STUDIO GHIBLI MEETS POKEMON in NI NO KUNI... An Amazing Role Playing Adventure That Takes the Best Anime Has to Offer!!!

NI NO KUNI

PS3
Single Player
Rated: PG

It's amazing how films and videogames are slowing coming together to create the entertainment of the future. Forget about dodgy movie-tie in games, and low budget cinematic snore-fests based on 

videogames, we're talking about some of the awesome stuff being done, that goes light-years beyond any of that - a prime example, is Ni No Kuni!!!

If you're a fan of anime, it's assured that you're already familiar with Studio Ghibli, who have created a slew of legendary animated films including My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Ponyo. For the first time ever, Studio Ghibili have collaborated with a videogame developer (Level 5), to create the cinematic sequences for a RPG (Role Playing Game) adventure.

The result is an amazing experience that fans of Studio Ghibli’s films won't want to miss. Anyone that digs RPGs like Pokemon, the anime visuals of Professor Layton, or just Role Playing Games in general, will be blown away by what Ni No Kuni has to offer. 

It’s an almost perfect game experience, which is gorgeously animated, has a great storyline, brilliant music (by legendary Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi), and compelling gameplay. It’s the tale of Oliver, a young boy who embarks on a quest to become a magician so that he can resurrect his mother. 

Oliver's jourmey takes him to a strange parallel world where he makes new friends and adopts many of the strange creatures he finds roaming the countryside. Once trained, they will become his allies in the many dangers he’ll face, including battles with all manner of monsters.

Ni No Kuni is a fantastic blend of cinematic anime storytelling, great gameplay, and characters that you really start to care about. It's extremely hard to fault  – brilliant stuff!

DO YOU FEEL A NEED FOR SPEED ON YOUR Wii U? Most Wanted U is Sure to Get Your Motor Running!!!

NEED FOR SPEED Most Wanted U

Wii U
Single & Multiplayer
Rated: PG

We've all been hanging out for Mario Kart to zoom onto Wii U and it's still a way off - come on Nintendo, we want our mega-dose of crazed karting now! 

The truth is, there's really not that much out there for Wii U owners who have a hankering for racing and burnouts. Unfortunately, the Wii U is a bit lacking in this genre, so Guru thought he'd take a look-see at NFS Most Wanted U, which came out a few months back and is a ripper racing title to boot!

If you like your racing games to er on the side of arcade thrills, you're gonna go totally nuts over Most Wanted U. Currently, there isn't a more exhilarating driving experience on Nintendo's new games console. It may have taken little longer to get to Wii U, than the PS3 and Xbox 360, but it has been well worth the wait! 

Most Wanted U delivers an expansive open-world to explore from the driver’s seat, and a bunch of cool new Wii U-centric features. One of the biggest highlights is the Co-Driver mode - a local co-op experience played using WiiMote or Wii U Pro Controller and the Wii U GamePad. 

The Wii U version also includes, all of the extra content from the Ultimate Speed Pack DLC, and the ability to switch cars and mods on the fly, via the Wii U GamePad’s touch screen. All of this adds up to some awesome racing, so slam your pedal to the metal, and check it out!

TRAVEL THROUGH TIME... for Sly Cooper's Most Daring Heist Yet!

SLY COOPER: Thieves in Time

PS3
Single Player
Rated: PG

That rascally raccoon and master thief Sly Cooper returns in another nail-biting heist adventure, and this time he's travelling through time which is guaranteed to keep players on their toes. Join Sly and his merry band of misfits, as an all new mystery unfolds. After another daring heist Sly is suddenly overcome by amnesia and disappears with his gal-pal Carmelita in tow...

To make matters worse, Sly's loyal partner in crime Bentley (the brainiac turtle) is shocked to discover that pages of the ancient ‘Thievius Racoonus’ (The Cooper family Book of Master Thievery) are gradually disappearing too... uber-weird! So it looks like it’s time to round up Team Cooper - their mission: To stop Sly’s family history from going bye-byes for good!

Thieves in Time promises to be the gang’s wildest ride yet. It's filled with thrilling missions, tons of brain-busting puzzles, loads of combat, and some totally wicked boss battles to boot! Sly and Bentley are joined by Murray (the fix-it hippo) and a quirky cast of humorous characters, each with their own unique style, moves, and specialties.

Add a bunch of costumes to collect which unlock special abilities like boosting your attack and defense moves, it’s fun and games all the way in this entertaining adventure for the whole family - Sly is great fun for everyone!

GOTTA TYPE 'EM ALL: Time to Learn How to Type With Your Fave Pokemon!

Pokemon Typing Adventure
Nintendo DS
Single Player
Rated: G

Let's be honest, learning to type can be a real pain in the butt! So if you wanna inject a little bit of fun into typing lessons, then look no further than Pokemon Typing Adventure. That's right folks, those funky little Pocket Monsters have come together to teach YOU how to type!!! Whether you’re a newbie still struggling to remember your finger positions on the keyboard, or a typing master, you'll be tapping away at super speed in no time and having fun while doing it...

