Previews

While the hardcore publishers like EA and Activision Blizzard push further into the casual market with the likes of the Guitar Hero series and EA's Wii line-up, PopCap Games is swimming against the current. Having already conquered the casual world with the Bejeweled series and Peggle, PopCap's newest title Plants vs Zombies is an interesting combination of casual and hardcore elements...

Gunplay, story and driving. That’s the three things that Mafia II’s producer Denby Grace wants to nail with the sequel to the surprisingly good Mafia: City of Lost Heaven. Back in 2002, Grace was a lowly QA guy, slaving to find bugs in a game which nobody really could accurately predict success or failure on. Flash forward a handful of years – through the likes of Prey, Don King’s Prizefighter, and most notably, The Darkness, and Grace is back on a Mafia title, but this time in the driver’s seat of what must be his most important game yet. Oh and he's putting it out the year after Take Two-contracted outfit Rockstar North rocked our worlds with Grand Theft Auto IV. Pressure? Maybe...

My fellow journos are bouncing around the map like mad men desperately trying to kill the other team's flag carrier. The kills on both sides tick over, but the flag doesn't reset. I'm sitting with the enemy flag gripped only metres from the capture point, waiting patiently for my chance to score. The whole time I know they're coming, bringing weapons that won't just destroy me - they'll destroy the world around me...

If you remember my previous hands-on preview of UFC Undisputed 2009, you'll remember I spent most of it gloating about how good I am. If you didn't check it out, see the ego in all its glory here. Benny from The Benny & Richie Show took it upon himself to teach me some humility - before inviting everyone present to school me in the game as well...

GameArena was invited out to Miami (during the Miami Open) recently to get hands-on with the upcoming Top Spin 3, talk to the guys behind it, and to ultimately see if they’ve managed to push this one into the upper echelons of simulation sport gaming.