• 25Dec 09

  Joyeux Noel!

  Oh, hai thar!

  Here's a Christmas card for you darlings:

  

  I hope everyone has a Fabulous Christmas, a Naughty New Year, and a Marvelous Holiday Season! Regardless of what you may or may not celebrate at this time of year, it's undeniably a time where most of the world settles down and reflects upon their families, friends, and the gift of being alive; that alone is something worth being happy about.

  Anydoodle, Christmas is more than exchanging presents with frien- ah who am I kidding? It's the best freaking part!

  Loot:

  • District 9 on Blu-Ray (cuz I just had to see that mech action again in hi-def)
  • Rock Band 2 (game only; already have instruments)
  • USB Keyboard (for easy typing on PS3)
  • SkullCandy GI Headphone (because I have a fetish for overly-large headphones)
  • Small amount of pocket money (Christmas bonus from work)

  I'm probably not going to be sleeping tonight since I'll have to stay up to go line up in the freezing cold for Boxing Day (a Canadian shopping holiday). Dragon Age on the PS3 for $40; formerly-expensive earphones for $10; Tekken 6 for $30; New BluRay movies for $10, and the list goes on! Color me excited!

  Anyways, here's to a Happy Holiday Season, everyone! I hope your lives are filled with warmth and love, or at least a nice bag of chips which are pretty much the same thing.

  ~hazelnutman

  • Posted Dec 25, 2009 4:04 pm PT
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• 17Dec 09

  Fabulous Awards for Fabulous Games

  So once the teachers found out that they had less than a month worth of school left in the semester to finish teaching the rest of the curriculum, they freaked out; they freaked out hard. To make sure they could finish the course, the students were given stacks of worksheets, projects, and tests. I happened to be one of those students caught in this whirlpool of "educational material", and so I'm justifying my lack of activity with the above statements. I managed to finish a lot of stuff though – enough to let me do whatever I want for the winter break without any school work on my mind. I was especially lacking in motivation to study for the past week, so I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that I managed to score perfect marks in many assignments and tests I completely during my time of homework-hell. Hooray for half-assing

  So yeah – I'll be a lot more active for now. I'm done most of my Christmas shopping too; expensive-ass scarf ring for my mom, something-something for my brother (lol, he might be reading this to find out), a crazy animal squeaky toy for my dog, some toys for the kids I tutor, and probably a pair of soccer shoes for my dad. I would get my grandparents something, but something suddenly happened and now I won't be able to spend Christmas with them. They're not with us anymore; they've passed on to a better place…

  …and by that, I mean Halifax. They get to eat lobsters and stuff every day, damn it. Lucky ducks. In case you don't know, Halifax is a port city on the East coast of Canada. Awesome place, and I'm totally envious of them.

  

  =HAZEL'S FAB GOTY AWARDS=

  =2009=
  

  Oh right, I'm here to give you my Game of the Year awards! The following games/characters are all from games I own and have played. However, this limitation means that not everything can be nominated – only the stuff I've actually played.

  Let's get right to it then:

  (Spoilers below)

  

  Male Character I would Sacrifice my Heterosexuality For
  

  WINNER: Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
  

  
  

  Probably the prettiest looking man in a wet shirt this year, Nathan Drake is undeniably a charming fellow. With his multi-purpose fingers used for hand-puppeteering and ledge hanging, he should do a damn-fine job with any other chore I might have for him.

  RUNNER-UP: Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)
  

  Any man who can punch a bolder into a river of lava is a man for me.

  

  Mai Waifu (Favorite Female Character)

  WINNER: Noel Vermillion (BlazBlue)
  

  
  

  She's just so damn cute – seriously. Writing poems secretly? Internet shopping to avoid human interaction? PANDAS?! HNNNNNNNG!!!

  RUNNER-UP: Taokaka (BlazBlue)
  

  Because Tao is Taokaka!

  

  How to Soil Your Pants

  WINNER: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Scarecrow Segments)

  
  

  I was all like, "This room has nothing in here; why would the designers even do this?"

  And then I was all like, "Okay, screw this – time to leave."

  And then I soiled myself, because I left the room to enter the exact same room. Craziness ensues.

  RUNNER-UP: Modern Warfare 2 (Helicopter Rain after EMP)

  Helicopter raaaaain.

  Some stay alive and others feel the pain.

  Helicopter raaaaain.

  A main character will probably die before the end.

  

  Hottest Soundtrack

  WINNER: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

  
  

  Hells yes – there isn't a single track in the BlazBlue OST that doesn't appeal to me. I love every single piece of eardrum sex, with some highlights being Bullet Dance, Rebellion, and Gale. Daisuke Ishiwatari can have my children if he wants to anytime.

  RUNNER-UP: Assassin's Creed 2

  This one was hard to separate from the rest of the herd, but when it came down to it, there was a particular song I really thought was something special. "Ezio's Family" further compliments the solid soundtrack of Assassin's Creed 2, making it an audible experience worth taking.

  

  Best Bosses

  WINNER: Demon's Souls

  
  

  While not all of them are particularly special in any way, the bosses in Demon's Souls represent a time where there was a mandatory boss at the end of every structured level you could look forward to – each with their own patterns and weaknesses. Simply, there were a ton of bosses, and all of them were fun to fight against. Nothing more I can ask for from a game, really.

  RUNNER-UP: Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time

  While they were on the easy side and not numerous in the memorable category, the few that stood out REALLY stood out for me. Most particularly, the ending was incredibly satisfying and brought back a lot of nostalgia from playing Up Your Arsenal. Good times.

