~ Inc

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it can't be burn out, as I haven't play anything heavy since Xenoblades. I can only assume it's because I associate games with my terrible lack of a social life and suddenly resent them.

Perhaps this is just a faze. But really, I've had dips in interest before, but never this time of the year.

Perhaps it's other stuff in my life.

~ inc

PS: Help.

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It's not online anywhere these days, and I doubt anyone remembers it. But a little note here to acknowledge its existance and the chuckles it brought people is cool.

~ inc

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Square enix sent me an email about a "VIP" (very loose use of that term) preview screening of FF13-2 at a nice cinema in the centre of London on the Portobello Road (Street where the riches of ages are stowed. Anything and everything a chap can unload, is sold off the barrow in Portobello road.).

It sounded like a day out and it was free, so i signed up and after huge demand (apprently) I got in.

So I went up town today, got let in and took my rather comfy chair in the theatre. There was free coke and cake waiting for everyone, which was nice. There was also free swag! The art cards that'll be in the limited edition of the game, a nice bag, the same Tomb Raider poster they were giving away at the MCM convention last weekend and a few SLIME KEYRINGS from DQM! Free!

The producer arrived on stage all the way from japan, which was nice of him. He chatted away in Japanese through an interpreter and then buggered off to let the dude on stage and the lady in the box play the game on the big screen.

It's looking good from what little we were allowed to see. It was the Sunleth Waterscape! Which was one of my fave places in XIII, but couldn't be returned to. So now they are. Battle system and monster management looks ok. Bloody chocobo's are far too noisy when jumping around the level. It's a minor gripe, but it's the kind of lack of attention to detail that annoys me about SE.

Nevermind. It was a nice hour. I was just a little dazzled by how well we were treated, even if the event was a little short. Perhaps it would have been pushing our luck to think us jean wearing gamers deserved better XD

~ Inc

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~ Inc

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that is all.

~ Inc

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so I have nothing to play. I counter this by playing Metroid Prime Echoes from the Trilogy on Wii and I've also borrowed my bro#s GOTY edition of Oblivion, so I can play Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles. Lovely. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is out on Wednesday too so i'll be picking up the demo for that. Then it's the long wait till September when I get Xenoblades for me birthday and think about getting Starfox and Dead Island too. Then it all goes quiet again. Stupid, stupid November.

~ Inc

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Anyway, just beat Zelda OOT 3D. It's the first time i've beaten OOT and I'll finally except it's a great game rather then just a very good one. Kudos.

Gonna try and finish XBLA game Bastion tonight.

Then I don't know. I've got Thursday off work so I might pop into town and see if there's any sweet deals on some of the games I've been mildly interested in this summer. if not, here's hoping From Dust continues the run of decent Summer of Arcade games. Or I'm screwed.

woop woop woop

~ Inc

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It's so nice to see gaming flourish and not to feel weird about my hobby for a change. Gaming still has abit of a stigma, but **** why the hell should it when so many people can get together and enjoy it.

I purchased a few DS games while I was out there. I was already after Dragon Quest VI, but I completly forgot about that 999 game, and the Shin Megami Tensei game they had ove there, so I bought those too. Okamiden is out over here on Friday too, so on top of Ghost Trick and Pokemon White, I'm gonna have 6 DS games to get through.

6!

I almost never have so much to play, even when I lump all my consoles together. Pure madness. I won't need a 3DS for a while.

This does of course mean I have to keep my DS lite alive for a while longer, as it's the last Ninty handheld that's region free, and I have 3 US games to play on it now. Woo!

Epic times

~ Inc

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This week, I shall be mostly playing;

Kirby's Epic Yarn

Kingdom Hearts: Recoded

and, if it arrives, Pokemon White.

I also have Ghost Trick and Resistance 1 & 2 on the shelf. And I'm also getting Dragon Quest VI and Okamiden in March, so the DS is going to take an absolute hammering. 5 games in a row. It's 2006 all over again.

