As of now, here is the latest list of games that are set to be released this January. While December was jam-packed with big name titles, the gaming companies seem to be taking it light this January, as consumers (and their pocketbooks), recover!

Jan 5, 2009

* Jumble Madness ( Nintendo DS)
* Fishing Master World Tour (Nintendo Wii)
* Ultimate Shooting Collection (Nintendo Wii)
* Scrabble Champion Edition JC (Windows Vista/98/2000/Me/XP)
* Saints Row 2 by THQ (Windows XP)
* Bigfoot: Collision Course by Zoo Games (Nintendo DS)
* Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero by Konami (Nintendo DS)
* DJ Max Fever by PM Studios, Inc. (Sony PSP)
* Paws & Claws: Pet Resort by THQ (Nintendo Wii/DS)
* CID The Dummy by O-Games (Nintendo Wii/Vista/Playstation 2)

Jan 12, 2009

* Deal or No Deal (Nintendo Wii)
* Lord of the Rings: Conquest (Xbox 360)
* Lord of the Rings: Conquest (PLAYSTATION 3)
* Personal Trainer: Math (Nintendo DS)
* Neighborhood Games by THQ (Nintendo Wii)
* Mirror’s Edge by Electronic Arts (Windows Vista / XP)
* Stoked by Destineer Inc (Xbox 360)
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Written by Janey the Admin - Visit Website
Janey serves as the admin for both gamerrazzi.com and li-kids.com. She loves helping run these interesting websites. Janey loves games. She can often be found playing all of the various Halo incarnations on her Xbox 360.

Ever since I was a kid, playing my original NES, I can recall how popular video games were at the holidays. My brother and I received our NES from Santa, in 1987 or 1988. Since then, I have received video games nearly every year. In the beginning, we received them for our NES, then my Nintendo Gameboy. We moved on to the SNES, the Nintendo 64, the Sega (well I had to play that at my cousin’s house), the Gameboy Advance, the Gamecube, PS2, Nintendo DS, PS3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. As game systems have evolved, so have I. I’ve owned all the Nintendo systems and am catching up with the PS3 and Xbox 360.

With the 2008 holiday season in full swing, the excitement of what to buy your loved ones may lead you to video game websites. I’m not joking when I say 2008 had some great video game releases. So, here’s my list of the top 25 Video Games you have to buy this holiday, and I’ve made sure to list them in order from great to totally awesome (MUST BUY). Truth be told, all of these games are well worth the purchase, so make sure to consider this list when doing your shopping for your favorite video game enthusiast.

25. Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon - I’ve been a fan of Natsume and the Harvest Moon games for years. While Rune Factory 2 isn’t truly a Harvest Moon title, it’s close enough in its farm oriented play that it will keep Harvest Moon lovers more than satisfied!

In Rune Factory 2, you actually have the chance to play as two different generations in one family. This is unique to this game and allows for additional, extended game play. Unlike the other Harvest Moon titles, and similar to the original Rune Factory, this game has a much darker overtone. Still, it’s the farming that makes this game and really, who doesn’t like to farm?!

You can pick up a copy of Rune Factory 2 at Amazon for around $40.

24. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - The first time I heard about this was around the time of E3 2008. The excitement about this title sort of fizzled off again until its release last month and now it’s made this Top 25 list. While the game doesn’t really follow along with either of the game series’, fans of Mortal Kombat or DC Universe (or both) can really get into this one.

As you might have guessed, in this game, the two worlds have merged. The merger has caused a shift in powers and abilities for many of your favorite characters making gameplay much more interesting and unpredictable.

With the two worlds blaming one another for the merging, they must battle in Mortal Kombat until one world is defeated. This is exactly what you’d expect of a title called Mortal Kombat vs. D.C. Universe.

Mortal Kombat vs. D.C. Universe is available for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, You can pick this title up in a Collector’s Edition at Amazon for $64.99.

