The Good:
-Amazing Cel Shaded Graphics
-Story Keeps Player Interested
-Soundtrack Fits The Scenario
-Special Powers That Add To The Platforming
-Combat Is Fun With Incredible Combo Sequences
-Elika
The Bad:
-Platforming Issues
-The A (or X for Ps3) Button is Over-used
-Not Enough Enemies
-Repetitive Boss Battles
-The Prince Is Really Annoying
-Backtracking To Gather Orbs
-No Replay Value
And The Ugly:
-No Punishment For Death
-Grab Button Is Glitchy
-Voice Acting For The Prince Is Out Of Place
The Good:
Prince of Persia is a series that has been around for a while and the games have never led to disappointment in my eyes. Speaking of eyes let me just say that mine have been having the most fun in years. My retina may have serious damage now from all of these colors invading my eye at once. Seriously, Prince of Persia is truly impressive and it should be noted that you stop and pay attention to details in this game. Ubisoft really nailed Cel-Shading with their unexpected turn in the right direction with this unique art style. They really set the bar very high on top with these graphics, it should be fun to see other developers try to grab that bar, or even try to top it. But enough about the graphics lets get into it shall we... The story starts off introducing us to this new main character known as "The Prince" however he bears no resemblance or relation to the previous Prince in the other games. This Prince is a fresh new character with a new attitude. You drop in on you're new hero looking for his donkey named Farah, (funny name, sounds familiar) while in mid search he encounters Elicka who is on the run from her father and needs help. The Prince involves himself in Elicka's affairs and before you know it your on a mission to save the world. The story grabs you enough so you don't lose interest but you're not really on the edge of your seat either. There are points in the story that are real an eye opener, but what really helps the experience is the music. The soundtrack fits perfect, it has this crazy "desert-action" feel to it that really brings out the excitement while platforming. When you are brought into the action you will notice the platforming has changed and a lot of it is focused around the A button (or X for ps3). Although I, myself am not particularly fond of this change, a lot of gamers will find platforming very easy and will be able to pick up and play in a matter of minutes. One of the things that makes platforming fun are the powers The Prince and Elicka obtain. These powers will make you fly for a short while, run up and down walls, or carry you to a far location that is normally out of reach. The powers look great and are executed almost like mini games to take you away from the platforming. Another drastic change lies within the combat system. In the previous games such as The Warrior Within or Two Thrones you would be put up against multiple enemies, the battles were challenging and even brutal at times. In Prince of Persia 4 it seems like they went back to the original Prince of Persia formula as you fight only one enemy at a time. There are ups and downs to the combat but my favorite moments happened during the combo sequences. Not to be confused with the quicktime events, combo sequences make you feel like you are fighting an enemy and watching a movie at the same time. During these events you must utilize Elicka (magic), your sword, grab, or jump. When streaming these buttons together in a combo you get unbelievable fighting sequences that do not get old. Elicka replaces the strong attack button an she plays the role of you're magic attacks. Let it be known that Elicka's presence in this game is perfect and her character really makes the game interesting. She steals the lead right out from underneath The Prince, and although I miss using the sands of time to rewind my deaths the fact of the matter is, in a game like this when you are constantly dying it is nice to have a quick restart.
The Bad:
Now Prince Of Persia is a platformer and I am a huge fan of the series. The thing about the Prince of Persia games that made them so great was they managed to be platformers without having that stupid "Spyro The Dragon" platformer feel to it. You know what I'm talking about. The kind of games when you have to run around gathering item after item in order to open the next door and all the while you're brain is screaming THIS IS ANNOYING! I liked Prince of Persia so much because it always stayed away from that idea. Instead of collecting items for the next door it would be a puzzle, (a very hard puzzle at that) which required you to run up walls, slide down curtains, and kill a couple bad dudes on the way. Unfortunately Prince of Persia 4 throws that idea out the window. Instead Ubisoft went all Spyro The Dragon on us and introduced these "magical orbs". These orbs terrorize everything that made Prince Of Persia so unique. The game feels like a true platformer now and it cannot be ignored. Let me just say most of the game revolves around these orbs and they are little glowing torture devices. They will be mentioned a lot during "THE BAD" part of this afterthought. In the tedious process of getting these orbs you will have to utilize The Prince's acrobatic skills. It is unfortunate that this is one of the main problems with the game. The once intense, and challenging movements of The Prince can now just be done at the press of the jump button. I found myself immensely bored while running along walls, swinging from bars, or sliding down broken areas. Everything is just done with the push of one button and it can get very easy and tiresome. Personally I would have liked if the platforming was harder, like say Mirrors Edge for example. If a player takes up Mirrors Edge the free running will take some getting used too, but eventually they get good at it and before they know it the player develops a skill for it. In Prince of Persia it doesn't really get harder, the platforming just feels really simple and the player is never challenged at all for that matter. Also the battles inbetween platforming are scarce and can actually be avoided altogether. This is because you can actually kill an enemy before they even spawn. It just creates the idea of why? Making fighting optional? I don't understand why Ubisoft wouldn't show off the amazing fight sequences as much as possible. I may not understand what they were thinking with the general battles, but it quickly became apparent that the boss battles were way to repetitive. There are four bosses in the game and each of them must be fought six times, not mentioning Elicka's father who you also face six times on random occasions. The boss battles rely heavily on quicktime events and I feel that was a bad gameplay decision altogether. Everyone has seen these before and I myself have never really disliked them up until now. The combat would have worked so much better without these little events stopping the action. In one boss battle you will encounter at least 10 quicktime events (and I'm talking about the minimum here). After enduring the boss battles you will indulge yourself in a cut-scene of Elicka healing the land. This scene is true eye candy and is worth a gander. Unfortunately after this scene you will be forced to find orbs for Elicka in order to gain the next power and move to the next stage. These orbs require you to backtrack the steps you just took to get to the boss. You will look high and low for these orbs with some seeming impossible to get. The problem is it takes you out of the experience because while the player may feel eager to continue they will be held back and forced into searching for orbs. Prince Of Persia also has a strict formula that never really changes.The formula is: kill the boss, collect the orbs, return to the temple and gain a new power. These three events are repeated over and over until the game ends. However you can stop the action and talk to Elicka at any moment and attempt to understand these two new characters. Unfortunately that experience is ruined because most of them end up with the player listening to The Prince go on about how "cool" he is, and it just gets annoying. The Prince is probably the most annoying hero I've ever encountered in a game. He really thinks hes the man, with inappropriate references to sex all the time and horrible one-liners that sound like they were taken out of a really bad Vin Diesel movie. I found myself missing the old Prince immensely during this game and the change really frustrated me. All in all after you beat this game nothing else is offered, its just a single player campaign, that's all. This bothers me a lot nowadays when games are 60$ and I'm only getting 12 hours of gameplay out of it. The truth is I'm probably never going to touch this game again, I really wish more developers would think about their customers bang for their buck. There are plenty of things to add to this game too; A time attack mode, a survival mode, anything! Maybe we will see downloadable content but I doubt anything other than character skins will be available.
