Heavenly Sword Impressions

Ok so I got around to downloading the playable demo of Heavenly Sword on the PS3 online store. The demo was free and featured the playable level that has been shown off at most game shows including this years E3. The title is supposed to be one of the Playstation 3's heavy hitting titles that is exclusive to the console. The level does a short cutscene introduction (which is absolutely beautiful) and then proceeds to let you have a go. You start by running down a set of huge ropes towards a the top of tower littered with enemies. As you are running down the ropes, the enemies cut them which forces you to jump from rope to rope. This shows off the aspect that will be similar to anyone who has played god of war. As you run, buttons will appear on screen and once you push the button, the character performs a cool maneuver or attack much like the final blows delivered by Kratos in God of War. Once you reach the tower, the obvious goal is to kill anything that moves. The combat feels a lot like that of God of War but still manages to seem fresh. The movements of the characters are impressive and the number of combos and special attacks you can perform in the demo is quite satisfying. The action is very hectic and you will be surprised at just how strong this woman is. I hate to say it guys, if Kratos were to fight this chick, he would not come out victorious. Once all of the enemies are dispatched, you are promted to cut the remaining rope and let the tower drop down onto some unsuspecting soldiers. You once again fight to the death and the demo comes to a quick end. The demo didnt tell much of the story but instead focused on showing off the beautiful environments and character renders as well as the insane combat system. There is really not much else I can say given the fact that the demo was so short but I can say that I am impressed and ready for the full version. This franchise looks to be adding something really great to the playstation 3's library and not mention a lead character that is easier on the eyes than Kratos. Ill be posting my full review when I beat the game sometime in September.

RPG Clean-Up

I own over 30 role playing games that have been started and not finished. Many of these games are near completion and most have been played a fair amount. I don't exactly know why it is I find myself constantly stopping most of these games, but I do love the genre. In a lot of RPGs I get to that point in the game when you have that option of exploring for sidequests or heading towards the events that set in motion the final act of the game. It might be some sort of attachment issue and me not wanting it to end. Or it could be crappy pacing. Who knows...

Either way, my goal with this project is to clean up the mess I have created with my collection. It's going to take a long time, but I plan to keep everyone posted with my current game and progress in it. I have narrowed my first play down to a couple of choices so expect a post when I get started.

I do need help though. I'm currently fighting the growing urge to pick up Persona 3. Maybe Nick or David could help me in this process by setting a similar goal for their own collection. Let's be the cleanest gamers on the net.

Nicks Top 10 2007

Hey guys, sorry about the lack of posting lately... my life has been a bit hectic. Anyways, i've noticed a trend among game bloggers and game site editors... they love to post their top 10 games to be released each year. So I just thought I would drop in and quickly list off my top 10 to be released before the end of December 2007. So here goes:

10.) Halo 3 (XBOX360) - There is no escaping the hype. The game is just huge and even though I tend to think its overrated, the sheer amount excitement is rubbing off on me. I doubt the game will even make my top 20 games of all time but it will surely be a special gaming experience.

9.) Assassins Creed (PS3)- The story of this game shows promise. If you know me, then you know that this is enough to catch my attention. But lets not overlook the amazing gameplay mechanics and combined with the absolutely gorgeous graphics. This one will probably take up most of my time this holiday break.

8.) Eternal Sonata (XBOX360)- This RPG does something that sets itself apart from other RPGs in the story department... Its original! You play inside the mind of the famed music composer chopin as dreams of an epic adventure while on his death bed. The game looks gorgeous and the story seems sure to deliver. I only hope the music and gameplay elements are as impressive as its premise and graphics.

7.) Half Life 2: Orange Box (XBOX360)- I have never played all the way through the original Half Life 2 sadly enough but I am sure to complete the entire story by picking up this box set. The game comes with the original games plus the 2 additional episodes which are sure to add several hours of gameplay and story. Not to mention Team Fortress 2 which has been in development forever. Portal looks promising but is probably more up David's area of expertise. No matter how you look at it, this game looks awesome.

6.) Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)- Its one of my favorite game franchises of all time and this addition seems to have some of the best gameplay mechanics of any of them. The fact that it acts as a sequel to wind waker couldnt hurt too.

5.) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)- Its Mario! In Space! Need I say more?

4.) Heavenly Sword (PS3)- This is one of the first original and exclusive PS3 titles that convinced me to pick the system up in the first place. Having just played the demo, I can say that not only is this game absolutely gorgeous, it has the potential to outclass God of War and possibly even increase PS3 sales altogether.

