We Are Changing Into a New Generation of Our Blog!

As time goes on and new ideas get conceived, things need to change. That is why Games In A Nutshell is moving to a Wordpress account and being upgraded to a custom domain. After a while we will also add a community and we will see what else. We will upload this blog to wordpress so all the posts will still be there. At this moment it is not a custom domain, but it will be in the next few hours. We are also merging with underage gamer, you can find the blog here. Look forward to the new things we will be doing and I hope you will stay with us as we go through these changes. You can find the new site at www.gamesinanutshell.com We will edit this post when the changes are finalized.

Admin-Josh

Help Haiti By Playing Halo!

Well most of you have probably heard about the earthquake devestating the Island of Haiti recently. I thought it would be a good idea to show some ways to help support and donate to the relief and rescue efforts. Bungie just recently posted a blog on how you can help donate. CLICK HERE TO SEE POST.

I know I will be showing my support and also playing some Halo on the 20-21 of this month so feel free to join me or donate if u can.

Torchlight: Late Review [UPDATE]

Along with the Livestream videos I put up of Torchlight, I am also going to write a review. For those that don't know, Torchlight is a Diablo-esk game with loot, levels, skills, magic, summons and much more. There are alot of weapons but there are only a few weapon types. The art style is very similar to Fable 2, and if you have ever played a game called Fate on the computer (it comes with most gateway computers) then it is extremely similar. The combat is satisfying, especially when your character is decked out in the best spells, armor, and weapons. The story is very much, go do this, can you get this for me, kill that guy. The dungeons are connected to one another so you only have to go one place to go to all. The way that you travel from place to place is by portals, and you can open up town portals anywhere in the dungeons to go to and from town. The pet is pretty effective and a great partner. When you teach your pet spells and feed it fish, it becomes extremely powerful and will kill alot of the enemies for you. Torchlight overall is a very satsfying game and there isnt anything that I can think of to complain about. So, Torchlight gets a well deserved 10 out of 10. If you are waiting for Diablo 3, or just wanting another point and click hack and slash, pick up Torchlight for the PC, it's definatly worth you time.

Editors note: Also its only 20 bucks. to buy click on the title.

GIN 2009 GOTY!

As I promised, but a little bit late, G.I.N staff's Game of the Year pick. For the nominees just look at the post below. Now, this took alot of thinking and I think we came up with a game worthy of this title. Sure everybody has their own GOTY, but this is ours. G.I.N as a whole came up with...drum role...Modern Warfare 2 as it's GOTY. This title fully deserves the award due to amazing gameplay, interesting story and some of the best multiplayer ever. The graphics and AI were also very good, a bit fustrating on veteran, but thats how it is supposed to be on the hardest difficulty. I have put many hours into this game as well as the staff here and hope to put many more hours in as well. That's our GOTY pick, stay tuned for some little league awards such as best RPG, best online game, best co-op and many more.

G.I.N GOTY Contenders

The year is coming to an end and the games have stopped coming out. It is now time to pick the game of the year. First up I will list the nominees, then later I will post the winner that will be picked by the G.I.N staff. The nominees are:

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum

2. Modern Warfare 2

3. Assassins Creed 2

4. Resident Evil 5

5. Uncharted 2

6. Forza 3

7. Dragon Age: Origins

8. Left 4 Dead 2

9. Halo 3: ODST

10. Demon Souls

There is out top ten candidates. I will be polling the staff for their pick and make a decision based on that. I hope this satisfies many people, and I think it will.

Uncharted 2: Review

The new big purple elephant for PS3 gaming is Uncharted 2. To kick things off, Uncharted 2 is EXTREMELY pretty. Most people will say its on the edge of uncanny valley, I say, "close". When you first jump right into the single player story, you immediately get cast into a hard situation, one of which I will not spoil. The way Naughty Dog presents the Intro of the game is amazing. The story of Uncharted 2 is one of the main points to keep playing. The story is full of twists and irony that just keeps on tying itself into a knot that eventually unfolds into something amazing. The main mechanic is platforming with a side dish of 3rd person shooting. The platforming is done very well and adds a new dimension to combat and level crawling. The shooting needs some work but the upgrade system and boosters really help to go through the game. While in the single player, there is always at least one other person with you, but they really don't help, they just make the enemies hunch over to give you a chance to shoot them. There is a pretty big variety of weapons, in which you can dramatically change the play style. The upgrades and boosters, as I mentioned earlier, really help with...well...killing dudes. Next is the multiplayer. The multiplayer works, that's basically all I have to say. Your boosters also carry over to the multiplayer, and the maps are interesting and work well with the ten player limit. There is also a co-op mode which is pretty much horde mode. There is some objective type stuff, such as; get the treasure to the chest on the other side of the map. Co-op is, in my opinion, one of the reasons to play this game. At the very most, the worst thing about this game is the shooting. The shooting isn't bad, it just isn't on par with the other big third person shooters. Everything other than that is amazing, and the game isn't focused on shooting, so that's ok. Story, multiplayer and co-op are all reasons to get this game, and hey they are the only thing in this game, so that is why Uncharted 2: Among Thieves deserves Game In A Nutshell's very first 10 out of 10.

