VideogameVagabond.com

When some companies update their sports games, the changes from release to release are so minor, so cosmetic, it would make Jane Iredale jealous enough to look into IP infringement. That’s not the case with Wolverine Studios and developer Gary Gorski.

2007 has been a banner year for Gorski and Wolverine; they began the year updating their pro basketball game into the well-received Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball, them releasing the second iteration of their pro golf sim, Total Pro Golf 2. Now, just before the Christmas holiday, the company has managed to release their version of college hoops, Draft Day Sports: College Basketball.

Actually, DDS:CB is an update of Gorski’s last take on college ball, Total College Basketball, which was originally released through Grey Dog Software before Gorski broke off on his own and formed his own publishing concern, Wolverine Sports. Since he was the sole developer working on TCB, he was able to take the game with him, but with the release of DDS:CB, the franchise is now back to being completely in his control.

Using a code base and design sense that debuted in DDS: Pro Basketball, College Basketball is functionally quite different from Gorski’s pro game. For one thing, instead of a pro draft and free agent period that predominantly takes place in the off-season, DDS:CB boasts one of the most detailed, advanced and in-depth college recruiting engines found in any college hoops title on any platform; yes, that even includes beating out the critically-acclaimed College Hoops 2K8 from 2K Sports, found on most console systems.

In Total College Basketball, recruiting involved only a slim selection of actions, including putting a player on a weekly call/watch list, as well as the occasional opportunity to schedule a campus visit, home visit, watch a game, or scout a game in-person. While that game stuck very closely to real-world recruiting limitations, the interaction between coach and player was limited but functional. With DDS: College Basketball, recruiting has grown into a complete game experience all its own, and can take place both in and out of season, still in strict accordance with current NCAA contact restrictions, as well as a realistic budgetary limitation on recruiting. (e.g., the larger the school you coach at, the higher the budget available for recruiting the best possible players.)

The main difference between TCB and DDS:CB is that the new game has amped up the sense of real contact between player and coach. One is able to interact directly with potential recruits via interactive phone calls, and the player’s responses are based on not only his general interest level in your program, but in your coach’s ratings as well. Also, recruiting success is highly dependant on coaching skills in DDS:CB; even the best coaches won’t necessarily see a player’s true ratings in basketball skills and abilities, but a less experienced coach with low ratings in the areas of scouting and recruiting, for example, could really vary quite a bit from their actual, hard-coded abilities.

For example, with low ratings, a less experienced coach might look at a Greg Oden-style player and see only an average center, while at the same time looking at a guy like Minnesota Gophers center Spencer Tollackson and seeing an all-Big 10 talent where only an average player exists. As one progresses through a coaching career and improves these abilities, perceptions will stray less and become more accurate, but will never be 100 percent true.

This is because that even among very talented coaches, opinions vary and DDS: College Basketball reflects that; current Gophers coach Tubby Smith, for example, valued Canadian point guard Devoe Joseph very highly and pursued him with intensity before signing him. Joseph actually plays shooting guard in Canadian high school ball, and so some equally-talented college coaches never pursued him has a point guard prospect. While Devoe was highly pursued by both Kansas and Minnesota, for example, Florida and Duke never seriously went after him.

Wolverine developed DDS: College Basketball by following a very public path of opening the beta testing of the game to anyone who purchased a pre-order of the game. This allowed the company a plethora of opinion from the people who play the game most: devoted fans. While no game releases without any flaws, this public beta has produced a relatively stable, clean version of the game in its initial release.

Also, developer Gorski has announced on his company’s message boards that the game as released will see new features introduced as time goes on, as he has added to the code base the capacity for several new features suggested by his public beta-testers, but that are, in release version 1.0, currently not utilized. Therefore, we can expect the game to get even more feature-rich as time goes on and successive patches are released.

Supported once again by a devoted and prolific mod community, Draft Day Sports: College Basketball’s official release is free of any trademark infringement, but for those who desire a more genuine, real-world experience with the game, there are unofficial mods available that can enable those daring enough to modify the game to make sure they are playing, for example, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, rather than the Minnesota Rodents. Since these mod designers are not employed by Wolverine and reap no profits from their freely-distributed efforts, it’s a no-harm, no-foul situation that can make the game feel perhaps a bit more authentic.

