Blog Report

Now that I am through with GOW 3, time to keep pounding away at Final Fantasy. Also have Dragon Age Origins: Awakenings on the way. And hopefully some Just Cause 2. Take it away News!

BioWare's Secret Countdown Ends On A Bazaar Note [Bioware]
Xbox Live Director's Account Hacked! (Are You Next?) [Breaking]
PS3 Loses Linux Support [Sony]
Charlie Murder Is A Great Name
They Brought The Gamers To Boston [Pax]
Kotaku Census 2010: The Results (In Full) [Research]
The iPad Launch Games, Now More Expensive [Apple]
The Possibilities, Surprises And Limits of Playstation's Move According to The Inventor [PS3]
DSi XL Passes The Pants Test [Dsi Xl]
The Continuing Evolution of Gabe and Tycho [Republished]
GameStop Hit With Class Action Suit Over "Deceptive" Used Game Sales [Legal]
Th3 Dumb3st G4me N4me 3ver
Delicacies From The Mushroom Kingdom [Screengrab]
Gorgeous Espresso Machines
Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" Adds New Game Modes. Plural. [Valve]
Is This How 3D Will Work On The Nintendo 3DS? [3ds]
Would You Pay Women To Play Xbox Games With You? [GameCrush]
Growing Up Geek: The Past, Present and Future of Penny Arcade [Well Played]
FFXIII Achieves 1 Million-Unit Five-Day Sales
FFXIII Director Wants To Remake Final Fantasy VII [Square Enix]
A New Darkstalkers Would Be Street Fighter Producer's Dream Project [Capcom]
Meet Yakuza 3's Real Life Tattoo Artist [Yakuza]
Spider-Man's Spectacular Game Series Soldiers On With Shattered Dimensions [Activision]
Hey Japan, Welcome To Western Gaming [Oddities]
Mass Effect 2 DLC Adds 90 Minutes, More Earth Teases [Gdc]

Play it NOW!: God of War 3

In God of war 3 Kratos is angry. So angry, he has not only decided to kill dear old dad, but to kill everyone on his road to revenge. I want to be clear and say up front, I have played the first two games and was a fan of Kratos. While his methods were a bit harsh, they were justified in my opinion. Now, after the trilogy's conclusion I feel duped. It's the same feeling I had after watching Star Wars episode 1. Far too much explanation in the end, for the trilogy as a whole. In fact, from what I understand about Kratos now, I only have pity for him. Everything besides the story is exactly what you would expect from God of War. This is two sided though; with so much development, many expected more changes, than similarities. Combat still feels tight and responsive. The new grab technique helps to eliminate the distance between you and your enemies. Combined with a button tap mid combo to change weapons and the thousand hit combo trophy almost seems possible. I also like the new grab technique, which lets you use a weaker enemy as a shield and truck through your opponents. Despite all this, variety is somewhat lacking. Some complaints I read note that 2 of the 3 weapons were too similar to the blades. I disagree that this is a shortcoming, since in my experiences, past weapons have been lacking in quality when compared to the blades. What I want is more blades, and new ways they are utilized. The blades are what define GOW and these new variations add enough different combo elements, while still maintain the feel of GOW combat foundations. With the magic tied to specific weapons, it can incentivize using the various blades. I also really dug the Cestus, although requiring that weapon and only that weapon to defeat specific enemies began to piss me off towards the end. Enemies do feel like more of the same, but the caveat is there are more of them on screen. It does become pretty difficult to fight gorgons, harpies, minotaurs and the undead, all at once.

That could be because I am a masochist and chose to play through on Titan mode. In retrospect, it may have been a bad idea seeing as I died about 200+ times. Whatever though, it's finished now and besides the challenge of the gods, I don't plan a second play through. Which brings me to another topic, the godly treasures. Much like some unlockables from past games, there are a number of treasures and outfits which decrease some elements of difficulty for multiple play throughs. Now the catch which pissed me off is that in GOW 3 they can only be used in difficulties as high as the level you have already completed. WTF! Sorry Sony, but i think if I found it and beat it on the highest possible difficulty (at the time), I should be able to use those whenever I want. Sure, turn off the trophies, but keeping me from using the unlocks with the recently unlocked difficulty is a bad way to do collectables.

