A company called Power A has created Wii controllers out of Lego blocks, but they’re fully functioning Wii controllers, not just some knock-offs kids usually make. The controller allows players to customize the fronts wiht their own Legos, and is full compatible with the Wii and Wii MotionPlus as well. It’s be available in retail next week at Toys R’ Us for $40.

Back in the early 90s, basketball games didn’t look as good as they do today, nor were they as realistic. No matter how realistic and immersing developers tried to make them, it just didn’t look that good. Another way of making a basketball game was to go the opposite way: arcade. Fun and over the top gameplay, which is what you got with NBA Jam. Now EA has remade the game for the Wii, updated the visuals and added a few new modes. Player wise, there’s three players per team, all the super-stars are there, form all 30 NBA teams.

But the core aspect of NBA Jam, the fun, fast paced gameplay with two players per team, running, shooting, and especially, jammin’ away. The gameplay is as pick up and play friendly as it was almost 20 years ago when NBA Jam first came out. Controls are straightforward, and so are the rules: besides goal tending and a shot clock, there are no other rules nor referees. You can knock your opponents over and steal the ball, then jam it down the other end of the court. However, the gameplay in NBA Jam was never designed for hour long gameplay sessions, it’s easy, pick up and play nature, usually with another player. And for that, NBA Jam is great, but for depth, there’s not much more. Despite EA adding several new gameplay types, those aren’t deep nor immersive. Furthermore, there’s no online play — yep, here it is again, another Wii game with no online multiplayer.

Overall, the gameplay is fun and easy to pick up, but as expected, there’s not much depth to it. This could have been countered by online multiplayer, but once again, we’re left without online multiplayer for a Wii game which could seriously use it.

The Good:
Easy pick up and play gameplay
Fun to play with friends

The Bad:
Not much depth
No online multiplayer

Overall score: 6/10

EA has revealed the collector’s edition of Dead Space 2, which not only includes the usual items such as some artwork, DLC, soundtrack, but also a plasma cutter — the weapon of choice in the game. Dead Space 2 will be released for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 25th. No word on how much the collector’s edition will cost.

We all know that Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed a dozen times or so, and now Sony has revealed that the game has been further delayed by a week or two, but luckily, it’s still coming out this holiday season. Either Sony is really bad at setting release dates, or they’re obsessed with perfection. We’re hoping for the latter.

According to a store worker at a AAFES-based retail outfit, Sony plans to cut the price of the PSP Go from $250 to $200 this Friday, most likely in anticipation of the Holiday 2010 shopping season. The PSP Go hasn’t been selling well so far, the key reason for that: high price.

Via Joystiq.

SlyVisions reports that mobile developer ngmoco has been acquired for a massive $400 million by Japanese telco DeNA, making it one of the biggest mobile games acquisitions ever, only topped by Disney’s $500 million buyout of Playdom. (Via SlyVisions).

According to industry sources, Raven Software, makers of Singularity, have laid off 40 employees. The firings are due to the Activision-owned studio reportedly shifting to work on Call of Duty Black Ops DLC and other DLC instead of making full games. Which is a shame, because Raven previously made Quake 4 and Wolfenstein, not to mention old classics such as Heretic and Hexen.

Blizzard has just released patch 4.01 for World of Warcraft, which saw its user base hit 12 million last week. Patch 4.01 paves the way for the upcoming expansion Cataclysm, by laying the foundation to make sure the expansion integrates with the game with no issues. Cataclysm will be released on December 7.

A good pair of gaming headphones are key for the ultimate experience, as they are with music and movies. Razer, makers of PC gaming peripherals like mice and keyboards, have released the Razer Moray, a pair of in-hear head phones for games, music and portable devices such as the DS and PSP. While Razer touts it the Moray to deliver “immersive gaming audio or music”, we found it to do anything but.

Razer Moray retails at $40, or $60 with a few adapters. For $40, we expected some decent quality, but we were disappointed right off the beat. While the Moray provides quite a few DBs more than regular head phones (i.e. it’s louder), the sound is extremely hollow. The “extended bass” Razer advertises is nowhere to be found (read: heard). We did some testing with a pair of pretty worn-out Sony head phones, which look a lot like the Razer, and the sound was remarkably better. Only problem is that the Sony head phones retail for $20. In fact, I went as far as comparing the Razer against a pair of cheap Chinese head phones which I bought in Shanghai for $2.50 — and the Razer Moray barely beat them in quality. That’s a big issue for a pair of $40 headphones, no matter how you cut it.

We tried to contact Razer to see whether we had a defective part, but we got no reply from them. For good measure, I went to Best Buy and got an identical pair of Razer Moray’s, to see if the sound was any better, as I might have gotten a pair of defective ones. But no, the sound was just as awful. Luckily I could return the second pair to Best Buy the same day. Whether I tried listening to my iPod, or playing games on it, or gaming on my PC, the sound was just plain awful compared to the $20 Sony head phones, or even the standard ear buds Apple ships with iPods.

The Razer Moray is just a poor product, and to make matters worse, it’s got some of the most frustrating packaging for a product like this. While Razer includes a small carry pouch, interchangable ear-bud sizes and a small adapter, we’d wish they’d leave that stuff out and focus on making a better product. Instead, we recommend using the iPod headphones (they usually retail at $30), which offer a far better sound, despite no noise canceling capabilities. Or the pair of Sony buds we compared with, which you can find here ($20).

The Good:
Includes accessories

The Bad:
Awful sound
Cord is rubbery and will stick to clothes etc.
Feels cheap
Frustrating packaging
Way too expensive for what it delivers

Overall score: 1/10

To contact the author of this article, write to jamexshyde@gmail.com

2K Games has revealed that they have no plans of bringing any of the BioShock 2 DLC on the PC, which might disappoint some PC gamers. The two DLCs released on consoles so far, “Protector Trials” and “Minerva’s Den”, have been expected to find their way on the PC, but now 2K revealed that those plans have been scrapped, citing technical issues. It’s not that big of a deal, since neither of the DLC is a must have and offers something beyond the usual experience.