All you need is your DS and the Pokemon Adventure bundle, which comes with the game cart, wireless keyboard, and a compact DS stand. Put it all together and you're ready to rock ‘n roll. Oh, and it also helps to be a bit of a Poke-maniac, as it's great motivation for you to blitz those Pokemon typing activities.

The coolest thing about Pokemon Typing Adventure is that you don’t have to be an ace typist, you can just tap along at your own level, progressing as you improve and become more confident in your typing skills. As with most typing courses the name of the game is to increase the speed and accuracy of your typing. Sporting Beginner through to Advanced courses, you'll be challenged to ramp up the speed while reducing your mistakes.

However, unlike any other typing trainer, you'll be rewarded with Pokemon. The faster you type the more Pokemon you’ll get to meet. There are over 400 Pocket Monsters to track down and you'll find them lurking in places like the desert, forest, mountains and beaches. All of them, hidden away, throughout the 60 courses which are available for you to complete.

By typing the names of Pokemon you see in the different locations quickly and accurately, you'll soon entice the rarer Pokemon out there, to come your way.  You can also nail High Scores to win Gold Medals, unlock new locations, and become a Poke Typing Master. Who knows? If you’re up to scratch, you might even get to battle some of the Legendary's on this brilliant Poke-centric typing adventure - awesome stuff!

HOT HARDWARE: Jawbone's BIG Jambox is Sure to Blow Your Mind!!!

Remember all those cheesy 80's flicks where dudes partied on with humongous Boom Boxes perched on their shoulders, blasting out tunes for the whole world to hear? Well, if social music is your thing, the jumbo-sized Jambox is sure to get the party started!!! It don't matter if you rock out using your Phone, iDevice, or MP3 player; if you feel the need for music cranked to "Eleven" when you're out and about with friends, then look no further...

From the brainiacs at Jawbone (total legends of the mobile headset game) comes Big Jambox - the beefier bigger brother of the original Jambox. If you've never encountered Jambox before, they're a top notch portable smart-speaker system that transform your portable music devices into full-blown hi-fi sound systems. Best of all, they're more than compact enough to comfortably carry in a backpack or satchel, so it can be party-time wherever you go! When you finally hear the Big Jambox for the first time, you'll immediately know this little beauty is here to stay.

Designed specifically for our crazy "on-the-go" lifestyles, Big Jambox allows you to share the love musically with family and friends virtually anywhere you go. Whether it’s between rooms chilling out at home, the beach, pool or that impromptu party, you’ll be able to play music loud both wired or wirelessly if your music device supports Bluetooth.

Big Jambox even sports a built-in microphone, so that it doubles as a speaker-phone, making hands-free calls a breeze. Other cool features jammed into this compact package include Live-Audio technology which delivers nothing short of awesome 3D sound and a built-in rechargeable battery which powers you up for around 15 hours - wicked stuff!

They even come in a nice collection of funky colours for all those trendsetters out there. While Big Jambox may not be the cheapest smart-speaker out there, it ticks all the boxes when it comes to quality, delivers bigger sound than it should, and it looks slick too - if you love music, you just gotta get one!

#4 TRANSFORMERS: Time to Roll Out and get some PRIME Cuts of Spectacular Sci-Fi Thrills and Rampaging Robo Action on your TV!!!

Guru's always been a HUGE fan of Giant Robos bashing the wiring outta each other while creating city-wide carnage on a mega-ton scale. That's why Transformers tops his list of Cult Robo Action, 'coz these bad-ass dudes morph from Robots into Cars, Trucks, Planes, even freakin' Robo-Dinosaurs... It just don't get better than that!!!

Earlier in the year we had some cool Transformers mayhem on our consoles with Activision's Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, which - in my opinion starred - those wicked Dino-Bots (part Dino, part Robo, all AWESOME!!!) in an explosive battle to save their planet. It was pretty cool stuff, too bad the same can't be said about the crop of Transformers blockbusters that pollute our cinema screens. Sure, they blow loads of stuff up and we get to see lots of big robots, but the battles are almost incomprehensible, flushing most of the fun down the toilet where they probably best belong...

The good news for Transformers fans, and for Giant Robo nuts in general, is that Guru has uncovered a lesser known Transformers gem that's spreading it's metal scraping, steel sparking, duco denting, building bashing, explodernating version of robo entertainment on both our TVs and videogame consoles.

It's called Transformers Prime, and if you haven't caught it yet, you don't know what you're missing out on! This unbelievably wicked anime TV series is released by the guys at MadMan and is available in a complete 'Season One Collection' on both Blu-Ray and DVD. Trust the Guru when he says that this series is freakin' awesome, or better still why not check out one of the Episode Collections (there are 5 Volumes & Volume 1: Darkness Rising is a great place to start) which are currently bargain priced and see for yourself...

