Review: Final Fantasy IV - GBA

Title: Final Fantasy IV
Platform: GBA
Author: Lunatic Clam

The proper name for this ‘remake’ should be ‘Final Fantasy IV Enhanced’ because this is a remake that does so much justice to the original and takes it to an even grander scale than originally intended.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r253.html

Reviews Online

Since the merger we have a whole lot of reviews online this month:

• RedOctane Ignition 3.0 Dancepad


• Nintendogs - DS


• Karaoke Revolution Party - Xbox


• Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube


• Quake 4 - Xbox 360


• Haunting Ground - Playstation 2


• Xbox 360


• Mario Kart DS - DS


• Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - Gameboy Advance


• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat - Xbox


• Daigasso! Band Brothers (Import) - DS


• Animal Crossing: Wild World - DS


• Metroid Prime Pinball - DS


• Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix - Gamecube


• Call of Duty 2 - Xbox 360


• We Love Katamari - Playstation 2


• Dynasty Warriors Advance - Gameboy Advance

Review: Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy - Xbox

Title: Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Platform: Xbox
Author: Wayne

This title truly is the king of mediocrity. It's really not a bad game, but it's not great either.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r252.html

Review: Sonic Gems Collection - Gamecube

Title: Sonic Gems Collection
Platform: Gamecube
Author: Dark Raven X

Unless you're out to play Sonic CD or Fighters, steer clear of this one.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r251.html

Review: Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects - PS2

Title: Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Platform: PS2
Author: Piniata

EA messed up another potentially good game and made it worse than many of the crappy games this year.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r250.html

Review: RedOctane Ignition 3.0 Dancepad - Xbox

Title: RedOctane Ignition 3.0 Dancepad
Platform: Xbox
Author: Wayne

If you're thinking about getting into DDR, whether it be for fun or for exercise, this is a good dancepad to start with.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r249.html

Review: Nintendogs - DS

Title: Nintendogs
Platform: DS
Author: Snackbar Crew

If you have not played Nintendogs yet, you should at least give it a shot. Perhaps borrow it from a friend or something.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r248.html

Review: Karaoke Revolution Party - Xbox

Title: Karaoke Revolution Party
Platform: Xbox
Author: KindDragon

Overall, this game is fun. No storyline, no career mode, just singing with your buds or perhaps just practicing your love song for a person you like.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r247.html

Review: Shadow The Hedgehog - Gamecube

Title: Shadow The Hedgehog
Platform: Gamecube
Author: Dark Raven X

A vast improvement over previous Sonic games, and starring a much more interesting lead character.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r246.html

Review: Quake 4 - Xbox360

Title: Quake 4
Platform: Xbox360
Author: Wampa

It is the perfect launch title. It mixes great gameplay with unmatched console graphics and a good storyline.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r245.html

A merger of sorts

There has been something major in the works here at Snackbar Games this week and it is only fitting that I give you a little heads up about it. I have been a long time friend of Mr. Wayne Phinney over at DRE. I have been helping Wayne out with DRE for several years now. This week we came to an agreement by where we are going to merge the 2 communities. Being the larger site we will be bringing over their staff and content. This is a huge event for both of us as we should be in a much better position to continue to grow in 2006.

As such, you are going to see a lot of new and very active people in the forums. You will also see a lot of new writers on the site. We just want to welcome them aboard.

The transition will probably take a few weeks so expect some changes here and there.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/n1497.html

Review: Haunting Ground - PS2

Title: Haunting Ground
Platform: PS2
Author: Hybridial

This game is my favourite horror game. It's scarier, is more interesting, is better looking, and quite simply is more fun than almost all its forebears.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r244.html

Review: Xbox 360 - Xbox360

Title: Xbox 360
Platform: Xbox360
Author: Pretzel

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r243.html

Review: Mario Kart DS - DS

Title: Mario Kart DS
Platform: DS
Author: Wayne

The offline content is as solid as ever and worth the purchase price alone. When the Wi-Fi works (and works well), it's just hot sauce on an already delicious sundae of fun.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r242.html

Review: Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - GBA

Title: Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Platform: GBA
Author: Wayne

If you have liked Harvest Moon games in the past or you like having a free-roam type of experience in your games, then Harvest Moon will likely suit you.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r241.html

Review: Battlefield 2: Modern Combat - Xbox

Title: Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Platform: Xbox
Author: Mythological

While the single player alone isn't worthy of your fifty bucks, we all know that isn't why you are thinking of getting this game anyways. One of the best online console experiences to date makes this more than worthy of your hard earned cash.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r240.html

Review: Daigasso! Band Brothers (Import) - DS

Title: Daigasso! Band Brothers (Import)
Platform: DS
Author: InfectedZero

For the $50 I paid to import it via www.lik-sang.com, it's well worth it even if they are releasing it this summer.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r239.html

Review: Animal Crossing: Wild World - DS

Title: Animal Crossing: Wild World
Platform: DS
Author: Vyolynce

What matters is that the child-like sense of exploration, discovery, wonder, and fun is the same as well, and now it's easier than ever to share it with others who feel the same way.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/r238.html

Halo 3 on the horizon?

