Super Monkey Ball on iPhone

Thoughts on Assault Heroes 2

The first Assault Heroes is by far one of the best games on XBLA to this day so I was happy to hear that Assault Heroes 2 was being released and so soon at that. My Xbox was red ringin’ when it was released so I had to wait a few weeks to play it but as soon as my 360 came back I downloaded it and gave it a try with my wife. We played through the first 10 areas before we realized that Medium is more like Hard. I don’t usually ever play on Easy mode but this was an exception, plus we just wanted to enjoy it. The first thing I noticed when playing AH2 was the level of detail this version has compared to the last. The overall look is a lot different than the first one, you have way more things going on on screen than before. More things to blow up, more enemies, more scenery. The jungle levels were probably the most beautiful as we climbed up ancient ruins and fought off dinosaurs…yes dinosaurs. Assault Heroes is everything I would want in a sequel. My wife is also enjoying the game a lot too. Overall AH2 is a must buy if you enjoyed the first one, it’s everything a sequel should be.

Thoughts on Konami's Critter Round-Up

My mom and sister are here to visit and I was expecting to have Wii Fit on Monday (not Wednesday) but that didn’t happen so I decided to look on WiiWare and see if there was anything fun to download for us to play. I noticed Konami’s Critter Round-Up was available and after checking a trailer for it I thought it looked like cute family fun. So I shelled out $10…yes $10…more than the price of the most amazing PSN game ever (PixelJunk Monsters) and yes, the same price as Lost Winds. I later found out that I was totally ripped off. Critter Round-Up is a lame “build the fence around some animals” game that has super-poor graphics and looks like it was made by some 10 year olds. The point of the game is to build fences around the animals, keeping the same animals together. Bears with bears, goats with goats, and so on. You press 1 to build the fence and 2 to jump. Any animal you touch will kill you and you only have 3 lives. Bears and wolves will even run after you to eat you. My main complaint with the game was the inability to be able to stop building a fence once you’ve started. The only way you can stop is to connect it you another fence. The whole game is set up on a grid which makes it really hard to direct your guy correctly. Critter Round-Up supports up to 4 players and also has an additional 4 mini games which are better than the main “adventure,” but not by much. Critter Round-Up might be worth $5 but definitely not $10. Use that money on something like Lost Winds or PixelJunk Monsters. I don’t know if there is some cult following for Critter Round-Up or if Konami just wants to make a quick buck but it’s games like these that are going to give WiiWare a bad rep.

Thoughts on Lost Winds

Now that my Xbox 360 is in repair I was happy to come back to the Wii and check out what WiiWare had to offer. I decided to download Lost Winds over the weekend. Boy am I glad I did. I had heard some good things about it from various journalists and knew that I would have to give it a try. Lost Winds is a great game, the best on WiiWare by far. The main game mechanic at work here is wind. You use the Wii remote to blow wind towards Toku (the character you are controlling) and this causes him “fly.” Along the way you unlock more powers which allow you to do more things such as draw a line where you want the wind to go and so on. Lost Winds’ story reminds me a lot of Zelda. Even though the game is as good as it can be for $10 the world of Mistralis looks beautiful. I am also really digging the music. It’s very relaxing and is one of the reasons I love the game so much. There is already talk of a sequel in production. Visit the Lost Winds site for more info.

Lost Winds really sets a good pace for WiiWare. It also gives me a great idea of the potential that WiiWare has. I have no problem spitting up $10 for a game that is better than most of the $50 Wii games out there. If developers will sit down and take the time to utilize the Wii controls and create games that are up to speed with Lost Winds then WiiWare could over shine PSN and XBLA in the near future.

Lost Winds is a must-download if you have a Wii. If you already have the game…do you agree?

C&C: Red Alert 3

I’ve always been a huge fan of the Command and Conquer series so when I heard that Red Alert 3 is in the works I was pretty excited. C&C games are basically the only time I play PC. Even though I passed on Command and Conquer 3 I will definitly be picking up Red Alert 3 after watching the debut trailer. To convince you guys this game is worth getting I’ve embedded that same trailer below. Dig in!

PixelJunk Monsters: Encore

PixelJunk Monsters Encore was finally released on May 8th even though we were told that it would be an April release. I guess I can live with that. Now that my Xbox 360 has gone all RRoD on me this couldn’t have come at a better time. The wife and I are absolute PJM freaks and have been waiting patiently for this expansion ever since it was announced. PJM: Encore gives us another go around on an island by the name of Toki. There is 15 new maps and 5 new songs. Also the Tesla Tower is 10 gems instead of 11 and the Ice Tower is now standard. So far my wife and I completed 12 maps and out of those maps we have 6 rainbows. We’ve been playing it every night since the release and are addicted once again. PJM: Encore seems a little harder than the original maps but it could just be me. We are actually stuck on getting a rainbow on one of the Easy maps. Sick! I find the balance of PJM: Encore to be very inconsistent as some of the Hard maps were easier than the Easy maps. Overall PJM: Encore is a great addition. I highly recommend it to anyone who owns a PS3. I hope Q-Games considers doing at least one more expansion pack before pushing PJM by the way side. Oh and I found out the other day that PJM is officially my wife’s favorite game ever

Conan O'Brien and GTA IV

Conan O’Brien continues to be the best of late night television…

Universal and Gore Verbinski to take on BioShock

Taken from Joystiq:

Variety reports that Universal has signed a deal to turn Bioshock into a movie. Director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) will head the project and Aviator writer John Logan may write the screenplay. Take-Two executive chairman Strauss Zelnick, who was in charge of Fox in the ’90s, handled the deal for his company and says the project will actually get made … unlike the Halo movie.

There’s also an interview with Verbinski on Variety’s Cut Scene blog where he discusses the project. He believes the movie will be rated “R” and says, in terms of the Little Sisters, that he’ll take the issue “right up to the edge,” not wanting the core audience to feel “betrayed.” Though no release date is currently targeted, Verbinski says he’ll start pre-production when Logan’s script is finished and approved.

Read the actual Joystiq post at http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/08/bioshock-movie-in-development-gore-verbinski-directing/

GTA + RROD = OMG!!

So my wife tells me she is in the mood to play The Sims and the best thing is that it’s early like 7:00 pm which means she’ll get sucked in and play for a good 2 hours maybe even 3. This means GTA time for me, so I pop GTA IV in and come back to my room while it loads. I’m sitting on the bed and hear “GGZZRRSSHH!!!” Thinking nothing of it I go to restart my Xbox. I hear similar noises like that almost everyday. So I restart the Xbox and…wait…no…NO….NOOOOO!!!!!!!! Red Ring of Death you couldn’t have came at a better time! Goodbye Liberty City…good bye 2 hours+ of GTA goodness. I don’t want to believe it so I restart my Xbox like 3 million times. It actually started to work a few times only to freeze up before getting anywhere. It would have been nice to at least be able to say goodbye to GTA and have one last go around before this 3 week long torture. Yes, I’m depressed. I’m considering renting from Rent A Center. I like to think that I’m not addicted to my Xbox…I just like having it around…you know? It’s only $30 a week. Seems like a reasonable price. Anyways…it’s nice to have a blog where you can vent these kinds of life-changing moments. Thanks for reading about my pain. I’m gonna go cry in the corner for 2 hours now.

Please ease my pain and donate to my Xbox rental fund with the donate button located in the left sidebar.

*Update: Rent-A-Center is only “rent to own” which is so not worth it. Now I’m really about to cry.

*Update 2: Decided to try the “towel trick” on my Xbox 360 and it actually worked (for now) so I got to play some GTA for a good 3 hours. Go overheating!

