The Games We Play is a weekly feature about what has been going on in our gaming lives. Tell us what you've been playing in the comments.

Terry: There are two settings in video games that I'm always a sucker for - snow and the old west (this probably explains why I loved Lost Planet and Gun a little more than most). So when Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood came out recently I knew, especially after playing the first one, that I'd be picking it up. 

It was a little slow at the start, I even remarked on Twitter that I wasn't impressed, but now I'm at the halfway point and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Because the two characters you play as are different, it takes a little while to get used to their varying abilities. But once you do, the setting and the gun play become fun. I highly recommend it.

Ian: I got a lot of gaming in this week with Prince of Persia, Wolverine and Punch Out. I beat the final boss in Punch Out but now have to start the "defend your title mode." Is every boxer now more difficult? To be clear, Punch Out is a HARD game to begin with.

I had some quality time with Prince of Persia and didn't find it as easy as so many have said. It takes awhile to get a hang of the controls but overall they work well. I wish the environments were colorful on the first playthrough because the unique art style shows a lot better that way. The openworldness of the game feels like a gimic and I would have rather seen level based gameplay.

Finally, I had a chance to play Wolverine for the 360. I have not seen the movie and pretty much ignored the cutscenes but the gameplay is really fun. There is a great level of brutality as the camera slows down as you decapitate your opponents. The environments have been somewhat varied so far, but I hoping for some more outdoor scenery instead of dark interiors as I progress through the game.

Sean: In an eight-person party chat a few nights go on the 360, my friends and I threw out ideas of what downloadable games we wish we could play. Some of the more prominent answers that I remember are: Clue, Family Feud and other board games where your avatar could be used and everyone in your party could play or observe the game. The 1 vs. 100 Beta is an innovative way to bring this all together but it only runs certain times a day. As opposed to playing multiple games this week, this heated debate of what XBLA needs to do was the front runner.

But that's what XBL does for people, it gives them the opportunity to speak on, essentially, an eight-person phone call. It brings individuals together and allows you to meet new friends from across the globe. In a matter of seconds, you can switch from playing Uno -- which I did a lot this week -- with three other friends to Call of Duty 4, where we're all soldiers out to kill the opposition. The possibilities seem endless, yet, suggestions are still out there. Please Microsoft, feature more game show and board game type downloads. That's what this is more about: the community.

Andrew: Another week, less games. I found myself wrapped up in the old west with Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood pretty much the entire week. I love how they took everything that was wrong with the first one and scrapped it. Stunning landscapes, wonderful visuals and some very intuitive gameplay mechanics certainly make this something to check out. Other than that I have been trying to catch up on my sleep since work is killing me with these late night shifts now. Lastly, DLC digest has been a huge part of my week with tons of hilarious post it something that everyone needs to check out.

 

Nintendo just can’t seem to get a solid foothold on its WiiWare catalog. Week after week it’s the same old thing over and over again. This week Hudson tries to make an FPS for the Wii with Water Warfare, a comical first-person shooter that uses water guns to battle and soak opponents. Unfortunately Hudson took a page out of what not to do for an FPS.
Featuring over 40 single player missions for you to get soaked in, Water Warfare offers up a lot of content. In the single player missions you will have a variety of objective and boss battles. If you just want to skirmish you can play against up to seven bots with three difficulty levels. Two players can go at it in split screen or you can play with a total of eight via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You can play with strangers or just play a good old fashioned rank match on one of the 4 maps made. Team games include Battle Royale where the last person standing wins, Death Match is the standard FPS free-for-all, but should be called Wet Match, first player to 10 knockouts wins. Treasure Chest you have to find the opposing team's chest and bring it back to your base. In assault you capture the flag, which I figured would be called capture the flag. Base you take control of bases and score 100 points to win. Finally in point rally you need to put your gun away and race through checkpoints.
Weapon wise you’re given the standard array of weapons, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and rocket launchers all filled with lovely H2O. The weapons control ok but feel like squirt guns that have no kick to them. Also perks are scattered throughout the map like a raincoat that makes you temporarily water resistant and a towel to dry yourself off. 
Water Warfare is for the kids, and rightfully so for the system it’s on. But with the 800 point price tag this is way too high a price to pay for mediocre gameplay and visuals. Kids will find it very interesting to play for about an hour, but they will lose interest quickly because to be frank it’s not Halo! It doesn’t have the mass appeal and stamina that is carried over by most FPS’s. It gives you everything that they offer but the package is so weak that mixing in all the added modes seems like filler and this filling is not tasty at all. You’d be better off saving your money and buying your kids a real water gun.
Pros: good for young kids
Cons: visuals, Gameplay, water
GamePro Score: 2.0
The Info: Platform: Wii (WiiWare), Publisher/Developer:Hudson Entertainment, Players: 1-2 (1-8 online), Price: 800 Wii Points
Related Links: Make sure to read PSP and Me: Gaming Love Gone Too Far, XNA Community Game of the Month: Angry Barry  and enter  GPArcade Giveaway: Fallout 3's Point Lookout.

