Just some housekeeping before I start doing my post-E3 rambling. I wanted to offer another review for my portfolio. It's an older one from DefaultPrime.com from last year, but if you haven't tried the game, I'd recommend reading my review. Here's my verdict on the PSN game, Sound Shapes!

Also, I finally cleaned up my Youtube channel, which you can find right here! I plan on updating this a bit more frequently than before, mostly with live-streaming videos from my newly established Twitch channel! If you want to see a sneak peek at what I plan on showing, here's some footage of me playing Vanquish (and getting my butt kicked in the process).

[ Watch Video ]

So, E3 final thoughts, right.

Well, I think it's safe to say that Sony's showing was phenomenal, and not just in that they just whooped Microsoft's butt while the Kinect was recording the whole thing and submitting it to Youtube. Aside from that, I really believe that Sony has all of the bases covered. They have the high-end tech, the AAA franchises, the indie support, brand new IP's like The Order 1886, and they have plenty of rewarding services for their Playstation userbase. It's a very exciting look into the next-gen that I haven't really seen yet.

I'll be honest with you, the efforts from both Microsoft and Nintendo over the last six months haven't really gotten me too excited about the next generation. Graphics didn't look too much better, services have overtaken games, and there just didn't seem to be much to really look forward to in the world of next-generation consoles. If anyone made a case for that, Sony did, but not with tech. They showed it with inventive new IP's. I'm still pretty impressed by The Order 1886 (it might be my most anticipated PS4 game right now)

But I really haven't talked about Nintendo much, mostly because there really isn't too much to say about them. Their Nintendo Direct Tuesday morning was really a first and second-party showcase. The third-party support was especially bleak: many of those games are multiplatform, even the Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut (which was recently announced to go multiplatform instead of being Wii U exclusive). Even the biggest third-party supporter of the Wii U, Ubisoft, are starting to back off of the Wii U. Should we be worried? Well, it's not the best news, but I honestly don't think it'll kill the console.

Here's the bottom line: no one in the right mind will buy a PS4 AND an Xbox One. The two consoles' tech architectures are so similar and the big game libraries are so congruent with each other that buying both is like buying the same console twice (as far as the game libraries go, obviously, so don't correct me on the DRM crap). I was watching an interview with Matt, Pat and Woolie from Two Best Friends Play and they pretty much laid out the general view of Nintendo consoles: it's the Nintendo Box. You really only buy a Nintendo console to play those Nintendo franchise games that you can't get on Playstation or Xbox (Woolie even called the Wii his "Smash Box", in that he only uses it to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl). Here's the interview on the channel of David Giltinan.

[ Watch Video ]

Now, is this a bad thing? In my opinion, not really. That's really Nintendo's biggest strength: they have exclusives that are so ingrained with Nintendo and their consoles that the other two console makers really can't match them there. In fact, statistically, the Wii U had the most exclusive games at E3 this year. By playing to that strength, Nintendo will be able to solidify its place as the "secondary console." While Microsoft and Sony are butting heads for first place, Nintendo will quietly settle into the niche of being the second console of gamers, the console where you can play great Nintendo games like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 8, and Super Smash Bros. Wii U. Will it reach Wii heights of sales? Absolutely not, but as long as I can play those awesome games, I'll deal.

That being said, Nintendo's presentation was underwhelming. I loved seeing Bayonetta 2 in action, Monolith Soft's project X looks to be an awesome sci-fi twist on Xenoblade, and hell, Mega Man in Smash Bros. But I didn't see any real surprises. Nintendo essentially just checked each promised game off a list. They said we'd see Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros., and we did. But that's really it. Aside from the revealing of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and some interesting indie offerings like Oddworld and A World for Keflings, there wasn't much. Don't get me wrong: they look like amazing games, but I still left the web page wanting more than what Nintendo showed (especially since nearly all of those great first and second-party games will be 2014 releases).

E3 2013 was proof that we're all moving into the next-gen. Last year's E3 was terrible. Absolutely underwhelming. Fortunately, this year's was a shot of adrenaline that got everyone psyched for two new consoles and a slew of brand new games for a starved game market. We're seeing some changes, yeah, but despite Microsoft's Xbox One mess, I still think we'll see some great things this year.

Now, maybe I should play The Last of Us? Take care, everyone!

