You weren't there? Damn it sucks to be you.



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Well it is CONFIRMED....



I'M COMMIN' TO PAX!!!

McSnow just emailed me to let me know my ticket has been purchased. whoot! Even better McSnow got crazy discount, instead of £440 return the flights were £277! I <3 U McSnow!

EuroF4gs will be there in force this year with (I think) 8 British Dtodiers and one crazy Dutch Guy heading to Seattle.

also I'm putting a little somthing together and I need some quotes, so can you guys please leave a comment of just a couple of sentences summing up what dtoid means to you or jsut leave me some totaly awesome Dtoid sayings just like 'also, cocks'.

I was lucky enough to be invited to Capcom offices in jolly old London to play through some of the review copy of Resident Evil 5. The day started how you would pretty much imagine a Dtoid meet to start, I tried to drag Mikey shopping in London but he was quickly rescued by BunnyRabbit. We found ourselves in Selfrdiges checking out the KidRobot stuff which we quickly figured we couldn't afford. McSnow joined us in the Trocadero (bloody massive Sega world arcade) where he raided a sweet shop just before we met up with Poetic Justice and headed out to Capcom. I have added many of the images from our little adventure to the gallery, so check them out.

The setup was pretty basic, 10 people were invited and we were given two and a half hours to playthrough as much as we could in co-op mode. Sadly, Poetic Justice got stuck with me as his co-op partner.

Before starting, Capcom's PR gave us a quick opportunity to ask questions and like a bullet from a gun I was first to ask one of the most burning questions, what was Capcom's feelings about what appears to be the big uproar surrounding the controls? After the demo hit XBL many people found they weren't happy with the Resident Evil 5 control scheme. Gamers displayed a certain amount of worry (myself included) that if the controls played out in the full version how they did in the demo, that Resident Evil 5 may have a serious problem on its hands. The PR personally didn't feel the control scheme had any problems, he felt they played out well and that at least one of the four different control schemes should hopefully keep people happy. He believed that since this is the first Resident Evil on a next-gen system that the game would be under strict scrutiny from fans, which is true. He also felt that the inability to run and shoot meant that Resident Evil stayed more authentic to its roots and that people are used to the 'run and gun' from the barrage of FPS games that have been released recently, that Resident Evil 5 controls were a "halfway house" between FPS and old school Resident Evil.



I also took this time to ask about Resident Evil 5 multiplayer, a rumor which had found itself circulating on the internet before finally being squashed by Capcom. Was multiplayer for Resident Evil 5 ever considered or did the internet create that rumor itself? Well apparently they knew nothing about it and said they would rather keep away from internet rumors. Can't say I blame them, we do cook up some rather interesting stuff.

While the playthrough gave me plenty to talk about, such as the graphics or environment which is better saved for a full review, the playthrough certainly gave me some interesting insight to the difference between what I played at Capcom and what was available for download on XBL.

I've been pretty vocal amongst friends that I didn't enjoy the demo controls, in fact I hated them so much that I honestly started to think of Resident Evil 5 as a totally lost cause. The demo throws you in head first, before you know it you're being eaten alive, before you have even figured out how to run and it all ends with you mashing the pad and cursing loudly. As mentioned before though, the playthrough allowed us to start from the beginning, this gave us time to work through the control scheme ourselves and understand it. To put it in perspective I played through the demo with a friend in co-op, we died in the first house/hut three times and then we just gave up absolutely frustrated. When me and Justice came back to it on the playthrough we actually succeeded first time without any major problems. Yes, I still couldn't shoot and run which I do think would have been great at certain points but when the mad panic of "I don't know how to use these goddamn controls" was eliminated I found the inability to run and shoot actually helped build tension and really got my adrenaline flowing. I certainly made a complete fool of myself as I constantly found myself shouting desperately at the TV screen while the nervous energy drew me to the edge of my seat.



I was hugely impressed by the co-op experience of Resident Evil 5, it felt like how I have always imagined true co-op to be, myself and Justice were continually talking, planning and basically helping each other in any way possible. In fact I cannot imagine the game without co-op. It feels vital, which is now the problem. The playthrough managed to eliminate my fears regarding difficulties with controllers but instead I now fear the A.I. If the A.I turns out to be little more than a hindrance that has no actual common sense to help you when it's standing right next to you as you get eaten alive then the game will feel flawed. However if you are super cool with lots of friends like me then you have nothing to fear as I'm sure you will have plenty of people just dying to co-op with you. If not there is only one way to find out how the A.I will fare, roll on March 13th!



and because you all love me so, check this article out on GEN www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com and leave me a comment to make me look super popular and cool.

1. I am a midwife, yes that does mean I deliver babies. I have see and done some pretty amazing things and most of them involve an awful lot of blood and baby related mess. My midwifery course at university has put me through hell and back and two years ago it even put me on antidepressants. I am so glad I have stuck with it, I've never experienced anything that can give me so many highs and lows. It gives me meaning.

