No Signal Input

First Impressions: Spore.

2008-09-07T14:13:00.003Z

Just a quick note that I posted a few short impressions of Spore over on ButtonSmasher. I'll be posting more as the week progresses and I'll also have a full review up sometime in the next few days.

I'm thinking about doing a diary where I document some of the weird and wonderful things I come across in Spore while inserting links for you guys to add them to your own version of Spore.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying it right now but it's by no means perfect. Hit the post and check it out, although I'll be going into more detail soon.

What's the Verdict on Spore?

2008-09-04T15:27:00.011Z

Reviews of Spore are flowing in ahead of tomorrow's Europe release date and the September 7th release date for North America. Unfortunately I can't buy the game myself yet because I'm a bit skint (it would come at a time when all the good games are coming out) so it will probably be a few more weeks before I actually get to play it, much to my annoyance.

The game is receiving pretty favourable reviews with Metacritic giving it an average of 88/100. Reviews are largely centered around the game being pretty simple when split into it's unique part (such as tribal or civilisation stages) but much more wholesome when you play through all the parts together. Below I'm summed up a few of the reviews hitting the Internet

MTV Multiplayer said that Spore 'felt like nothing else' to play and concentrated on their feelings throughout the game rather than analyse general concepts such as graphics and sound. You'll become deeply connected to your creature and experience events during the creature stage almost as if you were the creature itself. Unfortunately the later stages, such as civilisation and space, loses most of this connection but you'll never lose that connection to the species as a whole. The writer, Stephen Totilo, couldn't jump ahead and play one stage on its own once unlocked because he believes you don't have the same connection with your creature and the world around it unless you start from scratch again.

IGN UK states that the game isn't what was fully promised but still a 'triumph' none the less. You only see the 'bigger picture' of game once you've played through it and started again from scratch, until then it simply feels 'like you've bought a Wii party game by mistake'. The creature and space stages are the ones that you're most likely to come back to, others being a little too basic and simple - but it's all part of appealing to a generation of Sims players. The civilisation stage is the area that needs 'the most expansion' as it's simply too restricted in how many buildings and vehicles you can build. Overall it's an 'infinite toy box' but needs an 'expansion or two to plug a few holes'.

Gamespy believes that, although the scope is great, the space stage can get get a little repetitive and casual players may have difficulty getting through it. Also 'while the gameplay isn't always perfect, Spore is a technological coup that opens up a whole new genre of gaming' due to the constant background sharing of other players creations. The ability to see everyone elses creations is where the game really shines, so you'll really want to connect Spore to the Internet to take full advantage of it. As I expected Spore 'sometimes falls into a kind of uncanny valley between casual play and a game that a hardcore gamer would love', which I think is what The Sims managed to do. The overall point of the game is gleefully exploring a universe created entirely by other players.

Eurogamer tells us to 'watch out for our Bank Holiday sofa sale species; they don't bite you at first, but the interest gets you in the end'. Your options 'multiply enormously' when you reach the space stage and the stages leading up to it start to feel like nothing more than a creation and tutorial game. The creature stage is apparently the best stage to view other players creations but there's 'not enough in the repetitive gameplay to encourage this'. However, it's all worth it for the fun you'll have along the way and the space stage 'overwhelms any disappointment'.

More Reviews:

Gamespot

IGN AU

IGN US

PTGamers (non-English)

PC Gamer UK

GameStar (non-English)

____________

Overall I think it sounds like a 'must play', if only for its unique creation and population system rather than the pretty repetitive gameplay. I can get over repetitive gameplay if the game itself is incredibly satisfying, and Spore seems to offer immense satisfaction. I just wish I had some damn money right now!

August, What The Hell Were You Thinking?

2008-08-29T01:47:00.002Z

Hmmm, so that was a bit of a crappy month.

The reason I haven't been posting is because my Nana died recently so video games obviously took a bit of a back burner. Any other bit of spare time has been spent writing on Button Smasher (remember that you can still read my quality *cough* yeah right *cough* posts there).

I don't know how many times I'm going to have to write posts like this but, in the end, life is unpredictable and you don't know when you're not going to have time to write. I don't get paid for this, I simply do it because I enjoy it and sometimes I have more important things to attend to.

With that said I'm going to try my best, because I love doing this when all's said and done and I love any feedback you guys give me.

Thanks.

Destructivator.

2008-07-31T20:46:00.006Z

The aim of Destructivator is to kill everything on the level. Simple, yes? Well, not really.

Timing is key in this game as everything moves pretty fast. Combine that with not being able to shoot upwards or in mid-air and you've got a pretty tough game - especially in the latter levels (even the first few levels are hard).

Seriously, you'll feel like you're on speed playing Destructivator.

Download it here.

I Was in the War.

