Pretty old news but i have to put this site up: http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/
The site is about recent problems with the Wii system that has launched in the US about 2 weeks ago, the main problem so far have been the Wiimote strap breaking off when people are playing an intense game of Tennis or bowling on Wiisports. I guess there are other reports being more important like Disc Read Errors and even the Wii system spitting out the discs, but the more than frequent problem is the cheap Wiimote strap.
Hopefully when it comes out in the Uk it gets fixed, but there's a good solution to this.. hold on to your Wiimote!!! If its like a racket, you wouldn't 'accidently' let go of the handle.. <_<
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Media Create sales (13th-19th Nov)
Hardware
DSL 128,621
PS3 42,099
PSP 16,690
PS2 15,068
Xbox360 4,050
GBASP 1,199
GBM 1,037
GC 514
DS 182
GBA 30
Xbox 6
Software
1. (PS2, Koei) Sengoku Musou 2 Empires - 97,170
2. (DS, Nintendo) Common Knowledge Training - 78,722 / 529,828
3. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Diamond - 68,147 / 1,751,043
4. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Pearl - 57,627 / 1,481,617
5. (DS, Nintendo) Hoshi no Kirby Dorocche Dan - 52,177 / 296,258
6. (DS, Nintendo) Magic Taizen - 28,215
7. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Brothers - 22,986 / 3,416,907
8. (PS2, Sega) Yakuza PS2 The Best - 21,154 / 86,292
9. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 19,349 / 3,431,357
10. (PS2, Bandai) NARUTO Kinoha Spirits - 19,277
Comments: uhh.. what happened to Ps3 software? Can't see anything in the software charts. :P Anyways, PS2 still doing well, PSp hardware falls, DS dominates.. next week? Jump Ultimate Stars!!!! oh.. and Love and Berry.. but thats nothing i want to talk about.
DSL 128,621
PS3 42,099
PSP 16,690
PS2 15,068
Xbox360 4,050
GBASP 1,199
GBM 1,037
GC 514
DS 182
GBA 30
Xbox 6
Software
1. (PS2, Koei) Sengoku Musou 2 Empires - 97,170
2. (DS, Nintendo) Common Knowledge Training - 78,722 / 529,828
3. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Diamond - 68,147 / 1,751,043
4. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Pearl - 57,627 / 1,481,617
5. (DS, Nintendo) Hoshi no Kirby Dorocche Dan - 52,177 / 296,258
6. (DS, Nintendo) Magic Taizen - 28,215
7. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Brothers - 22,986 / 3,416,907
8. (PS2, Sega) Yakuza PS2 The Best - 21,154 / 86,292
9. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 19,349 / 3,431,357
10. (PS2, Bandai) NARUTO Kinoha Spirits - 19,277
Comments: uhh.. what happened to Ps3 software? Can't see anything in the software charts. :P Anyways, PS2 still doing well, PSp hardware falls, DS dominates.. next week? Jump Ultimate Stars!!!! oh.. and Love and Berry.. but thats nothing i want to talk about.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Film Review: Borat
can't be bothered to find the long ass title...
Anyways, first off i have to say that i was never a big fan of Cohen (actor who plays Borat), his jokes with the likes of Ali G have been a total hit and miss thing for me. After its disastrous Ali G film, Cohen managed to hit the right spot with Borat, the film is full of satire and it never gets tired of it.
The main draw of the show is to take the reactions and thoughts of the people around America, like how racist, anti-social, creepy and strange they are. Of course its nothing new and can be shocking sometimes but irs pure genius direction makes this worthwhile to watch. The comedy is great as well, 2 naked men wrestling each other in a Hotel before launching themselves into a conference room is the highlight for me, and totally portrays the show really well as a shockingly disgusting but extremely funny piece of art.
Other jokes like the shape-shifting Jews and trying to greet people on streets of New York are a great smash, its weird but i like it. I never thought of Borat as a LOL film but i got proved wrong, the film destroys the Ali G show and film and has totally raised my expectations of Cohen. The Story isn't much but that isn't the point, watching the reactions of American society is a laugh whether u live in the UK or even the US.
Overall: 8.5/10
Grade: A-
Anyways, first off i have to say that i was never a big fan of Cohen (actor who plays Borat), his jokes with the likes of Ali G have been a total hit and miss thing for me. After its disastrous Ali G film, Cohen managed to hit the right spot with Borat, the film is full of satire and it never gets tired of it.
