Patapon tee

Despite being an avid gamer, i have only got a couple of game shirts in my wardrobe. I wouldn't want a shirt screaming fanboy at everybody but this patapon tshirt is just too good to resist. It isn't official though, all part of the hard work and passion of a fellow gamer and he was nice enough to print a couple more for us gamers too. Thanks myxery!

Just the other day i was at Borders picking up my Nintendo Power cover story of Castlevania, a lady browsing at the same corner asked me for some help to locate the Metal Gear Solid 4 Prima strategy guide. I sure wasn't wearing a game shirt then so i wonder how she knew i would even have a clue as to what she was looking for. She sure didn't, seeing that she had to refer to her sms for help....

any ideas?

Emotional Wreck

Poor old Dante, after getting upstaged by his cooler twin Vergil in Devil May Cry 3 his thunder has been stolen again in Devil May Cry 4. Sure, fans were worried when Capcom first reveal the new protagonist Nero especially since you would be playing him for roughly half the game but all reservations about new kid Nero were quickly put to rest once gamers got to play him.

Nero reminds me of the young Dante in Devil May Cry 3 but apart from being a wise-cracking devil hunter in the face of danger, he was also far more emotional a character than Dante ever was. That was part of the appeal of the character for me, through the course of the entire game you will bear witness a wide range of Nero's raw emotions albeit they sometimes border on the cheesy side. In fact, Nero style of fighting was so fun that i kinda wish i could go back to playing him halfway through the game when you get to play Dante.

that can't be a good sign now can it?

New Order

I pick this up today while i was at Borders waiting to pick up my Patapon tee from a fellow forumer. It's been a while since i got this excited about a DS title but i always had the problem of buying more than playing when it comes to the Nintendo DS. Part of the reason for this is because there are just too many great titles coming out on the Nintendo DS, especially during it's peak a couple of years ago. That's why i stop buying any new DS games after my last one which i think was Hotel Dusk. Now that the Nintendo DS has peaked and is slowly winding down, the titles are far and fewer but that doesn't mean the quality has diminished too. There is still this Castlevania title in the horizons plus another Ace Attorney spin-off from the minds of Capcom.

It's been a while since my last DS purchase, but i hope i will get to work on this game right away when it comes out unlike what happened with Dawn of Sorrow,Portrait of Ruins and the many other DS games i have picked up. Of course, with the propects of not able to track down a copy of Dawn of Sorrow soon after it went out of print and the pre-order premiums i didn't really have much of a choice then.

Portable Ops Speed-Run

Again, not much of a speed run seeing that i took over ten hours to finish and i actually skipped all the side missions and only played the key plot missions. I think it's partly due to boss fights as i spent quite some time figuring out their attacks as i have forgotten most of the strategy to defeating them.

Difficulty : Normal
Play time : 12' 56"
Times Saved : 24
Restart : 95
Times Alert mode Triggered: 98 times
Humans killed : 30
Comrades secured : 8
Comrades killed : 26
Rank : RABBIT

I think i better stop lollygagging around and really get started on Metal Gear Solid 4 because i don't know how long more i can keep up surfing the internet without running into spoilers. Granted, anyone with an interest in Metal Gear and have the means to play it would have at least started by now and i really don't know why i'm still prolonging it. Perhaps it's partly due to my friends who are also in no hurry to get started because they are still busy with GTAIV. While i admire their patience and resistance, i will surely kick myself if i were to discover any more spoilers before playing the game.

Lucky Devil

Last week it was my friend who got lucky, this week it's my turn! Well not exactly, let's just say my prayers has been answered and no, i'm not talking about my Playstation3 though it's a pretty big blessing itself. As you probably know, i started playing Devil May Cry 4 not too long ago and seeing that i missed out on the pre-order disc that came with the game upon release, i started looking up local forums in hopes of buying it separately from a seller, since i already have the game. Not much luck, the few sellers i approached who were selling the game with the preorder disc both already sold off their copies much to my surprise seeing that they were selling it at pretty premium price for a pre-owned game.

Today i happened to see the pre-order disc behind the shelf of one of the game stores and decided to try my luck to see if they were willing to sell the bonus disc without purchasing the game. Surprise, surprise they had no problems selling me the bonus disc without the game! Though i had to pay a little bit more than what i was prepared to offer those sellers, i can't complain about having a brand new copy of this to add to my collection. If only i managed to score one of those swanky Dante disc, i heard the ratio of Nero to Dante pictured on the disc is pretty high (9:1) and there are apparently only a small number of these Dante discs out there.

