THE VIDEO GAME PAGE The latest trends tips and reviews

THE VIDEO GAME PAGE The latest trends, tips and reviews HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2007 Part of a series on what’s hot this gift-giving season By SHAUN CONLIN / Cox News Service his week, in Part 5 of a five-part series, we take a look at game hardware and software designed specifically for kids. Sure, there’s probably a new console on their wish list, but the alternatives can be much more conducive to cogni­ tive development and still a lot of fun. Also consider: “I Can Play Guitar” Fisher-Price (Mattel); $99.99 While Activision’s “Guitar Hero III” is all the rage for console own­ ers, the speed-mashing tasks might be a bit much for the pre-teen set. Plus, “Guitar Hero” doesn’t really teach anything practical beyond color-coded timing and bad posture. Mattel’s “I Can Play Guitar” game system, on the other hand, is all about learning while playing. The self-contained, battery-pow­ ered device is both controller — shaped like an undersized electric guitar — and game system in one. It jacks directly into any TV with an onboard slot for game car­ tridges, one of which is included (it’s “Smoke on the Water” marathon-enabled). More games are sold separately for about $15 a pop (“SpongeBob,” “Barbie,” “ American Idol,” etc.). Importantly the “I Can , Play Guitar” system is actually much more elaborately configured than those console-based guitar controllers — yet not at all daunting. With six fore­ shortened strings that detect strum­ ming and pick­ ing, plus 30 color-coded but­ tons filling up the bottom five frets (where the majority of six­ string guitar chords are played) and a couple more lines of buttons running up the Mattel neck (for faux soloing), this unit will actually teach genuine fin­ ger placement and the rudiments of rockin’ out. Instructions are cleverly dis­ guised as an interactive game play­ ing out on the TV screen (replete with cheesy electronica that sounds vaguely like rock ’n’ roll). Other inputs include a whammy bar and a tempo adjuster, the latter of which allows for songs to be slowed to learning levels and then sped up when ready to RAWK, dude! Best of all, users eventually can take most of those finger-position­ ing, picking and whamming tech­ niques and apply them to a real gui­ tar. Games for kids “Humongous Adventures” Humongous Entertainment; Windows PC; $19.99 each ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) Neat thing about kids’ games: Kids outgrow them quickly but they’re still , fresh for the next crop of first-time gamers. So it fol­ lows that Humongous Entertainment has re-re­ leased several of the com­ pany’s older titles, a four­ game series of “Humongous Adventures.” All of them are huge sellers (15 mil­ lion-plus combined) and big awards-of-excellence winners. Also, all are rightly praised for their educational qualities and kid-friendliness. Each gleaned from different T Child’s play Best bet: ClickStart My First Computer LeapFrog; $49.99 A rather amazing little tyke­ friendly computer, ClickStart My First Computer uses a con­ ventional TV set as its moni­ tor (or an HDTV but at stan­ , dard definition) and is ready to rock out of the box. Better still, the unit’s simplified, color­ coded, qwerty keyboard is wireless, so there’s no tangle of cords to trip over or get chewed on (its diminutive, one-but­ ton mouse is attached to the wireless keyboard by a short, sturdy tether). The system comes with a few rudi­ mentary games built in, but it also ac­ commodates themed game cartridges sold separately at about $15 a pop. On the whole, all “games” are profes­ sionally produced, though not in the conventional, big-budget graphics and storyline sense (indeed, graphics are de­ cidedly low-res, but colorful, legible and easy to digest in a cartoony way). Each is specifically designed to reward inter­ action regardless of skill level. There LeapFrog Humongous Entertainment franchises, the four have been “newly remastered” (i.e., updated and de­ bugged) to represent four stages of cognitive devel­ opment for ages 3-11: “Putt Putt” (Level 1) the lovable convertible, “Freddi Fish” (Level 2) the lovable carp, “Pajama Sam” (Level 3) the lovable casual dresser and “Spy Fox” (Level 4) the lovable Vulpes vulpes [that’s not a typo]. Games are available exclusively at Target. are no wrong answers, rare are buzzers declaring defeat and nobody “dies.” It’s collect this, color that, find this, click those and see what happens. Simply bashing on the thing can net surprising­ ly festive results; whack the “K” key and , it’s “Kay! Kay! Kay!” all day Great fun, . eyes-wide wonder fun. Scout, the perpet­ ually playful puppy helps. , In the end, kids learn with My First Computer. They learn lots of things, re­ ally — animal names and sounds, letter shapes and phonetics, geometric shapes, sizes