SPECTROBES: ORIGINS

Epic Sci-Fi Action Adventure Game Coming Exclusively to Wii

BURBANK, Calif. — (February 20, 2009) — The Spectrobes universe is coming to living rooms worldwide. Disney Interactive Studios today announced Spectrobes: Origins, the next adventure in the top-selling sci-fi video game franchise. Scheduled for release in Fall 2009, Spectrobes: Origins is an action adventure game exclusively for the Wii™ home video game console from Nintendo®.

Spectrobes: Origins brings the successful series to Wii for the first time with a new story that reveals secrets from the past through flashbacks of significant events. In Spectrobes: Origins, players will use the unique Wii controls to explore vast worlds, excavate three-dimensional fossils and unravel an engaging story while discovering the key to preventing a galactic threat. While immersed in the universe as never before, players will fight enemies by controlling planetary patrol officer Rallen and commanding a Spectrobe creature at his side in large-scale, real-time battles.

“The popularity and creativity of the Wii platform make it the perfect stage for this exciting evolution of the Spectrobes franchise,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Spectrobes: Origins delivers the immersive storytelling, dynamic action and memorable characters that audiences have come to expect of Disney entertainment.”

Spectrobes, the first original franchise created by Disney Interactive Studios, has thrilled audiences worldwide. Spectrobes: Origins follows Spectrobes and Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, successful Nintendo DS™ games that were released in each of the past two years. (Those games have shipped more than 1.6 million units worldwide.)

“Spectrobes: Origins takes players to an incredible distant universe for an engaging storyline and innovative gameplay that will entertain them for hours” said Kentaro Hisai, producer, Disney Interactive Studios Japan. “We’re expanding the legacy for high quality, innovative entertainment that we built with the first two Spectrobes games.”

Developed by Genki Co., Ltd., and published by Disney Interactive Studios, Spectrobes: Origins will be available only for Wii

3 on 3 NHL Arcade - XBLA

Author: Trevor H of Game-Boyz.com


It's hard to believe this long into the lifespan of PlayStation Network (PSN), or Xbox LIVE Arcade for that matter, that we have not seen a downloadable arcade hockey game to date. Being Canadian a game like this is a no-brainer for me and something I believe that we should have seen from the get go. Well the wait is over as EA Sports releases 3 on 3 NHL Arcade for PSN. For those with Microsoft's console the Xbox LIVE Arcade version is or was a week later that that of the PSN version. I had the opportunity to review the latter. 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is an old school arcade hockey game with some new twists and cool elements added into the mix. It will very much remind some of you of Midway's NHL Hitz from several years back, but make no mistake 3 on 3 NHL Arcade is different in many ways. So how does NHL Arcade fair? Let's find out shall we...

NHL Arcade is a 3 on 3 game where you pick two forwards, one defenseman, and a goalie. Once you select your team of NHL all-stars you are ready to play. It is really that simple. There is no customizing players, fiddling with the options, drafting a team, or playing through a regular NHL season. NHL Arcade is meant for NHL fans to simply fire up and launch a mindless hockey game in a mater of seconds. It is this simplicity that makes NHL Arcade a perfect game for the PlayStation Network.

In NHL Arcade you can play against the computer AI or go online. I started out playing the AI as I wanted to get accustomed to the controls and gameplay before I made the leap online. There are three difficulties levels to choose from: easy, normal and hard. After getting spanked 5-0 in normal mode I dropped it down to easy, but it wasn’t long after until I adjusted the difficulty and back to normal once I understood the controls. Prior to the faceoff, you select either the blue or red team. Unfortunately you cannot select your favorite team but you can select some of your favorite players. I assembled a team with Malkin and Koivu as my forwards, Chara as my defence, and Luongo as my goaltender. I should note that after every game you can select a new combination of players. The games themselves played very well and I was surprised with how much of a challenge the AI offered up. Yet I have to admit, it did get boring after awhile and I was soon ready for online play.

