DS over PSP

(Exclusive article) - One of the very first few things that is on my wishlist for 2006 is a handheld. I really wanted to own a handheld so I can game on the go. I did consider the PSP at first but gave up the idea of buying it as it is priced at $405 in my local currency. No, it was not the price that changed my decision. It were the PSP games. None of them seemed to interest me at all. At $75 to $79 in my local currency, PSP games are much more expensive compared to DS games , which cost around $65 to $75. PSP was off my list. Next's up was the Game Boy Advanced. Looking at the variety of games made for the GBA made me want to laugh. I think GBA games were made primirily for kids, not for teenagers like me. Yeah, no no to a GBA. GBA was off my list. Next, it was Game Boy Micro. What a joke! The screen of Game Boy Micro is smaller than the screen of most of the mobile phones in the market right now. What quality games can possibly be played on Game Boy Micro? I think I will stick to my mobile phone than to buy Game Boy Micro. Okay, no Game Boy Micro, I told myself. Next, Nintendo DS. Looking at its $235 price tag at a neighborhood store, I knew that I wanted to get it. And I have also read rave reviews on one particular DS game (Mario Kart DS). Perhaps I am going to get that game for my DS, my first game for my DS, which I am considering buying next week (1st week of January). That is my story of how I am going to buy the DS instead of technically-better PSP. End of story.

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!

(*Note that there will be no Featured Game of the Week for 26 Dec - 1 Jan 2006)

How do you define 'bad games'?

Some games are so bad that I wonder if I have just wasted my money on them. Here are some of them:

Full Spectrum Warrior (0/10)

This game practically plays itself. The A.I aims and shoots for you. All that is needed from you is the moving of the soldiers. That, in my opinion, is boring, very boring.




Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (1.3/10)

Extremely poor graphics bundled with very unrealistic and lousy gameplay. I really want my money back.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (1.5/10)

Sorry, don't be offended, Splinter Cell fans. This game requires that you move at a very slow pace to avoid detection, so slow that gameplay seems so boring to me, so boring that I felt like conking out. This game is simply void of action.




Crimson Skies (2.0/10)

Too difficult to control the plane. Not to mention the constant boring dodging and flying.

Grabbed by the Ghoulies (1.9/10)

Another one of the crappy cartoon-like game. Be advised: For children aged 3 and below only. Oh, come on, I am not a 3-year old anymore. I need more mature games. Perhaps your baby would like this.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield (1.0/10)

No, I am not anti-Tom Clancy, but I really dislike this game. Turning on the night vision view gave me a throbbing headache after some minutes. Wait, your charcater cannot jump too. Too unrealistic is how you describe this game. Quite similar to Ghost Recon too.

Look out for the next feature: How do you define 'good games'?

Special report:Are you addicted to video games?

(Exclusive article) -Welcome to Powerplay's second special report. In this month's special report, let's talk about game addiction. How do you know that you are addicted to games and how do you put a stop to this addiction? Read on and find out. And yeah, at the same time, enjoy it. Wishing you a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The computer or console is running hot, way too hot. You have been playing for more tham 6 hours - continuously. You are feeling sick. You can feel your head throbbing and painkillers are needed urgently. However, you still continue to play - regardless of the situation you are in now. Yes, this is a bad sign, a bad sign of game addiction, that is. And I urge you to stop this habit. It is going to harm your health. How do you know that you are addicted to video games? For example, upon waking up in the morning, you head for your computer or console and continue to play for the entire day, stopping for just a few minutes to eat. You even play past midnight. Sleep is sacrificed - that goes without saying. If you are this kind of person, you are defintely addicted. Make changes immediately. Set a time limit for yourself. Perhaps 2 - 4 hours a day will do. Do not sacrifice sleep time and have ample rest to make sure that you concentrate in school or work the next day. Is your homework or documents more important? Do they need to be handed in the next day? If yes, then you should be completing them first before playing. You may reward yourself by increasing your playtime to 6 - 7 hours if you are going to take part in a gaming tournament. If you are a student and have a test the very next day, then games should be avoided - that's for sure. Well, as New Year approaches, I hope that you realise that being too addicted to gaming may affect your health too. Nobody lives in the virtual world. Let's wake up then ... ... Welcome to the world of reality.

