Well, the guys at GenieKnows gave me this handy login to post on their blog, so why not put it to use? It’s also been awhile since anyone has posted anything so even if I’m a bad writer, there will still be something to read which is better than nothing right? … Right?

I must admit, that the first time I saw the contest advertised on the web, I was a little skeptical. It was like nothing I had seen before: “Enter to win a $25,000 Ultimate games room” but my love for games made it impossible for me to resist. Reading through the rules and regulations, I saw it was open to Canadians (I play World of Warcraft, and none of those contests are ever open to Canadians), saw that it required me to answer trivia, saw the prizes and after wiping the drool off my chin from reading the complete list of prizes, I couldn’t sign up any faster. The following weeks, I would check my e-mail with an unhealthy obsession ever Saturday until the next clue would show up, mostly because of the obvious better chance of winning, but partly because of the leader board (What can I say, we play games to see numbers go up). I think I was chasing third in the first few weeks, and eventually jumped to first but someone overtook me by one in the last two weeks or so and I ended up placing second. After the last clue was answered, I felt like it was over too soon and I wanted more though quickly realized that the winner would be announced soon and came to my senses.

Everyone who was as involved in the contest as I was knows that the winner wasn’t announced on the stated day so I settled back into the comfort of my skepticism, telling myself that of course it couldn’t be true…

On Monday, October 22nd, I was joyfully proven to be wrong when I checked my e-mail and found that Mark Harper from Genieknows.com was asking me to call him. Now the first thought that shot through my head was “omgiwon” but being afraid to jinx everything, my brain came to the rescue and came up with any other possible reason for him to call me. I was talking to a coworker and had gone silent not really noticing that he was still saying words to me when I picked up the phone to call. Mark cut straight to it after he found out who was calling and my response was a loud “Holy …crap!” (choosing my words carefully while in the company break room). We then agreed for me to come down to their office on Saturday which felt like years away.

The Genieknows.com office looked cozy, chic and casual, but what did I know, it was a Saturday and there were only a few people there. I got a quick tour and of course the last room was where they had piled all boxes full of the awesome fun stuff that you can see in the previous post. After some photos, handshaking, me blubbering my thanks to every person I saw, we all picked up a couple boxes, the oversized cheque and headed out the door to my car. The people on the street must’ve thought we were robbing someone, I sure felt like I was.

That’s basically it, I only have a few things to mention and then a few pictures to show. For now it’s not really an Ultimate Games room, the house’s den is cluttered with junk so I’ve spread out the systems to various rooms: the Wii in the upstairs living room for my parents, the Xbox360 in the den and the PS3 in my room. The rest of the bigger prizes arrived week after week during November and December (and should still be arriving) which was pretty fun though my parents decided I didn’t need anything for Christmas, and I can live with that. My dad enjoys golfing and bowling on the Wii, brother monopolizes the Xbox360 all day, everyday, my mom enjoys the pizza for a year from Pizza Hut and I’ve made lots of new friends…

P.S. The Arcade machine is really cool but for now it just sits in the hallway downstairs since as I mentioned there’s no room but I wanted an excuse to show a picture.

Thanks again Genieknows.com!

Michael was delighted to pick up most of the prizes from the GenieKnows offices today, with other larger prizes being shipped directly to his home. (He said that he’ll be sharing some of $25,000 value Games Room prize package with his little brother!) Michael was the lucky winner from a field of 1,376 gaming fans who battled through September and October collecting ballots using the GenieKnowsGames.com search engine, or who entered the game via mail.

