Man, things are going pretty bad for Sony’s PS3. The Nikkei Keizai Shimbun reports that due to component shortages, Sony will have only 80,000 units ready for the PS3’s Nov. 11th Japanese launch, as opposed to the original 100,000 units. Put into consideration that when the PS2 launched, they sold out nearly one million units when it debuted in March 2000, and it looks very certain that the PS3 will be sold-out. Normally that’s a great thing to hear about a product in such high demand…but not when the supply is so small.
Well, we all knew that the Xbox 360 ran hot, but hot enough to cook scrambled eggs? Well, one guy, who got the 3 rings of death (which means there’s not return for your Xbox 360) decided to have a little fun with it and cook scrambled eggs on his 360….and then eat it. Yes…he actually eats a piece of the eggs off of his 360. Friggin gross man.
IGN has an article up about 10 things that you probably don’t know about Gears of War. One question that got my attention was this one:
What the heck is the Hammer of Dawn?
The HoD is an orbital laser fired from a satellite in space that absolutely fries unsuspecting foes. When you hold down the fire button, a red infrared laser laces the target. It takes a few seconds to lock in, but when it does, the satellite will warm up and blast away.
If you are unlucky enough to be on the receiving end, you’ll hear a lock-on tone increase in volume. When it reaches the highest pitch, get the hell out of there or pay the consequences. The range on the HoD was not very far in the last version we played. It worked best when we holed up in a bunker and aimed at our enemy’s feet or the spot of cover behind which they hid. This weapon is excellent for getting your enemies out of cover, believe me.
Good…lord. That sounds like an awesome weapon!
If you want to read more about the 10 things you probably don’t know about Gears of War, just follow the link.
IGN Editor-In-Chief Matt Casamassina got his hands on a Wii Development Unit (which is basically what developers use to test their games) and I am envious. In this video, he shows basically what the Wii interface will be like when we finally get our little bundle of joy home on November 19. He shows us basically all of the different settings you can change in your Wii settings such as support for 16:9 aspect ratio, and EDTV or HDTV 480p resolution.
So sit back and enjoy this video of the Wii interface.
Tomorrow is the big day for all Xbox 360 owners. The Fall Dashboard upgrade will be implemented tomorrow morning. Some notable key upgrades are the support for the 1080p displays, HD-DVD Drive, Wireless Headset, the ability to stream WMV files to your 360, and other upgrades! There are about 80 upgrades in total with this Fall Dashboard upgrade.
For further details on what exactly is being upgraded, just follow the link.
Final Fantasy XII is the last installment of the Final Fantasy series on the Playstation 2, and boy did it go out with a bang!
In Final Fantasy XII you play as Vaan, a would-be sky pirate who’s brother was killed during Archadian invasion, and who now hates Archadia because of it. So Vaan decides to break into the palace and steal a sacred artifact in order to get revenge, but he gets more than he bargained for. Vaan eventually meets Balthier and Fran during the break-in, who join your party after the conflict.
The first thing you’ll notice about Final Fantasy XII is it’s graphics. I was blown away by the beauty of the landscape, the size of the kingdoms, the details of the characters, everything just looked superb. I have no idea how Square Enix got away with these graphics on the Playstation 2, but I applaud them for being able to pull it off. And this is considering that I played the game on a Standard Definition TV set. I could only imagine what it would look like on an HDTV.
Another thing you’ll notice when playing the game is the battle system. Square Enix totally revamped the battle system to make it more action-based. When you are on the battlefield, you will be able to run around and get attack any of the enemies in the area. When you bring up the battle commands, it has the feeling of the old Final Fantasy games with it’s typical “Fight”, “Magicka & Teckniks”, “Item” commands. When you issue a command, whether it be a Fight or Magick attack, you will notice that when you highlight an enemy, a blue line will point out the enemy you wish to attack. The same goes for the other characters in your party. When issuing a heal or buff to anyone in your party, a green line will point to the character you want to heal or buff. And that goes for the same with enemies, you will be able to see who they are targeting by a red line that will point to their target.
