Sony has won. Toshiba has given up and Blu-ray has emerged victorious. Now what? Well, it's a step in the right direction for Sony... I guess. Now that their HD disk format has prevailed, Sony has eliminated competition and consumers are forced to buy Blu-ray if they want HD movies. The first thing Sony needs to do now is lower the cost of their Blu-ray players. They're still outrageously expensive, though they'll come down in price eventually. However, Blu-ray, in its current state, is only appealing to those who absolutely need an HD player. The rest of us will continue to buy standard DVDs until they go out of production or the price of Blu-ray players lowers significantly.
Many may think this is a blow to Microsoft. Not so. For one, no body really bought the add on HD DVD player for the 360. Those who have an HD DVD playing computers probably didn't pay extra for it. Also, a lot of people forget that just because Microsoft supported HD DVD they do not produce the disks or their players. Microsoft has said that they've moved on and that they'll support Blu-ray. This benefits both companies. If Microsoft were to allow a Blu-ray add-on for the 360, sales would skyrocket. Even more people would buy Xboxes and less PS3s because the Xbox is still cheaper. There would be even less of a reason to buy a PS3. Sony, however, would benefit as well because the revenue of the Blu-ray player would go to Sony. That ends up being a weird situation for Sony because it both benefits and hurts them. All this is, of course, hypothetical because no one has made any plans to support Blu-ray on the Xbox. Microsoft was simply stating that they're negotiating with Sony to include Blu-ray players in PCs. In any case, the real looser here is Toshiba.
So where does that leave Sony? It leaves them right where they're at. Though Sony has won the next gen disk format war, they've only achieved victory over Toshiba. As far as games go, they're still in trouble. If Sony's games division wants to survive to see the PS4, then they need to lower cost and increase the number of AAA exclusive games. Right now, the Xbox is still cheaper and still has better exclusives. Games like MGS4, releasing this June, and Resistance 2 this November may change things, but I doubt it. I think Sony is slowly loosing their casual gamers who are opting for the cheaper Xbox. Sony will always have its fanboys, but I don't think that'll be enough to keep the PS3 afloat if Sony doesn't start to rethink things fast.
March 7, 2008
New blog
New blog where my horror stories will be at:
Dogab's Dimension
Last 2 stories there + illustrative pics.
*EDIT* I fixed the link. ~N-man
Dogab's Dimension
Last 2 stories there + illustrative pics.
*EDIT* I fixed the link. ~N-man
March 6, 2008
The Beserker Mist
The mist....I feed on the mist....
The mist it came out of nowhere, none of us where expecting it. It covered our entire village and made us go mad...so mad.....we where like animals....
Blood...so much blood.....you couldn't even tell that the grass was green.....it was red......all red...
I survived...how I don't know....most people exploded from the mist.....and the ones that did survive it......they went crazy....
I went crazy as well.....so crazy for so long........but then the creator found me........the creator of the mist........he put tubes in my body.......a gas chamber locked into my back......in the chamber...the mist resides........I feed on it through the tubes....
Unstoppable....that's what they call me......I've taken down entire regiments of soldiers with the mist........I don't feel pain or emotion....all I feel is the lust.....for blood....
The mist....it's deformed me........I don't even remember how I looked before....but I know I didn't look like this.....
Who am I.....do I even care?
No I don't.....
This place is odd......there are no spiders.....
The mist it came out of nowhere, none of us where expecting it. It covered our entire village and made us go mad...so mad.....we where like animals....
Blood...so much blood.....you couldn't even tell that the grass was green.....it was red......all red...
I survived...how I don't know....most people exploded from the mist.....and the ones that did survive it......they went crazy....
I went crazy as well.....so crazy for so long........but then the creator found me........the creator of the mist........he put tubes in my body.......a gas chamber locked into my back......in the chamber...the mist resides........I feed on it through the tubes....
Unstoppable....that's what they call me......I've taken down entire regiments of soldiers with the mist........I don't feel pain or emotion....all I feel is the lust.....for blood....
The mist....it's deformed me........I don't even remember how I looked before....but I know I didn't look like this.....
