Toys for Kids & Adults

LB's Top 10 Underrated Games
Below you will find the Lunabean list of Top Ten Underrated games. While some may have received critical acclaim, they just didn't get the attention they deserved. Others, in our opinion, were just unfairly reviewed by critics.

Please note, because they are our underrated games, the list sticks to console titles, and they are all fairly recent games (the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube generation, if you will). Enjoy!

10 - The Operative: No One Lives Forever (PC, PS2)

In No One Lives Forever you play as Agent Cate Archer, a covert agent for UNITY, an international agency tasked with combating terrorism around the world. What's more, Cate, is witty, talented and drop dead gorgeous. With a flower-power 60s backdrop, think of NOLF as 007 Goldeneye meets Deus Ex meets Austin Powers.

Yes, the critics loved this one, but something about Agent Archer intimated the guys and prevented them from actually purchasing it in respectable numbers.

Check out the remaining 9 underrated games!

Donate to Comic Relief, get a'LEGO Star Wars 2'cheat AND free walkthrough

For those of you who are neither British, nor in the know (don't worry, I was neither of these things ten minutes ago), today is Red Nose Day, a day designated by Comic Relief as one where they provide the entertainment, while we provide the donations to their poverty-busting charity.

While I'm bummed at this moment that we don't get BBC One, as that is where most of the entertainment is being provided (and it's a fantastic line-up), I am pleased that I can help out in my own way by donating via the Traveller's Tales Games website. In return for my donation of ANY amount, I will receive a cheat code for LEGO Star Wars II which will place a funny red nose on each of the game's characters.

Because we so applaud the efforts of Comic Relief here at Lunabean.com, we will add to your funny red nose our downloadable LEGO Star War II Walkthrough and Strategy Guide for free.

In order to claim your guide, please forward your donation receipt to us at info @ lunabean.com with the subject line "Red Nose Day". Please omit any personal details found within the receipt before sending it our way. Let us know if you'd like the text-only (printer-friendly) or screenshot version of the guide, and we'll send it off ASAP.

Please note, this offer is only good through today, Friday, March 16th, 2007.

Donate now
LEGO Star War II Walkthrough and Strategy Guide

Free Guide Weekend:'Zelda Twilight Princess'

UPDATE

If you're here now, you missed the free weekend. But, don't feel too bad because we're offering you a coupon!

Yes, for simply visiting this page hoping for a free guide, you are being rewarded. You can either purchase the individual guide or join the LunaPass.

Zelda Twilight Princess Screenshot Guide - Save $2!
Enter Coupon Code: CPN4455244179

Sign up for the LunaPass (all guides, one low price) - Save $3!
Enter Coupon Code: 1279861FD5

END UPDATE

As a special treat each weekend, we'll make available one our our high quality, professional, PDF walkthroughs for you to enjoy, for FREE!

That's right. Between now and Sunday night at 9pm PDT, you can download LB's Zelda Twilight Princess Walkthrough and Strategy Guide, Screenshot Version for FREE, a $7.95 value (Adobe Reader required).

If you like what you see, you can sign up for the LunaPass, our exclusive subscription service which gives you instant access to ALL of our walkthroughs for $15.95.

You can also purchase any of our walkthroughs a la carte by visiting LunabeanGuides.com.

Have a great weekend and happy gaming!

Download Now:
LB's Zelda Twilight Princess Walkthrough and Strategy Guide

Sign up for the LunaPass

Nintendo raises annual earnings forecast…again
There's just no denying that Nintendo is, in the words of Big Goron, hot, hot, hot.

For the second time this year Nintendo has raised its annual earnings outlook. The company now expects its operating profits to reach 420 billion yen (US$ 3.7 billion) by the end of the fiscal year. This number reflects an 86% increase over the same period one year ago.

Rumors of the earnings upgrade caused Nintendo's stock to jump 7.8 percent yesterday. When the rumors were confirmed today, stocks slid a bit, down 3.5 percent to close at 66,400 yen.

While Nintendo reaps the rewards of its Wii gamble, Sony may be wallowing in the damage of its PS3 gamble. The electronics giant today reported its financial earnings, with mixed results. While the company, as a whole, posted a small operating profit, the games division nearly doubled its losses over last year, to 96.7 billion yen (US$ 841 million).

Adding salt to Sony's wound, Nintendo was able to lift its annual Wii sales target to 17.5 million units (up 1 million from previous reporting, and only 3 million shy of the Gamecube's total sales), while Sony had to admit PS3 sales will probably fall short of its 11 million target this business year.

Source
Source

Zelda: Wind Waker gashaphon figures
I stumbled upon this flickr set today, and thought I'd share.

What I wouldn't give to have these little guys running around my house.

View the Flickr set

'Mercenaries 2', 'Saints Row 2' get release dates
After several delays, Pandemic Studios finally seems confident in providing a solid release date for the highly anticipatedMercenaries 2: World in Flames, as they stuck it at the end of abrand new trailer.

Look to guide your soldiers-for-hire through the jungles of South America on August 31st (Septermber 5th in the UK). These dates apply for all console (PS2,PS3, X360) and PC versions of the game.

