For this episode of “Recent Buys” there is no actual videogame that was purchased however the items that were bought are mainly for my videogame antic and adventures.

Firstly the more directly videogame related item. Another one from CD-RKing, it’s the PS/PS2 to USB Controller Adapter. It allows you to use a previous generation PlayStation controller on either your PS3 or PC. A friend of mine had one of these and since his PS2 controllers work on most PS3 games he had no real reason to purchase another PS3 controller for the longest time. It took me quite a while before I found a CD-RKing branch that had one of these so your quest for one may not be easy. I tested it out on Street Fighter x Tekken and it works just fine. I am sad though that it doesn’t work in Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme VS. And here I thought I could get in some 2 on 2 Gundam VS. action on a budget.

As for the not-directly videogame related item, it’s another microphone. To be honest I’ve gotten a few microphones already while searching for one that let’s you actually hear me without a flood of ringing sound noise. Sure the mics I got were a little on the cheap side but finding USB mics in general seems to be a challenge for me. Maybe I’m just looking in all the wrong places. This microphone I got on impulse as I was just browsing through a shop called “The Electronics Boutique” in Robinsons Galleria. Why was I there? Well they had a wireless lapel mic set that went for only 999php which I hear is rather cheap for a lapel mic. Since my upload speed isn’t grand, a more expensive better sounding mic will be a little moot. I just wanted one that could either hear the room clearly without me having to boost it to dangerous level or have one wirelessly so that I at least don’t have to be right beside my laptop when I want to stream. The (I’m reading the name off the box) Trident TR-300 Professional Wireless Microphone set went for only 499.75php which was even cheaper than the set I saw previously and only needed to operate using a single AA battery for the receiver (the other needed it’s own power outlet). I tested it out while playing Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and even with it boosted to +20db it sounds decent which is more than I can say for my previous microphones. I definitely still need to do more tests but for the most part I’m glad I saw this.

Here is some footage of my scrub gameplay of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 using the said microphone. The gameplay audio is a bit delayed because I was running it through VLC.

http://www.twitch.tv/acicon/b/319431000

It is rumored that Konami is set to reveal a sequel to Castlevania: Lord of Shadows on May 31. A teaser website is up with a URL titled “TheDragonReturns”, and a door with some sort of Gothic look with the 31.05.12 date above it. If this rumor comes out true, Konami just gave a sequel to a Castlevania game that is not really Castlevania. 

Some people looked inside the coding of the site and found interesting codes named “CLOS teaser”. A Lord of Shadows sequel is definitely possible. Konami’s pre- E3 conference is also scheduled on the same day placed on the teaser, so were definitely getting a reveal of a new game at the end of the month.

It is also rumored that this game will be released for the Wii – U and possibly for the PS Vita.

I played Castlevania: Lord of Shadows from start to finish, and yes I did enjoy it. But it’s not Castlevania at all – Just a God of War-like game with Castlevania placed in front of the title screen. I’d pick the old school Castlevania 2D platform style any day and I’m sure hardcore fans of the series would also agree. Does anybody even want a sequel to Lords of Shadows?

We’ll soon find out next week. Stay tuned.

[Source: EuroGamer]

It’s the last week of May. A couple of great titles were released this month, but I’m still invested in one particular game that had the most attention this month. Are you in the same boat as me or did you guys have a completely different weekend? If you did then good for you. So go ahead, tell us what you’ve been playing this weekend.

Quash: The image above pretty much sums up my weekend really. My Demon Hunter is now level 60 and in Act 2 on Inferno Difficulty. Inferno is definitely a challenge. Better level 60 gear and more awareness is key. Currently farming gear in Act 1 because Act 2 is still not doable with my current gear. I’m getting one shot by bugs the size of my crossbow. Not cool. So I’m doing the Act 1 boss over and over again. Might not sound fun for some, but for some reason, I’m getting a kick out of this farming method.

Migoy: Got a new microphone for my broadcasting setup and since I got a Skycable broadband setup I had to put it to the test first. For testing out my new mic and net for streaming I played Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 because again that game can give children seizures with it’s fast moving images and flashing brightlights which makes it a perfect guinea pig. From what I can tell the mic is and the setting I have for the stream seem to work out fine. The only problem being my net (or possibly the router) acting up and disconnecting me from time to time.

However, before I started doing tests for the stream I also tried out online gaming with my Skycable broadband. The game in question was Street Fighter x Tekken. I’m using my HongKong PSN account since the region of my game is R3 and with it’s DLC being region locked it is appropriate that I used my Asia account. Got a few yellow bar connections which worked really well. SFxT’s netcode is amazing. Sure I got a few cheap sweeps in but you can hardly feel the input lag well compared to Super Street Fighter IV and especially UMvC3.

I will try to stream again later tonight and maybe continue my very early gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII so that I can shut-off my brain and just run through straight and narrow corridors in that game.

I’m liking where Crystal Dynamic is taking the Tomb Raider series. The setting, the game’s concept of survival, and the change in Lara Croft in general. But actual gameplay footage is still rare. Gameplay demo of Tomb Raider was featured in last year’s E3 showing gameplay for the first time, but wasn’t enough to give you an idea on what you’ll be doing throughout the whole game. The game is all about Lara Croft surviving and of course combat, which we still have not seen. So hopefully the trailer next week will fill that void.