The main draw of the show is to take the reactions and thoughts of the people around America, like how racist, anti-social, creepy and strange they are. Of course its nothing new and can be shocking sometimes but irs pure genius direction makes this worthwhile to watch. The comedy is great as well, 2 naked men wrestling each other in a Hotel before launching themselves into a conference room is the highlight for me, and totally portrays the show really well as a shockingly disgusting but extremely funny piece of art.
Other jokes like the shape-shifting Jews and trying to greet people on streets of New York are a great smash, its weird but i like it. I never thought of Borat as a LOL film but i got proved wrong, the film destroys the Ali G show and film and has totally raised my expectations of Cohen. The Story isn't much but that isn't the point, watching the reactions of American society is a laugh whether u live in the UK or even the US.
Overall: 8.5/10
Grade: A-
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Game Review: Tales of the Abyss
Last week, i finished off Tales of the Abyss, the latest Tales game to hit the western shores.. and by western i mean US shores and forget about the EU. Still i imported it and below are my thoughts on it.
I like to say that i loved Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube, the battle system was action-packed, fast-paced and brilliant, storyline though not the best was sound and flowed quite well and the characters are great (aside from Colette and Regal.. and maybe Lloyd).. but still ToS got into my top RPG of this generation.
Tales of the Abyss now, the battle system is similar to ToS's BUT more action-packed, by this i mean more special moves such as FOF changes, more special attacks, more Hi-Ougi's.. this greatly boosts its Battle aspects from ToS. Coupled with a nicely detailed FSC and C.Core menus, it enhances the strategy of the game as well. Though FSC is somewhat disappointing considering only specific moves can gain advantages and take s awhile to train these moves.. otherwise, great system.
Next, the characters, and just wow, there are some real good gems here, Jade, Anise and Tear are likable because of comedic value or their personality. The rest like Guy, Luke and Natalia aren't as likeable but at least the voice acting is tip top shape to provide the amazing personality of these characters. Its a shame that skit scenes aren't dubbed as well, cause the JPN version have them voice acted and its a real nice treat. Also i have to mention the God Generals who are the 'badasses' of the game, similar to the generals in ToS, their presence makes my body tingle :)
Storyline is unique as well, we.. unique compared with other Tales gaes, no mention of Summons or mana or the usual Tales stuff here, its a totally new storyline and i like it.. though it drags on way too long with the storyline forcing you to backtrack way too much (more so than ToS) and theres also the anti-climatic feel of some dungeons where the lack of a boss to 'reward' you of the hardwork of reaching the final bit of the stage. Otherwise, story is generally solid, it makes sense and the game really tries very hard to cover up so many plot outlines via books, skits, etc..
Difficulty, not difficult at all, aside from maybe 2 boss fights, it was as easy as any other Tales games i've played where alot of the time is spent move-spamming a boss to submission, which works 90% of the time. However, if you decide to do sub-quests like Nebilim or Tales of characters, then things get a lot more serious and strategy is required. And yes, i beat them both, Nebilim taking 2 goes, while Tales of character on my first go.
Replayability, with 40 hours at the end, TotA surpasses ToS by 4 hours on my first playthrough.. i liekd the game, very ddictive and New Game+ mode is always a good addition.. however, i won't be replaying this in a while.. why? Load times. Yes, i know such a minor gripe in many games but TotA makes load times a major gripe. In dungeons, load times between battles are fine, generally 2-3 seconds. On world maps however.. *sigh* a good 7-seconds before start of battle and possibly longer for after battle. Load times hurt TotA alot, and after playing the relatively non-loading ToS on the Gamecube it was really struggling for me to do battles on the world maps of TotA. Not just battles, some scenes load quite a bit and i thought the PS2 stopped for some reason.
Overall, 8/10
Grade: B
Its a great game, let down by constant back-tracking, lack of VA skits and horrendous load times.
I like to say that i loved Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube, the battle system was action-packed, fast-paced and brilliant, storyline though not the best was sound and flowed quite well and the characters are great (aside from Colette and Regal.. and maybe Lloyd).. but still ToS got into my top RPG of this generation.
Tales of the Abyss now, the battle system is similar to ToS's BUT more action-packed, by this i mean more special moves such as FOF changes, more special attacks, more Hi-Ougi's.. this greatly boosts its Battle aspects from ToS. Coupled with a nicely detailed FSC and C.Core menus, it enhances the strategy of the game as well. Though FSC is somewhat disappointing considering only specific moves can gain advantages and take s awhile to train these moves.. otherwise, great system.
