Join sisters NinJaSistah and Pandalicious and the rest of the ESH Crew each day as they discuss video games, tech gadgets, anime, manga... pretty much everything within the geek chic lifestyle.
From Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC game reviews, previews, news, and gushings to audience questions and rumor mill seeding galore you'll find it here at ESH!
Who would’ve thought? Two kingdoms filled completely with chubby chasers; extremely violent chubby chasers at that. Well that’s what we get in the game Fat Princess.
If you’ve ever played capture the flag, and I know you have, then I’m sure you’ve had the same thought that the developers over at Titan Studios had: “Why can’t I feed my team’s flag so that it’s harder to carry for the other team?” Well your dreams have been answered, except instead of a flag, you’re protecting a princess.
The nice thing is, it isn’t your princess that you’re feeding, it’s the other team’s princess. That way, you can feed her into a sugar coma without really feeling all that bad. Your concern is more on your princess, that other team is feeding into a sugar coma. So the game is a glorified CTF with a new game mechanic to keep it fresh, right? Wrong.
Fat Princess is not just a huge game of 16 on 16 CTF. It’s also got elements of real time strategy, but instead of playing a general commanding the troops, there is no general, and you are the troops. You can play as 5 very different classes as you work towards achieving a victory for your team.
As the worker you collect resources (wood and metal) and use those resources to upgrade the classes, build siege weapons (a catapult that launches teammates into the enemy castle) and other assorted ladders and spring boards around the map: generally making things easier for everyone around you. The worker also gets bombs to compliment his axe with an upgrade. The ranger is exactly what you think it is; a bow wielder with a musket as his upgrade. Rangers provide fire from behind the combat and make great guards for the towers strewn about the maps which provide both a tactical advantage as well as another place for workers to bring resources if your team controls them.
Then you have your support classes, the priest and the mage. Mages can use fire magic which, when charged up can set enemies ablaze. Their attacks can be area of effect or targeted, making them versatile. Their upgrade is ice magic and allows them to freeze enemies for a short period. Priests are the healers and also have area of effect heals, as well as targeted heals. They are perhaps the most important support class as they can keep their teammates in the fight. For the priest’s upgrade they become a dark priest and sap health from enemies, as well as curse them so that they cannot target.
And of course, the backbone of the team is the warrior. Formerly one of the worst classes, the warrior was slow and had no range. After an update that beefed up the warrior, making him run faster while charging his attacks, he has become essential to winning any match, especially considering the huge amount of health he has over the other classes. Of course an issue arose with the update (which also nerfed the overpowered dark priest) which allows the warrior to use his shield while carrying anything, including the princess. This is frustrating because it allows the warrior to solo-capture a princess and escape the castle with more than half his health. His shield allows him to block incoming arrows and melee attacks.
Getting past that issue, let’s talk a little more about gameplay. Every class upgrade except for the warrior and priest comes with a second effect. When the worker is upgraded, the worker hat machine produces large bombs that do detrimental damaged to layers and structures, such as castle doors. After upgrading the mage, a potion starts appearing at regular intervals nearby that, when thrown, turns any players within its area of effect into chickens. Finally, the ranger upgrade grants your castle lit torches. When a warrior or ranger stands near one of these torches, it lights their weapon on fire, giving it a damage boost for a short period of time, which serves as an impeccable castle defense.
There are 3 other classes in the game, the first being the villager which has the lowest health besides the chicken. Villagers have the fastest movement and capture speed, making them the best choice for feeding the princess cake. The only attack they have is a slap which has a chance to stun a player and force them to drop whatever they are carrying. The other two classes are post game only, one being the reaper and the other, a giant chicken. A player turns into one of these for having the highest score in the match, reaper for being on the winning team, and giant chicken for being on the losing team. The player can then lay waste to the other team with the immense damage and health of this class for fun during the intermission between games. Upon death the giant chicken drops a rainbow colored orb which will turn any player into a reaper if they pick it up. The reaper, which is harder to kill than the chicken because he’s a smaller target, drops a handful of said orbs.
So, sounds like a fun game so far right? Well, there are some issues. The latest update took away the host’s power to kick players. This is good because it stops immature players from kicking players that keep beating their team. It is bad because there is now literally no way to deal with team killers. These people will sit around the worker hat machine and throw the giant bombs at their own team’s castle doors. One way to deal with them is to have an upgraded mage sit at the doors and defuse the bombs with ice magic, but this guarantees that two of your players are now doing nothing to further the goals of the team and puts your team at a serious disadvantage.
Another silly choice by Titan Studios was to leave team balancing up to the players. Now when a team has more human players than the other, the team with less players will start dropping orbs of their team’s color when they die. These orbs, when picked up, give a player a 300 point bonus and switches him to the opposite team, thus balancing them slightly. Unfortunately even the 300 point bonus does little to justify switching teams when your team is in the lead and controls the key points of the map already. Players can also switch teams at the end of the match, but none of it is mandatory.
The final odd choice for multiplayer would be the matchmaking. When looking for a game the servers seem to only match you with people of your level. This is great for low level players as there are plenty of people out there in plenty of games. But as you get to the higher ranks of King/Queen, you are in games with only other Kings and Queens, which isn’t that many in contrast to the low level players, so high level players many times will delete their whole game save just so they can play with more people.
Single player is short and sweet, with a campaign that details the supposed story as to why these two kingdoms are killing each other. It contains one of the game’s hardest trophies to obtain in its gladiate mode. This mode pits you as one of the 5 classes against wave after wave of enemies in an arena like setting.
The game’s charm really shines in the cel-shaded graphics and cute voices of the characters. Of course when a cute voice yells out “I’ll leave you in pieces like the ice truck killer!” it’s hard not to laugh. The taunts are great, and the bloodbath that occurs in every battle is aesthetically pleasing to any gamer. Nothing better than getting to the battle late right in the middle of the map and seeing the huge amount of bodies and blood strewn across the battlefield.
The community is still very much alive for this game, but with the issues currently out there it makes it hard to get into, and keep interest for. Hopefully Titan Studios will the cry of the fans and fix what is wrong with this otherwise great game. If you’re looking for a game to blow 15 dollars on and aren’t sure what to get, Fat Princess on the PSN is hours of fun. And at least the voice chat works! *glares knowingly at battlefield 1943*
Both NinJaSistah and Pandalicious have played through the game and spend the bulk of the hour tripping through the awesome gameplay that is Bayonetta while spoiling the story ending, plot points and more. Did you know there was a music video at the end of the game? You do now!
We even answer an audience question or two, touch on James Cameron's movie Avatar and start sharing some of the audio interviews Evermore and I conducted during CES 2010. Need more incentive to take a listen, check out some of the titles we came up with for this episode but didn't use:
Climaxes Are Different — We'll Get Back to Those
She's Wet — And It's Not Just Because She's Been At the Bottom of a Lake
and finally
The Last Naked Woman to Be Taken Seriously Was Eve
With shield raised, I'm ready to face the beast that is Demon's Souls
Since we were little boys and girls, we often dreamt up worlds where men were brave chivalrous knights. Women were princesses imprisoned by maleficent witches and corrupt wizards. Books, movies, and electronic entertainment alike have been able to recapture, redefine and revamp this fantasy world for us. For once however, there is no princess locked in a tower. There is no sole evil entity moving throughout this world. This is a world plagued with demons; some of which are meek while others are maliciously powerful. This is the world of Demon’s Souls.
The moment Atlus/From Software starting toying around with the idea of dark fantasy action RPG, they made sure to bold, italicize and underline the word: Punishment in their brainstorm. Demon’s Souls is an exclusive for the Playstation 3 console, though I don’t see why they would minimize the number of people who have been clamoring for some brutal punishment. Gamers these days have become somewhat jaded. We want graphics, we want story, we want a well-behaved camera, oh and we don’t want to be treated like babies. Well Atlus and From Software heard you and gave you what you wanted. However I digress, so let us walk through this game one category at a time.
Visuals
The demon-infested world of Boletaria can be summed up one word: majestic. It is set in an Arthurian time period, which means: huge tracks of land! All of which is captivating to witness. However, this can only be said if (and I stress if) your PS3 is using HDMI cables. In this age of interactive video entertainment, playing a game with anything less then component cables is doing yourself a huge disservice. This disservice extends to that expensive HDMI-capable LCD flat screen TV in your bedroom/living room. There is too much effort put into this world to ignore it completely. So Don’t.
If you happen to be the kind of gamer who loves customizing your character then enjoy. You get the choice in Demon Souls to truly customize your protagonist. However if you are aiming to mimic your features to a fault, then I suggest you taking several pictures of yourself and pinning them up next to your screen. This is where you flick your directional pad either left or right while waiting to see your facial characteristics present themselves. If you have the patience of a saint, this will only take 30 to 45 minutes to do. Stay committed to your features because if you don’t, you’ll end up with a massive forehead, hair lip and wandering left eye.
Results: 5 out of 5
Story Demon’s Souls tells the story of a king, King Allant XII, who sought great power. This power is obtained by the consumption of souls. This leads his kingdom of Boletaria to prosper until the plot arrived. A thick colorless fog starts to invade the land's borders, which, cuts Boletaria off from the rest of existence.
Many brave and noble heroes have entered the fog, never to be seen or heard from again. So the last hope for humanity lies in your sword… polearm…I mean weapon of choice and in you go into this fogged encased kingdom…only to be slaughtered by a gigantic demon. Which yes, kills you. This death lands you in the Nexus. It is here that we learn the origin of this colorless fog. Underneath the Nexus is beast of legend and lore, The Old One.
It was content in its slumber but has been awakened by a power hungry king. Yep you guessed it, King Allant XII. With the Old One awake and the colorless fog slowly engulfing all of Boletaria also comes with the addition of soul devouring demons. Those who fight these demons and lose do not just lose their soul—their sanity as well.
The Nexus contains five Archstones, which will take you to Boletaria Palace, Stonefang Tunnel, Tower of Latria, Shrine of Storms, and the Valley of Defilement these are all starting zones for the areas most affected by the Old One Being awake. Vanquishing the Arch Demon from each of these areas is the only way to be deemed worthy to encounter the Old One.
With a range of interactive characters and a concrete story, your presence in this game will be felt, measured and put on display for the whole Demon’s Souls’ world to see. The true demon’s souls begins here.
Result: 5 of 5
Gameplay:
Single player The minute this game hit PS3’s all over the world, one word seemed to rise up like a phoenix from the ashes: RAGE. The gameplay isn’t hard but any measure, but your success in this game rests in a word that most gamers do not like to hear: Patience. No rushing in head first with a disproportionate broadsword…it will be the death of you. No invisible walls either so those long falls are looooooooooong, and death causing if you hadn’t figured it out. The majority of death in this game is in direct correlation with the assumption that the game would not let you fall. GET THIS NOTION OUT OF YOUR HEAD. Reality has hit gaming in a manner that we all wanted in theory, but not in practice.
You may come to find that 95 % of this game is played in death. Yes, this is correct. Instead of the standard “Oh you die and come back to life” bit you assume the form of a spirit, this cuts your health by half, if you don’t have a particular item that gives you a little bit more than that. Demon’s Souls’ philosophy is rooted in the fact that you do not need your body. Success comes with death.
Methodically planning out a set number of maneuvers is key to survival. Each enemy has a different pattern ranging in severity of attack. This means that one poor judgment can result in the weakest of enemies claiming your body, and or the souls you have previously gathered on your first attempt in the area. All of these mixed together is a recipe for: over-the-top rage quits, several fresh fist impressions in your wall, and calling a loved one something that you’ve only ever thought about saying to their face. (I am sorry about that Mom.)
Demon’s Souls is very complex and detailed. Some of these concepts should be learned straight away. Here they are:
1.Every action you make can influence your Character Tendency. 2.Every action you make can influence your World Tendency. 3.Don’t assume that button mashing will save you: it won’t 4.Learn every attack command, they are there to help you
Now I know most of these reek of common gamer sense, but many of us over look number 3 and 4. 1 and 2 are specific to this game. Character Tendency deals with your character. The more good that you do by clearing worlds of arch demons, saving captured NPC’s, and not dying in body form will all raise your Character Tendency this can in turn unlock other NPC’s and better weapons. The reverse will yield the same kind of result except some of the weapons are a lot more powerful.
World Tendency can be hard to master. Most will situate themselves in a pure white or just plain white WT during their first playthrough. However when entering New Game + one may want to start turning the World Tendency to Black or Pure Black. When we think White and Black, we think of Easy and Hard. This is exactly as we perceive it. In a White/Pure White Tendency enemies are easier to handle, and certain NPC’s will be unlocked. In a Black/Pure Black World Tendency all the enemies are a lot harder, and certain NPC’s will appear as Black Phantoms. Their rewards are worth manipulating the world however. Also, as an aside, if you are a trophy hunter you will have to manipulate the world tendency to get the platinum trophy.
Atlus has already given us previews of these world tendencies in the form of events. If you picked this up on Halloween you took part in a world of Pure Black. Winter Solstice brought with it a Pure White World. There are ways to get around having to actually do work to manipulate the world tendency, but what fun is that?
Result: 5 of 5
Multiplayer
From Software, the developers of Demon Souls, did not just want to give us a standard, run-of –the-mill multiplayer experience, they wanted to make it more of a test of faith in a silent partner. That’s right people, Demon’s Souls makes you believe that you can rest comfortably in notion of co-play but then strips the must fundamental aspect from it: game chat. Sure you can summon Blue Phantoms to help you in a level, but don’t expect that you’ll be sharing your life story with them. They-can-not-hear-you. They are simply voiceless spirits out to reclaim some souls and their bodies. Also there is a heavily implied threat to summoning Blue Phantoms into your game. This requires you to be in body form, which makes you prey to Black Phantoms. They are not usually very kind, and in fact are there to tear you a new one and laugh about it later.
Obviously the option to be a Blue or Black Phantom is something that all players in this game have a choice to do. Being a Blue Phantom who successfully assists someone in body form will gain a decent amount of souls and their body back. Black Phantoms, if successful will gain the same things at your misfortune. Which one will you be? Dare I say Schadenfreude?
Result 5 of 5
Overall Result 20 of 20
You will get a sense of accomplishment by completing this game. It will in a way, make you appreciate all the other games you played that made it impossible for you to die by anything other than the action of an enemy. You will think twice about when you will take a health potion, when you’ll lead with a strong attack and when you’ll attempt stealth by ranged attacks. In fact you’ll think twice about EVERYTHING, which isn’t as bad as it sounds.
Maybe you've had some time to play the MAG open beta and you're excited about the full version. Well, to whet your appetite for 256 player destruction, here are the trophies revealed. MAG is getting a full release on January 26, 2010.
Bronze
Angel of Mercy – 25 enemies killed in their in incapacitated state over a career
Boom Town – Earn the Mortar Demolition, Total Blackout and AAA Demolition Ribbons
Close Call — Earn three Bomb Squad Ribbons
Clown Car – Awarded when a player destroys an APC or a Bunker, killing two players
Commandon’t – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Commando
Coughing Killer – Killed an enemy while affect by poison gas grenades
Dropping Like Flies – Destroy five enemy helicopters
Duteous Maximus – Be on the winning faction for 10 Directive matches
Efficiency Engineer – Earn three Bunker Buster Ribbons
I Drink Your Milkshake – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Field Support
I Got 5 On It – Kill 5 enemies with a single Strategic Strike, excluding Poison Gas Barrage
In Your Face – Earn five Combat Melee Ribbons
Jack of One Trade – Awarded when a player reaches the bottom tier of a skill tree
Junkyard Jockey – Earn three Mr. Badwrench Ribbons
Lil Buddy – Earn two Purple Sidekick Ribbons
Mia Culpa – Kill 50 enemies in a turret over a career
Out of Scope – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Sniper
Screeching Halt – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Rapid Assault
Target Practice – Awarded when a player shoots down 25 paratroopers over a career
The Harder They Fall – Awarded when a player kills 50 of a certain specialty: Direct Action
Silver
A Whole Lotta Hurt – Earn five Combat Machine Gun Ribbons and five Combat Fragger Ribbons
Baby Need a Bandage? – Earn 5 Silver Cross Ribbons and 5 Golden Cross Ribbons
Chest Candy – Awarded when a player has earned one of every ribbon
Devil Dog – Earn 5 Combat Assault Ribbons and 5 Combat Sidearm Ribbons
Double Trouble – Earn the Golden Cross Medal and the Grim Reaper Medal
Hammer of the Gods – Called in 50 cluster bombs or mortar barrages
Headhunter – Earn 5 Silver Bullet Ribbons, the Longshot Ribbon and the Sniper Master Specialist Medal
Precious Cargo – Destroy 20 Escort Vehicles over a career
Silent But Deadly – Awarded when a player kills 25 enemies with Poison Gas over a career
Steamroller – Have a 3-to-1 Kill-to-Death Ratio in any match
Take Me to Your Leader – Earn 1 win as a squad leader
The Streaker – Earn the Streaker Medal
Triple Threat – Earn 5 Silver Cross Ribbons, 5 Master Engineer Ribbons and the Grim Reaper Medal
Gold
Commandant in Chief – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a Raven character
Eager Beaver – Awarded when a player has earned one of each medal
Prima Noyan – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a S.V.E.R. character
Sergeant Major – Awarded when a player reaches level 60 with a Valor character
Although this girl is pointing to somewhere in the desert of Saudi Arabia, the Sistahs weren't even close to there when recording this week's podcast. Instead, NinjaSistah was in the desert (Las Vegas), covering the Consumer Electronics Show, while Pandalicious was comfortably at home in the snowdrifts of New England (and perhaps pant-less).
As you might expect, CES was at the forefront of their discussion on the podcast this week, focusing on 3D television technology, e-readers and some new games for the PS3, as well as some talk on Google's new Nexus One phone.
Here are the titles we rejected for this week's podcast:
Now Vanna Can Turn the Letters Right In Your Living Room
(By the way, the girl in the photo is a representative of Kimin Electronic Co., Ltd., a company which manufactures large -- up to 42-inch -- touchscreen monitors. It's very impressive stuff, but they don't fit in your pocket like an iPhone.)
Polo! Nathan Drake returns in an all new adventure with treasure and Nazis. You won’t want to miss this!
Some of you may remember my review of the closed beta for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Well I’ve since acquired a copy of the full game and I’m hard pressed to find a reason to put it down. The story is engaging, the multiplayer is fun, and the characters are loveable. Of course, with every game there are little nuances that are either detrimental or overlookable. So let’s get right in and start with the story.
Flashbacks are a cheap trick that writers normally use in place of storytelling. However, Naughty Dog does not make the mistake of flashing back to the first game. All flashbacks in Uncharted 2 refer back to something in Uncharted 2. Thus, they were able to use the strategy of telling the first part of the game in flashbacks, which left the opening scene open to being over the top, which it was. Uncharted 2 starts big, but finishes simply. This is not to say it has a bad ending, it’s tough to end a video game these days, but this one does it right. The ending is funny and leaves a sequel opening, but doesn’t hint at one.
Dialogue throughout the game is well-timed and seamless. The characters really seem to react to one another during conversations, and each character has their little quirks that make them relatable. I found myself looking forward to hearing Drake’s little remarks about everything that was going on around him. That’s what really made Drake relatable. I felt like every time he made a comment with his dry wit he was saying exactly what I was thinking i.e. his reaction to helicopters and tanks.
Uncharted 2 really gets it right in single player; the environments for combat really keep you on your toes. You can go from slinking around for stealth kills to running across the top of a train while gunning down armored opponents in seconds. Story mode in Uncharted 2 is just one action packed scene after another. Its comparison to a movie by those commercials, which I’m sure you’ve seen, is not far off. However, like all shooters, the campaign cannot be defined as long (though 25 chapters and a boss battle might seem lengthy.) Granted, this will take you longer to beat than say, Modern Warfare 2, but don’t expect 30 hours from the single player, unless you’re bad at it of course.