One thing that most critics are saying yay-or-nay about is the Gambit system. I’ll try to explain the Gambit system as best as I can. It can best be described as a “If-Then” process. Let’s say you set up a Gambit with one of the supporting characters heal anyone who’s HP goes below 50%, whenever that happens, the supporting character will automatically put a heal command in their queue. Once their current command is complete, then they will begin charging the heal. And viola! The Gambit system can be set to a multitude of things, like setting it to work to attack an enemy who has attacked a specific character with a specific type of attack (Melee or Magick), heal or revive a character, etc.
Conclusion
All in all this is a great game for any fan of Final Fantasy. There are a couple of things you need to get used to like the new battle system, upgrading your character, or the Gambits, but once you get used to it, you’ll relize that it’s another great addition to the Final Fantasy franchise.
There’s a new Wii promo trailer out and it’s just more of the same crap you’d expect. Same games being showcased, same good looking people playing the Wii and not game nerds in their parent’s basement with a bag of cheese doodles to their side and 2 liter of coke on the other side, and the same Wii controller movements while playing the game. We get it, the Wii is innovative, do we really need another friggin commercial of the same crap?
This is a video of the very popular news show “Inside Edition” back in 1988. It’s a story on children playing video games who enter another world, full of danger, intrigue and magic. In other words, the world of the Super Mario Bros. And according to the news story, in 3 years Nintendo sold 11 million units at $100! That’s amazing!
Another interesting thing about the video is the question “Are Mario and Luigi’s last names Mario?” In this video, the representative says no, they’re just Mario and Luigi, but many die hard gamers know that Mario is their last name. So it is Mario Mario and Luigi Mario (I know, sounds dumb, but it’s true)
Yup, according the Men’s Health “Expert”, you can get women easier if you buy a Nintendo Wii. Why you ask? Well it’s quite simple. Because the Nintendo Wii was DESIGNED to “suck video-game-dissing women into the virtual world”. So if you invite a woman over, and you have your Nintendo Wii out by “accident”, according to the equation, that basically means that you are automatically going to get some.
If you pre-ordered your PS3, then your probably counting the days until it’s Nov. 17th release (21 days). Well, Sony today released pictures of what you should expect when you show up on Nov. 17th to get your game on. The one thing that really makes me sick out of all this is the picture of the F-ing composite cables. That is a huge loogie in the face of all the gamers out there. Follow the link to see all of the pictures.
This is by far one of the most amazing trailers I’ve seen in a long time. This YouTube doesn’t do the video justice, I recommend you go look for the HD version because it’s full of rich detail that you won’t get from this version.
The reason why I like this trailer so much is because it gives you a real feeling that Marcus (the main character) wishes things can be the way they were before, that he doesn’t want to be in this world where the Locusts are taking over the planet. Every day is a struggle for him and he can’t even take a minute to just sit and think, that he is always under attack no matter where he is. Then the end of the trailer really touched me. He jumps into a building to escape from the enemies outside, and as he looks up, he has this look of absolute horror and fear at the monsterous locust that is inside the building. And all he can do is shoot at it in hopes that he can hurt it. Very very well done trailer.
If you’ve ever played Wario-Ware on the GBA or DS, then you are probably excited about this game coming to the Wii. For those of you who never played it, the best way to describe Wario-Ware is it’s a series of mini-games that are very querky and very quick. There are mini-games where all you need to do is squeeze ketchup on a hotdog, or picking your nose, or cranking paper through a shredder. It sounds stupid, I know, but this game really is fun if you get into it.
Nintendo released information on this upcoming game for the Wii:
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Format: Wii
Launch Date: 01/17/07
ESRB: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) Crude Humor, Mild Cartoon Violence
Game Type: Mass Microgames
Players: Mostly 1-player, some 2-5 players, one 12 players
Developer: Nintendo Co. developed by Intelligent Systems
KEY INFORMATION
WarioWares back with an idea so crazy, it could only be made with the latest technology: the Wii Remote�. When Wario� stumbles upon a strange device called a Form Baton, he and his friends use it to learn new moves that are as fun as they are wacky. With hundreds of microgames, this game is just as wild as youd expect from the name WarioWare, but the game play has been revolutionized. Under Warios tutelage, and with the help of the Wii Remote, players swing, spin and squat their way to victory.