3.) Grand Theft Auto 4 (PS3)- Its a new grand theft auto... and its beautiful. I dont know what else to say really. Its gonna be good because we all know that Rockstar always delivers. Will it outrank San Andreas? Who knows, but thats why it made number 3 on my list.

2.) Silent Hill Origins (PSP)- Silent Hill does horror right and thats all there is too it. In my personal opinion, this is a game that out ranks the Resident Evil franchise because of its ability to create such a beautiful, yet drismal atmosphere. I can't wait to see how it transfers to a portable system.

1.) Bioshock (XBOX360)- This is a game that is as beautiful as it is creative. The environments are second to none and the story looks to be creepy and extremely atmospheric. With the assortment of telekinetic powers and weapons thrown in, this game is sure to be one of the best games on Microsofts system for a long time.

Well thats my top 10 for the remainder of the year. Peace!

Cover Art Comparison #039

Here's the new Cover Art Comparison for this week.

Metal Gear Solid 3

Microsoft Money

There are a few great Microsoft Game Studios titles coming out. I know they're not being completely developed by Microsoft, but they are being published by them. Blue Dragon and Mass Effect are the two bigger ones coming out this year and there is also Forza Motorsports 2, which came out earlier this summer. My complaint is with the pricing of these titles. Microsoft went all out when the Xbox 360 first came out. Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham 3, and Kameo: Elements of Power were all first party published games that came out at 50 dollars. The trend continued with Ninety Nine Nights and Viva Pinata. Then came Gears of War. Now, I understand a high-caliber game deserves a premium price. I can't really remember what logic Microsoft tried to use last year when asked to justify the price for Gears, but I remember it being a pretty lame excuse. Now it's the future and all that big talk about first party published games being 10 dollars cheaper are barely a memory. Microsoft has basically abandoned their lower price point on the games all for a except the stellar title Fuzion Frenzy 2. Now I know those 50 dollar games are not exactly must haves. It just feels like Microsoft is admitting to putting out less than great games. I understand the higher price for Gears and I won't ever complain at all for Halo 3. But please, Microsoft, help us out. For games that you know aren't going to completely fly off the shelves, give the game buying fanatics a price break on them and also make the price lower so that new players will go and try something new. I at least expect Microsoft to release Too Human at 49.99.

Now I know after reading this, there will be some who talking about Nintendo and their charging 50 dollars for every Mario spin-off and mediocre game (Geist, Battalion Wars, Chibi-Robo). But that's how it's always been and I've either bought them at 50 or waited until the inevitable price drop. For the Microsoft situation, a big deal was made at launch about the First Party Published Titles being only 50. I remember being very excited and I had a very positive mood about the 360 launch and Microsoft. I just have that feeling that I wish they would have never give us the 50 dollar game. It's like something if you never had, you don't know what you're missing. But now that they've given it to us and taken it away, I hold more of a grudge against them.

For those who don't remember what I'm talking about - [Article]

Jeanne D'Arc Impressions

So I got a demo of Jeanne D'Arc (translation: Joan of Arc) for the PSP yesterday. It's a tactical RPG being published by Sony and Developed by Level 5. So I dusted off my PSP and then....had to charge it and then I got to playing the demo. It' seems to be a pretty solid RPG. You've got all the pretty characters, attacks, spells, and items. All pretty standard. But that's the thing. I can't really tell what I should be getting excited about. The maps are quite big and there are some really nice anime cutscenes. But other than that it just seems like any old tactical RPG. I understand that RPGs are very story driven games and playing a couple demo levels isn't exactly fair when coming up with impressions about it. But again, the story of Joan of Arc is not something we are all completely oblivious to. And also, I am a little put off by the Half-man Half-Lion character that accompanies Jeanne (I'm guessing their not going for historical accuracy) and also her Power Ranger transformation into a super-being through the power of God. Now I'm not as big of a tactical RPG fan as Brad so my impression of Jeanne D'Arc are going to be less intelligent. I would like to see something new in the tactical gameplay element. Disgaea for example made it so that you could tell all your characters to do their actions at once or one by one. They also used the pick-up-a-partner mechanic that allowed players to use brains to come up with new ways to reach enemies otherwise unreachable. It seems like the uniqueness in this PSP game is that they base it off of something historical. Everything else looks pretty standard. But again this is just off of playing the demo.

