Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
655 West 34th Street
New York, NY 10001

December 7-9 2007
Show times and details here

At this year’s New York Anime Festival, New York - Tokyo will have its largest ever selection of playable Japanese developed games on display. Join us for tournament style gaming with fantastic prizes and intense competition or all day, hands-on gaming for those eager to play some of the hottest new games on the market. Whatever your style, come all weekend with your best reflexes, a sharp mind, and ready to play until you drop! Read the rest of this entry »

For a deceptively simple-looking game, NEVES absolutely rocks. Taking the ancient seven shape tanagram and bringing it to the Nintendo DS was a great idea and thanks to the fine folks at Hanayama Co., developer Bee Works and Yuke’s, you can take one of the most addictive puzzle games you’ll ever play on the road for single or two-player fun. Over 500 puzzles and four modes of play pack in hours of fun and the although the touch screen controls might seem touchy at first, once you understand how to properly tap and drag or rotate pieces, everything falls into place for puzzle perfection. If you’ve got a good memory, there’s a way to breeze through the game’s tougher modes, but we’ll get to that later in the review. Read the rest of this entry »

“You stand at the entrance to King Brahm’s Dwarven realm. You carry a talkative Wand named Ellon, sword, leather armor, an enchanted map, a quest log, health potion and an heirloom ring…” With game development moving too quickly ahead of itself for its own good, something so simple yet outstandingly produced as Orcs & Elves is like a bucket of ice water to the face. Everything here clicks from the solid 3D engine and excellent use of sound to the liberal usage of humor (and ale) that lends the game some if its funnier moments. Yes, the game can be completed in about 8 hours (or less if you rush through it on Normal), but that’s a testament to how addictive it is. Beating this on the harder modes is where the replay value comes in, as the difficulty ramps up considerably on Hard and Nightmare modes. Just like the original cell phone game, the DS version is hard to put down and a total gem from start to finish. Kudos to id Software and Fountainhead for expanding the game to include new areas not found in the original and of course, for tweaking the game engine to the handheld’s strengths. Read the rest of this entry »

If there were an award for ‘Best Improved Racing Franchise’ this year, it would probably go to EA’s upcoming Need for Speed ProStreet. The latest iteration of the long running series blows the doors off the last couple of entries and just might start a shift in recharging the overpopulated street racing genre. Stepping away from the mostly arcade physics and outrageous crashes that were turning the series into a sort of “Burnout Lite,” the new direction based on precision handling and avoiding damage makes each race a thrilling, tightly focused fight to the finish line. Some quality hands-on time with the Xbox 360 build at EA’s holiday event showed off the new racer quite well with a single desert-based track and AI opposition that reacted more like real drivers than perfect, race line following drones. Read the rest of this entry »

Yep, here we are again with the latest Orcs & Elves Dev Diary. This time out, Foundation’s Katherine Kang talks about sharp objects and how to use them along with some thoughts on the game’s design and a few other choice topics. Only a few more weeks until the DS game hits stores and it’s looking to be a potential Game of the Year contender thus far. Enjoy the read! Read the rest of this entry »

Following up on yesterday’s announcement of the new Xbox 360 Arcade console, I had a chance to drop by a press-only Microsoft event here at the massive Times Square Toys ‘R Us to get the scoop on the new unit. I also got some hands-on time with the five very family-friendly games that come on the Arcade disc as well as a few current and upcoming releases that just may make the Arcade system one of the surprise hits of the holiday season. In case you were wondering, that $279.99 price point means that the original Core 360 has been replaced by this SKU, making it a much better value for those families on a budget that still want a next-gen system. Of course, there’s still the matter of stuff like larger storage space for all that premium content and how to reach out to the nearly 50% of broadband-less households across America, but it looks like the 360 just may be the entry-level console of choice for those about to make the move… Read the rest of this entry »

Namco Networks continues their classic gaming streak with yet another memorable arcade hit, Popeye. The game is now available on selected Nextel and Sprint phones directly from the Namco Games website. In addition Namco is running a sweepstakes that will make 75 lucky winners happy… Read the rest of this entry »

In this latest Orcs & Elves Diary, the game’s story and principal heroes and villains are revealed, as well as a bit of what inspired the game’s creator, id Software founder John Carmack to come up with the idea for this supremely cool throwback RPG. Only a few weeks to go and my DS is getting more and more thrilled… Read the rest of this entry »

For a licensed kid’s game, Digimon World Data Squad can be moderately addictive once you get past the usual trappings of a licensed product, the frequent, lengthy battle sequences and long load times. The game is a turn-based RPG that’s going to be like sugar to ants for its target audience, but parents (or adults like me that didn’t get games like these for favorite toys when we were growing up) probably might find a fair amount of fun here as well. Solid cel-shaded characters blend well with the 3D backdrops, the gameplay is simple enough for anyone to pick up. Look past the the Saturday morning dialog and there are enough familiar plot elements to keep things pretty interesting. Read the rest of this entry »