djtek124's Xanga

Friday, January 30, 2009

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:27:14 GMT

Back After One Year!

Wow! So it’s been a long time since I posted on this game blog of mine, so I think I’ll need to recap on an entire year of what I’ve been doing, what I’ve been playing, and all the news of course. I’m guessing that this will be one really long post, but one long post is better than none, I suppose.

So, here we are! It’s 2009! What have I been doing? Well, unfortunately, the game that me, Brian and Jason had been put on hold indefinitely until we all somehow decide to start working on it again. I know that I had been in charge of leading the group, but it had been hard trying to focus on the project when we all really needing some kind of income to live our lives like normal people. Besides, I also had a baby girl on the way, so not only had I needed to refocus on my own needs, but for another one as well. So, what did I do? I got a new job! So, as of August of 2008, I’ve been working at Dream Arcades in Folsom as the shop manager and arcade technician. It’s not really in line with my degree in digital arts, but at the very least it is video game related and the hours are accommodating. I hope to someday set some time aside to do more programming and 3D modeling, but right now I’m pretty busy balancing work with family time, not to mention my own leisure time. I still have the dream of having my own programming and designs published someday, and I don’t think that dream will ever go away. It’s just going to take some major changes in my current situation that I don’t see happening in the near future. Hopefully, someday…

Now, what have I been playing? At this very moment? Nothing. The last system that I had been playing was the Xbox 360, but it turned out that my Xbox 360 had gotten the red ring of death again. Fortunately, the repair tech at Xbox says that the red ring on my system is still covered for repair, so I will send in my machine again tomorrow and hopefully it returns in a timely fashion.

Prior to that unfortunate incident though, I had been playing quite a few of Xbox 360 games, including Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, and Call of Duty: World at War during the last month. I would have to say that I enjoyed each of those games very much and would recommend them to anyone who is thinking about playing them.

For gaming news in the past… year? Well, from what I can remember, Jeff, Ryan, Brad and Vinny from Gamespot got together and started a new website and podcast call Giant Bomb. It’s just as great, probably even greater than they were when they were over at Gamespot, so I’m glad that they’re keeping their tradition of delivering entertaining news in the world of video games. If you haven’t heard them yet and you like learning about video game news, they’re the best out there in my opinion. Also, in related game news, the majority of the 1up staff had been layed off, including the entire staff of EGM magazine. Needless to say, the magazine will no longer be in existence and their whole staff will need to find another way to survive what we have been calling an economic recession. The Phantasy Star series had introduced a new game for the Nintendo DS called “Phantasy Star Zero”, which seems to be a completely new game set apart from the Phantasy Star Universe and Phantasy Star Online games. As far as Phantasy Star goes, this will be the next installment that I am most looking forward to play. The Xbox 360 gets a new dashboard update that includes Netflix and Avatars. Playstation 3’s Home application turned out to be a flop. And the Nintendo Wii continues to outsell both of the other consoles despite having as many good games. Final Fantasy XIII had also been announced for the Xbox 360. That should be about it as far as news, at least for now.

Now for my top ten games of the year! I really didn’t play that many games this year, believe it or not. In a way, it’s a good thing because I was able to save lots of money, but I think that I may pick up a Gamefly account this year just so that I revisit some back catalog games this year. I may also retire my PSP and Wii this year. We’ll see. So, here is my list for 2008!

Sony Consoles

PSP: Nothing

PS3: LittleBigPlanet, LocoRoco Cocoreccho!

Microsoft Consoles

Xbox 360: Undertow, Burnout Paradise, Lost Odyssey, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Fable 2, GTA IV, Gears of War 2, Fallout3, Left 4 Dead, CoD: World at War

Xbox Live Arcade: Undertow, WOTB: Commando 3, Castle Crashers, Fable 2 Pub Games, Bomberman LIVE

PC: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Nintendo Consoles:

Wii: Mario Kart Wii

Nintendo DS: The World Ends With You, Bomberman, Geometry Wars Galaxies, Final Fantasy IV, Mario Party DS

So, that’s basically it! Just 24 games! Not too bad, considering that I was shooting for 36. That’s about 2 games a month, so that’s not too bad, I think. I think that I’ll probably try to shoot for around the same number this year too. Anyway, here is my top 10 for 2008 now.

