Video Games

Fire Emblem: Awakening impressions

Finally been able to put about an hour into the game.  Yeah, it’s not a whole lot, but enough to tell you that the game is awesome.  It plays just like the old Fire Emblem games, but with updated graphics.  I do enjoy the anime cut scenes, looked great on 3-D also.  The one thing I do find a bit annoying is the partial voice overs.  Instead of full dialogues, characters either say a few words at a time, or just do some random grunts.  You get used to it after a while, but I wish they would’ve just not put any voices in, or at least left it for the cut scenes. Also, why don’t they have feet?

Anyway, the game is great, story is entertaining as of now, and the battle graphics are good looking.  Can’t do much on the over world map, so I won’t hold that against it.  More to follow shortly.

 

IMG_6028

Related articles

Nintendo 3DS Fire Emblem Awakening Edition Unboxing

I finally got my hands on the Nintendo 3DS Fire Emblem Awakening Edition.  It came out earlier this week, and the game itself is in short demand due to some shipping issues, at least according to the dude at Gamestop, and due to that game card shortage, fans of the game are snagging the system with the game pre-installed.  The system itself is in high demand, as it’s not even available on other retailers other than Gamestop.  Amazon is also selling it for $100.00 over retail, but it’s a Canadian store selling it, which probably explains the price.  I had to pick one up sooner rather than later as the stock is getting thin.

anyway, enjoy the video, and I will be following up with a half review to the game after I spend some time with it.

[youtube http://youtu.be/owpyLprlSYg]

Playstation 2 ends production

I still remember it clearly, I just had graduated college, and about to take on the world, and to celebrate, I traded in my N64 Donkey Kong Edition (it was green, and I should have kept it), my PSone, and a slew of games to get a shiny newly released PS2. Walking home from what was then called Electronics Boutique (Game Stop to all of you young uns), I was ecstatic, and could not wait to dive right in and experience the ‘Next’ Generation in gaming. Thinking back now, I can’t even remember what my first game was. I do remember playing Zone of Enders endlessly with my cousins, as well as Twisted Metal Black (the end credits with the Rolling Stones – Paint it Black was awesome, and will always be forever be associated with that game and the PS2 with me). And we also did some damage with Gran Turismo 3, which, to me was totally jaw dropping in the graphics department, and probably was the first game to me, to blur virtual and reality, in terms of looks.

I have played many games on that trusty big black brick, heck, I still have the majority in my basement (along with my PS2), and that system has served countless hours of gaming fun, from the Gran TUrismo‘s, the Madden’s, the Metal Gears, and The DDR’s, yes Dance Dance Revolution. I have so many fond memories playing my PS2, but somehow, even with all those great games, it still does not hold a candle in my heart as the SNES did. I have better gaming memories in the 8 and 16 bit era, than that of the first 2 Playstations. But I digress.

My PS2 hasn’t been touched since I bought a PS3, and I still purchased games for it about a little over a year ago, which I had meant to play, since the newer PS3’s aren’t backwards compatible.
I might just dust off my PS2, and be nostalgic for a bit, and relive some of those games. To date, I think I have over 100 or so PS2 games, and I might just do some retro recollections here.

Anyway, here’s to the PS2, you have given all of us some great memories in the past decade.

ps2pc

English: Two iterations of the PlayStation 2 c...

English: Two iterations of the PlayStation 2 console, the fat and the slimline. On the left is a slimline model SCPH-70001 with a vertical stand, on the right is a SCPH-30001 with a DualShock2 and 8MB memory card plugged in. This is the JPG version. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sources:

http://gimmegimmegames.com/2012/12/the-ps2-is-no-longer-being-shipped-in-japan/

http://www.famitsu.com/news/201212/28026636.html

 

 

Here’s some video’s for your viewing pleasure.

