Hardware
DSL 139,835
PS2 32,673
PSP 23,118
GBASP 2,145
GBM 1,186
Xbox360 1,109
GC 763
DS 316
GBA 20
Xbox 8
Software
1. PS2 Minna no Tennis 87814 / 314790
2. NDS Final Fantasy III 56596 / 712129
3. NDS New Super Mario Bros. 56045 / 3136171
4. NDS Gintama DS: Banji Ousoudou! 39737 / NEW
5. NDS Brain Training 2 34879 / 3221750
6. NDS Animal Crossing: Wild World 25617 / 3256171
7. PS2 Rurouni Kenshin: Enjou! Kyoto Rinne 24712 / 99720
8. NDS Tingle RPG 23168 / 114208
9. NDS Cooking Navi 22504 / 488462
10. PS2 Harukanaru Toki no Naka De Maihitoyo (maybe?) 22100 / NEW
Comments: Even more calm before the storm, its guaranteed that Pokemon D/P are gonna take top spots so, no need to take bets. But next week should be interesting in the DS hardware section with about half a million units rumoured to be sold already. Hmm.. we see when that happens.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Its Pogeyman!! POOOGEYMAN!!
Yesterday was the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for the Nintendo DS in Japan, and unsurpirsingly, it sold well.. too well in fact. First off, lines, massive lines that stretched for 100s of metres. Secondly, no stock left.. apparently, 2million sales (combined) and half a million DS's were sold, which makes it one of the fastest, if not, the fastest selling game in Japan, beating the previous owner, Dragon Quest VIII which managed 3 million sales in 3 weeks, and Pokemon looks dead set to beat that and set a bigger milestone.
Check here for more Pokemon goodness: http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/09/28/103,1159417717,60944,0,0.html
Check here for more Pokemon goodness: http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/09/28/103,1159417717,60944,0,0.html
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Film Review: Children of Men
One word to describe this movie? WOW!
Heres lot of other words, Children of Men (CoM) is one of the best films you will ever see this year, this is probably down to the fact that recently in Hollywood theres a lack of original titles worth watching, but this year, if you have to watch one film, it be this. Bold words i might say but this is the truth, set in an almost post-apocalyptic future where women are infertile and the British government (and likely other government) try to reduce population iin their country and reducing terrorism by killing ethnic minorities and also deporting them into lands of terror and decay. A racist government im sure, but too far fetched? No way, in fact, this film shows one of the best true to life i nthe future movies that you will ever see. Things that are mentioned here like infertility, terrorism, racial discrimination, constant wars etc are likely to happen in the future, its a scary thought yes and somewhat this movie can tell us how to prevent it from happening.. sort of.
The film acts like an anti-war, pro-humanity film and it works in so many ways. The direction and editing of the film is superb, many scenes are done in one long take, from the cafe bombing, to the assault on the building, theres rarely a scene change within these crucial scenes, and with that, it makes this film even more better to watch. The birth of the baby in one scene is so amazingly done, so life-like, it felt hypnotic when watching it, like a miracle in their world, its something that can't be missed and very emotional to an extent.
Now, unfortunately CoM has its problems, the story was a bit too fragmented for my liking, the plot is there but the overall flow of the story wasn't constructed well. By the end, the story was kind of rushed and didn't feel concluded, one scene in particular made me unhappy was the end of the building assault where everyone stopped. Despite the presence of the baby, no one helped for some reason at all. Unrealistic and uncalled for. Also, despite its anti-war theme, it didn't make me cry, its definetely an emotional film, but not a tear-jerker (which in times, tries to be).
Overall, CoM, is an amazing piece of art and entertainment, its futuristic world is not too far off from reality yet its underlying message needs to be taken hold off early on the movie to fully enjoy it. Best movie this year? I say so.
8.5/10
Grade: A-
Heres lot of other words, Children of Men (CoM) is one of the best films you will ever see this year, this is probably down to the fact that recently in Hollywood theres a lack of original titles worth watching, but this year, if you have to watch one film, it be this. Bold words i might say but this is the truth, set in an almost post-apocalyptic future where women are infertile and the British government (and likely other government) try to reduce population iin their country and reducing terrorism by killing ethnic minorities and also deporting them into lands of terror and decay. A racist government im sure, but too far fetched? No way, in fact, this film shows one of the best true to life i nthe future movies that you will ever see. Things that are mentioned here like infertility, terrorism, racial discrimination, constant wars etc are likely to happen in the future, its a scary thought yes and somewhat this movie can tell us how to prevent it from happening.. sort of.
The film acts like an anti-war, pro-humanity film and it works in so many ways. The direction and editing of the film is superb, many scenes are done in one long take, from the cafe bombing, to the assault on the building, theres rarely a scene change within these crucial scenes, and with that, it makes this film even more better to watch. The birth of the baby in one scene is so amazingly done, so life-like, it felt hypnotic when watching it, like a miracle in their world, its something that can't be missed and very emotional to an extent.
