Confession of A Fanboy

Guns Not Included

2012-01-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Love them or hate them there is no denying that downloadable content (DLC) is here to stay in the gaming scene. What kind of content constituted as being okay to be released as DLC and what content is absolutely necessary to the core experience that should not be released separately as downloadable content? For a game like dead rising 2, i can certainly live without the additional costumes and raised attributes as the game is already filled with enough costumes and apparel within the mall.

Prologue/epilogue episodes like in dead rising 2, LA noire, RE5 or Lords of Shadow? Again nice to have but like an issue 0 to a comic book series not absolutely necessary to experience the core story. A trio of guns from a shooter game ? Now that's a big no-no especially when it's a tough shooter like Vanquish. Three weapons in Vanquish were pulled from the game and released as a pre-order bonus from selected stores during the game initial release. Playing the game without them is like playing handicap though you can certainly finish the game, removing these guns significantly alters the difficulty of the game. I had no choice but to begrudgedly purchase this from the PSN store recently but it wasn't like dead rising 2 where I enjoyed the game so much to the point I didn't mind spending an extra dollar on the game's DLC.

What's your reluctant DLC buy?

Logan in the Old West

2011-11-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Logan, meet John Marston you two have a lot in common

I was in a bit of a wolverine craze of late so I dug up some modern and classic stories to read and among them was the recent Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. What makes Old Man Logan so compelling is Logan playing the role of the family man pacifist in this alternate reality future instead of his usual badass mutant berserker self. We don't know why he is that way initially but there he is, attending to his family and herds of cattle in the barn. We have all seen wolverine in action before and being the best at what he does, it's nice to see such restrain with the character until the final payoff when he does pop his claws out again.

What does this has to do with anything? Well, the character John Marston in Red Dead Redemption just reminds me of the Old Man Logan tale. But the problem with Marston is we've never seen him in action as the cold-blooded killer riding with his old gang or even this new family he talks about so fondly, at least this early on in the game where I'm playing. It hardly establish the character quite as well hearing him talk about it rather than seeing it. It's doesn't feel intimidating when Marston warns strangers not to push his buttons or take his words lightly because even I'm not sure what he's capable of, aside of picking up rare flowers and herding the cattle. The mundane task just feels that way, this is not how the cliche story of cold-blooded killers walking away from past life of killing is supposed to be. Is there going to be a huge payoff at the end where Marston goes berserk and just guns down his old gang and anyone standing in his way?

Maybe I should have just watched Clint Eastword in Unforgiven instead, I heard it's really good and has a similar story to Old Man Logan, probably Red Dead Redemption too.

I Love My Big Daddy

2011-10-19T00:58:00.000-07:00

While I was in Singapore a couple of months back, buying the only copy of Silent Hill Shattered Memories Wii I could find there seems like a pretty sound decision. After all apart of Silent Hill: The Room, I have every other Silent Hill console game in my collection, a fact I remained pretty proud of.

Even before owning the Wii version of Shattered Memories, I have played the game pretty thoroughly on my PSP and PS2 trying to push the limits of the psychological analysis in the game. All that got me was harry ended up being too timid to the point of being abused by his wife or too flirtatious, hardly the object of poor Cheryl's admiration. This time I decided to play the game without trying to manipulate how the game is perceiving you. Turns out I must be a pretty big playboy after all since I got the ending where Harry is fooling around with the prom queen and nurse again. Sure the in-depth analysis of your character that runs next to the credits is entirely different this time but I didn't really care anymore at that point.

I should have just settle for that creepy birthday song over the phone in Silent Hill 3.

NBA 2K12 Big 3

2011-07-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

2K sports just unveiled the cover athlete for the upcoming NBA 2K12 and much to my surprise, they went old school again with a trio covers of MJ, Magic and Bird. Up until now, I had secretly hoped that 2K sports will changed their mind about doing another NBA 2K release this year with the looming uncertainty of NBA season lockout yet to be resolved. My copy of NBA 2K11 is just barely six months old and pretty soon the online servers will be taken offline or abandoned in favour of the new version. Worse the Legend mode will be further expanded to now include Magic and Bird's championship era even though they already made brief appearance in NBA 2K11. I suspect like the Jordan Challenge which featured different era of MJ career, the Legend mode will now feature different renders of Magic and Bird so you don't have to bear with the horribly rendered moustached Bird from the 63 point MJ playoff game anymore.

Lost among the hype of NBA 2K new big 3 cover is the pre-order dlc of classic NBA teams like Webber's Kings and Mullin's Warriors.

(Double) Nickel's Back

2011-07-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

When I first started watching NBA games, I realised there were NBA players and there was Michael Jordan. He had already ascend to NBA immortality by winning his first 3-peat of championship rings and was just in the midst of his incredible comeback. After that, he became the roadblock that prevented some of my favourite players from earning their own rings, not exactly how most NBA fans will remember him by but that was sort of how I identified him.

MJ made another comeback to the virtual court when NBA 2K11 featured him on the cover with some of his most memorable moments captured on the Jordan challenge mode. I wasn't exactly jumping to play the challenge mode when I got the game a couple of months ago, the only game that really stood out to me was the double-nickel game. Something about wearing that number 45 jersey and then scoring 55 points on Madison Square Garden just 4 games after making a comeback seems really special to me. It wasn't until after a brief spell of NBA 07 when I felt the urge to relive some of MJ's greatest games. Sure Kobe 81-point game in NBA 07 was fun but it wasn't exactly challenging with the lack of defense and simple AI logic in fact, my best score was enough to make Wilt Chamberlain sweat (97 points). I suspect scoring 50-points in NBA2K11 won't be easy even with MJ as my previous best was only 44-points with Ray Allen, thanks to some lucky 3s.

I suppose that's the beauty of NBA2K11, one week I could be totally absorbed with playing my favourite team on Association mode, another week I'm looking for live challenge online and now I'm totally wrapped in the Jordan challenge mode.

Good to be Back?

2011-06-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

Having a really slow internet speed certainly does not bode well with Sony PSN's welcome back program this month. I'm not sure if you have to install all your free games before the program period is up so I would rather not take that chance. Further complicating the matter is that some games simply haul your download progress whether you are playing multiplayer or not. I have since gone back to playing NBA 07 instead of NBA 2K11 and realised I only have a week left to finish downloading Little Big Planet and Hustle Kings.

Don't even get me started on Infamous because i can't imagine how long will it take at this rate.

King of Anything

2011-06-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Being a long time NBA fan, I remember playing the early NBA Lives on my PC and having a blast with NBA Jam on the home console. I began to play a lot less NBA with each generation as it simply became too time-consuming once I get addicted to the season mode. NBA 07 was a nice change when I discovered the NBA replay mode allows you to relive players' biggest moment of the season trying to emulate their accomplishments in those game. Having a sentimental attachment to veteran players I grew up watching, NBA 2K11 was the perfect game for me to jump into the series once MJ was revealed as the cover athlete.

I decided to go back to experiencing the whole thing by going through season mode to earn a spot in the playoffs and ultimately contend for the championship. The game has evolved so much that I have difficulty even beating the low-ranked teams, there are so much involved for the simple goal of just putting the ball in the basket. You have to learn the offense schemes in the playbook, how to read and react to the opponent's defense and also get back on defense if not the other team will burn you. If you are a very competitive person, you might not get much enjoyment out of the game in the early going. Some of the trophies like beating the other team by a margin of50 points seems impossible when I can just barely squeeze out a victory most of the time.

Maybe I should have just gone with NBA Jam?

Fangs for the Memories

2011-05-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

I have been spending a lot of time and money on Castlevania of late, picking up the Limited Edition Lords of Shadow and then the Santa Lilio artbook shortly after. The sheer volume of Ayami Kojima artwork in the compilation is simply overwhelming I'm not sure if all her Castlevania works are there as I have yet to finished going through.

Could this sudden surge of interest in Castlevania stems from the 25th anniversary of the series looming this year? It felt like only a while back when the 20th anniversary package was given with pre-orders of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin but I guess the years have a way of creeping up on you. I remember gleefully going through the package as every game in the series is nicely chronicled in an art collection booklet and a series timeline foldout pinup. Aside from Mercury Steam's DLC expansion episodes to Lords of Shadow, very little is known of what Konami has in store for fans this year. Hopefully this 25th anniversary of the series will not go by unnoticed.

Anniversary Reflections

2011-05-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

Capcom has been guilty of their fair share of cheap port and quick remakes but Deadly Silence should not be counted as one of them. Released to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Resident Evil, Deadly Silence looks and plays like the original except now you are playing the whole thing in the palm of your hands.

The pre-rendered background could be copied over directly from the original but the 3D character and object polygons could not so Capcom had to re-draw everything from scratch. A rebirth mode was added where many of the newer RE moves were implement to the original included the all-important quick turn, knife attack and quick reload. All of these moves could now be performed without going to the item menu just like in Resident Evil 4 and 5. Some of the pre-rendered background were redrawn to accommodate the new costume and puzzles in addition to a handful of new camera views of "background" for the knifing mode.

I wasn't impressed with Deadly Silence back during the tenth anniversary but now I'm beginning to see the effort the team put into the port. It made have been all fans got ob the tenth anniversary but right now it seems a lot better than what we are getting for the 15th anniversary this year.

Hurry Up and Wait

2011-04-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I used my ps3 a lot more often than my nintendo Wii, I liked the online functionality of the system and even when i'm not busy downloading a file off PSN in the background I would still logged in while gaming. Having my live community of gamer friends there online is like a reality check sometimes if i get too carried away into the wee hours I would be constantly remind to stop soon by presence of my friends signing off.

Another benefit of being signed onto PSN network while you are playing is the immediate access to any update patch that may be been made available to the game. This will improve the gameplay experience like the ability to have game data install for Bayonetta or even provide additional content such is the case for Yakuza 3 japanese edition.

During PSN network downtime this past week I rarely turn on the system without the online functionality there. I have grown used to having my new trophies synced the moment I quit the game and without that assurance, the drive to chase trophies just isn't there. I was almost done with my third run through Dead Rising 2 at a point where I would achieve a couple more trophies and I just stop momentarily while Sony sort out this mess. Apparently PSN will be back online within a week and during this time I have been keeping myself busy with the Wii. I feel sorry for my Wii now that its impending successor has been made official as I never got the most out of it. I kept waiting and waiting for the Wii to have a truly great year to call its own with a software lineup that will shed some of the public misconception of the system and it never really happened. Instead I waited and I found out that it's going to be replaced soon now.

Dressed to Kill

2011-04-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Part of the appeal of the No More Heroes games is you get to play dress-up with the main hero, fashioning his clothing style to your delight. All this comes at a price from the local airport 51 store but when you see your new garments in all its glory during the cutscenes you will made the extra effort to afford these new clothings.

A clothing glitch in the second game threatens to ruin the experience as some of your purchases tend to disappear from the wardrobe forcing you to buy them again. It isn't detrimental to the game however and appears to be unavoidable considering how much of the game consists of dressing up Travis touchdown. If you don't focus on what GHM didn't improve in the second game you will surely be impressed with what they did, the environments don't look as sparse as in the first and the wardrobe has a nice set of options. Travis is certainly dressed to kill in NMH2 it's just a shame there wasn't a worthy opponent to kill anymore.

The Foreigner

2011-04-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

I have very unique history with the Castlevania series considering I was more familiar with the handheld games than its console brethens. My first Castlevania game was Belmont's Revenge on the original Gameboy a game far too easy back then to seriously considered a classic.
Then on, I have pretty much possessed or played every Castlevania handheld game before and after Belmont's Revenge save perhaps the legendary Castlevania Legends. I even have the Tiger handheld game system of Simon's Quest to indicate how far my roots with Castlevania portable goes.