His Ultimate Games Room prize list included:

• Dell XPS 720 Red Package
• Retro X-Arcade
• Wii Package
• Xbox 360 Package
• Hotrod Faceplate
• Wireless Controller
• PS3 Package (80G)
• PS3 Console
• PlayStation 3 Limited
• PSP PlayStation Portable
• $2,000 worth of video game titles
• 58″ Panasonic Viera 1080p HDTV
• TV Stand
• Apple iPod Video 80 GB with $100 iTunes Gift Card
• Sonos Bundle with loud speakers
• SonosR ZonePlayer 100
• SonosR ZonePlayer 80
• SonosR Controller
• Games rental for a year
• Pizza for a year
• One year subscription to Maxim magazine
• One year subscription to Wired magazine

There were many other weekly Ultimate Games Room prize winners during the contest and they were:


- Luis Felipe Favela Lopez - Chula Vista, California - (Bioshock - Xbox 360)
- Leonard Roberts - Halifax, Nova Scotia - (Metal Slug Anthology - Wii)
- Anthony Nizzardo - Stamford, Connecticut - (Gears of War - Xbox 360)
- Gizele Farris - Moncton, New Brunswick - (Marvel Ultimate Alliance – Xbox 360)
- Dale Murray - Moncton, New Brunswick - (Alien Syndrome - Wii)
- Ken Cornelius - Midwest City, Oklahoma - (MotorStorm - PS3)
- Jay French - Lisle, Illinois - (Mortal Kombat Armageddon - Wii)
- Kristin Hodor - Poughkeepsie, New York - (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Xbox)
- Daniel Wilson - Lantz, Nova Scotia - (Sennheiser headset)

Watch out for more exciting news and contests from GenieKnows.com in the near future.

In addition to Games search, the GenieKnows.com team also develops and operates search technology that powers Local (GenieKnowsLocal.com) and Health (GenieKnowsHealth.com) engines.
Thanks to all contestants who took the time to enter the Ultimate Games Room competition. Once again, congratulations to Michael Chung of Clayton Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Mark Harper
VP GenieKnows.com

The Campaign

First off let me start with the campaign. This time around, Bungie wanted to make sure there were no cliffhanger endings and I’m pleased to say that those of you that play through the entire game, won’t be left wondering who didn’t finish their level design. Master Chief aimed to finish the fight and does so in style. I won’t give anything away but I’d definitely recommend completing the game on Legendary to see the entire uncut ending (just make sure you don’t skip the credits!). Also this time around, coop is both online and offline for up to 4 players. This is incredibly fun especially with Bungie’s new Meta Game addition which keeps tracks of team or individual scores during campaign mode. If the difficulty levels aren’t enough to challenge you, try turning on some Skulls (14 of which can be found throughout each level). These skulls turn various effects on which not only increase difficulty but also scoring multipliers, making the game more challenging for even the most seasoned Spartans. The Campaign, new modes and a slew of other easter eggs unmentioned here will keep you occupied for month to come and are easily the best the 360 has yet to offer.

Multiplayer - weapons

And now for the real meat of Halo3, the multiplayer! If numbers are any indication (over 1 million playing online last night alone), Halo3 multiplayer is a huge hit. For good reason too! Bungie managed to capture the frantic gunfights of Halo2, but balanced the weapons so that they felt more skill based like in Halo1. Many complained that in halo2, the weapons especially dual wielding weren’t balanced. but more importantly, that some combinations like the popular “noob” combo in which a player ran around with a plasma pistol and battle rifle, were far too powerful and decidedly enough, didn’t require skill to use. To fix this, Bungie made dual wielding a more personal in your face affair which doesn’t give players any advantage at a distance. they also added some new weapons into the mix and tweaked several others like the needler which is now a deadly single wielded weapon! the plasma pistol returns but now requires pinpoint precision to shoot and no longer tracks its target as accurately once released making a more balanced (if far less used) weapon.

The addition of brute technology like the Mauler, and Brute hammer seem fittingly enough, brutal type weaponry and lend themselves well to some of the tighter spaces you’ll find this time around. While weapons like the “not-so-new” assault rifle seem to help balance the use of battle rifles and almost make the dual wielded variety obsolete. Old favorites like the sniper rifle and shotty still kick ass but seem to require more skill to use as aiming magnetism is reduced. Sword has been balanced quite a bit and now requires the player to be much closer before a lock is initiated. Sword duals can also take place as I found out when I locked swords no less then 5 times with another player.