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I don't want to dwell too much on that, other than to state that needless negativity on a viable but underrated product can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, when muttered repeatedly. So, to turn the tide around, please take a look at the great things the PS Vita is doing at E3 2013. All of the clips below are from games coming to the handheld and all look like pretty cool titles. Hopefully, they will be as entertaining as they appear.

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I've heard more than a few "What time does X Conference start for me?"
Well, I've taken a list of various time zone areas that I've hear people request for over the past few days and put them together in this nifty list.

To help you on your quick search,
- Hit "Ctrl and "F"" this will bring up a prompt for you to enter text into a field.
- Search for your region.  

If it's not included in the list and you think that it should be, feel free to comment below. Otherwise, you can check to see what time it starts for you by going to each of the conference pages and looking at the count-down timer. 

Microsoft Press Conference
Los Angeles (U.S.A. - California) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:00 AM PST
Austin (U.S.A. - Texas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:00:00 AM CDT UTC-5 hours
New York (U.S.A. - New York) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 12:00:00 Noon EDT UTC-4 hours
Paris (France) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 6:00:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours
Sydney (Australia - New South Wales) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 2:00:00 AM AEST UTC+10 hours
Manaus (Brazil - Amazonas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 12:00:00 Noon AMT UTC-4 hours
Beijing (China) Midnight between Monday, June 10, 2013 and Tuesday, June 11, 2013 CST UTC+8 hours
Cairo (Egypt) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 6:00:00 PM EET UTC+2 hours
Tokyo (Japan) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 1:00:00 AM JST UTC+9 hours
Baghdad (Iraq) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 7:00:00 PM AST UTC+3 hours
Tehran (Iran) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 8:30:00 PM IRDT UTC+4:30 hours
Saint-Petersburg (Russia) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 8:00:00 PM MSK UTC+4 hours
Istanbul (Turkey) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 7:00:00 PM EEST UTC+3 hours
Rome (Italy) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 6:00:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours

EA Press Conference
Los Angeles (U.S.A. - California) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 12:20 PM PST
Austin (U.S.A. - Texas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 2:20:00 PM CDT UTC-5 hours
New York (U.S.A. - New York) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM EDT UTC-4 hours
Paris (France) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours
Manaus (Brazil - Amazonas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM AMT UTC-4 hours
Sydney (Australia - New South Wales) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:20:00 AM AEST UTC+10 hours
Beijing (China) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 3:20:00 AM CST UTC+8 hours
Cairo (Egypt) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM EET UTC+2 hours
Tokyo (Japan) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 4:20:00 AM JST UTC+9 hours
Baghdad (Iraq) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 PM AST UTC+3 hours
Tehran (Iran) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:50:00 PM IRDT UTC+4:30 hours
Saint-Petersburg (Russia) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:20:00 PM MSK UTC+4 hours
Istanbul (Turkey) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 PM EEST UTC+3 hours
Rome (Italy) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours

Ubisoft Press Conference
Los Angeles (U.S.A. - California) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 2:40 PM PST
Austin (U.S.A. - Texas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 2:20:00 PM CDT UTC-5 hours
New City (U.S.A. - New York) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM EDT UTC-4 hours
Paris (France) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours
Manaus (Brazil - Amazonas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM AMT UTC-4 hours
Sydney (Australia - New South Wales) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:20:00 AM AEST UTC+10 hours
Beijing (China) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 3:20:00 AM CST UTC+8 hours
Cairo (Egypt) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM EET UTC+2 hours
Tokyo (Japan) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 4:20:00 AM JST UTC+9 hours
Baghdad (Iraq) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 PM AST UTC+3 hours
Tehran (Iran) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:50:00 PM IRDT UTC+4:30 hours
Saint-Petersburg (Russia) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:20:00 PM MSK UTC+4 hours
Rome (Italy) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours
Istanbul (Turkey) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 PM EEST UTC+3 hours

