I was going to feature the brilliant new music video for Hot Chip's "I Feel Better" for our Games of the Week post, but finding a vid without embedding disabled is impossible, so there shall be no promotion. Shame, because it really is quite brilliant. You ought to go and check it out yourselves if you can be arsed.
In other news, we played videogames! Read on to find out which ones!
North:Pokemon HeartGold is actually my main focus this week. Nice alternatives with Yakuza 3 and 3d Dot Game Heroes, both of which are also fantastic. Good month to be a gamer!
Ross: Wrapping up Command & Conquer 4, got in some Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III, still trying to finish Miles Edgeworth, and getting in little bits of SoulSilver whenever I can.
Tolentino: Yes, it's a good month to be a gamer, but also a damned expensive month.
I've been alternating between Resonance of Fate for review and Dragon Age, while playing Persona PSP to sleep and patiently waiting for my copy of Infinite Space to arrive. Then I'll be covered on all platform fronts.
Sterling: Lots of games this week! 3D Dot Game Heroes has been the main one. A lot of fun indeed. Then there's Fragile Dreams, which is like No More Heroes in that there is so much wrong with it, yet the overall experience is both unique and gripping. Fitting in some more Pokemon SoulSilver where I can, for my Ekans must be cultivated. Played a bit of Perfect Dark on XBLA. Also, God of War III, which is the same old game I've played before, but it looks amazing.
Also been rocking the nostalgia on the Virtual Console with Ocarina of Time, and the original Super Mario Bros. that was gifted to me by Dtoid reader Tron. Thanks!
Aziz: I was playing Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360 until my system finally got the 3 Rings of Death. Oh well. This just means I'll be playing God of War III for the PlayStation 3 now.
Concelmo: I AM AT DISNEYLAND RIGHT NOW AND IT IS AMAZING! :D
Chester: Spending a lot of time with Just Cause 2 which is big and loooooong. If can manage to finish this game, expect a release date review.
Learning the WarioWare D.I.Y. ropes, and making my own micro-games!
Also been playing Rage of the Gladiator which is a surprisingly solid and tough Punch-Out!! style game for WiiWare.
Looking forward to digging into 3D Dot Heroes this week, too. Dale and Jim seem to be having a blast, and I'm jealous.
PerLee: I'm really digging FFXIII. It's weird, but I kinda like having my hand held. It's a really relaxing, oddly. I can totally recognize all the complaints against it, but I still like it a ton. Go figure. Hopefully I'll beat this one.
Tolentino: Hand-holding isn't so bad. In fact, Resonance of Fate could probably have used a little more.
Holmes: You guys have 3D Dot Heroes!?! SO JEALOUS!
As for me, started playing God of War 2 and Fragile Dreams. Have about 40 minutes into both. I can safely say that if these two games had a baby, it would be the perfect videogame, barring that it didn't inherent any of it's parents' lesser traits (God of War 2's soullessness and cliches, Fragile Dreams' lack of polish crappy combat system).
Also spent a hell of a lot of time with Rondo of Blood on the Virtual Console. Unlike the PSP game seems to be a perfect port of the original, barring the new German voice actor in the intro. Why'd they get a new guy to spreken de deutsch, and why didn't they just have him speak some English instead?
Also played more Yakuza 3, Mega Man 10, and Deadly Premonition.
Sarkar: Got Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on Tuesday; played multiplayer on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights for a total of, like, 10 hours or so. Yep, I'm officially addicted. I haven't checked out the single-player campaign yet, but since somebody on my Xbox Live friends list is always playing MP when I turn on my 360, I haven't had the urge to go solo.
I also checked out the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo, which made me realize that I just might not be very good at stealth games. And maybe I'm missing stuff, but it seemed very linear in that you didn't get many options in how you wanted to proceed. If someone wants to enlighten me, please do so.
Finally, I played a bunch of MLB 10 The Show, as usual. I tried playing a few online games, but it appears that -- yet again -- The Show is pretty bad online. I haven't had a single lag-free game yet, and when the delay is causing you to throw meatballs (or balls way out of the strike zone) and flail wildly at pitches because you have to guess fastball, it's just not fun at all.