Multiplayer - equipment

New to the halo franchise is equipment. Equipment comes in many different flavors in halo3 but all of them taste the same…. deadly! since there are three types of equipment in halo, I’ll cover them all. first off, deployables. These are items you pick up by simply walking over them and can be used by tapping the X button to “deploy” them. All of these are extremely useful when used in the right scenario. They consist of the following, Bubbleshield which created a dome like structure around a player that can only be penetrated by other players, not their projectiles. Next is the radar jammer which creates a mess of radar signatures that become almost impossible to decipher. Another is the flare which although useful, tends to blind the user as well unless thrown properly. Then comes my personal favorites, the power generator and power drainer which as you might of guessed either kill shields or regenerate them. These ones become very useful for attacking power weapons. Another type of equipment you’ll find are heavy weapons. These when picked up actually switch the camera to third person and slow the character movement down considerably. Gone is your ability to crouch and crouch jump, gained is your ability to decimate anyone within range. Some of these aren’t as useful as I’d of liked - the flame thrower which seems only capable of throwing a flame a mere 5 feet and loves to engulf you if you attempt to move in too soon.  Another is the rocket launcher which has just enough delay to render it useless in close quarter battles. finally there is the turret gun which although deadly at midrange, cannot compete with a good BR shot at long range. Although these weapons are fun to use, you won’t find many pros making use of them as your limited speed becomes a surefire way of getting yourself killed. And finally, although they aren’t exactly defined as equipment the new grenades do merit some attention. The spiker grenades and fire grenades (please Bungie add these to more gametypes). The spiker grenades have a slightly different trajectory then the plasma nades and although tricky at first, are quite satisfying to land once you master. They shoot out 4 spikes which instantly kill anything without a 15 foot radius assuming they cross paths. Great for clearing corners of campers. The next is my favorite new weapon in halo3, the napalm nade covers anything it hits with a thick wall of flame which doesn’t dissipate easily and as an added bonus tends to blind the enemy in envelopes causing him to run around mindlessly.

Multiplayer - maps

The 10 maps you’ll find in the multiplayer have become somewhat of a love hate relationship with me. On one hand, I love the new placement of weapons, but on the other hand, I sometimes feel that with all that new detail, hiding has become far too easy for those wishing to cower as oppose to finish the fight! One thing is certain, Bungie has spent a lot of time tweaking weapon placement around each map so that there will always be one dominant weapon that both teams tend to spawn equal distances too. The rocket launcher on pit, hammer on guardian, shotty on snowbound… you get the idea. All maps were designed so that talented players would eventually be playing them like a game of chess, evaluating risk and reward at every turn. In this respect, the developers have hit a homerun and although I may dislike dying from a nade toss while attempting to grab rockets on pit, I appreciate the design choice made in placing them there.

Multiplayer - matchmaking

Matchmaking has made a triumphant return and more then ever, shows why console gaming is the place to be when it comes to tracking player achievements. Not only does Bungie match players based on skill level, but they also allow players to record their every action using the new theater mode to create custom film clips which can be saved and shared with friends! Unlockables have now been added such as armor and new emblem types so that those with enough skill, can show it off with hard to acquire armor types and the sought after katana. Bungie website tracks several achievements which won’t show up on your xboxlive profile but are still awesome to complete. One example being the steaktacular which is awarded when beating an opposing team by more then 20 points overall. Apparently some Bungie inside joke where one poor lad had to buy the losing team steak dinners after a humiliated loss hehe. I swear reaching a certain milestone in Halo3 multiplayer is as addictive as any drug on the market today, Bungie is definitely on to something with those ranking schemes! Matchmaking once again proves why Bungie is the definitive leader in its class and will no doubt serve as the new benchmark to which all games should aspire to reach.

