Results tagged “playstation 3”

A snowy landscape, an empty and ruined city, a father protecting his daughter.  Amazing ethereal music.  The opening of the game made it seem like I would be playing in a near future setting with a bleak atmosphere contributing to the desperation of the characters.  In a world brought to the brink of despair and destruction, how far would one man go to save his ailing daughter?  The love of a father shines through in NieR.

Right after the tutorial-style scene was over, my character suddenly woke up in a typical fantasy setting, and although he was still taking care of his ailing daughter, I felt ripped off.  Where was my snowy, bleak apocalypse?  What happened to the cold, the despair, the desperation?  How can you ever duplicate that kind of atmosphere in a fantasy setting?

NieR is a game about a man whose daughter has come down with a mysterious illness, and as any father would, he's ready to tear down heaven and hell to make her well again.  Along the way, he helps out the villagers whenever they have a problem that they can't handle on their own.

During the course of the story, NieR... well, I'm assuming he's called NieR, since you get to rename him and he has no default name, and the instruction manual only refers to him as The Father.  Anyway, during the course of the story, NieR... well, I lost my train of thought now.  Don't you hate that, when you're on one track of thought and suddenly you go off on a tangent and you lost what you were originally doing?  NieR is like that.  There are so many different elements of game play, depending on where you go in the game, that it feels hard to classify it as any one genre.  It's generally an RPG, but there are 2-D platforming elements that occur seemingly at random in the game, a text adventure that comes out of nowhere and takes over the game like a virus, a rather deceptive survival horror section, even a section of the game that seemed to play similar to the top-down RPGs from a decade or so ago... it's like each member of the development team had their own idea of what the game should be and when they brought it all to the table, the director just said "Yes" to everything.


Most of these ideas were implemented well.  2-D platforming helped the character navigate through sections of the game where the standard behind-the-character perspective would've only hindered progress.  The text portion of the game seemed to actually fit the story this time around, rather than feel shoehorned in by an inadequate budget.  Square might have learned from their mistake after they robbed Xenogears to pay for Final Fantasy VIII, but I suppose it's possible that NieR was also underfunded and the developers just aren't saying so.

Nintendo had just delivered one of their best press conferences in years mere hours before, so Sony had a very tough act to follow. Expectations for Sony's conference were ones of excitement about a month ago, as they would definitely have plenty of new games to announce for PS3. It seems Sony was excited about sharing that info too; so excited they couldn't help but announce all of the new games before the event. Going in, we already had plenty of information on games like Infamous 2, Motorstorm: Apocalypse, Socom 4, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Killzone 3.

We then adjusted our expectations. Either Sony had some other big announcements on hand, or we were on our way to watching an incredibly boring 3D/Move conference on our hands. For the first hour, it was pretty much the latter (aside from the Killzone 3 stuff). Sony also had the longest press conference out of everyone, at nearly two hours. And man did it drag. Ironically, it's tone was very reminiscent of Nintendo's conference last year.

Honestly, the presser would have been much shorter if they could have stopped patting themselves on the back. If there was a drinking game based on how much that happened, you would have downed your entire bottle in no time. I eventually lost track about how many times they touted themselves as the pioneers of motion control/console features/3D/etc. Both Nintendo and Microsoft (well for the first half in the case of the latter) made a habit of showing, not telling. And that's something Sony needs to embrace, and people watching can't tolerate much of this, unless they're a Sony exec. They even had a segment where they talked about how great the Playstation 2 is!

To spice up the talking heads, Kevin Butler did make an appearance, and was genuinely funny. On the other hand, Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of SCE Kaz Hirai also showed up, bringing back some dreadful memories of boring, pie chart-laden press conferences of yore. He wasn't quite that bad here, but joining in the excessive back patting didn't do him any favors.

And man do these people love their montages! There were, if I remember correctly, four of them; and they all were way too long, the PSP one notwithstanding. People really need to know that the PSP still has some life left in it, so I'm glad to see them remind everyone of that. The other montages consisted of games we've already seen elsewhere. Heck, big portions of the montages consisted of games they just demoed minutes before.

They also decided to confirm the rumor of Playstation Plus, a premium Playstation Network subscription that will cost $49.99, similar to Xbox Live Gold. They didn't really drop too many details, but they mentioned free games. But keep in mind you'll only "have access to [your] virtual library of free games for as long as [you] keep [your] PlayStation Plus subscription," according to the Playstation Blog, which doesn't sound enticing at all. I don't think these people know what "own" means.

Speaking of Move, unlike for Kinect, Sony at least announced a price. It releases in Europe on September 15th, America on September 19th, and Japan on October 21st. For America, the price will be $49.99 for the Move controller by itself. The controller, Playstation Eye, and Move Sports Sports Champions will be available in a bundle for $99.99. Or you can get all of those with a Playstation 3 for $399.99; and please note that they didn't mention how much hard drive space would come with said PS3. The Navigation Controller will be available separately for $29.99. 

Sorcery, a game announced for Move, actually looks pretty fun. But after the demonstration, I was left wondering whether it would be that fun to use for hours on end. They also announced Heroes on the Move, which includes heroes from the Jak, Ratchet, and Sly games. Frankly, that sounds fantastic. A shame they actually showed the game afterward, which looks like it contains none of the individual elements that made the key games from the aforementioned three franchises fun. But there's still time! Hopefully they can salvage it.

The PSP hasn't been doing well outside Japan, and we'd heard Sony was planning a new ad campaign to rejuvenate it. And they showed both ads here, and...well. Yeah, I don't see how this is going to help the situation, honestly. I sure hope you weren't expecting the PSP's successor to be here, because they didn't even hint at it. As of the end of this year, this system will be six years old, and while Nintendo already has a successor for DS ready, Sony has nothing. Unless...they plan on exiting the portable race. Uh oh.

But they did have some interesting games to show. Killzone 3 looks pretty impressive, with some great looking snow. And it's releasing in February 2011. There was a lengthy demonstration for LittleBigPlanet 2 as well, which adds new features to an already feature-rich package (maybe a little too many). Infamous 2 had its trailer debut as well, though it's pretty far off.

Also, Gran Turismo 5 finally has a release date, and it's apparently final: November 2nd. 

They also had some offerings from third-party publishers. PS3 will get DLC first for Medal of Honor, similar to how 360 will receive Call of Duty: Black Ops content first. That's nice, but I think Microsoft wins that one. Also, PS3 will get an exclusive LE for MoH, which will include an HD version of Medal of Honor: Frontline, which released on PS2 back in 2002. After the Dead Space 2 demonstration, EA announced that game would also have an LE package exclusive to PS3. That one will include an HD version of Dead Space: Extraction with Move support. Nice that they're giving Extraction another chance on the market.

It turns out the Valve surprise having Gabe Newell and GLaDOS appear at the Sony Conference to announce that Portal 2 was also making its way to PS3. The PS3 version will also have the Steamworks function the Steam version has. It's also recently been delayed to 2011, in true Valve fashion.

But they had a surprise at the end, and that surprise was...Twisted Metal. Despite David Jaffe denying the existence of a new game, it actually manifested. With a playable demo, too. I'm not sure how Twisted Metal will resonate with a current audience these days, but Jaffe makes some good games, so it's in good hands.

Things were good at the Sony Conference whenever they didn't talk about how great they were, anything 3D, just about anything Move related, or when they were showing a montage. Unfortunately, that consisted of about half the conference. Sony needs to hire whoever paced Nintendo 's conference. It was definitely better than Microsoft's Conference, but overall, not one of their best.

Level 5 finally confirmed last week that White Knight Chronicles 2 will come packaged with an enhanced version of the first game, despite that fact being leaked a few weeks beforehand. The version being included with the sequel will fix some of the flaws the original had, along with having some visual enhancements. This is a pretty good deal for anyone who either missed the first game, or wanted to play through the game again. The second game will also complete the story, nullifying prior conjecture that this was a trilogy.

This is a wonderful idea, and something a lot of publishers should do with their sequels -- especially if they're set right where the previous game left off. But there's a problem; the stipulation here is that Level 5 is forcing you to complete the first game before you jump into the second game. If you have a save file from the first game, it has to be a "Clear File." Otherwise, you'll have to start over with the enhanced game included with the second game if you don't want to finish the current version.

