The best way to start describing Dokapon Kingdom would be to compare it to Mario Party in that they are both multiplayer games that use a board game mechanic, but the similarities stop there. Dokapon Kingdom goes a step further by adding in RPG elements, a huge map and a healthy dose of vicious competition to create something truly unique and a hell of a lot of fun. Up to four players can play locally (there is no online play) and no worries if you only have one controller as the game can be played with the “pass the controller” method.

Dokapon Kingdom has been overrun with monsters much to the chagrin of its King and his daughter, Princess Penny. Your job is to help rid the land of it’s monstrous inhabitants and any other requests the King might have for you along the way. You begin the game by creating your own customisable character and choosing your class: Thief, Warrior, Magician, etc. Then, once the game begins it’s every man/woman for him/herself.

In classic board game style, moves are determined via a “spinner” that will allow you to move anywhere from 1-6 spaces at a time. You make your way around the board, racing the other players to whatever the current goal is. In my case it was rescuing Princess Penny’s piggy bank which had been stolen by a nefarious evil doer. Along the way you can land on various spaces that will let you do things like shop for items, experience random events, battle monsters and liberate towns from their evil clutches. As in an RPG, your character will gain items, gold and experience points from various deeds and eventually your character will grow stronger with advanced levels, better weapons and the like all the way up to level 99. You can also change your class throughout the game, allowing your character to develop skills across the board.

Where Dokapon Kingdom really shines is in its ability to pit players against each other. For instance, if you land on a space where another player is residing, you immediately go into battle mode with them. Once the battle is completed, the winner is allowed to do one of three things to the loser: rob them, prank them or force a bad item on them. The pranks are the most fun and will allow you to change the loser’s hairstyle, draw graffiti on them or best of all, change their name. And since the game isn’t online, there is no profanity filter so feel free to go nuts with the naughty naming! Additionally, passing a space that contains another character will allow certain characters to steal a random item from them. There are a myriad of ways to screw your fellow players over and the game lets you take full advantage of them.

Dokapon Kingdom is being released on the Wii and PS2 on October 14. If you are the type of person that likes super competitive games, Dokapon Kingdom is definitely the game for you. Just be careful what you rename the other person’s virtual character or you could end up with a very real fist in your face.

As you may have heard, Grimm is going to be an episodic game, with new episodes appearing every week. Episodes will be free for the first 24 hours and from there you can either purchase them individually from GameTap.com/grimm or get them free via a gold GameTap subscription. Each episode will take on a different fairy tale (some well know and some not so well known) with the first being “The Boy Learns What Fear Is,” and others to follow including “Red Riding Hood” and “The Girl Without Hands.”

In the game, you take on the character of Grimm, an evil little troll who is sick of the happy endings that most fairy tales seem to have. So he takes it upon himself (and you) to wreak as much havoc as possible on the rainbow coloured fairy tale worlds. Each episode starts out with a “puppet show,” with Grimm telling you the good version of the tale. Once the show is over, you are set loose in the land of the story to see exactly how much of it you can turn dark.

As you run about the darkness spreads around you, turning everything into an outlandish Tim Burton-esque kooky, spooky world. What makes this extra fun is that everything in the world has a light and dark form. The shiny hatchet in the corner turns into a bloody headsman’s axe, the bucket of water turns into a bucket of blood, the pretty princess turns into an ashen zombie and all it takes is a little running and jumping on Grimm’s part. As things turn uglier, your dark meter goes up, allowing you to reach a wider area and turn larger and larger object into their darker selves. But beware, do-gooder NPC’s are on hand to try and clean up the mess you’ve made! Give a good butt stomp near them to send them into a daze and gain enough darkness to eventually turn them over to the evil side. Once you are all finished you are presented with another puppet show, this time showing you the darker version of the tale.