From what I understand of the first game (I only played the first 5 minutes, judge me later) gameplay has gotten better. The game no longer emphasizes bonuses by making you use the same weapon for multiple kills. The stealth in this game is what gives you the bonuses, and it’s actually well implemented. Stealth seems to be making its way into a lot of games these days and not always in a good way. Climbing is of course a huge part of the game, but also a bit frustrating at times. I cannot count the amount of times that I jumped at a wall because it looked identical to another, climbable wall and just bounced right the hell off. So even though the climbing may seem to make it a freer environment, it is in fact very linear. You won’t be going anywhere that the game doesn’t want you to.
But that isn’t to say extra areas don’t exist. When hunting for treasures you are sometimes taken a good way off the beaten path (even if there is only ONE way off the beaten path, making this off-the-beaten-path destination a beaten path of itself. But don’t get me wrong. The game is gorgeous, and you’ll probably spend a lot of time panning the camera around just to view the scenery. I mean, I thought the environments were lush in the first game (again, from those 5 minutes of gameplay) but this game beats it outright. Difficulty wise, the game is little lacking. Crushing difficulty didn’t feel that much harder, I was just easier to kill (a LOT easier); though the final boss on crushing will have you raging for a long time before you finally kill him.
While the single player is great and you’ll enjoy it through and through, I really got this game for the multiplayer. When I played the beta, multiplayer was all that was available. I played until my eyes gave out on me. I enjoyed it so much, and the full version does not disappoint. Now sure, I wish there were more maps (8 maps for competitive, 3-5 for co-op) but Naughty Dog has already promised and delivered on DLC.
The game could use it too. As of right now there are about 6.5k people playing online. This is compared to the 14k or so when the game first came out. Now, why is this, you might ask, I shall tell you. The numbers started to drop right around the time Modern Warfare 2 came out. I’m sure every game’s fanbase took a hit when that monster of a title reached stores. Does this mean that all other titles are inferior? No, just that MW2 hype is high right now. So my hope is that when more DLC hits for Uncharted 2, it will breathe new life into the multiplayer scene.
So, barring the lack of players, what you’ll find online are, very basically, three modes: Competitive, Co-op Arena, and Co-op Objective. Each one has its own flavor to add to the experience, and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Competitive is where you’ll find most players. And of course this makes sense, what with it being a shooter and all. What’s the point of a shooter if you can’t put a bullet in someone’s head and hear them call you a noob from the other side of the mic? But that’s not all there is to do.
Sometimes you just want to get together with a couple friends and run train on a bunch of computer controlled enemies. That’s when you check the lobby for some Co-op Arena. Gears of War fans might see some similarities between this and horde mode. Ten rounds of increasingly tough masses of enemies. Going from round 1 where you fight mostly pistol carrying sadsacks, to round 10 where your enemies have guns bigger than you. This mode seems to be the one that gives the most money, but it’s also the riskiest. If you don’t actually win, then all the cash you were fighting for gets cut to a fraction of what you would have obtained.
Co-op objective is so far the smallest multiplayer area. There are only three maps, and really only three difficulties (normal, hard, and crushing, don’t bother with easy). Here, like arena, 2-3 players are pitted against computer controlled enemies with only 3 attempts at victory. Fail all 3 times, and you won’t be seeing too much reward. The appeal here, of course being that you can take two of your friends and work through a level tactically. And tactics you will need. Trying to beat one of these levels on crushing without proper planning is suicide. So that’s what’s right with this game, what’s wrong?
Well to be honest, very little. You may find player health a little high for your tastes. Naughty Dog already had a test weekend where player health was dropped to 65%. Granted, grenades are still the only weapon that really matters in this game. I am still hopeful that the radius of the grenade explosion will be reduced. I swear I still take full damage even on the outskirts of the blast. Until then, make sure if you’re playing that you chuck one, it’s the only sure way to get a kill.
Or perhaps you’re frustrated with the lack of certain features (leaderboards, rematch so you don’t have to find another room full of players). Naughty Dog already added these, and is planning on adding more. Nearly every other week there is some news about an update that is going to enhance the online experience. At first, the players met option on the XMB wasn’t working, but with the latest update for Uncharted 2, it has finally been fixed. So all you players out there can rest assured that Naughty Dog watches out for their fans.
There’s a reason this game has so many perfect scores, and why it had so many GOTY awards. It is honestly the best thing to happen to the PS3 console in the year 2009. If you own a PS3 and not this game, you are indeed doing yourself a great disservice.
In this, the final episode of the ElectricSistaHood podcast for 2009, we rehash our Holiday gift buying guide episode with a couple of editions including some from guest host Loserly of DeadPixelLive fame.
We added some more audio equipment-type gifts like the Beats by Dre Tour in-ear headphones, some pocket-type synths from ThinkGeek. To give you an idea of how this show goes, here are some of the titles we came up with but didn't use:
Ninja's Tongue Needs a Wheelchair
AND It Helps If You Need to Move a Whale
Panda's Word of the Day: Facetious
Sandwiches in the Dark — How Romantic
Panda Says She Likes It From All Directions — And She Calls US Perverts
Finally a break. Right in time for the holidays...
Demon’s Souls has been easily dubbed one of the hardest games to come out this year. It calls for skill, precision and a great sense of timing. If Demon’s Souls was a woman, she would be highly temperamental and on the verge of ripping your limbs off. One false statement about where you’ve been, and you are toast. However, even the most evil and devious shrew will have her moments of pleasantness.
If you were one of the few that had Atlus’ gaming masterpiece: Demon’s Souls around Halloween time, you were probably cursing up a storm, swearing vengeance against the team responsible for your current gaming misery, and wishing you could get away with mass murder without the penalty of going to prison. If you have no clue as to what I am talking about then listen up.
In Demon’s Souls, there is a component called World Tendency. The actions you take while in certain worlds can shift the tendency from a range Pure White to Pure Black. (Think of world tendencies like levels of difficulty.) When the tendencies are white, the enemies are a lot easier to deal with and you take less damage while when the tendency is black, the enemies are no longer pushovers. Shifts in tendency can also mean that special NPCs and bosses will be available to fight against. However this is only valuable knowledge if you know where to find them.
To test out this power of shifting tendencies, on Halloween, Atlus set the tendency to Pure Black. Since they made the game, they can manipulate it at will, and they did. So you can imagine how many unaware gamers got their heads served back to them on a blood-splattered platter. We’ve seen the worst and now we will see the best.
Just like Halloween’s “Pure Black” World Tendency Event, Atlus is hosting a Winter Solstice “Pure White” World Tendency Event. So this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for! This event will only happen on North American servers, so mark your calendars for December 21st and prepare for the easiest Demon’s Souls experience you’ll get EVER. Think of it as an early gift that if not used effectively might just come back around to haunt you.
Wow, could you be any more of a blatant carbon copy? Sorry, let's begin at the beginning. This is not overreaction, nor is it hyperbole: Dante's Inferno takes, and takes, and takes nearly everything it knows from God of War. From the way you obtain your health to the quick time events, Dante looks like God of War II: Dante Edition.
One thing Dante's inferno can claim wit much pride is a high breast count. In the demo itself, there is lots of boobage to be seen. Dead boobies, ghostly boobies, you get them all!
In another case of thinking outside the God of War box, some cut scenes play out as a cartoon rather than being 3D modeled.
Even though it's being called out for being horribly unoriginal, the Dante's Inferno demo is pretty fun!
So give it a try, but just keep it in the back of your brain that God of War III will be coming out soon enough. The Dante's Inferno demo is available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Have you played the Bayonetta demo yet? Well, HAVE YOU? The Bayonetta Demo is currently available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The Creation
Bayonetta is brought to you from the wacky mind of Hideki Kamiya and the fine folks at Sega. Kamiya is one of the creators behind the Devil May Cry series of games, which are also totally out there and insane. Bayonetta is more of the same, with a fresh current gen look.
Bayonetta the Witch
Your heroine, Bayonetta, is an outcast, born to a union that was deemed illegal. Bayonetta is not killed. Instead, she is kept alive, but unable to take part in society or perform magic. Well, obviously, she finds some way to escape her bonds and become a badass angel killing witch.
Stylish Vengeance
Bayonetta is an incredibly leggy, dark-haired, bespectacled woman who has a wide array of weapons at her disposal. Her basic weapons include a sword, double guns (of course) and guns on her feet! Using your handheld weapons is typical Devil May cry fare. When you pull off a certain command, you flip upside down and let off some shots with the guns on your feet, gun-kata style.
What Bayonetta can also do is slow down time after successfully dodging attacks. Bayonetta gets even more nasty when she does punish moves, which are basically quick time events that give you an option of dealing more damage.
When it comes to fighting bosses, that's an even better story. Once you beat a big enemy with an inch of its life, you can summon your witchy powers to call forth a demon- made of Bayonetta's hair. Now that's what I call witchcraft! This is the ultimate representation of Bayonetta's combo moves. It's a bit gruesome to watch, but it's also very cool.
With ups, there are downs
Bayonetta does have familiar problems. As a game that allows you to fly high in the air and attack as fast as lightning, the camera has an issue with keeping up with you. You can see the action just fine, but when you're faced with so much on the screen, it could have been good to have more camera angles at your command, sort of like when yu can change angles in theGrand Theft Auto games.
In addition, a nitpick comes Bayonetta's way because Bayonetta has one of the weirdest stances ever in a game. When you let Bayonetta stand still, she looks incredibly unnatural.
These gripes don't kill the fun at all. If you love the wild action spectacles that are the Devil May Cry games, Bayonetta is DMC's exotic cousin.
A new Monday morning brings with it a fresh episode of the ElectricSistaHood podcast, are you not entertained? Well, after catching this episode filled with cutting room floor goodness you will be.
In this episode of our weekly podcast, NinJaSistah introduces three segments of content we had to cut from previous episodes that have yet to air on a final episode of our podcast... until now that is. First up are some of the things we cut from our original airing of our holiday gift guide, including the RoboTech Saga anime series, iPod Touch, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 titles.
The next segment kinda keeps the holiday theme going by talking about how much both Pandalicious and NinJaSistah hate Christmas gifts/holiday decorations appearing commercially before Halloween has even happened. In the final segment of the podcast, we give you some of the anime stuff that NinJaSistah has talked about recently, but hasn't made it to your eardrums like Kiba and Maria Watches Over Us.
We built this game We built this game with L-E-G-O-S
Welcome to a world of pure imagination, and sadly it isn’t the world of Willy Wonka. Though some would say it was just as colorful and enchanting. If there is one thing that we’ve grown up with that has followed us into our adulthood it would be Legos. So this shouldn’t be too much of a shock to see it in our video games. Its success is another thing that the gamerbase should have predicted from the get-go.
Traveller’s Tales, the developer responsible for reanimating this childhood classic toy in a digital form would want to find a concept that was new and family oriented. Perhaps another developer, who has a thriving game series that wouldn’t have to modify much to appeal to a general audience, someone like: Harmonix perhaps. Bingo. Merge together the love of yester toy with music from the decades and you’ve got Lego RockBand.
Visuals: There is really only one thing I can say about the graphics: LEGOS. Everything is made out of Legos. There isn’t much detail to be had in a simple red, yellow, green or blue block. However for capturing the essence of what Legos are meant to do (which is inspire imagination), it does exactly that and then a little more. The customization feature is very similar to its’ big brother and sister games. It does have it limitations though, but those are simply in place to reinforce the Lego universe. At the end of it, if a person has an issue with the limitation of a Lego rocker’s style, then don’t play it. Play RockBand or RockBand2. Result: 5 of 5
Gameplay: Single Player:
Everyone is a solo artist before they decide they want friends. Once they have friends, it is instinctive that they would want to make a band. However the really cute thing about this game is that in single player you actually get a bit of story during the campaign. Granted, it is all very cookie-cutter but it is still refreshing to see and experience (especially since neither RockBand nor Guitar Hero decided to include it.)
There are also special alternative venues that are interactive. These places also depict the beautifully destructive awesomeness that is rock. No Lego people were harmed in the making of this game. However like all things multiplayer oriented, the game isn’t as engaging unless you are playing with someone else. Result: 3 of 5
So quickly to the multiplayer mobile!
Multiplayer:
Just like its’ predecessors RockBand and RockBand2, most of the emphasis lies in its’ multiplayer. However in the realm of childhood, blame isn’t something practiced. Mistakes don’t occur in this magical land of red, green, yellow and blue. ”Failure” is a word that this age range won’t experience until the third grade. The game effortlessly mirrors this world we all secretly desire to go back to. It is shown through the “ Super easy” mode and “recovery phases” options presented in the game.
Even though this game seems to be watered down a bit, don’t be quick to assume that the other difficulties are cakewalks. They are just are challenging as we’ve come to expect them to be. Warner Bros would never put itself in a light that would make children believe they couldn’t do anything. So the game does allow for gaming growth, which is essential if you want to keep the kiddies interested.
This game could be a great way to have play dates for your smaller children (if you have them). It is a way to entertain up to four kids at a time, think of it as controlled rock chaos. Result: 5 of 5
Music Selection: The choices in this installment are not the water logged, saccharin injected “children” versions that we’d expect out of a children’s game. (So sorry Kids Bop) I mean there are some covers of popular song, but they aren’t no named, unpopular artists doing them.
Here is a small peek and some of the songs you’ll get in this game. Ok it’s all of them but…in the spirit of the holidays I couldn’t leave them out. • All American Rejects, "Swing, Swing" • The Kooks, "Naïve" • The Automatic, "Monster" • KoRn, "Word Up!" • Blink-182, "Aliens Exist" • KT Tunstall, "Suddenly I See" • Blur, "Song 2" • Lostprophets, "Rooftops" • Bon Jovi, "You Give Love a Bad Name" • P!NK, "So What" • Boys like Girls, "Thunder" • The Police, “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" • Bryan Adams, "Summer of 69" • The Primitives, "Crash" • Carl Douglas, "Kung Fu Fighting" • Queen, "We Are The Champions" • The Coral, "Dreaming of You" • Queen, "We Will Rock You" • Counting Crows, "Accidentally in Love" • Rascal Flatts, "Life is a Highway" • David Bowie, "Let's Dance" • Ray Parker Jr., "Ghostbusters" • Elton John, "Crocodile Rock" • Razorlight, "Stumble and Fall" • Europe, "The Final Countdown" • Spin Doctors, "Two Princes" • Everlife, "Real Wild Child" • Spinal Tap, "Short & Sweet" • Foo Fighters, "Breakout" • Steve Harly, "Make Me Smile" • Good Charlotte, "Girls & Boys" • Sum 41, "In Too Deep" • The Hives, "Tick Tick Boom!" • Supergrass, "Grace" • Iggy Pop, "The Passenger" • Tom Petty, "Free Fallin" • Incubus, "Dig" • T-Rex, "Ride a White Swan" • Jackson 5, "I Want You Back" • Vampire Weekend, "A-Punk" • Jimi Hendrix, "Fire" • We the Kings, "Check Yes Juliet" • Kaiser Chiefs, "Ruby" • The Zutons, "Valerie" • Katrina & The Waves, "Walking on Sunshine"
Result: 4 of 5
Downloadable Content: A shining grace to this game is that with a great setlist like this, we are able to import them over to RockBand2. So many have seen this as an expense trackpack. Just like other RockBand games, content will be made available through the online store. So just like budding young kids, this game has the potential to grow.
Result: 5 of 5
Shortcomings:
The only pitfall that I have noticed has nothing to do with the game out side of a lack luster single player mode. The question on my mind is: Why release this so late? North America got an 11/03/09 release date, where the UK (11/27/09) and our mates in AUS (11/25/09) just got their releases fairly recently.
Most of the gamerbase didn’t see a need to release another RockBand game. At this years’ E3, this game was right next to the Beatles RockBand booth. Those who took time out to play Lego RockBand were just riding it off as “just another” rhythm based game. Reception was moderately high considering the overwhelming sense of “Meh” that came from the venue. To give this game the hype it deserved maybe MTV Games/Time Warner should have released it after the first Lego games came out.
Speculations about this late release date center around the notion that if a game releases right before the start of the holiday season that sales will increase. Perhaps MTV Games/Time Warner felt that Lego RockBand would be overlooked and stepped up their game by setting up a deal with Old Navy. (If you aren’t an Old Navy shopper than this deal wouldn’t affect you). Then again, this could have been just a way to spread their product around to places where one wouldn’t see gaming influence. Talk about a way to get their name out there.
Overall Result: 22 of 25:
Gaming families with young children should seek this game out for the holiday season. It is definitely present for the whole family. And even if you don’t have wee ones to entertain,
Shoppamas is upon is folks, as in-escapable as new podcast episode Monday here in the land of ESH.
In this episode of the podcast NinjaSistah and Pandalicious are joined by Xenocore to share with you some of our best of picks of what to gift the Geek/Gamer/Anime Fan in your life. Pandalicious kicks off the hour talking both games and gadgets including Skullcandy headphones and earbuds for both audiophiles and gamers on the go. Then Panda shares her pick for family fun sharing-time goodness, Lego RockBand, and for the competitive gamer Demon Souls on the PS3 and Modern Warfare 2 which is multiplatform. Her section of the show ends with Activisions' DJ Hero
After all the players had taken the world stage, we prepared ourselves for war. After the last bullets left our guns, we prepared for rest. After the new foe turned the world’s fangs on us, we knew we were going back.
War stories are the kinds of tales that are a lot longer then we think they are. War is the backbone of history. The formula goes: Peace. Prosperity. Conflicts. Riots. War. That train is never late.
Some of us lived through wartime, while the rest of us learned about fragments of them in textbooks, completely unattached from the severity of each one. Now, in this present time, we have better technology and through entertainment can see and potentially feel that severity.
Story Time:
The first Modern Warfare took us into the stories of two individuals who would never meet but would be linked through war: Soap MacTavish, and Paul Jackson.
A radical leader in the Middle East has staged a coup d’état, while civil war breaks out in Russia. It is up to the SAS and USMC to go in and do what they do best: suppress and end the wars. The USMC heads into the Middle East to capture Al-Asad and the SAS go to Russia. By the very end of this storyline Soap delivers the final blow to Zakhaev, the head of the Ultranationalist movement to put this war to rest.
Or so we thought…
Modern Warfare 2 brings us back into the fray five years later. Soap MacTavish who was a recruit to the 22nd SAS is now Captain MacTavish of the Task Force 141, however we experience all this from the viewpoint Gary “Roach” Sanderson. On the other side of the world, in America, We are thrust into the Ranger Regiment first as Private Joseph Allen and then later as Private James Ramirez.
Both units are taking orders from General Shepard, whose focus is primarily to secure and silence the “obvious” antagonist Makarov. He is the protégé of the first game’s antagonist Zakhaev. Allen goes undercover into Makarov’s terrorist cell that slaughters an entire civilian airport but not before setting up America as the culprit.
Russia takes immediate action against the US by means of a surprise invasion. There are a few causalities along the way. Our soldiers try to get close enough to the threat to eliminate it. After acquiring an Achilles’ heel in the form of an unknown prisoner in the gulag (this prisoner turns out to be Captain Price from the first game.), all hell breaks loose. A new antagonist emerges to shift the plot in a direction we never saw coming. Shepard becomes angered and disillusioned and takes it out violently on Task Force 141 by murdering Roach and Ghost. If you haven’t caught on, Shepard is the antagonist.
Makarov gets put on the backburner and even slightly aids Task Force 141 or what is left of it. They take out Shepard, but as a result Soap, Nikolai and Price are on the run from the world. They still have their sights on Makarov and they still have a job to do.
The story was enjoyable however, I disliked how for ¾’s of the game we are gunning for Makarov but in the last 1/4th we are focused on Shepard. Then again with that blank check in hand, Shepard did become more of a threat. I don’t see why they couldn’t have taken out Makarov and then settled the score with Shepard. This way does promote a better segway to a third game but that isn’t enough in my mind to justify the action. Result: 4 out of 5.