The pace of the game is fast, however for those who may want to slow/speed the game up the menu allows you to adjust the speed setting. Actually I found the game provides all the major options, camera angles and controls that NHL 09 offers up. I was also pleasantly surprised when I found out that I could use the NHL 09 skill stick in NHL Arcade too. The default controls are button based however the options allow you to use the skill stick. I found that I played considerably better using the skill stick as I could make all sorts of deke moves, and having recently played NHL 09 the skill stick makes the transition so much smoother. Bottom-line, for casual hockey fans the default controls will be sufficient, however for more experienced EA hockey gamers, or for those that want to excel at NHL Arcade, the skill stick is essential to your success. I should mention that the skill stick is not as easy to use with the PS3 controller compared to the Xbox 360 controller; nevertheless I managed with the limitations of the PS3 controller.

What make’s NHL Arcade truly a treat are the games power-ups. After launching a bone crushing hit the game releases a power-up icon. Upon skating over the icon the power-up is activated. Here is where the game becomes a hoot. Whether it be skating super fast, shooting a puck at rocket like speed, watching the opposing goalie shrink, turning another player into ice, or watching your player grow twice the size; the power-ups are varied and add an element of strategy to the game.

The online play in NHL Arcade is a blast. I spent the bulk of my time playing unranked matches. I don’t mind playing the occasional ranked game however I find myself getting my ass handed to me far too often in ranked based match-ups and I get tired of people who do the same move over and over again. I consider myself a casual hockey gamer so playing just for fun in unranked matches is what I prefer. My first online game was a spirited affair. I ended up losing 20-19 in a game where I was leading 19-13 at one point. It was a 13 period game much to my surprise. In fact, games in NHL Arcade go to a certain score and are not based on periods so there is no shootout or overtime as the first one to achieve a certain score wins. Overall, the online play is a riot and lots of fun. The only non-enjoyment I experienced was during some of those ranked games where players were more interested in using exploits and stats rather than playing just for the thrill of the game. So please, use some caution and keep your expectations realistic when jumping into an online ranked game.

Overall, the visuals in NHL Arcade are good but there is certainly room for improvement. For starters, you do not get much in the way of variety when it comes to the actual rink and jerseys. Games consist of blue versus red, and I am talking about the uniforms. So you cannot play with the Montreal Canadians best 3 players against the Vancouver Canucks best 3 players each in their respective uniforms. Some real NHL licensed jerseys would have been nice, however I understand EA Sports likely did not want to come across as putting out a product which resembles Midway's NHL Hitz and I am sure licensed jerseys would have upped the costs for the game as the fees associated with this would have to be paid. The playing surface is small and perfectly suited for a game of this nature, but again you play in only one generic arena. It would have been cool to see some cartoony versions of such well known arenas as Madison Square Garden, the Bell Centre or Joe Louis Arena. It worked for The Bigs which had some great stylized and somewhat over the top baseball stadiums, so why not do this for a hockey game like NHL Arcade. Don't get me wrong though, the arena does look decent and some of the visuals, such as the boards lighting up following a goal, but some variety here would have been nice.

The hockey players themselves look like bobble head dolls on ice, and the results are pretty good. Players move, shoot and check like real hockey players, but they all have giant heads. Picture EA Sports NHL 09 hockey players and turn them into bobble heads and you should get the picture of what this game offers. During the game power-up icons will become available on the ice and it can be quite comical when some of the players turn into oversized giants or goaltenders become miniaturized following a power-up. The menus are simple to use and nothing is over the top in terms of presentation. Again, I think a little featurette when you first fire up the game would have been nice, but NHL Arcade wastes no time loading up and giving you options to jump into a game right away.

As with the games visuals, the sound in NHL Arcade is good but certainly not great. Such sounds as the players skating, fans cheering, the commentator who yells out when a player triggers a power up, and even the music all sound great. That being said, I would have liked to have seen a little more variety in terms of the music options and I found that the sound effects when selecting menu options were a tad grating. There is also no play-by-play commentating, and as with the graphics NHL Arcade does not hold a candle in the audio department compared to its big brother NHL 09. That being said NHL Arcade is an arcade game and expectations need to be scaled back. The sounds certainly meet an arcade standard but just don’t expect anything NHL 09 quality which is a game that this downloadable title will be compared to given that EA made both.

