LOST

Just watched Sundays Lost....

NO..... NOT LOCKE...

NOT LOCKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game list.

I thought I’d take a moment to jot down the current games (on all systems that I own) which I’m anticipating the most.

Not all of these are due out in 2007 (I’m looking at you Resident Evil and Final Fantasy), but that’s probably a good thing, as otherwise, my year end gaming would be very crowded.

Pretty much all of these are sequels or spin-offs of one form or the other, but they are all from franchises which I simply adore.

Anyway, here is the list, starting from 10 to 1, ordered as much as I could by the most preferred.

10. Phoenix Wright 3 (DS)
I have really enjoyed the last 2 games and pine for another opportunity to shout “objection” at the DS once more.





9. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)
An interesting off shoot of FFXII. Not too sure how this will play out on the dual screens of the DS, but we shall see.






8. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Final Fantasy Tactics was my favourite game on the GBA – hopefully this will be just as good.





7. Zelda : Phantom Hourglass (DS)
It’s Zelda – need I say more.






6. GTA 4 (PS3)
Looks promising from the recent trailer. Shame the additional content is exclusive to the X-Box 360, but there should still be plenty in the main game to keep me occupied.




5. Metroid Prime 3 (Wii)
I’m really hoping that Retro nail FPS controls for the Wii for this. This has been delayed to perfect the game, but I’m also hoping that an online multiplayer may be added.





4. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
The previous MGS games have all been fantastic, this however, looks like it will blow them all out of the water. This is the game that will convince many to pick up a PS3.





3. Resident Evil 5 (PS3)
Even if it’s just as good as Resident Evil 4, but in High Definition – then I’ll be a very happy man.




2. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
This looks gorgeous. So long as they build on the battle system of FFXII and add the graphical splendour of the PS3, this should be nothing short of brilliant.




1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
I have recently been replaying Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine with Elliot and boy am I looking forward to a brand spanking new (proper) Mario game.


On a side note, I have just recieved my fre Blu-ray of Casino Royale from Sony - will be watching this at the end of the week. A pretty good freebie considering I had planned on buying it anyway!

Girl and games

Film watched:
Girl Interrupted

Girlie substandard Cuckoos Nest. Redeemed slightly by a hot Angelina.

5.5/10

Games playing:
I’m currently playing Resistance: FOM (PS3), Final Fantasy XII (PS2) and Puzzle Quest. All excellent games.

Resistance I’m mainly playing online at the moment, whilst at times I do get slaughtered, I have on occasion won some free-for-all death match games. I mainly play team death match games, which are less frantic and a require a degree of teamwork.

Final Fantasy XII, it has to be said, is probably the best traditional Final Fantasy games (i.e. not including tactics) since Final Fantasy IX on the Playstation.

Lastly, Puzzle Quest is just so damn addictive. The only problem being that after it I tend to suffer “tetris eyes”, namely I keep on seeing falling coloured crystals.

Prestige, Blu-ray and PS3 BC

Film watched:
The Prestige

Guessed the twists, but still an engrossing well told story.
8/10

Watched my first film on Blu-ray the other night, this being Silent Hill, one of the better game to film adaptations out there. As my plasma can only handle this at a maximum resolution of 1080i via VGA, this was not watched in the full 1080p glory, but was still a good indication all the same.

The verdict? Very good. Noticeably sharper and certainly a jump from DVD, but still not a massive jump. Then again my Philips plasma features Pixel Plus, which enhances normal SD viewing anyway, up scaling this to a higher resolution, so the gap between SD and HD is probably less noticeable. It is still obviously of a higher quality than DVD, but not enough to warrant buying a separate Blu-ray player had I not purchased a PS3.

As such, I will likely buy the occasional Blu-ray disk, but will not be replacing my DVD collection any time soon.

Now I was somewhat harsh about the PS3 backward compatibility in a previous post and whilst this is still warranted, Sony after all have failed to meet their original promise of near 100% compatibility (at least in Europe), there are a few good point about the backwards compatibility which I felt I should mention.

