Happy Xmas/Quanza/Chanukah/the others everyone

Now, regarding those 12 months of 2007 posts I planned to do. Scratch them, I don't remember enough games that I bought. Instead, I'll finish off the year with a look at whats coming in 2008.

Battalion Wars 2: America already has this game, and Australia itself probably won't see it until 2nd quarter at least. However, Europe are apparently getting this game in January. This is a very interesting real time strategy meets action/adventure. You have armies that you can order to attack enemies, or defend bases, but you can also take over as any unit in your army, and act as them. For example, you can take command of a tank, and lead your troops into battle, while firing alongside them. The original on gamecube was very fun, if a little short. Now with online multiplayer, and more factions, this is a brand new game.

Super Smash Bros Brawl: I haven't shut up about this game for months. America gets this masterpiece in February, however Europe might not get it until 3rd quarter. Which would mean something like a 2008 Christmas for us. That would be extremely F***ing gay. I may import an American Wii for the game. Anyway, the sequel to the best selling game, Melee on gamecube, Brawl is a fast paced, fighting game, involving major Nintendo, Nintendo related, or third party characters fighting it out for supremacy. Wanto to see who would win if Link and Samus ever fought? Don't you want to know who is more powerful, Bowser, or Donkey Kong? It's these sort of questions that are answered with Melee, and now Brawl. Online play, co-op adventure mode, new characters (including Snake from Metal Gear Solid, and Sonic), more random online stuff, this is going to be one of the best Wii games ever, if not, one of the best games ever.

Trauma Center: New Blood: I got the first Wii game, second opinion, for Christmas. It's very fun. But that's not the point. Truama center is a game which lets you operate on people with diseases or wounds. Under the Knife (DS version) was the first, and it was then turned into a Wii-make in Second Opinion. Now New Blood comes along. It has a completely new storyline, and co-op operating. Using the Wii-mote and nunchuck to operate feels better than the stylus, and I'm looking forward to a European release (Second Opinion still hasn't hit Australian shores)

Mario Kart Wii: This was expected. It is apparently coming to America halfway through the year, packaged with the new Wii-wheel (a go-kart wheel, that the Wii-mote can be plugged into). Not much is known about the game yet, but it has motorbikes, and is looking pretty good. It will definitely be delayed though.

Apollo Justice: The first real DS Phoenix Wright game. The first three games were remakes of the Gameboy Advance games. However, all the games so far have been the greatest on the face of this earth. Epic storylines, fantastically created characters, magnificent gameplay. This game is the perfect DS game, and the sequel shall be even better. Already released in Japan, America will get this in February. I intend to import.

I'm sure more will pop up over the course of next year, but those are the best coming. I cannot wait for '08. Happy New Year everybody, I'll see you in 2008!

Super Mario Galaxy review

Well now. It's here. The game that threatened to knock Ocarina of Time off it's high horse as the best game ever made. Super Mario Galaxy, delayed like so many other games, has finally made it. We have it, we've played it, and I have found all 120 stars. Now I'm going to review it. Now, to start:

Name: Super Mario Galaxy
Platform: Wii
Players: 1-2
Developer: Nintendo

The story begins, as most Mario stories begin, with Bowser kidnapping princess Peach. This time around, his actions are much more sinister (you'll see by playing through). You'll start the game in the Toads village. When you start, take a run around for 20 minutes, looking at the beauty of the game. I know I've said this about every reviewed Wii game since Resident Evil 4, however, this time, I'm backed up by so many reviewers it's not funny. Galaxy looks equal to an Xbox 360 game. Anyway, graphics later. Because of Bowser and his baby self, Mario is blasted into space, and ends up being enlisted to find the power stars to run the spaceship of a mysterious women named Roselina. The more stars you get, you'll be able to fly your spaceship to rescue your "special someone". And that's how the latest Mario adventure sets off.



American boxart

The controls are very simple. You press A to jump, point the Wii-mote to collect starbits (resourceful collectible), press B to shoot starbits (Mario with a gun???!?! Not quite), control stick to move him around, Z to crouch. And that's the basics.No awkward combinations, Miyamoto and his gang made this one very easy to get into. You can also use the D pad to change camera angles in some ares, or go into a 3rd person view. In actuality, the camera function is the only real negative in the game. When swimming, the camera sometimes doesn't center exactly where you need it to be. However, this is usually very easy to work around.

Ok, now into the graphics. Look at Twilight Princess. The game looks good, but it's a gamecube port, right? Same with Resident Evil 4. Metroid Prime 3? Was the first step. Perhaps not a big step from Metroid Prime 2, but still, it was the finest example of graphics on Wii. Super Mario Galaxy is not a port of Sunshine. It's new, and it looks excellent. This proves those idiot 3rd parties that say" the Wii doesn't have good graphics, don't blame us" wrong. If Mario and his gang could come into the real world, I believe they would look like they do in the game. Have a look at this shot of Bowser and Mario,and just how amazing it looks:


Admit it. That's great

Some people may wonder about the "2 player" hovering at the start of the topic. Well, you can have a second person use a second Wii-mote, and they can grab starbits for you, and freeze enemies, which makes the game a bit easier, particularly with levels where you're racing and can't aim the Wii-mote forward.
The gameplay has not been sacrificed either. It plays the same that Super Mario 64 played years ago. The game has several different applications which add intuitiveness to the game. Being set in space, Nintendo have been able to introduce many different ideas; my favorite and my least favorite is gravity. Some levels will have you running on the ceiling, dodging goombas, until you reach an electric wall, where you have to jump down to another level and run right-side-up to get past. There are stars you use to launch yourself through space; grapple points which you grab onto in space and spiderman yourself across the galaxy in a bubble. And there's the traditional moving platforms, racing, and of course, Mario's outfits. Two that I will spoil for you are Bee Mario (he dons a bee suit, and can crawl on walls and hover), and invincible Mario (rainbow Mario seen so many times). The toads, goombas, koopas, Petey, Bowser Jr, Peach, Boo's, Kamey. Most of the old characters return, with some new space enemies.

Now, finally, longevity. You need to get sixty stars to get to the final boss (three guesses who), and there are then another sixty to get to finish it completely. And, without spoiling too much, there's more to do after that (a lot to do). This took me a week to get sixty stars, but I took my time looking at the beauty.

Now, overall. This is the greatest game in existence. Shut up Cloudy. OOT may be reviewed better, but this game brings so much to the gaming table. You can tell how much effort was put into this game, just how great it is. Also, a quick note. Mario talks a lot more in this game, but not enough to ruin the experience. I cannot give this anything other than a perfect score. And while I hope that Brawl is good, and I love Metroid, this is the game for Wii. Buy it, love it, play it again and again.

Graphics: Ideal. The same cutesy colors seen from Nintendo for years, and they've never looked better. 10/10
Length: The games not over once you collect all 120 stars. Which takes a while. And you'll play it again. 10/10
Gameplay: Shines through. Without a doubt excellent. Some very minor camera controls, but brilliant controls for the rest of the game 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Hmm... maybe a little biased. Still, this was supposed to be my least favorite of the big 3. Now there's only Brawl to go. Incidentally, it's been revealed that Brawl won't come to Europe before Q3 next year. Which sounds very bad for Australia. Which means a long time until the review for that....

The 12 months of Gaming: Part 1

Welcome! I've been thinking recently, about all the games I've bought this year. I don't remember all of them, but I thought that it would be fun to do small reviews of them, and describe the highlights of each month. I'll do 3-4 months each part, partly because I don't want a massive post, and partly because I only remember the first three months tonight. Now, on with the games!

January: WarioWare: Smooth Moves
My cousin was having a LAN (one of many this year), and we both picked up this game day one. Driving down to the EB, opening in the game, and smelling that freshly opened packaging. The smell of victory. I was an expert at this game at the connection tour that went around before the Wii came out, and I was entertained with this game for a while.

February: Excite Truck
Being delayed for about 2 months does not make happy gamers. My cousin had played this before the Wii came out, and was desperate to play it again (he wanted this more then Brawl at one point). Once we got it, we were somewhat disappointed with the length, but it was nonetheless a fun game. Personally, I wanted more freedom to explore.

March: Command and Conquer 3
The LAN game that we all bought (seriously). We all picked up the special Kane Edition, hooked it up, worked brilliantly. Excellent gameplay, we're still playing this as one of our key RTS games. I don't play with my cousin a lot though (the jerk team kills at the end a lot due to a disagreement in an early game).

Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
This also came in March. Was very fun; more so than I thought it would be. It kept me entertained, and filled that WWII void I'd had since finishing Call of Duty 3. And it proved to be more fun than Heatseeker (to be shown in a later post; November).

That's it for tonight. Have a merry Xmas (Xmas, not Christmas. If you say Christmas, you're using an archaic pronunciation. Like when you say "ask" instead of "ax".), and I'll be back soon with more fun games from 2007. And a review of Galaxy soon, I swear. I want to get all 120 stars first, I only need 17 more.

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl Review

Hey, it's only a few months late. I'm from Australia, what do you expect, all our games stuff is late. Anyway, one of Nintendo's most popular series has come to DS properly (screw Dash, Trozei, but not Mystery Dungeon, that was good)back in all it's RPG, gotta catch 'em all glory. Once again, you're a trainer, and you've got to fight your way through the ranks, doing the same thing you were doing 12 years ago. Does this tried and true method bore us, or will this work the same way as Mario and Zelda games, and continue with the same basic principle for years to come? If you said the latter, you know Nintendo very well

Name: Poke'mon Diamond / Poke'mon Pearl
Platform: DS
Players: 4 (and online play)
Developer: Game Freak

Wow, my first real online game. Better do it justice. Now, ever since I was 7, I have been playing Pokemon games. My first game was Pokemon Blue, and my gameboy colour was that special pokemon one that was released at that time. From there, I bought every pokemon game that came into existence. The only ones I don't own are XD, Ranger, Trozei, and Dash. And through all of them, they've had the same basic principle. Catch all the pokemon, or at least, train a team that can kick the other persons butt.

The story goes that you're a 10 year old boy, and in the world of pokemon, that's your coming of age (go back to the first game, it explains this), and it means you can get your very own pocket monster. Your town has a professor of pokemon (in D/P's case, Professor Birch), who gives you your very first pokemon. You also have a rival, who also starts out with a pokemon. And in this version, the professors grandchild gets the last starter. Each pokemon has a different type, like, poison, dragon, grass, etc. All professors in pokemon games have three different types. A water type (in this case, Piplup), a grass type (in this case, turtwig), and a fire type (Chimchar). You pick which one you want (through a battle with a wild pokemon), and it becomes your partner. Which one you start with is very important, and make the game easier or harder. For example, the first gym is a rock gym. Water and Grass pokemon are very effective against rock types; fire types suck. So you have to catch other pokemon to help you if you want to win. And you'll need to level up your pokemon, to give them any real attack advantage.


From left to right: Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup. I started with Piplup, because penguins are awesome.

Now, anyone who's played these games before will know what I'm talking about in that last paragraph. New players will be going "what? Gym? battle? catch pokemon? Level up?" Never fear, I shall explain for new players:

Trainer: a pokemon trainer has pokemon friends that he fights with. You will battle against many different trainers on your adventures, and each will have unique pokemon.
Gym Leader: These are the bosses of Pokemon if you will. They're much stronger than normal trainers, and specialize in a single type of pokemon (eg. ground, ice, whatever). In this game, you need to beat 8 gym leaders.
Gym: The place where you find gym leaders. sometimes containing puzzles or trainers to fight (sounds like Zelda games).
Levels: Being an RPG (role playing game) each pokemon has different levels of strength, ranging from lvl 1 - lvl 100. The bigger the number, the better your pokemon is. To train your pokemon and level them up, you fight other trainers.
Pokemon: How could I not explain this. Animals with great powers, they can be found hiding in grass, mountains, rivers, caves, snowy peaks, and forests. Never in cities. Pokemon are used as pets for normal people, fighting machines for trainers. Basically a friend. You can catch pokemon and make them your friends by battling wild ones, and catching them in poke balls.

Now that the terminology is out of the way, i can get onto controls. Since the DS has the touch screen, a lot of the button bashing that was in the old games has been replaced with stylus stabbing. You'll still use the d-pad for walking around, and the other buttons to interact with the world, but most of the battle and inventory screens are handled on the touch screen. This control will probably not be used by hardcore pokemon fans, who've gotten used to using the buttons, but it is a nice alternative. As for graphics, someone at game freak likes their 3D engine. It has been used to the point of bragging in this game. Players of the GBA games will recognize the look, and approve of the new adjustments made. Every pokemon has it's own animation, which ads to the effect, and other small adjustments make the game more enjoyable.

Now, online play. When you make a good team, and can beat everyone on the game, you can take your team online and get beaten to death by people around the world. Using friend codes, the scum of the earth, you can fight against anyone else with the game using Nintendo's Wifi connection. You can also play wirelessly with friends, trading, battling, and even (in a place called the battle tower) co-op battling. Incidentally, trading. Any pokemon you catch you can trade to another person. If you want to catch all 493 pokemon, you'll need to do this, as the people who make the game have cunningly designed it so that you need to either have all the GBA games, and Diamond and Pearl, or friends with the copies, to catch all the pokemon. That's the reason I've taken so long to do this review. I have caught 489 pokemon, I still need 4 legendaries which can only be caught by hacking/ trading someone who has a hacked one.

So, overall. I spent a lot of time explaining pokemon. This is a good RPG/adventure title which is worth investing in. Even if it is 12 years old, and the same as it was in the old gameboy games, even if people think it's childish (that's not the games fault, that's 4kids entertainments fault), it's still one of the best DS selling games, and well worth playing.

Graphics: definite boost from GBA. Not mind boggling, but more than we were expecting. 8/10
Length: I clocked 250 hours playtime to catch all those pokemon. It'll take at least 40 hours to finish the game normally, without all the side quest stuff. 9/10
Gameplay: Tried and true. Not much is brought to the table that is new. However, I'm not comparing this to the old games, but games nowadays. 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10

That's finally off my chest. I might let Cloudy review Phantom Hourglass, and then criticize it afterwards. As for me, I'll have Super Mario Galaxy and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games by the end of the week, so I have a lot on my hands.

That problem I had

You know the Phone problem I had before? Regarding the phone stolen at Replay? Well, they sorted it out in a calm and peaceful manner.
They fired me, and refuse to give me a reference. Which means my first job, and 6 months of experience are worth crap. So now I'm fighting tooth and nail to prove that I didn't steal it. They say that the blurry video footage is enough to incriminate me. Which is bull.
Watch this space, hopefully this will be sorted by the end of the week. So I can tell everyone about Melbourne and eGames.

Sandgate High formal_ 2007

Welcome. We're done. We're finished. Myself, and my loyal friends never have to go back to Sandgate High again. I've just returned home from the formal, converted the files, and now, I'm going to post the pictures of me in my Phoenix Wright suit. I won't post pictures of my mates, at least not without permission.







Enjoy. Phoenix Wright suit, all going. And the pictures from the formal and the Valedictory; wow. Seriously, massive tip: when you graduate anything, take a camera. So many awesome memories already. I'm off to Melbourne tomorrow (without the Lucky Star costume, Cloudy won't have his Wii for another 2 weeks.), so when I come back, I'll have some really good games played, and some souvenirs.

BIAS!!!

Frankly, I think the Metroid Games are alright. Largely because I dislike shooty games. However, having seen the game, I'm inclined to give a different score, based on my 20 minutes of watching Tyro play.

The graphics are good. They're clean, and they really show this world. I don't think these are the greatest graphics (even on the Wii), by necessity, and the graphical style isn't a preference of mine. Overall, 7.5 for graphics.

The music is great. Nintendo is great at composing gems of orchestral music for the games, and this is no exception. Pounding beats when enemies are around, and anywhere from cautious optimism to OMG TRAP! are found throughout the game. 9.5 for music.

Controls. This game is a great treat to play. You'll love aiming with the remote, and the cool hyperminigames you have to do with the remote. 10 for controls.

Gameplay. It's great. You shoot stuff, and explore, while shooting things. Then you shoot a bigger thing. That can fly, falling through a tunnel. Also, it's big. What can I say? Gameplay is great: 9.5.

Overall, I'd give this game an 8.5. It's great, but it's not perfect. I'd love to play it, but first I have to start the other two. See you all later.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Review

Ok, I haven't reviewed a game in a while, but I hope I'm not rusty. I have about 6 games to review in December, so I hope to get through them all. Now, we all know the big 3 that were so acclaimed at the start of the year. Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. And what has happened to the through the year? All have been delayed, and now Brawl is a game for 2008. But never fear, I shall review all of the big 3 in due time, starting with my now favorite shooter, Metroid Prime 3. This title was originally going to be a launch title, but was delayed a lot. Now here it stands for all to play.