CoD: World at War – Xbox 360
Gears of War 2 – Xbox 360
Left 4 Dead – Xbox 360
Castle Crashers – Xbox Live Arcade
Bomberman – Nintendo DS
Fable 2 – Xbox 360
Fallout 3 – Xbox 360
Final Fantasy IV – Nintendo DS
Lost Odyssey – Xbox 360
GTAIV – Xbox 360

Yeah! So I really enjoyed those games on my list. Looking at that list really makes me wish my Xbox was working right now. I guess I can play Final Fantasy IV in the meantime. Maybe I should have played Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii, but I wasn’t really interested in either of those games too much. I think I may even retire my Wii system soon. We’ll find out later this year.

As for the top sellers of last year, I predicted 4 of 10 that were right. What I didn’t expect were Gears of War 2 and CoD: World at War because I didn’t know they would be released in 2008, as well as the Xbox 360 bundles for Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones. I also expected the PS3 to do well with Haze, Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet, but it didn’t apparently. Also, games like Resident Evil 5, The Agency, and Killzone 2 didn’t even make it before the end of the year. I’m pretty sure they’ll do well next year though, with Street Fighter IV, of course. I’m sure looking forward to those games in 2009.

Also, there is no round up on the game consoles this year. The value of the system really depends on what you’ll be using it for. So, instead of an overview for each system, I’ll just say this… if you’re a girl or a kid, go with the Wii. If you would like to play games online with your friends or if you have Netflix account, go with the Xbox 360. If you don’t mind playing games by yourself and would like to buy Blu-Ray movies to watch on your HDTV, go with the PS3. It’s as simple as that! There’s no stopping getting more than one system too. So don’t forget that. I think this should be enough to post for now. Till next time.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:07:39 GMT

My Top Ten for 2008 and Other Stuff from the Past Year

For the last few posts, I've listed a bunch of lists and top tens. But what I didn't list were the games that I'm looking foward to for this year. So, along with my normal monthly post this time, I'm going to add one more top ten list to start off the year. These are the games that may not be the best selling games of the year, but are the ones that I am most likely going to pick up in 2008.

My Top Ten wanted games for 2008!

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword DS
Final Fantasy IV - DS
Resistance 2 - PS3
Killzone 2 - PS3
LittleBigPlanet - PS3
Super Street Fighter II Turbo Remix HD - XBLA
Castlecrashers - XBLA
Haze - PS3
Too Human - Xbox 360
The Agency - PS3

So, according to the list, it looks like it's going to be a year of PS3 games for me. I'll probably pick up those ones on my most expected sales list too, but I think these are the ones I'm most looking forward to. It's about time that I got some PS3 games though.

On to the stuff from the past year... So, I'm still listening to GameSpot's the HotSpot and the 1up's Yours podcasts. If you like listening to game news journalists, those are probably the best ones I can suggest. For websites, I'm now frequently visiting Gamasutra, Joystiq, Digg.com/gaming, Metacritic, and Vgchartz. For video news, I usually watch the 1UP show and Gametrailers. A new site that had just appeared is Co-Optimus.com, which featues games that have cooperative gameplay, my favorite type of games.

On to what I've been playing... Since last month, I've picked up a couple games. Lately, I've been playing some Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Burnout Paradise, Undertow, and Pokemon Diamond. Of all of them, I think I like Call of Duty 4 the most, but I'm really an FPS type person anyway.

As for the news, CES 2008 has come and passed, Resistance 2 is announced in the making with lots of online features, Ales Navarro leaves GameSpot as well, and that's all I can think of. Not much news on the new game sales charts, so we'll save that for next month.