Tomb Raider was pushed back to early 2013

Compared to the first free DLC released, this one brings a lot more content. Rebellion Pack adds two new map - Firebase Jade’s jungle reservoir and Firebase Goddess on Thessia. Three weapons were also included – Reegar Carbine, Krysae Sniper Rifle, and Cerberus Harrie. Together with six new playable characters to level up – Quarian engineer and infiltrator, Vorcha soldier and sentinel, and ex-Cerberus adept and vanguard. The pack will also include a new mission objective that happens on waves 3, 6, and 10.

Rebellion Pack will also add a new gear slot to further customize your character before pressing that deploy button.

This is pretty rare. Bioware giving content for free. But hey, were not complaining, keep it coming. The free DLC don’t stop there for Mass Effect 3. Bioware is currently working on an extended cut of the campaign’s ending and will also come as a free DLC.  Almost 90% of the Mass Effect community hated the how their beloved series ended and strongly suggests Bioware to make a change or extend the ending for closure. With enough push, it’s actually happening now.

[Source: Bioware Blog]

Capcom Germany revealed first gameplay footage of Lost Planet 3. Its 4-minutes long and it’s not looking like Lost Planet at all. Aside from the frozen world and aliens with glowing weak points, you have a game that feels more like Dead Space mixed with some Gears of War. The reveal trailer did show some promise. Hopefully they are hiding something to get us all excited for the third installment. But for now, I’m a bit worried on how this will turn out.

Take note that Lost Planet 3 isn’t being developed in Capcom. Spark’s Unlimited is working on it and is definitely giving the game a whole different feel. Not impressed one bit.

Lost Planet 3 might be released early 2013 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

[Source: Kotaku]

With their more successful title, Borderlands 2 coming out in September, the move seems to just avoid the two title going against each other, or avoid going against other big titles this year. It’s a bummer I’m sure if you’ve been waiting for yet another Aliens game, but think of it this way – Delay means a more polish product. This is pretty much the third title pushed out of the 2012 line-up and placed in early 2013. Check the new trailer below.

Aliens: Colonial Marines’ new release date is February 12, 2013 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Since last week, it’s all about Diablo 3. Well, for me that is. All my free time has been heavily invested in this addicting Action RPG and I’m enjoying every minute of it. But every time I run Diablo 3, I’m always reminded how this game would have been better appreciated if we had the option to play without internet connection. This is definitely Diablo 3′s biggest flaw and every time lag occurs reminds me of this fact.

I bought Diablo 3 a few weeks before May 15. Where I live, day one releases for video games are pretty unpredictable. You can’t really trust that they will have a specific game on a specific date. So to avoid  calling and bugging store clerks if Diablo 3 copies have arrived, I just decided to buy the digital copy of the game. An online option if your just that lazy to the point you can’t even take a 15 minute drive to pick your copy up. Was I that lazy? A bit, but the real incentive to purchase Diablo 3 was the opportunity to pre-install the game to be able to play at midnight on May 15. That and I was a bit worried of being more expensive in stores. But with me living in South East Asia and planning to play the game on the Americas servers(SEA servers), I had to wait until 3pm of May 15 for the servers go up. .

I was all set up. Chips on the side, game fully installed, friends on Skype also waiting to do our first playthrough as group. We just wanted 3PM to hit so badly. When 3PM came though, in just 15 minutes, excitement turned to frustration. It took us an hour and 30 minutes after 3pm to get in and create our first character. Error 37 -That was the error I was experiencing every time I tried to enter the servers. There were just that many people trying to enter the game. It felt like a bottle neck traffic jam, everybody trying to get inside this tiny door all at once. Blizzard said they prepared for it, obviously they weren’t.

When everybody finally got a chance to enter the game. Problems did not stop there. Constant reports of horrible lag, connection issues, achievements disappearing(I experience this one), and many more left Diablo 3′s launch a complete nightmare for most players. Thanks to all those issues, emergency maintenance were happening, leaving players unable to play. Servers tend to crash every once in a while. Problem after problem, in short – first few days wasn’t pretty.

In all online games, issues like this occur, but this one was just bad. The whole game was actually being overshadowed on how bad Blizzard prepared for this launch. The last thing you want is to have fans that have been waiting for this release for years to finally battle server issues rather than butchering countless demons for loot.

Offline missing…

Some people prefer playing Diablo 3 solo, and it is just bizarre to experience lag spikes as if your playing an MMORPG. So why is there no offline feature? Blizzard claims that Diablo 3 is better played online, thus creating Diablo 3 as an online-only video game. It is also online only to fight piracy which is a load of bull since Starcraft 2 has an offline mode.

Some people say that it’s because of the game’s Auction House that will soon give the players the option to sell/buy gear with real money. Which by the way, will go crazy when it goes live. Players will definitely abuse it. But I still think it’s doable since offline characters was separated from online characters in Diablo 2. It’s possible that the lack of an offline mode is mostly because of the real money Auction house, since Blizzard is actually going to get a cut from every successful transaction. Crazy. Instant profit for Blizzard right there and is pretty much a win-win for both the player and Blizzard.

Looking badass in hell

Diablo 3 having no offline feature is really the biggest issue right now. We are forced to go through all that lag and server maintenance whether you like it or not. The chances of doing well with a Hardcore character(Character with one life) is pretty slim at the moment thanks to the current lag in servers. Definitely will give Harcore a try but I won’t last long that’s for sure.

Aside from this game’s online service being a pain, the game itself  is worth the wait. Maybe not for some hardcore D2 fans, But I’m definitely feeling that addiction way back when Diablo 2 was released. Will work on my full review of Diablo 3 soon But for now, must reach level 60.