Just Watch (MGS4)

Metal Gear Online Beta

So as I wrote in my earlier Metal Gear post I pre-ordered MGS4 therefore I was given a beta-key to partake in the Metal Gear Online Beta. After downloading millions of updates that took well over a few hours and signing up 20 times for my Konami ID, and waiting a week because of the delay, I finally played some Metal Gear Online. The first thing that I noticed was the amazing graphics. MGO is a beautiful game and I’m sure that MGS4 is going to look even better. MGO has a different pace than most people are used to. It’s a little slower and more tactical. So far there doesn’t seem to be much to it. Just the regular deathmatch, team deathmatch, defend, etc. game types. The first round of team deathmatch that I played my team actually won and I had the most kills. This made me like the game more. The second time I sat down with it I played TD again and my team won along with me being the top player again. I started to wonder what was going on. Maybe it’s the controls, maybe it’s the pace, maybe the Metal Gear regulars just aren’t used to online play. I’m not sure what the case is but I seem to do pretty good with MGO…for now. After you get used to the controls it’s gets pretty fun but to me it was fun in short bursts. After hearing the same moan after someone dies for the 20th time it got kind of annoying. I really wish there was some voice chat in the game so I can at least feel like I am playing against real people. I think this will be the biggest complaint from anyone who has played the beta. I hear that they recently released a new map and a new mode in which you can play as Snake. I haven’t played much of the beta lately because of GTA and life in general but I’ll make sure I sit down with it soon before it ends.

Echochrome Demo

I recently had the chance to sit down and play the demo for Echochrome (on PS3). I was sorta in a hurry so I played for about 15 minutes before quiting. Echochrome is a puzzle game that will be made available through PSN for PS3 and PSP. There isn’t really a way to describe Echochrome so if you don’t know much about it I suggest you take a look at the movie below. As for my thoughts on the game, I was initially thinking that you would control the little man but you don’t, he walks himself and you control the camera angle. The angle of the camera has to be in specific positions for the guy to get past certain obstacles. I played through the tutorial with no problems but once I got to the actual levels I had a hard time of figuring out what to do. The game just seemed hard to me. Maybe if I give it another go when I have more time I might like it. I do like the simplicity of the artwork though. The is probably what initially got me interested in the game. Anyone else give it a try? Click here to download the Echochrome demo for PSP

*Update: The full version of Echochrome will be available for download through PSN tomorrow (5/1).

IGN's GTA IV Video Review

Just thought you guys may be interested to see what IGN has to say about GTA IV before you go out and get it on Tuesday. They gave the game a 10/10. Check out the video review below.

Steam

In case you haven’t heard…Steam holds the future of PC gaming in it’s hands. Steam is brought to us by Valve, makers of the Half-Life, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike series’. Steam is an online community very similar to Xbox Live but available on your PC. No, it’s not like Windows Live, it’s much better. Steam lets you do many things such as create friends lists, buy games, download demos, download videos, join groups, create profiles, and much, much more. The best part about it is that it’s FREE. You can see what a friend is playing just like what you see on Live. Steam is very convenient as it lets you download and launch games right through it. I had heard about Steam a while back and finally decided to give it a try. Too bad it took me this long as it is making me want to get back into PC gaming this instant. The first game we bought through Steam was Peggle. I just browsed through the store and found the game I wanted and downloaded the demo. Once finished with the demo I downloaded the full game. If you own a PC (like everyone else on the earth) then I suggest you download it and set up an account now. No credit card is necessary. Even if you don’t necessarily have a gaming computer Steam gives you everything from the hardcore to the casual so trust me…you need to download it now. Through Steam I’ve created a profile which you can visit and add me as a friend. I also created a group specifically for fans of YNFVGB. Just set up an account with Steam then come and join the YNFVGB group. In this group I will post announcements and also host chats. We have a YNFVGB chat room right in there. I’ve also included a link to the group in the left sidebar under “YNFVGB Links.” I am very excited to have finally downloaded Steam and I hope you guys will take the time to try it out and join the YNFVGB group. I’d love to get some chat rooms going every once in a while so we can just talk about games all night. Expect a chat to take place in the very near future.

To make it even more convenient I’ve included the actual Steam program which you can download right from this page—>Download Steam

Peggle

A few weeks ago I decided to download Steam. I had heard a lot of good things about it and wanted to finally give it a try. But this post isn’t about Steam (we’ll save that for a later post), it’s about Peggle, a game that I downloaded very quickly and conveniently through Steam. I had heard about Peggle from the guys on 1UP Yours and they said that it was pretty addictive. Other than that I hadn’t heard much about it. Turns out Peggle is a full-fledged Pop Cap game which you can download to your computer too. I decided to download it in hopes that it would be a replacement game for my wife’s addiction to Zuma. In the end we both ended up getting addicted to it. Maybe it’s the cheesy characters (groundhogs and unicorns). Basically the game has you shooting a little shiny ball at pegs that make the ball bounce and hit other pegs. After that ball falls down to the bottom those pegs disappear. In each level there is so many orange pegs that you must make disappear and you only have so many tries to make it happen. Each level is also arranged very differently. Along the way you will be given opportunities to obtain different types of power-ups by hitting certain pegs. All-in-all Peggle is highly addictive and I will be sure to buy the full version soon. I suggest you give it a try right now.

Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection

I must have been under a rock or something because it was only last week that I first heard about the Metal Gear Online beta. I knew that I would pre-order MGS4 but I hadn’t because I still had a lot of time. After hearing about the beta I decided it was time to pre-order. I made sure to ask if they had any beta keys and sure enough they did. After hours of downloading and updating I was finally ready. Everyone knows the beta has been delayed but that’s fine with me. The following weekend I was at the mall with my wife and we decided to stop in EB Games real quick. While I was in there I saw the “Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection” and decided to get it. I had heard about it and almost bought it on Amazon and today I was in the buying mood so I went for it. When I got home I started with Metal Gear Solid. This brought back a lot of memories. Metal Gear was the first game I had beat on my PS1 and I was really proud of it. Weirdly enough I can’ stop playing it. I keep saying “just a little more” and end up playing for hours. I think overall I am playing it for the “Oh! I remember this!” factor. I didn’t realize how crappy PS1 graphics were when I was playing it back then, it made me want to buy Twin Snakes for Gamecube again. None-the-less it’s a great game. After I played a little of MGS1 I decided to throw MGS2 in for a spin. I always wanted to get into MGS2 but I never owned a PS2 so I never got the chance. I played a little and decided that I will come back to it after I’ve played through MGS1 a little more. Lastly I play some MGS3. I’m not sure what kind of review scores it received but I’m not a huge fan of it. I felt the controls were too complicated and I just wanted that fixed camera view back. Overall I decided I am going to play through MGS1 and then move onto MGS2 once I complete it. We’ll see how far I get before MGS4 comes out. By the way…I am siked for MGS4 like the rest of the world. It’s going to be epic. Maybe I should pick up Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops for PSP while I am at it.

What I've Been Playing, Listening To, and Watching.

I just thought I’d take the time to let you guys know what I’ve been playing, listening to, and watching over the past few weeks:

What I’ve Been Playing:

1. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 – I finished the game but have been working on some of the achievements. Kurt and I finally got the “Beat Every Terrorist Hunt on Realistic Difficulty” which I feel was a great accomplishment.
2. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds – Great game. I think I’ve played through it far enough to let you guys know my final thoughts. Expect a post in the next week.
3. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 – The wife and I are veterans of GRAW but we haven’t played for a while. I finally decided to go back to it and I am hooked again, we are playing every night now.
4. Rainbow Six Vegas – Going back with Kurt and getting the Terrorist Hunt achievements for this one now.
5. Peggle – Finally downloaded Steam and got myself some Peggle. Highly addictive. Expect my full thoughts on Steam in the next week or so.
6. Command and Conquer: Decade – I splurged and got Decade because I really wanted to play some C&C and Red Alert. These games were the only reason I played PC back then.
7. Call of Duty 4 – On my pile of games I really wish I was playing. I played a few matches on live over the weekend.

What I’ve Been Listening To:

1. Vampire Weekend – Love the whole CD, this band is very talented. Favorite songs would be “A-Punk”, “M79″, “One (Blakes Got a New Face)”, and “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance.”
2. Dave Matthews Band – I never really appreciated DMB as much as I should but recently got hooked on songs like “What Would You Say”, “Ants Marching”, and “Too Much.”
3. Jack Johnson – I really like his new CD and can’t wait to see him in concert on August 6th. My favorite song on his new CD would be “They Do, They Don’t.”
4. The 1UP Yours Podcast – Listen to it at work every week when updating the company’s project list. Great stuff!
5. Maroon 5 – The B-Sides Collection. Specifically “Miss You Love You”, “Until You’re Over Me”, and “Infatuation.”
6. Modest Mouse – absolutely love the songs “Dashboard” and “Missed The Boat.”
7. P.O.D. – Enjoying the recently released When Angels and Serpents Dance. Favorite songs include “Addicted”, “Condescending”, and “Kaliforn-Eye-A.”

