My Blog. My life, my games, my rants. All in one place.

• 26Dec 11

  MGS: Snake Eater 3D looks better than the HD collection version

  Over the past months we've heard only negative things about the 3DS version of Snake Eater. Some of it is justified while some is not. While the game might seam a rip-off when you think everybody else gets it in the HD collection, one must also acknowledge the fact that this game was announced long before the HD collection and that development on the 3DS version began possibly even before the HD collection.
  
  With all that said we all have to agree that MGS3 is possibly one of the best games ever made and 3DS owners (myself included) should consider themselves lucky to have the chance to experience this one-of-a-kind game. And with the new features like the PhotoCamo and Tilt-Controls being added this could become the definitive version of MGS3.
  
  Now let's talk about the game's graphics; the main argument of this blog entry.
  
  This game has been heavily criticized for its graphics and for how it "looks worse than the original PS2 version". This WAS true before the TGS trailer was released which featured improved textures, effects and a much more stable framerate than what we saw in the E3 trailer. This is where the "graphical criticism" was in theory supposed to stop, but sadly it didn't, mostly because the trailer was never released outside Japan, so many people never had a chance to watch it.
  
  It would seam the 3DS version is possibly getting a complete graphical overhaul as some effects seam to be much more improved when compared to the HD version. That's not to say the HD collection doesn't look good. Actually, it looks very good but in the end it's just MGS3 with HD textures and resolution with some (now unnecessary) blur effects removed.
  
  But at the same time I must admit the 3DS version still looks graphically inferior compared to the original Naked Sample Demo. The Naked Sample still looks superior to both 3DS and HD versions which is disappointing when you think the that the final product could have looked like this:
  
  
  
  
  
  Bellow I'll include links to both E3 and TGS trailer of Snake Eater 3D and comparison pictures between the HD, 3DS-E3 and 3DS-TGS versions to show how it's graphics have improved over time. The pictures have been scaled to match the 3DS' 400 width resolution for a better comparison.
  
  E3 2011 Trailer
  TGS 2011 Trailer
  
  As you can see the game has significantly evolved graphically between the 2 trailers. Now let's see some pictures:
  
  EVA HD Version:
  
  
  EVA 3DS Version:
  
  
  Snake HD Version, pic 1:
  
  
  Snake 3DS E3 Version, pic 1:
  
  
  Snake 3DS TGS Version, pic1:
  
  
  Snake HD Version, pic2:
  
  
  Snake 3DS E3 Version, pic2:
  
  
  Snake 3DS TGS Version, pic2:
  
  
  I don't know what you might think but in my opinion the 3DS version is looking better than the HD version. The game still has time to improve till its march 2012 release date and I personally can't wait to get my hands on this Kojima Masterpiece.

  • Posted Dec 26, 2011 5:15 pm GMT
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• 27Oct 11

  First cold in 3 years

  I caught a real bad cold recently. Haven't caught one in 3 years... hell I even forgot how it felt to be sick.

  Anyway my head hurts, I'm coughing a lot (and smoking isn't helping it) and my sinuses are filled with something I can't describe. At least I don't have a fever (yet); makes the thing more bearable. Good thing I've got no school for the next 5 days. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by the time I go back. Going to school when you're sick isn't one of the most pleasurable things to do in life...

  Just sayin'...

  • Posted Oct 27, 2011 3:21 pm GMT
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• 3Oct 11

  Update on my Life

  It's been like a month since I kept telling myself to write a blog but finally I did it. I also kept asking myself why should I even write one anyway, but now I've figured it out: my blog can be like a personal diary. It's perfect! At the same time it stays personal so my friends can't see and read it and, at the same time, other GameSpot Users can read it and give their opinions. It's a win-win situation.

  Anyway I'm gonna write about everything that happened in my life since last September. So here it goes:

  Last September I finally convinced my parents to buy me a new PC. My old PC was REALLY old. It was a Pentium 4@1.80 Ghz, 256MB RAM, GeForce 5500 with 128MB VRAM. Yeah it pretty much sucked and I've had that PC since 2004. Lucky for me I've been mostly a console gamer, but still that PC came in handy for surfing the web and downloading things.

  The new PC i bought is really good appart for the GPU which is starting to show its age. It's a Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9400 @ 266Ghz, 4GB RAM, GeForce 9800 GT with 2.7 GB VRAM. It's a pretty good PC except for one thing: it cost us 1000 euro. Yep that's right, 1000 euro, and it's all my fault; we bought it from an electronics store instead of a computer store. Computer stores usually have lower prices.

