REVIEW: TouchMaster 3 (over at The First Hour)

I’ve got a new on-the-side writing gig at The First Hour, and my first bit of work for them, a review of TouchMaster 3, is now up. The First Hour is a site that uses a unique structure in reviewing games…they cover only the first hour of the game (or, in the cases of many DS games, the first half-hour), and it’s a system that works well. Much like with the first few chapters of a book, if a game can’t entice you within sixty minutes, there’s probably no reason to keep playing afterward.

Anyways, not every game I come across and/or play will be The First Hour material. I’d like to keep this blog as active as possible. But, I now have a perfect excuse to go back and play some games I gave up on or bought and never even tried. The next two I’m probably going to tackle are XIII and Odin Sphere.

Either way, I’m excited to be a part of the site!

Christmas loot

I made out very well this holiday season, finding the following beneath the Christmas tree:

Touchmaster 3 – Haven’t played any yet because I’m going to be doing a half-hour handheld review for The First Hour. I did, however, look over my fiancee’s shoulder a few times as she jumped between games. Seems like an interesting mix of mini-games. More to come later…

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks – Only an hour into the game or so (just received the whirlwind tool, to be more specific), but I’m looking forward to more already. I’m not quite as put off as I was upon initially starting The Phantom Hourglass.

Lastly, I got this big boy:

Bioshock – I tried the demo a few months back and enjoyed it more than I expected. So now I’m ready to head deep underwater into the throwback city of Rapture. Wish me luck. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m not terribly great at shooters unless they are a mix of RPG/shooting.

These three should keep me busy for quite some time. Plus, there’s always Fallout 3. Always…