What I’ve Been Watching/Watched:

1. Top Chef – Great show on Bravo. Makes me want to work in a restaurant again.
2. Stir of Echoes – Came with the free Blu-Rays I got for buying the PS3, decent movie.
3. The Prestige – It also came with the free Blu-Ray movies. I really liked it and recommend it to anyone.
4. Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites – The season started off slow but the wife and I are addicted once again.
5. 21 – Saw this at the theater over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Very interesting!
6. The 1UP Show – make sure to get my weekly dose.
7. Here Come The Newlyweds – The season finished last week. I’m guessing it was just a filler for the writer’s strike but it was still interesting. I was happy with the couple that won the money.
8. Desperate Housewives – I don’t care what you say, this is a great show. The season finally returned this past Sunday.

YNFVGB Calendar Updates

Just to let you guys know, I’ve added a better Movie Release Date calendar to the YNFVGB Calendar. Just click on the movie reel to have a window pop up with the releases for that day. Pretty nifty. In addition to that I’ve added a new DVD Release Date calendar. To view the DVD releases for a specific day (usually Tuesday) just click the purple DVD Releases rectangle and it will pop up with a list of the DVD releases for that day. Click “More Details” for a better view. Lastly I’ve added a simple US Holidays calendar which is shown in green. Enjoy!!

Supple: The World's First Interactive Sitcom

YNFVGB.com is now EverydayGamers.com – Full Site Launching end of July 2008!

About a month ago my husband told me to check out The Sims 3 teaser site. For some reason the site wasn’t working so I went to YouTube and searched for The Sims 3 trailer. Instead of finding a trailer for The Sims 3 I found a trailer for a game called Supple, which some people confused with The Sims 3. I watched the trailer and became interested so I checked out the site. On the site I read some testimonials and reviews and decided I would download the free hour-long demo. I played through the demo and instantly became addicted. My hour was up and because I really liked it I decided to buy it.

YNFVGB.com is now EverydayGamers.com – Full Site Launching end of July 2008!

In the game you play as Arin Costello, an Associate Editor for Supple Magazine. Her goal is to work hard and be promoted to Style Editor. During the game you are found competing against your coworker Hugh Chadwick who is trying for the same position. You will also meet your boss Margot Winterbottom who you must impress along the way.

YNFVGB.com is now EverydayGamers.com – Full Site Launching end of July 2008!

Supple is very similar to The Sims in the way it is set up. But like the title says, it is an interactive sitcom so it is definitly different than The Sims. During the game you have to become friends with your boss and coworker and to achieve this you’ll have to do certain things like go shopping for clothes and gifts, be social, go to the bar, take courses on the computer, drink coffee, etc. I ended up really enjoying the game and finished it on every difficulty. You never really know what to expect and that makes it interesting. Because they actually talk it makes the conversations a lot more engaging. The graphics and quality of the game aren’t that great compared to The Sims but it’s still fun if you enjoy The Sims but want more of a story behind your game.

If your interested in downloading the free 60 minute trial click the link below:

http://supplegame.com/download.html

The full version of the game doesn’t require a disk and is available to download through the site as well as the demo.

YNFVGB.com is now EverydayGamers.com – Full Site Launching end of July 2008!

PS3 Firmware Update 2.30 Walkthrough

Below is a video from the Playstation Blog which gives us a nice peak at the new PS3 Firmware Update that will be available April 15th.

From Crackle: PlayStation Store video walkthrough

Final Thoughts on Rainbow Six Vegas 2

A few nights ago I completed the Rainbow Six Vegas 2 campaign mode with a friend. I was happy to see that they incorporated co-op into the actual campaign instead of just letting you play some levels together as it was in the first R6 Vegas. I knew that I wanted to play through this one with Kurt. Usually I choose to play games alone first and then play them cooperatively but I felt that it would be a great game to just go straight into co-op with. When we first started out I had no idea where the story was going. It was hard to follow and frankly I guess I just wasn’t that interested. The bits and pieces I did follow seemed lame, people were always getting killed or shot and it seemed like we didn’t really do anything constructive throughout the whole game. I’m not saying it wasn’t fun, I had a blast. Story lines aren’t really ever important for me anyways.

The game does have the word “Vegas” in the title but you will only see a casino maybe once or twice. The setting is more of a behind the scenes of Vegas. That was fine with me because I played through enough casinos in the first one. I really enjoyed the settings in Vegas 2. They took us through backyards, convention centers, and even a Vegas junkyard. These new places gave it a fresh feel. The controls felt great as they did in the first one. At first they may feel complicated but you will get the hang of them within the first few minutes and after a while you will really be happy with the way they are laid out. Kurt and I did encounter some random problems such as disk read errors and some freezing up but not enough to make us quit playing. I was excited to hear they were adding experience points to the single player campaign as well as the multiplayer modes. This gave me a reason to go back and play some more of the campaign even after I finished it. I have a habit of looking at the bottom of the screen to see how many more points I need to rank up. I’m always looking forward to unlocking new armor and guns.

After Kurt and I finished the campaign we jumped right into “Terrorist Hunt” mode. We’ve been working at the “complete every map on realistic difficulty” achievement for a few nights now and so far we’ve been having a great time with it. This is definitely a great way to hone your skills before going into some death matches over Xbox Live. It forces you to work as a team and try different techniques to get the job done. The only thing I didn’t like was that it felt like the terrorists were set to spawn only when you reached a certain point. Once you walked past that certain point or threw a grenade into it they would then react to you. A few times I swore nobody was around and then I would look a second later and 3 or more people would just be standing there. This made the terrorist hunt mode a lot more difficult, it forced you to come out into the open and search instead of waiting for them to come to you.

Vegas has a very high replay value and I don’t think I will be setting it down anytime soon. I highly suggest playing through the campaign with a friend. If you want to join Kurt and I for some terrorist hunting just send me a message over Live.

[poll=4]

Mr. Driller Online 360

This week saw the release of Mr Driller Online as a downloadable 360 arcade game.
Had I never played this game before I would have passed immediately based on the cartoon style and screenshots. I somehow came across this game a number of years back after the PS1 was dead and you could get games very cheap. I think I got it as part of a ‘lot’ of PS1 games on ebay and threw it in just to see wat it was like. Very simple but very enjoyable game.
If you’ve ever played Mr Driller in any of his adventures on Playstation, Gameboy, or Nintendo DS you know what to expect. And that is what you get, the gameplay doesn’t really vary much in any new way and the stages aren’t very different. I haven’t explored the online portion or many of the different modes, but it’s nice to have the game available without bustin out the old PS1. Try the demo and you’ll know exactly what you are getting into.

Legend of Zelda Movie Trailer Debut

I’m pretty sure this is IGN’s April Fools day joke but I am not positive as it looks pretty believable. Even though I’ve always wanted a hollywood adaptation of “The Legend of Zelda” I don’t think I could stand to watch Ganondorf look like this…

New PSN Store Interface

The PSN Store that we’ve come to hate so much is finally getting a glorious make-over. Coming April 17th will be a full redesigned layout that will actually be native to the PS3 and not browser based which means being able to locate items a lot faster than before. No more PSN releases will be happening until the new store is released on the 17th. Expect some new titles on that day to get the store rolling again.

PixelJunk Monsters Encore

The first expansion pack for PixelJunk Monsters will be arriving in the month of April and will be giving you 15 new maps and 5 new songs to eat your PJM heart out with. Along with those 15 new maps will also be the option to have the ice tower right from the get go and also a reduced priced tesla tower which will only cost 10 gems now. My wife and I being very strong PJM fans are very siked to see that Q-Games hasn’t forgot about PJM. No release date or price has been announced but PJM:E is speculated to release along side the new PSN store which will be available on April 17th. While your waiting for April 17t to roll around check out the new video below.

