The blog has moved.

http://ramblinginsomniac.wordpress.com

That is all.

I’m still here….sort of.

Wow, I haven’t touched this for quite a while.  I wish I could say I’ve been busy, but that wouldn’t be entirely honest. Lack of updates are tied more to laziness than to any other one factor.

A friend of mine introduced me to a marvellous game recently- Persona 3. It’s of a breed that is increasingly rare nowadays. The voice acting is excellent, the music is catchy the graphics are, considering its generation, very well done.  Really, everything about the game is just….entertaining. It was a welcome experience after how disappointing Arkham Asylum ended up being. Unfortunately, I fear it may have consumed a small portion of my soul; I can’t seem to stop playing it.

I completed a review for Halo 3: ODST, I will post it here tomorrow.  For the time being, I will say that I am back, regular updates will start happening very soon, and…..um….teapot.Yeah.

This whole ‘vanishing act’ is becoming distressingly frequent.

I’m rather unhappy with the fact that I’ve completely neglected this blog for the past month or so-particularly with E3 having just recently ended. I’ve been working quite constantly, however, and thus haven’t really had the time (or the energy) to update my little corner of the interwebs as much as I should have been.

Sadly, the only comments I can make on E3 are a few passing ones, based on what several of my friends (and the odd news website) have told me. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll likely miss a few things-I’ll be focusing mainly on the specifics of what interests me. Other information and news can be found here.

The Good:

• There’s a new Golden Sun on the horizon, for the Nintendo DS. As a rabid fan of the series, I have to say that my excitement at the prospect  is quite palpable.
• Left 4 Dead 2 was announced by Valve- it will include a plethora of new zombie types (both playable and unplayable- the only two we were informed of was the charger-something of a ‘mini tank’ and the HAZMAT zombie-a standard undead with an immunity to fire.). It shall also center around a new group of survivors.
• There is a tasty new trailer on Mass Effect 2.  I can’t even describe it-just watch it yourself.
• We know a little more about Bioshock 2.
• A new shooter from Bungie is on the way, called Halo: Reach. I’ve mixed feelings about this, considering the backstory surrounding that place- perhaps players can take the role of the invading covenant rather than being slaughtered as the humans? Bungie has a fairly good history with their games, so I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that they likely won’t muck it up.
• Konami is releasing a new Metal Gear Solid Title. That in itself is no surprise. What is interesting, however, is that it’s slated to be released for the Xbox 360. Hmm.  That might just spell trouble for Sony, MGS is one of their staple franchises.
• Bethesda has announced a June 23 release date for the “Point Lookout”  DLC for Fallout 3. No word on when Mothership Zeta is coming out.  Not that I don’t like the game, but…Why not Elder Scrolls V?
• Some of the console titles coming from Nintendo’s side of the court are looking pretty exciting- Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, Mondao: beginning of the world, Sin and Punishment 2, and Line Attack Heroes. Maybe one of these games will make me use my Wii as something other than a paperweight in the near future.  Unfortunately, there are also some extremely lackluster titles as well- New Super Mario Bros 2, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort,and Endless Ocean 2 are a few games I’d rather not have clogging the market.

The Bad:

• Peter Molyneux was recently named the head of Microsoft Game Studios Europe. Why did I put this in ‘the bad’, you might ask? Well, for one, Fable 2 did not come anywhere remotely near what Molyneux had promised it would be. Further, the two DLC releases, although they did provide some interesting new opportunities for character customization, were colossal disappointments. 800 gamerpoints for a royal scepter and robe, and the opportunity to fight some colored shadows? No thank you. Maybe he’s just going through a rough patch. Let’s just hope he learns to cut back on the hype, or this could spell trouble for MS
• Legend of Zelda: Spirit tracks for the Nintendo DS. ‘Nuff said. Is it too much to ask for a DS Zelda title that DOESN’T play like a torture session? I’m all for innovation, but if Spirit tracks is anything like Phantom Hourglass, count me out. Please.

