Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very merry Christmas...

Here's hoping that Santa brings you all something good :)

Greatest DLC EVER?!?

Quite possibly the greatest idea for DLC ever is inbound for Little Big Planet... Simply explained by the following formula:

LBP + MGS4 = GREATEST DLC EVER!

The Mist

Film watched:
The Mist


Excellent old school Stephen King, with a brutal, BRUTAL ending!

7.5/10 (previously 8.5/10)

Edit: Score change…

Okay, I’ve been thinking a little bit more about the ending of The Mist, which as I understand it was rather controversial. My mindset has changed a little, and I’m now of the opinion that it is a little TOO brutal (yes this is me speaking). I think if it was me writing it, I’d probably left the ending a little ambiguous and maybe cut out the last minute. This would result in a horribly depressing ending (which would be good), but not an “oh my freaking God how could they” ending.

Also, Roz came and sat next to me for just the last 5 minutes of the film and watched the conclusion with no sound (I had headphones on) and STILL it reduced her to tears, without even watching the rest of the movie to build up any type of relationship with the characters. That's just an indication of how brutal, crushing, (possibly) unnecessarily shocking and plain mean the ending is.

As such, I’ve knocked a point off my original score.

Goo rules!

Okay - purchased World of Goo today and I have to say...

World of Goo rules!

This has to be by far the best downloadable game I have purchased this year... I'd also like to add that it is also one of the best puzzle games that I have played in a long, long time. It deserves all the praise that has been layed upon it.

It is just the type of game that suits the Wii perfectly, with simple (but very attractive) graphics, a control scheme which suits the system perfectly and gameplay which is accessable, yet incredibly deep. It also has to be said that the physics based gameplay is great. Why on earth can't anyone else get so much out of the Wii!

Anyway, won't rabbit on much more. But all I will say that this game is well worth the price. Anyone who has a Wii derserves to treat themselves to this game...

Well done 2D Boy, well done...

Go Goo!

Well, I do not have any Wii games in my Xmas list this year, but come this Friday I will be immediately spending my last 1500 available Wii points without any hesitation on my most wanted downloadable game this year.

That’s right 2Dboy has confirmed that the game World of Goo will be making its EU debut this coming Friday.

Let us all rejoice in the gooeyness!

Immortal and power steering

Film watched:
Immortal (ad Vitam)

Fifth Element lite. Mix of CGI and real characters = Bad.

3/10

I also, rather stupidly, managed to leave the lights on my car on all day yesterday, resulting in a flat battery (doh!) As a consequence, I had to borrow my Mum’s car last night. My conclusion, I cannot stand cars now that don’t have power steering.

Luckily my battery is now charged up and I’m back in my old faithful car (or Luigi as I affectionately call him – it’s a male car).

A next Metal Gear is...

Well it would appear that the next Metal Gear game is an offshoot of MGS4 and will be heading to the iphone/itouch and will be called Metal Gear Solid Touch...

It's just a shame that'll unlikely get to play it.. unless my current ipod dies and they bring out an ipod touch greater than 30gb (I have zero interest in mobile phones - so the iphone would be lost on me)

Dexter, Bioshock and the problem with PS3…

I finished watching Dexter last week (the first series anyway). I just wanted to post that this has to be one of my favourite new series that I have watched lately (I know that it’s onto its third series – but I’m playing catch-up). It is, however, a bit of a hard sell. After all it is a series with the main character as a serial killer, which you are expected to sympathise with, but without going into the specifics of the series, it works, and it works pretty damn well! By a combination of great characters and fantastic scripts it had me gripped. I would really strongly recommend that everyone gives it a go, and at least stick with it for a few episodes.


I've also got to add that Michael C Hall is absolutely fantastic as the lead role, giving a great performance for a character that spends most of his time faking being "normal".


I'm just hoping that the second season (and also the third) are also of an equal high quality. I'll likely star watching these next year.

