Bubble Tea

It's amazing what a shop in the mall could do to you after all these years. Sorry, I'm reminiscing a bit about Bubble Tea! If you haven't heard of it, trust me try it out for yourself, it's an amazing drink. It's like a usual drink, many flavors to choose from you can have it either warm or cold. It's a milk tea using Tapioca balls to add to the value of the drink. It costs around $2 to $3 bucks and for some strange reason it makes me feel good about myself.

Now, when you grab the drink it will be wrapped with paper which you can poke your big straw through. Yeah, the most noticeable thing will be the BIG straw in which you are required to use to get the balls out of the cup. Now I dunno if you chew it or swallow the ball whole, either way it makes for a good time!

Why do I write about this? A shop in the local mall actually sells the bubble tea and it's in the corner of the mall where shoppers don't normally crowd around. I was very shocked to see such a store in the mall as the last time my encounter with the tea was on Rutgers campus in this little cubby hole shop, you could literally fit about 10 people in there. There I was introduced to the wonderful flavors of bubble tea and it's many ways to taste an amazing product from Taiwan. I believe the trend started there and was later adapted into culture in Japan and now worldwide. It may sound gross but don't knock it off.

Another reason I decided to update today is the unfortunate passing of Wacko Jacko. You know, I was turned on by his music when Weird Al covered his parodys. His hits made it across the radio on some top 40 stations here in the tri-state area and so I was immediately in tune with the songs Billie Jean, Beat It, Gunna Be Starting Something, Thriller. Ah hell, I can't I forget about Thriller. The EPIC video playing on the Box music video channel in October. I wouldn't hear much about him until his music was featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It was a suprise to hear his music while blasting bad guys in Vice City. It was very fitting and very cool to hear, always sang it. Even though this man has molested children and done weird things, you got to take that out of the equasion I mean beyond all of the shit that he done, here is a man that REVOLUTIONIZED the music industry and changed the game. Dare I speak of his own video game, Moonwalker, that I played in arcades.

Sadly, he is dead. He died a broke man and by broke I mean losing the Neverland Ranch, the support of all his fans during the trial, and his exile from the mainstream. He died much like Ed Mcmahon during his struggle to get his house back. But Jackson's legacy will be heard forever, much like the Beatles, over the radio waves.

Collector Edition Games?

Seriously, I love collector editions for my favorite games. I have a few of them and they really help stand out from the generic game box. However, I'm seeing more and more of them pop up for new games and existing franchises. Now, every damn company is doing these collections and I'm getting sick of it, especially if it's on the level of Halo 3 collectors, a helmet you can't even wear but your cat can.

A problem is the shelling out of money. This would be great to do, especially if the game costs the old school $50, but paying an extra $40 is just bad, just for stickers and a cell art frame so you can post it above your bedroom? Also, increasing game cost has made gamers into smart buyers. Retail now offers great deals on some current and old games. I bought Street Fighter 4 a few weeks ago and I love it (except for Seth......fucker) and I paid $37 for it. Sadly, I have missed good game deals over the past year. I missed out on Mirror's Edge for $37, but I did pick up Mass Effect for $40 and Bioshock for about the same price. I knew we had a collector's edition for that but why would you buy it for a new game? Sure the graphics were stunning but you would go out on a limb and purchase something you dunno if you would like? I don't think there was a demo for it on Live either. Correct me if I'm wrong.

If you're gunna do a collector's edition, make it like the World of Warcraft's boxes. I have the Burning Crusade expansion and it's massive....think I paid $90 for it but the thing comes PACKED with all kinds of shit. An in-game exclusive pet, an art book, a music CD, the game on DVD and CD-ROM, an invite to a wow website, cards from the card game, exclusive promos, and hell I dunno how much more but the box is very nice.
Oh yeah forgot about the amazing mouse pad and the behind the scenes DVD. This IS a collectors edition unlike, oh lets say, Dead Space and their art book with 3-D glasses. All I know is that it probably cost around the same for the dead space game.

Dunno what else to say but they way I say is, if you think you are getting a sweet deal with all the swag you're paying for...buy the collectors but if it's some lame ass shit, just avoid it all together because it's gunna be a trap hole for your wallet.

As far as next post, I think I'll look into some card games, maybe go into some detail about how I made mine or just ideas in general. Card games are the centerpiece of my life and it's great to play them, not as much today, but having all the pokemon or all of the secret rares in yugioh, it was a blast to play and make friends with everyone at a hobby shop. I'm in random mode now, but go out there and support your local hobby store, ask for leagues, get something going becuase these stores are going the way of the arcades.

Snafu Nook

Hey all, got around to having some time from these grueling weeks in preparation for my card game's next set, a mini expansion that will balance and break the game a bit. Some rather neat cards are on its way. I am now stuck on a new template for the card game since the last one was made in MS Paint, it was just a basic white or black background. I'm hoping to brush up, excuse the pun here, on my photoshop layering skills. I know this may be noobish to a lot of people, but I grew up on the damn MS Paint when I was just a wee lad. The days where windows sucked badly and we had to use command prompt to play a game, going through the C:// directory. Hell, we even had a fucking floppy disc games....yeah I like the old school!