2008-07-31T16:35:00.007Z

I Was in the War is a simple game with a neat concept. You control the white guy in the picture above and your aim is to move along a platform, whilst avoiding the various things coming from all around you. You can hit 'A' to flip onto the other side of the platform to avoid the things on the top, and vice versa. You can also hit 'S' to jump, which I did not actually realise at first, and it makes it far easier to avoid things - until the missiles start dropping anyway.

As you progress the screen becomes increasingly packed with things, such as missiles, helicopters and giant tanks. It's increasingly wacky but increasingly hard and my highest score is a measly 10355. Can you beat it? Most definitely.

Download it here.

Battlefield Heroes Delayed.

2008-07-30T21:11:00.004Z

The upcoming cartoon style free-to-play World War II game Battlefield Heroes (that's a mouthful) has been delayed until the end of the year. It was supposed to come out this Summer but EA has stated that the delay is due to the addition of new "social networking features".

It's probably for the best as Summer is obviously a dry time for games. Since the game is aimed at the more casual gamer it makes complete sense that these people are out enjoying the sun rather than staying in their bedrooms like the rest of us nerds.

I'm looking forward to this as I never really was a hardcore Battlefield fan (I started out on Battlefield 2 but didn't play too much. I ended up putting more hours into Battlefield 2142), but I'm always looking for something simple - and fun! - to play when I can't be bothered firing anything else up.

Check out the Wikipedia entry if you want to know more about the game.

Like an Internet Plague!

2008-07-24T22:06:00.003Z

If you can't get enough of my wonderful blogging here at No Signal Input (yeah right) then you can now catch new posts over at ButtonSmasher as well.

Don't worry, I'll still be blogging here as much as possible and this will remain the place where I point you to the latest in independent (and time-wasting) gaming.

I don't usually talk about my personal life here (I have another blog for that) but the reason why posting has been non-existent this week is due to it being university graduation time. I'll be back to posting properly when I've recovered this weekend.

A Brief Updated Look at all the Upcoming Spore Games.

2008-07-18T23:10:00.002Z

We all know that Spore is coming out pretty soon (if you don't you must have a pretty nice rock to live under) but, until know, we've known little about the spin-off games that will be accompanying it. E3 has given us a lot of new information so I've took some time to go over it and posted the most important things here. Stay informed!

Spore (PC/Mac)

First up there's been new information about the main game itself, especially as it was available for play testing at E3 this week. Most of the coverage seemed to concentrate on the tribal and space exploration stages of the game but there was also new information about the advanced editors.

The space exploration stage allows you to design your own spacecraft using an editor much like the creature creator already released. After your civilisation has celebrated the spacecrafts creation you go through a brief flying tutorial and then off into space it is! In space you can do various missions that extend from discovery (such as finding a downed spacecraft) to diplomacy with other races. Let's not forget the previously seen tractor beams that can abduct other lifeforms, which can then be dumped on other planets. Once you've completed your primary goal (to discover the centre of the universe) you have half a million other planets to explore according to EA. This all sounds well and good but I'm wondering if it will have enough depth to keep you interested in the long-term. There's only so many weird creatures you can take.

The advanced editors include the vehicle editor, which works the same way as the creature creator and allows you to morph and stretch your vehicle's chassis and then add wheels, wings, weapons etc. IGN, for instance, flew around in a spaceship which looked like a magic school bus. There seems to be no end to the creativity allowed and, apparently, this was also extend to buildings allowing you to create magnificent (if you're creative) cities.

There's a lot more to get into so you can check out these previews and impressions:

IGN - 'Next I discovered a world that had a fairly advanced society. It still hadn't reached space stage, but it did have cities full of tiny little Chinook people (the demo was using user-created content pulled from the Internet, and someone had actually made a creature that looks like a Chinook helicopter).'
Gamespot - 'When we first made our jump into space, we noticed that our home planet had a small moon orbiting it. By heading straight to this moon, we were given a brief mission to follow our onboard radar (a toggle-able power in one of our ship's ability menus, which also includes weapons and miscellaneous tools, such as tractor beams that can be used to abduct other life-forms) to a crash-landed spaceship, which we then scanned for data.'
Gamespy -
'For instance, our tribe was prospering and making new friends, but it was time to start dressing like future world leaders. The tribal clothing editor allows players to outfit their creatures with primitive attire. I decided our fish creatures needed a giant gold ring through the nose. And some feathers. With armored shoulder-pads. So far so good: My creatures started to look like extras from the "Road Warrior" movies.'

Spore: Origin

Spore: Origin is the name given to the iPhone version of Spore. With the iPhone apparently as powerful as Sega's old Dreamcast it's fast becoming the perfect casual gaming platform (most portable games are played on a mobile phone) so it makes sense that EA would want a piece of the pie. This is where Spore: Origin comes in and it seems like it will be a decent casual game for those away from their PC's/Mac's or even for those who aren't aware of Spore.