Metal Gear Gameplay Link

Hey guys, i just wanted to stop in and post the link to that Metal Gear Solid 4 gameplay demo that we talked about in Podcast # 20. Besides that, im working on my second game review and ill be posting again tonight after work. Anyways, here is the link to that AMAZING demo. PLZ PLZ PLZ Check it out. Peace.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Gameplay Demo

Podcast #20

Nick's on his way over to do the show that we missed last week. I don't think I've ever been this excited about a show. We're gonna talk about the usuals like Japan Games, what we're playing, Over/Under and what we're excited about. But this week we'll talk about the new MGS4 demo, his E3 impressions, XB360 vs PS3, and much more this week on the 4-Player Podcast.

I'll post the link as soon as it's up. [Link]

There it is. Fresh from the Microphone. -David

Cover Art Comparison #038 [Revised]

Persona 3 got pushed back a few weeks, so I decided to use this chance to revise my cover art post. I forgot about Persona 3 Fes, which they release this April in Japan.

So here's the Persona 3, again.

Random Thoughts de Brad

1. I will get my full E3 impressions and final thoughts up soon. I haven't been busy, or travelling, or working or whatever. I've just been kind of lazy. And playing some mad Klonoa.

2. Two of the most praised and innovative games on the DS at E3 are a Looney Toons game and a Hannah Montana game. Don't believe me? Look it up.

3. I was becoming interested in the DJ Max series for the PSP and then I saw this link. I can't even beat the second stage of Parappa. I think I'll pass.

4. Snake > Zombie.

5. Fire Emblem DS you idiots.

Cover Art Comparison #038

Hey Guys,

Here's the new cover art for this week.
Atlus' upcoming Persona 3

Thanks for tuning in,
David

Podcast #019

Hey guys,

I know this is a week late, but I wanted to give everyone a chance to download the last two Podcasts since they ran a little long. In this episode Brad and I talk about our E3 impressions as well as a certain overrated game with Disney Characters.

You can download the show from the Podcast Archive


Thanks a bunch

The Phenomenon of Pokemon

I realized today that Nintendo may have created one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time. Not only did they create a completely amazing game, but an entire culture as well. Today the door to this world was cracked open just enough for me to peak through slightly. I found there on the other side to be a completely active living culture, one that most of us are completely oblivious to. And I now find myself completely fascinated by the world of Pokemon.

From first glance, Pokemon in a children's game. It's a colorful cartoon with cute animal-like mascots. Cheesy inspirational themes are played in the background while "life" lessons, like playing fair and doing your best, are being taught. We dismiss the game for it's appeal to kids and lack of maturity, but underneath the consumerism and marketing lies a game full of depth and strategy. I was given the task of putting on a Pokemon tournament today. I have had no previous experience with any of the iterations of the Pokemon games and have only seen a couple random episodes here and there. But because of the Pokemon Battle Revolution's ability to link up to the DS, Nintendo asked our store to hold a Pokemon tournament in order to demo the new software. Players that showed up today could load their Pokemon that they had captured on their own time onto the big screen to battle it out via the Nintendo Wii. The players would then battle it out using their DS taking turns selecting their Pokemon of choice and also which attacks to use. I was completely amazed at the depth of the actual combat. You really have to have knowledge of the Pokemon before even beginning to think about battling someone. There are all sorts of attacks based on their "type." There are 17 types of Pokemon each with strengths and weaknesses against other types. With the list of Pokemon now up to 493, I found that to be an overwhelming amount of information to remember.

Before the battle each player basically gets to look at the others hand. Out of all the Pokemon they have captured, they can now see which six each one is carrying into battle. This is where the strategy element comes into play. Depending on how the rules of the tournament are set up, each play must secretly pick which to battle with. So in this tournament we chose three Pokemon. So now it becomes a mini game of chess to see which ones you want to bring in and also to try to foresee which your opponent will bring. You could stack the deck and assume that they'll choose certain ones and try to pick ones that will counter those. Or you could bring in the most well-rounded and try to prepare yourself for anything. It was really quite interesting to see the kids make decisions on which strategy they wanted to go with.

Because of my lack of Pokemon knowledge, I made the mistake of allowing "Legendary" Pokemon to be used in the tournament. And although we set the rules to make all the Pokemon of the same status level, by the name Legendary one can tell that they are more powerful than others. I assumed that if anyone had put in the effort of tracking down one of these Legendary Pokemon, that they should be allowed to use them. But of course, thanks to the magic of Action Replay and other cheat devices, it turns out a pair of brothers had the most powerful Legendaries, some of which were not even obtainable in American but only in Japan through promotions, and used them to quite swiftly take out all the other competition. Now here is where I was completely blown away. The kids didn't complain. Although they were completely over matched, it seemed like they were being called to the challenge to face the overwhelming odds. It was as if they knew that to become the True Pokemon Master, they would have to overcome something like this. Every time someone would lose, the others would crowd around and pat them on the back for a good match well played. In between matches competitors would discuss strategy and which Pokemon they should bring out against who they were playing next. Some would have practice battles while others would negotiate trades. At one point a kid exclaimed, "I'm so glad I came today, I just got a ______(insert rare Pokemon name here)" The social aspects of the tournament were probably the most surprising. When everyone showed up they were complete strangers, five minutes later they were all part of this secret society, chatting it up while their parents stood around listening to the foreign language their kids were speaking in.

