MLB 2k10 offers an immersive baseball experience when on the field. The gesture-based pitching returns this year but is improved strongly. The system maps pitching to the right analog stick, but does so in a way that feels natural, not gimmicky. The user selects his pitch with the face button and then moves the right stick in a motion indicated. This system means that the complaints of last year’s game (e.g. “I wanted to throw a slider but the game thought I threw a sinker”) are now in the past. Furthermore, the game alters the pitch timing when the pitcher is in the stretch, adding realism to this mechanic.

In addition, the gameplay problems of MLB 2k9 do not reappear in 2k10. Players will catch the ball when put in position instead of waving their arms frantically. It is now much more difficult to hit a home run and every game won’t end with a 16-15 final score. It seems like 2k Sports heard the criticisms of users of the last game and made a concerted effort to remedy them.

The battle between pitcher and batter features prominently in MLB 2k10.

However, the single-player game modes are not a home run. The new centerpiece mode is the “My Player” career mode, which is inspired by the “Be A Pro”-style modes that have appeared in versions of EA’s Madden NFL and NHL series and the successful “Road to the Show” mode of Sony’s MLB: The Show series. The mode starts off in Double A and the goal is to work your player all the way up to the big leagues and the Hall of Fame. While the concept is not new to sports gamers, MLB 2k10 introduces some new caveats to give a familiar mode a different look. For instance, in addition to demanding trades, a feature that is included in essentially every career mode, MLB 2k10 gives a superstar player the ability to influence what free agents sign with his team in the offseason. This aspect mirrors real-life events (such as when Carlos Beltran influenced Carlos Delgado to join him on the Mets in 2005), so I’m glad that 2k Sports incorporated this detail.

However, the mode falls flat in other respects. The primary game interaction is handled through a menu screen because the game simulates every play that does not involve your player. This process leaves the user detached from the experience of a baseball game. While it may have been impractical to have users sit through nine innings of playing the outfield, only having a user play the field when a ball is hit to him kills the suspense of actually reading the ball of the bat and knowing when to react to a ball put in play. In order for a career mode in a sports game to be successful, the user needs to feel engaged with the events on the field and MLB 2k10 fails to provide such engagement.

The career mode doesn't deliver.

In conclusion, MLB 2k10 is an enjoyable game and certainly not the unplayable game of last year. The gameplay mechanics are solid, but the lack of quality single-player modes means that this game is like a leadoff double: it’s a good start, but needs some help to be driven home to score.

Call of Duty 4 was a beautifully polished game, featuring both a memorable campaign and addictive multiplayer. Without a doubt it deserved all of the accolades it received when it was released two years ago. From the minute that Modern Warfare 2 was announced, I wondered how a close to perfect game could be improved upon. Infinity Ward included more guns, explosions, and action sequences in an attempt to make the game better.

Unfortunately this game design mantra negatively affected the single player campaign.  Call of Duty 4’s story was particularly memorable largely because it was filled with dramatic twists and turns. Infinity Ward attempted to make Modern Warfare 2’s campaign even more thrilling by injecting it with action movie steroids. You will ride snowmobiles and boats, climb and repel down cliffs, and escape the most hopeless of situations.

The action moves so quickly that it makes the story confusing. I found myself constantly confused with how the game was relating back to the main international conflict. Part of this is due to the Call of Duty franchise’s switching around soldiers in different theaters of the conflict. You will be fighting in Brazil, then in the US, then in Russia, then back to Brazil—moving so much that you can’t realize who you are fighting a specific points. Yet a larger reason for the confusing mind numbing campaign is because you are always in a collapsing cave, exploding building, swooping helicopter or speeding humvee.  Modern Warfare 2’s campaign is overwhelming because it is overly dramatic.  Of course, there are parts where you are sneaking and sniping, but the fast parts greatly outweigh these tense sections.

Fortunately for multiplayer fans, the inclusion of bigger and better action definitely improves the online component of the game. The bigger arsenal of weapons and perks allows players hundreds of new combination possibilities. More important is the addition of the killstreak reward choices. Instead of automatically getting a reward at 3, 5, and 7 kills, you can choose your supports. Taking control of an AC-130 gunship and a heavily armored helicopter is enormously satisfying, but pales in comparison to the 25 killstreak reward of a tactical nuke.

Simply put, the multiplayer is still addicting. I know this first hand because I have played almost 40 hours through the first week of the games release. Infinity Ward did make some great improvements to the multiplayer portion of the game, so much so that I took breaks from the campaign to play with my friends online.

