Ben-DutkaJust a busy week that leads into another busy week. Still got a ways to go, too.
I normally don't care much about ads, but…
I gotta say, Sony blew me away with that "Michael" commercial , which showed a tremendous dedication to their long-time fans. It's extremely well done and really, I can't wait to see how they honor the next die-hard PlayStation fan. Typically, I really don't notice ads much; they don't invoke much in the way of emotion these days, just because I think I've seen it all. This goes double when it comes to video game commercials. But this one really surprised me, I have to say. That being said, I wonder if this will generate a sales spike in the same way the "It Only Does Everything" campaign did.
And that's why I just had to ask if Sony will see a return on their investment . Some say something like this will only appeal to the fans Sony already has , but I really believe it's exactly the opposite. It shows a corporation that appreciates its community, doesn't it? And wouldn't outsiders want to be part of that community? I'm sorry, but Microsoft hasn't appreciated a single human soul since their inception.
You know, I really want a story-driven racer
Now, I'm not implying that Need for Speed: The Run is the answer. It's true that EA might be doing something new with the upcoming racer; i.e., being able to get out of our cars and walk around, and the very intriguing concept of real death . Of course, I don't believe you'll actually die in the new NFS, nor do I believe the story will be anywhere near as prevalent as they want us to believe. But it gets me thinking: imagine what a true story-driven racing game might be like… It would pose some definite design and development hurdles, though, as we'll have to have gameplay mechanics outside of standard racing, right?
Then again, maybe the racing fans wouldn't like it. They probably don't care enough about a story; they just want to race. Nevertheless, adding an amazing narrative to a game that focuses on driving seems like a very cool idea to me.
Personal gaming update
I've been busy so I wasn't able to finish RAGE , but I'll definitely do that at some point. I also want to finish Catherine , although I can guarantee it's gonna take me until the end of the year. The schedule is just too crazy. I just did the Crysis review on a day I normally don't review anything, and that's going to have to keep happening. Dead Rising 2 and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon are sitting here, and I'll have to take care of Sideway: New York this week as well. Not to mention Batman: Arkham City the week after, among other titles.
I'm also moving towards the tail end of this insanity in the middle of next month, so that isn't going to be easy. Let's just say that I'm asking for a little patience and a little understanding for the next six weeks…please don't choose that time period to make inflammatory comments or posts in the forums. I might snap. Thanks. 🙂
I miss Winter… We're still two months away from Summer and the heat and humidity is unbearable 🙁
That Michael ad really was quite impressive, and to have almost all of the voices involved was awesome. Apparently it took something like 3000 man hours to complete, which is ridiculous for a commercial that runs two minutes. But yeah, I think that the appreciation that it shows for the fans is really good. I wonder where else they'll take this Long Live Play campaign and what else they'll do.
I mean, they can't really do any worse than they did at the launch of the PS3, and maybe this will help them to win back some of the fans that jumped ship at the beginning of the generation in showing that Sony want them back.
I don't really see how an epic story-driven racer could be done to be honest. I mean, how would it ultimately be any different to like… Fast and the Furious? Although I'd love to see a Bullitt chase scene in a game. That'd be awesome. I definitely want to see more games and more genres really striving for an engaging, well told tale.
Personal Update:
Didn't get as far through Paradise as I'd hoped, but I'll hopefully be able to put a few hours aside for that tonight.
Gave up on Bad Company 2 after the game glitched on me. Eh, probably a good thing as I would've ended up breaking something anyway… Irritating game, my review of the entire subseries is live, but it takes a different tact from my usual ones, mostly to take advantage of the frustration that I feel towards them. Still tried to be fair though…
I've now moved fully onto Dante's Inferno, and it's alright but clearly has issues.
That's about it from me methinks…
Haha just watched that commercial for the first time. I loved when the chimera joined in with a growl. It may just be the most hardcore game platform commercial I've seen.
Anyway, I've spent less than 2 hours with Rage this week. I've been so very busy with school, there's just little time for any real dedicated play sessions. It's mostly been short burst, pick up and play for a bit sessions and then it's time again for other stuff. Like now, I should just stop posting this and finish this assignment.
