Installation 04: Your daily dose of awesome

Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock

2012-02-01T02:07:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this, but late last year a new Dragon Ball Project started headed by Bandai, V-Jump and Saikyo Jump. It's called Dragon Ball SSSS, for Saikyo Super Saiyan Secret. Anyway, this is relevant because it's resulting in new Dragon Ball media. The first piece to be released is "Episode of Bardock", an "alternate" take on Bardock's story. I put alternate in quotes because it could very easily be worked into cannon. And when I say Bardock's story, I mean after Frieza destroys Planet Vegeta. The three-chapter manga ran from June to August and flew completely under the radar. It was adapted into a 20 minute anime special released at the end of December under the DB SSSS banner. I just discovered this the other day and now I want to spred the news. It's pretty great. Much more satisfying than the last new piece of animation from 2008. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say that the villain in it was designed by Toriyama himself (though he looks slightly goofy in my opinion).

A Wealth of New Korra Footage!

2012-01-30T23:07:00.001-05:00

The floodgates have opened! Watch as Korra battles thugs, metalbending police, firebenders, and has a heartfelt conversation with (HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOLIARZ!) Katara.

This one has MAJOR SPOILARZ!

So let's digest that for a moment, shall we? First, the animation is noticeably... better? It seems more detailed (character designs especially) and cinematic to me. Some great camera angles in there. Second, we get a taste of the new musical style in that last clip. Not sure how I feel about that yet. The music in the earlier clips is very Avatary, but I trust The Track Team to do amazing things. They did say it was going to be different. "1920s New Orleans jazz but if it were invented in China" to be precise. Oh, and for anyone wondering, they seem to have scrapped the stupid name that made no sense in favor of "Avatar: Legend of Korra". Huzzah!

Halo: Helljumper is here!

2012-01-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

Remember that fan-made Halo miniseries I mentioned earlier? The first episode was released today. It's pretty good! Not the best fan film I've ever seen, but definitely not the worst. Check it out:

Slightly New Things

2012-01-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

As you can clearly see (unless you're bling... but then what are you doing on the internet?) I've created a well-deserved custom font for I04. Also changed the font for the post headers. Also, new stuff should be posted soon. I'm pretty busy, but I think it's lame when people say "YES, I WILL DO THIS THING" and then it never happens and you never find out why. While my mind's on it, The Daily Awesome... it turns out that's a bit more a hassle than I thought. I might just go back to the whole posting interesting tidbits to FB and G+ which you can find in the sidebar thing. That post I did a while ago about what I'm posting soon? Turns out that by soon I meant probably within the next six months. Of course as I go along, that might turn out to be an outline for most of 2012. You can scratch the 3DS review off that, obviously, as well as the Tower of Heaven thing. You can access "life in teh real world" (a secondary blog) from the menu up top now. I update that when I remember. Next on the agenda is a preview for Kingdoms of Amalur, followed by the BOOTYs. I promise to have that done before the month is over and it becomes irrelevant. I've got a pice on Gurren Lagann planned for soon, too, while it's still fresh in my mind. Other things will come when they come. I'm just letting everyone know because I believe in transparency.

The NEW new review policy

2012-01-12T22:24:00.001-05:00

I've been doing some thinking, as often tend to do, and I have finally come to a conclusion: Installation 04 will no longer be reviewing games. Well, not in the traditional sense. I've decided to scrap our new review system completely, optioning instead for a new system that's not really a system at all. Our new "reviews" aim to answer one question: "Worth playing?" What will result is a review that focuses more on the important aspect of how the parts of the game work together as a whole. Is the game a fun and engaging experience? As I said before, readers often skip right to the end, so the answer to that all important question comes right at the start. Within the first paragraph, you will know if the game is worth playing, and you can read on for a more detailed look as to why if you wish. There are no sections. There are no colors. Just a straight discussion of how the game may or may not work. The idea actually came from what I was doing before with reviewing shows, a thing I called "worth watching". We hope you find it... refreshing.

Tower of Heaven: Worth Playing?

2012-01-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

The GameBoy graphics are simple, yet strangely effective.

How did I miss Tower of Heaven when it came out two years ago? How did I miss it again when it was ported to flash with extra content last year? I may be late to the party, but this party is so damn good that I don't care. A lot of us here missed this gem, so the logical conclusion is that it flew under many a radar. Well, I'm here to introduce you. This is Tower of Heaven, and he is a work of art.

Yep, all you people out there that say games can't be art should eat your words. Tower of Heaven certainly is. Unfortunately, I can't explain exactly why it is without ruining the experience. Here's what I can say: you play as a, uh, guy (I guess) who's trying to ascend the Tower of Heaven against the wishes of an angry god. It's more or less your basic sidescrolling platformer, except that this god insists on imposing restrictions (or commandments) regarding what you can do. There are five of them and they get progressively more difficult while stacking on top of each other. The first is not to touch the yellow blocks. Seems simple enough, but imagine similar restrictions on top of that! Oh, and there's a time limit. Needless to say, things can get a bit challenging. It's a good thing, then, that the game doesn't punish you for failure. There are no lives, so you simply respawn at the start of the level, Meat Boy style. You often die by exploding into pixles in morbid, yet strangely adorable ways.

You think this looks dangerous? You'll learn to fear butterflies most of all...

Levels are not long, obviously, and there aren't many of them, but it's a blast the whole way through. Once you do reach the top, you'll unlock a speedrun and level-editor modes. Or you could just sit back and listen to the awesome soundtrack. Did I mention how amazing it is? It's really amazing and all based off one melody. Honestly, it's pretty astounding how many different ways that single melody can be mixed to create different moods and emotions. Actually, the soundtrack was one of the reasons I continued to play on even when things got pretty rough. I found the music so compelling, I was motivated to progress in order to hear what was in store. Don't give up if you're stuck! Tower of Heaven is absolutely worth playing to the end. In fact, you might enjoy your time with it no matter your progress, but you won't truly get the game unless you go all the way. The game's concluding "Oh, wow" moment is beautiful and shouldn't be missed.

For a short little indie game, Tower of Heaven has a lot to say and manages to say it all.

Menu theme: "The Lonely Tower"– Soundtrack available here for only $1!

Nintendo 3DS: Worth Buying?

2012-01-12T21:25:00.034-05:00

The Nintendo 3DS: the point of a lot of discussion and controversy this last year. It had a rocky start and some thought it would never make it. The terrible launch lineup, no eShop, and $250 price made it a tough sell in early 2011. Then came word that this year would bring Zelda, Mario, Mario Kart, Star Fox and Kid Icarus along with the launch of the eShop. Unfortunately, two of those were remakes, two more wouldn't be out until the year's end, and Kid Icarus would be pushed to a release almost a year after the system's launch. The eShop didn't have much going for it early on either, with no original games and only Super Mario Land worth buying. No one expected what would happen next. The surprise $80 price cut was like cutting the weight off a balloon. Sales jumped 260% and by the end of the year and the system ended up selling over 4 million units in the US alone in 2011. Nintendo didn't stop there with the craziness. They threw in 20 free games for early adopters, and soon announced the circle pad pro which adds a second c-pad. It's been one crazy first year for the machine.

If you didn't pick one up at launch, after the price cut, or for the holidays, you may be asking yourself if it's worth getting considering the PSVita is right around the corner (though it's having similar launch troubles in Japan). Read on to (hopefully) reach a verdict.

DESIGN
The first thing I noticed about the 3DS was how sleek it looked. Nintendo nailed the high-end design with this one, especially when you compare it to the DS's launch model that looked like a big plastic toy. This thing is glossy. Oh so very glossy. Hell, you could use it as a mirror. It most certainly attracts dust and finger prints. The bottom of the system says "Nintendo 3DS", but the top lacks any sort of markings. I kind of miss the metallic Nintendo logo of the SP and DS.

That shiny top half of the system is home to two cameras and a very subtle gradient color to it, darkening the farther you get from the shoulders. It's also got a clear plastic "lip" that outlines the edge, making the system easy to open. The back right part of the hinge has a notifications light on it that glows green for streetpass notifications or blue for spotpass. The 3D depth slider on the right of the system can be accessed while it's closed, but I'm not sure why you'd need to do that.

Immediately apparent is the 3-tone color scheme. The bottom half of the 3DS is essentially to parts sandwiched together. The middle is a shade lighter than the lid and the bottom (and back) is the lightest shade. It's an interesting choice and I think it generally looks good, although the bottom third looks kind of strange on the red and blue units because of its almost pastel color. I have the black and it looks great in black.

Three-tone color.

Anyway, the middle has a volume slider on the left with a wifi switch and notification light on the right. The center middle has a power light, charge light, half of the headphone port (it's between thirds two and three), and half of a wrist strap hole. The strap goes in through the bottom and comes out the middle on either front corner. It's in a much better location than the original DS where it was in the back.

The bottom layer has a bunch of icons and text to identify the various indicator lights above as well as an SD card slot in the upper left. The back has a log going on with an IR port, game card slot, stylus slot, AV port, and several notches for accessories.

Opening the system up you'll find that the top half is colored black regardless of the rest of the unit's color. You'll also find the front facing camera, speakers, 3D depth slider and indicator light (to let you know if the game you're playing supports 3D), and the upper screen which is noticeably wider than the lower one. There is a significant amount of wobble with the top half of the system. It seems to have gotten either worse since I got it or more noticeable because I've been playing games with motion controls. I don't feel like it's going to fall off, though, but it can be a nuisance if you're moving the system around. If your unit has this issue, you won't even notice while you're holding it still playing in 3D. I got used to it on my SP and I can get used to it here. Still, I wish it had one of those immovable rock-solid hinges like the original DS.

The bottom has the touch screen with three buttons below it: select, home, and start. To the right is the c-pad and d-pad and two the left are the face and power buttons.

COMFORT AND USABILITY
As far as basic design goes, the 3DS is not the most comfortable thing to play for prolonged periods of time. The ergonomics can be improved a lot. Playing a game that requires frequent use of the shoulder buttons can, quite literally, be a pain. Coming from a first model DS, which is significantly larger all around, the 3DS is too small for me. Being thinner and less deep, my fingers are usually bent in all sorts of crazy ways.

D-pad
The d-pad being offset in an odd place puts your thumb in a weird position, but I guess it was really the only option. I was hoping it would be of the "softer" variety like on the DS Lite or Wii. Instead, it's back to the clicky feel of the SP and DS (Does the DSi have this, too? I've never used one.). It's not bad, but I prefer something with more... give.

C-pad
Luckily, its replacement, the circle pad, is perfect. It sits in just the right place and has a great, soft-touch feel with a nice concavity to it. This is what the DS always needed. After playing hours and hours of Zelda I can say that it works just as well as an analog stick. It has just the perfect amount of range and resistance. In fact, playing with the 3DS's circle pad has sold me on the idea of them being on the Wii U controller in place of analog sticks. They work just as well and allow the system to keep its slim, clamshell design. Plus, it makes controlling a lot of old DS games easier, even though it'll only input 8-way movement in those games.

Face buttons
These are standard Nintendo size and also clicky like the d-pad. They're more rounded than DS and Lite buttons, however.

Shoulder buttons
The shoulder buttons are functional but poorly designed. They're really, really thin and a bit on the short side. I can deal with the length provided that they have enough surface area to hit (see the SP) but these just don't. They're only as thick as most of the system's third layer. They don't extend very much over the edge or on to the back of the system at all. Using them is really not comfortable with the rest of the systems dimensions. The way they're designed, the system should either have more bulk, more depth, or both. As a side note, they can be used to snap pictures.

The lame shoulder buttons.

Function buttons
The select/start/home buttons under the touch screen are not really buttons at all. They actually sit completely flush with the surface. I though they'd be hard to use, but they're actually not. It does take some getting used to the fact that they're not touch buttons as they appear. The power button sits by itself in the spot where the d-pad is on the left side. Nintendo really should have moved that elsewhere and put a second c-pad in this wasted space. Apparently, either only realized that recently or rushed the thing out the door before they could add that in.

Touch screen
Works as well as it always has. I fail to see why people complain about Nintendo's use of resistive touch screens. They're far superior to capacitive screens at least as far as gaming is concerned. They're more accurate and you can use a stylus instead of your fat, screen-blocking finger.

Stylus
It's got a telescoping metal body! Fantastic pack-in sylus.

3D screen
The main event. People want to know: Does it work? Yes. It works perfectly. The viewing angle is terrible, however, so you have to look at it in from a rather small sweet spot for the effect to work. But it most certainly does work. And it looks fantastic. It adds an extra layer of immersion to the experience and I supposed it's Nintendo's answer to Sony's high-res super screen on the Vita. Some will prefer HD and some will prefer 3D, but there's no questioning the fact that 3D can be used as a part of the gameplay. Super Mario 3D Land has already done this to an extent with some of its puzzles (they're an optical illusion solvable in 3D). The real head-scratcher here is why Nintendo would push both 3D and motion control on the same system. A lot of the gyroscopic functions are really cool and also add to the gameplay, but moving your system around in 3D just plain does not work. You need to stay pretty still for that 3D sweet spot and have to constantly turn the 3D off to move your system around (unless you have a swivel chair– try it!). This communicates to me that Nintendo wasn't really sure what to do with this thing when they were making it. Lets have 3D and motion controls and only one circle pad! Yeah!

Cameras/mic
The cameras are terrible. You'll never want to take pictures or video with them even if it is in 3D. However, the augmented reality feature that they bring is really awesome. The system comes preloaded with software to put games and characters into the real world and it's pretty cool to go virtual fishing in your yard, or blast holes in spacetime. The system also has a microphone that's used for... something. The only thing I ever use it for is spinning around the icons on the main menu by blowing into it.

Battery
The other big question you probably have is about the battery life. Most estimates I've read give it between three and five hours. I haven't timed it myself, but it seems to be better than I expected. There's also a bunch of options for power-saving in the menu if you want to use them. I don't typically have the brightness or sound up all the way and I don't usually play with 3D on max, if I have it on constantly at all (I usually switch it on and off... that is, if I remember it's on). I find that battery tests tend to always measure unrealistic conditions (max ALL the things!) and that average players never use these settings. So I'd expect better-than-expected battery life out of this thing. That said, it's more or less the kind of longevity you'd find on a run-of-the-mill laptop if you're going to play nonstop.

Sound
Fine. I wasn't even going to mention it because I didn't think it was worth mentioning, but I don't want people complaining that I forgot about it or something.

Wireless
Thankfully, this works very well. My DS Fat had the biggest trouble connecting to wifi, and I had similar issues with my Wii. Luckily, now, I simply flip the switch and it works. It also effortlessly communicates with nearby 3DS systems, which is pretty cool.

Game Compatibility
In an unprecedented move by Nintendo, the 3DS is region locked. It does, however, function as a region-free DS so your DS import collection is safe. Coming from a DS fat, my opinion is that the 3DS makes DS games look fantastic. The c-pad goes a long way towards making games that should have had analog movement (Metroid Prime, Mario 64 DS, etc) more playable. In fact, it happens to work really well with Mario 64, although you still have to hold down a button to run.

This is fantastic, but it needs two.

WHAT'S INCLUDED
Here's the good part. If you buy a 3DS now, Nintendo will throw in a lot of stuff for free. You get:

A charging cradle so you can place it down for a quick charge when you get home.
Augmented reality games (and cards that go with them)
Camera app (now with video!) and sound app (for playing music)
Mii maker and Mii plaza (for creating, viewing, and playing with Miis)

You get a puzzle collection game, Puzzle Swap, and a lite RPG, find Mii

eShop for downloading games and other content.

And that may not seem like a lot, however, Nintendo offers a ton of free downloads:

Pokedex 3D
Netflix
Nintendo Video
Swapnote
Nintendo Zone
Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Internet browser

eShop

I'm pleased to say that the eShop is quite an improvement over the Wii store (never tried the DSi store). There a quite a lot of sorting options to search through available games as well as a "wishlist" that you can add games of interest to for easy access. The pages for individual games have information, user ratings (though, sadly, not reviews), and media. It's great that 90% of the games have a trailer you can stream right there from the store before you buy. Unfortunately, it there seems to be a three screenshot limit, but that's less of a disappointment with the video. I wish you could demo games before buying them, but it seems like Microsoft is the only one that requires this of all their games. Also of note: Nintendo has done away with "points" for shopping and has opted for real money transactions now. This is great, but can be a bit confusing because they now sell DSi points cards (won't work on 3DS) and 3DS prepaid cards (don't work on DSi). I assume in the future that they'll simply have prepaid cards that work on both the 3DS and Wii U. The one downside about the eShop is the navigation. It's not bad, but everything is presented in a horizontal scrolling list (like the new Xbox dash) and you have to do a lot of scrolling. It's made easier because of the touch screen, but it would be nice to have different display options like the system's home screen which can be made into a grid of different sizes. Downloads seem very fast– at least with my wifi.

The system didn't launch with the eShop, but thankfully has it now. All DSi games are compatible and can be transferred to the 3DS if you have the old system. The 3DS also has its own set of exclusive games as well as its own virtual console with NES, Gameboy, and Gameboy Color titles (GBA games were ambassador only). TurboGrafx and Game Gear titles are expected at a later date (lets hope for Blazing Lazers!). The 3DS already has some standouts like Pushmo and Mighty Switch Force.

User interface

The 3DS UI is simple but functional. You won't be spending a ton of time here anyway. By default, it's a horizontal gallery of thumbnails that can be made into a larger and larger grid (with smaller and smaller thumbnails). It's too bad there's no way to create folders to organize your "apps" because, like the Wii home screen, it can involve a lot of scrolling. I've also noticed that there's no easy way to reorganize your apps because they can only be dragged into an empty space, unlike on smartphones where you the two icons will switch places. New downloads appear as presents on your homescreen and apps with new content will have a dot in their upper corner. Pressing the home button in a game will bring up the full home menu instead of a watered down version such as the Xbox guide. This is a nice touch. From here, you can open up another program (closing the current one) or perform simple functions like writing notes. Your game will suspend in the background during this whether you pause or not.

StreetPass and SpotPass

I haven't made much use of SpotPass yet. SpotPass allows the system to download content while in sleep mode over a wifi signal. The 3DS includes free access to AT&T hotspots. StreetPass allows for the communication of 3DS systems while in sleep mode. I've made extensive use fo the latter and it's pretty cool. You can download other player's Miis to use use in games as well as messages and game data (such as racer ghost data for Mario Kart).

3DS sitting in the included cradle.

Included software

The two SpotPass games are pretty neat. One allows you to collect puzzle pieces to complete 3D images of Nintendo characters. Each system comes with some random tiles and you can collect the tiles other people have when you meet them. Find Mii is a lite RPG which allows you to use other people's Miis to battle through dungeons in order to rescue your own Mii. This game is pretty tough because you only get one turn per Mii and they'll become unusable if they're attacked or they don't defeat the opponent. However, if you tag the same Mii more than once, they'll level up and become stronger. Miis also have special abilities, based on the color of their shirt, which are affective against different types of enemies. Clearing dungeons gets your Mii a new hat, which is both useless and awesome at the same time.