Name: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Players: 1
Developer: Retro Studios

Right now, into this. Since I bought a Wii, I have been searching for the perfect shooting game. Call of Duty 3 was good, but the controls were very, very jumpy. Red Steel was also good, but had the same problem. And Far Cry... well, we won't go into that... Resident Evil 4 was a shot in the arm, but I was still looking for the perfectly controlled FPS. And I found it in Metroid. But before I get into that, some background about the story.

As expected, Metroid Prime 3 is the third game in the "Prime" trilogy (or pentrily, (5 games) if you count Hunters, and Pinball). The story continues 6 months after the effects of the second game, wherein phazon (a poisonous chemical substance, which mutates anything it's near. Thing Uranium meets Tiberium from C&C) has corrupted several planets in the universe, and it's up to Samus and the Galactic federation to save the universe. Alongside this, the Aurora units (basically the super computers of the federation) have also been corrupted, and Samus has to fix these too. However, similar to Hunters, she won't be alone. Three new bounty hunters join in the crusade this time; Rhundas, able to control and shoot ice. Ghor, android that can commandeer any machine. And Gandrayda, humanoid whom can take the appearance of anything, excellent at stealth. Unfortunately, before you can start on your endeavour, Dark Samus (the evil entity, that took your D.N.A way back in the first game, to create a Phazon-form of you) blasts her way into the base, and corrupts all the hunters with phazon. Through some quick surgery, they are all updated with new suits that can control the Phazon, and allows them to use it for powerful, new attacks. With these weapons, you start off on you adventure.


From this:



To this

Right, that's story out of the way. Now for the beauty of the rest of the game. Graphics. I'm sure that I have said it again and again: the Wii does not need games with really good graphics. graphics < gameplay. But Metroid (and several other games this year) break this barrier. Metroid Prime 3 is the prettiest game on the Wii at the moment (it's competition were 2 gamecube ports, but bear with me). Retro have added bloom effects to pretty much every corner of the game. Explosions look fantastic, worlds are vast and detailed, very much a step-up from the gorgeous mas of Echoes. I would post some screens, but they don't do it justice. You need to see this running at 60fps to see it's true glory.

Now, gameplay. The controls; they are perfect. Not only do they have 1:1 aiming and shooting down-pat, but Retro have added in a bunch of intriguing little tricks for the Wii-mote and nunchuck. For example, if you find an enemy with a shield, or some big antenna sticking out of it, you can throw the nunchuck forward (throws your grappling beam forward) latch on, and rip the thing right off them. Some puzzles require that you use your hand cannon to weld things together, pull switches by literally pulling a switch, or pulling walls or bridges towards you with the grapple beam. There are 3 different types of aiming, I recommend advanced (IGN describe the others as feeling like they're playing "Red Steel Prime"). And in a nod to the achievements available on Xbox 360 games, Metroid has a rewards section. When you scan certain areas of information, defeat certain enemies, solve certain puzzles, or other interesting things, you get reward tokens, which you can spend to buy music, artwork, or, (if you have some friends to trade with) really exciting tricks like screenshot capabilities, bumper stickers for your spaceship, or, my favorite, this:


Isn't he so cute? :P

Overall, I love this game. I have been waiting for this since 2006, and I was thrilled to pick it up a week before the rest of Australia (Gametraders are the best shop in the world). However, Cloudy will get up me if I give this 10/10 (he'll say I'm biased). So, now let's find something wrong with the game...
um...Ok. The storyline left a lot of questions about Phazon, although thanks to the secret endings (oh crap, I shouldn't have said anything. I shouldn't have said find 75% of the pickups to get the 1st secret ending, and find 100% of the pickups to get the 2nd secret ending) this might be resolved in a later. Well, Retro has said they aren't working on any more Prime games, so who does the torch get passed to? We'll see in the future, but many are hoping for a side-scroller, rather than the 3D adventure. Anyway, to wrap up. G buy this, play it, and get ready for Galaxy.

Graphics: Best on the Wii. They'll be trumped by Galaxy and Brawl, and aren't as good as say, Gears of War, but very solid - 9/10
Length: 20-30 hours first time through. If you want to find everything, including achievements, almost as long as Twilight Princess - 9/10
Gameplay: Excellent controls, interesting minigames. Storyline needed a bit more bulk for my liking though - 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Wow, I gave this worse than Phoenix Wright? I'm so biased for that game. Speaking of bias, if anyone out there has noticed my games are all rated extremely high, that's cause I only review games I really like. Don't have time for others. Hardly professional I know, but I'm a beginner, so it's ok. I'll be back with pictures of me in my Phoenix Wright suit in about 2 days.

Yes indeed

Yes, that situation does suck. People are like this constantly, looking for people to blame. Lady, you left you purse unsupervised. In a shopping centre. Did you really expect this not to happen? The fact is, you shouldn't have. Tyro was nice enough to return the bag, so why would he take the phone? Him and his friends are the ones under least suspicion.

Heroes aren't really big in today's society. Tyro's a more upstanding citizen than me. To be honest, I'm not really that person. I wouldn't steal a phone, and I'd take her bag back maybe. But really, if I did, I'd expect not to be accused of theft. That's my take, so I'm out.

There really are No More Heroes

This isn't supposed to be a reference to Capcoms new game, but something that happened at work a few days ago. I work at an arcade, and on my off day, my friends and I went bowling at the alley next door. And here's what happened:
We walked into the arcade after finishing bowling. I saw a bag, with a wallet and a phone sitting on top. Being the good citizen I am, I picked it up, and took everything up to the counter. There, I placed the bag, phone and wallet on the table. One of my 4 mates that was bowling with me, picks up the wallet and looks for ID. I pick up the phone, looking for ID (I dunno why). We both put the stuff back on the table. I then walked around to the other side to talk to the female senior that was working. About 10 minutes later, four kids came up, asking about the bag, phone, wallet. The guy behind the counter goes into the back, and pulls out the bag, and the wallet. WAIT A MINUTE!!!

The kids came up to us (after being directed by the staff), and ask us about the phone. I told them, that I put it on the counter with the rest of it. They then spend the next 20 minutes tailing us, glaring at us, and ringing the phone, hoping to hear it in our pockets. After not hearing anything, one kid comes up and tells us to empty our pockets. I do so, and I think my mates did to. After this, my mate goes up to the counter, and says really loudly to the guys behind the counter "god these kids really need to f**k off". They left us alone from then, we go home.

I get a call about 2 hours later. The senior working says the kids mum has been there for an hour and a half, yelling at her, and the other guys behind the counter. She says my mates stole the phone, and she demanded their names. She didn't know them, so she told our boss that she was defending them. She also watched the cameras about 10 times, and complained about the quality. She says our store is incompetent, and she is calling my bosses HOME NUMBER and harassing him. How she got his number, no one knows, but she berated him for a half hour, while he tried to explain in a calm, polite manner. After 30 minutes of her insults though, he told her to F**k off, and hung up. She's called him from 4 different mobile phones (he keeps blocking her), and he's suspected everyone from me, to my mates, to the guys behind the counter, to the kids themselves. My theory?

A kid came up asking a guy behind the counter about a game. I put the stuff down and left while he was there. I suspect him. I trust my mates (my mates including the guys behind the counter), and I know for a fact I didn't steal it. What I hate is that if I had left it there, the bag, wallet and phone would have been stolen, and she wouldn't have gotten as mad (this woman is only getting mad because she thinks she's narrowed down the culprits to us). By doing the right thing, the situation has become worse.

Incidentally, if that woman ever reads this blogg, this next part is just for you:

Fuck you, leave my company and my boss alone, get a life, and then kill yourself.

Who done it? You decide. But listen to my advice. We need more Heroes in life. But how do we accomplish this if when we do the right thing bad things happen? Watch this space for more info about this crap-tastic situation.

Here they go again

Everybody remember Nintendo Australia saying they were doing something about the game delays? It's in the archives, go look. Anyway, did you really believe them? Well you'd be WRONG!!!!!