If you do get frustrated online by “cheap” through the wall kills and campers, you can play the new Spec Ops mode. Essentially it allows you to play some of the campaigns more exciting moments and special challenges with a friend in co-op.  Broken up nicely into chapters, the Spec Ops mode includes the same action movie type sequences but doesn’t overwhelm you. Playing with a friend makes the experience all the better. However it does beg the question of why there isn’t an option of playing through the entire campaign in co-op.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a great game largely due to the great formula created by Call of Duty 4. The franchise is still one of the best-engineered shooters but I wasn’t thrilled with the changes in the campaign’s design. Fortunately, Infinity Ward included some improvements to the multiplayer portion of the game that freshens the experience and makes it more addictive than ever.

Entertainium played both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

The Beatles: Rock Band holds the distinction of the most anticipated video game ever. All of the blockbusters such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 3, and the yearly release of Madden cannot hold a candle to the amount of hype that The Beatles: Rock Band received over this past summer. The appearance of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for a grand total of about two minutes was main story of E3 2009. The game was featured on television shows that wouldn’t normally give thirty seconds to video games on a normal day (Today and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien are two that instantly come to mind).

The hype isn’t unexpected. The Beatles defined a generation and constantly innovated, expanding the limits and expectations of what music could do. Even after their dissolution in 1971 and the deaths of John Lennon in 1980 and George Harrison in 2001, their music has endured through the generations and has influenced contemporary music.

Yet, there is potential for such a game to fail. Music games that have featured a band-specific focus have not fared well critically. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica, and AC/DC Live: Rock Band have not been able to equal the same Metacritic scores as their full band competitors: Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band, and Rock Band 2.

The instruments look great and play like the Rock Band 2 ones. For some, this fact is a negative more than it is a positive.

Luckily, The Beatles: Rock Band does not fall into the same pitfalls as the band-specific games before it. It plays exceptionally well, utilizes the license effectively, and offers tremendous fan service. However, there seems to be room for improvement, especially in the areas of song selection and innovation.

The best compliment that can be paid to the game is that it continues in the tradition of excellence that has characterized the Rock Band series. Every gameplay related aspect of the Rock Band series remains intact, with a few slight modifications. This statement means that there is no over-charting, broken vocals, or dumb shared star power meter. Basically, the compliment is that it plays like Rock Band, not Guitar Hero. Additionally, the vocal section has been expanded to include vocal harmonies. Up to three players can sing a different vocal part depending on the song. Because the riffs of The Beatles’ songs are not complicated, the game encourages the player to try their hand at singing and playing at the same time (to that end, the premium edition of the game bundles a microphone stand).

However, if the game consisted solely of the songs of The Beatles with a traditional Rock Band overlay, players would be disappointed. Suffice it to say, the game does not slouch in license utilization. Every song has a unique setting, and throughout the career mode, players experience Beatlemania firsthand. They see The Beatles’ humble beginnings in the Cavern Club, the British Invasion of The Ed Sullivan Show, to the pandemonium of the 1965 Concert at Shea Stadium, the 1966 concert at Budokan, Abbey Road Studios, and the concert on the Apple Corps rooftop. Each setting is recreated accurately and with careful attention to detail. The wardrobes of the Fab Four match what they wore at each of the actual concert venues. For the songs that were not played live, a “dreamscape” enables the songs to come to life in a fantasy world. The outfits from The Magical Mystery Tour make an appearance in “I Am The Walrus” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” gently glosses over the fact that Ringo quit the band when the song was recorded (that’s probably for the best).

"We'll be coast to coast with our favorite host...Ed Sullivan!"

The recreated settings don’t begin to scratch the tip of the fan service iceberg. Rare records are offered as rewards for progress throughout the career mode. Diligent fans can listen to The Beatles’ Christmas fan club record and view outtakes of the band rehearsing for The Ed Sullivan Show concert that launched the British Invasion, for example. Additionally, the inclusion of new remasters of every song represents the first chance for fans to hear The Beatles in rich clarity (the bass in “I Saw Her Standing There” just kicks, there is no other word for it). Simply put, the fan service in The Beatles: Rock Band makes Super Smash Bros. Brawl look like an absolute joke.