The system has a pedometer built in that rewards you with "play coins" for every 100 or so steps you take. These coins can be redeemed for content in games (though the only ones that come to mind are the built in Mii games).

Your friends are still managed with codes for some reason, but the system makes it easy to find yours on your little gamer card thing in the friends menu. Unfortunately, I don't have any friends, but I hear you can hold up to 100. You can also share statuses, messages, and, if you have the free SwapNote software, doodles.

In addition to a Mii maker, you can also connect the 3DS up to the Wii and transfer your Miis over. I actually did this because the pieces for both are slightly different and I ended up making a better version of myself on the Wii. That and I had a pretty sweet Marcus Fenix Mii that I made on there. It's too bad there's not a Mii showcase on here like there is on the Wii. I liked having the ability to view and favorite other people's Miis. And the Mii creation contests were pretty cool too.

The AR games are neat, although they mostly consist of blasting things. Face raiders, in particular, is bizarre yet satisfying. You can essentially steal the faces of your friends and family and then shoot at them. My favorite is probably fishing, though. I think it's awesome that you can make a pond out of a shag rug.

The rest of the stuff that comes with the system is pretty barebones, including the music and video players, an activity log, help and settings, etc. The internet browser is serviceable I suppose, but really slow. You'll probably never use it and, indeed, I'd rather browse on my phone.

Downloadable software
The 3DS has Netflix and, although it's not in 3D and the screen isn't super high-res, I'll tell you why I love it. Netflix is now available on a range of mobile devices, but it's tricky if you don't have one made by Apple. For the most part Netflix will run just fine if you have one of the newer iPhone models. Basically, the only other option is Android and there are literally hundreds of these. Chances are, your phone will either not run it or it won't support a future version of the program. At least with the 3DS Netflix is guaranteed to always work. And you can watch it at one of those free AT&T hotspots! It takes a minute for the content to load up, but streaming was smooth after that.

Pokedex 3D is, well, exactly as it sounds. It's a neat thing to have except that 1) you can find more detailed info online and 2) it only has Black and White Pokemon.

Swapnote seems interesting, but I don't have anyone to test it with. It allows you to send doodles and notes to your friends.

BOTTOM LINE
At this point, the 3DS is an excellent piece of hardware. It works as advertised, has a solid lineup of games available with tons more on the way, and includes a lot of free goodies. The downside is that Nintendo didn't make some the best design decisions. The shoulder buttons are poorly designed and uncomfortable, the battery life is on the short side, and the console should have had a second c-pad from the start. All that aside, though, I'd still recommend it. It's a system brimming with potential, though some of you may want to hold off until that potential is fully realized.

Korra media for reals!

2012-01-06T02:51:00.003-05:00

As expected, Viacom is having any leaked clips from The Legend of Korra removed. As such, the links I had in the previous post don't lead anywhere. But fear not! I've uploaded the videos myself now and you can watch them below!

Opening (mirrored b/c of copyright–only one I could find):

Clip:

You should probably play Super Kid Icarus before it's gone

2012-01-05T01:59:00.000-05:00

Someone went and remade the original Kid Icarus as a 16 bit game and it's kind of awesome. I'd play it soon, too, because Nintendo will probably catch on soon and have this shut down.

Introducing "The Daily Awesome"

2012-01-03T23:29:00.001-05:00

Remember that thing I mentioned in the post below? That new thing I called "The Weekly Awesome"? Well I decided to make it daily. What is it, you ask? It's a collection of all sorts of awesome stuff from the web and our own site aggregated in one place. You can find it easily a number of different ways: on our Facebook page by clicking the "Paper.li" link in the sidebar, on the bottom of the site, the menu botton on the top of the site, or by clicking this link.

New Legend of Korra media leaked!

2012-01-02T02:09:00.002-05:00

*EDIT* See this post for videos.

Watch 'em quick before they're gone! First, we've got the show's opening sequence. It doesn't really explain anything we don't already know, but it's noteworthy for a few reasons. First, unless I'm mistaken, the four benders shown in the beginning are Kyoshi, Roku, Aang, and Korra. More importantly, it's narrated by Tenzin (Aang's son) who is voiced by J.K. Simmons. When I heard he would be voicing Tenzin, I was worried that I'd never be able to unhear Cave Johnson. This intro, however, proves what a versatile voice actor he is. You have to really listen to pick up that it's him. I think the voice is just perfect.

But the real treat is this sneak preview clip that reveals a little something special. Lets just say not everyone from the original series is dead yet.

Next time on Installation 04 Z...

2012-01-01T23:49:00.000-05:00

So, 2012 then. Lots to do. Installation 04 is back. And I mean back. There are plenty of great original features coming up including:

Gear and tech reviews

3DS
Gameboy Micro
Hori Mini
BOSS

The rise and fall (and rise) of Cartoon Network

A similar piece on Nick

The List *IT'S BACK!*

Games that need sequels
Top 10 episodes from the last season of Futurama

Original features

Awesome YouTubers
How accurate is Metacritic?

Retro reviews

Ocarina of Time!
Kirby's Dreamland 3!
Blazing Lazers!
Kirby 64!

Bits 'n Chips *NEW!*
Grudge Matches *IT'S BACK!*

Google Music vs. Amazon Cloud Player
Avatar vs. DBZ redux
DBZ: Ocean Dub vs. Funimation Dub
UK vs. US game magazines

Graphic novel reviews

Halo: Bloodline!
The Griff!
Bad Island!
Skull Kickers!
Others you've never heard of!

Remembering the good times

Halo 10th anniversary
Smash Bros. Melee 10th anniversary
GameCube 10th anniversary
Xbox 10th anniversary
Zelda and Metroid 25th

Crap games everyone's played *IT'S BACK!*
Game reviews

Gears 3!
Skyrim!
Mario Kart 7!
Kirby's Return to Dreamland!
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet!
Rayman Origins!
Halo Anniversary!
Everything else from 2011 that's on backlog!

Awards

Installation 04 BOOTY Awards 2011 Edition
Best trailers of the year *NEW!*

Reposts of things from The Players Republic

Tower of Heaven
Crimson Alliance Review
Pac-Man Championship DX Review
Bomberman Hero soundtrack spotlight
Let Me Show You My Pokemans
Super 8 review
Tron movie reviews
Best of Guile's Theme
The most memorable menu songs

The Weekly Awesome *NEW!*
Installation 04 Official Webcomic *IT'S BACK!*
Worth watching?

Soul Eater
Daria

Life in teh Real World *NEW!*
Bad movie reivews
Other things I'm probably forgetting

Yes, that is a long and daunting list. When will this all start? Right the hell now! That 3DS review will be the first thing to get done so expect a very throughout review of that thing soon! I have vowed to make the most out of 2012 because, after all, it's the last year of the world.

NeoToonami is on track for awesome

2012-01-01T03:12:00.000-05:00

This is probably the best first post of the year I could have hoped for. I hopped on Twitter after the New Year's festivities settled down to find a new teaser for NeoToonami. You might remember they put out their "Big Preview Pt. 1" about six months ago. Since then, the team said they were working on a massive CGI overhaul to get everything looking amazing for the premier. It was originally set for 2011, thought that obviously didn't turn out. The stream will premier in 2012 now, but from the looks of this new teaser it will absolutely be worth the wait. They were seriously not kidding about the overhaul stuff. It now honestly looks like something Cartoon Network would put out on their own and it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that things will pick up right where they left off (when Toonami was still awesome). So enough talk, check it out:

Welcome to 2012...

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Say Hello to the New Review Layout!

2011-12-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, I famously (well, I'd like to think so, anyway) created the review system for both The Players Republic and Twinfinite. If you'd like, you can read about it here. I never actually got to use this system over here at Installation 04, but the more I think about it the more I dislike about it. The execution, in my opinion, still needs work. So I've decided to streamline, reorganize, and birth a whole new review layout based on my original system. This will be used in all future reviews here at I04, and I think readers will really dig it. As always, I'm on a mission to write the highest-quality reviews around. Details lie beyond the break.

The first thing I did was keep what worked. As we have been doing for some years, our reviews will still lack a score. The body of the review being split into three sections will also stay, though I'm making this simpler to understand. Each section will still contain a summary of the main points at the end, organized by positive, negative, and subjective and color coded. The "Reviewer Impression" will stay but be altered slightly.

Now for the new stuff:

I knew before that many reader simply skip to the end of a review to read the score. Since we don't provide a score, I came up with the color-coded summary idea so readers can skip the the section most relevant to them and get the main points very quickly. Having said that, the one at the very end which combines the three from the body is being scrapped. It's ugly and unnecessary. It's easy enough just to scroll through and read the three separately.

Next, I have decided that, since people like to skip to the end for the summary, why not put the conclusion at the beginning? I know that sounds like an oxymoron (starting with a conclusion? lolwut), but readers who want that can get in and out quickly that way, especially because that'll be the bit before the pagebreak. This section will henceforth be known as "The Lowdown".

Following The Lowdown is the "Reviewer's Impression". This has been shortened and moved up the top of the review. In it (I plan for it to be a paragraph or shorter), the reviewer gives his own impression of the game. This is meant to compliment the above section that is intended to be as objective as possible based on the body of the review. It'll usually fall into a few categories such as: favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or neutral. I don't plan on color-coding this or including any of those tags because I don't want readers thinking it's some sort of score. The above explanation is just for reference.

The body of the review (for those that choose to read it) will be known as "The Breakdown" and will attempt to answer three major questions:

How does the game play?
How is the overall experience?
Is it worth the money?

These coincide with the sections of the previous version of this system (playability, production, value), but the new headings make it easier for everyone to understand what they're about. Each concludes with a summary of the +positive, -negative, and •subjective points. Again, when I say positive or negative, I mean things that are as close to universally good or bad as can be. It's meant to be objective in this way. The yellowish points can go either way depending on the type of gamer.

And that's it! I hope to get some reviews up soon using the new system to try it out and get feedback.

Happy 7!

2011-12-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

As usual, I missed I04's birthday. The site turned seven on December 22nd. Happy birthday to us!

Video Game Winter Song Playlist Go!

2011-12-25T00:48:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! After the stress of the holidays, relax with this cool mix.

Here it is: The Official Zelda Timeline

2011-12-24T02:41:00.003-05:00

Christmas has come early for Zelda fans. The comprehensive and official Zelda book "Hyrule Historia" was recently released in Japan and it only took fans days to translate the timeline published within. The book's supervising editor was Eiji Aonuma himself, making it that much more official. So, without further delay, there it is:

Might want to expand that...

Well that certainly explains a lot. First of all, it confirms that all those "split timeline" supporters were correct. Sort of. You see, there are actually three alternate timelines that are formed after Ocarina of Time. And suddenly, everything gets all DBZ. So let's break this down.

First of all, it's important to understand the utterly confusing ending of Ocarina of Time, the reason for all this mess. Just follow along, don't think too hard, and you should comprehend it well enough. In OoT, Zelda has a hunch that Ganon is one bad dude, but she can't prove it beyond her crazy dream-visions. In the middle of the game, Link awakens in the future after being sealed away for seven years. In this adult future, Link defeats Ganon and he is sealed away. Then, Zelda magically sends Link back to the past before the start of the game so he can relive the childhood that he missed. Somehow, though, he is completely aware of the events that transpired in the alternate future and confirms to Zelda that her vision is true that that Ganon will take over Hyrule if no action is taken. This creates the child timeline in which Ganon is executed for crimes which he did not yet commit. But there's actually a third timeline which nobody even considered (and for good reason). In this hypothetical alternate future, Link fails to defeat Ganon in the future and Ganon continues to rule Hyrule.

So then, if there are alternate timelines then one has to be the real timeline, right? Well if things were any kind of straightforward (spoiler: they're not) then link would have stayed in the future and then who the hell knows what else. He'd be an adult in Majora's Mask, maybe? Anyway, if you want to go linearly, the "main" timeline goes like this:

Skyward Sword> Minish Cap> Four Swords> Ocarina of Time> Majora's Mask> Twilight Princess> Four Swords Adventures

The alternate future created when adult Link disappeared leads to The Wind Waker. Because there was no Link (he was sent back in time) to stop Ganondorf from breaking free after adult Link sealed him, Hyrule had to be flooded. The direct sequels to Wind Waker (obviously) make up the rest of this timeline.

Link being unsuccessful in defeating Ganondorf during the future of Ocarina of Time results in an alternate universe which is completely 2D.

There are a number of interesting things learned in this timeline. For one, Ganon has a hard life. He's always being defeated, sealed in some realm, and revived. More importantly, there's a large chunk of this timeline that doesn't incorporate games, so there's established story we've yet to see. Finally, it's interesting that Skyward Sword, though first in the timeline, is actually not a direct prequel to Ocarina of Time. In fact, several games separate the two. And, of course, after Four Swords Ganon tends to dominate things.

Although slightly confusing, the crazy Zelda timeline is quite fascinating. Plus, that completely blank "Sky Era" really has me curious.

2012 in Blockbuster Film Trailers

2011-12-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

Yep, 2012 is going to be a good year.

The Installation 04 Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide 2011!

2011-12-19T01:13:00.000-05:00

Note: only include candles near your gifts if you want them to catch on fire and burn up.

Oh noes, Christmas is only a week away and I accidentally the gifts! What should I do? Is this dangerous?

Not to worry, resident of the internet, Installation 04 has got you covered! Read on for a handy list of gifts. All you have to do is hand over the money. And if it doesn't make it before Christmas, don't fret! At least they'll have gotten that perfect gift. After all, it's the thought that counts, right?

Cheap Gifts:

So money is tight and you don't have a lot to spend. No problem. Buy someone one of these and they're guaranteed to have a merry christmas.

The Humble Indie Bundle 4 ($pay what you want!)
Cave Story! Super Meat Boy! Bit.Trip Runner! Three other games! This is by far the best lineup in the history of the Humble Bundle. Give it as a gift and you'll be loved forever. Plus, now you get all the soundtracks as a bonus!

Buy!

Titanium spork from ThinkGeek ($9)

You read that correctly: a titanium spork. Why choose between a spoon and a fork when you can have the best of both? Sporks are only commonly found in food courts and county fairs, but now you can give the gift of everyone's favorite eating utensil made from sturdy, reusable titanium!

Or, if the recipient is psychic, give him something unique to bend!

Buy!

Sweet Commander Video laptop decal from LTL Prints ($15)

Nothing says "I love Bit.Trip and support indie developers" like a laptop decal! These high quality prints (I would know because I happen to have one) are also available in a variety of sizes so you can outfit any wall space. Custom sizes are also available! A must have for fans.

Buy!

Also check out their Super Meat Boy collection!

Game Soundtracks from Sumthing Distribution ($12-15)

Sumthing is responsible for the majority of game soundtrack releases these days, which is great because back in the day they'd never release them at all. You can check out the catalogue on their website, but I'd buy through Amazon (it's cheaper).

Check it out!

Head Stomp Beanie from Split Reason ($16)

It's a goomba on your head. And that is awesome.

Buy!

Gorillaz Singles Collection ($18)

If you know someone who isn't already a fan of Gorillaz, you need to buy them this. The 10th anniversary celebration CD contains all their best stuff (except for Doncamatic).

Buy!

Slightly More Pricy Gifts:

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary soundtrack on vinyl ($21):

Great for Halo fans and audiophiles! If you know someone who is both a Halo fan and an audiophile, I'm not responsible for any bodily harm incurred from wild expressions of joy. Available December 20th, this green (yep, green) vinyl is limited to only 2,000 units. A collector's item!

Preorder!

Classy gaming t-shirts ($22-$27):
There are plenty more of these out there, but these four are personal favorites of mine.

Halo: The Art of Building Worlds (around $20):

Obviously, the Halo fan in your life will thank you for this one, but I hear it's also popular with non-fans who enjoy the artwork and mythos of Halo.

Buy!

Pipe Mug from Fangamer ($34):

This thing is amazing. I need one of these. Just look at it! It's mug modeled after a warp pipe with a question mark block coaster! What gamer wouldn't want one of these? You can also get it in a set with more block coasters ranging from regular brick to Mario 64 exclamation blocks.

BUY!

Marathon Hoodie from Bungie ($40):

You'll look like an oldschool FPS boss walking around in this Marathon Hoodie. Halo fans will dig it, too, because the Marathon logo was a frequent easter egg in those games. Plus, I hear it's quite comfortable.

Buy!

Nyko 3DS Power Grip ($30):

Someone you know own a 3DS? This grip which triples battery life and adds some (much needed, in my opinion) hand grips will make a great gift.

Buy!

Dragon Ball Z level BRD sets ($22-$27):

DBZ is always a safe bet and the show's never looked or sounded better than these new "level" sets. The first two (1.1 and 1.2) are available now, just be aware that the recipient will probably want to complete the collection and there will be 19 sets.

Buy 1.1! Buy 1.2!

Futurama Volume 6 ($20-$25):

Like DBZ, you can't really go wrong with Futurama. This past "season" had some real gems like "Cold Warriors", "Law and Oracle" and "Reincarnation".

Buy BRD! Buy DVD!

For People You Really Love (pricy):

Hori Classic Controller for Wii ($50-$60):

These controllers are a bit pricy, hard to find, and no longer available in black (sorry, I think I bought the last two in existence) but if you know someone who uses the Wii classic controller a lot, this is the ultimate gift. As I've said, this is probably the finest 3rd party controller ever produced and any Wii owner would be lucky to have one.

Buy from Ebay! Buy from Amazon!

OnLive Microsonsole ($100):

For a mere $100, the OnLive microconsole is technically the cheapest home console money can buy. I haven't tested the console itself, but the OnLive program on my MacBook works surprisingly well. Alternately, you can buy the controller by itself for $50 which works with the desktop or mobile application, or as a standard wireless joypad for Mac and PC.

Buy console! Buy controller!

Logitech Z506 5.1 speakers ($80-$100):

I have an older set of these and I must say, I don't think the sound can get much better for this price. My old G51s (the first and last speaker set in Logitech's gaming line) have served me well for about three years and sound absolutely fantastic. I'd imagine these aren't much different. Unless the person receiving these is expecting something in the several hundred dollar range, they won't be disappointed. Just don't tell them how little you paid.

Compare prices now!

