Spring, Autumn, Fall, whatever you want to call it - you can't deny that over the last 3 months (and still going), there's been a lot of big games coming out. Unfortunately, I'll never get to chance to play them all. I can, however, look at the box covers, which is what I think I'll do now.

A red box is always distinctive, except that the last game I got that came in a red box was the first Buzz game for the PS2. And the last thing I want is a Mario game reminding me of an ugly polygonal Jason Donovan with an unhinged jaw. The yellow Yoshi appears to be looking up at Toad as if to taunt him for having to fly everywhere. Or maybe just because the helicopter hat looks stupid. Yeah, probably that one.

What happened, Charizard? You used to be one of the coolest Pokemon, but now you're hanging around with this bunch? Seriously, that Meganium is wearing a bow tie. Go take that stupid bag off and get some real friends.

This is probably the worst zoo ever. I don't see any divisions between the animals. Just look at the expression on that lion's face - you know it's about to take a massive bite out of that panda. Also, the giraffe looks way too smug about all of this.

"No, Swannie, stop pecking at my armour." "Seriously, Swannie, you see how big this sword is? Now stop bothering me and let me stare off into my partner's cleavage."

And Natal isn't even out yet.... KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

It's like Mickey knows he looks out of place.

Luigi is enjoying this WAY too much. Also, seeing as though he can fly and all, shouldn't Tails be cheating or something?

Characters from all over the Marvel universe unite for one common purpose - to shout at each other.

Way too bright.... Must look at something easier on the eyes....

ARGHHH! That's even worse! I hope you all just banged your head against your keyboard many times. I swear to God, Courtney - If you do anything like this to Lexie....

I've been very busy lately, not much time for gaming so there's not much to talk about.

Well, I saw someone playing a DSi on a bus today. Not too remarkable, except I've never seen anyone actually play a DSi before, let alone on public transport. Asides from the odd kid with the PSP or someone playing TapTap Revenge on their iPod Touch, I just never seem to see that many people playing portable systems on public transport. When I flipped open my DS to play Advance Wars on a long bus ride to Melbourne I recieved nothing but dirty looks. Oh, and 10 dollars from a guy who wanted me to switch seats with his girlfriend. Sweet!

I'm still playing a lot of Dual Strike. It's what I have to turn to when Devil Survivor starts to annoy me (which it does a lot). I've also returned to playing the original Spyro the Dragon, because I never actually completed it. 11 years since I got the game, I can now complete the flying stages easily so I should be able to get 100% completion. Once I beat Tree Tops, at least.

And that's about it. Exams start and finish next week so I should be able to write/play more when they're over.

There are a lot of games out there that we claim are shining examples of innovation. But what if these games aren't as innovative as they initially appear? In fact, what if they're just blatant rip-offs of an early, uncredited game. Those are the games I'm about to expose. Well, one of them. The rest are kind of just grasping at straws but they're still not as original as you might think!

Game: Guitar Hero (2005)

Claim to Fame: First game to let you "rock out" with a fake guitar controller, first mainstream music game.

Stole credit from: Guitar Freaks (199, Dance Dance Revolution (199

So what is the difference between Guitar Hero and Guitar Freaks? Well, about two buttons on the controller. Guitar Freaks just never really took off outside of Japan. Maybe it was the steady decline of the arcade, maybe it was the lack of songs that were actually English. Even though you might not have heard of the series, new versions of Guitar Freaks are still being released, with the game up to its 17th version (that's almost as many games as Guitar Hero).

The game could also be linked up with Drummania, a drumming simulator, so you could rock out as a full band (minus the singer) before Rock Band was even a thought (really, I checked the minds of Harmonix employees and everything). But of course, Guitar Hero was the first music game to break into the mainstream! While I can see why Western audiences didn't exactly get into Pop 'n' Music and Taiko Drum Master (which is shameful, really), there was one music game which I thought managed to connect with the West before the invention of Guitar Hero.

Dance Dance Revolution was, pardon the pun, a revolution. Sure, watching someone beat Through the Fire and the Flames is pretty impressive, but five years ago those same crowds would be drawn to the crazy Japanese kid moving his feet at blinding speed to some song no-one could understand the lyrics to (not that I can understand Dragonforce lyrics). Think about it - people wanted to use DDR in physical education lessons. And nothing says mainstream like sport. You don't see any music lessons using Guitar Hero as a teaching tool, do you?

Game: Shenmue (1999)

Claim to fame (well, infamy): Invention of "Quick-Time-Events"

Stole credit from: Dragon's Lair (1983), E.T. (1982)

Ugh, the QTE. We're all hate them, but you shouldn't hate Shenmue for creating them (but it's alright to hate Shenmue if you think its boring). Direct all your anger towards Dragon's Lair, the 1983 laser-disk arcade game. Asides from graphics that were really ahead of the time, it also had what are generally considered to be the first quick-time events. But I don't follow that school of thought. I believe that the first game to feature QTEs was something even earlier.

Ah, E.T. for the Atari 2600. We all hate it, except me. I still can't forgive it for having what I think is the first quick-time event, though. As I mentioned when I actually played it, the icon at the top of the screen changes depending on where you are. If you press the red button on the controller when it pops up, a variety of things will happen. I'll leave it up to you to decide, but personally I think that E.T. should be to blame for the invention of the QTE. Is there nothing that game can't be blamed for?

Game: Nintendogs (2005)

Claim to Fame: Starting virtual pet craze

Stole Credit From: Tamagotchi (1996)

Screw you, Nintendogs! You ain't got nothing on my Tamagotchi duck!

I had something completely different to post, but half of that particular blog was left out for some reason, so here's a random movie review instead! It's a little on the short side and for a film you may not have seen but that won't stop me.

