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Text-based sports management sims have come into their own heyday recently, and one of the franchises that’s been around since before they became cool again is the Out of the Park Baseball series by Out of the Park Developments and published by PISD Software. The latest iteration, OOTP 9, is a game that had a generously-sized development team for a game of this type – seven people.

That team includes two lead developers, three team members who did extra coding, an art designer and a product manager. Considering most games in this genre are a one- or two-developer labor of love, that’s a huge staff. Of course, modern PS3/360 platform sports videogames like Madden NFL 09 or MLB 2K9 probably have PR departments, motion-capture staffs and memberships in the wine of the month clubs that are considerably larger than that – but that’s not the sort of game this is.

As a PC-centric text-based sports management sim, the emphasis of Out of the Park Baseball 9 is not on bleeding-edge 256-bit HD graphics, but on statistically-solid, realistic gameplay. If that’s your kind of thing – and L-RD knows, baseball stats fans like their games realistic – then OOTP 9 might be the baseball sim for you.

It’s been more than one iteration since the last time I checked out OOTP, and one of the first things that jumped out at me is the interface improvements since the last time I played a demo of the game, back around OOTP Baseball 6.

The menu is large, clear and self-explanatory, and includes friendly options for those who are upgrading from previous versions of the franchise, so that they can at least try to continue their dynasties in the new version. As I didn’t have any old save files from a previous version, I wasn’t able to test this feature, but word on the chat boards seems to indicate that it’s been a relatively smooth transition, though not without some rare and minor issues.

Once you actually get started selecting your team and such, OOTP’s “manager home page” system is laid out in three-columns and is organized and self-explanatory enough to be both appealing and not a huge hurdle to accessibility. You’ll always know where your team stands, thanks to this handy layout, and while you are offered a “play today” option for games where the game can unfold pitch-by-pitch, there are also four auto-sim options that will soon become the way most folks will eventually navigate their way through a season.

The menus are all clearly defined and easy to understand, the sim-screen adds a fun visual 2D element, and if you play through a single game pitch-by-pitch, the 2D display is serviceably but never forgets that it’s a 2D, text-based, sports management sim. (That’s intended as a compliment.)

Full of stats galore, powerful player search tools, and plenty of ways to use the game as a basis for a multiplayer league, OOTP 9 is a solid entry in the series and sets a standard others in the genre will have to meet or exceed to be considered “in the game.” OOTP 9 is already a step ahead of Baseball Mogul in that it features a more flexible financial model that scales to the era appropriately; and it’s interface is superior to PureSim Baseball 2007, though Shaun Sullivan is now hard at work relaunching his franchise for Wolverine Studios under the Draft Day Sports: Baseball moniker.

But until that competitor emerges for comparison, it can be clearly stated that Out of the Park Baseball 9 is the clear standard-setting this summer when it comes to PC-based baseball management sims. With a great feature set, a superior interface and top-notch organization and design, as well as realistic results, it would be hard to name a currently-available competitor that is even … in the ballpark.

It’s been four years (wow!) since I reviewed the last version of this PC game, and in that time, although the political landscape has changed quite a bit, Political Machine 2008 has changed hardly at all. Sure, there’s a roster update, but the game itself, as well as its art and design, have hardly changed at all.

Intended as a quick-play title that brushes over the details, Political Machine 2008 lets you choose to play as either a GOP or Dem candidate and they tosses you in against a series of increasingly difficult-to-defeat opponents from the other side of the aisle.

The strengths of the game four years ago are still strengths today; the game is sharp and fast-paced and even displays some wit at times. It keeps its politics fun and breezy, like an MTV campaign ad, rather than a PBS documentary on the political process.

Unfortunately, the game is simply too simple to appeal to the deeper political thinker; with the right strategy, in this game, Jimmy Carter can win over Ronald Reagan in a landslide, and we all know how he fared historically. (Yup, Carter got beat so bad, he ended up wearing personalized baby clothes for the next decade.)

The game also still limits the number of actions a candidate can perform each week by a stamina rating; each action has a stamina cost and once you’ve used it up, you simply have to finish your turn, as no more can be done that week. That wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t seem like your opponent had twice as much stamina as you do, no matter what.

Many special events are still completely random, such as when you are given a chance to be on TV, on a popular show. Management of speeches and topics seems a bit more organizes this time out, but endorsements are still ill-thought-out. You see, in the game, there are various special interest groups you can win the approval of; parody versions of leftist and right-wing groups, such as the ACLU and the NRA.

Trouble is, the winning strategy is to win as many of these endorsements as possible, regardless of that group’s affiliation; there’s no negative penalty, for example, if a Democrat wins the NRA endorsement or a Republican wins the support of NOW. All you need to do is have enough points built up to buy that endorsement, and grab it before your opponent does.

