Send us your brightest, your smartest, your most intelligent,
Yearning to breathe free and submit to our authority,
Watch us trick them into wiping rich people's asses,
While we convince them it's a land of opportunity.
“When activated, it is theorized that the collider will produce the elusive Higgs boson, the observation of which could confirm the predictions and "missing links" in the Standard Model of physics and could explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass.[3][2] The verification of the existence of the Higgs boson would be a significant step in the search for a Grand Unified Theory, which seeks to unify three of the four known fundamental forces: electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force, leaving out only gravity. The Higgs boson may also help to explain why gravitation is so weak compared to the other three forces. In addition to the Higgs boson, other theorized novel particles that might be produced, and for which searches[4] are planned, include strangelets, micro black holes, magnetic monopoles and supersymmetric particles.”
What is certain about the LHCs results?
There are many theories as to what will result from these collisions, but what's for sure is that a brave new world of physics will emerge from the new accelerator, as knowledge in particle physics goes on to describe the workings of the Universe. For decades, the Standard Model of particle physics has served physicists well as a means of understanding the fundamental laws of Nature, but it does not tell the whole story. Only experimental data using the higher energies reached by the LHC can push knowledge forward, challenging those who seek confirmation of established knowledge, and those who dare to dream beyond the paradigm.
How does the LHC work?
"Two beams of subatomic particles called 'hadrons' – either protons or lead ions – will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists will use the LHC to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, by colliding the two beams head-on at very high energy. Teams of physicists from around the world will analyse the particles created in the collisions using special detectors in a number of experiments dedicated to the LHC."
A few facts and figures...
The largest machine in the world...
The precise circumference of the LHC accelerator is 26 659 m, with a total of 9300 magnets inside. Not only is the LHC the world’s largest particle accelerator, just one-eighth of its cryogenic distribution system would qualify as the world’s largest fridge. All the magnets will be pre‑cooled to -193.2°C (80 K) using 10 080 tonnes of liquid nitrogen, before they are filled with nearly 60 tonnes of liquid helium to bring them down to -271.3°C (1.9 K). Thats colder than deep space!
The fastest racetrack on the planet...
At full power, trillions of protons will race around the LHC accelerator ring 11 245 times a second, travelling at 99.99% the speed of light. Two beams of protons will each travel at a maximum energy of 7 TeV (tera-electronvolt), corresponding to head-to-head collisions of 14 TeV. Altogether some 600 million collisions will take place every second.
The emptiest space in the Solar System...
To avoid colliding with gas molecules inside the accelerator, the beams of particles travel in an ultra-high vacuum – a cavity as empty as interplanetary space. The internal pressure of the LHC is 10-13 atm, ten times less than the pressure on the Moon!
The hottest spots in the galaxy, but even colder than outer space...
The LHC is a machine of extreme hot and cold. When two beams of protons collide, they will generate temperatures more than 100 000 times hotter than the heart of the Sun, concentrated within a minuscule space. By contrast, the 'cryogenic distribution system', which circulates superfluid helium around the accelerator ring, keeps the LHC at a super cool temperature of -271.3°C (1.9 K) – even colder than outer space!
The most powerful supercomputer system in the world...
The data recorded by each of the big experiments at the LHC will fill around 100 000 dual layer DVDs every year. To allow the thousands of scientists scattered around the globe to collaborate on the analysis over the next 15 years (the estimated lifetime of the LHC), tens of thousands of computers located around the world are being harnessed in a distributed computing network called the Grid.
I've been following this project for a while now, and finally seeing it all come together is exciting stuff. The answer to hundreds of questions about the universe, that have remained unanswered for decades, are potentially just around the corner. Just wanted to let anyone who is interested know about it.
Not only does this clip contain sackboy's decked out in Hellghast outfits, but the clip is also set to one of the coolest bands out, The Battles. Apparently this is Sony showing off how versatile the customization is in the game, and judging by the look of them, I'd say they have done a damn good job.