Thanks to my god friends at the Wiire, I have some very terrible stats to show you:

Aeilyn said:

"As it stands, here is the list of games that are going to be out in America by the end of this year, but won't be seen until 2008 in Australia:
Trauma Centre: Second Opinion (yes, Australia STILL hasn't got it)
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Battalion Wars II
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
Trauma Centre: New Blood
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
Endless Ocean
Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast"

"And then here's a list of some other titles delayed by more than 10 days, but still releasing this year:
Big Brain Academy: Wii Edition (releases on Thursday)
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (releases on Thursday)
EA Playground (releases on Thursday)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (releases on November 22nd)
Pokemon Battle Revolution (releases on November 22nd)
Super Mario Galaxy (releases on November 29th)
Dewy's Adventure (releases on November 30th)
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (releases on December 13th)
Link's Crossbow Training (releases on December 13th)"

Piman said:
"This is a list of Wii games published (or to be published) by Nintendo where an exact release date is know for either USA or Australia
* 2006
o Excite Truck (95 day delay for Australia)
o The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Launch title, 18 day delay for Aus)
o Wii Play (67 day delay for North America)
o Wii Sports (Launch title, 18 day delay for Aus)

* 2007
o Warioware: Smooth Moves (10 day delay for Aus)
o Mario Party 8 (27 day delay for Aus)
o Super Paper Mario (173 day delay for Aus)
o Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (150 day delay for Aus)
o Pokémon Battle Revolution (150 day delay for Aus)
o Mario Strikers Charged (57 day delay for USA)
o Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (73 day delay for Aus)
o Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (more than 30 days, no known release for Aus)
o Battalion Wars 2 (more 63 days, 2008 release for Aus)
o Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (more than 2 days, likely infinite delay)
o Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (I know it is really Sega but, 16 day delay for Aus))

* Announced for 2007
o Super Mario Galaxy (17 day delay for Aus)
o Link's Crossbow Training (24 day delay for Aus)

* Announced for 2008
o Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Unknown delay for Aus)
As we can see, only two games have release dates in Australia before North America, while 7 games have a delay of more than one month and 4 games have a delay over 3 months for Australia."

So, as you can see, if Nintendo Australia are trying to do something about the delays , they suck at it. Note that Zak and Wiki is being distributed by Nintendo Australia, nad yet we have to wait months for it. I want an NTSC Wii, but having both the PAL and an NTSC one makes no sense.

On a positive note, my last day of school (technically) tomorrow. I'll have two more assignments afterwards, and the formal, but officially, we're done. Dancing in the streets.

Smash Bros Brawl-updates flying in

As the weeks go on, the Smash bros site gets filled with more and more epic updates. Today is one such example. A movie showing Diddy Kong getting attacked by Rayquaza (the legendary poke'mon from Ruby Sapphire and Emerald), and then being saved by Fox. This is part of the multiple storyline twists we have had so far for the adventure mode of Brawl.
http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea09.html

And now, I shall make a list of all the updates I feel are necessary to point out, and then explain what I believe happens in the story mode!

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/various/various10.html
Stage builder - Build your own fighting stage, and go to the Nintendo Wifi connection, and share you stage with thousands of people around the world, while receiving a new one from Ninty each day.

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/kingdedede.html
King Dedede comes to the brawl. Armed with a kick-ass mallet, and sweet moves.

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea08.html
Clip showing Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong getting ready for the story mode. Very nice.

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/stages/stage15.html
Pictochat stage. Very weird, therefore worth mentioning.

There are several other interesting updates, including final smashes for Meta Knight and Peach, new Ice climbers and Onett maps, and old stages, like break the targets and home run contest return.

Now, for my lowdown on the brawl story-mode. Thanks to gametrailers, I have a big list of videos showing Brawls storyline, so I've picked up some assumptions. Look away now if you fear possible spoilers (actually, look away from the whole page, since the smashbros site is one big spoiler. Oh well)

At the start, we see Mario and Kirby fighting normally, with Peach and Zelda cheering on, much like a wrestling match. Someone wins (in this case, Mario), and the battle is over, everybody happy, no bad feelings. Suddenly, Meta Knights ship (or one that is very similar to his) flies down, and starts spreading purple spores, which turn into the subspace army. Peach and Zelda rush down to help Mario and Kirby fight this new evil, when a big corn plant (aka, the ancient minister) drops a bomb. Mario runs to the bomb, but gets blown away (probably by a bullet bill). Kirby turns around and Petey Piranha had the two princesses in cages, hanging from his arms. Kirby steps up, and fights Petey, and whichever cage he does the most damage to in the process, that's the princess he saves. In this case, he saves Peach.
He celebrates, but looks over and sees Zelda crawling from her cage, wounded. Before he can save her, Wario jumps in, carrying a B.F.G (google it if you're not sure). He zaps Zelda with it, turning her into a statue! He throws her over his shoulder, laughs, and runs off. With 5 seconds left on the bomb, Kirby grabs Peach, and they escape on a warpstar.
Meanwhile, Pit is watching from heaven. Palutena gives him his bow/knives, and sends him to Earth to help. As he's flying through the clouds, the Halbard (Mknights ship) spreads more spores, making more armies. Pit fights through them, and finds Mario, frozen as a statue. By touching him, he heals him, and they decend to Earth together to help.
At the same time, the Halbard is chasing Kirby and Peach, while spreading those spores. Kirby lands on the Halbard, and they run to the other side of it. We then see an arwing fly out, and the Halbard starts shooting at it. The arwing starts to crash, and Kirby and Peach get knocked over the edge. They also start descending to the ground, while fighting off the subspace armies.

Now, somewhere else, we see Donkey Kong barreling through the jungle, after some koopas on a car, which have stolen his banana's (important to the story, I'm sure). They fire bullet bills at him, and we see Diddy Kong jump off his back ad shoot them with his Peanut pistols. They both start chasing the Koopas. Later on, we see Diddy by himself. He finds the arwing, which has crashed at a remote lake. And from the lake, Rayquaza appears. He grabs Diddy Kong, and launches an aeroblast at the Arwing, which catches fire. Before he can hurt Diddy, however, Fox leaps from the burning wreckage, and saves Diddy. Rayzuaza shoots another Aeroblast at Fox, but he deflects it, and sends Rayquaza back into the water. We've also seen screens of Link and Yoshi banding together, and Zero suit Samus in her ship.
I am going on the assumption that the evil Nintendo characters have sided with the Subspace Army (as seen by Wario, MetaKnight*, Petey, and Rayquaza's* actions.) One things for sure, this is setting up to be really cool.

*I say evil, because they are presented as enemies of the main character.

Anyway, that's brawl out of the way. I have gotten Metroid Prime 3 early, and am playing that heticly. I also plan to have a review of Metroid Prime 3, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and Pokemon Pearl before I go to Melbourne. Also, Cloudy hasn't been on in a while for 2 reasons:
1. His internet is down.
2. Even if he could use the internet, he wouldn't come to this site anyway.

Well, he has about 36 hours to buy a Wii, for me to keep my deal. Don't you worry what that deal is, unless he has a Wii by Wednesday, it won't matter.

Update week

Ok, now, I'm sure everyone is keeping up with stuff? If not, I have your information:


America has a new launch date. Pushed back to Feb 10th, 2008. Hmmm... part 1 of my prediction about world-wide is on track :P.
Sonic images have some up, as well as special moves. Also, about 20 videos of people playing Brawl (go check IGN, gamespot, etc for them. Heaps of new crap, like a Metroid stage, Peach, meta knights final smashes,different colours for characters, same as usual, not different costumes, as hoped).









These are those hot images of Sonic I promised. I dunno. It doesn't look.. Quite Smash Bros. Anyway, it's hype. And it came with new videos.

Lots of Battalion Wars 2, Mario Galaxy, Disaster: Day of Crisis images. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Zelda: Crossbow training, Ubisoft's list boxarts.

Perri Kapplin quits. bye.


Woman from the sales and Marketing department of Nintendo Australia becomes Head of Nintendo Australia. She has argued about the delays for Australia. Hopefully she has more influence now.

TONS more info out there, these are just the highlights I could remember. Check aussie-nintendo.com, IGN.com.au, Kotaku.com and other useful sites for information.

Holy crap ghey

Sorry, I had to say it. My "group" have decided to make a forum. And it is thus:



...The only thing I have to say about this can be said in 3 letters. I'll give you a hint, it starts with W, and ends in F. And T is in there somewhere. I have several problems with it.
1. They are using the Schools server to host it. I hate the school
2. Online, they cannot spell. I am a spellcheck nazi.
3. They act like emos and jerks online. I dislike both.
4. The "Admin" as he calls himself is a moron who treats everyone but his cousin and mate like shit. He also already hovers over the site with a whip, getting up peoples posts. This I dislike.
5. It looks like someone crapped it out in 5 minutes.

That's my rant about it. Anyone care? No, didn't think so. Did anyone read this? Nope, didn't think so...