1) All games are displayed at 576p if you have a HD set. This obviously gives a much sharper picture than 576i, which can be good for some games, but bad for games where the graphics are not up to scratch. 480p or 480i is not supported by the European PS3 (strangely), so if you try to play games at this resolution the aspect ratio of the screen is all wrong.

2) PS1 games look surprisingly good at 576p via hdmi.

3) Some games which should not be compatible for the PS1, do in fact work. I have tried my Final Fantasy games and was surprised to find out that they all work.

4) The compatibility of the games is ranked as: no issues, minor issues and noticeable issues. I have now played games with both minor issues and noticeable issues. The most I’ve notices so far are very occasional frame jumps and slightly odd aspect ratios, and some cut scene FMV problems. Nothing really that bad (unless a game is FMV dependant).

So overall, not bad… but could do better. Certainly it is a good thing for the small percentage of people who don’t already own a PS2 or PS1.

They meet at last!

It had to happen eventually, they had to eventually star in the same game, but who would have guessed it would be this? This has just been annouced - due out at the end of the year to coincide with the Olympics:




I foresee Sonic winning the 100 meters dash and Mario winning high jump...

Queen, Cakes and PS3 (Good Bad and Ugly)

Film watched:
The Queen

Surprising interesting and engrossing story. Helen Mirrem deserved the Oscar.

7/10

Made some cakes with Elliot over the weekend. Unfortunately, I think I added a bit too much sugar – so my fairy cakes came out looking more like deformed Yorkshire puddings. They still taste not too bad- just don’t look that pretty!

So – to the PS3 then…I’ll cover my comments so far below:

THE GOOD
- I’m a High-Def virgin, so, pretty graphics!!!! Yeh!!!!!!!
- It’s great to have a console with online gaming (yes I know – this is old news for X-Box fans). Also online gaming works exceptionally well (although for Motorstorm there is some waiting around in lobby’s)
- Very slick design and easy to set up.
- Resistance is a great Doom meets Call of Duty meets Half Life game. I don’t even mind paying this with a controller as oppose to a mouse.
- Motorstorm is also a great racer, where every little bump on the track makes a difference.
- Free Gran Turismo HD – Yeh!
- Tekken 5: Resurrection. Just Tekken with Hi-Def graphics, but still, very nice.
- A nice selection of downloadable games, demos and movies on the Playstation store. Hopefully they’ll keep updating this regularly.
- Hooks up to my plasma via a VGA box (up to 1080i). Hopefully Blu-Ray movies (when I get some) will look sweet in 50 inches.
- Overall, the console is very solid (and heavy) and certainly seems to justify its price tag.

THE BAD
- Without rumble (which doesn’t bother me), the controller feels very light and as a result, a little cheap.
- Sometime the controller loses connection and need to be reconnected via USB. This is not during gameplay- but sometimes after games, and only occasionally.
- Boy is it big.
- It collects dust and fingerprints like a magnet. Glossy black – hmm, not the best choice for colour.
- The load times in Motorstorm are slooooowwwwwww.

THE UGLY
- Backwards compatibility… It’s sh*t. I’ve only tried 2 games, Shadow of the Colossus, which should have no problems and FF12 with “minor issues”. Shadow of the Colossus runs fine, but for some reason the picture aspect is wrong, and you miss a bit off the screen at the top and bottom. FF12 works, but the FMV looks like it’s been dragged through a grinder backwards. As FMV plays a big part of FF games, this, in my opinion – is simply not good enough.

As a result of the above I have repurchased a (slimline) PS2. Extra (and unwanted) cost, I know but I cannot live without playing FF12 at its best.

Conclusion:
I’ve been very impressed with the PS3 so far, probably more so than I expected. It lacks the immersion of the Wii (due to its fantastic controller), but for traditional games, it’s a very solid machine. The backwards compatibility is the only dark cloud on the PS3, especially for me in relation to FF12 – but if you just want the machine for Next-Gen (or should that now be Current-Gen) games, you can’t go wrong.

So there you have it. I now have both a Wii and a PS3, therefore presumably making me one of the PSWii crowd (as oppose to the Wii60 crowd). Both excellent machines for very different reasons. As different, dare I say it, as black and white.