Of course, we know reality doesn’t work this way; and that’s the main drawback of Political Machine 2008; just as it was four years ago, the game simply isn’t deep enough or realistic enough to satisfy real political junkies. I mean, heck, the game lets you run as Arnold Schwarzenegger, who isn’t even eligible, for crying out loud!

Folks who desire a more detailed political election sim may find what they’re looking for in TheorySpark’s President Forever; as for Political Machine 2008, it’s not a bad introductory title for the younger set, or as a party game, but there’s just not enough there to satisfy anyone looking for a deeper, more realistic political sim gaming experience.

In most Gran Turismo titles, about the only thing missing is car insurance. That’s because it’s not any simple “select a car, a track and start racing” formula racing title, but, as the series subtitle has often boasted, Gran Turismo is “the real automobile simulator.” An international obsession ever since its PSone debut, Gran Turismo has often been referred to as a CarPG, due to its RPG-like depth of play.

In the PS3 era, the series has kept up an almost constant, but not yet fully complete, presence on the platform. About a year ago, the PlayStation Network introduced a freebie download version that only had a handful of cars and, if I remember right, only one track. Now, Polyphony Digital and Sony have introduced Phase 2 of bringing Gran Turismo into the next generation of gaming: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

GT5P would, for most publishers, constitute a complete game experience. Stocked with around 70 cars and maybe a dozen tracks, however, GT5P is merely an appetizer. That’s because the last full version of the game, which appeared on PS2, contained over 700 cars and over 60 tracks. And rest assured, Polyphony Digital isn’t stopping with Prologue; in fact, the company has publicly admitted that the game, while satisfying in and of itself, is merely a test platform with which they intend to work out all the online racing bugs so that when the final version of Gran Turismo 5 is unveiled, it’ll be a true, deep mindblower of a title with at least as many cars and tracks as GT4 had on PS2.

In the meantime, what is GT5P like? Well, let’s start with the graphics; the game looks better than ever, especially on HD displays. The cars shine and gleam and, along with the backgrounds, are often nearly indistinguishable from live TV footage of car races. Of course, looks have always been a strong point of the series.

A traditional weak point, however, is still hanging in strong in GT5P, and we can only hope Polyphony Digital corrects it before they unleash the final version of Gran Turismo 5, and that’s opponent AI. In GT5P, once you pass an opponent and put him a little distance behind you, they never threaten you again, unless you goof up bad and lose a lot of time correcting your error. That means that if your car has a clear horse-power advantage, you’ll blow out your opponents in C-class races by quite a distance, not just a minor margin.

What would be truly satisfying is if each opponent were made as cagey and challenging to beat as a human opponent. Horsepower is on aspect of winning a race, but it shouldn’t be the only determining factor; too often, with as little as a 25-50 horsepower advantage, you can drive sloppy lines and endure minor miscues on turns and still finish well ahead of the pack. Similarly, if you’re at a horsepower disadvantage, unless you take advantage of the fact that there is no damage modeling in Gran Turismo and treat each race like the demolition derby on the early turns of the first lap, you’ll never get close to the lead cars that are way more powerful than yours.

The lack of damage modeling is once again a serious sticking point in GT5P, and considering that over on the Xbox 360, Forza Motorsport 2 is able to get many of the same car licenses AND an agreement to allow damage modeling, the failure so far of the Gran Turismo series to include this aspect of racing gameplay into the game is becoming an increasing drawback.

In fact, the challenge level (traditionally, Gran Turismo is excessively hard to succeed at) has been scaled way back for GT5P, and plays more like an arcade racer than a real driving simulator. Part of this is the ability to choose from standard and ultra-realistic driving physics, as well as a new ability, which is oversteer assistance. This feature can be enabled as a preference and seems mostly to be there for newbies, to make the game more playable in the early going. This assistance has three settings; off, which makes the game like previous installments, putting complete control of the car in your hands; mild, which only corrects your biggest oversteering errors; and strong, which can pretty much eliminate all but the biggest errors in oversteering.

Set on strong, the game becomes considerably less challenging to beat, especially due to the AI deficiencies already at work. This can rob series veterans of a good portion of the challenge, and so in online play, all drivers are made to use the same, identical setting for this, which is predetermined before the race begins. Intended to make the game more accessible for newbies, it can make experienced players almost as flawless as computer-controlled drivers, only more dangerous since the average human opponent drives way more competitively than the average AI opponent.