The game itself is a bit like the primordial stage in Spore, in that you direct a cellular level organism around and gobble up the smaller creatures. Controlling your little cellular creature is done by using simple tilt controls on the iPhone. It also infuses the creativity available in the main game you get to evolve your creature every few stages (the game allows you to use the iPhone's pinch controls to morph your creature). However, you have to watch out for the bigger creatures that will reduce the DNA metre you have to fill to complete the stage.

Spore: Origin sounds like Sony's previously released PS3 title flOw but with a little more customisation. While the iPhone will sport the best graphics and the tilt controls the title will also be available for other mobile platforms - meaning that they'll always be a way to get your Spore fix!

For more info check out this short IGN preview.

Spore Creatures

The DS version is taking a unique approach to the creature creator aspect of Spore. Due to the DS' inability to host a creature creator on the advanced scale of the PC version the solution is to piece together body parts. You can still stretch and move these parts around the body but it's nowhere near the freedom allowed by the main game. You can also colour and texture these parts so you're still allowed a fair deal of creativity. Your 2D creatures then move around in a 3D world (similar to Paper Mario) and more body parts can be found through exploring and taking on quests.

The stylus is put to novel use by being used in fights with other creatures. Creatures are taken out by effectively 'slashing' the monsters with your stylus. If you want more creatures to 'slash' you'll also apparently be able to share creatures with your friends over wi-fi.

For a bit more information check out these short IGN and Gamespot previews.

Anything Else?

Despite the insistence of a rather annoying girl on Livejournal there has been little information about what's happening with the Wii version (that means there's NO release date yet). It's not a port so this was not the reason for the PC delay but Will Wright did say they're currently in the planning stages.

Other than the Wii Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are still under consideration.

Sony E3 Press Conference Impressions.

2008-07-15T20:08:00.009Z

Well, after this certain announcemen t I said I didn't need a PS3 anymore but maybe...just maybe....I was wrong. When you present what's sure to be a pretty boring financial rundown using Little Big Planet you know you're on to a winner.

Well...maybe.

To be honest I was a bit bored during most of the press conference, this this may be because they chose to concentrate a lot on other media content for the PS3. They also talked about the PS2 - which was a little surprising but Sony thinks it still has life left in it - and the PSP.

Resistance 2

A gameplay demo was shown with some big ass monster smashing up the building the player was running around in. It looks...well...average. I didn't play the first Resistance so I can't comment on it all that much but it didn't really wow me. The 8 player online co-op and 60 player online multiplayer matches, however, does sound amazingly cool.

Anyone played the original Resistance multiplayer? Let me know if it's any good.

Little Big Planet

As I said earlier Little Big Planet was used to create an interactive graph for the presentation. That very fact just shows how customisable LBP is and if anything would get me to buy a PS3 it would be this.

I can't wait to see some of the creations people make with this game. It's all about user-generated content these days.

Playstation Network (PSN)

PSN now has over 180 million downloads under its belt so there's no question over whether or not people are taking advantage of it. Sony talked a lot about content for PSN and it seems to be a pretty big deal in making the PS3 more of a general media device rather than just a games console.

Like Microsoft they've got deals with some of the big movie studios (such as MGM, Fox and - obviously - Sony Pictures) and the resulting movies should be available right now (in the US anyway). TV shows will be $1.99 per episode while movie rentals will be $2.99-5.99 and $9.99-14.99 for purchases. You don't have to wait for the entire TV show or movie to download as progressive downloading will allow you to watch while you download. Any TV or movie downloads can also be copied over to your PSP so you can watch your content on the move. Sounds good huh? Well I wish Europe would have as much content.

More content comes from Gran Turismo TV which lets you watch content from motoring shows around the world online. Since this includes the excellent Top Gear it's a pretty amazing line-up of content.

Life with Playstation will also be hitting soon, which will deliver real-time news straight to your PS3. I assume this is a little like the Wii News channel.

Finally Ratchett and Clank: Quest for Booty will be released as a downloadble game on PSN. It's going to offer around 3-4 hours of gameplay but apparently have all the humor and action of a normal Ratchett and Clank game.

Some more PSN games:

Crash Commando Fat Princess Flower Pain: Amusement Park Siren: Blood Curse Ragdoll and Kung-fu: Fists of Plastic Pixeljunk Eden

Sony thinks it's going to be the 'ultimate social experience'!

Playstation Home

There wasn't much of Home shown but it will be available to try at E3 so they'll be more information coming out soon. One thing it did show, however, is the unique game spaces in Home that have environments modeled after the settings of each respective game. You can also jump straight into the game from these environments.

Three of the spaces shown were Warhawk, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune and Resistance 2.

PSP.

Resistance Retribution (a short of filler between Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2), which is a third-person game, will be coming out for the PSP in Spring 2009. I'd like to say that i looks pretty decent for a PSP games but it's pointless because I know that PSP games can look damn good and this one is no exception. It's by the same guys who did the Syphon Filter games so I high hopes for it.

Other games include Patapon 2, Loco Roco 2, Lego Batman, Super Stardust: Portable, Valkyria Chronicles and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed amongst others.

