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Stealthoneill

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E3 Expectations

Thought I would put a little post down for my personal expectations for E3, what I want to see and what I think is little too far out of reach for us to be seeing. Either way the show promises to be a good one, as long as the keynotes come on better than last year we are all good!

What I want to see:

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2: Though I didn’t start playing the first one until a month ago I am strangely drawn to its sequel, the only downside for me is the roster. The characters we are possibly losing without any gain worries me a little, although Im sure they will have something exciting for us.

Mass Effect 2: What can I say? Its the sequel to Mass Effect! I know there were some serious problems with the first game, little glitches that can easily be fixed, I am more than sure that the folks over at Bioware are fully aware and capable of sorting these things for what promises to be a great game.

Commander Shephard
Commander Shephard

Alpha Protocol: From screen shots this game looks a lot like how last years game The Bourne Conspiracy should have played, looks like this will be a great roleplaying game within the spy world.

Borderlands: This game could be good, although it really will need to be handled right. Either way the more information we get will swerve my feelings.

Metal Gear...5? Perhaps an announcement?

Assassins Creed 2: Another that will easily overshadow the first, not much they couldn’t improve and make a little more playable. I loved the first but the second will be a hundred times better, something which I have no doubt about.

Other games Im not sure that will be brought up include Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Trek: Online  and Stargate Worlds, all MMO’s that I am not a hundred percent sold on so not worth mentioning. Something mentioned during the entire show would be a bonus.

Talking of bonus’ lets talk about those games I don’t think we will hear about, either at all or in any great detail but I worth a mention that as always I remain hopeful.

Things we deserve and want to see:

Alan Wake: This long awaited psychological thriller continues to be elusive, hiding in the shadows. Perhaps this year will be the year we finally get a confirmation on release or perhaps a little light shone on the development.

Gotta get away Sam!
Gotta get away Sam!
Splinter Cell Conviction: Sam Fishers further adventure has been pushed back and even had its development restarted, will we finally be able to see Sam as a fugitive, or has this series finally reached its peak never to be seen again.

Max Payne 3: Need I say more? The atmospheric experience that twisted around the haunted cops life was a favourite game of mine for a long time, cannot wait for a series revamp. Maybe a timeline or even some gameplay!

A New Zelda: Perhaps something designed solely for the the Wii to take full advantage? Hopefully they bring something that is more like the days of Ocarina of Time, rather than the most recent renditions.

Dead Rising 2: Oh Yes...

So there is a quick round up of the games off the top of my head. What are your predictions/expectations? Any thoughts about what we might see and what we might not? I will devoting a blog to my thoughts on InFAMOUS later in the week. Currently 10 hours in and loving every minute so look for my thoughts later when I get a good portion of the game under my belt!

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The InFamous Choice

Has been so long since I not only used this blog but visited this site! So many changes since my last visit it has been a little overwhelming catching up on missed blogs and podcasts and stuff, those people whom I usually check up on and pop in to see this blog I am getting round to catching up and loving what I am seeing so far. Anyone else who stumbles across this be sure to check out DBoys Den and JohnnyAvacado’s video blogs, they can provide some good weekend entertainment!

So what have I been playing? Honestly, not much! I’ve been working like 6 days week to earn some time off over the summer to enjoy the sun, sea and sand. Although I did take this Bank Holiday off to enjoy some games that I have been collecting and have had sitting on the shelf for the past few months.

Isaac Clarke, Posing in his new suit
Isaac Clarke, Posing in his new suit
If you follow me on Twitter you will know I have been really sucked in to Dead Space recently, I picked it up months ago and put a couple of hours down at the beginning but after that never really pushed forward with it. Being bored one day I threw it on and hoped it would fill the gap until I had to leave, but to my surprise I found a great atmospheric, shuddering and evil game. I find myself so drawn in to Isaac Clarke’s universe that playing in the middle of the night unnerves me to a point I stop and put something else on. I haven’t had that feeling since back playing the first Resident Evil when I was a teenager so it’s an enjoyable feeling! Currently working on slowly making my way through chapter 10, it has fast become my go to game to fill some space and destroy some boredom.