In the end, the brothers won first and third place. Miraculously, someone at the tournament through their extensive knowledge and skill was able to beat one of the brothers and had the tournament within his reach against the other in the finals. Unfortunately the odds were too great for him to overcome and he won second place. After the finals, the younger of the two brothers immediately turned around and looked at me to say, "See, I told you I would win." I was a little upset at the way the tournament played out and felt responsible that I let such an injustice occur. But then I looked at the boy that won second place. He was surrounded by his peers. They recognized the importance of the accomplishments he had achieved and they looked up to him. He had much more than a cheap victory obtained by hacked Pokemon. He had everyone's respect, including mine. I went up to him to award second prize and apologize about how things turned out. He looked at me, smiled and shrugged. "That's OK," he said. The boy next to him maturely added, "We had fun!"

I know sometimes we look at life and it seems unfair. But that's only because we look at it narrowly and only at the present. Over the long haul, I think that everything works out, as long as we put in the effort to make changes towards fixing things. Thanks to that kid's second place finish, I've been inspired to become the best Pokemon Referee that I can be. I put in the effort to study all the Pokemon and the Rules and you can bet that the next time there's a tournament, it'll be fair and that things will turn out the way they're supposed to.

Review of "The Darkness"

Hey guys, I just finished writing my first review of "The Darkness" on the PS3 and it should posted sometime today. I had to email it to David so he should post it as soon as he gets it. David and I have both come up with out own unique ways of reviewing games so I hope you enjoy them. I will be posting another one in the coming week along with my post E3 impressions once I finish researching all of the announcements and demos and such. Anyways, take care guys.

Here it is guys, Nick's Review of The Darkness

Cover Art Comparison #037

Again, I apologize about the delay in getting this up. I've had to travel back and forth between Austin and Houston, so I haven't really had access to my computer with all my files on them. But without further delay this weeks Cover Art...Resident Evil 4

New Section - Reviews

I've added a new section as well as my review for Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition. We'll start reviewing games as we finish them and hopefully keep up a steady pace.

Here's to the new section, BANZAI!!!

Post E3 Impressions

I can't say that I'm as excited as Nick was about this year's E3. I really feel something was missing. Maybe it because the show was toned down for just the industry only. I feel like there was less pressure for game companies to put out something exciting and there wasn't a real reason to impress. There wasn't that mad dash to try to steal the show because everyone there were insiders and would be more understanding if games weren't finished or shown. Brad assured me that the change in excitement was due to the lack of new systems like the one's that were announced the last two years. And that may be the case, but where were the surprise announcements? I know that Nick is excited about Silent Hill 5, but it's not quite like the excitement Snake created when he made an appearance in the Smash Bros. Brawl trailer last year. When Brad and I heard about the surprise announcement that was going to be made by Konami, he looked at me and said, "Please let it be Zone of the Enders 3." That's something that I would have found acceptable. I was looking for something completely new and exciting and while I find Wii Fit intriguing, it just doesn't satisfy the game fanatic in me.

A lot of this E3 was just stuff we had previously seen before. Nintendo of course had Prime 3, Smash Brawl, Mario Galaxy, and Phantom Hourglass all of which we've been waiting on since last year's E3. Mario Kart Wii online will be nice for the system, but honestly who didn't see that one coming? And where was Disaster: Day of Crisis? Sony came out with Killzone 2 which was the big talk two years ago. MGS4 is still a good half year away and I didn't really hear anything new about DMC4 or RE5. The new PSP seems nice, but I wonder if those improvements will actually make it real difference. And where the heck was FFXIII? I'm not really sure what to feel about Microsoft. There is some great amazing stuff coming out for their system like Bioshock, Halo, and Mass Effect, but the future looks extremely bleak. I mean what are they going to do next year when all of Sony's AAA titles start appearing. I don't think Viva Pinata Party Animals and Gears of War 2 (which I bet will be announced) will be able to hold off Sony eventual onslaught.

