Graduation and E3

Congrats to the class of 2010!  It felt weird graduating and it was sad to say goodbye to so many friends in the last 3 weeks of school.  Despite all that, I’m done with academia and am ready to work and finish projects I want to do.  But before I get around to working with art, videos, music, and videogames, I got the opportunity to go to E3 2 days after graduating for the next 3 days.

How E3 went down: First day I checked out all the small companies and researched on upcoming international companies from China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea and well as looking into potential jobs or internships.  Second day, I got severely ill.  I woke up with a dry throat and couldn’t speak right, my body hurt all over, it felt cold everywhere, kept feeling like I was going to throw up, had a headache, couldn’t eat, coughing, and just slept in bed sweat it out the whole day in the hotel room.  Yeah, that sucked.  Fortunately, I was okay (for the most part) enough to go for the third day with coughing and a headache.  Third day, I spent the time at E3 trying out as many games as possible.  I’ll be going through a list of games I played, stuff worth checking out, what I’m looking most forward to, what is worth mentioning that I didn’t get to play and what I don’t care too much about.  Also, look out for me in various interview and press coverage videos of E3, I make cameos in some of them.

 

What I played:

[Game Name – Publisher – Platform]

[Sony Move – Sony – Playstation 3]

            I tried Time Crisis 4 with it and it didn’t feel much different from the Wiimote.  In fact, it was less accurate than the Wiimote.  The grip felt kind of weird since it was round and didn’t have a specific grip to it.  The fact that it’s going to be around $100 seems a bit of a turn off too considering that there aren’t that many good games to it…yet.  It might be better with time when more 3^rd party companies start developing for it and when Sony lowers the price a notch like they did for the PS3 itself.

[Forsaken World – Perfect World – PC]

            “WoW Clone.”  That’s all I can say.  I usually don’t like comparing MMOs to WoW since they’re usually very different (ex. Global Agenda) but I played multiple online games that look exactly like World of Warcraft in terms of theme, classes, interface, color palette, level design, and game mechanics.  Aside from that, it was sort of interesting to see Forsaken World’s take on the MMORPG.  I’m not sure if I’d play it for long, but I guess I’d be willing to give it another chance when it goes beta.

[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Konami – PS3/Xbox 360]

            Oh man, you guys don’t even know how excited I am for this game.  I still remember seeing the trailer for this game last year’s E3 on the internet, so being able to play it at E3 this year was pretty amazing.  So far, the game is very fluid and graphically pleasing.  It is much harder than its 3D Castlevania predecessors.  I like a challenge though; it doesn’t make it as much of a button mashing game since it emphasizes more on distance and timing.  I’m curious as to how the rest of the game will turn out since it’s being developed by a different company than usual.

[Castlevania: Harmony of Despair – Konami – Xbox360]

            I wasn’t expecting to see this at E3 when I went.  It sure surprised me and is making me wonder if I should get it or not.  It’s like playing boss rush mode in a non-linear castle with the ability to play co-op.  You have to get through the level and kill the boss at the end.  You can zoom out to look at the whole map rather than opening a separate map, thus allowing you to play in a map-like layout if you’re lost.  You can play as Soma Cruz (Aria/Dawn of Sorrow), Alucard (Symphony of the Night), Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin (Portrait of Ruin), and Shanoa (Order of Ecclesia).  I’ll like it even more if they add more characters.  It’s a downloadable game, and it’s announced for the Xbox360 for now.  I don’t like paying for downloadable small games since they’re usully short and sometimes poorly developed.

[Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes – Capcom – Wii/PS3]

            I hope they keep this name since on the PS2, they changed it to “Devil Kings” for America.  It looks like it’s going to have 2 players this time too.  Think of this game as Samurai Warriors mixed with Devil May Cry.  It’s flashy, fast-paced, and has decent controls.  I tried it with a classic controller, so I actually don’t know how it feels with wiimote-nunchuck.  If I had to get this game, I might get it for PS3 just for the better graphics as opposed to swinging away on the wiimote.

[Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light – Square Enix – DS]

            Despite being slightly disappointed with the battle mechanics and the very low quality graphics from the past 3-5 DS Final Fantasy games, I still have interest in the game.  Lots of classes to choose from, 4 player online co-op gameplay, and extensive story makes it tempting, but I have yet to be convinced.

[Quantum Theory – Tecmo Koei – PS3/Xbox360]

            Ugh, I’m not sure how to put it lightly, but this game has frustrating design.  It’s like a Gears of War ala cover-shoot with melee attacks in a futuristic fantasy setting with gigantic guns and large enemies.  The character is sluggish, aiming is slow, and the added melee was kinda pointless.  The visuals are amazing, but the clunky controls really turned me off.  Maybe I’ll give it a chance in the future and play it again.

[Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage – Tecmo Koei – PS3/Xbox360]

            Hokuto no Ken Musou!!!  I can’t believe they’re bringing it to America!  It makes me super happy and I was excited to get the chance to play it.  The controls can be a bit tricky if you’re used to Dynasty/Samurai Warriors (which I am) and might feel slow, but once you get used to it you realize how tactical you have to be with the attacks.  It’s a linear beat-em-up as opposed to Dynasty/Samurai Warriors Hack-n-Slash Strategy, meaning you don’t have to worry about a commanding officer dying off in the opposite side of the battlefield while you’re fighting off the horde.  After playing through the game, I am even more excited and can’t wait for it to release.

[Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll – Tecmo Koei – PS3]

            Looking at the game, it looked interesting with nice graphics and immersive environment; however, the gameplay suffered from clunky controls, unintelligent AI, and very linear gameplay.  I had the same feeling about this game as I did with Quantum Theory, pretty but insufficient.  Can’t say I’m really looking forward to this one.

[Trinity Universe – Tecmo Koei – PS3]

            Totally unrelated to the previous game mentioned above, this mixture of characters from Disgaea and other Japanese RPG games are put into a turn based RPG where characters can do combo attacks.  Cute characters, nice graphics and interesting concept of the turn-based battles in RPGs, this game could possibly turn out to be decent.

[Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland – Tecmo Koei – PS3]

            I’ve never played any of the Atelier Iris games, but I know that I like the art style.  I was actually kind of confused with the gameplay and didn’t play long enough to have a solid opinion of the game.

[Blacklight Tango Down – UTV Ignition Entertainment – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            This game stuck with me the whole time I was at E3 and I’m still thinking about it right now.  It’s a futuristic first-person shooter that has a gazillion combinations (don’t quote me on that, the lady at the booth told me that) that changes how you look, what gun you have, how it sounds, how it fires, what colors it bursts into, what aiming sight is mounted, etc.  I’m very excited after playing the game as it’s very smooth, controls are very tight, and despite being another FPS, it feels very refined.  They’re hook for the game is its cheaper price, yet they haven’t announced it yet.  If it’s $20, I’m jumping on that!

[All Points Bulletin – Electronic Arts – PC]

            I remember seeing this game advertised on Steam and was intrigued by the gameplay videos.  Having tried the game out myself, I felt like I should really give it a chance.  Think of the game as “Grand Theft Auto” or “Crackdown” Online.  There weren’t any other players on the server I was trying it on, so I didn’t get to experience any action, but the layout, design and controls were acceptable as far as I see it.  I got a free beta key to it while I was at the booth, but it didn’t work when I got back home to register.  I reported it and to make up for it, they’re giving me 10 hours free in the game, 3 days early access, and exclusive items.  After that, I’ll have to pay.  I don’t ever play pay2play online games, so I’m probably going to try it then leave it at that.  It’s not because the game isn’t good enough, it’s just that I don’t want to pay continually for a game or I’ll feel obligated to having to play it which would be bad for me (I never get addicted to games, avoiding monthly fees or continual payment games help).  Anyways, this should be good.

[Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker – Konami – PSP]

            Despite being epically fail and confused charging in the bases, MGS:PW is a decent MGS game on PSP.  It still follows the stealth action genre, and I think you can play multiplayer co-op.  The controls suggest that it’s more concentrated on action as it’s harder to be stealthy with PSP controls.  Maybe I’ll get it in the future.

[MKZ – Gamersfirst – PC]

            Yay, another free fps!  I thought the game was okay.  The hitboxes were kind of glitchy which is not favorable to sniper players (me) and those who go constantly for headshots (me).  I also tried War Rock, which is by the same distributor, and I think that one is a bit better.  War Rock has been out for a while on…on…I forget the original name of the company, but it’s called “Gamers First” now.  I’ll be trying out the rest of their free online games during this summer break.

[Heroes of the 3 Kingdoms – Perfect World – PC]

            I was excited for this game since I’m a fan of the 3 Kingdom theme of Ancient China.  Unfortuneately, I was not impressed with the gameplay when I tried it out at the booth.  The game is going through beta right now (I believe) and isn’t out yet officially, but maybe I’ll give it another try by playing from the beginning.  It’s another Point-n-Click MMORPG, and I’m not sure if I like those anymore.

[Vindictus – Nexon – PC]

            The answer to my Point-n-Click boredom of MMORPGs, Vindictus (known as Mabinogi Heroes in Asia) is an MMOARPG that emphasizes on skill rather than statistics and luck.  It is action like a hack-n-slash but retains the RPG elements of story, character growth, and loot.  It was developed on the source engine from Valve (as in creators of Half-Life) and has been in development for a few years already.  The controls were a little difficult and unruly, but I was playing a heavy power character, so I’m hoping it’ll be smoother as an archer/assassin-like characters.  I have high hopes for this game and will most definitely play it when it comes out.

[Dragon’s Nest – Nexon – PC]

            I didn’t even hear of this game until one of my friends told me about it right before I went to E3.  Dragon’s Nest is much like Mabinogi Heroes (oops, I mean Vindictus) but has a similar art style of Mabinogi Online (another Nexon game).  The controls are surprisingly smoother with gameplay very smooth where you can chain skills together to create a combo attack.  I heard nothing about this being hosted on Nexon, but I’m going to play it if it does.

[Phantasy Star Portable 2 – Sega – PSP]

            I’m super excited about this game as I’m playing the first one and think it’s amazing already.  With the same quality of gameplay, multiplayer, story, art, and innovations as its predecessors, the game offers new moves, weapons, plotline, and even a free online co-op to boot.  I have a friend who was with me when I was trying it out and said Phantasy Star games have very shallow gameplay (he also doesn’t like Dynasty Wariors) which makes me think I’m a shallow gamer since I love Phantasy Star and the Warriors series so much, lol.  The interface is reworked, shielding (you can finally block!) and dodge is added, and guns having photon arts make me even happier about this new release from the Phantasy Star series.

[Yakuza 4 – Sega – PS3]

            The guys from noobtoob were really excited about this game, but I never played a Yakuza game before.  I had to find out what was so great about the game, and I think my expectations were too high.  The game is a beat-em-up and I was a Yakuza gangster beating the crud outta ordinary looking guys.  It was okay…It was kinda funny picking up warning signs and plant pots and smacking across the enemies head.

[Need for Speed World – Electronic Arts – PC]

            I’m not much of a racing gamer, but I play anything because I am a gamer.  When I started playing, I started wondering why there weren’t checkpoints and a timer and then I realized it was an open world MMO.  It is like “Drift City” from ijji.com, except it was Need for Speed.  The gameplay is very similar to “Drift City” where you can do quests, have pursuit chases and compete against other players.  And then the guy at the booth told me something that made this game that much better: It’s FREE!  Yeah, a Need for Speed game for free!  Electronic Arts has been getting in on the free MMO action with FIFA Online, PGA Online, and Battlefield Heroes where it follows the Asian trend of having micro-transactions to earn money.  Like I said, I’m not much of a racing gamer, but I will definitely give this game a spin for reals when it comes out (I just drove around in the open city for the E3 demo, it was fun).

[Two Worlds 2 – SouthPeak Games – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I’m not sure if I’d be giving it a fair judgment from what I played, but the concept was rather annoying.  Each attack, even the regular attack, has a cool down in this Action-RPG with the usual ghouls and skeletons inside a dark cave.  I never played or even heard of the first “Two Worlds”, but if it could merit a second installment, there must’ve been something good from it.  The slow gameplay, clumsy controls, and cool-down on even the regular attack made it very unappealing.  I’m going to have to wait and see what other say; maybe it’s better later in the game.

[Okamiden – Capcom – DS]

            I didn’t play it long, but it was confusing jumping in mid-game not knowing what to do.  So far, the gameplay is similar to the DS Zelda games and seems to have an emphasis on puzzles.  Not much to say, probably will play it in the future.

[Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds – Capcom – PS3/Xbox360]

            Fighting gamers rejoice with this new installment of MvC after 10 years.  I used Dante, Deadpool, and Chris Redfield and thought the game was just as great as its predecessors.  Animations were smooth, but gameplay was still quick.  Characters were slightly slower (I think), but the flow of the game was still fast-paced.  I enjoyed it, but it seems like there’s a lot more to be developed, and I don’t mind the wait if there’s going to be more characters added.

[Arc Rise Fantasia – Ignition Entertainment – Wii]

            I didn’t have much expectation for this game, but I wanted to try it anyways.  It’s a turn-based RPG with the concept of character distance and placement in the battles.  The gameplay was more strategic this way, but I wasn’t very convinced that it was a game I was going to like.  I’ve been very picky with my Wii games, and I barely get time to play it anymore.  I need to get around to playing and beating Metroid Prime 3, Zelda:TP, and Mario Galaxy…..

[DC Universe Online – Sony Online Entertainment – PS3/PC]

            I didn’t plan on playing this game, but I saw it at E3 with no lines.  So I jumped on and was impressed by the gameplay.  It’s not a point-n-click, which is good.  The attacks auto-target whoever is closest to where you’re facing and you unleash attacks with the mouse buttons, or number keys for skills and specials.  There’s flying, flipping, fast running, elemental attacks, and many interesting things that were probably in City of Heroes but I never played it before.  If this game is free, has a beta, or a free trial, I’d give it a go and would also recommend it.

[Conduit 2 – Sega – Wii]

            I never got to play the first one and might even go out and buy it if I can find a copy for cheap.  The sequel to The Conduit has an interesting multiplayer online play that I got to experience with other E3 goers or developers to the game.  The controls were a bit difficult to handle, but I got used to it rather quickly and felt it was possibly better than the first “Red Steel.”  The graphics are outdated and is apparent when running through the environment, but I’m not too concerned with it.  I might get this game, I’m not sure yet.

