The Jon Venture

By Jon Venture

This October, Xbox 360’s first exclusive singing party game from iNiS is getting a second act when Lips: Number One Hits takes the stage for more karaoke action. Combined with the original Lips game, Lips: Number One Hits is bringing even more hits to the party to get even the shyest wallflower up and singing with the crowd. So if you’re a professional karaoke killer with years of mildly sober experience or a newly crowned karaoke crooner, there will be plenty of memorable tunes to keep the living room concert going.

Lips: Number One Hits will feature popular tracks across a few genres that have all hit the #1 spot on major global music charts. These top tunes include:

• “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay
• “Disturbia” by Rihanna
• “U Can’t Touch This,” by MC Hammer
• “More Than Words,” by Extreme
• “Apologize” by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic
• “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club
• “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye
• “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison
• “Ready, Set, Go!” by Tokio Hotel

You don’t have to hide it. You’ve been waiting for an excuse to sing “More Than Words” in public for years now, not hiding behind that smooth workplace radio excuse. How did I guess? ‘Cause I already know.

If those tracks aren’t enough for you, both Lips and Lips: Number One Hits will combine for the ultimate setlist for amateur digital performers, sans plastic guitars and drums. With just the motion-sensitive LED wireless microphones, which are compatible with the top third-party music games releasing this fall, Lips: Number One Hits should let even those who wish to just shout it out and leave the instruments to the pros have an awesome time.

For performers who still want more, both the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the in-game Get Music Store feature a vast library of tunes that can be downloaded for both Lips titles. New tracks and songs packs are added regularly each week, so the party never gets stale with something new to wail.

Lips: Number One Hits launches this October 2009. For more details, check out our review at sfx-360.com this fall or visit the game’s website at lips.xbox.com.

By Jon Venture

What if everything you wrote down materialized right before your eyes? What if you needed a ladder, umbrella, or car and you just materialized it at will with the simple stroke of your pen? Developed by 5^TH Cell (Drawn to Life, Lock’s Quest) and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Scribblenauts is an upcoming side-scrolling puzzle action game on the Nintendo DS that brings that writer’s fantasy to life. Gamers will be able to control Maxwell (and the entire game) solely with their NDS stylus in order to find Scribblenauts’ MacGuffin devices, called “Starites”. Maxwell himself will be guided with a simple tap of the touchscreen, and interacts with objects in-game just as easily. The heart of Scribblenauts, and the reason I can barely contain my fanboy squeak while waiting for the game’s fall release, is that gamers will be able to create the objects Maxwell uses by just writing them on your screen.

After viewing a gameplay trailer at scribblenauts.com, I was simply blown away by the possibilities in the game. Spanning 200 levels and ten worlds, the puzzles in Scribblenauts will throw a new spin into the oft overused item collecting game mechanic. There will be casual levels with a simple goal in mind, and core levels with the platforming standard set of traps to trip you up, as well as rumored online play. The story will be expectedly simplistic, but then that’s not why you’d be playing Scribblenauts in the first place. Let’s say there’s a starite in a tree just out of your reach, and you have to reach it in time; one could summon a ladder to climb up and grab it, a football to throw at it to knock it out of said tree, or even a beaver to grind through the tree trunk and bring the starite down to the ground.

That’s @#$%ing amazing.

Please excuse the outburst, but I am compelled to play a game in which I not only control how I get from point A to point B, but what I use to get there. The only limits, within reason of course, are the imaginations of those who will be playing Scribblenauts. Yes, that will alienate those who wish games simply handed everything to them on a silver platter, but I’d rather be able to conjure a platter only if I wanted to.

Let’s try a little Scribblenauts writing exercise and see if it materializes before the game releases…

Scarlett Johansson, candle lit dinner, on the beach.

…

…

…

I’ll let you all know how that went when SFX 360 reviews Scribblenauts this fall.

Not just those who have fallen while fighting for my freedom, but each and every soul who laces their boots up at Reveille.

I thank you.

If it wasn’t for you all stepping up and sacrificing so much, the rest of us would never have the opportunities to play these games we love, or even love those we play these games with. We’d be on the front lines alongside of our brothers and sisters remembering what real gunfire was- not the petty digital bullets we run from.

I’ve got friends coming back, friends on their way, and friends on the front lines. My thoughts are with you all. And to my brother, who is on his way to becoming a great man fighting for this country, I love you dude. Please be safe.

Put down your controllers today and thank those who fight for you, regardless of your political point of view. They deserve that and so much more.

Happy Memorial Day

By Jon Venture

Friends laughed at my Nintendo GameCube, usually right before they got walloped at Mario Kart: Double Dash!! or Super Smash Bros. Melee. As they retreated to the kitchen to grab me a drink after a timely red shell knocked them out of first place contention, I would already have Metroid Prime running on my ‘Cube to show off just how much fun I was having on my black lunchbox. I didn’t need Master Chief to save the galaxy, just Samus and her sweet, sweet laser cannon.

