No matter what style of gaming you’re into, there’s something new this week to interest you. We’ve got it all: bargain bundles like Turbo Combo and the Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection, downloadable extravaganzas like Family Restaurant and Cate West: The Vanishing Files, and brand-new episodes in family-friendly series like Guitar Hero and Diner Dash. And if you prefer men running about with guns to doggies running about with perms, this week sees the launch of the latest in the smash hit Rainbow Six shooter series on PS3 and Xbox 360. Check out the full list!

Top Three:

Family Restaurant

Check Out Family Restaurant

You can get anything you want at the Family Restaurant, as long as what you want happens to be taking the helm of the kitchen in your father’s eatery. Can you meet the challenge of creating tasteful and imaginative recipes for his customers? Can you achieve that elusive five-star rating? Can you get that Arlo Guthrie song out of your head? Find out in Family Restaurant, new on Yahoo! Games this week.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Not content with tearing up Sin City in their first outing back in 2006, the Rainbow Six team is heading back for another visit. This time, they’re packing souped-up co-operative multiplayer, new character development features and a riveting new storyline. What happens in Vegas stays over on the Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Premier Page.

Guitar Hero: On Tour

If there’s one thing we’ve always resented about the smash hit Guitar Hero series, it’s that the whole thing is so hard to carry. Have you ever tried lugging a great big plastic guitar on the bus? It’s not a pretty sight. Thanks to Activision, though, your portable strumming worries are at an end, and Yahoo! Games is very, very excited to exclusively unveil the newest Guitar Hero game coming soon to the Nintendo DS. Get the latest.

You’ve known it was coming, but tonight is finally the night in which you can kick back, relax and enjoy hours upon hours of your favorite extreme winter sports in glorious high-definition. In a move made far too late (but we’re thankful nonetheless), ESPN has finally decided to cover this year’s events from Aspen, Colorado in HD, marking the first time in Winter X history in which the entire four-day event will be broadcast in 720p across the ESPN family of networks. Ready to cancel a few plans and check out Sal Masekela (among other things) in HD? Hit the read link for the full schedule — the first snowflake flies tonight at 9:00PM EST on ESPN HD.

Starting today, Jan. 24, the X Games 12 take over Aspen. Through Jan. 27, be prepared to watch some serious shredding on the slopes. Not only do boarders trick out on the half pipe, but men and women attack the half pipe on skis, too. There will be big air, 1080s in the men’s half pipe (that’s three turns in one jump), and slopestyle on skis (crazy tricks on skis on a good old-fashioned ski slope).

Keep an eye out for Gretchen Bleiler. She is a 26-year-old boarder who took the silver in the ‘06 Olympics and has a couple of gold medals from previous X Games too. Not only was she the first woman to land the move known as The Crippler, but she also designs her own line of outerwear, which will be available in the Fall of 2008.

Here’s the broadcast schedule for ESPN so you can program your DVR as to not miss a marvel.

ASPEN, Colo. Jan. 24, 2008 - As temperatures drop, the excitement heats up in Aspen, which is hosting the Winter X Games for the seventh consecutive year. Most of the action will take place over the next four days - and the invited rider list reads like a who’s who of winter sports. This year’s Games should prove to be a showcase for the progress female action sports athletes have made in the genre.

Highlights of WX12 will include snowboarder Torah Bright and freeskier Sarah Burke who are both returning to Aspen  in a bid to reclaim gold. You’ll also see a lot of halfpipe queen Gretchen Bleiler, Winter X gold medal winner in 2003 and 2005 and a silver medalist on the 2006 Olympic pipe.

In boardercross, 22-year-old Lindsey Jacobellis is considered royalty with three Winter X boardercross gold medals, two World Championship titles and an Olympic silver medal in her trophy case.

Last year, Jamie Anderson became the youngest X Game gold winner when she won the women’s snowboard slopestyle, while older sister Joanie took first place in snocross so keep an eye on the Anderson girls once again.

Also not to be overlooked is Kelly Clark, 24, who is competing in her eighth Winter X Games. She’s earned four medals - two gold, two silver - all in the superpipe. Her last gold finish was in 2006.

As one of the most x-treme winter sports events in the world, Winter X attracts an international array of gravity-defying athletes. Money (record purses this year), medals and worldwide fame are all up for grabs as athletes compete in skiing, snowboard and snocross so catch all the action today through Sunday.

Fans of Oregon Trail should rejoice when they find out Thule has reworked the theme of the cult classic to fit in with a modern roadtrip. You can choose between a wagon, hybrid, or SUV for your trip cross country to go to a concert. We think a little something was lost during the translation of the game to modern times, but there are certainly bigger wastes of time on the ‘net.

Don’t worry, the graphics are as great as ever.

