Killzone 2 Kountdown: Medic Badges

It's the big day. No more words needed. I'll be playing Killzone 2 tomorrow, but until then, check out the Medic badges. Sounds fun. I'm still planning to rock the engineer class.....alot.



J.

Killzone 2 Kountdown: Assault and Engineer Badges

I figured that I'd jump on the bandwagon and drop some Killzone 2 heat. First, we have the badges for the Assault and Engineer classes in multiplayer. It sounds alot like Team Fortress 2 to me, which for me is cool. You know, since TF2 kind of sucks on PS3. The Engineer class seems like the class I'll be messing with initially. Having sentries shooting the shit out of people around corners while they are unaware is a very satisfying way to win a game. Reminds me of owning people in Goldeneye on N64 with the Laptop gun. Having started COD4 as of late, I look forward to shooting you in the face in a few days.



Assault class and badges



Engineer class and badges


More coming soon.

J.

The Best system EVER on Virtual Console!

While it seemed like the Virtual Console couldn’t be packed with many other video game systems out there, Nintendo has really reached and has today delivered the Commodore 64 on its Virtual Console for the Wii. Released in 1982 as an at-the-time revolutionary computer, the Commodore 64 housed many classic 8 bit games of the early 80s. Although the C64’s VC compatibility was announced awhile ago, three of its games have just been made available today (no one at a timing this week; I guess this is a pretty big deal to Nintendo!): International Karate, The Last Ninja, and Pit Stop 2, each retailing for 500 Wii Points ($5). All of these games stand out as being awesome when I was about the age of five. Still, retro-aholics should rejoice in this news...along with the folks who are excited that Minesweeper is now on XBLA.

Max

Nintendo DSi shows up on Nintendo Channel

In today’s Nintendo Channel update a video was added displaying the new Nintendo DSi scheduled to come out circa-spring/summer in North America. The video showcased the DSi’s two cameras (one facing you, one away from you), its bigger screens, the ability to do music playback through SD cards, and several odds n’ ends features. These included the ability to color in one part of the picture you are taking (though pictures are taken in color) or change color to one part; distort the image of the picture you are taking or add effects; recording up to eighteen 10 second audio clips and storing them, and a bunch of other stuff which called into question why I should be excited enough to get one over my trusty DS Lite. Unlike other Nintendo Channel videos, there was no option to click for “More Information,” though the North American release date has been announced as April 5th and the new handheld system will retail for $170. One aspect of the DSi not displayed was its ability to download and play games, including old DS titles. The Nintendo DSi has sold 1.3 million units in Japan since its release, Nov. 1st, 2008.

Max

Opinion: Sony fans SHOULDN'T care if Square Enix RPGs are on the 360

In the shadow of Star Ocean: The Last Hope being released and getting pretty good reviews, I started thinking about the other RPGs Square Enix has released on the 360 this generation. Sure, PS3 early adopters were more than aliitle upset with the defection of Square’s flagship game, Final Fantasy 13 to the competition, Mircosoft’s Xbox360. And more still at the sight of SE throwing more and more support behind the 360, while leaving the PS3 out in the cold has fans worried. But after reviewing the reviews and opinions about the RPGs released so far, I wonder why people are so up in arms about the move.


It started with Infinite Undiscovery. And the results were not as pretty as SE and MS would have liked. The mighty Metacritic has it sitting at a interesting 68 out of 100. Most gaming outlet panned it, saying mostly that the presentation was flawed and full of all the clichés of most JRPGs. While some, like X-Play, praised the combat. Others like Gameradar, called the system “unsatisfying.” The game did well for the 360, selling about 400,000 copies. Making the new marriage seem, at the time, like peas and carrots.



Up next was The Last Remnant. And things seemed to go south. The game, again, was relatively met with mediocre reviews. And again, the Metacritic score lingers around 65 out of 100. Reviewers sited the game’s “repetitive battles, cluttered screens, and annoying 'quests'” (Gamepro) and “abysmal frame-rate problems and awful texture pop-in as well as obtuse combat mechanics” (Gamespot) as major problems. Gametrailer put at an 8.0, citing “The Last Remnant is a hard game to judge. A person's enjoyment of it will be directly related to how much they can tolerate the persistent graphical issues.” X-Play and IGN shared the sentiment, saying that the presentation was not up to par. X-Play went so far as to criticizing “the load screens, long cutscenes, and the battle system, saying the game played itself.” It didn’t seem to set the world on fire, but sold well at about 550,000 copies.