Sony's Press Conference
Los Angeles (U.S.A. - California) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 5:20 PM PST
Austin (U.S.A. - Texas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 2:20:00 PM CDT UTC-5 hours
New City (U.S.A. - New York) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM EDT UTC-4 hours
Paris (France) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours
Manaus (Brazil - Amazonas) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 3:20:00 PM AMT UTC-4 hours
Sydney (Australia - New South Wales) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:20:00 AM AEST UTC+10 hours
Beijing (China) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 3:20:00 AM CST UTC+8 hours
Cairo (Egypt) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM EET UTC+2 hours
Tokyo (Japan) Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 4:20:00 AM JST UTC+9 hours
Baghdad (Iraq) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 PM AST UTC+3 hours
Tehran (Iran) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:50:00 PM IRDT UTC+4:30 hours
Saint-Petersburg (Russia) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:20:00 PM MSK UTC+4 hours
Istanbul (Turkey) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 PM EEST UTC+3 hours
Rome (Italy) Monday, June 10, 2013 at 9:20:00 PM CEST UTC+2 hours

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Well fellow gamers it's only 10 days until E3 of 2013 comes and it's both exciting and nerve racking. Like alot of fans of the Darksiders series, we're wondering what the third game will have to offer to us. Even though it won't come out this year which is saddening, I know it will launch either 2014 or 2015. I keep praying that a tease trailer or a screen-shot will appear at E3 with the new consoles coming out.

What has me worried is will there be a third game in the series or will it stop and go into limbo like so many. I know Nordic Games purchased the IP, surprising I thought Platinum Games would have snatched that up. I'm not sure what games Nordic has made, but so far they haven't said much about it or if it has a chance. I loved the first game and the storyline really got me hooked and I kept going back to it and I finally beat it. Now I barely started playing the second game since i like to take my time with video games and all.

My concerns start with the obvious question, what horseman will the third game feature Fury or Strife? How much bigger will the world map be since Darksiders 2 was alot bigger than the first game map. Will the weapons and armor customization be like Darksiders 2 or will it go to how it was in the first game?vWill the game take place when War was imprisoned or will take place after the ending of Darksiders 2? Big question is will they come out on current generation consoles or will they be next generation exclusives?

Some things are left hanging in the sir, but it seems only E3 will tell us what will happen to Darksiders? I keep wondering if Nordic will make a game where you can play as all four of the horseman at once. Oh man can you imagine switching in-between the four like they did in the FUSE game, epic brain melt here!!!! 

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Crawling through the murky tunnels of the Russian metro system never ceases to terrify. Growls and footsteps echo through the deafening silence as darkness enshrouds the area, keeping you on constant guard. Monsters lurk all over, always stalking you extensively before striking. A flashlight and lighter are your only means of illuminating the shadows, their paltry shine a small comfort against the horrors that prowl.

Based off the series of novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro: Last Light from 4A Games depicts a post-apocalyptic Russia after its citizenry was forced underground following a devastating nuclear war. Society barely holds itself together, factions fighting over what scraps remain in the metro, whilst mutants run wild on the uninhabitable surface and through abandoned halls. Its a treacherous world out there, but a fascinating one to explore.

Continue reading at Entertainium >>

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Subsequently, a lot of people have been in touch asking what I'm up to now. The last couple of weeks have been really exciting -- I've put out the first episode of my new weekly podcast, which not only reunited me with Jane Douglas, Lucy James and Dan Maher, but also went to number one on the iTunes chart. I've also been busy writing for Wired, appearing on BBC and Sky News, and updating my YouTube channel with new videos. In the next few weeks I'll be sitting on a BAFTA games journalsim debate, interviewing Rhianna Pratchett at the Hay Festival, talking about the next Xbox on CNN and BBC, and of course heading out to E3. If you're going to be attending any of those events, please say hi, and if not, I look forward to hearing from you over on my website or on Twitter. There's loads more coming down the line, but for now, please let me know what you think! See you all again soon.

Jane, Lucy, Dan and I recording the first episode of my new podcast.

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The message from the government is that the new classification scheme only applies to new games and old games won't automatically be allowed into the country, which appears to be mostly true. Looking at this more closely, there are two categories at play here:

• Games that were submitted to the Australian Classification Board and received a Refused Classification (RC) rating, or received such a rating on review. Well known examples include Manhunt, Marc Ecko's Getting Up and the recent Mortal Kombat.
• Games that have never been submitted for classification. Some examples include Manhunt 2 (I suppose they didn't think it was worth trying), and Telltale's The Walking Dead series.