On To Campaigns:
Single player story mode: So for the story of Modern Warfare 2 you’d think that it would eat up a good chunk of your time. Sitting in the most comfy gaming chair with an arsenal of snacks at your side, the story mode can be completed in about 6 hours. So the story campaign is amazingly short. Dare I say too short? Size isn’t everything; some of the best stories written are short stories, but they did something unique for their time period. Even though they incorporated some new features into the gameplay like: breaching, more use of predator drones etc. It was still a very cookie cutter Call of Duty game. Infinity Ward had a chance to redefine the FPS standards, but they played it safe. Result: 4 out of 5
Spec Ops: This is the newest feature to come out of this game. This can be done with or without a partner (Though I suggest you get one! You’ll thank me later.) In this, you and your partner get to work together in scenarios for star ratings. They range from one to three; three stars being the highest amount attainable. There are several different categories of events code-named: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo. These are insanely fun. It was the best move for Infinity Ward to make something Co Op instead of just strictly multiplayer. These missions allow players to go back to different areas from the game and even revisit some goodies from the original. It was a breath a fresh air. Result: 5 out of 5
Multiplayer: Everyone who loved the multiplayer from Modern Warfare is going to love it in this sequel. They’ve bumped up the experience cap up to 70 instead of 55. They give you several kinds of multiplayer games like: Free-For-All, Search and Destroy, Demolition, Domination, Team Deathmatch and lastly Capture the Flag. Besides those, there is even a new option in multiplayer, which is third person perspective. That’s right, a FPS with 3rd person capabilities. Though it was initially disorienting and hard to get used to, this isn’t the fault of Infinity Ward. This is because of our self-training to play FPS. It just gives us something new to master. Result: 5 out of 5
Overall Result: 18 out of 20. (Good Job Guys!)
Infinity Ward knows how to please its fanbase. From its eye-catching visuals to its enriched story and multiplayer options, it was a delight to play. I plan to revisit this game often. The replay value is high and leaves us waiting to jump right into Modern Warfare 3, so get on it Infinity Ward. Time is ticking! ☺
In this episode of the podcast, the gals share [and spoil] Infinity Wards's latest belle of the ball Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. We answer an audience question about MW2, put the "No Russian" level controversy to bed, and end the MW2 section of the show debating virtual violence versus actual violence and how the issue affects the gaming community.
Deep right? We thought so too, so then Pandalicious changes the topic to zombie hunting and how to prep to survive the zombie apocalypse. It's a good episode of the podcast, check out some of the titles we ended up not using:
If Artificial Intelligence is Getting Dumber, How Artificial Can It Be?
It Doesn't Glorify War, It Glorifies Killing Innocent Pixels
I put off getting Gearbox's Borderlands for a bit over a week after the release because I just wasn't sure if this was the game for me. The commercials made it appealing, as did all of the reviews I read, but for $60, I just wasn't sure about this one. Finally, I decided to take a chance and it paid off.
The first thing you need to know about Borderlands is that if you're not playing this via online or LAN with friends or stranger (either one), then you're probably wasting your time and money. The single-player experience can be boring and frustrating, but when three other players join in for co-op gameplay, you get a mash-up of Phantasy Star Online set in a Fallout 3-esque environment with FPS gameplay similar to Halo and Call of Duty.
You start off by picking one of four characters: Roland the gun-toting soldier, Lilith the stealth/magic femme, Mordecai the sniper/assassin, and Brick the boxer/tank. Then you guide that character through the familiar RPG "fetch and return" and "kill and/or collect x amount of y" quests throughout the large landscapes and varied dungeons. The overarching story is to find the secret Vault while being guided by a mysterious woman who talks to you in your mind. Don't expect an epic or deep plot here. It serves no other reason than for you to go out and kill things.
Unlike similar titles like Fallout 3 and Hellgate: London, which use an under-the-hood die roll system to determine combat results, Borderlands has a pure hit or miss factor depending on your aim. If you hit the body, it takes damage. A bullet to the head resutls in a critical hit, causing more damage. So aiming plays a large part in how hard an encounter will be for you. Also, your overall level, weapon level, and weapon proficiency play a large part in the amount of damage you output. If you use the shotgun a lot, then you'll become extremely dangerous with a shotgun. The same goes for pistols, machine guns, rifles, etc.
Questing and leveling are not the only RPG elements in Borderlands. The skill tree will be familiar to many Diablo 2 and World of Warcraft players. Each character has three distinctive skill trees to apply skill points towards. So even though you may find yourself playing with another Roland, the abilities between the two of you may be noticeably different depending on your skill point allocations. You might spec your Roland to be an all-out damage dealer with guns, the other guys may spec more of a medic, causing his friendly fire to heal teammates. You don't have to worry about being stuck with a particular spec either. You can re-spec anytime, but at a cash cost.
The loot system has it's pros and cons for me. First of all, there are a LOT of different weapons to find. Some are the same items, but may do fire damage or ice damage, etc, or have different firing rates and magazine sizes. I love feeling of opening a chest or looting an enemy and not knowing what goodies are going to be there. Besides, guns, you'll get randomly generated items including, ammo, grenades and grenade modifiers (fire, corrosion, ice, shock, stickies, bouncies, HP transfusions, etc), gear in the form of power shields, and support mods that affect skill tree allocation. There are color indicators, similar to that of World of Warcraft, that determines rarity (white, green, blue, purple, and orange). This brings me to what I don't like about loot. The game lacks a reasonable way to distribute loot between players other than people making a mad dash for the drops and grabbing whatever they can, regardless of if they can use it or not or it being better suited for another party member, and selling it for cash if it's not an upgrade for them. Also if you want to trade or give an item to another party member, then you have to drop it on the ground and hope the right person picks it up. This can be extremely frustrating if not playing with friends or trusted gamers.
The visual style of Borderlands just works. The use of solid outlining and bold colors gives it that Street Fighter IV painted look, completely different from the other Unreal Engine 3 titles. This makes the post-apocalyptic industrial wasteland come alive and complements the (at times) over-the-top silliness of the game. The art style is a constant reminder not to take the game too seriously when I see a shotgun-toting midget running at me or boss who gives me the Degeneration X crotch slap before trying to blow my head off.
As I said before, the game really becomes fun when you add three others into the mix. The more players there are, the harder the enemies become. The harder enemies become, the better the loot becomes. Plus, it's more exciting when you walk into a town full of gun-toting baddies and the group has to work together to survive. Whether you trying to peel a crazed axe-wielder off of your teammate or as a medic, shooting him with healing bullets to keep him alive, the more, the merrier. There are some arena areas that allow for PvP or just whacking an teammate and waiting for them to accept the challenge can start a versus mode, but that usually a way to tell when party members are getting bored or the level 50 cap has been reached and, well, they're bored.
Death in Borderlands does not mean the end of the fight. While you're down, you have an opportunity to kill an enemy to get a "Second Wind" that brings you back into the fray before bleeding out and respawning. Players can also revive you but at the risk of exposing themselves to danger while doing so. It's extremely frustrating to get taken down during single play, miss the "Second Wind", and have to no one to revive you, resulting in a respawn that incurs a fee each time.
Many of the boss fights were anti-climatic. Whether in single-player or multi-player, you'll basically find yourself strafing or circling the enemy while shooting everything you have at a weak spot until he drops. Some bosses are able to be exploited by just staying out of engage range and sniping them until they die.
Many other reviewers had a problem with having to drive or run for long distances throughout the game. I really didn't mind it because it drew me into the massiveness of the areas. Although, without an overlaying map or minimap, it was frustrating to have to constantly pause the game to check the big map for positions an routes. I'm hoping that this, along with the loot and trading system, is something that Gearbox fixes in patches.
All in all, Borderlands was well worth the money I spent for it. Combining an awesome FPS experience with solid RPG elements and sealing the deal with enjoyable multi-player gameplay keeps me coming back for more even after the 30-ish hours of the main story has been completed. I'm looking forward to the DLC that Gearbox has on the horizon.
In this episode of the podcast the girls finish up their impressions on Activisions' DJ Hero title and Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 title but from the opposite perspectives this week. Pandalicious kicks off the hour running down her experiences with DJ Hero and then rolls her random self into her review of the new Disney movie, "A Christmas Carol: In 3-D." After a short rant about starting the Christmas season early by NinJaSistah, she picks up the mic and shares her rundown of the PS3 title Uncharted 2. Oh yeah, we talk about the lack of strong female characters that are both sexy and smart. Check out some of the titles we didn't use for this episode:
In this episode we help kick off the start of November with a podcast full of gaming. Starting off with NinJaSistah's coverage on the new Activision title DJ Hero on the Xbox 360 while Pandalicious talks up both Uncharted 2:Among Thieves for the PS3 and Playlogic's new FairyTale Fights game.
We are chock full of game goodness in this one ladies and gents. We even briefly mention the new Magic Mouse from Apple and Tekken 6 Here's a quick glimpse of what this episode is like:
Bobby Blue Bland — Say That Three Times Fast
Is It Possible to Spoil the Plot of Little Red Riding Hood?
Counting the Strokes Detracts from the Experience
and finally
It's Cartoony to Make You forget About All the Bloodshed
Sure, it would be easy to make a double entendre title for this weeks new podcast episode but we take the high road here at Electric Sista Hood.
Ok, actually we don't, but it was a fun way to start this podcast post. This podcast episode is ALL game, no anime, no gadgets. Pandalicious kicks off the hour with her final thoughts on the PSP game Obscure: The Aftermath by Playlogic, including a recommendation to play it on something soft. She says the game is scary, and you'll through your PSP around like a rag doll. Then she goes into a spiel about her first reactions to the new 2K Games title Borderlands and explores the parallels between it's gameplay elements and the PC title Diablo. We then have a spirited conversation about how to get PC gamers over to the console gaming side of the fence.
Then I finish out the hour talking about my experience with the social stuff on the Xbox Live Preview including Twitter and FaceBook. Closing out the hour is NinJaSistah's review of the EA title Need for Speed: Shift on the PS3. It's a busy episode, here are some of the titles for it that we didn't use:
This One Made Me Sing to Barney 'Til Dawn
Beware Games With Boys Choirs
Skeeziest Line of the Year: "The Flower Inside Me Has Just Bloomed!"
Looks as though Playstation has taken a step in a direction that we have all talked about in our selective gaming groups. It is a disappointment however that it is a PS3 Exclusive. I’d feel differently if I owned a PS3 myself, but I digress. Demon’s Souls comes out of From Software, a Japanese software company. If you are familiar with the Armored Core series, you know their work.
From Software primarily has made games for Sony’s Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 3 and its portable. It has branched out to the other consoles and even to mobile phone gaming.
Demon’s Souls is a fantasy RPG (Role Playing Game) centered on a dark time in a land that is being overrun by monsters and demons. So this sounds pretty basic right? Well yes it does however you aren’t just some Joe Bloke donning armor and waving a sword around. The game mechanics allow the player to customize their own playable character in terms of gender appearance, name, etc. However what this game also does is adds a touch of strategic planning. Each action the player is allowed to do has a value attached to it. This means every action whether it is an attack or a block will absorb a bit of your stamina. Once your stamina well has dried up you are unable to fight anymore. At this point you are demon food.
Some of the interesting online features include: Co-operative play will allow three players to team up and play through different levels of the game. There will be a competitive element that will allow players to force themselves into another player’s adventure and become an opponent. Players will be able to see traces of fallen heroes in their game by means of seeing bloodstains that will unlock the battle for viewing only. On a lighter note, players can leave notes that contain hints to the game to aid those who come after them.
If you have a PS3 and don’t want to play Dungeons and Dragons then take a stab at Demon’s Souls; you will not be disappointed. It is interesting, intriguing and won’t require you to make your own costume, craft your own blade, or roll a critical success in order to feel accomplished. Save that for another day.
In this episode of the podcast, the ladies chat about various gaming news items and answer a couple of audience questions, and it's a good ride. We have another "what should I be for halloween" question, a question about the upcoming 2010 "Alice in Wonderland" release, and revisit how being being financially strapped in our youths has shaped how we purchase games in our adult lives from SlimTaurus78.
Randomness doesn't escape the show, once again the Vampire/Daywalker/Twilight debate rears it's ugly head but it is counter balanced by upcoming video game releases for the month of October, the anime series "Alice Academy" and Pandalicious rounds out the hour with her late impressions of Call of Duty 4.
Here is a better way to give you the gist of what this episode is like:
Let's Give Twilight the Silver Bullet
I Want to Spit Love, Peace, and Acid
ESHmom, sign This - Don't Read, Just Sign
Is Jay-Z Beyonce-Whipped?
Where Bastards Are Found, Wenches Always Follow
and finally
Soap McTavish Is Not the Scottish Version of Irish Spring
Holiday season this year seems to be chuck full of trinkets, accessories and games that will titillate gamers during these cold hibernating months. If the buzz and hype doesn’t keep us all warm, our fingers frantically pushing, rotating and flicking will do it for us!
Those of us under the XBOX360 mantle have several games to look forward to this holiday. Some of our lists of games may look similar like: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Brutal Legend, and Halo ODST. However since we are all different but all seem to harbor a sliver of desire for pixilated bloodshed and mutilation let me shed some light on a little game called Fairytale Fights.
This was the first closed demo that I got to catch a glimpse of at E3 ’09. It seemed harmless enough, very colorful and animated. It wasn’t until a few moments later that I noticed that the color red splashed over the screen far more often than any other color. It had an odd sense of Christmas really, green rolling hills, splattered with the blood of the innocent; it leaves a warm fuzzy feeling deep inside my heart.
Innovation was on the forefront of Playlogic Entertainment’s mind when this game came into being. They took something that was wholesome and pure from our childhood (Which is ironic since most fairytales weren’t very happy at all in their proper contexts), gave them a hatchet, an arsenal of very sharp, pain-inflicting weapons and let them duke it out the way we always imagined they would. Of course this could only done on a hack n slash platform. The most interesting fact about this game is that it runs on the unreal engine 3.
Fairytale Fights comes to XBOX360 and the PS3. Sorry you Wii lovers this game will not be coming to you, but I know you as well as I think you do, I’m sure you have one of the two consoles stated previously, so you’ll enjoy it too! If the chance arises to give this game a run through, it is suggested you do so. A little bloodshed didn’t hurt anyone did it? (Well…you know what I mean.)
The best way to kick off the beginning of a fresh new week is with a new episode of the Electric Sista Hood podcast. This one has an audience question, video game reviews and anime... the holy trifecta of ESH!
We start off with a question brought to us by William Bell of TheXboxDomain which fuels the conversation for the bulk of the show about how nit-picky we have become as gamers. From growing up and having to learn to love what you get, to almost being apathetic as new titles flood the market. Pandalicious and NinJaSistah don't really come to an agreement on the subject, but it is a fun journey towards an answer nevertheless.
Then we move on to hands-on video game reviews of Bethesda Softworks new release Wet on the PS3 and NinJaSistah's knee-jerk reaction to the DJ Hero demo. Then we chat about the Dreamcast/PS2 games available via PSN rumor and Pandalicious tops out the hour with her coverage of the anime series Black Buttler
Here is a quick glimpse into what the episode is like:
Five-Year-Olds Don't Need Boom Boxes
My Douche-Baggery Made You Better
I'm Not Condoning Eating Cats
Videogames Are Not a Pos-Apocalyptic Guide
and finally
Spoiler Alert! Bambi's and Norman Bates' Mothers Both Dead
One of the things that I was hopeful for when I made the journey to E3 was to see an emergence of strong, sophisticated, sexy-without-the-slutty, badass female lead characters. What I got, was the hint of WET. At the time the sole impression I got from the advertisment was “Wow! She’s sexy…and she kills.” Granted these are two things I love to have in a main character, but even I am not that shallow. In fact, dare I say I enjoy a deeply invested back-story to my random acts of murder and violence? Yeah, I dare to! The main character, Rubi, is a gun-toting, sword-swinging gymnast! Not only can she jump from tall distances without taking damage, but she has also been studying at the School of Spiderman, as is evident with her upside down ballistic techniques.
It has a surprising voice cast * Eliza Dushku as Rubi Malone * Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Pellum/Mr. Ackers * Parry Shen as Zhi * Ron Yuan as Ratboy/Dr. Afro * Alan Cumming as Sorrell * James Sie as Ming I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a HUGE Malcolm McDowell fan. If Eliza Dushku gives Rubi the “Faith” vibe from Buffy then I’ll be more than satisfied with her casting. I have enjoyed a lot of Cummings’ films and assorted Cummings’ products. If you don’t know about that…get on the info train and check it out!
Nevertheless, I left it to Ninjasistah (who by DNA is my actual sister) to play it up and I left my speculation up to the hoards of the gamerdom that weekend. I assumed that fate would step in to give me a more intimate time with the newly anticipated Bethesda/Artificial Mind and Motion creation. Several months passed and the voices of the gamer community did not seem to be in support of this game. Surprising? I think not. From the community of people who do not create, we do what we can by judging…and judging harshly. Still, I waited for the playable demo to hit my respective console in hopes that I would find some enjoyment, where the masses had not.
Needless to say, after playing the WET demo, I did not rage quit and punch puppies in their faces. I sat there, controller in hand…and felt nothing. Was something wrong with my gamer pleasure receptors? Had I had a minor stroke and lost several moments of my life? Nothing was wrong with the game, It is just…something was missing…or wasn’t settling in.
Now I know in a demo they don’t want to give you much story, because they are essentially charging us money for the story. However in the case of something like this, I feel it is necessary to give us something. In the end, what they decided to give us was a brunette clone of “The Bride” from Kill Bill, a dash of Quentin Tarantino with an ability that recreates the famous Crazy 88 black and white fight (however in WET it’s Black, White and Red) and a filter that…over exaggerates the first two things I mentioned. If Bethesda really wanted to keep the purity of the movie series in terms of style they wouldn’t have included a filter that made it look like an actual movie. They would have left the game universe as it was.
Let me touch on the game play. From the demo I felt Rubi moved a little too slow. Now I’m aware that the aesthetics of this game is the main focal point. It isn’t a matter of killing all the enemies; it’s how cool Rubi looks while doing it! Who’s against slow motion power sliding armed with identical guns of badassery? I know I’m not. Then again…how thrilling is it to do the same maneuver eight times in a row? Yeah not nearly as cool.
In my opinion, the demo should have played Rubi up at her best, fully powered up, so we could see a rapid chain of stylish ass kicking while taking names. I am more than certain that because of this unpolished demo, that the numbers from purchasing this game will be lower than anticipated.
As it is right now, the game has been out for five days. It was released on September 15, 2009. So…did WET make me wet? Nope, not even moist I’m afraid. Try again?
For as long as the Xbox 360 has been around, there have been the 3 red lights, the sign that your precious game console is on its last legs. Xbox fanboys have
Now its time for Sony and the PlayStation diehards to face the music.
Apparently, Sony doesn't have such a squeaky-clean record when it comes to the PlayStation, either. A BBC program called Watchdog exposed the PS3's error, the dreaded "yellow light of death," to the world. Sony, naturally, didn't take this too well. In fact, Sony typed up a 6 page response to refute Watchdog's allegations. Sony goes point by point and tells Watchdog that they have not done their homework. Is Sony doing damage control or was Watchdog way out of hand on this issue? If you read the article, you might be able to pic your side in the matter.
Watchdog's episode on the yellow light of death only pertains to PS3 consoles in the UK. Will news outlets in other countries shed light on these console errors as well?
When it comes to music simulation games I make no bones about the fact that I am quite biased towards them. For me, they are the rare type of game that can be competitive or non-competitive at a moments notice. As a creative type person with friends on both sides of the "avid gamer" fence, this is an important quality for a game to have.
Last week I was woo'd by the MTV Games/Harmonix title The Beatles: Rock Band. This week, Activision's DJ Hero has my direct attention.
This gear-shift does not mean that Beatles Rock Band and I broke up, just that we are not dating exclusively. DJ also looks like a fine lady to hang out with and with good reason. When the title launches on October 27th, Activision boasts a whopping 93 songs on disc will be playable, including a bunch of megamixes for the player to enjoy. While this may seem a bit "old hat" to you, the kicker for me today was that camp DJ announced tracks from Daft Punk would be in the game.
