New Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Trailer!

A new trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 came out on or around September 9th. Click above to view it!

The new trailer features Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Doom, and Super-Skrull from the Marvel Comics side.

Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Trish from Devil May Cry, Tron Bonne from Mega Man Legends, Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers, Amaterasu from Okami, and Viewtiful Joe from the series of the same name, are present for the Capcom side.

Good Guys vs Bad Guys as they duke it out on top of a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier! The game looks more and more surprising every time I see it. And I'm always waiting to hear who the next set of combatant's are. 2011 is so close yet so far away!

Also, I have been playing another game and in the process of completing. When I have finished it I will hopefully get a review of it up at some point with my thought's and reactions! It has been a game that I think will revitalize it's particular franchise. A little, (although not so little) game with four Webbed Wall-Crawling Wonder's!

Alpha Protocol – Could Have Used Some Beta Testing

Like after the release of any anticipated game, I am exhausted today. I got the game shortly before 20:00 and played until a time in the morning that I had forgotten existed. While my heavy eyes, slurred speech, short temper, and lack of energy are not good news for me, my inability to put down my controller is good news for Alpha Protocol.

The beginning of the game is tough, especially if you chose the “Recruit” load out. You essentially start with no skill points making the shooting reticule bigger than a twoney (look it up). Stealth is tough in the beginning because you apparently have all the finesse of a tyrannosaurus rex. The only thing you can do well is chuck grenades at people and silent takedowns. The first several levels are quite linear and you have no choice as to which order you go in. The game follows the plot type of showing portions of an interview in the present day while flashing back to particular missions (much like SC: Conviction). The clip scenes features many close ups which are not this game’s strong suit. There are several minor graphical flaws that would not be noticeable save for the occasional up close camera shot. And finally probably my biggest complaint is that the main character’s stealth “stance” makes him look like he is desperately trying to shuffle to the bathroom before he defecates in his trousers.

Graphical issues aside once you get into the groove of this game it is really quite fun. As the game progresses you jet around the world investigating a vast conspiracy that involves a government contracted weapons manufacturer trying to throw the world into a cold war to boost its profits. The company might as well be called SPECTRE (look it up) or Treadstone (look it up) and I might as well be the cunning James Bond/Sam Fisher/Jason Bourne/Ethan Hunt/Harry Tasker…*gasp*… J.C. Denton/Solid Snake/Jack Ryan/Brian Mills or a Delta Forces soldier. You accumulate money through legitimate, semi-legitimate, and straight up blackmail to purchase weapon upgrades, intel, and armor. My personal favorite is a perk that sends me into a martial arts fury like David Banner on Gamma rays. You have to choose the right conversation choices to develop a rapport with various characters. Who you alienate or help affects how other characters perceive you. The missions can be accomplished by stealthy takedowns or by run and gun with anything from pistols to SMGs to shotguns to assault rifles. I recommend this game to anybody who enjoys the action rpg blend with third person shooter and a splash of espionage.

Overall Alpha Protocol is not a bad game at all. I would even go as far as to say it is a good game. It has its shortcomings that could have easily been rectified with some additional beta testing and maybe a bigger budget, but when was the last time you heard the sing-song opening for SEGA? This project probably only had financial backing because of Obsidian. Gamefly this game, but make sure you get past the first subset of missions because it’s like a 3 hour long linear tutorial. Who knows, you might like it so much you buy it. (I hope you all enjoyed my random incorporation of Greek letters in this review).

360 Disc grinding - Info for prevention & recovery

To catch up those who need it, here is the scoop with the Xbox 360 disc grinding issue. When you have a disc inside the 360, the xbox will spin the disc anywhere between 2,000 and 6,000 rotations per minute (RPM). If there is a disc spinning in the xbox and the console is tilted, the disc inside the disc tray will not hold straight and strike some of the edges surrounding the disc drive, thus "grinding" the disc and usually rendering it useless.

While moving any technology while it's running is a bad idea, sometimes accidents happen so most technology with a disc drive puts foam pads in place to protect the disc if it moves, the xbox 360 lacks this fail safe. Pop open an old discman or something similar and take a look. They're in there.