Rainbow Six Vegas: High Stakes Weekend

Initial Thoughts on Rainbow Six Vegas 2

The other day I picked up Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and forced my wife to sie down and play it with me. We played through all of Army of Two together and she loved it so I thought she should give Vegas a try. Even thought it is a little more advanced she caught on right away and was killing baddies before I even got to them. While we were playing we experienced some slowdown, when I would move my vision would get blurry like everything was going slower. My wife said she experienced some as well. Another frustrating thing for me was the graphics. I felt like they weren’t as good as the previous Vegas so I went back and popped Vegas 1 in and couldn’t see much of a difference. I had talked with Kurt about it and he said he was experiencing the same things as well. The next day when I played it I didn’t experience any slowdown and the graphics looked great. I’m not sure what was going on that first day. Anyways, the game is amazing. I love the Vegas franchise and am very excited to play this game through a couple times. Even though this is basically the same game as Vegas 1 I find myself going at it a different way. I’m not really utilizing the AI teammates as much as I should be. I blame that on playing the game cooperatively as there really is no need for the teammates. I also want to thank Ubi for adding the 4 player co-op story mode but I’m mad that you can’t do a split-screen story and invite a friend. Overall it feels and controls great and I highly recommend this game to any shooter fan. I haven’t gotten very far yet but check back later for my full thoughts when I finish the game.

Initial Thoughts on Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds

I played Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds with my wife the other night. I used to play 1 and 2 a lot and even got my family really into it. My Dad even became addicted and played pretty much everyday. Since I didn’t own a PS2 I didn’t get into 3 or 4 but once the PSP came out Hot Shots Golf was the first game I bought. That game was perfect for the PSP. Now we have Hot Shots 5 and since I own a PS3 and don’t have many games for it I decided to pick it up to relive one of my favorite pastimes. Initially I could see how people who haven’t played HS up until now would find it annoying and kiddish but to me it just brought back good memories. I love all the quirky characters and the funny noises. I’m not sure if my wife agrees though. She didn’t seem to like it as much as I had hoped and said she would play it “every once in a while.” Thank goodness for the online play. I didn’t have time to try it out but I can’t wait to. Overall Hot Shots 5 is fun with people. I don’t recommend playing it alone against the computer as it is definitely a game to be enjoyed with others. Come back later for my final thoughts on the game once I delve deeper into the core.

PSP Update 3.93

Hey kids, grab your PSP’s and head over to the nearest wi-fi spot if not your own house and download the latest firmware update for PSP. Update 3.93 adds 20 new stations to the PSP Radio and “expands support for PSN titles.” I’m curious which titles are included in that expansion and will be trying out all my PSN games tonight to try to get some kind of list going. Everyday Shooter on PSP anyone? Feel free to comment down below if you happen to know any additional information.

Mass Effection – Part II

Another comic for the Mass Effect junkies out there. Brought to us by YNFVGB faithful, Yuoma.

Mass Efflirt 2 by ~yuoma on deviantART

Final Thoughts on Army of Two

My wife and I just finished Army of Two on Friday night. I am very glad I decided to pick it up last minute. Sometimes I rely on reviews too much but after seeing a gameplay video of this one I was willing to take a risk. I am very satisfied with my decision and my wife agrees with me that this game is awesome. We had a great time with it. As I wrote in my initial thoughts of the game, the visuals were sweet. The cut-scenes were top-notch, better than any I’ve seen thus far. I also really like when games are bright, that is one thing that really makes me enjoy a game and all of AoT’s levels were nice and bright. I don’t enjoy games that are dark and dreary and AoT keeps that to a minimum if any at all. Overall it’s a great looking game. It’s hard to believe but, the story was actually interesting. I’m not one to follow game stories closely but this one pulled me in enough to care. At one point I thought it would be cool if one of the two playable characters was in on it and you had to fight each other at the end. I thought that would have been an amazing twist, I’m just not sure how they could have pulled it off. The length of the game is perfect even though I never really did want it to end. We haven’t gotten a chance to try the online modes yet but we will eventually. I highly recommend this game to anyone who specifically knows someone they could play it with. This game goes right along with my other favorite sleeper hits. SCORE: 9/10

Initial Thoughts on Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Picked up Super Smash Bros. Brawl yesterday around 11:00 am instead of midnight since the newly opened Gamestop where I pre-ordered it wasn’t having a midnight launch. I convinced my wife that this was a game worth playing so we sat down and played it together. All we really did was beat the crap out of each other the whole time. She kicked my butt about 90% of the time and I promise I wasn’t being easy on her. After we played it for a while and tried out each and every character Daria decided her character of choice would be Pit and and I decided to go with Marth even though I told her I claimed Solid Snake once we unlock him. All-in-all SSBB is just like I remember it. I’m not a die-hard fan but the game is fun none-the-less. I think all the hype made me pick it up as soon as possible though. If you’ve played the Smash Bros. franchise before then you know exactly what to expect. As for anyone who hasn’t played it…you may want to dust of your Wii for this one. Make sure you check back for my full thoughts on the game once I finish it. If you’re interested in swapping SSBB friend codes then drop me and email at ynfvgb@gmail.com.

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Initial Thoughts on Army of Two

I was keeping my eye on Army of Two ever since it received all of the bad feedback from the media. The developers decided to delay the game and do all they could to make it worth buying. Delays bother me but when a game that was looking to be crap comes back with some pretty good reviews then it was well worth the wait. I always had it in the back of my mind that I would pick this title up and try and play it with my wife. I was going to put it off for a while since Smash Bros, R6V2, and Hot Shots 5 are all coming out this month, but I watched the video review at IGN and was instantly drawn in by the visuals. I ended up making a late night run to go and get it at the local Gamestop. Once I got back I had to convince my wife to sit down and play it with me. First of all I was really impressed with the visuals. This is definitely a beautiful game. I was also blown away by the cut scenes. They looked absolutely gorgeous. Overall the game is fun, it’s a little more complicated than what Daria is used to but she managed. I like how we actually have to work together unlike most co-op games. It’s taking time to get used to the “aggro” system but I think we’ll get the hang of it soon. It was getting late and I was ready to stop and my wife said “let’s keep going” so I think she agrees with me that it’s a fun game. Even though you get the whole screen when you play over live I think playing split-screen is more convenient because it’s a lot easier to use teamwork without having to talk over the mic. Just getting out of Lost: Via Domus, Army of Two is feeling worth the $60 and I am happy I picked it up. If you have one person that you enjoy playing games with then I suggest looking into this one. Check back later for Daria and I’s full thoughts on Army of Two after we finish it.

Final Thoughts on Lost: Via Domus

Last night I finished Lost: Via Domus. I didn’t want to believe it when I heard it was a 4-6 hour game but it pretty much is. I guess if you really want to check everything out then it might take you 8 hours at most. LVD is definitely not a game for anyone who hasn’t watched the show as it is absolutely filled with inside jokes and lines from the show. I felt like they just threw each characters best line from all the seasons into their dialogue even if it wasn’t relevant. Even though I was disappointed that not all of the characters were voiced by the actual characters themselves it was still funny to hear someone trying to impersonate them. I do have to admit it would have felt a lot better had their voices been the real characters. The graphics looked good, the beach was really cool to see from that perspective and they had the hatch down to a T. That was probably my favorite part, just chilling in the hatch. Was it just me or did everyone really come of as rude. Jack had an annoying voice which reminded me of the little boy with glasses in Polar Express and that made it hard to believe he was actually the leader. Locke really got on my nerves with the “Brand Spanking New” line that he pulled half way through the game. He never really would have said that in the show. I feel bad for anyone who has never watched the show and may watch someone play this, it would probably make them hate the show, but us fans can just laugh at it because we know how it really is. I was also really freaked out by Desmond. He kept doing the same exact movements with his head over and over through our whole conversation which made him look like a creepy robot. It was like they had his movements on a loop. Check it out if you missed it. He is in the jungle on your way to the hatch for the first time. Overall I just felt like the game was moving at too fast of a pace. One minute we crashed the next minute Jin and Michael were on a raft trying to get home and the hatch was blown open. I only shot about 3 bullets the whole game and luckily the cave was only a short segment of the game. I didn’t enjoy that. The way they handled flashbacks kind of reminded me of XIII and also the sound from the circuit boards seemed like it was taken straight out of BioShock. It was nice to have the powerful music of Michael Giacchino in the background so that was a huge plus for the game because the music really makes the show good. Even though I was disappointed to hear the game was so short I don’t think I would have enjoyed a longer game at that quality. The last hour or so I just wanted it to end. In no way do I regret buying the game, I think that it is something all Lost fans/gamers should experience. There are some nice behind the scenes looks and a pretty sweet ending if you ask me, which was expected for a game based on Lost. The only thing I’m not happy about was the $60 price tag. This game is easily worth $30 to $40 at the most. I already see it on Amazon for PC for $20. It’s a short enough game that I probably wouldn’t have missed playing it on the 360 if I would have went for the PC deal. All-in-all I am happy they made the game and I recommend this game to any Lost fan. Just please don’t buy it at full price.