The real benefit of the game, however, is the way in enables multiplayer online leagues to be formed and supported through the game itself; a full-featured commissioner’s office is available so that online league administration is possible. In the 1.0 release, however, this is the least-changed feature of the game and although some much appreciated minor fixes have been implemented, such as making it possible for the game to track the money spent each week on recruiting functions by each team, the game still tasks the commissioner to enter many functions manually, rather than allowing each player to accomplish these tasks within the game and email their team file to the commissioner.

This is an unfortunate oversight that makes being the commissioner of an online league far more labor-intensive than it ought to be; hopefully some of the upgrades waiting in the code for future patches include automating some of these owner/commissioner tasks by expanding the actions the .tem file is able to capture.

Such minor oversights, however, do not make this game any less amazing an upgrade than it is. While many uses of Total College Basketball never thought the game could be improved, Wolverine and Gorski are, as always, incredibly open to user feedback and have implemented the best and most-often requested improvements into the new title already; as future patches promise only to add to the experience, the end result is a game that is at the top of its class. Whether compared to competing text management sims or the company’s own released in the past year, Draft Day Sports: College Basketball is the best game of its kind on the market today.

Much as I hate to admit it as a longtime Sony devotee, Microsoft is making a lot of right moves in the Xbox 360 era. Their platform was the first to play host to the first and biggest hit of the new generation of hardware, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. They’ve gone on to play host to such unique hits as Gears of War, Mass Effect, Halo 3, and even Bioshock. Now, their latest effort at irresistible Xbox 360 exclusives is: Final Fantasy XII! Well, not really. But perhaps, in a way, it is a title that deserves that nom de plume more than the tales of Vann and Panello ever did, at least in the eyes of purists.

I’m talking, of course, about Blue Dragon. Yes, Blue Dragon is not published by SquareEnix. Yes, Blue Dragon is not part of the Final Fantasy series. And yes, Blue Dragon is not appearing on either a Nintendo nor a Sony system. But in three ways that count, Blue Dragon is the “next Final Fantasy” for those who appreciate the work of a game’s creators, more than its brand name.

You see, Blue Dragon, developed by Mistwalker Studios and published by Microsoft, is the brainchild of three of the most important minds in Final Fantasy history. Hironobu Sakaguchi is the game producer and scenario writer for Blue Dragon, a role he played in pretty much the first 10 installments of the Final Fantasy series.

Akira Toriyama is the character designer for Blue Dragon, and it is his art that set the tone for many early Final Fantasy titles, as well as several other early SquareEnix titles. Finally, Nobuo Uematsu is the composer of Blue Dragon, and it is his compositions that adorned many of the early Final Fantasy and other SquareEnix titles.

Sakaguchi fell out of favor with Square after his Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie flopped at the box office and, as Square either merged or formed partnerships with other major Japanese RPG developers, such as Enix, GameArts and others, the Final Fantasy series has moved on without Sakaguchi-san.

But Bill Gates felt the guy who created Final Fantasy might have a few good ideas left and, given the freedom to create completely new IPs instead of more Final Fantasy iterations, just might find that old spark of creativity once again. So he drafted Sakaguchi to form Mistwalker Studios and add talent around him, which included Toriyama and Uematsu, and create a series of Xbox 360-exclusive titles for the Seattle-based billionaire’s second go at a gaming console.

Blue Dragon is Mistwalker’s first release to see the light of day. It’s anime-inspired, cartoony style, provided by co-developer Artoon, aligns the game with some of the earlier Final Fantasy titles, as well as Final Fantasy IX. Yet it is by far not the only release planned. Announced and forthcoming from Mistwalker for the Xbox 360 are Cry On, Lost Odyssey, an as-yet untitled RPG project that promises to be a 50-50 mix of RPG and MMORPG, as well as an already-planned sequel to Blue Dragon, tentatively titled Blue Dragon 2. Mistwalker is also branching into handheld development with tactical RPG, ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Away, and Blue Dragon DS, all for Nintendo’s DS platform.

But all of that means nothing if Blue Dragon falls flat on its face, right?

Relax. Blue Dragon is loads of fun. Spanning an amazing three DVDs, Blue Dragon is a lengthy, epic turn-based RPG that should reinvigorate interest in the turn-based battle systems by keeping the pace swift and options widely varied.

Immediately familiar despite being a completely new IP, the tale begins with a humble village that seems to be attacked by “land sharks.” Three young friends, determined to save their village from another devastation by this creature, set out to destroy it and uncover shocking truths about its nature and origin that are just the tip of the iceberg in this massive RPG epic, and even with all that, there’s not a stair lift in sight, in spite of the geriatric-seeming main villain.

