New Video Game Releases: April 5 - 18
Welcome to New Video Game Releases for early April! It's a light slate this time around, beginning with the latest installment of Karaoke Revolution, the second volume of music from the hit FOX TV show Glee. Gather the whole gang around the XBox Kinect for some immersive Midway fun with Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do. The hit video game Michael Jackson: The Experience comes to the XBox Kinect and PlayStation Move, giving players the chance to live out their MJ fantasies. Finally, Bear Grylls stars in the video game tie-in for his long running survival show Man vs. Wild. See you again in two weeks for some more great New Video Game Releases!
April 5
If you're a Gleek--and I know you are--there's nothing you want to do more than get up and sang with your favorite glee club. Konami gives you that chance in their second installment of the hit party game Karaoke Revolution: Glee Volume 2 (Wii - $4699 Bundled with Microphone). The first season of the hit FOX TV show brought such highlights as Rachel Berry finally telling Finn Hudson how it is, the much-anticipated sexy Power of Madonna episode, and the over-the-top Lady Gaga extravaganza. Now you get to relive those moments and more, singing alongside all of your favorite characters of the McKinley High School New Directions glee club on 30 of the show's outstanding arrangements of rock and roll classics, Top 40 hits, and crowd-pleasing Broadway anthems. As with the first game, players are scored on their vocal accuracy as they team up with Rachel on "Gives You Hell," Mercedes on "Like a Prayer," Kurt on "Bad Romance," and much more. New features include a vibrato indicator to help players develop their vocal abilities, and volume control that lets players independently raise or lower the volume level of their vocals or the instrumental tracks. Each track includes never-before-seen exclusive extended footage and video montages from the show, and players can unlock even more bonus show content in the Glee scrapbook by reaching achievements throughout the game. Get it Now on Aol Shopping.
Having experienced both the addictive party fun that is the Wii Carnival Games phenomenon and the amazing immersive technology that is the XBox 360 Kinect system, it's a match made in party game heaven to bring the two together in Carnival Games Monkey See Monkey Do (XBox 360 Kinect - Starting at $46.99: Up to 6% in Savings). While Carnival Games for the Wii was an often excruciatingly subtle exercise in repetitive Wii-mote motion, the Kinect puts the player right in the action without any controller. That means if you want to throw a ring, you mime that you're throwing a ring. Want to pop a balloon with a dart? Pretend to throw a dart. It shouldn't seem like a miracle, but somehow it is. 20 games include old Midway favorites like Strength Test, Ring Fling, golden Arm, Wheel of Chance, and Alley Ball, alongside some more goofy games like Funnel Cake Falls, Crash Test Dummy, Rocket to Mars, and more. Kinect's voice-recognition technology even lets you have your future predicted by the Amazing Wodin, who will grant players with their own special wizard name. As always in the series, victory brings the spoils of endless ridiculous prizes, like dragons, ninjas, flying bears, and of course a plethora of wearables that go right on the player's avatar. But what I'm most looking forward to is the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance competition with a Barker Monkey. Nothing says party like trying to outdance a virtual monkey. Get it Now on Aol Shopping.
April 12
The hit Ubisoft game celebrating the music and magic of the legendary King of Pop now gets the treatment it so richly deserves, making its way to the XBox 360 Kinect and PlayStation 3 Move. Michael Jackson: The Experience makes the dreams of fans of MJ come true, giving them the chance to sing and dance just like their idol. With the Kinect, the experience is taken even further, allowing players to step right into the sparkling shoes of the Moonwalker, learning challenging dance steps so they can literally star in their very own video. The Kinect not only recognizes the player's movements, it puts THEIR IMAGE in the game. And, the voice-recognition software allows players to sing without a microphone if they prefer. How cool is that? The game features tutorials titled Dance School that feature crews of expert dancers and choreographers who will take the player through the moves step-by-step, so they can steadily improve their dancing skills. Three levels of difficulty offer differing challenges from the leftest of feet to the Beat It master. As the player progesses, they unlock memoribilia and exclusive content about Michael Jackson. Get it Now on Aol Shopping.
Haven't you always wanted to eat live grubs and drink water from elephant poo? Well, you're one step closer to it now that Crave Games has released the video game of the hit Discovery Channel TV show Man vs. Wild (XBox 360 and PS3 - $29.96; Wii - $29.99). Players joins star and crazy survival expert Bear Grylls on adventures in one of five different extreme locations: the Rockies, the Everglades, Patagonia, a jungle island, and the Sahara Desert. After watching a live video clip of Bear going over the various dangers and survival tactics that each area will require, players then parachute into the location. They must then survive long enough to reach an extraction point. Then, it's up to the player to keep Bear alive, as hunger and thirst bars require attention while Bear can't get too cold, wet or tired. He especially has to stay from getting too eaten by the wide variety of creatues he'll encounter, from poisonous reptiles to mammal predators. Players will actually find themselves in situations where they have to choose to dodge, attack or run like hell from alligators, snakes or giant Grizzly Bears. One has to wonder which is harder: building a real fire or a virtual fire from sticks? Get it Now on Aol Shopping.