I tried to pick up UFC the other day, but to my surprise it was completely sold out everywhere. The guy behind the counter informed me it would be two weeks until they get more stock. Since when do fighting games run out of stock?! Looking around the shop I found a gem, a game I have heard very little about but knew it had only just come out. I knew a couple of people around here were quite hyped so I decided to spend my cash on a whim and pick it up, this game is obviously Infamous. Got it home yesterday and literally struggled to put it down when I had to, everything feels extremely polished and fun, Sucker Punch have even found a way to make the Parkour aspects fun and engaging something I see as a big step up from games like Assassins Creed. The Combat just works, the different powers make for some pretty interesting combat scenarios and I find myself trying things differently with every encounter. I have played through and ‘freed’ most of the neon district, doing side missions before story and I have just been introduced to the characters nemesis so I am interested to see how these things will play out in the long run.

No Caption Provided
 There appears to be a whole host of mission types that I am unlocking all the time which will make the play through much easier. Currently playing on the good side of Karma choices, but I am certainly enjoying the fact these decisions aren’t made through decision trees or cut scenes but in game and in the middle of the action. You want to destroy that gate, killing all those citizens? Then you charge the power up for it! An interesting take on a very tired and over used concept!

As for the story I love how it plays out, comic cuts with some pretty good cut scenes. I was surprised that this has a feel of the TV show Heroes, not sure though, whether that a good comparison to make or not considering what’s happened to it.

You will have to forgive the lack of proper structure in this blog, I had planned to say so much more but I am tired and my lunch break at work is almost over. More to come soon and I won’t leave this space empty as long as I have been...

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PS3 ordered..

Just a small update from me to let you all know I finally caved and ordered myself a PS3 yesterday, thought I have been fighting it for a while now I just felt the games coming up were looking good and the  urge to play through Solid Snakes final mission was getting to strong to resist!

With it I have got myself MGS4, Little Big Planet, Madden 09 and Saints Row 2 as well as an extra controller and a few bits I went out to buy today. Was going to buy myself a headset but preordered SOCOM Confrontation instead which comes packaged with it (Not released in the UK for almost 2 months!). So really I wanted to know what you guys think of the PS3, and what games should I pick up for it?

I have to say I never thought I would like LBP but having played it for a few hours over a friends house I quite enjoyed the charming mechanic and I am really loving User generated content games right now.

Another great factor in getting a PS3 was the fact I still have a few of my classic PS2 games sitting on a shelf that I am hoping to break out soon. (Final Fantasy 7-12, Driver games, All Metal Gear Solid Releases, Gran Turismo 3 - All games I played constantly way back when!) 

So all in all I am quite happy, I think I waited long enough for the games to be a bit better priced and could have waited a little longer for the console to go down in pricve later in the year but hey, I still love my 360 and dont think anything Sony has to offer on the online multiplayer option has anything to come near to the great Xbox Live releases that are around, so my Xbox wont get forgotten!

Ill post a longer blog in the next couple of days. Letting you all know what I am playing.

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Games will eclipse other media

Stumbled across this story, thought it worthy of sharing..

Video games are poised to "eclipse" all other forms of entertainment, according to games studio boss Mike Griffith.

The Activision chief made the bold call during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

He said video games were prospering as interest in almost every other category of entertainment declines.

Mr Griffith said social gaming, more interactivity and better technology would help gaming dominate the entertainment landscape in future.

He said: "Movies, recorded music and TV - these are all stagnating or contracting entertainment sectors."

40% growth

He quoted US market statistics which showed that between 2003 and 2007 sales of movie tickets fell by 6%; the number of hours of TV watched dropped by 6%, sales of recorded music slumped 12% and purchases of DVDs remained flat.

