Laugh all you want, but I've just completed Bioshock.
Go ahead, laugh! Poke fun, get it all out of your system now!
You done? Good!
So anyway, I rented it last Friday morning, and finished it by Saturday night. It was THAT GOOD.
Not recently have I been so pulled in by a games atmosphere. Rapture and it's spliced up inhabitants sucked me in like a vacuum and even now, my mind still echoes Andrew Ryan quotes. There was just something so inadvertently perfect about the game: it was able to take a gripping story, fill it with meaningful and coherent characters, and wrap all of this up in the prettiest art-deco package I've ever seen. 2K Boston.... I think I'm in love!

I could rattle on and on about how awesome it is, but good lord, I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times by now! So I'll just say this: best FPS I've played this year. Sorry Resistance 2, but you just can't beat a Big Daddy!



Of course I was playing a PS3 port of the game, but it is a damn perfect port!
The PS3 isn't a second hand system though, Sony has some heavy hitters on the market now, and some on the way (Killzone 2, god of war 3, etc). Little Big Planet is this year's exclusive gem, and I'm adoring every moment I spend with this incredible masterpiece. This game is so intelligently designed universities should teach a course from it. Media Molecule is truly an expert developer!
At first, I thought that designing levels would be boring, but I was dead wrong! Creating your own content is a blast, and I can easily pour hours into the process. If I'm feeling lazy, I can hop on PSN and play some other user levels, some of which are incredibly good. All in all, a great package and easily worth the 60 clams.

Other than that, I've been busy with school and with friends, but I never forget to wind down from time to time and get in some quality gaming. We all need a release, eh? As for the future, I'm currently hyped about that new Prince of Persia, and after I finish my college apps I'll be ordering myself a copy. If I've still got time, I'll also rent Valkyria Chronicles. Can't wait!

It's alright now- dry your tears, Efrucht is here!

It's been a while I since I visited GB.... months, I would say. I return to see that the sight has really picked up, I think I will stick around this time. Plus, I need something to listen to, and I can't have the Giantbombcast without the Giantbomb!

AND SOOOOO.....

I'm very busy with senior year, but I always manage to fit in time for gaming. In the morning my friend and I clash blades in Soul Calibur 4 a.k.a. the best fighting game ever. I usually main Kilik but Zasalamel has been my choice lately. He's a solid character but his lows are so slow I'm afraid to use them. His air juggle makes up for it, but even that attack feels weak, especially considering the ferocity of that giant scythe of his, that thing should be ripping up enemies not moving them about so he can give them a hug. regardless, if you ever get pinned against the side of a ring, his RO options can save your life.

I also started playing Uncharted..... this game will not get finished for another year or so, because SC4 takes up all of my time now, and when Resistance 2 hits shelves Uncharted will cease to exist for me until I've wrung out every drop of content from Insomniac's masterpiece.

Then, LittleBigPlanet will come out.... *head asplodes*
My social life will officially be gone!

Anywaaaay,
Fellow GBers, it's good to be back! If you wanna play some SC4, let me know. I'm no pro, but hopefully you're not either! ;-P

(I posted this in the forums, but it was so long that I thought I'm better off saving it in the form of a blog as well)

According to this CNET article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10007014-17.html

The article basically says that MS should buy Sony's game division if it ever wants to compete with Nintendo.

The gaming division is still an important component in Sony's broad strategy, but it's simply not as important as it once was. With huge losses that may or may not turn to profits, Sony is in an awkward position. Should it simply wait and see what happens or should it go to Microsoft now and see if the company is interested?

And why wouldn't it be? By acquiring Sony's games division, Microsoft effectively eliminates the major competitor in its space and can increase its presence overseas -- a major sticking point for the company.

Wow, CNET.... Just wow. I've never read an article this ignorant before.

It is this attitude in gaming that really bothers me. Why do some MS fans feel that MS should use it's deep pockets to buy exclusivity for multiplats and to steal away everything from Sony? To some people, like me, the PS3 was a deeply thought out investment. To hear people saying that MS should use monopoly tactics fills me with RAGE, because they are basically saying "Screw everyone who has a PS3! As long as I get the games and they don't!" Then they stick out their tongue and go off to pop their collars and get drunk and drive.... I'm joking.  >_>

Regardless, their whole position is infantile. It would be awesome if more games were multiplatform, I think everyone should be able to play as many games as possible. Certainly, that is in the best interest of the developers. And it used to be this way during the times when there were two main systems dominating the market. No matter which you chose, you had a HUGE library to choose from and many developers put games on both, at the same time even *gasp*. When I hear about all these timed exclusives and other BS, I wonder if MS's monopolizing tactics that screwed over the PC industry will end up screwing over the game industry in the same way. Linux is better than windows in every conceivable way, but because MS monopolized the gaming industry using it's deep pockets, OpenGL and Linux struggle to get any sort of gaming support. You are naive to think that MS will not do the same with the console gaming industry.