April 5
If you're a Gleek--and I know you are--there's nothing you want to do more than get up and sang with your favorite glee club. Konami gives you that chance in their second installment of the hit party game Karaoke Revolution: Glee Volume 2 (Wii - $4699 Bundled with Microphone). The first season of the hit FOX TV show brought such highlights as Rachel Berry finally telling Finn Hudson how it is, the much-anticipated sexy Power of Madonna episode, and the over-the-top Lady Gaga extravaganza. Now you get to relive those moments and more, singing alongside all of your favorite characters of the McKinley High School New Directions glee club on 30 of the show's outstanding arrangements of rock and roll classics, Top 40 hits, and crowd-pleasing Broadway anthems. As with the first game, players are scored on their vocal accuracy as they team up with Rachel on "Gives You Hell," Mercedes on "Like a Prayer," Kurt on "Bad Romance," and much more. New features include a vibrato indicator to help players develop their vocal abilities, and volume control that lets players independently raise or lower the volume level of their vocals or the instrumental tracks. Each track includes never-before-seen exclusive extended footage and video montages from the show, and players can unlock even more bonus show content in the Glee scrapbook by reaching achievements throughout the game. Get it Now on Aol Shopping.Having experienced both the addictive party fun that is the Wii Carnival Games phenomenon and the amazing immersive technology that is the XBox 360 Kinect system, it's a match made in party game heaven to bring the two together in Carnival Games Monkey See Monkey Do (XBox 360 Kinect - Starting at $46.99: Up to 6% in Savings). While Carnival Games for the Wii was an often excruciatingly subtle exercise in repetitive Wii-mote motion, the Kinect puts the player right in the action without any controller. That means if you want to throw a ring, you mime that you're throwing a ring. Want to pop a balloon with a dart? Pretend to throw a dart. It shouldn't seem like a miracle, but somehow it is. 20 games include old Midway favorites like Strength Test, Ring Fling, golden Arm, Wheel of Chance, and Alley Ball, alongside some more goofy games like Funnel Cake Falls, Crash Test Dummy, Rocket to Mars, and more. Kinect's voice-recognition technology even lets you have your future predicted by the Amazing Wodin, who will grant players with their own special wizard name. As always in the series, victory brings the spoils of endless ridiculous prizes, like dragons, ninjas, flying bears, and of course a plethora of wearables that go right on the player's avatar. But what I'm most looking forward to is the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance competition with a Barker Monkey. Nothing says party like trying to outdance a virtual monkey. Get it Now on Aol Shopping.April 12
The hit Ubisoft game celebrating the music and magic of the legendary King of Pop now gets the treatment it so richly deserves, making its way to the XBox 360 Kinect and PlayStation 3 Move. Michael Jackson: The Experience makes the dreams of fans of MJ come true, giving them the chance to sing and dance just like their idol. With the Kinect, the experience is taken even further, allowing players to step right into the sparkling shoes of the Moonwalker, learning challenging dance steps so they can literally star in their very own video. The Kinect not only recognizes the player's movements, it puts THEIR IMAGE in the game. And, the voice-recognition software allows players to sing without a microphone if they prefer. How cool is that? The game features tutorials titled Dance School that feature crews of expert dancers and choreographers who will take the player through the moves step-by-step, so they can steadily improve their dancing skills. Three levels of difficulty offer differing challenges from the leftest of feet to the Beat It master. As the player progesses, they unlock memoribilia and exclusive content about Michael Jackson. Get it Now on Aol Shopping.Haven't you always wanted to eat live grubs and drink water from elephant poo? Well, you're one step closer to it now that Crave Games has released the video game of the hit Discovery Channel TV show Man vs. Wild (XBox 360 and PS3 - $29.96; Wii - $29.99). Players joins star and crazy survival expert Bear Grylls on adventures in one of five different extreme locations: the Rockies, the Everglades, Patagonia, a jungle island, and the Sahara Desert. After watching a live video clip of Bear going over the various dangers and survival tactics that each area will require, players then parachute into the location. They must then survive long enough to reach an extraction point. Then, it's up to the player to keep Bear alive, as hunger and thirst bars require attention while Bear can't get too cold, wet or tired. He especially has to stay from getting too eaten by the wide variety of creatues he'll encounter, from poisonous reptiles to mammal predators. Players will actually find themselves in situations where they have to choose to dodge, attack or run like hell from alligators, snakes or giant Grizzly Bears. One has to wonder which is harder: building a real fire or a virtual fire from sticks? Get it Now on Aol Shopping.