I missed 4 whole days of school while sick, I'm still catching up.
Yeah school and work is killing me.
Ben I'm sure you have been spending a lot of time lately playing games for review. Do your eyes ever become strained? Just wondering if you have ever used any gunnar gaming glasses or have any other tips to help with eye strain win having a long gaming session.
PGU: My backlog of games had only been increasing lately it seems. I have recently discovered some of the great deals Kmart has with there credits they offer towards future game purchases. Just beat Gears 3 and have been playing some Resistance 3 along with some Gran Turismo 5 to try to prepare for the spec 2 patch later this month. Also downloaded RE4 for 10 bucks but not sure when I will get to it with all these new games coming out.
My eyes will become strained if I go at it too early in the day. It's why I do an hour's worth of news in the late morning, work on a preview or review for a little while, work out, and read. I don't start playing any games until after 5.
For some reason, my eyes rarely get strained this way.
I know a few gamers that swear by the Gunnar glasses. I also know a few who say they're totally worthless. If at all possible, try them out first, since they're pretty expensive.
Is that what they are called? Gunner Glasses? Because I might look into something like that. My eyes get sore with certain games. Especially with Vanquish.
Last edited by SolidFantasy on 10/9/2011 9:45:12 PM
I def think I will be getting some I have read some positive reviews about them. I have been busy with work so on my days off I have been trying to catch up on my gaming by having some marathon gaming sessions. My eyes do not like it and all and usually the next day my eyes will be very red.
That Michael ad is probably the best game ad I've seen since that live action Mortal Kombat 2 ad. What makes the Michael ad effective it's personal while being amazing by showing characters giving the player thanks for the things they do.
PGU: I'm about to finish "Dead Island"so I can send it back to Gamefly for "Batman Arkham City"when it drops next Monday. Finished both first round series in NHL 11 and NBA 2k11 and I just started to play "Spider-Man edge of Time" it's pretty good but that free falling thing with Spider-Man 2099 does gets annoying.
Finally I picked up Dead Rising 2 for 4 bucks starting a new game already at level 50.
That Michael ad was pretty awesome and I think the guy who played Drake in the ad could play him in the movie.
PGU:
I've been playing a lot of the BF3 beta and tonight I picked up Rage. I went to get Catherine but it was sold out so I guess that's kind of a good thing for the game. I also bought R&C: A Crack In Time. Also, I've been playing Dead Island but I think I won't finish that until after Rage, R&C and Battlefield.
Emotion.
In my eyes, it's what defines greatness.
Whether it's working, teaching, parenting or even playing, when there is a passion for whatever you're doing, it's easy to see and feel it.
That very thing is what I experienced when I watched the "Michael" commercial. I'll even admit I was stirred when the WW2 soldier began describing D-Day. It was that believable.
Long Live Play, indeed.
Does anyone know what happened to The Last Remnant?
PS3 version cancelled due to the game sucking big time.
oh.
The disappointment in that "oh" is palpable.
Ben you do too much work all by your lonesome.
If you ever need help with the work load…we are here for you ; ) Write a solid review or 2 for you an send it your way once. Dont carry the burden alone =D
You might see some guest work. I'm not sure yet.
Not a human soul, but I hear they love Stan down at MS HQ.
Sorry typo, I meant Satan.
What?
I was responding to,
"I'm sorry, but Microsoft hasn't appreciated a single human soul since their inception."
well, that was easy!
i as usual was really disappointed by it.
i mean why the ^%$# would you hype up a freaking commercial?
hey, im going to have eggs for breakfast tomorrow so heres a really cool tease trailer for that.
yup, appreciates its community.
but only if you live in the states!
otherwise, they dont want to know you!
what the ^%$# are you talking about!?
M$ has appreciated heaps of their fans!
and not only the ones in the states!
have you never heard of the xbox live rewards program?
i got a invitation from them months ago!
got 200 points for joining which i can spend on anything on XBLA!
and since i was one of the first 10K to sign up i even got a years worth of gold membership for free!
i dont see $ony giving out free wallet credits, or free plus memberships!