 

Grand Theft Auto V – Trailer 2

Seeing this new trailer makes me want this game badly!  I never got around to playing GTA 4 as much as I wanted to.  At the time, I was going through some personal problems, and even now, I can’t seem to pick it up and play it again.  I played the PS2 variants, and played them thoroughly, and in the process, had a good time in doing so.  Seeing GTA 5 and the way it looks graphically, and thinking back to when I first played GTA back in the 90’s show’s you how much the industry has jumped leaps and bounds in the last decade and a half.

This is a Rockstar game, and they rarely make duds, (in fact, I can’t think of a game that they made that totally sucked ass) and I can already foresee this game being totally awesome.

The Sess resurfaces!

Former G4TV personality, and editor in chief of games content, Adam Sessler has joined Revision3.  It’s nice to see him back in action, and frankly, since his sudden departure on X-Play, I stopped watching it pretty much. I guess the timing was right for him since now, X-Play is gonna be cancelled at the end of the year, and G4TV is switching gears.

To be honest, it’s been just 2 original shows, and a lot of re-runs of Cops.  Anyway, here’s the Adam’s announcement below.

 

http://revision3.com/rev3gamesoriginals/adam-sessler-joins-rev3games

 

Good to see you back Adam!

Wii U very quick initial impressions.

This was the first time I’ve really seen the Wii U up close.  I haven’t really paid much attention to it since they announced it.  I have to say though, I was quite impressed.  The controller wasn’t as bulky to hold at it sseems, and it’s not as heavy as it looks either, BUT, I can see how after an hour or so, it might be problematic.

I played a few moments of Rayman: Legends (which I stated Rayman: Wii U edition in the video), and the graphics are up to par with the PS3, and XB 360.  We’ll see how it holds up once Sony and MS bring out their new systems.  Anyway enjoy the video’s I was able to take.

 

 

 

A First Impression of: Resident Evil 6. Excited to let all hell break loose.

I think that first phrase just sums in all up.

The Big Cheese and I have been wasting away our weekends playing ridiculously fun yet extremely frustrating video games on our PS3’s.

One of our favorite games of the past year or so has been Resident Evil 5. We have literally played that game to death. But that didn’t stifle our fun. We kept playing it up until The Big Cheese broke his arm (and that’s a story for another day).

After the summer long hiatus and an uneventful waiting period, it finally released. Resident Evil 6.

Upon first glance, the third-person shooter doesn’t seem all that different from the older RE games. HOWEVER. Before actually jumping into the full game experience, Capcom was generous enough to throw in a mandatory tutorial. This 20-30 minute long prelude to the actual campaign starts with Leon Kennedy and Helena Harper. You play as Leon, learning the controls and mannerisms of the game.

I just have to say. The graphics? Beautiful. The game actually tells you to put the brightness down as low as possible (so that a grey six on the screen is barely visible). It really looks like a movie. The graphics are a sight to behold (even on my standard-def tube TV box), but of course, as any gamer should know, graphics aren’t everything. The sound is well done, too, by the way. Very detailed and crisp.

The controls are very different from the standard shooter, and will most likely be a difficult adjustment for a person that has solely been playing  Call of Duty lately, such as I.

You can play through the campaign as one of three characters, each with a different story line: Chris Redfield, Jake Muller, and the aforementioned Leon S. Kennedy.

I’m really hoping for a great experience with this game, as chilling as it may be.

Many storylines= much fun.

RE6

Resident Evil 6 – Initial Thoughts
RE6

Finally a new game to waste time on with Cheesecake.

It has finally come, RE6, a game Cheesecake and I have been eagerly awaiting since it’s announcement.  We’ve played countless hours of RE5, Practically getting everything that there is to get in the main games campaign.

We’ve tried other co-op games, but none gave us the satisfaction that RE5 provided us with.  I actually forgot that today was the release date for RE6. I  thought it was another week or so away.  I just happen to stop by a Best Buy during my lunch hour, and, there it was.  I picked it up on my way home, and not too long ago, I just finished playing through the ‘tutorial’ stage.

