Hello fellow Gamespotters;

I have been gone for a while now haven't I? Well, TWiSTEDmerc has been busy with his final exams, Christmas, New Years, and college fee payments but no worries, that's all out of the way now and I have finally finished writing up some rather large reviews. I recently decided to pick up a Gamecube, why? I liked RE 4 so much that I wanted to find out what happened before so I finally decided that since it wasn't going to cost too much (only $80, and because I couldn't find the PS1 titles anywhere else – even at a cryptic old videogame / Movie rental store that has Genesis's, NES's, ATARI's and a load of other old gaming items). If there is one thing I'd like to say about the Gamecube is its game boxes, what's with all these extra pieces of plastic attached inside a game box, there's enough stable plastic sealing to hold an especially frail and valuable item, and what's with the hole in the game box? There's a 1 cm2 hole that I can only think is for air circulation – but that's a real long shot. And if I say one thing about Resident Evil, "It's the scariest game I've ever played" – and I am not lying at all. This game apparently has multiple endings and 2 playable characters so it will be a while before I review this game. I don't intend to get any other Gamecube titles except Resident Evil 0, 2, 3, and maybe Eternal Darkness as I still fully intend to get my PS3 in not long. What's even more troublesome? I will gladly pick up the other mainstream RE titles (though Code Veronica X, and Outbreak are out for now) and I know that RE 2 came to the PS1, PC, GC, & N64 though I haven't seen it on anywhere, until when I bought RE1, as I headed towards the back exit, I passed the N64 cartridges and saw… RE2, BLASTED!!! I know that a GC can't play N64 games and I really don't want to buy another old console, but boy-oh-boy do I want to play RE2 as well so what do I do, wait and see if I find RE2 (and of course RE3) on a console I own or through down what I'm guessing to total no more than $50? Please help me, this is a real problem, "Oh, and now let's get on to the next big feature:"

-YEAR in REVIEW-

So personally, this year was super whacky, companies made some miraculous turn arounds (ATARI) while others had a good last year but problems in their system this year really started to show (EA). SONY's PSP started off by kicking off 2 triple A games in early 2008, so good that some people who had originally abandoned their PSP and sold it off wanted it back, the PSP had a couple of other great games announced and released but the area was a little barren, SONY did release the PSP-3000 this year though. PS3 grew on and caught up close to what the XBOX 360 is now doing and pumped out some great exclusives, though it appears now that SONY will be the only publisher supporting its exclusive titles which isn't bad, but SONY is the only company doing work exclusively for the PS3, everyone else is just readying their PS3 & XBOX 360 games. On a high note, it seems that developers have had enough experience so that when they release oh say Bioshock, it will release on all consoles simultaneously and not need additional time to get to the PS3. The PS2 got some ports of otherwise only on PSP games, and a couple of other big whoppers like Guitar Hero: World Tour, LEGO Indiana Jones, Persona 4, etc even though it's time to go is nearly here. The PC was given that scary news flash of no more exclusives from CRYTEK and abundant piracy issues but 3 big MMORPGs were released, a Diablo III announcement, Sins of a Solar Empire releasing and the PC market still getting in with the big games (GTA IV, FALLOUT 3, CoD WW, etc). MICROSOFT did improved they're console a bit, but they had actually a good number of exclusives, XBOX Live has become a bit more desirable with the release of Braid, Bionic Commando, Megaman 9, and Castle Crashers. And every 360 could go nuts for their exclusive Ninja Gaiden II, Fable II, and Gears of War 2, but 2009 for MICROSOFT looks drab for the oldest of the 3 mainstream consoles. Nintendo's Wii had a great start with No More Heroes, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit, and console sales pushed past 2 million in Thanksgiving. Though as the year went on things got quiet, and disappointing with the forgettable Super Mario Sluggers, and the toy-more-than-game Wii Music seeing horridly low sales, Warioland: Shake It! and Animal Crossing: City Folk, did help a little but the other developers and publishers gave the Wii some help with World of Goo, Bloom Box, etc. And the Nintendo DS once again had a load of games arrive with enough good ones to keep masses of gamers happy, and the announcement of a DSi. So there you go, Happy New Year…

FINAL GRADE

B+

REVIEWS:

BULLY: An excellent game deserves a solid recommendation, my review is right here.

MERCENARIES 2: WORLD IN FLAMES: Mercs 2 is by far a critical disappointment, you can only expect the player to tolerate so much, here's the review.

THE SIMPSONS GAME: Homer, "Now Bart, if I wanted to play a game, I would have picked up one that I mocked because mine is just OK… D'oh!"

TWiSTEDmerc