A Sad day for the world of Poke'Mon

The pokemon world is saddened as we have learned that artist and writer Takeshi Shudo died Friday of a brain hemorrhage.   The artist and scriptwriter of the beloved anime show had been taken into the hospital Thursday for emergency surgery.  Doctors in Nara, Japan reported Friday of Shudo’s death.  With the artist and script writer for the anime series and first three theatrical animated films dead, what does this mean for the series which is in its fourteenth  season in Japan.  Since its creation the anime has grown and evolved just like the pokemon it writes about.  I for one hope the show and the game series continues.  Game wise Pokemon has around roughly Seventeen games (Japanese) sixteen games (Americanized the original green version was never released to America).  Soon however two more broad RPG style games will be added to the collection with the Black and White games. 

This reporter is saddened by the loss of the vision that went into the series and sends his deepest condolences to friends and family of Takeshi Shudo. 

Source: http://www.sandiego6.com/entertainment/story/Pokemon-writer-Shudo-dies/zOVPJW4nSEiLzuPOgqEk1w.cspx?rss=804

Age of Dragons II no Dragon Age II

BioWare the creator of Dragon Age has come out swinging, urging players to go out there and pre-order Dragon Age 2 before January 11, 2011.  It was stated in the Press Release on October 14^th that gamers who pre-order Dragon Age 2 Signature Addition, will receive what amounts to twenty dollars worth of bonus content.  Including such jewels as the Full Dragon Age 2 game, with a download Code for extra missions; a soundtrack for the game; an exclusive in-game armory filled with digital weapons and other digital items.  Also according to the Press Release BioWare Dragon Age 2 will only be available for pre-order and online purchase until January 11, 2011.  I am sure that as time goes on,  there will be more stuff to have for the game to entice you to pre-order it.

Source: http://press.ea.com/release.asp?i=1392 Dragon Age II press release

Mario's 25th Anniversary (I didn't buy him a present)

Twenty Five years and we are still enthralled by a plumber and his brother on their quest to save a princess.  Who would have guessed that mixing a modern concept like plumbing and medieval concepts of castles and princesses, would inspire one of the gaming world’s most beloved characters Mario and Luigi Mario (insert Nostalgia Critic joke here)?   Well folks starting December 12, 2010, you can go out and purchase a bundle game called Super Mario All-Stars.  This bundle game comes with games you may remember from your childhood. 

List of games on Super Mario All-Star:
Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3.

 It is stated in the press release that all games will include the graphic enhancements from the Super NES All-Stars game.  OUT of all of this, they had the balls not to include my favorite Mario game.  The one that I grew up on Super Mario World, really you can enhance the graphics and put four games on this but you couldn’t include Mario World, I am disappointed Nintendo.  You will also be receiving in this bundle a Soundtrack of Mario Music which will include tracks from Super Mario Bros. through Mario Galaxy 2.  To top all that, also included is a booklet outlining the history of Mario Mario.

Source: http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/i0RflsG0jXGY7bMs_PEg2xm96r5C5pD8 Nintendo News

Increase of a Titan Xbox Live expands

In a Press Release on October 12^th, Microsoft’s Xbox division has stated that on November 10, 2010, Xbox Live will be released to new markets around the world.  This will greatly increase the number of people swarming the XboxLive Market for games and playing in online games.  So for all you vets out their get ready for the next contenders to try and topple you. 

Xbox Live List of new places to Receive the service
Russia, Poland, South Africa, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile. 

Source: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Press/archive/2010/1012-LiveLaunches Xbox’s official site  

Take-Two Interactive changing of the guard

Surfing the News halls of IGN, I came across an article talking about the CEO of Take Two Interactive Ben Feder resigning.  His reasoning behind leaving Take Two which was covered in a press release on October 29th is to travel to Asia with his family for an extended period of time (WHO DID YOU PISS OFF SIR).  But he will be remaining as a partner with Take Two’s parent Company ZelnickMedia which coincidentally the role of CEO will be transferred to ZelnickMedia Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick.  In a quote from David Valjalo’s Edge Magazine article on the subject Ben Feder says. “I am proud of our team for transforming Take-Two into a more profitable, more diversified and growth-oriented company.  Now that the Company is in a position of strength and is poised for solid performance in the future, the time is right for me to honor certain commitments that I have made to my family.”  Now begins the transition period for Take-Two as Ben Feder and Company Vice President Karl Slatoff vet the new incoming CEO.  Ben Feder will officially stand down as CEO of Take-Two on January 1, 2011

Sources: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/113/1131264p1.html ign’s article which inspired this post
http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1489151&highlight= take-two’s corporate new article from their official site
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/ben-feder-steps-down-from-take-two David Valjalo’s article on the subject