Special film review:Peter Jackson's King Kong

This movie was too good for me not to talk about it, although this is a gaming blog. No, I am not talking about the video game. I am talking about the real thing - the movie. It is so beautifully made. Surprisingly, it has added some scences which were absent in previous King Kong films. The dinosaur on Skull Island. I do not remember seeing them in previous King Kong films. Well, they added extra thrill to the movie. No, that is to compensate the first few forty minutes of the movie when there were only talking and no action. Anyway, there was this out-of-job actress, Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and the director, Carl Denham (Jack Black), whose comapny was going to fold (if I'm not mistaken). Jack saw Ann and asked her to be in his movie that was going to be filmed in Singapore. Her idol, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), was going to be in the film too. Yeah, that was why Ann wanted to be in the movie. So, they the entire crew boarded the ship but instead of sailing to Singapore, the ship sailed to Skull Island, which Jack claimed to be never discovered by humans. The ship arrived at the island safely and the crew alighted. It was a bad thing that they did not know that there were some unfriendly inhabitants on the island, who later proceeded to kill some of the crew. Fortunately, the humans have their guns and they escaped to the safety of the ship with the intent to sail back. However, the inhabitants saw Ann as a suitable person to sarcrifice to King Kong and guess what? They snatched her back to the island. From there, the adventure begins. Dinosaurs, creepy huge cockroaches. I do not wish to elaborate much. You should be watching the movie. The humans caught Kong and brought it back to New York. That was where Kong wrecked havoc. Yeah, Kong found its beloved Ann and climbed onto the top of the Empire State Building. Planes were sent up to shoot it down. Death is imminent for Kong. It fell to its death tragically. Sad, considering Kong was an innocent. There was quite an amount of humour in the movie, romance too, I must say. But the one to look out for is the action! The movie had all the people running for their lives from dinosaurs, especially Ann, but she had Kong for protection. At one time, Kong fights off three big T-rexs. Well, the thrill cannot be described. You have to experience it for yourself. Overall, I feel that the ending is too sudden and - sad too. But, how else can you end the story. Great job, Peter Jackson! Hey, I heard he signed on to become the executive producer for Halo.

Overall ratings: 4.5/5

Comparison with other action movies (my ratings)
i Robot --- 5/5
Van Helsing --- 4.5/5
Matrix Revolutions --- 0/5
Terminator 3 --- 4.5/5
Polar Express --- 1/5
Spiderman 2 --- 3.5/5
X-Men 2 --- 2/5
Fantastic 4 --- 4/5
Batman Begins --- 3.5/5

Know more about Splinter Cell 4

It is yet another new adventure for Sam Fisher in the next Splinter Cell game. Know more about it first! Click www.bewaresamfisher.com or here.

Game Review 7:FIFA 06

This review is based on my first-time impression of FIFA 06. If I still have more comments to add after this first-time impression, the review would be updated.

I laid my hands eagerly on the Xbox controller. The disc that was in the console was the disc of FIFA 06. Yes, this is my first time playing a FIFA game. No, wait, I have played the demo of FIFA 05 before. The first thing I noticed while playing FIFa 06 is that the players all look smaller, compared to FIFA 05. I can see the faces of the players clearly in the replay, unlike in FIFa 05, when only blurry faces could be seen. Yeah, great improvements in the graphics. I was just pressing the X and A buttons while playing FIFA 06 on the Xbox. The contols are more simple, compared to playing FIFA 06 on the computer (By looking at the manual. I haven't played FIFA 06 on my computer as there is a problem with the disc). These are the only things that I could see when playing a FIFA game for the first time. As I say, there is a problem with my disc, so I could not play it. The FIFA 06 that I played for a brief moment was at my local shopping mall. So, perhaps, if I get the my disc working, I may give a more detailed description of the game. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that you can chose from many teams from many different leagues in FIFA 06. But, hey, that is the norm in all FIFA games, isn't it?

** This review may be updated at any time. Please take a look at this article again the next time you visit Powerplay. Just go to the sidebar and click on the 'Browse by Index' link under the game reviews section. Select the 'Game Review 7:FIFA 06' article. Thanks! **

Powerplay's Top 3 Most Memorable Gaming Charcaters of all times

With the release of new games comes new gaming characters. Powerplay rounds up some the best 3 gaming charcaters of all times. Read on and enjoy!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::: 1. Gordon Freeman

The man from the Half-Life series tops the chart for the top 3 most memorable gaming charcters of all times. The man, whose favorite weapon is the distinctive crowbar.




:::::::::::::::::::::::::: 2. Master Chief

Second on the chart is Master Chief from the Halo series. The man whose helmet is always on his head, wearing his green armor. You are going to be looking at him next year again when he makes a comeback for Halo 3. You must thank this man. He saved the world - at least the virtual one.



:::::::::::::::::::::::::: 3. Mario


Third on the chart is Mario, the guy who has been dominating Nintendo machines all along. Look out for his red cap and shirt and don't forget his moustache too. You will continue to see him on Nintendo machines for years to come.






