Planet Sillicon

A little less lazy

By blog on Jun. 19, 2009.

At the beginning of this week, I felt really, really, really, lazy. Extreme lethargy plagued my every waking moment. I just couldn’t be stuffed. But I think that’s one of those things you need to be pushed through, and I was pushed by that extra task at work this week.

So now that I am a little less intolerably lazy, I think I will take a look at IGN’s Top Ten games of E3 2009.

10: New Super Mario Bros. Wii It’s always exciting to see this title pop up, on any console. I believe in Nintendo’s ability to create wonderful Mario games. This one you can actually have up to four players playing at once. This is a pretty exciting feature, even though it would be a two-player deal at my house. I really look forward to playing this game!

9: Just Cause II I wasn’t overly impressed with the first iteration of this game, and in spite of good graphics, this game doesn’t really appeal either.

8: Modern Warfare 2 I never played Modern Warfare in the first place, so again, little interest in the sequel.

7: Homefront This could be interesting, or maybe not. That’s the problem with trailers, it’s often very difficult to get a grip on what kind of game will be delivered in the end. If it lives up to expectations (a remote chance, really) it could be very good.

6: Alan Wake It’s hard to get excited about this game right now, because I was excited about it when it was announced about two or three years ago. I look forward to getting my hands on it, but it’s a removed feeling until I know it’s actually close to release. Good idea though, and I love the integral use of the light and shadow game mechanic.

5: Brütal Legend I hadn’t heard of this at all. I watched the trailer and it looks so very, very, stupid. It’s like Meatloaf’s version of heaven. No thanks.

4: Mass Effect 2 I think I would be a lot more excited about this one if I had finished the fist game. I can’t do that, however, because it hasn’t ever allowed me to play it since I upgraded computers.

3: Scribblenauts I can’t wait to play this game, it looks fantastic. It’s like the next generation of puzzle game after Crayon Physics Delux. Really wonderful looking game.

2: Splinter Cell: Conviction Huh. I managed to hear nothing about this game for the entirety of E3. I like playing the Splinter Cell games (dammit Fisher!) so this should be fun.

1: Uncharted: Among Thieves I don’t really know why this one is at the top. It looks pretty, sure, but the trailer isn’t particularly interesting. I am not a PS3 player, so I don’t really care.

My personal Top Three: Alan Wake, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Scribblenauts As I said, Alan Wake features some interesting game mechanics that, whilst they don’t have the kick they did when the game was first introduced, still look like a lot of fun to play with. I can’t believe that Mario Bros. was that far down in the list, but I look forward to kicking some Bowser ass on the Wii. Scribblenauts just looks like an amazing implementation of an amazing idea. I can’t wait to try and figure out things that the game hasn’t included… My mind refuses to believe I can type in any word and have that object appear!

Comic book villains: Part 3

By blog on May. 30, 2009.

Alright so now time for the final ten villains. Here’s hoping they are actually worthy of being in the top ten!

10: Kingpin. A big, fat, meh! Daredevil has always seemed crap to me, so I don’t really care about his villains. I have never really cared in the slightest about the ’stupidly wealthy, out to screw everyone, evil for no reason’ kind of villains. All they have is money, so they can pay people with actual super villain powers to do their dirty work!

9: Dark Phoenix. There’s no denying she is one scary evil doer, though I have always found that there isn’t any good – or bad – motivation for her. She just destroys stuff… because she feels like it… Well Miss Id-Kid, grow up!

8: Loki. He’s an interesting character in a way, the prankster who will ultimately bring an end to Asgard, but the comic book version is… less interesting to me. Why are there so many high-end villains working for other people?

7: Ra’s Al Ghul. Another interesting, and almost morally ambiguous character, except he is raving mad. I know he’s just after his idea of the perfect world, but even a moron can see that bringing down multiple civilisations isn’t going to get you real far, now is it, Mr Ghul!?

6: Darkseid… Boring! Seriously, I can’t stand the stupidly determined to wipe out all creation for no reason at all villains, they are stupid, pointless, and uninteresting to me.

5: Galactus. A world destroyer… because he is hungry… oh my, oh my that is so stupid. Seriously, I have no patience for this kind of inane super villain. I am pretty sure a group of ten year olds could come up with a villain with more depth than this guy.

4: Lex Luthor. Go back and read what I said for number 10, times my vehemence by 10, and you have what I think of ol’ Lex. Ugh, what a schmoozer, I have always hated this character, and not because he is some evil mastermind, no, because his history stinks and he lacks any kind of substance.

3: Doctor Doom. Maybe that group of ten year olds came up with this guy? I have always thought Doom sucked, stupid character, with a stupid name, with no real reason for being a bad guy, except ‘because’. Ugh!