With it being the first week of Diablo III’s release, I can pretty much guess what most of you (if not all) are playing but nonetheless if you have an epic story to share from you demon slaying or world saving adventures, share them here.

Migoy: Tried out Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme VS. on the PS3 and boy does it feel different compared to it’s previous iteration Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Gundam Next Plus. Sure the fundamentals are basically the same if you’ve spent a significant amount of time in any fighting game, you’d be able to pick out the differences in each iteration. If I were to put it simply, the timing on moves and dash cancels is tighter, boost seems to drain faster, moves have been replaced / reshuffled, same goes for the roster. They’ve also brought back a mechanic that was present in the PS2 and PSP Gundam VS. games Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Rengou vs Z.A.F.T. (back then it was called SEED mode) where you get a speed and slight power boost as well as replenishing you boost meter and all your ammo. Assists have also been removed nd that took a little getting used too. I am loving the game so far and will definitely paly more of it. It feels like a completely different game that I need to learn from the start.

Planning to play a bit more of Skullgirls since I just the full version of it on PSN. If the fighting games tire me out there are still a bunch of JRPGs that I need to tackle. Namely Final Fantasy XIII and Kingdom Hearts.

Quash: Oh god, I was literally off the grid thanks to you know what. Diablo 3 is great and just as addicting as it’s predecessors. My first playthrough took me 15 hours since I was looking at every dungeon, exploring every part of the map, listening to the books I find and talking to the characters in the game. Pretty much taking all that Diablo 3 has to offer. The game has good length. But normal was too easy for my taste, so now I’m aiming to reach the hardest difficulty which is Inferno. Currently on Act 2 Nightmare and is still not giving me any sort of challenge for my Demon Hunter.

I don’t see myself shelving this game anytime soon too. Just like the old Diablo games, I have this urge to try other characters and find the best loot. So far my biggest issue with Blizzard’s latest game is that it’s online. I play alone or with a friend, it doesn’t matter. Lag will always be around to piss me off.

Like I said in my Skullgirls demo impressions post, I got a $20 PSN card and bought Skullgirls. I also bought some more videogame toys so let’s get into it.

So Skullgirls, I bought it, checked to see if it really did install the full game unlock, went into training mode and tried some other characters for a few minutes. Outside of that I haven’t played it for real yet. This is my first weekend since getting an internet connection setup in my home (finally) so Ziggy (my PS3) is busy downloading and installing update for every single disc I pop in. Those update can’t be downloaded in the background so I’m stuck watching a very boring screen for 10 minutes to even an hour NOT playing the game. No worries though since I got a whole Sunday still ahead of me.

Aside from Skullgirls I also bought a Legend of Zelda gashapon set. Usually these come in one of those random capsule machine where you don’t know what you’re getting until you open it but since I got mine from a local hobbyshop (GreatToysOnline), it was already a complete set meaning no duplicates. I’m sure most of you will say that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the bestest 3D Zeldarific game ever but in this figure set I gotta say that the Ocarina figure are the weakest of the bunch. Young Link is in an ok pose but is facing all the way to the side of the stand and young Zelda looks like Master Yoda with those big eyes and big ears. My personal favorite from the bunch are the Wind Waker figures since they look exactly like their video game counterparts (w/c are adorable) and is what sold me on getting the set in the first place. The Skyward Sword ones are pretty cool too since I like the new design of the characters. Paint job on the figures re pretty spot on considering they are gashapons though to be fair they are one of the expensive gashapons (they went for 200php a piece which means 4 tokens per draw) so at least the QAs did their job.

On to the items that are in sort of the grey area of things. Not quite recently bought but more like recently acquired. Finally got my hands on the import of Gundam Extreme Vs. that I sent for back in February and the custom printed t-shirt that a friend of mine did for my birthday present. Since shit is still downloading, installing, and updating on my PS3, the Gundam Extreme Vs. game is still sealed in it’s plastic shrink wrap (NRFB mode). Still deciding whether to open it tonight or save it for tomorrow and try Battlefield 3 online for the first time instead.

I know this is a little late seeing as Skullgirls came out a month ago but seeing as I was finally able to get an internet connection at home earlier this week you could cut a guy some slack.

After watching a few videos of Skullgirls matches on the youtubes, I got instantly hyped for it. Obviously watching is avery different from playing and up until this morning I had not played Skullgirls so I didn’t know how the combat mechanics work, I could only guess. I figured that the combo chains are similar to that of Capcom’s Versus series where you could chain a basic Low to Med to High attacks but would resemble more like the style of Melty Blood. Looking into a few more matches, I noticed that you can choose to have either 1, 2 or 3 members in a team with each setting having their own benefits and drawbacks. The best comparison you could make about this game is to compare it to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 with it’s 2D and since you have to option to have up to 2 assists and tag out. Having fewer characters means less assist options but in turn have more powerful characters.

In the demo there are only 2 characters available for play out of the 8 in the roster. The first is Filia, a school girl who plays host to a demon made of hair. The second is Cerebella, a circus performer whose hat sprouts 2 giant arms. From what I guessed I was right. The combo system does feel very similar to Melty Blood (even the soundeffects sound alike) and supers are performed like in MvC2 wherein you perform 1 motion and hit 2 attack buttons. Dashing can also be performed in the same manner by simply pressing 2 attack buttons.

