And the 100th post is...

I just finished playing this and I had to share. It is an excellent spy thriller viewed from a first-person perspective with an aesthetic reminiscent of the CG anime TV series and PS2 game, Gregory Horror Show and Team Fortress 2, all rendered lovingly in the Quake 2 engine. Yes, the quake 2 engine. It also won arthouse game of the year over at Game Tunnel if that sort of thing wags your tail. The creator of the game Brandon Chung who is the developer at Blendogames seems to have a series of games that look just as interesting, so I highly recommend checking out his website.

I have recently been taking a lot of issue with people who in my eyes focus too much on the narrative elements of videogames and not enough on the actual ludic elements, but in this case, the actual experience of playing the game, from the art direction to the music to what actually happens in the game, all work together to form something a lot more than if the game was solely about its game mechanics. AND, it is something that could only work in videogames. He works very well with the unspoken rules of videogames and subverts them for the purposes of the experience I am assuming he wanted to give the players.

Anyway, it will not take much of your time I promise. I don't want to say much about the game as a lot of it is from the experience of playing it so go play!

Oh! And speaking of Gregory Horror Show, it is actually pretty funny.

So beautiful I could cry

Nuevos mapas para Mirror´s Edge from Electronic Arts on Vimeo.

Now I have to get Mirror's Edge if only so that I can jump around a world that looks like that. Who says videogames need stories and plot and characterisation and voice acting and script writers and enemies and ludonarrative dissonance and asynchronous psychosomatic game mechanics? What they need is more blocks floating in space. That can be shot at or jumped on/off. Maybe even both...

Give us a world to move around in, a score to beat and the tools to do it. Like Mario Sunshine's abstract levels done by an artist exhibiting at the Tate Modern.

Thanks for pointing this out to me Wale!

L4D

Played 3 chapters of the first campaign (the levels are called campaigns with chapters further sub-dividing them) in single player, and most of the first chapter with Niyi in co-op.

I have killed a Smoker while it tried to draw me in close, gotten over 100 headshots, and avoided taking damage after been puked on by a Boomer. I say this not to make a feeble attempt at bragging, but to emphasise the fact that all these things happened without me planning to get the achievements. I got all of them in the heat of trying to survive the zombie apocalypse.

I have cracked more than 100 zombie skulls with bullets not because of some hardcore-ness on my part, but because I wanted, needed to survive and we all know what necessity is the mother of...

Random shots fired in panic at a smoker while I was being pulled in? Blind luck! And speaking of blind luck, the episode with the Boomer and me taking no damage? Heh, I was huddled behind my companions and meleeing like a mad man waiting for the damn vomit to disappear. This game is too intense, and I love it!

I have only put give or take roughly 2-3 hours into it and it is already all I could hope for. Now, to see whether it holds up in the long run. Can't wait to play the multiplayer now.

I will post more once we go at it with 4 people.

Left 4 Dead available on Steam

Left 4 Dead is available from Steam today! Shame, I still have to wait until I can figure out a way of getting it when it launches for the 360 in just a few more days.

Almost all the previews and impressions from the demo have been glowing, and there is a bit of an early review from the guys over at shacknews and they also like it! Plus, don't you look forward to this?

Or running away from them?

I was tempted to get this via steam since I do have steam on my PC and have a system capable of running it, but the fact that I would have to play it online or on a LAN makes me balk at the thought of it. I want to play this with my friends and be able to see and hear them screaming or laughing.

Well, hopefully, it will just be a few more days. I was talking with a friend about a courier service that helps get things down to Nigeria fast. If it works out, will post about it on here so that you guys can know too.

I have actually been looking into bringing games in for sale, but have been having challenges, if this works out, maybe I will roll with it.

Mother 3

I have been meaning to post about this since it came out and I downloaded the patch, but somehow it just slipped through. The Mother 3 fan translation is finally done! You will need to obtain a rom of the original Japanese game which you can always do a quick google search to sort out, then download the patch and apply it to the rom.

Below you can find a trailer showing scenes from the game. It does contain a few spoilers here and there so if you are one of those people who must not see anything at all about any piece of entertainment before you consume it yourself, then don't watch it. :-)



It is an awesome game and the sequel to one of the most charming and unique RPGs I have ever played - Mother 2 (Earthbound in the West). It is interesting, not only because of its setting - a Japanese RPG set in a non-post/pre apocalyptic urban environment - but also because its lead designer and creator Shigesato Itoi is a writer. As a result of this, even though the combat system and the general rpg elements of the games are competent, they are not anything revolutionary. What is really nice about the Mother games though, is the writing.

There's been so much talk around the gaming blogosphere about narrative in games and how games need to escape from the crutch of film and books, but you don't hear a lot about games like the Mother series in those circles. They should be talking about it.

 I currently have Mother 3 on my PSP and I'm playing it via emulation, but I have decided to stop until I finish Mother 2. Once that is done I am going to start a new game of Mother 3 and settle in to enjoy the ride.

On that note, I should also say that I have decided not to pick up anything else once I get Little Big Planet for the PS3, Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360 that is a AAA title for a while. I realise that I have been getting loads of games close to when they come out and I still have a huge pile of stuff on older gen consoles like the PS2 that I haven't even started playing and I am not the only one. I am trying to stop that now, plus next-gen gaming is sooo expensive here it is not even funny. So, pardon me if the number of AAA reviews that come from my end reduce. HOWEVER, I will be covering classic games that should be available for cheap on older consoles, or handheld titles which also go for much cheaper than their home console brethren.