Who am I.....do I even care?
No I don't.....
This place is odd......there are no spiders.....
Review: Ultra Bash Cousins Scuffle
The Ultra Bash Cousins series has always been a mega hit. Gamers everywhere have been enjoying the addictive multi player formula ever since the original Bash Cousins was released on the Nintendo 65. It's been over six years since Super Bash Cousins Clash on the GameBox. Well, it's been worth the wait. Scuffle has finally hit the Wee in a big way. It comes with over three exciting fighters from famous Nintendo franchises including: Jumpman, the Duckhunt dog, Lanky Kong, Tingle, and Mr. Game & Watch's brother. This time, they've even included third party characters including Bonk, space invader, tetris block, and pong paddle! There's even more levels this time (2 total) that span the entire Nintendo Universe (one from Ultra Jumpman Brothers, while the other is a secret unlock able level). The soundtrack is fantastic as well and includes thousands and thousands of midi pieces that sound absolutely fantastic on one's hi-def TV. That all being said, let's go a little more in depth into each aspect of the game.
First of all, let me say that the game controls wondrously with the Wee's toilet plunger controller. All you have to do is pump the controller up and down in a plunging motion to jump and and push the stick to the right or left to move. Being a dating-simulation-survival-horror game, there's not much fighting involved. However, in the game's few action sequences, which are absolutely incredible, all you have to do is stick the plunger directly on your TV and begin to plunge to attack your foes. Thus is the brilliance of the interactive Wee controls. The single player game is much more fleshed out this time and will take you about 90 minutes to complete (up from 20 in the last game). Not only is it quite lengthy, but it's also unbelievable. All of the famous characters from your favorite Nintendo franchises come together in a stealth-racing-RPG like no other. The plot starts off when Commander Glove throws all of the characters into a reality game show to fight for their lives. Some will make it out, some will not, others will find love, while some will find bagels. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say it's epic!
If the single player game is the organs, then the multi player portion is the backbone. Nothing is more fun than battling your friends in one of two levels with over three exciting characters! The combat is intense. Nintendo has developed an insulting-your-mother battle system like no other. Each character has unique emotions and insults. There are, of course, some characters that seem like clones such as Jumpman Jr., left pong paddle, and L-shaped tetris block, but once you get into the game you realize that only 96% of their attacks are the same. People often overlook this and assume these characters are clones when in reality they are not. There is no online battling, but there is LAN, which in my opinion is much better. Who would want the convenience of playing with friends miles away when you can set up 50 TVs in your living room? I thought so.
There's also a huge amount of customization in multi player. You can create your own levels with one background and various pieces of landscape from Super Jumpman. The modes are customizable as well. You can turn the item on or off, turn everything green, and even switch between timed matches and stock matches. You can even give combatants two lives in stock matches! Each of the two levels also has changeable music. You can either play the song for that level or the song for the other level which makes for two combinations of levels and music! And damn if that music isn't great! There's the Jumpman theme song and a second secret song that comes with the other level.
The sheer amount of unlock ables will keep you playing forever. The second level requires you to beat the classic mode with all three characters backwards while singing Way Down Upon the Swanee River in a canoe. That, or you can play five versus matches. But not only is there a second level, there's many more characters to unlock as well. 97 of them to be exact. This is truly amazing considering you can have up to 50 people playing at the same time. In huge matches such as these, the frame rate never dips. That's because Nintendo opted to go with 8-bit visuals and sound. I must say, they made the right decision. The game looks and sounds absolutely incredible especially on an HD TV, and contain only a minimal amount of blurriness and fuzzy sound!
All in all, this is the game the world has been waiting for. It's so good that it sucks. There is no doubt in my mind that Scuffle will change the face of gaming forever from and ugly pizza-faced teenager, to a handsome middle-aged model named Sven. If you own a Nintendo Wee, you owe it to yourself to buy Scuffle now OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!!!
Breakdown:
Visuals: 12/5
Gameplay: $6
Controls: Dunecat
Sound: 80,000 flapjacks
Replay Value: until you die of the plague
Overall: 0.5/10
I simply couldn't resist. Brawl comes out in just a couple more days! I hope this gave you a little distraction while you wait!