On the surface, this doesn't sound too bad. For instance, I don't particularly mind being forced to abide by this rule, since I'd like a chance to check out the game's prequel in its entirety. I'm sure anyone else in this mindset feels the same way. However, that doesn't defend the fact that it's an awful idea. It's the principle of it that's the problem. Is it a good idea to play a sequel without knowing all of the details of the previous version? Probably not, but that doesn't mean a company has the right to restrict anyone from wanting to do that.

But the good news is that they still have time to fix this mistake. The problem here is the principle of restricting freedom, a specific precedent of freedom that's never been violated before. No one really wants to see this happen now, especially with a company that we all expected better from. What we have now is the equivalent of them shaking your hand with one arm and punching you in the face with the other. The force of that punch depending on how much you hate this idea.

Aside from whether they'll keep the idea (which has a high probability of "yes"), there's also whether Sony will actually localize this one. And if they do, hopefully the domestic version will also include both games. You'd think this would be guaranteed, but Sony has done some silly things this generation, so you'll never know. And hopefully they won't take 14 months to release it like the last one. In the meantime, two videos uploaded to the Japanese website show off some of the changes made to the battle system. The game releases in Japan on July 8th, and maybe it will make an appearance at E3 next week.

I'm sure gamers are sick and tired of reading Heavy Rain reviews that say that Heavy Rain is a hard game to review.  Well, you know, if gamers are into reading as many reviews as they can of a game.  Anyway, I'm here to say: it's true.  Game reviewers aren't just making excuses for not understanding the game: it really is a hard game to classify.  It plays less like a video game and more like a Choose Your Own Adventure book with quicktime events.  The way the game is set up, it's like you're watching a movie where you occasionally add your own input as to where you go and what you do.

Quicktime events have gotten a bad rap in gaming, and for good reason.  It's a cheap way to fight an enemy: instead of using skills or combos or intelligent use of a menu to defeat bad guys, you're pushing buttons at certain times.  For example, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed incorporated them to add cool finishing moves to boss fights, but there were a few fights that I was handling well enough without needing to use a finishing move.  Naturally, I messed up the finishing move and was suddenly a lot worse off, tactically.  Sometimes you don't need to do something fancy, you just need to pull the chain around your fat and ugly captor's neck and strangle him until he is dead.  Fortunately, Heavy Rain is a little more forgiving when it comes to quicktime.  Mess up on a few buttons and you might take a hit or two in a fight, but you can still win.  It's quicktime for dummies.  It's also completely necessary in this context.

Say what?  Necessary quicktime?  Yeah, the game uses a few design choices that necessitate the use of quicktime.  The game is presented like a movie, so the action is rarely from a truly first person perspective.  Scenes where a player gains full control of a character are presented in a traditional over-the-shoulder view like most JRPGs have been doing lately, and controls are contextual, depending on what you're doing and which character you're controlling.  Meanwhile, action scenes (chases, fights, etc.) are presented in a cinematic style and a player is only given a split second to react to the required input before a less desirable outcome occurs.  Enough of those can potentially cause a player to fail the scene, but it would depend on the scene.


The game frequently autosaves, as if each choice you make and each action you perform is an important one.  Even making eggs is important!  It ties in to the trophy system, where you can earn trophies for accomplishing various objectives in the game.  Some scenes award multiple trophies for the exact same activity, but for different results.  As such, this game is meant to be replayed multiple times in order to get all the trophies, unlike games like Final Fantasy XIII where you can earn all the trophies in one playthrough, including content available to you after the end credits, if you spend hundreds of hours playing the game.

Unfortunately, the trophies are pretty much the only replay value Heavy Rain has.  The overall story remains exactly the same every time; it and the quicktime events are all the game really has.  It's like you're reading a book.  Once you figure out who the Origami Killer is, there's no surprise the second or third time around.  However, there's an important point to bring up: games like Breath of Fire and Super Mario World don't have multiple endings.  Games like Final Fantasy X and Starfox Adventures don't have multiple story branches.  And yet, when people play these games, they play them because they like the story and they like the game play.  That could certainly be the case for fans of the game, since there isn't any other real reason to replay Heavy Rain unless you like seeing 100% in your list of trophies, and also since game play does not require more than the skill required to press what buttons the game tells you to press at certain times in the scene, and even then you can get away with messing up until near the end of the game.


Occasionally, you're given a choice between a few different ways to handle a scene, and if you don't make a choice, the character will either do nothing and let something happen, or they'll do what they're more likely to do.  In one case, when I was presented with a decision whether to take a narcotic or not, I was not given the option to stop my character from taking it.  Oh, it was there, but the game seemed to purposely hide it from view until it was too late to make a decision, and he ended up taking the narcotic.  I was not happy, to say the least.

What's funny is that my favourite part of the game is the tiny little detail that the writers included in one of the scenes, where a character is commenting about music she doesn't like.  She still gets the sub-genre right!  The music wasn't half bad either, so that was a bonus.  Thanks to the music, I actually felt like I was in peril for most of the game, even though death wasn't really a consequence until the end.  There was one major thing that I had a problem with until the end, but I can't really mention it without spoiling pretty much the entire point of the game, and I've probably risked spoiling it already for the more clever gamers out there who may be able to figure out exactly what I'm talking about if they play through the first few chapters of the game.  I'll just say that I was not disappointed in what I thought I was disappointed in.

The characters themselves are played well, and it's obvious that a lot of work was put into the visuals and the control scheme in order to get everything perfect.  The character models are very well done, right down to the smallest of details that the game rams down your throat every time it's loading a new chapter: one of the character's faces is presented up close on the television screen and you can see the texture of their skin.  Not only that, but whoever designed the game seems to be able to construct a nude female well enough that she looked realistic and not like those unrealistic characters you see in games like Final Fantasy VII (mostly fixed in the sequels), Tomb Raider and Dead or Alive Xtreme 2.  I never liked seeing top heavy characters or characters whose breasts each had their own physics equation.  I imagine if life were like DOA, those breasts would hurt after a while.

Heavy Rain takes place about a year and a half into the future while including game play mechanics that depend on technology suddenly leaping ahead by at least thirty years, I'll say forty, maybe fifty years.  I mean, come on.  CSI sunglasses?  (No, not Horatio's.)  And don't tell me that it's secret FBI science that is highly classified and we're not allowed to see it.  Why haven't we noticed agents wandering around crime scenes with sunglasses and a weird glove, pushing at the air with it, looking for clues?  Because it doesn't exist.  It won't exist in a year and a half.  It's a bit of a break in the reality of the story, yet I'll give this to them, even though I think they could've just as easily used current forensic science and adapted it for the game.

Anyway, this review has been hard to write, and has been very long coming.  Heavy Rain is one of those games that does things well, but is hard to quantify.  I think it would've been easier if the game had been crappy, but it's not.  It's an interesting experience and is definitely worth a rent, since you can easily play through the story at least once within the space of a rental, and you'll still get the trophy for supporting interactive drama.

Hey, wait a minute.  Aren't all games "interactive"? *Note: this review is written after playing Heavy Rain on an easier setting.  Certain statements may not be true of the game on a harder setting.

So what has Sony been up to, these past couple weeks?  Well, there's been a lot of furor over their firmware updates, specifically their latest.  It was previously reported that European law has inspired customers to get partial refunds from Amazon after the Other OS feature was removed from their PS3s.  Well, Sony has no intention of honouring such refunds, which means that if more people in Europe demand partial refunds, retailers will lose quite a bit thanks to Sony's actions.  Then again, Sony's had carte blanche to do whatever it wants with your PS3 from day one, but so far they haven't abused such power.  Meanwhile, gamers who bought Final Fight: Double Impact got a little more than they bargained for when they found out that it came with unannounced DRM.  It works similarly to Ubisoft's DRM, in that you have to be connected to the PSN in order to play the game.  Capcom apologized for it since it's easier to force DRM upon gamers and apologize for it, than it is to get gamers to voluntarily use it.

But speaking of Ubisoft, if they're not dragging their heels over the problems people are having when they try to play The Settlers 7, they're pretending to be environmentally conscious.  Okay, it does cut down on the amount of paper being used if they stop providing manuals with their games, but here's what's really going on: they're trying to save money.  That's all it is.  Their whole DRM fiasco is probably costing them plenty, especially now that hackers have cracked the DRM on Assassin's Creed 2, this time for real.  I wonder how Ubisoft is going to spin this one.