The Castlevania fan in me had little interest in any new Castlevania without team IGA participation like the recent reboot, Lord of Shadows. That was until I decided to try the demo on PSN network and discovered how polished the game was. Castlevania most prominent features like the art design and music remained as striking as ever despite the absence of series mainstays Michiru Yamane and Ayami Kojima. Ultimately when the Red Dead Redemption GOTY edition announcement turns out to be a little premature, I decided to get Lord of Shadows instead. The Limited Edition was still readily available on local game forums and being priced at a standard game was just too good an offer for me to resist. I have learnt to be more open-minded about foreign developers working on big Japanese game franchise after taking the chance and being pleasantly surprised with Dead Rising 2. At the very least Lords of Shadow looks like a really good horror-themed action game whether it can do justice to the franchise would be icing on the cake for a long time fan like myself.

I Got your Back

2011-04-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

As great as NBA 2K11 is, it's lacking the core emotions of the game which makes the real games so compelling to watch. Now before you call me a sadist for sports violence let me make it clear that when I said compelling to watch, I was referring to the bond between team-mates to stick up for one another when they get into a scruffle or in the players' words " I have got your back brother".

I remember playing the 8-bit games on Ice Hockey on the Gameboy and you could actually engage in a fight with your opponent after getting tangled up at the side. I don't watch enough of ice hockey to know how prevalent is violence in hockey but things can get real testy in a heated NBA game because players are always in such close contact of one another. Perhaps 2K sports should step up their game in making the games as realistic as possible? If the games are already simulating in-game injuries then I don't see why suspensions and technical fouls are out of the question.

Tough Guy Talk

2011-03-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

The general complaint is that Vanquish is too short of a game but I found it to be just nice. The game could really use some neat unlockable bonus to enhance its replay value unfortunately there is little offered here. I didn't unlock the skill challenge yet perhaps it requires a higher difficulty level as I decided to start the game out on casual auto. I wanted to be a bit more creative about adding replay value to the game so that why I intend to work my way up from the easiest difficulty all the way to God Hard mode. Hopefully that will gently ease me into the game enough to earn all the trophies and just give me the general satisfaction of mastering a notoriously hard game. On the bright side there are six voice-over track included on the game so you can always have a little fun with listening to the tough guys talk in German or French. All in all I had a lot of fun with this game, I wasn't itching to play everyday like Dead Rising 2 but I end up liking it a lot more than when I first try the demo. In fact the second demo featuring on the skill challenge had me in real doubts about getting the game at all but fortunately I decided to take the risk and give the game another chance.

Diary of an Ex-Handheld Gamer

2011-03-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Ever watch the WWE season weekly or overseas tour as opposed to the monthly pay-per-view events? As interesting as the storyline and matches are, almost nothing significant ever happens in terms of title change even if there is a title match with the title on the line.

In some ways a handheld game spin off from a famous franchise is kind of the same thing, no matter how good the game is, it will never be as significant as it's bigger brother. This is the diary of an ex-handheld gamer back when a handheld system was all i had. It's the user base? I digress as the most popular handheld system usually have a bigger user base than its console sibling when it's all said and done. The inferior graphics? I can't really say for sure but as I observed even with the current handheld system, the trend is still happening now.

That's the fate of a solely-handheld gamer I suppose if you don't get caught up with all the hype and big franchise then it probably won't bother you at the end of the day. If not you will never be content no matter how great Final Fantasy VII : Crisis Core and Metal Gear : Peace Walker were. Which brings to the next question is it wise to pay console-price for a handheld system like Nintendo 3DS?

Vanity Affair

2011-03-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

I was surprised to see Shinji Mikami name on the back cover of Vanquish, and it wasn't a vanity affair like how Hideo Kojima name usually appears on Metal Gear games. Mikami may have directed many great games after Resident Evil but this I believe was the first time his name appeared alongside on the box art. One of his earlier works was the brilliantly-crafted Dino Crisis on the PSOne which I'm currently playing after finishing Dino Crisis 2 recently.

It's definitely one of my favourite PSOne games which is why I felt so cold about the second game initially. The fully-rendered backgrounds are nothing short of amazing on the 32-bit hardware and suits the modern architecture of the game though it could use with a bit more colour depth. I like the decision-making aspect of the game it's not as subtly executed as Resident Evil but it helps established a bond between Regina and her teammates as you have to choose who to side with. The mixing system for the health packs and anesthetic is still confusing today and something I would rather avoid than to get into. One other thing I enjoyed is the colour-coding for the different item box in the game and how you only have a limited number of plugs to open each box. The game is packed with little clever touches to distinguish it from its more famous cousin like how Regina never leaves your sight even in a loading screen.

It's been a long time since Mikami's last game but somehow it's always worth the wait.

Devil-Bringer Back to Where It Came

2011-02-13T23:00:00.001-08:00

Next to go on my ps3 hard disk was actually the very first game I install when I got the system, Devil May Cry 4. Sentiments aside there is really no reason to keep this game data on my ps3 as there are no patch or dlc for the game so re-installing the game in the future should be fairly quick.

I initially plan on just viewing the cutscene through the story theater and be done with it but being the sap that I am, there is no way I will be able to do that without feeling guilty. So I thought I should have a quick playthrough the game without worrying about ranking and just clear another one of the six difficulty modes in the game. A friend of mine absolutely loathe this game when he first played it for reasons I couldn't see why but I begin to have similar feeling after rushing through the game. Maybe my heart just wasn't in it this time as I was expecting enemies to be shuffled around and other surprises in the son of sparda hard mode. From what I can remember everything feels the same as before and after Bayonetta, playing as Nero just feels woefully one-dimension. In the end I just couldn't wait to devil bringer this game back to where it came - my collection where it will remain for a long time to come.

The Importance of Being Old School

2011-02-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

I take pride on being a bit of an old-school gamer, having grown up from the 8-bit era of video games. These days when story and graphics matter more than gameplay it's scary to think how video game have envolved. A close friend often lament to me how he will never play a game without any story and it's exactly these guys why games like Heavy Rain came about. I will probably never buy Heavy Rain because the game is lacking the one most defining aspect of a game; the gameplay and I refused to campaign such a game.

As I await for my copy of Vanquish I begin to wonder how much punishment is in-store. It's going to be one of the those games which I hopelessly can't master but yet can't resist coming back for more. Somehow it's always the most frustrating game which you will eventually find the greatest satisfaction in, wouldn't you agree?

Biggest Red Packet of This Season

2011-02-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

During my Chinese New Year break I had the good fortune of receiving my copy of Metroid:Other M japan import just in time before the break. I had envision spending the next six of days of break completely devoted to the game in between the snacking and visiting relatives of course. That didn't really happened as I never imagined bypassing the region-lock on my Nintendo Wii would be so difficult. The english patch of Fatal Frame IV was so easy to use I naturally thought I won't have any problems getting this import to run as well. Nothing would work as Gecko and Neogamma refuse to load the disc though I had a little better luck getting them to run my Biohazard 0 GC Japan import. All long I had no intentions of getting the Metroid Other M US version not only because of the horrible box art but also I have learnt that it required a firmware update to 4.3U in order to run. I was still happily playing the Fatal Frame IV using the english patch on my 4.2U system so a system update was out of the question.

In the end the Metroid Other M japan import felt like a big red ang pow which I couldn't even open. On a more positive note I finally made good of my promise to add Vanquish to my collection even though it did come a little later than I expected. The beauty of it was I didn't have to choose between Vanquish and Dead Rising 2 after all as I managed to benefit from a bit of a price drop on both.

Feeling Retro: Dino Crisis 2

2011-02-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

I had the Dino Crisis 2 disc sitting in my PSOne disc tray for a very long time before finally feeling nostalgic about playing it. To my surprise once I started I couldn't stop as I was simply having too much fun with it. I remember when the game was first released I was reluctant to embraced it because it deviated so far from the formula and element of fear Mikami had established in the first game. The game was Capcom's swansong to the PSOne and sure enough had pretty graphics to boot but it really didn't matter as the Playstation2 had just launched.

The Dino Crisis series really went off the rails with the Xbox exclusive Dino Crisis 3 but part of the problem with the series had already begun in Dino Crisis 2. Don't get me wrong Dino Crisis 2 is certainly a worthy sequel but I always had a sneaky suspicion that Capcom felt a compelling need to introduce new and bizarre dinosaurs with each new sequel of the game. Dino Crisis 2 felt great up until the part when the Giganotosaurus was introduced into the game. I'm not sure what kind of dinosaurs were introduced in Dino Crisis 3 but from what I could remember they sure don't look like dinosaurs to me. It's almost like it's encoded into the design philosophy of Capcom for making Dino Crisis sequels at that time, to come up with new, more off-beat dinosaurs with every sequel. That's why I think the series has remained dormant for so long and will likely stay so for the time to come. We don't need new dinosaurs in every sequel Capcom we just need new ways of killing them.

No Wayne It's Luka

2011-01-29T20:29:00.000-08:00

In an effort to clear some valuable hard disk space on my ps3, I went back to playing Lost Planet shortly after finishing Dead Rising 2. I lost my save game file a while back after updating the patch for the game so in a way, I was starting anew again. It wasn't a big loss as Lost Planet had hardly anything to unlock upon completion something uncommon for a Capcom game.

The most worthwhile was the character Luka which you could unlock for play in the online campaign as well as in the story campaign, an exclusive addition to the ps3 version. In order to unlock her you would have to locate all the hidden target marks for any one of the difficulty modes. I decided to try and do so when I started playing the game again so I had to go back and re-do all the earlier missions I cleared. What I initially thought would be a pretty quick affair turned into a long obsessive hunt as I was more consumed with finding these target marks than enjoying the game. When I finally did locate all the target marks and unlock Luka, there was a huge sigh of relief but then a quick realisation of what's the point. The cut-scenes of the game are unaffected by this change and also the viewpoint of the game doesn't really show off the character model very well. Oh well at least I achieved a new unlockable this time around and can proceed to delete the game data off my hard drive.

Unforeseeable Headache

2011-01-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing that connect me to my feminine side is my low tolerance for maps in video games. It's not that I don't like them but I hardly ever put them to good use, most of the time I prefer to rely on my good memory to guide me through the game world. It helps with the immersion of the game though certain games like Silent Hill make great use of the maps, automatically noting down the locked doors and riddles so you feel that the map is actually contributing to the game.

Last week after clearing a backlog of Dead Rising games, I decided to finally get started on Metroid Prime Trilogy. What I didn't expected was to suffer motion sickness from playing the game, the thought never occurred to me from the time I purchased the game until now. To come this far from my great hunt for the game and bragging about it on my blog, only to give up now because I couldn't stomach first-person shooter was a real shame. I started to think maybe I overdid it over the weekend and intend to slowly ease myself into the game from now hopefully overcoming this problem over time. The map system in Metroid is a big help usually 3D map are a nuisance for me but Metroid's map really help me to keep track of my bearings and avoid any unnecessary backtracking. After all I'm monitoring my minutes in the game so I really can't afford to wander around aimlessly without making any progress. I managed about 35 minutes today and really thought I just about reach my limit for the day. Only time will tell if I can endure more given enough exposure to first-person games but the likes of Goldeneye will certainly have to wait.

The Other Way Around

2011-01-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

Just as I suspected, I managed to finish Dead Rising 2 before finishing the first one though I made quick work of finishing that one too a couple of days later. The Wii port of Dead Rising is indeed made longer by the gameplay changes implemented and as such there is little reason to go back to it unlike Dead Rising 2. It started to dawn on me just how much content was removed from the original when Capcom ported it to the Wii so aside from the missing psychopaths I'm not sure if there were multiple endings to the original Dead Rising. The ending I achieved felt like the true ending of Dead Rising though there were plenty of surprises along the way.

I'm pretty glad I finished the first Dead Rising because I lost interested after awhile and it was just sitting there idle at one point. Then I even contemplated of selling it but couldn't bring myself to do it. It took the Dead Rising 2 to finally get me playing the first game again though it was supposed to have been the other way around.

Is Losing Any Different?

2011-01-15T20:31:00.001-08:00

Is there any difference in losing by a big margin and narrowly losing? Some people tend not to think so but just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers who made NBA history by losing to the Los Angeles Lakers by 55 points. There's no doubt of the emotional damage inflicted by this recent loss as the Cavaliers were already left in shambles after last summer's Decision by The Chosen One.