Oregon Trail was a very good interactive experience. This game is definitely a classic. The games did a lot of work with the perfect events of the lives of the people on the Oregon Trail which is a adventuring of citizens departing transversely over thousands of miles and then going to reside in Oregon. Oregon Trail game also puts the hazards of every one that is in your wagon fate in the palm of your hands.The graphics the game aren’t really all that awful for a game that came out over 2 decades ago. In other words the graphics are fit for the time period that the game was published. But as far as game play, be considered one of the first games you really got to shoot something with out really getting in trouble or it is all over the news. Then you will go on your path and really become survival of the fittest.You must survive through cruel and unusual punishments of times periods filled with snow, gusts, and hurricanes. Oregon Trail is also a game that goes on the reach of you living your lives to existents. Now you eat everyday and of course sleep everyday. And if you run out of food, then your party and or wagon will start to die or get diseases that will eventually cause you family to die off and become memories of your dipterous inconsiderable training and ability to take care of the tribe.But hunting is solitary the best aspects of this game, but if you pursue too much food then nothing will be left to hunt or then your food will get and go too bad no one will have the ability to eat it in time. Once you situate up your family, you go to the local store and buy groceries, clothing, wagon parts, and other supplies such as oxen and axels, which might I add you will need a lot of only because you will have to change axel a lot and the oxen will die when over used. But you’ll need them on the road. How much you can get depends on your employment status, so the richer and wealthy you are the more you can bring. Throughout the game there will be forts where you can purchase more supplies, but things get progressively more costly, so the further you start with the better you’ll be in the finish.Once you’re completed shopping you choose what month you want to start out in, which has an enormous impact on your adventure. It takes about a year to get across the country, so you will have to survive at least one winter no matter what month you start but you don’t want to start in the winter and have to end in a winter that would cause a lot of problems for you family.But in the end this is a great game and you will enjoy playing this game for the ages!
This game is definitely a classic.

A week ago when I wrote my last post, I almost posted something about the Trail Blazer’s 5-game winning streak, but I decided it was a bit premature and that they probably wouldn’t keep it up. Silly me. Portland has added 3 very strong wins to that, and it’s time to take a look at what the Blazers are doing.

You can basically dismiss the first three games of the streak because they came against pretty poor competition (man did I miss the mark with Memphis). However, the last 5 wins have been extremely impressive, coming against 4 Western Conference playoff teams (Utah twice), and playing without LaMarcus Aldridge. Perhaps even more impressive than the level of competition is the fact that 2 of the wins came on the road, where the young Blazers have really struggled. So, what is Portland doing so well that they’ve managed to win 5 quality games without Aldridge’s 19 and 8 each night?

First of all, note that the Blazers haven’t changed their mindset with Aldridge out. They’ve been one of the slowest teams in the league this year, with only Detroit playing less possessions per game than Portland. Through the streak, they haven’t upped the tempo at all, and in fact have even slowed down a bit more, averaging a turtle-slow 90.6 possessions per game. Another important statistic is that they haven’t been shooting much better than usual these last 5 games (roughly equivalent FG% and lower 3PT%), which actually bodes well for the future since it indicates that they aren’t just on a hot streak. Lastly, the Blazers’ assist, turnover, steal, and block totals are almost exactly on their season average during this streak, nothing that jumps out there.

So what are the Blazers doing? Well, for the season they’re one of the league’s poorer defensive teams, with their defensive rating of 104.4 coming in at 21st in the league. During this 5 game streak against 4 good offensive teams (New Orleans was the worst at 16th in the league offensively), Portland has posted a defensive efficiency of 100.6, an improvement of nearly 4 points per hundred possessions. That’s a huge jump for a team to make. Where did the improvement come from? The biggest factor is the increase in minutes for Joel Przybilla in Aldridge’s absence. Przybilla may be an offensive non-factor, but he’s a terrific defender and rebounder, and Aldridge just isn’t a defensive presence at this point in his career. The other significant factor is that less minutes are going to defensively-challenged Martell Webster, and more are going to solid defenders Travis Outlaw and James Jones.

So, the defense is better, but they’ve had a few offensive problems without Aldridge, right? Not exactly. Even more impressive than their defensive improvement is the Blazers’ offensive execution without Aldridge. Their offensive efficiency for the season is 102.7, but during the streak it has been a blistering 111.5, a point and a half above Dallas’ league-leading season average. They put up a 128 offensive rating AT DENVER (the second best defense in the league)!! What’s going on here? They’re shooting about the same percentage, they’re turning the ball over the same amount, they’re not getting more offensive rebounds. What the heck is making Portland so much better offensively? The answer is that they’re going to the easiest place to get points, namely the free-throw line. the Blazers are playing aggressively, getting to the line nearly 6 more times per game during this stretch, and shooting 3 percentage points higher from the stripe. The two driving forces behind this change are Outlaw and Brandon Roy (who has been spectacular), who are both averaging around 6 FTAs per game in the last 5 games. The lesson? Practice your foul shots kids, they aren’t fancy, but they win games.

While we are at it, I’d like to take a look at those two guys, who really have fueled this streak. The way Outlaw is playing this year, he’d be a front-runner for Sixth Man of the Year if this weren’t The Year of the Reserve (Manu, Terry and Barbosa all playing so well). He’s a terrific athlete and we’ve talked about his potential for years, but this year he has started to put together consistent performances. He’s averaging 17-6 with a block and a steal in 30 minutes a game during December (including five 20-point games). Between he and James Jones (who is playing out of his mind right now) and the occasional strong game from Webster, the Blazers have a very strong SF rotation.