I am also using it as an opportunity to look more critically at 2D games and some of the older games to help me as I slowly journey on the path to making my own games.

And yet another game for the pre-harmattan season

Hm...I see that Niyi hasn't introduced himself yet as he ought to, but no matter, I am sure he will come round in time. Or I will have to beat him with a foam bat until he does.

This post is not about him, apart from the fact that he will be involved whether he likes it or not. This post is about Valve. This post is about this game -

I don't know how I was about to let this pass me by. Somehow it seems like I have missed most of the hype for Left 4 Dead. All I knew was that Valve was releasing a zombie shooter, but I had no idea what it was called, and even though I was interested in what "Valve did next", I just kept postponing my looking it up.

Now that I finally have, it has suddenly shot up to number 2 on my most wanted list (Little Big Planet is still whispering sweet words into my ear). I have been waiting for a great co-op game, and I hope that this is it. I trust Valve a lot after Portal lived up to its hype and I have enjoyed all the Half Life games, so a procedural zombie apocalypse to be survived with friends that is being put out there by them is essentially a no-brainer for me.

Definitely getting the 360 version though as it would be a lot easier to get 3 other people on one console to brave it out and maybe it could become our new multiplayer game instead of Halo 3 over system link.

Below are some videos showcasing the gameplay and a trailer so you can see what I am getting pumped about.

He got me!

Peter Molyneux finally got me...again. I had vowed to myself never to listen to the man since Black & White came out almost ten years ago. Not that it was a bad game, it was just that I thought it was something else. I thought it would be a game about playing with a creature possessing sophisticated AI and using him to conquer the land. What I got was a real-time strategy game with a lot of micro management...and I suck at RTS games. Since then I haven't had anything to do with Lionhead.

Hence, I didn't play the first Fable. I even had an xbox at the time, but a combination of my wariness of Mr. Molyneux's promises and an utter dislike for the art style kept me away from it. Afterwards, the comments on the game made me happy that I didn't succumb to the pre-release hype. A flawed, but very enjoyable game I read. The 'flawed' part was enough to make me justify my decision not to pick it up. That and I really didn't like the art style.

(Okay I just lost my original post because the browser crashed and I thought it was quite awesome and beautiful and witty and succinct and...ah the agony. Anyway, below is a summary. Yes, I am lazy.)

This made me pay attention to Fable 2. I then found out that Edge gave it a 9/10 and that it featured co-op play. That definitely blew my mind. Co-op play in a deep rpg! I really, really hope it is offline as well. I have found that on a lot of websites nowadays, when they say co-op, they could mean online co-op and not offline and not bother highlighting the difference because they can almost assume that most people have broadband internet. That sucks, and it also means that I have no idea whether Fable 2 still has offline co-op. I read a preview of it somewhere that said that the co-op was demo'd on a single system, so I hope that remains. 

But, the dog, the houses, the combat system, all that is really awesome to me now. I still don't really like the art-style in-game, but the concept art is actually strangely compelling...and ugly. I think I am going to be picking this up.

Yes Mr. Molyneux, I am back in your fold, please don't hurt me! 

TGS 2008 and a Witch in glasses

It has taken TGS 2008 starting to really get me excited about the current-gen of consoles and portables. Platinum Games is finally showing the fruits of their labour, exciting games like Bayonetta, Mad World, Infinite Line (Space?) should hopefully be playable on the floor and we can get impressions. Cave Story is on the Wii! I am hoping this means Pixel, its creator will break through (hopefully) into the mainstream, and maybe he can be inspired to make, and rewarded for making more games. Also, No More Heroes 2!! I haven't played the original yet due to not having a Wii, but anything Suda 51 does I wholeheartedly support because of Killer 7. Also, the teaser trailer is pretty badass. There's also more news and a trailer for the Halo 3 expansion. Apparently called Halo 3: Recon now I am also excited about White Story, Little Big Planet, and a whole host of other games. The preview and gameplay videos are beginning to trickle out at gametrailers and gamevideos, so do check out those sites for more info and nice visuals.

I think the developers are finally beginning to get into their stride with these consoles and with potential gems like Mirror's Edge, Muramasa: Demon Blade (what Vanillaware did next!), Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 (with Horde mode!), amongst others, I am really quite excited to be a gamer.

Also, do note the change in banner. Bayonetta is my new hottest babe in gaming and actually the game I am most looking forward to at the moment. Whether that's because I am some sort of closet pervert, or whether it's just cos I cannot wait for what Kamiya san has in store for us after Dante and Viewtiful Joe. I am also going through Ninja Gaiden 2 and I am so pumped for another third-person action game.

Random wallpapers I just hustled together for Bayonetta.

And here's some cam footage of the game in action (might be slightly NSFW).

Street Fighter IV

I am sooo looking forward to this game now, especially after this review from EDGE.

The fact that they have made the inputs a little bit more lenient and the whole look of the game I think has convinced me to make a proper investment in the game. Might end up getting it for the PS3. Will get it along with some nice Hori arcade sticks if they still 'ave 'em as well.

Just watching the above trailer brought back memories of guys coming round my house back in the early nineties to play SFII Turbo. Sometimes we had up to 17 people all in my room waiting for their turn.

I was never VERY good at it, but I could at least hold my own against most people. I wonder if the benefit of age and more gaming experiences would have helped my SF game somewhat. It doesn't matter even if it doesn't though, I am sure I will have a blast generally anyway.