  

  Eye-Candy

  WINNER: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

  
  

  Hey – I never said anything about the art styIe, so BlazBlue is completely up there to win. Yes, this game is a high-definition 2D game. I prefer the 2D visuals myself, so based on this, BlazBlue wins for simply not having that much competition in this department. Grats.

  RUNNER-UPS: Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2

  Yeah, I have two games up here. While both of them have completely different art directions, they both look equally stunning in my eyes. I'd take a bubble bath with either game any day of the week.

  

  
  

  Game of the Freakin' Year

  WINNER: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

  
  

  Screw my own rating system and the scores I gave to every game of 2009; BlazBlue is simply my favorite game of the year. It's loud, noisy, flashy, and always fun to play. The online is addictive, the characters are great, the soundtrack is awesome, and the game itself never seems to age on me. If a Game of the Year is based on how much fun you had with the product (you know, because it's a video game after all), then I don't think I could give it to anything other than BlazBlue based on my personal experiences this year. Hooray for fun games!

  RUNNER-UP: Assassin's Creed 2

  This game took me completely by surprise. I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. The story is incredibly fleshed out, the attention to detail is exquisite, and the overall mechanics from the first game are transferred over a game that isn't as repetitive as the first one. I'm inclined to say that Ubisoft Montreal is one of the few developers who actually listen to their fans nowadays. Good job guys; but next time, don't deliberately take out two levels so you can charge us for them later as DLC.

  

  So yeah, those were my choices and highlights of the year. None of them except BlazBlue really broke into my top 14 games, but when you think about it, it's been another exceptional year for video gamers everywhere. Here's to 2010 starting and ending awesomely as well! Hear, hear!

  I'll be back to post an annual Christmas blog sometime later, so until then, have a safe holiday season, my friends.

  

  

  BlazBlue Original Soundtrack - "Bullet Dance: Dual Violin Cover"

  Holy crap, this guy is amazing. Almost makes me want to put my bass and guitar down for a while in favor of a violin. Almost.

  • Posted Dec 17, 2009 11:22 pm PT
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• 8Nov 09

  Blazing and Blueing

  I hate BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. I hate it for sucking me into its world and refusing to let me go. I hate it for taking away the time I could have used to finish the massive warehouse of games I have yet to touch. I hate it for constantly distracting me from my school work and the responsibilities bestowed on me. I hate how much I love this game.

  I don't usually blog on single video games, but I feel obligated to say some words of admiration for this one.

  

  A long time ago, I noticed that Scianix-Black had (once again) changed his profile theme to Taokaka. At the time, I had no clue what BlazBlue was; it was still a relatively new game in arcades as well. I investigated this 'Taokaka' character, only to find myself engulfed in an ocean of flashy gameplay videos of an impressive-looking fighter with a totally unique cast of characters.

  As time went on, I yearned for a console port, but no such announcement would be made until months later. Week after week, new video footage was released from the arcades; combo videos found their way onto YouTube, with a particular video featuring Noel piquing my interest in her. She would later become my main character.

  

  Finally, a port was announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I immediately pre-ordered it, with the promises of a first-run-only Limited Edition upgrade at no extra price being mere sprinkles on an otherwise delicious and moist cake.

  After an antagonizing wait and a mountain of delays (thanks to the release date being on Canada Day of all days), I had my hands on two copies of the Limited Edition due to some complications involving cats and the quadratic equation. I sold the second copy to a good friend of mine – the same one who had bought a PS3 on launch day and invited me over to play (which lead me to buying one as well). I would finally be able to play.

  The first few weeks were filled with absolute addiction and frustration. I was constantly getting my ass kicked in player matches, I could only barely beat Hell Difficulty Arcade, and I had trouble doing many of the combos I witnessed on those amazing videos. The bonus Blu-Ray disc did little to help, so all I could do was practice. It was not until I had made the arcade sticks when I felt like I was getting somewhere. It was a frighteningly awkward experience at first (it felt like I was learning how to play again), but once I got around the initial hump, I started winning more battles online, Hell Difficulty Arcade would be just a quick little warm-up exercise, and I was able to do some of the more basic combos I witnessed on those amazing videos. I became dedicated to the game.

  

  Currently, I continue to main Noel Vermillion and have trouble picking a suitable sub. Without a doubt, I'm in complete anticipation for Continuum Shift, along with the PlayStation Portable port of Calamity Trigger. While this game is generally infamous for its steep learning curve, I regularly have my friends come over to play a few quick matches. It's actually a blast to fight in large groups, especially since the group of friends I play this game with happened to have picked completely different mains.

  In fact, I just came back with my friends from the only arcade center within driving distance. They had a single BlazBlue arcade machine, and we tore down the house playing it for hours. One of them bought the game today, and two are going to do the same very soon. It looks like I'll have to be making some more arcade sticks… at a price

  

  One platinum trophy, hundreds of hours played, and thousands of matches spread across multiple modes later, I look back and marvel at how one game could have addicted me so much. It's definitely not my favourite game, it's definitely not a game I would consider to be better than the likes of some true cIassics, and it's definitely not one that I recommend to everyone I know, but it's one hell of a ride that I don't want to ever get off of.

  =Reviews and Resources=

  GameTrailer's Video Review

  IGN's Video Review

  My Boring Text Review

  BlazBlue's Wikipedia Page

  

  

  Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - "Sky High" (Daytona USA Soundtrack)
  

  Why is this song so much fun to listen to? ;___;

  • Posted Nov 8, 2009 4:57 am PT
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