Conclusion

Bungie and Microsoft love to hype Halo, in fact they’ve done so for every title in the series and somehow always manage to deliver on their promise of gameplay, cutting edge graphics and innovative features. Halo 3 is no exception, not only does it use the power of the 360 to deliver rich visuals and new technologically advanced effects like the amazing water and hdr lighting! It somehow does this all while keeping a steady 60 frames per second and solid multiplayer netcode which is so good, Bungie invites us to save our games just to prove it! Although many might hate Halo3 for what it doesn’t do, it innovates in so many areas that I’m at a loss to find anything bad to say about it. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go play slayer, see you online!

Halo 3 - 9.8 out of 10

Most have heard of it, others have seen it in action. Battlefield Bad Company promises to revolutionize the art or virtual combat by introducing completely destructible environments into the mix. Before I get started on the multiplayer aspects of the game which to most are the bread and butter of this series, let me first talk about the new and improved campaign mode.

It’s of no surprise to most that Battlefield needed a better single player component to its series. Its previous efforts were nothing more then simple bot matches in which you tried to kill as many AI opponents as possible but for Bad Company, Dice decided that they wanted a rich experience complete with compelling story and lots of “wow” moments as they call it. Instead of scripting elements like the call of duty series has in the past, they instead decided to build custom AI that was capable of making decisions on the fly that would give the player a unique experience everytime while still delivering on the promise of cool moments that typical AI wouldn’t be capable of.

Let’s now talk about the newest and coolest feature of the series, the destructible environments. Dice has made every surface in the game completely destructible as well as persistent. what does that mean? Well if you blow a hole into a wall, you can expect that hole to stay there, as well as all the other damage you’ll inflict. Here’s what I noticed could be destroyed in the videos I’ve seen, vehicles, walls, trees and even the ground will show visible damage when shot at. But don’t worry, Dice has been very careful not to ruin the gameplay as they’ve given each surface a certain hardness that requires the correct explosive damage to destroy. In other words, you won’t be putting any 5 foot holes in a concrete wall with an m16. but feel free to use a rocket launcher to achieve that.

So how does all this translate into multiplayer? Perfectly says Dice. Their primary focus with the new Frosbite engine was to ensure that all aspects of the single player game could be brought into the multiplayer experience. Of course expect to see all of the old components make a comeback too. Lots of vehicles, huge expansive maps, lots of buildings and open terrain, great vehicle physics… and now environment physics as well such as trees that move when you hit them, building that implode when driven over with tanks, etc.

What does all this mean for us? It means we are in for a treat when Bad Company releases early next year. I know I’ll be playing it for sure, and I’ll most likely be the last thing you’ll see as I come barreling down the road with my c4 laden humvee! Yippee Kayai M#$%^#$!

Gameplay – I’ll get right into it. The game play is awesome and highly addicting. Not too fast, not too slow. Everything runs very smooth. This game was advertised rocking a frame rate at 60fps. It did not disappoint. When you are playing you are glued to the TV and blinking is sometimes not an option. It is very intense and playing this game for a 5 hour session, seems like an hour. That is always a good sign for gaming, but not for your friends and family! Also, there is a ton of stuff to blow up. You can blow up cars and if an enemy is near them, or taking cover, they die.

Graphics – The game looks amazing. If I only saw the main menu, and nothing else, I would buy the game. It looks that good. Once you enter a game, you will find that everything is crisp, clear and not too highly detailed to where it looks like someone was trying too hard to impress you.

Maps – The beta is sporting 3 maps and 4 game modes that can be played on each map, so there is a good amount of variety on this beta. Vacant is a CQC map, and there seems to always be someone to shoot at. It is an abandoned warehouse, only 1 floor and an outside part that you can use for flanking the enemy. Crash is probably the best map on the beta. It provides both long range and CQC fighting. The map is centered around a crashed plane in a middle-eastern village. It reminds me a lot of the map Desert Glory from Socom 1. Overgrow is the third map and my least favorite. Snipers in guillie suits can take over a game on this map. There are bushes, grass and hay that they can blend in with and be almost undetectable. Its not a bad map, just a little slower paced and harder to find enemies to shoot them.

