Welcome back true believers.

Yes, we have indeed been silent for quite some time. Far longer than any of our other gaps as well. But fear not, we have not forsaken you yet. A great deal has been happening in the real world of late. Jedireaper and myself are now living in the same abode. He gives me money and I let him use my spare room, MUWAH! But seriously. Due to personal reasons that I’m not going to cover here, he and I are now flatmates. This means that both of our games libraries have now increased significantly. We, in fact, have a few reviews lined up already.

Modern Warfare 2, Saw and Crysis to name but three. And remember that special project we were talking about way back when? Well, we haven’t forgotten about it. And that, too, will be seeing the light of day in the not too distant future.

Unfortunately, we also have some bad news. Sadly, Lissa is no longer with us. She and I had a parting of the ways. Which is a good thing as it transpires. Though it really sent my head South at the time. Thankfully, not as far as hers. She now believes herself to be a vampire, her new boyfriend is a demon, and she wanted to drink my four year old daughters blood. I shit you not, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

Intense

No Comments Yet »

GamerzReviewz.com is not a professional video-game review magazine.  In fact, we are intentionally the exact opposite.  As the name implies we strive to provide frank and honest ground level impressions of video-games both old and new.  Written for the people who play them, by the people who play them.  Be you “casual” or “hardcore” or even an unashamed fanboy, all views will be given fair hearing.  To that end, a call to those who read my meandering self-indulgence.  If any of you wish to see your own work on here, if you have a burning desire to tell us how much you adore or loathe any game you have played then we encourage you to do so.

You can E-mail myself at sloucen@gmail.com with anything you wish to contribute.  So long is it does not infringe any law or contain content which is too intrinsically mature it will most likely find it’s way on here in the fullness of time.  Just be sure to title any messages as Gamerz Reviewz so it doesn’t hit my Junk folder.

No Comments Yet »

THE YEAR IS 1962. God (sometimes also known by the more humble name of Stan Lee) is sitting in his office at Marvel publishing wracking his brain for a new idea for a super-hero. The Fantastic 4, the X-Men and a number of other previous titles are all doing well, having lead to a surge in demand for quality comic books. Fortuity shines on our intrepid hero and he glances across to see a spider making it’s way steadily up his office wall.

Forty-seven years later, this chance event had lead to arguably the most famous, most well recognised and best loved super-hero character in comic, television and film history. With dozens of off-shot comic lines, several reinventions and re-tellings of the original seventeen page short in what, at the time, was to be the final issue of Amazing Fantasy, and three smash hit films (even if the third was crap) to reintroduce good old Spidey to yet another generation. When you consider it like that, Spider-Man : Web of Shadows (in this instance for the Nintendo Wii) has a dizzying legacy to stand up to.

Something which it does in spectacular style.

From the city spanning opening, punctuated by an extremely famous piece of classical music (which I of course have forgotten the name of) and a Spidey that is decidedly more aggressive than we are used to seeing him, to the fist full of alternate endings. Dictated by your decisions at key moments in the story, you can influence not only the final outcome of the game, but also some of the more important events along the way as well.

You have a meter that shows your general leaning either towards the “good” traditional red Spider-Man, or the “bad” black Spider-Man. We were promised during early development of the game that, for the first time, we would actually b given the opportunity to play Spider-Man as an anti-hero. Or even an outright villain, and I’m happy to say that, for once, the pre-release claims were right on the money. Not just little acts of selfishness, but outright cruelty, such as (spoiler alert) during the battle with a symbiote infected Wolverine. Upon defeating him you are given the two options of how to proceed, and if you choose the black option Spidey lifts him above his head and, literally, rips him in half at the waste. Dropping him back onto the floor in two pieces.

I could go into great detail of the plot and game mechanics, but personally, I think the game is so well made that it needs nothing further. The more important part of a review, after all, is the simple question of whether it’s any good or not. And the answer is a resounding, explosive YES. The game is absolutely amazing, and as far as I’m aware is identical to the Playstation 3 and X-Box 360 release in everything except graphical complexity. Certainly the games rooftop opening is exactly the same and I am now looking forward to playing the HD version as well to compare the two.

Spideyness: 9.5/10

Graphics: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Audio/Music: 9/10
Plot/Scripting: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/10

No Comments Yet »

I’m generally not much of a gambler, but around this time of year that changes for me, as my sport of choice (NHL Hockey — I am Canadian after all), gets down to the wire, and the playoffs soon begin. Also, one in awhile I allow myself to indulge in a little online poker just for fun (never more than I can afford, of course).

I had been looking for a good place online to place bets, and play a few hands of poker as well. However, as you may be aware, there are many online betting portals available, and it can be hard to know which ones offer the best bonuses, as well as high pay out rates.

Thankfully, I came across a good website which provides casino and betting data in an easy to read table format. You can read more about the website at bestusaonlinecasinos.org, and then find the best betting portal for your needs, if you’re game. All of the websites listed are trustworthy and will pay out your winnings. Also, they all accept US players, which is important as I know a few of my American friends have had trouble finding quality online casinos to enjoy. So, if you’re looking to place some sports bets, or play a few hands online, it’s a good website to check out.

No Comments Yet »

I live in a small apartment with little room for exercise equipment, but would much rather work out at home rather than drive to a gym. So I had high hopes for the Wii Fit right out of the box — and for the most part, it hasn’t disappointed.

Pros:

1. Watching others play is almost as entertaining as playing yourself, especially if they have poor coordination.

2. The game’s balance board is intelligently designed, and sensitive to precise movement. It integrates well with the gameplay, resulting in a smooth fitness-gaming experience. While I did hear some complaints from the big footed persons in my life, regarding the size of the board, it was fine for my size six (female) feet.

3. Wii fit can really make you fit – The exercise instructions are clear, and easy to follow. If you put the effort in, your heart will be pumping and you’ll get a pretty good work out.

4. I’m having a good time while getting a bit of a better bod. Wii Fit is definitely more fun than the treadmill. Honestly, we need more games like this for America’s gigantic youth. Enjoyable gameplay (personal favorites include slalom-skiing, and tightrope-walking) make you forget that you’re engaged in physical fitness.

Cons:

1. Uses BMI to determine your physical health. BMI is a flawed system, but I suppose is a decent enough health indicator for these purposes. However, someone with a lot of weight from muscle will be considered fat by the Wii Fit, which is humorous to me, but probably not to those individuals.

2. Locked content. It’s not terribly hard to unlock, and the purpose for it is clear – as you progress with your fitness, you unlock more levels. But the levels are unlocked based on time spent playing, and with some of the exercises and mini games being quite short (as in only a few minutes,) it can leave you repeating the same thing over and over again before unlocking new levels. And that’s not cool.

3. It’s a little on the expensive side. At $125+ US Wii Fit isn’t cheap.

4. Too much time fiddling with the remote gets annoying. There’s no way to program the system to play multiple fitness routines in a row, resulting in many pauses to navigate the game menus.

Overall, I recommend the Wii Fit for anyone who wants to get a little fitness out of their gaming experience. While not perfect, it has managed to mesh together exercise and fun, leaving the Wii Fit with a thumbs up from this reviewer.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to spend any time as of late tracking my progress with the Wii Fit. As a small business owner, I often have to wear many hats, and don’t always find the time for gaming that I would like. However, the rewards my business brings is certainly worth it at this point in my life. Currently though, with the economic downturn and all, I’ve had some to spend a lot of my time looking for Small business lending options.

An expert in small business lending, Jon M Queen also knows about funding for businesses and business loan companies. Find out more about the profile of Jon Queen here at LinkedIn.

1 Comment »