Michael Atkinson, South Australia’s Attorney General, has announced that he will be stepping down from office to take a seat in the Australian Parliament.
Atkinson has been singlehandedly stopping violent games from coming to Australia. He was the only Attorney General out of six in the country who opposed updating the law, and with his veto power he has succeeded to stop the law from changing for a long time.
Australians now have high hopes of finally getting a R18+ rating. They must have finally scared him away. MasterAbbott and his lancer would scare me out of office as well. I don’t believe one minute that he wants to spend more time with his son. It was definitely MasterAbbott’s lancer wielding that did it !! 😉
The video above is a dev diary for ‘Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands’.
It mainly focuses on the Wii controls, and the unique gameplay “only available through Wii controls”. Sit back and enjoy.
On a side note: the Co-op is kind of lame, it is nice for those of us with little brothers or sisters that always watch us play. But hopefully it isn’t as much of a hassle as trying to set up tingle co-op in LoZ: windwaker. It was more trouble then it was worth.
Valve continues to support their games, and as you may know DLC is planned for both Left 4 Dead 1 and 2.
The Left 4 Dead 2 DLC is call “The Passing” and Valve’s Chet Faliszek revealed the tagline for this scenario as “Nobody Survives Forever” — supposedly, one of the original quartet has sacrificed him or herself in the events preceding “The Passing,” which will be the focus of the upcoming Left 4 Dead 1 campaign.
So let us analyze this. According to the top information you will only run into three of the four Left 4 dead 1 survivors. This means in the Left 4 Dead 1 DLC someone will have to die while playing 4 player co-op.
Another question is, who is the one that’s going to die. According to previous leaks, Ellis crushes on Zoey when he sees her, and Nick and Francis have some pretty interesting dialogue. So all that’s left is Louis and Bill.
Bill seems like the most likely pick, he’s old and he continually has dialogue that says to shoot him if he starts to turn. Besides, we can’t possibly lose Louis, because then we wouldn’t have “PEEEEELZ!!”.
Overview: Do you like birds? Do you hate pigs? Well if so then you will be just as angry as the angry birds in this Iphone game. Iphone game developer Click Gamer and Rovio have developed a catapult launching game involving not the throwing of rocks, but the throwing of birds. And these aren’t just any birds, they are Angry Birds
Story:
Not much in the way of story, however there is some storyline to go along with the game this time around. There is a kingdom of pigs that have been living next to a family of different birds and for a long time they have coincided in peace. However the pigs grew tired of only eating grass and saw the birds’ eggs as a delicious alternative. While the birds are distracted the pigs take the eggs and plan to eat them. The birds are quite angry against the offending pigs and will destroy them with the only means they have, their own bodies.
Graphics:
The graphics are very cartoony but that works perfectly fine. Each level is designed slightly different and there is a large amount of levels. There are also plenty of different birds and obstacles that will get in your way and each of these as well looks cartoonish. Though I could hardly picture it any other way.
Gameplay: Gameplay is quite simple. You have a slingshot, a variety of birds, and a number of pigs that must be destroyed to move on. However this is not always so simple, as there are many barriers constructed to impede your path and protect the pigs from your onslaught.
These barriers consist of everything from simple ice blocks which are easily broken, to steel girders that take a large force to even tip over, let alone smash. There is also the occasional environmental item which can assist in some form, such as a boulder or a box of TNT sitting near a pig
You start with a certain amount of birds with various abilities and colors. Some of these abilities range from your standard bird that is launched normally. Mostly every bird has a secondary attack which is far more powerful than their primary launch.
A few of these types are the blue bird, who is smaller than the standard bird, but can split into three birds in mid flight and assault the barriers protecting the pigs. Another type is a black bird that is quite large, allowing it to smash through stone and other obstacles, but that is only a small part of its potential. And that potential is a high explosive capable of clearing large pieces of defense in one launch.
After finishing a level, you are given points based on if any of the birds have not been shot out of the slingshot, and these points are combined into a final score for that level. This score is then given 1-3 stars and are given the ability to post your score on leaderboards, allowing you to compare your score with everyone else who plays the game.
One negative I have found though is that there is no ability to skip a level. It can be very frustrating on some levels where you can try twenty times and not make any progress. Though there is always a way to get past the level, it would be more interesting for them to use the stars to unlock levels. Such as getting 3 stars would unlock 2 levels instead of just the next level.
Overall:
Overall I truly enjoy this game because of it’s cartoonish graphics and enjoyability. Though there may be some frustrating levels, there is always a way to get past them. Either a slight adjustment to launch height, or a lucky fall but there is always a way to advance and there are tons of levels to play through.
Developed exclusively for Playstation 3 by Santa Monica Studios, God Of War III is the final instalment of the multi-million unit selling trilogy.
