The Nintendo DS is a haven for variety and quirkiness. Many games found on this handheld console just would not work on other consoles – no arguments. One such game is Level 5’s Professor Layton and the Curious Village, the first of three puzzle oriented games under the Professor Layton name. Professor Layton utilizes the point and click adventure system, but instead of trying to find obscure ornaments to solve illogical puzzles, you are roaming through the village of St. Mystere seeking out puzzles, clues and mysteries - I think of it as an interactive book of puzzles. The question is: ‘How does an “interactive book of puzzles” translate into game?’ and most importantly, ‘Is it a good game?’. I thought it was a great game.

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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was released earlier this week and I am currently mashing my way through it. I played through Final Fantasy VII a while ago via my PSP and I was not that impressed with it. I’m going to blame poor translation and dated presentation for my lack of FFVII appreciation. I also didn’t like Cloud Strife as a character, but I did enjoy the story behind Cloud’s rebirth as ex-SOLDIER extraordinaire. So far Crisis Core is doing many things right with only a handful of peculiar quirks marring it; I’ll elaborate more in my upcoming review of it. Don’t expect it soon.

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Did you people like all the Game Developer Conference’s stuff I posted? I thought there were plenty of interesting bits of news from this year’s GDC. The keyword is ‘bits’ since nothing huge and/or surprising was revealed. The best of GDC was in listening to all the developers talk about their games, the industry and just shootin’ the shit. 1UP’s coverage of this year’s GDC was immaculate. The podcast discussions were both very informative and entertaining. It’s just something you cannot do via an formal interview. Well done, 1UP.

Personal highlights from this year’s GDC were as follows:

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