Don't get me wrong, E3 was still E3. Games were shown and I got excited. I am now debating which version of Assassin's Creed to get, XB360 or PS3. Instead of dismissing Mass Effect, I'm now on the ropes about it. Patapon will get my PSP going again. I've heard nothing but good things about Phantom Hourglass and the DS looks like where a lot of my attention will be turned to this fall. The Wii looks like it'll still get support in the form of de Blob and Endless Ocean but the Nintendo titles will still be the system sellers. I'll be buying Galaxy, and Corruption, and Smash (which I'm still not convinced will come out this year). But something felt missing from this year's show. I'm still can't quite put my finger on it, but I'll sum it up with a word that I often hear from Brad....."meh"

Podcast #017 & 018

So Brad and I recorded two shows last week, one regular show and one SNES special. They both ran quite long, we had a lot to talk about. Again sorry it took me a while to get them up.

You can find them here.

Best E3 Ever?

Alright everyone, I have been somewhat disappointed in this years game lineup. There have only been a handful of games that really caught my attention this year such as Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto 4, Blue Dragon, and Odin Sphere. But there hasnt been anything that is really amazing that I have been waiting for. Now that E3 has started, I must say that I have never seen so many great announcements and videos that have made me so excited. I think that it is safe to say that 2008 will easily make up for the what 2007 lacked. There are a few announcements as well about late 2007 that I would like to mention and im sure many of you have also been waiting for as well. So here is a list of the this year's biggest highlights thus far. Keep in mind, the show isn't even over yet! So here we go.

1.) New Resident Evil 5 Trailer: After months of nothing. No news, no details, nothing. Capcom has released its new fangled teaser trailer for its highly anticipated Resident Evil sequel. Ever since the first teaser was released, there have been so many questions such as: Is this a direct sequel to Resident Evil 4? What kind of setting will it take place in? Is that Chris Redfield we are seeing? Has the game been scrapped? And while this new trailer doesnt answer all those questions, it certainly sheds a tremendous amount of light on the mysterious title and I dont feel left in the dark. I will talk about the trailer in detail in our next podcast.

2.) Super Mario Galaxy Release Date and Details: So Nintendo finally hit us with the information we have been anxiously awaiting. Super Mario Galaxy will be released on November 12, 2007. Nintendo also revealed several new gameplay elements to be excited about. Galaxy will actually return to its 3D routes by more closely resembling super mario 64 than sunshine did. While most previous footage has been of Mario blasting from tiny planet to tiny planet, you will also be able to enter each 3D world, much like the paintings in Mario 64. O yeah, and can you say Bumble Bee Mario? (ill go more into detail on a future podcast)

3.) Metal Gear Solid 4: Will be a PS3 exclusive!!!! Thank the gods! Konami announced that the game would hit store shelves in March of 2008 and also revealed the latest ENGLISH trailer in which we witness the many different characters from previous games including an amazing battle between Raiden, the new ninja, and Vamp. Check out the new trailer at gametrailers.com.

4.) Silent HIll 5 Announced: This is hands down, the best news of this E3. I have been craving a new, next gen silent hill since I finished Silent Hill 4 and my wish has been granted. The title will involve an all new character, Alex Shepherd who is in search of his missing brother after his return home from an overseas war. His travels lead him to a town called Shepherd's Glen and will eventually lead to the creepy town of Silent Hill.

Alright, since this post is already getting a bit long, I will do a follow up post after E3 is finished where I point out the remaining news highlights that caught my eye this year. I think this will be the best year for gaming in the past decade, and I hope everyone agrees. Peace!

Cover Art Comparison #036

Hey Guys,

Sorry I'm a little late with this weeks Cover Art. My brother is moving to China and I've been kinda busy with E3 and RE4. So since Brad was so kind to challenge me to finish Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, I thought I'd post that for him. Plus he's a big Ayami Kojima fan.

So here you go, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

A Changed Man

Ok this is going to be kind of quick. To make a long story short, I finally had a chance to sit down and start both games that David gave me for my birthday as part of our "eye for an eye" section. I popped in Katamari Damacy and played it for awhile and believe it or not.... I really like it a lot. I find if to be incredibly weird but also very fun and fresh. I dont normally play games like this but it definately is a nice change of pace. I actually had a friend with me when I started and he is the kind of gamer who doesnt really play games that much but usually relies on me as his source for new games. Well, at first he found the game to be shockingly weird but after 15 minutes of playing, he said he thought it was a lot of fun. It is definately one of the most colorful additions to my collection (with one of the best cover arts i've seen) and it is definately one that I intend to finish and perhaps even pick up the sequel or its psp or wii iterations in the future.