and symmetry counting 1 through , 10, etc. — but all at their own easy-going pace with lots of laughs and many “eu­ reka!” moments along the way . Supplemental stuff: For interactive entertainment with actual people, nothing quite beats a singalong, and nothing beats a singa­ long like a singalong of songs about you. And that’s exactly what you get with “Name Your Tune” (www.name yourtune.com), a $20 customized CD of children’s songs that is personalized with an individual’s name. There are literally thousands of names to choose from — 3,167 and counting — including a remarkable number of obscure ones (you’re in luck, Spyridon) and a name not listed will be recorded and added if you request it. It’s pro-studio personalization, not just names plopped in like fill-in-the- blank voice-overs on pre-recorded ditties (which they actually are in some cases). The editing is terrif­ ic, as if each song were cut specifically NameYourTune.com for the selected name, seamlessly wonderfully , . The otherwise traditional lyrics are altered just enough to give the child’s name some real play (and adjusting for syllables so cadence remains faithful), so it’s not “Old MacDonald” who had a farm, it’s “Little Molly Stomp your feet .” if you’re happy and you know it, but also if you’re Molly and you know it. And yes, Boom Boom, it is great to be Molly Ain’t it? . “Cosmic Family” Ubisoft; Wii; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) Game reviewers haven’t been kind to Ubisoft’s “Cosmic Family but that’s ,” most likely because it’s designed for kids 4-8 and hardly a game in the conventional sense. Instead, presented like a lazily scrawled interactive cartoon, “Cosmic Family” has more in common with LeapFrog games than Ubisoft’s other titles such as “ Assassin’s Creed” or “Splinter Cell.” “Cosmic Family” is all about interactive learning through noncompetitive play shape puzzles, coloring , activities, musical pursuits, that sort of thing, all interfaced almost intuitively with the motion-sensi­ tive Wii-mote acting mostly like a pointer and click­ er. That said, it’s not a particularly polished product, more of a “shovelware” title with good intentions. So don’t buy it new, but there’s a good chance you’ll find it in a pre-played bargain bin for cheap. “High School Musical Sing It” Disney Interactive; Wii; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) If you have kids, you probably don’t need the two “High School Musical” movies explained to you. Just know that “High School Musical Sing It” offers Wii-based karaoke to every song from both popular TV specials/DVDs (1 and 2), plus a few more songs from other Disney Channel shows. One microphone included. Earplugs not. Disney Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. *For release the week of December 3, 2007. THE VIDEO GAME PAGE The latest trends, tips and reviews Q4 roundup: Reviews & reflections Part of a year-end series on fourth quarter ’07 releases SNEAKY DUDS Little appeal; just don’t bother “Beowulf: The Game” Ubisoft; Xbox 360; $59.99 (GameStop is now selling it for $19.99, brand new) ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood, in­ tense violence, partial nudity, sexual themes) Funny how a movie that looks like a video game can be such a hopeless video game based on a movie. “Dynasty Warriors: Gundam” Koei; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (fantasy vio­ lence, mild language) Ancient Chinese hack-’n’-slash game except with giant robots. Even fans of “Gundam” will be disappointed — or especially disappointed. “The Golden Compass” Sega; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (mild lan­ guage, violence) Offended religious groups have little to fear from “The Golden Compass” video game based on a good (if contro­ versial) movie based on a great (retroac­ tively controversial by association) book; it doesn’t provoke any heretical notions other than “God awful.” “Looney Tunes ACME Arsenal” Warner Bros.; Xbox 360; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (cartoon violence) Also known as “how not to rejuve­ nate your grandfather’s cartoon fran­ chise.” Xbox 360’s hits, misses By SHAUN CONLIN Cox News Service he last three months of any year see a flood of games come to market, each vying for the greenbacks in your holiday shopper’s wallet. This go around, the fourth quarter of 2007 was probably this biggest such game deluge yet, with too much to choose from, let alone cover comprehensively in a single column. Hence, here’s a quick recap of some of Q4 ’07 video-game hits and misses, a six-part retro­ spective, starting with Xbox 360 games. T BEST BUYS AAA productions, long-term play and re-playability “ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation” Namco; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (mild language, violence) Good flying games are few and