[Tournament of Legends – Sega Europe – Wii]

            Soul Calibur with Castlevania Judgment controls with a lot of mini-games in between to use your special abilities.  I was not impressed with this game too much.  Maybe the use of individual left hand, right hand with nunchuck and wiimote for attacks was interesting, but the more the guy tried to explain the mechanics of the game, the more tedious I thought the game was just to win when I was doing just fine attacking normally.  I don’t mind passing on this one.

Stuff worth checking out:

[BGRMods: New Fangled Gaming]

            They sell mods for rapid fire for fps on console controllers, which I don’t care for.  They have other merchandise that are kind of interesting, such as the No Scope decal that lets you shoot accurately in fps games that require you to scope to have an accurate fire without having to scope by sticking the decal onto where the aiming point is.

[Ttesports – By Thermaltake]

            They sell gaming equipment from keyboards, mices, to gamer gloves.  A lot of their stuff lights up too, which is cool.

[Eagle Eye – Penguin United]

            A converter that translates USB keyboards and mice for your PS3 so that you can have the PC controls advantage in your fps games.  I don’t care too much as I play both controller and PC and am okay with both.  This is an interesting device for those who complain that they can’t play with controllers and only with a keyboard/mouse.

 

Looking forward to:

[Blacklight: Tango Down – PC]

            I’m going to get this game if it’s cheap since I’ve been craving for good First-person shooters.  It should be out on Steam soon, but I haven’t seen any advertisements for it yet.

[Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage – PS3]

            I’m ready for some Hokuto no Ken action.  I’ve really like all the stuff Koei has been dishing out in the past and have confidence that this game will be just as great.

[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – PS3]

            This will be a must buy for me, unless it does so horrible with the critics that it deserves a price reduction.  There are too many good games to buy, so having sales and discounts would be nice.  I’m mainly concerned with the music, I hope it’s good.

[Phantasy Star Portable 2 – PSP]

            I can probably wait until I finish the first one, but I will say that this game will be great and I’m excited to finally play it for real when I get the chance to.

[Metroid: Other M – Wii]

            I can’t believe I didn’t get to try this out at E3!  Despite that, this will be an incredible game.  I like Nintendo, Metroid, and Team Ninja, and so having all those put together makes an interesting blend of puzzle, action, and epic boss battles.  I think this game is coming out before any of the other four, so I might get this first.

 

Worth mentioning, even though I didn’t play it:

[Trine 2 – Atlus – PC/PS3/Xbox360]

            I played the first one and enjoyed it.  This one looks promising too, with online co-op play!

[El Shaddai – UTV Ignition Entertainment – PS3/Xbox360]

            Looks like a cool platform/action game with artsy effects and religious references.

[Mario Sports Mix – Nintendo – Wii]

            A lot of the Mario sports games have been good, and having them put them all into one game is a good deal…maybe.  I probably won’t buy it, but I think it’ll be good.

[GoldenEye 007 – Nintendo – Wii]

            I was watching people play it and thought it looked pretty decent.  I even had the opportunity to meet James Rolfe (aka Angry Videogame Nerd) there doing a recording for his videos.  It’s not remake, as the guy at the booth said, but another rendition of the film for the Wii.  I don’t think I have a FPS on my Wii, and besides the Conduit or Red Steel 2, I would want it to be GoldenEye 007.

[Zelda: Skyward Sword – Nintendo – Wii]

            Lines were long for this, and according to my friends, it was the best game they tried at E3.  The attacks follow where you swing and how you swing so that the movement is synonymous, which leads me to think that I might need to get the Wii Motion Plus.  Even though I didn’t play it at E3, I might buy it.

[Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – Ubisoft – PS3/Xbox360]

            I haven’t read the comic, haven’t watched the movie, but I’m excited for the game.  Art and animation is by Paul Robertson (a genius pixel artist) and the music is by Anamanaguchi (8-bit music band).

[Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs – Nintendo – DS]

            At least it’s not the same pokemon game right?  Gameplay looks fun.

[NeverDead – Konami – PS3/Xbox360]

            I just saw some trailer and gameplay and thought it looks interesting, but I need to play it to really know what it’s like.

[Silent Hill 8 – Konami – TBA]

            Wow, up to 8 and I haven’t played a single one.  It must be good if it lasted this long right?  Inno…

[Knights in the Nightmare – Atlus – PSP]

            I’m still playing it on DS and don’t see how it makes sense on PSP.  If they had to upgrade the game, at least make it on PC or something where the player can actually move the spirit around with a stylus or mouse rather than an analog stick.

[Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft – PC/PS3/Xbox360]

            I’m surprised one of my friends that played this who usually doesn’t play these types of games did and almost won on versus match with my other friend who actually plays the series.  I haven’t play anything past the 5 minutes I had with the 2^nd installment, but this one looks promising with the multiplayer added.

[LittleBigPlanet2 – SCEA – PS3]

            I don’t care too much after playing the first one, even though I thought it was a good game.  But the game caught a lot of attention to even those outside the gaming realm, so it might open up new opportunities to other things in the future.

[Portal 2 – Valve – PC/PS3/Xbox 360]

            Thinking it was just going to be a continuation of the same thing, the trailer blew me away and surprised me with what the gameplay was going to be like.

[Kid Icarus: Uprising – Nintendo – 3DS]

            The trailer was awesome enough, but it’s too bad that I didn’t get to see it on the 3DS with the 3D effects.  Innovative flight and shooting concept made me excited to see more out of this game.  Pit makes his return to Nintendo consoles once more!

[Kirby’s Epic Yarn – Nintendo – Wii]

            I watched others play this as the lines piled up and thought the design and concept was creative and artistic after seeing so many renditions of the pink puffball with the same concepts being dished out each time.  The Wii will be having another good game added to its library after being so silent for so long.

[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine]

            New Warhammer games!  I haven’t played many Warhammer games before, but the premise and concepts around the theme they have for 40K is interesting enough to capture my attention.

[Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – Ubisoft – PC/PS3/Xbox360]

            Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter was great, HAWX was great, and I have no doubt that Future Soldier will deliver an enjoyable experience that I crave to see when it is released.

[Killzone 3 – SCEA – PS3]

            I haven’t played the first 2, but I heard the series is really good.  Looking at the gameplay footage, I am sort of convinced.  It makes me want to play it.

[Metal Gear Solid: Rising – Konami – PS3/Xbox360]

            Stealth no more, this new installment of Metal Gear will be about fast-paced action with Raiden as the main character with his crazy ninja skills.  I like swords~

[Devil’s Third – THQ – PS3/Xbox360/TBA]

            From the Producer of Ninja Gaiden (the new one) and Dead or Alive comes a new action game with swords and guns in it.  Swords and guns?  I’m so there!

[Mortal Kombat – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – PS3/Xbox 360]

            I’m not a huge MK fan, but this one looks decent and serves justice to its original installments while still being modern.  Fatalities look brutal, so they’re still being inventive with that.  I want to play it, but probably not buy it.

[Final Fantasy XIV Online – Square Enix – PS3/PC]

            I LOVE FINAL FANTASY.  That is all.  I wanted to play it, but it was appointment only with hold-on-to-hand tour…Oh well, I’m going to try for the beta.

[Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I heard the second Deus Ex did not do the original justice.  This one looks very action packed rather than stealthful.  Maybe this one might be good.

[Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep – Square Enix – PSP]

            I haven’t played through any of the KH, but I did buy the first two this school year and plan to beat it.  This one looks good, and each KH has been doing very well.

[Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded – Square Enix – DS]

            This one looks good too.  The Nintendo DS has already been graced with one good KH title, and it looks like it will again.

[The 3^rd Birthday – Square Enix – PSP]

            I know nothing about this aside from the screenshots, which looked amazing for a PSP game.  It makes me curious what the gameplay is supposed to be.

[Front Mission Evolved – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I watched other play this and it looked pretty cool.  Large mechs running around blowing stuff up.  I should’ve tried it out.

[Dungeon Siege III – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I’ve played through the past 2 and thought it pretty good and rather challenging.  I didn’t beat them though since they were kind of lengthy and difficult to finish through my tight schedules at school (but now I’m done, yay!)

[Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – Square Enix - PS3/Xbox360]

            I’m not a Tomb Raider fan as I find the games to be a perspective of the many ways to die in a videogame.  This one looked interested though as it was a top-down action shooter with 2 player co-op that emphasized on teamwork and fighting rather than puzzles and dying.

[Necromachina – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360]

            It’s hard to find a good 2D game on consoles nowadays since the emphasis is on 3D games and now 3D vision games.  But the art style and gameplay to this one is so beautiful that I might consider buying it (It’s on PSN and Xbox Live Arcade, which I said before I don’t like since we’re charged for games that are poorly developed or short lengthed).

[Space Invaders Infinity Gene – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360]

            Space Invaders has seen many remakes (I think I’ve played over 10 of them) and continues to evolve with its original character styles and concepts kept the same.  I can’t give an opinion until I’ve played it.

[TERA: The Exiled Realm of Arborea - ??? – PC]

            I remember hearing about this game and wanted to try it, but people did not want to leave when they tried it at E3.  This is a good sign then.  That means it is fun.

[Medal of Honor – Electronic Arts – PS3/Wii/PC]

            A friend believes it to be too close to what Modern Warfare 2 is like, and looking at the gameplay it kind of does.  The game looks decent though and I felt like I should of gave it a try when I was at the booth.

[Dead Rising 2 – Capcom – PS3/Xbox360]

            I’m still trying to beat the first one on the Wii, but I like the zombie killing in Dead Rising despite the amount of zombie games that keeps coming out now.  Dead Rising 2 allows 2 player co-op with the ability to tape items together to create new weapons.  I’m glad it’s coming out with a PS3 version this time instead of going Xbox360 exclusive.

[F.3.A.R. - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            Horror games aren’t really my thing, but I’ll play it if it’s good.  The first two I heard was actually exciting and a decent shooter, so I’m curious to see how this one does.

[Valkyria Chronicles 2 – Sega – PSP]

            Strange that a game that started on the PS3 has its sequel on the PSP.  I want to play the first one before I get to know more about the 2^nd one.

[Halo: Reach – Microsoft Game Studios – Xbox360]

            I like Halo.  Sure, a lot of people like Halo and there are people who also hates Halo with a passion, but Halo added new innovations that created trends in the fps genre and new tactics that had to be learned in order to play efficiently.  The gameplay to Reach already impresses me and gives me that feeling of “I need to play this now!”  Unfortunately, I only have a PS3, Wii and PC (in terms of latest Gen) and so I don’t care too much about buying it, but I do want the chance to get to play it though.

[Gran Turismo 5 – SCEA – PS3]

            As I’ve said before, I’m not a huge racing game fan, but this game looks amazing.  Its super realistic graphics and count of 1000 cars is quite a feat.  It’s insane!  If I ever get the chance, I’d like to at least play it.

[Bulletstorm – Electronic Arts – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            This looks good.  It reminds me of Borderlands’ damage system with Dark Messiah’s kicking mechanics where you can push enemies into spikes, off cliffs, or into other enemies.  I also heard it has a co-op mode.

[The Agency – Sony Online Entertainment – PS3/PC]

            I would like to play this game, very much.  I’m not sure how exactly the gameplay will work as an online game, but I’m hoping it’s more than just team death-match with just killing in it.

[Metroid: Other M – Nintendo – Wii]

            If you haven’t heard, Team Ninja of the Ninja Gaiden Series is developing this next installment of Metroid.  So far, the gameplay shows promise in puzzles, action, boss battles, exploration, and fast-paced shooting.

[Gameboy 3DS – Nintendo – 3DS]

            I can’t believe I missed out on seeing this, but I heard some people waited 4 hours just to get a chance to play with it.  My friends got to try it out, and I’m jealous of them because of that.  Supposedly, you could see things in 3D without 3D glasses and be able to see around 3D objects through the two camera lenses in the front of the gameboy.  I’ve seen some of the mock-ups and like the orange color case.  I’m glad they added the analog control to the system, but they also added motion sensing and g-sensing to it.  I was wondering what Nintendo would do as an innovation for the next gameboy.  Bravo Nintendo, Bravo!

[Vanquish – Sega – PS3/Xbox360]

            Lines weren’t particularly long, but each person was taking 10-20 minutes playing.  I don’t blame them since the action was so fast-paced and the controls were so slick.  I’m sad that there won’t be a multiplayer function in it, but this game I might buy.

[Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II – LucasArts – Wii/PC/PS3/PSP/Xbox360/DS]

            I didn’t really care too much as the market is saturated with Star Wars games; however, this one might be worth trying out.

[Transformers: War for Cybertron – Activision – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I usually don’t like Transformers games, but this one is different.  Instead of running around in a open city blowing everything up, you have fast-paced multiplayer and massive boss battles

[Brink - Bethesda Softworks – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            Watch the trailer.  That’s what the developers are trying to achieve in their gameplay: a fluid gameplay of acrobatics and movement with heart-pumping action.

 

What I didn’t care for too much:

[Microsoft Kinect – Microsoft – Xbox360]

            Until they develop actual games for this device, I don’t have much interest in really trying it out at the moment.

[Epic Mickey – Disney Interactive – Wii]

            I was excited for this game before, but after seeing it at E3 I’m kind of disappointed.  It seems they were trying to go for innovation but in turn came out to be tedious tasks.  The side-scroll platforming looks fun though.

[Battle Tag – Ubisoft – TBA]

            It’s not a videogame, but an action game that’s pretty much laser tag.  Meh…

[Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – Electronic Arts – PS3/Xbox360]

            The graphics and gameplay to Need for Speed games keep improving, but they come out with so many of them I kind of lost track of them all and gave up.  The game looks awesome though.

[Various Dance/Fitness Games]

            Games are looking more casual with every passing release of a new game.  I miss classic DDR.

[Dead Space 2 – Electronic Arts – PC/PS3/Xbox360]

            I’m still working on the first one, and it’s not a game I feel I have to play.  The game is looking impressive so far though, but I don’t see it anymore scary than the first one.

[Forza 4 – Microsoft – Xbox360]

            I feel the same about this as I do Need for Speed.  Looks pretty, but I don’t feel inclined to buy it.

[Gears of War 3 – Microsoft – Xbox360]

            I haven’t played the first two yet and they’re already releasing the third one.  I’ve heard great things about this series, and it’s funny to hear that the greatest thing about this game is all the blood and gore, especially since I hear all this from my female friends.  It makes me wonder if girls are secretly masochistic, it’s kinda scary.

[Fable III – Microsoft Game Studios – Xbox 360]

            In the words of my friend “it looks like a refined version of Fable 2.”  The game looks great, but for some reason, I don’t care enough about Fable to really play it.  Maybe the length of the game scares me away since I don’t have as much time to play games as I would like to anymore.