So, thats it. GDC is coming up next month, so I gotta get crackin on that game we're doing in XNA. We've got lots of work to do... Anyway, here's a video.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:37:37 GMT

Yearly Updates, Top Ten for 2008, and Value of the Console

So, a year has passed and now each of the next gen consoles have made their mark on the gaming community. I have three topics planned on this post this year as compared to last years, which include; the yearly update, the top ten for 2008, and the value of the console. Last year, I mentioned the pros and cons of each system, but after a year, some things have changed, while others have still remained the same. Rather than being vague, I'll just get into the scoop and review the updated features of each system.

The Playstation 3 –

With more affordable 1080p HD displays on the horizon, the Playstation 3 has lost exclusivity for being the only console that supports 1080p through HDMI. The PS3 controller will be updated in the future to support rumble functionality, which will presumeably be supported in future PS3 games as well. The PS3's online network is planning on integrating an online virtual network called "Home" in the near future that will simulate a living online environment for the console's online community. Since last year, Sony had dropped the price of the PS3 by $100 dollars and introduced two new PS3 models; a $400 40 GB model with limited backward compatibility and a Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray movie, and a $500 GB model with full backward compatibility and a Motorstorm game.

The Xbox 360 –

The Xbox 360 console had been updated, not only to support 1080p, but includes output support through HDMI on its new consoles. Xbox Live had also been expanded to include more downloadable HD content, such as movies and T.V. shows through the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Xbox 360 is now available in three models featuring 1080p output through HDMI; a $280 Xbox 360 Arcade model with an included memory unit, 5 Xbox Live Arcade games and a wireless controller, a $350 Xbox 360 Pro model with a 20 GB hard drive, Forza Motorsport 2, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and a wireless controller, and a $450 Xbox 360 Elite model that features a black case with a 120 GB hard drive, Forza Motorsport 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and a black wireless controller.

The Wii –

The Nintendo Wii is currently leading the next gen console market with most consoles sold, outselling the PS3 by a ratio of 3 to 1 in Japan, making the Nintendo Wii the next gen console for the Japanese market. As more games continue to expand the Wii's library of games, high rated games are starting to appear for the console. Wii consoles are become more available as well as are the peripherals for the system. .

This year, I decided to make some preditions on what will be some of the biggest sellers for 2008.

MY Top Ten Expected Games (for sales) in 2008!

Mario Kart Wii - Wii
Super Smash Bros Brawl - Wii
Mario Party 9 - Wii
Grand Theft Auto IV - Xbox 360, PS3
Wii Fit - Wii
Madden 09 - Wii, Xbox 360, PS3
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - Xbox 360, PS3
Resident Evil 5 - Xbox 360, PS3
Soul Calibur 4 - Xbox 360, PS3
Fable 2 - Xbox 360

This is just my prediction based on the sales of previous games, and if anything, I'm guessing these games will be spread out through the top 20 because I haven't included any new IPs, other than Wii Fit. Other titles that I had considered adding to the list were: Lost Odyssey for Xbox 360, but I didn't know how the rest of the world would receive that Japanese RPG after Blue Dragon; Dragon Quest IV for Nintendo DS, but I didn't know if it was going to be released out of Japan, and Splinter Cell: Conviction, but Splinter Cell: Double Agent didn't really sell that well. However, I still added Mario Party 9 even though no one said they're making one (I'm guessing...) and Resident Evil 5, even though there is no release date for it (I'm guessing it will be out by the holiday season). Anyway, that's all about that.

Last but not least, I have added a topic regarding the value of each system, derived from a formula that includes the games sold and the cost of the console. It works like this... Lets say that you're interested in purchasing a new gen game console primarily for playing games. In order to make the value of the purchase of the system worthwhile, you should purchase an equal number of games that value the cost of the console itself. And rather than selecting games based on meta review, the games will be selected by games sold for each console. Game sales instead of review scores will likely be the continuing theme of my posts, since they are more tangible statistics that include one factor that ultimately determines the success of title... money. So, on with the topic.