Overall, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade for the PlayStation Network is a perfect game for those looking for a casual, simple, quirky and enjoyable hockey game for a fraction of the cost of a regular priced EA Sports title. For those who enjoyed NHL 09, NHL Arcade is a no-brainer of a purchase as the online play will keep you entertained for hours. For those who are new to hockey games or are someone looking for something simple and fun, NHL Arcade should be right up your alley. Overall many may very well be underwhelmed at the lack of features, variety (e.g. licensed jerseys and rinks) and options in the game, however at the end of the day NHL Arcade is well worth the 10 dollar price tag for a downloadable title that manages to provide some old fashioned arcade style play.

The Maw - XBLA

Author: Frank of Game-Boyz.com

The Maw, an Xbox LIVE Arcade (XBLA) title developed by Twisted Pixel Games, was honoured with the Audience Choice Award in the 2008 PAX-10 showcase of independent games, and is a finalist at this year's Independent Games Festival for Technical Excellence. The game stars a large purple blob concerned mostly with snacking and lounging around. At first it may seem like he is pretty much a slob, but he can absorb the traits of anything he eats and is virtually indestructible. If he weren’t a danger to all life in the universe he'd make the perfect pet. In this action/adventure/platform game, the Maw is the best friend of our hero Frank, and only by working together can the Maw eat both their way to freedom. So how does this XBLA title fair? Read on.

The Maw is a brightly coloured platformer game, with a little action and adventure elements, that tells the story of Frank and the Maw. Frank is a blue human-like alien imprisoned against his will by some generic alien overlords, and the Maw is a gelatinous purple blob with one bulbous eye sitting precariously on top. The prison ship they are on crashes on a planet and Frank gets to lead the Maw on his hunt to escape. At first a gelatinous purple blob is not very useful, that is until he eats his first indigenous cute and cuddly alien which basically sets up the object of the game. Your job is to guide the Maw through the game's various levels, eating everything in your path. The more the Maw eats, the bigger he gets. The Maw is not very smart though so the game has you doing all the leg work. Frank is armed with an electronic plasma leash which allows you to grab objects and drag them across the screen, while also allowing you to grab characters and the Maw himself. You can also throw items, lobbing them across the level or straight into the jaws of the Maw. There are many places you can’t get to with Maw and you will often have to go off by yourself and solve most of the games puzzles.

The puzzles are usually pretty straight forward and can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Being an arcade title the game’s controls are quite easy to figure out and master after a few plays. It took me a few plays to get a handle on grabbing and throwing things, but it becomes second nature fairly quickly. Some of the game’s levels will require a bigger Maw to get up or around things so frequent feedings are a necessity. There are tons of creatures for the Maw to chow down on throughout the game so finding food is never a problem. In addition, some of the creatures grant the Maw special powers, such as the ability to flame everything in the vicinity, to shoot lasers or to fire electric pulses. These help with certain puzzles and even give the Maw a charming new skin tone for the remainder of the level. While playing I thought The Maw was a fun and amusing distraction for older gamers wanting something simple, bright and not so serious or dark like which some adult oriented games out there contain. That being said I think that some of the younger gamers will absolutely love the game. My young son seemed to really like the colourful levels and easy to follow gameplay.

Despite the praise thus far, The Maw does have its problems. Sadly the game is fairly short and can be completed over a couple of hours of hardcore gaming. Add to this that the there is no multiplayer mode and you have a good game that is rather short and offers no real replay value. Of course for the purists, the achievements are always a challenge and something I like to finish in any game. Overall, the 800 Microsoft price point is a bit steep for when you consider other lengthier games that have been released on XBLA at that price point. The good news is that the developers are planning on releasing three deleted scenes (additional levels left out of the full game) for 100 points each. That should make the game’s length a little longer, but it also pushes up the price to 1,100 points.

