• 25Dec 09

  Christmas Gifts [Received and gave]

  First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I hope all your wishes came or will come true

  Oddly enough, I woke up at 8:30 this morning, something I don't usually do. My parents were already awake and I had to wake up my brother (which was supposed to be the other way around, but anyway...) Here's what I got for Christmas:

  Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks[DS]

  Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story[DS]

  Dragon Age: Origins Collector's Edition[PS3]

  Three sweaters

  One pair of gloves

  [THE THREE GAMES WERE ONES I WAS PLANNING ON GETTING ]

  Now, some of you may know me to be a PS3 and Wii fanboy, and in return hating the 360. However, for Christmas, I decided to get something my brother really wanted (he was planning on buying it in the first place ) and that was the X-Box 360 Elite Holiday pack. The look on his face when he opened it was priceless!

  Anyway, what I bought for my brother and parents:

  Parents: Fujifilm 12 megapixel Camera, which shoots HD video + a 2GB memory card (a camera was something they needed because our previous one had a Greek plug, so we either had to buy the plug or a transformer/I thought it was time for an upgrade )

  Brother: X-Box 360 elite (came with lego batman and pure) + Halo 3

  Anyway, Merry Chirstmas, Happy Holidays and I hope everything is well. Until next time...

  • Posted Dec 25, 2009 9:46 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 23Dec 09

  [UPDATED] Winter Break plus Exams

  It's been quite a while since my last blog, so here's what has happened so far: The past week and a half I've had my finals for college at NYIT. Last Thursday I had to take a Programming I Exam followed by a Calculus II Exam. On Monday, I had to take a Computer Organization Exam, followed by an Economics Exam, and then yesterday (Tuesday) I had to take a Writing Composition II Exam. I'm so glad that this semester is over, now I can enjoy my winter break until January 25th, 2010. Wow, 2010, sounds so futuristic doesn't? Anyway, after finishing my exams yesterday I've been playing quite a few games, yesterday I couldn't get off my PS3: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 10 (Been starting the Become a Pro season, which is actually pretty fun!) and for some reason Rock Band 2

  Today is my younger brother's last day in school, before winter break, so we're probably gonna go watch Avatar when he gets here From what I've heard the movie is great, visually, but plot wise, not so great. I'll see how it is, movies rarely blow my mind (Except for a few, LoTR, Matrix, SW, PoC) I'll update this blog with my interpretation of the movie. Until then, have a wonderful winter break and Happy Holidays.

  [UPDATE]

  I wasn't able to go see Avatar yesterday, instead, I went today. I went and saw the Avatar: 3D showing at 2:55 with my younger brother and my dad. The 3D showing was just spectacular. The plot of the movie was not THAT strong, but the beautiful world of Pandora, and the extraodinary CG effects just made me really like this movie. It didn't blow my mind, but it really got to me, you know? I'm the kind of person who likes a good story accompanied by good special effects, Avatar was able to do with to a certain extent. That beside however, I would recommend anyone who hasn't seen this movie, to go NOW and see it. It's a great Sci-fi film, an experience I'll remember for quite a while, because it was my second 3D movie I have EVER watched. The first being Terminator 2, and the second being Avatar. Pretty weird isn't? Watching two movies from the same director in 3D without knowing it? One thing came into mind, well two things...What if they reshowed both Lord of the Rings AND the Matrix in 3D...now THAT would blow my mind away

  To the point review:

  Plot/Story: 7/10

  CG/Sepcial Effects: 10/10

  Character Development: 8/10

  Overall: 25/30 ~ 83
  

  Anyway, that's that and Happy Holidays, in one hour it will officialy be Christmas. Where I am at least

  • Posted Dec 23, 2009 8:16 am PT
  • Category: Other
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• 14Dec 09

  [UPDATED] Professor Layton and the Curious Village [DS]

  I finally beat the game! I solved all 120 puzzles in under 12 hours, with 51 hint coins to spare! *Phew* Well, now that I beat the story, and solved all the story puzzles, I'm gonna attempt to solve the addition 15 puzzles in the Bonuses section. I already solved the Gizmo ones, but the other problems are just too difficult! Their difficulty ranges from 70 points to 99. Just so you know, for those of you who haven't played the game, the average difficulty for a puzzle in the game is worth around 30-40 points. Quite a bit of a difference [UPDATE: I completed all the puzzles in the game! 135/135 with 51 hint coins to spare in 13 hours and 21 minutes.]

  Review:

  Story:

  

  As plot goes, it was phenomenal. The story was grasping, and the addition of puzzles just made the game much more challenging. Here's a quick synopsis: Professor Layton and Luke (boy assistant) go to a town called St. Mystere (St. mystery?!) with the goal of finding the Golden Apple. However, as they progress through their quest, they stumble upon various characters which intertwine murder and mystery with the quest for the Golden Apple. Everything is interconnected, so it automatically grasps your attention, making you want to figure out what happens next! I won't spoil the rest What the game designers and programmers did, which was smart, is that in certain areas throughout the game, in order to progress, you need to have solved a certain number of puzzles. Hence, making you go around the town and solve as many puzzles as possible, which is good, because it gets your brain thinking. Another thing that they did was that certain puzzles gave you a reward, either a piece of furniture for the two characters' Inn rooms, or a piece of a painting, or a piece of a contraption. Hence, adding even MORE depth to wanting to solve more puzzles in order to see what they unlock! For a DS game it contains layers and layers of mystery which adds to its appeal.

  Characters:

  Professor Layton: The master mind puzzle solver! In a way, he reminds me alot like Bruce Wayne from the Batman series. Not as the Batman, but as the very intellectual and calm kind of person who will do anything to achieve their goal. In addition to that, he has gentleman like manners and is quite chivalrous.

  Luke: The devoded assistant! As Layton reminds me of Bruce Wayne, Luke reminds me of Dick Grayson, also known as Robin from the Batman series. He is a devoted assistant, side kick...call him what you will, but in the end he too gets the job done. His innocent yet sly thinking behaviour adds even more depth to the development of the character.

  Results:

  Graphics: THe art design of the game is just great. The cartoony/anime feel and look makes me feel like a kid again Hence, I give it a 9/10

  Sound: The soundtrack at first is interesting to listen too. But just like many GameBoy games, it just constantly loops, adding a hint of frustration when you can't quite solve a puzzle. Hence, I give it a 7.5/10

  Controls: The controls are quite basic, yet effective. Because of the touch screen, there isn't much use for the arrow keys or for the a + b buttons. I was hoping that maybe the other buttons could do something since we couldn't use them that often, like bring up a menu on the top screen. At least they do the job Hence, I give it a8/10

  Story: As I explained earlier, it is a grasping to the finish kind of story. Hence, I give it a 10/10

  Total: 8.6

  Have an awesome week

  

  • Posted Dec 14, 2009 9:52 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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