Over the same four-year period, said Mr Griffith, the video game industry grew by 40%.

"Video games are poised to eclipse all other forms of entertainment in the decade ahead," he said.

The success of Guitar Hero, said Mr Griffith, showed how influential gaming had become on many other entertainment sectors.

He quoted Nielsen SoundScan data which showed that artists whose music featured on Guitar Hero had seen a rise in download sales of 15-843%.

The game had proved so popular that some bands, such as Metallica and Aerosmith, were bringing out a version of the game that only features their music.

"Music has a history of evolving through technology and we are at the beginning of the latest chapter in that story," he said.

Technology, community and interactivity were the three factors that would help the video game industry become the driving force in entertainment, said Mr Griffith.

'Story telling'

The powerful processors in consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 360 meant that games were getting ever more realistic and immersive, he said.

"Games are no longer pre-set trips through linear mazes," said Mr Griffith. "They are becoming a legitimate story-telling medium that rivals feature films."

He cited the video game of the latest James Bond film Quantum of Solace (QoS) as an example of how games were taking over.

"The moviegoer is passive whereas the gamer is active and part of the game itself," he said, adding that anyone who played QoS would spend more than 50 hours in the company of James Bond compared to only 106 minutes if they watched the movie.

The communities growing up around titles such as Guitar Hero World Tour also showed how entertainment was changing, he said.

Owners of the game had created 141,000 tracks of their own using its in-built mixing studio and uploaded them to the Guitar Hero community site, which now has more than 600,000 members, he said.

More interactive controllers such as the guitars and drums in Guitar Hero and the Wiimote on Nintendo's gaming console were also helping encourage more people to take up gaming, said Mr Griffiths.

"Those new controllers are encouraging new ways to become more socially active in gaming," he said. "They are bringing in a whole new group of consumers that have never before been involved in gaming."

He concluded: "The one thing that is for sure is entertainment is changed forever with gaming."
 
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Honorable Mentions..

Because my game of the year post was all about my top game, I thought I would dedicate a blog to those that came close and sucked a whole lot of my time on the 360 up.

Battlefield: Bad Company completely took me by suprise, when I picked it up it seemed like another Cally Of Duty clone, I picked

Its just What we do
Its just What we do
it up because I wanted a good military shooter and the explosions and the enviroment destruction looked like a nice addition to the genre. Much to my suprise I was sucked in to the story of 4 rag tag soldiers who are thrown together in a fight for money, rather than glory with often hilarious consequences. Although the mechanics seemed stiff after coming from Call of Duty 4 the explosions and pure comedy value definately made a game that stands out from the usual First Person Shooter.

Burnout Paradise was a game I took my time in picking up, I have quite a few racing games in
Brakes!!
Brakes!!
my collection (Forza 2 and Grid etc..). And to be honest really wasnt in the mood for another track racer, alas I got it for my birthday and havent really looked back since! Definately the best racing game on the 360 and a great step for the Burnout Series. Along with all the additional content I am sure I will be revisiting Paradise City in the near future!

Fallout 3 is obviously a recent purchase, I delved in and gave it 50 hours doing as much of the side quests as possible and completed the main quest. Excellent game, just excellent. But now I feel as if I am done with it for a while, maybe I will revisit it at some point who knows..

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts was an impulse buy because I loved the first two games.  Although it took me a couple of weeks to really appreciate what this game is I ended up really enjoying every minute of it. The vibrant colours and slick gameplay along with the User generated content aspect was all in unison to create a fun experience that is worth revisiting to see how differently you could finish tasks!

Guitar Hero World Tour was something I fought over with myself for weeks before it came out, being quite a big purchase I wasnt sure if I would get my moneys worth, luckily the set list is something I really enjoy and drumming was a completely new experience so, this is a game I visit when I need to chill out and listen to something while playing. I know people had problems, but I could never get in to Rock Band so this game seemed like my logical choice.
'I dont Know the Words!!'
'I dont Know the Words!!'


