Yeah, that’s right. It’s a video game. Based on the Mahabharat. Thankfully, not by an Indian developer. You know, I would really like it if Indian developers did better on an international level but at this point, they suck. They have no money and not enough experience to make quality games. We’ve done great on the mobile platform but when it comes to console or PC gaming, Indian studios have a long way to go.

So, the game is being developed by Syncere Arts from Canada. I haven’t heard of them before but I’d like to believe they’re sincere about this game. It is expected for the PC and Xbox 360 in April 2008. Long wait. But hopefully, if this game makes progress, we’ll hear more about it pretty soon.

You play Arjun and have access to dozens of weapons and “vedic powers” and can master 9 schools of power. They claim to have realistic physics and incredible depth in gameplay.

It all sounds good and I sincerely hope that the game is released and is actually as good as they say it is. Here’s the link to the game site:

Syncere Arts

WARNING: Flash-based site with background audio!

Hello invisible readers. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that I managed to procure a can of compressed air and blasted any and all dust from within my laptop. It took a while and there was a lot of dust but it seems to have been worth it. For the past 7 hours, I have not heard the laptop fans kick-in even once. The system is running fairly cool and lag is currently not an issue. I will need to probe further by stressing the system with the help of graphics-heavy applications and games. Maybe I will finally get to play Quake 4 and complete The Chronicles of Riddick. I also need to reinstate my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card which I took out believing it to be the cause of my problems.

I would also like to inform you of how cold it is out here in New York. Consistently below freezing.

Now that my laptop seems to running “fine,” I was able to run Yahoo! Messenger webcam/audio chat without issues. But what irony! The connection on my parents’ side decided to usurp this excellent chat. Maybe you will find this interesting: There was a lady buying an original copy of Windows Vista at the computer store where I bought the compressed air. Lunch was good.

Thank you for reading this!

Regards,

Me.

I played a lot of games this year but not nearly enough new ones. But still, I played a good number of new games and so here goes my best of list.

5. Prey (PC)

All right, I’ll admit that I didn’t play the full game but I needed something in 5th place and the demo was long enough to give enough of a feel for the game. I didn’t get it because this was right about the time I started having all my PC troubles and that is why there is no other PC game in this list. Prey is well-done as far as shooters go. Gorgeous graphics (built on the Doom 3 engine, pales in front of GoW), solid gameplay, some weapons innovation and a good soundtrack make this game a must-have for FPS fans with machines that can handle this game. Of course, you could also get it for the Xbox 360 but I haven’t tried it out on the 360 as yet.

4. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo DS)

Think you’re smart? How about you beat my brain weight of 1774g! Big Brain Academy is essentially a collection of mini-games that get your brain working fast, or so they claim. You can practice any of the mini-games or jump into a full-scale test that takes about 5 minutes to complete. You are tested on various things like your Computational skills and in the end, your score is tabulated in the form of the weight (mass!) of your brain. The average human brain weighs 1400g so anything above that number is a job well-done. A great pick-up and play game and with wireless support, you can slug it out against 1 or more opponents to see who has the biggest brain!

3. Castlevania: Portriat of Ruin (Nintendo DS)

The 20th Anniversary Castlevania game is terrific. Last year’s Dawn of Sorrow, also for the DS, set new standards for the DS is terms of gameplay and graphics and this year’s PoR applies some tweaks to shake things up a little. You can now control two characters with abilities split between the two: Jonathan is the weapons guy while Charlotte is the magic girl. Together, they can be a handful for the enemy. You need to combine their skills in order to beat the game. I’m still trying to beat it and it had so far provided over 25 hours of thoroughly engaging gameplay. The side-quests and secrets really stretch the life of this game. If you liked Dawn of Sorrow, this one’s a no-brainer. Pick it up and relive the experience again. While some might be disappointed that there haven’t been significant improvements, it’s important to realize that Dawn of Sorrow was already a brilliant game.

2. Wii Sports (Nintendo Wii)

The game that changed the way we play sports games! It’s the one game that gets people up from their couches and jumping around like idiots trying to beat the simply setup but extraordinarily addictive games. While Tennis, Baseball, and Bowling are extremely enjoyable, the Boxing and Golf are not quite up there. Still, the different gameplay modes including Fitness and Training let you have fun while working those lazy muscles. Everyone knows you don’t quite have to move the Wiimote quite as much as the real-life equipment, but it’s infinitely more fun that way!

