A Games Update

Wow, a friend reminded me about this blog, so here I am again. I got a new PC a few weeks ago, so I figured I might try updating this blog again. I should be playing more games now. The Video Games page now is updated with a ton more games. I sort of broke the spirit of the page by adding unreleased games that I’m anticipating, but whatever. What’s interesting is how many games I was able to move out of the 360 category and into the PC one. To make up for it, I put some multiplatform games into 360 (instead of PS3), and added all the XBLA stuff I want to try. Quite a few interesting games there. Probably worth picking up a 360 just for XBLA.

For the nerds out there, my new rig is a Core 2 Quad Q6600 with an HD4850 (Ask me if you really want to know exactly what every component is). It was hard to put away my old comp, since I spared no expense and built the most stable workstation I could afford oh… 5 years ago? It had to be done though.

Oh hello! I Didn’t See You There

Really… I didn’t.

Portal’s “Still Alive” Coming to Rock Band

Awesome! If there’s any song that I’d be willing to sing to in Rock Band, Still Alive would be it!

In other news, I started playing Professor Layton and the Curious Village yesterday. Man, this game is making me feel stupid. Five years ago I probably wouldn’t have too much trouble with the puzzles, but wow, my brain has gotten rusty.

Gamer Apparel

Hmm…. I’ve always wanted some nice gaming themed shirts. I think I’ll grab some soon. I just came across Splitreason.com and they’ve got realy nice stuff there. That along with Jinx.com. The shipping cost isn’t as bad as I thought (unless they’ve dropped recently).

360 Price Drop Dilemma

I knew something was going to happen around GDC! So it seems that at least in Canada, Microsoft has dropped the price on the XBox360 Pro and Elites by $50. $350 for a Pro system? I’m sold! Or am I? I actually decided to go Playstation 3 over 360 a week ago for the Blu-ray player. Now I’m all confused!

DMC, Killer7: Early Abandonment

Despite what I posted earlier, I think I’m just going to shelve these games right now. Guilt-free gaming time is getting more and more precious, and I can’t bring myself up to playing these games just cause I wanted to try them. Truth is they aren’t super fun when I’ve got other games in mind that I know I’ll enjoy playing more. Originally I wanted to play the older games first, so I don’t get spoiled by the better graphics, sound, etc of the newer titles, but that just means I’ll never really be able to catch up. Next-gen or current gen is on the horizon, and I don’t want to stall that any longer. So…. goodbye DMC and Killer 7!

So now on the plate, is Team Fortress 2, as my default online multiplayer quick-pick-up-and-play game, and Rock Band, as my… got to practice for real-life multiplayer… game. Next up on the PS2 maybe be Persona 3 or Okami, mixed with Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, Contra Shattered Soldier, or Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. I actually started Final Fantasy X-2 a few days ago, and while it looks great, and I still want to give it a go, I think I’m going to push it back, at least until I finish FF12.

Oh, the other game that I picked up to play on the side is Audiosurf. I don’t see myself playing it a ton, but when I’m bored, I’ll probably load it up on Ninja Mono and ride a few songs to… relax… maybe…

Spore and Mass Effect PC Dated! GoW 4 PSP Gold!

Good day for gaming news today. Spore finally gets a release date! September 7th, 2008! Mark your calendars? I think it’s time to kick the Spore hype machine back into full gear. You knew it was coming… Mass Effect PC coming in May! This makes choosing a next-gen console even harder now. Suddenly 360 seems to be losing their exclusives (though it all still means I need to get a new PC). And finally, God of War: Chains of Olympus has gone gold! I still think about getting a PSP soon. $200 is a lot easier to swallow nowadays, compared to the $400 that I’ll need for a console (not to mention having to play a next-gen console on the 13″ TV that I have access to.)

Lastly, for wise words, check out N’gai Croal’s interview with Will Wright. Aspiring game developers and game enthusiats, shut up. A God of gaming is speaking. =)

Street Fighter IV: High-res Screens

Gamespot now has high-res screens of Street Fighter IV. Bloody awesome! They said it’s one of their goals to add dynamic muscle buldging and what not, as well as facial expressions, and it’s from these screens, it’s great! It looks so much better with facial expressions. I shake my head every time I see the neutral expressions in the Soul Caliber IV screenshots.

Famitsu interviews Final Fantasy XIII’s Tetsuya Nomura

I have put off the Final Fantasy series for a long while now, but Final Fantasy X brought me back.

http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2008/02/07/versus-guy-s-name-coming-soon-and-you-might-not-like-him.html

Heroes – Season 2

I finally got around to watching season 2 of Heroes. I like to do marathons, so I saved up all eleven episodes. Seasons 2 wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. When the shows aired, I kept on reading online about how the show “jumped the shark” and what not. I didn’t think it was that bad. It certainly wasn’t as engaging as the first season, but it’s still worth the watch. It’s nice to begin to understand the backstory. The last few episodes did feel rushed, and it didn’t have the mysterious feel that typical episodes have, but it was probably due to the writer’s strike.

Spoilers Begin Here!

The biggest problem I have with Season 2 is the new abilities they’ve introduced, or the length that they’ve pushed the existing abilities. I was already on the edge with Sylar and Peter being able to take on other people’s abilities. You can strike a balance when you spread the skills among several characters, but if one were to take on them all, it’s going to be increasing hard to control or limit this immortal without having him or her make stupid decisions. Or we’ll have to always rely on compassion. Sylar and Peter are already God-like characters.

What’s with the miracle healing of Claire and Adam? Biology is thrown out the window. This miracle blood can be injected into anyone and it’ll heal them. Even bring them back from the dead! So if they play it right. No one died. Heck, the blood is also some sort of magical booster, that it can turn anti-bodies into super anti-bodies, that can somehow identify mutations in viruses. Not specific mutation, any mutation! Wow!

So now that we’ve established that no one can die, they introduce Maya and her abilities, which is being able to kill. No contact needed. Just through mental power or something. Silent Avada Kedavra or sorts. So… apart from Alejandro, who is dead, the ability can kill anyone. So anyone can die. Great! What happens if you mind-kill Claire? Does she die, then magically revive herself? So before facing Sylar, have everyone shoot themselves up with some of Claire’s blood. Magic Auto-Life?

And what’s with Matt’s ability. Reading minds was great. Powerful, but not overly. Now that he can basically mind control people, there goes free will. Overpowered!

Everything’s such a big mess now. So if Sylar and Peter can take on all these abilities, it’ll be like God fighting God. No one stands a chance. Stalemate! It’s just a wait to see who makes the first mistake.

And I’ll just throw in the whole Time/Space continuum thing. Doesn’t any change in the past already screw things up in the future? Not just major events, even the smallest change, like some by-stander in feudal Japan seeing Hiro, should change the future. It seems Hiro is less careful about time-travelling in Season 2.

Despite all this though, I’ll probably still watch Season 3 or the continuation of Season 2. So far, It’s still fun to watch. I can suspend my disbelief a little more.