If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to command your very own robot army (and who hasn’t?), video game, “Supreme Commander” provides a very addicting, complex answer.

Like a chess game _ but with robots _ this new E-rated, $49.99 video game for Windows PCs features a dizzying array of units, structures and upgrades as you attempt to seize control of the battlefield.

“Supreme Commander” is brought to us by Chris Taylor, the guru behind the “Total Annihilation” sci-fi computer video game from 1997. And, in many ways, “Supreme Commander” feels like an updated version of that older video game for modern PCs.

Both titles fall under the real-time strategy genre, a style of video game where you gather resources to build up a base, which you use to build up an army, which you use to crush or be crushed by rivals.

There are so many variables _ especially when playing online against other human opponents _ that every video game plays differently, and every seemingly perfect strategy can be countered.

One basic approach never worked for me.

Playing as the United Earth Federation, one of three warring human factions you can choose from, I built up a massive defensive structure and waited it out.

But this tactic, known as “turtling,” wasn’t enough to prevent my untimely demise against my opponent, who sent in an attack as quickly as possible.

Source:The Associated Press

Here are some recent video games reviewed in the Free Press. Also indicated are the video games’ rating and platform. All ratings are based on a scale of one to four stars.

Handheld video game makes excellent use of the touch-sensitive screen with 200 minigames.

“Formula One Championship Edition” **

Great graphics are a plus for this driving game, but following a green line on a track gets pretty boring. Rated E. PS3.

“Ghost Rider” *

The video game based on the movie settles into a rut after a while. Rent this one. Rated T. PSP.

“Go Diego Go: Wolf Pup Rescue” ***

Good video game for kids as Dora’s cousin looks for a pup lost in the rainforest. Educational and fun. Rated E. PC.

“Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” ***

Single-player mode has great missions and weapons. Rated T. Xbox 360.

Source from www.freep.com

A new video game, “Body Mechanics,” teaches kids how to avoid being overweight by having them team up with a group of super heroes.

The fight takes place inside the body of “Jack Decayd.” If “Obeez City” is not contained, Jack will die soon. A few sweet snacks here, a soft drink there– it adds up

Body Mechanics is the latest video game promoting exercise and better eating habits.

“Dance Dance Revolution” encourages kids to exercise. While 15-year-old Miles does not need to lose weight, he recognizes the importance of being healthy.

At one poin,t he played the video game every day for hours at a time. Now, he has another mat so his sister or friends can play the game with him.

Roughly 17 percent of American youngsters are obese, and millions more are overweight. Experts hope this new entertaining approach could provide a win in the battle against obesity.

The Body Mechanics video game is a teaching tool packaged with an animated movie and sold as a two-disc set. It is available in stores including Target, Borders and Walgreens and CVS pharmacies.

Source from 13wham.com

The video game teaches youngsters how to avoid the ravages of being overweight, and may the healthy force be with you.

Video Gamers join a team of super heroes called Body Mechanics and war against the Evil Coalition of Harm and Disease, battling villains with names like Col Estorol and Betes II. The fighting takes place inside the body of Jack Decayd and if Obeez City is not contained, “Jack will die soon,” says Neuro, the Yoda-like wise one who narrates the video game’s story line.

I remember how it started. A few snacks here, a soft drink there, Neuro speaking in an ominous tone says during the opening. And before we knew it, the Evil Coalition of Harm and Disease was threatening us all.

Neuro then makes his plea: You must join the video game team of heroic Body Mechanics. They need your help in order to gain the knowledge necessary to save Jack�s life. Only you can change how this story ends.

The Body Mechanics DVD video game is the latest in a string of products in the video gaming industry to buck long-held notions and stress exercise and healthy living.

The video game is packaged with an animated movie and sold as a two-disc set. Body Mechanics will be in limited release Tuesday in retail outlets such as Target, Borders, Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy.

Souce from pensacolanewsjournal.com

The video game teaches youngsters how to avoid the ravages of being overweight, and may the healthy force be with you.

Video Gamers join a team of super heroes called Body Mechanics and war against the Evil Coalition of Harm and Disease, battling villains with names like Col Estorol and Betes II. The fighting takes place inside the body of Jack Decayd and if Obeez City is not contained, “Jack will die soon,” says Neuro, the Yoda-like wise one who narrates the video game’s story line.

I remember how it started. A few snacks here, a soft drink there, Neuro speaking in an ominous tone says during the opening. And before we knew it, the Evil Coalition of Harm and Disease was threatening us all.

Neuro then makes his plea: You must join the video game team of heroic Body Mechanics. They need your help in order to gain the knowledge necessary to save Jack�s life. Only you can change how this story ends.

The Body Mechanics DVD video game is the latest in a string of products in the video gaming industry to buck long-held notions and stress exercise and healthy living.

The video game is packaged with an animated movie and sold as a two-disc set. Body Mechanics will be in limited release Tuesday in retail outlets such as Target, Borders, Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy.