On the interface side, many elements are missing, such as posting times for all finishers at the end of a race. Also, front end boasts dealerships and garages, but lacks the Parts Centers that allow you to upgrade your care with after-market parts. Once you reach a certain level of achievement in the game, a Tune-Up shop is unlocked so gear-heads can tweak their cars for better performance, but for the non-mechanics who just like racing, that can become a bit challenging and the absence of Parts Centers is definitely felt.

While boasting a wide variety of car makers in GT5P, many of them only have one or two cars in the game, which is a disappointment; apparently Sony will be releasing more cars and perhaps even more tracks through expansion packs via the PlayStation Store in the near future, but for now, the 70 car roster has some favorites, but nowhere near as much depth as series fanatics are accustomed to enjoying.

Finally, online play is loads of fun, but does need some spit and polish to smooth out lag times, blips and clips. The potential is definitely there for online play to really push Gran Turismo to the next level, but I’m sure most of the kinks will be worked out by the time the full-release Gran Turismo 5 appears at last with a lot more cars and tracks than the current installment allows.

In the end, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is nowhere near as complete nor as satisfying as a full-on release and the much greater depth of play that 700+ cars and 60+ tracks can bring, so you’ll want to hold on to your copy of Gran Turismo 4 for PS2 for a while longer. But for series fans who can’t wait for the full release, just keep in mind that even in this current, abbreviated form, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is still far deeper than 95 percent of full-release racing games currently on the market.

It wasn’t long ago that the videogame world had never even heard of an attorney simulation game, at least in the US market, but it hasn’t taken Capcom’s little series long to catch on and become a popular series on the Nintendo DS. Filled with all the intrigue of a mystery novel come to life, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games did well initially in Japan, where they appeared on the GameBoy Advance, before making their way to the US market via the DS.

The previous three games, Ace Attorney, Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations, all featured Phoenix Wright as the series’ main protagonist; Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney introduces an all-new protagonist and Phoenix Wright appears as a defendant accused of murder in the opening case of the new game.

Graphically, the game hasn’t changed much from its GBA origins. About the only improvements in the way the game looks is a mildly richer color palette and some smoother-looking textures; other than that, the signature art style of the series is largely unchanged. While the game looks fine by DS standards, however, it doesn’t look quite as nice as the Harvey Birdman attorney sim Capcom recently released on Sony’s PSP platform.

While the opening sequence that places rookie attorney Apollo Justice on the defense for Phoenix Wright is a shocker, the biggest changes to the series come in how one interacts with the game. Like the notorious fifth case on the first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney was built specifically for the Nintendo DS platform, rather than being ported up from GBA. As such, all the exciting investigative tools so enjoyed in that fifth case are now present and accounted for in all four cases that comprise the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney game.

That means the game takes full advantage of the DS’ microphone and touchscreen; you can once again rotate items via touchscreen to uncover concealed clues, or use the microphone to shout “Objection!” during the course of a trial. AJ:AA also features several new features.

One is the perceive system, which helps Apollo pinpoint nervous body language that helps him identify when a witness is being deceptive. A crime recreation mode is also introduced for the first time, and is utilized to help pinpoint new evidence. With all these new DeWalt tools in his arsenal, one might think it would be a snap for Apollo Justice (and gamers) to solve the four cases in front of them. However, it’s not quite so easy and gamers will need all these tools to get to the truth of the matter, since the Capcom scribes behind this game are quite good at plot twists, rabbit trails and big reveals, to keep things interesting.

As before, each case grows increasingly challenging, making solving the final case a significant achievement. More of an interactive novel than a true videogame, Apollo Justice may feature a brand new main character, but everything DS fans enjoyed about earlier Phoenix Wright games has returned – in spades.

The release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney catches the US market up with the Japanese market. The future looks bright for the series, however. It is well-known that Capcom announced the fifth game in the series about a year ago, in May 2007; that game is expected to release next fall. Also, in February 2008, a spinoff title featuring life on the prosecution’s side of the courtroom, featuring Miles Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe, was announced as under development by Capcom, so with at least two more games on the way, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is definitely a new beginning not a final swan song, for games of this genre.

It’s a bit sad when a once-solid franchise falls behind the pace, and that the only way, really, to regard MLB 2K8. The game isn’t bad, but the problem is more one of coasting while others are revving ahead. For Sony gamers, there is an alternative in the company’s MLB 08 The Show, but for Wii and 360 owners, MLB 2K8 is pretty much the only game in town.

Much like having an exclusive lock on football titles has made EA Sports’ Madden series lazy and uninspired, so too has having a third-party exclusive on MLB titles made 2K Sports’ baseball titles seem lazy and uninspired. Not having any legitimate competition tends to do that.