Gameboy Micro ($prices vary wildly):

The Japanese Famicom edition

I recently bought an oft-forgotten Gameboy Micro. It was one of the best purchases I ever made. This thing is the ultimate handheld gaming system and, in my opinion, Nintendo's greatest invention. However, these guys have become quite hard to come by these days. When I got mine at the end of the summer, the cheapest new unit I could find was actually the Famicom 20th anniversary Japanese import edition. It was an absolutely amazing deal at that price. However, now it seems the prices have gone up significantly and you'd be lucky to find a regular edition one for less than $80s new. Of course, it doesn't have to be new, but trust me when I say the build quality of this thing warrants a new purchase. Oh sure, a used one will hold up just fine with its sturdy metal frame, but the sensation of unwrapping a brand new unit is like getting a new iPad.

Copare prices now!

VGA 2011 Wrap

2011-12-10T23:31:00.000-05:00

Lots of stuff from the VGAs, yet there is so little to care about. Regardless, there's a bunch of trailers after the break.

First of all, here's that trailer for Metal Gear Rising that was taken down earlier:

Next, we've got the Diablo 3 intro cinematic:

A rather disappointing BioShock Infinite trailer:

A strange new (tower defense?) IP from Epic:

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron:

Rainbow 6 Patriots:

Amazing Spider-Man:

Alan Wake's American Nightmare:

Mass Effect 3 (this is still an RPG, right?):

Command and Conquer Generals 2:

Finally, and probably most importantly, The Last of Us:

Metal Gear Rising lives as Revengeance

2011-12-10T18:17:00.003-05:00

[EDIT] Trailer's gone. I'll put it back up when it's officially released. Trust me when I say it was awesome.

The VGAs are tonight, and that means a mini E3. The first thing to leak is a trailer for the reworked MGS: Rising, now Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The big news here is that Kojima is no longer developing and Platinum is in charge now. Yes, that Platinum. And holy shit, this game looks fantastic. My interest is rising by 200%!

Keep it tuned here for all the VGA news!

Hori Classic Controller Review

2011-11-28T00:19:00.004-05:00

*NOTE* I have repurposed this review from a now defunct website. If it looks familiar, you're not crazy.

I don't buy a lot of third party accessories for my gaming systems. Though cheaper, it's usually a better investment to go with the first party stuff because it's more likely to last. Regardless, there were a lot of choices back when controllers were wired. Nowadays, Microsoft has a monopoly on wireless controllers and Sony doesn't allow for Bluetooth compatible ones, meaning you need a USB dongle. Nintendo doesn't give a crap, which is why I've only bought third party stuff for Nintendo systems this generation. What I buy, mostly, are controllers. I had a few PS2, Xbox, and GameCube controllers back in the day that weren't very solid. I haven't bought a third-party controller since. Well, until recently.

I got two Nintendo classic controllers back when I bought my Wii in 2006. I hated them. Sure, the d-pad was large and comfortable, but everything else was just terrible for me. It had no handles, the analog sticks were close together, the face buttons were spaced too far apart, the z buttons were hard to reach. It was a mess. Unfortunately, it was also the only option at the time. There were a few third party offerings in the years following, but none of them really stood out to me. Last year, Nintendo finally brought their redesigned Classic Controller Plus to North America. At this point, I had already purchased a couple of Nyko grips for my old Classics (I payed only a few dollars for them at Circuit City) which was an adequate solution. I didn't want to shell out for, what was essentially, the same thing with larger grips. If only there was a way to replicate the excellent feeling of the GameCube pad, I though to myself. So I did a little research, and it turned out there was!

The Hori Classic is available in black, white, and blue.

Enter the Hori Classic Controller. Turns out this controller had actually been available for quite some time in Japan... and only in Japan. Yes, this controller is an import. Yes, it's totally worth it. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's the best third party controller I've ever used. It's by far the best I've ever owned.

The first thing I noticed about the controller, and something that caught me off guard, is how comfortable it is. Looking at pictures of the thing, the outward-angled handles look very awkward. This wasn't the case at all. In fact, they were extremely confortable and ergonomically shaped. The back of them has a curvature to it right where the middle finger sits, giving your lower three fingers the entire handle to hold on to. Thumbs and pointers automatically sit right where they should. The controller was just as comfortable to hold as a GameCube or 360 controller.

The face buttons on the Hori Classic are arranged in today's standard diamond formation, making them instantly easy to navigate. They are larger, flatter, and closer then an Xbox controller, but I had no trouble using them when playing. They are, however, a bit of an oddity. They're not bad by any means, but they're unlike any controller buttons I've ever used before. When pressed, they produce a satisfying click, yet the buttons are not clicky. In fact, they're a bit squishy. Again, I must stress that they're not uncomfortable to use or inaccurate or anything like that. They just feel a bit strange until you get used to them.

The analog sticks on the Hori Classic are superb! They both sit lower and feel tighter than the official Nintendo controller. They're a bit taller and looser than the sticks on the 'Cube, but they feel much closer to them. In case you're wondering, the sticks still have an octagon around them, but that's never bothered me anyway. They are, however, a different thickness and shape but it's unnoticeable when you're playing. The tops are slightly rubberized and have three rings to provide grip (just like the GameCube pad). I wish they sticks were a little more rubbery, though. The GameCube and Wii sticks provide superb grip, and while the Hori Classic sticks also provide a solid grip, they're harder to the touch.

The d-pad is slightly larger than the Gamecube's and is made of a slightly textured hard plastic. It doesn't feel quite as nice as Nintendo's but it works just as well.

The middle of the controller has a lot going on. The plus, minus, and home buttons are here and are easy to reach. Unlike the face buttons, they're rounded and less clicky. You don't use these very often, so it doesn't matter too much what they feel like, but know that they work well. Above them is a series of switches. These are actually tubo controls for Virtual Console games. There's a switch for each of the face buttons as well as the right and left triggers. I tested these with Blazing Lazers, a Turbografx game, and can verify they do their job and made firing my gun a lot faster. Each turbo switch has two levels of control and an off position. They actually need to be pressed down before they're slid because they lock into place, ensuring that you don't accidentally flip them.

On the top of the controller are four shoulder buttons. The two z buttons have the same shape (even retaining the little bump) as the GameCube's, but feel like the z buttons on the stock Classic Controller. They're very stiff and clicky. The two "triggers" function exactly like the GameCube ones and retain the same basic shape. They are taller, however, and don't feel quite as comfortable as a result. The indentations for your finger are nowhere near as deep. This actually results in you having to push them down further before they respond. It's not a huge deal, and it's like going from the 360 to the original Xbox controller. The triggers for the original are larger so it takes more force to press them down. You get used to it after a while, but switching between the 'Cube and the Hori, the 'Cube is obviously superior.

Overall, the size of the controller is comparable to the 'Cube or 360 controllers with perhaps a tad more width. Not needing a battery pack of any kind, it's also a bit lighter. Still, the weight is good and controller feels very solidly built in the hand. One drawback, perhaps, is that the controller is not wireless, so you need to plug it into the Wii remote. I'm not bothered by this, but I wish the cord was longer. It's probably 2.5-3" in length meaning you need some space close by to lay your remote. Luckily, the cord comes out of the top of the controller instead of the bottom as with the original Classic.

Breakdown:

Good:

+Comfortable, solid feel
+Standard diamond face button layout
+Superb analog sticks
+D-pad is solid and functions perfectly
+Turbo switches that lock into place for classic games
+Shoulder buttons imitate the basic feel of the GameCube controller

Bad:
-R/L shoulder buttons sit up higher and aren't quite as comfortable
-Not wireless
-Short cord

Could go either way:
•Non typical face buttons feel squishy and clicky at the same time
•Analogs are less rubbery than on a typical Nintendo pad
•D-pad is smaller than on the official Nintendo equivalent

Final Thoughts:

I said it before and I'll say it again: This is the best third party controller I've ever used. It's so good, in fact, Nintendo should slap their seal on it and make it the official one. I loved it so much I bought a second! If you play games on your Wii that require a classic controller, you need to pick one of these up. Like, right now. They're getting progressively harder to find. I must confess, I bought the last two black ones available at Play-Asia. Sorry! There's a few whites up on eBay a few blues here and there. If you're lucky, you'll be able to snag a one before they're gone for good. Sure, they can be a little pricy, but it's worth every penny in my opinion (and still cheaper than most first-party controllers of similar quality).

Buy:

From Play-Asia

From Amazon

From eBay

Halo Anniversary Terminals Guide

2011-11-27T22:06:00.002-05:00

Most terminals look like this.

I just finished up Halo Anniversary and found out a little special something about the game's terminals. So before I review the game, I thought I'd write up a handy guide to finding the terminals in case you're stuck.

THE PILAR OF AUTUMN: This terminal is disguised as a broken (flashing red) computer console on the ship's bridge. You can easily find and activate it before or after you speak with Keyes.

HALO: When you enter the cave that "isn't a natural formation", instead of jumping your warthog over the gap, take the long way down through the corridor. You'll pass an inlet on the left with a yellow-flashing terminal that looks like the one on pictured here.

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION: You can't miss this one. It's the red portion of the bridge's holo-controls, right were you find Keyes several levels later. I suggest you fight off the Elites before you activate it.

THE SILENT CARTOGRAPHER: You'll find this one against a wall in the round area where you fight the first pair of Hunters. There's an "arch" structure in the middle of this area and you'll find it underneath.

ASSAULT ON THE CONTROL ROOM: This one's a bit tricky and I happened on it completely by chance. Towards the end of the level, you'll enter into an area with a large bridge and two banshees; the same area where you can fly up and listen to "Siege of Madrigal". The giant pyramid-shaped structure you have to work your way up has a huge metal beam sticking diagonally out into the snow, creating a small pit. Drop down here and you'll find a couple of dead marines with a rocket launcher. Turn around and the terminal is right against the beam.

343 GUILTY SPARK: As you ride the final lift out of the flood containment facility, you'll see this terminal on the doorway arch you just came out of. You'll have to activate the lift and jump down to it.

THE LIBRARY: This terminal is probably the easiest in the game to spot. On the 3rd floor, you'll reach a room with a large, round chasm. I saw this terminal clearly from across the room, but it seemed inaccessible at first. You'll need to crouch-jump (jump while running in crouch mode) over the barriers to your right when you enter the room.

TWO BETRAYALS: Ok, so maybe I lied about that last one. This one can clearly be seen from within the cutscene before the level even starts. Kill the sentinels and walk around to the other side of the control room platform where the terminal is glowing in plain sight.

KEYES: It's in the same room as before, but this time in the ditch to the side of the platform where Keyes is. It's red and glowing.

THE MAW: When you enter the cryo bay, climb up the ladder and go through the walkway into the cryo control room overlooking it. Kill the sentinels then activate the terminal located on the red display screen.

Now, if you've been paying attention through all these terminals, you'll have noticed that some Forerunner glyphs flash across the screen at the end of each one. That's no coincidence. In fact, those codes are the key to unlocking the 11th terminal. Yep, there's a secret one.

THRESHOLD: The first thing you need to do is make sure you've unlocked the previous 10 terminals. Now, you'll have to go into Waypoint from the main menu and then hit the X button. This should bring up a screen with a bunch of circles of colors that correspond to buttons on your controller. Enter the code from left to right and you'll be taken to an input screen of Forerunner symbols. From here, you'll have to enter the 10 codes shown at the end of the terminals, in order. I assume that you didn't write them down, so I've got a handy translation for you.

Using the above image for reference, enter the following 10 codes:

343GS
HALO4
SPARK
FLOOD
EARTH
DEMON
RINGS
ARRAY
HUMAN
HAVEN

Each successful input will award you with a "background" (I have no idea what this is for), 7000cR for Reach, and the terminal video accessible from Waypoint. When you put in the 10th, you'll also get an extra 37000cR and the 11th terminal video, which I believe is only accessible from here.

And that's it! Now you've got the complete story of Halo: Combat Evolved! Hope it helped.

Read a large chunk from "Avatar: The Promise" Right now!

2011-11-22T20:59:00.001-05:00

Avatar fans may or not be aware, but Dark Horse is publishing a 3-part graphic novel trilogy in 2012 set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It literally picks up right were the series left off (and, in fact, there is some crossover between the comic and the last scenes of the show that puts them in context) and will focus on Aang and Zuko's efforts to rebuild the world. Essentially, it'll bridge the gap between the orignal series and Korra. Quite a large chunk of the first volume (available January 25th) was leaked online and can be read here. All I have to say is holy shit, it's amazing! No, really. It's just what I wanted. Considering the first volume is 80 pages, we're potentially looking at a 240 page epic here! And I'd like to know, is it just me or does anyone else read the dialog in the characters' voices? You can check out a behind the scenes video about the making of the book after the break.

Teen Titans, GO!

2011-11-22T20:49:00.000-05:00

I posted about this yesterday on the Google+ page, but I think it bears repeating: Teen Titans is returning to television! Well, sort of. It'll be back as an animated short series to air during the Cartoon Network's new DC Nation block in 2012. It's in more or less the same style, with the same voice cast, but the characters are chibi. Unfortunately, the only footage I can find was uploaded to Facebook and I can't embed the video here. But you can check it out at this page. Who else is super excited?

Celebrate the Zelda 25th Anniversary with 25YEARLEGEND

2011-11-22T20:44:00.000-05:00

Of all the awesome Zelda tribute stuff I've seen for the series anniversary, I have to admit that 25YEARLEGEND is probably the best. Sponsored by OC Remix, the album contains arrangements by Indie game composers spanning the entire history of the Zelda series. It's awesome in that it's not what I was expecting at all. You should go grab yourself a copy and get to listening!

All of Tamriel is (maybe) in Skyrim

2011-11-22T18:40:00.000-05:00

So there's this Finnish blogger by the name of Jesse who broke through the invisible wall connecting Skyrim to Morrowind. Guess what he found. The whole province of Morrowind. And then from Morrowind he traveled to Cyrodiil. Yes, it seems very probable that the entire land of Tamriel has been programmed into the game. But why? That certainly is the question. Popular speculation is either for DLC or modders, since many modders often recreate other provinces in TES anyway. These areas are't completely accurate or to scale, at least in relation to their respective games. There could be several reasons for this. They could be in there to provide some context of the for the 3D map, but that seems unlikely to me. There's just too much land created here, even if it isn't entirely accurate. My theory is that, taking place 200 years after Oblivion, the landscape could have changed somewhat. For example:

Oblivion above. Skyrim below.

I imagine that if that lake started to dry up, you might get something like the Skyrim version. No, there's definitely a reason for the existence of these landmasses that related to the gameplay. I mean, the path that leads to Morrowind is blocked by a wall, but that wall has an open walkway. Bethesda stated before that there would be less DLC for Skyrim, but that it would be more substantial. Perhaps a trip to Morrowind or the Imperial City is in order?

Halo miniseries incoming!

2011-11-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a fan series, of course, but it looks to be lovingly crafted. Basically, it'll end up being awesome like most fan series and unlike the stuff Hollywood craps out. The series is based on the short story "Dirt" by Tobias Buckell and will premier in January.

A Week of Halo!

2011-11-15T16:17:00.000-05:00

What a time to relaunch, eh? Today is Halo's 10th birthday and to celebrate I've got a whole week of awesome Halo features culminating in the review of Halo Anniversary! Come to think of it, it's also the 10th anniversary of Xbox too. Lots of memories to relive. Stay tuned for awesomeness.

Holy crap we're back!

2011-11-15T00:55:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's right. After going through two websites I've decided that Installation 04 is my true home. So it's back in business! Expect an influx of content coming up, whether it's just me or a team of great people. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have deleted the Facebook page.

Oh, and there's going to be a bit of maintenance going on for the next week at least.

The End (UPDATED!)

2011-05-30T00:36:00.001-04:00

This, the 780th post, will be this blog's last. For you see, we moved on, grown up, and transformed into something new. Twinfinite. If you somehow frequent this blog, or just now stumbled across it, please redirect yourself there.

See you on the other side.

/Fuzunga

Goodbye

2011-03-26T20:02:00.001-04:00

This here's the logo for the new website. I made it myself!

A status update: Installation 04 is now closing forever. Project P.R.O.J.E.C.T. is nearly complete and is currently soft launching as we speak. That sounded slightly dirty. Sorry, for those of you looking forward to the jelly eggs. That wasn't the part coming true.

RaiderBear/KromeBear and I have created a brand new website called The Players Republic and it's nearly ready to launch. Until then, we're slowly unrolling the site through social networks like Facebook and Twitter. You can find more details at our current base of operations on Facebook by clicking this text. If you've enjoyed our stuff in the past, you're going to want to like that page.

This recent turn of events means, of course, that Installation 04 will soon be nothing more than another archived website corpse. Don't worry, though, it won't be deleted forever if you want to go back and read our fine words. I'm not quite done with all the content on here yet, either. In any event, would of course like to thank everyone who helped me with this site over the years, and all those readers who provided over 82,000 hits. No, this isn't the end. It's just the beginning of a new chapter. Part three, to be exact. So don't be sad, be happier than ever! And remember, The Players Republic is relevant to your interests.

REDIRECT>>

2010-07-23T00:37:00.000-04:00

To keep up with new posts and information on upcoming stuff, please visit this link.

/Fuzunga

Interesting Game

2010-07-19T21:44:00.002-04:00

This one looks pretty cool.

And thats about it for now

The End?

2010-07-12T19:58:00.000-04:00

Not quite, but it's dormant time. Super special secret stuff is in the works and holy crap you can upload videos via Blogger now. When did they add that? Anyway, the next time you hear from me here will probably be on status updates for my new Project. I call it Project P.R.O.J.E.C.T. It stands for Projected Revolution Or Jelly Eggs Coming True. Take your pick. Oh, you wanted real information? Those first two letters are a clue.

/Fuzunga

The Deal

2010-07-01T00:43:00.000-04:00

So here's the deal. Something big is coming so hold on to your pants. When? Eventually... Anyway, less posts now means more awesome later. Oh so much awesome! Deal?

Epic Steam sale is epic

2010-06-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

It's steam, see, and it says Valve underneath it so it's cleaver. Right? Anyway, Steam is having this really epic summer sale. Nearly everything has been marked down to ridiculously low prices until July 4th. Hell, even I have a Mac and there's plenty to choose from. So get on over there to Steam right now and save!

Get that awesome Deus Ex music NOW!

2010-06-25T00:58:00.000-04:00

Remember that super kickass trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Remember how awesome the music was? Well now you can download it for free from the official website. Awesome.

Lightning Reviews

2010-06-24T16:22:00.003-04:00

I've been working on and off on a secret project so I don't have the time to write full reviews; however, for some guidance, here are a few fast reviews that I was planning on making large:

Bioshock 2: 8

Rapture comes to life again with beautiful coloration and an exciting adventure. The dual-wielding is a nice touch, but until the very end, the game lacks the emotion of the first game. While the first game is better, this is a welcome return to Rapture and a solid sequel. I also think the multiplayer is fantastic. The online is basically Modern Warfare 1 made Bioshocky.