God Of War III
Developed by : Santa Monica Studios Platform : Playstation 3 Category : Action
Replease Date : 18th February 2010 Rating : MA 15+
Price : $81.99 AUD from Fishpond
Set in the realm of brutal Greek mythology, God Of War III is a single-player game that allows players to take on the climatic role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he scales through the intimidating heights of Mt. Olympus and the dark depths of Hell to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him. Kratos is armed with double-chained blades and an array of new weapons and magic. Along the way Kratos must take on mythology’s darkest creatures while attempting to solve puzzles throughout his quest to destroy Olympus.
God Of War 3 visually will amaze players new to the series with fantastic image quality and visual effects, as well as brutal combat and intricate puzzles that have becomes the signature characteristics of this franchise. Playing as Kratos this time around you will get to explore areas up to four times larger than those found in God of War II, with ground breaking new depth of scale.
We find Kratos kicking things off riding on the back of Gaia as she climbs Mt. Olympus. The action is crazy straight off the bat as the player is introduced to the action and given abrief tutorial instructions on how to attack, dodge, grapple, open chests etc. It’s not very hard to get acquainted to the controls and movement. For everyone that have played the previous God Of Wars and understand the story you’re in for a great ride in the opening chapter, for the new comers it will be a little confusing but don’t let that turn you off as it’s an amazing experience.
As we all know Kratos is driven by VENGENCE !!! Simply put. His plan this time is kill Zeus the king of the Gods and anyone that steps foot in his way. The opening chapter of the game will have Kratos taking on the God of the SEA Poseidon. This is just a little taste of what’s to come in the later chapters and boss battles. Honestly this boss battle is something you’d expect to see at the end of a game but you get to do it right at the beginning… with a battle this epic at the beginning of the game you can only imagine what the end battle will be like 😉 Sorry no spoilers here. But expect it to be EPIC !!!
Graphically God of War 3 is outstanding, it has an interesting mix of realistic and cartoon feel to it. The game relies on its in-game engine for most of its cut scenes. It’s a great choice. Santa Monica Studios have created a new High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDRL) technology that has to be seen to be believed. Kratos’ sight will emulate the human retina, causing players to feel a sharp brightness when Kratos exists a dark area and enters a sunlit area, similar to the human eye. Along your quest of chaos and destruction you will battle in detailed and unique 3D worlds, lit by thousands of dynamic lights and textures with four times the resolution, allowing for realistic muscle striations and detailed facial expressions.
Gameplay is perfect with the emphasis on intelligent use of the weapons you have on hand means that not all battles end in the same way. You will not be able to rely on just one weapon as all of them deliver so many varied combat options. Kratos has also acquired a new blade called the Blades of Exile, they are very similar to the Blades of Athena, the Blades of Exile are a pair of hooked weapons that have the ability to summon magic powers. You also have Gauntlets which are made for delivering hard core close combat damage and there are also the electrified swords which work wonders for stunning your enemies. All these weapons can be mapped with the directional pad which makes it very easy to switch between weapon to weapon and execute some crazy combos and most importantly spectacular deaths.
Combat is actually very intense, playing it on anything other than easy level will make you build up a good sweat as you’ll need to concentrate and keep focused to take down enemies and especially bosses. One good thing is the boss battle checkpoints, which have been added to the start and also end of the fights. Along the way to break up the endless destruction and chaos there are some really challenging puzzle gameplay, giving the player a bit of a breather.
Another nice touch to the game is the Quick Time Events, Santa Monica Studios have actually nailed this perfectly. The button commands are placed on the edges of the screen, allowing the players to use their peripheral vision to watch for the QTE’s as they appear and allowing them to take in all the amazing visuals and fantastic cut-scene that traditional QTE’s ruin as commands appear in annoying spots and also have players searching the screens for the next event to appear. I personally think its brilliant and I hope other developers try and implement this moving forward.
One other cool feature is the gesture based controls, similar to Heavy Rain’s control system. Using the right thumb stick to perform half circle movements when battling specific enemies. It’s a nice little change to the action and also the QTE’s. It might get a few new comers by surprise at the beginning but after a while it’ll all become second nature.
NOW … my only big concern I have with God Of War 3 is the fixed camera, once again Santa Monica Studios have stuck with this and its perspective sensitive controls that will move the camera to the correct spot once you move to a specific location. Now most of the time it’s not that bad but there are moments where you’re looking for hidden items/chests that would of been very easy find if you could of just swung the camera around yourself to locate them. The camera also affects certain things when your attempting to interact with the game world such as when you’re standing in front a chest trying to open it but you’re not in the EXACT spot for it to allow you to open it with the R1 button. This could be a real pain when you’re going for a health chest half way through an intense boss battle.
These little issues barely even scratch the surface or leave a mark on the overall game play of God Of War 3. The game delivers everything that you would expect it to deliver and more. It’s got epic battles, a truckload of chaos, mayhem, blood gore and destruction, and a storyline that completes the final chapter of this magnificent trilogy. If you a fan of God Of War and even Greek Mythology this game is a MUST and you’d be completely crazy not to get it.