[Dragon Quest IX – Nintendo – DS]

            I never beat any of the Dragon Quest games, but if RPG fans are right, this is an incredible game.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever get around to buying/playing this game.

[Warriors: Legends of Troy – Tecmo Koei – PS3/Xbox360]

            Meh, ever since the movie 300 came out, all these games that came out after it didn’t really interest me that much.  It does look fun, but it doesn’t interest me enough to try it.

[Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            The first one is supposed to be really great, but I never played it and didn’t care too much about it.  You’re playing as the bad guys, right?  It’s supposed to be good action, but I guess it’s sorta dark for me?  At least it’s not Manhunt right?  Maybe I’ll check it out in the future.

[Mind Jack – Square Enix – PS3/Xbox360]

            I know nothing about this game other than what was in the catalogue at E3.  Looks cool, but I didn’t bother looking it up.

[Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions – Square Enix – iPhone/iPod Touch]

            If I had to buy/play this, it’d be on the PSP.  If you do care that it’d going to be on iPhone/iPod Touch, at least get a iPad to play it on so you don’t accidentally execute a wrong order and mess up your turn.

[Crysis 2 – Electronic Arts – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I haven’t played the first one, but it looks graphically amazing and seems to have a very smooth, fluid gameplay mechanic.

[Fallout: New Vegas - Bethesda Softworks – PS3/Xbox360/PC]

            I haven’t played any of the Fallouts yet, so I didn’t really look into this one.

[Homefront – THQ – PS3/PC]

            No gameplay footage, and the premise of the game scares me.  The controversial storyline of North Korea unifying with South Korea and taking over the world with the United States fighting for their country in their country screams mass media attention.  What are these developers trying to do?  Pick a fight with political powers and cause uproar?

On a side note, I ran into Cole & Dylan Sprouse from the Disney Show "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" at E3 and even took a picture with them.  I also saw James Rolfe from Screwattack's "Angry Videogame Nerd" at the Goldeneye 007 booth for the Wii.  If you watch his video and see the Goldeneye booth, I am standing a feet away from him but am not in the shot (I also didn't get to take a picture with him since he was in a rush to finish his video).

Well, this took 5 days to write and I am finally finished.  I have a lot ahead of me this summer, with cleaning my room as my first priority.  Other than that, it's videogames, working on projects, practicing piano/guitar/violin, drawing, and hopefully making videos this summer.  Also, be sure to contact me if any of you want to hang out or play some online games or something.  Thanks for reading~

Blur

I'll try to make this short since I still got homework to do.  The competitive racing game "Blur" just came out recently developed by Bizarre Creations and I gotta admit it look pretty cool:

It's racing with weapons!  Anyways, I use the title "Blur" more referring to my future.  I'm still not certain how my future will unfold as I learn more about life, our modern day society, and the game industry as I'm going into the business during a recession and a time where publishers rule and developers are slaves.  Sad but true.  I'm not certain how I'll get through these next 2 weeks as I have 5 major assignments to take care of (which I should be doing right now).  Also, graduation?  I can't even imagine that really.  I don't care about the ceremony.  Just give me the paper and let me move on with my life because I don't want to be in lecture halls, doing all nighters, doing tons of homework and hearing things that don't even pertain to my career.  It's also hard since I'm going to be leaving a time where I get to socialize, meet new people, and have the convince and perks of a university student.  I don't even know if I can get a job right after graduating.  And do I really want to start working right after getting out of school?  I am so behind videogames (yes I am) that I feel I need a long break and really gather myself together and really work towards what I want (to make videogames for one).  I think I want to start "completing" projects I've held off for years and really start doing things I want.  Compose, arrange, and mix music; draw comics; make videos; and developing games (I'm really getting into indie games.  I think I might get into the scene of creating them).  Wishful thinking, we'll see.

In terms of my non-working/boring part of my life, the game industry has been very slow as of late.  Especially Nintendo.  The surprising thing was their release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 with 17 critic scores of 100/100.  I may have to pick a copy up after I beat the first one this summer.  I'm suspecting that all the companies are hold information tightly closed until E3 rolls around.  I guess I'll find out in 3 weeks since I'm going to E3.  Yup, I'm not lying.  I'm going to E3 this year.

The MMO and online gaming side of things however has been booming like crazy with a new game announced each month or something.  I've decided to give up a few in order to try a few new ones only to realize that I've accumulated quite a bit over the past year, mostly on steam.  Here's some videos as a tribute to the ones I've given up on: (None of the videos are mine btw)

I need to give them up and start moving onto new MMOs if I ever want to check them out.  I don't have enough time or Hard drive space for them.

Steam has been continuing to tempt me with their awesome deals every week and I've already bought five games (most of them costing $5).  Other games I got for free either from special offers, or friends gave them to me.  Here's what I got from steam as a demo, free offer, or bought:

Beat Hazard - An arena shooter that creates levels based on your music choice. (Indie)

Global Agenda - A unique MMO Action RPG Shooter (I'm playing demo for now)

Irongrip Warlord - An RTS/FPS Tower Defense Multiplayer Co-op game.  (Indie)

Killing Floor - 6 player co-op Zombie Survival Horror FPS.  UT2004 Mod originally. (Indie)

Torchlight - Single player "Diablo-like" game.  It's pretty fun~ (Indie)

Trine - Physics based platformer with 3 player local co-op.  Funny game. (Indie...sorta)

Okay, back to homework~

My "Local" Agenda...

It's late, yet I feel that I should write a little to unload the information out of my head.  It's the end of the fourth week and I feel like every week has been a finals week for me this quarter.  I have not eaten a proper breakfast in the past 2 weeks and I have been going to sleep quite late every night now and failing to attend some of my classes.  2 weeks ago, I host a Game Making competition in the Videogame Development Club of UC Irvine and accepted the responsibility of audio for both teams.  To make it short, it was a productive experience that was both tiring and fulfilling.  I am still waiting for the judges to make their decision.  Our Vice President was able to get faculty members of the Game Culture and Virtual Worlds Department of UC Irvine, employees from Obsidian Entertainment, and the producer of Diablo 3 to judge our games.  It's very exciting, but that week spent working on the music has really taken a toll on both my schedule and health as I haven't been getting enough sleep or proper rest.  Every night I worry about getting work for my classes done and dreading the classes I feel is wasting my time.  I have already missed 2 assignments due to shortage of time and not knowing about them.  I keep a scheduler at hand and I still have assignments that slip past me.  Either the teachers are not stating the assignments clearly enough or I seriously have way too much on my hands.  I have 10 assignments this weekend that's all due all across this weekend (with the exception of one essay).  This high stress is really difficult to handle, and I can usually cope with it when I play videogames, play piano, or draw.  But I've been so busy that I rarely get to do any of them let alone sleep.  I get to play about 2-5 hours of Videogames a week if possible, 1-3 hours of piano a week, and barely 30 mins of drawing if I'm lucky and I'm just sitting somewhere at school waiting for a club meeting to start.  To say the least, I'm very unhappy and feel rather depressed with my situation.  I really want to concentrate on building a portfolio, creating a great resume and start applying for jobs now while I still can.  My classes are doing very little to help me in my career or make me feel good about my work.  There are nights where I feel I should just drop out of college and learn the actual way of getting a job.  I've gone so far in my studies that I feel that it'd be a waste though, and I'm a very stubborn student who doesn't like to give up.  If I didn't have as much homework, studying and reading as I did now and didn't have letters reflect my value as a student or person, I would be enjoying my studies so much more and possibly be even learning something from my classes.  Unfortunately, I have about seven weeks of school left and am so deep in work right now that I fear the possibility of failing some of my classes.