I only tried out what I think was 2 battles in Arcade mode then dived straight into training mode. The demo is very fun and I can’t wait to purchase the full game ($14.99), I’m planning to get a $20 PSN maybe tomorrow. If you like fighting games but is still a bit iffy about Skullgirls then try out the demo. You might just like it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://2muchgaming.com/2012/05/skullgirls-demo-impressions/feed/ 0 http://2muchgaming.com/2012/05/skullgirls-demo-impressions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=skullgirls-demo-impressions http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TooMuchGaming/~3/0SRurXDqZq4/ http://2muchgaming.com/2012/05/e-x-troopers-debut-trailer/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 13:25:39 +0000 Quash http://2muchgaming.com/?p=8383
Capcom has a new game coming up called E.X. troopers and just released a debut trailer  of this action shooter. Personally, what got me interested was the graphics used for this game. Cel shading at its best, it just looks amazing with anime art. Check out the trailer below.

E.X Troopers is an action shooter but actual footage of the game in action has not been released. It’s due for a 2012 release in Japan. No word yet if this game will have an english version. Pretty worried that gameplay might just come out dull but the art and graphics is enough for me to get interested if it actually gets the port treatment. Story also seems to be presented as if your reading a comic or manga.

E.X Troopers will be out sometime in 2012 for Playstation 3 and the Nintendo 3DS.

[Source: Gematsu]

If you’ve played the first Pokemon Black/White then you’d recognize some of the characters in this trailer. From the looks of this it really does seem like a direct sequel.

The kiddies from the previous game have grown up a bit and are battling a new group of foes. I don’t understand Japanese plus I haven’t finished the previous game either so I don’t really know what the hell is going on so forgive my ignorance when it comes to Pokemon lore. A first direct sequel to a Pokemon game is cool and all but after seeing this trailer I gotta to say that I’d rather just have be a full length animated movie instead of a game. Though the best scenario would be to release the games AND make a full length movie with the same quality animation as seen in the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Naughty Dog’s took a break from the Uncharted series and is hard at work on their new title named “The Last of Us”. A game that revolves around the story of Joel and Ellie surviving in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by some sort of infected monsters. But apparently they aren’t the only humans trying to survive. This is the second trailer for The Last of  Us and its looks amazing. Definitely  Naughty Dog game.

If you’re wondering about Ellie, no that’s not Ellen Page voicing her, but she definitely looks like she was the inspiration for the character. Ellie is 14 years old and apparently was born after the world went all apocalyptic. So she has no idea how the world was like before the epidemic. The epidemic is said to be some sort of fungal that created all this mess.

With Joel, we have no idea what his background is at the moment. All that was revealed so far is that he is a survivor watching over Ellie.

Gameplay of the game has not been revealed by Naughty Dog but they did mention that this game involves with Joel and Ellie trying to survive by killing and scavenging.

The Last of Us is scheduled for a release sometime at the end of 2012 or early 2013 exclusively for the Playstation 3.

Just like clockwork, when the 11pm on may 14 hit, i was able to start installing Diablo 3. When 12am hit, I was able to get into Asian servers and start playing. At this time Asia and Europe servers are now online. What’s left is US servers and when that goes up global play will be activated giving all players the option to go to any server they choose.

If you bought digital copies of the game, you can start playing. If you pre-ordered copies from lets say Datablitz? They just got they’re copies so I suggest you start heading there because they say the line is getting long. If you didin’t place a pre-order in a local store in the Philippines, don’t try your luck. Stocks apparently are enough just for the people who pre-ordered.

Perfect timing really. Global play should start around 3pm. by that time, you can pick whatever region you prefer.

I’m playing around with the classes at this point. Since I plan to move to the US servers when my buddies get copies of the game(in a few hours), I’m playing around in the asian servers. This is day one, and asia servers feel as if you’re in offline mode. Which is a good sign.

Hows Diablo 3 so far? having issues with installation? connection?

Want to go retro on your browser? From whom I’m guess is the same person who emulated The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening on HTML5 comes a full fledged GameBoy Color emulator that runs on HTML5. With games such as Super Mario Land, Mega Man Xtreme, and the 3 major Zelda games on the GameBoy, this cool little blast from the past is sure to be a… well, blast.

From site;

Button Map:
X or J = A
Z or Q = B
Shift = Select
Enter = Start
D-Pad = JoyPad
ESC = Fullscreen
r = Raise Volume
d = Lower Volume

About:
This is a GameBoy Color emulator written in JavaScript and uses HTML5.
This is a GameBoy Color emulator written in JavaScript. This page takes advantage of modern browser capabilities like HTML5 and JIT engines to provide a desktop emulator experience right inside a webpage without the use of plugins (If you disable plugins on a browser, the graphics will still work, though the audio might stop working for users that need flash to run the audio output).
You can either select a game from a list, or drag and drop a .gb or .gbc file into the emulator.

In case you missed the link the first time, you can play the GameBoy Color emulator here.

Thanks to @twittkins yet again for the tip.

Square Enix just announced that the Tomb Raider reboot has been delayed to early 2013. Bioshock Infinite, Prey 2, now Tomb Raider, what’s next to get delay to 2013?

I was excited for this game thanks to the impressive gamplay demo shown in last year’s E3. It was set for a fall released of 2012 but I guess Crystal Dynamics believes they need more time to make the best Tomb Raider game.

Darrell Gallagher, studio head at developer Crystal Dynamics, released a message regarding the delay:

When Crystal Dynamics first set out to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise, there were two goals that we were extremely passionate about. The first was to create a modern Tomb Raider game that would surprise and excite gamers.