far between on Xbox 360, but Namco’s “ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation” fills the hole with this excellent aeri­ al-combat simulation of the improbable kind, throwing you into exces­ sively hectic missions over photorealistic war zones with ample oppor­ tunity to let loose in many superlative strike craft, like the F-15 E Strike Eagle and the F-22 Raptor. Featuring online multiplayer mayhem for the first time, “ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation” will keep you busy for a long, long while. “Undertow” Chair Entertainment; Xbox 360; 800 Microsoft Points (about $10) ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (fantasy violence) Available exclusively through Xbox Live Arcade, “Undertow” has all the earmarks of a great pick-up-and-play “casual” title. It’s an underwater scuba shooter that is gorgeous, accessible and frantically fun from the get­ go. But as an online-enabled waterworld game of strategic warfare, there’s also a great deal of, uh, depth, making “Undertow” very engaging for the serious gamer, too. “Skate” EA; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (blood and gore, crude humor language, mild vio­ , lence, tobacco reference) A new skateboard game from EA, “Skate” features an innovative control scheme that has the Xbox 360 con­ troller’s right thumbstick actuating EA many masterful moves with a flick, a swoop and a swipe. “Skate” is easy to learn but hard to master. It’s good looking, expansive like a candy store and great fun all the while. “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition” Bethesda; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, language, sexual themes, use of alcohol, violence) Though first released more than a year ago, the fantastic “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion” returns in this new “Game of the Year edition.” It contains the original, darned-near sentient role-playing game, plus the offi­ cial expansion, “The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles,” and the otherwise downloadable content, “Knights of the Nine,” all in one bundle to remind everyone what the modern role-playing game should aspire to — and for newcomers who haven’t yet bought it to give it a second thought. ALSO GREAT Be sure to check ’em out “Virtua Fighter 5” Sega; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (Suggestive themes, violence, use of alcohol) Violent-but-bloodless martial-arts fight game with an online component that matches you up with the best in the world. Good luck with that. “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” Activision; Xbox 360; $99.99 Elite ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) Air-guitar interactive “Guitar Hero III” is so righteously hot it’s al­ most as hard to find as a Wii. Xbox 360 “Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga” LucasArts; Xbox 360 ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (cartoon violence) You’re never too old to play with Lego. “Star Wars” is modestly eternal, too. “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” Activision; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language) Renders every warfare game before it obsolete. GOOD RENTALS Fun for a while; little lasting appeal “Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action” Microsoft; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (blood, language, sugges­ tive themes, use of alcohol, use of tobacco, violence) A great movie trivia game complete with four wireless buzz-in controllers, “Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action” will be the center of attention at your next cocktail party but serves little purpose as a single-player game, so just rent it the next time you have people over. “Need for Speed: Pro Street” EA; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (suggestive themes) The good thing about the innumerable “Need for Speed” games is that they always offer fantas­ tic smash-bang racing in mostly sexy cars, often with a new twist or variation on a race-and-chase theme. Of course, the bad thing about “Need for Speed” games is that they are innumerable, and “Pro Street” does little to distinguish itself be­ yond latest-and-greatest same-old. Rent it for the weekend and be done with it. “Clive Barker’s Jericho” Codemasters; Xbox 360; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, in­ tense violence, sexual themes, strong language) Clive Barker fans should probably rent “Clive Barker’s Jericho” just for the glut of “Hellraiser”-type grotesqueness and other Barker-fla­ vored monster-hor­ ror-shooter the­ Codemasters atrics, even though the game’s inconsistent production values and technical oddities smack of ambitions rushed to market. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. *For release the week of December 10, 2007. THE PLAYER’S PAGE Q4 roundup: Reviews & reflections Part of a year-end series on fourth quarter ’07 releases The latest trends, tips and reviews on video games SNEAKY DUDS Little appeal; just don’t bother “Ratatouille” THQ; PlayStation 3; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (cartoon violence) No way this movie-based game is worth $40; not even close. Assuming PlayStation 3 owners are mostly of the teen and adult variety “Ratatouille” , is hopelessly flawed, mechanically befuddled and a shamelessly derivative platform-hopping game of playing errand boy er, errand rat. But, if , you’re tempted to pick it up for a kid — a fan of the movie, perhaps — don’t go thinking of the game’s many flaws as forgivable by younger, “less sophisticated” gamers. It’s actually a worse experience for kids with little direction, few prompts and baffling objectives all worsened further by clunky controls and whacked camera angles. Rip-offouille. “The Golden Compass” Sega; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (mild language, violence) Some day , they’ll make a good game based on a good movie. Today is not that day and “The . Golden Compass” is sooooo not that game. The best, worst of PS3 By SHAUN CONLIN Cox News Service S ales of the PlayStation 3 (at right) picked up a bit in the last quarter of 2007. That’s partly due, no doubt, to the new reconfigured offering of a 40GB PS3 at a digestible $399. But it’s also because of a few exceptional games that came to market and gave holiday shoppers several reasons to buy a PS3. Hence, in Part 2 of this six-part series, we offer a quick recap of some of PlayStation 3’s hits and misses of Q4 ’07. BEST BUYS AAA productions, long-term play and re-playability “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” Sony; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (blood, language, mild suggestive themes, use of tobacco, violence) To describe “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” as a modern-day Indiana Jones game would be apt, but totally superfluous. The game is much more, much deeper, more intelligent, more witty more , morose, more graciously indulgent than a mere clichéd comparison affords. It’s a third-person action-adventure that excels at everything most other games only cover in passing. It boasts graphically outstanding theatrics and animations that are actually integral to gameplay (not just a highgloss facade), a story to care about, clever and eerily intelligent characters that you likewise care about (or revile), the works. “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” is the one game that proves, once and for all, that PlayStation 3 gaming can be beyond compare after all, just like they always said it could be. “Heavenly Sword” Sony; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (blood, language, suggestive themes, violence) Call it an homage or call it a knockoff, this “God of War” play-alike is nonetheless an extravagant and hugely entertaining hack-’n’-slash that also happens to feature a main character (at right) who is exceedingly easy on the eyes. The scenes and scenarios she hacks her way through, meanwhile, are similarly gorgeous — it’s a high-def PlayStation 3 game after all; “God of War” games are only available on the wimp-def PlayStation 2. “Pain” Sony; PlayStation 3; $9.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (crude humor sexual themes, violence) , Arcade simplicity Modern graphical glitz. Jackass humor. . What more do you want? How about a $10 price tag? Available exclusively for PlayStation 3 online in the PlayStation Store, download “Pain” and inflict exactly that by flinging guys across destructible cityscapes from a giant slingshot, cause as much damage as possible and make it look artistic in the process. Nobody dies, and there’s no blood. It’s all about the “rag-doll physics,” and it’s totally relentlessly hilari, Sony ous. Sony ALSO GREAT Worthy of high praise Activision “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” Activision; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language) Sure, you can get “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” on other systems, but if you already own a PlayStation 3, this is the perfect reason to remain faithful to it. “ Assassin’s Creed” Ubisoft; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood, strong language, violence) This is sort of a “ ‘Prince of Persia’ goes medieval” while also being preoccupied with religious righteousness and the merits off assassination for somebody else’s notion of the greater good as you scamper from rooftop to alleyway to stonewalled parapet to town square, knife ever ready . “Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction” Ubisoft Sony; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (alcohol reference, animated blood, crude humor fantasy violence, language) , Mind-bogglingly big, excessively indulgent with its weaponry and really funny “Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction” contin, ues with the top-tier production values of Sony’s flagship franchise. GOOD RENTALS Fun for a while; little lasting appeal “The Simpsons Game” EA; PlayStation 3; $59.