Now, unfortunately CoM has its problems, the story was a bit too fragmented for my liking, the plot is there but the overall flow of the story wasn't constructed well. By the end, the story was kind of rushed and didn't feel concluded, one scene in particular made me unhappy was the end of the building assault where everyone stopped. Despite the presence of the baby, no one helped for some reason at all. Unrealistic and uncalled for. Also, despite its anti-war theme, it didn't make me cry, its definetely an emotional film, but not a tear-jerker (which in times, tries to be).
Overall, CoM, is an amazing piece of art and entertainment, its futuristic world is not too far off from reality yet its underlying message needs to be taken hold off early on the movie to fully enjoy it. Best movie this year? I say so.
8.5/10
Grade: A-
Monday, September 25, 2006
Book Review: J-Pod
Late review but at least better than none
J-pod is quite an engrossing read, yet.. unique to the point it goes goes to a random tangent sometimes. The book is about the 'daily' life of Ethan, a J-podder, part of a group of computer game designers in a bigger games company (I dont recall the name of company now). Ethan as well as 5 other J-podders lead out their daily lives told in this Douglas Coupland book. Sounds boring right? Well, actually it does until until you get to see the antics Ethan and the crew get into, like trying to saboutage an adventure game by creating a 'fictional' violent and crazy Ronald McDonald character into the game, or Ethan trying to cover up his mom's 'accidental' murder, or even trying to feed ans shelter chinese immigrant in his flat. This book is fun, though out of the ordinary. Maybe the inclusion of anime/game references in the book made me enjoy it a bit more, stuff like Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Manhunt etc are mentioned.
J-pod is unique thoguh because of how the book is laid out, generally theres something different going on in the text, from the likes of including many many pages of pi up to 100,000 digits, or random quotes from random stuff.. they break the flow of the book and though its generally not a readable extra, its certainly different. Padding out the pages of the book? Likely, but didn't need to be done in most cases.
J-pod is a good read until the 3rd chapter.. or about to hit the chapter, this was when it dipped. Ethan went to China to find a friend, but it felt pointless and, again, out of the blue, and felt really forced and pointless in my experience. By Chapter 3, I can see Douglas trying to finish the book as quick as possible, with pointless banter, lack of story and also more self-references. (Yes, Douglas happens to occur in different parts in Ethan's life for some reason)
And with that, it really spoilt the illusion that i liked about J-pod, however, J-pod randomness and unqiue feel ot it will attract some followers.
8/10
Grade: B+
J-pod is quite an engrossing read, yet.. unique to the point it goes goes to a random tangent sometimes. The book is about the 'daily' life of Ethan, a J-podder, part of a group of computer game designers in a bigger games company (I dont recall the name of company now). Ethan as well as 5 other J-podders lead out their daily lives told in this Douglas Coupland book. Sounds boring right? Well, actually it does until until you get to see the antics Ethan and the crew get into, like trying to saboutage an adventure game by creating a 'fictional' violent and crazy Ronald McDonald character into the game, or Ethan trying to cover up his mom's 'accidental' murder, or even trying to feed ans shelter chinese immigrant in his flat. This book is fun, though out of the ordinary. Maybe the inclusion of anime/game references in the book made me enjoy it a bit more, stuff like Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Manhunt etc are mentioned.
J-pod is unique thoguh because of how the book is laid out, generally theres something different going on in the text, from the likes of including many many pages of pi up to 100,000 digits, or random quotes from random stuff.. they break the flow of the book and though its generally not a readable extra, its certainly different. Padding out the pages of the book? Likely, but didn't need to be done in most cases.
J-pod is a good read until the 3rd chapter.. or about to hit the chapter, this was when it dipped. Ethan went to China to find a friend, but it felt pointless and, again, out of the blue, and felt really forced and pointless in my experience. By Chapter 3, I can see Douglas trying to finish the book as quick as possible, with pointless banter, lack of story and also more self-references. (Yes, Douglas happens to occur in different parts in Ethan's life for some reason)
And with that, it really spoilt the illusion that i liked about J-pod, however, J-pod randomness and unqiue feel ot it will attract some followers.
8/10
Grade: B+
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Media Create Sales (Sept 11th-17th)
Hardware
DS Lite - 134,885
PS2 - 34,189
PSP - 26,995
GBA SP - 2,330
Gameboy Micro - 1,244
Xbox 360 - 928
Gamecube - 630
Nintendo DS - 478
GBA - 27
Xbox - 7
Software
1. (PS2, SCE) Minna no Tennis - 226,976
2. (PS2, Banpresto) Rurouni Kenshin: Enjou! Kyoto Rinne - 75,007
3. (DS, Square Enix) Final Fantasy III - 57,057 / 655,533
4. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Brothers - 53,089 / 3,080,126
5. (PS2, Capcom) GOD HAND - 48,280
6. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 34,959 / 3,186,871
7. (PSP, Bandai Namco) Ridge Racers 2 - 28,232
8. (DS, Sega) Atama Scan - 27,890
9. (DS, Nintendo) Animal Crossing Wild World - 24,792 / 3,230,554
10. (DS, Nintendo) Cooking Navigator - 20,766 / 465,958
Comment: The calm before the Pokemon storm, fair sales all round and DS still keeping most of the top ten spots despite fierce new releases in the form of a Tennis game and a Kenshin anime game.