2: Joker. Finally an interesting villain. Sure he’s nuttier than the packed lunch of your local squirrel, but he embraces that, and his role, and for the most part, a unique and interesting character emerges out of all that. I am absolutely happy to see him locked up, don’t get me wrong, but as villains go, it’s nice to see one that is actually villainous, not just rich.

1: Magneto. He’s an interesting one, his role as a villain is due to persecution of mutants, and yet he obviously takes that past the point of rationality, becoming that which he hates, a genocidal maniac.

So there’s the top ten. I have to say, it lacks luster, if you ask me. There are others that should have been up there.

Comic book villains: Part 2

By blog on May. 30, 2009.

First thing I want to say before I pick up again on my critique of comic book villains, is that the villains of Batman, kick the ass of the villains of Spider-Man. Seriously, the are nearly all so ridiculous! There are a few exceptions, but by and large, Gotham is a much scarier place.

Okay, on with the show. This guy, Thanos, looks like a thug, but is actually a pretty scary, psychotic fellow, and they are nearly never any good. I do enjoy when comic book villains are actually unique and creepy, I think it adds a more adult touch often missing from villains. At 46 we have Doomsday, who is the only creature to best Superman. I am glad that it didn’t turn out to be for good, because frankly, if Superman dies, then something in this world is wrong. I don’t care overly for Superman, I just like knowing he is out there in comic book land.

Another Batman villain makes it in at 45, Harley Quinn. I don’t know why, but there is something endearing about her in Batman: The Animated Series, she’s a nut-job, but one that loves her man. Awwwww.

Shredder made it in at number 39, and I have to say, I have never been impressed by the villain. He is more one of those villains that falls into the irritating category, rather than actually any real threat. 38 is a whole different story. Sentinel is one scary foe, these guys have always been creepy, for their lack of compassion and humanity, which is so clearly represented in their machine forms.

Number 34 is Bane. He who stopped The Batman, the original Batman, Bruce Wayne. I know there is a new Bat, and that Bruce couldn’t keep it up forever, but I really want this guy to receive some serious ass-whopping for breaking Bruce’s back!

I have to mention Bizarro at number 25 just because I like the The Bizarrow Jerry episode of Seinfeld. At 24 there is Apocalypse, and interesting character pulling a great many strings unseen in the X-Men world. You can really see this list start to ramp up now, with number 23, Ultron (silly name aside) being another scary foe. Venom is one of the few exceptions to my ruling about Spider-Man villains being unscary and crud, he’s a real nasty looking fellow.

Number 21, Ozymandias, actually has a very interesting, and morally ambiguous back-story, something very refreshing to see! 19 is Juggernaut, and I have to say, I always hated this guy, he is just an annoying git, really.

Brianiac, stupid name and all, is another of the Sentinal styled foes. The unfeeling, compassion lacking, machine-like villain. I find him really annoying too, actually. Number 13 proves that Spider-Man has the lamest villains, there is just something about the Green Goblin that screams crappy.

Before I leave off for part 3 – there really has to be three parts, you see, because the top ten deserve a good entry! – number 11 is Catwoman, and I am glad she made it up there. She really isn’t all that bad, too many times has she actually tried to help, but she has a certain style, as with most of the Batman villains, that is unmistakably her own.

Comic book villains: Part 1

By blog on May. 30, 2009.

I think all boys will at some point read comic books. It’s in the book of average little boy behavior. My main comics of choice were actually Asterix and Obelix, and Tintin, but I did read a little X-Men from time to time. Apart from that though, my comic book experience was rather limited, so when IGN brought out their list of the top 100 comic book villains, I had to take a look, even if I have never encountered the majority of these evil-doers in comic form as yet.

Some of the names are hilarious, I have to say. When you know nothing at all about something, and you hear the name for the first time, you can have this very unbiased opinion, which can often lead to outright belly laughs. For instance, at 100, there is MODOK… which is an acronym for ‘Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing’. That is laugh worthy. I mean sure, if you read a comic with this little fellow in it, you might think MODOK is a perfectly scary villain name, but if you haven’t, it’s entirely absurd. Annihilus fits into this category too, but more of a chagrined chuckle than full on laugh.

Numeber 91, The Adversary… who is Geppetto… from Pinocchio… That earns a full roar of laugh, with some bemusement too. Now 90, Carnage, he is one scary dude. That is a super villain! Then you have Mysterio… this dude needs to learn the importance of appropriate head ware. I mean really, who’s going to take you seriously with that bubble on your head!?

Saint of Killers has a rather jarring name, but actually has an interesting history. Something that many of these top 100 lack, in my humble opinion.

At 65 I’m afraid we have another entry into the silly helmet brigade, with Kang the Conqueror, but I suppose that isn’t quite as bad as The Leader, who has a silly – and somewhat repulsive – looking head… He’s worse off than Kang, because he can’t take it off.

