Inside Game Informer

Picking up my shiny new issue of Game Informer I headed right for the Dear GI section. I was a bit distracted talking to my brother, but then the world stopped as I honed onto the bold letters spelling out my name. I made it into Game Informer! Sure it's just the letters to the editor section, but to have an opinion published in a national magazine still feels pretty good. They did cut it down a bit, which was to be expected for space issues and they cleaned it up a bit. So here is a view of what showed up in the magazine.

In Issue 196, a reader called out Wii gamers by bringing up a few good games and asking why people weren't buying them. Here's my best answer: Just because you are a hardcore gamer doesn't mean that everyone likes the same type of hardcore games. I still enjoy my Wii and pick up a new game for it when it appeals to me, but for the types of games that I enjoy, being a multi-console gamer is the only way to go.

And just so you don't have to go back an entry, here is my full response that I sent into Game Informer.

Growing up with video games and owning consoles from Sony, Sega, and Nintendo had me in a bit of a quarrel as to what system to buy this generation. I ended up going with the Nintendo Wii back when it was still almost impossible to get one and the games were very much lacking. But it's innovated idea on gameplay and having a new Zelda game to boot had me wanting one. But after 2 years of owning one, I as a hardcore gamer who also likes "casual" games, was missing many of the hardcore games that were released for the PS3 and the 360. So I went out and bought a PS3 a few months ago. I now don't have the feeling of missing out on good hardcore games because they won't come to the Wii for one reason or another. That way I can still play games like Zelda and Mario Kart, but still not miss out on games like Resident Evil 5 and Prototype. In issue 196, Patrick brought up a few good games for hardcore gamers that came out for the Wii and asked why people weren't buying them. But just because you are a hardcore gamer doesn't mean that we all like the same type of hardcore games. I did, however, pick up Okami, but went with the ps2 version instead. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy my Wii and pick up a new game for it when it appeals to me, but overall Nintendo seems to have targeted the Wii more towards the "casual" gamer. For me being a multi-console gamer is the only way to go.

Here's some pics for those of you who don't get Game Informer. I got Cover 1 of 2, so if yours doesn't look like this then you probably got cover 2 for September 2009. (click on them to make them larger)

Fat Princess PS3 Review Download

Who says a game for 14.99 can't be fun? I'm not sure if that has ever really been said, but people seem to think that if something is cheap it's not good. This is not the case with Fat Princess, which is a downloadable game for the Playstation 3. You play as a villager in a kingdom where your princess and a neighboring princess are addicted to cake. In this game the cake is not a lie! There are different tasks ranging from a capture the flag type game to being the first team to kill a certain number of the opposing teams to claiming all the towers on the map for your team. In any of the game types you can be a range of characters. Trying on different hats give you different abilities such as throwing fire, building and repairing buildings, shooting arrows, healing party members and the likes. These differences gives you a bunch of different ways to play giving the game more replay value.

In Fat Princess there are two modes of gameplay: a single player story mode and an online vs. mode. The single player mode as a whole is short, however some of the levels can be quite long, which isn't necessarily a good thing. I was on one level for a few hours, gave up, came back to it for a couple more hours of gameplay before finishing it. With a level just being one simple task this can get boring if it runs on for too long.

The online mode is where this game really shines. If it wasn't for the trophies, yes I just might be a trophy whore, I'm not sure if I would have finished the single player mode so soon. But playing online with friends is quite fun. There can be up to 32 players total which each team consisting of 16 people. If you don't have that many the remaining characters are replaced with A.I. characters. For the most part they are pretty easy when you place yourself up against them especially with real people on your team.

There are a couple of things that need some improving in my opinion. As a girl gamer I am used to being gypped when it comes to games for the most part. It's a man's world even though girl gamers are out there and not the ones just interested in silly little girl games. What I'm referring to in Fat Princess is your character. You can design your own character to an extent. You can change hair style and color, as well as eye color and facial hair. You can choose between a girl or a boy, which basically changes the voice of your character. So all is not lost for girl gamers. But the girl hairstyle choices are so small that there will either be girls with pigtails or a boys haircut. So that does mean that girl characters can have beards as well. A boy character can also choose to model the pigtails. As you go along you do unlock more hairstyles and colors, so maybe there is another girly hairstyle I just haven't unlocked yet. But either way this isn't a huge issue for me and am happy to sport my purple pigtails with blue skin.

The one thing that I wish they worked on more was giving us more maps. With only about 5 different maps it can get a little boring. Maybe this would be a good use of downloadable content.

All in all I find Fat Princess a good game well worth it's price tag with good online gameplay and funny commentary that ads a little personality to the game. I would give this game a 3.5 out of 5.