# With more than 200 lightning-quick microgames and controls that range from scribbling to flailing, WarioWare: Smooth Moves takes interactive gaming to a whole new level. Players steer cars, twirl pizzas, saw logs and dance their way to victory. All they need to be the champ is confidence, a Wii Remote and their best moves.
# With games that are as much fun to play as they are to WATCH people play, WarioWare: Smooth Moves brings the party to its feet. Its hilarious for players and audiences alike.
Game storyline: While pursuing a strange creature that stole his snack, Wario accidentally stumbles into an old building called the Temple of Form. Inside, he finds a mystical treasure called the Form Baton, which looks suspiciously like a Wii Remote. He discovers that the Form Baton gives him special powers depending on his form - the way he holds and moves the baton. Wario decides to pocket his new treasure, and soon the form craze spreads through Diamond City.
Characters: The cast from previous WarioWare games is back with new microgames. Besides Wario, Mona, Jimmy, 9-Volt, Orbulon, Dr. Crygor and the rest of the old crew, this title also features appearances by Master Mantis, Young Cricket, Penny Crygor and many more.
How to progress through the game: Players must clear fast-paced sets of microgames, changing the way they hold the controller each time. As they do, theyll unlock more stages and pose cards.
Special powers/weapons/moves/features:
1. The games full-body controls add a whole new level of insanity to an already frenetic experience. Players use the Wii Remote for all the stages, and some stages also use the Nunchuk to play.
2. As is the case with other WarioWare titles, 9-Volts stage features microgames based on classic Nintendo games. Nintendo fans will delight in new takes on old favorites.
3. Players Mii characters make appearances in microgames and other areas.
4. There is a multiplayer mode where people can play using a single Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
Here is also a YouTube video of Wario-Ware at E3. Enjoy!
This has got to be one of the weirdest commercials ever conceived. If you didn’t guess it from the headline, it’s the new PS3 commercial and from what I get from the commercial is that this baby is very sad because he is no more than a mere baby, so he will not be able to play the PS3 until he is old enough.
…OR, maybe the PS3 was a lover of the baby’s, and since the PS3 is going to be released in less than a month, the baby feels that it will be neglected by the PS3 since it will be so busy with the rest of the world.
Yes, I’m a DDR fan. I’m not one of those pimply, oily, sweaty kids that just leave gallons upon gallons on the machine when they’re done, but I do hold my own against casual players. I play it at home every so often because I find DDR is a great way to stay in shape while doing what I love to do, playing video games.
Well, the next installment for DDR for the Xbox 360 has delayed from Fall 2006 to early 2007. The reason? It’s alllll because of Microsoft. Konami needs to comply with their protocal for third-party perphierals, and it’s taking a little more time than was expected. Konami also stated that DDR’s dance pads will be wired, but they wouldn’t rule out the possibility of future DDR games having wireless pads.
Man, that’s one hell of a one-two combo. First the delay, now the news the pads won’t be wireless. Excuse me while I got get myself a twinkie…I need to feel loved.
Last night on G4TV (or as I like to call it, TechTV’s sucky replacement) on Attack of the Show there was a debate on Micro-transactions in gaming. For those of you who don’t know what micro-transactions are little payments made with real money (or “points”) to purchase additional content for certain video games. The problem is that as of late, some games require more money to unlock additional levels or even some games will allow you to activate cheats that could have previously been used by activating a series of button presses.
The debate was between Xbox Live’s Major Nelson (Larry Hryb) and 1UP.com producer Andrew Fister. It’s a very interesting discussion and even though you think it won’t effect you now, one way or another, it effects every gamer.
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