Soon everyone will be able to relive (or begin) their adventures with Samus when Nintendo releases the Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii on August 24, 2009 for $49.99. Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will all be compiled on a single disc this fall with enhancements and widescreen presentation. The first two Metroid Prime titles, originally released on the GameCube, will also now feature enhanced motion controls for use on the Wii. Gamers will be able to jump back and forth across the three titles with a unified main menu, but I recommend sticking to the original order. There’s something succinctly satisfying about not having to swap discs or platforms to save the universe.

If you’ve only had hands-on time with the toughest female bounty hunter since Faye Valentine while playing a Smash Bros. title, you really owe it to yourself to pick up the Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii on August 24^th.

Punch-Out!! Review

By Jon Venture

It has been fifteen years since Little Mac has laced up his gloves for a few rounds in the squared circle, and over twenty years since he and I trained to take out Iron Mike on my NES. With the help of trainer Doc Louis, the three of us headed back to the ring with Punch-Out!! , released May 18, 2009 on Nintendo Wii. Published by Nintendo, developed by Next Level Games (Mario Strikers Charged), and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto (insert fanboy squeak here) both new and returning armchair pugilists can fight for the World Video Boxing Association championship and revel in the innocent nostalgia of beating a virtual man senseless and making orphans of his children. That is assuming the virtual mothers of said children die of grief. Not so innocent now that I think of it.

Punch-Out!! holds true to its roots by providing a challenging pattern-based game experience that feels old school but delivers a whole new series of frustrations. Players can control Little Mac using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck to throw punches, the optional Wii Balance Board to duck and dodge incoming strikes, or the Wii Remote by itself. The latter of the three options felt the closest to the original experience and in my experience was the most responsive way to play. Pity there was no support for the ergonomically designed Wii Classic Controller, though. The controls themselves were crisp, clean, and responsive on the Wii Remote, drawing the attention away from the gimmick of boxing on the Wii and reverting the attention to the pattern-based gameplay and over-the-top characters. Players who have never faced King Hippo or Piston Hondo before usually laugh… right before they get knocked the @#$% out. Learn their patters and respond in time, and you won’t end up on the canvas.

After winning the title, assuming you could take out Great Tiger and Bear Hugger, Punch-Out!! stretches its play time with Title Defense mode. In this series of bouts, returning opponents are faster and vary their styles, forcing players to tweak their game ever so slightly to come out on top. In the case of King Hippo, he even wears a manhole cover for protection from body shots. Odd and cartoony, but it adds to the charm of it all. Punch-Out!! also features a 1-on-1 mode, two player mode, Training mode, and Exhibition mode with individual goals to achieve. Plenty of modes to have fun with, but chances are you’ll be throwing your Wii Remote during your first few rounds on your way to winning the WVBA Title.

Punch-Out!! is ultimately a fun and exciting boxing game for you to enjoy on your Wii. After all, there are two exclamation points after the title. Yes, two!! Almost as exciting as this sentence!!! Or this one!!!! Not just a solid rental, I recommend you add Punch-Out!! to your Wii library and pick up a copy now. The nostalgia is great for veterans, and the quality gameplay holds up for everyone to enjoy. After a few rounds with Punch-Out!! , I don’t think you’ll be going back to boxing on Wii Sports anytime soon.

GameNARP ‘09 was already two days ago, but my head is still buzzing from all the chaos and Game Juice. My thoughts go out to Lady J who was a little under the weather for the event.

Alongside my awesome video editor/camera man/ hit man Roberto ‘Gecko’ Bueno, I was able to get some face time with Carlos Ferro, the voice of Dominic Santiago of Gears of War 2 and Don Michael Corleone of the Godfather 2. Thanks to SFX 360, all the gamers who came out to the event, and all of the gaming communities who made it possible.

And a special thanks to Momma Venture, who flew in from out of town to see her baby boy in action!

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Onward to E3!

Best 68th day ever.

My insomnia is growing exponentially as I wait for the promise land that is E3 in just over two weeks. I’ve been dreaming of going to the event since I first saw the spectacle on TV years ago. Yes, there’s the overwhelming joy of the games and lights and music pumping simultaneously through the convention walls and my veins, but going to E3 as a writer is what I’m looking forward to. That, and visiting the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ star on the Walk of Fame.

This isn’t some contest or raffle, nor did I win a G4 exclusive trip to LA. I’m heading over because I’ve earned it, because SFX 360 believes in me. I will make my family, friends, and SFX 360 proud.

To everyone who has stood behind me until now, I thank you. I’m almost there.

And to everyone else, to the nay-sayers who gave me excuses and falsely compassionate stares when I sought support, who gave up on me rather than give me a shot, please enjoy watching the jonventure pass you by.

I’ll be sure to take pictures. When I’m smiling directly into the camera… that’s for you.

E3 is coming, and Jon Venture will be there.