CAG Foreplay #15: The Mice is Right (9/5/07)

shipwreck

shipwreck

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CAG's shipwreck & mrs. shipwreck preview the new releases for the week of September 4th, 2007. This week we slow-motion slide our way across every surface in our apartment as we stylistically cover the handful of games that were lovingly released like a flock of doves. Yep, just like we always do.

You can now subscribe to Foreplay on iTunes by clicking this link: CAG Foreplay on iTunes

You can also contact us with any questions or comments at [email protected] or [email protected].

CAG Foreplay Podcast show notes will be up later today.

[media]http://media.libsyn.com/media/foreplay/cagforeplay15.mp3[/media] [digg]http://digg.com/podcasts/CAG_Foreplay[/digg]



Garfield's Nightmare Dev. Shin'en Pub. Game Factory Systems: DS MSRP: $19.99
(Deja Preview)Too much lasagna prior to bedtime leads Garfield into a deep sleep. In order to awake him, you must lead him through this decent 2D platform title. For $20, it looks surprisingly entertaining and the graphics are good, but is this the game you're going to spend your money on this week? I doubt it. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Garfield's Nightmare.

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $19.99 (Free shipping on orders over $25)
:ds: Purchase At Family Video $19.99 (99 cent shipping)


Medal of Honor: Airborne Dev. EA Los Angeles Pub. Electronic Arts Systems: PC, 360 MSRP: $49.99, $59.99
While other series have moved away from World War II, Medal of Honor still believes there's plenty of life left in the Nazi killing industry. The one element of this game that sets it apart from the rest is that you start each level by air-dropping into battle. This allows you to control your parachute and where you land significantly impacts the way that you will play the level. It certainly goes a long way in trying to get around the point-to-point style that has made the majority of WWII games stale, as you can play each area with many different strategies. In the end though, it pretty much just comes down to mowing through the Axis in very familiar scenarios. - ship

Best Deal:
Family Video is offering the Xbox 360 version of Medal of Honor: Airborne for $56 shipped. Circuit City is selling the PC version for $40.

:360: Purchase At Amazon $59.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Family Video $54.98 (99 cent shipping)
:360: Purchase At Deep Discount $57.99 (Free shipping)
:pc: Purchase At Amazon $47.99 (Free shipping)
:pc: Purchase At Family Video $44.99 (99 cent shipping)
:pc: Purchase At Circuit City $39.99


Naruto Uzamaki Chronicles 2 Dev. Namco Bandai Pub. Namco Bandai Systems: PS2 MSRP: $39.99
There's a large fanbase out there for the Naruto titles, and those gamers will be glad to know that the screen shots of this title look good. Plus, there's a head-to-head mode, traditional action mode, survival mode, and a mission mode. You can take your pick of ninjas, weapons, and magic-type moves. However, PSM magazine gave the game a 6/10 and didn't have very nice things to say about the title, so I suggest that unless you're a hard-core fan who's going to buy the game regardless, you hold onto your $40 until the final verdict is in. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
Best Buy is offering a free $10 gift card when you also purchase Naruto: The Movie on DVD. EB Games is offering a free Naruto neck strap.

:ps2: Purchase At Amazon $39.99 (Free shipping)
:ps2: Purchase At Family Video $38.46 (99 cent shipping)
:ps2: Purchase At Best Buy $39.99 (Free $10 gift card when you also purchase Naruto: The Movie DVD)
;ps2: Purchase At EB Games $39.99 (Free Naruto neck strap)


Pool Party Dev. SouthPeak Interactive Pub. SouthPeak Interactive Systems: Wii MSRP: $29.99
Pool Party (Wii)
Thinking of a mini-game compilation involving Marco Polo and cannon balls? Sorry guys, this game is strictly billiards. Invite your friends over to play one of over 13 types of pool (did you even know there were that many?!?) with real-world physics. Based on the cover art, it looks like a budget title. But, not wanting to judge a book by it's cover, I checked out the screen shots too. Nope, definitely a budget title. Seriously, since so much of this game's playability depends on how well the wii-mote works, you'd better read a few reviews before you rush out and buy it. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Pool Party.

:wii: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Family Video $28.24 (99 cent shipping)
:wii: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)


Stranglehold Dev. Midway Chicago Pub. Midway Systems: PC, 360 MSRP: $49.99, $59.99
Max Payne meets a Crisco covered world in this follow-up to John Woo's "Hard Boiled". Slip-slide your way gracefully across countertops, bannister railings, and pretty much anything else that will make shooting someone in the jugular a slow-motion thing of beauty. Chock full of action and... uhm... more action, Stranglehold looks to have plenty of fodder to keep you entertained when you need to take a break from all that classic 16th century British literature you've been catching up on. - ship

Best Deal:
Circuit City is offering the Xbox 360 version of Stranglehold for $48 and there is a YMMV coupon out there for another $10 as well. Family Video is offering the Collector's Edition for $61 shipped and they are also offering the PC version for $46 shipped.

