Batman: Arkham Asylum - hands on

Like the polar opposite of a magnet, we go from the disappointment of White Knight to the sudden excitement of the Dark Knight! (Eh? Eh? Didja see what I did there, with the "knight" thing? And the whte and black, and...um...k, moving on.)

Comic videogames are as volatile as videogame movies, and usually get overlooked by my gaming radar. So my lack of interest never waned, even with the promise of a huge limited-edition batarang. With low expectations, I began playing the demo. What I experienced blew me away.

It wasn't the murky graphics or the original story that I marvelled (er, "DC'ed." Pure gold.)...but the fighting that I enjoyed the most. Every punch and kick was seamlessly chained together so well, you can't even tell when one punch ends and the other begins.

Lemme give you a memorable example. I was punching one guy in the face, with two other enemies behind me. In a natural fluid motion, I perform a roll motion over the second guy, which transitioned immediately to a creasant kick to the third guy's face!

There are even movie style attacks, like Batman's no-looking-behind-backhanded-fist counterattack, or his cape-spreading aerial glide kick from above. They've even included his trademark grapple-from-above taketowns, which purposely position the camera to give you an optimal view of the enemy being wisked away into the unknown abyss above.

Add to this the random slow-motion of final blows, and you have the makings of almost cinema-like battle sequences sure to qwell the doubts any gamer has to this Batman game.

White Knight Chronicles - hands on

From a company that brought us Professor Layton and Rogue Galaxy, Level 5's upcoming PS3 game White Knight Chronicles was giving me high hopes. What I found was a disappointing game.

For the record, I just jumped into an abandoned station where I'm already wandering around the environment looking for enemies to fight...and I did. Slowly.

First off, you have all your attacks laid out before you in these little rectangular buttons, which you can select by pressing left and right on the d-pad. Once you select one, you can attack an enemy. I don't know if it was just me, but attacks felt like they had a 1-2 second delay before executing. To add to the waiting time, after every attack you must wait for the circular guage to refill again before issuing another delayed attack.

In any case, battles have now become more sluggish than it needs to be. I had to idle my time running around in place, just to wait until my meter's full before getting my attack in. While this might be fine for people that have the time, I certainly don't.

I'm sorry, Level 5, but if the gameplay doesn't capture my attention, then it's not meant to be.

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Ghostbusters - hands on

Who doesn't dream of using a proton pack to catch ghosts after watching Ghostbusters? Playing the game does just that, and more.

Handling the proton pack is as fun as it sounds. Not only do you get to shoot your own particle beam, but you can perform your own wanton destruction, and even make your own burn marks on the wall!

Taking down ghosts requires you to wear them out first before you're able to wrangle them in your beam. Once you do, it's a simple matter of wrestling with the ghost until it's over the trap to suck 'em in. And even that's not a guarantee - you need to keep them steady over the trap, or else they may wriggle free from the trap's beam, and you have to wrestle them back over it again.

While it' true that the "cast" is controlled by the computer, it never really feels artificial. In fact, you really feel like youakre working as a team. There would be times when there are three beams locked on one ghost, and it wasn't until I helped out that the ghost made it over the trap. Other times, they were okay fending for themselves while I was on my own.

The humor wasn't over the top funny, but was enough for the game itself to give me a chuckle every once in a while. The cutscenes weren't in the "uncanny valley," and sometimes were comparible to the movies.

Hey, to have a Ghostbusters game with all original cast members reviving their roles is good enough for any fan of the movies to purchase this game and play it at least once.

Wii Sports Resort - hands on

You can't avoid Wii Sports Resort when dealing with the Wii Motion Plus. And you just can't avoid the similarities between the free pack-in game and Resort. What you REALLY can't ignore, however, is the much improved controls thanks to the WM+.

I've tried two of the most popular games on the floor - Dueling Swords and Table Tennis - to get a feel for both accuracy and precision, and what I got was just that.

The sword wielding felt quite natural, feeling accurate in every hit I landed. In my best moment, I took 4 timely swings, quickly knocking my opponent in the water - a quick left, right, left, and right blow.

The table tennis game was where I really tested the WM+ limits. With some ping-pong experience under my belt, I mopped the floor with my opponent at 6-1. The amazing thing was that the sensor recognized every spin I applied to the ball, feeling absolutely precise and natural.

Color me impressed and sold.

Critter Crunch - hands on

I find myself getting more and more download-only games lately, so checking out the DLC section is a must. Critter Crunch caught my eye as a good potential puzzler. Gameplay follows a specific food chain that you need to feed the creatures, done with this weird little monster that flicks its tongue to grab and spit out the creatures.

If you're a fan of Magical Drop 3 or Money Exchange, this puzzler would be right up your alley.

God of War 3 - hands on

After an almost 2-hour wait (wtf), I finally got my 15 minutes with Sony's big game of the day, God of War 3. It's really just a God of War game on the PS3 with very crisp graphics!