As for the graphics, expectations were already running hot after the E3 demo and the various impressions on the level of gore exposed. The level of detail on Kratos is incredible and he has to be the most visually impressive chracter in games to date. The ash on his body almost looks like it is painted over his skin. The blood from your enemies is literally covering you from head to toe as you rip through your opponents. Speaking of ripping through your opponents, when you defeat the bosses in GOW 3, you do not kill them. You grotesquely murder them in the most shameful way possible. The graphical fidelity only helps to emphasize this even more. The camera work is also impressive, in it's sense of scale. The first 30 minutes is a balls to the wall roller coaster ending with the death of a God and I felt a great satisfaction. It would be short lived though, as the level design and camera work only manages to come back to that style a few more times and the rest of the game is stuck in it's old trappings. Hit this switch, open this door, move through temples, caves and various parts of hell. Voice acting is meh. Kratos is yelling THE ENTIRE GAME! Which really doesn't help anyone trying to take his character seriously. Also, Kevin Sorbo reprises voicework for one of his more famous TV roles. Loved that. And otherwise sound design was good.

There are just a few little things I need to rant about before this is wrapped up. Character animations are flat. Uncharted 2 really needed to drop by and give some tips because the shimy along ledges looks terrible and I can't understand why. Also, what is up with the double jump? This has been a problem since the first game and it still is! Please fix this, because I don't understand why this guy has wings but can still drop like a rock. Alright, I will stop. The game is still a ton of fun and production values are high. I have to say, if you are going to buy a 3rd person action game in 2010, you should consider God of War 3.

Also, be on the look out for rumored DLC. There is a teaser site up right now for something and many people seemed convinced we have not seen the entire ending.

*Note: all images are courtesy of google image search.

"Friendly" Rant: The Latest "Crush" in Gaming

Just when you thought the world couldn’t become a lonelier place, GameCrush has decided to up the ante on the level of despair the Internet brings to a new generation. What is GameCrush?

“an entirely new interactive social gaming experience allowing gamers to meet, match and pay to play online games with other users (PlayDates). GameCrush is the only online service that allows gamers to choose a companion to spice up their favorite online games. Both Players and PlayDates define the experience they want - either “flirty” or “dirty”, choosing from some of the most popular console titles and casual web-based games.”

–cited from their press release. Thoughts after the jump...

iPhone Games I Played While on Vacation

While I was overseas, I couldn't game in front of a TV for various reasons. The largest being I was on vacation! Since I still needed my fix, so here are 10 of my favorite games on iPhone from my last week. Check 'em out!

Zenonia
Peggle
Bookworm
Canabalt
Paper Toss
Street Fighter 4
Flight Control
Plants Vs. Zombies
Down4Count
Puzzle Quest

Budapest

More Pictures! This time from Budapest. Check it out and also look at my YouTube channel to the right. Should be a bunch of random video going up. Was going to make a Music Video Compilation, but YouTube is pretty strict about using unlicensed music. Maybe next time.

Prague - Days 2&3

Hello Internets! As I tweeted earlier, we have left Prague and I am writing this from Budapest, but thought it might be a great time to update the site. Below is a slide show of our last few days in Prague where we walked the Charles Bridge, crawled through some micro breweries, and explored the Jewish District. Sadly, most of the Jewish District was anti-camera, with old ladies guarding every corner, but we did get some nice shots of one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe. Please take a look below and hopefully I will have some more stuff posted before we get to Amsterdam.

                         

Blog Report

Overseas right now, but check out the news while I'm away.

SOCOM 4 On The Move [Gdc10]
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition Hits this Summer [Gdc]
Swords and Paddles: Sports Champions on PlayStation Move [Move]
The Party Moves onto the PlayStation 3 [Move]
What Is "The Shoot"? Well, It's a Shooter [Move]
Street Fighter IV: The iPhone Case! [Gdc]
Get a Charge Out of Mass Effect 2's Latest Gun [Dlc]
Hakan Oils Up For Super Street Fighter IV [Street Fighter]
New Game Riffs On Guitar Hero, With A Real Electric Guitar [Music Games]
Ladies, Here's How To Look Like A Space Vixen [Clips]
Microsoft, Poland Is Pissed Off [Xbox Live]
See Modern Warfare's "No Russian" Like You've Never Seen It Before [Clips]
The Best Klingon Art To Hang On The Halls Of Sto'Vo'Kor [Star Trek]
I Was An Xbox Live Celebrity, For One Night Only [Column]
Company Goes With Idea That Customers Masturbate To Its Games [Sex]
Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Steam Coming to Mac in April [Valve]
Vintage Playboy Magazines Mirror Mafia II Characters [Sex]
Voltron Does Not Get Any More Adorable Than This [Screengrab]
Javelins, Zerg Rushes, Ninja Looting and Other Social Dilemmas [Weekend Reader]
New York Subways: Where Else Can Zelda and Boba Fett Mesh So Nicely [Clips]

Sony Press Event @ GDC 2010

I am at a loss, but if you have not watched this or heard, Sony has unveiled the Playstation Move. The official title for their new motion control hardware. Frankly, the names are kind of lame (sub-controller...really?) and the games look like Wii HD...sigh. The tech is there and I still believe that there is alot of potential in the device, especially for augmented reality. Though the launch looks like it may be a little underwhelming. I will keep my fingers crossed and please take a look at this video, care of G4tv.com.

