Gaming Blog

HipHop Gamer, the Stupidity is Now Proven

2009-04-17T17:00:00.002+10:00

May I point you toward THIS post by one "MattG" over at HipHopGamer. Apparently Matt knows how well the X360 version of Final Fantasy XIII will perform somehow by judging it from the PS3 demo version of the upcoming RPG from Square-Enix. I am by no means taking a stab at the X360 and it's capabilities, I'm in full belief that it could perform just as well as the PS3 version, in fact what I am doing is praising Matt's unrivaled ability to determine how well games will run on different sets of console hardware by what seems to be effortless measures. All he has to do is pick up say a PS3 game and he'll be able to tell you how well it'll run on the Xbox! Maybe I should get him to come over to my house, I have the Riddick Dark Athena demo on my Xbox but I want to know how well it will perform on PS3 and there's no demo on the PSN! Matt, give me a call, maybe we can work something out.

My Official Playstation Portable ID

2009-03-13T17:26:00.001+11:00

Playstation.com Trophy Tracking is Live

2009-03-03T17:08:00.003+11:00

Woot, the first official automated trophy tracking available on the web. Now hopefully Sony give out the required information so 3rd party websites can do it automatically as well.

Will God of War III be banned or censored in Australia?

2009-02-14T20:48:00.005+11:00

After reading a few previews of GoW III around the Internet, namely the GamesRadar one, I thought a few things to myself;

1. GoW with extreme gore - awesome
2. GoW with amazing graphics - awesome
3. GoW with extreme gore could ultimately be a bad thing - not awesome

In GamesRadar's preview of GoW III Mikel Reparaz points out how violent the game actually is.

"First, we’ll talk about the insane levels of gore that we mentioned earlier. Now, “gore” is a word that gets tossed around a lot in videogames, and it usually refers to bloody dismemberment or maybe a loop of intestine poking out here and there. God of War III takes that shit so far, it made a theater full of jaded games journalists go “eww!” in shocked unison. It’s not hyperbole to say that its gruesomeness is unprecedented in gaming. To be honest, there’s such a level of uncomfortable realism to it that it makes Gears of War’s chainsaw deaths look cartoonish."

"First, there was a demonstration of the game’s “zipper technology,” which was trotted out during the gameplay demo when Kratos faced down a centaur. Being a large enemy, it can be finished off with one of Kratos’ quicktime-event finishers – which ends, shockingly, with Kratos slitting open its belly and letting its clearly identifiable guts spill out onto the marble floor."

"Slightly later in the level, a Cyclopes showed up, giving Kratos an opportunity to show off his ability to ride and control the stupid beast by stabbing it repeatedly in the neck. More importantly, he finished it off in his usual way – by tugging out its eyeball – but this time, the camera panned around to a close-up side view. As Kratos dug into the creature’s eye socket and began to pull the massive orb free, it slowly bulged outward and the eyelid slid back until suddenly, the eyeball was torn free and left hanging by an angry red nerve stalk."

"Immediately after that, we were treated to a scene in which Kratos works his magic on Helios, the sun god whom he rescued in Chains of Olympus. And note that when we say “works his magic,” we mean he straddled the god from behind, grabbed his head with both hands and – in a brutal, multi-stage button-mashing sequence that focused closely on Helios’ agonized face – tore Helios’ head right the hell off. It wasn’t just a clean rip, either, as the skin stretched and tore, revealing muscles and tendons underneath that snapped loose individually as the god screamed out his final breath."
-Taken from GamesRadar

GoW III sounds like it's is going to be brutal, very brutal. This is fine by me, perfect even, but if we take a sweet little trip down memory lane to a place called November 2008, Australian gamers were shocked to find out that F.E.A.R. 2 had been banned in Australia due to "High-Impact violence" Of course, we all know the decision concerning F.E.A.R. 2 was re-thought and the game was given permission to be sold within our glorious country. 3 cheers for F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. 2 isn't the only game with a high level of violence to have trouble with the Australian classification board. If you do a Google search of games banned in Australia one of the top results will be a might fine Wiki page showing you all the games, the reasons they were banned and if they were eventually allowed into the country, censored or un-censored. The Getaway, Grand Theft Auto (III, Vice City, San Andreas and IV), Manhunt, Manhunt 2, Soldier of Fortune Payback are all games that have been censored to be allowed on Australian soil
I don't know if GoW III will be banned or censored, I'm not a fortune teller but after reading some of the previews and the focus on gore it really makes you wonder if GoW III will fall victim to Australia's child-like beliefs on gamers.