And yet, they all threaten to get blown out of the water by the almighty Dragon Age II, which hits mid march. I played the demo and got all excited. But I sense button mashing the A button to attack with get horrible. One fatel flaw? we shall see.

~ Inc

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Actually, I'm considering sending a card to one of those "woman" thingys I keep hearing about, which flies in the face of tradition for me. At best, it'll make a girl I like happy. At worst it could RUIN MY REPUTATION AS A BACHELOR!

Have I got that round the wrong way? I'm very bad at these things...

ANYWAY. VIDEO GAMES!

I went to that 3DS event in London. I got hopelessly lost trying to find the hiding place that Nintendo had chosen. Luckily, I had anticipated this and arrived early enough in town that I could afford to wonder around confused!

I briskly strowled in with minutes to spare, got my ticket/scribbled map scanned by the Nintendo Girl Squad on the door and joined the group of about 40.

The lobby had a little display with the a Game and Watch and the 3 previous handhelds and a video running of Miyamoto and chums flogging the 3DS. We were allowed to play on a touch screen floor for a little while (I forget what it was for. something to do with connectivity), before the NGS leading lady took us into the first room.

Now a few things happened that I wasn't expecting. We were treated (is that the right word?) to a fighting display by THE REAL LIFE RYU AND KEN FROM STREET FIGHTER (may have been actors). It was a little cheesy, but they were quite good. I was entertained at least.

Next, was Resident Evil as THE REAL JILL VALENTINE AND THE REAL CHRIS REDFIELD LED US THROUGH A ROOM WITH A REAL CHAINSAW WEILDING ZOMBIE INSIDE!

WE BARELY ESCAPED WITH OUR LIVES! All in good fun of course.

Next, was a little recorded video from the REAL (and I mean it this time) Jonathan Ross, who seems to do alot of these video game PR things these days. It was just bigging up the 3DS and just when I was thinking of going back to chat with the zombie, it was over and we were allowed in to the hands-on part.

Now I'm pleased to report that the 3DS is a solid bit of hardware. The 3D doesn't jump out at you like you might expect. It's more like looking into the screen. Like a box. It's hard to imagine if you haven't seen it, but it's quite impressive.

I had a go on Zelda, Street Fighter, Resi Evil, Pilotwings and a few others. Zelda prob' had the best visuals. I'd put the overall graphic quality as somewhere between N64 and Dreamcast. It's not a huge step up. But it's good enough for what these games are trying and I'm sure visual quality will improve with time, as it always does.

A mention also goes to Mario Kart and Metel Gear Solid, which both look good despite not being playable.

A final shout out goes to the AR games that were playable at the show. These "augmented reality" games, come on cards, which come to life on the screen when looked at with the 3DS cameras. I played one where the card blows a hole in the table and a dragon comes out. You have to shoot the dragon and dodge its fireballs by literally getting yourself out of the way. And it's so well done. I don't understand how, but it really looks like all this is happening right behind the screen your filming from. I highly reccommend you give these a try if you get the chance.

And that was it. A nice Sunday lunch time followed by a nice Sunday afternoon wondering around the london markets; another place I can approve if you get the chance to visit them one day.

But take a better map then I did.

~ inc

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When the 3DS was first announced, it was a must buy for me. This was partly down to the fact that my DS Lite is in tatters and trying to hold it together as I play is becoming a chore.

But then, when the price came in and the launch software was announced, along with other bad news like battery time and region locking, I've changed my mind.

Having said that, I said I'd hold off on the Wii until some decent software appeared and I ended up getting that on a whim quite soon after launch. And since the initial shock of the price, everywhere seems to have started lowering their pre-order prices. I said I'd get one if it was £199 or down. Amazon have it for £202 right now, so that's pretty damn close. And it would be nice to have something to replace my dying DS.

So what I see and how stoked I feel after the 3DS event could play a big part in my getting it sooner or later.