Whenever I don't make it to first position in the Terror Is Reality gameshow, I find the loss more difficult to accept when the victor has a wide margin of victory over me. Coming in second is hardly a consolation when there is such a disparity in points and possibly skill though I'm not sure how the other two contestants feel. I can tolerate losing by a few points or at the last minute rather than the game being decided already minutes before it's even over.

I felt a great relief when I achieved the TK's favourite trophy for winning all 9 types of matches as I read too much into other players' frustration at earning that trophy. That affected me negatively as I began to anticipate similar frustration before it even happened but thankfully it didn't. I did win a few games at the last second or by a narrow margin but there was more to do with a lack of familiarity with the match. Once the burden of the trophy is gone, I definitely enjoyed the game a lot more and in the process, won some of these matches by a wide margin too. The only question remains is whether I should continue to play these TIR matches having achieved all the TIR trophies.

It's a Madworld on TIR

2011-01-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

One of the nice thing about Terror is Reality is the in-game narration, it eliminate the need of online chat which might be a little awkward as you are usually paired with strangers. It reminds me a lot of Platinum Games' Madworld which also places the player in a sadistically violent game show.

Everything is pretty much set up nicely for the players in ranked match so all you need to do is just log into the server. The lack of control can be a little frustrating at times because you can only play what ever matches randomly assigned to you, there is no option to practise and get better at the certain games. There is also no way of knowing how much money you have accumulated over your TIR match in order to lock the hidden costumes. Bottom line is if you are going to concentrate on playing TIR matches instead of the main game you are bound to get frustrated sooner or later.

Terror is Real

2011-01-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

I was pretty content with playing the story mode of Dead Rising 2 since I didn't have anyone to coop with yet and frankly I would like to see the whole story through before inviting someone into the game. I was at the beginning of Day 3 last weekend when I had to rescue a couple of survivors caught up in a poker game inside the casino. Of course they wouldn't budge from their game unless I beat them in a poker game but I didn't have enough cash to even buy into the game. I didn't want to give up these survivors so the only way I could think of raking up money without letting the game clock tick away is to earn some from the Terror is Reality game show.

As soon as I entered the tournament I was impressed by how the whole thing was set up with TK making announcements in between searching for opponents. It really helps with the loading time and the live commentary also make things a lot less awkward since you would be mostly competing with strangers. I tried out the ranked matches as I was expecting the servers to pair me up with other newcomers based on my understanding. It's certainly not the case as those combatants were clearly experienced while I was just learning how the game is played. Needless to say I end up at last spot but I still didn't have enough money to advance through the rescue mission. I thought the next match was going to be my last as it would be enough to earn my entry into the poker game but to my surprise I won the next episode with ease, beating out the competition in every match. Winning can be addictive so all week long I was thinking about getting back into the TIR circuit to win the remaining five other matches for the TK favorite trophy.

It turns out my last victory was probably a fluke as each other time since then I have been fighting hard not to end up last! The competition is pretty tough as some of these matches which I thought I would excel at are not that easy especially the shooting ones. There are plenty of incentives to keep playing on and hopefully get better at it but frustration is beginning to set in so I'm planning to focus back on the story mode which was the sole reason I got into the TIR matches at the first place. Hopefully I can find a balance between playing both modes so I don't ultimately get frustrated with the whole game.

The Great Escape

2011-01-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

I have finished Peace Walker more than six months ago but still kept the game on my Sony PSP till this day. After the final credits have rolled, a final chapter has been revealed hinting that maybe the story isn't quite finished yet. There are still extra ops missions available but every now and again Miller will appear telling you that Zadornov has escaped from cell.

You can search and capture him again in a new mission listed under story mode and after that, nothing else happens. You spent some time building up your army nation of Militaires Sans Frontieres (Millitary Without Borders) then not long after that, Zadornov escapes from your compound again! This apparently goes on for about six times before it's all over so Zadornov must be a great escape artist or big boss really needs to invest in more security for his Militaires Sans Frontieres because Military Without Borders is starting to take a whole new different meaning now.

Wii Can't Multitask

2011-01-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

Part of the enjoyment of Dead Rising 2 comes from improvements made to the escort mission in the game especially when compared with the Wii version. In the first game on the Nintendo Wii, you can't rescue any other survivors when engaged in an escort mission until you rescued that one survivor that's your only goal. Apparently Capcom thinks Wii users can't multi-task for making such a drastic change to the gameplay. Not only does it make the escort mission more tedious but it also make the game much longer than it originally was as you have to make separate trips from the safe house out into the mall for each time.

One of the most satisfying parts of Dead Rising is when you string together a bunch of survivors in one trip saving valuable time and effort. You can also equip your survivors with the approriate weapons turning them into valuable allies and the AI is certainly able to fend for itself in thick situations. That was one time when I had four survivors with me without knowing I was walking right into a boss fight with another psychopath lurking in the mall. Needless to say I wasn't prepared for another boss fight but luckily I had each three of the survivors equipped with a handgun to defend themselves. As soon as the introduction cutscene is over, the three survivor immediately open fire at the psychopath giving me an advantage to beat the psychopath on my first try. In another situation, I direct the survivor to stand at a safe corner while I settle my feuds with another psychopath in a motorcycle joust. The best part is you are able to carry the slow and injured survivor so none of them actually feel like a burden to you.

All this were simply not possible in the first game on the Wii, partly because the game was made from the RE4 engine and part of it were simply improvements to the game made in the sequel. It feels like this was how Dead Rising was always meant to be play and I haven't even got to the coop mode yet.

Dead Rising Redemption

2011-01-08T21:23:00.001-08:00

I recently got Dead Rising 2 from Play asia weekly special, what you could call a rash decision as I only found out about it on the closing day of the offer. You see I have just returned from my trip to Singapore that time though I did managed to pick up Lost Planet 2 for a mere $7.50 while there. I was on a row and this weekly special on Play-asia was simply too good to be missed as these two Capcom games were only released just recently.

The first Dead Rising on the Nintendo Wii gave me fixed feelings, I felt deprived of the true greatness the game achieved on the Xbox 360 platform but yet I was grateful that Capcom even took the chance to port this wicked game onto the Wii platform. Having endured some of Dead Rising's rougher edges on the Wii platform namely the strict time clock and frequent loading time, I was able to avoid a lot of these common frustration when playing the second game on the PS3. I just don't think that would have been possible had I not "suffered" through the first game which I'm still playing through right now actually. Playing the two games has also made me appreciated the first game even more since it has not been ported to any other system, if you don't count the IPhone edition. These two games may have restored my faith on Capcom but I honestly can't say I missed Keiji Inafune departure at all though.

Unworthy Sequel

2010-12-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

It's ironic that Grasshopper Manufacture enjoy making toilet references in No More Heroes when it's starting to reflect the quality of their games, this sequel truly feels like a pile of crap! At first I wasn't really sure but now that I have finished the game I'm utterly convinced that the sequel is a poor follow-up to the first Heroes game.

The lame assemble of assassin is one thing, what happened to the cool introduction where their names splashed across the screen with a creepy silhouette of the assassin in the background? Also GHM clearly needs to watch more revenge movies because the vengeance plot in Desperate Struggle is about the lamest I have seen. This game took more than six months after its release to make its Japan release, perhaps GHM knew what they had in their hands with this game. Hopefully Suda 51 will be inspired by Nintendo forthcoming new hardware to come up with a better sequel as the first game was clearly inspired by the Nintendo Wii unique wii-mote.

Brothers of War

2010-12-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

Kratos is the alpha male dog, there is possibly no other character as manly as him in the realm of video games. So it's only natural that Kratos gets to show another side of his man-liness by engaging in a little male-bonding in the new PSP chapter, Ghost of Sparta.

It's so weird to see Kratos searching for his lost brother Deimos and being all apologetic with him as the man is usually angry at everyone he meets. Strangely enough he still talk with his guff angry voice even when reunited with his brother Deimos. Male bonding may be as cliche as old love songs but some things just never go out of style.

Eyes to Behold

2010-11-21T22:11:00.000-08:00

I have gone and done it again. This time I was so desperate that I didn't even bother with a standard Play asia coupon code. Speaking of codes, it's funny how those things are so readily available when you don't need them and when you do need one, you just can't seem to get hold of one. Story of my life I suppose.

Dragon's Quest

2010-11-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

There's a dragon on a mission right now and that mission is to earn as many missing trophies as possible in Yakuza 3. Free from the constraints of the story mode, I'm able to focus my attention to areas which reward you with trophies for your hard work and so far, the trophy hunt has been the ultimate thrill. Some are getting exceedingly difficult to achieve like finding the remaining locker keys but having Kiryu adequately level up does help and certainly make you feel up beating the hell out of anyone who gets in your way.

I actually dislike trophies that require you to go out on a limb beyond the context of the actual game and the trophy that best describes this is the 'careless dragon' trophy. I'm just glad to have gotten that out of the way but there's still a ways to go as I'm only about 50% done with the game. Hopefully I should be able to get most of these done and also put some time into the japanese import before the localised Yakuza 4 ships early next year.

An Analog Hero in a Digital Age

2010-11-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit torn when it comes to the mini-games on No More Heroes 2 where you have work the odd side-jobs to earn income as entry fee to the assassin federation. While I love the "bite-size" nature of what these mini-games can offer, I have yet to fully master the controls of a 8-bit Travis touchdown with the analog stick. The game offers classic controller support as suggested in the opening moments of the game but I have yet to break out that controller in frustration. The D-pad on the Wii-mote is also perfectly function-able in these mini-games but its positioning makes it difficult for me to fully wrap myself between firing the A&B buttons and moving Travis with the D-pad.

Guess it just goes to show that some things never go out of style so long as these 8-bit 2D games are still around, there will always be a use for the D-pad to go along with it as the analog stick simply doesn't capture the simplicity of the controls. I'm not sure how many more times I can endure another failure because I couldn't push the analog stick to the right angle at a crucial moment.

Less Means More or Less?

2010-10-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

No More Heroes was one of the early favourites on the Nintendo Wii platform but as time grows the "series" began to lose its charm with me. It's a real shame as the first No More Heroes still sits at the top of my longest playing time list on the Nintendo Channel, something I suspected will not change for a while until I find the time to pick up playing Monster Hunter Tri again.

It started when the game made an appearance on other consoles as a high -def port of the Nintendo Wii original. This was right around the time when Grasshopper Manufacture were about to release the sequel Desperate Struggle on the Nintendo Wii, a sequel which Suda 51 had earlier decided to step away from the directing duties and instead served as a executive director. Understandably, it caused quite a damper in my excitement for the game despite the glowing reviews early on.

Now that I have the game, I can finally see how much better this sequel supposedly is compared with the original. The most obvious difference when you first start playing is the world hub from the original is completely gone, every location in Santa Destroy is now a button click away with a loading screen in between. There are a lot of loading time maybe because the playing time on each mini-game is so brief especially if you fail, you spent very little time actually playing the "real" Travis Touchdown. A sequel is expected to have more content than the original but somehow I can't tell if that's the case for Desperate Struggle, a startling discovery considering how much content was in the first game.

Other Way to Play M?

2010-09-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

Frame Fatal IV is a favourite in my wii collection so i dread to think what will happen when the next Wii system update renders the patch useless. Metroid : Other M poses a bit of a problem because the game prompts a system update in order to play which is something I'm not prepared to give up just yet.

There is another solution to this problem, I could import the japanese version of Metroid : Other M just like i did with Fatal Frame IV. The US cover art for Other M is just too unappealing for my taste and I have read that the Japanese import of Other M happens to be import-friendly with both English and Japanese voice options. Sounds like a far superior version to add to my collection though it likely won't be cheap just like Fatal Frame. In any case I should really finish my second play-through of Fatal Frame IV and maybe even start on the Metroid Prime Trilogy before I even consider getting another Wii game. Did I also mention I pick up No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle a while back?

Blowing It Out of the Waters

2010-09-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

I knew Uncharted was a great game but i didn't expect it to be a technical marvel on such a beastly machine like the ps3. Apart from the initial loading time when booting the game there is virtually no loading time on this game not even when you die and have to restart from a checkpoint. The game runs seamlessly from one part to another without the need of any data installed onto the hard disk, how did naughty dog pull off such a feat?