If you are able to make 3D assets and import as torso, arm, leg and head parts, that would be fucking sweeeeeet. I can just imagine the fansites for this game, stocked to the brim with downloadable assets for the game.
Unlimited user created level is also a major plus. 2008 is pretty much the year of Sony. With MGS4 on the way, Killzone 2, Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet all being very popular and equally spread out across the year, Sony is looking to make a LOT of money.
I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on my door this morning.
"WHO THE FUCK IS WAKING ME UP AT 7AM IN THE FUCKING MORNING!? I DONT HAVE TO GET UP FOR ANOTHER HOUR GODDAMN IT!"
...I was hell grumpy cos I only got to bed at 2.30am thanks to a slight case of insomnia, but I digress...
I got up and threw a shirt on and answered the door in a half slurred voice
"Wahrg ja wurnt...?"
It was an old mailman, donning a large package and a PDA, ready for my signature. So I sign the damn thing, grab the package and fall back on to my bed.
I wake up 45 minutes later, get out of bed and look at my desk and I'm like, "wait....what the fuck is with this package... I don't -remember- ordering anything this big". So I open it up and then it all comes flooding back...
TADDAAAAAAAAA!
The stylus nib on my wacom(LEFT) has worn down and doesn't deliver nearly as good quality lines as it used to, when I bought it 4 years ago; but using 1 nib for 4 years is pretty damn good. So I decided, instead of ordering some new nibs, that I would get myself a new tablet(RIGHT). I was able to pick this one up for AU$89 with 5 extra nibs.
SO ANYWAY...
To celebrate getting my new tablet, I'm taking requests for things to draw. They can be as specific as you want, or vice versa; I will interperate your ideas as best as I can. For the sake of Destructoid, lets keep them video game related.
I will choose whatever I think are the best ideas.
It's not a very big month for the PS3 this May. There are really only 2 games worth mentioning. So I will make them a little detailed.
BIONIC COMMANDO: REARMED - 22nd May
All right, first of all I am an enormous Bionic Commando fan. I played it for hours and hours as a kid, and I still play it on my PSP more often than a lot of current games. It was revolutionary for it's time, the swing mechanic, the mini-map, upgradeable weapons, as well as featuring a completely different top-down engine for the missions where you are attacked by the enemies on the road. It was amazingly fun and repayable for a game of yesterday, as we find a lot of games from way back when do not stand the test of time. However, for me, BC has more than achieved this.
From all of the images and trailers I have seen for this game, it seems to be a shot for shot remake of the majority of the assets from the original. The dude in charge of the production of this game is one Ben Judd, self professed fanboy of Bionic Commando, and it most certainly shows in the footage thus far. The movement, enemies, levels, weapons and pretty much everything else has been overhauled to make it work and look as best as possible, while also updating the gameplay to comply with new technology. Ben is intent on delivering the best and truest BC experience he can, while still delivering a new gaming experience, and I like to think he has done just that.
Basics
Bionic Commando: Rearmed, unlike it's next-gen brother, is a 2.5D platforming game based completely off the original NES classic. You are a soldier known as Captain Rad Spencer, awesome huh?, who is tasked with rescuing a secret agent known as Super Joe. You go through 19 platforming levels, with about a dozen top-down missions spread in between. It also features unlockable areas in earlier levels that you can open with weapons you earn in future levels, providing more than a small amount replay value. On top of this, Ben has included a whole bunch of puzzle based "VR" levels reminiscent to that of the original Metal Gear Solid, offering staggering amounts of gameplay.
The basic aim of the game is to utilize your bionic arm for climbing and maneuvering around levels. It isn't as easy as mashing the bionic arm button though, as contact with an enemy, even while swinging will cause you to lose health. This means you must time your swinging and plan what you are going to grapple and swing to. The arm can grapple almost anything, which is handy seeing as you don't have a jump button, except for a few spots which adds a little more depth to a few puzzles.
