Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

So let's get down to business. I've been playing loads of games lately. I mean loads. I don't think I've had this many on the go for quite a while. Usually, I would go to the trouble of paragraphing this kind of information, but I've just noticed that lists can be imported into blog posts, and I'm quite curious to see how that works. Let's see how this pans out... 
 

Now Playing

...Wow, it worked! Ok, here's what I'm playing right now:

	1. Forza Motorsport 2 For a more detailed explanation on why Forza 2 continues to occupy my 360's disc drive, I'd recommend checking out this blog. It's starting to get a little laborious now, but at present my stats sheet indicates I'm at Driver Level 48, with a career completion percentage of 89% All that's left to take care of are two Factory Spec championships, five Professional Series championships, and four Endurance Races. To be honest, though, I'm kinda burned out on Forza. I think I'll be steering clear of it in favour of...
	2. Gran Turismo I'm not entirely sure why, but I impulse-downloaded Gran Turismo for my PSP yesterday. After some extensive playtime last night and earlier today during a two-hour gap in my university schedule, I've formulated enough of an opinion on the game to write this review of it. As I've only just started, I currently only own seven of the game's database of 830 cars. From what I've played so far, I like it, and I think it's the best way GT could have possibly gone portable.
	3. Lost Odyssey To be honest this is the only game on the list that I haven't played much of recently. I'm still really enjoying it, it's just gotten a little lost at the bottom of this monstrous pile. On the off chance you're looking for a more detailed account of my opinion of Lost Odyssey, you'll find in the blog linked above. I'm at pretty much the start of Disc 3, working my way through the Ice Canyon, with a party at the average level of 32. I'm hoping to put a little more time into this over the weekend while my girlfriend's away.
	4. Pokémon Crystal I played Pok émon Yellow earlier this year and loved the hit of nostalgia it gave me. Inspired to continue on the Pok émon train, I picked up a copy of Crystal and began my journey through Johto. Right now I'm training my team before I take on the Gym Leader at Olivine City. I have five badges, and according to my Pok édex I've caught 92 different kinds of Pok émon.
	5. Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 This is probably the most on-and-off game on this list. I've opted not to pick up a copy of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 just yet, preferring to spend some extra time with PES2009 and actually complete the Master League. The plan's not going too smoothly though - I'm playing it so sparingly that I'm still in my first season, about halfway up the table in Division 2.
	6. Rock Band I bought this along with a drum controller in a bid to keep drumming while I'm at university, so I don't completely forget myself the next time I'm behind a drum kit. It looks like it's going to serve that purpose. Being a big rock fan, the song list is great and features a lot of awesome tracks, including some that my band covers, so I feel right at home playing them. The drums are surprisingly similar to the real thing, despite the limitations of four pads. As long as it prevents me from losing my sense of timing and keeps my arms loose, It'll have served its purpose. The huge amount of fun is a definite bonus.
	7. Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise This is probably the game I've spent most time playing over the last week or so. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's taking over my life. The quirky characters and cute characters have an uncanny ability to draw you in, and the gardening gameplay is surprisingly addictive. It even managed to grip my girlfriend, so much so that I had to convince her to buy the DS version so I could get my 360 back. I think I'm going to be contending with Professor Pester for quite a long time to come.

So that's what's been going on game-wise. In other news... 
 

• I'm back at university proper now, studying for my second year of an English Language and Literature course. I'm studying some really awesome texts this year for the literature component, some of which I really can't wait to read. Right now I'm reading Thomas More's Utopia (as referenced in the title of this blog), and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Later in the year I'll be looking at texts like John Milton's Paradise Lost, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and (this is the one I'm looking forward to most) Italo Calvino's If On A Winter's Night A Traveller. The language component is looking pretty interesting too; I've chosen to focus on phonology and semantics this year.
• On Tuesday I bumped into a guy from my hometown on campus. This would be shocking enough on its own, given I was the only person from my hometown at Essex last year, but it's made even more freaky by the fact that I used to be pretty good friends with this guy. Very scary stuff.
• My girlfriend continues to be awesome. On Monday (my busiest day), I came home to find the flat clean. She then cooked me dinner, did all the washing up, and encouraged me to spend the evening on my 360. I genuinely believe I'm the luckiest guy on the planet.  If you're reading this, Karen, you need to stop being so amazing. You're making me look bad.
• I got The Black Crowes' new album, Before The Frost.../...Until The Freeze, last week, and I think it's safe to say that my award for Album of the Year is signed, sealed and delivered. Also of note were The Enemy's Music For The People and Kasabian's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. To be honest, a lot of the music I was looking forward to this year has disappointed me greatly (here's looking at you, Muse and Editors), so it's nice to have something solid by one of my favourite bands to restore some of my faith in modern music.

 
 
DanK 
 
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Currently playing - Gran Turismo (PSP)

 Serious Blogging Episode 1: Is creative still cool?  