The best part is probably the no loading time when you view cutscene on the bonus gallery which Resident Evil 5 despite coming one year later couldn't do.

Fortune and Thieves

2010-09-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

I have been around the gaming block long enough to know that first-party games almost never get a price drop especially the Nintendo made ones. I was fortunate enough to pick up both first issue of Uncharted and Uncharted 2 at budget label price and if these games turned out to be as good as they say then it would really be a steal. I'm aware that Uncharted 2 haven't actually received a re-issue but up until recently, the game didn't look like it was going to get a major price drop. Maybe a budget label or Game of the Year re-issue is on the horizons because the dealer told me that the price drop was attributed to making way for a new version. This certainly deviate from my original plan of finishing the first Uncharted before even considering of picking up the sequel so looks like I would have to make haste with the first game.

It all started with my friends finally getting their bluetooth headsets and playing RE5 co-op with them over the weekend. It felt good playing co-op with old friends and part of me long to play co-op over a new game with all three of us together, something I thought Uncharted 2 fit the bill to the tee. I didn't really want to play Operation Flashpoint again though that isn't completely out of the question I did make a pact with my old friends that I would pick up Uncharted 2 if they would get their headsets. With the price drop just at the right time, I'm glad I was able to keep to my word without going overbudget.

Desperate to Kill

2010-09-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

One of the trophies I'm still short of in Resident Evil 5 is the 150 kills on Desperate Escape. Just the other weekend I played this DLC with a friend offline and both of our combined kills tally doesn't even cross the mark, never mind single-handedly. Ok maybe he's a little new to this level and we were both trying to get use to the split-screen but the experience did little to boost my confidence of achieving this trophy.

Nevertheless I gave it another go with an AI-controlled Josh a couple days only to get stuck on Veteran mode at the beginning because I couldn't save my AI from the swarm of chainsaw majinis and big man majinis. A quick change back to Normal mode and I was rocking my way to 150 kills with Jill armed to the teeth and an AI Josh serving as extra storage. I remember earning the trophy just before the final siege and when that was over, I was just 2 short of 200 kills. Now I just got to find someone crazy enough to do it all over again with me on Professional mode for the last DLC trophy.

Can Dead Rising Really Vanquish Resident Evil?

2010-09-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Despite being the biggest creative force at Capcom right now I have never taken a liking to Keiji Inafune. His choice of projects and lack of involvement with the Resident Evil series made me think there's more to this man than meets the eye. Now his recent bold declaration of what he has planned for the Dead Rising series to ultimately displace Resident Evil as Capcom top IP merely confirms my suspicion that this guy is an ego maniac. You see Dead Rising is Keiji's own labour of love, a zombie game that has more to do with Romero's zombie movies than Capcom's Resident Evil.

For the longest time I have always had a sneaking suspicion that Inafune has distanced himself from the Resident Evil series because it's Shinji Mikami's legacy at Capcom not his, contributing to the series will only further Mikami's legacy. Now Keiji's influence in Capcom has grown to the point that his name pops up on every Capcom project yet Capcom's biggest creative head has little to do with Capcom's biggest IP. All he has done is serve as the promotion producer on the original Resident Evil 2, probably to work with Romero on those TV commercials and later doing the devil's work on the playstation2 port of Resident Evil 4. Now that his intentions are made clear about what he has planned for Dead Rising and Resident Evil it's plain obvious what kind of person Inafune is. I was planning to get Vanquish all along instead of Dead Rising 2 but now I detest the man to the point where I will not buy his zombie game.

Why Does It Have to Be Poodles?

2010-08-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have heard that the original version of Dead Rising didn't feature zombified poodles and birds but since the Wii version is modelled using the RE4 engine, Capcom decided to jazz the game up a little by adding them. That's probably the breaking-point for the game as the developers failed to realised that this isn't Resident Evil, you don't have the luxury of standing around trying to take aim at these flying birds coming at you. When frustration sets in, I have even attempted to hurl/swing my melee weapon in that direction hoping to land a direct hit at these poodles and birds. Sometime it works but you can clearly see these poodles are not designed to take such hits.

Suddenly the most menacing thing in the game isn't the sheer number of zombies but how many of these little bastards lurking among them ever ready to make your life miserable.

Last Hurrah for Touchdown

2010-08-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

Although there have only been two No More Heroes games so far the series has always been about Travis Touchdown to me. Kinda like how Al Pacino's Tony Montana made Scarface into one of the best mob movie ever, it hard to imagine how either one would fare without their central character. The first No More Heroes game was a very average game when striped to its bare-bones and mind you, there isn't even that much meat on the bone to begin with. It has a couple of things that made it stand out though like a killer soundtrack, good voice casting and of course, Travis touchdown.

Suda was mentioned that No More Heroes 2 will probably be the last one appearing on the Wii platform and also travis touchdown's final appearance. Any future installment will have to wait for Nintendo's next-gen console and will not feature travis as the central character. Things have changed quite a bit since the first No More Heroes game, there weren't so many third-party games on the Wii platform back there. Now that I finally have my copy of NMH2 I can finally see how it stacks up against today's third-party games, hopefully Suda and co have given travis a proper send off that he deserves...

...and have him killed off at the start of NMH3 in a totally-irrelevant manner like only Suda can.

Rainy Days & Mondays

2010-08-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

No matter what era of music you grew up on the classic Carpenters never go out of style. From being prominently featured in the movie Tommy Boy to Nicolas Cage making part of his Johnny Blaze character, the Carpenters are distinctly hip for such soft melody music. Well maybe we should leave Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider out because badass biker with a spirit of vengeance and the Carpenters just don't mix plus Cage isn't exactly hip anymore these days.

Sing is not the first song that come to my mind when I think of the Carpenters in fact i don't even remember the song was featured in Sesame Street despite coming to know of the Carpenters from my dad's records as a kid. Now thanks to Hideo Kojima I can't think the recent Peace Walker without thinking of the Carpenters' song, Sing. It was the only source of comfort during the horrific torture sequence and also strangely became the boss' theme music in Peace Walker. Somehow it fits with the theme of Peace Walker and the game's message of peace. This is probably the second time I remember a pop culture song being featured in a Metal Gear and both instances happened to be part of the Big Boss saga. The last time was during the ending credits of Snake Eater and a popular britpop band's song was used. I can't exactly remember the band or the name of the song but I did remember thinking to myself that Kojima-san got great taste in music.

NBA Jam Crossover

2010-08-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

When I first watch NBA games as a kid I didn't think anyone could possibly missed a potential slam dunk for a sure-fire two points but it's possible. The ball hitting the wrong side of rim on its way down sometimes just bounced off in the opposite direction flying as fast as a hard dunk. In a way EA sports missed a potential slam dunk when they did both parties (ps3/xbox and wii) injustice for their highly-anticipated reboot of the NBA Jam brand.

EA are indeed bringing the game to the ps3 and 360 but as a downloadable-content if you purchased NBA Elite 2011 for the respective platform. The catch is it isn't the full version of the NBA Jam game on the Wii and NBA Elite isn't really that good of a basketball game according long-time hoop gamers. So Nintendo loses another exclusive third-party game while Sony and Microsoft gets a real boost for NBA Elite especially since the game wouldn't have any resell value as the downloadable code for NBA Jam is for use one-time only. It's like EA sports is trying to please everyone but just end up upsetting everyone instead, ps3/360 are getting a gimped version of NBA Jam while Wii owners are no longer enjoying an exclusive third-party game. I was initially planning to get the Wii version if it was exclusive then decided to go for the ps3 version since it would probably be cheaper as a downable game on PSN. It's not going to be available for purchase on psn or xbox live so it's likely i won't be able to find anyone to play with since online mode for the wii version is still unconfirmed.

Looks like EA Sports just lost a lot of potential sale of NBA Jam on the Wii though it probably won't hurt having a free game included with NBA Elite. This feels like EA's payback for Dead Space Extraction poor performance on the Wii platform but surely nobody deserves to be treated like this, Wii and ps3/360 owners alike.

A Witch's Job is Never Finished

2010-08-02T21:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last played Bayonetta and while I long to play that game again there are always issues preventing me from doing so. For one thing there are other games waiting to be played (though the reality is I'm also replaying some other games at the moment) and then there is also the 'fragility' of dualshock3 controller i have to be concerned with.

During this time Platinum Games has released a 5-disc soundtrack album and artbook to complement the game release with the Best of reprint of the original game for Japanese market scheduled for release later in September. Looks like a witch's job is never finished surely this won't be the last we see of her as Platinum Games is set to unveil some Bayonetta-related news really soon according to the game's producer. While I would love to add both the 5-disc soundtrack and artbook to my collection it stills burns that I wasn't given the pre-order soundtrack sampler when i purchased the japanese copy of the game from a local dealer. Having the 5-disc soundtrack might just be a painful reminder of that so the artbook is certainly much more tempting to me right now. Now if only I was done going through the last artbook I got I won't feel so guilty about getting this now.

Quick Torture Event

2010-08-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

While I take good care of my games I don't normally go overboard with my controllers like most. I believe restraining yourself with the controller will ultimately just hinder your enjoyment of the game after all these controllers are made to take the abuse. Despite my penchant for fast-paced hard-hitting action games I only had to replace my controller once on any of my past consoles so there is surely some truth to this.

Things are a little different with handhelds after all you can't just replace the faulty controls you have to replace the entire system so I'm not sure how I should restrain myself with these handheld games. Thankfully most developers don't expect you to button-mash like a madman in front of public eye so handheld games aren't really made that way.

Except Peace Walker isn't like any other handheld game and Hideo Kojima isn't any ordinary developer either. I have read fans lament about the now-infamous torture sequences that live on in every Metal Gear games fearing the worst for what's to come in Peace Walker. Tonight I survived the ordeal and my PSP lived to tell the tale but the build-up to that very moment was agonizing to say the least. I was about 25 hours into the game with no idea of when the torture sequence would pop up and what to expect save the unfavourable feedback from online fans. Then Snake gets captured in my last mission and I knew it was just around the corner but somehow I messed up the quick-time event leading up to the scene. So being the paranoid android that I am I decided to replay the last mission to get the quick time event scene right before playing the torture sequence. I'm not sure if it helped or not but I had an easier time getting Snake out of the prison cell then if I have failed the scene. I certainly don't want to replay that torture sequence again though the game itself is pretty addictive. If there is one thing I know about lady luck is you should never push her too hard.

Please Wake Up Kotaku

2010-07-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

Inception is a great movie, ok I get it. But does Kotaku really have to go all fanboy out on the movie with what is probably their fifth, sixth or maybe tenth post on the movie? Kotaku is a gaming site the last time I checked so what does Inception have to do with video games? Absolutely nothing as far as I know but who knows maybe these God knows how many post might argue that point. Bottom line is I come to a game blog to really about games and not so much on movies or whatever else that interests Kotaku. I'm not sure if Mr Nolan would appreciated his latest "masterpiece" being associated with a lower medium of entertainment such as video games.

It's like they ran out of good game articles to post and simply mail one in. Heck I have been tempted to do so and in fact done so on a few occasion but my personal blog wasn't never meant to be anything more than my personal account on my favourite games. I expected more of Kotaku.

Ok enough ranting for on day, looks like I got away with one myself. Hehe.

Evil Dead Rising

2010-07-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Being a longtime fan of the Resident Evil series I have always long for the series to be more like Dead Rising (more zombies) but Capcom has been adamant that the series is not going in that direction even with the technology available to them. Resident Evil 5 could easily had more zombies per screen and in fact, it did at one time if you go back and watch the early trailers prior to the game release.

Playing Chop Till You Drop over the weekend made me realise more Dead rising in Resident Evil could be a good thing but more Evil in Dead Rising certainly is not. Confused yet? As Capcom was making changes to the original Dead Rising for the Nintendo Wii, the developers placed a greater emphasis on the firearms possibly to stress on the ease and precision of the Wii controls as previously demonstrated in RE4 Wii Edition.

