I havent really updated my blog here in a long time. I have an actual blog for most of my posts now. So go there if you're interested :P

So I beat BioShock over the weekend.  And while the game, story, and the immersiveness of Rapture were all amazing, I was slightly disappointed to find out that I was greatly overthinking the supposed spoiler I read a while back.  I saw the trophy for “Become a Big Daddy” and my mind was racing with possibilities about the implications of this.  Unfortunately, the only reason you put on the Big Daddy suit is to get through a few doors in the last stage of the game.  I was both happy that the plot wasn’t spoiled, and disappointed by the simplicity of it.  Imagine how awesome it would be if your character met some horrible fate at the end of the game and you were destined to spend the rest of your life trapped in a Big Daddy suit, protecting little sisters and living with the degredation of the city and its tortured former citizens?!

Still, it was a great game, even if the ending wasn’t quite as tragic as my mind was conjuring up.  I went back and harvested a couple of little sisters at the end to see the bad ending.  I am trying to go back through the game on Hard to get a few more trophies but am having a hard time with it.  I foresee either giving up or it taking a really long time.  We’ll see if I’m able to stick with it.  Especially considering the fact that I started playing Resistance 2 the very next day.

I am having a lot of fun with Resistance 2.  However, I agree with some of the comments out there that it seems as if Insomniac made the multiplayer modes the main focus and the single player campaign suffered a little bit as a result.  It is still really fun, but I am having a hard time getting into the story in the single player campaign.  Its super fun to play through the levels, but it seems to me that the bosses are easier than the stages themselves a lot of the time.  Also, the 1Up Yours Podcast was right, they give you a specific weapon right before you need to use it.  The only thing is, I sometimes don’t find it until after I’ve already defeated the enemies that the weapon was put there to dispose of.  Lastly, it definately seems shorter than the first Resistance.  I’m already on the last stage and should be able to beat it soon.  Oh well, I am still enjoying it quite a bit and can’t wait to start playing multiplayer.  Everything I’m hearing about multiplayer sounds really cool.  This is a game where I might be able to get a platinum trophy!  We’ll see how it goes.  Once this game is beaten I can finally start playing Dead Space.

I have decided to abandon my Now Playing list somewhat for the time being simply because between now and the end of the year there are so many good games coming out and I am going to be trying to play as many of them as possible.  Therefore, it is unreasonable to think that I will be able to keep up the list when I won’t even be able to keep up with the games themselves.  Basically, here’s how things are looking.  Through the end of the year I will be playing Penny Arcade Adventures, Flock, Sam & Max Season 1 on Wii, BioShock, WipEout HD, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space, Resistance 2, Valkyria Chronicles, possibly  Fallout 3 (not sure if I want it yet), and lastly, I have to play GTA4 again for trophies.  AND Burnout Paradise is getting more updates, not to mention that I am paying pretty close attention to Mirror’s Edge and MK vs. DC Universe.  They look really cool but I’m not sure if I want them yet.  There’s too many damn games!  I haven’t played my DS or PSP in a while now just trying to keep up with the PS3 stuff.  I eventually plan to play Lego Batman too.  I’m sure I’m forgetting a few but that’s just off the top of my head.

As to what I’ve played recently, I finally beat Bionic Commando Rearmed.  Very nice payoff at the end there : )  I never beat the original but I had heard about it.  Nice to actually see it.  I am continuing to play WipEout HD here and there and I’m enjoying Penny Arcade Adventures more than I thought I would.  I downloaded Everyday Shooter, LocoRoco Cocoreccho, and flOw as well.  Everyday Shooter is pretty cool.  Very trippy and psychadelic.  And really difficult.  I like that the mechanics of defeating enemies change with every stage and that as you play you constantly build up points that you can use to unlock additional stuff.

LocoRoco is possibly the most bizarre, insane game I’ve ever played, even slightly more so than the original game for the PSP.  I think I like the PSP one better.  flOw is pretty cool, very serene and calming.  I can see myself playing it after a rough day just to unwind or chill out for a while when I’m bored.  It seems like it is a game that just doesn’t end.  I’m very curious to see how Flower turns out, since its by the same people.  Ooh, and I almost forgot about Fat Princess!  I can’t wait to see how that turns out, it looks hilarious!

