E309 – Sony Struts Its Stuff

E3 was going to be big for Sony, a lot saw it as make or break for them and their PS3 console. And how did they do? Well that really depends on who you talk to. They showed off some damn good games and finally revealed their 1:1 Motion Control (which apparently works really, really well).

What they ended up showing wasn’t really new, because most of us already knew about all of it. Whether it be that the game has been talked about for awhile, or whether it be the fact that it had leaked to the public. Where to start off, Sony showed off a fairly large playable example of Unchartered 2: Among Thieves on stage for their conference. And as expected, the game is looking as fantastic as ever with some of the most impressive visuals that you’ll ever see on a PS3 game. For those not in the know though, the game is a sequel to the surprise hit Unchartered: Drake’s Fortune which lit up the world’s PS3’s quite awhile ago now. It is being developed by Naughty Dog and is looking very good. Shaping itself into a “must buy” for me.

The other major game they showed off on stage was the heavily anticipated (and also heavily doubted) MAG. Massive Action Game for those of you who missed last years’ E3 where this game was announced. MAG aims to have 256 online in a major FPS set up. And it is looking amazing in my opinion. Obviously it is still very prone to lag, but if they do somehow pull this off it looks great. Your team will be divided into squads as you all either attack or defend. You will all be coming at the central directive from different directions, but pushing towards the centre (at least in the demo they were). Quite frankly, I’m very interested to see what sort of arenas they come up with for this game. Though the visual quality dips at times, I honestly don’t think that’ll be a big deal when there are 256 players going at each other. Its looking like a game I’ll be getting.

The PSP Go (not really a PSP2… more of a DSi sort of redesign) was also officially announced at E3, though most of us knew about it already. It will be a smaller device, with a smaller screen, the screen will slide up to reveal the control pad (analog joystick, buttons, etc) and possibly its biggest feature is the fact that it will not have a UMD slot. Insisting instead upon download games, which is all good and well if you live somewhere that has decent internet, I sadly do not. The price will be $250US (approx AUD$315), which boggles my mind, and will launch later this year. So Sony… you are charging more for a handheld minus the UMD slot forcing downloadable games. Sounds a bit like a DSi move to me (remove GBA slot, introduce SD slot). Sigh, Sony, sigh!

Probably the coolest thing about the PSP Go is the fact that it linked to a new announcement (that again, wasn’t so new) as Hideo Kojima came out onto stage and announced Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP Go (and I assume the PSP). This game is apparently a true sequel in the MGS timeline (does this been Rising isn’t?) and will bridge between Portable Ops up to Metal Gear. We will play as Naked Snake (aka Big Boss) and play through more of his backstory. Which I’m looking forward to, in fact, I think this was the game that broke me into the idea of buying a PSP Go. Damn you, Hideo Kojima… damn you.

Then came trailers and trailers and Sony’s “bombshell”, that’s right… it finally happened. Sony has confirmed a 1:1 motion control for release on the PS3 and by the looks of it, it’ll actually be quite good (unlike you, Sixaxis). You can look up various videos of it, but it is looking very accurate and very fun. Apparently it is there with all developers now. So let’s see what sort games come in 2010 shall we.

Trailers. What trailers did they show you ask? Well, there was some more Final Fantasy XIII (looking brilliant as always), and then Square-Enix dropped a bombshell. Final Fantasy XIV Online to be released on PS3, I believe there was mention of exclusivity but either way it’ll probably just be timed.  And after that Team Ico revealed their game officially, The Last Guardian, and it is looking strangely beautiful. Giant cute but intimidating creature, little kid, epic adventures ahoy!! Was so happy to see this game in all its glory at the Sony conference, it is looking like a must have.

And they also played out a demo video for God of War 3 (I believe it was the same one that was playable on the show floor), and it is looking so much fun. All the hacking and slashing goodness of previous God of War games comes to life on PS3. Automatic buy for me!! Even after God of War 2’s disappointing ending. Kratos is back, and I won’t stop him… because he’d slaughter me.