Leaning on the firearms revealed just how different these two games really are, the zombies in Dead Rising doesn't react to gun shots with the same realism as in Resident Evil. Sometimes when I'm going to a leg shot to follow up with a melee attack, they end up dying in an instance instead. From getting shot in the knee! The guns in Dead Rising also doesn't feel as accurately portrayed as they are in the Resident Evil series making me loathe the gun shooting even more. As such I try to go about my zombie killing by any other possible way but that has proven difficult at times as you just can't charge into the mob of zombie blocking your way. Sometimes in order to make a path to the next store where you could possibly find another melee weapon you have to shoot your way though the mob.

Over the Hills for Trophies

2010-07-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

Finishing Silent Hill Homecoming today seems a little less significant considering the game doesn't offer any trophy incentives. While trophy-less games like MGS4 and DMC4 compensate by recognising your in-game achievements with their own in-game ranking system Homecoming doesn't even track your gameplay statistics at the end of the game. A major blunder on Double Helix part considering every past game in the series had their feature even the Climax-developed installments.

Right now I only have four games on my trophy list but I intend to achieve Platinum on everyone of those games. The catch is not to over-do it and make trophy-hunting the primary aim of re-playing those game, I have a friend who grind many hours through Infamous on his way to his first Platinum trophy only to sell the game immediately afterwards because he was so sick of hunting for the final trophy. I certainly do not wish for the same to happen to me with my games but tendency to go all out on a trophy hunt is always there.

Integral Podcast

2010-07-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

The last time I finished MGS4 at the beginning of 2009, Kojima Productions was just beginning with their integral podcast for the game. By then the game is already one and a half year old with myself finishing it twice, there was little desire to go back and play it again - podcast or not. Now that I'm playing Peace Walker, it seems like the perfect time to play MGS4 again. I'm sure that would raise more than a few eyebrows when my friends log into PSN then again I was never really the most up to date gamer anyway. When accessing the online portion of MGS4 I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of content Konami added to the game since I last checked in 2009. Aside from the podcast, there are also remixes of classic Metal Gear tunes and new camouflage to enhance your Metal Gear experience.

The integral podcast is a lot of fun, it's like having a live walkthrough guiding you through the course of the game. Of course that's not the real purpose of the podcast but having to pay attention to the guys talking, it's nice that you don't have concentrate on slipping by the guards too much. I'm about two acts into the game and intend to keep my kills and alert record clean while at the same time, listening to these guys reflect on the making of the game via the podcast.

When Love and Hate Collide

2010-07-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still undecided whether I like Silent Hill Homecoming or not, it's frustrating at times while being bearable for most of the time. One thing's for sure, it's not good enough of a game for me to upgrade my korean version to the region 1 version when I passed up Play-asia recent re-stock of the title.

The flashlight for the game is so bad that I sometimes have to switch it on and off using the shortcut button just to make sure it's turned on. Then again maybe the developer were trying to achieve a more realistic lighting and darkness effect like what the early Resident Evil 5 trailer promised. Maybe this is what a real cheap flashlight will look like I'm not sure. The high definition graphics is nice but by making most of the background object interactive via Havok physic, everything just end up looking crude and far bigger than they should. The meticulous art direction of Team Silent past games is never honoured, though I find Homecoming vision of the Otherworld a bit more to my disliking than the real world of Shepherd's Glen.

As for the region 1 version, I never really have that great of a Silent Hill collection to begin with anyway though I would like to add it's still better than some pathetic 'collection' put together just with copies of konami palace reprints. I guess I can live up with this korean version, I would rather put my money and effort into looking for the Silent Hill 4 The Room still missing from my collection right now.

Don't Judge Me

2010-07-13T00:31:00.000-07:00

This morning I received an email informing me that Castlevania Judgment has just drop to $19.90 in Play-asia, great news for Castlevania fan like myself. Only problem is I ordered my copy a week ago and it arrived promptly at my doorstep today. Oh well the universe is balance and savings that I earned from bargain deals like this usually ended up funding pricey collector's edition and first-day purchases anyway.

Judging from the box art, the game support online versus play with fourteen classic Castlevania characters to choose from. Only problem I could only recognise about five out of the fourteen characters so much for being a Castlevania fan. I have been longing to add this game to my collection but I haven't actually play any of the last three Castlevania in my collection either so this is purely for collecting sake at this point. Looks like I haven't break away from my bad habit of buying games when I don't have time to play otherwise I would have save a bit more on this game.

Zero Suits Me Just Fine

2010-07-11T23:20:00.001-07:00

Even though I have the tendency to leave things unfinished when I play a game for the first time, I don't have the foresight to compile a to-do list for future re-plays. Looking at the list of unlockables for Fatal Frame IV, it's easy to see which one is the most appealing and yet still attainable within my limits as I prepared to play the game again. Of course I'm talking about Samus infamous zero suit for lead character Ruka which requires 200 photos to be captured from the Ghost List.

Luckily for me I'm quite a completist when it comes to the Ghost list and enjoys the hunt of getting those tricky shots of disappearing ghost. In my first play through I'm came about 50 shots short of 200 ghost capture, so it should be fairly easy to unlock this. However in the process of re-playing the game I realised that the easier shots are already on my ghost list so most that remains the fast-moving ghost that require you to be quick on your feet in addition to being quick on the shutter button. That zero suit is going to feel all the more rewarding when I do reach 200 captures and who knows maybe it might actually inspire me to finally start playing the Metroid trilogy.

Inside the Darkside

2010-07-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

I recently put away my copy of Darkside Chronicles to make way for other games but that doesn't mean I'm done with the game. Far from it as the amount of content and unlockables packed into that game is simply staggering especially when compared with its predecessor. I have heard from my friends that there is an artbook released for the game but other that a recent sighting on Play-asia I have seen little of this to convince me its worth getting. So when the book went out of stock on Play-asia yesterday I went into my usual panic mode and started googling up on the book. Sure enough from what I can see online it does look like an artbook similar to the one released for the first Umbrella Chronicles game.

A quick search online and mad rush trip downtown was all it took before i finally added the book to my collection late last night. It cost quite a bit more than the first book but hopefully judging from the sheer amount of content in both game, this will be a much more worthwhile book too. The number of pages certainly doesn't feel like so but it's hard to resist with such a nice cover and it's Resident Evil after all.

Zero Needs A Hero

2010-06-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

When I first bought Fatal Frame IV, I knew it came with an expiry date and that was part of the reason why I pushed all other games aside to finish it that time. What I didn't expect was the expiry date to arrive so soon as I was met with an unwelcome surprise playing my Wii last weekend. In my final hours with Darkside Chronicles before putting it away, I received a message from Nintendo informing me that the new system update 4.3U is already available for download. This could potentially render my Fatal Frame IV patch useless as it was made to run on the earlier system update 4.2U.

Perhaps it was fitting that I was done with Darkside Chronicles as I must now go back to playing Fatal Frame IV, who knows how many updates Nintendo will issue and how many Team Zero can successfully find ways to bypass it. Though the team behind the fan-made translation project are fairly confident to get around any future Nintendo updates, there is always the fear in me that this could very well be the last time I'm able to play Fatal Frame IV on my Wii.

The Big Picture

2010-06-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

I liked how i started with Fatal Frame III, I just didn't like how I finished it this past weekend. True enough I grew desperate to get the game out of the way once I knew it was indirectly holding back some other games i was wishing to play. So i ultimately resorted to FAQ to finish the last two chapters of the game having grown fed up of wandering around aimlessly in the game not sure of what to do.

Surprisingly the core story of Fatal Frame III still make a lot of sense despite me playing off and on for goodness know how long since I started. The tie-in to previous installments of Fatal Frame games are a nice touch for longtime fans but what i liked best is the series uncanny abilities to tell a deeper and bigger picture by providing backstory to every ghost that appear to haunt you in the game. If you are not bother to get involved with the game they may seem like random ghost but usually every ghost has a past life and how they come back to haunt you is revealed if you are resourceful enough to snap the quick shot. Speaking of which, now that I'm done with Fatal Frame III i can finally think about going back to 4 on the Wii.

Evil Now Has a Home

2010-06-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Fresh from the recent E3 announcement of a new Silent Hill, I have finally added Silent Hill: Homecoming to my collection. It was a long and initially hopeless process from the fruitless search in the US trip to Play-asia running out of stock, it didn't seem likely I would get to play the series entry to the HD generation. There was a rare sighting of the game here and there but mostly the timing and the price was just not right to commit to the purchase.

This time I happened to find the korean version of the game which I recall Play-asia was selling for as low as USD24.90 at one time but i passed it up waiting for a further price drop of the US version. Now that the US version is longer available locally, I had no choice but to settle for the Korean region 3 version and hope that the earlier reported problems with the inverted controls doesn't surface. I will admit this it's going to take some work to get this copy of the game to fit in with the rest of collection both from the aesthetic and space point of view.

Back to Zero

2010-06-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

Finally Fatal Frame III is in the books at last, I cheated and lied my way through the end but at that point I didn't really care anymore (haha). Maybe I didn't cheat or lie but I certainly did refer to faqs for the last two chapters of the game, something I would normally not do for games I'm playing the first time. I didn't want to spent any more time with this game as my play time has already exceeded that of part IV (19 hours+ !) though I'm confident I would be able to finish the game on my own eventually.

The story of part III is pretty good on its own made even better for longtime fans of the series with all its connection to the past games of the series. I made sure to keep the save file of this game handy by making a copy on my playstation3 hard disk so hopefully i will be able to give the game the attention it deserves one day.

Excess Baggage

2010-06-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

True story about Devil May Cry 3, when I first played that game I took a six months lay-off somewhere in between as I was stuck on one of the boss fight before ultimately returning to finish the game. While Fatal Frame III wouldn't be rivaling Devil May Cry 3, I have certainly started this game far too long ago and have yet to finish it even once. Part of the problem with the game is I felt the third installment had too much baggage and had problem recalling the events and character from past games referenced in part III. I felt a need to replay the previous two games in order to get the most out of part III but in doing so, I'm afraid Fatal Frame III might really rival Devil May Cry 3 as the longest game I took to finish.

Frame Frame III also had a tendency to dump the player in a scenario with little or no clue as to what to do, a recipe for disaster for someone who plays the game irregularly like myself. The light at the end of the tunnel is near, I just hope i have enough will power to make it there.

Burning Twice as Bright

2010-06-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

Patience is not something most gamers would like to practise, myself being guilty of that many times as well. This one time when i decided to skip finishing Fatal Frame III on playstation2 and moved straight to Fatal Frame IV on the Wii did work out better than I thought and prove that patience is not always a virtue. By doing so, i avoided burning myself out and managed to finish part IV after playing the game consistently for about two to three weeks. Just as I started, I was struggling to juggle my playing time between Fatal Frame IV, Yakuza 3 and also Monster Hunter Tri which i recently got. Something had to give with Yakuza 3 seeing less and less playing time than rest, i decided to give that game a break and just concentrate on the two games on the Nintendo Wii. Truthfully I felt a little burnt out having to play Yakuza 3 after racing to finish Yakuza 2 a few months back and the slow pace at the beginning of that game certainly didn't help as well.

Now that I have finished Fatal Frame IV, Yakuza 3 didn't feel like such a drag as before and of course, Fatal Frame III still needs finishing touches before I can even think of playing part IV again. I guess games are always best played when you are not rushing to finish them for whatever reasons it may be.

From Spirits to Zombies

2010-05-05T23:54:00.000-07:00

Nothing puts a good bargain to waste like not actually making use of it and it comes to games, i have certainly had my fair share of those. Though I have no intentions of letting any of my recent good bargains go to waste the fact that i have more than one does complicate the situation. High on the list to play would have to be Dead Rising and Muramasa as these third-party games do have a tendency of losing their retail price real fast so i better not leave them idle for long. Metroid Trilogy can actually wait because i doubt i would be able to find it again had i not picked it up that time and as much as i'm looking forward to Other M, it probably won't be a first day purchase for me.

Between Dead Rising and Muramasa, the choice is really simple as i would prefer to wait until i have a classic controller in hand before playing Muramasa. That leaves me with Dead Rising which does seems like the ideal choice as its campy horror is just the perfect antidote for the spookiness of Fatal Frame IV.