Devil's Temptation

My region 3 version of MGS4 SE came in today and I'm torn between watching the bonus blu-ray disc or holding off until finishing the game first, as recommended by the inlay sleeve found inside the blu-ray case. I tend to be a sucker for these making-of specials and this bonus disc happens to be extra special because it clocks in a running time of over 130 minutes long and also it's presented on a blu-ray disc, giving you the best possible presentation. The packaging is as good as it gets i suppose for a region 3 release but i would have preferred it if they included a special box art for the game like the japanese release.

Just the other week, my friend managed to score a copy of this for slightly less than what i paid, and the fact that he agreed to buy the game from me earlier certainly doesn't make me feel any better about it. Oh well, i suppose i can figure out what to do with the additional copy while playing through Devil May Cry 4 before deciding which copy of the game to play. Assuming that i don't give in to the temptation and end up playing this before finishing Devil May Cry 4 first...

Reflections

One unexpected turn after another, the Playstation3 is finally in my possession! Though things did not turn out exactly as how i expected, i think everything worked out pretty well at the end.

I got to enjoy a nine months of bliss devotely playing my Nintendo Wii at which time, it felt like i just got two new consoles both at the same time (Gamecube and Wii). During that time, finally getting the chance to play Nintendo-exclusive games like Resident Evil Remake and Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes seems far more surreal than any recent gaming experience. I think i manage to cover quite a lot of ground as far as Gamecube games goes and now can look forward to the future great titles for the Wii. The disappointing showing of Captivate 08 did got me concerned about the Nintendo Wii future as far as third party games are concerned however No More Heroes will likely remained as my Game of the Year. No doubt getting the Nintendo Wii nine months ago was a wise decision, it help filled a gaming void at a point which i was getting saturated with Playstation2 titles and was not ready to make the jump to HD gaming.

Getting Playstation 3 now ensures that i should have a healthy flow of new games to play all the way till the end of the year. Not forgetting the highly-sought after backwards compartiblity will allow me to go back and replay earlier games in anticipation for their next-gen sequels. Devil May Cry 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 are more than enough to keep my hands full up until the end of the year when Fatal Frame IV is likely to be released. Gaming for 2008 looks to be exciting for this fanboy, if only there are more hours in a day to play all of them !

Gear Up!

Need i say more? Time to rock, baby! In case you didn't guess that's a hint as to what i'm playing right now. If you still can't figure it out, just check the list of games to your right.... as to why i'm playing that first, hey i still got a chance to beat the PC guys to playing this!

Green with Envy

I was out yesterday catching the new Hulk movie which i have been waiting forever to be released ever since they casted Edward Norton and Liv Tyler. While I was shopping with my friends who were eager to get the new Metal Gear Solid 4, I happened to pick up a game of my own.

It was something i have been looking for quite a while and after seeing it lying in this particular store's shelf gathering dust i just had to rescue it and add it to my collection. Granted, it's not a legitimate copy and I probably won't get to play it until I visit my uncle's place and borrow my cousins' GBA but it's still a cool find nonetheless.

The only Gameboy Color game in my collection right now and it will sit very nicely alongside with my original Gameboy games collection. The only question is how long will the battery backed-up save last?

So what's next? Metal Gear: Ghost Babel? The search continues...

Bundled Excitement

My anticipation for the 80GB Metal Gear bundle has reached a fever pitch now, i don't know if it's the console i'm excited about or the game, perhaps a bit of both but i'm unable to concentrate on any other game now. Okami and my Nintendo Wii has been sitting cold for a bit now and i wonder if i will even get around to finishing Okami before it gets here next week.

It would be just nice if that were the case but i would need to dedicate some serious long hours into it right now. I still have Portable Ops and Snake Eater to re-run through but fortunately there is a demo theater included in Subsistence to access the cutscenes. Which will it be, Okami or Snake Eater?

Sound of the Inevitable

How much is a soundtrack disc worth? Quite a lot in this case, apparently local asian forumers are tearing up a storm over the fact that the region 3 Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition will not include the bonus soundtrack disc like the US Gamestop exclusive. While i myself am sore over it too, it's not like i didn't see it coming. I have never really been a fan of region3/asian release of games, i find them cheap and practically worthless in my eyes nor do i care about supporting the local gaming community like some others. I think it's a mere illusion that purchasing an asian release will help drive up the sales of games in this region and encourage publishers to do more regionally release, after all most of these asian releases are meant for the Hong Kong market anyway. Nor do i have much of a choice in this case, seeing that I don't have access to ordering the exclusive limited edition from Gamestop and i'm not planning to go out of my way to acquire it.