:360: Purchase At Amazon $56.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Family Video $52.99 (99 cent shipping)
:360: Purchase At Circuit City $47.99
:pc: Purchase At Amazon $46.99 (Free shipping)
:pc: Purchase At Family Video $44.99 (99 cent shipping)
:360: Purchase At Amazon $69.99 (Free shipping)
:360: Purchase At Family Video $59.99 (99 cent shipping)


Worms: Open Warfare 2 Dev. Team17 Software Pub. THQ Systems: DS, PSP MSRP: $29.99
Worms: Open Warfare 2 (PSP, DS)
If you're a fan of this franchise but are still reeling from the mediocrity of Worms: Open Warfare, you're day of reckoning has come. It goes along with the old adage: if you don't succeed, try, try again. This title is good, with the same action-strategy components we've come to love. The goal: blow up you opponent's worms. How? Well, take your pick from Uzi's, missiles, bombs, and exploding sheep. Who doesn't love a good exploding sheep? The multiplayer modes are awesome, and there isn't much about the game to find fault with. So, stop reading and go buy this great title for $30. - mrs. ship

Best Deal:
There don't seem to be any specific deals for Worms Open Warfare 2.

:ds: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:ds: Purchase At Family Video $27.94 (99 cent shipping)
:ds: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Amazon $29.99 (Free shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Family Video $27.94 (99 cent shipping)
:psp: Purchase At Deep Discount $28.99 (Free shipping)


On The DL with the Shipwrecks

Adventure Island Systems: Wii MSRP: $5
This NES title involves two main game play elements: avoiding enemies and grabbing fruit. Various weapons are available to help you achieve goal #1, including hammers and a skate board. It's one of those titles in which you run through the level and try hard not to die. I wasn't so good at it, and I much prefer Super Adventure Island, but this title might bring back some happy memories and be well worth the $5.

Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure Systems: Wii MSRP: $6
Bonk travels across the country to search for his stolen bike and finds out that the Alamo has no basement. Oh wait, no, it's Bonk. He's back to bonk some more stuff and eat lots of body altering meat. - ship

Cyberball 2072 Systems: 360 MSRP: $5
Robots playing football. Robots playing football. Robots playing football!! -ship

Donkey Kong Jr. Math Systems: Wii MSRP: $5
For an NES game based on homework, it's about as boring as they come. Unless you sit at home and go through multiplication flash-cards in your spare time, skip this title. Here's some math for you: video games based on school + $5 = save your money. - mrs. ship

Fatal Fury Special Systems: 360 MSRP: $5
SNK's 2D fighter makes its way onto XBLA with online play for the bargain price of $5. Sure, I always passed over this series for Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat when I was younger, but maybe now is a good time to see what Terry and Andy Bogard were up to when Ryu and Scorpion were stealing all my quarters.

Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole Systems: Wii MSRP: $8
Ironically, this Genesis title was the subject of last week's Depth Charges (if that reference means nothing to you, check out our audio podcast on iTunes). In this game, you play as Nigel, an elf treasure hunter who saves the life of Friday, a fairy-type creature. This game comes with the standard sword and heart-container sort of action-adventure layout with your goal of hunting for treasure within many dungeons and towns. It has fairly advanced graphics for it's time, Ewok knock-offs, and is a pretty solid nostalgic title. It's a game that we ultimatley decided to keep as part of our collection, so adding this title to your own collection for $8 is a pretty good buy. - mrs. ship


Feedback:

Did we miss a good sale on a game? Did we miss previewing a game completely? Well, the only way that everyone can know a better deal is out there is to let us know about it. Post deals you've found or games that we missed in the thread so that CAGs can make sure they are getting the absolute best prices on new releases.
 
Hey Mr and Mrs Shipwreck! I love reading your reviews and look forward to them every week. Thanks for posting them! One question about this week's post: Garfield's Nightmare is listed as a PSP game, but the cover screenshot is for a Nintendo DS version of the game. Is it a DS title or both?

Thanks,
zoward
 
Live Arcade titles.... Fatal Fury Special and Cyberball...

400 points for Fatal Fury, while Nintendo is charging nine bucks for NeoGeo titles overseas...
 