Site Update

I’ve added two more page tabs for you guys. The “Portal” tab is the flash version of Portal and the “DTD” tab is the game “Desktop Tower Defense” which is definitely worth trying out. Enjoy!!

PixelJunk Eden

After PixelJunk Racers and my personal favorite, PixelJunk Monsters, Q Games has announced PixelJunk Eden it’s third title. After playing the last two PJ games I have grown to trust that Q Games will deliver something worth buying. No release dates have been announced for Eden but after counting the months between PJR and PJM I am guessing this one may come out in April or May.

Initial Thoughts on "Lost: Via Domus"

I picked up the long-awaited “Lost: Via Domus” yesterday after work. I, being a huge fan of Lost, knew that I had to get it no matter if it bombed or not. If your not a fan of Lost then you can stop reading now as the game will probably be of no value to you. I could see how maybe playing the game would get someone interested in the show but this game is more for people who know what is going on as it doesn’t really explain anything if you don’t already know it. I was very excited to play this game because I thought it would be fun to be able to walk around the beach and see everything I’ve seen in the show. So far I am about 4 episodes in and I am really enjoying it. The controls are easy but a little wonky at times. This game isn’t the greatest but being a fan of the series you will automatically look past that and just think “sweet, I am playing a Lost game!” The voice work is impressive, it’s pretty convincing most of the time except Locke and Sawyer who sound a lot more redneck than they should. I really like how they made the game similar to the show by breaking the gameplay up into episodes. The game is set up exactly like you are watching the show but also playing it. I also like the way flash backs are handled. You are put into a “black and white” flash back and you have to use your camera to take a certain picture that will help you remember some more about your past. You only have a certain amount of time to take the right picture so you have to work fast. Once you take the correct picture you will actually take control of your character in the “color version” of the flashback. While you are there you are required to investigate 3 things, once you do this you will be brought back to present time. You could easily cut this game down if you wanted but I think that most “Losties” will just be siked to be able to talk to Sayid and Hurley and such. So far I really like the game and I can’t wait to see what else is in store. I can’t wait to break into the hatch! Come back for my full thoughts on the game once I finish it.

*Tip: I noticed some people being directed to the site because they googled “How to take the picture of Locke” and I just wanted to help you guys out because I had trouble too. You have to take a picture of all 3 people and make sure the focus is perfect…at first I was taking a million pictures of just Locke and then looked at the reference picture and realized I had to include everyone…I just ended up getting lucky then. Make sure you look at the ripped up reference picture.

Not Cool

I love video games very much, but I’ve never really got into mobile gaming on cell phones. Partly because I don’t like the way cell phone games control and partly because most of them suck. Today was different though, now that my wife stole my iPhone and I am stuck with hers I was tempted to try out my first real mobile game. I remembered looking through the game selection a few weeks ago and saw the game “XIII: Covert Identity.” Me being the biggest XIII fan out there decided that this was probably going to be the game I would purchase. I couldn’t locate it in the “Action & Combat” genre nor could I find it in the “Adventure” genre so I did a search. Hmmm…my result was “Save! Comic Book Heroes Fun Pack” for $11.99 which included “Heroes: The Official Mobile Game” and “XIII: Covert Identity.” I didn’t want the Heroes game and the $11.99 price tag was a bit high for a cell phone game so I was debating whether to go ahead and get the pack or not. I couldn’t find the stand-alone game anywhere else even though I had just saw it a few weeks ago. I wasn’t 100% sold on getting the pack but I clicked “buy now” without thinking that it would buy in that instant but it did, that was okay because I had a “oh…oops, oh well” kind of mind set. Excited to play the game I selected it to install but instead got the error message “File cannot be downloaded: Application will not run on phone.” I tried again…same message. Then I tried Heroes…installed fine…oh great, the whole reason I bought the stupid “FUN” pack was for XIII and now it doesn’t even work!!?? Thanks Gameloft and AT&T for making games that don’t even work on the standard Razor cell phone. There goes my mobile gaming passion down the drain…

…oh yea, another reason I don’t like mobile games…you can’t return them!

XNA Game Launcher

The other day I sat down and installed the “XNA Game Launcher” on my Xbox 360 not really knowing what to expect. I hadn’t heard anything about it being released and was excited to see what it had to offer. Along with it I downloaded the 6 free trial games that were released with it. Each averaging 90mb I shut down my Xbox for the night while they downloaded. The next morning was a Saturday so I knew that I would have time to check out each of the 6 titles. What I didn’t know was how much fun it was going to be…

Conflict: Denied Ops Demo Thoughts

So many games come out that are just fillers. Time fillers until the next Triple-A title comes out. 90% of these games I will not buy. But sometimes there comes a game that surprises you and you realize you need to give up that $60. This is not the case for Conflict: Denied Ops. I forced my wife to sit down with me and try CDO because of the co-op feature that was available in the demo. Bottom-Line this game is standard text book FPS lameness. I didn’t expect to like it and the demo confirmed that I was right. Please don’t waste your money on titles like Conflict: Denied Ops just to fill time until the next triple-A title. Maybe if we stop buying this crap then developers will stop producing it. Also it brings up the question: “Are the developers who make crap games like Conflict: Denied Ops and True Soldiers blindly thinking that their games are going to be awesome or do they just want to make a quick buck?” It sorta makes you wonder what the incentive is. Please just keep that money and buy your wife/girlfriend something nice for Valentines Day. You don’t even have to tell them it was my idea.

SCORE: 4.0/10

Thoughts on PixelJunk Monsters

Over the past few days I’ve had a chance to sit down with my wife and play PixelJunk Monsters for hours on end. As I said in an earlier post I downloaded the game with no expectations whatsoever, very blindly. I had saw some things that N’Gai Croal posted on his blog “Level Up” but I have to admit I only looked at the pictures*. The games visual style is what initially attracted me enough to trust that this game was worth a download whether I enjoyed the gameplay or not. So I downloaded it (along with flOw). When I started the game I was drawn in by the music. The music in this game is very unique and after hearing the title screens music I thought to myself “So far, so good.” I then came to a blandly colored map of places that I would eventually conquer which would then unlock more places. I had played through the first 3 levels by myself not caring much about saving all of my little voodoo babies. I more or less cared about completing the level and moving on. Then I introduced my wife to the game. I had no idea at all what she would think of it. I had downloaded flOw around the same time and thought that she would prefer that over PJM but I was wrong, she didn’t get into flOw at all and she became addicted to PJM just like I had.

So we began our journey through the world of PixelJunk Monsters and this time we only cared about getting rainbows. For anyone who doesn’t know “rainbows” are achieved when you complete a level without letting any of your babies get eaten. My wife caught on quickly and I no longer had to tell her everything to do step-by-step. Don’t get me wrong, I still took lead for most of the game until we had memorized what we were to do. Memorization will come sooner than you think. Many times we have made it to wave 19 out of 20 only to have one voodoo baby get killed off by some stupid spider that got through. But that’s what’s great, it was only one baby that died so it brings us back in and makes us want to quickly try it again thinking in our minds “ok, we got it this time” only to mess up a few more times. Yes it’s frustrating to lose but that frustration only lasts about 15 seconds before your sucked into it again. I know for a fact I wouldn’t enjoy the game as much if I flew through it, it’s the times when we keep trying to perfect our strategy that make this game so much fun. Don’t expect to get a rainbow on the first try either, this is a game of trial and error although many times I found that our first try was the best. Sometimes we even got lucky.

PJM is not too hard but hard enough to have you playing the same level over 5 or 6 times until you have perfected it. The difficulty may scare you at first but don’t be afraid, once you have played through enough times you begin to mold with the difficulty and it isn’t so hard. I also believe that because of the difficulty this game becomes an easy 15-20 hour game. With a virtual price tag of only $7.99 (limited time) this game is well worth the money. If you haven’t played this title yet then I suggest you go and download it as soon as you finish the next sentence. It’s titles like these that breathe new life into the PS3.

