ESRB: E for Everyone
Genre: Fashion Sim
Number of Players: One or 2-4 Multi-card Play
Publisher: O-Games
Release Date: August 18, 2009

Buy it from our Amazon store

It seems no matter where you go nowadays there are several different lines of “Girlz” games – titles slapped together for the 10 to 14 year old Tween crowd.

Playing Dress Up

My Dress-Up joins the Fashion Designer games of the growing DS library. In this game, girls create an avatar of themselves, create various outfits which they can save in themed closets and change in and out of when they feel like it. There are over 100 shades you can use to help your friends look superbly fashionable and a wide selection of pieces to mix and match. They can also accept challenges from their friends and put together outfits suitable to the activity they are going on. When you finish a challenge, new clothing styles will be unlocked and added to your selections. Challenges are accessed by selecting “Messages” from the main screen. Not all messages will ask you to create an outfit. As you help your friends out, they will come to you again and again for more wardrobe advice.

Top Designer

Girls are also encouraged to design their own tops with the Top Designer. In this section of the game you can select from one of four simple shirts, colour them in one basic shade, and then lay a two-toned graphic on top. After you create your top, you can add it to a collection and dress your avatar in it.

Finally, if you have friends with the game, you can link up and have some multi-card fun. Host a Dress-Up party, chat wirelessly, and transfer outfits to your friend’s wardrobe. You can also link up with friends that have either My Make Up or My Secret Diary and chat.

Controls are very simplistic and easy to grasp. While there isn’t a lot of substance to the game, it could be enjoyable for younger girls and their friends to play at a birthday or slumber party as a group.

Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 9:21pm by Yukino
Filed Under: Clothing, DS, Entertainment Software Rating Board, Fashion, Fashion design, Nintendo DS, Video game

Capcom announced today that super attorney Phoenix Wright will be leaving his comfy home on the DS and crime solving his way onto WiiWare..  This will be Phoenix’s first venture onto a home console, but don’t expect anything new from the series.   In an attempt to keep up with other game series on WiiWare, the original Phoenix Write series will be chopped up and placed into episodes for quick and easy chunks of crime solving goodness.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright  Ace Attorney: Justice For All, and Phoenix Wright Ace  Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, are all getting a port over to the Wii, so this may not be something appealing to hardcore fans of the series who have already worked their way through these cases. But for those who have yet to experience the wacky adventures of Phoenix Wright, this is a must buy.  No word yet on whether or not you can yell “OBJECTION!” into the Wii controller, but my fingers are crossed!

Phoenix Wright got his first shot at popularity in Japan, but quickly gained fame in North America, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.  You play as Phoenix Wright, a greenhorn lawyer just out of law school, looking to sink his teeth into some major cases.  To solve the crime you must gather evidence, build a case, and discover holes in the evidence provided by the persecution.  The stories are funny and suspenseful, and the puzzles will have you brain working for hours.  Look for the first episode of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney to hit WiiWare in early 2010.

Posted on November 20th, 2009 at 10:51am by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, WiiWare, phoenix-wright

We have the third video developer diary for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game.  This video is all about the choice players make at the start of the game.  Decisions, decisions, how we all love those tough decisions!

Look for Avatar: The Game to hit major platforms on December 1, 2009.

Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 12:40pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: 360, News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC Gaming, Playstation 3, Previews, Sony PSP, Video Diary, Xbox 360, pc, upcoming games

Platform: Nintendo DS
ESRB: Everyone
Genre: Action/Platform/Side-scrolling
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Bitfield GmbH

RENT

Being a fan of the Mario empire, I’ve always wanted a game for us ladies based on the same premise. We kind-of got that with with Super Princess Peach, and now there is another attempt with “Giana Sisters DS”.

Unfortunately for me, the copy I received had a manual and cover with a description that was entirely in German. Das is not a good start, even if I did know a smidge of the language. Therefore, I am going to make an assumption of the storyline.

It appears to me from the beginning cut scene that Giana goes to bed and starts dreaming – so this is where the setting of the game starts. She ends up in a land of levels a la Mario, and has to avoid getting killed by various enemies – some of which cannot be jumped on or eliminated, so watch out!