I'll keep you posted.

~ Inc

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Batman: Arkham Asylum - A great game. Lots of fun and lots of atmosphere.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - An average, cash-in of a game. I'll played better.

Left 4 Dead 2 - Pretty much just more Left 4 Dead. Which is a good thing!

Assassin's Creed 2 - An excellent game. So much more fluid then the game before.

Bayonetta - So much character. I loved it's OTT style and the fact that it wasn't afraid to admit just how silly it was. I hope we get a sequel.

Mass Effect 2 - Most likely my GOTY. It's almost perfect as an experience now. Great gameplay in an epic setting.

Alan Wake - Not bad. A strange game that got too silly.

Dragon Age Origins - I ended up getting the ultimate edition of this and I loved the vast majority of the game. Another GOTY contender for me.

Halo Reach - Finally, Halo returns to being a decent shooter. The best Halo since 2.

Red Dead Redemption - Disappointed me. I just couldn't get into it. Maybe you need to be a Rockstar fan in order to pick this up more easily.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Not as good as 2. I'm not sure why, but perhaps it's beginning to get bogged down under the weight of features?

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Good game. Great looks and atmosphere. Got a little repititive and silly towards the end.

And that's it. The list was a little londer then last year overall, which flies in the face of what I thought. Maybe it's the Shin Megami Tensei effect. That I spent a good 6 - 8 weeks on Persona 3 and 4 last year and had no game on that scale this year. Maybe It's because I played twice as many downloadables, that don't take as long to play. I don't know. But it's been a good year. Here's to many more!

~ Inc

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Anyway, this year was good for downloaded games, so I've given them their own section this year. Woop woop

Let's begin.

Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias - I didn't especially enjoy the first Lost Winds game. As nice as it was to look at it, the pace was slow and I got hopelessly lost. Thankfully, this sequel addresses the map issue, which subsequently solves the pace issue, in that i'm not spending all my time lost. It made this game a much better experience.

Megaman 10 - The classic series was never my fave of the Megaman games, but MM10 and MM9 before it have done alot to put it in contention. The edition of an easy mode was most welcome. MM11 anyone?

Strongbad's Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 2: Strongbadia the Free - I got this for free. I'm glad, cause it was only ok. It was nice to revisit all those characters though. I was a homestarrunner.com fan back in the day.

Earthworm jim HD - A nice HD update. The new levels are good too. AND because I'm playing it as a highly experienced gamer now (if I might be so bold), I got further through the game then I ever did as a kid. So that was nice.

Sin & Punishment - Tough game. Perhaps because it's somewhat dated compared to the sequel which i'd played only weeks earlier, might explain why I didn't like it so much.

Limbo - Creepy as hell, but I loved it. It amuses and surprises all at once.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - It was alright. I'd prefer a proper Tomb Raider though

Sonic Adventure - Not a very good port of one of my all time fave games. Ow, my childhood!

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 - It wasn't until after the massive nostalgia trip that I realised this wasn't a very good "old skool" sonic game. The physics need some serious work for Episode 2.

Super Meat Boy - Excellent and tough as nails. Edgy and cute all at the same time. I strained my hand it was so hard, but I beat it and it was worth it.

Worms 2 Armageddon - I should know by now. Until they put the ability to make 8 worm teams and 6 team battles back in, Worms will never be as good as World Party.

Cave Story - Had to wait a long time for this charming and utterly playable game. Didn't quite live up to the hype for me, but still very enjoyable. And quite sad =(

And that's it. I got Hydro Thunder Hurricane in the new year sales on Live, but I'll leave that for next year.

~ Inc

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Actually, I should, as the first game on my DS list was one of the first games I played last year and I can remember it well. for it was good.

DS

Zelda: Spirit Tracks - It shouldn't have been as good as it was, given the scenario. A train for crying out loud! But it was good! And miles better then Phantom Hourglass. Well played Ninty! An excellent start to the year.