Next, the characters, and just wow, there are some real good gems here, Jade, Anise and Tear are likable because of comedic value or their personality. The rest like Guy, Luke and Natalia aren't as likeable but at least the voice acting is tip top shape to provide the amazing personality of these characters. Its a shame that skit scenes aren't dubbed as well, cause the JPN version have them voice acted and its a real nice treat. Also i have to mention the God Generals who are the 'badasses' of the game, similar to the generals in ToS, their presence makes my body tingle :)
Storyline is unique as well, we.. unique compared with other Tales gaes, no mention of Summons or mana or the usual Tales stuff here, its a totally new storyline and i like it.. though it drags on way too long with the storyline forcing you to backtrack way too much (more so than ToS) and theres also the anti-climatic feel of some dungeons where the lack of a boss to 'reward' you of the hardwork of reaching the final bit of the stage. Otherwise, story is generally solid, it makes sense and the game really tries very hard to cover up so many plot outlines via books, skits, etc..
Difficulty, not difficult at all, aside from maybe 2 boss fights, it was as easy as any other Tales games i've played where alot of the time is spent move-spamming a boss to submission, which works 90% of the time. However, if you decide to do sub-quests like Nebilim or Tales of characters, then things get a lot more serious and strategy is required. And yes, i beat them both, Nebilim taking 2 goes, while Tales of character on my first go.
Replayability, with 40 hours at the end, TotA surpasses ToS by 4 hours on my first playthrough.. i liekd the game, very ddictive and New Game+ mode is always a good addition.. however, i won't be replaying this in a while.. why? Load times. Yes, i know such a minor gripe in many games but TotA makes load times a major gripe. In dungeons, load times between battles are fine, generally 2-3 seconds. On world maps however.. *sigh* a good 7-seconds before start of battle and possibly longer for after battle. Load times hurt TotA alot, and after playing the relatively non-loading ToS on the Gamecube it was really struggling for me to do battles on the world maps of TotA. Not just battles, some scenes load quite a bit and i thought the PS2 stopped for some reason.
Overall, 8/10
Grade: B
Its a great game, let down by constant back-tracking, lack of VA skits and horrendous load times.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
It's sad when a rebel tries to act uhh.. rebelious
Yesterday was a hilarious time, it was 1am, after a hard slog at Call of Duty 2 multiplayer, i decided to a final check on GAF before sleeping.. and lo and behold a thread pops up. 'Gamespot Zelda: TP review' ooh!! This is going to be good, everyone expected 9.0+ at the very least considering how amazing the game looks and plays with highly positive impressions and previews as well as the pre-cursor of other sites/magazines giving out generous high scores.
The score? 8.8/10
Wow, did i read that right, no way was that ever gonna pass, the internet started exploding.. literally, GAF members were mad at the score initially, but when they started reading the review, 2 halves turned up, one which are understanding the review but still mad at the score and the other half was just plain mad. The reviewer Jeff main complaints about it were 'tacked on Wiimote controls' and 'nostalgic graphics and sound'.. now, the problems with those two points.
'Tacked on Wiimote controls' felt as though to me that he wanted to play traditional Zelda instead, which is totally fine by me, but the way he said it meant that he just didn't want to play with the Wiimote at all. Maybe when he had the game maybe he had to use the Wiimote and Nunchuk to play the game, and impressions so far have been high positive remarks about the Wiimote, nothing gimmicky about it, it just takes a while to get used to.
'nostalgic graphics and sound' for me sounds like another way of saying 'PS3/X-360 game graphics are better, Wii graphics suck ass' Jeff also pointed out that the game doesn't really evolve from previous games.. aside from the fact of Wolf changing, horse back riding, new items and stuff.. no, not a similar experience at all.. no siree. Really, does Jeff know what he is talking about.. nit picking reviews for the lose. Oh that also brings back the reviw from Gamedaily who gave the game 4.5/10 which is great with the biggest flaw 'Game doesn't look as good as PS3 game' <_<..
The score? 8.8/10
Wow, did i read that right, no way was that ever gonna pass, the internet started exploding.. literally, GAF members were mad at the score initially, but when they started reading the review, 2 halves turned up, one which are understanding the review but still mad at the score and the other half was just plain mad. The reviewer Jeff main complaints about it were 'tacked on Wiimote controls' and 'nostalgic graphics and sound'.. now, the problems with those two points.
'Tacked on Wiimote controls' felt as though to me that he wanted to play traditional Zelda instead, which is totally fine by me, but the way he said it meant that he just didn't want to play with the Wiimote at all. Maybe when he had the game maybe he had to use the Wiimote and Nunchuk to play the game, and impressions so far have been high positive remarks about the Wiimote, nothing gimmicky about it, it just takes a while to get used to.