That’s all I’ve got to say for now. Stay tuned:  Next post, I’ll be detailing things that gamers need to say to other gamers (similar to the recent article in XBN).

Life fights dirty-always carry spiked knuckles.

I’m sure most of my audience of three to four readers assumed that I’d vanished off the face of the earth in some bizarre, demonic summoning ritual involving copious amounts of pudding and the committing of unspeakable acts with a carpet steamer. I am sorry to disappoint my adversaries, but I am afraid I’m quite alive and well, with a new underling hailing from the ninth circle of hell. He’s really quite a likable chap once you get past his insatiable thirst for the blood of the innocent, and his desire to destroy mankind (no, he’s not the CEO of any major corporations, though he has admitted that their methods are too cruel and extreme even for him. He’s more lawyer material).

Insane ramblings aside, it has been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve a perfectly legitimate armature of reasons pertaining to why I’ve neglected GI as of late, only a few of which I intend to share with my dear readers. They are as follows:

1) Life is a bitch. A fickle bitch who enjoys the taste of human tears more than Adam West loves taffy- and he is a man who loves his taffy.

2) As I am a student, I am currently in the throes of the horrifically stressful, mind-shattering time of year known as ‘final exams’. If I don’t come out of this alive, I love you all. Take care of my snake, and don’t break my xbox- it’s the phylactery that will ensure I will rise several years later as an affront to all that is good and holy.

3) I have the work ethic of a sloth- a brain damaged sloth hopped on enough morphine to kill a bull rhinocerous. I have a theory that, somewhere along the line of this year, my discipline/work ethic had a falling out with my creativity. I warned them that engaging in such an intimate relationship while they were living together was a terrible, terrible idea, but they just wouldn’t listen. Needless to say, Work Ethic was missing for several months, during which time Creativity sunk into an impenetrable stupor of severe depression. After a downward spiral consisting of a series of self-destructive, drunken benders, Work Ethic has returned, swearing it will be different this time.  I think they may have kissed and made up sometime in the recent days, as they’re still too busy in the sack for me to get much concrete work done. I’ll leave you to consider how twisted the inner workings of my brain are, and move on.

4) I really haven’t had a whole lot to write about, in lieu of the above.

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Now that I’ve given you a look into just how much my sanity has degraded in recent days (This raises the question of whether or not I had sanity to begin with, actually), it’s time to actually get down to business- the blog. I’ll start with the least recent development in my gaming life, and move up to the most recent.

FEAR 2 was interesting- though I never really got to play it with anyone else, due to the lack of a multiplayer feature. It’s more one of those games when you play at three AM after having avoided sleeping for a period of time in excess of twenty four hours. When one’s brain is so addled by sleep deprivation, reality and the game onscreen tend to blur into one frightening, incredibly disturbing singularity-until, eventually, one achieves complete equilibrium with the console, and all centers of the brain not vital to gameplay entirely shut down. One can have a book hurled at their head when they are in this state, and remain focused-I speak from personal experience.

Regardless, it was fairly entertaining, though I never managed to get through the entire game, as it was a rental. And while I was infinitely curious and eager to play FEAR, I never got the chance- the package I rented contained a copy of lego batman instead. Either somebody was a few brain cells short of a functioning neural pathway, or they had a very, very twisted sense of humor. In any case, I returned it for Marvel Vs. DC-which I still haven’t bothered to play, or return. I should probably get on that before Blockbuster sends their anti-theft ninjas after me. If you’re one of those sorts who’s looking for a good scare from their gaming experience, I would recommend FEAR 2. Try playing it while intoxicated on some sort of narcotic, and inform me of how that turns out.

A week or two ago, I finally got around to purchasing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for the Nintendo DS. I enjoyed it so much, I’m attempting a second playthrough- complete with farming the arena for levels, since I dearly want to wipe that smug look off of a certain friend’s face when next we do battle. A review of the game will be forthcoming.

