E3 2009: Sony Conference

They started late, way too late compared to the other press conferences, with a female announcer urging the audience to take their seats and switch off their mobile phones, twice!

While MS didn’t show any graphs or sale figures, Sony kept singing about the sales and the strength of the PlayStation brand. They dedicated some minutes to the PS2, praising its price and its long life. But seriously, if they want to place it against the Wii for casual, family gaming, why are there no worthwhile new games for it?

After the statistics, Uncharted 2 started with a big bang. This game is gorgeous. It simply looks amazing and with the most realistic, life-like animation I have ever seen in a video game. And you can actually like Nathan Drake, he is a cool guy with funny comments. The inclusion of a female companion in the demo confirms that the campaign can be played cooperatively with a friend.

Then came MAG (or Massive Action Game) which is a 256-player game. The demo showed a massive game, but you only get to see your squad and commander. So, while the game is huge, it’s manageable and easy to progress in. The commander was certainly playing in god mode because he was taking damage from everywhere and his health was at 100% all the time. But this is acceptable for a stage demo. This game has potential, but I wonder if I get it how it will fare with my slow internet.

I will try to forget what came next, until the moment Kojima came on the stage… What the **** was that Sony? You spent too much time… Way too much time on the PSP Go. The Polyphony dude with the translator was incredibly boring and his translator was incredibly stupid. I think he was really an amateur or he had what the guy was saying pre-written in the notes he was constantly reading. And then they showed the trailer, why not show the trailer from the start?! And what’s wrong with Sony, they are praising the PS3 for powering the massive 80x40 feet screens in the theater, but all the footage was shown from the inside of a screen on the screen, reducing the practical size of the screen to less than quarter. Great thinking Sony! Stupid!

Next came MGS: Peace Walker. I think it makes since to put it on the PSP considering that the MGS: Portable Ops game was also on the PSP, and both games have something similar, they both star Big Boss and are post-Snake Eater. The trailer was nice and it has the same self-conscious remarks that are found in all MGS trailers. But there is something I don’t understand, in the trailer, several clones of Big Boss were shown, with eye patches!!! I don’t understand this. The Les Infants Terribles project started in 1973 or 1974 which is after the 1970 setting of the game, and also how can you accelerate the growth of a clone that much? This isn’t Attack of the Clones, you know! And also, why would they have eye patches? The bullet that Ocelot fired at Naked Snake wasn’t coded in his genes, was it? I guess we will have to wait and see.

The PSN and PS Home parts were as boring as the PSP parts (minus MGS of course) and I simply don’t care about them. All I care about PSN is that it’s free! Oh, and I guess that the $250 price of the new PSP Go is way too much, compared the price of the existing PSP 3000 which is $170.

The new Rockstar PS3 exclusive game, Agent was given as a mere title with no footage at all. What about LA Noire?! Is it dead?

Then came the great Assassin’s Creed II, the game is simply amazing. I wish they just fix the boredom that I suffered in the first game, and it will be great, considering that the first had great gameplay mechanics but it lacked diversity and freshness (after a while, that is). The double hidden blades are badass! I can’t wait to play this on the PC.

A new Final Fantasy is announced, this time it’s XIV and is exclusive to the PS3 and is a MMO.

Then came the big surprise of Sony, the PlayStation motion sensing controller… I guess when MS showed Project Natal yesterday, an alarm went off in the secret PlayStation, and an announcer with a nice female voice like the one in Team Fortress 2 said, “Alert, the final checkpoint is being contested.” I guess Sony flew their prototype weapon straight from the labs to the conference hall, and with a lab rat to do the demonstration. If I have one word to describe the announcement, that it was RUSHED.

The technology is similar to Natal in some sort. You use the already available PS3 EyeToy as a camera and you hold two prototype sticks like the Wii controllers and whatever you do with them is translated on-screen. The tech demo showed serving tennis balls, with realistic physics, using sign posts and baseball bats! They also showed how the controller can be used as a gun, a sword and a shield, a whip and finally a bow and an arrow. The motion is swift. As I said, it’s basically the same as Natal, minus the voice recognition, but with you holding two sticks in your hand. So, it’s the same shit! Unless I see games on this thing, this is as nice a gimmick as Natal and Milo. Show me the games, dammit. And what proves that the whole thing was rushed is that the thing doesn’t even have a name or even a codename. But it was said that it will launch next spring?! Now, that’s strange. Launch to do what exactly, if there is no announced software to benefit from it.