I remember Phantasmagoria, a point and click adventure game from Sierra that worked pretty well on an old windows computer. Sadly, I could never finish it since when disc 3's intro loads up, it would crash and go back to the command prompt. Then wierd crash noises from the speakers came out....holy shit I thought...man Windows back then scared the fuck outta me...never knew when that thing was gunna crash. But I have to thank my cousin one of these days for getting me into the world of PC gaming when it was big. Without him, I don't think I would ever be the insane freak I am in real life....well when I think of a game scene in my mind that would be gross and awesome at the same time. I visualize the camera angles where I want the camera to be, etc. Dare I say I feel like the Taratino of the industry one day....

So we got the mini expansion down, just gotta make the cards and now my guild in Warcraft is probably making a run through Naxx tonight or better yet on the weekend, either way it's fine.

I dunno why but the title doesn't make a whole lot of sense, guess I just wanted to have a random title...could of just called it Shaq Fu.

But I will say this, the Nook part is apart of this new site I found out the other day while looking at some Warcraft bosses, Gamernook. I am on there and I think a lot of people are finding it out quickly. Looks pretty cool and spiffy so I made an account and started adding stuff to my games collection. Might as well post the blog up there too for all to see and maybe link this one back to the real blog. See how many have blogger and such. I get views, but now replys...I don't mind at all if nobody comments, if not this is a place where I can speak my mind and nobody hears me? Ah well, let it be the temple of my mind then.

Oh and another thing. I feel this may be kinda wierd but this girl the other week held my arm at work right when I was gunna leave. Looked online for an answer and it felt subconsiously done...love in my future? Hope I don't fuck it up, she is pretty cute and we talk a lot so I guess it's a step in the right direction for me before I lose my sanity of working nonstop. I dunno it feels about right, I just don't know if she really likes me at all....ah well back to being a nerd!!! lol.

I'm back!

got done with the creative writing that I had to do. Dunno if they will DQ me for some violence but hey the game has massive blood and violence so why the hell not.

Figured how to get a stie online tonite for the card game I made, so that was a 3 hour tutorial, but I got the hang of it. :) So I'm on cloud 9. I'll post the link to my writing maybe on the next blog.

In other news I have a Twitter account so lurkers can look at my doings, dunno what for but it seems worth it to a choice few. I'll put it up on the sidebar early in the week.

I also ordered a Play Arts Cloud Strife figure off Amazon the other day. I'm gunna try and tackle all the figures for a complete collection, I already have 3 so why not finish the set up? So that will be $30 every week out of the hole, but the detail is amazing and they don't disappoint, unless it's broken in the package via shipping.

so quick update and i'm out until tomorrow.

A Short Break

Hey all, just want to update you on a quick break that I will be taking. My creative juices are flowing over a contest online. So, needless to say I will be taking a short break to brainstorm and type up the treatment of the story.

Hopefully I will win, but that's a longshot right? lol Anywho, here's to hoping the treatment is good and I will see you in a few weeks hopefully.

Once I am done with the piece, I'll put it up here for you to enjoy.

March's Flame of the Month: GAMESTOP

Back to doing these, I really miss doing these. Basically, this is where I let loose, albeit the only posts where I will cuss like a sailor. This month is about the greatness known as Gamestop.

I remember when Funcoland was in business along with Gamestop, back when it was a little store chain, EB and Software Etc. In the later part of the 21st century, Gamestop had acquired ALL of the game companies in the nation. A fuckin Gamestop on every corner. Ok fine. Now that there is a problem. A BIG problem....doesn't this make it a monopoly since there are no other game stores like a Gamestop on the east coast besides a damn Gamestop?

Maybe the reason the economy is down in the shitter is because a fucking Gamestop and a Wal-Mart on every corner is KILLING mom and pop stores out there. Hell, I'd rather go to a corner store that sells games than go to a Gamestop ever.....but I have no choice but to go to a Gamestop nowadays. Especially for the unheard of games like Persona in which a Target or Wal-Mart will never sell since it isn't mainstream.

I went to Gamestop to cancel a pre-order on Guild Wars: Factions becuase the store didn't have the pre-order box...I got hassled into trying to keep it, I felt offended but I felt great cancelling the pre-order. I really hate the fact that they force you to reserve games, but they use the 3 question limit. Jeez, I just want to buy 1 game please can I leave?

Back in the day, they had action figures, card games and video games....it's a win win! But now since it's gone, I don't have any care for the stores anymore. Another goddamn thing is selling the game. What the fuck seriously. I go and sell some stuff and I try to sell a rare skinny green GameBoy Pocket. Thinking they don't have these anymore.....THEY WANT TO BUY IT FOR 2 CENTS......2 MOTHERFUCKING CENTS. It's sooo pathetic that they want to insult me with their prices. And they will sell it for $30 bucks if I gave it to them....what the fuck is up with that shit?

