Archive for Games
June 24, 2008 at 7:36 pm · Filed under Games
So what will probably be the biggest game for the Playstation 3 game out a couple weeks ago in Metal Gear Solid 4. I have been holding off on buying a Playstation 3 for sometime now, but due to Walmart giving $100 gift cards with the purchase of a 40 GB PS3, I decided to pull the trigger and get a PS3 right before MGS4 came out.
I did the midnight sale for MGS4 at the Bellevue Best Buy and was shocked of how many people were in line. I figured PS3 exclusive there would be 60 or 70 people show up. 100 would have shocked me, but there probably was 200 people that showed up that night. I stuck around talked games with some people, got my copy and went home. Only to then have to install the game, which sucks. At least I didn’t have to do a firmware update.
So the game is straight up Metal Gear. The humor, the weapons, the story. It is all there. The cinematics are amazing. They are in such a different leauge it isn’t even funny. Truely amazing work done by the team at Kojima Productions when it comes to the cinematics in the game. The gameplay is alright. I just played the game Rambo style not concerning myself with saving ammo or sneaking around. It made it pretty fun just to blow stuff up. I won’t spoil anything in the game, because I do think that people should play through it. I ended up beating it in 18 hours or so. So most people could probably finish it in a long weekend.
February 20, 2008 at 1:47 am · Filed under Games
So today was the day I flew into San Fran for GDC 2008. I got in, checked into my hotel, got some dinner, had some drinks. Met up with some people from various companies. Nothing special. Tomorrow is when the real stuff starts. I should have something to post about tomorrow. Must get sleep now.
February 19, 2008 at 12:37 am · Filed under Games
So I am off to GDC 2008 tomorrow morning. This year should be great with lots of great talks lined up. Also seeing lots of people I really never get to see and hopefully meeting a whole bunch of new people as well.
January 26, 2008 at 10:38 pm · Filed under Games
So every website and their mother is doing a big ol’ list of games that they are all hot and bothered to play for 2008, and rarely update the blog, so I decided to make one myself. Now these games are in no order, but just a list of games I am looking forward to getting my hands on. Lets begin…
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December 30, 2007 at 1:39 am · Filed under Games
So for the holiday break I got a hold of a Playstation 3 and decided to try out all the hot games for it. My number one game to play was Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune from Naughty Dog. Really the game is just Tomb Raider meets Gears of War, but that really isn’t a bad thing. The graphics are amazing, the story is probably one of the better character based stories I have played in recent years, and the gameplay is fun. What more from a game do you want? If I had the cash I think this might be a game, or at least one game that could make me actually buy the Playstation 3. Perhaps when I get an HDTV in the next couple months.
November 15, 2007 at 11:06 pm · Filed under Games, Geek
So I have had very little time to play game recently being in crunch for my own game, but sometimes you just have to make time and that is what I did for Call of Duty 4. I decided to check out the PC version and I was extremely impressed with what Infinity Ward was able to do. The attention to detail and polish was just outstanding, as well as the extremely well crafted combat scenarios that keep you on the edge of your seat through the entire game. The graphics were were not on Crysis level, but still very nice looking and consistent in terms of art direction which is becoming more and more important these days. The story while cliche, was memorable because of the shocking risks that Infinity Ward did with character development, I’ll try not to spoil what happens, but you rarely see anything like this in games these days. I have read various people complain about the length of the game, but I found it to be hitting the sweet spot of long enough without becoming a chore. I wouldn’t have mind a little longer game, but the experience was very satisfying. I am personally waiting to play multiplayer on the Xbox 360, so I really can’t comment on how it is in the final game. I was on the beta on Xbox Live and that was extremely fun, more so then the Halo 3 beta. I’m really interested in what Infinity Ward will be doing next, hopefully doing a new intellectual property as they are an extremely talented team and it would be a shame if they have to keep churning out Call of Duty year after year.
September 25, 2007 at 12:26 am · Filed under Games
So the biggest game of the year came out tonight and I went out just to check out the spectacle and the events going around town. Being just miles away from Bungie’s offices and Microsoft, they tend to put on various events for the fans. I did the same thing as I did for Halo 2, going to Best Buy in Bellevue and then driving over to the EB Games at Redmond Town Centre. I left the house around 11:00 PM with my dog Scout and set off for Best Buy. Since I have been through a similar even and a couple console launches, this really isn’t new to me, but it is fun just going out and seeing fans around town.
I first stopped by Best Buy and was pretty taken back by the amount of people in line, as it was longer then the people in line for the Playstation 3 last year and pretty damn close to the line for the Xbox 360. I saw Laura Foy of on10 doing interviews as well as former NFL and Husky great Warren Moon. The Red Bull Teams were out in full effect as well as the Mountain Dew Game Fuel troop handing out free samples. It was pretty exciting, as there were I’d say around 1200 people in line. It is tough to guess. Here is a map that will give you and idea:
After taking some photos and let some people admire how cute of dog Scout was we ran off to the car and set off for Redmond Town Centre. It looked fairly dead at first, but then I could see that they had the line go away from EB Games instead of around the ring, which was a disappointment as some might remember the cool panoramic photo I took at the Halo 2 launch at RTC. There were probably a good 300 or 400 people at the event at Redmond Town Centre. I walked around the ring a couple times running into various people I knew from local game studios and some old friends when I worked at Microsoft. It was pretty cool. Scout had a great time with all the people around until Bungie arrived in their buses and honked their horns and stuff. I wanted to get someone to let me take a photo of Scout and their helmet, but that didn’t happen. Check out the photos, congrats to all my friends who worked on Halo 3, and go have fun playing Halo 3 now.