Of course there are blocks for you to jump up and smack with your noggin to further your gameplay a tad. Some of these blocks are marked out and some are hidden. And yes, you get power-ups to make Giana throw fireballs. These power-ups are in the form of round stripy balls similar to candy – so while I’m making assumptions I will call them candy and silently assume they are extra strength peppermints. Mmm, minty. Anyway, these candy balls transform Giana into a punk complete with red hair, thick eyeliner, and punk rock clothing. The other blocks contain blue gems which are in place of coins in this game. You also need to collect all of the red gems in each level as this unlocks a bonus level in each stage.

You get 5 lives when you start the game, and another life is added with every hundred gem points you collect. There are a few halfway points in some of the levels, which is a wilted flower until you walk past it – then it blooms to signify that it is your starting point should you lose a life providing it’s not the last one. When your lives get used up, there is a game over sequence but after that’s done you just get 5 lives and a chance to start the level over again. The levels are also timed and if you run out of time you lose another life.

Each stage has 9 levels, depending on whether you were able to get all of the red gems. If you did, then you get 10 levels. At the 9^th level you get to do some boss battling which ends up being against a pudgy dragon who breathes fire. The challenge is to dodge the fireballs directed at Giana, and jump on his head enough times to clear the level. The amount of times you do this increases the further you get into the game.

There is a rumour that this game has been in a bit of trouble as the original development was said to have been a very close imitation of a Mario game, and the rumour claims that those who completely finish the game are able to unlock this version to give it a go. I cannot confirm nor deny such a rumour, but the similarities in this version alone compared to the Mario franchise doesn’t exactly help. Should I get over my frustration with this game and be able to finish it, then I will gladly tell you if the above is in fact a rumour. However, since I haven’t (and have defiantly placed it back in its case) my impressions are not exactly favourable.

The animation was reminiscent to that of old PC games of the 90’s. Controls for the game were pretty straightforward although jumps are highly annoying – in a lot of cases there are jumps that you think you would be able to make but don’t, and some that are too big or small to perform in the space given. The music and sound effects were clear and suitable for each element of the game.

The thing that I did like about the game (apart from the attempt to create a fun game with a female lead) was the gum and cola machines. While you can’t stock your reserves to save you going back each time either one runs out, a bottle of cola is used to blast away brick walls that are in your way and a gumball is used to create a bubble (which Giana floats inside of) through levels to places unreachable by merely jumping.

If I were to give Giana Sisters DS a rating out of 10, I would give it a 7. This is purely due to the effort and thought that went into the development of this game, however my noted frustrations are enough to make me reconsider and score it lower. This being said, if you want to give it a go then I would encourage you to. Who knows, you might get further than my attempt of Stage 7 – Level 9 before you go Hulk on it.

Review product was provided by Madman Entertainment, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

Posted on November 10th, 2009 at 9:42am by Naomi
Filed Under: DS, Giana Sisters DS, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Super Princess Peach

Majesco is celebrating Hello Kitty’s 35th Anniversary with a brand new title for the Nintendo DS. Hello Kitty Party will feature Hello Kitty in a game that lets players dance, shop, cook, iron and more. Wait…iron?

“Hello Kitty has been a worldwide phenomenon for the past 35 years and we relished the opportunity to add the global icon to our portfolio,” said Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations for Majesco. “Hello Kitty Party is the perfect title to bring to market during the holiday gift-giving season and we believe fans of all ages will enjoy the unique experience.”

“Because of Majesco’s long-standing expertise in managing licensed products in a highly competitive hand-held games market, the partnering of Barnstorm with Majesco will give Hello Kitty Party the ideal high profile release in North America,” added Simon Jeffrey, Managing Director for Barnstorm Games.

In Hello Kitty Party, players will team up with SANRIO friends for mini-games. The title will launch on November 23 and you can find screenshots here.

Posted on November 9th, 2009 at 2:14pm by GamingAngel
Filed Under: Entertainment, Hello Kitty, Majesco Entertainment, News, Nintendo DS, Video game, hello kitty 35th anniversary