Souce from pensacolanewsjournal.com

At the Sedgebrook retirement community in Lincolnshire, where the average age is 77, something unexpected has been transpiring since Christmas. The residents, most of whom have never picked up a video game controller in their life, suddenly can’t put the things down.

“I’ve never been into video games,” said 72-year-old Flora Dierbach last week as her husband took a twirl with the Nintendo Wii’s bowling game. “But video game is addictive.”

Dierbach said residents love the Wii set up in the clubhouse lounge.

“They come in after dinner and play video game,” she said. “Sometimes, on Saturday afternoons, their grandkids come play with them on video game.

“A lot of grandparents are being taught by their grandkids. But, now, some grandparents are instead teaching their grandkids.”

The Wii has become so popular at Sedgebrook that on Sunday afternoon there will be a video game bowling tournament in the lounge. More than 20 residents have signed up to compete.

“We’ll even have a fan for people to dry their hands before they bowl,” said Dierbach, head of Sedgebrook’s entertainment committee.

If the retirees in Lincolnshire are any proof, video games are no longer just kids’ play.

And that’s the whole idea, said Beth Llewelyn, Nintendo’s senior director of corporate communications.

“We certainly appreciate our `core’ video gamers and will continue to supply them with video games,” Llewelyn said.

Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) on Wednesday announced his bid for the White House in 2008, and also reintroduced his Truth in Video Game Rating Act, which proposes to overhaul the way that video games sold in the United States are currently rated. The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe rules to prohibit what Sen. Brownback described as “deceptive conduct in the rating of video and computer games and for other purposes.”

Video game and computer games sold at mass market retailers across the United States are, by and large, rated by the non-profit Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). The ESRB provides both an age rating and a content descriptor, to help buyers (and their parents, in the case of minors) decide whether a game’s appropriate — that information is then put on the outside of the video game box.

Like the ratings system used for motion pictures, it’s purely voluntary, but many major retailers won’t sell video games without an ESRB rating. Sen. Brownback is concerned that the ESRB doesn’t play all the way through the games it rates — instead, it depends on pre-rendered footage, scripts and other content provided by the game developer and publisher to make its recommendation.

Source from PC world

2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., announced that Ghost Rider, the action-packed combat and motorcycle video game featuring Marvel Comics’ iconic supernatural superhero, is now available in North America for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system and Game Boy Advance video game. The title will be available in Europe as the movie releases in different regions. The Ghost Rider video game reflects the stylized action of the successful Marvel comic series and Sony Pictures’ upcoming Ghost Rider movie.

The game was developed by Climax and its storyline was authored by famed comic writers Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti. In the video game, stuntman Johnny Blaze is brought back as his alter ego, Ghost Rider, to protect others from experiencing his Hell on Earth. Ghost Rider haunts America’s highways, inflicting his righteous wrath upon the souls of the wicked and the damned. The unique storyline takes Ghost Rider to a large variety of scenes and locations, while facing off against familiar faces from both the Marvel comic universe and Sony Pictures’ movie.

Souce from www.superheroflix.com

A new survey shows a rising number of youngsters are accidentally exposed to sexual material on the Internet. While parents can use software to block certain Web sites and prevent e-mail messages from popping up with adult content, few people realize that newer video game systems also can connect to inappropriate Web sites and download images and video game.

The Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 connect to the Internet so gamers can meet other players, buy new video games, and keep their video game systems up to date. The Wii and PlayStation 3 also feature browsers that can access Web sites, including those aimed at adults, if parents aren’t watchful.

“Given all the different ways various consumers can use their consoles, we’ve taken the area of parental control very seriously,” said Eric Lempel, senior manager of online development for Sony Computer Entertainment of America.

Parents can use passwords to keep the PlayStation 3 and the Wii from surfing the Web (The Xbox 360 does not yet have a Web browser.)

Using those passwords will help parents keep their children from unwanted exposure to sexual material. A study published last week in the medical journal Pediatrics found that about one in three Internet users ages 10 to 17 received unwanted exposure to sexual material from mid-2004 to mid-2005. That is compared with 1 in 5 youths in 1999-2000, according to researchers at the University of New Hampshire.

Souce from chicagotribune.com

A new academic program in the works at Michigan State University will allow students to focus on their true passion — video games.

The school will launch a graduate-level program in so-called “serious” video game design in the fall. Rather than encouraging students to design the next generation of Xbox video games, the degree program will teach them to design video games that help educate, train or present messages in a fun way.

Concepts for the video games range from programs that allow emergency workers to practice making real-time lifesaving decisions to video games that teach adolescent girls about self-esteem and maintaining a healthy body.

Carrier Heeter, the professor leading the program, said video games make for good teaching tools because they can be sequential, teach patterns and offer progressive levels of challenge.

—From the Associated Press