While visiting my parents for Easter, I dug through some of my old CDs, and hit the mother lode of gaming- I found, neatly organized and virtually alphabetized, every playstation one title I ever owned. Final Fantasy VII, Megaman Legends 1 and 2, Megaman x 4-6, Twisted Metal 1-4….I am thoroughly amazed I did not die from the massive joygasm my brain experienced at that moment. I suspect I may have suffered a slight aneurism, at the very least. That’s been consuming a lot of my time as of late- like the true megaman buff I am, I’ve steeled myself to play through every single one of my Megaman games- perhaps twice.  I may then move on to Final Fantasy VII, and then Twisted Metal…beyond that, who knows? Needless to say, they’ve rekindled my love of Sony’s old system.

Finally, I purchased Demigod recently. I haven’t actually played it much- I played a single game as Vampire Lord (Who I enjoyed playing immensely. I will try some of the other heroes, but I do believe I may have carved out my niche in that game). I will also compose a review on this title quite soon, after I’ve had more of a chance to experience it. But before I say anything else about it, I just want to make one thing very, very clear. Are you all listening? Here goes:

THIS GAME IS NOT DOTA.

Did you catch that? Should I say it again? I’ll say it more slowly, so all my ‘special’ readers can grasp the basic concept of the message I’m attempting to convey:

DEMIGOD. IS NOT. FUCKING. DOTA.

The Demigod forums are currently flooded with ignorant trolls pissing and moaning about how Demigod is ‘nothing like their beloved dota’. Of course it’s not- it’s a different game. Does it have a very similar playstyle to Dota? Yes. Is it somewhat more simple and easier to grasp than Dota? Yes. Is it it more fun than Dota? I answer this very tentatively, but from what I’ve seen so far….yes.

People who buy Demigod expecting Dota 2.0 will be disappointed.  This is the problem with the entertainment industry- all people seem to want anymore is re-reiterations of the same crap. Postmodernists have a very strong leg to stand on here. In any case, I will launch into more detail at a later date. For now, this entry is getting rather convoluted.

I bid you all adieu. For all you students out there, keep focused on the light at the end of the tunnel- you’d better hope to god it’s not a karmic train ready to steamroll you flat on the tracks.

Procrastination- Because it wouldn’t be the first time you wrote a term paper in an hour.

Right, so this won’t be a particularly large or in-depth entry, namely because as I write this I’m putting off starting work on a reading response (due tomorrow) a research paper (due Monday) and a critical theory paper (due Tuesday).  Yeah, I’m a born and bred procrastinator. But the internet is so much more interesting than a term paper!

Anyway, I gave Army of Two a try…neither of us really cared for it. It may have had something to do with the fact that in the first ‘tutorial’ mission, the obnoxious ‘how to’ screen popped on both players, making it impossible to see or target anything. Essentially, when we were given instruction to “shoot this” or “move here” it was nothing more than blind luck that let us get to the desired location. The sad thing is, multiplayer was what this game was touted for. There were more interesting things to do than suffer through the tutorial mission, so I left it alone for the time being. Afterwards, I went back to try the game in single player.

It’s interesting. Features such as “Aggro” and commands for your teammate add a new dimension to the game- but I can’t help thinking that they make things a bit too easy, as I can casually walk out into the open and pick off my opponents one by one with my sniper rifle while my teammate takes all their fire. A friend of mine says Army of Two is quite similar to Gears of War- this is very true. Unfortunately, I still found it rather…bland and unexciting. Maybe it’s just me realizing that shooters don’t hold the same allure for me as they once did. Or perhaps it really is just a mediocre game.

Either way, it did intrigue me, so I will be giving the sequel a try when it releases- as a rental, however.

I’ll finally be renting FEAR 2 this Friday. We’ll see how that goes.

Oh, right. It’s April Fools day today. Meh.

And once in a blue moon, I return.

So, I’m sure anyone who’s actually bothered to look at my blog with any sort of frequency has noticed it’s been completely dead, aside from another post stating essentially the same thing I’m saying here- I’ve been damn busy lately. And most of the times I’ve not been busy, I’ve just been too tired to update.  A rather sad situation, really.  But this is not a blog about my life, so I will leave the explanation at that.