So, now you see what I meant with motion sensing, it’s useless for the most part, and I still remain skeptical.

I think that Natal has an edge over the unnamed Sony tech demo, for the fact that it tracks your whole body motion. Sony seems to have created an ugly mutant from mating Natal to the Wii. Copying what others are doing isn’t the best way to go, Sony. But on the other hand, Natal is going to need some kind of trigger or controller to control some in game actions at some time. That’s why I hate motion sensing… It will force you to focus on way too many thing to streamline the experience rather than making a great game with traditional controlling.

At that moment I was desperate… The clock was ticking and they still haven’t showed up the big guns. Uncharted 2 and MAG are big, but they are not Kratos-big. So, when they showed up yet another PSN game about racing, I was close to giving up and calling it a day.

Then came the moment… The Team ICO announcement… Ueda’s new masterpiece is called The Last Guardian, and guess what, it’s the same game like the one I posted its video last month. But this time the trailer had better graphics for the creature with feathers. They are still using the same music from Miller’s Crossing. They also showed gameplay. The game is definitely more like Ico than Shadow of the Colossus. And I think we will be seeing the same relation between the little boy and the creature as that between Ico and Yorda and Wanderer and Agro. I am really happy. The creature reminds me of my cat a lot, you got that right, Falcon!

After that, they showed Gran Turismo 5. I felt real bad for the Forza 3 developer who claimed last night on the MS conference that Forza 3 was the most realistic looking racing game ever. Well, I guess he is crying in the corner now! Too bad I am not into racing games. Honestly, I did try, and I even own Gran Turisom 1 and 4, but racing is not my type of game. The graphics are photorealistic. Period. And the cars now show damage. There is still no release date…

Then came the angry Spartan. Kratos is back, baby. And this time he is angrier and stronger than ever. I mean, he has just killed a chimera with it’s own horn! Ouch! The game is coming next spring, and it will be the final game in the series. How cares now about Dante’s Inferno? I guess Wolverine is shitting his pants now after seeing this video… Kratos is not friendly with copy-cats, and he kills people with their own prosthesis.

And with that the conference was over.

Hold on a second… Where the heck is my price cut? Where is Heavy Rain? I saw it in the PS3 games montage, but why there was no demo for it. This is one of the AAA PS3 games. Strange! And where is the announcement for MGS: Rising for the PS3 as well as the X360. The game was confirmed to be coming to the PS3 as well as the X360 from external sources but I expected that Kojima will show something on the PS3, exclusively, for the sake of the good old days of developing MGS4.

That’s it ladies and gentlemen. Sony’s E3 2009 conference.

E3 2009: Nintendo Conference

Yeah, I watched it! It was super short: at 1 hour and 15 minutes. But I didn’t know that beforehand, of course.

A new Super Mario Bros., a new Super Mario Galaxy, a new Metroid game, some Wii ******* (whatever) titles, some DSi titles for girls about fashion and so. They showed The Conduit, Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and Dead Space: Extraction.

Surprisingly, I didn’t see Red Steel 2 in action, but I read that it was shown yesterday on the Ubisoft press conference.

Resident Evil brought memories back as the setting is in Raccoon city during the events of Resident Evil 2… Man, I loved that game.

I wonder how Nintendo managed to fool the world and sell that many Wiis! I really want to know.

E3 2009: EA Conference

The conference was great. I skipped the Mass Effect 2 presentation as I haven’t played the first and I didn’t want spoilers. The Dragon Age cinematic was good, but the Star Wars: The Old Republic CGI trailer was just amazing! It could have been aired as a 3 minute animated episode like the original Clone Wars TV series. It was that good. And to quote Gametrailers, “This is better than Episodes I-III put together!”