Wallace and Gromit' Grand Adventures Episode 3...FOR FREE!

To celebreate the 20th anniversary of Wallace and Gromit, Telltale is giving Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures Episode 3 for free. Click the title or go here. Get it while you can, it's not going to last forever.

Boxhead on Kongegate

I just wanted to tell you guys about something I found on Kongregate called: Boxhead:The Zombie wars. It's basically a zombie survival game with little box people, there are weapon upgrades and such, you can place explosive barrels, and the enemies get tougher through the levels. But the mode that really stands out is the defense mode. In defense mode, you have a little bunkered area with turrets, rocket launchers, and grenade launchers. Ever once and a while you will be able to place barricades, and more turrets. The game is extremely fun and it's also free. Go check it out.

'Sup.

Hey, guys.

I'm the new writer in town. My name's Callum, but you can call me whatever you want based on how much you like my articles.

I'm 15, live in Australia, and I've been a gamer for about 10 years now. My first console was a Nintendo 64, and my first game was Donkey Kong 64 (which I still love to this day).

My console of choice for this generation was the Xbox 360. It's the mid-point between the Wii's affordability, and the PS3's excellent specs. I also use a PC, but I'm more of a console gamer. I still have quite a few PC games, and a Steam account that I use every day. I still prefer my 360 for gaming, though. It's just easier.

My top 5 games of all time are:

1. Donkey Kong Country: Diddy's Kong Quest
2. Super Mario World
3. Half-Life 2
4. Donkey Kong 64
5. Call of Duty 4

I'm guessing that this list is going to change once Modern Warfare 2 is released.

When I'm not gaming, I'm either drumming or practicing Parkour. I'm also an actor.

There you go. That's the lowdown on me. I hope the time I spend here at GiaN is worthwhile, and you guys get a kick out of reading my articles.

- Callum

Nintendo Wii Price Drop

Nintendo's already extremely successful system, the Wii, has just got a price drop to $199.99. Now Nintendo can finally compet...I mean make a ton of more money with no discretion. Earlier, Nintendo said that they were not going to drop the price of the console, but look at it now. Still, if you are going out to the store with $200 and looking for a video game system, you could either get the gimmicky Wii that only plays party games, or you can get the Xbox 360 that has a HUGE install base and a great online experience. Not sure why they dropped the price, it's not like they are having a hard time selling the thing. Oh well, less money the soccer moms have to spend.

Halo 3: ODST Review

Halo 3 ODST was not as hyped as Halo 3, it did not have a huge luanch event or a helmet packed in with the special edition. Most of all, some people didn’t even think the game was going to be any good, boy were they wrong.