So bottom line, too many awesome games, too little time.  Just like last year.  Lame, but also awesome!

Ok, real quick.

Finally got the platinum trophy in Burnout Paradise.  I was able to find an Eye Toy at Best Buy (apparently the only one left in the whole damn city) for only $10 so I was able to get the trophy for sending a mugshot.  So I am happily playing my original save file again.  Whooo!

I am very pleased to announce that I beat Mega Man 9.  I understand the initial reaction that it is insanely difficult, but after going back to play a little Mega Man Anniversary Collection for comparison I have come to the realization that it is really no harder than any of the original games.  In fact, the argument could be made that its actually easier.  The reason is because in the old days of Mega Man 1 & 2, there were no such things as Energy Tanks.  The simple addition of this life saver makes the game incredibly easier.  Other than that, the same basic strategy used in the original games is what is required to excel at MM9.  I believe this is the reason people think that it is so much more difficult.

In these days of finger-contorting control schemes and almost unlimited options to take out your enemies, playing an original Mega Man game feels very crippling.  You no longer have ten different ways to approach a given task, there is only a jump button and a fire button, the only relief being the weapons you earn from the bosses.  In order to win at these games, you must focus on memorizing the levels and enemies that occupy them, what it takes to eliminate them most effectively, and honing your platforming skills to a needle-fine point.  For those gamers that grew up post-SNES, they have never known limits and challenge like this.  I feel sorry for them.

Let's see, what else.  I finally figured out that I could use my bionic arm to repel the final boss's missles in Bionic Commando Rearmed.  I should've figured.  So now I will be able to finish it.  Nice.  Also, I am slowly getting the hang of Wipeout HD.  It's still pretty tricky, but I feel like I am getting better little by little.  Picked up Linger in Shadows the other day.  Pretty wierd but pretty cool at the same time.  I can definately appreciate what they are trying to do.  It was cool to watch and manipulate and find the hidden stuff in that "game."  And it was an easy batch of trophies too

Picked up Dead Space last week and am super excited to play it, but I just haven't been able to find the time to even start it.  I was at my in-laws house all weekend and I am back to working nights, so its been difficult to find the time.  Not to mention that I am car-pooling to work with my wife who starts work an hour earlier than me, so that just subtracts free time from my schedule.  I'm trying to move and get things situated at my new job so things are a bit crazy right now.  I have a feeling Dead Space will consume a considerable amount of time once I start it and I'm not sure when I'll be able to put aside big chunks of time.  And LittleBigPlanet and BioShock are coming very very soon so I will be back to being extremely behind again.  Oh well.  I would rather have to many games to play than not enough!

I guess that wasn't very quick at all was it?  Eh, whatever.  Who needs sleep right?

First Paradise City, now

I spent pretty much the entire day yesterday playing Burnout Paradise from the beginning to earn trophies.  I felt MUCH better about having to do this once I realized that I could just copy my save game to a memory card, start over, get the trophies, then reload my original save file and be right back where I started.  Also, you don't need to get a full 100% to get all the trophies, you pretty much just need to get your Burnout License and do a few random things and you're good.  I already have about 3/4 of them and should have the rest soon.  The only part that sucks though is that one of the trophies is for sending a mugshot with a Playstation Eye, effectively forcing me to buy the damn thing if I want the platinum trophy.  That is totally lame.  The screwed up thing is, they don't force you to get the extra content trophies for the platinum, but they force you to spend the money to get a camera for it.  Lame as hell.  It just means I'll have all the trophies but 1 until I can buy a camera.

I am liking The Force Unleashed, but there are a number of things that are disappointingly frustrating about it, keeping it from being as good as it could be.  First the camera isn't very good.  You have to move it around completely on your own, and as a result  I have never appreciated auto-camera systems more.  So many times I am in the midst of a heated battle and suddenly can't see anything because the action gets to close to something that obstructs the camera and forces me to move it myself instead of concentrating on cutting up some storm troopers.  Also, the targeting system is horrible.  The only way to target something is to make sure Starkiller is facing exactly the thing you want to target, which is very unwieldy in practice.  Even when I seem to have a lock on something, too often I lose the target before it registers my force grab.  Part of that may be my own reflexes, but it still seems a little clunky.  In Lucasarts' defense, I don't know how else they could've done this.  Targeting force powers is something that's extremely hard to do simply due to the supposed limitlessness of the act.  Lastly, the platforming is sometimes a bit sloppy.  I racked up quite a large amount of accidental deaths because I fell off a ledge while fighting or jumping around.  Not cool.

