Taking inspiration from Battlefield 1942 and making use of the Frostbite Engine Battlefield 1943 takes aim at the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network this week.  The newest edition to the Battlefield series is a downloadable only title built from the ground up offereing a completely new experience to fans of the series.

“Battlefield 1943 introduces two thrilling new modes where 24 players can compete across four classic WWII Battlefield maps: Wake Island, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Coral Sea. These maps are inspired by the award winning Battlefield 1942™ game, but have been redesigned and reengineered using the DICE Frostbite™ engine allowing players to rain havoc and destruction via land, sea or air.”

The Coral Sea map is included as an unlockable community challenge bonus.  To unlock Coral Sea players on Xbox LIVE and the Playstation Network must get a combined kill count of 43million between the two online networks.

So help your fellow Battlefield enthusiasts out and pick up your copy of Battlefield 1943 available today on the XBLA (7/8/09) and tomorrow (7/9/09) on the PSN for 1500 microsoft points ($15) and $15 respectively.

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Back in April, Oklahoma City Community College held its second annual Oklahoma Electronic Game Expo. One of the best things going for it besides the tournament hosted by Okgamers.com and Hardcore Lan Center, or the ECA booth (shameless self plug there), was the booth for Game Equals Life and their upcoming game The Magi and the Sleeping Star.

In a recent press release (Meaning, sent out a month ago. Yes I am slow on the draw.), they discussed the purposes behind the game:

Using a classic adventure game structure, MSS will teach players about appropriate diabetes management and offer ongoing advice on how to best balance blood sugar throughout the game’s adventure. MSS aims to help people with diabetes understand the core principals of good diabetes management and consistently reinforce the implementation of these principals in their daily lives.

The consequences of handling your diabetes improperly are tied directly to the player’s ability to use all the hero’s magic in the game:

When the player’s blood sugar is too high or low, his powers are reduced or even nullified. This makes it impossible for the player to achieve victory until his blood sugar returns to a healthy level. Players are even rewarded with increased power when blood sugar is kept at ideal levels. Players must test blood sugar, choose healthy food, count carbohydrates and deliver appropriate amounts of insulin. This teaches the players to take full responsibility for diabetes management and puts them in a position to deal with its real-time affects in exciting gameplay situations.

I love this concept. Managing the diabetes of the hero means he can act in his full role as a Magi and save the world. This is a great way of teaching kids the importance of proper diabetes management in a fun and exciting way. It does not strive to show that managing your diabetes will give you power, but that it will allow you to access that power and those skills you already have.

Although the game is only in the prototype stage, it already looks fun and polished. It is not really what most people would consider educational or serious. I think that was the main goal the designers were striving toward. Many games based on serious or educational subjects are made with limited budgets and lack polish. This is not one of those.

The currently have two promotional videos on the site. The first is the preview trailer with shots of several enemies and some action. The second is a video depicting the legend of the Magi. Both are great to watch and show what this studio is capable of doing.

Currently GEL is looking for a publisher, so no release date or pricing is available. Those interested will find a newsletter subscription on the Magi site as well as news updates and videos. This is certainly one game I wil lbe watching and will look forward to playing when it is finally released. I hope for the best for this company and am proud to have this kind of talent based here in Oklahoma.

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Also announced is that Rockstar plans to release Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City,  a disc based retail compilation of the two episodes: The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.  GTA: Episodes from Liberty City will be on store shelves for the Xbox 360 this fall for a mere $39.99 and will not require a copy of the original Grand Theft Auto IV to play.

The Ballad of Gay Tony will release on Xbox LIVE this fall for $19.99 or 1600 MS points and requires players to have Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE membership to download.

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“Tony Hawk: RIDE is a massive step forward for the franchise and the gaming industry as a whole,” said Rob Kostich, head of marketing, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc. “The skateboard controller will redefine sports games by offering players a true skateboarding experience, hands-free, playing with friends and family at home or online in a variety of different locations.”

Tony Hawk: RIDE is set to release on the PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360 and Wii later this year.

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The amount of polish that went into this game definitely helps set it apart from the norm. Raven Software had this game ready when the Wolverine movie was set to hit theater. When the movie got pushed back, it gave them a lot more time to tweak the game, really working with the game play. Honestly it shows, I almost wished when I was playing I could have played the original they had planned to released just to check the difference.

But let’s get down to brass tax here: in this game you play as Wolverine (Logan, James Howlett, whatever your fancy) as he (mostly) follows the story-line created for the movie. What stands out about the story is the amount of extra content they put in. Throughout the game’s main story you are put in flashbacks of Logan’s work with Striker and the others in Africa. Even the subtle differences in the story, such as finding Blob in a grocery store rather than in the gym really keeps the game fresh from the movie. After all, a complete carbon copy of a movie can be an acceptable game, but most times that really just doesn’t offer a new and engaging gaming experience.

Speaking of gaming experience, did I mention the fact that Wolverine serves up a platter of vengeance the likes of which this world has never seen? Seriously, I found myself wincing a few times at the violent arm-ripping, statue-impaling, face-crushing combos that litter this game. The term hack and slash definitely suit this game, because you are constantly in a shower of bad guy blood and furious Hugh Jackman screams (naturally, he supplies the voice for Wolverine).

