Made for all

My own thoughts coincided with an article on ZDnet.com this week as I began to contemplate the exclusivity of games recently. When I was really into console gaming a few years ago I seem to remember longing for games that had only been released on the Xbox while I was tapping away on my PS2. Sometimes i’d play a game on the PC and wish their was  console alternative. However, it seems that every gamers wish has come true, as games are released in multiple versions for all the possible consoles. It still makes me smile when I see games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Metal Gear Solid appear in a gameboy format ( I have no idea how it manages to even resemble the original versions). Speaking of Metal Gear Solid, the 4th installation will be out soon. I enjoyed playing the first one and never got around to purchasing the other 2. Something about being stealthy all the time just isn’t my bag. The 4th installation will be made only for the Playstation 3. As the article says, if you want to play MGS4 then you better go out and buy that Playstation 3 that you said you would about 6 months ago. I’m sure it will be awesome…whether or not it will help increase PS3 sales…time will tell.

Playstation 3 fights back…

Well it was going to happen wasn’t it. A price cut at last for the Playstation 3. I am surprised they managed to last out this long. Turns out it was the right thing to do. CNN reports that Sony Playstation 3 sales more than doubled in the weeks after the $100 price cut and the release of the low-end model. Whilst I detest purchasing anything dubbed a “low-end” model I am grateful of the price cut. Interestingly, good ole Gamestop have been plugging away Playstation 2’s, offering a $30 gift card if you buy a new slim line Playstation 2. Did no-one tell them the news?

Perhaps Playstation will be able to succeed even further this Christmas with the red hot Guitar Hero 3. What do you mean it’s not a real guitar? It sure sounds like one. It’s already made $115 million in it’s first week and no doubt will be a best seller over Christmas. I’m sure they remembered to put in some Christmas jingles didn’t they?

Thanks for nothing, Microsoft.

Microsoft has announced the details for the 360’s big Fall Update.  Many of us 360 owners were hoping for the addition of Divx support or a clan system for Live.  Well, looks like we can keep on hoping.

The big feature in the December 4th update will allow 360 owners to download original Xbox games.  According to the Gizmodo post, the initial offering of games includes Halo, Fahrenheit, Fable, Crimson Skies, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex and Burnout 3.

This would be exciting were it not for two problems:

1) The games will cost you $15 in Microsoft points.  You can easily find any of those games in the “Used” bin at your local game store or on ebay for much less than $15.

2) Most 360 owners still have the measly 20 GB hard drive, which means there won’t be much room to download games.

Wheeee.

According to one comment on that Gizmodo page, this isn’t the full list of features in the update, so there might still be a glimmer of hope that we’ll get some actual improvements or interesting features.

I shan’t hold my breath.  RZ

“Are you ready to rock?”

“Sort of!” That’s if you’re a Wii owner jamming on Guitar Hero III, anyway. As would-be six-string Gods around the world are discovering, Guitar Hero III’s advertised Pro-Logic surround sound is not working on the Wii. What’s worse, the GH III audio that does come out of the Wii isn’t even in stereo!

Nothing says “Rock and Roll” like mono sound. Welcome to 1962.

You can find a good discussion of this issue and perhaps join in the lament of fellow Wii owners at the Guitar Hero Community site .

Activision might be able to fix this in a patch, but just in case if you have another console and want to rock (or if you have a rocker on your Christmas list), you might want to avoid the Wii version of GHIII for now. RZ

Flash game round up

Well it’s the weekend and here are some great games to play online and take up all your free time. There should be something to suit everyone here:

Age of War

The author writes “Take control of 16 different units and 15 different turrets to defend your base and destroy your enemy. In this game, you start at the cave men’s age, then evolve! There is a total of 5 ages, each with its units and turrets.” It’s a defence game with a new twist, buy troops, upgrade your base and heck, have some fun while your at it.