** This exclusive article is brought to you by Powerplay **

Looking Back:Why I bought the Xbox instead of PS2

(Exclusive article) - I remembered the day I got my Xbox console. I paid $348 (my local currency) for it. Why didn't I buy the PlayStation 2, which was priced at $285 (in my local currency)? Simple, because my local PlayStaion 2 games were mostly in Japanese, which I hardly understand. No, that was not the only reason. PlayStation 2 games in my country were relatively more costly than Xbox games. PS2 games were priced at >$80 while Xbox games were priced at $69.90. Not to mention that the Xbox games were all in English language. PS2 games were mostly also role playing games (RPGs), which I dislike. I discovered that there were better game titles released for the Xbox. For example, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Forza Motorsport and Dead or Alive Ultimate/3. These were games that were only released for Xbox. Had I bought the PS2, I wouldn't be enjoying those games. Let's see, PS2 has the Metal Gear Solid series, Grand Turismo series, Devil May Cry series, but those were not enough to please me. Had I bought the PS2, I would have missed out Halo. Oh yeah, PS2 has the Soul Calibur series, but Soul Calibur 2 was later released for Xbox too. Perhaps Soul Calibur 3 would be released for Xbox 360 later. Wait a minute! There was no online service for the PS2 in my country. The Xbox has Xbox Live. So, after much pondering, I bought the Xbox - and I felt very happy. Happy that I chosed the Xbox over PlayStation 2.

Agree with me? Make your opinions heard! Post your comments in the 'power comments' section now.

Future of the PlayStation 2

What is in the box for PlayStation 2 next year? What are the interesting games that are going to be released. Click here to get the full list (IGN). The one to be really excited about is Metal Gear Solid 4. Oh no, that game is going to be released for PlayStation 3, not 2, so sorry. Other games that you can look forward to includes Splinter Cell 4, which is going to be released on the Xbox 360 too, Final Fantasy XII, Metal Gear Solid 3:Subsistence and Starcraft Ghost.

Future of the Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 still has a very long way to go. More games are going to be released for it. Take a peek into the crystal ball and you will be amazed at the game titles that will be released for the Xbox 360 in 2006. From Full Auto to Splinter Cell 4 to Halo 3, there is something for everyone. Click here for the full list of game titles (GAMESPY). Here are some games that you would like to have when they are released next year: Full Auto, Prey, Halo 3 (this is the one I am extremely excited about), Gears of War, Splinter Cell 4 (if you like stealth action), Test Drive Unlimited and Dead Rising. I seems that the PlayStation 3 would have stiff competition next year. Look out for Powerplay's article on the Future of PlayStation 2/3 (Coming soon). In the meantime, enjoy this article. Be wowed at the full list of games (Click the link).

Hardware Guide 17:Logitech Driving Force Pro

Here is another reason why PlayStaion fans should rejoice. Yeah, you got it right, this gadget was specially built for use with PlayStation 2s. Don't you worry yet, PC gamers, you can hook this gadget up on your computer too. Just like the Saitek X45 Digital Joystick and Throttle (Hardware Guide 15) that gives great experience with flight simulation games, this Logitech product does the same thing for racing games. With the quantity of racing games hitting the shelves of the stores nowadays, this gadget would probably be very useful and enjoyable to fans of racing games. To start with, this gadget possesses a USB port connection, a dual-clamping system, eight distinctive PS2 buttons (you know, the X, triangle, square etc. buttons on the PS2 contoller) and a gas and brake pedal nicely rooted to the floorboard (as shown in the image above). Other features include the wheel that can turn 900 degrees, the stick shifter that is used for changing gears and a force feedback system. Just like in a real car, you may say. Quick! Bring in the chair or table, clamp the gadget to it and you can get started. Don't forget to plug the gadget in. Okay, let's get back. Logitech is kind enough to give gamers a choice whether they want to use the stick shifter or the wheel-mounted buttons for changing gears. The rubber wheel provides a you a firm grip on it during races too. Ahh, playing at your PS2 just feels like playing with the video games machine.

Nintendo Revolution:Know more about it

All the things you need to know about the Nintendo Revolution at this time is just a click away.

My FIFA 06 needs some fixing

I think my copy of the PC version of FIFA 06 needs some fixing. I left me very fustrated, leaving me with no choice but to abandon the game and delay my review here. Everthing went smoothly during installation. The game got installed and it started as per normal. I was getting excited about FIFA 06 as this was the first time I am playing a FIFA game. However, the excitement all ended up in smoke. On the side select screen, I selected my side and the next thing, what I needed to do was to click the advance button to you know, go to the next menu. Things did not turn out quite right for me. I click the 'advance' button on the side select screen several times but nothing happened. I was starting to guess if there was something wrong with my cpoy of FIFA 06. I went on to restart the game numerous time but each time was a failed attempt. I combed the Internet for solutions but to no avail. What is the problem with my FIFA 06? And so, I cannot play the game and I cannot give you the review. It is just so fustrating for me to have an interesting game and I cannot play it. Readers, if you have a solution to this problem, please post them in the comments section. This is my first experience with a FIFA game, so perhaps, you readers know more about the game than I do.