Monster Good TIme

2010-04-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

Not long after splashing out on an expensive japanese import like Fatal Frame IV, the hole in the my pocket gets bigger with yet another big third-party Wii exclusive on the horizons. That's right Monster Hunter Tri is almost upon us and if you are a big fan of Capcom games and Wii exclusive like myself then you have to get this game, nevermind the fact you know almost next to nothing about the world of Monster Hunter.

Part of the problem with Monster Hunter is if you don't have a band of hunters to hunt with, you stand almost no chance against some of the latter monster you will meet in the game. Fortunately there is an active community of gamers willing to commit time and effort to this game so i'm less fearful of this problem. The bigger problem is the world of Monster Hunter can seems so daunting to newcomers, this is truly a game for the hardcore gamers and expects a big commitment from the gamer in order to get the most out of it. This is probably also my last chance to get acquainted with the Monster Hunter series having missed the first two installment on the PS2 and PSP. Being a Capcom fanboy, I felt like I had to be a fan of the Monster Hunter series with it rising rapidly among ranks of Capcom other franchise.

The Rule of Four

2010-04-24T22:12:00.001-07:00

Capcom's rule of four seems to suggest that by the time a franchise reaches the fourth installment. a major rehash is in order. Tecmo may have took this theory to heart when they were developing the fourth installment of the Fatal Frame series. Collaborating with Grasshoppers and Nintendo on a new platform, a change of things was definitely in order.

Visually the game looks and plays a lot like the Ashley chapter in Resident Evil 4, completed with all the lighting effects that made the Gamecube version incomparable during its time. The control takes a bit of getting used to with a combination of classic and motion controls blended together but i liked to think it adds tension to the game much like the archaic controls of the early Resident Evil games. Many series veterans have lamented that this new installment on the Nintendo Wii has been dumbed down to cater a new audience but i didn't really get that feeling. There were plenty of cheap scares early on and the game generally feels creepy, it's definitely been a while since i had the hair on the back of my neck standing.

When Grasshoppers and Ninjas Collide

2010-04-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

You really have to tip your hat off to the translation team behind the Fatal Frame 4 english patch, they are clearly well-versed enough to enjoy the game in its original form but decided to produce a patch for everyone to have a chance to experience this great game. My japanese import of Fatal Frame 4 arrived promptly yesterday and since the only other game i'm busy with happens to be a bit of a slow-burner, i decided to play Fatal Frame 4.

Part of the eagerness was for the game itself and part of it was curiosity of how it all works with the patch installed onto the system. Thankfully after a quick restart, everything began to run smoothly as you hoped in fact, the translation work is so seamlessly you probably think it was an official localization of the game rather than fan-made. I have read that pretty much everything was already in placed and all that was required was a good understanding of the Japanese language and then it was just a matter of replacing the hiragana and kanjis with the ABCs. The fonts of the English text doesn't look awkwardly out of place or 'burnt-on' save perhaps for some of the menu but i have yet to load the game in its original form so i don't know for sure if the above statement is true. A huge thanks to the guys who made this possible, it's the stuff that fans always talk and dream of but rather ever happens. You guys have certainly prove it is possible, this game feels like such a quality product that i can't possible cram all my impressions into this one post.

Intercooler Impressions

2010-04-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

The last time i bought anything from Nyko I ended up not using it much as there is only so much lightgun games one can play. I have kept the perfectshot back in its box since my early plays of Umbrella Chronicles and have yet to even dust off them for my recent Darkside Chronicles run.

The Intercooler TS is an entirely different matter, fitted onto my Playstation3 it will form part of my console and function as much as the system. It has to be up to speed and frankly if it cost a bit more it would be worth the money too. Thankfully the price of Intercooler is on par with the other third-party brand I saw in Singapore, in fact its worth every dollar considering how much it will be used and how well it works. The common complaint i often hear of the product when reading up on it was the loud noise emitted by the fans when operating. That much is true but the noise doesn't bother me much as i'm used to the noise of the built-in cooling fan of the ps3 by now. The intercooler fits on to the back of the playstation3 where the vents are, a big difference considering all USB-powered fans fit onto the front vents of the playstation3. At first i didn't understand how the Intercooler could work placed onto the back vent with all the exhaust vent blowing out from there but i think that's where its temperature sensor could come into play. The sensor senses the temperature of the playstation3 from the exhaust air emitted and regulate the Intercooler fan speed accordingly. The four fans of the Intercooler works together with the in-built fan to improve the air circulation inside the system by blowing into the system and exhausting the hot air out of the system. This is achieved with one pair of fan blowing in one direction and another pair blowing in the other, at least from what i can tell studying the fans at work since the fans only run when placed in right position and temperature. I rarely hear the built-in fan running anymore since installing the intercooler, not because the Intercooler is so damn loud but because it does such a good job that the in-built fan doesn't even kick in.

Black Humour

2010-04-18T23:40:00.001-07:00

I'm not very demanding when it comes to action movie or action game plots, usually even the cliche works for me so when i heard that Platinum Games had roped in Final Fantasy XII's Yasumi Matsumi to pen Madworld scenario, i wasn't sure what to expect. Sure enough Madworld made little sense at the end but the cutscenes are slick and exciting enough to keep things interesting. The final boss is a bit of a joke but fitting considering the game's dark humour, in the end i'm not even sure who the real villain is. The game is just long enough so things don't become too repetitive but Madworld still works best when played in short bursts rather than one long sitting.

Hopefully Platinum Games will come up with a sequel without the Final Fantasy plot and introduce more new creative kills.

Does Everything (Except Keeping Cool)

2010-04-15T23:24:00.001-07:00

While i was doing my usual game hunting earlier this month in singapore, my friend was hunting for a cooling fan for his playstation3 slim. Now this guy is a certified cooling geek, the type of guy who looks at the size of the cooling fan first and foremost before anything else when shopping for a PC. OK i may have stretch that part a little bit but the point was he instill a fear in me which i learnt to let go a long time ago. I remember back when i first got my ps3, i placed it in a vertical position at a confined area so the fear of overheating the unit was always there. I kept a standing fan turned on facing directly at my ps3 the whole time it was powered on that time. Later when i moved the ps3 downstairs to hook up with the LCD TV, i never really bother to cool down the unit anymore since it was in a horizontal position at a relatively open space.

After some friendly teasing from my friend, i became a little paranoid again and wonder why did i abandon my cooling habits a while back. The cooling fan which i could find in Singapore are mostly USB-powered made by third-party brand i have never heard of before, frankly they looked a little tacky and not the least bit reliable. Ultimately i came home without a cooling fan but still a lingering concern of this matter then i decided to see if there were reputable third-party labels dealing with these cooling fans gizmo. I found this Temp Smart Intercooler by Nyko which happens to be powered by its own external AC adapter and is available at most Gamestop outlets, all the hallmarks of a reliable product if you ask me. I immediately ask my sister to make a last-minute addition to my shopping list and here it is along with my other easter haul she brought back this week. Now the only thing remaining is to see how well it works when hooked up with the playstation3.

I Love This Game!

2010-04-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

My next batch of Easter games are here, some highly acclaimed RPG games which were long overdue to be part of my collection. Silent Hill: Homecoming was originally supposed to be part of the mix but the game is fast disappearing be it at Asia region or US so the chances of finding the game brand new is pretty slim now.

Valkyria Chronicles is actually easier to find than Muramasa despite Muramasa being the newer game as it seems Sega is still pressing new copies of Valkyria, the new blu-ray case certainly seems to suggest so. Muramasa on the other hand is an old copy from when the game first debut in September 2009, i discovered this when i peel off the price tag to reveal the old original price underneath. Looks like Muramasa will be joining Silent Hill: Homecoming as part of this generation games that will be hard to find in the near future, you heard it here first folks so quickly grab your copy while you still can.

Fatal Fantasy

2010-04-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have gone and done it again; despite all the savings and great deals i was able to find this past week it didn't take long for me to blown it all away with a costly deal on an import game. The japanese import of Fatal Frame IV has re-surfaced at the worst possible time when i'm at my most vulnerable state during my recent Wii craze and demand for the import is still high with the english patch reportedly working. I was considering between ordering it now or wait till my friend who's going to Japan later this year and ask him to track down a copy for me, hopefully at a lower price.

The fact that i'm still struggling to finish Fatal Frame III certainly doesn't bode well with the decision to commit now via Play-asia. This is quickly turning into another repeat of Yakuza as i move immediately from one installment to another and one generation of console to another. Hopefully these will ultimately all end well as i do have a penchant of fantasizing about playing games rather than actually playing them.

Different look, different voice

2010-04-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

The first time i finished Shadow of Destiny, Eike gets run down by a bunch of drunk kids leaving me confused and unsure what the whole game was all about. Naturally i never played the game again after being disgusted by the ending i got until the game was recently ported to the PSP. I can't remember what i did differently this time but i got a much more satisfying ending where Eike loses his memory after defeating Homunculus and is trapped in the past. The special trailers which you unlocked after finishing the game appears to have been removed, perhaps Konami doesn't want unsuspecting gamers to know that this is a port of an old playstation2 game?

Come to think of it, i didn't see any of the staff involved with the PSP port listed on the ending credits either but i did read that this port contains all-new voicework and artwork. The artwork accompanying the opening menu does look new but i have to dust off my old playstation2 version to see if there is any truth regarding the new voiceovers.

Easter Hunting

2010-04-05T23:52:00.001-07:00

I was doing my own Easter hunting this last weekend only it wasn't Easter eggs i was hunting for but video games. I was with a friend combing over all the game stores in singapore, big or small in search for bargains and rare games. Though i did managed to amass a nice haul of games this time, i could have gone for broke and grab the rare copy of Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations which i have a feeling i will regret later. I didn't prepare a list or have anything particular in mind this time around so i really wasn't expecting much especially since i have another haul of games arriving later this month.

The metroid trilogy is undoubtedly the highlight i wasn't interested in this collector's edition a while back having failed to be impressed with metroid prime hunters but after my friend started gushing about how great the series is (bar hunter) and even showing me his copy of the CE, i just knew i had to have it. I found the only copy in HMV City Link but still wasn't prepared to shell out full bucks, having just got Dead Rising and Uncharted during Gamescore Wii promotion earlier that day. As it turns out, i managed to snagged the Metroid Trilogy at stock clearance price the next day where i would least expect to find it but i supposed it all makes sense as most wouldn't go there to buy games. Notice the Uncharted happens to be the original black label packaging? Another nice find at Gamescore as these 're-packaged' Greatest Hits are a collector's dream come true, original black labels at Greatest Hits price though i was actually planning to get Uncharted 2 but prices for those were still too expensive. Despite all this new stuff, i still have more coming my way later this month which you should keep your eyes peeled for.

Another Try

2010-03-30T23:47:00.001-07:00

I usually have a very good instinct about what I like and what would make a game great almost to the point where my friends would make fun of me for purchasing games not based on reviews or scores. Though I'm not very fond of first-party games be it Nintendo's or Sony's, the Metroid series was a franchise I knew I would like despite not having played a single game. From the great level design that inspired Symphony of the Night (and ultimately all subsequent Castlevania games) to the John Woo film that never got made, this was a franchise for me. So when i finally had the opportunity to experience the Metroid series for the first time, i didn't hesitate to add Metroid Prime: Hunters to my collection.

Though Prime Hunters was by no means a poor DS game, it certainly didn't showcase the series' best strengths and made me wonder if I was wrong about the Metroid series. Part of the problem was I loathe playing first-person since my PC gaming days and having to perform platform leaps in first-person is an absolute nightmare if you have every played Prime Hunters. Now that the series going to be a third-person game thanks to Tecmo, i decide to give the original Prime series a try. A friend of mine played a big role in this, helping sell to me how great the Prime series is and also how desirable the Metroid Trilogy Collector's Edition is. It's now or never as the Trilogy is no longer being published, I wonder how much of a chance i have in scoring a brand new copy without having to pay an arm and leg at eBay?