Riddler came in at number 59, and I am happy to see him there. Whilst he isn’t the scariest chap around, he is nonetheless interesting and fun. Right after him is the oh-so-different but still from Gotham, Scarecrow, who I think is awesome in his freakishness. He is an interesting one, and his forays into Batman’s psyche are always interesting to ponder. Hobgoblin comes next, and he just isn’t scary. What are you going to do, Hobgoblin, put me in stripes next to spots? Hobgoblin’s alter ego is a fashion designer, you see, and whilst I could see a nasty remark about my outfit coming from him, there is little else to fear here.

Penguin got number 51, and I am proud of the little slime ball, in a way, I mean, how well do you think you’d do if you looked like a penguin, and not one of those cute ones. Lastly before I sign off on part 1 of my comic book villains expose, at 50 was Cassandra Nova who’s actually a pretty scary piece of work. Anyone that can best Professor Xavier is not someone I’d like to meet.

Terrible reviews

By blog on May. 12, 2009.

There is something very powerful about the terrible review. It can crush your interest in a game, disappointing you severely, or give you a hearty belly laugh at just how crap some game is that you had never heard of. The latter just makes my day.

Reviewers have to earn your trust, you don’t just believe what one reviewer has to say about any movie or game until it is either verified by the consensus of a great many reviewers, or you have followed their work long enough to actually know whether their tastes coincide with yours.

The reviewer on the TV guide website I use is pathetic, I know that. He gives top ratings to really bad TV shows and movies, and I can’t figure out why. Sometimes the top scores of the day go to a film or program that is actually good, so that one is confusing and I put no stock in his reviews. I put a bit of faith in the reviewers over on Rotten Tomatoes, if a movie gets a really bad score on there I will know it is crap, but there is a middle-ground where movies don’t get good scores, but they are nonetheless fun to watch. You don’t expect much from these movies so it is okay.

If there is a movie that I am not particularly interested in, and it receives a terrible score, I get a little chuckle from that, but nothing in comparison with really terrible reviews over at IGN. I know that IGN gives pretty accurate scores most of the time, and if there is a divergence, it is usually only by a few points. IGN AU seems to have the most accurate scores though.

Last week I noticed two games which received absolutely terrible scores. Laugh inducingly bad scores. The first was a Wii games titled Ninjabread Man… I wasn’t expecting much after seeing the title but it actually received a 1.5, abysmal. IGN actually wished it had of been good because the little Ninjabread man was apparently pretty awesome. I see it as an homage to Gingie from Shrek.

Ninjabread Man
Gingie

The other game that was so bad it earned a chuckle from me was Stalin VS Martians. Again, with a name like that, how could you not fail! This game earned itself a 2.0, terrible. I couldn’t believe anyone had produced this game, honestly, it looks awful, the premise is ridiculous, and unlike Zombies Ate My Neighbours that was on the SNES, Stalin VS Martians didn’t pull it off.

So yes, sometimes when I am not feelings great, it can be a little uplifting to take a look over the really bad reviews on IGN and have a quiet chuckle.

IGN’s Top 25 DS Games – Part 2

By blog on May. 9, 2009.

Okay so picking up where I left off, and I did manage to keep from looking at these in the intervening time.

10: Advance Wars: Dual Strike – This is one that I did really enjoy. The whole series has been a lot of fun.

9: Pokémon Diamond & Pearl – When you are in the mood, this is a really fun game. When you aren’t, it is tedious. You just have to know when to play and when to let it go.

8: Meteos – Another Planet Puzzle League type game, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Been done better in other games.

7: Metroid Prime: Hunters – I prefer Metroid games in 2D.

6: Tetris DS – Very fun, very addictive, very fun to challenge your SO on. One of the few games where we are evenly matched, as my reflexes are much faster than hers. But in Tetris DS, that isn’t really an issue until you get over 100 lines through. We had a heck of a lot of time challenging each other on this one, I currently hold the title with 136 lines cleared.

5: The World Ends With You – I have this, but unfortunately I have only played for about ten minutes or so. I think I will have to revisit the game.

4: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow – Very good game, I have enjoyed playing this one on and off since it came out.

3: Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass – I freaking loved this game. I had so much fun! I love the cell shaded look to Wind Waker and was so happy to see it return with Phantom Hourglass. I know there is a sequel in the works – Spirit Tracks which focuses on a train… I am skeptical but trust in the power of Legend of Zelda to kick ass in whatever way they choose to – and I am about as excited as a six year-old on Christmas Eve.

2: Mario Kart DS – Heaps, HEAPS, of fun! Another game that kept my SO and I up late at night challenging each other.

1: New Super Mario Bros – I had a lot of fun with this game. It’s fun to play through the first time, but then to try to go back and get every coin and all that, the fun of this one goes on and on. Good ol’ Mario!

