoreboards. Touchscreen controls are simple and easy-to-use, which is you what you'd look for in a solitaire game.

It's not going to get your heart racing or your adrenaline pumping, but if you're looking for a relaxing card game, The Solitaire is a good, free option.


WarChess

Solitaire may be the classic card game, but chess is the king of the boardgames. WarChess brings the war game to iPad for free with a variety of options.

A few different themes are offer, including the abilities to turn all the pieces into 3D fantasy-like beings with their own animations.

There's also the option to play versus an AI opponent, a human on the same iPad, or against a friend via Facebook. Definitely worth a download for the chess buffs out there.




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