Sonic in Brawl

Now, before we start this, let it be known that I don't care whether Sonic is in brawl or not. It's not that I don't like him, I just won't lose sleep if he isn't there. Right, with that out of the way...

http://au.wii.ign.com/articles/826/826130p1.html

He's been confirmed, with a new movie. Also Motorbikes in Mario Kart Wii, Pokemon and Final Fantasy Wiiware in the making, more Wiifit information. Nintendo are holding one hell of a conference. Keeping up with the updates. Will be back at 5pm with new Sonic pictures (hopefully).

Also, Brawl delayed for Japan until January 24th. I do so hope America gets a delay, since everyone else has to wait until 2008 now.

...What? I'm malicious, get over it.

Australia strikes back - the Aftermath

Well, the dust seems to have settled. We have received a message from Nintendo Australia! That's right, we made a difference.

"We apologise for the inconvenience that Nintendo fans are experiencing compared with people outside of their region.

"Localisation and PAL conversion processes often make these delays unavoidable. Although in some instances PAL versions have made it to the markets faster than the versions of other regions - for example Mario Strikers Charged Football and Battalion Wars. We are currently making efforts to minimise the time needed for localisations, as we understand that the difference in worldwide release dates is frustrating to fans."

More on that page. It's a poor comment, but it proves that we can make a difference. Now, we need to keep pushing. Ensure they know we mean business. Keep going until they give us what we want.

Keep watching this space for more news.

Australia strikes back

That's it! We've had enough! Australians, pick up your pitchforks and torches, we're going after the Head of Nintendo Australia. After years and years of delayed games (most recently, Super Paper Mario for Wii, 6 months later than America; Big Brain Academy Wii, 6 months later than America; Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, 2 1/2 months later than America *list goes on*), some Australian fans have taken a stand, and are fighting back for us.
http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/index.php?v=news&p=17859

You can see Nintendo Australia's response to these questions was"no comment". And now, a fell wind blows across the red plain. Dozens of furious Australians write emails of complaint to Nintendo Japan, demanding an excuse for Nintendo Australia's abysmal attempt to sell their products down South. On the Wiire, and Aussie-Nintendo.com in particular, I have seen rallying and organizing of ideas. This has clearly gone too far. Admittedly, we do not buy as many games as America or Japan, but Australia and Europe (PAL countries) take up a very large portion of the world, and are responsible for a fair amount of the worldwide sales. We have had enough of being kept in the dark!

If you agree, then rally with us. We need all the support we can get to show Nintendo of Australia that we have had enough! We want to see games around the same time as everyone else in the world. We want to be given the same rights with games as other buyers (IE, lower the price; we pay $40 more for games than America; by AUS dollars.) We demand you remove region locking on your games, as you are further restricting us from playing your games.

This is not the end of my rant. My lawyer shall be on you, Nintendo!



Watch this space, I wait with baited breath for positive results.

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations review

Now, we haven't posted in a while, so obviously, something has been distracting us (or me). That thing, is Phoenix Wright 3 (or, Gyakuten Saiban 3). I consider this the single, best, game, on the DS, hands down. Forget Metroid Prime Hunters. Stuff Poke'mon Diamond. It even leaves Mario Kart DS and Elite Beat Agents in the dust. I love this game to a mental condition, and it is my great pleasure to review such a mighty game.

Name: Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations
Platform: Nintendo DS
Players: 1
Developer: Capcom

Now, if you haven't played the first 2 Phoenix Wrights all the way through, and want to play this, don't talk to me. Cloudy will tell you better than anyone. I demand that everyone with a DS play and complete Phoenix Wright 1 and 2. And now I add number 3 to that list. I also must point out that people who don't like the genre that Phoenix Wright is (essentially, interactive novel), get out now. You won't like this. You need to have a sharp mind, and a deep interest in the story to get into this. Finally, I shall try to avoid spoilers.

Phoenix Wright is a game about a defense attorney named.. Phoenix (Nick) Wright. He is known as a smart defense attorney, who has almost never lost a case, and is able to pull a win out of his ass every time. This time around, we are shown a few cases from Phoenix's past, and we pick up information that is continued from Justice for All (Phoenix Wright 2). The last game in the series ties everything together very well, and will please fans of the games.



This is Phoenix Wright. You'd trust him to defend you, right?

The game sees you interacting with a number of interesting characters; without too many spoilers, I shall provide a list of characters that appear in the 3 games.
Maya fey: Phoenix's assistant. A spirit channeler, that helps Phoenix with his work. I would hit that.


Mia Fey: Phoenix's Mentor. A famous defense attorney, helps Phoenix with very tough cases.


Miles Edgeworth: Phoenix's main rival in court. A prosecuting prodigy, he will do anything to get a guilty verdict.


Dick Gumshoe: A detective at the local precinct. Very loyal to Edgeworth, but is fairly friendly with the defense too.


Pearl Fey: 8 years old and Maya's cousin. A channeling prodigy, she spends time at the Wright & Co. office, and is very vocal about her view that Phoenix and Maya should be a couple.


Franziska von Karma: Prosecuting Attorney of Justice for All. A powerful young prosecutor with a whip, looking for revenge for her fathers disgrace.


Godot: The Prosecuting Attorney of Trials and Tribulations. A coffee chugging, mask wearing man, little is known about him until the very end.



Now, that took me 20 minutes to get all those pictures up. Appreciate it. Anyway, throughout the game, you will present evidence, search for clues, and interview people involved with cases to progress. While it may feel slightly linear to some players, it is a breath of fresh air for me, and I really enjoy it.

Now, everyone must be wondering. Graphics? Admittedly, the game does not break any barriers graphics-wise. The game has been made in a very anime-like way. The characters seem cartoon-ish, but this adds to their appeal. This is another one of those gameplay over graphics games. And that's fine by me.

Many people know that this is a port from the GBA games, only released in Japan (they were also on PC, but were very rarely distributed). As such, the game can be controlled using the DS buttons, like A, B, L, R, etc. However, it is much easier to let your stylus do the talking. Speaking of talking, while in court, when you wish to present evidence, or question someone, you can hold the Y button, and yell "OBJECTION!" "HOLD IT!" or "TAKE THAT!" into the DS microphone. This adds a layer that allows you to feel more immersed in the game.

I know full well how much bias I have for this game, so please excuse the rather bias review. Take this with a pinch of salt. But I promise you, a better storyline there is not. This is a fantastic game right up to the finish. And I cannot wait until Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Ace Attorney 4, no longer called Phoenix Wright 4, as Phoenix is not the defense attorney)is translated into English.

Graphics: Not barrier breaking, but solid. 8/10
Length: You will be finding easter eggs over and over. I've played each game through at least 3 times, and am not bored yet. 9/10
Gameplay: Incredible. A better script there is none. 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10

Now, I'm off to finish Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker before Phantom Hourglass comes out. Oh, and for those of you wondering just how deep my passion for the Phoenix Wright series is, check back when I post images of my formal.

Lucky Star

Ok, so Cloudy mentioned Lucky Star before. But now I'm starting to watch it. And man oh man, there is no plot, no storyline, nothing to keep the viewer interested, and I can't stop watching. I got the theme song in my playlist at the moment (very hard to find), and I'm up to about episode 5. And look what I found while I was lurking on eBay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280148958450&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=280146852193&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=StoreCatToStoreCat&usedrule2=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget

I almost died of laughter. I had no idea they existed. And only $70! So tempted to buy...
...No, I'm not queer. Or bi. Or a crossdresser. Or any of that. Seriously. But I would consider buying that. That is how much I like Lucky Star. Seriously, go watch it. And send me money, and I may just buy it :P

This week in internet watching

Ok, you may have noticed lots of stuff in gaming appearing this week. This is partly thanks to the GC games convention 07, but also just thanks to good luck. Some more noticeable ones are as follows.
http://au.wii.ign.com/articles/815/815446p1.html
Manhunt 2 approved. The game you either love or hate is coming to America on October 31st, with it's new M rating. Ohhh, Halloween. Spooky. This is hitting Wii, PS2, and PSP, if memory serves.
23rd August. Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations was released in Japan. Importers like me rejoice! Expect a review soon after this come in the mail for me.
27th August. That's tomorrow. Metroid Prime 3 comes out. I hate region locking, and PAL at the moment. Well, all the time, but more-so now.
http://www.aussie-nintendo.com/index.php?v=news&p=16529
Spore is coming to the consoles. Can't wait for this on Wii, but more for PC
http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/815/815728p1.html
Big IGN hands-on for Spore. Again i say. I want Spore.
Oh, and Mario Galaxy and Umbrella Chronicles and Forever blue have Europe launch dates (16th November, 30th November and 9th November respectively). Huzzah. We're hoping that MP3 is coming on 8th November for us (which would rape it's sales, as Galaxy is coming a week afterwards), that means 2 of the big 3 hit Australia in 2007. If only we got Brawl too....