SCORE: 9/10

*N’Gai was nice enough to link to us as the #1 Gaming Tidbit for Feb. 7th on his blog “Level Up” so I’ll give credit where credit is due…I didn’t just look at the pretty pictures on his post I actually read one or two words. No but truthfully I wouldn’t have known anything about the game prior to it’s release if it wasn’t for him. Thanks man.

GRAW 2 DLC NOW AVAILABLE!!

I was driving home from work when I received an email on my iPhone and to my surprise, the long-awaited GRAW 2 DLC is now available via Xbox Live for 800 Points. This DLC includes 5 new co-op missions, 9 new adversarial maps (7 from classic ghost recons and 2 brand new). The pack also includes 9 more achievements totaling 125 points. That’s not all, the “Free Weapons Pack” is also available for download. This includes 7 new weapons that can be used in the Single Player Quick Mission Mode.

My wife and I being huge fans of the GRAW franchise will start downloading this pack as soon as I finish this post. If you are a fan of the series I recommend downloading this pack.

Delays, Delays, Delays

Game Development as we can see is getting more and more unpredictable. With all the delays these days it makes me feel like developers aren’t capable of picking a release date and sticking with it. Every game is different though, some big titles are announced years before their release and some are announced only a few months before their release. This is the route that the developers behind Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 decided to take. I am thankful that this game stayed practically unannounced up until only 5 or so months before its release date. This keeps the crowd from getting excited only to hear the next month that “it’s not ready yet.” I understand that game developers thrive on the anticipation but I think it would be wise not to say an exact date for when a game is to be released until you know for a fact. For example you can pull a “TBA 2008″ or a “Q2 2008″ without getting in any trouble if you don’t finish when you thought you would. Here are a few examples of games that have been delayed recently:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Original Release Date: Dec 3rd, 2007 Actual Release Date: March 9th, 2008

Haze – Original Release Date: Summer ‘07 Actual Release Date: Fiscal Year 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV – Oct. 16th, 2007 Actual Release Date: April 29th, 2008

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Original Release Date: Holiday 2007 Actual Release Date: Q2 2008

Yes delays are good in some ways. I would take a delayed game that kicks butt over an on-time game that’s crap without a second thought but developers can avoid this pain that us gamers receive by being a little more cautious when stating the release date of their game. I also believe that delays are what is hurting the PS3’s life the most (LBP demo anyone?). Bottom line: Don’t say an exact date until you are 100% positive you will release the game on that date.

Some delay predictions (don’t hurt me if i’m wrong):

-Killzone 2 will not be released in April
-Mario Kart Wii will not be released in 2008
-Resistance 2 will not be released in 2008

I’m sure many more games will be delayed in 2008. 2007 has shown me that you can never trust a release date until the game is actually released.

PixelJunk Monsters & flOw

Just yesterday I finished Drake’s Fortune and wanted to fill in that gap with some new games so I picked up “flOw” and “PixelJunk Monsters” from the PSN. I bought them both with faith because I hadn’t heard much about either and what I did hear wasn’t really enough to judge whether I should buy them or not, but I did. I can say that I am very satisfied with both purchases as both bring very different things to the table. First off for anyone who doesn’t know flOw is a very simple “game” where you eat different things to make your “creature” grow. There is no tutorial, no directions, so you figure it out yourself. There isn’t even a pause screen, you can pause, but it just takes you to a place where your “creature” can rest. This is a great game to enjoy with your non-gamer girlfriend or even your mom as it does support up to 4-players. But enough about flOw…just click here for the flash version and try it out yourself. All I have to say is I am addicted. I can’t wait to see what flOwer is about.

As for PixelJunk Monsters, I didn’t know anything about the game before I bought it. I had seen some screenshots but didn’t know how the gameplay would turn out to be. Basically you control this little voodoo looking guy around the area. Just walk up to a tree and press X. This allows you to create one of many different sorts of towers to protect your babies. The towers shoot the bad guys which come in waves. There are a total of 10 waves in which you must survive. Once the bad guys die you get coins which you can spend on more towers. Every once in a while gems will pop out of the bad guys letting you use them towards upgrading your towers. I love it. It’s so fun and addicting. The music and art style are to me very appealing. I highly recommend this game for anyone who is the least bit interested in RTS style games. I am not however saying it is limited to people who like those kinds of games, it’s a strategy game for anyone. It also supports co-op and once my wife is back I will definitely be playing it with her. I am very happy that I purchased this game as it is one of the best on the PSN.

*Screenshots courtesy of IGN.com

Drake's Fortune

After only a week I finished Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Not because it was a short game, but because I didn’t want to waste my time playing anything else. Many people have said this before me but Drake’s Fortune is an amazing game. I just recently got my PS3 and I knew that there weren’t many games that I was willing to buy except Drake’s Fortune. I decided to pick it up spur of the moment and boy am I glad I did. I played straight through it this past week and I can honestly say now that I am a “true fan” of the series and can’t wait for the sequel. I really enjoyed the game because the whole time I felt like I was watching a movie. My uncle even came in and started to watch me play for a while. The music was definitely the strong point of the game. They aced it. I kept saying to myself that I hope that LOST: Via Domus is at least half as good as this because the scenery felt like it was straight out of show. I was actually intrigued by the story, it was easy for me to get into and I think that was because it felt so much like a movie. There are so many good things I can say about this game but I am sure you’ve all heard it by now. Bottom Line: This game is amazing and if you own a PS3 you should already own it, if not, your truly missing out on the PS3’s best game by far. I can see now why Kurt would vote it as his game of the year.

Turning Point and The Club Demo Impressions

I took some time to sit down and play the demos for “Turning Point: Fall of Liberty” and “The Club.” I went into Turning Point with a little knowledge of the scenario. Basically it’s WWII in New York. That’s a very unique twist but it still felt to me like the same WWII games I am used to playing. I can’t say I spent enough time with the game though as the demo is super short. So honestly I can’t say if I like it or hate it. The demo didn’t really sway me either way. I’ve seen some cool screenshots for the game and wish that I could have maybe played a better level than the one that was offered. I predict this game will get review scores of around 6.5 or 7.0. Probably not worth picking up unless your a WWII junkie.

As for the “The Club” demo, it was a very unique experience for me. I’ve never played a game quite like it. For me this was something that felt fresh. You go through levels killing people and doing so gets you points, headshots are worth more, etc. It had a very “arcadey” feel to it. If you build up the points bar you can get higher combos and so on. It was actually kind of fun. Even though I think multiplayer could be a blast I will probably not be picking this title up either. I predict “The Club” will recieve reviews scores around 7.5.

* Screenshots courtesy of IGN.com

Watch out 2007, Here comes 2008

In my opinion 2007 is worthy enough to go down as one of the biggest years in gaming history. We had so many killer releases including Call Of Duty 4, Halo 3, BioShock, and Portal just to name a few. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best time to be a hardcore gamer, but was 2007 that golden gamer year? I thought so, up until I took the time to write down all of the 2008 releases that caught my eye, and I was blown away…

I have compiled a list of 2008 titles that I am looking forward to in order of the systems I would buy them on (bold = definite buys):

Xbox 360

- Far Cry 2
- Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
- Army of Two
- Fable 2
- Fallout 3
- GTA IV
- Splinter Cell: Conviction
- Bully: Scholarship Edition
- Saboteur
- EndWar
- Halo Wars
- Resident Evil 5
- Alan Wake
- Left 4 Dead
- Banjo Kazooie 3
- Lego Indian Jones
- Castle Crashers
- LOST: Via Domus

Playstation 3

- Metal Gear Solid 4
- Borderlands
- Killzone 2
- Resistance 2
- SOCOM: Confrontation
- Haze
- LittleBigPlanet
- Grand Turismo 5
- Playstation HOME
- Hot Shots Golf 5

Wii

- Okami
- Red Steel 2
- We Love Golf
- Wii Music
- Wii Fit
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Mario Kart Wii
- Animal Crossing

PSP

- Patapon
- Pursuit Force

DS

- Assassins Creed
- Life Coach
- Professor Layton

Things are looking good for 2008 but will it turn out to be the year that will go down in gamer history or just another close call? I guess we’ll find out soon!

