In related news, my XBOX (6 months old) stopped recognizing disks! Shipping it back to Micro$oft (at MY expense)
Metal Gear Solid is the best game ever created in my opinion for its real-life stealth/espinage game play. I'm anxiously waiting for Snake Eater(MGS3) to come out.
Ya I have a warranty but it doesn't cover shipping to their repair facility. Bollocks! (My new favorite word) The stupid punk at M$ said that if I read the insert and bought the extended service package shipping would be covered. I told him if I knew it would break in the first 6 months I might have considered that... he had no response... Master, If it breaks AFTER the warranty is over I might consider doing that... I need to become good friends with the cats at the EB Games store by my casa.
I have a solution. Buy a Game Cube. The hardware is more reliable. In fact, there's a great one for sale (with 10 games) in my sig.
Here's a trailer of the MGS 3 intro. Pretty long, at like 7 minutes and 34 seconds. Enjoy. BTW, I got 4 games today, which is unusual for me since I only usually get games that I REALLY want, like any FF game or the once-a-year NBA game and I only get those one at a time. I got THUG, ESPN NFL 2k5, Disgaea, and Suikoden 3. Anyone care to give a little info on what to expect of these, except for ESPN since there are plenty of NFL game threads to read from. I remember seeing a Disgaea thread a while back, which along with other things I heard about it, persuaded me to go for it. I played a little bit of THUG and love it like every other Tony Hawk game I played. I love the Suikoden series, so getting this game seemed logical. Basically, don't expect to see me for a while. I love my parents.
Some more game previews. This time it is Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Here are links to 5 clips from the game: http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_vampiretm_bl_walk1.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_vampiretm_bl_walk2.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_vampiretm_bl_walk3.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_vampiretm_bl_walk4.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_vampiretm_bl_walk5.html These are pretty lengthy clips, taking a while to download if you try to like me. However, I think it is worth the wait. Besides the fact that these are WAY better clips than other games since it shows how the game plays, it also shows off the HL 2 engine. The stuff in the last clip really got me with the collapsing pillars and stuff. So even if you don't like a vampire RPG, which I like, you get to see a little of how HL 2 will play, along with some witty comments from the guy playing the game.
Eh...yeah I'm back. First, some news which I'll just summarize in my own words rather than posting long articles where only a few words matter. There is now some speculation that the PSP may be released in the 2nd quarter of 2005, as opposed to the expected release around Q1. This is according to the CEO of Activision. More news on this will probably be known during the Tokyo Game Show in late September. In Beta news, I think that both Killzone and Half-Life 2: CS source are both being beta tested around now. In fact, a member of another forum got picked for the public beta and is testing Killzone. He says that it does have some minor glitches, but those should be expected in a beta. However, the game is pretty fun and, according to him, up there with Halo 1 and 2. Square-Enix will release a game with remakes of FF1 and 2 for the GBA. The title for the game? "Dawn of Souls." Hmm...there goes the speculation for some new game either on this generation of consoles or next based on the trademark they made on this that I mentioned earlier. Silent Hill 5 will be for the next-gen consoles...just don't know for which one. According to them, they don't know which hardware they will put it on, but it will be on the best one, be it Xbox 2 or PS3. ( Sony has released details on the Eyetoy 2. There will be a type of motion capture feature for gauging the force in swings (such as in a Home Run game). One of the games, the Home Run game, will be able to cut-out your face and use it in the game. There is also a audio recognition, allowing for games to score based on how loud you are. You can also use the Eyetoy for a Spytoy. Oh yeah. Nobody will be taking your games anymore. Not really news, but Star Ocean 3 is getting pretty close to coming out. I'm looking forward to it. Now something I am trying to learn about: Cell. I guess I can't do too much learning since it will be a while since it is even done. IIRC, they will have a Cell workstation later this year. Basically what was known a year ago is the same info known now. But I still want to know all I can on it. I came across a site where someone tries to explain how they thing it will work in the PS3. Here are 2 diagrams: More info and pics here Now, I've only been trying to learn about this type of stuff for the past month or so, so I certainly am no expert on this. But based on what this shows as well as what I've read, it seems like the Cell will go with the 2 head are better than 1 route and put several