Lost Odyssey is something that must have sucked up weekends of my time, a very enjoyable RPG with a great in depth, touching story with a new idea on story telling that makes everything a little more touching and deeper. Mini stories along your quest which sometimes have deeper meaning, and some are there for a bit of comic relief.

Finally GTA 4 is an obvious one, After completing the main story I was left feeling as if there was something missing. The game in general didnt feel like a Grant Theft Auto, it was serious with its morale choices and Niko is a character that had depth and really worked in the role. All good things I know, but it just isnt how GTA of old was. I remember flooding weeks of my time in to San Andreas to get all the stupid extras, the car collections and side missions were all good fun and made the experience complete. I never felt the want, or need to do that with 4.
No, I do not want to go Bowling!
No, I do not want to go Bowling!


 This game took itself a little to seriously for a GTA, by any other name this game would have been awesome. I guess its just me and my expectations going in to the game that made me come out disappointed, although I did love the game and it was awesome and the graphics were immense.. So I guess I love it and I loathe it at the same time.

Just so you know, I like to play games when I get them and give them a decent try before going on the the next. These are the games I am still waiting to play that sit on my shelf all wrapped up Gears of War 2, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Left 4 Dead, Bully: Scholarship Edition, Saints Row and Saints Row 2. (I picked them both up on sale, excellent deal as I hear they are very similiar to San Andreas!)

Hope you all had a great Christmas and Have an excellent New Years!
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Game Of The Year 2008

SO I have been sitting here for the past hour with my 360 games spread over a table, thinking about what to do for a 2008 countdown and in the end I got lazy and decided to dedicate one blog to my Game of the year.

Just Chillin'
Just Chillin'

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

-The levelling up system allowed players to play through single player and gain plenty of goodies for when they first jumped in to multiplayer.

-Weaponry choice is extensive, each weapon allowing for a different type of player and style of which the player could adopt.

-Length of the game made it questionable full price game.

-DLC extravaganza train missed completely.






A corner all Vegas 2 players know to well..
A corner all Vegas 2 players know to well..

Not being a massive online player I was wholely surprised when I jumped in to multiplayer action, becoming enthrawled in massive scale battles that still held the tactical edge and yet felt ramped up to the next level entirely, leaving predictions and hopes outside the door I trekked inwards and lost months of my life to this game, enjoying the subtle players working together to achieve victory right over the other side of the scale to the all out killing frenzys inside the Villa. In many ways this is why the game gets my vote, a game that throws you in to action environments and still keeps the need for forethought and cover in mind keeps your mind working while you play, there was no running and gunning, things were slowed to allow thoughts, tactics and experience to flood through and guide you to tally up those much needed kills.

Send your men in first.. Its the Rainbow way!
Send your men in first.. Its the Rainbow way!

Discuss, argue, bitch as you must. But please, play nice. :-P

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Innovation PS3 Vs. Wii

Innovation is the key here. The PS3 was just that a third generation Playstation console. Building on the success of the previous hits, adding a few new pieces of hardware to modernise the games in which the rig could handle and add its own little edge with the blue ray player. Over all it was a very safe move on Sonys part. The PS1 and PS2 were a huge success. Homes around the world owned the console and played there games, back in the day there was very little to battle against on the home gaming front and who could blame them for cashing in on that same success a third time round?

Unfortunately with a poor record when it comes to online playability and some disapointing releases (Think LBP and SOCOM) a lot was left wanting for PS3 owners when they could turn to the rival consoles and be assured that most games were not going to be PS3 exlusive, making the steep price tag seem that much higher.