The mixes available include:
"Around the World" vs. Young MC "Bust A Move"
"Da Funk" vs. NASA "Strange Enough ft. Karen O, ODB and Fatlip"
"Da Funk" vs. Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
"Robot Rock" vs. Hashim "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" – Produced and mixed by The Scratch Perverts
"Robot Rock" vs. Queen "We Will Rock You"
"Short Circuit" vs. Boogie Down Productions "Jack Of Spades"
"Technologic" vs. Gary Numan "Cars"
"Television Rules The Nation" vs. No Doubt "Hella Good"
If you listened to this weeks' podcast episode already, you know that I was not quite yet sold on purchasing this game, that has now changed. I love Daft Punk. Whenever I am in the middle of a day full of suckitude, Alive 2007 brings me back to being me; fun-loving and not chock-full suck. As much as I enjoy the music that artists like Jay-Z, Eminem, the Gorillaz and Rick James, I was a bit worried when I looked at the initial revealed artist list for tracks in the game. But as more and more video's started to hit the web showing off various folks giving the wheels of plastic a spin I became less and less anxious. Now I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this title.
Make sure you make a visit to the DJ Hero site and check out what is going down October 27th, and while you are checking things out, peep our new image gallery including some DJ Hero images with more to come soon.
Who knows, maybe I will have a hands-on review of the game and controller for you soon.
I don't believe there's any PS3 owner that isn't anticipating Uncharted 2 when it comes out in a few months. But if you're one of the few who hasn't heard of this game or hasn't jumped on the "GIMMIEGIMMIE NOW" train it, then check out the video.
The aiming seems to be a bit more on point and the addition of the escort missions is sweet. I just have one question about this video. How in the hell are these women taking direct explosion blasts to the face and walking away from it? Oh well. They still look hawt and so does the game!
If you’ve ever played a Batman game before, then you may have just chosen to pass on Batman: Arkham Asylum. I’m here to help you realize exactly how big of a mistake that is. Little known company, Rocksteady Studios has a real hit in this new title, and you’ll regret not playing this game.
I don’t even know where to start with this game. The amazing graphics? The impeccable voice acting? The extreme attention to detail? Or perhaps the innovative, smooth-flowing gameplay? It’s all just so good. Let’s begin with the engine, the game runs the Unreal engine – that just screams quality right there – and as such most everyone is buff to the max. Yes, even Commissioner Gordon. But it works for the set-up this game has. And the detail, oh the detail.
Batman’s suit alone has an incredible amount. From the seams that hold it together, to the sound water makes when it hits your cowl and cape. As you progress through the game the suit and cape begin taking damage, tatters and slashes appear, showing how dangerous the situation is. Speaking of the cape, fans will be ecstatic to know that the developers spent so much time on the Dark Knight’s all-purpose fashion choice that they said it was basically treated as a character on its own. It shows too, most games with capes don’t pay any attention to cape details. As such, body parts and structures in the environment will all go through the cape as if it weren’t there. This causes the game to look unpolished and really detracts from the overall experience.
Well down at Rocksteady, they realized how important the cape is to the Caped Crusader. So when you’re gliding with your cape and a wall comes up on your side, rather than disappearing into said wall, your cape will fold in to avoid hitting it. The cape is longer than Batman is, and this is represented by the cape folding onto the ground. Truly, the amount of detail place in just the cape speaks to how much this company wanted to get every detail down, so as to not upset any long time fans.
You’d be hard pressed to find a better storyline too. The Joker has taken complete control of Arkham Asylum and has trapped you, Batman, inside it, as well as everyone who works there. Among the villains locked up in Arkham when Joker’s plan goes down are: Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr. Zsasz and Bane. All of which you should be ready to encounter in the worst way possible. And don’t forget the guest appearances and the huge amount of nods to other Batman villains. Riddler has challenges set up all across the island and when you find one that corresponds to a certain villain, it unlocks a bio for that villain. There were bios for villains I had never even heard of before (who the hell is Calendar Man?).
To add to the great story, the voice actors in this game will please any Batman fans. Kevin Conroy is the most memorable Batman voice in the history of the franchise, but even more memorable than his Batman, is Mark Hamill’s Joker. Hearing these two voices face off against each other really adds just so much for fans of the old cartoon like me. I still say Mark Hamill should go down as the best Joker of all time. Fanboyism aside, the voices are great, and every minor character is fully voiced too which adds a cinematic feel to the entire game.
Unfortunately you can’t expect more than 20 hours of gameplay if you know what you’re doing from the get go. In three days I have fully beaten the game on normal and have all the Riddler challenges found. For most of you this will be a rental, but for diehard Batman fans I will state that this game is a must own. A completely original story with a large cast of characters – this game feels a lot like a straight to DVD Batman movie, except you play it. I know I will replay this story many more times; I just can’t get enough of the CG movies and the conflict of Batman vs. some of his most powerful villains that seem to jump right off the screen. If the story mode isn’t enough to keep your attention, the challenge rooms surely are.
The challenge rooms are the perfect place to showcase the gameplay of this title. There are fight rooms and “silent predator” rooms. Fight rooms showcase the beautiful combat of this game by pitting you against 4 rounds of enemies, increasing in difficulty for each round. Enemies range from your basic thugs, to knife-wielding inmates, stun rod toting baddies, titan-infected henchmen and even Zsasz. Now I’ll admit, I thought that the game’s combat system was going to get really old, really fast. I was wrong. Everything is so fluid, you take out thugs the way Batman should, with a variety of powerful attacks, throws and takedowns. Combat is only half the fun though; you can’t truly be Batman unless you prey on your enemies from the shadows.
With detective vision giving you a layout of the room and the locations of all armed thugs, you use all your gadgets to move around the room silently and take out baddies one by one. As you dwindle their numbers some enemies get smart and pair up, while others become scared for their lives, shooting anything that makes noise and making them easy to pick off. Batman preys on his enemies’ fear of him, and predator mode really brings this aspect of the Dark Knight to life.
So while fighting your basic thug is fun, the boss battles are severely lacking. Some of the biggest enemies are the easiest to beat, and the only fight that even remotely seems like a boss battle is the one against Poison Ivy (though the Scarecrow fights are very cool, and a total mind freak). Even the final battle with the Joker ends up being a bit anti-climactic, though the final hit will forever go down in my mind as epic. But I guess that’s how it is with Batman, whether you’re a petty henchmen or an 11-foot crocodile-humanoid, you’ll be going down with relative ease.
As a PS3 owner, I was able to try out the Joker challenge maps. Basically you play as Joker on the normal versions of all of Batman’s challenge maps. Now I was looking forward to this, but you basically play just like Batman but with less gadgets and funnier takedowns. I will admit that it’s not a total loss. I do like the Joker mode, and it adds a new element of strategy to the predator maps since you cannot disappear into the shadows with your grappling hook. But honestly, it could have just as easily not been included; it doesn’t make the game by any means.
The music is cool too, remixes of classic Batman tunes, and some catchy ones at that. The music fits with the eerie architecture of the asylum, and adds to the spooky mood of being locked in a box with all your worst enemies.
I’ve got to give Batman: Arkham Asylum a 9/10. The only thing that could have made it a full 10 would be better boss battles, a few more of Batman’s sleek gadgets and some type of multiplayer would have been awesome – Batman/Nightwing co-op mode? A gamer can dream. This may only be Rocksteady Studios second game ever, but you can bet that I’ll be keeping a close eye on this company, because I see good things in their future. So long as they don’t try to force out a sequel.
Sony is finally adding more style to the PS3's navigation menu and it's about time.
I love my PS3, but the XBM always seemed a bit "Windows"-ish to me. Things are hidden inside of things and you usually find what you're looking for stumbling across it.This has definitely been a feature dominated by Microsoft's Xbox 360. Sony is looking to change that next week with the release of firmware 3.0.
Check out the walkthrough video for some of the improvements coming to the system.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is back and cheaper than ever. Hardcore fans of the series will be excited to know that this hundred dollar game can now be obtained for the paltry price of only $14.99. But what about those of us that only played the game once or twice back when it was hot?
It may be remembered as one of the most unbalanced fighters in history, but that doesn’t stop people from loving Marvel vs. Capcom 2. With its huge roster of characters from all the Capcom games we love, and plenty of X-Men and other Marvel Universe characters to choose from, the game certainly has someone for everyone to enjoy playing as. That is, as long as they enjoy losing every battle.
It’s unfortunate, but unless you’re playing as Cable, Magneto, Sentinel or Storm, you’re probably losing 80% of your online matches. That’s because certain characters have a huge advantage over the rest, whether it’s the overwhelming power of Sentinel, the avoidance of Storm, or the options of Magneto, they are all in a tier of their own. It certainly makes life hard for us Jill players, and if you like the Street Fighter crew, then this game is not for you.
But that’s not to say you shouldn’t get the game. I mean, it was worth $100 for a reason. If you do most of your playing offline and at a low level of play, then basically any character combination can win matches. The thing about going online is that you’ll be facing all those 9 year vets of the game that can catch you in infinites and gigantic combos. But if it’s just you and a few friends using basic combos and playing for fun, then it’s still a worthwhile buy.
The game is a port of the Dreamcast version which is widely recognized as the best version of the game. Visuals flow smoothly and the new graphic enhancements are crisp. Of course there’s the option to make the graphics that of the original, for those of you that lust after nostalgia. Speaking of which, the game sports that same soundtrack that we all know and hate. Fret not however! The game allows you to listen your own custom soundtrack while playing, assuming you’re not in an online game that has mics turned on.
At any rate, the online is a great addition, and makes the game worthwhile for vets, but it also allows casual players to play online with their friends. And I’m sure no one is complaining about having more trophies and achievements to add to their collection. Though it confuses me as to why the Avenger’s trophy is worth more points than the other trophies/achievements that are essentially the same challenge with different characters. I mean, it even allows you to use Iron Man’s PROTON CANNON FTW. But I digress.
For only fifteen bucks, the game is a steal, but don’t expect to become the best on the leader boards unless you know how to use the top tier characters. That won’t stop me from perfecting my Guile/Jill/Captain America team! But I also tend to keep it pretty casual for fighters.
The internet is all a, well, I guess I can't use twitter anymore, because that's ruined. OK, the internet is all abuzz about the new PS3 SKU, and this time it's positive! This has to be the most thumbs up reaction PS3 has had for its hardware since people knew of the console's existence a bit more than 3 years ago.
In addition to getting a more portable PS3, we're also getting a far less expensive one. The PS3 Slim costs half the price of the original PS3, which mean there's little excuse for people who have been putting off buying the admittedly expensive original. You can get up to an 120GB model for $299 (including the PS3 "Fat") and an 160GB model for $100 more. Also PlayStation looks like it's finally ready to properly compete with its two adversaries.
Good News however, never comes hand in hand with its little brother. The bad news is that while the original PS3 could stand perfectly on its own, you might have to purchase a vertical stand. I suggest you save your $24 and prop up your PS3 Slim with your Golden Girls DVD box set. Also, PS3 Slim HATES Linux, so good luck with playing with the PS3 OS. Rounding out the bad news is the lack of PS2 game compatibility. I don't see why this drawback cannot be fixed via firmware, but until then you are out of luck if you ever feel the urge to get nostalgic.
This is a new day for PlayStation. By Christmas, tons of people are going to score the one item that has eluded their grasp for so many years. I hope to see you all online. I've been waiting for some fresh meat to pwn in Street Fighter IV :)
This Monday, we have a special new episode of the ESH podcast. In this episode we welcome our very own King Baby Duck to the hosting chair to talk a bit about his new team project, The Boston Bastard Brigade, among other things.
Those other things include EA's The SIMS 3, the new Gears of War 2 DLC, and some knee jerk reactions to the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo available via both the XBox Marketplace and the PSN store. Pandalicious even chimes in with her impressions of the new Xbox experience preview including the Avatar Store, Netflix parties, and even some games on demand stuffs.
We are chock full of laughs, tangents, and maybe a Naruto dig or two. To give you an idea of what this show is like, here are some of the titles we didn't use for this episode:
What Did Cake Ever Do To Her?
I'm Gonna Touch It - No, I'm Not
Perhaps That's Why They Call it Project Natal
The Naruto Door Is Marked "Exit"
This Is a Warning For All Aspiring Spinal Tap Drummers
Your SIM Oughta Check Out That Julia Child Movie
Pana Will Work - For Microsoft Points
Avatar Marketplace - Isn't That What Started the Civil War?
I will preface this article with the fact that I have not completed Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1. Before you behead me, or throw out the rest of this article as the wanton drivel of a sad gamer I have to add that my lack of completion come not from lack of desire but mere lack of time.
Time keeps me from finishing this game. As we all know, time is a cruel mistress.
Completing any next-generation console version of a Ninja Gaiden game takes practice, patience, and time. You will have your butt repeatedly kicked. You will be be beaten over and over again by the same boss who are both difficult and cheap at the same time. At times, you will come to know that time is your only hope. That with time or [you will pray that in it] you will find some dodging/jumping/shuriken chucking strategy that will get you through your trial, just in time so you can advance to the next level and go through it all again with an AI opponent that is even more difficult. And you'll want to do it. Ninja Gaiden is just that freaking good, that the player will want to complete it just to prove to yourself and Team Ninja that you can.
The Sigma series carries on the tradition in grand form on the Playstation 3 platform.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 builds upon it's predecessor on the PS3 adding in some new modes of play, new characters, and more weapons than before. Starting with new modes of play Sigma 2 drops in an online co-op gameplay mode as well a bevy of beautiful female for the user to play through the story as. Starting with the purple loving kunoichi that we all know and enjoy ogling, Ayane.
While Ayane is probably best known for the Dead or Alive fighting game, she's made at least an appearance in each of the Ninja Gaiden games so it's only fitting that she finally become a playable character. [Much like Trish from the Devil May Cry Series] I did say there were a bevy of beautiful babes to choose from, and one does not a bevy make. Joining Ayane in the playable character spot are Momiji from the Ninja Gaiden DS title and Rachel from earlier Ninja Gaiden games. Each character has strengths and weaknesses that are all her own, and costumes to fit their personalities. Rachel is clad in skimpy black and red leather with metal spikes in all the right places where Momiji [who is more on the side of a priestess than bounty hunter like Rachel] is clad in more of a traditional type white and red spiritual priestess outfit. Then there is Ayane's outfit, which I don't feel words do justice to, so I will just post a picture and leave it to you to figure out a proper description for it.
The only thing that gets me about this game is that the story from the previous game [featured on the Xbox 360 system] is still the same. Nothing that I have seen or read says anything about the tale being different, or seeing any other arcs of the story with the addition of the new playable characters but I still hold out hope for that to happen. While I love Ryu Hayabusa, and all the members of the Hayabusa clan I'd like to learn a bit more about how they came to be, and explore some of the other clan members' stories.
Oh baby, am I glad about this! The first time I played a Tap song in Guitar Hero I kept praying that someone would add more stuff from Spinal Tap to their line up, and evidently the group over at Harmonix heard my silent cries.
Now, if you are down with the living room rock star lifestyle you already know that some of the Tap songs from the "Back From the Dead" album are available in the Rock Band Music Store. That's cool and all, but in all honesty, the three songs, "Back from the Dead," "Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare" and "Warmer Than Hell" are not the songs that Tap is well known for. On August 4th, a slew of Tap songs we all know and love will be available for purchase in the RB Music Store... let the tiny rocker inside you rawr with joy! I'm including the list below so you [like me] can salivate over it between now and the drop date.
(Funky) Sex Farm
(Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)
America
Big Bottom
Cups and Cakes
Gimme Some Money
Heavy Duty
Hell Hole
Rock ‘n’ Roll Creation
Stonehenge
and of course
Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight
Fake axes at the ready folks, your summer living room concerts are about to get a lot louder!
Playstation Home has become a bit more interesting now that the "Real American Heroes" have moved in and they've brought some goodies with them.
I know, the majority of the public thinks G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (movie) will be a flop. Hell, the only thing I'm looking forward to from the movie is the fight between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Until then, fans will be pleased to know that G.I. Joe now has their own space in Playstation Home along with Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, The Baroness, and Duke outfits accessible for a limited time.
But wait. There's more...
In the Home Theater, you're "treated" to "an exclusive video welcome from stars Sienna Miller and Rachel Nichols as well as a trailer introduction from director Stephen Sommers."
I know what you're thinking.
"...that's good to know...I guess..."
And to you I say,
"And knowing is half the battle." *single side-tooth sparkle*
With the destructible environments in EA’s Battlefield 1943, it really won’t. You may even find that some matches end up being fought out in craters that used to be islands.
Battlefield 1943 takes you into the Pacific during World War II (and as far as video games are concerned, were there really any other wars in history?). You play as either the American or Japanese Navies and fight for control of the five capture points on each of the three maps (there’s a third bonus map but I’ll get to that later). As long as your team controls the majority of the capture points, the team health gauge of the other team will steadily reduce. It also reduces every time someone respawns, so obviously the more kills your team has, the less health the other team has.
You have a choice between three different classes, the Scout (sniper rifle, satchel charges, pistol), Infantryman (SMG, recoilless rifle), or Rifleman (rifle, rifle grenades). Everything is unlimited, from bullets to grenades, with explosive weapons having a timer to refill once the last one you carry is used. In addition, at anytime during the battle you can change classes as long as someone of a different class dies nearby. So instead of picking up a downed soldier’s Thompson, you pick everything from his recoilless rifle to his wrench for repairing vehicles (and knocking enemies over the head with).
I haven’t played a shooter where I could destroy nearly everything on the map for a long time. Battlefield 1943 provides that in a big way. Did your target just run into a building to hide from you while he reloads? Blow a hole in the wall with your rifle grenade and keep on shooting him. Of course the entire environments are not destructible, structures such as pillboxes, towers, and aircraft carriers will take little to no aesthetic damage. Still, I love the feeling of throwing a grenade into a wooded area and watching the trees fall around it. And the sheer devastation that results from calling in a bombing run will leave the ground burnt completely black.
There have been some server issues where it becomes impossible to join games because there are too many people online, more on the 360 version than the PS3 version, but that is because EA did not expect there to be such a high demand for the game. These problems have and will continue to get better as more server space is provided. The game plays great, ignoring some graphical issues like people turning into a black box for a split second. If you can tune out the graphical glitches (and they are minor) then there’s really nothing wrong with the graphics in this game. One thing that’s off to me is that the people seem small. Especially when sniping, it’s like I’m trying to headshot ants. This is somewhat corrected by the addition of little triangles that appear over an enemy’s head if it has been seen or hit. But still, I feel like the proportions are wrong, and I for one can’t hit a thing from the air.
Plane controls are hard to pick up, but easy to master, once you know what you’re doing. You’re provided with a radar-type HUD in first person view that locates enemy planes. This is especially helpful on the bonus map that both consoles have now unlocked: Coral Sea. It’s an all out air battle, and if you leave your plane, you respawn, and no points can be earned in the enemy base (which means no parachuting onto enemy aircraft carriers and sabotaging planes). The map is nice and all, but if you play enough of it you’ll notice something interesting. The Japanese Imperial Navy wins 90% of all matches. I thought it was odd after a while that no matter which team I was on, it was always the Zeros ruling the skies and not the corsairs. In fact the only match I ever won from the US side was a 4-on-4 (as opposed to the max of 12-on-12) and our pilots were clearly more skilled judging from the scores.
I decided to delve into why that was and realized that the American Corsairs are extremely slow when compared to the Japanese Zeros. Granted that the fire from the Corsairs is more powerful and focused, but it does not make up for the sheer lack of maneuverability that the Zeros seem to have inherently. The Zero’s guns are more spaced out as well, allowing for a wider range of fire, whereas the focused fire of the corsairs needs to be dead-on its target. I hope that EA will come out with a balancing patch for this, as it makes the map far less fun. People will quit games just because they are not on the side with the better planes, which ends up giving the Imperial Navy even more advantage, because they now outnumber the other side.
Another issue I had with Battlefield 1943 was that I had been looking for a First Person Shooter game that I could play with my friends on the PSN. This is not that game. Not yet at any rate. Trying to join a game with a friend is tough, but the game allows for you to make a squad beforehand, and then jump into a game. This is all fine and dandy for the first match (sometimes). But by the time the second map loads, you will have lost all contact with your friends. You might still be in the same squad as them – and I emphasize might – but you will most likely not be able to hear them and vice versa. I have even had it happen that after the third or so game my friends are on the OPPOSITE team. Now I don’t invite my friends to games just so I can shoot them. I wanted an organized squad that I could communicate with and form strategies with, but the lack of functional voice chat makes that impossible. It is a real detriment to an otherwise fun game, and I can only hope that an outcry by the fans will cause EA to release an update that will fix it.