Capsule Computers gives God Of War 3 : 9.5 Capsules Out Of 10
Go out and grab this now before Kratos comes around and smacks you in the back of the head with his Blades of Exile 😉
Haven’t Hit 10th prestige yet? Want to boost your score on the leaderboards?
Well you are in luck, Double XP weekend is coming to Modern Warfare 2 on April 2nd.The weekend right after the map packs come out. Conspiracy? or are they trying to push sales. Either way, you get twice as much XP! 3rd prestige here i come!
Double XP weekend will end April 5th.
I think Duraroc, KingRoc and x|Rock|x will all be happy about that. MasterAbbott is also happy but he doesn’t have time to play. He’s still stuck on level 28 .. hahahhaha ahhh… eerrmm hmmm yes ok 😉
The latest episode of PlayStation Network’s Pulse have shown the top 10 downloaded PSP games.
1. Final Fantasy VII (PSP/PS3)
2. Final Fantasy VIII (PSP/PS3)
3. Tetris
4. God of War: Chains of Olympus
5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
6. LittleBigPlanet
7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
8. Madden NFL 10
9. Gran Turismo
10. Resident Evil 2 (PSP/PS3)
~~~
A very good list of games. Final Fantasy is a very good series, and the PSP port was well received. The big question, is how in the world did the PSP mini ‘Tetris’ get up there? a $10 price tag put onto a game that you can pretty much get on any website for free. Clearly we have a lot of people with bottomless pockets downloading PSP games.
Over the years it has become clear that if you are going to buy Team Fortress 2 you should buy it on the PC. Valve continues to support the game with awesome content that you can only get if you are playing it via their steam client.
Valve have made this fact even more… Factier! You can now submit content that you make on their submit page. If it is approved it will be put into the game and you will be given a unique version to show off. All user created items will be added to the random drop list and everyone will have the chance to get your item. But remember! you had your item first, and yours is better!
In the video above you can see a demonstration of augmented reality on the PSP by use of the PSP camera and the “Second Sight” technology which allows tags embedded in textbooks or magazines to cue relevant audio or video clips directly on the PSP.
Makes me curious as to how much memory is required. If every tag causes the PSP to download some sort of file to play does it auto delete it after it is done being played? Does it require a wireless internet connection to download the data from? The technology is quite interesting and this is only the beginning.
Toaru Kagaku no Railgun may seem a bit familiar to fans of a certain other series. That is because it is the child series of Toaru Majutsu no Index which was produced by J.C. Staff and shown on Tokyo MX. The story in Railgun works as an individual storyline before the events that happen with Touma, making it mostly a prequel work. Then again however certain plot points do cross over with one another. So as you may expect if you’ve seen Majutsu you will be pleasantly surprised.
Story:
Half of the series appears to be your typical slice of life Anime with some esper powers thrown in. The girls will then do what they can to handle the incidents and struggle through them. This is actually one of the high points of the story as it provides the viewer with more of an emotional attachment to the characters and understand the feelings and characteristics of the heroines.
The slice of life episodes may be a bit of filler but there is also the inclusion of the Level Upper arc and the follow up of the Level Upper arc as they pursue those who have fallen ill due to the Level Upper. There is a lot of action happening in these arcs as Misaka battles many people who have been tempted by the easy gain of power and have turned evil because of it.
Despite the Anime being nearly half filler episodes they are actually not horrible filler with zero purpose. There is times that you will only understand what happened in the actual story arcs if you had paid attention to the filler itself.
Art
The time paid to drawing each character is very noticeable. They are very cute and there are no animation errors that caught my eye during my time watching. In an Anime, sometimes the amount of attention paid to the characters can take away or help the overall enjoyment level and for this one it definitely helps. The environments themselves that the characters live in are highly detailed and almost appear lifelike except a hint of Anime flare. However each character suffers the “halo effect.” This is when the character has a circle of light reflecting around their hair looking like lights shining above them, even in darkness.
Characters:
The characters inside of Railgun are quite likable, and if you enjoyed Index then you will also enjoy seeing various recognizable characters.. You will laugh a lot watching their interaction especially in the beginning of the series. As the series progresses there is some character development, like Kuroko becoming a little bit mature in facing her problems. Saten becomes less obsessed with her “level” and realized that she has more precious things in her life. But my major disappointment is with Uiharu. At first she was a character that wanted to do her best to be a good judgment member but in the latest arc her attitude is completely change as she acted so naive and selfish which is a far cry from how she had acted throughout the entire story.
Overall:
The overall amount of filler in the Anime will take away from the amount of actual storyline progression here. But there is a large amount of comedy as well. Couple that with the amount of action happening during the storylines and even during the filler and you have the makings of what has made To Aru Majutsu so great, showing in To aru Kagaku.
