Anyway, the movie is all about the social structure of high school and believe it or not, the movie isn’t that bad. And since it grossed over 129 million bucks, I guess Paramount decided to ring this title for all it’s worth since they’ve released Mean Girls: High School Showdown – an Apple app – for your iPhone or iPod Touch for the low, low introductory price of $.99.

Since Santa hasn’t brought me either an iPhone or and iPod Touch, I haven’t played this game but I find myself wondering why you would want to?

You choose from four different character types – slacker, nerd, rebel or art freak – and then try to rule North Shore High. As if I real high school wasn’t bad enough for most people.

Then again, it is only $.99.

Image|Paramount

Post from: EveryJoe

Mean Girls for Your iPhone

Call of Duty: World at War

If I were to buy all of these games, the cost would equal $230.96 [not including shipping or tax]. That’s a hunk of change.

I can get two iPhones for that.

Or, I could get eleven casual games [if they were $20 a piece].

I bring up the casual games idea after reading a piece by Eric von Coelln about Facebook eating the PC Download game model.

What I took away from the piece is that there is a HUGE market for low cost, downloadable games out there and I’m included in that market.

Imagine a kid in a candy store.

You give the kid $20 bucks and tell the kid that he can buy whatever he wants. On one display, the kid sees a ginormous head sized lollipop that costs $20. On another display, the kid sees tons of candy for $.10 a piece. What do you think the kid’s going to do? Go with the one lollipop or buy  200 pieces of candy?

Hell, what would YOU do?

That’s how I’ve been feeling recently. I have a limited amount of resources and those 200 pieces of “candy” are looking mighty tasty.

Now, I don’t fault the price of games like Call of Duty:4. After two years of development, a proprietary game engine, all of that marketing and the salaries that they had to pay…well, the cost of video games isn’t that hard to understand.

But, I can’t help wonder how many people will pick just one of the games off of their Christmas lists this year and then spend the rest of their candy money on casual games?

Image|papalars

Post from: EveryJoe

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

After thirty minutes, I finally remembered why it’s not a good idea for me to play casual games – I have an addictive personality and I don’t like to lose. Both traits lead me to play WAY TOO MUCH of these damn games and when I finally look up, I’ve wasted half a day popping stupid balloons.

OK. So maybe I didn’t waste half a day playing Poppit, but Diner Dash can totally suck it. I might have allegedly been known to download Diner Dash from multiple sites so that I could continue improving my sweet restaurant and buying some kickin’ new shoes.

If you haven’t played the game then you just don’t know. Trust me.

I think that too many “real” gamers would like to think that casually gaming doesn’t exist and would NEVER admit to spending way to much time during college playing Bejeweled but there is definitely a time and a place for casual gaming.

Got fifteen minutes [or thirty] to kill while you wait to swap out the clothes that you’re washing?

Fire up a casual game and leave your worries behind you.

Just don’t do that while you’re cooking. I might have allegedly let a pizza burn one time.

Image| Screen grab

Post from: EveryJoe

Casual Games as a Time Warp

Hello? Mr. Obvious, it’s Amy. How are you?

Maybe it’s just me but for as long as I can remember, if I did something without being asked {whether that be cleaning my room or playing a video game} then I always got more enjoyment out of it than if I was asked/told to do the same task. I’m not sure if it’s just me being a contrary type person or what but this seems to translate into my work life as well.

Even if I weren’t getting paid to write about video games, I’d still be playing them. But, when I remember that I AM getting paid for writing about games, well, it begins to feel like a chore. And then, I realize that I sound like a big ole whiny baby and I suck it up and write something like this where I bitch about bitching.

I honestly believe that part of my problem isn’t necessarily the job {which I love} it’s the uninspiring fare that I’ve had to sample recently.

I’m holding out some hope for BioShock 2, Borderlands, Heavy Rain, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Heck, I might even go back to playing casual games for a while; they’re good for taking your mind off of things for a while…and they’re pretty damn addictive.

Image|JulyYu

Post from: EveryJoe

Work Makes Gaming Feel Like…Well…Work

I got an email today from Lee about this game that’s supposed to help hype The Ruins on DVD and Blu-Ray.  The idea is to find the ringing cellphone before your match dies.  If you find the phone then there’s apparently an exclusive outtake of the film that becomes available.