Another goddamn thing is this whole unsealed new games. I get a game in its package WITH some stickers on it AND they put the disc in the game along with the instructions..I can see if it's used but come on Gaystop, I want a game sealed!!!! Why would I pay full price for an opened game? Doesn't this entitle me to force you to cut the price by 20%? Hell even 10%?

And one more thing....I feel sorry for the companies out there who make these game only to be undermined by Gamestop's used game black market. Yeah it's a black market. None of the revenue gained from these used games are going to the game companies themselves. It's highway robbery and Gamestop is guilty as charged. Is this why a majority of smaller game companies went under? It's not a big factor, but if you think about all the money that they could have made off it, they would still be in business. Instead of Midway paying $200 million in debt they could have payed $100 million...still in a shit hole? yes but...oh nevermind they killed Mortal Kombat by making it 3-D. Hell if I had a game company right now, I'd pull all my games off their sales floors and make them beg for it. If they are still around 20 years from now, I will only sell to retail stores that have class, Gamestop does not have any class and no custome service....they are like the retarted kid at school, nobody wants to be around them and nobody cares about them.

So what do we do about the company? Sue them for selling used games, from a game company standpoint, but as their motto says, "power to the players" maybe the players should take the power away by boycotting the store and going to other retail stores, hell even mom and pop stores in your local town. I doubt they are around anymore, but at least you can get a warm, fuzzy feeling when you go in and talk to the guy behind the desk and request for something personal instead of getting asked 3 times on a reserve on a game. It's basic business model I understand, but most of these kids are anti-social and lack confidance so asking them 3 times is an insult to their knowledge to the industry.

I'm only going to Gamestop for the hard to get games. You know it makes me wonder why there are so many casual gamers nowadays. It's because nobody will dare travel to a Gamestop to grab the latest installation on Ponyz becuase Wal-Mart and Target have em there. I've downgraded my play time massively as well, dare I say I'm casual now for the simple fact of the economy, the higher prices on games, and for Gamestop for treating me and many others like shit. The only real way we will get outta this hole is by reducing the number of these mass monopoly stores and building mom and pop stores and hiring people for a ton of positions.

But yeah I rather walk down to St. Charles Place, down commoner ave, and pick up a game then to go to Park Place and buy a game new and then return it for a fucking lame $10.

What a Long Strange Trip It's Been...

It's been a while. A long while since I had ever written a blog on here. So I say hello to all lurkers and writers who are viewing this entry. I took a hiatus from blogging because I became tired of posting and I didn't have the time, the only thing I could have done was comment on Jaffe's blog here and there. I seriously thought of just stopping with blogs and the idea of puting random stuff on here. I then remembered the old days of ModBlog and what it meant to me. All the entries I use to do, I had a number of posters on there who would post some good things and enjoy the posts I made. I really miss them and the old days of ModBlog before they decided to shut it down permantly. First by removing their buttons, then ultimately their website after many complained on what was going on with the numberous site shut downs and missing images.

There, was the start of me posting on David Jaffe's blog and Cory Balrog's blog, both viewed my blogs so I guess I should be excited which I still am all these years. No matter how small time you are, you always have a chance to be spotted not just by some famous people but from your peers as well giving you that radical push you need in posting whatever the comment is.

A whole year has gone by...I just can't believe a year has passed that quickly. A lot in the industry has changed and our economy has taken the roller coaster ride to hell in several months. It's almost astonishing to see the crime rate rise becuase of these troubled times. I thought I might see people jumping out of their buildings which would be very reminicient of the Great Depression during the 1930's. But I see people are not doing so, I guess people have learned that a tarnished living is not a reason to kill yourself, espeically if you can start from the ground running again. I have been very frugal with my money and I'm not that afraid to admit it. I got my government check today so I bought a few things and I threw the rest of the check in the bank along with my pay. My greatest advice to saving? Buy the essentials, don't go crazy shopping buying uneeded items. If you have to write it down and cross it off, go ahead and do so.

Woah, I'm looking like an advisor on CNN or something, seriously they can hire me for some money, I'll spit out my opinion for dough. Speaking of spitting out an opinion, don't tell me how this transitions into this, but I've been wondering about getting a Twitter but is it worth getting? I mean one sentence status updates sound spiffy, but I'm just not sold on the idea of it. Hey, I can give into peer pressure if needed.

'Life, Love, Games' was the title of my old blog and I really want to go back to those days where I can write anything I can about what I'm doing and what I feel about the industry as a whole from a semi-gamer's perspective. I've actually stopped playing so many games since I feel my eyes are straining out from the graphics and the longplays I have done in the past. My 'Flame of the Month' entries will make a comeback where I just whine and complain about one thing, it's also where I cuss up a storm and you will see it too. It's such a great way to vent out any fustration I currently have bottled up in me. I think it's a good entry and I think I have a few entries in this blog site as well.