Red Dead Redemption:

As a massive fan of the first game, I waited for this game since 8th grade. I was very let-down by the single-player. It was severely overhyped because of the "sand-box" aspect. Yes, the sand-box is brilliantly executed. Yes, a lot of work was put into the game. For me, however, singleplayer is about the missions and not your free-roam. Free-roam gets boring, so it's the missions that move you along. The missions were dull, too long, not enough shooting, and at times, very stupid. I recall at least 4 quests that involved herding cattle, and some that involved following dogs around for 10+ minutes to kill one guy. I spent more than 50% of this game riding my horse to different locations, and 30% frustrated at the repetitiveness of each quest. Instead of sticking to Red Dead Revolver's innovation, Rock Star took GTA's missions and forced them into the Wild West. I also hate the "bounty system" because it doesn't make sense. If someone insults me, takes a gun out, tries to shoot me but fails, and I attack back, why am I the criminal? Why should I have to escape from the police when the outlaw was trying to kill me? If I fight back, I lose honor and prices at shops go up. If I don't, I die, have to start over, lose all my money, and takes a smaller honor hit. Great choice.

The online, however, is different. The online takes the singleplayer and strips it of missions and honor-hit of , leaving you with a world where you are free to wreak mayhem without any fears. Even better, you do it with any player that wants to join your possee. The multiplayer games are boring because weapons are pre-set, and the locations are the same as singleplayer.

This game could have been a 10, but lack of innovation docks it to a 6.5 for me. The free-roam takes it up to a 7.5, and multiplayer to an 8. This one is tricky to review because the game has great and horrible aspects. So if you enjoy free-roam, you will love this game. If you are like me who wants solid-missions, wait for a price drop.

FIFA World Cup: 10

Granted that the ratings for sports games aren't the same as ratings for other games, but this game is perfect for a sports game. It has nothing wrong. I'm not a soccer fan and I love it.

Crackdown 2 impressions

2010-06-24T00:21:00.002-04:00

Crackdown 2 suffers from something I like to call "next-gen disease." That is 1) it's darker and 2) it has zombies. Because everyone knows if your game isn't dark and zombie-ridden it isn't modern. The city, while the same, is almost unrecognizable at least in the area I played. Everything's decayed and run down, the color pallet is darker and even the Agency agents look like generic armored men. One of my favorite things about the first Crackdown was how your agent would physically evolve when your skills increased. While he certainly gets bigger now, the only other visual effect is more armor. You can choose a specific face for your agent, but you'll never see it, and the armor colors include blue, gray, light gray, and dark gray. Exciting. Even the HUD is transparent black rather than blue. Yes sir, this game certainly has next-gen disease.

That being said, the game is still a ton of fun. In fact, if you enjoyed the first game like I did then there's a lot to like here. The core skills are the same and work in the same general way, but now the higher your skill level the more equipment and abilities you'll unlock. Max agility means you get a gliding suit, whereas max strength means you get a ground pound area attack. I think they upped the max level for skills as well, meaning that, for instance, you'll be able to jump higher overall than you could in the first game. Oddly, I didn't notice agency cars (which are now unlocked as your driving skill progresses) transform depending on your skill level. Maybe it's the perk when you max it out? On the bright side, your agent will do more than just kick now. There's a few HUD alterations that were odd to me as well. Supply points are no longer marked by glowing orange beams, for instance. Oh, and agility orbs are octagons for some reason. Sure I have my little gripes, but the overall experience is fine. Probably my biggest issue has to do with the pacing which leads me to....

The damn zombies. Why add zombies? Granted, it is impressive when you first see them flood the streets. There are literally hundreds and thousands everywhere. They're called "freaks" and they appropriately come out at night. It's a strange gameplay element that seems out of place to me. They're not even interesting zombies. They're the foot-shuffling kind you find in Dead Rising. They're easy to kill and are no match for a supercop. They only overwhelm in numbers and even then they're not match for a ground pound or even a car. They are, by the way, a great way to increase your driving ability. Now, instead of fighting those three factions of gang members, you take on the Cell and the freaks. By day, you'll fight the Cell and capture key extraction points and these weird laser beam projectors. Every three projectors you take back allows you to venture underground into the freak HQ to plant a giant light orb thing. Once those laser beacons are in place and the orb secure, it'll wipe out the freaks in that area. You'll have to defend the orb from an onslaught of freaks, though. Somehow I find this less interesting than the last game. For one, I'm not a fan of the zombies and I'm also not a fan of the lack of variety in human enemies- from three factions to one. The freaks are so much the focus of this game that there's even specific light-based weapons to combat them (you know, because they're apparently like vampires and fry in the sunlight).

What I didn't try was playing online. There seems to be a big focus on this and there's even specific orbs you can only gather online. It certainly sounds fun, I must admit. I might write up impressions of that once I've tried it.

Likes: new additions to the core abilities, gameplay more or less the same, more vehicles, more challenges and difficulty levels, it has some music now, that awesome disembodied voice is back

Dilikes: significantly more generic and less immaginative, some of the HUD stuff players took for granted is strangely absent, my car won't transform, darker, the way the corners of the screen darken when you get hit is really annoying

First impression: Right now, this game feels more like Prototype than Crackdown. Will I still buy it? Probably, but you can tell the change in developer probably hurt it.

But wait, there's more! The demo is online for download right now on Xbox Live and you can try it for yourself! It's 30 minutes, but you can cheat the system. It's Fuzunga tested and approved. This glitch works.

E3 Fail

2010-06-23T19:58:00.000-04:00

So I was working on this epic E3 post and it seems to have disappeared. There's no way I'm going to rewrite all that, so I guess now you'll never know. Anyway, In case you weren't aware, here were my own grades for the Big 3 this E3:

Sony: B
Microsoft: C-
Nintendo: A+

E3 Grade - Kromebear

2010-06-18T20:26:00.004-04:00

I'm not going to ruin Fuzunga's up-coming post, but here are my grades for E3 (and ranking):

1. Nintendo = A+

2. Sony = B/B-

3. Microsoft = C-/D+

Yes, Microsoft sucked. They failed to surprise or do anything new. Plus, Nintendo was so good it made everyone else look worse.

Daily E3 Wrap: The End

2010-06-18T01:02:00.001-04:00

Can you believe it's over? Yup, another whole year of E3 has passed us by, but we'll be feeling all the awesome shockwaves for a year to come. That doesn't mean all the awesome E3 coverage is over, though. Far from it! E3 is such a big event, that there will be media and info for quite a while to come. And, on the bright side, E3 '11 has already been dated for June 7-9. But for now, let's take a look at some more games that were shown or announced at this year's expo.

Video Games | Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom | E3 2010: Stage Walkthrough HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The following trailer has the best opening line ever. Be warned.

Crysis 2

Bulletstorm

Sonic Colors

Enslaved

And finally today, you can find a fantastic 10 minute demo of Rage on G4 that I can't fucking imbed for some reason, but it's ABSOLUTELY worth your time!

Merger!!!

2010-06-17T01:39:00.000-04:00

So once we were one, then two, and now we shall be one again. The Cutting Edge will return to Installation4!!! The reason is simple: efficiency!

E3: Day 2 Trailers (and gameplay)

2010-06-16T21:20:00.001-04:00

Holy fail, Batman! Looks like the last trailer post I did was somehow XCOM over and over again. So... no more GameTrailers.

And... more to come!

Daily E3 wrap: Nintendo and Sony

2010-06-15T23:37:00.002-04:00

Oh man. What a day it was! So yeah, Nintendo basically obliterated everyone and stole the show. They win. Is it possible to give a grade higher than A+? Because that's what they get. Seriously, it was perfect. This was the day Nintendo fans have been waiting for for years. I really don't know where to begin, but I must try!
So Nintendo opened up their show this morning with Zelda. A complete, comprehensive demo of Zelda: Skyward Sword to be exact. It's developed for MotionPlus and from the ground up with motion controls in mind. It looked very pretty, too. Actually, the look is hard to describe. Link, once again, is a grown man but the world is significantly brighter and more colorful than Twilight Princess. Its like a blend of TP and Wind Waker. Actually, just check this out:

Nice, eh? After that... well, things just got all the sweeter. After showing off Wii Party (think Mario Party with Miis) and Mario Sports Mix (volleyball, hockey, dodgeball, basketball), Nintendo went straight to the core. They announced a remake of the classic Goldeneye 007 and the crowd went wild. They showed off an impressive demo of Epic Micky, which is now on my radar. How about a new Kirby or DK Country from Retro? Totally unexpected. Of course, Metroid was shown off and it's never looked better. The new Golden Sun for the DS was shown for the first time in a year. Then the 3DS was unveiled. Wow. And, yup, they totally used it as an excuse to revisit old franchises. The first game announced? Kid Icarus: Uprising. It looked amazing! Oh, and almost every Nintendo franchise got a new game announced, except for F-Zero which would have kicked ass in 3D and Pikmin 3 which everyone was expecting. Sure it's absence was surprising, but Nintendo more than made up for it. Seriously, check out this list of announced 3DS games:

DJ Hero 3D
Resident Evil Revelations
Super Street Fighter 4 3D
EA FIFA Soccer
Madden NFL
The Sims 3
Unnamed Music Game from Harmonix
Bomberman
Contra
Frogger
Metal Gear Solid 3D
BloodRayne: The Shroud
A Boy and His Blob
Harvest Moon 3D
Dragonball
Gundam
Ridge Racer
Pac-Man
Sonic
Super Monkey Ball
Dragon Quest 3D
Final Fantasy
Kindgom Hearts
Dead or Alive 3D
Dynasty Warriors
Ninja Gaiden
de Blob 2
Saints Row: Drive-By
Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy
Driver
Ghost Recon
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Batman
Animal Crossing
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Mario Kart
Paper Mario
PilotWings
StarFox 64 3D
LoZ: Ocarina of Time 3D

And that's not even all of them! So, yeah, asses kicked and names taken. Good job, Nintendo. You've reclaimed your rightful place on the throne and restored our faith in gaming.

Sony's biggest surprise is pictured to the left. A new Twisted Metal that has literally been denied was announced! Also demoed, inFamous 2, Dead Space 2, Killzone 3 (which I must say was impressive), with trailers of Portal 2, Final Fantasy 14, and more in the many, many montages of games shown off. Sony seems to be the king of those. So quite a few new games were announced or shown off for Sony's two systems, but it was also just as much about 3D and Move. Quite honestly, 3D does not impress because you'll need a 3D tv and those stupid glasses. Move underwhelms also. At this point, it doesn't seem to be able to do anything that the Wii doesn't. On top of that, most of the games looked Wii-gimicky. Except for a game called Sorcery. That looked cool. Sony did have an impressive lineup of games, though. It was strange that The Last Guardian was completely missing, but Sony still gets a solid B+.

Videos incoming... it's going to be intense.

E3: More Fallout Fun

2010-06-15T14:00:00.005-04:00

Well readers here's the scoop: A new Fallout Vegas trailer has been released and just in time for E3...yeah. This is not a post about E3 or anything really relating to it besides this trailer, the fact that it is a video game and the timing. What we have here is a standard analysis post. First, let me give you the trailer...

There you go. So now that you have watched it, it's time to tear it apart and feed on the juicy little tid bits that are the info and facts. Lets start at the beginning. The trailer opens on an Enclave eye bot zooming down a street (or what remains their of), so we know that the enclave is back (yeah!), or at least some remnant of it, because the West coast Enclave were "destroyed" in Fallout 2. Once the Eye bot takes a couple shots we move to the shooter himself. From what you can see, its a man (probably the main character, judging from the Pip boy) in VATS (if you don't know what VATS is please stop reading because none of this will mean anything to you.) wearing an armored vault jumpsuit with a high powered (looks like a .50 cal) sniper rifle, blasting away at the eye bot. We then move to the first person view of the character shooting at some raider or smuggler like people with a scoped laser rifle, and then jump to the character shooting at a super mutant with a fast acting grenade launcher (maybe). Then it moves to a wave of people running at the main character and the character blowing them up with pre-dropped remote controlled mines (gonna be fun!). The trailer then shows our hero kill a super mutant with a sniper rifle at close range. But then another super mutant becomes visible and attacks. The de-invisableiing of a super mutant indicates the return of the Nightkin (an elite warrior caste of cloaked super mutants working for the Master from the first Fallout). The trailer then goes through some desert scenery raider camps and such, showing us locations in the game. Then you glimpse a third person view of our hero walking through what appears to be a slaver camp and a camp for the New California Republic. We are then shown some images of the Vegas strip, some inside shots, indication that actual gambling can occur, and some guys dancing. All of a sudden we are fighting a giant bee thing (no info on what this is) and then a robot firing missiles at us. The hero in the robot battle scene appears to be holding some sort of plasma rifle. You are then butted by a Big Horner (mutated big horn sheep) and a giant artillery gun blows up. You then get a peak at the Helios One (a space laser that you will at some point in the game gain complete control of, AWESOME!!), and some shell bombardments and some rockets taking off.A grenade launcher is shown being used, a New California Ranger firing an assault rifle and the main character being attacked by some reptile dogs. You then see what I assume to be Helios One firing and the Hero using some sort of plasma pistol, but he is in a lush green environment (how odd?). Some more scattered fighting and someone walking away from a building as it explodes. It then shows you the title and the eye bot flying away.

OK, so maybe it wasn't some much an analysis as it was a summery, but now you know what everything you saw was. The graphics for the actual game play look a little ify but that's why this is not the finished product, its just a trailer. Even so, the game looks awesome and I hope everyone is as excited as I am for it. So, leave your thoughts on the trailer, the game, my "review" or just what you would like to hear about in the future or any questions you have in the comment area and I'll post a comment in reply. See you.

Daily E3 wrap: Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft

2010-06-14T23:35:00.001-04:00

That there is the new slimmer Xbox 360 which will be available, uh, tomorrow and which will replace all versions of the current system. Next to it is Kinect, which will be available this fall and will automatically connect up to the new, slimmer system. For older 360 models, Kinect will require its own power supply. In addition to that convenience, the new system will come with a 250 gig HD, which will be removable though presumably smaller, that you can transfer your data to from your current system via a $20 cable (not included) that was included with the old 120 gig drive. It's quieter, smaller, and has built in wifi. Oh, and it looks like the PS3 used to. Why would they go for the glossy look? And the random angle in the middle of the power button? Overall, it looks more like an Alienware computer to me and less like an Xbox. More shots here. Unfortunately for Microsoft, this was pretty much the best of their show today. The full day's summary after the break.

So my prediction of the Microsoft show was pretty much spot on. The show opened with a preview of COD: Black Ops, which actually looked alright. It was interesting to me in that the demo took place in a jungle which was finally something other than either a city or a desert. Nice change of pace. That was followed by the first footage of Metal Gear Solid: Rising (called it!) which looked SO AWESOME! Then there was a demo of Gears 3 (I'm pretty sure the demo contained a lambent berserker!) and Halo Reach (when you see the end, bricks will be shat). There was a trailer of Fable 3, though I was expecting a demo. Not that it matters much because that game doesn't interest me. The rest of the show, predictably, was focused on Kinect. While it looks like an awesome hands free controller for system functions, my gimick-y fears were realized today. The only thing of value shown off was a demo of Forza 3 controlled by Kinect. There were two exclusive announcements: timed DLC for all COD games for the next three years, and an exclusive new IP from Crytek which looked like it was set in ancient Rome. Cool, but no details. Then the announcement of ESPN on Xbox Live and... the new Xbox which wasn't even a surprise because the story leaked yesterday. And that's it. Not even an Arcade montage. Overall, I'd say I get an A for my prediction. And Microsoft? They get a C-.

EA fared much better. They showed off ten of their upcoming titles which included Medal of Honor, Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, The Old Republic, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (from the developers of Burnout!), Maden 11, a new MMA game, some fitness crap, Crysis 2, and The Sims 3 for consoles. While they didn't show the the new project from Insomniac or Respawn I was hoping for, it was a really solid showing, with some awesome demos and trailers.

Ubisoft's show was... weird. They opened up with a gameplay demo of the only promising Kinect game I've seen called Child of Eden. It's a spiritual successor to Rez, one of the most popular cult games ever, from the very same developer at Q? Entertainment. Then there were a bunch of strange non-games like, uh, laser tag and a game for breathing exercises. Besides that, there was a demo of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, which actually looked impressive and surprisingly more interesting than the previous installments. Ghost Recon Future Soldier was demoed and also looked surprisingly awesome. A new Driver was shown off as well and it looked interesting, but not quite as cool as the new Need For Speed. There was also a new downloadable project dubbed Project Dust. The trailer was vague, but intriguing. And while there was nothing about Beyond Good and Evil 2, the surprise of their show was Rayman Origins. Yup, Rayman lives! The new game will be 2D and looks gorgeous.

Keep your eyes out for a big 'ol trailer post to wrap up the day.

E3: Get over here for this new Mortal Kombat trailer

2010-06-13T23:30:00.003-04:00

Turns out there is a new game. Looks like a reboot to me. And a return to form.

The pre-E3 Post

2010-06-13T22:47:00.001-04:00

E3 will be upon us tomorrow. The question everyone wants to know is who will win? Because E3 is apparently some sort of a contest. So who will it be? Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony? See my predictions of the show below.

I expect Microsoft to demo Gears 3, Halo Reach, and Fable 3 on the show floor. They'll probably have some other non-exclusive surprise demo as well in addition to the usual solid Arcade lineup. I'm guessing they'll announce something unexpected game-wise. I've heard recently that 343 will be there to announce more Halo games which would be interesting. I'm thinking that if Metal Gear Solid Rising is demoed or shown at all, it'll debut at the Microsoft conference because the announcement that it would be on Xbox was such a big deal. And, of course, Natal, recently dubbed "Kinect" will be there in full force. Sure it seemed cool at first, but I get the idea it'll be dubbed a failure when it's all said and done. I think that, for Microsoft to win, its exclusives and announcements need to blow us away. An announcement about a slimmer console won't do it either.

As with Microsoft, for Sony it's all about motion control. Move will be the big thing and I'm expecting a lot of Move demos and game announcements. They'll probably show off Killzone 3, SOCOM 4, and inFamous 2. What I'm really hoping for is that rumored Kingdom Hearts announcements, and a little Final Fantasy Versus XIII wouldn't hurt either. On the PSP side of things? Well, the best thing Sony could do at this point is to announce a whole new system all together. A PSP2, if you will. Overall, I think Sony has a decent lineup even without move, provided they show them off. Their surprise announcements better be good, though! The PS3 is finally in a good place, and it would be devastating for Sony to ruin it now. I'm also expecting new PSN features, which could go either way. Not sure a paid service will be extremely popular.

