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The Animatrix Network is an anime & manga fan club located in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. We usually meet on the third Saturday of each month (except when holidays or conventions coincide). The meetings are free and open to the public. Join us for a day filled with anime.

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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

10 Games That April Delivers for Spring

As the fires of Kratos' revenge reach an epic conclusion, as Lightning and her friends end their quest for truth, and as Pikachu continues to prove that he's one of the most popular critters in the world we enter into a brand new month for gaming. Now April might not have as many--if any--late night launches full of cosplayers and gamers sitting outside counting down the hours before "there will be only chaos," but it still has plenty to offer. [Source: Mania.com]

10.  Dementium 2 (DS)
It's hard to ignore a game cover that's got an arm coming out of a guy's mouth, especially when it's the cover to a DS game. M-rated titles are rare for the Nintendo hand held system, but "Dementium 2" looks to provide a creepy plot with even creepier creatures and settings. A patient in a treatment center, you're under the impression that the operation to remove your psychosis has worked. Of course, it hasn't--wouldn't be much of a game otherwise--and now you have to face demons and try and stop a twisted doctor from doing the same to other inmates. 

9.  Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Village (PSP)
Before "FarmVille" there was only one: "Harvest Moon." This time you'll need to raise money by planting crops, raising animals, and mining gems to save Sugartown or else the village will be lost in favor of rollercoasters and funnel cakes. We always knew that amusement parks were full of cruel, heartless a-holes out to destroy the little guy. All right, that's not really true, but that is the gist of the plot for this game.

8.  Dead to Rights Retribution (PS3/360)
They say a dog is a man's best friend, especially if he's willing to help you kill bad guys. You have a choice of controlling either Jack Slate or his dog, Shadow, as both of you take the streets of Grant City by storm to bring order back to a city that has lost all hope. You can attack silently or head-on, shooting your enemies or attacking them in hand to hand combat--or in Shadow's case, your teeth and claws. If the two of them sound threatening enough alone, just wait until they team up. 

7.  Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake (PSP)
"Let them eat cake." Or rather, "Let the princess eat cake and get too fat to move around." That was the odd idea behind "Fat Princess," a rather quirky game that PS3 owners could download.  Now the game is being released onto the PSP, letting people overfeed their princesses on the go. If this becomes a trend, perhaps we'll see a portable version of "Critter Crunch?" Who doesn't want to throw-up rainbows on the go?

6.  Record of Agarest War (360)
To be honest, we're not quite sure what the plot is of this game. What we do know is that it’s a strategy RPG mixed with a dating sim, but where other games like "Persona 3" and "Persona 4" stop at the dating stage, you can actually get married to your chosen woman and give birth to a child who will likely become the new hero of this world. Where other places have gotten the game on the PS3 (Japan and Europe), in the U.S. this game is being released in disc form on the 360 and will be downloadable onto the PS3. This means that PS3 owners will miss out on the -- cough cough -- um... interesting collector's edition that will be available on the 360. 
5.  Borderlands Add-On Pack (PS3/360/PC)
There still ain't no rest for the wicked. For those of us who haven't downloaded "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" and "Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot" we can now buy a hard copy of both on one disc. The zombie pack includes everyone's favorite undead creatures--hence the name--while Mad Moxxi is all about a crazy woman in search for her fourth husband, which leads her to make battle arenas? Whatever floats your boat, honey. The Moxxi pack didn't do as great as Zombie Island, but $20 for both isn't too bad of a deal at all. The only downside is that there's already a third download pack available online and a fourth one has been announced. It seems like Borderlands might just need a GOTY edition with everything included for one low price.
4.  Nier (PS3/360)
Squarenix. Hack and slash. M rated. This is probably the fix we need after spending an eternity (more like a few weeks) playing “Final Fantasy.” Mindless hack and slash action with a buffed out, sword-wielding main character who looks like he can crush a guy's head with his bare hands. Add that to the fact that he's trying to save his daughter and you've got one pissed off dad to deal with. 
3.  Monster Hunter Tri (Wii)
There are a few things to be excited for with this game, and no, it's not that annoying Viking commercial. Besides the fact that it’s a new “Monster Hunter” that isn't just on the PSP, there will be online co-op available. Not too many games cater to the online audience on the wii so we're kind of nervous about how well it will play online, but maybe this is what Nintendo needs so that they can try and make their online gaming better. If nothing else, the bundle comes with a sweet looking classic controller.
2.  Super Street Fighter 4 (PS3/360)
Remember back in the day when fighting games would come out with sequel after sequel and turn out to be the same game only with more characters added? It looks like Capcom is going back to those days. We've become so use to downloadable content that it threw us for a loop to see an actual game being released that was basically the same game, except with more characters and moves. This day and age that would be on XBOX Live in 800 point character packs of two or four, but “Super Street Fighter” is giving us ten! And it's hard to not be excited for the “Street Fighter 3” characters making an appearance. 
1.  Splinter Cell Conviction (360/PC)
Keeping up with the awesome, kick-ass dad trend comes the always action packed “Splinter Cell” franchise. While it might seem like Sam Fisher's got the whole world against him, the world needs to fear for its life because the one thing that you should never do to the gun-toting dad has been done: killing his daughter. There will be lots of shooting, lots of killing, and lots of explosions and we get the fun tasks of creating the destruction and watching the chaos unfold. Exclusive to the 360 and PC, gamers can actually buy a 360 bundle with the game packaged inside if they don't already own one.

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