You played cornholing?! Awesome. And yes video games express/video trader/trading zone/ whatever they can your local Ohio version but is the same store is a great place to get old shit.

Naruto games come out a lot for two reasons.

1: super popular. You're looking at the new pokemon and yu gi oh
2: they're already made. Most of these are ports of 2-4 year old games from Japan (hence the PS2 love). All these games are coming out in a smaller space of time, unlike when they were released in Japan.
 
Shipwreck dont diss my boy Chris Henry!! LOL Wait until he gets back from his suspension. Maybe he wont whip out anymore guns and help the Bengals to that Superbowl they were suppost to play last year.
 
With all the brain training games out there, I wouldn't be surprised if a decent amount of people downloaded Donkey King Jr. Math
 
Another great episode guys. I do agree with Mrs Ship about Donkey Kong Jr Math though.

A game where all you do is math and not play a game after isn't a game. It's homework.
 
[quote name='zoward']Hey Mr and Mrs Shipwreck! I love reading your reviews and look forward to them every week. Thanks for posting them! One question about this week's post: Garfield's Nightmare is listed as a PSP game, but the cover screenshot is for a Nintendo DS version of the game. Is it a DS title or both?

Thanks,
zoward[/QUOTE]

Oops, that was just a typo. It's only coming out for the DS.

[quote name='neushane']Shipwreck dont diss my boy Chris Henry!! LOL Wait until he gets back from his suspension. Maybe he wont whip out anymore guns and help the Bengals to that Superbowl they were suppost to play last year.[/QUOTE]

Haha, not to worry, he's stashed away on my Fantasy bench in the hope beyond hope that he can stay out of trouble for 9 weeks.
 
Full price NFL preseason tickets FTW!
Wait, actually no. Preseason sucks. I hope you guys get to go to a regular season game.

Keep up the good work!
 
eh, shipwreck's distaste for Naruto confounds me since he never watched a single episode (or did he?). i recommend checking out the fansubs online because it's a pretty good show, especially with the later episodes. the dubbed crap on Cartoon Network sucks so skip that.

Btw, Tequila's last name is Yuen in the Hard Boiled movie. Tequila is his first name.
 
[quote name='LiK']eh, shipwreck's distaste for Naruto confounds me since he never watched a single episode (or did he?). i recommend checking out the fansubs online because it's a pretty good show, especially with the later episodes. the dubbed crap on Cartoon Network sucks so skip that.

Btw, Tequila's last name is Yuen in the Hard Boiled movie. Tequila is his first name.[/QUOTE]

Just for you, I will try and sit down and watch an entire episode this weekend.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Just for you, I will try and sit down and watch an entire episode this weekend.[/quote]

hehe, cool. it starts out slow tho so it might not be a good representation of the show overall. i can recommend specific epsiodes where the fight scenes are gorgeously animated if you want a quick fix and some movie quality animation.
 
Brother,
Don't cover for your niece. "The burn" is family code for smack. We start all our kids early so they'll build a tolerance.

Polymer and I think you and Mrs. are catching the same mouse.

First girl wants My Sims for the Wii and DS - any thoughts? Any buzz?
 
Good show, although I have to say I'm siding with Mrs. Ship at this point. Yes, this is a game shopping site, and yes, we all love good deals on games. But there is a limit, Ship. Buying crappy, or even mediocre games, simply because they're $5 is a losing proposition. Plus, with the volume of software passing through your door, $5 a pop adds up. Even if they were free, chances are you will never play them. And then what do you have? Worthless clutter that's hard to unload.

I rarely buy games that I don't intend to keep. On the rare occasion that I trade or sell a game, it's because it failed to meet my initial expectations that it would be a game I would hold on to. At no time do I find myself thinking, "Hmm...I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in Spongebob Squarepants before this point in time, but for $5, I will take it home."


That's not to say there aren't games out there that I wouldn't buy at a certain pricepoint but would at a lower one, but there's still a standard there. Baten Kaitos for $20 is a better deal than Spongebob for $5.

[quote name='Shipssibling']First girl wants My Sims for the Wii and DS - any thoughts? Any buzz?[/quote]

There are too many damn Ships around here lately. Anyway, word on My Sims is actually quite positive, from what I heard. It's a shameless rip off of Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, but that said, most of the stuff I've read/heard about it says it's fun and engaging (and those are adults playing).

As for me, I think I'll wait and invest my time in the real deal. Hopefully Animal Crossing Wii will be announced soon.
 
