This week on the Gamesweasel video podcast we talk about:-

• Videogame pirate jailed
• Buy GTA IV and get GTA Vice City free
• World of Warcraft Lich King sales figures
• Call of Duty World at War review
• Shaun White’s Snowboarding for the PS3
• Skate It review
• Xbox 360 party games

We have 5 copies of Shaun White’s Snowboarding for the PS3 to give away by 15 December 2008, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page. Thanks for the emails, keep them coming in to gamesweasel@mevio.com. Be sure to visit the Gamesweasel blog for articles on Nintendo DS Buying guide for Christmas 2008, free Nintendo Wii points, EA Sports Active and the $100 Xbox 360?. You can also stream Gamesweasel episode 076 direct to your desktop, and watch the Call of Duty World at War review and the Skate It review on Youtube.

If you like any of the games we have reviewed in this episode you can buy Call of Duty World at War from Buy.com, rent Call of Duty World at War from Gamefly or check out the Call of Duty World at War Amazon page, also rent Skate It, buy Skate It or go to the Skate It Amazon page.

This weeks episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you in association with GoDaddy and offers you discounts on hosting and domain names. Use one of the following Gamesweasel December 2008 GoDaddy coupon codes to save you money – weasel1 gets you 10% off domain name purchases and weasel2 gets you 20% off orders over $50 or £25. Some restrictions may apply, please see the GoDaddy web site for more details.

[STREAM] | [DOWNLOAD MP4] | [VIDEO PODCAST RSS FEED] | [SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES]

This week on the Gamesweasel gaming mp3 podcast we talk about:-

• Videogame pirate jailed
• Buy GTA IV and get GTA Vice City free
• World of Warcraft Lich King sales figures
• Call of Duty World at War
• Shaun White’s Snowboarding for the PS3
• Skate It
• Xbox 360 party games

We have 5 copies of Shaun White’s Snowboarding for the PS3 to give away by 15 December 2008, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page. Thanks for the emails, keep them coming in to gamesweasel@mevio.com.

Be sure to visit the Gamesweasel blog for articles on Nintendo DS Buying guide for Christmas 2008, free Nintendo Wii points, EA Sports Active and the $100 Xbox 360. Want to see the games we’ve been talking about? Check out the Call of Duty World at War screenshots and Skate It screenshots on our Flickr feed. You can also watch Gamesweasel TV episode 076 direct to your desktop, plus watch the Skate It review and the Call of Duty World at War review on Youtube.

We’ve compiled links to all the games reviewed in this episode so you can buy Skate It from Buy.com, rent Skate It from Gamefly or head to the Skate It Amazon page, also rent Call of Duty World at War, buy Call of Duty World at War or go to the Call of Duty World at War Amazon page.

This weeks episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you in association with GoDaddy and offers you discounts on hosting and domain names. Use one of the following Gamesweasel GoDaddy coupon codes December 2008 to save you money – weasel1 gets you 10% off domain name purchases and weasel2 gets you 20% off orders over $50 or £25. Some restrictions may apply, please see the GoDaddy web site for more details.

[DOWNLOAD MP3] | [AUDIO PODCAST RSS FEED] | [SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES]

This week on the PSP RSS Channel we talk about:-

• Videogame pirate jailed
• Buy GTA IV and get GTA Vice City free
• World of Warcraft Lich King sales figures
• Review of Call of Duty World at War
• Shaun White’s Snowboarding for the PS3
• Review of Skate It

We have 5 copies of Shaun White’s Snowboarding for the PS3 to give away by 15 December 2008, full details of how to enter can be found on our competitions page. Thanks for the emails, keep them coming in to gamesweasel@mevio.com. Be sure to visit the Gamesweasel blog for articles on Nintendo DS Buying guide for Christmas 2008, free Nintendo Wii points, EA Sports Active and the $100 Xbox 360?.

To get hold of any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy Skate It from Buy.com, rent Skate It from Gamefly or check out the Skate It Amazon page, also rent Call of Duty World at War, buy Call of Duty World at War or go to the Call of Duty World at War Amazon page.

This show is made especially to be added to your psp rss channels videos – see our PSP videos page for full instructions on how to get the mp4 automatically to your PSP. You can also watch the Youtube Call of Duty World at War review and Youtube Skate It review videos, as well as streaming episode 076 of Gamesweasel direct to your desktop.