Video Games | Star Wars: The Old Republic | E3 09: Jedi vs Sith Cinematic

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Dante’s Inferno seems to be going on nicely. If X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a God of War-rip off, then Dante’s Inferno is actually a perfect target for legal action from Sony! Sony even admitted it and they said that they welcome the competition.

Video Games | Dante's Inferno | E3 09: Exclusive Lust & Heresy Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

APB had great graphics but I am not into MMO games.

There was a massive section about light casual girly games (real girly games, no jokes here), Wii and iPhone games and finally EA Sports. I really don’t care for any of these things.

The Saboteur trailer is the same one I saw yesterday, it’s really stylized, but when they showed gameplay, I lost my interest. The game needs more work to distinguish itself from other games. It really feels like Mercenaries, with a little GTA here and there.

Video Games | The Saboteur | E3 09: Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Brutal Legend seems amazing, if only it was coming to the PC.

Speaking of the PC, Crytek’s CEO made the Crysis 2 announcement, which I predicted in my E3 prediction page (yay!), and it’s going multiplatform but with each version taking advantage of its platform. There was no trailers or screenshots, but he said that more info will be available later this year.

E3 2009: Microsoft Conference

As you saw is the previous post (it’s MGS, so it gets a separate post. OK?) the conference was really great. Here are my impressions.

The conference had a bad start, I don’t care about The Beatles really. So, these were 15 minutes wasted from my life… Then came Tony Hawk, another waste… I am sure that other people like these things, I just don’t like them.

I wasn’t able to watch the Modern Warfare 2 gameplay that came next as my streaming video on IGN was interrupted and by the time I switched to Gamespot, it was over. I have been trying to see it again, but I failed. IGN is not working and the footage is so far not on any other site. So, I can’t comment. UPDATE: Here it is!

Video Games | Modern Warfare 2 | E3 09: Press Conference Gameplay

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Cliffy B is called to the stage, I thought “Oh, here goes Gears of War 3” but no, he is announcing a Live Arcade game, fine by me. If only the game was that good (it wasn’t) and it was buggy! Near the end of the demo, the player was floating on the air where the destroyed boss have been. This is really embarrassing!

What’s this? Zombies? I thought I was watching a trailer for the upcoming Dead Rising 2. The sound effects were just wrong, they were from Left 4 Dead. I thought that this was cheap from Capcom. But wait a second, it’s Left 4 Dead 2!!! For a November 17th release. I have a mixed reaction here. This is definitely a must buy. And I think I will be buying it, when it’s released. But this got me worried over the future support for Left 4 Dead, the original one. If you look at Team Fortress 2, you know what to expect from Valve. But when you release a game every year, what will happen to the old game, will we see new levels (we haven’t seen any till now, and the SDK is still in beta, so no user-generated levels till now too. So, comes November 17th, will the original Left 4 Dead be dead? The game did offer very low value for money when it comes to levels and campaigns, but it offered incredible value for the fun factor of playing the same levels over and over again and again and each time you will have fun. I really want to see more from the original before I see a sequel. But if the mighty Valve chooses to grant us a sequel, let’s hope it’s for a reduced price for the current owners of L4D. And the trailer looked like it was in CGI, or they are using a new engine other than the Source Engine. The concept of chainsaws is great, but the one who is using it will simply be slow, how they are going to balance this for the remaining 3 team members to keep things moving fast? We will have to wait and see. Valve have the talent. I just wish they would announce Half-Life 2: Episode 3 and Portal 2 too. I am dying for this.

I hate the fact that Splinter Cell: Conviction is now a X360 exclusive. I still have to play Chaos Theory and Double Agent, the previous two games in the series, though. But I didn’t like the departure from the gameplay style of this new game. This was more Jason Bourne than the Sam Fisher that I liked from the first two games in the series. But I think, ultimately, UBISOFT is going to release this on the PC.