First of all, let me say that the game controls wondrously with the Wee's toilet plunger controller. All you have to do is pump the controller up and down in a plunging motion to jump and and push the stick to the right or left to move. Being a dating-simulation-survival-horror game, there's not much fighting involved. However, in the game's few action sequences, which are absolutely incredible, all you have to do is stick the plunger directly on your TV and begin to plunge to attack your foes. Thus is the brilliance of the interactive Wee controls. The single player game is much more fleshed out this time and will take you about 90 minutes to complete (up from 20 in the last game). Not only is it quite lengthy, but it's also unbelievable. All of the famous characters from your favorite Nintendo franchises come together in a stealth-racing-RPG like no other. The plot starts off when Commander Glove throws all of the characters into a reality game show to fight for their lives. Some will make it out, some will not, others will find love, while some will find bagels. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say it's epic!
If the single player game is the organs, then the multi player portion is the backbone. Nothing is more fun than battling your friends in one of two levels with over three exciting characters! The combat is intense. Nintendo has developed an insulting-your-mother battle system like no other. Each character has unique emotions and insults. There are, of course, some characters that seem like clones such as Jumpman Jr., left pong paddle, and L-shaped tetris block, but once you get into the game you realize that only 96% of their attacks are the same. People often overlook this and assume these characters are clones when in reality they are not. There is no online battling, but there is LAN, which in my opinion is much better. Who would want the convenience of playing with friends miles away when you can set up 50 TVs in your living room? I thought so.
There's also a huge amount of customization in multi player. You can create your own levels with one background and various pieces of landscape from Super Jumpman. The modes are customizable as well. You can turn the item on or off, turn everything green, and even switch between timed matches and stock matches. You can even give combatants two lives in stock matches! Each of the two levels also has changeable music. You can either play the song for that level or the song for the other level which makes for two combinations of levels and music! And damn if that music isn't great! There's the Jumpman theme song and a second secret song that comes with the other level.
The sheer amount of unlock ables will keep you playing forever. The second level requires you to beat the classic mode with all three characters backwards while singing Way Down Upon the Swanee River in a canoe. That, or you can play five versus matches. But not only is there a second level, there's many more characters to unlock as well. 97 of them to be exact. This is truly amazing considering you can have up to 50 people playing at the same time. In huge matches such as these, the frame rate never dips. That's because Nintendo opted to go with 8-bit visuals and sound. I must say, they made the right decision. The game looks and sounds absolutely incredible especially on an HD TV, and contain only a minimal amount of blurriness and fuzzy sound!
All in all, this is the game the world has been waiting for. It's so good that it sucks. There is no doubt in my mind that Scuffle will change the face of gaming forever from and ugly pizza-faced teenager, to a handsome middle-aged model named Sven. If you own a Nintendo Wee, you owe it to yourself to buy Scuffle now OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!!!
Breakdown:
Visuals: 12/5
Gameplay: $6
Controls: Dunecat
Sound: 80,000 flapjacks
Replay Value: until you die of the plague
Overall: 0.5/10
I simply couldn't resist. Brawl comes out in just a couple more days! I hope this gave you a little distraction while you wait!
February 29, 2008
Thread of souls: A tapestry that leads to a private hell
The Earl was a quiet man who had a thing for his servants especially his younger female servants. No one dared to raise their hand against the Earl for if they did they knew they would be killed and their daughters taken for his service. One day however the Earl made a mistake that cost him much more than just his life.
The earl was getting tired of his old servants and wanted an new one for his pleasure. He strode into town with two of his men and kicked open the door of the first wooden house he saw. In there laid a woman spinning a thread her daughters sitting by her side. The woman had four daughters in total all equally beautiful. The earl took the oldest daughter first and left with her for a month.
Each month the Earl would come for a new daughter. The mother would never protest neither would the daughter. The woman just keep spinning her thread making a tapestry of some sort. The only thing the woman requested was a clip of her daughters hair before the Earl took them away. She would then put the hair into the tapestry itself. The Earl thought it was a little bit strange but hardly worried about it.