Featured Game of the Week:Super Mario Strikers (12 Dec - 18 Dec)

Click here for review.
Click here for screenshots.
Click here for videos and trailers.

The Xbox 360 launch in Asia

Asians have been waiting impatiently for their Xbox 360s to arrive and at last, here are some very good news for them that is worth be cheering about. According to Microsoft, the Xbox 360 console will launch in Korea on February 24 and on March 2 in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Although there is a shortage of Xbox 360s in North America, Microsoft is still sticking to the release dates stated above. Prices would be almost similar to those in North America and Europe. The core and premium packages would both go on sale.

Hardware Guide 16:BenQ FP93GX LCD Monitor

This black LCD monitor may look quite ordinary to you but it is the world's fastest LCD monitor, according to BenQ. This 19 inch LCD monitor possesses a fast 2 ms gray-to-gray response time among the 13mm bezel and 700:1 contrast ratio, with a brightness of 300cd/m2. The FP93GX is also equipped with the traditional D-sub and next-generation DVI Input support. If these features still do not satisfy you, click here for the full specifications - the table has all the information you would want to know about the FP93GX, including its weight. You could be forgiven for thinking that you just threw away your money for that LCD monitor that you just bought in the store. Why not get this instead? While it may not be released in some countries yet, I think it would be wise to start saving up.

Starcraft Ghost images, videos and trailers

What can you expect from Blizzard's upcoming game, Starcraft Ghost? This time, Blizzard is throwing the RTS mode that Starcraft used to be played in out. Instead, here comes a new third-person approach.

To view the videos and trailers for Starcraft Ghost, click here.
To view screenshots, click here.

Game Preview 3:Full Auto

Here comes another car-wrecking game that will no doubt up the contest with Burnout Revenge. The cars in Full Auto have fire power, unlike those in Burnout Revenge. Of course, I have to show you the image above or you would not have known what Full Auto is all about. Not to mention beautiful beautiful graphics that will appeal to your eye. Okay, let's take a look at the other image below and you will know what I am talking about.

Just take a close look at the texture of the car body. Alright, if you still cannot picture the game, think of Burnout Revenge with more improved graphics and there you go, it is Full Auto. By the looks of it, I think this game is going to be a hit when it arrives. As a racing game, it will be very nice to have more than 8 tracks, many types of car models and some interesting events. Sorry, but I don't want any lame events like some of those in Burnout Revenge (E.g. Road Rage). No offence, but I truly detest those lame events. Okay, and can I have Full Auto to more challenging? Perhaps more number of opponents in a race? I haven't tried this game before so I can only give you details of what to expect. But don't you worry, this article will be updated if I've got more information as time goes by. This game is not going to be released in time for Christmas so until next year, you are not going to be seeing this game anytime soon.

Extra Features: More images, videos and trailers. If you like this game, you may also like Burnout Revenge (Powerplay's review).

The improved version of Burnout Revenge for your Xbox 360

Although the Xbox 360's improved version of Burnout Revenge is only going to be out in March 2006, I found this game title worth some talking about. Let's see, Burnout Revenge, a new version, made specially for the Xbox 360, so the game can make full use of the Xbox 360 fantastic specifcations? Now, you can bet that there is going to be a huge improvement from the original Xbox's Burnout Revenge but we still don't know for sure until the new version of the game is released. Yes, improved graphics is a must. What else? According to the interview that IGN held with Criterion's Matt Webster, the company that develop Burnout Revenge, there is this new feature known as Save and Share, where you will be able to save the replay and share it with gamers all over the world. Of course, this feature will be in the multiplayer mode. What about the single player mode? Is there anything new? Yes, of course, gamers, don't you worry yet! There are 10 new crash junctions and some unlockable cars will be introduced into the game. And ooops! No more new features? Did they forget about the number of tracks in the original Xbox's version of Burnout Revenge? I think increasing the variety of tracks to race on would be a good idea. I don't know if they are going to put in new tracks but let's keep our fingers crossed that they will add in new tracks. I would very much like to see that in the new version.

Extra features
To view the screenshots for the new version of Burnout Revenge for the Xbox 360, click here.
To read Powerplay's full game review for the original Xbox's version of Burnout Revenge, click here to proceed.