This game is not without fault, though. As American Idol judge Randy Jackson would say: it’s all about song choice. Though the game avoids the pitfalls of previous band-centric games by sticking to the main band’s catalog (there are no songs by “friends of the band”), some of the songs have no business being in this game. One such song is “Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows”. This track is off of 2006’s Love album, which is a composition of clever remixes and cues for the show performed by Cirque du Soleil. The song is a good song, but it is easy to question the judgment of including a song created after half of the group passed away. The album Help! is underrepresented though it marked an important turning point for the band’s sound (folk rock and the expansion of the traditional rock and roll music). Additionally, the final number of 45 songs leaves something to be desired as the career mode can be completed in only a few hours. Though downloadable content will remedy the relatively small amount of songs, the first real batch will not be released until late October and it favors the overrepresented late Beatles catalog by a heavy margin.

Furthermore, the Rock Band platform does not match the innovation that characterized the music of The Beatles. Aside from adding the vocal harmonies, the core gameplay mechanic hasn’t changed. It should have. On a considerable amount of songs, four distinct parts were played aside from vocals: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, and drums. However, the only guitar option is simply titled “guitar”. John and George did not play the same part on “I Wanna Be Your Man”, yet the game only offers one choice to the player. For a band that pushed the envelope of accepted musical norms, one could expect that a video game developer could push the envelope of accepted video game conventions. There is no hard and fast rule that says a game must only use four controllers, and if there is, The Beatles: Rock Band represented a perfect opportunity to change it.

Three stringed instruments there...too bad you can only play two

Yet, when examining a game such as this one, it is evident that the pros outweigh the cons by a significant margin. The negatives of the game don’t make the game unappealing. Rather, they only represent grievances particular to my musical tastes or a missed opportunity that was never really on the table. The game still stands incredibly well on its own merits and should be played and enjoyed by all music and video game fans.

My first experience with Sonic was in 1992. Now, seventeen years later, I look at what the Sonic franchise has become and I am disappointed. Once a distinct character, Sonic has been reduced to a supporting actor in the Nintendo universe (the most fun I’ve had playing as Sonic in the past five years was when I played Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games). Clearly, the Sonic series hasn’t aged well. I wondered, then, if there was a series from my childhood that has done so. Is there a game series that is known for quality gameplay, consistent innovation, and meaningful impact in popular culture? I answer yes: the NHL series of video games by Electronic Arts. Because of these factors, it is the best video-game series of all time.

NHL then...

The previous statement may offend some videogame purists. They’ll point to the fact that Super Mario Bros. saved the industry after the great video game crash of 1983. They’ll point to the emotional storytelling of Final Fantasy VII. They’ll point to the epic scale of The Legend of Zelda series. They’ll even point to Madden NFL and claim that it’s a better sports series. Those purists are wrong.

If they claim that Super Mario Bros. is the best series, they need to accept that SMB2 was a re-skin of Doki Doki Panic and that the series’ offering for the GameCube, Super Mario Sunshine, was a letdown and certainly not a classic. If they claim that Final Fantasy represents the ultimate in video game series, they haven’t played a Final Fantasy game since 2002. If they want to claim that Zelda is the best series, they’ll be ignoring the CD-I system (maybe that’s for the best), the fact that there was no reason to make two Oracle games, and that there has been no proper Wii game in the series. If they claim Madden is a better sports series, then they skipped the 2006 through 2009 iterations and think that the newest generation of video game systems started yesterday.

So this leaves us with the NHL series. My first criterion for a great series is that it always offers quality game play. Here, the NHL series delivers in spades. From its humble days as NHLPA Hockey ’93 on the Sega Genesis, the NHL series offered a degree of realism not seen in sports games of the time. It translated the fast paced nature of the game of hockey to the home console. While the graphics are nothing to look at now, back then they represented quality never before seen. Everything was included in these early games: lightning-quick slap shots, punishing body-checks, and crisp passes. In the later days, as the series grew and added more features, the core gameplay always remained true to the sport that inspired it.

...and now

But a tradition of quality gameplay isn’t enough, which leads to the next criterion: innovation. It is here that the NHL series comes up in spades. NHLPA Hockey ’93 was the first game in the series that obtained a license from the player’s association to use actual player names in the game. This importance of this acquisition cannot be stated enough. Instead of scoring with Center #27, the game showed that you scored with Jeremy Roenick. The NHL series acquired such a license two years before the Madden NFL series, which did so in Madden NFL ’95. Another such innovation was the introduction of the skill stick in NHL 07. This feature mapped the hockey stick to the right analog stick and provided for fluid gameplay. Performing dekes, an essential part of hockey, used to be next to impossible. Now, they could be done in a life-like manner. Finally, NHL 09 introduced Be A Pro mode, which lets the player control one player throughout the entire game. This immersive experience could be used in a franchise-mode-style of play or online, where you could play with eleven additional players. These innovations are characteristic of the NHL series of games.