Also, I popped in Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney on the DS and managed to complete the first chapter. I never thought a game where you sit in a court room could be fun but it definately pulls it off. I agree with David about the difficulty though. It has a habit of not really giving you a sufficient amount of info which makes it kind of difficult to figure out which evidence to present. But the premise is really cool and the anime style character interactions and stories are great so far. I definately have something to do on my plane trip on wednesday!

So there you have it, I have tried and actually enjoyed two games that I thought I would never even consider playing. They have actually opened my eyes to new genres of gaming and helped me understand David's weird obsession with kooky japanese games. I can definately see myself turning to this genre again in the future when I need a break from adventure and horror titles. Dont worry Brad, I intend to download Symphony of the Night when I get back from Vacation next week. Later ya'll!

Have You Played...

...Castlevania: Symphony of the Night?

Chances are you have. Not only is this game considered by most to be the best Castlevania game to date, but it is seldom forgot in conversations about the greatest Playstation games, the greatest Konami games, the greatest 2d games, and yes also in discussions about the greatest games of all time.

Ok, so this doesn't make sense. Not only did most people play this game, but it was recently re-released on the Xbox360 online marketplace. For a mere 10 dollars you can play this game with achievements and all. You'd have to be crazy not to have played this game yet.

So why am I posting this? Well because the other two people on this site seem to forget just how important this game is. One refuses to believe that 2d games are as relevant (coughgraphicswhorecough). This game should show him that 2d games can hold up to most 3d stuff even by today's standards. The other person has just been making too many excuses. The game isn't that long, it's time to get started. Iga would be ashamed you too.

Nick and David, in case you haven't figured it out yet, this game is for both of you in the “Eye for an Eye” summer project we are doing. Nick, if you have beaten this game, let me know. I heard otherwise though. And David, our previous plan for the series doesn't seem to be working out too well, so just hop to Symphony now. In the end, this is probably the smarter choice. No half-assing this either. I want the real ending, not the one you can get to in about a third of the time it takes to beat to full game.

Friggen N64 kids.

I'm Back Finally

Hey everyone, sorry for my lack of updates. I have finally recovered from my 21st birthday festivities and im ready to talk gaming. So here are just a few random thoughts:

1.) I can't wait to see what happens with E3 this year! - There is already a lot of speculation as to what will be announced this year and what will steal the show. I have read a lot of talk about possibly revealing Microsoft's portable gaming device as well as the announcement of the PSP redesign or PSP2. I think it is pretty certain at this point that we will all know a release date for the Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros Brawl for the wii. I am hoping the other big titles will recieve firm dates as well, Devil May Cry 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 for instance. I think Banjo Three-ie will be making an appearance and hopefully a few other surprises that no one will see coming. Basically, this year's show should rock.

2.) I am getting more and more excited about the new Turok. - I think they have finally managed to put together a worthy sequel to reinvigorate the franchise but only time will tell. Although it appears that it wont be released until Q1-2008.

3.) I finally sat down and whipped out my DS so that I could get started on Pheonix Wright for our "Eye for an Eye" experiment and flicked on the power button and my DS's little red light came on and it died! So there it is.... recharging on the wall and probably wont be ready to play until morning. O well, until tommorrow Pheonix Wright.

4.) What's with David burning hatred for the XBOX 360? - Sorry David, but I just read your last post about the XBOX 360 and let me just say that I agree with a lot of what you said but lets get one thing straight.... Being your co-worker and also being exposed to the gaming retail experience, nothing.... and I mean absolutely nothing, is more annoying than the Wii question. Yes, the system has been out for 9 months, and no we dont have any in stock! I understand your frustration but when people are asking you if you have any Wiis in your dreams, you know the problem is serious. Ok, listen up people: I know a lot of you want to get a Wii, but please understand that the only way its gonna happen is if you get in your car and drive to all the retail stores early in the morning (even before they open if possible) and ask. Calling isnt gonna work because they will be gone by the time get to the store and showing up at 6 at night wont work either for obvious reasons. I'm stepping down off my soap box now.

Well, its good to be back and ill post again soon. Peace!

My Problems With The Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 is a piece of crap, there I said it. I've been thinking it for a while now. I really hadn't played it too much since it came out, but recently I've been looking to Microsoft's "powerful" white system for entertainment and all its fault's are now purely in sight. The console has been plagued by defects that are rumored to have infected up to one-third of the consoles. It's a shoddy system housed in a sleek white exterior to deceive us.