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick is a twentysomething guy, who has been gaming since the days of Atari. Enthralled by his first NES before he even turned 10, he’s long been a gamer and a Nintendo enthusiast. Dominick is in a wheelchair, so he writes from the unique perspective of gaming with limited mobility. He loves playing his PS3, his Xbox 360 and even his Nintendo Wii and DS. His favorite games are action/adventure FP & MP shooter, and racing games. Amongst his favorite game series are Brother in Arms, Fallout, Armored Core, anything Mario and Legend of Zelda. When not gaming, Dominick is a human rights activist, sports enthusiast, political guru, aspiring filmmaker and homeschooling father. You can find him on twitter nearly every day so feel free to add: dominickevans.

EA Announces NASCAR Kart Racing – the First and Only NASCAR Title Available for the Wii

Experience the Thrill of Team Racing on and off the Track

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that NASCAR® Kart Racing, the first and only NASCAR racing title available for the Wii™, will ship to retailers in North America on February 10, 2009, just in time for the Daytona 500 and the official start of the 2009 NASCAR season. Designed exclusively for the Wii, NASCAR Kart Racing enables players to grab the steering wheel as a famed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and speed through treacherous landscapes, wind around rocky cliffs, jump rivers and dodge falling boulders. Up to four players can go head-to-head, via split screen, in a mad dash to the checkered flag, making NASCAR Kart Racing an ideal game to play with family and friends.

Enjoy the thrill of racing as three-time consecutive Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson or choose from 13 additional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers. Players can also compete as one of 10 original animated characters. Each driver has personal attributes that will determine how the kart will perform on a course, so strategy is key when choosing a driver and a teammate. Teams that work together win championships!

Licensed NASCAR Drivers:

* Jeff Burton
* Kyle Busch
* Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
* Carl Edwards
* Jeff Gordon
* Denny Hamlin
* Kevin Harvick
* Jimmie Johnson
* Kasey Kahne
* Matt Kenseth
* Elliot Sadler
* Tony Stewart
* *Two Unlockable Mystery Drivers*

The courses in NASCAR Kart Racing feature a vast range of exhilarating terrain. Experience 24 entertaining race layouts that wrap through deserts, freeways, back roads, canyons, junkyards and more. Drivers will also push the pedal to the metal in areas surrounding four popular NASCAR tracks: Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Dover International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. Each track in NASCAR Kart Racing can be reversed to provide two unique racing experiences.

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Written by Janey the Admin - Visit Website
Janey serves as the admin for both gamerrazzi.com and li-kids.com. She loves helping run these interesting websites. Janey loves games. She can often be found playing all of the various Halo incarnations on her Xbox 360.

Game Publisher: Sony
Platform: PS3’s Playstation Network
Release Date: September 11, 2008

I’m not a major game show fan. Most of the people in my house are. My son is a game show fanatic. In fact, one of his favorite television stations is Game Show Network. If he could play game shows on the computer or on video games every waking moment, he would. I just don’t really like game shows all that much. The only ones I can stand to watch are test your knowledge games. I’ll watch Jeopardy and the Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader. I’m not so fanatical about these shows that I can’t miss them, but I do enjoy playing along with them when they are on.

On a side note, as a kid, I was in love with the Match Game. It was the craziest, kookiest game and I loved to watch reruns from the 1970s. It had to be the outlandish nature of the celebrities that participated on the show, that made it so fun to watch. That being said, it’s insanely clear to me that I prefer the games where I can actively participate in the game, by answering questions and gauging how I’d do if I were competing against the contestants. Just watching people do things that I can’t participate in is not much fun. I’m pretty sure that’s why I never dug The Price is Right.

When I found out about the Playstation Network offering Jeopardy for a downloadable purchase, I knew I had to get this game. Not only would I enjoy it, but the rest of the family would go ga-ga during time spent together. I knew that Jeopardy would be a crowd-pleaser in the Evans household. That’s part of why I’m writing this review, right now. I had the chance to download and play several games of Jeopardy, both online and off.

For the most part, Jeopardy is exactly like you’d expect. You get to play the part of the contestant on Jeopardy and to answer questions. You get to play two rounds and answer daily doubles if you select them. You get to play final Jeopardy. It’s all there. You can play in a single player mode, against family and friends locally or online against other players. Of course here are some disappointing aspects, that make this game a little less enjoyable than it could have been. Had these issues not been a part of the game. I’ll get into what’s wrong with the game a little later in this review.

