All about E3 2007

Aight so lets get this out of the way.

You may not know what E3 is, but its a videogame conference where companies showcase their wares for various platforms. More importantly it's where Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, hold their press conferences showcasing their new shit for the rest of this year and beyond.

Nintendo in my opinion had the weakest showing. There were the obvious announcements.

Super Mario Galaxy hits 11-20-07. It looks super awesome, check it.

Nintendo also revealed the new zapper, which they say will make FPS games like doom more accessible to casual and non gamers.

The zapper, which is merely a plastic housing for the wii remot and nunchuck, will be sold for 19.99 on its own, but has also promised to come bundled with software which will utilize it, including the new Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles which looks like House of the Dead in the Resident Evil universe.

There were many other announcements including Metroid Prime Corruptions release date 08-27-07. Members of the press able to play the game said it controlled extremely well with the wii controls.

Also a brief announcement of Mario Kart for Wii being online.

The big announcement, at least as far as Nintendo was concerned was to introduce Wii Fit. Which has a balance pad you stand on and has you do exercises and play mini games. It seems like that stair master thing to me though. Check it.

All around Nintendo dissappointed me a bit. I wanted to at least see a new Luigi's Mansion game (one of my favorite gamecube titles).

Microsoft had a pretty solid showing, but no big surprises at all. Instead they focused on their 2007 lineup and showed more videos of incoming games. Games like Bioshock, Halo 3, Assasin's Creed, and Mass Effect all look very impressive, but we already knew about these titles. Announcements like Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe for Xbox Live arcade didn't really impress me either (They are available for download right now for 400 ms point btw).

I'll just jump to my favorites here.

Resident Evil 5

Call of Duty 4

Rock Band

I know me and all my peeps are gonna enjoy the shit out of this game. Maybe start a new fake band and tour each others houses. Maybe make a fake venue and throw fake music festivals.

You might be pleased to find out that Microsoft is also releasing yet another version of the 360. Behold...

Wheew....I need to take a break. E3 every year is definitely a mental over load for someone like me who needs to read and watch every morsel offered. I'm just giving you what I feel are the highlights. I'm gonna pause the action for a little bit here and talk about a real music festival.

Friday I went to Warped Tour in San Antonio, and while it was extremely hot, and I'm getting way to fuckin old to be standing up for 5 hours in the blazing sun, I had a great time. I got to see Coheed and Cambria, and Circa Survive, and also Escape the Fate. Escape the Fate played great, but their singer really needs to figure out a way to keep his pants from falling down. I don't wanna see man ass on stage for 30 minutes. Also Bayside had a great set, and we got to hear a song and a half from Paramore, both sounded great. Also 16 bucks for a burger fries and 2 drinks. That's just criminal.

Ok lets finish this shit...

Probably the most impressive showing was from Sony. They really needed to show something impressive to be able to get back on track. The PS3 is a piece of junk. It's a great machine for sure, but there is just no great must have games on it. A machine with no games is just junk.

So this year Sony showed some good stuff that makes me excited for PS3.

Ratchet and Clank

Other awesome games shown were Folklore (google it I'm too lazy right now), Uncharted:Drake's Fortune (awesome), Heavenly Sword (old'd), Unreal Tournament 3 said to be exclusive to PS3, but only this year. Also Sony revealed UT3 will support PC User Created Mods, which is a big ass fuckin deal for me. They also showed a new trailer for Killzone 2, which looked ok, but not Halo shattering, not even close.

Probably the best and worst thing Sony announce was the new PSP redesign. I say worst because I'm going to have to buy another one, and I suspect I'm not the only one. The new design is slimmer and lighter, and get this, you can plug it into your T.V. with provided cables and play videos and games on yer T.V. Thats just rad!

Check out these pics from Kotaku.

Best for Last

Left 4 Dead is a PC and Xbox 360 cooperative FPS game, where you try to survive hordes of zombies of the 28 Days Later variety. JAWS ON THE FLOOR.

Well, thats about all I got for E3. I been watching shit on it all week, and thought I'd share some of the goods. I have no life.

"There's no such thing as love. Prove me wrong."

The government doesnt want you to know.

Ok maybe not the government, but Sony and Microsoft.