When the Earl was done with the last daughter he came back to find the mother. She was almost done with her tapestry. It was a beautifully draw tapestry with a back round image of a forest in the spring.The Earl went towards the women he tapped her on the arm and beckoned her to come with him. When she did not listen he pulled her arm and tried to take her away from the tapestry.
Meanwhile the Earl's two men where waiting outside the door for him heard a horrible scream. To scared to see what had happened to the Earl the ran off back to the castle. Screams could be heard through the whole night but the villagers ignored them fearing that the Earl had gone crazy and decided to torture the women weaving the tapestry.
A year later the woman went into the town and placed her tapestry in the town square with a white sheet over it. The next day she unveiled the tapestry. What shocked the people was not only it's beauty but the realism of the man in the tapestry, in fact many claimed the man looked like he was made from real human skin.
In the tapestry two wolves had jumped on the man and where eating him, over the course of the next month the wolves would eat more and more of the man until nothing was left.
The villagers where horrified by the tapestry so the killed the woman. They took the woman the next day and hung her outside the town and let the spiders feast on her body. However they could not destroy the tapestry no matter how much they tried. Now once a year a select group of villagers goes with a criminal usually a sex offender down into the hidden vaults of the town. The leave the criminal alone in the room with the tapestry. When the villagers go to check on the man the result are always the same: a picture of two wolves eating a man and a woman sitting near the man smiling. She weaves a new tapestry in the picture, the tapestry spells out a series of four numbers:
2012
No one in the town knows what this series of numbers mean.
No more spiders exist in that village.
The earl was getting tired of his old servants and wanted an new one for his pleasure. He strode into town with two of his men and kicked open the door of the first wooden house he saw. In there laid a woman spinning a thread her daughters sitting by her side. The woman had four daughters in total all equally beautiful. The earl took the oldest daughter first and left with her for a month.
Each month the Earl would come for a new daughter. The mother would never protest neither would the daughter. The woman just keep spinning her thread making a tapestry of some sort. The only thing the woman requested was a clip of her daughters hair before the Earl took them away. She would then put the hair into the tapestry itself. The Earl thought it was a little bit strange but hardly worried about it.
When the Earl was done with the last daughter he came back to find the mother. She was almost done with her tapestry. It was a beautifully draw tapestry with a back round image of a forest in the spring.The Earl went towards the women he tapped her on the arm and beckoned her to come with him. When she did not listen he pulled her arm and tried to take her away from the tapestry.
Meanwhile the Earl's two men where waiting outside the door for him heard a horrible scream. To scared to see what had happened to the Earl the ran off back to the castle. Screams could be heard through the whole night but the villagers ignored them fearing that the Earl had gone crazy and decided to torture the women weaving the tapestry.
A year later the woman went into the town and placed her tapestry in the town square with a white sheet over it. The next day she unveiled the tapestry. What shocked the people was not only it's beauty but the realism of the man in the tapestry, in fact many claimed the man looked like he was made from real human skin.
In the tapestry two wolves had jumped on the man and where eating him, over the course of the next month the wolves would eat more and more of the man until nothing was left.
The villagers where horrified by the tapestry so the killed the woman. They took the woman the next day and hung her outside the town and let the spiders feast on her body. However they could not destroy the tapestry no matter how much they tried. Now once a year a select group of villagers goes with a criminal usually a sex offender down into the hidden vaults of the town. The leave the criminal alone in the room with the tapestry. When the villagers go to check on the man the result are always the same: a picture of two wolves eating a man and a woman sitting near the man smiling. She weaves a new tapestry in the picture, the tapestry spells out a series of four numbers:
2012
No one in the town knows what this series of numbers mean.
No more spiders exist in that village.
HAPPY LEAP DAY!
Today is the 29th of February. A pretend day that comes only once every four years. Few know the magical story behind this nonexistent day, but I have hacked into government files of doom and have discovered the true story.