I started playing Picross on our 1-day family vacation 2 weekends ago (played 3 hours the one night in the hotel after everyone else fell asleep). Thanks for the update Ship, I need to get back into it to unlock those Nintendo puzzles. But, man, I'm just the 3 hours in - can't imagine sinking 30-40 hours into it without a plane trip or work travel (which I haven't done in a year now - thus my DS play has gone down significantly).
 
Great show as always, guys. One title you didn't cover that came out this week is Resident Evil Essentials for the PS2, which contains RE Code: Veronica X, RE Outbreak (the first one) and RE4. For $30, it's a decent value for new copies of those games, and they aren't Greatest Hits versions either.
 
Nice show 'wrecks. If you're willing to get all the way to level 11 on Picross, I take back my statement about you not liking difficult games. Picross isn't incredibly hard, but can be downright frustrating at times.

io: I got my fiancee this game for her birthday on wednesday. It proceeded to ruin her life for about five days, and she just beat it last night.

Since my fiancee has the extra "e" at the end, I am indeed a guy. I also stand by my comments on Stuntman. I meant ps2, and I didn't have to try a level more than a handful of times to beat it. I admit it required some memorization, but the cinematic sequences after beating levels is a worthy reward for me.
 
I played the crap out of stuntman. I believe I finished it out of spite. It looked real good at the time, though.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Just for you, I will try and sit down and watch an entire episode this weekend.[/quote]

Dont do it Ship, I watched 80 episodes and realized that it was a pre-teen ninja Dragon Ball Z with alot more whining.

I wasted my life already ship, dont make the same mistake.
 
New show will be up tomorrow morning instead of today. I promise that next week we will be back on the Tuesday schedule.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']New show will be up tomorrow morning instead of today. I promise that next week we will be back on the Tuesday schedule.[/QUOTE]

You're a crook. You're a cheat and a swindler! That's what you are! How could you do a thing like this, build up a little boy's hopes and then smash all his dreams to pieces? You're an inhuman monster!
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']You're a crook. You're a cheat and a swindler! That's what you are! How could you do a thing like this, build up a little boy's hopes and then smash all his dreams to pieces? You're an inhuman monster![/QUOTE]

I have dishonored my family... and my cats.
 
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

This is the only way Tuesday's can suck worse than Monday's. How will I know what to buy?

I think this is all an elaborate scheme to fix the Mouse contest.

On the up side we'll get two CAG related podcasts in two day's.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']New show will be up tomorrow morning instead of today. I promise that next week we will be back on the Tuesday schedule.[/quote]

don't tell me the mice started chewin' on the wires now? :)
 
[quote name='Joon2324']Nice show 'wrecks. If you're willing to get all the way to level 11 on Picross, I take back my statement about you not liking difficult games. Picross isn't incredibly hard, but can be downright frustrating at times.

io: I got my fiancee this game for her birthday on wednesday. It proceeded to ruin her life for about five days, and she just beat it last night.
[/QUOTE]

When you say "Level 11" what do you mean? I only see 4 levels in the main part, then 4 more in Free mode, and a couple in the Easy mode. Do those all add up to 10 and then when you finish those you unlock more, or are there actually 11 levels in the main game? If so, then there's a crapload of content to this game :lol:.

I turned this on again yesterday by coincidence and sank another 4 hours into it. I was playing a lot of the free mode though. I'll go back to the main mode and try to finish all the puzzles in those 4 levels and see what happens I guess.
 
[quote name='io']When you say "Level 11" what do you mean? I only see 4 levels in the main part, then 4 more in Free mode, and a couple in the Easy mode. Do those all add up to 10 and then when you finish those you unlock more, or are there actually 11 levels in the main game? If so, then there's a crapload of content to this game :lol:.

I turned this on again yesterday by coincidence and sank another 4 hours into it. I was playing a lot of the free mode though. I'll go back to the main mode and try to finish all the puzzles in those 4 levels and see what happens I guess.[/QUOTE]

As you finish up levels in normal mode, more levels keep on unlocking (up to 10). Level 11 opens when you beat level 10.

Yes, there is a crapload of content.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']As you finish up levels in normal mode, more levels keep on unlocking (up to 10). Level 11 opens when you beat level 10.

Yes, there is a crapload of content.[/QUOTE]

Good lord - so much for Nintendo's "family-friendly" image. I may end up ignoring my family even more if this game goes on that long ;).
 
[quote name='io']Good lord - so much for Nintendo's "family-friendly" image. I may end up ignoring my family even more if this game goes on that long ;).[/quote]

i wonder if reviewers knew there was that much content in the game since it was all hidden...
 
[quote name='shipwreck']New episode is up.[/quote]

nice dude, i just started, GGXX intro!
 
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