Hans Christian Andersen: The Ugly Prince Duckling (PC)
Sure to become a family favorite, Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tales are filled with fantasy, folklore, and wonder. His stories are famous worldwide, including: The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen, and The Princess and the Pea.
As Hans Christian Andersen himself, players must save the Princess and the kingdom from the wicked Master of Darkness whose evil plan is to expel the King and transform the kingdom into a Troll’s realm of darkness.
Meet over 60 recognizable characters from other Andersen tales as you explore the vibrant and elaborate shops, secret tunnels, and windmill in the enchanting village of Copenhagen.
At a suggested retail price of $19.99 USD, this family oriented adventure has an ESRB rating of ‘E’ for Everyone and is Windows Vista compatible.
Backyard Baseball 2007 (GBA/NGC/PS2/PC)
“As a top quality producer of baseball video games, Humongous continues to release the most exciting and innovative MLB-themed titles tailored to today’s youth,” said Howard Smith, Senior Vice President, Licensing, Major League Baseball Properties. “This new version provides a real-time baseball experience along with cutting-edge graphics and a simplicity that will allow our next generation of fans to easily engage in playing Backyard Baseball 2007.”
The 10-year old Backyard Baseball game franchise, which stars animated versions MLB pros as kids, has undergone a major transformation since its last release two years ago. Backyard and MLB pro characters have evolved into older, edgier, more believable athletes playing within graphically rich, dramatic and interactive environments. What’s more, the physics of the game are finely tuned for more precise, authentic gameplay.
“The 5 to 10 year old audience is much more sophisticated than even a few years ago--many kids have been playing baseball and video games for years and their expectations for quality and realism are high,” says Lauren Schechtman Allen, Humongous Co-President. “Backyard Baseball 2007 provides that authentic baseball experience on a level appropriate for a child. That means adding lots of humor, increasing the action and pace of the game, and making it easy to jump into the game without complex directions. We’ve also included multiple levels of difficulty so even seasoned veterans will find it compelling and challenging.”
World Series heavy hitter Albert Pujols happens to be one of those “seasoned veterans” who is a fan of Backyard Baseball 2007. Pujols, six-time MLB All Star and one of the best players in the game, not only plays the game with his son but stars on its cover alongside his Backyard kid alter ego.
“Backyard Baseball really lets kids see what it’s like to play Major League baseball,” said Pujols. “It teaches kids the rules of the game, and helps them understand real baseball strategies, like when it’s the right time to steal, what pitches to hit, or when to try for a double play”.
Along with Pujols, Backyard Baseball 2007 features many other top MLB heroes such as Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro Suzuki, Lance Berkman, David Ortiz, and Vladimir Guerrero, to name a few. The game includes all 30 MLB teams, uniforms, and logos. It offers single pick-up games, homerun derby, or season play (with all the stats) and varying levels of difficulty. In addition, the game’s kid-friendly, non-violent format, and high level of cultural diversity makes it especially popular with parents.
Backyard Baseball 2007, rated “E” (Everyone), has an MSRP of $29.99 for the PS2, GameCube, and GB, $19.99 for PC. Backyard Baseball 2007 GBA, PS2, and PC will be on shelf this week with the GameCube titles shipping next month.
QuickSpot (NDS)
QuickSpot’s fun and addicting gameplay will have gamers testing their concentration and training their brains as they are challenged to spot the differences between two seemingly identical pictures using the Nintendo DS touch screen.
“Taking a simple game concept and making it fun and addictive is the key to QuickSpot’s charm,” said Makoto Iwai, Executive Vice President and COO, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “Gamers young and old will love how easy it is to pick up and play while keeping their brain on fire for hours with entertaining games of concentration and speed.”
QuickSpot contains three challenging single player modes; the main mode being Rapid Play, which has five levels each containing 10 stages and a boss challenge at the end of each level. Players will be awarded medals for points they achieve based on their “Brain Activity” which test their Intuition, Concentration, Recognition, Stability, and Judgment. The higher the players score in each area the more points they earn. Other exciting single player modes include Focus Play, which contains 140 unique pictures with 10 differences for the player to spot in each picture, and Today’s Fortune, which gives players their Health, Study, Romance, and Money fortune for the day.
QuickSpot also includes three multiplayer modes including Time Bomb, which allows two to up to eight players to pass one Nintendo DS back and forth between turns, Scramble Mode, and Download Play in which players can compete against each other on multiple Nintendo DS systems.