Nintendo's got the big guns. I fully expect a demo of Metroid: Other M, but more than that I expect some hardcore announcements. Pikmin 3. Zelda. Kirby. F-Zero. Starfox. Nintendo's new handheld is the perfect excuse to revisit these old Nintendo franchises. I'm really hoping the 3DS delivers. It certainly sounds amazing from the rumors and it has the potential to steal the show. Sure, there will be the usual casual nonsense, but I'm thinking that this will really be Nintendo's return to form. If at least one new game with Mario in it isn't announced I'll be very, very surprised. The absence of Zelda would also be a major blow. I'm almost certain it'll show, though. And while I know it seems unlikely, I would love to see the birth of a new Miyamoto classic or the start of some sort of new hardcore Nintendo franchise. And a new online mentality wouldn't hurt either.

PREDICTED WINNER: NINTENDO

Hope really hope I'm not wrong because I want this to be Nintendo's year and I think they have the potential. I'm expecting somewhat of a return to form for them. Second, I'd probably go with Sony and, for probably the first time since they entered the fray, Microsoft in third. While we're at it, I'm going to go ahead and predict Deus Ex: Human Revolution as the game of the show.

How to make the best of a bad game

2010-06-13T20:35:00.003-04:00

Tony Hawk: Ride was crap, but the board can be useful.

HELP WANTED!

2010-06-13T02:27:00.002-04:00

Let me rephrase that: HELP NEEDED! Installation 04 needs your help, fine readers. It's common knowledge that I've been doing the majority of posting for over a year. The truth is, I can't do it alone. MonkeyLord and KromeBear have been helping out when they can and in the meantime I've lost Doegab. It's not enough. It's just not enough. Luckily, the more (dedicated) writers we have here, the more posts go up. That's where you come in. See, we need more people. A lot more people. With your help, we can make this place great. It's going to take a lot of dedication and work, but the payoff will be fantastic. Every dream of going to E3? Help I4 make it to the top and you might just have a shot. Suck at writing? It's not just writers we need either. Still interested? Inquire within.

If you know anything about us then you know that pretty much anything goes. We cover games, media and stuff. Therefore, if you play games, we want you. Watch a lot of movies? We want you. Read a lot of books or comics? We want you? Obsessed with the latest tech? We want you. Watch a lot of TV? We want you. Listen to a lot of music? We want you. Quite frankly, we could use people in all those areas and more. Think you can handle more than one position? Then we definitely want you! Whatever you can bring to the table, we can probably use it. Got ideas for features? We want to hear them. Want to scour the web for the best viral videos? We want to see them. Here's what we need:

Writers in the areas of games, media, and stuff. Whether it be brief news stories or in depth reports, reviews, and features. See above. Oh, and editors.
Tech people! We've gotten along without you but we could really use you! Web designer? Fantastic! We could use one! Know a lot about podcasting? Great! We've been wanting to get one off the ground for some time! Great with photoshop? We can use spiffy graphics! Whatever you can do to help improve the site on a technical level is greatly appreciated. Right now, that's just me and I don't do a whole lot. I let blogger take care of most of it and it shows. We need behind the scenes guys who keep the place running smoothly and looking good!
Publicity. Can you get us known? Then we want you. Help us achieve more hits and world domination. Research what the readers want so they'll stick with the site. Organize events like contests if we ever get that far along.
General posters. Like I said previously, you don't have to write. Whatever you can contribute is worthwhile to us. Like collecting stuff like great motivational posters or internet videos? We'll take those posts too.
Let's not forget original content. If you write short stories or poems, whether game related or not, they're welcome here!

Obviously, communication is important here, but at this stage it's more of a hobby than anything. That's why I let people work freely and independently for the most part. Posting is up to you and will not be put though some sort of standards check. You can post what you want when you want so long as it gels with the site and isn't offensive. Just make sure it hasn't already been done. It's important to keep up with your fellow member's daily activity on the site. Obviously publicity and tech people will need to communicate with me more. Communicate ideas via e-mail unless a conversation is necessary in which case we would resort to IM. Everybody should check their e-mail often. That would be the primary source of communication (or Facebook message if that is preferable). If you have an idea for something new I would like to OK it first before giving the go ahead. Established features and news can be posted without notifying me first. Spellcheck is your friend. Editors would be helpful in ensuring the upmost quality of posts. They should simply check the posting area every so often and read over the new posts, correcting any errors. In the event we do not have an editor, read the post carefully yourself (as you should do anyway). And when it comes to posts, a little humor or sarcasm never hurt anybody. There's no post limit you need to meet and you won't be fired if you don't post every day. As long as you contribute something as often as you are able. That being said, you will be let go if you never do anything ever. Been with us for months without a single post? Sorry, we don't need your kind around here. What we do need is individuals passionate and dedicated enough to post about it.

To apply, e-mail the following information to installation4@hotmail.com

Your name and location
Your penname (the name that will appear on the blog and that you will be known as)
What you can bring to Installation 04 and why we would need it
A sample of your work, whatever that may be
How much time you think you can contribute

And to answer your question, no, you won't get payed. Yet. You certainly will get payed if you help us get big. Right now, we do what we do for the love of what we do. And we hope you do too. Good luck.

New Look and Surprise Review

2010-06-12T03:01:00.001-04:00

Yes, in honor of Installation 04's E3 inspired New Look, I have also chosen a new look. The look is temporary, unless y'all really like it. It's inspired by Super Mario Galaxy 2 because the colors of the game alone make me really happy. No, Galaxy 2 isn't the surprise review, but in the upcoming mega-review post there will be one added review!

New Look

2010-06-11T21:49:00.003-04:00

It's E3 time and everybody's doing it! I went with green this time because why the hell not. Wanted a change of pace from the usual depressing shades of gray. Other new stuff includes a split sidebar, new Tetris header, and overall larger and easier to read page. Oh, and you no longer have to click on the post title to read the full post. Hooray!

P.S.- I'm still tweaking things.

Review: Super Mario Galaxy 2

2010-06-11T17:02:00.000-04:00

*Note* Sorry this took so long to get up. It's been finished for a bit, but I spent the last day in the hospital.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is, more or less, the definition of a great game. Don't call it Super Mario Galaxy 1.5 Everything about it is polished and executed perfectly. I'm not sure if any game has achieved this level of perfection before, but certainly no Mario game has. Since Mario is usually at the top of its class, I think it's safe to say that Galaxy 2 is one of Nintendo's finest games ever. Is it better than Mario 64? Most would say it's not because Mario 64 is classic. Honestly? Yes it is. It's the culmination of everything that worked in past Mario games. Even the 2D ones.

Breakdown:

Visuals: Super Mario Galaxy 2 is beautiful. Not for a Wii game, just in general. With next-gen brown invading everything and generic bald space marines in generic armor fighting generic aliens in generic cities, it's nice to have something full of color and imagination. This game reminds me why I love games and why I started playing them. It reminds me of a simpler, more challenging, and more fun time in gaming. Everything shines and comes to life. Mario proves that 1) you don't have to be cell shaded to look good on the Wii and 2) you don't have to be cell shaded to be imaginative. And, honestly, this game has some of the most beautiful water on any system ever.

Presentation: This game makes me very, very happy. It takes me back to the N64 days when platform games were in their prime. I'm reminded how many there were between Rayman, Bomberman, Banjo-Kazooie, and the like. Games back then were colorful and imaginative. There was less emphasis on a serious story and more emphasis on fun. That's what Super Mario Galaxy 2 is. They took everything that's worked in all the past mario games and combined it together. No more stupid observatory to mull around in. It's replaced by Starship Mario, which acts as the game's mini hub world. It keeps the action going because you can jump into a stage at any time. The stage select uses a map similar to past Mario games like Mario Bros 3 or NSMB. Not a moment goes by when you're not doing something meaningful.

While it might seem like more of the same with the "Galaxy" name, it's not at all. Besides the space aesthetic, this game acts as if the previous one never happened. As a result, it's 100% new material. Every stage is new, there's several new powerups that the game makes extensive use of, Yoshi's back and isn't tacked on like he was in Sunshine, the Bowser fights are different, even the music is different. If a song returns, you can bet it's been rearranged. And the game is made with the hardcore gamer in mind. The star limit for the final battle has been upped to 70, and the difficulty in general has been increased. Never did I find myself with an excess of stars like in the first game when I had enough to finish it without even unlocking every galaxy. This game fixes the pacing and makes sure you see everything the game has to offer. There's quite a few more stages this time around and, consequently, they have less stars each. This adds great variety to the gameplay because nothing is overused. You may come across stages with a gameplay element you'll never see again. Some of these single-star stages are the best in the game.

Gameplay: The base gameplay is the same as the last title, but it's got a lot of new and unique elements. There's a few new powerups for Mario such as the cloud flower, rock mushroom, and drill which are used creatively in stages and boss battles. Likewise, Yoshi has his own powerups. I loved this idea. The little green dinosaur has never been so well integrated into Mario's adventure.

Above all, the designers of this game have perfected level design. Every stage is absolutely fantastic and memorable. Though there's more stages, meaning they're shorter, they certainly are short but sweet. I was surprised, playing through, that the creativity and challenge never let up.

Controls: Not much to say here. It's the same as before, your standard Mario fare. When you ride Yoshi, your pointer controls his tongue you you can eat from afar. Yoshi's tongue is another important gameplay element in the game.

Sound: I'm not certain, but I think this game might outdo the previous game's soundtrack. It's pretty much the highest quality gaming music you can find. Lovely stuff, really. Besides the music, the rest of the sound is equally lovely. It's as imaginative and creative as the rest of the game.

Replay: This game has 242 stars. They're all different. That's one long game. After you beat Bowser the final time, you unlock World S with some of the toughest stages in Mario history and after you collect all initial 120 gold stars, you unlock the green star challenge. This time, collecting another 120 stars is not simply a rehash with another character. These green stars can be hidden anywhere in a stage and many of them are extremely tough to grab. Finding them all will unlock the final galaxy with two more stars. And after you do that, you unlock Luigi to play in any stage to obtain any star (he's playable after 25 stars in certain stages). So, yeah, there's a lot to do here.

Final Thoughts: This game will take you back to the good 'ol days of gaming. It'll make you remember why you got into gaming in the first place. Regardless of which console you prefer or whether you may regret buying a Wii for some reason, this game will make you a Nintendo fan again.

Coming Soon: Bioshock 2, Darksiders, FIFA World Cup

2010-06-11T02:13:00.000-04:00

Well since I'm usually pressed for time I've found it most efficient to group up reviews. The next batch will be Bioshock 2, Darksiders, and (just in time for the real-deal) the FIFA World Cup game. My next 2 games will be 2 big-name titles: Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Expect great reviews in the near future!

Mortal Kombat Rebirth

2010-06-09T02:05:00.000-04:00

The following is apparently test footage made for WB by an unnamed director who wants to reboot the franchise (it is assumed) in movie form. I have to say, it looks pretty fantastic. I'd see it. Between this and Street Fighter Legacy, which may actually become a series (!), it looks like game-to-screen adaptations ar looking up!

The facts of life

2010-06-09T01:57:00.000-04:00

Now that the evil fruit has gotten your attention, I'd like to make a statement. Lately, I've been the only one really doing crap around here I've got two other guys ( MonkeyLord and KromeBear- they deserve recognition) who help out when they can. Everyone else is useless. If that offends you, well, then try not being useless. In any case, I've been doing some thinking. Obviously, we're not going to continue on like this. We're all busy fellows who do this in their spare time. Thing is, we obviously don't have much of that these days. I'm not closing the place down, but I don't what such infrequent posting either. Therefore, don't be surprised if I you see a post up in the next few days trying to recruit people. We need more. More people= more available posting time= more posts. Just FYI, if you're interested. Details will be forthcoming.

If this game doesn't blow me away...

2010-06-05T02:07:00.000-04:00

Few trailers have ever made me this excited. Many have come close, but I day say that this could be the single greatest game trailer ever. It's for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and it don't take no shit. It's designed like, and feels like, a blockbuster movie trailer and if it was a movie I'd see it in a heartbeat. If this game doesn't absolutely blow me away as the best game of 2011, hell the best game EVER, I will be extremely disappointed. I haven't been this excited in a long, long time. And it feels great.

I'll chop your head off!

2010-06-02T18:36:00.002-04:00

What is this extremely epic image you ask? Why it's from Axe Cop, the greatest comic ever created. You see, Axe Cop is a cop who uses an axe and is great a fighting. Together with his pals Flute Cop, Sockarang, his talking dog Ralph Wrinkles, and his pet dinosaur with machine guns for arms, Wrexer (and a lot more people) he is on a mission to wipe out all evil in the world. What's the best part? It's written by 5 year old Malachai Nicolle and edited and illustrated by his 29 year old brother Ethan. It's super awesome. Trust me. If you enjoy my nonsense stories, it's actually just like that but with pictures. Check out the first comic below and click here to see the rest.

'Net's back!

2010-06-02T02:09:00.000-04:00

My internet is back and working at half capacity! Huzzah! Super Mario Galaxy 2 review here we come!

No internet = no posts

2010-05-29T16:58:00.001-04:00

So my internet hasn't worked in days. It started as a minor annoyance when my modem decided to die. The connection was slow for quite some time- slow but stable. They sent a new modem and the connection was spotty. Now it just doesn't work. No telling how long it'll be out because the phone people are idiots. Posting this from my cell, the final connection to the outside world. Might go crazy soon. We'll see how things turn out.

Mario Galaxy 2

2010-05-26T14:40:00.000-04:00

I've probably played enough of Mario Galaxy 2 to review it. However, I'm going to wait until I get to the end because the game seems to never stop throwing new stuff at you. I want to make sure I cover every awesome thing this game offers. In the meantime, know that Mario Galaxy 2, though it shares a name with the original, is a very different game. Calling it 1.5 is an insult. It most certainly is it's own game, sharing only basic gameplay elements. Review should be up fairly soon I hope. My internet sucks right now, so that explains the lack of posts and possible late review of this game.

Review List

2010-05-26T02:19:00.000-04:00

I got a request to list all the games I've reviewed and their scores, and I also recieved criticism for being too generous. Remember that under my scale, an 8 is a solid game to get. 7 is iffy territory and below 7 are games I suggest you avoid unless you find the price very cheap. So here is a compilation (from worst to best):

Resident Evil 5 - 4.5

Halo 3: ODST - 6.5

New Super Mario Brothers Wii - 7

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 8 (7 compared to other games)

Street Fighter IV - 8

Ghostbusters - 8

Star Wars: Force Unleashed (Sith Edition) - 9

Borderlands - 9.5 (was originally a 9 but has been adjusted)

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 9.5

Assassin's Creed 2 - 9.5

While there are many 8s, as you can see when I give games like ODST and RE 5 poor scores (and this were loved by critics), I'm not being too generous.

Best Super Robot Monster Battle line Ever

2010-05-25T19:11:00.003-04:00

I relize that this is a random post, but I was watching Dexter's Lab (yes, as a matter of fact I was reliving my childhood) and it was the one with the foreign exchange student and the battle in Japan. Anyway, at one point Dexter and his family are battling the monster and the dad throws an energy ball and says, "You're gonna get some pepper on this one". Laughed uncontrollably.

MEGA-MASSIVE REVIEWS: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Wars: Force Unleashed, DLCs, and More!

2010-05-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

As the title says, this is the massive review I promised, plus a surprise game: Bioshock 2! Actually, Bioshock 2 will get its own post but wanted to let y'all know it was coming up. Now before I begin, since I am reviewing DLCs also, the grading scale is a bit different. It's basically a 5 point scale, where a 3 is a DLC that may be worth it but anything above 3 is definitely worth it. The DLCs will go like the lightning reviews:

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Borderlands DLC 1 - Zombie Island:

This was a very fun DLC. You traverse zombies and face an old-school boss encounter. You also see an old blind friend. Pretty good deal for $5-10. Rank: 4

Borderlands DLC2 - Mad Moxxi

Okay this DLC is a nightmare. The arenas would be cool if you could actually keep anything. Instead, you just spend all your ammo to get achievements and die. Only redeeming part is that it includes a bank for your weapons. If you really want a bank, get this DLC. If not, I'd recommend avoiding it or getting it as part of a package with the new Borderlands add-on package. Rank: 2.5

Borderlands DLC3 - General Knoxx

As far as DLCs go, this is king. Greatly expanded content. An armory full of weapons. Epic boss encounters and missions. Oh, and Cramerax the Invincible (the boss I can't even scratch). Without a doubt, this is a Rank 5

Assassin's Creed 2, DLC 1 = Battle of Forli

I love Assassin's Creed 2, so I obviously loved this DLC as well. It's not really worth $10 because the quest can be beaten in an hour if you are fooling around (I did it in about 30 minutes). However, for the duration, it's a lot of fun. You basically storm and defend a castle, engage in street civil war, kill two smart-ass brothers, and fill in a missing piece of Ezio's memories. Rank 4

Assassin's Creed 2, DLC 2 = Bonfire of the Vanities

This DLC is incredibly challenging! As a history buff, I loved seeing Savanorola introduced into the game. But, besides the obvious kill this guy, you have to kill his 9 officers in incredibly challenging ways. The hardest one is where you have to infiltrate a small boat that has no windows or doors and kill the official without being seen or noticed. Took me close to an hour, but well worth it. Rank 5

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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sith Edition) - 360

This game brought me constant smiles and fan-boy giddiness whenever a character from the Star Wars universe came up in the game. In one word, this game is powerful. You play Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice. The game takes two major plot twists (both of which were expected), but focuses on filling the gaps between episodes III and IV through the adventure that this game provides. This is an upgraded hack 'n slash. Upgraded because you have a lightsaber that is customizable (to a degree) once you find power crystals and lightsaber mods (for example, I rolled with a purple or ebony lightsaber with a +lightning damage mod), and because, as the title suggests, this game stands out when it comes to the force. Using the force is an integral part of the game and what truly makes it stand out. Your favorite powers are there, from force lightning (my all-time favorite) to force push, force shield, etc. The game tests your usage of the force in combat to busting doors and even bringing down a starship from outerspace into a devastating crash with a planet.

The controls are very smooth and combos can be learned and pulled off easily. The graphics are awesome, and the story line is fantastic. The game takes you to diverse locations and even includes battles with Vader, Darth Maul, and [SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!] the Emperor himself (although I won't tell you how to get this battle). The Sith Edition comes with three added encounters: Tatoine (where you raid Jabba's palace, kill the rancor, and fight both Boba Fett and Obi-Won!!!), the Jedi Academy at Coursecent (with a psychedelic encounter in the hall of trials), and my favorite, Hoth (featuring battles against Ice beasts and Luke Skywalker!). Just a word of caution, however, if you don't find the Sith Edition, you will have to buy the three DLCs separately.

Overall, this game reminds me of the evolved form of, and spiritual successor of, the Star Wars Jedi Academy series. This game challenges you with waves of rancors, aliens, Jedis, Siths, and even yourself. This is a true summer game and a must-buy in my opinion.

