http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/Grrlgamer Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:43:01 GMT Reviews by Grrlgamer http://www.viewpoints.com/Days-Inn-Santa-Monica-Los-Angeles-Santa-Monica-CA-review-44291 I stayed at the Days Inn Santa Monica during E3 2007, and it wasn't too bad. — The bed was comfortable and always made fresh, but the walls had seen better days, I guess because it was a smoking room. The bathroom was always spotless every day, and we had mini shower gel, shampoo and lotion bottles, and two kinds of soap. — There was a coffe maker with two individual packages, a mini-bar, and wireless internet access, except it was so slow that I only managed to do any work by getting up at 6am. There was a table and two chairs as a work area, not comfortable at all, needed new padding. — Complimentary continental breakfast was quite nice. There was sliced bread, buns, a mix of donuts and danishes, apple and orange juice, milk, coffee, hot chocolate, several kinds of tea, butter, jam... Small breakfast area, not much seating available, and it was pretty busy at the time. Some people ended up sitting on the lobby couch with their coffees and newspapers. —... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:43:01 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Days-Inn-Santa-Monica-Los-Angeles-Santa-Monica-CA-review-44291 Grrlgamer 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Playstation-2-Buzz-The-Hollywood-Quiz-review-d4c72 Buzz! Hollywood Quiz is the second Buzz quiz I have had the change to try out. Mega Quiz turned out to be more difficult than I thought because of the variety of subjects, so Hollywood Quiz ended up being a lot more accessible to me. — If you're not familiar with the Buzz franchise, these games are presented as a TV game show, and definitely oriented to be party games. Buzz is your host, and somehow his personality seems a lot more aggressive here than in Mega Quiz. There were a few moments where I actually laughed over his comments, particularly when you skip the "how to" tutorials and he literally yells at his assistant Rose to shut up. He also has some strange mood swings throughout the games, which is pretty funny at times, but also somewhat annoying on occasion. — The game modes in Hollywood are the same as those in Mega Quiz : Multiplayer, Single, Team, Quickfire and Quiz Master, with difficulty level settings, and of course, the option to fully customize your own... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:22:42 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Playstation-2-Buzz-The-Hollywood-Quiz-review-d4c72 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Playstation-2-Buzz-Junior-Jungle-Party-review-5e263 Jungle Party is obviously a jungle-themed series of mini-games for up to four players. The game comes bundled with four buzzers, which are the only controllers you need to play. The buzzer has a large button and then four other colored buttons: blue, green, orange and yellow. Each of the colors represents a player. — When starting a game, you can choose its duration: short, medium or long. We played the medium and it still seemed like there was a ton of games to play, and in total, the game offers 40 different and very simple mini-games. However, some of them are very similar, particularly the "hot potato" kind of games. But they're also hilarious to play. — Before each mini-game, you get a description of what the task is and how to control your monkey. Yes, everyone plays a monkey of different color, and the little guys really are funny to watch, particularly as they laugh at the losers at the end of a given game. — The first mini-game I played was a duel where two... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:14:06 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Playstation-2-Buzz-Junior-Jungle-Party-review-5e263 Grrlgamer 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Playstation-2-Buzz-The-Mega-Quiz-review-55212  was never very good a trivia games... I mean, I used to roam around endlessly on a Trivial Pursuit board and would never get more than two, possibly three pieces. I never played any of the Buzz! quizzes before, so I can't tell you how it compares to them. But at least I can tell you how this one is. Mega Quiz lets you pick from a few game modes: Multiplayer, Single, Team, Quickfire and Quiz Master. Then you pick one of three difficulty levels (Standard, Easy and Hard), and finally you choose what type of game you want to play: a quick game, a regular game or a custom game where you pick the types of mini-games that go in it. — The game is presented in a gameshow style, with your host Buzz, his assistant Rose and representations of the contestants. Each player can pick a character, a costume and a buzzer sound. There are 14 characters are pretty cartoony and very wacky. There's a superhero, a cowboy, a granny, an Einstein clone, an Elvis look-alike, Napoleon, a mime, a... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:06:46 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Playstation-2-Buzz-The-Mega-Quiz-review-55212 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Xbox-360-Rock-Band-review-82d83 Being familiar with Guitar Hero, the first thing I did was see if the controller worked so my husband and I could play together. Luckily enough, the Gibson X-Plorer worked just fine, so we created our band and went on a world tour together for a while. — Rock Band comes bundled with a Fender Stratocaster guitar controller, a drums set and a microphone, which means you can invite a couple of friends over for a little home-made "I can't play a real instrument for the life of me" concert. All you need is a little hand-eye coordination and someone with a bit of a voice, if you plan on having a singer. A Guitar Hero 2 controller is also welcome for a bassist, since the USB hub supports up to four players simultaneously. — For those familiar with Guitar Hero, the guitar/bass play is pretty much the same. Your Star Power is now called Energy, and you enter Overdrive when you activate it. It's still the same score multiplier and there is still a crowd pleasing meter. There are... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:58:52 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Xbox-360-Rock-Band-review-82d83 Grrlgamer 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Xbox-360-Scene-It-Lights-Camera-Action-review-661c1 Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action comes bundled with four buzzer controllers, very similar to the ones Sony uses for the Buzz trivia series. There is still one large buzzer button and four smaller colored buttons, but the major difference is that these are wireless, so there is no mess of cables across the room for everyone to play. The large buzzer buttons on the Scene It? controllers also work as a D-pad, by pressing lightly around the edges. — The game is packed with movie trivia goodness in ways that I never imagined a trivia game could be presented. But then again, I also never played any of the Scene It DVD games. — Lights, Camera, Action offers two game modes, Play Now and Party Play. With Play Now you can pick a short or long game session, play on your own or with friends. Party Play lets the game pick random puzzles for you, and the game stays stuck in this mode until you return to the main menu. — Play Now is where it's at. A long game will take about an... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:51:54 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Xbox-360-Scene-It-Lights-Camera-Action-review-661c1 Grrlgamer 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/PC-American-Girl-Mia-Goes-For-Great-review-a50a5 American Girl: Mia Goes for Great is an adventure where you play an aspiring figure skater. The game tells the story of Mia, a ten-year-old girl who likes to play ice hockey with her three older brothers and decides to take her skating skills in a different direction: figure skating. The game revolves around learning about the sport, getting things ready for practicing (music, costume, routines) and executing the moves. — The basic gameplay is a point and click adventure. You move by clicking on any given area, you talk to someone or interact with objects by clicking on them, you can also use things from your inventory on objects or people by dragging and clicking. Very simple. — The progression of the story is quest-based, and that's what sometimes seems not so simple. You get hints but they're not very straightforward, which might get younger gamers confused. You can ask Mia's mom for a hint about what to do next, but the hints you get can be a little vague...... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:41:31 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/PC-American-Girl-Mia-Goes-For-Great-review-a50a5 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/PC-The-Witcher-review-e6003 When I asked for a review copy of The Witcher, I was really upset that I couldn't play it (and I really, really wanted to) because of my gigantic review queue at the time, so I had it sent to another staff writer. As it turns out, she had some technical issues with her system, and ended up sending it to me. And I couldn't be happier. When I finally installed the game and sat down to play, I didn't get up for hours. No, not even to pee. It was just that good, and I only realized nearly 7 hours had gone by when my husband arrived home from work. — I was instantly taken in by the intro scene. It was the theme that really appealed to me, I am a sucker for ghosts, monsters, curses and all kinds of supernatural things after all, so this was right up my alley. In it, you are introduced to Geralt, what he does as a Witcher, and get a good look at how one would battle a creature called striga - who is actually a princess under a curse. And it's one hell of a fight. — So the... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:31:04 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/PC-The-Witcher-review-e6003 Grrlgamer 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-The-Sims-2-Castaway-review-cb120 The Sims 2 Castaway begins the usual Sim way: create your Sim, pick the hair color, hair style and clothes, name it and off you go. Except this time, your Sim fall into a crate which is nearly instantly transported aboard a cargo ship. In the middle of a storm, the crate goes overboard and the unfortunate Sim ends up in a deserted island - or is it? — It's time for you to know how Tom Hanks felt like in that movie and put your survival skills to the test! The game is controlled with the stylus, while the D-pad is used to move the camera around the area you are in. One of the trigger buttons will fast forward (depending on whether you are left or right handed), and since your Sim won't be running around, this does help. — — The microphone also comes into play in a few activities, for example to light a fire, play an ocarina or blow into a conch shell. — As usual, your Sim will have the six basic needs: hunger, hygiene, social, bladder, comfort and energy.... Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:23:18 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-The-Sims-2-Castaway-review-cb120 Grrlgamer 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Disney-Princess-Magical-Jewels-review-57010 Disney Princess: Magical Jewels is a side-scrolling platformer that encourages exploration. The simple story tells us how a series of jewels have gone missing, shattered into pieces and scattered all over four kingdoms. Bringing the pieces together and reforming the jewels will allow you to rebuild an ancient castle and restore the Kingdom of Kindness to its former glory. But an evil Ice Queen is also in search for the jewels, and she will do whatever she can to take them away from you. — You play as a pixie, Spryte, who acts as a guide for the princesses. Making their appearance in this game, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Belle will accompany Spryte on a "tour" of their environments searching for and collecting the missing shards. — Tapping sparkling objects or people will sometimes reveal more shards or make something happen. Here and there, you also collect some of the princesses' favorite items and meet other characters in need of help finding a particular item.... Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:11:30 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Disney-Princess-Magical-Jewels-review-57010 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/PSP-Jeanne-DArc-review-e2690 Jeanne D'Arc caught my eye for its similarities with Final Fantasy Tactics, a game that pretty much consumed me over a summer a while back. Jeanne went with me on a trip to Europe, and I can honestly say that I didn't feel like playing anything else while I tackled it, regardless of the work load piling up. — The game is based on the events surrounding the famous tale of Joan of Arc and her efforts to lead the French to victory, but with a fantasy twist. It seems that little Henry VI is possessed by a demon, and his counsellor is conjuring the dark forces to fight for the English. In the middle of the turmoil, Jeanne's village is burned to the ground. She finds a mystic bracelet with divine powers, and with two companions she sets off to save France and meet others who will join her cause along the way. — Presented in a mix of anime cutscenes, text dialogs and battles, the story will unveil itself little by little, presenting historical names and places, but also plenty of... Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:54:47 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/PSP-Jeanne-DArc-review-e2690 Grrlgamer 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Nancy-Drew%3A-Deadly-Secret-of-Olde-World-Park-review-04b82 Nancy Drew and the Deadly Secret of Olde World Park isn't based in any of the novels nor the PC titles. It has its own original story and unique style of gameplay. — A new amusement park celebrating ancient civilizations is about to be inaugurated in River Heights. But on the eve of the opening, the owner, billionaire Thaddeus Belmont is presumed missing. No one has seen him or heard from him in a few days, and it's up to Nancy to investigate the circumstances of his disappearance. — The game is played by a mix of the D-pad, buttons and the stylus. You control Nancy with the D-pad. Moving her around the different locations. You talk to people or interact with objects with the X button. The stylus is used to look at items in your inventory, pick conversation options and play the mini-games. The action takes place on the top screen, and the bottom screen is your inventory and mini-game setting. — For the most part, Nancy walks around, talks to people and tries to... Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:45:33 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Nancy-Drew%3A-Deadly-Secret-of-Olde-World-Park-review-04b82 Grrlgamer 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-DK-Jungle-Climber-review-7f15 The story begins as the Kong family heads out to Sun Sun Island on vacation. At some point, Donkey Kong spots a giant banana floating above the island, and soon enough, him and Diddy Kong will be travelling through a series or islands, collecting bananas and chasing King K. Rool. — The game is played entirely with the left and right trigger buttons. While on the ground, the triggers move Donkey Kong either left or right. Pressing both at the same time makes him jump. But for the most part, each represents one of DK's hands. By alternating between the left and right buttons you can get your friendly gorilla to grab hold or let go of the pegs, swinging around in the air to reach other areas. If you keep holding the button down, DK will spin around on the peg he's holding on to. Unfortunately, you can't just drop from a higher peg to a lower one, which is a bit annoying. — Each island is composed of several levels where the purpose is to swing your way to the end of the... Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:37:23 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-DK-Jungle-Climber-review-7f15 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Holly-Hobbie-Friends-review-26a51 In their videogame debut, Holly and her friends bring a series of mini-games to little girls everywhere. — The game's story takes place during a summer camp where the girls get together in a series of activities ranging from sports to cooking, grocery shopping or picking out clothes. Oddly enough, on the first day of summer I was put in an awkward situation: the first task of the game is a quiz about Holly Hobbie and her friends. With questions like how many layers were there in someone's birthday cake, or what's the name of someone else's horse, I thought I'd never get past day one. — But even being totally unaware of Holly Hobbie's world, you can just snoop around the manual to find some answers, or you can tap the stylus on the picture frame to read about Holly's friends, family and their pets. — The game is played through the calendar, where each day will represent a different activity. There are 14 mini-games in total, so after a while they will start repeating... Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:30:05 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Holly-Hobbie-Friends-review-26a51 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Chibi-Robo-Park-Patrol-review-be091 Pollution is spreading, and the local park has been turned into a wasteland. It's up to Chibi-Robo to restore it back to what it once was, by planting flowers, defending them from Smoglings and customizing the park to attract more visitors. — Chibi's initial tools are a squirter to water flower buds, and a boom box to help them grow. The game is entirely played with the stylus via the touch screen, with few exceptions. For example, to water a bud, you must pump the squirter by sliding the stylus up and down. To make a flower grow and bloom, you pick a song from the boom box, spin the record manually and do a little dance. Depending on how well you do, the flower will grow and produce more or less seeds. — Chibi runs on watts, which is not only his power source but the currency of the game. You don't gain them directly though, instead, any Happy Points you receive are converted into watts at your little headquarters. Planting flowers, building park equipment, playing... Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:21:17 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-Chibi-Robo-Park-Patrol-review-be091 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-The-Legend-of-Zelda%3A-Phantom-Hourglass-review-6a5d0 In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Link is sailing away with his friend Tetra when they discover a portion of the ocean covered with thick fog. As they enter it, they come across a ghost ship. Tetra decides to board it to explore, but she disappears and Link falls in the water when attempting to rescue her, only to wash up on shore of a strange island, awakened by a fairy. For there on, Link's quest is to find the missing girl, aided by fairies with different powers. — The game is entirely controlled via the touch sceen with the stylus, and in some cases, the microphone. Talking to a character or interacting with an object is as simple as tapping it. Touching the screen indicates where you want Link to move while drawing lines and circles makes him swing his sword. But the interactivity doesn't stop there. — The boomerang is controlled by drawing a path, the bow is aimed by dragging the stylus in the direction you want to shoot the arrow, even your ship's route is... Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:11:32 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Nintendo-DS-The-Legend-of-Zelda%3A-Phantom-Hourglass-review-6a5d0 Grrlgamer 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Square-Enix-Heroes-of-Mana-review-e4451 Square Enix has been taking the Mana series into different directions, evolving from a type of gameplay into another. This time around, it takes a turn into the RTS universe. — The story in Heroes of Mana places a group of heroes in the middle of a series of conflicts with Peddan soldiers. The action begins early, with an unexpected turn of events. From there on, Roget and friends stay together to figure out what is behind these events and bring justice to the world. — After the complexity of Ys Strategy, I couldn't possibly imagine how another RTS would work on the Nintendo DS, but Heroes of Mana is pretty straightforward. — The interface is simple enough for RTS beginners, while anyone already familiar with Warcraft and the like will be impatient enough to just skip over the entire tutorial chatter. — Before any stage, you select a number of characters from those you have available in your army. Each character has certain bonuses that affect units within a... Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:00:04 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Square-Enix-Heroes-of-Mana-review-e4451 Grrlgamer 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Xseed-Brave-Story-New-Traveler-review-2b5a2 Tetsuya is a boy with a thing for videogames. As he sits in a bench playing something on his handheld, his friend Miki runs off after her dog. Tetsuya hears a scream and rushes to find an unconscious Miki. At the hospital, the doctors can't figure out why she won't wake up. — A voice comes to Tetsuya's aid and tells him that there is a way to help Miki, another world where he can have a wish granted and thus cure Miki. But getting his wish won't be an easy task. — Tetsuya arrives in the world of Vision as a Traveler, and as you will eventually find out, there have been many before him, and some are still around trying to complete their quests. The main goal is to collect the five gems through certain acts - although you don't know what they are - to unlock the path to the Tower of Destiny, where you will be able to get one wish granted by the Goddess. — Your first acquaintance is the cheery kitkin girl, Yuno, but throughout the adventure your party members will... Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:25:46 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Xseed-Brave-Story-New-Traveler-review-2b5a2 Grrlgamer 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/LDW-Plant-Tycoon-review-6197 Plant Tycoon is basically Fish Tycoon, with flowers. The game takes place in the Island of Isola, where you have a nursery. You manage seeds, plants and flower pots, pollinating them with one another, and trying to find the six magical plants of Isola. — Your basic tools are soil, water, pruning sheers, a butterfly net and a seed box. And of course, the 15 flower pots to plant in. Planting something is very easy: fill a pot with soil, water it well, put a seed in it and wait for it to grow. A plant is fully mature once it's in bloom, and you can't sell them until they reach that state. — To discover new plants and produce new seeds you have to pollinate your mature plants. Fully grown plants will have pollen, which you can drag to any other mature plant to start producing new seeds. But you can only pollinate a mature plant once. — Some things can make your gardening job a lot easier. You can purchase seeds and upgrade your tools in the Supplies store, as well as... Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:18:47 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/LDW-Plant-Tycoon-review-6197 Grrlgamer 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Sims-2-Bon-Voyage-review-efbb0 Bon Voyage sends your Sims on vacations away from home, to any of the three available locations: sandy beaches in a tropical island, log cabins in the mountains or a Far-Eastern paradise. — First, you need to attach a vacation resort to your neighborhood. It takes a bit for it all to get ready, but it's well worth the time. Next, you can pick whatever family you wish, make a quick phone call, pick your vacation spot, your hotel, the number of nights you want to stay and the family members who will be going along. Wait for the shuttle, and away you go! — Three locations may not seem like much, but each offers different hotels at different price ranges. You can either splurge on an expensive resort or stay at a more affordable one. — Of course, vacation spots are a group of community lots for the most part, but there are also a few residential homes here and there. You will mingle with the natives, buy and wear typical clothes such as kimonos, grass skirts or... Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:11:18 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Sims-2-Bon-Voyage-review-efbb0 Grrlgamer 5