More More More!

Apparently it's the year of the PS3!

DC Universe (an MMO)
Infamous (looks amazing. An anti-hero/superhero game in which you use electricity in a free roaming city)
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
Quantam of Solace (Bond)
Ghostbusters Soulcalibur IV
God of War 3
The Agency (a spy MMO)
Killzone 2
Buzz Quiz TV
Singstar
Guitar Hero: World Tour
NBA 09: The Inside
Resident Evil 5
Mirror's Edge
Naruto: Ultimate Ninga Storm
Socom: Confrontation

Woah, there's a lot of games in this post.

Finally MAG (Massive Action Game...what an original name!) was unveiled. This game is a bit like Planetside as it allows massive battles of up to 256 players. To avoid massive confusion in these battles the game is squad-based allowing squads of 8 players each. This is combined with character growth (maybe a bit like Battlefield and Call of Duty 4) all taking place in one world.

That's it for the press conferences. I'll be posting more news from E3 in it's remaining two days.

Nintendo E3 Press Conference.

2008-07-15T17:49:00.006Z

Nintendo kicked off their conference with a video of people smiling and playing the Wii followed by the slogan 'We promise to keep the world smiling'. Well, from the things they've unveiled today show that Nintendo are very serious about keeping that promise.

Here's a quick run-down of the games and new innovations that Nintendo showcased.

Shaun White Snowboarding

Shaun White himself appeared in all his ginger glory! The game is controlled through use of the Wii Balance Board so you have to lean left and right to take turns. Nintendo's Sammie Dunnaway also made a fool of herself by trying it out.

Animal Crossing: City Folk

We all knew it was coming but Nintendo officially unveiled it during their press conference. While the game itself looks like a better looking version of the DS Animal Crossing there's a number of new innovations that takes advantage of the Wii. Firstly, as well as your town, you can also travel to a city where you can take part in auctions, visit the Happy Room Academy (how dare they give my house low points!), get some new fashions at Gracie Grace or get a new hairstyle.

Communication is once again handed through letters. However, you can now attach photos and send them to your PC or post them on the Wii message board. The biggest aspect of the new communication tools, however, is the Wii Speak. This is a whole new piece of hardware that acts as a microphone but the whole room can speak into it and interact with another room of players anywhere in the world. So, basically, people visiting your town can now speak to you instead of using some cumbersome chat interface.

Wii Motion Plus.

Wii Motion Plus is another new piece of hardware that records your exact movements and renders them on the Wii. This means characters on the screen will now follow your exact slight movements instead of during some pre-canned movements based on what direction you moved the Wiimote in.

Taking advantage of this new piece of hardware is a new Wii Sports game known as Wii Sports: Resort. They played with it on stage showing off Frisbee throwing, jet-ski riding and sword fighting (which, because it now follows your exact movements, looks pretty damn awesome).

Also shown was Wii Music. Using the Wiimote and nunchuck you can play up to 50 different instruments such as drums, a saxophone, a piano etc. You can then combine these together and play as band with three other people (which is what they did - to the Mario theme tune!). Although, again, it's cringe worthy I have to admit that it looks damn fun to play around with. Hell, after these announcements I may well go and get myself a Wii!

Wii Music is out in spring 2009.

Other Stuff (Including DS Games)

A few other games unveiled include:

Spore Creatures (you can share your creations on the DS just like you can in the PC version. The stylus is used to create creatures.)
Guitar Hero: On Tour (song sharing between versions)
A new Pokemon game (great...)
Grand Theft Auto: China Town (this was pretty surprising considering the family friendly DS. It takes place in Liberty City with a whole new game engine.)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Rayman Raving Rabbits: TV Party.
Call of Duty: World at War (Looks pretty good graphics for a Wii game. It uses the Wii Zapper and has a co-op mode)

Last but not least, Sony is next.

Microsoft E3 Press Conference Impressions.

2008-07-15T15:20:00.011Z

So this is a little late but I figured it's better late than never. I actually sat through the entirety of the press conference, something I haven't really done in the past. I did feel that the press conference itself was pretty lacklustre, but this is probably due to the fact that I wasn't really interested in some of the announcements.

Here's a few short impressions.

Fallout 3

The first game to be shown off was Fallout 3. Even though I own Fallout 2 I've only played a little of it so probably can't comment on why people think it's such a big deal. However, I'm really excited about Fallout 3 and every new bit of information just gets me even more excited.

They showed a 1950's inspired nuclear shelter advert which showcases the heavy satire used in the Fallout series. Next up was a gameplay demonstration and, I've got to say, it's looking pretty nice. The target assisting system (VATS) looks nice - allowing you to blow off various limbs - and also harks back to the turn-based aspects of the Fallout series. You can, however, also take on the enemies in real time for those of you who like to do all the killing yourself. I'm also loving the radio on the Pip Boy 3000 as it's like GTA in a post-apocalyptic world!