If this came to be, a piece of me would painfully die and my love I have for my country would retrench to a state of nothing.

Unlimited Saga

2009-02-01T22:42:00.003+11:00

Why, why did I spend $20 on this. The back of the case is oh so misleading. I thought I was in for a JRPG treat, not chess with a few battles, pathetic menu and town navigation and some cheap cutscenes thrown in. What a waste of money. At least if I was mugged just before purchasing this game, chances are the person mugging me would have spent my hard earned $20 on something that wasn't Unlimited Saga.

Ha, Bill Gates, you make me chuckle

2009-01-13T23:58:00.001+11:00

"We’ve had a lot of questions from people who weren’t really happy with the kind of service they’ve been getting from Xbox in the last few years… What are you going to do to ensure that new consoles are more reliable than previous versions"

"Gates: Well we certainly had to apologize to our uses about a number of box that had to be replaced. We did that for free for all of those people, we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the way we handled it. We’ve got incredible reliability on the new work we’ve done. Our commitment is that it will be the most reliable video game box out there. People really love the Xbox because of the content, but we’ve got to make sure that the hardware never stands in the way of that."

Taken from BBC article, taken from Loot-Ninja

That Gaming Site Snaked My Article!

2009-01-05T10:57:00.004+11:00

Pft, I just found a feed in my inbox that reminded me of an article I wrote up last night when I was severly sleep deprived. I wrote an article containing a few methods I think Sony should implement to get a few more sales out of the PS3 and so did TGS, BUT! I was first, and mine are better. Ha!

As you can see, there are more than 5 hours difference between my posts. I win.

My Article

That Gaming Site

A Few Things That Could Assist Sony with PS3 Sales

2009-01-05T04:14:00.000+11:00

1. A Price Cut - I don't even need to mention this, nor explain my reasons for putting it up here.

2. More Iconic Playstation Titles - I was thinking to myself today 'What exclusive game series has made an appearance on the PS3 that started way back on the PS1' In all honesty all I could think of was Gran Turismo, and what we've got isn't even the full game.. and in saying that I just remembered Wipeout (You could also say MGS 4 but MGS isn't owned by Sony and the games have been on other platforms). Sony needs to work on a new MediEvil and Ape Escape game for the PS3. Give us Playstation fans some heritage to play with. I know a lot of people bash you Sony for letting us know what you're doing 5 years before it'll become reality but I'd like to know, or hope, you're working on a new MediEvil, Ape Escape and even some games that originated on the PS2. Where's our Jak and Daxter, Naughty Dog?! Where's our Sly Raccoon or The Getaway? I'd bet money that there are fans waiting for these games to be announced for the PS3 before making a purchase.

3. More Advertising - Yes, more advertising, not better advertising. I love Sony's advertisements. While there are some odd ones, for the most part they are great. Where I live in Australia, down in Tassie, we don't have games occupying billboards, signs and buildings. All we have other than the Internet are TV ads. Since purchasing my PS3 roughly a year ago I've seen 1 game being advertised on Free-To-air TV, LittleBigPLanet. I don't watch TV 24-7, in fact I rarely watch TV so I can't say it's the only game that has been advertised or is being advertised on TV. But that is a sad effort. Sony should really be pushing the advertising of major games like Resistance, Killzone, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid to alert people that may not have access to the Internet (or friends) to know these titles will soon be available. I know the LBP planet ads Sony Computer Entertainment AU had on TV made my little cousin want one. Plus one for SCEA.

*note* After that small rant over advertising, I can't say MS are doing any better. I'm yet to see an ad from them. Slackers.

4. More RPGs - RPGs are what myself and many other PS3 owners want. Especially high quality JRPGs. I mean the PS1 and PS2 were riddled with them and the PS3 has as many JRPGs as the number 1 has digits. Wake up Sony, look how well White Knight Chronicles has sold in Japan in its first week. Sony, get into some sort of exclusive deal with Level-5 if you want sales, or just buy the company. We all know you can afford it. Microsoft can.

My version of the - "Top 5 360/PS3 Exclusives PS3/360 Owners Should Want"

2008-12-17T18:56:00.000+11:00

Over the last few days this topic has popped up in my N4G feeds. PlanetXbox360 published the article "Top 5 PS3 Exclusives We Want on the Xbox 360" While PSXExtreme published "Top 5 Xbox 360 Exclusives Every PS3 Owner Should Want" Both articles look a little like this;

PlanetXbox360
5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
4. LittleBigPlanet
3. Metal Gear Solid 4
2. Killzone 2
1. God of War III

PSXExtreme
5. Halo 3
4. Left 4 Dead
3. Fable II
2. Mass Effect 2
1. Gears of War 2

Now, there are a few problems with these 2 lists. 1 being a couple of games there aren't exclusive or haven't been confirmed as exclusive, another being I believe the list should be compiled only of games currently out and finally, a few games there, namely Halo 3, are no better than average. -equips flame shield- So I will now attempt to a better job than the fine folk at the aforementioned websites.