processor-type things (sorry, couldn't of a better word) together and have them work together. With all of these working together, I guess this is how the Cell will become so powerful, with Sony wanting the PS3 to be around 1 teraflop. Now, to put that in perspective, according to some of the comments on the page, a P4 can peak at 25-30 gigaflops. Now, this brings about whether 1 teraflop is something that the Cell can do at anytime, or if it will be a figure of everything at its peak. In a real world situation, it could be a lot less than 1 teraflop, however, even at half of that (512 GFLOPS?) that is still quite a lot of power. Compared to the PS2's cpu of something around 6 GFLOPS, IIRC, that is a heck of a jump. Also, something I've read about Cell is the idea of linking together several of them to make a type of network that will help each other out. I believe somewhere that it was stated that if you hooked up online to play on the PS3, you could use everyone else's PS3s to help divide the power between all the users. Of course, this is next to impossible even with today's high speed internet connections across the world. There would be too much latency and a delay to really put this into effect. However, it would be interesting to use a PS3 with other Cell-based products. For example, Sony is planning on also using Cell in TVs. So, maybe playing your PS3 on a Cell TV could increase the power in you PS3. So, you may end up getting every Cell product, including a toaster, just to help decrease loading times. Of course, this is just speculation. I have no idea if this is exactly how it works; this is just things I have read about. There goes my big technical post. Hope I got my point across because I probably can't explain much more since I only started to try and understand this stuff within a month or so. I sure like reading about all these new types of technology being made. It just makes me excited about how things will be in a year or two. Just trying to imagine how a PS3 game will look like on something that will be able to perform much more FLOPS on a blu-ray disc with at least 25 GB and ram with a bandwidth speed so great, that 128 megabytes of it could perform as well as 2 GB today. The future does look good for gamers like me.
More game trailers, though this time I got some goodies from the big hitters of Half-Life 2, GTA:SA, and MGS 3. First, HL:2 clips. Here are links to where you can download a clip of a 1st person walk through a train stations: http://www.3dgamers.com/dl/games/halflife2/hl2-trainstation.exe.html and here is a little intro with the guy in a suit (G-Man?) : http://www.3dgamers.com/dl/games/halflife2/hl2-intro.exe.html They're pretty big, but worth it, especially the second one. The detail on his face is amazing. Can't wait to see the game in action. While I'm on this topic, I also heard that the script for the game accidently got released to those who bought the latest version of CS or something like that. Valve was going to give them something, like a preview or benchmarks or something, I can't remember, but they accidently put that in there I guess. Now for the GTA:SA clip. Here is also another link where you can find somewhere to download it: http://www.edgefiles.com/files/16358.html I think this clip really shows how big and how much variety there is to the game. The little scene of basketball really seems strange to me. Can you play it or is it just a cutscene? I haven't paid much attention, but it would be cool to have that feature along with all the others. I like the comment at the end about this product not being rated. I wonder what it will be rated... And now for the MGS 3 clip. If you want to download it, you'll need flashget or whatever, but here is the link to the clip: mms://wm1.streaming.ne.jp/konami/mgs3_gc2004_j.wmv This seems different from all the other previews of the game since it really seems to show other characters and part of the story. I've played little to no MGS, so I have basically no understanding of the series, but it looks interesting from the video. It also looks beautiful as well. Not as good as the HL 2 graphics, but real good for the PS2. Makes me wonder how much farther they can go on the hardware. Oh yeah, just a day after I say the PSP may get delayed, SONY has a conference in Europe about the PSP where they announce it will be released in March in Europe, and probably the same time in the US. I knew I shouldn't have posted that news. Microsoft is closing down their sports division in Seattle, IIRC. I think that basically means no more NFL Fever, NBA Inside Drive, and whatever their NHL game was. Not to surprising since those games didn't do so well. Although SONY's sports games don't do well either. Darn Sega and EA for putting up great sports games. I guess Nintendo is doing ok with their sports games. Mario golf and Mario tennis are the best! Some big gaming news needs to happen or a great game needs to be released because I feel weird just posting speculation news and game trailers. Hope I'm not wasting space. Come on SONY, hurry up with that Cell workstation or Microsoft hurry up with deciding what to do with the next console.