The hopes of a gamer looking to stand up

The Xbox360 Kinect which to me just seems like a glorified PS2 Eyetoy, acts on the same principal of you are the controller you move the game responds.  I am hoping that the Kinect is more responsive then the eyetoy.  Because lets face it the reaction time of a camera translating your movements into an action in the game was drastically unresponsive in my opinion.  This was improved however by the Playstation Move using both the PS3 Eye and the Move Wands, the response time between camera and action on the screen was hardly noticeable because it had focal points to translate the moves faster much like motion capture.  Replacing what the WiiMote held since it came out in reaction time..  If kinect is anything like the PS2 Eyetoy gamers are going to be sourly disappointed with Kinect.  HOWEVER if Kinect has improved the tech behind camera to game response it will be a major jump forward and will help revolutionize the idea that you don’t need to sit down to play games.

Mafia II A late review

Last Wednesday I embarked on a journey to upstate NY to the town of Saratoga Springs for five days of watching a house and a Spanish Waterdog.  During my first day alone with both the house and the dog, I used my time after walking the dog and stocking up on food to feed myself.   I ventured to the nearby Wal-Mart (couldn’t find a gamestop) and purchased Mafia II.  I do not know about you, but I am the type of person that when I get a new game or video I get giddy with excitement.  So after making my purchase and heading back to the house, I fired up the PS3 and popped in the disc.  So far so good, and I was not disappointed, visually and audio wise it is a very beautiful game to behold.  The story is compelling and makes you invested in the character you are about to take charge of.  The story of Mafia II takes places during and after WWII, so for those of expecting a GTA style fast sport cars and motorcycles you will not be seeing any motorcycles and the fastest car you get doesn’t really come until toward the end of the game.  You play as Vito Scarletta a World War II paratrooper who prior to the war was leading a life of petty crime and ultimately given the option Army or Jail, while your best friend Joe runs off Scott free.

The tutorial of the game takes place during the war, where it goes over the basic movement and gun using controls to get you acclimated to the controls.  If like me you are used to the PS3 controls for GTAIV then be prepared for shock, however once you get used to the controls you find it to be a rather smooth system.  There is an auto-lock on targeting for the guns, but (there is always a but), you really only get it for a split second, if you time it just right you may pull off some quick one shot kills.  One thing you will notice right away in Mafia II that is different from GTAIV, you heal partially after taking damage.  Even if you are in the red, if you stop behind cover, you health gauge will rise to a point where you are stable.  When you take a lot of damage you tend to notice the fighting mechanics tend to worsen the lower you are before stabilizing, your vision gets hazy Vito’s breathing increases rapidly making your shots more erratic. 

Another neat feature, I like about this game is that it gives you the option to lock pick for those of you have played Splinter Cell, you will be used to the lock picking system which is similar to the splinter cell system just slightly dumbed down.  The lock pick feature will come up a lot so be prepared to use it. Just saying, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Now for the all important question which is on a lot of gamers’ minds when they ask about this game.  What are the cops like?  Well dear readers, all I am saying is that they are a lot smarter and a lot easier to tick off in Mafia II then they are in GTA.  You can and can’t be a speed demon in Mafia II, breaking the speed limit draws the cops’ attention and they will give chase, hit and run from an accident they will give chase.  Run a red light, no they won’t chase you; all cars in Mafia II come with a speed limiter option.  This will help you keep your car in the speed limit and keep the cops off your tail.  Use it when you can, cause there is only a few timed missions in the game. 

The cars themselves handle a lot better then the cars in other games of the same genre.  You can also tune the car and change the license plates (this helps you get rid of wanted statuses on your car).  Tune the cars as much as can because like I said earlier you don’t get faster cars until toward the end.

Length wise, I felt this game could have been longer, I got this last Friday and beat it in eighteen hours (looking back it was really a Minimalist run).  I didn’t go out of my way to rob the stores for cash and free goods, I didn’t do odd jobs for the junk yard guy, nor did I go around looking for the magazines.  The magazine collection gets you playboy centerfold pics (just so you are aware).  There is also a wanted poster collection but I didn’t go lookin for those either.   A minimalist run may take you a short time to beat this game, but the story totally makes up for it.

So besides for the somewhat repetitive mechanics and lack of length that is really my only beef with the game.  I recommend you give this game a rent.  If you are looking for a game like GTA this is it but it pales in comparison to the length of GTAIV so again a rent will suffice.  I hope you enjoyed this review please, leave comments, rate it, share and follow me.  If you have questions leave me a question in the comment section.