Publisher:

Rent

I’ve played the Cooking Mama games off and on casually since they’ve come out. They’re fun games to play, and I was interested to see what they were going to bring to the table with Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic for the Nintendo 3DS.

Cooking Mama 4 is very much like the previous games in which you are cooking recipes that start off in varying difficulties, from something easy like a grilled cheese to more complex recipies. Some can for sure be tricky and I know I had to repeat a couple just to get the gold rating.

Game mechanic wise, not much has changed. If you’ve played any of the previous games before, you will be able to grasp the controls quite easily. Not to mention since the controls are pretty easy in general, newcomers to the game will be able to get the hang of it after the first few dishes. I also really enjoyed the interface of the game. It felt smoother than from what I remembered, and it flowed quite well.

The other thing that I enjoyed was having the extra mini games. Those were fun diversions from playing the main cooking challenges, and I enjoyed unlocking more things that would update the look of mama and even your kitchen that you cook in! The game itself is extensive for a casual game, and it’s definitely something I’ve enjoyed on my morning commutes to work.

One gripe I do have is that I don’t feel that there’s much need for the 3D aspect of the game. It’s not used when cooking as that requires the use of the touch screen, and for what is used for, it’s nothing that you really need to have on in order to fully appreciate the game. In the end this is good as playing with the 3D on for too long does give me a headache, but it also makes me wish that I could play it on my DSi XL (because grandma over here likes her big screens).

All in all while I did have fun, I wasn’t blown away by the game. Now, to be fair I haven’t been able to play the multiplayer where you can have a cook off with your friends. But I don’t think that feature really would necessairly have added much to the general feel of the game. The game is fun, it’s great for casual gamers, and it’s not a bad addition to the 3DS library. I think that this game is definitely something that would be good for a younger generation than it is for someone like myself.

This is exciting for WoW fans, as well as a promise fulfillment from Blizzard that they were going to work on improving the timing of the release of furute WoW content. With Wrath of the Lich King there was definitely a stale period where the endgame content did become routine and not fun for the players who were hardcore raiders. Even for a non-raider for me I slowly started getting bored near the end.

I’ll be interested to see what comes out of this press tour and what other details we may get regarding the expansion.

You can read about my thoughts on what I got to play of the expansion at Blizzcon last year here.

Today Blizzard announced that they plan to hold a new major eSports event: the 2012 Battle.net World Championship Event. It is slated to take place in late 2012 in Asia and will feature some of the top pro-gamers in the world. eSport enthusiasts and players plus Blizzard gamers will be invited to attend this event and watch some of the top players compete for prizes and glory.

“We’re excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We’re also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.”

Yep you read correctly, the next Blizzcon will not be held this year but will instead happen in 2013. I do think that a major eSports event run by Blizzard is a great step in advancing eSports more. But I do know that there will definitely be some fans who will be sad Blizzcon isn’t happening this year.

More news regarding details for the Battle.net World Championship as well as Blizzcon 2013 is said to be coming in the months ahead!

Rating:

BUY

I will first admit that I have not played the previous Saints Row games. I’ve heard good things, but they just never appealed to me. That is until I saw promos for Saints Row The Third. The game itself just looked so over the top and fun because it wasn’t taking itself seriously. Plus their promo stunt at E3 with the carwash was pretty funny. So not long after it was released my boyfriend and I picked up the game and I’ve been having a blast!

To start, character creation is over the top. It was honestly hard to decide if I wanted to first play through as a guy or a girl. I did wind up choosing to play as a girl, and decided to re-create Christina Hendricks to the best of my ability. I do however plan to go back and make some over the top juice head muscle man for fun for another play through. And also to the devs: Nice job adding in some signature moves done by WWE wrestlers!

The game itself can be seen very easily as another GTA, and I know it’s been compared as such many times in the past. I must say though that with all of the similarities, unlike a GTA game, I’ve been playing through all story missions, most side missions, and I’ve been doing random mayhem for kicks. With a GTA game I’ll do the first mission or so, not bother with side missions, and go straight to the mayhem. Then I’d give up on the game and move on to the next. I honestly can’t fully pinpoint what exactly makes Saints Row The Third catch and hold me more, but it does. And it’s going to make me go and play through the previous games at some point.

I thoroughly enjoyed the world that was created for the game. It seems huge, and there are several city sections that you can explore. I think one of my favorite zones though is when you are sent into cyberspace and everything turns Tron-like. It’s pretty creative and was seriously unexpected. But on top of that you have to play through some old school like games in order to break through a firewall. I’m talking things like old school text adventures. But cyberspace aside the city is well done and everything in it looks fantastic!

Story wise it stays engaging. You start off playing as Johnny Gat and leading a bank heist. Now unfortunately this bank is behind another rival gang ring who does not appreciate the Saints. Needless to say this heist doesn’t go over that well, Johnny doesn’t like the tone of the ringleader of the rival gang, and due to this a giant plane winds up crashing. This is where your character comes in. You play as the leader of the Saints and you have to work to rebuild the Saints from the ground up (considering the other gang took all of your assets).

Most of the missions deal with you working to get more income, members and to rid the streets of Steelport of the other gangs who are after you. The side missions can be fun little jaunts to help other members of the Saints, or to earn money by Insurance Fraud, blowing things up with a tank, or escorting hookers to safety from bad pimps. Oh and escort Escorts and their clients around town. And then there’s some of the over the top weapons, like the massive dildo bat. Yes this is one of my more favorite melee weapons just because of how ridiculous it is. Plus it’s quite fun to run around beating down citizens of Steelport with it.