Meanwhile, Roy has been playing out of his mind. It still boggles my mind how this guy slipped as far as he did in the draft (when he was obviously the best player in that draft class). His hesitation move in the lane is as good as anyone in the league. He’ll beat his man and get into the lane, then slow up for half a second to let the big step towards him, then he goes right to the rim, often completely unchallenged because he got the post player so far out of position. It’s really subtle, but between that and his ability to crossover in traffic, he’s one of the league’s best at maneuvering in the paint. His December has been ridiculous as he’s putting up 22-5-7 with under 2 turnovers a game.

Looking forward at the schedule, Portland plays the next 5 games at home, where they’ve been fantastic (10-3), and only 2 of those are difficult opponents (Toronto and Denver). With a little luck, it’s entirely possible that the Blazers could be 18-12 and riding a 13 game winning streak as they start their road trip in Utah at the end of December. This seems like a good time to mention that the odds of a sub-.500 team having a 10-game winning streak are 3%. Now, that’s not to say that the Blazers are world-beaters, but I think we can say with some reasonable certainty that this is a solid team. At worst, they’re an absolute menace at home, and you certainly don’t look at a game against them and say “that one’s a gimme”.

As one final note, I’m feeling renewed confidence in saying that Portland will bring home a championship within the next five years. They have a solid team built of basically all young players this year, and they have even more talent waiting in the wings. Remember, in addition to Oden they own the rights to Rudy Fernandez, Joel Freeland, and Petteri Koponen, who are playing overseas (I’ve read scouts say that all 3 of those guys have lottery-level talent and potential, but they all fell to late-first round because they would have to wait in Europe to develop). This team has more young talent than any two other teams in the league combined. It’s a good time to be a Blazers fan.

He might be a tad plump, but Mario’s latest adventure is one heavenly body.
Score: 5 out of 5

Pros:

Fantastic, gravity-defying gameplay
Quality delivery
Wild level design
Cons:

A bit disjointed
How about some voices?
You have to feel sorry for Princess Peach. Not because she keeps getting kidnapped, but because her boyfriend is a workaholic. When he isn’t playing soccer, baseball or golf, Mario is busy throwing parties, racing karts or impersonating a doctor. Apparently, spending “quality time” with your significant other isn’t a big priority in the Mushroom Kingdom.

But when push comes to shove, Mario knows on which side his bread his buttered. Eschewing those darn mini-games (yay!) in favor of good old-fashioned platforming, the mustachioed mascot returns to his roots in Super Mario Galaxy, squashing Goombas, hurling turtle shells and battling gravity itself in an ingenious, intergalactic quest to once again save his lady love from the clutches of arch-nemesis Bowser. And it’s his best effort in a decade.

It’s also his biggest. Super Mario Galaxy emulates the core gameplay system of the venerable Super Mario 64 by requiring Mario to collect up to 120 power stars, but the manner in which he does so is refreshingly new: he has to explore the entire universe.

Why? Because once again stupid Peach got caught in the middle of one of Bowser’s Machiavellian schemes, this one involving the creation of a new galaxy. The dino-baddie has learned a few new tricks, the coolest of which is how to steal Peach’s entire castle and beam it into the center of the universe with the unlucky royal pain still inside. In the ruckus, Mario passes out, only to awaken on a strange building floating around in space. The home of an enigmatic queen, this cosmic observatory is Mario’s launching pad as he scours galaxies in search of stars, and ostensibly, his missing girl.

But while the story is typical Nintendo storybook hooey, the gameplay is at once sophisticated and accessible. Each of the dozens of galaxies toys with gravity, often letting you step off what would normally be a deadly ledge only to stick to the ground and pop out on the other side, upside-down. You’ll run circles around planetoids, even leaping through space from rock to rock as you move from one gravitational pull to another. The effect is thrilling and pervades every inch of Galaxy. You’ll rarely be certain which way is up.

Somehow, that’s never a problem - credit excellent controls and a fantastic camera for pulling off such a feat. Using both the nunchuk and the remote, you’ll jump, squash and twirl through the game without skipping a beat. The remote also acts as a cursor, allowing you to collect the game’s ubiquitous star bits with a wave of your hand. Where many platformers make item collection a chore, Galaxy makes it as easy as pointing at the television.

And if you’re so inclined, you can let a buddy handle that job for you. Super Mario Galaxy’s co-op mode gives Player 2 a cursor as well, so they can scoop up star bits, freeze enemies or help Mario jump a bit higher while you focus on the task at hand. It’s a far cry from true co-op play (long live original Mario Bros.), but should at least satiate your annoying roommate’s urge to steal the controller.

The celestial backdrop wasn’t lost on the developers, who went above and beyond when it came to level design. Galaxy contains a wealth of mind-bending, brilliant levels spanning just about every type of landscape imaginable. The creativity is off the charts - in addition to classic fire and ice worlds, you’ll explore giant toy boxes, hulking dreadnaughts, underwater caves, haunted houses, space junkyards, desert wastelands and other weird, whimsical planets in all shapes and sizes. And you won’t always be stuck in the red and blue suit. Mario will turn into a bee, morph into a spring, transform into ice and even shape-shift into a Boo along the way.