Set in a war-torn country, a young girl finds an escape from the harsh reality of life when she stumbles into a magical world and comes across a faun and other magical creatures. No, this isn't The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. Guillermo del Toro's film couldn't be further from the saturated, Disney fairytales we've become accustomed to over the years. Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale in the truest sense – a dark, often disturbing story that treads the fine line between fantasy and reality.

10-year old Ofelia (played magnificently by Ivana Baquero) moves with her pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) to a post where her new stepfather, Captain Vidal (a distinctly evil Sergi López i Ayats) is fighting against Spanish Maquis guerillas. Fascinated by fairytales and the titular labyrinth, Ofelia encounters a faun (played by Doug Johns) who tells her that she is the princess of a magical world, and if she wants to return to this world she has to first complete several tasks.

This setting of civil war is interesting in that it complements the creepy nature of the fantasy settings. The woods surrounding Ofelia's new home are filled with the guerilla fighters, a fearsome force which contrasts the often frightening creatures which Ofelia discovers along her quest. It also gives the characters some interesting motives and personalities. Every character is fleshed out, such as the housekeeper, Mercedes (played by Maribel Verdú), who has her fair share of secrets. No character has too much screen time, and all of them are interesting with well-written dialogue.

Captain Vidal is a rare kind of movie villain – one who commits numerous unforgivable atrocities but still retains a basic touch of humanity, so he never appears to be a mere caricature. His violent actions are undeniably some of the most impactful parts of the film, and as gruesome as they are to watch, serve as a brutal demonstration of the power he abuses, and draws the audience's attention.

Despite the interesting characters and overall storyline, there are some parts of the plot which appear to be underdeveloped. The alternate universe is seemingly intended to be an escape from reality for Ofelia, yet nothing particularly terrible happens to her for her to want to escape, at least not until later in the movie. Yes, the Captain is violent and bloodthirsty, but she is never actually exposed to any of this violence.

The film is reasonably lengthy at almost two hours running time, but del Toro manages to keep the audience's attention throughout its entirety. Part of this is due to the grim, yet mystical world he has created in this film. Unlike a lot of modern films, CGI is used sparingly. Instead the focus is on the elaborate make-up and costumes used to create some of the more unique characters in the movie.

Just as the characters in the film are led to believe that the world Ofelia discovers is all in her imagination, it is up to the audience to decide on whether the alternate reality presented to her is real or not. The film ends on a somewhat ambiguous note, leaving it up to the watcher to determine what really happened. This may be off-putting to some, but it gives the film a greater air of mystery.

Overall, Pan's Labyrinth is a dark, yet immensely appealing film, which despite some unexplained plot details, presents a rich world with interesting, well-developed characters.

4 and a half stars (or 9.0 if you want to do things that way)

Seeing as though I forgot about my 2 year Gamespot annniversary I need some sort of milestone to celebrate. So my 1337th forum post it is!

Anyway, I'm back from my 3 week hiatus and I bring with me two brand new games! The first of these new games is...

Advance Wars: Dual Strike!

Yes, I know it's not really that new a game but when it was going for a mere $20 I couldn't help but pick it up. But is it better than Dark Conflict/Days of Ruin? Well, Dual Strike doesn't add a whole lot to the previous games. The graphics and music are virtually unchanged since the original Advance Wars launched on September 11th, 2001. Yep, talk about a bad release date. Anyway, the graphics are probably the weakest part of Dual Strike, with units being almost too tiny to see and battle sprites being incredibly pixellated. The graphics are also the most unimportant part of Dual Strike - what really makes the game is the actual gameplay.

Not a lot has changed there, either. There's a few new CO's - among them an irritating slang speaking teenager, the human version of Pac-Man and a giant robotic breast. Some of the new units are pretty cool. If Megatanks actually existed, there wouldn't be any wars - nothing would be left. It doesn't have online play like Dark Conflict, but I think that's probably for the best. Especially with the addition of Dual Strikes (which are basically incredibly cheap attacks) and the presence of Colin, the gameplay is not very well balanced. I mean that in the best possible way. It's fun, but I wouldn't want to play it competitively.

I think I've taked about Advance Wars for long enough, so time to move onto my second new purchase - Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Devil Survivor would be a great name for a reality TV show. Just throwing it out there. I managed to find an import copy of the game while shopping in Melbourne. I decided to buy it because:

1. It's a Shin Megami Tensei game.

2. It's probably never going to be actually released in Australia, unless it already has in which case I probably look like an idiot right about now.

Devil Survivor gets compared to The World Ends With You alot, and it's not hard to see why. Both games are DS RPGs set in modern day Tokyo where you play as a group of teenagers with supernatural powers. Even the soundtracks are similar, though Devil Survivor has a lot more wailing guitars. The Shin Megami Tensei series did the whole "fighting through Tokyo" thing ages before TWEWY though, as well as the whole "storing demons in computers" thing before Pokemon.

The actual battles make a lot more sense. They start off in an isometric field where you position your characters near enemies to launch attacks. Once they're attacking, the game switches to a first person view, where you then command a human flanked by up to two demons to fight. Think Final Fantasy Tactics meets Etrian Odyssey, only even harder. My biggest problem with Devil Survivor isn't the difficulty, but the fact that it barely uses the DS's capabilities. The characters' personal computers and demon summoning devices are shaped like DS Lites and there's a neat cutscene that plays when they activate that makes it seem like you're actually wielding the power to summon monsters. Neat as it is, This cool cutscene doesn't make up for the fact that the touch screen isn't used at all! Using the buttons works fine, but couldn't I at least use the stylus to navigate menus?

In short, the biggest difference between Devil Survivor and The World Ends With You is that Devil Survivor actually works.