When you first drop into ODST you experience a little prelude text movie, I have to admit it was not all that great, it made me feel like I was 5, because of all the simple words. But as you get into the main menu screen, you see It is very similar to Halo 3, well of course. The other menus are a lot sleeker, and the games load a heck of a lot faster. There is not much customization that you can do with your character, other than taking their helmet off, and that looks pretty dumb. OK, so into the game. You are introduced with a cutscene where the ODSTs are about to drop into New Mombasa to take over a covenant ship. This game takes place in the events of Halo 2, by the way. As they drop, regret jumps into slipspace, causing an explosion that makes the drop pods go off course, but does not kill everyone. Your drop pod gets stuck in some debris and the tutorial begins, when you finish you jump don into the street, and, you take fall damage! Yes, that is new, so you can’t just jump from 200 yards and not have your legs cave in from under you. Your health is also extremely low, so, when your main health bar gets low, you better run for cover and wait for your “stamina” to recharge. Back to the game; Your first impression is, “Wow, it’s really dark,” until you turn on your VISR. Your VISR is basically your night vision, it puts orange lines around geometry, red lines around enemies, green around frindlies, and lights up objects of interest which you have to find to find out what happened to your squad. The new weapons are extremely effective, and you are never going to want to put them down, but they do run out of ammo pretty quickly. As you first encounter the super intendent you receive uplinks to the city’s navigation (that means you get a fancy world map) where you can place markers to follow. So as you find the objects of interests, or beacons, you trigger a cutscene and then a mission; where you play as one of your squad mates to find out what happened to them. When you get into the mission, it is light outside, which means the game takes place all in one day. The graphics are a bit more refined than Halo 3, and the AI has definitely been improved. The one new enemy is the engineer which is a pain in the but. You don’t get to see Elites (well there are some dead ones, but still). The story is pretty interesting and the characters are funny and you will love them till the end. Firefight is the big purple gorilla in this bundle. Sure it also comes with the Halo 3 multiplayer, and that’s cool at the very least. But firefight is a huge step forward. It basically works like this: There are 5 waves in a round and 3 rounds in a set, if you finish the set, you continue on a different map. Between waves, sets and rounds, there are weapon drops and bonus rounds. The bonus rounds are just tons of grunts pouring in and you have to kill every one that you can (did I mention all the skulls are on). Speaking of skulls, as you progress there are different skulls that turn on to make everything harder. Bottom line; firefight is the new horde.

With everything ODST has to offer I say it’s defiantly worth the sixty dollar price point. And with the new features, modes, and campaign, ODST gets a…9.5 out of 10

ODST: First Ten Minutes

No this is not a Live Play, I will do one of those for firefight. This is just my impression of the first ten minutes of the game.

The first thing you realize is that you walk slower and you jump slightly less high. This is obvious because you are not a super awesome spartan. When you first enter the "Hub World", everything is dark, therefore you have to use your visor. The visor is pretty cool and very useful. The visor puts orange lines around geometry, green lines around friendlies, and red line around enemies, it also lights things up a bit so it isn't so dark. You start out with the silenced SMG and the silenced mag. The SMG is alot more powerful than th older versions, and the pistol is back to it's Halo 1 days where it's basically a cannon in your hand. All the weapons have kickback, so you will have to fire in short accurate bursts, well, you should be doing that anyway. Then finnally, at the last part of the first ten minutes there is the Super Intendent. The SI helps you through your merry way along the huge mege city, he goves you hints to where things are, and every now and then you wll see signs that say: Go This Way or have an arow pointing to the side. Another cool thing it the squad system. The squad system is basicallly this: the enemies are program into squads, which patrol the area every now and then, so you wont be fighting covenant in the same area twice, or, at least, in that same exeact area.

Overall the first ten minutes are a great introduction to the game, the cutscene is awesome and the training part is helpful and well integrated. I cannot give a score based on just this segment, but expect a review up soon, as well as the firefight Live Play.

Halo 3: ODST

Midnight tonight (well the night that I am posting this) ODST will be released. I will only be getting it Tuesday night, so expect an ACTUAL Live Play, and a review up soon for it. This game is going to be great. BTW: Bungie, if you are reading, you know, you can always hook me up with the gae early next time, wink wink.

Fat Princess for the PSP

Yes Sony has announced Fat Princess:Fist Full of Cake for the PSP. Sony says there will be "50 percent more content", I would like to see that. There will be a mode where instead of stealing a princess, you plant a bomb. Sony is calling this one Fat Princess 1.5 (that's more like it). It will feature an extended single player, 1 new mode, and 1 new map. Rejoice all you PSP fans another addition to the great lineup of fall PSP titles.

Halo 3 ODST: Just Goes To Show

Here is a review that I found on Gamestop.com for Halo 3 ODST. This shows that people are pretty uninformed on whats going on,

it is about time that they leave master cheif to fight somewhere else and let the real soldiers in on the field. i love that the next 2 halo games ( odst and recon) are being taken from the halo series which was amazing, shows another part of the covenant war through the eyes of a group of soldiers most of us can relate too. -SavageHornet

HA HA, Fanboys, oh you make me laugh. Next 2 halo game ODST and Recon, no, no, they are the same games, the one game got a name change. And, soldiers most of us can relate to; yup, because most of us drop from a huge flying ship and fight off a bunch off aliens after work. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but lease, when you review stuff, think about it and get some facts straight before you submit it.

How To Find Good Gaming Deals. 5 Easy Rules

For all of you who are a little tight on money right now, which I know all of you are, here is a couple of easy ways to get more game for your buck.