1. Gears of War (Xbox 360)

A few posts back, I did a long story titled Finals. No, it wasn’t about my final exams except for that postscript at the end. It was about Gears of War. It is THE game to own for the Xbox 360 and you’d be silly if you haven’t already played it in spite of owning a 360. Mind-blowing graphics coupled with excellent gameplay make this game the shooter to beat in the coming months. Single-player is short on Casual difficulty but try Insane if you want to spend more time with the game. I beat it in Casual mode over 3 days of scattered gaming sessions (interspersed by restlessness and an incurable itch to get back) and managed to clear two Acts on Insane before finals took over. Of course, right now I’m back home with no 360. So beating the game in Insane will have to wait a few weeks. But beat the sucker I will. And oh yeah, multiplayer on Xbox Live is great. Make sure you have a headset so you can coordinate with teammates.

Yes, I know what some of you will say - Where’s Zelda? Sorry Nintendo fanboys, but I didn’t play the game. I watched my roommate and a friend play it and I was impressed with the gameplay. But never having owned a Nintendo console, I haven’t played any Zelda games and as such, they don’t hold much attraction for me. But, I can clearly see why so many people like the game so much. Within its genre, I don’t think many games come close.

The only game that could have also made it here was Mario Hoops 3-on-3. It was fun until you got to the harder difficulty and realized how clunky the passing system was. It was a nightmare on some stages and as a result, Mario Hoops is not on my list. Damn, I didn’t play too many PC games this year, did I? All thanks to my ever-unstable system. It seems to have stabilized now but needs more looking-into before I come to any conclusions. I did mange to get through FarCry and play a lot of FIFA 2006 and UT2004 before my PC went bonkers. I hope 2007 brings a better year for PC gaming - I still need to get through Quake 4 and The Chronicles of Riddick which are gathering dust in a drawer in my dorm room.

Movies are up next. That will be a good list to compile. The Music post now has an entry at #5.

So, let’s talk about Gears of War, shall we?

If I had to describe the game in one word, I would say that it was brilliant. Not a very good adjective but then again, one word is not enough for a game this good. Truly next-gen graphics coupled with exciting and engaging gameplay make this game one of the best out there, period. It’s as if Epic took the best elements of shooters over the years and put them in a blender with terrific graphics and unique gameplay mechanics. The result was a delicious serving of Gears.

The single-player campaign is fairly short - 7-10 hours on the easiest difficulty. You could probably cut that time further if you played co-op with a friend over Xbox Live, via System Link, or splitscreen on the same system. But whichever you play it, it’s short-lived. That’s one of two complaints I had the game. The other has to do with the A button. More on that later. The setup for the game is simplistic - humans have inhabited a planet known as Sera and things are all hunky-dory until Emergence Day. You see, an alien race known as the Locust has been digging under human settlements for years and finally, one bright Sunday afternoon, they decide to emerge. The emergence wrecks the planet and brings humanity to the brink of extinction on Sera. But valiant soldiers, known as Gears, continue a long, bloody battle with the Locust in an attempt to save humanity. You play Marcus Fenix, a Gear who was thrown into prison 14 years ago for disobeying orders. But now, as Coalition forces face a tough battle, you are freed by old friend Dominic Santiago and you rejoin the forces against the Locust. Your job is to basically destroy the Locust along with Dom, and other AI soldiers.

The game is played from a third-person perspective but the controls feel just like they would in an FPS. This is NOT a run-and-gun shooter - you need to fight intelligently by taking cover, choosing the right weapons, and paying attention to visual clues. Taking cover is definitely the best part about this game. If you see any barrier, get close to it and press A to take cover. You can pop out of cover to shoot and throw grenades. All weapons have a little zoom where you hold the gun close to aim better. You can roll around free areas by hitting A. If you are behind cover that’s not very tall, you can hit A to jump over it. You can also do a “roadie run” where you duck and run. You cannot use your weapons and lose a bit of control while doing this. Of course, this is also controlled by the A button. You see where the problem is? A controls too many things and although it simplifies the control scheme, it can make life hard at times. For example, if you doing a roadie run by holding down A and you run into a barricade, Marcus will take cover automatically. Same with rolling. It’s not a major annoyance, but it’s difficult in the final boss battle and in a few areas in the game.

But it’s a minor flaw. It doesn’t take away from the game too much. The weapons system is very rigid. You can carry four weapons: one pistol, 4 frag grenades, and any two other guns such as the Lancer (with a chainsaw to boot!), Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Torque Bow, etc. You cannot throw away the pistol and grenades for other weapons, unfortunately. But it’s fine. You can actually see where the two larger guns sit on the back of the soldiers and you don’t have to wonder how they manage to carry a dozen weapons without even a backpack!