DS Lite - 134,885
PS2 - 34,189
PSP - 26,995
GBA SP - 2,330
Gameboy Micro - 1,244
Xbox 360 - 928
Gamecube - 630
Nintendo DS - 478
GBA - 27
Xbox - 7
Software
1. (PS2, SCE) Minna no Tennis - 226,976
2. (PS2, Banpresto) Rurouni Kenshin: Enjou! Kyoto Rinne - 75,007
3. (DS, Square Enix) Final Fantasy III - 57,057 / 655,533
4. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Brothers - 53,089 / 3,080,126
5. (PS2, Capcom) GOD HAND - 48,280
6. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 34,959 / 3,186,871
7. (PSP, Bandai Namco) Ridge Racers 2 - 28,232
8. (DS, Sega) Atama Scan - 27,890
9. (DS, Nintendo) Animal Crossing Wild World - 24,792 / 3,230,554
10. (DS, Nintendo) Cooking Navigator - 20,766 / 465,958
Comment: The calm before the Pokemon storm, fair sales all round and DS still keeping most of the top ten spots despite fierce new releases in the form of a Tennis game and a Kenshin anime game.
Friday, September 22, 2006
PS3 20GB version gets a price cut and HDMI port!
From 59800 yen -> 49980 yen
From no HDMI port to HDMI port
Sony's TGS presence made itself known with a double whammy of goodness (omg, impossible) from the comapny, first off the price of the system has gone down, to combat the Wii price just mentioned last week? Maybe, but a smart move from Sony nonetheless, it now costs a respectable 49980 yen (about £230) , which is a great deal considering now the only real difference between the two packs are wireless out of the box and a bigger HDD. 20GB is now a worthwhile purchase (not even confirmed whether price cut will be in western areas) and one that everyone should get instead of the premium pack.
HOWEVER, as reports stated awhile back, Sony have started production in a ratio of 80/20 for 60GB/20GB packs, thus meaning, people that want the 20GB may be in a shocker that there won't be enough to go around.. thus those people that really want a PS3 on first day or so, may have to by the much more expensive 60GB version.
The price cut does make the comapny lose more money than it already had per console sold, so Sony has to bank on this to be a long-term investment, its definetely a worthwhile future-proof machine, but so is the X-box 360 which has gathered a bit of momentum in TGS with nice showings of Trusty Bell, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey that stole some Japanese gamer's hearts.
From no HDMI port to HDMI port
Sony's TGS presence made itself known with a double whammy of goodness (omg, impossible) from the comapny, first off the price of the system has gone down, to combat the Wii price just mentioned last week? Maybe, but a smart move from Sony nonetheless, it now costs a respectable 49980 yen (about £230) , which is a great deal considering now the only real difference between the two packs are wireless out of the box and a bigger HDD. 20GB is now a worthwhile purchase (not even confirmed whether price cut will be in western areas) and one that everyone should get instead of the premium pack.
HOWEVER, as reports stated awhile back, Sony have started production in a ratio of 80/20 for 60GB/20GB packs, thus meaning, people that want the 20GB may be in a shocker that there won't be enough to go around.. thus those people that really want a PS3 on first day or so, may have to by the much more expensive 60GB version.
The price cut does make the comapny lose more money than it already had per console sold, so Sony has to bank on this to be a long-term investment, its definetely a worthwhile future-proof machine, but so is the X-box 360 which has gathered a bit of momentum in TGS with nice showings of Trusty Bell, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey that stole some Japanese gamer's hearts.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Anime Review: Black Cat
Black Cat is somewhat strange, it tries to do a mix of several situations from other animes in one show but it fails to impress with what it tries to acheive.
Case in point, the show is a mixture of Getbackers, Cowboy Bebop and Trigun. What with the unique powers of different characters, the 2-buddy cop system, and the 'i dont want to kill attitude because a girl convinced me' kind of character that Train shows. From this, Black Cat still manages to create a show for itself despite being a 'copy cat' on other action shows. From this, i mean the villain, Creed, who just oozes of badass evilness , one which i havent seen before since i watched Shaman King last year, aside from being somewhat truly evil (til the very end), he is also gay for Train, which makes the show even more entertaining as the show goes onto a somewhat wacky trip on making Creed and Train love each other... sort of.. :P
Anyways, connected the characters, the main characters like Train and Sven are almost too generic to take into consideration, Eve on the other hand is a beauty with a nice nanotech ability which makes her a killer weapon and shows great usage in her battle against Leon, who is part of a super band of special-move elitists.. and with this group, in comes failure, their unique abilities aren't superb or totally unique but at least fun to watch and a few of the characters are suppose to have developed backgrounds (Leon, Echidna, Charden etc) but were never given any.
