WRUP meets the zombie apocalypse

Really depends. Honestly i don't think you could get much better than Mario Strikers Charged if you're trying to entertain a pack of kids. However, if you're looking for family-friendly multiplayer party game kinda fun, i would seriously recommend the underrated Dokapon Kingdom

A bit more complex than the average party game, but the depth enhances the experience, rather than making it more intimidating

Boogie is rather shallow, but a whole load of fun if you're in amongst a raucous group. I've had fun badly singing along to that Mambo 5 song, you know which one I'm talking about.

Wiiware Bomberman supports 8players, so that's a must. I've never managed to gather 8players together, only 5, but even then it was real riot. Caution: you need 4 Wiimotes AND 4 Gamecube controllers for 8player.

Other multiplayer games I've had fun with, or own: Super Monkey Ball, Mario and Sonic Olympics, Mario Kart, Carnival Games, DDR, Warioware, Victorious Boxers.

Oh yeah, there's also this game, SSBB, I think. I heard that was pretty cool.

thats right... Chrinicles

You play the "chrinicles" yet? How do you like it?
I'm thinking about getting it after Christmas.

Ok, quick write up on Valkyria Chronicles:

I'm on chapter 12 right now and about ten hours into the game. So far I'm enjoying it a lot. I have no idea as to how far along into the story I am but I have the feeling that the game is pretty long. I think if I can get maybe five or six more hours of game play, I will have gotten my money's worth. From the way things are going though, there is definitely room for about 12 more hours.

The game is presented in a story book format, with one mission per chapter and roughly five to seven "story bits." The majority of these story bits are made up of talking heads on a static background and serve to flesh out the events of the world. Because the story is broken up into many discrete parts, the game has a great pick-up-and-play quality. The game is VERY story heavy. You will spend equal amounts of time playing the game and watching story elements.

The book also contains a lot of additional information about the game universe, and all the characters that inhabit it. Seriously, the amount of information is staggering. EVERY character that is introduced in the game has a back story. All weapons and weapon modifications are explained, and there is a glossary of terms and locations. This information is obviously completely unnecessary but some people will probably get a kick out of all the detail put into the world.

The VC story is pretty good, but not great. Its been engaging enough to keep me moving along. I'll put it this way; the game is very easy to not start playing, but once you do its hard to put down. Its also very Japanese, if that makes sense. I'm not trying to say thats a bad thing, but story is a very important part of this game and if you absolutely cannot stand anime, you might have a hard time getting through the game.

There is a demo currently available so I won't go into game play to much, but I'll talk about it briefly. At the beginning of each mission, you are given a short briefing on enemy positions and objectives, you are then allowed to choose which units you want to deploy out of a pool (that you have previously chosen) or 20. There are scouts, snipers, assault troopers, anti-armour and engineers.

The missions you receive generally focus on capturing an enemy base. The game does a good job of throwing different challenges and terrain at you, and goes a good job of making each scenario feel unique.

I strongly recommend trying the demo. Its a good indicator of how the game plays. That being said, the demo level is ridiculously easy and you should definitely expect a greater level of difficulty in the full game.

At the end of each mission, exp and money is given out, which you can spend on leveling units and buying upgrades to weapons/armor. I absolutely love the RPG system in the game. Basically, the exp you gain at the end of a mission is added to a pool which you can distribute over the sniper, scout, etc classes of characters. When the sniper class is leveled up, all characters in the sniper class level up. This means that I never had to worry about attacking with a specific unit in order to get stats up. A great relief to me after playing FF Tactics.

Money is spent in a similar manner. The weapons and upgrades systems isn't to complicated but its deep enough to allow you to customize load outs according to your play style.

Once a new level is reached for a respective character class, new potentials are unlocked for each character. Potentials are things like "chatty cathy" "imp hater" "runners high" "clostrophobic" "big sister" etc. They can be positive or negative attributes and can play a part in how you form your squad, and how you play each character. For example, "chatty cathy" means that when that unit is around other units, they are constantly talking and bringing down the perception of those around them. At the same time, that unit might have the "showoff" potential which gives them better accuracy when they are selected as the first character to move.

The potential systems is pretty fun to mess around with from a tactics stand point but it doesn't seem necessary in order to finish a mission. If you pay attention to how you are combining and using potentials though, it can make finishing a mission a lot easier.

Also, every soldier in your squad is unique (unique models, sounds, back story, etc.) and the potentials help make them that much more interesting. I found myself getting attached to a lot of the member in my squad, and feeling bad when one died.

-------------------
I've probably forgotten to talk about a lot of stuff but I have been taking up a lot of page space with my impressions so I'll wrap up.

I really really like VC.

Its a tactics game through and through. It has very light RPG elements, so if your looking for a straight-up RPG, this is not the game for you.

If you liked Final Fantasy tactics, you will definitely like this game. If you like the demo, you'll defiantly like the full game. If you like tactics games, it won't disappoint.

I don't have many complaints about it. I would like to see a more difficult AI in place. From what I understand, once I beat the game there is a harder difficulty to unlock. Some scenarios can be played in a skirmish mode, so there seems to be a re-playability factor there as well.

The art direction is great and the animation is fun to watch. I would recommend turning on the Japanese voice track.

VC does what it does very well but its a hard game to recommend for everybody because it seems so niche... so I guess its a love it or hate it type of game. It is most definitely not average though.

Thanks. Definitely seems like i would enjoy it, just need to get through some other games first.

Just got my Home invite. Guess ill be messing with that as well.

Well, would you look at that; I've received an invite into the PlayStation Home Beta. guess I'll add that to my list.

Are we talking old school PS1 Spyro???

No, it's the new one (got it for the 360). I was looking for something coop to play with my daughter. It's nothing groundbreaking, but we're having fun with it. It's definitely a coop game. As a single-player experience, I don't think it would keep my attention very long.

la circa roja de muerte?