It is apparently possible to become extremely addicted to sex thanks to video games.  That, unfortunately, is the case for a British lady who had a mishap while using Wii Fit, and ended up damaging a nerve.  Okay, I call bullshit on this story, since it appeared in a tabloid.  I'm not convinced it's real news.  Instead, let's take a look at Roger Ebert's recent gaming editorial, explaining why he thinks video games are not an art form.  There's enough there to tide you over until tomorrow, so stay tuned for more Geek News.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America may have been admittedly wrong and silly in passing over Demon's Souls for localization, but Atlus is sure glad they didn't. Atlus of Japan released their financial report earlier this week, and it detailed that DS has sold approximately 280,000 copies in North America thus far. That's more than it's done in Japan, even with it now being on the "Playstation 3 the Best" budget line there -- which is currently around 194,000. It's also much better than what Atlus anticipated, which was a comparatively paltry 78,000. Seeing that number makes everyone realize why they had to rush to replenish supply after it was available for the first couple of weeks. Not to mention the spiffy "Stop Importing It" limited edition they had.

Given its surprise success in both Japan and America and SCEA admitting their mistake of passing on it, Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe would definitely not make the same mistake when it came to releasing it in that territory. Well, that's the thought that follows common logic; shame these guys didn't follow it.

DS was officially announced today for Europe by Namco Bandai Games Europe. A company known for commonly passing on publishing a number of their current games, as well as releasing some games ludicrously late (Tales of Vesperia for 360 and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World for Wii, for example), is releasing the game there. Apparently they figured that they didn't have much work to do since the localization was already done for them, so why not?

And they're also delivering it in a spiffy limited edition, called the "Black Phantom Edition." And it looks, well, pretty damn spiffy. It includes everything the American version had: the game, artbook, soundtrack, and a strategy guide. The press release says it includes a "new artbook" and a "brand new strategy" guide, perhaps implying that it has some updates from the American version. Don't rule out the possibility that it could be PR talk, but that sounds like a nice incentive to get people who might have already imported it to purchase it again. Well, along with the limited edition of course.

So Namco Bandai is counting on people who haven't already imported Demon's Souls from Asia or America to purchase this one when it releases. And maybe SCEA and SCEE fully realize how moronic they were to pass on this game. Or better yet, hopefully they don't. When the vaguely hinted at sequel finally (and hopefully) materializes, it sure would be nice for Sony to let Atlus and whoever eventually publishes it in Europe to have it instead. A pity niceness isn't usually a factor here, because that's unlikely to happen.

A middle finger raised to my ISP and a little date adjustment and away I go with the news that would've been posted last night.  I should probably raise my other middle finger to Apple, since that seems to be what everyone else is doing.  The iPad was just supposed to be another device used to simplify our lives and make Apple a lot of money in the process.  Instead, there are people smashing it with baseball bats, blending it, and putting it through a rather strenuous and some would say unnecessary stress test.  I wonder, did the Nintendo DS have to go through all this?  The Sony PSP?  Even the Nokia N-Gage, for all it was hated, wasn't destroyed so publicly and so thoroughly.  And in Japan, I bet no one ever decided to buy an Xbox 360, destroy it, and upload the video to YouTube.

There's also been "the first ever ritual reboxing of an Apple product", where a blogger decided that the iPad isn't necessary for his daily life.  What makes him an awesome person is that he did not smash his iPad or crush it or throw it out.  He calmly reboxed it, even polished up the screen, and went to return it.  He was even willing to swallow the restocking fee.  I sincerely hope that the people at his local Apple store weren't complete asses to him when he returned it.

(As a side note, the search for the Canadian lingerie product known as the iPad continues.  I'll have to go to the local sex shop and see what they have available.)

A symptom of my ISP problems yesterday is that, while I can report the rumour that EA is trying to woo the former Infinity Ward executives, we all know by now that it's true and has already happened.  Respawn Entertainment is their new company, and currently consists of two people.  Themselves.  They have a website that pretty much only says they're hiring, and their office is currently anywhere they can find a couple chairs, as they pretty much stated in their interview with Eurogamer.  I should fire an E-mail their way, just to see what happens.  I'd be far from eligible and if they respond, I'll have to admit that I'm not really interested or qualified, I just wanted to see what would happen.  Besides, I have other plans for the near future.  Activision has plans for their future, too: they've countersued Mr. West and Mr. Zampella.

Another update to some previously reported news: in Europe, Amazon has given a PS3 customer a partial refund over the Other OS debacle.  Due to how European law is written (and as far as I can understand), if Sony decides to remove some features in their PS3, the onus is on the retailer to make things right with the customer, despite the retailer having no control over what Sony does.  Meanwhile, George Hotz (the hacker who said he was going to restore Other OS into 3.21) has done what he said he would.  And no surprise here: 3.21 has bricked more fat PS3s.

This past week has been a shitty week.  First, a friend from New Jersey sent in a news article talking about the upcoming change to the rules of Scrabble.  Then one of my co-workers told me about it the very next day.  Then they had the nerve to mention it on the radio later that day.  What the rule change means is that players will now be able to use proper nouns in a Scrabble game.  As if Scrabble players needed to be reminded Beyonce exists.  Mattel was quick to point out that the traditional sets would continue to be sold, and that the new rule would only apply to a new variation they'd be marketing.  As for my opinion, well, here it is.

It's worth 81 points for those of you who care about that.  I would've presented a much stronger opinion, but it wasn't allowed in the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary, 4th Edition.

One of my favourite comedians posted this Tweet last month.  Well, he may just get his wish, just not for the problem he wanted solved.  An alternate reality game is supposedly going to bring gamers all around the world together to solve all the major problems of today.  World hunger, poverty, disease, they're all there.  I want to say something sarcastic right now, but part of me wants this to work.  More power to this.  After all, if a gamer can suddenly decide to break the longest standing video game record of all time, and then succeed in his three day marathon attempt, who knows what we're capable of?

Cheating, is apparently what we're capable of, at least in Korea.  Yes, a video game scandal is being compared to the White Sox scandal, the biggest sports scandal of all time.  Anyway last but not least, in Australia... hey, nothing new to report from Australia regarding gaming this week.  Sweet.

Fans of shows that appeal to geek-type people noticed some new programming this past week.  Miami Medical premiered on CBS last Friday.  The show probably doesn't have much appeal to geeks unless they're interested in medical dramas and miss ER terribly or they're interested in Miami as a setting and aren't already watching CSI: Miami and/or Burn Notice; instead, geeks were probably dismayed to find that the show that used to air in the time slot, Numb3rs, has gone on hiatus already, two months early (possibly for good if some fans' worries are correct; some are already worried about what Miami Medical may or may not be doing to Numb3rs).  But consolation came a day later, when the new season of Doctor Who premiered on BBC, featuring a new Doctor, a new TARDIS, a new companion, and an amazing story about an escaped prisoner.  Until news comes that Numb3rs has been renewed for another year, Doctor Who will fill the gap nicely.

Nintendo's doing it wrong this week: gamers who already have the DSi and who want the bigger one will have to buy all the games they'd already downloaded to their first DSi, due to the way the DRM is set up.  Of course, this also means you should take good care of your DSi, if you already own one.  Lose or break your DSi, and you're paying for your downloaded games again if you want them back.

Last week, it was reported that Sony was going to break their promise to PS3 gamers who like having the Other OS feature on their system.  Well, right on schedule, they went ahead with their firmware update on April 1st, pissing off gamers everywhere.  A software cracker by the name of George Hotz has vowed to fight back and create a custom firmware for the PS3 that will let PS3 users retain Other OS and still access the PlayStation Network and all the other features that Sony refuses to give access to users of outdated system software.

Australians already have to deal with the overinflated cost of games down under as well as the government refusing to allow games with a certain degree of mature content into the country, but now they have to deal with Ubisoft's crappy DRM deciding that Australians don't really need to play a game they paid for, in this case, The Settlers 7.  In the past, Ubisoft has been able to blame their DRM problems on outside attacks.  It'll be hard to see them do that this time around.