Wee-pons
You get your basic pistol to start off with, but can also pick up an array of other weapons like a shotgun, machine gun, multi-directional semi-automatic, RPG and more. As well as other useful equipment like flash bombs that light up dark areas and small upgrades to your stats like health and armor. All of this was in the original game, but has simply been updated and given some bells and whistles. I highly recommend at LEAST downloading the ROM and playing the original game if you haven't played it, I assure you that you will enjoy yourself thoroughly.
The Other guys
The Badds. Coolest name for villians ever? No. But still cool. The Badds, in the original game at least, consisted of 30 -different- kinds of enemies. Ranging from paramilitary, cannonball throwing roid junkies, RPG soldiers, mechanized gunners, tanks and more. The game had a mammoth amount of variety for a game at that time and even by todays standards would put up a good fight. I can only assume the amount of enemies will only be lengthened thanks to Judds reworking of mini-boss and boss battles.
If there was one thing wrong with Bionic Commando, it was the boss battles; they were just awful. Every single one lasted about 30 seconds while you shot at a big, flashing computer while dodging bullets from varying degrees of enemies and machines; your bionic arm was never utilized at all, and the bosses, for me anyway, merely served as a marker for the end of a level. Ben knows this all to well and has made sure that the boss battles are unique and fun, utilizing all of the new mechanics he has implemented in to the new version. From flying robots to mechanized soldiers, he has gone all out on making BC:R an amazing, new experience, as well as nostalgic.
Multiplayer
The original game didn't have multiplayer, as was to be expected at the time. But seeing as we are in 2008 and multiplayer is pretty much a must for most games now, the team have gone ahead and added in an extensive multiplayer feature. You can call in reinforcements and enable a second player to help you out; the levels will change depending on whether 2 people are present or not, switching up the amount of enemies, as well as the difficulty. Every level can be tackled in multiplayer and you can really set up some deadly combos when the 2 of you work together.
Final thoughts
I am buying this game. It embodies such a large amount of nostalgia for me that I almost explode just looking at the sexy screen-shots and footage. If you love 2D, sidescrolling platformers then do yourself a favor and pick this little gem up. It has tons of missions, a multitude of VR missions, multiplayer mode and some awesome remixes of original BC tacks; at only US$10, you would be absolutely crazy not to pick this up.
Excitement Level: 4.5 out of 5
HAZE - 20th MAY
Haze has been under the firing line for a while now, from people saying it is a poor mans Halo 3, that the Nectar gimmick doesn't add anything exciting to the gameplay, that it is a mish-mash over other, better FPS's and so on. All of this is unsubstantiated of course, until we get our hands on the game we shouldn't pass judgment too harshly; far be it from me to base my game purchases on another persons likes/dislikes.
Basics
So anyway, for anyone who doesn't know about Haze, it is your run of the mill first person shooter. You are some kind of soldier, you have a gun, you shoot things, and they die; bada-bing, bada-boom. What Haze tries to deliver, in terms of innovation, is the interaction with your enemies. Haze uses the standard melee combat techniques found in first person shooters today, but also implements a disarming technique that allows you to snatch your enemies guns in close quarters. In addition to this, and the main gimmick of the game, is the utilization of a drug known as Nectar.
Nectar is a performance enhancing drug developed by the Mantel corporation. It is used on all of Mantels soldiers to ensure 100% from them at all times in terms of physical abilities as well as mental stability. Mantel soldiers are a very conditioned bunch who are brainwashed in to thinking they are the good guys; Mantel keeps them in order by making battles as easy as possible for them, they have twice the strength and ability of a normal soldier, dead bodies simply fade out of existence and a constant fix of Nectar is always strapped to their backs, ensuring all of these abilities are well stocked.