Gaming can very much become a lifestyle, rather than a simple pastime. At times in my past, it would often become the former rather than the latter. When one steps back from such a reality, when one moves away from something that was once such an integral part of their life, it is a….strange feeling, and one which is quite difficult to describe. Perhaps I’ll devote an entire entry to this revelation at a later date. For the time being, on to other topics.

I rented myself a copy of Army of Two the other day. I haven’t gotten a chance to play it yet. I will be  giving it a try with my ladyfriend at some point in the next week or so. I’m aware that I’m a little behind the times, but with the sequel to Army of Two coming out, I figured I might as well try the original to gauge how I feel about its coming successor.

For the past several days, there has been a Game Developers Conference in San Francisco-some interesting stuff there, with a lot of nifty bits and pieces about the industry and the like, as well as some announcemenst made by a few major players. Some things, like the DSi and Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare 2 (the name’s quite the mouthful, ‘innit?) I’m rather unexcited about- quite the opposite, I view the DSi with the sort of apprehension one usually reserves for abnormal, supernatural creatures in the flesh- to me, the DSi is some sort of unnatural Chimera which I would rather put out of my mind, never being required to look at it again. As for COD4 MW 2….It seems like the same sort of cash cow which Disney has turned many of its old classics into. I am rather unimpressed.

Others, like the new “Onlive”- a website which allows players, for a monthly fee, to access a wide variety of games over the internet without having to first install them- again, I am hestitant about such a service. I prefer possessing hard copies of my games, rather than having to rely on some outside service to provide them, a service which may or may not be trustworthy or reliable.

There will be a number of developer’s summits on things ranging from AI to level design to storyline development- I would strongly recommend that anyone in the area who is interested in the industry attend this event- I know that had I any means of travelling to San Francisco, I would myself.

And…I do believe I’ve run out of things to say.  That’s all for today. Remember, folks- if you think adhering to the stereotype of a what a gamer is hurts no one but yourself, you’re just not listening.

Busy…..

So, as I’m sure you’re all aware, things have been rather dead around here lately. That’s owed mostly to the fact that simultaneously, I’ve been bogged down with work, and thus haven’t had much time to check on any of the recent happenings in the gaming world.  Since it’s 3 AM, and I’m required to be awake in approximately 7 hours, this will be short and sweet- regular posts will resume next week, if all goes as planned.

EA has announced a new game for the wii called Spore Hero (no, it doesn’t involve music, though looking at the logo one would expect it to- if such a story aired on April Fool’s Day, I doubt anyone would take it seriously.). It’s essentially Spore with everything but the creature stage removed. I’m not quite sure on the details, and I’m not sure I like the sounds of it- EA already cut content and funding from the original spore, why release an even more watered down version?

Also, I mentioned that Halo Wars came with an early download code for the first three Mythic Map Packs-evidently the other two will be released with Halo ODST. I can’t say I like the way Bungie’s doing things, but it’s my understanding that they’ll be releasing all of the maps in a set on Xbox live, eventually- the ‘early download’ deals are just for the fanatics. For me, it was something of a cherry on top of a sundae of entertainment. I’d heard a great deal of talk about Sandbox, but nothing prepared me for entering that map in forge.

It’s rekindled my love of Bungie’s mapmaking tool. For one, there’s a massive pallet of items and the like to work with, at least double the size of Foundry’s default pallet. Furthermore, not only does one have a main level that I believe may be slightly larger than Foundry, Bungie has included with the map a teleporter in mid-air that leads to what fans have termed the ‘sky box’- a massive (And I mean massive) mapmaking area above the default Sandbox map. It’s clear that this place was purposefully engineered by Bungie (not in the least because when you drop an item up there, it lands on an invisible ‘floor’.  Not only that, the default map layout for Sandbox looks like it would make for a pretty damned enjoyable game. One thing: Do NOT step outside of the boundaries of the map. Those lasers made me jump half a foot in the air when they fried my character.  Back on topic…I haven’t created any maps on Sandbox….yet. I’m still finishing off a bunch of half-completed projects I’d been constructing on Foundry.

