Organized Chaos

It’ll make you fat.

That’s the long-standing staple for videogame opponents. Too many children, and many adults, are stagnant as they plug away for hours, they say. Video games are a bad influence, they say.

Well, each critique, like rumors, have a shred of truth lying deep inside. However, there are many critics who have no factual basis for their beliefs, and, shocker here, some have never played the games they denounce.

Simply painting all gamers with the same brush immediately discounts the positive impacts of video games. It discards the increase in hand-eye coordination, critical thinking to solve puzzles, memorization and the importance of group activities, a premise which many games are built upon.

No, the critics throw up their hands, don a scowl and disregard all the goodness gaming can bring. It’s a shame really. It’s a shame they aren’t more enlightened.

Recently Nintendo broke the bounds of conventional bad thinking when it released Wii Fit. Let’s face one simple fact: Wii Fit is a video game, but it just so happens it can make you a little healthier.

Heckuva a concept, I know.

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Nintendo has taken a lot of lumps about being behind on the Internet curve, but recent events have shown they are making great strides.

The company released the Nintendo Channel last week, which enables Wii users to browse game titles, watch videos on upcoming releases and rate games. The channel is free and was announced with an update through Nintendo’s messenger service.

The Nintendo Channel can be downloaded for free from the Wii Shop Channel. You’ll be asked a few questions at start-up, with the most important one choosing to allow your gaming information to be sent to Nintendo for, as they call it, anonymous reporting to determine gaming tendencies.

A more important release came Monday (May 12) with the debut of WiiWare, which features new games that are downloaded directly to your console in exchange for Wii Points. Six games were released on Monday, with prices ranging from 500 to 1,500 points. WiiWare games also can be found by going to the Wii Shop Channel and browsing titles.

WiiWare is an opportunity to recharge old game franchises and also open the world to independent gaming. It’s also another way to showcase the Wiimote, and that’s a good thing, especially since there are rumors of Microsoft developing a similar controller to lure families away from Nintendo.

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Think of the buildup before Christmas or your wedding day or the birth of your child or your first kiss.

Add all of that together, multiply it by 1,000 and you get the excitement surrounding what is sure to be an early candidate for Game of the Year: Grand Theft Auto IV. The game releases on Tuesday on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for the regular price of $59.99 or the special edition for $89.99, featuring artwork, a CD and a duffel bag.

The choice about how much stuff you want is entirely up to you. You’ll get the same version of the game no matter how much you plop down, and that’s where you’ll receive the priceless gift.

GTA IV is one of the most anticipated games of all time. The hype for this newest offering from Rockstar Games is off the charts. Whether it lives up to the hype is still to be seen, but I’m not worried.

The GTA franchise has quickly become a standardbearer for action-adventure games. The previous release, GTA: San Andreas, exposed gamers to one of the largest open worlds outside of World of Warcraft. There was so much going on, and it took a long while to see it all.

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The blame for the Nintendo Wii shortage in the United States is simple. Industry analysts point to the weak U.S. dollar.

Shocking, I know. Who woulda thunk it?

Dallas Morning News columnist Victor Godinez recently spoke with analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan about how gaming retailer GameStop would fare in the event of a recession. The interview swayed to the shortage of the Wii on our soil.

Pachter said foreign companies that sell products in the U.S. and then convert those dollars to their native currencies receive a smaller profit than countries with stronger currencies. Sales of the $250 Wii console in the U.S. pull in about 25,000 yen, which is down 20 percent from about four months ago.

Exchange rates are better in Europe, and that’s why Nintendo has sent more Wiis there than to the U.S., Pachter said. Demand is tailing off in Europe, and Pachter surmised that it could mean more consoles coming to the U.S. because Nintendo would rather take a profit cut in that case rather than let the consoles gather dust on the shelves.

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I’ve been converted. There was a time when I shunned the notion of playing video games online. It was the wave of the future some told me. I wasn’t listening.

Until recently.

Currently there is no better online experience than Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The single-player mode set it apart from all other first-person shooters and multiplayer is just as good or even better.

For those unaware of the workings of online play, here’s a short tutorial.

Of course, you need your gaming console to be hooked up to the Internet via Ethernet cable or wirelessly through a router. Once in, you choose different modes, such as free-for-all, team domination or team deathmatch. More modes unlock when you gain experience points.

Eventually you can create a class, where you choose your weapons and engage in challenges to increase your points and rank. The more points you earn the higher the rank.

I’ve been playing online for about 17 hours and am halfway up the ranking ladder. More importantly, I’m a better player than when I started, using strategy and memory skills to take out my enemies. A slow start has led to wins in 2 of 3 matches each time out.

There are more experienced players out there, and typically the interface will match you up with players on the same level. This is a nice feature and rarely are you thrown into a room with a guy who’s played four days with a thirst for blood.

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The Gamesman has been slacking of late with no reviews. That changes this time around.

A busy schedule leaves fewer hours to play the many games taking up space in the entertainment center. I’ve been frantically trying to complete games so I can trade them in heading into March and April when Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV are released.

