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.

Ol’ Chinatown.

So, since I finished RE5 the other day I’ve been able to spend some more quality time with Chinatown Wars, the new GTA on the Nintendo DS. And I gotta say, its a pretty good game. And I never thought I’d say that about a GTA game… maybe the DS is a magic handheld.

First place to start is the visuals. Even though this entry into the franchise returns to the classic top-down view of GTA, I have to say I love it!! This game captures everything I loved about GTA. And I can’t get enough of it. I think I’m on a measly 40% completion at the moment, and I’ve been playing it on and off over the last few days. Enjoying every moment. Even though the game is top down, you can see its in full 3D. And I think that’s the most impressive thing. They have essentially rendered two of GTAIV’s islands into the DS. And its quite an accomplishment to behold.

The only weakpoint is money. Getting money in this game is so damn easy, I mean, with the drug system its pretty hard to not be filthy rich. Which is good for those who are newer to the franchise. But I feel it makes money more of a expendable thing. Especially since it means even if you get busted all you need to do is deal a few drugs before you can buy back your entire arsenal of weaponry. But if it works, it works.

The new “Wanted” system is a bit strange as well, and another element I am currently uneasy with. This time you have to eliminate a police car for each star you have before you can lose that wanted star. This sounds nice in concept, but speeding along the highway the police will wipe themselves out nearly all of the time, leaving you to just speed on away weaving through traffic watching as your pursuers bite the dust.

More on the game at a later date.

Fear You Can’t Forget.

I just realised I haven’t blogged since I picked up my copy of Resident Evil 5. So for those of you whoa re wondering how I feel about it, I figured I may as well blog about it now. Warning, I am not finished with it just yet. I’m only halfway through Chapter 5, with Chapter 6 still to come. But all up, that’ll probably take about 2 or 3 hours to go through at my pace.

Okay, let’s start this off with first impressions at the game’s opening. I was put off in the early sections of the game, because it played like I was reliving Resident Evil 4. Now while this wouldn’t normally be a problem, I digress, it was only a slight annoyance. Both have similar openings, and I mean very similar. In fact if my memory serves me correctly, Chris Redfield nearly speaks the text from the opening of Resident Evil 4 about the fall of Umbrella, etc. Now that was somewhat lazy of them, I accept it is a big deal as these people have dedicated their life to stopping Umbrella. They both even featured the protagonist being driven to the area in question. Both first areas where a village where at one point everyone kind of disappears from the area. The mechanics are nearly the same, the weapons system (except no Merchant), the enemies are animated in very similar (if not identical) manner. You can find a pretty good display of the similarities here.

Overall, I would not blame someone for being disappointed. But something one must note is that Resident Evil 2 was not that different from Resident Evil 1 apart from its setting and characters. In fact it was essentially inverted, which is rather amusing. So the best advice that I can offer is to just sit down and enjoy Resident Evil 5 for what it is. If you can do that then you are guaranteed to have a blast.

I can safely say that the game is once again, as I imagined, not a survival horror game and has strayed back into action game territory. But when it borrowed so heavily from Resident Evil 4 this fact did not really surprise me. I enjoyed this game more because it feels more like a true Resident Evil game. Maybe its because it got back to the main plot and dealing with Wesker but I’ve always felt you could slap a different main character in there, get rid of Ada Wong and any Umbrella talk and Resident Evil 4 could be a brand new game.

It’d be a bit harder in Resident Evil 5 with the involvement of Wesker, Umbrella’s fall, Tricell’s rise, and other assorted spoilers that I won’t ruin. But needless to say, it is a much more complete Resident Evil in my eyes. But like poor Leon Kennedy before him, Chris Redfield has been made super awesome and has arms bigger than most regular men. I assume he’s on the ‘roids.

The environments, while starting off boring, get a bit more interesting once you leave the main village. You’ll find yourself exploring the typical mines and labrotories like in Resident Evil 4, but also a few newer areas appear like the marshlands of Chapter 3 and the Oil Fields of Chapter 4. Really, its a decent mix of new and the old. The new being slightly more impressive and the old feeling a bit samey but still looking very pretty with the updated visuals. I don’t think there’s a better way to emphasise it besides saying: If you enjoyed playing Resident Evil 4 then you should definitely play Resident Evil 5. Even if just for the experience.

Oh, and one more thing. Despite the tagline, there is no fear to be felt in this game. Expect my review in a week or so.

Also, I’ll blog about Chinatown Wars soon!!

Resident Evil. The Good. The Bad.

Capcom. Why do you do this? You have released Resident Evil 5 today, I have it in my hands. And it makes me love you. Then you announce your Wii Resident Evil game is a pissy sequel to Umbrella Chronicles. And suddenly I hold great disdain towards you once again.