The second was to make this the best game of our careers, something we would be really proud to be a part of. We truly believe that we have something very special on our hands and we can’t wait to share it with you.Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait.

The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.

Darrell Gallagher

Delays to make the game even better is always a good thing but being pushed out of 2012 is big. With Tomb Raider now for 2013, games coming out during the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2012 is looking weak compared to last year. Thank god Resident Evil 6 was announced.

Crystal Dynamics will be presenting Tomb Raider in this year’s E3 so can’t wait to see that. E3 2012 is a few weeks away.

[Source: GameInformer]

Weeeekkkeeeennnd!! Sorry, a bit too much but hey, weekends are awesome. What are you playing?

Quash: This weekend I played a couple of games, games that would soothe the wait for Diablo 3(Yes I really can’t wait). So I started playing Torchlight, an amazing action RPG. Yes, it’s a Diablo clone, but definitely the best clone. Even with its cartoon art style, the game screams Diablo, which is a great thing and is exactly what I was looking for. Plus some Diablo 1 and 2 devs who left Blizzard worked on Torchlight, so yes its a clone.  I’m a sucker for action RPG’s right now.

Path of Exile

This weekend I also participated on Path of Exile’s Open beta stress test weekend. Path of Exile is also an action RPG but will be free to play and only accessible online. It’s currently on closed beta but for this weekend only the beta is open to the public in order for the developers to stress test their servers. Again, a Diablo inspired video game. Developers are called Grinding Gear Games and is literally a group of gamer’s that felt the lack of action RPG’s and decided to make one for themselves. but there’s so many features in the game that got me interested. for instance – There’s no currency. Yes, an island filled with people exiled from the world did not bother with a currency system, but instead make business by trading an item for an item. Selling all your crap normal gear will earn you items like wisdom scrolls(identifies items), weapon upgrade items and more. believe it or not – Getting stuff like a wisdom scroll and usable items are quite rare, so it works out.

You know those red and blue potions that keep action RPG players alive and kicking against hordes of monsters? They work differently in Path of Exile. Even how you level up and earn skills are quite interesting. This game can’t be called a Diablo clone. It has a lot of unique features that could make the game stand on its own without the comparison. The game also has a passive tree where you spend all the point you earn when you level up. The passive tree is just like Final Fantasy X’s Sphere grid system and yes it is also massive.

The beta players so far gets access to 2 acts of the game and have a level cap of 60, which is impressive compared to past beta’s that give you around only an hour of content.

If your interested in an action RPG that isn’t Diablo or Torchlight, this needs your attention. I’m really pleased with the progress of the game and will definitely give this game a go when it comes out officially. And no this isn’t an MMO. Players in the beta love comparing this game to the likes of World of Warcraft and Star Wars because it’s online.

You can participate with the ongoing closed beta if you choose to support them by buying one of their packs. The cheapest is 10 bucks and earns you 100 points for online store the game will have and a beta key.

Migoy: Hopefully this will be my last late entry in a long time. Didn’t get to play much in Saturday as I was asleep during most of the day and out during the rest. I did get to try out Mortal Kombat on the PS Vita and it was pretty smooth, a nice handheld port of the gorey fighting game. Got some good time on Sunday though. Finally started playing Kingdom Hearts for real but the differences in combat between the first and the second game clearly shows. Everything was so much smoother in KH2 but KH is still a pretty neat game for it’s age.

Soul Sacrifice. An action horror game coming to the PS Vita. If you actually have a list of games you can’t wait to get for your Vita, maybe you should also add this into your list. It’s from the mind of Keiji Inafune, one of the creators of Mega Man that apparently has a twisted mind to conceptualize a game like this.

You play as a Sorcerer’s slave, who is now in prison to be sacrificed to some demon. he then finds a book containing someones journal and I believe that’s where he starts reading of this guy’s rebellion again this sorcerer and the demons. That’s what I understand so far about the game’s story but the interesting thing about Soul Sacrifice is that in order for players to use specific abilities or magic, they need to make a sacrifice.

Soul Sacrifice – Teaser trailer 

What the character did in the teaser is pretty much him sacrificing his own spine to wield that creepy looking sword named Excalibur. Problem is, no spine = death. That’s pretty much the core concept on the game’s gameplay – Sacrificing game environments and even parts of your body to use certain abilities. Sacrificing your own blood, your eyes, fingers, and certain objects in the environment can be sacrificed to perform certain magics. Pretty interesting stuff.

Soul Sacrifice will also support 4 player co-op. Everybody loves co-op and I’m sure this will be the game’s biggest selling point. I wonder if you can sacrifice your own teammate though?

The game so far looks amazing on the Vita. That handheld sure has a lot of power in it. A presentation was held showcasing the game and thanks to Sony, they released a dubbed version of that presentation for the people who don’t speak Japanese. Best parts are really Part 1 and 2 since you actually see gameplay of the game. If music is your thing, you might get a kick of part 2 of the presentation.

Soul Sacrifice Presentation Part 1 – Story, concept, offscreen single player gameplay

Soul Sacrifice Presentation Part 2 – Sound score, game sound

Soul Sacrifice Presentation Part 3 – 4 player co-op

It was just revealed in Japan on May 10 and so far, no word if this game will receive an english version. I have no doubt it will get an english port, the question now is when will it happen?

Screenshots:

Source: [Famitsu]

Rockstar Games released a launch trailer for Max Payne 3, reminding us of its release next week. It’s out on May 15 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Man I wish I could get this game but I already know where all my gaming time will be spent on next week. For me, this will have to wait.