Also completed Bioshock yesterday, which I really enjoyed. I was, however, a little disappointed by it’s ending. It seemed a little rushed, clichéd and also rather easy. Compared to the initial stages of the game, I felt that the last quarter of the game seemed to lack in style and challenge. Other than this, it was a fantastic game, and I’m looking forward to the sequel which was trailered at the end of the game. I’ve also got the DLC to give a go, which looks like it will be interesting.

I read (online) the following comments made by an analysis on CNN Money which made the following points:

“So why is the PS3 flopping so badly?

1) It's the most expensive console on the market, $150 - $200 more than its rivals. Even if you believe the video game industry is "recession-proof" (it isn't), a tanking economy makes consumers more price-conscious.

2) The PS3's big bonus is its ability to double as a Blu-Ray player. Too bad no one seems to care about hi-def DVDs. The differences between Blu-Ray and DVD are hard to see on a TV less than 50".

3) The PS3 just doesn't have any must-have titles exclusive to the console. "LittleBigPlanet" has generated decent buzz but isn't a game-changer, and neither is Sony's new virtual world "Home."

There's really only one option left for Sony to remain in the game: deep price cuts, and not just for people with good credit. Tell yourself the PS3 has superior graphics if it makes you feel better, but a $400 console with a mediocre game library simply cannot compete against an Xbox 360 priced at $200 in this economy.”

While I definitely don’t agree with points 2 and 3, I do agree with point 1.

I shall address each

2) I would say that Blu-ray is actually doing rather well for a still relatively new format. In the UK The Dark Knight sold 20% of its initial day sales on Blu-ray (several hundred thousand), which isn’t too shabby. While I doubt that Blu-ray will completely replace DVD, I think that it will likely live alongside DVD for those growing numbers who prefer a Hi-Def experience. As for the comment “The differences between Blu-Ray and DVD are hard to see on a TV less than 50”, this is frankly wrong. Even on my smaller 26” LCD (when I owned it) I could easily notice the difference. While a good HD upscaler does good work of a DVD, Blu-ray is still a big improvement. Maybe he needs his eyes checked!

3) I wouldn’t say that the PS3 has any less must have exclusives than either the Wii or the 360. What I would say is that maybe Sony hasn’t quite captured the imagination of the general public like the Wii has with the likes of Wii Sports and Wii Fit, but then again neither has the Microsoft. The PS3 has some fantastic exclusives, namely: Little Big Planet, MGS4, Uncharted, Disgaea 3 only to name a few. Again like the 360 exclusives, these appeal to a certain audience, but not necessarily to casual gamers (I would argue that Little Big Planet is not a casual game, even if it looks like one). I’ll likely post my thoughts about Home now that it is open beta in a few days, after I’ve had a little more time with it.

1) This is it… This is Sony’s real problem. Money. You get a hell of a lot with a PS3, and if you bolted on the extra’s that a PS3 (those that you can) the value of the PS3 looks reasonable, even good (hell I didn’t resent spending the original purchase price for it). The problem is that most people just don’t want these extra features from a games machine, they just want to play games.

As much as I hate to say it, but in the current economic crisis the PS3 is going to lose at its current price (and I have to add that by UK standard the US price is cheap). The general public just can’t warrant the cost and this is hurting the PS3 sales. Even if it had the best exclusive games and the best features, it would still be the price which is holding it back. The PS2 sold at its best when its price was below the magical $200.00 mark and I don’t think that the PS3 is going to start selling big until it also reaches this milestone.

I think that the situation is made that much worse at Christmas. Quite frankly the PS3 is too expensive as a Christmas present and as such the sales for the Wii (massively) and the 360 have far exceeded the PS3.

The price of the PS3 really needs to come down a LOT by Easter next year, otherwise I doubt that Sony will ever be able to make up the ground.

I feel I must add, amongst this doom and gloom, that I still think that the PS3 is a fantastic machine and deserves so much more in sales.