It isn't just this quarter though.  The finals week of Winter quarter 2010 was very stressful, even though it was only Chinese Art History.  I couldn't sleep the night before the exam and had only 2 hours of sleep.  Then when it was all over, I thought I could enjoy my spring break only to go home and get sick (cold maybe? I never found out) for the rest of the week and didn't start recovering until Saturday of Spring Break.  What was great about spring break was not having to deal with school and having "some" good things happen to me.  Upon returning home for spring break, I found out that the Game Crazy that I visited once a week back in Sacramento City College was shutting down and had games 20% off.  I went in and saw that they had Persona 3 FES and couldn't let up the chance, so I bought it for $24.

Then I went to Costco, still with my family, and saw Final Fantasy XIII for PS3 and Pokemon SoulSilver for Gameboy DS.  I couldn't resist and couldn't decide, so my dad let my get both.  Happy with my new games, I went home and remembered that a friend left his Modern Warfare 2 for PS3 at my house.  The day I started feeling the sickness, I got a call from a friend I haven't seen in 1.5 years and had him over to hang out.  He stayed from Monday to Friday morning.  We played Modern Warfare 2, DotA, Phantasy Star Online and some Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  But at one point in spring break, my sickness had my allergies affected too and I couldn't breath, see, or think.  He knew I was sick, but still came over to hang out anyways.  So I was mostly watching him play games while I suffered the effects of allergies raping my face while coughing and sneezing.  To end Spring Break, one of my computer stopped displaying and essentially stopped working.  It was possibly one of the worst spring breaks I've ever had so far.

I don't think I should stay up any longer, I have a mid-term to study for, an essay to write, and 8 other assignments to attend to tomorrow.  hmm, actually a few more things:

I signed up for the Beta testing of Genesis A.D. on ijji.com and was selected as one of the beta testers.  I had the incentive of winning prizes, but didn't win any and doubt I'll win anything.  But I feel that it's good practice and experience in game testing since I'll be applying for that position in my first step to the Interactive Entertainment Industry.  It's quite fun, though the gameplay does take a bit of adjusting to play efficiently.

I'm also keeping my eye on a game called "Lead & Gold" which I really want to get.  It's only $15, so it's very tempting.  Lots of tempting deals actually.  Left 4 Dead 2 is $20.09 right now, but I don't feel like getting it now.  I wish I had more time to play games and do more productive activities I enjoy...

Winter Quarter 2010

I guess I missed making a post for January, I've been way too busy.

I actually wanted start off paying my respects to Fuzzy, our family pet chicken. He died earlier today and I was informed by my dad about it soon after when I called home. He was the last of the four pet chickens we raised. We've raised Fuzzy up to about 9-10 years and have gone through many memories with him. I'm sad he's gone, but now he can crow all he wants in heaven. R.I.P. Fuzzy (2001-Feb.5, 2010)

My sister was especially close to Fuzzy, it was her favorite. The four pet chickens were mainly my sisters to raise, though it ended up being our dad taking care of them the most. We all helped out to take care of them, and I helped take care of Fuzzy during my three years of Junior College when I was living by myself (waking up to his crowing every morning, gah...) He was an odd one, he would crow at odd times of the day and even night (yes, 4AM night...or morning, whatever).
Aside from the sad news I recieved earlier today, my work schedule has become a hurricane of madness. Dunno how many times I've said this already, but: 3 classes, 3 clubs, 3 recreations, 5 game projects, and 1 independent studies. For my classes, I have Chinese Art History, Culture Flows: Asia, and Project in Technology Hacking. It's a lot more work than I previously anticipated, but I'm hanging in there (somehow). I'm still in the same clubs: Videogame Development Club, Kendo Club (for extra practice), and Tomo no Kai. At the Anteater Recreation Center (ARC), I'm taking classes for Kendo, Iaido, and Kyudo (Japanese fencing, katana techniques, and archery respectively). For the game projects, I am mainly working as audio for the groups, a bit of design to finish up one project, and play testing a game close to being published. My independent studies is with a Professor on debugging a editor program he created for his research by making a game out of it and reporting all the errors and glitches I run into. I have a full plate to chow down on, but don't really have the stomach to take it all in (that being the time to do all of them).

Because of this crazy schedule I put myself into, I've been getting only minimum sleep. On Friday and Saturday nights, I would stay up playing videogames, yet I haven't touched any yet since I've been drawing tonight as well as blogging at this moment. (dang, 4:30AM...) I'm prepared to graduate, and I still haven't heard from the JET Program to know whether I get to go to the next step in getting into the program and get to study in Japan for a year while teaching English. I'm also thinking of interning at Blizzard Entertainment this Summer as someone in the industry had suggested me to do. I feel somewhat lost as I know what I WANT to do, but not sure what I'm good at to pay the bills (growing up sucks, lol). As much as I enjoy the "freedom" (if you could call it that), I miss having free time to experiment and work on things I like and being actually able to PLAY videogames. This quarter really is messing me up, but it's also building me up as well as I've been meeting quite a bit of people in the Interactive Entertainment Industry. I even got to go to Blizzard Entertainment for a presentation, but that's as far as I am at liberty to tell (I wanna protect the company you know?) If I did get hired for intern at Blizzard, I'd probably apply for QA for WoW or the unnamed MMO they announced last year or as a map designer for Starcraft 2. To be honest though, I really hope that Starcraft 2 gets out by the time I graduate though. I can't wait to buy the game and start making maps like I did back in High School~

Man I have a lot to blog about. Writing was something I used to hate a lot (I think) because I was forced to do monotonous assignments of reading and reporting long papers of topics I didn't care for too much. I think I started liking writing a bit by Jr. High because of an awesome teacher (I still remember his name, Mr. Holt) and became more competent in structure and grammatical syntax (though I'm pretty sure that my skills in writing from vocabulary choice to spelling is still flawed) from Mrs. Connors (if it weren't for her, I don't even know if I could have survived the rest of High School). ANYWAYS, my point is that I've realized I really like writing, as long as I'm passionate about what I'm writing. It's also a way for me to reflect upon myself and let my mind run free (and have all of you reading suffer from it, bwahahaha. Though probably no one reads my blog...)

I've finally started drawing again (here and there) and I can't get over how bad I am at it. I want to practice more, but given the limited free time I have, I usually spend on practicing on music or playing videogames ('cause I'm trying learn more about design, honest~). I'm glad I bought Acoustica Mixcraft, I've been able to improve on using audio programs and train my ears for various tasks. I really don't know what I'm going to do as a career (other than wanting to be in the Videogame Industry) because I still love drawing, I do videos, I do photography, I love music, I always have crazy designs, and I enjoy creating stories. I want to do everything right now, maybe I'll find what I'm good at and do that as my career as work and do everything else as a hobby.