If you're planning to spend money on a new console, you'd better buy some games to go with it, otherwise its worthless. But how do you decide what console is for you? What kind of console gamer are you? The easiest way to find out is to see what other people who buy the consoles are getting. So, lets see what your money gets you...

The Playstation 3: Price: $400 - $500 dollars; Cost of games: $60 dollars; 6-8 games equal the cost of console

Top 8 selling games for the Playstation 3

Motorstorm
Resistance: Fall of Man
Assassins Creed
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Pro Evolution soccer 2008
FIFA 08
Need for Speed: ProStreet
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune

The Xbox 360: Price: $280 - $450 dollars; Cost of games $60 dollars; 5-7 games equal the cost of console

Top 7 selling games for the Xbox 360

Halo 3
Gears of War
Forza Motorsport 2
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Assassins Creed
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

The Nintendo Wii: Price $250 dollars; Cost of games $50 dollars; 5 games equal the cost of console

Top 5 selling games for the Nintendo Wii

Wii Sports
Wii Play
Super Mario Galaxy
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Mario Party 8

Hopefully, these lists can tell you what kind of console you'd be interested in buying by the kind of games that are in them. Now, you'd probably want to note that this list is a little bit skewed because some games like Motorstorm, Forza Motorsport 2, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Wii Sports come included with the price of the console. Wii Play also feature a free Wii Remote (valued at $40 dollars), which means the remaining value of the game is only an additional $10 dollars. But whatever. Sales are sales.

I'm running low on videos these days, so heres a Tetris one that I happened to come across. Hope you like it!

Friday, January 04, 2008

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:32:28 GMT

My List of Favorite Games for 2007!

It’s that time of year where I look back and see what games I’ve been playing. Just like last year, I’ve played a lot of games. Maybe not as many as before, but I still made a resolution to play half that amount for the upcoming year. I hope that doesn’t make me miss out on too many good games this year though, because like I said last year, it looks like this is going to be a good year for games. On the next post, I will list my most anticipated games for 2008, but for right now, here’s my list for games played in 2007.

Games Played in the Year of 2007

Sony Consoles

PSP: Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, MLB 07: The Show, Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2, The Warriors, Test Drive Unlimited, Madden NFL 07, Metal Slug Anthology, ATV Offroad Fury Pro, Killzone: Liberation, Burnout Dominator, Carol Vorderman's Sudoku, Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground, Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, Puzzle Scape, Major League Baseball 2K7, Cube, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, Driver '76, Shrek the Third, Transformers: The Game, Full Auto 2: Battlelines, Legend of the Dragon, Winx Club: Join the Club

PS2: MLB 07: The Show, Test Drive Unlimited, Major League Baseball 2K7, Medal of Honor Vanguard, Payout Poker & Casino

PS3: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, Fight Night Round 3, MotorStorm, NBA 2K7, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent, Madden NFL 07, Formula One Championship Edition, F.E.A.R., NBA 07, Warhawk

Microsoft Consoles

Xbox 360: Forza Motorsport 2, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, Crackdown, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Test Drive Unlimited, X-Men: The Official Game, Sneak King, Fuzion Frenzy 2, Halo 3, Rock Band, Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect

Xbox Live Arcade: Contra, Aegis Wing

PC: World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, City of Villains/City of Heroes

Nintendo Consoles

Wii: Wii Play, Super Mario Galaxy

Nintendo DS: Cooking Mama, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Picross, More Brain Training, Lunar Knights, Hotel Dusk Room 215, Final Fantasy III, Club House Games, Bomberman Land Touch, Yoshi’s Island, Planet Puzzle League, Elite Beat Agents, Pokemon Diamond

So, that’s the list. In comparison to previous years, I’ve played 73 games in 2007, 114 games in 2006, and 36 games in 2005, which means I’ve played over 200 games in the last three years. As I mentioned earlier, I plan on cutting the amount of gaming I do this year in half, so I’m aiming to play no more than 36 games for 2008. It’ll be just like the year 2005, prior to when I use to work for Sony. Three games a month doesn’t sound too bad, right? Anyway, here is my list for the top 10 of 2007!