If The Maw’s gameplay doesn’t keep you interested then the beautiful graphics should. For such a simple game the creators should be commended on the gorgeous presentation. The cartoon visuals are bright and fun. All of the aliens are beautifully detailed and delightful to look at. They are also bursting with personality. It is amazing to see that so many emotions can be put onto something that is essentially a purple blob. Throughout the game your Maw will look embarrassed, proud and terrified to name a few emotions. It often had my four year old son howling with laughter and I even chuckled from time to time. The game is quite nice to look at but I did find the levels seem to meld into one another, using essentially the same textures and effects throughout. Only the pickiest gamer may make a fuss about this fact though as most will be too busy to really notice the repetition. Technically I noticed no frame rate issues and only the slightest signs of clipping scattered throughout. I must admit The Maw is easily one of the better looking games in the XBLA library.


The sounds in the game are very appropriate and match the bouncy cutesy theme of the game quite well. The Maw itself is a grunting, wheezing mess and is portrayed perfectly. You can almost feel what he is feeling or thinking with just a glance. In fact his emotions are captured with such accuracy as each emotion is accompanied by suitably monster-like sound effect. This is very cool and adds a lot to the enjoyability of the game. Our other main character, Frank, while less memorable also offers a certain charm. When the Maw is out of reach he will be left calling for his friend in a sound bite that can get kind of annoying, but it is definitely cute in the beginning. The music takes the right approach of being pleasant enough, and not too distracting; however most people would be hard-pressed to be able to hum any of the tunes after shutting down the game. The music reminded me of some old African tribal kind of beat, both mysterious and pleasant at the same time. Of course the game is in full Dolby Digital, which is helpful for hearing enemies from behind.


The Maw is a brightly colored platformer game, with a little action and adventure elements, that tells the story of Frank and the Maw. Frank is a blue human-like alien imprisoned against his will by some generic alien overlords, and the Maw is a gelatinous purple blob with one bulbous eye sitting precariously on top. The prison ship they are on crashes on a planet and Frank gets to lead the Maw on his hunt to escape. At first a gelatinous purple blob is not very useful, that is until he eats his first indigenous cute and cuddly alien which basically sets up the object of the game. Your job is to guide the Maw through the game's various levels, eating everything in your path. The more the Maw eats, the bigger he gets. The Maw is not very smart though so the game has you doing all the leg work. Frank is armed with an electronic plasma leash which allows you to grab objects and drag them across the screen, while also allowing you to grab characters and the Maw himself. You can also throw items, lobbing them across the level or straight into the jaws of the Maw. There are many places you can’t get to with Maw and you will often have to go off by yourself and solve most of the games puzzles.

The puzzles are usually pretty straight forward and can take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Being an arcade title the game’s controls are quite easy to figure out and master after a few plays. It took me a few plays to get a handle on grabbing and throwing things, but it becomes second nature fairly quickly. Some of the game’s levels will require a bigger Maw to get up or around things so frequent feedings are a necessity. There are tons of creatures for the Maw to chow down on throughout the game so finding food is never a problem. In addition, some of the creatures grant the Maw special powers, such as the ability to flame everything in the vicinity, to shoot lasers or to fire electric pulses. These help with certain puzzles and even give the Maw a charming new skin tone for the remainder of the level. While playing I thought The Maw was a fun and amusing distraction for older gamers wanting something simple, bright and not so serious or dark like which some adult oriented games out there contain. That being said I think that some of the younger gamers will absolutely love the game. My young son seemed to really like the colorful levels and easy to follow gameplay.

Despite the praise thus far, The Maw does have its problems. Sadly the game is fairly short and can be completed over a couple of hours of hardcore gaming. Add to this that the there is no multiplayer mode and you have a good game that is rather short and offers no real replay value. Of course for the purists, the achievements are always a challenge and something I like to finish in any game. Overall, the 800 Microsoft price point is a bit steep for when you consider other lengthier games that have been released on XBLA at that price point. The good news is that the developers are planning on releasing three deleted scenes (additional levels left out of the full game) for 100 points each. That should make the game’s length a little longer, but it also pushes up the price to 1,100 points.