The basic concept in Blue Dragon is a bit odd when you first encounter it; most characters have shadows that become living guardians, imbuing warriors with powers beyond their own abilities in battle. It’s cutesy and cartoony in concept and design, and might vaguely bring to mind the old PlayStation 2 RPG, Okage: Shadow King. Well, wipe the bad memories of that title from your mind right now; Blue Dragon is fresher, more entertaining and offers a far deeper story than OSK ever approached.

The turn-based battle system relies mostly on the abilities of these magic shadows, and each turn offers gamers a wide variety of choices. When played on easy mode, Blue Dragon follows the standard mold of PS2-era Square RPGs, keeping most encounters relatively easy, but ramping the difficulty level up past 11 when it comes to major boss battles. And there are some battles you are doomed to lose for storyline purposes, though they are rather obvious. In hard mode, the battles are more balanced, and a downloadable extreme mode makes the game rather hard to conquer at all, even when facing basic enemies, although it can be done.

These extra modes inspire some replay appeal, although the story remains essentially the same on repeat play-throughs. And considering the amount of time required to explore every inch of Blue Dragon, completing everything and finishing all three DVDs of content, some gamers may want to go play something else before embarking on any replays at all. It’s a massive story that can deliver over 100 hours of play to anyone inspired to explore every nook and cranny and not cheat themselves by skipping over the very entertainingly-told story.

While Blue Dragon is clearly old school in its cartoonish art and turn-based gameplay mechanics, very distinctly different from a completely next-gen RPG-style title like Mass Effect, Blue Dragon definitely delivers something to the 360 that the original Xbox system never had enough of: an RPG so original, exciting and appealing, it will make PlayStation fans feel like they’re missing out on something important in the RPG landscape.

Perhaps one of he most disturbing aspects of Season Three of the ABC suspense drama Lost is how it humanized the mysterious group known as The Others. Although Michael Emerson’s Henry Gale/Ben Linus benefited most from this, the actor who made it the most chilling was M.C. Gainey in his role as Tom.

When the man whose voice for so long had been identified with the unknown evil of The Others turns to Jack in the observation deck of the surgery room, where Jack and Tom are watching a soundless conversation between Ben and Juliet, and tells Jack, “They have a history,” it is at once disturbingly compassionate and equally disturbingly chilling. That kind of subtlety has rarely been offered M.C. Gainey, who has made a career of playing heavies, but he pulls it off masterfully, one of many fine moments Gainey has achieved in the role.

I think that’s why Lost has attracted such a fine and accomplished set of actors in this three-year run, be they established vets like Gainey, or virtual newcomers like Evangeline Lilly, who plays Kate Austen and became an overnight sensation. Series creators J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelhoff and Jeffrey Lieber simply know how to write compelling scenes that allow actors to shine and show off their range. The structure of the show, riddled with character-revealing flashbacks, allows even the darkest of characters to reveal sympathetic experiences that led them to be who they are in the present.

Season Three was certainly no letdown for this reviewer. From the Hurley episode “Tricia Tanaka Is Dead,” in which we learned about his absentee father who came back into his life only after he won the lottery, to the John Locke episode “Enter 77,” in which we finally learn how Locke came to be paralyzed four years prior to his arrival on the island, the season is filled with gripping episodes and instant-classic character moments and big reveals.

It’s clear why actors and actresses far prefer working on a drama like Lost as opposed to, say, a commercial promoting tonneau cover sales. It’s a rare case of television allowing an actor a showcase that boosts their career profile so much that not only can it lead to other, more prominent television roles, but can even lead to an improved movie career.

The show, of course, is even better when the episodes can be viewed in close succession. This makes the program ideal for DVD release, of course. Since it’s debut, complete season DVD sales have been strong for the show, and Season Three is no exception. In fact, it could be the best collection to date, not only featuring extras like episode commentaries on the regular six discs of episodes, but also sporting a seventh DVD devoted exclusively to special features.

Filled to the brim with documentaries, interviews, gag reels and other fan-pleasing content, Lost Season 3 is a great package to pick up, especially now that the WGA Writer’s Strike threatens to shorten Season 4 to a mere eight episodes, or possibly even delay broadcast of the season an entire year or more, depending on when writers and producers can finally bury the hatchet and come to terms.