Top 10 list for Video Games of 2007

Halo 3- Xbox 360
Call of Duty 4 - Xbox 360
Mass Effect – Xbox 360
Super Mario Galaxy - Wii
Rock Band - Xbox 360
Final Fantasy III – Nintendo DS
Assassin’s Creed – Xbox 360
Forza Motorsport 2 – Xbox 360
Crackdown – Xbox 360
Motorstorm – Playstation 3

Not a bad list of games, I think. I also think that this top ten list keeps getting better every year. I’m still missing out on some popular titles such as Mario Party 8 and Guitar Hero III, but hey, I can’t play them all. Like the beginning of every year, I’ll have a couple more posts to put up, including updated thoughts on the current consoles, the top ten anticipated games for the year, and then more of the regular stuff. But for now, you can watch this video.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:47:19 GMT

Rock Band Guitars Suck!

Actually, they're not that bad... I like the stratocaster style. They just break easily. After I got my Rock Band set, I think my guitar started having down strum problems after the first week. I was able to fix it with some compressed air, but that still shouldn't happen for new equipment. Apparently, alot of people are having the same problem. I ordered a replacement from EA a couple weeks ago, but it hasn't arrived yet. I also heard online that they're giving a free game to those who have had issues with their set. I should probably call them up to check to see what's going on and to make sure I get part of that free game deal.

I've still been playing Halo 3 alot in the past month, but I think I'm about to hang it up on the shelf. I've gotten my Triple Star Colonel rank in multiplayer and have 815 of 1000 gamerscore in the game so far. I think that all I really want to do left in the game is finish it on Legendary, however, it is kind of hard to do that by myself. I'm guessing that most people pass legendary with two players or more. Maybe I'll do it, maybe I won't. Who knows!

What else have I been playing? For Wii, I picked up Super Mario Galaxy, which is alot of fun. Marielle likes it too. I've mentioned Rock Band and Halo 3 already. Other than that? Some DS games! I've been playing Brain Age 2, Elite Beat Agents, Hotel Dusk, Bomberman Touch, and Yoshi's Island 2. Of those games, I really seemed to like Bomberman Touch. It was a nice surprise because of the mini games. In a way, it's kind of like Feel the Magic X/Y, I suppose.

As for the progress in the game, we've solved the problem that I've posted last month and we're moving forward. There is a new version of XNA out that supports networking, so that will be one of my next tasks to get working hopefully by next month. Other than that, there are lots of art assets that the team is working on to complete by next month too. It'll be fun.

As for the news, Jeff Gertsmann from Gamespot gets fired, supposedly for giving Kane and Lynch a negative review score, but that could also be speculation. That was pretty sad because Jeff Gertsmann was a pretty big voice in the gaming community and one of my favorite co-hosts for Gamespot's "The Hotspot" podcast. He'll be missed from the podcast for sure. Gamespot did a big farewell to him on the both the podcast and vidcast "On the Spot". Check it out if you're interested in it. Capcom is making a Street Fighter IV, which will feature 3D modeled characters that look like they're painted, but will feature similar 2D style fighting similar to Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. EGM did a special feature on the game and it sounds like my kind of fighting game, which is cool because I usually don't like fighting games too much. Xbox 360 gets a fall dashboard update which allows for Divx and lets you steal your friend's friends. That's pretty cool, but I only like having a friends list of people I actually know, so yeah... Other than that, PSP is getting a version of Phantasy Star Universe which will be titled "Phantasy Star Portable" and will not feature online play, but will have ad-hoc support. Sounds like a game that I will most likely pick up eventually.