E309 – Nintedo Regains Respect

Firstly, I know this has been a bit slow. But you learn to deal, I have been writing up reports for E3 over at WiiLoaded in an attempt to get us some attention. Should be going pretty well actually. Anyway, back to E3.

I think by many, this will be known as Nintendo’s redemption for reasons I will get into. When Cammie first came out onto stage I think a lot of Nintendo fans felt their heart sink. She was part of the reason that last year’s conference sucked so very, very much. But this year things were a bit different, sure she was as boring and annoying as ever. But she announced Nintendo’s first new game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Basically this game is a follow up to the hit DS title, and seemingly intends to keep the same visual style. I already hear a lot of gamers rising up saying, “What?! A Wii game that has the visual quality of a DS game?!” and I’ll tell you now to calm down. The game will also feature four player (drop in and out) co-operative play for its side-scrolling action. Now I do believe this is the selling point, and from the demo it looked like a lot of fun. Due out around Christmas 2009 as well, so this was a very good start for Nintendo.

However, what followed was not as inspiring. Reggie came out and bleh, Wii Motion Plus and Wii Sports Resort were talked about (even though we heard all about them last year) and it seemingly made the conference drag on. A lot. But they also slipped in another new announcement, which was already being talked about several months ago. Wii Fit Plus is coming to the Wii, with new mini-games and improved exercise features.

They also gave spotlight for a few games that we already knew about, these included the Conduit, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and Dead Space Extraction. Nothing too new from these games, Conduit looking like it’ll be as fun as ever. And the two rail-shooters looking like they could have been so much more than ever. Nintendo also gave some time to the DS, and officially announced Golden Sun DS (which exploded the RPG fanbase on the DS with unstorable amounts of awesome) and a release window for Mario & Luigi 3: Bowser’s Inside Story and Kingdom Hearts 352/2 Days. I was so surprised to hear a new Golden Sun was coming, I am a fan of the franchise but I didn’t think Nintendo seemed to concerned about following it up. Sounds like they made a fool of me, but they did so for most of this conference. And I was happy to see Kingdom Hearts on DS, it is looking like one of the most visually breath-taking DS games yet. Not surprising either, the ROM is 200mb in size as well.

After this Iwata came out, and introduced us to the newest Nintendo gimmick: the Wii Vitality Sensor. This is directed towards Nintendo’s casual audience. I assume it’ll be used with a future Wii Fit game (maybe Wii Fit Plus), but definitely something along that line. The device apparently reads your heart rate and various other messages being sent around your body. The only positive I can think of from this is a new horror point-and-click adventure game that could react to your heart rate. Imagine this, if you please, you are in Silent Hill (a town which is noted for reacting towards the person in it) and every time your heart reat increases, the game would trigger something that would scare you more. Forcing you to control your heart rate and push through. However this concept would rely heavily on gamers being scared, which isn’t likely.

Towards the end of the show Nintendo officially announced Super Mario Galaxy 2 as well, and it will apparently contain 90% new content. Which is an exciting prospect, apparently it is going to be similar to Super Mario 64 in terms of gameplay. Whether this means more landscape related environments (instead of tiny planets) or just more classic platformer gameplay is yet to be completely seen. It is slated for 2010 though and I am very excited about it. Note to self: Buy Super Mario Galaxy 1.

And last but not least, Nintendo closed with the biggest surprise yet, one that blew me off my feet and even as I tried to get back up it blew me up again. For the whole minute and fifty seconds of the teaser video I was exploding all over. Metroid: Other M is coming to the Nintendo Wii in 2010. It will not be like Metroid Prime 3, and nor will it be developed by Retro Studios. The reigns have been taken up Team Ninja (of Ninja Gaiden fame) who are now working together with Nintendo to create a game that will bridge Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. And it will seemingly be 3D side-scroller/3rd person action/1st person shooter all at once. I’m so very, very excited for this game.

Nintendo, you won my heart… again…

Bastards.

E309 – Microsoft Sets The Pace

So, first of the big three was the giant Microsoft. Coming into this, they had been pretty tight lipped. All we had were a few pieces of hype, like revolutionising and such.

