Previews: November 2007 Archives

The Ghostbusters are back! Peter, Ray, Egon, Winston and Slimer are all set to return in an all new video game outing. Check out these screenshots and the first in a series of teaser trailers for what's coming your way, preferably something that isn't 150 foot tall and made of Stay Puft marshmallow.

If you're looking to print money right now, you'd not do at all badly investing in the creation of some sort of brain training game, preferably for an online and/or handheld gaming system (to maximise portability and wide use).

Enter the mighty DS and it's brain training collection, which currently consists of two Brain Training games, Big Brain Academy and another couple of Memory games which are tied in with an adventure game in space. The simple aim? They train your brain, you become sharper and smarter, maximise your learning potential and the developers and publishers rub their hands as the moolah flows in.

Sega it seems, are now joining the hand-rubbing club with a DS title promised to arrive during the Spring 2008, currently titled Brain Assist. Details are scanty at the moment, but we're told that the game will be based on a Japanese arcade title called Touch De Uno! and will feature four nurses. Steady, fellas ...

When I was at home as a child, I remember seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks.  I remember getting that 'Chipmunks' effect when speeding up my voice using a tape player or clever audio set, and referring to unfortunately high-singing lads at school as 'chipmunks'.

That dates them, it really does.  They were a cartoon back in the day, but this Christmas (sorry - I refuse to call it 'holiday season') they're not only a multiformat game but also a live action movie.

So, it's another movie licence game, then.

Yes and no. There's a big budget being slung at this one in terms of the music; we're promised over 40 songs spanning several decades that most music fans will be able to recognise.  The game follows Alvin, Simon, & Theodore on their latest mission to play during the battle of the bands event "Rockathonapalooza". As the Chipmunks perform in each of the musical levels - from school proms to Burning Man to Forest Arenas to the ultimate, Rockathonapalooza - players are challenged to keep in rhythm with the music.  At least we know it won't be just another movie licence game where you wander around as 'Mr X' collecting 'Items' and progressing through 'various levels'.  Wake me up when something changes, will you?  I think I bought that game back in the 80s and it was cheaper then, too.

I'll certainly reserve judgement for this one, although the cheese-o-metre may just go off the scale; the Chipmunks were always very cheesy.  However, it's good to see an attempt being made to add new challenges to movie licence games such as rhythm-based gaming, rather than opt for the standard platformer or 3D sandbox roamer.

We'll review Alvin as soon as we get him out of our cookie jar!

Endless Ocean sounds like a track from a Massive Attack album, and that's no bad thing in itself.  According to Nintendo though, this Friday 9th November that will be the final title for their latest feature on the Wii - and you guessed it.  It's educational.  Endless Ocean is being billed as the best way to discover aquatic life and the marine underworld without getting your feet wet or your hair messed up.

But exactly how much fun is staring at a glorified fishtank anyway?  Is there a game here?  We look closer...

We're promised that players can do as much or as little as they like. The relaxed and calm atmosphere of the game gives divers the freedom to explore locations such as shipwrecks and underwater ruins, discover and interact with sea-life, complete fish logs or simply relax in the soothing environment.  There's a deckchair on the diving boat in which you can sit and look at the sea, as well as play your own MP3s using the SD card slot.

The game features multiplayer via the WiFi, once you've swapped friend codes you can dive with a friend, accessing extra communication tools in doing so.  We're not sure exactly how popular this is going to be, being that chilling out isn't usually something you go online to share, as that sort of interaction causes you to concentrate more and therefore experience stress.

Is there a storyline?  We're promised one, but so far the only evidence of this is progressive discovery of fishes and locations, new equipment and customisation items for the diver.  You might say where's the difference between that and what happens in a Zelda game, but the difference is simple - character interaction.  At the moment, there's a diver to guide you at the start and we know you can befriend a dolphin, but that's it for now.

Also acting as a peaceful screensaver when the Wii is left alone, Endless Ocean definitely seems to be aiming for the chillout market.  Singer Hayley Westenra from New Zealand provides the soundtrack, and we can see this going down with the female gamer very well.  Probably not something to buy for the Halo fan in your life, but then again perhaps they'll need it most!

We'll have the full review as soon as possible, but for now it seems that goldfish bowls and snorkelling just went digital.  If £30 seems fair to you for that much, then Friday is your diary date.