The Other Guys
Enter generic rebel force #3, aka 'The Promised Hand'. The rebels are, of course, against mantel, and don't mind killing anybody who decides to stick with the fluorescent, yellow drug. They are weaker than mantel soldiers, not as fit and no where near as organized. But what they lack in strength, they make up for in tactics. Rebels can use the Nectar against their enemies, stabbing a knife coated with nectar straight in to their bodies, shooting/slashing the nectar-packs on their back or using a nectar-grenade will cause an 'overdose' in the victim, which will make them go crazy and start shooting anything that moves. Apparently when a soldier has too little or too much of the drug, it impairs any kind of hold they once had over their mind and they simply go insane and start to kill anything until they are killed themselves, or commit suicide.
Now, you will have a chance to play both sides in this game. You start off as a Mantel soldier, pumped full of Nectar, beefed up and ready to shoot anything that doesn't have a light bulb for a head. Once half way through the game, you are freed from the drug after some 'event' and join the rebels cause for justice and revenge, initiating your battle as part of the rebel force; good luck with that. The single player campaign spans the course of 3 days in the game and will feature all the usual monotony breakers we are all so familiar with such as the mandatory vehicle level etc.
Multiplayer
As for multiplayer, the game is set to feature 4 player split screen coop along with 4 player online coop, both of which utilize the much loved jump-in, jump-out feature. As well as 16 player online battles each side will have their own unique abilities that they can also use in single player. "But thats unfair, they have super-drugs helping them, what do the rebels have?", do not fear! You, as a rebel, can be assured of protection from these soldiers. How? By playing dead of course. Yeah I know it's a bit weak, but as I said before, Mantel soldiers automatically block out dead bodies, so as soon as you hit the floor you are invisible. I assume this will only work once on any one soldier though.
Final thoughts
I can't say for sure whether I will buy this game or not, I am going to have to at least play the demo and get a feel for the controls etc., but I also don't think it is a good idea to snub this game off without actually seeing what it has to offer. It has a semi-interesting plot, beautiful graphics, some neat ideas and a good developer to back it up. It has everything it needs to be a great game in an infinite sea of sub-standard first person shooters, but whether it will reach the tipping point or stay teetering on the edge of mediocrity like so, so many before it, we will not know until it's release.
GTAIV has been out for no more than 5 days now and every day since, a new story has come to fruition, remarking on how disturbing this game is, how it is ruining youth, that it is a terrible game and the themes involved are not gaming material. It is a sick, twisted, maniacal game that caters only to potential psychopathic, drunk driving, prostitute raping, murderers who like death.
From Jack Thompsons causing the games ads to be pulled, obviously being a direct violation of the Constitution, people talking about how GTAIV has made them sick, to psychiatrists being baffled about why people would want to play this game, there are tons of stories out there, and like I said before, it hasn't even been a week since it's release yet.
Here's a taste of some of the absolute tripe being peddled to everyone:
"In GTA 4… not only can you pick up and have sex with prostitutes, but then you can kill them: with you[r] car, a gun, or whatever you have lying around. The sex is graphic… and the killings have great tag phrases.
In general I don’t have a problem with violence in the media, in movies, etc. In this game however… you can make what you want to happen. Meaning you are choosing to pick up the prostitute and kill her, as opposed to driving your car…
After watching… on youtube, i felt sick, sad and angry."
That is the friggen point! It is meant to make you feel that way, it's called immersion. If you feel bad for killing someone, or feel sick from seeing a dead body, then good! It means Rockstar have achieved what they wanted to do. To create a deep story that uses a realistic simulation of crime life in NYC to progress itself. And graphic sex? Please.
Yes, [games like GTA IV] are for mature audiences. But why would adults even be playing them? I have no idea. You get rewarded for going to the prostitute. You get more health benefits, and then if you steal her money, beat her up and steal her money, you get more.
Just going to church on Sundays isn’t going to necessarily negate hours and hours of raping, pillaging, and murdering. [In playing Superman, Batman, and G.I. Joe] there was morality. There was a sense of justice. There was a sense of right and wrong in that. [GTA IV has] totally flipped that.