However sometimes the missions can be a bit frustrating. There were some where I had to keep repeating parts just due to some glitches, for example my partner not wanting to get into the getaway car and drive me to the next part of the mission. But in the end I guess you can say that it makes it a bit more rewarding once you complete it, though honestly it got a little too frustrating at times.

But one thing that I absolutely loved about the game was the phone interface that you used to do missions, get upgrades, call for backup and set your GPS. It was very nicely done and easy to use. The map that you could reach from there was also fantastic and seemed easier to navigate and read from the last time I played a GTA game (Liberty City to be exact).

Overall, Saints Row The Third is amazing and engaging. I’ve been playing it for hours, and I’ve watched the boyfriend play (and beat) the game. I’ve enjoyed it both ways, plus I like that with certain decisions I’ll be playing a different game than he did. If you haven’t picked up the game yet, I highly recommend snagging it during potential after Christmas game sales, or even used from Amazon or GameStop. The best part is you really don’t have to play the previous games in order to play this one, but like me you may want to just play them after playing this third installment. Also? The Professor Genki DLC was totally worth it.

Nintendo has usually had a relatively fun list of games coming out around the holidays and the Gaming Angels are here to help recommend some games to you for that Nintendo fan in your life.

Kirby’s Return to Dreamland (E 10+) At a recent event, I was able to play Kirby’s Return to Dreamland. First of all who doesn’t love Kirby? Second, this platformer was created for families to play together. Players can easily join in or leave a game without interrupting play. Best part is no fighting over one player grabbing all the items because the team has one set score for all the items. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland encourages team work. ~ Trina

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword E10+) Five years ago, gamers were given The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just in time for the Holidays. Nintendo has finally given us the next installment in their iconic series, and it’s far more than just a GameCube port as well. Most of us have many a fond memory of playing Zelda games we were gifted for the Holidays ranging back to our childhoods, and this game will certainly be another gem to add to our collections. ~ Vanessa

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (E for Everyone) By now, the ‘Legend of Zelda’ formula is familiar. Heck, this game itself is probably familiar, given that this is a rerelease of a Nintendo 64 title (remember those days?). This game alone sold me on the 3DS’ 3D capabilities. It looks beautiful, and it’s great to have such an adventure available right in my pocket. ~ Tiffany

Professor Layton and the Last Specter (E for Everyone) Who knew that a game based on solving puzzles and riddles could not only be so much fun, but also revolve around an incredibly intricate story? That’s exactly what the Professor Layton franchise has done for the last three installments, and fans should be just as eager to get their hands on the most recent game. Even if you’ve never played a Professor Layton game before, all you need is a lukewarm affinity toward solving puzzles and a pension for mysteries to get wrapped up in the Professor’s latest adventure. ~ Keri

Wappy (E10+) The Wappy is just about the cutest thing ever. This virtual puppy comes to life in a robot form that interacts with you. Think Tamagotchi on a whole different level. This provides everyone with the fun of owning a puppy without the cleanup. ~ Trina

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D (E for Everyone) I’ve been missing a good rhythm game in my DS since Elite Beat Agents’ release what feels like forever ago. Gabrielle’s a great follow-up with the perfect “girly” touch. Look, I like dressing up my game characters, what else can I say? ~ Tiffany

You can watch the trailer below!

You start off in the starting zone and move through quests that follow a very martial arts feel to them. You have to fight training dummies, apprentices, and then a master before being sent to help protect a village and save supplies. The world itself is absolutely stunning in appearance and the new mobs look fantastic. You can tell that they’ve put a lot of work into this just for Blizzcon, so I can only see good things for when they have more time and can really sit and focus on expanding the art style and improving the look and feel of the game.

Now as for the new race themselves, that has been getting the most mixed reviews. Some players don’t like it since it seems too cutsey while others are actually pretty happy that they can get to play pandas. Not surprisingly only the male pandaren were available to play and had concept art shown. We were even told that this is not the final model for male pandaren and that it will see several tweaks done to it up until the release of the game. With all of the time they took to make over, for example, the Worgen before Cataclysm and the design changels that happened with the models shows that they will work up until close to launch to make sure that the models look good and will make the majority of the community happy.

As for how the Monk plays, the biggest thing for me was not being used to seeing an auto attack. Other than that the resource bar and management was actually pretty well done and pretty easy to pick up on. Once I got the hang of how to use the attacks, it’s actually a pretty fluid class to play in the beginning stages. It made me interested to see how the class would play once you get past level 10 and begin to focus on your talents and what spec you will go into. Based on what was talked about during the WoW Q&A, I’m super interested to check out how healing on a Monk since they will apparently be more mobile and have some interesting abilities, like setting down statues that will help to heal party members that they’re near as the Monk DPSes.

All in all I don’t mind how the male pandaren look right now. I wouldn’t mind if they could turn out more rugged as I think it would be more ideal, but for a start it’s not that bad. I also don’t mind that things are brighter and not as dark as they have been the past couple of expansions. I think this change along with the fact that we’re going back to Alliance and Horde fighting against each other will make for a good next expansion. I look forward to all of the updates that are going to eventually come out regarding MoP, and of course the eventual beta invite that I know I will get with my WoW Annual Pass!

Now this was definitely some information overload, but thanks to our partners over at GKick, they put together a detailed list with screencaps of each of the new trees. You can read up in detail over here on Gkick.net!

Gkick.net is part of the Gaming Angels network and have been helping with our coverage of Blizzcon 2011.