The other two maps look promising as well- I quite simply love the design of Assembly. Though it’s not exactly suited for Forge, I can forsee it being great fun in a matchmaking setting- I’ve not had the chance to try the map out yet, but I’ll be giving it a try and sharing my thoughts on it in the near future. As for Orbital, the third map….I didn’t spend much time in it. It’s big. And symmetrical. I’ll share more on it later, but out of the three, it’s the one I was the least fussy about.

That’s all for now. Something witty goes here.

Halo Wars Review

Introduction:

As I’ve repeatedly made clear, Halo Wars was not originally a game I particularly cared about. I responded to news of its impending release with an apathetic sort of dismissal- it didn’t particularly matter to me. That was, however, before I played the demo-I must admit, it hooked me and reeled me in like some relentless fisherman. Halo Wars, unlike its sister series, was not hyped nearly as much. This works both to the benefit and the detriment of the game- while many know of its existance, many moreknow very little about it- the nuances of the game, aside from the basics, might as well be quantum theory.  However, as we’ve often seen in the past, hype is a bad thing- anticipated titles are built up to the point that they are made to be some ambrosia of the gods; living up to such an exponentially increasing expectation is nothing less than a herculean, if not an impossible, feat.

But enough of this preamble- I promised you a review of Halo Wars- and a review is what I shall deliver.

Design: 3.5/5

The game is quite well designed, as one would expect of Bungie and Ensemble Studios in one of their works. So why only a 3.5/5? Why not a 4 or a 5? Because, in spite of how well put-together Halo Wars is, it still has a number of issues associated with it.  I will be dividing this into several sub-categories, so that you are not overwhelmed and crushed by a gargantuan wall of text.

Units

I’ve found that in some select cases, unit pathing tends to be an issue. In one match against several AI opponents, my two allies came to my aid when I found myself bearing the brunt of the assault from all three. I was attemping to produce my own units to enter the fray and aid them in their defense. However, because several of their forces were camped out front of my base, my newly produced army was unable to find their way past the front door. What ensued was a bizarred dance of confusion-eventually, the three respective armies were able to unentangle themselves from one another, but it was no mean feat. Another issue I had was when I was sending two scarabs(a winning strategy I have found with the Prophet of Truth is to have a force of scarabs assisted by a squadron of engineers) to aid my friend against an opponent in an Xbox Live match. The Scarabs, however, did not arrive. Scroll down a bit, and there they are, up the side of a mountain, moving in place as if they are attempting to breach the peak of the thing. On the same map, several buildings were only accessible through small “plasma bridges”- which, infuriatingly, refused to appear when I was trying to rush to the aid of said friend, stranding me at my newly established forward base.

Furthermore, while I’ve found that the armies are fairly balanced, I’ve discovered a few issues. For one, Cutter’s ODSTS are….something of gods in the field of battle; several squads of them are able to easily take down a Spartan. If one has not produced several hundred anti-infantry by the time a full-fledged army of ODSTS arrive, one might well consider surrender a viable alternative. I’m sure they are managable, I’ve just not discovered a valid counter-strategy myself. The covenant has its own unit which could be considered overpowered, however- The Prophet of Truth’s “Condemnation” ability is devastating. By the end of the match I’ve mentioned several times, my resource income was such that the ability didn’t even drain my pool-in other words, I was able to call down an infinite beam of destruction, which disintegrated virtually anything in its path. I’ve not tested the matter, so I’m unsure who would win- The prophet and two scarabs, or several hundred ODSTS. It would likely be quite a close match, in any case. This may simply be a matter of my still discovering the deeper aspect of the game- after all, the ODST army fell fairly quickly to the combined forces of our opponents.