GTAIV is all about choices, and morality plays an enormous part of the gameplay. That is what the friendship missions are all about! To build your connection to the world and the people in it, and to react how a person like Niko would react. Being able to kill and mame prostitutes is a choice, and the player is rewarded accordingly. You don't just keep getting over 9000 points for every single hooker you kill. You are chased by police, you are a wanted criminal and the police want you in jail, or dead. You are not simply constantly rewarded for killing everything.
Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable. MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game
I'm sorry, what? You can kill cops, hookers, fire fighters, doctors and pedestrians; you can rob banks, cause pile-ups, buy illegal firearms and plenty of other crimes. But they want GTAIV rated AO because of a wobbly camera and some drunken stumbling? Seriously, GTFO.
For some people, it’s a game. But for me, it’s not funny. It was for real. It was my son. This game teaches children to kill, then they wonder where criminals come from.
Being involved in a shootout in a video game has no consequences and that is the wrong message to send to young people.
A recent study has indicated that, on a per capita basis, New Zealand is now twice as violent as the USA…
Simply stated, it is time to reverse the tide of violence in New Zealand. We have to have the courage somewhere, sometime, to say “no” and I agree with kiwi parents and the police, that this is not a bad place to start.
If adults want to do it, that’s their choice. But that’s not where the problem is… Personally, I think it’s sick and twisted… They should be putting this stuff behind the counter so that the adults that want it can come in and ask for it, like they would an adult magazine…
People don’t seem to have a problem turning guns on cops, and this game — I know it’s just a game, but people sometimes have trouble separating reality from fantasy.
Where earlier generations of youthful art crossed boundaries… they also affirmed something else, some alternative or countercultural value…
What “Grand Theft Auto IV” affirms is the pleasure of eschewing decency for obnoxious violence…
Whats great about this one is that he goes on afterwards, slandering "mindless American action films, by post-apocalyptic Euro-American fantasy fiction and Japanese graphic novels…"
Honestly.... just look at that bullshit. If this were a movie, or a book, this controversy would not even be an issue. Just think about how the violence in GTAIV compares to that of one of these titles:
Scarface
Donnie Brasco
Miller’s Crossing
Casino
Resevoir Dogs
The Godfather
You would find that there is no more "disgusting" events in GTAIV than there is in Casino or Scarface. So if it isn't the content they have a problem with, then it must be the medium, right? That "interactive" feature that video games have, that input that the player has; it makes all the difference apparently.
When you watch a movie like, say Casino. Do you sit there going "Oh my god, Joe Pesci just stabbed someone to death with a pen! I am going to tell the directors that I do not approve of this, it is horrible and my husband was killed in a freak pen accident. It offends me and I do not agree, therefore I shall try to petition against it"
Fuck no you don't. You say "Fucking awesome, Joe motherfucking Pesci just crowned some cunt with a godamn biro!"
It's awesome to watch violence, action and intense scenes in a movie. It makes them memorable, gives them a depth and feeling that other movies just don't touch on. Compare the movie "Scream" with the likes of "Prom Night". One has some of the scariest and intense moments in a horror movie, and the other is just a bland line of events that involve teens being murdered in a bunch of lame and clique ways.
One is a lot better, and more renowned because it is graphic, intense and unique. It draws from a lot of conventions, but makes them it's own with the characters and personalities in the story; which is exactly what GTAIV does. It is leaps and bounds beyond any other game in terms of scope and realism, and it really shows in everything that you do, because it is in your face and attempts to give you a world of crime and relationships in an open environment.
So like I was saying, if it isn't the content, then it's the medium they hate. And it all comes back down to people thinking that video games are simply games for people to play and have fun with. Even though that is the main draw, video games are also used for interactive story telling, like in the case of GTAIV or Fahrenheit. It's like people aren't ready for video games to be a medium of entertainment yet, they just want them to keep the kids out of their hands.