Oh, and I beat Metroid Prime on hard, for anyone who cares. In preparation for Corruptions launch. Even though I won't be playing it tomorrow *grumble*

Anyway, that's me done for now. Oh, and check the brawl site for this weeks updates (includes music, a new character, and a final smash you'd never imagine).

Tyro

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: PAL launch

Well, IGN interviewed a man called Greg Arthurton. Why should we care? Because he is the Marketing Manager at Nintendo Australia. And he accidentally let something slip when he was talking...

"The fact that there's games like, as I mentioned before, Metroid coming out, Super Mario Kart was announced at E3, Super Smash Bros. Melee is coming out, due for first quarter next year; Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass is coming out - all core-specific games."


This statement proves two things.
1. That Greg does not know the difference between Melee and Brawl
2. That Super Smash Bros. Brawl will not come out in Australia in 2007.

That makes me a sad Panda. The only upshot is that my bet is now undone, but compared to the cost, I don't care. It's not too late Nintendo. I'll still do it! Change the launch date!

....No? Fine. At least, thanks to Lepzieg, we know that Super Mario Galaxy is coming out here around 16th November (which is Euro's launch date). They might give it to us a day early, like they did for the Wii...

Now, I'm off to mope about Brawl, and wait for a new bet to come to mind... perhaps something sluttier... or perhaps some sort of death clock...

Super Smash Bros Brawl - Part 2

I've decided to make a post about Brawl everytime the release a new movie. That'll start some exciting hype, now won't it?
Anyway, they've just released a continuation of the last movie, involving the leader of the hat guys (now called Primids), drops a big bomb into the stadium (his name is "The Ancient Master". Looks a bit like a piece of corn). That's right, a bomb. Apparently, these guys want to warp the whole world into subspace.

And included in their minions are:


OMG R.O.B is evil!!

I'm back on the hype train. I was on the hype train for Phoenix Wright 3 and Metroid Prime 3, but now I'm back on Brawls train. Actually, I'm on three hype trains at once. Hmm, this may hurt if the tracks split apart.

....I went a little far with the locomotive metaphor...

More Wii Games

Wow, did anyone see the Smash Brothers update? Well, for those of you who didn't, the newest character is the trainer from the Pokemon games. Nice.

To the left you can see a portrait of Cloudy, made by a friend. Aww, isn't he sweet? This particular picture took him about 10 minutes, but even so it's pretty amazing eh? It was made in Paint Shop Pro XI using the oil paint tool. The original version includes his machine gun, and bandolier of bullets. I thought you'd appreciate this version more.

Anyway, I really dislike how much games for Wii/PS3/X360 cost now. What really drive this point home was a sale in EB Games (Gamestop) selling the Harry Potter 5 game for $25 on PC and $50 for all other consoles. Why the sudden price rises? Especially you Nintendo, what with you moving away from your old restricting and expensive protected mini CD's.
Well, those are my rants for now. Cloudy out.

My name (getting in on the action)

Can't let Cloudy get away with telling us his name, without explaining mine too (for the record, I never knew his bird was called Razor before Cloudy).

Whenever anyone sees me online, with my hotmail name "Tyro", they often ask what it stands for, or what it means. I give the generic answer "it's a random assortment of letters that I use online, on forums, and in games." However, there is a slightly deeper meaning to it...

When I was very young, my parents broke up (eh, sad, I'm over it). When I was about 3 or 4, my mum got me a toy of a Brontosaurus. That's the big Dinosaur with the long neck. It was massive to me back then, take your average tissue box, he was about that big. I got many other dinosaur toys, and I enjoyed playing with them, but anytime I had the classical "Herbivore vs. Carnivore" fight, this Dinosaur toy would always win. And, I decided to name him. Guess what his name was? Well, my second Dinosaur Toy (a stegosaurus, for those of you keeping track at home), was named "Oryt" by my mum. Why I'll never know. She doesn't even remember now. So, I decided to reverse it for the Brontosaur. Tyro.

Anyway, many, many years later, after all the dinosaurs have been boxed up, and the videogames are my new entertainment. My cousin, Chuck, frequently uses the name "Haso", as his gaming, online name. He told me he chose it randomly from random letters, something from the game "Everquest", apparently. So, I decided to get my own name. I wanted one similar to his, cause I like the sound of it. And I thought about it. And Tyro came to mind. And I ran with it.

And it works.

Incidently, anyone wondering at home:
Tyro (Tie-row)
Cloudy (clow-dee)
Haso (Hay-sow)

My Name

A former friend once asked me why I refer to myself as Cloudy or Captain Cloudy, so for those of you who think it is from an old Playstation game, I will explain the origin of the name 'cloudy'...

It all began one dark and stormy morning in 1997, when a new game was coming out. Thousands bought a game from a series they'd never heard of. Mighty warriors roamed the land, crushing evil lords below their mighty boots, boots that rocked the earth... The game was Final Fantasy VII, whose main characters name was called Cloud Strife, which somehow caused people to believe those fluffy white things up in the sky were named after the character. Well it might have happened.

I was walking down to the local bird and fish shop, $150 dollars clasped in my hand, off to get a lovable pet. I walked in and walked around until I spotted a group of cockatiels on top of a cage at the front counter for sale. So I waltzed up there and said "I say, shopkeep, how much are those little birdies in the window, those birdies, those birdies in the window there?". He told me $120. So I leaned down at the little birds, all fun and feathers and bright chirpie smiles. As I lean closer, one takes it into his head, his little red unfeathered head, to jump into my hair.

So I have all these cute, adorable birds to chose from, or the runty small one without feathers. Awesome cute 'tiels, or the naked crappy runt. I took the runt, and at that time he was named Razor for the cute way his claws ripped your skin to pieces, and bit clean through clothing. However, I tamed him, eventually, and after a week his feathers started to come in. His perfect yellow-white feathers. So I started calling him a cloud, playfully, and eventually the name stuck better than Razor did.

Now, sadly, he is dead. On the mortal plane. His yellow feathers came in, his crest grew, and he only rips up skin and clothes when he felt like it. He turned 6 last October, within a week of my birthday. So, since I spend time with him so often, he has become quite often my screenie.

So, even though he's gone, his memory lives on, in a weird and disturbing way.

To make this perfectly clear: I did not use the name from Cloud Strife. I hadn't heard about it till 2003, and hadn't played it till 2004.

Ironically, my newest cockatiel actually does look like a cloud. I was tempted to name him Sunny, which would be a much better name for Cloudy. Meh.

Feedback - The Reason For Extortion

Wow, is it just me, or does every person on eBay try to extort positive feedback despite their obvious lack of any redeeming qualities? About 40% of the people I've bought from are very poor sellers, they post late, in bad condition and overprice on shipping, and don't provide any insurance.
About 50% of the people refuse to post feedback until I have. See the colloration? For those of you who haven't picked up, somehow, these people are desperate for positive feedback, and rather than, oh I don't know, earning it, they threaten to give you negative feedback no matter how good you are, simply because you dare to question their omnipotent selling skillz.

Well you know what? Fuck you. The only way I can see to fight this is to become one of them: to wait, and wait, and when they give in and rate, I will pounce! pounce and rate them fairly. But I won't rate unfairly; I will rate on their product and service, as is the point of the system. But I will use my unposted feedback as a weapon, and frankly, I don't need the feedback. I don't feel the need to make it apparent that I am better than whoever. Really, I can do that in the mighty stone tower of my own mind, looking down on these feeble-minded fools, laughing as I boil my oil for the imminent owning.

In other words, you will be rated on the criteria the rating system is designed for. If you fuck me over, you will feel the wrath of my mighty negative feedback hammer!

Rant ends here. If you are one of the people I'm ranting about, then the above applies to you: you don't deserve a good reputation if you demand positive feedback no matter what.

eBay

I'm feeling bored, so I felt like blogging about something besides games. Go figure.

Anyway, the joy of eBay. I've found countless things on here that have aroused my interest (and decreased the size of my wallet). Now, our good friend Cloudy has taken to the internet, to buy random things he doesn't really need. I just wanted to show you some of the awesome, random buys that I have found.