Exclusive X360 Games PS3 Owners Should Want on the PS3
5. Braid
4. Project Gotham Racing 3/4
3. Forza Motorsport 2
2. Lost Odyssey
1. Fable II

Exclusive PS3 Games, X360 Owners Should Want on the X360
5. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
4. Resistance 2
3. Metal Gear Solid 4
2. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
1. LittleBigPlanet

Done. Flame me if you will for not including Halo or Gears of War, but I do not think they are better than any of the games above.

omGod of War III Trailer HD

2008-12-16T22:23:00.001+11:00

Nothing needs to be said.

Uncharted 2 Teaser Trailer

2008-12-03T00:40:00.000+11:00

Fuck I can't wait for this game! That is all.. oh, apparently Uncharted 2 will be called, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I'm not really a fan of the title. Hopefully that will change come release.

X360 Elite Acquired, I grew to level 7...

2008-12-03T00:38:00.001+11:00

I picked up a X360 Elite the other day, just after MS announced the price cut in Australia, lucky I didn't buy it the week before, saved myself $100. I have to say, I am impressed by the value of the bundle I got. $550 for a X360 Elite, 1 controller, headset, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones.

While I am really enjoying my Elite, I absolutely despise the NXE. It is terrbile. The Marketplace is garbage and the Spotlight menu is overly annoying as it is the first thing you see when you turn on your 360. Terrible.

Mass Effect is probably one of the best games I've ever played, I love it. Infact, I'm going to go play it now, so I shall leave you with a picture of my set-up in its current state. Farewell.

What The Fuck Sony? (Regarding 8 Days)

2008-11-18T00:34:00.000+11:00

8 Days was a game in production by SCEE (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) up until earlier this year. When SCEE officially ended this game without even giving it a proper chance. In June this year Sony made the announcement that 8 Days was cancelled. Apparently the main reason for this was due to the game lacking any sort of online mode. A lot of PS3 owners were disappointed (including me) by this decision. 8 Days look absolutely amazing, even if we had only seen a trailer which was more than likely all pre-rendered. It had already convinced me to purchase a copy.

8 Days Trailer

If an online component really meant that much to SCEE couldn't they just have delayed the game a while and added some sort of online function? Did the game even need an online mode? Well, I don't think it would have needed one, if Sony were to include one it could have been great. If you take a look at Jim Jagger's demo reel that was recently released. It contains real-time footage of 8 Days, it looks as if it may very well have been an Army of Two type game. Or something very similar. You may also realise how fucking good this game looked and it wasn't complete. The animation is superb and the game just looks stunning.
So why did Sony go ahead and axe this game instead of just delaying it? I guess we won't know unless they tell us something. I really hope Sony come to their senses and decide to pick this game up again. It could be an amazing title, let's just hope they realise this.

Jim's Demo Reel

PS3 Firmware Suggestions

2008-10-29T22:17:00.000+11:00

Here's a list of things I think Sony should add to the PS3 in future firmware updates.

A percentage next to the battery icon of controllers
Move either the clock or the battery icon so they don't over lap when the PS button is pressed
Remove unnecessary icons from the in-game XMB so it uses less RAM, thus performing better
Chat rooms (Chat with anyone or a group of friends on your friends list while you are in the XMB or playing a game)
Grid view for items like Trophies, music, videos and pictures (much easier and more organized when people accumulate a lot of items - see picture, or something similar, maybe it pushes the XMB back like the PS Store and you get a full-screen grid)
Ability to use the PS3 browser in-game
Improved managment of removable storage. The PS3 will find any file on a flash drive or memory card when you press Triangle > View All, so why should it not do this when you simply press X when looking for media? It should just look for all music/video/images when you press X, not just the ones in the specific folders
Full software emulation of PS2 titles accross all PS3 models. This should be possible as I think all if not most Australian 60GB PS3 models use software emulation for the PS2 titles
XMB items sorted in alphabetical order (especially under the Settings menu)
Video option to shut down the console after playback has finished

There's a few other things I had in mind but I've forgotten. These are just some of the things I'd like to see Sony add. I'll update it as I come to think of more.

