2011 holiday gift guide, extended remix
A much longer version of the holiday gift guide that recently ran in The Press Democrat features plenty of suggestions for all sorts of gamers.
It's been a while since I've done one of these, but nonreview games I've managed to sneak in include "Outland" and "Dragon Quest IX." I've also been spending time with old favorites "Bulletstorm" and "Portal 2."
With the exception of off-road racing title "Dirt 3," it's a pretty slow week.
The PlayStation Network came up Saturday evening/early Sunday, depending on where you live. So have at it! If you're not catching up with old favorites, here's what else is looking good for this weekend.
Once again, Sony's PlayStation-exclusive baseball game is a polished, no-brainer buy for baseball fans. Its only real weakness is that it takes longer than it needs to to get the hang of the new pitching and hitting controls, thanks to a lack of well-made tutorials and contextual help.
Jellyvision Games reboots its classic, irreverent trivia game from the mid-'90s with wry, amusing, mostly successful results. The budget-priced game is worth a look, especially on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which support up to four players, offline or online.
A fast, colorful fighting game and two remakes of classic Japanese role-playing games top this week's new releases. Also worth a look, a semi-obscure role-playing game whose characters are personifications of video game consoles and companies.
With "Mario Sports Mix" and "Test Drive Unlimited 2" garnering ho-hum reviews thus far, it's looking like a light week for new releases. Standouts include the reboot of cleverly written trivia game "You Don't Know Jack" and "Stacking" the latest offering from Sonoma native Tim Schafer's Double Fine Productions.
A crazy fall has given way to a mellow winter, so I'm going to resume doing these weekly pieces recapping new games and deals worth jumping on. Here's a look at what's going on for the weekend of Jan. 21-23.