Films watched
Poseidon

Overblown effects, uninspiring re-hash. Move along, nothing to see here.
5/10

Angel-a


Wonderful Life with a slutty 6 ½ foot French bombshell.
8/10

Now, after playing Guitar Hero 2 quite a bit at a friends house, I have convinced myself that I will likely get Guitar Hero 3 when it is release. The thing is, Rock Band also looks very good. So the question becomes, which shall I get?

I’m not so interested in the drum and singing aspects of Rock Band, but then again it does feature “Don’t Fear the Reaper” as one of the song selections…

Hmm… I’ll likely await a few more details about both before making and informed decision.

EDGE 100

EDGE has recently issued a special publication detailing the top 100 games of all time.

This has been collated from votes from readers and also the views of the writers, cutting out similar games from the same series (i.e. you won’t have Pro Evolution 1,2,3,4 etc). This basis seems a little flawed, but it’s a good a list as any…

My view of the highlights (and the number they came in):

52: Disgaea
Hell yes. It’s good to see that Disgaea made it onto the list. As a fan of SRPG’s this is the absolute pinnacle and there is no other game out there that can out do the mixture of humour and strategy in this one game.

44: Super Monkey Ball
One of the purest games there is. You just need the analogue stick to guide the ball around the stage, no buttons, that’s it. You would curse like hell at the harder stages, but at the same time you knew that with practice, they could be mastered.

30: Shadow of the Colossus
To quote VastikRoot from the magazine “SOTC is one of the only games I’ve played where killing something actually had any emotional weight”. This is very true, the Colossi are the sole living things in the game, both monstrous and beautiful, and you wander around mercilessly killing them. What a game!

26: Advance Wars
It’s just like playing an extremely complex version of chess, but I love the fact that it really taxes your mind like no other game out there.

23: Metroid Prime
My god is this a tough game, one of the toughest I’ve ever played. This effortlessly brings Metroid from 2D to 3D using a first person perspective, but at the same time, not turning it into a generic first person shooter. This game is about exploration and adventure foremost and never forgets that

18: Final Fantasy VII
Great, great characters, fantastic story and knock out graphics for the time. This is the best traditional Final Fantasy game out there, and that is praise enough.

14: Mario Kart
For me, Mari Kart DS is the best in the series, but still the SNES original is a fantastic game. Damn, damn difficult compared to the later games.

13: ICO
It’s a shame that this wasn’t in the top 10, but then again it hasn’t had the wide appeal of many of the other games mentioned. This, for me, is the most simple, haunting and emotive game I have ever played. I can honestly say that I was near to tears the first time I completed the game and have felt the same way every time I have played it since then. How many games can you possibly say that about?

12: GTA: Vice City
The best GTA game, if anything just for the cheesy music and 80’s setting. Why, oh why haven’t they set GTA4 in the 80’s?

8: Final Fantasy XII
Its storyline is, in my opinion, a little weaker than previous Final Fantasies, but the way in which it reinvents Final Fantasy should not be ignored. The battle system is simply a joy and I look forward to seeing how it evolves with future games. Also Balthier is such a cool character :)

6: Zelda: A Link to the Past
My introduction to Link and if it weren’t for Ocarina, this would be the best of the series. I remember playing this for endless hours when I was younger, and since then I have played through it again and again on other systems (GBA and Wii).

5: Super Mario World
Mario at his 2D best. You cannot find a better 2D platform game out there. End of story.

3: Mario 64
Mario at his 3D best. It’s simply a joy just to run, jump and climb trees in the outdoor section, even before you enter the castle. I remember being simply astonished by this game when I first got it for my N64.

2: Resident Evil 4
I’m a little surprised that this managed to make it so high, I didn’t know that it was held is such high regard by so many. Regardless, this is by far one of the best game that I have played in recent years. It also magnificently reinvented the Resident Evil games.

1: Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Of course the previous holder of “greatest game of all time” retains its title, and deservedly so. Twilight Princess may have been an exceptional game, but Ocarina still beats it hands down. This is a game which I simply love.

Online Metroid Prime 3?

LINK

Looks like that's a "no" then

Baise-Moi and E3 predictions

Film watched:
Baise-Moi



Okay for this, I’m going to break my 10 words or less review rule.

I purchased this on DVD to watch as I’d heard that it was meant to be a shocking and controversial film and as a rule, these types of films tend to interest me (see Oldboy for a prime example of this).

Now it is true that film is shocking, what it is, is shockingly awful. I have seen really bad films before, films which I have given exceptionally low marks, the two that spring to mind being Scary Movie and The Black Dahlia, this film however, make these look like masterpieces.

To be honest I find it unbelievable that such a film would ever be released, let alone get a theatrical release.