What they delivered was by no means something to scoff at, it was a pretty good line-up. Besides showing off some Final Fantasy XIII (not much of interest, some stuff from the PS3 demo with some new footage as well). Soon things shifted into gear when Epic revealed a Metroidvania-esque game coming to XBLA, and it looked pretty awesome actually. This is the sort of shit Nintendo needs to do with Metroid, and the fact that they won’t do it annoys me to no end. So, one can see things started off pretty interesting.

Crackdown 2 also got a bit of a look, but I never really looked into the first one so seeing this was kind of moot to me. However, Splinter Cell – Conviction was a different matter on the other hand. It has changed a lot from its first appearance, but I’ll stick to Metal Gear Solid…. speaking of which…

However, sadly, things took a turn for the boring when they dragged out Halo: ODST. No matter what anyone says, it still looks like another game bearing the Halo label. I will confess, it is looking very pretty. And visually the game did make my draw drop a bit. Announced its date for September, pretty cool for XBox owners really. However, credibility I held for Bungie slipped when they announced Halo: Reach. A new Halo title apparently, it drops next year and ODST will come with a beta code. I hereby predict that Halo: Reach will contain a beta code for Halo 4. Or for increased irony Crackdown 2 will contain a beta code for Halo 4. One of the two.

…Oh yeah, Kojima. He rocked up, revealed Metal Gear Solid: Rising, featuring the label Lightening Bolt Action. Where to start, contrary to original beliefs this game is also being developed for PS3 apparently. And it will star Raiden, not involving Solid Snake (unless he is in flashbacks or something, still possible) and apart from that we can’t tell much. I’m expecting more of a reveal from Sony’s conference. As expected, no MGS4 for 360 though. And really that’s the main thing. This was a pretty big revelation nonetheless, because Kojima’s teaser had been uber hyping some sort of reveal for a long time. I don’t like how cocky this will make Microsoft though, they are going to get a lot more annoying to listten to now.

After dealing with some Sony stuff, Microsoft next moved to take on the competition leader, Nintendo. Revealing Project Natal, which I think looks quite a bit silly. Interesting, but silly. In my opinion, seems a bit like a glorified EyeToy. Obviously not a complete rip-off, but it is definitely reminding me of that a lot. I don’t like this “YOU ARE THE CONTROLLER” talk either, I’m a human being… not an inanimate object! Also seem to be getting rid of the need for friends by allowing you to stream movies to a virtual cinema where you and your Avatar buddies can watch and react like emotes (instead of going to the movies) and some weird AI-like feature. XBox 360, forget real life just use this.

They also revealed some stuff about streaming TV from Sky, but that was of not much interest to me. Because my TV is used for TV. Or my internet. I don’t need a console for it.

No Shiggy This Year

I just found out that we won’t be graced with Shigeru Miyamoto’s presence at this year’s E3. Major suck, because that means we are instead left with Reggie, Cammie and Iwata. Out of those three I only have faith in Iwata, but since he is the President of Nintendo he’ll be doing business stuff. So it may be another year the hardcore gamer has to pass on.

But hey, they could still surprise us. I just doubt it very much.

I am nervous, but at least I can still hope for Sony’s conference.

Also, new Metal Gear hype!!! The teaser updated again yesterday to include what appears to be the face of Big Boss, and then later Famitsu scans leaked showing Raiden and a coded interview, I shall post the interview up later today. But most of you should have seen it by now.

Non-specific Ramblings (My PRE-3)

What? WHAT?! E3 is only a few weeks away. Holy fishsticks!! So soon after the disappointment of last year? It doesn’t feel so long ago we were gearing up for E308. And oh boy!! The flames that baby went down it were almost horrific. Seriously, nothing really sticks to my mind beyond disappointment. So one would advise severe caution to anyone who is holding a remote piece of interest in E3 this year. Sure, they back at the Convention Centre and seems like the companies may reveal some big guns, but don’t hope too much as there is every chance this will just simply not touch upon former E3 conferences. Sad but true fact as well. The E3 many of us grew up with may be dead and buried. And in its place, this imitation demands our attention. So beyond this, what can we actually expect from the big 3 as we all cautiously brace ourselves for the worst?