And The Ugly:
Prince of Persia is one of the many games that is trying revolutionize games in today's media crazed world. In this case Ubisoft wanted to eliminate the need for continues in video games. It is an idea that can go either way with the fans nowadays. I feel that games are ready for this in today's world, we are done with that stupid screen saying "YOU DIED" (press start to try again) it does feel too old and we're tired of it. Prince Of Persia uses Elicka to save you from near death experiences everytime, whether it be in a battle or just a regular fall off a platform. The great thing is you never see a continue screen once throughout the entire game, the ugly thing is there is no punishment for dying. I feel that the choice to leave punishment out makes this game way too easy. It can lead to the player abusing the fact they can die and get back into the action within seconds. Many times I found myself jumping off platforms on purpose because I didn't want to run back to the start. Once I jumped off to my doom, Elicka revived me and it saved me some time, but it just felt stupid killing myself to make it easier. All and all it fits well with the gameplay but the problem is it could have been executed a lot better. Although dying may not have been a huge problem with the gameplay there are some issues with the combat. Many times I found the grab button wouldn't connect to my enemies leaving me exposed and open for attack. I would press the grab button and my fist would clearly go through the body of my enemies. This can be a real hassle while fighting one of the bosses known as the Concubine. This boss inparticular requires a grab motion to apply any sort of attack. The player will try time and time again to grab her and fail miserably. All six of my battles with the Concubine were unnecessarily long and aggravating because of this broken feature. Aside from the previous statements the only other minor complaint I had with Prince Of Persia was Nolan North being the new voice of The Prince. The problem is, if The Prince is Persian why does he have an American accent? It sounds ridicules and does not fit well at all with the scenario. The old voice actor would have been perfect or even Naveen Andrews (Sayid from the TV series Lost). Instead Nolan North takes the character in an unfamiliar direction and brings him out to be this cheesy charismatic ladies man, and in turn it drags the experience down a lot.
Final Thoughts:
I mentioned at the beginning of these afterthoughts that I have yet to be disappointed from a game in the Prince Of Persia series. Unfortunately I can no longer say that because this game was really disappointing to me. The decision to make the game accessible to all was disastrous and the core gameplay really took some hard blows because of it. The fact of the matter is the game is just too easy by lacking in areas where it used to shine, by changing things that should have been left untouched, and by introducing this dreadful new character into the series. I would recommend Prince of Persia as a rental because there is no replay value at all, and I cannot stress how important that is nowadays. Still I would not call Prince Of Persia a bad game by any means, it's just isn't at all what I was hoping for. On the bright side the art style will blow you're mind away and is truly remarkable, but just because the game looks pretty on the outside it does not mean everything on the inside will be the same.
Final Grade: 7.5 Continue Reading»
For the guys, we now have:
Pixel Art Hoodie
Rave Baseball Cap
Dark Purple Jeans
Green Skinny Fit Jeans
Pink Sweat Bands
The ladies have these new items available:
Green Chunky Ring
Red Chunky Ring
Yellow Fingerless Gloves
Blue Fingerless Gloves
Chunky Beaded Bracelet
Day-glo Zebra Print Pumps
Rave Baseball Cap
All these new clothes are free, and can be seen in the avatar editor with a gold star.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 CoD: World at War
2 Halo 3
3 Gears of War 2
4 Call of Duty 4
5 Left 4 Dead
6 GTA IV
7 Guitar Hero World Tour
8 Fallout 3
9 Madden NFL 09
10 Fable II
Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1 Castle Crashers
2 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
3 A Kingdom for Keflings
4 Worms
5 UNO
6 Banjo-Kazooie
7 Puzzle Arcade
8 Bomberman Live
9 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
10 Portal: Still Alive
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.
Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Conker: Live Reloaded
6 Call of Duty 3
7 Doom 3
8 Star Wars: Battlefront
9 Splinter Cell Chaos
10 Burnout 3
Top Community Games NEW! (Full Versions purchased)
1 Golden Royal Blackjack
2 Fireplace
3 Word Soup
4 Snowmans Dilemma
5 Weapon of Choice
6 CarneyVale Showtime
7 EZMuze Break and House edition
8 Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp
9 sin(Surfing)
10 Dr. Popper
As someone who has just broken the icy grip that Blizzard has had on my account for the last 2 years (that's right, I started playing WoW again, so that's why you haven't seen me post lately), this story hits near and dear to my heart.
