NEW TV!

Not the best pic (TV is a little to bright for Iphones), but its a Samsung 51" LCD and after watching The Fifth Element on Blu-ray, I can honestly say that my old TV dying is the greatest "misfortune" I have ever experienced.

My TV is Dead....

Funeral arrangements are being made, not sure if I am going to bury it under a pile of shit in the garage or drive out to the desert and blow it up. But to be realistic, I should of thought about WTF I'd do when my 57" Projector TV dies. Certainly not the easiest thing to dispose of. There will be some liquidation sales this weekend, guess its time for that pretty flat panel I have been dreaming of! I will comeback with pictures of the new baby soon enough.

all images provided by google image search

Almost April!?

So as you can see the blog posts kind of thinned out through the month of March. Mostly due to a downward spiral of reality I have been dealing with, but not without blame is the recent releases of RE5 and Killzone 2. To keep this ball rolling and finish the month out strong I wanted to touch on my recent experience will the Killzone 2 Multiplayer. Really, I think Penny Arcade summed it up best in 3 frames...

Now lets be clear, Killzone 2 does not re-invent the wheel. In most respects, it would be considered a standard shooter. But, it is my personal opinion that Killzone 2 does much more than just "any" FPS with multiplayer. From a technical standpoint this game is hit or miss. Beautiful Graphics, floaty gun mechanics or fantastic sound effects, terrible dialog. Its like most games, a share of the good and bad, so why has its multiplayer been such a success? The non-stop action is why. First, the matchmaking is solid and clan system effective, but really where it shines is the way the play mode is set. In most 32 player maps, each team participates in 7 rounds differentiated by defense objectives, assassination missions, assault campaigns and good old fashion death match. Leading to a 25 minute battle royal where, which ever team wins, receives a multiplier on their Battle Points. Whats a battle point? Glad you asked, because this is why I love Killzone 2. It has almost an RPG/Class based leveling system where you earn battle points by completing objectives in each round, plus you can get battle points for kills and using your class based skills.

That's right, class based skills. So not only can you play as a run and gun soldier, but there are classes like the engineer, medic, tactician, scout, saboteur, etc. who all have unique load outs and skill sets. Sure this borrows from Team Fortress 2, but not in a tacky way. It still retains its own natural feel, and even re-invents itself with a Ribbon system, where you can also unlock abilities through ribbons and these abilities can be used across classes. Allowing you to tweak your character to a specific play style. Of course, to tweak the difficulty you are only allowed one rifle and one pistol at a time, creating more balance among classes. And everyone glows the color team the are on (Helghan Red, ISA Blue) which really helps to differentiate enemies, while still letting them look unique. While it might not detour to far from the FPS Multiplayer formula, it is by far the best Multiplayer game Exclusive to the PS3 and is something that Sony fans should be proud is their own.

All pictures provided by www.google.com/image and http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Retro Gaming Round Up: Quiz & Dragons

Every once and awhile I like to go back and find games that remind me of how it all started. Other times I am lucky enough to find a game that I missed while growing up. Either way, it is important to pay homage to those games that have inspired so many of the "next-gen" games we are currently enjoying. While listening to The Hotspot Podcast last week, Tom Mcshea was part of an interview with David Sirlin, who had previously worked on a collection of classic games from Capcom. Tom seemed completely stoked about the infamous Quiz and Dragons and I couldn't help but share his enthusiasm and picked it up for myself.

Originally released in arcades in 1992, the game combined some elements of an RPG with that of a board game, to create a unique twist to the quiz game genre. But really, the best part of playing this today is the questions! Because there is nothing like playing this 17 years in the future and trying to remember the names of all the New Kids on the Block. Not only that, but with 4 selectable characters, you can be a Fighter, Amazon, Wizard, or NINJA! Ninjas are the bomb... just in case you wondered why thats in caps. This game was part of Capcom Classics Collection vol. 2 and came with a couple other gems like Strider and 1941, so if the appeal of a Quiz Game/RPG + 19 other classics sounds like your cup of tea and you have a PS2, Xbox or PSP, go pick it up, it was only $15 at my local video game retailer. Also look at the first comments for examples of some of my favorite questions in the quiz.