Video Games | Splinter Cell: Conviction | E3 09: Extended Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Next up, was Halo. I haven’t played Halo 3, so I don’t know how the fight ends, so I have morbid fear of having the game spoiled for me. But luckily there was no such thing. The gameplay footage of Halo 3: ODST was great. But I thought that it would be a team game in the manner of Star Wars: Republic Commando. Maybe it’s because the footage was early near the start of the game, so you haven’t met the members of your team yet. But it looks really promising, and after all, it has Halo on it, so it will sell like crazy, but Bungie makes great games.

Video Games | Halo 3: ODST | E3 09: Gameplay Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The reveal of Halo: Reach confirms the rumors and here we have a game about the early days of Master Chief during the Fall of Reach which was told not in the previous games but rather in the novelization of the Halo universe in the novel, The Fall of Reach, which is considered the first of the 4 Halo novels. There were no further details other than a 2010 release date. A beta key will be included with copies of ODST. Good.

Video Games | Halo: Reach | E3 09: Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I don’t like racing games that much, so Froza 3 didn’t catch my attention.

Now, Alan Wake, that’s more like it. I am glad that the game is nearing release (Spring 2010) and it does look good. It has the same Silent Hill atmosphere but with a Max Payne style. But what was Alan’s flashlight? It’s beam was too powerful and highly focused!

Video Games | Alan Wake | E3 09: Press Conference Gameplay Demo

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The surprising Kojima announcement is discussed in the previous post, so I am not going to repeat the same stuff here.

As for the Xbox Live, Last.fm, Netflix, Facebook announcements, I simply couldn’t give a rat’s ass. Live is not available in my country, and until MS has the decency to respect my country, I am not interested in the service, besides, all this requires special internet broadband speeds that are simply science fiction where I live. As for Facebook, I am the site’s public enemy #1.

Now, let’s talk about the Natal Project. Natal? What’s wrong with Natalie? No, seriously… I love controllers. They provide accurate and responsive controls to all games, regardless of the genre, and I am not going to mention the magnificent keyboard and mouse combo. This new project is simply a camera that reads your body motion and translates it into commands for the X360 to integrate into the software. There is also voice recognition software that identifies the person and possibly, his/her emotions. The press conference showed some applications in both gaming and social Xbox Live activities. I am not going to talk about the Live activities, as simply I won’t use it and I won’t have a video chat with my friend to help me choose what dress to wear! LOL!

The showed games were all concepts with nothing that is actually in production. Both Stephen Spielberg and Peter Moylenaux (of Lionhead) made an appearance and discussed the future capabilities of the device. Moylenaux even made a concept project about a virtual boy called Milo that the player can interact with, emotionally.

Video Games | Lionhead Milo Project | E3 09: Milo Tech Demo

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Now, I may seem like a backward, stone age person, but I don’t like this new direction. About the Milo thing, first, it will be a world of hell to the developer to record all the pre-recorded audio for the virtual character, because voice generation software can’t simply simulate human emotions. Now add the needed animations and facial expressions and you will understand what I mean. Besides, didn’t you think that Milo was so close to HAL? I mean, it’s scary. And if I want something to talk to, I will get a real person, or I will simply talk to my cat, which is easier, and the little furball understands it all!

Don’t get me wrong. The technology is wonderful, and it has an edge over the Wii, namely the graphical power of the X360, and also over similar PS3 stuff like the Singstar camera. But what this technology needs is careful implementation into games. When the Wii was announced, it was praised as a game changer for the console market and as a revolution (the old name for the Wii was the Nintendo Revolution, back in 2005) in the video game industry. Now after almost 3 years of being in the market, the number of really imaginative games that took advantage of the technology are less than 10. The rest are mediocre at best.

So, if you want to sell me this technology, show me its integration into games, good games, and I am sold. But until then, it’s a nice gimmick.

