Nintendo Mantra

It’s easy. Come on and have ago. With me now on 3….2….1...

“Download, Store, Delete, Download. Download, Store, Delete, Download.”

Got it? Simple. Again then and with some gusto this time. “Download, store, delete, download. Download, store, delete, download. DOWNLOAD, STORE, DELETE, DOWNLOAD! DOWNLOAD, STORE, DELETE, DOWNLOAD!”

Ok, that’s enough. I don’t want anyone passing out and cracking their head on the floor. Blood makes an awful mess and it’s a nightmare to clean up.

Not a very hard mantra that, is it? And it’s not meant to be. It’s designed to be completely devoid of any hardness just like the Wii. Don’t believe me? Then go and shout some abuse at your Wii or even shout, “Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough!” and watch it run away, clutching it’s little silver base between it’s legs. You’ll find your Wii much later hiding in a small crevice in the most remote corner of your home begging for mercy and some Wii Sports.

The Wii’s lack of hardness is not going to change. The best thing you could do is buy it a stick on tattoo or one of those leather wrist things that has pointy silver studs on it.

Seriously though this is a massive issue for Nintendo, their faithful fans and the rest of the Wii owners out there. The Wii needs a HDD. 512Mb storage just isn’t enough. The worse news I have heard this year so far, and this could be the worse news I’ll hear all year, is that Nintendo are standing their ground and refusing to develop a HDD. I think this is a catastrophic mistake.

But that’s not all. Oh no. I don’t for a minute think that this is the end of the story because you can bet that last packet of chocolate gold coins, you know the ones you hid in your sock drawer away from the rest of the family during the Christmas holidays, that some third party will come along and give us a shiny new 20 or 40 or even 60Gb HDD for the Wii. Nintendo will then very quickly get an official HDD to market, stopping briefly to wipe the egg from their corporate face.

So, eggs then; scrambled, over easy or sunny side up like the Gameov3r Forum

Vick's Monday Blues (Xbox Ad)

I think I discovered the reason Microsoft can't sell many Xbox 360s in Japan...



Do Do Do, Do Do Do, Do Do Do on the GAMEOV3R Forum

:) Vick :)

Blu Ray Of Hope

I've recently started to have a little bit of an interest in owning some form of HD movie player. The cheapest way for me to do this would be to buy the Xbox 360 HD DVD add on drive. With Warner Bros. and New Line both announcing they are going Blu Ray exclusive after May 2008 and rumours that Universal may stop releasing films exclusively on HD DVD it seems the end of the format war may be nearing an end. Couple this with the amount of noise the 360 makes while it's on and it doesn't seem the most attractive option.

The best buy as far as Blu Ray goes seems to be the PS3 with stand alone players still not far off the cost of the 40Gb version. This is still a substantial sum of money though when as a gaming platform so far I don't see Sony offering much I can't get with the 360.

If I'm thinking about this though, I'm probably not the only one and I wonder if Sony's risk in putting a Blu Ray drive in to the PS3 will now start to really pay off. Will 2008 be the year that Sony fight back?

Tell us what you think on the GAMEOV3R Forum or just leave us a comment right here

Sega just love the Wii

If you were a fan of the Sega Saturn you should sit down and keep anything sharp and pointy at a safe distance before you read on because there’s some flaming hot news coming out of Sega HQ this month.

There's a very real possibility of the return of yet another underplayed, hugely loved, splendid Saturn game. Speaking to Games Radar recently, Sonic Team USA boss Takashi Iizuka hinted at a possible sequel to Burning Rangers. Iizuka said that he was fully aware of the demand for a sequel to the fire fighting classic. "It's not my title" said Takashi "but I hear there's a lot of demand for a sequel, to bring Burning Rangers to Wii so ... we'll see."

With NiGHTS just about to get his release it would be a brave gamer that put their mortgage against a new Burning Rangers game not happening.

That’s not all either because Sega, obviously taking note of the massive success of the re-released Resident Evil 4, have come to the conclusion that Wii gamers are craving survival horror games. But Sega are not content with the survival horror bandwagon and are jumping onboard the Wii Zapper Express too. Later this year we will be playing House of the Dead 2 and House of the Dead 3 on our beloved Wii. Now, I really enjoyed House of the Dead on my Dreamcast but I thinks it’s a shame Sega aren't giving us an all new House of the Dead. Better still why don't they ditch the horror stuff and give us a Wii version of Let's Go Jungle! Come on Sega! Wii Zapper + Let's Go Jungle! = Pant wettingly exciting!

Still, there's less chaffing if your pants are dry so these remakes will do for now. I'm sure HotD fans everywhere will be delighted to get the chance to play these games again on the Wii but I still can't help but think that this is an easy, money making, option for Sega. If the excitement is too much for you I'd recommend Sudocrem over Savlon any day of the week.