A gaming vest has been created at the University of Pennsylvania that will respond to action in a video game and help you to feel what the character is feeling.  If you're stabbed, you'll feel it against your back.  If you're shot, you'll feel it in your chest (or shoulder, or wherever you're shot).  I would assume headshots won't be simulated.  Apparently, it could also have a possible use for movie fans.  According to the article,


Yeah, but at the end of Live Free Or Die Hard, Bruce is pretty beaten up and he still shoots the bad guy through his own fucking shoulder!  I don't want that!

I'd rather have access to the $300k video game library that the Toronto Public Library is proposing.  They haven't said whether it'll be PC games or console games, or whether they'll pay attention to ratings.  Since libraries are already loaning out DVDs, despite such a thing being in direct competition with DVD rental stores, video games seem a logical step.  After all, technically they're in direct competition with bookstores anyway.

Last but not least, the zombie march previously reported (link above) can be considered a shambling success.

*Pardon my French, but the Die Hard quote just wouldn't work if I censored it.

Up here in Canada, we're a nation of geeks.  At least that's what I would assume, since a national polling company says we spend more time on the Internet than in front of the television.  Personally, I don't blame us, since the spectre of a so-called TV Tax is looming above our heads.  Canceling our cable television service and using the Internet for everything has never looked better.

The next firmware update for the PS3 is going to be released on the 1st of April, and is going to remove the Other OS feature that Sony previously claimed they're going to continue to support.  The update is apparently going to be optional, but gamers who want to continue to use the Other OS feature of the PS3 are going to be punished by having other features of the PS3 removed or restricted until they do upgrade.  And all this time, Sony claims that the PS3 does everything.  Huh.  This is either an April Fool's Day prank or a broken promise.

GameStop is in trouble again, this time for misleading customers into thinking that they're getting all the DLC advertised on the box of a used game, according to one of their customers.  And so due to the fact that it cost James Collins a few dollars more to buy the DLC he thought he was getting for free, he's decided to sue GameStop for "restitution, punitive damages for fraud, and numerous other compensatory damages", all because he wasted $10 more than he would've if he'd bought Dragon Age: Origins new.  Okay, GameStop may be a horrible corporation that doesn't care about its customers, but really: a little common sense from its customers would go a long way.  I'm sure James isn't new to gaming, so he should be well aware of those one time use codes that everyone uses in their software.

Hey, remember that Mancow guy, who decided it would be a good idea to shut up anyone critical of waterboarding by trying it out himself, then agreed it was torture afterward?  Well, it seems that those who support DRM are also quickly changing their tune when they try to use their company's software.  Now if only this would happen to Ubisoft, maybe they'll begin to see the error of their ways.  But speaking of Electronic Arts, they've come up with a business model that's probably doomed to failure: if gamers want to download demos of future EA titles, they'll have to pay for them.

After putting out nearly a new DS model a year, Nintendo has finally announced a true successor to the handheld, as Geoff has already talked about earlier this week.  It was hard to figure out where Nintendo could go after touch screens and motion controls, but Nintendo has done it again.  This may make it difficult to use screen shots to advertise games in the future.

Finally, there seems to be an unofficial confirmation on Kingdom Hearts III, although we'll probably not see it for a few years anyway.

Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

I'm currently over 80 hours into the game, and am finding the scarcity of gil to be rather challenging, especially since I've been using the items I get from battle to level up my equipment.  It's certainly not like Final Fantasy IX, which practically threw gil at me.  Same with VII and VI, and even to a lesser point XII.

I think the majority of my time has been taken up by the openness of chapter 11.  It is immense, and full of things to do.  Many, many things to do.  I found the hidden chocobos and the cactaurs and I bet there's even an area of tonberries I've yet to discover.  The adamantoises are finally a suitable challenge, given their grand name, and yet in past games, they've often been used as an early-to-middle game mook, which kinda sucks.

Anyway, I bet Geoff's review is going to be up long before mine, given how long I've been playing this game.

Looking Forward To: ...actually, I don't know what I'm looking forward to, but it's on the PC (PC)

A couple weeks ago, a Slashdot user posted a journal asking for help with a copyright related issue regarding a long abandoned game they wanted to remake.  While the game itself hasn't been named, there are a few things that are known about the game, based on the entry.

-It's part of a possible franchise
-The original copyright holder sold it to someone else, and no longer has control over it
-The game is already available on the Internet for free on abandonware sites and on the original creator's web page
-It was published in the 80's, and the publisher folded a few years later due to legal trouble
-It's on a DOS system
-The game has laid dormant for at least 18 years (which means the last known activity related to the game was back in 1992).

My first instinct was that it was Supaplex, but that game was released in 1991 and is now declared to be freeware.  This may require more research.

Video of the Week

This is an early dub of Final Fantasy XIII.  Hope you enjoy!



A PlayStation Fan's Diary, Coda

Anyway, yeah, the system I bought was a PS3.  And for the most part, I'm enjoying seeing what useless parlour tricks I can pull off with it.  Like, I can play music from the PS3 on my PSP!  Except I can also play music directly on my PSP if I store it on a Memory Stick Pro Duo.  Hey, I can surf the Internet on my PS3 with my PSP!  Except that my PSP can also do that directly, and any site I'd really want to go to, I'd be better off using a computer with a proper mouse and keyboard instead.  I can play PS1 games on my PS3 with my PSP!  Except that my PSP can also play PS1 games directly from a Memory Stick Pro Duo after I download them from the PlayStation Store.

The PlayStation 3 may do everything (ha!), but the big question is, should it?  Is it even necessary, especially when some of what the PS3 does do is basically help the PSP do what it already can do?

It was an adventure trying to get the PS3.  Unfortunately I can't name names and think I'm going to keep my job, but a certain distribution company up here in Canada, one that is already known for purposely delaying shipments of critical goods according to their listing in the Better Business Bureau website, sure enough delayed our shipment of PS3s.  I wasn't the only one waiting for one, and it took nearly a month for them to finally arrive.  The day they finally arrived?  The very day Final Fantasy XIII was coming out, and I already had that day off, so I'd been hoping I'd be able to purchase a PS3 on that date, preferably earlier.

The PlayStation 3 does have one very wonderful thing it does that I've sorely missed.  Back before I ran smack into the wall of limitations with my old television, I used to use it and my PS2 to warm my bedroom up during the winter.  My room has poor insulation.  Anyway, on a cold day not long after I bought a new television, I decided to play a little Puzzle Quest and warm myself up... with my new power saving flat screen television that emitted quite a lot less heat than my old Sears model.  I very nearly froze to death before I realized what was going on.  Anyway, my PS3 puts out enough heat to make up for the lack of heat in my new television.  I imagine this is not a system I want to play during the hot summer months.

When Final Fantasy XIII was announced for the PS3, I knew right then that I would buy myself a PS3 when the game came out.  I didn't care of the console still possessed a high price tag.  At the time, I thought to myself, "I will somehow acquire this console and this game."  At the time, I didn't have a steady job, and so I didn't have the income necessary to support a current generation gaming habit.  Previous generation games seemed the best I could hope for at the time.

I began making a list of games that I wanted to get for the PS3, and as they continued to release, my list grew longer.  I liked the first two Disgaea games, so Disgaea 3 was added to my list rather quickly.  Valkyria Chronicles was highly recommended, and I've heard good things about Eternal Sonata.  Not only that, but Star Ocean: The Last Hope's been ported to the PS3.  I may not want as many games for the PS3 as I own for the PS2, but I'm still working through my PS2 library anyway.

Then the price drops started happening.  It was definitely the right way for Sony to go, after arrogantly declaring that the console would be something that you would want to save up for, work harder for.*  But while the price was being lowered, features were being dropped, and one of the first features dropped was the backwards compatibility that Sony was famous for.  Nintendo is notorious for being spotty at best when it comes to backwards compatibility in their consoles.  Microsoft blatantly broke their promise when it came to backwards compatibility in the 360.  In fact, they broke it twice.  But Sony's always supported their older titles.  With the PS2 still on the market, it's not as much of a blow as it could've been, but still, you can't claim that the PS3 does everything when it doesn't do some of the things it used to do.