So, what do I think of IGN’s list? I am in agreement most, if not all, of the time with their placement of games on the list. Those games that I am not interested in, I don’t doubt that they are great games, it is just my personal bias and preference which precludes me from thinking they are great.

IGN’s Top 25 DS Games – Part 1

By blog on May. 7, 2009.

I was browsing on my favorite games related site earlier today, IGN, when I happened to notice that they had finished and posted their list of the top 25 DS games. Well, what good gaming blogger could resist!

So I am going to outline the list here, and make notes on games that I am actually familiar with… I haven’t seen the list, so I will be giving my initial reactions here.

25: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time – I love the Mario series, right from the get go I have loved that little plumber, but these particular iterations, the team up RPGish ones, have always held less appeal. Not saying they aren’t good, but not my thing.

24: Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land – Blegh, no thanks.

23: Planet Puzzle League – Alright, but the premise is built upon in better puzzle games.

22: Space Invaders Extreme – Not my thing, really. Overly repetitive and I like more depth to a game.

21: Picross DS – Interesting idea, doesn’t exactly feel like a ‘game’ though.

20: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords – Similarl to Planet Puzzle League, I preferred a different take on this puzzle style

19: N+ – I completely missed this game, it looks interesting, I think I might have to pick this one up.

18: Final Fantasy Tactics A2 – I prefer the other style of Final Fantasy games on the DS, but this is still good.

17: Kirby Canvas Curse – I love that pink puff ball, but this game wasn’t quite as good as expected. Good Kirby fun, though.

16: Sonic Rush – Honestly, never played it.

15: Elite Beat Agents – Bloody brilliant game, actually. Brutally difficult at times, which can lead to being super frustrated, but still a very fun music game.

14: Guitar Hero: On Tour – Never played any of these games… they just don’t appeal.

13: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword – I loved Ninja Gaiden on the XBOX, but the super difficulty level left me… not exactly running to come back to the series. I would like to try this one, though.

12: Nintendogs – Fun for about fifteen minutes… then the puppy just irritated me, even if it was cute.

11: Animal Crossing: Wild World – I did have fun with this game, for a short while. Again, doesn’t feel enough like a game to keep me there.

So those are my initial reactions to 25 to 11. Tomorrow I will follow up with 10 to 1!

Games you didnt’ know anything about

By blog on Apr. 1, 2009.

As a gamer, occasionally you will stumble onto a game that you have never heard anything about. A game that has, for you at least, seen no mass marketing of any kind, has slipped under your precursory glance of IGN every other day, and has so far completely escaped your notice.

In the past two weeks, this has happened with two games. There is, of course, the thrill of finding these great games late in the game. Especially with the slew of PC and console games released with so many bugs they are unplayable! Yes, I am still annoyed about Assassin’s creed.

Anyway, the other day, I stumbled onto a game called Mount & Blade. I hadn’t ever heard of this game, in spite of it being around for some time in one form or another, and it did get a pretty good score, so I don’t know what happened there. I couldn’t believe how much fun I had with this game, not to mention for once, easy to download to Australia – I hate Direct to Drive for that very reason – and didn’t cost a fortune! This game has the best, by a long, long way, mounted combat I have experienced in a game to date!

It is fluid, there are no bugs, there is a plethora of free user made mods if you are interested, and the game is still being worked on! There is a certain… lack of polish to the game. Nothing is wrong with it, but a once over might make it a little better visually and the story a little more captivating. However, that has allowed Taleworlds, the developers, to focus on what makes this game great, bloody great battles! I haven’t seen this game hitch once, even with over 150 NPCs in a battle.

There is just something about this game that makes it really fun, the fact that your skill at blocking and directing hits is actually important is fantastic. It is tiring after a while when game after game just has you point your character in the right direction and then left click like a mad hatter until your opponent is dead. I have been playing Mount & Blade for much of the past three days straight!

The only other game getting a great deal of my time, is another surprising bolt out the blue, Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure. Now I know, I know, what’s with the name, right? Well, as soon as you watch the opening sequence, no wait, as soon as you turn it on and hear that English voice say ‘Good show’ you know you are in for a treat!

I mentioned earlier my penchant for puzzle games, Professor Layton still takes the cake there, but this is really quite fun. It is a combined platformer, with a Planet Puzzle League like aspect going on on the touch screen. You have to flip between these two aspects of the game to keep progressing through. What I like about this, is that you get the bonuses for both this kind of puzzle game, and a platformer. Being able to switch between the two allows you to not play too much of the one style for too long. This means you play for a lot longer! I will say this though, the learning curve is a bit steep! :yes: All in all though, this is a fabulous DS game, and keeps me so happy with the console in general.