PS3 Games - E3 2010 - LittleBigPlanet

Prague Day 1

Made it to Prague and had almost no problems. Still having a little trouble with this Wifi, but maybe that's because I keep trying to find it for free. Anyway, it has been beautiful so far, a little cold, but we've been keeping busy. Below are some pictures from our day at Prague Castle. There is some video, but I have not gotten it to upload quite right. Hopefully it will be up soon, but enjoy the slideshow until then.

                            

State of the Industry: Expectations and Bioshock 2

Expectations. Expectations define many things in how gamers approach games. Sometimes it is the hype built by publishers which can set gamers expectations awry. Other times it is the way a demo plays or how previews leave journalists after the first impression, but lately there is another way expectations can setup games for failure; their predecessors. The most recent example of this is Bioshock 2, which by all normal standards would be considered a great game, if not for expectations. When the sequel was first announced and it became apparent Irrational Games was not developing it (creators of Bioshock), the fans heaved a sigh of disappointment. Bioshock, which will forever be known as one of the most immersive single player experiences of this generation had created an expectation that no sequel could live up to. Maybe it was the idea of returning to Rapture, the setting from the original. Or it may have been the almost novel idea of returning as a Big Daddy, protectors of the Little Sisters and a most deadly enemy from the first one.

Personally, I played the original and harbored some of the very same feelings that many others did. I doubted my desire to return to Rapture and felt unsure about the whole concept. When 2k announced the games delay to develop a separate multiplayer component, the fans were up in arms. They wanted 2k's head. I personally did not care, because the number of games which have terrible & awesome multiplayer components has no effect on me either way. I rarely have time to play competitive multiplayer when I game. I am a more varied gamer and prefer to change up my experiences, rather than become exceptional at any one game. Plus I play a lot of RPGs which eat up 40+ hours of my life typically. So, when the reviews came in, I was excited to here many of the journalists I followed said it was great! I began talking about it around the house and for Valentine’s Day, Lauren bought me it as a gift (yeah, she is that cool). I put that in almost immediately, despite still being addicted to Mass Effect 2 and trying to finish up Bayonetta. Within the first hour or so, I was back in Rapture and loving every minute of it. So, why all the hate? How come almost every little comment I read about the game starts with "let me just say, this game is not nearly as good as the first one"?

Sure, there are things that still suck; like the Vita-Chambers are weird if you respawn in a place you don't remember or the shooting may still feel a little stiff, but look at all the new things they tried. Most obvious is the dual-wielding of plasmids and weapons. Second, the introduction of charged plasmids and the traps. Third, the mini-games involving little sisters, where now you have to protect them as they harvest corpses. Fourth, all new weapon types and so on and so forth. My point is that despite any shortcomings you could find, there are just as many new innovations. I don't think that we should fault 2k and the various studios who worked on this game, for not being able to provide you the same experience Bioshock did. You have to understand that the first time to experience anything is going to be much different than each additional visit. For me Bioshock 2 was a fantastic return to Rapture, which answered some additional questions and helps shed light on the splicers civil war. If you are at all interested in an atmospheric shooter, go give it a play through. You will be happy you did.

So, will we learn to be more open to sequels in the future? Hopefully, but it is going to be up to how we setup our expectations and what we define as acceptable. It is all about perception.

*Note: images are courtesy of a Google Image Search

Vacation Anouncement

The blog may be featuring some non-Video Game related content from 3/12 – 3/21. Lauren and I will be traveling abroad, through Central Europe for Spring Break and I plan to keep friends and family updated using this space. Lauren bought this sweet Flip camera, so there should be some video going up later on in the month as well as pictures and observations. Cities on the agenda include Den Haag, Prague, Budapest and Amsterdam, so expect something exciting!!

Blog Report

Just preparing for my trip to Europe at this point. I have started on some Final Fantasy 13, but I can tell already that it is going to be a slow burn. I may have to take the next few months to complete that one. Anyway, here is what was in the news last week.