A couple of things that would really help would be a rating system that incorporates all ages, and is legally enforced everywhere. A world-wide "informational" on videogames, maybe pamphlets given out at schools or something like that, that has information on how to be involved with their kids gaming and entertainment etc etc. A large part of the problem at hand is misinformation and sensationalist "news". There is no source of information for these people, and they aren't going to buy a book or bother reading about it, it needs to be force fed to them.
I'm going to stop now cos I am just irritated and angry and ranting endlessly hahah
The streets are crowded, the sky is partly cloudy and I can see the train tracks above me in the muddled reflection of the roof of my car. I look to my left and see people talking to their friends beside them and on their cell phones; I stop at the lights and listen to 2 old men talk about how tattoos aren’t what they used to be. I look to my right and see a basketball court with some gangsters hanging around outside the fence, I turn the corner only to be confronted by the glaring sun and I rear end the car in front of me; an angry lady gets out of the car and starts screaming at me. I break the window and empty a clip from my micro-uzi in to her body, which now lays lifelessly slumped against her 4WD. Everybody in the area scrambles as I fire randomly in to the crowd of pedestrians and cars; then drive on to the footpath, taking out 3-4 people before realigning myself on the correct side of the road.
So I woke up this morning, dragged myself out of bed, had a shower and made myself breakfast, and packed my lunch. I usually get up at 7.15am to give myself enough time to do all of this before I leave for work. But today... today I got up half an hour earlier so I could see how Little Jacob was doing and give Michelle a call.
Yesterday I took the day off work and picked up my copy of GTA 4 at 9.30am from my local EBgames (US: Gamestop). Took it home and played it from 10.00am to about 8.00pm with a few breaks in between for food, friends and a few other things; all in all I spent around 7 hours in Liberty City yesterday and completed just over 14% of what the game has to offer. This included watching a good 20 minutes of in-game television and more than an hour of starting police chases and causing massacres.
I haven’t been addicted to a game like this since Perfect Dark; GTA 4 has yet to bore me even once. I encountered a mission that took a couple of times to pass, but that was it when it came to the feeling of repetition. Each mission is made to feel like an actual event in the city rather than a “shooting mission”, “driving mission”, “escort mission” etc. Everything is woven so intricately in to the storyline that they don’t seem like “missions” at all, and simply events that happen while you are living in the city.
All of the characters in GTA4 so far are great, from Roman and his gambling habits, Michelle and her strange affixation with cleanliness, to Little Jacob and his hilariously awesome Jamaican accent. I will never be sick of hearing him say “I and I, badman”. The way you interact with the characters defines how they treat you and what they will do for you, and this is done extremely well. Because you have personally met them and decide whether you want to help them or ignore them; it’s a strangely satisfying feeling spending time with them, listening to their stories and hearing how much they like and appreciate you, and you actually start to bond with the characters. I personally have a love for Little Jacob, ee is ma Bredren an all dat ting, respect.
Once you do enough for your friends, and earn their respect they are able to do things for you. From transport, guns, food, hideouts to general tips about people around the city; all can be obtained by spending time with your friends. If you scratch their back, they will more than happily scratch yours.
The handling of the cars took a bit to get used to at first, but once I got the hang of the sliding and inertia, I was drifting and launching myself all over the city like a pro. The handling obviously changes for each car, and you can really tell the difference; as someone who has driven front and rear wheel drive cars, I can honestly say that Rockstar have done a great job on creating an awesomely dynamic, yet fair and believable system of leveling out a cars specifications between real world physics and playability.
The GPS is a much appreciated feature, even though the voice aspect is pretty much useless. I still need to look at the mini-map anyway to see where the corners are, and telling me to turn left in 200 yards doesn't help me when I’m being shot at by police and trying to dodge traffic at 100mph. I’d rather have a small arrow or something on screen if I am going to be prompted anyway.
There are also plenty of models, so you usually don’t see the same car twice in one scene unless it’s a cop or a taxi and If you do it’s usually in a different color; although there have been occasions where the same car has pulled up 3-4 cars behind a duplicate, but it’s still an amazing achievement to have that much variety.