There are some really cool things you can do in this game. For example, the chainsaw on the Lancer is an awesome melee weapon. You can also melee with a frag grenade: stick it into a Locust and run! Then watch him explode to bits. All the other weapons can be swung to smack people in the face for melee attacks. The Torque Bow is a great charge-up kind of weapon. You point it at a target and let it charge up and then let go of the trigger. It will shoot a charge that will stick to the target and then blow up. And before I forget, allow me to talk about the Hammer of Dawn.

If you’ve played UT2004, you are probably familiar with the Ion/Target Painter. The Hammer works in a similar fashion. When the Hammer is online, point the gun at a target and keep the trigger pressed. In a short while, a satellite hovering above will fire down a powerful laser beam. This weapon is intended for larger enemies like the Beserkers and Seeders. You need open space and the satellite to be online for this. The last Act of the game is on a moving train. TimeSplitters 3 did that and I believe GoldenEye was the game to have a train level. Act 5 is a great way to wrap things up. The climax however, drops more than a hint about a sequel. There rumors of Gears becoming a trilogy, a la Halo. I think it will help Microsoft once Halo 3 is done. Then, Gears will be the new game to watch out for. I guess Gears of War 3 will come out for the Xbox 720.

Multiplayer is a little underwhelming but engrossing. You can go up against a friend via system link or splitscreen or hop on to Xbox Live to join the insanity. Epic says there is downloadable content coming our way soon and I hope it’s good! Heck, I’m eagerly waiting for UT2007. It uses the same Unreal 3 engine and if Gears and UT2004 are any indication, it will be another mind blowing game.

So, in conclusion, GoW is a great game. Even if the single-player is short, the experience is exciting and definitely worth the time and money. Xbox Live expands the experience and will leave you clamoring for more Locust to kill. If you have a 360 and don’t have GoW, then well, you might as well return that 360 or donate it to a kid who will actually play Gears. It’s a crime not to.

PS: Finals start on Monday and I’ll be on my way back to India Thursday night. Most probably no more updates until I get home which will the 23rd provided everything goes as planned. Man, I couldn’t be more happier that the semester’s coming to a close. It’s been the most difficult one so far and probably a fair indication of what’s to come at Columbia next fall. Hopefully next semester won’t be as bad.

There, now the title makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

The Nintendo Wii has been out for a while and it has taken complete control of our lives. and we’ve seen the first round of games. With a few exceptions, the launch has been a little underwhelming. I guess developers are still trying to get a handle on how to best use the unique controls. Or they’re looking for fresh ideas to develop into games that will stand out and make the Wii a must-buy. Fear not! I have some ideas!

1. Drum Hero

My friends and I were talking about the possibility of Donkey Konga on the Wii. But I’d like to go beyond that. How about a drumming game akin to Guitar Hero? You can use the Wiimote and nunchucku (or two Wii motes) as drum sticks on a virtual drumkit. Furthermore, the game developers could include attachments for the feet in order to control bass drums and other foot-operated parts. Tell me that wouldn’t be fun! As it is, I love drumming away with virtual drumsticks or my hands/fingers, it would be great to actually have a game that will translate my movements into some kind of music. You could start off with a simple drumkit and once you master it, you get a better one. For added oomph, they could actually get licensed kits from well known drummers and their brands of choice. Now, I don’t expect the game to train you into becoming the next John Bonham, Neil Peart, Danny Carey, or Mike Portnoy, but you get the idea.

2. Wii Cricket

Come on, this one’s obvious. They already have baseball. All they need to do is tweak the controls to incorporate the different styles of batting and bowling, expand the fields, and change the rules to those for cricket. From personal experience (addiction), I can say how good Baseball already is. Sure it gets real hard as you improve your ranking, but it’s fun to play. Training modes can teach aspiring young cricketers correct technique and give them some sort of experience.

3. A Good FPS

We need an FPS that makes you do all sorts of crazy shit with the Wiimote. For example, your Wiimote acts as a gun, or a sword, or a wheel to drive ground vehicles, or as a device to pilot airborne vehicles. It might be a little difficult because the nunchucku will be pretty much useless when it comes to driving, but it shouldn’t be a big issue. I know Red Steel already does some of this, but it’s a poorly made game. It looks like it was rushed out the door to make it on launch day. Some quality was sacrificed in order to be the first FPS on the Wii. I’m sure developers are working on newer, better FPSes and they need to make sure that they get things right. Wii don’t want another Red Steel.

A lot of the other ideas I had are already in development and there are going to be some great games for the Wii like Smash Brothers Brawl and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. Besides, there’s going to be a Super Mario Strikers, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 and other fun games. The good times are just beginning!