Oh Boy! New Fallout Screens!

New Fallout: New Vegas shots are in and it looks tasty. It also looks different, but not graphically. You vain little thing.

There’s certainly more inspiration from the originals present here. The robots in the first screen adhere to this theory. I mean look at them. They’re humorous. But not in a subtle, satirical way. They’re just funny lookin’. Is this a good thing? Well… to be honest with you probably not no. Fallout 3 oozed charm, satire and black humour. This looks like Fallout put it’s silly hat on and walked down the road with it’s willy out. Also, it’s the same engine as Fallout 3 as well. Easily forgivable of course, it’s a fantastic engine that serves it’s purpose. However it is two years old, and if you’re only going to make minor gameplay changes and ruin the entire feel of the game? Then… well. You’re not getting a purchase off me.

However, it could easily be a return to form. A true, 1950’s view of apocalyptic America that remains faithful to the original vision while exploiting all of the best bits from Fallout 3. If it’s the latter, then I have an erection.

Fallout Stuffs

So, most of you will have seen the above image by now, and no doubt it’s counterparts and probably thought one of two things. You’ll either have smiled and thought “Ah! Thank God for that! New Vegas is more of the same, and after the epic that was Fallout 3, that’s very much a good thing".” Or, you’ll have gone, “NOOO” FANBOY RAAAGGE! IT'S JUST THE SAME GARGHHH” and presumably, choked on your own rage vomit.

At first, I was choking on my rage vomit, but as I was lying on the floor gasping for air I realised that the direction New Vegas is taking is no way a bad move.

See, I’ve just started a fresh game of Fallout 3 on the PC and already I’m once again completely immersed in the wasteland. If New Vegas is promising us Fallout 3 all over again, and THEN some… well colour me speechless because they are Gods amongst Men and we must worship these people.

Of course, I’m still sceptical that it may turn out to be a bland, samey version of Fallout 3 but at the moment? They have the benefit of the doubt. You have until Christmas guys and gals. Do me proud.

Fallout: New Vegas

New Trailer! Watch it now!

Opinions? Well don’t mind if I do. Also, I’m going to ignore the rumours going around about being able to play as ghouls etc. All seem a bit… fake to me at the moment, so I’ll acknowledge them once they’ve been confirmed. Anyway, here we go:

I like:

• That Robot. Yes, I know, a stupid thing to start on but I just do. It’s awesome.
• The logo. It’s very very similar to the original logos which could mean a return to the very original Fallout style. Large deserts, grey super mutants, turn based RPG system etc. This could also be enforced by the trailer starting on a TV screen and slowly panning out, which of course is identical to the opening of the original Fallout.
• Although it’s only a teaser trailer, the graphics are certainly better than anything released prior to Fallout 3’s release. A new engine perhaps? Improved graphics would certainly be a welcome improvement.
• The location. Vegas could well be an extremely fascinating direction for the Fallout series, or an extremely bad one. If the game delivers huge desert landscapes, hundreds of locations and of course a living breathing post-apocalyptic representation of Vegas then I would be very happy indeed.

I dislike:

• While it’s fresh in your minds, let’s go back to talking about the location. If the game delivers an empty, barren wasteland with hardly anything to do and a representation of Vegas that’s about as populated and as interesting as the cities on Borderlands then that’s it. I won’t care. The Capital Wasteland was the best thing about Fallout 3 and that’s a fact.
• It’s not being made by Bethesda this time around. Instead, it’s been given to Obsidian Entertainment who are famous for Neverwinter Nights 2 and Alpha Protocol. That’s it. To top it off, Bethesda aren’t even publishing it in some parts of the world. Eep? I think so.
• The possibility that it’s too over the top. I’m all for satirical videogames, but Vegas gives Fallout the opportunity to be so tongue in cheek that it not only alienates fans of the series but anyone who dares play it, expecting something with at least some seriousness in it.

Overall though? I’m excited. How could I not be! Fallout 3 was incredible.

New Playstation Adverts

I absolutely adore the new PlayStation adverts. I think they're just American, but nevertheless. My favourites the Uncharted 2 one, but it does raise a few points regarding sexism within adverts..... Still funny though :D

Enjoy, and please leave a comment if anyone see's these on British TV!

Gamestation Win!

I've just found out, thanks to a handy little booklet I picked up in Gamestation the other day, that Mario kart DS and New Super Mario Bros would get me £32 if I traded them in.

Yes that's right. £32 for two games that came out over two years ago now... That's only £3 off me being able to buy Uncharted 2 on launch day!

Madness. But then again, I'm not complaining.

Unreliable Washed Out Hypocrites, Very Nice

Nintendo are releasing a set of games under the title of the “New Play Control Range”.  Basically, Nintendo are porting Gamecube games to the Wii with the new control system plastered over the top.

The first two that will be released is Pikmin and Mario Tennis. Both of which have been dated to be in stores by the beginning of March.

 

Personally… I don’t know what to say. My gut reaction is to be angry at how Nintendo can’t even come up any new ideas for games and instead are porting old ones instead. However, the idea of playing Metroid Prime or Luigis Mansion with Wiimote is rather tempting, and of course it means they’ll be a lot more mainstream than they were back when they were first released. Still, it doesn't look like their getting a graphical update (I believe the screen above is a shot of the Wii version, and it still looks like an early Gamecube title) which is disappointing.