The one thing I don’t think there should be any excuse for is the age old disappearing car glitch. You know how you will be walking down the street, and there will be 2 cars in front of you, then you do a 360 and the cars have been replaced, or even completely disappeared. It’s happened in every GTA game since number 3 and I don’t think there is any excuse for it. Including a proximity trigger to see how close a car is to Niko, and whether the cars can be disposed of would be a simple task, surely. But that said, it doesn’t detract from the game experience at all really.
Pedestrians share the same amount of detail that the cars have in terms of variety, if not more. I have not seen two of the same people on one block, and each suburb has its own variety of people. Not only this, but they all have dialogue, accentuating their race and age, and react to you in different ways, giving them a lot of personality. Pull out a gun on a businessman, he will freeze, or run away; pull out a gun on a rough looking member of society and they will attempt to fight you.
Speaking of fighting, just like everything else, Rockstar went ahead and updated their fighting system. It now consists of 2 punch buttons, a kick button and a dodge button. Alternating punches and timing them correctly will pull off smooth and efficient combos, while simply button mashing assures you being KO’d. Pushing the dodge button just before someone swings at you will make you dodge their attack, and tapping the punch or kick button directly afterwards will cause you to perform a strong combo, resulting in your opponent collapsing into a pile on the floor, displaying what the current engine is capable of.
The Euphoria physics engine takes everything in GTA4 to the next level; from the way trash cans spray garbage all over the floor when you drive in to them, or how a person tumbles over the top of your car when you speed in to them at top speed, the engine is working it’s little gears away to produce the –cleanest- animation I have ever seen in a game. If you thought the seamless animation transitions in Assassins Creed were amazing, then be prepared to be blown away.
The engine gives a new level of life to characters, controlling the swing of a person’s hips, the sway of their shoulders and every other minute detail has been left to the engine to calculate, ensuring a smooth and beautiful motion with every action. When you are screaming down a street at 150mph, watching torsos, fences, garbage and scrap metal flying over your car, reacting to every contour, it’s an amazing sight to behold.
Speaking of amazing sights, I want to tell you that I walk through Liberty City. Walking from my apartment to the small diner around the corner, or from my vehicle in to a bar, even when I am on a date, I walk along side my company. It is absolutely amazing, that no matter where I am or what I do, I can enjoy simply walking down a street and looking around. The city looks stunning under any light, but personally, it takes on a certain charm at about 11am in the morning; there is a kind of fullness to the air; it makes the city feel fresh, vibrant and full of life.
Naysayers will naysay, and nitpickers will nitpick. But no matter what you personally think of GTA4’s graphics, they are as solid as any other AAA title out there. I would say the graphics are on par with that of Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. The models and character animation are silky smooth, the lighting is amazing, the textures scream photorealism and the amount of real-time rendering is astounding. Not many games can match a scene like riding a helicopter across a living city, with cars, lights and sounds intact. You really don’t realize the scope of this city until you are atop one of the largest buildings, looking around at your play-world.
The radio, television and internet are phenomenally funny. All of the humor you have come to know and love is there. One show called The Mens Room features a particular UFC champion that loves to scream about beating people up, along side a prissy, homosexual guy, and they both tackle issues of masculinity and take callers who love cyber sex. Sometimes you will have crossovers of radio ads and television. Like a tv star talking about how well something works that was advertised on the radio. It all adds to the ever growing sense of immersion and realism. The more you play, the deeper you go.
I don't know what the point of this blog was, I think I just really wanted to vent about how epically sweet this game is. If you have any question feel free to ask!
45 minutes in and I already have an apartment, a girlfriend, a mobile phone, went bowling and some loan sharks want me dead! Now I'm being left to my own devices, just wandering around the city, might go catch a comedy act before calling Michelle for another date. Might go for a few drinks with Roman after that.