Oh, and aiming in vehicles is way off in third-person view. This might be on purpose however, to balance the use of tanks and such on the battlefield, because once I learned to switch from third-person for travelling to first-person for shooting, I was getting a lot more tank kills than before. But I guess that isn’t really a huge issue.
All in all, for $15.00 Battlefield 1943 is a functional World War II shooter. The ground maps are very balanced, the variety of vehicles is awesome, and the destructible environments keep game play new and exciting. I hope that in the future we will get more new maps, but I for one will not pay a dime for them. Especially not after the catastrophe that is the voice chat of this game.
New additions to The Beatles: Rock Band game announced! As you know the ladies here at ESH have been clamoring over the anticipated 2009 release of The Beatles: Rock Band. So it is pointless to mention that as soon as new news reaches either of our ears, that we would want to bring it to the forefront for all of you out there who come and pay us a visit.
Now I have to admit, that my awareness about the profound sound of The Beatles didn’t truly hit until the release of a movie “Across the Universe”. Which in my opinion gave an overly simplistic story to songs that inspired countless people during that particular time in history. It was seriously downplayed but still enjoyable to fans and non-fans alike.
So here is the list of the new songs that will be made available in the game. Along with the tracks are the venues in which you’ll be able to play them in game.
· Twist And Shout / Cavern Club · Do You Want To Know A Secret / Cavern Club · Can't Buy Me Love / Ed Sullivan Theater · I Wanna Be Your Man / Ed Sullivan Theater · Eight Days A Week / Shea Stadium · Paperback Writer / Budokan · And Your Bird Can Sing / Budokan · Yellow Submarine / Abbey Road Dreamscape · Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band* / Abbey Road Dreamscape · With a Little Help from My Friends* / Abbey Road Dreamscape · Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows / Abbey Road Dreamscape · Revolution / Abbey Road Dreamscape · Birthday / Abbey Road Dreamscape · Dig A Pony / Rooftop Concert · I've Got A Feeling / Rooftop Concert
So if you haven't been as excited about this game release before this news, you'll have more to look forward to now! :)
The gals took the weekend off and left Evermore to his own devices [meaning Adobe SoundBooth and Final Cut Pro] to Frankenstein together another one of his infamous ESH clip shows!
There is music, there are interviews from some of our E3 booth stops, and maybe even a nugget or two of fun. From Warner Bros. Batman: Arkham Asylum to my Beatles: RockBandinterview with Creative Director Josh Randall. from Harmonix and more. [Can you say Heavy Rain walkthrough? What about Ratchet and Clank: walkthrough.]
We tried.While we do our best to keep it on the PG, Pandalicious starts a rant on achievement whoring which turns into an achievement glutton VS achievement whore definition debate that ends up running into a tangent of it's own. When we get back on schedule she talks about her new found love of completing games including the Ubisoft title Assassins' Creed and what we are looking forward to in the next installment of the game. Then Ninjasistah comes back with some bits about industry mergers and acquisitions with the announcement of the Tecmo Koei merger on the heals of the ZeniMax Media id Software.
Pandalicious and Ninjasistah talk about some of the lesser known or presented games like Warner Bros. Scribblenauts for the DS and a few titles from Playlogic including Section 8 Who had the best looking man candy by far. From Alpha Protocol to The Lord of the Rings: Arrogorns' Tale we talk through the last bits of our E3 notes... until we finish unpacking that is.
Naughty Dog may not be the biggest name in videogames, but anyone who has owned a Sony console should know the name. The Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter trilogies were great. Now Naughty Dog has a new puppy, but this time there aren’t any humanoid animals running about.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves follows the hero of the first game – Nathan Drake as he searches for the lost fleet of Marco Polo. A cool concept I must admit, especially after the first game revolving around Sir Francis Drake and the lost city of gold, El Dorado. The integration of actual history and fabricated legend is what gives the series its charm. I had the pleasure of testing out the closed beta for Uncharted 2.
I’ll start with the co-op. The levels look great and play well. One of the only complaints I had was the lack of sufficient cover, because in every section of the levels you will be attacked from all sides. This makes teamwork essential though. You need to use all three players taking cover in strategic places so as to cover every side. Boss characters drop down after a long and bloody battle in each section and it takes the combined fire of all three teammates to bring them down. So while the levels are well designed for team play, I can’t say much for the AI.
In each section of the levels there were three spawn points for enemies. Of course because of this, one player on each spawn means the CPUs can’t even touch the ground before they’re dead. The AI seemed inconsistent as well. Sometimes the AI would just stay behind cover, shoot a little, rinse and repeat. Other times it would just crouch and move slowly towards you (which I found to be a little unfair since the player gets no crouch button). All in all, unless wielding a shotgun or a rocket launcher, the AI could simply be walked up to and punched in the face, and it would result in the same effect as hiding behind cover and wasting your ammo. Which actually brings me to the melee aspect of the game.
The melee moves are flashy, but not hard. As long as you hit the Square button before your enemy attempts a melee move, you’ll do one of a variety of cool looking moves. However it always turned into a button mash sequence, so I wondered if there could be a punishing system for not hitting the button at the right time.
The co-op ends up being exceptionally short, and leaves you at a cliffhanger where another boss jumps out. The way you enter new sections irked me a little because you can climb over basically anything during gameplay, but when you need to climb a wall to get to a new section, it’s a scripted sequence where the characters climb on their own and you have to watch. I’m guessing it was the developer’s way of bypassing “load screens”. The mission format was ok, but I honestly wanted to get into some storyline stuff with others online, so I hope that the main game will also include co-op, because otherwise I don’t see many people playing it as the missions are short and the exp payout is a small fraction of what you’d get in competitive play. And that is where this beta really shines.
The two included game modes allow for a lot of fun and enough variety to keep players on the servers for a while. Deathmatch is a classic favorite and can really vary in this game. I played some matches that were fast paced fire fights and others that were slow cover battles. The maps are small enough so that you’ll always have someone to shoot, but offer enough cover that the fights don’t end immediately. Plunder is basically capture the flag, but the flag is treasure, and you can throw it. In fact, throwing the treasure is necessary on one of the maps to get it into your base. The throw system makes the mode a lot more fun, as you can chuck the treasure in the direction of your base if you start to get shot to make it harder for your opponents to move it toward theirs.
I did have some gripes with the game play though. Bullet speed is pretty slow, so many times two players shooting at each other will both die because it takes a while for the bullets to reach their target. Simultaneous deaths occur in melee range a lot too because it takes two attacks to kill, and there seems to be some kind of death lag that allows you one more attack as you are dying.
Long range kills are one of the most difficult things in the game. Bullet damage is so low that you can fire an entire clip at one enemy (accounting for missing a number of times) and still lose the fight. (I know, I was the guy you were emptying clips on) There is a sniper rifle, but with the game lacking a crouch button, you have to go to one of the predetermined sniper spots that the game lays out on the map, which causes you to be a sitting duck, especially for a grenade. Which brings me to my next point.
Grenades will kill in a huge radius. Grenades have a 3 second timer. Grenades can be thrown behind you while you are running around corners. Grenades have the best aiming system I have ever seen for a thrown weapon in a game. Basically, this game IS grenades. You are almost guaranteed one kill per life because of the grenade you spawn with. It is impossible to escape an explosion of that caliber in only three seconds, and I've tried. Rolling and jumping do nothing, if you see a grenade land next to you, you may as well just keep shooting at the one who threw it so you can get some points out of this guaranteed death. My suggestion is adding one second to the timer, even half a second to allow players a sliver of hope to survive these little red monstrosities. (EDIT: It seems that Naughty Dog has released a patch that makes grenade damage work the way it was “supposed to”. From what I can tell, the grenades no longer always kill you outright, but sometimes blow you to the ground, taking away most of your life and leaving you stunned. Regardless of the patch, a grenade still = death).
The booster system reminds me a lot of Call of Duty with its power-ups. This game has only 2 slots, one affecting your ammo, and one affecting your aim. However I noticed that every single person always uses the same setup (understandable since there are only 3-4 boosts in each category). So instead of seeing my killer's setup, I felt instead like I was being given advice: "Keep firing down the irons". This of course being the bonus "Keep firing" for extended clip ammunition and "Down the irons", increased accuracy when aiming with any weapon not classified as a pistol. It seems like the booster system will need more bonuses, perhaps unlocked by leveling up, before it realizes its true potential.
And there were times where there was a weird graphical glitch. I was aiming, walking and shooting, and it seemed like the camera got stuck on some vines or something, because there was this green and yellow coloration at the top of the screen flickering on and off. I’ve gotten up from behind cover to have my screen flicker black as well. And the water seems glitched too, because at times it will glow as if it were light, rather than light is bouncing off it, and standing in a puddle feels more like standing on a puddle. Granted it’s a small detail, but when water is deep enough for jumping in it to make a splash, I figure the soles of my shoes should at least be submerged. I assume this will be fixed in the final release though; it IS just a beta after all.
All in all I really enjoyed the game and I can’t wait to get my hands on the final release at the end of the year. If for nothing else, the multiplayer will be a lot of fun once some new maps get added. Plus, I can’t wait to find out exactly what did happen to Marco Polo out at sea.
We aren't dead, but our feet [and brains] are dead tired from traipsing around the LA Convention Center last week to cover E3 for you guys. [And if I'm honest, for ourselves as well.] I couldn't tell you how much both Pandalicious and I enjoyed our time in LA. First there was the catching up with the rest of the AllGames fam, followed closely by the meeting and greeting of new gamer-type press groups and the exchange of thoughts and ideas over free drinks. [Crix Lee from GirlGamer, Destructoids' Nick Chester, and Mr. Crecente himself from Kotaku to name drop a few.] The side-story fun stuff aside, we descended on LA for a reason and that reason was to get the low down on the soon to be released and up-and-coming video games.
I won't bore you with a list of what we looked at, and whom we spoke to now as it wouldn't leave us anything to write for the rest of the week. What I will do is tell you that this podcast was one of our more enjoyable ones to record. We recorded it live from the show floor and Crix Lee popped by during our The Beatles: RockBand time and shared some great insights with us. A few people were wow'd by my laptop skin [courtesy of DecalGirl] and interrupted us a bit so you may notice that in here as well, but we had a lot to talk about... Bayonetta, Scribblenaughts, Prototype, and Batman: Arkham Asylum come to mind as I write this.
From the stronger female presence both physically and pixel-y at this years' show to media briefing impressions and being excluded from demos we talk about it all. Grab your beverage of choice and put on your headphones, it's time to enjoy Electric Sista Hood podcast 149: While My Pocketbook Gently Weeps
Right before we head off to LA we cooked up a fresh new podcast episode for you to enjoy while we sleep on planes.
In this episode of the podcast hosts NinJaSistah and Pandalicious talk about what they hope to see, learn, and play at E3 this year as well as deal a bit gossip out for your enjoyment. From the confirmed PSP GO to discussing some of the many ways Harmonix/MTV Games will be storing all the money they are stand to make with The Beatles: RockBand we leave no gaming cranny uncovered.
Oh great. Just what I need is another sweet rpg to consumer what little time I have left these day.
On the other hand, I don't have a good rpg for my PS3 so White Knight Chronicles may be just what I need. Check out the E3 trailer below. The JRPG is expected to hit North America sometime this winter.
Got a piping hot fresh episode of our humble little podcast for your listening pleasure, hit the jump to learn more.
Xenocore from Ultimate Quest joins us on the mic to talk a bit about anime series that drop some knowledge or substantial amount of reality on the viewer as well as those that don't. [yeah Overman King Gainer, I'm looking at you!]Pandalicious chimes in with her opinions on the Nintendo DSi title Rhythm Heaven and how it can be productive while addictive at the same time, and then there is NinJaSistah.
Riding a crazy wave of dual Mt. Dew regular and Mt. Dew Throwback Ninja is all over the place in the episode [causing a lot to be cut out, by the way] and yet somehow manages to get on topic chatting about Sony's recent fiscal earnings announcement and how it may affect creativity and individuality throughout the industry.
When you take a gander at some of the titles we didn't use for this episode, you understand why you have to listen to it. We passed on things like:
The Many Degrees of Layitude
I Manga Like a MoFo
Longer, Better, Faster, Harder - Normally, Panda Wouldn't Mind That
As if announcing a Beatles Rock Band game with a full scale Höfner bass controller wasn't enough for Harmonix today I get a press release talking about the new Rickenbacker 325 and Gretsch Duo Jet guitars that will be available for The Beatles: RockBand game dropping on 9/9/09.
If you are a massive Beatles fan [like most of us here in the land of ESH] you know that the Rickenbacker 325 and Gretsch Duo Jet guitars are widely considered the signature guitars that Lennon and Harrison used during their careers respectively. Each guitar will be available for $99.99 here in the US.
Not sure you want to pony up $250 for the kit [with the Höfner bass, Ludwig branded drums, mic and mic-stand] plus $200 for these guitars? I thought the same thing as I started reading the press release. Then I saw a picture of the guitars and I changed my tune immediately.
It's time to enjoy another new ESH podcast episode folks, and this one stays fairly well focused which is a bit out of the norm for us.
Pandalicious and NinJaSistah go on and on and on for a bit about the state and future of handheld gaming thanks to Furian09's submitted question as well as the upcoming PS3 title Katamari Forever, Magna Carta 2 on the XBox 360, this weeks new Rock Band DLC, and the anime series Hetalia.
From Pandalicious' tales of the weird and wacky world of Hetalia to NinJaSistah's Mt. Dew fueled awkwardness throughout the hour, this episode of the podcast is a great way to kick off year 3 of the ElectricSistaHood show. So grab your warm and or frosty beverage of choice and enjoy ESH podcast episode 144: It Might Not Be the Best, But It's the Bessssssst
Oh yeah, make sure you stop by the site and check out the new digs!
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was the second game I played on the PS3 after I purchased the system a few months ago. (Metal Gear Solid 4 was the first.) After the first five minutes of the game, I knew that this should have been the first. Drake's Fortune is an awesome game and that's why I'm excited about Uncharted 2" Among Thieves and from watching the video, it seems the addition of multi-player will make the game even better.
If you're itching to try the multiplayer for yourself, then you might want to consider grabbing a copy of Infamous in May, because the Uncharted 2 d multi-player beta.
So there is an introduction video up on the Gametrailers website for the Harley Quinn character in the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum game. Hit the jump and check it out
I have to say, I like this Harley. She's dark, and definitely disturbed as she should be and the look is also hardcore with a touch of femininity that grabs me. Of course, I was head over heels for this game from the first screen I saw... so take my love with a grain of salt.
To say that the original Assassin's Creed left me wanting would be an vast understatement. I try to avoid hype whenever possible but my efforts were in vain and it was nearly impossible to avoid. With Ubisoft taking another crack at Creed I find myself wanting to believe the hype.
AC2 sets out to separate itself from it's predecessor by following a new assassin Ezio, an Italian noble during the Renaissance who has been betrayed by the rival ruling families of Italy. In a press release sent out yesterday Ubisoft promises "new gameplay elements, diverse weapons and a profound character progression that will appeal to fans of the original Assassin's Creed..."
I will say that I do like the character style of the new assassin in the game, and I would be lying to you if I said the premise of running through the streets and buildings of renaissance Italy does not entice me on a few different levels. While I'm going to be a bit more cautious on the approach of this title, I am starting to look forward to it.
Besides, Ezio looks hot. Look for AC2 to drop on the platform of your choice this holiday season.
...Gimme dat podcast! Okay, it's not as catchy as this, but I had to grab your attention to remind you that we have a new episode of the ESH podcast ready for you now.
You can yell at me for the song being stuck in your head later.
In this episode of the podcast, we talk about all kinds of crazy stuff from the rampant ravishing of our treasured entertainment pasts to create feature length film like the upcoming Tekken movie and G.I. Joe movie to the classic game title Bubble Bobble which is currently available as Wiiware. Both NinJaSistah and Pandalicious answer some audience questions, including one from Bootleg Pete as well as promote the Gamer Daily News Spring Cleaning event, and then cap off the hour with the manga turned anime series Rideback
We are up to the usual monkey business in this episode, and if you don't believe me here are some of the titles we came up with but chose not to use for this episode:
Reality In Video Games - Isn't That An Oxymoron?
There Will Always Be Wire Hangers
He's More Buffy Than Buff
The Tekken Movie? That's The April Fool's Joke
It's At The Bottom End of The Wayans Scale
G.I. Joe Doesn't Make You Gay
Pandalicious Talks About Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged - And This Isn't A Rerun
It's Monday once again, so that means we have to hit you with a new episode of the ESH podcast doesn't it? Yep, sure does, and we're glad to do so.
In this weeks episode of the podcast NinJaSistah and Pandalicious cover a wide range of topics starting with Pandalicious' need of a new job, to video game titles Batman: Arkham Asylum,God of War 3, as well as the Final Fantasy and Tenchu franchises and the manga Pride of Bagdad. Oh yeah, we talk a bit more about the lack of mature and "seasoned gamer" titles on the Wii platform as well.
Did I mention the tangents we go on? Nope? I should have. One of the tangents might involve a limerick, I'm not sure, but for a better idea of what we end up talking about in this episode, check the titles we came up with but didn't use for this episode:
Help Wanted? Have We Got a Panda For You
There Once were Some Ladies From ESH...
Did You Say Talking?
Wii Need Some Excitement, Nintendo
The Monkey Boy In Pandalicious Was Suddenly Unleashed
And Certainly Not Batman: The Bold and The Beautiful
When Revers-Puberty Occurs, This Vehicle Will Be Unmanned
It's Like The Lion King With Guns
Her Hot Pants Have a Bow In The Back - For Modesty
So, MilkChan of Ultimate Quest fame was supposed to be on the show, but yet again the sistah's got stood up. We didn't take it personally though, instead we used the extra time to be random and rant and rave about games, gadgets and whatnot. We start with a couple of audience questions about the Wii and titles to look forward to on the XB360 and then we get into the nitty-gritty down and dirty.
NinJaSistah talks about her first impressions ofResident Evil 5 and does a compare/contrast type thing with the Tomb Raider: Underworld title on the XB360 versus the PS3 version. Pandalicious learns the meaning of the acronym FML as well as the existence of the FML Blog, let's people know that she shouldn't be trusted with other people's children, and then goes crazy random for a bit.
It's another one of those podcasts that starts off with an agenda, but it down the weird and random path to goofy glory. Need a mental picture? Well, here are the titles that we came up with to name the episode:
What the "L" Is FML?
People Don't Trust Me With Their Children
Bad Worm!
Guns In Her Shoes? That's Accessorizing
I Want World Peace, But It Would Make For A Lousy Video Game
When Bigger Isn't Better
Capcom, We Have A Problem
There's Nowhere Like Home - That's Not Necessarily a Good Thing
The title that many said would breathe life into the Playstation 3 has hit the shelves, but is it really the saving grace for the system? Although Killzone 2 manages to sit among the great first-person shooters before it, it really does nothing to set itself apart from them. That said, it is definitely and good game, taken for what it is and does.
The story is simple. It's you against them as humanity is taking the fight to the Helghast on their home planet of Helghan. On top of the story is some of the best graphics to grace the PS3 and an intense combat that will have you "poppin" Helghast tops for almost 8-15 hours in single-player mode, depending on your difficulty setting. Co-op would have been amazing in this game, but sadly and questionably there is none. You do get to fight along side the members of Alpha squad (A.I. controlled), but the game suffers from the same problem as the first Gears of War. Fallen comrades can be revived by you, but when the shoe is on the other foot, they won't even give you a second thought. What you do get is the occasional hot-headed vulgar military banter that will have you snickering from time to time.
There's a wide variety of weapons to use against the Helghast. One level even has you driving a mech to take out the waves of on-coming enemies. The games attention to detail really shines in these regards as you'll see spent casings ejecting from the guns as you fire as well as visible damage to your mech as you get hit.
The controls are the biggest issue in Killzone 2 and a take some time to get used to. The game implements a realistic weapons-to-weight factor that affects your reaction time and accuracy. If you carrying a heavy machine gun then getting a quick aim on an enemy isn't easy. You'll get a bit of delay between your analog stick movement and the character's reaction to mimic the feel of toting some heaving metal. This has caused a lot of outcry from the public. I found a few minor adjustments in the control settings helped, but not that much. If anything, the cause and effect of weight and reaction has improved my response time, due to the fact that I have to react quicker than I normally would which definitely comes in handy for multiplayer matches.