I will see by the weekend if I can get a flame entry out and I think I have a great entry for that. I am also looking foward to playing Resident Evil 5 soon. It looks amazing for a next gen game along with Killzone 2 and Fallout 3. All great games however, I am uneasy with Halo Wars. I just have a gut feeling that the company is attempting to break the FPS mold they revolutionalized for the X-Box. Ironically, Command and Conquer is one of my favorite series for a RTS and they also did a FPS. What a vicious cycle.

I will do a review of RE5, early impressions and no spoliers at all becuase I don't want to ruin a great gameplay and storyline experience for anyone else. Until next blog I will see you soon!

A cool new gaming site

If there's one thing I like to see, it's that of another choice of gaming sites. I am tired of Gamespot's reviews and their, now exposed, bribes of making bad games good. So I overheard a person, who I work with, about a new gaming site that just launched at the start of the new year. Crispy Gamer is the name and even though it's in beta right now, the site looks and feels great.

I absolutely love the no ads before viewing the main site. Also, there is a contest which you can win a ton of prizes from PSP to a computer! Signing up is easy, but a little glitchy so becareful when signing up. Overall the site is good and I hope the best for it.

www.crispygamer.com


PS - For those Twisted Metal fans out there I have made a group for it, I hope that you will join up and join the group to make it a big success!

http://crispygamer.com/groupsummary.aspx?GroupID=109

Twisted Metal: Extra Suped Mega Hyper Twisted Extremely Sweet Ultimate Twisted Edition!

The announcement of Eat, Sleep, Play's (ESP) first title, Twisted Metal Head-On Extra Twisted Edition, goes to show that the PS2 is nowhere near its dying days in gamers hearts. For newbies to the series, the Head-On port will kick you into high gear combat in no time. Beginners will find themselves choosing from the insane Sweetooth to Warthog and many others, all the cars play with their own style and have their own special abilities. Never, since TM: Black, have I ever had fun blowing up cars in a stadium or falling to my death on the rooftops. Vets to the series will enjoy both games, if you can call it that, on the disc.

(Sweetooth in Head-On)

Now when you open that nice wrap on the box, you will notice a mini art book on levels, car designs, and characters. Once reading through it, you will see a code to redeem a custom Twisted Metal Soundtrack from online. It's a great mix of all the TM games except for the despicable Twisted 3 and 4 (Seriously though, in TM3, all I can play as is Club Kid and spam his special to death! As for 4, Calypso..yeah..nobody played anyone else BUT him. Back to the review).

So I pop it in the system and we have an option, I shoot for the lost levels and stuff first since I have played HO already. The video on the history of TM is a great overview on the history on how they made it and documents their success and downfall and rebirth into the series, a very good look into the saga of Mr. Dave Jaffe and the TM crew. Next is the lost videos of the real Twisted Metal endings. It's definitely laughable content here, nice to see textless endings though..even if the content was a joke (it taste likes AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!)

The running level where you control Sweetooth is unfinished content therefore there is nothing negative to say, you just run around and collect 29 icons where you collect and read about TM, a little bit on game industry jobs and reject concept cars which are cool. You only have access to the asylum and the outside of the asylum. However, the lost levels, 4 in all, are very good levels especially the dark amusement park level. Two new cars are in the lineup, one a demolition derby car named 12 pack and Gold Tooth, which I haven't gotten yet. Both scrapped cars with no endings. Overall, this unfinished game hypes me up for more Twisted Metal sweetness.

The PSP port that ESP gave us is pretty much the same game except for some updated PS2 graphics and a nice looking castle map, Transylvania. Oh I forget to mention the music has been changed up from the PSP version. Would of been cool just to see 1 or 2 new cars but I'm still replaying the game to unlock all the things I already did.

But the greatest thing about the game is that it is only 20 bucks...yes 20 dollars, it's easily an affordable game which you should have in your possession after you read this or any other review regardless if you are a Twisted Metal fan or not its a great introduction for beginners and a blast to replay the game for vets of the series. 5 out of 5.

New God of War 3 stuff...sort of.....

Ok everyone's awaiting the new God of War to come out, I have a video showing the realness of the next game!



Star Wars Kid Goes To College - Watch more free videos


Ok, well it isn't GoW3 but hey it was pretty funny to say the least. 1st new blog for the new year and I gotta say that it's an awesome ride to host and write down random stuff on the blog even if it is just a post a month. Maybe one day I'll do a gaming day blog of just me playing one game until completion just for the sake of me and to show my overall progress. Perhaps I can do it with GTA4 seeing that's the next good game of this year. I mean I have dominated many xbox games already and I'm going through them again because I am an achievement whore to the extreme. So, if you want, I'll leave my gamertag up for all to see on the blog and feel free to add me, contact me, and maybe play some online gaming with me!

Your Early X-mas gaming list

It's been a while since I last updated. And I'll still give ya the reason of work and my video game script that I work on here and there but I'm back for a little bit to give you a great buyers guide for the upcoming Black Friday/X-mas rush. What to grab, what to avoid. And since I do receive video games at work I see a lot go in and out of the pipeline....well besides Manhunt 2 which got recalled due to violent nature but ironically we have Dead Rising which is even worse. And yes, that looks like every retail store in the morning..well minus the trampling and crushing of people for great savings!