Brawl

The other day while I was listening to a podcast a question popped up in my mind. At first, I thought “No, that can’t be true” but then after pondering on the question a while longer I started to believe it could very well be true. That question would be “Is Nintendo giving the fans everything they could ask for with Super Smash Bros. Brawl just to get the hardcore gamers off of their backs?” To me it seems that most developers will hold some cool features from their title just so they can put it in the sequel. I understand that Brawl is the 3rd iteration of the Smash Bros. franchise but it just seems like they are pouring every last feature we could possibly ask for into this one. Are they just giving us what we want so they can focus on casual games for a while? I hope that’s not the case but it still makes you wonder. Now that the Wii plays pretty much anything these days it’s the few triple A titles that we get every once in a while that keeps the hardcore gamers from not giving up on the Wii. I think it’s pretty obvious here that we won’t see another Smash Bros for a long time. Maybe there is hope for a DS version.

Hold LB to flip…wait, what? How did you do that?

The other night I decided to play some Halo 3. I played a few rounds of big team battle and then decided to go in Sandtrap alone. The reason I wanted to go alone was to accomplish my biggest feat ever. I feat I am sure not many have accomplished. I went into Sandtrap with one goal and one goal only…to flip the Elephant. A while back I had almost done it during a team deathmatch in Sandtrap so I wanted to come back and see if I could do it without all the chaos around me. Just me and the Elephant. I was in the room by myself for about an hour. I had found the perfect spot. I just had to find the perfect angle. You also have to use your sense of physics and a little bit of luck too. Finally after many tries I managed to flip the elephant bottom up. I was very proud of myself so I took a lot of screenshots and even a video clip of it. I also managed to drive a warthog onto the thing afterwards. A very funny prompt came up in the corner of my screen when I was got close to the flipped Elephant too. Check it out. Click the screens for a larger version. For the rest of the screens check out my Halo 3 service record.

*Note: I did not do this in forge, I am not sure if it’s even possible.

My Mad Love for Conan Continues…O'Brien That Is

This is what Conan O’Brien did during the writer’s strike.

New Details on the LOST video game

I am a big time LOST junkie and when they announced there was going to be a LOST video game coming to consoles I was immediately siked. Even if it sucks I will still love and cherish it. If you’ve picked up Season 3 make sure you check out the 4 minute concept-art preview which sheds light on new details about the game. The game is slated for release a month after the Season 4 premiere. For anyone who has been living under a rock until now…check out the trailer.

Castle Crashers

It’s 2008 now and because of that I remembered about an Xbox Live Arcade game that I have been impatiently waiting for. A game that I think will be the greatest XBLA game of all time. The game I am talking about is Castle Crashers which is set to release during the first half of the year. In case you haven’t heard about Castle Crashers or maybe you just need a refresher I have posted the debut trailer below. Check it out.

Make sure you stop by www.castlecrashers.com for more screen shots and a crisp widescreen version of the debut trailer.

Final Thoughts on Call of Duty 4 for DS

My wife was taking the DS to Poland so I made it a priority to finish Call of Duty 4 for DS before she left. I worked at it every night until I finally finished it. Despite all of the bad things I am about to say about it, I actually enjoyed it. I had been longing to play a first person shooter on the DS for a while now and I finally got my fill. First of all the controls definitly take a while to get used to. You have to double-tap to zoom in and double-tap to zoom out. This was sorta of frustrating in heated battles. Also if you weren’t zoomed in it took about a full clip to take an enemy out so you almost always had to scope up to conserve ammo. Ammo was never a problem though, if you picked up an enemies gun, which was just as good as your own, then you would have a pretty unlimited supply throughout the game. One thing that frustrated me throughout the whole game was not being able to see who as shooting me. There were many times when I would be getting shot and have no idea where the punk was. I would run over to cover only to be shot some more from some unknown source. Because of the game’s overall darkness it was hard to see enemies and the games graphics didn’t really help that at all. I also couldn’t really tell if the enemies got harder as I progressed so I am almost positive the games difficulty was only elevated by the increase of enemies in a certain place. The chopper levels were pretty fun although the night vision chopper level was strung out way too long. The game never really gets difficult or frustrating except during the last segment. Maybe I was doing something wrong but it took me about 20 tries to complete the last part. I was getting very frustrated and almost gave up. If you have played COD4 on 360 or PS3 the last segment in the DS version is the same. You are on a bridge and have to defend it until help arrives. The friendly with you is stupid and only shoots the guys that are a low threat and won’t help with the ones that are shooting you right in the face. All-in-all the game was fun and fresh. My only big complaint is the lack of online multiplayer, that would have brought be back to the game again and again.

First Impressions – Super Stardust HD

I know it’s been a while since the game was released but this is my first official purchase on the PS3. I knew that I wanted to pick this game up even before I bought the PS3. The game I am talking about is Super Stardust HD. First of all the game looks brilliant hence the “HD” in the name. I would say it’s safe to compare this game to Geometry Wars. I like GW but I find it too difficult too early. I play GW for about 1 minute and then I am dead. With this game you can play for longer periods of time and really work at it. I am very impressed with the gameplay and I am happy that I decided to pluck down $9.99 for the game. I found myself being sucked into the game and unaware of my surroundings. I also like the music, it’s catchy and gets you pumped at the same time. As you may have seen from the screen shots throughout the internet this game looks hectic. It surely is, but it isn’t frustrating either. At least not as far as I have been. Bottom line this game is great. I highly suggest picking it up if you haven’t already.

New Year…New Console

I finally decided to buy a Playstation 3. Not for any particular reason on the PS3’s part more because I didn’t know when I would have another chance to buy one. With the wife being in Poland I had some extra cash laying around so I picked one up. I held off setting it up until New Years Day because I had the whole day off and could spend a good amount of time rearranging the whole set up of my Xbox 360, Wii, surround sound, HD-DVD player, cable box, and now PS3. My first impressions of the PS3 were good. It’s nice that both the 360 and PS3 bring something different as far as the set-ups go. Right now there is only about 2 or 3 games that I want for the PS3 and I can honestly say that if a game comes out on both 360 and PS3 I would go for the 360 version simply for the achievement points. I am not however an achievement junkie. Achievement points are not important as far as how many you have it’s more or less that I feel like I am playing for a reason. I think it was very smart on Microsoft’s part to incorporate achievements into games. It brings the replay value up and also gets me to play parts of a game that I wouldn’t normally bother with. So for that reason PS3 will be strictly for PS3 exclusives, arcade games, and blu-ray movies. I am also impressed with the Remote Play for PSP. I hadn’t read or heard much about it prior to getting the PS3 but I set it up and tried it out myself and it’s pretty crazy. Basically you have a scaled down slightly blurry version of your PS3 right on your PSP. Which means you can play “Remote Play Compatible” games on your PSP anywhere in the house. I haven’t messed with it enough to know if you can use it far from the PS3 (like in the car) or if you can put the PSP on standby and continue later. The only game I have for PS3 so far is MotorStorm and that isn’t compatible with Remote Play. All-in-all I am satisfied with the PS3. I am fine with knowing that I only bought it for the exclusives, with all the crap games coming out for the Wii I am pretty used to it. I am almost positive I will use it a lot more than the Wii. Now that I have a PS3 you can look forward to reading posts from me on the subject in the future.

Pirates of the Carribean at Worlds End for Xbox360

I made the mistake of playing this game after finishing Uncharted on PS3.

The good: Cinematics and voice work capture the movies perfectly. The mannerisms and movement of the characters are spot on. Visually the world is beautiful, very well done. You really feel part of the Pirates world. Unfortunately these pros aren’t enough to make this game worth your time.

The bad: The controls are weak, there is 1 button to swordfight, 1 to punch, etc. Basic button mashing. Boss fights are a little more interesting, but feel incredibly slow….swing…punch…swing. Half of the game recreates the 2nd film and the rest is devoted to the close of the trilogy. There is little excitement to the game, a very by the numbers movie licensed game that doesn’t do anything new or offer a sense of urgency or purpose. Other than the visuals there is no reason for you to keep this game in your library. Rental at best.