Nintendo

What to expect – Though the Big N has really found itself on my bad side lately I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here because surely they have learned something after the horror of last years conference. So begrudging feelings aside, there is plenty that Nintendo could show if they actually deemed it necessary. Last we heard the Mario AND Zelda teams were working away on something. Now, we have seen Zelda: Spirit Tracks but really… where’s our next home console Zelda? Surely this year or next we should be getting close to a teaser… something… anything to keep fans going! Mario team could be making any number of things, New Super Mario Bros. 2? Mario Galaxy 2? New Paper Mario? Mario Sports title? Who knows really. I am hoping for NSMB2 because the first was brilliant. But I wouldn’t complain about Galaxy 2, just feels a bit soon. But the way I see it, the Wii needs some serious saving. So far HVS seem to be the beacon of hope, and just the other day announced Gladiator AD, but I am not yet interested in that.

I can only assume Matt may jump back on his “Kid Icarus is coming” train, but I find it hard to jump on just yet. Actually, I would love to hear from Retro Studio are up to, small chance that they show something off, but not impossible. One thing we have a high chance of seeing is possible some DSi stuff, most likely some DSi enhanced game announcements (bank on something with Pokemon in the title), its like IGN AU said, if any franchise sells… it is Pokemon. We may hear something about a new Wii channel or so, but don’t hold your breath.  Channels have gone quiet later, so one must assume that if Nintendo has something planned. But I’m expecting some extra selling points for the DSi to be revealed and maybe a speck or two of interesting software to make the Wii purchase-worthy. Heaven knows when they’ll do that. I’d like some sort of talk of Metroid to, but I won’t get my hopes up.

Sony

What to expect - These guys have some recovering to do, same as they do every year, but not because they lack quality. Because by God, I own a PS3 and it is currently my most played platform. Enough great games already to keep me going as well as future promise. But its lacklustre performance in sales ensures they still have a lot of fighting to do. For the most part they need to get some more great exclusives. Unchartered 2 should be a big hit at E3 I assume, maybe MAG as well. PSP successor is very likely, there has been so much buzz around the concept of a PSP2 that it is entirely possible they could let it out of the bag at E3. If there’s a stage to do that, it’ll be this one. Something that should get some major floor time would logically be God of War 3, the series thus far has been a high scoring one generally receiving favorable feedback… so why not feature the third installment? I am quite personally looking forward to it a lot! Kratos is itching for some more attention, and I see E3 as the place to see it. Of course, Sony could prove me wrong and ignore this upcoming title. Another point of interest is that Team ICO’s latest trailer for its latest game was released, so the gaming world is in a buzz hoping for more (they of course made Shadow of Colossus and ICO) so here’s hoping we see more of it!!

Something that everyone on the face of the planet who has an interest in the PS3 but doesn’t have one yet (this includes publishers as well) is after is a PRICE DROP. So will it happen? Well, Sony had a pretty good year in 2008, and why not follow up the next year with a price drop? I’m in no way saying its going to happen, because people saying so have been burned in the past by the usual, “It isn’t happening.” But really, if its coming then it must be coming soon. I will hope and pray that Square Enix will show off something for PS3 that is an RPG, because fora Japanese company they sure aren’t giving the PS3 much love. I’d like some Versus XIII footage and maybe the revelation of Kingdom Hearts 3? I can dream, damn it!! I don’t think we’ll see a PS3 redesign… I don’t think Sony will be feeling confident enough in their position in the console race to redesign their console.

Microsoft

What to expect – I don’t really follow Microsoft, nor do I really know what to expect from this year. I have noticed they have been pretty tightly sealed in terms of announcements so really they could have any number of things to say. Let’s face it, their biggest announcement last year was poaching Final Fantasy XIII’s exclusivity in the Western world so it would see release on both consoles (and as a result delay the Western release of FF-XIII on PS3 as well, good work!!). Speaking of poaching exclusives, it sounds like everyone is gearing up for the announcement of Metal Gear Solid 4 coming to XBox 360. Now, forgive me if I’ve missed something, but when exactly did this become fact? We know Kojima is teasing a new game, could be anything at this point but people seem focused on MGS4 to 360. Personally, I’ve finished the game upwards of ten times so I’m beyond caring at this point. The part that puzzles me is the stuff they’d have to edit out. Snake uses a PS3 control to control Metal Gear Mk. II, there is a PS3 in some sections, they reference Bluray and PS3… it just seems like a lot of trouble to go through. If anything, the next Metal Gear may be multiplat. But by that point, the franchise may be in risk of being ruined. I’ll rant more about this at a later date.