It all started in the year 6. The Mexican professor Ivan McDurvan was inventing a way to make Cheetos purple. His machine backfired on the 28th of February and caused a rift in space-time (not time-space, the two are completely different) which caused the earth to leap into itself. It was stuck inside itself in a nonexistent paradox of death for an entire day until Ivan McDurvan was able to reverse the effect using the effect-reverse machine. Unfortunately, the rift opens up every four years because a powdered doughnut was stuck in the circuitry causing it to explodinate and thus creating a spoodle in the universe's atmosphere which re-opens the hole on a basis measured by the amount of population it takes to fill up the island of Guam. Basically, it always equals four years exactly after the 28th of February. So, every four years the rift sucks the earth inside itself while everyone is sleeping and we enter into the nonexistent day of February 29th. We are quietly returned to normal 24 hours afterwards. However, every time the earth makes the jump, a few people are left behind with small about of the earth's life force. This means, eventually, that everyone on earth will disappear inside the earth and then the earth will die trapping everyone in the nonexistent 29th of February on a nonexistent earth.
Some believe the tale, others think it's government nonsense. What do you believe?
It all started in the year 6. The Mexican professor Ivan McDurvan was inventing a way to make Cheetos purple. His machine backfired on the 28th of February and caused a rift in space-time (not time-space, the two are completely different) which caused the earth to leap into itself. It was stuck inside itself in a nonexistent paradox of death for an entire day until Ivan McDurvan was able to reverse the effect using the effect-reverse machine. Unfortunately, the rift opens up every four years because a powdered doughnut was stuck in the circuitry causing it to explodinate and thus creating a spoodle in the universe's atmosphere which re-opens the hole on a basis measured by the amount of population it takes to fill up the island of Guam. Basically, it always equals four years exactly after the 28th of February. So, every four years the rift sucks the earth inside itself while everyone is sleeping and we enter into the nonexistent day of February 29th. We are quietly returned to normal 24 hours afterwards. However, every time the earth makes the jump, a few people are left behind with small about of the earth's life force. This means, eventually, that everyone on earth will disappear inside the earth and then the earth will die trapping everyone in the nonexistent 29th of February on a nonexistent earth.
Some believe the tale, others think it's government nonsense. What do you believe?
February 22, 2008
GDC Roundup
The Game Developer's Conference took place this week. Here are some of the highlights:
- Champions Online preview
- Gears of War 2 announced for November 2008!
- Portal sequel announced
- Fable 2 update
- Spore update; announced for September 7, 2008
- Mario Kart Wii update; announced for mid-April release in Japan, Europe
- The Force Unleashed preview
- Too Human interview
- Fracture preview
- New MMO, APB, preview
- Prototype preview
- New Halo 3 map
- Brawl interview
Brawl Characters: Swordsmen
I was going to do more of these, but I got lazy. If you'd like to learn more about the fighters of Brawl check out Smash Wiki. Since I already wrote a profile for Pit, I'll post it anyway. So... here you go.
Pit
Pit is the hero of the Game Kid Icarus on the NES and bodyguard of the goddess Palutena. He is a fairly quick character who strikes swiftly with his twin blades. Unlike most characters, Pit has three jumps. He can jump once and flap his wings twice in the air for a very effective recovery. If you hold down the jump button on his second jump, he will glide. This makes for a good horizontal recovery if you are sent flying off stage to the far right or left. Pit also has fairly strong multi-hit smash attacks. While jumping, Pit's up areal causes him to spin his bow above his head. Not only is this a good attack if you want to hit someone above you, but it also gives you an extra boost to your jump.
Special Attacks:
Up special: Palutena's arrow- Pit fires fast traveling arrows from his bow. You can charge up this attack for further distance. His arrows fly really far really fast. You can also change the trajectory of the arrows by moving the control stick up or down during the arrow's flight. Try using this technique to grab the smashball from afar.
Sid special: Angel Ring- Pit spins his bow in front of him. This attack can be used for as long as the user wishes by continuously tapping the special attack button. Pit remains immobile while using this attack, however. Try using this attack on a ledge after knocking someone off a level, that way they'll be unable to get back up. This attack also deflects projectiles.