• A set of Sword and Shield covers for your Wii-mote and Nunchuck.
• Futurama figurines (best show ever, Futurama. Can't wait for new eps in 2008)
• Animal crossing tissuebox cover.Very cool
• Ada Wong cosplay dress. Resident Evil 4 characters win.

These are just some of the amazing things on there. Unfortunately, I don't actually own any of that stuff, never bid on it (I was hoping that a girl would wear the Ada dress to the formal with me... No such luck.)

I've bought such great items on there such as:
Nintendopoly
Pokemon Emerald
Mini Cooper remote controlled car
Futurama 2007 wall calender (wait, no, my cousin got me that. I'm getting the 2008 one of eBay though)
Countless other games.

Also, if you ever get the chance, listen to Weird Al's song "I bought it on eBay", aka "the eBay song". Is pretty good, unless you hate Weird Al, in which case, I hate you.

Now, I can sit back and wait for Brawl. And Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Incidentally, anyone who downloaded that Wii update last night.. Have you checked your freeloader recently? It doesn't work right? Apparently the new update screwed around with something, so new freeloaders don't work. Dammit. Anyway, yes, back to waiting for brawl. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my bet (about wearing the chicka's formal uniform if it comes out here in 2007. Think I'm annoying Cloudy by mentioning it all the time though :P) And for the small percentage of you thinking "gee, I think it would be a better bet if he got Brawl in '07, he should wear the Ada dress to the formal", I'm afraid I have to say this...

OBJECTION!!

I'm already cosplaying at my formal. I do so hope everyone has figured out as whom?

Cloudy Interjection: Hint, it's Phoenix Wright.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I'm gonna make one more post before I go to bed. And that's about the second best game coming to Wii this year (short of Metroid Prime 3 imo).

Yes, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The sequel to the best selling game on the Gamecube, Super Smash Bros. Melee. I'm sure anyone who's tracked down the blog knows about the SSBB update site, Super Smash Brothers Dojo. One update a day, on weekdays.

Yes, this site. Anyway, today we got the mother of all updates. New images, a new movie, 3 characters confirmed (Peach, Sheik, Ganondorf), and an updated Adventure mode mentioned.









I'm making you download pictures. These are just some of the inspiring shots from Brawl. America shall be enjoying this on December 3rd. However, we in Australia, still don't have a launch date. Europe is getting this Q1 2008. That's probably when we'll get it. *scowls*

However, I'm willing to make a deal. And Cloudy knows I'll do this. Nintendo, heed my words. Release Brawl in Australia in 2007, and I'll wear our schools full girls formal uniform (that's pleated skirt, white blouse, black stockings, black shoes) down to the local store and back.

You hear me Nintendo? RELEASE BRAWL OVER HERE NOW!!!

Back to you Cloudy.

Cloudy Edit: I'd just like to mention I have a uniform Tyro could wear, a letter to Nintendo sent, and a camera to show everyone the hilarious results.

Harry Potter

I'm a bit slow to post this, but I loved the new Harry Potter book. I noticed an incongruity, but I forgot after page ~400. It's just a rollercoaster ride, and one of my favourite books.

After Terry Pratchett of course. If you haven't read his discworld series, it's worth it. Perfect mix of humour and emotion every time. Go have a look.

Other good authors:

• Neil Gaiman
• Garth Nix
• Terry Brooks
• Darren Shan
• Stephen King

Eye of Judgement

Has anyone seen this yet? It's a PS3 card game that works with the PSEye. Pretty cool in my opinion. Enough about that.

I need to get better at Time Crisis 4. I'm serious, I suck like I've practiced at it. And now that my deluded belief that I was an omniscient Air Hockey player, I need to find an arcade game I'm good at. I'm hoping it lies somewhere in Replay, or maybe I need to practice. Oh well. Here's hoping 60 tokens of gaming goodness will tell me my true calling.

I've also rediscovered eBay, but apparently if I don't have a home phone number or credit card, I must be a child abuser. I actually needed a blue card (sexual predator clearance) to work in a school when I was 15. I'm pretty sure some of the teachers have never even heard of them.

And what is up with some people and tests? I myself like to go over harder questions, but I was rudely interrupted by someone I don't even talk to telling me he didn't want to go over it again.

Segue to trains. I hate the train rule dictating that I, the student am inferior in each way to adults. I have to give up my seat to them, even if they're being facetious (or, as most would deem, assholery) and just like my particular seat. I'm pretty sure pensioners and old folk pay half fare, and they're not forced to stand. I've had random people ask me to leave my seat, sit down with a bag in the second seat, and refuse to move it. And I'm getting really sick of people in a family sitting in the seat near mine, and expecting me to move. There's a whole train often, and I shouldn't have to stand up. Students are not second class citizens.

On that note, has anyone noticed that train newspaper letters to the editor mostly consist of someone saying that everyone else should jump up and carry them to the newly vacated seat? If you need the seat, ask. If you don't get a seat, get the fuck on earlier. I'm very sensitive about this issue.

Well, that's my spleen vented good and proper.

Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition

Ok, I haven't been able to log on for ages, but now that I have, and there is a plethora of new gaming info, I have some catching up to do. So, first up, I shall be reviewing Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition.

Name: Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Platform: Wii (also on PC, PS2, Gamecube)
Players: 1
Developer: Capcom

Ah, Capcom. These guys are my favorite 3rd party. They have brought Nintendo Resident Evil 4, and the great DS games series, Phoenix Wright. But this is about Resident Evil 4 at the moment. This was brought to Wii, most likely because of it's insane popularity on the Gamecube. Widely considered the greatest Gamecube game, getting fine reviews everywhere, it's only flaw was a lack of copies. Brought to PS2 afterwards, but not being nearly as awesome, but they did get some more Ada missions. Next gen, and it's on Wii and PC.


The Wii edition boxart. Spooky

Now, for those of you who don't know anything about Resident Evil, you need www.wikipedia.org. I have only a small clue about the series as a whole. But I do know a lot about Resident Evil 4. You play a cop named Leon Kenedy, a surviver of the T-virus breakout in Racoon city. He has been employed to find the presidents daughter, a hot teenager named Ashley, who has been kidnapped. You'll play through the game, playing from a third person perspective. You'll fight your way through Farmers, Monks, European soldiers and worse, to save this girl.



And this is the girl in question. Pretty, right?

Without ruining too much of the story, progressing through the game will have you running into some of the characters from previous games, and showing how they affect your progress.

Now, the controls. The Wii edition has been updated to include the ability to point the Wii-mote where you are shooting. Hold A and press B to shoot. Holding A and shaking the Wii-mote re-loads your gun. C, or shaking the Wii-mote uses your knife. 1 is your map. - is your inventory. And that's about it. The controls, admittedly, are fairly tacked-on. You can tell that the controls were just a way to change it from the original game. Still, that doesn't make it bad. The crosshair moves around perfectly, and doesn't jump or feel twitchy. Much better then Call of Duty 3 or Red Steel (I like both games, but the aim jumps around a bit).



You can be trigger happy and accurate. Problem is, ammo is hard to find.

Now, I have to take a moment to compare this to the gamecube game. As I've said, it's a port. a "Wii-make" if you will. The graphics have not been updated at all. Or if they have, it's not by a noticeable amount. It's unfortunate that the two best Wii games at the moment are Cube ports. We have to wait until the end of the year for new stuff. I can't find any good pictures to show the difference between Wii and Gamecube, but there is a movie on youtube if you're interested.

Basically, if you liked it on Gamecube or PS2, you'll like it on Wii. It's not worth paying full price for a story you've already done, but fortunately, it's not full price. $70 Australian will get you the game (got mine for $60). It's a great horror game, and definitely worth taking out again on Wii, which boasts the widescreen ability, all the extras that came with the PS2 edition, and a preview of Umbrella Chronicles (gotta play a lot for that).

Graphics: Were great on cube, a little sub-standard now-a-days, but still great. Like Twilight Princess. 8/10
Length: I'm still playing. Getting through the main mission took 14 hours, and there's a lot more to do afterwards. 9/10
Gameplay: Fantastic. Great story, and great control 10/10
Overall: 9/10

Stay tuned for more posts by me. Tyro, the voice of gaming

HAIL SHIGGY!

The Simpsons Movie

I saw the movie on Thursday, opening day down here. One of the funniest things I have ever seen. It is a masterpiece of timing, humour and (sort of) plot. The whole thing is funny as hell, and the writers make every single joke great. Homer is still stupid (something that really manifested itself past the tenth season) but it's funny; it's like a funnier 84 minute long season 6 episode, also it has better animation, and Homer is stupider.