The nihilism kicks off almost from the word go; the graphics seem barely touched from last year’s edition, which wasn’t that great to begin with. Even before the 2K8 edition, even before the PS3/360/Wii era had begun, the series was troubled by freezes, glitches and graphical dead space; that hasn’t changed and eventually one has to wonder if 2K Sports and developer Kush Games even care about fixing the game visually.

While Ben Brinkman of Kush has been quoted from several sources saying that 2K8 is the “middle act” of a three-year plan to make over the franchise, that does little to comfort gamers who are shelling out hard-earned bucks for this year’s version. The franchise needs a top-to-bottom graphic makeover using an all-new game engine to really deliver the goods, and that’s not a position 2K Games is in; under their exclusivity agreement with MLB, 2K Sports is obligated to deliver a new iteration every year, which shortens development time, making a complete makeover difficult.

Yet the progress this year seems merely incremental, not revolutionary, especially from a graphic perspective. The new Swing Stick interface is actually harder to time and master than last year’s version, and the all-new pitching system is very realistic, based on analog stick interaction, but also is quite difficult, especially for less experienced hardball gamers, and ultimately many folks will end up choosing an older, alternate control scheme – which, at least, 2K Sports had the courtesy to include several of within the game. Mastering the pitching control scheme is ultimately rewarding, but extremely hard, kind of like buying car insurance online.

On the 360, the graphics lack the fluid animations of other sports titles on the market and feel like they are chugging along; I’ve seen the PS3 version in action and it’s no better, so it’s not a platform issue, it’s a developer issue.

While the new pitching control is a highlight (if you can ever get the hang of it), it’s not the only aspect of the game that’s strong and praiseworthy. Responding to long-term criticism, support of minor league teams has been vastly expanded. The game features no less than 90 real-life minor league teams, as well as 20 authentic minor-league stadiums, with more periodically released over the course of the season via Xbox Live for the 360. Those minor league teams even have some of the real-life players on them, although this is limited to those players who have at least spent some time in the majors.

I also appreciated some of the refinements made – to my complete surprise, since I usually suck at fielding – to the fielding controls. Even baserunning has improved, thanks to smarter baserunning AI. These refinements are not major new features, but have long been needed and offer some much needed relief from a problem that has plagued the series for a long time.

In the end, though, the “room for improvement” areas are critical and more numerous than the nice improvements and new features. Sadly, since Microsoft long ago stopped developing their own first-party baseball game, there is no alternative for 360 owners looking for an MLB game this season. It’s not a terrible game, but it could and should have been a whole lot better. Here’s hoping 2K9, allegedly the year in which 2K Sports and Kush will complete their makeover of the franchise, will finally deliver the goods on all levels. At the moment, however, I’d suggest saving your shekels this year and keep on playing 2K7.

It’s ironic … and shocking. It wasn’t that long ago that Sony’s in-house sports development team, previously known as 989 Sports and now just referred to generically as SCEA, was an industry laughing stock. But as the PS2 era wound to a close and the PS3 era dawned, Sony reinvested in reinvigorating their sports game lineup, and the results have been increasingly improved reviews, although none of their games have yet eclipsed the industry big boys, 2K Sports and EA Sports. Until now.

MLB 08 The Show has finally broken through; although it has turned out to be an off-year for 2K Sports “third-party exclusive license” MLB competitor, MLB 08 The Show nevertheless deserves recognition for finally pulling off the unthinkable and besting one of the two main third party sports developers. This year’s Sony baseball sim is just simply better than 2K Sports’ MLB 2K8. How? Let me count the ways as we open the books on MLB 08: The Show.

First is the new, deeper Road to the Show mode, which boasts new advancements, career goals, and position specific situations to play through. No longer restricted to a single season of play, the game allows you to track your players’ career from the rookie leagues on up to the majors, gaining experience and new skills along the way; the mode is basically a baseball RPG, which is a good thing that lends both depth and replay value to the game. To be honest, this is what won me over. I’ve seen similar features in Sony’s basketball franchise, but it is here where the concept has finally come together to create a solid experience in single-player mode, one that is not limited or limiting.

The new progressive batting system is also a welcome innovation; the game rewards players for consistent hitting, but penalizes them for failure, which helps keep the stats realistic and reflects the ups and downs all hitters go through as a 182-game season plays out. There is also a lot more stat-tracking this year, right down to a batter’s history against specific pitchers, which should satisfy the stat fanatics out there.

One feature I treasure, as a busy person, is the ability to save your game right in the middle of a ballgame; many sports games do not include this feature, which means either pausing the game and possibly getting caught up in something that causes you to forget the system is on with the game paused, or perhaps quitting and having the play the game over; neither option is particularly appealing and by allowing the user to save their progress in the middle of the game, MLB 08 The Show gets heartfelt gratitude for their consideration of an adult gamer’s schedule. While such a feature will rarely be needed on the pause-friendly PSP, it is a boon to PS2 and PS3 gamers.

