America & Co., LLC

The video game Iron Man is based on the film of the same name as well as the classic iterations of the character.  The game is published by Sega, and was released on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 (developed by Secret Level), Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS, Wii, PC (developed by Artificial Mind and Movement) and Mobile Platforms.  It features the voices of Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, and Saun Toub, reprising their roles from the movie.

The enemies are Advanced Idea Mechanics, the Maggia and the Ten Rings terrorist group.  The super villians in the game includes Blacklash, Controller, Titanium Man, Melter, and Iron Monger. 

As the game starts, Tony Stark is kidnapped by the terrorist group Ten Rings, who orders him to build a missile for them.

The video game Soulcalibur IV is the latest installment in Namco’s Soul series of fighting games, and was released on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.  

Character Creation from Soul Calibur III  returns in Soul Calibur IV.  Instead of including original weapon styles for use with certain classes of fighters, Soul Calibur IV now only allows players to simply choose which character from the series they would like to have their created character mimic (excluding Algol, bonus characters, and the Star Wars guest characters).

Armor, weapons, and accessories may increase health, attack or defense; they may also grant skill points that allow the character to equip special traits that affect the character’s playstyle.  These traits range from automatically triggered guard impacts, the ability to cause damage against a blocking opponent, or even a stat increase based on parameters such as an opponent’s alignment or gender.

Soul Calibur IV features an all-new Critical Finish system.  Next to a player’s Health Meter is a colored gem that represents the “Soul Gauge”.  The gem changes color when the player guards and is attacked.  The color gradually changes from blue to green and eventually to red and then flashing red.  The player’s own Soul Gauge will regenerate if he or she makes an attack and hits the opponent (guarding or otherwise).  If the character manages to empty out the opponent’s Soul Gauge, he or she will get a short chance to perform a powerful Critical Finish move, which will defeat the opponent instantly, by pressing all four face buttons at the same time after the player destroys a piece of armor or breaks the opponents guard.  Each character has his or her own personal Critical Finish move.

The video game F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a horror first-person shooter video game, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros, for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.  It is a sequel to F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon. 

F.E.A.R. 2 does not allow the player to manually save and features a single save slot.  However, the game allows the player to replay any level from the main menu after first completing that level.

The second heart-stopping shooter by Monolith (after F.E.A.R.) continues the spine-tingling supernatural suspense story of an escalating paranormal crisis that threatens to destroy a major American city.  At the center of the calamity is the mysterious Alma, whose rage against those who wronged her triggered a chain of events that has spiraled completely out of control.  Now that she has been loosed upon the world, the consequences will be unimaginable.

You must utilize the world interaction enhancements to create instant cover or remove obstacles.  The game include iron sight aiming, creating cover by pushing objects, and the ability to use mechs during vehicle segments.  You can play with and against friends in multiplayer competition.  Enhanced graphics engine takes action horror to new heights through enhanced visuals and effects.  Enemies behave realistically and use the environment against you through vastly enhanced enemy.  Artificial Intelligence maintains the authenticity of the Alma storyline.

Every kid needs a little break every now and then and sometimes that can mean playing video games. If your child interested in playing video games, why not offer them the best in video game consoles? The Xbox is Microsoft’s premier game console.

The Xbox offers superior graphics as well as internet and connectivity that other systems don’t. There are several games that your child may enjoy playing on their Xbox. Start by choosing a few of these games for them to play:

~Halo
~Star Wars
~Jade Empire
~Morrowmind

Left 4 Dead is a co-operative survival horror first-person shooter video game.  It is an epic struggle between survivors and zombie-like aggressive infected people.

There are three game modes: a single player mode in which allied characters are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI); a four-player, co-op Campaign mode; and an eight-player Versus mode.  In all modes, an AI, dubbed “The Director”, controls level pacing and item spawns. 

The game is experienced through four campaigns that take place in various urban and rural locales.  Each campaign is divided into five chapters marked by safe rooms, which are checkpoints where players can heal, re-arm and revive players who were killed.  Specifically, the four campaigns are: “No Mercy”, an urban setting culminating in a hospital; “Death Toll”, a small-town and countryside setting; “Dead Air”, an airport setting; and “Blood Harvest”, a woodland and farm setting.

There are four playable human characters in the game: Francis, a tattoo-covered biker; Zoey, a college student and horror movie enthusiast; Louis, a junior systems analyst in his company’s IT department; and Bill, a former Green Beret and a Vietnam veteran.  

Weapons that the survivors can use include a M1911 pistol, an Uzi submachine gun, a pump-action shotgun, a M16A2 assault rifle, a Benelli M4 Super 90 semi-automatic shotgun, and a scoped Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle.  