The film is a French language movie about 2 women, who for no apparent reason, decide to go on a mad spree of sex and violence. That is it. If there was a plot, it was so thinly veiled that it was invisible. What it really boiled down to was just an excuse to get copious amounts of badly directed sex and violence onto screen as possible. What it ends up like is a porn movie which is trying it’s best to be a cross between Pulp Fiction and Thelma and Louise.

There is ABSOLUTELY nothing in this film that I could recommend. Hell, even the limited porn movies I have ever watched had better acting then this pile of excrement!

0/10 (yes it is THAT bad)

It is just over a week now to E3 (or should that be mini-E3). As such, I thought I’d try my best to predict the upcoming announcements. I’ll just be covering Playstation and Nintendo, as I have little interest in Microsoft:

SONY:

- A new smaller and slimmer PSP is announced, in the same vein as the DS Lite.
- A price cut is announced for the PS3 – due for the Christmas season.
- A new Sixaxis is announced, including rumble.
- Resistance: Fall of Man 2 is announced.
- A release date is given for MGS4 – and it’s in 2008!
- Bioshock is announced for the PS3 – to be release in 2008 after the Xbox and PC release.
- In game footage is shown of Final Fantasy XIII, which wows the press.

NINTENDO:

- Release dates are given for Super Mario Galaxy and Smash Brothers Brawl (both Christmas 2007)
- It is announced that Animal Crossing, Mario Kart and Nintendogs are being developed for the Wii and footage of these is shown. They are not due to be released until 2008. All will feature online play.
- The Wii will be released in new colours. Probably black and pink.
- Wiisports 2 is announced. This also has online play.
- Wiimusic is shown in full and Nintendo pushes this as the next big thing.
- An online mode is revealed for Metroid Prime 3 (although this is probably wishful thinking on my part).
- Wiihealth is announced – including a heart rate monitor attachment for the Wiimote.
- A new 2D Mario game is shown for the DS.
- Nintendcats is announced for the DS.

I’ll see how close these predictions are at the end of next week.

Devils Backbone, Silver Surfer and Soul Calibur DD

Films watched:

The Devils Backbone

Creepy and disturbing - but no Pan's Labyrinth

6.5/10

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Good (brain on hold) fun. Better than the original.

7/10

It has also recently been announced that Sould Calibur 4 is heading to Xbox 360 and PS3 (a separate game, Soul Calibur Legends, is heading to the Wii). To accompany this announcements, to screenshots were shown (a screenshot of Ivy is belwo).

Now, I'm big fan of Ivy, but those are just creepy and uncomfortable.

Surely she must suffer terrible back pains!

Link

Holiday photo's

For something a little different, I thought I'd post a few of my holiday photo's on my blog.

Here they are:

Comeback line

This tickled me :)

THE BEST COMEBACK LINE EVER?

Marine Corp's General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other day and you have to read his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children. Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this!!!! This is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Marine Corps General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?

GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL REINWALD: Well, Ma'am, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?

The radio went silent and the interview ended. You gotta love the Marines!

Spidey 3, Zodiac and 28 weeks

Okay, back from Scotland bearing haggis and fudge, time for the mini reviews for the films I saw whilst on holiday

Films watched:

Spiderman 3

Flabby, overstuffed sequel. Still fun, but not up to standard.
6.5/10

Zodiac

Interesting, but not exactly entertaining. Seven this isn’t.
6/10

28 Weeks Later


Entertaining sequel. Very strong first half, slightly derivative second half.
7/10

Also managed to catch up on my TV... i.e. watched the last episode of series 3 of Lost... My response...

Charlie...... NO!!!!

Locke - phew!

Scotland

Off to Scotland tomorrow for just under 2 weeks.

Cya...

Guitar Hero, Metroid 3 and Joker

Managed to have a quick go of Guitar Hero down a friend’s house the other night. I must say that I’m very impressed. It took me a few goes to get into the flow of it, but once I did it was immense fun.

I very much doubt that I’ll buy it (I have plenty of games to keep me occupied at the moment, and there are more on the horizon), but I must say that I may be tempted by Guitar Hero III on either the Wii or PS3 in the future.

Nintendo gave release date info yesterday for America… Metroid Prime 3 is due out 20th August! No news yet for the European release date yet… but then again, we haven’t even got Super Paper Mario yet!

Lastly, after a very clever viral marketing campaign, the face of the Joker has been revealed for The Dark Knight…

Very different… Looks more like a demented serial killer than the “classic” Joker look, but then again this is in line with a grittier more realistic Batman. Overall I like it, he looks like the sort of person who’d give anyone nightmares – which is what we want from the Joker – not some stupid comical character.

Edit – The page has now been removed- take a look here:

http://www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com/

If, however, you highlight the page, you will see hidden text… Hidden in the hidden text is also a message:

"See you in December."

Can’t wait :-)

Irreversible

Film watched:

Irreversible

Brutal, horrific and depressing. Certainly not easy viewing!

6.5/10

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.