Gamers in the Philippines – If you haven’t pre-ordered the game but plan to, you still got time to do so. Datablitz is still offering, but the reward for making a pre-order isn’t the strongest incentive.

Amazing, it only took 3 days to have enough shares, tweets, and likes to unlock Assassin’s Creed 3′s debut gameplay trailer. AC3 fans sure love to tweet. This is first look at in-game footage and gameplay, and I have to say; it’s looking pretty good for pre-alpha stages.

I lost interest in Assassin’s Creed when I finished the second game and didn’t even bother touching Brotherhood or Revelations. But thanks to this trailer, it got me interested again. Not sure what got me – The fact that you can ambush soldiers in the woods or the fact that you get to fight bears.

Assassin’s Creed 3 is out on October 31 for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The game is also hitting the Wii U when the console launches.

You can start playing this classic just by visiting this link.

I’ve been playing the browser version for a while now and thanks to shooters we play today, the controls took awhile to get used to. First time players will be shocked with the number of lacking features that come standard now to modern-day shooters. For instance, the game didn’t even need you to reload your gun. I was literally pressing R on reaction, because that’s just what you do in games like these.

While playing, it made me realize one thing – Modern day shooters are too damn linear.  The need to explore in order to survive the stage are close to non-existent now in modern-day shooters. Sure, there are games that provide a less linear experience, but there isn’t enough going around. Nowadays, it’s pretty much go to point A to point B by following that damn arrow. Oh, and stay in cover if you need to recover. The fear of getting lost and dying isn’t the same nowadays. Playing Wolfenstein 3D made me miss that. I’m playing the game on the second to the last highest difficulty and the need to explore to find those health packs and ammo in order to stay alive brought extra fun out of this classic.

Id Software created Wolfenstein 3D and even the Doom series, which again was the first of its kind. Rage is the latest title from Id Software and is one of the best looking shooters out there thus far.If you haven’t got a chance to try Rage, I suggest you give it a try.

The iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad version of the game called Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum is also said to be free for a limited time only.

Delay to make a great game even greater is always welcome. Irrational games are really testing people’s patience with this big delay, then again this isn’t the first time this has happened to big titles.

Ken levine, Creative Director for Bioshock Infinite made a statement regarding the delay:

When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing.

Since then, we’ve come to realize that some specific tweaks and improvements will make Infinite into something even more extraordinary. Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need, we’ve decided to move the game’s release to February 26, 2013. We wanted to let our loyal (and very patient!) fans know this as soon as possible.

I won’t kid you: BioShock Infinite is a very big game, and we’re doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter. We had a similar experience with the original BioShock, which was delayed several months as our original ship date drew near. Why? Because the Big Daddies weren’t the Big Daddies you’ve since come to know and love. Because Andrew Ryan’s golf club didn’t have exactly the right swing. Because Rapture needed one more coat of grimy Art Deco.

The same principle now applies to BioShock Infinite.

What does this mean for you? It means a bit more waiting, but more importantly, it means an even better BioShock Infinite. The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity. Irrational Games is one of those rare developers lucky enough to ask the people who sign the checks: “Hey, can we have a few more of those checks?”

We are also going to hold off on showing BioShock Infinite at the big events of the summer, like E3 and Gamescom. That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box. Preparing for these events takes time away from development, time we’re going to use instead to get the best version of Infinite into your hands in February.

Also announcing that it will be absent in big events such as E3 and gamescom to further focus on development? That’s commitment. Respect Irrational games. Hopefully you won’t do this again though, I really want to get my hands on this game already.

[Source: VG247, Gematsu]

If you have been following the Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise, you probably know that it has finally reached 100% unlock. The last unlock is the reveal of the animated short titled “Wrath” – A 6-minute video of an endless battle between angels and demons. The short was directed by Peter Chung(Æon Flux ) and was created over at animation studio Titmouse. Gamer’s waiting for Diablo 3 – This won’t make the wait easier.

Pretty darn amazing. I have a feeling we get to fight one of the angels as a final boss in one of the acts of Diablo 3, wanna bet it’s Archangel of Valor?

Just like everybody else – I can’t wait for Diablo 3. Playing the beta and re-playing Diablo 2 made me realize how addicted I’ll be when May 15 hits.

The whole “unite” thing is pretty much asking everybody to spread the word either in Facebook or Twitter. The goal is 1,776,000 posts/tweets and shares. If the goal is reached – We get to see the world premiere of gameplay footage for Assassin’s Creed 3 early. Want to help out? Click here.

its pretty amazing though. It just started and already they are close to 50% to the goal.

Assassin’s Creed 3 will be out for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on October 31, 2012.

I bet Elder Scrolls fanboys are flaming the MMO as I type this. From what I’m reading so far and with the images leaked; This will come out as yet another generic MMO with just a famous franchise stamped in front of it to draw people in. ZeniMax Online is developing Elder Scrolls Online, and I hope they have something unique to show gamers in the next few months because all I see and read so far is not enough for this MMO to be the one to watch for 2013.

I still believe an online Elder Scrolls would work, but if only they stay true to why we love the Elder Scrolls. The fact that we are going to be playing Elder Scrolls Online in third person, not in real-time, and abilities accessible via the hotkeys makes it not Elder Scrolls at all.  When I heard about the changes in gameplay, I already lost all hope for the Elder Scrolls Online. Then I saw how the game will look like thanks to the leaked images, which makes it even worse.

