Keeping Myself Fit with Wii – Day 1

After a friend started playing Wii Fit, I remembered my family had bought it as well. I in all honesty forget that we have a Wii all together. It’s always in the lounge and never gets played. My family are basically the typical Wii owners, they buy the Wii with several games and never play and buy products for it again. The last time they used Wii Fit was 209 days ago. Disgraceful.

Recently I’ve started to seriously try and lose weight. (lost 2.5lb’s in my first week baby!) My plan was to hit the gym today but I had to wait at home for the people from the garage to pick up my car. So I picked the next best alternative (If you’re only option is at home) Wii Fit. … Continue Reading

Editorial: Why Sega Doesn’t Suck

Instead of going on and on… and on… and on like a fanboy and start raving about how the Genesis was ‘teh bestest system evur’ or how Shenmue is the ‘kewlest RPG evar madez,’ I attack the cynics by listing SEGA’s accomplishments these past five years. Though to effectively set the mood: I bought a DreamCast last year. Let’s continue. … Continue Reading

Analysis: Final Fantasy XIII – Unpacking the Epic

Note: I may (or may not) add pictures to accentuate this editorial at a later date. – pjs.

With Final Fantasy XIII finally hitting the Western world, early criticisms from numerous video game websites all point toward a clear and concise outcome. While the reception of the Japanese release had already foreshadowed the following to be true this past holiday season, now that the rest of the world has seen and spoken their thoughts about the game, I feel it is now appropriate to dissect Square-Enix’s debut Final Fantasy title of the HD generation.

In the words of Christian Nutt, it is clear that Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most polarizing games of 2010. To fully understand this statement, we must first unpack several important questions. Why Final Fantasy XIII? Or possibly more important: Why Final Fantasy? Trends have shown that while the game received mixed reception both within its home soil as well as international soil, the biggest polarization of the game’s reception comes between Japan and North America. For those who may already be clueing in to part of where I’m getting at, the rest may sound like self-indulgent rhetoric, but Square-Enix–who has been struggling for almost a decade to create the universal RPG–must know that their most essential design choices for Final Fantasy XIII, and how those choices were received by the masses, have hit (if not blindly unaware of it) the core of the problem regarding true international success. A polarization so significant, more than any title that came before it, has to have made Square-Enix aware that they’ve inadvertently experimented with an infrastructure (unforeseen or not) that has greatly defined the success of their video games. … Continue Reading

Wii Accessories

September 17th, CTA Digital released the first ever Wii Bowling Ball. Fashioned after an authentic bowling ball, it feels just like a regular bowling ball but only weighs a little over one-pound. The ball is easy to use with an innovative inner system that allows you to easily access all of the buttons from outside the ball.  … Continue Reading

So What If Mass Effect 2 Is Emotional?

The following editorial was produced by Marco Fiori, a Freelance Contributor. To see more of his work, check out his website here.

It has never been better to be a RPG fan. Not only are Bioware, considered by many to be the best in the business, looking to deliver on their Baldur’s Gate ‘spiritual successor,’ Dragon Age: Origins. We are pleased by the announcement and cannot wait to find out more details on the game.

So what do we already know? Well, it has the unimaginative title of Mass Effect 2; a QA man at Bioware indicates that Mass Effect saves will have a purpose; and the game might reach the PS3. Finally we have the proclamation from Bioware’s CEO, Ray Muzyka that Mass Effect 2 will:

“have consequences that are emotionally compelled; choices have to have consequences that are emotionally impactful [...] it’s part of the emotional investment.”

Good one Ray, tell us another.

Call us sceptical, but we have played far too many games where the player is promised that everything they do will have an effect. In reality, it is blindingly obvious when the ‘choice-moment’ occurs. It usually involves killing someone or letting them live. The Witcher is the only modern RPG that has genuinely delivered on that old chestnut. There used to be a time where RPG’s were about an enriching story, logical character development and believable setting. That was done without the need of HD-graphics or self absorbent marketing pap like “300 different endings,” or “a spider web of possibility.”