Linger In Shadows

2008-10-22T09:44:00.000+11:00

Linger In Shadows.. where to start?

I bought Linger In Shadows the other night out of boredom, the trophies may or may not have influenced my decision along with the various things I've read about this game, a lot bad, a lot strange and some good. I thought I may as well see what this *game* is all about. After I finished the rather small download I fired it up and was greeted with a horribly designed loading screen that looked like something from a PS1, maybe PS2/Xbox game, it was shite. I also think that Linger takes a little too long to load for what it is, but that's just me. Anyway, I jumped straight into the game and began to digest the oddity and strange that was before me. This interactive demo-scene is just one big what the fuck? But not a bad what the fuck, I rather enjoyed floating through extremely unusual setting that Linger In Shadows gives you. The controls were my only real problem I would say, it largely uses the motion capabilities of the SIXAXIS but doesn't use them largely well. Getting the camera exactly where you may want it can sometimes be a toilsome and frustrating task. I think camera manipulation should have been left for the analogue sticks and the controlling of the few objects should remain as SIXAXIS controlled objects.
Linger In Shadows isn't really a game, more an interactive art experience that I think people should experience, especially considering it's so cheap and if you're a Trophy whore (that may possibly be a good thing soon), they're bloody easy to get.

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness

2008-10-07T22:31:00.000+11:00

A while back I started playing Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness on the Gamecube and I wasn't impressed. Most likely due to the fact that I went into the game expecting it to be a 3D version of the Gameboy Pokemon games, and Gale of Darkness has a horribly boring beginning. I had only played it for about half an hour before I became so bored I gave up on it, but not completely. Yesterday I was extremely bored and I thought I may as well give it a second chance at proving its worth. Well, it did, rather well in fact. So well that I am actually really enjoying this game. I'm only about 3 hours into it but so far it has been good, still not as good as the Gameboy games, but good enough. The game does have obvious flaws that sever it from being as good as the Gameboy games. One major one is how you can only catch the Shadow Pokemon (ties in with the story line.. to an extent) I don't think the story would be effected negatively by the ability to catch any Pokemon. Of course there are other flaws, like any game that is released, apart from Final Fantasy X. That game I will consider underrated until it is globally recognized as the world's greatest game.. but that's another story.
Gale of Darkness got an average review score of roughly 6.7. Personally, I think it's worth not too much more, I'd give it it a 7, maybe 7.5 depending on how I find the rest of the game. If you have a Gamecube and feel like blowing the dust off it and you're a fan of Pokemon or simple but fun RPGs I recommend Gale of Darkness.

Square-Enix Is PIssing Me Off

2008-09-23T22:58:00.000+10:00

Square-Enix, oh how the first half of your glorious company provided the gaming world with some of the best RPGs ever known to man kind, oh how this did not continue, I do not know. Well maybe I do, money more than likely. Ever since this merge/take-over Square-Enix has pumped out a plethora of Final Fantasy spin-offs and re-makes and continues to ride the most expensive gold lined Final Fantasy train into the land of wealth. I mean for fucks sake, how many different versions of Final Fantasy I and II are there out and about now? 7?
I've lost count of the amount of spin-offs there are, Final Fantasy Crystal This, Final Fantasy Crystal That, Final Fantasy King of Income for the Land of Squre-Enix, Final Fantasy Fuck Off. Why can't we just have plain ol' good quality Final Fantasy games? Look what Square-Enix did to Final Fantasy XII, they butchered it. That's not to say it's not a good, enjoyable game, it's just not Final Fantasy. The removal of the more traditional Final Fantasy battle-system pretty much killed this game as a Final Fantasy game for me, it's just not the same. At all!
For me, Final Fantasy as always been about being epic, more epic than anything else, epic story, epic characters and epic fucking battles that could last for well over half an hour if the enemy was bad arse enough, now what do I have? Fucking Zelda. If I want to play Zelda I'll play it (Great games by the way) Don't even get me started on Final Fantasy X-2..

I am praying that Square-Enix can make a good Final Fantasy out of Final Fantasy XIII or at least Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and about the latter, it has the most stupid name ever and apparently it's meant to be like a more classic Final Fantasy game... Gee I fucking hope so. I really do.
I don't know if it's fair to be pissed off at Square-Enix for this next part but if I have to be pissed off at someone it's either Squre-Enix or Microsoft, most likely Microsoft. I'm not cut about the fact that Final Fantasy XIII is going to the X360, I'm pissed about the fact that the X360 version of the game is not even being put into development until the PS3 version is done, complete, finished, 100%, wrapped up, not needing any more work done on it and on blu-ray discs. So now I have to wait, for fucking ages, because Square-Enix has turned into a company that gives more of a shit about the money than the shit they are so easily shitting out. Square Soft, please come back and save Final Fantasy from it's impending demise. Please.