I’m sorry, the graphics look a bit dumbed down to the level of MMO’s like Lord of the Rings Online or EverQuest. A bit underwhelming and looks like a step backwards in terms of visuals. The first image above was the first image officially released. The rest are leaked images of the game which doesn’t change what I think of how the game looks like.

Its 2012. MMO’s have been around for years now and have been built on what is considered as a generic formula that makes a good MMO. They all look the same to me now. Its time for something revolutionary – A big step forward to get people excited for an online game again. With this planned for 2013, I can tell you already that this won’t be it. Elder Scrolls Online will have the usual features of any MMO – PVP, questing, dungeons to explore with groups but nothing unique to keep it apart from the rest.

Together with the reveal, a teaser trailer was released. Which is pretty much the Skyrim teaser all over again that shows absolutely nothing. This is actually worse since it’s just the game’s logo in close up.

A unique feature is what MMO is going for nowadays. That’s the only way to survive alongside  the behemoth that is World of Warcraft and millions of other MMO’s trying to stay alive as well. What is Elder Scrolls Online’s unique feature? I have no idea. GameInfomer’s June issue is said to have a full coverage of the game and hopefully they can answer that question. Also, IGN has a great wiki that has all the information so far about Elder Scrolls Online. So if you want to educate yourself further about this game, click here now.

I was really hoping for Elder Scrolls Online to be Skyrim or Morrowind but with online features, but I guess that was too good to be true. Maybe its a bit too soon to judge this title, but like I said – Not what I expected at all. What do you guys think of this reveal? Excited? or do you feel the same way.

It’s the first week of May! For me, I consider this Diablo month since Diablo 3 is literally days away from release. In preparation, I already know what I’ll be playing before May 15. How about you guys? What are you playing?

Quash: Just 10 days left and Diablo 3 will be released to the public. So to keep the hype going, I’m playing Diablo 2 again for the 9th time. Well, I believe it’s the 9th time. I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve re-installed Diablo 2 just to have another go at acts 1 – 5. I still can’t believe I was just in high school when I first played Diablo 2 for the first time. The gap between Diablo 2 and 3 is pretty big.

In celebration of the release of Diablo 3, Diablo 2 Battle.net ladders had a reset last May 2. Reset meaning all ladder characters created online will be brought back to level 1 with all your epic items erased. So with all those level 99 characters gone, I gave it a shot at rising up the ladder to make a high level character. I’m currently at level 43 as an Assassin character and nowhere near the top players in the asian realm. Don’t get shocked,that only took two days thanks to some playing doing free runs through all the acts in normal difficulty. Now I’m going through Nightmare alone on act 2, hoping to get better gear.

With a player like me who has not played the game in a while, and was able to reach level 43 in just 2 days, you must be wondering how the hardcore players are doing. Well the overall highest character at the moment just hit level 93. So yea, I’m not that crazy after all. It looks like my aim to have my character as one of the top characters is looking pretty grim, but at this point – I just want to finish Hell again. This will be pretty much my game until the 15th. I have plans to play either an Amazon or Barbarian but this time on Hardcore.

Migoy: And yet another late entry for me though I hope that will be remedied very very soon. For this weekend I spent a crap ton of time playing 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. I got 2 endings earlier in the week and spent most of my Saturday getting the other 4 and oh man was it a wild ride. This is by far the best game I’ve played all year, sure we’re only half way through 2012 but out of the games I’ve played so far I haven’t enjoyed nearly as much as this. If you ever get to play 999, I suggest play it the first time around with absolutely no help/guides. Just enjoy your first playthrough then if possible do the same for your 2nd and 3rd only then will I allow you to look up the Safe and True endings (pro tip; do the True ending last).

After that I finally started Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I gotta say that I did not enjoy the first Uncharted game but the 2nd is easily enjoyable. It’s not one of those “hard to put down” games, at least for me, but  it’s definitely one of those games that makes you think “I wonder what happens next?” which makes it easy to keep on going.

Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead: With the graphic novels’ huge success and the TV Series gearing up for its 3^rd season on AMC, a video game adaptation of the Walking Dead world was bound to happen. When I heard that Telltale Games (Back to the Future: The Game, Tales of Monkey Island) was developing the property, they sounded like a perfect fit. However, their past games have been decent at best, leaving me a bit worried on how The Walking Dead would come out. As a fan of both the comics and the TV series, I bought the first episode on the Playstation 3 anyways.  After playing through the first episode of the game in one sitting, I was instantly hooked and left with a strong impression, reminding me why I loved The Walking Dead in the first place. This is Telltale’s best work yet.

The game follows a completely different group of survivors in the Walking Dead world than we’ve seen before. You play as Lee Everett, a man convicted for murder. The game starts with Lee leaving the city in a cop car to go to prison, only to have the trip cancelled thanks to his first encounter with a zombie. He then meets this little girl called Clementine; she is an 8-year-old who has been forced to survive by herself while waiting for her parents to arrive home from a trip. Lee takes Clementine with him, and makes it his goal to keep this child safe at all times. This is where this five-part series starts.

The Power of Choice

This game is all about choices. The choices you’re given create a big impact on the game’s story. The most powerful choices are character-based conversations that can alter an NPC’s impression of you – as you meet new characters in the game, you are given the choice to act as the father of Clementine, but soon find characters seeing through your lie, leading to a sense of distrust towards Lee. This is where the game shines. Your dialogue choices influence the story and the characters’ perception on you, Lee Everett. How you have Lee act during conversations or crucial moments when big choices need to be made defines Lee as a character. Be loyal and honest all throughout, or simply be on guard and not trust the people around you, it’s all up to you. Either way, there will be consequences.