  That computer even broke once. The HDD got fried. It was a 1 TB HDD. The guys at the electronics store said that Iìve got a 2 year warranty with HP, but that wasn't the case. The PC was second hand! How did I know that? Easy! The PC's case has a serial number which can be used to register your PC on the HP website and when I did it said my serial number was already used.

  So I had to buy a new HDD and install it myself which I did. The new HDD was only 500GB this time. The scary part was that in the same period my Internet modem died too. So I had to replace that one too. The new modem is obviously better than the last one. It's also got a built-in router both wireless and by ethernet cable.

  School was mostly fun through September-December. Didn't have major academics related problems until the next period. At school everybody kept talking about Black Ops and I kinda felt like an idiot when I tried talking because I have it for the Wii... so everybody was like: STFU NOOB!

  When Christams was getting close I knew what I wanted: Rock Band 3 Pro Drums for the Wii. Problem is Rock Band has a scarce popularity here in Europe, so I had to order them online. I had my Italian uncle, Gianluca order them from Spain and it arrived in 3 days. I obviously had to wait till Christams Eve to open it. Luckily it was only a few days away.

  We went to spend Christmas at Gianluca's house. He's got a big house so spending Christmas at his house was a good idea. We had fun and all and after that we opened up the presents. As I unwrapped my present I felt like a 4-year old (like every Christmas actually ). And there they were, my Rock Band drums were finally here. I even brought my Wii there so I could try them. Boy was I happy.

  As February came my birthday was getting closer. It was my 18th birthday so everybody kept telling me to go out and celebrate it. I really didn't feel like celebrating it with my friends. So I got drunk at my Gianluca's house instead. I was so drunk I started making-out with the walls...

  Things went smoothly with school and all except for electronics where I had a 4 out of 10 which isn't enough to pass. But luckily my teacher passed me anyway. I guess he liked me or something, but at least I didn't had to go to summer school.

  As a present for finishing this school year without any problems my parents bought me a 3DS with 2 games: SSF4 3D and Ocarina of Time 3D. SSF4 wasn't really my type of game, I like Zelda better in the end.

  Here come the sad part: my bestest friend from school, Mattia, moved out of Rome. His family had economical problems and so they moved to Perugia which is 3 hours far by car. Everyone in my class was saddened to see him go, everybody liked him; he's a really great and smart dude.

  But before Mattia could go away he had to say goodbye to all his friends one of them was this girl, Julien which at the time was in love with him. She even went as far as to go live with him for a whole year. One of the reasons was her bad relationship with her mother; she just couldn't stand it anymore. Julien was in love with him, but Mattia wasn't; he considered her just a close friend.

  So went with him to say goodbye to Julien. She has a PS3 and I've been asking her for a long time to play Metal Gear Solid 4. Which I did! I stood awake for 20+ hours to finish it and loved every minute of it. The bad thing is I came home with head lice.

  Seams like Julien's family's got a lice infestation or something. Luckily I discovered them while playing MGS4. I was randomly scratching my head and found one on the back of my head. I freaked out because I have long hair and would have hated the thought of shaving my head. Luckily before coming back home I phoned my mother to buy me anti-lice shampoo and a lice comb. As I came home my mom hurried up to help me cleanse my head of lice and so we did.

  A month later Mattia invited me to stay for a week at his new house in Perugia which I gladly accepted. A few days later I was at his house. We had a lot of fun together going to the pub, getting drunk and playing Minecraft. After that week had passed it was his turn to stay at my place and so he did. The next week he stood at my place and we went to visit all of his friends one last time before he went back home.

  Then I went to Romania by car with my father to visit my relatives. It was kinda boring and all... no Internet and no PC... luckily I had my 3DS with me.

  When we came back home all hell went loose: my mother wanted to divorce. Even now after hearing both my mother and father and can't understand my mother's reasons behind it. It would seam she's been think about it for the last 20 years... bogus or no bogus... I would like to get into more detail about it but it's just too personal to write it down here.

  Anyway things seam to have calmed down now. I don't know if she's decided not to divorce or not but it's better than before. At least I don't have to hear them fight. Anyway... school started 3 weeks ago and I'm already sick of it which is strange because I always liked going to school... well... these past few years at least. Must be because of Mattia's absence... he always makes things more interesting and fun, even at school.

  Well, that's about it for now. This must be my biggest blog ever and I'm happy to have finally wrote it down here. It will be a good way to preserve memories.

  • Posted Oct 3, 2011 7:49 am GMT
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