For the aging PS2, Persona 3 is definitely a must buy (see last blog for that review/praise) it is a great game, plus you get an art book and soundtrack.

Guitar Hero 3 is one of the must haves for the system, I mean it takes no thought after watching that South Park episode

Smackdown vs Raw 2008. Now I'm not buying this game seeing as I rented it and it was a major disappointment, but if your son loves the WWE and fighting games in general, go grab this one.

Fire Pro Wrestling. This is the dark horse of wrestling games, now firstly, its 2-D but the animations are top notch and you can create anybody...yep anybody even WWE stars TNA stars WCW stars...anybody with its 300 slot create a character mode. And for $20 its worth the money.

DBZ Budokai Tenkaiachi 3. Speaking of fighting games, this one is a great game too if you're into the DBZ craze...which is still running wild. Worth the money to buy it no doubt.

Disgaea 1 or 2 or both! Both games are long as hell but worth every penny. Finding the 1st game will be a little tough, but worth 40 bucks used.

Wii
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess...a very good game that will take away your time and leave your hand in crams and pain after playing it all day with that wiimote.

Metroid Prime 3 : Surprisingly one of the most fun shooter/adventure games you will play this season. However, it's a little confusing on where to go on the map and trying to get 100% will take some time.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles : On-rails shooter that details the rise and fall of Umbrella. I just buy it for the Wesker cover alone!

Super Mario Galaxy : Easily one of the funnest (if that's even a word) games on the Wii today. Jam packed with greatness. I mean how can you NOT go wrong with a Mario game? (See Mario is Missing and Mario Hotel).

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn: I'm sorry but this series gets no respect out there just buy the game and you'll be amazed.

Xbox 360

Almost EVERY game strong titles include:
Halo 3 (duh)
Bioshock
Gears of War
Dead Rising (trust me, give it a 2nd look after getting the mega buster)
Mass Effect
Call of Duty 4
Oblivion (actually get that for the PC, much better)
Assassin's Creed
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (may be multi platform but its good nonetheless plus comes with the new 360 bundle)
The Orange Box (5 fuckin games in 1 DISK!!!!!!!!!)
Puzzle Quest
Marathon
Doom
Streetrace NYC (ok my friend is the marketer for the game..had to give the game a plug).

All Xbox games will be available on the system along with Halo and Halo 2 and hopefully Capcom vs SNK 2!

PS3

umm....right..ya got a Blu Ray player! Nah I kid, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk, and Uncharted are the top until Metal Gear Solid 4 arrives.

Well there ya have it, actually I just felt lazy toward the end since I got this splitting headache while typing this. haha, I hope you can agree especially with this final month approaching and the sales of retail doubles.

2 Hot Games: Persona 3 vs. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

It's been a while bloggers but I'm back with a back to school update. I hope that your summer has gone swell and dandy. As you know, I'm sure you spent all that time playing video games...ya admit it lol. Anywho, I have 2 really good games to review...bought both a month ago, didn't want to miss an opportunity that these games will be rare (well not Metroid). Here is my mini review of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) and Persona 3 (PS2). Of course light spoilers are included.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the latest and final game of the Prime storyline. You still play Samus, that hot space bounty hunter who has traveled to the far ends of the galaxy and back. The new title features voice acting which is a total first for the series, along with the power of the Wiimote and nunchuck (more on that later) but first the storyline. It's one thing to say the story is cliche, but Prime 3 does it well. After traveling through the galaxy, Samus makes a stop at the galactic federation spacecraft, which was only talked about in Metroid lure if I'm not mistaken. The ship gets boarded by space pirates and cause havoc on the ship. After defending the ship, the federation planet is being invaded as well. After navigating through the corridors, you and your fellow bounty hunters stop a huge meteor (I guess you can call it lol) from crashing on the planet, Dark Samus reappears and corrupts them with an overload of Phazon, a very harmful element which gives Samus and the bounty hunters superior power at a price.

Controls take a bit getting use to due to moving your character with the Wiimote and analog on the nunchuck. It took me about 30 minutes to get the controls spot on and it's a blast! Aiming at targets and watching them blow up knowing you killed them never felt as good as this. Also your ability to use the grappling hook not just for spots on the wall, but to take enemy's shields and killing monsters, giving it a very nice upgrade through the Metroid years. My only complaint is not having to cycle through your acquired buster gun modes. For example, the regular beam gets upgraded to the plasma beam and you cannot cycle back to the regular beam, the Wiimote still has the D-pad's up, left and right, not used at all. This would have been ideal. After playing for like 6 hours, I started to get a cramp in my hand, I guess that's the price you pay for playing a good game, but every time you get something new, you want to try it out and that's what kept me going last Tuesday.

Graphics I'll be short on. It could have been better. When I explore it feels like I'm playing with a Gamecube game instead of a next gen Wii game. Also those dreaded doors that won't open are back, not as bad but you'll see when you want the door to open desperately while enemies attack you and all it does is just sit there laughing at you. Trust me, it got me frustrated. However, the loading transitions in air are better than seeing a "now loading" screen.