OKAY, aside from all the boring and sad stuff, I am rather excited for 2010 line-up of games. 2009 was a scary year for the Industry because of the recession that caused financial upkeep problems and the termination of certain developers such as Pandemic studios. Here's what we get to look forward to this year:

Starcraft 2 - PC

Oh c'mon, who's NOT excited for this game?  I really want to get this game mainly for the map editor as it was the original Starcraft that really inspired to go into the path of the Interactive Entertainment Industry (although I always had that intention my whole life).

Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce - PS3

Missing out on an awesome $10 deal for the original PSP version, I'm excited to hear that it's being released for the PS3 with hi-res graphics.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - PS3

Not surprising as I am a big Castlevania Fan.  Being developed by another company, I am expecting epic battles, innovative gameplay, and memorable game time when it finally comes out.

Metroid: Other M - Wii

Let's just say I'm a big fan of all games as Metroid is one of them as well.  I have not play a Metroid game where I felt it was poorly made or a waste of time.  Along with Team Ninja's association with Nintendo, this game is going to be more exciting than ever before as well as shedding some light on the story.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 - PSP

Yup, second one is coming out and I haven't even started the first one.  I'm still play Universe, haven't gotten to the expansion, and I barely got anywhere on Zero.  I'm still playing Phantasy Star Online, that's how good the series is! =P

Ragnarok Online DS

Yay, they're actually bringing it to America.  According to Gamespot, it's in 10 days.  I'm so tied down with everything else, I doubt I'll be buying any new games anytime soon.

That's it for now, I really need sleep @_@; (frick it's 5:10AM!!!)

Merry Christmas!!!

It's been a while, and I have free time on Christmas day!  Yay!!!  But I don't want to take too long on this blog as I do want to get onto playing some videogames.  So I'll make everything brief.

Finals for Fall 2009 was rather difficult and taxing on my mentality, but I pulled through and studied like mad and managed to get an A+ in Performance and Camera, an A in PC Game Development, a B in Asian Art History - Indian Art (that was the hardest one), and a B- in Modern European Art History (That was second hardest).  Indian Art was really difficult since I was memorizing long words such as places called "Gangaikondacholapuram", names of objects such as "Folio from the Kalpasutra & Kalakacharya-Katha" and artist names like "Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris 'Le Courbussier'".  I can't believe I still remember it now actually, I'll probably forget when I start to memorize things for next quarter's classes.  Anyways, I went back home for winter break and at the end of the 2nd week which means I only have one week left before going back (sadness....).  I've been actually pretty busy with organizing my computer since I'm running out of hard drive, having team meetings and working on several game projects, and catching up with friends ever since I got back.  I wish I had more time to spend with my friends since I rarely get to see them.  Like some of you guys reading this right now I probably haven't seen for half a year to like 2-5 years (seriously!)  But yeah, I'm going to enjoy myself today and play some videogames and just relax and not think about work and productivity.

Short Game Reviews (yay!):

[Borderlands] (PC - FPS/RPG)

Borderlands is a First-Person Shooter (FPS) with the game having the concepts of a Role-Playing Game (RPG).  You run around, shoot people and monsters like an FPS, but you level up, gain new equipment, have skill levels, and statistics like an RPG.  The game is fast paced during battle and strategic when preparing so it has a nice balance that makes the game exciting while not being too ridiculous.

The story takes you a desert like terrain where you fight off bandits and monstrosities of epic proportions to liberate the planet from the greed and corruption of those who seek power for themselves.  Taking the role of a hunter, soldier, siren or Berserker, you and 3 other friends fight off hordes of enemies, fight for awesome loot, and try out 87 Bazillion Guns!  The game is challenging, and it does affect the gameplay when one player is significantly higher in level than the other, but if you can find some friends who are around the same level who can cooperate with you or at least kill off the enemies, then you're sure to have an great experience playing this game.  I play as a siren btw, I love assassinating~

Overall: 9/10

[Phantasy Star Zero] (NDS - ARPG)

I raved about this game quite a bit and for good reasons too.  4-Player co-op wireless play with 3 other people with the ability to play with others online.  Online play doesn't even have lag!!! (for the most part).  Over 300 weapons, tons of quests, a fair amount of customization, Phantasy Star Zero is a game worth buying providing hours upon hours of gameplay.  The story differs depending on which race you play choosing from a Human, Cast and Newman like in the previous Phantasy Star games, but they relate to each other in some way or another.  A period of time called the "Great Blank" puts all the people into curiosity of what happened to the Casts who've been turned off and suddenly loses all memory of the past and the conflicts between the newmans and humans.

I played the game for about 10 hours and still have quite a bit to do.  I wouldn't be surprised if this game provided me with over 300 hours of gameplay if I had the time.  I mainly played over the internet with my friend and did a few quests, got new weapons, and killed off boss monsters.  It was really exciting getting to play with others online who had Japanese versions of the game.  Whether they're from Japan or not is questionable, but it was great to know I was playing with people from around the country.  The biggest thing I have against the game is that in the American Version, they took out the original Japanese title theme song that Hatsune Okumura wrote and sang and replaced with some generic theme.  They did the same exact thing with Shining Tears on the PS2.  Other than that, the backgrounds in the game look flat but can be sorta convincing of things looking further away.  The timing in the combo can be a bit difficult to get used to, so that could affect gameplay.  And like the predecessors before PSZero, you're going to struggle against certain bosses so prepare to go train/grind somewhere.  As long as you do quests or play with a friend, the game will continue to be interesting.  This is one of those games where people will either love it or hate it.

Overall:9/10

[Haze] (PS3 - FPS)

Good thing: unique game mechanics with the nectar and playing dead along with 2-player co-op split screen / 4-player co-op online.  Bad thing: system is so broken when going against enemies in harder difficulty levels, storyline starts off good but really makes you gag at the end.  To make things short, this game had great potential in many ways but fails at some point and makes you wonder why you're playing the game.

You start off the game playing the role of Shane Carpenter who signed up with an organization called Mantel who fights for the good of man.  Mantel's greatest weapon is nectar, their drug that's injected into them everyone once in a while and can be controlled during the game that enhances vision, health regeneration, speed, and power.  You're sent to fight off a group of people for the sake of ethnic cleansing and later find out that Mantel is actually trying to steal the ingredients from the people for profits and that nectar is actually killing the soldiers who use them.  You then fight for the victims you were initially killing and have the ability to play dead, which doesn't always work since they keep shooting your body.....I won't complain too much since I bought the game for $7 and it had co-op so I could play with my sister, but I wouldn't give the game that much merit.

Overall: 7/10 if you can play online, 6/10 if you play offline.

[Wii Music] (Wii - Music)

This game didn't do too well in sales, and it has been identified being more of an advance toy or program rather than a game.  It was for sale for $20 and I already heard about the bad reviews people gave about this game, but I really didn't want to give up this opportunity like I did with Ikaruga all those years ago when it was $20 at Costco (now it's like $70-100 on ebay, can't find it for Gamecube anymore).  Well, the game was worth those $20 because the game, although very childish in many ways, is actually very interesting and does a very good job in just letting the player have a good time without actual failure.  There are mini games such as pitch perfect and maestro where it tests your sense of rhythm and pitch identification where you can challenge for higher scores or even lose, but it doesn't really force the player to be in an environment where there is a winner and a loser.

