Thursday 26th November 2009

Console Games for Christmas

We are taking a quick look at three very different console games that are very likely to be the top sellers this Christmas, from GameStop stores.

It's old style fun with the "New Super Mario Bros" for the Nintendo Wii

Gritty first person shooter "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" on the Xbox 360, as well as other platforms...

And I've been trying to replay the World Cup play-offs on "FIFA 10" on the Playstation 3

New Super Mario Bros first - this is a character who just won't die - Mario the plumber first appeared in 1981 in the arcade classic "Donkey Kong", and went on through the 1980's to become a game in his own right, on hand held game units to the bigger TV consoles, over the past 28 years!

This incarnation is a near perfect fit on the Nintendo Wii console.

It has a retro feel to it as it has reverted from a 3D game to a 2D game, and previously the character has done everything from fighting to racing carts to solving puzzles.

The Princess has been kidnapped by Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, and it is up to Mario and friends to get her back.

And to do that you jump, run and fly your way through the various levels in the various different world, through the desert, cities, in caves, on ice and under water.

You use the Wii-mote controller to run across the screen, and you can burst bubbles by shaking the wii-mote and pressing a button at the same time. It's fairly easy to get to grips with.

It's looks somewhat similarly to Mario 3, and also plays a little like Super Mario World, but that shouldn't put you off and make you think you're getting something old-hat that will bore the kids over Christmas.

You can play the story mode alone, but it's much better fun in multiplayer mode - it gets almost frantic if you have the grown-ups who mean well, but mess things up and the kids are getting exasperated with them for not collecting enough stars or power-ups or getting the Propeller Hat!

The story mode won't be beaten really easily so it should last a while, and there are various mini games within it as well, so it should last well past St Stephen's Day, and will sustain many goes.

Price of Super Mario Bros - €40

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" is a very different animal and is a direct follow up from the very successful Modern Warfare 1 - the whole Call of Duty series has been very popular, initially set in World War II for several games, and for the last two games set in contemporary times.

It's what's called a "first person shooter", so you are the soldier or special forces op engaged in a mission, and you have the head on view of the world.

It was one of the most eagerly awaited games of the year, and has made an amazing $550 million so far in sales. It sold around 1.2 million copies in the UK in its first day, and they expect 13 million copies will be sold by the end of 2009.

Hardcore gamers queued up over night here to get them first.

Part of the hype was connected to a controversial scene in it, where in part of the story mode, you play a CIA undercover agent who is tracking a rogue Russian villain, who kills innocent civilians at an airport. You are undercover pretending to be part of their gang, and you have the option to shoot them too.

The game publisher said that "Players have the option of skipping over the scene. At the beginning of the game, there are two 'checkpoints' where the player is advised that some people may find a forthcoming segment disturbing. These checkpoints can't be disabled."

There are also Family Settings on it, that can block under 18s from playing the game, if you want to set that up.

But let's face it, the controversy adds to the publicity surrounding the game, and that has helped it sell truck loads.

It has an 18's certificate from PEGI, the Pan-European Game Information rating system, and that, and the general shooting mayhem, is the reason.

The story mode features fantastic graphics showing a shootout in a Rio suburb, freeing hostages from an enemy infested oil rig, and a huge, frenetic battle in the centre of a Washington DC.

The game can look like something from a TV news report - in one level, you man the turret of a Humvee patrolling the narrow streets of an unspecified Middle Eastern city.

The downside of the story mode is that it is shorter that it's predecessor - hardcore gamers will finish it in a day or two - maybe 7 hours game play time.

But after that, the multi-player, and co-operative missions are very good.

You can either have a whole gang of friends playing on line on xBox Live - which is always popular - and they probably could be a popular as the online Death-matches from Gears of War, and Halo, or some of the Tom Clancy Las Vegas title, which would be a pretty good result.

So besides from the short story mode, and the controversial and muddled story line, the game play has been very well received, and CoDMW2 will be under many a Christmas Tree in 4 weeks time.

Price of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" - in GameStop - €55

Finally, we get to take on the French again, and this time we beat them and make it to the World Cup, in FIFA 10 on the Playstation 3.

Broadly speaking there are two huge football games - Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) and the FIFA franchise - both have been going for years now.

You are either one or the other and Santa will know which you prefer, or if you are getting your brother or sister a football sim, you should know which one they prefer too!

Every season the game makers update the latest new players, strips, grounds etc and release the games around November in time for the Christmas market, but they also try to improve the already very impressive graphics.

Now you can control your player from directly behind his head with a dizzying 360 degree camera angle, personally I don't want to see the back of Wayne Rooney's head that much.

There's a bit of an expanded Manager Mode where you can trade players, manage budgets, as well as sorting tactics and substitutions etc. in the game itself.

Getting stuck in and just playing the game is great fun - and there are leagues from all over the world. I had a great time playing as Shamrock Rovers (with 3 different shirt options), and current players such as Gary Twigg.

There's also an option to load real life data into you game every week, so if you team suffers a lot of injuries, so will you - if you play as Liverpool, unfortunately you'll be having a bit of trouble right now.

That will add transfers and suspensions as well - now you have to purchase that mode - Live Season 2.0 separately online, so there is an added price there.

There's Gameface mode - which is a fairly familiar concept by now - you take a photo of yourself, upload it and it will be stuck on to the face of a pro football player.

You can also play on line using the Playstation Network, and play head to head with someone in a remote location, or have a team game with a bunch of your friends all playing on the same team, although the Playstation Network has just not been as successful as the xBox Live, and I always feel it's much more craic when you are playing the game with friends or family in the room with you.

The game play itself can get very advanced and if you're good enough you can do all kind of skilful moves such as Body Feints, Reverse Step Overs, and Rainbow Flicks.

Overall, the improvements that game designers can make on footie sims, do seem to be getting smaller, but nonetheless it is a very enjoyable game that many people will be looking for this Christmas.

Price of FIFA 10 on PS3 - €50

Price of Super Mario Bros on Wii - €40

Price of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" - €55

All prices from http GameStop - www.gamestop.ie/

Plus you can get discounts if you trade in older games against the new titles at GameStop.