The game hits the Xbox 360 this fall.

Resident Evil 5

I shamefully admit that I never actually completed Resident Evil 4 but, from what I played, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. Resident Evil 5 isn't straying from the formula that made Resi 4 such a joy to play; such as the over the should style shooting and the more intelligent zombies (if you can still call them that). There's also an onine co-op mode, but I'm not sure if this extends to local multiplayer. This is a shame because I'd love to play it with my brother, just like I'm doing with Gears of War at the moment. Oh...and Chainsaw guy makes his re-apperance!

It's going to be a simultaenous release in Europe and North America on March 13 2009. Japan will get it a day earlier.

Fable 2

Here's another game that I'm looking forward to playing. There was little new information on the game other than it's finished. Peter Molyneux did however show off the interactions you can have with your family (you can get married and have kids) and also showed off how co-op play is begun. When you're logged into Xbox Live you can see your friends, who are playing the single-player game, floating around as orbs. To start a co-op game you go up to one of these orbs and interact with it and they pop right in! You have to admit it's pretty cool.

Fable 2 will be out in October 2008.

Gears of War 2

I like Gears of War but, honestly, this sequel looks like more of the same. This isn't a bad thing, of course, because it still kicks ass. It does look like you'll be fighting more locusts at any one time and this will either make it incredibly hard or incredibly cool (or both). The gameplay demonstration showed off a few new enemies (one locust had a shield, while others used grappling hooks to climb up walls and attack) and the meat shield aspect will act as moving cover. Plus, you can never go wrong with a flamethrower!

A new multiplayer mode was also unveiled. Horde will allow you and 4 other players to fight against wave after wave of increasingly difficult locusts.

Gears of War 2 will hit on November 7.

New Dashboard.

Some people like it, some people don't. Myself? Well, I think it was time that the 360 got an overhaul. It looks clean and simple and while some may say it shows Microsoft are going all out on it's casual userbase it's got some pretty nice new features.

The avatars...well...it's nice and cute but I don't think it was really needed. It seems like it's just trying to latch on to the Mii's on the Wii. The ability to stay in parties as you jump between games is very useful though as it's often annoying having to set up a whole new party just because you changed games.

One of the new channels is 'Primetime'. This allows you to play well known TV quiz games with the Xbox Live community. The first one to be released is 1vs100 (which is done by the National Lottery here in the UK) and the 100 people are all real people, as well as the one and the crowd. Add the fact that you can win real prizes and I think this will be pretty fun for when you're not playing you're normal games.

The Netflix annoucement is cool but it doesn't matter either way to me as Netflix don't operate in Europe.

Finally, the ability to install games on the hard drive (although you still need the disc) will lead to a much smoother experience.

For more on the new dashboard see these three posts.

Final Fantasy XIII.

There's nothing more to say other than what I said here. Well, other than...

YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!

There were obviously more announcements but I'm not going to cover all of them. Here's a quick run-down.

Lips (like Singstar. The ability to plug your iPod or Zune in and use any song is cool. Oh, and Duffy came and sang)
Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Geometry Wars 2.
Portal: Still Alive.
Galaga Legions.
A new South Park game (....)
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts.
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.
Scene It? Boxoffice Smash.
You're in the Movies (Like the Eyetoy, incredibly cringeworthy watching them do stupid movements and dances on stage and then play it back as a movie)
Infinite Undiscovery.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope.
The Last Remnant.

The Nintendo Press Conference is next up!

The Sims 3 E3 Trailer

2008-07-15T14:42:00.005Z

While this trailer for The Sims 3 may look like an episode of Laguna Beach I'm surprisingly looking forward to the game. You see, not only does the game allow your Sim's access to the entire town without those pesky loading screens (and the ability to see what's going on elsewhere at any moment) but it also deals with the problem of one family aging while the others stay frozen in time - something which has always annoyed me.

I'm the kind of guy who loves to create stories so The Sims franchise has always been a favourite of mine. Unlike other people I don't actually care about the constant expansion packs because, hey, it's new content and at least EA are continuing to support the game. Couple that with an excellent community with literally millions of creations and you can have endless fun! Although that endless fun is sometimes pretty mundane...

The Sims 3 E3 Trailer - YouTube.

Morning Coffee E3 Edition - July 15th 2008

2008-07-15T09:00:00.001Z

E3 has begun and there's no shortage of news, so here's a round-up of some of my favourite links from the conference:

As you're probably aware (you can't call yourself a gamer if you aren't!) Square Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII will be released for the 360. MTV Multiplayer attended the Square Enix press conference where a Q&A session was held. Here are some of the questions and answers.
Major Nelson discusses some of the new features of the planned Xbox Live update. These include; storing a game on the hard drive so it'll run smoother, the ability to purchase stuff on the Xbox Live marketplace from any web enabled device, and (YES!!!!!!!) 1680x1050 support through VGA and HDMI.
Portal: Still Alive is coming to Xbox Live Arcade!
Gamespy has an excellent Fallout 3 preview.
...and more on EA's Dead Space.
If you missed it here's Gamespot's coverage of the EA press conference.
...and here's what Will Wright said about Spore at that very press conference.
Gamespot has some impressions of the intriguing Xbox Live 'MMO' quiz game 1 vs 100 (we have a version of the TV show over here in the UK, done by the National Lottery).
Sim Animal? Ok.....