Some critics claimed that Lost slowed pace a bit, and lost its way in the third season; this reviewer couldn’t disagree more. In pouring over the 23 episodes of Season 3 again, it was made clear to me that, apart from perhaps NBC’s Heroes, there simply is no one out there doing such compelling “novel for television” episodic drama today, and let’s be honest – were it not for Lost, there would be no Heroes. This full season package, of course, is a must-have for anyone remotely entertained by the show.

Let me be up-front about something right away: I am a late-comer to the Guitar Hero phenomenon. How late, you ask? Well, Guitar Hero 3 for the PS3 is actually my first exposure to the title, in terms of owning it. I played some GH2 on PS2 in a videogame store a couple times before, and that was it.

So how am I qualified to comment on the third installment in the series? Simple. I’m approaching it as the first PlayStation 3 appearance of the franchise, and judging it on next-gen terms. Simple. And if ever you wanted to hook a game up to an HDTV, but were waiting because you lacked the proper HDMI switches, now’s the time to get that squared away, because this game looks quite a bit better in high-def.

A lot of the reviews I’ve read of GH3 have commented on the song list, critiquing the title for overlooking contributions by their favorite artists. I can understand that, but when the bulk of a review is spent grumbling about what I title doesn’t include rather than what is included, perhaps it’s time for a fresh perspective.

Now, I’m blessed. I was able to experience Guitar Hero 3 with the benefit of the Les Paul wireless guitar controller for PS3. Although it’s a bit on the smallish side, it has the look and build of a real guitar, which is completely kosher in my book.

Once I’d hooked everything up, I was pleased with how natural it was to find the PS button to turn both the controller and the PS3 on. The rest of the controls were easy to find as well, so long as I was just trying to start up the game.

After I began my adventure in the tutorial, though, I found that mastering the controls was a bit harder than expected. It wasn’t from a lack of orientation; it was more from a simple training of my brain to move the proper hand and fingers in response to the proper screen prompts. Initially I was making rookie mistakes like tapping the chord buttons and holding down the strum bar. By the time I was done with the tutorial, I had most of the initial kinks worked out.

It was a different story for my wife; when she adjusted to the game in the tutorial, her big hurdle was to avoid the temptation to strum with her right hand. As a person who plays some guitar, her muscle memory gravitates toward strumming constantly, but if you do that in GH3, you’re ending long notes early by initiating new strums. However, she also adjusted quickly.

My wife observed that the key to adjusting to the game is to think of it more like playing keyboards rather than playing guitar, and I found that analogy to be a good fit. Learning the game is a slow process and even after a trip through the tutorial, it’s easy to be overwhelmed in the early going, so that, for example, even when you have a long note, you’re initially hesitant to use the whammy bar because you need so much concentrating to make sure you’re not missing too many notes.

The game does have a decently deep song list to explore, a solid career mode with plenty of blister-inducing challenges and bosses to overcome, and an online component that adds value to the experience. When training up, I was quite grateful for limited-note, heavily-pattern-based songs to warm up with, like Foghat’s Slow Ride and Pat Benetar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

Of course, the better songs are deeper into the game, and thankfully there are plenty of song packs adding to the total game experience, whether available separately, via download, or otherwise.

After several sessions playing the game, I am still a long way from being a Guitar Hero myself, but I am improving. And my wife, though she initially struggled a bit more than I did, has quickly learned how to string together impressive 40-plus consecutive note streaks without an error; I still max out at about 20 or so. But I’m working at it.

One feature I suspect is new to the series this time around is the “star power” ability that seems to take advantage of the PS3’s tilt sensitivity. When you hit certain note progressions without an error, you are granted Star Power in your Star Power meter. Once that’s filled up, all you have to do is tilt the neck of your guitar toward the sky and you enter Star Power mode where, so long as you keep hitting good notes, you have a chance to really rack up the points.

I suspect this feature was absent from earlier versions on PS2, since the tilt recognition may have been hard to utilize back then, unless they had wireless guitar controllers and a proprietary tilt recognition function built it. I could be wrong, but it just has the feel of a new feature for the next-gen title.

The online scoreboard and ranking are also nice features.

In the end, Guitar Hero III is an enjoyable and unexpectedly addictive addition to the still-young PS3 library. As the first PS3-native Guitar Hero title, GH3 comes out not only with the look of a rock-n-roll superstar, but the depth of talent to make sure it’s not a one-hit wonder.