I remember a similar scenario occurring when i pre-ordered the konamistyle edition of Castlevania Dracula X Chornicles only to later discover that the "complete" version should contain the soundtrack disc as well. Major bumper as i have always been a fan of Castlevania music but ultimately i bought the soundtrack separately and ended up with the complete collection anyway. Now that this has happened with the Metal Gear Limited Edition, i have to make some changes and formulate a plan to make the most out of it. I intend to sell the R3 version of the game included in the Limited Edition package as i'm not much of an online gamer anyway and keep the R1 version of the game that comes with the console bundle.

And of course, the bonus blu-ray from the Limited Edition.....hehe

Now i can put the R1 game together with the R3 bonus blu-ray disc and have my ideal collection. I just need to get hold of the soundtrack disc somehow...

Dark Secret

The secret is out....well, it has been speculated for some time now that Castlevania was heading for the Wii console when leaked pictures of the new Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia game menu featured a link-up with the Wii console. During then, Order of Ecclesia wasn't officially announced yet so no one had a chance to grill IGA on this but now that he is currently promoting the new Castlevania DS, he still denies any truth about Castlevania heading to the Wii.

Apparently comic book specialist, Preview were the ones to leak the news in their preview of the upcoming Curse of Darkness comic adaption so i'm not sure how credible this rumour may be. The thought of two Castlevania games been released before the end of 2008 does seem too good to be true but seeing how disappointed i'm over Captivate 08, this certainly is good news rumour or not.

Sons of Liberty Speed-run

OK i admit, 10 hours isn't much of a speed-run, the whole point of me doing this was to get a better grip of the plotline for MGS2 and five years later, it still make no sense as it did then.

Play time : 11' 01" 18
Save : 15 times
Continue : 28 times
Alert mode: 13 times
Persons : 58 killed
Ration : 40 used

I heard kojima manage to tie up most of the loose ends in MGS2 pretty well in MGS4, let's just hope so.

Touch of a Ninja

Ninja Gaiden fans have been taken on a whirlwind ride lately what with Itagaki announcing that he was leaving Tecmo just days before Ninja Gaiden 2 shipped for the XBOX360. Perhaps he felt that he was betrayed when Tecmo failed to honour their end of the deal over work done for Dead or Alive 4, and the only option left was to leave. Itagaki sure is one of the most eccentric game developer you will find in the japanese game industry, he speaks what's on his mind and isn't afraid to talk down on any games he feels is inferior, sometimes at expense of enraging other fans. Now his brash outspoken ways certainly isn't very much part of the often reserved japanese culture but it makes him far more entertaining than most average game developers. I have yet to play any of his games and i'm afraid i may never will seeing his dislike for the Playstation platform, i lost interest in Ninja Gaiden Sigma when he started bashing his own game as well.

Fortunately he was kind enough to grace the Nintendo DS with another one of his labour of love, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword a welcome addition to the DS seeing how few action games are there on the platform. Playing Dragon Sword is unlike any other action game on the Nintendo DS but in essence it's just like any action game which require a quick trigger finger and plenty of button mashing. The button mashing this time, comes in the form of swiping the stylus across the touch screen as an array of moves can be accomplished depending on how the lines are drawn. It's a neat idea i'll give you that but because of how small the DS screen is, most of the subtle moves ends up registering as just mindless slashing across the screen. This is one area where it looks like Team Ninja's ambition are too big for Nintendo's handheld but given how few action games actually manage to succeed on handhelds, this is still an amazing achievement.

The highlight of the game are the artwork depicting the story of the game, in a similar fashion to Konami's Portable Ops minus the voiceovers. It's rare to find artwork in modern games these days let alone good ones.

Lost for words

In the wake of Capcom's disappointing showing of quality Wii software during Captivate 08, i have started looking at possible PS3 titles that might interested me instead.

While MGS4 and DMC4 are sure to keep me occupied once i get my hardware, the truth is there are other titles that i would rather play first before moving on to those. Top on my list would be Lost Planet, a Capcom action adventure game that was ported from the XBOX360. The port received its' fair share of flak for not taking advantage of the delay and PS3 hardware in improving the visual and experience but despite all that, i would still very much want to play that game. I remember Onimusha being the first game i ever played on my PS2 and to me, Lost Planet is very much the Onimusha of PS3. Both games were produced by the father of Megaman, keiji inafune and featured the likeness of an asian celebrity, in this case lee byung hun.

Also playing a new game is always more rewarding than sequel, though sequels have their own charms as well. But unfortunately with the MGS4 release only days away and my hardware arriving bundled together with the game, it looks like i may very well have to play MGS4 first to keep up with my friends.


Looks like my encounter with the lovely Luka will just have to wait...