Um, we'll finish on that last one. More news coming your way soon!

Game Diary - July 14th 2008: A Cop's Funeral.

2008-07-14T22:28:00.005Z

I've decided to start a game diary, as you've probably guessed by the title of this post. It's going to be similar to what Stephen Totilo does over at MTV Multiplayer. Basically I'll document the games I play daily (although it may not be every single day, a boy has got to rest!) and add a few thoughts about the games as I play them.

*Spoilers ahead*

Today I've played about three hours of GTA IV. I know I'm taking a long time to actually complete the game but I really want to enjoy every minute of this virtual recreation of NYC and not rush my play-through.

I've just got passed the mission where you have to decide whether to kill Derrick McReary or his cop brother Francis McReary. I find it hard to make choices in GTA IV and I put that done to how emotionally attached I can become to some of the characters. It's an excellent story and because I have to interact with characters (such as taking them out for a drink etc.) I feel like I get to know them like I would in a book. I like the McReary family - especially Packie even though he can be a bit of an idiot. Anyway, this time the choice was a no-brainer for me. Francis had threatened to reveal dirt on Niko if he didn't follow his orders to kill Derrick and I was taking any of that crap. Plus, I kind of felt sorry for Derrick as the drugs and snitches had pretty much ruined the guy. I pumped one in Francis' head and there was one less cop in the city.

Next was the funeral scene. This is the second time GTA has included a funeral in the story (the first was at the beginning of San Andreas where Carl attends his mother's funeral) and in both cases it ends in a shoot-out. I felt like I was part of the family when I was helping Packie gun down the guys so the rest of the family could make their escape.

It's good to see that your choices in a game will have different ramifications down the line. I don't know what happens if you kill Derrick instead but I felt that killing Francis, while obviously wrong in a moral sense, was the right thing to do.

I'm loving every second of the GTA IV experience. You may not be able to have as much fun in the city like you could in previous GTA games but I think the superb storyline more than makes up for that.

Next up: I'm going to see GTA IV through to the end but I'm also trying to complete Gears of War with my brother. I know it's been out for ages but I've only just got around to buying it.

Final Fantasy XIII is Coming to the Xbox 360!

2008-07-14T19:09:00.011Z

I totally didn't see this one coming!

I've just been watching the Microsoft E3 press conference and in a cringe-worthy moment of 'I forgot to say this' Yoichi Wada of Square Enix showed a trailer announcing that Final Fantasy XIII is going to be released on the 360.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEEESSSSSSSSS!!!

I now have absolutely no reason to buy a PS3. Sony is going to be more than a tad bit annoyed at this.

I have more thoughts on the press conference (which was pretty lacklustre to be honest) coming up soon.

UPDATE: Here's the E3 trailer.

Morning Coffee - July 14th 2008

2008-07-14T09:00:00.000Z

E3 kicks off today so they'll be tonnes of news coming out over the next few days and hopefully I'll have time to pick through it all. For now, here's this mornings links:

Is writing about games a pleasure? Or are you worse off because you're approaching every game with a critical eye? It's an interesting observation that has always intrigued me. Julian Murdoch tells us his thoughts.
Gamasutra asks if exclusivity is harming digital distribution.
Why do scores matter so much to gamers?
Ten things that don't suck about the game industry...apparently.
How do you make James Bond less of a lover in a video game? It can't be done! IT CAN'T!!!

Damn, I'm tired. Hopefully Microsoft won't put me to sleep today.

Morning Coffee - July 12th 2008

2008-07-12T09:00:00.001Z

Well, since it's a Saturday you're only getting a few links this morning. With E3 coming up there's no shortage of news and speculation but, hey, it's a weekend and we're all allowed a break.

Here's your Lot:

MCV interviews the legend that is - and one of my favourite gaming personalities - Sam Houser of Rockstar Games.
'Fanboy' is now part of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Oh lord, I fear for our safety as a species.
Kotaku examines...erm...why developers make female characters boobs so big (using the example of Soulcalibur's Ivy, which is easy to see why).
Finally another interview. This one is with Newsweek writer N'Gai Croal (of Level Up). Thankfully they don't get into that Resident Evil 5 crap.

I'm damn well looking forward to E3 next week - no matter how insignificant it's got these days!

Steampunk Second Life City.

2008-07-11T17:12:00.004Z

You can say what you like about Second Life but you can't deny that it's flexibility allows its residents to come up with some incredible creations. I love the whole steampunk scene and this creation is staggeringly amazing.