You get to choose from 50 songs and 60 instruments and experiment with each one using the motions you would for that instrument.  It may be a turn off for those who are not very interested in music and rhythm as it may not sound as nice if you cannot grasp the concepts of a steady beat and understanding styles.  I don't like the fact that the instruments sounds extremely MIDI-ish and computerized, but the amount of things you can do in the game makes up for that.  I haven't tried playing with friends yet in a custom jam, but I'm pretty sure it'll be fun since a lot of my friends are music orientated.  You actually don't need any skills in music if you just want to pick up a wii-mote and start jamming away on the improvisation mode where you control the song anyway you please.  I wouldn't mind calling this game an advanced toy, because it was a lot of fun just trying out all the instruments.

Overall: 8/10

That's all for game reviews, and here are 2 free games I wanted to mention before I go:

[I Want to Be the Guy] (PC - Action Platformer)

This game is unforgivably difficult for ANYONE to play.  But if you're one of those patient people or a hardcore gamer who wants to prove themselves, this game is for you.  Created by one guy using actionscript on flash, he created a game that has a surprise in every room of the entire freaking game.  The game's concept is built around trial and error where you fail over and over until you've memorized every aspect of a room.  It has a great system for making the player try over and over again because it shows that it's possible, but you just got to do it correctly.  Try it now: http://kayin.pyoko.org/iwbtg/downloads.php

[Spelunky] (PC - Action Adventure)

Spelunky is a lot more doable than IWTBTG, but it doesn't mean it's easy.  The game's concept is built around generating random caves the player goes through while collecting as much loot as possible.  You have several items and can gain a lot more along the way.  This game also has a lot of surprises that will piss the player off by showing that something is possible, but you gotta start over and do it again if you fail.  Lots of hours gone by playing this game: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=4017.0

That's all for now, I'm finally going to go play videogames, I took much longer than expected.  Merry Christmas~

School, Life, and Videogames~

Hey everyone, us UC students just finished our 5th week of Fall Quarter and I, with many others, are exhausted already and wants the quarter to end.  I do feel as if the quarter is going someone quickly, but it's also very stressful as I haven't been able to enjoy a weekend of this quarter other than the one on week 1.  I recieved my mid-terms back this week and ended up with a "B" and a "C-".  Anyone who knows me well enough is aware of how I do not like getting anything lower than a "B".  It's like the danger zone for me and I never feel safe in my academics standings whenever that happens.  Those who say "you could just take the class again next quarter because you'll know everything" make me think "why in the world would I want to take a class over again when I hated it so much the first time around?"  Aside from those 2 mid-terms, I'm not liking one of my other classes because we keep recieving so many assignments.  I do (somewhat) like my Computer Game Development class.  My group is working on a 3rd-person 3d Action-Platformer using the Unreal Tournament 2004 Engine influenced by the game "Mirror's Edge."  I rather not get into detail of why I'm getting frustrated with the class, but I do like the fact that I'm working with something related to my future career.

Speaking of Game Development, I took up 6 game projects and now put myself in a very busy schedule.  I'm on Sound/Music for an RPG, Side-Scroll Shooter, 3D Action-Platformer, and 2D Action Horror Game.  Then I have 2 independent games I'm working on.  One game I'm making is a follow up to something I created for class and the other is for a professor I'm working with in my Game Culture Concentration.  Yup yup, very busy and wish I had more time away from the boring classes I have to go through.

I feel very videogame deprived since I haven't been playing all that much lately and because of all the good games suddenly coming out and tempting me.  2 Games for sure I'm buying is Phantasy Star Zero for DS and Castle of Shikigami 3 for Wii.

I'm super excited for Phantasy Star Zero since I enjoy the Phantasy Star series, the amount of weapons and story they're implementing into this game, and the ability to play over the internet cooperatively with people around the world!!!  Castle of Shikigami 3 is actually getting somewhat old (about a year or 2) but I've been getting back into shooters after playing Touhou and Valkyrie Sky as well as re-watching the video Mushihimesama-Futari.  It's also because CoS3 has 2 player co-op and I wanted something to play with my sister and friend over this winter break.

The graphics are nice, the game is challenging, but I hope I can at the very least change the voices back to Japanese (I played the Japanese demo on PC).

It looks impossible, but I think it'd be fun to try it out.

Free Online game with 4-player co-op and RPG elements.  Check on Right Panel.

Putting Phantasy Star Zero ($40) with Castle of Shikigami ($30) would cost me up to $70 plus tax.  I'm not even working in a real job right now, so using money really puts a hole in my wallet.  This makes it hard for me when I look at the other games out there.  Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out very soon:

Then this week, I got to try out DJ Hero (on its launch day no less) and I gotta say it's pretty fun.  I also love the stuff Daft Punk does:

Today, I went back to try out Tekken 6 since I forgot to on tuesday when I was playing DJ Hero:

This guy makes him look like nothing, but I got to the boss today.  It wasn't even fair..... One game in particular that really caught my attention though was Borderlands.  It's an Action sort of FPS RPG that can be played online with 3 other people for a 4 player co-op.

It's $60 for Console and $50 for PC, and I'm having a really hard time deciding whether I should get this game or not.  I'm leaning a lot more towards waiting for it to become cheaper before I actually buy it, but it's an RPG I can play with my FPS friends!!!  Yeaaaaah, lot's of good games out.  For those of you that play DotA, "League of Legends goes free-to-play".  No seriously, check their website.  It's created by those who were involved with making DotA, so the designs of the game is sure to be familiar and entertaining to those who've played DotA before.  Not sure when I'll get around to trying it since I have so much work...Another game to look out for if you're a DotA fan is "Heroes of Newerth."  The game "Demigod", that was also inspired by "DotA", was/is fun, but didn't have as many characters which was something that disappointed me a little.  But the game mechanics were a lot easier to pick up and play with others.

Moving away from Videogames, I got a chance to watch the first episode of the anime "K-On" and loved it.  I like the way Kyoto Animation animates and draws their characters as it's easy on the eyes and enjoyable to follow.  The stories that they transition from the manga (as it is a 4-Koma style Manga) are true to the story with more details that make it its own (like they did with Lucky Star).  And I love music, so a story about 4 girls getting together and playing music really interested me.  There's a Bassist, guitarist, drummer, and keyboard player (and I play all 4, yay!) all have a distinctive personality and charm about them that really relates to the viewers or makes them a bit more attatched.

Yeah, that's Mio (mmm, I wouldn't mind having that figurine, but it's $88...- -;).  She's my favorite character so far which surprised me since I play the Bass the least (I don't have one, I play my friend's).  I liked the part in the first episode where Ritsu kicked Mio in the leg, made me sorry for Mio, but still laughed.  I didn't know it before, but appearently EVERYONE loves Mio as I read stuff on forums and blogs.  I don't blame them after seeing the amazing ending credits theme song "Don't Say Lazy" at the end of the episode.

Mmmm, sexy right? XD  Yeah, this anime is fairly new, but I think they already brought it over with english dubs to the states already.  It's voiced by Christine Vee.  No offense at all to her, but I don't like the english dubs of any of the Kyoto Animation animes, they sound so weird and out of character.  I think what really urked me was the english version of "God Knows..." from Suzumiya Haruhi  no Yuutsu.  If you've watched the original Japanese version, avoid listening to the english version.  On the other hand, I think Christine Vee did a decent job on the english version of "Don't Say Lazy".  Still, I perfer the Japanese version more.

Okay, time to cook dinner and go to Kendo and hopefully play some videogames tonight before I work like crazy tomorrow!!! XD