As for new games, I've mentioned Rock Band, which is for PS3 and Xbox 360 so far, and Super Mario Galaxy for Wii. There is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for PS3, which actually looks like a really cool game from what i've seen in video reviews. It's currently scoring the highest metacritic score on PS3 in terms of exclusive games, so I may check that one out eventually. Xbox 360 gets Mass Effect and Undertow for XBLA. DS gets Contra 4, which sounds like it could be fun. And finally, PSP gets its own version of Disgaea.

That's about all for this month. I will probably start doing the year in review posts next month with a recap on the games I've been playing and my personal top 10 of the year. Man, that's going to be a whole lot of games to list... Anyway, here's the video of Jeff Gertsmann doing the Kane and Lynch review before Gamespot recieved a complaint from their ad sponsor Eidos and then Jeff Gertsmann was fired, which all supposedly happened to be not in relation to each other, but coincidentally. =P

Friday, November 09, 2007

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:10:28 GMT

Still Playing Halo 3!

Thats right. I'm still playing Halo 3. Actually, its the only game that I'm playing! Well, the only new game at least. I've been trying to play it more often because it looks like everyone else has been playing it a whole lot too and I don't want to get left behind not knowing whats going on in the game. I need to level up my Spartan dude to keep up with them. If you play, you can watch some of the videos I have attached to my Gamertag "ElDoKid".

As for the game we're working on, its coming together, however, I'm stuck on a issue where the game isn't drawing correctly when 3D and sprites coexist. I'm going to keep researching it to see if I can find the issue.

Back again to the games I've been playing... just Halo 3. And like I said last month, I still want to play more GRAW2, but then again, I want to play more Halo 3, so yeah... whatever. I haven't even been playing my DS... or the Wii, PSP, and PS3 for that matter. Man... how did I just realize that I own too many game systems to keep up with? I think that starting next year, I will try to only play two new games per month. Just like the past month, I don't think that should be too bad. It should save on money too.

As for the news, Bungie leaves Microsoft? There is a new cheaper 40GB PS3 out without backwards compatibility for $400. There is also a new Xbox 360 Arcade bundle that comes with 5 Xbox Live Arcade games, a wireless controller, an HDMI port and a memory unit for $280. The Wii is the same and still $250. Maybe I'll pick up another Xbox 360 for my parents house when we get to the phase of testing our game on the 360, or maybe to play games when I go there to visit.

It looks like there are alot of good games out again this month. There is Call of Duty 4 and NHL 08 for both PS3 and Xbox 360, The Orange Box and Virtua Fighter 5 for Xbox 360, Ratchet and Clank Future for PS3, and Super Mario Galaxy and Zack and Wiki for Wii. Technically, Super Mario Galaxy doesn't come out until next week, but I decided to add it anyway. The meta review scores for it make it the top rated game for Wii and it features co-op play, so I'm kind of excited about that. Call of Duty 4 also makes it to the top of the meta review scores for the PS3, but if I decide to get it, I'll probably get it for Xbox 360 because I know that Jason has it and I can play online team battles with him. I'll have to think about getting it though, because the selling point for me these days is co-op play, and Call of Duty 4 doesn't have it, which is really too bad. Other than that, I'll be waiting for Rock Band this month, and maybe Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for DS. Its suppose to be an RTS style RPG. Sounds interesting, but I haven't even picked up The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass yet. Still too occupied with Halo 3. We'll see how things change next month... Anyway, here is a little WoW video for this month.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:14:03 GMT

I got my Halo 3!

That's right. I'm playing Halo 3 now! Not right at this moment, but every now and then. I just finished the campaign yesterday, but it looks like there are a bunch of things that I may have missed. I can see myself playing the game for a few months, though I still want to play more Ghost Recon 2 though.

Other than that, I've just been working on trying to get things happening at the meetings with Jason and Brian. We're making slow progress right now, but we're moving along. It's alot more hard work than I expected, mostly since we're all still learning while developing at the same time. Not only the project, but the business as well. There are alot of tasks that need to be done, and I'm pretty sure that we wont be running out of things to do in the near future.