When Final Fantasy XIII was suddenly announced as being cross-platform, all of the Sony fans suddenly cried foul and all but demanded that everyone at Square-Enix commit seppuku, and also demanded that the 360 version be canceled.  Microsoft fans crowed about their victory.  Considering that no 360 version is being released in Japan, it kind of negates both sides' arguments in a way.  Besides, FF XIII is not the only game in the series to appear on a Microsoft console.  Final Fantasy XI has appeared on the original Xbox.  And way back when, Final Fantasy VII was cross-platform, as well as Final Fantasy VIII.  It appeared on Sony PlayStation... and MICROSOFT Windows.  Final Fantasy VII on a Microsoft platform.  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Sony fanboys.

But the latest thing that's given me pause is the way Sony handled their release of some of their latest firmware versions (notably, 3.0 and 3.15, but others seem to have the same issues).  When they first began to brick consoles, Sony decided that they would charge money to replace the consoles, which is kind of like a doctor punching you in the face with brass knuckles, then expecting you to pay him for the surgery.  It takes dogged determination for even one customer to get their hardware repaired.  Most, if not all of the bricked consoles are the old models that contain PS2 backwards compatibility.

Firmware 3.15 used to be optional, you didn't need it if you wanted to run stuff on your console.  Then, the middle of last month, they decided that this firmware that renders consoles inoperable was to be a required update, and this subsequently caused my co-worker's PS3 to brick.

Final Fantasy VII is largely credited as having sold the PS1 and killed the N64, ending Nintendo's dominance in the video game market.  Sega may have done what Nintendon't, but Sony did what Sega couldn't.  With the Wii currently dominating the market and Final Fantasy XIII cross-platform outside of Japan, Sony doesn't need the kinds of problems that they're having right now, especially considering the number of people who bought the old, backwards compatible PS3s back when Final Fantasy XIII was announced.  Now that their beloved game is near release, suddenly Sony's breaking their consoles and charging a substantial sum of money to fix them.  The last thing Sony needs is for FF13 to sell the 360 instead of the PS3.

It's enough to give me pause, and despite my history of supporting Sony (I even bought their PSP), seeds of doubt have been planted in my mind.  I may just buy a PS3 anyway, but I wouldn't be surprised if my PS2 outlives it.

*I can't seem to find a quote where Ken, or someone at Sony, declared that the PlayStation 3 is something the whole family will save up for, and it's possible that I may be imagining it.  There's not many family friendly games on the PS3 anyway as there are on the Wii.  Nintendo seems to have had a lot more success in selling their console to entire families, but that is a story for another time.  Instead, the PS3 has remained well within the realm of the hardcore gamer.  I doubt that Grand Theft Auto 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Call of Duty: World At War and MAG would be considered family friendly games, but that's just me.

Video of the Week:

This is why I wish I understood Japanese:



Yes, he's going all Yahoo! and seems one step away from going like this as well:



All I know is, if I knew Japanese, I'd have played this already and laughed at Sazh's silly summon animation.  Bonus video:



His summon animation again!  ^^  Yahoo!  Yo.

WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Currently Playing: Tales of Symphonia (GC)

You know, I bought my GameCube back in late 2007, and I have yet to beat a single game for it.  I own seven.  Anyway, I finally decided to give this game a go because I'd just beaten Puzzle Quest and needed to play another game right away, but no other PlayStation 2 games were calling out to me.  The game seems much better than the release of Tales of Phantasia that we got in North America on the GBA.  Whatever they did wrong there, they did right here.

The story is fantastic so far and I'm liking the synopsis option in the menu that keeps track of the story.  Only Xenosaga comes close, of the games I've played, to having something like that.  It makes things a lot simpler for reminding the gamer where he needs to go,and what he was last doing, especially since the plot points are time stamped in real time.  For instance, I made it to Lake Umacy on the 4th of February, this year, while at level 16.  Then again, I only started the game on the 4th of February, so that's amazing.

I wouldn't mind seeing the original version of Tales of Phantasia ported to the Virtual Console, but that's just me.  The GBA version sucked.  Now I should see if I can get the PS1 Tales games without having to pay an arm and a leg.

And Operation Kill The Backlog continues...

Looking Forward To: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (DS)

I didn't mind the portion of Eragon on the GBA that I played, and the graphics don't seem to bother me too much in the screen shots, so I figure, what could it harm to try this thing out?  Besides, RPGamer's been kinda dropping the ball lately on DS games (we reviewed Sands of Destruction a week and a half sooner than they did), but then again, this blog does cover all games and ideally anime as well, and they did have a review of Mass Effect 2 posted a couple days after that game was released (heh, they probably had a head start and a review copy).

The biggest things that fascinate me about this game:

-this is a video game based on a movie based on a book, so there has to be things lost in the translation.  If the book wasn't super popular at the local library, I'd borrow it, read it first, then either watch the video or play the game, whichever gets to Revelstoke first, and see what's been left out of each.
-the last game that the developer, 20th Century Fox, released (according to GameFAQs) was back in 1983, probably right before the video game crash.  It was called The Earth Dies Screaming.  Twenty seven years later, they finally release their next game.  Hey, maybe there's hope for Duke Nukem Forever after all.
-this is probably one of the few things that reference the Olympians and anything olympic that VANOC and/or the IOC hasn't tried to sue into the ground.  Did you know that the Olympics are a brand name, and that if you have, say, a pizza joint that has existed long before VANOC got formed, you're still fair game?  Also, did you know that VANOC won't allow anyone else in Canada to make anything related to the Olympic brand until the end of the Mayan calendar?  It makes me wish that all the disasters that happen in the movie 2012 happen to VANOC.  Preferably during the games.

Oh no, I said something bad about the games!  VANOC is going to sue me!  Bell Canada's going to try to have me fired from whatever job I hold!**  No one in British Columbia would allow this kind of thing in a blog!***

**This is a claim I cannot back up with an article on the Internet, despite diligent Google usage, but I have found an article about other insane Olympic-related restrictions.
***It's a good thing we're not an accredited blog at the 2010 games, then.  It seems that if your blog is too negative, you can face consequences.  ...Damn it!  I wanted to link to the scene in Babar: The Movie where Babar tells Rataxes that the loud trumpeting he hears is the consequences, but it's not on YouTube!

Folklore's premise involves absorbing monsters - known as "Folks" in the game's context - and utilizing their attacks in battle as companions. This sounds familiar.

Many of us have the unfortunate ability of glancing over a premise to a game and writing it off because of its ostensible potential for being passé, and it could be the reason why Folkore slid right under the radar of way too many gamers; gamers who could have appreciated the merits of what it brings to the table. There's quite a bit more to it than being a monster collector; what really matters is what you do with them once you assemble them, which adds an interesting and intriguing layer of strategy to the game's overall design.

The story is also pretty good, and it takes place in our present world. Folklore tells the tale of a 22-year-old university student named Ellen, who mysteriously remembers very little about her past. She receives a letter from her mother instructing her to come to the village of Doolin (which actually exists), a sea side village in Ireland. The letter specifically instructs Ellen to meet her at the Cliff of Sidhe. When she arrives, she stumbles upon a mysterious figure within a cloak. While there, Ellen also stumbles upon the male protagonist of the game: Keats, 29-year-old a journalist who writes for an occult magazine known as "Unknown Realms" (which was part of this game's original name when it was originally announced. They found some use for it, apparently).


Keats is called to the scene when he receives a distress call from an unknown woman, which he presumes to be either Ellen or the mysterious figure in the cloak. As the two of them arrive on the scene, a fierce wind blows the figure off of the cliff, the figure landing on the shore of the beach. Ellen, distressed by all of the occurrences, faints, while Keats ponders how to piece everything together for the story he'll eventually write. He is a journalist, after all.

A lot of mysterious, unexplained events have occurred, so it will be up to the protagonists to figure out the meaning behind everything that's happened. This will entail travelling to the Netherworld, the realm of the dead. This place can only be accessed from within Doolin, and it's a fantastical place where mystical beings and creatures exist - some kind, others malignant. It's the latter, known as "folks," that you'll have to absorb to make them act on your command while you explore the areas of the Netherworld.

Folklore has an unusual way in how it presents its story, and your mileage may vary on how much you like or hate it. While it sometimes has the occasional cut scene similar to most games in the genre these days, in both in-game and CG form, this game presents most of its cinematic scenes in a comic book-like form (or, "manga" form, for you nerds). It...really doesn't work as much as the developers wanted it to, and it feels like something that would have had a bigger effect if it was, well, based on a comic. In a fantastical game like this, it feels a little out of place.