Other convenience features include the ability to create a folder called My MLB Music on either the PSP or PS3 versions of the game, and import your favorite MP3s into that folder so they can be played in the game. This is worlds of fun for folks who want to game and hear their own favorite music playing at the same time. The feature, however, is not available for PS2 owners.

The game’s graphics are nothing too world-changing, but they are decent enough to get by with on the PSP and PS3; on the PS2, however, the graphics are starting to look dated. At least MLB 08 The Show on PS3 comes with out-of-the-box compatibility with the upcoming DualShock 3 controllers. Of course, since Sony made both the game and the new controllers, that one was a given.

The fielding controls are the game’s biggest flaw; the controls are as wonky and un-crisp as ever, and certainly make it worth turning on fielding assistance or auto-fielding whenever possible, though that’s not an option, really, in Road to the Show mode. The pitching controls are improved and the batting mildly improved, though, so at least the results on controls vary from position to position. And anyway, I’ve never liked the fielding controls in any baseball game I’ve ever played, so maybe that’s a wash.

In the end, no matter whether you’re playing on PlayStation 2, PSP or PlayStation 3, MLB 08 The Show is good enough that folks who own Xbox 360s and Nintendo Wiis may just start wishing Sony would make their franchise available to platforms other than their own, especially with this season’s surprising drop-off in quality on 2K Sports’ MLB 2K8.

Although most folks will rejoice when I say that the Wild Arms RPG franchise has finally arrived on PSP, hold on to your yippee-ki-yays for a moment, cowboy. The US Old West-themed fantasy series may now have a title on Sony’s handheld platform, but this PSP title is significantly different from the popular series that has done moderately well on PSone and PS2.

That’s because Wild Arms XF, developed as always by Media.Vision and published by XSeed is not your standard turn-based RPG, but has more in common with Final Fantasy Tactics than any previous Wild Arms installment. Given an all-new storyline and cast, Wild Arms XF is a full-on tactics-style RPG with all the benefits and drawbacks thereof.

One benefit is that the title introduces a job system into the Wild Arms universe for the first time; this allows for greater customization and skill acquisition than previous titles, but the trade-off is that the game has no world for you to wander around in and explore; it boasts only two modes – story sequences and battles.

Like FFT, Wild Arms XF doesn’t take it easy on newcomers; you must learn the game system fast or be crushed by superior opponents, some of whom are designed to be avoided at all costs, so pay attention to your actual mission objectives before entering into each new battle.

Of course, none of this is a problem for me; I love tactics RPGs and that makes this chapter of the Wild Arms saga a welcome change of pace. My wife, however, was not so kindly disposed toward the title, complaining that it was too hard too soon in the game, arguing that a game should offer a few more battles before ramping up the challenge level so quickly. (My wife prefers action-based RPGs.)

The story is one typical of the world of Filgaia. The game centers around a brother and sister, Clarissa and Filius, who start out exploring the world outside their home town, but who are eventually caught up into the political struggled of the day. There are hints dropped early on that Clarissa is either an exiled princess who doesn’t remember her past, or is a dead ringer for the dethroned debutante. Things just kind of snowball from there.

Wild Arms XF isn’t a title that breaks tons of new ground or revolutionizes the genre, but it is a game that’s entertaining, challenging, and possesses few flaws that will bug veterans of the tactics RPG genre. It also fits right into the universe established by previous games, and delivers a Filgaia-based game that you can take with you on the go. The only drawbacks are the steep learning curve for genre newcomers, and the fact that the jobs and skills system are a bit thinner than those found in Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lion. Then again, that’s setting the bar pretty high.

Wild Arms XF is one of the sharper-looking entries in this series, benefitting perhaps from the smaller screen the PSP offers. In the end, it all adds up to a niche RPG that will appeal to most fans of the series and fans of tactics RPGs, but likely won’t draw a lot of non-fans into the fold. Definitely a solid entry, though, and a good addition to any PSP-owning RPG lovers library. XSeed is doing all it can to support the title, too; I’m hoping they’ll offer up some logo pens as part of that effort!

When I heard the God of War franchise was moving from PS2 to the PSP for the Chains of Olympus chapter, I was skeptical at first. Sure, the PSP needs a solid action-adventure title as much as any other platform, but one of the main appeals of God of War as a series has been its larger than life sense of scale. How could the title maintain that appeal on the PSP’s rather smaller screen?

