What a busy week. I've been really busy lately with all of the releases that have happened lately, which has continued with four reviews in the past week or so.

NBA 10: The Inside is the new Sony basketball game that is now a PSP exclusive, which isn't a good sign for a series that was on PS3, PS2, and PSP in the past few years. Gran Turismo is the new PSP iteration of the series that everyone's been waiting about five years for it to be released now. Ion Assault is an interesting shooter that can be best described as a spin-off of Asteroids' basic concept. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the highly-anticipated return of Nathan Drake on his latest adventure while investigating one part of Marco Polo's story.




"When all is said and done, Naughty Dog has done an amazing job of fixing any issues that the original game had for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves while adding more to make this a package that anybody with an ounce of interest should not miss. The single-player is easily one of the best of this generation with a mish-mash of ideas that becomes unique to this game with the great execution of every part of the gameplay, which should be the first thing you do when you get your copy. For their first real attempt at multiplayer, Naughty Dog’s done a good job of utilizing a lot of solid features, a good selection of modes and maps, and letting players use all of the abilities they have to their limits against each other."

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for the PS3 received a Buy It recommendation. You can read the full review over at SmashPad.




"Gran Turismo’s feature set doesn’t really seem to be worth the $40 that Sony’s asking for the game, so the premium price means this game is just for those with a hankering for a GT game that need something to do until you’re able to transfer the cars you collect into Gran Turismo 5 next year. Everyone else can probably make use of a rental or wait for a sale or price drop before picking it up, if you’re not limited by a recent purchase of a PSP Go."

Gran Turismo for the PSP received a Rent It (or Wait For A Price Drop) recommendation. You can read the full review over at SmashPad.




"While Ion Assault’s gameplay is interesting and fairly unique with some depth to how you can approach each level, but it’s the overall lack of modes or features that could make this worth its 800 point price ($10 in US dollars). There’s no replay value once you’ve beaten the 24 single-player levels by yourself or with a friend, which can be completed in a few hours if you’re persistent. If this were a 400 point title, this could have been a more attractive option, but for what is offered, you should look elsewhere for your shooter action on Xbox Live Arcade."

Ion Assault for XBLA received a Skip It recommendation. You can read the full review over at SmashPad.




"NBA 10: The Inside isn’t going to blow you away in any aspect of the game since it just offers a decent game of portable basketball that will be enjoyable by those that can accept its flaws. Just looking at what NBA 09 offered last year, you might as well use the $29.99 that you’d pay for this year’s game and get what is essentially the same game without the added fluff for a cheaper price."

NBA 10: The Inside received a Skip It recommendation. You can read the full review over at SmashPad.

Coming Up

At the moment, I'm working on a few XBLA and PSN games, Critter Crunch, Digger HD, and South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play to be exact. I should be getting a copy of Half-Minute Hero this week and that's about it for what I'm expecting. I may be getting a code for the second season of Sam & Max on XBLA, which will be out tomorrow, along with a code for Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble, so my PSP will be getting some more love soon enough.