Fairly recently there was a lawsuit filed against Microsoft because of this flaw, claiming there were "tens of thousands" of people that have been victims of disc grinding. It was in this court case that most of the details regarding this flaw came to light. One of the excerpts of the case shows Microsoft may have known about the flaw very early on and took no action. The excerpt:

"This is...information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about. When we first discovered the problem in September or October, when we got a first report of disc movement, we knew this is what's causing the problem."


Shortly after, SeattlePi.com received a reply to some questioning of this issue and the court case:

"Xbox 360 is designed so that it will not damage a game disc as long as the console is not moved while the disc is spinning. Too much movement of any game console, not just Xbox 360, can cause scratches on a disc. That's why we put a warning on the face of the disc tray, which the user has to physically remove before the initial use of the system. We also have warnings posted online and in hard copy instruction manuals."

The warning they are speaking of:

IMPORTANT:
To avoid jamming the DVD drive and damaging discs or the Xbox 360 console:

* Remove discs before moving the console or tilting it between the horizontal and vertical positions.

* Never use cracked discs. They can shatter inside the console and jam or break internal parts.

* When the console is vertical, do not use discs that are smaller than standard DVDs and CDs.

Microsoft also started their "Xbox Disc Replacement Program" Which will kindly replace a small list of Microsoft titles if they are damaged for a small fee.

A good prevention idea is to invest in "D Skins", this is a simple plastic case that fits flush over your disc, preventing damage, scratching, fingerprints.. you name it. A good investment considering average game price is $60. Here is the link: D Skins

Hope this provides some insight and saves some poor soul from losing a game. Happy Fragging everybody.

Second Modern Warfare 2 Map pack

Activision has announced that the "Resurgence" map pack will release on June 3rd for the XBOX 360. Activision states it will "follow on the heels of the record-setting Stimulus Package of maps," which translates to, it will be another 5 maps for $15 and PS3 and PC owners will see the maps about a month later.

Black Ops

USA Today recently sat down with Call of Duty: Black Ops, the newest game in the CoD franchise, being released in November 2010 by Treyarch Studios. Here's the link to their article. Call of Duty: Black Ops

Beta Blog

Halo: Reach


I’ve intentionally waited a few days to write this so my reactions weren’t just giddy excitement and a biased opinion. If you slap the name “Halo” on something you’re going to get my attention.

Halo: Reach as most of you know will be Bungie’s last Halo game, and they have described their efforts as “Going out with a bang”. After Halo 3 was made, Bungie split from their looming Microsoft parent company, however Microsoft retained the rights to Halo. Microsoft has every intention of keeping Halo going, however Bungie will be out of the picture. Halo being Bungie’s creation and by far their most well known work, there is a certain “end of an era” feeling with the entire situation.

Reach takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved (the first Halo game, and launch title of the original Xbox), the details of the storyline and events of the game are still coming through, but one can assume it will be at least loosely based on the novel “The fall of Reach”, a Halo based novel written by Eric Nylund. In short, Reach is a human colony and a primary military network for the UNSC (United Nation Space Command) which houses a large military presence and over 700 million civilians. Through the events in the book Reach is attacked by the Covenant (alien military at war with humanity) and the planet is “glassed”, where the Covenant uses a form of fusion to heat the planet’s crust so intensely it turns to glass, thus killing every living thing on the planet.

So, if you own a copy of Halo: ODST or are lucky enough to get an invite code, as of May 3rd, 2010 you now have access to the Halo: Reach Beta. For those of you who don’t know, a “Beta” is a small portion of a program that is released during development for evaluation from the target audience. A beta can accomplish a couple things, in this case it gives excited fans a sneak peak, it gives the developers a ton of feedback and “free” game testers, which developers usually have to pay. The Reach beta is a small part of what will be the multiplayer for Halo: Reach. It includes a few game types and a small selection of weapons. Some new, some classics (the infamous “Halo 1 pistol” as well). One of the new features to the Halo franchise are “loadouts”, at the beginning of a multiplayer match you can select (currently) one of four loadouts, in the loadouts are weapon selections and an armor ability. These abilities can be activated at any time during the match for a limited time, the beta currently offers active camouflage (invisibility essentially), sprinting, temporary invincibility, and a jetpack. (Current favorite; jetpack).