Grimm has a great, simple graphical style but don’t let that make you think it’s a game for kids. This is a very twisted world and the game will have an M rating. The humour is quite black and may have some players scratching their heads but those of you with a sick sense of humour will absolutely love it. The keyboard and mouse controls are simple and easy to use but if you tend towards the controller, you can use any USB controller at your disposal (including the 360’s). Each episode is short and can be completed straight through in about 30 minutes, but there are plenty of reasons to go back and replay the levels including secret items, power-ups, beating your time and the simple pleasure of seeing everything turn scary. Since it is being powered by the Unreal Engine and the graphic style is very simple, it allows for a lot to be crammed in to a very small space and they take full advantage of it.

The first episode of Grimm, “The Boy Learns What Fear Is,” launches absolutely free for the PC on July 31 with the remaining seven episodes of Volume One appearing each week thereafter. Two more volumes of eight episodes each will also be available at a later date. No price for the individual episodes has been announced yet. If you like your games with a sickly humorous edge, be sure to give Grimm a try. It’s clever, fun, looks great and most importantly, twisted as all hell.

There will be a total of three hundred and fifty levels exclusive to each platform: two hundred single player, one hundred “co-op” and fifty “versus”. Players will be able to download new levels from the N server as well as show off their design prowess with a level editor. In a rare treat on the DS, player designed levels will be able to be shared with friends free from the ties of the cumbersome Nintendo friend code system. Levels will also be able to be previewed before download so you know what you’re getting yourself into. Due to space limitations, the DS version will only be able to hold up to eight downloaded levels at a time, but the PSP version will be able to hold as many as your memory stick will allow. There are plenty of unlockables available to access during the game as well such as game skins, level packs, new gold goals and special music tracks. Speaking of music, all the soundtrack for the game has been created by “chip tune” artists using old consoles to orchestrate the tunes.

One of the more interesting and fun multiplayer modes is a new “tag” mode. Two players chase each other about various levels, one trying to tag the other. Being tagged makes you “it” and you lose a few points in the process. Running into obstacles also knocks points off and the game ends when one player loses all their life points. I tried this mode out with fellow journalist Travis Moses from Gamepro and it was a blast. Being an N expert, he trounced me roundly, but no hard feelings, Travis. Just pray I don’t see you on the streets…

Look for N+ to stealth it’s way to your DS and/or PSP on August 12th.

Smash Court Tennis 3 differs from many other sports titles in that it runs on an “RPG Lite” system of play, allowing your player to gain experience and add to their collection of skills as they improve their games. It all starts with the character customisation area where you can adjust everything form height, weight and facial features to your characters emotional level. Will you accept your failures with grace or will you throw a McEnroe tantrum and pitch your racket across the court? The choice is yours! But be careful, throw too many tantrums and sponsors won’t want to represent you. And unlike some games, the skills and characteristics with which you imbue your character have an effect on how they play they game.

Once your character is created you can enter into a four year career mode that has over 60 different tournaments you can enter into. Throughout your career, real and fictional sponsors will provide you with special rackets and accessories that will add to your skill levels and thus make your character a force to be reckoned with. Sixteen licenced tennis pros also populate the game, giving you an opportunity to play against skilled opponents. These pros are also available as playable characters so you can see what it’s like to play as a professional.

The variety of courts to play on are as varied as the characters with fifteen different courts. Some are real places, some are fictionalized versions of real courts and yet even others are completely made up, like the Deep Woods Court. Each one has it’s own court surface ranging from dirt to grass. By far my favourite was the Sky Court in Dubai which is suspended by bridges between the tops of three skyscrapers.

I tried out a bit of a two player game and found the controls to be quite easy to master in a short amount of time. simple button presses combined with the directional stick will send your ball flying wherever you want it to go. With a variety of special serves and shots, you’ll never find yourself without the right move for the occasion. The graphics looked incredibly sharp and the interface for choosing players was cleverly put together and easy to navigate.