Viking's Punter Chris Kluwe is a pretty huge gamer, and he's not ashamed to admit it. On his radio show, Minnesota's 93X, he says "I think more people like to hear me talk about playing video games than football". And when Kluwe heard that Bengal's receiver Chad Johnson changed his name to Ocho Cinco, he was quoted saying....
"I told the guys at 93X that I was going to change my name to Chris 'World of Warcraft,' " Kluwe said. "They said that's too long. So they started calling me Chris 'Warcraft.' I could make a lot of money if I changed my name to that."
When I say this man's a gamer, I mean that he's a gamer. Imagine how obsessed you'd probably be with football if you played it professionally. Now imagine how hard you'd have to overcome that obsession to focus on gaming. Now imagine you'd change your name after your favorite game character.
See what I'm getting at - that shit's dedication.
When asked about how much time he spends gaming, Kluwe responded...
"I've played video games since I was 4 years old. I play them a lot more than I kick a football. I kick the ball about 45 minutes a day. I play video games about five or six hours a day. But that's OK. I don't watch TV."
Now I'm not sure if he's kidding, but considering that he is not only a gamer, but also a professional football player, the chances that he'd do something this stupid are exponentially higher. And, if you watch the video, notice his "Original Ganksta" t-shirt. Any of my Rogue brethren will understand that this guy means business when it comes to his World of Warcraft.
Either way, it's funny just to consider it.
via Star Tribune Continue Reading»
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Cometary by, Dave Clayman and Jeffrey Haynes of the IGN team.
The main questions are Will I finally dust off my PS3? Or will Killzone 2 flop just like it's predecessor? Well the game looks great, some of the most impressive graphics I've ever seen. The problem is while watching this video that's all that impressed me. It looks like you're basic first person shooter honestly. I feel like the developer is trying to make it seem like they are inventing all these new ideas but the problem is they've all been done before and nothing looks really amazing or revolutionary which is what I thought they were going to do. A couple of things bothered me while watching these and i will point them out so here we go.
Greg Daro's Problems With These Videos:
In part one They implement use of the Sixaxis controller by means of turning a valve oohhhh woooow excitement rushing through my arms as I turn my controller to open a door, whatever PS3 we all know Sixaxis sucks so stop using it. The next problem I had with video one was understanding why they stop him and ask him to fire upon a wall to show off the light that the gun gives while being shot. Haven't we seen that in almost every single FPS, why would they even stop for that!? I just don't get it yet... Also anyone else notice those grenades!? For some reason they just seem weird and underthrown, it looks like my grandmother could throw a grenade farther then this guy. The pain and anguish goes on as you watch part two. Killzone 2 introduces a new enemy; "The Heavy". They bring him out like his some crazy new invention to the gaming world and no one has ever used it before. Too bad anyone who played Army Of Two knows this idea is all to familiar; Bring out a enemy who is heavily armored in the front and has one weak spot, a button on his back. (Honestly how can you miss that huge bright button.. it may as well say SHOOT ME on it) It is also clear to me that "The Heavy" will take way to long to kill as you can see them pumping round after round into his stupid "shoot me button" an he just keeps coming back for more. At one point they say this before you even see the Heavy die. "Ok cool...So we saw the heavy in action...Wanna jump ahead?" I mean does it really take that long that you couldn't even have enough time to show us how the dumb thing dies? At this point my elbows were on my desk an I was holding my head up with my hands because I was tired of watching this. Oh boy time for Part 3. Now part three is just boring and I almost stopped watching at this point because I was so disappointed. You notice right away the situation is familiar, the character and his squad held up and forced to hold a position while wave upon wave of enemy assault on you're position, Yes there's a chain gun....So yeah your mowing down enemy's on a chain gun wow fun oh no don't shoot to much you're chain gun will overheat, yeah been there sigh..... At one point they say this will be like one of those great Call Of Duty moments. Yes exactly what i'm not looking for. The video ends with him getting beat down by the AI and me releaved knowing it was finally over. The point is this game looks like every other FPS out there. Now this doesn't make Killzone 2 a bad game by any means, it just means it's not gonna be anything special. Now I have read on the multiplayer and that does sound very fun but until I see some gameplay I am not completely sold for Killzone 2. Until I see something that makes my heart race and eyes pop out of my head my PS3 will forever remain the ultimate Blue Ray player..Till then this is a very pissed off Greg Daro signing off. Continue Reading»
Part 2
Part 3
Cometary by, Dave Clayman and Jeffrey Haynes of the IGN team.
The main questions are Will I finally dust off my PS3? Or will Killzone 2 flop just like it's predecessor? Well the game looks great, some of the most impressive graphics I've ever seen. The problem is while watching this video that's all that impressed me. It looks like you're basic first person shooter honestly. I feel like the developer is trying to make it seem like they are inventing all these new ideas but the problem is they've all been done before and nothing looks really amazing or revolutionary which is what I thought they were going to do. A couple of things bothered me while watching these and i will point them out so here we go.
