Shaun White Snowboarding has just dropped in a shelf-filling seven flavors (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2 and PC.) With home video game consoles the Wii is in many ways the runt of the pack, lacking the raw horsepower of the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 (both powered by the award-winning Assassin’s Creed engine). Usually with large multiplatform games like this, the Wii version ends up being a crippled and relatively neglected cousin of the other larger versions.

With this title the Canadian developers at Ubisoft Montreal rethought that typical move and instead made a custom game variant for the Wii, compensating for the shortcomings of the console by capitalizing on the unique possibilities the hardware has to offer. Shaun White Snowboarding – Road Trip is not just an attempt to cram a large power-hungry game in to a small and relatively weak console but instead a differentiated stylized experience which shows both consumers and other developers that with a little creativity you can make multiplatform games which take advantage of what each platform uniquely has to offer. continue…

Far Cry was an interesting game years ago. It was a first person shooter with a difference. It really shook things up in the genre with its tight AI and amazingly far draw distances in a seemingly open world. It also has a significant problem where the game fell apart in the second half with an unfortunate plot and gameplay twist which was seen to many as being three steps back. Its first official sequel is here now: Far Cry 2 and many are watching it to see if it repeats the accomplishments or the problems of its namesake. On top of that, the Canadian developers at Ubisoft Montreal have tried to push the envelope once more and give players an ambitious experience.

To make a point: Far Cry 2 by Clint Hocking has almost nothing to do with the original. It does not continue or have any significant ties to the original narrative and is intentionally divorced from Far Cry. That gesture seems to be an admission of guilt for letting the first game devolve so rapidly in to a horrible mess. Consider Far Cry 2 an apology to fans as they make amends this time to turn Far Cry 2 in to what we all wanted the first Far Cry to be. continue…

If you’re in Toronto next weekend you should go check out the Art Gallery of Ontario. Aside from just art, they’re now ready to show off their newly ‘finished’ Frank Gehry^TM renovations. The public opening takes place from the 14th to the 16th with free admission and you’re invited.

[Press Release]

Gears of War 2 is set to be one of this year’s hottest game releases. Its namesake released two years ago to huge critical acclaim and remains one of the most visually impressive titles on the Xbox 360. With the sequel everything was promised to be improved in every aspect. With all the other impressive new games on the scene this month, Gears of War 2 doesn’t really need to bring its A-Game in order to get decent sales – It could have pulled that off on residual excitement alone. Luckily for us though, Epic Games did not rest on its laurels for the sequel and actually tried to push beyond the hype and existing loyal customers in an attempt to actually expand its fan-base.

As nice as Gears of War was when it originally made the scene, it is no secret that it had its share of problems. Multiplayer, for instance, was an undercooked afterthought. Most notably though, story was sorely missing in the original. With this franchise turning in to a signature series, a lot more effort was invested this time around in order to make it a deeper and richer experience. Though, of course, not perfect, this sequel just may have accomplished it’s much touted goal of being in improvement in all aspects over the original. continue…

The Sony Ericsson W350 appeared on the scene this year in Canada and at initial glance, sparks some interest. It seems small and comes at a super-budget price ($20 after carrier subsidies from Rogers Wireless). It bills itself as a very small flip-phone built for music first and just happens to also be a phone. Reality doesn’t quite match this marketing push but regardless, the phone has it’s strong points which seem to balance out the compromises. continue…