Playing as a run and gunner in Killzone 2 will achieve you nothing but a speedy death and all expenses paid trip to the loading screen before having to retry and rethink your tactics. Position and cover is very important. Even the A.I. knows this. They will run into covering positions and take aim from a distance, ducking back into cover to avoid gunfire and reload. This is something you'll learn and have to implement early in the game in order to progress.
I'll admit that i purchased this game with the intention of going through the single-player campaign, dabbling in a few multiplayer sessions, then letting it collect dust until I decided to trade it in for probably $20. Things are not going according to plan. I'm enjoying the multiplayer part of the game more then the campaign. Killzone 2 has implemented a rich multiplayer (Warzone) that draws you into the battle between humans and Helghast. Instead of joining or creating a single objective match, playing through, then creating another session, you're able to play through them all without a break in the gameplay. For example, you'll start with the oder to plant C4 at different enemy locations within a certain amount of time. The opposing faction must stop you from doing so. if you succeed, you must then stop the enemy from diffusing the bomb(s) before it explodes. Once either side succeeds, then you'll be issued a new objective telling you that you or one of your teammates or a member of the other faction has been targeted for assassination. You must stay alive or defend your teammate (depending on if you're the target or not) or take out the marked enemy before time runs out. Once you complete or fail the mission, then another order is given to kill as many of the opposing faction as possible. The side with the most kills a the end of the time limit wins. The nonstop action and objective spawns creates a sense of "Oh crap! What's next?? What's next??" feeling. This goes on throughout the span of a best of five different objectives. At the end of the match each faction gets points that contribute to the level advancement of your character, which allows for higher, ranks, different weapons, and class change options such as Medic and Engineer. The winners get a point multiplier bonus.
If you're in to FPS games, Killzone 2's $60 price tag is well met. It wins in graphics and the solo campaign is entertaining but the heart of the game is it's multiplayer. So your enjoyment will probably depend on which of those aspects your more interested in. Is the PS3 exclusive title a system seller as many are saying? I don't think so, but if you already have a PS3 then it's definitely worth picking up. Like I said, the game really does nothing revolutionary for its' genre, but what it does, it does extremely well.
The autumn of 2008 is going to be all about the new Rock Band and Guitar Hero games around the household of Ninjasistah -- anyone who has ever listened to a few ESH podcasts already knows that. But while she's banging away at her drums or shredding guitar, her mind is going to be on something else entirely.
It's called "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ."
Before she became an adult, the Ninja dreamed of the day she would become a real DJ, complete with turntables and stacks of vinyl. She often went to sleep at night imagining herself in a club scratching out hip-hop tunes for the masses.
But the music industry went a different direction. The music suddenly became about spending money on golden neck apparel and fake teeth. It became all about champagne and Courvoisier. Artists from Atlanta took over and threw out all the DJ's.
Now it looks like DJ Petite might be on the comeback trail with the announcement of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, which is a DJ game in the realm of all of Ninjasistah's favorite music games, like Amplitude, Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
Quincy Jones III is the musical consultant for the game, being produced by Genius Products, 7 Digital, QD3 and GenCo Media, and set for release next June. It will feature a DJ turntable-style controller and will be available for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.
Need more info? Check out any of your favorite gaming sites out there. It's all over the place.
It's rare that I buy new video game titles. In all honesty more times than not I rent titles first to figure out if I want plunk down the benjis for them and then traipse down to the local videogameria to pick them up. But if you are like me, you want to get more bang for your buck when you do purchase titles, and Ubisoft has some good news for you.
FarCry 2 will be shipping October 21st on the XB360, PS3, and PC platforms, but what is great about this news is that there will be a GameStop only special edition
available now for pre-order that will give you
6 Bonus Missions [approx. 3hrs of additional content]
A fold out map of the FarCry 2 world
and
"Exclusive" game packaging
I'm not sure what that last one means and it's taking far too long to download the pr kit for the thing, so here's a pic that I ganked from the interwebs.
Personally, I'm not a huge FarCry fan, but if I was I'd probably pick up the SE version of the title, I seem to be trending that way more and more with games that I purchase. For my 50 bucks plus I want some audio, artwork, bonus costumes or content in the game. It somehow makes me feel less hosed when I drop 100 bucks and go home with only two games.
I know it's like beating a dead horse, but I just am becoming more and more impressed with Little Big Planet from Sony.
Today I got to actually play a hands on demo before show hours of the game at Sony's booth, and it really made me want to steal the dev-kit it was running on.
LBP is a side scroller at it's core, with multiplayer racing game mechanics on the facade. You create a puzzle level, and then post it on the PSN or simply play it on your system. The game supports up to four players, and is a downright hoot! I was privileged enough today to play two levels, the "Skulldozer" level and one that the developer had just created earlier that morning.
In the "Skulldozer" level, we had to get to the finish line of the level without being touched by a bulldozer made out of skeleton bones that gave us chase...and from the rear no less. While you do have a limited number of times you can respawn in the game, being able to watch others play is a huge piece of the game play. At no point in time during the day today was the line for LBP shorter than a 45-1hour wait, and that I think says a lot about the game.
One of the first things that strikes me about the LBP demo is that the level creation is ridiculously deep. LBP has it’s players moving left to right through each level on three planes of existence depth wise, which is really the only difficult piece of the game controls to get used to. Everything else in the game deals with you jumping, grabbing, pulling and pushing objects in the level using the “X” and “R1” keys making LBP an easily picked up and played game. It will be a game that I think I can even get ESH Mom to play when she comes to visit. Now back to the level creator, and it’s being deep.
LBP does need some way to rank you though for finishing the race, and that's where bubbles come in. During the levels of the game you have to collect these bubbles as they are the equivalent of points in the game, and she who has the most points laughs last... or something like that.
There is not firm ship date on LBP yet, but I'm not going to work on whatever day it is.
It's another all-videogame podcast, but, as usual, the Sistahs careen dangerously toward the profane and near-profane.
While Ninja proclaims the goodness of the Pure and Braid videogames, Panda admits her love for retro games, particularly those that can be found through XBox Live. It all leads up to a future topic for the podcast: How to Turn Your Wii Into a Micro-brewery.
I think we all have to admit that would be quite effective in selling the Wii to hardcore gamers.
Today is the day people. Are your thumbs ready? Did you do your exercises? Were you able to decide between the path of the Jedi or the Dark Side? I hope you have, because today is July 29th which means that Soul Calibur IV has hit the shelves.
To say that I am excited for the release of this game would be an understatement of gigantic proportions. I have missed playing a fighter worth the rental fee for over two years now. The last new release fighting title that I would even dare to put into the "good" category was DOA:4 which is now nearly 4 years old. Four years is way too long of a drought to suffer through, but I take solace in the fact that I am not alone in my misery.
Now before the naysayers and fanboys get up in arms, I know that there have been many versus games based on the Dragonball series, and they have not all sucked. In earnest, the Budokai series has some great gameplay going on in the game itself. That said, the Dragonball titles to me have never really felt like a fighter game title. They are a franchise that appeal to only an existing anime fan base that potentially game as well. The Budokai games have not been able to bridge the game and draw the casual gamer in to join their "legion of the loyal." In many cases, the exact opposite happened; people that would normal pick up every and every fighter title initially shied away from the title. So because DBZ:Budokai focuses on such a small piece of the market of the fighting genre I do not believe it fair to use it as a representation of the whole genre. If you don't like it, you can suck it.
You may say, "...Ninja? Didn't NamcoBandai release an SC title for the Wii? Wasn't that good?" My reply would be "Yes! And it sucked more wind than a brand new Dyson." [And the commercials for that thing say it never loses suction.] SC:Legends was a waste of time and money, and I'm sure NamcoBandai felt that way as well which is why it looks like they worked so hard in order to redeem the title's reputation. NamcoBandai press releases promise that,
"Soulcalibur IV has been retooled from the ground up to provide a true next generation experience."
And then go on to say,
"...the wages of battle are shown as protective armor can be broken off and visible lacerations of clothing can be seen with the inclusion of the equipment destruction feature. Adding depth to the unrivalled combat system, players can unleash Critical Finish moves to defeat opponents in one stunning blow."
The game sports an "improved" character creation mode that allows you to customize the hell out of an existing fighter or even create an original warrior. Oh yeah, it has online versus play as well.
Get thee to thou localist GameStoppery and pick this game up. SCIV is available on the PS3 [Dark Side, Vader style] and XBox 360 [Path of the Jedi].
Who doesn't like new podcast episode Monday? Productive people that's who. Let us help you start your week off on the unproductive tip with this episode of our podcast.
Sans MagicMystic yet again, the sistah's stick to the gaming topic covering both the new and upcoming starting with Panda's take on the game Project Origin and Ninja sharing some of what she was able to take away from the assorted E3 coverage.
From talking about the survival horror game genre to specific experiences with titles like Manhunt and Silent Hill to the thriller-chiller types including the "I don't think NinJa is ever going to finish it" BioShock game. Ninja talks God of War 3, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Portal 2, and Oneechanbura.
It's another one of our lively podcast episodes people, here are some of the titles we decided not to use to name it:
Don't. Stop. Waitin' Fer RockBand 2, Yeah
Who? Guess Who?
Don't Sell Your Soul For Tic-Tacs
The New Animal Crossing Lets Me Be Mii
Kratos Makes Ninja's Gamer Boner Hard
Kratos Was A Red-Headed Step Child
Panda's Birthday Is Another 11 1/2 Months Away
Killing Me Softly with Her Sword
We Will. We Will...Flock Ewe
Videogame Word of the Year: Booty
E3 Didn't Want Me? Well, They're Not Invited to My Place Either
We Have Nothing To Fear But the Sequel to Fear Itself
When a Mommy RockBand and a Daddy RockBand love each other very much...
Hey Hey Hey...Pandalicious on the scene bringing you the goodness that is. Rock Band 2! Now I know what you are thinkging.... ::cues flashback wave things::
You: Panda....I know Rock Band is the hottest thing since pancakes on Saturday morning. But What makes this Rock band as awesome?
Panda: Well Let me tell you. First let me tell you about the new gameplay changes. Remember how when we wanted to play online through XBL (XBox Live) and you were still a noob and didn't know how to invite me. THEN when you finally managed to invite me we could only do quickplay songs and it was just hours of masss hysteria!
You: Yeah....
Panda: Well not anymore. There is a new mode in Rock Band 2, that allows us to make a band with not only our local rockers but with outside rockers on the XBL interwebs. You know what that means right?
You: You are never going to let me sleep?
Panda: That's right! The Gameplay is still the same though. Same color nodes. Same overall feeling of rockitude and swagger. There is still single player mode however it is now extended to a solo bassist! Thats right, so now the sexiest component to a Rock Band (IMO) gets their chance to rock out with their COCKS out. [Yes I said cock, deal with it]
You: What about for drumming? You know we all were exicted about being drum masters and realized that we all really sucked...
Panda: Speak for yourself ! However if you weren't like me who went back into the drumming tutorial to help train my foot better to use the kick pedal, there will be something called the "Beat Trainer" which will generate beats to help you hone your rocking skills.
You: Well Panda that sounds niffty and all but am I going to like the play list? Am I going to have to buy all the songs, load them to my iPod so I can learn them so I don't make an utter fool of myself when I come to your house?
Panda: Well...Let me tell you the ones that I'm looking forward to and if you a GIANT loser and haven't been following the coverage of E3...the internet will be your friend and check out places such as. IGN, joystiq and of course, us, DUH. If you are new to the interwebs you should try www.fuckinggoogleit.com [Just kidding, Wikipedia.org is a nice place to start]
In terms of the songs i'm looking forward to guitaring they are
1) American Woman~ The Guess Who
2) Down with the Sickeness~ Disturbed
3) Chop Suey- System of a Down
4) Lump~ Presidents of the United States of America
In terms of Singing...
1) Master Expolder~ Tenacious D [FUCK FUCK FUCK YES!]
2) Everlong~ Foo Fighters
3) Round and Round~ Ratt
4) White Wedding~ Billy Idol
5) My Own Worst Enemy- Lit
You: ....
Panda: I love our little interludes like this. I'm out of here!
I hope you guys and gals from the land of ESH had a happy and safe holiday weekend. I know I did, and I'm pretty sure that Panda did. Today we have another NinJa/Panda podcast episode where NinJa goes a bit in depth on the video game GRID and Panda shares some of her first impressions on the Diablo 3 announcement. It's a nearly all video game fun-packed episode, that you should totally pick up right now.
Don't believe me, here are some of the titles we decided not to use that came from the episode:
Do You Question My Skills? (When don't I?)
You Shouldn't Rape Your Tech They Can't Say "No."
The Story of a Ninja Called Spanky
ESHDog Cannot Be Controlled
Lik eSands In an Hourglass, These Are The Races of Our Lives
Ive Got Anal Leakage, But I'm Not Anxious About It.
When ESHMom Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy
Omnipotent Does Not Equal Omniscient
Never Trust Cheese That Doesn't Melt
In Diablo 4, He Fights That Super Boxer From Russia
If She's Got Multiple Boobies, Who's Looking At Her Face?
If You Think That Anal Leakage Is Bad, Guess What Her Armpits Do
I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the game Little Big Planet since it was annonced last year. I'm almost captivated by it. I obssess over every screen, youtube video and demonstration of the game that I see. I'm not a huge "The Sims" fan, but do enjoy the majority of simulation game titles available here in the US.
What grabs me first about a sim-game is the level of control it gives me over my environment. When I can affect the world I am about to play in it let's me explore areas of my imagination the I would otherwise avoid during my day job. It gives me a free pass on being constrained to a single plane of thought and ultimately let's me be a kid again. When you add to that the ability to create the people/creatures/things that will then live in that world or explore them, I get even more excited. Creativity to me is one of the most undervalued traits that a person has or can have. That being said, it should be no surprise that games like LBP or Spore never drop off my radar.
The problem I have is that I lack patience. Severely. Anyone in my family can attest to this. So to have to wait until October to get my hands on this game, and right now I'm having a hard time with it. Sure, I've had the Spore Creature Creator to keep my company, but I find that the Creature Creator has become a poor substitute for the full title, and of late does not quench my thirst. Here and there I play another round of Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution, but like Creature Creator, Civ:Revolution is a demo, easily completed or timed out and I am left alone again clawing at my own flesh trying to tear my mind away for the unbridled desire for this game. I'm sure that Sony is tired of getting my emails about this game, but right now we are barely starting July... October is three torturous and agonizing months away. I mean, look at this stuff I found on the LBP Wiki, and from a Sony press release I got a while back:
"There are limitless ways to play. Players craft their own individual experience based on their own creativity.
Unlimited possibilities for user-created content – players can customize everything: their characters, the landscape around them and their own patch on LittleBigPlanet.
Players learn new skills and discover new items to aid them on their creative journey. Explore the massive single player game or go online to find user-generated content.
LittleBigPlanet will change every day as players contribute their own levels.
Online and offline multiplayer modes – play alone, work as a team with up to four friends or get competitive.
LittleBigPlanet global community for players to get involved with: includes player comments, rankings and easy communication with new and existing friends."
C'mon, look at the main characters... THEY ARE SOCK PUPPET PEOPLE!!!
I'm going to have to call out sick from the day job when this game finally comes to market.
The videogame industry is packed with news these days, but I'm sure you must have read about some of this stuff:
Didja see? There's a new Blackberry case from Otterbox.
It protects the Blackberry from the iPhone!
Didja see? Square Enix says Final Fantasy XIII is still intended to be exclusive for the PS3.
I guess if no one plays it, no one will know how badly it sucks.
Didja see? In order to save tens of millions of dollars on the Xbox 360, Microsoft designed its own chip for the thing. Then when the chip red-ringed everyone's Xbox 360, the recall cost Microsft a billion dollars.
As the politicians say, a billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money.
Didja see? An analyst says that the reason we can't get Wii Fit here is because Nintendo is sending them all to Europe because of the strong Euro.
That, and that the only people who want to become fit are already fit.
Didja see? Lucas Arts laid off 100 people last week.
It means Ninjasistah won't see her Wii lightsaber game for a while longer.
Didja see? Take Two has announced BioShock 3 -- even though BioShock 2 isn't even out yet.
What's next, BioShock: The Musical?
Didja see? Scientists have discovered an algorithm that solves the Rubik's Cube in only 23 moves.
Or, just one move if you have 46 hands.
Didja see? They're coming out with a Metallica version of Guitar Hero.
Unfortunately, while on your network it checks your computers for copyright-infringing music.
Didja see? Sony has quit development on two games for the PS3 and one for the PSP.
They're taking their football and going Home. Oh, that's right, Home is still vapor, too.
Didja see? Game developers are taking advantage of the accelerometer in the iPhone to make some really great games.
You know I like to share upcoming titles with you that I think may be fun, so here's another one for you.
I have always been a fan of racing games. I can't tell you how many hours I wasted away during my youth playing games like Pole Position, Gran Turismo, F-Zero, and WipeOut easily come to mind, so when I got the email that Koei was about to bring Fatal Inertia EX to the PS3, I took notice.
Think of FI:EX as a WipeOut for the next-gen [I guess we can finally start calling them "current gen" now right?] FI:EX features a new environment exclusive to the PS3. Along with offering a restructured training curriculum, the game boasts a new gameplay mode, "The Proving Grounds" which is also home to 8 new racing tracks.
The flight model has been re-designed, and is said to improve handling and achieve higher speeds. Which I'd love to see. FI:EX is the type of title that makes me just play over and over again. I finish the game [in that I win all the races] and then just go back and play again in order to check out the scenery or catch the little things I might have missed on the first run through. The DualShock 3 wireless controller can be used with this title as well as the optional use of SIXAXIS motion sensing technology. FI:EX aims to deliver,
"...heightened visuals which include new weather effects, significant scenery enhancements, and an overhauled garage for racecraft customization."
Sounds pretty don't it? Koei also promises at least 59 courses in seven "exotic" environments including rainforests, glacier fields, and razor-sharp canyons.
FI:EX will be delivered in 720p and feature in-game Dolby Digital audio. The multiplayer mode features include split-screen two-player races, online and LAN races for up to eight players, leaderboards, and will be available in May.
Hey y'all, guess what? That game that looked freakin' sweet at E3 for the PS3, Haze... yeah, there's going to be a playable demo available on the PSN in early May.
Haze is a FPS set in a post-apocalyptic future "...where war is never quite what it seems." You play the character of Shane Carpenter, a newbie to the PMC.
Haze is exclusively to the PS3, and the demo will include fully functional single-player campaign as well as allow four-player drop-in drop-out co-op play online. So I've given you a reason to jump on to the PSN in May, and a damn good reason to head over to your local GameStop on May 20th.
With Anime Boston coming up this weekend, the Sistahs are excited as they can be. And that excitement shows in this week's episode of the podcast.
In addition to a preview of Anime Boston, the Sistahs discuss all facets of gaming. NinjaSistah talks about EA trying to take over Take Two, makers of the Grand Theft Auto series. And Pandalicious goes on and on about dating sim games -- particularly focusing on the question, "why aren't girls the protagonist in these games?"
In any case, it's well worth your hour and seven minutes to listen in. And in case you were wondering, here are the titles they rejected for this week's episode:
EA's So Rich, Their Cash Is Brown
ET Listens to This Podcast
EA Shows Take Two Who's the Bully
That Sound Emanating From Ninja's Guitar: Shake, Rattle and Roll
Was That Terriers or Derriers?
Boston Winos Will Be Heading for Rehab This Week
A MILF Would Bring a Whole New Dimension to Paperboy
The Discussion Degenerated to Talk About the Roughness of Sticks
This is getting ridiculous. It seems that if you want to improve sales of a product, all you have to do is put an iPod Dock in it. The latest example is the Razer Pro|Type keyboard, shown here. But that's not what would get me to buy a new keyboard, so I mocked up a picture of what would sell me on a new keyboard.