Well, I needn’t have worried. The game still looks sharp on the handheld platform and offers plenty of oversized opponents appropriate to the lineage of the series. Even my wife was impressed with the look of the game on the small screen; it was loaded with detail that only a few other PSP titles have come close to achieving and that makes the game a really fine showcase for the PSP platform.

Not a simple port, God of War: Chains of Olympus is an all-new adventure that serves as a prequel to the first God of War title released on PS2. Developed by SCEA-Santa Monica and Ready At Dawn Studios, the game allows up to five difficulty levels, although the last two have to be unlocked. The game casts you as Kratos in a situation where the gods have been rendered powerless, leaving Kratos with only one choice: he must square off against the most vicious of demonic creatures from Greek mythology. Gamers get to choose between saving his soul or the ancient world from imminent and total destruction, which affects the way the game ends.

The only main complaint with GoW:COO is the typical one; it’s relatively short length. My wife beat the game in under 10 hours and from what I’ve heard and read, some people might be able to even trim that down to under eight hours. While the action is fresh and fast, the load times sometimes get a bit cumbersome and slow down the pace just a bit. The battle system is relatively easy to master and immediately familiar to any fan of the series; and it’s been adapted well enough that you don’t often feel the loss of extra control options.

Despite the minor gripes, though, the game is everything you expect from a God of War title, with all the M-rated content, huge monsters and epic storyline most gamers can handle, and packed with enough action and drama that most folks will be left wanting more. While the extra difficulty levels are appreciated, it’s hard to get much more than one replay out of the game, as there are only two options in the storyline path that can be taken. It might have been more replayable if there was a slightly different storyline for each difficulty level, though that’s probably hoping for too much.

In the end, GoW:COO delivers the goods with surprising effectiveness on the PSP. With some of the best graphics available on any game currently released for the platform, as well as just under 10 hours of playing time, God of War: Chains of Olympus is one title most PSP owners will end up being embarrassed not to own – so go buy it already and avoid the blushing humiliation.

Although Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is published by Capcom, playing through the game brought an old SquareSoft game to mind; specifically, Xenogears of PSone fame. Just as in Xenogears, you begin Lost Planet as an amnesiac young man who remembers little of his past, but knows how to pilot giant mechs. Of course, there are many differences. Xenogears was a PSone title by Square that delivered turn-based RPG epic storytelling that, today, would seem awfully dated; Lost Planet is a PS3 title (originally Xbox 360) that is anything but turn-based, delivering all-out shooter action in full HD quality visuals.

Yes, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a game that’s over a year old on the Xbox 360 and can be obtained for about $10 less than the full retail of the discounted PS3 version (roughly speaking, about $30 on 360 these days, compared to $40 on PS3). So are there reasons to buy this version? Sure there are.

First, the PS3 version is more like a director’s cut, offering all 16 of the downloadable multiplayer maps that Xbox Live users had to shell out points to obtain; additionally, players can unlock two new characters that can be used in both single and multiplayer mode, as PS3 exclusive characters; namely, Frank West of Dead Rising and Megaman. There are others as well, although those may be more familiar to veterans of the Xbox 360 version of the game.

The story is essentially unchanged; you are Wayne, part of a group of snow pirates who are trying to run the planet E.D.N. III of a savage, bug-like alien race known as the Akrid. Wayne’s dad was killed by one such Akrid, named Green Eyes, and shortly after that, Wayne was injured, lost his memory and rescued by the snow pirates. As one of his only memories remaining is the memory of how to pilot the giant mechs that are particularly effective at ridding the planet of Akrid, Wayne soon becomes key to the battle against the Akrid.

One problem; the Akrid carry this glowing orange goop in their bodies that turns out to be a great energy source, so total annihilation of the monsters may not be the ultimate goal, here; harvesting their goop is apparently a great way to deliver low-cost energy to the galaxy, so… well… you can imagine where things might get dark from that point on.

E.D.N. III is, by the way, an ice planet full of blizzards and howling winds, about as far removed from a Royal Caribbean atmosphere as carrots are removed from bicycle shorts. In other words, it’s a very atmospheric game that delivers action-based horror and chills in the same spirit as horror classic The Thing, only louder and with a lot more action and shooting and explosions. And it definitely delivers that sense of being on a lonely, nearly lifeless frozen planet, kind of like a trip to Lambeau Field.

If you like shooters, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition’s not a bad choice. The story segments are nowhere near as extended as a more RPG-style shooter title like last November’s Mass Effect, and there’s far more action at a far faster pace. Gamers who appreciate a shoot first, ask questions later approach to their gaming will find a friendly experience in Lost Planet: Extreme Condition.