Half Life 2 (and Episode 2 in particular) did not need to boast about its emotional involvement. Valve created the game and it became apparent by playing it. We do not remember anyone coming to us during Baldur’s Gate II’s build up and preparing us to ‘feel.’ The characters and writing did it without intentionally searching for emotion.

Video games will always struggle to connect to our emotional needs. After all, they are about enjoyment and lack the same depth / intention that literature / cinema possesses. Mass Effect 2 may shock us with a twist or two (which is usually the only ‘emotion’ that developers can tap into), but it will not cause us to cry or rethink our lives.

The PR department would be better off telling us how they are improving the vehicle sections or introducing unseen gameplay elements rather than dictating to us how our brains should work.

Resident Evil Retrospective: The Nightmare Continues

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Resident Evil Retrospective: The Beginning

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F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin Demo Hands-on

So F.E.A.R 2, the first real Sequel to the F.E.A.R stories kind of destroys nearly everything that’s happened in any expansion or side games that have come out.  The F.E.A.R experience has slowly begun to die as the seperate games lived nowhere near up to the original. The only actual good throw-in was the expansion pack that played as an “Alternate” ending being the best way to put it.

When I downloaded the demo from the PSN, I was mixed with excitement and caution for how this game was going to work out and all I can say is that the demo did nothing but leave me shaking and anticipating the full game’s release.

The first thing to start out with is the graphics, the first FEAR was known to be one of the best looking games for 2005 and was truly high demanding for the PC, however considering how much detail was in that game it was no surprise. FEAR2 does not dissapoint there, the entire game has pretty much come to life and feels revamped from the previous game.   Little glasses shattering into tiny pieces, sparks shooting out from electronic equipment, bullet recoils to much more. This game brings back the chaotic feeling of destructable objects the first one had and extends it by just adding those little extra details.

The second to bring out in this short hands-on demo is the gameplay.  Most people see a shooter it’s going to be the same thing, it just depends on how sharp the creators make it to make it different. In terms of FEAR 2 the combat has become way more intense then before, and the mechanics have improved.  The enemy’s A.I made an improvement from the first game, not major improvements but definitely one to keep the fight on. You can be stuck in a one-on-one gunfight for a good 40 seconds if your health was low enough.  The enemies continue using flanks, covers and decoys to keep you busy causing you to think strategically with each of your moves especially when you want to conserve your ammo which brings me to the next upgrade to the series, cover.

Cover has always been something major in most shooters but Monolith has brought it to the next level. With the push of the action button (Depending on your console) you can flip tables, pull down shelves and use them as your new cover while you’re engaging the enemy. They even got as far as to allow you to forcefully open car doors as cover and then close them again when you’re done.  This is very helpful considering the enemies you’ll be going up against, not only that though but increases the intensity online multiplayer will be having.  Another newly added feature is the ability to control Mechs, in the demo you are given a chance to pilot one of these mechs. However it’s really required to have one for this (Unlike games that let you use them to just tear down enemies with ease) as they’ll be sending you against multiple opponents with missle launchers and even those mechs you found enjoyable in FEAR and it’s expansion pack.

The last thing to add into this Demo Hands-on will be the F.E.A.R Factor of this game. When I started up the level, I felt rather dissapointed, the game seemed to have begone following the normal horror games instead of the japanese horror the original went for. However as I progressed further and further into the game.  I began wasting half my ammo on stuff that wern’t even there. This game brings back the feeling of horror the original went for and intensifies it by casting shadows where you just came from. Having short montages of Alma popping up in the least expected spots. Haivng you get a taste of hell in FEAR for short moments. I don’t want to spoil any of those moments, in fact I’m trying to do this hands-on without spoiling too much of the demo itself so it’s coming out a bit rough. Either way, if you’re a fan of horror games or a fan of intense shooters, FEAR is the game for you.