I guess far too many characters and not enough episodes, with only 23 episodes, is this show's achile's heel, this show is very fast-paced.. and when i meant fast.. i mean really fast. At the last twist towards the end, the anime had only 2 episodes to tie it all together, compared with say the many episodes required for the main story of the anime. Not enough budget? Maybe, but the point still stands. The anime moves at tremendous pace, which kind of suits the character abit but totally leaves the viewer wanting more and expecting alot more... especially with 23 episodes.
Despite the negativity i've just given, there's no doubt that Black Cat is a very interesting show, the cliches of 'Peace-loving, criminal-catching' symbolisms and attitudes are not new but definetely not something to turn a blind eye away from. Black Cat has a fair show of action scenes, sometimes well directed, very fast and furious but also happens (in one part) to be too confusing. The special powers of each character makes this an interesting show despite showing powers you havent seen before, the whole premise of the show is well suited for action and it delivers to an extent, and with that, alot of my reasons for giving it a good mark is based on its entertainment and action value.
Overall, Black Cat is a good show which happens to fail because of its length, far too many characters and bad story direction.
7.5/10
Grade: B
Case in point, the show is a mixture of Getbackers, Cowboy Bebop and Trigun. What with the unique powers of different characters, the 2-buddy cop system, and the 'i dont want to kill attitude because a girl convinced me' kind of character that Train shows. From this, Black Cat still manages to create a show for itself despite being a 'copy cat' on other action shows. From this, i mean the villain, Creed, who just oozes of badass evilness , one which i havent seen before since i watched Shaman King last year, aside from being somewhat truly evil (til the very end), he is also gay for Train, which makes the show even more entertaining as the show goes onto a somewhat wacky trip on making Creed and Train love each other... sort of.. :P
Anyways, connected the characters, the main characters like Train and Sven are almost too generic to take into consideration, Eve on the other hand is a beauty with a nice nanotech ability which makes her a killer weapon and shows great usage in her battle against Leon, who is part of a super band of special-move elitists.. and with this group, in comes failure, their unique abilities aren't superb or totally unique but at least fun to watch and a few of the characters are suppose to have developed backgrounds (Leon, Echidna, Charden etc) but were never given any.
I guess far too many characters and not enough episodes, with only 23 episodes, is this show's achile's heel, this show is very fast-paced.. and when i meant fast.. i mean really fast. At the last twist towards the end, the anime had only 2 episodes to tie it all together, compared with say the many episodes required for the main story of the anime. Not enough budget? Maybe, but the point still stands. The anime moves at tremendous pace, which kind of suits the character abit but totally leaves the viewer wanting more and expecting alot more... especially with 23 episodes.
Despite the negativity i've just given, there's no doubt that Black Cat is a very interesting show, the cliches of 'Peace-loving, criminal-catching' symbolisms and attitudes are not new but definetely not something to turn a blind eye away from. Black Cat has a fair show of action scenes, sometimes well directed, very fast and furious but also happens (in one part) to be too confusing. The special powers of each character makes this an interesting show despite showing powers you havent seen before, the whole premise of the show is well suited for action and it delivers to an extent, and with that, alot of my reasons for giving it a good mark is based on its entertainment and action value.
Overall, Black Cat is a good show which happens to fail because of its length, far too many characters and bad story direction.
7.5/10
Grade: B
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
OMG! Another X-box 360 game i want...
Here's the apocalypse, I actually now have 3 games on my mind that i want for the X-box 360.. if i had. The first two are from Capcom, Dead Rising and Lost Planet, which are pretty much standard shoot em up fests designed to while away the hours just killing the same old badguys all the way to the last stage, but with that special Capcom magic which actually makes these games fun (either, novelty items, or online co-op play etc)
The third game is from another Japanese developer with a huge name behind them, Namco/Bandai, with their game, Trusty Bell. Recently i checked out the trailer here: http://www.xboxyde.com/stream_3030_en.html . The game looks gorgeous, battle system looks abit like grandia's/Skies of Arcadia battle system which is not a bad thing at all and the music is so far delicate to listen to.
Now, whats this? Me, loving the X-box 360 more? Its shocking to say it but its true, maybe its partly Sony's fault and mainly because some games on it look amazing, but may i get converted to the Wii60 cult? (If you dont know, its a group designed after the E3 conference to make the Wii and X-box 360 combination the better option than just a PS3). In my heart, i want a PS3, with games like FFXIII, MGS4 and Heavenly Sword also looking amazingly good, in my mind, it wants a X-box 360.