300

Film watched:
300

A rollercoaster ride of blood, nudity and decapitations. Achingly cool.

8/10

On a side note… How the hell did this get an 15 certificate?????

My PS2 compatibility list

Well Sony have placed there PS2 and PS1 compatibility up a tad earlier than originally stated (previously they said that this would be on the launch date).

The amount of compatible titles has increased dramatically from 1000 to nearly 1800, this is almost 75% of all the PS2 games out there, however this is still a far cry from the 100% compatibility originally promised. Also, there is no sign of a 720p option for software compatibility as a sweetener to this loss of 100% compatibility.

On looking through the list, it also becomes apparent that there are varying degrees of compatibility. These are, compatible with: no issues, minor issues or noticeable issues. The extent of these “issues” is not discussed and I guess only time will tell.

I have taken a look through this and marked the compatibility with my own titles owned below:

My PS2 games:

GTA 3 - No issues
GTA: Vice City - No issues
ICO - No issues
Shadow of the Colossus - No issues
Disgaea - No issues
Tekken 5 - No issues

Gran Turismo 3 - Minor issues
Burnout 3 - Minor issues
Final Fantasy 12 - Minor issues

GTA: Vice City Stories - Noticeable issues
GTA: San Andreas - Noticeable issues
Metal Gear Solid 3 - Noticeable issues
Crazy Taxi - Noticeable issues
Disgaea 2 - Noticeable issues

Metal Gear Solid 2 - Will not run!
Rez - Will not run!

My PS1 games:

Tekken 3 - No issues
Bust a Move 2 - No issues

Final Fantasy 6 - Minor issues

Soul Blade - Noticeable issues

Final Fantasy 7 - Will not run!
Final Fantasy 8 - Will not run!
Final Fantasy 9 - Will not run!

Well, thank goodness that Final Fantasy 12 will work (with minor issues). I just hope that these issues are minor and do not disrupt the game in any significant way. Glad to see that ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are both free of any issues. I’m a little surprised that the likes of GTA, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy (PS) have either noticeable issue or will not run at all. These are all very big franchises on the Playstation, and should be seen as a priority.

Overall, I think that I can live with this. It may not be ideal, but only time will tell how things go.

I’m sure I’ll add a blog entry after I have my PS3!

REM does #9 and 10 word reviews

I was browsing in the itunes store yesterday and noticed that REM have released a new charity single for Amnesty International. It’s a cover of #9 Dream by John Lennon, one of my favourite Lennon tracks. Rather good actually, and as I was unsure if it will be on their new album in due course, I downloader it immediately.

Good cause, good song.

I’ve decided that for now and in future, any film reviews that I do, will be a maximum of 10 words and have a score – just to persuade me to keep things as a minimal and also to get stuff on my blog – as such…

Films watched:
Pan’s Labyrinth

Stunning and touching myth meets fable movie. WATCH THIS NOW!

9/10

The Host


Korean Jaws meets Jurassic Park Horror / comedy. Quite barmy really…

6/10

BTW on a side note - how the hell did Pan's Labrinth NOT win best foreign film at the Oscars? Hell, it deserved Best Picture!

Midnight launch

Found out the other day that our local HMV are having a midnight launch for th PS3...

Does that mean that I'll be their at midnight?

Hell yes!

Am I a sad?

Hell yes!!!

Going to the midnight launch for me isn't just to get my hands on the PS3 ASAP, it's just that I've always read about midnight console laaunches in the US and the UK on the internet and have felt a little left out that I've never been part of one. Now I'll get my chance.

I know, I know... I'm a certified geek.

...but at least I'm not a Trekkie!

Watchmen begins!

Yes... It's actually being made. By no less than Zack Snyder (300 and Dawn of the Dead - remake)

Just to prove the point...

Meet Rorschach

Colour me pleased :)

Chris Heckler's GDC comments

I would like to address the comments made by Chris Heckler at the GDC yesterday in regards to the Wii.

On the console itself:
"The Wii is a piece of sh*t!"

On the power of the console:
"I have uncovered the secret to Wii manufacturing. The way you manufacture a Wii is you take two GameCubes and some duct tape,"

On whether Nintendo treat games as an art form:
"Number one: recognise and push games as a serious art form. Number two: make a console that doesn't suck ass."