My first impressions? It still somewhat feels like RE5, controls wise, although now I can aim AND move.  Also during the tutorial stage, there was a lot of my ever so favourite quick time events.  (sarcasm)  Not a fan of them in any shape or form in any game, BUT it does keep you on your toes.  The graphics look gorgeous.  Textures look a lot better than they did of RE5.  Voice acting and sound effects were just as good as it was from RE5.

Initial response to the game by the media is really mixed.  Some gave it really great reviews, some gave it extremely bad reviews, and most gave it ‘meh’ reviews.  [Read snippets of some reviews from CVG].  The same was said about RE5, and RE:ORC.  They were both decent games that provided hours of frustrations and entertainment.  And that in my book is a win.

This weekend, Cheesecake and I will be playing it co-op style (not Gangnam…..yeah, I went there) and we’ll give you our semi-in depth take on it. You know what, maybe we might just go blog about it after each play session.  We’ll see if this is worthy of losing the game.

Stay tuned!

I have the best luck.

I love video games. The Big Cheese got me into those addictive little nuggets of happiness.

I have so many memories with Nintendo’s DS line. I received a silver Nintendo DS for my birthday, a few years back. Somewhere along the line, I found a beautifully perfect, white Nintendo DS Lite.

I played my Pokemon games to death on those two beasts, but after my DS Lite broke, I was left without a portable gaming system. Two years, I’ve gone without splurging or asking for a new Nintendo DS, but my PS3 is most likely to be held accountable for that. My PS3 is the only gaming platform (besides my Android phone and computer) that I own and use on a regular basis. I do have a Nintendo GameCube stagnantly seated next to my PS3, however.

Anyway, today brought back some of those memories. The rage-quitting, the pride in finally defeating a gym leader, the shouts of excitement after winning a race in Mario Kart DS, the funny and often inappropriate drawings on PictoChat, the amazing, destructive fun of Bomberman…

What brought such awesome memories back, you ask? Well… Much like how I found the white Nintendo DS Lite, I found myself a white Nintendo DSi. An oldie, but at least it isn’t oversized, like the new 3DSXL or DSiXL.

I’m so happy. Time to break out the Pokemon Platinum and Diamond. Gonna catch me some weird Sinnoh Pokemon.

Bye bye G4, Bye Bye

I’m not quite sure if this is sad news or not, but I’ve read from various sources that G4 will be dissolved, and rebranded by parent company NBC Universal.  From what i’ve read, they will want to focus more on the male GQ type thing (I really don’t know what that means), and still keep the “tech savvy roots”.  I think, when G4 first started about a decade ago, it was just that, like a Maxim on TV.  I’ve been watching G4 before it was even G4.  Back in the TechTV day’s mostly.  But most of the shows from TechTV got dumped with the exception of X-Play.  They did bring out their own original programming like Cheat, (which somehow got replaced with Cheaters), and Arena, but those soon bit the bullet too.  The only other long time running program they have is Attack of the Show.

Most of their program lineup really just consists of Cops, Cheaters, and Movies that Don’s Suck.  They will play Ninja Warrior on occasion.  AOTS hasn’t been the same since Olivia Munn left, don’t get me wrong, Candace Bailey is hot in her own right, but I think Olivia Munn just has a certain X-Factor about her.  With the recent departure of Kevin Pereira, I was sort of concerned with where the show was headed.  His departure came not long after Adam Sessler’s sudden departure from X-Play.  Practically 2 staples, and 2 faces of the G4 suddenly gone, in the back of my head, it made me question what the future of the shows, or even the stations was going to be.

After that fall out over the summer, I found myself not catching up to X-Play and AOTS.  It was just not the same without Sess, and KP.  I still did DVR it, but I just never bothered to watch it that night.  As it stands I’m still in the July shows for both.

Now with this news of NBC Universal rebranding the channel, I’m not quite sure X-Play or AOTS will still be in the mix.  I’m gonna be honest though, X-Play has sucked a bit in the last year or so.  It was just not the same anymore, even more so with Adam gone.
I don’t know if i’m even going to miss the channel being gone if i’m honest.

http://gamerant.com/g4-video-game-channel-dead/

One of Olivia Munn’s highlights at AOTS