So, this leads us to the next in the line of SE RPGs only for 360, Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Reviews are filtering in and they are sounding good. IGN’s review is good for the game and will sell well regardless of reviews or Metacritic scores. But where does that leave the Sony brand? A console that doesn’t have a lot of JRPGs? Nothing. Fallout 3 was the game of the year and is a blast to play. The over-looked Folklore was very good, albeit different kind of role playing. The CRIMINALLY over-looked Valkyrie Chronicles is an awesome game that people who complain about the PS3 not having games need shoved in their asshole. On top of the other non RPG, PS3-only games that you know about already and the gems on PSN like PJ Monsters, Burnout Paradise, Super Stardust HD and Warhawk and I say “Why worry about games you aren’t going to play anyway?” (well, The Last Remnant is coming soon, but whatever)


The perception that Sony has no games is almost taken as a painstaking fact by the general public, even though it’s an outdated claim only used by partisan console owners and well…..fanboys. With Sony getting great reviews on the exclusives that are out (Flower; Pixel Junk Monsters) and that are coming out, (Killzone 2) Sony fans shouldn’t worry about what’s going on the other side. Sure, 360 folks have been riding high in the quality games department for awhile, but the PS3 is coming along alot better then people think. Stop worrying about what other people have and you don't .You should buy games that are out (and are rated great to awesome) before bitching about betrayals and whatnot.

And buy Valkyrie Chronicles already, lugnuts……….

J.

Dee Jay and T. Hawk Gone in SF4 but not Forgotten!

I haven’t posted in awhile as I’ve had the blahs so bad; blahs that I'm happy to report have been cured by my recent purchase of Street Fighter IV. I even sprung for the Collector’s Edition (which is now going on Amazon for $129—sheesh!). It’s a great game and I plan to post impressions as soon as I get past what to say besides “It’s a lot like playing Street Fighter II, but newer, fresh and different somehow,” and “that last boss Seth guy is cheaper than any SNK boss ever. And what kind of name is 'Seth' for a final boss anyway?!?”

In the meantime, you may recall the brief article we did on SFIV’s full lineup, where we reported that the whole Super Street Fighter II Championship Edition gang would be there…except T. Hawk and Dee Jay. It seems these characters, one an apparently unwanted Mexican and the other the only Street Fighter created by an American (and thus presumably uncool to Japanese developers) had no place in the annals of new Street Fighter IV glory. Then again, maybe they did…and still might!

IGN has the goods from a recent Famitsu interview with SFIV producer Yoshinori Ono, who revealed that 3D models of both Dee Jay and T. Hawk were created for Street Fighter IV originally and the development team actually spent time working out how T. Hawk would fight in the new game. No reason was given for the fact the pair were ultimately left out, but Ono claims that if there’s enough demand from the fans, they may be added at a later time—though did not specify how (presumably through DLC for the home versions). Ono also hinted that if there’s enough user support there will be a Championship Edition of the game; no details were given on what that might include (more characters? Other modes? An excuse to re-live the multitude of Street Fighter II rehashes?).

So fans, it’s up to us. What are you waiting for? Start emailing Capcom, posting on their boards and others’ message boards and demanding these two characters on your own blogs! Their exclusion defies reason and they deserve to kick butt right alongside SFIV characters new and old! Get to it! We want Dee Jay and T. Hawk and we want them now!

Max

The new Killzone 2 TV ad (is awesome)

I'm a PS3 owner. As a PS3 owner, I've been subjected to shitty ports, half hearted "such and such" killer apps, low expectations and doomsayers predicting the end of Sony at every turn. I'll admit that I doubted Sony. I didn't think that Sony could pull off anything that could change peoples' minds about the black box, but after watching the the new Killzone 2 TV ad......wow. I'll have to admit that I was wrong.

The trailer is very subtle while showing nothing but action and mayhem on the battlefield. (All in-engine, if you were wondering). I was reminded of the "Madworld" ads for Gears of War, without the catchy music. Sure, I was looking forward to the most debated game in history to see what the hubbub was about, but in the last few weeks, I've really gotten on the train for Killzone 2. The nearly across the board praise for the game, to mainstream gaming outlets having seemingly no choice but to admit that Killzone 2, in fact, lives up to the hype and passes it by and now, TV ads. Wow. Sony could be......well....let's wait until next week and see.

If you have doubts about what the PS3 can do and whether or not you should save some money and pick one up, I say, watch this ad. And if you STILL think that the PS3 is a waste of time, i really don't know what to say to you. Wait for halo 3 ODST on 360? Or.....whatever else Mircosoft has this year.

J.

The Best Game EVER, Now On Xbox Live!