$ony just like people to think they give a sh*t about them, they really dont!
that certainly would be really cool!
id love to see a open world racer like midnight club LA, but with a propper story, multiple cities, cut scenes, the usual things you see in story driven games.
i guess you could say undercover was story driven, or even driver SF.
but id be cool to see a more open set of what the run is offering.
i think the runs a perfect example, but thats much more linear.
your set on this road, you take this route, you drive this car.
id be cool if you could switch and change which cities, which road, which route, which car to get to the same destination.
kinda like burnout paradise but in a much larger, much more varying city.
i think the run will be the perfect example of this, only need to open it up and have multiple roads, multiple routes, multiple cars to choose from and it would be perfect!
im really trying to enjoy RAGE, i blow up a mutant that is racing towards me and i blow his head into a million pieces 2mms away from me and i get the screen saturated in blood.
i cook a grenade and i turn 6 clustered enemies into a mix of red mist and airborne body parts!
that puts a massive smile on my face.
then i turn around and see the really sh*t textures and its all gone away.
🙁
come on, how can a id game look this bad!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
what happened to the old days where everything id released looked 10 times better then what you were expecting!?
i still remember cracking open my copy of doom 3, and just staring at the scenery for hours.
it was beautiful!
come on id, you can do so much better then this!
i always said the buyout from bethesda would be the death of them.
but they did not have to prove it to me!
im done for good with bethesda now!
until they can release 10 bug free games in a row, im never touching any of their games ever again!
well, until doom 4 comes out.
obviously!
What is up with this whole attitude thing you got going on? You could be a little more modest in your criticisms, take a hint from the thumbs.
god damnit, id hate to hear him rant in person
In some cases, complaining goes overboard.
its not attitude, nothing pisses me off more then blatantly lying!
You get that phycotheropy yet George?
hahaha, a years worth of gold membership for free. but on psn we are already playing games online for free…. so you're basically getting a free year that cost about 60 bucks for the feature pretty much everyone on the planet are getting for free. if thats the basis of your arguement then sony trumps that with their fan appreciation program, free online multiplayer for life.
oh by the way, plus is also a fan appreciation program. i bought it day 1 and i got a bunch of stuff from them already making it worth it. then they decide to give me all of the uncharted 2 dlcs for free.
@aaronisbla
actually, i would rather hear him rant in person. that way i can just beat the hell out of him to shut him the hell up. much more satisfying that way.
Last edited by johnld on 10/9/2011 2:52:53 PM
…psychotic.
XBLA is giving you things that cost money for FREE!
ive never been offered anything free from $ony!
thats my point.
to say "Microsoft hasn't appreciated a single human soul since their inception" is just ridiculous!
in fact, you would be more accurate to say dogs go moo.
Real close to being done with you screaming at me and everyone else for endless idiotic paragraphs. You don't even know what I'm talking about when I make the statement, and then you just keep freaking out.
SHUT UP.
wait dead rising 2 is sitting there? are you saying you're going to do a review of it? because i thought you already did..like a year ago, haha. or you just haven't finished it? Anyways, I'm hyped for Ultimate Marvel, I didn't buy the first one since I knew another was going to come out anyways so hooray for that. Been loving rage so far, been hating the textures of the game though, but other than that. I feel it's everything borderlands should have been, except for the guns.
It's Off The Record. Another Capcom rerelease.
Yeah, Off the Record.
Who knew Kratos was so ridiculously tall?
The ad was fantastic in concept and execution. I loved how when the soldier went into his speech Snake used Octocamo to hide away lol.
As for my PGU, I recently imported Catherine, as the UK release date is now early 2012, which I could not wait for. I am convinced it is my favourite game of this gen. This is coming from someone who does not like puzzle games! But the interative narrative is very impressive, after I got my ending I could reflect upon the game and undestsand how I got my outcome, that is impressive alone. But the game has a great story, voice acting, art design it excells on every catagory.
I have also noticed how very anti-current gen it is. It does not have online play, but co-op multiplayer modes. It does not try fit into every catagory like many others this gen and I respect it for it.
Planned to get Castlevania Harmony…but holy s***! the dlc cost more than the damn game, and NO BUNDLE? are you kidding me Konami? no thanks.