For most states, these two categories are essentially the same in the eyes of the law. For instance, the NSW Classification Enforcement Act says in section 27:

So the NSW law treats the two categories the same. Western Australia is often seen as a bit more strict since it also criminalises possession of RC material rather than just sale. I was a bit surprised to note that it actually seems a bit more lenient with respect to unclassified material though.

While there is a similar requirement that games must be classified if they are to be sold or demonstrated in a public place (section 82), it might not extend to private sales. Once you're out of a public place, you'd still be bound by section 84 of the WA Classification Enforcement Act:

So it isn't enough for the game to be unclassified to fall foul of this section: it only triggers if the content needs to be extreme enough to warrant an RC classification. And that would be determined according to the current classification guidelines.

The same language is used in section 89, which deals with the possession of RC games.

Imports

So, it is not necessarily illegal to possess an unclassified game in WA. But to possess one you will probably need to import it. And imports are subject to the federal customs regulations rather than state classification enforcement laws (the same as for all other states).

Such imports are potentially covered under the "Pornography and other objectionable material" class of prohibited and restricted imports. The guidelines on what is determined to be objectionable are described as "consistent with the RC criteria in the National Classification Code and the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995", although you can read the full details here. It is interesting to note that they reference the act rather than particular decisions made by the classification board, so you may be able to argue that all imports should be judged against the new guidelines.

Is it worth it?

So while it may be legal to import/use some of these old games, is it really worth pursuing this if Customs intercepts your shipment? You should probably talk to a lawyer if you really care. I suspect that they would tell you that it isn't worth it, since giving up and letting them destroy your package will probably result in no fine, while if you contest it they might push for maximum penalties if you lose.

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But a quick look around Amazon or very large bookstore will soon show gamers a number of novels devoted to a game they may have played. One of my favorite series of books (there were 3) were the books that tied in to Myst. These weer done back when novelization of video or computer games was done correctly. Not that we do not have good novels released today, but so many of them are just fan feeder for the gamer who loves a particular game.

Here is the 1st book, a prequel, in the Myst series . Now for those of you who may have missed playing this game i strongly advise you to play at some time. It is almost a prerequisite to gaming 101. Notice that Rand and Robin Miller, the creators of Myst assisted i the writing of this novel . The original publication was 1995.

A recent example of a great prequel novel is Bioshock. Another I highly advise fans of the series , or just video game fans in general , to read.

As one can see it is still available on Amazon.

But the point is: do video games enhance the overall gaming experience or do they deter from it. I find the prequels to be most interesting because they tell the back-story of the game. They can provide the reader, the gamer, background info that the game does not have time to delve into. (Final Fantasy VII may be the exception). The Bioshock novel for instance, involves the building of Rapture from the seafloor up to how it was inhabited. And a lot more.

The two other novel formats are not as interesting to me. One is the format where the events take place AFTER the main story quest has ended. One the other is the one where one is to read the book while playing the title. These novesl are few and far between. ICO is the best example I can think of.

Again, thanks goes to Amazon.

The Diablo novel was good. "The Book of Cain" which is $35 dollars is a bit to steep for my liking. But it looks to be so awesome. I always loved Deckard Cain in the Diablo games. He's old ,like me, and has a great memory and can relte story or tale very well.

My son who has read the Mass Effect novels tells me they are OK.

But to writers and editors this genre is a challenge. How does tell the tale, before or after? How to balance the main characters with the background characters. Plus the book hads to be wrote in suck a way so as not to ruin the plot line for gamers who may not have played the title.Or, if the novel occurs after the main storyline, the author must be very careful not to release info that could be used in a sequel.

So do they add or detract. Only you , the gamer, answer that.Only you know how hardcore a fan you are of a series. Video games have along way to evolve. So do the novels of them. It will be interesting to see what state the gaming industry is in 34 years from now, 2012. Rest assured that there wil stil be a PC somewhere that still plays ZORK!!

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......all that was lingering on the remaining bits of my mind that's not digesting the holiday are these songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsj5xjoLXtE , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VccB9_fg6W0

Oh Square Enix, what happened to the good old days when you were experimenting with ethnic styles of music and art?

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I've been busy lately but here I am to share with you my thoughts on a game that I first wrote of as a failure.

Yeah you guessed it, it's DMC, the reboot of one of my favorite action franchises of all time. Back in 2010 when DMC was announced people said that the new Dante is just a giant miss but now when Capcom and Ninja Theory brought the demo to E3 2012 everyone shut up.