Couple of New Games

2008-09-18T23:47:00.000+10:00

Whilst I was over in Melbourne I picked up Battlefield Bad Company and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for my PS3. Both are fairly good games so far, note that I am yet to finish either of them. I have been playing Ratchet and Clank more so than Battlefield, I think it may be because I haven't played a good platform game in so long. Definitely not the best I've played but it is a great game that anyone should pick up if they own a PS3 and are looking for an above average platformer.
If you are a twit when it comes to games like I am, you may find it a bit hard to find Ratchet and Clank with the original case unless you go online or buy it pre-owned. The guy working at EB looked at me strange when I told him I didn't want it because it had a platinum cover..

Jack Miller Is Famous

2008-09-11T02:39:00.000+10:00

Jack's latest blog in which he edited a photo of the large hadron collider has become quite popular around the Internet recently.

http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=54652

http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-196891.aspx?CT=1#Comments

Now Even The Greens Are Against An R18+ Rating For Australian Gamers

2008-09-05T23:34:00.001+10:00

Will we Australian gamers ever see a fair rating system within our country? I don't know, I suppose no one does.
I know this subject as been beaten to death a million times over but the sole fact that we have no true adult classification for video games in Australia is complete and utter bull shit.

It seems the website wavotes.com.au compiles the opinions that party's have on certain topics into one easy to read space. Quite handy for the population of WA.

"11. R18+ Computer Games A recent meeting of the States and Commonwealth Attorneys-General agreed to initiate a public consultation on whether an R18+ rating should be introduced for computer games. If this new classification is introduced, increasingly violent and disturbing games will become available in Australia and it would be naive to think that children will not be exposed to such material, given the rising popularity of interactive entertainment. Does your Party support or oppose the introduction of an R18+ rating for computer games?"

This is the question posted on wavotes and here are the shortened answers from various party's.

The Liberal Party - Supports R18+ for video games in Australia
Janet Woolard, Alfred Cove - Oppose R18+ for video games in Australia
Family First WA - Oppose R18+ for video games in Australia
The Greens WA - Oppose R18+ for video games in Australia
One Nation - Oppose R18+ for video games in Australia
National Party of WA - Undecided
WA Labor - Undecided
Christian Democratic Party - Oppose R18+ for video games in Australia

So.. In WA it looks like us gamers are fucked. Especially when we have a party full of extremist arse holes in the Family First party. Their answer to the question raised;

"Absolutely. In fact, we would support a tightening of the censorship regime in Australia for free to air television and greater controls over internet pornography"

I'm sorry Family First, what if my family enjoys gaming, watching television that doesn't cost them $60 a month and pornography? You're not really putting my family first are you? It sounds like to me that you are putting your absolute horse shit beliefs first. Fuck, anyone who votes for Family First should burn. Family First WA are fucking retards, I found this on their website.

More visible police patrols, yes that would work. Better driver training? You can't train someone not to speed you spastic fucks. You can't train me not to run through town if I'm in a hurry, if there's a little girl in my way, I'll push her over. Fuck you Family First.

The Chrisitan Deomocratic party also gave an answer that is likely to piss a few gamers off if they became elected;

"CDP will oppose the introduction of an R18+ classification for computer games.
CDP will work to retain MA15+ as the highest classification for computer games.
CDP will demand that a reliable G classification apply to computer games material suitable to all ages."

So, the Chrisitans are actually going to go out of their way to keep Australian gaming super child friendly. Don't vote for the Christians, they're evil and they hate gamers.

I really don't know what it would take to convince these people to change their minds. Gamers have been continiously bringing up the same defences and they just don't seem to be getting through. It's true though, not all gamers are children and it is unfair for the adult gamers of Australia. Honestly, from a 100% un-bias perspective do not see the problem that these party's do. Take the Greens for example;

"The Greens oppose the introduction of R18+ computer games because of the levels of violent content, sexual objectification of women and drug references that provoke this rating."

Okay, maybe the Greens should shift their focus to real world issues for a second and oppose violence, abuse towards the women of Australia and real-world drug issues. It makes more sense to worry about things like this. Fallout 3 was recently banned in Australia because of the realistic drug use. Bethesda came back to the OFLC with a toned down Australian version. Personally I would rather take hard drugs in a video game than real life. I'll let my virtual life go to shit, not my real one.