Gameplay and innovation, while important, don’t make a series the best. Those two elements when combined with a strong impact on popular culture do. Everyone recognizes the theme song from Super Mario Bros. and they know where it’s from, even if they know nothing about video games. Did the NHL series make that impact? An examination of the evidence proves that it certainly did. In a 1994 Sports Illustrated article entitled “Hot Not”, E.M. Swift writes about the NHL’s increasing popularity over the NBA (look how long that lasted). One reason for this popularity was the NHL series of video games. Swift quotes EA’s VP of spoils marketing, Don Transeth, “It’s big in England. It’s huge on campuses. And a lot of these people are learning hockey through the video game.” The NHL was able to expand its reach through the NHL series of video games. Additionally, who can forget this classic scene in the 1996 film Swingers with Vince Vaughn, Patrick Van Horn, and Jon Favreau? (NSFW)

In conclusion, the NHL series is the best videogame series ever. It’s consistent- a quality game is released every year. It’s innovative- many of the game’s features have set the standard for sports games. It’s had a meaningful impact outside of video game culture- just look at Swingers. While many purists will be busy enjoying their classics, I’ll be sitting on the couch, plugging in my old Genesis, and firing up my copy of NHLPA Hockey ’93. It’s time to make Wayne’s head bleed.

In a couple of weeks I will be moving into my new apartment at school for the coming year. This will be the first time I will have a kitchen, but haven’t a clue how to use it. Cereal and pasta aside, my cooking is very limited. The art of cooking has been tantalizing to me since I first starting watching Gordon Ramsey’s cooking shows a few years ago. Watching the shows has certainly made me more aware of the kitchen’s accoutrements but I’m in need of some actual lessons.

That’s why I was happy to see a copy of Jessica’s Cupcake Café in my office. Baking is definitely a great skill to have so I was hoping that this PC game from ValuSoft would train me to become a master baker. The game greeted me and told me the importance of cupcakes in this fast paced, modern world. “Want to do something modern and hip?” Jessica’s mother asks me. “Then sell cupcakes!” Her persuasive rationale made me ready to learn the necessary steps in order to make scrumptious baked goods.

Could I Learn to Make These?!

Evidently, the game was going to teach me a couple of other skills in addition to baking. The first of which was how to read quickly. The visually appealing comic book-style opening sequence didn’t have any voice acting, instead requiring me to read. I have no problems with this, it’s a low budget casual game and reading isn’t bothersome. The only problem was that voice boxes popped up at a rate that five additional years of Hooked on Phonics wouldn’t have allowed me to read.

Luckily for me, knowing every detail about Jessica’s rescue of her mother’s failing bakery had little bearing on whether or not I would be a successful player. The game is a pretty simple time management game. You simply point to various objects around the kitchen and Jessica would automatically move there and complete the task. Fill the batter, put them in the oven, place frosting and candy on top and then give it to the customers in line. Although it might not seem so, the simple formulaic gameplay can be fun at times especially when you get into a rhythm.

As time goes by, you will be responsible for multiple cupcake recipes and will also have to fetch the customers other items such as drinks and candy. The gameplay becomes frantic, something that requires faster thinking to rack up big money to achieve an “expert score”. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that any real skill was involved. You can put Jessica’s actions into a queue and just watch her move about the kitchen. At times, I barely felt like I was playing a game, rather it often seemed like a monotonous cartoon. My own actions seemed to be of little consequence, the result of which lessened my interest in improving Jessica’s business next to nothing.

Dammit, Hire Some Help Jessica!

If anything I was expecting the game to somewhat represent how cooking in a bakery felt, and maybe, help me actually learn to cook cupcakes. Although there are recipes in the main menu for cupcakes featured in the game (such as the enticing Chocolate with Red Butter-cream frosting), it does little to relay the experience of cooking. Despite the recipes, I am not in any better position to make cupcakes. Maybe I was expecting too much from a simple game, but I can’t help but be disappointed by the lack of a viable representation of cooking like that seen in the Cooking Mama franchise.

Although Jessica’s mother made me excited to make cupcakes, the actual task of helping her in her entrepreneurial task quickly becomes dry and tasteless. Unfortunately, my cupcakes will probably turn out the same way…