The single-player campaign mode is initially the heart of the experience. Lasting a decent amount of time for an action-adventure shooter title (12 to 20 hours, depending on how you play), Lost Planet has a terrific storyline with plenty of surprises and a shocking end that still has the Xbox community buzzing a year later. This is one of Capcom’s better but less-heralded efforts of the past couple years, so it makes a welcome addition to the growing PS3 library.

Yet what gives the game lasting appeal is the online mode, in which you can team up with, or fight against, up to 16 players at a time; and since this game is now on the PlayStation Network instead of Xbox Live, you don’t need a Gold subscription to play online; on PSN, the online gaming is free, a nice bonus for those PS3 gamers late to the Lost Planet party.

The game looks sharp in both standard definition and in HD; however, this is where the port-over exposes some of the game’s shortcomings. Little was done to take advantage of the uniqueness of the PS3 platform; those playing with the SixAxis controller are offered no motion-sensitivity, which makes the loss of force feedback even more noticeable; although the DualShock 3 will be released soon, there’s no word yet on whether Capcom will support the new controller, once released, with a patch adding force feedback back into the game.

Furthermore, even though the game is now on Blu-Ray disc on the PS3 format, Capcom did not take advantage of the extra space to offer the game in full, true 1080p HD resolution. Sure, you need a HUGE HDTV in order to appreciate the 1080p difference, but gamers who have that sort of set-up will be annoyed that the game looks no better on PS3 than it did on the Xbox 360, thanks to the lack of 1080p support.

Still these are details, not deal-breakers. Designed by members of the teams that brought such Capcom classics as Onimusha and Devil May Cry to life, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is an incredibly fun title that excels at kick-butt boss battles and levels featuring the Akrid. Levels featuring evil snow pirates are less engaging due to flawed enemy AI, but the AI on the Akrid and bosses are much better. The only disappointment is that most Akrid opponents all have the same weakness; shoot them in the orange glowy part of their body and they are easily dispatched, even though getting clear shots in on that part is not always easy; it’s just disappointing that it’s variations on the same strategy for nearly all the Akrid opponents.

That said, in the balance of things, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a fun game; there’s absolutely no reason to buy the game again if you already own it on Xbox 360 and also happen to own a PS3. However, if you only own a PS3 and missed out on this action-horror classic, this is one game that’s not quite as spendy as most new PS3 titles, yet delivers the goods.

Anyone who has a bulk cable package that includes the Cartoon Network, and knows what the words Adult Swim really mean, will be familiar with Harvey Birdman, the TV series. An Alex Toth/Space Ghost-inspired character, Birdman is a former superhero turned attorney, and through this character Capcom supplies the PS2 and Sony’s PSP with their answer to the popular Phoenix Wright games hosted on the Nintendo DS.

Like the Phoenix Wright games, you play an attorney, gathering evidence, interviewing folks and then trying to present a winning case when the trial commences. Capcom should know their stuff, too, since they make both Phoenix Wright and Harvey Birdman. You’ll find similar pacing, a similar process of getting so many times to choose the wrong argument before you lose your case, and the same story of general game flow.

That said, the two games bear little resemblance to one another in actual execution. On the one hand, while the Phoenix Wright games are extremely retro in their look, the cases you are given to solve are long, involved and challenging, but fully entertaining. By contrast, Harvey Birdman looks great on PS2 and on PSP, with smooth animation that makes it look like you’re watching an episode of the TV show, but the cases are far simpler, less complex and shorter, although still fairly entertaining.

Of course, while Phoenix Wright is a solid mix of drama and light comedy, Birdman is pure comedy with a satiristic bent. Most of the five cases included in the game may seem vaguely familiar, usually because so many elements are send-ups of certain elements of current pop culture. The humor is largely pun-oriented, with a hint of naughtiness thrown in, just like the Adult Swim toon.

Although it’s nice to have an attorney sim on a Sony platform – especially to help ease the wait between new Phoenix Wright titles – Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law is nowhere near as satisfying as one might hope. With shorter, less challenging cases, it’s a good thing this isn’t a full-priced title, or one could come away from the experience feeling perhaps a bit cheated. As it stands, Harvey Birdman performs relatively the same on both PSP and PS2, but seems a better fit to the PSP library, personally. It’s a tidy snack until the next Phoenix Wright game comes out, but don’t expect it to be a full meal.

Fans of the niche-genre of tactics-style RPGs usually have a short list of favorites. Typically, at the top of this list is either Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, depending on which game they discovered first. Both games were developed by Quest, just before Square bought them out and absorbed their development team into their own. Quest is the developer that gave the modern Tactics-style RPG its defining characteristics and identity.