I must pay you kudos, only a few developers possess the ability to make me swap from one feeling to another so quickly, and you are one of those few. So congratualtions. Now Wii owners can enjoy the watered down, garbage port that is Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop. And in the future look forward to yet another rail shooter, except this one sounds like it could be based soley on either Resident Evil 2 or RE: Degeneration. Congratulations!!

I really feel sorry for Wii owners getting the short end of the stick from Capcom. I can only hope they get their heads out of their arses soon and give you guys some real games. Until then though, just hang in there… or get a PS3 or XB360. Its what I did.

Alright. I’ll be beginning my Resident Evil 5 playthrough this evening. Review will probably go up next weekend.

Should be awesome!!

Any Moment Now…

I hear GAME are sitting on their copies of Resident Evil 5 waiting for one of the department retailers to break street date so they can get those copies out on the shelf. The question is: Wh0 will crack first?

Well, let’s have a look shall we.

Gametraders broken Killzone 2’s street date on February 24th.
A mystery retailer broke Street Fighter IV’s street date on February 17th.
K-Mart broke Fable 2’s street date on October 18th.
A mystery retailer broke Spore’s street date on September 2nd.
Online stores shipped out GTA4 ahead of street date on April 25th.
A mystery retailer broke Dawn of War 2’s street date on February 17th.

Now, as we can see from that list, usually one retailer gets antsy in Australia and puts out games with stock they are working. So right now all it is, is a matter of time. It’ll be out later today or early tomorrow are my predictions. Who knows how this will go.

But I’ll post it up here as soon as I know more.

UPDATE: Still nothing. DAMMIT! I’ve been riding the Refresh button on Kotaku and PALGN like crazy too. Leaving in about 40 minutes. Will go and see GAME and post up what they say when I get home.

Evil Leaking.

Wow, this must surely be a record? 10 days before the intended release date it appears that the Resident Evil 5 iso has leaked out into the world wide web. This is quite shocking and somewhat saddening. But at least the pirates who download said iso will have the decency to go out and buy the game.

I personally cannot be effed downloading the 6gb iso file am perfectly happy waiting for its release this week. Not long now really, and I have various other activities to hold me over until said release. However, having said all this, I am going into Resident Evil 5 cautiously. I have been reading over what people have been saying about the final game and it is sounding a bit iffy in terms of quality. Though I have no doubt it’ll be worth buying, I don’t know if it’ll be a top game. I have heard complaints about the story, about Wesker, and about general lack of originality. So I will not judge until I have my own copy of the game. But until that moment, I remain cautious.

I’ll probably get the review up as soon as I finish it. For now, expect a Fire Emblem – Shadow Dragon review this weekend.

Much love to you all!! (Who bother reading this, haha)

Advent Children Complete.

Boy oh boy do I want this bad. Not only because of the 30 or so minutes of extra footage that has been added to the film but also because I have a shiny HD TV to enjoy it on AND it is going to come with a sweet new anime, if I’m correct then I believe it’ll be the anime based off the stories leading into Advent Children. If so, awesome. It’ll finally educate all those who were perplexed at the notion that Cloud lived in a church alone and why the Hell Denzel is even there.

For those who did the reading we’ll know, but seeing it in motion is something I’m very excited for. I wonder if they’ll do more FF-VII animes. I want Maiden Who Travels The Planet in an anime as well. But I doubt it will happen, so continue to dream I shall do so! Its an Aerith-centric story so who would blame me for wanting it.

Anyway, ACC goes on sale this month in Japan and I’m looking forward to obtaining a copy somehow. Mwahaha. Shall be glorious indeed. Shall keep you all posted on it, for those who are interested anyway.

I’ve Just Been BioShock’d.

Recently I rented out BioShock for the PS3 (Since my PC is still unable to run it, but that is another area I am working on) and so far I’ve managed to play through a bit of it. I just reached the Arcadia portion of the game, still early days but I’m really loving it.

The game is so creepy and atmospheric I feel so terribly engaged by the world of Rapture. The game itself isn’t scary nor overly challenging. So in that department, it is a bit of a disappointment. But the game itself is so fun that I find myself forgiving how easy it is. Engaging and mysterious story, but featuring generic enemies. Every good point in this game seems to be countered with a bad point. But no matter what if you own a piece of hardware that can play BioShock then I heavily recommend playing it because it is very enjoyable.

It reminds me of a deep-sea version of Metroid. I enjoy the whole first person element and the exploration element that the game brings to the table. However its still early days. I hope this doesn’t change by the end of the game though.

Fingers crossed.

Also, Resident Evil 5 next week!!!