'nostalgic graphics and sound' for me sounds like another way of saying 'PS3/X-360 game graphics are better, Wii graphics suck ass' Jeff also pointed out that the game doesn't really evolve from previous games.. aside from the fact of Wolf changing, horse back riding, new items and stuff.. no, not a similar experience at all.. no siree. Really, does Jeff know what he is talking about.. nit picking reviews for the lose. Oh that also brings back the reviw from Gamedaily who gave the game 4.5/10 which is great with the biggest flaw 'Game doesn't look as good as PS3 game' <_<..
Media Create Sales (6th Nov - 12th Nov) *Playstation 3 special*
Hardware
DSL 148,174
PS3 81,639
PSP 19,123
PS2 16,157
Xbox360 3,864
GBASP 1,320
GBM 1,213
GC 496
DS 279
GBA 12
Xbox 3
Software
1. (DS) General Knowledge Training - Nintendo - 102,240 - 451,106
2. (DS) Pokemon Diamond - Pokemon - 78,744 - 1,682,896
3. (DS) Kirby: Squeak Squad - Nintendo - 77,949 - 244,081
4. (DS) Pokemon Pearl - Pokemon - 65,574 - 1,423,990
5. (DS) Kanji Brain - Rocket Company - 33,932 - NEW
6. (DS) New Super Mario Brothers - Nintendo - 27,361 - 3,393,921
7. (DS) More Brain Age - Nintendo - 24,166 - 3,412,008
8. (DS) Winning Eleven DS - Konami - 23,653 - 112,928
9. (PS3) Ridge Racer 7 - Bandai Namco - 21,655 - NEW
10. (PS3) Gundam: sales Target not in Sight - Bandai Namco - 21,310 - NEW
Comments: Amazing isn't it? How after a generally successful PS3 launch that had queues for as far as the eye can see, the occasional bust-ups and obligatory Yakuza/Triad dealings, the PS3 only manages to steal part of the spotlight from the DS, As can be seen, the PS3 sold a good 80,000+ units which is good but not enough to beat the strong legged DS sales which i have to say is almost 1 year on from the inital sellout in mid-holidays and its still selling out from this day.
Software side, RR7 and Gundamn reached the top ten.. just, with the DS taking the spots for the top 8. Surprised? Well, i am. With the hype surrounding the potential of the PS3 and stuff, i expected a bigger software sale for RR7 at least (and im sure Namco/Bandai wanted that as well).
Trivia: DSL hardware sales >>Combined total of everything else.. you just have to be impressed with it.
DSL 148,174
PS3 81,639
PSP 19,123
PS2 16,157
Xbox360 3,864
GBASP 1,320
GBM 1,213
GC 496
DS 279
GBA 12
Xbox 3
Software
1. (DS) General Knowledge Training - Nintendo - 102,240 - 451,106
2. (DS) Pokemon Diamond - Pokemon - 78,744 - 1,682,896
3. (DS) Kirby: Squeak Squad - Nintendo - 77,949 - 244,081
4. (DS) Pokemon Pearl - Pokemon - 65,574 - 1,423,990
5. (DS) Kanji Brain - Rocket Company - 33,932 - NEW
6. (DS) New Super Mario Brothers - Nintendo - 27,361 - 3,393,921
7. (DS) More Brain Age - Nintendo - 24,166 - 3,412,008
8. (DS) Winning Eleven DS - Konami - 23,653 - 112,928
9. (PS3) Ridge Racer 7 - Bandai Namco - 21,655 - NEW
10. (PS3) Gundam: sales Target not in Sight - Bandai Namco - 21,310 - NEW
Comments: Amazing isn't it? How after a generally successful PS3 launch that had queues for as far as the eye can see, the occasional bust-ups and obligatory Yakuza/Triad dealings, the PS3 only manages to steal part of the spotlight from the DS, As can be seen, the PS3 sold a good 80,000+ units which is good but not enough to beat the strong legged DS sales which i have to say is almost 1 year on from the inital sellout in mid-holidays and its still selling out from this day.
Software side, RR7 and Gundamn reached the top ten.. just, with the DS taking the spots for the top 8. Surprised? Well, i am. With the hype surrounding the potential of the PS3 and stuff, i expected a bigger software sale for RR7 at least (and im sure Namco/Bandai wanted that as well).
Trivia: DSL hardware sales >>Combined total of everything else.. you just have to be impressed with it.
