Duality

I know this is late. The past week was the last week of summer school for Xero and I have work. But this is too big of an announcement to let slide without commenting.

First, the facts. Above is a picture of the Nintendo Revolution’s controller. The remote in the person’s right hand is the main controller. In addition to the buttons (there’s a trigger below the D-pad), it can sense movement, angle, what part of the screen you’re pointing at, and how far you are from the screen. At the bottom, there is an expansion port. In the picture, an analog stick (with two trigger buttons) is connected to the expansion port. Nintendo has said that there will be a normal style controller that will plug into the expansion port.

Now, your first reaction will be / was either: it’ll be the best thing since sliced bread or good-bye, Nintendo. I’ve read some comments and a lot fall in the latter category. To all the haters, watch Satoru Iwata’s keynote from TGS (Tokyo Game Show). He sells the change and the need for the change really well. I mean, the only way he could’ve sold it any better is if he tag-teamed with Steve Jobs.

It’s a 50-minute keynote, so let me summarize for those of you who want the Cliffs Notes. The goal of the Revolution is the same as that of the DS: expand the market by bringing in people that normally don’t play video games. Those people probably find today’s controllers too complicated or too intimidating. The additional buttons and sticks won’t faze gamers, but they can easily overwhelm non-gamers. The key is to start everyone at the base level by creating new interfaces and new experiences.

The DS—which was criticized early on for being too gimmicky—has already made progress toward the aforementioned goal. Iwata cited Club Nintendo registration data for three DS titles: Nintendogs, Flexible Brain Making Software, and Brain Training (the latter two only available in Japan, btw). All three have a higher percentage of female users than the DS average. The latter two also have a significantly older user base.

And with that, Iwata unveiled the Revolution’s controller with a video that showed people interacting with the controller. A young couple playing tennis against each other, a cook chopping and sautéing, a grandfather and grandson fishing; later on, a teen swordfighting. In each case, the people featured used the controller as if it were a tennis racket / knife / frying pan / fishing rod / sword.

If that doesn’t get you excited, if that doesn’t even make you raise an eyebrow, then I’m not sure what to say. Games are about new experiences and I don’t think anything on the PS3 or XBOX360 will scream “new experiences” like the Revolution.

The price drop to $130 and TRU’s / Amazon’s juicy bundle (DS console + carrying case / starter kit + Spiderman 2 (DS) for $130) proved too good pass up. After languishing on my TV for 9 months, Mr. DRILLER: Drill Spirits finally gets its time in the spotlight. Of course, now I’ll have to get Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Meteos, Kirby Canvas Curse, and Pac-Pix. Maybe my mom won’t give me a hard time if I wait until after my next paycheck?

Someone bug me to write reviews for Astro Boy: Omega Factor and the previously-mentioned Mr. DRILLER: DS. Oh, and the new design will be out before Longhorn ships.

(Yes, that was a potshot at Microsoft)

I have arrived. And it feels good.

Well, the outrageous price of theme decks and boosters doesn’t feel good. (btw, Xero, took me a few tries to figure out how to use those trading bots. But in the end, I scored 32 useful commons for 1 event ticket)

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is a 3D action game like Devil May Cry. Unlike the latter, this game is boring.

You again?
The combat system is full-featured. You can pull off stylish combos involving launchers and aerial maneuvers. You can side step, side step then attack, and double side step. In classic Castlevania tradition, you also have subweapons at your disposal (cross, holy water, dagger, axe, crystal). Each subweapon can be combined with orbs to change their effect.

Sounds great. The problem is none of that is necessary. Most of the enemies in the game can be dispatched with the basic 4-hit combo or a few subweapon attacks. After the first few encounters, combat becomes more of a chore. It never feels like you’re in danger.

Wasn’t I just here?
The level design doesn’t really help the situation. Every room looks the same and every corridor looks the same. Sure, each major area of the game has different textures, but it still feels like the same square room and rectangular corridor. Even worse are the numerous empty rooms and corridors.

Other reviews give Lament of Innocence high marks. Sure, the control scheme is good and you can do fancy combos. But none of that matters: the game isn’t fun to play. It’s an action game that lacks action.

To sum it up…
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence combines unchallenging gameplay and bland graphics into an entirely forgettable experience. For a game that came out two years after Devil May Cry, shouldn’t it be better?

