Heres an excerpt

Spryo: A New Beginning is being billed as just what its title implies. In an attempt to bring the fizzling action-platformer more recognition and respect, Sierra has enlisted some heavy-hitting celebrity aid. Hairy-footed Elijah Wood will star as the wide-eyed purple dragon Spyro. David Spade provides backup as the snarky sidekick Sparks, and Gary Oldman weighs in as Spyro's mentor, Ignitus. While voice talent alone can't reinvigorate a franchise, it can't hurt. From playing through a number of levels in the new Spyro, it's obvious there are some more interesting gameplay and action mechanics than we've seen in the past.

Spyro starts this new journey by realizing he's a special dragon. More specifically, he's told by Ignitus he's a purple one, something that only happens once every 10 generations. Apparently Spyro couldn't recognize this, since he was carted off to a different society and believed himself to be one of them. Through Ignitus' tutelage, Spyro slowly learns everything he's capable of as a dragon. This includes flying, breathing fire, melee attacks, and a number of elemental special moves. He'll need them to beat down Cynder, an ill-tempered black dragon trying, like countless other villains, to reawaken an ancient evil

Full article ...

Heres an excerpt

Spryo: A New Beginning is being billed as just what its title implies. In an attempt to bring the fizzling action-platformer more recognition and respect, Sierra has enlisted some heavy-hitting celebrity aid. Hairy-footed Elijah Wood will star as the wide-eyed purple dragon Spyro. David Spade provides backup as the snarky sidekick Sparks, and Gary Oldman weighs in as Spyro's mentor, Ignitus. While voice talent alone can't reinvigorate a franchise, it can't hurt. From playing through a number of levels in the new Spyro, it's obvious there are some more interesting gameplay and action mechanics than we've seen in the past.

Spyro starts this new journey by realizing he's a special dragon. More specifically, he's told by Ignitus he's a purple one, something that only happens once every 10 generations. Apparently Spyro couldn't recognize this, since he was carted off to a different society and believed himself to be one of them. Through Ignitus' tutelage, Spyro slowly learns everything he's capable of as a dragon. This includes flying, breathing fire, melee attacks, and a number of elemental special moves. He'll need them to beat down Cynder, an ill-tempered black dragon trying, like countless other villains, to reawaken an ancient evil

Full article ...

Heres an excerpt

We've been reading it on the boards, hearing it in the chat-rooms, and sifting through it in our emails. It seems to be the question of the month for DS readers, and we felt bad for holding out for oh so long. "Dear IGN. What's the deal with Contact? I don't get what's going on! I hear it's like Earthbound. Explain or I'll hate you!" Well, after many a long night with the game and numerous emails with the developers, we've finally got an answer for you all. What is Contact? You may hate us, but it's really something you'll have to play to truly understand.



Sure it sounds like a bit of a cop-out answer, but take one look at the screens and video and you'll start to see why we've taken that stance on the game after a few hours of play. At the most purest form of the game, Contact is an action RPG that works with two different art styles to depict two separate worlds. In fact, the main character that you play is no other than… yourself. In a style all its own, Contact puts you as the player into a unique position. The bottom line is that the world needs saving, and there's an individual that's been selected for the job. You think that's you, right? Well, it isn't. Instead, you're the link between the worlds, acting as a correspondent between the top screen and bottom screen. You interact with each world, and you do so as yourself. Confused yet? Good.

Full article ...

Heres an excerpt

We've been reading it on the boards, hearing it in the chat-rooms, and sifting through it in our emails. It seems to be the question of the month for DS readers, and we felt bad for holding out for oh so long. "Dear IGN. What's the deal with Contact? I don't get what's going on! I hear it's like Earthbound. Explain or I'll hate you!" Well, after many a long night with the game and numerous emails with the developers, we've finally got an answer for you all. What is Contact? You may hate us, but it's really something you'll have to play to truly understand.



Sure it sounds like a bit of a cop-out answer, but take one look at the screens and video and you'll start to see why we've taken that stance on the game after a few hours of play. At the most purest form of the game, Contact is an action RPG that works with two different art styles to depict two separate worlds. In fact, the main character that you play is no other than… yourself. In a style all its own, Contact puts you as the player into a unique position. The bottom line is that the world needs saving, and there's an individual that's been selected for the job. You think that's you, right? Well, it isn't. Instead, you're the link between the worlds, acting as a correspondent between the top screen and bottom screen. You interact with each world, and you do so as yourself. Confused yet? Good.