The Wii however was a ballsy play by Nintendo, a brand new concept that rolled out so well people lined the streets for two years trying to get there hands on the console. Nintendo had done what all companys strive to do, the had found an edge that appealed to damn near everyone. This had created tham a veritable gold mine, unfortunately due to what ever issues there online service leaves something to be desired, a 'hardcore' gaming audience struggles to be established as people wander why they are standing while playing a console. From what I understand there catalogue of purchasable content includes some pretty awesome back catalog games from Nintendos golden era, which in its own right is a reason to pick up a console.

When the price tag is half that of the PS3 and hits a much broader stroke, combined with a strong advertising campaign and games to back up the claims of appealing to all (Wii Fit, Mario Galaxy etc..) combined with a lot of positive words from all over the world I see the Wii phenomenon is here to stay.

Has the PS3 peaked after two years? Perhaps not. But with a staggering price still looming over people during this financially worrying time sales are going to continue to slump and people will for ever see that as the main factor when buying a console. Value for money and the PS3 just doesnt have twice as much inside or in appeal as the price tag would sugest.

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A Hectic Few Weeks

Sometimes in life fate has a way of sneaking up on you and kicking directly in your man parts, leaving you twisting in the wind with tears streaming from your face. That kind of sums up everything that has happened over the past two months, I have moved out of home and in with my brother due to some issues with my mums new man, I got a promotion at work leaving me swamped more than usual and on top of everything else I got the damn flu.

Thats about enough of that I think, on to other things now thats all out the way. Firstly on to a few disappointing games I picked up in my spare time that have been sitting on my shelf for varied amounts of time.

Far Cry 2: This game could have been great, could have been so much more than the mediocre FPS with stunning visuals, a story that I could have written on the back of a napkin and a lack of any depth or connection to anything you see around you. The lack of anything none militant leaves you predicting attacks midway through the game, arming yourself throroughly and hitting anything you see as hard and fast as you could. The using the exact same tactics you repeat, endlessly. Now for the first four hours I thoroughly enjoyed this, but found myself wanting no, needing more to do. In a world where moral choices are everywhere I can see why ubisoft stayed away from adding the all to common feature, but in war torn africa morality matters! Give us a peace corp faction and a few war lords to battle against, make us save children or burn villages down to the ground with a smile and a glint in our eye!

Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts: To be fair and honest, I have yet to give this game a decent amount of time to warm up and really get to the core of what it is meant to be. Unfortunately the first three hours I played seemed somewhat limited and as a whole experience the game seemed somewhat luke warm rather than a red hot title it is reviewed as. I do however see the appeal and am sure once things are unlocked and a few new parts and options become available my creative side will take control and I will lose hours to this game.

I happily finished Bioshock last weekend, starting out on the hardest difficulty was an unwise decision and I found myself repeating Big Daddy after Big Daddy over and over. The final boss took me a relatively short time and I watched the good ending with a smile on my face, now my excitement turns to the new Bioshock: Sea Of Dreams.

Ok, now something I have been wondering since last weeks Bombcast. This new Fallout 3 DLC, how is it going to work? One of the poackages allows players to continue on with the story once it is complete. But the story in Fallout 3 is finite, once its done its done credits role, nice to see ya thanks for your time sort of thing. Are we going to have to put in another play through to see the benefits of the package you pay for or is there a way to boot up your save and continue on with the new quest? Will fallout 3 be changed from a game with a stopping point to a game that allows your to walk around and continue your exploration of the DC wastelands?!

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A Few Things

So I am sat here just finishing up at work and thought I would update everyone on whats going on, I have a few things in my mind that came up while listening to the BombCast so look out below for those.

Firstly, my purchase of NHL 09 that is released friday here in the UK has been put off until the end of the month. My laptop decided that for one final time it would show me what its made of with the blue screen of death, good bye my old friend.. Now considering my laptop is my one source to get online it takes prioroty over those other important things. I have a laptop ordered and will hopefully post a few pictures when it arrives, with a copy of Spore arriving friday all should be right with the world.