Indestruc2Tank

A sequel to Indestructotank, this side-scrolling action game takes crazy tank carnage to the next level. Bounce the indestructible tank around using enemy missiles to take out enemy aircraft. A lot of fun, strategy and now with a full storyline, bonuses, and secrets!

Jack French

A point and click game here with a murder mystery theme to it. You play as detective Jack French investigating the death of a Japanese student. Has a great storyline, voice-overs, some fancy locations and some great puzzles. This is the first part of a trilogy so get cracking on this one, and I’ll meet you in time for the third part. AC

Clive Barker’s “Jericho”

I am usually very fussy about the FPS (First-Person Shooter) games I play. Doom kicked started it for me, I loved Duke Nukem (and the original platform-game versions), Goldeneye…etc… but often with a FPS it can be over complicated, the developer can try to do too much, without a decent plot or can have a great plot but no gameplay. Clive Barker’s Jericho (CBJ) (for legal reasons I’m pretty certain you have to keep including the “Clive Barker’s” part)  seems on the outset to be a complicated game. I loved the premise, you are a team of 7 people with special abilities. One can control fire, another can heal from great distances, one has a ghostly sniper rifle, and can move objects without touching them and what is even better is that the character you play dead…and can possess the other team members at will. Oddly, the other characters don’t seem to mind, but of course this means you get to choose between the team members and thus be all of them during the game. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

You can see why this may seem complicated. Added to the fact of changing characters is that you have a primary and secondary weapon button, a melee attack, and you have to balance your special powers as well using different controls. On the xbox this may be a lot easier than it is on a keyboard. I give it a hearty thumbs up, however. The graphics are suitably creepy and dingy so you can only see what is going on at the last moment, the bad guys are hideous, smart and vicious and you thoroughly enjoy dispatching them, and there is no jump button..which is always a plus for me. Jumping only ever seems to make me spend an extra 2 hours a game seeing which terrain I can climb over and which is just scenery and distracts me from taking down evil-half-dead zombie things. To try this out yourself, check out the website and the 1gb demo download. AC

Telepath – RPG

One of my favorite sites for user submitted flash movies and games is Newgrounds.com. It’s also pretty handy in helping people create flash things..like movies and games. One of the games currently taking up my working week is part two of an excellent RPG game (and that’s saying a lot from me, a non-RPG player) called Telepath. There is a link on the page to the original (part 1) game of Telepath, which is still a great game, and adds some of the background story. If you like a game with a great story line (without a lot of reading) an excellent fighting system with upgrades and strategy, plus running around a lot and finding bonus items and players then this is the flash game for you. Oh and you will probably need all week just to complete it. Use the power of your mind to find the game online….or simply click here. AC

As if we needed any reasons.

A blogger at Gamerhelp.com posted a nifty essay titled “11 Reasons Why We Play Games.”  Not like we needed any more reasons to play or anything.  RZ

What your choice of console says about you.

The folks at MSN Dating and Personals asked a panel of experts what a man’s choice of video game console says about him.

Here’s what one of the experts says about me, an Xbox 360 owner:

These guys tend to like extremely violent, visceral games, as well as the social aspect of connecting with friends online. They may be living out an active and social life through games, because they are a bit on the shy side. Xbox 360 fans tend to make good money and like to spend it. These guys are passionate about gaming and that transfers into the bedroom as well.

Helloooooo ladies.

Clicky for the rest of the analysis. RZ

Greetings, Starfighter!

Every good geek affectionately remembers the film The Last Starfighter. And every geek who watched that movie was dying to the play the arcade game that qualified Alex Rogan for the Star League. Unfortunately it never existed.

Well, the game existed — Atari did create the complete game — but the never produced the cabinets for it.

Lucky for us, a talented cabinet designer studied shots of the cabinet in the film and faithfully reproduced a perfect replica, then he stuck Atari’s finished game in it to create a real life version of The Last Starfighter!

Here’s the page with pictures of the cabinet, as well as a link to download the actual game! As one person commented at Fark.com, “This gives me a Death Blossom in my pants.” RZ