Greg Daro's Problems With These Videos:
In part one They implement use of the Sixaxis controller by means of turning a valve oohhhh woooow excitement rushing through my arms as I turn my controller to open a door, whatever PS3 we all know Sixaxis sucks so stop using it. The next problem I had with video one was understanding why they stop him and ask him to fire upon a wall to show off the light that the gun gives while being shot. Haven't we seen that in almost every single FPS, why would they even stop for that!? I just don't get it yet... Also anyone else notice those grenades!? For some reason they just seem weird and underthrown, it looks like my grandmother could throw a grenade farther then this guy. The pain and anguish goes on as you watch part two. Killzone 2 introduces a new enemy; "The Heavy". They bring him out like his some crazy new invention to the gaming world and no one has ever used it before. Too bad anyone who played Army Of Two knows this idea is all to familiar; Bring out a enemy who is heavily armored in the front and has one weak spot, a button on his back. (Honestly how can you miss that huge bright button.. it may as well say SHOOT ME on it) It is also clear to me that "The Heavy" will take way to long to kill as you can see them pumping round after round into his stupid "shoot me button" an he just keeps coming back for more. At one point they say this before you even see the Heavy die. "Ok cool...So we saw the heavy in action...Wanna jump ahead?" I mean does it really take that long that you couldn't even have enough time to show us how the dumb thing dies? At this point my elbows were on my desk an I was holding my head up with my hands because I was tired of watching this. Oh boy time for Part 3. Now part three is just boring and I almost stopped watching at this point because I was so disappointed. You notice right away the situation is familiar, the character and his squad held up and forced to hold a position while wave upon wave of enemy assault on you're position, Yes there's a chain gun....So yeah your mowing down enemy's on a chain gun wow fun oh no don't shoot to much you're chain gun will overheat, yeah been there sigh..... At one point they say this will be like one of those great Call Of Duty moments. Yes exactly what i'm not looking for. The video ends with him getting beat down by the AI and me releaved knowing it was finally over. The point is this game looks like every other FPS out there. Now this doesn't make Killzone 2 a bad game by any means, it just means it's not gonna be anything special. Now I have read on the multiplayer and that does sound very fun but until I see some gameplay I am not completely sold for Killzone 2. Until I see something that makes my heart race and eyes pop out of my head my PS3 will forever remain the ultimate Blue Ray player..Till then this is a very pissed off Greg Daro signing off. Continue Reading»
There's a lot of these circling around youtube and Bungies blog and they are just plain fun to watch. This is the 8th in the series. Continue Reading»
Warning:
The bushes in Super Mario Bros. were just recolored clouds.
In Pokemon Gold/Silver, the Goldenrod city gym is actually a Clefairy
The five dungeons spell "Zelda".
Articuno
Zapdos
Moltres
The 3 in the Super Mario Bros. 3 title screen has Tanooki Suit Mario as the shadow.
Miles "Tails" Prower
Miles Prower
Miles per hour
Ryu & Ken's Hadouken attacks are actually their hands in energy form.
From sonic unleashed, bottom left corner.
The Numbers Are Reverse Of Each Other. CAT AND MOUSE. FRIEND AND FOE.
Continue Reading»
The bushes in Super Mario Bros. were just recolored clouds.
In Pokemon Gold/Silver, the Goldenrod city gym is actually a Clefairy
The five dungeons spell "Zelda".
Articuno
Zapdos
Moltres
The 3 in the Super Mario Bros. 3 title screen has Tanooki Suit Mario as the shadow.
Miles "Tails" Prower
Miles Prower
Miles per hour
Ryu & Ken's Hadouken attacks are actually their hands in energy form.
From sonic unleashed, bottom left corner.
The Numbers Are Reverse Of Each Other. CAT AND MOUSE. FRIEND AND FOE.
Continue Reading»
Eh, the sad thing is this actually looks less ridiculous than the actual movie. Pretty good but Olivia Munn makes it worth watching. Continue Reading»
No review this week, just all of Yahtzee's best moments for 2008.
Not playing? Head here Continue Reading»
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 3
2 CoD: World at War
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 Dash of Destruction
7 Left 4 Dead
8 Madden NFL 09
9 FIFA 09
10 Fable II
Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
2 Bomberman Live
3 A Kingdom for Keflings
4 Castle Crashers
5 Worms
6 UNO
7 Banjo-Kazooie
8 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
9 Portal: Still Alive
10 Braid
Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Conker: Live Reloaded
6 Call of Duty 3
7 Splinter Cell Chaos
8 Battlefield 2: MC
9 Star Wars: Battlefront
10 Doom 3
Top Community Games NEW! (Full Versions purchased)
1 Golden Royal Blackjack
2 Snowmans Dilemma
3 Word Soup
4 Weapon of Choice
5 Tower Revolution
6 World Molder
7 Couples Sudoku
8 Petank Party
9 sin(Surfing)
10 Classicard Continue Reading»
We all know and despise clam shell packaging. It's the hard plastic packaging that most smaller electronic equipment comes in that is a pain in the ass to open and somehow manages to cut your hands. Good news for everyone. Sony has stated they will be getting away from the packaging and looking for more cost effective and environmentally friendly ways to deliver goods to consumers. A while ago, a few other big companies announced they would be doing away with the packaging also but nothing has come of that yet. Dave had a good article about his hatred for clam shell packaging back in May. Check it out. Its worth the read. Continue Reading»
Someone recently used the XNA tools to make a fireplace you can download for your Xbox. Pretty cool idea I guess for people that don't mind leaving their Xboxs on and want to get into the holiday mood. Oh wait. It actually costs five dollars. For a video of a fireplace that will not heat you and looks like it was taken from a mid 90's computer game. See for yourself.
<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a2d1dd9c-b5cc-46ff-8087-a4d989c0fdca&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="XBox 360 Fireplace">Video: XBox 360 Fireplace</a>
Continue Reading»
For those of you who haven't heard, Shawn Elliott, former 1up Editor and GFW Magazine writer and podcaster has gotten together with a couple of gaming's biggest names in games journalism for a symposium.