Then comes the argument focusing on the crime games like GTA influence. This is bull shit. The problem is with the people, not the game. I have never been influenced to kill someone, steal a car or shoplift, do drugs or any other similar act from playing a video game. The people that do these sorts of things and then blame it on video games, well they must have been fucked in the head from the start and they are also hampering gaming for us Australian's by saying they were influenced by GTA or some other "murder simulator" I think it's extremely stupid criminals like this can get away with blaming the crime they commit on a video game. Next time I kill someone I'm going to blame it on a book, then we'll see how those librarians like it when they're all receiving censored versions of their beloved literature.

I don't know what else to say, all we can do is sit and wait. I'm not a resident of WA but I truly hope the Labor party of WA becomes elected, at least then we will have a little hope in the Western side of our country. I'm sick of the government and their idiosyncratic view on gaming.

EyePet

2008-08-21T14:57:00.000+10:00

During Sony's Leipzig conference they announced a new game for the Playstation Eye, EyePet. Now I don't find this game all that appealing, what I do find appealing is how you play the game using the PS Eye.

This game is really for me but I'd love to get it just to play around with everything you can do. You draw your virtual pet toys on a piece of paper and they turn 3D for it to play with, you can throw shit at it, pat it and do tonnes of other stuff all using the Eye and a hard surface. It's all quite amazing.

Actually, I've decided I will more than likely be buying this game after watching the trailer again. I've been wanting an Eye for a while and this has pretty much secured Sony some more money from me.

Games Sony Should Make and Obtain for the PS3

2008-08-19T23:10:00.000+10:00

A New Legend of Dragoon
The original Legend of Dragoon was a really great RPG for the PS1. It was met with a mojority of reivews giving it average scores. Like me, many others view this game as one of the best RPGs made and it is surely one of my favourites. I'm sure anyone even remotly in-touch with the gaming world will know that the PS3 is suffering from a severe lack of RPGs which is really not good. The PS2 was home to many, many wonderful RPGs and was one of the reasons many people, including myself, bought a PS3. I would love to see some more RPGs go to the PS3 and if Sony made a new Legend of Dragoon, it would be a release day purchase for me. Pre-order even! :O

A Party Game of Some Description
Yes, a party game. A game like Mario Party or a game like Super Smash Bros. Both mashed together would be sublime. Sony, give the PS3 a reason for supporting 7 controllers at once. A party/brawl game using Sony characters would be great fun, especially with the high controller number support. It could, for example, include these characters;

Chimera
Ellen & Keats
Helghast
Jak & Daxter
Kratos
Lead character from inFamous
Nariko
Nathan Drake
Nathan Hale
Ratchet & Clank
Sack Boy
Snake
Toro

And I'm sure there are many more that could be included. It would be great fun, Sony make it now.

Uncharted Drake's Fortune Review (PS3)

2008-08-17T21:25:00.000+10:00

Well I don't really know how to structure this review and can't be bothered attempting any act of literary genius so I'll structure it into sections. Fun and original.

GRAPHICS

We all know the visual presentation Naughty Dog granted us with Uncharted is impressive. The graphics and overall presentation in this game seriously kicks arse Famous among PS3 owners for finally giving them their own game to brag about and inFamous (oooh, see what I did there?) among X360 owners for giving the PS3 a game that actually looks outstanding. This games graphics really did cause quite a stir among some forum communities but I really don't give a **** about that. It really was awe inspiring to fire up Uncharted for the first time and digest its awesomeness. The jungles looked amazing, the caves and tombs looked amazing and, the water... Yes the water! The water was outstanding, and the fact that Drake isn't blessed with god-like water repellant made the water in this game look and feel even better. The animation shouldn't go unrecognized either. It's superb. Every action flows so smoothly, and looks great. With all that being said, the visuals in this game aren't perfect, but what games graphics are? I've read quite a bit about texture pop-in. Truthfully, I noticed this twice. I'm currently on my third play through of this game so that makes my two texture pop-in experiences even less significant.

My only real problem with the graphics are the explosions. They look odd, or, they look cool, they're just small and, shit I don't know. Play the game, you'll know what I mean.

SOUND

Sound, in the few reviews I've written sound is always the weakest part. I honestly don't know what to write.