Finally, I would like to illustrate my stance about controllers to my dear friend Falcon. I think that controllers are here to stay. They are wonderful at what they do, and they work for everything. The new motion sensing techniques failed for the Wii and failed for the PS3 (miserably). Motion sensing can work for some games, but not all. Imagine playing a RTS with this, it’s useless. A fighting game like Street Fighter or Tekken, how the hell are you going to do the insane combos? Finally, it’s potentially disturbing. I know that you will accuse me of nice things regarding testosterone deficiency… But I won’t be comfortable playing a game like God of War or Manhunt with motion sensing. It’s very, very disturbing. Imagine doing the motion necessary to snap someone’s neck… That’s not why I am playing games. I don’t want this. Also, the transition of controlling in a game like Battlefield or GTA where there are on foot sections and others with vehicles. How can you motion control this? Or are you going to sacrifice vehicles and mounted turrets for mimicking firing an AK in a game. And imagine the disadvantage this is going to introduce in multiplayer games. If you are not fit or if you are sleepy and tired, then you are pwned! But I have to admit, playing a Star Wars game or a samurai game with this technology will be interesting.

I also would like to stress on something, everyone is so irritated that gaming needs a wider audience. I don’t agree. Gaming is a hobby that has its fans, not all people are gamers or capable of being gamers, so don’t punish the real gamers by forcing them to play using pathetically simple controls to please the non-gaming base. This is what Nintendo did with the Wii, they profited from the sales, but the real hardcore gamers got very, very few good games. The rest of the garbage are made for lonely mothers and grandmothers. I am not an elitist, but if the controller is the barrier that prevents these mindless masses from destroying my hobby, then I will protect the controller with everything I have got. Gaming is not a casual hobby, it’s something that you either have it or not. No body buys a digital SLR camera for $$$ and then complains that there are way too many controls on it and they need to be simplified like a point and shoot camera. Why didn’t he/she buy a simple camera from the start and saved him/herself the trouble, instead of forcing the industry to change itself to accommodate his/her needs, regardless of the real photographers who benefit from the added complexity?

Just think about it.

MS is not stupid, I just hope they do it right and not to chase a quick buck.

Finally… (no, really) we didn’t get Halo 3 for the PC, or Gears of War 2. This is just sad.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising

The Microsoft E3 2009 conference has just ended and Kojima has announced that the MGS franchise is coming to the X360. For the fanboy claims, MGS did appear on other platforms than those made by Sony. MGS: Integral appeared on the PC, MGS2: Substance appeared on the Xbox and PC and MGS: Twin Snakes appeared on the Gamecube. I am not counting the GameBoy version and the iPhone one. So, it’s not a Sony-franchise. OK? Capiche?

But what makes me puzzled is that how Kojima can make the game on the X360 when you know that MGS4 occupied a full Blu-Ray disc, to the extent that it wasn’t possible to include both the English and Japanese voices on the same disc. How is the game going to fit in regular DVDs? It’s either going multi-DVD or the game will simply have to sacrifice something. I don’t think Kojima is stupid enough to cut some of the stuff on the PS3 version to compensate. Oh yes, the game is multiplatform for sure. Who says? Me.

According to Kojima, the game will feature Raiden. But I am a bit suspicious about the change of the game subtitle from Tactical Espionage Action to Lightning Bolt Action. I don’t want a Devil May Cry-clone. I want a Metal Gear Solid game. MGS2, which also featured Raiden, was simply awesome, and the ninja parts were great, but it wasn’t the whole game.

I guess we will have to wait and see. The countdown on the Kojima’s Next page will end in about one and half hours. Soon enough.

As for MGS4 on the X360, I don’t think that it will come. And I am quoting the live blog of Gamespot about the MS conference, “So much for MGS4 on the X360”. End of the story.

Video Games | Metal Gear Solid: Rising | E3 09: Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

E3 2009: Expectations

A new year, a new E3 (that’s Electronic Entertainment Exhibition in case you don’t know, in such case, get the hell out of my e-space), and a new round of rumors, speculations and expectations. Here is the list of the things I am waiting for/suspecting/hoping to be in this year’s E3.

Please note that for multiplatform games, the PC is my platform of choice.

The Mighty PC:

1. Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 are announced for the PC.
2. Duke Nukem Forever lives!
3. Half-Life 2: Episode 3 news. It’s about time, Valve!!! Also, how about Portal 2?!!!
   
