Public Library, ftw!
It seems that my Dell POS laptop may have kicked the bucket, I’m not sure. Right now I am posting from my public library, haha. I was in town and thought “what the hey” and stopped on in to check the interwebs.
I went shooting with my Dad this morning. We shot his new AR-15 rifle for the first time. It was pretty sweet actually. He had a new scope and bi-pod mounted onto it and we had some fun trying to get it sighted in but we still didn’t get it perfect. I especially like this new rifle because it’s like what Snake will be using in Metal Gear Solid 4. 
Oblivion to be Playstation 3 launch title, or how I saved myself $400
Yes, apparently the Sony Playstation 3 will see at it’s launch, The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. The last Elder Scrolls game, Morrowind, was one of my wife and I’s favorite games. She is probably more of an Elder Scrolls fan than I am!
Oblivion is probably the only game on the 360 that I would consider worthy of purchasing hardware and I’ve always said that if Oblivion wasn’t announced for the Playstation 3 I would have to get a 360. Well now Bethesda has saved me from having to do that. Thank you Bethesda! 
The game will introduce a new faction to the Oblivion world, one that’s available right at the beginning called Knights of the Nine and described by the developers as “the good Dark Brotherhood.” The goal here is to become the Divine Crusader (think part warrior, part priest), and the quest features new locations, characters, armor and weapons.
“Oblivion has these really good character archetypes for evil,” says executive producer Todd Howard. “It has the Dark Brotherhood: You get your outfit, you feel like an assassin, you feel like an evil guy, [and] you role-play like an evil guy. We [didn't] have the opposite end of that. There [was] very little reward for being a goody two-shoes.”
“As opposed to adding content that allowed your character to just experience new quests, we wanted to create something that allowed your character to become something new,” he continues.
Fans may also be excited to hear that the series is heading to PSP in Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion, a game that plays very similarly to its big brother but takes place in a completely different setting.
Something else to note if you read the last part of what I quoted, is that there will be an Oblivion game coming to the Playstation Portable (PSP)! I wonder if you’ll be able to take your own character from the PS3 version on the go with it? That would be pretty cool I think.
Lord of the Rings revisited
Tonight we watched part one of the Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition DVD. Wow, that’s quite a title.
I’m not too surprised that it still holds up well, it had an army of talented actors and artists working on the project, basically non-stop for several years. They made it their passion. Peter Jackson, basically unknown to most of the world, lived and breathed the life of Middle Earth and put his directing talent to good use. I think for literary adaptations, these films are extremely entertaining works of art.
He showed us how the use of digital can be done in a way that doesn’t overwhelm everything else in the picture. George Lucas really mucked up the prequels in Star Wars with his plan of going almost completely digital. Sure it was revolutionary to a degree, but at what cost? Ol’ GL could learn a thing or two from PJ, in my opinion.
Afrika – best graphics ever?
If you haven’t seen the high-def trailer of Sony’s Afrika, you should. The video can be viewed or downloaded via the link here.
Now that we have the absolutely fantastic graphics out of the way, we wonder what in the heck this game is all about?
Phil Harrison told Wired Magazine a little bit at the Japanese Tokyo Game Show this weekend.
You’re the head of Sony’s worldwide development studios. What the hell is up with that Africa game?
Video games have a function in life, and that is: wish fulfillment. You can become a mercenary, a fighter pilot. On PS3, we can expand the realm of that experience. Africa allows you to experience a very interesting part of the world, a safari in the plains of Africa. The gameplay is entirely non-violent. You don’t kill the animals. It emphasizes the positives rather than the negatives.
It’s about collecting experiences and keeping them for posterity.
What’s up with the guy riding in the Jeep, shown at the end of the trailer?
That’s you. Or rather, that’s one of the people you’ll control. (He stops himself from saying anything else.)
Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer of pure awesome
Hideo Kojima gave us a new trailer over the weekend at the Japanese Tokyo Game Show.
There isn’t a high-def video if it yet, but gametrailers.com does have a version you can download. Just click this link and scroll down a little bit, first video in the list.