Apart from that, there are a few possibilities, pump some more use into the new XBox avatar system and the such (the failure of Scene-It burns, a competitor for Buzz might not hurt) and XBox Experience could get some enhancements. Something I personally think could come up is a new game by Rare, its hard to tell what though. Perfect Dark: Zero and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts ‘n’ Bolts have both failed. So will they start a new IP or try again with an old one? Impossible to tell really, but maybe they’ll try with Conker. He seems to be looked over a fair bit, but there is potential in bringing back this IP. The pop culture spoof he brings with him could go over well. I will put money on something Halo being shown. Halo = Microsoft, so they’ll show something. Definitely some Halo ODST but maybe something else? Halo 4? Halo Wars 2? Halo Party? I very much doubt Gears of War 3, but who knows what Epic could have up their sleeves.

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So like the title suggests, these were just some not so coherent ramblings of what I think E3 could have, but I am not going to get my hopes up. Between now and then I may cover a few companies in individual blog posts. And if I have the time, I’d love to cover individual companies WHILE E3 is taking place. I’m no game journo though, so that could be too much of an undertaking.

I foresee a Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft E3 write-up, and finally a Third Party one which will discuss interesting things bought to the table by the likes of  Square-Enix, Konami, Capcom, Bethesda, Rockstar etc. Either way, E3 is getting closer with every day.

Let’s hope it does not disappoint.

PRE-3

[Scrubs]: My Finale.

“Who’s to say my fantasies won’t come true, just this once?”
Jonathan Dorian

So, last week the eighth season of [Scrubs] came to a close. Is it the end of the series though? Not seeming like it, ABC seems very much intent on bringing it back for a Season 9 based around the interns that were introduced in Season 8. I would be okay with this.

But that’s another matter completely, this episode was the finale of JD’s time at Sacred Heart Hospital (and this is fact, regardless of whether not he drops in from time to time in the potential Season 9) and really it gave me every personally I could ever have wanted. I’ve been an avid [Scrubs] viewer since Season 1 debuted, and even followed it to its late night time-slots on Australian television. I won’t say it didn’t have its lowlights, because every TV show and saying it doesn’t just makes you a fanboy or fangirl of said TV show. But as far as near-perfection goes, [Scrubs] was pretty much it for me.

Each character has something about them that makes me love them, whether it be good or bad. But J.D has to be one of my favourite televsion show characters to date. And is so well-acted by Zach Braff, so watching his time at Sacred Heart come to a close was always going to be intense. It was just the 40 minute build-up of the finale I think, though you could tell it was coming from a few episodes prior when it hit you, you were left speechless (at least I was).

And of course the big question of everyone’s lips was how would J.D and Elliot end up, and what did we get? A fantastic fantasy flash forward in true J.D style. And who’s to say it isn’t how it went? J.D has proven himself to be far more mature after what he’s been through over the many years at Sacred Heart so its not entirely hard to be believe that he’d settle down with Elliot and have a family. Especially the way she was talking about leaving her job as soon as she was lucky enough to not need the money anymore. They work so well together, and I especially liked her “I can’t catch my breath” part towards the start, classic Elliot and very funny. Sarah Chalke once again performed fantastically.  Introduced me to the notion of “sneak-moving” as well, which I will now keep my eye on. J.D and Elliot, my favourite Television sitcom couple.