4. Mafia II, Bioshock 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, StarCraft II, Assassin’s Creed II, Rage, Doom 4, Alan Wake, Max Payne 3, The Saboteur, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Battlefield: Heroes, Splinter Cell: Conviction news/gameplay/release date.
5. Modern Warfare 2 gameplay and details.
6. Resident Evil 5 PC and Street Fighter IV PC details and release date, including system requirements!
7. GTAIV DLC comes to the PC.
8. Dead Space 2?
9. Mass Effect 2. (Still have to play the first though)
10. Aliens vs Predator reboot. Oh… The memories!
11. Crysis 2. I mean, come on... I want to know what happened after the cliffhanger ending! But I don't want something that will tell me that my PC is crap.
    

PS3:

1. Price cut.
2. Price cut.
3. Oh, a price cut!
4. Kojima’s next game (Whatever the hell it is!)
5. Team ICO’s next game. (see previous post)
6. God of War III. (Zeus… Your days are numbered!)
7. Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer.
8. The new rumored slim PS3.
9. Uncharted 2.
10. MAG
11. The next rumored Twisted Metal.
12. LA Noire?
13. Okami sequel?
14. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
    

Xbox 360:

1. Price cut.
2. Halo 3: ODST
3. Crackdown 2
   

Console-only multiplatform:

1. Dante’s Inferno
2. Wet
3. Tekken 6
4. Brutal Legend
5. Army of Two 2
6. Bayonetta... Just watch the new E3 trailer. It's Devil May Cry but with a chick and more bad-ass moves.
   

Wii:

1. No More Heroes 2 and Red Steel 2
2. Funny conference!

So, what do you think? Post your thoughts and expectations in the comments.

Update: Added Crackdown 2, Portal 2, Crysis 2, Bayonetta and Army of Two 2.

Could this be Team ICO's next title?

OK. I am not going to cry now. I am not going to... (sobs)... cry... now...

The King is… Dead?

 

Always bet on Duke.

I was still hoping that someday I will see Duke saving babes from evil aliens. I think I saw the E3 2001 trailer in 2002 or so, and the moment I saw it, I told myself, “This is going to be awesome!”

Years passed, more years passed, and now, after 12 years from the initial announcement of the game… 3D Realms have closed shop for financial reasons. They still own the Duke IP (intellectual property) and their publisher, Take-Two, still holds publishing rights, but as far as everyone is concerned, now we may never see the game at all.

What makes Duke special? Well, he is the man. Duke Nukem 3D was one of my favourite games. I played it at friends’, in school (Oh yeah!) and on my PC and PS. I played the 3rd person PS games that came out and I even played the Manhattan Project side-scrolling game on the PC. I was really waiting. I am patient, very patient.

So, what’s in the future for Duke? This maybe the greatest publicity stunts ever and a month or so later we all get surprised with the game being released! Or some other company can buy the rights from the now defunct 3D Realms and finish the game and release it. And last but not least, this may be the true end of the Duke.

Hail to the King, baby…

In the past 4 or 5 days, I have seen screenshots, gameplay footage (leaked of course) and plot details than I have ever seen in all the past years. Make sure you head there and there. And if you want to really have a few big laughs, head over there and read about what happened in the 12 years of DNF development, including a pre-order receipt for the game!

Ooops, it seems that the leaked gameplay footage was pulled offline. But it’s available on Youtube. I am not going to host it here as it has some nudity in it. This is a family-safe blog!

And the winner is... Blu-ray

Today, Toshiba admitted its defeat! They will stop producing their HD-DVD format that rivaled the Blu-ray one, backed by Sony and Co. Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD (high definition DVD) were competing for the succession of the aging standard DVDs. They offer superior video and audio quality than the normal DVDs and have higher capacities (50 GB for Blu-ray and 30 GB for HD-DVD).

The beginning of the end for Toshiba began this year, when Warner Bros. Studios went to the Blu-ray camp. The rest was like a perfectly orchestrated symphony that played exactly like Sony would have liked it to. Sony has lost a similar war with JVC in the 1980s. The Betamax vs. VHS one. And as we all know (because almost everyone of us has one in his/her home) VHS won...

The key to Sony's success is, undoubtedly, the PlayStation 3. There are millions of PS3s in millions of houses, and each one can play Blu-ray, out-of-the-box.