Game Modes – We have 3 game modes to play on each map. Team Death match is a 6v6 game and whoever gets the most kills win. Pretty simple. This is my least favorite game type. Domination is the best mode on the game. This is an objective based mode where each team tries to control zones, which are marked by flags. There are 3 zones, Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. Each team accumulates points for holding a flag and the more flags you control at one time, the more points you get. The first team to 150 points wins. I haven’t figured out the point scale yet and how the points accumulate, but I do know that the more zones you control, the more points you get. There is Search and Destroy, my second favorite mode on the beta. You only get 1 life per round, so you have to make it count. There is an attacking team, who tries to plant explosives on one of two crates to demolish. If either team is completely killed before this happens, the other team will win, but the objective is to plant those explosives if you are attacking, and if you are defending, kill the attacking enemy. When this gets down to a 1v2 or a 1v1, it get VERY intense because the attacking team MUST either kill all of the defenders or plant the explosives or they lose so there is always movement. There is also a free for all mode which I have not played yet. All in all, there is actually very good variety in the beta and when you get bored of one mode, there is something else to captivate you.

Weapons – Up until this point, I have spoke very highly of the game with very little to complain about. But that is about to change. The weapons are awesome and very fun to use, but coming from a competitive gamer, fun does not equal good. There are 4 guns that are fine right now, and take the most skill to use. The M16 (3-burst only), MP5 (an SMG that you can use close range and spray enemies with a high rate of fire), AK-47 (by far the gun that takes the most skill on the game due to the recoil and the need to burst fire it), and the M40 sniper (bolt action). Those guns are fine as they are in the beta.

The M4, all light machine guns (LMG’s), and the M-21 sniper (M1 Garand on steroids with a scope), all need tweaked. There is little to no recoil on these guns and they are very easy to use. They are definitely the noob weapons on the game. To give you an example, someone can run around, jumping and still be dead accurate while shooting and jumping and going to prone then back up again with a 249 SAW. No way! That must change, and also, stance accuracy bonuses must be given to all the guns. If there is a difference, it is not noticeable. I can kill someone and be just as accurate standing up than I can laying prone. You can hold the trigger from across the map with a M4 and be dead accurate and get the kill. So, this needs tweaked. The M-21 is a sniper rifle with no recoil that you can fire semi auto.

Perks – These were something I was very curious to see how they would play out. They will be fun to unlock when the game comes out and fun to use in public rooms, but again, fun doesn’t equal good. They seem a little gimmicky to me right now. And you can definitely use them to noob up some noob weapons even more. Like, you can add the perk stopping power, and deep impact to the M21 sniper, and that now becomes a 1 shot kill, semi auto sniper rifle that can shoot through concrete walls. Again, they are fun, but for competitive play, they are not good, and I feel they have no place. The game would be just as enjoyable without them.

Award Perks – These are a great addition and really add to the enjoyment of the game. If you go on a 3 kill streak, you get a UAV (like GPS that shows orange bleeps on the radar where you can see the enemies. When you go on a 5 kill run, you can call in an airstrike. This is my absolute favorite. You hit right on the d-pad, and if the UAV is still going, you can drop a good amount of explosives and wipe out 3-4 enemies at a time, then, once you get on a 7 kill run, you can call in the helicopter support, which will hover and kill any enemy in site over its area. Now, I think the kills to get these should be upped to 5,7 and 10 respectively for the main game, but for right now, and the beta, they are so much fun and really add a positive to the game.

The Knife – The melee now is a knife. I do like the knife kills, and it is fun to sneak up behind someone and get a knife kill, but when you are face to face with someone, and you are shooting them in the face, the knifing animation makes them invincible or something and they kill you. That is not going to fly with me. That needs changed.