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (alcohol reference,cartoon violence, crude humor) “The Simpsons Game” translates the trademark look and humor of the EA celebrated cartoon sitcom perfectly — the game actually plays out like a genuine episode, one where the Simpsons discover they are just characters in a video game. Actual gameplay is mostly derivative schlock, though it is exceptionally funny . “Time Crisis 4” Namco Bandai; PlayStation 3; $89.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (violence) Though lightgun games are still a staple of coin-op arcades, the whole point-and-shoot point of it all gets pretty old pretty fast at home on the PlayStation 3 — not worth 360 quarters, anyway . That said, rent “Time Crisis 4” (the lightgun comes with it) for a weekend of arcade nostalgia all dressed up in high-definition graphical sumptuousness and featuring the timely catharsis of shooting terrorists. THE PLAYER’S PAGE Q4 roundup: Reviews & reflections The latest trends, tips and reviews on video games ALSO GREAT Be sure to check ’em out “Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles” Capcom; Wii; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, violence) A sidestep for the rightfully acclaimed “Resident Evil” survival/horror franchise, “Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles” makes a straight-up lightgun-target shooting game of it. It’s hor- rific and gory — as you’d expect from the premier zombie-killing series. It’s best played in little cathartic spurts with the Wii Zap- per, although you can play it with just a Wii-mote, too. “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure” Capcom; Wii; $39.99 Capcom ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (cartoon violence) “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure” features the best integration of Wiimote motion-sensitive sensibilities to date. The game is clever, funny and kid-friendly cartoonish, but also cerebrally stimulating with the puzzles and their truly innovative Wii-mote-controlled solutions. “Super Mario Galaxy” Nintendo; Wii; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (mild violence) “Super Mario Galaxy” is the celebrated plumber’s best and biggest sojourn yet, and pretty much epitomizes “video game.” Wii’s big hits, misses By SHAUN CONLIN Cox News Service Part of a year-end series on fourth quarter ’07 releases T here’s a funny thing about Wii: It boasts many more good games with niche appeal than great games with mass appeal. It makes for a perplexing game-shopping experience that recently was exacerbated by the traditional fourth-quarter flood of titles that came to market for the holiday shopping frenzy. In Part 3 of our six-part series, we look at some of the Wii greats, a lot of the good ones and a few of the duds. BEST BUYS AAA productions, long-term play and re-playability “Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party” Konami; Wii; $69.99 (dance mat included) ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (mild lyrics) Though “Dance Dance Revolution” games have been around for years, the franchise seems all the more genuine on Wii in “DDR: Hottest Party Complete with a dance-mat .” peripheral that translates foot placement into on-screen, icon-matching dance steps, “Hottest Party” also incorporates the Wii-mote to great, arms-a-wavin’, fists-a-pumpin’ effect. It’s a serious workout if you’re into the dance-like-this-or-else game thing. Alternately if you’re into the serious workout thing for the , sake of a serious workout, there’s a workout mode, too. GOOD RENTALS Fun for a while; little lasting appeal “Rayman: Raving Rabbids 2” Ubisoft; Wii; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (cartoon violence, crude humor) Derivative, yes, but “Rayman: Raving Ubisoft Rabbids 2” is nonetheless a great little goofball party game, replete with a Deep Purple jam, fart wars and a whole lot of loony rabbits (er, Rabbids) freaking and shrieking. It’s a little too brainless to keep you coming back, and many of the minigames therein are just plain stupid, but it’s loads of fun for a weekend, especially with multiple players. “EA Playground” EA; Wii; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) Yet another mini-game collection, this time packaged as a handful of quickie sports and activities you might find in a nicely rendered school playground or, in some cases, a school amusement park (tetherball, soccer, slot cars, etc.). The mini-games each offer varying degrees of fun for a while, but more as shallow novelties and otherwise lacking the addictiveness required to make it more than just an evening’s rental. “Smarty Pants” EA; Wii, $49.