Just to give you an idea of how much awesomer than the mega-budgeted Hollywood flicks this is, Darkness Rising not only has the Transformers and Decepticons we all love and hate, but also mashes in a gonzo storyline that involves giant Robo-Zombies. Un-freakin-believable!!! You'll never see that on a cinema screen... Still not sold?

Well how about WWE Legend Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. 'The Rock' voicing one of Optimus Prime's buddies? His name is Cliffjumper and his vehicle disguise is a pimped-out muscle car complete with Bull Horns over the grille. Plus he's brimmin' with The Rock's 'tude ready to take on the Decepticons all by his lonesome. Yep... this show's over-the-top in a really good way and should not be missed. With around 572 minutes of Transformer thrills spanning across 26 episodes in the Season One Collection, you won't be getting bored anytime soon - it gets Guru's BIG fat Stamp of Approval!!!

 

Now if you wanna get a bit more involved in your Transformers Prime adventure. That is, you wanna take control of your fave Transformers and cause all manner of destruction and smash 'n bash mayhem, Activision's Transformers Prime videogame is the way to go! Released on Wii, DS, 3DS, and on WiiU (Nintendo's latest console) players will have their hands full with the videogame based on the show.

Players will play as all their fave Autobots, from Optimus and Bumblebee, to Bulkhead and Ratchet. It's all about driving, brawling, and blasting as the Transformers battle against the evil Megatron and his Decepticon minions.

It's an epic campaign to save the Earth and a completely original story arc set in the Transformers Prime universe. But the icing on the cake is the Multiplayer Challenges which allow you to go 'toe to toe' against your family and friends to see who's the toughest Transformer of all, making this fantastic fun for everyone!

 

 

#3 - TENNIS: Wanna be a Tennis Hot Shot? Here's an App-tastic way to Slam Across the Galaxy and it's Totally FREE!!!

 

Hey there Dear Readers... Sorry about the delay on the Guru's Holiday Hits instalments, but like everyone else in this wild and woolly Universe, we discovered things going totally mental over X-mas and New Year!!! After all Guru's family commitments, eating an absolute ton of food, opening pressies, giving pressies (oh, did I mention falling over and spraining my wrist, so I wasn't allowed to type - Doctor's orders) and all that happy, happy, joy, joy stuff... this is my first lob back to the blog and we're in for a real treat!

 

 

Guru's never been a real fan of Sports videogames and to be honest finds watching the Tennis and Cricket about as exciting as watching paint dry (joking... sorta) on an overcast day. But when he discovered this Freebie iOS App (and doesn't everyone love a Freebie?)... Well, he had to eat his words because he actually had stacks of fun with it. In fact, he finished the whole first world and won the Jurassic Cup in one sitting, no mean feat, even for the 'Guru of Gaming'!

 

 

The name of the game is 'MLC Tennis Hot Shots Galaxy' and it's the uber-entertaining follow-up to last year's Tennis Hot Shots. The great thing about Hot Shots Galaxy is it tears a page outta the Mario Gaming Rule Book, adding awesome fantasy themed courts/worlds/tourneys. There are three of them: Jurassic, Spooky, and of course Galactic, each of them slowly turning up the difficulty as you progress and hone your Tennis skills.

 

In addition to the themed worlds, there are also cheeky little distractions to try and throw you off your game. In the Jurrassic Tourney it's a huge Brontosaurus that ambles by and a Pterodactyl that really peeved me off, pinching the ball whenever I'd set up the perfect shot... or at least, that's what I keep telling myself! Spooky has Lightning Flashes and ball pilfering Ghosts, while Galactic sports a floating Astro Dog and ball abducting Aliens, which - trust me - is definitely more fun than an anal probe... Not that I'd know from experience; just going on what I've been told, and what I've seen in too many re-runs of X-Files...

 

 

There are also some brilliant Special Moves/Power Ups to be pulled off, via activating a special touch button at critical points during the matches. Stuff like Mega Forehand, Sonic Boom, Lightning Lob, and Atomic Wedgie... er... I mean Atomic Smash, all of which can give you the edge to defeat your opponents if your fingers are nimble enough. These can be purchased with coins/points earned by playing the matches and are successfully pulled-off by touch-tracing special patterns on the screen as quickly as possible. Likewise, successfully returning a ball with this Special Move Mojo on it, involves successfully tracing a squiggle quickly and then slamming it back down the court - all of which makes this a hell of a lot more exciting than your typical game of Tennis.

 

 

Best of all, this puppy is made here in Melbourne, Australia (Guru's home town), by the guys at Millipede. That, and of course, the fact that you can pick it up for Free at the iTunes store. How freakin' humongously, AWESOMELY, AWESOME is that??!!! Oh, by the way, the game has been developed to promote the immensely popular MLC Tennis Hot Shots program run by Tennis Australia (http://hotshots.tennis.com.au/) and Guru's not the only fan of this fun App. Aussie tennis superstar Alicia Molik is the ambassador for both the program and the game, giving them her personal stamp of approval! So don't take Guru's word for it, listen to an Aussie Tennis Legend and download the game now!!!