Marie Flanigan, Director of Marketing and Social Media
MARIE FLANIGAN is the Director of Marketing and Social Media for Game Industry News. That means you will see her online and at events. She also enjoys writing reviews and sitting in on podcasts when she can. Her most loved games are open environment titles with beautiful graphics that she can spend months playing, but she's got a favorite in most categories and is always open to new gaming experiences.
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (BGII) is as fine a sequel as any game company could ask for. This follow up to the award-winning Baldur’s Gate has the same great graphics, the same wonderful sound effects and the same great game system. That being said much has also been expanded on and improved. First of all BGII has been designed to run native on OSX for Mac, having originally been a PC title. This is terrific because OSX is the most stable GUI I’ve ever dealt with and you can push the game in both single and multi-player modes … Continue reading Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn→
Giants: Citizen Kabuto is an impressive display of graphics and top-notch sound. The game is clearly taking advantage of what new high end computers can offer to the field. Unfortunately, if you don’t have one of these computers you’re going to miss the best of what this game has to offer, which is a shame because I like the idea of the game so much more than the execution of it. To begin with you have all the good elements: funny dialogue and very funny film clips, an opportunity to play any of three different species all warring against each … Continue reading Kabuto Could Have Been More→
Hoyle Kid’s Games is a wonderful compilation of 15 of the most popular children’s games of all time. Included are Checkers, Go Fish, Tic Tac Toe, Snakes and Ladders, Hangman, Old Maid, War, and Chinese Checkers. There are also generic versions of Battleship, Tetris and Concentration. The contents screen has the appearance of a child’s room. Each game is represented by an appropriate symbol. War, for example, is represented by a toy tank on the bookshelf, and Bumper Cars is represented by a little car on the floor. Most of the games are beautifully rendered in full color graphics. Checkers, … Continue reading Hoyle Kids Games Tops Family Fun→
Zork: Grand Inquisitor (ZGI) is a delightful departure from the standard gloom and doom play of most modern video games. Even better, it makes fun of some of them. It also pokes fun at Star Wars, Indiana Smith and a host of other pop culture symbols. I don’t recall the original Zork being that funny. Maybe it was and I just have a poor memory, but ZGI is hysterical to the point that parts of the game made me laugh out loud, which is pretty impressive. What is particularly great about ZGI though, is not just that it’s funny, there … Continue reading Zork: Grand Inquisitor, Grand Game→
The Secret World of Santa Claus is big Christmas fun for little ones. It’s nothing miraculous, but it’s worth having if you have children 3 to 8 years old that you’re trying to keep entertained during those long December nights before or just after Christmas. This CD-ROM will conveniently run on just about any PC or Mac under seven years old. That’s pretty amazing in these days of high-speed Megahertz and RAM hogging games, but The Secret World of Santa Claus isn’t really a game. It’s an interactive entertainment CD-ROM for kids. The opening screen is a table of contents … Continue reading The Secret World of Santa Claus→
Game Review- Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions
The Incredible Machine: Even More Contraptions is incredible. It’s incredible how much of your time it can suck away. Like a really good book with really short chapters, you just keep telling yourself that you will complete one more quick contraption and then take a break. Hours later you emerge from your computer, bleary-eyed with your mind spinning and wondering why on earth you just had to break three more fish tanks just to get that darn Mel off to work. Breaking fish tanks is a common sub-goal of this game. What kind of sick mind thought that up? There … Continue reading The Incredible Machine is Ridiculous, Frustrating→
Game Review- 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue
Disney software has produced a winner. I wish all their games were this good. 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue is fun for the entire family and completely playable for children eight and up. If you have an easy to use joystick, younger children might enjoy it as well. The premise for the game is simple and straightforward. Cruella De Vil and her minions are back and up to no good. They’ve started a toy company with lousy robot toys and they are blaming their lack of sales on pets. Their evil plan: If children don’t have pets to spend … Continue reading 102 Dalmatians is Disney at its Best→
Game Review- Millie Metre's Adventures in the Giant's Belly
I have never been so appalled at a piece of so-called educational software in my life. Millie Meter is so far from educational as to be down right offensive at times, though mostly it’s just an absurd piece of software. The game begins with the heroine, Millie Meter walking among boulders. One of them has a stomachache. He asks Millie to get in a helicopter (they call it something cute, but it’s a helicopter) that he just happens to keep nearby in case he wants anyone to travel through his digestive system. This beginning is the first problem. I don’t … Continue reading Millie Meter's Nutrition Adventure Falls Flat→
ALPHABET: Play with the ABCs, is exactly what it says. It is an opportunity to play with each letter of the alphabet in its own unique way. Based on the art of Czech artist Kveta Pacoska, letters float and fade in and out on the screen. The child can double click on one which will take him to a screen of just that letter. Then he/she has to figure out how to effect the letter, sometimes blowing into the microphone will ripple the letter. Sometimes it’s a matter of moving the mouse so that a letter like "G" will eat … Continue reading Play with the ABCs Makes Letters Friendly→
Disney makes movies children love, but unfortunately they don’t seem to spend the same kind of time and attention in their game division, which results in uneven game packages based on movies. Most children will want the games because of whatever movie characters are displayed on the box, but often the game is discarded shortly thereafter because it just isn’t good enough to hold their attention. The Emperor’s New Groove: Groove Center is just such a game. It has one good game, one really weak game, one mediocre game, and a ridiculous so-called creativity center. The game opens with Evil … Continue reading Emperor's New Groove is Not So Groovy→
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