LucasH

During the last... Oh, I don't know, three weeks of sickness, is it three weeks, or four? Anyway, during that time I've still found the energy to play a great new RPG.

Before I go into any of the gaming stuff, in fact, that will get it’s own post next up, as I think it ought to get more than a one paragraph mention! So this entry into my neglected blog shall be a re-cap of what has been going on…

Let’s see, let’s see. Well the weather has obviously been turning cooler and cooler outside, though to be honest I’ve not gone outside for weeks. October is sort of a mucousy haze which is hard to recall with any clarity. H1N1 hit me, I started to get over it, and as you can see from the quietness spreading over my blog once again, I was pushing to get well too soon, and ended up back in bed for four days straight. I’m usually a very healthy person, I rarely get sick and when I do I get over it very quickly, so it was really very shocking to be hit so hard by this swine flu thing.

I’ve done little actual work for the past I don’t know how long, but I’d been working so much up to that point that I’m not really behind all that much, and my bosses are all very understanding of my illness and really don’t want me to push it and end up not working till the new year or something drastic.

I’ve not been paying attention to much of anything outside of my house. It’s fun! I’m like a hermit! All the things I usually keep tabs on, upcoming games, what's happening with mortgage news, finance markets and all that. I peered down my street today when I ventured outside to pick up my post – first time I’ve been outside in a very long time – and I noticed that not just one of the houses on my street are selling, but three homes have sale of house signs up! Wow, the market might be looking up? I don’t know.

Anyway, I’m going to go onto a fresh new post so I can talk about an awesome new game I’ve been playing.

Well, less bloody, actually. The creators of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 have decided to reduce the blood for this new title in the series.

So, yes, I'm sort of surprised that they can say with such certainty that there is exactly 57% less blood than Ninja Gaiden II, but there you have it. There is still blood in the game, still red cuts when you hit an enemy, still blood spatters on walls and floors, but when you cut off a limb of an opponent in game no longer is there a gout of red, but instead the exact same gout... but now in blue!

It was apparently done to appeal to a broader audience, especially in Japan where violence is frowned upon. That's a hard pill to swallow, considering they are the home of the Yakuza, and have a history - right up to the first half of the last century - of being one of the most violent nations on the planet, and seem to have no qualms in completely and utterly objectifying women. Personally, I don't care for the level of gore in the previous games, but I still find it strange nonetheless that a country that loves Dead or Alive games would have issues with blatant violence.

It's a strange choice, too, to keep in some blood effects, but to alter others only in colour. Why not reduce them, or take them out, or make all the 'blood' blue? This half measure way of doing it is odd, and doesn't seem right to me.

I'm all for maturation of the medium, but I would rather it was consistent throughout the entire game, not just some randomly chosen aspects being changed whilst others left the same. It's a very strange approach, and I'm interested to see how people respond when they get their hands on the games.

So far the response out there is rather mixed. There are those like myself, who appreciate the reduced gore, but don't like the approach, and there are those who think that both those aspects are fine, and then there are those who are now really aggravated about it. Those people I don't understand at all!

Well, we'll find out soon enough how it all goes, the game ships to us Brits at the beginning of October.

Goodness, I don't know if I'll 'rock out' to anything... I'm not the 'rocking out' sort.

Firstly, lets be clear, I’ve not played any of the Rock Band, Guitar Hero, games… at all. Nor any of those ‘Sing Star’ games. I’ve not had a PlayStation in a long while, and I’ve not felt compelled to play these games in spite of generally liking rhythm games. I think it’s being told to like them that puts me off… Does that make me contrary? Maybe…

Anyway, this one is getting some odd reactions. Reviewers are treating it like the bees knees, the cat’s meow, and all sorts of animal related idioms. It’s sitting at 9.0 on IGN, and Metacritic is showing it at 89, but there seems to be some less than stellar fan reviews. Basically, there are two camps regarding this game.

First camp, the major review sites. They say it’s awesome, great song list, visuals are pretty good, sound is pretty good, not a huge challenge of a Rock Band game, though. Second camp, the players. A heck of a lot of players are panning this game due to how easy it is, which leads to it getting boring quickly, and the fact that the amount of songs on the game compared to the amount of songs that you can download if you pay for. If you’ve read much of my blog you’ll know I absolutely detest games being released with downloadable content already available should you pay for it. That’s total BS, in my opinion, and just a very nasty practice being used by game producers.