They been keeping hush hush on some big news, and in two days it has been revealed. And I mean BIG.

Ok maybe not big, but to me its pretty big.

Its bad news for both company's, but good news for consumers.

Today it has been reported that the price of the PS3 will indeed be dropping to 499.99 as reported at Kotaku. This is no big deal to me, as I already own a PS3, but its just funny how Sony repeatedly denied this price drop, and yet there it is.

The price drops July 15th. Still in my opinion, yer better off with 360.

I can say that with a bit more confidence since the other breaking news from yesterday.

This is the real big one.

Microsoft Admits Xbox 360 red ring problem!

Last week my 3rd Xbox 360 got the red rings, which pretty much means death for the xbox 360. We'd given up hope that Microsoft would fix it for us. It was out of waranty, and they had given us a hard time on our 2 previous machines that red ringed. Well it looks like Microsoft is finally stepping up. We called up Microsoft support last night, and they quickly took care of us and will indeed fix our 360. The announcement microsoft made said

"The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having a great experience with their console and have from day one. But, this problem has caused frustration for some of our customers and for that, we sincerely apologize," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division. "We value our community tremendously and look at this as an investment in our customer base. We look forward to great things to come." more at Kotaku

Microsoft has extended the warranty to 3 years for any red ring related defects. I can now officially sleep a little better at night.

I talk about videogames way to much. Right now I'm playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma on PS3 and Super StarDust HD also on PS3.

Highlander, Pac-man C.E., Horse the Band

Alright, so I bought Highlander the animation and it was really great. You have to watch this movie. It's action packed, really violent, and has great animation.

Sadly I learned the version that is out right now in the U.S., is a shorter cut of the film, missing about 7 or 8 scenes MORE ON THAT HERE.

Supposedly they will eventually release the directors cut here. I'll definitely have to get that one too.

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Also

CHECK OUT HORSE THE BAND!

When they fly kites. THE FUCKIN FLY KITES!

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Pac-man Championship edition is so rufus.

Check out a video of the game here.

This game is true to the classic original pac-man, yet offers gameplay that feels totally fresh and really fast paced. Its 800 ms points on Live arcade, but well worth it.

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It's once again time to start training...

...coming to PSN

 

 

PS2 Still Kickin'

Long time since my last post, well here it goes.


It's not over yet. PS2 still has some fight left in it. With all the buzz about these next gen systems, its easy to forget about the awesome titles still being released for PS2. I've bought 3 surprising PS2 games that I think everyone, especially old school gamers like me, should play.

First up, The Red Star. This game I've been waiting a few years for. It was supposed to come out a while back, but there were problems with publishers (Acclaim went belly up). Now XS games has finally released this action packed shooter slash beat em up. The game is based on some comic I never heard of, but the gameplay brings back the frantic bullet dodging memories from the shooting games that populated arcades and snes games back in the day. The Red Star is also a beat em up game, like Final Fight. Use combos and super moves against waves of baddies. At 19.99, this game is a must for your PS2 library.

Next up Raiden 3. I considered importing this when it came out in Japan, but the thing is figuring out how to play it on my U.S. PS2. Problem solved. Raiden 3 has finally been released in North America. Ok people, this is nuts, games like this never are released outside Japan. If you are a fan of passed Raiden games you'll feel right at home with Raiden 3. Not much has changed gameplay wise. There are a few new power ups and the visuals are now sharp while not entirely too detailed 3d graphics. There are a few extra modes of play. In addition to Single play and Cooperative 2 player modes, there is a new interesting Dual mode. One player controls two ships using the dual analog sticks and the respective left and right buttons for firing and bombs. It make brain hurt, but it fun. At 39.99 (29.99 at ebgames) its not for everyone, but hardcore shmup fans will dig it. If you don't know what a shmup is, then that means you may not like it.

Lastly Odin Sphere.