The manga sequence cut scene as described above is, sadly, an unfortunate representation of its low budget. It's a shame, too, because this is the kind of game that could have really shined if its production quality was higher. But that's not to say it doesn't shine regardless. In fact, its environments actually manage to shimmer because of its incredibly unique art style; a kind that you probably haven't seen in a video game all that much. The outfits are a mix of contemporary-style dress and fantasy-style clothing to match whichever environment it needs to. Your characters don mystical clothing whenever they venture to the netherworld. The designs help it stand out, and developer Game Republic actually managed to handle the low budget thing pretty well.

The unfortunate aspect about not having many cut scenes doesn't come from the game needing to feel showy; it's just that it lessens the chances of hearing much of the voice acting, which is pretty good. Given how Folklore takes place in Ireland, the cast consists entirely of English and Irish actors. They all do a pretty good job, for the most part.

The music is also quite fascinating and diverse. The latter point isn't surprising, given how many music composers were involved with this game, which might answer the question as to where the budget went. Kenji Kawai of Ghost in the Shell and Vampire Princess Miyu makes a few contributions to the soundtrack (including the opening menu theme). Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Hiroto Saitoh, and Yuriko Mujoujima also contribute to the soundtrack. The soundtrack overall has a very cinematic feel, feeling inspired by movies close to the genre; most notably Danny Elfman's works.


The main gimmick for the game is collecting every kind of folk you come across. Each of the folks have an element that will assist you depending on what battle or path lies in your way. Some of them have different attributes as well; you can use a few for melee attacks, some for projectiles, some for gigantic explosions, among others. How well you fare in battles depends on how well you use each folk, which depends on what element your opponent is weak against. It's at this time that you realize how Folklore actually has a nice layer of strategy that it requires, which means it's not the button-masher it initially seems like.

It may not be a surprise that the game has monster collecting gimmick. Though Yoshiki Okamoto was responsible for overseeing the progress of the project, Folklore's creative director was Kouji "Cozy" Okada. You may know him, because he was instrumental in creating the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, and left Atlus for Game Republic about half a decade ago.


Folkore has a unique way in how you go about gathering your allies: When one of them is nearing defeat, their spirit will glow red, meaning you can absorb them. You do this by pulling their spirit out by using Sixaxis motions. Said motions depend on the monster you're fighting, and if some of them are a bit obtuse (and they will be), you can view a tutorial by pressing R3. What's great is that it uses the Sixaxis uniquely while not being too annoying about it. Well, initially, at least, because some of the more complex motions get a little annoying when you have to do them very often near the end of the game. Still, on a system where a lot of developers haven't the faintest as to how to use the Sixaxis in any meaningful way, this game represents a nice try.

It's not a surprise, but it's still a shame that Folklore is such an underrated little gem. Sure, Sony's insistence on leaving it $60 in America definitely isn't helping, but if you can find it for an affordable price (which isn't hard), you'll find one of the best action/RPG's on the console. And that's not just because there aren't a lot of them on a console, in a generation. Just try and find it cheaper than the aforementioned price.

You can't blame some of the more cynical people who like any form of entertainment for disliking sequels. After all, they've become the foundation various industries are based on. But it's a practice that's easier to dislike more than usual these days thanks to more and more of them being made to play it a little too safe. But sometimes, it's worth it to give them a free pass; developers have the potential to make another game in the franchise (because everything is a franchise these days) that's even more superlative than the original title. One that refines the ideas found in the previous game; or games.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the games that epitomizes the idea that sequels are perfectly OK as long as the resulting product contains elements to better the franchise. Sometimes significantly. Not to say that it will make it too hard to go back to Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for another replay, but the sequel really does a great job of bringing to light the pacing (it slows up around half of the way through) and predictability (oh, why here's a big room. I wonder what's going to happen in here...?) issues it actually had. Needless to say, the sequel is the original's undoing, but more in a Spider-Man movie rather than X-Men movie style.

You can really tell that Naughty Dog listened to fans when it came to refining Uncharted 2. An aspect that makes the experience enthralling from start to finish is its sheer unpredictability factor. Uncharted had a problem where every time you walked into a large, sprawling area full of cover, you knew that the entire situation would result in a hail of gunfire. In this sense, the second game is much more unpredictable and has tighter pacing. You'd be surprised at how much more this one feels like an adventure in usurping pre-established video game conventions with its set pieces.

Said set pieces are also much more involving and intense this time around. Rarely does the same type of skirmish play out multiple times, as this game forces the player to use the environment a lot more. Sometimes, the environment can act as a hindrance from allowing you to complete your task of focusing your complete attention on taking out the opposition. Not to say this is a problem. In fact, it's the exact opposite, as it gives a new dynamic to the combat itself. Also, don't be surprised if you find that you can predict where some of the skirmishes will take place.

The gunfights themselves are also more intense because of the enemy A.I.'s actions. In Drake's Fortune, the enemies were mostly smart about how they wanted to take you out, but some of them occasionally got the bright idea of trying to shoot you while standing in a wide open space, which is pretty much an invite to shoot them for an easy target. That rarely happens this time around, as your targets will use much smarter tactics to work together and stick behind the cover to try and bring you out of hiding. Usually with a grenade. Though there will still be a few times when a regular opponent will come to try and attack you headfirst while you're wielding a shotgun, but those instances are surprisingly minimal. This is also not helpful for them since your more devastating melee attacks are much easier to perform than in the first game.

Unlike the first game, this one also has some stealth sections. And they're surprisingly good! Usually, when a game whose expertise isn't stealth, the sections involving that will be arbitrary and frustrating experiences due to the controls not being designed around that (see The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Beyond Good & Evil for good examples). But here, they're actually well designed whenever they come up, and you can also choose to eliminate your enemies silently if you don't feel like, or don't have enough ammo to, engage in a gun fight.

You'll also occasionally have help when fighting a bunch of enemies. While your companions are nowhere near as effective as you - they'll never use anything other than a pistol, never melee attack, and never use grenades -- they can still hold their own. And, unlike you, they can't die in battle (they'll only be stunned temporarily by explosions), so they'll be there for the long run.

The story is also very well told, and definitely bests the first game's in making it feel even more Indiana Jones-inspired than it was originally. This time around, Nathan Drake, along with new character Chloe Frazer and other returning companions, are out to find the secrets to what befell the lost fleet of Marco Polo. There is definitely treasure involved, which is the logical explanation as to why there are a bunch of other guys chasing you down for it.

Something that helps with the game's vivacity is how the characters interact in and out of cut scenes. There's always been a looming fear of the uncanny valley in newer games for a while, but this game manages to avoid it due to how well the characters emote through animation and voice. The voice acting present outside of cut scenes also really makes you feel like you're part of an adventure. You might be surprised with how much this immerses you in the game; it actually does a better job at this than the first game.

Speaking of the voice talent, it's exceptionally good and well delivered. Though Nolan North has received far, far more exposure since the time he voiced Drake in the first game, this is still where he fits best. (Not to say the guy isn't capable of vocal range.) Anyone who voiced specific characters in the first game returns for this game, and Australian actress Claudia Black (of Farscape fame) does a great job as Chloe. The story itself is right on the same level as a fun-yet-suspenseful action movie. Yeah, it's totally brainless, but who needs that when the resulting work is perfectly enjoyable?

The music is also pretty good, whenever it decides to play - or if you can even hear it amidst the ensuing chaos - or even if it decides to grab a few of its tracks from Drake's Fortune. Similar to the story, the soundtrack is on par with your usual action movie; it's pleasant to listen to, but it knows when to become more upbeat. There's a track to match every situation, and it helps in making exploration and puzzles a memorable experience.

Better pacing means there's a good balance of every element the game offers - that's adventuring, exposition, and shooting. This means that if anyone labels this as a shooter, you shouldn't listen to that person (which people who should know better have been saying). It's during all of these elements that you realize how good this game looks. As of right now, it's seriously the best looking console game on the market, perhaps besting Metal Gear Solid 4. I'm sure that victory won't last long, though.