This weeks episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you in association with GoDaddy and offers you discounts on hosting and domain names. Use one of the following Gamesweasel GoDaddy coupon codes for December 2008 to save you money – weasel1 gets you 10% off domain name purchases and weasel2 gets you 20% off orders over $50 or £25. Some restrictions may apply, please see the GoDaddy web site for more details.

[STREAM] | [DOWNLOAD MP4] | [PSP RSS FEED]

YouTube Xbox 360 party games

So Christmas is fast approaching and for some of us, it’s a dreaded time when members of the family all come together, open their presents and then get a bit bored because it’s tradition. Well, if you want to change that trend, here are some ideas of what you can get for the whole family to play if you happen to bring along your Xbox 360 or are getting one from Santa.

In a move that blatantly rips off Sony’s ideas, Microsoft have released three Xbox 360 party games in time for Christmas to support their new philosophy to target casual gamers as well as the hardcore.

They’ve released a karaoke game called Lips, a new version of Buzz! Quiz TV-style quiz game called Scene It? Box Office Smash! and an PlayStation 3 Eye style game which uses the Xbox Vision camera called You’re in the Movies. Ok, so they may have many similarities to PS2 and PS3 games but if you only have an Xbox that’s no bad thing.

So let’s start with Scene It? Box Office Smash. This latest version is basically a movie quiz that shows you film clips and then asks you multiple choice questions about them. Up to four players can enjoy the game at once but of course, if you have a larger family round for Christmas, you can play in teams. The controllers are wireless and as sturdy as you’d expect and there’s a fair mix of movie genres so everyone should be able to at least get something right. Unfortunately there’s not a massive amount of questions so don’t break this from its box before the big day if you don’t want to have your fun spoilt be repeat questions.

If singing round the telly after you’ve had a few sherries is more your thing, then Lips could be what you want to bust out once everyone’s digested their Christmas pudding. Boasting a track list of 40 songs, it’s basically a karaoke machine in a box. There’s not much here for solo players so once again, this is ideal for parties. The wireless microphones put Sony’s USB ones to shame and they even light up and have motion sensors for use in the game. Each track has the original music video and lyrics to sing along to and there’s more content on the way via Xbox Live. You can even import your own music from your iPod but be warned, you won’t have the words on screen so you’d better know those words or you’ll just have to hum along.

Finally there’s You’re in the Movies. It’s basically a series of mini games bundled with the Xbox Vision camera, where you act out scenes into the camera and then they’re compiled into a little movie at the end. Horror, romance and action are all there but, although this may sound fun, it’s actually not. It takes a fair while to make all the scenes for your movie, and the bits at the end are a bit disappointing after all your hard work. It’s also tricky to get the lighting right as the software ‘keys’ out the background to fit you into the scene. Once again, it’s probably a bit of fun to try out on Christmas day but it’ll probably end up on eBay come boxing day.

So, there’s some ideas to make your holiday a little more fun this year if you own an Xbox. Next week I’ll be taking a look at some of the party games available to you if you own a PS3.

Get the games now
New: Buy Lips from Amazon.com
New: Buy Scene It? Box Office Smash Bundlefrom Amazon.com
New: Buy You’re in the Moviesfrom Amazon.com

Tags: Xbox 360 party games, xbox 360 christmas, xbox party games, xbox 360 party games, xbox 360 family games

YouTube Skate It review

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For many years Tony Hawk was the only real skating contender on the block when it came to making videogames about skating. EA’s Skate which came out a couple of years ago changed all that and some people preferred their new ‘Flickit’ controls, which represented the moves on a skateboard more realistically than just pushing a button. I can’t skate and so I wasn’t a fan, preferring Tony Hawk’s simpler control method.

Well, now the game’s out on the Wii in the form of Skate It and this time they’ve taken the control system that bit further with flicks and shakes of the Wii-mote to get you doing ollies, nollies, shove its and grinds. You can also get on the Wii balance board if you want to truly get that feeling of leaning into your turns and applying pressure to your board to get it off the ground.

Of course, if you play through the career there’s a loose story of sorts. The city of San Vanelona has seen some sort of strange disaster which has effectively made it a ghost town. This makes a skater’s paradise as they’ve all free to use any part of the city as their skate park. So, you doing your tricks and your friend filming you on camera, you set about completing tricks and combos to get some really gnarly stuff on tape…dude.