PGU: Last week I wrote how we would trade in the utterly disappointing Dead Island. Well, this week brought an interesting turn of events:
Dead island: So, my main coop buddy and I decided to play that darn game just *one* more time before we trade it in, just for the heck of it. And would'nt you know, all of a sudden it was an entirely different game to play! I've not played it just him and me earlier, it's always played either with other friends or at least three players, with us all just rushing ahead to the next goal.
But my regular and I are much more synchronized than we are with other coop friends so we took our time, followed the story, did some cooperatively exploring (as opposed to running in each our own direction), and voila! The game *really* started to shine. This game will not be traded in – it will be played.
Deus Ex: I am at another boss now, and omg how I hate those boss fights. They are so totally meaningless in this game, they really are utter crap. I hate them. Really, really hate them. If there was a cheat code to skip them I would PAY for it. I am not sure I will bother getting past this boss, actually. So sad.
Crysis: The sequel were definitely better in my opinion (it impressed me so much that it made me rediscover FPS, no less), that whole "tropic island" thing is just not as interesting to me. But the original Crysis still stands the test of time, it's jolly good fun and confirmed to me that this is now my favourite FPS series.
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/9/2011 7:05:26 AM
For what it's worth, the boss battles were farmed out to another company. I saw them interviewed on Electric Playground.
I doubt they'll get hired to create boss battles again, given the widespread negative response.
The bosses are a scandal. A pure scandal. I advance so slowly in these kind of games so I didn't really know what others were talking about earlier, but they are a catastrophe to the game. Yeah I'd go that far in describing them.
When you get to the next boss and you shout "oh nooooo, not again, not already?!" and it's only the second boss after hours of play then something is wrong. To me this is a showstopper. I *hope* I am able to gather enough strength to try to force myself past it, but right now I feel more like giving up the whole game.
These bosses would probably work well in other kind of games, the kind of games I generally hate for all they are worth (linear, scripted button-sequenced junk), but they are just soooo misplaced in an intelligent game like this.
Who on earth would outsorce the bosses in a game like Deus Ex?! What kind of insane decision is that?!
Oh the pain, the pain.
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/9/2011 7:58:25 AM
Beam, believe me when I say you owe it to yourself to slog through the boss battles. Yes, they're a total joke, insanely easy, and completely ruin the feel of the game. But get by the bosses and you'll see some very cool new places, and the story becomes even more interesting as it progresses into the final chapters. Give it a chance man, don't give in to bad bosses!!!
EASY??? Christ, I had to *cheat* to get past the first boss! tyvm for making me feel like the worst gamer on earth! lol
But how did you play the game? Cause I play 100% stealth, I wanna get that "no kills" trophy so I have hardly touched the lethal weapons at all, barely fought a single fight. So these bosses are like *wham bam thank you maam* and then I lay there in a pool of my own blood.
Three-four seconds into a boss fight and my screen turns red. Again. "Load last save?".
Hmmm… I should probably spend some skill points on health and armour.
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/9/2011 8:51:14 AM
Not sure Christ has much to do with it.
Amen to that!
😉
Ok so I am past that second boss now, taken a chill pill and am happy again.
Human Revolution is yet again an awesome game and will remain so until the next boss encounter. 😉
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/9/2011 2:12:35 PM
@beam
heres something you'll definitely hate about deus ex since you're going for the no kill trophy. did you check every single body you killed with a nonlethal weapon? nonlethal weapons are glitched, then can kill people. i only found this out after i used my taser and stun gun to stop a bunch of people and didnt check if their out or dead. go figure, i hit them with nonlethal rounds, i thought they'd be out and not dead. so now i dont know if i'm could get that trophy anymore. i shot someone on the body with a taser and he died. had that skull icon instead of the Zs. i was so pissed because i was doing the no alarm and no kills playthrough. ended up doing close range non lethal takedowns from that point on.
@john: Yikes, I was not aware of that! Omg what if I go through ALL this trouble for that trophy and then it turns out someone died without me noticing it? Oh boy…
Last edited by Beamboom on 10/9/2011 3:02:40 PM