rc cola, suikoden 3 is the ****. i love that game so much man. i loved the first two games as well, but the third one does not disappoint and has one of the more innovative systems of storytelling. it takes awhile to get started, but once youre off youre off. its great. i love it http://www.epinions.com/content_97385483908 my review of it...i wrote it over a year ago, but its still good. hopefully it will help
The little bit I played, I liked, although I did like the original battle system a little better like you did, but I can get used to it. The story telling is unique and I'll also have to get used to it. I haven't got to play much of it. I only checked out each of the 3 characters first chapter and then I started Hugo's after that. I basically went until I could start fighting enemies and stopped there to get a feel for how battles and the experience system work. Unfortunately, school just started for me and I'll probably have to let it collect a little dust before everything slows down. I don't think this would be a game that I could play for 10-20 minutes a day. I'd rather sit down for a few hours and enjoy everything but I probably won't be able to do that until a little later. I liked your review. It really answers some of the things I was wondering about. Of course, that little comment about the main bad guy makes me want to hurry up and finish it to see who it is. Stupid school! I too feel as though Suikoden is a underrated. The games are always great to play but I don't ever see too much about them. I always get worried that they will quit making them, but I guess there are enough of us who buy the games, allowing them to keep the series going. I almost got worried since it took me a while to read about Suikoden 4, but I finally saw they are making it, so that makes me happy.
Well, I just found a download for a 20 minute long Halo 2 multiplayer footage. I normally wait until I watch it, but it is 125 MB, meaning it is going to take me about 3 hours to finish downloading and then another 20 minutes to watch, so I'll just post the links here. Although actually, I'll probably go to sleep while it downloads, forget to watch it in the morning, and won't watch it until tomorrow afternoon, so this kind of makes sense. I'm downloading it from a web site (1st mirror below) but they also have a torrent file: Mirror 1 Mirror 2 Torrent I got this here so if I messed something up or you want to check out more info, you can go there to get more info and more links.
Anybody played Rome:Total War demo yet? I am addicted to the Total War games. The greatest strategy games ever created, IMO.
Some notes after checking out some release dates and paying some demos: Burnout 3 will be a hell of a lot of fun. The great crash physics are better than ever, and as a racing game the series has a unique replayability. There is only one track and one car on the demo, but I've probably played it about 20 times today. Ditto for the Metroid Prime 2 demo on the bundle disk. God, I forgot how great a feel this game has. But it all came back on the demo. Incredible graphics and a great play style (not a 'shooter' at all) are back. I expect another straight playthrough this November. Hot Shots Golf 4 rocks. But then again, the HSG series has always been pretty damn cool. New WWE game comes out next week; Day Of Reckoning for Gamecube. Whole new direction; they trashed the Wrestlemania series they've been using, which is a good thing. I haven't really enjoyed a wrestling game since the N64 days. Here's hoping someone's finally getting it right again. September is coming...which means the fall season is about to kick in. Hopefully some good things already coming this month: Half Life 2 (we can hope), Fable, Burnout 3, Pikmin 2 (y'all just don't know 'bout Pikmin), Day Of Reckoning, Rome Total War...others I know I missed. Let the chaos begin.
OK sdince it is game related and I can't dig up the other discussion on it (I believe it was somewhere in here) I'd just like to bring up the whole ilovebees.com thing. Those of you who know about it can skip the next paragraph. For those of you who don't know, the theater trailer for Halo 2 includes it's website. However, it flashes a quick glimpse of another website in it's place, the website ilovebees.com. You go there and it appears to be a website about bees that's being taken over by persons (or things) unknown. It also included a countdown for August 24th. Many discussions have ensued as to what the date would represent, since the game was scheduled for release on November 9th. Ok those of you who don't need the backstory can come on back. I just visited the website and it's safe to say that I'm lost. I thought there might be some info on Halo 2 that would be released, but as far as I can tell all that is happened is that the message takes you to a collection of probably fake IP addresses (I think) and such with links that take you to various soundbytes and a fake error message with a blurred picture. It has some interesting references (Earth immigration, MP's, chatternet, meditape, etc.). Anyone got some ideas? It actually sounds more like it's a commercial for another Bungie game that they're trying to piggyback off the Halo 2 popularity. Anyone got any ideas what's going on? Just trying to spark some conversation while satisfying my own curiosity.
I think it's pretty much just about Halo 2. If you've been living under a rock, there's a small spoiler coming up (but for anyone who cares enough to check out ilovebees.com, it's not a spoiler- just being overly cautious): Remember, Halo 2 takes place (at least partially) on Earth. So I think the Earth immigration type references are in regards to the covenant coming to take over Earth. Also, any news on what happened at the end of the countdown (wasn't it supposed to end yesterday)? I guess I'll go on over to the site and see for myself.
A friend of mine has the beta for CounterStrike 2 and I played it a little bit. Currently, they're using only 1 map, dust or dust2 (I always forget which is which). It is very much the same game, but the graphics are a whole whole lot better. The map is more environmental (dust feels like the middle east now) and interactive (objects in the map get knocked around). The flashbang looks a lot different and it has a nice effect when you're coming out of it.