They have changed some things, damage, added a health bar (where have those been, anyway?), added “assassinations” (instead of a simple melee attack from behind killing a player, you can hold melee to perform an assassination where your Spartan will do a quick deadly killing move) .

All in all it’s still Halo multiplayer, the new twists are fun, and I guess if it’s not broken don’t fix it. I look forward to seeing the rest of the game.

Marvel VS Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds!

Ok, Ok, so my friends were expecting me to start posting Nintendo related stuff to combat/balance out all the 360/PS3 related news that would probably end up being featured on this Blog! But I'm going to Spidey Kick them in the face and post something not Nintendo related! Granted I will post something soon Nintendo related but now is not that time! For one of my favorite Franchises is releasing another sequel that I figured needed the attention of course!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds! See the Awesome!

There's the link for further proof right from Marvel themselves! They even have the teaser trailer!

I consider this great news just because I am a huge fan of the series myself. I have been playing this game since the first Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes on the PS1! In fact even though I no longer own a PS1 or PS2, I still own my copy of the game Marvel vs. Capcom! It's stashed somewhere in my room because even though I don't have the system to play it on it has sentimental value to it!

I of course did end up owning, a few times actually, Clash of Super Heroes sequel, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes! And when it arrived to the Xbox Live Network I of course downloaded it as soon as it was out! I have not played it in a while and am out of practice, but seeing the Teaser Trailer for MvC3, has once again given me the fighting itch! Where you just have to hit another character in the face, or use a ridiculous finishing move that can crack the World in half if left unblocked! If you haven't already guessed I am also a huge fan of fighting games. Unlike the other 2 posters of this Blog, who love their 1st Person Shooter, or Stealth Action, I like to think of myself as the Brawler! The guy who likes to get his hands dirty in a face-to-face confrontation! As a famous man once said, "Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the...little emotions." And Stealth is the complete opposite of getting all up in someone's face! HA HA!

Series Like Super Smash Bros., or the Dragon Ball Z Budokai's or Tenkaichi's, always get me pumping because I like the quick action and crazy combos that a character can produce! And the mass amount of characters never hurts either! It gives for huge possibilities of dream teams for the player! MvC2 had 56 playable characters total! MvC3 has 30 characters, with more expected on the way! And since there has been a good 10 year gap since MvC2, Old and New characters from both Marvel and Capcom will have a chance to make their arrival to this game. It will give you your favorite dream team, like Spider-Man, Mega Man, and Chun-Li! So MvC3 should have the same amount or more characters than MvC2's 56!

From the Teaser Trailer the game seems to be going for the more recent game look of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom for the Wii. (Which I hope to get around talking about here as well.) The classic 2-D Side Scroller, but with new updated 3-D graphics. Which of course the Gomez likes! The graphics also look to be Cel-Shaded, which gives that more comic/cartoon like appearance which I love even more! It made the Trailer enjoyable watching Wolverine fight Street Fighter's Ryu, and Iron Man being swayed by Darkstalker's Sexy Morrigan Aensland, and Hulk brawling it out with Resident Evil's Chris Redfield.

All in all, after a huge Time gap since the previous title, the new updated graphics, and the 30+ characters that are arriving, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, looks to be a great return to the franchise and one this writer will be sure to have pre-ordered when pre-orders start up!

MvC3 is set to drop in spring of 2011 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3!

Splinter Cell Reactions

Here is my subjective analysis of Splinter cell breaking it down by... oh hell this game rocks. A little background, I've been waiting for this game for four years. The original "Splinter Cell : Conviction" was slated to be released back in 2007 with the first "Assassin's Creed". Since then games have come and gone, and even a second "Assassin's Creed" has been release (by the same company none-the-less). The first concept of "Splinter Cell: Conviction" was met with mockery at Sam Fisher's hobo-like appearance and the glitchy demo didn't help either. The game then became shrouded in secrecy and the release date had been repeatedly pushed back until its eventual release in April of 2010. End result, Ubisoft did well. This game is everything I was hoping it would be, which means I am not writing this blog from the shadows of Ubisoft Montreal's headquarters watching the developers through my tri-focal NVGs with my silenced FiveseveN trained on the lead.