Platinum Games' Third-Person Shooter Won't Have Multiplayer [Bummer]
Richard Aoki, the only Asian leader in the Black Panther Party
The PS2's First Ten Years: A Timeline [Sony]
Study: Wii Can Alleviate Elderly Depression, Too [Exergaming]
Report: Sony To Launch New PlayStation Smart Phone In 2010 [Sony]
SOCOM 4: It’s Official!
Ex-Infinity Ward Heads Claim "Orwellian" Moves By Activision [Activision]
EA Cuts Deal To Publish Shank, Deathspank [Ea Partners]
Meet Blackie The Mutant Penguin [Mutants]
New Tomb Raider Game Drops Tomb Raider Name [Lara Croft]
Don't Throw Up, Xbox Japan Man! [Clips]
The Year The Army Stopped Niagara Falls [Retro Mega Engineering]
Insomniac Working on Two Games Right Now, Won't Say What [Insomniac]
Japan: It's Not Funny Anymore [Feature]
Step up
A Bit More On that Halo Reach Multiplayer Vid [Halo: Reach]
Valve's Portal Puzzle So Far: The Files Recovered From Aperture Science [Valve]
THQ Opens Major Testing Facility At SMU's Guildhall
Activision Cans Infinity Ward Studio Heads
The Characters Of Zenonia 2 [Gamevil]
Sony Buys LittleBigPlanet Developer Media Molecule [Acquisitions]
Gravity Hook HD, From The Makers Of Canabalt [Digital]
Blacklight Shooter Goes Downloadable [Fps]
Activision Cites Infinity Ward "Insubordination" [Infinity Ward]
Do Your Part For The Galaxy — Join The Empire Today! [Star Wars]

Hitting it off: Puzzle Quest iPhone

Though not a Co-op game, Lauren and I have been playing this game side by side for the past few months. Therefore, it seemed like a good subject for our usual posts.

S: So, Lauren and I have become addicted to the Puzzle Quest craze, having both picked up the iPhone version of Chapters 1&2. I myself am not the biggest fan of the Puzzle Game genre, but my recent infatuation with Pop Cap games, combined with an obsession for RPGs; it seemed like a great idea. Sure enough, Puzzle Quest and I, we’re a match made in heaven.

L: Haha, I wouldn’t take that to heart D3 (Puzzle Quest Publisher), he tells me the same thing every time I make him chicken parmesan! All kidding aside, I’m personally a huge fan of puzzle games and Pop Cap. In my opinion, D3 has perfected the model for this genre – short, sweet, easy to pick up, and wonderfully obsessive. I would describe it as Bejeweled meets Baulder’s Gate. I don’t see you as a big Bejeweled fan babe, what made you pick this up so quickly?

S: Honestly, it was all the podcasts and rave reviews the game received. Initially, it was tough going trying to understand the complexities behind causing damage, gaining money and XP, and using your spells to control the board and land a “heroic effort”. But after gaining a few levels and maintaining that sweet sense of victory, I could not be stopped. I spent the first twenty levels building up my citadel and razing other cities to generate income. Eventually, settling on a Griffin as my mount, because let’s face it, they’re BADASS! Also, I chose a knight as my class, so most of my spells utilized the Purple Stars. What was your specialization again?

L: C’mon baby, you know my affinity for all things magical. Definitely picked the wizard and focused on fire mastery. Initially, I paid little attention to all attributes other than leveling up when prompted. The first few battles were a little confusing. After all, in Bejeweled you are trying to max out a score before running out of moves, not kill an opponent. Once I started to understand the battle system it became much more addictive. A big component of the game is to understand your enemies. Is it better just to unleash on them and get them out of the way as quickly as possible? Or do they have mana-based attacks that can be devastating to your character? Both require much different strategies. My only complaint about this game was the level cap at 40. I wasn’t even close to beating it, but felt disengaged after hitting it.

S: Yeah, me too. I plan on revisiting the game with a new class, maybe bumping up the difficulty a little bit to make the levels last longer, but man was I disappointed to see I had capped out about halfway through the game. My issue was probably also related to the massive amount of experience I was getting, since purple stars equal XP and that was the objects I destroyed the most on the board. Also, leveling the mounts was a little unbalanced. In order to level, you must fight your mount in a timed battle, but as they get higher the time is shorter. So much so that by level 15, you only had 3 sec to make a move!

L: I was able to get my mount up to level 20, but at that point my opponents were not killing me, I was killing myself (5 damage done to self for turns > 3 seconds). It got a little out of hand. While you do cap out at 40, you can still use gold to buy skills in your Citadel. I may continue to play and see how high I can max out my wizard. There is also the challenge of capturing more mounts and learning additional spells. I think this was a neat addition to the game, especially when I received Stomp – one that would randomly push down the board, usually having devastating effects on opponents.

