EVERYTHING VIDEO GAMES

As a child we always hear our parents tell us that video games are no good for us. But recent studies have shown people who have suffered a stroke can recover much faster by playing Wii. By any chance your parents have mentioned that to you while you were younger and have sadly suffered a stroke, nicely rub it in there face that playing video games will actually help them. After a person has had a stroke, there are more likely responed to virtual gaming, and the motions involved while playing will help them better there motor skills and regain there motion. In Canadian studies games such as Mamas Cooking house and Tenis have helped patients regain there motion faster than other tests and studies. In the medicine field doctors are now incorporating more virtual gaming, I guess patients progress faster with fun than having to go through surgery. Even tho this is not an official practise yet,  many doctors and organizations are pushing for it. So the next time you want to skip school, pretend your sick and you will have no choice but to play video games.

There has been a lot of hype for this game, and the wait is finally over. Is Battlefield Bad Company 2 worth the wait, and can we compare it to Modern Warfare 2? Most definitely, Battlefield Bad Company 2 is what you expected it to be based off its predecessor.When first starting the campaign you are quickly reunited with some old friends, and yes they are as cheesy as before. But sad to say that the campaign isn't any better than before, it is much shorter and more linear. Not to say it is bad, the campaign is action packed but doesn't have the epic feel to it. Other than the campaign EA has put a lot of work into this game in making it look outstanding. The environments are more detailed and is just as destructive as before. The graphics are very well done, and the depth in the maps goes beyond belief. But the game has it awe inspiring looks taken away from its dreadful cinema-tic's, they move simply too fast and you will find your self shooting a machine gun from the worst possible angle. For the gameplay, Battlefield Bad Company 2 rocks. The controls are almost perfect, there is plenty of variety and there is a great multiplayer. This game offers a lot of content, there is more than enough missions and customization available. The truth be told, most of us probably won't buy the game for the campaign but strictly for the multiplayer. The multiplayer this time round is incredible. EA has added new features like perks, you will be able to add them to your class and on vehicles. This add more depth and strategy to this game. Also the maps are brilliant, they can hold up to 24 players online, and the destructive environment adds a whole new dimension to this game. The maps also change as the game progress. Finally the most important factor which separates this game from Modern Warfare 2 is the team strategy, in order to be successful and win you will need to act as a team and having a siting duck will surely hurt your chances of wining. This game is easily a contender with Modern Warfare for one of the best shooters out there, if you are more of a team player you will easily enjoy this game. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a great game and is very hard to compare to Modern Warfare with its different style of play. I rate this game 8.5/10.

8.5/10 "FANTASTIC"

Here are some tips and tricks to help those are stuck getting through the New Super Mario Bros.

All credit goes to Pokefreak090 for making this video.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Pokefreak090

Mass Effect 2 will be releasing another DLC in late March, the Firewalker Pack. This DLC is free to all Cerberus Network Members(people who bought the game new). The pack will include 5 brand new missions, and a new vehicle, the hammerhead. The hammerhead is a tank like vehicle with speeds up to 120km/h, with guided missiles ensuring you will cause some serious damage. All 5 brand new missions will include the hammerhead as well. Finally Bioware announced they will also introduce a brand new heavy assault weapon. All of this will be hitting the marketplace this March, I don't know about you but I cannot wait.

Dante's Inferno is a game based of classic literature, and actually feels like you are reading the poem Dante's Inferno. Dante's Inferno is Dante's journey through Hell, and is a faithful retelling of his adventure from the poem. Right off the bat you get the impression this game is very similar to the God of War games, but there are many things that make this game feel unique. This game looks similar to God of War at first, but as you play through the game you notice there is something "different". This game has beautiful graphics, but this game focuses it detail more on the torture, the gore, blood, violence and nudity. This makes the game actually feel like you are in Hell. But at times this presentation seems to get a bit bizarre,  at times you will be examining a nude blue girl on a table? There are also some sloppy scenes, but it doesn't take too much away from the gameplay. Through out the game you will be presented with many cut scenes, like some impressive CGI, detailed anime, and some comic strips. The gameplay is very similar to God of War games, making it not very unique. But there are some creative gameplay in this game, after killing of hundreds of enemies you will be presented with an option to parish or torture the enemy. This will also earn you unholy or holy power, using that to upgrade your weapons and power ups. This game provides good depth for weapons and power ups, decent customization but nothing really get hyped about. Just like God of War this game provides puzzles and challenges, but these challenges aren't that great. The puzzles are either too hard or too easy, and the way they presented them doesn't make you want to complete it any faster. Overall I enjoyed this game but I don't feel like it has reached it potential and they producer can create a really great game if they just fixed some minors issues. I rate this game 7/10.