Razak: I finally beat Uncharted 2 and must admit I am impressed, but not super impressed. It's good, and does some great things to make the game feel more like a movie, but also loses feeling like a game because of it. It's like in this odd limbo sometimes. Nathan Drake on the other hand is just awesome, though I still wish they actually developed more than just a one-liner dropping action star. There's no character development there. He starts the game the same way he finishes, and yet the rest of the plot is so deep and robust.
Finally finishing up Spirit Tracks as well. I got sidetracked (har har), but it's still a blast.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Been playing Resonance of Fate quite a bit. Really good, has one of the most tactical (and punishing) battle systems I've ever seen. It's caused me to break from Yakuza 3, and will probably be the reason I never start playing FFXIII seriously.
Spent most of the week finishing up Mass Effect 2 and making a new character. I somehow managed to get through the suicide mission without losing anyone on my squad...must be common sense or dumb luck. Also, the Vangaurd kicks a lot of ass, play it. Ans I also started playing The Sabetour this morningand its pretty good from what I've played so far. Other then that not much
Finished Ace Attorney Investigations, it's pretty amazing, as I've come to expect of the Ace Attorney series. Also, Just started playing Deux Ex for the first time.
I had a chance with an old game. The Game Cube version of Capcom VS SNK 2...and I hated the controls...dunno if there's a better way to play it but the analog-C-do-everything thing is horrible.
Again, a little of Soul Calibur 2 ( GC version ) and discovered just how much I miss the old style of the Soul series.
Just finished FEAR 2 which was a decent shooter. I didn't find it nearly as scary as the first and the level design felt uninspired. Overall, it was sort of average. Anyways, I finally got my copy of Beyond Good and Evil which I am looking forward to playing this week.
I'm still playing FF XIII, can't finish it, got a lotta work now. I could say I'm enjoying it, but at the same time completely agree with your review somehow.
I think that's about it. Not a good week, or even month to be a gamer. With this amount of work and my probable forced departure to fucking military next month for a year, it's not a good time to be a human being.
Played a little bit of Perfect Dark XBLA , pursued my very slow playtrough of Deadly Premonition but Pokemon Soul Silver has been taking most of my time this week. This game is so fucking good, I'm about to get myself raped by the Elite Fours for the first time. It's going to be great!
Been playing Psychonauts. Yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Oh, and I'm at the end of the second season of Sam & Max. It's fucking awesome, Chariot of Dogs is the best episode of the series.
Just finished God of War III today. Very nice indeed, although the quality sort of steadily decreases as the game goes on. Still pretty brilliant, and the ending...I don't know. I definitely didn't love it, but I certainly didn't hate it either. Further contemplation is warranted.
Daxter (just finished), Secret Agent Clank (about to finish.....damn that game gets difficult), New Super Mario Bros Wii (2 player, with my girl) and God of war III............
I finished Playing Modern Warfare 2 for the last time in ever. I sent it off to Goozex because i got fed up with the bullshit in there.
Deadly Premonition i started and am loving it immensely.
Also Quested to get a DS, which my old one died on me, and the first used one couldn't boot any games. Now though I've been rocking Soul Silver and walking all over creation with the Pokéwalker.
I haven't yet decided whether that video is awesome or flat-out terrifying.
The beginning of my week saw a playthrough of God of War III, which I found immensely disappointing. I'd like to write something up on it, but the Rev's post kinda' robbed me of the momentum I was feeling, so we'll see how that turns out.
I just started Mass Effect 2 and am curious to see how things turn out. Not really in that far, so I've no personal experience with the differences or similarities as yet. Martin Sheen was saying stuff about how important I am, so that was pretty nifty.
That's about it for actual playtime havings, though I did watch "The King of Kong" last night, which was extremely entertaining. Only documentary I've ever seen to have a bad guy who was such an apparent jerkface. Absolutely recommend it to anybody ever.
At the 30 hour mark of Final Fantasy 13. Still enjoying it. On case 4 of Miles Edgeworth. Also, still enjoying it.
And a new Shin Megami Tensei game comes out this week, which means I need to beat Edgeworth by Tuesday, otherwise it will take me a long time to come back to it. (i'm that way with SMT)
Hoy, quite a bit this week.