All in all, MP3: Corruption is a must buy for the Wii and a must get for your son/daughter for Christmas if you got them a Wii secretly (hey it's like 3 months away).

Next game I've been a fan of since Blockbuster put it on their shelves. To me the Persona series has been vastly superior to Final Fantasy in every single way (and Jack Frost being a better mascot too). Atlus has given us another masterpiece in the Persona series with Persona 3.

Storyline is short and simple, you are..well you , an unnamed character and you get recruited to a dorm. You go to school, hang out with the kids, solve math problems, and fool around the mall. Once a few weeks go by, you'll notice a place called the "Dark Hour" which occurs every night at midnight. People unaffected remain the same and people who are sleep in coffins and don't know it exists. You are woken up and the dorm is under attack and you go up to the roof and fend off the monsters with your inner being, A.K.A Persona. The objective is to go to a place called Tartarus, the source of the monsters and the Dark Hour and find what's on the final floor (of course the final boss and possible creator of the Dark Hour).

Gameplay is where it shines. First of all, you can go to the Tartarus and fight monsters on 100+ floors, level your characters, get gear but also you can go to school, meet people, date them, and get bonuses for your Personas. It's almost like playing a superhero, only not. There are also mini games where you can acquire more personas and money. You can except quests, fuse Personas and a whole lot more which cannot be explained in 2 reviews.

Graphics and sound are top notch except for the dungeons. It can get a little boring seeing the same textures over and over again as well as the monsters just being color palette swaps. The game is in full 3-D and lets you explore the world map similar to Final Fantasy X's map. Full voice acting by top actors like Vic Mignogna of Full Metal Alchemist and Bleach and Karen Strassman of Rurouni Kenshin fame.


In terms of which is better for your money, I'd go with persona 3 just because not only is the game included but also an art book and soundtrack from the game. It felt kinda weird looking in the Metroid Prime 3 instructing book since its in...3 languages...I dunno Retro, last I check I lived in America and everyone spoke ENGLISH! Fuck man, even the back of the game case is like 1/3s of Samus and the rest is like different languages. I can understand if they did a worldwide release but yeah...I look at other ones and they are 90 times better. (of course this can't be a blog without some kind cuss from me lol.) Both are great games, if you have the cash buy both.

The big game hunt

So much buzz about the new Manhunt game coming out soon...or so it is. With the game automatically receiving an "AO" rating without warning. Now I played the first Manhunt and never finished it but I enjoyed the hell outta the game, very interesting game....felt like playing a game version of Running Man (which I'm sure was a little inspiration for it).

Now I'm just wondering why the hell the industry is so afraid or an "AO" game. Is it because of the Hot Coffee scandal? Or will our young youth mimic the game's actions.

Was in Gamestop this afternoon overhearing an employee and 3 kids no less than 16 years old talking about the game. Of course they want the unedited game out cause who would want a watered down game like that?

Of course this all comes down to Amendment #1 once again. On an artistic level, the game sounds to be a lot of fun and action for the older crowd, but for the youth, it could possibly be a training game for killing others (something Jacky would obviously bring up).

My game that I have wrote doesn't have such brutal ways to kill people, but a sex scene and cussing to a San Andreas content will probably give it an "AO" rating. I mean, how can I water it down to "M"? Take out the sex scene, which gives a huge character development push and is something new...sorta, or just put more bland text for the player to read? I mean I got a lot of text, pages upon pages of character and game development. The sex scene must stay! :p

Its the developers freedom to make whatever they choose and, of course, our freedom to ban the game or whatever we will do to it. I think we are afraid to take every single damn step to make this country better. I mean Stem Cell research peeps and "AO" games on the market (2 totally different things but ya get my catch).

Hell, no ESRB would be great. Artistic freedom cranked to 11! Also if developers had a choice in the matter...much like what Sirius Radio is, a different flavor with no censorship whatsoever. Only distribution online to the PC and any game stores that want to carry the logo less product.


Bu seriously, in 10 years when Manhunt 2 is in the bargain bin at Gamestop with the "AO" rating, we will laugh upon this silly argument for artistic freedom for developers and hopefully we have not turned back the clock for censorship and advancement into the 21st century for the USA. People just have to accept changes whether they like it or not.

Nobody Told Me About Her....

Back in the dawn of gaming, PC gaming especially, was the creation of clickable adventure games. Kings Quest is one of the most famous of them all from Sierra. From Kings Quest to Softporn Adventure...seriously people, Sierra was the EA back then. Very popular in the PC gaming category and some cool games.

Roberta Williams was the star of many games, well, on the cover at least. (hint: the cover to the left). And Ken, Roberta's husband, working behind the scenes in making Sierra a powerhouse.

