I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

Developer Firebrand games has put its stake in DS racing titles for a few years now, going all the way back to the Race Driver: Create & Race series, moving onto GRID, TrackMania, and now Dirt 2. Over the years we’ve seen countless evolutions, including sim racing, full-on arcade attempts, and creation elements across all versions. With Dirt 2 now releasing on all systems the team is back at it again, and the final result is a fun experience, though one that doesn’t quite stand up to some of the team’s best efforts already on DS.

Dirt 2 is a true remix of the racing world, combining some classic tarmac sprints with snow rally, dirt, and the over-the-top attitude found in today’s arena racing. With so many disciplines and styles, however, the game ends up being a decent racer on all fronts, but not a standout experience on any in particular. You’ll race in everything from Hummers to Lancers, and while there’s obvious high points to the game – dirt rally rocks – it also feels like a little too much for the team to tackle. You’ll get a taste of all racing types, but not a full-on AAA effort in any of them, which is what Firebrand has offered in the past on DS.

DS doesn’t get a whole lot of online play in general, but even a simple database of uploaded tracks for people to rate and download would have rocked, … Read More…

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

So there we were, maybe 4 or 5 of us taking it in turns, passing round the DS discussing in great detail what the answer could possibly be. … Read More…