First off, the red rings. I can't say anything about the red rings except that it's a slap in the face. I didn't even have my machine break on me (yet) and I'm sick of them. Microsoft goes and makes a console that can't even stand on its own two legs. Then they admit to their problems, extend the warranty to a year (which Sony and Nintendo already had as a standard) and divert attention to how they will handle the situation. Very Smart but Not very well executed. Yes, they are taking care of customers. They are refunding people who paid for repairs and working to make things right, but solve one problem at a time. It seems like they still don't know how to put together a system that will last more than a few months. I've personally met people who had multiple repairs done on their machines. Some of consoles didn't even work out of the box when Microsoft sent it back to them. So what do the customers do, stop waiting on Microsoft and go buy a new Xbox 360. Somehow Microsoft is able to sell two consoles to the same customer. That's a genius Marketing Strategy. So now how does Microsoft deal with the problem? Up the warranty to an amazing three years!?!?! Yes that's nice, but how about you just get the people a freaking working system. I don't think consumers want to be shipping systems back and forth for a few months/years to get things worked out. As a person who works in retail, I personally find it more frustrating taking back defective 360s than telling people we don't have Wii's.

The next step is to look back and see why all this happened. The cause is Microsoft's rush to get out ahead of Nintendo and Sony. This is probably their smartest move. I believe Microsoft KNEW that they were going to have problems with the 360, but their biggest advantage would be that year head start they had. I guess they figured they could work any problems with the systems out as they went along. I agree. If that was the case, that was the smart decision. If not for the line-up of games and online play the 360 has right now, who knows where they'd be? Probably in the toilet.

Let's move on to pricing. Microsoft made a big deal about the two different versions and how they were trying to cater to the different types of "gamers." The core system is the biggest waste of space. I don't care how you justify it, there's maybe three people in the world who the Core is a better fit for and honestly those people can tough it out and pay a little more for the Premium. I don't know how many people I've seen come in and buy a Core only to come in two weeks later and buy a Hard Drive (which if you calculate is the same price as a Premium, minus the headset and component/ethernet cables). Microsoft did it from the beginning. They got everyone so damn confused. The pricing for the Xbox 360 and anything having to do with it is just so ridiculous. Here I am a year a half later and because of the 10 GBs Microsoft has to use for their own backward compatibility files, I'm trying to get enough money to buy a ridiculously overpriced 120 GB hard drive. I know that Microsoft likes to dangle little things in front of their customers like DVD Mini-remotes and HDMI cables but how much does that actually cost for them. Then they go and charge 100 bucks for a wireless adapter that is the only one that actually freaking works on the Xbox. I know that the PS3 is 600 bucks, but when you figure in the wireless and the Blue-ray and add the cost of the HD-DVD Drive, the PS3 is actually a better deal. Along with the 100 price drop coming this month, I think Microsoft better get their sh*t together and quick.

Weird but Funny as Hell

So I had a friend send me this link so I had to post it.
If you like dance and you like Street Fighter, you'll like it.
If you've even know what Street Fighter is, I think you'll like it.
If you have no clue what Street Fighter is, then what are you doing on a site about video games?

Street Fighter vs Salsa

Thanks Tiff!

The Fear of Four

I've started to play Resident Evil Four for the Wii. There are other factors for me playing it, but the main one is that Nick recommended it to me for our Eye for an Eye section. I've always stayed away from survival horror games because I'm basically a chicken. I was born in the year of the Rooster if that has anything to do with it. I get too anxious and nervous. On top of that I have genes that cause me to sweat profusely, if anyone has seen me play DDR they can vouch for that. The first time I played the opening sequence of RE4 on the GameCube I was drenched after dying after running around for a few minutes.

I do enjoy survival horror games but mostly as an observer. I like to sit back as an audience member and watch the story unfold. So when I take the Wii Controller in my hands, it's a completely different experience. What makes it worse is that I've seen RE4 beaten in it's entirety, so I know what going to happen. I have an idea of where guys will jump out, where the hard parts will be at, and what kind of bosses I'll have to face. That makes the game ever harder for me because instead of being thrown into it clueless and having to deal with what comes along, I'm now remembering what's ahead and I get overwhelmed at what I'll have to overcome in the future. Out of everything in the game, that will definitely be the hardest for me to get over.

Have You Played...

...any games in the TimeSplitters series?

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent was absolute crap. All the Nintendo 64 kids of the world were excited that they were finally getting a sequel to the great GoldenEye 64. Right? Well since it was made by some crappy division of EA... obviously not. A couple of years ago the developer Rare finally made a real sequel to the awesome N64 game Perfect Dark. Finally Rare's big comeback!