Friday, November 17, 2006
100th post, therefore, Wii playtest impressions
Came back from the Bullring Wii event, and im confident to say that the Wiimote is just amazing, its not too light, not too heavy, just the right size and shape and fits into my hand like a glove. Very satisfied with the remote. The console itself, now seeing it IRL, its very very titchy, damn, i knew it was small but when u see it in person, damn.
In Bullring they were showing off Wiisports, Zelda, Wii Play and Rayman. I only had time with Wii Play and Rayman (i want to play Zelda on my own). I had a good Duck Hunt session, shooting targets and discs etc was fun, very simple and the remote worked well, no need for exaggerated heavy wrist movements, basically, if you know how to handle a mouse, you be right at home with the remote. It was a bit sensitive for my liking but i got used to it and managed to get 1st place
As for Rayman, it was fun to play, seeing the Rabbits scream randomly was delightful, i played the Cow (Hammer)-throw game and managed to suck at it really really badly :S. Graphics are decent as well, not amazing but nothing to really complain about.
Overall, i be back tomorrow and Saturday to see if any new games are there, i really want to test out Red Steel and WiiSports, but so far, so good Nintendo.
Big Thumbs Up!!
In Bullring they were showing off Wiisports, Zelda, Wii Play and Rayman. I only had time with Wii Play and Rayman (i want to play Zelda on my own). I had a good Duck Hunt session, shooting targets and discs etc was fun, very simple and the remote worked well, no need for exaggerated heavy wrist movements, basically, if you know how to handle a mouse, you be right at home with the remote. It was a bit sensitive for my liking but i got used to it and managed to get 1st place
As for Rayman, it was fun to play, seeing the Rabbits scream randomly was delightful, i played the Cow (Hammer)-throw game and managed to suck at it really really badly :S. Graphics are decent as well, not amazing but nothing to really complain about.
Overall, i be back tomorrow and Saturday to see if any new games are there, i really want to test out Red Steel and WiiSports, but so far, so good Nintendo.
Big Thumbs Up!!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Anime Review: Utawarerumono
Its strange this, Uta is a good anime but like alot of good animes i like, it always fails in one of its key aspects.
When i mean good, i meant that Uta started well with an intriging plot, a good cast of (D&D style) characters and a good setting with lots of action generally. The problem lies when it tries to execute many of the above aspects, its a hit or miss in many cases, for example. the characters, out of the many present, only a very select handful were chosen to be given any form of character development or enough screentime to like them, inarguably, Karura, the kick-ass screen-hogging ass kicker is the top draw, while others pale in comaprison in terms of screen time, development and even the action.
The biggest example of poor execution is the story, the plot is good, shrouded in mystery and tension, it fails to live up to its promise, what with lack of info on Hakuoro, its fantasy turned sci-fi plot is not detailed enough and it feels very very loose.
Its strange though, Uta never tries to acheive anything more than an almost bog-standard fantasy anime, what with the potential it has. The sci-fi style theme at the end is not hard to present as shown by one of my fave animes, Scrapped Princess, but somehow with the 26 episodes here, Uta tries too hard to fit everything in those short episodes and subsequently it never appears more than just 'adequate'.
What is there though is quite fine though, again, Karura rules the roost with her charming, kick-ass ways. Erruru and Arruru are instantly likable, Oboro jobs like hell but a fun character, Benawi is a great character but needed more of him and in general the whole cast really fit their role well. The action (though repeated sometimes) is decent to watch, nothing outstanding, nothing too special, but does the job decently and is not boring at all.
There's a good amount of entertainment aside form the action, with the comedy situations early on, and the drama like stories during the series adding quite alot.
But still, this anime just feels a bit wasted, its too short what with the material given, the story is overly confusing with the characters not given the chance to develop much, but what is still there is good to watch to an extent, sure its not amazing, but it could have been that good.
Overall: 7/10
Grade: B-
When i mean good, i meant that Uta started well with an intriging plot, a good cast of (D&D style) characters and a good setting with lots of action generally. The problem lies when it tries to execute many of the above aspects, its a hit or miss in many cases, for example. the characters, out of the many present, only a very select handful were chosen to be given any form of character development or enough screentime to like them, inarguably, Karura, the kick-ass screen-hogging ass kicker is the top draw, while others pale in comaprison in terms of screen time, development and even the action.
The biggest example of poor execution is the story, the plot is good, shrouded in mystery and tension, it fails to live up to its promise, what with lack of info on Hakuoro, its fantasy turned sci-fi plot is not detailed enough and it feels very very loose.