Phantasy Star 0 - I actually got a heavy dose of nostalgia from this, as it has alot more in common with ye olde PSO then anything post... well, PSO. It hardly rocked the world, but it fills me with hope for the mysterious PSO2 coming in 2011.

Pokemon Soul Silver - A remake of my fave Pokemon Version was always going to go down well. And it did. Best pokemon yet. But FFS, can we PLEASE have a game where you can actually catch them all again?

Dragon Quest IX - Very good. I had fun. And yet, I prefer my RPGs story driven. And while this did have a good story, it focused on the whole co-op thing so much, that this was never going to sit as well for me as the wonderful DQV. But hey, I'd still reccomend this.

Megaman Zero Collection - A compilation of my fave GBA series. The games that got me back into Megaman. My god, what a collection. This will sit proudly in my personel collection for many years. This was a series I obsessed over for a while. I got Merc' and everything. And this collection was handled well, so well down Capcom and Inti Creates.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light - A little too old school for it's own good. I liked the art style and characters, but... the gameplay didn't do it for me. And the soundtrack annoyed me too.

Zelda, Phantasy Star, Pokemon, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Megaman. What a year! This is why I support DS. I hope the 3DS can keep up this trend of epicness.

~ Inc

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I'm spending a fair bit of my 10 days off, gaming, so I'll finish Castlevania: Loads of Shadows this year and maybe even Fable III which I got for Chrimbo. Fable III is supposed to be very short. It'll really depend how distracted I get by gettin' it ooooon with the easiet women in all of video games.

Outside of Leisure Suite Larry or whatever his name is.

And the Sims.

Not that i'd know.

ANYWAY. Video games! .. and yes I'm well aware I was just blogging about that.

Now's the time I say a few lines about all the games i've played this year. In past years over on Live Journel i'd spend an eveing do all the games in one big post. Not this year, I'm far too easily distracted. Also, I want to see if I can squeeze a couple more in before the New Year.

So I've decided to break it up by starting with a couple of platforms I won't be playing anything new on till January.

Wii

Another Code R: Journey into Memories - I was rather hoping for something like the DS Another Code (Trace Memory) game. This was not it. I sense a game end at my mother here, with its slow pace and ultra-heavy story telling style, but in my opinion, even my mother would have got bored with the tedium of this game. I hope never to have to endure another game like this. Harsh, as it's good to look at and the story wasn't that bad. It was the execution that was all wrong.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Loved the action. Loved the style. And yet, it still falls flat when it starts getting repetitive. A problem multiplied by all the back-tracking you have to do. Thank goodness the backdrops are so good to look at, or that would have made running through them again that much worse.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers - I love the Crystal Chronicles series. I haven't plaayed a bad game in the series yet, and i've played them all (except My Life as a Darklord, but that doesn't count. Tower defence...). Now, i liked Crystal Bearers. It was very charming, which is just what i've come to expect from the series, but bloody hell, this game was in development for 5 years. It should have been something on the scale of a numbered final fantasy. But no, this was done in a single digit number of hours. It was a fun little game, but it shouldn't have been! It should have been a sprawling epic. The game reeks of underfunding and indecision. Nevermind though. As long as there's another FFCC game on 3DS... *fingers crossed*

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - Another game with the word chronicles in it. A word I'm not even sure I'm spelling right! This was a fun shooter, which gives a nice roundup of the early part of the series, which I didn't follow so well back in the day. Keeping an eye out to play Darkside chronic- oh **** it. Looking forward to trying the sequel next year.

Monster Hunter 3 Tri - My first Monster Hunter game! And that was likely where I went wrong. This was not an easy game to pick up and get in to. I should have known better. I'll reserve my judgement on the series until I play it properly.

Sin & Punishment: Successor to the Skies - Another game with a bloody hard name. I'll forgive it though; This was alot of fun. It was also totally ignored by the so-called "gamers". Shame on them. Sure it was a bit short but it's a series everyone was crying out for a revival and then- oh I'll shut up. Once I get started...