This is a strange phenomenon and the only cure for it is to sit it out and wait for the future to happen, hey, it may occur to Capcom and Namco/Bandai that porting the X-box 360 games to the PS3 may be profitable for them in the Japanese market (They hate the system over there). This is a battle with two consoles that are too similar to one another, and only the exclusive games and titles may make or break it for them.
On the other hand, the Wii is there and ready to be taken what with its lower-powered but unique and fun philosophy, it really feels that the X-box 360/PS3 is the second console for the main console, Wii.
The third game is from another Japanese developer with a huge name behind them, Namco/Bandai, with their game, Trusty Bell. Recently i checked out the trailer here: http://www.xboxyde.com/stream_3030_en.html . The game looks gorgeous, battle system looks abit like grandia's/Skies of Arcadia battle system which is not a bad thing at all and the music is so far delicate to listen to.
Now, whats this? Me, loving the X-box 360 more? Its shocking to say it but its true, maybe its partly Sony's fault and mainly because some games on it look amazing, but may i get converted to the Wii60 cult? (If you dont know, its a group designed after the E3 conference to make the Wii and X-box 360 combination the better option than just a PS3). In my heart, i want a PS3, with games like FFXIII, MGS4 and Heavenly Sword also looking amazingly good, in my mind, it wants a X-box 360.
This is a strange phenomenon and the only cure for it is to sit it out and wait for the future to happen, hey, it may occur to Capcom and Namco/Bandai that porting the X-box 360 games to the PS3 may be profitable for them in the Japanese market (They hate the system over there). This is a battle with two consoles that are too similar to one another, and only the exclusive games and titles may make or break it for them.
On the other hand, the Wii is there and ready to be taken what with its lower-powered but unique and fun philosophy, it really feels that the X-box 360/PS3 is the second console for the main console, Wii.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Media Create Sales (Sept 4th - 10th)
Hardware
1. DSL - 113,831 (4,310,657)
2. PSP - 29,141 (1,285,484)
3. PS2 - 19,882
4. GBASP - 2,104
5. GBM - 1,801
6. 360 - 1,094
7. NDS - 1,058
8. NGC - 696
9. GBA - 13
10. XBX - 5
Software
1. PSP - Tales of Phantasia Full Voice Edition - Bandai Namco - 66,263 - NEW
2. NDS - New Super Mario Bros. - Nintendo - 53,011 (3,027,038) - 16th week
3. NDS - Final Fantasy III - Square Enix - 49,475 (598,476) - 3rd week
4. NDS - Tingle RPG - Nintendo - 32,792 (78,288) - 2nd week
5. NDS - Brain Training 2 - Nintendo - 32,054 (3,151,912) - 38th week
6. NDS - Cooking Navi - Nintendo - 25,458 (445,191) - 8th week
7. GBA - Rhythm Tengoku - Nintendo - 24,676 (148,108) - 6th week
8. NDS - Animal Crossing: Wild World - Nintendo - 24,027 (3,205,762) - 43rd week
9. PS2 - Phantasy Star Universe - Sega - 20,431 (140,633) - 2nd week
10. NDS - Mario Hoops 3 on 3 - Square Enix - 20,372 (288,136) - 7th week
Better late than never i supppose, only one announcement and thats Tales of Phantasia remake for the PSP getting the top spot, a somewhat surprise though with only 66k sales, i expected some of the DS games to beat it, but this month is a slow games month around the world, so its kind fo expecting with low sales all round.
1. DSL - 113,831 (4,310,657)
2. PSP - 29,141 (1,285,484)
3. PS2 - 19,882
4. GBASP - 2,104
5. GBM - 1,801
6. 360 - 1,094
7. NDS - 1,058
8. NGC - 696
9. GBA - 13
10. XBX - 5
Software
1. PSP - Tales of Phantasia Full Voice Edition - Bandai Namco - 66,263 - NEW
2. NDS - New Super Mario Bros. - Nintendo - 53,011 (3,027,038) - 16th week
3. NDS - Final Fantasy III - Square Enix - 49,475 (598,476) - 3rd week
4. NDS - Tingle RPG - Nintendo - 32,792 (78,288) - 2nd week
5. NDS - Brain Training 2 - Nintendo - 32,054 (3,151,912) - 38th week
6. NDS - Cooking Navi - Nintendo - 25,458 (445,191) - 8th week
7. GBA - Rhythm Tengoku - Nintendo - 24,676 (148,108) - 6th week
8. NDS - Animal Crossing: Wild World - Nintendo - 24,027 (3,205,762) - 43rd week
9. PS2 - Phantasy Star Universe - Sega - 20,431 (140,633) - 2nd week
10. NDS - Mario Hoops 3 on 3 - Square Enix - 20,372 (288,136) - 7th week
Better late than never i supppose, only one announcement and thats Tales of Phantasia remake for the PSP getting the top spot, a somewhat surprise though with only 66k sales, i expected some of the DS games to beat it, but this month is a slow games month around the world, so its kind fo expecting with low sales all round.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Wii stuff
hmm.. im sure you heard it, Nintendo's new console has a £180 price tag with a release date of December 8th (ish), but what does that mean to me?