Okay, now that I have your attention, WHY!?!?!?!?!?! Oh, I guess I should tell you what game I'm talking about before I dramatically type "why" in with a bunch of !?!?!?!? behind it, huh? Well I'm talking about Minesweeper.... Mineweeper you say? Is it now in 1080p with glorious HD squares, shiny little bevelled edges and life-like little flags and humongous bad-ass explosions everywhere when you pick the wrong square and blow your little flag-placing hand all over the place in a bloody hellstorm you ask? Oh boy, does it have a competitive 4 player online mode where I can totally out place flags on mines before my friends can? Who frigging cares and why did they think it was a good idea to port this to the 360 unless it turned out like this....



Oh well, I guess for those of you that never experienced Minesweeper in its hey-day, you finally get to live the danger and excitement that millions of office workers have experienced for centuries, thousands of years ago in the future, while trying not to die of boredom at work. It was indeed a fun game, but again I ask, WHY!?!?!?!? A bit of nostaglia I suppose. Enjoy this till something new actually comes out that you haven't seen before!

Left 4 Dead DLC

Hooray! Left 4 Dead is finally getting some DLC... and it's FREE!!!!! Not only do you get to finally play Dead Air and Death Toll in versus, but you get to go up against endless hordes of zombies now as well and you don't have to pay anyone (except for Microsoft for the privelage of xbox live gold) to do so! Hooray! again for game companies being cool enough to dish out some free goodies everyonce and a while.

In Deck: Tax Return Edition

Sure, it's alittle early for talk of taxes and W-2s and whatnot, but for people who don't have much of a social life, it's one more thing to start on while everyone else is out having fun. So, while you all while popping bottles on New Year's Eve, my wife and I were getting our last paystubs together and rocking the tax info.
So, jump to now. I just cashed a $5200 return check. Hey, the nerds will inherit the earth. In the meantime, I got some new games and you didn't. So, here we go.......


MAGIC BALL (PSN)

Saw this game a few months ago. I'm a sucker for Breakout/Arkanoid ripoffs and this game is really simple to get into. Casual to say the least, your only goal is to return the ball, a soccer ball to exact, into various backdrops. Destroying pirate ships and forests full of dragons is more fun than it sounds. The trophies are your standard "get a million points" and "collect XYZ" type deals, but thay are good for the style of game it is. My only beef with it is that it launched with only two levels, dooming it to the "wait and see" type deal like what plagued Pain for so long. It really could go in a lot of interesting places. Space, anyone?
Magic Ball is out now for $10



 LUMINES SUPERNOVA (PSN)

I like Lumines. A lot. I've talked about this a few times here. Well, I'm still rocking it and having a good time with it. Not doing so hot on the trophy front, earning only four of the 11 or so. Dig down mode is a bitch that I seem to fuck up on about level 7-9. Sucks, but not so hard that I don't want to play anymore, but it makes me try again. And again. Going to sleep at 3am because you had to try to beat Dig Down one more time isn't the move. I Haven't messed around with the music making part too much. I'd like it more if you could use your own samples in the grid. I could release a CD of music made by Lumines to listen to WHILE you play Lumines. Awesome thought. Let's hope the game gets some new skins and modes soon.

Lumines Supernova is out now for $15

Midnight Club LA (PS3)

As a non-driver, I never really understand why I like racing games so much. With the exception of Gran Turismo series, I'm pretty good at all of them. Midnight Club being my favorite of the street racing games, I've been a fan since MC2 on PS2. And after MC3:remix, I really didn't know what else Rockstar could do with the Club. Well, Rockstar knows how to treat their franchise games and they have opened up the city of LA and made some of the best street races I've ever played. Most of the races so far are pretty heart wrenching. Highway battles, circuit races that drift into oncoming traffic and the crazy amount of online options you can do in this game, I'm having my hands full with things to do. I really like the way that Rockstar tries to expend the online modes in their games outside what most games do. The car rating system is interesting and a fun way to include the community. Most people have terrible taste in design, but it's still a fun mode to play around with. As it stands now, none of my rides are good enough to embarrass myself by adding my ride to the fray. Not even for the trophy. Still a great game, and the upcoming South Central DLC sounds cool. Hope there are some low riders I can bump some Dr.Dre while hittin' them conas in them lo-lo's, girl…….

Sorry about that.

Midnight Club LA is out now.

 That's it for now. More later. Mostly about Killzone 2 and Korg DS-10.

J.

Dead Rising again?

The beginning of an awesome viral ad campaign, or a badly made (and cruel) fan trailer? you decide.


Lets hope..........

J.

UPDATE: Word is going around the internets is that this IS, in fact, real. Holy shit! And the word on the street is that almost all games from now on are going to be multi-platform, I'm really hoping Capcom announces something soon......and for PS3.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: It was made official today. Dead Rising 2 is real AND is coming this year AND is coming to the 360, PC and yes, the PS3. Can't wait to play it. Running in an American Gladiator-style metal ball over hordes of zombies is the business.