Up special: Wings of Icarus- Pit's wings glow blue and he gains the ability of limited flight. This is an excellent recovery move and makes it almost impossible for Pit to fall off of a level. When the move is finished, pit can glide. It is believed that pit can use standard attacks while flying.
Down special: Mirror Shield- Pit pulls out a large shield that blocks attacks and reflects projectiles in the direction he is facing.
Final Smash: Palutena's Army- An army of Centurions fly across the screen at high speeds. They attack opponents a single time, then disappear. Each attack does 15-25% damage.
Pit
Pit is the hero of the Game Kid Icarus on the NES and bodyguard of the goddess Palutena. He is a fairly quick character who strikes swiftly with his twin blades. Unlike most characters, Pit has three jumps. He can jump once and flap his wings twice in the air for a very effective recovery. If you hold down the jump button on his second jump, he will glide. This makes for a good horizontal recovery if you are sent flying off stage to the far right or left. Pit also has fairly strong multi-hit smash attacks. While jumping, Pit's up areal causes him to spin his bow above his head. Not only is this a good attack if you want to hit someone above you, but it also gives you an extra boost to your jump.
Special Attacks:
Up special: Palutena's arrow- Pit fires fast traveling arrows from his bow. You can charge up this attack for further distance. His arrows fly really far really fast. You can also change the trajectory of the arrows by moving the control stick up or down during the arrow's flight. Try using this technique to grab the smashball from afar.
Sid special: Angel Ring- Pit spins his bow in front of him. This attack can be used for as long as the user wishes by continuously tapping the special attack button. Pit remains immobile while using this attack, however. Try using this attack on a ledge after knocking someone off a level, that way they'll be unable to get back up. This attack also deflects projectiles.
Up special: Wings of Icarus- Pit's wings glow blue and he gains the ability of limited flight. This is an excellent recovery move and makes it almost impossible for Pit to fall off of a level. When the move is finished, pit can glide. It is believed that pit can use standard attacks while flying.
Down special: Mirror Shield- Pit pulls out a large shield that blocks attacks and reflects projectiles in the direction he is facing.
Final Smash: Palutena's Army- An army of Centurions fly across the screen at high speeds. They attack opponents a single time, then disappear. Each attack does 15-25% damage.
February 18, 2008
Seinfeld Post
It's a post about nothing!
Random filler until I have something good to post:
Fear the giant ant of Brunswick for he will be the judge of the beholder. When the time is nigh, only he can restore balance to the sandwich. The earl shall break out of his holding property of Mr. Farly and exclaim, "I am what I am and that's all that I am. If I was any more, I wouldn't be me. So... bananas." All will be calm for three days and three nights until the great Badgermole of Destiny ascends upon the bald man's head, for only he can recite the Creed of the Grassblades. When this prophecy is foretold, it shall be predicted, then summoned to jury duty. After all is said and done, the Grand Eraser of Dunemark will implode inside the Forest of Hope and spread said hope throughout the land. After a series of horrible plagues that will kill off half of the Asian population, a century of peace will bestow the world with itself. Only the one who can speak French backwards in a boat will fulfill the requirements to initiate the Grand Peace of All Time.
Will it be you?
Random filler until I have something good to post:
Fear the giant ant of Brunswick for he will be the judge of the beholder. When the time is nigh, only he can restore balance to the sandwich. The earl shall break out of his holding property of Mr. Farly and exclaim, "I am what I am and that's all that I am. If I was any more, I wouldn't be me. So... bananas." All will be calm for three days and three nights until the great Badgermole of Destiny ascends upon the bald man's head, for only he can recite the Creed of the Grassblades. When this prophecy is foretold, it shall be predicted, then summoned to jury duty. After all is said and done, the Grand Eraser of Dunemark will implode inside the Forest of Hope and spread said hope throughout the land. After a series of horrible plagues that will kill off half of the Asian population, a century of peace will bestow the world with itself. Only the one who can speak French backwards in a boat will fulfill the requirements to initiate the Grand Peace of All Time.
Will it be you?
February 14, 2008
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