7/10 "DECENT"

Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero will be receiving some hot new tracks this month. Every Thursday for the month of March Activision will be releasing 3 brand new songs packs. Some of the greatest hits from Blink-182, Ok Go, Flogging Molly, and the best 80's music such as Go-Go's and Night Ranger. March 4 their first track pack will include Blink-182, and their 3 most popular hits: First Date, All the Small Things, and Adam's Song. March 11th Ok Go will be hitting the marketplace with "here it goes again", "do what you want", and "get over it". On St.Patrick's Day they will release songs from the Irish band Flogging Molly, the pack will include: Requiem for a Dying Song, Paddy's Lament, and The Seven Deadly Sins.  Finally on March 25 they will bring back the 80's. With "Girls, Girls, Girls", "We got the beat", and "Sister Christian". All these songs will be available in a pack or individually. On the Xbox 360 it is 440 Microsoft points  for a pack, and $5.49 on the PS3, and 550 points for the Wii. Or buy each song individually for 160 Microsoft points, $1.99 on the PS3, and 200 points on the Wii. Personally I wish they would add more heavy rock songs, cause I believe that is what made Guitar Hero great, but otherwise this a great addition and cannot wait.

With the release of Modern Warfare 2, people who haven't buy the game have been spending their time wisely playing Halo 3.

The new Alien vs Predator game is a game that take times to become a master, mostly because you are not always the same character. Here are some helpful tips to get you started and keep up with everyone else. First of all you have the Marine; as a human character you will have to perfect the art of blocking other wise you will brutally get raped in close combat. If you time the block right it will leave your enemy vulnerable for a couple of seconds for you to finish him off. For general combat I suggest sticking with a SMG or preferably the shotgun, both are very effective on and offline. Playing as the predator in my opinion is much more fun, it is similar to the Left 4 Dead games playing as the zombies. Like in L4D you want to keep your distance, and try to stay on high ground and get a birds eye view on the pray. Being sneaky and stealth is the key to the game, as a predator you are much weaker than the humans and that will easily get you killed in head on combat with the enemy. To attack the enemy from a distance your best option is using the convee stick; if aimed properly it will issue a one hit K.O, and the beauty is you done have to go pick it up, keeping your self unseen. When you do decide to go in for head on combat you must do it fast and quick. Aliens have amazing speed and can attack on any angle making it easier to kill the enemy from behind and escaping unnoticed. Also while moving around never sit around, use walls ceilings and other objects to move, and I advice you use turbo and move as fast as possible. The aliens seem to have an advantage, but for humans I advice you move carefully be aware of your environment and never enter a room alone always make sure its safe, just through in a couple of grenades for safe measure. Hopefully these tips helped and make the game more competitive. Just remember, there might be something hide in the shadows.

What happens when sonic and Sega's greatest characters come together? Well you get an awesome racer. Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing is a very good game, but it is very very similar to Nintendo's Mario Kart. Right off the bat you will notice that this game is visually impressive, the player models are nice; the karts are awesome; and the maps are just impressive since it incorporates all of Sega's best games. The variety in this game is impressive, there are plenty of characters for you to choose from, ranging from sonic and his pals to Banjoo Koozie and even your avatars and mii's. Sonic All Star Racing looks wonderful and also plays nicely as well, the controls are very tight and neatly put together. Drifting and attacking are all easily performed and gives you complete control over your racer. Even tho all this is nice, the game feels like I have already played it many times before. Almost every single aspect of the game you have already seen in Mario Kart, from the blocks where you acquire weapons to the boost and jumps. This game is very fun and enjoyable but it seems like Mario Kart racer with a Sonic theme. Finally this game doesn't offer a lot of game modes like Mario Kart does, Grand Prix is fun but only single player and there are no battle modes. Overall this is a solid game whether it is a rip off of Mario kart, it is still fun and a solid racer for the ps3 and xbox, but as a wii fan I will stick to Mario. I rate this game 7.5/10.