Alpha Protocol is an upcoming third-person action role-playing video game, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by SEGA.  The game will be released in February 2009 for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  

The game revolves around the adventures of rookie CIA field agent Michael Thorton.  After a mission goes awry, Michael Thorton is cut off from all of his contacts and betrayed by his superiors and is being hunted by the United States government.  In response, Michael uses the ”Alpha Protocol”, though it is normally reserved for more senior agents, and begins to operate undercover, to uncover the conspiracy.

The tools at the player’s disposal include numerous firearms, hand to hand combat using American Kenpo and spy gadgets.  Players also earn Advancement Points, which can be placed into any of the ten different skills in the game.  These skills will increase Thorton’s ability to use certain weapons and grant different abilities to him.  These abilities are free to use, but require a “cooldown” period before they can be used again.

Alpha Protocol has a hub structure, in which Thorton must utilize safe houses in each of his hub cities in order to lay low between missions.  From a safe house, Thorton can change clothing, access a weapons locker, telephone contacts, and attempt missions.

Thornton will be encountering different characters throughout his missions and depending on his specific reactions to them will determine the bigger picture in the long run so who he aligns with will be particularly tricky since he does not want to let a bad guy go free!

Dead Space is a third-person survival horror-action video game, developed by Electronic Arts for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC and released in October 2008.

The player takes on the role of an engineer named Isaac Clarke, who battles a polymorphic, virus-like, alien infestation which turns humans into grotesque alien monsters called “Necromorphs”, on board a stricken interstellar mining ship named USG Ishimura.

Information is relayed to the player via holographic projections, which hover over or in front of Isaac’s weapons and suit; his armor also plays as an indicator, the ‘health meter’ which is integrated into his spine of his armor indicates how much life he has left which ranges from red (indicating low/critical), yellow (half) and blue (full or near-full).

Weapons in the game are mostly improvised from mining tools, such as a plasma cutter, a hydrazine torch used as a flamethrower, a force cannon emitting powerful shock waves, and a triple-barreled automatic military rifle.

In the video game Prince of Persia, the game is non-linear and you are given the opportunity to explore any part of the world at any time you want to.   In this strange land, the Prince must use all of his skills, along with a whole new combat system, to battle Ahriman’s corrupted lieutenants to heal the land from the dark Corruption and restore the light.

Also, history’s greatest ally is revealed in the form of Elika, a dynamic companion who joins the Prince in his fight to save the world.   Gifted with magical powers, she interacts with you in combat, acrobatics and puzzle-solving, enabling the Prince to reach new heights of deadly high-flying artistry through special duo acrobatic moves or devastating fighting combo attacks.

In addition, she saves the Prince from death while in combat or exploring the world.  The Prince cannot “die” in this game, as Elika will save him from any danger and bring him back to the last safe point of the game.

There are four main combat options:  there is a sword attack, which is where the Prince uses his sword to attack enemies; a gauntlet attack, by which he lifts and throws enemies; a magic attack, by which Elika uses her magic to damage enemies; and an acrobatic attack, which is useful for switching places with the enemy, and performing combat feats in tandem with Elika.  All of these four combat options can be linked together to perform combos which do variably more damage to enemies.

My best friend Jude has such a racket. He brought his Xbox 360 to the dorm and lets other students play on it – for a fee. Sometimes it can be a free dinner or a movie, but he usually charges by the hour. 

Now he has a new “friend” every week. He gets free lunches and movies. He is even popular with the girls. His weekends are booked with dates. He gets invitations to almost every fraternity and sorority party on campus. He is so popular now that he has really turned from a geek to hot dude. His only investment: the latest Xbox 360 top games. Now that’s one way of developing the entrepreneurial spirit, don’t you think?

According to “Gameinformer Magazine” the top 25 games from Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2008 are revealed.  They are (1) Left 4 Dead - Xbox 360 and PC.  (2) Gears of War 2 - Xbox 360.  (3) Fallout 3 - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (4) Resident Evil 5 - Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.  (5)  Guitar Hero:  World Tour - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and Playstation 2.  (6)  Fable II - Xbox 360.   (7) Prince of Persia - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (8) LittleBigPlanet - Playstation 3.  (9) EndWar - Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.  (10) Rock Band 2 - Playstation 3, Xbox 3, Wii, and Playstation 2.

(11) Far Cry 2 - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (12)  Bayonetta - Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.  (13)  Dragon Age: Origins - PC.  (14)  Halo Wars - Xbox 360.  (15)  Dead Space - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (16)  Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.  (17)  Spore - PC.  (18) Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer - Playstation 3.  (19)  Mirror’s Edge - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (20)  Banjo-Kazooie:  Nuts & Bolts - Xbox 360.

(21) Resistance 2 - Playstation 3.  (22)  Call of Duty:  World at War - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (23)  Street Fighter IV - Arcade, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.  (24)  Borderlands - Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.  (25)  Killzone 2 -Playstation 3. 

This is the opinion of one Magazine and does not mean that other video games such as Soul Calibur IV and Wall-E are not excellent games to play.