I've been playing a lot of BFBC2, which I'm enjoying more than I thought I was going to, even for the little things, and sometimes hilarious glitches. I really like the new destruction system, and often how it feels streamlined with the weapon layout. Like if I save a bit of C4 for later, I can blow up a large section of a bridge so a car drives off of it. Makes the game feel a lot better.
Also, been playing ME2, and Dragon Age Origins: Awakening, I'll probably thread this with Lead and Gold, which isn't bad, but has too many problems. I really don't like how if I open up the "How to play" screen, and then try to open the menu immediately after, it causes a game-breaking bug.
Also, a little bit of Saira, which I'm enjoying what I've played of it, and I might get around to trying Avencast if I feel like it.
Finished Deus Ex. It started bad, but then it became OK and by the end of the game it was awesome. You can find better nowadays but back in 2000 that shit was so Ekans.
I'll add that I rented God of War III, played it for a couple of hours......seems like more of the same (which, obviously, it is, why mess with a successful formula). Not sure whether Im going to play any more of it though...its gotten Boring, and after beating I & II a couple of months ago, III is really not doing a whole lot for me, especially since I've grown bored of the "button mash-beating of enemies and then solve some puzzles gameplay" Anyone else agree?
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to pick up Infinite Space as well. I'm having fun with it so very, seems to be that mix of space I like in a handheld system. Makes me wish I had Escape Velocity on a portable like that, maybe on the PSP? Oooo, that sounds awesome.
Beat Darksiders this week, was surprised at how short it was. I've been working on an Apocalypse-mode playthrough...but it's surprisingly easy. I may or may not finish it.
Also started Blue Dragon and Spirit Tracks (finally), been having lots of fun with both of those!
Final Fantasy 13 is my main cup of tea since it's launch. I like it. I really like the refreshing and surprisingly strategic combat. I will say, that Square tried WAAAAYYYYYYY too hard with the story. Like, "this is the worst Final Fantasy story ever" hard. I just landed on Gran Pulse (Chapter 11) and shit just got real. Grinding GET.
Slowly going through Edgeworth (STILL).
I bought Shatter this week on the PSN and not only is the gameplay fantastic, THE SOUNDTRACK IS AMAZING ZOMG.
I am not that far in, but the combat seems decent, the setting is colorful, and characters all seem really likeable. I actually just bought my PS2 a few months ago (yeah, I know I am really late to the party), so it usually takes me a while to get used to the control for most games, but once that passes I am sure I will enjoy it a lot.
From what I've played I'm really not digging the Jade is an awesome female lead thing that most people start off on. I agree that her supporting cast is extremely colorful ,diverse and pretty fun but Jade just isn't doing it for me.
and yeah that's pretty late to the party, but I guess you get to pick up a bunch of fun games for cheap. I've also never liked the PS2 controller. The sticks just never really feel in the right place and the D-pad always just felt weird.
I'm still playing FFXIII *On the last boss now* I'm also playing God of War 3. The Titan difficulty doesn't seem that hard. I'm already at the Labirinth and 2 more Challenge Of Olympus before I get the trophy for it.
Wrapped up FF13, GoW3, had to play Moto GP 09/10 which sucked at first (on an SDTV) but was surprisingly better on my own tv. Also finished Uncharted 2, and agree with Matt on it. Really great game, miles better than the first one, not perfect.
Wrapped up the story to Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. The big plot twist doesn't quite have the satisfying "Aha!" feeling where it managed to make everything mystery up until that point simultaneously sense like Curious Village, but it's still a damn good ending nonetheless. Now to go and get all the puzzles done. I've only finished 121 so far, so I have plenty to work through still.
Also, my 360 finally clonked out after a year of service. Friday night I got an E74. Good news is that my dad got a plan for the game when he bought it from Best Buy, so all I need to do is go down there and get it exchanged. I was kind of hoping to finally finish Ikaruga before the end of spring break, but that didn't quite work out.
Also got a copy of Dead Rising out of my local Target's bargain bin. So far I'm enjoying it a lot, although my completionist OCD is kicking in, and now I'm keeping myself from proceeding if I miss a survivor, but I get the feeling I'll be all the more satisfied for it in the end. Also Capcom, if you're going to include invincible enemies in a car with a gatling gun, give me a break and don't allow them to shoot me from 500 yards away. Seriously.