(2 stars out of 5)

Back in June of 2003, I was in a bit of a jam. I had just left school, I had no financial aid, and I needed a job. After several days of walking around town handing out resumes, I got a call from a small gas station/car repair shop called Hoffmann 76. Seeing as how I needed the money, I took the job. At first, I had no real interest in the repair side of work. I was never much of a car person and barely knew the difference between an oil filter and a windshield wiper. (OK, extreme example, but yeah…) But they took me in and over the years I learned a lot from them.

Yesterday, I found out that Gamestop wanted to hire me.

So it was with a heavy heart that I decided to say goodbye to my beloved gas station. Today I quit my job. However, today I also finished the necessary paperwork and was hired at Gamestop. It’s an odd feeling I have right now. One one hand, I’m sad to see the station go and I feel bad for leaving. On the other hand, I’ve got a new job that I should enjoy even more and a bright future to look forward to. (Oh, and the fact that I get discounts on games helps ease the pain too.)

Farewell Hoffmann 76, Hello Gamestop.

While this is slightly old news, it’s something I’ve been meaning to write about. Sadly my life has taken a turn for the ‘busy’ and…well, I’ll explain about that later. Anyway, last weekend (October 2nd and 3rd to be exact) I got to go somewhere I’d never been before. VEGAS! But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit, so I’ll back up. And since this is in the past now, I can freely talk about it.

About a month ago, I received a call from Ken, the father of one of my best friends, Alex. Now I had been talking to Alex earlier that week and he had explained to me that his parents were going to take him to Reno for his upcoming 21st birthday. So I then receive this phone call from his dad telling me that he’s actually going to take him to Las Vegas. “Cool,” I thought, “but what’s he telling me for?” But before I could say anything, he comes out and asks if I would like to join them! Not only that, but he’s going to be paying for my ticket! This is too good to be true! So I of course accept and take a vow of silence.

Time passes and soon enough, it’s time to head off to Vegas. So Sunday night comes and I’m about to head to the airport when I just happen to see Alex online. We start talking, and in my opinion (since I knew the surprise), I thought the conversation was hilarious.

Alex: It’s Vegas baby!
Me: Vegas?
Alex: Not Reno, Vegas!
Me: wow…thats a heck of an upgrade ;-)
Alex: Yup, we’re bringing a camera so I’ll take some pics and send them to you.
Me: Sweet
Alex: And I’ll call you for a loan when I run out of money :-D

Anyway, so my flight leaves before their flight so that I could be standing at the gate when they arrive and, to quote Alex’s dad, “see him shit his pants.” So my flight leaves around 8:40 PM and I arrive in Vegas about 9:55PM. Their flight was supposed to have left at 9:05PM and arrive around 10:25. However, it was a bit delayed and I ended up siting at their terminal for about an hour and a half before the plane actually arrived. But eventually the plane did arrive and Alex walked out the gate and for the first few moments didn’t seem to notice me at all. Then, after a double-take proceeded to freak out. His father, laughing hysterically, continually said “Oh, we got you!” and a merry time was had by all. :)

So! Travel aside (oh yeah, and his dad rented a freaking convertible! Talk about cruising The Strip in style!) we eventually make it to our hotel just as the clock strikes midnight. Party Time!! Now that it’s October 3rd, Alex is officially 21 and we decide to hit The Strip! The next few hours seem to be a bit blurry at this point, but I do recall playing slot machines for a little while, and then searching many a casino for a cheap table game like Blackjack or 5 Card Stud. The cheapest we could find at the time were 10 dollar tables (ie, $10 was the minimum bet required) and we played blackjack for about an hour. SO MUCH FUN! I’ve come to accept that I love playing table games at casinos. Screw slot machines, I play enough games at home! Table games have that human interaction (especially with other players in Blackjack) and it makes them so much more fun. Oh, and we also tried our hand at some Roulette and that was fun too, but a bit too random for my taste.

We eventually got some sleep around 5:30AM and woke up around 10AM to get some breakfast (Buffets Rule!!). Afterwards, it was right back to the casino floor! Alex and I finally found some 5 dollar black jack tables and I actually managed to stay at one table for almost two and a half hours with the same 20 dollars I originally put in. And by the end of it, I actually walked away with that original $20. But by 4 o’clock or so it was time to start heading to the airport. We took one final cruise around town and a few hours later said our goodbyes to Sin City.