Final Rank: 9

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Uncaged Edition) - 360

I'll start off by saying I don't know the difference between uncaged and normal other than that the uncaged has more blood and I don't believe the normal is sold anymore. So, let me say one thing: have no fear! Contrary to most movie games, Wolverine Origins (as I call the game) is fantastic! So the game is a hack and slash, and I previously boasted it was the greatest of all time. This is an exaggeration which, sadly, fails to come across in text; however, the game is very fun and does everything it does well. The graphics are very reminiscent of Arkham Asylum (I believe they use the same engine). Players of Arkham Asylum will love the "sub-boss fights" because the bosses are the same models as the Titan-infused Arkham cronies. For those who haven't played Arkham, this means that the sub-bosses in Wolverine are giant creatures (including Lava monsters and giant army mutants) that you have to roll past, jump on their back, and give them hell.

This game shines in being the first game to make you Wolverine. You are Wolverine. You feel like Wolverine as you lunge from enemy to enemy and claw and hack the enemy into limbs and pieces. You see like Wolverine when you use feral senses to find secrets and solutions to puzzles (again, this is the same as Batman's detective mode in Arkham). You become Wolverine in berserk mode, and in basically everything you do. My favorite is Wolverine's health regeneration. You actually witness it occur in real-time. Let's say you get pumped full of bullets and then thrown into a fire. Well, Wolverine becomes a gruesome sight filled with bullet-holes, burning flesh, and an exposed adamantium skeleton. As your regen factor kicks in, you see the skeleton slowly be covered up by new flesh and Wolverine's wounds close. For fighting, the game gives you tons of combos and power-ups featuring on what Wolverine does best: claw people apart.

The game's biggest flaw is also its strength. The game lets you fight hordes of enemies in the jungles of Africa (where the hatch from Lost can be found), The Weapon-X Facility, under a blizzard in Canada (where a WoW Easter Egg can be found: during the snow storm, you enter a cave and find Arthas' blade Frostmourne with a skeleton next to it. The skeleton has an exclamation point over his head reminiscent of WoW quest givers), a Robot-creation factory (where you get to fight a SENTINEL!!!! and find a Portal easter-egg), New Orleans (boring level), a bar (battle against Sabertooth), and Three Mile Island. You can also unlock costumes for Wolverine by finding action figures and then challenging Wolverine in that costume. To get the costume, you must beat the enemy Wolverine. These fights are the most challenging bosses in the game (apart from the Sentinel). These include original, classic (the blue and yellow one), and my favorite, X-Force Wolverine (which looks like Batman; it's black and grey and turns Wolverine's eyes red). WAIT! You're probably thinking: hey, he hasn't said anything negative. Well, the negatives are that the levels are way too long, and this makes the combat a bore as the game progresses. The game really only has 4 levels: Weapon X Facility, Robot Factory, New Orleans, and Three Mile Island. These levels literally go on for hours and you fight the same group of enemies over and over again. The occasional boss makes the game exciting, but you start thinking "Why won't this level end" and "Why are the enemies the same?". As you exhaust every combo, you start to get frustrated with the game. Then comes the New Orleans level which is completely unnecessary because your mission is to fight Gambit, yet the game manages to turn the level into a 3 hour chase after Gambit through what seems like the world's largest hotel. At least destroying Gambit and a helicopter made it cool. It also annoyed me how the Africa level was interspersed through the four main levels. From a narrative stand-point, this move makes sense so I let it slide.

Overall, this game is intensely fun the first day and a very nice surprise. After the outdoors part of Weapon X level (the Canada snow-storm part) you think this game is one of the greatest you've ever played! Then it starts getting stale. The Sentinel battle makes you jizz in your pants, and after that, the game starts losing satisfaction rapidly. Judging it against other video games, this game starts at a 9 and declines to a 7. However, given that this is a game based off of a movie, I will be generous because the fighting, graphics, unlockables, and story are awesome.

Final Score: 8

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So I just beat Bioshock 2 and am currently hooked on the multiplayer (which will be discussed in the next review). I also just picked up Darksiders so expect a review on that in the near future.

Play Pac-Man on the Google homepage!

2010-05-22T16:16:00.001-04:00

Google is awesome. Pac-Man is awesome. Google has recognized this and combined the two for Pac-Man's 30th anniversary, transforming the Google logo into a working game of Pac-Man! It's the real deal, complete with all 250-something levels and even multiplayer support! Play now!

The Installation 04 Official Reach Beta Impressions

2010-05-22T02:48:00.003-04:00

Now that the Halo Reach beta is over, it's time for impressions! So, uh, here they are.

Maps:

I'm not crazy about the maps. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems lacking in the maps department. The map I played on most often was Sword Base, a terribly confusing indoor area with multiple levels. Problem is, it's a bitch to navigate without some sort of a map. No matter how many games I played here, I never could get my bearings. It doesn't really lend itself well to gametypes that were usually played on it. Actually, I'm not sure what gametypes it does lend itself to. I don't usually have a problem with Halo maps, but this one seems pretty slayer-only to me.

Boneyard, Invasion map, is absolutely massive. Way too massive for 12 people. In fact, it seems like it'll bee too large for the 16 players promised in the retail game. 30 people? Now that'd be awesome. Unfortunately, it'll never happen.

Overlook is the map Bungie used for the "Network Test 1," or Invasion, gametype. While the gametype may or may not be in the final version, I assume the map will. I didn't spend much time here, but it seemed alright. It was hard to tell though, because I would have preferred to play a different game on it. It's an asymmetrical map with a base located at the top of a hill.

The map I liked best (again, I wish I could play something else on Overlook- the generators force you to only play in specific parts of the map) was Powerhouse. It was more reminiscent of classic Halo maps, a bit like High Ground actually (but, once again, I'm pretty sure Overlook is the new High Ground though I didn't get to play anything interesting on it). It's pretty good for a multitude of gametypes, although I never really found the red and blue bases to be particularly well defined.

So there's problem number one- weak maps. I'm certain I can pinpoint the problem to the decision to pull the multiplayer maps from the campaign. Bad idea in my opinion. Probably what produced the weird feeling I had while playing Halo on these nearly non-Halo maps was that not a single was was symmetrical. Usually Bungie makes at least a couple of maps nearly identical on both sides making them ideal for capture the flag and the like. I found those games awkward to play on Sword Base and Powerhouse.

Weapons:

Lots of new weapons this time around. Some good, some not so much. Unfortunately, I get a feeling the awesome stuff will get nerfed by the time the final game ships.

The first weapon you'll use is the redesigned Assault Rifle, which functions identically to the previous versions. It looks spiffy, though!

You'll notice that when you switch to your secondary weapon, however, there is a surprise waiting for you: you're old pal the pistol! Although it looks like, and technically is, based of the M6G model from Halo 3, it behaves identically to it's Combat Evolved counterpart, the M6D. Six shot kill on body, single headshot kill. Scoped. Oh and that badass melee attack from the first game is back too.

The next weapon you're likely to find is also the most useless. The DMR, or Designated Marksman's Rifle, replaces the Battle Rifle. While it may look spiffy, there's really no reason to use if over the pistol. It's a single shot weapon unlike the BR and is inferior to the pistol because the fire rate is slower and the reticule bloom is larger. I'm not sure how they'd tweak this other than to make the shots more powerful (shots do the same damage as the pistol).

Unfortunately, I did not get to use the Sniper Rifle because I never came across one so I can't say if it's any different.

The Grenade Launcher, however, is something new. Bungie calls it the "pro pipe" for a reason. It's quite tough to master as it launches frag grenades when I was expecting something like Brute Shot rounds simply because they're both grenade launchers. These things bounce everywhere so you have to plan your shot carefully. This thing is best used from a distance when a regular grenade toss just won't do. It's a handy tool to take out shields so you can finish them off with your pistol or to assist your teammate. It's also got a secondary fire when you hold down the trigger. Doing this will prevent your grenade from exploding allowing you to set a trap for your opponents.

The rocket launcher, like the Battle Rifle has also gotten a significant makeover. It's more or less the same as it used to be but, as of right now, the vehicle tracking mechanism from Halo 2 seems to have returned. This is probably to counter the Covenant's Plasma Launcher which also tracks vehicles, giving each side its own anti-vehicle gun.

There's quite a few goodies on the Covenant side as well. First off is the new Plasma Repeater replacing the Plasma Rifle in multiplayer. It also happens to be at least 80% less useless. It's meant to be the Covenant equivalent of the Assault Rifle, and it's easy to see why. Like most Covenant weapons, it has an energy charge instead of ammo. Unlike most Covenant weapons, it doesn't overheat. If you keep firing the rate of fire will slow significantly after a period of time, but it will never stop firing. It's a pretty good weapon overall and much better than it's useless cousin. I'm not sure why Bungie doesn't just replace the Plasma Rifle altogether since there is no duel wielding anyway.

Replacing the stupid Carbine is the new Needle Rifle. It's awesome, though you'd think Bungie would be a little more creative with the ammunition at this point. It serves the same purpose as the DMR but players will use the Needle Rifle over the DMR ever time unless forced to use the DMR. Why? Well, for one it's freaking awesome. Also, the needles will supercombine after a number of shots causing a pink explosion of death (just like the Needler, wich doesn't suck in this game). It's not quite a scoped Needler either, though. Whatever it is, it fills its niche well and is a great addition to the arsenal. Could swear it shoots faster than the DMR too.

The new Focus Rifle is one of two weapons I know they'll tone down. Replacing the stupid Beam Rifle this thing is like a scoped Sentinel Beam, only with some power. It's quite deadly as a ranged weapon and requires intense focus (get it?) to take down an opponent as you must track them with the beam to do damage. Problem is, it's deadly at any range. You can melt a guy's face standing in front of you if you so choose just by holding the trigger down. It's a great gun, but a wee bit overpowered at the moment.

Speaking of overpowered, the Covenant also get the new Plasma Launcher, or what I like to call "instant death." It shoots up to four homing plasma grenades that track anything that moves. Anything. Not sure what Bungie was thinking with this one. Sure, it's awesome, but damn! You have this, you are God.

Other weapons return: the Sword is unchanged, the Hammer is overpowered because the damage radius is too large, the Plasma Pistol now tracks enemies to a certain degree and an awesome new sound effect when you equip it, the Needler doesn't suck and the stab-with-needles melee returns. Some vehicle tweaks as well: the Banshee no longer backflips (I didn't check to see if it still had the secondary fuel rod shot) and the mounted chain guns in the Warthog and the Scorpion can now overheat if used too much (boo!)

Gametypes:

The beta also had a few new gametypes. Here's my impressions:

Stockpile: Each team has their own flag collecting area (it's like a hill from king of the hill) with a countdown timer. The time counts down every minute from 60 and when it reaches zero any flags in the territory will be counted as points. There's a bunch of neutral flags found around the map that can be collected and can always be moved. This means you can grab a flag right out of the other team's territory and take it back to yours. This usually splits the team into two groups: the flag collectors and the flag defenders. First to 10 wins. I absolutely love this gametype. It's a lot of fun and actually quite strategic. Often I would find that people would gather flags close to the score point and wait until the final seconds to dump them in. Those are just some of the strategies people came up with. This game forces you to find your own and to actually do some thinking with your shooting.

Headhunter: Killed players will drop flaming sculls that you can collect by walking over them. Score by dumping your skulls into repositories located around the map. Stay on your toes, though, because these areas move. The number of skulls you've collected is displayed above your Spartan and you'll lose them all of you die. First to 25 wins, unless you can collect 10 at once to achieve a "Skullamanjaro" which nets you automatic victory. I also loved this gametype. I seem to like games where the objective is to collect things. Maybe because I'm good at it. I'd find I'm usually the top scorer in Stockpile and the very first game of Headhunter I ever played I won with 22 skulls. Since I'm usually so bad, it was great to win for once. Headhunter ftw! It's really the only non-team game I'll play because I know I'll be dead last otherwise.

Generator Defense (aka. Network Test 1): The Spartans have the high ground and must defend three generators. The Elite must work their way up the hill and destroy them. If the Elites can successfully destroy the generators, they win. If the Spartans can defend the generators, they win. The generators can be locked for 30 seconds preventing any damage. After the lock feature is used, you can't lock it again for some time. Not really a fan of this one. A lot of people seem to like it, but I think it's too small of a gametype. There's only three people to a team and that doesn't seem like enough when there's three generators. It's not the exciting and frantic game I was hoping for. Instead, players rush to lock all three cores and then continue to lock them every time they unlock. You either have one guy to a core or leave one or more cores unprotected. If it were me making this, I'd double the total players to twelve so teams of two could guard each core. In fact, I'd take the fundamentals of Invasion and apply them here instead. Two man fireteams where you can spawn on your bro would do wonders here. Again, the map seem too large for the amount of players in it and the locations of the generators meant that you'd automatically gravitate toward those areas of the map only. Bungie may or may not keep this gametype. It was created specifically to test network connections. If they do keep it, let's hope they make some alterations.

Invasion: What is here to stay, however, is Invasion. What a massive disappointment. They played it up so much I was expecting some epic Spartan vs. Elite action. I found, however, that if I wanted that kind of experience I should just play Spartan vs. Elite slayer. First of all, the map is just too damn big for only 12 people. Bungie promises 16 in the full game, but I'm doubting that'll make much of a difference at this point. The Spartans are tasked with defending various things and the Elites have to capture them. First some computers, then some other computers in a different area, and finally a data core which must be transported to a dropship. Not sure if it sounds fun, but it's really not. If the Elites capture their stuff in all three phases they win. Every time they capture their designated thing, the objective changes and the loadouts get better. This was the only game with vehicles and they felt totally useless. The map may be big, but there wasn't a lot of ground to cover with vehicles. There was, however, an Invasion Slayer gametype that I never got to play because assholes always picked Invasion (more on that later) so there may be some hope there. As it stands, Invasion just isn't fun.

What is really fun, though, is Covenant Slayer. That is, slayer with just Elites. Not sure why, but the beta limited this mode to only dodge as an armor ability. But it was freaking awesome! Elite Slayer is way more intense than regular Spartan Slayer. Elites are faster, their health recharges, and everyone was rolling everywhere. The differences between Spartans and Elites is a big draw this time around and I love the way the Elites play. That being said, although supposedly stronger, they felt totally underpowered when pitted against Spartans. Weird.

Armor Abilities:

The other major change to the multiplayer are armor abilities. How are they? Awesome. They never feel tacked-on or gimmicky, for the most part. They add a real new and unique dynamic that's necessary for the Reach experience. Obviously, they need some tweaking because there's ways to abuse them that probably shouldn't be there, but on a whole they're a great addition unlike Halo 3's equipment.

Sprint: Sprint, a Spartan only ability, comes in great use in objective games, especially Headhunter. Bungie has made it so you can't spam your amor ability when holding a flag (although a melee with the flag is instadeath- I'm assuming they'll fix this) so you can't sprint with it, but you can sprint up to it. You can also sprint away from danger, cover long distances, and it's helpful to avoid being sniped. It's extremely deadly with a sword though, as you can imagine, and it's also easy to run up behind someone and assassinate them (regular style, not the new flash ones that are useless and hard to pull off). Sprint is alright. Not my first choice, but not a bad choice.

Camo: The camouflage ability does just that. It lasts longer than the other abilities but takes longer to recharge as a result. I'm sure it's significantly more useful as a cloaking device this time around. If you stand still, you become legitimately hard to see. It does, however, jam the armor of people in the surrounding area. They'll know you're there, but they won't know exactly where. Also very deadly when combined with a sword.

Evade: The Elite dodge move is infinitely more useful than sprint. Obviously it's really useful for dodging and is also great for covering distance. Saved my life on many occasions. I can't quite say why, but the first person motion of rolling is very fluid and very real. From a third person perspective, you see the Elite simply roll. When you're doing it however, you stay in first person. It's really nice looking and impossible to describe.

Jet Pack: Sorry to burst your bubble, but the I find the jet pack completely useless. Even on Sword Base. I'd much rather sprint around then jet pack around. It's really floaty meaning that you'll have to hold it down a while before you get a sudden propulsion upward but letting go promptly causes descension. It controls exactly like something else in another game that I simply can't place. The mechs in Lost Planet maybe? No! The propulsion head from Mario Sunshine! The one for your water pack that shot two streams of water upward? It's kind of like that. But yet, there's something else... It feels so familiar... Anyway, remember how the Brutes had jump packs in Halo 3? It controls how those looked. It makes you a big flying target, especially for the Needler and Plasma Pistol (and Launcher, obviously).

Armor Lock: Now this is what I'm talking about! Armor lock is what the bubble shield should have been like! Holding down the ability button will activate a personal shield that makes you temporarily invulnerable as long as there's juice left. It'll also knock off any grenades stuck to you. Releasing armor lock creates an EMP blast that takes out the shields of anyone who happens to be too close. Follow up with a melee for a quick kill. Most people will stand back and wait for your armor lock to run out, which is kind of a downside. The EMP can be abused like crazy though. Tapping the button when approaching someone will take out their shields and set you up for an instant kill. I like the idea, though, but unfortunately it'll probably behave differently when the game ships. In the beta? Pair with shotgun and enjoy. It also leads to great moments like this one:

A quick sentence about the Arena: I didn't try it. Sounds good on paper, though.

Finally, a major complaint. Matchmaking sucks. They tried to improve the veto system, but that's not what needs improving. What needs to happen is a separate playlist for every gametype. Grab bag sucks. It mixes every multiplayer gametype into one playlist. Sometimes I want to play one thing and one thing only, like slayer for example, but it never shows up as one of the three choices. I vote for none of the above but everyone else wants to play Oddball. So I suffer through it because I get penalized if I quit. Next time, I want to play Stockpile and there it is! But nobody else wants to play Stockpile and I end up playing CTF. It sucks. I want complete control of the gametype I'm playing, dammit! None of this "mixing everything together" shit! Is it somehow impossible to achieve this? If I ever made a game, I'd make sure that people actually got to play all the awesome gametypes I made by making them separate. Do you know how many games of CTF I had to sit through before I could play a simple game of slayer? In fact, people would often screw the rules and just kill each other. If that doesn't tell the developers they're doing something wrong in that department, I don't know what will.

Overall, the beta was fun, but I certainly didn't play it to death like I did the Halo 3 beta which was basically the same damn thing as Halo 2. It's certainly a game I'd play online, yet something seemed lacking here. I'm not sure what it was, but this is one guy who's anticipation of for the game has nearly flatlined. And I was so hyped beforehand. Ah, well. Hopefully the finished product is better.

Would you like proof that Mario Galaxy 2 is the best game ever?

2010-05-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

Lucky for you, here it is:

Review: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

2010-05-19T01:16:00.003-04:00

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is an excellent fighting game. If you own a Wii, pick this one up. That being said, let's look at why it's so awesome.

