homie-rollerz
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Bury the Shovelware: Homie Rollerz
Bury the Shovelware is a new weekly feature in which DS Fanboy dives deep into the mounds of gaming abominations dumped upon the unsuspecting public by various developers. Like a stool sample collected from a heap of animal dung in order to learn more about its creator, we'll be dissecting, studying and testing our subjects. We will record our findings, and mark how long the title can be endured. Every Wednesday, we'll take a closer look at the proletariat of the DS's vast library. For this first installment, I sought something that epitomizes shovelware: a game that shows too little inspiration (or too much from one blockbuster title) and/or is virtually unplayable. These attributes are all well represented in Homie Rollerz. In an attempt to feed off the momentum of the "Homies" craze (of many years ago), developer Webfoot Technologies created a racing title that aspired to capture the invigorating frenzy of Mario Kart DS, but instead leaves the user bored, frustrated, and robbed of their time. How long could I stand Homie Rollerz? Roll on to find out. %Gallery-17245%
Games to help curb your addictions
The "self-help" era is upon us, even finding its way into the video game industry as of late. Aside from the obvious fitness awareness game on Nintendo's other system (we mean Wii Fit, of course), there have been quite a few attempts to help gamers improve their lifestyles and habits. Take, for example, the upcoming My Weight Loss Coach and Ubisoft's "Easyway" title to help people quit smoking.Our favorite approach so far, though, was when DS Fanboy reader Dan used Pokémon to quit smoking. If there's anything we've learned from Dan's inspiring story, it's that the best way to curb an addiction is to replace it with another. We then decided that we wanted to help more of our fine readers that are suffering from such torments day in and day out. Pokémon may cure smoking, but what about other plaguing ailments? We're happy to say that after months of testing on monkeys and small children, we've finally come up with a few perfect video game cures.So, look no further than Dr. DS Fanboy, and check out our ultimate self-help guide to find the fixes for your addictions. Master that addiction!
What are the 5 worst DS games you ever played?
What do you think the top 5 worst games on the DS are? As we give you time to ponder that, we'll just dish out the list, as listed on Metacritic. It goes: King Kong Rhythm 'n Notes: Improve Your Music Skills Home Rollerz Wiffle Ball Deal or No Deal But, who cares about review scores, amirite? Instead, we figured there is no better source for the lowdown on crummy games than you all. So, tell us what your top 5 worst DS games are! We'll start you off with a very obvious one: Elf Bowling.
DS Fanswag: Ride 'em, cowboy!
If you like to ride, roll, fly or drive, we've got something for you: a series of prize packs that are yours for the claiming ... if you're one of the five lucky winners we'll draw on May 2. One Grand Prize winner: Spitfire Heroes, signed by three members of the development team ($29.99) My Horse and Me ($29.99) Indianapolis 500 Legends ($29.99) One First Prize winner: Spitfire Heroes, signed by three members of the development team ($29.99) My Horse and Me ($29.99) Homie Rollerz ($29.99) Three Second Prize winners: Spitfire Heroes ($29.99 each) What do you have to do to win? The requirements are simple: be 18 or older, and a current legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec), and just leave a comment here telling us your favorite part about DS Fanboy! You scratch our back and we'll scratch yours. You may enter once per day between now and May 1; the giveaway will end that night at 11:59 pm Eastern. Have questions? Check the official rules.
WRUP: Send a jacker into a coma edition
"my rims so shiny they clean like flat screen plasma gal scream when they see em its hard to breath like they got asthma"With this week's releases, many are probably rushing out to their local retail joint to pick up that new hotness, Homie Rollerz. That game is seriously ridin' dirty, y'all. Oh, wait, you aren't into the whole urban thing? Okay then. Also, uh .. we don't really know what ridin' dirty is all about. Does the guy need a shower?Other notable titles include Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest and, um ... what? Oh! Shiren the Wanderer! We're excited for that one! Wait, is it too late to change the title and theme of this post?What about all of you? What are you playing? That Smash Bros. game the kids are going crazy about?
DS Fanboy Review: Homie Rollerz
I was pretty worried about reviewing Homie Rollerz. I didn't really get into game blogging to discuss serious issues, and the Homies franchise seemed to involve one. Is Homie Rollerz a good thing because it is designed for a Mexican-American audience (which, as a goal, is very cool and laudable), or is it an insult to that audience with broad stereotypes? The toys continue to be popular, so I happily suspect the former. However, my own impression of the characters and storyline is that I might find them offensive if I belonged to the supposed target audience. In any case, further investigation of this cultural issue turned out to be unnecessary, because Homie Rollerz is not very good. The biggest issues with the game turn out to be with the game and not with the subject matter.%Gallery-17245%
DS releases for the week of March 3rd
Look sharp, DS owners -- there are a couple of solid choices competing for your funds this week. Our own beloved Shiren is wandering onto shelves alongside the Eco Creatures, and that's not all that's hitting stores. For gamers still wrapped up in other great recent releases, there may be some tough choices ahead. Time to start that stack of games that you'll still be working through by December!For our friends in Europe -- we sure hope you happen to be Dora the Explorer fans .... Anno 1701 Bubble Bobble: Double Shot Chicken Hunter Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest Homie Rollerz Imagine: Figure Skater Let's Ride! Friends Forever Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer Ninja Reflex Petz: Bunnyz
These screens are rolling with the homiez
If the Homie Rollerz short that we posted yesterday piqued your curiosity about the game, you might want to check out some screens for it -- after all, that video yesterday didn't show us anything about the actual game.We couldn't help but poke some fun at it (making some alterations to the screenshot on the right), even though Homie Rollerz is clearly aiming to be silly. You can even race as an alien or some guy that looks like a jester ghost, which we suppose is something. Still, the biggest problem with these screens is that they're not exactly ... nice looking. We know our DS is capable of more, so we'd like to see a little more polish in the game. We hope the final product ends up looking and playing a better than what we saw in these videos.%Gallery-17245%
Homie Trailerz
If you enjoy things like racial profiling and gender bias, as well as poorly-made teaser trailers, then you'll want to most definitely lay your eyes on the video above for Homie Rollerz. It just oozes all of the wrong things about the world, like pre-ordering games (we can make an exception for good pre-order bonuses) and overusing the phrase "dayuuuum." Not to mention that it doesn't show off a single aspect of gameplay, however that is most likely a very good thing here.And, if you want to know why posting about this horrid mess fell on this blogger's shoulders, just know that I was young, needed the money and didn't know anyone was around with a camera. Damn blackmailing coworkers ...
Homie Rollerz: it's racing, with Homies
When I played Homie Rollerz at PAX*, two things occurred to me: first, that I am absolutely not the target audience for this game (in that I'm not a fan of the Homies toy franchise) and that it would be amazing and pretty hilarious if the game turned out to be a really good kart racer. The version I played was way too early to make any judgments, but these videos at least show progress being made. There's a second video after the break.Will Homie Rollerz be a Mario Kart killer? Well, no. Probably not, right? Trying to look at the thing objectively, however, and not as a weird licensed game, I can say that I like the track designs. It's got a lot of tunnels, which is interesting and different from the more open-air track designs of Mario Kart. Also it's online, which really makes any game better. I also feel the need to mention burrito car.*I'm not trying to brag about having played Homie Rollerz or anything -- just stating my experience with the title.