Such wonderful variety keeps the game engaging, though it also makes it feel a little disjointed from time to time. One minute you’re riding a giant floating flower through an idyllic garden, the next you’re dodging electro-magnetic pulses while infiltrating a space battleship. Hope you’re feeling bipolar.

But unlike manic depression, the game is paced perfectly. Super Mario Galaxy is filled with all kinds of secrets and unlockables, enticing you with the proverbial carrot while doling out a constant stream of encouraging praise. The game’s inherent non-linearity gives the impression that there’s always something out there to do, and truth be told, you don’t have to bolt through each galaxy just to amass enough stars to reach the princess. The gameplay is so enjoyable, you probably won’t want to, anyway.

It’s amazing what Nintendo can get out of their supposedly underpowered console, because Super Mario Galaxy looks and sounds great. Bright, cheery and smooth, the graphics shine where they ought to and upscale well; despite lack of true HD support, you can play this on a fancy set and not feel gypped. The audio is equally charming. Rousing scores join fun, remixed classics, though it’s a little hard to swallow the oddly sporadic voice-acting. Text is fine, but it would be nice to hear Mario say something other than ‘Woo-hoo!’ from time to time.

Ultimately, those are very small potatoes in a very big stew. Super Mario Galaxy is a reminder that games don’t have to be ultra-violent, make clever social statements or ride the marketing machine to succeed. They simply have to be fun, and you’d be hard pressed to find one as genuinely enjoyable as Mario’s latest. If you own a Wii, you should own this, too.
Tags: galaxy, mario, review, super, Super Mario Galaxy Review
0 Comments : 11.13.07

‘07 rankings: Mediocrity lives
After failing to complete a wild comeback against the Chargers Sunday night, the Colts have dropped from the No. 2 spot on one side of the rankings. Indy had been positioned in the second slot in both writers’ rankings behind the Patriots, who are still No. 1, since Week 2.

The weekend of surprising outcomes resulted in several teams taking tremendous leaps and falls this week. Jason Cole moved both the Bucs and Seahawks up five slots into the “Top 12,” while dropping the Ravens 11 spots back after their loss to the Bengals. Charles Robinson’s rankings reflect a lot more consistency with last week’s – the top six teams remain the same –. though the Jaguars and Saints each moved five spots after their surprising results. Perhaps most notable though is that each writer has seven teams with losing records in his “Muddled Middle.”

Here are the complete rankings following Week 10 action.

TOP 12
Cole rankings
1. LW (1) New England Patriots (9-0)
2. LW (3) Dallas Cowboys (8-1)
3. LW (4) Green Bay Packers (8-1)
4. LW (2) Indianapolis Colts (7-2)
5. LW (7) Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2)
6. LW (8) Cleveland Browns (5-4)
7. LW (13) Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3)
8. LW (5) Tennessee Titans (6-3)
9. LW (14) San Diego Chargers (5-4)
10. LW (6) New York Giants (6-3)
11. LW (16) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4)
12. LW (17) Seattle Seahawks (5-4)
 Robinson rankings
1. LW (1) New England Patriots
2. LW (2) Indianapolis Colts
3.  LW (3) Green Bay Packers
4. LW (4) Dallas Cowboys
5. LW (5) Pittsburgh Steelers
6. LW (6) New York Giants
7. LW (12) Jacksonville Jaguars
8. LW (7) Tennessee Titans
9. LW (8) Cleveland Browns
10. LW (13) San Diego Chargers
11. LW (9) Washington Redskins
12. LW (10) Detroit Lions
 
 
Cole: To all the readers who ripped me for having the Ravens in the Top 12 last week despite their embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh, it was a major faux pas – plain and simple. Other than that, I apologize for nothing, not even to you Lions fans who think I’m dissing your squad. To be frank, I like the Lions this season, but I still don’t take them completely seriously. The loss to Arizona was proof of why I don’t quite buy what’s happening yet. … Indianapolis dropped a couple of pegs after the first-ever Adam Vinatieri meltdown. The loss to San Diego isn’t so troubling as the Chargers have always hung tough with the Colts. The problem is the mounting injuries which have left Peyton Manning with a receiving corps little better than what he had his final season at the University of Tennessee. That doesn’t even account for the foot injury to Dwight Freeney, whose loss could be devastating to the defense. Robinson: It’s that kind of year for the Patriots. Sitting on the bye, they watched themselves get a stronger foothold as the Colts’ health issues got worse. For Indianapolis, nothing is more important than the status of Dwight Freeney’s foot. … Packers defensive coordinator Bob Sanders might be one of the most underrated assistant coaches in the NFL. … While Mike McCarthy and Rod Marinelli are getting plenty of love for coach of the year, has anyone handled a volatile player better than Wade Phillips has handled Terrell Owens? … Romeo Crennel’s timeout prior to Cleveland’s fourth-quarter challenge on Sunday might have been the worst in-game coaching maneuver of the season. But with the way the playoff race is shaping up, he might get a chance to redeem himself against the Steelers in the first round of the AFC playoffs. … San Diego’s blitz pressure against Indianapolis looked like a page from last year’s playbook.
MUDDLED MIDDLE
Cole rankings
13. LW (21) Buffalo Bills (5-4)
14. LW (11) Detroit Lions (6-3)
15.  LW (12) Kansas City Chiefs (4-5)
16. LW (15) Washington Redskins (5-4)
17. LW (10) New Orleans Saints (4-5)
18. LW (18) Cincinnati Bengals (3-6)
19. LW (20) Chicago Bears (4-5)
20. LW (9) Baltimore Ravens (4-5)
21. LW (19) Carolina Panthers (4-5)
22. LW (22) Minnesota Vikings (3-6)
 Robinson rankings
13. LW (16) Buffalo Bills
14. LW (17) Seattle Seahawks
15.  LW (15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. LW (11) New Orleans Saints
17. LW (14) Baltimore Ravens
18. LW (19) Denver Broncos
19. LW (21) Arizona Cardinals
20. LW (18) Kansas City Chiefs
21. LW (22) Chicago Bears
22. LW (20) Carolina Panthers
 