Breakdown:

Visuals: I happen to find this game pretty visually impressive, especially with the attack effects. Unless you get a real closeup zoom of the characters, they look fine and dandy. Sure, they may lack a bit of the sharpness of the HD Street Fighter IV, but the style is identical and looks great on Wii. These types of shaded styles are really where the Wii excels, so the style of this game was probably a no-brainer. It's the next best thing to sprites simply because we know that sprites can look absolutely phenomenal on Wii, as seen in games like Wario Land: Shake it. As it is, it's all smooth and lovely.

Presentation: It's as good as it can be I suppose, considering no one has ever heard of Tatsunoko or watched their animes in this country. The one thing I find strange is that each character has an ending. That's not the weird part obviously; what's strange is that there is no beginning and no story to be ended. All you know from the start is that the two worlds have somehow collided and at yet each character has an ending to the story you didn't know existed. Odd. Also odd is that the game makes you hold the Wii remote first vertically, then horizontally in the menus. Why you can't simply hold it horizontally the whole time I will never know. Extremely annoying, as with previous vs. games, is that you can't deselect a character. Once on the character select screen every single button selects a character, and once you pick them, there's no going back. Anyway, the music isn't weird and jazzy like in Marvel vs. Capcom and the levels are likewise less generic. There's actually stages from the various games and anime's represented this time. And there's plenty of unlockables, which is a plus.

One thing that has always impressed me and still impresses me about Capcom fighting games is how they manage to make each fighter uniquely different. There's about 30 fighters and every one plays different from the other. Even characters that would be clones in Smash Brothers, like Tekkaman and Tekkaman Blade, have completely different movesets and play styles.

Gameplay: Simplified controls! Everything else is pretty much what you'd expect if you've ever played a vs. game before. You've got your standard combos and hyper combos (i.e. ultimate moves), teammate assists (only two to a team this time), standard attacks and special attacks. New are baroque combos which cause your character to glow and keep your combo going at the expense of your red health and a defensive force blast move that blasts opponents away at the expense of your red health and two combo bars. Combo bars are gained by attacking and taking damage. They are used for hyper combos which can change depending on how many bars you have. You can also do team hypers which in which both of your fighters use their hypers at the same time, and substation hypers where you start with one fighter's attack and switch in with another character's instead. If it sounds complicated, its not. It's just hard to explain on paper. As with all fighting games, get both opponent's health to zero to win. In this game, attacking will chip away health and cause some of the health bar to turn red. Red health can be restored over time when the character is not on screen. If you take out all of an opponents green health, even if they have red health, you win. Simple stuff.

Controls: Thankfully simple and awesome. There's many schemes you can use though: horizontal remote, remote and nun-chuck, classic controller, or Gamecube controller. I prefer the remote by itself held horizontally. Both this and the other remote method are simplified, while the four button scheme used by the other controllers is advanced. With your remote, the 1 button is standard attack, the 2 button is special attack, the B button is team attack, and 1+2 is hyper. That's it. Simple enough for anyone to learn and have fun. Thankfully, because of this, I am able to get the full value out of this game. I find the standard advanced controls way to complex and can never figure out how to do anything. Resorting to button mashing all the time isn't as fun as it sounds. Unlike Marvel vs. Capcom, I can actually control what I'm doing and love every minute of it.

Sound: They didn't dub anything that wasn't already in english. I mean anything. Even Viewtiful Joe still speaks in Japanese. That's alright, though, because not only does it sound authentic that way, but it's kind of funny. As I said, the music is actually pretty good and much more fitting than music in previous vs. games. The original Japanese version had the theme music playing for your currently selected character which was removed in this game due to licensing issues. But hey, at least we got the game at all. Sound effects are great, and the announcer sounds vaguely like Captain Falcon.

Replay: Unlike previous vs. games, not everyone is unlocked from the beginning. The new characters in this version are unlovable meaning you'll have to play through arcade a total of 16 times with characters from both sides to unlock them all. It's totally worth it, though. There's quite a bit of other stuff to unlock as well if that tickles your fancy, in addition to online play. It's a fighting game, so basically it's something to bust out with your pals. That being said, the replay is probably until the sequel is released. Sure there's Marvel vs. Capcom 3 coming, but it won't have the surprisingly awesome Tatusnoko guys.

Final Thoughts: Tatusnoko vs Capcom is the best fighting game I've played in years due to its simple controls and its deep combat. The unusual mashup of Capcom and the obscure (in the West) Tatsunoko turns out very well and I found myself gravitating toward the more mysterious and interesting Tatsunoko characters. The Capcom side is no slouch either though, and and the game is sure to entertain for some time to come.

BUY X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE NOW!!!

2010-05-17T15:27:00.000-04:00

I'm back from school which means I have time to post. As promised, I will write up the Borderlands DLC review. I also have a review for Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sith Edition), and the Assassin's Creed 2 DLC. The post drought is over!

Also, I'm currently playing through X-Men Origins: Wolverine and let me tell you, if you haven't played it, this game is a MUST BUY! That's right! I'll take the surprise away right now and say this is one game based on a movie that is far from crap. It may be the greatest old-school style action/hack 'n slash ever made. I'm completely in love with this game!

PSA: Steam now on Mac; Portal free until the 24th

2010-05-13T00:13:00.000-04:00

To celebrate the launch of Steam for Mac today, Valve is giving away it's first Mac-compatible game for free on both PC and Mac. Portal is free to download until the 24th, so I'd suggest you get it now. And if you already have it, download it again. Need I remind you it's free!? Also, the Diabloesque Torchlight is half off until next week. Valve is also offering a bundle with all five Tales of Monkey Island games as well as the full season of the latest Sam and Max series for only $30. Head on over to the Steam site for all the awesome deals.

Pokemon fans are more creative than the developers.

2010-05-12T18:28:00.008-04:00

You see those abominations there? Those are the new starters for Pokemon Black and White. I know, right? We've got a snobby lizard thing, a pig-rabbit, and my personal favorite: a clown-otter with a snowball for a head. Yes, these guys are awful, just awful. Worse than I could have imagined. Worse than a lot of people imagined, actually. You see, when this image was released a few days ago, it sent the Pokemon community into a mad frenzy trying to decipher what they might look like. And guess what, the fan's creations are better. Here's an idea Nintendo, for the next Pokemon game, how about you let the fans design the monsters? My favorites of the fan monsters are below.

We'll start out with the crazy otter thing. This first one's a bit out there, but it's still pretty awesome:

It's some kind of war veteran who's lost its eye and uses a seashell for an eyepatch. Pretty badass. Too badass, in fact. So we'll move on to more Pokemon-y things.

A little simplistic, but not bad at all. Still leaps and bounds better than the real thing. At least they got the face right.

This is probably the best standalone image I've seen of this one (most of them are grouped). Really captured the look of an otter mixed with a platypus.

The same guy also did a picture of the pig thing:

Pretty good. Still better than the final version.

Wile we're on the subject of that guy, I thought this one was really creative. It showed that the silhouette may not be as obvious as everyone thinks. Unfortunately, this guy was thinking too intelligently. It turned out to be more like his second doodle. Still, the second doodle is pretty good.

While this next one is close to the final product, I find it a bit more interesting.

Everyone seems to have had a field day with the lizard guy (do the Pokemon guys not realize they already had a lizard starter?).

The common conception was that this thing was either a lizard or some sort of bird. This one is an example of the bird senario.

Next, this one is close but, again, more interesting than the final.

This guy returns with another solid design:

The most creative, though, is this chameleon one that gives him a spiked head rather than a beak:

Now lets look at some trios:

These three have some pretty decent designs. I like the horn on the lizard and I also enjoy the platypus design of the water starter. The stupid pig guy is pretty lame any way to make him.

I must say that out of all the designs, these three were probably the most plausible. The lizard, of course, has a much better design here, the pig thing can't be helped (though it looks like more of a cow here), and the otter guy... well it's just as strange, although I'm pretty sure I like this one better somehow. Obviously, these were made to look pretty official.

These three are pretty nice overall. Whoever made this came up with probably the nicest design for the lizard guy and also succeeded at making the hideous pig creature look normal by making him into some sort of fox thingy. And we've also got a platypus look for the third guy as well.

That being said, these three are also decent. Lizard guy is alright, pig thing is normalized, and this time we've got a raccoon.

This trio is also well done. The lizard is a blatant ripoff of the one two pictures above, probably because it was so well done. Either that, or a very strange coincidence. The pig is kind of cool in this one, and the otter I can deal with.

This one turns the lizard into a bird, and the pig into a hamster. It's rather cute, actually. The third thing is, well, it's a plausible Pokemon design.

Last but not least, the most original designs of all. We've got a peacock with a large plume on its head rather than a lizard, a frog (I like it!) instead of an otter, and a rabbit thing. Not a bad attempt at all.

And just for fun:

Turtwig's revenge:

I heard you like Mudkipz...

This... thing...

The classics:

I just like the names here:

And... yeah...

Super Fun Facts About Fallout New Vegas

2010-05-11T17:18:00.006-04:00

Well guys, while surfing around the interwebs I found out that Bethesda has announced that they will have a Collector's edition for Fallout New Vegas.

-It will include seven poker chips that represent the seven casinos in Vegas featured in the game.
-A Fallout New Vegas customized deck of cards.
-A recreation of the game's highly coveted "Lucky 38" platinum chip.
-A hardcover graphic novel entitled "All Roads". It will be about the stories leading up to New Vegas, and is written by Chris Avellone, the creative director of the game.
-A DVD about the making of the game. Apparently there is exclusive interviews and such regarding this.

I personally am really psyched about this. In case you couldn't tell, I love the Fallout 3 game, and have now come to love the first few Fallout games. This is going to be awesome and I plan on pre-ordering the limited edition. It will (as of now) cost $79.99 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and $69.99 for the PC. I am excited. If you want to see a picture of the Collectors Pack type: Fallout New Vegas collector's edition into Google or whatever search engine you use and eventually a pic will pop up.

Lost Planet 2

2010-05-11T15:47:00.003-04:00

It's out right now, in fact it came out today. However, it has been getting some poorish ratings, so either wait till a friend gets it and play that or wait for it to get cheaper. I personally enjoyed the first one, just because it was a fun game, not really based on plot or any of that, it just felt oldschool fun. I plan on getting this in the near future, probably around when Reach or Vegas come out. Hey, thats just me and my opinion though, so feel free to make your own call.

PSA: Buy this bundle now!

2010-05-09T23:49:00.001-04:00

The Humble Indie Bundle will only be on sale for another day and sixteen hours at the time of this posting. I suggest you get it while you still can and help support indie developers as well as charity. It's a pay what you want package containing six indie games that are DRM free and compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. The lineup includes: World of Goo, Gish, Aquaria, Lugaru, Penumbra Overture, and the recently added Samorost 2. Honestly, I hadn't heard of any of these besides World of Goo (this is my third copy) and Gish (which I have never played). And, once again, you can name your price. I'd suggest you snag this deal before it's gone and give your monies to a good cause. Whatever you can spare helps charity and indie game developers.

Check out these Street Fighter Legacy featurettes

2010-05-08T19:13:00.000-04:00

These really show the teams dedication and commitment to detail.

The greatest gaming film ever is three minutes long

2010-05-07T00:54:00.003-04:00

Man, these guys got it right. The following Street Fighter "short film" (calling it that is a bit of a stretch) entitled "Legacy" is both more accurate and more entertaining than the previous two Street Fighter theatrical releases combined. When I first heard about this "short film," I was expecting 20 minutes of epicness. Instead, we get three. Still, it's better than almost any professionally done video game film ever. And it's gotten Capcom's blessing. Usually with these types of things, the companies that own the licences want to shut down fan projects because they're jackasses that don't want free publicity. Capcom, however, has been very generous lately. Allowing both this film and another based on Mega Man to be released. Let's hope that Capcom watches this and realizes they need to hire these guys to make a full fledged movie. Or, at the very least, I'd like to see more of these shorts.

But that's not the end of the story. Who, exactly, is responsible for this film? Why it's actor, filmmaker, and action choreographer Joey Ansah who played Desh in The Bourne Ultimatum. The team he gathered to make this possible includes Top Gear director Owen Trevor, producer Jacqueline Quella, Anthony Wayne, a senior producer on the last eleven James Bond films, and visual effects studio Prime Focus. For a three minute movie. Yeah, the man is dedicated. Here's what he has to say about it:

As an actor, film maker and a fan, I have been repeatedly disappointed by the many diluted, un faithful and outright butchered movie adaptations of fighting video games. It was clear to me, that given the way the movie industry worked, we would never see a super faithful, darker toned and more adult themed (or just plain good!) incarnation of Street fighter unless a die-hard fan director or film-making team with the game canon knowledge, film making know how and connections stepped up to the plate to helm such a project.

So almost a year ago, I began writing treatments and a production design brief and partnered with Streetlight films before proposing my concept and vision to Capcom. I'm pleased to say they gave their blessing and permission for the project to move forward.

And finally, you can see the film after the break.

The Ultimate in Dessert Warfare Technology

2010-05-06T18:09:00.002-04:00

Activision Revealed

2010-05-04T15:29:00.003-04:00

So as we all know, Activision and Infinity ward are partner companies. Well, it may not be that way for long. As you all know from Fuzunga's post Bungie recently merged with Activision (yea!). But what some some of you may not know is that Activision recently fired (March 1) both the CEO and President of Infinity Ward, Vince Zampalla and Jason West, who are now sewing Activison for 36 million dollars in due royalties, which they were apparently supposed to recieve on March 31. Apparently back in March of 2008 Activision tasked the Zampella and West with completeing Modern Warfare 2 by November 15 2008 in exchange for complete control over Infinity Ward studios and rights to all COD brands that were based in the post-Viatnom era. Basically, the new COD black ops may be stalled if West and Zampalla don't sign off on it. Now that the back story is known,it is my belief that Activision bought Bungie so that it can recap some of its future potential losses. We will see. Also West and Zampella have signed on with a company called Hollywood's Creatvie Artists Agency, who have very powerful ties with the movie, sport and music industry. I think that we may be seeing more video game based or type movies coming out in the near future.

Gablargah

2010-05-04T00:36:00.001-04:00

Hmmm... spellcheck isn't correcting that title. Doe that mean "gablargah" is a word? Anyway, real busy at the moment so no posts for a bit. But really, you should forget about us for a while and go play yourself some Reach beta. Seriously. What are you doing here reading this when there's heads to be hunted, stocks to be piled, generators to be defended, and invasions to fend off? Go on now, off you go!

The biggest story of the month updated

2010-04-29T19:27:00.002-04:00

*Edit* Just to clarify because a lot of people don't fully understand the situation: Bungie is currently and will remain an independent studio owned by nobody. The Activion deal is for funding and distributing games only. In addition, it would seem that Bungie has specified some more details of the deal, stating that Activision will only publish one particular (non-Halo, because Halo is owned by Microsoft) game series that they are working on for multiple platforms. It's similar to the deal Epic has with Microsoft in wich the House of Windows (see what I did there?) publishes the Gears of War series, but other games such as the Unreal series can be published by whomever for whatever platform. Bungie could, if they wanted, make another game series and make it exclusively published by Sony for the PlayStation if it tickled their fancy (don't freak out- that was just hypothetical). In addition to all that, Bungie gains the right to develop Activision-owned game properties if they so choose. So if Activion ever wanted to do Call of Duty: Future Warfare, Bungie could hypothetically make it for them. Also, that logo is a joke. Bungie did, however, register this trademark in March. Nobody knows what the logo will be used for.

Original Post: Or maybe it was when Activision fired the heads of Infinity Ward who then set up a new studio, Respawn, followed by about 30 other Infinity Ward employees leaving and joining them. I can't decide. In any case, they both involve Activision which, if you're not aware, is this decade's Electronic Arts. Did I mention that Respawn has a partnership with EA? Yeah, they're the good guys now.

So Bungie finalized a ten year publishing deal with Activivison (aka, Satan) today. Yes, people are pretty unhappy because everyone hates Actvision randomly, like everyone hated EA randomly through most of the last decade. Although what they did to Infinity Ward was pretty crappy. Anyway, this new deal apparently gives Bungie complete control and ownership over their IP. Activision plans to distribute Bungie's new games all over the world across several major platforms. I certainly hope everything works out for the best. Ten years is a long time, and I know people who have so much hatred toward Activision that they won't be buying a new Bungie game for the next ten years no matter how awesome it is.

Nice interview about the whole ordeal here.

Repetitive but Still Awesome

2010-04-28T16:13:00.007-04:00

I thought that this trailer was a bit of a copy from the ODST trailer but it was still cool. And while the die hard Halo fans among us may find some discrepancies in the base story, it is still pretty sweet. HE'S TOO OLD!! ORPHAN!! Sorry just needed to get that out, here's the trailer.

Review: Kick-Ass

2010-04-26T16:02:00.002-04:00

Oh man. Wow. This. Yes. So. Good. Can't. Speak. See. Now. Click. Read. More.

This movie absolutely lives up to its name. Best movie I've seen all year. Best movie I've seen in a long time, actually. Kick-Ass really surprised me. All the trailers make it look like a goofy comedy, but this movie gets deadly serious. Pretty literally, actually. It's extremely intense. I can't remember a movie that made me so awe struck since The Matrix Revolutions (yes, I actually really liked that movie). It seems like a brainless action comedy, but it's really emotionally packed. Somehow this movie is both serious and ridiculous without leaning too much in either direction. They seem to pull off suspension of disbelief well because no matter how unreal things get, they sure as hell seem real. It's a pretty perfect movie. I can't even describe why or how, but I implore you to see it.

But I do wonder how many irresponsible parents took their young kids to see this movie. Why do I suspect that there's going to be a flood of news reports in the near future about kids killing and/or injuring themselves trying to be a superhero?

Oh, and here's a fun fact: the comic this is based on started in 2008 and the final issue of the series (for now) was released only this February. Interestingly, the rights to the movie were sold even before the comic began publishing. As such, the comic and the film scrip were created simultaneously. They certainly differ, but creator and writer Mark Millar had a significant hand in both. So the movie isn't simply a wrong adaptation of the comic that usually pisses people off, but an alternate retelling. Pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Oh, and you don't grope breasts while wearing gardening gloves! You just don't.

MicroReview: Chime

2010-04-23T20:27:00.001-04:00

Holy McSnarf! The 700th post! Huzzah! Hard to believe, eh? Let me tell you, this will be the most relaxing 700th post ever. Why? Because Chime is the most relaxing game ever. Ever.