Full article ...

Heres an excerpt

Remember when Crash Bandicoot wanted to be the PlayStation's mascot? Yeah, that didn't really work out… But the franchise has survived and is now getting the party game treatment on the Nintendo DS in the form of Crash Boom Bang!. We got our mitts on the title recently and are here to report on how it has shaped up.

Crash Boom Bang! plays similarly to Mario Party, in that the characters move around a game board and compete in mini-games along the way. There are 40 bite-sized games to compete in, and they all make use of the touch screen and stylus. Fans of the franchise will see their favorite characters make appearances, as well as a new villain named the Vicount. Seems this devil is looking for something called the "Super Big Power Crystal" (psst, developer Dibbs is a Japanese studio) and he's tricked Crash and friends into competing in the World Cannonball Race and finding the Crystal for him. The winner is promised $100 million.

Full article ...

Heres an excerpt

Remember when Crash Bandicoot wanted to be the PlayStation's mascot? Yeah, that didn't really work out… But the franchise has survived and is now getting the party game treatment on the Nintendo DS in the form of Crash Boom Bang!. We got our mitts on the title recently and are here to report on how it has shaped up.

Crash Boom Bang! plays similarly to Mario Party, in that the characters move around a game board and compete in mini-games along the way. There are 40 bite-sized games to compete in, and they all make use of the touch screen and stylus. Fans of the franchise will see their favorite characters make appearances, as well as a new villain named the Vicount. Seems this devil is looking for something called the "Super Big Power Crystal" (psst, developer Dibbs is a Japanese studio) and he's tricked Crash and friends into competing in the World Cannonball Race and finding the Crystal for him. The winner is promised $100 million.

Full article ...

Heres an excerpt

In the age-old genre of role-playing games, one company has held a steady domination for over two decades. Since its humble beginnings in 1983, Square has set the standard in the world of RPG's. Though the Japanese company is most famous for the Final Fantasy series, there's no denying the worldwide appeal of yet another powerhouse franchise: Dragon Quest. Beginning with Dragon Warrior (English name) in 1986, the franchise has had over two dozen games in the last twenty years, featuring full-fledged sequels, portable ports, and spin-off games, teamed with a ton of merchandising. It's no wonder, then, that one of the most famous and constant cast members got his own game. Slime, used in nearly every Dragon Warrior and Dragon Quest game since the series debut, now has his own game to star in, as Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime readies itself for a U.S. release.

More Info ...

Heres an excerpt

In the age-old genre of role-playing games, one company has held a steady domination for over two decades. Since its humble beginnings in 1983, Square has set the standard in the world of RPG's. Though the Japanese company is most famous for the Final Fantasy series, there's no denying the worldwide appeal of yet another powerhouse franchise: Dragon Quest. Beginning with Dragon Warrior (English name) in 1986, the franchise has had over two dozen games in the last twenty years, featuring full-fledged sequels, portable ports, and spin-off games, teamed with a ton of merchandising. It's no wonder, then, that one of the most famous and constant cast members got his own game. Slime, used in nearly every Dragon Warrior and Dragon Quest game since the series debut, now has his own game to star in, as Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime readies itself for a U.S. release.

More Info ...

Heres an excerpt

Forgive me if I seem overly worried, but usually, handing off your most prized franchise to an outside developer always seems really dodgy. Especially when said franchise is Final Fantasy, a license to print money if there ever was one. Developed by Matrix Software, with the supervision of Square-Enix, the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy III has finally arrived. Fully remade with new graphics, audio and several gameplay changes, this is the first Final Fantasy title to appear on the DS, and it also marks the first time that this particular title has ever appeared outside of Japan.



To get things out of the way, there are actually several differences between the two versions, aside from the obvious visual and audio overhauls. First off, the NES version of the game featured four generic characters that you controlled at the beginning of the game. In the DS version, you start off with one character named Luneth, and you'll eventually pick up the rest of your party along the way. The other characters are Arc, Refia and Ingus, all of whom have significant back stories instead of being simple, generic characters found in the NES version. Since you only start with one character that means choosing jobs - which we'll explain later - also happens later on in the game. Basically, the story starts off with Luneth being approached by one of the great crystals, and tells him of the peril that's facing the world. The game's story moves fairly quickly, and within the first two hours, you're going to get way more story and cool gear than you would in the first ten hours of any other modern RPG. But that's how all of the old school RPGs are; the pacing is excellent and it rarely skips a beat.

Full Article ...