Lots of licensed movie-to-videogame properties end up stinking worse than Bill Clinton and Rush Limbaugh in a mud-wrestling contest. Yet somehow, the Bee Movie game manages to avoid most of the pitfalls and offers up a fun action-platformer experience. And on the Xbox 360, no less!

Part of the appeal of the Bee Movie Game is the game’s sense of playful humor. My wife commented that few games make her laugh, but some moments from the game had her laughing so hard, her sides started hurting. Of course, having some Jerry Seinfeld as the source material doesn’t hurt.

The game loosely follows the plot structure of the film, with lots of expanded content over the course of the game. All the elements you’d expect in an action platformer can be found here; what makes it stand out is the witty dialog and direction. The comedy tends to be of the slapstick/pratfalls variety, which would send people scrambling for the nearest Charlotte cosmetic dentist if it ever happened to them in real life, but it works here.

There is plenty to do, even for the ADHD crowd. There are plenty of objects to collect, puzzles to solve and enemies to defeat. Plus, there is, in essence, a trophy room where you keep mementos of your exploits.

Bee Movie Game may not be as inventive within the genre as Rachet and Clank or Jak and Daxter, but it earns praise for sheer cleverness and comic sensibilities. The bee character is funny and enjoyable, and the humor is kept at a kids-safe level. What more could a person expect, realistically, from a game of this sort?

Over the past 3-5 years, two live-action movies (with a 3D CGI Garfield) have been made from Jim Davis’ comic strip, Garfield. While Brecken Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt aren’t exactly my idea of an all-star cast, Bill Murray’s voiceover work for Garfield was entertaining enough and the movies made for good, light-hearted fare that was safe for the while family to watch.

Now along comes Garfield Gets Real, a direct-to-video movie. If you were expecting another Meyer-Love Hewitt-Murray outing, you will be sorely disappointed in Garfield Gets Real. The title would seem to suggest a blending of live action and CGI animation, but all that’s here is a poor man’s imitation of Toy Story-quality CGI. There is no “real” in Garfield Gets Real.

If you have kids who have seen the live action Garfield movies, they may find the concept of Garfield Gets Real to be a bit confusing and disconcerting. In this film, which takes a post-modern approach, Garfield is aware of the real world, aware of his status as a comic strip star. It’s how he makes his living. And that’s a concept that even the comic strip hasn’t played around with, as far as I know.

The plot is bordering on being incomprehensible and is, at minimum, very slow-paced. The story meanders around showing off Dagwood of the Blondie comic strip in one scene, a generic superhero flying by in another. The upshot, when they finally get to it, is that there’s a hole between Garfield’s comic strip reality and the “real world,” and those who cross over never get back.

This is where the decision to go 100-percent CGI is so disappointing. We could have been treated to a Wizard of Oz in reverse situation, where the beginning and end take place in Garfield’s brightly colored world, but when he lands in the real world, everything becomes drab, dull and less full of life; but by having both worlds in CGI animation, that opportunity was missed entirely.

So of course, Garfield and others do get trapped in the real world and the remainder of the film is spent concerned with getting them back to comic-strip land. The paper-thin plot is simply uninspired and does not stand up to comparisons with other CGI movies like Toy Story or The Incredibles.

The loopy, “let’s toss this into the mix” design of the plot makes one wonder if perhaps a few creative types out in Hollywood need to brush up on their business performance management skills. Just saying.

Despite being a relatively brief film, clocking in at under 80 minutes, the DVD is rather light on the special features; in fact, it’s one of those auto-play DVDs that doesn’t take you to a menu screen, but just starts playing the previews, FBI warning and then the movie itself.

All in all, Garfield Gets Real is a reel disappointment; the cleverness of the two live action/CGI movies is absent and the plot is, simultaneously, both hard to follow and yet not very engaging due to its shallowness. One has to wonder if Jim Davis was involved at all; while the film is still family friendly, Garfield Gets Real won’t hold up to repeat viewings, even among die-hard fans.

A couple years ago, when BioWare bypassed the chance to rework NeverWinter Nights in favor of working on their own RPG project, the Internet erupted with speculation on the nature and type of game the highly-respected developer might have in mind. Since the early days of the original Baldur’s Gate on PC through Xbox masterpieces like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, the company has produced respect-inspiring hits throughout their existence.