 
Cole: Buffalo doesn’t get any style points for the win over Miami, but the Bills get some credit for playing very smart in the second half. In short, they showed that they know how to win in less-than-ideal circumstances. Now, if quarterback J.P. Losman can bottle that knowledge, he might actually keep his job for the long term rather than allowing Trent Edwards to push him aside. Will that happen? Doubtful. Losman is self-destructively arrogant. – New Orleans should be better than it is and Kansas City should be worse. For both teams, the answer is all about mindset and focus. Robinson: The second-longest winning streak in the NFL behind the Patriots? It’s Buffalo’s four straight victories. But this week’s game against New England will tell us whether the Bills are a legit playoff contender, or nothing more than a team that has scrapped out five wins against opponents that have a combined winning percentage of .200. … If fans didn’t understand the balance a healthy Deuce McAllister brought to the New Orleans backfield before, they should understand it now. Reggie Bush is averaging a combined 4.3 yards per touch rushing and receiving. He’s a poor man’s Eric Metcalf. … Steve McNair is a turnover waiting to happen. Kyle Boller may not be a better alternative at this point, but at least he’s something different. … So Rex Grossman led the Bears to a comeback win. Bank on it: He’ll be on the outs again by the first week in December.
BOTTOM OF THE PACK
Cole rankings
23. LW (27) Denver Broncos (4-5)
24. LW (28) Philadelphia Eagles (4-5)
25. LW (29) Arizona Cardinals (4-5)
26. LW (23) Houston Texans (4-5)
27. LW (25) Atlanta Falcons (3-6)
28. LW (26) San Francisco 49ers (2-7)
29. LW (32) St. Louis Rams (1-8)
30. LW (24) Oakland Raiders (2-7)
31. LW (30) New York Jets (1-8)
32. LW (31) Miami Dolphins (0-9)
 Robinson rankings
23. LW (24) Philadelphia Eagles
24. LW (23) Houston Texans
25. LW (27) Cincinnati Bengals
26. LW (26) Atlanta Falcons
27. LW (25) Minnesota Vikings
28. LW (28) San Francisco 49ers
29. LW (29) Oakland Raiders
30. LW (31) St. Louis Rams
31. LW (30) New York Jets
32. LW (32) Miami Dolphins
 
 
Cole: Congrats to good-guy coach Scott Linehan for getting his first win and for getting his offense to play with some consistency. The Rams offensive line is still a mess because of injuries, but if Linehan can hang in there and keep line coach Paul Boudreau, things figure to get better for the rest of the season and the situation could be fixed long term. … Miami takes over the bottom spot from the Rams with another awful loss. Coach Cam Cameron is a nice man, but he’s kind of a knucklehead in the mode of Dave Wannstedt. Here’s a clue: He keeps starting quarterback Cleo Lemon when it’s obvious Lemon is just a guy and the future of the franchise lies in whether rookie John Beck is any good. If not, the Dolphins need to draft another quarterback in the offseason and owner Wayne Huizenga desperately wants to know the answer. Robinson: Andre Johnson’s return is too little too late. With Jacksonville, Tennessee and Cleveland battling for the AFC’s two wild-card spots, the Texans are already playing for 2008. … If you watched Cincinnati topple Baltimore Sunday, you saw why the Bengals have bent over backwards dealing with Chris Henry’s off-field issues. He’s the X-factor that offense has lacked all season. … No matter how badly Brad Childress needs him, Adrian Peterson’s knee injury is going to be handled with an overabundance of caution. Why? Because owner Zygi Wilf wants it that way. … The key to the NFC West? It’s the Rams, who are going to play the spoiler with their healthy skill position players and a coach who is making the closing argument to keep his job.

Where will you be at 3 p.m. today and tomorrow when the Philadelphia Phillies compete in Major League Baseball’s postseason for the first time in 14 years?

For many adults, the answer is on the job, which leaves them and their employers in a bit of a pickle. Will employees try to sneak out to watch the late-afternoon game? Will their bosses turn a blind eye to such disappearances or to the sudden appearances of radios and televisions in the workplace?