Smash Court tennis 3 looks to be a great game and those into sports games will no doubt find it a stunning entry into the Tennis sim genre. It will be arriving on Xbox 360 later this summer, ready for you to take to the courts and climb your way to the top of the Pro tennis heap.

Deer Hunter aims to be the most realistic hunting game on the market and from what I saw, they are certainly meeting their goal. The animal AI is extremely intelligent and a lot of work has gone into studying the various animals to get the most realistic response possible. Everything from sight distance to smell distance have been included so if you’re downwind of a deer that catches a whiff of you, you may find your target heading for the hills. “Dangerous prey” is also present so be careful when tracking and shooting that grizzly bear or cougar. One wrong move could see you getting mauled or worse.

This realism also extends to the equipment and accouterments for the hunters themselves, giving them the ability to track footprints plant grain and even drop animal urine for use in attracting certain species. Weapon calibre and points of contact have also been taken into strong consideration so be careful what you shoot and with which weapon. Big gun + small animal = no mounted trophy head for you.

Other elements at your disposal will be various modes of transportation (horses and ATVs among them), a UI compass that tells direction and weather and a hunter character creation mode. Players will not be limited to tournament modes either. An in depth tutorial mode and a free play mode where you can invite other players to join you will also be available.

Deer Hunter Tournament is set to release with a $AU 41.88 price point for the Xbox 360 and a much cheaper $AU 20.91 for the PC giving you quite literally more bang for your buck. Hunting season begins this Fall.

This particular store sold all of its MGS PS3 bundles at 10pm to people who were waiting in line although the GameStop employee I spoke with refused to divulge how many systems they received. I asked him if they had received lots of pre-orders and he informed me once again that he was not allowed to talk about it. Given that the line was quite long and everyone there had to have a pre-order, I would guess that their list was rather extensive. A nearby Best Buy that was also doing a midnight launch sold out of their twenty five PS3 bundles within a a few minutes after announcing them around 11:30pm. Apparently their employees have no such non-disclosure rule when it comes to numbers.

There were three local outlets doing midnight launches, but one store was conspicuously dark. The Sony store in the Metreon Centre didn’t hold a midnight launch. This is due to the fact that it’s in a mall and the cost of keeping it open past hours would make it not quite worth the while. So if you live in the SF area and are keen to get your hands on a bundle, all your hopes lie on the Sony Store’s door. A door that will open at 10am PST Thursday morning. Good Luck!

By now I’m sure most of you are familiar with the seemingly odd transition of Guitar Hero from consoles to handhelds, namely the DS. When Guitar Hero: On Tour was announced a few months ago it left many of us scratching our heads wondering how they would pull it off. Even with the addition of pictures of the add-on peripheral it was still hard to imagine exactly what it would be like trying to play. I finally got my chance to check it out for myself a few days ago and despite former misgivings I actually found it quite fun.

The first thing I took a look at upon arriving was the “guitar grip” peripheral. It was a pretty sturdy little piece of a equipment that fits snugly into the GBA slot of the DS. The clear plastic cover is removable and the logo can be pulled out so you can customise the look of it. The strap is likewise customisable, no doubt providing plenty of opportunity for merchandising. As you may know, there are only four buttons in this iteration of the game and while some players may find this disconcerting, there is actually a good reason for it. With the DS literally strapped to your hand, it would make it impossible for you to be able to slide your hand to reach the fifth button. Then of course there is the space issue. After looking at it close up, it seems the addition of the fifth button would make it a bit crowded.

If you are a PS2 owner you’ll be able to link up to four PS2 up with LAN cables and provide a dance party for up to eight people. With that kind of set up you better have a huge living room and no neighbours if you wish to avoid arrest for disturbing the peace. You can also plug in your EyeToy camera and become part of the game.

Xbox 360 players will be treated to sixty five songs, Xbox LIVE compatibility and the ability to customise their own dancer. Also included are two new modes; DJ Mode where you can create your own tracks and set lists and City Mode where you can compete against various bosses to rule the dance floor.