And yet, Mass Effect is nevertheless a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring success. Even when you expect to be inspired, surprised and blown away, BioWare manages to exceed expectations and Mass Effect is no exception. As part one of a three-game trilogy, Mass Effect is an science fiction epic in the best tradition of Star Wars, Star Trek and, perhaps most noticeably, the new Battlestar Galactica.

From the opening moments, gamers realize they are playing a true next-generation videogame. The photorealism of the graphics is second to none - even the well-regarded Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Not only is one treated to a fantastically detailed 3D world, but everything in it seems the product of loving attention to detail. Hologram characters are see-through and when object behind them pass by, you can see distorted versions of those objects just as one might surmise the effect would be. That’s just one example.

More importantly, BioWare pulls off a goal that the folks at SquareEnix has been talking about since the launch of the PS2, and that is detailed enough character models that they can, through subtle, nonverbal looks, portray convincing and recognizable emotions. If you are harsh to a crewmate, a simple look can communicate whether you earned their respect or damaged their emotions. This helps place in-game characters on a level similar to real actors, in terms of conveying story in a videogame setting that has no live actors.

What helps deeply in achieving this goal is a new, far more complex dialog system for character interaction. Few if any games have ever attempted such a bold and ambitious branching dialog system as is found in Mass Effect, and your responses affect far more than in any previous game I am aware of, events throughout and the ultimate outcome of the story.

The story, at the outset, focuses on Captain Shepherd, who by default is a male, although you can create a female Captain Shepherd if you wish. In creating your Captain Shepherd, you are allowed to choose from a combination of backstory elements that could make Shepherd anywhere from a complete jerk to an idealistic hero; the choice is yours. There is not a large variety of costumes for Shepherd; he (or she) wears standard military issue togs, so you can’t deck your Shepherd out in gold chains or anything that exotic and out-of-tone, but that’s a good thing. However, the appearance of your Shepherd is highly customizable and effective, as well as subtle and natural-looking.

Either way, the central story centers around humanity as a new, promising, but relatively inexperienced member of a galactic community full of politics that cast humanity in every possible light, from favorable to demonic. The primary impression, however, seems to be one of jealousy as humanity seems to be climbing the ranks of the galactic council’s favored races far more quickly than species who have been waiting their turn for far longer.

Shepherd, it turns out, is a candidate to join an elite force of galactic enforcers who are necessary to keep order in the galactic alliance, but who operate so far above the power of the ruling council that when they go rogue, there is no balance to check their power. That’s the main reason for the galactic concern over a human joining such lofty ranks, as well as the initial plot device pushing things forward, as Shepherd is cast against an alien who, humanity believes, has indeed gone rogue.

What is especially impressive about Mass Effect is the size and variety of the explorable planets in the Mass Effect universe, each of them as fully realized and painstainingly individually designed as any one game world in any other game. Although the explorable worlds in Star Wars: KOTOR I & II was impressive for its time, Mass Effect takes this level of explorability to a new level of openness. Fans of Oblivion will find a comfortable home in Mass Effect, rather than feeling penned in.

And yet Mass Effect presents an entirely different sense of storytelling than did Oblivion. While Elder Scrolls IV was all about letting the story play out in action, Mass Effect’s story is more naturally integrated into gameplay, yet feels as tight as a cutscene, rather than a random encounter. Story elements trigger as you explore and play and battle your way through environments.

The battle system is also of note; gone are the optional turn-based/action-based options of Star Wars: KOTOR and in its place is an all-new action battle system that embodies the thrills of a squadron-based shooter, while maintaining the important character progression aspects of an RPG; Shepherd and his crew will grow in their skills and abilities as the game progresses and you level up.

The system is thoroughly enjoyable, delivering a smart combination of action-based visceral thrills as well as the tactical control and improvement aspects of the best RPGs. That allows a gamer to feel as they though have improved over the course of the game, rather than remained static and boring.

In terms of balance, the game has stretches that become talky and make one anxious for some action, yet the ability to explore such vast worlds and converse with such a diverse cast of characters holds an appeal all its own. Planetside missions can vary from action-oriented sequences to such procedural detective footwork as traveling to various locations, talking to and reinterviewing folks to unravel various mysteries.

The subtlety of the game is that its characterizations are rarely stark black-and-white, good-versus-evil situations; even seeming villains have motives that can be understood and, at times, even sympathized with. This is the art of high drama and Mass Effect certainly delivers the message that it is possible in this new generation of hardware to have storytelling, rather than graphic prowess, take center stage in a gaming experience.