So, how much did I lose, you ask? Well, perhaps this breakdown might help:

Things Lost: 160 dollars, my innocence, and self restraint (j/k about those last two ;)
Things Gained: Wonderful memories, a love of card games, the knowledge that Vodka and Amp taste 100 times better than Vodka and Red Bull, oh yeah…and like SIX freaking blisters! (you really never realize just how much your actually walking)

So in conclusion, Vegas=Good. Thanks a ton Ken. I had the time of my life. And Happy Birthday Alex!

…I should really think of a formal title for these kinds of posts. ;) After my last “lots of topics in one post” post, I felt rather good about it. So I think I might make it a regular thing. Lemmie know what your thoughts on the matter are by leaving me some comments. But for now, news!

Holy crap that was funny
Last night I had the privilege to see Dave Chappelle live and it was one of the funniest shows I’ve ever been to. Although, now that I think about it, I’ve only been to about 3 comedy shows. Once was Eddie Izard (Freaking Hilarious!), and the other was Lewis Black (Angry and hilarious!). There’s something about seeing a comedian live that makes it so much funnier than seeing them on TV. So if you ever get a chance to see someone live, take it!

Our Hero Has Returned!
For the past…wow, almost a whole month, I haven’t played City of Heroes because of an attempt at concentrating on school. But now that summer school is over and I’ve still got till Thursday before the fall quarter starts up, I’ve started playing CoH again. Just yesterday I played for almost 7 hours straight! Oh, and I created a new Hero as well. Her name is Icicle and she’s an archer with ice powers. It’s pretty fun to freeze someone in there tracks and then pick them off from a distance. But Blind Vengeance is still my main man and I had some awesome missions yesterday. This reminds me, I wanted to make some posts about my CoH characters…I’ll have to remember to do that later. ;)

Here we go again!
There’s something that I’ve been wanting to mention for some time now but I never seemed to get around to it. I bought a Nintendo DS. *pause for gasps* Yes, yes…it was only a little while ago when I sold my DS and bought my PSP. Well, now I have both. “Why”, you might ask? Two words: Instant Puppies!! Yes, Nintendogs was the reason I spent 130 bucks again. Although I do have a blue DS now and that’s an improvement. Either way, I’ve got Nintendogs and I also bought Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Which reminds me, maybe I’m the last one to see this, but it seems that all the subtitles on DS games can be abbreviated as DS. Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Lunar: Dragon Song, Dig Dug: Digging Strike, etc. The only one I can think of that’s breaking the mold is Animal Crossing: Wild World. Anyway, hopefully Nintendo can keep me as a customer this time, but with inventive games like Trauma Center and Phoenix Wright coming out soon, not to mention hard hitters like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing, I don’t think Nintendo will have much to worry about.

Blooodddd…
Every now and then I run into an anime that both creeps me out and captivates me at the same time. Luckily I recently found one. Trinity Blood is currently airing in Japan, but fansubs are being made each week. It takes place hundreds of years after humans cause Armageddon. The remaining humans have mostly come together religiously and the church hunts down a new evil that has appeared. Vampires! However, the coolest thing about the show is that the main character works for the church, but is a Vampire himself. But not just any vampire. He’s a Vampire that feeds off the blood of other Vampires! Now I’m sure there’s some one out there who’s gonna be all “wait that was done is so-and-so’s book!” or whatever. And there is probably actual terms for it all, but who cares. It’s a cool anime with lots of blood and violence. Once I finish watching them all, I’ll write a full review.

And Justice for all!
Just a quick note, but the new Justice League Unlimited season…AWESOME! They created a new Legion of Doom!! And just as the first episode of season 1 had me pausing every two seconds to name each hero they brought in, this episode had me naming all the villains. My only hope is that they bring back The Joker and—with any luck—his main squeeze (and mine) Harley Quinn! Joker hasn’t been seen since season 2 of Justice League! *sigh* A guy can dream, can’t he?

Well that’s about all I can think of right now. Next time I’ve got things to talk about, you’ll be the first to hear about. ;)

First and foremost, an explanation. I’ve been without TV or Internet since Friday, and before that, on and off for the last two weeks. So now that everything is *knock on wood* back up and running, it’s time to talk about things I’ve been thinking about recently. Now, I’ve got a bunch of stuff to talk about, all of which could easily be separate posts, but I’ll try to keep ‘em short and sweet and scrunch it all into this one post.