So there you have it; “New” House of the Dead games and the prospect of Burning Rangers Wii too. I just love Sega.

Who do you love? GAMEOV3R loved his hamster until it was eaten by his cat Continue? I told him they wouldn’t play nicely together but he wouldn't listen.

Vick's Monday Blues (cheese)

Hey, thought that this would make you giggle. I wish I had a talking mouse too.



Does cheese send you silly with desire? Tell us about it on the GAMEOV3R Forum or just leave us a comment right here

:) Vick :)

Wii Points - Not Something To Be Sneezed At

Just how frustrating is trying to swap your star points for Wii points?! Even more frustrating than sneezes that never fully develop and just feature that pre-sneeze expression, which is pretty unattractive on most accounts. Sneezes when they do come though, happen at up to 100mph, which is a damn site faster than Nintendo make their online Wii points available.

Near the very beginning I managed to bag a 1000 point card but since then most of the time there's none available at all, and if I am lucky enough to find some you can guarantee it'll be a 100 point one. Coupled with the fact that you're only allowed one card per day, it's taken me 3 weeks to obtain 500 Wii points! These things are getting rarer than rocking horse defecations.

On a side note should you ever feel the need to stifle a sneeze you should consider that it is impossible to sneeze under water. Not always the most practical solution I'll admit. Plunging your face into a bucket of water during an exam for example can be frowned upon. Also we instinctively close our eyes when sneezing and therefore holding your eyelids open will prevent your body from allowing a sneeze to occur. Just remember I never recommended doing that while you're fumbling around on the carpet trying to find your eyeballs.

Where was I again? Oh yes, Wii points. I guess I shouldn't complain really, at least it's finally here.

Pay a visit to the GAMEOV3R Forum or just leave us a comment right here

GripShift Review XBLA

GripShift has been available on the PSP and PS3 network for a while now but only recently made it to the XBLA. Knowing virtually nothing about it I downloaded the demo as I do with most XBLA new additions not really expecting much. I usually keep an eye on metacritic.com also as you get a great idea of whether a game is even worth doing that. As the reviews for it started to build up most of them seemed to agree on a figure around 7/10, not bad.

My first try didn't really 'grip' me. The handling didn't feel quite right and the hand brake was severe, flipping you 180 degrees with a short touch. Something made me keep coming back to it though and I did so 3 or 4 times before I actually bought it. The more you play the more the handling makes sense and eventually you become an expert at it. You can even steer, boost and hand brake turn in mid air which is absolutely necessary on the challenge levels which I'll get to in just a bit.

The game itself has several ways of being played. It plays as a kart style racer with the usual range of power ups to collect but also a hint of Wipeout due to the placement of boost to collect on your way round to keep up your top speed. The tracks themselves are more Wipeout than anything also, being suspended in mid air with huge jumps and loop the loops. Great fun, and that's before you even try the challenges. These play like a cross between a driving and a puzzle game. There are 3 times to beat on each. Firstly just getting from start to finish as fast as possible. This being a little bit of a puzzle game means that this can be achieved by missing out huge chunks of track, usually by launching yourself high into the air. Secondly there are stars to collect littered around each track. Collect them all and cross the finish line as fast as possible. Thirdly there is a GS token on each level, often hidden off the normal track so you have to work out how to reach it and then again cross the finish line. You'll need a decent time on each to do well on the score boards, but you can try as many times as you like and you only have to complete one objective on each try.

It's the number of ways to attack each one that makes it great. Sometimes it's obvious which is the quickest way and other times it requires a lot of thought plus trial and error. Could I hit the barrier at the side of track to launch me into the air and jump that huge gap? Try it! The answer is often yes. Then you look at the online leader boards and find out that people are doing the same thing 10 or 20 seconds faster than you. There must be another short cut! It's very addictive and rewarding when you discover these new ways, and each medal earns you credits to unlock new vehicles, graphics or even more music tracks.

It's one of the largest XBLA games available at nearly 150MB but it's also one of the most polished and largest in variety with 120 challenge levels, 25 race tracks and 20 death match arenas. I'm a bit ashamed to say that the number of 7/10 reviews delayed me buying this even on my third or fourth try of the demo. It made me question why I was enjoying it so much. It's not a bad score by any means but pretty average on most review scales. This game is way above average though and for 800 points (£6.80) it's one of the best value games on the XBLA at the moment and easily goes into my top 10.

Oh I nearly forgot that it does feature online racing and death match modes too which I've yet to even try. It makes its mark even without it though.

GAMEOV3R score then.....