Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Anyone who is a fan of role-playing games (RPG) is very excited for this week as perhaps the biggest RPG release of the year (we can debate whether Risen is bigger in the comments) – Dragon Age: Origins. The folks who have brought us the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights games, Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire and more are back – with the ’spiritual successor’ to Baldur’s Gate. I am rushing to finish everything else on my plate so I can be ready for this one on Tuesday. Recently it was announced that the PS3 version was un-delayed, which is nice since it means everyone gets it this week!

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Hold on a second – don’t check your calendar, you haven’t time-warped back to last year! Indeed, merely 6 months after the launch of the DSi, Nintendo has announced that on November 21st they will release the DSi LL in Japan, for the equivalent of $220. Read on for more details!

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Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! OK, you might be wondering why this is the only place NOT highlighting DJ Hero for this week. Well, while that game looks amazingly fun and will sell millions, I chose the expansion to one of the absolute best games of 2008 that got relatively little attention because it is a turn-based strategy game – King’s Bounty: Armored Princess. Of course, since we are in the midst of the Fall Gaming Avalanche, those are but the tip of the iceberg!

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Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! Last week was strong … but this week is just crazy! Some highlights include Borderlands, a hybrid FPS / RPG / Co-op / open world / post-apocalyptic shooter that hits PS3 & XBOX360 this week and PC next week. Also huge this week – albeit with a younger audience – is Bakugan Battle Brawlers, the first game based on the very popular ‘catch em all’ style game featuring magnetic balls that transform into monsters.

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A couple of weeks ago we introduced Nerf N-Strike Elite, which is coming to the Wii on October 27th. Now EA has introduced a teaser trailer showing some highlights to get you ready! Check it out!

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The Sims franchise has been a major powerhouse of sales and popularity on the PC for years, but has never really translated into success on consoles and handhelds, managing only modest sales and average reviews. As the franchise moved to the Wii in 2007 it was transformed into MySims, which removed all of the teen and adult-focused content and targeted a younger audience. The MySims franchise has been focused on the Nintendo platforms (aside from a single PC entry), and while it has been better than the dismal Nintendo DS entries, the response has still been mixed reviews and unspectacular sales. Electronic Arts hopes to change all that as they mix things up with MySims Agents for the Wii, and was kind enough to provide a copy for me to review and keep, so let’s take a look and see how they did! Continue Reading

Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! This week has a ton of games, but is actually rather thin on the top level blockbusters. First and foremost is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which we featured in a beta code contest here, and has already been receiving sterling reviews. The other obvious one is Brutal Legend, the delayed-by-legal-wrangling game which is from Tim Shaeffer (famous for LucasArts adventure games and recently Psychonauts), and is a tie-in to the movie of the same name. Also, there is a game that looks like a load of fun called A Boy and His Blob, which I have featured in the headline picture.

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I had grand plans to do a review of the Nintendo DSi right after I bought it on release day back in April – I was going to take a quick look at the new cameras, SD slot, MP3 player, and the DSiWare store. But at the time I was in the middle of playing one of the better games the DS has seen – Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars, in my opinion the best game in the GTA series – and then I immediately started playing Broken Sword and Black Sigil and … well, time sort of got away, and by then many sites had given their balanced reviews so mine seemed superfluous. But there is still value in an ‘after a while’ look, as we have seen from many great articles at Gear Diary in the past! So instead of a simple ‘how well does it work’ review, I’ll look at how I’ve actually used the DSi over the last few months and what I think scores a hit, and what misses.

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As noted in this week’s GearGames Weekly, the DS game release ‘Spore Hero Arena’ arrives Tuesday. In anticipation of that, EA has released a developer video with one of the producers of the game, Jason Haber.

Take a peek into the development of Spore Hero Arena for the Nintendo DS with lead producer Jason Haber. In this video Jason explains what players can expect when they pick up a copy of Spore Hero Arena from planet exploration and mini-quests to a fully 3D creature creator, and even multiplayer battles with your friends! Don’t miss this in-depth look at Spore Hero Arena for the Nintendo DS.

Check out the video below!

The original Nerf N-Strike for the Wii received mostly average marks – it had a nice Nerf gun that also functioned as a controller hooked up through the game on the Wii. It was aimed at kids but priced fairly high initially, but was one of those games that offered enough fun that once the price dropped enough it was a good purchase. Now EA has teamed up with Nerf again to introduce a new game for the 40th Anniversary of Nerf. Nerf N-Strike Elite, with a new gun and new game and lower starting price, looks to deliver an even better gaming value to customers when it arrives in stores on October 27th. Read on for more details and a gameplay video courtesy of WiiNintendo.com. Continue Reading

Billed as the first high-precision positioning system for the Nintendo DS the Ranger GPS is now available from our overseas friends at DealExtreme. The maps are downloaded from Google Maps though it’s unclear from the site whether you’ll need to learn Mandarin or Cantonese if you want to receive optional voice prompts. Just think of how much fun the kids will have navigating. And when they get bored they can remove the cartridge and use the tiny patch cord to swing it over their head and menace other young back seat passengers.

Ranger GPS Navigation for NDS Lite – $59.22

MySims Agents is due tomorrow for the Wii and Nintendo DS. It’s the latest release from the popular MySims line of role playing fantasy games. In this release you start off working as a private detective making ends meet while working out of the back room of a pizzeria. Gradually as you solve more cases you progress through different levels of game play and work your way up to tougher and more interesting cases. Do you like puzzles and games that have a story line? Then MySims Agents is for you! During the EA Blogger day we spent some time with the developers and found that the role playing and clue solving were nicely integrated in a way that was much more than just an afterthought. The games are role playing and build upon existing characters in the MySims games. Instead of a game that you play once and discard – MySims Agents is a game you might spend a few days working your way through the entire set of scenarios. Take a look at the YouTube video for an overview of MySims Agents then hit the links below to grab your copy for tomorrow.

MySims Agents – Wii or DS

During the week we read about the price cut on the popular Nintendo Wii gaming system that brought the cost down to $199. Now Amazon has another promotion that can lower your net Wii cost to $175. Purchase a Wii from Amazon between now and October 3, 2009 (must be direct from Amazon and not a third party seller) and you’ll receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card in the mail 10 days after you complete your purchase.

Amazon – Wii $199 less $25 Gift Card

At least according to Engadget and their ‘anonymous’ source. Of course, the iPod Touch camera was also ‘confirmed’ through multiple sources … and I still hold a grudge on THAT one. But this is just the latest of several rumors all pointing to one thing: that on Sunday September 27th, our newspapers will be filled with a variety of places to get the Wii for $50 less than we can today. I guess that – along with month after month of dismal sales news for the entire video game industry – is the final nail in the ‘Wii shortage’ coffin.

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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.

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