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Forever Geek

Nerds are for Dorks

Perhaps one of the best things about the DS is the sheer variety of gameplay on offer, which means that over this Christmas you shouldn’t have any problem at all either finding a present for yourself or for a loved one!

This year, look out for the brilliant Professor Layton And The Curious Village for something a bit special. It’s an adventure game with a huge puzzle element – that will have your brain working for weeks trying to complete all of the many challenges.

Other particularly good games for the festive season this year include Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia – an actioner that will keep you busy. Alternatively, if you like your games in the shooter genre, then go for Bangai-O Spirits – a very Japanese, weird, but very addictive title.

Whether male or female, your loved one is sure to get a kick out of Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise. Much like the original Xbox 360 game, this is a title that really is suitable for all and filled with the wonderfully gaudy, sweet-stuffed animals.

If you want to nurture the animals and look after a virtual garden on your handheld, then don’t miss this title. Finally, if you’re after a racer, look no further than TrackMania on the DS. It’s the best thing since Mario Kart and in some respects it’s more fun – at times the action seems even faster.

Overall, the DS has a great range of games this Christmas and is sure to have something for everyone. It really is a console for all

Games To Avoid This ChristmasNovember 30

I’ve provided this article for two reasons. The first is let you know whether you’ve been landed with a complete stinker of a game from a relative. The second is to avoid you making suggestions to your nearest and dearest on games that you’ll come to regret – just in case you haven’t been following the reviews this year!

There is no doubt that there’s been some good games released in 2008, but equally there’s been a few mediocre ones out there. Avoid, if you can, Iron Man (perhaps like the infamous ET game they should bury all copies somewhere). Equally, there are better racing games than Need for Speed: Undercover on most formats (though if you can find it for about $20 it’s worth a look).

Unfortunately, Sonic Unleashed continues the tradition for Sonic games of just being poor – of which they seem to have existed in that category since going fully 3D. Lego Batman retains the addictiveness of the other Lego games – but just seems to be lacking something. Don’t buy this game if you want to go for something with depth.

Perhaps the game that you really want to avoid this year is Haze. It’s a particularly poor shooter that had an interesting premise – yet just doesn’t deliver in the gameplay department. Lastly, Too Human got a pretty big mauling in the games press – and for good reason. Avoid, unless you have more money than sense.

I’d never suggest being rude to anyone over Christmas, but if you got an

iPhone GoldNovember 28

An iPhone is an iPhone, well until it’s dipped in gold! When I first saw the picture above I said, “wow, this must be worth a fortune!” . Well, not really. Unlike the Christian Dior Mobile phone which costs about $28,000, the Gold iPhone will set you back only $2,000. For a 24 karat gold plated iPhone, I think it’s worth it.

Every iPhone gold unit is first coated with the original plastic case in copper to patch any dings, then nickel-plates it to keep the copper from leaching into the gold finish. A notch in the base for the antenna guarantees reception. A very tedious process to get that extra bling when you flash your iPhone around. Just be sure you do it discretely as you do not want to grab too much attention.

Gold isn’t its only cloak though… it is also available in yellow or rose gold, chrome, copper, or platinum.

If you feel that gold’s your color, you can get your very own right here.

Mario Red DS Lite to launch on Black FridayNovember 28

I’m a Super Mario Bros. fan, always have and always will be. It’s been a favorite game for over a decade now. I remember the first time I played it on a Nintendo set, I’d play it for hours and hours.

Now during Black Friday, November 28, Nintendo is releasing a special red version of their Nintendo DS Lite pocket console game. This merchandise will quickly fly off the shelves not only because of its bright red color, but because of that cute Mario logo on top of it. Aside from the Mario edition, Nintendo will also release an Ice Blue system that comes packed with Brain Age 2. Both limited editions will sell for $150. Just about the same price as the regular designed consoles. For the collector, this will be a steal though as Nintendo will sell these in limited quantities only. So grab one now.

F.E.A.R. sequel banned in AustraliaNovember 27

I dunno what it is with Australian censors but games have a lot of trouble passing their weird standards.

A number of games had already been banned this year, including the new Silent Hill game and Shellshock 2. Two other games, Dark Sector and Fallout 3, were also banned but were eventually allowed to go on sale after content modifications were made.

The censorship continues with F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, the sequel to the hit FPS F.E.A.R. Australia’s Classification Board refused the game making it illegal to sell or even bring the game into the country. The Board said that the basis for the refusal was the game’s “high-impact violence”.

This prudish attitude towards games is really disconcerting especially when you get to see shows like Big Brother Australia where female and male genitalia are shown on TV.