Like most diehard gamers I own a PS3, Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii. I also own a PSP. Video games haven't really interfered with anything else in my life, until recently.

My PSP has always been something I've really enjoyed but it wasn't until Metal Gear Solid came out on the PlayStation Store two weeks ago that I noticed how truly great it was. MGS is a perfect fit for the system and it made increased my affection for the PSP, to uncomfortable levels. 

My gaming love went a little too far, and to spare you the same fate that happened to me, I chronicled my disastrous relationship with the PSP on DLC Digest. Because there are some pictures of a graphic nature I didn't want to post them on the more "family friendly" GPArcade, but if you want to see what happens when a man loves a handheld console a little too much click here

 Follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/terryterrones

XNA has a ton of offerings and like just every console, there’s plenty of good and bad. But like my personal hero Vanilla Ice used to say, “the cream always rises to the top”. Say hello to Angry Berry.

Angry Barry is a 2D side-scrolling beat’em up along the lines of Final Fight and Streets of Rage, but it has serious political overtones.  Featuring high definition, hand drawn and animated 2D graphics, tons of political humor and parody, and an original soundtrack composed exclusively for the game, it’s good to see a game of this quality come out of the XNA community.
In Angry Barry you play the role of the titular Barry and fight a vast assortment of characters through 9 stages in your quest for the presidency of the United States. You will have to battle a wide assortment of enemies ranging from secret service members, old political candidates, democratic and republican rivals and a robot villain. Yeah even the robots make it into this political debacle, just like Al Gore in 2000.
Packing all of this into a XNA game seems almost too good to be true. For a measly 400 points you and a friend (oh yes, I said XNA multiplayer) can tag team your way to political victory. So get your credit card handy to make a purchase and remember vote or die, or in this case kick or get your assed kicked!
Pros: Great visuals, gameplay and soundtrack
Cons: No achievements
GamePro Score: 4.5
The Info: Platform: Xbox 360 (XNA), Publisher/Developer: Arrogancy, Players: 1-2, Price: 400 MS Points
Related Links: Make sure to check out the 5 XBLA Games Every 360 Owner Should Download, DLC News - Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed, Quake Arena Arcade  and GPArcade Giveaway: Fallout 3's Point Lookout

It's time to whip out the mohawk hair style, arm sweatbands, tight jeans and wrist-slashing attitude -- the punk rock track pack is here. Wow, Sean, stereotype much? Well, if you're going to spend your hard-earned money on these songs, why not get the full effect?

The Guitar Hero crew announced that Bad Religion's "21st Century (Digital Boy)," NOFX's "Linoleum" and Rancid's "Ruby Soho" would hit the Guitar Hero Store for your downloading pleasure in the "Punk-O-Rama Track Pack." So, make sure to rock out like a punk when you do -- NOFX will be watching.

Hit the jump for everything you need.

Related Links: Rock Band DLC and Fallout 3's Point Lookout. Do you think there should be more sports DLC?