These names include, Elliott himself, now a 2K Boston employee, Jeff Green, former GFW Magazine Editor-In-Chief turned EA employee, Stephen Totillo of the MTV Multiplayer Blog, N'Gai Croal of Newsweek's Level-Up Blog, and Kieron Gillen from RockPaperShotgun - just to name a few.
The symposium will basically cover a bunch of topics relevant to the games journalism world, such as Review Scores, Reader Blacklash, Reviews in the age of Social Media and Mainstream Median, and Reviews vs. Criticism - and each journalist will share their feelings on said topic.
This first part, Review Scores, can be read on Shawn Elliott's blog (shawnelliott.blogspot.com), and although it is kind of lengthy it's definitely worth checking out. Continue Reading»
Gamestop has recently slashed prices on a few recently released games. Prince of Persia, EndWar, and Far Cry 2 have all had their prices cut from $59.99 to $39.99. Some might be wondering why this would be a bad thing. Believe me I don't complain about saving money but it doesn't bode well for the gaming industry as a whole. All three of these franchises are well known products already and the fact that their prices have been cut so drastically so soon after release doesn't look good in terms of sales. It has been a great year for gamers and a very bad one for developers. Gamers have been awarded with new IP's like Dead Space and Left 4 Dead and great sequels like Gears of War 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. The problem is that a lot of these games still havn't sold well. Companies rarely like to make new properties due to not knowing whether people will actually buy the finished product. That is why companies are so willing to endlessly shell out sequel upon sequel without ever really changing anything. Then we as the gamers cry foul that developers aren't making anything new and exciting and when they finally take a chance, we the gamers, don't buy it. Many big developers and publishers this year went out to make new IP's this year and it was unfortunately a terrible time for that with the world's crumbling economy. The sad thing about it is that for every new piece of garbage that came out this year like Mirror's Edge, there was a Dead Space which is one of my picks for game of the year. Now that games future is in jeopardy along with many others due to the sad state the world is in.
Continue Reading»
Comedian turned family movie star Eddie Murphey is apparently in talks to take on the role of The Riddler in the upcoming Batman movie. Also reportedly in talks for a role in the movie is Shia Lebeouf who will be the new Robin. Not gonna lie, I like Lebeouf but he is in no way, shape, or form Robin. On the other hand though, the casting of Heath Ledger to be the Joker was also seen as a mistake at the time but look at how that turned out. The Murphey news is just complete bullshit though. The source this comes from, The UK Sun is also the source that claimed 62 year old singer Cher was going to be the next Catwoman so don't expect this to go anywhere.
Continue Reading»
Tim Robbins, known for his roles in The Shawshank Redemption and Mission to Mars, has reportedly signed on to join the cast of Iron Man 2 as Tony Stark(Iron Man)'s late father Howard Stark. While in the movie, it is mentioned he worked on the atom bomb, there is speculation that he will also play a role in the creation of the super soldier serum which gave Captain America his powers. Also rumored to appear in the movie is the archer Hawkeye and the Soviet spy Black Widow.
Continue Reading»
Good news for Final Fantasy characters. First is that Dissidia's been announced to be coming to North America in the summer of 2009. Also announced is the character roster, sporting heroes and villians from every Final Fantasy in the main series.Heroes
Final Fantasy I -- Warrior of Light
Final Fantasy II -- Firion
Final Fantasy III -- Onion Knight
Final Fantasy IV -- Cecil Harvey
Final Fantasy V -- Bartz Clauser
Final Fantasy VI -- Terra Branford
Final Fantasy VII -- Cloud Strife
Final Fantasy VIII -- Squall Leonhart
Final Fantasy IX -- Zidane Tribal
Final Fantasy X -- Tidus
Final Fantasy XI -- Shantotto
Villains
Final Fantasy I -- Garland
Final Fantasy II -- Emperor
Final Fantasy III -- Cloud of Darkness
Final Fantasy IV -- Golbez
Final Fantasy V -- Exdeath
Final Fantasy VI -- Kefka Palazzo
Final Fantasy VII -- Sephiroth
Final Fantasy VIII -- Ultimecia
Final Fantasy IX -- Kuja
Final Fantasy X -- Jecht
Final Fantasy XII -- Gabranth Continue Reading»
Free Radical Design, the makers of the TimeSplitters franchise and the "Halo Killer" turned flop, Haze, have closed their doors. Free Radicals much hyped first person shooter for the PS3 "Haze" was not the game it was expected to be, selling very poorly and receiving negative criticism. Rumor has it Free Radical was also developing the new Star Wars Battlefront game but they lost the development deal. The remaining staff members reportedly met at a hotel this morning for a final company meeting and farewell. Still no word on what will happen to the very popular TimeSplitters franchise. Free Radical Design wasn't the first company rumored to be closing and with the world's bad economy, don't expect it to be the last.
Continue Reading»
Great news for any fans of Batman. Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, will be reprising his role as the Joker in the new video game due out next summer. Hamill lent his voice to Batman: The Animated Series in the 90's and made the role his own. While much different from Heath Ledger's performance in the Dark Knight, Hamill and his maniacal laugh were one of the best parts of the hit show. Also reprising his role from the animated series is Kevin Conroy who was the voice of the caped crusader himself. My one major problem with the new Batman movies is Bale's voice as he is in the batsuit because it annoys me and to me, Kevin Conroy is the voice of Batman.
Thankfully its not this Joker.
Continue Reading»
To the right you'll notice we've put up a poll. You don't have to be a blogger member to vote, so go ahead and make a choice. Our first poll regards who had the best 2008.
Was it Nintendo?