That’s not to suggest there is a lack of action in Mass Effect; there are plenty of battles, some thrilling boss-level characters of the bowel-emptying variety; and a wide variety of locations and environments in which the action plays out.

In the final analysis, Mass Effect is more than another RPG; it is the next big “true next-gen experience” in modern videogaming and it is found exclusively on the Xbox 360. Now, that may not remain the case, of course; BioWare was recently purchased by EA Games and is no longer, after the first Mass Effect title, under any obligation to only develop future sequels exclusively for the Xbox 360. That said, the company is fond of the 360 platform and appears to have some independence of EA Games’ corporate mandates, so the series may indeed remain a 360 exclusive, which Microsoft would certainly love to see happen.

No matter what hardware platform the game appears on, however, Mass Effect definitely qualifies as the next great “next-gen must-play” game experience. Who knows? In years to come, the Mass Effect trilogy may yet be spoken of with the same reverence as film trilogies like the original Star Wars and the more-recent Lord of the Rings movies.

Certainly, the story Mass Effect has to tell is on no less epic a scale.

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try and try again.

That is the maxim that has built THQ’s WWE SmackDown vs. Raw into a winning wrestling game franchise. When the franchise first appeared after THQ outbid Acclaim several years ago - and initially appearing on the PSone platform - the game was a pale imitation of Acclaim’s game, which at the time was pretty impressive.

Times have changed, though. After two outings on PSone, about six outings on PS2 and now the company’s debut effort on PS3, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 is a smooth, slick, deep and detailed pro wrestling sim that gets better every year pretty much off the virtue of listening to user complains and responding to them with surprising flexibility.

This year, one of the main roster twists is that the game finally acknowledges the ECW brand. The show, which airs on SciFi, is now part of the game’s WWE schedule in 24/7 mode, and their superstars now part of the roster. Yet, like so many features that have become part of this game, there’s still work to be done to fully integrate ECW into SmackDown vs. Raw.

For one thing, you cannot play through Smackdown vs. Raw’s 24/7 mode (more on that in a bit) as an ECW superstar on the ECW broadcast. Perhaps that’s due to the far more detailed and varied storyline mode; the developers may not have had time to incorporate a complete set of ECW storylines into the mix, although that’s just a guess. At any rate, hopefully the 2009 edition will correct this oversight and fully integrate ECW into the mix, so that ECW stars and the ECW show are a complete and equal partner to the Raw and Smackdown brands.

One major change to the game this year is the complete elimination of two modes from the past two or three seasons; gone are both Manager Mode and Career Mode. Given the shortcomings of both these modes over the past 2-3 editions, that’s not a huge loss because what replaces it is a much more complete and comprehensive mode called WWE 24/7.

Named for their On-Demand PPV site, WWE 24/7 mode is the new storyline mode and it marks a big upgrade in gameplay and appeal. It marks the first time the game has offered gamers a chance to simulate more of a realistic schedule that WWE superstars have to fulfill, even though some niggling details are still overlooked.

In the mode, you either select an existing WWE star, or create one. Which brings up a great chance to mention the Create-a-Wrestler mode, as an aside. On PlayStation 3, the create a wrestler mode has finally become a refined and subtle tool for creating a realistic and convincing superstar to play as; gone are the days of uncustomizable, wacky, butt-ugly mods and in are a set of features, from head-to-toe, that look convincing. It is a noticable upgrade, especially when playing in 720p high definition. (Unfortunately, the PS3 version lacks a 1080p True HD mode this season … another area for improvement in the future.) Most of the costumes are solid, and do not consist of ridiculous things like baby clothes.

Anyway, if you select an existing WWE superstar, you’ll start out on the brand they were in when the roster was finalized; if you create a superstar, you can identify him with either Raw, SmackDown or ECW, but even if you select ECW, he won’t get to compete on that show, which is a shame.

If you begin as a created superstar, your first concern will be making the WWE roster, which means wrestling a set of Heat matches to show the GMs of SmackDown and Raw where your skill levels are; of course, this is tough, even in easy mode, because unless you’ve accumulated some upgrade first, most superstars you create will start out at a skill level of 36, competing against a roster of superstars ranking at skill levels of 70-95. That’s just tough.

Of course, over time, you can overcome this, but expect to lose a lot along the way.