Without further delay, here are some quick reviews of games I’ve recently played.

Assassin’s Creed

This is one of the most beautifully rendered games you will see in the first phase of next-generation development. Everything is crafted well, right down to character animations and each ancient city. It is truly breathtaking, especially when you climb a high point and gaze over the landscape. But that’s where the goodness ends for this multi-platform game.

The premise of Assassin’s Creed is simple. You seek out targets to eliminate while using various ways to obtain information, such as eavesdropping, pickpocketing and interrogation. You need to accomplish three of these goals before you can receive your orders.

The end result is a tedious quest where the reward for achieving the goals fall flat. There is no payoff for obtaining the goals. You only need to do three to move on, and the game would have been better served to open new side quests for each rather than making them monotonous.

The game isn’t even saved in the battle mechanics. Sure you achieve better combos as the game progresses, but each fight pretty much boils down to a button-mashing affair.

Score: 2 controllers out of 4.

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These words are music to a gamer’s ears: Pre-order now.

The sweet tunes emanated when it was announced that Grand Theft Auto IV, the first next-generation incarnation of the popular series, will be released on April 29 on Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. This date comes months after the original release of last November, but Rockstar Games smartly delayed putting the game on shelves due to myriad problems.

After all, we don’t want to play a game that isn’t up to par and could have been better with a few more months of tweaking. That’s exactly why GTA IV, which I’ll say is a front-runner for game of the year due to the already immense hype, is coming out nearly five months into 2008.

The previous game in the series, GTA: San Andreas, set the bar in terms of an open universe, where the map was so huge you literally had trouble exploring every corner and alleyway in the game. GTA IV, set in Liberty City, a place patterned after New York City, is expected to be just as or even more vast.

Precise news of the game has been slow to leak, with screen captures and photos available on IGN. There’s no question there will be new game mechanics and the scenery will be beautiful.

The most interesting nugget revolved around finding information on characters in the game that you track down during your missions. One way to do so is to “borrow” a police vehicle and use the in-car computer.

The complete rap sheet for the character is displayed. It will be interesting to see what comes up for your character and if Rockstar will embed famous criminals as Easter eggs in the game.

You can pre-order your copy of GTA IV just about everywhere. I plopped down 25 bucks at GameStop and will add to the balance with trade-ins so I can procure my shiny new copy of GTA IV without having to pay one more dime.

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The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas wrapped up last week, and while not centered around gaming, there were a few interesting but not surprising announcements from the top companies.

Most of the CES booths were reserved for other tech items, such as the newest digital cameras, MP3 players, high-definition televisions, home entertainment centers and cellular phones. The gaming industry has its chance to shine in the E3 Media and Business Summit, or classically known simply as E3, in July.

CES provided the final keynote address from Microsoft big wig Bill Gates. Rumored announcements about a super-charged Xbox 360 or the inclusion of an HD DVD drive in all future rollouts of the console never materialized. Gates did announce, however, that life is good in Microsoft land.

Gates told the world that the number of Xbox Live members has eclipsed 10 million. The popular online community has been at the forefront in the console wars, with Sony and Nintendo lagging far behind.

Gates also said ABC and Disney Channel Networks would release high-definition content on the Xbox Live Marketplace. MGM also will be releasing some of its top films on Xbox Live.

The juiciest news came just after CES, when it was reported that Microsoft may consider adding a Blu-ray drive to its machines if the format defeats HD DVD in the battle for HD supremacy. Sony created Blu-ray technology and it would be most pleasing for a Microsoft product to rely on its competitor to keep users happy.

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We all know you shelled out a bunch of cash to buy that shiny new gaming console. So why not spend a few more bucks on the accessories?

Some accessories are useful, while others aren’t and are simply for show. Here’s a look at small sampling of accessories for the three major consoles.

Wii Zapper

This is currently more of a gimmick than a necessity, but I bought one thanks to the $25 price tag. The Zapper combines a Wiimote and nunchuck in a plastic housing that resembles a gun. The Wiimote is the barrel and the nunchuck forms the stock, while the cords are neatly tucked away.

It comes with a short game, Link’s Crossbow Training, to help the user feel more comfortable. Some new games such as Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, are designed for use with the Zapper.

I like the Zapper, though it takes some getting used to. It helps with aiming because the Wiimote is more secure and you won’t have to worry about your hand moving your target reticule. The Zapper will be more useful once Nintendo figures out a way to make it a necessary part of first-person shooters. You really don’t need it now, but it is still fun to use.

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Some of you read my regular video game column, The Gamesman, in the Entertainer (now inserted in your paper on Thursdays). From time to time I’ll post my Gamesman columns with an enhanced version featuring links and pictures that may not be included in the print version.

Here’s the first enhanced Gamesman, where I talk about the controversey surrounding Manhunt 2, which I purchased for the Nintendo Wii. My early impressions are favorable, but I don’t see the what the big hoopla was about.

Here is the enhanced version of my latest column:

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