What are we likely to see in 2008? Well, one answer is certainly more products with iPod Docks in them. Here are some products I expect to see an iPod Dock added to this year:
Microwave oven Lawnmower Microsoft Zune Electric toothbrush Cuisinart food processor Playstation 3 4GB thumb drive Glade Plugin air freshener Wii Nunchuck
The number “13” has always been known as an unlucky number and that just may be the case for me as far as SquareEnix's Final Fantasy XIII is concerned.
I’m at a crossroad right now. I’ve been pretty firm on my decision not to purchase a Playstion3 because I detest the price of the next-gen system. On the other hand, I’ve been a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series since FFIII. Seeing as how Squaresoft/Enix has had a longstanding relationship with Sony, I figured the chances of the series coming the the Xbox 360 was slim, but with the release of FFXI Online on Microsoft’s system and the announcement of another possible mmorpg by SqareEnix in the future, my hopes were high. I always knew in the back of my mind that I would have to make the decision to either pony up the cash for the PS3 or bid farewell to the series that I love so much. The time for the decision is now.
The long time character designer of the Final Fantasy series, Tetsuya Nomura, not only swears by a 2008 release for FFXIII, but also teases at a playable demo on the Playstation Network a while before the game is released to show off the revamped battle system. Either two things are going to happen this year. I’ll either eat my words and breakdown and purchase the overpriced system or say goodbye to the FFXIII and /wrist when every PS3 owner sinks their teeth into the demo and then the full game. No matter the choice, you guys will probably see an grown gamer cry.
There's a new trailer up for Condemned 2: Bloodshot and it definitely keeps in line with its predecessor.
Not only does the trailer bring you a grim and creepy feeling, but it's got the whole "WTF is going on vibe". That was an all to familiar feeling that came with the first game in the series, Condemned: Criminal Origins.
The new game picks up where the first left off, with the main character, Ethan Thomas, who has degenerated into a depressed alcoholic. I can't say I wouldn't have a similar fate if I'd gone through what he did. Despite this, he gets pulled back into the police force to investigate another series of bizarre happenings.
Check out the trailer here to see if you're up for another hellish ride. (Age verification may be required.)
Just before NinjaSistah flew out to Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronic Show this weekend, she and Pandalicious recorded a new podcast.
Pandalicious talks about a creepy new anime called "Ghost Hound." It doesn't contain ghosts (at least, not Casper-style ghosts) and it doesn't have any hounds, either, but Panda insists it's worth watching.
NinjaSistah discusses several topics, including last week's Xbox Live outage, some free Rock Band tracks (but Playstation players are out of luck), God of War 3 and the HD movie format wars.
And, as usual, there are plenty of rejected titles for this episode:
Three Guys, a Girl and Their Suicidal Thoughts
Anime's Psychic Friends Network
Alien Butt Babies Make You Make an Ass of Yourself
I thought that I would take a look at what was going on in the realm of online on the next gen systems.
I started with the PS3, headed over to the Wii, and finished out the night with the XB360. I'm exhausted.
I started out with the PS3 because I have high hopes for the system this year. I am hoping that the kick ass, "you're going to have a life changing gaming experience..." game will be hitting the shelves of the local big box stores leaving me bereft of funds in the old wallet. I am hopeful that games like Echochrome, Little Big Planet, and Haze make me glad for dropping $600 bucks on the thing. Add to that Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit on the Wii and Fable 2, Mass Effect, and Lost Odyssey on the XB360.
But new "console exclusive" titles are not the most fair or balanced way to compare the level of enjoyment one can have on the various systems. The way I see it, the console with the most diverse online content will end up being the ultimate victor.
When it comes to retro game titles, all three of the console systems are equally balanced in what they offer. Just about every game that becomes available on the Wii Virtual Console shortly thereafter becomes available on the Playstation Network and XBLive Marketplace. With title availability being equal, the deciding factor will be playability, and online extras. XBLive as well as some PS3 game titles offer direct player to player interaction while the Wii has [of yet] no direct PvP action. Both the XBox and PS3 offer other downloadable online content in the forms of video game demos, TV show episodes, and feature length films.
We've seen it with the success of games like World of Warcraft and EverQuest, and we will see more of it going forward on the gaming front. It won't the amount of polygons thrust at the player that will determine the king of gaming but the social networking piece of gameplay that will establish the victor in the video game arena.
It's hard to look at Midway's and John Woo's video game creation, Stranglehold, and not think ''another Max Payne rip-off" which is ironic because Max Payne was a tribute to John Woo's classic Hong Kong action flick Hard Boiled with its slow-motion and heavy-action. Both games revolve around a badass cop dodging, diving, and shooting all over the place in slow-motion. Stranglehold manages to incorporate the gameplay mechanics that made Max Payne such a huge success while throwing in its own Hong Kong flare.
Fans of Hard Boiled will enjoy seeing Chow Yun-Fat reprise his role as Inspector Tequila, a rogue cop on the Hong Kong police force. Stranglehold takes place many years after Hard Boiled, and when a member of the force is murdered by one of Hong Kong's major gangs, Tequila steps up to put a lot of bullets in a lot of people and somewhere in there, Tequila's former girlfriend and daughter both end up being held hostage.
A lot of people get shot in Stranglehold. The body count gets pretty high when enemies come flying out of every nook and cranny of each stage, and always with guns blazing. There's plenty of opportunities to use the bullet time or Tequila Time, as it's called in Stranglehold, and not difficult at all, sometimes being as easy as pushing a button.
Tequila can interact with almost every piece of scenery in a level. For instance, when running up to a table, you can choose to slide right over it, or kick it over and use it as temporary cover until it's blown to bits. When running to a wall, you can dash up it and dive even further than usual.You can run up or slide down a nearby rail. I think you get the idea. Pieces of the environment can also be shot or otherwise destroyed to use to your advantage. If an enemy is standing underneath a neon sign, shoot it and it will fall on him. Exploding barrels are all over the place. Do I even need to say more?
Pulling off stylish moves throughout the game fills up a meter that lets you trigger one of four different "Tequila bombs” which are special abilities that vary from recharging your health, to letting you spin around while still shooting, killing all the enemies surrounding you, all while doves go fluttering off into the sky (You had to know Woo would throw the doves in there.). Another is the accurate-shot ability, which lets you move a targeting reticle in slow motion to any part of an enemy's body, and then watch the bullet fly directly to its target.The next ability is an all-out barrage of invincibility and limitless gunfire that usually lasts long enough to clear the room.
I'm not sure if the last element of game play can be considered an ability or minigame. Periodically, Tequila will enter into a standoff with a group of enemies. These standoffs quickly snap Tequila's focus around from one enemy to the next. Using both analog sticks on the controller, you have to simultaneously dodge enemy gunfire and move a targeting reticle over enemies to take them out one by one. It's a lot easier than it sounds.
By no means is Stranglehold a hard game. The early portions of the game are a bit of a cakewalk at times, even while you're getting used to the different abilities. Around the third level you'll actually have to use those different abilities smartly to survive. Cover points are also helpful, though you'll rarely stay in one place for very long, as the environment around you tends to get destroyed very quickly. The Tequila bombs can be a lifesaver in a few situations, though they also tend to make a few of the boss fights overly easy. Turning the game up to the hard difficulty level fixes that some, but not by much.
In addition the short single-player campaign, there are some bonuses to buy through an extras shop. John Woo himself sits behind the counter to peddle his wares. The multi-player mode isn't that interesting and feels like it was just thrown in. You can only engage in standard deathmatches or team deathmatches with up to six players. The multiplayer is similar to the single-player game, just not as good. Maps are a bit shorter, and though you can use Tequila Time in multiplayer, its scattered execution in this mode makes it all but worthless. You can't go into slo-mo unless you and your opponents all have a full Tequila time meter. It almost becomes pointless because by the time the meter is full, you could have already taken out your opponents.
Stranglehold is a decent game with a few shortcomings. The destructible environment is visually amazing. On the downside, character models are not especially detailed and the animations are lacking. The game does run smoothly aside from the occasionally hiccup from the camera trying to keep pace with the fast action.
Stranglehold won't revolutionize the shooter genre. It's more of a re-vamp of an idea that already exists but it's tweaked enough to succeed. It can get repetitive but there's enough exciting action here to keep shooter fans interested. It's a short trip but the journey is fun and amusing on whatever system you play it on.
Provocative as usual, the Sistahs bring you a new podcast episode for the week bearing the title "Celibate Is Not Celebratory."
Pandalicious kicks it off by crossing the words "tantalize" with "tittilate" to form a new word: "tantilate." What's caused this strange combination? Why, it's the hard-to-get (in America) anime series, "So Long, Mr. Despair." Panda liked it so much, she says it makes nooses funny.
Meanwhile, NinjaSistah is very disappointed in the latest installments in the Dynasty Warriors series. You simply won't believe what they've done to this vaunted series -- and you won't like it on the PS3 or the Xbox 360.
As the rumor mills continue to churn for the possibility of Sony's repricing of the PlayStation 3 to $399 for the holiday season, analysts were shocked today when Sony representatives announced that they instead would be selling U.S. $500 bills for the unprecedented price of $399.
"We know people are going to be calling us crazy," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), "but, hey, we're Sony. In the past year we brought out an HD DVD player that nobody wants, some batteries that spectacularly set some computers on fire and a game system for which there are no games to play on it. We know we're crazy."
The $500 bills, which display the picture of former U.S. President William McKinley, who was shot at the 1901 Buffalo World's Fair and later died, were last printed in 1945 and withdrawn from circulation in 1969.
When asked why anyone would want to own a $500 bill that they cannot use as legal currency, Hirai said, "Hey, they already own a PS3 that they can't use. A worthless $500 bill is a conversation piece, just like that PS3. And it isn't half the fire hazard the PS3 is.
"Sure, a $500 bill can catch on fire, but it won't explode in the middle of the night and kill your whole family like a PS3 might."
Hirai added that the $500 bill costs much less to ship. "Just pop it in an envelope and stick on a 41 cent stamp," Hirai said. That compares with the PS3, which weighs approximately 38 pounds (288 pounds when you add the weight of the postman who hauls it reluctantly to your front porch).
Although selling a $500 bill would mean a $101 loss for Sony on each bill sold, Hirai said the price is much less than Sony would lose on selling the PS3 at the same $399 price point. "Think of all the money we're saving just on marketing," he added. "Heck, $500 bills practically sell themselves.
"Nothing says Christmas more than a crisp $500 bill. It's even green on the back."
It's just the two sistahs Pandalicious and NinJaSistah holding it down for episode 68. Pandalicious tries to help NinJaSistah wrap her mind around the anime series Nerima Daikon Brothers, and I emphasize the word tries. Then on the flipside of the hour, NinJaSistah glosses over some of the news from the Tokyo Game Show and shares her first impressions of the PS3 title Heavenly Sword.
Yeap, it's a fun, and weird hour this week, and if you don't believe me, just check out the rejected titles for this weeks episode:
Don't Take Her Shoes, She Needs the Height
It's Not The Size of Your URL, It's How You Use It
We Were Sharing Bodily Fluids LAST Week
Why Is The Radish Throbbing?
The Words, "Big Throbbing Daikon" Scare Me
The Most Forbidden Love: When Man Meets Panda
What She Did With a Fishcake: On The Next Maury
Sony made Me Go Dutch Then Tried To Rape Me
The PS3 Controller Was A Pain in the SIXAXIS
Hopefully, This Will Be the Last Sexually Oriented Wii Joke
The Inevitability of the Response to "What What?"
To Gank or To Frag? The Question Endures
After reading that list of rejected titles, I'm sure you want to dive into this weeks episode. So, sit back, get your a cup of joe, and enjoy episode 68: Caffeine Plus Pandalicious Equals Bad Idea
For those of you who are tired of reading bad news about everything, today we present the first in a series of Good News/Bad News stories. For those of you who just like good news, pay attention to the left side. For bad news junkies, enjoy the right side of the page.
News item: You can't go Home -- at least not until next year. Sony announced that it's Home virtual world for the PS3 will not be available until Spring 2008. "We want this to be a worldwide service," said Sony CEO Kaz Hirai. "We want to make sure that we have a range of services which can be satisfactory to our users throughout the world... so we decided to delay the service’s launch date... Please be patient in this regard."
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
It leaves more time to design Mii's on your Nintendo Wii.
It leaves more time for Sony to develop add-ons to Home, such as in-game ads, email and other things gamers don't really want.
News item: Nintendo has announced that starting with the December issue, Nintendo Power Magazine will be published by Future US, the folks behind the Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer, and Mac|Life.
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
Future already publishes a Nintendo magazine in Britain.
Chopping down treees, turning the wood into pulp, painting the pages and shipping the results by snail mail is so 1929. Wake up, people. Magazines are dead.
News item: Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, told the assembled audience at the Tokyo Game Show that he considers the PlayStation 3 to be "a game machine."
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
After a year touting the wide and varied uses of the PS3, it was refreshing to hear someone at Sony admit that the primary purpose of the PS3 should be to play games.
From Wired: But outside of announcing the DualShock 3 controller, Hirai made no announcements of new products -- certainly nothing that would by itself represent a change in PlayStation 3's fortunes in Japan, where it is being outsold about three-to-one by the Wii.
News item: It doesn't look any different, but reports say it feels heavier. What is it? Why, the new DualShock 3, a new controller for the PS3 that brings back the force-feedback "rumble" functionality left out of the original controller.
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
It'll be available in the U.S. in Spring 2008, and will replace the Sixaxis controller in new PS3 boxes. The list of games that will take advantage of the new rumble features is a long one.
Ya gotta buy a new %&*$@#! controller!
News item: LucasArts has announced Krome Studios will release a Wii version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed that will let you use the Wii-mote as a lightsaber.
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
Although some bloggers originally announced that the lightsaber action was available only in duel mode, in actuality you can use the Wii-mote as a lightsaber throughout the game.
You're going to have to push buttons to work the lightsaber in the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS versions. May the Thumb Doctor Be With You.
News item: More anime is coming to Xbox Live. From Joystiq: "Beginning today (and continuing over the coming weeks) you'll be able to find titles from the Starz anime library like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Seasons 1 & 2), Street Fighter II V, Noein, Tokko, Virus and Astro Boy on the service."
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
Starz has a tremendous catalog of anime titles.
I'm trying to code this item in a way that NinjaSistah doesn't see it. Between Xbox Live and iTunes, she won't even have to walk the three blocks to the local anime store to get her fill.
News item: The E for All Show shoots itself in the foot by moving its 2008 date from October to the same weekend in August at the very popular Penny Arcade Expo.
GOOD NEWS
BAD NEWS
This should put the final nail in the coffin of the badly managed spin-off of the old E3 Expo. It is a fitting end for E for All show host IDG, which killed the summer Mac Expo a few years ago by moving it from New York to Boston.
This is all everyone is going to want to talk about in the run-up to the 2007 E for All event in October (which Sony and Microsoft have already vacated).
It was bound to happen. Nay, it was destined since the dawn of the Wii for this moment to arrive. And now that it's been made official, I feel as though I am vindicated in my total geekfoolery for desiring it.
What in the blooming, bloody, bleep am I talking about. I'm talking about being able to use the Wiimote as a lightsaber in a game. LucasArts announced today that in the upcoming Star Wars game: Star Wars: The Forced Unleased. Sure, the game is also going to be released on the XB-360 and PS3... but WiiSaber people. Need I say more?
At the end of September last year, ElectricSistaHood published a post asking the big question of the day: Will the PS3 cause Sony to go broke?
The story was a massive hit. More than 55,000 people read the story the first day. That's more people than read a front page story of many mid-market daily newspapers. Since publishing the story, it's received 87,595 page views through yesterday.
Last week the story started getting attention from a new source: the forums at eu.playstation.com, the European Playstation site. Then, suddenly, the attention stopped. After a little investigation, we discovered the horrid truth: The Sony fanboys are censoring themselves!
Before I continue, a few caveats are in order. First, the folks at ElectricSistaHood aren't Microsoft fanboys. I personally own five machines with Apple computers inside (three Powerbooks, an Intel iMac and an AppleTV). We have two iPhones. We're not Microsoft haters, either. We have one Vista laptop, but we didn't have to pay for that. We own a couple of copies of Microsoft Office for the Mac. We own a copy of Windows XP that we run on the Mac in Parallels. We own an Xbox and an Xbox 360 -- and the 360 recently spent about a month or so in the shop. We have a Nintendo Wii with four controllers and a DS Lite.
And we own our good share of Sony stuff -- a couple of PS2's, a 20-gig PS3 and a PSP. The only trouble we've had with any of them is that the first PS2 had difficulty playing some CD's when it was standing on its side. We use the PS3 mostly for its Blu-Ray movie-playing capability, but we find it a good, solid platform for playing games.
When I wrote the story last September about Sony going broke, it was well researched and fully documented. And I wasn't the only one having severe questions about the company. The very same day I wrote about Sony, the Wall Street Journal published a similar article.
In the story, I posited that under the circumstances, if the stars fell into a certain alignment, there could be the possibility that (a) Sony could find itself in a position to ditch the gaming division and (b) Microsoft could find itself in a position to purchase the Sony gaming division. It's not an impossible notion. Who would have thought a few years ago that Daimler would suddenly toss Chrysler into the dust bin?
Besides, at the time ElectricSistaHood was barely attracting 300 people a day to the site.
As a result of those two mentions, blogs and websites all over the world found out about the story and linked to our post. That post single-handedly put ElectricSistaHood on the map. Today we attract more than 60,000 unique visitors a month and we're aiming for 100,000 by the end of the year.
My story got kudos from some and flames from others. My head didn't swell from the kudos and I didn't cry myself to sleep from the flames. I just liked being able to get so many people involved in that important topic.
Since September, interest in the story has continued. We generally get a few dozen pageviews of the story every day, and people still comment on occasion -- usually with harsh opinions on one side or another.
Then on Friday, the page got hit with a few hundred readers. Comments heavily weighed toward Sony's side of things. What had suddenly made people so excited about a story that was written almost a year ago?
To find the answer to that question, I searched through the server logs of electricsistahood.com and discovered hundreds of people coming to the site from a forum at eu.playstation.com -- the European Playstation website. I tried clicking into the page from which they came, but the page -- http://community.eu.playstation.com/showthread.php?t=124977 (Click here to try it yourself) -- was no longer there.
Someone had removed the page. Was Sony censoring its fanboys? What could they have been saying on the forum?
I did some more digging. I knew that the words "Sony" and "broke" would have to be on the page, so I did a Google search on "site:eu.playstation.com" and "sony" and "broke". The search found the pages, but clicking on them resulted in the same error page -- the comments were simply gone.
Of course, the nice part about looking up stuff on Google is that it also caches the pages as it crawls them. All the original forum pages were still there and available by clicking the "Cached" link on Google.
So I read through the postings. It was the usual mix of Sony fanboys and Microsoft fanboys trading shots with each other. There wasn't anything controversial there. Nobody threatened to do bodily harm to anyone. No reason for Sony to pull down the pages.
Then, near the end of the posts, the Sony fanboys started getting cold feet about the whole thing. There just weren't very many people coming to the defense of the topic, which was called "Microsoft to buy Sony? ha".
About a day after making his first post on the topic at the eu.playstation.com forums, MPower wrote, "Ok, I only posted this to show how absurd the article was. So if anyone thinks I took it seriously hence the 'has anyone got a gun' [comment]. Anyway, this topic is really irrelevant and ANOTHER bloody flamewar is starting so lets move on shall we ladies and gents?"
The next poster, Rider2006, agreed, writing, "This thread should be deleted as it's off topic." After a couple of more posts, the topic was deleted from the website in the early hours today (Sunday, Aug. 12).
I think this is what happened:
MPower learned of a story proclaiming the possibility that Microsoft was going to grab Sony's gaming division. He saw that the story was on a girl-gaming website, which he must have thought was particularly funny. He probably thought, what could girls possibly know about gaming?
After a few congratulatory posts from his Sony fanboy friends, others started making disturbing comments about the realities of PS3 sales vs. the sales of the 360 and the Wii. Then the discussion degenerated into unrelated asides about sales of Sony TVs and Walkmans.