There were just so many little moments, that made me as a man-child much like J.D, appreciate. Like how J.D admitted that he did put that damn penny in the door!! Even though it was an accident, I felt it was very nice. And I also love how Glen Matthews (aka The Janitor) knew, and was testing him. Brilliant. And further improved by their final moment, where J.D offered him friendship and for a moment it was although Glen was considering it but quickly kept moving. I’ve always found Janitor and J.D to have interesting interaction, calling truces and even getting along at times before going straight back to being nemeses.
Side note: I want that penny necklace!!

And who can ignore J.D finally prying Dr. Cox’s true feelings towards him from him via a very sneaky method which I can only imagine doomed poor Sunny to un-imaginable amounts of Hell. And the fact that even though J.D practically takes his hug from Dr. Cox, there is no struggle as usual from Dr. Cox. Even though he’ll never reciprocate the hug, he allowed him too. Even though we do know how much Dr. Cox respects J.D, it was great to hear him put it into words. And I love their “Hugh Jackman” moment when quoting from J.D’s book of quotes he gives Cox so that he doesn’t forget him. Brilliant.
Side-note: I want that book as well!!

The moment he shared with Carla was also nice, and it was nice to hear the ol’ “Bambi” nickname reappear, a nice final moment shared between the two of them as well. I enjoyed how he thanked her for teaching him, because let’s be honest that she was his teacher primarily before Dr. Cox actually really bothered with him. She was there for him a lot when he was intern so it was only right that he thanked for that. It was still a tear-jerker of a good-bye, even though it was less of one than the others.

And of course, who could forget Turk, J.D’s completely heterosexual boyfriend in a totally manly way. The final “Eagle” was fantastic to see, and the fact that he was panicking about having said his goodbye too early.  The idea of matching the intensity of the hugs was funny, especially the “You smell like…” lines. “You smell like regret… let it go…” was my favourite I think. I liked the idea of Turk and J.D running Sacred Heart too, but its not entirely impossible even though J.D has left… he could always return. And though that’d be something for our imagination, I like to think it’d happen.

I can’t even begin to go into all the cameo’s from J’D’s final walk out of the Hospital, but every single one of them made me happy. From Dan’s one line (that he flew there to do might I add) through to “Hooch is crazy.” They were all so good, and I was more than happy to sit there and pick out all the characters from the series and reminscence about all the characters of the past, whether they are alive or dead. And even as J.D turned around to be faced with an empty hallway, feeling slightly cold an uninviting, he knew that it wasn’t healthy to live in the past too long. Especially with the future out there, just waiting to be tackled to the ground.

So much was right about this episode that if I was to sit here and go through everything then I would be rambling for far too long.

Long story short, I loved it. Its my favourite episode, easily up there with the likes of My Old Lady, My Lunch, and My Old Lady. I’m going to be thinking about this episode for a long time. There is a little J.D in all of us, and a lot in me. And I wouldn’t have it any other way, as a character J.D shows us that we can still have fun in life and be a little childish sometimes while still dealing with the responsibilities of being an adult. And that even if we fail, we can make amends and rebuild bridges.

Can’t wait to buy Season 8 on DVD later this year, and then buying it again on Bluray. Why? Because I can, and I won’t even feel bad about it.

Smell ya later, readers!

“I guess it’s because we all want to believe that what we do is very important, that people hang on our every word, that they care what we think. The truth is, you should consider yourself lucky if you even occasionally get to make someone – anyone – feel a little better. After that, it’s all about the people that you’ve let into your life.”
Jonathan Dorian

Quiet Blog. Busy April.

Sorry for the lack of blogs this month, it turned out to be surprisingly busy April. Lots of work, a fair bit of homework, and just general social activities. But I’m here now, writing this blog. So that’s a good sign… right?

Next week WiiLoaded will celebrate its 3rd birthday!! And anyone who has been around for any of that time should join us in celebrations next week. I’m not quite sure what we have on besides a birthday card contest (which can be located here), but if anyone who reads here has any ideas for activities then let me know and I’ll pass it on. You can also reach me at lemonmanx@wiiloaded.com which is convenient.

So what is coming up? And what has just passed us by?