In closing, this game is going to be a hit. I look at it from the fun standpoint and the competitive standpoint. From the fun standpoint, the game is good as is. But from the competitive standpoint, there are some things that need tweaked. I would buy the Beta for $60. That is how good the game is, and how much fun it is to play. A game has not been in my 360 for 5 days now. I have just been playing the beta. I have racked up almost 4000 kills in 5 days. And why do we play these FPS games? To run around and get a lot of trigger time and shoot your gun at enemies. And Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare will give you plenty of things to shoot at. It will not disappoint.

review by Rekoil

One of the first events which takes place forces you to sit back as you watch one of the few remaining humans (ok technically they are all human but trust me, much of that humanity is lossed) get completely torn up by a splicer. These genetically modified “things” have gone completely mad in their pursuit of adam which is the only essence that will allow them to survive. They roam the world in search of it but they aren’t alone. I won’t divulge the mystery surrounding the little sisters but will say that they were the most refreshing use of AI I had witnessed in a long time. They walk along the dark hallways in search of as they call it, fallen angels which are essentially dead splicers and proceed to harvest the adam from their bodies. They aren’t as helpless are you might initially believe though as they travel with BIG daddies. These monstrous guys could be compared to linebackers with the quarterback being the little sister. They will leave you alone but get to close or piss them off and you my friend are going to be shark bait.

Gameplay - I consider myself a pretty demanding gamer and I take great pleasure in trying to break a game’s AI routines but I found it extremely hard to fool these guys. They were absolutely relentless in their attacks against me but yet were still bound to the game’s physics limitations. for example, find highground and the big daddy will just sit below you screaming (terrifying in itself trust me), run away and he will chase you until he catches you. I won’t give away my method of choice for ridding myself of these guys but I will say that its one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve had in a video game simply because they are massive and demand respect. In one terrifying sequence, I was walking around in a washroom and there was a dead splicer wrapped up in bandages sitting in a chair. I thought nothing of it because I had seen plenty before it. I look away and when I fixed my eyes on that spot again I saw nothing but an empty chair. At this point I thought for sure I was going to be attacked so I immediately turned around to find the splicer only to have these dark eyes staring directly into mine. I quite literally jumped out of my seat (oh and then proceeded to shotty the perpetrator in the face).

Graphics - Needless to say, Bioshock is one pretty game, from the moment you set foot in the bathysphere you are surrounded by awe inspiring locales and water effects. My only real complaint here was that the water although pretty didn’t have character. Let me explain, throughout the game, you will walk through it, use it against enemies, but you will never FEAR being around it because it will never harm you! I felt they could have improved upon this by having levels in which the water was more dynamic possibly on the verge of flooding an area or carrying you away to another section of the map etc. All in all, the graphics are right up there with best the 360 has to offer.

Sound - To me, sound plays a more important role then graphics as far as atmosphere is concerned. Try watching a movie without sound, you won’t get affected, now sit down with your eyes closed and simply listen to a movies audio, the effect will be almost elevated. Our minds ability to process sound is far more advanced and Bioshock makes good use of it! From the distance sound of a Big Daddy approaching, to the footsteps or sounds of arguing splicers, the game does a phenomenal job of sucking you into its world. The music and voice acting are so good that you will never feel like you are in a game world, instead you will believe that real people are talking to you. The also did a great job on making sure that voice actors spoken words were period specific (the game takes place in the mid 50s after all).

Lasting Appeal - this would be my only complaint about Bioshock. It’s one of those games you just don’t want to finish. During the whole experience, I kept hoping that I would not see credits roll down the screen. I just didn’t want to leave Rapture (the city the game take’s place in). I would have loved it if the developers allowed you to stay and explore the city once you were done, perhaps even play as a splicer and hunt for adam seeing as how you quite literally do become one with your powers (aka plasmids). This game just begs for multilplayer and unfortunately doesn’t supply it out of the package. Perhaps we’ll see something in the form of downloading content but until then we’ll just have to replay the single player campaign.

Conclusion - I would have to say that Bioshock is a worthy purchase but only if adventure slash FPS games are your sort of thing. If you buy games for their replay value, rent this one instead but definately do experience it! The difficulty seemed to be toned down a bit as I played on the hardest and had no trouble completing the title but most of the battles will be determined by how well you make use of your powers. For those looking for an innovative approach to story telling and a compelling reason to keep fighting, look no further… Rapture awaits!