So, where do I sit in all this? It seems to me that if you like The Beatles and you have a PS3, you’d be a little silly not to get this game at some point. However, if you’re like me, and The Beatles aren’t really your thing, then this probably isn’t the title for you. So, I think I’ll continue along having not played any of the Rock Band games until one comes along that is just too awesome to pass up. This title does not meet this standard for me, but as I said, I think Beatles fans will go mental for it.

I just love being connected to the world without having to be in it, and it is through technology that I get that, so... technology for the win!

For instance, I was just offered a free trial of a new phone system, because I work from home and have a very awesome broadband connection. I hear of so many people still using ADSL or some even using dial up!? But today I’m really aware just how much I use my net connection, for regular news, or tech news, which is cool, because it’s often not covered on normal sites in much detail. Try this site here for broadband and tech news. I hate using the phone, so email is essential for me, and of course I have to have a great connection for gaming, not to mention for actual work, too. Though I’m not working today, oh no, today I’m catching up on blogging!

I’ve been having trouble with my blog all week. It took me four days to figure out that one of my blogging program files were corrupted, and then I had to completely reload the software onto my PC! I kept up my blogging, I just wasn’t posting them, so don’t be surprised to see a week’s worth of blog posts go up today!

It was very nice to be able to get my blog back up and running, especially because I’ve been so busy with work that I really didn’t have time to do much in the way of figuring out what was actually wrong. It’s always like that, though, you’ve never got much time to fix things, which is probably why my methods are precise… I’ve had time to think about exactly the best way to troubleshoot, and fix the issue before I waste a lot of time on it.

Anyway, enough of that. I was looking at the PlayStation Network, and for those who want to use the online multiplayer function, you pretty much have to have some form of headset or the like. The nifty thing with the PS3 is that it can be a Bluetooth one, which is pretty cool… then I thought about actually playing with other people, and having to listen to them, and I shook myself out of my silliness.

Looks to be a good one. Dragon Age Origins has the makings of a really good game, one that I am really looking forward to playing on the PS3.

This is an Action RPG sort of game, from the creators of some of the best games ever. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal, is still one of my favourite games of all time. These are also the creative minds behind Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Neverwinter Nights II. So some really stand up games there, definitely this team turns out some of the best content in gaming so far.

Now, when I first saw this title I wasn't really sold... I don't know exactly why, it just felt somewhat not up to par with BioWare's previous titles, but the more I looked at the game, and the tons of videos they have on their website and IGN is also hosting, the game really took off in appeal. Sure it's gory as heck, but that's part and parcel of fighting back hordes of evil creatures.

The game has a huge focus on your 'origin' story. Where you came from. This doesn't only include your race, but also includes you social status and class. For instance, the human noble origin story starts you off defending a castle, whilst the dwarf commoner story starts you off working for a crime lord. It's all very interesting, and the cinematic scenes look quite good, too.

Character creation looks to be done nicely, and it is very refreshing to be given such free range in character design whilst we are still getting nigh on full voice acting. I can easily see this game spawning a sequel or two, and I wouldn't mind that. It's going to be released across all platforms, with the PS3 coming last as BioWare is less familiar with developing for that console. The game will ship early November for 360 and PC, and PS3 will be later in that month.

And the reduced price that goes along with it.

At a Gamescom press conference in Germany today, or yesterday, it's hard to tell, Sony announced that not only where they dropping the price on their current console, but that they were also releasing the PS3 Slim. The PS3 Slim will be smaller and lighter than it's original counterpart, plus it will draw less electricity and have a larger, 120G, hard drive. All other aspects of the console will remain the same, there are still two USB ports, Wireless, and Bluetooth. 

I have to say, I'm pretty pleased that just before I was about to buy a PS3, at the end of this month, this happens. Here in the UK the original PS3 will be selling at £249.99, as will the Slim when it ships September 1st. I don't really mind the size of the console, I didn't have any issue with the original PS3, so I'm pleased that the console is now environmentally better, and is also more likely to net Sony some actual profit from the consoles themselves - at this time, Sony actually <em>loses</em> money for each console sold, they can't put the price high enough to cover their cost and still maintain any competition with XBOX360 and Wii - but I'm not over the moon about anything save the fact that I can afford to get a few more games with my console, now. :D

I find it an interesting move, on Sony's part, because they are still selling the soon-to-ship PSP Go will still retail for £214, so they obviously aren't entering to a huge price war with the other consoles. I've no interest whatsoever in the PSP Go, I think Nintendo DS Lite kicks it's ass in entertainment, so I don't care that they are sticking to a high price for their portable console.

In the coming weeks, when I've picked up my brand new PS3 Slim I'll be writing some reviews for games I've played on it.