This game is unlike any other Splinter Cell game, ever. It is still stealth based, but features a noir, blood lusting Sam Fisher. The game is fast paced and does not penalize for non-stealthy kills nor does the game expect you to hide in the shadows all day watching patrols. The game will reward you regardless of your approach as long as its creative, which isn't a problem when you can set up scenarios who'se executions are somewhere in the realms of awesomeness if you combined the hand-to-hand prowess of Jason Bourne, gun play of John Preston, the arsenal of the Punisher, and the classic shade-based stealth of Sam Fisher. With all the options available you want to see what you can do next.

I classify this as an Action-Stealth game. It is third person and the gun play can be done manually or via "tagging." The only stipulation with tagging is that one enemy has to be taken down via hand-to-hand to charge the tagging system. Sam Fisher is not invincible, therefore clearing a room can be arduous, perhaps impossible, by charging through the door. The way around this? Here is a scenario: First real mission is to break into a mansion that contains some plot-driven information that I will not divulge. Sam steps out of his SUV, breaks the side-view mirror out so he can use it to look under doors. You approach the side door to the mansion and peek under the door and see three guards, one standing with his back to the door and two standing by the front door. Planning ahead, the first guy is going to be easy, take him down silently from behind. The two guards standing together may be more of a challenge. You can shoot them yourself, or tag both of them. To see what happens, you tag the two guards. Sneak up on the first one, kill him by snapping his neck silently, and promptly execute the tagging system. What happens next is a bullet-time, VATS-like (fallout), execution popping both guards in the head with kung-fu/Equilibrium-like movement.

As you progress through the game you accrue gadgets, have a wider selection of guns, and gain the ability to upgrade your favorites using points you acquire via unique and challenging take downs. Such guns include famous guns such as the G36 and the FiveseveN. One such gadget that pleased me was the return of the tri-focal goggles, they've even been upgraded. Instead of night or heat-vision, its sonar like a...like a submarine Mr. Wayne, like a submarine.

I have to admit, this is the first time a fast paced action game has lasted more than a day for me. Upon writing this I haven't finished the game, and it wasn't from lack of trying. I played from 1830 on Tuesday to 0230 Wednesday morning and gave up trying to finish the game in one sitting.

What really sets this game apart from the run-of-the-line action game is the art. The game projects your objective like a complex shadow puppet in the direction you need to go in case you needed the help. You shouldn't need the assistance too much because the game is linear though allows for multiple approaches the the same situation. One incredible use of the art is during a scene later in the game when a plot twist is revealed the screen takes a yellow tint while Sam tears an office apart with dramatic writing projected onto the walls surrounding him, images of betrayal and video of his daughter are projected like old-time cinema. The dramatic scene followed by unlimited tagging of enemies in Sam's way for a dramatic escape.

Enough of my gushing. It wouldn't be a game review without nit-picking a bit. What is with an EMP obsession in games recently? Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2, and now Splinter Cell? Granted our infrastructure is based solely on electronic transfers and our military is highly computerized and even optics on our guns wouldn't work properly. I find it conspicuous that all these games coming out in conjunction have similar plot drivers. But I digress.

Bottom line, buy this game (that means you Goosie) so that I have someone to play co-op with online. Its my lunch break at work, I want the next 5 hours go by so I can hermetically seal myself back in my room with snacks and drinks so I don't have to stop until the game is finished, then I'll play it again.

Game/Movie crossroads

Some games that were made into movies:
Doom
Resident Evil
Silent Hill
Mortal Kombat
Super Mario Bros
Hitman

I find it interesting that the movie world and the game world can't function in better harmony. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we have come to expect weak story in games (compared to a movie, that is), but when we see something on the big screen we expect no plot holes, good acting, and we expect the movie to stay truthful to the game source material.