Game Play:
What’s there to say about game play? It’s Jeopardy. You get to use your own customizable character to take on others in a variety of settings (locally - single and multi-player and online vs. other players). You can play friends online or complete strangers. No matter how you play, the gameplay is identical. In single player, local games, you get to choose the first category. In online games and multi-player local games, you might or might not get to choose a category first. You have so much time to read a question and then you press a button to answer the question. All of your answers are selected, multiple choice, from a list of four questions.

The questions are ones you’d expect (and may have seen before) when watching Jeopardy on television. There are questions for every subject you studied in school (i.e. Science, Health, World History), Potpourri, Pop Culture, Politics, and a plethoric selection of other topics. You make money from questions you get right and lose money from questions you miss. While there are over 2,500 questions, one downside (or upside if you want to make a lot of money) is that when you cancel a game in the middle, you have to restart that exact same game over the next time you play, locally. The categories and questions also repeat from online to offline formats. This can be an advantage for a player who has gone through all of the clues.

There really isn’t much more to this game. If you’ve seen Jeopardy on television then you’ll know exactly how to play this game. If you like Jeopardy, on television, you’ll love it when you’re actually in the driver’s seat, playing your own game of Jeopardy. I played on my own and with the family, which is pretty cool to play as a single player, because you’re more likely to get the answers to the questions right with so many opinions and knowledge levels being represented. Of course, the game does get old after awhile, so I don’t recommend having 12-hour Jeopardy playing marathons. In fact, this game is best played in short bursts with kith and kin.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor:

Features:
One of the most noticeable features of Jeopardy for the Playstation Network, is the custom Avatar option. I wish this was more customizable. You get to choose from a few different guys or girls, with different skintones, choose their hair color, make a few, minor modifications and you really can’t customize much more than that. You can change your avatar’s name to your own and then you might just have to play in a game versus the customized avatars your family members create. Ashtyn found this bothersome, when the AI took over my Dominick avatar, who was whooping her butt! I would rather the AI not have access to character-created avatars, but that’s just my personal choice.

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Written by Dominick & Ashtyn - Visit Website
Dominick and Ashtyn Evans are gamers. That’s all you need to know!

Game Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: Sony PS3
Rating: M
Release Date: October 21, 2008
Buy this at: Amazon for $59.99

I’m all into the first person shooters these days. While I’ll pretty much play any shooter, the better the story and gameplay is the better the shooter. That’s pretty much any game, though. I was looking forward to playing, “Far Cry 2″, which was released by Ubisoft in late October. It wasn’t because of the Far Cry name. In fact, “Far Cry 2″ bears very little resemblance to its predecessor. It’s pretty much a Far Cry title in name only. This isn’t a sequel to the original Far Cry. It’s another take on first shooter concepts, that just happens to have the name Far Cry attached to it.

I played for close to 30 hours. By that point, I felt I had explored enough of the game though there was still a chance for more game play. I wasn’t looking to rush through this game and truly, you can take it at your own pace. That’s part of what makes this an “open-ended” gameplaying experience. I didn’t venture too much into the online playing realm. I don’t always play well with others, but for those that do, the opportunity to play with as many as 16 other players is there. I could see the potential for online play in this game, considering you already have NPC allies that work with you, to help you through the game.

What really appeals to me the most about “Far Cry 2″ is the beautiful scenery and what seems like endless opportunities for gameplay and the ability to explore. You sort of dictate what you do and where you go, though your mission is guided by the various quests you go on. Of course, you’ll need to use your adept skills to navigate through a war torn nation in Africa, while building up relationships and playing the various factions against one another. While this concept has been done, I don’t believe it has ever been done quite like it has in “Far Cry 2″.

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick is a twentysomething guy, who has been gaming since the days of Atari. Enthralled by his first NES before he even turned 10, he’s long been a gamer and a Nintendo enthusiast. Dominick is in a wheelchair, so he writes from the unique perspective of gaming with limited mobility. He loves playing his PS3, his Xbox 360 and even his Nintendo Wii and DS. His favorite games are action/adventure FP & MP shooter, and racing games. Amongst his favorite game series are Brother in Arms, Fallout, Armored Core, anything Mario and Legend of Zelda. When not gaming, Dominick is a human rights activist, sports enthusiast, political guru, aspiring filmmaker and homeschooling father. You can find him on twitter nearly every day so feel free to add: dominickevans.