In a game filled with choices, it’s good to see that the player does not have all the time in the world to decide. Each big choice or conversation puts a time limit on the player to make a decision. If a choice is left unanswered, things can get a lot worse.  Play your cards wrong and each choice will be loaded with nerve-wracking pressure.

There are also decisions that lead you to choose one character over the other – Your choice will result in one character’s demise and again you have only a small window to make a choice. These moments happened out of nowhere during my first play-through and caught me off-guard. I actually regret one of these choices because I acted too quickly on it. I felt like I had to make a choice fast. This is why this game works, because it places you in situations like that, and whichever path you choose, you’re stuck with it.

This also brings some replay value to the game. After going through this first episode the first time, I went back at it and picked different choices to see how the story shapes up. But truth be told, this game is best appreciated the first time around.

The controls are quick and easy to grasp. The first part of the game is considered a tutorial that helps the player grow accustomed to the controls. The left analog stick is used to move Lee around while the right analog stick controls the cursor that is used to interact with the environment.

It’s an adventure game at heart. You go around interacting with objects, gathering items, and solving issues within the group. It reminded me of games such as… well past Telltale games, and games like LucasArts’ Monkey Island plus those classic Sierra games – Such as Phantasmagoria and the Gabriel Knight series. But what The Walking Dead really lacks that most adventure games have in spades are puzzles. I believe a few puzzles here and there would have given the game another layer of quality.

Character interaction and molding the story are what this game is all about. You do get to kill some zombies, but it’s quite rare. You will spend most of your time interacting, rather than bashing heads. If you prefer a zombie game that gives you a gun and lets you go all-out, guns blazing instead of talking to survivors and uncovering their stories, this might not be the game for you.

The game does have those intense moments, but again, they are rare. The balance works well since between all the talking and interacting, the sudden moments of action act as wake-up calls to the player.

This game is also a real treat for fans of the TV series or the graphic novel, since it tells a different story set in the same world. Characters like Glenn and Hershel from the original series make appearances; needless to say, that got the fan in me excited to interact with them. Even if you’re not familiar with the series, Telltale’s The Walking Dead could make you a fan, if you give the game a chance.

The game’s visuals are a perfect fit since this game is essentially based on a comic book. It has a cel-shaded look similar to the visuals of Borderlands that brings this post-apocalyptic world to life. Not only that, the audio complements those intense moments in the game and also gives a special kind of eerie atmosphere, one that you’d expect from a doomed world. A few frame-rate issues happened during my play-through, which surprised me, since this game isn’t big on file size or heavy on the graphics.

Overall

This is definitely Telltale’s best work yet, but that’s just the beginning. As the first episode of a five-part series, The Walking Dead is off to a great start. The game is priced at $5 a piece and is quite a good deal since the first episode is worth three hours of your time. Just like any series, you are left to anxiously wait for the next episode to come out. The problem is, there is no announced release date for the next episode. I’m definitely hooked and ready to go for another episode, but the hype can only last for so long and hopefully Telltale won’t take their sweet time releasing Episode 2.

Score: 85/100

Pros:

-          Likeable and believable cast of characters

-          Visuals are a perfect fit for the game

-          Choices you make shape your story

Cons:

-          You have to wait for until the next episode

-          Surprisingly heavy frame-rate drops

-          A lot more talking than action

This trailer is actually making me consider giving the old Hitman games another try. But It’ll probably take just a few hours until I give up and lose my patience at going all sneaky. Really not my strong suit.

Hitman: Absolution is planned sometime the 4th quarter of 2012 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

With one-third of the year already gone and the month of May just starting, it’s time to count up my crimes~I mean my total gametime for the month of April.

My numbers are up compared to last month’s total so I guess summer really does that to a person, in or out of school. Maybe it’s the heat that puts me into the mood to play videogames. Now on to the list.

PS3:
Bayonetta
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations (Demo)
Vanquish
Tekken 6
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Street Fighter x Tekken
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Mass Effect 3 (Demo)
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Demo)
Final Fantasy XIII
Pixel Junk Side Scroller (Demo)
Soul Calibur V
Marvel vs Capcom 2
WWE All Stars (Demo)

PS Vita:
Motorstorm RC

PSP:
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force
SD Gundam G Generation World
Naruto Shippudem: Ultimate Ninja Impact
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max
Rock Band Unplugged (played on PS Vita)

PS1:
Mega Man Legends
Spider-Man
Street Fighter The Movie: The Game
Chocobo Racing
Pepsiman
Crush Gear Turbo
Kotobuki Grand Prix
Bust A Groove 2
Rival Schools: United by Fate Evolution Disc
Bust A Groove
Chrono Cross
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter
Marvel vs Capcom
Mega Man X4

Wii:
Lost in Shadow
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Battle Rage: The Robot Wars
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 M.S. Front
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Calling
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Arc Rise Fantasia
Boom Blox
Boom Blox Bash Party
Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai

GameCube:
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom (played on Wii)

DS:
Tetris DS
Mega Man Battle Network 5 Double Team DS
Pokemon White
Mega Man Zero Collection
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

GBA:
Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge
Yu-Gi-Oh! Dungeon Dice Monsters

My total gametime for the month of April – 87:07:47