The James Logan Courier

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

"NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA"
For: Playstation 3
From: Team Ninja/Tecmo
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, suggestive themes)

The list of recently-released games in dire need of a do-over is long enough to comprise its own 10-volume encyclopedia.

It's funny, then, that a game that oozed quality its first time out is now experiencing its third go-around in slightly more than three years. Someone's really determined to get this one right.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

"RESIDENT EVIL 4: WII EDITION"
For: Nintendo Wii
From: Capcom
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, language)

If the Wii's biggest problem is the glut of ports that don't play nice with the system's special capabilities, "Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition" presumably marks a new low in that aggravating trend. Capcom's horror showpiece may be the arguable best game to come out in 2005, but we're halfway to 2008 now. Never mind that you already could play "RE4" on the Wii — for less money — via backward compatibility with the Gamecube.

At the core — and with the exception of true widescreen support and content previously exclusive to the PlayStation 2 and PC editions — "RE4" indeed is the same game that appeared 30 months ago on the Gamecube. In terms of story, pacing and aesthetics, the changes range from trivial to nonexistent.

By Daniel Brown
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)

Abbott and Costello. Rowan and Martin. Laurel and Hardy.

Here's another great comedy duo: Kwan and Sapp.

The elegant Olympic skater and mouthy Raiders lineman forged an unlikely friendship while taping an episode of "The Simpsons" together in 2004.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

"THE DARKNESS"
For: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
From: Starbreeze Studios/2K Games
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, drug reference, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language)

Arguably no game developer is experimenting with immersion quite like Starbreeze Studios, which most recently was responsible for a movie-licensed game ("The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay") that was immeasurably more interesting than the movie that inspired it.

The concepts that surfaced in "Riddick" go into overdrive with "The Darkness," which drops you into the shoes of a 21-year-old mobster who finds himself doing battle with both his crime family and a demonic possession that gives him some seriously scary powers. Fundamentally, it's a first-person shooter, and much of the action that takes place is not unlike what might take place in any other FPS. But the devil is in "The Darkness'" details, and it's the sum of these details that set the game so far apart from its peers.

By Carmen Shiu, Courier Entertainment Editor

This year marks the 10-year-anniversary of the Bay Area’s Filipino quartet, Legaci (LGC). Throughout those years, they have gained many fans and a variety of acknowledgement. Jaymill, Micah, Chris, and Del all have such powerful voices that blend in so beautifully when harmonized. Their type of music is mostly the traditional R&B, but also entangled with modern pop and alternative rock. With a new taste of music to the customary world and a showcase of what they grew up listening to, Legaci is on its way to make their own legacy.

By Ray McDonald, VOA News
Washington

J.K. Rowling says she wept as she wrote Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the hugely successful Harry Potter series.

Speaking in a BBC interview aired July 6, the 41-year-old author said "I was in a hotel room on my own, I was sobbing my heart out, I downed half a bottle of champagne from the mini-bar in one and went home with mascara all over my face."

By Anne Chen, Courier Editor-in-Chief
Photos by Anne Chen
There were a five main stages this year, including the Lucky Stage, Van's #13 Stage, the Hurley Stage, the Smart Punk Stage, the Hurley.com Stage, and the Ernie Ball Stage. On the Lucky Stage was The Briggs, Pepper, Yellowcard, Tiger Army, New Found Glory, The Vandals, Circle Jerk, Pennywise, and Bad Religion. Playing on #13 was Funeral For A Friend, Circa Survive, Killswitch Engage, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Chiodos, Cute Is What We Aim For, Gallows, Paramore, and Coheed and Cambria. For a complete list of the participating bands visit www.warpedtour.com .

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

"HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX"
Reviewed for: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii
Also available for: PC, PSP, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance
From: EA
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ (fantasy violence)

The summer of bad movie-based games is far from over, but that doesn't mean it can't take a break. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" promises to be an uncommonly good summertime movie sequel, and the game of the same name — while certainly flawed — follows suit.

To EA's great restraint, "Phoenix" doesn't try to be something the movie and book are not. Harry doesn't run around Hogwarts unleashing hell and lightning bolts on Slytherin students, for instance, and the game is appropriately light on conflict outside of the story's key showdowns. Most of the action revolves around assembling Dumbledore's Army and completing various side quests that increase your abilities and advance various plotlines. You occasionally step into the shoes of other characters, but only when the story dictates it.

By Mary Morningstar, VOA News
Washington

Last year, Bon Jovi became the first rock band to reach Number One on Billboard's Country Singles chart. Now, Bon Jovi continues to explore its Nashville influences on a new album.

Bon Jovi's latest album, Lost Highway, is not a Country record, but it was inspired by Nashville's creative community. The band collaborated with some of Music City's top songwriters, including Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson. Dann Huff, a Nashville hitmaker for Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban, co-produced the album.

Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi says he shares a common bond with Country music's storytellers, which made Lost Highway's sound a natural progression for his band.

By Suzanne Perez Tobias
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

WICHITA, Kan. — A few summers ago, Matthew Vines had a whole lot of time and not much to do, so he created a Web site.

This summer, that site is his ticket to a grand adventure.

Matthew, the 17-year-old producer of Veritaserum.com, an internationally recognized Harry Potter fan site, is traveling the world as part of the official Harry Potter press corps.

He will be among the first in the world to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the much-anticipated fifth movie in the Harry Potter series.