Wild Search is Over

2010-03-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks i have been searching everywhere for yakuza 3 region 1, a search that is getting increasingly futile unless i started looking abroad. Then last weekend when i decided to show my support for a local game store grand opening, i ended up with not one but two copies of yakuza 3! Granted neither of those two were the coveted region 1 version but in the end i believe they offered a better value for money than if i had got the region 1 copy albeit having to spent a bit more than i intially thought.

One was the Yakuza 3 japanese import in first print and the other, the asian version of yakuza 3 at wholesale price for that opening day only. I have considered of playing the japanese import before but that proven unnecessary when Sega finally announced that they would indeed to bringing the game to western gamers. Then the announcement of cut material dampen everyone's excitement for the game and with no official reply from Sega, it seems the only way to experience the game in its complete form was to play the japanese version. This was actually old stock waiting to be cleared and once again i felt the urge to rescue it from the shelf when i first saw it there. It was down to about half its original retail price for a japanese import meaning a pretty chunk of saving if i had purchased the japanese import when it first came out.

When i told my friends that i was waiting out for the region 1 of yakuza 3, they question my decision to spent so much for a game with cut content and on top of that, a pretty dated game if you consider the original release in Japan. Already being deprived of content cut from the western release, i was adamant about not being deprived of the downloadable content as well (DLC). That and also other aesthetic reasons led me to relentlessly pursue the region 1 version. Until I found the japanese import which i didn't think would be possible anymore for first print now that the budget label release is out. Then all i needed was localised copy which i could play to make some sense of the game in japanese which didn't necessarily have to be region 1 anymore. The wholesale price was tempting to say the least but looking at the asian box art, it probably was not a bad idea as i don't worry about looking at a moody kazuma with white goatee on the box.

Best of Times, Worst of Times

2010-03-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the Sony PSP and my close to four year relationship with the system since coming to own one back in middle of 2006. Up until my trip to Hong Kong that year, i didn't even know i was going to be getting a Sony PSP as it was all a spur in the moment thing. I never did any homework on the system before getting one and paid dearly for that. Not counting the games i get to play for free on custom firmware i probably spent more than your average gamer did for the same handheld. An example of how ignorant i was about the system and its games was the very first game i got on my Sony PSP, i ended up paying close to price of a brand new console game ($55!). That's what the Sony PSP will do to you, it will punish and scare the hell out of you if you don't know anything but it would also reward you greatly if you take the time to get to learn the system inside outside. Even now i'm still learning how to get the most out of the system after my recent renewed interest in the Sony PSP. It's probably the only system i regret not spending enough time on to warrant its purchase as its limited success may have deter my interest earlier.

He's a Woman, She's a Man

2010-03-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

If there ever was a most accidental prone award in video games then it would have to be Eike from Shadow of Destiny, an obscure playstation2 game by konami that was recently revived on the Sony PSP. I remember playing the game on my playstation2 a long time ago, it was one of the very first game i played and if it wasn't for the horrible ending i got i would have probably played it a few more times again.

The game looks pretty good on the Sony PSP with bold but simple character models despite the bland environment in fact if you never played the original you probably couldn't tell it was a ps2 port. The death scenes which Eike must avoid looks laughable now but i will give the game the benefit of the doubt in order to see it through to the big picture at the end. Hopefully this time i will get an explanation as to why Eike is so prone to accidents but i'm willing to wager that the most memorable thing about this game is still the sexually-ambiguous time traveling sorcerer who aides Eike. Not even Koji Igarashi name listed as producer can top that as i feel like an Austin Powers moment coming up trying to figure out his/her gender.

is that a man or a woman?

A Fighter's Blues

2010-03-21T23:05:00.001-07:00

Since i have yet to play Yakuza 3 and got so bored of playing RE5 again, i decided it's about time to give Madworld another try. What a difference it was from when i first played the game back in July last year, the faults i have with the game are still there but Madworld does make a pretty good brawler especially when you compared the fighting with yakuza 3. Frankly when i first play the game i wasn't expecting a brawling game but Madworld is exactly that, Just Jack doesn't have a whole lot of different moves to take down his enemies nor does he dodge very gracefully away from attack but his impact moves and finishers are thoroughly satisfying. In the end I have come to accept that Jack just moves and attack a lot more like Kazuma rather than what I'm accustomed to with Dante and Nero.

The camera is still horrible, picking up weapons and facing your opponents is a nightmare especially when the game locks down the camera angle in certain situation but at least the game looks pretty even in 480i. The production design is pretty impressive for an action game where it's usually an afterthought but Madworld is good enough to make you take the time to stop and admire. The game is reportedly only 5 to 6 hours long so there should be no problems playing it till finish this time since i already can't wait to get back to playing it again. Maybe it was the longing to play yakuza 3 that has led me to back to Madworld but the game has got my undivided attention right now, at a time when I have nothing else better to play. Well at least until next month when i should have a bounty full of cool new games to play.

Y2K10 bug

2010-03-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

Where were you when it happened, the leap year bug that caused all older model of Playstation3 not to function properly? I was actually planning to turn on my ps3 that Sunday evening but got held up finishing Metal Gear Solid on my PSOne. The next day was sheer panic, the amount of news and post on the internet relating to the bug and how Sony dodged the question of how this could happen and whether or not a clear solution was on its way.

It was then when i realised how attached i was to my ps3 having previously down played the importance of the console when compared with the games it played. I supposed it had to do with how much trouble i went through to get hold of my 80gb backward-compatible unit and how content i was with it, when all my friends had to spend more on additional hard disk space and controller. Mine had everything i need off the box though it came at a slightly higher price than the rest, the fact i didn't need to spent on anything more except games really made me feel grateful of what i have. When the dust has settled and the problem fixed itself the next day, I couldn't wait to turn on my ps3 to make sure everything's ok. Judging from the number of friends I see online that night, I'm betting a lot feel the same too.

March Madness II

2010-03-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

Right about this time last year I was experiencing my march madness where my spending just went up the roof for Resident Evil 5 and all other things RE-lated. This year things are not much different and i'm sure you will agree if you are an avid ps3 user with the slew of great ps3 games out this month. While i'm feeling the pinch myself, it's less apparent here seeing that i never developed much of any liking for RPG games and also i have always been much more of a devil may cry guy.

Most of the damage would have to be attributed to my trip to Singapore later this month and also my sister trip to US where i hope to score a couple of good bargains back. These aren't exactly new games which you will learn about over the coming few weeks but it should keep me busy until summer when Capcom's big sequels are out. With no sign of Yakuza 3 region 1 in sight yet, I still haven't figure out if i should continue to wait it out and add it onto my already long shopping list.

Day One No More

2010-03-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

Yakuza 3 is scheduled for release tomorrow and i came to a decision not to make it a first-day purchase anymore. No, it's not because of the lack of hostess side-mission or the games i have unfinished as that is something i have learnt to come to terms with as an adult gamer. This has more to do with me being content with still playing Resident Evil 5 DLC while the prospect of getting some new games next month intrigued me enough to put off getting Yakuza 3 for now.

I do anticipate having to cope with my friends playing and finishing the game before I do but I realised I would still get the last laugh when i finally finished Yakuza 2 before starting Yakuza 3 in a haste like i would have now.

Host Gone Ghost

2010-02-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

Yakuza is shaping up to be a series where Sega seems to never get things right from the beginning of the franchise up until now. Yakuza 1 was dubbed much to purists dismay though Yakuza 2 was left pretty much intact after localization, it was released way too late to even make an impact.

Now Yakuza 3 will have some content cut from its original Japanese version because of cultural differences and lack of time to properly localise everything. Its the kind of stuff that fanboys will chew and debate over for ages to come though it's unlikely to make or break the game. The problem is the content removed though trivial to the eyes of the Sega team happens to be the main appeal to many of Yakuza fans. Yes the hostess game which has evolved from each of yakuza game will not be featured in this forthcoming yakuza release. Not many will admit it but i have seen enough forums and friends to know that a lot of gamers play yakuza because of the hostess side missions.

Bullet and Brain

2010-02-23T01:51:00.000-08:00

Part of the fear within the resident evil games has always been how scarce it is to stock up ammunition against the undead. I remember how that fear eventually led to obsession in the early PSOne games as i spend more and more time organising and arranging the inventory in my item box. Of course that all changed in RE4 where the enemies sometimes drop ammunition in addition to the ones found in crates and barrels.

In Lost in Nightmares there isn't enough time to create that sort of fear but the developers did squeeze in a segment where you and your partner are stripped of your weapon and have to make it out of the area by using your wits and cunning to outsmart the executioners. Sure it sounds cliche as hell and it certainly feels like the way but having a live partner makes the sequence a lot more enjoyable that it looks. It's the sort of puzzle that reviewers have always found fault with and it's probably no different here but that has always bit part of the appeal of the series to me. It is either scary nor smart but sometimes a hint of nostalgia is all it takes to me smile.

The Undead Diaries

2010-02-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

For resident evil 5, Capcom delivered hollywood quality cinematics to go with the tried and true gameplay of re4. So it's of little surprise that the new dlc 'lost of nightmares' doesn't contain any new spectacular custcenes instead relying on the traditional notes and diaries to drive the story. After all assembling the mo-cap actors and crew for the little amount of work involved here wouldn't not have been worthwhile for capcom but that's just fine with me. For one thing i thought the original resident evil 5 placed a little too much emphasis on the production of the cutscenes to the point where they devoted the entire behind-the-scenes disc to the making of it. The production design and art direction of the 'lost in nightmare' chapter takes center stage here, delivering creepy atmosphere that were sorely missed in the original resident evil 5. This is how resident evil 5 should be, where solid visuals and gameplay takes precedence over everything else.

When The STARS Align

2010-02-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

You can probably tell I was very excited to play new DLC content for Resident Evil 5 but what i haven't count on was getting hooked on playing the mercenaries reunion game instead. You see playing co-op on the original story campaign of resident evil 5 has got me a bit reluctant to play the new 'lost in nightmares' by myself and since i have not managed to catch hold of any of my friends for a co-op session, all that was left was to brush up my zombie-slaying skills on mercenaries. Not that i mind, i left half of the characters and levels in the original mercenaries mode untouched for the chance to go back at it again so now seems like a fitting time to pick up where i left off.

Having familiar faces like Barry and Rebecca joining the fray certainly didn't hurt either. This STARS reunion was a long time coming but it's been worth the wait.

Maximum Thrill

2010-02-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

After finally updating my Sony PSP, I hit upon a great way of playing the new Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Yes i will attempt to play the game on both the Sony PSP and Playstation2 at the same time like i earlier envisioned how i would for Okami.

Well maybe not simultaneously since i have yet to clear enough space on my ps2 memory card in order to play the game but close enough as i'm nearly finished with fatal frame 3. That way since the game storyline and character changes depending on the player's behaviour, i will be able to live out two contrasting characters and see how the story ends for both. While ideally i should be playing this on my Wii, i still have a handful of games to finish on that platform before i really consider getting anymore.

Well at least until Fragile ships anyway.

Re-light My Fire

2010-02-14T23:45:00.000-08:00

I have a bit of a hot and cold relationship when it comes to my Sony PSP, after finishing almost ten games in 2008 i left it to cool and could barely finish one game in 2009. Things are looking for the the Sony PSP in 2010 and that has gotten me interested to rekindle the flame with the old portable again.

I spent almost the entire afternoon today updating my custom firmware and much to my surprise it was easier than i would imagine. I suspect a lot of the hard part was already taken care of during the earlier update so this time around it was just a matter to plugging in the patch and running it. Having an old PSP-1000 model also helps of course, as the process was a lot simpler compared with the latter models. As with all Sony products of late, it pays to buy the early models especially with a product that has seen so many hardware revisions like the Sony PSP.

Midnight Attack

2010-02-10T17:53:00.001-08:00

Since I don't live in the US, it's hard to tell when exactly a product will be made available on Playstation Network even if i know the release date. Obviously i can't be logging on when the clock strikes midnight upon the day of release as we are roughly ahead by 12 hours. That's why it's important for me to log on today as soon as i can to see if the Heavy Rain demo is available for download, after all this is the last week of PSN updates before the re5 dlc is release on PSN next week.