Post from: EveryJoe

Find the Phone

In honor of the 140th racing of the Belmont Stakes, I figured that I would give you a short list [in no particular order] of horse racing games. You know, cause if you can’t actually race a horse you might as well play a sim of racing a horse.

#1 Gallop Racer 2006 – Available for the PS2 and it got a rating of B- from 1up.

#2 Horse Racing Tycoon – For PC and it’s definitely a “bargain” at 7 bucks.

#3 Final Stretch-Horse Racing Sim – This bastard is $59.86…hope it’s worth the dough.

#4 Quarter Pole Thoroughbred Racing – I used to play this dude on my Tandy.

If those four games don’t satisfy your horse racing sickness then you can always watch the Belmont. Even though Casino Drive is scratched, it’s sure to be a great race…maybe even a historic race if Big Brown wins.

The race will be televised live on ABC at 5pm EST.

Image: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Horse Racing Sims

Since I haven’t really been able to find any games here recently that I’m interested in playing, I’ve taken to trolling the PlayStation Network in a vane attempt to find something worth buying.

Be careful what you wish for.

PixelJunk Monsters is your classic tower defense game where you have to destroy wave after wave of bad guys in an attempt to save your flock.

I downloaded the demo with the expressed purpose of wasting maybe thirty minutes and then carrying on with my normal day-to-day activities.

Yeah. That didn’t happen.

After playing the demo for two hours, I finally gave in and paid the $9.99 for the complete game. It’s been well worth the money.

I’ve managed to waste hours of potentially constructive time on the same level and I eventually had to bow down to God Google for help.

I’ll just play Monsters till Overlord: Raising Hell comes out and then I’ll stop ’cause I can stop whenever I want to…really I can.

Post from: EveryJoe

A Monster of an Addictive Game

The stereotypical image that most people have of gamers is either a plump and pasty teenage boy surrounded by empty Mountain Dew cans or the image of a plump and pasty middle aged guy who lives with his mom. [I'm not talking about you of course]

Slowly, but surely, this stereotype is being turned on its head.

Not only are chicks now playing games at an increased rate, some of those chicks are Moms. [gasp!]

Heck, I’m one of them.

With the advent of the Wii and the industry’s increased focus on casual gaming, even the most “normal” mom can delve into the world of video games.

But, don’t despair, dear reader.

Some moms are as “hard core” as the next pimply teenager.

There’s just something about being able to pick up my PS3 controller and forget about being a mom for hours a second.

[Thank God for understanding husbands.]

So, while the gaming demographic hasn’t radically changed, it’s definitely becoming more diverse.

Keep that in mind next time you’re playing XBox Live…you just might be fragging your mom. [That just sounds dirty]

Note: Originally posted on October 22nd, 2007.

Post from: EveryJoe

Mother’s Day: Your Mom’s a Gamer

Yeah.  That’s right, folks.

I’m going to be playing an online downloadable game for as long as it takes for me to find a game that inspires me.  Actually, I’ll only be able to play it for free for three hours; I’ll explain in a minute.

Jane’s Hotel: Family Hero is one game in a LONG line of “time management” games that are offered by companies like Big Fish Games.

The way that things generally work is you download the game to your computer and that entitles you to one hour of addictive clicking.  After said hour, you’re so stuck on the damn game that you don’t blink twice when asked to pay $19.95 to unlock your very own copy.

But, if you’re not quite sold on the idea of owning Jane’s Hotel: Family Hero [or you're cheap like me] then you can look around for alternate download sources.

So far for this game I’ve found Yahoo Games, Gamehouse, and Big Fish Games.  Download the game from one of the listed sites, play for your hour and when your time’s up, download from the next site on the list.  Your previous game isn’t lost and you pick up right where you left off.

Post from: EveryJoe

Until I Find a Good Game…

Mytopia provides a platform to allow anyone on popular widgets and social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Hi5 to play against one another.

Mytopia aims to offer MMO-style social features such as a virtual economy, teams and matches and connectivity features to players of casual games.

Linky

Image: Mytopia

Post from: EveryJoe

Mytopia Fuses Casual Gaming With Social Networking, Becomes Casual MMO