Its strange though, Uta never tries to acheive anything more than an almost bog-standard fantasy anime, what with the potential it has. The sci-fi style theme at the end is not hard to present as shown by one of my fave animes, Scrapped Princess, but somehow with the 26 episodes here, Uta tries too hard to fit everything in those short episodes and subsequently it never appears more than just 'adequate'.
What is there though is quite fine though, again, Karura rules the roost with her charming, kick-ass ways. Erruru and Arruru are instantly likable, Oboro jobs like hell but a fun character, Benawi is a great character but needed more of him and in general the whole cast really fit their role well. The action (though repeated sometimes) is decent to watch, nothing outstanding, nothing too special, but does the job decently and is not boring at all.
There's a good amount of entertainment aside form the action, with the comedy situations early on, and the drama like stories during the series adding quite alot.
But still, this anime just feels a bit wasted, its too short what with the material given, the story is overly confusing with the characters not given the chance to develop much, but what is still there is good to watch to an extent, sure its not amazing, but it could have been that good.
Overall: 7/10
Grade: B-
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Media Create Sales (Oct 30th - Nov 5th)
Hardware
Nintendo DS Lite - 113,097
PSP - 23,725
PS2 - 20,982
Xbox 360 - 6,580
GBA SP - 1,443
Gameboy Micro - 1,299
Gamecube - 647
Nintendo DS - 373
Gameboy Advance - 20
Xbox - 0
Software
1. Kirby DS - 166,131 / NEW
2. Common Sense Training - 159,166 / 348,866
3. Pokemon Diamond - 105,943 / 1604152
4. Wining Eleven DS Konami - 89275 / NEW
5. Pokemon Pearl - 81604 / 1358416
6. New Super Mario Bros. - 31,307 / 3,366,560
7. Brain Age 2 - 27448 / 3387842
8. Kanji Kentei DS - 22,824 / 210,556
9. Animal Crossing: Wild World - 20,691 / 3,389,974
10. Ace Combat X - 17,961 / 78,545
Comment: 9/10 top ten software spots are taken by the DS, not surprising i suppose but still quite interesting though with games ranging from Animal Crossing to Common Sense Training, Nintendo DS really has pushed boundaries and expanded them.
Hardware wise, nothing special, next week, a PS3 special edition chart sales! Can the DSL beat PS3 sales? Find out next week..
Nintendo DS Lite - 113,097
PSP - 23,725
PS2 - 20,982
Xbox 360 - 6,580
GBA SP - 1,443
Gameboy Micro - 1,299
Gamecube - 647
Nintendo DS - 373
Gameboy Advance - 20
Xbox - 0
Software
1. Kirby DS - 166,131 / NEW
2. Common Sense Training - 159,166 / 348,866
3. Pokemon Diamond - 105,943 / 1604152
4. Wining Eleven DS Konami - 89275 / NEW
5. Pokemon Pearl - 81604 / 1358416
6. New Super Mario Bros. - 31,307 / 3,366,560
7. Brain Age 2 - 27448 / 3387842
8. Kanji Kentei DS - 22,824 / 210,556
9. Animal Crossing: Wild World - 20,691 / 3,389,974
10. Ace Combat X - 17,961 / 78,545
Comment: 9/10 top ten software spots are taken by the DS, not surprising i suppose but still quite interesting though with games ranging from Animal Crossing to Common Sense Training, Nintendo DS really has pushed boundaries and expanded them.
Hardware wise, nothing special, next week, a PS3 special edition chart sales! Can the DSL beat PS3 sales? Find out next week..
Friday, November 10, 2006
PS3 launch tomorrow
In Japan.
Lots of queues. Police called in to get rid of the homeless. Triads/Yakuza threatening people. People camping. Only 80,000-100,000 unnits. A somewhat lack-lustre game lineup. People already have their PS3s. Expect eBay profit.
Photos here.
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0071.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0072.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0073.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0074.jpg
http://bm98.or.tp/up/src/up9576.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0075.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0076.jpg
Lots of queues. Police called in to get rid of the homeless. Triads/Yakuza threatening people. People camping. Only 80,000-100,000 unnits. A somewhat lack-lustre game lineup. People already have their PS3s. Expect eBay profit.
Photos here.
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0071.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0072.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0073.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0074.jpg
http://bm98.or.tp/up/src/up9576.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0075.jpg
http://www.univch.net/cgi-bin/source/up0076.jpg
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Too busy..
..bah, its that part again in Uni, that time when fun and games slow down and workload cranks up mainly because the notes and revision you havent done before has now caught up with you and you're in deep faeces. Yeah, that time, you knwo what i mean.