The 24/7 mode has plenty of out-of-ring features as well as a wide variety of in-ring match types and challenges, and solid story variety. The mode is a true career mode that lasts several seasons and not just one. It is as well done as it has even been, and finally realizes some of the potential of what such a career-type mode ought to be.

One way in which the 24/7 mode could be improved is if THQ were to pay attention to the dialog and interaction system created by BioWare for Mass Effect; if a similar system were implemented for the storyline mode in SmackDown vs. Raw, it could offer gamers an even deeper level of immersion and a feeling they are affecting the course of their storyline.

The controls for this year are standardized across all platforms and on PS3 do not take advantage of the SixAxis’ motion sensitivity, which is a shame, especially since the Wii version does incorporate that - although the game is significantly different on Nintendo Wii.

The grappling system is less complex this year, and an all-new struggle and submission system adds some drama to those submission hold and escape maneuvers. The system is now pressure-based and responds on PS3 to how much pressure you apply to the control sticks - just don’t break ‘em, homey!

Graphically, the game is a step forward, especially in 720p, although the lack of a True HD 1080p mode on PS3 is a sore spot for Sony fans who want to get the most for their HD money, which is why many early adopters probably bought a PS3 instead of a 360. Still, the game has a long way to go to achieve next-gen refinement; next to a true masterpiece like Mass Effect, the graphics still have quite a way to grow.

SmackDown vs. Raw, over the years, has overcome many obstacles. When THQ first took over the WWE license, the company was determined to do a different style of wrestling videogame for each hardware platform. Some of us still remember WWE Raw for the original Xbox, WWE Royal Rumble for Dreamcast and WWE WrestleMania for the N64.

Yet with most of those games, a more arcade style of game play predominated and eventually it was the sim-style of SmackDown vs. Raw the proved most popular with wrestling fans, leading to THQ eventually narrowing the franchise to one game appearing on all platforms.

While THQ’s stewardship of the WWE license was shaky at best for the first four or five years, the company has really grown into its role as a group passionate about capturing a true-to-WWE experience for fans, even if they have a prominent and annoying habit of releasing modes and features that are, at best, works in progress.

However, in the end, THQ has proven adept at continual improvement or, as Vincent Kennedy McMahon might term it, ruthless aggression. The ECW element of the game, as well as the lack of 1080p resolution on PS3, are the most obvious examples of this, this season. But as time has proven, we can now count on THQ to come back next year with noticeable improvements to these shortcomings, as well as a handful of new ideas that, likewise, will be rough and in need of refinement.

And so it goes.

If ever a couple of videogames were, by themselves, reasons to re-outfit your entertainment room with an HDTV and a plasma TV lift, as well as all the other accoutrements of of the new generation of videogame goodness, Microsoft and their Xbox 360 partners have come up with it this holiday season.

I’m speaking, of course, about Mass Effect, developed by BioWare, and Blue Dragon, developed by Mistwalker Studios and - basically - created by the same minds that brought us the first nine editions of Final Fantasy. I have recently spend time with both and am completely re-devoted to my Xbox 360, which only a couple months ago was gathering dust as I had run out of new things to discover in Oblivion.

Like Oblivion, Mass Effect and Blue Dragon are also RPGs; none of these games, however, are very much lick each other. Everyone by now should know what Oblivion is like. Mass Effect is an sci-fi RPG that is more completely cinematic, photorealistic and deep than any game you’ve ever played.

Now, that’s not to say Mass Effect can’t be beaten quickly. I know one killjoy who bragged about “beating” the game in 30 hours. Personally, I like to take my time in good games and really explore and enjoy every nook and cranny, every encounter, every bit of dialog. And that’s where Mass Effect excels; with the quality of the animated actors, combined with the voice acting and an all-new, more complex than anyone’s ever seen before in a videogame dialog system, Mass Effect is a complete winner and probably the new winner of “a real next-gen RPG experience” award type of game. That honor previously rested with Oblivion.

Blue Dragon is completely engaging as well, but in completely different ways and for different reasons. Blue Dragon makes no pretenses of being photorealistic or completely immersive. Instead, it is quite simply chock full o’ action and never stops dishing up the thrills.

Of course, unlike Oblivion and Mass Effect, Blue Dragon is turn-based, but the system is do fun and fast, you might not notice.

Anyone who says the 360 is allowing PS3 to catch up hasn’t played Mass Effect or Blue Dragon.