Microsoft, which opposed Sony and backed the HD-DVD format, issued a press release today saying that they "didn't care for HD-DVD's problems". I guess someone wants to cry but is too ashamed to do it. 2 or 3 years later, when the double layer standard DVDs that are used in the Xbox 360 are no longer sufficient, M$ will go crying to Sony so that they can license Blu-ray for use in their console. My pride hurts... You hear me Bill Gates!!!

Congratulations to Sony and hard luck to Toshiba, after all, both are friends. Toshiba is manufacturing the Cell processors for the PS3s, if you don't already know! Toshiba bought the Cell manufacturing plants from Sony some months ago.

"A gift to remind you of the Alliance..."

Last Thursday I received an early birthday present from my three dear friends: Kamolly, Falcon and Leopard. A mighty gift, it was. A Logitech G5 mouse...

Yeah... Finally, a good gaming mouse. This baby has a 2000 dpi laser engine that rocks!!! Not only that but you can change the sensitivity on-the-fly, sans any drivers!!! You have a choice between 400, 800 and 2000 dpi, which is great for playing FPS games.

The mouse is so ergonomic and feels professionally done. It has extra custom weights to adjust the weight of the mouse to your liking. It also has 2 extra thumb buttons.

Add this mouse to my precious Arsenal Gear and you have a PC gamer's wet dream!



Thanks a lot for this gift, my dear friends.

One Rig to Rule Them All

Three Rigs for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Rig to rule them all, One Rig to find them,
One Rig to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

And for my vanity...

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

- Gandalf

Behold... The Rig of Power...

• Intel Core 2 Duo "Penyrn" 45nm E8400 @ 3.0 GHz with 6 MB of L2 cache
• Gigabyte P35-DS3R Revision 2.1
• Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT overclocked @ 700 MHz with a custom Zalman fan
• 2x1 800MHz Kingston DDR2 RAM
• Western Digital Caviar SE16 500 GB SATA HDD
• Samsung 20X DVD+/-RW
• HEC 580 W PSU
• LG L194WT 19" WS LCD

Precious... My Precious...

ARSENAL GEAR

May God protect you.

And may you last me for many years and give me the power to conquer all those in Game-earth. We wants it... We needs it... It's ours... Ours...

Yes... Precious...

The dust settles...

Oh it's over. The past few months were full of great games, released one after another. The worst thing is that all I could do was to look, but not to touch! My aging PC, Metal Gear REX, just can't do it. It's very old!

2007 may go down in history as the year for gaming. But I still think 2004 was better. In 2004 you got Half-Life 2, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Doom 3, Far Cry, UT2004 and GTA: San Andreas. While in 2007, you had Halo 3, The Orange Box, Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament III, BioShock, and many more.

REX managed to run the CoD4 demo quite well, I still have to run the full game. It ran The Orange Box magnificently. This game compilation deserves a separate post.

My PC needs and urgent upgrade, but I will wait a bit more. AMD's Phenom has just been released. It offers great value for money with good performance and peace of mind! The AM2 socket will continue to 2009. Intel is discontinuing its Socket 775 next year. Let's wait and see.

Kojima speaks...

Of course I watched the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) trailer the day the HD direct feed was out. Simply WOW!!! This game will really just tie all the lose knots in the Metal Gear Saga. I just can't wait for it to be released.

After being blown away by the Halo 3 review, I was browsing Gamespot when I came to this article. I don't know why I wasn't emailed about this from Gamespot. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I check Gamespot like 3-4 times daily!

If you haven't played the full MGS series, then don't bother reading the Gamespot article, for you it will be full of spoilers and jargon. In MGS you have to know who is who.

The article fully explains the SOP thing which was first revealed in the E3 trailer this year. SOP stands for Sons of the Patriots. A nanomachine system that was injected into all soldiers from Private Military Companies or PMCs. The purpose is to achieve total real-time control over battlefields by the Patriots. With this, the Patriots have supreme control over everything. The SOP system allows for integration between soldiers as if they were one unit. This was shown by the unit commanded by Meryl Silverburgh. They are not PMC, in fact they are anti-PMC. The problem with PMCs is that they have grown considerably. Their size has grown to rival the size of the US military.