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle - I liked NMH1. And when I saw this had "50 new ranking opponents to beat!" I was all like **** yeah, a properly epic NMH game. But no. The box LIED. And I really mean LIED. There is not 50 to beat. I certainly didn't fight 50. It was pretty much the same number as last time. Only, once again, on a smaller budget it seems. Disappointing.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Awesome stuff. True genius. And yet... I still find Mario games these days a little cold. I know some people would be utterly bewildered by such a statement, but Mario to me these days does stink of a game so carefully put together, you can almost feel the corporation behind it, fiddling with every little detail, in the full knowledge that they're making an incredibly important game, rather then a fun game. The bosses are desperate to make sure it works. A bad Mario platformer game could ruin Nintendo, and I think they know it. Or maybe I'm crazy!

Metroid: Other M - awwww. I kind-of liked it. It was a...refreshing look at the Metroid series. And yet, as a game, it wasn't so great. And it wasn't Retro Studios... Ok, it wasn't Metroid Prime, that's my problem. No matter though. Hopefully this was a one off experiement that can be put down to series expanding pains.

Sonic Colours - My fave Sonic game in a long long time. And I play alot, as I'm abit of a fan. It's a solid game. The balance was correct. Nothing to change the world with, but hopefully, Sonic Team are finally back on track.

PS3 (My First Year)

God of War III - I've always found the God of War series to be over-rated. A hack n' slash button masher with a sprinkling of puzzles and great looks. III seems to have done nothing to change that. It's God of War HD. Now having said that, it's not neccisarily a bad thing. It's still good fun. i expecially enjoyed the epic boss battles. But this doesn't feel like an evolution. There's nothing here compelling me to be excited about the other games in the series.

Uncharted 2 - Well written, good looking, enjoyable game. Again, perhaps a little over-rated, but if all games could be this good, i'd be happy.

Valkyria Chronicles - Oh ffs. Another game with Chro-COUGH. I liked it. And I wanted to like it more! Lots of charm and a high level of challenge. Perhaps too much challenge. Getting killed is very frustrating. I like Fire Emblem more...

Heavy Rain - I didn't work out who it was before the big reveal. Bah. An excellent mystery, bogged down in some poor gameplay choices. And some great ones.

Final Fantasy XIII - Every year, I play something truly haunting. Last year, it was Persona 3. That was a great game, but some times, my most haunting game of the year is not always the best. FFXIII is a fine example. Some terrible choices were made in this games development. You can argue that once you get to Grand Pulse, the game picks up and becomes stunning to look at and miles more fun to play (And i'd agree with you), but it doesn't take away from the fact that it takes 30 hours to get there, you can beat most of it by Auto-Battle, it's highly story-driven, and yet slightly too challenging to beat and further that story. There are all kinds of things that could have been better, but **** me, even now 6 months on, the VGSoundtrack on my playlist, the keychain on my cork-board and the only poster I bought this year, are all from FFXIII. That's gotta say something, right?

Bioshock 2 - Yes yes, I know, wrong platform for this game. My 360 was on the fritz (again) at the time, so I had to play this somewhere. And I liked it! Maybe it isn't quite as good as the first Bioshock (another over-rated game), but I still enjoyed going back to that wrecked version of Rapture and rumblin' wit some crazziez! ... yes

Lost Planet 2 - What were they thinking? Was this even any good in multiplayer? It's like they took the bad bits from the first LP and decided to make a joke game out of them. Not good.

Blur - Mario Kart for grown-ups my arse. I'd play Mario Kart over this any day. Loads more fun. Blur was good for a while, but really, there weren't nearly enough weapons in this to make it live up to its potential.

And that's it. For those two platforms anyway. The way I wrote this made alot of games sound bad actually. It shouldn't be read like that. I've had fun with the vast majority, but in review, i'd suddenly realised it could have been even better.

~ Inc

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