Those small quirks aside, though Halo Wars has something of a dumbed down take on the “strategy” genre(as I’ve said before, it’s an RTS that makes itself more accessible to FPS fans, which I suppose is something of a must for Bungie’s flagship series), there is still strategy involved- if you build the ‘wrong’ units, if you don’t construct your base properly, if you don’t expand with enough speed, you will fail infinitely. In many cases, it’s simply a matter of guessing your opponent’s stragegy- it’s probably a safe bet that someone playing Forge will produce Grizzlies and Cyclops’s, but it’s not entirely assured- and if you specialize your army for ONE purpose only (for example, producing only anti-vehicle units against the covenant), and it turns out your enemy is not producing the units you’ve prepared yourself to destroy…..you are in trouble.

Controls

In most cases, the controls are fairly simple and intuitive-it can be difficult to produce a console RTS, as one does not have the luxury of allowing players to create a number of ‘hotkeys’ with the keyboard, or ‘drag and select’ units with the mouse (though these are still possible to a scaled-down degree). While I would have liked to have had the ability to create ‘hotkeys’ of a sort (say, hold the left trigger and click down the thumbstick to select a group of engineers in order to have them heal a vehicle, or have a group of tanks attack one target while the rest of my forces focus on another), one can live without it. The down button selects the bulk of one’s force in the event of a conflict, left allows one to cycle between their bases, and up either grants access to leader powers (UNSC) or selects one’s leader unit (Covenant). Unit selection can be a particular issue, however, in the heat of combat- when one has two full-scale forces clashing with one another, it becomes near-impossible to break through the chaos in order to select one unit or a group of units- the whole affair begins to frustratingly acquire the feel of a real-time version of “Where’s Waldo?”

Construction

Construction is rather unorthodox in Halo Wars, and while somewhat linear, the style of base building works. HQs can only be constructed at specific locations (denoted on the minimap by small squares), and once a base is constructed, you have a set amount of spaces in which to construct buildings attached to the base- each building you construct increases the damage resistance and structural integrity of the central structure- at the higher upgrade levels, all bases have four courners of them devoted to turrets, base defense-in most cases, when used properly, they work surprisingly well for fending off attacks. Aside from variations in buildings and a few structural differences, there are few variations between the Covenant and the UNSC headquarters. Resource gathering involves constructing ‘supply’ buildings which provide one with the resources. On some maps, artifacts can be captured which also provide resources or ‘power’-a secondary resource which allows access to higher tier skills.

Artificial Intelligence:

AI in Halo Wars works exactly as one would expect in an RTS game- it runs the gamut from “laughably easy” to “Oh my god I’m being strangled with my own spine!”. I’ve little else to say here.

Variety

While there is still a great deal of variety between covenant and UNSC, I would have liked to see the introduction of a third playable faction- even with three different commanders on each side, and a plethora of different playstyles, I can forsee the game getting old in the near future. Hopefully Bungie and Ensemble have some DLC planned at some point. 

User Interface

As I said, the interface with which the game operates somewhat reminds one of an amalgamation between Command and Conquer and Halo. This is not a bad thing, and I’ve no real issues with the way the game operates in this regard.

Issues aside, the game is quite enjoyable, and well made outside of those few small quirks which Iv’e mentioned.

Sound: 5/5

The Soundtrack, as well as the in-game sound, are both excellent, and incredibly well done. The background music, while it plays less of a role than in some competing titles, still occasionally catches ones ear-and the experience is altogether pleasurable. Furthermore, the ‘flashiness’ with which destroyed bases go to that big junkyard in the sky is an incredibly visceral and entirely satisfying experience.

Storyline: 4/5

I admit, though I haven’t played through much of the campaign, what I’ve seen and heard so far of the storyline, I like. Each mission is preceded by a cutscene. The characters are enjoyable, and all quite unique and well-done. The Prophet of Regret is still a jackass, in case any of you might be wondering. I won’t spoil any details for you; all I shall say is that any fans of the series will deeply enjoy the storyline- and even those who don’t quite enjoy the Halo universe won’t walk away disappointed, either.