This game has been getting a lot of buzz lately so chances are you have heard of this one. Part RPG part Beat em Up part Chemistry set. Odin Sphere is a beautiful game, but its also really hard. If you go into battle unprepared I.E. didn't bring seed to grow plants that sprout sheep...(wait what?), you will die and die often. One particular boss battle took me over 35 minutes, yet I loved every minute of it. All the visuals are hand drawn and animated to perfection. The character sprites are huge, some taking up the entire screen. The levels are broken up into short missions, a series of what would be random battles on a normal RPG, but you won't want to run away from these battles. You have to combine different materials to make bombs and health items. You then proceed to combo your way through hordes of enemies. When they die you collect their souls and harness that energy to use powerful spells. All these gameplay elements combine to form a game thats unique and more importantly really fun.


PS2 is going out fighting and with the loudest of bangs. Here's to hoping these games are only the beginning of the best of the end. Uh? Here's to hoping there are more cool games still to come.

PS3, the last gen Next gen.

WTF!
WTF!

Ok, I need to calm down. I just need to know one thing. What the Fuck is Sony doing?
Their console is officially junk. Look, Resistance Fall of Man was good for a while, but what else? I have bought ZERO count them ZERO, thats nothing. No games since Resistance. Oh I've downloaded a couple of Playstation Network games (Flow, Tekken and MK2), but PS3 has just become another way for me to play my PS2 games.

What really sparked this is the PS3 version of F.E.A.R. I played and completed fear as well as spent significant time with its muliplayer on Xbox 360. I was kinda excited about it coming over to PS3 to see just what separates these consoles. A pretty graphically intesive game with online multiplayer. Which system does it better?

First a little info for all you non gamers or maybe you're just not in the know. Xbox Live, which is Microsofts gaming network, that allows players to connect and game online with each other costs $50 a year. Playstation Network, which apparently does the same thing, although without a universal Screen Name and Friendslist, is free. Also Xbox Live allows voice chat and communication throughout all games. Even cheap old Live Arcade games like Gauntlet, you can talk to yer buds. Apparently not so much on Playstation network as Mortal Kombat 2 does not have a voice chat feature.

Now back to Fear. The Xbox 360 version is beautiful, and runs smooth as eggs. The online multiplayer is dope. PS3...not so much. The games framerate dips and bops and what the hells all over the place. How about the killer online mode? There is no voice chat or any communication of any kind. Let me get this straight. Resistance Fall of Man has voice chat, but Fear doesn't. Even if this isn't Sony's fault, shouldn't they have mandatory features in place, maybe create a sense of conformity for the system. Shouldn't we expect online games to have voice chat by now?

I'm seriously let down by Playstation 3's performance so far. Nothing has sparked my interest and blu ray discs are too expensive. I'm no fan boy, I'm not loyal to any brand, I'm just shocked that the PS3 is feeling a lot like PS 2.5 right about now.

Zombie Comics

I've never been much of a comic book guy. I've bought a bunch back in the day, but I never really followed one in particular. I did a brief cherry poppin stint with X-Force.


This was dope back in the day. I still have this one too somewhere.

I've read almost all of Gantz, but thats a Japanese manga so it doesn't count. It's also really bad ass by the way.

Here's a sample of Gantz

click picture for fullsize

Now I'm getting into The Walking Dead. It's an ongoing black and white comic about a zombie apocalypse. I'm buying it in volumes containing 6 issues per volume. It's a great read, and has some great art in it.
Check out the first issue here.


I also bought the hard back Marvel Zombies, which is written by the writer of the Walking Dead. If you see this somewhere be sure to pick it up, its gory, and hilarious.

MK 2 on PS3 Thursday

So I haven't been touching my PS3 lately. Not only because it is a finger print and dust magnet, but also theres not much to play on it.



Thursday I'll be able to play a 15 year old game on it though.

MK 2 hits PS network.


MORE HERE

WTF is wrong with people? Go See Grindhouse

Apparently no one went to see Grindhouse this weekend. Come on you get two awesome movies for the price of one. So now they want to split the movies and release them on their own. The great thing about Grindhouse is how it emulated old double features from the 70's, complete with hilarious fake trailers in between. I hate people.

MORE INFO HERE.

Maybe Quake 3 on Live Arcade.

I just read that Quake 3 might be coming to Xbox Live Arcade.

I seriously hope its true, Quake 4 on 360 blows, but I used to play the hell out of Quake 3 on Dreamcast and PC.


CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE HERE.