I may actually visit this creation myself has it's been a while since I popped into the strange yet wonderful world of Second Life. You can visit yourself by following this link.

New Babbage - A Steampunk City in Second Life - YouTube (Via Wonderland).

Midway Goes All Retro With Midway Arcade.

2008-07-11T15:51:00.003Z

Midway has returned to its roots and launched MidwayArcade.com, effectively jumping on the bandwagon of selling retro games these days (Xbox Live Arcade anyone?). This means that more than 25 of excellent Midway arcade classics are now available for purchase and play on your PC.

Some of the games include Spy Hunter (above), Rampage, Rootbeer Tapper (I have fond memories of playing this in a school IT class), APB and Joust. The games are going for $5 in packs of three so it's a fairly decent price considering how much similar titles can set you back on Xbox Live Arcade.

While the prices are admittedly cheap I don't see why they couldn't have just made them flash games supported by ad's. You could say that a few people may just shrug and go back to their emulators but the keyword is 'few'. Midway is bringing these games to the mainstream who have fond memories of such games but don't particularly care about emulators.

MidwayArcade.com

Morning Coffee - July 11th 2008

2008-07-11T09:00:00.001Z

With Blogger's magical future posting feature these amazing links (because I only pick the best, of course!) will hit you in the wee morning when I may still be snoring in bed!

Speaking of coffee I remember when I had about 10 cups in one day due to working on a particularly tough university assignment. Let me tell you something, it's really not healthy!

Anyway, here's your links for this morning.

Tom Francis of CVG boldly vistits three popular MMO's (Eve Online, City of Heroes and World of Warcraft) to see if one can actually find love in an MMO. Wait, there are girls on the Internet? Never!
Kotaku predicts just what Sony has in store for us at E3 next week. E3 is sure looking pretty good this year.
Ars Technica asks if free is the future of PC gaming. Apparently not in the US.
We'll soon be controlling video games with our minds. This will most likely result in 14 year-old males touching the boobs of the women in Soulcalibur.
There's a trailer out for the upcoming Max Payne film adaption. Thoughts?
The Washington Post reports on post-it video game art appearing on the city office buildings. Awesome? Yes.
Finally here's the Wiimote candy dispenser. Candy has never tasted so good (and I'm going to regret using the word 'candy').

That's your lot for this morning. I'm off to drink more coffee, so don't be surprised when I'm hyper posting later.

Rustlers Machinima Music Video Contest!

2008-07-10T14:36:00.007Z

The wonderful guys over at Machinima.com (creating short films through video games) have finally taken notice of all of us over here in the UK. To celebrate the launch of their brand new UK site they're teaming up with Rustlers (always good for a quick snack) to offer this great competition.

All you need to do is to create a music video for one of Jonathan Coulton's (the guy responsible for the excellent Portal theme song 'Still Alive') songs, which you can download free of charge from here. For those of you with little creativity there also be a prize draw amongst those who sign-up to vote.

Prizes? I hear you cry! Well, first place will be awarded with an Area-51® m15x Alienware Laptop with Adobe Premiere Pro CS3. Second place will get an Sanyo Xacti DMX-HD2 Cam while the runners-up (ten of you) will get a copy of Jonathan Coulton's “Thing a Week” CD Box Set.

The competition is open to residents of the UK but I've been informed that non-uk residents can get someone in the UK to submit their entry for them.

Rustlers Machinima Music Video Contest - Machinima.com

Zombie Shooter.

2008-07-09T16:54:00.010Z

Regular readers of this blog (if I have any) will know that I’m very fond of anything to do with zombies, be it films, books or games. I even compiled a post of a few zombie browser-based games you can play on your coffee break. So, it’s with great enthusiasm that I dived into yet another zombie game on the market, which is simply – but appropriately – titled Zombie Shooter.

Well, I say dived but I only touched the waters with my little toe. Due to being a poor graduate I could only play the free version of the game, which only allows you an hour to play around with it. However, an hour is more than enough to experience the massive slaughter of zombies that you will partake in. The best feature of all this slaughter? The blood and zombie corpses don't disappear and continually cover the level in gore! All in lovely isometric glory!

There are three modes in the game; your usual Campaign mode with some sort of story, a mode called Survive mode in which you stand off against increasing numbers of zombies and bosses, and finally a mode called Gun Stand which is like Survive mode but you take control of a fixed gun gunning down the constant hordes of zombies. In this final mode you often end up with something like this:

Told you it was gory, and you'll be knee deep in the undead before you know it.

Although the two modes are fun you'll quickly bore of them. It's the campaign mode where the real meat of the game lies and the few levels I played were pretty average. I say average because of the awful AI. Once the zombies and other enemies see you they'll track you across the level, but if you go through a door and down the corridor in the opposite direction they'll follow your movements while forgetting that there's a wall between the two of you. This results in the zombies constantly walking against walls and other objects, or the latter enemies shooting at walls. It's pretty dumb and it takes a lot of the fun away from what could be a pretty good game. I also suffered a glitch where I got stuck on a piece of scenery and had to restart the level.