Wii owners will get four player multiplayer, Wii remote and nunchuck support, new modes and an all new soundtrack. The new modes consist of the Dance n’ Defend Battle Mode, a head to head dance off using the Wii remote, Course Mode and Groove Arena Mode. You’ll also be able to use your Mii in the game!

Make the jump to check out the full press release and all the swinging details!

KONAMI CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF DANCEDANCE REVOLUTION® WITH THREE NEW RELEASES:

DanceDanceRevolution® X for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system
DanceDanceRevolution® Universe3 for the Xbox 360
DanceDanceRevolution® Hottest Party 2 for Wii™

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – May 14, 2008 – Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced three upcoming DanceDanceRevolution® titles will ship this Fall in honour of the 10th anniversary of the franchise. After a decade as one of the most popular franchises in the music genre, DanceDanceRevolution® fans can move their feet to different beats with DanceDanceRevolution® X for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, DanceDanceRevolution® UNIVERSE3 for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and DanceDanceRevolution® Hottest Party 2 for Wii™.

“We cannot thank our fans enough for their continued devotion to the DanceDanceRevolution® franchise. The continued popularity and longevity of DanceDanceRevolution® has transformed it from a video game into something much bigger and more special,” said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “We wanted to celebrate this special occasion by bringing to market three new versions of the game that offer the biggest and best musical selections along with a slate of unique features.”

DanceDanceRevolution® X

In DanceDanceRevolution® X, players can dance their way through a soundtrack packed with major hits from some of today’s top artists. The latest release for the PlayStation®2 system offers fans of the beloved dance video game enhanced graphics along with fun, interactive gameplay and innovative new game modes, including the brand new LAN Battle Mode — which lets up to eight players battle simultaneously through the LAN lines on their PlayStation®2 system. Additionally, players can work up a sweat by customising their own workout and fitness programs and, by plugging in the EyeToy™ USB Camera (for PlayStation®2) peripheral, they can put themselves in the game.

DanceDanceRevolution® UNIVERSE3

Marking its return to the Xbox 360, DanceDanceRevolution® UNIVERSE3 offers fans a whole new experience with the debut of new modes including DJ Mode and City Mode. In DJ Mode, players can explore their inner DJ while creating tracks and song lists to dance to while City Mode allows players to compete against bosses throughout the DanceDanceRevolution city and become the ultimate champion. Additionally, the game boasts one of the biggest soundtracks, giving fans more than 65 songs spanning from the ’70s to some of today’s hottest tracks. DanceDanceRevolution® UNIVERSE3 also features online multiplayer function — allowing for dance-offs with up to four friends from around the world and character customisation with more than 400 options of clothing, faces, skin tones and hairstyles — letting players create the ultimate dancer, and complete Xbox Live functionality.

DanceDanceRevolution® Hottest Party 2

Rounding out the DanceDanceRevolution® 10th anniversary celebration is the release of DanceDanceRevolution® Hottest Party 2 for Wii. DanceDanceRevolution® Hottest Party 2 is sure to be the life of the party with 4 player multiplayer, Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ support, smash hits taken from the last four decades of music, entirely new modes and more! The all-new soundtrack features big hits such as “I Want Candy”, “Umbrella”, “Black or White” and “We Got The Beat” ensuring that DanceDanceRevolution® Hottest Party 2 will appeal to dance enthusiasts of all ages. The mutliplayer function allows for head-to-head battles in the Dance n’ Defend Battle Mode where players use the Wii Remote to battle their opponents. Other new modes include the non-stop dance action in Course Mode, the ability to unlock hidden features in Groove Arena Mode and the all-new Hottest Training Mode. With brand new gimmicks, the incorporation of your Mii™, enhanced motion capture, new characters exclusive to the game, and new stages with enhanced effects on more than 50 unique dance environments, there is no party like Hottest Party 2.