Burnout
So last week I was down in the bay and I helped a friend hook his X-Box up to his wireless internet so he could use X-Box Live. You see, previous to this, I never personally knew anyone on X-Box Live. I’ve had the service for the last three years or so, but never really played on it much. But now that I’ve got someone I know to play with, my interest has been rekindled. Only problem was, the only game we both owned and could play online was Burnout 3: Takedown. Now I’m in no way saying that Burnout 3 is a bad game (it’s one of my favorites), but the problem was, ever since I replaced my 1st generation X-Box with a more recent one, I’d lost all my saves. And with no Burnout 3 save, I had no cars to play with. So the only solution was to play through the whole game again to try and unlock all the cars, otherwise I’d have no chance against my friend. However, after spending this entire weekend playing Burnout 3, I get online today (finally) only to realize that Burnout: Revenge (ie, Burnout 4) is coming out tomorrow!! Of course I’m going to get it (my friend will get it too), so I essentially spent all weekend unlocking cars in a game I’ll never play again. And while it was time consuming fun, I can’t help but feel like I wasted the whole weekend.

Tell me a Fable!
Speaking of games I’m playing over again, Fable: The Lost Chapters recently came out and I managed to *cough* buy *cough* (read: download) a copy of it. For those who might not know, last year Fable came out for the X-Box and was wildly hyped to the ‘Ultimate RPG’. However, while it was a good game, it was by no means Ultimate, and it was incredibly short. So now, a year and a half later Lionhead Studios releases Fable: The Lost Chapters, which is essentially Fable, but with some extra areas to explore. Only thing is, those extra areas aren’t accessible until after you beat the main game, so I’m playing through the entire thing again! Oh, and as a further kick in the pants to those of us who shelled out 50 bucks for Fable when it came out, Fable: The Lost Chapters is also being sold on the X-Box…for 20 bucks!

Let’s all go to The Movies
Aside from Fable, Lionhead Studies is busy working on several other games that I’m looking forward to playing, like Black and White 2. But the main game that I’m just dieing to get my hands on is The Movies. Now sadly, most people haven’t heard of this game (in fact, I’m the only one at my local game store who’s preorder it) but it is such a perfect sandbox game that I just can’t resist. Essentially the goal is..well, to make movies! You run the studio, you make the stars, you make the movies! And when I say you make the movies, I mean it! You can write the script, chose the actors, sets, camera angels, locations, sound effects, and even record your own dialog! You have complete control over everything! I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a whole bunch of movie ideas in my head just waiting for a canvas to release them, and it’s looking like The Movies is going to be that canvas. Only problem is, they’re gonna have to stay stuck in my head until late November…*sigh*

Well, I know there was more I wanted to say, but after exhausting my brain on these three topics, the others seem to have run off. But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find them soon enough and get started on the next collection of thoughts.

Recent conversation between Quad and myself regarding Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1

Quadoshock: FF Tactics Advance <<< Tactics Ogre GBA

Xero: Yes, but FF Tactics >> all of them

Quadoshock: Tactics Ogre SNES/PSX =)

Xero: Nope, not as good.

Quadoshock: You never played Tactics Ogre for SNES!!!! =(

Xero: Must I remind you that Cloud is a secret character in FF Tactics? And as the greatest FF Character of all time (greatest hero, that is), it puts FFT on top. Last time I checked, he wasn’t in any ogre games ;-)

Quadoshock: You know as well as I do that the shorter the shorts, the better the FF character. Which puts the FFXII girl and X-2 Yuna at the top =)
Quadoshock: Since Cloud wears pants, he’s way down there ;-)

Xero: But you’re only half right! The ’shorter the shorts’ only works for female FF characters. For male, the bigger the sword (or in some cases, the bigger the hair), the better the male FF character. Which puts Cloud up at the top…in both categories, I believe ;-)

Quadoshock: But female >>> male ;-)
Quadoshock: And FFXII girl has shorts so short, I’m not sure if they can even be called shorts ;-)

Xero: True, but I don’t recall ever hearing about short short wearing ogres ;-)
Xero: hence FF >> Ogre ;-)

Quadoshock: There are 1337 n3kk1d Ogres man ;-)
Quadoshock: That’s like negative shorts

Xero: hahahahaha

“Manny, until now we’ve scraped along the ground like rats, but from now on we soar like eagles. Like eagles on pogo sticks!”