I have a big problem with this game and it’s mainly because of the controls. Making a ‘proper’ game for the Wii is always tough if you’re using the motion sensor because it’s simply not accurate enough to do what you want it to do. Try to do specific combos and you’ll quite often fail due to some mistranslation between your wrist and the Wii. Try to use the Wii balance board and things get even worse. I can’t skate anyway, but transferring your weight from toes to heel to steer is nigh-on impossible and I ended up weaving left and right like I’d had far too many JDs.

I also can’t help wondering if this ‘city disaster’ was just a story to excuse the developers from having anyone else in the game world. It’s certainly weird skating round the grey ghost town. The graphics also leave a lot to be desired. You can design your own character from a limited set of options but they’re a really odd shape.

On the positive side, the game does have a good soundtrack and will still please fans of skating games who want one on the Wii. There’s also fun to be had by bailing on purpose from a great height to make sure you enter the ‘Hall of Meat’ by breaking every bone in your body.

If you’re going to get this game, my word of advice is to stick to using the Wii remote and Nunchuck. Don’t buy a copy of Wii Fit just to get the balance board – you’ll be disappointed. Skate It gets a disappointing 5 out of 10.

Get Skate It now
New: Buy Skate It from Amazon.com
New: Buy Skate It from Buy.com
Preowned: Skate – Pre-Played from Gamefly.com
Rental: Rent Skate It – free rental trial from Gamefly.com

Related: Tony Hawk, Skate It for the DS, Youtube Skate It review

Tags: Skate It, Skateit, Wii, DS, Skating game, Wii balance board, Skateboard game for Wii

YouTube Call of Duty World at War review

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If you’re a regular Gamesweasel downloader you’ll know by now I’m sick of World War II games. The last Call of Duty was a breath of fresh air and now it’s back to the 1940s with World at War. This is where it all began for Call of Duty when it took on Medal of Honor and won. So, does it offer anything new this time around? Well, yes and no.

The last game had a great single player experience and addictive multiplayer that gamers are still playing today in their thousands. So, the formula and gameplay’s not really changed, just the setting, which will really please World War II nuts (and I know there’s lots of you out there).

The Call of Duty World at War single player campaign concentrates on America’s battle with Japan and Russia’s push back into Nazi Germany. When playing, you switch back and forth between them to keep the variety up. Of course, the game’s full of fantastic set-pieces as you advance towards your enemy and there’s the weapons you’d expect to be holding, including a new flame thrower which is fun to use as you burn out troops from their bunkers. Keifer Sutherland also provides his best Jack Bauer shouty voice as he leads the American troops to victory, and they’ve upped the music with modern-day heavy metal when it all goes off with a bang.

You can now play the single player campaign in co-op mode. This worked fantastically with Gears of War and it works well here too. You can now provide covering fire whilst up to three buddies try to flank the enemy and get off a quick head shot. And, similar to Left 4 Dead which I’ll be reviewing next week, you have to revive each other when you take a mortal hit.

Play the game on Hardened mode and you’ll have a hard time, particularly as the game seems to respawn enemies at you until you advance. If you’re used to waiting behind cover for your team mates to fell the enemies you’ll be waiting a long time.

Multiplayer is as addictive as always. If you played Modern Warfare you can jump straight in. You gain perks as you earn points and this time, instead of calling in a helicopter after 7 kills, you send in a pack of dogs to maul your enemies and there’s no escaping indoors, they’ll follow you upstairs too! Once again there are plenty of game modes to suit every taste whether you want to work as a team or just run and gun as a lone soldier.

This latest Call of Duty is another complete package. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so they haven’t. Although it won’t take you an age to finish the single player campaign, there’s more than enough replay value with co-op and multiplayer. Despite some dodgy accents and some unnecessary F-bombs from Mr Sutherland, Call of Duty: World at War gets 9 out of 10.

Get Call of Duty World at War now
New: Buy Call of Duty World at War from Amazon.com
New: Buy Call of Duty World at War from Buy.com
Preowned: Call of Duty: World at War – Pre-Played from Gamefly.com
Rental: Rent Call of Duty World at War – free rental trial from Gamefly.com

Related: Call of Duty 5,  Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack review,  Youtube Call of Duty World at War review

Tags: Call of Duty World at War, Call of Duty, World at War, Keifer Sutherland, Call of Duty: World at War