“The Conduit” (rated T, $50 on Wii): Several games have been heralded as The One Great Wii Game for the Hard Core gamer, but all thus far (“No More Heroes” and “Mad World,” to name a couple) have fallen short of their considerable hype, which makes me wonder how much critics are shortchanging Nintendo’s console. A lot of the criticisms leveled at “The Conduit” (boring story, oh-so-familiar gameplay) are the same shortcomings I found with “Killzone 2” on the PlayStation 3, yet that title got much better reviews than Sega’s first-person shooter. I haven’t played “The Conduit,” so I can only guess at what ails it. The handful of early reviews I’ve read, though, say that the motion controls are intuitive and first-rate. And, unlike the majority of Wii games, it sports fairly extensive online options. If you want an online FPS on the Wii, this is your best bet.
“1 vs. 100” beta (unrated, free on Xbox Live): As a copy editor and page designer on the news and sports desks at the paper, I work a lot of evenings and weekends, so I didn’t really get a chance to try out the beta of the Xbox Live game show “1 Vs. 100” until Thursday night. I’ll be devoting a full post to “1 Vs. 100” in the next few days, but before I do, I wanted to mention that this weekend, the free quiz show is available to all Xbox 360 owners. (It’s normally limited to those who pay $35 to $60 a year for an Xbox Live Gold membership.) If you’ve ever seen the televised “1 Vs. 100,” you probably know the drill. One contestant squares off against a “mob” of 100 others to compete for prizes. The trivia game is the kind of thing that everyone in the room can get into. Because “1 Vs. 100” is planned as the centerpiece for Xbox Live Primetime, you can only play the main game during certain hours. For more info, check out the official site.
“Fallout 3” (rated M, $60 on Xbox 360, $50 on PC): “Point Lookout,” the fourth $10 add-on for “Fallout 3” hit the PC and Xbox 360 this week. The download adds a seaside town, a massive swampland and a bit of survival horror flavor to the “Fallout 3” world. I’m digging the way developer Bethesda Softworks is using the downloadable content for “Fallout 3” to take some creative and stylistic risks, rather than just adding more of the same. PS3 fallout fanatics, take heart: The first “Fallout 3” add-on for your console, “Operation Anchorage,” should be releasing in the next couple of weeks.
“Fight Night, Round 4” (rated T, $60 on Xbox 360 and PS3, $50 on Wii): I’ll still never forget how much the visuals for “Fight Night, Round 3” blew me away when the free demo hit Xbox Live two years ago. Unless you’re strictly a fan of “Punch-Out!!’s” cartoon caricatures of fighters, “Fight Night, Round 4” should shape up to be the greatest boxing game ever made. Note: Angry Xbox 360 owners have deluged Electronic Arts with complaints that the 360 version of this game is prone to frequent freezing. I’m sure this is an issue that will be addressed quickly via a downloadable patch, but in the meantime, you might give this a pass until the issue’s been fixed.
“Overlord 2” (rated T, $60 on Xbox 360 and PS3, $40 on PC and Wii): The first “Overlord,” in which you play as an aspiring evil-doer who uses an ever-growing army of minions to create havok in a medieval fantasy setting, was something of a cult hit. The charming British wit and zany minion antics helped you forget you were essentially solving a series of puzzles. Better yet was trying to decide whether to be “evil” or “really evil.”
“Overlord Minions” (rated E10+, $30 on DS): This portable game for Nintendo’s handheld plays much the same way as its console big brother. Instead of controlling a small army of minions, however, you’ll control one of each of the four times, moving them around with the DS’ touch screen and stylus.
“Spore: Galactic Adventures” (rated E10+, $30 on PC and Intel Mac): This PC and Mac game basically expands on the galactic exploration phase of last year’s life creation game, “Spore.”
“Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil” (rated M, $30 on Wii): This is basically a reissue of the 2002 GameCube remake of the classic PlayStation title that popularized the survival horror genre. It doesn’t add motion controls, so if you’ve already played this, it should be of no interest to you. If you’ve missed the original “Resident Evil,” or simply want to experience this more technologically advanced remake, this is a great way to do it. (Note: The GameCube version will play just fine on the Wii, so long as you have an original GameCube controller.)
“Super Street Fighter II: Turbo HD Remix” (rated T, $10 on Xbox Live Arcade through this weekend): This is probably the best version you’ll get of “Street Fighter II” featuring online play. It’s marked down from $15 as this week’s Xbox Live Deal of the Week, available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (rated T, $60 on Xbox 360 and PS3, $50 on Wii, $40 on PlayStation Portable, $30 on PC and PS2, $30 on DS – two versions): While this movie tie-in game probably won’t set the world on fire, reviews indicate it’s decent when held up against other movie tie-in games. Fans who plan to see “The Transformers” opening weekend should be pleased with this.
“Monster Hunter Freedom Unite” (rated T, $30 on PSP): The latest in this action/RPG series continues the series’ kill/scavenge/upgrade lootfest gameplay. My friend Jim calls this sort of thing “the computer equivalent of playing with Barbie dolls” because you basically spend the game tricking out your virtual dude in and endless array of new outfits, each more powerful than the last.
“Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories” and “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories” Two-Pack (rated M, $30 on PS2): If you haven’t played these two GTA spinoffs on the PlayStation Portable (their original platform) or the PS2, this is a decent deal.
What I’ll be playing this weekend: It’s Mrs. GameWit’s birthday this weekend, so much of my time will be spent galavanting about and away from video games of any sort. At some point, we may revisit “1 vs. 100” for a little bit. Once the missus goes to bed, I’ll be continuing to plug away at “inFAMOUS” (rated T, $60 on PS3). I might try to sneak in my “Culdcept Saga” league match, as well.