Let me let you in on a little personal history with me and online gaming. My first introduction to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) came in the form of Anarchy Online. I played it for about three weeks. Straight. I rarely left the comfort of my desk (which at the time was actually not that comfortable), and usually went to sleep as the sun, and my roommates, were waking up. Unfortunate for my AO friends, my timing couldn’t have been worse. After those few weeks Thanksgiving break came along and I was out of state with no way to access my crack. About a week of going cold turkey (and eating it too..get it? cold turkey? ha!) and by the time I got home, wanting to play AO was the furthest thing from my mind. So, one down…

About a year and a half passed before thoughts of MMOs came crawling back into my head. As they say, you can take the addict away from the drugs, but you cant take the drugs away from the addict. (ok…no one says that, and if anyone did, I’d punch them….what a crappy saying…hopefully, the point is still semi-clear.) Anyway, as a long time Final Fantasy fan, when I heard they were making a FF MMORPG I had to join in. In fact, I was so dedicated to playing that I actually sold $900 of my DJ equipment just so I could upgrade my computer for FFXI. And once it was finally released, lo and behold, the addiction was back. I even dragged two of my friends into it with me (one of whom still plays today). But after a few months, the drudgery of killing the same rabbits 50 billion times got old. (Oh, and let’s not forget the UBER rabbits that reared their ugly heads every now and then.) So, with a heavy heart, and a lighter wallet, I decided to stop. The addiction had been fed and it would go back into hibernation for a while.

But like a zombie that just wont die (god I suck at metaphors), it came back. Actually, I think I’ve learned to control it a bit. It was begging to be let out last April but I held off until about a month ago. For those of you who have read some of my posts regarding the Justice League, you might get the impression that I enjoy my superheroes. Well, you couldn’t be further from the truth. I LOOOVE my superheroes! So, with the impending release of City of Villains I figured it’d be a good time to test it’s current counterpart, City of Heroes (CoH).

“But Alexis, aren’t you just going to leave this game in a couple months like all the rest?” I can hear you all thinking the same thing. And who knows? I just might. However, after everything I’m about to explain about this game you might start to see why this is not only a stand out MMO, but one that will have me coming back time and time again.

Be Yourself

The most widely praised and downright cool part of the game is the character creation. CoH has one of the most in-depth character creation systems ever..well..created! You start by picking how you got your powers (ie, Mutation, Science, Technology, Magic, or Natural). I chose Mutation. After picking your body build (Female, Male, Giant Male) you can then start the process of making your superhero. There are hundreds of different options to choose from and complete control over the size and shape of any part of your character. There are hundreds of different clothing options as well. From hoods to masks, tights to business suits, everything you could imagine is in there. (Capes however, though available, are something you have to earn later in the game.) You can even pick from an enormous selection of logos for your superhero to display proudly on their chest. And on top of all this, you can change the color of every piece of clothing and any part of your body. With all of this, there are literally millions of different combinations so that you’re almost guaranteed to never meet someone who looks like you. Gone are the old days where you can take two steps without running into another pointy haired elf (I’m looking at you, Final Fantasy XI). Here, you’re completely unique. And the best part? You can create as many different characters as you want and keep them all! CoH really wants you to experiment and find as many ways as you can to enjoy the experience.

HELP!!!!

So what does a superhero do, exactly? Everything a superhero’s supposed to do! To start with, you’re given some simple missions like “Arrest 10 Lost” (Lost being the name of a gang, and ‘arrest’ being a nice word for eliminate), but for the first few levels you’ll pretty much be walking around town stopping street crime. As you might be saying “and this is different from killing rabbits…how?” let me explain the contact system to you. As a superhero, you have many different contacts. From the City Representative to the lowly newspaper reporter, you will gain the friendship of many different contacts. Each wanting to either give you a new mission or introduce you to even more contacts.

As an example of the missions you might be going on, I’ll tell you about a recent experience I had that spanned many different missions. I was talking to my contact who deals primarily with the “Clockwork”, a group of dangerous robots. After being asked to clean a few of them off the streets, I set off to dish out some justice. However, among the remains of one fallen Clockwork, I saw the words “Help me!” scratched into it’s case. Taking this new clue back to my contact we discovered that a top mechanic has recently been kidnapped and realize that it must have been him who wrote this message. I decide to go to the factory where they are making these specific Clockwork and shut them down. Afterwords, I find an encoded note that I can’t make sense of. So I take it to the City Representative who then passes it along to her scientific contacts and returns the note to me decoded. Apparently it’s an address where they’re keeping the mechanic! I run over, bust in to the abandoned warehouse, and take down all the Clockwork I can find only to be ambushed by one of the Clockwork leaders! After defeating him (or should I say ‘it’) I rescued the mechanic who tells me that not only was he kidnapped, but his family too! Fortunately, he knows where they took them and I dash over, kick some more bot-butt, and save his family. All in all, a very long set of missions, but it was so much fun to get new clues and try to figure out the case.