September 23, 2007 at 7:35 pm · Filed under Games
So I find myself having some time this weekend, so I decided to play a fair amount of games. I rarely get a chance to sit back and play games for an extended period of time with the fiancee, the dog, and my game going into crunch mode. So it was a real treat to play some games. So I ran over to Hollywood Video and picked up Skate for the Xbox 360, and download the betas for Crysis and Frontlines: Fuels of War.
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September 8, 2007 at 12:57 am · Filed under Games
So months and months ago I bricked my PSP. For those who don’t know what a bricked PSP is a PSP that does not boot due to corrupt update. I was fairly pissed as the PSP isn’t a cheap toy and I just let it sit there and gain dust. I thought about doing a return switch at some store like Walmart or something, but decided not to do so. A couple weeks ago there was word that a PSP hackers group were able to make an application that would unbrick any PSP via a special update to the PSP battery. So I got fairly excited and looked into it. The program is called Pandora, which has you format a memory stick and battery to rewrite the firmware. So I borrowed a friends PSP to make the battery and memory stick and BAM, working PSP. I’m pretty excited to have it working again as there has been a fair amount of cool games to come out, and even some older ones that I never got a chance to play. So Pandora Battery is awesome! If you have a bricked PSP, try it out.
August 13, 2007 at 1:13 am · Filed under Games
So many know that I am a total fanboy for System Shock 2. I think it is probably one of the best games in history and I couldn’t be more giddy today when I started downloading the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, Bioshock. The game takes place underwater as you crash and find yourself in this Ayn Rand influenced world called Rapture about the pursuit of human perfection through any means and without restriction. The architecture is striking and bold going with a highly themed art deco look, something you just would never see in major video games. Since the city is underwater, Irrational 2k Boston has taken a great deal of time making the water look and act correctly, and their work really shows. The water is striking and really adds a sense of claustrophobic feel to the game world. Now to the demo, it is absolutely amazing in every way. The presentation is some of the best work I have ever seen. Every event and player interaction has a sense of detail you just don’t see in many games these days. The story progresses without you feeling forced. Returning from System Shock 2 are the voice recordings which provide the player with more detail into the end of Rapture. As in System Shock 2, it really brings the world to life hearing someone talk about their life in the game and seeing how things fall apart. The demo is modified in giving the player a little more weapons and powers earlier in the game. The player gets two plasmids, which modify your body and give you amazing abilities such as the ability to shoot electricity out of your hand. You can use the environment as well, if you find an AI walking in water you can shock them which will electrocute all the AIs that are in the water as well. Some very interesting game dynamics can occur from just this mechanic, but Bioshock holds so much more. I was excited about getting Bioshock later this month, but not I am even more excited!!
June 11, 2007 at 12:35 am · Filed under Games
So I decided to try the Playstation3 this weekend taking it home. I went to a local Blockbuster and looked at all the games to rent, and was kinda shocked of how limited the selection was. I have already played a fair amount of Resistance at work, and played the Motorstorm Demo a fair amount as well. The only game I was really interested in was MLB ‘07: The Show. I am a sucker for baseball games, and I enjoyed last years version of The Show on Playstation 2. I got the machine setup at home and was surprised how much it weighed. It is one hell of a paper weight. But got the system booted and started playing some MLB. Controls were pretty spot on and I had a pretty good time. Wish games could go a little faster. I wish the development team would have stolen a feature out of MVP Baseball from EA where you can simulate games but then interrupt them if you want to play. It took a little bit to get used to the hitting system, but after a couple games I am doing alright. Lack of rumble is kinda lame, especially pitching which was nice in World Series Baseball on Xbox 360.
So I am not really sure what else I am going to play on this Playstation 3 while I have it. Does anyone have any recommendations?
April 1, 2007 at 7:07 pm · Filed under Games
So I have tried to actually spend some time playing games recently and have picked up some and rented some others. I recently rented Virtua Tennis 3 for the Xbox 360 which was pretty fun, but shallow like the previous versions on the Dreamcast. I also tried NBA Street Homecourt for the Xbox 360 and didn’t really like the gameplay that much. If I wanted to play NBA Jam, I would play NBA Jam. I also installed Supreme Commander and Command and Conquer 3 for the PC, which I need to spend time with. After Age of Empires 3 I have been looking for a RTS game that is actually fun. Hopefully one of these will fit the bill. I also have S.T.A.L.K.E.R. from a friend, but I was having problems with it running in Vista and just haven’t installed it on XP yet. Perhaps I’ll do that soon, after the first week of hype a lot of the flaws in the game are starting to come out and I’m not sure if I want to spend the time playing it. Back to some gaming.
March 5, 2007 at 11:38 pm · Filed under Games, General
My web host is dying on speed, so I am moving my GDC blogging over to a free Windows Live Blog account. Speed is pretty damn wicked, so I should be able to make fast updates if the wifi speed is good at the convention center. Check it out @ http://shinyidol.spaces.live.com/
March 5, 2007 at 10:52 pm · Filed under Games
So I am getting ready for my trip to GDC. I should probably be getting some sleep right now since my flight is at 6:15 am and it is now 11 PM, but I have a list and want to double check everything so I don’t forget everything. This is also a test just to make sure that everything works with Windows Live Writer and the plugin that I wrote that will add timestamps when I am liveblogging from the keynote or other sessions. Hopefully this all goes on without a hitch.
February 10, 2007 at 1:04 am · Filed under Games
So the Games Developers Conference is coming up quickly in a couple weeks in San Fransisco. I am currently planning on attending, but something might come up. I really enjoyed going last year as I got to meet some really great people from across the country, get a free copy of Brain Age, and go to some amazing presentations. I am excited to see who is involved with the Designer Challenge this year and of course the keynotes. I am really interested in what Sony will be talking about this year. I feel they really need to impress people, especially developers. So if you happen to be at GDC this year, look me up.
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