Only two days ago did I procure the Grand Theft Auto clone Saints Row 2, but I already feel the need to write about it.

Yes Saints Row is a GTA clone, but that does not mean its creators should be ashamed of it. Clone just mean someone took a good idea and build on it. That’s called innovation and if people refrained from cloning and improving good ideas then we would still be driving around in Ford model T’s.

Now, let’s take a look at this game from the perspective of its most likely user: a GTA IV player who’s looking for even more goodies from a sandbox game.

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It’s been two weeks since I unwrapped SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation and rushed home excited to frag.  14 days of lag, disconnections, and other online server-related annoyances. Over 330 hours of patiently waiting for the patch that will justify my day one purchase. I believe that’s almost 20,000 minutes too many.

I’m now looking to sell my copy of SOCOM but sadly there are too many people out there trying to do the same. I would trade it in but that would most likely turn my purchase into a ridiculously expensive rental. No, I think I’ll keep waiting for the inevitable patch.

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As most of you have undoubtedly already known for a week now, my most anticipated game of this year has been delayed 1 week due to a couple of Qur’anic verses found within one of its songs. Being a Muslim who has been absorbing every little bit of information about Little Big Planet since its announcement, the delay was almost surreal to me.

The one game I was truly excited about this year is unintentionally going to hurt Islam’s image. No, Islam’s image isn’t going to be hurt because of the inclusion of the verses, it’s hurt by the removal of said lyrics by Sony.

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Back in February, I wrote about how I’ve been dying to make a Little Big Planet remake of Super Mario Bros. world 1-1.  Well it seems that someone has already made one!

Yeah it’s pretty ugly and plays as slow as molasses, but it still looks pretty faithful level-design wise. What really irks me is that this was done in the Beta and, since I wasn’t part of the beta, I didn’t even have the chance to be the first to make a Mario homage Oh well, I can still be the best!

Here’s to hoping the only game I’ve pre-ordered this year doesn’t get delayed once more …

I’ve been an avid video game player since the first time I put a quarter in that ‘Weird Space Invaders thing’ all those years ago. Many games passed through my hands since then, some good, some bad, but no matter in witch category they would fall, many would have one critical flaw: they often confuse challenge with frustration.

Now before I go any further, I want to respond right away to the avalanche of ‘wuss’ emails I will probably receive later on. I don’t want to know that you were able to go through this or that level or mission on your first try. Fine, you were able beat the mission I wasn’t able to. Good for you, but the point wasn’t a single mission or a specific game.

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Due to some extenuating circumstances, I have only just finished Bioshock last weekend. Needless to say, the game has a lot going for it. It’s gorgeous to look at most of the time, had a great story, really fun weapons and pseudo-magic, incredibly detailed fictional world, and the atmosphere was out of this world! You’d think that was enough, wouldn’t you? No, the brilliant team behind the game decided to add emotion…

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This might not be big news to most but, this being the first game I work on that wasn’t canceled/postponed, I’m totally psyched! Yup, my first ever designed game to see a public release, Midnight Pool for Wii Ware, is coming soon to a Wii near you!

The team working on this really did put a lot of effort in it and we believe we really did make the best pool game out there available on any console. I’m really happy that the game is finally out and I can’t wait to pick-up a Wii so that I can show it off to all my friends

Here’s a snippet from the press release:

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A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a representative of the website OsamaLoves.com. The aim of the site is to show that not all Osama’s are terrorists hell-bent on seeing the end of all Americans and apple pie. Their aim is to collect the pictures of 500 Osama’s holding up a cue card explaining what they love! They also plan on making a documentary with the same purpose.

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Apparently, a few feminists are in an uproar over the subject of the upcoming Fat Princess game. Really? They don’t have anything more important to bitch about than this? If you’re not in the know, the game features two teams trying to “capture” a princess and then feed ridiculous amounts of cake to her so that she’s too fat for the other team to take. If you ask me I think it’s a riot! As soon as I saw the announcement for this game I was in love!

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The fine folks at the Exploding Barrel have just put together a comprehensive “by the numbers” look at the games available for the Next Gen consoles + the Wii (the Wii is not Next Gen, I don’t care what anyone says).

Not only did they compare the top 20 games on each system (by metacritic scores with links included), they also compared the scores of exclusive games and cross-platform games. It was a bit of an eye opener in some ways and not a surprise at all in others. Console fanboys be warned, you might not like what you see.

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