I haven't even killed anyone yet and this game has me hooked. It really is like a city simulator where you just happen to want to become a crime lord. I was on a date with Michelle and a I hear a cop screaming "LCPD, STOP RIGHT THERE", I turn to see a cop chasing a dude down the street. So I pop out, and shove the dude to his ass and let the cop do his job while I continue walking on my date.
So I just watched the 5 new clips for Eden/Atari's Alone in the Dark.... First of all, let me say I am buying this game, it looks totally epic, the set pieces are enormous and the cinematic feel of it all is absolutely amazing from what I have seen, not to mention the silky graphics and lighting. But if the combat in this game isn't altered, I'm afraid it will not deliver at all.
Take a look at the following clip, it portrays enemies and some, apparently, action packed melee combat.
I'm not sure if this is an early build or what, (I can spot some footage in here from the original trailer released in January), but even though so much in this game looks amazing, like the inventory, combining items, real world physics based puzzles etc. The enemies, combat and over all emotion during fighting is totally not up to par with everything else in the game. You can tell just by watching that it looks stale and boring, the enemies react horribly to the players actions and the fights just seem "tacked on" to the real world interaction aspect.
Again, I don't know if this is how it will be in the final product, but it would be pretty horrible if it were. Take a look at the rest of the game though, in the trailer below, it looks sooooooooo good! I don't think they would release the game with bunky combat controls when everything else looks so damn nice and seems to mesh well, albeit with some annoying camera angles.
I don't know, Im still way excited about this game, but I just hope they don't mess it up by trying to make their scheduled release date. What do you think?
So I get paid in exactly 13 days and I'm planning to buy myself either a Wii or a DSLite. But I have no idea which one I should get! I wrote down all the games I want for each unit and there is a pretty equal list when it comes to quantity and variety, but when it comes down to what I really want to play, I'm probably siding with the DS.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The World Ends With You
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Advance Wars
Sonic Rush Adventure
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Mario Kart DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario 64 DS
Pokemon Pearl
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Contra 4
Yoshi's Island DS
Diddy Kong Racing DS
Worms: Open Warfare 2
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant wings
Nanostray
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Trauma Center: Second Opinion
No More Heroes
Super Mario Galaxy
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Okami
Super Paper Mario
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Boom Blox
The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Sonic Unleashed
Bomberman Land
Link's Crossbow Training
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Mario Party 8
Excite Truck
I don't want a 360 at the moment. I'm waiting until the end of the year when it has some good exclusives and new motherboard, so don't bother mentioning that. I spend most of my time at home, only venturing out on weekends every now and then, so I guess a Wii would be more suited to my lifestyle. But the DS has some awesome looking games I NEED to play, like Phantom Hourglass and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.
I'm really stuck at a crossroad here guys. Can you think of any reason I should buy either unit? Any games I should know about that I haven't listed? Any kind of advice would be appreciated.
P.S. If you tell me this belongs in the forums, you are automatically telling everybody that you enjoy having a penis in your mouth.
Games I'm playing:
-GTA 4 (PS3)
-Homeworld 2 (PC)
-Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP)
-MX vs ATV (PSP)
-Echochrome (PSP)
-Final Fantasy - The War of the Lions (PSP)
-Wipeout Pulse (PSP)
-Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops+ (PSP)
-Me and My Katamari (PSP)
-Silent Hill Origins (PSP)
-Harvey Birdman (PSP)
-Crisis Core (PSP)
-Chilli Con-Carnage(PSP)
-Condemned 2 (PS3)
-Warhawk (PS3)
-Killzone Liberation (PSP)
-World in Conflict (PC)
-Call of Duty 4 (PC)
-FEAR - Perseus Mandate (PC)
-Patapon (PSP)
-Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
-Gears of War (PC)
-Stranglehold (PC)
-Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (PC)
-God of War 2 (PS2)
Recently Complete:
-Skate (PS3)
-Crysis (PC)
-Kane and Lynch (PC)
-Timeshift (PC)
-Manhunt 2 (PSP)
-Halo 3 (X360)
-God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)