I HAVE THE POWER!!

In City of Heroes your character can choose from many different “power sets.” I personally decided to go with a Katana and enhanced healing. Though after certain levels you can pick up powers from new sets like martial arts or the power to control fire. Another power you can eventually pick up is flight. My character just hit level 14 and I picked up Flight without thinking twice. With the power of flight (or super speed or super jump) the world becomes a lot more open to you. What might have taken me minutes to get too only takes seconds. Not to mention that it just looks awesome! Oh, and to explain the quote at the top, it’s from one of my favorite games (prize to whoever identifies it first), and it’s exactly what goes through my head every time i jump off the top of a building and start soaring through the air. Awesome.

What? No Gil??

Actually, no money at all. “But how is this possible? You need money to buy goods!” Simple. No goods. Now before you faint, let me explain. Unlike almost every other MMO out there, CoH doesn’t have items. There are no +5 Swords or “Armor of Whatever”s. What superhero upgrades his costume? In CoH there is no crafting, trading, or auctioning. There are only two things you’ll ever have: Enhancements and Inspirations. Inspirations could be compared to potions. You have inspirations for strength (Enrage), healing (Respite), accuracy (Insight), etc. They are temporary boosts to your stats that can help you out a lot in tough battles. Enchantments are essentially what you upgrade your character with. You could think of them as training. After certain levels you can add ‘Power Slots’ to your list of skills. Then in these slots you can place enchantments. You can have enchantments to increase a skills accuracy or strength, or perhaps increase your flight speed or health recovery speed. There are dozens of different enchantments to help you improve your character. Both enchantments and inspirations can be acquired in two ways. Firstly, you can get them by defeating enemies. Secondly, you can buy them from contacts or superhero trainers. “But wait! You said there was no money!” In place of money, CoH dishes out Influence. You can acquire influence by saving people’s lives, completing missions, or giving trainers extra enchantments you don’t want. So while technically there may be some form of currency, it’s definitely something you’ve never seen before.

The Final Showdown

So what exactly sets City of Heroes apart from every other MMORPG out there? I could say the character creation, or the in-depth missions, or the fact that you can even create a super-group with all your friends. And while some aspects may be similar to many other MMORPGs, there are several main differences. One of them is its level of accessibility for the average gamer. You don’t have to spend hours and hours trying to finish your next quest to get your next item which gives you a new quest to find a new item. You can sit down and play for 30 minutes if you want. The point is, it doesn’t suck up your life like every other MMO. Another main difference is its subject matter. Not everyone can live in a world of swords and sorcery. I sure couldn’t. But like many other comic book nerds I’ve finally found a place that let’s me live out my fantasies. And really, who didn’t want to be a superhero when they were a kid?

A 4 out of 5.

Two little bits of info that might interest you. Firstly, Gamestop has started taking preorders for a new Legend of Zelda game. The interesting part, it’s for the Revolution. Even more interesting is that it’s listed to be released on March 1st, 2006! Either Gamespot got some highly top secret information, or they’re all a bunch of wishful thinkers.

Secondly, a recent article in EGM claims that despite statements to the contrary, Square-Enix is in fact remaking Final Fantasy VII for the PS3. Unfortunately, EGM claims no source for this rumor so I have once again had my hopes raised and then immediately destroyed. Damn you Squenix!!! …I’m sorry Squenix…let’s never fight again.

Recently, this image surfaced on the Gamestop forums, and eventually lead to several other gaming news sites including Console Junky. Like everyone else, when I first saw pictures of the PS3 and it’s new controller, I thought ‘boomerang’, but no one had yet to see the size of the controller compared to anything else. Well now with this new picture, it looks like thing’s aren’t going to be as bad as we all thought. Sure it may still look like a boomerang, but it doesn’t really look much longer than the PS2 controller. In fact, some parts of the controller look even smaller (am I the only one who thinks those analog sticks look small?). Anyway, while we still have a long time to wait before we can ever get our hands on one of those, I’m sure glad someone else was able to.