Well firstly, the price, £180 is £30 more than i was expecting to pay but at least its not grossly expensive and i was planning to sell my Gamecube and a few games to get the price down as well. So that price is kind of a 'meh' reaction from me. The problem comes with the accessories with it, it comes with WiiSports which looks fun and stuff but personally i dont want it, though its a neat addition, this raises the price of the console more than it should be. Another accesory is the controller (nunchuk and Wiimote), they have to be boguth seperately, and it totals to a cost of £45 for the set.. wtf? I've known that Nintendo has always been making profit with their peripherals and stuff but this was ridiculous.. hpefully a special bargain comes along that the price is lowered when you buy the two together. Game prices are fair enough, cheaper than X-360 prices.
The date itself is fairly decent as well, before Christmas day and during the Christmas shopping rush, smart move though i worry about the shipments of stock provided. But Nintendo is hoping to ship 4 million consoles world wide by the end of the year.
Only one colour is available at launch, White, strange enough when a Black Wii console was first shown, but this is fine by my standards as either a White or black consoles would have been pick ups from me.
All in all, Nintendo's Wiivelations recently did hurt us gamers alot, especially with the confused news of region-locking and stuff, but im still going to buy it, the price of the console and games aren't too high, the controller prices are way too high and the date is completely fine, launch lineup is decent with Zelda in the mix and launching before PS3 in Europe is great for us Europeans. Nintendo manages to trip itself up this time but hopefully they get back up and stay in the race.
Well firstly, the price, £180 is £30 more than i was expecting to pay but at least its not grossly expensive and i was planning to sell my Gamecube and a few games to get the price down as well. So that price is kind of a 'meh' reaction from me. The problem comes with the accessories with it, it comes with WiiSports which looks fun and stuff but personally i dont want it, though its a neat addition, this raises the price of the console more than it should be. Another accesory is the controller (nunchuk and Wiimote), they have to be boguth seperately, and it totals to a cost of £45 for the set.. wtf? I've known that Nintendo has always been making profit with their peripherals and stuff but this was ridiculous.. hpefully a special bargain comes along that the price is lowered when you buy the two together. Game prices are fair enough, cheaper than X-360 prices.
The date itself is fairly decent as well, before Christmas day and during the Christmas shopping rush, smart move though i worry about the shipments of stock provided. But Nintendo is hoping to ship 4 million consoles world wide by the end of the year.
Only one colour is available at launch, White, strange enough when a Black Wii console was first shown, but this is fine by my standards as either a White or black consoles would have been pick ups from me.
All in all, Nintendo's Wiivelations recently did hurt us gamers alot, especially with the confused news of region-locking and stuff, but im still going to buy it, the price of the console and games aren't too high, the controller prices are way too high and the date is completely fine, launch lineup is decent with Zelda in the mix and launching before PS3 in Europe is great for us Europeans. Nintendo manages to trip itself up this time but hopefully they get back up and stay in the race.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Anime review: Jubei-Chan
In short, Jubei chan is like Excel Saga with samurais and ninjas. with a somewhat inconsitent but somewhat wacky comedy being its appeal here. You will find it struggling to see if this aniem appeals to you.
Fortunately, Jubei chan does some thigns right, like Excel Saga's comedy its a mix bag, you either like it or hate it. You would like it because it goes completely off the mark sometimes, or you hate it because its way too random and breaks the tension sometimes. I liked say about 50% of the comedy on offer here, theres a comforting sense of not trying too hard for comedy but also not too stretched out play for some parts.
Next is its action, for a ninja show, action is a pretty key factor and all in all, Jubei chan keeps things, nice and short. Not sweet or outstanding though, just nice. The battles are generally a short affair, with most ending in no more than a minute or less. If you were looking at Jubei chan for an action fest prepare to feel disappointed.
Next, characters, ok. Side characters, they can die off, they provided very little entertainment value and had virtually no purpose.. other than annoy the viewer. The main characters however and support characters, were good. Jubei with her dad, Sai, were great and the show convinced me that this show was really abotu them than the comedy or action value this show had. Somewhat teary but never over-played, the chemistry between fatehr and daughter here really stands out, thoguh the romance between Jubei and the twins never really shone through for me. Jubei on the other hand, her self-development to become err.. Jubei, is somewhat a forced but entertaining affair which leads her to be urinal head n one episode which was hilarious.
Other than that though, this anime does thigns decently, not amazing but definetely watchable and likeable to a degree even if it can annoy you with some of its characters or jokes.