A hit among the casual crowd boasting incredible sales every month. But the hardcore gamer felt left out in the cold with only a promise of Animal Crossing and titles coming in the future. A few notable releases on the virtual console including Mega Man, and Secret of Mana. Titles like Mario Kart, and No More Heroes kept gamers wanting more. Were games like Super Smash, and World of Goo, Okami, and Zack and Wiki enough for gamers to crown Nintendo as the best of 2008?
Sony?
Sony rolled the dice this generation by entering the console wars with a high price point, and powerful hardware. While 2007 only had few titles to remember, 2008 showed that there was some progress. The PSN released Home that's currently experiencing a rough start, along with numerous PSN titles. Metal Gear Solid 4 launched and was hailed a hit. LittleBigPlanet turned the idea of user created content into a full blown experience. Resistance 2 dropped and boasted a single player campaign that IGN described as a "phenomenal experience". Details emerged throughout the year of hit tiles like God of War III, Uncharted 2, and more were coming in 2009. But is its current library and the promise of a bright future make it the best of 2008?
Microsoft?
Microsoft had a head start on the competition entering the console market before Sony and Nintendo. They capitalized on this by creating a strong library, and improving its Xbox Live system. 2007 is hailed as one of the best years of gaming ever. Xbox 360 is definitely one of the reasons why. But did its success from 2007 travel to 2008? Microsoft claimed exclusive DLC to GTA4, released the follow up to the 2006 hit Gears of War, the sequel to the original Xbox hit Fable, the zombie survival horror game Left 4 Dead. They then proceeded to continue domination of the online marketplace by releasing a giant overhaul to the dashboard, as well as a plethora of Live Arcade Titles. Though a substantial amount of titles released on the Xbox was enough of it original that it kept the gamer playing throughout 2008?
You tell us. Continue Reading»
Was it Nintendo?
A hit among the casual crowd boasting incredible sales every month. But the hardcore gamer felt left out in the cold with only a promise of Animal Crossing and titles coming in the future. A few notable releases on the virtual console including Mega Man, and Secret of Mana. Titles like Mario Kart, and No More Heroes kept gamers wanting more. Were games like Super Smash, and World of Goo, Okami, and Zack and Wiki enough for gamers to crown Nintendo as the best of 2008?
Sony?
Sony rolled the dice this generation by entering the console wars with a high price point, and powerful hardware. While 2007 only had few titles to remember, 2008 showed that there was some progress. The PSN released Home that's currently experiencing a rough start, along with numerous PSN titles. Metal Gear Solid 4 launched and was hailed a hit. LittleBigPlanet turned the idea of user created content into a full blown experience. Resistance 2 dropped and boasted a single player campaign that IGN described as a "phenomenal experience". Details emerged throughout the year of hit tiles like God of War III, Uncharted 2, and more were coming in 2009. But is its current library and the promise of a bright future make it the best of 2008?
Microsoft?
Microsoft had a head start on the competition entering the console market before Sony and Nintendo. They capitalized on this by creating a strong library, and improving its Xbox Live system. 2007 is hailed as one of the best years of gaming ever. Xbox 360 is definitely one of the reasons why. But did its success from 2007 travel to 2008? Microsoft claimed exclusive DLC to GTA4, released the follow up to the 2006 hit Gears of War, the sequel to the original Xbox hit Fable, the zombie survival horror game Left 4 Dead. They then proceeded to continue domination of the online marketplace by releasing a giant overhaul to the dashboard, as well as a plethora of Live Arcade Titles. Though a substantial amount of titles released on the Xbox was enough of it original that it kept the gamer playing throughout 2008?
You tell us. Continue Reading»
Instead of posting all the images, this video contains a slideshow of all the new images released. Overall the game is looking impressive, and though the first one got rough especially near the end I'm still looking forward to this game. Continue Reading»
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 3
2 CoD: World at War
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 Left 4 Dead
7 Madden NFL 09
8 Fallout 3
9 FIFA 09
10 Fable II
Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
2 A Kingdom for Keflings
3 Banjo-Kazooie
4 UNO
5 Castle Crashers
6 Worms
7 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
8 Portal: Still Alive
9 METEOS™ WARS
10 Bomberman Live The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.
Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Conker: Live Reloaded
6 Battlefield 2: MC
7 Call of Duty 3
8 Splinter Cell Chaos
9 Doom 3
10 Star Wars Battlefront
Top Community Games NEW! (Full Versions purchased)
1 Golden Royal Blackjack
2 Snowmans Dilemma
3 Word Soup
4 Weapon of Choice
5 Tower Revolution
6 World Molder
7 Colosseum
8 ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse
9 sin(Surfing)
10 Petank Party Continue Reading»
1 Halo 3
2 CoD: World at War
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 Left 4 Dead
7 Madden NFL 09
8 Fallout 3
9 FIFA 09
10 Fable II
Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
2 A Kingdom for Keflings
3 Banjo-Kazooie
4 UNO
5 Castle Crashers
6 Worms
7 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
8 Portal: Still Alive
9 METEOS™ WARS
10 Bomberman Live The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.
Original Xbox Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlfrnt 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Conker: Live Reloaded
6 Battlefield 2: MC
7 Call of Duty 3
8 Splinter Cell Chaos
9 Doom 3
10 Star Wars Battlefront
Top Community Games NEW! (Full Versions purchased)
1 Golden Royal Blackjack
2 Snowmans Dilemma
3 Word Soup
4 Weapon of Choice
5 Tower Revolution
6 World Molder
7 Colosseum
8 ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse
9 sin(Surfing)
10 Petank Party Continue Reading»
Some new clothes just went up on Xbox live. You can tell which items are new by the gold star that will appear next to them in the avatar editor. The list of new items follows:
For the gentlemen we have
Blue Tuxedo (save that one for prom season)
Black Tuxedo
Shirt with Cummerbund
Black Trilby
Bowler Hat
For the ladies we have:
Elegant Ball Gown
Little Black Dress
Formal Trouser Suit
Elegant Watch
Red 60's Shades
Strappy High Heels
Platform Shoes Continue Reading»
For the gentlemen we have
Blue Tuxedo (save that one for prom season)
Black Tuxedo
Shirt with Cummerbund
Black Trilby
Bowler Hat
For the ladies we have:
Elegant Ball Gown
Little Black Dress
Formal Trouser Suit
Elegant Watch
Red 60's Shades
Strappy High Heels
Platform Shoes Continue Reading»
A few weeks ago on Kojima Productions website an image surfaced giving a clue to what the next metal gear is going to be. It seems some new info has emerged in the gaming magazine Famitsu who are reporting that the next metal gear game will be for the Iphone.
