My thoughts on stuff - comments appreciated!

• 18Nov 06

  Next-gen Review - part 2

  This is my seconds next-gen review, the first one was a few months ago at the beginning of the summer, I just felt like I needed to upgrade it now after a couple lauches and tons of important reviews, so there it is.

  DS - after a very strong launch, two years in the market, and an new lite version the DS proved itself to be very profitable for nintendo, despite the lack of great games coming out lately the already released titles more than make up for it and the DS still has lots of room to grow and alot of potential for years to come. Advice: buy a DS lite if you havent already, a great handheld with tons of fun games, and the price tag of $130 and cheaper games makes it very affordable

  PSP - the PSP is sony's jewel, but despite being a technological marvel in terms of handheld gaming the PSP doesn't seem to have reached its potential yet, great games like Tekken, Monster Hunter, GTA and Syphon Filter have raised the bar for PSP games to come, but still deveopers insist in not using the PSP's capabilitis to its fullest. Advice: a psp is a big investment, $200-250 on it plus games and a decent memory stick make it a little hard on the pocket of gamers, but its still nonetheless a great buy and worth every penny of it, if you want the best out a handheld and have the silver go pick it up

  Wii - I was really curious about the Wii, first I thought it was an updated version of the gamecube with different controlers, then I realized the potential of a $250 with cheaper games (than 360 and ps3) and a brand new technology that could open the door to thousands of good ideas for developers, I still hadn't had the opportunity to play it yet but from what I've been hearing sounds like its launch titles turned out to be underachived and that Zelda is just as enjoyable in the gamecube. Advice: hold off on this one, avaible games are weak compared to other systems (except Zelda) and the future of the console is still uncertain, I would wait for a few more AA titles before getting it

  PS3 - The PS3 is kind of a dilemma for me: I love sony and bought every console they lauched at lauch date but the PS3, I just don't see the point right now (yet) on spending $600 on a console that could become very unsuccessful (lets face it, a $500-600 price tag is a HUGE gamble), plus I don't see any major improvement graphic-wise with the PS3 over the 360 that would justify the $200 extra bucks. Advice: hold off on this one also, I'm not saying that its not worth it, I just find it hard to recommend a system that is nothing but promices as of now

  Xbox 360 - The 360 has come a long way since lauch over a year ago, and thats obviously the reason why the 360 is clearly superior to ps3 and Wii (as of now), a year worth of time gave the 360 a big advantage as far as game titles are concerned right now, over a hundreds titles, several AA and a few AAA make the 360 easy to recommend to anyone that wants to get into next-gen gaming and wants an established system that already has a huge selection of games and the biggest fan-base. Advice: if you want to play next-gen games now go buy a 360, its great linup clearly blow Wii and Ps3's lauch lineup out of the competition and Microsoft just gave us more reasons not to buy another system by releasing the GOTY on november 7th (yes, Gears of War is the bets next-gen game as of now, truly a must buy game)

  PC - not much to be said here, the PC is still my favorite gaming toy, I just can't get enough of the great games coming out pretty much montly and games such as Civ4, Galactic Civilizations 2, and HL2 just keep me coming back to the PC over a while after their releases. Advice: if you can afford to put $1400 on a gaming PC you won't regret it, great games from past, present, and future pretty much assure you will have something to enjoy for a long time

  Thats it guys, not as harsh as the previous review, more like my personal feeling about those really, please comment as comments are always welcomed, no matter if its positive ot negative, just keep "flaming" out of it please

  • Posted Nov 18, 2006 4:01 pm PT
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• 30Jun 06

  Another blog entry...

  Damn it, I don't have anything to write about this time...Sorry if you are actually reading this lol

  I'm going on vacation for a couple weeks and then I'll think about somethnig that actually matters to write about, I though about a few topics, which is the best?

  - The math behind Handheld Wars

  - Next format duel

  - Overated/Underated Games

  - Gamespot and other big websites reviewing games after the first 30 minutes of play

  • Posted Jun 30, 2006 12:19 am PT
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• 14Jun 06

  The reviewers role

  Ever since the first video-games came out way back in the day there has always been people judging the systems and its games, first it was only small newspaper articles and spoken word between friends, but after the internet boom game reviewers have become an extremly important part of the gaming industry.

  Today websites like Gamespot, 1UP and IGN have crews that can reach the hundreds, and all that to inform people about video-games systems, games, and accessories. But the questions remains: How big is the role of major gaming websites in the gaming industry? The answer is simpler than you may think: it depends on the gamer, and therefore it depends in what type of games are coming out, which takes us to what the developers are focusing on. The "harcore" gamers are certanly influenced by what they read on gaming websites and gaming forums boards, so it is safe to say that the major gaming websites play a huge role on serious gamers. On the other hand, casual gamers could care less for game reviews and articles, and therefore and much more influenced by other marketing points such as TV, game cover, and finally their friends (stereotypes play a huge role here).

  The sad thing about this is that the gaming industry is always focusing more and more on casual gamers, which is estimated to be around 85% of the market (read that at ign somewhere). If we go by that logic reviewers only influence 15% of the potential buyers, which is not that much if you consider how many people may watch a commercial on TV or how cool the cover looks at the shelves.

  I support reviwers, in fact I think they know more about video-games than anybody else, its sad however, that the reviewer's role is decreasing generation after generation, which will obviously decrease the quality of games since developers will focus more on casual gameplay. Lets just hope for more hardcore titles this years (Hellgate: London and Medieval 2:Total War both look amazing at this point), as well as hope that big titles such as Gears of War, Twilight Princess, Halo 3, Neverwinter Nights 2, the new Metal Gear Solid games and many other big titles coming out soon focus on both casual and hardcore gamers.

  Please comment on this and let me know your opinion on this matter

  Cheers

  • Posted Jun 14, 2006 11:51 pm PT
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