Review by Virago

The Bigs, created by 2K Sports is a fast-paced “game breaker“ style baseball game. I struggled with the game initially getting swept by the computer in my first two matches, but then again I’m still use to the old school SNES Ken Griffey Jr. controls. The controls for The Bigs were a bit different in the sense that you used the control stick to navigate the runner between bases. This was difficult for me to grasp, (as well as the ability to make contact with the ball). However, the Rookie Challenge mode sent me to spring training and within six hours I had my first season victory.

Six hours does seem a bit long, and I would have to say that those six hours were real frustrating but also pretty comical. I was actually amazed at how awful I was at this game. But then, after several rematches and rough loses- it finally clicked. I mean it finally clicked, I couldn’t believe it and the next thing I know I was throwing no hitters, and smashing balls upper deck. If you like gameplay that is challenging, but very rewarding then The Bigs is right for you.

Looking back, hitting was sorta like riding a bicycle- once you got it you just got it. Fielding on the other hand, was slow compared to Ken Griffey baseball, but it was much easier to rob batters by climbing the wall. The turbo meter adds a unique dimension and it sorta reminded me of FIFA street or any of the gamebreaker style games. You earn turbo by throwing strikes or connecting with the ball. Once your meter is full you can pull both triggers and at bat you will hit a homerun (as long as you make contact with the ball).

The Rookie Challenge mode was very cool. You get to create and personalize your own rookie who is brought up from the minors. You start out with 50,000 points where you then invest in different attributes. What’s cool is that you have the ability to make your rookie develop into an amazing player by performing well in matches. Points can also be earned in the mini-games such as batting or ground ball practice. Over time your rookie becomes a stud and he is your creation.

The graphics and sound are impressive. The player models look identical to the real thing and the lighting is also pretty sweet. The music selection is great with bands such as Motorhead and White Zombie and a fully controllable playlist by pushing the left thumbstick. The music really puts the icing on this game because there is nothing better than hearing Motorhead thrash while you win the game in extra innings with a walk-off home run.

The bottom line is that this game is worth buying. I don’t care how many baseball games you have played before, this one is badass and the best. Despite my initial difficulties, which were primarily due to excessive Ken Griffey Jr. the game is rewarding and enjoyable. If you do take a chance and manage to purchase the game, please and I mean please, don’t get to frustrated with it, because I guarantee that you will be a champ after a day or two.

I’ll have a much larger Dallas writeup with pics soon but for the time being here were the winners of this event followed by the MLG’s video wrap-up of the event.

Gears of War - LGD Black
Rainbow Six VEGAS - InterFEARence
Halo 2 - Carbon

Genieknows had another very strong showing at the event with its three teams (InterFEARence, TLR and TU Dynasty) placing first, second, and fourth respectively. LOA Wookie snuck in there to take third spot - great work guys.

I play these games regularly for a number of reasons. One, they’re free; two, they can entertain even if only for a few minutes or so; and three, some of the more entertaining games can be as stimulating as a console or computer game that costs up to $50 or more dollars. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that these smaller Flash games (and their downloadable derivatives, usually with the added moniker “Super”) are not necessary as graphically pretty as other games, but a lot of them can be very challenging, entertaining, time consuming to complete, and can have all the same addictiveness of a regular video game or its outdated brother, the arcade game.

Another great feature is that if you find you’re enjoying the Flash online version and you want to turn on some more challenging options or levels, you can buy the “full” version from each game’s website for less than $20 in most cases. You can download the full version and try it out on your computer (for a small period of time, like an hour) and then you can purchase an identification code to unlock the full features of the program.

Some of the biggest providers of games such as this are sites like http://www.gamehouse.com, or you can also go to http://www.realarcade.com and download RealArcade, a program that manages trial versions of game you can download as well as offer a medium in which to buy them if you like them.