Overall: 7.5/10
Grade: B
PS: Sweet dreams and memories, forever.. forever! That song rocks :)
Fortunately, Jubei chan does some thigns right, like Excel Saga's comedy its a mix bag, you either like it or hate it. You would like it because it goes completely off the mark sometimes, or you hate it because its way too random and breaks the tension sometimes. I liked say about 50% of the comedy on offer here, theres a comforting sense of not trying too hard for comedy but also not too stretched out play for some parts.
Next is its action, for a ninja show, action is a pretty key factor and all in all, Jubei chan keeps things, nice and short. Not sweet or outstanding though, just nice. The battles are generally a short affair, with most ending in no more than a minute or less. If you were looking at Jubei chan for an action fest prepare to feel disappointed.
Next, characters, ok. Side characters, they can die off, they provided very little entertainment value and had virtually no purpose.. other than annoy the viewer. The main characters however and support characters, were good. Jubei with her dad, Sai, were great and the show convinced me that this show was really abotu them than the comedy or action value this show had. Somewhat teary but never over-played, the chemistry between fatehr and daughter here really stands out, thoguh the romance between Jubei and the twins never really shone through for me. Jubei on the other hand, her self-development to become err.. Jubei, is somewhat a forced but entertaining affair which leads her to be urinal head n one episode which was hilarious.
Other than that though, this anime does thigns decently, not amazing but definetely watchable and likeable to a degree even if it can annoy you with some of its characters or jokes.
Overall: 7.5/10
Grade: B
PS: Sweet dreams and memories, forever.. forever! That song rocks :)
Monday, September 11, 2006
Frigging good X-box 360 portable mod
http://benheck.com/Games/Xbox360/x360_page_5.htm
Absolutely amazing, this guy has done good portable consoles in the past (look at his N64, X-box ones for reference), but this X-box 360 laptop mod is pure amazing, it works, and i love it.. though the battery life must be like near zilch :P
Absolutely amazing, this guy has done good portable consoles in the past (look at his N64, X-box ones for reference), but this X-box 360 laptop mod is pure amazing, it works, and i love it.. though the battery life must be like near zilch :P
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Media Create Sales (August 28th - September 3rd)
Hardware
Nintendo DS Lite - 228,939
PSP - 27,499
PS2 - 22,703
GBASP - 2,751
GBM - 1,791
Xbox 360 - 1,250
Gamecube - 855
Nintendo DS - 320
GBA - 22
Xbox - 0
Software
1. PSU 120,202
2. New Super Mario Bros 72,763 - 2,974,027
3. Brain Age 2 46,662 - 3,119,857
4. Final Fantasy III 45,949 - 549,001
5. Tingle DS 45,496
6. Cooking Navi 35,689 - 419,733
7. Mario Basketball 34,001 - 267,763
8. Animal Crossing 32,605 - 3,181,735
9. Rhythm Tengoku 28,361 - 123,432
10. Tamagotchi 2 27,540 - 458,474
Comment: ROFL< Xbox did it again, a big fat 0. ZERO! DSL wins.. again.. PSP back to normal. Nintendo almost stole all the chart numbers (damn Phantasy Star Universe).
Nintendo DS Lite - 228,939
PSP - 27,499
PS2 - 22,703
GBASP - 2,751
GBM - 1,791
Xbox 360 - 1,250
Gamecube - 855
Nintendo DS - 320
GBA - 22
Xbox - 0
Software
1. PSU 120,202
2. New Super Mario Bros 72,763 - 2,974,027
3. Brain Age 2 46,662 - 3,119,857
4. Final Fantasy III 45,949 - 549,001
5. Tingle DS 45,496
6. Cooking Navi 35,689 - 419,733
7. Mario Basketball 34,001 - 267,763
8. Animal Crossing 32,605 - 3,181,735
9. Rhythm Tengoku 28,361 - 123,432
10. Tamagotchi 2 27,540 - 458,474
Comment: ROFL< Xbox did it again, a big fat 0. ZERO! DSL wins.. again.. PSP back to normal. Nintendo almost stole all the chart numbers (damn Phantasy Star Universe).
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Sony news: The good, bad, horrid and absolutely craptastic!
The Good: Devil May Cry 4 scans.. hooray!
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2906/38815dmc4a122421lodv5.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1459/38822dmc4b122312loyi3.jpg
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/9636/38828dmc4c122328loay5.jpg
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2663/38834dmc4d122559lorm6.jpg
Source: GAF
--
The Bad: No HDMI lead for PS3?
The Horrid: Only 100k/400k for launch in Japan/US. 2 million by end of year, wheres the promise Sony? Suppose to be 4m!!!!
---
The Absolutely Craptastic: No PS3 in Europe until March 2007
--
In all, well fucking done Sony, failure to deliver promises, delays, expensiveness, everything has gone wrong for you since E3 and this really is the last straw.. a X-box 360 is very tempting now thanks to you. Thanks a lot Sony. Thanks!!!