Graphics: 5/5

No complaints here. The visuals are gorgeous, and each unit down to the minute details is well-designed. The cutscenes are even better.

Multiplayer/Other Features: 4.5/5

With a variety of playlists (though there are only two gametypes at this immediate moment-skirmish and deathmatch), a long list of maps (several for each of the playlist variants- 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3), as well as a matchmaking system that works similar to the one in Halo 3, I’ve few complaints about the multiplayer system- though it would be nice to see a few new gametypes enter the fray, that is only a very minor issue.

Recommendation/Overall: 4/5

Halo Wars, for whatever flaws it may have, is an incredibly enjoyable game.  The campaign is fun, with a decent storyline, and rather engrossing cutscenes. Multiplayer works well, and the maps are all fairly interesting and well put together-though it would be nice to see some more asymmetrical maps. If you are a fan of RTS games or the Halo series, I would strongly recommend purchasing this game. As for the limited edition- it comes with download codes for early access to H3′s mythic map pack, a graphic novel, some information cards on each of the ingame leaders, a nifty UNSC badge,and access to a unique in-game unit, the Honor Guard Wraith, and a 48 hour XBL gold trial. I’ll leave whether or not the extra ten to twenty dollars on top of the standard edition game is worth the money to your discretion.

All in all, a well-done game. I am impressed.

Halo Wars and the Mass Effect 2 Teaser

So, Halo Wars released today. As I type this, I am anticipating travelling to the store and spending my monthly entertainment budget (Commence laughter at my near-impoverished status) in order to purchase the game. A review of said game will be forthcoming, likely tomorrow. You’ll all have to forgive me if this post is somewhat shorter and more distracted than my others- I’m currently multitasking between a term paper, taking notes in class, MSN, and this weblog.

A Mass Effect trailer has recently hit the world wide web. It can be found here, but I warn you- it’s something of a shocker. I myself am rather troubled by what this could mean- If Commander Shepard has been KIA, will we receive any insight into the event? Furthermore, who will take Shepard’s place as the protagonist of ME2? I’m leery to assume this means Shepard is dead for certain; Bioware is known for having tricks up their sleeves story-wise.

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It’s been a few hours since I typed up the preceding paragraphs. Since that, I’ve managed to pick myself up a copy of Halo Wars. I purchased the limited edition, which came with six ‘hero cards’ (I’m not quite sure what their function is-there appears to be some sort of Halo CCG in the works, or something along those lines), a rather nifty looking plastic ‘badge’, A graphic novel, specific in-game content, and a free download for the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack- Again, a review of these will be forthcoming, as I fully intend to take a detailed look at them (more than likely in Forge; map creation appears to be one of the few things I use Halo 3 for anymore).

In any case, I’m off to play my new game. Witty remarks and stuff.

I should probably be working.

As the title suggests, while there are a myriad of other things I should likely be doing (Term papers and the like chief on the list), I’ve instead opted to bring my dear readers yet another bout of my pointless rambles. There’s actually quite a few items on the agenda to be discussed today, some of them thoroughly interesting, others as engrossing as smashing oneself in the face with a hammer repeatedly to the point that one believes they can taste god. 

First on the list….Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li made its debut in theatres yesterday. *awkward silence.* Yeah, I don’t really care either. Most reviews I’ve read label the movie as mediocre at best. I’m thoroughly unsurprised. In my experience, very few movies based on video games have even managed to turn out coherent, let alone palpable. Anyone remember how mediocre DOOM was? Taking a step back, what about how painfully bad the old Street Fighter film was? As far as i can tell, The Legend of Chun-Li is just a thinly-veiled attempt to cash in on the media frenzy initiated by the release of Street Fighter IV.