Come next week i will still be away from work on the 18th so hopefully this will get me better prepared as to what time to log on to PSN to purchase those dlc.

Evil Now Has a Voice

2010-02-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

I gave myself an early treat this chinese new year when i finally bought the official sony bluetooth headset for my playstation3. Despite constant urging from my friends since we started on the operation flashpoint 2 campaign, i didn't see that game as one worthy for me to spend any more money on especially since i have never made good use of any of my past nintendo peripherals. While that has not change, i did buy headset because i knew i didn't have enough time to get another game before Yakuza 3 ships and also i thought it would compliment my re5 dlc purchase rather nicely later this month.

With my PSN store credit in place and my new headset, i'm all ready to take a trip down memory lane when the 'lost in nightmare' episode is unleashed. It would be fun to reminisce about the series with long-time fans over the headset as the new episode promises to conjure up all sorts of old memories.

Ready, Aim ..... Misfire.

2010-01-31T22:30:00.000-08:00

Despite having both RE Chronicles, i have never experience the game on multi-player mode before. Playing RE5 co-op with a friend is an entirely different experience as you hardly ever notice how good your partner's aim is except at the end of the level when the statistics are revealed. The truck chase when you and your partner are hoisted to the vehicle's guns firing at incoming vehicles does offer a similar experience to the RE Chronicles game on the Wii. You share the same viewpoint from the back of the truck as your partner, and things can get really distracting when you start to notice where your partner is aiming at. I was never really good at this chapter, in fact i downright dread it but beating it with a live partner has got me curious to try the Chronicles games on multi-player too.

Disc is No Good

2010-01-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

In the wake of Rockstars' announcement of their previously Microsoft exclusive DLC content coming to the ps3, it seems like everyone is cashing in on DLC these days. A while back i made the decision to purchase the RE5 DLC on Playstation Network instead of the disc version. My reasoning was the timing of the release as the DLC was debuting on the PSN roughly a month before the retail disc version would be available in stores.

What i failed to realised then was this was all referring to the US release dates as the Japanese will be getting their retail disc version, Alternative Edition in stores the same day as the DLC debut in the US Playstation Network. The only problem was the DLC content will be spread out over the course of two weeks, with the second episode debuting two weeks after the first. I initially thought that this would be a great idea as i can devote all my attention on one episode before moving on to the next but this presents a problem when i'm planning to play with my friends who are getting the Asia or Japanese disc version. Being the impatient gamer that i am, waiting for my RE5 Collector's Edition to arrive last year was one painful experience. Story of my life, looks like it's all set to repeat itself with the release of RE5 Alternative Edition this year.

Like A Knife Through Tofu

2010-01-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly surprised to discover i have finally unlock the Tofu survivor mode upon finishing LeonB last night. For as long as i can remember, i have given up on the idea of unlocking this hidden mode because there are far too many different theories on how to do it and most of them required a full empty memory card to accomplish it. While i can't remember exactly how i did it, i do remember having both the completed ClaireB and LeonB on my memory cards along with the 4th survivor mode. Including the save file from this recent run, that's four save slot dedicated to RE2 before unlocking the tofu survivor mode.

I'm pretty excited to play this tofu survivor especially since it's also recreated on Darkside Chronicles as another hidden game. I can't help but to wonder how it's all going to work in an on-rails shooter armed with only a combat knife when most of the strategy involved is knowing where and when to run and when to shoot. Looks like i'll be in for a swinging good time when i unlock this on Darkside later but for now, it's time to experience the original tofu survivor.

The Square Peg

2010-01-24T20:01:00.000-08:00

Darkside Chronicles brought back a lot of fond memories, i knew even before i begin that i would be revisting these old games really soon but what i didn't count on was having the urge to play UC and RE4 again. During its height a few weeks back, i was playing as many as six RE games on different system and the process has made my progress on RE2 really slow. After all RE2 could be finished on one sitting and here i am, having started before i finish Darkside Chronicles but have yet to finish both ClaireA/LeonB scenario. Part of that was also because the newer RE games tend to swap the square and circle buttons around for the run and gun commands. So in an effort not to confuse myself, i refrain from playing RE2 whenever i'm close to playing RE5 and that has been quite often as of late. Over time i seems to have developed a dexterity over these controls so swapping around has been less and less of a problem.

Maybe i should attempt to finish RE2 in one sitting like back in those days when i was trying to unlock the gatling gun and unlimited ammo.

Right in The Middle

2010-01-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

Being at my age, i have been gaming for a long time you know though i like to think of myself as not quite an old school gamer neither a new age one for that matter. Somewhere in the middle is where i stand that is while i appreciate what the evolution of gaming has brought to this generation, i still firmly believe that gameplay is the purest and most important aspect of a quality game. Now i have friends were grew up around the same time as i did but they certainly don't share the same sentiments as i do. These are what i would termed as new age gamers who sometime think that gaming only began in the 32-bit era with the first Playstation and 'would never play a game without any story'.

I guess you can probably guess i was talking about Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain, a game that is not quite a game neither is it a movie. Let me just made it clear that i liked Fahrenheit a lot though it could probably do without all that supernatural nonsense at the end. Some of my new age gamer friends are really looking forward to Heavy Rain and while i do share some of that enthusiasm, will playing and ultimately liking it betray my old school roots?

Well i guess none of that matters when there are naked flesh and french love scenes on the menu.

Shoot Them in The Head

2010-01-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Let me just go back to when i was close to finishing Darkside Chronicles that day and tell you how it ended. Sure enough the very next day when i played Darkside Chronicles, the chapter happens to be the last chapter of the Operation Javier as well as the end of the game. In short, i love the new storyline of the game and how the writers were able to practise some restrain with these characters especially the ones infected with the virus. I believe having Suga-san come onboard fresh off his scenario work on Degeneration has helped the new storyline tremendously, some of the goals he set out to achieve with Degeneration were realised more effectively with these new characters in Darkside. There are several endings to the game depending on how you play and i look forward to seeing the other endings in my subsequent play.

As for krauser, his story doesn't end here in Darkside Chronicles and it looks like his descend into the darkside is only just beginning so hopefully it will eventually be revealed in future Chronicles

The 50 hours club

2010-01-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

For a NBA player, scoring 50 points in a game puts them in the same elite group of player along the likes of jordan and kobe. On a similar note, given my preference of games very rarely do i invested over 50 hours into one game so these games that do take up 50 hours of my time belongs to an elite group of their own. While i don't believe i have spent over 50 hours on any one game on the ps3, there have been several Wii games lately that deserved that honour. There was Okami Wii and most recently Umbrella Chronicles also joined the elite club as i have gone back to playing it after finishing Darkside Chronicles. The big difference here is i only finished Okami once and that alone took more than 50 hours to do while i must have finished UC a number of times to have reached 50 hours. Some games erased your playtime instead of accumulating it on your subsequent play so there is really no way to know how many games there are which i actually spent more than 50 hours on.

So what are some of the games in your 50 hours club?

Stone by Stone

2010-01-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

So i finished Bayonetta again on Normal mode, this time i managed to improve all my previous stone ranking to at least bronze, very rarely do i hit the platinum rank so i suspect i'm still a long ways off if i'm to unlock Jeanne for future replays. Often times it's my combo points that bring my ranking down as i tend to stick to my 1-2 preferred combo and once i exhausted them, i just button-mash my way through until the end. A bit disappointed i didn't unlock anything this time around but then again i do have a habit of taking my time with these things. While i would love to play it again to uncover all the secret missions i have decided to give my dualshock3 and disc drive a break as i noticed the disc drive has been emitting strange noise lately. No doubt the burden of having to load everything off the disc in Bayonetta has been straining the lens more than usual but i'm not about to lament here about how inferior the ps3 version is.

Since i still have yakuza 2 to finish before the third installment arrives soon, i guess it's time to get re-acquainted with the dragon of dojima again.

Don't Panic

2010-01-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

One of the first things i did when i got the calender for the new year was marked down the dates when the RE5 DLC would be released. Then taking into account how long my last order from Play-asia took to finally reached me, i estimated what's the latest date i have to place an order for the Playstation Network Card should it indeed take another 3 weeks to reach me again. At that point, the PSN card looks readily available at Play-asia so i didn't have to take into account any additional time for PA to stock and ship the item to me. Next thing i know, PA finished their supply of PSN cards and needed 2 to 4 weeks to ship it, causing me to panic and placed my order much sooner than originally expected. After all, if PA does take the maximum 4 weeks to ship it out and local postal service does experience its usual holiday season delay then the PSN card will not get to me in time.

Turns out all that panic was for nothing as PA probably still have some cards in stock and promptly shipped out my order the very next day. So here i am with my PSN card of $20 value in hand and the DLC is still roughly a month's away from release. Do i key-in and activate the code now or should i wait until it's close to the DLC release date? Does these thing have an expiry date or worst, a time limit i have to spent everything after i activate it?

The Golden Question

2010-01-14T22:04:00.001-08:00

RE5 is about to receive some upgrades in the form of new levels and additional costume pack for future replays. Naturally i hit a bump when Capcom decided to do the fans (and not to mention their bank account) a favour by releasing these additions as both DLC and a new ' Gold Edition' disc. I initially wanted to get the Gold Edition but quickly realised i was runnng out of space, even the recent Darkside Chronicles required a bit of moving around before it eventually found a home. Factor in the how much i have already spent on RE5 and pretty soon, the DLC looked like a far safer option. My fanboy nature of being picky has paid off this time as my copy of RE5 is indeed region 1 so there should be no issue whether or not i will be able to download these beauties when they arrived on PSN. Best of all, the DLC content will be released first before the Gold Edition arrives in stores about a month later so the golden question remains is how much Capcom will be charging for these DLC?

Boy Cried Wolf

2010-01-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

Being a metal gear fan who have lost interest in the series after MGS4, i haven't been keeping up to date with the development of Peace Walker the folllow-up to Portable Ops that's set to be release on PSP this May. Now with the release just months away, i'm only beginning to catch up with what's the game all about since i do have a Sony PSP gathering dust at one corner.

The marketing advert are proclaiming this to be the first true Hideo Kojima game on the PSP and while they are pretty accurate with the statement, this actually isn't the first time they have said such a thing. Portable Ops was also hailed as the first Hideo Kojima Game on the PSP when it came out which most fans knew wasn't entirely true as kojima only wrote and produced that game. This was because the earlier two Metal Gear Acid! game were not part of the Metal Gear canon and had little to no involvement from kojima though it isn't to say that they were terrible games. While i understand that Hideo Kojima name is a big sell among Sony gamers, you kinda get the feeling of boy cried wolf here and maybe, just maybe kojima fans has left the dire portable in search of other thrills. Let's hope there is still enough of an audience on the platform to meet the expectations.

Darker Side of the Void

2010-01-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

I have this attachment to demos of games i liked even long after i have finished the actual game. It's quite fascinating to go back and view the demos to see if they changed anything over the course of the final stages in the development. Then there is the darker side to demo disc where hackers will crack the disc to uncover all these things that never made in to the final game. Of course i'm referring to beta that shipped on demo disc where storage space is rarely an issue. In this digital age, i don't know if downloadable demo will still contain all these hidden treasure dumped onto the disc.

Not that it make things any easier as i still have my RE5 demo which i just boot up today to see if the online servers for the co-op mode still works. Surprisingly the servers are still active and i could easily find other gamers to co-op on the two demo levels. Looks like i will just have to find something else to delete in order to make room for the Dark Void demo that due to be out this week.

Son of A Gun

2010-01-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

Call me gun crazy but i appreciate the attention to detail when it come to guns in video games and the Resident Evil series so far has done a nice job with the firearms featured in their games. So you can imagine my disappointment when i learnt that Darkside Chronicles wasn't faithful to the original Code: Veronica with Claire using the same Browning HP as she did in RE2. If you don't remember Claire was supposed to be using the Beretta M93R as her signature weapon in Code: Veronica. It's only a minor detail but the fact that the Gun Survivor game based on Code: Veronica was able to get that right and not this kind of bothers me a little.