Great Scott

Being a comic book geek in my youth, i do check in on my favourite series every now and again. Since Activision's first Spider-Man on the PSOne, i don't think i have ever played a bad spidey game with the last one being Ultimate Spider-Man. I have thankfully avoided the last few not because i heard they weren't any good but i just couldn't follow the direction of the game whether they were trying to be faithful to the comic or the movie.

Now the Amazing Spider-Man series is approaching its 600th issue, I was an avid collector after the 300th issue during the McFarlane/Larsen run and dropped out sometime after Mark Baegley began his lengthy run. Many years later i was introduced to the Danger Girls series which opened my eyes to a different kind of American comic outside the spandex hero genre. It also made me a fan of J Scott Campbell, who reportedly is a huge Nintendo fan and got his work first published in the very pages of Nintendo Power. Now Campbell is also pretty fond of the ole web-head as he has done some guest cover art for the Amazing Spider-Man series. Let's just say to be able to do guest cover art on a series like Amazing you must have a lot of clout and Campbell rightfully does. I planned to pick up the landmark 600th issue and also the issue after which Campbell has done the cover art for, having missed his last few i don't intend to miss this one being a fan of the black cat.

Going Downhill

I have been playing a lot of Silent Hill recently, re-discovering my love for the series which sort of went downhill since the fourth installment. I never really talk about i came to the series mainly because it wasn't nearly half as dramatic as my introduction to Resident Evil , i was introduced to the series by a fellow close friend not having own a PSone yet so somehow it was difficult to form your own opinion with someone constantly telling you how good this is.

Anyway over the years i remained supportive of the series even more so than my friend, to the point where i was being criticised of being biased. I suppose i am to some degree but isn't that what being fanboys are all about? I went back to playing Silent Hill Origins over the long weekend after finishing the first Silent Hill, i'm amazed by how good the game looks when you switched the noise filter off though it isn't to the level i would expect from a Wii game. Speaking of which, where is the trailer for Shattered Memories? So far we have only been treated to a bunch of screen captures and developer interviews, surely they must have put together enough for a trailer by now right? Well the May issue of Nintendo Power should probably have arrived at my local newstands by now so i should start looking for it really soon, seeing that there is a coverage on Darkside Chronicles in there too.

Shattered Dreams

Call me unhappy upon reading Konami's official announcement of the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories title. Yep in less than 24 hours since my last entry, all that excitement and anticipation for this title has turned into ranting as i'm dismay with konami's lack of faith in the franchise and Wii console to whore this potentially great remake out to a last-gen console and more insultingly, a handheld system. I'm not much of an eagle-eyed gamer when it comes to graphics but i suspected that game was running on Origins engine when i first saw the captures for the Nintendo Power spread yesterday.

It turns out my suspicions were true as konami announced that this game was also heading to the PSP and PS2 this fall though i remained puzzled how they plan to achieve this with the psp having only one analog stick to control both the character and flashlight? It made sense to launch this title on a platform completely new to the Silent Hill series such as the Wii but Sony fans and system has played host to particularly all of the past Silent Hill, is it really wise make this multi-platform? Regretfully the Wii will have to settle for sub par graphics as the PSP and PS2 are less powerful beast compared to the Wii and considerations will likely to be made to accommodate all three systems. The only consolation i got out of this announcement was konami confirming the first silent hill to be out-of-print (duh!) thereby somehow justifying their decision to bring this to the Sony system i believe. Looks like i'll holding on firmly to the original and probably play this remake on one of the two Sony system which means neither Nintendo nor Konami will likely be getting my money this time... nor will Sony i might add.

Wet Dream Come True

I wasn't too thrilled when i first heard rumours of a Silent Hill remake heading to the Wii, if only because it was also rumoured to be appearing on the PSP and the fact that Climax Studios will be developing this only further strengthen my belief. Now the i have previewed the Nintendo Power cover story on Shattered Memories (the new subtitle for the remake) i'm much more optimistic about this remake and actually looking forward to it. Not many Wii games can prompt me to make a day one purchase but NP and Climax studio managed to do just that with still images and interviews alone! Ok maybe that's my fanboyism love for the series talking but to Climax studio credit, Origins was a worthy entry into the series so i have high expectations that this will more REmake than konami's own Twin Snakes for last generation.

What Climax is trying to do with the wiimote and storytelling is generally pretty ambitious, and has got me more excited about this than i ever was with Homecoming, the series debut on the current gen consoles. It seems everything you do and where you go will ultimately have an effect on who you meet and how the story will end. Now the first two Silent Hill games had a similar non-linear storyline where you could completely skip certain subplot should you miss going to certain area or put your character on-track to a different ending depending how long you spend with NPC and what file you pick up. The subsequent Silent Hill seem to have abandon this idea in favour of a more linear story and ending so Climax re-imagining of the original and ideas on how to implement the story seems like a welcome return to the roots for the series. I was also very impressed with how they plan to utilise the wiimote to function as the series trademark radio and flashlight, it seems like this could very well be a survival horror game that is only possible on the Wii. If only the texture and character model didn't look like PSP standards but i trust NP judgment enough when they say the game looks better in-motion than in picture. Time for me to dust off the original which i still owned on Platinum release and fire up that bad boy.

wait are those psp textures and character models i see?

Power to the People

Nintendo Power v236 is the final issue for the year of 2008 and what an issue it turned out to be. Picking up a copy of Nintendo Power is always a bit of a gamble for me as there are usually no open issue for me to browse through first. Thankfully Nintendo Wikia provides a preview of each issue content for me to decide whether the issue is worth picking up and they usually don't disappoint. Nintendo Power is one of the few things related to Nintendo that have remained traditionally-hardcore. After all how many publications would feature Ninja Gaiden : Dragon Sword, GTA: Chinatown Wars and Madworld on their covers? I initially got this issue for the Castlevania poster included and the retrospective look at the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I was pleasantly surprised to find a Power Profile feature on Shinji Mikami and also a nice coverage of the recent TGS 2008, complete with an interview with Suda51 on the upcoming No More Heroes 2.

Violent Reaction

While i was at Borders earlier today after meeting up with the gang to pass Andy his Okami book, i noticed the Borders there had a hell lot more gaming magazines than the other branches. One particular magazine caught my attention, vol231 of Nintendo Power featured a cover story on the upcoming Platinum Games' Madworld. What caught my attention wasn't the cover story of Madworld but the fact that Nintendo Power discreetly hid the cover behind a bagged cover featuring Mario and company celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication. Coincidence? Maybe but i have a strong feeling Nintendo Power didn't want to scare away their audience by featuring a prominent blood red cover focusing on an ultra-violence game. Oh well, Nintendo Power has consistently been one of the better Nintendo-publication around, they have great taste when it comes on cover stories and reviews so i'll just let this one slide.

Now as much as i dig the guys over at Platinum Games, i can't really say i feel the same way about Madworld particularly because i feel that any game shouldn't have to rely on excessive violence as its main selling point. I could be swayed by the fact that Platinum Games happened to have other games in development that are far more exciting and Madworld is helmed by a relatively newcomer. Also with my comic book background the art direction of Madworld just doesn't sit too well with me, it's highly reminiscent of John Romita Jr and Frank Miller and i wasn't never into those guys. On a postive note, given the competition on the Nintendo Wii from third-party developers, Madworld does have a pretty good chance of being a big seller.I just hope its got something else apart from blood & gore to back up those sales figures.

Patapon tee

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

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

any ideas?