7.5/10 "ALRIGHT"

Super Mario Galaxy 2 was finally given a release date. The sequel for one of Nintendo Wii`s best sellers has been set to be released May 23rd. Nintendo`s Vice president Cammie Dunaway released the info at the media event in San Fransisco, where a new trailer was released, showing off some of the games new features. The demo showcased Mario playing in several new maps, such a ghost theme, and a GIANT planet. Another thing mentioned was the controls will remain the same from its predecessor. Finally it looked like Yoshi will be making his return as well, and this time you can use the pointer to use his tongue. From the very little information available I already think this game is going to be awesome. As we approach May more updates will be made.

"Connection Interrupted" that is the only match I can seem to find now a days playing Modern Warfare. The games I do get to play in are extremely laggy, people will be glitching all the way across the map and somehow knife me from behind. At first I thought o it is a one time thing, but now more and more the games are become more laggy. This was anticipated to be the biggest seller, and Infinityward was aware of that, I would at least assume they would at least give us a game with decent servers. Infinityward was showboating with a big ass smirk on their face talking about their nice multiplayer features, but how the hell can anyone enjoy them if they can't play one single match. They expected millions of people to play this game, so they expected everyone to have a perfect 25mb per second connection? I guess we saw this coming when they announced there was no more dedicated server for the PC version. But after the release with all the millions they have made they would at least fix this, right? The worst part is I encounter this problem more on Xbox than I do on PS3, I paying fricking $60 for this crap a year! Give me a break. I believe this to be a bigger problem than all the glitching, because before you would enter the game and be getting raped, but now you can't even get into a damn game. Infinityward please fix this problem!

As we all know Sony does not like piracy, but it now seems that Sony is going a little overboard. From the PS3's seven layers of security to the several different types of PSP's. It seems Sony can't do anything to prevent people from hacking them, so they decide to change things up, punish those who haven't done anything. Sony and Game developers have worked together and have come up with voucher code. These codes are used to play online, and every single PSP will need one to play games online. So if you bought the game used, you will have to pay $20 to get the code. Sony is already doing this with the new Socom game, and this is only the beginning. I hate to see legitimate buyers penalized for this, and I think that Sony`s tactics are not acceptable. So what do you guys think? Do you think Sony is write or wrong? And is this method of preventing piracy an effective method?

Do you own a ps3? If you do you must buy this game. Heavy Rain has done what other games has desperately tried to do; make a great story. The story for this game is by far one of the most interesting and compelling I have ever played. Heavy Rain's story is full of emotions, surprises, and it will suck you right in. This is a very capturing game, with it's amazing development and interesting characters. Along with that the game adapts to you and what you do. This game offers many options to change the outcome and how the story progresses, you can play this game over and over again and still play a different a story every time. As well the game becomes more than repetitive through out the game with the same cut scene seen more than once. With all that, the graphics could have been better, the environment and player detail is great but the surrounding objects and the interacting objects could use work, all being low resolution makes it feel out of place. Finally the game play is awesome, you play through four different main characters, and no matter what happens(even death) the game still goes on, you will just miss out on some clues. This one button action game feels great, and naturally adapts to you. The controls are great, but will take time for you to adjust to. This game is really great, and is surely a contender for game of the year. I rate this game 8.8/10.

8.8/10 "FANTASTIC"

10 years later, and the rapture is still the place to be. 2k's new edition of bioshock is simply outstanding, even tho the environment hasn't changed much and seems more familiar there are plenty of new additions and tweaks to make the game feel new. This cartoon and colorful art style is beautiful, but does not have the same attention to detail as the first. Bioshock 2 along with its stunning graphics the sound is just as good as ever, the sounds and how the story progresses with you listening while battling are amazing. There are still audio tapes scattered around the map to give you a more inside look to the in depth story. Even tho the story is not as mysterious as before it is more compelling and interesting. Another big change is you are now looking through the eyes of a Big Daddy! You are now teamed up with the strangest couple in gaming history, the little sisters. Along with being the Big Daddy 2k has tweaked with the gameplay, you are now able to use plasmids and your weapon at the same time, and adding a beat down option. There have been much more tweaks made to the game, but the most interesting one is to your plasmids. Upgrading your plasmids as the game progressed change and become much more powerful and sick. Finally the biggest difference from its predecessor, is the addition of the multiplayer. The mulitplayer is now in depth as other games, but this is mode is sure as hell fun. The similar upgrading system to COD, this game plays nicely and is fun with its many game types. The multiplayer is only a bonus to an already fantastic game. If you enjoyed the first game, you most definitely have to get this game, well even if you didn't play the first just buy this game cause it is just flat out awesome. I rate this game, 8.5/10.