Image courtesy of UK:R
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2906/38815dmc4a122421lodv5.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1459/38822dmc4b122312loyi3.jpg
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/9636/38828dmc4c122328loay5.jpg
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2663/38834dmc4d122559lorm6.jpg
Source: GAF
--
The Bad: No HDMI lead for PS3?
North American gamers planning to purchase a 60GB PlayStation 3 will need to purchase a HDMI cable if they want to see those fancy graphics at their finest.
That's according to the specs page on the official US PS3 website, which notes: "HDMI cable not included. Additional equipment may be required to use the HDMI connector."
---The Horrid: Only 100k/400k for launch in Japan/US. 2 million by end of year, wheres the promise Sony? Suppose to be 4m!!!!
Sony is to ship only two million PlayStation 3 consoles to the US and Japan by the end of 2006, halving its original forecast.
Ken Kutaragi, president of SCEI, revealed the reduced numbers following the news that Europe would not see the release of the PlayStation 3 until March 2007.
According to Kutaragi's statement, only 400,000 consoles will be available at day one in the US, with around 100,000 units for the Japanese launch.
Source: eurogamer---
The Absolutely Craptastic: No PS3 in Europe until March 2007
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that the release date for PlayStation 3 in PAL territories has been pushed back until March 2007.
In an official statement, Sony said the decision to revise the launch date was taken following "the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PlayStation 3."
--
In all, well fucking done Sony, failure to deliver promises, delays, expensiveness, everything has gone wrong for you since E3 and this really is the last straw.. a X-box 360 is very tempting now thanks to you. Thanks a lot Sony. Thanks!!!
Image courtesy of UK:R
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Anime review: The Melanchonoly of Haruhi Suzumiya
TMoHS is a strange piece of work, unique in style, direction and plot, this anime delivers a unique sense of self-awareness in anime, its certainly different, its certainly absorbing but why is it so loved by everyone?
First off, the main draw appeal (for me) is Ito's character design (previous work on Shana) on the nice variety of characters here, from the energetic Haruhi to the silent character of Yuki. Each design emcompassing their personality right down to their tip, they act just as well how they look like. Dusting that off, the entertainment factor of the anime is a big plus, though somewhat confusing what with the mixed up episodes here and there, theres a sense of stability still and though purposefully done to confuse (or annoy) viewers, its done in a sense that it hopes to acheive uniqueness and its done that right as part of its entertainment factor. What is also entertainign are the short stories throughout, though no real story is given through the episodes, its plot is downright solid with Haruhi becoming a 'god' almost and hilarity ensues from that aspect.
Though the story isn't it strongest aspect , i can suspect a lot of people will find the story appealing mainly because it does question existence of life though to a very broad sense. But for me, TMoHS biggest draw from this philosophical aspect of the story is Haruhi's determination to find something fun in life. of course, many of us will feel that way and this anime represents it very well, who wouldn't want to find life more itneresting, i've wished for something special to happen form time to time, and though Haruhi's character makes her into a God, it makes a nice little thinker for me to ponder on the aspect of finding something special/entertaining in life.
Ok, to close this off, TMoHS is an acheivement, despite the dodgy first episode and other episodes which were downright boring, TMoHS somehow manages to acheive cult status with its nice uniqueness to it. Despite confusion, this anime pulls it off well with great characters and entertainment and a second season is definetly welcome with huge rapturous applause from the anime community. Over-rated/hyped a bit slightly but it definetely delivered.
Overall: 8.5/10
Grade: A-
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Black DS Lite in Japan + Resident evil stuff.
The Black DS Lite came out in Japan recently and surprise surprise, its sold out!!
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/09/02/103,1157162861,59450,0,0.html for article and pictures..
Glad they loving the Black DS Lite, i love mine so much :)
--
As for Resident Evil, theres rumours going around that Sony is trying to make Resident Evil 5 a PS3-exclusive title.. though those rumorus persists that a Japan-PS3 exclusive version is on the cards as speculated a while back.
As for Resident Evil Wii, voice actress Tara Platt is to voice Jill Valentine and thats about the only news i've seen for RE:Wii (though the HK news is a bit off i suppose). A remake for RE3 (considered imo, the weakest RE game i've played).
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/09/02/103,1157162861,59450,0,0.html for article and pictures..
Glad they loving the Black DS Lite, i love mine so much :)
--
As for Resident Evil, theres rumours going around that Sony is trying to make Resident Evil 5 a PS3-exclusive title.. though those rumorus persists that a Japan-PS3 exclusive version is on the cards as speculated a while back.
As for Resident Evil Wii, voice actress Tara Platt is to voice Jill Valentine and thats about the only news i've seen for RE:Wii (though the HK news is a bit off i suppose). A remake for RE3 (considered imo, the weakest RE game i've played).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