The art direction, character design, world design, music, effects have all been changed from the good ol' Devil May Cry series. Guess what happened next... Yeah, DMC still kept the feel and gameplay and fans can't be happier. The new trailer and demo really showed the differences between the older entries in the series and this reboot version. It's just so fresh and sleak. Take a look at the new trailer called "The Order":

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It's sick! Right?

They gave me back my faith in this game with the demo and the new content shown in this trailer so a I'm very grateful. Tell me if you feel the same way about this or just write your comments about these DMC news and content.

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My Vita broke the other day, and now I have to play Xbox 360 instead

Anyway, before it broke, I found a great game for it. Unit 13. It is very good, has great graphics, and is fun to play. i reccomend this to anyone who has a Vita. Please comment if you do, and tell what other games you have.

Have a great day, and PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!!!!!

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A friend of mine told me of the event and I decided to go with him and his friend. It was my first time on one, so I didn't know what to expect out of it. There's only one thing I can say about it now: "It was epic".~ :3

First of all, my friends collect mangas so we went to the manga stand soon after getting to the place. There they got loooooooooooooooooooooooooooots of them and I decided to get some for me as well. Since I don't really have much money and all that, I only got:

Fairy Tail volume 1

Kimi ni Todoke volume 1

Chrno Crusade volume 1

I really like what I got though. Even though I've already read FT a looooooooooooooong time ago, it was still epic to read the Brazilian version (even more because of some extra references it had [which the scanlated one doesn't])

There was also a gaming stand with mostly fighting games (Marvel vs Capcom 3, Street Fighter IV, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mortal Kombat), but I didn't even play anything. xD

There were some "mini-stores" besides the manga one too. In those stores, there were DVDs/Blu-rays, keychains, necklaces, "teddy kumas" (), hats and other things like that.

From those I didn't resist buying:

Gray's necklace (not exactly like the pic's [one day I'll post a picture of me using it])

Happy "hattish thing" (not really like that, mine is cuter IMO. :3 I'll post a photo of me using it someday)

Both from Fairy Tail. ^^

There were also special thematic rooms (like the Pokemon room and the Yu-Gi-Oh! one for people to play the TCGs [and the DS Pokemon games]) and an RPG stand (though I don't understand anything about those things xD).

Some of the best moments in the festival were the cosplay contest and the band show though. ^^ There were some really interesting cosplays (and some really impressive "theatric presentations" by those people [like the Soul Calibur one which had a nice "wrestling-like" touch to it]) and the band did some really nice songs (Digimon 1's opening, a song from Bleach and some others, though the moment the crowd went wild was when the band did "Pegasus Fantasy" [Saint Seiya]). ^^

Now, on a more gaming-related note, I'm now playing Okami (PS2), Final Fantasy X (PS2), Final Fantasy XII (PS2), Dragon Quest IX (DS), etc....

Oh, talking about games, my mom said she'll give me a Wii on my birthday this year. I'm really Happy (aye) for it, since it's what I've been wishing for. I'll finally be able to play Kirby and more Kirby and ,uh, what does the Wii have? J/k xD I already have my list of must-have games including Kirby (of course), but that's not the only one, Tales of Symphonia (which will probably be hard to get    ), Fragile, Xenoblade Chronicles, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Galaxy, etc... are also on the list. Also, I plan on getting a Wii with some accessories on it that will let me play GC games (since Tales of Symphonia is my biggest reason to want a Wii).

It's interesting how despite how much I've talked about it before, she has never really had that much interest on it. It took a fellow teacher who owns one to make her wish one. At least she had a good point when said it was because her friend did own the thing, so she knew it better than I did (ouch! >_>' ).

And, uh, that's it.~ ^^

(*) Phoenix (*) ~ "Although we may defeat our enemies, the Mages of Fairy Tail would never take their lives!" (Juvia Lockser)

P.S.: None of the pictures are mine. Rights go to respective owners. Please do tell me if any of them doesn't work properly.

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I was a GameSpot fan way before I started working here, and I remain a fan to this day. I use the site like you all do and know what's broken, old, and needs some love.

We are working on those things, believe me when i say that your feedback is always heard so keep it coming! Expect some nice changes to come soon.

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