It depends on the workplace. However, most employers contacted yesterday appeared to recognize the historic significance of the return by the Phillies to the playoffs.

“We’ll have the radios going,” said Tony Taranto, a teller at Delanco Federal Savings Bank. “They’ll let us listen. I don’t think we’ll have too much business then anyway.”

Gayle Rodriguez, an administrator at Eastampton Auto Center on Woodlane Road, said she didn’t expect any unexplained absences, but conceded that radios will likely be tuned to the game.

“They’ll have the radios on in the back, you can be sure of that,” she said.

Holly Realty in Lumberton was going a step further. Manager Kim Shivers said employees were being invited to participate in a mini office pep rally before the game before taking the rest of the day off.

“We’ll be celebrating. We’re buying a special cake and everyone will be gathering in the office from lunch until 3 p.m.,” Shivers said. “After that, I expect most people will go home to watch the game.”

Cinnaminson schools Superintendent Sal Illuzzi joked that the district was also prepared to grant dispensation to students who want to leave early, but only if their parents can produce tickets to the game.

“This is an unnatural phenomenon that happens once in a lifetime,” Illuzzi said. “If a parent has tickets in hand, I’m willing to give them permission to excuse their child early.”

Other businesses in Burlington County weren’t expected to be so generous.
An unidentified manager at the Smith Barney investments office in Mount Laurel said the Phillies playoff game would not be considered an excused absence.

Burlington County Administrator Gus Mosca said county government doesn’t have a policy regarding the use of radios during the workday. He declined to say yesterday whether employees who have radios in their offices would be permitted to listen to the games.

There are three television sets in the county administration building in Mount Holly, one in the public-information office, one in the pressroom and one in the jury assembly room. Employees there expected all three to be tuned to the game.

No policy governing the use of radios exists for court employees, either, Superior Court Assignment Judge John A. Sweeney said.

Sweeney said county employees will be able to listen to or watch the game when they leave work at 4, 4:30 and 5 p.m.

“We have no written policy, and I have never heard of any verbal policy covering (the use of radios in the workplace) one way or the other,” Sweeney said.

One business where the Phillies game was guaranteed to be on is the Chickie & Pete’s restaurant in Bordentown Township. Bar manager Bill Cooney said all the Phillies games are televised there.

“What a day to be a server or bartender. Not only do you get the financial benefits of the extra tips, but you’re always able to take a peek at the game and celebrate with the rest of the crowd,” he said.

Don’t plan to celebrate at La Belle Cleaners in Willingboro where employee Tyrone Chandler explained he has little interest in the Phillies playoff game.

“We won’t do anything for those bums. I hope they lose,” Chandler said.

Turns out he’s a longtime Mets fan.

Developer(s) Virgin Interactive
Publisher(s) Virgin Interactive
Release date(s) 1994
Genre(s) Platformer
Mode(s)
Rating(s) E by ESRB
Platform(s) Game Boy, Game Gear, NES, Sega Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES
Media Cartridge

Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book is a series of video games based on the 1967 Disney animated film The Jungle Book, primarily released in 1994. Virgin Interactive first released The Jungle Book in 1993 on the Sega Master System. After that, Virgin released the game in 1994 on five different systems simultaneously: Game Boy, NES, Mega Drive/Genesis, the Sega Game Gear, and the Super NES. All six games have the same number of levels. The levels are named the same across all six systems. While the essential game play and mechanics are the same for all six titles, due to the technological differences between the systems the actual level design differs drastically. Essentially the game developers designed a gaming engine flexible enough to be adapted across some very different systems, resulting in six fairly different versions of basically the same game engine. In some cases, the games differ drastically from one another. For NES enthusiasts, this was also one of the last titles released for the then dying system by a third-party developer. Most of the following information is drawn from the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version.

Story Line
The player controls Mowgli, a feral young boy who has been raised by wolves. Mowgli must leave his home in the jungle and go back to the human village, because the tiger Shere Khan is now hunting him. Mowgli must battle jungle wildlife and ultimately Shere Khan himself to make it back to his village. Along the way he meets the charming panther Bagheera, the carefree Baloo (who had Hakuna Matata down long before Timon and Pumbaa even existed), wicked King Louie who wants only to be a man, the hypnotist snake Kaa, and even Shere Khan himself.

Game play
In the game you control a young Mowgli through various side-scrolling levels in a similar mold of Pitfall. It is a vine-climbing, run-and-jump platformer, in which you shoot at or avoid enemies, such as snakes, monkeys, and prickly pear cacti (a North American species which inexplicably seems to reside in this Indian rain forest).

The levels follow this basic formula of collecting gems and then told to find the end character for that particular level. The player scores points by obtaining gems along with having fruits and other items that contribute to the player’s in-game score.

The starting weapon for Mowgli are single banana projectiles. The player can also get several types of weapons, including invincibility masks, coconuts, double banana shots (throws 2 instead of 1), and boomerang bananas.