In anyway possible, today i went work mad, finishing off an online quiz today, revising (for once) for economics, finishing up my covering letter and CV to hand to Intel by tomorrow and i just need to sort out tomorrow's more hectic day.
But this blog isn't about those, its about games and stuff like that, so today, i just do a quick summary on games i've played/currently playing/gonna play in the future. (note: some stuff i may have mentioned before totally forgot about them for months)
Played/Completed
- Dragon Quest VIII, yeah completed, 3rd best RPG this generation.
- Melty Blood Final Act, yeah, awesome game. Love Ciel
- Maple Story..still, yeah, pretty boring now but i still play it from time to time
- New Super Mario Bros, completed, easy, done and dusted. Decent game.
- 42 Clubhouse Games, so many games, only a select handful are worth playing, great price for this game.
Playing
- Maple Story, yeah...
- Tales of the Abyss, great entry to the series, not as good as Symphonia imho (loading times kind of ruin TotA experience abit)
- Battlefield 2142, need.. better.. PC.. i can play only one map ffs.. ok game
- back to Jump Superstars!, because me and my bro are training ourselves up for...
Future
- Jump Ultimate Stars, more characters, more HxH, more stuff, more HxH!!
- Elite Beat Agents, i loved Ouendan, this should be good for me, now with a western flavor to the music. PS: YMCA rules you!!
- Yoshi Island 2, because the original is in my top 10 games ever!!!!!!!!
- Wii + stuff, becuase its the WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!
In anyway possible, today i went work mad, finishing off an online quiz today, revising (for once) for economics, finishing up my covering letter and CV to hand to Intel by tomorrow and i just need to sort out tomorrow's more hectic day.
But this blog isn't about those, its about games and stuff like that, so today, i just do a quick summary on games i've played/currently playing/gonna play in the future. (note: some stuff i may have mentioned before totally forgot about them for months)
Played/Completed
- Dragon Quest VIII, yeah completed, 3rd best RPG this generation.
- Melty Blood Final Act, yeah, awesome game. Love Ciel
- Maple Story..still, yeah, pretty boring now but i still play it from time to time
- New Super Mario Bros, completed, easy, done and dusted. Decent game.
- 42 Clubhouse Games, so many games, only a select handful are worth playing, great price for this game.
Playing
- Maple Story, yeah...
- Tales of the Abyss, great entry to the series, not as good as Symphonia imho (loading times kind of ruin TotA experience abit)
- Battlefield 2142, need.. better.. PC.. i can play only one map ffs.. ok game
- back to Jump Superstars!, because me and my bro are training ourselves up for...
Future
- Jump Ultimate Stars, more characters, more HxH, more stuff, more HxH!!
- Elite Beat Agents, i loved Ouendan, this should be good for me, now with a western flavor to the music. PS: YMCA rules you!!
- Yoshi Island 2, because the original is in my top 10 games ever!!!!!!!!
- Wii + stuff, becuase its the WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Gears of War session
Today, me and my brother went down to the Bullring to try out the Gears of War game for the X-box 360. Concealed in a small box, we and like 6 other players had a multiplayer session, 4 vs 4, 1-life deathmatch.
Before this session, i've always protrayed Gears of a very standard action game but with pretty level designs and good graphics, and in some respects, even after playing the game for a good 30 minutes or so my thoguhts not changed that much. The game is how i pictured it before, tough, burly looking men fighting aliens with cool explosions, gore and nice weapons to use. Nothing special but also nothign boring, but theres something a bit weird, this game actually got my adrenaline running, playing this game was fun despite some flaws with it. Killing an alien with a chainsaw is somewhat satisfying but also kind of cheap and shallow as well. Shooting a whole clip into an alien without it dying is a bit annoying. And the whole 'if you're hurt, just move away and rest a bit' health bar is an increasingly annoying trend in games that make it unneccesarily easy.
Anyways, with the multiplayer sessions ,i managed to get top spot in 2 out 3 of them, the third session i came 2nd in overall points but still top of my team. The aiming was generally good but not really precise or highly accurate but nothing very outstanding. The movement of the player was mainly rolling about, a feature which i loved as i dodged everywhere, getting close enough to the player to launch an insta-kill chain saw attack, with this ability coupled with the not so accurate controls, i suspect a lot of kills online will be from close combat chainsawing.
Also, there seems to be some sort of slow-down/lag in the process, whether its the software itself or the networking we weren't sure but lag in a LAN session is very rare and does kinda hinder the pace of the game abit.