I think the Sony fanboys started realizing that it wasn't the year 2003 anymore. The Playstation 3 is not the PS2. There aren't any substantial games for it yet, and with the absence of Grand Theft Auto IV this Christmas, it will be mid-2008 before a marquee game arrives for the platform. Even then, they will have to share the stage with Microsoft, which will have the game for the Xbox 360 at the same time.
The discussion got irrelevant all right. But it was the Sony fanboys who made the discussion irrelevant. Nintendo sells every Wii it makes and PS3 boxes are stacked to the rafters at Best Buy -- even after a $100 price break. There's no defense to that little argument, and the Sony fanboys know it.
That's why they halted the discussion and made it unavailable for anyone else to read it. They simply couldn't face the truth anymore.
Here is the horrible, horrible truth: Stay away from the new PS3. The old PS3 out there, the one languishing on the shelves of Wal-Mart and Circuit City, the one you don't have to stand in line for, the one you don't have to wait by your mailbox for, well, it's, uh, better.
That's right. The 60-gig PS3, the one that's been around since November, the one that they just reduced in price by $100, the one that... oh, stop it. The word from E3 is that the older, 60-gig PS3 is better than the new 80-gig model. In fact, if you still play some PS2 games, you should positively stay away from the 80-gig PS3 model.
Why? Emulation. The original PS3 also contains the PS2 Emotion chip to help it play PS2 games. Now that the Sony folks have come up with a way to emulate PS2 capability in software on the PS3, they have dropped the Emotion chip from the new machine.
And we all know what happens when you emulate a chip in software, don't we? Incompatibilities. That game you've been playing for years suddenly doesn't work anymore. The disc spins and spins, but doesn't go anywhere. You're left with unexpected crashes -- or eerie silence.
So here's the warning: If you've got several PS2 games you intend on playing on the 80-gig PS3, test them out on the machine before buying one. Better yet, stick with the original PS3. We suspect the 60-gig model isn't even being built anymore (they've got a few million on hand gathering dust at places like Amazon.com and GameStop), so when they're gone, they're gone.
Sony would like you to think that they have reduced the price of the PS3 today. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Remember when the PS3 first came out in November? They brought out a lame version for $499 and a better version for $599. Today's announcement simply reinstates that pricing model.
Sony dropped its $499 version a few months ago because nobody was buying it. Now the $599 version has been repriced at $499, but it's all window dressing because Sony has already announced a premium-ier version packaged with an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a racing game called "MotorStorm." Guess how much it costs. That's right -- $599.
To reiterate today's announcement: Sony has a lame version of the PS3 that sells for $499 and a better version for $599. Just like in November 2006.
And the PS3 forts grow higher and higher at Best Buy.
Sony Playstation 3 owners are going to have their hands full in the next few days, downloading software and updating their systems. What will it mean for gamers? Pretty much nothing.
The updates aren't for gamers. You can see that right here. They're for people who want to watch a slightly better picture when they're using the PS3 to show DVD movies. They're for people who want to see bigger renditions of pictures they've got saved to their Playstation Portables. They're for people who... uh... well, that's about it.
If you're a gamer waiting for a reason to use the PS3, you'll just have to keep waiting. Sure, it can upscale PSOne and PS2 games, but from what I've seen thus far, those games simply play better on their original systems -- and the PS2 is still beating the PS3 in sales, six months after the introduction of the PS3.
Of course, you could treat the installation of the new PS3 firmware as a game itself. Score 10 points for yourself when you get the thing downloaded. Subtract a point for every hour it takes to download it properly. Score 10 points for yourself when the firmware update is installed and running. Subtract a point for every hour it takes to get the thing working right. If you're lucky, your score will still be a positive number in the end.
Then add it to your gamerscore and... oh, yeah, the PS3 doesn't have a gamerscore.
Take MySpace, Nintendo’s Miis, and Xbox Live then mix it up and throw it all inside of a Playstation3. What do you get? You get a little something that feels like, well, Home. It’s no secret around here that I haven’t been a big Playstion3 fan because of its extravagant selling price. I do have to say that Sony’s new Home interactive feature has me a bit curious and intrigued. Home is Sony’s social gaming network that allows players to interact with each other and display their gaming achievements. Think of it as Xbox Live and Nintendo’s Miis on steroids. You create your avatar and off you go. Character creation is similar to that of certain MMOs, allowing players to choose from a variety of facial characteristics and proportions. Apartment furniture and character clothing is freely downloadable, while some will be paid premium downloads. Additionally, some items will be unlocked simply by playing particular PS3 games. There are minigames such as bowling and billiards as well as arcade games to keep you entertained. You can display your achievements as trophies in your apartment and watch movie trailers or other video content on in-world TVs. Other PS3 owners can be invited over to hang out in your pad and socialize before jumping into a video game.
For all of those who have a PS3, the Home beta started showing up in the Playstation store a few days ago for those who were accepted. Here’s the ironic part for me. I think it may be the Home feature of the Playstation3 and not an actual video game that turns out to be a system-seller in my case.
Take a look at this video from the 2007 Game Developers Conference. It pretty much sums up the Home concept. I know I’ve been hard on Sony for a while, but I’ll also give credit where it’s due and it’s definitely due here. Good job Sony! I think I’m starting to understand the “potential” you spoke of. You just might get my money after all…grumble, grumble…bastards.
News item:Ken Kutaragi, creator of the PlayStation console, will retire from his post as Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s chairman and group CEO, effective June 19, Sony Corp. said.
Do you know how you can tell Kutaragi chose to retire?
I don't mind taking credit for it. I made the prediction in May 2006, and now it's all coming to pass.
Last May I wrote the following post about the pricing of the XBox 360 and the two forthcoming game consoles, the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. According to this story, it seems that I may have been on target after all...
An executive from Sega, one of Nintendo's largest publishers, told Forbes.com last week that he expects the Wii to sell for less than $200. With a $200 price point, the Wii might not only be a video game system, but the new currency exchange unit for video game system sales. Consider this:
Nintendo Wii: 1 Wii Microsoft XBox 360 Base: 1.5 Wii Microsoft XBox 360 Deluxe: 2 Wii Sony Playstation 3 Premium (retail in November): 3 Wii Sony Playstation 3 Premium (on eBay in December): 6-8 Wii Sony Playstation 3 Premium (retail, next May): 1.5 Wii
Sure, I got the Wii price point wrong (it was $250, not $200), but I was otherwise close to the target.
And to all those Sony fanboys who have been berating me for my disparaging comments regarding the PS3, I'd like to point out that they sold a whopping 167,000 PS3's in February. At that rate, they'll clean out the entire initial 6 million PS3 run... by, uh, June 2010.
So remember back a few months ago when Capcom SWORE that it was going to be exclusive to the PS3. Like, the pinky swore to Sony and before God that it was going to never EVER going to have any other home than on the PS3. Well, they lied. They are dirty, rotten, skinky, [I mean in desperate need of a bath] liars... but that's a good thing. Why? Because, more DMC4 madness on more platforms means more likely to have an online component.
Can you imaging Dante and Nero and maybe even Virgil grudge matches over XBLive? What about those old mansion survival modes? Remember those? [I made it 35 levels once... once] Imagine rooms and rooms of those mansions filled with other Live players in a winner takes all type melee battle. Can't imagine it? I hope that Capcom does.
I had no intention of doing another installment of Douce’s Jewels this early, but this is one that I couldn’t keep tucked away. I’m going to make this short and sweet because believe me when I say this jewel speaks for itself. What do you get when you spray paint a Playstation 3 candy-chrome red (That’s right. I said red.) and put it on Ebay? If you thought the intense PS3 bidding on Ebay was over then you were sadly mistaken. I’m saving my comments until you guys see it you’ve had time to process it. Then we can all discuss this craziness together.
Now brace yourself. Seriously, you REALLY need to brace yourself. The only name I could think of to call this jewel is, YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!
I'd like to blame it on NinjaSistah. After all, she's the one who damned it in her very first post on this site. She killed it, but like Frankenstein's monster, it lives on.
The Official U.S. Playstation Magazine (that was always a tough name to swallow) died with the January 2007 issue -- killed by lack of advertising sales, the introduction of the lame PlayStation 3 and, I think, by NinjaSistah's devastating post about it almost a year ago, which you can read here.*
But OPM lives on -- in Britain. And they're even putting Blu-Ray demo discs inside. How well they will survive the trip from Europe to America is anybody's guess, though. Read more about it here.
* -- A little postscript on NinjaSistah's experience with OPM demo discs: She cancelled her subscription to OPM last year after having been a subscriber for several years. A few months later she started receiving the magazine free through a different distributor. The discs were packed perfectly and she never received another bad or broken disc. And then OPM stopped publishing entirely. C'est la vie!
Sony has once again recommitted itself to its claim that it will ship 6 million Playstation 3 boxes by March 31. But just where are those boxes all going? We think we might have the answer in this comic...
With Sony's announcement of PS3 Home last week, the company's got some work to do in order for their avatars to catch up to Nintendo's avatars, as you can see in this comic...
There's a big rumor going around that Sony has discontinued the 20-gigabyte version of the Playstation 3. So we present a comic that shows just how quickly things change...
Judging by the expression on this woman's face, she is having the time of her life. Obviously, it is the result of what she is viewing on the Icuiti video eyewear. See if you can guess what she is watching:
A. The L Word B. Apple's latest "I'm a Mac" ad on TV C. A giant fort of unsold PlayStation 3 consoles at Best Buy D. Porn E. Nothing at all -- she's a model, dammit!
The answer, of course, is E. A woman who looks like that wouldn't be caught dead wearing a plastic pair of wraparound shades connected to a video game (as you can see from the expanded view below).
The nerdy guy also portrayed on this page? His expression is much more believable. The device, called the iWear VR920, purports to let you "step inside" the game via a "3-degree-of-freedom head tracker."
Icuiti is marketing the device for players of MMORPG games like World of Warcraft, but it can also play on consoles, according to the accompanying literature. Here are some other features of the device:
Designed for use with a laptop or standard PC through a simple USB and VGA connection
Big 62-inch virtual display viewed at 9 feet
Built-in noise canceling microphone for Internet VOIP communications
Integrated “non-dangling” headphones that can be upgraded or removed to allow the user to plug in their own headset
Supports component video-in from the latest generation of game consoles
We've seen lots of virtual video headsets over the years and none have yet caught on in the gaming world. Will the iWear VR920 catch on? Not as long as it makes you look like Geordi LaForge hanging out at the beach.
I've never had the balls to crack open my PS3 case. In all honesty, after the green screen freeze of last week during DVD playback I've been weary of touching that thing at all. But the courageous folks over there at Tech Republic have broken down how the guts of the PS3 compare to those of the PS2, and they've done it all with pictures... good looking, non-grainy pics no less!
It's when you get to this picture that the fun really starts, at least from my point of view. You can see that the internal parts main layout is similar on both systems, the only difference is that you can fit the entirety of the the PS2 components on the left side of the PS3 and still have some wiggle room. Hell, the PS2 is the size of the damned Blu-Ray drive! Oh, we can't forget that cooling fan either. You see this? See how large that PS3 fan is? Makes that poor lil PS2 fan have an inferiority complex. At least it would, if the PS3 didn't run warmer than all get out. I have to keep mine on a level all by itself in my AV rack so it can get enough air circulating in order to keep it happy.
And the award for best image in the whole gallery goes to:the PS2 mainboard vs. Blu-Ray Drive. Sure, it's probably a tad bit unfair to compare a redesigned to be compact generation 2 PS2 to a first one out the gate in a hurry generation 1 PS3, but who in life said things had to be fair? The fact is, the system is bloated... but many gen 1 systems are. After looking at all the innards of the box, it's obvious that Sony has done their best to make use of every square inch of space that the PS3 encompasses, my question is when will the slimline PS3 be available?
We know that Sony is hard at work trying to iron out the kinks in the backwards compatibility between the Cell Processor and previous PS titles so they will not have to include the PS2 hardware in the system. That will be a huge step towards reducing the physical size [and weight] of the PS3, but what about the size of the Blu-Ray drive? Will there ever be a reduction in it's size to allow the PS3 to get down to the size of the original PS2? [Give or take an inch or two] I think if they can get these issues addressed by next Holiday, the PS3 will be able to cut into the next-gen console war lead that Nintendo and Microsoft have on them.
In this episode Pandalicious gives us the low-down on the wacky, weird, and well, bestial nature of the anime He Is My Master. She says it's only slightly pornish, I reserve my judgement until episode two gets reviewed. MagicMysticGrl tries to untangle the woven path of the manwa Priest and NinJaSistah talks exclusivity [or lack there of] between game developers and the PS3.
Another fun episode wrapped up and delivered with a bow: Enjoy!
Months and months after moving into my new digs I have finally reassembled my tower of power is back in business.
I speak, of course, of my gaming rig... the center of my entertainment world is whole once more. It's taken me months to find all of my cables, power cords, power bricks, games, and then the time to put the sonofabitch together. I put the most important systems on the TV to start [being the next-gen boxes] but the PS2, Xbox, and PSP sort of kinda languished in a box over in the corner of the room. A dimly lit corner of the room to make it even more pathetic. I would have had a GameCube in the tower as well but it was given to Pandalicious in hopes that it might lure her away from WoW. It did not.
So what's in my gaming rig you might ask? Well, in what has now become the "Tower of Older Power" we have the Xbox with slight modification, a PS2, PSP, Gameboy SP, 6-input S-Video switch, XB360 quick-charge stand, digital cable box, and games awaiting a trip to the local Gamestop for trade in.
In the main arena I have my PS3, XB360, and Nintendo Wii tucked away under my 42" TV from LCD Olevia Yes, the NinJa is back in action people. Now some of you may have noticed that I mentioned a bunch of consoles that have online gameplayability, [hehe, I made a new word] but didn't mention how I have them networked... it's because I don't yet. Right now, the Wii connects to my existing wireless network and my XB360 and PS3 are share a connection from an Apple Airport Express. Until I decided on a good ethernet switch for these guys to share it will stay that way.
Now all I need is enough furniture so that the gaming parties can begin. What about you guys? What do your rigs look like? What would you like to add? Wanna send us a picture? I'm putting some larger images of my rig in the gallery, so check it out.
I got a chance to sit down with a shiny new PS3 and play some Madden 07 recently. I have always been a big Madden fan, I still have a copy of the first one I ever bought for Genesis back in 1993. I had high expectations for this one since it was on a system that dwarfed the previous systems I had played the Madden series on, but I was sorely disappointed.
What I found was a very sloppy game. It had a menu that in an attempt to be slick and stylish was not very user friendly. The replays and videos of your team entering and getting ready for a play were incredibly choppy, usually unable to go a second without it freezing up for a little bit. It had lost the franchise mode I had come to love and instead focused mainly on Superstar mode, which was a big disappointment.
The concept of Superstar mode itself was not bad. It's a cool to control yourself on a team and fight towards greatness. The problem with this is that there is oftentimes not much to do. I don't enjoy sitting down to a game with a controller in my hand and just watching. Since you could only control your player, that's all you really did. As a quarterback I was able to get some control but as a cornerback I lost interest very quickly. I had no control over the offense and on defense I ended up covering sides of the field that the opposing team never passed to anyway. To make this mode more frustrating, the UI was awful. Every time my QB handed off the ball to the running back he would run right into a mob of the opponent. In every game I played via superstar mode my RB only once got a gain of above three yards. It wasn't because I had a bad team either, last time I checked Tiki Barber was pretty good at running.
They tried to showcase the better look and playability of the system but that also fell short. Not only did they have choppy videos but they used terrible camera angles to show off the field. They continually used a shot that was from the entrance into the mid level seating down onto the field. The problem with this view was that it showcased how bad the audience was. I counted only three models in the entire stadium, and from that terrible camera view you could see how flat their were as well as mysterious floating pixels.
I still have hopes for the game, though not on this system. Perhaps the X-box 360 will be able to handle the graphics better or maybe the Wii innovative controller will make it as fun to play as Wii bowling. Perhaps EA having exclusives on the NFL means the end of some great games however....
Personally, I think that making a 360 box with a built in HDMI port is a good idea. Such a good idea in fact that I think that they should have done it from the launch of the damn thing. What's going to happen when this new box hits the shelves and all of us fine folk who bought systems before they got their proper port allotment? Are we going to get a make good? Is this part of the reason why MS upped the warranty for the XB360? Am I going to get to call customer service and get my 360 "fixed" and be sent a replacement box? Huh, MS? You gonna hook a sistah up or what? I need to know.
Jokes aside, it was nice to see that after another heads up comparison of the 360 and the PS3 what I've been saying for a while is turning out to be true: PS3 isn't going to blow anything out of the water just yet. Between the scaling issues, the games division losing something close to 1.4 billion [that's billion, with a "B"] that we may have not been off our nut when we said Sony might be in some trouble.
I like being right. Damn it feels good to be a ninja!
The first full Monday after the CES recovery week brings with it a 
Monday morning 
Last week I was woo'd by the MTV Games/Harmonix title The Beatles: Rock Band. This week, Activision's DJ Hero has my direct attention.
Good News however, never comes hand in hand with its little brother. The bad news is that while the original PS3 could stand perfectly on its own, you might have to purchase a vertical stand. I suggest you save your $24 and prop up your PS3 Slim with your Golden Girls DVD box set. Also, PS3 Slim HATES Linux, so good luck with playing with the PS3 OS. Rounding out the bad news is the lack of PS2 game compatibility. I don't see why this drawback cannot be fixed via firmware, but until then you are out of luck if you ever feel the urge to get nostalgic. 
Rachel is clad in skimpy black and red leather with metal spikes in all the right places where Momiji [who is more on the side of a priestess than bounty hunter like Rachel] is clad in more of a traditional type white and red spiritual priestess outfit. Then there is Ayane's outfit, which I don't feel words do justice to, so I will just post a picture and leave it to you to figure out a proper description for it. 
Oh baby, am I glad about this! The first time I played a Tap song in Guitar Hero I kept praying that someone would add more stuff from Spinal Tap to their line up, and evidently the group over at Harmonix heard my silent cries. 
The autumn of 2008 is going to be all about the new Rock Band and Guitar Hero games around the household of Ninjasistah -- anyone who has ever listened to a few ESH podcasts already knows that. But while she's banging away at her drums or shredding guitar, her mind is going to be on something else entirely.
I'm not sure what that last one means and it's taking far too long to download the pr kit for the thing, so here's a pic that I ganked from the interwebs.
In the "Skulldozer" level, we had to get to the finish line of the level without being touched by a bulldozer made out of skeleton bones that gave us chase...and from the rear no less. While you do have a limited number of times you can respawn in the game, being able to watch others play is a huge piece of the game play. At no point in time during the day today was the line for LBP shorter than a 45-1hour wait, and that I think says a lot about the game.
It's another 
Today is the day people. Are your thumbs ready? Did you do your exercises? Were you able to decide between the path of the Jedi or the Dark Side? I hope you have, because today is July 29th which means that Soul Calibur IV has hit the shelves.
The videogame industry is packed with news these days, but I'm sure you must have read about some of this stuff:
Think of FI:EX as a WipeOut for the next-gen [I guess we can finally start calling them "current gen" now right?] FI:EX features a new environment exclusive to the PS3. Along with offering a restructured training curriculum, the game boasts a new gameplay mode, "The Proving Grounds" which is also home to 8 new racing tracks.
Hey y'all, guess what? That game that looked freakin' sweet at E3 for the PS3, Haze... yeah, there's going to be a playable demo available on the PSN in early May.
This is getting ridiculous. It seems that if you want to improve sales of a product, all you have to do is put an iPod Dock in it. The latest example is the Razer Pro|Type keyboard, shown here. But that's not what would get me to buy a new keyboard, so I mocked up a picture of what would sell me on a new keyboard.
There's a new trailer up for 
At the end of September last year, ElectricSistaHood published a post asking the big question of the day: Will the PS3 cause Sony to go broke? 
Judging by the expression on this woman's face, she is having the time of her life. Obviously, it is the result of what she is viewing on the Icuiti video eyewear. See if you can guess what she is watching:
I speak, of course, of my gaming rig... 
So what's in my gaming rig you might ask? Well, in what has now become the "Tower of Older Power" we have the Xbox 
In the main arena I have my PS3, XB360, and Nintendo Wii tucked away under my 42" TV from 