Uncharted 2 is, more or less, exactly what fans Uncharted and Naughty Dog in general wanted. It's also precisely what a sequel should be: something that doesn't undo what the original achieved (like Naughty Dog's last franchise), and it's something that not only refines the mechanics established in the franchise, but enhances them so that any developer who intends to make an adventure game should take note. It definitely deserves the accolade it's received this year, and if you own a PS3...well, you've already played it, right?

With every passing generation, it seems like there's one genre that lacks the prevalence it had during the previous generation. For fans of that specific genre, it can be a little difficult to cope with, especially if many of your greatest memories in gaming are formed by it.

It's a little late at this point to say that the platforming genre has fallen from grace in terms of popularity and quality. That's not to say there aren't any coming out at all - and it's still more prevalent than the anime-style adventure genre (in the spirit of games like Tail Concerto, Mega Man Legends, and Steambot Chronicles), which is almost nonexistent - but for a genre that used to be the most popular around, it's a shame to see that developers aren't interested in making too many of them anymore.

But every now and then, you get good examples of the genre like Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, even if it isn't the most straightforward platformer in the genre. The Ratchet & Clank franchise has been accused of abandoning its platforming roots on PS2 and engaging in more of a platforming/shooter hybrid. And that is completely true. But that's not saying ToD doesn't have its fair share of platforming; in fact, it's what you'll be doing for about 60% of the game.

(P.S. The best example of the genre would be Super Mario Galaxy. But you knew that.)

The ostensibly appreciable aspect of ToD is that it's a return to form for the franchise. It's probably an expected one, too, as developer Insomniac Games referred to the previous title, Ratchet: Deadlocked, as an "experiment" for the franchise. Deadlocked's basic intent was to take the Tournament battle sequences from the previous two games in the franchise at the time (that's Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal; yeah, they have some pretty clever names) and build a game around it. The game also decided to change the controls and make them similar to a third-person shooter. The results? A dull imitation of what came before it. The Ratchet & Clank games specialize in variety, and Deadlocked had absolutely none of that. It's a pretty telling sign when the developer barely refers to its story as canon.

For those of you who have played a Ratchet & Clank game before ToD will strike you as very familiar territory (Deadlocked notwithstanding). Perhaps too familiar! You're given the same techniques you had in the last game from the very beginning, from double jumping to Clank's helicopter gliding leap. Shooting is also done the same way it was in the previous games, allowing you the option to strafe and jump from left to right while locked to a singular position; this will help if there are a lot of enemies approaching from the front, which happens very often. You can also melee attack with Ratchet's wrench for enemies that are a little too close.

But what distinguishes every Ratchet game is the weapons you're given. This is something that changes throughout every game, but they're mainly enhancements of similar weapons from previous games. The best aspect of this is that Insomniac realized what worked for what the game's design called for, which gives the game a good sense of balance. Things start out easy, but there are parts where the game will challenge you; still, it's never unfairly difficult. As you fight more enemies, your HP level will increase, and your weapons will become stronger the more you use them - though the maximum level is five for the latter.


There are times where you'll also have to play as Clank, who also plays similar to how he did in previous games. However, he's been given quite a few new techniques, due to the special powers he's been given. Said powers also make for a bizarrely hilarious subplot.

ToD looks pretty amazing, though admittedly less so now than it did in 2007. There are areas where you'd think it was just one of the PS2 games upscaled to an HD resolution, but when you get a close look at the animation, you realize how much work Insomniac put into this. The work isn't quite on par with the best CG animated movies, but it's certainly a good effort. There's also a lot happening in the background in most of the levels, with numerous cars flying past and explosions by the dozens. That's more of a marvel than the animation itself, but it can be a distraction if you're not careful.

ToD may have a good story, but the best part of it isn't the actual tale it events - which itself focuses more on the back story of the main character, Ratchet, than any previous game has. All of the Ratchet & Clank games are known for being very humorous, and being rife with references to works within popular culture. The game takes place in outer space, so that should give you an indication of a few of its references. Whether you'll get them all depends on how much of a geek you are.

The story itself is also complemented by some phenomenal voice acting. James Arnold Taylor (who also voiced Tidus in Final Fantasy X) is a perfect fit for Ratchet, more so than he's been in any of the previous titles. The always-excellent David Kaye provides Clank's voice. Newcomer Talwyn comes with Tara Strong voicing her, and also does a great job.

ToD is familiar territory for fans of the franchise, but in a way, that works against it. That sometimes gives it a feeling that its game design is stuck in the last generation of consoles, though thankfully not as much as Devil May Cry 4. Designs of the levels themselves feel very similar to ones found in the PS2 games. The good thing is that the Ratchet & Clank games also contained some of the most fun examples of level design seen in a PS2 platformer, and ToD is thankfully no exception. Also, the game being familiar means that if you didn't like the previous games, expect to have the same reaction here.

Anyone hankering for a 3D platformer this generation would do best to pick up this (and its sequel, A Crack in Time, apparently). It's nothing that will blow your mind, but it's not like that's something you'll always need to have or should expect from every game you pick up. ToD is plenty of fun for its 10-15 hour duration, and there's plenty of replay value for collecting and leveling up every weapon, or collecting all of the hidden bonuses the game offers. Just don't go in expecting the game of the year or anything.

One question video games have collectively posed continually over the last few years is how exactly games and movies should be integrated into one interactive medium. It's certainly something that riles up the more cynical group, like the kind of people who found Metal Gear Solid's passive, non-interactive cinemas a chore to watch as it constantly interrupted the gameplay. The fusion of both gameplay and cinema is something that Uncharted: Drake's Fortune does incredibly well; not perfectly, mind you, but more than well enough that it's an experience you'll remember for a good while.

Uncharted has frequently been described as the Tomb Raider of the current generation, despite the Tomb Raider franchise still existing. There's a good reason for that: Tomb Raider was the game that helped define how an adventure game inspired by some of the greatest adventures in other entertainment mediums should feel in video game form. The games were responsible for pitting the player in a world they were free to explore, and become enthralled with their character as they helped them solve puzzles and make their way into the next area. It's Uncharted's itinerary to take this to the next level, so to speak.

Instead of following an oversexed female heroine, Uncharted decided to follow the exploits of a cool dude named Nathan Drake, the ancestor of explorer Sir Francis Drake. For quite a while, Nathan has been intent on finding the treasure of El Dorado, the city of gold, with him constantly finding clues for it by discovering the remnants of an era of civilization that no longer exists. One of the main problems for him and his company, journalist Elena Fisher and friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan, is that the clues he finds only lead to more clues, presenting an ostensibly never-ending cycle of nothing but hints. While it's no surprise that it leaves the entire party skeptical, there's another pressing problem: They're not the only ones looking for it.


Here's where the fun begins. You, along with Nathan, will have to outwit your nefarious opponents and try to find the treasure before they do, as your opposition definitely doesn't want to use it for good. Uncharted may look like it has a focus on fighting (especially for anyone who played the combat-laden demo), but there's actually a good mix of various elements here, all of which come together to make one cohesive and well-paced package.

One of the greatest aspects of Uncharted is how it learns from its predecessors by simultaneously disregarding their hindrances while engaging what gamers loved about those games most. Platforming and exploration is done in a way that should be expected these days, meaning that the camera almost completely works in cooperation with you. While exploring, finding your next destination isn't a needlessly obtuse exercise, as either the camera will show you what's next or the characters themselves will give you a clue as to what your goal should be.


Something that really involves you in the story is the banter your characters partake in as you explore. What's great about it is how they'll rarely talk about something that will make you roll your eyes due to it not being silly or moronic. That's because they sound like, well, normal people, and something about that resonates with the normal person very well; it makes you feel like you're really part of the adventure.

It also helps that the game looks great in motion, with some of the most picturesque environments you're liable to come across in a game. There are moments where you'll just like to stand in a location and take in the view, just to take it all in before you head to the next platforming section or gun fight. The best thing about them is that the environments are rarely a distraction during platforming; they're always something on the side that you'll see as you're passing through. Or if you're searching for hidden treasures that are scattered around unseen in hidden areas - though you'll know when you stumble upon one when an icon pops up. You can feel free to try and collect them all if you're concerned about trophies.