Anyway, back to the games. Like I said before, I've been playing Halo 3. I haven't gotten around to trying out My Sims for Wii yet, but I may posibly rent it. Other than that, its just DS games again. I've been playing Lunar Knights, Elite Beat Agents, and Pokemon Diamond. But out of them all, I think I still like Final Fantasy III better. I even ordered the Final Fantasy III Trading Arts set from the SquareEnix online store. I have never really been a collector of figurines until now, but I don't really see myself collecting a whole lot in the future. If there were more trading arts figurines from games like Golden Sun, Lunar: The Silver Star Story, or Phantasy Star, I might collect more, but I don't think there are. Maybe they'll make new ones when the DS version of Final Fantasy IV comes out. Anyway, here is a picture of them.

As for the news, Halo 3 breaks entertainment media sales records by making $170 million on its first day of release. It's meta review score in comparison to other titles on the X360 console had been running neck and neck with the recently released top reviewed X360 title, Bioshock. Project Gotham Racing 4 hits X360. SKATE and Sega Rally Revo arrive on both X360 and PS3. It looks like PSP gets some good games, such as a new Siphon Filter, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Jeanne d'Arc. Out of those, I would have probably tried Final Fantasy Tactics, but I'm not particularly fond of the turn based "tactics" style genre. It reminds me of chess. Other than that, there was TGS. I'm not going to recap that show, but instead, I will link a new clip of Final Fantasy IV for DS that showed at TGS 2007. Enjoy!

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:51:07 GMT

Venturing into the Indie Scene

So, lately, while learning some modelling techniques in Maya, I've been messing around with Microsoft XNA. One of my old co-workers from Sony sent me his project a few months ago and I was thinking of testing out XNA since then. I finished building a very basic 3D game when I thought about becoming an independent game developer. I asked Jason if he was willing to get together to put something together. He said yes. Then I asked Brian if he wanted to get together too. He said yes. So now, we're all going to try to get something done together and hopefully get a game finished, and maybe even published, but at the least a demo done. I'm excited and have high hopes, but we'll see how things turn out in the months to come.

What have I been playing... Lets see. I traded in the majority of my Xbox, Gamecube, Playstation 2, PSP and Xbox 360 games, so definitely none of those. With the store credit, I preordered Halo 3 and Rock Band. I'm also thinking of either getting My Sims, Bioshock or Guitar Hero III. I haven't decided yet. But anyway, back to the games that I've been playing. Mostly DS games! I had recently finished Final Fantasy III and I really enjoyed it. It had a very distinct old school feel, but still in 3D. I think that if Square had ever decided to make a Final Fantasy game for the N64, it would have looked like that. The new Final Fantasy IV for DS is supposed to be designed by the same team, so I'm excited about how the game will turn out. Aside from Final Fantasy III, I had also been playing Harry Potter the Order of the Phoenix, Picross, Planet Puzzle League and Cooking Mama. I also played the BioShock demo for Xbox 360 which is really good.

As far as news, BioShock was released and hit the highest metascore for Xbox360 games to date. I tried the demo and it is really good. DS gets The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, which I think I will like because they've used top-down view of the classic Zelda games in it.Oh, I forgot to mention that it also set the record for highest metascore of all time for the DS. PS3 gets Warhawk, which was pretty good when I tested it at Sony. Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix hits both XBLA and PSN. I haven't downloaded it yet but I'm sure it's great. PSP gets Tomb Raider: Anniversary, which seems cool cause I really liked what Eidos had done with Tomb Raider: Legend. And Wii gets Metroid Prime 3. Wow! I didn't realize how many good games came out in the last month. I've just been playing Final Fantasy III! That's fine. I don't have alot of money to spend anyway. I forgot to mention that I also bought a new graphics card, but have no PC games to use it on, and I'm not really interested in going back to WoW any time soon. Oh well. Time to find a video...