Despite my own angst about Microsoft trying to ruin my gaming experience, this article is just plain incorrect. Sony's gaming division is alive and well. No, the PS3 is not selling as well as they had hoped. So what? That's what happens when something is that expensive, and the PS2 is still a viable gaming platform. The XBOX and GC are not, so fans of those companies were forced to upgrade, unlike PS2 owners. That is why the PS3 does not sell well in N. America. I say, just give it time.

Or.... why not just play the games. If devs made games for the sake of artistic expression, we would be much better off. Sadly, the trends show a decrease in creativity in the industry. For every shining gem, we got hundreds of generic action games, and it is really deppressing.

How to make a marketable action game:

1. License the Unreal Engine. Normal-map everything to hell and back.
2. Add generic buff character with generic buff attitude
3. Add generic bad guy. Just copy and paste from any other game, nobody will care. Even if AI sucks. Nobody will care. Multiplayer is all that matters.
4. Make sure your texture artists paint in greyscale. Remember, real life is Grey and brown. Color is just communist propaganda!!!
5. If the main character is African American, make sure he says racially offensive things like "dawg" and "b****" in every sentence. it's called comedy.... So what if nobody finds it funny. >_>
6. Don't worry about plot. Multiplayer is all that matters.
7. Don't worry about single player campaign length. MP is all that matters.
8. Don't worry about sales. MP player is all that matters.
9. Don't worry about global warming and children starving in Africa. Multiplayer is all that matters.
10. Repeat step 10
11. ???
12. PROFIT

A quick look at these games can reveal to you that the developers were in this solely for the money. No art, no labor of passion and self-expression. No creativity. Money. That's all things are about now and I'm glad that Nintendo is still around to prove to the world that ingenuity sells better than generic action. 2008's Mario Galaxy should have proved to the world that games can be about fun and inventiveness, and still sell well. Still we get games day after day that look like they were made by perverted teenage boys or serial killers. This is what happens when a monopoly is beginning to occur. As one system gets outrageous market share, devs realize whatever they put on it will sell well regardless of quality. This is offset by having different consoles to choose from. More competition means better games for all of us gamers.

To make a long story short, this article is stupid, and the writer needs to get off his high horse and realize how ludicrous his statements are.....

/rant

This will be my first general purpose blog! HOW EXCITING!

Soul Calibur IV

I have been having a blast with SCIV for the PS3. What an awesome fighting game! It has a decent amount of characters, most of which are pretty fun to use. The visuals are the best I have ever seen in a game, and that is no exaggeration! Overall, a thrilling experience and well worth my hard earned cash. Online play is my favorite part of the new deal, providing my character with lots of fresh meat to smack about with his Bo staff (that's right, Kilik owns all). My ranked match record is pretty good, but not great. My win percentage is almost 60%. Like I said, not great, but not bad either. I am a poor blocker, but I'm training myself to respond faster, so I can whoop my smug little brother.

Upcoming PS3 Games

I can't wait until October! The PS3 will get 3 outstanding games: Little Big Planet, Project Origin, and Resistance 2. I will rent them all first, because frankly video games are way to expensive to make impulse buys. I hope to beat Project Origin via rental, because in all honesty LBP and R2 will probably have much better multplayer, and that is the only reason to buy a game (unless the SP is really long, like in Oblivion). R2 is a big "maybe" for me. I'm not too interested in it, but if it turns out to be pretty good I'll check it out. LBP is my favorite of the bunch.
On a side note, Fallout 3 looks to be pretty good, but I don't think I'll pick it up. Rental, most likely. Games like this, I'm worried about relying on hype, because MGS4 was supposed to be great, but after buying it I felt it was underwhelming and ultimately a waste of my $60. I don't want to make that mistake again. If I had rented it like I usually do, things would have worked out much better. I am also excited about Killzone 2, but I think that the hype surrounding the game is ultimately detrimental. People will begin to get unrealistic expectations, and when the game is finally released, people will be dissatisfied no matter how good it actually is!

Upcoming 360 Games

Looking forward to Gears of War 2, and playing it at my friend's house when it launches. That's really all I can say about it.

Upcoming Wii Games

Madworld seems to be shaping up quite nicely. I think that violence and mayhem will be a breath of fresh air for most Wii owners that are craving a more adult experience, but can't afford a PS3 or 360. I'm keeping my eye on this one!

Life in General

As much as I hate to admit it, summer is almost over. As school approaches, I need to devote more time to brushing up on my studies, and finishing my summer work. So, it with great pain and sorrow that I will force myself to not play video games until all my work is complete. It's not as bad as it sounds, and I have to do the work anyway so why wait until the last minute and drive myself crazy?

/Blog

Thanks for reading!

A spot for our PSN name, Gamertag, Wii friend code, brawl friend, code, etc. Similar to Lists, where we can make custom ones, and they display in huge print so it can't be missed! Also, perhaps a way to display PSN and Live cards? Maybe even Steam?