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Contest:
9:00 PM on 03.21.2010
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Again, a little of Soul Calibur 2 ( GC version ) and discovered just how much I miss the old style of the Soul series.
I have played many good games this week.
I think that's about it. Not a good week, or even month to be a gamer. With this amount of work and my probable forced departure to fucking military next month for a year, it's not a good time to be a human being.
Oh, and I'm at the end of the second season of Sam & Max. It's fucking awesome, Chariot of Dogs is the best episode of the series.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=103630659
Deadly Premonition i started and am loving it immensely.
Also Quested to get a DS, which my old one died on me, and the first used one couldn't boot any games. Now though I've been rocking Soul Silver and walking all over creation with the Pokéwalker.
The beginning of my week saw a playthrough of God of War III, which I found immensely disappointing. I'd like to write something up on it, but the Rev's post kinda' robbed me of the momentum I was feeling, so we'll see how that turns out.
I just started Mass Effect 2 and am curious to see how things turn out. Not really in that far, so I've no personal experience with the differences or similarities as yet. Martin Sheen was saying stuff about how important I am, so that was pretty nifty.
That's about it for actual playtime havings, though I did watch "The King of Kong" last night, which was extremely entertaining. Only documentary I've ever seen to have a bad guy who was such an apparent jerkface. Absolutely recommend it to anybody ever.
Whee~!
And a new Shin Megami Tensei game comes out this week, which means I need to beat Edgeworth by Tuesday, otherwise it will take me a long time to come back to it. (i'm that way with SMT)
I've been playing a lot of BFBC2, which I'm enjoying more than I thought I was going to, even for the little things, and sometimes hilarious glitches. I really like the new destruction system, and often how it feels streamlined with the weapon layout. Like if I save a bit of C4 for later, I can blow up a large section of a bridge so a car drives off of it. Makes the game feel a lot better.
Also, been playing ME2, and Dragon Age Origins: Awakening, I'll probably thread this with Lead and Gold, which isn't bad, but has too many problems. I really don't like how if I open up the "How to play" screen, and then try to open the menu immediately after, it causes a game-breaking bug.
Also, a little bit of Saira, which I'm enjoying what I've played of it, and I might get around to trying Avencast if I feel like it.
Also, Resonance of Fate is really good. Buying it with FF XIII means I have literally no money for a couple of weeks, but it's so good.
I just got BG&E too! I'm not a huge 3d action/platformer fan, but this has been really good so far. Really nice to brush off the PS2 to play it.
Also started Blue Dragon and Spirit Tracks (finally), been having lots of fun with both of those!
Slowly going through Edgeworth (STILL).
I bought Shatter this week on the PSN and not only is the gameplay fantastic, THE SOUNDTRACK IS AMAZING ZOMG.
I am not that far in, but the combat seems decent, the setting is colorful, and characters all seem really likeable. I actually just bought my PS2 a few months ago (yeah, I know I am really late to the party), so it usually takes me a while to get used to the control for most games, but once that passes I am sure I will enjoy it a lot.
From what I've played I'm really not digging the Jade is an awesome female lead thing that most people start off on. I agree that her supporting cast is extremely colorful ,diverse and pretty fun but Jade just isn't doing it for me.
and yeah that's pretty late to the party, but I guess you get to pick up a bunch of fun games for cheap. I've also never liked the PS2 controller. The sticks just never really feel in the right place and the D-pad always just felt weird.
Also, my 360 finally clonked out after a year of service. Friday night I got an E74. Good news is that my dad got a plan for the game when he bought it from Best Buy, so all I need to do is go down there and get it exchanged. I was kind of hoping to finally finish Ikaruga before the end of spring break, but that didn't quite work out.
Also got a copy of Dead Rising out of my local Target's bargain bin. So far I'm enjoying it a lot, although my completionist OCD is kicking in, and now I'm keeping myself from proceeding if I miss a survivor, but I get the feeling I'll be all the more satisfied for it in the end. Also Capcom, if you're going to include invincible enemies in a car with a gatling gun, give me a break and don't allow them to shoot me from 500 yards away. Seriously.