S: That had to be the part which added the most replay value. The Citadel allowed not only the capturing and leveling of mounts, but also the capturing of enemies and leveling of individual skills via money. Combined with a weapon creation system, equally as diverse, it does seem like there is potential for your character to become truly powerful. I would highly recommend this game to any iPhone owner and if you are not one, maybe check out Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PSP or your PC. Would you agree?

L: Definitely!

*note: all images are the result of a Google image search

Blog Report

Wrapped of the Bayonetta Review and finishing off some Bioshock 2. Cannot wait for Heavy Rain to come in the mail. Lauren and I will be playing through that one togetgher, so expect another hitting it off in the future. But while you wait...

Justified Excitement: Just Cause 2 Extended Hands-On
Scientists Have Discovered Booze That Won't Give You A Hangover [Mad Science]
Sony out(r)age and PR blunders
Collateral Damage In The War On Piracy [Well Played]
Itagaki And Tecmo Settle Legal Brouhaha [Legal]
How Many Gigabytes Is FFXIII's Xbox 360 Install? [Xbox 360]
Why We Play Games, And Why We Grumble About Them [Column]
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc
The Borrower Arrietty - New Studio Ghibli movie
Metroid: Other M: A Change of Perspective [Impressions]
What Your $60 Really Buys [Bidness]
What Ever Happened to That Other Prince of Persia? [Prince Of Peria]
Appreciate The Fine Art of Naughty Dog At The "Unleashed" Exhibit [Naughty Dog]
Check out this collection of awesome old arcade marquees. Such...
American Science Fiction Icons Just Look Better In France [Cosplay]
When A Spartan Loves A Stormtrooper [Clips]
Warner Buys Batman: Arkham Asylum Devs [Business]
Why Apple Declared War on Titilation (For The Women and Children) [ITunes]
Best of FingerGaming: From Plants vs. Zombies to Noby Noby Boy
Are We Gonna Be Together?
How To Do A Red Carpet Right: Add Video Games [Dice2010]
Motion Control in Gaming: Rationalizing a New Dissonance [Well Played]
Inside Grasshopper with Silent Hill and Doshin the Giant Developers [Top]
OnLive Resurfaces: Crysis On An iPhone, Data Centers Located [Dice 2010]
The Latest Prince of Persia Plays With Solid Water and Flexible Time [Prince Of Persia: Forgotten Sands]

Sony "Where's the PR?"

As many users may already aware, the Playstation 3 has run into a little error that effected it’s users in a big way. On March 1st, the internal clock on all “fat” PS3’s was a little mixed up and thought we were currently in a leap year. The cell or some higher function inside the PS3 new better and every “fat” in the wild began to beat itself up over the date, causing numerous problems. The biggest of which was the blahblahblah error, keeping the PS3 from being able to connect to the Playstation Network. This created a domino effect across other games, which required trophies to sync in order to run. Users who turned on their PS3’s and were greeted by this error, were equally as stunned to discover that they were also being treated to a slew of corrupted trophy data, save files and other oddities.

First off, Sony is not a villain in this situation, as this was a silly error that probably happened due to the forgetfulness of some poor employee. When compared to the Xbox 360 and its numerous hardware failures, Sony looks like the gold star of the classroom. The problem was how they handled the situation and the advice they offered their consumers. Telling your customers not to turn on their PS3’s is ridiculous, especially since they would not be online looking for a solution if they had not already done so. Also, most of the posts I saw in North America were directed at the United States audience, but this is a worldwide issue. It was not localized to one region and customers from many countries were probably left in the dark about what was going on. Holding their breath and hoping that this was not the end of their backwards compatible “fat’s” lifespan (I was one of them). I am sure Canadians everywhere were wondering where the support was. While engineers were being called in on a Sunday and someone soon realized that this issue would be resolved once March 2nd rolled around and the internal clock realized its mistake. Instead, of pretending like people were willing to stand by and act like nothing was wrong (which they weren’t reference solution), Sony should have been transparent about the situation and addressed the public with this knowledge, putting everyone’s mind at ease for the next 24 hours. If they were wrong, it at least doused the fire long enough for them to figure out a way to fix it, but if they were right, it potential ended a flame war hours earlier than what actually happened. Taking some action and keeping users from modifying their PS3s and causing more damage. I still love Sony and still support the brand, but I just felt they should have been more responsive to customer concerns, besides some press releases and twitter updates. Though, maybe I am still young and naïve. Whatever the case, everything is find now and my PS3 came back unscathed. Now I can finish Heavy Rain!

AOM - March

Craig Bruyn a professional Illustrator out of Australia. Love his black and white prints. Check more out here or in the slideshow to the right.