That being said, there are definately parts of Force Unleashed that are totally awesome!  The story is one of the best to come out of Lucasarts in a LONG time, with plot twists and surprises that make it all worthwhile.  It's so cool to see how this story lays the foundation for Episode IV, and I haven't even seen the ending yet.  I've gotten to what can only be the last boss and should beat it soon.  This is absolutely a game where I would be willing to just sit there after I finish it and watch all the cutscenes over again on their own.  I was a little disappointed though to find out that Starkiller himself seems like a surprisingly likeable guy.  I can't say too much without treading into spoiler territory, but for being raised and trained in secret by Darth Vader himself for the sole purpose of being a Jedi hunting, force unleashing apprentice, he doesn't seem very heartless.  Oh well, he's still a very cool character to build a game around, and once you come to terms with the gameplay its extremely fun to repeadly hurl boxes, droids, and anything else you can find at enemies.  When you get the timing and controls right and are able to just let loose on a bunch of storm troopers or force-crush an AT-ST, its very cool and satisfying.  And dude, you get to force-pull a fucking Star Destroyer out of the sky!!!!!  Let's see Kratos pull that off!

So guess what everybody?  Burnout Paradise trophies are NOT retroactive!  After months of promising us that they would be.  I'm simply crushed and speechless.  I've put 150 hours into that game, plus another 20 hrs into Burnout Bikes.  And now I have to delete my entire save game and start all over if I want to get any trophies out of Paradise City.  I'm am not pleased.  I am less than happy.  I am devastated.  I am at a positive loss for words.

What makes it even worse is the fact that up to this point, the dudes at Criterion have been some of the most customer focused, awesome, on top of it dudes in the whole industry!  So when they made the claim that trophies would be retroactive, I believed them because they had more than delivered on every promise before.  Apparently, once they entered the testing phase of the trophy patch, they discovered that "this is not possible."  Couldn't they have done something to check this out before setting us up for heartbreak???

And so, dejected and upset, I will delete my save.  I have to do it.  I need to have trophies in one of my favorite games of all time.  The only thing that makes it possible for me to start all over again is the fact that Burnout Paradise is such an amazing game.  If it were not so fun to play, it would not be worth the effort.  I will still enjoy playing it, but until I reach 101% again, there will be bitterness.  It looks like this is what is going to seperate the regular Burnout fans from the truly fiendish ones.  Call me fiendish.

Not much new right now.  I am enjoying The Force Unleashed but I got distracted this weekend with Burnout Bikes and the double XP event on PS3 Call of Duty 4.

I really like playing COD4 online but I’m really not that good at it.  There are some stages where I can do pretty well, but others I just get my ass handed to me.  I don’t think I play it enough to develop real good skills at it.  There are just too many games I want to play to stay with it.  I’m glad though because I was able to jump up a few levels this weekend.  Had a fun time.

Also, I really enjoy Burnout Bikes.  These are the best motorcycles I have ever played in a racing game.  Just the right mix of arcadey and sim style handling to make them immensely fun.  I’ve already completed all the Burning and Midnight Rides for my 100% license.  I’ve completed about 45 out of 70 online bike challenges, and now I just need to work on the Road Rules.

I decided to cancel my Force Unleashed reservation at GameStop and get the game at Toys R Us instead once I found out they were giving out $20 gift cards with the purchase.  I used the gift card to pick up Disgaea 3 with it.  I am looking forward to Mega Man 9 and Wipeout HD this week but I don’t know if I will be able to afford them both this week.  We’ll have to wait and see how the money goes.

That’s about it right now.  My progress on Condemned 2 and The Simpsons Game has been slow this weekend with Burnout and COD4.  I’ll probably play some more Force Unleashed and Condemed 2 this week and hopefully finish them both so I can start on either Mega Man or Wipeout.  Oh, and I’m pretty excited now that we can buy PSN gift cards at Blockbuster now!  I’m still boycotting Blockbuster but I can’t imagine they make much money on them; at least not directly.  And I’d still rather shop there than GameStop.