I could go on and on with a long drawn out response, referring to the quality of the console itself and citing the likes of Wind Waker and Electroplankton in regard to the “art form” argument, but I’m not.

It’s frankly now worth responding to such an ill-informed, attention seeking, arrogant prat.

Sony Home (a.k.a. Second Life – Sony Style)

There has been a lot of criticism levelled at Sony of late. I’ve also be quite outspoken about my disgust of how they have treated Backwards compatibility (and also Europe as a whole). For once, however, Sony has done something right.

Prior to the Keynote speech at the GDC there were rumours that Sony Home would be a combination of Mii like avatars and Xbox live achievements… Well it is, but it’s much, much more. As soon as I saw the screenshots, and saw the video, it’s obvious that Sony have decided to adopt a Second Life type system… Really, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that the screenshots were from Second Life.

This is no bad thing. I actually think that Second Life is a good idea, however, it runs like a dying dog on my wife’s PC and the user interface isn’t exactly friendly. Sony Home appears to be a simplified and more user friendly version. Allow just as much freedom to the user to create and adapt their own environments, but without all the troublesome problems associated with PC games. You get your own home to decorate. Trophies to display as you complete games. You can meet people in common area’s and jump straight into multiplayer matches after chatting to them. The scope really is quite vast.

Sony could really be onto a great thing here, I can see this grabbing the attention of quite a large number of people. It could also just grow and grow into a fantastic online community.

Well done Sony… You may have just regained some of the respect that has been slowly slipping from your grasp over the last year.

The other thing that I have to mention is LittleBigPlanet.

This is brought to you by the people who created Ragdoll Kung-Fu (the physics in the game are a good indication of this) and looks like enormous fun. At it’s basics it’s a pseudo 2D platform game, played by 4 people who need to co-operate with each other, however, the levels themselves are user designed.

It’s hard to give justice to it by explanation alone… Just look at this trailer and tell me that you’re not impressed…

LittleBigPlanet trailer.

Profesor Lanyon and fanart

The DS is fast become the place to be if you like adventure games. There is one game which has recently been released in Japan and comes from Level 5, which has attracted my attention. It's called Professor Lanyon. It would appear to be a anime based whodunnit, with style. I've been looking for some time for a trailer for this, and have just come accroes one.... See below.

Professor Lanyon

Looks sweet!

Also, came across this incredible piece of Metrod fanart just before by tranfuse. The link for the full gallary is below the pic... Pretty damn impressive.

Link

More PS3 news (mainly positive this time)

Phil Harrison of Sony has announced that over 1000 PS2 games will be compatible with the PS3 at launch. Well, on taking a look on the internet, I see that approximately 2400 PS2 games have been released in Europe to date, so that means a 41.66% backwards compatible rate, which I guess isn’t too bad a beginning (considering this is due to be improved upon). Also he stated that they are concentrating on the “big” titles, which is sensible, because, lets be frank, there are a heck of a lot of crap titles out there for the PS2. As such, hopefully (fingers crossed), most of my games will work.

It’s a shame that no compatible games have been mentioned yet – please, please let Final Fantasy 12 and ICO work!

Other good news on the PS3 front (shock – I know), is that the RRP for games has been set at £39.99. This is the same as Wii games and less than the £49.99 for the Xbox 360 (although I believe that some games are £39.99), which is pretty good news, especially as I live in VAT free Guernsey this means that the games will be approximately £33.00.

Finally on the PS3 news front, the price of downloadable games has been confirmed as between £2.99 to £6.99, which again is pretty good. The initial games being release on the 23rd of March and following games are as follows:

Blast Factor (£3.49) - 23rd March
Grand Turismo HD (£free) - 23rd March
Super Rub-A-Dub (£TBC) - 30th March
flOw (£TBC) - 6th April
Tekken 5: DR (£6.99) - 23rd March

Source

Also on a completely separate note, Bai Ling was in Sundays episode of Lost as a hot (but weird) Thai Tattooist... Wow... Wow... Easily my favourite episode so far of season 3!