Oh, and on a semi-related note, Japan’s Nikkei Electronics publication recently came out with the dimension specs of both the new PS3 and the X-BOX 360. You don’t need to understand Japanese to get the gist of it, but if you do speak Japanese and feel like translating any of it (I’m looking at you emmy or Wako since I’ve been told you not only speak Japanese, but live in Japan) then that would be great!

For those of you who don’t look into gaming news much, you may have missed some of the biggest Nintendo news. However, whether or not this news is factual or not is still to be determined. Regardless, Gamespot has put together a great article describing the three most common Revolution rumors. One deals with what appears to be US Patents. Another is supposedly an ad for the controller. And lastly, and if true the coolest one of all, an ad that states the Revolution will be released in March 2006! That’s right folks. Just in time for my birthday. ;) And while most of these may turn out to be false, they’re still more than enough to get me excited.

Earlier today, Gamespot posted a new article which discussed the upcoming release of “adult” content on the PSP. And while this may not be real news, I couldn’t not post my title line. That would have been a crime against comedy! Anyway, for the sensitive ones out there, the link contains some “adult content.” Or at least it discusses adult content. Don’t wanna get your hopes up there ;)

and I was watching TV at the same time. True multitasking ;)

Three way game.
Quad, Me, Emmy.
55 turns.
Three hours long.
I end up decking.
Quad had 6 life.
I had 21.
*sigh*

As most of you probably don’t know, today is Namco’s 50th birthday, and to celebrate the momentous occasion, Pac-Man has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “most successful coin operated game” in history. You can read more about the celebration at Gamespot.

About a week ago, I saw an article on Gamespot talking about Wizards of the Coast’s appearance at E3. They were talking about a new update for Magic the Gathering Online coming early next year. Being the curious fool that I am, I decided to look into this online world of which I’d forgotten long ago.

For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been playing Magic since…*thinks*…5th grade? Maybe 4th…Anyway, a really long time. However, after high school, and the occasional weekend to come back and play with Quad and Bigi, I haven’t played in quite a while. So when I was reminded that there was an online version, and that there was a free version I could play, I was ecstatic. I even got my friend Emmy to play with me.

However, as the days went on, being stuck with the same five 8th Edition decks was getting to be quite tedious. So I decided to join full time. I realized that for the 20 or 30 dollars a month I might spend playing this game, the amount of enjoyment that would come out of it would be enormous. So, last Friday, I signed up full time for Magic the Gathering Online. It cost’s $9.99 to create an account, but they then give you $9.99 credit in the card store, so essentially, it’s free to sign up. Then you can go about buying cards and creating decks. I personally bought a Mirrodin Theme Deck called Wicked Big (Green), a Darksteel Theme Deck called Mind Swarm (Black), and a few Darksteel Booster packs.

Emmy also signed up the same day as I did and we’ve been playing eachother quite alot. Unfortunately, my decks still need refinement and so her Blue/White Bushido and Counters deck seems to like kicking my ass. However, I still have some tricks up my sleeve and once my new deck is complete (Green/Black), her little soldiers will be running scared. (Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the picture is of me getting slaughtered by some unknown person)

Like most online games, Magic seem to be very addictive. Not surprisingly, it seems to drag in anyone who’s ever played Magic before. Emmy is trying to get another one of her Magic playing friends to join, and I am trying to get my roommate to join as well. But the one person who practically jumped on this idea the moment I spoke of it, was Quad. And although he’ll need to buy a new version of VPC, he’ll be joining us soon enough.

So now it’s your turn. I know there are those of you out there who have played Magic before. You may have thought you kicked the habit, but it’s always there. Tempting you. Haunting you. Waking you from your sleep, calling to you (Tap me! Tap me!). You might as well give in, and enjoy yourself. And if you do decide to join, please let me know. MtGO has clans and we can all play together.

I think Quad put it best: “It’s like sniffing crack in front of a junkie.” Enjoy ;)

A recent article at Gamespot talks about union voice actors calling for a strike until game publishers offer residuals. Since this is what I want to do with my life, it obviously affects me and what the industry will be by the time I get to join. It’s an interesting article and I would recommend that you read it if you’ve ever cared about the voices in your games. I’ll let everyone know if there are any changes.

A recent article at Techtree has the specs of the new Nintendo Revolution, and let me say that it’s pretty impressive. Four 2.5 GHz PowerPC G5-class processors, a dual-core RN520 with 16MB of frame buffer DRAM graphics processor by ATI, and 512 MB of memory. More information can be found at the article, but all in all, it sounds promising. Now if Nintendo could just learn how to advertise.