One of the coolest moves in this game that really makes controlling the protagonist so entertaining is the Wolverine lunge. Simple to do, but somehow never tired. For instance, an enemy will be across the map minding his own business thinking villainous thoughts. Simply lock on and push a button (I played on the 360 so it may be different, I’m sure the handy dandy tutorial will elaborate more), and Wolverine soars across the map rocking that guy’s world more than anything in his short video game life.

The controls are very easy to pick up, anybody familiar to other traditional hack and slash games will be able to catch on quick and be fighting for revenge in no time. However this game is in no way perfect. Something that has been a continuing feature in games is the God of War-esque button sequences, which Wolverine features in abundance.

If your looking to seek some quick revenge on those who wronged you (Lord knows I was) X-Men Origins: Wolverine is definitely a title worth playing through. It supplies nice visuals (some of the in game movies are just liquid awesome), fun game play, and a lot of Weapon X style fun.

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The game is called Flight Control, and it’s everything a great pick-me-up casual game should be. It’s got a soundtrack that doesn’t suck, an easy to use interface, and a variety of in-flight disasters just waiting to be averted.

Flight Control is a strategy game that puts you in control of a airport tower. Unlike what we imagine the job of a real flight coordinator, however, the players task is as simple as tracing each plane’s (or helicopter’s) path to the appropriate runway. The task sounds very easy, and the first 10 or so landings are easy. After that, the airways are littered with planes all trying to wreck up your high score.

The game was released last week, and is currently for sale for a whopping 99 cents. A recent update allows fans of Twitter to tweet their high score, as well as uploading your score to an online leaderboard. If you only pick up one iPhone game this month, make sure it’s Flight Control.

We’ll see you on the tarmac!

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Starting tomorrow at 11:00am, All Star Comics will be giving away free comics while their stock lasts. We spoke with the proprietor yesterday, and he wanted to remind our readers that these comics will go fast. If you’re looking for a great way to bolster your kids vocabulary, drop in early while the getting’s good.

The selection ranges the entire gamut of the comic universe, and includes titles that kids will enjoy as well as the classics that adults will remember. You can swing by the official website today to check out the list, and employees will be on hand all day tomorrow to help you pick. The weekend weather looks rainy, so why not stay in and read?

We’ll see you all All Star Comics!

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Now I don’t consider myself to be a big-time puzzler, but I think I’ve played enough of them to know what’s good and what’s not. We’re gonna skip the Sudoku’s of the world (you either like the ‘classics’ or you don’t) and dive into some of the more original titles you can find on the iTunes App Store. If you feel like I missed the best puzzler of the year, feel free to toss your opinion in the comment mix. Here’s our three picks for great iPhone puzzlers:

Word Scramble by Zynga

If you’re a fan of crosswords and jumbles, take a minute to download Word Scramble by Zynga. The game is free, and let’s you play with friends (either in the room or across the network) in a point-based hunt for words on a jumbled grid. The game also includes a solo mode.

Tiki Towers

If you’re looking for something a little less ‘wordy’, why not try RealNetwork’s Tiki Towers. Players help a crate of monkeys escape each level by building towers and bridges for them to swing across. It may sound easy, but theirs definitely a Lemmings twist to the game. Tiki Towers is a steal at 99 cents, and a ‘lite’ version exists if you want to try it out first.

Vault Breaker

If you play and enjoy Sudoku, grab a free copy of the popular logic puzzler, Vault Breaker. If you’re a puzzler you may have played games like this in the past: players guess at a vault combination and use the each response to edge closer and closer to cracking the code. The title is free, but does contain advertisements.

That’s it for this week! Feel free to drop your picks for iPhone puzzle games in the comments section below, and be ready for our arcade shooter review next week.

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We’ve got a pre-order on tap, so check back this week for the Metroglow review.

These games are also dropping this week:

1. Escape The Museum
2. Guitar Hero Metallica
3. Cryostasis
4. The Dark Spire
5. City of Heroes Architect Edition
6. Dokapon Journey

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This week, we’re going to shift gears and take a look at a subset of games designed to make your toddler from going ballistic during lunch and wrecking the place up. I like to call them ‘Toddler Defense’ games, and I personally couldn’t live without them in my pocket. Here are three of our picks from both the paid and free categories:

Tappy Tunes: This musical tapping app comes in at four dollars, and I can easily say it’s the best four dollars I’ve ever spent on ‘Toddler Defense.’ Tappy Tunes is no game however, it’s more of a musical distraction: users tap the screen to create the melody of a tune, all the while conjuring forth tune related animations with each tap. The title has over 70 built-in tunes, and is updated with new melodies ever so often.

Duck Duck Duck: This free app is simple enough for your younger kids to enjoy and pretty enough to hold your toddler at bay for a while. The game is simple: using the accelerometer in the iPhone, players guide the various colored rubber-duckies to their home in the pond. Realistic water effects are a nice touch, and who doesn’t like rubber-duckies?

iWriteWords: This title, available in the full version for 99 cents as well as a free ‘lite’ version, is a game that helps toddlers start the long journey that ends in them writing words on your freshly painted walls. Joking aside, however, iWriteWords is one of the most polished education apps we’ve seen on the iTunes store yet. It’s combination of numbers and letters is sure to be a hit with you toddler.

That’s it for this week! Join us next week as we take a look at three mind-bending titles for the puzzle-addict in all of us.

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