Overall though, im quite impressed with Gears, its very actiony, not generic in some respects but also not too special that i want to go shell out £300 for an X-box 360. Its good, and i expect good reviews from it, but hopefully the full game turns this out more than a mindless shooter fest. The game comes out this month, November 17th, and early previews says its great.
Before this session, i've always protrayed Gears of a very standard action game but with pretty level designs and good graphics, and in some respects, even after playing the game for a good 30 minutes or so my thoguhts not changed that much. The game is how i pictured it before, tough, burly looking men fighting aliens with cool explosions, gore and nice weapons to use. Nothing special but also nothign boring, but theres something a bit weird, this game actually got my adrenaline running, playing this game was fun despite some flaws with it. Killing an alien with a chainsaw is somewhat satisfying but also kind of cheap and shallow as well. Shooting a whole clip into an alien without it dying is a bit annoying. And the whole 'if you're hurt, just move away and rest a bit' health bar is an increasingly annoying trend in games that make it unneccesarily easy.
Anyways, with the multiplayer sessions ,i managed to get top spot in 2 out 3 of them, the third session i came 2nd in overall points but still top of my team. The aiming was generally good but not really precise or highly accurate but nothing very outstanding. The movement of the player was mainly rolling about, a feature which i loved as i dodged everywhere, getting close enough to the player to launch an insta-kill chain saw attack, with this ability coupled with the not so accurate controls, i suspect a lot of kills online will be from close combat chainsawing.
Also, there seems to be some sort of slow-down/lag in the process, whether its the software itself or the networking we weren't sure but lag in a LAN session is very rare and does kinda hinder the pace of the game abit.
Overall though, im quite impressed with Gears, its very actiony, not generic in some respects but also not too special that i want to go shell out £300 for an X-box 360. Its good, and i expect good reviews from it, but hopefully the full game turns this out more than a mindless shooter fest. The game comes out this month, November 17th, and early previews says its great.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Media Create sales (23 - 29 Oct)
Hardware
DSL 158,681
PSP 25,908
PS2 21,832
GBASP 1,858
Xbox360 1,565
GBM 1,351
GC 644
DS 114
GBA 15
Xbox 7
Software
1. (DS, Nintendo) General Knowledge Training DS - 189,700
2. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Diamond - 127,011 / 1,498,210
3. (DS, Namco) Tales of the Tempest - 88,137
4. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Pearl - 85,530 / 1,276,812
5. (PS2, Aquaplus) Utawareru Mono Chiriyuku Mono e-no Komori Uta - 82,343
6. (PSP, Bandai Namco) ACE COMBAT X Skies of Deception - 60,584
7. (PS2, Bandai Namco) Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken: Phantom Blood - 34,070
8. (DS, Rocket Company) JLAA Official Kanji Kentei DS - 31,108 / 187,732
9. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Brothers - 30,885 / 3,335,253
10. (PS2, Sega) Yakuza PS2 The Best - 29,854
Comments: Pokemon got knocked off the top spot by a training game, OMG! Oh Noes! But still, strong legs from Pokemon at the moment. Tales of the Tempest also made its debut with 30-40% shipment sold so not too bad but i heard this game is the worse in the series.. ooh err...
Hardware is nothing special.. only a few weeks now until PS3 megaton of death.
DSL 158,681
PSP 25,908
PS2 21,832
GBASP 1,858
Xbox360 1,565
GBM 1,351
GC 644
DS 114
GBA 15
Xbox 7
Software
1. (DS, Nintendo) General Knowledge Training DS - 189,700
2. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Diamond - 127,011 / 1,498,210
3. (DS, Namco) Tales of the Tempest - 88,137
4. (DS, Pokemon) Pokemon Pearl - 85,530 / 1,276,812
5. (PS2, Aquaplus) Utawareru Mono Chiriyuku Mono e-no Komori Uta - 82,343
6. (PSP, Bandai Namco) ACE COMBAT X Skies of Deception - 60,584
7. (PS2, Bandai Namco) Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken: Phantom Blood - 34,070
8. (DS, Rocket Company) JLAA Official Kanji Kentei DS - 31,108 / 187,732
9. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Brothers - 30,885 / 3,335,253
10. (PS2, Sega) Yakuza PS2 The Best - 29,854
Comments: Pokemon got knocked off the top spot by a training game, OMG! Oh Noes! But still, strong legs from Pokemon at the moment. Tales of the Tempest also made its debut with 30-40% shipment sold so not too bad but i heard this game is the worse in the series.. ooh err...
Hardware is nothing special.. only a few weeks now until PS3 megaton of death.
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