 Next up, there’s another expansion to Spore, called Galactic Adventures, on the way. I’ll admit, I haven’t touched Spore in some time (The Creepy and Cute pack is still on my “Games to buy” list, albeit very low on said list). Galactic Adventures, however, looks like it could turn out to be quite enjoyable, allowing players to enter into a third-person gameplay perspective in Space Age, similar to the look and feel of their original Creature Stage. New vehicles and gadgets look like they could be making an appearance as well. Mind you, I only skimmed over the trailer, so there may be a few features I’ve failed to mention-I certainly hope that one of those involves greater depth of gameplay in the Civilization stage, as that was one of my primary quips with the core game. The trailer can be accessed here.

Continuing along the trend of future releases, did anyone happen to catch the Lost Planet 2 trailer that recently released on Xbox Live? I’ll admit, the game DOES look spiffy. However, I simply can’t bring myself to be excited about LP2….I don’t know about all of you, but I wasn’t a big fan of the original. It was fun to a point, but then the gameplay started to get rather….bland and repetetive. Somewhat unresponsive controls only served to augment this. I’m willing to give LP2 a chance, in any case. The release date is still under wraps, so we might not even see a demo for quite some time.

Killzone 2 released yesterday. Anyone who owns a PS3 probably already knew that-to my knowledge, the Killzone series is to Sony what Halo is to Microsoft, in a sense. Unfortunately, all was not well in the zone of killing. Bad jokes aside, forums and news sites have been saturated with a number of users complaining of a number of rather severe issues with the game. Friends list errors, server lag, game crashes, et-cetera. Issues aside, most of the initial reviews I’ve read about the game are shining. And we all know that anything which is shiny can’t possibly be bad, right?

I’ve heard some whispers among the news-website goers that the manager of Games For Windows Live was recently fired. Good thing, too. I have to say, Microsoft’s error-laden system for purchasing games on the PC is about as coherent and utilizable as an epileptic gerbil with a fit of roid-rage. While you attempt to picture that lovely image in your head, I’ll move on to a rumination of what this could mean. Maybe under new management, the purchasing system will be less…gimped. Is it so much to ask that, rather than having to buy increments of points, and jump through hoops for our DLC, we can have simple, single-click purchasing? (That is, if such a thing wasn’t evidently patented by Amazon. Ridiculous, but true.)  We can hope that all of the issues with the system will be repaired by the addition of fresh faces, but I suppose only time will tell.

A demo for The Sims 3 recently went live. I’m no great fan of the series myself, but I’m certain there are some among you who might find that news tantalizing. Maybe I’ll give the series a try…though I’d probably end up constructing an elaborate, elegant society of Sims only to send an army of grim reapers to collect their souls a short time later. Boredom is the root of most evil, you know. Rather than launching into a description of the game, my creativity is going to succumb to my sloth, and force any interested readers to go to Giant Bomb for more information.

And, in Nintendo news…..there is no news. The Wii is, to my knowledge, as stagnant as ever. Except it’s still selling like wildfire. Nintendo has in many ways ceased to be a gaming corporation, as far as catering to it’s former target audience is concerned. Rather, it’s undergone something of a metamorphosis into a family entertainment company. This transmutation…perplexes me, almost as much as the popularity of Wii Fit.

Ah, yes. Let us take a moment to discuss the anomaly that is Wii Fit. Like some stygian temptress, it drives human beings to insanity.  Indeed, the mere sight of the artifact is enough to drive ordinary men into a frenzy. Waving their wallets about like mad barbarians, they stampede towards their goal in an out of control herd. I myself fell prey to this most…disturbing enchantment. The last thing I remembered was sighting the product on-shelf. Afterward, I found myself standing in the center of my apartment, holding it in my arms with a dazed expression on my face, wondering whose blood stained the packaging. This was shortly followed by the thought “So….what do I do now?”. I’ve considered selling it-certainly, there would be a market for this product that Nintendo has STILL managed to keep in high demand. Why haven’t I? I’m going to finger laziness once more as the culprit. In any case, Wii fit is rather old news.  

And…I’ve run out of things to say. I’m probably forgetting something. But it doesn’t matter. I’m off to do something constructive. At least, that’s the plan.