1. Find places that have games, but usually would not sell games. For instance, I went to H.E.B the other day and they had Prince of Persia for the DS all by itself for 10 dollars, that's half the price of the original.

2. Use clients like Steam. Steam is pretty much the best when it comes to deals on pc, they always have good packs, price cuts, and deals of the week.

3. Try to compare. If you have a Walmart right next to a Gamestop, then compare prices of the two, sometimes Gamestop has good deals, but every now and then Walmart puts out their bargain bin.

4. Use resources. Websites sometimes have a little section where you can find deals of the week, but the best website for tracking that sort of thing has to be; Cheap Ass Gamer.

5. Ask friends. Usually you friend or family may just have bough a game because it was on sale, ask them where they got t and how much was it, you may be completely oblivious, but other people may not be.

Word to the wise: Recommended game price is $20 and under.

PS3 Slim, and PS3 Price Cuts

Just announced, is the PS3 slim, yes you all guessed it, a PS3 slim. What is up with Sony and Slim, do they have something against fat? The price of the new PS3 will be $299, 299 euros, and 29,980 yen. It will have a 120 gig hard drive an not compatible with PS2 games. If you want exact details, go here.

DSi Impressions

Yes, I gave in and bought a DSi with money from selling my broken PSP and Rock Band (also broken). I know I wrote a pretty harsh post on the DSi a while back, but now I kinda take that back. I had a old DS lite that I sold a long time ago, so I can have a say in what Nintendo improved. All the new stuff is actually pretty cool, the camera, first off, isn't that great in quality, but it is fun to mess around with the faces and distortion. Little ones have lots of fun with the camera. Next, the DSi Ware Store is pretty impressive, it's good to know that Nintendo can do stuff that Sony can't. I did get the free points, but I haven't decided on what to buy.The size is pretty much the same as the lite, the only difference is is that it's screen is bigger, and it's lighter...than..the..lite...hmm. Well anyway, the new texture of the skin looks cool but I'm constantly cleaning fingerprints off of it. The one major downside is that it doesn't have the GBA slot, which alot of games require for certain things. It does have better Internet connectivity so you don't have to open your router up to the "Come And Use My Internet" setting. The price isn't too bad either, $169, cheaper than the PSP and it has more variety of games. I defiantly recommend the DSi if you don't have a DS already, and if you want a score, I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10.So whenever you look at it you say to yourself, "I've got the newest handhold, and it looks awesome." Here is a couple of pictures I took and edited with the camera. The last two are me and the first is my dad.

Play Games, Heal Kids, Extra Life

Some of you reading this may be from Sarcastic Gamer.com and already know of Extra Life, but this is for the people who don't know. A very good gaming blog called SarcasticGamer is doing a charity for kids with cancer. This charity is called Extra Life. Extra Life is a 24 hour gaming marathon, and all you have to do is get people to sponsor you for a doller an hour, and, well, play games for 24 hours. Last year Extra Life was a last minute idea that raised over $100,000! This year they plan and expect to raise more, alot more. Alot of websites and even developers and publishers are planning to get involved. So let's show them that even a little website like us can raise a bit of money. For more information go to ExtraLife.Sarcasticgamer.com and sign up to contribute to a great cause. And tell them you are from Games In A Nutshell, and join the Games In A Nutshell group, please, show them what a little community can do. Team page

Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo Impressions

I have recently downloaded the Batman: AA demo from steam and this is what I think. First off the demo starts with a basic combat tutorial and the free flow combat works really well. I am playing it on the PC, so the basic controls are; L-Click is punch, kick, basic attack. R-Click is counter, special moves, and batarang. Ctrl is crouch, you can also do Ctrl+R-Click for a take down. Space is run as well as glide and dropping down from ledges silently. Q is randomly throw batarang. F is grapple, ect. and so on. The controls work surprisingly well for the pc, nothing is too cumbersome and far apart, all the keys are easy to get to. The graphics in the game are amazing, as the Unreal Engine would offer, everything is very detailed, and there is somewhat destructible environments. All the old characters are back, the Joker, Gordan, Harley, Zhaz, Killer Croc and so on. Also, characters like Harley have new improved outfits. In the demo you don't get to play challenge rooms and it end with a teaser of a boss fight. There is one room that shows off where the game excels in stealth. There are 5 guys with guns and you have to take them out 1 by 1. I have played this part over and over again and there are still new ways that I can take them all out. If you are a Batman fan, or even just a action/stealth/brawler fan, you owe it to yourself to check out this demo. The demo is available on PC, 360, and probably he lead platform, PS3.