   
In came through my mind one day that we have what is an exception in gaming. It seems that Nintendo's IP games are merely an exception these days, because all other games and game developers seem to have switched over to the "Accepted" FPS boat. I acknowledge that these games are fun, but when did every game have to switch over to the serious "badass" (stressing the quotes there) genre of men in their primes gunning people down in a first person view?

When I used to go to a game store, it would be hard to choose which game to pick because they were all so unique in their own ways. Now it is a question of which shooter should I get on my Xbox360. I must point out the obvious exceptions: Prince of Persia, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Viva Pinata, and Banjo and Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. What a short list, and even Bioshock and Fallout 3 are FPS games, but they deserve recognition for being unique shooters. My arguement is that there are to many of them that do not stand out at all.

I think the biggest example of this is Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War. Seriously, these games are good, but they do not do anything special. They make a "badass" (again stress the quotes) FPS with "DUDE MIND BLOWING" cutscenes all about some people fighting a war. Call of Duty Modern Warfare comes out soon, and that is no exception. Its using (abusing) the same engine and formula. There is no main character to this series, only a guy in his prime, gunning down people in a first person mode. There is nothing special put into this game, just a short campaign, a good online system, and some guns. Our gaming society accepts this game, and that would be cool, as long as it was not the only thing accepted. This is getting annoying when I walk down an isle and I am constantly reminded that half the selection is Gun games.  I admit, Call of Duty is fun, very addicting online might I add, but people, we must find balance. 1 year cycles like Madden and Call of Duty (whilst CoD is MUCH better) do NOT need to be selling well. They are taking up shelf space which other, better games need. 

My Xbox 360 has been stolen by my girlfriend. After watching me play Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, she asked me if she could have a go last night. In the last twenty-four hours, she's assumed total control of the console, has obtained a bigger garden than I have, attracted more types of pinata than I have, and even earned more Achievement points than I have. This morning she told me she even dreamt she was a pinata last night. Meanwhile I'm in bed, playing Pok émon Crystal and watching her get almost literally sucked into the game as she moves closer and closer to the screen. I'm just praying that I can persuade her to give up the controller for half an hour so I can watch Harry Hill's TV Burp before she gets back to the landscaping and breeding. My girlfriend always thought she'd lose me to games. I never anticipated it could happen the other way round. 
 
Also, for those of you who aren't aware, Giant Bomb now has a spoiler button integrated into its text editor. You can use it to hide spoilers from view. I can't divulge my opinion of the new feature, in case I reveal any spoilers. 
 

Thanks for reading, guys. See you around. 
 
 
DanK 
 
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Currently playing - Pokémon Crystal (GBC)

I know, I know, it's a corny blog title, but you can't deny that the women of Mass Effect have some immaculately rendered ass. Shame about their faces, though...

I finished up a playthrough of Mass Effect yesterday. I ran an Adept with Assault Rifle as its bonus talent (thanks to this thread for the idea) and it was good fun. I didn't think the game would be quite as short as it is, but I guess it's a game that provides you with enough classes to warrant some more playthroughs. The achievements  aren't very friendly, either, and I'm starting to notice why there are so many rares. I dabbled a little with an Engineer class for a second playthrough, but I'm still at odds to whether I should just play again on my old character to get it to 60 (I finished my first run at level 46). Somewhere in between thinking about this and getting a snack, I decided that I should get my pinata on.

I sat and played Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise for about four hours straight. I got my garden to max size, felt a little awkward watching some positively adoreable romance dances, and shook my fist IRL at the stupid sour pinata that got caught in the trap I set for a Flapyak. Also, I'm really really poor in the chocolate coins department. Anyone got any tips on how to make some fast money that doesn't include getting pinatas to stay at your garden, candy'ing them up and selling them off? Or is that the whole point?

On another side-note, is the DLC for Mass Effect worth it? Is it a continuation of the story, or some little side-story that won't really matter when Mass Effect 2 rolls around? I was thinking of picking it up along with the recent release of Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.

There isn't much to say that Ryan Davis didn't say in his review, but the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island is really awesome. I think people who were worried can belay their fears of it being a total mess. It's an episodic title, so it isn't particularly long or anything, and the days of frustratingly inane pixel hunts are over (thank god) so it feels light and breezy, but the feel and humour of the series is definitely intact, and because of that it's worth playing. I might wait for it to be released as an individual episode if you're not a prior fan of the series or still on the fence, since you can only get the full series in a package at the moment.

The wasd movement/mouse interaction isn't really that big of a deal, even thought the wires that get crossed don't really uncross by the time you finish the episode. It's not the kind of thing that will frustrate you and put you off playing the game, it just feels a little bit weird, and stops you playing with one hand, which was a little bit of an inconvenience because I was eating at the time. That's probably the only sleight against it, really, unless you're the type that would be upset about the lack of difficulty or have your panties in a twist about the artstyle.

On another note, I put a little time into all the three games I noted in my last blog. Some thoughts:

Mass Effect:

• Starts a bit slow. 
  
• Vehicle segments are terribad.
  