The demo had me pulling a cyclop's eye out, disemboweling a minotaur, and shoving a beast's own horn into its own skull. There was even a close-up shot of Kratos forceably tugging someone's head off! Everything you like about God of War is here, and fans will get the full experience March 2010.

Sin and Punishment 2 - hands on

Rail shooters get a bum rap these days. The moment anyone mentions the word "rail," people think poorly of the game.

I personally think that, after playing games that require too much thinking, a rail shooter is a gamer's way of relaxing the mind in a casual and arcade-y sort of way.

This is why I hope games like Dead Space Extraction and Sin and Punishment 2 make it big here when they're released.

The folks at Treasure must've realized the huge sales for their virtual console release, and brought the fans what they wanted. Even the small trophy nod in Smash Bros Brawl might've been a sign or, better yet, an asset from this game. But if you enjoyed the first game, expect more of the same in this sequel!

Muramasa - hands on

Finally, I get my hands on Muramasa (misspelled it yesterday, my bad), and what a game it is. The graphics are simply gorgeous, and I often found myself stopping a lot just to appreciate the layered backgrounds and subtle nods to the artistic style.

The gameplay's execution is as smooth as the graphics, with attacks that flow naturally like an action movie. And it wasn't any button mashing - I knew what I was performing, and everything played out beautifully.

Plus, since it's Vanillaware, there are always the little things that give the game so much character - the way your character sheath their sword away, the small glance at you while they run forward, the swaying of the grass realistically. Every moment reminds me of their other awesome game, Odin Sphere. A definite must-buy on the Wii.

Split Second - hands on

When the racing genre is done to death, where else can you turn to to refresh the game? By blowing up the track, of course!

While other games use powerups and weapons, Split Second gives you the ability to blow up the course to take out the competition, sometimes altering the entire course altogether!

While the concept is interesting, it appears to be the only thing going for it now. I enjoy the hub located underneath the car, though, minimizing the need to search the screen for your data.

Lego Rock Band, not as lame as I thought

If there's a stage and rock band, you can be sure I'll be there...even if it's a lego version.

While an obvious reskin of the Rock Band franchise, Lego Rock band will still have completely new content never before released in previous versions, as well as a new challenge mode strangely similar to Rock Band Unplugged.

In addition, you get the fun of lego customization in this game as well.

And don't let the family-friendly theme dissuade you - there's still songs here from Foo Fighters and Vampire Weekend for others. At an expected 45-song game, Lego Rock Band will still have time to add more by its holiday release.

The Conduit - hands on

Since Halo, I've never found a good first person shooter to be comfortable with. Which is why I believe The Conduit from High Voltage Software will inspire me again of the virtues of fully customizable controls.

After playing a quick match with just the default controls, I was surprised how well I played for the first time! And to think that I can get better if I spent some time tweaking and adjusting is a definite plus!

PSP Go! - hands on

Let's just say it - Sony pulled a "Nintendo."

The system's the same as the PSP internally, and so obviously, there's no second analog stick.

The one and onlu analog stick is expectedly awkward, but the design is nice and light. As others have reported, the floor models don't allow closure, so no insights on that aspect. the smaller screen is a bummer, but at least the resolution hasn't suffered.

Zelda: Spirit Tracks - hands on

If you played Phantom Hourglass on the DS, you're already in familiar territory with Spirit Tracks. It's more of the same, which is not a bad thing at all.

While the train aspect is a bit weird, I certainly understand the reasoning behind it. In PH, the game required you to control the boat's direction as well as attack power. Limiting the travel component to tracks allows more focus on attacks and other game aspects, relieving the user of excess controls. And I'm sure the train's whistle sounds much better without the convention noise.

Everything else is typical Zelda fare, and will be a nice game to idle time with until the next Zelda Wii game.

Red Steel 2 - hands on

Never played the original, but if this wasn't how Red Steel functioned before, then I'm frightened...because this one feels pretty good.

For all it promotes, the Wii Motion Plus (or WM+) does its job nicely. While I still get the feeling that the actions are set, the orientation is pretty accurate. The controls are quick to grasp, and it wasn't long until I was parrying and side-stepping my way through enemies.

Of course, just like E3 '06, the barrage of lights like to screw up the Wii-mote sensors, and the Red Steel rep was kind enough to remind me to point it at the screen every once in a while when he sensed my frustration. It's good to know they're trained to acknowledge the issue.

My only complaint would have to be the camera issue. I constantly forgot that my aiming and turning are solely dependant on my on-screen cursor.

Red Steel is shaping up to be something good for the Wii, so here's hoping that, with a little more fine-tuning, the game will finally get its moment to shine again.

And, for the record, the guy ahead of me played as if he were driving railroad spikes.

Flipnote Studio coming summer

Got a chance to finally check out this free DSi app coming summer. No confirmation yet if this will be the updated version that's been out in Japan, but at least it's comig soon!