8.5/10 "AWESOME"

The playstation 3 later on the year will be receiving their premium service: unlimited ps1 games, access to extra beta, online music service, videos, netflix and other playstation experiences. That is all fine and dandy but these services will cost you around $70 a year. If you really like those extra services you will have no problem getting it, but what the ps3 community really wanted since the beginning was cross game voice chat. It's been rumored that it will finally arrive!(about time)But this luxury will only come with the premium service. Why should anyone pay for this? The ps3 online service has always been free, and the servers have been fine, but when the community really wants something, and you starting charging them for it is just damn right outrageous! This really should be free, and come with the update. Sony may have been losing money per every console, but they can still afford to give us this one thing.

Many of us have been playing the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, but many of us find ourselves dying more frequently than others and this is really frustrating. For us Noobs we need all the help we can get. First of all, you will have to familiarize your self with the maps, you should know all the hots spots, and the most popular camping spots, this just comes with time. Another thing to remember every map is different, you will have to know what type of map it is whether it is a rushing, or sniping map. It is not smart to use a sniper on rust, I don't think you will last that long. Another important part to "not dieing" is knowing your gun, learn the best way to use it, the best attachments, and the range. Lot of beginner will use the ump to shoot a long distances, this will not work. But don't limit your self to one gun, use multiple guns, master them and use them when appropriate. Knowing these will surely increase your game, but there are also the little things that can bust you to the next level. If you keep dying from certain areas, do not go back there but try to take out those campers from long distances, also do not always run right through the map, since that's where most people would expect others to come from. If running around isn't your game trying "camping" take control of that certain area, camp it and pick off people going by, but when camping kill of a few people than switch your location so people won't expect you to be behind them when they run back to the same area. When "camping" fails we go back to tactical run and gun, the best way to do this is running around the outskirts of the map, and go behind them. While running around, I suggest using ninja pro, since sound is very important to the game as well, if you listen will you can hear people sneaking up behind you and you will be ready. If you can't be heard you are less likely to be noticed, that's why I also suggest using silencer on your gun so you can keep killing off enemies coming out of there spawn. Also being common sense take cover, and never run out into the open all willy nilly, you are just asking to get pumped in the face. Other than that you aim is the most important, if you keep missing you will never get any kills, so practice your aim, and to help you out start on the lowest sensitivity to get your a steady aim, and make it easier to be precise. As you progress I advise you to increase your sensitivity, since it is beneficial to play on a higher sensitivity. Well I hoped that helped, but basically all it takes it practice just keep playing and you will get better, since you can't suck forever right? Just remember if you can see them, they can see you!

What is there to say about this game? The most anticipated game of all time, has made more money than any movie has made in history, and has sold the more units than its predecessor Call of duty 4. First of all this game definitely lives up to all the hype, this game has everything you expected and more. The games visuals are absolutely amazing, the guns look dead on real, the environments are beautiful, and all the explosions you encounter are just mind blowing. This games look great, but the game play is even better. In this call of duty the AI is smarter, the game feels better, and still has the same game engine as call of duty 4. Also infinityward has fixed many of the little issues and bugs from call of duty 4. For this game, it seems infinityward focused more on game modes rather than the campaign. The campaign is great, but it doesn't live up to the call of duty legacy. The campaign is much shorter and the story is much harder to grasp on to. But yet again it is still fun to play, and fully action packed. Finally we come to the multiplayer, and yes it was possible to make it even better. This year they have introduced Spec Ops, where you and another friend can complete challenges and missions based off the campaign. Spec Ops is a lot of fun, and challenging. There are a variety of different missions you can complete, and you won't easily let go of this. The online game play this year is by far the best we have ever seen in many years. They still kept the same style, but just added bunch of stuff. Infinityward has introduced many new things as death streaks, custom kill streaks, titles, emblems and a bunch of new guns, such as the riot shield :P. The online game-play is much more balanced, and more fun to play.Also the game is more strategic do the custom kill streaks and the more diverse maps(more levels and depth). The death streaks help out a lot of the beginners, but really frustrate the other players who keep on killing them. Honestly you will have to shoot a whole clip on a person with pain killers. Also there are many glitches that were introduced early, such as the care package glitch, and exp glitches, these are really frustrating make the game unplayable at times. Other than some lag issues online, the multiplayer is absolutely amazing, and makes this one of the best shooters ever. This game is worth checking out to any type of gamer, I rate this game 9/10.

9/10 "SOO SICK!"