• My character has a huge nose because the head in the face creator only tilts a little to the side and clearly doesn't offer quite enough perspective. Subsequently, he looks like a snooty French military officer, which doesn't fit the voice actor at all. 
  
• I died alot early because I didn't utilize cover.
  
• I want to expect that dude who wants info on the Watchers to make some giant cyborg super-Watcher that starts shooting lasers out of its eyes and rampages through the Praesidium, but then I remembered this is a western RPG.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts:

• Don't overthink things or you'll waste alot of time making complicated vehicles that end up working terribly.
• Rare kicking themself in the teeth repeatedly makes for funny dialogue.
• Jinjo's are still annoying.
  

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise:

• Threatens to suck the very life out of me.
• Seedos is holding out on me. Seriously.
• The girl at the Costalot store is no Tom Nook.
  

I'm thinking I might leave Mass Effect til last, since it's gonna require alot more consistant playtime. The other two I can pick up and play whenever. The fear in my mind though, is that I may never get to the point where I get back to Mass Effect...

So the birthday comes around again, bringing with it a bit of disposable income to buy games with. Hoorah!

I went out shopping today, and apart from the obligatory bottle of Jack Daniels and slab of Carlton's I came home with three games: Mass Effect, Banjo Kazaooie: Nuts and Bolts, and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. All of them were marked down to Au$44 each, which is a bit of a steal. Funny thing was, I had to scout around to three separate shops to find a copy of Mass Effect. Neither EB or JB had a copy, not even in their pre-owned piles! In the end, I had to settle for GAME, and was a little uneasy when the pricetag was 70 bucks. Turns out though, that their computer said it was only $44, so I got a hat trick. Nice birthday present!

Speaking of birthday presents, my review of Star Ocean: The Last Hope made the front page, on my birthday no less. Thanks Giant Bomb! :) Star Ocean is one of those games that if you go for it looking for an interactive movie, you'd probably be disappointed, but the game side of it is pretty damn awesome.

Time to dig in to some games... Which one should I play first?

I'm pretty pumped and ready for summer! :) 

Amazon just had their "Dads and Grads" Sale thingy and I bought Fable II, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise.

Also, I just picked-up Mass Effect used at GameStop on the cheap.  I need to finally play and finish this before Mass Effect 2 comes-out. 

All this before I get my pre-order of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger at the end of the month. 

Some others I want to pick-up are [PROTOTYPE] (because I just finished (twice) and Platinum Trophy'd the amazingly awesome inFAMOUS!) and maybe also Red Faction: Guerrilla. 

My questions are where should I start?  Is it still easy enough to rack-up the Achievements in Fable II, without exploiting the Pub Games?  Is summer enough time to enjoy them all?

It seems like an eternity since I wrote my last blog and even longer since E3, but I suppose it hasn't been my normal week with things revolving much more around exams than gaming, through some miracle I haven't been entirely distracted by video games and I think I've actually done okay on my exams so far. I'm still playing Elite Beat Agents in my free time and as with any rhythm game it's great to see how much better you get over time just with practice, indeed I've come a long way from playing Walkie Talkie Man on Breezin' difficulty. Now if I can just get through Sweatin' difficulty I'll be very happy with myself.

As I promised a couple of weeks back I have spent a little time during E3 playing the copy of Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise my brother picked up. I must say even expecting good things from the game I was surprised myself by quite how much the few simple additions in Trouble in Paradise expanded on the original Viva Pinata and it was great fun to play. In fact I'd become quite forgetful of exactly how frantic managing a garden full of pinatas could be and it was good to get back to the crazily-paced gameplay, colourful graphics and enchanting music of Viva Pinata. Unfortunately the unruly nature of preowned Xbox 360 games struck again as within a week or two the 360 had already begun to refuse to play both the preowned Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise and the preowned Saint's Row. My brother decided he'd cut his losses and have the discs repaired and traded in as he'd lost the receipts for them but although GAME were willing to repaiir the discs for £1 but as I predicted they really tried to rip him off on the trade-in and would only give him £10 for both. So as I type this there are two non-working 360 games sitting on my coffee table.

My search for a collectors edition copy of Halo 3 stretches into yet another week as well and although I almost never buy games off of the internet I may have to consider it in this case, as long as I can find somewhere which isn't selling it for too much and will ship it to the UK. However my brother still seems to be purchasing games as his new fix this week is Red Faction: Guerilla and I do have to say it's a very good game. I didn't think I'd be so into this game but running away from exploding buildings and hitting enemies in the chest with sledgehammers is a very satisfying experience and I hope to spend a lot more time on Mars demolishing bridges and running down EDF soldiers.

I guess this is just about the end of things for another week. I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Jeb800e who has started a new Gamespot union for Metroid fans, Distress Signal 4. Also a big shout-out to someone who I think is a very underappreciated Gamespot user, the Best Buy employee turned Navy recruit (no really), CmdrMcNeil. Thank you all for reading and hopefully there'll be more from me next week. I'll just leave you with this amusing real-life Elite Beat Agents parody from Mega 64.

-Gamer_152