Kurt's Game of the Year Pick

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for PS3

The first game to catch my attention on the PS3, which otherwise functions as a demo center and my Blu-Ray and DVD player, ends up my game of the year. Let me start by saying I am a 360 guy….if it’s on both platforms I go 360 where my library is, a game has to be something special to warrant a purchase. (Other than Spider-man 3 this is my only PS3 game at this time) The Drake demo really impressed me and the game is even far more impressive. The game is brought to us by Naughty Dog, the developer of the Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter franchises. (Both personal favs) The game is a throwback to the old serials, much like Indiana Jones. Here’s what makes this game truly great. Visuals, Characters, Story: Great adventure story, told with amazing gameplay and cinemas. You can’t tell when the cinemas end and the gameplay starts. I actually sat and watched 2 characters talking onscreen for a few minutes before I realized I was able to control it. The voicework and motion capture is the most realistic I have seen/heard. This is by far the best looking current generation console game I have seen on either PS3 or 360…wii doesn’t count The level of detail, interaction, and scale in this game is amazing. Variety: The scenery and locales of the game vary, as does the gameplay. For the most part you are in adventure mode, climbing, running, figuring puzzles, etc as well as gunplay and shooting. The targeting is great, and you can never run and gun, you have to make use of cover and being careful/patient. I did very little hand to hand combat and mostly shot folks. There are few opportunities where the gameplay totally changes and lets to steer a jet-ski and in one of the games best sequences, throw grenades and shoot from the back of a jeep as it barrels along a jungle cliff path near waterfalls. There are no level breaks, as you progress through the story and locations every so often a title card will comes across the top giving a Chapter Number and Title. There are also parts of the game like ‘Shenmue’ where during a cinema you might have to quickly press triangle to avoid being crushed by rocks, or push square to block a punch from the villain during the final fight scene. Bonus: There are some really great DVD type features on the different aspects of making the game, and although the PS3 doesn’t have an ‘achievement system’ like xbox360 this game does. As you get through the game and find other treasures and complete the game on different difficulty levels you unlock reward points from a total of 1,000 much like 360 games. If only it would be part of my gamertag as well. Conclusion: I rarely purchase a new release game, I often wait until they hit that magic $20 price range but this game was worth it and then some. From the demos I have played on the PS3 I am confident that this is the best game on the system and would give anything on the 360 a run for its money. I hope that the success of this game leads it to being a headlining franchise for the PS3 as Crash and Jak were for the PS1 and PS2.

For Christmas

My wife bought me two great games for Christmas this year. One being Assassins Creed and the other Call of Duty 4 for DS. I had made my mind that I wanted Assassins Creed because of all the things I had heard about it and I really wanted to get COD4 for DS because it is the first FPS for DS since Metroid Prime Hunters and the recently released Dementium and also Garnett Lee spoke highly of it on the 1UP Yours podcast. I played about 30 min to an hour through Assassins Creed and so far I love it. I was absolutely blown away by the way the game looks. It is stunning. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best looking games on the Xbox 360. I know a lot of complaints came from the repetitiveness of the game and I have only played the beginning so I cannot comment on that. I still think that this game is going to be great as I just love to jump and climb on everything in sight. In my opinion Altair’s movements are so smooth that they almost look like a cinematic. I can’t wait to start playing the rest of the game and I will post my full thoughts on Assassins Creed once I finish. As for Call of Duty 4, this game is great too. The controls take time to get used to but you will get used to them as you play so there is nothing to worry about there. I found myself tweaking the sensitivity to make the controls less sensitive only to change them back once I got used to it because I realized they weren’t sensitive enough. I really like being able to play an FPS on my DS and COD4 really delivers. My only complaint about the game is not including online multiplayer. The game includes local multiplayer but it would have such a high replay value if you could play against other people online over wi-fi. Check back for my full thoughts on the game once I finish it. Click the thumbnails below for a larger image.

Sensible World of Soccer

I downloaded the trial version of SWOS yesterday. It was fun but it was also pretty difficult. When the trial ended the score was 1-2. I had only scored a point because of a foul. For anyone who doesn’t know SWOS is a very fast paced soccer game. I really like the simplicity of it. I think that after playing it a few more times I will get the hang of it. If you haven’t downloaded the trial then make sure you stop over to the Xbox Marketplace and give it a try. Even if you don’t like soccer you may like this game.

Merry Christmas from Aperture Science

Frontlines: Fuel of War Demo Impressions

I had time to sit down and play the Frontlines: Fuel of War demo last night. I haven’t been following the game at all up to this point but I had read a preview in Game Informer the other day so I could get an idea of what the game was about before I played the demo. After reading the preview I was kinda siked for the demo. It seemed very similar to GRAW because of the use of drones. During the demo you have to recon various points on the map by defending them until they are “captured” or in other words until the “progress bar” reaches the end. The controls are okay. You reload with the left button which took some time to get used to right after playing Halo 3. One feature I really like and I think that more games should incorporate is the sprint button. FFOW uses the Right Button for sprinting. Also the Left Trigger throws grenades. So the whole first half of the demo’s objectives were to recon the various spots on the map. It took me pretty many tries until I finally captured all the points. I thought the demo would end there but it didn’t. In the second half you take control of a tank. I didn’t have enough time to play through the tank segment so I can’t say anything more about it. All in all the demo has got me interested in the title. I wasn’t blown away and I have my doubts but this game seems pretty solid for what it is. It was a good idea on their part to throw out a demo on marketplace otherwise I wouldn’t have even known about the game.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Here is a teaser trailer for Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Get the full details about the sequel to one of the best games of 2006 by checking out IGN’s interview with Jean-Pascal Cambiotti, the lead game designer for RSV2.

CrownOfThornz Game of the Year Pick

2007 is definitely a year to remember. It’s a great time to be a gamer and I believe it will only get better from here on out. We have many hard titles to choose from this year and the pick for Game of the Year is no easy choice but someone has to choose. I would pick at least 5 games if I could but only one game can take the title of GOTY for 2007. Some argue Super Mario Galaxy should take the title. Yes it deserves game of the year but we’ve played Mario in a 3D world before, it’s not really that new. What about Halo 3? Most believe it deserves game of the year but to me it was just a third update to the first Halo, basically all they did was perfect the first game and call it Halo 3. Are you sure it’s not the Mountain Dew and all of the media surrounding it that makes you think it’s the game of all games? Yes Call of Duty 4 deserves game of the year but it was just another iteration of the COD games. I love that they kicked the WWII bucket out the window but it’s still COD. Yes the Orange Box deserves to be game of the year but it has 5 games to help it win so that shouldn’t count, plus over half of the games were released prior to TOB which leads me to my choice for GOTY, BioShock. BioShock is new. It hasn’t been done before. It has an amazing story and a fresh art style that we haven’t ever seen before. Rapture takes you in and makes you a part of it. Rapture is a place you experience, not just a game. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love all the games stated above. But if I have to pick one that stands above them all for the year it is BioShock.
*Disagree? Voice your opinion in the comments section below.

Demos

Released today via Xbox Live is a demo for Kane And Lynch: Dead Men. For all you people who want to see if K&L is worth your money now is the time. I personally was waiting for a K&L demo because I thought the game looked interesting. Now I can see for myself. This could be one of those times when a demo is bad though. We’ll see if it helps sales. Another demo that is available for download is Frontlines: Fuel of War. I haven’t been following this game prior to the demo but after reading a preview in Game Informer I am very excited for this demo. Check back for my full thoughts of both demos.

PSP Update 3.80

Yesterday a firmware update (3.80) for PSP was released adding Internet Radio to the PSP. I am very impressed with the feature even though it seems to be playing through a browser instead of actually being on the PSP itself. I can’t confirm it but that’s how it seems. Once you install the update you then go to “About Internet Radio” on the PSP screen. Read about it and then you will be given an option to download it. Download and enjoy. It might seem a little complicated at first but you will get the hang of it. I also like how they have radio-type noises that play while you are changing from station to station. The sound quality is great and I didn’t experience any lagging. They have many different genres to choose from. I listened to Polish radio stations with my wife. I was surprised that it was even a genre. I suggest you take the time to download and install it. It’s good stuff.

COD 4 $39.99

Another from Amazon, gone when its gone:
Call of Duty 4 for PS3 and 360 for only $39.99