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:04:24 GMT

E3 2007's Only Big Surprise = Wii Fit

Yeah... I don't think that E3 was very exciting this year. Sure, there were lots of great games that were shown, not to mention Wii Fit which was new, but at the end of all the conferences, there didn't really seem to be any big announcements that were very exciting. I mean, Wii Fit seems alright and I'll probably get it as it comes out, but in my opinion, the best announcements for games went to Sony and Microsoft, and I think Nintendo's lineup could have been better. I'm looking forward to Rock Band and Halo 3 which I've already preordered. Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that I traded in most of my Xbox 360, Xbox, Gamecube, PS2, and PSP games to Gamestop. I've been trying to work on a tighter budget lately, which is why I decided to trade in my games. I am limiting myself to just 1 game purchase per month which should be pretty reasonable.

What have I been playing? Not much, really. I was playing mostly Forza 2 since last post and cracked open that Fusion Frenzy 2 game from the Old Spice contest to play a little bit before I traded them in. Other than that, I think I've just been playing demos on PS3 such as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, Heavenly Sword, and Nucleus. I also tried out the Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix demo for Xbox 360. If I do plan on playing anything in the next month, it'll probaby be GRAW 2 again, or maybe some of the newer DS games since I haven't used that system in a while now.

In the news, there was of course, E3. But rather than recap on everything that was covered at E3, I'll just mention the games that caught my attention that should be released by the end of the year. In September: Halo 3, MySims. In October: Guitar Hero 3, Zelda: Phantom Hour Glass. In November: BlackSite: Area 51, Haze, Rock Band. But Since I'm trying to stick to 1 game a month, it'll probably be a DS game in Aug., Halo 3 in Sept., MySims in Oct., Rock Band in Nov. and one of the rest in Dec. Thats all for now. Oh yeah, here is a Wii Fit video.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:00:32 GMT

Working on My Portfolio Again

So, I've been working on my portfolio again. This time, I am aiming to create professional work since last time I only had one month's worth of learning and work to put into it. But since I haven't touched my programs in such a long time, I feel like I learning them all over again. Still, I'm learning alot more this time and I'm sure that when I'm done, I'll have something more to show than what I had just thrown together last time. I just need to remember to cut back on my gaming time and keep the progress on my portfolio moving.

What have I been playing lately... Well, I cancelled my World of Warcraft and City of Heroes accounts, so I won't be playing those now. I always feel relieved after cancelling MMOs. I hate extra charges! The games that I have been playing now are Small Arms, Sneak King (I know...), Crackdown, but mostly, Viva Pinata, GRAW 2, and Forza 2. I think that my favorite game of them so far is probably GRAW 2, and I will probably play that a little bit more next month for the co-op missions, but I will probably be playing Forza 2 most of the time because there are so many races that I still want to complete. Viva Pinata was fun, but since it doesn't have events on a time clock like Animal Crossing, I think I'll be done with that one.

What is in the news? Well, the Halo 3 beta is over, so no more of that. I didn't really play too much of it but thats okay. It's just the beta. Microsoft is extending their Xbox 360 warranties to 3 years and are refunding their customers who had already sent them in for repair (me) so thats a good thing. Sony is dropping the price of the 60 gig PS3 by $100 dollars and is adding an 80 gig version with MotorStorm for $599, so that is good for people who don't have one yet. Geometry Wars Galaxies is coming to Wii and DS and will support co-op play, which should be fun too. Mistwalker is making an MMO/RPG on Xbox 360, which should be cool. Other than that, there is E3 next week, so there will be lots of big news coming up soon. I'm curious about a new Xbox 360 game coming out soon called "Two Worlds". It is suppose to be an offline RPG / online co-op RPG, like Phantasy Star Universe. Hopefully it turns out to be better. We'll see... I almost forgot! My sister found my DS Lite! It was under my bed in my parent's house! I doubt that I'm going to use it soon, but at least I don't need to use Marielle's when Final Fantasy IV comes out! I can't wait! Anyway, here's a video for you till next time. Old school stuff!