That’s right, BioWare has finally finished their sci-fi opus Mass Effect, and it looks as though they’re hankering for some Chinese. It’s really no surprise they would go back to Jade Empire with a sequel, it was a major critical success [IGN.com]. The game was, however, less successful in it’s actual sales, nowhere near the numbers Mass Effect has been getting. Hopefully, after the success of Mass Effect, BioWare will be able to pull in a larger crowd of gamers for it’s ancient dynasty action/rpg.

Source: [Mercury News A+E Interactive]

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Everyone knows the best place to play the Nintendo DS is in the bathroom while you rest and think about your day. Who needs a newspaper when you can blast aliens and save princesses? Not me. Why do you think the DS is the most popular system around? It’s not because of the Pictochat, I can tell you that much.

Anyway, let’s get to that countdown thing already. The Top Ten Toilet Titles! I had to use the word “titles” because games doesn’t start with the letter “t” and that’s no good. So here it goes.
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Hey I stumbled upon a website with free flash games. They had a ton but the one I continued to play was Fancy Pants Adventure. Watch out for the angry penguin! (He thinks he’s a bull) It’s pretty easy to play and I like how you can slide down hills and run fast up curved walls like Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario. Except you can’t slide down and knock over the enemy. What’s up with dat? It’s still fun and a great way to pass time and I’m really good at that.

Check it out and other flash games @ Armorgames.com

Veda

If you want to play as the taller, slimmer, greener Mario brother you’ll first need to beat the game as the more traditional short, squat, red Mario brother. You’ll need to collect all 120 stars, ala Super Mario 64. Once you’ve done that you’ll also need to fight and defeat Bowser two times. An exerpt from the guide claims, “Luigi jumps higher and further, and also runs faster, but has trouble stopping. They each have the same moves, such as the long-jump or back-flip, but the difference in their basic jump, running speed, and stopping ability makes completing the game harder.”

While this news isn’t exactly groundbreaking, it is nice to know Nintendo is still looking to please it’s fans with this kind of thing. It’ll definitely make the game worth finishing.

Grab Super Mario Galaxy from NewEgg.com for $46.99. Save a few bucks and get Free Shipping.

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Capcom’s upcoming Bionic Commando is looking very promising. The basic grappling hook gameplay from Lost Planet is overhauled to give the player much more abilities including grappling an enemy. You can also use the grappling hook to swing from point to point around the city, a la spiderman. I’m looking forward to this game very much.

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Sorry about the title, it just came to me and I couldn’t resist.

Anyway, Game Informer got an exclusive early review on the highly anticipated action/adventure/RPG game Mass Effect. Score one for old school printed publications. In their review they rave about pretty much everything this game offers, from the epic, compelling story to the expansive, gorgeous, and deep universe. Ben of Game Informer said, the game has

“the richly detailed environments of Gear of War, the deep exploration of Oblivion, and a fictional universe almost as compelling as Star Wars.”

They gave the game an overall score of 9.75 (same score they gave Halo 3 and The Orange Box), Noting that the graphics, sound, and replay value were all top notch. The only real complaint they had was with some of the combat balancing. Saying some combinations of weapons and “force” like powers were almost too powerful, making some enemies and battles too easy. That said, the game will still last you between 18 and 30 hours.

Thanks to Game Informer for the early heads up. I was already looking forward to this one, now can’t wait. The game comes out exclusively for Xbox 360 on November 20th.

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Eat your heart out Spider-man. Capcom continues it’s fan love with a video of it’s upcoming revitalization of Bionic Commando. From what the video shows the game looks pretty cool. Before now, Spiderman has been the only hero to swing from building to building in a large metropolis city. Looks like Capcom’s taken some of the ideas from Lost Planet (the Grappling Hook) and decided to expand them with the Bionic Commando franchise. I’m still not sure about the whole dreadlocks thing though. We’ll have to wait and see.

Check out more at: BionicCommando.com

And for those of you that can’t get enough Podcasts, Bionic Commando will be debuting their very own podcast on October 30th.

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Capcom’s big announcement is finally here. It’s a new Street Fighter game. Street Fighter IV (4) isn’t coming until late next year but that can’t stop fanboys from drooling now. Capcom has a trailer of the game here.In addition to the new Street Fighter, Capcom has also said they’ll be bringing Lost Planet to the PS3 (including all the downloadable content and extras the PC and Xbox 360 version have). Also, a new game franchise called Dark Void, a sci-fi action/adventure game. And the old Nintendo game Bionic Commando is getting a next-gen remake.

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Conan and The Simpsons Game Demos available Xbox Live Marketplace Today.

Conan Summary from Microsoft’s Major Nelson: Play the Conan demo and experience the strength and savagery of Conan as you wage an epic battle across the world of Hyboria! Approximately 15 minutes of gameplay plus some short video segments.

First Impression: The first 30 seconds of the demo sum up what this game is about. It starts with Conan slicing the head off a guy and then offering some servicing to the leading lady. The game looks pretty good. The gameplay starts basic enough and moves on to combos and advanced moves fairly quickly. It’s a decent action/adventure game and we haven’t really seen many of them on the Xbox 360.

The Simpsons Game summary from Major Nelson: After Kang and Kodos use their Halloween ray on Springfield’s famous Lard Lad statue, it’s up to Homer and Bart to stop the rampaging mascot from destroying the town. To do this the two must fend off waves of miniature Krusty dolls while avoiding Lard Lad’s destructive laser and stomp attacks in an attempt to pull out his wiring. Will our heroes prevail? The fate of Springfield is in your hands!

First Impression: If you’re a fan of the Simpsons this is finally a game that does the long-running series justice. You may or may not know about previous Simpsons games and their less than perfect track record. The game looks pretty good for a cel shaded cartoon game. The control’s not bad, but it could be a lot better. Overall the single level they give you in the demo is really fun and worth checking out. Hopefully when the final product ships it will be as fun as the demo was.

Here’s some of the big game releases for the week of October 1st:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Adventure/Puzzle) – DS
2. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (FPS/Team) – PC
3. Crash of the Titans (Action/Platform) – Wii, Xbox 360, PS2, DS
4. NBA ’08 (Sports/Basketball) - PS3, PS2, PSP
5. NBA 2K8 (Sports/Basketball) - PS3, PS2, Xbox 360
6. NBA Live ’08 (Sports/Basketball) - PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
7. Flat Out: Ultimate Carnage (Racing/Destruction) - Xbox 360
8. Project Gotham Racing 4 (Racing) - Xbox 360
9. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Action/Not worth your money) - Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2, PC
10. Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (Action/Shooter) - PSP
11. Ninjabread Man (Action/Adventure) – Wii

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