OfficialMercs 2site w/ trailer

On the heels of Pandemic's announcement came one from THQ, letting gamers know there will be another sandbox title to choose from, just days before the release ofMercs 2(and just a few months afterGTA IV. Look forSaints Row 2(PS3, X360) to hit store shelves on August 26th. Oy.

Truth be told, the past couple ofSaintstrailers make me wonder if they're really going to be ready for an August release…as one is all audio, the other, a 15 second slide show. Lame.

'Silent Hill: Homecoming' set for September release…in Europe
The firstSilent Hillset to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 has both a name and a release month.

Silent Hill: Homecomingis the title chosen for the fifth installment of the creeptastic series, and September is the release month…in Europe. No other release dates have been provided for other regions. My money says those of us in North America will see the game appear mid to late October, just in time for Halloween.

For details of the game, and the poor fool who wanders into Silent Hill this time around, pleasego here.

Paintbrushes ready? Okami art contest.

In case you didn't know,Okamitoday makes its debut on the Nintendo Wii. In conjuction with the launch,Deviant Artis teaming up with Capcom to hold anOkami-inspired Art Contest.

I have little artistic skill yet this game is so stunning that all I want is to paint cherry trees all day. I'm thinking they'd make good wall murals, but I don't think Allison would be too pleased with that.

For all of the contest info,go here.

Related News:LB's "Okami" (Wii) Walkthrough and Guide

'Super Mario' theme created by RC car and glass bottles
Wow. Truly impressive…and I'm not just talking about the skills it takes to drive the car in a perfectly straight line.

Mario Theme Played with RC Car and Bottles- Watch morefree videos

Boycotting 'Battlefield: Bad Company'

It seems that there are few gamers who are hopping mad over EA's downloadable content strategy forBattlefield: Bad Company. You see, the standard game is $60, no shocker there. The "Gold Edition" is $70 and includes five weapons not available in the standard edition.

Those with the standard edition can purchase those weapons as downloadable content. EA claims that the weapons don't throw off the balance of power in multiplayer matches, which begs the question, why include them, and more importantly, why sell them?

Because of this rotten strategy, there are many gamers who are planning to boycott the game altogether. I say let's march on Washington! Or, the LA offices of EA! Yeah!

For more on this visit:The Street

New 'GTAIV' TV spot
Don't get me wrong here, because I am as excited as any other gamer for the release ofGTA IV(after all, I'm not made of wood). But, is anyone else getting a little sick of seeing trailers that feature no real gameplay? Meh. Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, here's the latest and greatest, via Gamestop.

Pachter: EA could delay 'GTA IV'
It's no secret that we're not huge fans of Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter. While we have nothing against the guy personally, his record for making accurate predictions regarding the direction of the video game industry has been less than impressive. Despite this, he seems to be the go to guy when it comes to the investment realm of video game analysis, which is why we go a little nuts when we hear him say things that don't seem thought out.

Today's Pachter crime comes via an interview onGameTrailer's Bonus Room, where he states that,if EA acquires Take-Two, EA will "have an economic incentive to delay [Grand Theft Auto IV]".

The suggestion is that EA would hold the title until the 4th quarter, when the video game industry makes most of its money. These are the kinds of Pachter-esque predictions that drive us nuts, as they fail to take into account certain unique variables.

If this were any other highly anticipated game, Pachter would have a case. But it's not. This isGrand Theft Auto 4. With its April 29th release date, it's expected to bring in over $360 million in retail sales in the first week. If it is successful, it will beat outHalo 3, which, with $300 million in sales, holds the record for the highest grossing opening day in entertainment history.

Of course, the game's sales won't stop there. This will, most certainly, be the summer ofGTA IV(and R.E.M., but that has nothing to do with anything). People will be playing it left and right. My dad, who buys, perhaps, one game every two years, will be playing it. Then, come the holidays, all of those people who haven't bought it, will buy it.

GTA games, particularly those that are supposed to be absolutely ground-breaking (and online), don't die for years (btw, our 2004GTA: Vice CityGame Guideremains one of our most popular). In other words, when it comes to the release ofGTAtitles, it's not a matter of how much money the company is going to make, it's a matter of when that company is going to begin taking in millions upon millions of dollars. EA likes money just as much as the next company, and they're not going to delay making money in the second quarter, as they'd still be racking it up in the 4th.

As a final note, we should remember that in June of last year, Pachter predicted a delay ofGTA IV's original release date of October 16th, 2007. While Take-Two did delay the release, it was due to delays in development. Pachter predicted delays would be due toa desire to avoid competition with other 4th quarter titles. Rather contradictory to his current path of prediction, is it not?

'GTA4' map leaked?

With less than a month to the launch of what's sure to be this year's biggest game, the insert map forGrand Theft Auto 4seems tohave been leaked. While it's still getting the "rumor" treatment, for those of us living in Liberty City, well, it looks right to us.

You'll see that Lunabean HQ is located in a lovely part of town, on the east side, not far from the beach and in close proximity to Chuck E Cheese! However, the only dog park in the area, Tommy Vercetti Memorial Park, is all the way across town. Alas, don't feel bad. When you can drive 90 miles per hour and pedestrian deaths don't matter, it only takes about 5 minutes to get there.

GTA4is released on April 29th and we'll start a walkthrough soon thereafter.

For more info on the leaked maps,head here.