Japanese RPGs
I’m not usually into them. In fact, I’m NOT into them. I did enjoy Final Fantasy Tactics on the original Playstation and I’m considering getting into Final Fantasy for the PS3, but the new video for Sony’s White Knight Story is just about enough to make me a convert. There is a high-def video available here, which is worth watching.
IGN did a little reporting of what was printed in the Japanese magazine FAMITSU and here is what was revealed:
The latest RPG from the experts at Level 5 has been revealed in Famitsu. The developer of Dragon Quest VIII and Rogue Galaxy is working on Shirokishi Monogatari for the PlayStation 3. The title translates roughly to White Knight Story. Level 5 president Akihiro Hino is serving as producer on the title.
In this fantasy RPG, you take control of a boy who comes into the possession of an ancient artifact. The artifact gives him the ability to transform into the White Knight of the title, a 7-meter warrior from a time when such creatures nearly destroyed all of civilization.
White Knight Story places an emphasis on scale. In addition to the giant White Knight himself, and a similarly sized rival Black Knight, you’ll encounter large-scale cities and enemies that extend over 2000 meters in size. One turtle-like enemy carries a full town on its back!
Read the rest of this entry »
Frank Miller’s 300 – Leaked Trailer
Check it out, either click on or right click and save this link here.
I think it looks cool, but as my wife stated, “looks like a major guy movie”.
Ultraviolet, more like UltraBORING!
I’ll see any Milla Jovovich film once, but man, Ultraviolet was a stinker! I just watched the “unrated” DVD of this film, and of course the “unrated” part of the title meant that they added a couple of seconds of useless fluff. This whole “unrated” business is usually just a ploy to try and get people to buy a movie they didn’t like in its first cut, hoping to get some more blood or nudity, which in this case there isn’t either. What a bummer! 
I doubt even that could save this snore of a film though.
And to make things worse Milla is engaged to Paul W.S. Anderson, the clown behind such film wonders as Resident Evil (they are now making a THIRD RE film, btw) and Aliens vs. Predator. What a winner!
Computer Woes
My Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop is acting up on me. It only boots up once out of fifty tries and it seems to be locking up on boot, sometimes in post but most of the time when it’s loading the OS. It started this after some battery problems too, at least the battery light was blinking orange at me. Ugh.
It really makes me want the “computer” aspect of the PS3 to really work out. I really only use my home computer for Internet, Digital Photos, and Digital Music. All of which should be supported on the Sony Playstation 3.
Just before I got this laptop I built a Small Form Factor (SFF) Shuttle computer. I had toyed with the idea of making a Home Theatre Personal Computer (HTPC) with it but in the end didn’t because I didn’t have a good HDTV for it yet. I see the Playstation 3 basically doing that job for me and I really can’t wait for it. If it doesn’t work out, oh well, I’ll look into something else once the time comes. But in the meantime my computer usage may be rather spotty.
Okami – IGN Review
This will probably be my next purchase after I finish Yakuza.
9.0 Presentation
Great and informative menu layouts, impressive story and fantastic dialog. Plenty of load points, though most aren’t overly long.
9.5 Graphics
Stunning. That’s all there is to say.
8.5 Sound
Great soundtrack to perfectly blend with the world. Voices are just mumbles but sort of works.
9.0 Gameplay
The Celestial Brush makes the game and works brilliantly. Most battles are entirely too easy, unfortunately.
8.0 Lasting Appeal
Lengthy main quest with tons of extra stuff to find.
9.1
Outstanding OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
Quote:
| Okami is a game we’ve been waiting on for a long, long time, and for the most part it has lived up to our extremely high expectations. It’s beautiful, charismatic, engaging and one of the most original games you’ll play anytime soon. Sure, it’s not perfect, and we may have picked on some of its flaws a bit more than usual simply because they’re a little more obvious when everything around them is so great. All in all, Okami is a game that any self-respecting PlayStation 2 owner should pick up simply because you’ve never played anything like it before. |