So fast foward to the early 90's where my older cousin introduced me to one of her horror games on the PC, Phantasmagoria. The game would easily top a "AO" or "M" on the esrb today. The game was glorified blood and guts, a rape scene, cursing, and a very thrilling chase sequence at the end of the game. Easily this was the game which created my sick, twisted mind. And that's a good thing! :)

Today, I have bought the game, 7 CDs long, and beat it again. Definitely worth buying if you can find it now. Digging through the interweb and finding more games that she made, its an incredible list of games for back in its day. I am just surprised that most game developers look up to her, especially the female developers, gamers, and what have you. Roberta is the Queen of the game industry, who cares who's on top right now. Roberta has been on the top of the list, despite being retired, and will forever be on the top of the list, most people who play games will totally overlook the name.

She is an inspiration to all if you have heard of her name, she should be in with the names of Miyamoto, Kojima, Rubin, Wright, Bushnell, and (dare I say) Jaffe?

So peeps, get informed, get to play her games if you can find them and enjoy old school goodness of Sierra!

Silly Gamestop!

While looking at the Joystiq this link caught my attention. Just the idea of game stores spoiling a game and possibly a few more to sell pre-orders is absolutely absurd. The most they will do will just make happy gamers mad or quite possibly save 5 bucks for a pre-order.

I have never felt so embarrassed to be a gamer and I actually mean it since now we have stores SPOIL the FUCKING game. Even if it is a predictable ending. Back in the day where we had game stores which didn't involve none of these shadowy hijinks or forced pre-orders or whatever they force people to buy (I think its on this blog an older dated blog on where I go over the whole forced pre-order ordeal).

$5 buck pre-used games which doesn't see the light of day toward the industry, now we go get even sluttier and spoil games. I tired of this and where 2 companies make sneaky marketing tactics to boost sales. Mainly the Europe PS3 release with Microsoft strategically putting their ads all around (not like PS3 sold a lot over there too).

So a big fuck you to the executive or executives who thought of this great idea. Just another example of companies giving into the corporate world of making a dollar. Now I don't blame the employees who work there who enjoy games watching the ending more than once on a 9 to 6 schedule, I just despise the whole Gamestop monopoly...errr....store lifestyle.

Well now for me its fine since I'm not buying games as much now. Occasionally the one or two that look good and that will settle me in for the year playing. But now it's more like, for me, to write down ideas and scripts and such that sound like a brilliant idea.

In other news my friend Andrew had the "day off" (AKA he called out of work) so he trecked down to New York to see Gene Simmons and his skills in Guitar Hero 2 for the 360. He told me he got in Spike TV's GameHead segment, okay so I'm kinda angry since I'm not on TV yet lol. But hey I gotta pay the bills somehow so I'm glad he got to see some rocking out on GH2 for the 360. He also got the chance to sit down with Major Nelson and interviewed him! Plus he signed his GH2 guitar controller. Shit man, I gotta get on this coverage...then again my beauty could explode TVs all over the nation. (hehe ok I take myself too unseriously).

Then I reminded him of my signed GoW2 demo disc and my CaC X-Mas card and he shut up quickly. :)

Well in short,
Gamestop: sucks
Meeting developers and figureheads in the industry: Awesome
Getting signed swag: Even Better
Spoiling endings at game stores: Not fucking cool
Getting on TV: Sexy
Uwe Boll making a 9/11 Postal into: what a douche

ok I didn't get to talk about it, but I have no comment on that shit. Looks like it has NOTHING to do with his failed movies...yes the movie already failed...it took 5 seconds for everyone to find that out. If a horrible tragedy or event has nothing to do with the plot DON'T FUCKING PUT IT IN!!!!

Ok, already vented on him too lol. Ahh I'll give it a rest until my next anger venting "what the fuck is wrong with the industry in my view" or an update I deem fun and worth reading or fun stuff. Take care peeps!

Thanks Cory!

With God of War 2 out and all of us playing (well not me cause I'm typing now lol) and me grabbing one of Cory's signed GoW2 demos, I just have to say thanks to Cory and the crew for making a, what looks like, an amazing game. I know I have said it like a million times on his blog, but I really mean saying that. Now that there is a GoW for the PSP and a strong incentive on a trilogy, it's looking nice to be a Kratos fan.

Grabbed one game over the weekend, Suikoden Tactics, for the PS2 for $15. Not bad for going to Toys R Us. As of right now, I am liking the game. The graphics are a tad blocky and blurry, but the gameplay is pretty cool for a 2005 game. Now I am a total SRPG fan now its not even funny, I just love the deep gameplay and job changes and unit placement on the field instead of the usual encounter in an RPG.

So in conclusion, I hope Suikoden gets better, GoW continues to teach badass 101, and for game to continue the upward incline towards awesomeness.

The Sonic Boom?

Now I love Sonic, been a fan for...well ever since I could walk. Seeing the blue bomber squaring off against Mario was something, of course, you had to have lived in the golden age of gaming. I loved the whole 2-D aspect on where you speed through the level not knowing if you'll hit an enemy and drop your rings and then afater every 3 or 4 stages, you get a chance to fight Dr. Robotnik. Loved Sonic and Tails and Sonic and Knuckles and so on and so forth. The games were just plain fun to fly by without getting mushrooms and dieing when you are as small as a goomba!