Monday, November 24, 2008 - Hudson Entertainment, the North American publishing arm for HUDSON SOFT, today released new screens for Pit Crew Panic!, an upcoming “panic-action” game for WiiWare. This unique game is full of frantic fixing as the player’s all-female pit crew repairs a variety of bizarre “WHATSITS” as fast as they can.

For those having trouble finding work in the current economy, why not join the pit crew where there’s plenty of wacky jobs to go around! Players can race against the clock by themselves, or play with friends to see whose team can fix the majority of that giant wedding cake! Inspired grease monkeys can even play online and see whose girls can out-fix the opponents on an aircraft carrier, a bridge, a backhoe and many more crazy “WHATSITS”! If a pit crew is up for the challenge, they can team up for 2 vs. 2 or 3 vs. 1 action to see which team can fix the most broken parts on each object.

To help the crew fix each object more quickly, players can use the Wii Remote just like a screwdriver, wrench, or other pit crew tools. There is also a handy tutorial to help players figure out not just how to play the game, but also how to go as fast as they can when fixing all the wacky “WHATSITS” in the game! There’s no shortage of crazy tasks that need to be conducted in Pit Crew Panic!

Pit Crew Panic! is rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

For more information on Pit Crew Panic! please visit http://www.HudsonEnt.com

About Hudson Entertainment, Inc.
Hudson Entertainment is the North American publishing arm of Hudson Soft, an international provider of games and entertainment content founded in 1973. Hudson Entertainment focuses on four key businesses: mconsole games, digital download content, mobile games, and music. Hudson introduced best-selling videogame franchises including Bomberman, Bonk, and Super Adventure Island. Hudson’s mobile division is a leading supplier of games and personalized content. Through numerous partnerships with record labels, Hudson has become a leading provider of hip-hop ring tones and mobile content. For more information on Hudson Entertainment, please visit www.hudsonent.com.

Hudson Entertainment, and Hudson Soft and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Hudson Soft. Pit Crew Panic! Is a trademark of Hudson Soft.

Technorati Tags: Hudson Entertainment, Video Games, WiiWare, Pit Crew Panic, Screens, Digital Download, Press Release

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UBISOFT KICKS THE HABIT WITH NEW COACH GAME

My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr a First for Nintendo DS(TM)

SAN FRANCISCO – November 19, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced that My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr is now available on store shelves. Designed exclusively for the Nintendo DS(TM) system, My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr provides players with an entertaining, interactive method to quit smoking.

Based on the method outlined in the international best seller, Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking, My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr removes the smoker’s belief that smoking provides any genuine pleasure or crutch, and takes away the feeling of deprivation, therefore ridding the smoker of the fear of stopping.

My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr is the latest title to be released under the “My Coach” brand, part of Ubisoft’s Games for Everyone division. Made up of a series of games that foster self-improvement while entertaining players at the same time, other titles in the brand include My Weight Loss Coach (for Nintendo DS), which helps players maintain a healthy lifestyle, and My Fitness Coach (for Wii(TM)), a game that allows players to create, engage in, and track their own fitness program.

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Written by Janey the Admin - Visit Website
Janey serves as the admin for both gamerrazzi.com and li-kids.com. She loves helping run these interesting websites. Janey loves games. She can often be found playing all of the various Halo incarnations on her Xbox 360.

MTV Games, Harmonix and Electronic Arts Ship Rock Band® Track Pack Volume 2 to Retail Stores Nationwide

Cambridge, MA – November 18, 2008 — Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game development company, andMTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced Rock Band® Track Pack Volume 2 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Wii™ home video game console from Nintendo has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Pricing for the game is $29.99 MSRP for all platform versions.

Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2 features 20 amplifying tracks recorded by some of the most popular rock artists in history from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Mötley Crüe to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Duran Duran. Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2 can be played as a standalone game for all console versions using Rock Band and Rock Band 2 peripherals. Fans who buy the track pack for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system can also export all 20 songs to their console for play with Rock Band and Rock Band 2 using a free offer from Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network or the PlayStation Network.[1]

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Written by Janey the Admin - Visit Website
Janey serves as the admin for both gamerrazzi.com and li-kids.com. She loves helping run these interesting websites. Janey loves games. She can often be found playing all of the various Halo incarnations on her Xbox 360.