In April was the much hyped release of Advent Children Complete, I have watched both the English and Japanese dubs and must say I enjoyed them both a lot. Fantastic added scenes that really flesh out certain elements of the film’s plot that were touched upon only lightly. And then there are scenes they added to just make things more awesome, like Sephiroth really kicking Cloud’s spikey butt for a good 20 seconds or so. Not much but when you see what he does, it is a painful 20 seconds for poor Cloud.

And just the other day Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was confirmed to be coming to PSN and XBLA, which is awesome. I can’t wait to pick that bad boy up and play the crap out of it. Mostly because I’ve really stopped playing Street Fighter IV… not quite sure why though. Unfortunate but we persevere.

I also know that I have been lacking reviews. I have written half of my (late) MGS4 one and the first quarter of my (late) Fire Emblem DS one. Unfortunately my homework interrupted here, I couldn’t get into a suitable state of mind to write about something I enjoyed after forcing myself through several boring essays.

Also, Transformers 2 is getting closer! Let the hype machine begin rolling.

Foolhardy

Well, another April Fools day has come and gone. And for the most part it was pretty tame, only really impressive one (and that’s because they always are) was the video released by Kojima for his next MGS. Very amusing, Revenge of the Colonel.

So for the most part, tame day. Apart from that this is just a general post. I realise I’m very behind on a reviews, I’m most unhappy about that as well because I love reviewing games. But I assure you they are coming. Fire Emblem and Resident Evil 5 have top priority. But I’ll also consider reviewing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time.

DragonBall: Evolution on Monday, should be hilarious. Bring on the destruction of my childhood!!

LemonManX’s Fortune.

Recently I was lucky enough to pick up Unchatered: Drake’s Fortune on PS3 for an absolute bargain price of $39.99AU. Fantastic!! I couldn’t have been happier to hand over that little money for a game that got such good feedback (besides a few flaws which I sadly experienced as I played it and agreed completely about them).

First of which was mentioned by a few people, in particular Ben Croshaw (or Yahtzee if you prefer), when he mentioned that you’ll find yourself jumping to pieces of a cliff-face or side of a tower that you can’t actually grab despite looking a lot like the ones can grab. Next thing you know, you are falling to your death. Which usually isn’t too annoying if you’ve just started one of the many lengthy sessions consisting of jumping all over the place. However, if you are far into it, then it gets a bit tiresome being taken back to the very start by what can sometimes prove to be a very annoying checkpoint system.

But by far the biggest thing about this game that really annoyed me, is that about 3/4’s through the game you reach a certain abandoned base kind of set up. Sure, seems noraml. But then suddenly… MONSTERS! Yes, weird creatures apparently involved with El Dorado. Plot point becomes fairly obvious but still, they are just an annoying element that really feels out of place in the game. They can kill you in only a couple of hits, and constantly appear in a couple sections of the game. Very annoying creatures, especially after you’ve spent the entire game using cover to fight guys with guns. Suddenly the game throws a new thing at you, tells you to ditch the cover system for a bit because it won’t help you against these guys and suck it up.

You’ll get through it, but I personally didn’t like it. And felt the game would have been for the better without that. But honestly, aside from a couple of those little annoyances the game is very, very impressive. And above all, fun. You’ll have fun playing it, blasting through ethnic minorities with shotguns and machine guns, whether you are shooting blindly, aiming carefully or shooting from the hip. Very fun game.

Not to forget some of the best water visuals I’ve ever seen and a great score to boot.

Playstation of Europe Open Portable PSN IDs.

This is less of a blog post, and more of a little tidbit of information. Over at the EU Playstation site you can register your PSN and get a portable ID which updates as you obtain trophies. Now, I’ve only just started playing around with it so anyone that finds a way to change the flag then I’m dying to find out. Otherwise, its just another fancy way of showing off your trophy tally.

This is what they look like, the little picture on the top left part of the ID will be your PSN Avatar, and you can change the theme on the far right… I only picked Resident Evil 5 because there was no MGS4 theme. BLASPHEMY!!

Or if you prefer, the good guys over at Playfire have also got a trophy card system set up. I have one of each really, but I think I like the official one just a little bit more.

But either way, go crazy PS3 owners!! Apparently the EU one will be getting updates in the future so that could be worth watching for.