Continue Reading»
MGS Touch for iPod and iPhone. Will use "MGS4's worldview." Looks like it has nice graphics. A shooter for release in spring 2009. |
Game looks pretty sick from the trailers although it is a movie game so don't expect too much. It looks like they're going for a Gears of War feel to it with the sliding into cover and stop and pop game play but that's not a bad thing at all. It wouldn't make much sense to have John Connor be the new Master Chief. I won't lie, they've peaked my interest and I hope we hear more about it soon. Continue Reading»
Yeah kids are killing parents nowadays and yes it's disgusting. This case in particular makes me sick to my stomach. This little punk shot his parents because he was forbidden to buy and play Halo 3, this led to long arguments with the family until one night the teen had enough and needed to have Halo 3. With intent of killing both of his parents the 16 year old psycho (Daniel Petric) snuck out, bought halo 3, and put it in his lockbox, which also contained a 9mm handgun. On October 20th, 2007 Daniel Petric took the 9mm Handgun to the family room and said "Would you guys close your eyes?" "I have a surprise for you" It was then Daniel Petric shot both of his parents in the head, His mother died instantly. His father (Mark Petric) survived due to the untimely arrival of his daughter and her husband, who had come over to watch the Cleavland Indians game. According to Daniel Petric's lawyer, Daniel had been under a lot of stress due to a snowboarding accident and had nothing to do but watch television and play video games. This apparently is enough motive for a person to kill their parents... Honestly that sounds like the life to me, TV and Video Games all day? How does that stress you out? People like Daniel Petric disgust me. In my eyes he was a spoiled brat who couldn't get his way and somebody died for it. He should be locked up and the key should be thrown away. I believe he knew what he was doing and he should definitely be punished for it. Durring court Daniel Petric said to his father "Dad I'm sorry for what I did to mom, to you and the family. I'm so glad your alive". Apparently that's enough for a man whose wife had just been killed because all Mark Petric said was "You're my son, You're my boy" which sound like words of forgiveness to me. Now honestly you can say this is a case of bad parenting, you can blame it on the video games, but honestly I just think the kid is plain psycho, I mean just look at him he looks like a mentally unstable person. This however is a tragedy and should never have happend in the first place. Daniel Petric plead not guilty in a court of law and hopefully he will be tried as an adult and locked up for the rest of his pathetic excuse for a life. Hey kid there's no Halo 3 in jail, sucks for you. Continue Reading»
At long last, Fight Night Round 4. I personally, love Fight Night Round 3 and played it so much I was actually ranked 200 in the world over Xbox Live. I think FNR4 is going to change the fighting and make it more like a real boxing match. The idea to change the gameplay gives me a little bit of skepticism but it may also be for the best. The Fight Night series has never left me with disappointment so I have high hopes that Round 4 will leave me with a smile on my face. Expect a full written review when it comes out later next year. Continue Reading»
I myself am a huge fan of the God Of War series this is a short but sweet trailer for the new game. Continue Reading»
Two videos are came out today of a hidden unlockable in Gears of War 2's single player. I think it's pretty cool that the games been out for two months and people are just finding this out now when in most games people find all the little easter eggs in about a week. Makes me wonder if Epic has any other little surprises in store for us. When riding the derrick, three cowboy hats are hidden around the trail and after shooting them, everyone in the game will wear one. The first video is where the locations are and how to find the hats.
And I don't want to spoil the second one. Just watch it and enjoy.
Continue Reading»
And I don't want to spoil the second one. Just watch it and enjoy.
Continue Reading»
Most people were pretty excited last night about the announcement of the Combustible Map Pack for Gears of War 2. Three new maps less than two months after the game came out. What could be bad about that right? Answer: everything. I'm not complaining that we're getting maps. I love when developers reward their fans for their purchase. My problem is this, they cost 800 Microsoft points or in real people money ten dollars. TEN FUCKING DOLLARS. For three maps. Really guys? They could have just thrown in the original maps that aren't in Gears 2 and I would've been fine with it. Believe me I was all for Epic doing the five "free" maps for purchasing a new copy of the game instead of a used one from Gamestop. This though is where I draw the line and just say "What the fuck?"
Continue Reading»
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD
Looks pretty awesome though I'm not surprised considering they were advertising the trailer for Wolverine in the commercials for The Day the Earth Stood Still. Gambit looks like he'll be pretty cool in action and I'm happy they actually got someone that could act to play Sabretooth. Only thing I was disappointed in was there wasn't much Deadpool but hopefully that will change in the movie. Continue Reading»
Looks pretty awesome though I'm not surprised considering they were advertising the trailer for Wolverine in the commercials for The Day the Earth Stood Still. Gambit looks like he'll be pretty cool in action and I'm happy they actually got someone that could act to play Sabretooth. Only thing I was disappointed in was there wasn't much Deadpool but hopefully that will change in the movie. Continue Reading»
I've been excited about this one since it first popped up in Game Informer and was heart broken when rumors circulated it had been canceled. I'm ecstatic to see its been picked up and will definitly be coming out soon. Continue Reading»
Still up in the air about this one. A couple of the fighting moves look pretty cool but it looks like there isn't much to do to interact with the levels. It is apparently confirmed however that it will be a download instead of a retail purchase which means it probably won't be too expensive and that is always a plus in my book.