Game Rating: T (Teen)
Game Publisher: Southpeak
Platform: Sony PSP
Release Date: September 16, 2009
Buy this at: Amazon for $19.99

I’m not that big into the entire “hip hop” breakdancing culture. I think it’s because I can’t dance. Luckily, video games make nearly anything possible, for those who play them. Even if you can’t dance due to being in a wheelchair (like me) or you simply don’t have the right moves, you can show what your made of in video game land. The latest game to let you show off your smooth moves is a game developed by FreeStyle Games and published by Southpeak Interactive. That game is B-Boy, which is available for the Sony PSP and the Playstation 2.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect with B-Boy. It was either going to be really good or a big snooze. You don’t have to be into the hip hop culture to enjoy this game, though it does help. I like hip hop music and when I could walk, I did like to dance, so I was ready for an interesting experience when I put this into my PSP. I should mention I’m more fond of games on the consoles, so I might be biased when I say that the PSP is limited. I feel that way about the Nintendo DS and other portables. Still, for as small as the screen is, B-Boy still manages to look amazing.

Unfortunately, looking at the capabilities of something like the Wii, I feel that had this game been published on a system like the Wii, the potential for B-Boy would be nearly limitless. That being said, there is one major benefit to B-Boy on the PSP (or any non-Wii console). Anyone can play this game, regardless of ability or lack thereof. That is why a game like Shaun White Snowboarding, for the Wii, while pretty darn cool and innovative, is going to be limited in its appeal. Those of us who can’t hop up on a snowboard are going to be looking for the game on the other systems where we can play it via controller. B-Boy on PSP has this distinct advantage, because, while it’d be pretty sweet on the Wii, a wider audience can play it on PSP.

The hip hop culture is big in the part of Michigan that I’m from (mid-Michigan, not far from Detroit), so I’m pretty much a fan of the music. I’ve seen some great breakdancing moves in my day, but never had the chance to try out the moves myself. Breakdancing really is an art form, so getting to compete as a breakdancer was quite the artistic experience. Still, for as fun as this game might seem, it suffers from one of the worst things a game like this could; slow load times. In fact, if I had to pick the biggest thing wrong with this game, it would be the load time.

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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick is a twentysomething guy, who has been gaming since the days of Atari. Enthralled by his first NES before he even turned 10, he’s long been a gamer and a Nintendo enthusiast. Dominick is in a wheelchair, so he writes from the unique perspective of gaming with limited mobility. He loves playing his PS3, his Xbox 360 and even his Nintendo Wii and DS. His favorite games are action/adventure FP & MP shooter, and racing games. Amongst his favorite game series are Brother in Arms, Fallout, Armored Core, anything Mario and Legend of Zelda. When not gaming, Dominick is a human rights activist, sports enthusiast, political guru, aspiring filmmaker and homeschooling father. You can find him on twitter nearly every day so feel free to add: dominickevans.

Spike TV’s Video Game Awards 2008 premiere on Sunday, December 14 (9:00- 11:00 PM, ET/ tape delay west coast), broadcasting LIVE from Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, CA. The nominees for the first 12 categories are listed below.

You can check out the first 12 categories in our other post about the Video Game Awards.

Best Wii Game
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
No More Heroes Publisher: Ubisoft Studio: Grasshopper Manufacture
Wii Fit Publisher: Nintendo Studio: Nintendo
Boom Blox Publisher: Electronic Arts Studio: EA Casual Studios

Best Xbox 360 Game
Fallout 3 Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Studio: Bethesda Game Studios
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
Gears of War 2 Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Epic Games
Fable II Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Studio: Lionhead

Best Soundtrack
Guitar Hero World Tour Publisher: RedOctane / Activision Publishing Studio: Neversoft Entertainment
Rock Band 2 Publisher: MTV Games Studio: Harmonix
Grand Theft Auto IV Publisher: Rockstar Games Studio: Rockstar North
LittleBigPlanet Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Studio: Media Molecule

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