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (alcohol reference, tobacco reference) A family-friendly trivia game, “Smarty Pants” lets you manage difficulty settings for various age levels and divides questions across eight categories of potential interests (literature, sports, science, etc.). You can choose to play in teams, or let up to four players fend for themselves. On the downside, answering questions sometimes requires some goofy Wii-mote, motion gimmicks that kids will enjoy but , Grandpa won’t. Plus, it’s not much fun without a bunch of people playing. On the other hand, if all your Wii sessions involve multiple players, go for it. Otherwise, rent it when friends come over — a good birthday party game, for example. “Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis” Rockstar Games; Wii; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) “Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis” would have been a good Ping-Pong game had it incorporated the Wii-mote to actually emulate one’s grip on a paddle. Instead, it’s used to emulate one’s thumbs swathing away on an Xbox 360 control pad, which is just ridiculous. Wii Nintendo Wii Zapper with “Link’s Crossbow Training” Nintendo; Wii; $24.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (fantasy violence) Think “Duck Hunt for the New Millennium” and you’ve got the Wii Zapper bundled exclusively with “Link’s Crossbow Training” game. It basically fuses the Wii-mote and its nunchuk attachment into a little machine gun sort of thing (and parents, please, don’t Nintendo fret; it’s got all the menace of an iPod-flavored water pistol) and then offers remarkably addictive shooting-gallery gameplay The Zapper is also con. ducive to gameplay in several other current and forthcoming Wii titles, such as … “Medal of Honor: Heroes 2” EA; Wii; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (violence) Surprisingly EA managed a good World War II shooter this year. It’s , even more surprising that it’s found on Wii, not exactly a console known for its hard-core military appeal. Nevertheless, “Medal of Honor: Heroes 2” is a solid shooter that actually works (several shooters have come to Wii, but most have come off as clunky affairs with sloppy aim) and it works all the better when using the Wii Zapper. SNEAKY DUDS Little appeal; just don’t bother “Soulcalibur Legends” Namco Bandai; Wii; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (animated blood, mild language, suggestive themes, violence) You’d think waving the Wii-mote like a sword and slashing through wave after wave of enemies with “slash me” written on their foreheads would be a specialized fit and naturally great on the Wii. You’d be totally wrong. “Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal” Warner Bros. Interactive; Wii; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (10+) (cartoon violence) Great box art; colorful, inviting and playful — the promise of endearing nostalgia. Open the box, and the promise is broken. Parents . Warner Bros. curse, and children cry THE PLAYER’S PAGE Q4 roundup: Reviews & reflections The latest trends, tips and reviews on video games GOOD GEAR Peripherals for your gaming pleasure Lachesis Precision Gaming Mouse Razer; $79.99 Though the “edge” provided by gaming peripherals might simply be a placebo effect, Razer’s new Lachesis precision gaming mouse is one heck of a sugar pill. This “bringer of silent death” is a 4,000 dpi laser mouse boasting geek-speak chic like 1,000Hz Ultra- polling, 1ms response time and on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment. In layman’s terms, the thing can read your every twitch faster than you can dole it out, and Razer that really does seem to provide a competitive edge. Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard Ideazon; $89.99 Ideazon’s new Merc Stealth Illuminated Gaming Keyboard boasts a dedicated, configurable key spread added to the left of its conventional QWERTY layout, plus extra USB and audio ports built in. It’s also backlit, which is ideal for low- light game sessions, like LAN parties. Keyboard Quiver Dust-Off; $69.99 Speaking of LAN parties, if you’re a gamer prone to packing up all your gear and toting it off to dedicated, in-person multiplayer sessions (i.e. LAN parties), you’ll likely appreciate the Keyboard Quiver (shown at right) from DustOff. It’s a sling pack that neatly and safely coddles and stows your otherwise unwieldy keyboard and other peripherals. The best of PC games By SHAUN CONLIN Cox News Service Part of a year-end series on fourth quarter ’07 releases T he last three months of 2007 saw many console games come to market. But there were plenty of solid titles for the PC as