2. I used to get bullied in high school because I was the fat nerdy one, something similar happened to me 2 years ago and its the reason I quit cosplaying.Thanks to all of this I developed an eating disorder and despite it making me cry at the time, I had to tell Neiro at PAX that dtoid and the people here are the one thing that really pulled me through.

3. I am the middle child but I actually thought I was the oldest, my parents ever told me had an older half sister until I was 16

4. Athesitum is the real reason I am dtoid, she showed me this site and I can't thank her enough for that. The day I joined a picture of me and her made it on the front page ;)

5. Everyone knows I'm dyslexic, it's pretty obvious but being made to write in front of people or even chat to new people on gmail terrifies me. I really worry that people think less of me because I can't spell or can't really use grammar properly.

6. I have REALLY big feet, a UK size 10, I think thats about 12 in the USA.

7. I have slept with music on for the last 9 years and thats not just music playing, thats with my headphones on. I now can't sleep without it and if i can't find iPod everyone will know about it

8. I am now a lead writer over at GEN www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com run by Aktrez, it is one of the best things that ever happened to me, I bloody love it.

9. My dad thinks I am a lesbian and has asked my 3 times now if I am, all because I play video games, spend alot of my time single (as apposed to my popular sister) and have several Kasumi posters and figures in my room.

10. My whole family hates my Aunties ex husband but I still think he is awesome since he gave me his old N64 and thats what made me into a gamer.

So I've been left lying in a pool of my own blood, bruised and beaten to a pulp by myself of all people and all done out of pure frustration. If it hadn't been me, it would have been the 360 that I would have thrown against the wall and there were a few moments of blind rage where I even felt myself reaching out to do exactly that. All of this came from my retro tinted spectacles (think rose tinted but in 16bit glory) being shattered by downloading and playing the original version of Banjo-Kazooie on XBLA.

Being such a Banjo fangirl I was obviously very opposed to Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts since "Banjo mixed with Lego vehicles and racing" is obviously such a stupid idea that it could never work. I was lucky enough to pick up a free download code for the original game when N&B was released and I couldn't wait to get home to it since the original game was obviously far superior. As a child I remember spending rather alarming amounts of time on Banjo-Kazooie and collecting all those damn jiggies and I loved every minute of it, yet I find myself agonized as I replay it now.

While loading the game I found myself charmed by the bright colours, yet after 20 minutes I could feel my eyes melting. It's not that I am opposed to alarming bright primary colours but after I came out of rehab for Viva Pinata I fell into my 'shades of gray' phase with games such as Gears of War and the relapse scares me. I also remember being charmed as a young gamer by the cute little voices given to characters while they talk, but after about three sentences from Bottles I found myself loading up iTunes and craving Nine Inch Nails or anything slightly depraved.

The game play is where it not only broke my heart but ripped it out of my body, still beating and then showed it to me as I gasped for my last breath because the game is broken; I swear to God it's bloody broken and I do not remember it being so infuriatingly broken! I have never ever wanted to throw my controller out of the window so badly, I swear I hit that bad guy, and yes I've heard the phrase 'don't hate the game...blah blah blah', but I swear I hit him so why isn't he dead?! It isn't dead because the game is bloody broken and if that isn't enough the camera has absolutely no interest in helping me complete this game as it enjoys making me play through brick walls or at increasingly annoying angles.

This isn't just with Banjo-Kazooie--I've felt this with so many other retro games, games which have shaped my childhood like Zelda or Final Fantasy—I will always love those games yet they don't transcend into my next-gen world of gaming. I've been spoiled by beautiful graphics and smooth gameplay that out-do anything retro games can produce. These next gen games won't ever knock games like Banjo-Kazooie or Zelda off my list of all time favourite games, they will merely join them upon the pedestal I have created for them. Yet replaying games like Banjo Kazooie is the reason I wish I didn't bother. Retro tinted spectacles allow me to look back upon games that by today's standards would be classed as crap and remember them fondly, but maybe that's how they should stay; fond memories. My experience of Banjo-Kazooie makes me scared of what replying games like Final fantasy VIII will do to my love for it. I don't want to hate or curse it, I don't want to feel like I'm punishing myself either; these games shaped me into the geek I have become today. It takes a certain type of gamer to appreciate retro gaming in a modern world, I certainly haven't lost my love for all those old games, I still kiss my N64 goodnight, but consoles like the 360 have taken me firmly by the hand and pushed me head first into the next generation world and I am kinda of scared that there is no longer a chance to turn back.

And yes, Banjo-Tooie is also on its way to XBLA, so if you really want to ruin someone's childhood...

This the same post I put up on the front page of the website I blog for called GEN or http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/ I met these people through dtoid, I've been here nearly 2 years and those who have been here just as long, if not longer, will remember people like William Haley, VirtualGirl, Kananya and Aktrez who are all over at GEN. GEN is taking some big steps right now and is trying to stand upon its own two feet and traffic and support it totaly needed. show the love...http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/my-broken-16bit-heart/ I know if it wasn't for all my time here at dtoid I wouldn't be blogging over at GEN and actually really enjoying it.



SEE YOU AT PAX BITCHES!

oh wait, that's me.