If you guys ever thought about purchasing or renting Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles, please don’t.

Instead, I’d pay $10 more for Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past. You see, the first game came out a year ago, and it only had 3 of the 6 cases compared to the Japanese release of this popular adventure game series. I guess a bunch of fans sent Aksys a bunch of emails complaining about that, so Aksys decided to release the second game with the original six cases and the other bonuses that should have been on the first reincarnation of this game.

This game series is actually really popular in Japan, having started way back on the Famicon Disk System (Nintendo) called Tantei Jinguji Saburo. Until last year, I had never heard of this series, but I’m glad I did and am glad I got the expanded DS game. Personally, I like the game, despite how linear the game is! It’s no Phoenix Wright, but I find this game to have its own charm and intrigue. Then again, I’ve always focused more on the plot and the characters of the games more than anything else, and this game certainly has its plot with murder cases. But like I said at the beginning — don’t bother with the first one. Just go for the second game that has all the stuff from the first game plus more!

I’ve been playing a bit of Boom Blox Bash Party lately, which is the second Boom Blox game. At the moment, I’ve only done the multiplayer. It’s much like the first game, but of course, with added items and modes. Things I’ve noticed so far…

- The second game steps outside of its… blocky-ness and introduces new block shapes like cylinders and triangular shapes.

- A virus ball and blox has been added which allows for chain reactions by infecting touching blocks.

- A slingshot was added so that you can grab any object (really, almost any object, including the characters) and hit with the impact of a slingshot.

- A Pux mode was added where you slingshot your pux into others to try and knock them off. Last one remaining wins.

- The characters no longer die with any touch. They stay around (unless knocked really far) and can even get in your way. We managed to get a point block to land on top of one, and it didn’t count as scoring since it didn’t hit the ground.

- Co-op mode doesn’t have to be turn-by-turn anymore. We played one where one person was using the slingshot and the other threw bombs, and we could use them whenever we wanted, rather than waiting for turns.

- A money system was added such that things can be unlocked by buying them.

I haven’t played any of the single player mode, but by the looks of it so far, if you liked the first game, you will probably be equally pleased with the second!

Well, if I’m going to get and use a charge station get one that is just over the top crazy.

It come with two rechargeable batteries and new rubber grip battery covers for the Wii Remote. Whats nice about these rubber grips is that they don’t stick out and allows the Wii remote to placed in a light gun accessory like the Perfect Shot or Wii Zapper. Charging the remotes on the station is crazy. The Rabbid’s eyes light up Red when charging and blue when finished. Though, there are some issues with the charge station. The Wii Remotes are just leaning there upright. There is nothing to hold them in place firmly. A small price for an over the top crazy charge station…

After so many lackluster commercials, finally Nintendo has released a fantastic ad for the upcoming Wii-Remake of the classic NES Punchout

Little Mac Punch-Out Wii Ad and Doc Louis Punch-Out Wii Ad

I loved how they got actors that look like Little Mac and Doc Louis and gave them both cheesy lines. I just wished that Nintendo would make more great commercials like this one and do more to support their own games aimed at hardcore gamers.

Punch-Out is a must buy for me. I didn’t really like the whole Wii Sport Boxing Motion set-up, but when I read that you can use a traditional classic control set-up I was instantly sold!

Hopefully this Wii game would finally appeal to the hardcore Wii gamers.

Seriously, until today, I had never heard of the Knights Templar, and I only know of it now because of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars for the DS. For those unaware (like me!), the Broken Sword is actually a series of adventure games for the PC. This instalment, known as Circle Blood in United States, came out in 1996 and has already been ported for the PlayStation, GameBoy Advance and now for the Wii and DS.

So far, I’m enjoying the game. It has that old adventure game feels to it (kind of like the King’s Quest games), with an intriguing plot line and interesting characters. Since I never played the original game, I cannot compare. There is one thing that I am a bit !@#$ about. I know the DS is meant for its touchscreen abilities, but must it only use that? I would like to alternate between the buttons and the touchscreen, thank you very much! My right arm hasn’t been enjoying the control aspect of the game, haha.

Other than that, it’s nifty. The DS is really a great system to play these text-adventure/adventure games! Kind of strange, though, since I didn’t really like them when I was a kid. Then again, I think they were too difficult back then, or I didn’t have the patience for them.