A trip down memory lane can be quite a treat. And today, my friends, it is. Capcom released its Classics Collection: Remixed package on PSN, featuring 20 full arcade titles -- such as Street Fight and Final Fight. And later this summer, codes to Fate/Unlimited will provide more action-packed gameplay than ever before. The list of 20 games is here.

On the 360, the Quake Arena Arcade -- through Twitter -- will release new levels and gameplay for up to 16 people to battle. The 40 maps from Team and Team Arena will be in tact, too. More to come in August on this one as well.

Hit the jump for the full release.

Related Links: Five XBLA games every 360 owner should download. Fallout 3 giveaway and Magic review!

 

Gamers have plenty of options when it comes to selecting downloadable games on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC. But with so many choices, how do you separate the good games from the bad? GamePro Arcade is here to help, offering up the 5 best games for each platform that no gamer should go without.

The first edition of our 4-part series series starts today, as we tackle Xbox Live Arcade.

XBLA is flooded with games, too flooded in fact. While there is something for everybody - from classic ports like Cyberball and Battlezone to new IP's like Cloning Clyde and Penny Arcade Adventures - so much content makes it tough to pick out the must haves from the must avoids. In order to save you time and money, we've compiled a list of the Top 5 games every 360 owner should download.

 

Another week, another chance for you to win something for free from GamePro Arcade. This week we're giving away one (1!) XBLA code for Fallout 3's most recent downloadable content, Point Lookout. 

Winning is easy, just write a comment on this post telling me which Fallout 3 enemy gives you the most trouble. Post as many times as you want, one lucky gamer will be randomly selected by the GPArcade Super Computer and announced on Sunday. One other thing, since this content is M rated, only gamers 18 and older are allowed to participate. 

Good luck!

Follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/terryterrones

 

 

As someone who has never been a fan of the Magic the Gathering series, I expected it to be difficult to grasp the newly released XBLA version. However, there was plenty of handholding available to understand the basics of this popular card game. Multiple levels of tutorials are included for the unitiatied. Luckily for veterans, the depth that hardcore fans would be looking for is there as well.

The basic rules of the game consist of starting with 20 life and seven cards. Each player takes turns drawing a card, using a land card and then casting spells. Each card can be used to battle against your opponent, but they have a chance to block attacks. Once your opponents' life bar runs dry, you win.

The complexity of play transitions well onto the virtual screen, with decent special effects when using certain powers. Action will never be mistaken for anything but a card game, however. There is no question that we will see additional decks as DLC in the future as there currently may not be enough variety for some players.

A variety of modes keep the game interesting with a campagin, challange mode and online play at your fingertips.

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers is seemlingly everything Magic players would want in a virtual adaptation of the now classic card game. The question is still whether games traditionally played in the physical world are as much fun. In my experience, board games are not nearly as engaging but Magic fans will definately have a tough decision on their hands as this game is very well made.

Pros: True to card game, not lacking in modes

Cons: May not be enough cards available for some players

GamePro Score: 4.5

The Info: Platform: Xbox 360 (XBLA), Publisher: Wizards of the Coast, Developer: Stainless Games, ESRB: T, Players: 1-4, Price: $10.00 (800 MS points)
Related Links: Learn about The Games We Play and vote in our weekly poll.

 

Xbox Live Avatars are certainly an interesting concept but so far they've been poorly used. While gamers can use them in a few arcade titles, their potential remains largely untapped.

Next Wednesday Ninja Bee, the creators of the first fully enabled Avatar game (and one of my personal XBLA favorites) A Kingdom for Keflings, will add Avatar support to one of their other Xbox Live Arcade titles, Band of Bugs. Available as a free upgrade, gamers will be able to replace the original story's hero with their own Avatar.

To help give life to its 2-year old arcade game, Ninja Bee is also releasing new downloadable content. The Tales of Kaloki DLC adds new characters, sets, story, attacks, and abilities and will sell for 240MS Points ($3).

Hit the jump for all the details on all the new Band of Bugs content that drops July 8.

Catch me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/terryterrones