Combat is something the entire genre thus far has been a little finicky in handling, and it's also had a tough time balancing multiple elements perfectly. This isn't to necessarily say that Uncharted does it perfectly (which would be ridiculous), but never has it been handled so well. Gunplay itself takes quite a few cues from Epic Games' Gears of War, utilizing a cover system that's dependent on shooting your enemies while they happen to stick their head out to see where you are. Your enemies don't act in a perfect manner, but this is by design. By the banter they often use, you can tell they're not the brightest bulbs, meaning it's not surprising when they stick their whole body out there for you to pick them out. Admittedly, sometimes your enemies can get a little too lucky with more critical shots, not to mention how you can sometimes be hit by the usual "Surprise! We're here to kill you!" shot that often incites a gunfight.


When you have a game with plenty of dialogue, it definitely helps if the voice acting is pretty good. Thankfully, it's great. Nolan North is now the voice of seemingly every main male character in a video game nowadays (call it the Johnny Yong Bosch syndrome), but this was the game where he got his start, and was still fresh. He's the perfect voice for Nathan here. Emily Rose is also great as the confident-though-sometimes-uncertain Elena; the voice fits with a person who sometimes makes some questionable decisions throughout the game, but who always intends to be helpful. Really, even the worst voices are pretty good, and there's nothing that will grate.

What also helps Uncharted feel like a theatrical experience sometimes is the soundtrack, comprised of an orchestral score which itself wouldn't feel out of place within an action movie. There isn't much of it, as most of the music accompanies cut scenes and specific sections in the game, but what's there is great to listen to. Don't be surprised if you want to kick back and listen to the title theme sometimes when you pop the game in.


Your duration through Uncharted will last for around ten to twelve hours, which is fine for the kind of game it is. Thankfully, the game never feels as if it overstays its welcome, making it feel like its pacing was well planned beforehand. There are a few times where the plot will throw you a curve ball, but thankfully it all leads to a logical conclusion. The game almost feels too short because of how enjoyable it is, honestly, but any longer would have been pushing it. Its playtime will also lead to extra playthroughs.

Uncharted feels like the template for what will become the standard for action/adventure games throughout the rest of this generation. For anyone who owns a Playstation 3, it's definitely a must play, and perhaps one of the best games on the system. It's only after you play it that you realize that it's pretty saddening that it didn't exactly light up the charts (though it sold well enough). If you've ever found yourself interested in an adventure game, Uncharted is like a love letter to you.

Say, did you hear that Sony decided to honor the request for a re-release of both God of War games on? It's true! In something that will assuredly serve as viable pre-release hype for God of War III, Sony's releasing both games on one Blu-Ray disc in November for $39.99. But they're not just mere ports; both games will be upgraded to run at 60fps and in full 720p. It hits store shelves in November in America, though unfortunately you guys on the other side of the pond won't be getting it this year. Well, unless you import.

Since the game is coming out pretty soon, it's normal to see the cover making its way around retailer websites. And it's...well, it's interesting. For all the wrong reasons:

God of War Collection!
God of War!
God of War II!
God of War I & II!

As you can see, Sony really wants to make sure you know precisely what you're getting when you buy this package at retailers for the holiday season. It's pretty hilarious, honestly; your average shopper going around for PS3 games is probably aware of what God of War is, and could surmise what's included in the package by glancing at its name. Or, you know, to preserve the cover art, Sony could just list the contents on the back, given how many shoppers know to take a glance back there to check and see what they're getting. But nah, that's too logical.

At this point, no one knows what the games will look like. But there are rumors going around about it! Some of which are even extreme enough to say that the games are basically remakes with the God of War III engine. We'll hopefully see soon enough if the game is really due for a release in mid-November. Even if it doesn't have too many enhancements, it's a good package for anyone that missed both of these games upon release. It may not be as good as a deal as Metroid Prime Trilogy, but it's well worth your time.

Sony's worldwide gaming division really needed something to distinguish itself from the way they previously had been conducting business. Looking at the situation now, it's pretty hard to believe they were in first place and doing just about everything right for the last two console generations. But then came 2006, a turning point where a too-arrogant-for-their-own-good iteration arose with its "get a second job" Playstation 3. Though it was pretty hilarious in a few ways, it was pretty shocking to see how they started their steady descent downhill.

These days you can't fault them for wanting those glory days back, and they intend to make the public aware of that in every way possible. With the slimmer Playstation 3 comes a rebranding in an attempt to distinguish itself from its initially gaspingly high-priced brethren. They're pretty desperate to turn around every misguided strategy that former chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Kutaragi made in the final years of his tenure at Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan. With that, there comes a new everything for the system that now abides by the slogan "It Only Does Everything."*

So, you know, those last few years? They were just a lengthy misbegotten folly where the company seemingly detached itself from reality. Now there's a new firmware upgrade - which, wouldn't you know it, hasn't been flawless - an affordable price, the removal of the now-passé Spider-Man font, and even new box art.

Unsurprisingly, there's a mixed reaction to, somewhat comically, just about everything. No one is going to complain about a lower price point coupled with a larger hard drive. There are quite a few people who don't like the new font, and actually preferred the older one. It went out of fashion with most people once Spider-Man 3 came and went, though there were quite a few people that didn't like it from the start.

Meanwhile, I think the new box art style is pretty nice, which you can see here with upcoming release Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It makes more room for the artwork, and the result is a much cleaner package that makes the older one look claustrophobic in comparison. If there's one thing to complain about, it's that current PS3 owners who care about their spines matching are going to freak. Not to say the old covers were bad, of course, but this certainly helps.

But the question is: will all of this work? The combination of everything above will undoubtedly improve Sony's situation in the console market; especially in America, where it needs the most help. They're sure not going to touch Nintendo as the winner this generation, but it will help their chances against Microsoft. Personally, at this point, I think it's a lost cause in America. But it should help them maintain their lead in Japan (or should that be "is helping?") and make them remain competitive in Europe.

If only they could be so certain about the PSP...

*Well, there's that backwards compatibility thing. But keep that quiet.

So, this generation has been a real mixed bag as far as reliability is concerned. And it's a pretty worrying trend.

Now before you clench your fist in seething rage and think I'm going to run my mouth again about my dead 360, I'm not, so calm down. In fact, I think the post I made on it was awfully vain and came off as a desperate attempt for attention. At this point, you're considered an exceptional case if you've had a 360 that's lived a healthy life for at least two years. And it says something when the company that built the product has to extend the warranty for three years because of its high failure rate. It's nice that they have that, but I'm sure your average consumer would prefer reliability over having to shoot through hoops to exchange a dead console, especially if they have to do it multiple times.

Though the 360 is the main culprit, it seems the Wii and PS3 have their fair share of issues as well. Some pretty reliable reports around the internet would leave anyone who's seen them -- or worse, experienced them -- to believe that both consoles aren't as failure-proof as your random internet fanboy would have you believe.


People's stories with the Wii seem to vary, and wildly at that. While quite a few owners are still on their launch consoles, people who've had to have their system repaired seem to have it pretty bad. It seems that the GPU is the main culprit, along with a few other random problems like the system not reading discs -- which would have to do with the lens (and could, but not always, have to do with dust). That's kind of a bummer, because Nintendo is usually known for having some of the most sturdily built and reliable hardware in multiple console generations. Good thing their customer service is still top notch, and you might get them to repair it for no charge if you can.


And it looks like the PS3 has similar problems, though they appear to mainly affect owners of the 60 GB SKU, released back when Sony still cared about now-unimportant matters like backwards compatibility. Some PS3 owners are reporting that the system either has trouble reading discs due to a malfunctioning Blu-ray lens, and sometimes sounds like a jet engine in your living room (normal for 360 owners!). It also has a Yellow Light of Death that indicates that something is wrong, a term that was doubtlessly spawned from the Red Ring of Death (RROD). What a console generation!

Sure, it's pretty obvious that consoles with internal moving parts are going to suffer more problems than cartridge-based retro systems, but this just seems bit excessive for its own good. The 360 is without a doubt the biggest culprit, but I and others were hoping that the PS3 and Wii would fill in the gap between excess RRODs and E74s. And they will for the most part, but they're not as prone to failure as many of us wished they would be. Considering all of that is just a bummer, especially with Nintendo. Thankfully we have the DS and PSP, right?

Wii Error image courtesy of Kotaku.