well. As part of our continuing look at fourth-quarter 2007 releases, here’s a recap of some of Q4 ’07 hits and misses for the PC. BEST BUYS AAA productions, long-term play and re-playability “Crysis” Electronic Arts; Windows PC; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (blood, strong language, violence) Though you might wonder why the Windows PC library seems overwrought with big, huge sci-fishooter extravaganzas, you might as well wonder why they keep building fast cars. The fact is, there’s nothing quite as cathartic as an overly heroic game of saving the world from alien invaders — and who doesn’t want nanosuit armor? EA’s “Crysis” takes the winning formula and adds vexing artificial intelligence, huge levels that give you a multitude of routes and ways to accomplish any given task (go stealth, go guns ablaze, go jack a tank and hightail it outta there), and where collateral damage is not just eye candy but a means to get , the job done. All that is delivered with consummate graphical grandeur — provided you’ve got an aptly powerful gaming rig. Dust-Off ALSO GREAT Be sure to check ’em out “Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition” Ubisoft; Windows PC; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Everyone (6+) (mild fantasy violence) Before games became a multi-billion-dollar industry Windows PC always sported base distrac, tion applications to help clock-watchers kill time at the office, or help students pretend to be productive during computer-science class. Ubisoft “Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition” is both a throwback to the days when computer games simply did things like compute, but also a comprehensive and actually useful chess game that will teach novices of any age the basics, and advanced players how to advance more, courtesy of eight-time national chess champion Josh Waitzkin. name only Although it does contain a . generous helping of the limb-severing gunfire that made the series famous, it contains none of the celebrated gameplay mechanics that actually made it fun to play . “Payback” is just a shameless hack job from an obscure developer forced to cough up a hackneyed shooter with a licensed name to help stuff the shameless coffers of Activision, the publisher now known as the duper of formerly loyal fans. “Crysis” Electronic Arts “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” Activision; Windows PC; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language) Formerly the benchmark for World War II-era shooters, the “Call of Duty” franchise enters the realm of the now with “Modern Warfare.” The game features state-of-the-art weaponry and an online component that sees dozens of players acting out huge, fictional-but-plausible tactical battlefield scenarios in real time. Though also available on the new generation consoles, “Modern Warfare” seems at its natural best on PC, where it has become — and will likely remain — the new benchmark for large-scale war gaming for quite some time to come. “Quake “Enemy Territory: Quake Wars” Activision; Windows PC; $49.99 Wars” ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) (mild blood, mild language, violence) Not just an update for the sake of exploiting a popular franchise, “Enemy Territory: Quake Wars” takes the celebrated shooter series in a new direction, i.e. forward. It’s an online-only game (more or less), bigger than ever, more elaborate and much more multifarious with the various characters of specialized skill sets, each armed with far-out weaponry and farther-out attack vehicles, all going at it in a variety of big and ornery maps, while mission mandates and objectives actually change or come anew on the fly in real time, depending on how the , battle is unfolding. That’s exceptionally cool because it makes for uniquely dynamic, assiduously purposeful multiplayer gameplay . “Gears of War” Microsoft; Windows PC; $49.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language) Unlike another famous Xbox game (cough ... “Halo 2” ... cough) making its way to PC for the sake of milking a cash cow with tired, old gameplay and substandard graphics, “Gears of War” for PC is not only a timely rendition of an Xbox 360 game, it’s actually a tad bit better as it features improved graphics and some new and exclusive single-player content. That’s on top of the fact that “Gears of War” was already the best survival/horror/tactical/action/scifi/warfare/duck-and-cove shooter game in town. SNEAKY DUD Little appeal; just don’t bother “Soldier of Fortune: Payback” Activision; Windows PC; $39.99 ESRB Rating: Mature (17+) (blood and gore, drug reference, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language) An absolute insult to the many ardent fans of the “Soldier of Fortune” franchise, “Soldier of Fortune: Payback” is the third game in the series in Activision