Level Description
This information is drawn from the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version. While the other two console titles differ in stage layout, they follow the same story arc. Stages are divided into chapters. Each chapter has opening text describing the basic plot of the story, as well as indicating the general nature of the ensuing stage. Some stages have bosses to fight after gaining enough gems. Others have friendly characters you must find after finding the prerequisite number of gems. Each stage has the small elephant waving a flag in different locations. Once the player reaches the elephant, the flag is put down and if the player dies he starts from the flag.

The player has seven minutes to complete each level. Depending on difficulty, the number of gems the player must collect to progress is either eight (easy), ten (medium), or twelve (hard), of a possible fifteen gems spread throughout the level.

Chapter I — Jungle By Day. This opening level introduces the player to the basic game mechanics. This stage is relatively short. The player must collect gems spread throughout the stage by jumping on various platforms. The player can also jump on vines (both swinging and standing still). A player can also catapult oneself to higher platforms with when he jumps on a lever that has a rock at one end. Once enough gems are collected, the player is told to find Bagheera. The rest of the levels follow this basic formula of collecting gems and then told to find the end character, along with having fruits and other items that contribute to the player’s in-game score. Liaison: Bagheera

Chapter II – The Great Tree. Players guide Mowgli through a giant tree while fighting snakes, monkeys, and scorpions. Introduces friendly snakes that when Mowgli jumps on them they send him high into the air. The stage also introduces doors in the tree that send the player either up or down. After collecting enough gems, the player must fight Kaa, the great snake. Kaa attacks by sending swirling circles out of his eyes. Once beaten, he falls from the tree.

Boss: Kaa

Chapter III – The Dawn Patrol. The player has two options. he may either take the high road with vines, or ride on the back of the elephants. However, one will eventually have to climb vines to get enough gems.

Chapter IV: The River. The player guides Mowgli across the river. New items include jumping fish, turtles that once Mowgli jumps on them will move him across sections of the river, and floating rocks that sink as soon as Mowgli lands on them. Anytime Mowgli touchs the water he dies. At the end, he meets Baloo who throws him fruits while Mowgli jumps across two different rocks (these rocks do not sink unlike the others when Mowgli stands on them). The more fruits he misses that Baloo throws him, the more the rocks sink till ultimately he sinks. After this, Mowgli does not die but progresses to the next stage, as this is a bonus round. Liaison: Baloo

Chapter V: Baloo and the River. Mowgli jumps on Baloo’s belly, and Baloo floats down the river. Mowgli can also climb vines, etc, to get the required number of gems.

Liaison: Bagheera

Chapter VI: The Tree Village. This level is much like the Great Tree, with one major exception. This level introduces a new concept in the game. Much like the holes in Level 2, there are now houses dotted that if the player pushes up on the direction pad it takes Mowgli to a different location on the board. At the end of the level, which the player must use the houses to get to the boss, Mowgli must fight the Witch Doctor.

Boss: The Witch Doctor. The Witch Doctor is three monkeys standing on top of each other with a tribal mask that they turn aside to throw bananas at Mowgli. After beating the monkeys the first time, the monkeys break into three portions of mask, one monkey on one high branch on the left side of the screen, a monkey on the ground level in the screen’s middle, and one monkey on a lower branch in the screen’s right side

Chapter VII: The Ruins. Mowgli must now go through several ruins that are falling apart to find the gems. Introduces new monkeys not yet seen in the game.

Liaison: Bagheera

Chapter VIII: Collapsing Ruins. Mowgli must jump on solitary blocks suspended in space, most of which crumble once he lands on them. Some of the blocks that remain solid have spikes that go up on three sides (right top left). Top part of level is a solitary plain.

Boss: King Louie. King Louie has three active attacks. The first attack he bowls balls at Mowgli. Second attack he jumps up and hangs on road and shoots two bananas. The third he shoots three bananas from his hand and two feet.

Chapter IX: Jungle at Night. Essentially the jungle stage at night. Introduces flying squirrels, bats, and owls to the list of enemies. Also includes for the first time a bonus item that appears as Mowgli’s head, but is not an extra man as one may assume.

Liaison: Bagheera

Chapter X: The Wastelands. The final level. Mowgli must contend with monkeys, fire, and lighting along with the normal host of enemies.

Boss: Shere Kahn. The final boss is Shere Khan. He appears at the end of the level. Three columns continually move up and down over a bed of flame, and the player must guide Mowgli over these ever-shifting columns while trying to defeat Khan. If he falls into the flames, Mowgli dies. Shere Khan raises his paw and fire balls come from the flame bed to attack Mowgli. Also, Shere Khan occasionally blows a veritical circle of fire that comes from Khan’s mouth.

In Game Text
Each chapter has opening text describing the basic plot of the story, as well as indicating the general nature of the ensuing stage. All text appears in capital letters.

Game Intro before game begins: Our tale begins when Bagheera first heard a strange sound. The sound came from a man cub washed up inside a little boat. Bagheera knew that the village was too far fro the man cub. He took the man cub to a den of wolves who raised him. Years passed and news came that Shere Khan had returned.

Chapter I: Jungle By Day. Mowgli begins his journey to find the man village.

Chapter II: The Great Tree. Mowgli reaches the great tree where Kaa the Snake awaits.

Chapter III: The Dawn Patrol. The Dawn Patrol help the man cub through the village.