Second or third on the list for most fans of this subgenre is Atlus/NIS America’s Disgaea, one of the companies’ early PS2 offerings. Those who felt Final Fantasy Tactics offered mad depth were blown away by the depth and complexity of Disgaea; some have even compared it’s battle system strategies to algebraic formulas, although I believe that’s taking the hype a bit far, and tends to scare off newcomers to the title.

Now, there’s a chance to reintroduce a whole new generation to the delights of Disgaea while still pleasing fans of the original with Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for PSP. Not only is the entire original game intact for the port-down to PSP, but a complete alternate-reality adventure becomes available after you complete the game, lasting nearly as long as the 100-hour-plus original title.

In the original game, you play through as Demon Prince Laharl, who is awakened from a long nap several years after his father has died and left the throne of the kingdom of the Netherworld vacant. He is accompanied by the scheming Etna and, ultimately, the angelic assassin, Flonne, in his quest to retake his father’s throne.

The alternate reality mode allows you to experience the game if “what if,” mode, a fully developed alternate storyline in which, instead of waking Laharl up, Etna kills Laharl in his sleep and makes her own bid for the throne, redecorating the castle with all-new executive office furniture. (OK, not really.) In addition to adding value to the already long and addictive game for newcomers, this new story mode is what will make veterans of the PS2 classic willing to replay the game again on PSP. It’s definitely worth the journey.

One of the appeals of Disgaea is its incredible depth. There are many ways to progress through the game, many items to buy, many jobs to take on. There is the Dark Assembly, which can be used for everything from rising in rank to petitioning for more powerful items and additional funds. There is the item world, where you can do battle to win upgrades to your items, which level up. And there are the main mission battles, which are plentiful and can often be fought and refought multiple times to level up your party. In fact, the game is so deep, it may be necessary to have the second story mode just to explore it all completely.

The battle system will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played other Tactics-style RPGs, and has plenty of depth to it as well, since characters gain new abilities as they progress in level. And since the game is filled with great anime-style art, fun voice-acting and an undeniable sense of energy, there’s simply every reason for both Disgaea veterans and newcomers to pick this title up; the second Disgaea title was released on PS2 back in 2006, and word on the street has it that a third Disgaea title is already in development for PlayStation 3, although it is said that the series will retain its throwback visuals even on the new, more powerful platform.

No matter what it is a person enjoys about Tactics-style RPGs, there’s plenty to love in Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP. Heck, there’s even a multiplayer mode to further extend the replay appeal, available via Ad-Hoc mode via WiFi. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness definitely extends Sony’s recent run of quality titles for PSP, ever since the PSP Slim relaunch.

SquareEnix may be more open to making sequels to their hit Final Fantasy titles in the post-Sakaguchi era, but most of these sequels make most folks wonder if it’s worth the bother. That’s largely because whenever a sequel is made, SquareEnix seems determined to change the genre of the game.

Final Fantasy X-2 featured a very different battle system, and of all the sequels made so far from Final Fantasy VII have strayed into areas like action games, shooters and just about anything but what made the original Final Fantasy title from which they sprang so successful. In other words, not one of the sequels has been a true RPG.

Final Fantasy XII – Revenant Wings for Nintendo DS is no exception. Rather than a traditional RPG, the game, which revisits the corner of Ivalice that is home to Vaan, Panelo, Balthier and Fran, is a real-time strategy title. While the storyline is worthy of the Final Fantasy moniker, the Command-and-Conquer game play feels out of place in a world full of chocobos and red mages.

The game is divided into 10 chapters, each consisting of about five battle maps, so the Ivalice of this sequel has plenty of open, residential and commercial real estate to take place on. The maps sport a good deal of variety and graphic detail.

The real problems begin with the game camera; it’s hard to manipulate and rarely at the best angle to see everything you need to see from a strategic standpoint. Also, the game ramps up the difficulty level extremely early on, tossing a level of challenge at gamers who may not be RTS veterans into a very deep, frustrating level of challenge.

The game has some aggressive AI as well, so Final Fantasy XII veterans who grew accustomed to only being challenged during boss battles may not be completely at ease with how smartly opponents challenge him or her. Although released on a very mainstream platform, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a hardcore gamer’s delight, something that may scare off many mainstream gamers.

Of course, the graphics are as good as one would expect from SquareEnix and make just about all other DS titles seem weak efforts by comparison; that said, the game looks only like an average PSP title.

In the final analysis, some RTS fans may dig the hardcore RTS aspects of Final Fantasy XII – Revenant Wings, but that is a small portion of the audience who fell in love with the series’ PS2 swan song title. While not a failure on the level of Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, one can say with relative confidence that Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for Nintendo DS is not the kind of thing most fans of the original PS2 title were expecting, nor is it a game most of them will want.