2009 games, Roz Degree and Elliot plays

I’ve recently been to see two plays (well one was a short play) in which Elliot has been in for Christmas. He was absolutely brilliant in both plays and was even the only soloist singing in his Christmas school play, In one he played the part of Santa and the other the Angel Gabriel. Previously he has played Joseph in a nativity (which is slightly amusing considering our Wiccan / atheist background). It seems to me that he seems to be climbing of a celestial ladder of starring parts, I’m gunning for him getting the part of either Jesus or God next year!

Just the other day, Roz received confirmation from the Open University that she had passed her Degree (Bachelor of Science (honours) Open). Of which we were all delighted to hear. So I just thought I’d add my congratulations on my blog.

Well done Roz :)

Top ten anticipated games for 2009:

Okay, so as 2008 is starting to draw to a close, I thought I’d take a quick look ahead for 2009 and more specifically my 10 most anticipated games for 2009 and list these from 10 to 1. Now obviously this doesn’t take into account any unknown games at this point, so this will likely change, but here we go:

10: Dragon Quest IX (DS)









9: Street Fighter 4 (Multi)







8: Wii Sports Resort (Wii)







7: No More Heroes 2 (Wii)









6: Killzone 2 (PS3)







5: The Conduit (Wii)








4: Uncharted 2 (PS3)







3: Resident Evil 5 (Multi)









2: The Beatles Music game (Multi - likely)












1: Final Fantasy XIII (Multi)

Doomsday

Film watched:

Doomsday

British mishmash of Mad Max, Braveheart and Escape from NY

6/10

For your consideration…

Well, that time of year is just around the corner, namely Oscars, and many studio’s are lobbying for their films to be considered for various categories. One film which in my opinion, should be up for nomination is The Dark Knight. Now this is not your normal Oscar film by a long stretch, but hell, if The Return of the King (a hyper successful geeky fantasy flick) can win best film, then why the hell can’t The Dark Knight (a hyper successful geeky super hero flick)?

Anyway, Warner Bros have just put out a new “for your consideration” poster for the Dark Knight, and I have to say it’s absolute genius. Using the often repeated phrase by The Joker in the film and adapting “The Oscars” from the standard Oscars poster in the normal joker fashion is just class.

Kudos to Warner Bros advertising department.

Next Metal Gear !

So, the Konami website has been updated with the following image:

This would seem to hint at a new Metal Gear game, and what's more the colour scheme and a the power button would seem to hint that this is heading to the 360 (although, for my sake I hope not - at least not exclusively, as I have no wish to buy a 360 just to play Metal Gear). It could possibly just mean the much rumoured MGS4 conversion is headed to the 360, but then again the "next" in the text would seem to suggest otherwise. Also the "i" would seem to hint that it is either heading to the Wii or possibly ipod... Hell, I don't have a clue.

Presuming that a Metal Gear game is heading to the 360, the incredibly prompt strip from Dueling Analogs made me laugh...

Amazon MP3's

I note with interest that Amazon have recently launched their MP3 store:

Link

I have to say that this look rather good, for the following reasons:

1) Most importantly it is DRM free (which always puts me off buying from itunes)
2) It's cheap - there are brand new albulms selling for just £3.00... and not rubbish albulms.
3) It has a MP3 downloader software (which I haven't tested), which automatically updates itunes for you.
4) It has a good selection from the get go.
5) It's Amazon, so if you have any hassle, you know that their customer service will be top notch.

So, all in all... Looks good.

Home

So, I've been invited by Sony into the Playstation Home beta... This is a little on the late side considering that it is meant to be going open beta within the next few weeks, but all the same, it's good to be included.

Unfortunately by signing up to the Home beta I am unable to discuss this at lenth, i.e. post my opinions be they good or bad on this blog. As such, I just wanted to say that I'm in. Presumeably once it goes open I'll be able to post a little more...

Films and back to work

Well I’m back to work today and feel not too bad following my operation, a little tired, but otherwise okay…

Films watched:
Funny Games

A very violent film with a message, but still disappointing.

5.5/10

Rent

Enjoyable musical adaptation. Although Team America spoof was funnier.

7/10

Teeth

Thoughtful and intelligent vagina dentata, willy amputating, teen drama.

7.5/10