Enters Liquid Ocelot...

Since Revolver Ocelot became possessed by Liquid Snake's arm which was transplanted to him, he started to act and think like Liquid. Liquid wants to destroy the Patriots, for revenge. So, he organized an insurrection. He forced Naomi Hunter, the original creator of the nanomachine technology first used by Snake during the Shadow Moses Incident, and the creator of FoxDie, to control the soldiers from PMCs and raise a huge army to make the vision of Big Boss true. He wants to create Outer Heaven... The one place where soldiers will always have a place.

Enters Solid Snake...

He is once again recruited by Colonel Campbell. Col. Campbell works for a UN organization, the purpose of which is to monitor PMC activity. He knew about the insurrection and he sent Snake to assassinate Liquid.


The best thing about MGS is the plot twists. You never know what's going to happen next. Since this game is a continuation to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, then I hope it will have a highly convoluted and engaging story. I didn't like the fact that they over-simplified the story for MGS3: Snake Eater. I still liked the story a lot, but I wanted more twists! MGS2 made me crazy!!!

EVA returns in MGS4 as a 80 year-old woman, but still looks powerful, to combat the Patriots. She is called Big Mama. Kojima said that the name is indicative to something. I wonder...

As shown by numerous trailers, Vamp returns. He looks more dangerous than ever. I hope that Snake (or Raiden) gets to finish him once and for all.

There is a rookie in Meryl's squad. He is called Johnny and he looks to have some intestinal problems. I don't know who he will be. I thought he was Raiden in disguise. Maybe he is the young Snake shown in last year's TGS trailer.

And finally, there is the battle between Solid Snake and Liquid Ocelot in Metal Gears!!! Snake is using the old Metal Gear REX, while Ocelot is using Metal Gear RAY. I think it will be a spectacular battle. Something for the ages...

Solid




VS

Liquid

Halo 3 gets released!!!

The final chapter in the epic fight of Master Chief vs. the Covenant. It was released today on the Xbox 360. The Gamespot review gave it a 9.5. A game like this, you don't ask if it will be good or not, you ask, how much above 9, Gamespot will give it in the review!

Although I don't have a 360 and I don't intend to get one any time soon (for the lack of money, that is). But I am slightly reassured that I will, God willing, play this game someday. Microsoft will release it to the PC. The did it with Halo, Halo 2 and soon with Gears of War. But my guess that this will be in 2009 or 2010 (Maybe then I will have upgraded REX). MS is not stupid enough to do it before then. Halo 3 will be the spearhead of MS attack to dominate the gaming world, and so far, it's been successful.

Just imagine this: Halo 2 on the original Xbox made about $ 125 million in the first 48 hours!

Anyway, back to my life. I have got to stop dreaming.

Beggers are not choosers

On the 25th of September, Halo 3 will be released on the Xbox 360 and the Crysis demo will be released for the PC on the same day. It's clear that I won't be affected by either! I don't have an Xbox 360 and my REX will only (if) manage to run Crysis in slide show mode!

So, I will just keep myself busy and wait for Mandriva 2008 release on the 27th. Trying a Linux distro is not as fun as playing a game like Halo 3 or Crysis, but beggars are not choosers!

Bioshock: thoughts

NO. I haven't played this game yet. This is by no means a review. I am just expressing my thoughts. The system requirements for this game are exactly those of my REX. It will be simply unplayable.

Ever since the first trailers, I fell in love with this game. I really liked the atmosphere. The game world reminds me of Dark City, a very good sci-fi movie that almost no one remembers because it was overshadowed by The Matrix.

It may be a lot of time before I can play this game.

The game received a 9.7 from IGN and a 9.0 from Gamespot.

A Big Daddy... Run!

BioShock: IGN review

This game is one of the main reason that I want to upgrade my PC, er..., Metal Gear REX. It's just too old!

IGN reviewed the game and gave it a 9.7. I don't like their reviews in general, but it is something to read until Gamespot release theirs.

Check some trailers and gameplay videos on gametrailers.com