Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Gear Diary! Each week I will highlight the major video game releases for the following week, give a quick feel for what was released the prior week, and chime in with what is burning up my gaming systems … and hope you will chime in with your playlist and hotly anticipated titles in the comments! Without further delay, let’s get right to it!
Who ya gonna call? Yep – after delays, rumors of cancellations and more, we finally get the video game release of the classic Ghostbusters! Early reviews are calling iot solid if unspectacular on all of the platforms it is hitting (which means basically everything). Other than that … there are some other assorted games, including yet another entry into the Guitar Hero: Quest for Franchise Destruction series, and my personal pick – Dawn of Discovery, the latest entry into the excellent Anno series of simulation / adventure games. Check out the list!
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the new weekly feature here at Gear Diary! As noted last week I will highlight the major video game releases for the coming week, talk about releases from the previous week as well as what I’m playing … and hopefully you will join the discussion!
The summer blockbuster movie season is in full swing, and that means we are seeing more and more movie tie-ins. This week it is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a movie dominated by CGI robots and the kid from Even Stevens but whose media campaign spent more time on Megan Fox. The game is out on every platform, and as happened last time also gets TWO DS releases – one for Autobots and the other for Decepticons. That is what we call the Pokemon factor … and it seemed to work last time, as there was just enough differentiation to make it worth getting both if you liked them. Continue Reading
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! We have a relatively solid release schedule that is full-up with movie tie-ins, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I know our family has been anticipating the new Harry Potter movie since it was delayed last fall, and the video game tie-ins have generally been fairly solid if unspectacular. As for the new Ice Age … my expectation after watching a pair of dreadful ‘exclusive clips’ this week is that regardless of how bad the game is, it will take little effort to be better than the movie!
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! This post holiday week is very light and has something that I can’t remember seeing in a very long time – no new releases for the Nintendo DS! While I’m sure there are some low-budget shovelware things popping out, no site I checked some up with anything new for the DS! My big pick for the week is the rebirth of the adventure game classic Monkey Island series! Telltale Games, who has produced two wonderful seasons of Sam & Max adventures are releasing the first of five chapters in their season of Monkey Island Tales, called Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. They are offering a pre-order special for the season at TellTaleGames.com – sorry for the short notice – I just discovered it when I went to order it myself! Continue Reading
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! If you are not a long-time computer/video game follower you might think this is a rerun … didn’t I talk about Monkey Island LAST week? You’re not wrong – last week I highlighted TellTale Games’ new addition to the franchise ‘Tales of Monkey Island‘, whereas this week we see a ‘Special Edition’ release of the original ‘Secrets of Monkey Island‘ from LucasArts. They claim to have completely updated the game with voiceovers, a new interface and full HD visuals. We shall see soon enough!
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Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Every summer you get a few movie games released on every platform possible – and once again we have one with G-Force. My personal expectations for both the movie and game are quite low – I find that movies as hyped as this never live up to expectations, and games better than movies are exceedingly rare.
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Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! If you haven’t played Wii Sports … you need to get out more. A huge seller, with nearly 50 million copies sold, it was only a matter of time before a follow-up came along … and here it is: Wii Sports Resort along with the Wii Motion Plus. Early reviews have been very positive, and this seems sure to sell millions and suck away hours with what seems like a simple collection of trivial mini-games.
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Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! After last week’s blockbuster release of Wii Sports Resort, this week is a bit of a let-down. Another Fallout 3 DLC, another movie tie-in, some budget priced ’shovelware’, and the game set I’m featuring, the Hannah Montana PSP Pack. Why is that featured? Read on and see!
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Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! In case you hadn’t already started Back to School shopping, you can mark the blockbuster release of Madden NFL 10 this week as the official start of the fall release season!
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Another relatively thin week, but we are starting to gear up towards the fall with some bigger releases, this week getting Wolfenstein on multiple platforms.
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! If you own a console … or a DS … or a PSP … prepare to be exhausted this week, as we are really starting to gear up towards the fall with some bigger releases, this week getting the hotly anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum from developer RockSteady on the PS3 & XBOX360. The reviews so fair are nothing short of stellar, with some already declaring this a clear entry in the race for ‘Game of the Year’ for 2009!
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Last week was big … this week is bigger, and I think it is time to stop even bothering with the pretense that we aren’t into the full Fall release swing! Big release this week is Guitar Hero 5, and it is every bit as ‘me too’ and oversold as you would expect … and every bit as excellent! You can expect hundreds of hours to be lost to this one for millions of gamers!
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! This week brings us the hotly anticipated Beatles Rock Band, which comes in three forms – profit, more profit, and mega-profit! Seriously though, you can get game-only for ~$60 if you want to use your existing Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour hardware; ‘value bundle’ for ~$160 which has the game and standard Rock Band hardware; or the ’special edition’ for $250 which has all Beatle-themed hardware and a couple of extra items. Expect heavy demand and limited supplies of this.
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! After the mega-game event last week with Beatles Rock Band, this week might seem slow … until you look at the list! There are hot games coming out on all platforms across multiple genres, such as Need for Speed: Shift, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and the competing hockey games NHL 10 and NHL 2K10. For me the DS and PC are the big winners this week – read on to find out why.
Posted by Michael Anderson in Diary Entries

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Two big games and a whole lotta ‘other’ this week: Halo 3: ODST for the XBOX360 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona for the PSP. Persona is the PSP remake of the the highly regarded original entry in the franchise, and has gotten very positive early reviews. Halo 3: ODST is the follow-up to the original XBOX360 game and is destined to sell heavily despite getting merely solid reviews.