Chime is one of those rhythm puzzlers, but something about it is immensely relaxing. Here's how you play: there's a game grid and you place Tetris-style pieces on it anywhere you want. They don't fall from the sky and there's no pressure or rush to finish your move. When you create a "quad," a 3x3 block of connecting pieces, it will glow and you'll have a certain amount of time to extend the area of your quad by placing more blocks around the sides of it. But you don't have to. There's no pressure to do so, either, unless you want to multiply your points. Once the timer runs out, you quad will change the color of the game board. The goal is to paint as much as the board as possible in either in the allotted time (you choice when you begin) and score as many points as you can. The more board you cover, the more points you'll get. If you cover it 100%, don't sweat, you can keep going anyway! I think the highest score on the leaderboard has something crazy like 2400% coverage. There's a beat line, similar to Luminies, that crosses over the board and clears you quads, giving you points and painting the grid. Leftover bits of the pieces that aren't used in quads change color and pulsate to the beat to indicate they have become bonus multipliers. Use them in a quad for major points. Again, the game won't penalize you if you don't use them, but they only work to your advantage.

The game's music is really mellow and effects will be added to it depending on how many pieces are placed on the grid, where they're placed, and if they're quads. It's not so much an important part of the gameplay as it is a neat effect. The whole game is really melodic and relaxing, especially the free mode. This mode, which is essentially pretty pointless, is un-timed and un-scored. Just place shapes forever and ever. Sure, it's pretty pointless, but damn is it relaxing! This is the game to play when you really want to chill.

The game only has those two modes and there's only five grids to play on meaning only five different mellow songs to play to. That may seem like a bit under featured for a $5 game, but it's justified because the proceeds go to charities (several different ones). You even get an achievement worth 50 points because of your contribution. Basically, you're donating to charity and getting a free game. Not a bad deal at all. And, man, is this game relaxing! I'll say it again, this game is extremely mellow and fun to play. Sure, there's not much in the way of extensive features, but it's pretty damn good for free and has great production values.

Final thoughts: Spend those 500 MS points on Chime rather than "The Passing." You'll feel good about yourself for donating to charity and you'll have gotten a neat game out of it, too.

Microsoft be takin' mah monies!

2010-04-23T16:39:00.002-04:00

You'd think in these tough economic times, Microsoft would be cutting us a break. Not so. They announced yesterday the Halo Reach Legendary Edition, with will run you $150. That's actually twenty more than the Halo 3 Legendary. But this time it looks totally worth it. Really! Images await below.

Sure, a replica Spartan helmet for your cat was cool, how would you like ten inch tall, ten pound statue replica of Noble Team? You would? Well, you're in luck!

That's what you get with the Legendary edition. Oh, and there's quite a bit of other stuff as well:

Game disc housed in recovered ONI ”black box”
An exclusive in-game Elite armor set for use in multiplayer modes
Artifact bag containing Dr. Halsey’s personal journal and other classified documents and effects that unravel long held secrets from the Halo Universe
Noble Team statue expertly crafted by the artisans at McFarlane Toys. Individually molded, hand-painted and individually numbered, this statuette is a must have for any serious Halo fan
UNSC-themed custom packaging
An exclusive multiplayer Spartan armor effect

There's also a limited edition that contains the first three bullet points and will cost $80. More pictures and info here.

Metroid: Other M delayed

2010-04-23T15:54:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't be a Nintendo game without a delay, now would it? It's been moved from June 27th to August 31st. Poop.

Shining

2010-04-23T02:03:00.002-04:00

Warning: The following video contains dangerous amounts of win.

Review: The Passing DLC

2010-04-23T01:08:00.012-04:00

So I just played through "The Passing." Yup, I actually completed it since my last post. How is it? Is it worth 560 Microsoft Points? Find out ahead.

"The Passing" takes place after L4D2's first campaign, after you steal the car from the mall and before you arrive at the carnival. A raised bridge is impeding the survivors' progress but, luckily, the survivors from the first game are there to help you out. Well, three of them, anyway. Somebody dies. Anyway, you have to take a detour around and through the sewers to the other side of the bridge so you can fix up the lift, lower the bridge, and be on your way. Unfortunately, the previous four survivors feel like being assholes and never leave their perch up on top malfunctioning bridge lift (As far as I could tell, they were perfectly capable of getting down. I'm pretty sure the busted generator only operated the bridge. The generator you have to refuel is ground-level and the other three survivors are apparently reluctant to come down and help because they went through great trouble to get up there in the first place, losing one of their own in the process. But one must wonder, they have to come down eventually, right? Why not help?) so your interaction with them is very limited. Disappointing.

The campaign is three chapters long (also disappointing) and each chapter is fairly short. Basically, it doesn't take all that long to beat. And I did it by myself. Without dying. On normal, which is usually fairly tough. Disappointing. There's some new weapons thrown in, though. The first is a golf club and the second is a chain-gun whose ammo you can't replenish. Disappointing. There's also new uncommon zombies that drop items, but I only encountered one once. Disappointing. After working your way through the sewers, you come out on the other side of the bridge and have a very brief chat with the other survivors who tell you to refuel the lift while they cover you from up there. From up there. Disappointing. Anyway, this time you have to get 10 fuel jugs which sounds like it's going to be tough, but it's actually the easiest finale I've ever played. Not sure if that's because the area seemed really open or if it was because you had backup, but needless to say it was disappointing. After you achieve your goal, the two groups of survivors say goodbye and L4D2 crew makes their way to Withering Oaks. And that's it. Disappointing.

Overall, I feel really mislead. Valve made it sound like some epic crossover event and it's just not. It's short, easy, and there's almost no interaction between the old characters and the new characters (though there is some nice new dialog for the L4D2 crew). "The Passing" can best be described as disappointing. I can't recommend you buy it, as I think it's overpriced for what you get. I do believe, however, that the PC version is free (why!?) in which case you should definitely check it out. It's not much for the Xbox, but even at a tad over $5, it's a pretty big letdown. I'd save those 500 points for this week's deal, "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" for Borderlands. Or, hell, put them towards something else if you want as long as it's not this. My advice: skip it.

If you'd like to know who dies anyway, highlight below:

It's Bill. When you exit the sewers, you'll meet with Zoey, Francis, and Louis. I noticed Bill was suspiciously absent and thought it was strange because I was expecting, as Valve stated, for him to "sacrifice himself" in some sort of epic battle. I found a trail of blood, however, which lead to Bill's body. It looked like he'd been the victim of a Charger or Tank attack, so he was already dead when I got there. Disappointing.

Afterthought: Left 4 Dead 2 Review

2010-04-22T21:30:00.002-04:00

Did I ever review this game? I don't think so. I mean, I finished it a while back but I think I just plain forgot. Anyway, here it is if you care to read my opinion.

I'll give it to you straight: this game is 110% better than the first. At least, that's what I think. The reason for this is equally plain and simple: melee weapons. Since you're not simply limited to the pistol any more, you can actually fend off the hordes of zombies that surround you. I always keep one handy incase things get messy. When I get barfed on, I pull out the melee weapon. When that car alarm goes off, melee weapon. When you're overwhelmed with zombies during the finale of the stage, melee weapon. Despite the game being harder, the inclusion of melee weapons actually makes it easier and more fun to play.

But, damn, is this game tough! It took many, many a death and countless hours over several week of play with a friend to get to the end. And that was on normal. Not only is this game 110% better, it's also 110% more brutal. The game will literally throw four witches at you. There's often multiple special infected at once in addition to overwhelming amounts of plain vanilla zombies. Thank goodness for those melee weapons!

Besides that, the game plays more or less the same. It does, however, have a metric ton of new stuff thrown in there. There's realism mode (as if the hardest difficulty wasn't hard enough) in which headshots do extra damage and there are no health packs meaning you must revive your pals with a defibrillator. There's new special infected such as the spitter, who spits acid, the jockey, who literally rides you around, and the charger, who charges you and pummels you to death. There's new guns, but they really aren't all that different from the old ones, save for a powerful new rifle and grenade launcher. The environments are all new and range from swamps to carnivals (zombie clowns!) to office buildings. Some levels even take place in the day now, a welcomed change of pace. The music is less annoying, better, and better integrated into the experience.

The characters are quite a bit more interesting in my opinion. While I quite liked Bill, I found him very one diminutional. Zoey had no personality, and Francis was freaking annoying. And I only liked Louis because of the way he screamed "REALOADIN'!" The survivors in L4D2 (Starting to sound like Star Wars robots, isn't it?) are far more interesting. They all seem to have their own roles in the group, as well as well developed personalities and backstories. Trust me, you'll love the characters.

The one gripe I have is the repetitive gameplay. The first game had this as well, but if feels a little more apparent here. That's mostly because every "movie," though longer, has a lot of repeated formulae. Many, many times you'll be asked to turn on an alarm to progress which attacks the horde. You'll then have to get where you're going and shut it off again. It sounds fun the first time, but after doing it 5+ times, it's just not. Besides that, the levels are actually more different from each other than they were in the original. That's good. It keeps things from getting stale.

Overall, I really recommend this game. It's one of my go-to games to play with friends. If you enjoyed the first, this purchase is a no-brainer. If you weren't a fan of the first like me, give it a try and you might just change your mind. On a related note, if you miss the original cast, some new DLC for L4D2 (sounds like I'm talking in code now) just released today. It adds and extra stage to the game called "The Passing" in which the cast fromt he second game meets the cast from the first game. Oh, and one of the original four survivors dies.

Fallout New Vegas Info

2010-04-21T17:13:00.010-04:00

Alright people, here is what I have been able to eek out of all the repetitive info and total bull@*(#) that has been posted online about Vegas. WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS TO PARTS OF THE GAME INTRO OR TO SOME OF THE NEW FEATURES. YEE ALL BE WARNED OF THE DANGER. If you are still with me, here is some of the stuff so far:

-You can customize your age.

-Besides karma, there is now a system that is called "Reputation". By that, I mean killing an entire town and then donating 100 caps to the local church doesn't cut it anymore. Your character actually makes a name for himself/herself as you run through the game, making certain options available while removing some others.

-The Hoover dam is in operation and is a major power vacuum for the local gangs.

-There are 2 confirmed factions in the game: Cesar's legion and the New California Republic. The Brotherhood of Steel is rumored to also play some role.

-You are not born in the Vaults, but rather are a Currier who was beaten and left for dead in the waste.

-At some point there will be hostel stealthed super mutants.

-At some point, you can gain a portable control console for an orbiting space laser satellite and use it throughout the game.

-There will be some sort of command wheel that helps you control your companion/follower.

-There will be an optional hardcore mode that will change some things, like: Stimpacks healing slower, you can getting dehydrated, and ammo being weighted. I'd shy away from this little option till the second run through.

-Obviously, there are all new critters to shoot at so I won't ruin that.

-Almost forgot that weapons are now custom modifiable. EPIC!!

-Some weapons have special moves that do special things. (With the golf club you yell "fooor!")

I did warn you about in game info stuff, but to rap it all up into a nut shell, Fallout New Vegas looks epic and I am psyched for it to come out, which, according to Obsidian, will be on November 16th, 2010. But on the Gamestop sight it says pre-orders ship Ocotober 1st, so we will see what happens.

Here's that game you wanted for eleven years:

2010-04-20T19:21:00.000-04:00

If it ends up playing like Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (which I doubt) then I'll probably give it a shot. Still waiting on that Marvel vs. DC game that's never going to happen...

Why the Wii is starting to own

2010-04-17T18:36:00.008-04:00

And it's not just because of this awesome Metroid Wii. The system has been getting a lot of quality releases lately. Yes, they are "hardcore." The following games have released or will release this year. If you've got a Wii, you should definitely think about picking these up.

Out now! Well, they have scores anyway...

No More Heroes 2- metascore: 86/100

A lot of people overlook the No More Heroes franchise. It's probably the best non-Nintendo franchise on the Wii. You can't really get much more hardcore than NMH. In fact, there's nothing else like it on any other console (unless you count the Japanese-only port of the original for the Xbox and PS3- which I don't). It truly is something wacky, brutal, and fun. There's just something off about this game. And it's awesome. Words can't really do it justice, so here's a crazy-ass trailer:

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom- metascore: 85

I previewed the Japanese version of this game a while back. While I haven't yet picked up the North American version, I'm sure it's even better with its added character selection and tuned-up mechanics. I was never a fan of Marvel vs. Capcom because it was too technical for me, but with Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, they've made the gameplay simpler while retaining the depth. The result is extremely fun to play.

Red Steel 2- metascore: 81

The first Red Steel sucked big time. Wisely, Ubisoft threw out everything relating to that game and built this new game completely from the ground up. It's even got a fancy Borderlands visual style. Actually, it looks really nice. There isn't much noticeable difference between the two, besides some loss of sharpness. Unlike the first game, this one is a samurai-meets-cowboy old west Tokyo type of deal. It uses Wii Motion Plus (bundled with the game) for greater accuracy of your sword and gun, which you can switch to on the fly to pull off some crazy combos. The game is actually quite brutal, even though the enemies bleed yellow blood.

Monster Hunter Tri- metascore: 88

Typically a PlayStation exclusive franchise, Capcom decided to branch out and bring the third Monster Hunter game to a wider audience on the Wii. They're also hoping that, since the series is only really big in Japan, they can finally appeal to the 'ol North American audience with this entry. And I must say, this game looks stunning. I'm really, really tempted to check it out, especially because of the glowing reviews it's been getting (it comes out April 20th). As you can see from the trailer below, Capcom really put a lot of effort into the visuals. Man, does it show! And it's got some sweet music to go along with it all, too.

For those of you who don't know, Monster Hunter 3 plays exactly how it sounds like it would. It's an RPG-style game in an open world in which you accept missions to take down progressively harder monsters or brave the wilds yourself. With every monster you defeat, you'll be able to upgrade your weapon with parts from the bodies of your enemies. Tri adds new underwater segments that, for once, are actually well thought out and fun. In addition, the game has two player local co op and four player online co op. According to reviews I've read, its the best online experience on the Wii. The battles get really tough and intense, though, so it pays to go into battle with a buddy.

I can't decide which trailer I like more, so you get two:

Sin and Punishment 2- metascore: 87 (import version)

Yes, there is a game called "Sin and Punishment" on a Nintendo console. I know it's hard to believe, but the original actually came out on the N64 and it was a cult hit. Never played it, but this looks like some old school arcade fun (with some old school arcade difficulty) to me. It comes out here June 7.

Coming later this year

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (May 23)

Sure, the box is a little too bright and cheery, but who doesn't want to play the sequel to the best 3D mario game ever? I certainly do. And you should too. And Yoshi's in this one too. What more could you want?

Metroid: Other M (June 27)

I really blasted Pokemon the other day for being stale and unoriginal, but I have to hand it to Nintendo- Metroid is one franchise they always keep fresh. First the old school 2D games, then Prime, and now something in between. Other M looks awesome. Hopefully, it'll live up to expectations as being awesome to play and having a great narrative. My one gripe is that, in typical Team Ninja style, everything is overly shiny. But I guess I can't complain because, man, look at those visuals!

Conduit 2 (Fall 2010)

Yes, they dropped the "the" from the title. Stupid, I know. Anyway, this sequel to last years superb The Conduit was literally just announced a few days ago. As such, there's not much info about it, but you can bet it's going to be awesome. IGN has a short preview if you're interested.

Epic Mickey (Fall 2010)

This game hasn't been shown in action as of yet, so nobody quite knows how it'll turn out. However, with Warren Spector (System Shock, Deus Ex) on board, it's got to be some kind of good right?

The game sees Mickey transported to another dimension run by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, filled with old, forgotten Disney characters. Mickey uses a magic paint brush to alter the environment (which sounds familiar if you've ever played Okami) in this platforming adventure. Personally, I liked the game's concept when it had a steampunk vibe, but we'll see how it works out.

The JRPG Triumvirate
Japanese RPG fans rejoice! It's a great year to own a Wii, with three big JRPG's releasing this year. Here they are in chronological order of release:

Arc Rise Fantasia (June 22)

Japanese RPG developer imageepoch is bringing Wii gamers Arc Rise Fantasia, a much needed dose of JRPG for the console. It looks like a fairly straightforward one, as well. Turn based, AP gages, parties, summons, flying numbers, it's all here. It's supposed to have heavy emphasis on story, as well. If you're into that sort of thing, look for it this summer.

The Last Story (2010)

If the game's name and logo seem like a Final Fantasy ripoff, that's probably because this game is beging developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. Little is known about it since it was only recently announced, but it will apparently have a theme of human emotion, have no science fiction elements, and contain a "real time system." Whatever that means. I hope it has to do with the combat.

Xenoblade (June 10 in Japan, TBA in U.S.)

Don't let the name fool you. Though this game was created by Tetsuya Takahashi, it has no relation to his other series Xenogears and Xenosaga. The man just has a Xenofetish, I suppose. Anyway, details a surprisingly vague on this game as well even though it comes out in less than two months.

What I do know is that the idea of the game intrigues me. There were these two massive gods who killed each other in battle and their bodies were left to time. Eventually, civilization sprung up on their corpses. This is where the game takes place. On one god live these machine people and on the other live humans. As you can probably guess, they don't get along. The trailer below doesn't show any gameplay, but you get a sense of how massive the world is supposed to be. Also, Yoko Shimomura does the music. I knew it sounded unusually good. For those of you confused, she's the composer for Kingdom Hearts. You can listen to that sweet, sweet music on the official website. There's two songs which you can pick by selecting BGM 1 or 2 in the bottom right corner. The combat looks real time-ish...

And this one shows some early gameplay (the game was originally called Monado: The Beginning of the World- glad they changed that).

And that's just the Wii exclusives coming out this year. There's probably quite a few you missed from 2009, but I won't get into that right now.

Pokemon?

2010-04-16T01:52:00.004-04:00

So Fuzunga's article got me thinking of pokemon and to make a long story short I stumbled across this and laughed out loud. Then cringed.

F.E.A.R 3

2010-04-16T01:03:00.004-04:00

Let me start off by saying that I wasn't big on the F.E.A.R series untill about 5 months ago. It all started when I walked into a GameStop and was imidiatly blinded by a pierceing neon light (you know the kind). I don't remember much but their are flash images of money being transfired and at some point I walked out of the store with both F.E.A.R 1 and 2 used for 20 bucks total. So I went home,played those and I actuall liked #2 better, it was a better shooter and had a better plot that was figureoutable, unlike the conveluted crazyness that was #1. Anyway, beat those, considered getting the extension pack for F.E.A.R (never did) and then went out to get more games. This all took place over a 4.5 month period. The games I bought were those old games that when they came out you were like "ehh is that really worth 60 bucks?" but now that they were cheap I bought them and played them, and am now raping up beating the last one. (for those of you who care they were Chronicles of Ridick=6.9/10, Orange Box= WIN PURCHASE!!!!, EndWar=FAIL=2.9/10, and someone gave me Dark Sector=8/10=weak story but fun gameplay). Then I eventually got Just Cause for my B-day=SUCCESS in FUNLAND!!!, and in case that wasn't obvious enough this game is worth every cent. I am still working on that, and then I saw this trailer:

Freaky, but looks fun. It would be nice if they put in some gameplay.

And Im not sure if this is real or not, but it is pretty cool too.

Also, the projected release date is 10/1/2010