Gamespot is carrying a story that Bungie's current project, which everyone expects to be Halo 3, is highly polished and playable in it's current state.

Microsoft was quick to mention that Halo 3 would be ready to steal the wind out of Sony's PS3 launch sometime next year, but when that ends up being is anybody's guess.

Logical thinking tells us that it has to be Halo 3, but will Microsoft sit on that game upon completion and lay in wait for the PS3 launch? My guess is that they will if they are smart. The Halo franchise is like a golden egg. It keeps getting better and MS knows that. If anything can keep the PS3 launch from being on all the headlines then Halo 3 is it.

NES Cabinet

Someone sent me a link to this yesterday. It is a full blown arcade cabinet built around an NES. It was built WAY back in the day, but it is still pretty slick.

Scratched 360 Games?

I had not heard of this being an issue until I saw a "fix" for it this morning. Apparently a small group of people have decided to moving a console from horizontal to vertical while playing a disc was a good idea. As you might imagine, they ended up with scratched discs. Team Xbox is running an article that outlines a fix, but in doing so voids your warranty. My advice? Don't move your console while it is on and you won't scratch your games.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/n1494.html

Xbox 360: The Japanese Launch

The Japanese launch of the Xbox 360 took place this week and the funny thing is that nobody seems to really know how well it went. Kotaku got 2 differing reports from Bloomberg and Media Create. They cited 39% and 28% respectively as the percent of available stock that was sold in the land of the Rising Sun. So which is it?

Gamespot followed up with a story that outlines a sellout at the launch party and then says that the launch was off to a slow start.

One thing is for sure, Microsoft needs to move those consoles. Japan is a virtually untouched market for the computer giant and they have had a very tough time getting a foothold there. With DOA4 on the horizon maybe those 360s will disappear in the next few weeks, but there are a ton of US gamers wondering why those currently unclaimed consoles didn't get shipped over here to help relieve some of the pandemonium regarding stock issues for the Christmas shopping season.

The other interesting thing is that nobody has commented on sales figures for the US other than they sold "all of them".

The answer is Yes

The question is "Do your Xbox games look better on the 360?" For a side by side comparison of Xbox games on the Xbox and the 360, check out this article on Gamespot.

Xbox 360 Backwards Compatability List

I know a ton of people are curious what Xbox games will play on their 360. You can keep your eyes on this page for an updated list.

The Truth about Nintendo?

There is an interesting piece online about console sales and Nintendo. I hesitate to take the authors word on a lot of the figures, but it does paint a pretty interesting picture about the current state of our industry.

Llamma Edition Xbox on eBay

That tricked out Xbox 360 I posted about the other day is currently up to $7,800 on eBay. The auction still has 4 days left on it.

Xbox 360 Class Action Suit?

Let me be clear in saying that I am all for the protection of the consumers, but this is just retarded. Filing a class action lawsuit because your $400 consumer electronic device doesn't work is complete crap. Microsoft has identified a few isolated problems with the devices and is offering to pay to have the device replaced or repaired. They even offered to overnight the defective machine back to the consumer at no cost. I could understand if Microsoft had denied a problem and not done anything to fix the device, but the fact is that they are bending over backwards to ensure consumers have working devices.

The Chicago man filing the suit is calling for a recall of all Xbox 360s. It seems like someone saw an opportunity to make some money. I hope the courts don't even bother hearing this potential case. A recall would piss off 100% of the consumers instead of the incredibly finite subset experiencing problems.

I didn't realize that launching a consumer device was going to result in no defective units. Maybe this guy is an expert in the field and could make a better console, but I doubt it.

http://www.snackbar-games.com/n1488.html

My thoughts on the 360

This past Friday I had a chance to finally get some time on a 360. I went over to Wampa's apartment and we played some CoD2 and Quake 4. Q4 was a little slow and didn't really capture my attention. Call of Duty 2 on the other hand was intense. The action was great and the graphics were stellar.

The 360 is one sexy little machine and it has probably the best controller design that I have ever held. The new dashboard is a piece of work that has to be used to be appreciated. All in all, I now feel the need to posses one of these.