Chapter IV: The River. Mowgli Makes his way down the river where he meets Baloo.

Chapter V: Baloo and the River. Baloo helps the man cub finish his journey along the river.

Chapter VI: The Tree Village. Mowgli gets lost in a tree village as his journey continues.

Chapter VII: The Ruins. The Mischievous Monkeys Kidnap Mowgli and take him to King Louie.

Chapter VIII: Collapsing Ruins. Mowgli must find King Louie at the top of the ruined village.

Chapter IX: Jungle at Night. Night falls as Mowglis [sic] journey nears its end.

Chapter X: The Wastelands. Shere Khan waits at the end of the Wasteland before the Man Village.

Graphics
The colorful Disney characters and lush jungle setting give this platform game its look and feel. The game is similar to Aladdin (video game).

Music
The soundtrack features tunes from the Disney cartoon that it is based on, including the popular “Bare Necessities.”

As smash hit World of Warcraft approaches its third anniversary, we look forward at what may take its place.
By YVG Staff
 
Characterized by vast online worlds, player-driven economies, and life-demolishing addictiveness, the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) went from geeky fringe pursuit to the most popular PC game genre with the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft in 2004. But players of World of Warcraft, who currently number some two million in North America alone, are sure to be looking for their next fix at some point. Find out which upcoming games are vying for a chunk of Warcraft’s action.Gods & Heroes
Thanks to the recent rash of historic movie epics, ancient cultures are big news right now. What better time to release an MMOG focusing on the antics of the Romans? Gods & Heroes combines historically accurate elements of Roman life with classic period mythology. So not only will players have to contend with rampaging Gauls, Visigoths, and Carthaginians, they’ll also have to handle Gorgons, Minotaurs, and Furies — and the ever-changing will of the gods.

Gods & Heroes sports a unique “minion” system, giving players a team of additional characters they can take with them into battle. Minions can perform useful tasks like casting spells, healing, and attacking — and you’ll gather your own army as your character progresses, although you’ll only be able to take four with you at any time. Does that remind anyone else of Nintendo’s smash hit Pokemon series? Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and with around 130 minions to gather, the system should add plenty of variety to Gods & Heroes’ combat.

Slated for release in early 2008, Gods & Heroes has the backing of EverQuest creators Sony Online Entertainment, but it’s actually in development at indie San Fran studio Perpetual Entertainment. With a setting as sexy as this — and plenty of distinctive features to set it apart from the MMOG pack — we’re positively salivating at the thought of taking our place in the mighty Roman Empire.

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Age of Conan
Crush your enemies. Drive them before you. Hear the lamentations of their women. Dust off your best Arnie impressions, because classic ’80s action movie Conan the Barbarian is making its way onto the MMOG scene in March. Well, strictly speaking Age of Conan draws its inspiration more from the pulpy 1930s short stories on which the Arnie movie was based. Still, one look at the graphical style, fast paced combat, and blood-splattering violence should make fans of either source equally at home. In development at Anarchy Online studio Funcom, it’ll feature a combat system that has more in common with console fighting games than the Dungeons & Dragons-esque system on which most other MMOGs rely.

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Pirates of the Burning Sea
Another Sony Online Entertainment release, Pirates of the Burning Sea takes its players to the volatile world of the Caribbean, circa 1720. Pirates takes a reasonably realistic approach to its popular subject matter, including tactical ship-to-ship combat, skill-based mano-a-mano dueling, and a detailed economy that lets players harvest raw materials produce finished goods, and transport and ultimately sell them to other players.

No firm release date for Pirates of the Burning Sea has been announced, but last we heard it was expected sometime this year. It’s currently in closed beta, with a controlled and selected group of players testing the game — but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it slip into 2008.

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Pirates of the Caribbean Online
But if all that sounds a little too serious, Pirates of the Caribbean just might be up your… er… ocean. Bringing all the excitement of your favorite theme park ride turned movie to your PC screen later this year, Pirates promises characters straight out of the films, easy-going nautical action, player-versus-player duels, and (presumably) numerous buckles just waiting for someone to give them a good swashing. Oh, and best of all, it’ll be free.

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Tabula Rasa
In development for some six years, Tabula Rasa is the creation of Richard Garriott, the famed designer of PC classic RPG series Ultima. Perhaps surprisingly, Garriott isn’t following in the footsteps of most MMOGs by taking design inspiration from classic RPGs like his Ultima games. Instead, Tabula Rasa is a futuristic, action-heavy offering that shares more with first-person shooters like Halo than it does with his earlier works. Tabula Rasa also innovates with its character class system. While most MMOGs lock you into the choices you make as your character develops, Tabula Rasa allows you to change your mind. If you’re curious, you’ll be able to get your hands on it very soon indeed.

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Surely pocketing some extra cash and a free video game, Zac Efron was busy last night helping out at a launch party for the much anticipated release of XBox 360’s “Halo 3” video game.

The lucky store to attain the High School Musical hunk’s helping hand was a GameStop in Universal City. And when he wasn’t engaged in a little gameplay himself, Zac kept busy handing out copies of the game to initial buyers and posing with fans