Explosions sound good
Guns sound good
People sound good
Ambient sound is good
Music is good

That's basically any sound section on my reviews with a few fancy words thrown in to make me look smart. I'm not lucky enough to have a behemoth 7.1 sound system or any fancy audio weaponary beyond my trusty ol' 2.1 Creative I-Trigue 3400s. These are the speakers my PS3 outputs its sound through, and playing through Uncharted everything sounded all sweet 'n' dandy to me.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay in Uncharted combines Tomb Raider type puzzle and adventuring with cover and shoot gameplay that is often coupled with Gears of War. This works for me and a lot of other people. Some others say that the game doesn't flow too well. I can see what they mean and I agree to an extent. The gameplay does shift from puzzle to shooting the whole way through and it makes it more obvious than some would like. But, most games with this type of gameplay are like this. I recently played through Tomb Raider Anniversary and while the game is focused more heavily on the puzzle aspects, the enemies do come in waves and the gameplay does make obvious swaps, just not as frequently as Uncharted. This does not break the game or wreck it. Far from it, Uncharted is still a highly enjoyable game with its flaws just like any other.

Naughty Dog made the wise move of including something more addictive than methamphetamine in this game and it has kept me coming back. They included treasures! Yes! Treasure in an adventure game! The thing with this treasure is that the more you collect, the more you unlock and yes, there is a lot to unlock. So get hunting.

They've also included another handful of methamphetamine with X360 type achievments and now, PS3 like trophies with little in-game challenges. Reminiscent of those found in Resistance: FoM. Completing these challenges also unlocks stuff. More stuff. With the addition of all this extra stuff to do Naughty Dog have made this games re-play value huge and with Trophies due for this game via a patch in mid August it will bring another fistfull of Uncharted methamphetamine for all us Uncharted fans out there.

TILT?

Tilt... What the fuck is tilt?

OVERALL

Overall Uncharted kicks arse. If you own a PS3 and don't have this game you are probably allergic to pure awesome on a disc. BUY IT NOW.

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Just a Few Updates

2008-08-13T21:59:00.000+10:00

Fallout 3 has been reclassified as MA15+ and is allowed into Australia. The game was modified to receive a more child friendly rating

The Trophy patch for Uncharted has been released.. Early!

Uncharted on the crushing difficulty is hard

Fable 2 Pub Games has been released on the XBLA

Madden 09 has been released

And lots lots more has happened.

N4G
Kotaku AU

My First Digitally Distributed Game.

2008-08-05T23:57:00.000+10:00

Right now I'm currently thinking about buying Team Fortress 2 from Steam for $19.99.... and I've just bought it. Oh the hypocrisy.

While I am loving Team Fortress 2, there is still a feeling of emptiness lingering inside of me that only a case and manual could fill.

GIANT BOMB!

2008-07-24T01:33:00.000+10:00

Giant Bomb is awesome. Even the logo kicks arse.

End of blog.

Final Fantasy going to X360

2008-07-15T13:19:00.000+10:00

Well there goes another Sony exclusive and one of the biggest ones at that, Final Fantasy XIII. I was pretty disappointed when I read the news this morning, the FF series and the PlayStation share a legacy together, giving birth to some of the finest RPG games ever made, FF VII, FF VIII and in my opinion the finest RPG ever made, FF X. Square-Enix states the reason for doing so is to broaden the fan base of FF over America and Europe, but everyone knows MS paid a lot for this, like they paid for Mass Effect, Gears of War 1 & 2 and the GTA IV downloadable content.

Now, of course Square are going to gain more sales from this but I guarantee that figure will be severely small. Here's why;

1. FFXIII is a essentially a timed exclusive for Sony - FFXIII is not being released for Japanese X360s, the reason behind this is the poor install base of X360s in Japan. FFXIII for the X360 is only being released to English speaking places such as America and Europe but the Japanese version is being released before this so Sony will dominate here as 100% of Japanese PS3 owners will be getting this game.

2. When people think FF they think Sony or Nintendo - In Europe the install base for the PS3 and X360 are pretty much the same. Which is good on Sony's behalf considering they entered this console war a year later than MS. Anyway, this means that FFXIII sales in Europe could go either way, but they wont, because people will still think of FF and Sony together. If a Halo 4 came to Playstation as well as the X360 and you asked owners of both consoles which version they would get, vast majority would answer X360 purely because of the history between the console and game. Same situation with FF.

3. Americans don't care for RPGs as much as the rest of the world does - That's why they all own X360s, the console is smothered with games like Halo, Gears of War and Project Gotham Racing and that's all they want. Not time consuming RPGs that span across 100+ hours with epic battles that can take half an hour. I'm not saying FF will not sell anything in America, all I'm saying is it will sell a pathetic amount when compared to sales across Europe, Japan and Australia. Most of which will be on the PS3. The console FF should remain on.