The problem is the story in the games will contradict our high movie story standards. Take Doom for example. In the games, humanity had accidentally opened a portal that leads straight to hell, and everything in hell is using it to escape into our world. Your mission: kill it all before it reaches the rest of humanity. There are no further events in the story beyond killing everything. No twists, no big reveal. That's the whole premise. Would you go see that movie? Me neither. When the Doom movie came out, I saw it and was disappointed. They added a whole team of soldiers instead of our one "lone ranger" we play as in the game and the monsters were genetic mutations (and most certainly were not from hell). All in all, it was nothing like the game. But the more I thought about it, if they kept true to the source material, there would have been no story what so ever. Basically the audience would've just watched someone play through the game. So, they have to make some stuff up and throw it in for story.

So, how will we ever get a decent game-to-movie adaptation that people will flock to? Maybe the games need higher story standards. Maybe we need to lower our movie expectations when the film is based on a game. Either way, something's got to give.

There are a few exceptions; The Hitman movie for example, I own and enjoy. It seems to be modeled after the Jason Bourne series. Jason Bourne is The Man, so maybe I have a biased opinion.

Now, the only thing worse than a movie based on a game is a game based on a movie. Was there ever a good one? Every kid's movie ever made has some half-assed game adaptation where you play as the main character, moving through the events of the film. The graphics are usually extremely weak and the game play and physics are garbage.

Even decent movies have run of the mill, unsuccessful games made out of them. What I keep wondering is why do the movie companies bother? One of two things needs to happen. Either they need to dramatically raise their game standards, or they need to stop making these awful games, because they can't be making money off of these titles.

Example. Watchmen: great (!!) graphic novel, awesome movie (thank you Z. Snyder), crap games. IGN gave it a 5 out of 10 and a solid "Meh".

My theory is that the movie studio, who has the final say on content, knows nothing about the gaming industry. I can just imagine a game designer rolling his eyes when some money-hungry movie exec is telling him what to include in a game, and completely gets it wrong.

As a whole, these two industries have a lot to learn about each other before we can get a quality product. Supposedly our Halo movie is still being made (article) lets hope they get it figured out before it hits theaters.

Xbox Live SPAM. New contributer,Robyn

Robyn writes:

There has been an issue of SPAM populating the inbox of my xbox live account. For those who are not sure what qualifies as SPAM, SPAM is many copies of the same message sent out to users who did not opt to receive them. These messages have consisted of anything from a voice invite to a 10th prestige lobby to a link to a website that insists it will generate microsoft points but will likely install some crippling malware. I do not know if this problem is widespread, but I do know of at least three people (including myself) who are receiving these so that makes a trend. I submitted a letter to xbox.com detailing my issue and asked for some kind of fix. A transcript of the letter can be found in the comments section of this blog.

The fix I requested could be anything from a system update that filters SPAM much like a POP3 e-mail client (hmm MSN perhaps?) to a mere button that disables messaging from people not in your friends list. A simple script that checks the header of the message to see how many people its been sent to could initiate a function to check a user's history of messaging followed by automated warnings and an eventual ban would not be tough. Prepare to be receiving spam on a regular basis though because the response I received was disheartening. A transcript of the message received back from xbox can be found in the comments section of this blog.

The letter sent to me by XBox Live Support representative Naya, ticket # 1129131637, basically said that what I'm asking is beyond the expected functionality of the current XBox network and that my suggestion will be forwarded to their development team. This would be the same team that recently brought us updates like USB mass storage support and avatars. Here is what happened to my issue: sent out from my computer, received in a queue of support tickets at the front line customer service department, is reviewed, scoffed at, assigned a low priority, forwarded to their development team who has better things to do, and a polite, upbeat refusal is sent out with just a hint of bad grammar and sprinkled with mispellings.

**Post Script** Forum searches online show that others are experiencing spam and a quick Google search yields "How-Tos" on live spamming.
http://www.xbox360forum.com/xbox-forum/threads/75861-Spam-Messages

Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Natal, Playstation Move

To start, here is a couple links to catch up those of you who are unfamiliar with the upcoming Xbox & PS3 motion control upgrades. I assume anyone reading this blog is aware of the motion controls used with the Nintendo Wii.