I think most gamers will fall in love with The Maw’s charm and simplistic gameplay. With beautiful presentation and style that matches most full-priced retail Xbox 360 titles; the game really stands out on the Xbox LIVE Arcade catalog. However, the game is done in a mere few hours and there is no multi-player aspect which hurts the overall replay value. That being said, I think one of the The Maws greatest strengths is how refreshing it can be to have an original, charming and memorable game that can be polished off in a relaxing few hours. There is no fear of having to redo huge sections or having to perform gamepad miracles. Perhaps it’s good that the Maw is a short game, because it certainly is sweet.

FunTown Mahjong

When we first downloaded this arcade game I wanted to have the first go at it as I was eagerly anticipating this title. However, what I thought would be Mahjong Solitaire a type of Mahjong that I had played and really enjoyed previously on some of my PC game collections turned out to be the original four player Mahjong.

Having had no previous experience with this game I found the tutorial to be a necessity and very informative after a confusing jump into a single player game. If this game is unfamiliar to you as well, by the end of the tutorial and possibly with a few written help notes if you’re memory isn’t the greatest like mine you should be ok to play a game on your own.

FunTown Mahjong is a tiled based game played with a beginning hand containing sixteen tiles and 144 tiles in total. To win the round you must make a Mahjong which involves linking your tiles in 5 groups of either: straights (3 sequential tiles of the same suit), triples (3 identical tiles) and a pair (2 identical tiles). You can achieve these groupings by either drawing a required tile on your turn or by picking up tiles that are discarded by other players. You can only pick up a discarded tile if it will complete a grouping and there are certain criteria and moves you must make/call in order to pick up the discarded tile: “Chow”, “Pung”, “Kong”, “Ting” and “Hu”. These moves will be best described in the tutorial and how to play discussion located in Help and Options. This game requires a fair bit of strategy and some tile counting to eliminate impossible pairings or straights that you may be attempting to form in your hand.

The original background for the game has your table set in the middle of a relaxing beach scene with gently blowing winds that cause the trees and plants to sway and the ocean to rise and fall. There is a catchy little tune that plays repetitively throughout the entire game and humorously your opponents are so relaxed that their hands seem to sway identically in motion with the wind. The games colours are bright and vibrant and the characters are cute with a Japanese cartoon feel to them. If you want to change the scenery you can download a Chinese Festival background from the Xbox Live Marketplace for only 160 Microsoft Points. The game also gives you the option of playing with the international or the original tile covering. From what I could tell the only difference is the original tile covering displays the numbers and letters in their original Chinese characters.

FunTown Mahjong can be played single player in which you select three AI opponents of varying skill level (easy, normal or hard) or you can play multiplayer against your friends via Xbox Live. I found the game enjoyable but, a bit too complex for my liking and this didn’t even include understanding the scoring system as I required notes just for basic game play. The game is good for all ages but may be a little too complicated for younger children.

Interpol – The Trail of Dr. Chaos

Dr. Chaos has escaped with the help of his three henchmen, Interpol’s Most Wanted criminals Mister Smith, The Hammer and the Artiste. It is up to you to accept the special agent assignment to follow the trails of clues in the form of objects and evidence left behind by Dr. Chaos’ three henchmen throughout worldwide destinations as you attempt to capture them and ultimately be led to the capture of Dr. Chaos himself.

In this new puzzle arcade game you must visually locate eight hidden objects within a themed background based around a location from a worldwide city. Sometimes you may also be required to find multiple quantities of one object adding to the difficulty level. There are three locations per city and you must find all the items throughout the three locations and within a thirty minute time frame to complete your mission. This may seem like a lot of time but some items are really hard to find. Each background will also feature bonus hidden objects “calling cards” that are left behind by the criminals. These bonus items when found will either add bonus points, extra time or additional hints to your game. You may also be given a special bonus level in which you must locate eight of a particular item which will be in different form variations. These bonus levels are a little harder as the objects are more obscure then normal.