FFXIII is being released at the same time for both consoles around the rest of the world which is stupid and a huge annoyance for PS3 owners as development for the X360 version is not starting till the PS3 development has finished. MS must have really forked out some cash for this.

Fallout 3 is officially banned in Australia

2008-07-09T19:48:00.000+10:00

Yep, Fallout 3 is another game you can now add to the list of ever growing games to be banned in Australia. Shame really, I think something really does need to happen with the laws bound around video games down here.

List of games banned or censored in Aus

My Game Collection

2008-07-02T22:52:00.002+10:00

-Gameboy-
Galaga and Galaxian
Mario and Yoshi
Pokemon Red

-Gamecube-
Mario Party 5
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness
Soul Calibur II
Super Mario Kart: Double Dash
Super Mario Smash Bros. Melee
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

-Nintendo 64-
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Donkey Kong 64

-PC-
Age of Empires III
Blitzkrieg 2
Cabela's Deer Hunt 2005 Season
Just Cause
Max Payne
Neverwinter Nights 2
Team Fortress 2
TOCA Pro Race Driver
Tomb Raider Anniversary

-Playstation-
Casper
Destruction Derby
Driver
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Kula World
Metal Gear Solid
Need For Speed III Hot Pursuit
Spyro The Dragon
Spyro The Dragon 2: Gateway to Glimmer
The Legend of Dragoon
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Thrasher Skate and Destroy
Overboard!
Tomb Raider

-Playstation 2-
Final Fantasy X (Special Edition)
Gran Turismo 4
God of War
God of War II (Special Edition)
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak X: Combat Racing
Killzone (Collectors Edition)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Prince of Persia The Two Thrones
Rogue Galaxy
Unlimited Saga

-Playstation 3-
Army of Two
Battlefield Bad Company (Gold Edition)
Burnout Paradise
Call of Duty World at War
Folklore
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Grand Theft Auto IV
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
LittleBigPlanet
Motorstorm
Motorstorm Pacific Rift
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Resistance 2
Motorstorm
Skate
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Uncharted Drake's Fortune

-Playstation 3 (PSN)-
High Velocity Bowling
Lemmings
Linger In Shadows
LocoRoco Cocoreccho
Pain
PixelJunk Eden
Super Stardust HD

-Xbox-
Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Forza Motorsport

-Xbox360-
Fable II
Halo 3
Kameo: Elements of Power
Kung Fu Panda
Lego Indiana Jones
Mass Effect
Perfect Dark Zero
Project Gotham Racing 3
Viva Pinata

-Xbox360 (XBLA)-
Geometry Wars Retro Evolved
Hexic
Sonic The Hedgehog

Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2

2008-07-02T19:17:00.000+10:00

Everyone has known about SC2 for a while now. There's been screenshots, videos and previews all over the net. I personally can't wait for SC2, I loved the original SC and the expansion. I think that it is one of the best RTS games ever so I'm hoping SC2 can do the job and either match it's predecessor or exceed it in terms of game play and awesomeness.

But there is a game much greater than mere Starcraft, this game towers over many games released to this day and crushed everything around it in its prime. This game is Diablo II. The king of Hack 'n' Slash games, ruler of them all. D2 is a classic, no doubt about it and with the announcement of D3 I couldn't care less about SC2 anymore. There are many previews, 'first looks', videos, screens and interviews with Blizzard around the net and on any popular gaming or tech news site you're bound to find something, but I'll put a gameplay video here anyway.

As you can see the gameplay looks essentially the same as D2 which is a good thing. Graphics are looking good but are not to everyone's taste. There are a group of D2 fans who have started a petition against the art-style in D3, saying it is too colourful and happy taking too much influence from the horrible game WoW.

See here --> Thread about the petition on GS with link to the source at the bottom of the TCs post

I have to admit. I do like what these guys have done with the screenshots, especially the bridge one. They do look much more Diablo although, I really don't care all that much. The game isn't even released yet. It may look much different when it comes out. If it plays like D2.. I'll be happy and so will many others.

PS3 Firmware 2.40

2008-07-02T18:06:00.000+10:00

Woo! PS3 FW 2.40 came out today bringing Trophies and in-game XMB (Cross Media Bar) This is great, I think the Trophies and the ability to play your own music in games is great and long overdue, well the music feature anyway.

Only problem with these two features is the fact that the games currently released need to be patched in order to support these features. Hopefully GTA IV will get a patch for music, that game has a terrible sound track.