Continue Reading»
Big announcement tonight concerning people aching for more head stomping goodness. Gears of War 2's first map pack will go live tonight about 3am EST. The three maps are Flood, Gold Rush and Fuel Station. No word on pricing yet but it'll probably run between 5 and 10 dollars. Coupled with the fact that most matchmaking problems have reportedly been solved make this a very good week to be a Gears fan. Continue Reading»
So Wired has put up a list of their most disappointing games of 2008 and I think it's safe to say they haven't played a single one of the games. Dead Space came in at 5 followed by Prince of Persia at number 4 on this joke of a list. You know what apparently wasn't as disappointing as those two games that were both critically praised? Too Human. Yes Too Human, a game that had been in development for 10 years, already had been planned as a trilogy, and caused many of the developing staff to be fired after its terrible performance both critically and financially is a better game than either one of those.
The list goes as follows:
10)Age of Conan(Lets female avatars have tits almost the size of the guys playing them)
9) EndWar (Are you really telling me you expected something of this game)
8)Too Human ( AKA The Most Disappointing Game of 2008)
7) Stalker: Clear Sky (Was anyone looking forward to this?)
6)Mirror's Edge (Only 6?)
5)Dead Space ( Were you expecting the game to give you a blow job as you played?)
4)Prince of Persia (IGN Score= 9.3)
3)Mario Kart Wii (Are you really hating on Mario Kart?)
2)Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Still better than the holiday special)
1)Spore(The game that hundreds of thousands of people illegally downloaded?) Continue Reading»
The list goes as follows:
10)Age of Conan(Lets female avatars have tits almost the size of the guys playing them)
9) EndWar (Are you really telling me you expected something of this game)
8)Too Human ( AKA The Most Disappointing Game of 2008)
7) Stalker: Clear Sky (Was anyone looking forward to this?)
6)Mirror's Edge (Only 6?)
5)Dead Space ( Were you expecting the game to give you a blow job as you played?)
4)Prince of Persia (IGN Score= 9.3)
3)Mario Kart Wii (Are you really hating on Mario Kart?)
2)Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Still better than the holiday special)
1)Spore(The game that hundreds of thousands of people illegally downloaded?) Continue Reading»
Personally I think Final Fantasy XIII:Versus looks better. Also it has been said the combat is going to feel more like Kingdom Hearts where as Final Fantasy XIII will be completely different. Versus in that way is more appealing to me, although I don't believe there is any actual gameplay in either of these trailers I'm sure Final Fantasy fans will enjoy.
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII: Versus
Continue Reading»
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII: Versus
Continue Reading»
Above is a scan of a recent issue of Famitsu which shows Chris Redfield kneeling at the grave of Jill Valentine. The rumor mill is buzzing about the fate of the "master of unlocking". I don't see Capcom killing off such a major character as Jill before the game even starts and if anything she's probably just MIA and will save you towards the end of the game. On the other hand though, killing off such a major player in the RE franchise might add something to the games knowing that no one, not even one of the original characters is safe. Feel free to share your thoughts on whether this is a good move by Capcom or other possibilies to where Jill has run off to. Continue Reading»
Troy Dixon, best known as Terence "T-bag" Brown in Pure Pwnage, was killed Saturday night in a car accident. While I haven't been following Pure Pwnage lately, it's always a tragedy to see a young person die so unexpectedly. Below is his debut on PP, "Straight Outta Blood Gulch".
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So the Playstation Home beta is now available and the reviews so far have been less than stellar. Within the home community, you can bowl and play arcade games but there are only a set number of them to go around and if another Home user is playing it, you can't. Now keep in mind this is only the beta and if they are already having problems with people not being able to do things, so imagine when the full version goes up with all Playstation owners. Penny Arcade had a few less than positive things to say:
"Here is everything you need to understand about Home, if you should accidentally launch it from your XMB: press and hold the Playstation button in the center of your Dual-Shock or Sixaxis controller. From the menu that appears, select Quit."
and
"There are things about Home that are simply beyond my understanding. Chief among these bizarre maneuvers is the idea that, when manufacturing their flimsy dystopia, they actually ported the pernicious notion of scarcity from our world into their digital one. This is like being able to shape being from non-being at the subatomic level, and the first thing you decide to make is AIDS."
Doesn't look like Home will be the XBL killer it was touted to be but hopefully Sony can get it up to at least be somewhat functional within the year. Continue Reading»
"Here is everything you need to understand about Home, if you should accidentally launch it from your XMB: press and hold the Playstation button in the center of your Dual-Shock or Sixaxis controller. From the menu that appears, select Quit."
and
"There are things about Home that are simply beyond my understanding. Chief among these bizarre maneuvers is the idea that, when manufacturing their flimsy dystopia, they actually ported the pernicious notion of scarcity from our world into their digital one. This is like being able to shape being from non-being at the subatomic level, and the first thing you decide to make is AIDS."
Doesn't look like Home will be the XBL killer it was touted to be but hopefully Sony can get it up to at least be somewhat functional within the year. Continue Reading»
Check out this site with skins from great bands (sorry rap fans, not really) for everything from Xbox 360 and laptops to Guitar Hero Controllers and cell phones.
Dinglife Continue Reading»
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