 

A final note, is this the Pikmin game Miyamoto announced at E3? If it is, then shame on you sir. You used to be a God.

Irony. Pure Irony

Although I'm a fan of the Xbox, I do enjoy taking the piss out of it. Yea It's harsh, because lets face it, not a lot of people like the Playstation but I do it anyway mainly to annoy my friend because (and I'm sorry to say this Ryan) he's an Xbox fanboy. So while I'm bragging about trivial things such as disk space and processors, and he retaliates with points such as better games and a better online I always get him with what can only be described as every Xbox owners worst nightmare. Red Ring of Death.

Like the flu, the yellow pages or Graham Norton it happens to everyone. It happened to me, and It's happened to him and everytime I used that argument he never had anything to say back to me. Well, nothing I'd feel comfortable about typing on my girlfriends computer anyway. 

But then last night, after my New Year celebrations, I decided to see if I could clock Mirrors Edge as I was already up to chapter 6 out of 8, so I thought I'd be able to do it. So I booted it up, started playing and then it crashed. It didn't bother me at first, because I presumed it was the disc but after four attempts on Mirrors Edge, one attempt on LittleBigPlanet (the game wouldn't load) and then an attempt on COD5 (again, the game wouldn't load) I panicked. I went straight to the Sony EU forums, and posted my problem. This morning I managed to get Mirrors Edge working, but I'm still worried about whether it's a hard drive problem.

Anyway, the whole point of this story is that when I told my friend last night, he gave a fantastic reply that I thought would be perfect for today's post.

"Definitely Sony's way of saying Happy New Year mate."

A Desperate Attempt.

 

Ok before I start this I want you to know two things. Yes I am a PS3 owner, and I don’t have an Xbox. However, I am VERY fond of the Xbox and am seriously contemplating getting one for myself (For the second time, my first one Red Ringed on me and I raged). I believe Xbox Live to be the best console online gaming experience to date and lets face it, 90% of my friends have one.

 

So yesterday, the New Xbox Experience came out (or as it’s now known, the NXE, not be confused with the Playstations XMB). Basically the NXE is the much anticipated Dashboard update, which every single Xbox owner has been wetting their pants over. Of course, I always like to look at everything from a critics perspective (I’m a moody, arrogant person. What do you expect?) so here’s my personal opinion on Microsoft's latest attempt at securing the market.

 

 

Ok so my first impressions. It’s pretty, very pretty. It’s what the dashboard should have always been. It’s slick, sexy and HD. It’s awesome. The new interface is simple, and very well spaced out (although I dread to think how it looks to people without a HD TV over 19”), I love the whole sliding from behind thing that’s going on and the new achievement list is brilliant.

 

Avatars, although as pointless as they were on the Wii (at the present time that Is, no doubt Microsoft will pull something out of their sleeves on a later date) are pretty and a lot more complex than the god-awful Mii’s and serve a very good point. I love the fact that your friends are represented by their avatar in your friends list, and that their online status is judged by whether their asleep or awake. Nice little touch.

 

Xbox Live marketplace is the same as before, the new feature of being able to install games to reduce loading times is better than the current system on the Ps3 although Sony have nothing to worry about as disc space still hasn’t been increased. What I really want to know is, how is the Xbox HANDLING this? Yea It can do HD gaming but how the hell has it managed an interface this complex? The Dashboard was always rather jumpy I found and never really worked, yet now the Xbox button brings up the old dashboard as the bloody minor interface for when your in game! Insane!

 

So well done Microsoft, I consider this to be one of your strongest achievements since launch. Although, you COULD have done this at first you know, you weren't really being stopped…

 

 

It doesn't change my opinion on the Xbox as a whole, I still personally like the PS3 better but it’s certainly easier on the eye and now the software finally reflects the hardware.

 

But of course, it’s still the Xbox, and my good friend Bucko could not have made my day any other way when he said this:

 

“My new Xbox experience involves a ring of red.”

 

Brilliant.

What The Hell?

What in the name of Donkey Kong is that? Honestly I'm in shock. It doesn't look... Natural.

"So what exactly is new for the DSi? First off, the camera. The DSi features a .3 megapixel camera (640 x 480) which can be incorporated into games in addition to just taking pictures. But if you are using it to just take pictures, then you will have a photo editing tool built into the DSi allowing you to draw on the pictures or stretch and skew parts of the image. But how will those pictures be stored on the limited DS memory? That's where the DSi's SD card slot comes in. Using the SD card slot you can store pictures from the DSi's camera, but you can also store music and video to be played on the DSi. It will feature standard audio/video playback features such as fast forward and rewind, but also some unique features such as the ability to change the audio pitch. Also, to help with playing videos on the DSi the screen size has been increased. It's a small increase (3.25 inches now over the previous 3 inch screen), but the larger screen is still appreciated."

*wipes brow*. A DS with a camera, a larger screen, music and video playback as well as an SD card slot? Christ... Why?

I hate it when Nintendo do this. I really do. "Look at us!" they shout "We have shiny Apple like features for half the price!" Mystified I buy, then notice the blatant disregard for the hardcore market (Ie me. Since the SNES). 

Ah well.... I may buy.