With the AI problems it's an average game at the best. If these problems were sorted out I'd say that it probably is worth the £10 price tag, but I'm saying that without actually knowing how many levels the game has.

You can download the free demo or buy the game from its homepage.

Got a game you want me to take a look at? Email me or comment in the comments section!

Totem Destroyer.

2008-07-09T16:17:00.005Z

Physics based games often annoy me. It's not the game themselves, in fact I always love novel ways of making use of physics in games (which is part of why I enjoy the Half-Life 2 games so much), it's the act of having to use your brain. Yes, I'm just lazy at heart.

Thankfully Totem Destroyer isn't too tough and it's actually pretty enjoyable through the act of having to discover just how you're going to get the golden totem down without breaking it. In each level you have to decide which block you want to destroy with your handy bomb. Each level gets increasingly more complex (although some of the complex levels are too obvious) but I often found that you can complete the level through sheer luck and frantic clicking. For example, the totem may luckily land on one of the indestructible black blocks which you honestly didn't mean to happen. Like me, however, you'll probably just shrug your shoulders and move on to the next level.

You can play the game over at the Armor Games site.

Got a game you want me to take a look at? Email me or comment in the comments section!

Dino Run.

2008-07-09T02:03:00.007Z

Take a long loving look at the above image. Go on, I'll wait here....

......

Now doesn't that look peaceful and tranquil? Doesn't that yellow blob that passes for a dinosaur look cute? Yes? Good. Now take a look at the image below.

There, my friends, lies DOOM!!! MASSIVE BOILING BLACK DUSTY DOOM!!!! (which I'm apparently running into)

Phew, now that I've got that out of my system let's talk about the game that inspires such rage.

Dino Run's name tells you all you need to know. You're a dinosaur and you need to run, simple eh? Well, not when you're running away from certain extinction as evidenced by the picture above. Along the way you have to avoid various obstacles such as dumb dinosaurs who won't get out of your damn way.....yes, this made me hate dinosaurs! Fortunately your 'cute' little blob of a dinosaur can eat the smaller ones, which gives you points and some sort of DNA upgrade (although this only happened once to me) that allows you to upgrade your dinosaurs stats. You also have to save eggs so, obviously, you can continue your species even when the whole frickin world is covered in a thick black cloud choking the life out of the Earth. See, I don't see what the dinosaur has to gain from running away as it'll eventually catch up to the little dude.

Anyway, you go through the normal routine of levels and different environments while the impending doom gets increasingly faster behind you. For you social types there's also a multiplayer where you can race against friends or strangers.

It's a neat little game, but my poor skills prevented me from seeing the end. So, I hand the task to a good gamer to see if the little guy makes it. I have become attached to Rex, even if he is now burning to death at the bottom of a lava pit.

You can play the game here.

Got a game you want me to take a look at? Email me or comment in the comments section!

Garden Gnome Carnage.

2008-07-07T18:51:00.007Z

If there was ever a game that could horrify the good old Gnome it's this one. I must first apologise for this senseless killing of elves (Gnomes must be related, somehow!) for no apparent reason but, unfortunately for the Gnomes kind, it's incredibly fun!

Garden Gnome Carnage is the name of this senseless elf killing machine and it's probably the first game I've played in which you play a building. Endless streams of elves run towards your building and their objective is to reach the chimney on the top of the building. Fortunately your defense is a garden gnome attached to a piece of string (I think the elves are trying to release him) which you can use to fling the elves away by moving the building with the cursor keys. You can also shake the nasty little elves off by shaking the building with the cursor keys, although the gnomes hiding under presents will carry on climbing.

Your garden gnome can also grab bricks from the building and toss them into the crowd of elves, causing small explosions of flying elves around the screen. The problem is, how do you replenish the bricks you've thrown? Well, this little service is provided by a black cat. Yup, a black cat. The cat will climb your building like the elves and, instead of being game over when he reaches the chimney, he'll fill your building back up with bricks! The annoying thing is that it's incredibly easy to knock the cat flying by mistake, although it is pretty funny.

Finally you're also under attack by elves flying on sleighs. If they reach the building they'll land on the roof and an elf will try to reach the chimney. Fortunately they can easily be knocked out of the sky (which is great when they land in the crowds of elves below) but presents will parachute out causing you even more problems. If it all gets too much (and believe me it will) then you can just bomb the little freaks with one of your airstrikes.

Garden Gnome Carnage is a strange and wacky little game and, eventually, it will quickly overwhelm you (you'll find out the meaning of the word 'carnage'). Racking up large combos is incredibly addictive and, like with me, it may actually suck a few hours out of your day.

You can download the game from here.

Got a game you want me to take a look at? Email me or comment in the comments section!