Game Collection - DVD Collection - CD Collection

• 25Dec 09

  Happy holidays

  Merry Christmas everyone. Have a great day. Even if you don't celebrate this particular holiday, be good to each other, okay?

  Me, I'm just waiting for the family stragglers to arrive before we kick things off properly. I had a nice lie in this morning (pretty knackered after moving 16 meters of shop on my tod yesterday for January sale set-up) and right now I'm eyeing some suspiciously game-shaped packages under our tree (well, they might be DVDs)

  Enjoy the holiday folks!

  • Posted Dec 25, 2009 4:02 am PT
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• 1Dec 09

  November 2009

  Month in Review: November 2009

  Well, I managed to get myself stuck with yet another console this month. The space under my TV is at a premium right now, not to mention the constant battle for plug sockets.

  New Acquisitions

  

  It's been a long time since I squeeed like a little girl over a game. It's been even longer since I bothered to go out of my way to pick up a game on release day. In fact, I know for a fact the only other two games I have purposefully gone to the store on release day to buy were Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate II (a.k.a. Best Game Ever). Which is appropriate since Dragon Age is like totally awesome and combines the best bits of both of those games to make a game which, while not perfect, is pretty darn close to it. Anyway, that's the brand new game right there, next to the brand new and very shiny Collector's Edition strategy guide, bought solely for the last 60 pages - chock full of concept art, world background and lore and other goodies.

  

  One shiny new Wii. Not the black one I was eyeing so enviously, but a vanilla white one. Not pictured are the free boxed Sports Resort/Motion Plus set or the (highly impractical) bigger outer box that containeth the whole shebang. One hundred and thirty-five squids only.

  

  A handful of Wii titles to get me on my way. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Dragon Quest Swords were brand new and bought online, while Super Paper Mario and Red Steel were used pickups from Game. Red Steel is a bit naff but it was only £2.97 so can't complain much.

  

  One reason the Wii appealed to me was the ease with which light-gun styIe arcade action could be applied to the system's control scheme, and with some juicy Resident Evil and/or House of the Dead zombie holocausts looking ever more likely I decided I needed an appropriate weapon to dispatch these foul foes. Obviously the official Zapper was right out, the whole two-handed cramp-o-rama design put me right off, so my weapon of choice was narrowed down to two: the pump-action shotgun I'd seen in Game or this epic HOTD Hand Cannon. In the end, the cool factor won out. Blam!

  

  And here are the first two games to benefit from my nifty new peripheral. HOTD Overkill was brand new, while Ghost Squad was bought used.

  

  Just so my 360 didn't feel left out after all the attention my Wii and PC have got this month, I picked up Wet new for £15. It's been on my radar for quite a long time now so I'm glad I managed to get hold of it.

  Games Played

  Dragon Age: Origins (PC)

  Absolutely spiffy. As you may have gathered from my gushing above, I'm a tiny bit of a Bioware fan. Stemming of course, from the fact that everything they touch is gold. Dragon Age: Origins (okay, we get you're looking at a franchise here, still, the name could do without the sutitle) is to my mind, everything Neverwinter Nights 2 should have been (Obsidian, if you are ever called upon to make a sequel, take notes). It's a great PC RPG - yes, it's a PC game and no amount of shoddy last-minute ports can change that - that takes right back to the beautiful CRPG glory days of a decade ago, except that now it's gorgeous to look at too! If I have a complaint, it's that Dragon Age as a whole lacks the cinematic quality found in Mass Effect and even Jade Empire. I also would have preferred a dialogue system closer to ME's. Anyhoo, enough blathering. I'm 42 hours in and while I'm a fair way through the main quest, I know I've barely scratched the surface of this thing.

  Fallout 3 (PC)

  I'm on my second full run-through of Fallout 3. This time I'm playing as a complete and utter bastard and my word, isn't it fun? My initial plan was to play the DLC I've obtained since my first play-through, but I haven't got to that yet. The sheer scope of the original game is keeping me occupied. Also, I've devoted most of my playing time of late to a certain other PC RPG. I have managed to ding another four achievements though, for 80 points.

  

  House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)

  Let's face it: as a non-American I'm pretty clueless about the whole grindhouse 'thing'; my own personal experience of the genre is limited to whatever Quentin Tarantino tells me to watch. But if there's one thing us Brits appreciate it's satire, and satire done well, even if in this case we can't really relate to the thing that is being satirised. I've read enough harsh reviews of Overkill to come to the conclusion that 90% of the people who've played this game don't even realise it's a pisstake, let alone a pisstake of a genre based on taking the piss. And it's a (insert F-bomb here) good pisstake. Parody by imitation and all that. So I'll just say that I've really enjoyed this House of the Dead incarnation, of which I've played about halfway through so far with my trusty Hand Cannon.

  In Conclusion...

  So many games, so little time. Can't believe it's December now...

  • Posted Dec 1, 2009 12:17 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 18Nov 09

  Wheeeee!

  So, after several years of umming and ahhing over it, I finally got myself a Wii. I'd just about convinced myself that I didn't really want one, that it was just a gimmick, so I was happy to let this one go by. But then my local supermarket started flogging 'em for £135 complete with Wii Sports, Sports Resort and the Motion Plus thingy... and my resolve crumbled into dust. After all, I've got every other Nintendo console (well, aside from the Virtual Boy, and we won't go there) so I couldn't put it off forever!

  The way I see it, I've got my PC and 360 for the latest well 'ard system-straining games, and the Wii will do for all the fun oddities that are about these days. Actually, I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of 'games for gamers' titles that are actually available for Nintendo's machine. I always assumed the software library for the Wii was so bloated with crap that I'd only ever want a half-dozen games at most - a major reason I put off buying the damn thing - but already I've drawn up much longer list of must-have Wii games! Eeeek!

  Anyway, I've had the console for nearly two weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. I've picked up a couple of games already and have another few on the way. Next up is to get my hands on a Zapper; I'm a total sucker for light-gun games and I'm dying to play all those Resident Evil/House of the Dead games.

  So, does anyone want to throw out a few recommendations for killer Wii games? I know I've already got a long list (featuring all the obvious ones: Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy etc.) but does anyone have any other, perhaps lesser-known games for me to explore? I'm up for pretty much any type of game, hell I'll even check out sports titles as long as they make innovative use of the controls. Also, any good Wiiware? I've got free points burning a hole right now.

  • Posted Nov 18, 2009 10:19 am PT
  • Category: Games
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