There are worse companies out there By: Anthony Velez Electronic Arts might suck, but are they the worst company in America? I can think of plenty of other companies that could have (or should have) won this award, but let’s work with what we have here, OK? EA is doing a great job at making people angry.  They introduced the infamous Online Pass for their games to virtually universal consumer complaint.  Those that use GameFly (like myself) have been left in the cold now that half of their games are inaccessible without purchasing one of these ridiculous passes. Another reason people are angry with EA is their habit of closing servers down on… (more…)

After a surprisingly long five- year gap between titles, the Mario Party franchise has finally returned with Mario Party 9. The last Mario Party title I played extensively was Mario Party 2 way back in 2000 on the Nintendo 64. For better or worse (depending on how you feel about the franchise), not much has changed since then. The title’s board game-like mechanics are still based largely on luck and random dice rolls and this continues to prevent the series from being fair. A player could win every single mini-game yet still lose because of a random die roll. However, this is what the franchise is all about - Mario Party 9 will still provide… (more…)

As a small child I dreamed of reviewing games as my full-time job. Literally, I actually had dreams about being an adult and reviewing games as a career on multiple occasions. Unlike most little boys, becoming a policeman or firefighter wasn’t even on my radar. Today, I’m still trying to achieve this goal. I’ve made tremendous progress over the last year or so and I’m lucky enough to be in the position where I can now receive review titles from a number of different publishers and video game manufacturers. Lately, I’ve been reviewing titles like crazy and it’s a dream come true. However, I’m quickly starting to realize something; playing a game… (more…)

Poképark 2 Wonders Beyond answers a very important childhood question for me: How do wild Pokémon spend their time when they aren’t being chased by Pokéballs? If I’m to believe the world of Poképark 2, Pokémon live on a magical tropical island and engage in fights and item fetch quests in their spare time. As a child, I always imagined that they were like regular animals, battling through a Poké food chain. Apparently I was wrong. It’s obvious Poképark 2, which will probably be one of the last Nintendo published Wii titles, is aimed at a very young audience–it’s simple and repetitive. You control various Pokémon (the main character is Pikachu) and complete simple missions. You chase other Pokémon, attack them in short button… (more…)

Muzyka, listen to the fans! By: Anthony Velez  I honestly can’t say that I’m mad or angry with Mass Effect 3′s ending, but I’m definitely confused.  I felt that it left me hanging and didn’t give the franchise much closure. I’m a huge fan of the Mass Effect series.  I’ve played through Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 multiple times (and on both 360 and PS3 in the case of the latter), so as soon as I was able to pre-order Mass Effect 3, I was first in line.  When ME3 was finally released, I spent a huge chunk of time playing through the single player campaign. I haven’t really gotten into… (more…)

Remember the Road Rash franchise, EA’s violent motorcycle racing series? Well, I think it’s exactly what the gaming industry needs right now. It’s time for a re-imagining of Electronic Art’s classic franchise. I remember playing the original Road Rash 2 on the Sega Genesis with friends. It was a great mutiplayer game that let you beat each other with baseball bats and chains while driving a motorcycle through traffic at deadly speeds. If any of the early 16-bit Road Rash titles were released on some sort of online store (with new online multiplayer options included of course), I’d definitely purchase the game. Road Rash 64 on the other hand? I didn’t really… (more…)

GameJudgment Review Guidelines Reviews are given a score out of 10. Half points (.5) can also be awarded. Individual categories like graphics, gameplay, and multiplayer are not averaged together to create a mathematical equation in order to calculate scores. The score is the reviewer’s overall opinion of the game and their opinion alone. It is not a reflection of our entire staff’s particular opinion on that given game. Our scoring system is as follows: 10 – Perfect 9 – Almost perfect 8 – Great 7 – Above average 6 – Marginally above average 5 – Simply average 4 – Poor 3 – Bad 2 – Terrible 1 – Atrocious Commenting… (more…)

There’s never been a video game franchise quite like Mass Effect, a series that truly embodies narrative perfection and has laid new ground for all future video games. Sometimes, Gamer Woes isn’t just about something that’s pissing me off in the world of gaming that given week. Occasionally, I try to focus on more positive aspects of my favourite pastime (This brings to question why the column is called Gamer Woes in the first place, so we might change that in the near future). With Mass Effect 3′s launch this week, it’s hard not to rave about BioWare’s vision of a three game epic sci-fi tale, finally coming to fruition. I… (more…)

Gaming isn’t just about pixels and frame rates anymore. For many, video games are more than an adolescent form of entertainment. Video games affect people on a deeply emotional level and have sentimental meaning to millions of fans, just as films and novels do. Tom Bissel’s ‘Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter’, examines games from this illuminating, deeply personal perspective. Extra Lives tackles Bissel’s affection for video games through a personal narrative. The novel chronicles the time he spent playing Bioware’s Mass Effect, his thoughts on Braid, Left 4 Dead, and other notable video games of the last few years. Interestingly, it also tackles his struggle with a real world cocaine addiction, which he compares to… (more…)

I was a little confused when Pokemon Black and White 2 was announced this week for the Nintendo DS. Why isn’t the game coming to the 3DS? It might come as a surprise to some people out there, but I’m actually a big fan of the Pokemon franchise and that’s not just nostalgia talking. I’ve grown up playing the series and I do have a sentimental attachment to it, but that’s not the only reason why I still enjoy Pokemon at the age of 23. If you can get passed the cuteness of the series, you’ll discover that it’s a deeply addictive, extremely entertaining franchise. Sure, the newer Pokemon are… (more…)