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Archives for 2008

What a game trailer should be.

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HOLY AWESOME TRAILER BATMAN!!!!!

That’s what I thought to myself after I saw this thing.

Wow. That was a really great trailer. It made me think of Braveheart and The Lord of The Rings movies all at once. Game wise it resembles Viking: Battle for Asgard which is a good game, but the trailer makes this look way better. I would hope that more and more game trailers can be of the same caliber as a movie trailer. Some are already and have been for a while, take any of the clips from any of the Blizzard games. That huge monster at the end gave me goosebumps! It will be interesting to see how the the game actually plays.

I bought the first game of the series that came out on the 360, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom

And the graphics were sweet and the gameplay was sufficient for a 20$ bargain bin game. I just hope that they take the gameplay to a new level and improve on what they had. That would make this game one of the great ones.

(as a side note for those of you who have played KUF before: I wonder if the corn rows haired guy is Kendal’s son or something? If anyone who has KUF wants to tear up some monsters on LIVE let me know.)

No Wii Speak (and Possibly Animal Crossing) for Me

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Have you been hearing about publishers efforts to block or prevent the resell and trade-in of games? Nintendo’s not any different.

The peripheral can also be used without “Animal Crossing,” just for game-free voice chat, but that requires used of the Wii Speak Channel, which will be released in December.

But there’s a catch, a fine print surprise. There is a pamphlet packaged with the peripheral that includes a 16-character code, a “Wii Download Ticket Number,” to be used for downloading the Wii Speak Channel. According to the pamphlet, this code “cannot be replaced by Nintendo or your retailer if it is lost or stolen.”

A Nintendo rep further clarified to me that the channel won’t be able to be downloaded through any other means. You won’t be able to get it off the Wii Shopping Channel manually, nor would you be able to buy it. Essentially, the Wii Speak Channel will be available to new purchasers of the Wii Speak mic and that’s it.

Gimped games being sold at a premium is coming. It’s for certain publishers are thinking about it. My guess is you’ll buy a disc and have to enter a code or a one-time use key to get a level, ending, weapon, or character. Of course, you’ll need internet access, and I can see companies like Microsoft making it so you have to be a Live Gold subscriber.

My wife wants Animal Crossing. We’re not getting it if we don’t find it without the mic. Who is there going to be to talk to on the Wii anyway? Like I want to share a friend code to talk, and I’d rather take a bat to Tom Nook’s knees, not leave him a message.

Impressions Galore

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You’d think I’d talk a little more about games, seeing how this is a video game blog and all. So now that I’ve poured a few hours into some games, let’s talk:

Fallout 3

This goes beyond the regular first impressions, I’ve logged almost 20 hours. First things first, Fallout 3 is a GREAT game. I’m not going to go through the superlatives. It’s good. It is not without hiccups, but overall it is excellent.

The game is an explorer’s heaven. If you’re like me, you have to open every door and open every container and look in every corner. If your front door is left unlocked (or not), I’m coming in. Some people refer to this as kleptomania. So be it. In Fallout 3, it’s survival. The explorer itch is scratched over and over. In fact, it’s starting to hurt and get red. There is just so much to see. You could be heading to a specific location and take two hours to get there as you look around, take on new missions and find boxes to open. I can’t miss a thing.

The story starts off slowly and I really didn’t care much for the characters at first but things are getting interesting. The world they have crafted feels real without being realistic, if that makes sense. Seeing the dilapidated Washington Monument was jarring. There’s something about seeing a familiar sight and something not being right. Well done, Bethesda.

There are problems, things that aren’t deal breakers, but issues nontheless. My biggest issue is with the NPCs. I believe Oblivion suffered from some of these issues. First off, most are terrifying to look at. Character models are not this game’s strong suit. Their interactions with me, the Vault 101 guy, also leave something to be desired. One minute they’re rushing up to me in town, telling how happy they are for what I’ve done, and giving me the goods. Two seconds later they hate me. What gives?

I mentioned the game looks good, but whatever you do, DO NOT go third person. The game suddenly looks markedly worse. Game-play is mostly on the level. Character progression is well paced and the variety of skills are expansive. Combat isn’t terrible, either. This isn’t a shooter,. I love the VATS targeting system. Unloading my minigun on some Super Mutant’s head is very satisfying.

If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve made moderate progress in the “actual story”. That might not seem much, having played so much already, but I’m okay with that. I’m in no hurry for this game to end.

Gears of War 2

I enjoyed the first Gears. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was a fun game and didn’t take itself too seriously. The sequel (or as Nat calls it, expansion) takes what was fun in the first one and makes everything better and tighter. The core game hasn’t changed. Gears of War 2 lives up to its expectations.

Thing is, it’s almost too polished. Gears of War 2 is the video game equivalent of Pop Music. It is expertly produced, aimed directly at it’s core market (18-34 y/o males), glamorizes a particular lifestyle, and is narrowly focused. It doesn’t take a lot of risks. I guess it really doesn’t need to.

In the end, I’m enjoying quite a bit what I’ve played so far. most of my time has been spent playing the main story. Everything I’ve read about the multiplayer games has me really excited to dip into those waters. I gave Horde Mode (survival mode) a try with split-screen co-op, and this mode resonates strongly with me. I can see this be the beginning of a long relationship.

Disgaea DS

Let me be brief here. Here is a game where the level cap is 9,999. My main character is level 8. It is a strategy RPG (read: portable crack). It may or may not have a story. It has exploding penguins.

I will be playing this for a long time.

Boom Blox

I grabbed this one on a whim, needing to justify ownership of my Wii. The idea is simple — there’s a stack of blox, knock them over with a ball. Simple. I figured the kids would dig on it pretty good. Turns out both kids really like the game. In fact, my little 3 year-old is quite the Boom Bloxer. Not sure if this is a keeper, but it will provide plenty of Wii gaming.

Phew. There’s quite a bit on my plate right now, with more to come.

LittleBigPlanet Levels Being Moderated

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Media Molecule and Sony seems to be deleting user-created levels that feature or copy intellectual property.

Get over it, whiners. Create something unique and original. I’ve specifically avoided anything to do with other IP and game level copying. 99% of it is crap anyway. If I want to play Super Mario Bros., uh, I’ll play SMB.

I’ll be nice now. Mean mode is off.

Weekend Gaming

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After seeing Brock’s over-flowing stack of games, I wanted to know what people are playing this weekend. I’ve got Fallout 3, Disgaea DS and (when it shows up) Gears of War 2.

This looks like it’s going to be one of the first crummy-weather weekends of the fall, so I’m planning on getting in as much gaming as I can.

What will you be playing?

Roads? Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Roads

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Burnout Paradise. Do you see what they are doing?

Best. Supported. Game. Evar.

Fill the gauge and hit boost to trigger burning flame trails from your back wheels. The 88 Special’s fast, manoeuvrable and great in the air.

In fact, if you want to take off, this is just the car for you. Hit L3 to switch to hover mode – the wheels retract and the car takes off and hovers through Paradise City at head height.

Seriously. It hovers.

This is paid DLC and I will gladly pay if the price is right in light of their previous updates.

One Step Closer to Dead Rising 2

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It rises forth and speaks:

Rumours that the Vancouver-based outfit was working on the zombie project first emerged last year, but neither the developer nor publisher Capcom has confirmed anything on the record. But while Eurogamer was on a secret mission in Vancouver last week, we were told by a source familiar with the project that Capcom has indeed farmed out development to the Western team.

The source said: “Everyone’s really excited; the team has obviously seen the rumours and it’s been hard to keep quiet, but they can’t wait to show off the game.”