Now I'll admit being very wowed over the Dreamcast and its new Sonic game, Sonic Adventures. I rented a Dreamcast back in the days when Blockbuster gave people the chance to. The speed was incredible plus the fact of getting 2 items for each character to make them more improved. Now I hated the fact of Super Saiyan Sonic once he got this one ring, he transforms (for those who don't know Super Saiyan is from Dragonball Z and is basically a transformation where the Saiyan's hair goes from black to blond).

It was ok, but it was just a rip off of it, it felt out of place in my opinion. So Sonic Team makes a few more games, some ok, and some that just plain suck. Now I feel after Sonic Adventure 2, it just got down to desperation from the Sonic Team, nothing but bad game to worse game. Actually not bad games but just cliche games to get their heads back into the hearts of teens and kids.

I haven't played Sonic Adventure 2 yet, but I do know of Shadow the Hedgehog very well after this game...

Ahhh Shadow the Hedgehog how I fucking hate that game. I gave it a fair shot, both demo and rented, and it really sucked on all levels, hell even me and my friends just made fun of the commercials and game itself for being another embarrassment from Sega, no speed, but we got guns for the kiddies and a fucking hedgehog who can't remember his past!





Yes another Sonic game arrives! Now I have seen the game and I believe the Sonic Team wants to go back to the "Speed Kills" style of yesteryear. Now with the new Sonic game arriving for the Wii, I hope that this will not be a disappointment and mediocre game. With the Wiimote, it should prove interesting what they can do to manipulate rolls and spins and shit. Secret Rings, both me and my co-worker believe, will help boost Sonic back up to his original stature in the people's minds and will be a worthy addition to anyone's collection especially those who don't have a lot of games for the Wii. And with the main game, multiplayer, a ton of secrets in-game, this should help Sonic get into the 8.0 review ratings (or 4.0 depending on the magazine).


So it leaves me with one more question...Robotnik or Eggman? Now I believe his real name is Dr. Eggman, but come on folks, Robotnik just sounds a lot more badass...Robotnik forever!!!

Doing some switching around

Yet more fun stuff changing the templates around. I'll get to updating the links in a few.

With finals around the corner for school, I should be able to update a little more frequently than usual. Thankfully school's done for now.

More Fun Jaffe Antics!

Ever since I rented a PS back when Blockbuster did so, I rented out a PS and got Twisted Metal and Resident Evil...two games that really changed my perspective on playing with Nintendo for my whole life. Little did I know that Jaffe made the game (and was in it as Hammerhead). Flash forward to the future and now I am posting on Jaffe's Blog or communicating with him via smart remark comments. I'm just glad that he takes no bullshit or doesn't want a positive image. He's himself and that's what counts.

Catch the drunk Jaffe video here if you haven't...worth a laugh

C-level game designer? I fucking doubt it. This guy has made some very damn good games in my opinion...B-level is what I'm thinking.

And if Jaffe is reading this (if anyone does lol) keep on making these great games and continue to fucking curse at the game media...it makes for cool videos. lol.

United Wii Stand

Seeing as my luck of getting a PS3 was as close as getting into the gaming industry or getting stuck by lightning (whichever happens first), I decided to chance my luck at a Nintendo Wii. So I go to work to see if I can get on line before the magic number 81. Yes, we had 81 Wiis and some little kid cried out the details online, what a bitch. So I'm like, why not go there and wait in the cold for a half an hour to see these crazy campers. I was 8 away from getting a ticket, ok it's not that bad of a number to lose to. So then I get tipped off that a local Toys R Us has 200 Wiis. And faster than you can say "Turboman" I was there. (And no it wasn't as chaotic as Arnold jumping over the tables or whatever that thing is).

Being number 94 in line was great since I got a ticket for the purchase of a Wii :) So it gets to be like crazy behind me, well the line and the amout of people TRYING to get a ticket by running up the poor woman in charge this morning. Luckily, she told everyone to get back to their spots and stay there. (lol). I get one and we all storm in. Kids grabbing display cases of Zelda and other games gave me quite a chuckle.

I met some great devoted fans of Nintendo/Sony today. Complaining about Sony and all the crap that happened to people who get shot, kidnapped, or trampled upon all for a $600 dollar system (yes, we don't count the $500 one...I mean who bought it?). Talking about Twisted Metal, Tomb Raider and other fun games. (I dunno, but was Mario Galaxies supposed to be a launch date game? Cause that's what the Wii was missing...a Mario game.)

So I grab a Wii system, Zelda Wii package (including Triforce CD case, 2 Zelda skins for the Wiimote, Wii stand (better than the one from the package, 2 corner thingys that go in front of the stand), and Zelda: TP. All I needed was Reggie's signature and that would of made my day...but there is always next time at New York's Nintendo center.

All in all, I enjoyed waiting in line, set up my connection quickly right out of the box, and best of all...Zelda!