Natal

Move

Since the beginning I have played video games to relax. Take my mind off of work, school, or whatever stress was going on in my life, but ultimately to relax. Hopping around my living room like a freak with an "eye" plugged into my console watching me (Natal) or something strapped to my wrist tracking my movements (Move, Wii) is not my idea of a relaxing evening.

That being said, I do understand the applications that this game genre applies to, I just don't believe they're any fun. Obviously, there are plenty of people who would disagree (the Wii outsells both consoles), but those aren't people who would play a "Hit Game". They didn't buy Heavy Rain, Halo 3, or Modern Warfare 2. So are they gamers? I don't believe they are. So can the Wii be compared on the same scale? I don't believe it can.

In the Wii's defense, it does have some real games out for it. No one can deny the classic platformer "Mario", and recently we had an addition to the Mario franchise. ( Super Mario Wii ) Being a Nintendo property, the only console Mario was released for was the Wii. Thus a good game, a "gamer's game", was released on the Wii. But what does the motion controller add to the experience that a standard controller couldn't? Absolutely nothing.

However. What defines a good game, unfortunately does NOT define sales. The Wii's sales have proven this. Recently, Microsoft and Sony have announced their response to the Wii in the form of Natal and the Move. The idea being the people who bought the Wii but have no interest in the traditional game experience offered by the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360 would run out and buy the other consoles.

I don't see how games like the upcoming Fable sequel ( Fable III ) which will reportedly use the Natal technology, will be improved by this motion tracking. It does not improve "immersion" into the game by any means, if anything it detracts from it by causing you to put more thought into your movements than pressing a single button.

In conclusion, it is my opinion that the recent progression into motion tracking is not what the gaming world needs. What it needs are fresh ideas, and to break new boundaries.

The Welcoming

Welcome everyone, to my gaming blog. I'd like to open with a brief history behind the man.

My life in the gaming world began in 1992 (when I was 6 years old)with Wolfenstein 3D. This being the game that essentially created the game genre we now know as the 'first person shooter' (or FPS). My father (a true "Original Gamer") taught me how to play, I would sit next to him and be in charge of reminding him to save before a "boss fight" (this is before the days of the "checkpoint"). So what began as spending time with Dad and genuine fascination, twenty years later turned into one of my most defining elements. As the years progressed, I generally followed Id software through Doom, Doom II, Quake, Quake 2 and other classics such as 3D Realms' Duke Nukem 3D (not the side scrollers. Side scrollers and shooting do not mix) and many more.

As the years progressed, Sony released the PlayStation and my switch from PC gamer to console gamer began. Then, like now I believed the future of gaming rests with the console. It was at that time, however that I began to play very little in the way of shooters. I would play Gran Turismo or any number of "Action" games. We then went from the PlayStation to the legendary PS2. Again my game genres were mainly racing Sims and action games. Nothing very notable until the Microsoft Xbox and the release of Halo: Combat Evolved that plunged me back into the world of first person shooters, but this time it was for good. Halo reminded me of all the reasons I loved hardcore shooters, and on top if it all, defined multiplayer shooters for the console. (some say, however it was Perfect Dark or Goldeneye on the N64. I believe they are to thank for split screen multiplayer, however Halo: CE defined the multiplayer experience) Once Halo 2 was released and online shooters were perfected, it was all fun and games from there. The Xbox 360 was released, followed by Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the Battlefield games and so on. It wasn't all shooters all the time, other staples such as Grand Theft Auto, Portal, Arkham Asylum (Batman fanboy as well) and others.

Today, I primarily game on my Xbox 360, and currently still obsessing over Modern Warfare 2. It seems my pattern is to play games as they come out (or get cheap enough for my broke ass to buy) and play them until my friends get online, then whatever is in the disc drive gets tossed out and in goes the most current game from our favorite series' (CoD, Halo, Battlefield etc.). Currently being played in the background from Modern Warfare 2 is Prototype, which has been a fun mixture of GTA and crackdown.

In the future I hope to link my readers to current gaming news articles with my own thoughts on the subject matter, address pros and cons in the gaming world, review games and equipment as well as add perspective to the genre as a whole.

Thank you for reading and I will post soon

-Goosie