The controls of the game are very straight forward. Use the analog stick to direct your cursor over the background. Need a closer look? You can open and close a zoom window by using the X button. A hint is just a Y click away for those hard to find items once you’ve exhausted your searching skills and once you’ve zeroed in on an object the A button can be used to select it. Just don’t click randomly across the background or you will see your time disappear.

The images that make up the graphics of the game are clear and for the most part recognizable. Some items are a bit blurry, especially when using the zoom window. The items and images are a cluttered mass and the use of light and shadow creatively conceal objects. One feature that I found was a nice touch was that in the majority of backgrounds there is one feature that is not static, be it a flickering light or a plane flying cross the sky to name a few.

Overall gameplay is very simplistic and will appeal to all puzzle lovers. The game is gender neutral and though one might think a spy game would be more of a guys game don’t let this fool you, I loved it. This game is great for all ages and family friendly. It encourages group play, hand-eye co-ordination, observation skills and some geographic knowledge learning opportunities.

Halo Wars Demo

There have been many titles in the past that have eclipsed just being a “game” and have become cultural symbols that many can relate to. Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog and Link are all characters who have reached the Hall of Fame in the echelons of video games. The Halo franchise is just as beloved and boasts millions of fans for all three instalments of the popular game series. This year will feature a Real Time Strategy (RTS) addition to the franchise by the name of Halo Wars. Ensemble Studios, the developers of the popular Age of Empires series have taken the Halo universe and produced what I hope to be a great title.

Some of you may be wondering why I am writing about Halo Wars, a title which is obviously not family focused. First and foremost our goal is to keep our articles geared towards the family, but, there are titles such as this one which we feel deserve to be discussed so that parents will know what this must have title their children are begging for is all about. With that in mind we will try to inform our readers about the content of the game and if we feel that it is a suitable title for mature children, or a title that is strictly for gamer parents.

Halo Wars is by far one of the most anticipated titles I have eagerly been waiting to play this year and find myself very lucky being able to play the Halo Wars Demo a week before it is released to Xbox Live members. The Halo Wars demo will be released on February 5th, 2009 and you should be prepared for a bit of a wait when you are downloading the sizeable demo.

Being a gamer who mainly plays his RTS games on the PC I have always been sceptical of this genre playing well on console systems. The controls have been the major setback in console attempts and in the past they are what have turned me back to playing my tried and true favourites on my PC. Halo Wars in this respect has done a wonderful job on their straightforward control scheme making the game easy to pick up and play without getting frustrated with the controls.

The demo features the basic tutorial level, two levels from the campaign and one skirmish level to give you a taste of the full version and what it has to offer. The tutorial level is simplistic, but, it will give you an excellent and brief overview of the controls. If you like you can skip the tutorial and jump right into the campaign to get a little bit more advanced gameplay, and enjoy a bit of the story told through Halo Wars.

The game features a variety of troops and vehicles that Halo fans will be familiar with from Marines, Warthogs, Spartans, Scorpion Tanks, and the Elephant. There are also some new troops and vehicles to the Halo universe that are welcome additions such as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST), Wolverines, Cobras, Sparrowhawks and Vultures. Halo Wars takes Halo to the next level allowing you to control multiple vehicles and troops to complete your objective.

Halo Wars is a military strategy game which includes objectives that involve the destruction of troops, vehicles and command bases. Overall there is limited amount of graphical violence during gameplay consisting primarily of aerial views of the destruction and the battles you control. However, the violence does become a bit more graphic in the cut scenes. This game is rated Teen (please see ESRB rating system) and I whole heartily agree with the rating of this game. However, I would suggest you only allow your mature or older teens to play this game. I really enjoyed the demo and anxiously await the release of the full version. However, you don’t have to wait long to play the demo and pass judgement on Halo Wars yourself. Be prepared for a new fight in the Halo universe on February 5th, 2009 for the demo and on March 3rd, 2009 for the North American retail release.