This has been an eventful gaming week!

There was GCA 2009 with eclusive showcases of Forza 3 and Halo 3 ODST.

I met the great Ian Livingstone.

I also met with some Rockstar people, who shared with us developments in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

I received five new games to play (and review): WET, Heroes over Europe, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Dirt 2 and Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

So, I really, really need someone to invent a time stopper!

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Table of Contents

1. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs
2. Time Wasters by Swordplay
3. Photos from GCA 2009
4. Win a New Era Games haversack!!

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Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

This funny title started as a children’s book in 1978 about a town called Chewandswallow where it literally rains and snows food.

It’s now a movie and a game, released Sep 18 and 15, respectively.

Well, I have somewhat outgrown children’s movies and games (Hello Kitty not counted because Hello Kitty is for all ages), but of the five new games I received this week, I decided to play CwaCoM first because it looked the simplest and I just wanted to play something brainless after suffering an insufferably busy week.

Surprisingly, I found it enjoyable. In fact, I want to play it right now instead of writing GGF, but we can’t always do what we want, especially since GGF is already a day late!

So I will zip through GGF today and maybe have some time left over to get back to it. =P

In CwaCoM, you play a quirky inventor who invents this machine that makes food fall from the sky so that people can have better lives.

The machine works but then quickly gets out of control. Soon, your townsfolk are terrorised by giant foodstuff raining on them mercilessly.

Imagine being flattened by this giant piece of broccoli!

Or giant burgers!

I must say, though, that playing this game made me very, very hungry.

So, your task is to get out there and vaporise food. You have five different weapons which deal with the monstrous foods in different ways, such as melting them down or hacking them to pieces.

Killing food earns you points which you can use to upgrade your weapons.

Some foods just sit there harmlessly (or obstruct passageways) while other foods are aggro. For example, you could get rained on by sizzling hot chilli sauce or get bitten by cute gummi bears that won’t leave you alone until you slice them into oblivion.

The first mobs you’ll encounter are annoying snowmen that shoot snowballs at you the moment you walk into range. You’ll need to melt them down before they pelt you to death with snowballs.

It doesn’t matter if you die, though. The game just lets you start over where you last died, with no penalties.

In this way, you progress through five acts, each of which consists about five missions. I’ve only completed the first act. It’s fun! And I believe it will get more interesting in the later acts when you get to change weapons mid-mission.

Besides fighting homicidal foodstuff, you also have the challenge of navigation. Once in a while, you’ll have to figure out how to use objects in the environment to help you get where you want to go.

There are some places that are quite hard to get to but you’ll want to get to them in order to unlock the ultimate weapon.

You can probably complete the game without it, or you can redo missions to get what you missed earlier.

I think kids will really love this game. Adults with a sense of fun will like it, too.

I think I want to watch the movie, now!

CwaCoM is available across all platforms.

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Time Wasters by Swordplay

Swordplay is my pesky li’l bro who spends all his time playing time-wasting games. To make him a little bit more useful, I’m sitting on him and making him recommend one fun and simple web-based game each week.

This week’s game: CANABALT

This game only requires one button (I use the spacebar). It’s a side-scrolling game with your avatar running automatically in superspeed mode across rooftops. You have to jump across obstacles and buildings to stay alive for as long as possible. (Crashing into a wall or falling to your death ends the game.)

Great for a quick distraction!

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Photos from GCA 2009

Games Convention Asia 2009 is still on until tomorrow (Sunday, Sep 20)!

Xbox fans are going crazy with the opportunity to play Forza Motorsport 3 and Halo 3 ODST before actual game release. (It’s free. Just walk in to the 4th floor exhibition hall and you can start playing — if there isn’t a queue, that is.)

I was there on Thursday to shoot some videos and do some interviews, but I don’t have time to edit the videos yet, so here are some photos first, taken from the Xbox 360 Facebook Fan Page.

The Forza Motorsport 3 girls.

John Wendl, Content Director of Turn 10 Studios, showcasing Forza 3 on the GCA stage.

Me with John Wendl.

The Forza 3 racing station with three-screen setup.

Xbox 360 booth next to EA booth.

Me with the Forza girls and Kellyn.

Me with the Forza girls and Ian Livingstone.

Taken with my crappy camera.

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Win a New Era Games haversack!!

I have an attractive haversack here with an interesting single strap at the back, and the words, “Gaming at its best!”

I wanted to give this out last week but didn’t have time to include the giveaway section, so here it is today!

If you want it, just post a comment telling us what are the items always found in your bag! I’ll randomly pick a winner.

Closing date is Thursday, Sep 24, 11:50 pm!

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Whee! Back to playing kiddy games!!

Bah, who am I kidding? I have more (other) work to do, lol.

Enjoy your long weekend and Selamat Hari Raya!