Now the games I need to pick up at the end of the month are NHL 09 and Star Wars: Force Unleashed, I think most of my time will be pumped in to Force Unleashed as it usually takes me a while to really start getting in to the sports genre games and Force Unleashed is probably higher on my list of most wanted than NHL.

OK, While listening to this weeks BombCast I had a thought. The first part of the cast is all about the Dreamcast and how it died so quickly, well, in the gaming world there are plenty of things that seem to get a lot of hype and then suddenly seem to just disappear. So I have a question for everyone, are there any games that come to mind that you heard/read about that you looked forward to but then suddenly disappeared? A few that pop in to my mind are B.C a caveman game that was at the time being developed by Peter Molyneux of Fable fame (I think thats right, atleast what I remember of it its right). Anywasy that game got shelved pretty late in development. Another is Stargate SG1: The Alliance, something that was given a major ad campaign and even features on the SG1 and Atlantis DVD sets at one point. Again due to different reasons it was shelved.

Now on to the one most common amongst Dreamcast users (See the link...;)) Shenmue 3. I really havent a clue what happened to Shenmue 3, they realese Shenmue 2 on Xbox and Dreamcast leaving the ending with a nice cliffhanger and then all goes quiet. Shenmue 3 is not mentioned for a long time, hoping people would forget about it. Shame as I would have loved to see the final chapter in the series.

Any thoughts? Other games you have looked forward tot hat have come up short or cut and never made?

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Gamers Choices'

September rolls around once a year, with it comes what is commonly known as the gaming season. Three months where the release calendar is full and pretty exciting. No matter what console you own, as long as you’re in to gaming these next months can be a pretty busy time.

Personally I am a 360 gamer as many of you know; I love anything RPG orientated and love to find a new game I can get my teeth in to. Unfortunately more often than not the games of today fall short of what we expect, with less than adequate concentration on the main three vitals of a game (Story, Graphics and Game play) Manufacturers often concentrate on the one and leave the others in a dismal state.

In the RPG orientation I was finally bugged in to picking up 'Lost Odyssey' a game I had never got around to playing and not really ever considered. Coming in 4 discs the game boasts great visuals and some stunning cut scenes. The graphics are great, the cut scenes are great and plentiful (Which is something I enjoy) and the game play seems solid if somewhat unoriginal. Think Final Fantasy 10, with new characters and story with better graphics and that is all we have. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I loved playing FFX; the combat system was great and made this my favourite of the Final Fantasy series.

The mini-games on ‘Lost Odyssey’ often seem somewhat pointless although they do help to break up the flow a little. Also on a nice note there is a ‘Thousand Years of Dreams’ section, using your main character you must discover memories from the past forgotten by the passage of time. Memories come in the form of short stories and are an interesting twist and add an extra depth and understanding to characters. I am currently on disc 2 with around 20 hours game play, predictions have me finishing somewhere in the 45-50 hour mark so a solid game that could take longer should I stop along the way to get more.

Overall score: 7

Now on to the rest of the year, my favourite part!

A few games I am looking at and am pretty sure to pick up, although I try to spread each purchase out to allow a decent play time some get purchased within days of each other...

In no real order I am going to start with the one fresh in my mind,

1.Star Wars: Force Unleashed
2.Far Cry 2
3.Fallout 3
4.Infinite Undiscovery
5.Fable 2
6.Gears OF War 2
7.Alan Wake (Should it ever be released)
8.Mercenaries 2
9.Call of Duty: World at War
10.Spider Man Web of Shadows

There are a few missing from that lists, but those come from the top of my head. Usually what I do is buy an RPG, put a load of time in to getting most of it done and then to have a break from solid play I would buy something a little easier going.

Currently Guitar Hero 3 is sucking up a lot of my time when I am not playing ‘Lost Odyssey’. Never really had much time for this when I first picked it up but is fast becoming a great stress reliever when I get home from work, I even have my girlfriend playing a few Co-op games with me!

Anyways, Drop me a line anytime. My gamer tag is Casey Hale. Comments always appreciated

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