So why did Perfect Dark Zero suck? And yes, it did suck. It was made by Rare after all. Well maybe because the team behind Perfect Dark and GoldenEye left Rare years before. The team behind these two beloved Nintendo 64 hits left Rare in 1998 to form their own company. Called Free Radical, the new developer began work on a series that has since been the only true spiritual successor to those great N64 shooters.

The TimeSplitters (TS) series is a (f)irst (p)erson (s)hooter series just like GoldenEye and Perfect Dark. The series has been rewarded with similar critical success but has generally gone ignored in the console shooter market saturated with games like Halo, Rainbow Six, SOCOM, etc. I've played a ton of console FPS games and this series is still one of my favorites.

The story mode in the game is really a lot of fun, and in my opinion, a step above this teams previous N64 shooter offerings. The story is just very fun, and very funny. The time travel premise is basically an excuse to jump around to different locales ranging from the distant past to the distant future. It's always fun to mess around in the new setting and try out the weapons of that era. In one level you could be using a 6-shooter to blow away banditos, while in the next you could be using laser powered weapons blowing away space aliens. The third TS game really had a lot of fun with time travel. Back to the Future calibur zaniness in which yourself from minutes into the future would to come warn you about an ambush or even help you fight a boss are just a couple of examples of the craziness in this game. And you would actually have to play each of the parts. It's confusing, but it makes a lot more sense in the game. ...Sorta.

The Story mode is just a tip of the iceberg though. The game offers so much content it's unbelievable. Hundreds of single player challenges and bot modes, hundreds of awesome characters to unlock (gingerbread man is a personal fave), dozens and dozens of multi-player options and modes, a map editor, online play... the list goes on. The series is bursting with playability. This series is really the only shooter out there where you get the same multi-player feel you got from the old N64 hits. So spend the few dollars it takes to buy any of these games and invite some friends over.

I'd love to see what Free Radical can do with the future of the series. It's definitely a developer I'd keep an eye out for. They are also known for the cult hit Second Sight and the upcoming ambitious title Haze. If you like funny games or and want to try a more arcade style shooter, definitely try out any of the games in the TimeSplitters series. TimeSplitters 2 is still the best in my opinion though.

Post a comment and help spread the love.

Cover Art Comparison #035

Well, It's another Sunday and another new month. I've been going back and hitting up the Dreamcast games so this week I've got another Dreamcast game cover for you.

Jet Grind Radio vs. Jet Set Radio

Thanks guys,
David

Dead On Arrival

So I I've been playing on my 360 a lot more lately. I took a look at my GamerScore and saw that it was a pitiful 450 Points so I decided to go in and mess with it a little. Please keep in mind though, I have another profile, which I used when I first got my Xbox 360 to keep my score clean from guest contamination. I beat Kameo on it so please add another 600 points to see a more realistic score. But please don't worry, I'm not going to become this point whore who all they care about is getting points any way they can. I'm not going to go out and buy the Burger King game to boost my score, nor will I get a Vision Camera so that I can get points out of making a replica of myself in Rainbow Six Vegas. And I certainly won't go and beat a game like King Kong for an over-inflated 1000 points (Hint, Hint.) I just feel like my score is a poor representation of myself as a game player.

So I popped in DOA 4. I had some fun playing it when it first came out. I got some points for unlocking costumes for the girls, which I enjoy doing. What can I say? I enjoy playing dress up. I was all excited and then came the actual game. I must have just had fond memories of spending time with the DOA girls because I had forgotten how frustrating the game play for the Dead or Alive Series was. Randomly throwing out highs, mids, and lows so that the expertly adept CPU won't reverse every single one of your moves. All while trying to anticipate an opportunity to reverse their moves as well. It's just so hectic and lacking structure that I can't stand to play it. The stagger animations are nice at times but then you have moves that look like they should connect but don't. I just end up floundering around unsure of what my character is doing. The moves are unintuitive and I feel like I'm just trying to memorize someone's phone number (Hint, Hint.) And don't get me started on the presentation. It hasn't changed since DOA 2. It's basically the same selection screen, same animations and quotes, same empty story mode, same unlockable characters and worst of all same costumes! I guess we shouldn't be surprised at Team Ninja and Itagaki for Ninja Gaiden Sigma because they've been doing that kind of thing all along.

I guess I'll have to wait until later this year for VF5 for Xbox 360 or a PS3 for Tekken 5 Online for my fighting fix. But for now I'm going to go play Ridge Racer 6, followed by a nice structured game of Paper, Rock, Scissors, then followed by Dead or Alive the live action movie. Yep, that's right "Live Action."