The movie is PG, what with the nudity, drug references, sexual suggestions and jokes. So, don't be fooled into taking a 6 year old along.

The whole adventure is delightfully impossible, with a Chekov gun (try to spot it), blantant defying of physics, a wonderfully crafted insane advisor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (who was apparently not paid to read) and a moral crisis for Homer.

Along the way we meet scores of old characters, new jokes, shocks, cel shading in every scene, and CGI (just like their younger, revived cousin Futurama).

So if you're debating whether or not to go, or if it's worth it, go. Go now. Pay someone to give you a seat if necessary.

Mighty Mouse

As you may or may not know from my iPhone post, I am an Apple fan, although I own three PC's, two with XP, one with Vista. But, when I suddenly found myself mouse-less, I needed a new one. And as luck would have it, I live in Australia where they mark good gaming mice up $80 for no reason. So, I decided to get a Mighty Mouse, because it looks so damn cool.

So, I paid my money, and took home my wired Mighty Mouse. I plugged it into my computer, and it installed the standard Windows mouse driver. That's when I got a kick in the ribs - Apple refuses to make a driver for the damn thing! That would be fine, but it has a 360 degree mouse wheel. Well, ball. And uncustomisable side buttons.

So I have a cool looking mouse with and extra button, and a scroll ball that only works in one plane. And I can't find a driver for the thing. If you find a free one, email me! Comment! Something!

Overall I am quite happy with it, but I don't think it will be a good gaming mouse. Definately try it before you buy it. You might like it, you might not. I happen to like it, but I know a lot of people won't.

Wow

This is some of the weirdest stuff I've ever seen. It's so very...odd. I'm talking about Lucky Star, a manga/anime in Japan. The first 5 minutes of the episode is a heap of cartoon girls dancing. Often in the middle of nowhere with no rhyme, reason, point, or recognisable dancing. I hope thats dancing.

And, you know what the first words are in the opening proper are? They are "around 3 cm". With no set up. There's talking before that, but it just comes out of nowhere. Nowhere at all. I mean, there's a reason for the dancing, I think. They might be cheerleaders, because that's the standard reason given for what people call 'fan service'.

And the first ten minutes of the first episode is talking about how they eat food. Watch for the random stuff they pull out of nowhere. It's hilarious. Watch especially for the scene with the ice cream.

And someone ran the song Ievan Polkka to some repeated scenes of it. The music makes anything funny (It's Finnish) but the scenes clinched it.

If you want to see it, go check out Youtube. It's so worth it.

iPhone

People either love or hate iPods, and by extension the iPhone. I myself am a big fan, although i dislike the mini, and the 2G nanos. In all likelihood, I will get one the moment they come out in Australia, preferably without being confined to a single phone company.

This isn't to say that the iPhone is perfect. It isn't. The thing is expensive, coming in at US$500. Thats very expensive indeed. It can only accept programs written by Microsoft, it lacks a memory card slot, its 2.5G's! That's not nearly enough G's!

Everybody remember how their iPods batteries went flat? And we all hacked the backs off to change the batteries with commercially available batteries that worked just as well? And Apple said the whole point was to keep the form factor. You could buy them in a store for much less than the US$79 figure Apple wanted. Well, they did it again. Maybe it's a different battery. Frankly, I don't care. The batteries should be user replaceable or affordable. Some of the people who bought these products had to save. Simply the starting expense of these Apple products is not an excuse for high prices.

So come on Apple. Give us some credit.

The Coming of the Long Awaited Games

Well down here in Europe/Australia all those long awaited Nintendo games are finally coming out. That's Phantom Hourglass, Trauma Center, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brother, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Prime 3 and lots more! Here, you can check the whole list out at the Nintendo Europe Website.

There was an article on Quality Assurance in the Seattle Weekly.For most gamers, it seems like a great job, until you realise that the people treat you like cattle, and you virtually never get to actually just play a fun game.

Well I'm off for today.

Accessibility in Gaming

I read an article on the OneSwitch site about accessibility in gaming. It's an interesting topic. I mean, most parents are either unable to play video games or just plain suck, and they were raised on the things.

So, will gaming companies make their products more accessible, or is it just not going to happen. BTW Nintendo, that does no mean slapping a logo on the box.

More to the point, is the lack of accessibility the reason for this lack of gamers? Or is it just disinterest?

You call that E3?!

Well, the new E3 has come and gone, and though the wretched demons of the nether hells have redesigned it purely to the advantage of everyone who isn't a gamer. The whole point of E3 was for consumers to see what was coming up in the future of gaming. But now it is invite only. Yes, I'm sure that we'll get fair and even coverage that way.

More to the point, lot's of cool stuff has surfaced.

• The SIXAXIS controller will have rumble again! Sony has signed a deal with Immersion to provide rumble controllers again. Probably no chance of it on your old games though.
• Blizzard has announced that they're working on a new game. It's apparently a totally new game, so Starcraft: Ghost is still on permanent hiatus.
• The 60GB American PS3 with the EE is going away. Sony reports they have enough stock for a few months. Not hard.
  
• Most people will have known about this one for a year - Microsoft admits that all Xbox 360's have a design flaw that causes them to fail. They've extended all the warranties for 3 years and it will cost an estimated $1.05 billion. Way to show everyone you didn't rush the Xbox out Microsoft.

I'm not going to mention every single game or feature they've announced, but I will mention some that catch my eye, like more information on Fable 2. Still seems like the supposed features in number 1 were better.

There's another Wii Channel on the block - Check Mii Out. Probably something to do with sharing Miis. Awesome name though.

Theres a 'PSP lite'. With +19% thinness. Wow.

Awesome new Wii Zapper with a place for the Nunchuck added. Much better than the current Zapper.

Well that about wraps up all the cool stuff at E3 this year. In other news, thought the Smash Brothers Dojo site now has quite a lot of content. Check it out.

The Console Equilibirium

This is my view of the current console situation, globally and locally (down here in Australia).

My personal preference in the console market is the Nintendo Wii, the Microsoft Xbox 360 and lastly the Playstation 3. This isn't the capabilities of the systems, this is the order I'd get a console in.

My reasons for this are many: for one thing, Nintendo is on the verge of releasing it's 'killer apps' - Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Metroid Prime 3. It uses a fun and intuitive motion sensing control system, and has nearly full backwards compatibility with the Gamecube, as well as the Virtual Console which lets us legally play all those great games on the NES/SNES and N64. And the thing is so damn cute with its great small slim form factor.

The Xbox 360 reasons aren't as compelling, what with the HD-DVD attachment costing so much and the higher price point. And the failure rate and overheating. But it does play most Xbox 1 games (of which I have some, but no Xbox) and it has a fair form factor. It's also made by Microsoft, and whatever you want to say about them, they're rich. They're here to stay. It also offers HD graphics, and the graphics are only slightly inferior to the PS3. All in all, it's a good runner-up.

Finally, the Playstation 3. It would take a lot of convincing to get me to buy this console (chief among these the fact that we pay virtually double the equivalent price of the damn thing in the US). Living in a PAL country, I wouldn't even get the Emotion Engine even if I got one right now, and the great diversity of games the PS brand is famous for means nothing down here. Adding to this is my reluctance to commit to a Blu-ray player when DVD's are still prevalent, and HD-DVD is backed by Microsoft. Lastly, to enjoy most of the graphical enhancements, I'd need to buy an expensive new TV which just adds to the huge price I'd need to pay.

Although, global market figures do not quite ride out my view, placing the Xbox 360 ahead, the the Wii, then the PS3 with 11, 9 and 5 million units sold respectively. This also corresponds to release dates, but the Wii's advantage over the PS3 is double that of the difference between the Xbox 360 and Wii. And the ever important price is a major factor, with the Wii being more accessible.

Obviously no-one can predict the future. We'll have to wait and see, and maybe I'll be dead wrong. Let's wait and see.

Tyro cometh

I'm Tyro

I play games, then I write reviews..

I'm a Nintendo fanboy, so all you guys expecting PS3 game reviews, go away.

I'm also sleepy, so I'm gonna go play Resident Evil 4 Wii edition, then review it for you.

Grand Opening

Well, in a pathetic unknown sort of way. In any case, welcome to the opening of yet another gaming blog, Cloudy's Gaming Blog.

This is my new blog, moved from head.in.the.clouds.

In this me and my fellow bloggers will discuss and analyse the gaming scene, comment and hopefully inform you.

Welcome to the blog!